Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Otto Somppi
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Otto Somppi to a one-year, two-way contract, avoiding restricted free agency as his entry-level contract was set to expire. The young forward was one of the players who received a qualifying offer from the Lightning yesterday.
Somppi, 23, was originally selected in the seventh round by the Lightning back in 2016, but has been brought along by their development system to the point where he could contribute at the NHL level soon. In 32 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season, the 6’2″ forward scored 12 goals and 26 points. That minor league season came after he played a few games back in Finland, where he added three points for the Lahti Pelicans.
It’s not that Somppi is going to be an NHL star, but if the Lightning can squeeze even a handful of NHL games out of him it will be another win for their scouting and development program. When he was picked in 2016, just six spots from the end of the draft, he had only completed one season in the QMJHL, where he scored 13 goals and 46 points in 59 games. That point total didn’t even improve in his second year with the Halifax Mooseheads, but after a breakout 2017-18 he earned his entry-level deal and turned pro. Time in the ECHL and limited minutes in the AHL were first, but now he’ll return to Syracuse as a key member of their forward group, waiting for his first NHL opportunity.
Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Dakota Mermis
The Minnesota Wild have signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Dakota Mermis to a new two-year, two-way contract, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. The deal will carry an NHL average annual value of $750K, while giving Mermis a nice minor league guarantee. He’ll earn an AHL salary of $300K in 2021-22 and $325K in 2022-23, but has guarantees of $350K and $375K in the two seasons.
Mermis, 27, played just three games with the Wild this season, spending most of the year on the taxi squad instead. After clearing waivers just as the season started, he was quickly sent to the taxi squad and ended up spending just five days on the NHL roster between January 12 and May 13. Still, a well-liked depth defenseman that can come in and out of the lineup whenever necessary is something that every team in the league needs, and that’s the role he can continue to serve in Minnesota.
Undrafted, Mermis has played in 23 NHL games over the last four seasons and could end up spending more time in Iowa than Minnesota over the next couple of years. In fact, he could be a big part of the leadership group for the AHL franchise, given his history as captain of the Tucson Roadrunners and alternate captain of the Binghamton Devils.
Detroit Red Wings Agree To Terms With Kyle Criscuolo
The Detroit Red Wings have come to terms with one of their unrestricted free agent forwards, coming to a two-year contract extension with Kyle Criscuolo. The minor league veteran will avoid the open market and return to the organization he has spent a good chunk of his professional career with. The financial details have not yet been released.
Criscuolo, 29, wore an “A” as an alternate captain this season for the Grand Rapids Griffins, scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 29 games. The former Harvard standout has spent the majority of his career to this point in the minor leagues, getting just a nine-game taste of the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres in 2017-18. His best years have come with the Griffins, including a Calder Cup-winning season in 2016-17 when he had 41 points in 76 games. That kind of experience and success will only help the other young prospects in the Detroit pipeline as they come through the AHL locker room.
Though he will require waivers to return to the minor leagues, that shouldn’t be an issue for Criscuolo or the Red Wings. He’ll serve as organizational depth this season, while being eligible for call-up in an emergency situation.
Toronto, Boston Complete Minor Trade
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins have completed a minor trade, involving the draft rights to an unsigned college player. J.D. Greenway, the younger brother of Minnesota Wild forward Jordan Greenway, has been sent from Toronto to Boston for future considerations according to CapFriendly. Greenway, who has completed his years of NCAA eligibility, will become an unrestricted free agent if not signed by August 15.
Selected 72nd overall in 2016, the 23-year-old Greenway doesn’t at all represent the way the Maple Leafs build their teams. Standing 6’5″ and known more for his physicality than his skill, he scored just 25 points during a four-season college career that started with the University of Wisconsin and ended with the University of Maine. There was a transfer year in the middle that Greenway spent playing for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL, but even there he was unable to really establish himself as a dominant offensive player, scoring just nine goals in 58 games.
Still, as the NHL pendulum starts to swing back towards size and strength, at least in the bottom-six and on defense, perhaps Greenway could still have a career at the highest level. The Bruins obviously believe in him enough to bring him into the organization and should be expected to sign him before the deadline. A start with the AHL’s Providence Bruins is likely.
Nashville Predators Sign Frederic Allard
The Nashville Predators have re-signed young defenseman Frederic Allard to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $750K at the NHL level and $70K in the AHL.
Allard, 23, was scheduled to become a restricted free agent after quite an interesting season. Not only did he play half the year in Austria waiting for the AHL season to begin, but he also ended up making his NHL debut with the Predators. Selected 78th overall in 2016, he had found plenty of success through his first three years of professional hockey, racking up 74 points over 181 games with the Milwaukee Admirals. This year he was even better, scoring at a near point-per-game pace through most of the year for the AHL club.
The Predators are going through a serious facelift this season after trading away Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Ellis, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be extra spots available on the NHL blue line. The team brought Philippe Myers back from the Philadelphia Flyers and still have several other options to fill out the depth chart behind Roman Jose and Mattias Ekholm. There could be some spot duty for Allard this season, but more likely he’ll spend most of 2021-22 in the AHL once again.
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Spencer Smallman
The Carolina Hurricanes have taken care of business with a would-be restricted free agent. The team has announced that they have come to terms on a one-year contract extension with forward Spencer Smallman. Smallman has signed a two-way contract that pays him the minimum $750K in the NHL and $75$K in the AHL. The deal comes in slightly below Smallman’s $772K qualifying offer.
Smallman, 24, is still a ways away from seeing any of his NHL salary. Smallman is a gritty, hand-working forward with character, but it will take more than that to advance his career. Smallman was able to produce on talented QMJHL Champion Saint John Sea Dogs team in his final year of junior hockey in 2016-17, but has failed to make an impact at the pro level. The 2015 fifth-round pick has played in only 90 games total over four pro seasons, 65 in the AHL and 25 in the ECHL. Smallman has failed to assert himself as an AHL regular to this point, due in no small part to just three goals and 21 points in his AHL experience (compared to 27 points in 40 fewer ECHL games).
Yet, the Hurricanes like his work ethic enough to re-sign him to an NHL contact, believing that he can still work his way into becoming a potential depth option. With two other important RFA forwards in Andrei Svechnikov and Warren Foegele and just ten players total on one-way contracts heading into next year, Smallman was the least of Carolina’s worries this off-season. They can now move on and focus on what should be a busy summer.
Cody Franson Signs In AHL
The focus today might be on the NHL and all the player movement coming out of the expansion draft, but that doesn’t mean minor league clubs are sitting on their hands. The Hershey Bears have signed veteran defenseman Cody Franson to a one-year AHL contract.
Franson, 33, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2017-18 season and has seemingly accepted the fact that he won’t be getting a deal at that level anymore. That doesn’t mean his professional career is nearing an end though, as the veteran defenseman is still a rock-solid minor league option that helped the Rockford IceHogs tremendously last season and was excellent in the KHL the two years prior.
In 26 games, he recorded 17 points and was named to the Central Division All-Star Team. This isn’t just a random minor league journeyman arriving in Hershey, but a veteran of more than 500 NHL games. There was a time when Franson was a sought-after puck-moving defenseman, racking up multiple seasons of 30+ points. While he’s perhaps not a strong enough skater to continue at that level, he’s a valuable addition to any AHL team.
San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Rudolfs Balcers, Joachim Blichfeld
The San Jose Sharks are taking care of some offseason work, re-signing restricted free agent Rudolfs Balcers to a two-year contract. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1.55MM. Sharks GM Doug Wilson released a short statement on the deal:
We were excited to bring Rudolfs back to our organization last season and he became an important part of our lineup in what was his first full NHL season. He showed that he is a versatile forward who can provide offense for our club as a Top-9 forward. We are happy to have him.
Balcers, 24, was part of the 2018 trade that brought Erik Karlsson to the Sharks, but never found his groove with the Ottawa Senators. In 51 games there, he scored six goals and 17 points, failing to secure a spot even in a rebuilding roster. When he landed on waivers at the beginning of this year, the Sharks happily brought him back to the organization that drafted him in 2015.
In San Jose, he finally was given an opportunity to play significant minutes, and rewarded the team with 17 points in 41 games. By the end of the season, Balcers was playing more than some of the team’s more prominent forwards, mostly because of his responsible defensive nature. There is offensive potential still there to unlock, but Balcers could also be a valuable bottom-six piece because of his two-way ability.
A reliable bottom-six isn’t really something the Sharks have had in recent years, and something that will be key to any sort of plan that GM Doug Wilson has. The team has so much cap space tied up in aging players that they will need a breakout from someone like Balcers to really get them back into contention. He doesn’t need to score 100 points, but he must provide some excess value on the $1.55MM hit he now carries. That’s a risk, but a calculated one on a player that they’ve known for some time and obviously believe in.
The team has also re-signed Joachim Blichfeld to a one-year contract. Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News tweets that the two-way contract is worth $750K at the NHL level. Wilson provided a statement on that deal as well:
Joachim was a top player in the American Hockey League last season, leading the Barracuda in goals and points. He has shown over his career that he is a goal-scorer at each level, and with the experience, he has gained in his short time at the NHL level, we feel that he is ready to compete for a spot in our lineup next season.
Blichfeld, unlike Balcers, still spent the majority of this season in the minor leagues. The 23-year-old forward suited up just five times for the Sharks, scoring a single goal but earning himself a suspension along the way. He’s another late-round pick, selected 210th overall in 2016, but has shown glimpses of a huge offensive ceiling. In 79 career AHL games, Blichfeld has scored 28 goals and 54 points. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given his success in the WHL, where he posted 114 points in 68 games during the 2018-19 season.
Like Balcers, he’ll be given an opportunity to play in the bottom-six next year, but it certainly isn’t a guarantee that he stays there all season. He could show that his offensive upside is good enough to warrant some powerplay time or even skate next to more skilled linemates further up, or could end up back in the minor leagues. Blichfeld is still waiver-exempt for another season, meaning he could face a turbulent season bouncing up and down between levels.
AHL Exemption Coming For Some CHL Prospects
In the 2020-21 season, with the OHL not playing at all and the other two CHL leagues playing shortened schedules, many prospects that would not normally be eligible for the AHL played in the minor leagues. According to the CHL-NHL agreement, many of those players would be forced back to junior for 2021-22, if they had not yet reached the age of 20. For a player like Cole Perfetti, it meant he would either have to make the Winnipeg Jets or return to the Saginaw Spirit, despite scoring 26 points in 32 games for the Manitoba Moose, clearly proving he can compete at the AHL level.
Special circumstances need special rules though, and Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the finishing touches are being put on an agreement that will allow junior eligible players who played 20 or more AHL games this season to return to the AHL in 2021-22. Perfetti, to stay with the same example, would not be required to go back to the OHL even though he is still just 19 years old.
The move would be a huge boost for the AHL, as the minor league could now have more young star power competing next season, but it is also a huge loss for the junior leagues, the OHL in particular. Players like Seth Jarvis or Connor Zary from the WHL didn’t have time to reach that 20-game threshold before their junior season started up again, even though they did play well in the short minor league stint.
One interesting case is Jamie Drysdale of the Anaheim Ducks. The 19-year-old defenseman played just 14 games at the AHL level, but that’s not because he went back to junior. Drysdale instead joined the NHL club for 24 games. Though he is likely to stay with the Ducks for next season, it is interesting to note that under the proposed rule, he would appear not to be eligible for AHL action if he struggles at all to start the year. Dreger does tweet that the eventual agreement will be a little more complicated, so perhaps there will be exceptions for players like Drysdale.
Snapshots: Baptiste, Letowski, Kalamazoo
Nicholas Baptiste found new life with the Texas Stars this season, getting his career back on track with 23 points in 34 AHL games. The 25-year-old forward will now head overseas to play for Ilves in Finland, where he could find even more offensive success. A third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2013, Baptiste played 47 games with the team between 2016-18, scoring ten points. He’s been stuck in the minor leagues ever since, suiting up for the Milwaukee Admirals, Toronto Marlies and Belleville Senators in addition to the Stars.
An unrestricted free agent that was playing under an AHL deal, Baptiste is still young enough to go to Europe, boost his value and potentially return on an NHL contract down the line. He’ll have to perform, obviously, but this may not be the last we’ve heard of Baptiste in North American pro hockey.
- The Montreal Canadiens have hired Trevor Letowski as an assistant coach for the upcoming season, adding him to Dominique Ducharme’s staff. Letowski, who played more than 600 games in the NHL, was the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires for four seasons before this new appointment, though he didn’t get to serve during the canceled 2020-21 OHL season. Letowski joins a staff that already had assistants Alexandre Burrows and Luke Richardson, the latter of which signed a new three-year contract recently.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have reached an affiliation agreement with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL, joining forces once again. The two were affiliates between 2014-16, but the Wings had other agreements with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks since then. For the 2021-22 season, after opting out of the ECHL season this year, they’ll be linked to the Blue Jackets, meaning they’ll receive some of their lower-end prospects. The ECHL is especially important for goaltending prospects, who need playing time above all else for their continued development.