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Arizona Coyotes Sign Ty Emberson

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The Arizona Coyotes have added another college prospect, signing Ty Emberson to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will kick in immediately, meaning Emberson is burning the first year for the 2020-21 season but is eligible for recall to the Coyotes right away. For now, he’ll report to the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL. GM Bill Armstrong released a short statement on his newest player:

We are very pleased to sign Ty to an entry-level contract. Ty is a good two-way defenseman who can play in all situations. He is another good prospect for us, and we look forward to monitoring his development.

Emberson, 20, finished his junior season at the University of Wisconsin when the Badgers were knocked out of the NCAA tournament and like several of his teammates has decided to turn pro. Selected 73rd overall in 2018, the young defenseman had 13 points in 31 games this season, his best offensive performance in college. That was actually the most points by a Wisconsin defenseman as their forwards carried most of the offensive load, but production at that end of the rink isn’t really Emberson’s forte anyway.

Instead, he’s lauded for his mobility and physicality, ending rushes by aggressively closing on attackers. Add that kind of strong defensive presence and ability to skate the puck out of trouble to the leadership qualities that made Emberson the captain of the Badgers this season and you have a legitimate NHL prospect, even if his ceiling is somewhat limited. Though he is reporting to the Roadrunners, it shouldn’t be that long before Emberson is challenging for playing time with the Coyotes in a depth role.

Chicago Blackhawks Purchase Rockford IceHogs

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If you’re a fan of the Rockford IceHogs, today was a good day. The Chicago Blackhawks have officially announced the purchase of the minor league affiliate, agreeing to keep the IceHogs in Rockford until at least 2036. The two clubs had already been affiliated since 2007, but the IceHogs had previously operated as an independent and were owned by the city of Rockford.

While the purchase price comes in at $11.8MM, the deal will also include further investment in the BMO Harris Bank Center. The Blackhawks become the 21st NHL team to own their AHL affiliate, a situation that only helps the development and stability of minor league players.

Rockford is having a terrible season, winning just six of their first 19 games in the remade Central Division. But with this kind of investment, the Blackhawks will have even further incentive to make the IceHogs not only a development stop but a dominant minor league franchise.

Many of the players that have helped Chicago become Stanley Cup champions in the past have spent time in the AHL with Rockford. Names like Corey Crawford, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brandon Saad, and Andrew Shaw all spent some of their formative playing years with the IceHogs, developing the skills that would lead them to success in the NHL.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 04/07/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:

West Division

  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forwards Michael Chaput and Lane Pederson from the taxi squad. Pederson has only played in two games with the ’Yotes this season but has recorded a point, while Chaput is scoreless through ten games.

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Alex Formenton from the taxi squad, an expected move with the team back in action later today. The 21-year-old Formenton has two points in five games for the Senators this season.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Kristian Vesalainen from the AHL to the taxi squad. Vesalainen has actually played eight games for the Jets this season, but is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Central Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have moved Liam Foudy and Alexandre Texier to the taxi squad for their off day, as they prepare to take on the Lightning in a rematch tomorrow night. The Blue Jackets downed their divisional rival last night with both youngsters in the lineup. Columbus continues to move players off the roster between games in order to bank cap space and save some salary.
  • The Dallas Stars have re-assigned Justin Dowling to the taxi squad after he played in yesterday’s game against the Blackhawks. Dowling, 30, has played 16 of his 65 career NHL games this season.
  • As usual, the Detroit Red Wings have made several moves, assigning Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith and Evgeny Svechnkiov to the taxi squad. Mathias Brome, Dennis Cholowski and Gustav Lindstrom have been moved back to the AHL to make room.

East Division

  • The New York Islanders have returned Grant Hutton to the AHL after using him for taxi squad purposes this week. The 25-year-old defenseman has never played in an NHL game and has just two points in 14 contests for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have sent C.J. Smith and Brandon Davidson to the Rochester Americans in time for the Amerks game this evening. Smith, 26, has seven points in six AHL games this season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 04/06/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:

West Division

North Division

Central Division

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Calgary Flames Sign Ilya Solovyov

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The Calgary Flames have signed prospect Ilya Solovyov to a three-year entry-level contract according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Solovyov recently finished his KHL season with Dinamo Minsk. Milstein did not clarify whether or not the contract starts this season or in 2021-22, or whether Solovyov will be joining the AHL down the stretch like many other recently-signed prospects. The Flames release, which came a few minutes later, also does not clarify, but PuckPedia reports that the deal will start in 2021-22 and carry an average annual value of $828K.

The 20-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick in 2020, his third year of draft eligibility. It took an impressive season with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL for the scouts to take notice, as previously the Belarusian defenseman had gone undrafted. In 53 games last year with Saginaw, he recorded 40 points while finishing ninth in the entire league with a +43 rating.

If you’re a Calgary fan looking for a late-round pick to dream on, the 6’3″ Solovyov may be the one to choose, after he stepped directly into the KHL and secured a regular spot on the Dinamo blueline. In 41 games he had just nine points but managed to average nearly 17 minutes a night as a 20-year-old rookie, not an easy task in the veteran-heavy KHL. In five playoff games, that ice time increased to more than 19 minutes a night, another strong indication of how far Solovyov’s game has come in the last few years.

There’s certainly work to be done, but a draft class that was bookended by Connor Zary (24th overall) and Solovyov (205th) already looks like a win for the Flames. If the young defenseman can even sniff the NHL, he’ll have already outplayed his draft position.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Jan Mysak

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The Montreal Canadiens have reached a deal with another one of their top prospects, agreeing to terms with Jan Mysak on a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will start in 2020-21 and carry an average annual value of $850,833. Mysak is currently playing with the Laval Rocket on an amateur tryout.

The 18-year-old Mysak was the 48th overall pick in last year’s draft after a short run with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. The Czech forward played 22 games for the junior team but managed 15 goals and 25 points, showing off the scoring ability that had been stifled at the professional level in his home country. The fact that Mysak was playing in the top Czech league as a teenager should be enough, but it was hard to know just how high his offensive ceiling was before seeing him dominate against players his own age.

A two-time representative at the World Juniors, Mysak has generally shown that when given room to get an impressive shot off, he can be an offensive catalyst. He still has work to do on his skating if he wants to be able to generate those scoring chances at the NHL level, but the fact that he’s already playing at the AHL level will only help push that development quickly. In 13 games for the Rocket he has just two goals but is gaining valuable experience in the faster and tougher North American style.

College Notes: Galajda, Pelton-Byce, Becker

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When the Ivy League announced that they would not allow winter sports competition this year, college hockey lost out on one its best goaltenders and Matthew Galajda lost out on his fourth and final season at Cornell University. As Ivy League schools do not permit graduate student-athletes, the senior netminder knew he would have to depart Cornell to continue his NCAA career. This worked out to the benefit of Notre Dame University though, who announced today that Galajda has decided to join the Fighting Irish next season. While a year away from the game has quieted the buzz around Galajda’s game, there is no arguing that he has been one of the NCAA’s very best goaltenders in recent years. In three seasons at Cornell, Galadja was consistently outstanding. The 23-year-old has a stunning .930 save percentage and 1.60 GAA in his NCAA career to go along with a 60-15-9 record. With those numbers, Galajda will likely take on a workhorse role for Notre Dame and should be an upgrade to the departing Dylan St. Cyr. If the 2019-20 Mike Richter Award finalist can return to that same level of play after a year off and facing a more difficult Big Ten schedule, he will have plenty of NHL suitors this time next year.

  • Ty Pelton-Byce of the University of Wisconsin was expected to be one of the top college free agents available to NHL teams this spring, but the Winnipeg Jets have been able to secure the talented forward on a minor league deal. The Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, have announced that Pelton-Byce has signed an AHL contract for the 2021-22 season and will join the club on an amateur tryout agreement for the remainder of the year. The 23-year-old forward, who split his college career between the Badgers and the Harvard Crimson, is coming off a career year in which he recorded 31 points in 24 games. He helped to lead Wisconsin to the Big Ten regular season title and to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament this year. With good size and a well-developed game, Pelton-Byce should adjust well to the pro game and could be pushing for an NHL deal in no time.
  • It was expected that Boston Bruins prospect Jack Becker would return to school for a somewhat unprecedented fifth season of college hockey and now the move is official. Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reports that Becker has committed as a graduate transfer to Arizona State University. The Sun Devils add an experienced two-way forward who captained the University of Michigan this season and has 124 NCAA games under his belt. Whether Becker will try to turn pro – and whether the Bruins will still want him – after a fifth college season remains to be seen. The 2015 draft pick will turn 25 years old before the 2022-23 season begins.

Anaheim Ducks Demote Trevor Zegras

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No matter how it’s viewed, the Anaheim Ducks have made a unique move. The team has announced that rookie phenom Trevor Zegras has been re-assigned to the AHL. But there’s a catch; Zegras’ demotion is not being viewed as a punishment by the organization, but rather a reward. The team is actually so impressed with the 20-year-old forward’s development that they are shifting him from the wing to his natural center position and simply want to start him in that role with the San Diego Gulls before bringing him back to the NHL squad. The club’s press release stated as follows:

Our goal was to help Trevor transition more smoothly into the NHL, so we started him out on the wing. He’s ahead of  our scheduled progression, and as a result we are moving him to center ice effective immediately. He will need some experience in the AHL first, but our expectation is that he will be back with us in the near future and play center for the Ducks for years to come.

On it’s face alone, it is a stunning move to see Zegras demoted amid a strong first pro season. The 2019 ninth overall pick recorded nine points in eight games in the minors before he was swiftly promoted to the NHL and has added seven points in 17 games with Anaheim since (not to mention 18 points in seven games at the World Juniors before the season.) The cerebral forward looks like a potential first-line center for the Ducks moving forward, as the team acknowledged, so fans assuredly would have been shocked to see him demoted if not for the context. Especially in the midst of another poor season, some may have turned on the team for removing their most exciting young player from the lineup without reason.

Fortunately, the club did make clear their reasons for the move. It is very rare and very refreshing for an NHL team to be so transparent with their developmental path for a player. Whether or not this specific move is needed given Zegras’ ability is beside the point, as the team’s justification is at least logical. As they noted, Zegras may not need much time in San Diego to get comfortable down the middle either. The Boston University product has previously excelled at the position given his elite vision and passing ability. Zegras should be flying with the Ducks again soon.

Snapshots: Hall, Schedule, Kolyachonok

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The Buffalo Sabres could be getting closer to a trade of Taylor Hall, as Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that “there’s a sense talks have escalated.” Dreger doesn’t believe a move is “imminent” but after the New Jersey Devils pulled Kyle Palmieri over the weekend, the precautionary pull is something to watch for.

Hall is one of the top rental targets on the open market and the Sabres need to make sure they get the best package possible before the deadline. Risking him to injury in a lost season doesn’t seem to make much sense.

  • The NHL has issued a schedule update, but it will likely be followed by a further announcement this evening. The change has the Calgary Flames playing against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday April 10, when they are still technically scheduled to meet the Vancouver Canucks. With so many positive test results for the Canucks over the past week—a 17th player was added to the COVID Protocol today—their games on Thursday and Saturday were always unlikely to be played.
  • The Florida Panthers have reassigned Vladislav Kolyachonok from the KHL to the AHL for the rest of the season. The 19-year-old defenseman was a second-round pick in 2019 and became a regular for Dynamo Minsk this season, recording six points in 46 games. He’ll get his first chance of pro hockey in North America, but isn’t a stranger to these parts; Kolyachonok played two years in the OHL for the Flint Firebirds before returning to the KHL this season.

Alexander Alexeyev Assigned To AHL

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Now that his KHL season has come to an end, Alexander Alexeyev is coming to join the Hershey Bears once again. The Washington Capitals have assigned the young defenseman to the AHL club, returning him to the place where he played so well last season.

Alexeyev, 21, recorded 16 points in 55 games for Ufa Salavat Yulayev this season in the KHL, averaging nearly 18 minutes a night. The 6’4″ defenseman was selected 31st overall by the Capitals in 2018 and had 21 points in 58 games for Hershey last season. Those are both strong campaigns for the mobile Alexeyev, especially given he was drafted more for his polished, calm defensive game than his offensive upside.

So good in fact that just today, Max Bultman of The Athletic included Alexeyev as a reserve in his projected 2022 Russian Olympic roster. While that may still be an optimistic take on a young defender that hasn’t proven anything against NHL talent, it speaks to just how much positive momentum Alexeyev has built since his draft. If he continues to show that he has taken another development step, perhaps he can even push for playing time in Washington this season.

Signed to an entry-level deal just after his draft, the 2020-21 campaign will be his first of three years under contract for the Capitals regardless of where he finishes the season. He’ll be in the mix for a role right out of training camp next season if he doesn’t earn one down the stretch.

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