Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for March 2020

Tommy Novak Signs With Nashville Predators

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Nashville Predators have rewarded a minor league forward for his hard work this season, signing Tommy Novak to a two-year entry-level contract. The 22-year old Novak spent the year with the Milwaukee Admirals on an AHL contract after finishing his career at the University of Minnesota and has now earned himself a big league deal. Nashville director of player development Scott Nichol explained exactly why the Predators signed Novak:

Tommy is a person who has earned everything that he’s been given. We’ve wanted him in our system for a long time – he signed an AHL deal with Milwaukee for this season and has had a fantastic year. We love his skillset, his hockey sense, how he makes plays and how he sees the ice so well. We’re excited to have him with us for the next couple of seasons and are looking forward to seeing him continue to grow and develop as a player.

Novak recorded 42 points in his rookie AHL season, impressive enough to obviously catch the eye of the Predators. Still just 22 until the end of April there may even be room for him to experience more improvement and be a contributor at the NHL level down the line. That’s still perhaps a distant dream, but getting an NHL contract was an important step towards it.

It’s not out of the question for a player that was originally drafted 85th overall back in 2015. If he does get to the NHL he’ll join Yakov Trenin, Anthony Richard and Alexandre Carrier as selections from that draft class that have played for Nashville, an impressive crop considering they were all drafted outside the top-50.

Montreal Canadiens Agree To Terms With Gustav Olofsson

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Montreal Canadiens are busy looking ahead to next season, announcing today that they have agreed to terms with defenseman Gustav Olofsson on a one-year two-way contract extension. The deal carries a $750K salary in the NHL, $250K salary in the AHL and a $350K guarantee for the 2020-21 season.

Olofsson, 25, was acquired in 2018 from the Minnesota Wild but missed nearly the entire 2018-19 season after suffering a shoulder injury in the minor leagues. That ended any chance of him helping the Canadiens last year when they could have really used him, and left him in a minor league role again this season. In 57 games for the Laval Rocket he has recorded 16 points, but only received three games in the NHL with Montreal. That takes him to 59 for his career, meaning he would have qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency at the end of the season.

In that sense, Montreal is buying out a UFA year for just over the minimum NHL salary with a player that has shown the ability to contribute at the highest level in the past. Whether or not he will see any time with the Canadiens depends on the other moves they make in the offseason, but he can at least serve as experienced depth and a leader on the Rocket blueline.

Buffalo Sabres Agree To Terms With Mattias Samuelsson

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Bad news for the Western Michigan Broncos, as one of their top players won’t be returning for his junior year. Mattias Samuelsson has agreed to terms with the Buffalo Sabres on a three-year entry-level contract. Sabres GM Jason Botterill explained his excitement:

We are very pleased with Mattias’ growth both at Western Michigan and on the international stage. He possesses a unique combination of size, speed and skill, and we look forward to working with him on his next steps as a pro.

The 20-year old defenseman was selected 32nd overall in 2018 and is the son of Kjell Samuelsson, who played nearly 1,000 games as an NHL defenseman and is now a development coach with the Philadelphia Flyers.

While his father stood at a towering 6’7″, Mattias Samuelsson hits the ice with plenty of his own size. At 6’4″ 220-lbs you may expect a bruising, plodding player, but Samuelsson is anything but. The left-handed defenseman has the speed and puck skills to play at the next level, even if his best attributes are still on the defensive side. In 30 games for Western Michigan this season he scored 14 points, but was a finalist for the NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year award.

There is likely still some development to be done with Samuelsson, but the Sabres will take over direct control of his path now that he’s under contract. Even if that means he starts in the AHL, you can bet that his name will be on the back of an NHL sweater before long.

Adam Fantilli Commits To USHL’s Chicago Steel

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In a move that may have NHL ramifications down the line, Adam Fantilli has signed with the USHL’s Chicago Steel for the 2020-21 season. The 15-year old forward was expected to be the first-overall selection in the OHL draft had he decided to stay in Canada and play in the CHL. His brother Luca Fantilli will be joining him, after the Steel picked him in the USHL Phase II Draft.

Already standing 6’2″ 181-lbs, Adam Fantilli is a blue-chip prospect for the 2023 NHL entry draft. Though there is obviously plenty of time for things to change between now and then, choosing to head the USHL route also may impact his draft and professional path.

Remember, players selected out of the CHL cannot play in the AHL until their age-20 season, something that already frustrates clubs with outstanding youngsters. There is also the fact that Luca Fantilli is committed to the University of Michigan to consider, given the propensity for USHL players to follow the college route.

Obviously he will be a player to watch moving forward, but the North Bay Battalion will have to move in a different direction. That’s who owns the first-overall pick in next month’s draft, scheduled to be held on April 4th.

KHL Cancels 2019-20 Gagarin Cup Playoffs

at CDT | by 3 Comments

After initially holding out as one of the last few operating sports organizations worldwide, the KHL has now accepted fate. In a statement today, KHL president Alexey Morozov announced that they will cancel the rest of the 2019-20 playoffs and not award the Gagarin Cup. Morozov explained that he understands the frustration of fans, but needed to make a move to protect public health:

It’s unfortunate that we have to finish the season early, and it wasn’t an easy decision. I’m sure that every fan, along with us, wanted to see the conclusion of the competition. However, the health of players and their loved ones, club employees, employees of sports facilities, and, of course, the fans, is much more important.

The KHL is doing everything possible to not delay the start of the 2020-21 season, obviously a different tack than the NHL. Reports and speculation have swirled about the NHL playoffs taking part in the summer, which could push the start of next season back—though, a full 82-game schedule is still the league’s priority.

With the end of the KHL season, several players will start negotiating with NHL organizations, though their contracts do not officially expire until the end of April. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic spoke with the agent for Montreal Canadiens draft pick Alexander Romanov, who wouldn’t commit his client one way or the other at this point.

WHL Designates Connor Bedard With First Ever Exceptional Player Status

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Exceptional player status in the CHL is only declared for those elite 15-year-olds deemed worthy of joining the major junior ranks a year early. Exceptional player status has been granted five times in the OHL – John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, and Shane Wright – and just once in the QMJHL – Joe Veleno – but never before in the WHL. That is, until today. Just one day after the WHL was forced to make the disappointing announcement that the remainder of their season had been canceled, tonight they made the exciting revelation that for the first time exceptional player status has been awarded.

The lucky 15-year-old-to-be is Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Bedard played this season with the U-18 team of West Vancouver Academy in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League. In 36 games, Bedard recorded a whopping 43 goals and 84 points. He led the league in both categories by a significant margin and contributed on nearly 50% of his teams total goals on the year. While Bedard is still undersized at 5’8” and 165 lbs., he is still four years away from his draft year and will spend all of that time in the WHL growing his already-impressive skills in addition to growing physically.

The WHL Bantam Draft is set for April 22, 2020 and Bedard is now expected to be the prize at No. 1 overall. The 2020 WHL Bantam Draft Lottery is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday March 25 and will determine the order of the first six selections of the draft. In the running for the top spot are the the Swift Current Broncos, Moose Jaw Warriors, Tri-City Americans, Prince George Cougars, Regina Pats, and Red Deer Rebels. Just one will end up fortunate enough to land the first ever “exceptional” player in league history.

NHL Extends Isolation Period To April 6

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While the NHL’s main focus is on returning to action, at some point and in some way, that day won’t be coming any time soon. The Associate Press reports that the league is extending its recommended period of self-isolation for players and staff during this ongoing epidemic. Team facilities and organized activities will remain off-limits until April 6.

This change presents a ten day increase over the initial quarantine recommendation that the league made, which would have been set to end on March 27. The move resulted from opinions from both the board of governors and general managers, who held conference calls over the past two days. It also aligns more closely with the recommendations of federal and state health officials.

Meanwhile, there is still no word on when the league will resume its season and in what manner. The NHL has previously stated that they will wait for guidance from health officials before making that move and this isolation extension is certainly a signal that the resumption of play is not coming soon. Yet, the league hopes to still play out the regular season and postseason, if at all possible, while still maintaining a full 2020-21 campaign.

Latest On NHL’s Plans For Resuming Play

at CDT | by 8 Comments

Until the NHL returns to action from its current “pause”, most of the news will continue to revolve around when and how the league will return to play. Following a call between the league’s general managers today, the insiders at TSN had a number of updates on the possible timeline, as well as some of the major hurdles facing the NHL as it puts together a plan in this unprecedented time.

Bob McKenzie reports that the NHL has now gone one step further from an earlier report that they had requested arena availability from each team through July. McKenzie says that potential timeline has now been extended through August, as the new request was made this week. This could line up with a popular plan among players, which would see the NHL resume their regular season in July, compete in the 2020 postseason in August and September, take October off as the “off-season” and then return for the new league year in November. A version of this plan could be in play at the NHL, who have reiterated both a hope for a full completion of the current regular season and playoffs as well as a commitment to a full 2020-21 season.

Of course, the possibility of playing games in July and August – important games at that – raises a key logistical issue: ice conditions. Combating the heat of the summer months would be no small task. However, Pierre LeBrun believes that it is possible for every NHL team to maintain suitable ice conditions in those warmer months. He does stipulate that it would be an expensive venture, both in manpower and in air conditioning and maintenance costs. He also adds that the most important factor would be the diligence of the team ice crews, who will have to work harder and smarter than they ever have to make sure the ice surface is playable for potential playoff games during the hottest days of the year.

The other issue with 2020 games in July and August and beyond is of the legal variety. McKenzie points out that a number of current NHL contract are set to expire on June 30. While this date is simply a representation of the last day of the league year, it is written into contracts and would need to be amended to allow for an extended league year through the summer. He adds that work visas would also be affected, which could be an even more difficult hurdle as compared to contract terms, which can likely be handled internally through the league and players’ association.

Regardless, the league will do whatever it can to make sure that the season goes on, hopefully in full but at worst in part. Frank Seravalli relays an estimate that if the league does not resume the 2019-20 season in summer manner, they will be facing losses of up to $1 billion. They also do not expect any insurance bailouts to help resolve the situation. This is all the incentive that the league, teams, players, and all stakeholders need to be flexible when constructing a plan to return to action. Already, the league office and many teams have begun to cut staff salary in an effort to save for possible losses, but the best way to avoid a potential billion-dollar gouge is to somehow find a way to complete the season with as many games, regular and playoff, as possible.

Poll: If The Season Ended Today, Who Would Win The Hart?

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Over the weekend, we asked the PHR readership which outstanding rookie would win the Calder Trophy should the season end without any additional regular season games being played. Quinn Hughes was the runaway winner with more than 51% of the vote, while Cale Makar turned in a solid showing.

Today, we’ll ask you to answer a similar question: Who would take home the Hart Trophy if the season ended today?

The award is given out to the “player judged most valuable to his team,” which has always started plenty of healthy debate. It’s true that last year’s winner, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, was also the league leader in scoring with 128 points. But the league MVP is not always the player who takes home the Art Ross for most points. In fact, in 2018 Taylor Hall took home the award despite finishing sixth in league scoring with 93 points, 15 fewer than third-place finisher Connor McDavid.

That’s why it’s not necessarily a lock that Leon Draisaitl, the highest-scoring player of the current season, is the clear favorite. Not that he wouldn’t be a fine candidate. Draisaitl has proven without a doubt this season that he can carry a line without McDavid, scoring at an even more impressive rate since the two were broken up. With 110 points in 71 games he had already set a career-high, but he also had a chance to become the first player to score at least 130 in a single season since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.

That kind of production is obviously incredible, but supporters of other players will point to the fact that Draisaitl did play the beginning of the season with McDavid, still gets to see the ice with him on the powerplay, or plays against weaker competition because of him. The Oilers’ captain is a candidate in his own right, despite having played just 64 games. McDavid, a two-time Art Ross winner and the 2017 Hart recipient has 97 points in those 64 contests and is still widely considered the best offensive player in the league. Because the Oilers have both of them, some will point to more isolated offensive players as the “most valuable.”

One such name is Artemi Panarin, who currently checks in tied for third in league scoring. The New York Rangers forward has 95 points in 69 games, 20 and 36 more than the second and third place players on his team. Panarin has been an absolute force for the Rangers in the first season of the whopping seven-year, $81.5MM deal he signed in the offseason.

Those aren’t the only candidates though. David Pastrnak may be part of one of the most dynamic lines in hockey, but his 48 goals are tied with only Alex Ovechkin for the league lead.

Normally Nathan MacKinnon is surrounded by elite linemates of his own, but given the injuries the Colorado Avalanche have suffered this season that hasn’t been the case.  MacKinnon has outscored his closest teammate by 43 points and was on track to crack the 100-point threshold for the first time in his career (he has finished with 99 and 97 the past two seasons).

There also may be arguments for defensemen and goaltenders, like Connor Hellebuyck for example. The Winnipeg Jets netminder has been as important to the club as any other player this season, posting a .922 save percentage in his lead-leading 58 appearances. John Carlson of the Washington Capitals leads all defenders in scoring and still had a shot at becoming the ninth defenseman to ever score at least 90 points in a single season (Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Al MacInnis, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, and Gary Suter say hello).

It’s impossible to list every candidate, so we’ve included the top names in our poll. If you believe another player deserves recognition, make sure to leave a comment down below explaining your position.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Signings: McLaughlin, Windsor, Schneider

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights have finally announced the signing of Jake McLaughlin to an AHL contract for the 2020-21 season, something that had been previously reported. The news is notable—as the team points out—because it is the first AHL signing since being approved for the purchase and relocation of the San Antonio Rampage to Henderson.

Some other minor league signings from today:

  • The Syracuse Crunch have signed Clint Windsor to an AHL contract, interestingly for the rest of the 2019-20 season and all of 2020-21. Obviously Windsor may not get a chance to play this season depending on when the AHL resumes from their current “pause” but signing does make a difference. The ECHL, where Windsor had been playing, stopped paying their players on March 16th after the league season was canceled entirely. Though there have been some assistance funds for the ECHL, it would seem that a deal with an AHL organization—a league that was instructed by the NHL to continue to pay their players during the pause—would be more lucrative.
  • Cole Schneider, who was having one of the best seasons of his career for the Milwaukee Admirals, will get a chance to do it again next year. The 29-year old forward has signed a one-year extension with the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate. Schneider had 46 points in 54 games for the Admirals before the shutdown and has been a consistent offensive producer for nearly a decade.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top