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Archives for January 2022

Snapshots: Kane, Ryan, LaFontaine

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The San Jose Sharks officially filed the termination of Evander Kane’s contract yesterday, but it was met with a grievance from the NHLPA last night, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. How it will all work out is still very much unclear, but for now, Kane and his representatives have begun searching for a new home.

In fact, Dan Milstein, Kane’s agent, told LeBrun that there is a lot of interest in his client who will be signing a one-year deal for the rest of this season. Darren Dreger of TSN said on the radio today that 15-20 teams have expressed some level of interest, with the Edmonton Oilers being one of them.

  • It appears as though Bobby Ryan’s bid to represent the United States again at the Olympics won’t come to fruition, as former NHL player Marc Methot tweets that Ryan hasn’t made the roster. The veteran forward was supposed to play at the recent Spengler Cup in preparation, but it was canceled due to COVID concerns. Interestingly, that means that Ryan could potentially be on the radar for NHL teams looking to add a little bit of depth down the stretch.
  • Jack LaFontaine has been assigned to the Carolina Hurricanes taxi squad and spoke to Sara Civian of The Athletic about what he calls a “golden” opportunity to start his NHL career. Civian reports that it is likely that LaFontaine gets at least one game with the Hurricanes this season. The young goaltender left his college career behind to sign with Carolina and will be a restricted free agent this summer whether he plays in the NHL or not.

Coyotes Cancel Practice, Add Six To COVID Protocol

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Another coronavirus outbreak is starting in the NHL, this time affecting the Arizona Coyotes. The team canceled practice earlier today after receiving test results and this afternoon announced that Scott Wedgewood, Jakob Chychrun, Cam Dineen, Anton Stralman, head coach Andre Tourigny, and goaltending coach Corey Schwab have all been placed in the COVID protocol.

The Coyotes are scheduled to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, before a home-and-home series against the Colorado Avalanche on the weekend. The team already had Kyle Capobianco and assistant coach Mario Duhamel in the protocol, placed there a few days ago.

While Chychrun was already out with an injury, losing the other players–especially Wedgewood–is certainly a challenge for the Coyotes. The team has so many injuries and absences even before these players were ruled out, that icing a competitive lineup will be even tougher.

Of course, the Coyotes were having trouble icing a roster like that anyway as they go through a scorched earth rebuild. The team has won just seven times in 33 games and sit last in the entire NHL.

Gabriel Landeskog Enters COVID Protocol

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The Colorado Avalanche will be without their captain tonight, as Gabriel Landeskog has tested positive for coronavirus and entered the league’s COVID protocols. Landeskog’s test was confirmed today, according to head coach Jared Bednar, meaning he’ll miss at least five days. The forward is asymptomatic at this point.

Colorado takes on the Seattle Kraken this evening after their thrilling comeback win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. The Avalanche are now 21-8-2 on the season despite starting the year 4-5-1. In fact, they are showing just why many considered them a Stanley Cup contender before the season began, routinely running up big goal numbers against every opponent. The Avalanche have scored at least four goals in 10 of their last 12 games, including 20 in their last four.

Without Landeskog, that becomes a little harder to maintain. The 29-year-old forward has been outstanding this season, scoring 14 goals and 35 points through 26 appearances. It wouldn’t be the first time he has scored at a point-per-game pace, but it’s easily the best offensive pace of his career to this point, one that already spans more than 700 games. For now, that number won’t grow any as he watches his teammates from a hotel room, isolating as he waits to test out of the protocol.

Peter Baugh of The Athletic notes that Jack Johnson and Valeri Nichushkin were both in regular sweaters at morning skate. Landeskog is currently the only Colorado player in the protocol.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/10/22

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Despite many more additions to the COVID protocol, the NHL actually does have three games on the schedule for this evening. With a full slate of games coming on Tuesday as well, teams around the league will be preparing their rosters for action. As they do, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling right here.

Atlantic Division

  • The Montreal Canadiens have returned Jean-Sebastien Dea and Michael McNiven to the Laval Rocket, as they start to get some players back from the COVID protocol. The Canadiens haven’t played since January 1 and won’t be involved in a game until Wednesday, when they finally get their nightmare season back underway.
  • The Ottawa Senators have sent Filip Gustavsson back to the Belleville Senators, suggesting that Anton Forsberg is ready to return. The interesting part is that Matt Murray is staying up for the time being, with the younger Gustavsson returning to play in the minor leagues.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • Riley Damiani and Adam Scheel have been returned to the AHL by the Dallas Stars, after the former failed to get into his second NHL game yesterday. Damiani took warmup with the team but then sat out and will have to wait for his next opportunity with the club.

Pacific Division

This page will be updated throughout the day

Several Jets Placed In COVID Protocol

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Jan 11: Nathan Beaulieu, Ville Heinola, Logan Stanley, and Kristian Reichel have all been added to the protocol today. The Jets will be severely shorthanded for Thursday’s game, should it go on as scheduled.

Jan 10: The last time the Winnipeg Jets were on the ice, they were run out of the building by the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-1 massacre. Connor Hellebuyck needed to make 35 saves to even keep it that close, while Andrew Copp, Mark Scheifele, and Nikolaj Ehlers all logged more than 20 minutes for the Jets injury-riddled lineup. Now, the latter of those three will be unavailable for the team moving forward as Ehlers has entered the COVID protocol.

He joins Jansen Harkins, Dylan DeMelo, and Arvid Holm in the protocol for the Jets, who are scheduled to return to action this Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. If Ehlers has tested positive, he’ll miss at least that game as he isolates away from his teammates.

Losing one of their top-line players at a point like this is obviously a big blow for the Jets, who were already using several inexperienced options like Cole Perfetti and Kristian Reichel. With Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny both out, a forward group that was once considered among the deepest in the league now has more than a few band-aids.

The Jets meanwhile are falling further and further behind in the Central Division, now sitting at 16-12-5 on the year and seven points behind the Minnesota Wild. They’ve gone 3-2 since Dave Lowry took over the coaching responsibilities following Paul Maurice’s resignation.

Tage Thompson Placed In COVID Protocol; Jack Quinn Recalled

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The Buffalo Sabres could have another debut on the horizon, as Jack Quinn has been recalled to the taxi squad and was on the ice at practice today. His appearance could be explained by the absence of Tage Thompson, who was moved to the COVID protocol. Quinn skated on a line with Dylan Cozens and Vinnie Hinostroza according to John Vogl of The Athletic, suggesting he could play tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Quinn, 20, was the eighth overall pick in 2020 and has so far spent his professional career entirely in the minor leagues. The AHL has posed no issue, however, as the talented youngster has 26 points in 20 games this season for the Rochester Americans and looks poised to make an impact at the higher level.

If he does replace Thompson in the lineup tomorrow and make his debut, he’ll have some big shoes to fill. The 24-year-old Thompson has found his game this season with 12 goals and 23 points in 34 games, good enough to lead the Sabres in both categories. Despite standing 6’7″, the hulking winger actually plays more of a skill game and is on pace to more than double his previous career totals.

Unfortunately, he’s not the only Sabre in the protocol at the moment. Thompson joins Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, and Kyle Okposo on the sideline for tomorrow’s game.

Five Key Stories: 1/3/22 – 1/9/22

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The first full week of 2022 brought some notable surprises which are highlighted among the key stories of the week.

Klingberg Unhappy? Stars defenseman John Klingberg is one of the top blueliners that’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.  He was hoping for an extension but that clearly hasn’t happened yet and that isn’t sitting well with him.  A report surfaced earlier in the week that he had requested a trade and while Klingberg tried to walk that back a little bit when speaking with reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News, he didn’t accomplish that too much.  While he acknowledged he’d like to stay, he also admitted he doesn’t “feel like I’ve been appreciated”.  The 29-year-old is set to command a max-term contract and if an extension doesn’t come over the next couple of months, his name is going to start to come up frequently in trade speculation.

Leaving Early: It’s rare that a college player leaves midseason to turn pro but desperate times called for desperate measures for Carolina, who signed goaltender Jack LaFontaine to a one-year, entry-level contract.  The 24-year-old was the goalie of the year in the NCAA last season while being a Hobey Baker finalist while posting a 1.79 GAA along with a .934 SV%.  The plan was for him to remain at Minnesota but with the team having several injuries among their goalies on NHL contracts, they’ve had to turn to him a little earlier than expected.  LaFontaine immediately loses his NCAA eligibility and will not be able to return to the Golden Gophers once the injury situation for the Hurricanes stabilizes.

Kane Released: The Sharks have parted ways with winger Evander Kane, terminating his contract after he cleared unconditional waivers.  In doing so, they are trying to rid themselves of the remaining salary and cap hit on his contract (roughly $23.5MM between now and 2024-25).  The team is citing a breach of contract and failure to abide by AHL COVID protocol which is believed to revolve around a flight he took to Vancouver during his isolation period and an assertion that he didn’t return when he was supposed to.  The NHLPA and his agent have already stated that they intend to grieve this decision so this story is far from over.  In the meantime, Kane technically becomes an unrestricted free agent but if his grievance comes with an intent to restore his original contract in San Jose, it’s possible that he holds off on signing for the time being.

Another Deal Terminated: Kane’s contract wasn’t the only notable termination of the week.  Following a breakdown over who was covering additional costs on Calgary’s arena project, the deal was terminated as a January 1st decision deadline came and went without an extension or an agreement reached.  The Flames have played in their current arena since 1983 and a new facility for them has been high on the priority list for them for several years now.  However, they’ll be going back to the drawing board now and will continue to play out of the Saddledome for the foreseeable future.

Crouse Receiving Interest: The more notable veterans in Arizona are the ones drawing attention – look no further than the reported asking price for Jakob Chychrun – but one player that’s more under the radar that is garnering interest is winger Lawson Crouse.  The 24-year-old is on pace for a career year offensively and has two years of team control remaining after this one at an affordable $1.533MM cap hit.  That has the Coyotes well-positioned to yield a strong return for Crouse if they decide that he’s not a part of their long-term plans.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Canadiens, Gallant, McDonnell

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Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is expected to soon meet with the surgeon who performed his knee surgery over the summer to determine the next step in his rehab, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.  The veteran has yet to play this season after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and had resumed on-ice drills until about three weeks ago.  There remains no timetable for his return for now but that should change soon following that meeting.

Meanwhile, wingers Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman, Joel Armia, and center Christian Dvorak have all been classified as day-to-day as they work their way back from respective injuries.  Anderson, in particular, appears to be ahead of schedule as he was initially expected to be out until early February.  With Montreal having 15 players currently in COVID protocol, any returns would be a boost as they get set to resume their season on Wednesday in Boston.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that head coach Gerard Gallant has been placed in COVID protocol. Assistant coach Kris Knoblauch will take over as New York’s acting bench boss.  It’s the second year in a row that Knoblauch has filled in for this reason as he also was thrust into that role in 2020-21 when he filled in for David Quinn for six games with the team winning four of those contests.  Gallant shouldn’t be out that long as he could return after as little as five days.
  • With the OHL trade deadline now just a day away, another NHL-drafted player is on the move as Lightning prospect Declan McDonnell has been moved to the Barrie Colts. The 19-year-old was the final pick of the 2020 draft (217th overall) but has collected 24 points in 28 games this season.  Tampa Bay has until June 1st to sign McDonnell or they will lose his rights.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Carolina Hurricanes

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2021-22 season and beyond.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Carolina Hurricanes

Current Cap Hit: $83,873,123 (over the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Seth Jarvis (three years, $894K)
F Martin Necas (one year, $863K)

Potential Bonuses:
Jarvis: $500K
Necas: $537.5K
Total: $1.0375MM

Jarvis was in a bit of a tough spot to start the season – he couldn’t be sent to the minors but he wasn’t seeing regular action with Carolina either.  However, he has worked his way into more of a regular role with the team happily going past the nine-game plateau to burn the first year of his deal.  It’s hard to forecast his next deal with him just starting out and from a bonus perspective, it’s unlikely he reaches any of his incentives.

Necas has seen his production tick back a little this year although with 19 points in 31 games, he’s still doing well.  He’s the type of player that Carolina may want to try to sign to a deal that buys out a couple of years of UFA eligibility but the quieter platform year may actually make that tougher as it should make Necas be more agreeable to a bridge deal, allowing him to boost his value before locking in a long-term pact.  He has three ‘A’ bonuses in his deal and is on pace to hit one of those right now although a few others are within reach as well.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Ethan Bear ($2MM, RFA)
D Ian Cole ($2.9MM, UFA)
D Anthony DeAngelo ($1MM, RFA)
F Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($6.1MM, RFA)
F Steven Lorentz ($725K, RFA)
F Nino Niederreiter ($5.25MM, UFA)
D/F Brendan Smith ($800K, UFA)
F Derek Stepan ($1.35MM, UFA)
F Vincent Trocheck ($4.75MM, UFA)

Kotkaniemi’s offer sheet was one of the headlines of the offseason as it’s rare that one is tendered and rarer that it isn’t matched.  However, it was enough of an overpayment for Montreal to accept the draft pick compensation instead.  The key word is overpayment though.  The 21-year-old hasn’t produced at a level that would warrant a $6.1MM qualifying offer and while there is a window to take a player to arbitration at a lower rate (85%), that’s still a particularly high salary.  Accordingly, it stands to reason that Carolina will try to sign Kotkaniemi to a long-term deal in the coming weeks and months, one that may come in a little lower than his current price tag with an argument that it would be better than running the risk of a non-tender in the summer.

Niederreiter has shown flashes of being a top offensive player over the past few years but hasn’t been able to sustain it.  This season, he has been on the third line at times and that’s not going to help his market value.  A small decrease on his current AAV is a likelier outcome than a small raise at this point.  That shouldn’t be the case for Trocheck who stands to be one of the top centers to hit the open market if he’s still unsigned by July.  There is always a premium paid for those players and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him at $6.5MM or more on a long-term deal.  Stepan is still a capable fourth liner but won’t be able to use his prior reputation to boost his value and it’s unlikely he’ll wind up with more money on his next deal although he should be able to come close.  Lorentz will get a small raise on his AAV by default but this is a spot Carolina will need to keep close to the minimum – a one-way deal is doable but it should still be around the $750K mark.

Cole has been a quality veteran shutdown defender for several years although he’s starting to slow down.  He’ll have no problems finding another contract but after taking a pay cut last summer, he may need to do so again this coming summer.  Bear has been decent with his new team but hasn’t been able to move into the top four like they’d have hoped.  He’s owed a $2.4MM qualifying offer and he should get it but he’ll have a hard time making a case that he’s worth substantially more.  Smith has carved out a niche as a depth defender that can play up front as well and that will keep him in the league for a few years but they will be seasons where he’s near the league minimum as he is now.

DeAngelo is going to be one of the more interesting RFA cases to watch for.  As much as he had to sign for cheap on the open market in the summer, he’s two years removed from a 53-point campaign and is producing close to a point per game level this season.  Those are numbers that will carry a lot of weight if he makes it to an arbitration hearing which is the probable outcome if Carolina tenders him a qualifying offer.  Is that a risk they want to take knowing that there are several other core players that need to be re-signed or replaced?  If not, they’ll have to make a big push to try to sign him before the tender deadline and with all of the off-ice factors to consider, there’s a very wide range of what he could sign for.

Two Years Remaining

G Frederik Andersen ($4.5MM, UFA)
F Jesper Fast ($2MM, UFA)
D Jake Gardiner ($4.05MM, UFA)
G Antti Raanta ($2MM, UFA)
F Jordan Staal ($6MM, UFA)

Staal has always been a quality two-way center and while he may not have always produced at a top-six level, he has done well living up to the price tag of this contract over time.  Things haven’t gone too well this season, however, as he has slowed down and his production has tailed off.  He won’t have any problems getting another contract two years from now but at that time, it’ll be more commensurate with third-line production which could result in his salary being nearly cut in half.  Fast’s contract seemed cheap at the time and still is now for someone that’s a decent secondary scorer in the middle six.  I’d predict that he could land a contract that’s higher than that two years from now but I’d have said that two years ago as well when he opted to take this deal.

Gardiner is out for the season with hip and back trouble and is on LTIR.  At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that be the case next year as well.

It took more than a decade for Andersen to play for the team that originally drafted him but he has been worth the wait as he has been one of the top goalies in the league so far this season.  Carolina’s playing style is a goalie-friendly one but his level of play has been better than most starters at a lower cost.  Two years of that could give him one more shot at a bigger payday somewhere.  Raanta, though often injured, signed for less than what most top backups make which limits the risk involved in signing him.  When he’s healthy, he’s a capable second-stringer but until he can stay in the lineup for an extended period of time, these are the types of contracts he’ll be limited to.

Three Years Remaining

F Sebastian Aho ($8.46MM, UFA)
F Jordan Martinook ($1.8MM, UFA)
F Teuvo Teravainen ($5.4MM, UFA)
D Brett Pesce ($4.025MM, UFA)
D Brady Skjei ($5.25MM, UFA)

Aho, as you may recall, had been the last player to receive an offer sheet before Kotkaniemi with Carolina ultimately matching.  The deal has been a below-market one for a top center although the term of the contract allows Aho to reach the open market while still in the prime of his career.  A jump past the $10MM mark appears to be a certainty if he continues at this level of play.  Teravainen has turned into quite the prize for taking on Bryan Bickell’s contract back in 2016 (the Hurricanes dealt a pair of draft picks but neither were worth Teravainen) as he has worked his way into being a top-line winger who is making second line money on a team-friendly deal.  He’s in line for another $2MM or so on his next contract.  Martinook was once a third liner for Carolina but has dropped to the fourth line lately, making this deal a bit of an overpayment in terms of value.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him shopped at some point for someone a bit cheaper to get a bit of cap flexibility.

Skjei hasn’t been quite as impactful for Carolina compared to his time with the Rangers although he hadn’t exactly had the same role either.  They’re deploying him as a steadying presence on the second pairing, a role that he’s a bit overpriced for but the fact he can move up when needed makes it a worthwhile luxury to have.  Pesce, meanwhile, has blossomed from someone who was previously playing Skjei’s role into a top-pairing player while making considerably less than others in that spot on other teams.  He’s looking at a nice raise three years from now whether it’s from Carolina or someone else.

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Carolina Hurricanes Sign Jack LaFontaine

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It’s not often that you see an NHL team sign a college prospect during the season, but with the Carolina Hurricanes desperately searching for goaltending depth that’s exactly what has happened. Jack LaFontaine, the reigning Mike Richter Award winner and current starting goaltender for the University of Minnesota, has signed his one-year entry-level contract, leaving the college level behind.

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell released a statement:

As the reigning Mike Richter Award recipient, Jack has proven he’s ready to take the next steps in his career. We love his athleticism and consistency and can’t wait for him to start his professional career.

LaFontaine is no longer eligible to play in the NCAA and will join the Hurricanes organization immediately. His entry-level deal comes with a prorated NHL salary of $750K, an AHL salary of $70K, and a signing bonus of $88.5K (the release originally indicated LaFontaine had received a $250K bonus, but entry-level signing bonuses are capped at $92.5K).

Already 24, it’s been nearly six years since LaFontaine was selected 75th overall by the Hurricanes in 2016. The 6’3″ netminder debuted for the University of Michigan the following season, but after two years in a rotating goaltending platoon, he left the Wolverines and played a year with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL, winning the league’s top goaltender award. He joined Minnesota in 2019-20 and posted a .919 save percentage in 25 starts, but it was 2020-21 when he really excelled.

Last season he posted a 22-7 record with a .934 save percentage, winning the NCAA top goaltender award and finishing as a finalist for the Hobey Baker. He was a first-team All-American, won the Big Ten tournament MVP, and looked poised to make the jump to professional hockey. Instead, he used the additional year of availability offered because of COVID to return to Minnesota for this season and was named a co-captain of the Golden Gophers.

His departure after 20 games is somewhat shocking, though things hadn’t been going quite as well this time around. LaFontaine has a .900 save percentage through 20 games with a 12-8 record. That’s where his college career will end, leaving Minnesota with Justen Close and Brennan Boynton in net. Of course, the Gophers would have had Jared Moe, a Winnipeg Jets sixth-round pick, but he transferred to Wisconsin (where he has a .922 in 17 games) when LaFontaine decided to return.

With Antti Raanta injured, the Hurricanes went with Alex Lyon in net last night against the Florida Panthers but have organizational depth issues into the low minors as well. Eetu Makiniemi and Beck Warm are both currently injured, leaving the Chicago Wolves scrambling to sign goaltenders to professional tryouts just to ice a roster. LaFontaine will help ease those issues, whether he ends up at the AHL or NHL level. He’ll also get to burn through his entry-level deal this season, making him a restricted free agent in the summer.

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