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Offseason Checklist: Pittsburgh Penguins

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The offseason has arrived for all but a few teams.  It’s now time to examine what those clubs need to accomplish over the coming months.  It’s going to be a busy summer. What is on deck for the Pittsburgh Penguins?

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished first in what was arguably the best division in the NHL this season. The East boasted the likes of the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and even the New York Rangers, the best team not to make the playoffs. Yet, Pittsburgh finished with 77 points for the fifth-best record in the league despite stiff competition. It seemed like Sidney Crosby and company were primed for another deep playoff run this season. Instead, it all came crashing down quickly in a first-round loss to the Islanders in which Pittsburgh could not counter New York’s smothering approach. The Penguins’ weaknesses were exposed in the postseason and must be addressed in the offseason, but the team currently lacks the flexibility to do much of anything.

Shed Salary

The Penguins cannot start adding until they do some subtracting. Pittsburgh is currently pegged to have just $3.2MM in salary cap space heading into the off-season, a projection that includes just 19 contracts. Forget improving the roster, Pittsburgh needs to create cap space just to preserve their current roster, as key restricted free agents Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese require new contract and the team will likely try to re-sign impending UFA defenseman Cody Ceci as well. Those three alone will cost well more than $3.2MM.

The Penguins could actually receive some help from the Expansion Draft – if they are lucky. Pittsburgh is likely to expose both forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Marcus Pettersson in expansion; the pair are talented players, but underperformed in 2020-21, especially relative to their substantial contracts. Either player would be a loss for the team, but the added cap space would more than make up for the departure.

If the Seattle Kraken instead grab Aston-Reese, Blueger, or Jeff Carter, the Penguins will be in trouble. Even if the pick is Zucker or Pettersson, new GM Ron Hextall will still likely work the phones in an effort to move some salary. Again, Zucker and Pettersson are both good players and the Penguins will not just give them away, but they could be had for a bargain price this summer as Pittsburgh is desperate to shed salary.

Add a Goaltender

What will the Penguins do if they can open up cap space? Hextall, a former goalie himself, has already hinted that adding a veteran netminder is a priority for Pittsburgh this offseason. It is difficult to look at the team’s postseason collapse and not attribute much of the blame to starter Tristan Jarry. The young keeper followed up a stellar 2019-20 season with a decent regular season this year, but he struggled greatly in the postseason and kept the Penguins out of several games. Backup Casey DeSmith actually outplayed Jarry this season, albeit in lesser games, but he himself is also streaky. More importantly, DeSmith is injury-prone and is not a reliable understudy to Jarry. The Penguins need a reliable veteran presence to push their young starter.

Of course, the popular prediction is going to be old friend Marc-Andre Fleury. The Vegas Golden Knights are also looking to shed salary and who better than Fleury, coming off an incredible season, to return to Pittsburgh to stabilize the net before he rides off into the sunset, retiring as Penguin. It all sounds great, but Pittsburgh taking on Fleury’s $7MM salary is an impossibility and Vegas retaining considerable salary, if any, is unlikely. A return for Fleury is probably not going to happen, but the shared history means it can’t be ruled out compeltely.

More reasonable targets include free agents  Frederik Andersen, Jonathan Bernier, James Reimer, Antti Raanta, Jaroslav Halak or Devan Dubnyk. Even a young UFA like Linus Ullmark or Chris Driedger could see Pittsburgh as a good opportunity to win a starting role and prove they can be a top option. If the Penguins are lucky, the market may actually drive down the salary requirements if there are a number of goalies interested in a great situation to win games and have an open competition in net. While free agency seems like the more viable route, trade options will be numerous and the Expansion Draft could shake up the market. Anton Khudobin stands out as an ideal trade candidate.

Improve the Bottom Six

Another area where Hextall and company have been open about their desire to improve is in their forward corps. The Penguins have no problem scoring, but their two-way play up front was a major concern this season. For Pittsburgh to take a step forward and return to postseason success, they must become harder to play against. That starts with getting better defensive play and physical engagement from their forwards. Hextall has harped on the Penguins needing to be more physical and has talked about adding size and grit this off-season, but it’s more than that. Pittsburgh was poor on the penalty kill this season, did not block shorts (particularly at forward) and their issues at the face-off dot continued through the regular season and into the playoffs. In nearly all facets of defensive play, the Penguins must improve.

With that said, retaining the likes of Blueger and Aston-Reese through expansion, getting a full season of Carter, and getting a healthy season from Brandon Tanev is already a great start to improved bottom-six play. The roster does not need a complete overhaul to improve team defense. That doesn’t mean that they can’t add another impact player though. Mark Jankowski, Evan Rodrigues, and Colton Sceviour were not the answer this season and all three are on their way out of town. The Penguins need to use what little cap space they may have left after re-signing their key free agents and adding a goalie to add another veteran difference-maker to round out the bottom-six.

Decide the Future of Malkin and Letang

What is to become of the Penguins’ long-time core? Crosby is still as good as ever and still signed for several years, but Malkin and Letang are entering the final years of their current contracts. Malkin is coming off a down year by his standards and will spend all summer rehabbing from an injury. Letang continues to show signs of slow but steady decline and is not playing up to his $7.25MM price tag. Yet, both players are still major contributors to the team and franchise icons. The new administration has vowed to stick with them, but for how long? Do they enter the season on expiring contracts and deal with the repercussions? Do they sign them to extensions this summer despite the concerns? Do they trade one? Both? There are major questions that need answering about the veteran stars. The front office does not want to hurt themselves in the short-term by moving on too soon from either one, but they also don’t want to hamstring themselves long-term by throwing out new contracts that aren’t necessarily warranted. It’s a difficult decision and one that will weigh on the team this summer.

 

 

Snapshots: Coyotes’ Coach Search, Nylander, Ak Bars

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With head coaches flying off the market and one of the top available names being the guy they just let go, the Arizona Coyotes’ hunt for a head coach is in an interesting spot. From the get-go, the word was that the ’Yotes and GM Bill Armstrong could be looking for a fresh voice, perhaps even a first-time NHL coach, so they may be unfazed by the recent run on big names. Yet, insider Craig Morgan reports that one of their top candidates is in fact a seasoned veteran. Morgan writes that Dallas Stars assistant Todd Nelson is scheduled to have his third interview for the vacancy, by all accounts the most of any candidate. Nelson has been in the NHL (or AHL) since 2006, including a brief stint as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has found great success in the minors, winning two Calder Cups, and never really got a fair shake as the bench boss in Edmonton, so in a way he would be somewhat of a first-time NHL head coach. He has picked up experience in Dallas over the past three years under Jim Montgomery and Rick Bowness and could be ready for another shot at the top job.

Morgan considers Nelson’s greatest competition to be Andre Tourigny, the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and most recently an assistant for Canada’s gold medal World Championship entry. Tourigny briefly coached in the NHL as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators over three years, but has mostly coached at the major junior level and has been the bench boss of Canada’s World Junior team the past two years. Tourigny has found immense success working with young players; he has been named OHL Coach of the Year (twice), QMJHL Coach of the Year, and the overall CHL Coach of the Year, not to mention medals at four World Juniors. Can he translate that ability to the pros and lead a Coyotes team that needs to take a step forward rather than continuing to tread water? That is the question that Armstrong must answer. According to Morgan, he has already decided that St. Louis Blues assistant Mike Van Ryn and AHL Providence head coach Jay Leach are not the men for the job.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks just gained some Expansion Draft flexibility. The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that Alexander Nylander has been declared exempt from the impending selection process. In order to be eligible for the draft, a player must have three pro service years. Nylander, who has been playing professionally in North America for five seasons, may seem like an impossibility to avoid that label, but somehow he does. Despite playing in 116 AHL games between 2016-17 and 2017-18, he played in only seven combined NHL games and his rookie contract underwent the entry-level slide each season, meaning service time did not accrue. He then played countable NHL season in each of the past two years. However, this season – in what was meant to be his third year of service – Nylander missed the entire campaign due to injury. This means that, again, his service time will not clock. After five years in and out of the NHL, Nylander will be considered a second-year pro and untouchable for the Seattle Kraken. As Powers notes, Nylander was expected to be protected by the Blackhawks next month. Now off the board, it will allow the team to protected another forward that they may not have expected. He suggests deadline addition Adam Gaudette or reliable fourth-liner David Kampf could be the pick, while young, high-upside assets Brandon Hagel and Henrik Borgstrom should now be locks.
  • The KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan has succeeded in keeping a pair of drafted prospects away from their NHL teams for a while longer. The team announced that they have re-signed Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov and Anaheim’s Artyom Galimov to multi-year extensions. At their age, this is not an NHL career death sentence for either player, but it is likely disheartening to their teams who would like to get them on North American ice as soon as possible. 20-year-old Voronkov, a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Blue Jackets, has signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars after setting career highs across the board in the KHL this season. The impressive youngster has already played two full seasons in the KHL and has been dominant for Russia on the World Junior stage as well. Voronkov’s name carries weight as a prospect and the Jackets undoubtedly hope that he will follow WJC teammate Yegor Chinakhov to Columbus as soon as his new contract expires. There is a bit more cause for pause when it comes to Galimov. The 21-year-old was an overage pick by the Ducks just last year and despite his age has signed a three-year extension with Ak Bars. Galimov is a grassroots product of Kazan and has loyalty to the club, as they do to him after two successful seasons to begin his KHL career. Galimov has actually outpaced Voronkov to this point, showing that he too is a serious NHL prospect. However, Galimov will be 25 years old before he could ever step onto Anaheim ice and will have that much more attachment to Ak Bars. His ability should keep him interested in the NHL and the Ducks in him, but it is not a guarantee.

Latest On Jack Eichel’s Trade Market

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While Jack Eichel’s potential trade availability has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, there has actually been very little concrete information to come out about his market. The assumption is that every team will at least kick the tires on the superstar forward, but also that the Buffalo Sabres will have a hefty asking price that some may not want to pay and many others simply won’t be able to. The remaining group of possible landing spots could be small. To this point though, there has been little word on which teams fall into which categories – until now.

One team very much in the mix for Eichel is the Minnesota Wild. The Athletic’s Michael Russo has confirmed that Wild GM Bill Guerin has opened trade talks with the Sabres’ Kevyn Adams. Minnesota had a strong, resurgent season but still lacks star power at the center position, so it is no surprise that Guerin is interested. The Wild already have their plate full with extensions for Kirill Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala, and Joel Eriksson Ek, but it stands to reason that a potential Eichel trade would likely see one of the latter two heading to Buffalo. Russo points out that the salary cap would necessitate another roster player likely moving as well, while a top prospect such as Marco Rossi or Matthew Boldy would certainly be part of the package too. It’s a heavy price to pay – and that might not even be the full ask – but Buffalo knows that someone will pay up for Eichel. Russo warns that the Wild are an up-and-coming team and need to be completely sure of Eichel’s health status before making the expensive, long-term commitment and franchise-altering decision to acquire him.

Not everyone is willing to take that risk and the Columbus Blue Jackets are one of them. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline writes that Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen has been busy working the phones and analyzing the trade market and Eichel has of course earned “due diligence.” However, he indicated that this was the extent of his trade talks with Adams. Portzline reports that a key piece of the Sabres’ asking price is a center with first-line potential and the Blue Jackets do not have anyone who fits that description. To make up for that deficit, Columbus’ would likely have to pay an exorbitant price to acquire Eichel. The likely package would include at least the No. 5 overall pick, if not multiple first-rounders, multiple young roster players, probably including goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, and a top prospect or two. That cost doesn’t make much sense for a team that, at best, is re-tooling but could be considered rebuilding. Portzline suggests that another Sabre, Sam Reinhart, has also been linked to the Blue Jackets and would be a better fit in many ways.

Other suitors are expected to include the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers, but so far those organization have not let any details of their pursuit slip out. There is of course also the chance that Buffalo simply retains Eichel, as a fair return could be very difficult to come by. Until then though, this is a storyline that will continue to dominate the off-season.

Management Notes: Hardy, Gilman, Johnson

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Today’s seen quite the front office shuffle around the NHL. As teams move forward from disappointing seasons, they’ll examine what they can do to improve at every level of the organization. It’s bound to be an interesting summer as teams compete to snap up available talent, doing everything they can to rectify issues and cement internal development.

  • Despite the playoffs not being over, the Toronto Maple Leafs are making multiple moves this offseason. After re-signing Jason Spezza not too long ago, the club announced today the addition of Ryan Hardy to the front office. Hardy will serve as the team’s Senior Director of Minor League Operations, which includes being the general manager of both the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers. Hardy leaves behind a very successful run with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, making it to the league finals in 2018-19 and winning the championship in 2020-21. He’s assembled an incredible amount of high-end draft-eligible players this year for a non-USNTDP USHL team, including sniper Matthew Coronato. Replacing Hardy for the Steel in the interim is Noelle Needham, who’s worked closely with Hardy and could also be in line soon for an NHL job.
  • With Hardy taking over the reins as general manager of the Marlies, Toronto had to make a corresponding move within the organization. The Athletic’s James Mirtle is reporting that Laurence Gilman, who was serving as the Marlies’ GM, has been reassigned. Gilman will remain as an assistant general manager to Kyle Dubas, but will now also take on the role of senior vice president of the Marlies. In Gilman’s only year at the helm for the Marlies in which the playoffs were held, the Marlies lost in the conference finals. He’s been with the organization since 2018-19.
  • Moving over to the Western Conference, the Vancouver Canucks have confirmed that former player Ryan Johnson will remain as the general manager of their AHL affiliate as it relocates from Utica to Abbotsford. Since his retirement after the 2010-11 campaign, Johnson’s been active in the Canucks organization. First joining the team’s front office in 2013-14 as a development consultant, he quickly worked his way up the ranks of the franchise, being promoted to director of player development after just two seasons. He’s maintained that title ever since and was given the general manager position for Utica in 2017-18.

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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Free agency is now just a little more than a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next summer will be more interesting for Calgary free agent-wise, but there’s still lots to do this time around.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Dillon Dube – This season was supposed to bring a breakout for Dube, and although he did set career-highs in goals and points, it certainly wasn’t the step forward many were hoping for. The 22-year-old forward saw his ice time fall once head coach Darryl Sutter took over, even sitting in the press box as a healthy scratch on occasion. Overall, he averaged less than 14 minutes a night in 2020-21, a far cry from the core piece that he is expected to become. In 51 appearances, Dube ended up with 11 goals and 22 points, still flashing top-six potential at times. But there is a lot of work to be done to gain the trust of Sutter and his contract this summer should reflect that. With just 18 goals through his first 121 games, Dube won’t be able to demand a huge raise and could maybe even be forced to settle for his qualifying offer, given he is not yet arbitration-eligible.

D Juuso Valimaki – The player that Dube shared the press box with on occasion? 22-year-old defenseman Valimaki, who was also called out by Sutter late in the season. “If they become better players, this team becomes better” was the eyebrow-raising quote from the head coach in May, after another Valimaki healthy scratch. The 2017 first-round pick ended up averaging just over 15 minutes a night in 49 games, putting him behind even depth options like Michael Stone and Nikita Nesterov. Because Valimaki missed the entire 2019-20 season due to injury, he actually will actually have even more restrictions this summer. He is not eligible for an offer sheet and is not eligible for arbitration, meaning just like Dube, he may have to settle for his qualifying offer if the two sides don’t work out a multi-year deal.

Other RFAs: F Glenn Gawdin, F Dominik Simon, F Justin Kirkland, F Matthew Phillips, F Luke Philp, D Oliver Kylington, D Connor Mackey, D Carl-Johan Lerby, D Alexander Yelesin, D Colton Poolman, G Tyler Parsons, G Artyom Zagidulin

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Derek Ryan – If Ryan is the most important free agent forward you are at risk of losing you’re in a good spot, but he’s actually an interesting extension candidate for the Flames. The 34-year-old center is still a capable penalty killer and you could do far worse for a fourth-line center, but his real value would come in the expansion draft, where Calgary needs players to fill the exposure requirements upfront. While it sounds like Milan Lucic will be waiving his no-movement clause to fill one spot, the team will need one of the other regulars from this season to sign a deal in the coming weeks.

G Louis Domingue – It’s not really that Domingue is a must-sign player for the Flames, but he represents a position that will need to be filled somehow. The team has Jacob Markstrom locked in as the starter, but they will need a backup goaltender that can help give him some time off or even take the net for a little while. David Rittich, who was supposed to be that option, was traded at the deadline, and Domingue likely isn’t the answer. While he does have a .904 save percentage in 140 NHL appearances, that number is boosted by some early-career stats. Over the past two seasons, he has posted an .882 in 18 games, certainly not enough to play tandem to Markstrom.

Other UFAs: F Brett Ritchie, F Buddy Robinson, F Josh Leivo, F Zac Rinaldo, D Michael Stone, D Nikita Nesterov, D Alex Petrovic

Projected Cap Space

One of the most interesting parts of the offseason for Calgary is how they deal with their big-ticket players who haven’t yet rewarded the team with much playoff success. The Flames have nearly $67MM tied up in just 13 contracts for the 2021-22 season, meaning they have less than $15MM to round out the rest of the roster. With Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer, Sean Monahan, and Lucic the year after, there will be money coming off the books in short order. If any of those contracts are moved out, the team could get a jump on things by being aggressive in free agency this year, knowing there will be a bit more flexibility down the road.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Latest On Kirill Kaprizov Negotiations

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It’s been a week since the hockey world all momentarily turned their eyes on the Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov. A bombshell rumor from NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes noted that Kaprizov was back home in Russia while CSKA Moscow was preparing a contract to bring the winger back home. While the danger of Kaprizov leaving North America is much lower than the initial rumor may have suggested, nothing is ever official until pen hits paper.

Today, a new article from The Athletic’s Michael Russo provided a tad more clarity into Kaprizov’s negotiations. One serious complicating factor for both Kaprizov and the Wild is that their second- and third-best forwards, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala, are similarly in need of new deals for next season. In a Tuesday radio interview with Russo referenced in the article, Wild general manager Bill Guerin had this to say:

Well, it’s definitely a busy summer. But it’s not like we haven’t been planning for it for a long time. This stuff has been going on in our office for months and months and months, and it’s not like the season ends and now it’s like ’ok, let’s figure it out.’ No – we’ve tried to figure this out long in advance so when we have the time, we can just kind of go into action. But yeah, we have to sign Eriksson Ek, we have to sign Fiala, there are a number of UFAs that we have… but we’re already working on it.

Throughout these negotiations, it’s become clear that leverage is what’s most important to Kaprizov and his agent. Russo concurs, pointing out that all signs lead to a bridge deal that takes Kaprizov to unrestricted free agency rather than a maximum eight-year deal.

One potential complicating factor that Guerin won’t have to worry about is the possibility of an offer sheet. Because Kaprizov signed a two-year entry-level deal during the 2019-20 campaign but didn’t play a game in the NHL, he becomes a 10.2(c) RFA, making him ineligible for an offer sheet. His two options are Minnesota or Russia, so it’s not like a different team could lure him away with more money than Guerin can stomach.

The situation doesn’t just end with Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Fiala, though. As Russo points out in his article for The Athletic, Minnesota will need to upgrade at the center position to stay competitive into next season. Just how much of Minnesota’s $22 million in cap space will remain for that? It’s a giant question mark right now for Minnesota’s front office, as the combined cap hits of Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Fiala could come within shouting distance of that number.

With the nature of Ryan Suter’s and Zach Parise’s contracts holding this team back at the moment, it may end up that everybody is signed to bridge deals so that Minnesota can reassess the cap when those deals expire. It’s a risky bet, however, with both deals still having four seasons left. A cap dump trade of one of them could work, and as Parise fell out of favor with the coaching staff this season, he could be dealt with a heavy sweetener from Minnesota’s end. What’s for certain is that the Wild front office is aware of the moment and will make their best attempts to bolster the team for the immediate future.

Trent Frederic Re-Signs With Boston Bruins

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The Boston Bruins have locked up one of their restricted free agents, signing Trent Frederic to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.05MM. The young forward was coming off his entry-level deal and was not yet eligible for salary arbitration. PuckPedia reports that the first year of the contract will carry a salary of $950K, while the second will be $1.15MM.

Frederic, 23, was the Bruins’ first-round pick in 2016 and has had a target on his back since the day he was selected. Despite being ranked 47th among North American skaters, Boston decided to pick him 29th overall, hoping that his physicality and in-your-face style would translate well to the professional ranks. Well, it’s been five years now and Frederic has finally established himself as an NHL player, but certainly not the middle-six presence the team was hoping for.

In 42 games this season, the 6’2″ forward scored just four goals and recorded a single assist. His 65 penalty minutes were the biggest impact he had on the scoresheet (though it is interesting to note that three of his four tallies were of the game-winning variety), being used in a role closer to an enforcer than a first-round pick. Boston didn’t use him on either special team and gave him just over 11 minutes a night, limiting his ability to have any real impact.

That lack of offensive production did end up keeping his salary low in these negotiations, meaning the Bruins will hope for a step forward during this very reasonable second contract. Even though he will likely never become a top-six scoring threat, Frederic can still be an important bottom-six piece on a team that is going through a transition period. The Bruins core that was so dominant at one point is getting older, meaning more and more minutes will be up for grabs. Frederic did score 32 points in 59 games for the Providence Bruins in 2019-20, showing there is still some upside there.

As with any signing right now, there are expansion draft complications. Frederic is eligible for selection, meaning the Bruins will have to use a protection slot if they want to keep him away from the Seattle Kraken. If they don’t feel the need to protect him though, this contract does mean he now fills one of the team’s exposure requirements. Chris Wagner and Curtis Lazar look to be the most likely candidates right now to be left exposed to meet those requirements, but this does at least give them a little more flexibility.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Golden Knights, Laich, Richardson

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The Vegas Golden Knights were defeated last night by the Montreal Canadiens, giving them more frustrating memories of coming close but not reaching the top of the mountain. It’s been an incredible run for an expansion franchise, winning multiple playoff rounds in three of their four seasons in existence. But they still haven’t managed to win it all, meaning there will be changes once again this summer. On the 31 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet notes that this team has never been afraid to go after the big fish.

Not specifically about [Jack] Eichel, but they’ll be in on anyone that can help them. That’s the way they are, it’s their DNA. The surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and those guys go after the big fish. No matter who they’ve got. No matter who they’ve got, they go after the big fish. 

Vegas made enough cap space to fit in Alex Pietrangelo last summer when the defenseman became available, but they’ll have to do it again if they want to add this year. Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek discussed the future of Marc-Andre Fleury, suggesting that moving his $7MM contract is the best opportunity for cap savings, while also noting that Alec Martinez is likely to be replaced in the lineup by Nicolas Hague full-time. The Golden Knights will be an interesting team to watch over the coming weeks as they deal with another heartbreaking loss.

  • Though he hasn’t played an NHL game since the 2017-18 season, Brooks Laich is only just now announcing his official retirement. The 38-year-old forward last played for the Los Angeles Kings, but is far better known for his time with the Washington Capitals which included three consecutive 20+ goal seasons. Laich competed for Team Canada at the World Juniors and World Championships and will officially hang up his skates with 776 regular season games played in the NHL.
  • One of the most impressive parts of the Canadiens’ series victory is that they did it without head coach Dominique Ducharme as he deals with a positive COVID test. Luke Richardson has taken over the head coaching duties in the meantime, and Darren Dreger of TSN explains how teams around the league may be keeping an eye on the former NHL defenseman. Of course, this isn’t the first time Richardson has held a head coaching role. For four seasons he led the Binghamton Senators of the AHL, and in 2017 he led the Canadian roster to a victory in the Spengler Cup. A one-time captain with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Richardson’s name will likely come up in connection to NHL head coaching vacancies.

Ty Gallagher Commits To Boston University

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Earlier this month, the Boston University hockey program lost one of their top commits, as Roman Schmidt signed with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Schmidt is ranked 58th among North American skaters for the upcoming 2021 NHL Entry Draft, after two strong years in the U.S. National Team Development Program. Well, the Terriers have moved quickly to replace the outgoing defenseman, as Mark Divver of Rinkside Rhode Island reports that Ty Gallagher will be headed to BU instead of Notre Dame.

According to NHL Central Scouting, the move from Schmidt to Gallagher is actually an upgrade, though just slightly. The latter is ranked 53rd among North American skaters for this year’s draft after his own successful season in the USNTDP. Gallagher, 18, is a much different player than the 6’6″ Schmidt but has had plenty of success so far in his amateur career. At the U18 World Junior tournament, he led all defensemen in goals and has been able to create that kind of offense at every step, including 19 goals for the USNTDP this year.

The different decisions between Schmidt and Gallagher for the next step in their hockey careers will have rippling effects over the next few months. While the former will be able to sign his entry-level deal as soon as possible, Gallagher will have to wait and only sign an NHL contract once he has decided to leave school.

Minor Transactions: 06/25/21

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The Montreal Canadiens have punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. Artturi Lehkonen was the hero, scoring less than two minutes into the overtime period sending the Bell Centre (and the surrounding area) into a frenzy. While Montreal waits to see which team they’ll face for the chance to lift the chalice, the rest of the hockey world isn’t sitting on their hands. We’ll keep track of all the notable minor moves right here.

  • Colin Campbell (the player, not the league executive) has signed a new contract with the Augsburger Panther in Germany for the upcoming season. Now 30, Campbell left his AHL career last year to play for the Vienna Capitals in Austria, and will now continue his European sojourn in the DEL. In 2019-20 with the Colorado Eagles, he scored 26 points in 48 games.
  • David Ullstrom, who once played 49 games for the New York Islanders isn’t coming back to North America anytime soon. The 32-year-old forward signed a contract with HV71 as they load up to pursue promotion. A fourth-round pick in 2008, Ullstrom had multiple stints on this side of the pond, most recently in 2018-19 with the Tucson Roadrunners. Though he has always done extremely well at the AHL level, his career has taken him all over the world, with stops in Sween, Russia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, and Switzerland just in the past eight years.
  • Iowa Wild defender Turner Ottenbreit re-signed on a one-year AHL deal today, the team announced. Now entering his fourth professional season, the 23-year-old Canadian has struggled offensively at the AHL level. After serving as the captain for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2017-18, Ottenbreit showed decent flashes of production in the ECHL, including 11 points in 17 games with the Allen Americans in 2019-20. However, Ottenbreit’s offensive numbers declined at all levels this year, making this a rather important season for his professional development.
  • Veteran minor league defenseman Matt Register is making an interesting career move. The 31-year-old rearguard initially made the rare jump from the Junior-A level in Canada to pros, moving from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the then-Central Hockey League in 2011 (after taking a year off nonetheless). After a decade and 472 ECHL games, as well as 43 AHL games, Register is making another unorthodox transition. The Iowa Wild defenseman has signed with the Cardiff Devils of the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League, a major change in the caliber of competition from North America. However, if Register is looking for any way to extend his unique career, he may as well become a star in the UK.
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