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Igor Shesterkin Wins The 2022 Vezina Trophy

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On Tuesday, the final five NHL awards are being handed out.  First up was the Vezina Trophy for the best goaltender.  The winner of the award was Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.  The other finalists were Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom and Nashville’s Juuse Saros.

The 26-year-old had a dominant season, leading the league with a 2.07 GAA along with a .935 SV%.  That helped lead New York to second place in the Metropolitan Division while recording their highest point total since the 2014-15 campaign and third-best in franchise history.  Shesterkin’s numbers in the playoffs were also quite strong as he put up a 2.59 GAA along with a .929 SV% as he helped the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Final before they were eliminated in six by Tampa Bay.  He becomes the third Ranger to win the award under the current voting criteria, joining Henrik Lundqvist and John Vanbiesbrouck.

The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the 32 General Managers and it was a near-unanimous selection as Shesterkin took home 29 of 32 first-place votes while having more voting points than every other goalie combined.  Interestingly, the other two finalists didn’t receive a first-place vote with those nods going to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Lightning, Ilya Sorokin of the Islanders, and Frederik Andersen of the Hurricanes.

The full results of the voting can be found here.

Latest On J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser

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It’s no secret that the Vancouver Canucks are looking to build a more dynamic team worthy of contention. With new management installed, the team has already made some waves this offseason by signing top European free agent Andrei Kuzmenko. Vancouver still remains a popular name in trade talks, though, as the team is sitting on a pair of high-profile forwards that don’t seem to fit into the team’s long-term plans. TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Insider Trading today that the team is wide open to trading both J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, noting that the Canucks are listening to strong market interest.

Dreger also notes that the Canucks aren’t interested in accumulating draft picks as parts of returns for Miller and Boeser. With the organization looking to make a playoff push as soon as possible, they prefer to acquire NHL-ready young talent in place of futures.

While Boeser is a free agent this offseason, he is under team control as an RFA. With a $7.5MM qualifying offer due to him, though, that’s too rich for the Canucks’ taste, especially considering his subpar 2021-22 performance (23 goals, 46 points in 71 games). In Miller’s case, the team is hesitant to give the 29-year-old forward too much term on a contract extension after a career season. Miller has one year remaining on a deal with a $5.25MM cap hit and is a UFA next summer.

If both Miller and Boeser are moved, it will undoubtedly be some of the biggest trade news of the offseason (save for all those Chicago Blackhawks trade rumors). It certainly seems as though Vancouver is more intent on trading both players as time passes by, making it seem more like an eventuality at this point.

Daniil Miromanov Signs Extension With Golden Knights

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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Daniil Miromanov has signed a two-year extension to stay in the desert, according to a team announcement Tuesday afternoon. Miromanov’s extension will carry him through 2024 and has an average annual value of $762,500.

The Golden Knights acquired the 1997-born Miromanov as an undrafted free agent in March of 2021, signing him to a one-year entry-level contract after he had 10 goals, 19 assists, and 29 points in 58 games with HK Sochi in the KHL during the 2020-21 campaign. Miromanov, 24, spent his first full professional campaign in North America this season, playing well with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights for 40 points in 53 games. He played his first 11 NHL games this season as well, notching an assist.

The versatile defenseman can also play right wing, as he did on limited occasions for Vegas this season due to injuries. While he likely won’t be a full-time member of the team come next October, he’ll be high up on the list of recall options from Henderson. Long-term, the NHL upside is still there.

USA Hockey Names National Junior Evaluation Camp Roster

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With the significantly delayed 2022 World Junior Championship just around the corner, national organizations are beginning to announce their preparatory rosters for the tournament. Sweden did so earlier today, and now it’s the United States’ turn.

The eligibility rules for this postponed event are the same, but with the tournament taking place during the offseason, expect a higher-than-normal level of talent released to national teams for the occasion. The full U.S. roster (link here) will have that same luxury.

Highlighting the team’s forward core are San Jose Sharks prospect Thomas Bordeleau, Calgary Flames prospect Matt Coronato, and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Matt Knies. Knies had the luxury of going to the 2022 Winter Olympics, playing at the most prestigious level of international hockey for the United States. On defense, New Jersey Devils prospect Luke Hughes and Los Angeles Kings prospect Brock Faber will take hold.

The most noteworthy part, though, like Sweden’s, is the amount of 2022-eligible choices who will now be under consideration for the final roster. There’s a strong group of forwards in that regard in addition to Logan Cooley, who made the team the first time around. Also under consideration are forwards Cutter Gauthier, Isaac Howard, Jack Hughes, Cam Lund, Rutger McGroarty, Frank Nazar III, and Jimmy Snuggerud. On defense, there’s Seamus Casey, Ryan Chesley, and Lane Hutson headlining the potential 2022 class.

There’s a very solid mix of youth, high-end skill, and veteran leadership on this United States team, who remain one of the favorites to capture a medal.

Poll: NHL Award Predictions

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Tonight’s the night that the stars gather to hand out some fancy hardware at the 2022 NHL Awards in Tampa. Kenan Thompson will return to host the show, which will be the first live award event since 2019, with the last two canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The event will announce the winners of the Hart Trophy, the Norris Trophy, the Vezina Trophy, the Calder Trophy, and the Ted Lindsay Award, five of the most prestigious individual awards in hockey. With just a few hours before things kick off, let’s see if the PHR community can predict the winners of each.

For the Hart, given to the player “judged most valuable to his team,” the finalists are Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers. Remember that these are all regular season awards with a vote before the playoffs begin.

 

The Norris, given to the defenseman “who demonstrated throughout the season the greatest all-around ability at the position,” is down to Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The latter two are doing battle for a much bigger prize but could still add some hardware to their cases tonight if they can topple the Predators captain.

 

The Vezina, given to the best goaltender in the NHL and voted on by the league’s general managers, will be given to one of Shesterkin, Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames, or Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators. None of the three have won the award previously, meaning we’ll have a new name engraved this year.

 

Three very different rookies are on the ballot for the Calder, given to the top first-year player in the league. Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks will battle with 26-year-old Michael Bunting of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finally got a chance to play regular minutes in the NHL and responded well.

 

Given the prestige of the Hart, the Ted Lindsay is sometimes overlooked as a major award but it shouldn’t be. The player-voted “most outstanding” award is a huge honor given it comes from direct peers and does not always go to the same recipient as the Hart. This year even the finalists are different, with Matthews and McDavid being joined by Josi on the ballot.

 

Cast your vote and make sure to come back to leave a comment with how many you got correct!

Minor Notes: Warsofsky, Comets, Wilkins

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The AHL Calder Cup Playoffs are an important scouting event for clubs all across the league, who want to see how their young players respond in high-pressure situations. But it can also be a proving ground for someone else: coaches. Ryan Warsofsky, for one of the youngest coaches in the league, it’s been exactly that. Patrick Williams of NHL.com writes that Warsofsky, who has led the Chicago Wolves to the finals, could soon start to receive interest from higher up after experiencing so much success.

Under Warsofsky, who took control of the Wolves when the Carolina Hurricanes switched their affiliate in 2020, Chicago has won 71 of their 109 games, posting an overall record of 71-25-13. Given his previous success in the ECHL, where he led the South Carolina Stingrays to the Kelly Cup Finals in his first year and then posted a .722 winning percentage in year two, it seems Warsofsky is on the fast track to becoming a staple in the NHL coaching community. The Wolves will continue their quest for the Calder Cup tomorrow night.

  • The Utica Comets have announced several AHL contracts today, retaining captain Ryan Schmelzer along with two others. Samuel Laberge and Mareks Mitens have both agreed to terms in order to return, while Schmelzer has locked in for two seasons. Utica was one of the best teams in the league this season, posting a 43-20-9 record but were eliminated in the North Division Semifinals by the upstart Rochester Americans.
  • Josh Wilkins, who left the AHL after the 2020-21 season to pursue a contract in Sweden is coming back to North America, agreeing to terms with South Carolina in the ECHL. The 25-year-old Providence College star actually signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators when he turned pro but wasn’t issued a qualifying offer in 2021 when it expired and is now an unrestricted free agent.

Dallas Stars Hire Peter DeBoer

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June 21: The team has now officially announced DeBoer as the next head coach of the Stars. While the team did not release financial information or term, LeBrun reports that it is a four-year deal worth $4.25MM per season.

General manager Jim Nill released the following statement:

Pete brings a wealth of experience to our dressing room, and we’re thrilled to name him our next head coach. Every team that he has taken over has not only shown immediate improvement but has been ultra-competitive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has taken five teams to the Conference Finals, and two of those to the Stanley Cup Final, in his 14 years as a head coach. His resume displays the high standards he sets and his ability to get his team to play up to that level consistently. We’re excited to welcome Pete and his family to Dallas.

June 19: A pair of coaching vacancies have been filled in recent days with Vegas and Philadelphia finding their new bench bosses.  It appears Dallas is on the verge of doing the same as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Stars are expected to name Peter DeBoer as their new head coach.  ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds (Twitter link) that an official announcement is not expected to come tonight with Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes (Twitter link) contract terms are still being discussed.

DeBoer was a fairly late entrant into the coaching market this spring as Vegas waited a couple of weeks before making the decision to part ways with him.  He had a pretty successful run with the Golden Knights he led the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 regular season games, good for a .650 points percentage.  Vegas also had two good playoff runs with him at the helm as they went 22-17 over that stretch.  However, it was the fact that they didn’t make it to the postseason that resulted in his departure with Bruce Cassidy taking over that job on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Stars have been on the lookout for their next bench boss for the past month after the team and Rick Bowness mutually agreed to part ways with their assistant coaches also departing.  Dallas finished in the top Wild Card spot in 2021-22 (four points ahead of Vegas) and gave Calgary a pretty good run in the first round before ultimately falling in seven games which led to them changing things up.

The fact that the Stars are looking for a win-now coach doesn’t come as much of a surprise as they largely have a veteran core in place with a team that’s built more for the present than the future.  Under Bowness, Dallas has consistently been one of the stronger defensive teams in the league but they have also found themselves in the bottom half of the league offensively with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn both taking considerable steps back in recent years.  Considering both are on the books at a high price tag ($9.5MM for Benn, $9.85MM for Seguin), finding a coach that can coax more out of them offensively would certainly help their chances moving forward.

Dallas GM Jim Nill feels DeBoer is the coach that can bring out more offensive production without drastically compromising their defensive principles.  There is some recent cause for optimism on that front based on his time with the Golden Knights as Vegas was in the top half of the NHL in both goals scored and allowed in each of his three seasons with them.

DeBoer sits 27th all-time in games coached at 1,015 and is 26th in wins with 513 and assuming this contract becomes official, he’ll have a chance to improve those numbers on a Stars team that should once again be in the playoff mix in 2022-23.  He’ll become the fifth different head coach for Dallas since 2013 when Jim Nill took over with the others being Lindy Ruff, Ken Hitchcock, Jim Montgomery, and Bowness.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Final Notes: Kucherov, Toews, Point

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The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to respond with a strong effort in game three last night to pull closer in their series against the Colorado Avalanche, but it wasn’t without a cost. Nikita Kucherov and several others left the game at various points with injuries, though it seems they may have escaped without too much issue. Today, head coach Jon Cooper explained to reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic that though it is not yet certain, he expects Kucherov to play in game four.

Here are a couple of other notes from the Stanley Cup Final:

  • Devon Toews, whose cross-check was the reason Kucherov left the game in the first place, is not expected to receive any supplementary discipline from the league. Smith notes that the league felt the play was properly penalized by the on-ice officials, who gave Toews a two-minute minor. It was not the only borderline play in the game but since the Department of Player Safety has not yet issued any hearings, it’s safe to say that there aren’t any suspensions expected from last night.
  • Brayden Point, who missed game three and was replaced by Riley Nash, is doubtful for game four. The 26-year-old forward played in both of the first two games of the series but is still dealing with the injury that took him out of round one against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Point recorded just one shot through those first two games and was a shadow of the dominant player he can be at full strength.

Edmonton Oilers Agree To Contract With Jay Woodcroft

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June 21: After reports earlier confirmed a deal was done, the Oilers have officially announced a three-year contract for Woodcroft, taking away the interim tag. Extending through the 2024-25 season, the coach will have his chance to take Edmonton all the way after an outstanding debut in the second half.

June 19: With Edmonton making it to the Western Conference Final, the expectation was that Oilers would lift the interim tag off head coach Jay Woodcroft.  They’re getting close to doing just that as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Edmonton is making progress on a three-year contract with the bench boss.  Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins adds that expects the deal to be finalized by the end of the month.

Edmonton’s turnaround after Woodcroft was promoted from AHL Bakersfield to replace Dave Tippett back in February was quite astounding.  The Oilers played to a .724 points percentage with a 26-9-3 record under his tutelage, a far cry from the 8-13-3 the team had put up under Tippett in the nearly ten weeks leading up to his departure.  They showed considerable improvement defensively without significantly affecting one of the strongest offenses in the league which allowed them to finish second in the Pacific Division at the end of the season.

From there, Edmonton squeaked by Los Angeles in the first round before stunning provincial rival Calgary (who won the Pacific) with a five-game series victory.  They weren’t as successful against Colorado, however, as they were ousted in four straight.  Still, it was a strong season overall for the Oilers so the news that they’re getting closer to getting Woodcroft signed shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

While they don’t have to get it done right away, the sooner GM Ken Holland can get this done, the better.  Edmonton has several prominent pending free agents highlighted by winger Evander Kane among those eligible for unrestricted free agency and wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi among the RFA-eligible players.  With minimal cap space to work with, Holland will need to focus most of his time on getting things settled on that front so getting Woodcroft’s deal signed sooner than later will give him more time to focus on their needed roster movement this summer.

Adam Mascherin Signs In Italy

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The last time Adam Mascherin played in North America, he scored 34 points in 37 games and wore an “A” as an alternate captain for the Texas Stars. For now, that will remain his most recent campaign, as the young forward has signed a multi-year contract with Asiago, who has joined the ICEHL for 2022-23.

Mascherin, 24, will be with the club through 2025, a deal that means his NHL rights–still currently owned by the Dallas Stars after they issued him a qualifying offer in 2021–will expire and he will be an unrestricted free agent when this deal is complete.

Originally selected 38th overall by the Florida Panthers in 2016, Mascherin never signed with them and re-entered the draft two years later. This time he was picked 100th overall by the Dallas Stars, and quickly signed his entry-level contract. In his three years with the organization, he played exclusively in the AHL with Texas, racking up 40 goals and 89 points in 142 games.

Last season, he decided to head to Europe where he played for Skelleftea AIK in the SHL, scoring seven goals in 15 games. Those offensive skills will now be taken to a league that is even less competitive, which could very well result in Mascherin being one of the top scorers in the ICEHL. As for the Stars, his rights will be lost when he turns 27, which he will do on June 6, 2025, a few weeks before free agency opens.

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