Weekly NHL Roundup (Dec. 18 Edition): Who You Need to Know

Goalies

Anthony Stolarz, Ducks

John Gibson returned to the lineup and started Friday against the Coyotes, but it was not a happy return with a 6-5 overtime loss. Gibson’s poor performance and Stolarz’s excellent play this season – 6-2-1, .932 Sv%, 2.13 GAA – may force the Ducks to rethink their rotation going forward. Stolarz has just 44 games of NHL experience over five seasons, but he’s forced his way into a much bigger role. The Ducks have been surprisingly good this season, but they remain a potential power broker for the upcoming deadline with key impending free agents and a youth movement that’s just getting into full swing. If Stolarz can prove that he can hold the fort, what will the Ducks do with Gibson?

Charlie Lindgren, Blues

Lindgren got the start Friday against the Stars even though Jordan Binnington was available, and won his fifth straight game making 26 saves. It wasn’t a particularly difficult matchup hosting the Stars, who are horrible on the road, but considering how Binnington struggled prior to being placed on the COVID list, the Blues must be seriously thinking about how they will handle the rotation going forward. Ville Husso remains on injured reserve and he was the backup to start the season, but now there’s a bit of a logjam.

Spencer Knight, Panthers

It was a bit curious why Andrew Brunette kept Knight in for eight goals against the Sens. He hasn’t looked nearly as sharp as last season, and prompted the Panthers to claim Jonas Johansson from the Avs and send Knight to the AHL, where he will get more playing time. It’s a temporary setback for a very talented goalie who’s just 20 years old, and when he arrived on the scene last season it was much earlier and a much stronger debut that anyone had expected. The development of players, especially goalies, is rarely a straight line. For now, it doesn’t look like Knight will figure into their plans this season, but that will also depend on well Johansson fares with his third team in three seasons.

Rookies

Over the past five seasons, there has been an average of about 200 players with rookie eligibility who have played at least one game. The number this season entering Saturday is 147, so despite the overwhelming number of call-ups to cover shortages caused by COVID and other injuries, there’s a reasonable expectation that 50 or so more rookies will play a game this season. Here’s a list of the notables over the past two weeks:

Jackson Cates, C, Flyers

An undrafted free agent signed out of Minnesota-Duluth, Cates scored in his season debut but dressed for four games last season. The brother of Noah, a fifth-round pick by the Flyers in 2017, is an older prospect at 24 years old and doesn’t project to be more than a bottom-six forward and played only 7:27 in his first game, though he certainly made the most of his limited ice time.

Riley Damiani, C, Stars

The former Kitchener Rangers star is a bit undersized, but that has not stopped from him becoming an offensive producer at every level. He scored 36 points in 36 games with AHL Texas in his first pro season, and had scored 18 points in 22 games before getting called up. He’s the second rookie on this list to score in his season debut, though he might have the advantage over Drury because the Stars are hurting for offense and might opt to keep him around so they don’t have to keep relying on Roope Hintz or Jason Robertson.

Jack Drury, C, Hurricanes

The second-round pick from what looks to be a very stacked 2018 draft class spent two years at Harvard before turning pro, but the pandemic delayed his debut in North America and he opted to sign with the Växjö Lakers in the Swedish league for one season, where he won the regular-season title and the Le Mat Trophy as playoff champion. That experience clearly paid off, with Drury scoring a goal in his NHL debut and finished with four shots, won 6 of 8 faceoffs and played 16:05. The Canes offense is pretty stacked, so Drury may not get enough ice time when everyone is healthy, but he’s surely going to be a pretty big piece going forward.

Grigori Denisenko, LW, Panthers

Denisenko is one of the Panthers’ prized prospects after being selected 15th overall in 2018, but has yet to make major inroads to the NHL. There’s plenty of time and the Panthers have a lot of talent up front after adding Carter Verhaeghe, Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart over the past few seasons, and it was encouraging to see Denisenko play 15:30 – including 1:01 on the power play – in his season debut. The Panthers’ games have been postponed until after Christmas, which means we may not see Denisenko in the lineup upon their return, but he’s a name to remember and will maintain his rookie eligibility next season as long as he appears in less than 25 games this season.

Jayden Halbgewachs, LW, Sharks

Halbgewachs made his NHL debut Thursday against the Canucks, skating on Tomas Hertl’s line with Alexander Barabanov on the opposite side. Concerns about his size and an underwhelming start to his junior career meant Halbgewachs never ended up getting drafted, but in his two overage seasons with WHL Moose Jaw led them with 120 goals and 230 points in 143 games.

Halbgewachs played 16:44 in his debut, narrowly scoring his first point and finished the night with three shots. He signed with the Sharks in 2017 and cut his teeth for three seasons in the AHL before getting called up; the Sharks have a habit of unearthing good role players from their minor-league system, including forward Alexander True, who was plucked by the Kraken in the expansion draft, and Jacob Middleton, the last pick in the 2014 Entry Draft. Halbgewachs is making a strong early case to stick with the big club.

Alexei Toropchenko, RW, Blues

It’s been a roundabout journey for Toropchenko, who was picked in the fourth round in 2017 out of the Russian junior leagues before heading to Guelph where he won the OHL title, spent one year with AHL San Antonio, who were barely a .500 team, and another on loan with Kunlun Red Star, one of the worst teams in the KHL. After getting assigned to AHL Springfield, it was Toropchenko’s fourth team in four seasons, but COVID and injuries necessitated some call-ups, and he received limited ice time (8:19) in his NHL debut. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 222 pounds, Toropchenko is hard to miss on the ice. He adds a lot of size to a team that likes to play heavy, lining up with Dakota Joshua (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) on the fourth line.

Jesse Ylönen, RW, Canadiens

The son of a former Coyote, Juha, the younger Ylönen scored his first goal Tuesday against the Penguins, a long-range shot that beat Tristan Jarry. A second-round pick in 2018 and former World Junior gold medalist with Finland, Ylönen is known for his offensive skill, specifically his ability to move up and down the ice and shoot the puck. With a dearth of options on offense due to a plethora of injuries, Ylönen’s ice time has increased from 7:01 in his season debut to 16:17 by his fourth game, including 1:23 on the power play. The Habs are headed for the lottery and the right thing to do would be to keep playing their young players and see what they can bring to the table.

Kevin Bahl, D, Devils

The first thing anyone notices about Bahl is his size, listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, though he’s got some underrated skill, able to play both the power play and the penalty kill. He played seven games last season, recording two assists, and has appeared in two games this season averaging 12:19 per contest. He’ll eventually grow into his role – defense is arguably the most difficult position and it’ll take time before he can be a reliable shutdown defender – but he’s already drawing attention. Just ask Robin Lehner, who took a swing at Bahl and challenged him to a fight during a chippy game against the Knights.

Justin Barron, D, Avalanche

The Avs are flush with talent on defense, and the next one up following Bowen Byram is Barron, the 25th overall pick in 2020 who has already scored 13 points in 21 games in the AHL. He has only two NHL games under his belt following his debut Tuesday against the Rangers, in which he played just 9:10, but in his second game saw his role expand to 16 minutes against the Preds because the Avs were very shorthanded. The 20-year-old likely won’t make a big impact with the big club this season but should be a big piece moving forward.

Matt Kiersted, D, Panthers

Kiersted was highly sought after as an undrafted college free agent after four strong seasons at North Dakota. The Panthers blue line is a little thin, and he’s played limited minutes in his career so far, but on Thursday against the Kings played a career-high 21:11, scoring his first NHL goal (off the rush and on his backhand, no less) and adding three hits and a blocked shot. Kiersted was paired with MacKenzie Weegar, a seventh-round pick who has surprised most people with how good he’s been, so you definitely wonder if Kiersted has any hidden upside as well.

Janis Moser, D, Coyotes

Moser is just the fourth player from the 2021 draft class to play in the NHL, following Columbus’ Cole Sillinger, San Jose’s William Eklund and Anaheim’s Mason McTavish, though the latter two have since been returned to their former clubs in Djurgården and Peterborough, respectively. The Coyotes played two other rookie defensemen (Dysin Mayo and Cam Dineen) in Friday’s win against the Ducks, but the Swiss-born Moser definitely has the most upside, averaging over 18 minutes and nearly two minutes on the power play in two games. The Coyotes are expected to be sellers throughout the season and beyond, so we may not have seen the last of Moser as they undergo a much-needed rebuild.