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Minor Transactions: 07/03/23

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NHL free agency has moved from the “frenzy” stage that defines July 1st to more of a steady flow of news, and just as NHL teams are adding players for next season so are teams in minor leagues and pro leagues across the hockey world. We’ll keep track of notable transactions here.

  • Former Chicago Blackhawks 20-goal scorer Richard Panik has signed with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Extraliga. Panik, 32, is a veteran of over 500 NHL games, last playing in the league in 2021-22 with the New York Islanders. He signed overseas for 2022-23 and scored nine points in 19 games for Lausanne HC in the Swiss National League. Now Panik will return to the club he played for in his youth and the team the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him out of at the 2009 draft.
  • Jonah Gadjovich, a regular on the San Jose Sharks for the past two seasons, signed a one-year AHL deal with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers yesterday. A 2017 second-round pick, Gadjovich played 78 games for the Sharks across two seasons, averaging nearly nine minutes of ice time per game. Gadjovich is a big, physical winger who has 10 career NHL points, and will now return to the AHL for next season. Gadjovich’s last stretch in the AHL was quite successful (15 goals in 18 games for the Utica Comets in 2020-21) so this contract is Gadjovich’s chance to put together a productive season to earn another NHL deal.
  • The AHL’s Providence Bruins have signed two players to one-year, two-way AHL/ECHL contracts: goalie Shane Starrett and defenseman Ethan Ritchie. Starrett, 28, was the number-one goalie for the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks last season and re-established himself in North America’s third-tier league with a .913 save percentage in 54 games played. That was an important development for Starrett, who spent the year as the starter for the EIHL’s Glasgow Clan. Starrett does have some AHL experience (including a 42-game stretch with the Bakersfield Condors in 2018-19 where he posted a .918 save percentage) and will bolster the goaltending depth behind Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser in Providence, likely to spend most of his time with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. Ritchie, 21, gets signed after his overage OHL season where he scored 44 points in 65 games with the Sarnia Sting. The brother of 2023 Colorado Avalanche first-rounder Calum Ritchie, he’ll now begin his pro career either in Maine or Providence.
  • Although his production declined from 19 goals and 43 points in 2021-22 to just six and 19 in 2022-23, John Stevens has earned a two-year AHL contract extension with the Abbotsford Canucks. The 29-year-old former Northeastern Husky has been in the Vancouver Canucks’ minor-league system for the past four seasons, and Abbotsford GM Ryan Johnson said Stevens “personifies what we are as an organization.” He brings leadership value as a former NCAA captain and an alternate captain for Abbotsford, and if he can get back to his 2021-22 numbers he’ll be one of the AHL Canucks’ most important players.
  • The Grand Rapids Griffins have poached the captain of the Providence Bruins, signing right-shot blueliner Josiah Didier to an AHL deal. Didier, 30, led the AHL in plus-minus rating in 2019-20 and is a Calder Cup champion. He’s played nearly 400 career games in the American League, and joins recent NHL signing Brogan Rafferty as a move that will help beef up the right side of the defense in Grand Rapids.
  • 28-year-old blueliner Ryan McKinnon, a former captain of two different QMJHL teams during his junior career, has signed a one-year, one-way AHL contract with the Belleville Senators. McKinnon split last season between the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders and ECHL’s Worcester Railers, and hasn’t yet played a season as a full-time AHLer. That’s what makes the one-way status of this deal significant, as McKinnon worked his way up from being a full-time ECHLer in Worcester to a place on the AHL/ECHL bubble, a space he’s lived in for most of his pro career. Now, he’ll have a chance to establish himself as a full-time AHL player in Belleville.
  • Longtime minor leaguer Mark Alt spent most of last season as a free agent, ultimately latching on with the DEL’s Straubing Tigers for their playoff push and seven postseason games. Now, the Tigers have announced that Alt will not return to the club as he focuses on a full-time role outside of hockey. While there’s no word on if Alt, 31, is ending his eleven-season pro career, it’s certainly possible that Alt’s decision not to continue in Europe is an indication that he’s moving away from hockey. In any case, Alt has nearly 500 AHL games on his resume and has played in 20 NHL games, meaning regardless of what he chooses for his future he’s had a hockey career to be proud of.
  • Two-time AHL All-Star and former NHLer Matt Fraser will remain with his current club, the ICEHL’s EC-KAC, after the team decided not to exercise their opt-out clause for next season. Fraser, 33, has played in Klagenfurt for the last three seasons and took home an ICEHL title for them in 2020-21, scoring the championship-winning goal himself. Fraser last played in North America way back in 2015-16, though he’s had a successful run in Europe since he crossed the Atlantic. Fraser ranked second on Klagenfurt in goals with 14 last season and will likely remain one of the team’s top goal-scoring options moving forward.
  • The KHL’s Barys Astana made a few significant moves earlier this month, and perhaps the two biggest were the club’s signings of Eddie Pasquale, one of the KHL’s top goaltenders, and former NHLer Pontus Aberg. Pasquale, 32, returns to Kazakhstan to play for the team he began his KHL career with in 2019-20. Pasquale took home KHL Goaltender of the Year honors in 2020-21 and posted a .927 save percentage in 50 games last season for Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Aberg, 29, was a point-per-game player in 22 games for the Swiss NL’s Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, and now returns to the KHL for the second time in his career. He spent 2020-21 with Traktor Chelyabinsk, scoring 23 points in 49 games before leaving the league that offseason to return to North America.
  • Alex Ciernik, a recent fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, will play with HockeyAllsvenskan’s Vasterviks IK on a permanent basis after spending 10 games there on loan last season. The 18-year-old was selected 120th overall at the 2023 draft last week, and has 12 points in 37 career games at Sweden’s second-highest level of pro hockey.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Justus Annunen

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The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed AHL netminder Justus Annunen to a one-year two-way deal with a $775k cap hit and a $225k minor league salary.

Annunen, 23, took a strong step forward this past season with the Colorado Eagles, improving his save percentage from an .893 in his rookie AHL campaign to a .916 in 41 games this year.

The big six-foot-four goalie was a backup goalie for two seasons with Karpat in the Finnish Liiga before joining the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. In the AHL Annunen has acclimated himself to a far greater workload than what he received in Finland, and his form this past year is an encouraging sign for his NHL future in Colorado.

Incumbent backup netminder Pavel Francouz is 33 years old and will see his contract expire at the end of next season, so this one-year extension provides Annunen an excellent platform to make a push for an NHL number-two job in Denver.

Calgary Flames Sign Three Players

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The depth signings continue for a few teams on day two of free agency, and the Calgary Flames have now joined the fray. The team has announced a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract with forward Dryden Hunt, as well as separate one-year, $775K, two-way contracts with Martin Pospisil and Colton Poolman.

Hunt headlines the group, as he was brought over as a trade deadline acquisition from the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. It would end up being Hunt’s third team of the season, as he originally started the 2022-23 campaign off with the Colorado Avalanche. It’s not a surprise that Calgary wanted to keep him, as Hunt got off to a torrid start with Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. In 17 games played following his acquisition, Hunt scored five goals and 10 assists as well as chipping in another six points in nine playoff games.

Unfortunately for Pospisil, he wasn’t as big of a factor in the Wrangler’s season last year. Only suiting up in 20 games, Pospisil scored four goals and six assists, failing to appear in any playoff games. The Zvolen, Slovakia native has gotten more playing time in the past with the Stockton Heat, but figures to be a depth scorer at the AHL level at best.

Much like Pospisil, Poolman doesn’t put up earth-shattering offensive numbers but has shown to be a very disciplined shutdown defenseman. The former captain at the University of North Dakota, Poolman put up two goals and 12 assists last year for the Wranglers, carrying a +18 rating and serving only eight minutes in the penalty box. The ability to defend against the opposing team’s top players will always serve as a benefit in any league.

Minor League Signings 07/01/2023

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On day one of the free agent market opening up, the league saw a grand total of 166 signings, with a whopping $646.4MM handed out over the course of 291 total contract years. This class of free agents was expected to be one of the weaker in recent memory, but the excitement still remained as quite a few players switched cities. In all the chaos, there were some minor contracts that were inked yesterday that may have slipped under the radar for most:

  • The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Keeper spent last season playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He only managed to play for about half of the Canucks games, scoring one goal and five assists in 35 games. In the playoffs, although eliminated in the first round, Keeper scored one goal in two games for Abbotsford (CapFriendly).
  • Defenseman Ryan Shea has inked a one-year, $775K, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shea was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2015, but never actually signed with the team, joining the Dallas Stars on an entry-level contract in 2020. The Northeastern University product played a combined 162 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, scoring 10 goals and 56 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The Washington Capitals signed forward, Pierrick Dube, to a two-year, $1.9MM, entry-level contract yesterday. An undrafted free agent last year, Dube joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Dube played very well for the Rocket, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 44 games down the stretch. Still only 22 years old, Dube could factor into one of the top lines on the Hershey Bears next season, potentially even finding minutes with the Capitals in the near future (CapFriendly).
  • Another depth signing for the Penguins, the team has added forward Joona Koppanen to a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract. Koppanen was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, playing the majority of his career up to this point with the Providence Bruins. Last season, Koppanen did get his first change in the NHL, playing five games for the Bruins in January, tallying only one assist while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time a game (CapFriendly).
  • The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract yesterday. The defenseman was acquired in 2021 from the Blackhawks in an early-April trade. Although playing in 40 games during 2021-22 for Florida, Carlsson spent the majority of last season with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In the minor leagues, Carlsson was one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, scoring 20 goals and 34 assists in 61 games (CapFriendly).
  • Securing his first contract in professional hockey, the Edmonton Oilers have added defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer to a one-year, $845K, entry-level contract. A former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, Hoefenmayer never played in the Coyotes system, eventually playing on minor-league contracts with the Toronto Marlies after finishing his junior career with the Ottawa 67’s. Hoefenmayer played quite well for the Marlies, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season (CapFriendly).
  • Returning back to North American hockey after spending the last two seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Philippe Maillet to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Already 30 years old, Maillet has spent parts of his career with the Capitals and Los Angeles Kings organizations before finally making the jump overseas in 2021-22. In 66 games played for Metallurg last season, Maillet scored 22 goals and 31 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy from the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, Hunter Shepard, has signed a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract to remain with the Capitals organization. Shepard was sensational en route to the Hershey Bears winning the 2023 Calder Cup, managing a 14-6-0 record throughout the playoffs, carrying a 2.27 GAA and a .914 SV% (CapFriendly).

 

Buffalo Sabres Sign Devin Cooley, Dustin Tokarski, Justin Richards

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The Buffalo Sabres have inked a pair of goalies today. They’ve signed Devin Cooley to a one-year contract per agent Dan Milstein, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports they’ve brought back Dustin Tokarski on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K at the NHL level and $450K at the AHL level. They’ve also signed AHLer Justin Richards to a one-year, two-way $775k deal.

Returning to the Sabres organization, Tokarski spent last season in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, primarily playing for their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He performed well in the minor leagues, garnering a 2.69 GAA and a .910 SV% in 36 games played. With the organizational depth in goal the Sabres already possess, Tokarski will likely serve as their fourth-string goaltender heading into next season.

In Cooley, much like Tokarski, Buffalo is adding some organizational depth to their AHL team, the Rochester Americans. Cooley was originally an undrafted free agent signed out of the University of Denver by the Nashville Predators. Last year for the Milwaukee Admirals, Cooley didn’t get off to a great start to his career, posting a 9-10-4 record, earning a .898 SV% and a 3.06 GAA in 24 games. This past season was much better for Cooley, as the young netminder carried a 15-8-2 record with a .909 SV% and a 2.93 GAA in 26 games.

As for Richards, he’s a 25-year-old center who scored 39 points in 60 games for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters last season. He earned two NHL games with Columbus and posted one assist, and should end up a solid contributor in Rochester.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Five Players

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Ian Cole, center Teddy Blueger, and AHL forward Tristen Nielsen to contracts, per the team. Cole will earn $3MM on a one-year deal, Blueger will earn $1.9MM on a one-year deal, and Nielsen signed a two-year entry-level deal. They’ve also signed veteran blueliner Matt Irwin to a one-year, two-way contract. They’ve also added goalie Zachary Sawchenko on a one-year, two-way deal.

One of the primary focuses for the Canucks heading into free agency was upgrading their defense, and it’s tough to do much better than Cole in that aspect of the game. Regularly blocking over 100 shots a year, and averaging one of the better Defensive Point Shares in the league, the induction of Cole marketably improves the quality of the team’s defense headed into next year. Pair that with the signing of Irwin, and the Canucks defensive depth chart has improved considerably in the last 24 hours.

With Blueger, the Canucks should be expecting somewhere in the range of 20-30 points from him next season. A recent player for the Stanley Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights, Blueger now brings playoff experience to a team that is in desperate need of getting there. Aside from his playoff experience, the addition of Blueger will tremendously help the Canucks penalty kill, a unit that carried a league-worst 71.6% success rate last season.

Los Angeles Kings Re-Sign Taylor Ward

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The Los Angeles Kings have also re-signed an AHL prospect after not qualifying them a few hours ago. Per PuckPedia, the team has re-signed 25-year-old forward Taylor Ward to a one-year deal worth $775K in the NHL and $95K in the minors.

Ward, 25, just completed his first full pro season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The son of longtime NHLer Dixon Ward played in 71 of the team’s 72 regular-season games, recording nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points.

He was brought into the organization last year as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he registered 39 points in 38 games during his senior season. Ward then impressed in the minors on an ATO with the Reign to end 2021-22, recording 10 points in 16 games. However, he was never able to earn a recall to the NHL roster this season.

Ward left his career at Nebraska-Omaha as one of the top scorers in the program’s history, accumulating 57 goals and 58 assists for 115 points in 131 games. It’s been a sharp rise for Ward, who recorded just nine points in 56 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees in his draft year, the 2015-16 season – numbers that may not have even put him on the NHL Central Scouting mass list.

He’ll now have another chance to try and climb up the Kings’ ranks before becoming a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next offseason.

Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Marcus Bjork

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have solidified their defensive ranks for next year by signing defenseman Marcus Bjork to a one-year, two-way contract extension, the team announced today. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports the contract carries an NHL cap hit of $775K, an AHL salary of $375K, and a minimum guarantee of $450K.

Bjork, a 25-year-old hailing from Umea, Sweden, enjoyed a successful rookie NHL campaign with the Blue Jackets this year. In 33 appearances, he contributed three goals and eight assists for a total of 11 points – an impressive rate for a first-year defender who averaged north of 18 minutes per game.

The defenseman wasted no time making an impact in his NHL debut, netting a goal on November 12 against the New York Islanders. He followed up with his first career assist just three days later in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Bjork also compiled solid numbers with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, registering seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 44 contests. That’s where he’ll likely return, at least to start the season, with Columbus making multiple significant adds to their defense corps.

He was a shrewd undrafted free agent signing by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who brought him into the organization last May.

Dallas Stars Sign Jerad Rosburg To Extension

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The Dallas Stars have locked in some AHL depth, signing defenseman Jerad Rosburg to a one-year, two-way contract extension for 2023-24, the team announced today. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Rosburg, 27, was limited to just 12 games with the Texas Stars in 2022-23 before missing the rest of the season with an injury, but Dallas has evidently seen enough from him over the past three years to warrant keeping him around for another season. Signed to a one-year entry-level deal by Dallas in 2020 after recording 17 points in 36 games during his final season with Michigan State University, Rosburg has since skated in 115 games in Texas, recording six goals and 20 assists.

He’s yet to see an NHL recall but remains in the organization as a serviceable bottom-pairing option to round out their AHL roster. He’ll complement a group of Stars prospects eligible for AHL time that includes 2021 second-round pick Artem Grushnikov, 2022 second-round pick Christian Kyrou, and 2022 fourth-round pick Gavin White.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Rosburg hails from Clarksville, Maryland but underwent initial development in the Columbus Blue Jackets youth hockey system, followed by USHL stints with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Sioux City Musketeers before joining Michigan State in 2015. After staying out of the lineup during his freshman season entirely, Rosburg recorded 12 goals, 43 assists, and 55 points in 141 games across four seasons with the Spartans.

Sabres Notes: Jost, Draft, Rochester

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With the deadline for tendering a qualifying offer now less than 24 hours away, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that the ball is in Tyson Jost’s court as the two sides try to plug away at a new contract.  The 25-year-old was claimed on waivers back in November from Minnesota and had some success with his new team, picking up 22 points in 59 games.  However, he’s owed a $2.25MM qualifying offer tomorrow, one that also grants him arbitration eligibility.  That offer is a bit on the pricey side for someone who has yet to have a lot of offensive success in the NHL, not to mention the risk of the arbitrator adding to that.  Adams noted that discussions have been ongoing for several weeks now so it’s clear that Buffalo would like to keep Jost in the fold but if a deal can’t be reached by 4 PM CT on Friday, there’s a decent chance that the center will be non-tendered.

More from Buffalo:

  • The Sabres were among the teams that were trying to move up into the top ten last night, Adams noted (video link). However, those efforts were rebuffed but in the end, they wound up with the player that they were trying to move up to get as forward Zach Benson, a consensus top-ten selection heading into the draft, wound up slipping to Buffalo at the 13th pick.
  • Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester has added a pair of youngsters for next season as the Americans announced that they’ve signed 21-year-old forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz to a two-year contract and 21-year-old defenseman Nicolas Savoie to a one-year deal. Fiddler-Schultz just finished up a five-year career with WHL Calgary and notched 31 goals and 44 assists in 64 games this past season.  Savoie, meanwhile, spent his five-year junior career with Quebec of the QMJHL, picking up 48 points in 65 games in 2022-23 while helping lead the Remparts to the Memorial Cup.

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