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Prospect Notes: Askarov, Hogberg, McPhee

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If anyone needed a reminder of just how good Yaroslav Askarov is, he provided it today. The top 2020 draft-eligible goaltender posted his first KHL shutout when he blanked Spartak by stopping all 33 shots he faced (including a penalty shot). Askarov only turned 18 a few months ago but is already turning heads at the highest level in Russia, raising expectations even further as he heads into the draft next month.

A consensus first-round pick, the young goaltender is signed through the 2021-22 season with SKA St. Petersburg but is a potential franchise starter for a team willing to take the chance on him in a few weeks. How high he climbs that board is unclear, though Spencer Knight’s selection at #13 last year may show that teams are now a little less hesitant to spend big on goaltending at the draft.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned Linus Hogberg to HC Vita Hasten of the Swedish second league, keeping him overseas once again. Drafted in 2016, Hogberg’s rights would have expired had he not signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers before June 1 of this year. He ended up inking his two-year deal on May 30, but will be staying in Sweden for the time being. The 22-year-old defenseman has played four full seasons in the SHL, scoring 14 points in 50 games in 2019-20.
  • Just a few days ago Graham McPhee signed a one-year AHL contract with the Bakersfield Condors, but now he’s suiting up for Vienna in the Austrian pro league. The son of Vegas Golden Knights executive George McPhee, the 22-year-old forward actually became an unrestricted free agent when the Edmonton Oilers decided not to sign him to an entry-level deal last month. After four years at Boston College, the fifth-round pick will have to work his way up the professional hockey ladder, starting in Europe for now.

Snapshots: Palm Springs, Boughner, Engelland

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When the Seattle Kraken enter the league for the 2021-22 season, they likely won’t have a primary AHL affiliate yet. That’s because the new Palm Springs franchise announced today that instead of a downtown arena they will now be building a location in the Coachella Valley which is scheduled to be ready for the 2022-23 season. For 2021-22, since the team will not have the full complement of minor leaguers, the most likely scenario will be finding places for them elsewhere.

The unnamed AHL franchise will play in a privately funded building owned by the Oak View Group and The H.N. & Frances C. Berger Foundation. Construction is set to break ground in 2021 and it will be a 10,000-plus seat venue.

  • The San Jose Sharks are expected to remove the interim tag from head coach Bob Boughner in the coming days, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Boughner led the Sharks to just a 14-20-3 record after replacing Peter DeBoer this season, but has a strong history with the front office from his multiple stints as an assistant coach. Boughner has plenty of experience behind the bench, having coached the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL for years and spending two seasons as head coach of the Florida Panthers.
  • Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon didn’t have a lot of answers regarding the goaltending situation for his team this summer and whether they would bring back Robin Lehner on a multi-year contract, but did shed some light on a different trade deadline discussion. Deryk Engelland, who has been a leader in Vegas since the franchise first joined the league, was offered a deal at the deadline to go to a team that wanted him. Engelland declined the opportunity, even though his lineup spot had disappeared and he wouldn’t be suiting up in the playoffs. McCrimmon told reporters including Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com that Engelland felt the Golden Knights had a real shot at winning the Stanley Cup and he accepted his role down the stretch. The 38-year-old defenseman played in 49 regular season games and is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Adam Werner Loaned To HC Vita Hasten

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While goaltending depth was perhaps eventually the downfall of the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs, you can’t say that they didn’t try to build up the pipeline. The team ended up with Michael Hutchinson starting for them in the postseason but also have some young talent pushing for a larger opportunity. While Hunter Miska needs a new contract this offseason as a restricted free agent, Adam Werner, his minor league partner, will be headed overseas to keep his game sharp.

Werner has been loaned to HC Vita Hasten in the Swedish second league until NHL training camps open for the 2020-21 season. You may remember the 23-year-old goaltender from his two appearances with the Avalanche this season, where he posted a .914 save percentage including what really should have been credited as a shutout in his debut. On November 12, Werner was forced into the game in relief of Pavel Francouz after just 31 seconds and stopped all 40 shots he faced from the Winnipeg Jets.

The young goaltender had a .909 save percentage at the AHL level this season but has been a dominant performer in the SHL before, meaning he could be quite the weapon for his new Allsvenskan team. With no real certainty in the Colorado net past next season, Werner’s development will be an interesting story to watch this year.

Rasmus Asplund Loaned To Vasteras IK

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The Buffalo Sabres have loaned one of their young forwards overseas, sending Rasmus Asplund to Vasteras IK of the Swedish second league. Asplund had been training with the team for months but is now officially allowed to play in games until NHL training camps start.

Asplund, 22, played in 29 games for the Sabres this season, recording his first three NHL points. The 33rd overall pick in 2016, he has 69 points in 108 AHL games over the past two years and is a real candidate to grab a full-time roster spot in Buffalo for 2020-21. Getting some more development time in Sweden will only help that goal, given the uncertainty around the upcoming AHL season.

The young forward is heading into the final year of his entry-level contract, meaning he’ll need a new deal next summer when he becomes a restricted free agent for the first time. You can bet he’d like some more NHL experience to use in those negotiations, though Asplund will not be arbitration-eligible. For now, he’ll play in a league he skipped entirely when he moved from the junior ranks directly to the SHL as a teenager.

Florida Panthers Announce Changes To Hockey Operations

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The Florida Panthers have made sweeping changes to their front office and coaching staff as they search for a new direction under GM Bill Zito. The team has named Rick Dudley and Paul Fenton senior advisors to the GM, Gregory Campbell vice president of player personnel and development, Blake Geoffrion the assistant to the general manager and added P.J. Fenton to the team’s scouting staff.

They have also announced that Mike Kitchen will not return as assistant coach, which follows a report earlier today that Kitchen allegedly physically assaulted a player on the bench in January. The team did not comment on the report. AHL assistant coach Doug Janik will not be joining the new affiliation in Charlotte.

Fenton’s name had surfaced in connection with the Panthers previously and he has a history with Zito from their time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The former Minnesota Wild GM was perceived as a strong talent evaluator during his time in Nashville, though the stint in Minnesota obviously didn’t go well.

Dudley meanwhile has been serving as senior vice president of hockey operations with the Carolina Hurricanes and has nearly a half-century of experience in professional hockey.

Campbell, 36, only ended his playing career in 2016 but has served as a development coach since then with the Blue Jackets. His familiarity with Zito obviously led him to this position with the Panthers and given his 803 career NHL games as a depth forward, he should have a unique perspective to add to the development side.

The Panthers made a clear change when they parted ways with legendary executive Dale Tallon earlier this year and installed rookie GM Zito in the position.

Fabian Zetterlund Loaned To HC Vita Hasten

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The New Jersey Devils have sent another prospect overseas, loaning Fabian Zetterlund to HC Vita Hasten of the Swedish second league. Zetterlund is heading into the second year of his entry-level contract and coming off his first year of professional hockey in North America. He can be recalled in time for the 2020-21 NHL season.

Just 21, Zetterlund was a third-round pick (63rd overall) by the Devils in 2017 and spent the 2019-20 season with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. In 46 games there the forward recorded 19 points, a relatively disappointing output that continued a pattern to this point in his career.

Though an excellent skater, Zetterlund has not been able to translate his speed and work ethic into much offense at almost any level, only really impressing during the 2016-17 junior season in Sweden. Even at the World Juniors in 2019 where he was a returning player and wearing an “A” as an alternate captain, Zetterlund was held completely scoreless. In his 66 games at the SHL level he had just 11 points, though he was much younger than most of the competition.

While there is a place in the NHL for hard-working forwards who are excellent on the forecheck, Zetterlund will have to start seeing some offensive improvement if he’s ever to really push for a spot with New Jersey. Perhaps a return to the Allsvenskan, a lower-tiered league than he is used to, will spark his scoring touch and get him back on the right development path.

Washington Capitals Loan Axel Jonsson-Fjallby To Vastervik IK

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The Washington Capitals have sent another prospect overseas for the next few months, loaning Axel Jonsson-Fjallby to Vastervik IK of the Swedish second league. Jonsson-Fjallby is expected to be recalled in time for NHL training camps before the 2020-21 season, though it isn’t clear exactly when that will be at this point.

The 22-year-old forward is coming off his first full season in North America in which he played 61 games for the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Scoring 12 times and recording 23 points, the fifth-round pick showed that he can compete at the professional level and potentially be a depth option for the Capitals down the road. Jonsson-Fjallby is heading into the final season of his three-year entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Given that he has already played multiple seasons in the SHL, the Allsvenskan should be even easier for Jonsson-Fjallby. The higher Swedish league decided not to take any more short-term loans of players on NHL contracts, meaning clubs around North America are scrambling to find minutes for their young prospects. The AHL season is completely up in the air at this point, with no concrete dates or plans in place thanks to an ever-changing COVID-19 situation in both the United States and Canada.

Minor Transactions: 09/11/20

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While hockey fans are still engrossed in the excitement of the conference finals, one game per day does feel like somewhat of a letdown after the onslaught of game action over the past six weeks. Combine that with the growing anticipation of free agency and the NHL Draft and the 2020-21 season overall, and  day-to-day roster transactions are starting to worm their way back into the spotlight. With plenty going on at all levels and in many different countries, here are some of the top minor moves of the day:

  • The AHL’s Laval Rocket have announced an extension with veteran minor league forward Kevin Lynch. It is a one-year, one-way AHL contract for Lynch, who brings physicality and scoring punch to the Rocket lineup. A University of Michigan product who cut his teeth in the ECHL and eventually worked his way into a leadership position with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch and to an NHL contract with the Tampa Bay Lighting in 2018-19, Lynch sadly missed that entire season due to injury. He moved to Laval this past year and recorded 21 points in 54 games, finding himself a new home in the process.
  • The AHL’s Rochester Americans have announced a new contract of their own, signing goaltender Michael Houser to a one-year AHL contract. Though the press release does not specify, this is expected to be a two-way contract, as Houser has played the vast majority of his career in the ECHL, including the entirety of the past two seasons while technically under contract with Rochester. With that said, Houser was phenomenal with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones over the past two years and has earned his spot on the Americans’ depth chart. The former Florida Panthers prospect has a career 2.47 GAA and .915 save percentage in 210 ECHL games and has played well in 73 AHL appearances over the years as well.
  • Former NHLer Casey Bailey is off to a new location yet again this season. Once a promising prospect for the Toronto Maple Leafs out of Penn State University, Bailey has been all over the place looking for a fit for the past few years. Bailey last played in the NHL in 2016-17 with the Ottawa Senators, but could not find an NHL contract after the season. He signed with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers and had a strong year, prompting him to chase a paycheck in the KHL with HC Slovan Bratislava the next season. However, his offense dried up in the KHL and Bailey made the surprise move to return to North America last year on an ECHL contract. That skepticism proved to be warranted, as Bailey bolted early in the season for Sweden, signing with the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers. Now he’s off to a new European league, inking a one-year deal with the Iserlohn Roosters of Germany’s DEL.

Pittsburgh Penguins Name J.D. Forrest As AHL Head Coach

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As the internal coaching carousel for the Pittsburgh Penguins continues, they have again opted to promote one of their own. Following the dismissal of Mike Sullivan’s entire staff- Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin, and Mark Recchi – the Penguins brought back Todd Reirden following his dismissal as head coach of the Washington Capitals and promoted AHL head coach Mike Vellucci. In need of a new head coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to replace Vellucci, the club announced today that assistant J.D. Forrest has been promoted to head coach. The team’s release also revealed that Assistant GM Jason Karmanos has been named the GM for the AHL Penguins. The new WBS GM had this to say about his new head coach:

J.D. has done an excellent job in his four seasons as an assistant coach in Wilkes-Barre, consistently demonstrating a strong ability to develop the young defensemen in our system. His familiarity with the organization, our prospects and the style of hockey we want to play, together with his work ethic and team-first approach, gives us confidence that he will excel in his new role as head coach.

Forrest, 39, has been with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since the 2016-17 season, focusing on the team’s defensemen and the penalty kill. Prior to joining the Penguins, he was the head coach of Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian U-20 league and before that an inter assistant coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Forrest was a product of the USNTDP himself before playing four seasons at Boston College and nine pro seasons in the U.S., Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany. A well-traveled player and coach, especially fotr his young age, Forrest brings a broad array of experience to his first head coaching position at the pro level and could have a bright future ahead of him.

East Notes: Steen, Fenton, Patrick

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Another young player will suit up overseas to begin the season as Boston Bruins minor league forward Oskar Steen has been loaned to IF Bjorkloven in the Swedish second league. Steen has one year left on his entry-level contract and has still yet to make his NHL debut, but did have a decent debut in the AHL. In 2019-20 the 22-year-old forward recorded 23 points in 60 games.

Steen will return to North America for training camp, though it’s still not exactly clear when that will be. Given he dominated the SHL the last time he played in Sweden, the sixth-round pick should find the Allsvenskan easy enough as long as he is given quality minutes.

  • Bill Zito is in charge of the Florida Panthers now and he may be bringing in a former NHL GM to help. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Paul Fenton is “on the radar” to join Florida, and Chris Johnston points out that the former Minnesota Wild executive worked with Zito in Columbus this season as a scout. The first thing anyone thinks about when Fenton’s name is brought up is that infamous (and incredible) feature by Michael Russo of The Athletic, which detailed the 14-month period when he was in charge of the Wild. It’s easy to forget that before he was hired by Minnesota, Fenton was one of the most well-respected assistant GMs in the NHL, spending close to two decades beside David Poile with the Nashville Predators. Though his time in Minnesota will certainly color many expectations, it shouldn’t surprise many that he is in the mix for another NHL job.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers season didn’t come to the end many were hoping for, but there are reasons for optimism moving forward. Namely, the health of Nolan Patrick, which continues to improve according to GM Cliff Fletcher. Patrick missed the entire season due to a migraine issue, but has been skating for the past few months and is apparently on the road to recovery. Still, Fletcher admitted that his future is still unclear until he starts practicing with contact. Patrick is a restricted free agent and will need a contract this offseason, but has just 61 points in 145 career games to this point.

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