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Minor Transactions: 10/23/20

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The off-season continues on with NHL teams keeping busy, but minor league, European, collegiate and junior clubs continue to make moves in preparation for next season and in some cases in reaction to a season that has already begun. With many moving parts at every level, especially as the world continues to deal with the Coronavirus, transactions continue to be frequent. Here are some of today’s notable moves:

  • Carson Meyer has never known anything but Ohio hockey and that is set to continue as he begins his pro career. The Powell, OH native who attended Miami University and transferred to Ohio State University and was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets has signed with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. The club announced that Meyer has inked a one-year AHL contract. Meyer, 23, finished his NCAA career in style with a career campaign that included a near point-per-game scoring pace. The scoring forward could make an immediate impact in the minors next season.
  • Veteran minor league Phil Varone is leaving North America for the first time in his hockey career. The 29-year-old, who has 97 NHL games and over 500 AHL games on his resume, is headed to the KHL. Agent Aljosa Pilko announced that his client has signed with a team in the league. It is believed that he is bound for Barys Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan. Varone split this past season with the Laval Rocket and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and has suited up for five different AHL squads in his nine pro seasons.
  • Former Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Fonstad is not waiting for the WHL season to begin. His hometown team, the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins, announced that Fonstad has joined the club for the time being. Fonstad will re-join the Everett Silvertips once WHL training camp begins. In the meantime, the fifth-round pick who has logged 65+ points in each of the past three seasons will be make a massive impact for Estevan. He hopes to prove this season that he is worth an entry-level contract when he ages out of junior.

Nikita Nesterov Signs With Calgary Flames

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4:50pm: The Flames have officially announced the Nesterov signing. The veteran defenseman has signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $700K.

3:45pm: The Calgary Flames appear to be closing in on a contract with free agent defenseman Nikita Nesterov, according to PuckPedia. A report out of Russia says that the deal will be a one-year, $700K contract, bringing Nesterov back to North America after several years in the KHL. It is important to note that the same outlet reported just recently that Nesterov was close to a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This certainly isn’t the first time that an NHL return for Nesterov has been speculated on. Just this summer he was linked to the Los Angeles Kings, with reports even surfacing that he turned down a multi-year contract with the team.

If you’re wondering why so many teams would be after a player who recorded just 33 points in 132 NHL games, bouncing up and down from the minor leagues during his first tenure in the league, you wouldn’t be alone. But over his three years in the KHL Nesterov has taken real developmental steps to polish his game at both ends of the rink while winning an Olympic gold medal and Gagarin Cup championship.

For the Flames, Nesterov is attractive not only because of his improvements, but also his versatility. The 27-year-old has experience playing both sides and penalty kill, meaning he could potentially help fill in for the holes left by the departures of unrestricted free agents T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Derek Forbort, Erik Gustafsson, and Michael Stone. The team did bring in Chris Tanev on an expensive deal and have their own young defensemen ready to step up, but needed to add some experience and depth to the position before the offseason was complete.

Travis Dermott Re-Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have re-signed restricted free agent Travis Dermott to a one-year contract. Dermott, who was not eligible for arbitration, has signed for his qualifying offer amount of $874,125.

This always seemed the likely outcome for the Maple Leafs, given how tight their cap situation is this offseason. The team had all the leverage in a negotiation with the young defenseman and benefit most from pushing any multi-year talks down the road. Dermott, 23, will be arbitration-eligible next offseason and able to command a bigger salary after playing in 157 games through his first three NHL seasons.

Though he hasn’t quite turned into the top-four defenseman the Maple Leafs envisioned when they selected him 34th overall in 2015, Dermott has been a quality contributor for the team and figures to be that once again in 2020-21. Even with several new additions on the right side, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas even told reporters that Dermott would likely move to his off-side. Where that puts him in terms of the depth chart isn’t clear, though at such a low cost he can now be kept around even if he’s not in the lineup every night.

The Maple Leafs now sit just a little more than $1MM over the salary cap ceiling, though that CapFriendly projection has them at a full roster of 23 players. The team can easily send players like Rasmus Sandin down to the AHL to get under that $81.5MM threshold and have only Joey Anderson (who is also waiver-exempt) to sign as a restricted free agent.

It may have cost them Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to do it, but the Maple Leafs appear to have basically completed their offseason goals while staying cap compliant—something that seemed extremely difficult just a few months ago. Time will tell whether the team has actually improved and how head coach Sheldon Keefe will deploy his new players.

Nashville Predators Hire Todd Richards

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The Nashville Predators have hired another assistant coach, adding Todd Richards to John Hynes’ staff. Richards joins Dan Lambert and Dan Hinote as the other assistants in Nashville. Predators GM David Poile released a statement on the hire:

We are extremely pleased to be able to bring in Todd and his expansive coaching background to our staff. He not only has an experienced resume, but a winning one as well, and further added to it this past season by winning the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. He began his rise through the professional ranks in our organization with the Milwaukee Admirals, and we are happy to have him back with us to complete John Hynes’s coaching staff.

Richards comes to Nashville just a few weeks after raising the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, an organization he had been with for the last four seasons. Prior to that, he had served as head coach in both Columbus and Minnesota, where he reached the playoffs only once.

Even though his time running an NHL bench didn’t result in much postseason success, Richards did register a 204-183-37 record in parts of seven seasons as a head coach. He also took the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins deep in the playoffs twice, reaching the Calder Cup Final in 2008.

As a player, Richards spent almost his entire career in the minor leagues, suiting up just 19 times for the Hartford Whalers.

New Jersey Devils Hire Chris Taylor

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The New Jersey Devils have added another assistant coach for the upcoming season, hiring Chris Taylor to join Lindy Ruff’s staff. The team has also added Dave Rogalski as a goaltending coach. The group will be joined by two other assistants, Alain Nasreddine and Mark Recchi.

Taylor is the notable hire here, given his recent stint as head coach of the Rochester Americans. Over three seasons with the minor league team, he led them to a 116-65-33 record though wasn’t able to find much postseason success. Still, Taylor was believed to be a top coaching prospect and even served as an interim assistant with the Buffalo Sabres down the stretch.

While Buffalo cleaned house under new GM Kevyn Adams, Taylor will land on his feet in New Jersey for his first full-time NHL coaching role. He’ll bring a wealth of knowledge to the position, including nearly 20 years as a professional player. Taylor suited up for 151 NHL games over the years, doing most of his damage in the AHL.

Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings Exchange Arbitration Figures

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The next arbitration hearing is scheduled for Sunday between the Detroit Red Wings and scrappy young forward Tyler Bertuzzi. Today the two sides filed arbitration figures, with Elliotte Friedman reporting that Bertuzzi came in at $4.25MM while the team is looking for a $3.15MM contract.

It is important to remember that in the NHL, the arbitrator does not need to choose one filing or the other and usually instead awards a contract somewhere in the middle. The two sides can also come to an agreement in the coming days, though this year once the hearing begins they must wait for the reward and cannot settle while the arbitrator deliberates.

In this case, the player’s ask is not above the $4,538,938 “walk away” threshold, meaning that the Red Wings will have to sign Bertuzzi to whatever the arbitrator awards should the hearing begin.

The 25-year-old has been one of the team’s best players since arriving in the NHL full-time in 2017-18. With consecutive 21-goal seasons under his belt, his arbitration case is strong from a purely statistical standpoint. Bertuzzi also brings a lot of the most sought after hockey intangibles, with his ability to get under opponents skin and instigate physical play while taking relatively low penalty totals.

In 2019-20 he actually led the team in goals, finishing only five points behind Dylan Larkin in total points. Though the Red Wings are working on a rebuild that will revolve around several new faces, Bertuzzi is currently one of the most important players on the team.

Canucks Interested In Bringing Back Josh Leivo

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Although the Canucks already have 15 forwards on one-way deals for next season (plus Elias Pettersson who is already a front-line fixture on an entry-level pact), they’re still interested in bringing back winger Josh Leivo, reports Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link).

The 27-year-old got off to a strong start last season, picking up 19 points (7-12-19) in 36 games and appeared to be well on his way to setting new career highs in goals and points (he had already done so for assists).  Logging just over 15 minutes a game, there was some stability in a middle-six role that he had been craving going back to his time as a depth player in Toronto.

However, a fractured kneecap in mid-December ended his season prematurely and he was not part of Vancouver’s playoff roster either.  As a result, instead of entering the open market with a bit of momentum, Leivo reached unrestricted free agency with some uncertainty and question marks.

At this stage, it seems unlikely that Leivo will be able to land the $1.5MM he made last season but on a one-year deal to prove that he’s healthy, he’s an intriguing buy-low bounce-back candidate.  The Canucks appear to be aware of that although they’ll have some work to do to find a spot for him on their roster and fit him in on the salary cap as by the time they waive some veterans to get back under the Upper Limit, they likely won’t have enough money to bring anyone else in up front.  They’ll soon have a small second buyout window at their disposal following Jake Virtanen’s deal from earlier today but it seems unlikely that they’ll use it given the lack of viable options (as Loui Eriksson’s deal is virtually buyout-proof) so GM Jim Benning will have his work cut out for him if he wants to keep Leivo around.

Connor Hobbs Retires From Professional Hockey

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Former Capitals prospect Connor Hobbs is calling it a career, at least on the professional side of it.  The 23-year-old told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that injuries between his time in junior and the pros plus a loss of enthusiasm for playing have led him to make this decision.

Hobbs was a fifth-round pick of the Capitals (143rd overall) back in 2015 and showed some offensive promise at the junior level.  In his final WHL season with Regina back in 2016-17, he was the top-scoring defenseman in the league, tallying 31 goals along with 54 assists in just 67 games.

However, that failed to materialize into much success at the AHL level with Hershey.  After recording 16 points in his rookie year and 18 points in 2018-19, he was limited to just 16 games last season due to a torn rotator cuff which helped Washington decide to non-tender him earlier this month.  The injury still hasn’t healed entirely as he isn’t expected to be fully cleared until December.

Hobbs isn’t done with playing hockey entirely though as Harder notes that the blueliner is still skating with the Saskatchewan Huskies, a U Sports team even though their season was recently cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic; the Canadian college level anticipates to return in 2021-22.

Ducks To Loan Jacob Larsson To Sweden

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The Ducks are nearing an agreement to loan defenseman Jacob Larsson to Kristianstads IK of the Allsvenskan in Sweden, per a report from Kristianstadsbladet.  SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson adds that the loan is agreed upon and the 23-year-old is expected to suit up on Saturday.  The agreement will last until NHL training camps begin.

Larsson spent the majority of last season in Anaheim as he got into 60 games with the Ducks, managing two goals and five assists in a third pairing role while averaging a little over 16 minutes a night.  It was the second straight year he spent more time in the NHL than in the minors as he suited up in 49 contests with Anaheim in 2018-19.

That helped earn Larsson a two-year, one-way deal in August that carries an AAV of $1.2MM and basically solidifies himself a full-time spot on the roster, especially since he’s waiver-eligible now.  In the meantime, this loan will give him a chance to get in some much-needed game action as Anaheim was one of the teams that didn’t return to action this summer and give him some momentum heading into training camp.

Penguins Loan Emil Larmi To Finland

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Pittsburgh has sent another one of their prospects overseas to get some playing time in Finland as Hameenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) of the SM-liiga announced that they’ve added Penguins goaltender Emil Larmi on a loan agreement.  The agreement is for up until NHL training camps begin but does contain an option to be extended for the entire season.

The 24-year-old is in the second and final year of his entry-level contract that was signed back in June of 2019.  Larmi split last season between AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (nine games) and ECHL Wheeling (eleven games) and the results weren’t particularly strong at either level as he posted a 3.55 GAA with both teams.

A return to the Finnish league could be exactly what Larmi needs as his 2018-19 campaign with HPK was a very strong one as he had a 1.94 GAA in 36 regular playoff games and was even stingier in 18 postseason contests, posting a 1.72 mark to help win a league title.  As things stand, the Penguins have a couple of goalies that will be minor league bound in veteran Maxime Lagace and Alex D’Orio.  If they decide that D’Orio is better suited to be the backup in the AHL, it’s possible that the loan could be extended.  If not, Larmi will have some work to do to secure a qualifying offer next offseason.

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