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Archives for July 2022

Winnipeg Jets Sign Elias Salomonsson

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The Winnipeg Jets have inked a member of their most recent draft class to an entry-level deal. The Jets announced today that second-round pick Elias Salomonsson has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the club.

Salomonsson was the 55th overall pick at last Thursday’s draft and is one of the younger players in the draft class. He’s still just 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until August 31st. The Jets took him out of Skelleftea, a club in Sweden. Salomonsson split time last season between Skelleftea’s SHL and junior-level teams, and his 10-game stint in the SHL was extremely impressive given his age. Salomonsson had 11 goals and 22 points in 35 games at the U-20 level and zero points in his 10 SHL games, although he played in a very sheltered role.

Salomonsson is a smooth-skating blueliner with polished two-way ability. He has a lot of room to grow and with the right development could blossom into a top-four defenseman. His entry-level deal gives him the chance to earn a spot in Winnipeg at training camp, though in all likelihood he will return to Sweden and take on a larger role with his home club.

The new SHL-NHL agreement stipulates that Salomonsson cannot be sent to the AHL because he is under the minimum age and isn’t a first-round pick. So, if the Jets preferred to send him to their AHL affiliate for next season they won’t have the option to do so as they would have in prior years.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Calle Jarnkrok

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Free agent “frenzy” may be over, but there are still players available looking for contracts. The Toronto Maple Leafs have added one of those players, forward Calle Jarnkrok. The team has announced the deal, and the contract is a four-year contract with a $2.1MM average annual value.

Jarnkrok, 30, split 2021-22 with the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames. He arrived in Seattle as their choice from the Nashville Predators at the expansion draft, and was traded to Calgary for three draft picks. Jarnkrok played 66 games last season and scored 12 goals and 30 points in 66 games. Jarnkrok’s offensive production throughout his career has been largely consistent, and he’s finished around the 30-point range with around 15 goals in most of the years he’s spent in the NHL.

Jarnkrok offers positional versatility, as he can play center and the wing, and plays a 200-foot game that coaches can trust. The Maple Leafs lost speedy middle-six winger Ilya Mikheyev to the Vancouver Canucks earlier this week, so Jarnkrok can slide into their lineup and play his role as a two-way middle-sixer and penalty killer. Jarnkrok has featured on penalty kills in the past and got sporadic time on the Flames’ penalty kill and second-unit time on the Kraken’s penalty kill.

At 30 years old, the four-year term for Jarnkrok may be a bit risky. But his $2.1MM cap hit is definitely affordable, and if he can play to his normal 15-goal, 30 to 35-point form in Toronto this deal will be a solid investment for GM Kyle Dubas, and the sort of signing that coach Sheldon Keefe will greatly appreciate.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Three Draft Picks

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The Sabres have gotten down to business today, earlier finalizing a deal with free agent defenseman Lawrence Pilut and now finishing up entry-level deals for their three first-round picks: Matthew Savoie, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund.

While all three deals were announced simultaneously, the development paths for each of the players is likely to be very different. Savoie, the first pick of the three, was drafted ninth overall after a brilliant season for the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL. Savoie, who plays center in Winnipeg, will in all likelihood return to the Ice for 2022-23 and spend another season starring on a contending WHL club.

Ostlund, the second pick, was picked 16th overall out of Djurgardens in the SHL. He’s perhaps best known for being the playmaking center on Djurgardens’ line of 2022 first-rounders, often sharing the ice with Minnesota Wild prospect Liam Ohgren and Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki. Ostlund signs his entry-level deal and can potentially be sent to the AHL’s Rochester Americans if he doesn’t make the Sabres out of training camp. The new NHL-SHL agreement would stipulate that Ostlund returns to Sweden, but both his status as a first-rounder and Djurgardens’ relegation to HockeyAllsvenskan means Ostlund is a candidate to play in the AHL next season. Ostlund could also take the route of fellow Djurgarden product Alexander Holtz, who spent most of the year after he was drafted in the SHL while also getting 10 AHL games under his belt to familiarize himself with the North American game.

The last of the three first-rounders the Sabres’ signed today, Kulich, was selected 28th overall. Kulich, who spent his draft season with Karlovy Vary HC of the Czech Extraliga, has a few options to choose from for where he wants to play next season. Kulich said in his media availability after the draft that he hoped to play in the NHL next season, but the track record of 18-year-old late first-rounders making an immediate jump to the NHL is thin. Kulich will have the opportunity to play in Rochester if that’s where the Sabres choose to send him, or he could always return to Czechia and get another season of European pro hockey under his belt. One other option for him would be going to the CHL, where his rights are owned by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, although that is not the likeliest option, despite the fact that he was selected third overall at the 2022 Import Draft.

All three players are extremely talented forwards, and two of them have experience playing against men already. With their entry-level deals signed, the Sabres will be able to help each player along their development paths so that they can reach Buffalo and become difference-makers as efficiently as possible.

Nick Blankenburg Signs Two-Year Contract

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed young defenseman Nick Blankenburg to a two-year contract worth a total of $1.65MM, after impressing in his short stint at the end of the season. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal is one-way in both years and will pay $800K in 2022-23 and $850K in 2023-24 ($825K AAV).

Blankenburg, 24, was signed out of the University of Michigan as an undrafted free agent and immediately made an impact, scoring three points in seven games with the Blue Jackets at the end of the season. He was a restricted free agent this summer without arbitration rights, meaning this deal suggests he is truly in the team’s NHL plans moving forward.

And why not, given the level of play he showed at the end of the year. You may think a defenseman who stands just 5’9″ and weighs in under 180 lbs would be one that plays on the perimeter but not Blankenburg, who racked up 19 hits in that seven-game tryout at the end of the year. Blue Jackets Jarmo Kekalainen even noted that in his statement today:

Nick is a hard-nosed, competitive, smart defenseman who really impressed us after his arrival late last season. He has great potential, and we are very excited to watch his continued growth and development with our club.

The fact that he has built-in chemistry with Blue Jackets top prospect Kent Johnson from their time at Michigan doesn’t hurt, as the two joined the organization at basically the same time. They will likely both feature on the NHL roster this season, though Blankenburg will have to compete for any playing time he wants. He’s the eighth defenseman signed to a one-way contract, and has some pretty established talents in front of him on the depth chart.

Philadelphia Flyers Sign Morgan Frost

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The Philadelphia Flyers have completed a little more restricted free agent work, signing Morgan Frost to a one-year, one-way contract worth $800K. Frost was not yet eligible for arbitration and had little leverage in negotiations.

This is something of a “show me” deal for the 23-year-old forward, who hasn’t been able to find much consistency at the NHL level to this point. In 77 career games, he has 23 points, though those have been spread over three seasons and haven’t been noticeable enough to really cement him as a true building block for the future.

In fact, some would argue that his development has been so scarred by constant bouncing between the AHL and NHL that Frost will never become the cerebral offensive dynamo that the Flyers hoped for when they made him the 27th overall pick in 2017. He did have 19 points in 24 games at the AHL level this season but even there his game was marred with inconsistency.

Still, having only turned 23 in May, there is still time to turn it around. If given the opportunity this season Frost might still be able to turn into a full-time contributor, and since Philadelphia’s big moves in free agency have been more geared toward bottom-six help, there could be an opening higher in the lineup. If he wants to be an impact player in the NHL this is the season to prove it.

Nashville Predators Sign Zach Sanford

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The Nashville Predators are going to give Zach Sanford another chance, signing him to a one-year, $850K contract for the 2022-23 season.

It’s been nine years now since Sanford was selected 61st overall by the Washington Capitals, and despite short periods of success, appears to be at something of a crossroads in his career. Though he stands 6’4″ and is willing to engage physically, Sanford has never seemed like an ideal fit in the bottom-six, with obvious offensive talent that should push him higher in the lineup.

Unfortunately, that talent only comes out in inconsistent spurts, leading to Sanford being tossed around the league the last 12 months. After filing for arbitration last summer he agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal with the St. Louis Blues, only to be traded a few months later to the Ottawa Senators. He lasted 62 games in Ottawa before another trade took him to the Winnipeg Jets, a move that made little sense at the time, as a playoff run looked like a dream.

The Jets used a fifth-round pick on Sanford in March, only to watch him leave as a free agent this summer, following a goal-less 18 games in Winnipeg. Overall this season he had nine goals and 21 points in 80 games.

In recent years, the Predators have been able to carve out “identity” roles for players with limited skillsets, finding a place for them to do what they do best and not ask for more. Whether they can do the same for Sanford remains to be seen but with an $850K deal he likely figures into the mix at some point.

If he leans into his size and strength, simplifying his game, he might become a bottom-six weapon. If not, he could be approaching his last chance as an NHL regular.

Florida Panthers Sign Evan Nause, Gerry Mahyew

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The Florida Panthers have signed prospect Evan Nause to his three-year entry-level contract, a year after he was selected 56th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. General manager Bill Zito released a short statement:

Evan is a talented young defenseman who has flourished in his two seasons in junior hockey. We’re pleased to have him in our system and are looking forward to watching him continue to develop.

Nause, 19, was a huge part of the Quebec Remparts success this season, scoring 46 points in 59 games while using his long reach to control the game from the back end. When Scott Wheeler of The Athletic detailed the Panthers’ prospect pool earlier this year, he put the QMJHL defenseman seventh, noting that the team had been asking a lot of him in his own end.

That development at the defensive end of the rink will be the key for Neuse, as he likely won’t play a huge offensive role if he makes it to the NHL, even if he is performing well in junior at that end. It does beg the question of whether the Panthers would actually prefer him to be in the AHL this season but since he is still just 19, he isn’t eligible for that.

Luckily, this also means that his entry-level deal won’t kick in this season (unless he somehow makes the Panthers roster out of camp), sliding forward and starting in 2023-24.

A few minutes later, the team also announced a contract for minor league forward Gerald Mayhew. The two sides have agreed on a one-year, two-way contract for the 29-year-old.

Mayhew is one of the most consistent goal-scorers in the minor leagues and actually has a history of scoring at the NHL level as well. In 57 career games he has 13 goals, including five in just 15 contests this season with the Anaheim Ducks. While he shouldn’t be considered an impact player at this point, his addition certainly gives the Panthers a bit of extra scoring punch among their depth options.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Lawrence Pilut

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July 15: Pilut has sign a one-year, $750K contract to return to the Sabres.

July 8: When Lawrence Pilut decided to leave the Buffalo Sabres and take his talents to the KHL in 2020, the team still extended him a qualifying offer to retain his exclusive rights. That appears to have paid off, as Pilut’s contract in the KHL has been terminated and the Sabres are now “very interested” in bringing him back to North America, according to Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News.

Pilut, 26, was an undrafted free agent signing in 2018, following his offensive explosion at the SHL level. In his first season with the Sabres organization, he split time between the Sabres and Rochester Americans, making a huge impact at the AHL level with 26 points in 30 games. While his numbers haven’t been quite as good when deployed in the NHL, the 46 games he experienced were sporadic and inconsistent.

Now, after two years in the KHL, the puck-moving defenseman could be a nice addition to give the Sabres some additional depth at the position. Notably, if the Sabres wanted to bring him in and use him in Rochester, he would now have to clear waivers. That would give other teams a chance to claim him if they believed he can contribute in the NHL.

Washington Capitals Sign Alexander Suzdalev, Ludwig Persson

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The Washington Capitals have inked another two prospects, signing Alexander Suzdalev and Ludwig Persson, their third-round picks from this year. The young forwards have each signed three-year entry-level contracts.

Suzdalev, 18, was the 70th overall pick, after lighting up the scoresheet in Sweden this season. Originally born in Russia, he is a product of the Swedish hockey system and even competes for that country internationally. This season, playing for the junior HV71 team, he scored 51 points in 45 games, and eventually found himself rising up draft boards. By the end of the year he was considered the 26th best international skater by NHL Central Scouting.

Persson, 18, was taken just 15 picks later at 85th overall out of the same league. While he got a handful of games with Frolunda’s SHL team, it was the organization’s junior program where he really excelled, scoring 61 points in 41 games. The winger is expected to play in the Swedish second tier next season for BIK Kalskoga.

Interestingly enough, Suzdalev was actually picked by the Regina Pats in the 2021 CHL Import Draft, meaning he could potentially come to North America to play next season, should the Capitals believe that’s best for his development. Either way, both players will not burn the first year of these deals if they play anywhere but the NHL.

Brad Hunt Signs With Colorado Avalanche

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11:55am: The team has officially announced the signing of Hunt.

9:55am: The Colorado Avalanche could be adding some veteran presence on the blueline, as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweets that Brad Hunt will sign a two-year contract with them.

Hunt, 33, has probably played more in the NHL over the last several years than you remember, including 50 games with the Vancouver Canucks this season. The undersized puck-mover has shown himself to be a strong seventh option that can come into the lineup and contribute when necessary, though he won’t be logging big minutes when he does.

In his 241-game career, which includes stops with the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Minnesota Wild, and Canucks, Hunt is averaging just over 15 minutes a night and has 76 points. In Colorado, he will be behind such a deep group that even when he does get into the lineup, he might not see the ice that much.

Still, for a club looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, inexpensive experience is key in free agency. Hunt can replace someone like the outgoing Ryan Murray, who played 37 games during the regular season and then was not dressed in the playoffs.

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