West Notes: Palmu, Tryamkin, Fiala, Ducks

Several veteran players are still looking for a place to play but so is one of Vancouver’s prospects.  Winger Petrus Palmu has spent the last two seasons with TPS Turku in Finland (aside from a brief stint with AHL Utica last year) but his agent Todd Diamond told Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston that the 22-year-old is hoping to catch on with a team in the SHL this season to play at a higher level of competition.  Returning to the AHL doesn’t appear to be an option for Palmu at this time although he could join them or the Canucks at the completion of his season overseas.

Meanwhile, Diamond also reiterated that blueliner Nikita Tryamkin remains open to the idea of one day rejoining the Canucks.  That almost certainly won’t happen this season as he’s under contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the KHL and they’re unlikely to release him from his deal early.  Vancouver holds his NHL rights through the 2021-22 season.

Elsewhere around the Western Conference:

• While Wild winger Kevin Fiala recently signed his bridge contract, he has yet to join the team at training camp. Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that the 23-year-old is currently awaiting his work visa.  The team is hopeful that he’ll be able to join them early next week although it’s likely that this will keep him out of the first couple of preseason games.
• The Ducks announced (via Twitter) that center Ryan Kesler and winger Patrick Eaves will indeed miss all of the upcoming season. Kesler’s diagnosis was expected but Eaves, who has been dealing with post-viral syndrome since 2017, had not been ruled out for its entirety before now.  He will become an unrestricted free agent next summer while Kesler is signed through 2021-22 at $6.875MM.  Both players will be placed on LTIR if Anaheim needs to free up additional cap space for the upcoming season although they currently sit well under the Upper Limit for the time being.