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Archives for December 2020

Florida Panthers Sign Anthony Duclair

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The Florida Panthers’ roster turnover continues, as the team signs Anthony Duclair to a one-year, $1.7MM contract. Duclair became an unrestricted free agent when the Ottawa Senators decided not to extend him a qualifying offer after the season and has been representing himself in negotiations.

Panthers GM Bill Zito has brought in several familiar faces this offseason, acquiring players like Alexander Wennberg and Markus Nutivaara from his days with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That will continue with Duclair, who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the early part of the 2018-19 season. Zito explained exactly why he brought Duclair to Florida:

Anthony is a dynamic and highly skilled player who is capable of being a dependable offensive contributor for our team. He possesses tremendous speed and goal scoring ability and earned an opportunity to be named an NHL All-Star last season. We’re excited to welcome Anthony and look forward to what he can add to our team.

The 25-year-old Duclair has been one of the most enigmatic players in the league ever since he exploded onto the scene in 2015-16 with a 20-goal campaign. The third-round pick totaled 44 points in that first full season but struggled to maintain that level moving forward. Even that year came with the Arizona Coyotes, his second organization after an early trade from the New York Rangers, and since then he’s played for Chicago, Columbus, Ottawa, and now Florida.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the talent. Duclair is lightning fast and possesses excellent hands that can do some truly incredible things in tight spaces. His 23-goal season with the Senators last year wasn’t a big surprise once he was given the opportunity to play up in a lineup and on the powerplay, something that may be available in Florida as well. Remember, the Panthers lost Evgenii Dadonov (to the Senators, in fact) in free agency and Mike Hoffman is still unsigned.

For $1.7MM though, Duclair comes almost risk-free. That’s only a little more than someone like Wayne Simmonds landed, even after a dreadful eight-goal, 25-point year. Even better, because of his young age Duclair will actually be a restricted free agent once again after the one-year deal expires, meaning that Florida gains an extra season of control should they want to extend a qualifying offer. In all, this seems like a perfect fit for both player and team this late in free agency.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was the first to break the news.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Justin Bailey

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed another one of their restricted free agents, inking Justin Bailey to a new one-year, two-way contract. Bailey was eligible for salary arbitration this offseason but did not file. Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports that the deal will pay Bailey $750K at the NHL level and $225K in the AHL.

Though Drance also reports that Bailey had been holding out hope for a one-way deal, he’ll have to settle for a two-way deal in this depressed financial climate. A veteran of 65 NHL games, the 25-year-old power forward lit up the minor leagues last season, scoring 28 goals and 47 points in just 53 games for the Utica Comets. Standing 6’4″ and with a nose for the net, there’s a lot to like about Bailey’s game.

Given his relative lack of NHL experience, Bailey could qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency after this season if he fails to play in 15 games with the Canucks. It will be interesting to see how they handle him to start the year, as Bailey could be the perfect candidate for an NHL taxi squad, given he’s already proven himself in the minor leagues.

With the deal, the Canucks have now signed all of their eligible restricted free agents and are ready for the season to begin.

Mikhail Berdin Signs Extension With Winnipeg Jets

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In one of the more interesting moves of the offseason, goaltending prospect Mikhail Berdin has signed a two-year extension with the Winnipeg Jets. Berdin is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and hasn’t even played an NHL game yet, suiting up exclusively in the AHL or, for the first part of this season, in the KHL. The 22-year-old goaltender will now be under contract through the 2022-23 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $750K in the NHL and is two-way in 2021-22 and one-way in 2022-23.

Of note, Berdin is eligible for selection in the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and will now fill the Jets exposure requirements. Connor Hellebuyck is the obvious choice for the Jets to protect, which would leave the promising young prospect up for grabs.

Make no mistake, he is promising. Berdin was a sixth-round pick of the Jets in 2016 after playing rather sparingly in the Russian junior league, but immediately made an impact after coming to North America. He joined the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL where he posted a .925 save percentage in 31 appearances. He followed it up with another excellent campaign for Sioux Falls and was the third goaltender for Russia at the World Junior Championship (though he did not play).

Two years of professional hockey in the Winnipeg minor league system followed and Berdin has been successful, posting strong save percentages at every stop. He had a .912 in 14 games with SKA St. Petersburg this year in the KHL, but is expected to return for NHL training camp.

A move like this is interesting mostly because it locks Berdin into a deal long before he really had to. He has no NHL stats to rely on in negotiations but obviously wanted to be a part of the Jets organization and stay on this side of the pond. He could be a potential Seattle target, though there will be lots of young goaltenders available and perhaps more pressing needs.

Latest On Target Start Date For NHL

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We’re now less than four weeks away from the reported target start date of January 13 and still don’t have any official word from the NHL or NHLPA on when training camp will begin. Teams have begun the process of bringing their players back to North America to serve a quarantine period, but it’s still not clear when they will actually be suiting up for game one of a shortened season. Still, multiple reports have come out over the last 24 hours that suggest January 13 is still possible.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweeted this morning that this is still the case, with both sides working to complete the agreement documents. Once that is complete, both sides—the NHL board of governors and the NHLPA executive board—will need to conduct a vote. Nick Alberga of Sportsnet tweeted that a Friday or Saturday vote was the hope from the player side, while David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports there is no board of governors call scheduled for today, but hope that the documents can be finalized today or tomorrow.

Frank Seravalli of TSN meanwhile reports that the league is working on a triple header for opening night which would feature the Tampa Bay Lightning raising the Stanley Cup banner (potentially against the Chicago Blackhawks), a “big east clash” potentially between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins and a “marquee west matchup” to close the night, potentially between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. None of that is official yet and there is certainly no guarantee it will take place as Seravalli suggests, but it would certainly be an exciting way to welcome hockey back.

There is so much smoke surrounding an agreement coming out this weekend that hockey fans can get their hopes up a little bit. Perhaps it won’t be January 13, but it feels inevitable now that the NHL will return at some point either in January should no more obstacles be placed in the way. The question of whether it will be held in hub cities or home cities is one of the biggest still to be answered and likely one that the league will wait until the very last possible second to reveal.

Alex Steen Announces Retirement

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The St. Louis Blues will not have Alex Steen on the ice for them this season, announcing today that the veteran forward has been forced to retire due to a back injury. The release indicates that he has “multiple levels of degenerative herniated discs of his lumbar spine.” Though he is retiring, Steen’s contract won’t actually be coming off the books entirely.

Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic confirms that he will be treated as an injured player for this, the last season of his contract, meaning he will earn his full $3.5MM salary and the Blues will still have to deal with his $5.75MM cap hit. That cap hit can be moved to long-term injured reserve for cap relief, though it is still a more complicated process than the complete relief that actual retirement would bring.

Steen, 36, started his NHL journey back in 2002 when he was selected 24th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, though he wouldn’t actually make it to North America until 2005. When he did, he was already a polished professional from his years in the Swedish Elite League and stepped into the Maple Leafs lineup immediately. With 18 goals and 45 points in his rookie season, there were high hopes that he could be a superstar in Toronto. After a few more solid, if unspectacular seasons, the Maple Leafs made one of their patented (at the time) moves to secure a more veteran talent, trading Steen and fellow first-round pick Carlo Colaiacovo to the Blues for Lee Stempniak.

His Maple Leaf career in the rearview, Steen started the real meat of his hockey journey with St. Louis, a team that he would play 12 seasons and more than 850 games for. Seven different times he earned votes for the Selke Trophy as one of the league’s best defensive forwards, while also reaching new career highs in goals (33) and points (64). His career finishes with 622 points in 1,018 games, and at long last, he got to lift the Stanley Cup in 2019.

Steen isn’t a hall of fame candidate, but he will go down as half of one of the best father-son duos to play in the NHL. His father, Thomas Steen, played 950 games with the Winnipeg Jets and tallied 817 points of his own while also earning Selke votes for that focus on defense. When Alex Steen scored his 600th point during the 2018-19 season, they became just the fourth father-son duo to each record at least that number, behind Gordie Howe/Mark Howe, Bobby Hull/Brett Hull, and Peter Stastny/Paul Stastny. Quite the great company to be in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Rattie, Gaunce, Jarventie

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Even as the NHL works towards finalizing a plan to begin the 2020-21 season, with a second wave of free agent signings expected in response, many NHL veterans continue to look elsewhere for work this season. The latest appears to be forward Ty Rattie. Rattie, 27, actually played in the KHL last year but to this point had held out hope for a return to North America after a strong showing in Russia. Instead, he is expected to remain in Europe for another year. Johan Svensson of Swedish source Kvallsposten reports that the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks are close to finalizing a deal with Rattie. The skilled forward is just the latest name to be linked to a European club, as the likes of Mirco Mueller and Valentin Zykov have been among those rumored to be moving overseas this past week as well.

  • Other free agents continue to wait for NHL interest to develop ahead of the new season. Among some of the more intriguing depth names available are the brothers Gaunce. Of the 60 remaining unsigned unrestricted free agents, Cameron Gaunce and Brendan Gaunce top the list in terms of points per game this past season. Of course, a major caveat is that they finished at the bottom of that list in games played with just four games total between them. Yet, the brothers were not only efficient with minimal NHL opportunity, both were very productive in the AHL as well. Defenseman Cameron, 30, notched four points in three games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and added 32 points in 52 minor league games with the Syracuse Crunch while forward Brendan, 26, recorded a point in his lone appearance with the Boston Bruins and scored 37 points in 52 games with AHL Providence. Elite prospects who have established themselves as reliable pros over the years, the Gaunce brothers are among those whose patience should be paid off with a contract shortly.
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Roby Jarventie was not expected to challenge for a roster spot this season, but it seems the talented young forward is unlikely to make the jump to North America next year either. Finnish club Ilves of the Liiga has announced that they have exercised the option on Jarventie’s contract for the 2021-22 season. Although the NHL and the Liiga have a transfer agreement, Ilves likely made this move with the expectation that Jarventie would be around to fulfill the final year of his current contract. The second pick of the second round in the 2020 NHL Draft, Jarventie is a top prospect but is one of many for the Senators. However, with 14 points through 19 games already this season, the big forward’s stock is on the rise and Ottawa won’t want to wait too long to bring him over.

Markus Hannikainen Signs With Jokerit

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Former Columbus Blue Jacket and Arizona Coyote Markus Hannikainen is headed home to Finland and to the club he grew up with. Seemingly unable to find a new NHL contract, Hannikainen has signed with the KHL’s Jokerit of his hometown of Helsinki. The veteran forward appears to be fully committed as well; the team has announced that Hannikainen has returned on a “long-term” contract. The 27-year-old has spent the past five seasons in the NHL and AHL but previously spent six years with Jokerit at various levels of Finnish hockey.

Were it not for the flat salary cap and the current lull in the NHL free agent market, perhaps Hannikainen may have been able to find another contract in North America. However, his return overseas should not come as a surprise as his career appeared to be trending in that direction. A hard-working, two-way winger whose defensive zone ability far exceeded his point totals – even as a younger prospect – Hannikainen finally broke out offensively as a pro after leaving Jokerit to join the Liiga’s JYP in 2014-15. He turned that success into an entry-level deal with Columbus, the first of three contracts he would sign with the club over three years. Hannikainen even played in four games with the Jackets in his first season in North America. As the years went on, Hannikainen began to carve out a regular role for himself in Columbus – or so it seemed. Even as his games played jumped four to 10 to 33 and finally to 44 (and a full season in the NHL) in 2018-19, the forward’s role with Columbus was always limited to meager fourth line minutes and very little offensive opportunity. As a result, the Blue Jackets did not hesitate to leave Hannikainen in the AHL this past season when they were able to upgrade their forward corps. After months without an NHL appearance, Hannikainen was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in February and the ’Yotes also opted to leave him in the minors. A two-way contract this off-season would not have been out of the question for the veteran, but between his limited NHL results and lack of offensive ability he was always going to have to prove himself in the AHL to get back to the top level.

Instead, Hannikainen has decided to return home where a guaranteed role is waiting and where he can maximize his offensive potential. While Hannikainen has a long history with Jokerit, this will be his first experience in the KHL after the club shifted leagues during his NHL absence. The level of competition should be higher this time around, but the experienced winger has several NHL seasons to his credit now as well. He also joins a talented team whose roster includes a laundry list of NHL vets including recently re-signed leading scorer Brian O’Neill and the likes of Nicklas Jensen, Jordan Schroeder, Jesse Joensuu, Iiro Pakarinen, Henrik Haapala, Saku Maenalanen, Peter Regin, Viktor Loov, Alex Grant, and Anders Lindback. The rich get richer with the addition of Hannikainen to a team that should compete for years to come in hope of winning their first Gagarin Cup.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Los Angeles Kings

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We’ve now made it past Thanksgiving and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.

What are the Kings most thankful for?

The draft lottery.

Everyone was obviously focused on the New York Rangers at the 2020 draft lottery, who moved up from the qualification round group all the way to first overall and earned the right to pick Alexis Lafreniere. But there was another winner that night (well, multiple nights), and that was the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings had just the fourth-highest chance at the top pick going into the lottery but managed to move up a few spots into the second slot and had their choice of the field. Though there were some last-minute rumors that they may choose German forward Tim Stuetzle, the Kings eventually settled on the other top Canadian prospect, Quinton Byfield.

Sure, there are still questions that the 6’4″ center needs to answer—he’ll get the chance at the upcoming World Junior tournament—but there is no one that doubts his raw ability. Powerful, dynamic, and with a nose for the back of the net, Byfield reminds many of a player like Evgeni Malkin when he is at his best. While asking for a future Hall of Famer may be a bit much, the Kings are obviously leaping for joy at the thought of penciling Byfield into the lineup for the next decade-plus.

Who are the Kings most thankful for?

Mark Yannetti.

Who? Casual fans may not have heard Yannetti’s name very often (if at all), but he’s been one of the most important people in the Kings organization the last several years. The director of amateur scouting, he has been responsible for turning the Kings prospect pipeline into one of the league’s best, loaded with blue-chippers that will be impact players in the NHL for years to come. Sure, it may be easy to select someone like Byfield with the second pick, but the Kings look like they’ve hit on several other picks further down the draft board.

Kale Clague. Gabriel Vilardi. Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Michael Anderson. Aidan Dudas. Akil Thomas. Rasmus Kupari. Alex Turcotte. Tobias Bjornfot. Arthur Kaliyev. Samuel Fagemo. The list of players that have either already made their NHL debut or look poised to do so before long goes on and on for the Kings. Yannetti—especially now that the Kings parted ways with former AGM Mike Futa, who was also a considerable part of the draft process—is behind it all and will need to continue his work to get Los Angeles back to contender status.

What would the Kings be even more thankful for?

A desperate contender.

There’s a ton of talent coming for the Kings, but the NHL roster is still littered with aging, expensive veterans. In particular, the cap hits of Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, and Jonathan Quick, which each extend past the upcoming season (Quick through 2022-23), are tough pills to work around even if they are all some of the most celebrated players the franchise has known. All three have been thrown around in trade speculation the last few years, but at this point it would likely take a desperate contender to actually eat one of the deals. The asset they’d need to include for another rebuilding team wouldn’t be worth the cap relief at this point, meaning the Kings might just have to wait it out.

Even those three may not be the worst of the worst. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, even for all that they’ve meant to the franchise, are set to carry a combined cap hit of $21MM through the 2023-24 season, with Doughty’s contract extending three more years after that. They’re both legends, but you have to wonder if at some point the team will try to get out from under those contracts and hand the reins to their next wave of talent.

What should be on the Kings’ holiday wish list?

2022 draft picks.

The Kings could surprise some this season, but it’s hard to name them a contender at this point. That means they could be destined for a middling draft pick slot, reducing the chance for another real franchise-changing talent. By 2022, when the draft is absolutely loaded at the top, they could very well be out of the basement entirely. Getting some 2022 picks now might be an interesting strategy for a team that is still several years away from real contention. Like we’ve seen with the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators in recent years, sometimes giving up a future pick can come back to really bite you when it ends up in the lottery.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Lindblom, Zadina, Saarela

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One year after being diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom is still cancer-free. The young man had his second checkup and scans were clear, according to his girlfriend on Instagram. The news received an outpouring of congratulations from all over the hockey world as teammates, opponents, and fans all want to see Lindblom back on the ice.

The 24-year-old forward was off to a blistering start in 2019-20 before his diagnosis, scoring 11 goals and 18 points in the first 30 games of the season. To the surprise of many, he made an emotional return for the Flyers in the postseason bubble, playing in two games during their second-round series against the New York Islanders. One of the most natural goal-scorers on the Flyers roster, his return should give the team quite a boost this season should his health remain intact and his play goes back to previous levels. From everyone here at PHR, congrats Oskar!

  • Filip Zadina is on his way back to Detroit to join the Red Wings for training camp, leaving HC Ocelari Trinec after scoring 14 points in 17 games in the Czech Republic. The 21-year-old forward hasn’t yet made his mark at the NHL level but should have an inside track for a roster spot this year. In 37 games with the Red Wings, Zadina has nine goals and 18 points.
  • Chicago Blackhawks fourth-round pick Antti Saarela won’t be coming to North America for a while yet after his club team exercised an option year for 2021-22. The 19-year-old forward still has a lot of development to do anyway, so staying in Europe another year probably isn’t very upsetting for the Blackhawks anyway. He has shown improvement this year though, scoring ten points in 17 games, nearly reaching his total from last season already.

Chicago Blackhawks Reorganize Front Office

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The Chicago Blackhawks have announced a reorganization at the very top of their front office, naming Danny Wirtz CEO, hiring Jaime Faulkner as President of Business Operations, and elevating Stan Bowman to President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. These moves follow the removal of John McDonough earlier this year, after which Wirtz served for a time as interim president.

Bowman will continue to oversee the entire hockey operations department and serve as general manager, while Faulkner will take over the business side and focus on fan experience. She will also represent the Blackhawks as an alternate governor. Wirtz explained exactly why he sees the two as a good pair to lead the Blackhawks:

Jaime and Stan bring a modern leadership style that embodies the approach needed to evolve in these dynamic times, continuing to elevate the Blackhawks to elite levels on and off the ice. I look forward to partnering with them and watching them work together with our on and off ice teams to achieve our collective goals. Both with backgrounds in data and analytics, Jaime and Stan are a dynamic duo whose partnership will trickle down to everything in our organization from on-ice hockey strategy to the fan experience at the United Center and beyond.

McDonough, who had served as president for the Blackhawks since 2007, was released in April. At the time, questions were raised about the future of Bowman, who had been hired by McDonough in 2009 and backed even when the Blackhawks’ on-ice performance started to waver. With this new appointment, it seems as though Wirtz—who happens to be the son of team owner Rocky Wirtz—has continued confidence in Bowman as the leader of the team’s hockey operations.

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