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Archives for April 2018

Minor League Notes: Niku, Elie, Oilers

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Sami Niku’s season is just getting better, as today the AHL announced that he has been named the league’s top defenseman for the 2017-18 season. Niku had already been named to the All-Rookie and First All-Star Team, after recording 53 points in 73 games. His first year of professional hockey in North America couldn’t have gone any better—unless of course the Manitoba Moose win the Calder Cup—as he even scored his first NHL goal in the one game he played for the Winnipeg Jets.

Niku was selected in the seventh round three years ago, and is now the youngest player to ever take home top defenseman honors in the AHL. After playing well at every level so far, you can pencil him into a roster spot with the Jets in the coming years. That’s another hit for their draft and development systems, that have started to churn out NHL talent at a ridiculous rate.

  • Remi Elie has been sent back to the AHL for the Texas Stars playoff run, after a successful rookie campaign with the Dallas Stars. Elie recorded 14 points in 72 games, and will now get a chance to show off in the minor leagues. Never an elite scoring talent, Elie will nevertheless be an offensive weapon for Texas, who are currently staring at a first round series with the Tucson Roadrunners. The second-round pick from 2013 won’t be waiver exempt again next season, meaning this might be his last chance to really contribute in the minor leagues for the Dallas organization.
  • Similarly, the Edmonton Oilers have sent both Ethan Bear and Keegan Lowe back to the AHL to help the Bakersfield Condors in their last few matchups. Bear got into 18 games with the Oilers down the stretch, and could be a potential option for the team next season when they are looking for puck-moving right-handed defensmen. For now, both will focus on improving their play in the last few games of the AHL season and putting in an offseason of training.

Boston Bruins Sign Karson Kuhlman To Entry-Level Contract

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The Boston Bruins have convinced NCAA free agent Karson Kuhlman to join their organization, signing the forward to a two-year entry-level contract. The deal has an average annual value of $750K, and Kuhlman will immediately join the Providence Bruins on an amateur tryout.

Kuhlman is fresh off an National Championship with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he captained the squad and took home tournament MVP after scoring in the title game. The 22-year old forward finished his four-year college career with a 20-point season in 44 games.

For anyone who watched this season, they know exactly why Kuhlman earned a professional contract. It’s not because of any flashy offensive play, or elite skills in any one area, but a ridiculous work ethic and all-around versatility. Kuhlman double-shifted in the championship game, while hitting the ice on the powerplay and penalty kill. He ranks seventh in NCAA history with a 166 consecutive games played streak. His determined defensive effort was a big part of the win for UMD, and he’ll be asked to continue to bring that drive every game in the pro ranks.

St. Louis Blues, Carter Hutton To Start Contract Talks

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At their locker clean-out today, the St. Louis Blues addressed several issues including Vladimir Tarasenko’s injury, World Championship invitations, and how this season slipped away. One thing on the minds of many fans, is where will the goaltending situation land for next season? Well according to Lou Korac of NHL.com, GM Doug Armstrong admitted that Jake Allen would be back with the team but didn’t rule out a return for Carter Hutton. Hutton is a pending unrestricted free agent, who also indicated that he would be open to a return, depending on how things go in negotiations. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that the team has reached out to Hutton’s camp to start contract talks.

Hutton put up the best season of his career, leading the league in save percentage among goaltenders who played in at least 20 games. That .931 number could likely secure Hutton a job in several markets around the league, though it’s not clear if anyone would be willing to hand over a starting role. That’s because Hutton is already 32 years old and though he’s been effective in a backup role throughout his career, still only has 138 games under his belt in the NHL. If he’s going to sign somewhere as part of a tandem, St. Louis—where his son was born and his family has put down roots—seems as good an option as any.

The Blues have some cap room to play with this summer, but have to be careful whether they want to commit more money to the goaltending position. They already have Allen secured for another three seasons at $4.35MM, and though his play has been extremely inconsistent he’s shown the ability to perform among the best in the league for short stretches. Getting him to put up those numbers over a longer period of time is difficult, but sitting that cap hit on the bench as a backup isn’t a very good option either.

Still, this is a team that expects to contend for the Stanley Cup next season. With several star players in their prime and some top prospects ready to break through, the organization is still in good shape going forward. Securing their future in goal is important, as we’ve seen with talented teams that can’t quite put it together all around the league.

That future could already be in the organization though, and ready to take the next step. Ville Husso, a 23-year old goaltender selected in the fourth round in 2014, put up an excellent season in the AHL and could be ready to take the next step. He’s seen a few NHL games from the bench this season, but is still waiting to make his debut. There might be some merit to the idea that an Allen-Husso pair could be enough to get the Blues back to the playoffs, but with anything in hockey (and especially when it comes to goaltending), nothing is a sure thing. If Hutton does find a better opportunity elsewhere, there is no guarantee that the team wouldn’t bring in a more experienced netminder to take his place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Red Wings Head Coach Jeff Blashill Expected To Return For Next Season

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Tuesday: At his season-ending press conference, Holland confirmed that Blashill will be back for the 2018-19 season. The Detroit GM cited the improvement of their young players under Blashill as a positive. The Red Wings have decisions to make on some of those young players, as Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Martin Frk and Tyler Bertuzzi are all restricted free agents.

Sunday: There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the status of Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill lately.  Detroit struggled considerably this season and wound up missing the playoffs by 25 points and as a result, some have wondered if a change may be coming.

Although an official announcement isn’t expected until Tuesday, both Gregg Krupa of the Detroit News and Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos (video link) report that Blashill will be sticking around for next season.  He was GM Ken Holland’s choice as the replacement for Mike Babcock when he left to join the Maple Leafs three years ago and Holland himself just landed a contract extension earlier in the week.

This means that Blashill will be behind the bench to start his fourth season as an NHL head coach in October but now, the focus will shift to whether or not he will get an extension or enter his ‘lame duck’ season.  CapFriendly’s coaches contract tracker has the 44-year-old entering the final year of his deal in 2018-19 and while most teams frown on having their coaches in that situation, we have seen it happen the last couple of years with Barry Trotz in Washington and Ken Hitchcock when he was with St. Louis.  Considering how Detroit fared in 2017-18, it would make some sense for Holland to at least consider that approach here.

Regardless of which way they go when it comes to another contract, it appears that the status quo will remain intact in Detroit heading into the 2018-19 season.

Alexei Bereglazov Put On Unconditional Waivers, Will Have Contract Terminated

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It didn’t work out for Alexei Bereglazov and the New York Rangers, and today the two sides have come to an agreement to end the relationship. Agent Dan Milstein announced on Twitter that Bereglazov has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a mutual contract termination. Bereglazov, who was already loaned to the KHL earlier this season, will play in Russia in 2018-19.

Signed last summer to a two-year entry-level contract, Bereglazov never got a sniff of action in New York. Instead, after just 13 games in the AHL he forced a loan back to Magnitogorsk with his European Assignment Clause. He’ll now have to look for a new contract in the KHL, but likely won’t have much trouble. The 23-year old is a useful defenseman that can use his reach to shut down rushes quickly, and even contributed 19 points in his last full KHL season.

Technically Bereglazov could sign with another NHL team after his contract is terminated, but that seems unlikely at this point. It’s hard to imagine there would be another team willing to give him a role in the NHL right away, meaning it would just be much of the same story. Instead, this may be the last we hear about Bereglazov in North America at least for a few seasons. There’s no telling what the future holds, as he’s still young enough to continue developing.

Early Notes: Hanzal, Grundstrom, Larsson

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Martin Hanzal was part of a big Dallas Stars offseason that was supposed to vault them back to the playoffs. Along with Alexander Radulov, Marc Methot and Ben Bishop, the team had strengthened their core and were ready to take on the Western Conference. Unfortunately that didn’t happen with the team missing the playoffs entirely, and some may point to Hanzal’s struggles as a big reason why. The 31-year old center played 38 games and recorded just 10 points, dealing with injury basically the entire season.

In Sean Shapiro’s new piece for The Athletic (subscription required) he goes deep into how a serious back injury affected Hanzal’s play, and how he’s hoping to be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season. The surgery came with a six to nine month recovery timeline, that puts him on track from anywhere between training camp and a good chunk of the way into the season. As Shapiro puts it, Hanzal is “cautiously optimistic” about a return to form, something that would be a huge boost since the Stars still owe him $9MM over the next two seasons.

  • Carl Grundstrom is on his way back to the Toronto Marlies for another playoff run, as the young Swedish forward was re-assigned from Frolunda today by the Maple Leafs. Grundstrom, a second-round pick in 2016, played six games for the Marlies last spring before heading back to Sweden for one more year. The 20-year old is expected to come to North America full-time in 2018-19, where he could even challenge for a place on the Maple Leafs in training camp. Grundstrom once again showed off his ability to score goals this year, notching 17 in 35 games for his club team.
  • Another Swede, Johan Larsson, isn’t as excited about his future in North America. The Buffalo Sabres forward spoke to Swedish reporter Sven Gustafsson and explained that he is tired of the situation, and will wait to see what the team has in store for him. Larsson is under contract for another season, but with personnel changes expected in Buffalo after another season at the bottom of the standings, his future for the team is far from secure. Larsson hasn’t turned into the two-way, middle-six center many had hoped he would become, scoring just four goals and 17 points this season.

Ottawa Senators Re-Assign Filip Chlapik, Colin White

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The Ottawa Senators have decided the season isn’t over for Filip Chlapik or Colin White, and have re-assigned both forwards to the AHL. The Belleville Senators aren’t headed to the playoffs this year, but do have three games remaining in the regular season. While Ottawa rests and prepares for the 2018-19 season, Chlapik and White will continue their development with a few more games.

It was a somewhat disappointing season for first-round pick White, who after a pair of outstanding seasons at Boston College was expected to make an impact right away. He failed to do so, recording just six points in 21 games and spending the rest of the year in the minor leagues. Though there is no reason to believe that he can’t be a contributor as soon as next season, he hasn’t progressed as quickly as some had hoped. If Ottawa is going to bounce back from this season, he’ll be a key part of the success.

Chlapik on the other hand came in with lower expectations, a second-round pick coming off a great junior season that likely needed some seasoning in the minor leagues. The fact that he immediately seemed acclimated to the AHL pace earned him a call-up in late October, where he registered his first NHL point in his first game. Though he would go on to record just three more points in his next 19 NHL games, he has proved he can handle play at the highest level. Like White, Chlapik could see more time in the minor leagues to start 2018-19, but is a big part of any future they’re trying to build.

2018 NHL Draft Lottery Odds

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The regular season is over and for the first time in NHL history there are 15 teams on the outside of the playoff picture. For those squads and their fans, it’s a long wait for anything positive to come, with the 2018 NHL Entry Draft more than ten weeks away, scheduled for June 18th, and the start of free agency another two weeks after that. However, the odds for this year’s NHL Draft Lottery are now set and teams can at least look forward to the ping pong balls being drawn at the end of the month, on Saturday, April 28th. With the teams in the running now set, here are the odds for the #1 overall pick in this years draft:

31st – Buffalo Sabres: 18.5%

30th – Ottawa Senators: 13.5%

29th – Arizona Coyotes: 11.5%

28th – Montreal Canadiens: 9.5%

27th – Detroit Red Wings: 8.5%

26th – Vancouver Canucks: 7.5%

25th – Chicago Blackhawks: 6.5%

24th – New York Rangers: 6.0%

23rd – Edmonton Oilers: 5.0%

22nd – New York Islanders: 3.5%

21st – Carolina Hurricanes: 3.0%

20th – New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames): 2.5%

19th – Dallas Stars: 2.0%

18th – Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis Blues (top-ten option)): 1.5%

17th – Florida Panthers: 1.0%

If you are a fan of one of these teams, you can entertain yourself for the next few weeks with this Lottery Simulator from Tankathon.com.

West Notes: Blues, Flames, Canucks

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The St. Louis Blues just narrowly missed out on making the playoffs this season, losing in regulation to the Colorado Avalanche in their regular season finale – the only result that could have eliminated them from the postseason picture. To add insult to injury, the Blues have also played the 2017-18 season without an AHL affiliate, leaving fans without the consolation prize of at least watching a team of St. Louis prospects make a playoff run. Nevertheless, the team has assigned goalie Ville Husso and defenseman Chris Butler to the San Antonio Rampage, the team with the majority of the Blues’ minor league prospects. Yet, the Rampage sit in last place in the extremely tight AHL Pacific Division with just three games remaining. Dejected Blues fans may have to follow Beau Bennett and Wade Megan with the Chicago Wolves or Jordan Binnington with the Providence Bruins if they want a horse in the race come AHL playoff time.

  • Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving told the Canadian Press that his team has a “laundry list” of issues to sort out this off-season. After making the postseason last year and, as the article notes, adding Mike Smith and Travis Hamonic last summer, missing the playoffs this year can only be seen as a disappointment and Treliving is ready to make changes. At the top of that “laundry list” is deciding what to do with head coach Glen Gulutzan. Beyond that, one list item specifically mentioned by Treliving is figuring out how to fix the Flames’ tepid power play, which finished 29th in the league and only got worse as the season wore on. As Treliving puts it, “In a league where the margins are thin, it’s not surprising that the teams that are successful in (special teams) usually have successful years, so it was critical.”
  • One team that will be far less active this off-season are the Vancouver Canucks. Jeff Paterson of TSN gets the feeling that this could be one of the quietest Canuck off-seasons in years. President Trevor Linden spoke with the media today and stated that “Obviously on a day like this, we’re disappointed by not achieving all of our goals. At the same time, we’re encouraged as an organization with where we are moving forward. I think this group has an identity with its young players. That’s exciting” Paterson read this statement as saying that after back-to-back busy summers, the team is disappointed in its performance, but with a young core and plenty of depth in talented prospects, this is a team moving in the right direction. For that reason, Paterson hypothesizes that it could be a “wait and see”-type summer, writing “Outside of the National Hockey League draft lottery and the draft itself, don’t be the least bit surprised if you don’t hear a peep from the Vancouver Canucks until training camp.”

Bill Peters Named Head Coach Of Team Canada At World Championships

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Bill Peters may not be secure in his NHL coaching position with the Carolina Hurricanes, but that hasn’t stopped him from adding another coaching job to his resume. Sportsnet reported this evening that Hockey Canada has named Peters the head coach of the Canadian team at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. The tournament runs from May 4th – 20th in the cities of Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark.

This won’t be Peters’ first go-round at the World Championships, as he has previously coached for Team Canada on two other occasions, including leading the team as head coach to a 2016 title. The Alberta native was also an assistant coach for Canada’s World Cup team during the summer of 2017.

Peters won’t be without an impressive support staff in Denmark, as Florida Panthers head coach Bob Boughner and St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo were named his assistants. Yeo has previously served as an assistant for the World Championships team, while Boughner will make his coaching debut at the tournament. In Yeo and Boughner, Peters and Team Canada not only add extensive experience, but also the two coaches who came closest to earning an NHL playoff spot this season, each missing out by only one point.

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