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Prospect Notes: Murashov, Rashevsky, Muggli

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Penguins prospect Sergei Murashov told reporters including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he plans to make a decision soon on where he’ll play next season.  The 20-year-old spent most of last season with Yaroslavl’s junior team and fared quite well, posting a .930 SV% in 34 regular season games and a .927 mark in 19 playoff contests.  Murashov was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and his contract is now expired although Yaroslavl still has control of his rights.  He’ll have to decide as to whether to stay with them, try to find another team in Russia (one that could give him more KHL ice time), or if the time is right to come to North America and play in Pittsburgh’s system.

Other prospect news from around the NHL:

  • The Jets are having discussions with winger Dmitri Rashevsky about signing him to an entry-level deal, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press relayed (Twitter link) earlier this week. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2021, going 146th overall and has been a KHL regular ever since.  Rashevsky is coming off his best season in Russia, tallying 24 goals and 19 assists with Dynamo Moskva in 67 games last season.  He has one year left on his deal but with some Russian players getting let out of their KHL agreements, Winnipeg is hoping they’ll be able to get Rashevsky out of his early as well.
  • Earlier in the week, the Capitals agreed to terms on an entry-level deal with defenseman Leon Muggli. However, he won’t be playing in Washington’s system right away as his team in Switzerland – EV Zug – announced that they’re in discussions with the Caps to have the 18-year-old loaned back to them for the upcoming season.  Muggli has two years left on his deal with Zug and played a regular role for them in 2023-24, recording a dozen points in 42 regular season games.  Assuming the loan goes through, his contract will slide and will still have three years left on it heading into 2025-26.

Rangers Re-Sign Braden Schneider

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The Rangers have agreed to terms with one of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they’ve reached a two-year contract with defenseman Braden Schneider.  While financial terms were not disclosed, PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the agreement pays $1.76MM in 2024-25 and $2.64MM in 2025-26 for a $2.2MM AAV.  That last number will serve as his qualifying offer in 2026 where he will have salary arbitration eligibility.

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by New York in 2020, going 19th overall.  He has been a full-time NHL regular since partway through his rookie professional season, giving him more than 200 career NHL appearances which is something that can’t be said for many players exiting their entry-level pacts.

However, Schneider has had a very limited role in his first three seasons.  Last season, he played in all 82 games, notching 19 points along with 133 blocks and 167 hits.  However, his playing time remained below the 16-minute mark, a number he has yet to surpass in those three years.  Notably, even as a physical defensive defender, Schneider barely averaged one minute per game in shorthanded situations last season.

Between limited offensive output and what has basically been a permanent spot on the third pairing so far, a bridge contract was the only logical outcome for both sides.  Schneider will need to play his way into a top-four opportunity over the next couple of years before he’ll have a chance to command a longer-term, bigger-money agreement.

With this signing, New York now has a little over $5.1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  The majority of that will be earmarked for their last remaining restricted free agent, defenseman Ryan Lindgren.  The 26-year-old filed for salary arbitration earlier this month with a hearing date yet to be set.

Lohud’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reported earlier this week that the two sides were making progress on a bridge agreement.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the terms of the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Oskar Steen Signs In SHL

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Last month, the Bruins gave Oskar Steen’s camp permission to talk to other teams about trying to secure the pending free agent a contract to stay in the NHL and that his focus wasn’t overseas.  However, a deal didn’t come to fruition so the middleman has decided to return home as SHL Farjestad announced that they’ve signed Steen to a five-year contract.

The 26-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Boston back in 2016, going 165th overall.  He spent three more years in Sweden with Farjestad before coming to North America for the 2019-20 season.

Steen got his first taste of NHL action in the 2020-21 campaign but got a longer look the following season, getting into 20 games with the big club while adding 35 points in 49 games with AHL Providence.  That earned him a two-year, one-way deal and seemingly had him in the mix for a full-time spot with Boston for the 2022-23 campaign.

Instead, Steen wound up clearing waivers and spent most of that season in the minors.  He then cleared waivers twice more last season although injuries resulted in him getting into 34 games with Boston but he was limited to one goal on 24 shots while logging a little more than nine minutes a night on the fourth line.  He was more productive in Providence with 12 goals in 25 games but Boston decided not to try to retain him, instead letting him walk to Group Six free agency.

With the length of this contract, Steen won’t become a free agent again until his age-31 season so it would be surprising to see him generate NHL interest at that time unless he becomes a top scorer in the coming years with Farjestad.  If it is the end of the road for him at the top level, he leaves the NHL with four goals and four assists in 60 career appearances.

Columbus Blue Jackets, Jet Greaves Avoid Arbitration

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Saturday: The Blue Jackets have officially announced the contract.

Friday: The Columbus Blue Jackets and goaltender Jet Greaves have avoided arbitration according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman reports it will be a two-year contract for Greaves and he will earn $800K on a two-way agreement in 2024-25, and the contract will become a one-way deal in 2025-26 with a salary of $825K.

Greaves was not widely regarded as a top organizational prospect by the Blue Jackets after the team signed him as an undrafted free agent from the OHL’s Barrie Colts in 2022. Greaves split time between Columbus’ AHL and ECHL affiliates during the 2021-22 season where he posted a 12-12-3 record in 29 games for the Cleveland Monsters and a 10-5-0 record in 15 games for the Kalamazoo Wings. Greaves posted similar save percentages between the two leagues but produced a better goals-against average in the AHL with a 2.84 compared to a 3.05 in the ECHL.

Thanks to a quality rookie season in the AHL, Greaves spent the entirety of the 2022-23 season with the Monsters and earned a 19-16-5 record in 43 games while posting a .899 SV% and 3.08 GAA. The young netminder also made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets last year where he stopped 43 of 46 shots against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a loss.

Greaves was once again assigned to the minor leagues out of training camp for the 2023-24 campaign and performed markedly better. In 46 games for Cleveland, Greaves achieved a 30-12-4 record while recording a .910 SV% and 2.93 GAA. In his first trip through the Calder Cup playoffs, Greaves picked up eight wins and a .926 SV% while pushing the eventual champion Hershey Bears to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

He was also given more of a chance with the Blue Jackets this past season as Greaves suited up nine NHL games and recorded a .908% against the likes of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Carolina Hurricanes. Greaves will easily crack Columbus’ lineup to start the season if the team is willing to carry three goaltenders on the roster. However, with Elvis Merzlikins expected to be the team’s starter with Daniil Tarasov backing him up, there is all indication that Greaves will start with the Monsters to start the 2024-25 campaign.

Morning Notes: Penguins, Casey, McGroarty

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Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he feels the Pittsburgh Penguins should consider an offer sheet to one of the many teams that are in tough regarding the salary cap. Kingerski feels the Penguins could target Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti, and Edmonton Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg or forward Dylan Holloway.

If Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas opted to submit an offer sheet it would mark a departure from his plan to acquire draft picks with an eye towards the future. The Penguins also have just $3.5MM in salary cap space available, making a push for Jarvis very unlikely. Perfetti could be an option as the Penguins have a hole in their top-six forward group and an offer sheet north of $3MM would fall in the range of what Perfetti will likely sign for next season. However, the obvious issue would be that the Jets would likely match the offer as they have the cap space to do so and Perfetti is coming off a 19-goal season. Offer sheets are rarely used in the NHL and given the state of the Penguins, it seems unlikely they will do so this summer.

In other morning notes:

  • James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now writes that New Jersey Devils defensive prospect Seamus Casey opted to hold off signing his entry-level contract with the Devils because he wanted to have a full three years on the deal and wasn’t in a rush to jump into an NHL game. Casey added that he wanted to take a different approach and was concerned about his development when he opted not to sign after his college season ended. Casey was the Devils’ second-round pick in 2022 (46th overall) and will be in tough to make the NHL lineup this year as the Devils have been busy adding defensemen this summer including Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic.
  • Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press joined Winnipeg Sports Talk and explained what he thinks the holdup to a potential Rutger McGroarty trade could be. The Winnipeg Jets have reportedly been shopping the 20-year-old since the NHL entry draft and according to McIntyre, they were close to a trade with another team at one point but the other team might have had reservations because of the same issues the Jets are having with the former first-round pick. Neither McGroarty’s camp, nor the Jets have spoken publicly about why there is a riff between the two sides, but as Scott Billick writes in the Winnipeg Sun, it is likely due to a disagreement about McGroarty’s development path.

Poll: Which Postseason Drought Is Likeliest To End In 2024-25?

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There has not been one team in the NHL unable to make the playoffs during the inception of the salary cap era in 2005-06. The league has experienced unprecedented competition under the new format but there are still several teams who haven’t been able to crack the Stanley Cup playoffs for the last several years. As of right now, the Buffalo Sabres (13), Detroit Red Wings (8), Ottawa Senators (7), and Anaheim Ducks (6) hold the longest current postseason droughts in the league. Which one of these teams has the best odds of ending their postseason drought and returning to the playoffs in 2025?

The odds looked good for Buffalo towards the end of the 2022-23 regular season but the team ultimately finished one point short of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference to the Florida Panthers. The team boosted their defensive core over the summer and had their eyes on contention in 2023-24. Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned for the Sabres and the team finished seven points back of the last playoff spot in the East. The team still has a wealth of young talent either on the team or close to cracking the roster, but the offseason feels a bit misjudged at the outset. With a need to fill out their bottom six, Buffalo brought in Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel this summer and appear to be running back a similar roster next year with Lindy Ruff back as head coach.

Detroit tied the Washington Capitals for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference for the 2023-24 regular but ultimately lost the tiebreaker on the last day of the regular season. The team took a major step forward in their rebuild after acquiring talents such as Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, and Shayne Gostisbehere who dramatically improved the team’s competitiveness. The Red Wings’ major letdown of the 2023-24 regular season was the defense which gave up the seventh most shots against in the league. Ghostisbehere walked in free agency along with other veterans who were replaced by Cam Talbot, Erik Gustafsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Detroit should still be able to score in bunches next year but the team has inarguably failed up to this point this summer in improving their biggest weakness from last season.

It feels that Ottawa has experienced two separate rebuilds over the last seven years with the first coming under the helm of Pierre Dorion and the current iteration led by Steve Staios. The three biggest moves of the Senators’ offseason were acquiring former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, shipping defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Capitals for a lackluster return, and prying veteran David Perron from the Red Wings on a two-year deal. Ullmark should serve as a massive upgrade in between the pipes compared to their situation last year but moving on from Chychrun will certainly sting on the blue line. Ottawa finished 14 points out of a playoff spot last season but could be a surprising team with a wealth of talent up front and a consistent netminder.

Lastly, the Ducks register as the least likely of the group to crack their postseason drought as they finished nearly 40 points out of a playoff spot last season. Anaheim brought in forward Robby Fabbri and defenseman Brian Dumoulin via trade this offseason but neither strike as needle-movers to an offense-needy organization. The upcoming season should serve as a reasonable benchmarking year for the Ducks organization as the team looks to graduate several prospects to the NHL level. Anaheim could cause some noise in a weak Pacific Division but their odds of making the playoffs are still low.

Of the four longest current playoff droughts in the NHL — which of these four teams do you think has the best odds to end their drought next season?

East Notes: Dubas, Trouba, Lindstrom, Spicer

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In a new book by Craig Custance of The Athletic, an interview with the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas, was able to reflect on his time at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun pulled a quote from the interview where Dubas said, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts. (William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions“.

The quote was made in context to the seven-year, $77MM contract given to John Tavares on July 1st, 2018. Dubas exclaims that by giving Tavares an AAV of $11MM without first working on long-term extensions for William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, the price on the latter three was raised dramatically and caused both Nylander and Marner to hold out for a short time.

Aside from the externality on those three players from Tavares’ contract, Dubas informed Custance that he had no other regrets from his time in Toronto. Outside of playoff success, the Maple Leafs have achieved multiple 100-point seasons from the team Dubas built and still features some of the biggest stars in the game.

Other East notes:

  • In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
  • The fourth-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, is now the highest-selected player from the recent draft who has not signed his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports there is no cause for concern, as the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell, is entirely focused on hiring a new head coach for the franchise. The Blue Jackets still have plenty of time to sign Lindstrom to an entry-level contract which theoretically doesn’t need to be done this offseason. The young power forward will likely return to the WHL next season to continue his development.
  • Matt Wellens of Duluth News Tribune reports that Boston Bruins’ prospect, Cole Spicer, is done playing hockey for the foreseeable future. Spicer was the 117th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft and recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored five goals and nine points in 17 games. According to the report from Wellens, Spicer is planning on taking some time to deal with ’personal and mental stuff’ before fully committing himself to a career in hockey.

West Notes: Richardson, Suter, Emberson

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The Chicago Blackhawks made several additions to the lineup this offseason while operating near the league’s basement for the past two years. The organization hopes to be much more competitive this season which may indirectly impact the future of the head coach, Luke Richardson. Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription article) wonders if Richardson may be on the hot seat this season if the Blackhawks are not more competitive.

There should be a grain of salt taken with any ideas of competition coming out of Chicago as the organization still does not project to be close to a Stanley Cup contender. However, with phenom Connor Bedard entering his sophomore season and the team adding $25.05MM to their salary cap structure for the 2024-25 NHL season, the Blackhawks could compete for a .500 record. After collecting a record of 49-102-13 over the last two years — is Richardson the coach to oversee this next step for Chicago?

The Blackhawks organization would have been hard-pressed to find a coach who would have earned a better record than Richardson over the past two years, and his calm demeanor appears to have helped many of the younger players transition to professional hockey. Richardson was an assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens when they made their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 but has little to no experience beyond coaching a competitive team. Chicago will have a longer leash than most on his performance this year but it’s clear the front office is looking to take a step forward in the rebuild.

Other West notes:

  • One of the more surprising free-agent acquisitions over the past two weeks was the St. Louis Blues adding veteran defenseman Ryan Suter on a one-year, $775K deal including bonuses. The Blues organization now has six left-handed shot defensemen competing for three spots in the lineup next year while Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic (Subscription Article) surmises that a trade is likely coming soon. Regarding the reasoning behind adding Suter specifically, Rutherford notes in his article that the Blues had a heavy interest in adding Suter when he was originally bought out by the Minnesota Wild three years ago. Suter’s camp was adamant on signing a four-year deal and general manager Doug Armstrong was only willing to go three which led to the delay in their partnership.
  • Defenseman Ty Emberson of the San Jose Sharks will be ready to go for training camp after needing surgery to repair a laceration suffered last season according to Max Miller of The Hockey News. Emberson recently avoided arbitration with the Sharks organization by signing a one-year, $950K deal for the 2024-25 NHL season. Emberson has quickly become one of the better defensive defensemen on San Jose’s roster and should compete for a consistent top-four spot next year.

AHL Signings: 7/12/24

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With the major dust settled in NHL free agency, teams’ AHL affiliates are looking to fill out their roster to complement the many two-way additions made around the league so far this summer. Expect many minor-league-only contracts signed as the month progresses. Here are today’s:

  • The Springfield Thunderbirds announced they’ve signed veteran defenseman Scott Harrington to a one-year contract. Harrington, 31, has 255 games of NHL experience and last suited up in 2022-23 for the Ducks and Sharks. He spent last season in Switzerland with the ZSC Lions of the National League, where injuries limited him to four assists, 2 PIMs and a +4 rating in 14 games. He’ll look to get back on track in North America and will take part in his eighth AHL season, now with the Blues’ affiliate. In addition to Anaheim and San Jose, Harrington has also spent time in the Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs and Penguins organizations.
  • The Milwaukee Admirals have signed forward Kale Howarth to a one-year deal and center Kyle Marino to a two-year pact, per a team announcement. Neither brings NHL experience to the club, which serves as the Predators’ primary affiliate. Howarth, 27, was a 2017 fifth-round pick of the Blue Jackets but wasn’t signed to an entry-level contract upon finishing up his collegiate career at UConn in 2021. He’s spent the last three seasons in the Blackhawks organization on AHL contracts, splitting his time between the Rockford IceHogs and their ECHL affiliate, the Indy Fuel. Injuries cost him a solid chunk of last season, limiting him to 20 total games. He had six points in 50 games with the IceHogs since turning pro. Marino, 29, will fill out an enforcer role and can play defense if necessary as well. The 6’3″, 220-lb aggressor spent last season with the Chicago Wolves, where he had four points and a career-high 114 PIMs in 65 games. Like Howarth, he’s entering his fourth AHL season.
  • The Kings organization has added some goalie depth in the form of Dryden McKay, who inked a one-year contract with the Ontario Reign today. The 26-year-old has spent most of the last two seasons with the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, the second-tier affiliate of the Maple Leafs, which ceased operations shortly before the end of the 2023-24 campaign. McKay, who was an intriguing addition to the Toronto pipeline after winning the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey with Minnesota State in 2021-22, has been unimpressive. He posted a .899 SV% and 3.18 GAA with a 27-20-5 record for Newfoundland the past two years. He has two AHL games to his name, both in 2022-23, recording a .885 SV% and 3.38 GAA for the Toronto Marlies.
  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed defenseman Mats Lindgren to a one-year deal, the club announced. Lindgren, 20 in August, lands with the Pittsburgh organization after finishing his junior career with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. The smooth-skating left-shot defender was drafted 106th overall in 2022 by the Sabres but wasn’t offered an ELC before the June 1 deadline, thus becoming a UFA. He’ll try to work his way up toward earning an NHL deal with Pittsburgh after recording 41 points and a -4 rating in 63 games for Red Deer last season.

Rangers Re-Sign Chad Ruhwedel To Two-Way Deal

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The Rangers have signed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday. The right-shot blue liner lands a two-way deal with a $775K cap hit, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. He’ll earn $400K in the minors with a $450K guarantee, PuckPedia adds.

Ruhwedel, 34, had a challenging season in 2023-24. He made 47 appearances for the Penguins, where he’s suited up since signing as a free agent in 2016, scoring once and adding three assists for four points. While he’s never been relied upon for offense, he’s normally had serviceable possession metrics in a fringe bottom-pairing role. That wasn’t the case last season, though, as his 48.0 CF% and 46.9 xGF% were his worst as a Penguin. With Pittsburgh out of the playoff race, the Rangers picked Ruhwedel up at the trade deadline for some added blue-line insurance in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He played in just five regular season games down the stretch and didn’t see any playoff action for the Blueshirts, though.

But Ruhwedel does have a longer track record of serving as an above-average seventh defender, a form New York could be banking on him returning to. Since making his debut for the Sabres back in 2012-13, Ruhwedel has amassed 13 goals, 36 assists, 49 points and a -9 rating in 364 contests while averaging 15:08 per game. He’s historically managed average possession metrics and is a fine two-way talent to deploy in a third-pairing role, although he doesn’t have any upside on special teams.

The Rangers being able to bring Ruhwedel back on a two-way deal is a tad intriguing, considering he hasn’t seen AHL ice since a five-game stint in 2018-19. For now, he still projects to win a roster spot out of camp as an extra defenseman, although his path to regular minutes is disadvantageous with Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba ahead of him on their RD depth chart. He’d have a shot at competing with Zachary Jones for a steady third-pairing role if he were a lefty, but that isn’t the case. They have a vacancy there after Erik Gustafsson departed for the Red Wings in free agency.

With parts of 12 NHL seasons under his belt, Ruhwedel would be an attractive claim candidate if he hits waivers in the fall or during the season.

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