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Archives for July 2023

Washington Capitals Sign Chase Priskie

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The Washington Capitals have signed one of their 2016 draft picks, albeit four seasons after his pro career began. Defenseman Chase Priskie is heading to the nation’s capital on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K in the NHL and $350K in the minors, the Capitals announced today.

Washington selected Priskie, 27, with the 177th overall pick in 2016. After playing four seasons at Quinnipiac University, though, he didn’t sign with the team in the summer of 2019, and his exclusive draft rights lapsed. He instead landed a two-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, and he’s since spent time in the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, and Anaheim Ducks organizations.

Last season, he split his time between the San Diego Gulls and Rochester Americans in the AHL thanks to a midseason trade of his NHL contract, tallying 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 58 games. 13 of those points came in just 16 games with the Gulls after the Ducks acquired him from Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Austin Strand on March 3. Standing at 6 feet and weighing 185 pounds, Priskie achieved AHL career-highs in goals and games played during the 2022-23 season.

During his collegiate tenure with Quinnipiac, he accumulated 116 points and 154 games and served as team captain for his last two seasons. He was recognized as a Hobey Baker Award finalist and was named to the ECAC First All-Star Team in 2018-19.

His only NHL experience came in a brief four-game stint with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, although he was held off the scoresheet.

After the Caps acquired Joel Edmundson from Montreal, their defensive depth chart got a little deeper. With roster spots (and ice time) needed for younger players like Martin Fehervary, Rasmus Sandin, and Alexander Alexeyev, there’s little hope for Priskie to see much of any NHL ice this year. He will, however, join a formidable right-side defense in AHL Hershey that includes minor-league mainstay Dylan McIlrath and 2021 second-round pick Vincent Iorio, both of whom played large roles in helping Hershey capture this year’s Calder Cup.

Latest On The Carolina Hurricanes, Vladimir Tarasenko

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In some rather jaw-dropping timing, UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko has changed his representation just four days into this year’s free agency period. Per Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the 2019 Stanley Cup champion is now represented by J.P. Barry and Pat Brisson of CAA. Because of this, any negotiations Tarasenko had with NHL teams have now been reset, confirming he has no deal in place to join any team with most of his peers already off the market.

One of the best players available (and No. 3 on our list of this year’s UFAs), Tarasenko seemed to be off the market a few days ago. The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman had reported things were close between Tarasenko and the Carolina Hurricanes, which a few other insiders later echoed – although no major developments were later confirmed.

Today, Larry Brooks of the New York Post said Tarasenko had “multiple” offers on the table from NHL teams, including Carolina, ranging between $5.5MM and $6MM per season with various lengths. Tarasenko (and his previous representation, Paul Theofanous) rejected them all, potentially misreading the market after countryman Dmitry Orlov signed a two-year deal with Carolina paying him $7.75MM per season.

However, all signs indicate Carolina is still the likely destination for Tarasenko once negotiations re-start and a deal gets hammered out. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta speculates it’ll be a one-year deal at this stage, with Tarasenko likely looking to get more money in a less rigid cap environment a year from now, although he will be 32 years old by then.

With Carolina down to $4.5MM in cap space (per CapFriendly), plus the impending Tony DeAngelo acquisition on Saturday, Pagnotta notes defenseman Brett Pesce is still on the trade market without an extension past this season. He names the Nashville Predators as a team involved in Pesce trade talks, although the 28-year-old could block a trade if he leaves Nashville off his 15-team “yes”-trade list.

Florida Panthers Sign Rasmus Asplund

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The Florida Panthers have signed UFA forward Rasmus Asplund to a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced. PuckPedia reports Asplund’s deal is worth $775K in the NHL and $450K in the minors.

Asplund hit the UFA market after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Nashville Predators. Nashville had acquired Asplund as some utility depth down the stretch, sending the Buffalo Sabres a 2025 seventh-round pick for him in March.

He’s a very strong shutdown forward and is worth a spot in most teams’ bottom six groups, making it a tad puzzling he’d receive a two-way deal. He’ll have to fight for the opportunity to stay in an everyday NHL role in Florida after the team bolstered their bottom six with acquisitions such as Evan Rodrigues, Kevin Stenlund, and Steven Lorentz while also earmarking a lineup spot for 2018 15th overall pick Grigori Denisenko.

The 25-year-old Swede recorded two goals, six assists, and eight points in 46 games last season, split between Buffalo and Nashville. Able to play both wing and center, he’s totaled 18 goals and 49 points in 183 NHL contests to date.

He is still a likely candidate to make the team out of camp, even though it may be as a 13th or 14th forward. He would allow the team to more comfortably return Zac Dalpe to AHL Charlotte, where he’s served as the team’s captain for the past two seasons. Injuries forced Florida to call him up for their playoff run, where he scored a goal and posted a -8 rating in 13 games.

New York Islanders Sign Three Players

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The New York Islanders made a trio of depth forward additions today, signing Julien Gauthier, Karson Kuhlman, and Brian Pinho in free agency. Per the team, Gauthier received a two-year deal, while Kuhlman and Pinho received one-year, two-way contracts.

CapFriendly confirms Gauthier’s contract carries an average annual value of $787.5K, paid out as $775K in 2023-24 and $800K in 2024-25. Ethan Sears of the New York Post adds Kuhlman and Pinho’s deals both carry cap hits of $775K, with Kuhlman’s deal earning him $300K in the minors and a $350K guaranteed salary.

Gauthier is an interesting addition, especially on a one-way deal. The former first-round pick hasn’t lived up to expectations and is now on his fourth NHL organization, although he did score a career-high nine goals and 14 points in 57 games last season, split between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators.

The 25-year-old does have good size at 6-foot-4 and 227 pounds, but it’ll be tough to land an everyday spot in the Islanders’ lineup. He’ll most likely compete for a third-line role with Hudson Fasching, a career AHLer who broke out for 10 goals and 19 points in 49 games with the Islanders and earned the trust of the team’s coaching staff. With the team unlikely to break up their longstanding fourth line of Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Cizikas, and Matt Martin until one of them retires, bottom-six roles will be scarce.

Kuhlman joins the Islanders after spending the last two seasons entirely in the NHL and being claimed on waivers twice, once by the Seattle Kraken in 2021-22 and the Winnipeg Jets in 2022-23. In his five-season, 147-game NHL career, the 27-year-old American has 12 goals and 30 points. The two-way deal suggests he could be heading back to the minors for his first extended stint there since 2018-19, where he put up 12 goals and 30 points in 58 games with the Providence Bruins.

Pinho comes over as a veteran AHLer, amassing 225 games in the minors over five seasons spent with the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils organizations. With only two NHL regular-season games to his name, both coming in the 2020-21 season, Pinho is likely destined for a middle-six role with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.

Bruins Sign Kyle Keyser To One Year Contract

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Ty Anderson of NBC Sports Boston tweeted that the Boston Bruins have signed goaltender Kyle Keyser to a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $775K at the NHL level and $90,000 while Keyser plays in the AHL. The 24-year-old was a restricted free agent after spending the bulk of last season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins. Anderson also added the team has signed forward Jakub Lauko to a two-year contract carrying a cap hit of $787.5K. It’s a partial two-way/one-way deal, breaking down as follows, per CapFriendly:

2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $200K AHL salary, $300K guaranteed salary
2024-25: $800K NHL salary

The native of Coral Springs, Florida, went undrafted after coming out of the OHL, where he played a single season with the Flint Firebirds before spending three years with the Oshawa Generals. He posted solid numbers in his last two years in Oshawa and caught the attention of the Bruins, who signed him to an entry-level contract in 2019.

Since signing his original deal, Keyser has spent the past four seasons in Providence but has shuffled back to the ECHL on several occasions. His best ECHL season came with the Jacksonville Icemen in 2020-21, where he went 9-9-2 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Last season in the AHL with Providence, Keyser posted a .900 save percentage with a 2.72 goals-against average as he went 13-6-2. He was called up to Boston at one point during the year but never dressed for an NHL game.

At 24 years old, it’s hard to call Keyser a prospect anymore, and his play hasn’t exactly warranted a call-up, particularly with how stacked the Bruins’ goaltending depth is at the NHL level. His numbers in the AHL have been pedestrian thus far, as last season, he finished 44th in AHL save percentage out of 74 goaltenders. Given his track record, it seems likely that Keyser will continue to be a depth AHL goaltender in the Bruins system.

Lauko appeared in 23 games for the Bruins, his first set of action in the NHL. Recording four goals and seven points, he didn’t look out of place and will certainly warrant additional call-ups in the coming season – if he doesn’t make the team out of camp. Most would have him penciled in for a fourth-line role ahead of other depth signings like Jayson Megna, and he’s outperformed other Bruins prospects like Oskar Steen when given NHL minutes.

Flyers Sign Defenseman Ronnie Attard

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The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Ronnie Attard to a two-year, two-way/one-way, $1.7MM contract that carries an average annual value of $850K per season. The contract structure is a bit complicated, but it signals that Attard will likely spend the 2023-24 season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He will make a guaranteed salary of $275K while in the AHL and $775K in the NHL. For the second year of the deal, he will make $925K regardless of where he plays.

The 24-year-old Attard was drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and spent three years in the NCAA at Western Michigan University. In 94 career games with the Broncos, Attard put up 27 goals and 45 assists.

Last year was Attard’s first season with the Flyers AHL affiliate, he posted 12 goals and 20 assists while dressing in 68 games. His numbers placed him seventh in rookie scoring for defensemen and T-10 in assists for all defensemen. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound Attard was aggressive with the puck as he racked up 158 shots, putting him second among all defensemen.

Attard has seen some time with the Flyers in the NHL netting two goals and two assists in 17 career games. He dressed in just two games last season going scoreless, which must have been a disappointment given that he put up four points in 15 games the year prior. In his first run with the Flyers in 2021-22 Attard handled himself well and had encouraging underlying numbers while being effective on the penalty kill. However, in the two games he dressed for in April of this year, Attard struggled to make much of an impact as the Flyers were badly outplayed when he was on the ice. Although they were playing with a very underwhelming lineup.

It will be interesting to see when Attard can make the jump to the NHL, he should have plenty of opportunities to impress as the Flyers embark on their first real rebuild in recent memory. Right-shot defensemen are always in demand, especially ones with Attard’s size and skating ability.

Minor Transactions: 07/05/23

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It’s another busy day for transactions across the hockey world, and while NHL moves are just starting to trickle in (such as the Montreal Canadiens signing recent top-five pick David Reinbacher to his entry-level deal) teams in minor and foreign leagues have already been hard at work completing deals to upgrade or change their rosters. As always, we’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • The AHL’s Laval Rocket have agreed to a one-year contract with 22-year-old Noah Laaouan, a two-time recipient of the QMJHL’s Kevin Lowe Trophy for Best Defensive Defenseman. Laaouan is fresh off of his first season as a professional, one he split between the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners (two games) and ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators (57 games). Laaouan’s deal is a two-way AHL/ECHL deal, meaning he’s more likely to end up with the Trois-Rivieres Lions though he’ll get a chance to compete with guys like Tobie Bisson and Miguel Tourigny for a role on Laval’s defense.
  • Longtime AHL veteran Vincent LoVerde, a two-time Calder Cup Champion and two-time AHL All-Star, has parted ways with his club from last season, the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. The 34-year-old departs China after one season there, his first in the KHL. LoVerde has over 500 games of AHL experience and while he didn’t do much winning in Kunlun he did win an ICEHL championship with EHC Red Bull Salzburg in 2021-22. Now an unrestricted free agent, LoVerde may elect to return to North America or potentially continue his pro career elsewhere in one of Europe’s leagues.
  • Defenseman Jake Chelios, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios and a former AHL top-four defenseman, has signed a two-year extension with the Red Star to remain in the KHL through his age-34 season. Chelios, who represents China in IIHF events and played for them at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, has been with Kunlun since 2019-20 and logged 180 career games with them. Chelios was an impact player in the AHL for a few seasons with the Charlotte Checkers from 2015 to 2017, but now seems to have elected playing with the Red Star as the best option for his career moving forward.
  • Former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Johan Mattsson signed a one-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, confirming his exit from his team from last season, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. The 31-year-old 2011 seventh-round pick played 35 games for Yekaterinburg last season, posting a .919 save percentage in the process. He’s got a career .917 save percentage in 60 KHL games playing in both Russia and Latvia (back when Dynamo Riga was in the KHL) and has also had success in his native Sweden. He’s won two Champions Hockey League titles, an SHL title, and been a top HockeyAllsvenskan goalie. Now, he’ll compete against incumbent Dmitry Nikolayev (.929 save percentage in 42 games last season) for starts with St. Petersburg.
  • The ECHL’s Maine Mariners signed forward Cameron Askew to a one-year contract extension. The deal will allow Askew, 26, to play a third season in Maine, the place where Conor Garland’s former QMJHL running mate has carved out a regular role as an ECHL power forward. Askew scored a career-high 23 goals and 38 points in his first season with the Mariners, and this past season he scored 15 goals and 32 points in 17 less games. The Mariners have made the ECHL playoffs the last two seasons, and now they’ve locked up a player who helped them reach that point each year for another campaign.
  • After a difficult season saw him part ways with his club of the last two seasons, 23-year-old German winger Tim Wohlgemuth has signed a deal with the DEL’s Cologne Sharks. Despite his young age, Wohlgemuth has already racked up 233 career games in Germany’s top pro league, and been reasonably productive to boot. In 2021-22 Wohlgemuth was among the league’s top young scorers with 35 points in 52 games, though this past season his production declined to 24 points in 51 games. Now, he’ll get a chance to play for a club a little bit lower on the league’s pecking order than Mannheim, and perhaps take on a larger role as a result.
  • At just 18 years of age, Austrian defenseman Patrick Söllinger broke into a more regular role with his hometown club, the ICEHL’s Black Wings Linz. Söllinger, a six-foot-one left-shot defenseman, played in 22 games for Linz and represented Austria at the 2023 World Junior Championships. Now, he’s been rewarded with his first professional contract, and with it he will in all likelihood get a chance to become an everyday player in Linz and help them return to the ICEHL playoffs for next season.
  • Former WHL and ECHL power forward Alex Roach, a British Columbia native, is extending his pro career in Germany another season. Roach spent the last two seasons playing in the DEL with Cologne, and now he’s moving down a division to sign with EHC Freiburg of the DEL2. Although Roach has more experience at the DEL level and has even played in the Champions Hockey League, he’s got DEL2 experience as well and has scored 36 points in 81 games at that level. Freiburg has been a middling DEL2 club for a few years now and in the past has had some close calls with relegation, so with this signing, they’ll hope Roach’s experience can inch them a little bit closer to promotion to the DEL.
  • Scott Conway, the Player of the Year and leading scorer of the EIHL, the United Kingdom’s top pro hockey league, has signed with HC Dukla Trencin of the Slovakian Extraliga, per a team social media announcement. The English-Canadian forward scored 168 points in his 104-game EIHL career, taking home numerous honors for his two-year stint as the league’s top offensive player. Conway has also found success in the ECHL, NCAA, BCHL, USHL, and now has a chance to make a career for himself in a league generally considered to have a higher talent level than the EIHL in Slovakia.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Philadelphia Flyers Sign Victor Mete

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The Philadelphia Flyers are signing defenseman Victor Mete, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal is reportedly a one-year, two-way pact with a $775k AAV, $450k AHL salary, and a $500k total guarantee.

The Flyers bolstered their defensive depth with the signing of veteran Marc Staal two days ago, and now they’ve added another veteran to their mix with this deal. Mete, 25, spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, skating in 11 NHL games and six games in the AHL.

An undersized five-foot-nine left-shot defenseman, Mete received some hype as a Montreal Canadiens prospect.

While he was immediately stapled to Shea Weber on the Canadiens’ top pairing to start his rookie season, his strong skating and transitional abilities were never built upon, and he stagnated as the Canadiens turned to other young blueliners.

He was eventually claimed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators, who then non-tendered him, leading to his signing with the Maple Leafs. Mete doesn’t offer exceptional talent on either side of the ice, but he has nearly 250 games of NHL experience and is decent in transition. While the Flyers intend on keeping lineup spots open for their young blueliners to grab in training camp, GM Daniel Briere isn’t going to simply hand NHL jobs to youngsters.

Signing a player like Mete to this contract not only provides the Flyers’ young defensemen with an experienced pro to compete against, it also gives Philadelphia some quality depth should the team decide to keep Mete with their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Mete could join second-round prospects Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning on the left side of Lehigh Valley’s defense, and he could be their most experienced blueliner besides Louie Belpedio, who is 27 and has played in over 300 games in the AHL.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Winnipeg Jets Sign Domenic DiVincentiis

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed prospect goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis to a three-year entry-level contract with an $858k AAV, per a team announcement.

DiVincentiis, 19, was a seventh-round pick of the Jets at the 2022 draft who has earned this entry-level deal on the back of an exceptional breakout 2022-23 campaign with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion. DiVincentiis went 36-9-2 with North Bay, posting a .919 save percentage and 2.33 goals-against-average. He also led North Bay to the OHL’s Conference Finals, posting a .926 save percentage in 20 postseason games.

His save percentage was the highest among all OHL netminders with at least 40 games played, and he led the OHL in both wins and shutouts. That highly successful campaign earned DiVincentiis a multitude of honors, including the OHL’s Goalie of the Year award, as well as a spot on the CHL’s Second All-Star Team.

As he won’t turn 20 until next March, DiVincentiis is slated for another season in the OHL with North Bay. With Connor Hellebuyck on an expiring contract, the Jets have made investments into the goalie position looking towards the future.

After drafting 2023 World Juniors Gold Medalist Thomas Milic last week, they’ve made another move: signing their most promising goalie prospect to his entry-level deal and rewarding him for an exceptional OHL campaign.

Nikita Tryamkin Signs Two-Year Contract Extension In KHL

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In February, we covered word from former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin’s agent that the hulking six-foot-eight blueliner would be receiving “tremendous interest” from NHL clubs this summer. Moreover, Tryamkin’s agent stated that his client had rejected a contract extension offer from his KHL club and after the season would shift his focus towards making a return to the NHL.

Now, it seems that won’t be happening, and that Tryamkin won’t make his NHL return until he’s 31 years old, if at all. Announced officially by the club, Tryamkin has signed a two-year contract extension with his longtime KHL employer, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

This news comes as a bit of a surprise, as since leaving the NHL Tryamkin has been a two-time KHL All-Star and one of the better defensemen in that league.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old offers extremely rare size at the position, and if he made the NHL he would instantly become one of the tallest players in the league.

Tryamkin regularly logs heavy minutes for Yekaterinburg, and while his offensive game has never been quite as high of a focus he has chipped in 110 career points in 507 KHL games. His physicality and defensive upside thanks to his size and reach have always been his calling card.

The success of the Vegas Golden Knights as well as some trends at the NHL draft suggested teams are placing increased value on blueliners with size, so it’s somewhat surprising that Tryamkin couldn’t find a sufficient NHL offer to motivate him to cross the Atlantic.

With the current state of NHL/KHL relations and the haze of general uncertainty that surrounds the availability of many Russian players, perhaps there’s more to this at play than has been currently reported. Or, it could also be as simple as NHL teams not believing Tryamkin has progressed enough since his time with Vancouver to be worth signing to a significant enough offer to convince Tryamkin to change leagues.

In any case, while some fans were hoping Tryamkin would make his return to the NHL, it appears that his return will now have to wait another two seasons if it’s going to happen at all.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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