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Minor Transactions: 09/13/23

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European leagues are close to kicking off their seasons, and some teams are still making last-minute consequential adds before 2023-24 begins. As always, we’re keeping track of notable overseas and minor-league moves right here:

  • Latvian forward Kaspars Daugavins hasn’t played in the NHL since he split the 2012-13 with the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, but he’s still active overseas at age 35. Today, he’s moving to Slovakia, signing with Extraliga club HK Dukla Michalovce for this season and next, per the team’s Instagram account. The 2006 third-round selection of the Senators was an international hero just a few short months ago, captaining host Latvia to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championship while posting seven points in ten games. He’s still been quite productive in major overseas leagues as well, producing 49 points in 55 games with the DEL’s Iserlohn Roosters last season. After spending many years in the KHL after leaving the NHL in 2013, he moved to Switzerland for the 2021-22 season before joining Iserlohn last year.
  • The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have added some center depth, signing Cole Cassels to a one-year deal, per the league’s website. Cassels, 28, finally had his breakout season at the pro level last season, ten years after being selected in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Vancouver Canucks. He notched 51 points in 64 games for the Belleville Senators, shattering his previous career high of 26 set with Utica in 2017-18. He’ll look to help bolster a Barracuda squad that’s finished near the bottom of their division for the past two seasons.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Shane Wright Officially Granted Exemption, Can Play In The AHL This Season

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Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis has shared that, if Shane Wright doesn’t make the NHL roster, he will be eligible for an AHL assignment. This move was recently speculated by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

CHL players are typically ineligible to play in the AHL until they are 20 years old on or before December 31 of the given season. Shane Wright won’t turn 20 until January 5, missing that cutoff by just five days. Another way to get out of the CHL-NHL agreement is to play four full seasons in the CHL, something Wright would have achieved had the 2020-21 OHL season not been canceled.

Because of these reasons, the OHL has granted Wright an exemption, following conversations between the Kraken, the NHL, and the OHL that date back months ago. These talks focused on how returning to the CHL wouldn’t benefit the former exceptional status recipient, especially after the tangled 2022-23 season that Wright had. Wright started the year with Seattle, before suffering an injury and getting assigned to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds for a conditioning stint. After eight games, Wright returned to the NHL for a single game, then left for the World Juniors, and when he came back, his OHL rights had been traded from the Kingston Frontenacs to the Windsor Spitfires – whom he spent the remainder of the season with. But after Windsor’s early postseason exit, Wright returned again to the AHL, playing in 24 playoff games with Coachella Valley.

It was a season filled with travel for Shane Wright – something Seattle will hope to avoid this year. Francis told the Seattle Times, “We’re going to come in and commit to giving Shane every chance to make our team. And if at some point we make a decision that he’s not going to make it, then we would look to assign him to Coachella Valley and I believe at that point we would be fine in doing that.”

Shane Wright recorded two points in eight NHL games last season. He’ll enter the 2023-24 campaign looking to build on those eight games and finally see through his rookie NHL season. But if that doesn’t work, this exemption gives Seattle a contingency plan.

Dylan Sikura Signs In Sweden’s Top League

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Dylan Sikura has signed a deal with Skellefteå AIK of the SHL. No details of the contract have been released yet but it’s an exciting move for a player who has spent the majority of the last five seasons in the AHL. Sikura, 28, has appeared in 250 AHL games over that span, recording 93 goals and 207 points. This includes 44 points in 69 games last season, splitting time between the Rockford IceHogs and San Diego Gulls, who he joined partway through the year.

Sikura shared that moving to Sweden has been a long-running goal, saying:

It feels incredible to have signed for Skellefteå. I have always been interested in playing in Sweden and when the opportunity came I was very interested. I have played with two guys who played in Skellefteå (Andreas Wingerli and Filip Roos) and they loved the city and the team. I remember they always spoke highly of it.

Unfortunately, Wingerli and Roos no longer play for Skellefteå. But the team isn’t void of former NHL talent. Pär Lindholm, Oscar Möller, and Oscar Lindberg are all also NHL and AHL veterans that now suit up for the Swedish club. The team also carries a slew of NHL prospects, including the 17th-overall selection in this year’s draft, Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Sikura is optimistic that his style can gel well with this mix of veteran talent and young potential, saying:

I like to see myself as a playmaker who likes to shoot as well. Throughout my career, the power play has been a big part of my game so I hope to be able to make it work when I transfer it to the big ice surface in the SHL as well. I think I can use my speed and understanding of the game to hopefully score a lot of goals.

Skellefteå AIK came just a few games away from an SHL championship last season, losing in the finals to the Växjö Lakers, who won their second title in three years. Sikura will look to help Skellefteå push for a long playoff run again this year, but hopefully with a better outcome.

Minor Transactions: 09/06/23

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Today was a busy morning in the hockey news cycle, with the Arizona Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins making notable front-office moves while the Toronto Maple Leafs added some potential scoring depth on a professional tryout. There’s also some notable movement on the transactions wire from other leagues, however, so let’s dive into today’s moves:

  • After two post-draft seasons with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, Vegas Golden Knights defense prospect Artur Cholach is staying in junior hockey for one more season with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, per an announcement from the Colts. Cholach, 20, remains unsigned after the Golden Knights selected him in the sixth round, 190th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft. His exclusive signing rights did not expire this summer because he only played OHL hockey after his draft date – he played his draft season with Sokil Kyiv in the Ukrainian Hockey League, meaning they have until June 1, 2025, to sign him to an entry-level contract. Over the past two seasons with Barrie, Cholach scored four goals and added 30 assists for 34 points in 116 contests whilst recording a cumulative +9 rating. He also notched eight assists in five games for the Ukrainian national junior team at the 2022 Division 1B World Junior Championship.
  • The AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds have signed defenseman Ryan Jones to a one-year deal, according to a league release. Touted as a physical two-way defender out of the USHL’s Lincoln Stars in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him in the fourth round but did not sign him to an entry-level contract when he finished his collegiate career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2020. He’s spent the three seasons since on AHL deals, including the last two seasons with the Syracuse Crunch, recording 27 points, 114 penalty minutes and a +4 rating in 137 games. Now a full-time bottom-pairing defender at the AHL level, Jones, 27, will look to grasp a spot on the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, who already added Mitch Reinke to their defense corps by way of their parent club earlier this week.
  • Veteran goaltender Kevin Poulin announced his retirement on his Instagram page.  The 33-year-old played in 50 NHL games over five seasons with the Islanders before embarking on a bit of a unique journey overseas, spending time in Kazakhstan, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden.  Poulin spent the last two years playing on an AHL deal in Montreal’s system, playing primarily with AHL Laval.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Snapshots: Calder Trophy, Ullmark, Fritz

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The 2023-24 Calder Trophy race should be one of the most exciting in recent memory. While Connor Bedard is undeniably the runaway favorite, there is a suite of other talented rookies that could challenge Bedard’s title. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal recently ranked their top-20 Calder candidates. Bedard unsurprisingly took the top spot, with Arizona Coyotes center Logan Cooley, Buffalo Sabres goalie Devon Levi, and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli making up the rest of the top four. The list also included names like Luke Hughes, Matthew Knies, and Joel Hofer.

The list featured more Anaheim Ducks prospects than any other team, with Leo Carlsson (#7) and Olen Zellweger (#9) ranked in the Top 10, while Lukas Dostal, Jackson LaCombe, and Pavel Mintyukov were all listed as honorable mentions. The Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks were among other teams with multiple prospects featured.

Some other notes from around the NHL:

  • Ty Anderson, a reporter for Boston radio show 98.5 The Sports Hub, shared that one team approached the Bruins with a, “fair, market value return” for reigning Vezina Trophy-winner Linus Ullmark. Ullmark posted a league-best save percentage (.938) and goals-against-average (1.89) last season. He followed it up with a .896 save percentage and 3.33 goals-against-average while appearing in six of Boston’s seven postseason games. And while he didn’t walk out of the postseason with any hardware, he confidently won the Vezina, receiving 22 votes to win it where no one else received more than three. Ullmark is signed to a $5MM cap hit through the next two seasons.
  • The Bridgeport Islanders have signed 32-year-old forward Tanner Fritz. Fritz has been a minor league player since 2015-16 when he split time between the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks and the Islanders AHL affiliate. His performances that season – notably his 12 points in 19 AHL games – were enough to earn him a consistent AHL role. The Grand Prairie, Alberta native got a taste of NHL experience in 2017-18, appearing in 34 games with the Islanders. He tacked on an additional eight NHL games in the following year but has been in the AHL ever since. With this deal, Fritz will remain a core piece of the Islanders depth chart, after recording 10 points in nine AHL playoff games last season.

West Notes: Krug, Smith, Mitchell

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Blues defenseman Torey Krug has already vetoed one trade this summer, a move that would have sent him to Philadelphia.  With a $6.5MM price tag for four more years, his contract won’t be an easy one to trade.  However, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic believes (subscription link) that there is a pathway to an in-season swap for the 32-year-old.  If Krug can get back to being a quality power play quarterback, that could bolster his market and the potential awkwardness of being with a team that clearly tried to trade him could create a potential opportunity for a move.  Krug had 19 points with the man advantage last season – more than half his point total – but when he was with Boston, he was closer to 30 power play points in his final seasons with the team.  Returning to that type of production would undoubtedly help Krug’s trade value.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Sharks prospect Will Smith isn’t likely to play out his four years of college eligibility as the team will want the fourth-overall pick to turn pro by then. Speaking with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino suggests that the decisions of fellow freshmen Ryan Leonard and Gabriel Perreault – both first-rounders as well – could ultimately influence Smith’s decision.  If those two decide to turn pro after the college season ends, Smith could follow suit.  But if they’re leaning toward staying, Smith could do the same since Boston College could still be a viable threat for an NCAA title with that core up front.
  • After spending three seasons captaining Chicago’s AHL team in Rockford, veteran winger Garrett Mitchell announced his retirement on Twitter. The 31-year-old made a single NHL appearance back in 2017 but made nearly 600 appearances in the AHL including playoffs over parts of 13 seasons which qualified him for veteran status in that league; teams can only dress a handful of those players each game.  Mitchell was limited to just 24 games with the IceHogs last year where he had 46 penalty minutes.

Hurricanes Notes: Kochetkov, AHL Loans, Chicago

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With the Hurricanes not having a dedicated AHL affiliate this season, Cory Lavalette suggested in a recent mailbag piece for The Athletic (subscription link) that they might be inclined to carry three goalies on the NHL roster this coming season.  While Pyotr Kochetkov is now in the first season of a four-year, $8MM contract, the expectation was that they’d take advantage of his waiver exemption to get him some regular action in the minors.  But if they loan the 24-year-old to another team’s affiliate, there’s no guarantee Kochetkov would get any sort of consistent minutes as the other team would likely be more interested in developing their own prospect.  Accordingly, Lavalette wonders if Kochetkov’s best path to AHL minutes would be in the form of short-term loans for a game or two to keep him fresh.  With both Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen having injury issues in the past, it’s quite possible that Kochetkov could still see some meaningful games with the Hurricanes this season.

More from Carolina:

  • Also from Lavalette’s piece, GM Don Waddell indicated that they have found a place for most of their prospects to play this season although they’re still looking for a spot for a few of them. Carolina has loaned several prospects overseas already while their other AHL-bound players are likely to be spread across quite a few other teams.  That will be the case for any ECHL-bound players as well as their affiliate from last season in Norfolk is now aligned with Winnipeg.
  • One AHL team that doesn’t appear likely to house any Hurricanes prospects is their former affiliate in Chicago. Wolves GM Wendell Young told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey that while they discussed the possibility of still using some of their prospects, Carolina ultimately pulled the plug on that idea.  Young stated that Carolina’s desire to focus on prospect development over winning was the key driver in Chicago’s decision to operate as an independent franchise this season.

Jay O’Brien Signs AHL Contract With Toronto

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9:36 AM: The Marlies have made the signing official, per a team announcement.

9:32 AM: Without an official announcement coming from the team up to this point, Adam Kimelman of the NHL is reporting that former top prospect of the Philadelphia Flyers, Jay O’Brien, has signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. Less than a week ago, the Marlies also added another intriguing prospect, Robert Mastrosimone, to a similar contract.

Much like Mastrosimone, given his skill set, O’Brien has a legitimate chance to earn his way to an NHL contract off of this deal. Originally drafted 19th overall by the Flyers in the 2018 NHL Draft, O’Brien went off for 43 goals and 37 assists in 30 high school games in his draft year.

Unfortunately for O’Brien and Philadelphia, the beginning of his college career did not bode well for his future with the club. Originally committing to Providence College out of high school, O’Brien would only score two goals and three assists in 25 games during his freshman year.

Taking a bridge year during the 2019-20 season in the BCHL, O’Brien would re-enter the NCAA a year later, transferring to Boston University to finish off his college career. In 79 total games for the Terriers, O’Brien scored 26 goals and 44 assists, showing some serious improvement compared to his freshman year.

Still being a bit undersized at 5’11” at the center position, O’Brien will join a Marlies team coming off a very strong season in 2022-23. Last year, the Marlies finished with a 42-24-4-2 record, clinching the league’s North Division. In all likelihood, O’Brien will transition to the wing at some point this season, but should get his AHL career off to a winning start.

Dillon Simpson Retires, Begins Coaching Career

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Veteran defenseman Dillon Simpson has announced his retirement from professional hockey and revealed his new role as an assistant coach with the University of North Dakota hockey program, according to a release from the Fighting Hawks. The son of former Edmonton Oiler Craig Simpson, his decision to step away from active professional play marks the conclusion of a career that spanned nine seasons in the minors and nearly 500 AHL games.

Simpson’s professional journey began in 2011 after being selected in the fourth round by the Edmonton Oilers as an over-ager after a decent freshman season at North Dakota. He would spend the entirety of his pro career in the Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets after turning pro in 2014. He did only ever play three NHL games, all coming with Edmonton in the 2016-17 season, but grew into a respected leader and shutdown defender at the AHL level.

Post-retirement, Simpson, 30, returns to the school he captained during his senior season and accumulated 75 points and a +22 rating across four seasons and 156 appearances.

Used heavily in shutdown situations, Simpson spent the last four seasons in a leadership role for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, including serving as the team’s captain for the last two. He fell out of a regular role last season thanks to an early-season injury, however. Simpson skated in 29 games in 2022-23, recording a goal and an assist. He never won a Calder Cup but remained an integral part of AHL Bakersfield and Cleveland’s systems for nearly a decade.

PHR extends its best wishes to Simpson in his retirement and hopes for the best in his coaching career.

AHL Coachella Valley Signs Jack LaFontaine

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The AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds have signed netminder Jack LaFontaine to a one-year contract, per the team, bringing the former Carolina Hurricanes draft pick into the Seattle Kraken organization.

A 2016 third-round pick, LaFontaine’s post-draft career got off to an inauspicious beginning at the University of Michigan for two seasons in a backup role. After then taking a year off from school to play in the BCHL, LaFontaine joined the University of Minnesota, where he became the team’s undisputed starter and, during the 2020-21 campaign, was arguably the best goalie in college hockey, posting a .934 save percentage and 22-7-0 record en route to winning the Mike Richter award for the NCAA’s top collegiate goalie.

His fifth season in college didn’t go quite well, posting a 2.69 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 20 games before deciding to turn pro in the middle of the season and sign an entry-level contract with Carolina. He made two NHL appearances for them, stopping just 32 of 41 shots in 75 minutes of action. His time in the minors after signing didn’t go swimmingly, posting just a .885 save percentage and a 4-3-7 record in 13 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

The minor-league performance was discouraging enough for the Hurricanes to cut him loose at the end of the season, opting not to issue him a qualifying offer in favor of other goalies in the organization they believed had higher ceilings. It led to LaFontaine signing an AHL contract last summer with the Syracuse Crunch, the affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He played just five games in Syracuse last season, instead spending most of 2022-23 in the ECHL with the Orlando Solar Bears, where he again struggled with a .898 save percentage and an 11-14-1 record. He did look much improved in his stint with Syracuse, though, posting a .924 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average in his limited stint.

LaFontaine will now look to secure a backup role in Coachella Valley and get his career back on track. He’ll have to beat out Kraken free agent signing Ales Stezka for the job, though, and he’s coming over to North America after posting a .924 save percentage and 2.14 goals-against average in 39 games with HC Vítkovice in the Czech Extraliga last season.

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