Olli Juolevi To Join Finnish National Team
The Utica Comets are already on the brink of elimination in their first round AHL playoff series, and it doesn’t look like they’ll get any help as they try to climb out of a 0-2 series against the Toronto Marlies. Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver reports that Olli Juolevi will join the Finnish national team tomorrow in preparation for the upcoming World Championships instead of heading to the AHL. Juolevi will tryout for the team, though as Dhaliwal points out, he is not guaranteed a roster spot in the tournament.
Juolevi, 19, was the fifth-overall pick in 2016 and has had an excellent season back in Finland this year. After two seasons with the London Knights of the OHL, he returned to play for TPS in Finland’s highest league and recorded 19 points in 38 games. That came with another appearance at the World Juniors (his third) where he was named one of the three best players for Finland and was noticeable every time he touched the ice.
Expected to compete for a role on the Vancouver blue line next season, experience with the national team will be beneficial to his development. Being named to the roster for the tournament would be exceptional, and would give Canucks fans another reason to watch when it begins in just over 10 days.
Snapshots: Boucher, Thornton, Hamhuis, Lindholm, Cullen
The Vancouver Canucks placed center Reid Boucher on waivers with the hopes of sending him to Utica of the AHL, according to TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. The forward missed the final three games of the season when he broke his hand, but Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that he is healthy again and ready to join the Comets for the first-round series against the Toronto Marlies in the Calder Cup playoffs.
The 24-year-old Boucher struggled to make an impact with the Canucks this season as he had just three goals and five points in 20 games. However, he was quite successful when playing for the Comets, putting up 25 goals in just 45 games for the AHL squad. He is a restricted free agent this offseason.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said that center Joe Thornton has been ruled out in Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights later this week, although no date has been set yet by the NHL. The 38-year-old has been working his way back from a torn MCL injury in January. He has been practicing on his own, but obviously if he’s been ruled out already for Game 1, then it might be another week. Regardless, he could be back at some point in the series.
- SportsDay’s Mike Heika profiles defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who was a key shutdown defender alongside Greg Pateryn this season for about 50 games before the 35-year-old veteran began to wear down. The defensive-minded defenseman still tallied three goals, 24 points, 113 blocks and 82 hits during the season, but the scribe writes the veteran’s play was part of the reason for Dallas’ late-season struggles. Heika adds that it’s likely the team will move on from Hamhuis who will be a unrestricted free agent this summer. He is finishing up a two year, $7.5MM deal. The team is likely to go with a younger defense as they will want to give minutes to Julius Honka and last year’s third-overall pick Miro Heiskanen, who many believe will come over from Finland next season.
- With his team having lost the SHL finals, center Par Lindholm, one of Skelleftea top players, is expected to leave the team and come to the NHL, according to Expresssen (translation required). The 26-year-old put up 18 goals and 29 assists in 49 games this past season, and added another six goals and 11 points in 16 playoff games and played for Sweden in the 2018 Olympic Games. There is no word in the article where he might go, although there is plenty of interest from NHL teams.
- The Minnesota Wild’s Matt Cullen has not made any decisions about whether he intends to return next season, according to StarTribune’s Sarah MacLellan. “I don’t know,” the 41-year-old said after the Wild were eliminated Friday. “My only though here the last while was getting it back home for Game 6. So to be honest, I don’t have an answer right now.” Cullen, who has played 20 seasons so far in the NHL, waited until August last year before opting to leave Pittsburgh and join Minnesota, his hometown team. He played in 79 games, but saw his points total drop to one of his lowest totals ever with 22 points.
Western Notes: Peters, MacLean, Duclair, Niku, Suzuki
While the rumor that former Carolina Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters is likely headed to Calgary, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Dallas Stars had requested permission from Carolina to speak to Peters and did, but has decided that he isn’t a good fit for their coaching vacancy and is the front-runner for the Flames head coaching job. Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson adds that the Flames were concerned about a better offer from Dallas, but the scribe writes that it is more and more certain the team will hire Peters.
“I’d like to work, I’d like to coach. I hope something is in place soon,” Peters said via Gilbertson.
While Peters was considered to be one of the top coaching prospects when he was hired by Carolina four years ago, he was never able to get them to the playoffs. The hope is that with four years of experience, the coach can take that next step with Calgary, who has a lot of talent and could be ready to make an impact next year.
- LeBrun also said the Dallas Stars will be patient in their coaching search, but believes that the team will consider former Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean as a candidate. The coach was 114-90-35 in three and a half seasons for Ottawa from 2011-2014. However, LeBrun admits there are many candidates on their coaching list.
- Corey Snzjdjer of The Athletic (subscription required) writes the Chicago Blackhawks might not be able to retain restricted free agent Anthony Duclair. The 22-year-old acquired in January has a ton of potential, but can’t seem to put up much, in terms of points. He had two goals and six assists in 23 games until he suffered a knee injury that knocked him out for the last 13 games of the year. The scribe writes that because Duclair is on a one-year bridge deal, Chicago would have to match his $1.2MM salary, which might be too high of a price with all the young talent who could be brought in at cheaper salaries, including Vinnie Hinostroza, Victor Ejdsell and Dylan Sikura.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced they have assigned defenseman Sami Niku to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Niku was recalled Thursday as the team was dealing with injuries to defenseman Tyler Myers and then losing defenseman Josh Morrissey to a one-game suspension. Niku, the AHL’s defenseman of the year, would have gone in had Myers been unable to go Friday. Instead, he returns to Manitoba as they begin their playoff series today against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have promoted prospect Nick Suzuki from the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The 18-year-old prospect was the 13th overall pick in the 2017 draft and put up a 100-point season this year in 64 games for the Attack. He will join another first-rounder in Cody Glass, who was promoted earlier this week and 2017 second-round pick Nicolas Hague, who has been with the team for a couple of weeks. The prospects are just another future line of depth that could conceivably join Vegas next year, assuming they can win spots on the team during training camp.
Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher May Not Get Extension
After suffering a embarrassing 5-0 defeat Friday that knocked the Minnesota Wild from the first-round of the playoffs, there is likely to be consequences going forward. At least that’s what The Athletic’s Mike Russo (subscription required) writes, suggesting that general manager Chuck Fletcher‘s job may not have the security it did a couple of weeks ago. The GM is in the last year of his deal and is awaiting a contract extension.
For the third consecutive season, the Wild have exited after the first-round and have lost 16 of their last 20 playoff games, suggesting that Fletcher may not have assembled the right players meant to sustain a run throughout the playoffs. Granted, Fletcher has done a lot of good in Minnesota. His team’s have reached the playoffs for six straight seasons and the team has reached 100 points in three of the last four seasons. On top of that, key injuries have hampered this year’ playoff hopes, including losses to defensemen Ryan Suter and most recently Zach Parise.
Russo wrote a story 10 days ago, suggesting owner Craig Leipold felt Fletcher deserved an extension and was ready to extend Fletcher after the playoffs, but Russo now says he’s heard that Leipold might be rethinking that.
Much could have to do with recent moves over the last year. One major blunder that is often pointed out is that the Vegas Golden Knights walked away with two top-six forwards from the expansion draft in Erik Haula and Alex Tuch so the Wild could protect some of their younger defensemen. Both players are starting on the Golden Knights’ second line on a team that has advanced farther than Minnesota recently in just one year of existence, thanks in part to the performances of those two players. Haula, who had 15 goals and 11 assists last year in Minnesota, broke out for a 29-goal, 55-point season in Vegas, while the 20-year-old Tuch had 15 goals and 22 assists in his rookie campaign.
Last season at the trade deadline, the team sent their 2017 first-round pick to Arizona for rentals Martin Hanzal and Ryan White, neither of which made much of an impact for the team’s playoff fortunes that year. The team also traded Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella for Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis in the offseason. Foligno produced one of his worst NHL season with just eight goals, while Ennis was a healthy scratch four out of five times in the playoffs and is a buyout candidate this summer at $4.6MM. Other deals, including signing defenseman Kyle Quincey and then quickly burying him in the AHL (although he never played a game there) after just 18 games.
The franchise will likely take a few days before making any decisions on their management.
Coyotes To Sign Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin
With the KHL season over, there continue to be numerous rumors connecting foreign free agents, young and old, with interested NHL teams. Trusted European hockey insider Igor Eronko of NHL.com says that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin is next up. Eronko relays the message that Lyubushkin is set to sign with the Arizona Coyotes.
While no terms of the deal have leaked yet, the 24-year-old Lyubushkin seems to be more of gamble on upside for the Coyotes rather than a player expected to start immediately without issue. The contract will most likely be for relatively little money and may even be of a two-way nature. In 2017-18, Lyubushkin tallied just nine points in 50 games, which was fifth among Lokomotiv defenseman. The stay-at-home defender was more effective in his own zone, posting a +14 rating, but even this was fourth on the team. Lyubushkin’s only noticeable lead on Yarolslavl was in penalty minutes, where he was tops by a wide margin due to his propensity for the physical side of the game.
What the Coyotes likely see in Lyubushkin is a strong, young blue liner who already has extensive pro experience, with five years with Lokomotiv under his belt. A right-shot defenseman under 25 with that much experience doesn’t hit free agency very often and Arizona likely hopes that his more conservative games translates well to the NHL. They could use him sooner rather than later, as Luke Schenn‘s free agency leaves only Jason Demers as a right shot on the Arizona back end. Even in the AHL, there are no better righty options to step in than Lyubushkin, as only college free agent Jordan Gross – a similar style player to Lyubushkin – looks ready to play at the pro level. Of course, this situation could all change this off-season in free agency or if the ‘Yotes land elite defenseman Adam Boqvist in the draft (though they would of course prefer lefty Rasmus Dahlin), but for now Lyubushkin looks to be a sleeper pick to fill a regular role with Arizona in the next year or so.
Coaching Notes: Peters, Quinn, Stars
As soon as former Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters resigned from his position with Carolina this morning, hockey pundits around the continent proclaimed him the leading candidate for the open Calgary Flames job. While no one has yet made any sort of concrete connection between Peters and the Flames, there is nearly universal agreement that he is the top option. The Athletic’s Rick Carpinello has taken it one step further. The New York Rangers beat writer states that Peters was never an option for the Rangers, as his deal with Calgary is “done”. It seems a deal could be imminent between the two sides. While on it’s face, Peters’ hire in Calgary could be a good fit, as he is a widely-respected coach who has always carried high expectations, the parallels between the underachieving Flames and underachieving Hurricanes is cause for some alarm.
- If Peters won’t be the next head coach in New York, who will be? For a while, the top candidate has seemed to be Boston University head coach David Quinn. Quinn’s Terriers have been have made the NCAA Tournament four years in a row, most recently winning the Hockey East Tournament this season to sneak in and make it to the Northeast Regional final. During this time, Quinn has coached more top NHL prospects than any other bench boss in college hockey. The rebuilding Rangers could greatly use Quinn’s talent for working with young players. USA Hockey has recognized that ability as well, today naming Quinn the head coach of the 2019 U.S. World Junior team. Some Rangers fans have worried that this appointment could remove Quinn from the running for New York’s new head coach, but the New York Post’s Larry Brooks says not so fast. Per Brooks, Quinn’s role as Team USA coach won’t hurt what Brooks calls his “strong candidacy”. In fact, Brooks calls Quinn the exact “developmental coach” that owner James Dolan is seeking and ensures that everything would work out if Quinn was offered the job.
- While Carolina, Calgary, and New York make waves in the coaching pool, the vacancy in Dallas has received little attention. That hasn’t surprised SportsDay’s Mike Heika, who says that GM Jim Nill will be patient with his decision on Ken Hitchcock‘s replacement. Heika states that Nill has a long list of candidates, including many former Stars coaches. That could be a benefit for Dallas, an organization with ties to Glen Gulutzan, Dave Tippett, and Willie Desjardins, or could be a hindrance if the team doesn’t want to recycle a former coach again as they did with Hitchcock. Alternatives include hiring displaced Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, offering a promotion to several AHL head coaches, or even poaching Craig Berube from the division rival St. Louis Blues, according to Heika. Nill will take his time in sorting out the candidates, only setting a deadline of the NHL Draft in late June for the hire.
Winnipeg Jets Recall Michael Hutchinson From AHL
After Steve Mason suffered an injury at morning skate, the Winnipeg Jets have recalled Michael Hutchinson. In a corresponding move the team has sent Jamie Phillips back to the Manitoba Moose to help with their first-round AHL playoff series. Phillips had been serving as the Jets’ emergency third goaltender, but with Game 5 set for Winnipeg there was enough time to get Hutchinson.
While he’s not expected to start over Connor Hellebuyck, Hutchinson is a wonderful piece to have at the ready for this type of situation. Some may argue that he is even an upgrade over Mason should he be forced into the net, after posting an outstanding season in the AHL. Though Mason stopped all seven shots he faced in relief of Hellebuyck earlier in the series, he had a very inconsistent season filled with injury. His .906 save percentage in just twelve appearances marks his worst season since 2011-12.
Hutchinson is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, meaning he’d likely jump at any opportunity to prove himself in the playoffs for the Jets. The 28-year old goaltender put up a .935 save percentage in the minors this year, and could be an option for a team looking to improve their backup situation next year.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Lukas Jasek To Three-Year Deal
The Vancouver Canucks have seen enough of Lukas Jasek to know that he’s a player they want in their organization, and today announced a three-year entry-level contract for the 20-year old forward. Jasek joined the Utica Comets in late March on an amateur tryout, and has seven points in his first six AHL games.
Despite being a sixth-round pick in 2015, there is a lot to be excited about in Jasek’s profile. He’s been on the radar of NHL scouts for quite some time, thanks to his obvious offensive talent and performance at tournaments like the Ivan Hlinka Memorial. He was ranked 23rd among European skaters in 2015, but fell to 174th-overall before the Canucks snapped him up. In the three years since, he’s dominated the Czech junior league, second league and now this season recorded an impressive 18 points in 48 games at the highest level the country offers.
One of the biggest knocks on Jasek was always his strength, as even though he would work hard for pucks and drive the net with a purpose, he was thin and could be knocked off the puck. The Canucks now list him at 6’1″ 184-lbs, which while not monstrous is definitely big enough to last in the North American game. He’s proven that in his short taste with Utica, where he’s looked dangerous every time the puck is on his stick.
There’s no guarantee that Jasek ever makes it up to the NHL, but the early returns have been quite good since he joined the organization. By getting him under contract the Canucks will hope to keep developing him in the minors and add another skilled prospect to their rapidly filling cupboard.
Josh Jooris Assigned To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Josh Jooris wasn’t likely to get into a game with the Pittsburgh Penguins anytime soon, so the team has assigned him back to the AHL for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ upcoming first round series. The WBS Penguins take on the Charlotte Checkers later this evening in Game 1 of the best-of-five series. Jooris had actually been placed on waivers according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, explaining how he was able to be sent down now that he has cleared.
Jooris was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season in exchange for Greg McKegg, as a depth option for the Penguins. He ended up playing in nine games for them as they dealt with injury down the stretch, but wasn’t expected to crack the playoff lineup.
Headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, it seems unlikely that the 27-year old forward will secure a one-way deal. Though he did play 40 NHL games this season, he registered just six points and doesn’t have much upside. Instead, he’ll likely have to take a two-way deal and prove himself in the minor leagues or sit as an extra forward.
Nashville Predators Recall Nine Players From AHL
The Nashville Predators have recalled their group of Black Aces—players who will skate with the team throughout the playoffs but not get into any game action. The group includes Frederick Gaudreau, Harry Zolnierczyk, Brandon Bollig, Tyler Gaudet, Emil Pettersson, Alexandre Carrier, Petter Granberg, Frederic Allard and Troy Grosenick.
Though these types of call-ups rarely play in the postseason, there are a few interesting names in the group. Most notably perhaps is Gaudreau, who scored two game-winning goals (three total) in the playoffs last season for the Predators, stepping in due to injury and making an impact right away. Zolnierczyk too played in 11 games for the club last posteason, which just shows even further how much depth the Predators have amassed this season.
Most interesting this time around though might be Pettersson, who led the Milwaukee Admirals in scoring during his first professional season in North America. The 24-year old forward came over from Sweden this season, and registered 46 points in 72 games in the minor leagues. Like the others he isn’t expected to make his debut in the playoffs, but could fight for a roster spot with the Predators next season.