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Harrison Browne Becomes First Openly Transgender Professional Hockey Player

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In a story from Michele Steele at ESPN today, it was announced that Harrison Browne, a winger for the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League will now be recognized as the first openly transgender professional athlete in the league, and likely, the world. Browne, who identifies as a man, contacted the league prior to announcing it, to make sure the NWHL would support his transition.

After the story came out, Browne took to The Ice Garden, an SB Nation blog dedicated to the Beauts, to personally explain the decision. In it, he includes an excerpt from his initial email to Dani Rylan, league commissioner.

I am interested in coming out in the league as transgender. I will not be legally changing my name or beginning a physical transition until after I conclude my career in the NWHL. I will be playing in the exact condition that I did last season, just under a new name while using male pronouns.

I would feel most comfortable being addressed via the media, roster, during games, and any PR as Harrison Browne versus Hailey Browne along with using all male pronouns versus female pronouns.

Rylan immediately extended her full support for Browne, saying that the league would do everything necessary to make Browne’s transition possible. In what is a perfect way to explain and sooth any concerns at the situation, Browne ends the piece with this:

When all is said and done, I’m still Brownie: hockey player, teammate, friend, fan of the game.

The Beauts start their season tonight against the Boston Pride at the HarborCenter in Buffalo.

Snapshots: Flyers Rookies, Kronwall, Jordan, Rod

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The Flyers may have a pair of rookies in their opening night lineup. Forward Travis Konecny and defenseman Ivan Provorov have both looked good so far in the pre-season; Konecny is leading the team with six points in six games and Provorov is playing big minutes on a pairing with Mark Streit.

Konecny has played up and down the lineup so far in the pre-season, and figures to be a feisty bottom-six forward with the potential to move up the lineup as needed. He can play either wing or center. Count head coach Dave Hakstol among those impressed by Konecny’s “ability to read a play and make things happen.”

Meanwhile, Provorov has shown great chemistry with Streit after another wonderful season with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL, with 21 goals and 73 points in 62 games. He might be the best of many high-end defensive prospects in the Flyers system.

Seeing as Konecny and Provorov are both still junior-eligible, they’ll need to either play in the NHL or go back to junior. Expect both men to get at least nine games to show he’s ready.

  • The Red Wings may be without Niklas Kronwall to start the season. The veteran defenseman has a knee injury according to Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Coach Jeff Blashill says if Kronwall isn’t available on opening night then the Red Wings will carry eight defensemen to start the season.
  • Former Hurricanes depth defenseman Michal Jordan has signed with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL. It was reported earlier this off-season that Jordan was seeking a one-way contract as an unrestricted free agent (UFA). The Hurricanes had apparently offered him a two-way contract but Jordan wasn’t interested. Jordan has 3 goals and 7 points in 79 NHL games over the last four seasons.
  • And speaking of players signing overseas, San Jose Sharks 2014 second-round pick Noah Rod has signed a five-year extension with his Swiss club, Genève-Servette HC. According to ESPN’s Corey Pronman, Rod does have an out-clause to come to North America to play with the Sharks.

Training Camp Cuts: 10.07.16

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It’s the final week of training camp, and teams are close to naming their opening night rosters. In order to do that, there are still a handful of cuts to be made.

Here are the cuts made on Friday, October 7, 2016:

Anaheim Ducks (via team release):
C Kalle Kossila (assigned to San Diego, AHL)
D Brandon Montour (assigned to San Diego, AHL)
D Shea Theodore (assigned to San Diego, AHL)

Boston Bruins (via Chris Johnston):
C Zac Rinaldo (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (via Bill Hoppe):
D Tyson Strachan (to Rochester, AHL)
C Cal O’Reilly (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Rochester, AHL)
D Taylor Fedun (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Rochester, AHL)

Calgary Flames (via Chris Johnston):
C Linden Vey (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Stockton, AHL)
D Tyler Wotherspoon (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Stockton, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (via Mike Morreale):
G Anton Forsberg (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
LW Markus Hännikäinen (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
LW Sonny Milano (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)

Edmonton Oilers (via Frank Seravalli):
D Griffin Reinhart (assigned to Bakersfield, AHL)

Nashville Predators (via Chris Johnston):
LW Austin Watson (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Milwaukee, AHL)

New York Rangers (via Steve Zipay):
C Gabriel Fontaine (assigned to Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL)
LW Nathan Gerbe (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Hartford, AHL)
LW Tanner Glass (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Hartford, AHL)
C Cristoval “Boo” Nieves (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
G Magnus Hellberg (assigned to Hartford, AHL)

Pittsburgh Penguins (via team Twitter):
C Jake Guentzel (assigned to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
RW Carter Rowney (assigned to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (via team release):
F Kenny Agostino (to Chicago, AHL)
F Ivan Barbashev (to Chicago, AHL)
F Samuel Blais (to Chicago, AHL)
D Jordan Schmaltz (to Chicago, AHL)
G Jordan Binnington (to Chicago, AHL)
D Mike Weber (released)

More to come…

2016-17 Season Preview: Buffalo Sabres

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With the start of the regular season less than a week away, we continue to look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Buffalo Sabres.

Last Season: 35-36-11 record (81 points), 7th in the Atlantic Division.

Remaining Cap Space: $7.6MM per CapFriendly

Key Newcomers: RW Kyle Okposo (UFA, NY Islanders), D Dmitry Kulikov (trade, Florida), G Anders Nilsson (trade, St. Louis)

Key Departures: C David Legwand (UFA), Carlo Colaiacovo (UFA), G Chad Johnson (UFA, Calgary)

[Related: Sabres Depth Chart from Roster Resource]

Players To Watch: C Jack Eichel – Last year’s 2nd overall draft pick lived up to expectations by potting 24G and 32A in 81 games. The Sabres are hoping that Eichel does not suffer from the dreaded sophomore jinx, but the young center’s World Cup performance has to make Buffalo nervous. While he managed 1G and 1A in three games, he did not display the elite playmaking he was known for last year. He’ll be expected to carry a bigger load this season, and those expectations could have a detrimental effect on a young player.

Buffalo will need Eichel to improve upon his rookie season if they hope to challenge for a playoff spot this season. He’ll most likely center the second line as Ryan O’Reilly will take first line duties. As the 2nd overall pick, Eichel will also be constantly compared to Connor McDavid, the same way former Sabres David Legwand was compared to Vincent Lecavalier throughout his career. He’ll have to handle more scrutiny than any other Sabre, despite his young age.

RW Kyle Okposo – Kyle Okposo was the Sabres’ prize free agent signing this summer, inking a seven-year, $6MM a year contract. This is an opportunity for Okposo to escape John Tavares’s shadow, and silence critics who consider him solely a beneficiary of Tavares’s skill. Last year Okposo racked up 22G and 42A in 79 games, and another 2G and 6A in 11 playoff games. He’s scored more than 50 points in each of the last three years, so he should produce even if he doesn’t wow. Playing with Eichel, O’Reilly, and Evander Kane, however, may be enough to treat fans to some world-class highlights.

Key Storyline: The Buffalo Sabres are poised to break free from their rebuild and reap the benefits of prospect development. Last season saw a 27 point jump in the standings, a welcome sign after years of bottom-dwelling. Despite the improvement, however, the Sabres face the toughest part of any rebuild: the shift to a competitive team. This next step stymies rebuilding teams all the time because drafting elite talent with lottery picks is easy—constructing a competitive cap-compliant team and surrounding them with skilled veterans is much more difficult.

A playoff spot may not be attainable yet, but they have to be in the mix until the end for this upcoming season to feel like progress. Anything less would be a setback. Luckily, the Sabres have made strides to improve. They brought in the hottest free agent this year in Kyle Okposo, and traded for an above-average defenseman in Dmitry Kulikov. Couple that with a healthy Robin Lehner and you should see an improved Sabres squad. It may not be enough to challenge in the Atlantic Division, but it will makes things a lot closer than last season.

 

Snapshots: Korpisalo, Russell, Downie

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo will be out for at least four weeks after suffering a groin injury Tuesday, reports the Columbus Dispatch’s Tom Reed. Korpisalo was favored by many to backup Sergei Bobrovsky this season, but the preseason injury opens up that spot to Anton Forsberg or Curtis McElhinney. Korpisalo had a terrific debut last season, earning a 2.60GAA and .920Sv% in 31 games for the Blue Jackets. He’ll likely have the backup job when he returns.
  • The Ottawa Senators are reportedly out of the Kris Russell sweepstakes. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reported that Sens GM Pierre Dorian is set with his eight defenseman and implied that they will not seek additional help via free agency. Russell still remains a free agent after failing to find a deal in the off-season. Time is ticking for the shot-blocking defenseman to find a home before the regular season begins. Russell is arguably the best UFA remaining, but with rosters all but finalized it will be hard for him to find a team willing to come close to his demands. Four teams are reportedly still in the mix, according to TheScore’s Cory Wilkins, but it is not known what offers are on the table.
  • Steve Downie, another unsigned UFA, is mulling over an offer to play in the KHL, per his agent (via SportsNet). Downie last played with the Arizona Coyotes, scoring 3G and 3A in 26 games. He had some success two seasons ago with the Pittsburgh Penguins—scoring 14G and 14A in 72 games—but could never duplicate his 2009-10 season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. That year he scored 22G and 24P in 79 games while racking up over 200 penalty minutes. Discipline issues have dogged Downie his entire career, however, which may explain NHL GMs’ reluctance to sign him.

Gaborik Formally Moved To Injured Reserve

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The Los Angeles Kings formally put injured forward Marian Gaborik on injured reserve today. Gaborik broke his right foot during the World Cup of Hockey after taking a shot from teammate Mats Zuccarello.

Initial reports say that Gaborik will miss at least eight weeks, putting his return to sometime in late November. Despite the loss, however, the Kings are still poised to be competitive in the Pacific. Gaborik did score 12G and 10A in 54 games, but the offense was carried by Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, and Tyler Toffoli. Gaborik ended up averaging less than 15 minutes a night during the regular season.

Gaborik is quickly becoming an injury concern for the Kings, deservedly or not. He finished the regular season last year in the press box recovering from a knee sprain that sidelined him for 28 games. He made a quick appearance in the playoffs before the Kings bowed out in the first round. More alarming, however, is that Gaborik has only played a full 82 games once in his 15 year career. The Kings will have to learn to live with Gaborik’s injury history as he still has five year remaining on his contract worth $4.875MM a year.

Atlantic Notes: Vanek, O’Reilly, Ristolainen, Byron, Czarnik

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While he was quickly cast aside in recent years by Montreal and Minnesota, winger Thomas Vanek is still full of confidence and motivation heading into the season, writes MLive’s Ansar Khan.  After the Wild bought him out in June, Detroit quickly snapped him up, signing him to a one year, $2.6MM deal.  Vanek noted a big reason for signing with the Red Wings was their belief that he can fill a key role with the team:

“The way they described my game and how they see my fit here, it’s something I wanted to hear because I still feel I can score 20-plus goals.”

Vanek is expected to start the season alongside speedy center Darren Helm although the opposite winger has yet to be determined.  Head coach Jeff Blashill also stated that Vanek should play on the top power play unit, where he will be expected to get to the front of the net instead of playing on the perimeter as much as he has in recent years.

[Related: Red Wings Depth Chart]

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly left Wednesday’s preseason game – his first since returning from the World Cup of Hockey – with back and midsection spasms, notes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. However, the injury doesn’t appear to be series with head coach Dan Bylsma classifying it as a day-to-day issue.  The team already is missing right winger Kyle Okposo plus blueliners Zach Bogosian and Dmitry Kulikov with various bumps and bruises, although none are believed to be too serious.
  • Bylsma also expects the team to reach an agreement with a contract with RFA defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen before the start of the season next week. The 21 year old is in camp with the team and is taking part in practices (unlike the other restricted free agents around the league) but has not yet suited up in the preseason.
  • Canadiens left winger Paul Byron is battling pneumonia, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie.  He’s expected to miss at least a few days which at least puts his availability for the beginning of the season into question.  Byron had a career high 11 goals with Montreal last season, earning himself a three year contract in the process.
  • Boston center prospect Austin Czarnik has made a significant impression in training camp which has allowed head coach Claude Julien to experiment with an all centers second line comprised of Ryan Spooner, David Krejci, and David Backes, notes CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty. However, Julien suggested that the team may yet experiment with Czarnik on the wing which would force one of the other centers (likely Backes or Spooner) back to the third line.

Coyotes Sign Jalen Smereck To An Entry-Level Contract

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The Arizona Coyotes have signed undrafted defenseman Jalen Smereck to a three year, entry-level deal, according to a team release.  Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.  He had been with the team on an amateur tryout agreement earlier in rookie camp and training camp but was cut in late September.

The 19 year old spent last season with the Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League, scoring five goals and 20 assists in 63 regular season games while adding five points in five postseason contests.  This year, he is suiting up for the Flint Firebirds, who acquired his rights back in June.  He has four assists in two games with the team so far this season and will remain there despite being signed.

Smereck joins an Arizona prospect group that is fairly deep on the back end, including 2016 first round pick Jakob Chychrun who has a good chance of making their opening roster and offseason acquisition Anthony DeAngelo, who had 43 points in his rookie AHL campaign in 2015-16.

As Smereck is junior aged, he won’t count against Arizona’s 50 contract limit unless he plays in more than nine NHL games this season.  The team currently has 47 committed contracts according to Cap Friendly for this season.

No Progress In Rickard Rakell’s Contract Talks

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The agent for Anaheim RFA Rickard Rakell, Peter Wallen, told Eric Stephens of the OC Register that “no progress” has been made over the last week in negotiations.  Rakell is one of two key Ducks who remain unsigned with less than a week to go until the season gets underway, the other being blueliner Hampus Lindholm.

It’s believed that both sides are interested in a long-term deal, with TSN’s Bob McKenzie reporting late last week that the team would like to come in with a cap hit below $4MM per season.  Carolina’s Viktor Rask, a comparable player to Rakell, signed a six year, $24MM deal back in July.

Rakell had been named to Sweden’s roster for the World Cup of Hockey but had to withdraw due to complications arising from an appendectomy he had back in March.  While he was able to play in pre-tournament action last month, he was hospitalized shortly thereafter.  He has since received the green light to resume training.

The 23 year old center played in his second full NHL season in 2015-16, scoring 20 goals and 23 assists in 72 games.  Once he signs, he is likely to reprise his role as a top six forward for the Ducks this season.

Anaheim currently has just shy of $8.5MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly, which likely won’t be enough to give both Rakell and Lindholm long-term deals so GM Bob Murray may still have some work to do.  The team waived Clayton Stoner earlier today but that only freed up $950K in space.

Training Camp Battles: Jets, Blue Jackets, Caggiula, Chabot

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Jets coach Paul Maurice isn’t ruling out carrying three goalies (Ondrej Pavelec, Michael Hutchinson, and Connor Hellebuyck) to start the season, writes Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun.  Hellebuyck is viewed as Winnipeg’s goalie of the future but is the only waiver exempt goalie of the three.  It’s uncommon but not rare for teams to carry three (the Islanders did for the bulk of last year) as not only does it mean that one is in the press box every night, it also prevents the team from carrying another extra skater which is often more desirable.

Pavelec is entering the final year of his contract which carries a cap hit of $3.9MM.  However, he struggled last year with a save percentage of just .904 with a GAA of 2.78 which would make it very difficult to trade him.

Hutchinson, meanwhile, signed a two year deal this offseason with a more manageable cap charge of $1.15MM.  While his numbers weren’t much better than Pavelec’s last year (a slightly worse GAA while being three points higher in save percentage), he likely slots in as the backup moving forward and doesn’t appear to be a candidate to be traded.

If they do keep all three up to start, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Winnipeg shuffle Hellebuyck back and forth between their AHL affiliate, who plays out of the same area as the Jets.

Other training camp battles to follow:

  • Still with goaltenders, there is a battle brewing for the number two job with Columbus, notes Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Sergei Bobrovsky is the surefire starter but incumbent Curtis McElhinney plus youngsters Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo are both in the mix as well.  Of the three, only the 33 year old McElhinney would have to clear waivers.  Forsberg has had the best preseason but if the team decides that it’s best for their young players to play more in the AHL than dress as the backup with the big club, they may opt to keep the veteran around to start the season and see if one of the youngsters forces his way into the role midseason or as a spot starter.
  • Edmonton rookie center Drake Caggiula has turned heads at camp, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. The Oilers signed the small but highly coveted college UFA late last season and he has made a run at a roster spot.  Tychkowski opines that his strong play could allow the team to bump Leon Draisaitl up to the wing to further strengthen their second line.
  • 19 year old defenseman Thomas Chabot has made the opening Ottawa roster, according to a tweet from his junior team in Saint John.  Chabot was Ottawa’s top pick in 2015 (18th overall) and had 45 points in 47 games at the QMJHL level last season.  He’s eligible to play in nine NHL games before burning the first year of his entry-level contract.

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