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Archives for March 2019

Negotiation Notes: Kravtsov, Killins, Signing Deadline

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The New York Rangers are closing in on a contract with one of their top prospects. According to Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston, who relays a report from KHL insider Aivis Kalnins, Russian forward Vitali Kravtsov is expected to sign an entry-level contract with the Rangers sooner rather than later. It’s unclear if Kravtsov, whose current club Traktor Chelyabinsk has been knocked out of the KHL playoffs, intends to play immediately this season or if the contract would begin next season. Either way, Rangers fans will be excited to have the talented teenager pushing for a roster spot. Kravtsov, the ninth overall pick in last year’s NHL Draft, stands 6’4″ and plays a physical game, but also has great speed and high-end skill. A total package on the wing, Kravtsov recorded 21 points in 50 games this season, rare production from a teenager in the KHL, as younger players typically receive little ice time. His size and skill set should translate well to the North American game and Kravtsov should find his way to New York without spending much time in the minors. If Kalnin’s report is accurate and Kravtsov signs in the coming days, he may even make his NHL debut this season.

 

Bruins’ Kevan Miller Out “Week-To-Week”

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This season’s Boston Bruins team nor veteran defenseman Kevan Miller are any strangers to injury. The Bruins have dealt with mass amounts of man-games lost this year, including from Miller, who had missed 26 games this season already, split between two separate 13-game injuries. As such, it was hardly a surprise when head coach Bruce Cassidy mentioned today that what was initially considered a routine minor injury for Miller has proven to be anything but. Following what Cassidy called “bad news on an MRI”, Miller is considered “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury.

Miller has already missed three games on this third injury stint of the year, taking his total games sidelined to 29 versus just 36 played. The rugged defenseman is not afraid to put his body in harm’s way, whether that’s blocking shots or taking a hit to make a play. While that’s part of what endears him to his teammates and coaches, it also lands him on the IR more often than he would like. This situation is no different, as Miller took a puck up high against the Vegas Golden Knights and left the game early and has not appeared for the Bruins since. All three of his injuries this season have come while in the shooting lane, while this is the second season in a row that Miller has been injured while visiting the Golden Knights. Even in his injuries the dependable defender is consistent.

Even having missed close to half of the season so far, Miller still leads Boston in blocked shots, showing how adept he is at the task but also why it has so frequently caused him harm. He is also second only to Charlie McAvoy in hits per game among Bruins defenseman, so that element of his game will also be missed down the stretch. However, depth on the blue line is not an area of concern for Boston this season. John Moore, who only recently lost his starting job once the Bruins were at full health on the back end, has taken over Miller’s role seamlessly. Steven Kampfer, who the team has not needed to play in the calendar year, is another veteran option and a right-shot should Cassidy wish to balance out his blue line with Miller out. There’s also Urho Vaakanainen, Jeremy Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, and Connor Clifton, who are all highly regarded and have logged NHL minutes already this season. All Boston defenseman may have to ramp up their aggressiveness in Miller’s absence, but otherwise the team should be fine. Even with Miller out for potentially weeks longer, the Bruins should be capable of dealing with another injury or allowing for rest down the stretch. Of course, the hope is Miller is ready to return before the postseason begins.

The Bruins also issued some good news today, announcing that key bottom-six forward Sean Kuraly should be ready to go for Thursday night’s game. Kuraly missed Boston’s last game and will presumably miss their next on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes with a concussion, but is on the road to recovery. As for star forward David Pastrnak, Cassidy simply said that he is on schedule in his rehab. This comes after the two week re-evaluation promised last month after he underwent thumb surgery, but stops short of issuing a new timeline. Seeing as the Bruins have not lost in regulation since January 10th, the team is under no pressure to rush Pastrnak – or Miller – back early.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Rule Changes, Percy

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The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and familiar names occupy each spot. Marc-Andre Fleury is in the top spot after going 3-0 with two shutouts for the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury allowed just one goal on 77 shots and is now carrying a .911 save percentage on the year. While that number is down from last season, Fleury leads the league with 32 wins and eight shutouts while also having played the most minutes of any goaltender. The Golden Knights are leaning heavily on their starter, a strategy that will be tested when the playoffs roll around.

Blake Wheeler and Sidney Crosby were awarded second and third respectively, each scoring eight points in three games. Wheeler’s performance was capped by a four-goal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday, giving him 80 points on the season. Crosby, who has 83 this year is actually on pace to record his best offensive season since 2009-10 and crack the 100-point mark for the sixth time in his career.

  • The GM meetings began this week in Florida, and Frank Seravalli of TSN examines ten potential rule changes that the group will be discussing. These include things like changing standings tiebreaker rules, changing how much a player can be fined for certain incidents, and perhaps even forcing players to wear helmets during warm-ups. It doesn’t sound like any huge changes will come out of this week’s discussions, but there might be a few tweaks.
  • The AHL trade deadline passed today with very little fanfare, but not for Stuart Percy. The former top prospect was traded from the Belleville Senators to the Providence Bruins in exchange for Austin Fyten. Percy, originally selected in the first round eight years ago, has just 12 NHL games under his belt and is currently on a minor league contract.

Jesse Puljujarvi To Undergo Hip Surgery

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March 4: Puljujarvi underwent the surgery today according to John Shannon of Sportsnet, who adds that it was on both hips.

February 28: After receiving some bad news from the Edmonton Oilers medical staff, young forward Jesse Puljujarvi had visited a specialist for a second opinion. Unfortunately that opinion seems to have agreed with the first, as Jason Gregor of TSN is reporting that Puljujarvi will undergo hip surgery next week. Puljujarvi will not play again this season.

The fact that Puljujarvi has been playing through this injury certainly may explain some of his struggles, but it will end what has been an extremely disappointing season nonetheless. In 46 games with the Oilers the 20-year old forward recorded just nine points, a step backwards from the already underwhelming total he posted in 2017-18. Selected fourth overall in 2016, Puljujarvi was expected to step quickly into the NHL and become a potential winger for Edmonton centers like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but now has just 37 points through the first 139 games of his career.

Importantly, this also caps his earning potential. Since the Oilers gave Puljujarvi more than nine games in his first season after being drafted, his three-year entry-level contract will come to an end this year. He’ll finish without earning any of his big performance bonuses, and now heads into restricted free agency as something of an enigma. Top draft choices are often signing expensive long-term deals after their original contract expires, but Puljujarvi will certainly not want to lock himself into an underpaid contract after his disappointing start. It’s unclear where exactly the Oilers will sit in negotiations.

Unfortunately this is just the latest bad chapter in a terrible book for the Oilers. The team has struggled through coaching and management changes this season and find themselves fighting for draft lottery positions instead of the playoffs. The team was embarrassed last night in McDavid’s return to the lineup, and will take on the Ottawa Senators tonight in a battle of Canada’s worst teams.

Puljujarvi is expected to be back to 100% in time for training camp in September, and given that he will be waiver eligible destined for a spot on the NHL squad almost regardless of his play. The team will have to hope his performance improves along with his health.

Penguins Sign Jan Drozg To Entry-Level Contract

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Monday: The Penguins have officially announced the contract.

Sunday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed a recent draft pick to his entry-level contract. Whispers emerged early last month that 2017 fifth-round choice Jan Drozg, a right wing for the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, was close to signing his rookie deal with Pittsburgh, but it was unclear whether the pact would begin this year or next. CapFriendly reports that the three-year deal has been completed and it does in fact begin with the 2019-20 season. The Penguins have yet to confirm the signing.

Drozg’s ELC carries an AAV of $925K, but a base salary of just $700K in the first two years and $750K in the final year. The young forward, who turns 20 next month, will be supplemented by a $278K signing bonus, as well as performance bonuses of up to $132,500 in the first two seasons and $82,500 in the final season. Of course, none of this is guaranteed to begin next season, as Drozg has a year of junior eligibility remaining and could be a candidate for an entry-level slide next year if the Penguins decide they would prefer for him to return to the QMJHL.

Drozg, who stands tall but slight at 6’2″ and 174 pounds, became just the seventh Slovenian player drafted and the highest selection outside of Anze Kopitar when the Penguins took him 152nd overall in 2017 out of the Swedish junior ranks. A fast, hard-working forward, Drozg is omnipresent on the ice and helps to create a lot of offense for the Cataractes, a team that lacks much game-breaking talent. Last season, Drozg made the jump to North America after being selected by Shawinigan in the first round of the CHL Import Draft and immediately made his presence felt, leading the team with 50 points in 61 games. The effort even earned him a tryout game with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, in which he notched an assist. Drozg has outdone himself this year, scoring at a point-per-game pace to again lead the Cataractes with 52 points in 53 games thus far. Making Drozg’s accomplishments more impressive is the fact that Shawinigan has been arguably the worst team in the QMJHL over the past two years and Drozg’s offensive potential has a much higher ceiling once he is surrounded by superior talent. As such, the Penguins could opt to start Drozg in the AHL next season rather than return him to junior, as putting him in a competent lineup may be the best thing for the young winger’s development. If he can continue to produce consistently at the pro level as he has in junior, Pittsburgh may have found a diamond in the rough in the late-round forward.

Brett Connolly Hopes To Stay With Washington Capitals

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It’s been a winding road during Brett Connolly’s NHL career, but he’s finally arrived somewhere he hopes to stay. The Washington Capitals forward spoke with Chris Kuc of The Athletic (subscription required) and indicated that he hopes to re-sign with the team and avoid becoming an unrestricted free agent. Connolly will turn 27 in early May and is the final season of a two-year deal he signed with Washington in 2017.

Arriving in Washington has been great for Connolly’s career, and this season has been his best so far. With 16 goals and 35 points in 66 games he has already set new career-highs and is seeing more ice time than ever before. That comes after a Stanley Cup run with the team in just his second trip to the playoffs, one that saw him record nine points in 24 postseason contests.

Originally selected sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Connolly played just 134 games for that organization before ending up with the Boston Bruins. After failing to receive a qualifying offer from the Bruins he landed in Washington as a player many saw as a bust given his high draft pedigree. Connolly had just 59 points through his first 210 NHL games and hadn’t suited up for a single playoff game. With the Capitals that has all changed.

Unfortunately though, success comes at a price in the NHL. The Capitals are pushed right up against the salary cap ceiling this season and will have to make tough decisions this summer on how to move forward with this core. Players like Andre Burakovsky, Jakub Vrana and Christian Djoos are all restricted free agents that need new contracts, while the only money really coming off the books is a few million owed to Brooks Orpik and Carl Hagelin. If Connolly is looking for a raise after his career season there may just not be enough room to fit everyone in.

Still, there are definitely ways to keep Connolly in the picture and at his relatively young age the Capitals will likely explore every opportunity. Those discussions will be up to GM Brian MacLellan to start, as Connolly and agent Gerry Johannson have decided to wait for the Capitals to approach them—something that does not appear to have happened yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Noah Juulsen Will Not Play Again This Season

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While he is still expected to make an eventual recovery from the “vision-related issue” that has kept him out for much of the season, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Juulsen will not play again this year according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.

Juulsen, 21, has had a rough start to his professional career since being selected 26th overall in 2015. In 2017 as he was preparing for his first pro season he broke his foot in training camp, and was limited to just 54 games across two levels in the 2017-18 season. This year he’s played even fewer, suiting up just 24 times between the NHL and AHL. In November Juulsen was hit in the face twice by errant pucks and suffered facial fractures, taking him out of the lineup for a long stretch. He actually returned to play a few games but will now be shut down for the rest of the year.

Vision related issues are often quite serious and there was some worry that Juulsen’s career would be in jeopardy. That doesn’t appear to be the case right now, but we’ll have to keep a close watch on him as he recovers through the offseason. Hopefully he can return at full strength for the Canadiens and be a key part of their blue line for a long time.

Minor Transactions: 03/04/19

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The NHL is almost entirely quiet today, with just two games on the schedule for this evening. Those include Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers travelling to Buffalo to take on the Sabres, while the Toronto Maple Leafs head to Alberta to take on the Calgary Flames. As teams take a day off there will surely be some roster movement, and we’ll be here to keep track of it all.

  • Matt Read was returned to the minor leagues by the Minnesota Wild last night after playing one game with the team, but is already back up today. Read scored in Saturday’s matchup against the Flames, his first goal in the NHL this season. The 32-year old has played just six games for Minnesota this season, instead spending most of the year in the AHL with the Iowa Wild.
  • Matt Luff has been recalled once again by the Los Angeles Kings, after being sent down just two days ago. Luff has been bouncing up and down for much of the year, but has played just one NHL game since the middle of January. The Kings will welcome the Montreal Canadiens into town tomorrow.

Jake McCabe Out Five To Six Weeks

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The Buffalo Sabres announced today that defenseman Jake McCabe will be out five to six weeks with an upper-body injury, basically ending his season early. With the Sabres slipping out of the playoff race entirely, there won’t be enough time left for McCabe to return this year.

Unless the Sabres go on an incredible run or McCabe returns much more quickly than expected, it means he will finish with just 55 games played this season. That’s just two more than last year when he finished with 53, making it a disappointing run for a player who is supposed to be a key member of the Sabres defense. The 25-year old was selected 44th overall in 2012 and quickly made his way through the Sabres system, but still hasn’t been able to establish himself as a real presence on the blue line. Averaging just under 19 minutes a game this season he recorded 14 points, and now finds himself in an interesting situation as the offseason nears.

McCabe is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer and has arbitration rights, meaning the Sabres will need to make a decision on whether or not they want to extend a qualifying offer. The team already has seven defensemen penciled into the NHL roster for next year with only Rasmus Dahlin among them with a two-way contract, and have other names like Lawrence Pilut waiting for an opportunity. McCabe is worth a contract of some sort obviously, but it’s not clear if his long-term future is in Buffalo. A one-year contract would keep him under team control as a restricted free agent again in 2020.

Joey Keane Signs With New York Rangers

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March 4: The Rangers have officially announced the contract.

March 1: The New York Rangers have signed prospect Joey Keane to his entry-level contract according to his agent Keith McKittrick of Gold Star Hockey. Keane is currently playing with the London Knights of the OHL. This contract will be a three-year entry-level deal that kicks in for the 2019-20 season.  CapFriendly reports that the deal will carry a cap hit of just over $809K with games played performance bonuses that could bring the total as high as $925K per year.

Selected with the 88th overall pick of the 2018 draft, Keane has made quite a name for himself over the last eight months. The mobile defender returned to junior after a taste of NHL life in Rangers training camp, and was selected to the preliminary roster for the American World Junior team. He’d gotten off to another excellent start with the Barrie Colts, following up on his Third All-Star selection in 2017-18. Unfortunately, Keane was one of the final cuts and didn’t participate in the international tournament. Instead, he returned to a new OHL organization after the London Knights acquired him just after Christmas.

As part of a crowded (and talented) blue line in London, Keane has recorded 16 points in 29 games and could very well be competing for an OHL Championship in the near future. The two-way defenseman impressed at Rangers camp and could potentially end up with the Hartford Wolf Pack next season. That’s because Keane wasn’t drafted in his first year of eligibility and will turn 20 in July.

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