AHL Notes: Redmond, Vellucci, Lukosevicius
The AHL regular season has come to an end, with the Calder Cup playoffs getting underway on Thursday, and the league has begun to announce their end-of-the-year awards. The first player to be honored is long-time pro Zach Redmond. The AHL has announced that Redmond is this season’s recipient of the Eddie Shore Award as the best defenseman in the league. The 30-year-old, who has played on an AHL contract this season with the Rochester Americans, recorded 21 goals and 50 points in just 58 games. While Redmond finished third in overall scoring among defensemen, he was first in goal scoring and led qualifying defenders in points-per-game by a wide margin. A veteran of 133 NHL games to go along with 314 AHL games, Redmond is a respected leader at the minor league level, but has also shown to be a high-end producer with back-to-back seasons of 40+ points. One has to think that there is a good chance that Redmond receives a two-way offer from an NHL club this summer after proving his ability to be a valuable AHL depth asset.
- Another AHL award winner is Charlotte Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci. Vellucci, who also doubles as an assistant general manager for the Carolina Hurricanes, was named the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award recipient as the top coach in the league. Vellucci led the Checkers to their best regular season in team history with 110 points and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In fact, their 51-17-7 record was a top-ten all-time mark in AHL history. Most importantly, in just two years on the job Vellucci has graduated a number of player to the Hurricanes who have become impact players, including Lucas Wallmark, Warren Foegele, and Haydn Fleury, with the likes of Martin Necas, Jake Bean, Aleksi Saarela, and Janne Kuokkanen likely to push for spots next season. The long-time head coach and GM of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers, who has now found success at the pro level, it seems likely only a matter of time before Vellucci earns a larger role either behind the bench or in the front office of an NHL team.
- The Grand Rapids Griffins, affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, have made a nice addition right before the start of the postseason. The Griffins announced that they have added University of Denver forward Jarid Lukosevicius on a tryout basis for the remainder of the season. On top of that, Lukosevicius has signed a two-year AHL contract beginning next season. The 24-year-old winger just wrapped up his fourth and final collegiate season with the Pioneers and his third in a row with double-digit goals and assists and a plus rating. The all-around contributor lacks size or high-end skill, but makes up for it with an impressive motor and great hockey IQ. Lukosevicius projects to be a capable pro who may even develop into a bottom-six option for the Red Wings down the road.
Minor Transactions: 04/16/19
As NHL teams continue to journey closer to the Stanley Cup, the AHL will kick off their own playoff push in a few days. The minor league playoffs are nearly as grueling and can see key players disappear at a moment’s notice if their NHL club needs them. Organizations will also be making some final moves to recall those who didn’t qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs, giving them some extra depth for the next few weeks. As they do, we’ll be right here to keep track.
- Jared Coreau will serve as third goaltender for the St. Louis Blues after being recalled today. Coreau spent the season in the minor leagues playing for two different teams, but failed to find much success on either one. He won’t be needed unless injury occurs.
- With Andrei Svechnikov and Micheal Ferland both dealing with injuries, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Patrick Brown under emergency conditions. Brown was set to start his AHL playoff series with the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, but may have to help the Hurricanes instead as they deal with injuries. Svechnikov is in the concussion protocol, while Ferland’s status has not yet been updated.
Rangers Agree To Terms With Vitali Kravtsov And Igor Shestyorkin
The Rangers are in agreement on contracts with top prospects Vitali Kravtsov and Igor Shestyorkin on entry-level contracts, reports Rick Carpinello of The Athletic (subscription required). The deals will not be officially registered until their KHL contracts officially expire at the end of the month.
Kravtsov was New York’s first-round pick (ninth overall) back in June and played a regular role with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL this season, collecting 21 points in 50 regular season games plus a pair of helpers in four postseason contests. The Rangers wanted to sign him back in March once his KHL playoffs came to an end but his team was not willing to release him from his contract early.
It’s believed that Kravtsov is close to being ready to step into the NHL lineup and could eventually provide their top six group with some size and scoring punch. However, if the Rangers opt to aggressively add in free agency, it’s certainly possible that they could decide he’s better served to start in the minors. His entry-level deal will be a three-year pact.
As for Shestyorkin, he’s someone that New York has been waiting on for a while. He was a fourth-round pick (118th overall) but has emerged as one of the top goalies outside of the NHL since then. This season, he posted a 1.11 GAA and a .953 SV% in 28 games with SKA St. Petersburg, the top numbers in the league in both categories.
The 23-year-old shouldn’t need too much seasoning in the AHL short of adapting to the shorter ice surface so the Rangers will soon be facing a good question of what to do with their goalie depth. Henrik Lundqvist has two years left on his deal with a no-move clause that he hasn’t been willing to waive while Alexandar Georgiev had a strong sophomore season in North America and has likely boosted his trade value in the process. It’s certainly possible that Shestyorkin’s agreement on a contract (which will be two years in length) will force the team to move on from Georgiev before too long but having quality young goaltending depth is something that GM Jeff Gorton certainly won’t be complaining about.
Minor Transactions: 04/15/19
The NHL playoffs have brought excitement, surprise and wonder through the first few days of the postseason. The Tampa Bay Lightning have fallen to the brink of a historic collapse, while the New York Islanders are close to eliminating a division rival with little trouble. Tonight will see four series get back underway including three that are tied, and should provide plenty of memorable moments. As teams prepare, we’ll keep track of the minor moves.
- Zac Dalpe has been recalled by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who haven’t needed a lot of help through the first three games. Dalpe finished his AHL season on the weekend with 33 goals in 55 games and could serve as an additional offensive piece for the Blue Jackets tomorrow night. The Cleveland Monsters, who rely heavily on Dalpe’s presence in the AHL, don’t start their playoff series until Friday—notably against the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of Tampa Bay.
- Eric Comrie has been recalled by the Winnipeg Jets, giving the team a third goaltender as they prepare for their next game against the St. Louis Blues. Comrie’s Manitoba Moose failed to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs this season meaning he can join the NHL club as an extra body for their postseason run.
Snapshots: Hedman, Ferland, Hamilton, McKenna, Simmonds
It looks like the Tampa Bay Lightning will be without another key player Sunday. Already without the suspended Nikita Kucherov, NHL.com’s Bryan Burns reports that star defenseman Victor Hedman will miss Game 3 with an unknown injury.
Head coach Jon Cooper said earlier today that Hedman would be a game-time decision, but now Braydon Coburn is on the ice, taking Hedman’s place. Hedman has been playing injured in the first two games of the playoffs.
- There won’t be any supplementary discipline from Saturday’s Game 2 between the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes despite a number of controversial hits. Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said that neither Micheal Ferland or Dougie Hamilton will receive any attention from the Department of Player Safety, according to News & Observer’s Luke DeCock. Ferland gave a big hit to Washington’s Nic Dowd, but the angle looks like Ferland hit through Dowd’s body and did not aim for the head. Hamilton’s elbow to Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov was also heavily criticized, but it wasn’t believed that the elbow had enough force for supplementary discipline.
- Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Mike McKenna sent out a tweet Sunday, saying he would have a “humongous big announcement” coming on Monday. While there no confirmation what it is about, speculation has risen that McKenna might be ready to announce his retirement. AHLcom’s Tony Androckitis wrote that the 36-year-old McKenna was leaning towards ending his career Saturday night after the Lehigh Valley Phantoms ended their AHL season. “I’m pragmatically saying I’m not sure,” said McKenna. “It’s going to take an awful lot to convince me to play again I think. In terms of what I need to have happen for my family, more so than me.” McKenna, who could be considered an AHL-lifer, made 11 NHL appearances this season — 10 with Ottawa and another one with the Philadelphia Flyers. He’s made 35 NHL appearances over the course of his career.
- NHL.com’s Robby Stanley reports that Brian Boyle remains “ill” and is day-to-day for Monday’s Game 3 matchup with the Dallas Stars. Boyle missed Game 2 with the flu. The scribe adds that there still isn’t an update on the status of Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds left Saturday’s game after taking a puck to the knee. A update is expected on Monday.
Minor Transactions: 04/14/19
After Saturday’s action, each first-round series has played two games and the Washington Capitals are the only favorite yet to suffer a loss. The Caps survived another tight battle with the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday afternoon with an overtime win. Meanwhile, the New York Islanders have shown why the higher seed should always be favored, taking the first two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but face a tougher task on the road today. Two other 2-0 series will continue later tonight, as the Nikita Kucherov-less Tampa Bay Lightning look to avoid a third straight stunning loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the St. Louis Blues can put the nail in the coffin of the Winnipeg Jets with a home win after taking the first two games on the road. As some teams prepare to play today and other plan ahead for tomorrow, keep an eye out for some minor tweaks to several rosters:
- The Capitals have swapped third-string goalies, as is common during the playoffs. Vitek Vanecek is on his way to Washington to be the emergency option for Game Three, while Ilya Samsonov returns to AHL Hershey after serving in that role for Game Two yesterday. The Bears are also playoff-bound, so this will be a balancing act for Washington moving forward.
- The Lightning are dealing with injury concerns for both Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, so it is not much of a surprise that they have recalled another depth option on the blue line. Cameron Gaunce has joined the team on the road in Columbus and while he looks like insurance only right now, that could change, especially if another Tampa defenseman goes down.
- According to the AHL transactions page, the Calgary Flames have returned Dillon Dube to the Stockton Heat in the AHL. It’s likely that Dube will suit up for Stockton’s final regular season game and then will likely be recalled to serve on Calgary’s taxi-squad for the rest of the season.
- The Boston Bruins announced they have recalled defenseman Jakub Zboril from the Providence Bruins of the AHL as a precaution, especially with the status of defenseman Torey Krug up in the air. A 2015 first-rounder, Zboril scored four goals and 19 points in Providence over 56 games and has appeared in two games for Boston.
Pacific Notes: Gusev, McDavid, Utica Comets
The Vegas Golden Knights continue to get closer and closer to signing the KHL’s best player, Nikita Gusev. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Gusev is expected to arrive in Las Vegas tonight and could sign his one-year, entry-level deal as soon as tomorrow and should be ready to play not long after that. The Golden Knights are then expected to sign the then-restricted free agent to a long-term deal this summer.
In fact, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) analyzes what kind of impact the 26-year-old might have on the Vegas lineup, especially considering the star winger has little experience playing on North American hockey rinks and considering Vegas’ depth, there is no guarantee that head coach Gerard Gallant would play him when every game is so critical. Gallant said as much:
“I don’t know much about him. George (McPhee) mentioned it today. There are some reports out there. If he can join us then we’ll see what’s going to happen, but I don’t know the player well enough. Hopefully he does join us and he gets some practice time in with us, but I have no idea if that’s going to happen. It was first mentioned this morning to me.”
Granger suggests that Gusev could find himself eventually on the Golden Knights’ third line alongside Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, but even as the team knows it will bring the great KHLer aboard, there is still quite a mystery surrounding him.
- The Edmonton Oilers got some good news on star center Connor McDavid who suffered what looked to be a significant injury in their final regular season game last week. While he did suffer a small PCL tear in his knee, the injury will not require surgery and the superstar is expected to be ready for training camp, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Sportsnet’s John Shannon added that the injury will require three months of rehabilitation. The 22-year-old still had a career-high in points as he finished with 116, second in the league.
- Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre wonders whether the Vancouver Canucks might make some changes at the AHL level this offseason. The Utica Comets were considered to be a fascinating team to keep an eye on this season as the franchise was loaded in young talent. However, few of those young players actually showed any improvement and two of them found their way out of the organization as prospect Petrus Palmu opted to return home, while Jonathan Dahlen forced a trade to San Jose. Both were unhappy with the playing time under Utica head coach Trent Cull. In fact a number of prospects struggled under Cull, including 2017 second-rounders Kole Lind (three goals) and Jonah Gadjovich (four goals). That could force general manager Jim Benning to look into the situation in Utica a little closer.
Prospect Notes: Ginning, Luukkonen, Michaud
The Philadelphia Flyers have had a near-annual influx of talented young defensemen join the team over the last few years, but they’ll have to wait a little bit longer for one of their next promising blue liners to make the jump. Adam Ginning, the Flyers’ 2018 second-round pick, has re-signed with his Swedish Hockey League club for another year. Linkoping HC announced today that Ginning had inked a one-year contract extension to stay with the organization that has groomed him since he was 13 years old. Now 19, Ginning just finished his first full season in the SHL and did not look out of place playing against older and more experienced competition. At 6’4″ and 205 lbs., Ginning plays a physical and technically sound defensive game and projects to be a shutdown defender in the NHL one day. Some more time in the SHL certainly won’t hurt his development, but Philadelphia is definitely hopeful that he will join the system sooner rather than later to begin working with their coaches and adjusting to the North American style of play.
- The Buffalo Sabres will get a closer look at one of their top prospects ahead of schedule, as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans on an amateur tryout basis, the team announced. Luukkonen is likely to make his North American pro debut in the near future to cap off what has been a big season for the talented netminder. Luukkonen, a second-round pick of the Sabres in 2017, made the jump overseas this year to play for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and made an immediate impact. The 6’5″ keeper was a brick wall in net, leading the league in wins and shutouts and finishing in the top three in save percentage and goals against average. Luukkonen was arguably the best goalie in the OHL this year, but that wasn’t even the highlight of the campaign. Luukkonen also led Finland to a gold medal finish at the World Junior Championships earlier this year, posting a .932 save percentage and 1.80 GAA along the way. The Sabres hope that the next stop on Luukkonen’s path of dominance is the AHL and soon after the NHL.
- One name that won’t be playing in the pros, in North America or Europe, for at least another year is NCAA forward Westin Michaud. Michaud, 23, just wrapped up his senior season at Colorado College, in which he finished second on the team with 30 points in 41 games. Competing in the ultra-competitive National Collegiate Hockey Conference against several elite programs, Michaud still managed to take major steps forward in each of the past three seasons and at least one rival school took notice. With a year of NCAA eligibility remaining after sitting as a freshman, Michaud has decided to spurn pro offers for now and leave Colorado College behind him to transfer to the University of North Dakota for a graduate year with the national powerhouse. The experienced center will likely slot into a top-six position with North Dakota and could be in for yet another jump in production. Joining an already-strong roster that also has an impressive recruiting class incoming, Michaud makes the Fighting Hawks a dangerous contender next season.
Minor Transactions: 04/12/19
The first game of each playoff series is in the books, and boy was it a wild ride. Upsets, shutouts and physical play have given us a great start to the postseason and it only continues tonight. The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to shock the world once again with a win in Tampa Bay, while the Winnipeg Jets will try to find a way to solve Jordan Binnington. As teams prepare for that action, we’ll be here keeping track of the minor moves.
- The Winnipeg Jets returned Eric Comrie to the minor leagues yesterday, allowing him to return to the Manitoba Moose for their own playoff run. The young goaltender will likely bounce back and forth to give them an extra body at practice, but isn’t expected to suit up for any of the Jets’ games.
- The same scenario is in place right now for the Boston Bruins and Daniel Vladar, who was up on Thursday night to serve as the emergency backup but has been reassigned to AHL Providence today.
- Adam Clendening has been recalled by the Columbus Blue Jackets after playing last night for the Cleveland Monsters. Clendening is one of the best defensemen in the AHL and will bounce back and forth like Comrie until one of his two teams is eliminated.
AHL Announces 2018-2019 First, Second All-Star Teams
After announcing their All-Rookie team earlier this week, the AHL have now given us their choices for the first and second All-Star Teams for 2018-19. These players were voted in by coaches, players and media all across the league. This is not the same as the rosters for the All-Star Game, instead these are the top players at each position for the entire season.
First All-Star Team:
Goaltender: Alex Nedeljkovic, Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes)
Defenseman: John Gilmour, Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers)
Defenseman: Zach Redmond, Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres)
Left Wing: Daniel Carr, Chicago Wolves (Vegas Golden Knights)
Center: Carter Verhaeghe, Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Right Wing: Jeremy Bracco, Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Second All-Star Team:
Goaltender: Shane Starrett, Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton Oilers)*
Defenseman: Aaron Ness, Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals)
Defenseman: Ethan Prow, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Left Wing: Tyler Benson, Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton Oilers)*
Center: Chris Mueller, Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Right Wing: Andrew Poturalski, Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes)
*Also named to All-Rookie Team
Just like last season when Sami Niku and Mason Appleton made both the All-Rookie and All-Star rosters, Starrett and Benson will draw quite a bit of praise for their outstanding years. The fact that Starrett is having this much success even as an undrafted goaltender is all the more impressive, while Benson certainly delivered on his 32nd-overall selection in his first year of professional hockey.
Talented minor league wingers seem to grow on trees in Toronto, as the team once again has a player with several league accolades. Bracco is currently leading the AHL in scoring with 78 points heading into the last few games of the season, and is a good bet to challenge for a roster spot with the Maple Leafs in the future. So too will Nedeljkovic, who will likely be pushing for a full-time role with the Hurricanes pretty soon.