The Tips have a day off, so here are some musings

Published 12:40 pm Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Some odds and ends on an off day for the Tips:

– Let’s take a peek at the playoff situation with six weeks remaining in the season.

Everett is in first place in the U.S. Division with 68 points. That’s three points ahead of Portland, which has played two more games. Third-place Seattle is 12 points back, having played one fewer game than the Tips.

Of course, the WHL revised its playoff procedures this season, moving back to a division-based format. The top three teams in the division go into a pool, along with a wild-card team. As things currently stand, Everett, Portland and Seattle would be the three automatic U.S. Division qualifiers. Since Kelowna has the best record in the conference, the U.S. pool would get the better of the two wild-card teams, which right now would be Spokane. Therefore, the Tips would face the Chiefs in the first round, with the winner facing the Portland-Seattle winner in the second round.

But when I look at the U.S. Division this season, it seems like there’s little benefit from finishing first, as I don’t see any of the U.S. teams being one you want to face in the first round. There’s no easy match-up to be had among the five teams. So while the Tips are trying to end their eight-year banner drought, there won’t be much of a playoff reward should Everett manage to finish first.

– In some housecleaning from earlier this week, there was a scoring change from last Friday’s 7-1 victory over Vancouver as Patrick Bajkov’s first goal was taken away and given to Tristen Pfeifer. That means Bajkov didn’t have his first career WHL hat trick (boo!), but it does mean that Pfeifer had his first career WHL goal (yay!). Also, in the shuffle Matt Fonteyne was given an assist on the goal, giving him three in the game. It was Fonteyne’s first’s career three-point game.

– Lastly, what’s going on with Mirco Mueller?

The former Everett defenseman was kept by the NHL’s San Jose Sharks as a 19-year-old this season, but for some reason the Sharks seem determined not to play him in any games. Mueller began the season playing in most of San Jose’s games, but come late November he started being scratched regularly, and he was lent to Switzerland for the World Junior Hockey Championships. Upon returning from World Juniors he was placed on injured reserve because of a wrist injury. He was activated and sent to the AHL for a conditioning assignment, but he was recalled after just three games even though he still had time left on his conditioning stint. Since being recalled he’s been a healthy scratch in all three of San Jose’s games. Mueller has appeared in just 24 of San Jose’s 51 games, notching a goal, two assists, eight penalty minutes and a minus-2 rating.

I have to admit to being baffled by what San Jose is doing. Mueller was the team’s first-round pick in the 2013 NHL draft. You’d think the Sharks would be doing everything they could to nurture the development of such a highly-regarded prospect. But it’s tough for a 19-year-old to develop if he’s never on the ice.

There’s still an outside chance Mueller could end up back in Everett. Because he’s 19 and drafted out of the WHL, Mueller can only be a full-time player in the NHL and the WHL this season. He’s already burned the first year of his entry-level contract and his first year toward free agency, so the Sharks can’t save anything by sending Mueller down at this point. But will San Jose finally come to its senses and decide Mueller needs to play? The Sharks can still reassign Mueller to Everett up to the March 2 NHL trade deadline, and we’ve received confirmation from the league that if Mueller is returned to Everett the Tips can play three Europeans because the WHL trade deadline has already passed.

I don’t expect it to happen, but you never know …