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Minor Transactions: 7/18/24

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As expected, signing activity across the NHL has largely dried up with training camps still more than a month and a half away.  However, there are some NHL-drafted prospects and players formerly on NHL contracts that have found new places to play in recent days.  We’ll run through those moves here.

  • Free agent blueliner Nick Cicek has signed a one-year deal with Adler Mannheim, the DEL team announced. The 24-year-old started last season in San Jose’s system before being moved to Vancouver where he remained in the AHL.  Between the two teams, Cicek had four goals and 12 assists in 67 games, resulting in him being non-tendered last month.  Cicek does have 16 career NHL appearances under his belt, all coming in the 2022-23 campaign where he had four assists.
  • Capitals prospect Ilya Protas has signed with OHL Windsor for the upcoming season, per a team announcement. Protas, whose brother is a regular in Washington, was a third-round pick last month, going 75th overall.  The 18-year-old, who signed his entry-level deal with the Caps earlier this month was the third-overall selection in the CHL Import Draft and the top selection from an OHL-based club following a strong showing with USHL Des Moines.  In 61 games with the Buccaneers last season, Protas had 14 goals and 37 assists.
  • Still with Washington, the Capitals farm team in Hershey was busy today as the team announced six signings, all on one-year contracts. Joining the Bears are forwards Grant Cruikshank, Austin Magera, Micah Miller, Justin Nachbaur, and Tyler Weiss, along with defenseman Jayden Lee.  The five forwards played professionally last year – primarily at the ECHL level – while Lee is turning pro after a five-year stint at Quinnipiac.
  • After being non-tendered by Dallas last month, free agent forward Max Ellis has found a new place to play as he has joined Jukurit in Finland, per a team release.  The 24-year-old spent last season in Toronto’s system, getting into 36 games in the AHL with the Marlies where he had four goals and ten assists.  His signing rights were thrown into the draft day trade for the rights to Chris Tanev but that was simply for contract-matching purposes.
  • Panthers prospect Vladislav Lukashevich has changed his college commitment. Nathaniel Bott of the Lansing State Journal relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner will now play at Michigan State next season instead of Northern Michigan.  The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick back in 2021, going 120th overall and spent last season with USHL Tri-City where he had 11 goals and 32 assists in 54 games.

Predators Sign Adam Wilsby

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The Nashville Predators have signed defender Adam Wilsby to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a $775K salary at the NHL level.

Nashville drafted Wilsby in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, selecting him in his final year of eligibility after a strong season with Sodertalje SK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league. Wilsby recorded 30 points in 41 games that year, helping Sodertalje earn promotion to the SHL and following the performance up with two strong seasons at the top flight to help keep them there.

With a successful run in Sweden in the rearview, Wilsby signed an uncommon two-year entry-level contract with the Predators in 2022. But he struggled to carry his momentum over from Sweden, posting just 18 points as an AHL rookie, though he did play in all 72 games. He also appeared in 16 postseason games, where a quicker pace boosted him to a productive eight points. He improved to 21 points in 61 games this season, though still seems far from finding the comfortable footing he had in the SHL.

Still, there’s reason to be excited about Wilsby’s stout control of the blue line and ability to spark transition. He’s a young defender who seems to have more to give and will get a chance to prove his worth to the Predators next season, fighting for a much hardier NHL deal next summer.

Morning Notes: O’Brien, Kambeitz, Blues

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The Charlotte Checkers have signed former first-round pick Jay O’Brien to an AHL contract (as per NHL.com’s Mark Divver). O’Brien was selected 19th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2018 NHL entry draft and turned pro last season after three years in the NCAA with Boston University. O’Brien signed last August with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies but didn’t dress in any games due to injury and has yet to play a professional hockey game.

O’Brien has dealt with injuries throughout his career and was let go last summer by the Philadelphia Flyers before eventually catching on with the Marlies. The 24-year-old had a solid NCAA career posting 26 goals and 44 assists in 79 games during his final three seasons but hasn’t been able to translate that success to his professional career.

In other morning notes:

  • The Abbotsford Canucks have signed forward Dino Kambeitz to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 season. The American Hockey League contract will take Kambeitz into his fourth season of professional hockey after he set a career-high last year with nine goals and six assists in 56 games for the Bakersfield Condors. The 24-year-old spent three seasons with the Condors after going undrafted to the NHL and dressed in 172 career AHL regular season games, tallying 22 goals and 22 assists.
  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic is reporting that the St. Louis Blues have made a change to their ownership group as David Steward has transferred his stake in the team to local businessman Michael Riney who has spent his entire life in St. Louis. Steward had been with the group since 2012 and his stake in the team was less than five percent. The ownership group remains entirely made up of local owners and will continue to be run by Blues Chairman Tom Stillman.

Rockford IceHogs Sign Austin Strand To AHL Contract

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The Chicago Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, will have another familiar face on the roster next season as the team announced they have signed defenseman Austin Strand to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 AHL season. Strand is projected to spend the entire season with the IceHogs after the team acquired him via trade from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves last season.

Strand turned professional in 2018 after signing his entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings after an impressive season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. He spent his first full season with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, scoring seven goals and 18 points in 43 games. Strand spent the next three years with the Kings organization and collected three assists in 21 games at the NHL level with 12 goals and 27 points in 92 AHL contests.

Moving further south in California, Strand signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks heading into the 2022-23 season. He participated in five games with the Ducks that season collecting two goals and eight points in 46 games for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Anaheim traded Strand to the Buffalo Sabres organization in exchange for Chase Priskie at that year’s deadline, suiting up in nine games for the Rochester Americans down the stretch.

Outside of his offensive production — Strand carries plenty of value to the IceHogs as a veteran presence and stabilizing defenseman. The team’s president of hockey operations, Mark Bernard, said as much, “He brings experience and energy to the rink each day and is someone that can help carry the coaching staff’s message into the locker room. He will be a great asset this year as we will have a lot of young prospects that he can be a mentor to“.

Colorado Eagles Hire Dan Hinote As Associate Coach

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After Steve Konowalchuk left this summer to become the next head coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds, the AHL’s Colorado Eagles had a position to fill as associate coach. The team has found their man from the NHL ranks as the team announced they have hired Dan Hinote.

Hinote is a veteran of nine years in the NHL from 1999 to 2009 with six of those years coming with the Colorado Avalanche. The former player was a reliable bottom-six player for the Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues throughout his career and helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2001. Hinote played one year for MODO Hockey in the Elitserien before becoming an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 2010-11 NHL season.

The Blue Jackets struggled mightily during Hinote’s tenure as an assistant coach as the team finished outside the playoff picture in their last days of residing in the Western Conference. Columbus qualified for the postseason in Hinote’s last year on the bench but was quickly eliminated in the first round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hinote was transitioned to a professional scout with the Blue Jackets organization until the 2018-19 season.

Over the next two years, Hinote worked with the US National Team Development Program in Plymouth, MI as an associate coach and also worked with the Team USA U18 in the 2019 World Junior Championship and the Team USA U17 in the 2020 World Junior Championship. After a successful run in the USHL and on the international stage, the Nashville Predators hired Hinote as an assistant coach ahead of the 2020-21 NHL campaign.

Hinote was in charge of a Predators’ penalty kill that had fallen towards the league basement as they finished 29th place in the NHL with a 75.58% success rate. Nashville climbed to 18th in the 2021-22 season, sixth in the 2022-23 season, before falling back to 22nd this past year. Hinote will have much more responsibility as an associate coach with the Eagles and returns to the Avalanche organization after nearly two decades away.

Canadiens Hire Pascal Vincent As AHL Head Coach

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According to a club announcement, the Canadiens have named Pascal Vincent as the next head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Vincent’s appointment comes nearly a month after he was fired as head coach of the Blue Jackets.

Vincent, 52, returns to a minor-league head coaching role after spending the last three seasons behind the Columbus bench. After being brought on as an associate coach ahead of the 2021-22 season, he was promoted to head coach shortly before the 2023-24 season due to Mike Babcock’s abrupt resignation following an NHLPA investigation. Under Vincent, the Blue Jackets remained rather hapless, limping to a 27-43-12 record and their second straight season with fewer than 30 wins.

But Vincent has a more comfortable track record of success in the AHL, where he served as head coach of the Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, from 2016-17 to 2020-21. With the Moose, Vincent took home the AHL’s Coach of the Year Award in 2017-18 after guiding them to a 42-26-8 record, their third-best in franchise history.

Vincent is no stranger to the Montreal/Laval market. He was born in Laval and served as the general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Montreal Juniors from 2008-09 to 2010-11. The Canadiens were on the hunt for a new head coach for the Rocket after Jean-François Houle, who they signed to a multi-year extension in May, left the club to take over as head coach of Clarkson University.

AHL Notes: Checkers, Sonne, Hall

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The Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League have a new controlling interest as the team announced that Zawyer Sports & Entertainment has acquired the majority ownership in the team. The team’s now-former majority owner, Michael Kahn, will remain on as the team’s largest minority owner. Kahn was previously the controlling ownership party since 2006.

It will be Zawyer Sports & Entertainment’s first crack at an AHL franchise as the ownership group already carries a considerable presence in the ECHL. According to the public announcement, the group owns and operates the Jacksonville Icemen, Tahoe Knight Monsters, and the Savannah Ghost Pirates. The team also manages the Allen Americans and the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL.

Nothing will change in the day-to-day business operations or the front office of the Checkers per the agreement and the team will still serve as the primary affiliate of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. In regards to the purchase, CEO of Zawyer Sports & Entertainment, Andy Kaufmann said, “The Checkers are a team rich with history and an incredible fan base and we are honored to do our part in making Checkers Nation proud – not just on game days, but all year long in this very special community. We have already made an impact here in the community with Gastonia Baseball, and we are eager to grow our footprint in the region by providing local families with quality entertainment, community outreach and competitive hockey“.

Other AHL notes:

  • With assistant coach Jessica Campbell graduating to the NHL level with the Seattle Kraken — the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, was on the search for a new coach. The team ended their search today by announcing the hire of Brennan Sonne as the team’s new assistant coach. Sonne recently earned a remarkable record as head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades for the last three years. Under his tutelage, the team amassed a record of 136-54-13 while reaching two WHL Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
  • It didn’t take Curtis Hall long to find a new home after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Boston Bruins as the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced they had signed the young forward to an AHL contract for the 2024-25 season. Hall has spent the last four years with the Bruins organization split between the AHL and the ECHL. It has been difficult for him to factor into games, however, as Hall has scored six goals and 16 points in 124 contests at the game’s highest minor league level.

Evening Notes: Ceci, Hrkac, Kovalenko

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The Edmonton Oilers will have a market of teams interested in defenseman Cody Ceci, should they want to trade him away, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff on Bob Stauffer’s Oilers Now podcast. Seravalli added, “Right (shot) defensemen in that pay range are always in demand. Just go look at the pay range this summer and look at some of the money thrown around. Cody Ceci at that number is probably quite palatable.”

Ceci carries a $3.25MM cap hit through next season, before entering unrestricted free agency next summer, making him a manageable rental on a new team. But it’s hard to imagine Edmonton, who still carries $6.2MM in cap space, will be quick to move Ceci unless they need urgent relief. The 30-year-old defender held firm to his quant role in the middle of Edmonton’s lineup this year, posting five goals and 25 points through 79 regular season games. It was the second-most he’s scored int he last five seasons, though three points shy of his career-high. Nonetheless, Ceci provided the hard, two-line passing and general defensive stoutness to properly back Edmonton’s top lines, even if his performances with the Oilers have been far from exciting. On the open market, Ceci offers the presence of an 11-year vet with 88 career playoff games – just enough to warrant a cheap return.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Anaheim Ducks have hired former NHL forward Tony Hrkac as their Director of Professional Scouting, shares Derek Lee of The Hockey News. Hrkac has served as a pro scout with the Tampa Bay Lightning since the 2015-16 season, after serving in a variety of coaching roles in Wisconsin. He’ll now take the next step in his managerial career at an apt time, joining the team amid a Mighty Ducks rebrand having played in 140 games as a Mighty Duck during his own career.
  • Dynamic Colorado Avalanche prospect Nikolai Kovalenko has returned to the United States for training after a brief vacation, shares Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. That news should set Kovalenko up for a full run at the NHL lineup next season, after scoring three points in four AHL games and appearing in two Stanley Cup Playoff games at the end of the season. The 24-year-old became a highly acclaimed prospect with 54 points in 56 games during the 2022-23 KHL season – a performance he followed with 35 points in 42 games. He’ll now look to bring his dynamic scoring ability to the NHL, where fans should get a much clearer picture of his long-term upside.

Utah Exploring Extension Or Trade With Victor Söderström

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The Utah Hockey Club is reportedly exploring the possibility of either an extension or a trade of defenseman Victor Söderström, shares Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). Söderström is Utah’s only remaining restricted free agent after the team extended both Barrett Hayton and Egor Sokolov last week.

Söderström’s contract is a bit harder to work out. The 2019 11th-overall pick failed to earn a consistent NHL role on his entry-level deal. He’s instead muddled between the NHL and AHL lineups, with his playing time becoming somewhat of a spectacle for Coyotes fans. Söderström has spent plenty of time with the NHL roster since his debut in 2021, though routine healthy scratches have limited him to just 53 games since. He’s done little with the chances, netting just one goal – scored in his third career game – and 10 assists at the NHL level. He similarly struggled to score in the AHL early in his career, with just 50 points through his three seasons and 108 games in the minor leagues. Söderström started to buck that trend this year, though, playing through his first full season spent in one spot since 2019-20. He posted nine goals and 32 points in 62 games with the Tuscon Roadrunners this season – career-highs in every category.

It was a promising year for the 23-year-old defender, even if his stat line didn’t jump off the page. Still, fans got a strong glimpse of what Söderström offers at a top level. He showed a strong ability to champion transition up the ice, with heads-up passing and strong positioning, helped along by an improving ability to close down opponents as they enter the attacking zone. While not high-scoring, Söderström showed he could bring those positives on a nightly basis, underlined by added confidence in stepping into space in the offensive end.

Söderström showed glimpses of a former blue-chip prospect this season, though he still seems far off from vindicating his top-15 draft selection. There are reasons to hold onto hope, though, as he showed distinct improvement under a consistent role. Matching that at the NHL level could pay dividends – and Utah has an open spot on their second pairing that Söderström could push for. But he’ll face distinct competition from Michael Kesselring, Juuso Valimaki, and top prospect Maveric Lamoureux for the role – having already lost a fight for minutes with the former two last season.

That competition is enough to have Utah gauging that Söderström may garner on the open market. It’s hard to think many teams would be quick to pay up for a former top prospect yet to vindicate his draft capital – nor is Utah likely too eager to make a move that won’t favor them with a signing still a possibility. This has all of the makings of trade winds bound to drag on for a while, but with an attractive offer, a new team could land the talents of a former top pick with plenty of room to grow next season.

Hurricanes Sign Dominik Badinka To Entry-Level Contract

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed 2024 34th-overall selection Dominik Badinka to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will carry a league-minimum $775K salary at the NHL level, an $85K salary at the AHL level, and $282.15K in signing bonuses. Badinka becomes the third player from this year’s second round to earn his first NHL contract, joining Pittsburgh forward Tanner Howe and Washington defenseman Leon Muggli.

Badinka earned a near-first-round selection with a standout season in Sweden, where he fought his way into routine SHL ice time with the Malmo Redhawks on the back of 13 points in 17 U20 games. That production didn’t carry to the top flight, though, with Badinka posting just four points in 33 SHL games. Still, his aggressive edge and strong puck skills shined through despite the low scoring. He didn’t shy away from physicality, either, showing no fear engaging in puck battles with players 10 or 15 years his senior. He’s at his best with the puck on his stick, a knack for carrying the puck into the neutral zone and joining the rush. Badinka knows how to match the pace of a pro game – and did well at using quick passes and sharp skating to create space in the offensive end. But his aggressive positioning and naive fundamentals are both apparent drawbacks, and will no doubt be Badinka’s key areas of improvement as he prepares for North American pros.

Badinka is currently committed to joining Malmo for next season, surely hoping to take his first step forward in the SHL after planting his feet last year. But this entry-level contract could be enough to sway the young, feisty defender towards making a move to America before the end of the season. Badinka shared his eagerness to move to North Carolina with Chip Alexander of The News & Observer, saying he feels he can be NHL-ready within a year or two. He’ll become the next in a long string of Hurricanes defenders to jump to the pro level should that hold true, joining Scott Morrow and Ronan Seeley in the fight for NHL ice time.

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