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Archives for June 2017

Anaheim Ducks Hire Steve Konowalchuk, Mark Morrison As Assistant Coaches

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The Anaheim Ducks have hired two new assistant coaches for the 2017-18 season. Steve Konowalchuk and Mark Morrison will be joining the team, replacing at least Paul MacLean who left the team earlier this month. Konowalchuk’s name in particular was mentioned in one of the past PHR Live Chats as a potential NHL option this season after his outstanding year in the WHL.

The 44-year old former NHL winger led the Seattle Thunderbirds to the WHL finals for the second straight year, this time winning the championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup. Taking the team to the WHL playoffs five out of six years, he’s a real up-and-coming head coach that could easily be considered for an NHL job before long. His previous experience behind an NHL bench is limited to two years in Colorado under Joe Sacco.

Morrison on the other hand has been working in the AHL for several years, an assistant mostly under Keith McCambridge in both St. John’s and Manitoba. McCambridge was just promoted to head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, but Morrison will jump up to the NHL instead. In his playing days, Morrison spent most of his career playing for the Fife Flyers of the then-named British Hockey League and British National League, once even scoring 189 points in just 57 games. Amazingly, that isn’t even the record for the club but Morrison was a legend in English hockey all the same.

Dion Phaneuf Expected To Stay In Ottawa

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After rumors of his availability have been passed around ever since the end of the season, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Dion Phaneuf should now be expected to stay with the Ottawa Senators. The 32-year old has a partial no-trade clause and clearly doesn’t want to leave Ottawa for just anywhere, as implicated by his refusal to waive his no-movement clause prior to the expansion draft. While nothing is ever off the table entirely, Phaneuf should be suiting up for the Senators on opening night in 2017-18.

The former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the target of some ire in Ottawa, mostly due to his contract that will see him cause a cap hit of $7MM for the next four seasons. Though the actual salary drops incrementally to $5.5MM by the last season—an important thing to note for a budget team like Ottawa—Phaneuf’s deal is extremely difficult to trade. His play, though not completely unacceptable, isn’t close to the high-flying offensive defensemen of his youth and not nearly impactful enough to justify his salary. His skating has deteriorated over the years, but he’s still a 30+ point defender capable of logging big minutes in every situation.

Ottawa still definitely has some use for him, especially after Marc Methot was selected and flipped by the Vegas Golden Knights, but a transition to the younger options will need to be done at some point. As players like Thomas Chabot, Ben Harpur and Fredrik Claesson become more and more reliable in the NHL they will draw minutes away from the big defender. Though he may be staying put for now, that doesn’t mean he won’t be on the move in the future.

For now, the Senators and their defensive, trapping coach Guy Boucher will likely employ Phaneuf and Cody Ceci as a sort of shutdown unit once again, freeing up Erik Karlsson and whoever his new partner is (assuming it’s not Phaneuf himself) to contribute more offensively against weaker opposition. It will be interesting to see if Chabot, should he make the team out of camp, is given any powerplay time right off the bat. Phaneuf was a big part of their second unit, but could give way if the younger, more dynamic player is to make an impact.

Brock McGinn, Philip Samuelsson Re-Sign With Carolina Hurricanes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed a couple of young players, inking Brock McGinn and Philip Samuelsson to two and one-year contracts respectively. McGinn’s contract is one-way and will pay him $875K in 2017-18, and $900K in 2018-19, while Samuelsson will earn $650K at the NHL level on a two-way deal.

McGinn, 23, spent most of the season in Carolina this year and registered 16 points in 57 games. The 47th-overall pick from 2012 has turned into a pretty good bottom-six player, and will look to continue his development as an offensive player. In nine AHL contests he recorded eight points, and will likely spend the whole season in the NHL next year.

Though Carolina is looking for a more substantial upgrade to their forward group this summer, getting McGinn under contract for such a low number was an important first step. Carolina isn’t a cap team by any means, as they operate under an internal budget that is far lower than the $75MM number that other teams push up to. Getting a useful NHL piece for under $1MM is a good start to an important offseason. If the team wants to take the next step forward and start competing, some more money will have to be shelled out up front. That means cheap contracts like McGinn will have to fill up the depth roles while still seeing substantial ice time.

Samuelsson, 25, isn’t much of an NHL option at this point but does provide plenty of depth for the Charlotte Checkers. The son of former Checkers’ head coach Ulf Samuelsson—who is now in Chicago as an assistant coach—Philip came over from the Montreal Canadiens system in a mid-season trade for Keegan Lowe. The second-round pick hasn’t made much of an impact at the NHL level, playing in just 13 games over his career and being held pointless in all of them. He does provide a good two-way option for Charlotte, who will look to get back into the playoffs after an early round 1 exit this season.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Sven Andrighetto To Two-Year Deal

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The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed one of their trade deadline acquisitions, inking Sven Andrighetto to a two-year contract. The deal will pay him an average of $1.4MM.

Andrighetto came over in the deal for Andreas Martinsen (who has since re-upped in Montreal) and had quite an impact in Colorado down the stretch. Scoring 15 points in 19 games, he showed some of the offensive chops that made him a third-round pick in 2013.

While the undersized winger isn’t exactly a star, he should provide some good value for a rebuilding club like Colorado and perhaps even be trade bait for the club at the deadline. If they can turn his early success into a big season, teams may view him as a mid-season option to add offense. This is a very low-risk move for the Avalanche, who have very little to play for next season.

St. Louis Blues Sign Chris Butler

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The run on AHL veterans continues, as the St. Louis Blues have signed Chris Butler to a two-year, two-way contract. Butler was set to become an unrestricted free agent once again.

Now 30, Butler spent almost the entire 2016-17 season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves after what has been an interesting NHL career. Selected 96th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, Butler showed off his offensive chops at the University of Denver for three years before jumping to the professional ranks. He almost immediately became a big part of the Sabres blueline, all the way up to a trade that took him out west.

Dealt in a package for Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik, Butler would spend several years with the Calgary Flames before eventually took a deal with the St. Louis Blues. Since then he’s been working on one-year contracts, making this a nice bit of stability for him and his family for the next couple of years. A veteran of 388 NHL games, Butler could provide some injury insurance for the Blues if they were ever in a jam.

Conacher, Dumont Sign Two-Year Deals With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed both Cory Conacher and Gabriel Dumont to two-year contracts. The deals will both be two-way in 2017-18, one-way in 2018-19, and pay both the minimum of $650K while in the NHL.

Conacher is one of the most reliable offensive players in the AHL, and posted another outstanding season with the Syracuse Crunch this year. With 60 points in 55 games and another 28 in the playoffs en route to a Calder Cup finals berth, Conacher is a huge part of their minor league program.

Otherwise, he actually got into 11 games with the Lightning this season and put up four points. At 27, it’s hard to believe Conacher really has a future in the NHL but earning a one-way deal is a big step for him. Tampa Bay would have more incentive to keep the 5’8″ forward in the NHL if it wasn’t costing them any more money, meaning he could have a shot at playing more of a role in 2018-19.

Dumont split this season between Syracuse and Tampa Bay, recording four points in 39 NHL games. His effectiveness has little to do with points though, as he generally is added to the lineup to provide physicality and “grit” to a fourth line. He has shown some scoring touch in the AHL, but has just seven points in 57 career NHL games. Now 26, he’ll likely bounce back and forth again next season.

Ottawa Senators Sign Mike Condon To Three-Year Deal

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The Ottawa Senators have locked up Mike Condon to a three-year deal which will pay him an average of $2.4MM per season. Condon was ranked 28th on our free agent list, predicting that he’d get a two-year deal worth $5MM. Mike Condon

Interestingly, Ottawa now has three different goaltenders on one-way contracts for next season, including starter Craig Anderson and depth goaltender Andrew Hammond. The total of all three will be close to $8MM, a big number for a club who works from an internal budget.

Condon found a home in Ottawa this year after first being selected off waivers by Pittsburgh from Montreal, and then traded to the Senators just a week later. His unstable start to the season relinquished, and he fit in well with Anderson in a sort of pseudo-tandem. Anderson missed large chunks of the season at random to be with his wife Nicholle as she dealt with an illness, and in those times Condon was relied upon as the starting goaltender. While Nicholle and the Anderson family seems to be on the road to recovery, Condon can work as a backup for a year and take over when the 36-year old sees his contract expire next summer.

Getting a three-year deal for Condon is a big deal after the uncertainty of going through waivers at the beginning of the year. The Montreal Canadiens, Condon’s first NHL team, turned to Al Montoya as their backup instead and saw him post a similarly strong season. Montoya earned an extension of his own earlier this year, and will earn just over $1MM per season for the next two years.

Ottawa now has around $11MM in cap space remaining for next year, but has rarely pushed up to the ceiling since the cap was introduced. With a long playoff run and extra revenue in their pockets perhaps they’re willing to invest in the team, but with Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau still due new contracts there won’t be a ton of room left under the cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Chad Johnson Could Return To Buffalo Sabres

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With Anders Nilsson set to hit free agency, the Buffalo Sabres have a potential job open behind Robin Lehner for the NHL team. While Linus Ullmark was expected by many to make the jump and fill that role, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune has heard that Chad Johnson is “very likely” to return instead. Johnson of course played for the Sabres in 2015-16 before heading to Calgary, and put up a very strong season in 45 games.

Starting in 40 games that season (the most of his career) Johnson registered a .920 save percentage and was considered a potential tandem starter on the open market. That’s what he found in Calgary with Brian Elliott, and many would say he saved their season while Elliott was going through a bad stretch of inconsistent performance. Though he’d only start 36 games, Johnson would register an acceptable if uninspiring .910 saver percentage. Now, with a career mark of .915 he would be among the top names to backup nearly every starter in the league but knows that in Buffalo he has the chance to steal some playing time once again.

Though Lehner is clearly the starter for now in Buffalo and should be after the team used a first-round pick to acquire him from Ottawa, there have been inconsistencies in his game as well. The 25-year old at times clashed with Dan Bylsma and has been criticized for his poor performance in the shootout this year, but is also one of the most purely talented goaltenders in the league and registered a very solid season this year. Bringing Johnson in would be more about protecting Lehner with a quality backup and allowing Ullmark to continue developing in the minor leagues.

Johnson ranked 35th on our list of free agents, where we projected him to receive a two-year contract worth a total of $3MM. The goaltender is actually currently under contract with the Arizona Coyotes, after being included in the Mike Smith trade in order to give the Coyotes a goaltender to protect in the expansion draft.

Snapshots: Cull, Eichel, Emelin, Allvin

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The Vancouver Canucks have hired Trent Cull as the next head coach of the Utica Comets. The AHL team lost their bench boss when Travis Green was promoted to coach the NHL squad, and now will poach another minor league team’s assistant. Cull had been working as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, but also has experience at the OHL level.

The former minor-league fighter never did make it to the NHL during his playing career, but will take the next step towards coaching there one day with this latest assignment. It will be his first head coaching job in the AHL, and he’s tasked with returning the Comets to the playoffs after they missed last season.

  • Pierre LeBrun of TSN is reporting that Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres have opened discussions over a possible extension. The news today that Connor McDavid may get eight years at $13.25MM per season must have perked up Eichel’s ears, as though he’ll certainly not get anywhere near that he should get a whopping extension of his own before long. The two sides are allowed to officially sign an extension after July 1st, when Eichel will have less than one year remaining on his current entry-level deal.
  • LeBrun also reports that the Montreal Canadiens have looked into a possible reunion with Alexei Emelin, selected last week in the expansion draft. Like many of the other veteran defenders, Emelin is expected to be flipped from the Vegas Golden Knights in the coming days, and Montreal could possibly re-acquire him. LeBrun adds that the Ottawa Senators have also shown interest in the big defenseman, perhaps as a replacement to their own expansion loss, Marc Methot.
  • Ansar Khan of MLive reports that the Detroit Red Wings were hoping to get Brendan Smith back in town under a respectable three-year, $10.5MM contract but that he may have other offers. Khan points to Smith’s current team the New York Rangers and a potential $4MM AAV. Smith ranked #12 on our free agent list, in which we predicted a four-year, $15MM ($3.75MM AAV) contract. Smith will certainly expect multiple offers from around the league on July 1st, as his versatility makes him an interesting option for many teams.
  • After losing Randy Sexton to the Buffalo Sabres, the Pittsburgh Penguins have promoted Patrik Allvin to Director of Amateur Scouting. Sexton was hired as an Assistant General Manager by Jason Botterill and the Sabres, meaning Allvin who has served as the Penguins head European scout for several years, will move up in the organization.

Patrik Berglund Undergoes Surgery, Out Until December

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In an announcement that might explain their acquisition of Brayden Schenn even more, the St. Louis Blues have revealed that Patrik Berglund underwent left shoulder surgery yesterday and will be out until December. The injury happened during his offseason training in Sweden.

Berglund is just heading into a new five-year contract extension that will pay him $3.85MM per season, and was set to start the season as one of the centers for the Blues. Instead, he’ll miss almost the first half of the season and the Blues will scramble to fill the position. Luckily, they acquired Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers on the weekend and have several players who can move to the middle. Alex Steen, Vladimir Sobotka, Kyle Brodziak, Zachary Sanford, Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist all have various levels of experience in the middle, giving the Blues several options behind Schenn and Paul Stastny.

Even so, losing Berglund for that amount of time is a painful hit to a team looking to contend this year. His 23 goals were a career high and actually ranked second on the team, and he’s a responsible checker capable of providing minutes in all situations. The Blues don’t have a ton of room to spend on free agency for another fix, as the majority of their cap room is going to be eaten up by a Colton Parayko extension. They have more than enough depth to fill his role, though a lesser addition to the wing may still be in the cards for the summer.

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