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Archives for July 2019

Jesse Puljujarvi Trade Increasingly Unlikely

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When young Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi asked for a trade this summer and threatened to play in Europe if he was not moved, it seemed all but certain that he would be dealt before the start of the new season. However, it has been more than a month since agent Markus Lehto told the media of Puljujarvi’s ultimatum and there has been no move and really no concrete rumors either. The Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that the trade offers for Puljujarvi have have been underwhelming and if that trend continues, he believes new GM Ken Holland seems willing to take the risk of holding on to Puljujarvi.

Puljujarvi, 21, has failed to live up to his draft billing as the No. 4 overall pick in 2016, to say the least. The big Finnish winger has recorded 37 points in 139 games since coming over to North America three years ago and his per game production dropped to a new low last season with just nine points in 46 games. Although Puljujarvi showed elite offensive upside before he was drafted, he has failed to capitalize on ample opportunity in Edmonton. Clearly, he and his representation feel a change of scenery could be the key to getting him back on track and one would expect teams to still be intrigued by his potential. However, if the offers have indeed been less than expected, perhaps other teams have been turned off by the young right wing’s showing so far. If that is the case, no one can blame Holland for holding on to his asset rather than giving him away at a discount rate.

With a new head coach in Dave Tippett also in the fold, Staples believes that Puljujarvi can find his change of pace without leaving the team and can still be an effective player for the Oilers, especially considering the opportunity still available in Edmonton for him to be a top-six player. The team has brought in their fair share of new faces up front this off-season, but Puljujarvi still seems likely to slot in on the right side of the second or third line, at least to begin the campaign. If he starts cold yet again, Staples admits that Puljujarvi could head back to the trade block, particularly since the team could use a third-line center.

What Staples doesn’t discuss though is the “what if” of Puljujarvi backing up his claim of jumping to Europe. Staples simply assumes that if he is not traded, Puljujarvi will show up and camp and again try to prove that he is an NHL-caliber player. However, the risk the Oilers are taking is that Puljujarvi simply is not willing to play in Edmonton again and will indeed follow through on his threat to play abroad. Two teams in his native Finland, the KHL’s Jokerit and the Liiga’s Karpat, have previously been linked to Puljujarvi, so if the Oilers do intend on not trading him in the coming months, he very well could suit up outside of the NHL next season.

Cameron Rowe Commits To The University Of Wisconsin

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A tumultuous off-season for prospect Cameron Rowe is finally trending upward. After being one of the biggest surprises among undrafted players back in June and de-committing from the University of North Dakota earlier in July, Rowe appears to have his development path back on track. Todd Milewski of the Wisconsin State Journal hears that Rowe has committed to the University of Wisconsin and cites the young goaltender’s own social media as further proof. Rowe will join a Badgers program that is adding significant talent over the next two years and will continue to have the attention of NHL scouts.

Rowe, 18, did not exactly grab headlines last season, but impressed many hockey minds who did get a chance to see him in action. Rowe played second fiddle to Florida Panthers first-round pick Spencer Knight for the U.S. National Team Development Program last season. Even with Knight missing some time due to injury, Rowe only made 30 appearances to Knight’s 33. He was also overshadowed performance wise, as his respectable 3.40 GAA and .875 save percentage at the junior level paled in comparison to Knight’s 2.36 and .913. Yet, Rowe still emerged as a top goalie prospect in the recent draft class. NHL Central Scouting ranked him as the No. 4 goalie in North America and several other sources pegged him as a fourth- to sixth-round pick. Somehow, Rowe slipped through the cracks and will have to try his luck again next year as an overage prospect.

Things took another turn earlier this month, when Rowe left his commitment to North Dakota. The rumor was that the Fighting Hawks coaching staff was frustrated about Rowe’s lack of dedication to the college route, as he had at least entertained the idea of a jump to the major junior level to play for the OHL’s London Knights. The team released Rowe from his commitment, making him a free agent of sorts beyond the 2019-20 season, during which he will play for the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers.

Well, Rowe didn’t stay available for very long and it seems North Dakota was wrong about his commitment to the NCAA route. Committing to Wisconsin less than a month later, Rowe joins a program that has high expectations in the coming years. Rowe’s USNTDP teammates Alex Turcotte (LAK), Cole Caufield (MTL), and Owen Lindmark (FLA) are set to join the program this year, alongside top 2020 prospect Dylan Holloway. Joining Rowe in the 2020 recruiting class are more intriguing American forwards in Tanner Latsch and Liam Malmquist. Head coach Tony Granato’s team is in for an exciting few years and now have their goalie of the future in Rowe, who will also be excited to get to Madison and show NHL teams what they missed out on in the draft this year.

Minor Transactions: 07/29/19

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As July comes to a close and we get closer to the end of arbitration hearings and contract holdouts, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the league. We’ll keep updating as more come in:

  • The Ontario Reign have signed Ryan Stanton to a one-year AHL contract. Stanton played the last two seasons for the Bakersfield Condors and will get to stay in California for the time being. The 30-year old has played 120 games in the NHL, though the last one came during the 2015-16 season. He’ll offer some experience on the blue line in Ontario.
  • The Colorado Eagles continue to load up on depth, this time signing Tim McGauley, Felix Lauzon and Eric Williams to two-way minor league contracts for 2019-20. This will be the first professional contract for the 21-year old Lauzon, who took home the Guy Carbonneau Trophy last season as the QMJHL’s best defensive forward. He added 80 points in 68 regular season games and will try to continue that strong two-way play in the Colorado minor league system.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: First Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

In the fall of 2016, PHR ran a series where fans were able to choose the order in which picks should have been selected during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. While Sidney Crosby was still the obvious choice for first overall, there was huge turnover for the rest of the first round. Last summer we repeated the process for the 2006 draft, which moved Jonathan Toews up two spots to first overall and Erik Johnson all the way down to ninth among other changes.

This time around we’ll be looking at the 2007 draft which featured two American-born wingers headline an impressive offensive group. Five players from the first round never did make it to the NHL*, while four others would play fewer than 100 games. There was plenty of talent near the top of the 2007 class as well as a future captain who was passed over multiple times by the entire league. Now with the benefit of hindsight he’s surely going to be put up where he belongs.

Over the next month as we wait for training camp to begin, we’ll be going through the entire 2007 NHL Entry Draft to have the PHR community select who they would have picked knowing the result of the player’s career. We’ll include a list of players to vote for, and update the first round as it progresses. While 2006 actually had some discussion over who would be first overall, this year seems pretty cut and dry.

The Chicago Blackhawks had the first pick 12 years ago and didn’t make a mistake, choosing Patrick Kane after the undersized winger put up 176 points in 74 games for the London Knights of the OHL. Kane had some of the finest puck skills the league had ever seen, and was a lock to be an elite offensive producer at the next level. Now 30, the Blackhawks winger has been a superstar for more than a decade and will likely crack the 1,000 point mark during the 2019-20 campaign. He’s coming off a career-best 110 points and shows no sign of slowing down. The Blackhawks turned Toews and Kane into a Stanley Cup core and wouldn’t change a thing, but is he still the top choice looking back?

With the first pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

New Jersey Devils Acquire Nikita Gusev

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Former Vegas Golden Knights forward Nikita Gusev was a restricted free agent, but he could not be signed to an offer sheet and was not eligible for arbitration. That left him in a tricky spot if he couldn’t reach an agreement with the Golden Knights on a new contract, and recently his Russian agent explained that there would be a deadline for him to consider a return to the KHL. That won’t be necessary, as instead the New Jersey Devils have acquired the forward in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick. The Devils immediately signed Gusev to a two-year, $9MM contract. PuckPedia reports that the deal will break down as follows:

  • 2019-20: $700K salary + $4.3MM signing bonus
  • 2020-21: $4.0MM salary + modified no-trade clause

The 27-year old Gusev was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2012, but has played his entire career in the KHL to this point. He signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Golden Knights earlier this year, but didn’t get into a game with the team down the stretch. His contract was still burned, leading to a difficult situation for Vegas. The team is in cap trouble this offseason and already had to trade away the likes of Erik Haula, Colin Miller and David Clarkson to get under the ceiling, making it tough to sign Gusev to a deal even approaching the $4.5MM average annual value he got from the Devils.

In New Jersey though, the Devils are be more than able to take a chance on a player that has shown an incredible offensive ceiling in the KHL. Gusev has routinely been among the league leaders in Russia, including a record breaking 82-point performance in 62 games last year. There’s no certainty to his game translating to the NHL, but the Devils have plenty of cap space and have built a nice core through the draft and trade market. Already this summer they have added first overall pick Jack Hughes, Norris-winning defenseman P.K. Subban and former powerplay specialist Wayne Simmonds to go along with names like Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier. Bringing Gusev in gives them another weapon to ice against the tough Metropolitan Division as they try to make it back to the playoffs.

For Vegas, recouping some draft picks is at least a way of keeping their franchise at a high level moving forward. The team has spent a ton of prospect capital to acquire players like Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty through trade, leaving their cupboard a little more empty than George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon probably want. The team is already a Stanley Cup contender without Gusev on the roster, making this a little draft bonus to what they had built.

Still, losing out on a chance to add him to the lineup may turn out to be a mistake down the line. If Gusev is able to bring the same level of offense to the NHL he may immediately become one of the most productive players in the league, something the Golden Knights (or anyone) could obviously use. The Devils though will only have a short time to find out, as Gusev will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this two-year deal.

Jesse Granger of The Athletic reported earlier that Vegas gave Gusev permission to work out a deal with New Jersey.

Philip Broberg To Play In Sweden

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Even though the Edmonton Oilers have already signed top prospect Philip Broberg to a three-year entry-level contract, don’t expect him to be in training camp come September. The young defenseman has decided to play in Sweden for 2019-20 according to Adam Kimelman of NHL.com, who caught up with Broberg at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan. Explaining why he made the decision, Broberg recognizes his current weaknesses and thinks he can address them best overseas playing for Skelleftea in the SHL:

It’s a great organization for developing. I know I’m not good enough to make the NHL team right now, that’s why I’m going to Skelleftea, to play against men every day, to practice against them, to play in probably the third-best league in the world, to get better and come back next year and make the [Oilers].

Selected eighth overall in last month’s draft, Broberg quickly signed his entry-level deal with the Oilers but was never expected to compete for a spot right away. The 18-year old could have gone to the OHL where his rights are owned by the Hamilton Bulldogs, but he’ll instead compete at an even higher level back home. His contract will not kick in for 2019-20 and could even potentially slide forward another year if he fails to make the team in 2020-21.

Not only will the smooth skating defenseman be able to play in the SHL, but it seems likely that we’ll get a chance to see him on the international stage for Sweden at the World Juniors. He competed there last season at the age of 17, but should be given a much greater role on the team this time around. Already standing 6’3″, Broberg is one of the best skating defensemen in the whole draft but still has holes in his decision making and defensive positioning. Those attributes are highly coveted in Swedish coaching, meaning he’ll hopefully be able to develop them while playing with a strong organization in Skelleftea.

Ownership Change Official For Arizona Coyotes

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The NHL announced today that the Arizona Coyotes franchise has now formally changed hands. Alex Meruelo has purchased a majority share in the team from Andrew Barroway, though Barroway will retain a minority stake. This sale was reported much earlier this offseason, but is now official.

The Coyotes have a long and varied history of ownership, including former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, Wayne Gretzky and the NHL themselves at different times. Barroway purchased a majority stake in the team in 2014 after a failing bid to get into ownership with the New York Islanders. He bought out the remaining investors in 2017, a move that was quickly followed by a change in leadership for the team, with Gary Drummond and Dave Tippett both leaving the organization entirely. There were also some hard on-ice decisions made, including leaving Shane Doan unsigned and trading Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames.

In 2017 there was also a real push from the league to find a way to move Arizona to a new arena, as commissioner Gary Bettman penned a letter explaining to legislators that “the Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale.” The battle for a move out of Glendale will now fall to the new ownership.

Obviously, this transfer of ownership will also bring up the long standing issue of franchise relocation. Not just finding a new arena for the Coyotes in Phoenix, but the chance that the team could move to another city and state entirely. With the announcement that the team will be moving into the Central Division once the Seattle expansion franchise is operational, many had speculated on a potential move to Houston. When the NBA’s Houston Rockets were sold to Tilman Fertitta in October of 2017, he immediately expressed interest in bringing the NHL to the city.

The NHL however, for all the strong language about not remaining in Glendale, has always strongly supported the Coyotes staying in the Arizona market. Relocation is a last resort for the league—and currently off the table. Hopefully new ownership will be able to finally find some financial and organizational stability for the franchise.

New York Rangers Hire Kris Knoblauch As AHL Coach

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The New York Rangers have hired a new head coach for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, bringing in Kris Knoblauch as the seventh in team history. Knoblauch spent the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant, and will be getting his first opportunity in the AHL.

Knoblauch, 40, was a New York Islanders pick back in 1997 but never did make it to the NHL. His playing career ended in 2005 and he quickly got into coaching, first in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders. After taking over as head coach of the Kootenay Ice in 2010, he led the team to a WHL championship in his first season behind the bench and quickly was recognized as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in hockey. A stint with the Erie Otters of the OHL came next where Knoblauch had the chance to coach talents like Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and many others who would end up in the NHL. Another league championship at the junior level and a silver medal as an assistant with Team Canada’s World Junior team landed him a gig in the NHL with the Flyers.

Known as a player’s coach, those playing under Knoblauch have raved about his communication skills. In an Associated Press piece when he was hired by the Flyers, Erie general manager Dave Brown explained that the coach would create personality profiles to understand how to best reach each player. In the same piece, Strome raved about Knoblauch’s skill in devising special teams structures. The Wolf Pack finished with a 29-36-11 record last season and ranked 19th in powerplay percentage at just 17.9%.

Team USA Trims Roster For Summer Showcase

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Now that the real tournament games are about to start, Team USA has trimmed down their roster at the World Junior Summer Showcase. The team had previously been split into two squads, but will come together to face Canada (twice), Sweden and Finland over the next several days. The team has parted ways with 13 players, getting them down to 31 for the rest of the tournament. The cuts are as follows:

G Drew DeRidder

D Marshall Warren
D Jackson LaCombe
D Case McCarthy
D Drew Helleson
D Slava Demin
D Alex Vlasic

F Luke Loheit
F Owen Lindmark
F Luke Toporowski
F Johnny Farinacci
F Blade Jenkins
F Demetrious Koumontzis

This doesn’t necessarily mean that these players won’t take part in the World Junior Championship in December, but certainly makes them long-shots to make the club. The roster will likely come out of the 31 players left, which still includes top 2019 draft picks like Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras as well as returning World Junior members like Joel Farabee, Oliver Wahlstrom and K’Andre Miller.

Team USA will take on Team Canada at 3:00pm (central) tomorrow afternoon.

Andrei Vasilevskiy Signs Long-Term Extension

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed another one of their key players to a long-term extension, inking Andrei Vasilevskiy to an eight-year contract that will carry a $9.5MM average annual value. The deal kicks in for the 2020-21 season. GM Julien BriseBois released a short statement on the signing:

The Lightning are very proud to extend Andrei for another eight years today. Since joining the organization Andrei has shown unmatched work ethic and professionalism both on and off the ice. We look forward to him continuing his career in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future.

Vasilevskiy will become the third-highest paid goaltender in the league when the contract kicks in, behind only Carey Price ($10.5MM AAV) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10MM AAV). The deal buys out seven years of unrestricted free agency and will include trade protection and a huge amount of signing bonuses. CapFriendly has the full breakdown of the contract:

  • 2020-21: $3.5MM salary + $8.5MM signing bonus
  • 2021-22: $1.0MM salary + $10.0MM signing bonus (NMC)
  • 2022-23: $4.5MM salary + $6.5MM signing bonus (NMC)
  • 2023-24: $4.0MM salary + $5.0MM signing bonus (NMC)
  • 2024-25: $5.5MM salary + $4.5MM signing bonus (NMC)
  • 2025-26: $5.0MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus (10-team trade list)
  • 2026-27: $5.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus (10-team trade list)
  • 2027-28: $3.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus (10-team trade list)

With this contract, the 25-year old goaltender will tie Nikita Kucherov for the biggest cap hit on the Lightning and is just another sign the team is willing to commit to their core. Tampa Bay now has seven players signed through at least 2023-24, making their salary cap situation complicated moving forward. Brayden Point is expected to take up another huge chunk whenever he is re-signed, leaving very little room for other players like Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev who are all scheduled to become restricted free agents next summer. With Vasilevskiy under contract, the Lightning project to have more than $67MM committed to just 13 players in 2020-21.

That said, complication is more than acceptable for a player of Vasilevskiy’s talent. Selected 19th overall in 2012, the Russian goaltender has quickly ascended to the very elite tier of netminders in the league, leading the NHL in wins the past two seasons and taking home his first Vezina Trophy in 2019. He posted a .925 save percentage in 53 games and an incredible 39-10-4 record. His athleticism is nearly unparalleled at the position while his fundamentals are strong enough to keep him consistent on a nightly basis. Unfortunately, all that talent couldn’t save the Lightning from a first round sweep as he posted just an .856 save percentage in the four-game loss to Columbus.

That loss won’t change the fact that Tampa Bay believes they have one of the best goaltenders in the world, and he’ll now be paid as one. Vasilevskiy carries just a $3.5MM cap hit this season, allowing the team to bring in Curtis McElhinney to compete with Louis Domingue for the backup role and spend elsewhere on the roster. That all ends next season, when the Lightning will need to trim the fat elsewhere on the roster. Where exactly they will find that fat is unclear.

The team already has Ryan Callahan heading to long-term injured reserve this season, but his contract is completely off the books next summer. Players like Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn will all likely hear their names in speculation at some point, though each holds trade protection. This deal and the other expensive extensions that have taken place will put a lot of pressure on the 2019-20 squad to compete for a Stanley Cup, because things are only going to get more complicated moving forward. At some point if the Lightning keep drafting and developing this exceptional talent, there will be cap casualties elsewhere. That only signifies an excellent roster, but is also very painful if some playoff success doesn’t follow.

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