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Central Notes: Zadorov, Predators, Laine, Tyutyayev

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The flat salary cap is going to make for a nervous time for many restricted free agents with arbitration this summer in the days leading up to the qualifying offer deadline with some notable names likely to be non-tendered to avoid the risk of being awarded too high of a contract.  Blackhawks defenseman Nikita Zadorov is certainly in that group as the 26-year-old is owed a $3.2MM qualifier in his final RFA season.  However, he told reporters today including Scott Powers of The Athletic (Twitter link) that he’s hoping to re-sign and that he doesn’t see the cap situation affecting his contract talks.  Zadorov has logged nearly 19 minutes a game in his first season with Chicago but unless they’re able to agree on a deal before the deadline, it’s hard to see them being willing to take the risk of him being awarded a bigger contract from an arbitrator that they’re comfortable paying.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • The Predators are getting some players back in the lineup to aid in their push to secure the final playoff spot in the Central. Adam Vingan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that winger Filip Forsberg, center Brad Richardson, and defenseman Alexandre Carrier have all been activated off IR.  Forsberg has missed more than a month and still sits only two points off the team lead, making him a big addition up front.  Meanwhile, Richardson has been above average at the faceoff dot and should give them another option on the penalty kill while Carrier is fourth among Nashville defenders in ATOI at just over 20 minutes a night.
  • The Blue Jackets will be without winger Patrik Laine tonight against Carolina, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). It has been a tough first year in Columbus for the 23-year-old who has just ten goals and eight assists in 41 games, hardly the type of output they were expecting when they acquired him from Winnipeg back in January.
  • Detroit’s farm team in Grand Rapids has announced the signing of winger Kirill Tyutyayev to a one-year, AHL deal for next season. The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick (190th overall) of the Red Wings back in 2019 and spent this season with Yunost Minsk in Belarus where he picked up 11 goals and 21 assists in 43 regular season games while chipping in with 10 points in 13 playoff contests.  Drafted out of Russia, there is no designated time that Detroit has to sign him by; accordingly, this deal gives them an opportunity to give him a look in North America on a short-term commitment compared to an entry-level deal while reserving the ability to retain his NHL rights if he opts to go back overseas for 2022-23.

Senators Notes: Tkachuk, World Championships, Stutzle

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Senators winger Brady Tkachuk is by far Ottawa’s most prominent restricted free agent heading into the summer.  He leads the team in scoring with 34 points in 50 games and is second in the league in hits with 215, making him a core piece of their puzzle as they expected when they selected him fourth overall in 2018.  Postmedia’s Ken Warren examines some of the comparable contracts around the league in terms of impact RFAs coming off of their entry-level deals and notes that the deal his brother Matthew signed with Calgary (three years, $21MM) may be one of the more interesting comparisons out there both in terms of their style of play and comparable production (after factoring in extrapolations for the last two shortened seasons).  Ottawa has shown that they’re willing to give a max-term deal as they did for defenseman Thomas Chabot but the cap climate has changed since then.  Regardless of which way they go, Tkachuk is in for a significant increase on his $925K base salary (which includes his signing bonus for the season).

More from Ottawa:

  • Center Josh Norris has been in talks with Team USA about joining their entry for the upcoming World Championships, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The rookie has had a nice season, picking up 32 points in 50 games and certainly appeared to be a part of their burgeoning young core.  The official invite hasn’t come yet with the Sens still technically mathematically alive in the playoff picture although that could change as soon as tonight when they take on Montreal.  Meanwhile, Garrioch notes that Tkachuk’s RFA status will likely keep him away from participating.
  • With Norris and Shane Pinto both showing promise down the middle, Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan suggests that Ottawa is unlikely to shift Tim Stuetzle back to center to finish this year or to start next season. While the 19-year-old would be more valuable as a middleman, he’s also one of the youngest players in the league and staying on the wing where the responsibilities are a little lighter makes a lot of sense at this point of his career.

Canucks Place Jake Virtanen On Leave Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations

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The Canucks have placed winger Jake Virtanen on a leave of absence following allegations of sexual misconduct.  The team released the following statement:

We have become aware of the concerning allegations made about Jake Virtanen.  Our organization does not accept sexual misconduct of any kind and the claims as reported are being treated very seriously by us.  We have engaged external expertise to assist in an independent investigation and we have placed the player on leave as we await more information.

Glacier Media provides some background about the alleged incident which occurred back in September of 2017.  Virtanen has declined to comment while NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the league is aware of the allegations but wouldn’t comment further than that.

We are aware of this issue and have been in contact with the club regarding appropriate response.  We don’t have any further comment at this time.

Tampa Bay Signs Hugo Alnefelt

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Tampa Bay put pen to paper with one of their more promising goalie prospects, announcing the signing of Hugo Alnefelt to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal – which starts next season – were not disclosed.

The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (71st overall) of the Lightning back in 2019 and has certainly boosted his stock since then.  Alnefelt has between Sweden’s starting goalie in the last two World Juniors, posting a 2.20 GAA with a .917 SV% over those tournaments while spending most of the last two years in the SHL, Sweden’s top professional league.  He was the backup goaltender with HV71 this season and had a .904 SV% in 22 games, a higher save percentage than their starter.

There should be an opportunity for Alnefelt to get more playing time starting next season.  Of the five goalies that Tampa Bay has on an NHL contract this season, all but Andrei Vasilevskiy are set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.  While no one should expect Alnefelt to step into the backup role right away, he should be in line for a lot of action with AHL Syracuse in 2021-22.  The original team release had him playing on a tryout deal with the Crunch to finish the season but the team tweeted later in the day that this will now not be the case.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 05/01/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:

North Division

  • The Montreal Canadiens have reassigned forwards Ryan Poehling and Alex Belzile to the taxi squad. Poehling, a 2017 first-rounder, is still looking for his first NHL game this season after skating in 27 with the Habs last year. Poehling has seemingly outgrown the AHL’s Laval Rocket, recording 25 points in 28 games this season. As for Belzile, the veteran forward made his NHL debut in the playoffs last year but has still never played in a regular season game.
  • C.J. Suess will head back to the AHL, as the Winnipeg Jets have announced his demotion from the taxi squad to the Manitoba Moose. Suess has played in 24 AHL games this season, but in no NHL games. He still has just one game with Winnipeg under his belt through three seasons with the club.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have sent Martin Marincin and Veini Vehvilainen to the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Marincin has been on the taxi squad a few times this season but has yet to suit up while Vehvilainen has played just twice this season – once in relief duty with Columbus and once with their farm team two months ago before he was traded to Toronto for Mikko Lehtonen.

East Division

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have swapped out young defensemen, sending Yegor Zamula to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms and recalling Wyatte Wylie to the taxi squad. Both in their first pro seasons, Zamula has played in a pair of games with the Flyers while Wylie is still looking for his NHL debut.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-assigned Josh Maniscalco to the taxi squad, sending Maxime Lagace to the AHL in the process. The 22-year-old Maniscalco was an undrafted free agent signing out of Arizona State University that has yet to register a point in seven AHL games.

Central Division

  • Joe Veleno is back up with the Detroit Red Wings again today, as the team has announced his recall from the taxi squad. After spending the season on loan in Sweden with the Malmo Redhawks, the top prospect returned to Detroit after his SHL season came to an end and made his NHL debut. Veleno has been held scoreless through two games so far, but will get another chance today.
  • The St. Louis Blues have announced a coming taxi squad addition, as Gagarin Cup champion Klim Kostin will re-join the team on Tuesday now that his KHL season is over. Kostin played with Avangard Omsk on loan this season and recorded 18 points in 43 regular season games plus another nine points in 24 postseason game en route to a title. Now he is ready to join another playoff push.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have brought up John Quenneville to the taxi squad, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 2014 first-round pick last saw NHL action in the bubble last summer when he played in two games but his performance this season hasn’t helped his cause as he has just a goal and an assist in 16 games with Rockford.

West Division

  • The Colorado Avalanche have sent Jonas Johansson from the taxi squad to the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log.  With Philipp Grubauer having returned, Johansson is back to third-string status so this move will give him a chance to get some game action.  Daniel Renouf was also recalled directly to the NHL roster while Adam Werner and Hunter Miska were both brought up to the taxi squad.
  • The San Jose Sharks have recalled Jacob Middleton to the taxi squad, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The blueliner has played just once in the NHL this season and was sent down to the Barracuda earlier in the week to get him some playing time.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have once again shuffled things up, assigning Jacob Perreault and Olle Eriksson Ek back to the minors from the taxi squad, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Maxim Golod and Lukas Dostal were recalled to Anaheim’s taxi squad in corresponding moves.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Michael Chaput from the taxi squad, giving them another option for tonight’s game against the Golden Knights. Chaput wasn’t in the lineup when the Coyotes won yesterday in the first half of the back-to-back.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

KHL Off-Season Opening Day Round-Up

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The KHL off-season opened today and the league did not waste any time in making moves that have meaning to NHL fans. A number of familiar names have hit free agency today and some are already agreeing to new deals. Meanwhile, others are being traded on the first day to do so, including the rights to some players currently in North America. Keep up with all of today’s action as the KHL’s clubs get their summers started early with significant moves:

  •  One of the first players to sign with a new team early this morning was former NHL forward Teemu Pulkkinen. A Detroit Red Wings draft pick who also spent time with the Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes, and most recently the Chicago Blackhawks in 2017-18, Pulkkinen will be entering his fourth season in the KHL and is already on to his fourth different team. After splitting this season between Dynamo Moscow and Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, collecting 30 points in 46 games, Pulkkinen has signed a two-year deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk. The 29-year-old has scored at a .67 per-game clip in his KHL career and shows no signs of slowing down.
  • SKA St. Petersberg and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod have made an interesting futures swap, trading the rights of two current NHLers. Torpedo received the rights to Edmonton Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi (as well as minor league forward Danil Voyevodin) while SKA landed the rights to young San Jose Sharks goalie Alexei Melnichuk. The deal is tricky on a number of levels; while Puljujarvi is undoubtedly the biggest name in the trade, it is Melnichuk who commanded the larger side of the return. It was also KHL powerhouse SKA who received the prospect netminder and gave up the established scorer. This could be a simple case of different likelihoods of those player rights having any value. While Puljujarvi previously left the Oilers for Europe, he has finally found his NHL stride in his return this season and is unlikely to leave again. Even if he does, Puljujarvi may just return home to the Finnish Liiga as well. On the other hand, Melnichuk was born and bred in the SKA system and the team may have some insight into his future plans. The 22-year-old keeper is valued by the Sharks and even made his NHL debut this year in his first season in North America, however his AHL play has underwhelmed and he doesn’t look like a realistic full-time NHL option for San Jose next season. If the young goalie grows tired of playing in the minors in North America, he would probably be happy to jump back to his old team and take on a starting role in the KHL.
  • Former Boston Bruins forward Joonas Kemppainen has signed a one-year extension to remain with SKA. The Finnish power forward didn’t work out in his lone NHL season back in 2015-16, recording five points in eleven games with Boston, but has been a productive player in the KHL for five years now. That includes a 15-goal, 29-point campaign with St. Petersberg this year that earned him an extension. The 33-year-old veteran is not a candidate to ever return to North America, but still has plenty to offer in Russia.
  • Vladimir Zharkov feels like ancient New Jersey Devils history at this point, but the former top prospect continues to produce in the KHL. Zharkov, 33, spent four seasons with the Devils early in his career and was a nice fringe piece, but lacked starting upside. In the KHL since 2012-13, Zharkov has become a reliable two-way forward and locker room leader, spending many years with top programs like CSKA Moscow and Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Now he’s off to the top team in the league, signing a two-year deal with recently-crowned Gagarin Cup champions Avangard Omsk, replacing the veteran presence of the departed Ilya Kovalchuk.
  • Torpedo jumped right back into the action, signing an exciting forward to a one-year deal. Marek Hrivik gave his all to a career in North America, developing in the QMJHL and spending six seasons primarily in the AHL for the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames. However, he never could earn a full-time opportunity and returned home to Europe in 2018. Even then, his first go-round in the KHL did not go all that well. However, after back-to-back stellar season in Sweden, he is ready to give it another try with Torpedo. Hrivik totaled 81 points in 90 games with the SHL’s Leksands IF these past two years and if that can translate to the KHL then the 29-year-old could become a star in Russia.
  • Another trade involving NHL property has landed, but this one could have more immediate dividends. Defending champions Omsk have acquired the rights to Boston Bruins prospect forward Peter Cehlarik from Yaroslavl in exchange for the rights to Anaheim Ducks defenseman Kodie Curran. Cehlarik, 25, is already in Europe, having left Boston this past off-season to join Leksands IF in Sweden. Cehlarik always showed great promise in the AHL, but couldn’t translate it to the NHL for the Bruins. After recording 20 goals and 40 points in 45 SHL games this season, Cehlarik may want to return to Boston, who continues to hold his rights, in an attempt to prove himself once more. However, the talented winger could be tempted to join the KHL’s current kings this off-season instead. As for Curran, 31, he already did his stint in Europe and made his return to North America. The Calgary native spent the previous four seasons in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden before earning his first NHL contract with the Ducks this past off-season. While he hasn’t see any action in Anaheim just yet, he has 11 points in 17 AHL games this season and his one-way, $1MM contract still has another year remaining. However, if Curran is still not being utilized by the Ducks after next season and doesn’t draw any other NHL offers as a result, he has a new home to return to in Europe in Yarolslavl.
  • After signing his entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, Pyotr Kochetkov has inked another deal – a one-year extension with Torpedo. The 21-year-old landed in Novgorod late in the season, but excelled down the stretch and in the postseason with save percentages of .931 and .932, respectively. Kochetkov could very well be in line for the starting role for Torpedo next season while playing on loan from Carolina.

Carolina Signs Goaltenders Pyotr Kochetkov, Eetu Makiniemi

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Saturday: The Hurricanes have now confirmed the signings, adding that each young keeper has inked a two-year entry-level contract. The two contracts are financially identical except for one detail: Kochetkov’s deal will carry and $842.5K NHL salary in both seasons, as well as an $185K signing bonus and a $70K AHL salary, while Makiniemi’s is structured the same but includes a raise to $892.5K in the second year. This makes the AAV on Makiniemi’s contract $867.5K.

Perhaps the more important update comes from the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, who have announced a one-year extension with Kochetkov. This presumably means that the young keeper will spend the first season of his entry-level deal on loan to the KHL. Makiniemi is still expected to make the jump to North America for next season, which could give him an edge in the competition to determine which prospect keeper is the first in line for NHL starts.

Friday: There is about to be a total overhaul in the Carolina net. With Hurricanes goaltenders Petr Mrazek, James Reimer, and Antoine Bibeau all slated for unrestricted free agency this summer, the team is set to sign two talented prospects to join Alex Nedeljkovic in goal. Salary resources CapFriendly and PuckPedia are each reporting that young goalies Pyotr Kochetkov and Eetu Makiniemi have agreed to terms on entry-level contracts with Carolina. The duo are likely slated for the AHL for a season or two, but could challenge for NHL opportunities before too long.

Kochetkov, 21, was a highly-touted overage netminder in the 2019 NHL Draft, selected early in the second round by the ’Canes. After years of dominating the junior and minor league ranks in Russia, as well impressing on the international stage at the 2019 World Juniors, Kochetkov finally found some success at the top level in the KHL this season. Splitting his season between Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and Vityaz Podolsk, Kochetkov was a serviceable backup with a sub-2.70 GAA for both teams and a .931 save percentage in the regular season and postseason for Torpedo. Looking to take the next step in his development, Kochetkov appears ready for the AHL and hopes that he can follow a recent influx of elite young Russian netminders and find success in his move to North America.

Makiniemi, 22, was a fourth-round puck by Carolina back in 2017. After years spent in the junior ranks in Finland, Makiniemi finally found a starting role in the Liiiga late last season. He was stellar in seven games down the stretch for Ilves, recording a .936 save percentage and 1.53 GAA. That was enough to earn him the top job for the team this year and while his numbers regressed somewhat, they did so in 34 games plus a playoff run. Having finally honed his ability at the pro level, Makiniemi also seems ready for the AHL. He may begin next season as the backup to Kochetkov, but is a legitimate threat to outplay his counterpart.

 

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