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Capitals Sign Hunter Shepard To An AHL Deal

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Goaltender Hunter Shepard was one of the top remaining undrafted college free agents on the market but he wasn’t able to land an entry-level contract.  Instead, his now-former college team, the University of Minnesota-Duluth, announced that the Capitals have inked the netminder to an AHL contract.

The 24-year-old wrapped up a stellar career with the Bulldogs this season, posting a 2.18 GAA and a .918 SV% in 34 games.  Those numbers were pretty strong in their own right but they actually represented a step back from the previous two years.  Those performances helped earn Shepard NCHC Goalie of the Year and first all-star team honors in each of the last two seasons while he won the NCAA title in 2018 and 2019.  He also showed that he was durable as he made 115 consecutive starts for Minnesota-Duluth spanning from October 2017 to this past March which is an NCAA record.

Playing time may be hard to come by for Shepard as their current AHL tandem of Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek are both signed through 2021-22.  However, if Braden Holtby moves on, one of those two could presumably move up to the NHL level as Ilya Samsonov’s backup which would give Shepard a chance at earning the backup role with AHL Hershey.

Snapshots: Training Camp, Kravtsov, KHL, AHL Signings

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The return of hockey will soon seem like much more of a reality. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that NHL playoff teams can anticipate having their full rosters in town possibly by the end of the week. Russo writes that the European players for the Minnesota Wild are all expected to be back by Friday in order to meet the league’s mandated two-week quarantine period before Phase 3 training camps open on July 10. He adds that most European players are expected to do the same. While commercial flights from some European countries continue to be a struggle, players are also going the group charter route in order to get back to North America.

Among those making the trek from Europe is New York Rangers prospect Vitali Kravtsov, the team announced. The 20-year-old Kravtsov, a first-round pick in 2018, made the jump to North America for the first time to begin this season but was limited to the AHL and eventually returned to the KHL mid-season. In the team’s release, President John Davidson discusses Kravtsov’s early struggles and disappointment with not being used by the Rangers at the top level, but also raves about his ability and notes that the team could use talented depth for an uphill playoff run. The big, skilled Kravtsov will be given a chance to crack the postseason roster in training camp and just maybe will get the chance to play in the NHL that he had been seeking earlier this year.

  • Over in the KHL, COVID-19 continues to complicate plans for 2020-21. League president Alexei Morozov announced that Admiral Vladivostok will not compete next season due to budget restraints and the possibility of limited income due to restricted attendance. Admiral struggled through a grim 2019-20 campaign that ended when they missed the playoffs for the third straight year. They may find it even harder to put together a winning team if and when they return to action after all of their players depart this off-season. Meanwhile, the other 23 teams have submitted their financial records to the league for approval and plan to play next season. However, Kunlun Red Star, the KHL’s lone Chinese team, may need to look elsewhere to open up the season. The Beijing-based club faces strict travel and public event restrictions as of right now that would prove problematic if still in place when the season begins this fall. One of the proposed locations for the team to host home games early on? None other than Vladivostok.
  • There was some rare transaction movement in the AHL today, as the Manitoba Moose extended a pair of players. The Winnipeg Jets’ affiliate has re-signed forwards Brent Pederson and Cole Maier to one-year contracts for next season. Maier recorded 15 points in 59 games with the Moose, while Pederson – a former Carolina Hurricanes prospect – recorded nine points in 36 AHL games and spent some time in the ECHL as well. The San Jose Barracuda also made a move, as Steenn Pasichnuk follows his brother from Arizona State to the organization. The Sharks signed standout defenseman and Sun Devils captain Brinson Pasichnuk earlier this spring and have sweetened the pot by bringing his older brother along, a checking forward who will fight for bottom-six minutes with the Barracuda.

Snapshots: The Return Of Sports, AHL, Ducks

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Commissioner Gary Bettman will appear with 5 other sports commissioners on tonight’s ESPN special The Return Of Sports, the NHL announced. Also appearing on tonight’s program will be Roger Goodell of the NFL, Adam Silver of the NBA, Rob Manfred of MLB, Cathy Engelbert of the WNBA and Don Garber of MLS. The show should provide a hefty amount of equivocation, but there’s at least the possibility of some interesting insights mixed in, especially as the WNBA has released their return to play and MLB continues the public squabble that stands in the way of their 2020 season.

  • The American Hockey League released their own Return to Play task force today. Leading the charge will be outgoing AHL President and CEO David Andrews. He’ll serve as Chairman of the AHL 2020-221 Strategic Return to Play Task Force. A number of NHL general manages are also serving on the committee. The role of the committee, per the AHL, will be to provide strategic expertise and planning, rather than the execution of the AHL’s return to action.
  • The Anaheim Ducks will not furlough or release any employees at this time, which includes staff at the Honda Center, per Elliott Teaford of the OC Register/Southern California News Group. Those making $75K or more may face a pay cut, but it’s still encouraging to see a team do their best to keep staff employed. The Ducks had previously announced that part-time staff will be paid through the end of the month, but there’s nothing new on that front. The Ducks are done for the year after finishing in 13th in the Western Conference with 67 points. With the playoffs not yet underway, it’s impossible to know when the Ducks will hit the ice next. It’s hard to know right now exactly how next season’s schedule might be impacted by this year’s delay.

 

Jets Sign Kristian Reichel To Two-Year Deal

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed Kristian Reichel to a two-year, entry-level contract that will start next season, per CapFriendly (via Twitter). The deal will pay out a base contract of $700K in the first season and $775K in the second year. The Jets have announced the deal as well.

The 22-year-old Czech native comes to Winnipeg as an undrafted free agent after two seasons with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Reichel registered 17 points this past season (including 12 goals) in just 39 games, a marked bump after notching 10 points in 55 games the year prior. The Moose list Reichel as a right-winger, though as a draft prospect he was listed at center, and indications are that Jets view him in that light as well.

Reichel’s best season as a professional came arguably the year before he joined the Moose. While with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, Reichel put up 57 points across 63 games. While that showing didn’t get him drafted to an NHL team, the son of former NHL player Robert Reichel will look to get his first taste of NHL action with the Jets next season.

John Nyberg Signs In SHL

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The Pittsburgh Penguins organization ended up only getting 16 games out of John Nyberg. The defensive prospect has signed a two-year deal with Brynas, returning to the SHL after his short stint in North America. Nyberg arrived in the Pittsburgh organization in a midseason trade with the Dallas Stars, but his entry-level deal is up and he won’t be signing a new one.

Originally selected in the sixth round by the Stars in 2014, Nyberg didn’t even come over to join their minor league program until 2018. Once there, the 6’3″ defenseman struggled to contribute much offense and even spent some time in the ECHL. He was sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for Oula Palve, who is also headed back to Sweden for the 2020-21 season.

As several reporters including Murat Ates of The Athletic discussed on Twitter yesterday, the lack of a concrete plan for the 2020-21 AHL season could force some players back overseas in order to land job security. Without a clear path to the NHL club a player like Nyberg may have more opportunity playing in his home country, given that the AHL season may be extremely truncated due to a lack of ticket sales.

If the Penguins wish to retain his exclusive rights temporarily, they can issue Nyberg a qualifying offer after the season ends.

Justin Kloos Signs In KHL

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The season is over for the Anaheim Ducks, who didn’t qualify for the 2020 playoffs. For one of there minor league players, that means it is time to pursue other opportunities. Justin Kloos has agreed to sign in the KHL for the 2020-21 season, joining Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.

Kloos, 26, played this season for the San Diego Gulls fo the AHL, recording 11 goals and 30 points in 53 games. A standout at the University of Minnesota, Kloos was an undrafted free agent signing by the Minnesota Wild in 2017 but has only played two NHL games to this point.

His contract, a one-year two-way deal signed in 2019, would have normally left him a restricted free agent given his age. But Kloos is eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency since he has been given such little opportunity in the NHL, meaning he can choose his next destination without any restrictions.

Minnesota Wild Expected To Have Three-Way Battle In Net

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While an exact roster number for NHL teams remains up in the air, it’s very likely, that NHL teams will have more than just two goaltenders on their roster for the upcoming 24-team playoffs. That could create an interesting scenario for the goaltending situation in Minnesota, where the Wild could have an interesting situation in which three goaltenders are expected to contend for the No. 1 spot on the team.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) suggests that Alex Stalock, who started the season as the backup in Minnesota, would be the leading candidate to be the starter for the Wild. After all, the 32-year-old  finished with a 20-11-4 record with a 2.67 GAA and a .910 save percentage on a team that many thought would be a lottery team. More importantly, he hot after the all-star break, going 9-3-1 with a 2.22 GAA and a .924 save percentage. However, there are two other goalies who could easily make a claim for that No. 1 job.

With what likely will be a four-month layoff during the season, all bets are off on who might take over as the team’s starting goaltender. There is no guarantee that Stalock will be able to continue his hot streak on the ice. There is also a chance that Devan Dubnyk could re-take his old job back. The 34-year-old veteran had a career low in many categories in 2019-20, struggling with a 3.35 GAA and a .890 save percentage in just 30 games. He also made just six appearances after the all-star break with a 3.59 GAA and a .882 save percentage. Regardless, a four-month break could give him the opportunity to re-focus on the season and re-discover his old form.

There is a third option in AHL Goaltender of the Year Kaapo Kahkonen. The 23-year-old dominated in the AHL this year, finishing with a 2.07 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 34 games with the Iowa Wild. He fared decently in five appearances with Minnesota earlier this season with a .913 save percentage. However, with that same four-month layoff, the rookie could get an opportunity to win the starting job in an abbreviated training camp and begin his tenure as the team’s future netminder.

“I think whoever’s here in our training camp is in the mix,” said interim coach Dean Evason. “There could be somebody that is absolutely outstanding through our scrimmages or what have you if we get to that point, and then we’ll be like, ‘Geez, maybe we better put him in.’ As far as our goaltending, we’ve talked to (Stalock and Dubnyk), you hear a lot about, ‘He’s my guy, or this is my guy.’ The guy that’s in the net is the guy on that night. It’s no different than our centericemen. That’s our guy. When the puck drops, that’s our guy. So if it’s Al, if it’s Duby, if it’s Kahkonen, it doesn’t matter to us. It doesn’t matter to the team. Whoever is in there that we deem is going to play well for us in whatever position, I’m sure everybody will support him and we will go forward.”

Dallas Stars Sign Fredrik Karlstrom To Entry-Level Contract

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Tuesday: In an interview with hockeysverige, Karlstrom announces that he will be staying in Sweden for another year.

Monday: The Dallas Stars have signed prospect Fredrik Karlstrom just before his draft rights expired, inking him to a two-year entry-level contract. Karlstrom could have become an unrestricted free agent had he failed to sign today, but he will join the organization that drafted him back in 2016.

One of the highest picks left unsigned from four years ago, Karlstom was selected 90th overall by the Stars. The 22-year old center has spent the last three seasons playing in the Swedish Hockey League, scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 2019-20 for Vaxjo HC. It’s hard to know exactly how his game would translate to North America, but there are a couple of things that stand out and could help Karlstrom make an impact in the AHL.

The first is his versatility, as Karlstrom has experience at both center and wing. The second is his penalty killing, where he has excelled in the past. While it’s not clear exactly what the Stars have planned for him, the 6’2″ forward will likely get a chance to prove himself whenever the 2020-21 training camps are underway. Given that the contract he signed last year with Vaxjo was a two-year pact, the Stars may also loan him back to continue his development overseas.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Declan Chisholm

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With the deadline to sign coming up fast later this evening, the Winnipeg Jets have gotten an interesting prospect under contract. The team has signed Declan Chisholm to his three-year entry-level contract according to several reports including CapFriendly.

Chisholm, 20, had an outstanding season for the Peterborough Petes this year, recording 13 goals and 69 points in 59 games. The left-shot defenseman was part of a deadly powerplay and became the primary puck-mover for the squad, recording 48 more points than the next highest scoring defenseman on the Petes.

For a fifth-round pick like Chisholm getting an NHL contract is a huge step, but there should be even more excitement in Winnipeg for his arrival at the professional level. With the strong development steps he has taken over the last few years, Chisholm is now a prospect with legitimate NHL upside who could quickly take over a big role for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Kings Will Not Renew Contract Of AHL Coach Mike Stothers

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The Los Angeles Kings announced that they will not renew the contract of their AHL head coach, Mike Stothers, who has coached the Ontario Reign/Manchester Monarchs for the past six years. His contract was set to expire on June 15.

“We appreciate everything Mike has contributed to the organization” said Rob Blake, Vice President and General Manager of the LA Kings. “He has played an important role in helping develop our players and we want to thank him for his years of service and guiding us to a Calder Cup Championship in 2015.”

The 58-year-old coach had a 220-137-35-13 record with Ontario and Manchester, including four playoff appearances and a Calder Cup Championship. Stothers first season in the L.A. system was as head coach of the Manchester Monarchs during the 2014-15 season, where he won the Calder Cup, taking his team to a 50-17-9 record in his rookie coaching season. Stothers won the Pieri Memorial Award for top AHL coach that season.

He then led his team to the Western Conference finals the following year before two straight first-round exits in the playoffs. The team didn’t make the playoffs in 2018-19 with a 25-33-10 record, but had a more positive 29-22-6 record this year before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The position should be a highly coveted one with the Kings in a full rebuild with a boatload of prospects entering the system over the past few years. L.A. is considered to have one of the best farm systems in the league. The team has had several high-quality prospects with the team last season, including Rasmus Kupari, Gabriel Vilardi, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Tobias Bjornfot. More are expected on the way next season.

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