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Archives for October 2021

Nikita Kucherov Out 8-10 Weeks

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The Tampa Bay Lightning made it to the playoffs without star forward Nikita Kucherov last season, and they’ll have to again operate without him for the next few months. The team has announced that Kucherov will be out approximately eight to ten weeks following a successful procedure yesterday on a lower-body injury. The team did not disclose the specific injury.

Kucherov proved he could perform at a high level in last season’s playoffs despite a long layoff, as he led all players with 32 points despite having missed the entire regular season. If Tampa wants to three-peat, he’ll have to pull off the same trick after going down three games into the year. Kucherov did have four points in those three games, but will now miss at least two months with another major injury.

The 28-year-old forward is without a doubt one of the most talented offensive players in the world, but his usual durability has been thrown out the window. From 2014-15 when he became a full-time member of the Lightning through 2019-20, he missed only a handful of games for the Lightning. It could very well be 2022 by the time he makes his return this season.

This case isn’t exactly like last season, where the Lightning were basically able to use Kucherov’s entire cap hit to add more talent for a playoff run, only to have him back when they needed him most. Since he is returning during the season and won’t spend the entire year on LTIR, they have to be careful with who replaces him on the roster. Still, given the team is already deep into LTIR relief with Brent Seabrook’s deal, moving Kucherov there does open some other options for a team that is extremely comfortable operating on the fringes of the salary cap rules.

AHL Shuffle: 10/27/21

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After yesterday’s explosive news in Chicago, the NHL season still trundles on with five games on tap tonight. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling as teams prepare their lineups.

Atlantic Division

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • After being sent down yesterday, Arthur Kaliyev, Rasmus Kupari, and Austin Strand are all back up with the Los Angeles Kings. The paper transaction allowed the Kings to accrue a little bit of extra salary cap space, while also paying the trio their AHL salaries for a day. The Kings will host the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night. Kale Clague, who was sent down before the season started, has also been recalled.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Morning Notes: Brannstrom, Robertson, Gillies

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It’s always interesting when a player that is already involved in trade speculation changes agencies, as it can often lead to an expedited process or negotiation. That’s exactly what happened with Erik Brannstrom of the Ottawa Senators today, as he is now represented by Newport Sports Management, one of the biggest agencies in the NHL and notably, the group that represents Brady Tkachuk. Brannstrom was previously represented by Kurt Overhardt of KO Sports, another premier agent in the hockey world.

An agent switch could mean absolutely nothing, but with Brannstrom’s name coming up as recently as last week’s 32 Thoughts column by Elliotte Friedman, who suggested teams are already calling on the young defenseman, it is something to consider. The 22-year-old is currently playing with the Belleville Senators, where he has yet to record a point in four games. He will be a restricted free agent next summer.

  • The Dallas Stars got some great news today as Jason Robertson shed the non-contact jersey and joined the main group. According to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, Robertson was put back with Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski on a line at morning skate. The Stars take on the Vegas Golden Knights this evening and it appears as though the Calder runner-up could be ready to make his season debut. Robertson, 22, scored 17 goals and 45 points in 51 games last season, becoming one of the Stars most trusted forwards at even-strength. In fact, he trailed only Pavelski and Jamie Benn in average even-strength ice time last season, despite starting the year at the bottom of the lineup.
  • Jon Gillies, who hasn’t played an NHL game since 2017-18, now finds himself in the ECHL. The veteran goaltender has signed a contract with the Maine Mariners, the ECHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins for this season. A veteran of 12 NHL contests, Gillies was a third-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2012 who never did quite harness his 6’6″ frame to live up to expectations. Last season he played in five games for the Utica Comets, recording a .902 save percentage.

Alexander Volkov Signs In KHL

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After seeing his NHL contract terminated, Alexander Volkov didn’t have to wait long to find employment. The young forward has signed a four-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, valid through April 30, 2025.

Volkov, 24, signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Ducks this offseason and was expected to finally get a full-time opportunity at the NHL level. That’s not how things played out though, as he was waived before the start of the season and sent to the minor leagues. Every team in the league had a chance at him then, but there were no takers for the former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect. After two games in the AHL, he agreed to a mutual contract termination and quickly jumped ship back to the KHL.

SKA is the organization that Volkov played for in his junior days, and the one that developed him into a top prospect that went 48th overall in 2017. There is tremendous talent in the 6’1″ winger, who scored at least 23 goals and 45 points in each of his first two AHL seasons, but the consistency hasn’t been good enough to secure a role in the NHL for very long.

A four-year deal takes him off the radar for quite some time, but don’t forget entirely about Volkov. He’ll only be 28 when he becomes an unrestricted free agent again and regular playing time in the KHL could certainly push his overall development in the right direction. Teams are sure to keep an eye on him while he’s playing for one of Russia’s top programs.

P.K. Subban Fined For Dangerous Trip

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New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban has avoided suspension for his trip on Calgary Flames forward Milan Lucic last night, earning a $5,000 fine instead. That’s the maximum allowable fine under the current CBA, given the Department of Player Safety deemed the incident not suspendable.

Partway through the first period, as Subban was approaching Lucic in the corner, he appeared to stick out his left leg and slew foot the Flames forward. It caused Lucic to fall dangerously backward, though he did not suffer a serious injury on the play. The call from many fans for Subban to be suspended comes from his history in these events, including an eerily similar play in the preseason against Ryan Reaves of the New York Rangers.

Subban, 32, is averaging fewer than 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career and played just 17:45 for the Devils on Tuesday night. He has yet to record a point through five games after scoring a career-low five goals last season. In the final season of his eight-year, $72MM contract, the 2013 Norris winner has been moved down the lineup since the arrival of Dougie Hamilton in New Jersey.

Prospect Notes: Samorukov, Sjoberg, Gazizov

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A top young pro is now available to the Edmonton blue line. The Oilers have announced that defenseman Dmitri Samorukov has been medically cleared and removed from the Season-Opening Injured Reserve. After breaking his jaw in development camp in September, Samorukov is actually ready for action a week ahead of his estimated recovery timeline. When he returns to action this week, it will be with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, but that may not last. Once Samorukov is back up to game speed, the rookie defender seems primed to finally crack the Edmonton roster at some point this season. Samorukov, 22, was a third-round pick of the Oilers in 2017 out of the OHL and he continued to boost his prospect stock in the years following with continual improvement at the junior level. He turned pro in 2019-20 and recorded ten points in 47 AHL games. Last year, he spent the season on loan in the KHL and produced eight points and a +24 rating in 48 games. Everything has been leading to an NHL opportunity for the talented two-way defender, who will no longer be waiver-exempt beginning next season. Although the Oilers do have improved blue line depth this season with the additions of Duncan Keith and Cody Ceci, Kris Russell and Slater Koekkoek are playing very limited roles early this season and could easily be supplanted in the starting lineup. While William Lagesson likely leads the AHL depth chart and Philip Broberg is the top prospect in Bakersfield, the former has had his shot in recent years and the latter is just 20 and can be afforded a slow development path. The time is now for a healthy Samorukov to get his chance.

  • It’s been a bittersweet start to the year for the Dallas Stars in regards to prospect Albert Sjoberg. A 2021 seventh-round pick, Sjoberg should be as irrelevant to his NHL rights holder as a prospect can be as a last-round pick in the most recent draft. There are few expectations for seventh-rounder to make the NHL period, nevertheless show promise in their first year after being selected. However, Sjoberg is bucking the trend. No. 207 recorded only one point in 17 games in the Allsvenkan last season, looking out of place in Sweden’s second tier pro league. The same can’t be said for this season; Sjoberg earned a recall from the U-20 level after notching seven goals and ten points in his first eight games and now has five points in eight games back in the Allsvenskan. This progress has to excite Dallas, but it has also inspired Sjoberg’s current club, Sodertalje SK, to make his pro status official. The team has announced a two-year contract for the budding scorer, which will keep him away from any move to North America through the 2022-23 season. The Stars will be happy to watch him continue to develop overseas but will then clamoring to bring him over if he keeps improving at this rate.
  • The London Knights are off to a 6-0-0 start, the last remaining undefeated team in the OHL. Well, the rich are about to get richer. The team has announced that Russian sniper Ruslan Gazizov has signed with the team and will join them immediately. Gazizov was the No. 12 overall pick in the CHL Import Draft this year and his draft pedigree is far from complete. Gazizov is a potential first-round pick in the 2022 Draft and his stock could soar if he makes a clean adjustment to the North American game. The young scorer has put up big numbers in the Russian junior ranks and recently dominated the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and that could easily continue with the Knights.

 

Latest On John Klingberg Extension Talks

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John Klingberg is facing down quite the predicament this season. Playing on an expiring contract – a contract that has made him a bargain for the Dallas Stars for many years – Klingberg is planning his future. The talented defenseman has watched a number of defensemen, unrestricted and restricted free agents alike, sign massive, long-term extensions over the past few months. Unsurprisingly, Klingberg has expressed his interest in joining this group with his next deal. Klingberg, 29, would be one of, if not the top defender on the open market if he makes it there this summer and could command such a contract. Yet, Klingberg has also been adamant about his desire to stay in Dallas. The Stars just gave fellow rearguard Miro Heiskanen an eight-year, $67.6MM extension and have both Esa Lindell and Ryan Suter signed for three more years beyond 2021-22 at substantial cap numbers. Can Klingberg land the deal he wants in Dallas?

Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was the first to put hard numbers to the hypothetical, reporting that Klingberg was seeking a a max-term deal in the $62-66MM range. This would put him just below his young teammate Heiskanen over the same number of years. This would likely be a palatable scenario for the Stars to keep their elite top-four together without paying more for Klingberg, who would be 37 when his next deal expired, than for Heiskanen, who will be as old as Klingberg is now.

Unfortunately, that may be a pipedream for the Stars. Klingberg is among the top ten scoring defensemen in the NHL over the course of his current contract. Why should he settle for an AAV of $7.75-8.25MM as Marek suggests when he has outscored the likes of Dougie Hamilton, Seth Jones, and Darnell Nurse – all of similar age and experience – and they each came in at $9MM+ on recent deals? The Athletic’s Saad Yousef claims that Marek’s numbers are merely a starting point. He has heard from sources that Klingberg is chasing that $9-9.5MM AAV and on a long-term deal, knowing this could be his last chance at a big pay day given his age.

Klingberg’s camp has not drawn a line in the sand on their numbers just yet as the defenseman truly does wish to stay in Dallas. Yousef also notes that even at this elevated, fair-market asking price, the Stars can still afford to re-sign Klingberg and likely will do just that if he performs well early this season. There could be some wiggle room for Klingberg to take a slightly shorter deal or come in a little lower than his comparable given his age and the “hometown discount” factor. However, the pressure is on for the Stars to work out those kinks and come to an agreement. The longer the season wears on, the longer Klingberg has to prove he is elite and the prize of the free agent class, driving up his bargaining power on contract talks. Both sides want to see the relationship extended, but those odds go down the longer they wait. Dallas is prepared for that possibility, but that would make it no less of a major blow if Klingberg walks away.

Dean Kukan Out Eight Weeks With Broken Wrist

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have moved Dean Kukan to injured reserve after he suffered a wrist fracture in last night’s game against the Dallas Stars. Kukan is expected to miss eight weeks with the injury. In his place, the team has recalled Gavin Bayreuther from the AHL.

Kukan, 28, is in the second season of a two-year contract signed in 2020 that carries an average annual value of $1.65MM. The Swiss defensemen has been a part-time player for the Blue Jackets in each of the last several seasons, totaling 114 regular season games since coming to North America in 2015. This season he has appeared in two games, failing to record a point in nearly 30 minutes of total ice time.

While not a key player for Columbus, Kukan’s injury will certainly weaken the depth of the blue line as the team continues to try and compete in the difficult Metropolitan Division. Adam Boqvist is also dealing with a minor injury, necessitating the recall of Bayreuther who will be the eighth defenseman on the active roster.

The 27-year-old Bayreuther has just 28 games at the NHL level in his career but is a well-respected minor league veteran that can step into the lineup in a pinch. In five games with the Cleveland Monsters this season, he has three points. Interestingly enough, Bayreuther was actually given a two-game AHL suspension just today after a cross-checking incident over the weekend. That will not affect his NHL availability, but means he’ll have to sit out whenever he returns to the Monsters.

Ross Johnston Signs Four-Year Extension

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The New York Islanders have locked up a key depth player, signing Ross Johnston to a four-year contract extension. The 27-year-old forward was set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, the final year of his previous four-year deal. Chris Johnston of TSN reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1.1MM.

Johnston certainly may not be a household name, but he is extremely well-liked in the Islanders organization and obviously a player they value. The 6’5″ 232-lbs bruiser has only played in 87 regular season NHL games to this point but gets into a handful every year for the team whenever they need to add some size to the lineup. In those games, he has recorded seven goals and 15 points, while racking up 202 penalty minutes.

His current deal carries an average annual value of $1MM, making him an easy player to bury in the minor leagues if necessary. The length of this new deal, just like his old one, would likely also scare off any teams from claiming him on waivers should he end up there. For most, a player like Johnston would be difficult to justify, but the Islanders have built a four-line system that incorporates very specific skillsets in specific situations that they believe allow them to carry part-time players like this that offer no offensive upside.

It’s not often that you see a player with this kind of profile land a four-year contract, but Johnston has now done it twice.

Stan Bowman, Al MacIsaac Leave Blackhawks Organization

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The Chicago Blackhawks have released the findings of an investigation into allegations of sexual assault by Brad Aldrich in 2010 when he was employed as a video coach with the team. As a result of the investigation, general manager Stan Bowman has “stepped aside” from the organization, admitting he made a mistake in 2010. Senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIssac has also left the organization.

The Blackhawks have also been fined $2MM by the league for “inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich’s employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010.” Half of that amount will be dedicated to fund local organizations that provide counseling and training for, and support and assistance to, survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse.

Bowman, 48, joined the Blackhawks in 2005 as director of hockey operations and was named general manager in 2009. He was given the title of president of hockey operations in 2020 after previously serving as senior vice president. He retained the title of general manager and conducted a drastic overhaul to the roster over the last few months, bringing in players like Marc-Andre Fleury, Seth Jones, Jake McCabe, Caleb Jones, Tyler Johnson, and Adam Gaudette. That roster will now be inherited by Kyle Davidson, who will be serving as interim general manager as the club searches for a new front office leader.

Not only was Bowman in charge of the Blackhawks, but he also served as general manager for the U.S. National Team that is set to take part in the 2022 Olympics. Bowman has stepped down from that position as well. No replacement has been named.

At the time of the incident, in which Aldrich is alleged to have sexually assaulted two players during the 2010 playoffs, a meeting was reportedly held between skills coach Paul Vincent, then team president John McDonough, Bowman, MacIsaac, and sports psychologist James Gary, with Vincent reporting the incident and asking management to take it to the Chicago police. According to Vincent, who spoke with Rick Westhead of TSN, they refused.

In the press conference today, former assistant US attorney Reid Schar, who conducted the investigation, revealed that there was a meeting between MacIsaac, Bowman, McDonough, Gary then assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, then executive vice president Jay Blunk, and then head coach Joel Quenneville where the allegations were discussed, though accounts of the meeting “vary significantly.” After being informed of the incident, no action was taken for three weeks. The investigation also found that Blackhawks ownership was not aware of the allegations until this year. Cheveldayoff and Quenneville have previously denied knowing about the allegations.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will meet with Cheveldayoff, currently the general manager of the Winnipeg Jets, and Quenneville, head coach of the Florida Panthers, to “discuss their roles in the relevant events.” It is not clear if they will receive additional punishment from the league. He also explains that if the four executives linked to the decision–Bowman, McDonough, Blunk and MacIsaac–wish to re-enter the league in some capacity, they will need to meet with Bettman before accepting any NHL-related position to determine “the appropriate conditions under which such new employment might take place.”

McDonough informed the team’s human resources director after the 2010 playoffs, and Aldrich was given the option to undergo an investigation or resign. He resigned that June. McDonough, who had been with the team since 2007, was fired in 2020. No executive involved in the 2010 incident will remain with the team.

139 witnesses were interviewed during the investigation, including the player who initially filed a lawsuit against the team earlier this year and some current Blackhawks players. The full report can be read here.

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