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Daniil Miromanov Signs Extension With Golden Knights

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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Daniil Miromanov has signed a two-year extension to stay in the desert, according to a team announcement Tuesday afternoon. Miromanov’s extension will carry him through 2024 and has an average annual value of $762,500.

The Golden Knights acquired the 1997-born Miromanov as an undrafted free agent in March of 2021, signing him to a one-year entry-level contract after he had 10 goals, 19 assists, and 29 points in 58 games with HK Sochi in the KHL during the 2020-21 campaign. Miromanov, 24, spent his first full professional campaign in North America this season, playing well with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights for 40 points in 53 games. He played his first 11 NHL games this season as well, notching an assist.

The versatile defenseman can also play right wing, as he did on limited occasions for Vegas this season due to injuries. While he likely won’t be a full-time member of the team come next October, he’ll be high up on the list of recall options from Henderson. Long-term, the NHL upside is still there.

Latest On Ethan Bear

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When the Carolina Hurricanes traded promising young forward Warren Foegele to the Edmonton Oilers, they had hoped the return, defenseman Ethan Bear, could turn into a key piece of what is and has been one of the NHL’s best defense cores. Though Bear has not been bad, the relationship has not worked out as hoped, Bear suiting up for just 58 regular season games in 2021-22, finding himself a healthy scratch on many occasions. When Bear did play, he performed well enough, recording 14 points in those 58 games, but was ultimately limited to just 16:05 in average time-on-ice. The situation seemed to hit a boiling point however, when Bear wound up not playing a single game in Carolina’s 14-game playoff run.

About to become a RFA for the second time at the conclusion of a two-year, $4MM contract, rumors about Bear’s future had begun to swirl with some clarity being brought to the situation this evening. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports, Carolina has given Bear permission to talk to other teams. This news may not come as much of a shock, but could seem peculiar for a team who still has control over the pending RFA. In fact, Friedman added that the Hurricanes do still wish to re-sign Bear and have him back next season, but he notes that the two sides are not close to an agreement.

In regards to why Carolina would be willing to let Bear talk with other teams, in one instance, Carolina may seek to move Bear, but with a contract in place, they may find greater value on the trade market. Alternatively, it could give Bear a sense of what his market is like. For one, that would allow Bear to see how other teams value his services and what kind of contract he would be able to find on the open market, helping make the negotiations with Carolina more about dollars and cents than anything that happened this year. For another, it can show how other organizations view his talents and what role they see him occupying. This clarity could help Bear and the Hurricanes salvage their relationship and shed some light on what Bear would need to do in order to play a full slate of games for Carolina. Either way, as Friedman notes, nothing can happen with Bear before July 13th without approval from the Hurricanes.

Evening Notes: Game Three Scratches, O’Brien, Boucher

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A storyline of these playoffs has been the last-minute availability and absence of key players, and tonight’s Game Three of the Stanley Cup Finals doesn’t appear to be any different. The most notable absence is that of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point, who did not take the ice for warmups. Point had missed the entirety of the second and third rounds for Tampa after suffering a a lowery-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Seven of their first round series. Point had been listed as a game-time decision heading into tonight, but that decision appears to be made. With the Lightning down 2-0 in the series, they will need a stepped-up team effort at home to not only make up for Point’s absence, but to get back in the series as a whole. Forward Riley Nash will take Point’s place.

Just across the ice, the Colorado Avalanche are going to be without forwards Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky for Game Three. Both players were also listed as day-to-day, Kadri still recovering from a hand injury, and subsequent surgery, suffered in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals when he was boarded by the Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane. Burakovsky, who sustained an upper-body injury at the start of the second period of Game Two against Tampa Bay, did not travel with the team to Florida, but has since joined the rest of the group, so his status for Game Four is still up in the air it would appear. Forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel will take Burakovsky’s place in the lineup.

  • Boston University forward and 2018 Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick Jay O’Brien recently underwent surgery on his hip, reports Mark Divver of NHL.com, but is expected to be ready for the start of the 2022-23 season. O’Brien’s case is an interesting one, yet to sign a professional contract, he has struggled at times since being drafted. As a freshman at Providence College, he recorded just five points in 25 games before leaving. He spent 2019-20 in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees where he was expectedly good, tallying 66 points in 46 games before a transfer to Boston University for the 2020-21 season. Over the past two seasons at Boston University, O’Brien has impressed with 38 points in 40 games. Although his future professional career still has promise, it will be up to O’Brien to recover strong from injury and impress once again in the NCAA in order to prove he belongs as one of the Flyers’ top prospects.
  • According to Thomas Hall of Yahoo Sports, former NHLer Reid Boucher has signed a one-year deal to return to Omsk in the KHL. Boucher left North America and signed with Omsk ahead of the 2020-21 season, putting up solid numbers before moving onto Yaroslavl, and now returning to Omsk. In that time, Boucher has dealt with legal trouble back in North America, his contract with Yaroslavl terminated in February after he pled guilty to sexual assault of a minor.

Looking At Vegas and Washington’s Newly Found Cap Space

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In the past few days, two teams in somewhat similar positions, perennial contenders who need to improve to compete but with limited funds, found some additional salary cap space, though for different and ultimately unhelpful reasons. For the Vegas Golden Knights, they traded away veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov in exchange for defenseman Shea Weber, who is injured and unlikely to play again in the NHL. The Washington Capitals lost center Nicklas Backstrom presumably to LTIR after he had hip resurfacing surgery on Friday, a procedure that has a lengthy recovery time, if not ending his career outright. With what appears to be new cap space they may not have been fully expecting, both teams have some flexibility to make the moves they need to this summer, retaining players and perhaps replacing the talent they lost.

Vegas is currently just over $2.6MM above the salary cap ceiling, but once Weber’s LTIR is factored in, they will have exactly $5.2MM in cap space. Because the cap space is created using LTIR, they will not accrue any beyond that. With key RFAs including Brett Howden, Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy, and Keegan Kolesar, as well as UFA and original Golden Knight Reilly Smith to re-sign, it’s hard to imagine Vegas will be able to add any additional talent, and may even be in a difficult position just bringing back those five alone without making an additional move. Still, the created space does give Vegas a chance to not be handcuffed and be able to have some leverage in any additional cap trades they might look to make. A primary issue they will have to deal with is the cap space came at the expense of Dadonov, a talented veteran who recorded 43 points in 78 games, not a magical season but production that will be missed, especially if Vegas can’t find a way to at least keep Smith in the fold too.

Heading over to the east coast, Washington already stood in a much more comfortable spot than Vegas, with just a touch under $9MM in available cap space going into this offseason. With Backstrom’s injury and likely trip to LTIR, Washington will have just under $19.2MM in cap space with which to work. Not all of that can be spent on additions to the roster, but after giving contracts to pending free agents, including Marcus Johansson, Johan Larsson, and Justin Schultz on the UFA side and their goaltending tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov on the RFA side, the Capitals should still have a few million to work with. The issue in this is, after another first round exit in the playoffs, the Capitals were already in need of a few upgrades to their roster, and the departure of a superstar like Backstrom only adds to that need. Not only does Washington have to add, but they have to replace the production of one of the all-time greats in their organization. The team does have two options to add production up the middle, including young forward Connor McMichael who had 18 points in 68 games this season in the NHL and could be poised for a breakout 2022-23, and top prospect Hendrix Lapierre, who made his NHL debut this season before heading back for another strong season in the QMJHL.

The recent changes seem to mean more for Washington, and the league, than it does for Vegas, though it does buy Vegas some time, and power, in their negotiations, especially those focused on creating more cap space. To the Capitals, it provides much more flexibility and creates another interesting buyer on the trade and free agency markets, and an intriguing opportunity for those interested players who could have an opportunity to play with greats like Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Blue Jackets Notes: Laine, Defensive Development, Foudy

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A year into the Columbus Blue Jackets’ “restart” as GM Jarmo Kekalainen put it, the organization has seen many promising developments from its stars, young players, and its prospects. One of those promising players is forward Patrik Laine, who took another step in his young, but already strong career. This season, for the first time, Laine was able to average a point per game, scoring 26 goals along with 30 assists for 56 points in as many games. The Finnish forward has scored as many as 44 goals in the past, the same year he recorded 70 points, both career-highs, but on a points-per-game basis, 2021-22 was his best. Now, having taken that next step, Laine finds himself once again as an RFA this offseason, a situation that could feel concerning for the Blue Jackets, given Laine’s previous holdout as a member of the Winnipeg Jets in 2019.

Still, there’s no need for concern, reports The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, who spoke to Kekalainen on numerous topics, including the status of the star RFA. As Kekalainen told Portzline, “It’s just one of those things. It’s gonna take some time, most likely.” According to Portzline, multiple terms have been discussed on a potential deal, but Columbus’ main concern is placing the cap hit at a reasonable term. That is surely good news for the Blue Jackets and their fans, given Laine’s previous history. Though no contract is done, and it may be a while away, it appears the issues for both sides to discuss are merely term and value, the basic tenants of any contract negotiation in any sport, and not any other major issue.

The Laine news is also positive because it should give Kekalainen the flexibility to continue the “restart” and focus on all areas of the organization, as Portzline also details:

  • Looking broadly at what the Blue Jackets are looking to build, Portzline wonders how Kekalainen approaches the teams core of promising, but young defensemen. With a likely starting six of Zach Werenski, Vladislav Gavrikov, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist, Nick Blankenburg, and Andrew Peeke, hopefuls consisting of Jake Christiansen, Gabriel Carlsson, and Gavin Bayreuther, and a strong mix of prospects, Columbus seems fairly set on the back end. But, as Portzline mentions, the team has more than its share of forwards and may look to move some of that depth out for a more established piece on the blueline. With Kekalainen maybe operating on a quicker timeline, given the term “restart” rather than “rebuild,” he may choose to establish the backend quicker than the young core they have now can establish itself. Having $21MM in cap space and Patrik Laine as the only major extension this offseason, the Blue Jackets certainly seemed poised to make an addition on defense via free agency or trade this offseason if they so choose.
  • A couple of days ago, the Blue Jackets announced a two-year deal for young forward Liam Foudy, which begins as a two-way contract, but becomes a one-way contract in the second season. In his brief NHL career, Foudy has struggled to produce, which raised questions about why the team would give him a one-way contract, even if it didn’t begin until 2023-24. As Kekalainen told Portzline, he believes Foudy will become an NHL regular very soon, raving about the 22-year-old’s game at the AHL level, which saw him put up 19 points in 29 games in 2021-22 for the Cleveland Monsters before being sidelined for the remainder of the year with a shoulder injury. Kekalainen also mentioned that had Foudy not missed such significant time, it’s likely he would have been up and playing regularly with Columbus. The comments from Kekalainen do shed light on why exactly Columbus chose to pursue this type of contract structure with Foudy and serve as a boost to Foudy himself, who has yet to make an impact four years removed from being drafted, but is clearly still seen as a promising young prospect by his organization. Also worth noting is that the one-way contract may not be an issue for Columbus either; if Foudy struggles again this season, he wouldn’t necessarily be a lock to be claimed on waivers anyways, and if he is able to break-out, chances are he will stay with the NHL club in 2023-24. To date, Foudy has five points, all assists, in 27 career NHL games.

Washington Capitals Announce Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Alexeyev Had Surgery

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This afternoon, the Washington Capitals announced that star center Nicklas Backstrom and prospect Alexander Alexeyev both had surgery recently, with both expected to miss significant time. Backstrom had hip resurfacing surgery on Friday in Belgium, Washington confirmed, his recovery process beginning immediately, though a recovery timetable was not given (link). Alexeyev had a surgical labral repair to his left shoulder and is expected to mis four to five months (link).

The news on Backstrom is not surprising, his previous hip issues well documented, and his playing future seemingly uncertain at the conclusion of Washington’s season (link). At that point, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said Backstrom continuing to play with his hip as is was not sustainable and that the veteran forward would be looking at his options. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff points out that forward Ryan Kesler had the same hip resurfacing surgery that Backstrom had back in 2019 and of course, did not play again after (link). He also points to Ed Jovanovski, who had the same procedure in 2013, taking a full year to rehab, but came back to play 37 games before retiring.

Faced with a lengthy recovery and a checkered history of continued NHL play after having this surgery, Backstrom’s NHL future is up in the air. If Backstrom takes roughly the same year Jovanovski needed for recovery, he would find himself aiming to return at the start of the 2023-24 season, just ahead of his 36th birthday, but still with two years at a $9.2MM AAV remaining on his contract. Speaking of his contract, the injury does provide the Capitals with some flexibility to replace the production they will miss, allowing them to place the veteran on LTIR, adding another $9.2MM in cap space, more than doubling their current figure of just under $9MM of free space. This should add another wrinkle into the offseason, as a still-competitive Capitals team would presumably look to replace that production, jumping into a crowded market of teams looking to add from an also fairly crowded market of talented forwards both in free agency and on the trade block.

Alexeyev’s surgery, unlike Backstrom’s, does provide clarity on his situation and appears to give him a path to return without missing too much time, the four to five months timeline giving a late October or early November return date. The defenseman’s absence shouldn’t be a huge blow to the Capitals immediately, having played just one NHL game back in December. But, for the former first-round pick, who has been excellent in his time with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, he may have had a chance to push for a roster spot with the Capitals out of training camp. Now, the 22-year-old will now have to focus on recovering, likely beginning his season in the AHL.

Latest On Jesper Bratt

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The rebuild of the New Jersey Devils has largely consisted of draft lottery wins, including Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, a few under-the-radar trades for players like Ryan Graves and Jonas Siegenthaler, a blockbuster free-agent signing of Dougie Hamilton, and the surprising development of a 2016 sixth-round pick: Jesper Bratt. Over his NHL career, Bratt has proven he belongs in the NHL, initially providing solid secondary scoring for New Jersey before a superb breakout season in 2021-22, where he lead the team in scoring with 73 points in 76 games. Soon to be 24 and now an NHL veteran, Bratt finds himself a restricted free agent this offseason at the conclusion of a two-year, $5.5MM contract he signed with the Devils prior to the 2020-21 season.

Despite the success and becoming a major building-block for the Devils, in his updated trade targets list yesterday, The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli added Bratt’s name into the mix, citing the lack of discussion between player and team on Bratt’s next contract. Earlier this afternoon, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes added to the story, saying he had also heard that there had been no significant extension talks between the two sides (link). Weekes also said he could confirm that several teams were indeed interested in trading for the Swedish winger. Of course many teams would likely be interested in making a deal for Bratt, considering his age, his control as a RFA, and his ability to create offense and support his line. This interest also makes it hard to understand why New Jersey might be interested in moving the winger themselves upon seeing this development and his chemistry with their other young building blocks, not to mention plenty of salary cap space at just over $25.3MM projected this offseason.

Perhaps putting the rumors to bed, however, is The Star-Ledger’s Ryan Novozinsky. You may recall last weekend, Novozinsky addressed Bratt’s contract, speaking directly to his agent, Joakim Persson, who confirmed the sides have had discussions on a contract, which included meeting in person several weeks ago, as well as a few phone calls since. In light of Weekes’ tweet today, Novozinsky reiterated what Persson told him, that both sides have had discussions on a contract, though no deal is imminent. In addition to Bratt’s camp, the Devils confirmed to Novozinsky that contract talks were ongoing and the process takes time (link).

The comments from Persson and the confirmation from the Devils would seem to prove there has been dialogue, one that would likely continue, but today’s comments from Weekes do certainly raise eyebrows. Not having a deal finalized right now is far from a concern, and could be due to a number of factors, some wholly unrelated to Bratt, but the Devils do have until July 13th to be in full control of the negotiations before their star player can talk to other teams, which could lead to an offer-sheet scenario. Though that scenario has not been speculated or reported on, it could serve as a soft deadline to work out a contract.

Snapshots: Husso, Ducks, Penguins

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It’s no secret that St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso had a large breakout season in 2021-22. Written off as a bust as he dealt with injury issues in the minors, the organization’s former goalie of the future finally exploded for a 25-win rookie season, earning a .919 save percentage and two shutouts along the way. It was good enough to win him the starting job for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he had just a 2-5 record and a sub-.900 save percentage as Jordan Binnington reclaimed control of the crease (before his injury, at least).

Now, the 27-year-old Finn with just 53 NHL starts will be one of the top options for teams perusing the unrestricted free agent market for goalies. On The Jeff Marek Show earlier in the week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned the possibility of the Edmonton Oilers being interested in Husso this offseason. Friedman notes that there were rumors of the Oilers making Husso a mid-season acquisition around the turn of the calendar year, also making note of the fact that the Oilers could be without Mike Smith next season, either due to retirement or long-term injury reserve. With Edmonton already losing Mikko Koskinen this offseason, the organization needs more than just promising youngster Stuart Skinner in the crease. While Smith being unavailable may still force Skinner into an NHL role next season, it prevents him from having to be “the guy” too early in his development.

  • The Anaheim Ducks are entering what could be a transformative offseason under new general manager Pat Verbeek after the organization’s young talent took big steps forward in 2021-22. In a piece for The Athletic, Eric Stephens names a list of young players who the Ducks could take a flier on to add to that talent pool, including Carolina’s Martin Necas and Ethan Bear, Edmonton’s Jesse Puljujarvi, Detroit’s Filip Zadina, and Chicago’s Dominik Kubalik. All of them have been mentioned in trade rumors recently after falling down the depth charts of their respective organizations. With a lot of turnover expected in Anaheim this offseason, due in part to the retirement of captain Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim could give a chance to one of these players to excel in more important roles.
  • Continuing their run of front office announcements, the Pittsburgh Penguins today named Teena Murray as their senior vice president of integrated performance. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike DeFabo notes, Murray will oversee the strength and conditioning staff, rehabilitation, sports science, and medical staff, reporting directly to general manager Ron Hextall. Considering Pittsburgh’s long history of injury-prone seasons, it’s an important role to fill for this team.

NHL Officially Announces Salary Cap, Salary Floor For 2022-23 Season

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Two effectively retired players have been traded so far this offseason, and the reason for those deals has been simple: the salary cap. While the importance of effectively managing the salary cap is ever increasing, the cap itself is not. The NHL and NHLPA officially announced today that the league’s payroll upper limit (salary cap) for next season would be $82.5MM. The league also announced that the lower limit, or salary floor, would be set at $61MM.

The announcement confirms what many believed, that the salary cap would rise only $1MM from this past season’s number, a small increase due to the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the league. Because the NHL and NHLPA have collectively bargained a 50-50 split in terms of the league’s hockey-related revenue, a portion of player salaries are held in escrow and potentially surrendered to the league in order to ensure the integrity of the 50-50 split. The NHL lost a significant amount of money during the pandemic, in large part due to the fact that they needed to play games in arenas without fans or with significantly reduced capacity crowds. While the NHL’s clubs lost significant sums due to that lost revenue, the players’ salaries were unchanged, meaning the players have a “debt” that they owe to the league in order to ensure a proper 50-50 split, and that “debt” is paid through the escrow system. So, until the players fully “pay off” the “debt” that they owe as a result of the pandemic, the cap will rise only a minimal amount as we see for next season.

For some teams, this “flat-cap” reality has created significant problems. Many teams gave out significant, long-term contracts likely with the idea that those contracts would age better as the salary cap rose. That hasn’t happened yet, though, which is part of why we’ve seen such increased attention to how teams manage the salary cap. For other teams, the salary cap staying flat is largely irrelevant to their own payroll management. Teams like the Buffalo Sabres are actually below the cap floor, meaning their main concern is adding enough salary to stay above the league’s minimum team payroll. The Sabres and other teams now have certainty on the league’s cap floor, and it’s possible that we see more trades like the recent Ben Bishop deal as rebuilding clubs look to reach the cap floor with as much efficiency and as little real cash paid as possible.

Hockey Canada Names Men’s U20, U18 Team Selection Camp Rosters

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As the 2022 event cycle begins to come to a close, aside from the postponed 2022 World Juniors set to take place in August, national team organizations begin to look to the 2023 calendar. Today, Hockey Canada named their rosters for the National Men’s Junior Team summer development camp, as well as the National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp.

The National Men’s Junior Team roster is comprised of talent from the 2021 NHL Draft, as well as the upcoming 2022 and 2023 NHL Drafts. Among the top NHL-affiliated talent attending the camp is Chicago Blackhawks D Nolan Allan, Columbus Blue Jackets D Corson Ceulemans, Dallas Stars F Wyatt Johnston, Los Angeles Kings D Brandt Clarke, Nashville Predators F Zachary L’Heureux, New Jersey Devils F Chase Stillman, New York Rangers F Brennan Othmann, St. Louis Blues F Zachary Bolduc, and Vegas Golden Knights F Zach Dean. Clarke was notably snubbed from the 2022 World Juniors roster.

In terms of 2022 eligibles to watch at selection camp, the list is as follows: F Luca Del Bel Belluz, F Jagger Firkus, F Nathan Gaucher, F Conor Geekie, F Ryan Greene, F Tucker Robertson, F Matthew Savoie, F Reid Schaefer, D Kevin Korchinski, D Christian Kyrou, D Tristan Luneau, D Denton Mateychuk, D Owen Pickering, G Tyler Brennan, G Chase Coward, and G Thomas Milic. Forwards Nate Danielson and Adam Fantilli also made the camp roster as 2023 eligible. Really, the only 2022 top-ten lock from that list is Savoie, but Geekie, Korchinski, and Mateychuk are also names that could work their way into the first selections.

The U18 roster is made up of 2023 and 2024 eligible players, and it’s highlighted by a trio of 2023 forwards: Zachary Benson, Matthew Wood, and Brayden Yager.

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