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Snapshots: Price, Johansen, Cincinnati

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Beginning on July 1, several notable players will be eligible to sign contract extensions ahead of the final year of their contracts. Connor McDavid is the biggest name, but Carey Price is in a similar stratosphere.

The superstar goaltender is entering the final year of his six-year, $39MM contract ($6.5MM AAV), signed back in 2012. Price has a no-move clause (NMC) which allows him to submit a list of 15-team trade list.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and Price’s agent Gerry Johansson will meet next week to begin discussions. The two have had some preliminary discussions at the World Championships earlier this month, but have not had any “real negotiations” yet. The two sides are reportedly aiming to have something ready for Price to sign on July 1.

The Price contract will have a big impact on the Canadiens’ plans going forward. While he could command in the neighborhood of $10MM, that would negatively impact Bergevin’s ability to bring in offensive help, something the Canadiens desperately need.

  • Nashville center Ryan Johansen appeared on TSN 1040 in Vancouver, and opened up about his season-ending injury and comments about Ducks shut-down center Ryan Kesler. Johansen took a hit from Josh Manson, and was going to pull himself out of the game when the game ended in overtime. By the time Johansen hit the showers, he was unable to walk and had emergency surgery just hours later. He’s expected to make a full recovery, which is good news considering the serious risks related to acute compartment syndrome. Regarding Kesler, Johansen said his only regret was not being able to shake the Ducks’ hands at the end of the series.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have found a new AA affiliate, signing an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Sabres’ previous ECHL affiliate, the Elmira Jackals, folded earlier this year. The Cyclones were previously affiliated with the Nashville Predators organization. This isn’t the first time there has been an agreement between Buffalo and Cincinnati; back in the 1970s, the Sabres had the Cincinnati Swords as their AHL affiliate. With the AHL above them, the ECHL is generally low on NHL prospects; just four Sabres prospects played in Elmira last season.

Coaching Notes: Sydor, Donatelli, Cunningham

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The St. Louis Blues have hired Darryl Sydor as their new assistant coach, re-joining Mike Yeo on his new club. Sydor worked with Yeo in Minnesota before taking a position with the Blues’ AHL affiliate this season. The former NHL defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup Champion played 1291 games in his career, scoring 507 points.

Yeo took over the head coaching job in St. Louis when Ken Hitchcock was fired mid-season, and turned the team around from their early season struggles. He’ll now go into next season with Sydor beside him on the bench, presumably in charge of the defenders that are now led by captain Alex Pietrangelo and up-and-coming Colton Parayko.

  • Pierre LeBrun of TSN gave a list of names that he believes the Buffalo Sabres are looking at in regards to their head coaching position, and many of them had already been publicly linked. One name that had been overlooked was Clark Donatelli, which Paul Hamilton of WGR 550 added in a follow-up tweet. Donatelli was the replacement for Mike Sullivan in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when he was promoted to the NHL in 2015-16, hired of course by new Sabres’ GM Jason Botterill when he was in charge of the baby-Penguins. Donatelli led the WBS Penguins to a 51-20-5 record this season, good for first overall in the AHL. While he has no NHL experience so far, he has been groomed all the way from the ECHL by Botterill, and perhaps is ready for the next step.
  • In some uplifting news, Craig Cunningham has been given a pro scout position with the Arizona Coyotes. The well-liked former captain of the Tucson Roadrunners collapsed on the ice in November and ended up losing part of his leg because of medical complications. He’ll never play professional hockey again, but will now be part of an NHL front office for at least the next two seasons. Just 26-years old, Cunningham has a long career ahead of him should he decide to remain in hockey and Arizona is the perfect place to get started; they’ve never been shy about giving responsibility to young men—just ask GM John Chayka.

Without AHL Team, Blues Face Disadvantage

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When the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliation with the Chicago Wolves was officially terminated on Wednesday in favor of partnership with Las Vegas, an important aspect of the deal was overlooked by many around the league. The St. Louis Blues will still provide players to the Wolves, but only their best players are likely to see action, as the Golden Knights hold primary ownership. Given the Knights’ situation, why play borderline prospects of an outside organization, who you are still technically competing with? They will need warm bodies for years to come, but Knights prospects will always be valued higher.

This association may not seem like a huge deal, considering that NHL teams have used AHL partnerships in years past. However, St. Louis will be the only team dealing with this handicap in the upcoming season, and it’s not a situation that will help their organization gain advantage over a tough Central division. A team hasn’t dealt with this sort of turmoil in the minors since the 2009-10 season when the Anaheim Ducks had no affiliate whatsoever. The Ducks that year? They finished 11th in the conference and missed the playoffs.

Although Vegas, without an abundance of pro-ready prospects, may appreciate this arrangement for AHL competitiveness reasons, it can only mean a step back for St. Louis. There is no tangible benefit to having your third and fourth line hopefuls lose valuable playing time to outside players. One need only look to the role players of this year’s playoff teams to realize that having a deep bench in case of injuries is always worthwhile. The Penguins for example, have Carter Rowney, Josh Archibald, and currently injured Tom Kuhnhackl performing important spot-duty. Derrick Pouliot even has an outside shot of seeing playing time this series. If any of these had played on a split-squad in the AHL, there is a strong probability they would not have the requisite experience to be inserted into NHL playoff hockey.

GM Doug Armstrong says he has a “comfort level” with Las Vegas GM George McPhee, and that eases his mind about the situation. Regardless of comfort, Blues ownership failed the team and its prospects by not securing a primary home for their players. The Blues need to have a solid farm system, which they had seemingly started to build with a dominant 1st-overall performance this past season. The likes of Jordan Schmaltz, Magnus Paajarvi, and Ivan Barbashev all benefited from a successful AHL outing. Going forward, securing a stable location for all of its players is a must for St. Louis. It’s a disadvantage from the beginning of summer until the end of the season.

Injury Notes: Aberg, Gibson, Johansen

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Nashville fans can breathe a thankful sigh after seeing Pontus Aberg land face-first on a shift well before his diving goal in Game 5. He was ushered off of the bench by officials only after he had been allowed to score the eventual game winner, fearful that the previous impact may have caused a concussion. Although no official word has come, Aberg seems to be fine and obviously in good spirits. “I…lost my tooth, but it didn’t hurt my head.” Obviously, execution of concussion protocol is still less than ideal, but in this one instance Nashville fans aren’t complaining.

Aberg has been an unsung hero for these Predators, this being his first goal of these playoffs. The 23 year-old winger has played the bulk of the past three seasons with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, but with the injury bug biting the team, he has taken a spot which he hasn’t relinquished. Especially in light of the injuries to Ryan Johansen and Mike Fisher, the need for a role player to provide some offense was necessary.

  • NBC Sports has surmised from the post-game interview of Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle that goaltender John Gibson is hopeful to recover to start Game 6. Jonathan Bernier needed to fill in as relief in last night’s Game 5 loss due to an unknown lower-body injury and conceded two goals. Going into an elimination game with your backup goaltender is not the ideal scenario, especially considering how solid Gibson has been. Boudreau did caution that Gibson would need to be evaluated again by medical officials before being given leave to play. Notably, Rickard Rakell was also referred to as day-to-day. Rakell has been one of the Ducks’ most creative offensive players, and would be a welcome return to a team that has struggled at times against red-hot goaltender Pekka Rinne.
  •  Ryan Johansen was actually in far worse shape than previously believed. Disclosed by Jon Morosi, the young Predator appears to have suffered Acute Compartment Syndrome, which prevents oxygen from getting to muscles. Built-up pressure and the side effects from reduced blood flow can actually result in loss of limbs or death if left untreated. Johansen had to undergo thigh surgery on Friday and therefore was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. Thankfully his doctors caught the issue and rectified it quickly, as Johansen is expected to make a full recovery.

Revision: The article had cited Bruce Boudreau instead of Randy Carlyle. 

Snapshots: Morin, Devils, Balinskis

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Travis Morin will be staying in Texas next season, after the Texas Stars captain signed a one-year AHL deal today. The 33-year old forward has been one of the more impressive scoring threats in the AHL for years, and recorded another 55 points this past season. With 468 points in 548 games, you’d think Morin would have gotten more of a look at the NHL, but he’s only spent 13 games there over his career.

Texas finished out of the playoffs this season, but will hope Morin will bring back his offensive touch to a group that should be improved in 2017-18. Mark McNeill, acquired at the deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, will be an especially important addition should he not be able to crack the Dallas lineup next year.

  • The New Jersey Devils scouting staff is preparing “like we’re making the No. 1 pick” according to Mike Morreale of NHL.com, though there still does exist the possibility that the team would trade down. The team won’t make that final decision until much closer to the draft, but it’s clear that they have interest in both projected top picks. Paul Castron, the team’s director of amateur scouting, talks about how Nolan Patrick’s injury shouldn’t be held against him, and that Nico Hischier has made a meteoric rise up everyone’s draft boards this season. For a team looking to turn their franchise around quickly, they’ll have to decide whether one of the top two names can help them in the short-term, or if moving down a few spots in exchange for an NHL-ready player makes more sense.
  • Keep an eye on Uvis Balinskis from Dinamo Riga of the KHL and most recently the Latvian team at the World Championships. He’s now represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, who claims that the “NHL is next” for his client. Balinskis is “open for business” according to Milstein, and was impressive at the tournament. Balinskis played half the season for Riga after moving up from the MHL, and recorded 5 points in 21 games. The left-handed defenseman is just 20-years old and could have a professional future in North America should he continue to develop his two-way style.

Snapshots: Blackhawks, Richardson, Wong

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Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune took a look at possible trading partners for the Blackhawks as they look to reload for another Cup run next season. Out of all the possible options Hine mentions the Toronto Maple Leafs in particular, with James van Riemsdyk’s name popping up again.

The left winger has just one year remaining on his current contract, and younger brother Trevor currently plays in Chicago. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s an option for the Blackhawks though as the team would have to clear a fair bit of cap space to fit van Riemsdyk’s $4.25MM salary into their current structure. With almost all of the expensive players on Chicago holding full no-movement clauses, making any deal will be difficult this summer.

  • As expected, the New York Islanders have indeed hired Luke Richardson as an assistant coach for Doug Weight. The former NHL defender was the head coach of the Binghamton Senators between 2012-16, and will “have his hands on every aspect of the team, including our systems, skill development and team culture.” Bob Corkum will not return as assistant next season.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have already added a player for their minor league team, as the Chicago Wolves signed WHL free agent Tyler Wong to an AHL contract today. Wong scored 51 goals and 109 points as an over-ager for Lethbridge this year, after playing three games for the Toronto Marlies on an amateur tryout last spring. The 5’9″ forward is a dynamic offensive player, who will try to carry over that scoring touch to the professional ranks.

Chicago Blackhawks Hire Jeremy Colliton As AHL Head Coach

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The Chicago Blackhawks have a new coach for their AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs, today naming Jeremy Colliton to that position. Colliton had been coaching in Sweden for Mora IK of the Allsvenskan for the past four seasons since his retirement from professional hockey. Obviously wanting to go in a new direction after a first-round exit, the Blackhawks dropped the hammer on both AHL coach Ted Dent and NHL assistant Mike Kitchen a few weeks ago. Now, they’ll go with a much younger name that may be familiar to some around the league.

Colliton was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round, and would eventually make the NHL for a short while. In 57 career games, the forward registered just six points before heading to Sweden in 2013-14. When he was just 29, he retired from professional hockey due to post-concussion symptoms and was immediately asked to stay on with Mora as their head coach. Still just 32, Colliton coached this year’s iteration of Mora IK to the league Championship and promotion into the SHL for next season. Their 35-13-4 record was easily the best in the league during the regular season.

Considered a top young coach, Colliton will now have the chance to lead men who are in certain cases older than him. The Rockford team scored the fewest goals in the league this season and finished with a 25-39-12 record. He’ll be tasked to turn it around despite the continuous stripping of talent to feed the parent club, either through trade or call-ups.

Vegas Golden Knights Announce Chicago Wolves As AHL Affiliate

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The NHL’s newest team has announced their AHL affiliate for the 2017-18 season.  As expected, the Vegas Golden Knights have signed a multi-year partnership with the Chicago Wolves to work as their affiliate. The club wanted to wait until the Wolves season had finished, as it did on Saturday at the hands of the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wolves made it back to the playoffs under the leadership of former Philadelphia Flyers head coach Craig Berube. The team has previously been the affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Vancouver Canucks, winning two Calder Cups (2002, 2008) along the way.

Chicago has been the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues since 2013, and despite expectations that the two franchises would share the team this season, it won’t be exactly an even split. The Blues have not extended their agreement, but will “associate with the Vegas Golden Knights and supply players to the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate next season.” Vegas will have full control of Wolves, including staffing decisions.

The Wolves actually play in Rosemont just outside of Chicago, but remain much closer geographically to the Blues than the Golden Knights. As teams try to get their AHL affiliates closer and closer, the Wolves don’t offer much long-term stability for the expansion franchise. Despite the current multi-year deal, a move to somewhere closer to Vegas seems inevitable down the road. There is no word on where the Blues’ next affiliate will be, but it won’t come until 2018-19 at the earliest.

As of this moment, the Golden Knights don’t have any players ticketed for the AHL as just Reid Duke and Vadim Shipachyov are under contract. That will change soon enough though, as the team selects 30 players in the expansion draft and another crop in the entry draft. Duke is likely to spend this year in the minors, as are several of the young options the team has in the expansion draft.

Rangers Fire AHL Coach, Promote Chris Drury To AHL GM

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The New York Rangers have shuffled their organization depth charts today, firing Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander and giving assistant GM Chris Drury the reins of the AHL team. Jim Schoenfeld, the former Wolf Pack GM will remain in the Rangers front office but will no longer have control of the AHL squad.

Neither move comes as much of a surprise, as the Wolf Pack finished the season in last place in the entire AHL. While some (most) of that has to do with the weak prospect group the Rangers have accumulated over the past few years—they haven’t had a first-round pick since 2012—it was time for Drury to be given control of a team. His ascension through the ranks was likely boosted even further when he recently turned down an opportunity to interview for the Sabres GM job, instead wanting to slowly grow and learn with the Rangers organization.

It will be interesting to follow Drury’s tenure with the Wolf Pack, including who he hires for the now-vacant coaching job. His first hire will be linked to him forever, and should give some insight into the type of team he wants to build. For Gernander, it will end a long relationship with the Wolf Pack after spending more than two decades with the Rangers affiliate, first as a player and then as a coach.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Three

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Just prior to puck drop of Game Two of the Western Conference finals tonight between the visiting Nashville Predators and host Anaheim Ducks, the Ducks announced that they have recalled a trio of players from their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Joining Anaheim presumably for the remainder of their playoff run are goaltender Jhonas Enroth and forwards Nicolas Kerdiles and Sam Carrick. 

The group was no longer of use in the minor leagues, as the Gulls season came to an end last night in a 2-0 loss to the San Jose Barracuda, their rival and the affiliate of Ducks’ rival the San Jose Sharks, in Game Five of the series. Now, they’ll look help out the big squad in any way they can. Enroth is simply an insurance policy should John Gibson or Jonathan Bernier somehow unexpectedly be unable to suit up. The veteran keeper began the year at the NHL level with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but after a disastrous start of 0-3-1 to the tune of an .872 save percentage and 3.94 goals against average, he was traded to the Ducks for this exact purpose of being a fallback option. Enroth has eight years of NHL experience and should be able to step in in the unlikely chance that his services are needed. Kerdiles and Carrick lack the experience, but make up for it in energy and ability. Kerdiles made his NHL debut earlier this season and then added two playoff games to his resume earlier in the postseason. He has yet to record a point in three games, but it’s only a matter of time given that the 23-year-old was a point-per-game player for the Gulls in the AHL playoffs. Carrick has not seen NHL ice for over a year, and never with the Ducks nor in the playoffs. The 25-year-old played in 19 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 2014-15 and 2015-16, recording a goal and an assist. Carrick has 39 AHL points this season between San Diego and the Rockford Ice Hogs, following a minor mid-season trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Whether the Ducks intend to play Kerdiles and Carrick or not, the pair is not in the lineup tonight for Game Two. Anaheim announced their lineup shortly after making the call-ups official, but still went with Chris Wagner and Jared Boll on the energy line. If the Ducks lose at home again tonight and head to Nashville down 2-0, they may look to change things up and give Kerdiles or Carrick an opportunity to make a difference in their playoff fate.

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