Minor Transactions: 5/31/23
The end of May has arrived and we should soon start to see an uptick in moves around the hockey world. There were a handful of minor moves today which are noted here.
- The AHL’s Chicago Wolves announced (Twitter links) the signings of forwards Connor McClennon and Cory Conacher. McClennon received a two-year deal while the length of Conacher’s deal was not disclosed. McClennon, a former prospect of the Flyers, had his second straight 40-plus-goal season in the WHL, notching 46 goals and 46 assists in 64 games, good for eighth in league scoring. The 20-year-old will now get a couple of seasons to try to earn an entry-level deal. As for Conacher, the 33-year-old was limited to just 17 games between two AHL teams this season, collecting 10 points. He has typically been a strong producer in the minors, however, picking up 340 points in 371 games over parts of ten seasons. The Wolves will be operating as an independent AHL franchise next season as they have ended their affiliation with Carolina.
- Conner Roulette is on the move in the WHL as Spokane announced that they’ve acquired the forward from Saskatoon in exchange for a pair of draft picks. The 20-year-old was a fourth-round pick by the Stars in 2021 and picked up 63 points in 60 games for the Blades this season. This acquisition suggests that Roulette will not be signing with Dallas by tomorrow’s deadline and at that point, they will lose his rights.
Vancouver Canucks Agree To Terms With Jett Woo
The Vancouver Canucks have completed some offseason business, agreeing to terms with Jett Woo on a new one-year, two-way contract. The team did not reveal any financial details, but Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reports that it is worth $775K at the NHL level and $100K in the AHL.
Woo, 22, was picked 37th overall by the Canucks in 2018 but, to this point, has yet to play in an NHL game. The young defenseman suited up for 68 regular season games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season, scoring seven goals and 21 points while racking up 96 penalty minutes.
While defensemen often take longer to develop, several other second-round picks from his draft class have significantly impacted their respective organizations. Players like Alexander Romanov, Sean Durzi, Martin Fehervary, and Calen Addison were all picked after Woo in 2018.
Still, there’s plenty of time for him to reach that next level. A one-year deal doesn’t afford much security, but Woo will be a restricted free agent again next summer, still under Vancouver control.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Justin Robidas
If you watched the Quebec Remparts open the Memorial Cup against the Kamloops Blazers last Friday, you probably noticed an undersized QMJHL forward flying around the ice setting up his teammates with creative, deceptive passes.
That was Justin Robidas, who put up three assists in the blowout win, continuing a brilliant playoff performance. As the young forward waits to see who he’ll face in the tournament finale, he’s made another huge step in his career.
Robidas has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. General manager Don Waddell released the following statement:
Justin has produced offensively throughout his junior career, and he has played a key role for Quebec throughout the QMJHL playoffs and Memorial Cup this season. We are excited to watch his development progress at the next level.
The 20-year-old forward was picked 147th in 2021, scoring 78 points in 63 regular season games this year. Even better, he put up 27 in 18 postseason games, helping the Remparts take home the QMJHL title.
While his size, a diminutive 5’8″, will likely pose a challenge for him at the next level, Robidas has shown elite playmaking ability at the junior level. He’ll be ticketed for the AHL next season, where he’ll try to translate his game to the professional ranks.
If he does struggle, there’s certainly someone he can ask for advice. Robidas is the son of Stephane Robidas, a veteran of more than 900 games and currently an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens.
Minnesota Wild Expected To Name Brett McLean AHL Head Coach
Current Minnesota Wild assistant coach Brett McLean is set to be named the fifth head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild, as first reported by Michael Russo of The Athletic. Minnesota parted ways with most of its minor-league coaching staff, including head coach Tim Army, last month.
McLean, a former NHL center with Chicago, Colorado, and Florida in the 2000s, has been with the Minnesota Wild organization for the past six years. He spent three seasons as an assistant coach with Iowa before being promoted to the NHL bench ahead of 2020-21.
It’s a move McLean is ready to take on. The 44-year-old had expressed his aspirations of being a head coach at the pro level during his previous stint in Iowa, emphasizing the importance of working his way up the coaching ladder and learning the necessary steps to teach and guide players effectively.
With McLean’s promotion, the Minnesota Wild will now be on the lookout for another assistant coach to join the NHL coaching staff led by Dean Evason.
Iowa’s short-term success will play a crucial role in the Wild’s ability to stay in playoff contention over the next few seasons. A tight salary cap situation brought on by the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts makes it nearly impossible to make external adds via free agency, and they’ll need to rely on players stashed in the AHL on cheap cap hits many times throughout McLean’s tenure at his new post.
Sabres Sign Ryan Johnson To Entry-Level Deal
There had been some question as to whether Ryan Johnson would sign with Buffalo or test free agency later this summer. In the end, he opted to stay with the team that drafted him as the team announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a two-year, entry-level contract that begins next season. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by Buffalo back in 2019 (31st overall) out of Sioux Falls of the USHL. Johnson then went to college at the University of Minnesota but didn’t exactly light it up, scoring just twice in his first two seasons. However, he showed considerable improvement in his junior year and carried that over to 2022-23 where he picked up 18 points in 40 games for the Golden Gophers.
Had Buffalo not signed Johnson or if he decided that he wanted to test free agency, the Sabres would have received a compensatory second-round selection. Instead, they’ll get an opportunity to add another young defender to their system, joining Nikita Novikov and Vsevolod Komarov who both signed recently as well.
While Johnson hasn’t played since the end of his college campaign, he has been assigned to AHL Rochester with the Americans still playing in the playoffs. Given how long he has been out, it would be surprising to see him suit up right away but if the Amerks move on to the Calder Cup Final, Johnson might get a chance to make his pro debut this season.
Mark Barberio Re-Signs In KHL
The winding hockey career of Mark Barberio will take him to Cherepovets next season, as the free agent defenseman has signed a one-year deal with Severstal for 2023-24.
Barberio, 33, left North American pro hockey in 2020 to serve as captain of Lausanne HC in Switzerland before transitioning to the KHL in 2022. The puck-moving defenseman was part of Team Canada at the most recent Olympics and registered 12 points for Dinamo Minsk last season.
It’s been an interesting career to this point for the former QMJHL star, who took the Moncton Wildcats to the 2010 Memorial Cup as part of an incredibly versatile and dynamic defense corps. He and David Savard combined for 137 points that year, and it became obvious that Barberio wouldn’t be the average sixth-round pick.
By 2012, he won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman with the Calder Cup champion Norfolk Admirals, a team loaded with future NHL talent. Unfortunately, while Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, and Radko Gudas would go on to huge success at the next level, Barberio struggled with the transition and bounced around for the next several years.
Overall, he played 272 games in the NHL, last appearing with the Colorado Avalanche in 2020. At his age, any thought of a return to the highest level of professional hockey is unlikely, so he’ll have to play out the last few chapters overseas.
Minor Transactions: 05/23/23
Moves continue outside of the NHL sphere as the European transfer season progresses, although things should be winding down as teams continue to finalize their rosters for the 2023-24 campaign. As always, we’re keeping track of all today’s notable moves from outside the NHL right here.
- The DEL’s Nürnberg Ice Tigers have signed AHL forward Cole Maier to a one-year contract, per the team. Maier has played the last four seasons with the Manitoba Moose, affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, but never received an NHL contract. He’s coming off back-to-back 15-goal seasons, even serving as an alternate captain for Manitoba in 2021-22. The 27-year-old will now try to work himself into a starring role in Germany with an NHL opportunity likely behind him.
- The AHL’s Utica Comets today signed forward Samuel Laberge to a one-year extension for 2023-24. The 26-year-old Québec product posted 16 points in 43 games with the Comets last year as he continues to try and earn an NHL deal with his parent club, the New Jersey Devils. Laberge, once the captain of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic, now has nearly 200 games of AHL experience under his belt.
- 23-year-old center Sam Bitten has signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, joining his brother, William Bitten, who’s on an NHL contract with the St. Louis Blues. Sam has played the last three seasons in Europe after wrapping up his junior career, but recorded just one goal in 48 games with Czechia’s HC Plzen this season. He’s likely destined for an ECHL demotion come October.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Buffalo Sabres Assign Matthew Savoie To AHL
One of the Buffalo Sabres’ best prospects will get his first taste of professional hockey. The team reassigned forward Matthew Savoie to the AHL’s Rochester Americans today, and he will join them ahead of their Eastern Conference Final series against the Hershey Bears.
Selected ninth overall in 2022, the speedy, well-rounded forward slipped a few spots south of where most public scouts anticipated. Other teams’ loss was Buffalo’s gain, as Savoie posted another strong season with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice in his post-draft year and didn’t look entirely out of place with the Sabres during training camp last fall.
After helping guide the Ice to the WHL’s championship series with 29 points in 19 playoff games, eventually losing to the Seattle Thunderbirds, Savoie now joins another high-pressure environment in Rochester. The Americans are among the final four AHL teams left standing after sweeping the Toronto Marlies in three games in the North Division Final.
Could it be a precursor to Savoie earning a spot with Buffalo out of camp next season? Definitely, if at least on a nine-game trial before he would need to return to Winnipeg for a final season of junior hockey.
Robbie Russo And Joseph Gambardella Sign With AHL Utica
Defenseman Robbie Russo and forward Joseph Gambardella were on two-way deals with the Devils this season and were slated to hit the open market this summer. However, they’ll remain with New Jersey’s farm team in Utica next season as the Comets announced that they’ve signed Gambardella to a two-year contract and Russo to a one-year pact.
Gambardella spent the last two seasons on a two-way deal with New Jersey but didn’t see any NHL action despite being relatively productive with the Comets. The 29-year-old had 35 points in 59 AHL contests this season, his second-highest AHL point total. His benchmark was 48 set with Bakersfield back in 2018-19 which is also the only campaign that Gambardella saw NHL action, picking up three assists in 15 contests with Edmonton.
As for Russo, he also is wrapping up a two-year, two-way deal with the Devils. The 30-year-old picked up 28 points in 72 games during the regular season while adding four helpers in six playoff contests but wasn’t able to earn a recall. He last saw NHL action back in 2016-17 with Detroit but is a veteran of 500 AHL appearances and should continue to be a mentor to New Jersey’s young blueline prospects.
Both players will technically remain NHL unrestricted free agents once the market opens up in July but it’s quite unlikely that they’ll receive an NHL contract. Instead, they’ll remain in the minors and hope to have their agreements converted at some point next season if injuries arise while New Jersey will have a couple of open contract slots that could be filled by someone else this summer.
Toronto Marlies Part Ways With Coaching Staff
As the hockey world continues to digest the news that Kyle Dubas will no longer be at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs, their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, also announced some executive changes as well. Coming shortly after the Dubas news, the Marlies announced that they would not renew the contract of their head coach, Greg Moore, or assistant coaches, A.J. MacLean and John Snowden, as well.
After Sheldon Keefe made the move to the NHL during the 2019-20 season, Moore immediately took over behind the bench for the Marlies. In his first season, the Marlies finished with a 29-27-3-2 record, much worse than they had performed in the previous year under Keefe. The team did not improve much in the shortened 2020-21 season, going 16-17-0-2.
Although not making the playoffs in the 2021-22 season, Moore helped the Marlies to their first winning record under his watch, finishing 37-30-4-1, which put them in sixth place in the stacked North Division. This year, the Marlies were finally able to put it all together, finishing 42-24-4-2, which put them squarely in first place in their division. The team made it all the way to the North Division Finals, losing to the Rochester Americans (Buffalo) in three games.
Due to the team’s incremental progression during Moore’s four-year span behind the bench, it would be a smart bet to expect Moore behind the bench of another team next season. Although the AHL season has not reached its end to this point, the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit), Henderson Silver Knights (Vegas), and the Iowa Wild (Minnesota) all find themselves without a head coach for the 2023-24 season.
Coupled with the ouster of Dubas, this news seems to point to a new generation of Maple Leafs’ hockey. The team now has ten players set for unrestricted free agency this July, and will also need to make a decision on extensions for both Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Whatever the future holds for this organization, it is apparent that Toronto is set for a major shakeup this summer.