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Seattle Kraken Sign Marcus Johansson

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The Seattle Kraken have added another top-nine forward, signing Marcus Johansson to a one-year, $1.5MM contract. The unrestricted free agent joins the expansion team after one year with the Minnesota Wild. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement:

Marcus plays a fast game and brings us another veteran presence with a significant amount of playoff experience. His speed, skill and versatility will help our forward group.

Johansson, 30, was one of the few proven players left in free agency, even if he is coming off a poor year in Minnesota. The veteran forward has played nearly 700 regular season games in the NHL and has twice broken the 20-goal mark. This season with the Wild he recorded just six goals and 14 points in 36 games, but he has been valued for his versatility and two-way play in the past.

Things haven’t gone that well since he left the Washington Capitals organization in 2017 though. Johansson was traded to the New Jersey Devils for two relatively high draft picks, and immediately ran into injury trouble. He’d play just 29 games in the 2017-18 season, redirecting 14 points. The next season was better, but he’d be flipped to the Boston Bruins at the deadline when New Jersey was out of it. It’s in Boston where he flashed his high ceiling again, recording 11 points in 22 playoff games. That postseason performance landed him a two-year, $9MM contract from the Buffalo Sabres, which–perhaps unsurprisingly because of the struggles Buffalo has endured–didn’t go well.

Now on a one-year deal at a low cost, Johansson bears all the markings of a potential bounce-back player. There will be plenty of opportunities for offensive minutes in Seattle and he’s still young enough to take advantage of them. The fact that he has experience at all three forward positions will only help head coach Dave Hakstol as he’s filling out a lineup card, which will likely always have Johansson’s name somewhere on it.

The Kraken still have plenty of cap space to spend and this is exactly the type of chance they should be taking. Even if the team struggles to put it all together in year one, players like Johansson can be easily flipped at the trade deadline for a future asset.

Adam Pelech Signs Eight-Year Contract

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The New York Islanders have announced a huge contract extension for one of their most important players. Adam Pelech has agreed to terms on an eight-year contract that will keep him manning the Islanders blueline through 2028-29. Pelech was a restricted free agent and was scheduled for the first arbitration hearing on August 11. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the deal will carry an average annual value of $5.75MM, while CapFriendly adds that the deal includes no signing bonuses and will pay $5.75MM in salary each year.

It’s hard to overstate just how outstanding Pelech has become at the defensive end of the rink, as the lynchpin of the Islanders’ structure. The 26-year-old averaged more than 21 minutes a night this season and received Norris Trophy votes despite recording just 14 points. Absolutely punished in terms of deployment, almost always starting in his own end, Pelech and partner Ryan Pulock are perhaps the biggest reasons for the Islanders’ recent success.

The fact that the Islanders were able to lock him up at this point is a win, especially while keeping the cap hit to a reasonable number. Pelech was just a year away from unrestricted free agency, as he’ll turn 27 later this month, meaning this is buying out basically the entire set of moneymaking years for the defenseman. After 303 regular season games, he’s committed to being an Islander for most of his career.

Still, it does come with some risk for New York. The team is betting that Pelech’s defensive game will not decline as he enters his thirties, as there isn’t much offensive upside to lean on. Pelech has just 75 points in his career and is a pure shutdown option. Given that he’s now signed through his age-35 season, there is a good chance that he’s not providing the kind of value a $5.75MM cap hit demands by the end of the deal.

But the Islanders are going for it with this group, and there’s no one doubting Pelech’s ability in 2021-22. The team now has their entire defensive group signed, with only Anthony Beauvillier and Ilya Sorokin still to go. There are also a few unrestricted free agents that are expected to be in agreement with the team, meaning the $11.9MM of cap space that CapFriendly shows is a bit misleading at the moment. The team will also at some point need to work out an extension with Pulock, but given that Johnny Boychuk and Leo Komarov both come off the cap after this season, there shouldn’t be much of an issue fitting him in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Brandon Hagel Signs With Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks have signed Brandon Hagel to a three-year contract, one that will carry an average annual value of $1.5MM. Hagel was a restricted free agent and not eligible for salary arbitration. PuckPedia has the full contract breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $1.0MM
  • 2022-23: $1.45MM
  • 2023-24: $2.05MM

Hagel, 22, has come a very long way from being the 159th overall selection in 2016. That pick was made by the Buffalo Sabres, but by 2018 a contract hadn’t been worked out. The undersized forward became an unrestricted free agent but wasn’t snatched up by any other NHL team. He returned to the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL as an overager without a contract, and started to go to work on his younger opponents. By the end of October, he had 12 goals and 28 points in 15 games, enough to earn an entry-level deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.

In 2019-20, he would score 19 goals and 31 points in 59 games for the Rockford IceHogs, showing he could hang at the professional level. This year, he took that impressive performance to the NHL, scoring nine goals and 24 points in 52 games for the Blackhawks. A player that just can’t stop scoring, Hagel is now a building block for Chicago and locked up through a good chunk of his restricted free agency.

It’s a bit of a crowded field in the Blackhawks forward group, after adding names like Adam Gaudette and Henrik Borgstrom down the stretch, plus Tyler Johnson and Jujhar Khaira this summer, but Hagel should be secure in his role. The team will be able to mix and match the lines to find the right balance of veterans and youth, especially with the return of captain Jonathan Toews in the middle of the ice.

New York Rangers Sign Tim Gettinger

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The New York Rangers have signed a restricted free agent, though it’s not the one many fans are waiting for. Tim Gettinger has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level, according to PuckPedia. CapFriendly reports that it pays him $75,000 in the AHL.

Gettinger, 23, played in two games for the Rangers this season, taking his career total to eight. He still hasn’t managed to score a goal a the NHL level, but was a strong contributor for the Hartford Wolf Pack this time around. The 6’6″ forward, selected 141st overall in 2016, registered 19 points in 23 games at the AHL level this season, showing signs that he may finally be starting to use his size to full advantage.

Given the Rangers’ new focus on size and physicality in the bottom-six, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gettinger for more than two games this year. He’s not at all an enforcer, but can certainly hold his own in that type of physical role. The team went out of their way to add players like Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves this offseason, showing just how different they want the bottom of the lineup to look. If Gettinger can continue to improve offensively, it seems like a path to the NHL is right in front of him.

Boston Bruins Re-Sign Callum Booth

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The Boston Bruins have solidified their goaltending depth chart, re-signing goalie Callum Booth today. PuckPedia reports that it’s a one-year, two-way deal for the netminder, worth $750,000 with $70,000 in minor league pay.

Playing in just two games last season at any level, Booth hasn’t found much certainty throughout his playing career. Drafted in the fourth round by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015, he’s spent the majority of his professional career playing in the ECHL but has received extended looks at the AHL level in the past. Boston’s lost all of Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak, and Daniel Vladar from their goaltending depth chart this offseason, but they’ve offset the loss with the signings of Linus Ullmark and Troy Grosenick. With that being said, there’s likely some more opportunity for Booth to get looks at the AHL level, but he’ll be battling it out with Kyle Keyser for the backup role in Providence behind Grosenick.

Booth looks to get more playing time, though, regardless of where he’s playing. With certainty returning to all leagues in North America, Booth could reprise a starting role in the ECHL, possibly with the Maine Mariners, Boston’s affiliate. If not, it could potentially be another season of riding the bench for Booth, who provides more limited upside compared to Keyser.

Utica Comets Bring In Kevin Dineen As Head Coach

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With the NHL’s coaching carousel coming to a grinding halt, many big names will be taking coaching jobs over the next few weeks. Kevin Dineen is one of these names, as the Utica Comets announced today that he’ll be the third head coach in team history for the New Jersey Devils AHL affiliate.

Dineen has been in headlines all offseason long, as the 57-year-old was reportedly in talks to become the first head coach in Seattle Kraken history. It didn’t pan out, and he’ll now be a head coach in the AHL for the third straight season. Dineen was let go by the Anaheim Ducks organization last season after serving as the head coach of their affiliate in San Diego for two years.

It’s Dineen’s fourth head coaching job. Soon after retiring from the NHL, he transitioned to a front-office role and parlayed that into his first head coaching job with the AHL’s Portland Pirates. He lasted six seasons there, coaching from 2005 to 2011, before coaching the Florida Panthers from 2011 to 2014. He then served for an extended period of time as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks before taking the head coach role with San Diego in 2019.

Dineen will oversee a roster in Utica that could contain a few very key pieces to New Jersey’s future, including Alexander Holtz, Nolan Foote, and Kevin Bahl. The Devils hope his harder-nosed style translates to success on the ice in Utica.

Minor Transactions: 08/05/21

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The NHL’s having its biggest news day in a while today, as top stories include the New Jersey Devils’ acquisition of Tomas Tatar as well as clarity on future salary cap increases. And while it’s a banner day for the NHL news cycle, the rest of the hockey world is making some noise too. Every move made has some form of ripple effect, and that’s evident more in no other place than a list of minor transactions. Today is no different.

  • Per CapFriendly, the Calgary Flames are inviting enforcer Alex Gallant to their training camp on a professional try-out. Gallant, who carries no relation to New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, is somewhat of a minor league journeyman. Never drafted, he’s only tallied more than 10 points in a season once at any level. His willingness to fight and leadership in the room is what’s kept his career alive, and the Flames have taken notice. Gallant’s actually spent the last two seasons in the Calgary organization, playing a combined 61 games with the AHL’s Stockton Heat. He’s put up 10 points and 171 penalty minutes across those two years, and a return to Stockton is likely for Gallant if he gets an NHL contract out of the experience.
  • Also broken by CapFriendly today, netminder Evan Fitzpatrick has been invited to attend the Florida Panthers’ camp on a PTO. It’s actually certain that Fitzpatrick will spend time within the Panthers organization next season, after the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers inked him to an AHL deal on August 2. Fitzpatrick, who’s a former second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, was left unqualified this summer after he struggled to get consistent playing time in any league over the past few seasons. And while his numbers have been largely unimpressive since turning pro, Fitzpatrick did post a .930 save percentage last season in a small sample size with the AHL’s Utica Comets. He’ll now take his talents to the Southeast, where there’s still hope for the 23-year-old goalie.
  • Perhaps the most unlikely netminder to see NHL action this season, goalie Michael Houser has re-signed with the Rochester Americans on a one-year AHL contract. As Buffalo’s top four netminders in Linus Ullmark, Carter Hutton, Dustin Tokarski, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen were all out with injury at the end of this season, Houser got the call-up to the big show. Playing in four contests, he played admirably, posting a .901 save percentage and a 2-2-0 record. The seasoned AHL veteran will likely be a mentor to Luukkonen in Rochester next season, but more NHL action seems unlikely for Houser.

Will Borgen Agrees To Terms With Seattle Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken have agreed to terms with one of the players they selected in the expansion draft and will sign Will Borgen to a two-year deal. The contract will carry an average annual value of $900K. Borgen was the team’s choice from the Buffalo Sabres at last month’s draft. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement:

Will is a responsible, defensive defenseman who’s size and physical style of play can add a spark to a lineup. He’s still young and developing. We believe in his upside.

Borgen, 24, ended up being left unprotected by the Sabres in order to secure the substantial return they received for Rasmus Ristolainen a few days later. Even with Jeff Skinner waiving his no-movement clause, the team decided to protect seven forwards and three defensemen, leaving the inexperienced blueliner on the outside. The Kraken snapped him up and now have him signed through 2022-23 for a very reasonable amount.

Of course, it would have been hard for Borgen to negotiate much more, given he’s played just 14 NHL games and doesn’t have a single point to his name. The 6’3″ defenseman was a fourth-round pick by the Sabres in 2015 and is only just emerging as an NHL option. Whether he gets regular playing time in Seattle isn’t even clear, given how many other defensemen the team still has under contract. The Kraken already had six defensemen on one-way contracts, plus Vince Dunn, Cale Fleury and Dennis Cholowski still to sign as restricted free agents. They brought in Connor Carrick yesterday as well, meaning things are quite crowded on the Seattle back end.

That long defensive depth chart actually suggests that the Kraken will have to make a move or two before the start of the season, given that none of them are waiver-exempt. Whether that will be Borgen or someone else isn’t clear, but an acquiring team would at least know what to expect in terms of his contract now.

AHL Announces Expanded Playoff Format

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In 2022, 23 of 31 teams will qualify for the AHL playoffs as the league announced its revamped postseason structure today. The minor league will play five rounds to award the Calder Cup, including a best-of-three divisional series. AHL CEO Scott Howson released a short statement:

Our clubs and their National Hockey League partners recognize the importance of playoff races and postseason experience on overall player development. Expanding the Calder Cup Playoff field will allow some 150 additional players to play more meaningful games in pursuit of a championship.

All but two teams in each division will qualify for the postseason, meaning six Atlantic, five North, five Central and seven Pacific teams will be in the playoffs in 2022. The top two teams in the Atlantic, the top three in the North and Central, and the first-place team in the Pacific will all receive byes through the first round. That round will be a best-of-three between divisional opponents. The following round, which will include 16 re-seeded teams, will be a best-of-five, as will the third round. The Conference Finals and Calder Cup Finals will both be best-of-seven series to crown an AHL champion.

The AHL playoffs will start after the regular season concludes on April 24 and are expected to finish by June 23. The Calder Cup hasn’t been handed out since 2019, when the Charlotte Checkers took home the league championship.

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