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Archives for June 2021

2021 Masterton Trophy Finalists Announced

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2021.

Past winners of the award include Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014), and Josh Harding (2013).

Each team provided a nominee for the award. The finalists this season are Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild, Oskar Lindblom of the Philadelphia Flyers and Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks.

Dumba won the King Clancy Trophy last season for his humanitarian efforts and earlier this year hosted the Hockey Without Limits camp which aims to promote inclusion and diversity at the grassroots level. The Wild defenseman continued his strong play on the ice, recording 21 points in 51 games for Minnesota while averaging over 22 minutes a game for the fourth consecutive season.

Lindblom meanwhile continues to be one of the best stories in hockey, even if his production dried up this season. The 24-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in December, 2019 and could have easily seen his NHL career end on the spot. Instead, he battled through treatment for months and returned for the Flyers in the playoff bubble. This season, Lindblom played in 50 of the team’s 56 games, scoring eight goals and 14 points.

If the award is for perseverance and dedication to hockey, it’s hard not to think of Marleau every year. The 41-year-old has now gone more than a decade without missing a game due to injury and this season passed Gordie Howe for the most regular season games played in NHL history. Marleau has suited up for nearly 2,000 NHL games in total and still hopes to return next year.

Poll: Who Should Win The 2021 Vezina Trophy?

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Last week, the NHL released the finalists for the 2021 Vezina Trophy. The award for most outstanding goaltender is voted on by the general managers around the NHL, but let’s see what the hockey community thinks.

Marc-Andre Fleury kicked things off among the nominees, becoming a Vezina finalist for the first time in his 17-year NHL career. The highest he has previously finished is fourth, but he’ll set a new bar at age-36 after posting a .928 save percentage in 36 appearances. Fleury went 26-10 for the Vegas Golden Knights, taking home the Jennings Trophy along with Robin Lehner as the goaltenders for the team with the league’s lowest goals-against average. Among goaltenders with at least 20 starts, he trailed only Alex Nedeljkovic and Semyon Varlamov (neither of whom are finalists) in save percentage.

Next came Philipp Grubauer, almost exactly seven years Fleury’s junior. The 29-year-old has been excellent in the past as a tandem option but has never played enough to get into the Vezina conversation. That changed this year when Grubauer played 40 games for the Colorado Avalanche, posting a 30-9-1 record and .922 save percentage. He led the league in shutouts with seven and actually had a slightly lower goals-against average than Fleury (though still not as low as Nedeljkovic). For years the Avalanche goaltending was questioned, but Grubauer answered all the doubters with a legitimate Vezina-level campaign.

If either of the first-time finalists are to take home the trophy, they’ll have to topple a goaltender who lives in the final three. Andrei Vasilevskiy is a finalist for the fourth consecutive season after leading the league in wins once again. The Tampa Bay Lightning netminder won the award in 2019 and is the almost-unbreakable last line of defense behind a strong roster. While his name and pedigree will obviously make him a tough competitor in award voting, Vasilevskiy’s .925 save percentage trailed Fleury and his 2.21 goals against average was much higher than his fellow finalists.

All three goaltenders have incredible statistics and play for some of the best teams in the league. Who deserves to take home the Vezina? Cast your vote below–if you think it should have been someone else, make sure to explain why in the comment section!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Snapshots: Eichel, Petry, O’Ree

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Even as the Buffalo Sabres conduct their coaching search, GM Kevyn Adams continues to receive trade calls from other teams around the league. Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that the team has received interest on “a number of players, including Jack Eichel,” though that should come as no surprise.

The Sabres of course also have the first overall pick in this year’s draft to worry about, plus four other picks in the first three rounds. This will be a huge offseason for the organization if they stand any hope of turning things around.

  • After leaving last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s game four. Tony Marinaro of TSN690 tweets that Petry dislocated two fingers in his right hand, but won’t need surgery until after the playoffs. There was footage of Petry getting his hand caught in the camera hole in the glass last night.
  • The league announced the three finalists for the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award today. Renee Hess, Kevin Hodgson and Howard Smith are the three finalists and the winner will be determined by a fan vote plus weighted votes from O’Ree himself, the NHL and the sponsor MassMutual. Each of the nominees is an individual who, through the sport of hockey, has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

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With his entry-level contract set to expire this summer, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has decided to re-sign with the Washington Capitals. The two sides have reached an agreement on a two-year, two-way contract that will carry a salary of $750K in the NHL. Jonsson-Fjallby will receive an AHL salary of $175K next season and $225K in 2022-23.

Now 23, it’s been an interesting few seasons for the Swedish winger. This season was split between Vasterviks IK in the Allsvenskan (Swedish second tier) and the Hershey Bears, where he scored 10 goals and 15 points in 31 games. Just today Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic wrote about the Capitals prospect, noting that Jonsson-Fjallby’s penalty-killing ability makes him an interesting option at the NHL level should someone like Carl Hagelin get injured.

Still, it seems unlikely that the fifth-round pick will ever really be an impact player for the Capitals, even if his speed does make for some interesting potential. Signing him gives Hershey back an important player, though he will have to clear waivers next season in order to report to the AHL. The Capitals have a handful of other restricted free agents to sign, including of course goaltender Ilya Samsonov who is arbitration-eligible.

Dallas Stars Sign Evgeniy Oksentyuk

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The Dallas Stars have managed to sign one of their late-round picks, inking Evgeniy Oksentyuk to a three-year entry-level contract according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $828K.

Selected 162nd overall, Oksentyuk is another example of an undersized scoring forward falling in the draft. The 5’8″ winger scored 33 goals and 78 points in his one year of OHL hockey during the 2019-20 season, but ended up going back to Belarus to compete at the pro level when the junior league decided not to play this year. While just six points in 31 games for Minsk isn’t much to write home about, Oksentyuk did add another four goals in the team’s playoff run and has plenty of upside.

Because he signed an extension with his European team for next season, he’ll almost certainly be loaned back overseas for 2021-22. That won’t stop his entry-level deal from burning the first year as he is already 20, but will let him continue to develop at a lower level before he is tested in the AHL.

AHL Approves Schedule Unification For 2022-23

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For years, AHL clubs have been playing various schedule lengths depending on which division they were in. In the 2018-19 season, for instance, the Pacific Division played just 68 games while the other three divisions hit the ice 76 times. Before that, even Pacific teams were playing in different amounts, with points percentage being used to determine standings. Now, the AHL has approved a plan for schedule unification by the 2022-23 season. All teams will follow a 72-game schedule at that point in a plan that league president Scott Howson called “fair and equitable.”

This upcoming season, the schedule will still be unbalanced, with the Pacific still playing just 68 games, while the other teams were given the option of 72 or 76-game schedules. The decisions were made as follows:

76 Games:

Chicago Wolves
Cleveland Monsters
Grand Rapids Griffins
Hershey Bears
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Milwaukee Admirals
Rochester Americans
Springfield Thunderbirds
Syracuse Crunch
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

72 Games:

Belleville Senators
Bridgeport Islanders
Charlotte Checkers
Hartford Wolf Pack
Iowa Wild
Laval Rocket
Manitoba Moose
Providence Bruins
Rockford IceHogs
Texas Stars
Toronto Marlies
Utica Comets

68 Games:

Abbotsford (team name not yet released)
Bakersfield Condors
Colorado Eagles
Henderson Silver Knights
Ontario Reign
San Diego Gulls
San Jose Barracuda
Stockton Heat
Tucson Roadrunners

The league has also announced the divisional alignment, which will be similar to the 2019-20 format but include Abbotsford and Henderson in the Pacific.

The number of teams qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs will also be increasing at some point, though the details on that have not yet been finalized or released.

Sean Farrell Named USHL Player Of The Year

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Montreal Canadiens fans have a lot to be happy about right now with their team up 3-0 in the second round, but even more good news came out today. One of their 2020 draft picks, Sean Farrell, was named USHL Player of the Year after becoming just the second player in league history to break the 100-point threshold. In 53 games with the Chicago Steel, Farrell recorded 29 goals and 101 points. Steel head coach Brock Sheahan had more to say about the young man’s character than his performance:

Sean had one of the best, if not the best season in USHL history and is much deserving of this award. Sean is an amazing hockey player and an even better person. We have been so lucky to have Sean as a part of this group the last two seasons and I couldn’t be more proud of the player and person he is. He had a great Junior career and I know that he will continue to develop and grow as a player moving forward and I am excited to follow the rest of his career.

Farrell, 19, was picked 124th overall in 2020 by the Canadiens, slipping mostly because of his size. For Montreal though, a height of 5’9″ for a talented offensive player should certainly not close any doors, especially after watching the immediate success of 5’7″ Cole Caufield at the NHL level. In fact, Farrell is set to follow a similar path as Caufield. The young forward is set to head to college and join Harvard next season where he can continue his development as an NHL prospect.

He’ll be joined at Harvard by Matt Coronato, his Steel teammate who today was named the USHL Forward of the Year. Coronato is eligible for selection in the 2021 draft and led the USHL in goals with 48 this season. His 16-goal lead over second place was the largest gap in league history and Coronato also set the Steel record for scoring in a season and career. The 18-year-old forward was ranked ninth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

Anton Lundell Signs Entry-Level Contract

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After starring at the World Championship but coming up just short, Anton Lundell is ready to move to the next level. The Florida Panthers prospect has agreed to terms on his three-year entry-level contract, which will kick in for the 2021-22 season. Panthers GM Bill Zito released a statement on the impressive young forward:

Anton is a cerebral, skilled and dynamic young player who continuously established himself in Finland’s top league and played a pivotal role on Finland’s national teams at all levels. Anton’s maturity, compete level and sound two-way ability are exciting qualities to add to our organization. We are thrilled to have signed Anton and look forward to his future with the Florida Panthers for years to come.

Once considered a contender for the top few picks in the 2020 draft, Lundell eventually slipped to the Panthers at 12th overall after scouting concerns about his offensive ceiling. The 19-year-old forward has put those concerns to bed after an outstanding season in Finland where he recorded 16 goals and 25 points in 26 games, followed by a World Championship where he was one of the best forwards in the tournament. Lundell scored six goals and recorded ten points in seven games for the silver medal-winning Finns.

A force at both ends of the rink, Lundell could quickly establish himself as a difference-maker behind top center Aleksander Barkov. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic wrote in February:

He’s not going to be the kind of player who puts up 80-90 points in a season during his prime, but Lundell should comfortably fit into the 60-75 range (depending on linemates) while providing significant two-way value.

If that ends up being the case, the Panthers will have mined quite the player out of the middle of the first round and provided their already deep forward group with even more talent. Zito has his work cut out for him over the next few years as the entire Panthers team (save for Sergei Bobrovsky and Aaron Ekblad) will hit some form of free agency by 2023, but adding and developing options like Lundell should keep things rolling in the right direction. If he can provide value on his entry-level contract it makes it even easier to re-sign players like newcomer Sam Bennett without running into cap trouble.

Five Key Stories: 05/31/21 – 06/06/21

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The second round is flying by with incredible playoff action in each of the four series, but that didn’t stop big news being made off the ice as well.

Playoff Suspensions For Everyone: The week kicked off with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman upholding Nazem Kadri’s eight-game suspension, making the Avalanche center now move his appeal to a neutral arbitrator. He wasn’t the only player sat down for playoff games though, as both Ryan Reaves and Mark Scheifele were given suspensions. Scheifele may not even be able to serve his entire four-game suspension in this playoffs given the Winnipeg Jets’ current situation, down 3-0 to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

Trophy Finalists Announced: With the regular season in the rearview, the NHL began to release the finalists for its major awards. The Vezina, Ted Lindsay, Calder, King Clancy, Lady Byng, and Selke nominees were all announced, leading to a healthy debate over the merits of each player (and award). Finalists will continue to be released for the next several days, with the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award nominees coming out on Monday morning.

Buffalo All Powered Up?: The Buffalo Sabres took home the top spot at Wednesday’s draft lottery, giving them the opportunity to take Michigan defenseman Owen Power with the first-overall selection. While Power isn’t guaranteed to go at the very top, his performance at the World Championship, helping Team Canada to a gold medal will certainly help his case. The team’s seventh defenseman at the start of the tournament, Power quickly proved his worth to head coach Gerard Gallant and ended up playing more than 24 minutes in the gold medal-clinching game against Finland. The Seattle Kraken will be picking second, with plenty of talent up for grabs at the top of the board.

Dollar Dollar Bill Kirill: While getting a finalist nod for the Calder Trophy should be enough to make it a good week, Kirill Kaprizov has much more to smile about. The Minnesota Wild have reportedly offered Kaprizov an eight-year contract extension that carries an average annual value around $8MM, meaning the young forward is about to cash in. The 24-year-old scored 51 points in 55 games and breathed new life into a Wild franchise that hadn’t had much to get excited about in recent years.

Border Exemption Officially Approved: Though it had been rumored for a few weeks, today the Canadian government officially announced there will be a travel exemption for the team that comes out of the North Division and their opponent. The agreement comes with some strict protocols that will limit all interaction with the general public, but at least allows the North champs to host playoff games at their home rink.

Philadelphia Flyers Name Ian Laperriere As AHL Head Coach

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The Philadelphia Flyers have not wasted any time with finding a replacement for their AHL head coach vacancy. While many other teams continue to interview coaches for roles without any formal hires, the Flyers have made the first major coaching decision of the off-season. After parting ways with Scott Gordon less than three weeks ago, the team has announced that Ian Laperriere has been named the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Of course, this means the Flyers now have another position to fill. Laperriere has served as an assistant coach for the NHL club since 2013-14, working under Craig Berube, Dave Hakstol, and Alain Vigneault, as well as briefly under Gordon, the man he is now replacing. Before that, he was the director of player development for the organization, which ties into his new role overseeing the Flyers’ pro prospects. The move thus comes as no surprise, as Philadelphia decides to stay internal with a trusted name, but also allowing Vigneault to bring in a new face for his staff.

Laperriere, 47, transitioned directly from his playing career into his professional career with the Flyers, hanging up his skates in 2012 after playing his final three years in Philadelphia. However, complications from a concussion suffered during the 2010 postseason actually kept him from competing in those final two seasons. Instead, he stayed on in a support role to the organization and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his efforts. In total, Laperriere played over 1,000 games in the NHL as a fearsome enforcer and two-way forward. His experience both on and off the ice has him set up well to coach the Flyers’ AHL prospects, currently a deep and talented group.

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