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Morning Notes: Luukkonen, Mantha, Blackhawks, Oilers

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The Buffalo Sabres are working on signing goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to an extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shares in the latest 32 Thoughts article. Luukkonen is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. Goalie partner Eric Comrie is also set to enter free agency this summer, while rookie Devon Levi is signed through the end of next season.

Luukkonen unexpectedly found his way into the starter’s net this season, appearing in 54 games despite competition from Levi and Comrie. He performed well with the chance, recording 27 wins and a .910 save percentage. – serving as the only Sabres goalie to record a save percentage above .900. This season marked Luukkonen’s first year in a full-time NHL role, after splitting the last three years between the major and minor leagues. And while he performed well, he wasn’t the starter many Sabres fans expected entering the season. That weight was instead on 22-year-old Levi’s shoulders – but he quickly lost the role after posting four wins and a .887 save percentage through his first 10 games. Luukkonen stepped in as relief and didn’t let go of the role.

At 25, Luukkonen seems poised for at least another chance at a starting role, though Levi’s presence could make a long-term extension challenging for the Sabres to commit to. How they decide to organize their goaltenders for next season could be very telling into Buffalo’s long-term plans.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Anthony Mantha returned to the Vegas Golden Knights practices on Saturday, donning a no-contact jersey, per The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (Twitter link). Mantha has been red-hot with Vegas since the Trade Deadline, scoring 10 points in his first 18 games with the club – though he missed the team’s season finale with an undisclosed injury. Still not taking contact, Mantha will likely be on the fringe of the lineup as the Golden Knights prepare for Monday’s Game One.
  • Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson shared that it’s time for the team to build up, says Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). Chicago finished second-last in the league this season, on the back of a forward group that looked desolate when it lost Connor Bedard and Taylor Hall to injury. Finding offensive support will likely be the focus of their building efforts, as the Hawks prepare to weaponize their $38MM projected cap space this summer.
  • Both Evander Kane and Mattias Janmark are expected to return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup for their Monday Game One against the Los Angeles Kings, per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Kane sat out of the team’s final three games of the season with injury, capping his year off at 24 goals and 44 points in 77 appearances. Meanwhile, Janmark was able to finish out the season but missed the team’s Saturday practice. Neither injuries have been disclosed.

Sharks Notes: Couture, Vlasic, Kunin, Smith

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Long-running San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is hoping to return to skating in July and be fully healthy for the start of next season, shares team reporter Curtis Pashelka. Couture was limited to just six games this season, grappling with osteitis pubis, a painful groin injury that’s lingered since last off-season.

This season marked the first time in Couture’s 15-year career that he hasn’t played in at least 25 games. He’s been a backbone of the Sharks lineup for much of recent memory, recording 701 points across 933 games with the club, including 67 points in 82 games last season. San Jose certainly felt the impact of his absence, ranking dead-last in the NHL for most of the season and emotionally parting with Couture’s long-time centerman Tomas Hertl at the Trade Deadline. The fall has conveniently set up San Jose to take homegrown prospect Macklin Celebrini, the unanimous top name in the 2024 NHL Draft. But even with the boost of the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner and the return of their captain, San Jose will still need hefty change to make sure a performance as dim as this season’s doesn’t happen again.

Other notes from San Jose:

  • The team has reportedly not discussed buying defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic out of his contract, per Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link). The 18-year veteran of San Jose appeared in just 57 games this season, missing action to both injury and being healthy scratched. He managed just 12 points in his appearances, the third-lowest point totals of his career. Buying out Vlasic’s $7MM cap hit this summer would leave San Jose with a $3.833MM cap hit next season, a $4.833MM cap hit in 2025-26, and then two years of a $1.33MM cap hit – a palatable price given Vlasic has two seasons remaining on his lofty deal anyways. But with $37.97MM in projected cap space this summer, it seems the Sharks are content to let legacy stick around.
  • Pending restricted-free agent Luke Kunin is reportedly open to a multi-year deal with the Sharks, per Pashelka (Twitter link). The 26-year-old centerman is coming off of his first full season with the Sharks, after being limited to just 31 games last year. He recorded measly numbers – tallying 11 goals, 18 points, and a -30 – but is clearly eager by the opportunity offered in San Jose. With a career-high of just 31 points, posted all the way back in the 2019-20 season, it’s likely that Kunin sticks around on a cheap deal and fights to earn a bigger role next season.
  • Sharks general manager Mike Grier shared that the team is actively talking to top prospect Will Smith about an entry-level contract, shares Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). Grier added that he believes Smith is ready for the NHL – a point that’s hard to argue after Smith posted 25 goals and 71 points in his first 41 collegiate games. It was the most that any Boston College freshman has ever scored, by a substantial margin, lining up behind Johnny Gaudreau’s 80-point junior season for the most by any Eagle since 2000. And to boot, Smith showed his clutch ability, recording 20 points in his latest 10 games, as the Eagles ran to the National Championship. Signing the 2023 fourth-overall pick to an NHL deal would be a huge boost for the Sharks.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Fedotov, Stone, Pietrangelo

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The St. Louis Blues are expected to work on a contract extension with winger Pavel Buchnevich, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest 32 Thoughts article. This news comes after the Blues were reportedly shopping around Buchnevich at the Trade Deadline, though they were said to be asking for as much as two first-round picks in return. No deal came to fruition and Buchnevich went on to finish the year with 27 goals and 63 points in 80 games. It was the least productive season he’s had in St. Louis, though he’s still totaled an impressive 206 points in 216 games with the club.

St. Louis has been living lavishly with Buchnevich’s current deal – getting nearly point-per-game scoring for just $5.8MM against the cap. They’ll get one more year of that team-friendly deal, before likely having to shell out a hefty amount to Buchnevich on his next deal. The Blues will have to be careful to find the balance between term and salary, though, with Buchnevich set to be 30 when an extension would begin.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Friedman also shared that the Philadelphia Flyers are expected to sign goaltender Ivan Fedotov to a two-year extension soon. The 27-year-old netminder was finally able to move to North America this season, playing in the first three NHL games of his career earlier this month. He was admittedly shaky, allowing 10 goals on 53 shots, good for an .811 save percentage in his first looks at North American ice. But the Flyers have to simply be excited to finally have the stout Russian goaltender under their control, and will give him much more of a chance to get comfortable in North America with a new deal.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights could be getting another big boost to their lineup, with winger Mark Stone back to full-contact practice and a game-time decision for Game One of the postseason, per the team (Twitter link). They also shared that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo underwent an appendectomy and returned to a full practice on Saturday. Chandler Stephenson and William Carrier also took full practices. All four players will be hopeful to slot into the lineup as the Golden Knights get ready to take on the Dallas Stars.

Blackhawks Notes: Johnson, Bedard, Kurashev, Captaincy

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The Chicago Blackhawks can expect to lose Tyler Johnson this summer, reports Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link), with the veteran forward instead hoping to sign with a playoff contender. Johnson told Pope, “I’m obviously thankful for being here, I’ve met a lot of good people, but it wasn’t exactly like I envisioned or wanted.”

Johnson’s Blackhawks career certainly hasn’t gone as the team may have expected either. He joined the Hawks ahead of the 2021-22 season, after years of filling a solid role, and routinely challenging 50 points, with the Tampa Bay Lightning. But as forewarned by his last two years in Tampa Bay, injuries have heavily limited Johnson’s career in Chicago. He’s missed 97 games over the last three seasons, including playing in just 26 games in 2021-22 due to a neck injury. Those absences have kept him from finding a true groove with the Blackhawks, scoring just 70 points in 149 games and never averaging more than 16 minutes of ice time. Chicago iced one of the youngest lineups in the league this season and seems bound to do much of the same next year, as they attempt to build a franchise around Connor Bedard. After years of injury issues and low scoring, it’s easy to see why the 33-year-old Johnson may prefer a more productive end to his career. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Other notes out of Chicago:

  • Speaking of Bedard, he’s confirmed that he is headed to the World Championship with Team Canada, per The Athletic’s Scott Powers (Twitter link). This is hardly a surprise – Bedard has been a fixture of international hockey since he tied Connor McDavid’s record for U16 scoring (14 points) at the World U18 Championship in 2021. Bedard has officially totaled 21 points in 11 games with Canada’s U18 team and 31 points in 14 games with the U20 team. He’ll look to build on that phenomenal scoring this summer, now at the top level of international play.
  • Bedard’s linemate, Philipp Kurashev, will also be headed to the World Championship to play for Team Switzerland, shares Pope (Twitter link). Kurashev and Bedard quipped that their top goal will be to score on Petr Mrazek, who will suit up for Team Czechia. This will be Kurashev’s fourth consecutive season attending the World Championship, having totaled 13 points in 24 games over the last three tournaments.
  • Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson shared that the team isn’t yet sure if they’ll have a captain next season, per NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link), adding that it’ll be an off-season conversation with the coaches. The Hawks haven’t had a captain since Jonathan Toews’ career ended in the 2022-23 season, though they did have five different alternate captains last year. Whoever takes on the role will be setting history, becoming the first Blackhawks captain since a 20-year-old Toews took on the role in 2008. Toews’ 14-year tenure in the role makes him one of the longest-tenured captains in NHL history – a list led by Steve Yzerman’s 19 seasons leading the Detroit Red Wings.

Senators Notes: Coaching, Buyouts, Norris

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The Ottawa Senators wrapped up their season with locker cleanout on Friday, giving general manager Steve Staios a chance to share updates with the media. He spent much of his time addressing the team’s coaching situation, saying they have a long list of candidates that they’ll whittle down over the summer, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.

The Senators have been without a long-term head coach since D.J. Smith’s firing on December 18th. Jaques Martin stepped in as interim head coach, leading the Senators to a measly 26-26-4 record and a spot well outside of the playoffs. Staios mentioned that Martin would continue with the team in a consulting role, but isn’t in the race for the vacant head coaching role. Neither is Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson, who Staios says wanted more time before pursuing the coaching path. That likely leaves the Senators looking externally, where they’ll find plenty of strong candidates.

Other notes from Staios’ press conference:

  • Staios added that the team isn’t planning on utilizing any buyouts this off-season, per Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan (Twitter link). That’s despite weaker performances from costlier names, like Joonas Korpisalo and Travis Hamonic. Ottawa is projected to have $12.8MM in cap space this off-season, per CapFriendly and an $87.5MM salary cap. With no support from buyouts, that will be all they have to re-sign their six pending free-agents, including Erik Brannstrom, Dominik Kubalik, and Shane Pinto.
  • Staios also shared that forward Joshua Norris is expecting to be ready for the start of next season, shares Garrioch. Norris was limited to just 50 games this season, and hasn’t played since late February, once again dealing with nagging shoulder injuries. Norris was limited to just eight games last season because of shoulder issues, and underwent the third shoulder surgery of his four-year NHL career in March. He’ll look to recover once again, and hope for healthier fortune next season.

Penguins Notes: Prospects, Injuries, Rebuild

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Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas had an eventful locker-room cleanout, sharing plenty of news, updates, and plans with the media following the end of the season. Most exciting of the bunch was Dubas’ support of the team’s young prospects, sharing that he expects forwards Brayden Yager, Vasili Ponomarev, and Sam Poulin; defenseman Owen Pickering; and goaltender Joel Blomqvist to each compete for NHL roles next season, shares Rob Rossi of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Penguins fans will hope that their GM is right as he alludes to young talents holding onto lineup roles. Pittsburgh carried the oldest roster in the NHL this season, with an average age of 29.78 per EliteProspects.

They’ll certainly get plenty of talent in the names Dubas mentioned. Both Yager and Pickering spent the season in the WHL. Yager had a career year, scoring 35 goals and 95 points and adding five points in five World Juniors games. Pickering also recorded career-high scoring – though not with as much of a jump as Yager – netting 46 points in 59 games to top his 45-point season last year. Meanwhile, Blomqvist served as the starter for the Wilkes-Barre/Scanton Penguins, recording a dazzling .921 save percentage in 44 games.

Other notes from Pittsburgh’s cleanout:

  • Dubas also shared that legacy defenseman Kris Letang will be getting a second opinion on if he needs surgery this summer to address an undisclosed injury, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review. Rorabaugh also mentioned that Matthew Nieto suffered another injury following his surgery in January, and will seek a second opinion on if surgery or rehab is the next step. Emil Bemstrom is also hurt, finishing the season with a concussion. Nothing was made about these injuries being alarming, though Penguins fans will want to keep a close eye on Letang’s recovery. The future Hall-of-Famer appeared in all 82 games this season, but reportedly played through injury down the stretch.
  • Dubas hinted at an interesting approach in his press conference, saying that the Penguins wanted to approach their rebuild similar to how the Los Angeles Kings have approached theirs, per The Athletic’s Josh Yohe (Twitter link). The Kings have managed a fairly quick rebuild – if this year’s postseason berth signifies success – while maintaining key veterans like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. The Penguins will approach things similarly, looking to build around their long-time core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Letang. The Kings were aggressive in the open market, acquiring Phillip Danault, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kevin Fiala, and Vladislav Gavrikov. One has to think Michael Bunting and Erik Karlsson represent two of these impactful additions, though Pittsburgh will need to continue addding if they want to claw back into the postseason.

Avalanche Sign Sean Behrens To Entry-Level Contract

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The Colorado Avalanche have signed University of Denver defenseman Sean Behrens to his entry-level contract (Twitter link). It’s a three-year deal, set to begin in the 2024-25 season. Behrens will finish this season on an amateur try-out with the Colorado Eagles, who play their final two regular-season games this weekend.

Behrens is coming off a National Championship win with the University of Denver, where he’s spent the last three seasons. He’s earned a prominent role with the Pioneers, ranking third on the team’s blue line in scoring this season with 31 points in 44 games and rotating into top-pair minutes. The performance brought Behrens’ collegiate totals up to 81 points in 112 games – making him Denver’s third-highest scoring defender since 2016, behind Ian Mitchell and Mike Benning.

Colorado drafted Behrens in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, following an impressive, yet contentious, couple of seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Behrens served an incredibly important role with the NTDP, operating on his off-hand next to Luke Hughes for much of his U18 season. And while he performed well, some scouts remained bearish given his small stature.

Behrens has directly addressed those concerns in college, putting on mass and adding a substantial amount of grit, strength, and defensive awareness to his game. Those improvements are maybe best quantified by his team-leading 70 blocked shots this season. He’s become a defender that can make an big play in all three zones – whether it be through nifty dangling, an impressive pass, or a big hit. Behrens will certainly face plenty of challenges as he looks to maintain that physicality into the pro scene, but he could find a fast track to success in an Avalanche system that’s brought up similarly undersized talents in Samuel Girard and Tyson Barrie.

Front Office Notes: Bannister, Dubas, Hynes

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The St. Louis Blues have come to a list of finalists for their vacant head coach position, and Drew Bannister is reportedly among the bunch, shares Chris Pinkert of NHL.com. Bannister is St. Louis’ most recent coach, getting promoted from the AHL following Craig Berube’s dismissal in December.

It was the first NHL gig of Bannister’s coaching career and he made good work with it, leading the Blues to a surging 30-19-5 record. He brought the best out of the team’s special teams – improving the power-play from 8.4% to 23.2%, and the penalty-kill from 78.5% to 79.4%. But the push wasn’t enough to get St. Louis over a sub-.500 start to the year, with the team ultimately falling six points outside of a playoff spot.

Bannister previously served as the head coach for the Springfield Thunderbirds, St. Louis’ AHL affiliate. He found plenty of success in the minors, leading the Thunderbirds to two playoff appearances and even making the 2022 Calder Cup Final. That track record, and his early NHL success, could be enough to land Bannister an assistant coaching job on the Blues bench, even if he does miss out on the head role.

St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong shared with the media that the team will have a coach before June’s NHL Draft and that their list of candidates has been whittled to a, “very, very small number”. It will be just a little longer before a decision, though, with Armstrong adding that the team is still waiting on some candidates to finish their season.

Other notes from NHL management:

  • Kyle Dubas has been named an associate general manager for Team Canada’s World Championship roster (Twitter link). It will be the first time that Dubas has worked with Team Canada in his six-year career as an NHL GM. The decision was made by Team Canada’s general manager, Rick Nash, with input from Scott Salmond, Doug Armstrong, and Ryan Getzlaf. It’s an exciting announcement that, among many things, could show Canada’s focus on advanced statistics, as they bring in one of the most analytic-savvy GMs in the NHL.
  • Team USA general manager Bill Guerin has named John Hynes as the head coach for the World Championship (Twitter link). It’s Guerin’s second time recruiting Hynes this season, having also hired him into the head coaching role for the Minnesota Wild after the team fired Dean Evason. The duo will look to maintain their momentum with Team USA, after the Wild ranked as a top-15 team in record, goals-for, and goals-against under Hynes’ reign.

Penguins Place Ryan Shea On Waivers, Assign Three

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April 19: Shea has cleared waivers and can head to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per CapFriendly.

April 18: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Ryan Shea on waivers (Twitter link). It’s his second time on waivers this season, after passing through unclaimed in December. The Penguins also assigned Valtteri Puustinen, Radim Zohorna, and Jack St. Ivany to the minor leagues (Twitter link).

Shea has served as one of many rotating through Pittsburgh’s seventh defenseman role, ultimately slotting into 31 games. He recorded just one point – an April 4th goal – in those appearances this season, though he did manage six points in 22 AHL games.

Shea made his NHL debut earlier this year, joining the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent last summer. It was the first move of Shea’s young career, after spending his first three pro seasons with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Shea was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks but went on to sign with the Dallas Stars after going unsigned by the Blackhawks. He managed 66 points in 163 games with the Texas Stars.

These assignments come after the Penguins’ 2023-24 season ended with no playoff berth. Shea will, if he clears waivers, join the trio of assignees as reinforcements to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who are bound for a strong playoff spot of their own, currently ranked third in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

Longtime Devils Scout Glen Dirk Passes Away At Age 85

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Legendary New Jersey Devils scout Glen Dirk has passed away at age 85 (Web link). Dirk dedicated much of his life to scouting, serving over 40 years in scout roles between the WHL and NHL. He’s most well known for being the scout to recommend Scott Niedermayer to the New Jersey Devils ahead of their third-overall selection of him in 1991. That recommendation earned Dirk a role with the Devils three years later, and he’s served with the team ever since – even filling out an amateur scouting role this season.

Success followed Dirk wherever he went. He played a key role in building a Kamloops Blazers squad that would win both the 1992 and 1994 Memorial Cup. His championship-winning traditions quickly transferred to the NHL, with Dirk’s first season with the Devils being their 1995 Stanley Cup-winning season. He’d go on to play a role in the 2000 and 2003 Cup wins, as well as the 2001 and 2012 runner-up seasons.

Dirk was attributed with much more than just the Nidermayer find, serving as an advocate for Scott Gomez in 1998 and recruiting Travis Zajac during his BCHL years. In fact, it was Dirk’s guidance that allowed the Devils to so confidently draft out of Western Canada in the early-2000’s. Those decisions would ultimately land them Gomez, Zajac, Deryk Engelland, and plenty more impactful NHL talent.

Dirk was a native of Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, and became an icon of hockey in Western Canada. He served a total of 29 seasons with the Devils, in addition to roles with the Washington Capitals, Kamloops Blazers, the Regina Pats, and the Spokane Chiefs. He is survived in legacy by the many scouts he mentored, and in kin by his two daughters and their families. Pro Hockey Rumors sends our condolences to the Dirk family and the New Jersey Devils fanbase.

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