Morning Notes: Sharp, Bernier, Agostino
It’s been a wild few weeks for the Chicago Blackhawks, including the departures of several key players like Niklas Hjalmarsson, Artemi Panarin, and Trevor van Riemsdyk, but the Western Conference dynasty appears to be bringing back a fan-favorite when free agency opens today to help deal with those losses. The Chicago Sun Times’ Mark Lazerus reports, as speculated, that Patrick Sharp will return to Chicago for the coming season. While details of the deal – term, salary, incentives – are not yet known, the deal is expected to be made official promptly after free agency opens at noon ET. Sharp, 35, is a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Blackhawks and an eight-time 20-goal scorer over his impressive career. Sharp was essentially forced out of Chicago in the off-season two years ago, as the ‘Hawks could not muster the cap space to re-sign the prominent forward. The Dallas Stars could, but after a strong 55-point campaign in 2015-16, Sharp struggled with injury and inconsistency this past season, recording just 18 points in 48 games. Age and health have clearly softened Sharp’s edge, but if he is going to rejuvenate his career at this age for any team, it will be in a return to Chicago and his former teammates. Sharp will join Brandon Saad as returning Blackhawks this off-season if this deal does come to fruition this afternoon.
- Adrian Dater of BSN Denver was busy late last night, breaking the news that Jonathan Bernier is expected to sign with his Colorado Avalanche today. The Avs recently lost young backup Calvin Pickard in the expansion draft and were on the lookout for a reliable backup to Semyon Varlamov. While Bernier has been rumored to sign anywhere from the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins to a return to the Anaheim Ducks, the fit in Colorado makes sense. One could argue that Bernier is coming off the best season of his career in 2016-17 and will have a chance to be more of a “1B” than a definite #2 with the Avalanche. Per usual, there is still no word on the details of the deal that cannot be consummated until later today.
- Dater also reported that the Boston Bruins are set to make a small, but interesting move today, as they have supposedly come to terms with AHL MVP Kenny Agostino on a short-term contract worth $850K. The high-scoring minor league left wing has seen only limited NHL action, but over the course of an 83-point season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves last season, he also contributed a goal and two assists in seven games with the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins were known to have some concerns over the potential of Matt Beleskey and Frank Vatrano to play top-six roles on the left side next season, but were also worried about blocking up-and-coming prospects like Jake DeBrusk, Peter Cehlarik, Anders Bjork, and more. The Agostino signing would add another option at a relatively cheap price and (likely) the flexibility of a two-way contract as well. The details will be revealed a few hours from now.
- In more concrete news, the KHL’s Barys Astana has signed former Washington Capitals prospect Darren Dietz, according to European hockey insider Aivis Kalnins. Dietz was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Capitals by last Monday’s deadline and became an unrestricted free agent. Without any NHL interest, Dietz will try his hand at Russian pro hockey rather than a minor league deal to remain in North America.
New York Rangers In Discussions With Ondrej Pavelec
When the New York Rangers traded Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes, it was clear they’d have to enter the goaltending market in free agency. Though Magnus Hellberg played well in his very short sample with the team this year, he never seemed like a legitimate backup option for a team with an aging goaltender and eyes on a deep playoff run. He since signed in the KHL after becoming a Group VI free agent. Instead, they were likely to get a more veteran name who could step in and play a few games should Henrik Lundqvist miss any time.
Darren Dreger of TSN is now reporting that the team is in ongoing discussions with Ondrej Pavelec, the former Winnipeg Jets goaltender who spent most of the 2016-17 season in the minor leagues after clearing waivers. Pavelec does fill the experience portion of the backup requirement, but it’s been over a year now since he showed he was a capable netminder in the NHL. Perhaps at 29 the Rangers believe he can have a bounce-back season, or they think he’ll come at a relatively cheap price and invest the savings at a different position.
In eight NHL contests last year, Pavelec recorded an .888 save percentage. Beyond that his 2015-16 numbers weren’t much better, registering a .904 in 33 contests. Even in the AHL last year, where NHL backups usually perform quite well he was just average, posting a .917 save percentage and going just 8-7-2. It’s not certain that he’d struggle in the NHL again, especially behind a 100-point team like the Rangers but he’s far from the safest option on the open market.
Pavelec didn’t make it into our Top 50 Free Agents, a list that included six goaltenders at the time. From that group, Mike Condon has already re-signed with Ottawa, and both Brian Elliott and Anders Nilsson look to have already agreed to new homes. Even Keith Kinkaid, who just missed out on the list and may have placed ahead of Pavelec was retained by the New Jersey Devils to back up Cory Schneider.
Prospect Notes: Liljegren, Hischier, Makar
The Athletic’s Sunaya Sapurji reports that defenseman Timothy Liljegren, Toronto’s 17th overall pick, will continue to play in the Swedish league and not join the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs, who selected him 12th in the CHL Import Draft. His North American agent, Peter Wallen, said that Liljegren’s camp felt that time with Niagara wouldn’t be the “perfect spot” to develop his talent. Wallen doubles down, saying that his client will “never play for Niagara.” Stating that the Leafs are “100 percent” in Liljegren’s plan to stay in Sweden, Wallen adds:
“He’s not coming to play for Niagara. It’s not even a question. And even if it was a question we would still need Toronto to sign him and then for Rogle to release him for him to play for anyone else but the Maple Leafs.”
Should the 18-year-old defenseman sign with the Leafs, he would be able to play for the AHL affiliate Marlies midseason due to the fact that he played in the Swedish Hockey League and not the junior leagues. Playing junior hockey would have restricted him from seeing time in the AHL or NHL due to an agreement between the NHL and CHL regarding the “jump” to the pros. Sapurji points out that Liljegren expressed his desire to stay in Sweden–regardless of where he was taken–prior to the draft.
- First overall pick Nico Hischier was featured in a New York Times article yesterday, chronicling his journey to the NHL. The Times’ Dave Caldwell reports that the Swiss native saw his stock skyrocket after a strong world juniors performance while quietly sneaking up the ranks throughout the season. His strong play continued in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads. Described as being “very grounded,” by New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero, Hischier could very well take the NHL by storm as quietly–and quickly–as he did in juniors and on the world stage.
- Some had Cale Makar as a possibility to go first overall, but he ended up going fourth to the Colorado Avalanche, which could be considered a steal down the road. Next on the list for the 18-year-old defenseman is time at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he will continue to hone his skills for a shot at the NHL. Makar calls it a “reality check” when speaking with NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski, and adds that it doesn’t matter what happened before in terms of his career. Saying that he wants to “round out” his game, Makar is confident that he is an eventual NHL product and that belief is shared by the Colorado brass. Alan Hepple, the Director of Amateur Scouting for Colorado, goes as far to say that Makar is the “generational player” teams seek in a defenseman.
All photographs courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Washington Capitals Sign Chandler Stephenson To Two-Year Deal
The Washington Capitals have signed Chandler Stephenson to a new two-year deal, worth $650K at the NHL level. In 2017-18 the deal will be two-way, with Stephenson earning $125K in the AHL and then will transition to a one-way contract in 2018-19. Stephenson could be a Group VI free agent at the end of the contract if he isn’t given a real chance in the NHL over the next two years (he would need to play in 67 more games to be ineligible).
A third-round selection by the Capitals in 2013, Stephenson has played in just 13 NHL games thus far in his career, and was held pointless in all of them. A center by trade, he’s contributed solid point numbers in the AHL over the past couple of seasons but not enough to force his way onto the Capitals’ roster.
It’s important for Washington to get him in on a cheap contract though, as they will be stretched thin following new contracts for Dmitry Orlov, Andre Burakovsky, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Philipp Grubauer. Even with $17.5MM in cap space, the team will be hard-pressed to find enough room to make a real impact in free agency. Losing three players from their defense in Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk and the Vegas bound Nate Schmidt, they do need to find another option to fill a hole there, either internally or on the market.
Morning Notes: Lefebvre, Stalberg, Toronto
The Montreal Canadiens have hired Sylvain Lefebvre as the first coach of the Laval Rocket, their new AHL affiliate. It’s not much of a change, as Lefebvre has been the coach of Montreal’s affiliate for the past five years, in both Hamilton and St. John’s. He took the IceCaps to the playoffs last season for the first time in his coaching career, but was knocked out in the first round.
Lefebvre had a long NHL career with several clubs, suiting up for 945 games and scoring 184 points. He once hoisted the Stanley Cup as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, and recorded 18 points in 129 career playoff games. The Canadiens also named Larry Carriere as General Manager of the club, in addition to his responsibilities as assistant GM of Montreal.
- Swiss Hockey News is reporting that there is NLA interest in Ottawa Senators free agent Viktor Stalberg, though it’s not clear if it is mutual. Stalberg has spent time in the SHL and KHL, and likely has interest from around the NHL as a depth option. We ranked Stalberg #45 on our list of the Top 50 Free Agents, expecting him to sign a one-year deal worth $900K. If the Swiss league is offering more than that, perhaps he will bolt for greener pastures.
- David Alter of The Athletic examines the RFA cases of Maple Leafs forwards Connor Brown and Zach Hyman, explaining that both get high marks from Toronto management. With contract extensions due in the next year for William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs have to be very careful with how they spend their money, especially on their fringe depth. While Hyman and Brown look to be excellent pieces for Toronto, they may be similar to the players Pittsburgh and Chicago have had to watch move on over the years after handing out multiple top contracts.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Brian Lashoff, Dylan McIlrath
As CapFriendly reported yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings have signed two more AHL players, inking Brian Lashoff and Dylan McIlrath to two-year extensions. Both deals are two-way contracts worth the minimum of $650K at the NHL level. The pair are coming off a Calder Cup victory with the Grand Rapid Griffins, where they each logged big minutes.
McIlrath of course was an ill-fated 10th-overall pick of the New York Rangers, never able to amount to much more than his tough guy profile. This year saw him traded to the Florida Panthers and subsequently placed on waivers when he didn’t fit into their system either. He’d later be dealt to Detroit in the Thomas Vanek trade. The 25-year old has little upside and will likely be limited to AHL duty for the time being.
Lashoff on the other hand is an undrafted defenseman who had to grind his way through multiple minor-league seasons, including a stint in the ECHL before making his NHL debut in 2012-13. The 26-year old has settled back into an AHL role, but did see a few games in Detroit this season as a depth player. Lashoff has little offensive upside, but can relied upon in his own end and on the penalty kill. Both will be unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of the contracts.
St. Louis Blues Sign Chris Butler
The run on AHL veterans continues, as the St. Louis Blues have signed Chris Butler to a two-year, two-way contract. Butler was set to become an unrestricted free agent once again.
Now 30, Butler spent almost the entire 2016-17 season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves after what has been an interesting NHL career. Selected 96th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, Butler showed off his offensive chops at the University of Denver for three years before jumping to the professional ranks. He almost immediately became a big part of the Sabres blueline, all the way up to a trade that took him out west.
Dealt in a package for Robyn Regehr and Ales Kotalik, Butler would spend several years with the Calgary Flames before eventually took a deal with the St. Louis Blues. Since then he’s been working on one-year contracts, making this a nice bit of stability for him and his family for the next couple of years. A veteran of 388 NHL games, Butler could provide some injury insurance for the Blues if they were ever in a jam.
Snapshots: Cull, Eichel, Emelin, Allvin
The Vancouver Canucks have hired Trent Cull as the next head coach of the Utica Comets. The AHL team lost their bench boss when Travis Green was promoted to coach the NHL squad, and now will poach another minor league team’s assistant. Cull had been working as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, but also has experience at the OHL level.
The former minor-league fighter never did make it to the NHL during his playing career, but will take the next step towards coaching there one day with this latest assignment. It will be his first head coaching job in the AHL, and he’s tasked with returning the Comets to the playoffs after they missed last season.
- Pierre LeBrun of TSN is reporting that Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres have opened discussions over a possible extension. The news today that Connor McDavid may get eight years at $13.25MM per season must have perked up Eichel’s ears, as though he’ll certainly not get anywhere near that he should get a whopping extension of his own before long. The two sides are allowed to officially sign an extension after July 1st, when Eichel will have less than one year remaining on his current entry-level deal.
- LeBrun also reports that the Montreal Canadiens have looked into a possible reunion with Alexei Emelin, selected last week in the expansion draft. Like many of the other veteran defenders, Emelin is expected to be flipped from the Vegas Golden Knights in the coming days, and Montreal could possibly re-acquire him. LeBrun adds that the Ottawa Senators have also shown interest in the big defenseman, perhaps as a replacement to their own expansion loss, Marc Methot.
- Ansar Khan of MLive reports that the Detroit Red Wings were hoping to get Brendan Smith back in town under a respectable three-year, $10.5MM contract but that he may have other offers. Khan points to Smith’s current team the New York Rangers and a potential $4MM AAV. Smith ranked #12 on our free agent list, in which we predicted a four-year, $15MM ($3.75MM AAV) contract. Smith will certainly expect multiple offers from around the league on July 1st, as his versatility makes him an interesting option for many teams.
- After losing Randy Sexton to the Buffalo Sabres, the Pittsburgh Penguins have promoted Patrik Allvin to Director of Amateur Scouting. Sexton was hired as an Assistant General Manager by Jason Botterill and the Sabres, meaning Allvin who has served as the Penguins head European scout for several years, will move up in the organization.
CHL 2017 Import Draft Results
The CHL is holding its annual import draft today, where teams from across the Canadian junior leagues get to select the rights to players around the world. Often these are recently drafted prospects, or those seen to have good chances at next year’s draft. Being selected has no guarantee that the player will actually ever suit up for the team, as Klim Kostin (the 31st-overall pick in this year’s NHL entry draft) has made very clear. Kostin was selected first-overall in the import draft last year, but has said that he has no intention of ever playing for the Kootenay Ice, instead hoping to play in the AHL or NHL next season.
Sometimes though, you can get an immense talent. Nico Hischier was selected sixth-overall by Halifax last season, and quickly rose to the first-overall pick in the 2017 Entry Draft. Mikhail Sergachev was also selected sixth in the 2015 draft before eventually being the return for Jonathan Drouin this summer. To be sure, there will be a name or two out of this year’s draft to make a huge impact in the NHL. Each team can only carry two import players on the roster, meaning many will pass on the opportunity to select another one. The results are below (including the NHL team that drafted them this weekend):
Snapshots: Gagner, Condon, Hamonic
The Blackhawks are linked to Columbus UFA Sam Gagner, by way of a report from The Athletic’s Scott Powers. The parties have reached out to one another and expressed “mutual interest”. Gagner could be a good fit in Chicago, as he could jump-start an oddly sluggish powerplay, which finished 24th in the league last season. As always, an issue with signing in the Windy City is available cap dollars. Even after parting with Scott Darling, Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson, the team is $2.99 MM over the cap ceiling, Luckily the team doesn’t have any free agents that absolutely need to be re-signed, so they are free to prune a few forwards from the roster to get within acceptable range. Adding another mid-tier contract could complicate matters. The team has already been rumored to move on from center Marcus Kruger, who only makes $3.083 MM himself. Gagner will be looking for a figure around there after his career season, so his acquisition would mean more shuffling from GM Stan Bowman.
Judging by the fan reaction to the Panarin and Hjalmarsson moves, further shuffling might only serve to further shake confidence in the team’s direction. This isn’t even taking into account the Marian Hossa Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) drama, which alone should make for an interesting summer. For what it’s worth, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector believes Gagner will not return to Edmonton, so that eliminates a potential landing spot. Still, there are few available centers with his skill-set and offensive output, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see Chicago out-bid on this particular player.
- The Flyers are not comfortable with an Anthony Stolarz and Michael Neuvirth tandem heading into 2017-18, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. Carchidi goes through the entire UFA selection, including former Flyer Steve Mason, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier, Ryan Miller, and even Keith Kinkaid. Bernier could be a fit, but with his inconsistency I don’t see it being a good one. Mason endured a good deal of fan blame this season, and while a short-term deal is not impossible, it’s a fair assumption he searches for a role in another town. If the Flyers wanted to run a tandem, Neuvirth with Condon could work quite well. The author doesn’t believe that Condon is much of an upgrade over Stolarz, but at 23 and with 2 career wins, Stolarz is simply not at the same level. It’s rare to see a goalie that young be able to take a 40 game (or more) NHL workload with total success. Considering the Flyers’ developing defense, it might be a wise decision on GM Ron Hextall‘s part to shelter him in the AHL for another season. Stolarz is definitely their future, and they will look to find a one to two year agreement with whatever stopgap they decide on.
- A fascinating piece from Newsday’s Arthur Staple details what can only be described as an odd non-deal. The Islanders apparently offered Travis Hamonic and a 1st round pick to Colorado for Matt Duchene, which was subsequently declined by GM Joe Sakic. Isles GM Garth Snow proceeded to move Hamonic for picks while acquiring Jordan Eberle in a separate transaction. Duchene remains in Denver, and apparently his agent Pat Brisson is not happy with the turn of events. Duchene has been linked to trade rumors since nearly the start of the season, which saw his Avalanche finish with an abysmal 48 point dead-last league finish. Sakic was rumored to have a heavy asking price, and this apparent rejection only solidifies those rumblings. Hamonic himself ended up fetching a 1st and two 2nds from Calgary, which is a sizable haul for the Isles. Islanders faithful can’t be too disappointed by the alternative route Snow traversed.