The Detroit Red Wings recalled the veteran goaltender from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday, the parent club annnounced.
Howard has been rehabbing a knee injury that's kept him out of NHL action since Dec. 20. He suffered a pair of setbacks during his road back, but then posted two strong AHL outings in his latest rehab stint, including a shutout on Tuesday night.
Petr Mrazek has shouldered the load for Detroit in Howard's absence, and he's been spelled periodically by Jared Coreau, who'll likely be heading back to Grand Rapids on Thursday or Friday, general manager Ken Holland said, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
Howard is 5-7-1 with a 1.96 GAA and .934 save percentage in 17 NHL games this season.
Cracknell's scored seven goals and has matched a career high with 10 points in 53 games in his first season with the Stars.
He signed for $600,000 as a free agent last summer.
Stars general manager Jim Nill said the following about the 31-year-old:
Adam stepped into our lineup this season and established himself as a valuable member of our team. He plays a heavy, physical game, and has been steady and reliable for us all season long.
Cracknell is among only a handful of forwards on the roster with a contract for next season.
Alex Ovechkin has been the NHL's top goal scorer four years running.
The Russian superstar has racked up 27 tallies this season, and while he likely isn't in contention for a fifth straight title, the player who captures this year's honors could do so without cracking the 50-goal plateau:
Player
Games
Goals
On Pace
Sidney Crosby
58
34
45
Patrik Laine
59
32
40
Max Pacioretty
67
31
38
Auston Matthews
65
31
39
Brad Marchand
66
30
37
Jeff Carter
65
30
38
Cam Atkinson
65
30
38
In the 11 full seasons that have followed the 2004-05 lockout, the top scorer has always reached 50 goals. Ovechkin won the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2012-13, a lockout-shortened campaign in which he finished with 32 goals in 48 games. Prorate those numbers to a full season and he ends up with 55 markers, while runner-up Steven Stamkos' 29 goals become 50.
The last full-season finish to claim the goal-scoring title with similar totals was Jarome Iginla, who did so with the Calgary Flames in 2003-04, scoring 41 goals in the final year before the lost season.
Interestingly enough, at 5.45 goals per game, NHL squads are finding the net at a higher pace than the past five seasons, but are seemingly doing so with a more balanced attack.
Secrets will apparently be safe among NHL general managers.
The executives due to submit a protected roster in June are apparently collectively against releasing these lists to the public before the Vegas Golden Knights select their expansion team, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
This makes practical sense for the teams, which, at least for the time being, will keep players in the dark about their exposures, therefore avoiding the potential straining of relationships.
That said, if teams are allowed to keep the lists private, the NHL will miss out on a wonderful opportunity to foster interest, debate, and discussion in all 31 markets.
LeBrun didn't specify if the protected lists might be released after the fact - but it certainly won't stop reporters from digging up the names anyway.
After picking up wins in San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles, the Panthers swept the California road swing, a first in franchise history, and a performance that clawed the Panthers back into the playoff race.
Victories over the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues bookended the California games to mark a five-game win streak, with the defeat over the Blues pushing the Panthers to 28-20-10 and third in the Atlantic.
But Florida has failed to build on that success since returning to Sunrise. The Panthers have played five of their last six games on home ice, but have churned out only a single win, an overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The lack of recent success has the Panthers mired in a dog fight for the East's last wild-card spot, held by the New York Islanders, while three other clubs stand between Florida and New York.
On Tuesday, the Panthers suffered a key loss to the New York Rangers, falling 5-2, which coach Tom Rowe chalked up as a frustrating loss for the club.
The Panthers have one win in Sunrise since Feb. 4, but will have a chance to find the win column Friday when they take to the Minnesota Wild.
There was a time not too long ago when the introduction of offside review in the NHL was viewed as a positive. From now on, all calls would be correct.
Sure enough, they were bang on. Calls have been correct, only infuriatingly so.
It has, of course, in reality been nothing short of a disaster. The NHL (a league short on the thrill of points being scored) is losing far too many goals to grainy frame-by-frame analysis and ambiguous rulings that leave fans, and often coaches and players, dumbfounded.
Now, this is has nothing to do with the latest apparent conundrum facing the NHL: rampant misrepresentation in the league standings. But it should serve as a reminder that change needs to be tirelessly thought out, and isn't easily reversed.
Let's get two things out of the way before diving into the latest debate. The NHL is not scrapping the shootout, because the importance of having a conclusive result is immense for reasons beyond seeding. And second, the idea of waiving the loser point and awarding the shootout winner the full two points, is patently absurd. The full value on a 60-minute hockey game cannot be decided by eight players or more in an isolated, fabricated, one-on-one non-hockey scenario. It can't be that way. Not ever.
So it leaves us with one option for potential change: Each game is worth three points. A regulation win carries the full freight under this format, leaving the current overtime and shootout allotment as is.
This makes a ton of sense, beginning with the obvious reality that all games in a North American professional sports league should carry a consistent value. And there's no doubt that a truer representation of performance and efficiency will be reflected in the overall standings.
But would it be worth it?
Running the totals under this format brings about change and certain swings in most divisions, and perhaps provides a more accurate depiction.
Division
Metro
Atlantic
WAS
124
MTL
103
NYR
121
OTT
101
CBJ
116
BOS
96
PIT
112
TB
83
NYI
89
TOR
81
PHI
81
FLA
76
CAR
69
BUF
74
NJ
67
DET
64
Central
Pacific
MIN
119
SJ
110
CHI
115
ANA
97
NAS
92
CGY
97
STL
92
EDM
96
WIN
85
LA
81
DAL
78
VAN
74
COL
48
ARI
60
Here, the New York Rangers emerge as the greatest threat to the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan, pulling to within a brand-new three-point win; the Ottawa Senators are justifiably neck-and-neck with the Montreal Canadiens for the Atlantic Division crown, while the Toronto Maple Leafs are now a long shot for even the wild card; and the Calgary Flames have earned a slight edge on the Edmonton Oilers, though the Pacific remains tightly bunched.
There are sizable, and in some cases insurmountable, deficits in all divisions. For example, the Florida Panthers are 20 points out - as opposed to five under the current format. And elsewhere, the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings go from three points out of wild-card position, to eight and 11, respectively.
But the most important conclusion to be drawn from comparing the two formats is that all 16 teams in current postseason position, though slightly rearranged, remain safe inside the bracket.
Now this won't invariably be the case - and it wasn't as recent as last season when the Bruins missed out despite finishing with three regulation wins more than the Detroit Red Wings. And the argument that the postseason race could intensify with regulation wins carrying such considerable value has a leg to stand on.
But despite the importance of more accuracy in the overall standings, and the suspicion regulation will be much more exciting when three points are on the line, proponents of a new mandate must consider that the associated hazards with change (say, perhaps nearly half of local audiences tuning out by the All-Star Game) could potentially be more profound than modifications to the overall seeding itself.
Trudging through the false parity muck is small price to pay if the correct teams punch their tickets.
This is an issue to monitor, not act on impetuously.
Hockey Canada announced Wednesday that Ducharme will return for his second stint as head coach of the Canadian world junior squad.
It marks Ducharme's third time behind the Canadian bench after serving as an assistant in 2016. Ducharme led Canada to a silver medal at last year's tournament. The 2017-18 games will be hosted in Buffalo, beginning in December.
Ducharme, 43, is head coach of the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads. He won the Memorial Cup with Halifax in 2013.
Kris Knoblauch of the OHL's Erie Otters and Tim Hunter of the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors will also return as assistant coaches.
The NHL's 2017-18 salary cap could increase to upwards of $76 million next season depending on annual negotiations with the players' association, Bill Daly said Tuesday, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
The $75.5-million-$76-million projection once again hinges on the NHLPA agreeing to activate the five percent growth escalator. The players could elect against the cap progression, therefore limiting the attached increase in escrow.
There was a belief the players would choose that route last year, but ultimately agreed to trigger a $1.6-million increase.
Daly's projection outlines a potential $2.5-million-$3-million increase, earmarking the salary floor at over $45 million.
The NHL's salary structure is close to doubling the initial $39-million salary cap introduced following the 2004-05 lockout.
That's the stance from NHL general managers, who on the third day of meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., called for a change to the NHL's bye week, which was implemented this season.
"You come out of the break and we looked like a peewee team in Colorado," Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray told TSN's Frank Seravalli. "We're a middle-of-the-pack, or a bottom-third team, however you want to write it. We had to fly to Colorado and play a mile in the air after five days off, so it was no good."
The recommendation calls for half of the league to take its bye week at one time, and the remaining clubs to sit out the following week. The first two games coming out of the bye week would be against teams who were also inactive, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.
As of Feb. 25, teams playing after their bye week combined for a 4-12-4 record.
The next step is for the proposal to be agreed upon by the NHL's board of governors and the players association.
Gary Bettman on this year's bye week schedule: "It didn't work."
The bye week wasn't the only topic covered Wednesday. While previous days focused on larger ideas and ways to increase scoring, the latter part of the week zeroed in on the finer points.
Among the other points of discussion, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly projected next season's salary cap to be between $75.5 million and $76 million, but noted the final number will depend on how the NHLPA votes on the five percent escalator. This year's cap is $73 million.
Meanwhile, one on-ice change could limit when coaches call timeouts. Wednesday's proposal would prevent bench bosses from calling a timeout after an icing. The same rule was implemented in the AHL this season. The rule change will now be voted on by the NHL's competition committee.
The future of NHL participation in the Olympics was also raised Wednesday, however, commissioner Gary Bettman noted league owners are "somewhere between fatigue and negativity" when it comes to participation in Pyeongchang in 2018.
The NHL has been involved in the Olympics since 1998 in Nagano. But as Bettman told Seravalli, "We're focused on a schedule (for next season) that doesn't include the Olympics right now."
Since firing coach Jack Capuano on Jan. 17 and handing the reins to assistant Doug Weight, the Islanders have won 15 of 23 games.
It's a stark contrast from New York's 17-17-8 showing under Capauno, whose club sat last in the East at the time of his dismissal.
Now with 73 points on the season, the Islanders hold down the East's second wild-card seed. In fact, no club has picked up more points than the Islanders since the change behind the bench:
Team
Record
Points
Islanders
14-6-3
31
Rangers
15-7-1
31
Capitals
15-5-1
31
Sharks
13-3-5
31
Blackhawks
15-4-0
30
Senators
14-7-2
30
Wild
14-7-1
29
Penguins
13-5-3
29
Despite his success, Weight credits Capuano for how he's performed in his first shot as a head coach.
"I learned a lot from our previous coach. Jack's a great friend. Preparation is a key for me and I learned that from him," Weight told Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail. "There is a certain way I handle each guy and the way I handle the bench that I believe can be beneficial to us over the course of a season."
New York is in the midst of a nine-game road trip, where they are 4-2-1, with two games remaining against the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues before returning to Brooklyn.
With 17 games left on the campaign, the Islanders have the chance to lock down their third straight playoff appearance, a feat the franchise has accomplished just once since 1988.