Across The Pond: NLA
After taking a look at the KHL last week, we turn now to the league challenging them for the title of #2 to the NHL: Switzerland’s National League A. This summer, the growing trend of displaced NHLers choosing to play in Switzerland continued. Once an afterthought compared to the massive and seemingly boundless Kontinental Hockey League, the little NLA, confined just within Swiss borders, has begun to bring in top talent year after year. No better example exists than 2016 #1 overall pick Auston Matthews. Professional hockey in Switzerland received an all-time high in global attention last season when Matthews decided to play professionally overseas a year before he was eligible to be selected into the NHL. Never before had a high-profile prospect made such a decision, and if they had, Switzerland would not have been the top candidate. Matthews was far from the only recognizable name playing on a Swiss roster though, and his departure has not stopped the talent, both North American and European, from continuing to mount in the NLA.
With the newfound attention on the league, some of Europe’s best talent have begun to follow North Americans to a league that used to be almost entirely composed of just Swiss natives. This is evident in the NLA scoring race. Instead of being dominated by imports like Nathan Gerbe, Nick Spaling, Rob Schremp, and Dustin Jeffrey or Swiss veterans like Damien Brunner and Roman Wick, it is instead a mixture of those groups and talent from around Europe. While no longer of interest to NHL teams, the leader of this group is 37-year-old Tommi Santala. Some may remember Santala from short stints with the Atlanta Thrashers and Vancouver Canucks in the early 2000’s. but the Finnish winger has made a name for himself in Switzerland in recent years. In the twilight of his career, Santala is on pace for his best season yet with 32 points in 27 games for EHC Kloten. A more interesting NHL option may be HC Lugano’s Linus Klasen. Although undersized, the speedy Klasen has been a point-per-game player or better in each of the past three seasons. So far in 2016-17, the Swedish native has ten goals and a league-leading 22 assists in 29 games. Although Klasen had a cup of coffee with the Nashville Predators in 2010-11, he has never truly had a shot at the NHL. At 30 years old, his time is running out, but another dominant season coupled with a weak free agent market may give him another chance at competing with the best. In a similar position is fellow countryman Robert Nilsson, who enjoyed several decent seasons with the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers, but of late has been playing the best hockey of his career with the ZSC Lions. While over the hump at 31, a player known for his intelligence and vision may be able to find his way back to the NHL if his production keeps up.
Rangers Notes: Nash, Vesey, Puempel
The New York Rangers have been one of the biggest stories of the NHL this season, with their unbelievable start followed by some struggling of late that’s seen them relinquish the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Still scoring at an incredible rate, the team is now facing some injuries up front to some of their biggest names according to Jim Cerny of The Hockey Writers.
Rick Nash has been taken for an MRI on his groin after leaving the game last night in the second period. Nash has 18 points through the first 27 games and is actually on a similar pace to his career-worst 36 point 2015-16. Groin injuries often linger, so if it’s anything significant it could spell trouble for the remainder of the 32-year old veteran’s season. Nash has one more year remaining after this one at $7.8MM for the Rangers as he nears the end of the eight-year, $62.4MM deal he signed in 2009.
- Jimmy Vesey, the summer’s most sought-after (or at least talked about) free agent is off to a solid start to his NHL career with 16 points in 27 games. The Harvard alum is dealing with an upper-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day. After going through a considerable lull in November when he scored just three points in eleven games, Vesey got back on the board last night. Especially if Nash is to miss time, the Rangers will need the rookie to step up and handle more responsibility and ice time on the wing if they’re to get back on track.
- Another depth option was Matt Puempel, but after suffering a concussion last night he’s been listed as out indefinitely and been placed on injured reserve. Puempel was claimed by New York off waivers from the Ottawa Senators last month after he was held pointless through 13 games. While he’s fared just slightly better for the Rangers (one goal in six games), his relative youth and pedigree (drafted 24th overall in 2011) suggest he could still develop into a legitimate NHL winger. Last season, Puempel scored 30 points in 34 games at the AHL level, but never really got a chance to prove he could fit into the Senators’ long-term plans. All of a sudden the Rangers depth on the wing, once a strength of the team, is looking rather thin.
Roster Moves: Noesen, Barberio, Mueller
The Anaheim Ducks have decided to bring up Stefan Noesen from the San Diego Gulls today as Rickard Rakell missed the morning skate with an upper-body injury. Noesen is a big, angry winger who can contribute at both ends of the ice but has faced injury throughout his young professional career. Selected in the first round in 2011, Noesen has only played in 116 games over the past three and a half seasons but is fully healthy and ready to make an impact at the NHL level. He’s played two games on emergency call-ups in the past, but was held scoreless in each. This year he’s collected 11 points and 28 penalty minutes in 18 AHL contests.
- Mark Barberio has been sent back to the AHL by the Montreal Canadiens after six games with the big club. The 26-year old defenseman recorded a single assist and four penalty minutes in his time up with the club and will now wait for his next chance. A veteran of 139 NHL games, Barberio hasn’t been able to carve out a spot for himself with the Canadiens since signing as a free agent in 2015. The move likely means that Nathan Beaulieu is ready to come back after taking a puck to the throat two weeks ago.
- The Canadiens have also sent Charles Hudon down to the AHL. Hudon had been called up earlier this season but suffered a broken sternum in practice on November 25th and was placed on injured reserve. The young forward played in just three games and recorded two assists prior to the injury.
- While the Canadiens send down a defender, the San Jose Sharks have brought one up. The team recalled Mirco Mueller today though it’s not clear what the corresponding move will be. The 21-year old Mueller was the Sharks first-round pick in 2013 (#18th overall) and broke in as a youngster in 2014-15 before spending most of last year in the AHL for more seasoning. In 16 AHL contests this year, Mueller has six assists and six penalty minutes. The Swiss-born defender has drawn rave reviews for his calm, safe play in his own end and is expected to develop an offensive game as he matures.
- In Pittsburgh, the Penguins have sent both Jake Guentzel and Derrick Pouliot to Wilker-Barre/Scranton ahead of their matchup Thursday against the Florida Panthers. As Bill West of TribLive reports, the Penguins didn’t want their young players just sitting on the sideline. While Guentzel and Pouliot have been held out of the lineup for different reasons, they’ve played just six games combined in the NHL this season and at 22-years old can still benefit from the added ice time in the minors. Pouliot, coming back from a lower-body injury had recently completed a conditioning stint with the WBS Penguins and will now likely skate on their top pairing.
Linus Arnesson Out 3-6 Months With Achilles Surgery
According to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal, Boston Bruins prospect Linus Arnesson will undergo Achilles surgery on Thursday and has been given a timeline of three to six months for his recovery. The defenseman suffered the injury on Saturday against the Springfield Thunderbirds in a 3-2 loss.
Arnesson has yet to make his debut for the Bruins since being drafted in the second round in 2013, but has slowly developed into a solid shutdown type that was knocking at the NHL door. The 22-year old played several years at the highest level in Sweden before coming over to suit up for the baby-Bruins two seasons ago.
For a Bruins team that has seen various injuries to Zdeno Chara, John-Michael Liles, Joe Morrow and Kevan Miller this season, having Arnesson as deep insurance was a luxury. Now the team will have to look elsewhere if injury strikes again. The young defender will also lose out on crucial development time as he comes to the end of his entry-level deal. He’ll be a restricted free agent for the first time this offseason.
Toronto Wins Jared Cowen Arbitration Case
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won their arbitration case with defenseman Jared Cowen, according to multiple hockey insiders including Elliotte Friedman and Bob McKenzie.
Cowen will remain an unrestricted free agent, as Toronto’s buyout of his contract was deemed legal. Back in January, Frank Seravalli of TSN reported that a buyout of Cowen’s contract would give a team a $650K cap credit for 2016-17, and count for $750K against the cap in 2017-18.
Shortly thereafter, the Maple Leafs acquired Cowen in the Dion Phaneuf trade. Cowen did not play a single game for Toronto as GM Lou Lamorellio sent him home to home await a buyout in March; Cowen’s agent was given permission to speak with other teams about signing as a UFA. Cowen was sent home because the CBA stipulates that an injured player cannot be bought out, so the Maple Leafs did not want to risk him re-injuring his hip and being unable to be bought out. However, Cowen and his agent grieved the eventual buyout for that exact reason: they believed he was hurt and therefore ineligible to be bought out.
The two sides met with the arbitrator on October 19, and ultimately the arbitrator ruled that there was no evidence that Cowen was unfit to play when the Maple Leafs bought him out in July.
Prior to this decision, Cowen was a free agent in the eyes of the NHL. He remains free to sign with any team, and the Maple Leafs remain at 48 contracts with the cap credit for this season.
Friedman’s Latest: Cap, Islanders, Purcell, Cowen
In the latest edition of his wonderful 30 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman touched on a wide variety of topics of interest to hockey fans, including where the salary cap is expected to land for the 2017-18 season.
- At this month’s GM meetings, managers are expecting to receive a preliminary number for the salary cap. Friedman reported that a couple GMs are “hoping for $75MM.”
That would be an increase of $2MM over the current $73MM ceiling. Last summer, the cap went up by just $1.6MM, which was a smaller increase than what most teams were expecting, and also one of the smaller increases in cap history. The cap has risen by more than $3MM six times since it was implemented in 2005-06. - After discussing the New York Islanders management situation, Friedman joked that “one day I’m going to ply GM Garth Snow with enough truth serum to find out how hard he planned to go after Steven Stamkos, what he was going to offer, and how that affected his July 1, 2016 decisions.”
The off-season did not go as planned for the Islanders, who lost Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to free agency and replaced them with Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. Ladd has just three goals and six points this season, and is signed for seven years. He’s a prominent member of Pro Hockey Rumors’ 2016 UFA All-Bust Team. - As we speculated when he was placed on waivers, the Los Angeles Kings had tried to trade Teddy Purcell before placing him on waivers. However, they were not willing to take a contract back, as we suggested most teams would offer. Friedman suggested Ottawa could have interest, as Purcell previously played for Senators head coach Guy Boucher when the pair were in Tampa Bay, but it doesn’t work at the moment for budget reasons. Friedman says he “wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes a chance” later in the season
- Finally, with Jared Cowen‘s arbitration result due to come later today, Friedman pointed out that a Cowen win would “wreak havoc” on next year’s cap for the Maple Leafs because of rookie bonus overages. Currently Cowen’s buyout is a $650K cap credit for Toronto, but that could change to a $3.1MM cap hit depending on whether or not the arbitrator deems Cowen was healthy enough to buy-out in the summer (numbers via Cap Friendly).
Red Wings Activate Jimmy Howard
The Detroit Red Wings have taken goaltender Jimmy Howard off Injured Reserve, the team announced Wednesday.
To make room on the roster, Detroit re-assigned goaltender Jared Coreau and forward Tomas Nosek to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.
Howard’s return should help the Red Wings as they try to climb back into a Wildcard position. While Petr Mrazek was expected to be the starter this season, he’s struggled with a 7-5-3 record and a below-average SV% of 0.907. Howard, initially thought to be relegated to the backup role, has a 0.940 SV% and a 1.82 GAA. Howard’s 5-5-0 record is much more indicative of the Red Wings’ scoring troubles than his play.
His return to form comes as Detroit must decide which goaltender to protect in the expansion draft. Because teams can only protect one goalie, common sense dictates that Detroit protects the younger and cheaper Mrazek. Howard, who makes $5.29MM, may have played his way onto the Vegas Golden Knights.
Coreau played his first NHL game during this recall, allowing four goals on 36 shots against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. His numbers are much better with the Griffins, and that’s where he headed. He’s trending towards becoming an NHL backup option, perhaps as soon as next season if Howard or Mrazek end up in Vegas.
Nosek, an undrafted free agent signing in 2014, did not make appear in any NHL games during this latest recall. He is around a point-per-game this season in the AHL after back-to-back seasons with 30-plus points. He’s been held pointless in six NHL games so far in his career, all played last season.
Custance’s Latest: Teams Hurt By Cap Recapture Rules
In the salary cap era, there is nothing worse than a bloated contract, especially one susceptible to the cap recapture rules. ESPN’s Craig Custance listed a number of teams who suffer from such a fate, and explains as such:
For some teams, that pain has arrived. And it could be worse than originally projected because of cap recapture rules since put in place in the new CBA to punish teams if the player retires early or the contract is traded.
“Teams that did those contracts essentially embarrassed Gary [Bettman]. We found a way to circumvent the CBA legally,” said one executive. “He was incensed, and said ‘I’m going to get you back.’ Which he did.”
Now because of decisions made years ago, in the name of winning it all or rewarding players who helped make it happen, there are a group of teams that have legacy costs built into their current salary cap structure.
Two teams who managed to stay in good shape contract wise–while contending– are the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Pens not having any legacy costs. But the teams below, according to Custance, are the ones who suffered from the wrath of Bettman.
- Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Matt Greene are the contracts that have the Kings on the hook for awhile. Along with Mike Richards‘ cap recapture hit of $1.32MM, the Kings have a legacy cost of $8.545MM. Though they won two Stanley Cups since 2012, the cost may have hurt them in terms of losing Milan Lucic and Justin Williams due to a lack of cap room.
- Chicago Blackhawks
Sure, they’ve won three Cups since 2010, but the Marian Hossa deal will eventually be a “real headache” since it still has four years left. Further, Custance writes that the Hawks could be in for real trouble by the 2019-20 season when the core of the Hawks, namely Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford are all into their 30’s and saddling the payroll with a combined $40MM.
- Detroit Red Wings
General manager Ken Holland anchored the team with a number of long term, and expensive contracts. Custance’s list doesn’t include the new deals that include a 32-year-old Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen combine for a legacy cost of $9.34MM. Custance believes the Wings could get out of the Howard contract by trade, but Kronwall and Zetterberg’s deals will cripple the Wings for years to come, especially as their play declines. The legacy cost for Detroit: $9.34MM.
- Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have a few big contracts, namely the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Alexander Edler and Roberto Luongo ($800K retained). Custance notes that while he would take the Sedins on his team any day, their decline is certainly happening.
Philip Larsen Leaves Game On A Stretcher
8:06pm: The Canucks Twitter account reports that Larsen was “awake and responsive” as he left the ice.
A scary moment in New Jersey as Vancouver Canucks defenseman Philip Larsen absorbed a brutal check by Taylor Hall that resulted in him being taken off the ice on a stretcher. Frank Seravalli tweets that replays appeared to show Larsen unconscious before he hit the ice. The tweet also includes video of the hit.
As Hall approached, Larsen was caught with his head down as he tried to play the puck behind the net. Seravalli adds that Larsen had some movement in his extremities as he was wheeled off the ice. The Canucks tweeted out their support for Larsen while the Devils responded with a similar tweet.
Akim Aliu Signs In ECHL (Update: AHL PTO)
Update (2/12/2017): Everyone’s favorite Nigerian-Ukrainian hockey player is getting closer to a return to the NHL. Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline reports that Aliu has signed a professional tryout offer with the Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters. While an AHL tryout is still very far away from an NHL call-up, it’s certainly a step closer than an ECHL deal. If he performs well in Cleveland and earns a contract, he could be playing with friend, junior teammate, and Columbus captain Nick Foligno by next season. Aliu has 12 points in 13 ECHL games so far this season and, unbelievably, 61 penalty minutes as well.
12/6/2016: One of the more interesting prospects of the last decade is back in North America. Akim Aliu, a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2007, has signed with the Florida Everblades, the ECHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes. Aliu returns to the United States after playing with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL last season.
A native of Okene, Nigeria, Aliu is one of three native Africans to ever play in the NHL, and the only one to line up at forward. Much like fellow countryman Rumun Ndur and the legendary Olaf Kolzig, Aliu left Africa at a young age, spending much of his young life living in Ukraine. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Aliu’s family moved to Canada, where he discovered hockey. Despite having never played the game before, Aliu was such a natural talent that he was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League after just a few years on the ice.
In his first junior season with the Windsor Spitfires, Aliu was involved in a highly publicized incident with teammate Steve Downie, after Aliu refused to take part as the victim of a hazing ritual. This led to Downie attacking Aliu in practice which then led to a fight. Both players were suspended and demanded trades out of Windsor.