CarterHud

   Forward Martin Havlat has announced his retirement from the NHL after 14 seasons. He played 2 games in 2016 with the St. Louis Blues, his last in the league. In the offseason and during the season, Havlat fought for a contract offer from a team, but never received one. The 35 year old played for the Ottawa Senators, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, New Jersey Devils, and the Blues in a career that started in the \’00-\’01 season. He was drafted 26th overall by the Sens in 1999. He was also part of the Czech Republic team that won gold in the 2000 IIHF world championship. He had 242 goals and 352 assists for 594 points in 790 NHL games. \”That was fast. I feel like I was just getting started in the NHL a short while ago,\” Havlat said. \”I would love to continue playing but my body will not allow me to play at the level I expect from myself. I feel very fortunate to play in the NHL for 14 years. Rest assured, I am retiring as a grateful man. I will miss playing in the game I love so much. It is time to start a new chapter in my life.\” Havlat was a Calder trophy finalist in \’00-\’01 and was recently named to the Sens 25th anniversary team, which was decided by fans. His best season might of been \’08-\’09 with the Blackhawks, where he set career highs in assists (48), points (77), and plus-minus (+29). He was named team MVP that season for his efforts. .
    

   The Boston Bruins are part of the teams that are fighting for the 2nd wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but have missed the playoffs by 1 point in the last 2 years. They are tied for third in the Atlantic Division with the Toronto Maple Leafs with 58 points, but the Leafs have 4 games in hand on the B\’s. Their season has been really so-so, and they fired head coach Claude Julien Tuesday. He was the longest tenured coach in the NHL up until the firing. \”First of all, I want to thank Claude and acknowledge the level of success he has achieved as coach of the Boston Bruins,\” GM Don Sweeney said. Bruce Cassidy was named interim head coach of the squad.

     The Philadelphia Flyers, like the Bruins, are in that race for the second wild card spot. They are currently in that spot, with 59 points. Coach Dave Hakstol questionably has sit defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for the last 3 games. Hakstol also sat RW Travis Konecny for 2 games, but decided that he would play in Monday\’s game vs. St. Louis. But in that game, Konecny sustained an injury, which will keep him out of the lineup for about 4-6 weeks. The 19 year old is in his first season in the NHL, with 7 goals, 15 assists (22 points) in 51 games this season. He is a -4 in those games. He could have been returned to the Ottawa 67\’s, his OHL team, before 9 NHL games, so 1 year off his entry level contract wasn\’t wasted, but it was. LW Matt Read, who sat for Konecny Monday, will play in Thursday\’s game against the New York Islanders. So far, no one has been called up from AHL Lehigh Valley, but forward options to recall are Jordan Weal, Scott Laughton, Colin McDonald, or Taylor Leier.

   One of the aspects of being a solid NHL team is having an outstanding goaltender and an okay backup goalie. 2 teams, the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning have goalies to deal to teams with that need.
   The Isles had 3 goalies coming into this season in Thomas Greiss, Jaroslav Halak and JF Berube. Management issues and poor play cost Halak a roster spot, and was sent to Bridgeport (AHL.) Since that and the firing of head coach Jack Capuano, Greiss has gone off, and has a 2.35 GAA, and a .924 SV% this season. Berube slid into a backup role, but a bad game against Carolina Saturday might change that, but the chances are slim. The Isles should deal Halak, who is currently playing outstanding for Bridgeport.
    Ben Bishop has led the Lightning the past few seasons as their starting goalie, but that could be coming to an end. Bishop is in the last year of his contract, and will become a UFA on July 1st. 22 year old Andrei Vasilevskiy has been Bishop\’s backup all his career, but is taking over this season. Vasilevskiy has 29 games this year, opposed to Bishop\’s 28. Their numbers are similar, with Vasilevskiy having a 2.84 GAA, against Bishop\’s 2.79. Bishop has a .904 SV%, and Vasilevskiy has a .909 SV%. The Lightning will probably go with the younger goalie, and the one who\’s signed longer, as Vasilevskiy is signed to 3 more years. Here are some potential destinations for Bishop and Halak.
       1. St. Louis Blues. The Blues haven\’t had a real no. 1 guy, and the rotation between Jake Allen and Carter Hutton cost head coach Ken Hitchcock his job. They can acquire Bishop, who was a former St. Louis draft pick. They can deal Hutton and other pieces, or just wait and sign him in the offseason. If I was GM Doug Armstrong, I would trade for Bishop\’s rights on draft day.
       2. Dallas Stars. Another team that should be interested in Bishop, the Stars have a putrid goalie rotation of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. They should trade Niemi, to dump off his contract of $4.50 million over the next 2 years, including this year.
        3. Edmonton Oilers. They are looking for someone to backup starter Cam Talbot. That\’s where Halak comes in. There was rumors of RW Jordan Eberle going to Brooklyn, if D Travis Hamonic was included. These teams could work out a blockbuster.
    

     The St. Louis Blues are 4th in the Central Division with 55 points, and are 2 points out of the 2nd wild card spot in the Western Conference, and recently fired head coach Ken Hitchock, replacing him with Mike Yeo. So you can tell a lot was going on for them. Another huge problem came across the club today when it became official that LW Robby Fabbri will miss the rest of the 2016-2017 season with an ACL injury, taking them a step back. Fabbri was injured when Pittsburgh Penguins forward Carter Rowney hit him with 11:18 remaining in the 1st period of what became a 4-1 Pittsburgh win. The 21 year old Fabbri is in his second year in the NHL. Fabbri has 11 goals and 18 assists (29 points) in 51 games this season. Last year, he helped the Blues to the Western Conference Final with 15 points (4 goals) in 20 playoff games, before they lost to the San Jose Sharks. It is said that Fabbri will return to the ice when training camp starts for next season this September. \”I know it\’s been a long emotional week for everybody. We had a good game [on Thursday] and this was not a good game,\” said Yeo, according to the St Louis post dispatch. \”What I\’ve said all along is, we need to continue to build our game. It has to be our focus. We\’ll take out of this what we did well enough and push forward.\” The Blues recalled forwards Kenny Agostino and Magnus Paajarvi from AHL Chicago subsequent to the injury.

Fiddler (left) with Predators earlier in his career

  The Nashville Predators have acquired F Vernon Fiddler from the New Jersey Devils for a 4th round draft pick in the 2017 NHL draft. Here\’s why the trade happened.
   The Devils have 14 forwards on their roster, not including Fiddler, so there was a lot of competition for a lineup spot, and there still is. Guys like Joseph Blandisi, Miles Wood, Sergey Kalinin and Stefan Noesen are still fighting for a roster spot. Fiddler was signed on July 1st to a one year, $1.25 million deal. The Devils were just looking to get some value out of him.
     The Preds now have 15 forwards on their roster, but Fiddler or someone else (possibly Derek Grant) might be sent to AHL Milwaukee. The Preds also waived Mike Ribeiro, who cleared waivers today, for an extra roster spot. Fiddler can provide solid depth to his new team.  He\’s also a PK threat, as his 1 goal this year is shorthanded. He also has 2 assists (along with the goal for 3 points) and is a -11 in 39 games this season. Also, the Preds might of wanted to bring back a former Predator, as Fiddler had 45 goals, 48 assists (93 points) in 305 games over 6 seasons with the Predators from \’02-\’03 to \’08-\’09.