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NHL

Five Key Stories: 7/17/23 – 7/23/23

July 23, 2023 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

While activity across the NHL has certainly slowed down compared to a few weeks ago, there was still some notable news around the league over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Four For Colton: Avalanche forward Ross Colton currently has just under $3MM in career earnings, per CapFriendly.  That will be going up in a hurry as the two sides agreed to a four-year contract to avoid salary arbitration with the deal carrying a cap hit of $4MM per season.  The 26-year-old was acquired from Tampa Bay before the draft for a second-round pick that was part of the package they picked up when they moved Alex Newhook to Montreal.  Colton saw his numbers dip slightly last season but he still managed 16 goals and 16 assists in 81 games during the regular season despite averaging just over 12 minutes a night while recording 188 hits and winning over 56% of his faceoffs.  Colorado has shaken up their bottom six group with Colton being the centerpiece acquisition on that front and he should get a bigger opportunity to produce than he did with the Lightning.

Hakstol Extended: Last season was a successful one for the Kraken as they locked down their first-ever playoff berth in their sophomore year.  On top of that, they knocked out the defending Cup champs in the first round before falling to Dallas in seven in a hard-fought second round.  That performance certainly reflected well on head coach Dave Hakstol who was rewarded for his efforts with a two-year contract extension that gets him under contract through the 2025-26 campaign; financial terms were not disclosed.  Hakstol will be entering his seventh year as an NHL head coach next season (he also spent four years in Philadelphia) and is now one of ten coaches known to be signed through 2026.

Four For Dunn: The biggest settlement of the arbitration process thus far was done by Seattle and defenseman Vince Dunn.  The two sides worked out a four-year, $29.4MM front-loaded contract, buying out his final year of arbitration eligibility while giving the Kraken three extra years of club control.  The deal, which makes Dunn their highest-paid player, also carries some form of trade protection in the final three seasons.  The 26-year-old had a breakout showing last season, notching 14 goals and 50 assists in 81 games while logging nearly 24 minutes a night.  That performance put him tenth in the NHL in scoring by a blueliner while helping him finish 11th in Norris Trophy voting.

Arbitration Awards: While most players that filed for arbitration so far have settled, two made it to a hearing.  First, Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev was awarded a two-year, $4.5MM contract with Chicago electing for a two-year award instead of the one-year agreement Kurashev requested.  The 23-year-old set new benchmarks last season, notching nine goals along with 16 assists and should have a chance to improve on those numbers in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov received a one-year, $3.55MM award, nearly doubling his salary from 2022-23.  The 26-year-old had by far his best NHL season, posting a 2.33 GAA with a .919 SV% in 42 games but was only eligible for a one-year award since it was his final season of UFA eligibility.  Toronto now has nearly $96MM in commitments on the books per CapFriendly against an $83.5MM salary and will be deep into LTIR with Jake Muzzin for next season while some have suggested that buyout candidate Matt Murray could also land on there.  Even with those two on there, some roster trimming would still need to occur.

More Settlements: There were two other contracts of some note that were done to avoid salary arbitration.  The Golden Knights settled with forward Brett Howden on a two-year, $3.8MM contract after the 25-year-old took a step back offensively last season, recording just six goals and seven assists in 54 regular season games.  Notably, the deal will walk Howden straight to UFA eligibility in 2025.  Winnipeg also got in on the settlement fun, reaching a two-year, $6.875MM agreement with forward Gabriel Vilardi.  Arguably the centerpiece of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, the 23-year-old had his best showing in 2022-23, collecting 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games with the Kings last season.  Vilardi will still have one more RFA year remaining in 2025.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NHL Week In Review

3 comments

Minor Transactions: 7/20/23

July 20, 2023 at 12:19 pm CDT | by Josh Cybulski Leave a Comment

We are well into the dog days of summer as many NHL management groups and broadcasters are turning their attention to arbitration cases and summer holidays. While things are typically slow this time of year there have been several signings today from around the hockey world:

  • Former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dmitri Korobov has signed a contract with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL. No terms of the contract have been released. Korobov has spent the last two years with Dinamo and posted three goals and four assists in 49 games this past season. His NHL career was a short one as he dressed in just three games and posted a single assist with the Lightning in a short call-up during the 2013-14 season. The 34-year-old spent two seasons in the AHL with Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch, dressing in 136 games and scoring six goals and 42 assists.
  • The Utica Comets have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Will MacKinnon to a two-way AHL contract for the 2023-24 season. The 23-year-old Plymouth, Michigan native will be getting his first opportunity in the AHL as he spent the past two seasons playing in the ECHL with the Reading Royals where he posted seven goals and 20 assists in 88 games. MacKinnon has never posted much in the way of offense dating all the way back to his NCAA days but did put up 26 points last season in 71 ECHL games which has earned him a look in the AHL for the upcoming year.
  • Colorado Avalanche AHL affiliate the Colorado Eagles have signed defenseman Michael Underwood to a one-year AHL extension. Underwood signed a PTO with the Eagles back in March of this year and dressed in three AHL games with the franchise where he was held scoreless. The 25-year-old has been a defensive defenseman throughout his professional and college career never topping seven points in any one season. In five NCAA seasons with Clarkson University and Michigan State University, Underwood had a total of six goals and 17 assists in 167 games.
  • Nolan Moyle, the captain of the Michigan Wolverines last season, has found where he’ll be beginning his professional career: China. Moyle has signed with the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star, landing there after playing five seasons at Michigan. A defense-first right winger, Moyle didn’t score much as a Wolverine (just 46 points in 164 career games) but now has a chance to hold down a defensive role in one of the world’s more competitive professional leagues.
  • The ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have made a significant addition, signing 26-year-old Aaron Luchuk on a one-year contract. Luchuk had been with the Solar Bears for two seasons before this past season trying his luck in Europe. Luchuck played for three teams across two leagues and couldn’t quite find his footing in 2022-23, so now he returns to the league he led in scoring in 2020-21. Luchuk has 187 points in 181 career ECHL games and is likely to be a major help to the franchise as they look to return to the Kelly Cup playoffs.
  •  Another college hockey captain has selected where he’ll be starting his pro career. Notre Dame captain Nick Leivermann has signed a contract with the Hershey Bears, the defending Calder Cup champions. The 24-year-old Minnesota native played five seasons with Notre Dame and has had two consecutive productive campaigns. He scored 20 points in 29 games last season and had 27 points in 32 games this season. While the Bears are likely to have a competitive blueline as they defend their Calder Cup title, Leivermann’s success in his collegiate career suggests he could end up a factor in the AHL sooner rather than later.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

AHL| CHL| NCAA| NHL

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Gemel Smith Signs In KHL

July 20, 2023 at 10:05 am CDT | by Ethan Hetu Leave a Comment

Although 29-year-old forward Gemel Smith scored 53 points in 54 AHL games, this past season was Smith’s first campaign in over a half-decade that he did not feature in any NHL games.

Now, the veteran of 356 AHL games and 91 games in the NHL is headed to play for an overseas club for the first time in his pro career. According to a team announcement, Smith has signed with Dynamo Minsk in the KHL.

Smith joins 2015 first-round pick Nick Merkley, Calder Cup Champion Sam Anas, former AHL blueliner Kodie Curran, and former Cornell University star Yanni Kaldis as an overseas professional rostered by Belarus’ KHL club.

Seeing as he has been a prolific AHL scorer in recent seasons and brings genuine NHL experience, Smith is likely to be expected to be among Minsk’s top scorers for next season. While the NHL door is certainly not closed moving forward as Smith isn’t even 30 years old yet, he’ll want to have as productive a season as possible with Minsk if he hopes on returning to the world’s top league in the future.

Considering Smith’s resume, it’s possible he could get a two-way contract as soon as next summer, though he’ll likely need to put up some numbers next to Merkley and Minsk’s other offensive players in order to do so.

AHL| NHL Gemel Smith

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Nate Thompson Retires

July 20, 2023 at 9:38 am CDT | by Ethan Hetu 3 Comments

Nate Thompson, a longtime bottom-six forward who played 844 games in the NHL, announced his retirement from the game on social media yesterday. Thompson, set to turn 39 in October, last played in the NHL in 2021-22, scoring three points in 33 games for the Philadelphia Flyers.

For much of his career, Thompson gave NHL clubs exactly what they would hope to receive out of a player occupying their fourth-line center role.

He brought leadership: Thompson wore a letter on his jersey with three different teams across his pro career, as early as 2006-07 with the Providence Bruins in the AHL and as late as 2019-20 with the Montreal Canadiens.

He brought defensive ability: Thompson often put his body on the line on the penalty kill and even landed on the Selke Trophy ballot in 2013. And he brought prowess at the faceoff dot, winning nearly 53% of his draws across his career.

Although Thompson’s career-high in points production was just 25, set all the way back in 2010-11, Thompson remained an NHL regular throughout his career. As Sportsnet’s Eric Engels noted, after breaking into the NHL Thompson only played five more games in the AHL before his final professional season, and all of those games were on conditioning stints. Engels wrote: “We’re talking about a guy who never came to training camp with a secure job, a career grinder who always managed to earn his spot for 17 straight seasons!”

That’s an extremely impressive feat, and underscores for just how long Thompson was considered an indispensable fourth-line forward. Thompson’s career highlights also include representing the United States at two IIHF Men’s World Championships, the 2012 and 2013 games played in Finland and Stockholm. Thompson wore a letter both years and led the Americans to a bronze medal in 2013.

All things considered, the Anchorage, Alaska native leaves behind a highly successful playing career and will now transition to the off-ice phase of his life and work.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. 

NHL| Retirement Nate Thompson

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Alex Galchenyuk To Enter NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program

July 18, 2023 at 1:43 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 26 Comments

Free agent forward Alex Galchenyuk is entering the NHL and NHLPA’s player assistance program after being arrested on multiple charges earlier this month and having his contract for next season terminated by the Arizona Coyotes, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports today.

Just days after being terminated on July 13, multiple reports had obtained the police report of Galchenyuk’s July 9 arrest in Scottsdale, Arizona, which revealed Galchenyuk allegedly made violent threats and used racial slurs towards officers. He has since reached out to apologize to the Scottsdale Police offers involved in a letter expressing remorse, Kaplan says.

Per Kaplan, Galchenyuk could enter the player assistance program as early as today. He was charged with various misdemeanors stemming from the arrest, including a hit-and-run charge as originally reported by The Athletic’s Katie Strang, and released on his own recognizance after the arrest.

Kaplan says Galchenyuk has also apologized directly to the Coyotes organization. While not signed by an NHL team, Galchenyuk is still eligible to receive assistance as a member of the NHLPA. His entrance to the program will not impact his contract status with Arizona, and he will remain an unrestricted free agent after exiting the program.

NHL| NHLPA| Utah Mammoth Alex Galchenyuk

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Five Key Stories: 7/3/23 – 7/9/23

July 9, 2023 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brennan McClain Leave a Comment

In many instances, the week, after free agency opens, can be one of the duller weeks in the NHL, but this one still featured plenty of action. Between coaching movement and player movement, there are five stories that stuck out this week.

Vigneault Calls It Quits: Not coaching for the last couple of seasons since his termination as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2021, Alain Vigneault has officially retired from coaching. After 1363 career games spent as the main bench boss, Vigneault will finish with a record of 722-489-35-117, putting him 10th all-time in the head coaching win record. Vigneault did win the Jack Adams Trophy during the 2006-07 season and got to the Stanley Cup Final twice, once with the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, and another time with the New York Rangers in 2014. With such an impressive all-time record, it would not be a shock to hear Vigneault’s name called for the Hall of Fame in the near future.

Minnesota Wild Acquire Maroon: Another consequence of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s cap situation, Pat Maroon was moved, along with forward Max Cajkovic to the Minnesota Wild in return for a seventh-round pick in 2024. Maroon had spent the last four seasons in Tampa Bay, seeing his production slip considerably last year. After seeing his playing time by an average of two minutes, Maroon only mustered five goals and nine points in 80 games. Even so, he still brings considerable experience to Minnesota, and a great locker room presence, evidenced by his back-to-back Stanley Cup championships from 2019-2021.

Toews Likely To Retire: At the beginning of the offseason, there was some speculation that Jonathan Toews would follow in the footsteps of his former teammate, Duncan Keith, and join the Edmonton Oilers, it appears that Toews will likely retire instead. Represented by hockey’s mega agent, Pat Brisson of CAA Hockey, Toews was taken off the agency’s upcoming free agent list that they annually send out to teams. Battling both chronic immune response syndrome and long-term effects of Covid-19, Toews has unfortunately been able to complete a full season since 2018-19. If it is indeed the end of the line for Toews, he will finish his career with 372 goals and 511 assists in 1067 games played, as well as three Stanley Cup rings, one Frank J. Selke trophy, and one Conn Smythe win.

Red Wings Cut Ties With Zadina: Although the Detroit Red Wings were looking to find a trade partner to take on the contract of forward Filip Zadina, they were unable to, and subsequently terminated his contract. Prized as one of the purest goal-scorers in the 2018 NHL Draft, Zadina failed to replicate any of his junior success in Detroit. In 190 games spanning over five seasons donning the ’Winged Wheel, Zadina has 28 goals and 40 assists. With two years, and $3.65MM (including $2.73MM due in salary for the 2024-25 season), no team was interested in trading for Zadina, or even claiming him on waivers. Now an unrestricted free agent, it is reasonable to assume that Zadina will sign a minimum contract for the 2023-24 NHL season.

Toronto Marlies Hire New Head Coach: After cutting ties with their entire AHL coaching staff about a month and a half ago, the Toronto Marlies named their eighth head coach in franchise history, John Gruden. Gruden had spent last season with the Boston Bruins as an assistant coach and held the same position with the New York Islanders from 2018-2022. This will not be Gruden’s first stop in Ontario, as he was previously the head coach of the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs from 2016-2018. In his last season coaching the team, Gruden coached the Bulldogs to a 2018 OHL Championship finish, eventually losing to the Regina Pats in the 2018 Memorial Cup semifinals.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. 

NHL

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Five Key Stories: 6/26/23 – 7/2/23

July 2, 2023 at 9:01 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

With the NHL electing to cram as much offseason activity as possible into a few short days, it was quite a busy week around the NHL.  We’ll recap the biggest stories here which are much too plentiful to summarize in just five headlines.

Draft Night: It was a draft that was supposed to feature plenty of intrigue, especially on the trade front.  Instead, not a single swap materialized.  However, there was a surprise at the beginning of the draft.  While Chicago picked Connor Bedard first as expected, Anaheim opted to not go with the consensus second choice, instead selecting Leo Carlsson.  That freed up Columbus to grab that consensus second choice, Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli.  The full results of the draft can be found here.

Chicago Adds Veterans: Following the addition of Bedard, the Blackhawks decided that they needed to bring in some quality veterans to help take some pressure off him (and also to get to the cap floor).  They did that by acquiring Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno from Boston in exchange for defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell.  Hall has two years left on his deal with a $6MM AAV and will give Bedard a legitimate top-six winger to play with.  Foligno, meanwhile, was a pending unrestricted free agent but quickly inked a one-year, $4MM deal to stick around; Chicago handed that same agreement to Corey Perry days later.  Boston, meanwhile, used that freed-up cap space to sign several players to short-term contracts early in free agency.

Busy Buyout Market: The buyout market started with a splash when Vancouver bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  It ended with one too as Winnipeg was unable to find a taker for Blake Wheeler, instead buying out the final year and $8.5MM on his contract, taking on $2.75MM in dead cap charges for the next two years.  That wasn’t the priciest one of the week either as Nashville somewhat surprisingly bought out the final three years and $24MM of Matt Duchene’s contract, taking on more than $19MM in dead cap charges spread out over the next six seasons.  Detroit (Kailer Yamamoto) and Boston (Mike Reilly) also executed buyouts on the final day.

Dubois Traded: After many months of speculation, Pierre-Luc Dubois is on the move.  However, it wasn’t to Montreal where it was believed his preference would be to play.  Instead, he was dealt to Los Angeles in exchange for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick; as part of the trade agreement, Dubois signed an eight-year, $68MM contract.  Dubois will team up with Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault to form one of the deepest center groups in the NHL while serving as Kopitar’s eventual replacement when the captain calls it a career.  As for Winnipeg, they get a pair of top-six forwards headlined by the 23-year-old Vilardi who put up 41 points in 63 games last season.  They’re looking to stay in the playoff mix and while they don’t have a top-end talent in Dubois anymore, their forward group is certainly deeper now.

Eight For Meier: The Devils were in a situation where they skirted the $10MM qualifying offer owed to Timo Meier by filing for club arbitration but it put some pressure on them to get a long-term deal done before the hearings came around.  They did just that, signing the winger to an eight-year deal that carries an $8.8MM AAV, making him the highest-paid forward on the team.  Meier reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career last season with New Jersey making a big move to acquire him at the deadline.  They have found a way to fit in max-term deals for both Meier and Jesper Bratt now while they also quietly picked up Tyler Toffoli from Calgary to give them more firepower for next season.

Free Agent Frenzy: Buoyed by the addition of more than 100 players to the open market after a busy non-tender deadline, July 1st represented a very busy day on the NHL calendar with more than $650MM in contract commitments to 166 players.  The biggest signings by position in terms of AAV were the Hurricanes picking up Dmitry Orlov on a two-year deal with a $7.75MM price tag, a sizable overpayment in money to get a short-term agreement that better fits their pay structure.  Up front, Alex Killorn wasn’t able to work a deal out with Tampa Bay, instead landing a four-year pact worth $6.25MM per season with Anaheim, a surprise day-one spender.  Meanwhile, in goal, the biggest contract given to a UFA was Pittsburgh re-signing Tristan Jarry to a five-year agreement that carries a $5.375MM AAV, one of three contracts handed to goalies that saw NHL action last season.

Islander Spending Spree: The biggest contract of the first day of the new league year came from the Islanders who handed goaltender Ilya Sorokin an eight-year, $66MM extension that will begin in the 2024-25 season.  The 27-year-old has been nothing short of stellar since coming to the NHL in 2020-21, posting a 2.34 GAA with a .924 SV% and 16 shutouts in his first three seasons.  His deal ensures that the Islanders will have top-level goaltending for the long haul.  They also brought back veteran Semyon Varlamov on a four-year, $11MM agreement to serve as Sorokin’s backup.  The 35-year-old was one of the better options on the open market although few expected him to get four years.  Few also expected GM Lou Lamoriello to hand out a pair of seven-year contracts to keep Pierre Engvall ($3MM AAV) and Scott Mayfield ($3.5MM AAV) in the fold.  Both players are quality role pieces but it’s fair to say there’s some sticker shock on the length of those contracts.  All told, nearly 19% of the $650MM in commitments from Saturday came from the Isles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NHL Week In Review

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Buffalo Sabres Sign Devin Cooley, Dustin Tokarski, Justin Richards

July 1, 2023 at 12:57 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres have inked a pair of goalies today. They’ve signed Devin Cooley to a one-year contract per agent Dan Milstein, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports they’ve brought back Dustin Tokarski on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K at the NHL level and $450K at the AHL level. They’ve also signed AHLer Justin Richards to a one-year, two-way $775k deal.

Returning to the Sabres organization, Tokarski spent last season in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, primarily playing for their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He performed well in the minor leagues, garnering a 2.69 GAA and a .910 SV% in 36 games played. With the organizational depth in goal the Sabres already possess, Tokarski will likely serve as their fourth-string goaltender heading into next season.

In Cooley, much like Tokarski, Buffalo is adding some organizational depth to their AHL team, the Rochester Americans. Cooley was originally an undrafted free agent signed out of the University of Denver by the Nashville Predators. Last year for the Milwaukee Admirals, Cooley didn’t get off to a great start to his career, posting a 9-10-4 record, earning a .898 SV% and a 3.06 GAA in 24 games. This past season was much better for Cooley, as the young netminder carried a 15-8-2 record with a .909 SV% and a 2.93 GAA in 26 games.

As for Richards, he’s a 25-year-old center who scored 39 points in 60 games for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters last season. He earned two NHL games with Columbus and posted one assist, and should end up a solid contributor in Rochester.

AHL| Buffalo Sabres| NHL Dustin Tokarski| Elliotte Friedman

2 comments

Ottawa Senators Sign Five Players

July 1, 2023 at 12:43 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Ottawa Senators have announced one-year, two-way contracts for minor-league forwards Rourke Chartier, Josh Currie, and Bokondji Imama. All three players will earn $775K at the NHL level; in the minors, Chartier will earn $300K, Currie will earn $275K, and Imama will earn $325K. The team later announced two more contracts: forward Matthew Highmore at $775K in the NHL and $400K in the AHL, and forward Garrett Pilon at $775K in the NHL and $200K in the AHL.

Chartier, now 27, stays in the organization after a pair of strong seasons with the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The 2014 fifth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks appeared in six NHL games for Ottawa last season, his first since he scored a goal in 13 games with the Sharks in 2019. Currie, 30, is making his return to North America after spending two seasons with the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he recorded 13 goals and 38 points in 96 games. Imama, 26, was a fan favorite in the Arizona Coyotes organization for the past two seasons and replaces Scott Sabourin’s role in the Ottawa organization as their minor-league enforcer with NHL experience (Sabourin signed with the Sharks today).

As for the team’s subsequent signings, Highmore, 27, finished second on the AHL’s Springfield Thunder in scoring last season with 61 points in 68 games but was a full-time NHLer as recently as 2021-22 with the Vancouver Canucks. The 25-year-old Pilon is coming off a Calder Cup win with the AHL’s Hershey Bears and has 156 points in 259 career AHL games.

NHL| Ottawa Senators| Players Bokondji Imama

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Los Angeles Kings Re-Sign Taylor Ward

June 30, 2023 at 5:10 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings have also re-signed an AHL prospect after not qualifying them a few hours ago. Per PuckPedia, the team has re-signed 25-year-old forward Taylor Ward to a one-year deal worth $775K in the NHL and $95K in the minors.

Ward, 25, just completed his first full pro season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The son of longtime NHLer Dixon Ward played in 71 of the team’s 72 regular-season games, recording nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points.

He was brought into the organization last year as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he registered 39 points in 38 games during his senior season. Ward then impressed in the minors on an ATO with the Reign to end 2021-22, recording 10 points in 16 games. However, he was never able to earn a recall to the NHL roster this season.

Ward left his career at Nebraska-Omaha as one of the top scorers in the program’s history, accumulating 57 goals and 58 assists for 115 points in 131 games. It’s been a sharp rise for Ward, who recorded just nine points in 56 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees in his draft year, the 2015-16 season – numbers that may not have even put him on the NHL Central Scouting mass list.

He’ll now have another chance to try and climb up the Kings’ ranks before becoming a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next offseason.

AHL| Los Angeles Kings| NHL Taylor Ward

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