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Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The end of July promised to be full of intrigue and activity and it certainly lived up to the hype.  Seattle drafted their team in expansion, taking a much different approach than Vegas did when they selected their team.  The Entry Draft came and went with some big trades being made along the way.  The free agent frenzy lived up to its name as days later, many are still playing catchup to figure out who all went where.

With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag.  If you missed the last one, it was broken into two pieces.  In the first half, Vegas’ goaltending situation, Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation to finish the season, and what Chicago needed to do to get back in the playoff hunt, among many other topics.  The second half included expansion, what Nathan MacKinnon’s next contract could look like, centers not named Jack Eichel that could be trade options, and more.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below.

Marco Rossi To Play In Olympic Qualifiers

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Last year was tough for many prospects, but perhaps none quite as much as Marco Rossi. Dealing with complications from COVID-19, Rossi was not only held off the ice but told he couldn’t even train, allowed on only short walks. His account of the situation is absolutely harrowing, as he told Michael Russo of The Athletic that “every time before I went to sleep, I was so scared that I won’t wake up anymore.” For a 19-year-old kid who was selected ninth overall and could have potentially made the jump immediately to the NHL, it was devastating.

Now, after a long recovery period, Rossi is ready to return to action. Russo and colleague Scott Wheeler both report that the young forward will take part in the Olympic qualifiers later this month, suiting up for Austria. The games take place between August 26-29, while the training camp will open on August 16 and include two exhibition matches.

It’s a huge deal for Rossi to get back on the ice in a game situation before Minnesota Wild training camp later this year. After posting 120 points in his draft year with the Ottawa 67’s, there were many who believed he could potentially step directly into the NHL for the 2020-21 season. A polished, two-way center, his upside for the Wild seemed limitless, even if there were still some concerns about his durability. Rossi stands just 5’9″ and will still have to show he can handle the grind of a professional season in North America.

Still, it’s incredible to hear that Rossi is back. Expectations may have to be lowered after missing an entire year—a crucial development one at that—but just getting him on the ice and playing is enough for excitement to build in Minnesota. Already signed to his entry-level contract, the first year slid forward, meaning he’s signed through 2023-24. It can actually slide again, depending on where he spends this season.

Minor Transactions: 08/04/21

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The offseason has reached a slow crawl as we wait for arbitration hearings later this month, but minor league teams are still filling out rosters. As always, we’ll keep track of the notable minor signings right here.

  • The Rochester Americans have signed Michael Mersch to a two-year AHL contract. The 28-year-old Mersch has played the last five full seasons in the minor leagues, moving between the Ontario Reign, Texas Stars and Americans. He scored 19 points in 28 games for Rochester this year and will add a strong offensive presence to the lineup again for the next while.
  • The Springfield Thunderbirds have signed Blake Christensen to an AHL deal, bringing him back to where he experienced so much college success. A star for the American International College, Christensen split last season between Norway and the Bakersfield Condors, where he had just two goals in ten games.
  • Jerry D’Amigo, who actually played 31 games in the NHL a few years ago, is returning to Germany to sign with Dusseldorfer EG for the 2021-22 season. Now 30, D’Amigo was once a World Junior star, part of the U.S. team that took home the 2010 gold medal, but has let his hockey career take him all over the world in recent years. The last time he suited up in the DEL, he had 22 points in 41 games.
  • Skyler McKenzie, who spent the last three seasons with the Manitoba Moose, is heading to Sweden to play for Vasterviks IK of the second tier. The 23-year-old forward did not receive a qualifying offer from the Winnipeg Jets this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
  • The Texas Stars have signed Josh Melnick to an AHL contract, bringing him back after parts of three seasons with the club. The 26-year-old forward was first signed out of Miami University (Ohio) and scored 22 points in 38 games last season for Texas.
  • Ryan Stanton is on his way back to the Rockford IceHogs, signing a one-year AHL contract. Stanton has played a decade in the minor leagues, including 35 games for the Bakersfield Condors last season. The 32-year-old defenseman will add some experience and leadership to the Blackhawks’ affiliate, something they lost when Cody Franson signed with the Hershey Bears.

Montreal Canadiens Extend Alex Burrows

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The Montreal Canadiens coaching staff is in place for the next several years. After reaching new deals with head coach Dominique Ducharme and assistant Luke Richardson earlier this summer, the team has now announced a three-year extension for Alex Burrows.

Burrows was elevated from the Laval Rocket earlier this year when Ducharme took over as interim head coach, and will now stay on with the group that led the Canadiens all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. In charge of the forwards and powerplay, Burrows actually seemed to be a candidate to take over as head coach of the Rocket this year, before they hired Jean-Francois Houle.

Instead, he’ll stay with the big club, continuing to try and help young players like Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki find their way in the NHL. A veteran of nearly 1,000 NHL games, Burrows can relate to both high-scoring talent and the bottom-six grinders just trying to hold on. He was both during his career, reaching a high of 35 goals while playing with the Sedin twins in Vancouver, while also racking up more than 1,100 penalty minutes as one of the league’s most effective pests.

Logan Stanley Signs With Winnipeg Jets

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed Logan Stanley to a two-year contract, which will carry an average annual value of $900K. Stanley was a restricted free agent after performing admirably in his rookie season. PuckPedia reports that Stanley will earn $800K in 2021-22 and $1.0MM in 2022-23.

A contract that inexpensive could be a huge win for the Jets, as they look to rebuild their defense for next season. The team already brought in Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon, while retaining Dylan DeMelo in the expansion draft. With Stanley in the fold for such a low price and Neal Pionk still to sign, the Jets suddenly have a pretty impressive depth chart on the back end.

The 23-year-old is one of the most imposing figures in the league at 6’7″ and can skate well enough to effectively shut down rushes. Even though there was some concern over his upside in the minor leagues, he stepped into the Winnipeg lineup this season and found almost immediate success. Though his role was limited, the hulking defenseman managed to record four points in 37 games, putting up good possession stats and traditional +/-. Though not always chasing the hit, Stanley’s size obviously gives him a physical advantage over most players, one which he’s still just learning how to effectively use.

While he should figure into the lineup next season, the veterans added certainly does complicate things. The team still has Nathan Beaulieu and prospect Ville Heinola as well, meaning their number of NHL-level defensemen has suddenly reached at least eight. That’s not even considering Dylan Samberg, who looks ready to contribute soon.

That’s a big change from last season when the Jets were searching high and low for defensive help all year. The question now becomes what does Pionk sign for, given the team only has about $6MM in cap space left to sign him and Andrew Copp. Even less if you consider the fact that they only have nine forwards currently on one-way deals, and don’t have an obvious backup goaltender except for the inexperienced Eric Comrie. It will be a tight squeeze in Winnipeg this summer, but Stanley taking such a low-cost contract certainly helps matters.

New Jersey Devils Re-Sign A.J. Greer

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The New Jersey Devils have added their name to the list of teams making transactions today. PuckPedia reports that the team’s re-signed forward A.J. Greer to a one-year, two-way deal. It pays $750,000 at the NHL level and $130,000 at the minor-league level.

Greer joined the Devils organization this year by way of trade. He was part of the package sent to the team by the New York Islanders in the deadline deal that sent Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac the other way. It was a blessing in disguise for Greer, who had an extremely slow offensive start in the AHL with just two points in 10 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. After the trade and subsequent assignment to Binghamton, Greer performed spectacularly with 14 points in just 16 games.

While it may not ever translate to the NHL level, as Greer’s now aged 24, there’s still some possible upside left in the former second-round pick. He’s a reliable body that can be used as a call-up in the case of injury and is a reliable producer at the minor-league level who can help assist young talent that the Devils are trying to develop. While he may not be in the organization’s long-term plans, it’s still a good idea to re-sign him for one year.

Travis Boyd Signs With Arizona Coyotes

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The Arizona Coyotes signed free agent forward Travis Boyd to a one-year contract, the team tweeted today. Craig Morgan reports that the contract is one-way in nature, and his agent, Ben Hankinson, reports that the deal comes with a cap hit of $750,000.

Boyd, now 27 years old, has yet to truly become a regular in any NHL lineup. With that being said, he’s generally impressed when given the chance. He’s now scored ten points in the NHL for three consecutive seasons, including a 20-point campaign with the Washington Capitals in 2018-19. After impressing again with the Toronto Maple Leafs early in the season (eight points in 20 games), he was picked up by the Vancouver Canucks on waivers, where his game stagnated with just two goals in 19 games.

Boyd will likely be reprising a fourth-line/extra forward role with the Coyotes, but, if he recaptures his offensive touch, could potentially work his way up into third-line minutes and a regular job. It’s a grim outlook for goal-scoring in Arizona, and he could edge out the more defensive-minded Johan Larsson and Jay Beagle for added minutes. How consistently Boyd is able to perform remains to be seen, but it’s a low-risk, solid bet signing for Bill Armstrong and the Coyotes.

New York Rangers Re-Sign Adam Huska

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The New York Rangers are bringing back a familiar face to their goaltending depth chart. CapFriendly reports that the team has re-signed netminder Adam Huska to a one-year, two-way deal for the 2021-22 season. It pays $750,000 in NHL salary and $80,000 in minors salary.

Huska, who hails from Zvolen, Slovakia, re-signs with the only NHL organization he’s ever known. Now 24 years of age, Huska was drafted by the Rangers in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Huska’s spent most of his development playing in North America, including a three-year stint with the University of Connecticut. He’s only spent the last two full seasons playing professionally in the Rangers organization, though, and that’s not counting a pre-season loan this season to Huska’s hometown team.

Despite not putting up spectacular numbers at the AHL level, Huska’s showed signs of promise at the ECHL level with the Maine Mariners and overseas. However, if Huska does want a long-term shot with the Rangers, he’ll likely need to demonstrate solid improvement at the AHL level this season in Hartford. If not, he runs the risk of not being qualified by the team when he’s a restricted free agent again next season. There’s still upside in his game, and could eventually challenge for NHL starts, but he’ll need to give the Rangers a reason to believe sooner rather than later.

Clearance Section: Finding Value In What’s Left

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The 2021 free agent frenzy is over. After more than a billion dollars was signed away in just a few days, the NHL unrestricted free agent market has dried up almost entirely. When Ryan Murray settled for a one-year, $2MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche yesterday, he became the only real UFA deal of significance since the calendar turned to August.

Even though things are almost picked clean, there still may be some value out there for a savvy NHL front office. Twelve players from our Top 50 UFA list are still unsigned for next season, though several of those are expected to be in agreement with the New York Islanders and others like Tuukka Rask are unlikely to make a decision anytime soon. We profiled Tomas Tatar recently–arguably the best player still available–and will continue to do the same for the other names from that list in the coming days.

But even beyond those players, there is still NHL talent out there, waiting for the right opportunity (or big enough paycheck). A few of the notable free agents that didn’t make our Top 50 list, but remain unsigned:

Ryan Donato – A second-round pick, a Hobey Baker finalist, an Olympian. All things to describe the 25-year-old Donato, who was cut loose by the San Jose Sharks this summer after just one season with the team. The Sharks decided not to issue Donato a qualifying offer that would have allowed him to elect salary arbitration, putting him on the market after a frustratingly inconsistent season. In 50 games, he scored just six goals and 20 points, but then went to the IIHF World Championship and won a bronze medal. Of note, Donato’s most common linemates this season were John Leonard and Dylan Gambrell, who have a combined 36 points in the NHL. Perhaps in the right situation, he can rediscover the scoring magic that helped him explode onto the scene in Boston just a few years ago.

Jason Demers – Is Demers finished at age-33? The veteran right-handed defenseman certainly seems like a player that could be one of the bargains of free agency, even if his play has declined over the last few years. With the Arizona Coyotes this season he averaged the fewest minutes since his rookie season, but still likely could provide some value to a contender as a depth option. There’s almost no offense left, as Demers registered just four points in 41 games this season, but he can still contribute as a bottom-pairing option, even killing penalties at times.

Alex Galchenyuk – Just a few months ago there was plenty of excitement around Galchenyuk, who had seemingly turned his career around in Toronto. The 27-year-old forward was pulled off the scrap heap by the Maple Leafs and spent time with the team’s development staff rebuilding his game. In 26 contests down the stretch he scored 12 points, and offensively was actually one of the team’s bright spots in the playoffs with four points in six games (and, one brutal turnover). There are certainly plenty of red flags in Galchenyuk’s career, but one-time 30-goal scorers who recently showed flashes of their former self are usually snapped up quickly by rebuilding teams that want to complete a pump-and-dump–give them huge minutes during the first half just to flip for future assets at the deadline.

Erik Gudbranson – You won’t find many statistical defenses of Gudbranson, who has been carved up by the analytics community since basically the moment he arrived in the NHL. The thing is, that arrival was a decade ago now and you can’t find a ton of 29-year-old free agents with as much experience as the 6’5″ defenseman. There’s no reason to think he can play in a top-four, or perhaps even be a regular contributor, but there’s something to be said for the strong play he experienced down the stretch in 2019 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the right situation, surrounded by the right amount of talent and deployed properly, there is still a place for Gudbranson in the NHL.

There are plenty of other names that could end up on an NHL roster next season. At this time of the year none of the signings are going to dramatically change the makeup of a team, but as contending teams have shown year after year in the playoffs, adding depth at the right spots–even players that have struggled elsewhere–can make a difference at the right moment.

Coaching Notes: Condon, Kowalsky, Guite

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The Northeastern Huskies have added former NHL goaltender Mike Condon as a voluntary assistant coach for the upcoming season, giving the 31-year-old netminder a chance to start a new chapter of his hockey career. Condon last played professional hockey during the 2019-20 season, when he split time between the Syracuse Crunch, Charlotte Checkers, and Orlando Solar Bears.

A veteran of 129 regular season appearances, Condon actually signed a three-year $7.2MM contract with the Ottawa Senators in 2017 after he burst onto the NHL scene. After playing in 55 games as a rookie during the 2015-16 campaign with the Montreal Canadiens, he appeared in 40 for the Senators the following season and recorded a .914 save percentage. Things would quickly go downhill in Ottawa, with Condon finding himself in the minor leagues before the end of the second year, and he will now give coaching a go.

  • The Bridgeport Islanders have hired Rick Kowalsky as an assistant coach, bringing him over from the New Jersey Devils staff. Kowalsky had previously been the head coach of the Trenton, Albany, and Binghamton Devils, spending more than a decade in the organization. A recipient of both the ECHL and AHL coach of the year awards, he’ll join Bridgeport head coach Brent Thompson as an experienced voice behind the Islanders bench.
  • The Maine Mariners are now the ECHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins, and they’ll be led by a man who once suited up for the NHL squad. Ben Guite, who played nearly 200 games in the NHL (including one for the Bruins), has been named the second head coach in Mariners history. Guite spent the last eight seasons with the University of Maine, serving as associate head coach the last four.

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