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Archives for August 2018

St. Louis Blues Part Ways With Martin Brodeur, Promote Bill Armstrong

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After a report surfaced recently that Martin Brodeur would be leaving the St. Louis Blues organization, many wondered who would be taking over his role as Assistant General Manager. The team announced today that Bill Armstrong has been promoted from his former position as Director of Amateur Scouting to take over as AGM, while also confirming that Brodeur will be pursuing other opportunities, which are expected to be with the New Jersey Devils organization. The press release included a statement from Brodeur thanking the organization for his time there:

I want to thank Tom Stillman, Doug Armstrong, Chris Zimmerman and the Blues organization for giving me the opportunity to continue my playing career and begin my career off the ice in hockey operations. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career

The team has also announced several other title changes including naming Kevin McDonald the new General Manager of the San Antonio Rampage, Glen Wesley as a development coach, Ryan Miller as Director of Hockey Operations and Dave Farrish as a pro scout. Barret Jackman will also not return in 2018-19. Lou Korac of NHL.com adds that Armstrong will continue in his previous role running the amateur scouting, just under a new title and position.

Armstrong has been with the organization since 2004 and is widely regarded as extremely proficient at evaluating amateur talent, something that has shown quite clearly in the Blues draft history since he took over as director in 2010. With selections like Joel Edmundson, Colton Parayko, Ivan Barbashev, Ville Husso, Vince Dunn, Jordan Kyrou and others all coming well outside the first round, the team has built an extremely deep pipeline of talent for their NHL squad. Continuing to bring in talent will be key for the team going forward after they went all-in this offseason trying to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Craig Anderson Content To Stay With Senators

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It wasn’t long ago that Craig Anderson had requested a trade out of Ottawa and the Senators were looking to oblige him. The well-liked and respected goalie was coming off of a difficult season that saw him post a .898 SV% and a 3.32 GAA as the starter for the second-worst team in the NHL last year.  He also had to keep his family in mind, as his wife – who had finally beaten her publicized battle with cancer – and kids still reside in Florida. Fast forward about eight weeks and the veteran goalie has changed his tune.

Whether it be due changes to those personal circumstances, a change of mind about his role in Ottawa, or simply due to lack of interest in the trade market, it seems that Anderson is okay with sticking around with the Senators. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Anderson is ready for a “fresh start” with the team. The 37-year-old still has two years remaining on his contract and now says he wants to stay in Ottawa and make the best of what are likely the twilight years of his career. Anderson was quoted as saying “Ottawa. I’ve been there for eight years now, and that’s my home. I’ve got no interest in going anywhere else”.

Ironically, Anderson mentioned that he was “too old for drama” when talking about wanting to make things right with the Senators and their fans. No team in the league, or perhaps all of sports, has been more embroiled in drama of late than Ottawa. Although the situation surrounding Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, and their significant others – a situation that Anderson claims he was unaware of – has been resolved with Hoffman’s trade, there is still the matter of problematic owner Eugene Melnyk and a dwindling fan base who may watch their team finish dead last this season and potentially give away the first overall pick. The Senators are not short on controversy, and while Anderson might be talking about his own contentious relationship with the team due to his inconsistent pay and perceived poor value, he is not out of the woods yet when it comes to dealing with drama.

Snapshots: Gulls, Hiller, Sbisa

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The San Diego Gulls, AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, are bringing in some fresh faces behind the bench. The team announced that they have hired Sylvain Lefebvre and David Urquhart as assistant coaches for the coming season. The pair will join the staff of former Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins in San Diego. Lefebvre, a well-known name in hockey, has been the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliates – in Hamilton, St. John’s, and Laval – for the past six years, but was not retained by the organization this off-season. He also served as an assistant coach at the NHL and AHL level for the Colorado Avalanche. Lefebvre enjoyed a long NHL career, suiting up for 945 games over 14 seasons with four organizations, including a Stanley Cup-winning campaign with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Urquhart is a more outside-the-box hire, but could help with the development of the Ducks’ young prospects. An assistant coach at McGill University in Montreal for the past six years, Urquhart was also a standout player for McGill in the mid-2000’s. He also got a taste of the AHL, playing in 130 games before joining the coaching ranks. The Gulls missed the playoffs last season for the first time since joining the AHL and are hoping that some new voices behind the bench could make the difference in getting back to postseason and continuing to provide Anaheim with pro-ready talent.

  • A former Duck is not looking to return to the NHL. Jonas Hiller, now 36, has not played an NHL game since the 2015-16 season, when he struggled greatly as the backup for the Calgary Flames. However, prior to that unfortunate campaign, Hiller spent seven years as one of the best and most consistent goalies in the league for Anaheim and even found success in his first season in Calgary. Since he left the league, he has also done well for himself, playing for EHC Biel-Bienne of the NLA in his native Switzerland. Last year in particular, Hiller was one of the best goalies in the league. Given that recent success and his impending free agency, some speculated that he might eye an opportunity to return to the NHL next summer. However, that thought was put to rest today when Biel-Bienne announced a one-year extension for their star keeper. Barring an otherworldly performance over the next two seasons, it seems unlikely that Hiller would want or be able to return to the NHL at age 38 when his current contract expires.
  • Another former Duck, and former teammate of Hiller’s, defenseman Luca Sbisa is still weighing his options for the coming season. No sooner did a report come out yesterday claiming Sbisa could receive a PTO from the Vegas Golden Knights that agent Andre Rufener now tells the Swiss Hockey News that Sbisa has already received a PTO offer from an “unnamed team”. Rufener also states that there is considerable interest in his client and that several teams are weighing a contract offer. It seems that Sbisa is inclined to hold out for that solid offer rather than accept a PTO at this point in time. With so much noise surrounding the 28-year-old blue liner, it seems likely that he will find a new NHL home before the puck drops on the new season.

Contract Talks “At A Standstill” Between Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars

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Just over a month ago here on PHR we ran an article detailing the speculation and rumor that was bound to start surrounding Tyler Seguin as the year approached. The superstar center is heading into the final season of his current contract with the Dallas Stars and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019. Like John Tavares last year, Seguin is a franchise-changing talent that could completely alter the free agent market if he decides to see what is available, and will be a story closely followed by the hockey world all season long. That interest crept to the surface today, when Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet tweeted that contract talks between the Stars and Seguin are “at a standstill and have been for quite some time.”

Kypreos compared the situation directly to the Tavares one, and that Seguin wants to sign a long-term deal, but speculation will surely follow the tweet. Even if the two sides haven’t spoken about an extension in some time, there is no reason to believe that means they won’t circle back in the near future and try to work something out. The team does have plenty of cap space moving forward as only Jamie Benn ($9.5MM) and Alexander Radulov ($6.25MM) carry real bank-breaking cap hits. John Klingberg, the team’s Norris-caliber defenseman is signed for four more seasons at just a $4.25MM cap hit while most of the rest of the roster are on short-term deals.

Interestingly though Kypreos also brought up the ongoing Erik Karlsson situation, and intimated that the team is still trying to acquire the Ottawa Senators captain. Dallas has been connected to Karlsson in the past, but were hesitant to include top prospect Miro Heiskanen in any trade. It seems likely that Karlsson will be traded to a team that has plans for a contract extension of his own, something that would certainly make fitting in Seguin more difficult. The Senators star is expected to be looking for similar terms to Drew Doughty’s eight-year, $88MM extension.

Whether the Stars are involved with Karlsson talks or not, this sort of report is sure to become a near-daily occurrence until a decision is made on Seguin. If the team believes he might walk in free agency they could decide to trade him at some point, given the recent example of Tavares signing in Toronto without any compensation for the Islanders. That is months away from even being an option though, given that there hasn’t been any hint of unhappiness from the Seguin camp.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Sergei Shumakov Looking For NHL Contract

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3:39pm: If Shumakov does find a home in the NHL, it won’t be with the New York Rangers as Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

9:29am: Teams looking to get a late summer boost to their forward group may have a new name on their contact list, as Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that Sergei Shumakov is now looking to an NHL contract after terminating his deal in the KHL. Shumakov played last season for CSKA Moscow, scoring 40 points in 47 games. He was also invited to the Russian Olympic selection camp, but failed to crack the final roster that went on to win the gold medal.

Shumakov, 25, has been a talented offensive player in the KHL for several seasons but hasn’t been linked very often to NHL clubs. If that’s now changed, he’s bound to create some interest as a potential addition in free agency. Undrafted, Shumakov would cost a team nothing but money and opportunity to acquire and could still hold top-six potential. There’s no guarantee his game would fit into the North American style, but after recording at least 16 goals in each of his four full KHL seasons there is reason to believe he could at least provide some depth scoring to an NHL lineup.

Despite his age, Shumakov would be still be constrained by the entry-level system for one year, meaning any interested team would have very little at risk. If he can crack the lineup and prove to be an NHL talent, he’d be looking for a bigger contract in the 2019 offseason. If not, a team would be giving away less than $1MM in salary and cap space as a lottery ticket.

Troy Brouwer Signs With Florida Panthers

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The Florida Panthers have announced the signing of Troy Brouwer to a one-year one-way contract, bringing in the veteran forward after he was bought out by the Calgary Flames. Brouwer will earn $1.5MM from the Flames in each of the next four seasons, and now add another $850K from the Panthers in 20181-19. Florida GM Dale Tallon had this to say about his new forward:

Troy is a skilled veteran forward with championship experience. He adds depth to our forward group and his leadership will help our developing young core take the next step this season.

Brouwer, 33, comes to the Panthers fresh off the worst offensive season of his career, in which he recorded just six goals and 22 points in 76 games with the Flames. That was the first time he didn’t hit at least double digits in goals, and a substantial drop off from his career-high of 25 just a few years ago with the Washington Capitals. Brouwer doesn’t appear to have a ton of upside left, but could easily find himself a regular on the Florida fourth line this season. He’ll have to fight for that spot though, as the Panthers already have 12 other forwards on one-way deals and other players like Henrik Borgstrom, Owen Tippett, Denis Malgin and Maxim Mamin who could compete for a spot in the NHL.

The contract also leaves the Panthers with just under $2MM in cap space for the upcoming season, though that will increase when they decide to send down some of their excess forwards. They also currently have three goaltenders earning at least $1.3MM this season after signing Michael Hutchinson, and unless they are planning on carry all three when healthy his assignment to the minor leagues will free up some space. Given those pending transactions, signing a veteran option like Brouwer came with little risk for the Panthers and could provide some invaluable leadership as the group tries to make it back to the playoffs. Led by some underrated stars in Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck and Aaron Ekblad, the Panthers could surprise other teams in the Atlantic Division this season and put themselves in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup. Brouwer will be able to share some knowledge with the younger players, given that he won a championship in 2010 with the Chicago Blackhawks and has played in more than 100 postseason contests.

Darnell Nurse Optimistic About Contract Negotiations

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Among the remaining unsigned restricted free agent, Darnell Nurse sticks out as one of the most important. The Edmonton Oilers are already without Andrej Sekera for a good portion of the season (if not the entire thing), and need Nurse to take another step forward and become a leader on the blue line for the team. His contract though brings quite a bit of complication, given that the team only has around $4MM in cap space to play with for this season. That’s including Sekera, who could be placed on long-term injured reserve at some point but doesn’t take into account the extra cost for a 23rd roster player to replace him. A long-term deal with Nurse that buys out any unrestricted free agent years could easily clear $4MM per season, meaning the Oilers will have to make some extra room in one way or another.

That complication isn’t giving Nurse any doubt on whether he’ll be with the team to start the season, as he indicated to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet that he has “faith” he’ll be joining the team in training camp. The defenseman is apparently optimistic about his contract situation, which should give at least a bit of relief to fans that were worried the negotiations could leak into the start of the regular season. The Oilers are expected to compete for the Stanley Cup with Connor McDavid leading the offense, but after failing to even make the postseason last year there is a ton of pressure on the roster to bounce back.

One other option to help replace some of the burden that Sekera carried is top prospect Evan Bouchard, who Ryan Dixon writes about in his latest piece for Sportsnet. Bouchard has a real shot at breaking camp with the Oilers this season, if only for a few games to get a taste of the NHL before heading back to the London Knights to try and compete for a Memorial Cup. If the Nurse contract situation ever did push into the first part of the season, Bouchard would be another potential recipient of the available minutes.

Now 23, Nurse is coming off his best offensive season with 26 points in 2017-18 but more importantly played all 82 games. The Oilers couldn’t say that about any of their other defensemen, with Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson and Sekera all missing big chunks of the season. Improved health on the blue line is extremely important for Edmonton this year, and while they haven’t gotten off on the right foot with Sekera’s injury, they can look to Nurse for a repeat effort and example among his partners. He’ll have to get a contract signed before he can show any of that durability off though, and needs to have a deal by December 1st to play this season at all.

Morning Notes: Rampage, Lindholm, Samsonov

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The San Antonio Rampage have a new NHL affiliate this season in the St. Louis Blues, and will be debuting a new coaching staff as well. The team announced today that Daniel Tkaczuk and J.J. Daigneault have been hired as assistant coaches under Drew Bannister, while Ryan Ward has been hired as video assistant coach. Tkaczuk and Daigneault both come from the NHL ranks, spending time with the Blues and Montreal Canadiens respectively in recent years.

The Rampage were the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche previously, but with the Colorado Eagles joining the league it made sense to realign the partnerships. St. Louis operated last season without a primary affiliate, instead lending players to the Rampage, Chicago Wolves and Providence Bruins among others. This time around they’ll have more ownership in their player development, an important step as they look to transition some top prospects to professional hockey.

  • Par Lindholm had interest from several NHL clubs before signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Kristen Shilton of TSN. The 26-year old center signed out of the SHL and has the inside track for a fourth-line role with the Maple Leafs this season. He told Shilton that he wanted to sign with a “classic” NHL team, and will get to be part of this group that is attempting to bring success back to a franchise that has struggled for so long. The fourth-line center role might not be a perfect opportunity given the huge minutes likely assigned to Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Nazem Kadri, but Lindholm could still be a valuable piece for the team going forward.
  • Tom Gulitti of NHL.com spoke with new Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden about several things including the backup goaltender position for this season. The Capitals currently have minor league goaltender Pheonix Copley penciled into the role behind Braden Holtby, but Reirden is still calling it a competition with KHL standout Ilya Samsonov. The 21-year old Russian is among the best goaltending prospects in the world after dominating at the KHL level for the last few years. Expected to start in the AHL this season, it might not be long before he’s pushing for a full-time NHL role.

Poll: Who Are The Best Goaltenders In The NHL?

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Over the last few weeks the NHL Network has been releasing their lists of the best players in the league, detailing the Top 20 Centers, Top 20 Defensemen and Top 20 Wingers in separate polls. In response, we’ve polled the PHR community to give our own thoughts on the very best talents around the NHL and have come up with significantly different lists. Among centers, Sidney Crosby edged out Connor McDavid for the top spot here at PHR, while Erik Karlsson overcame his down 2017-18 to take the spot on the blue line.

On the wings, NHL Network had Nikita Kucherov as the very best in the league after his 100-point campaign alongside Steven Stamkos. That didn’t impress the PHR readers though, who have Kucherov at #4 behind three more veteran options. Alex Ovechkin takes home the trophy to place on his overburdened shelf alongside his recent Conn Smythe award for playoff MVP and seventh Maurice Richard trophy. It’s difficult to overcome 607 goals and more than 1,100 points now that Ovechkin has a Stanley Cup to go with them. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Wingers currently looks like this:

  1. Alex Ovechkin (632 votes)
  2. Taylor Hall (532 votes)
  3. Patrick Kane (531 votes)
  4. Nikita Kucherov (521 votes)
  5. Patrik Laine (510 votes)
  6. Vladimir Tarasenko (476 votes)
  7. Brad Marchand (425 votes)
  8. Artemi Panarin (392 votes)
  9. Jamie Benn (371 votes)
  10. Claude Giroux (370 votes)
  11. Johnny Gaudreau (345 votes)
  12. David Pastrnak (329 votes)
  13. Phil Kessel (323 votes)
  14. Blake Wheeler (320 votes)
  15. Filip Forsberg (263 votes)
  16. Mitch Marner (195 votes)
  17. Brock Boeser (175 votes)
  18. Logan Couture (166 votes)
  19. Jakub Voracek (156 votes)
  20. T.J. Oshie (132 votes)

Continuing the series, the NHL Network today released their ranking of the Top 10 Goaltenders, sparking quite a bit of debate among the hockey world. Sergei Bobrovsky takes home their top spot after collecting Vezina votes again last season. The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder has won the trophy twice and consistently puts up some of the most impressive numbers in the league. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer, giving the Blue Jackets a very tough decision on whether to make him the most expensive goaltender in the league or watch him walk away.

Stanley Cup Champion Braden Holtby is second, despite being benched at the beginning of the playoffs by his club in favor of Philipp Grubauer. Holtby would eventually regain the net and carry the Capitals to the promised land, but not without at least some doubt in his ability down the stretch.

Incredibly, Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist, the two highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL don’t appear on the list making their contracts seem quite excessive. Lundqvist at least has a long history of success during his current deal, something that Price will have to prove as he starts in on his eight-year $84MM extension.

Like all of the other polls, we’ll ask the PHR community to give their own thoughts on who deserves at the top of the list. We’ve included a huge number of NHL goaltenders and ask you to cast your vote by selecting 10 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or on how the Top 20 Wingers list turned out.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Five Key Stories: 8/20/18 – 8/26/18

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This past week represented what is likely to be the calm before the storm as activity around the league should pick up with training camps on the horizon.  Despite there, there was still some notable news around the hockey world over the past seven days.

Oilers Ink Jerabek: With Andrej Sekera out long-term due to a torn Achilles tendon, Edmonton wasted little time adding to their defensive depth on the left side as they signed Jakub Jerabek to a one-year, $1MM contract.  The 27-year-old just finished his first season in North America and split the year between the AHL, Montreal, and Washington.  He played a very limited role with the Caps in their Stanley Cup run as he suited up just twice in the postseason.  Jerabek won’t be able to take on a 20-minute role in Edmonton but his ability to move the puck should be an asset to their back end.

Enstrom Heads Home: Defenseman Toby Enstrom was one of the more intriguing defensemen remaining on the open market.  Instead of joining another NHL team, the veteran chose to head home, signing a one-year deal with MODO of the Swedish Allsvenskan, a second-division team.  In doing so, the 33-year-old returns to the program he played with for parts of eight seasons before crossing the pond to head to the NHL.  If this is the end of the road in the NHL for Enstrom, he’d finish with 308 points in 719 games between the Thrashers and Jets.  However, given the demand for mobility on the back end, it’s certainly possible that he’ll attract some more interest next summer if he has a good showing in Sweden.

Karlsson Talks Pick Up: After things had gone quiet for a while regarding Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, trade talks have picked up in recent days with a particular emphasis on the Western Conference.  Vancouver was briefly believed to be involved but GM Jim Benning quickly shot that down.  Karlsson himself also denied reports that he wouldn’t be willing to sign an extension in a Canadian city.  The Senators gave permission to prospective suitors to talk to Karlsson’s representatives about the parameters of an extension last month

Couturier Out Four Weeks: Flyers center Sean Couturier sustained a knee injury during a summer tournament that will keep him off the ice for roughly a month.  As a result, he will likely be held out of their lineup in the early part of the preseason but he should be fully recovered in time for the start of the regular season in October.  The 25-year-old is coming off of a career year that saw him collect 76 points in 82 games while averaging 21:36 per game, the third-most among all NHL forwards.

Chara Could Play Past 2018-19: While some have wondered if Zdeno Chara could be entering the final year of his career, that doesn’t appear to be the case.  Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated that his veteran blueliner “wants to have his legacy run a lot longer than just one more year,” suggesting that the 41-year-old isn’t planning on hanging up his skates after the upcoming season.  Chara isn’t the top pairing player he once was but he still logged nearly 23 minutes a night in 2017-18 which helped him earn a one-year, $5MM deal for 2018-19 that could reach as high as $6.75MM with performance bonuses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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