Red Wings Loan Michael Rasmussen To Austria
hael rasmussenDetroit Red Wings prospect forward Michael Rasmussen will join the numerous other NHL players and prospects getting an early start to the 2020-21 season. The Red Wings announced that the young center has been loaned to the Graz 99ers, an Austrian club in the recently re-named IceHL. No further details about the loan have been disclosed, but it is expected to come to an end when NHL training camps open up later this year.
Rasmussen, 21, needs the seasoning more than most. Drafted ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen’s greatest assets were his pro size and strength. At 6’6″ and 220 lbs., the Red Wings didn’t hesitate to put Rasmussen directly into NHL competition in his rookie season in 2018-19. However, he struggled to adjust to the speed and skill of the top level. Rasmussen still managed to record 18 points in 62 games with Detroit, but the team was not content with his development and sent him to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin this past season. Due to an injury that cost him more than two months, Rasmussen was never recalled from the minors, logging just 35 AHL games for the year.
As he awaits the start of the 2020-21 NHL campaign, Rasmussen knows that he has work to do to prove that he is worthy of winning back a regular role for the Red Wings. Both team and player hope that this assignment to Graz will help him get off to a much-needed hot start. Rasmussen should undoubtedly be the best player in the 99ers’ lineup and should be able to focus on working on the shortcomings of his game while still contributing to club’s games. A strong stint in Austria could not only help with Rasmussen’s skill and hockey sense, but could provide a confidence boost that follows him into traiing camp
Cody Franson Signs AHL Contract
After a pair of successful seasons in the KHL, Cody Franson is coming back to North America. The veteran defenseman has signed a one-year AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs, the primary affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. IceHogs head coach Derek King released a statement on the deal:
Cody is going to be a great addition to our squad and it will be like adding an extra coach for us. He may not have known it, but I kept an eye on him during his first time with us (2017-18 season) and he’s been coaching the younger players ever since. He’s a tremendous addition to our defensive core, the team overall, and willing to take younger players under his wing to show them how to be a good professional.
Franson last played in the NHL in January 2018 and will not be call-up eligible under this agreement. He has suited up for 550 regular season NHL games in his career, recording 212 points.
Michael McCarron Re-Signs With Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators have signed Michael McCarron to a new one-year, two-way contract for 2020-21. The deal will pay McCarron $700K at the NHL level and $300K in the AHL, keeping him from unrestricted free agency.
McCarron, 25, was a first-round bust for the Montreal Canadiens, who invested the 25th overall pick in him in 2013. The 6’6″ forward never did manage to improve his offense enough to really be a difference-maker at the NHL level, even struggling at times to produce at the minor league level.
Still, McCarron will provide some depth and experience for the Predators that can come up and down when needed, or add some size to the Milwaukee Admirals lineup. In 69 NHL contests, he has just eight points but did score 10 goals in just 27 games down the stretch for the Admirals last season.
McCarron was scheduled to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent, something that could happen again next season if he doesn’t play in ten games for the Predators.
Klim Kostin Assigned To Avangard Omsk
The St. Louis Blues have found a landing spot for Klim Kostin as he waits for the next NHL season to get underway. The young forward will return to the KHL for the time being, joining Avangard Omsk on a short-term assignment. Kostin will be able to return to North America for training camp with St. Louis, whenever that takes place.
Kostin, 21, was the 31st selection in the 2017 NHL draft, a pick the Blues received (along with Oskar Sundqvist) when they traded Ryan Reaves to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Immediately the powerful winger showed why the team had invested in him, scoring six goals and 28 points in the AHL as a teenager while also dominating the competition at the World Juniors with Russia. Kostin returned to the AHL in 2018-19 and put up ten goals and 24 points while recording more than 100 penalty minutes, but it was a bit of a disappointment given his early hype.
This year though, things were different. The 6’3″ winger ended up scoring 13 goals and 30 points in just 48 games with the San Antonio Rampage, while also making his NHL debut and scoring for the Blues. While there is still plenty of work to be done, the progress Kostin has made since being drafted is encouraging.
With two years remaining on his entry-level contract, the 2020-21 season is an important one for Kostin if he wants to establish himself as an NHL player before reaching restricted free agency. Getting some playing time in the KHL, where he actually debuted in 2017 before even being drafted, will only help him continue his development and come to North America ready to compete for a roster spot with the Blues.
Raphael Lavoie Headed To Sweden
Sep 22: Lavoie ended up leaving Rogle before playing a single game, but will still be heading to Sweden for the 2020-21 season. The Oilers have announced that the young forward has now been loaned to Vasby IK in the Swedish second league. Like before, the release indicates that Lavoie is going for the whole season, though obviously, that could still change depending on the situation.
Aug 20: The Edmonton Oilers continue to be flexible with their prospects, sending them overseas amid the uncertainty surrounding an AHL season. The minor leagues are still hoping to have full seasons, but since nothing is set in stone at this point, organizations are finding playing time for their youngsters all over the world. According to Dave Ainsley of Le Quotidien and a report out of Sweden, Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie will play the 2020-21 season with Rogle of the SHL.
Interestingly, Lavoie is expected to play the entire season instead of returning for NHL training camp and an AHL campaign like so many other prospects. The second-round pick from 2019 spent last season in the QMJHL, split between the Halifax Mooseheads and Chicoutimi Sagueneens scoring 38 goals and 82 points in just 55 games. He also was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian World Junior club, though he failed to score a goal in the tournament.
Lavoie only signed his entry-level contract a few months ago, officially joining the Oilers organization. Interestingly though, that means his contract will actually not slide forward like many of the 2019 draft picks even if he spends the year outside of the NHL. Since he’ll turn 20 in late-September, 2020-21 will be the first year of his deal even if it’s spent on loan in the SHL.
Mikhail Berdin To Sign With SKA St. Petersburg
Sep 22: The Jets have officially announced that Berdin will play for SKA, but confirmed that he will return to North America when the 2020-21 season begins.
Sep 15: With the start of the AHL season still completely up in the air many teams have loaned out prospects around the world to keep them playing and developing. Most of those loans have a clock on them though as the prospects are expected back in North America to compete for jobs whenever training camp finally happens.
That might not be the case with Winnipeg Jets goaltending prospect Mikhail Berdin, whose KHL rights were traded today from Sochi to SKA St. Petersburg. The latter team announced that Berdin will soon sign a contract for the entire 2020-21 season, which would suggest that he isn’t returning to North America anytime soon.
While that may be a fine development for some who want playing time and consistency this season, but in Berdin’s case it brings up another issue. The 22-year-old goaltender is heading into his final season under contract with the Jets, meaning as a restricted free agent next offseason he could potentially remain in the KHL.
Though the Jets have their starting NHL goaltender locked up for the next several seasons, Berdin represents a potential future option should his strong play continue. The sixth-round pick put up a .910 save percentage in 42 games for the Manitoba Moose this season after an excellent rookie year in 2018-19. If he decided to stay in Russia past the upcoming season the Jets could still retain his NHL rights by issuing him a qualifying offer, but it’s hard to think they wouldn’t rather have him playing for their organization instead.
Otto Somppi, Oskari Laaksonen Loaned To Lahti
Two more young players will spend the next several months playing overseas, as Otto Somppi of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Oskari Laaksonen of the Buffalo Sabres have been loaned to the Lahti Pelicans in Finland. Both players can be recalled when NHL training camps open.
Somppi, 22, is another one of Tampa Bay’s late-round draft picks that the organization has committed to developing. The 206th overall pick in 2016, Somppi has now been in their minor league system for two seasons, scoring 18 points in 45 games for the Syracuse Crunch this year. A 6’2″ center that exploded with 83 points in his final year of junior for the Halifax Mooseheads, he’ll be a restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season when his entry-level deal expires.
Laaksonen meanwhile has no experience on North American ice, having played the last three seasons with Ilves in Finland after his 2017 selection by Buffalo. The 21-year-old defenseman was a third-round pick and competed for Finland at the 2019 World Juniors, winning a gold medal alongside other talented defenders like Henri Jokiharju, Urho Vaakanainen and Ville Heinola.
Unlike Somppi, Laaksonen still has plenty of time under contract with the Sabres after only inking his entry-level deal a few months ago. It would be a lot less surprising to see him spend the entire 2020-21 season overseas, though at some point the Buffalo organization would likely want to see him compete in the AHL. That was likely the plan for this season, though Laaksonen was actually signed to his entry-level deal just a day before the team fired GM Jason Botterill.
Jared McIsaac Loaned To HPK
The Detroit Red Wings have found a landing spot for another prospect, this time loaning Jared McIsaac to HPK in Finland. McIsaac is coming off his final season of junior and will be experiencing professional hockey for the first time. The press release from his new team explains that the initial plan is to have the young defenseman play the entire season overseas, though the Red Wings are allowed to recall him should the AHL season get underway and they feel it would be a better spot for his development.
McIsaac, 20, was the 36th overall pick in 2018 and was a star this year at the World Junior Championship. An elite puck-moving defenseman in the CHL, he tallied 180 points over 241 games. That kind of ability will help him succeed at the next level, but there’s still plenty of development left for the young defender.
It will be interesting to see if other prospects decide to spend the entire season overseas, given the uncertainty around the 2020-21 AHL season. While it would burn the first year of his entry-level contract (McIsaac’s deal has already slid forward twice, and he is now ineligible for it to happen again), Liiga is obviously a perfectly fine development league for many players and shouldn’t prove too intimidating for the youngster. Of course, if camps don’t start until the new year, perhaps the Red Wings will have seen enough by that point to believe that McIsaac could even compete for a roster spot on the NHL squad.
Ottawa’s Andreas Englund Signs In Allsvenskan
The Ottawa Senators may have lost one of their defenseman as Vasterviks IK announced (translation required) they have signed defenseman Andreas Englund, who is expected to hit restricted free agency on Oct. 9. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the deal has an out-clause in which he can return to the Senators, but only if the team gives him a qualifying offer next month, which is no certainty. The wording on the announcement also suggests the Allsvenskan team hopes to keep him around permanently.
“24-year-old Andreas Englund played in (Ottawa) last season but his contract has now expired so he is now a free agent,” according to the press release.
Englund did manage to play a career high in games played in the NHL this season. He appeared in 24 games for the Senators, who drafted the blueliner in the second round back in 2014. However, the blueliner was also placed on waivers on multiple occasions throughout the year and didn’t see much time on the ice in Ottawa regardless. Englund averaged just 10:54 of ATOI and due to his lack of offensive ability, many believe that he doesn’t have the ability to win himself a permanent spot as a top-six defenseman in the NHL. That, along with a number of new faces on Ottawa’s defense this year, including a permanent role for Erik Brannstrom, a healthy Christian Wolanin and the overseas signing of Artem Zub, there may not be a place in the NHL for Englund, leaving many questions whether the team will hand him a qualifying offer.
Englund has played in the Allvenskan before when he played for Djurgardens Stokholm squad and then followed that year up with two years in the SHL before coming over to North America. He does have some size at 6-foot-4, but lacks significant offensive skill as he managed just three assists in 24 NHL games and went scoreless in 22 AHL games and his career high in AHL scoring has been 14 points (back in 2018-19).
Sharks’ Joel Kellman Loaned To Kristianstads IK
Joel Kellman finally made the jump to North America this season, but now he’s headed back to Sweden. Well, at least for the time being. The San Jose Sharks’ rookie forward has officially been loaned to Kristianstads IK of the Allsvenskan, the team reports, but he will return to San Jose when NHL training camp opens. Kristianstads is the farm team of the SHL’s Karlskrona HK, Kellman’s hometown team who he played parts of five seasons for earlier in his career.
Kellman, 26, just signed a two-year extension with the Sharks late last month after a promising first season. He played the majority of his games with the Sharks, recording seven points in 31 games, but when he did play for the AHL Barracuda produced 16 points in 25 games. A perennial 30+ point scorer in the SHL, Kellman does have room to improve, and at a $750K AAV the Sharks have every reason to give him the opportunity to do so.
Whether Kellman does in fact play for Kristianstads or instead plays up with Karlskrona, he should be well-prepared to battle for a regular role with San Jose next season. Playing in the Allsvenskan, Kellman would have a major leg up on his teammates and competition. In the SHL, Kellman would have the added advantage of tough competition and would also enjoy playing with top 2020 NHL Draft prospects Ridly Greig and Connor McClennon. Either way, the former Swedish standout will fit in well back home and will be ready to go for the Sharks when the new league year begins.