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Minor Transactions: 1/9/21

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With NHL training camps nearing their completion, unsigned players are now facing a crunch to find a place to play for the rest of the year, whether it’s in North America or overseas.  We’ll keep track of any players who find a new home here.

  • New Jersey’s farm team in Binghamton announced the signings of wingers Danick Martel and Travis St. Denis plus goaltender Jeremy Brodeur to one-year, AHL contracts. Martel split last season between Tampa Bay and Florida’s farms, notching 20 goals and 19 assists in 60 games.  He has 13 career games of NHL experience under his belt.  Denis spent the last four years in the Islanders’ system, tallying 136 points in 259 games in that span.  As for Brodeur, who is the son of Hall of Famer Martin, he split last year between the SPHL and Bulgaria and at this point, probably won’t play any higher than the ECHL level this coming season.
  • Winger Ryan Gropp has joined Vasterviks of the Allsvenskan in Sweden, per a team release. The 24-year-old played in 36 games last season with AHL Hartford, affiliate of the Rangers but it wasn’t enough to secure a qualifying offer as he was non-tendered by New York back in October.

WHL Commits To 24-Game Season

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With the WHL pushing their start back on multiple occasions, it was fair to wonder if the league, which is part of the top junior circuit in Canada, was actually going to get their season underway.  The league has indeed announced a commitment to play the 2020-21 campaign, a season that will last 24 games.  The start date remains to be determined (it had already been pushed back into February) and will be worked on in consultation with the various health authorities.  The WHL has teams in four provinces and two states so that process will certainly take some time.

Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that the target is a late-February start with games being played exclusively on weekends with some teams potentially sharing arenas and US-based teams potentially being relocated to Canadian cities.  That’s a lot to try to pull off over the next seven weeks.

This will certainly have an effect on NHL teams and their plans for their prospects in that league.  Players from a CHL team (WHL, OHL, or QMJHL) are ineligible to play in the AHL until they’re 20 or have four years of major junior experience but with those leagues not playing or even scheduled at the moment, they can attend AHL training camps which are expected to begin later this month.  Knowing that the WHL will eventually get underway means that those players won’t be able to be in the minors for long.

As things stand, plans for the other two major junior leagues remain uncertain although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the OHL try something similar.  The QMJHL got their season underway back in October with teams playing anywhere between five and 16 games before the plug was pulled indefinitely.

Red Wings Loan Filip Larsson To Denmark

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Red Wings goaltending prospect Filip Larsson won’t be coming back to North America after all.  After being loaned to Almtuna in Sweden to start the season, he was expected to come back and battle for playing time in the AHL with Grand Rapids.  That isn’t the plan anymore, as the Metal Ligaen in Denmark announced that Detroit has loaned the netminder to Frederikshavn for the remainder of the season.

The 22-year-old played in six games in the Allsvenskan this season, posting a 3.54 GAA along with a .883 SV%, numbers that weren’t going to give him any momentum heading into AHL training camp.  And after splitting last season between Grand Rapids and ECHL Toledo, it certainly looks as if he would have been the odd one out, especially with six other goalies under contract.

Viewed as a potential higher-end prospect after a dominant freshman season with Denver of the NCAA in 2018-19, things haven’t gone as well for Larsson since then.  But at his age, playing time is critical and he will have to head over to Denmark to get a chance for more game action.  He’s expected to report to his new team early next week.

West Notes: Martinez, Simek, Avalanche

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Defenseman Alec Martinez was the big addition for the Golden Knights at last year’s trade deadline and he fit in quite well with his new team.  Now, the 33-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for an extension.  For the time being at least, that doesn’t seem to be on the forefront, as he told reporters including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

I think if the team’s successful, then individuals are successful. The business side will take care of itself. To answer your question if I put a whole lot of thought into it, no, I haven’t. I’m just trying to get ready for this year.

While Martinez has never been a big point producer, he has been an effective top-four shutdown defender for several years now.  As a result, he should be able to land a raise in free agency on his current $4MM AAV.  Vegas only has a little over $5MM in cap room for next season with multiple roster spots to fill though so they may have to get creative if they want to keep him in the fold.

More from the West Division:

  • Sharks defenseman Radim Simek missed time with two separate knee issues last season, ultimately undergoing surgery. However, he told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that the pain was coming back while skating in the spring and continues to linger in training camp.  Despite that, head coach Bob Boughner is confident that the 28-year-old will be good to go for opening night.  Even so, the fact that these issues are persisting is hardly ideal considering Simek is in the first season of a four-year deal that was signed last March.
  • While Colorado got goalie Philipp Grubauer plus wingers Gabriel Landeskog and Brandon Saad back at practice yesterday, defenseman Erik Johnson remains unfit to participate with no word yet on when he’ll be available, relays Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. Meanwhile, blueliner Keaton Middleton, invited to camp as a PTO player as he is only signed to an AHL contract, has left the team to seek a second opinion after failing his physical.

2020 Year In Review: June

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look at June which saw a notable front office change get made.

Botterill Fired: After going through more than a decade and a half with some stability at GM with Darcy Regier, his successors in Buffalo haven’t lasted anywhere near as long.  Tim Murray was on the job for 39 months before being let go and Jason Botterill, his replacement, only made it 37 months before being fired by the Sabres.  The team didn’t make any playoff appearances under his tenure and had a couple of different coaches in Phil Housley and current bench boss Ralph Krueger.  Botterill was far from the only one let go as the team eventually slashed a significant chunk of their hockey operations department and have rebuilt their structure under new GM Kevyn Adams, formerly their Vice President of Business Administration, taking over the role in his first managerial position.

Hall Of Fame Class: While there was no formal induction ceremony due to the pandemic, the Hockey Hall of Fame still announced its class of inductees with Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson receiving the honor in the player category as well as Ken Holland in the builder category.  Technically speaking, Hossa’s still an active player (he’s entering the final year of his contract with Arizona) which may have made his presence somewhat of a surprise but with his career being ruled over medically back in 2017, he was deemed to have served his mandatory three-year waiting period.

Extension For Reaves: A fan favorite since joining the team in their inaugural season, Ryan Reaves decided to forego the UFA market, instead signing a two-year, $3.5MM contract.  The 33-year-old isn’t known for his offensive prowess (although he has reached at least 10 points in four straight years) but he adds a level of toughness found in few others across the league.  The deal actually represents a pay cut by more than $1MM per year but the $1.75MM AAV is still considerably higher than most of the deals that fourth liners signed over the course of free agency.  In this case, it was the best of both worlds for Reaves – he got to stay with Vegas and may very well have received more than he would have had he waited to hit the open market.

Overseas Signings: A pair of defensemen opted to head overseas, raising some eyebrows along the way.  Stars blueliner Roman Polak signed with HC Vitkovice in the Czech Republic and in doing so, also indicated that he had no desire to return to Dallas for their playoff run, one that wound up taking them to the Stanley Cup Final.  Meanwhile, Sabres rearguard Lawrence Pilut inked a two-year pact with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL.  He played just 13 games with Buffalo last season but was quite productive in the minors to the point where he would have been a contender for a full-time spot on their roster.  Instead, he’ll bide his time overseas and has 21 points in 42 games so far this season.

Mystery Team Wins: The NHL opted to go through with their usual draft lottery even though only seven teams instead of 15 didn’t qualify for the playoffs.  The end result was an unidentified ‘qualifier’ team winning the draft lottery while Detroit, who entered the proceedings with the top odds for the number one pick, dropped the maximum three spots down to fourth.  Ottawa went in with two potential top-three selections based on the odds but had to settle for one as Los Angeles moved up two spots into the second slot with the Sens (with their pick acquired for Erik Karlsson), staying at third.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Penguins Cancel Practice Due To Potential COVID-19 Exposure

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After Columbus and Dallas had to cancel practices yesterday, Pittsburgh has had to do so today.  The team released a statement to the media, including Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the decision to do so “was made out of an abundance of caution due to potential exposure of COVID-19”.  It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that players have tested positive.

Look no further than yesterday.  While the Stars had six players and two staff members test positive for the virus, the Blue Jackets were able to return to practice today with basically a full complement of players.  Notably, while Elvis Merzlikins was among the absentees for Columbus, it is not related to a positive test, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It was supposed to be a busy day for Pittsburgh today with a pair of practices plus an intrasquad game being called off while the status of Sunday’s scrimmage is also in question as well.  Depending on the results of today’s testing, they could be cleared to return by then but if there are some positive tests that require several players and/or staff members to quarantine, it’s possible that Wednesday’s season-opener against Philadelphia will need to be rescheduled, similar to what happened yesterday with Dallas.

Blue Jackets Sign Cam Johnson

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The Blue Jackets have decided that they needed a bit more goaltending depth in their system for the upcoming season as the team announced the signing of Cam Johnson to a one-year, two-way contract.  CapFriendly reports that the contract is worth the league minimum of $700K in the NHL and $75K in the minors.

The 26-year-old spent all of last season at the ECHL level with the Florida Everblades and posted an impressive 2.32 GAA with a .925 SV% and two shutouts in 25 games.  He got off to an even better start this season with a GAA of just 1.77 and a SV% of .941 with two more shutouts in just seven appearances which clearly helped get him on the NHL radar.

Johnson’s highest level has been the AHL where he last played in 2018-19 as part of New Jersey’s system.  As things stand, he should have an opportunity to see some AHL action when that league opens up next month with Matiss Kivlenieks expected to be the mandatory third option with Columbus or the taxi squad.  Meanwhile, prospects Daniil Tarasov and Veini Vehvilainen are on loan to the KHL and SM-liiga respectively so there is definitely a vacancy for Johnson to fill.

Corey Crawford Announces Retirement

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It turns out that Corey Crawford’s indefinite personal leave of absence will be a permanent one as the veteran netminder has decided to retire, as announced by the NHLPA.  He released the following statement:

I have been fortunate to have had a long career playing professional hockey for a living. I wanted to continue my career, but believe I’ve given all I can to the game of hockey, and I have decided that it is time to retire. I would like to thank the New Jersey Devils organization for understanding and supporting my decision. I would like to thank the Chicago Blackhawks organization for giving me the chance to live my childhood dream. I am proud to have been part of winning two Stanley Cups in Chicago. Thank you to all of my teammates and coaches throughout the years. Also, thank you to the fans who make this great game what it is. I am happy and excited to move on to the next chapter of my life with my family.

The 36-year-old was unable to come to terms on an agreement with Chicago over the offseason and hit the open market.  He was able to secure the multi-year deal he had been seeking from the Blackhawks with New Jersey as they gave him a two-year, $7.8MM contract to serve as a veteran mentor and platoon partner for youngster Mackenzie Blackwood.  After putting up a 2.77 GAA with a .917 SV% in 40 games last season, it seemed like a good fit for both sides.

Instead, Crawford will retire without ever officially suiting up for New Jersey.  His playing days come to an end with 488 career NHL games under his belt – all with Chicago over parts of 13 seasons.  He worked his way up the depth chart, eventually beginning as a minor-league option and working his way up to the number one role.  He’ll hang up his skates with a 260-162-53 record with a 2.45 GAA, .918 SV%, and 26 shutouts along with a pair of Stanley Cup titles in 2013 and 2015.

New Jersey will now be faced with a challenge as they look to fill their backup spot on short notice.  Jimmy Howard is the top unrestricted free agent still available but he is coming off a season to forget with Detroit.  At this point, their best bet may be to wait for teams to make their surplus netminders available on waivers over the next couple of days and take their pick from there.  While Scott Wedgewood has some NHL experience and could conceivably begin the year as Blackwood’s backup, it seems all but a certainty that GM Tom Fitzgerald will look to add another goalie in the coming days.

While the contract is technically a 35-plus contract, the new CBA MOU provisions allow for the cap hit to not count against the books as long as it’s a back-loaded or evenly-distributed deal and doesn’t contain signing bonuses beyond the first year.  As that is the case for Crawford, New Jersey won’t face any lingering cap penalty.

Radio-Canada’s Martin Leclerc was the first to report that Crawford would be retiring.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nine Players Placed On Waivers

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After 25 players found themselves on waivers on Friday (23 of which cleared), it’s a smaller group of players on the waiver wire today.  James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the following nine players have been waived:

Edmonton Oilers

F Joseph Gambardella

Nashville Predators

D Alexandre Carrier
D Ben Harpur
G Kasimir Kaskisuo
D Tyler Lewington
F Sean Malone
F Michael McCarron
F Anthony Richard

Toronto Maple Leafs

G Michael Hutchinson

All nine players have some NHL experience, ranging from one game for Malone and Kaskisuo to 127 for Hutchinson.  The latter actually started last season as the backup in Toronto but struggled mightily before being waived and sent to the minors.  He was flipped to Colorado before the trade deadline and as a result of injuries to both Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz, Hutchinson actually was the starter for the Avalanche by the time their postseason run came to an end.  While he did relatively well, he still had to settle for a two-year, two-way deal that was ultimately signed to meet a pending expansion requirement.

Teams will have until 11 AM CT on Sunday to place a claim on any of these players.  If they pass through, they’ll be eligible to be assigned to the minors or to the new taxi squads.

Panthers Claim Gustav Forsling Off Waivers

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The Panthers have added some depth on the back end as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed defenseman Gustav Forsling off waivers from Carolina.

The 24-year-old actually cleared waivers last season and spent the entirety of the 2019-20 season in the minors with AHL Charlotte.  Forsling, never known for his offensive prowess, had a decent campaign in terms of point production, putting up eight goals and 18 assists in 56 games with the Checkers before the pandemic shut down the rest of the season.

While he was in the minors all of last year, Forsling does have 122 career games of NHL experience, all with Chicago from 2016-17 through 2018-19 with most of those coming under Joel Quenneville, now the head coach of the Panthers.  He averaged more than 17 minutes per game and it’s quite possible that he’ll be able to hold his own in a third-pairing role with Florida.  Having said that, Forsling likely slots in as the seventh or eighth defender on the depth chart so he may need to wait for some injuries to arise to get his chance with his new team.

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