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Archives for March 2019

Free Agent Profile: Justin Brazeau

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While many observers are caught up in the college free agent market right now, the prize among undrafted free agents hails from the junior ranks. Justin Brazeau, a 21-year-old winger from the OHL’s North Bay Battalion, is ready to be an impact pro player as soon as his season ends, which could be sooner rather than later.

The OHL regular season has ended and the playoffs are set to get underway, beginning on Thursday. Brazeau suited up in all 68 games for the Battalion this season, recording 61 goals and 113 points. The massive output by the North Bay captain was good enough for the league lead in goals and second in scoring behind only top Dallas Stars prospect Jason Robertson. Yet, it wasn’t enough to place the Battalion among the top teams in the league. North Bay finished seventh in the Eastern Conference and face a daunting match-up with Robertson and the Niagara Ice Dogs in the first round.

If Brazeau and the Battalion do indeed make an early exit – a sweep would end the series by the middle of next week – Brazeau could sign his entry-level contract by the end of the month. Of course, as a junior player he could sign an ELC at any time, but at this point Brazeau seems willing to wait until his final year of juniors is officially over. He has likely had conversations with many teams already, but seems poised to look at all options for the next step in his career.

Brazeau should be able to choose freely any team in the NHL he likes for his first contract. The overage forward is more than just numbers; while many before him have dominated the junior level offensively only to flame out at the pro level, those players tend to be smaller in stature and able to skate around their opposition at the junior level. Brazeau is a different type of player entirely. At 6’6″ and 225 lbs., Brazeau is a bona fide power forward. He has great skill and offensive instincts, but can hold his own defensively with great size and strength. In fact, maybe the only weakness that could prevent him from continuing to be a contributor in the NHL is his skating. If he can improve upon his ability to get back and forth, Brazeau can be dangerous in both ends.

Potential Suitors

The short answer is that all 31 teams have likely checked in on Brazeau. A junior player of both this size and production are few and far in between and all of the NHL is on alert that Brazeau could be a special player. At the cost of an entry-level contract, it would be silly for any team not to take a chance on the big scoring forward.

However, there are some leaders in the pursuit. Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs are always a top contender. An Ontario native, Brazeau could have the opportunity to play on a top team close to home, while the Leafs are desperate for affordable help as they face an impending cap crunch and could afford to add some more size up front as well. Similarly, Brazeau could choose to play relatively nearby in Ottawa, as the Senators need all the help they can get and Brazeau could immediately take on a major role.

Brazeau also has some history with a pair of NHL teams. The undrafted product did spend time at development camp with both the San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets over the past few years and may have maintained relationships with those clubs. Both the Sharks and the Blue Jackets are talented teams on which Brazeau could find immediate success.

However, San Jose and Columbus, as well as Toronto, are deep up front. Brazeau wants to play as soon as possible and may not get that chance this season with one of those three teams. The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins are two top contenders who do have flexibility in the top-nine and could be willing to give Brazeau a shot right away. The New York Rangers aren’t at the same competitive level as those teams, but are shockingly thin at right wing and Brazeau could hypothetically play

Projected Contract

Brazeau is going to sign an entry-level contract, so there is a limit on both base salary and potential bonuses, both of which he will likely max out. It will also be a three-year term, per the CBA. The key to signing the power forward will instead be who is willing or even able to burn the first year of the contract this season. Brazeau has shown that he has the size, skill, and competitive nature to play in the NHL and will want to prove that right away. The potential future star will also want to get another year closer to making real money. If a team can promise Brazeau play time this year, it will go a long way in locking him up. If such a landing spot doesn’t exist, he could opt for a team with which he can play the greatest role next season.

NHL Reinstates Nashville Predators’ Austin Watson

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The NHL today announced, in cooperation with the NHLPA, that Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson has been reinstated from his suspension and has been “returned to available status”. Watson was suspended from play indefinitely in late January after an “alcohol-related relapse” and entered Stage Two of the joint Substance Abuse and Behavioral Program. Watson was cleared to return to action by officials from the league and players’ association, but will remain under supervision by the guidelines of the program.

The Predators have also announced that “consistent with the recommendations” of the program, Watson has returned to active status for the team. The only additional comment the team makes is that he will continue with the “follow-up phase” of the program while returning to play. Due to the “personal nature” of Watson’s suspension and ongoing cooperation with the program, Nashville will not comment any further on the topic.

Nashville will be happy to have the 27-year-old forward back in the lineup, though. Watson missed the first 18 games of the season due to a suspension related to off-season domestic assault charges, a stretch that was reduced from the original 27-game sentence. He then missed another 21 games in his latest absence. This has left him with just 34 games and 13 points to show for the season, just one year removed from a career high in production. The Predators hope that Watson can get back to full speed quickly, as they look to solidify their spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Tennessean’s Paul Skrbina reports that Watson is expected to re-join the team immediately for morning skate on Tuesday, but there is no time table for his return to game action.

Florida Panthers Sign Brady Keeper

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The Florida Panthers have signed college free agent Brady Keeper to a two-year entry-level contract. Keeper just finished his sophomore season at the University of Maine, but will give up his final two years of eligibility in order to jump to the professional level. The deal will begin this season, and GM Dale Tallon expressed his excitement about bringing in the young defenseman:

Brady is a promising puck-moving defenseman who possesses strong offensive instincts and plays a physical game. He has been a leader for the University of Maine and found success as one of the team’s top defenders. We are excited for Brady to join the Panthers and continue to grow his game.

Keeper, 22, was a star in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League before going to Maine, recording big point and big penalty minute totals as part of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) Blizzard. Back in 2016, Sam Laskaris of Windspeaker.com reported that Keeper, who is Cree, was recruited by several teams in the NCAA and USHL but decided on Maine because of goalie coach Alfie Michaud, a former First Nations (Ojibwe) professional hockey player himself.

The 6’2″ defenseman may have toned down his rough play somewhat since his first few years of junior, but Keeper still doesn’t shy away from engaging physically. That’s just a part of his well-rounded game now though, one which resulted in 44 points across 73 games in his collegiate career. He’ll jump into a Panthers organization that has plenty of depth on defense but has shown a willingness to give young players an opportunity at the NHL level.

Minnesota Wild Sign Mat Robson

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The Minnesota Wild have added a goaltending prospect to their organization by signing Mat Robson. Robson will ink a two-year entry-level contract that starts this season, after finishing his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota.

When you see a player from the Golden Gophers signing in Minnesota it’s easy to expect them to be a homegrown talent, but Robson is actually a Canadian import that has recently starred at the university. The 22-year old goaltender went undrafted before posting a .933 save percentage as a freshman and taking over as the full-time starter this year. With a .921 in 31 games, Robson was a huge part of the team but will leave school after just two years to realize his dream of becoming a professional.

The Wild will burn the first year of Robson’s contract this season, a worthwhile cost for securing the young goaltender’s services. He’ll become a restricted free agent after the 2019-20 season but immediately adds another intriguing option to a system that already had Kaapo Kahkonen. The Wild are obviously preparing for life without Devan Dubnyk, as the veteran goaltender will turn 33 in less than two months and has just two years remaining on his current contract.

Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to break the deal on Twitter.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Malkin, Sandin

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The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and another New York Islanders goaltender has taken the top spot. After Robin Lehner was honored earlier this season, Thomas Greiss has now been given the top spot after stopping 116 of 121 shots to go 3-1 last week. The 33-year old Greiss is having the best season of his career under Barry Trotz’ disciplined system, and now has a .928 save percentage through 40 appearances.

While Connor McDavid appearing in the third spot won’t surprise many, Brendan Perlini’s name in second certainly will. The former Arizona Coyotes forward struggled upon joining the Chicago Blackhawks this season, but has found the back of the net in three consecutive games and five of his last seven. That included a hat trick last week against his former club, and he now sits at 13 goals on the season.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without one of their top players after Evgeni Malkin was listed as “week-to-week” last night by head coach Mike Sullivan. Somewhat quietly, Malkin is having another outstanding season with 71 points through his first 66 games and is a huge part of the Pittsburgh attack. The team will have to rely on their other superstars for the time being and hope the big Russian center can get healthy in time for the playoffs.
  • While the Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled to keep the puck out of their net since Jake Gardiner and Travis Dermott suffered injuries (and perhaps even before that), they won’t rush top defensive prospect Rasmus Sandin to the NHL. Sandin has been on fire recently for the Toronto Marlies and now has 23 points through 36 games as a teenager, but head coach Mike Babcock reiterated the organization’s mantra to over-ripen prospects at the minor league level before bringing them up. Babcock pointed to Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson as examples of how the Maple Leafs development program has worked, and noted that there are still “good players” on the NHL roster. Sandin was the 29th overall pick last June and turned 19 earlier this month.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Chase Pearson

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed another college forward, this time inking Chase Pearson to a two-year entry-level contract. Pearson was Detroit’s fifth-round pick in 2015, and has played the last three seasons at the University of Maine. The deal will begin in the 2019-20 season, and Pearson will join the Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout for the rest of this year.

Pearson, 21, has been a Hobey Baker nominee in each of the last two years after solid seasons at Maine where he showed off his two-way ability and leadership abilities. Named captain as a sophomore, the 6’2″ center leaves school with 78 points in 107 games and will now try to continue his development at the AHL level. While there might not be huge offensive upside for Pearson, there is a real chance he could compete at the NHL level one day and be another piece of the rebuilding Red Wings.

Detroit currently sits at 49 contracts for this season after adding Taro Hirose and Ryan Kuffner, meaning they would have been completely tapped out if Pearson had signed for 2018-19. Instead, they can still add another college or international free agent down the stretch to burn a year of an entry-level contract. That leverage will only help them in whatever negotiations they are still involved in.

Morning Notes: Quenneville, Merzlikins, Gauthier

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There are going to be several head coaching vacancies around the NHL this offseason, and fans have been wondering whether Joel Quenneville would be willing to get back behind the bench for 2019-20. The former Chicago Blackhawks head coach was fired earlier this year and has been away from the game, but is starting to get that itch again. That’s what Quenneville told Dan Roan of WGN9 recently:

It’s been a while now since we’ve been behind the bench, so I think there’s an appetite as we’re going along here to get back into the game. I watch a lot of games, I try to not watch as much Blackhawks as I used to, but I watch most of the games. It’s been a great [playoff] race, and it’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out.

The fact that Quenneville could be available will likely slow down the interview process for several teams, given his incredible resume. The 60-year old coach has an 890-532-77-137 record over his long career and won the Stanley Cup three times with the Blackhawks. He would be an easy selection for the Hall of Fame even if he retired now, given that he ranks second on the all-time wins list and is one of only four coaches to have been behind the bench for at least 1,000 games and maintained a winning percentage of .600 or greater.

  • As we heard this weekend, the Columbus Blue Jackets will soon be signing goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) expects Merzlikins to immediately join the Cleveland Monsters and likely make his AHL debut the weekend of March 29-30. Portzline also notes that it is unlikely that Merzlikins will see any time with Columbus this season despite burning his entry-level deal, meaning he’ll become a restricted free agent this summer with no NHL experience (save a stint as one of the team’s Black Aces if the Blue Jackets make the playoffs and Cleveland does not).
  • The injuries keep coming for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who today announced that fourth-line center Frederik Gauthier will not travel with the team due to a foot injury. The 23-year old Gauthier has finally started to show some of the potential that made him a first-round pick in 2013, suiting up for 62 games with the Maple Leafs and recording 12 points. In his absence, it appears as though Nic Petan will get another opportunity to show what he can do in the middle of the ice.

Minor Transactions: 03/18/19

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With ten games left in the regular season for most teams in the NHL, every match is incredibly important for those looking for a playoff spot. The schedule has just four games for tonight, but there are still some key matchups. The Arizona Coyotes try to keep their season alive against the league’s top team, while the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks face off in a potential first round preview. As teams prepare for the action, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • Cameron Gaunce has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are currently still without Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman. Gaunce likely won’t get into the lineup tonight—instead serving as insurance—but is certainly having a strong enough season to warrant an NHL stint. The 28-year old defenseman has 42 points in 56 games for the Syracuse Crunch, easily a career high.
  • The Boston Bruins have recalled Connor Clifton and Paul Carey from the AHL under emergency conditions, and had them both on the ice today at practice. Clifton was skating with Steven Kampfer on the third pairing, while Carey was working as an extra forward. The Bruins take on the New York Islanders tomorrow night in a matchup of potential Eastern Conference playoff teams, and are working to get healthy again before the postseason begins.
  • The Calgary Flames have recalled Curtis Lazar from Stockton, bringing up the former top prospect after a strong season in the AHL. Lazar has 37 points in 49 games for the Heat this season but has failed to get into a single NHL game.
  • Lukas Radil and Jacob Middleton are on their way back to the San Jose Sharks, back up after just a few days in the AHL. The pair were sent down on Friday to stay fresh but will be back up to help the team as they prepare for the Golden Knights tonight.
  • Speaking of quick turnarounds, Justin Bailey is on his way back to the minor leagues. The Philadelphia Flyers forward has been involved in almost daily transactions all month, bouncing back and forth between the NHL and AHL.

Five Key Stories: 3/11/19 – 3/17/19

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College free agency is underway and some quality players have come off the board already.  However, there was some other notable news around the league as well which are noted in our top stories of the week.

Red Wings Active In College Free Agency: Detroit made a big splash in the NCAA free agent market, inking Taro Hirose to a two-year, entry-level deal.  The 22-year-old was the top college scorer this season with an impressive 50 points in 36 games and will get a chance to make an early impression on the Red Wings as he’ll be up with the team for the rest of the season.  Hirose wasn’t the only notable college addition Detroit made though as they also added Ryan Kuffner on a similar two-year ELC.  While his numbers dipped in his senior year, the 22-year-old still picked up 22 goals and 22 assists in just 31 games with Princeton this season.  He’s also sticking around in Detroit for the stretch run.

Extension Talks Coming For Blashill: Still with Detroit, it appears that head coach Jeff Blashill is still in the plans despite a tough year in the standings.  Talks regarding a contract extension for the bench boss are expected to pick up in the coming days.  He’s in the final season of a four-year contract and with his salary of $800K is believed to be among the lowest in the league.  The Red Wings haven’t had a ton of success under Blashill with a record of 129-142-47 but some positive strides have been made in terms of player development and with their roster expected to be even younger next year, GM Ken Holland appears to believe that Blashill is the right fit to continue to lead them through their rebuild.

Voracek Files Suspension Appeal: A player appealing a suspension isn’t entirely uncommon in the NHL.  However, appealing a two-game ban as Flyers winger Jakub Voracek did is much rarer.  Under the CBA, there is no option to go to an independent arbitrator for suspensions of five games or less which usually represents the threshold for potential appeals.  As a result, league commissioner Gary Bettman was tasked with deciding Voracek’s fate.  He ultimately upheld the initial suspension levied by the Department of Player Safety but the fact Voracek went through the process is certainly interesting and it will be worth watching to see if anyone else decides to try to appeal a short suspension now that it has been tried.

Draft Lottery Odds Set: With the end of the season now just a few weeks away, the NHL officially set the odds for the end-of-season Draft Lottery.  They’ve decided to keep the odds the same as last year, meaning the team that finishes last will have an 18.5% chance of getting the top pick.  Currently, Ottawa is in the basement in the standings but that pick belongs to Colorado following the Matt Duchene trade last season.  The league also opted to revert to the traditional format of announcing the results in one pregame segment instead of during two separate intermissions as they did last year.  Teams (and fans) won’t have to wait as long to find out where they’re picking either as the lottery will be held on Tuesday, April 9th.

Zuccarello, Point To Wait To Talk Extension: A pair of notable free agents are opting to wait until the dust settles on the season before beginning contract talks.  Stars winger Mats Zuccarello is currently rehabbing his broken arm but GM Jim Nill indicated that they haven’t started talks yet and want to wait until the season ends to discuss a deal.  It’s worth noting that locking him up would result in Dallas ceding their 2020 first-round pick to the Rangers as part of the deal to acquire him at the deadline.  Meanwhile, Lightning star Brayden Point hasn’t changed his tune on wanting to wait for the summer to discuss his next deal.  The RFA market figures to be fascinating to follow with so many prominent players in need of new contracts and it appears that Point wants to wait to see what some of the other pacts will be before putting pen to paper on his.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Senators To Try To Sign Josh Norris

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The month of March is one where teams often look to lure players out of college with the hopes of adding them to their lineup down the stretch.  While the Senators can’t do that with the currently-injured Josh Norris, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that Ottawa is still likely to try to convince him to forego his final two years of college eligibility and sign in the coming weeks.

The Sens acquired Norris from San Jose as one of the key parts of the Erik Karlsson trade back in September.  He was off to a strong start with Michigan and fared well at the World Juniors with Team USA but suffered an injury in the tournament that ultimately ended his sophomore year prematurely.  All in all, he had 19 points (10-9-19) in just 17 games with the Wolverines this season.

Given the lost development time, there’s a case to be made that Ottawa may be better off leaving the 19th pick of the 2017 draft in school for another year but it appears they’d like to get him into their system sooner.  He won’t be able to accrue a season for expansion draft purposes so regardless of whether or not they sign him in the next few weeks or sometime over the summer, he will be exempt from requiring protection from Seattle.

Between Logan Brown, Colin White, and Norris, the Senators have fairly quickly built up a solid group of prospects down the middle.  If Ottawa has their way, they may all be suiting up with the big club as soon as next season.

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