Sports

Edmonton Oilers place James Neal on waivers, welcome back Jesse Puljujarvi from COVID protocol – Edmonton Journal

Published

4 years ago

February 13, 2021

Harry Miller

Author of the article:

Bruce McCurdy • Edmonton Journal

Publishing date:

Feb 13, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 5 minute read

Edmonton Oilers forward James Neal (18) and Chicago Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula (91) battle for the puck during second period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Photo by Jason Franson /CP

Even as the other six Canadian team take to the ice in Hockey Day in Canada action, the Edmonton Oilers have a well-deserved day off on Saturday. The Oilers did make some news this morning, however.

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Winger James Neal has become the latest Oilers forward to find himself on the waiver wire as GM Ken Holland looks to maximize flexibility up front. Holland reduced the number of forwards on his active roster to 12 some time ago, with game day changes occurring directly from the taxi squad to the active roster. The waiver of Neal will add him to an extended list that already includes Jujhar Khaira, Tyler Ennis, Alex Chiasson, Devin Shore, Joakim Nygard, and Patrick Russell. All of them cleared waivers earlier in the season, even as the 30-day exemption period after a successful waiver starts to apply to some of them. As an example, Khaira, who cleared back on Jan 12, would need to be waived again at this point in the unlikely event that the Oilers felt the need to send him back to the taxi squad.

The first four of those bolded names, along with Neal himself, played in Edmonton’s most recent game, a 3-0 win over the Canadiens right in Montreal. With other forwards including Zack Kassian, Gaetan Haas, and (temporarily) Jesse Puljujarvi on the injury/COVID lists, the Oilers have made extensive use of their taxi squad options.

Some good news on that last front, as Puljujarvi has been cleared to rejoin the team after some ambiguous test results on Thursday.

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For his part Neal actually contracted COVID just before he was slated to travel to Edmonton from Nashville before the season. That caused a late start to his season as he endured an extended quarantine in each city while he recovered from the illness. He was finally activated in Game 6 and has subsequently played 9 of 11 games, posting boxcars of 2-1-3, -2 in a bottom six role with close to three minutes per game on the first powerplay unit. The Oilers have had about 45% of both shots and goals during his 89 minutes of action at 5v5.

Neal moved up the line-up in the Montreal game, taking Puljujarvi’s spot at 1RW alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He managed a couple of decent shots on goal but struggled to keep up to the pace of play, as he has generally done throughout much of the season to date. There has been precious little sign of the lethal hands which have produced 291 NHL goals in his accomplished career.

How much of that is due to his late start and his general health vs. the fact his skills are in decline at age 33 is an open question. But it seems that the team wants to open up the option to sit him out for a given game here or there.

The Oilers technically have a 23-man roster but Holland has chosen to use all three of his “extra” spots on defencemen, in a lopsided 12 F / 9 D / 2 G distribution. But there is method to his madness. With all three of youngsters Ethan Bear, Caleb Jones, and William Lagesson having graduated from their Entry Level Contracts this season, all would need to clear waivers before being assigned to the taxi squad, and Holland has plenty of reason to believe that they wouldn’t. Same goes for young veteran Slater Koekkoek, another useful defender with a sub $1 million cap hit. The one vet who has been in and out of the line-up, Kris Russell, remains protected from waivers by the No Movement Clause to which he and Peter Chiarelli agreed in 2017. Finally, young Evan Bouchard is on the first year of his ELC and can be moved to the taxi squad freely, but for now he is a regular in the game night line-up.

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That leaves the Oilers in a tight spot at both forward and, famously, in goal, where they have already lost two would-be #3 stoppers via the waiver route. To this point they have been unscathed by waiver claims up front and that is virtually certain to remain the case tomorrow morning.

While Neal is technically available to any NHL team that might wish to put in a claim in the next 24 hours, the chances of that actually happening are effectively zero. The winger is on an expensive ticket of $5.75 million for the remainder of this and two additional seasons. There are few NHL teams with the cap space to even consider it, and frankly zero reason why they should.

From an Edmonton perspective such a claim would be a massive break, but don’t get your hopes up, Oil fans. Time has proven the Oilers can’t get out from under the Milan Lucic contract that easily, even as Lucic himself was moved along for Neal in the summer of 2019. The biggest advantage to that “real deal” — which cost the Oilers in terms of cap retention ($750,000), a draft pick (third round in 2021), and $7 million in actual cash paid out on Lucic’s front-loaded contract — was that Neal’s pact had no restrictive clauses that would force the Oilers to protect him in the upcoming expansion draft, or preclude them from buying it out at some future point. That latter issue will no doubt be a topic for discussion in the upcoming off-season.

The absence of a NMC in Neal’s pact is not only critical to the upcoming expansion, it enables them to place the player on waivers today. The Oilers would have had no such option with Lucic were he still with the team.

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At such time as Neal is placed on the taxi squad, only marginal salary cap savings can be achieved and even those are uncertain. A maximum of $1.075 million of any contract can be buried off-roster, while any replacement called up to the roster will have at least the league minimum cap hit of $700,000. There are further complications due to the fine print of Long Term Injured Reserve legalese which the Oilers invoked when they placed Oscar Klefbom on LTIR at season’s start.

For now James Neal will surely remain an Oiler, even as he seems destined to join the rotation of depth forwards who can be cycled in and out of the line-up based on team need and recent form. Nothing saying such a move is imminent; the Oilers waived Chiasson a couple of weeks ago, then placed him right back in the line-up. I frankly expect the same respect is shown to Neal next game as a sign he is still in the team’s plans even after enduring the indignity of the waiver wire.

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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