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Archives for March 2018

Minor Transactions: 03/09/18

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Another week down in the NHL and the playoffs are coming quickly. With as few as 14 games remaining for some teams, every single night matters immensely in the playoff race. Tonight, even though there are just four games on the schedule, many eyes will be on the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars. Those two are tied in the standings with 80 points, and are in a dog fight for the last few spots. While we get ready for that, keep track of all the minor moves around the league.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have sent Carl Dahlstrom to the Rockford IceHogs, leaving them with just six defensemen on the roster. There hasn’t been a corresponding move, but one would think someone is on their way back up tomorrow. Dahlstrom has played 11 games for the Blackhawks this season, recording his first three NHL points and showing that he can be a part of the solution going forward. With extensions to Jan Rutta and Erik Gustafsson in recent days, when the first full-time opportunity will come for Dahlstrom isn’t clear.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Brett Lernout from the AHL, bringing up the defenseman once again for a taste of the NHL. The 22-year old Lernout has played six NHL games across the last three seasons, and should get some time down the stretch to show what he can do at the highest level.
  • It’s been a month and a half since Travis Sanheim was sent back to the minor leagues, but he’ll finally get another chance with the Philadelphia Flyers. The 21-year old defenseman has been recalled and will be available for tomorrow’s afternoon matchup with the Winnipeg Jets. Sanheim played 35 games with the Flyers before being sent down, registering five points. In 18 AHL contests he recorded 16 points and generally showed that he’s ready for the next level.
  • Justin Bailey is on his way back up to Buffalo, after playing seven games in the NHL earlier this year. The 22-year old forward has three points on the season, but could be given an opportunity to prove that he belongs on the Sabres roster to start next year. Bailey is another relatively early draft pick of the Sabres who hasn’t worked out just yet, something that has become all too familiar to the organization lately.

Martin Hanzal To Have Season-Ending Back Surgery

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Martin Hanzal’s first season in Dallas hasn’t gone as expected. After battling injury for much of the year, the Stars today announced that Hanzal will undergo back surgery and is out for the rest of the season. The spinal fusion procedure comes with a recovery timeline of six to seven months, but should not threaten his career.

Hanzal was signed last summer to a three-year, $14.25MM contract as one of the top free agent centers available. The Stars believed they had a solid, big bodied middle-six player who could provide some offense while being responsible defensively, but nothing has gone according to plan. Hanzal’s penchant for injury perked up again, and he’ll finish this season with just 38 games played for the Stars, with a career-low of 10 points registered along the way. He was generally ineffective even when he was in the lineup, but could have been very important as Dallas prepares for a playoff run.

At the deadline, we wrote that the Stars may need to consider adding some center depth due to the inconsistency they’d had at the position. Instead, they lay silent on February 26th and now face the daunting task of heading into the postseason with a patchwork group down the middle. Tyler Seguin is a superstar, and Radek Faksa has shown a good shutdown ability, but beyond that there are question marks galore. Jason Spezza isn’t the same player he was a few years ago, and young options like Devin Shore, Mattias Janmark and Jason Dickinson are anything but experienced. Obviously, they could move Jamie Benn back to the middle if they need to, but that’s far from ideal.

This is just the latest injury for Hanzal, who has played in more than 80 games in a single season just once in his entire career. More often, he spends long stretches on the sideline nursing some sort of ailment, and it will be tough to pencil him into the lineup for the next two years of his contract. Stars fans can hope, but shouldn’t expect him to be around all season, especially after major back surgery and as he heads into his thirties.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Emergency Goalie, Lundqvist, Pettersson, College Free Agents

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The Winnipeg Jets may have called up Michael Hutchinson on paper, but they weren’t actually able to get him on the roster in time for their game tonight against the New Jersey Devils. According to the team, Hutchison’s flight into New York was delayed and he was unable to arrive to the game in time. As a result, the Jets were forced to sign an emergency backup to a tryout deal. The man behind Connor Hellebuyck tonight will be Zane Kalemba, a New Jersey native and a friend of Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler. Kalemba played junior hockey with Wheeler for the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and went on to star for Princeton University. Kalemba only retired from hockey in 2016, having spent time in the ECHL, CHL, and several European leagues. An experienced keeper who, most importantly, was nearby, will have to do for the Jets tonight.

  • A goalie in the tri-state area with a little more experience than Kalemba is New York Rangers superstar Henrik Lundqvist. In fact, when Lundqvist takes the ice tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he will tie former Tampa goalie Nikolai Khabibulin for the most NHL starts by a foreign-born goalie. The Rangers report that Lundqvist’s appearance, his 799th, is enough to share the top mark. When the Swedish keeper makes his next start, which could be as early as Saturday, he will not only reach a benchmark 800th appearance, but will also become the most experienced foreign keeper in NHL history.
  • Another Swede setting records is Vancouver Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson. Pettersson, who was selected fifth overall last year by Vancouver, has been playing in the top Swedish pro league, the SHL, this season. After a four-point outburst today, the Canucks pointed out that Pettersson’s 55 points on the year set a new record for the most points by a player under 20 in SHL history. The Vaxjo Lakers forward snapped a 42-year-old record while also taking over the league scoring lead. That’s not too shabby for a young player who looks to be an absolute stud-in-the-making for the Canucks.
  • Some other young players looking to make an impact in the pros is the 2018 crop of college free agents. While Zach Whitecloud’s deal with Vegas today was the first NHL deal so far, a few other NCAA prospects have already hooked up with AHL teams for contracts and tryout agreements for the remainder of the season and could earn big-league deals if they impress. These transactions include Whitecloud’s Bemidji State teammate Kyle Bauman joining the Ontario Reign (LAK), the San Jose Barracuda (SJS) inking Alaska-Fairbanks’ Zach Frye, Yale’s Ryan Hitchcock going nearby to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI), the Chicago Wolves (VGK) adding Wisconsin’s Ryan Wagner, and both Derian Plouffe of Niagara and Josh Kestner of Alabama-Huntsville signing with the Toronto Marlies (TOR).

Canucks Extend Defenseman Ashton Sautner

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Armed with an extension of his own, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning has security in his future and has shifted his attention beyond 2017-18 to the future of his team. He has already signed defensemen Erik Gudbranson and Alex Biega to extensions in the last month, and now adds another blue liner to his plans moving forward. The Canucks announced this evening that Ashton Sautner has agreed to terms on a new two-year, two-way contract with a cap hit of $675K.

Sautner, 23, was undrafted coming out of the WHL, but after back-to-back impressive campaigns with the Edmonton Oil Kings to cap off his junior career, earned a three-year entry-level deal from Vancouver in 2015. Three years later, Sautner has been a reliable member of the AHL’s Utica Comets. While his offensive totals from his junior days have come down considerably in the pros, his defensive game continues to shine through. Sautner has 11 points through 53 games this season, but more importantly has shown his solid play through a team-leading +12 rating.

A leader in Utica and one of the more experienced players on the Comets’ blue line, Sautner is the next man up for the Canucks. He seems extremely likely to make his NHL debut over the course of these next two years of his extension. In the team release, Benning said of Sautner that “Ashton has developed into a good pro and has shown continual growth over the past three seasons… He has provided stability to the defense and played important minutes in Utica. We’re excited to have him in our organization providing further depth to our blue line.” Those kinds of accolades from the man in charge, especially for a team that has had their fair share of struggles on defense, would seem to indicate that Sautner is in line for a role in Vancouver sooner rather than later.

Minor Transactions : 03/08/18

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Some minor transactions from around the league:

  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Michael Hutchinson, bringing up the goaltender once again as Steve Mason is dealing with a new injury. Mason suffered a lower-body injury at practice, but it’s not clear how long he’ll be out. Hutchinson will get a chance to backup Connor Hellebuyck once again.
  • Carolina has sent Lucas Wallmark back down to the minor leagues, where he’s done most of his damage this season. The 22-year old forward has one point in 11 games with the Hurricanes, but 36 in 32 games with the Charlotte Checkers.
  • Tomas Hyka is back up after a two day absence from the Vegas Golden Knights. While Reilly Smith deals with a minor injury and will miss tonight’s game, Hyka could get another chance to prove he belongs in the NHL. The 24-year old Czech forward has two points in six games with the Golden Knights this season
  • Josh Jooris has been recalled under emergency conditions by the Pittsburgh Penguins, as Bryan Rust and Dominik Simon deal with injuries. Jooris was acquired at the trade deadline for this type of situation, to give the Penguins some NHL experience that could step in in case of injury.

Snapshots: Knight, Kirk, Ekman-Larsson

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One of the best female hockey players in the world will be suiting it up for a new team this season, as Hilary Knight has signed with the Montreal Canadiennes of the CWHL for the remainder of the year. Knight is fresh off a gold medal with the US Women’s Olympic team, and will return to the CWHL for the first time since 2015.

Knight has won just about every trophy imaginable in women’s hockey, taking home two NCAA titles during her time at Wisconsin, two Clarkson Cups as a member of the Boston Blades, and an Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride in 2016. She also brings nine World Championship medals (nine gold, two silver) and three Olympic medals (one gold, two silver).

  • Speaking of international standouts, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) provided us with an incredible profile of the next UK born-and-trained player that has NHL potential. Liam Kirk, a forward for the Sheffield Steelers, is likely going to play in the CHL next season and could be drafted this June. Kirk has just recently turned 18, but is already playing in the highest level in Great Britain, and doing quite well. The young forward told Wheeler that Buffalo, Detroit, Edmonton, Vancouver, Arizona and Winnipeg have all expressed interest or attended one of his games, while Boston is expected to do so.
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019, but unlike most players might not be swayed by the biggest monetary offer. Ekman-Larsson spoke with Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet and explained that money isn’t the driving force behind his thought process anymore. “It’s just money. It’s not going to make you happier. It might make your life a little bit easier but it’s not going to make you happier.” Ekman-Larsson explains that he likes it in Arizona and would like to stay, something both sides have maintained all along.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Zach Whitecloud To Entry-Level Contract

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The Vegas Golden Knights continue to impress this season, this time signing one of the top college free agents. Zach Whitecloud has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights, after finishing his sophomore season at Bemidji State University. The press release indicates that Whitecloud will join Vegas tomorrow in Buffalo, and wear #2.

Whitecloud was being pursued by several teams around the league, including Los Angeles, Detroit and Tampa Bay according to the latest 31 Thoughts column by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The 21-year old defenseman grew up in Brandon, Manitoba where Vegas AGM Kelly McCrimmon ran the Wheat Kings for more than a decade. Whitecloud will go down as the Golden Knights’ first NCAA signing, and he’s an impressive one.

Vegas GM George McPhee explains what he sees in the organization’s newest player:

He’s a mobile defenseman who moves the puck real well. Is a safe player right now. We think he plays kind of conservatively, we believe he can give us a lot more offensively. There is lots of room for growth there. I like that he he’s got his base attributes that he’s safe and conservative, and if we can build the offense into his game he can be a pretty good player.

Whitecloud’s offense isn’t is calling card, but he’s also no slouch there. Scoring 19 points in 36 games this season, the right-handed defenseman has a hard shot and can quickly move the puck up the ice. If he starts to jump into the rush more often, and develops a willingness to attack in the offensive zone, there might be an uptick in point production. Even without the added offense, Whitecloud can handle himself in the defensive end and could be used as a penalty killing option at the professional level.

While the Golden Knights spent several draft picks acquiring Tomas Tatar at the deadline, the team still needs to add to their development system over the next few years. One way to do that is mine the college ranks for talents like Whitecloud, who at the very least can be a solid addition to a minor league program. Even if his NHL ceiling is somewhat limited, adding young free agent depth is always a good thing. Whether he gets into a game this season is still unclear, but he’ll be practicing with the team and learning what it means to be a professional hockey player.

More On The Carolina Hurricanes Front Office

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Yesterday, when the Carolina Hurricanes’ new owner Thomas Dundon decided to move Ron Francis out of his role as GM and into that of President of Hockey Operations, many were confused at what exactly that meant. In the press release, the team announced that they would start a search for a new GM who would report directly to Dundon, leading some to believe that the owner would have final say in basically every aspect of the organization, including hockey transactions.

Today, Dundon sat down with two of hockey’s most respected insiders to explain. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet both released interviews with Dundon, that essentially say the same thing. The new owner doesn’t want to have to make every decision, but felt he and Francis had different styles and ways of going about things. Dundon is quoted in Friedman’s piece:

I want to use Ron’s experience and knowledge with a different style and structure. He is a valuable resource. But our styles couldn’t be any different. It is no more complicated than that.

On Sportsnet today, Doug McLean explained that Francis has one more year on his current contract, but was still puzzled by the timing and explanation the Hurricanes gave. In Dundon’s explanations, it seems more like Francis will take over in a more advisory role, much different than the responsibilities usually given to President of Hockey Operations. A new GM, as Dundon explains to LeBrun, will need to fit into the way he does things and be focused on “relationships with other teams and agents and really challenging everything we do and really focusing on the player side” instead of worrying about all aspects of the organization.

It’s an interesting move from an owner just a few months before an important offseason. If the Hurricanes miss the playoffs once again, they’ll extend their league-leading drought to nine seasons and need to make some bold moves to correct it. With a ton of restricted free agents including Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin, and extension candidates in Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen, the team has huge decisions to make on whether to keep the core in tact or shake it up looking for more success. A new GM will have to make those decisions quickly, especially if Dundon waits until after the season to hire someone.

Also on The Athletic today was a look from James Mirtle (subscription required) at the huge number of GMs that could be out of a job in a month or two. If the Hurricanes are eyeing one of the experienced names as their next leader, or at least want to explore that option, Francis (or Dundon himself) may still have to lead the team through the draft process in June. Dundon certainly hasn’t been slow to act so far, but hiring the next GM of the Hurricanes is no small task.

Jan Rutta Signs Contract Extension With Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks are busy locking up some pending free agents, and have moved on to Jan Rutta. Today the team announced that Rutta has signed a one-year contract extension that will take him through the 2018-19 season. Rutta was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in July, but will be around for at least one more season. The deal carries a cap hit of $2.25MM, though the breakdown of salary to signing bonus has not yet been reported.

Rutta, 27, was signed out of the Czech professional league last summer after an impressive performance at the World Championships. Though the Czechs wouldn’t win a medal, Rutta and several teammates were the talk of the tournament and drew a ton of NHL interest. It’s paid off this season, as the defenseman has 19 points in 43 games with the Blackhawks and has taken on more responsibility as the season has progressed. Though he doesn’t engage physically as often as one might expect for a 6’3″ player, he still can hold his own in the defensive zone and get pucks up quickly to the Chicago forward group. He’s been one of the team’s key penalty killers when in the lineup, trailing only Gustav Forsling in average short-handed ice time.

The Blackhawks recently re-signed Erik Gustafsson for two years at a $1.2MM AAV, meaning that they have basically all of their defensemen from this season under contract going forward. Though Cody Franson will expire at year’s end, everyone from Brent Seabrook to Forsling are now signed for at least one more season. While that may be disappointing to many Blackhawks fans, there is still lots of time left to shake things up to try and get a different result in 2018-19.

Like every offseason, the Blackhawks will have some interesting decisions to make regarding cap space. After signing Rutta, the team has somewhere around $10MM to spend depending on where the cap ceiling lands for 2018-19. That’s not taking into account new contracts for Anthony Duclair, Vinnie Hinostroza, Tomas Jurco and John Hayden, which could eat away even further. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for improvement, meaning a player like Artem Anisimov could be on the block once his no-movement clause turns into a partial no-trade clause this summer.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported the financial details.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Detroit Red Wings Officially Recall Evgeny Svechnikov

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Though there were reports the move was in the work yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings have officially recalled Evgeny Svechnikov from the minor leagues under emergency conditions. Svechnikov will fill in for Frans Nielsen while the veteran deals with an injury suffered at the hands of David Backes on Tuesday night.

Selected 19th-overall in 2015, Svechnikov has just two NHL games under his belt and has struggled through inconsistency for much of this season. After scoring 51 points as a rookie and taking home the Calder Cup as AHL Champion last season, the 21-year old forward has just 22 points in 52 games this year. He has played better of late, and will now get an opportunity to show that his game is NHL ready and prove he deserves a spot on the Red Wings in 2018-19.

Svechnikov of course is the older brother of Andrei Svechnikov, a top prospect in the upcoming draft. The younger forward has dominated the OHL this season and could go as high as second overall in June. Interestingly, Detroit looks like they’ll have a good shot at selecting that high if they keep up their play of late. The Red Wings have lost four straight and sit 24th in the league. If they win one of the lottery spots, it will be very intriguing to see if they reunite the brothers.

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