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Gerry Mayhew Wins AHL MVP

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The Les Cunningham Award has been given to Gerry Mayhew of the Iowa Wild, named the AHL’s most valuable player after a vote from coaches, players, and media around the league. Mayhew follows Daniel Carr who won the award in 2018-19.

In only his third full season in the AHL, the 27-year old Mayhew has proven that hard work and determination can pay off. After going undrafted out of the USHL despite his strong play, the 5’9″ forward dominated at the collegiate level for Ferris State University. When he stepped into the AHL in 2017 his goal-scoring touch came with him.

Mayhew had already experienced success over the last two seasons, but this year he took his game to an entirely new level. With 39 goals he was the league’s scoring champ despite playing in just 49 games. Those 39 tallies were also the most by an AHL skater in nearly a decade, another incredible feat given his shortened season.

Not only was the AHL campaign cut short by the COVID-19 outbreak, but Mayhew also got his first chance in the NHL, playing 13 games for the Minnesota Wild.

Mayhew has one more year on his two-way contract with the Wild, which carries a $700K cap hit at the NHL level.

Snapshots: Brackett, UAH, Voronkov

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The Vancouver Canucks will not be bringing back amateur scouting director Judd Brackett after failing to come to a new agreement. Brackett’s name has been in the news the last few months after reports surfaced that there was a dispute over how much control he had in Vancouver, something that Canucks GM Jim Benning confirmed today to Thomas Drance of The Athletic:

I believe in a chain of command… I don’t know too many places where a team is going to give a head scout total autonomy to make all the picks without collaborating with people higher up..

Brackett has been with the Canucks for more than a decade and is credited–at least partially–for the team’s relatively strong draft record.

  • Amazingly, a GoFundMe to try and save the University of Alabama-Huntsville hockey program has reached its goal of $500,000. The program was cut due to financial concerns last week, but immediately fans of the team (and one famous alumnus) rallied to try and keep the Chargers from disappearing. No word yet on whether the plan has worked, but it was an impressive campaign nonetheless.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets will have to wait quite some time to get Dmitri Voronkov into the organization after the prospect forward signed a new three-year contract in the KHL today. Selected 114th overall in 2019, the 6’4″ center was a standout at the World Juniors for Russia, scoring seven points in seven games. His new contract will keep him in the KHL through the 2022-23 season.

Ruslan Iskhakov Signs In Finland

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Ruslan Iskhakov has decided to leave the University of Connecticut and turn pro, but it won’t be with the New York Islanders. The 19-year old forward has signed a one-year contract in Finland, where he will play for TPS.

Iskhakov was originally selected by the Islanders 43rd overall in 2018 after completely dominating minor hockey in Slovakia (he scored 104 points in 44 games during the 2016-17 season) and showing well in the Russian MHL. Despite his small frame he also found success at the college level, recording 42 points in 64 games over two seasons.

It’s very interesting that he is pursuing his professional career in Finland, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t come to the Islanders eventually. For now, they’ll have to watch his development from afar and try to convince him to join their organization down the road.

Pittsburgh Penguins Place Linus Olund On Unconditional Waivers

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Friday: Olund has cleared waivers according to CapFriendly.

Thursday: The Pittsburgh Penguins are clearing a contract slot today, placing Linus Olund on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination. Olund’s entry-level contract extended through 2020-21, but he will be allowed to pursue other opportunities should he clear waivers tomorrow.

This move comes without much surprise, given that Olund played this season in Sweden on loan from the Penguins anyway. The 22-year old forward spent the 2018-19 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after signing his deal, but managed just 15 points in 61 games and returned to the SHL this year.

A contract termination would technically make him an unrestricted free agent able to sign with another NHL organization, but it seems more likely that Olund will be spending the foreseeable future in Sweden’s top league.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Matej Chalupa

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The Chicago Blackhawks have dipped into the European free agent waters once again, this time signing Matej Chalupa out of the Czech Republic. Chalupa has agreed to terms on a two-year entry-level contract that will start with the 2020-21 season.

The 21-year old Chalupa went undrafted but has continued to progress and recorded seven goals and 24 points playing in the highest Czech professional league. That was actually good enough for fourth on his team in scoring and obviously grabbed the attention of the Blackhawks.

Chicago has had success bringing over free agent European talent in the past, including fellow Czech forward David Kampf who has played 179 games over the last three years for the club. Even if Chalupa only becomes a depth piece for the team, finding any NHL-level talent on the open market is a way to support your organization and work within a tight salary cap.

Vegas AHL Affiliate Announces Name, Logo

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It’s official, the new AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights will be known as the Henderson Silver Knights. While the name comes as little surprise after reports months ago, the logo—which is very reminiscent of the Golden Knights themselves—was revealed in a ceremony tonight.

The Silver Knights were born when the Golden Knights bought the San Antonio Rampage earlier this year and almost immediately announced they would be relocating to Henderson. The team will play out of Orleans Arena in Las Vegas until a new facility is constructed.

As with everything the Golden Knights have done so far, the production value on a minor league name announcement was top notch. As Patrick Williams of NHL.com tweets, the event “raises the bar” for the AHL as a whole. Bill Foley, owner of both teams, announced that his goal is to “bring the Stanley Cup here and now also the Calder Cup.”

The Silver Knights will begin play in the 2020-21 season. Foley announced tonight that 7,600 season ticket deposits have already been taken.

Snapshots: Phase 3, Draft Pick Deadline, Ristolainen

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According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the NHL has informed players that Phase 3 of the league’s return to play plan, a three-week training camp, will not start before July 10. Phase 2, small group workouts, is expected to begin as early as next week.

Though a mid-July start for training camp shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point, it does mean that the Stanley Cup will not be awarded for quite some time. James Mirtle of The Athletic suggests it could be October before a 2019-20 champion is crowned.

  • There was some confusion today when reports from several sources including Darren Dreger of TSN surfaced, explaining that the league is pushing the June 1 entry-level contract deadline back a month. As CapFriendly tweets, this is not referring to the deadline for players like Winnipeg Jets draft pick Declan Chisholm, who still needs a contract by Monday or will become an unrestricted free agent. Instead, this is referring to the initial period (between March 1 and July 1) when entry-level contracts can be signed for the following season. Basically, this extended deadline will give the NHLPA more time to negotiate against the league’s decision to not allow players like Kirill Kaprizov and Alexander Romanov to sign for the 2019-20 campaign without risk of being late to file a 2020-21 contract. Though the league was clear about not wanting these players jumping right into the playoffs, the union and their individual representatives are still fighting.
  • Several Buffalo Sabres players were obviously frustrated today when speaking to reporters about another failed season, and like always Rasmus Ristolainen provided some juicy quotes. As John Vogl of The Athletic tweets, Ristolainen believes he’ll be “one of the first ones that’s probably going to get traded” if the Sabres decide to make sweeping changes to the roster. It’s not the first time that Ristolainen has implied he feels like he could be on the way out of Buffalo, but just yesterday GM Jason Botterill referred to him as a “core player.” Ristolainen has two years remaining on his current contract which carries a $5.4MM cap hit.

New York Islanders Agree To Terms With Three Prospects

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The New York Islanders have agreed to terms with Felix Bibeau, Cole Coskey and Blade Jenkins. CapFriendly reports that Jenkins has signed a three-year entry-level contract, while both Bibeau and Coskey have signed one-year AHL deals.

Bibeau, 21, is the oldest of the three but was only drafted in 2019. The sixth-round pick was passed over in his first two years of eligibility, but after an impressive season that saw him lift the Memorial Cup with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies the Islanders took a chance.

Coskey, 20, was a seventh-round pick by the Islanders last year but has landed a deal after putting up 80 points in 62 games for the Saginaw Spirit. The 6’0″ winger may have been overshadowed by teammate Cole Perfetti, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hold his own at the next level.

Jenkins, the youngest of the group at 19 was actually drafted in 2018 and could have become an unrestricted free agent next week. The Islanders needed to sign him before June 1 and after a mediocre season it was unclear if they would take the chance and use a contract slot. Jenkins recorded just 16 goals and 40 points in 47 games for the Spirit, not exactly dominating the league in his third OHL season.

All three players will join the organization but don’t seem likely candidates to challenge for a role in the NHL right away. More likely we’ll see them taking the ice in the AHL (or even ECHL) for the time being.

Josh Norris Wins AHL Rookie Of The Year

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It’s been quite the season for Ottawa Senators prospect Josh Norris, who kicked off his professional career after two successful years at the University of Michigan. Not only did Norris lead all first-year AHL players in scoring with 61 points in 56 games, but he was named to the All-Rookie and First All-Star Teams as well. Today, the league announced what was obvious after those previous accolades: Norris is your AHL Rookie of the Year, winning the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award.

Originally selected 19th overall by the San Jose Sharks in 2017, Norris was a key part of the Erik Karlsson trade the next year. At that point, the young forward was still in college and unsigned, but it was obvious he had huge potential as a future top-six contributor.

The 21-year old even got a chance to suit up with Ottawa for a few games, but will still be looking for his first NHL point when things resume in the winter. Whether he starts with the big club is unclear, but Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion did call Norris a “future star” today on a conference call with reporters including Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet.

Latest On New Jersey Devils Coaching Search

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The New Jersey Devils won’t be playing any more hockey for quite some time as one of the teams not included in the 24-team format, but that doesn’t mean they can take a vacation. The front office has plenty of work to do this offseason, including making a decision on interim GM Tom Fitzgerald and interim coach Alain Nasreddine.

On the coaching side, reports have surfaced over the last several weeks the Devils have shown interest in several top names. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that New Jersey is “eyeing at least four candidates” with Nasreddine, Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette, and John Stevens the known contenders.

Laviolette comes with the most experience as an NHL head coach, with over 1,300 games behind the bench. He also comes with a ton of regular season success—only one team coached by Laviolette has finished under .500—but doesn’t have nearly as much in the postseason.

Gallant meanwhile is another coach with plenty of success, though his last two stops have ended abruptly. After taking the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season and getting them back to the playoffs in year two, the organization made a switch in 2019-20.

Obviously at this point there is no rush in bringing in the next Devils head coach, especially if next season doesn’t start until January. But for a franchise that once went to the playoffs 19 times in 20 years (including four trips to the finals and three cups) there must be a lot of anxious energy to get things back on track.

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