Joonas Donskoi Announces His Retirement
Concussions have been a challenge throughout Joonas Donskoi‘s career to the point where he has decided to call it a career. The 31-year-old announced on his Instagram account that he is retiring, calling it the best decision for his well-being and future.
Donskoi was a fourth-round pick by Florida back in 2010 (99th overall) but ultimately didn’t sign with the Panthers. He wound up being a bit of a late bloomer playing professionally in his native Finland. It wasn’t until the 2013-14 campaign that he made an impact offensively and he followed that up a year later by notching 49 points in 58 regular season games with Karpat, collecting 22 more in 18 playoff contests, before ending with eight points in as many games at the Worlds.
That helped Donskoi earn an entry-level deal from San Jose in 2015 and he landed a regular spot in the lineup that fall. He had a strong rookie season too, picking up 11 goals and 25 assists in 76 games, a point total that wound up being one of his best. Donskoi also added a dozen points in 24 playoff games for the Sharks that season as they made it to the Stanley Cup Final. He spent four seasons with San Jose before signing a four-year, $15.6MM contract with Colorado in 2019.
Donskoi had two productive seasons with Colorado with campaigns of 16 and 17 goals, his two best years in the NHL on that front. He also was a capable secondary scorer in the playoffs for them, picking up 11 points in 19 contests.
That got him on the radar for Seattle in the Expansion Draft as the Kraken made Donskoi their selection from the Avs. Unfortunately, he struggled in 2021-22, scoring just twice in 75 games although he did pick up 20 assists at least. However, he then missed all of last season with a concussion which ultimately ended his playing days.
In the end, Donskoi wound up with 208 points in 474 games over seven NHL seasons. Considering he had to play his way into an entry-level deal at the age of 23 after going unsigned by the team that drafted him, that’s a pretty solid showing that unfortunately came to an earlier end than he certainly would have preferred.
PHR Originals: 8/21/23 – 8/27/23
With training camps on the horizon, many teams are enjoying their last few weeks of summer, resulting in a slowdown of activity league-wide. But that hasn’t resulted in things slowing down here as our writers have kept busy with a wide range of original pieces which we’ll run through here.
Our 2009 Redraft series continues. With the sixth pick, our readers assigned Nazem Kadri to the Coyotes over their original selection of Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Now, the Maple Leafs are on the clock with the seventh selection (voting is still open) and with Kadri off the board, they’ll be getting a new player here as well.
Speaking of the Coyotes, they’ve been a busy team this summer with the team opting to add some short-term veterans to their roster. I took a look at their offseason activity as well as Boston’s while Brennan did the same for Buffalo.
Each year, quite a few NHL players opt to try their hand at playing overseas or return there after spending some time at the top level. Josh Eriksson provided an overview of some of the notable former NHLers who will be plying their trade in the SHL in 2023-24.
At the moment, Mark Scheifele doesn’t appear likely to sign an extension in Winnipeg but that doesn’t mean he won’t sign an extension period. At this point, a team interested in acquiring the middleman would likely want an extension as part of the agreement. Ethan ran the numbers to provide an idea of how much of a raise the 30-year-old is about to get.
We saw several players land PTO agreements throughout the week while many other veterans are likely to get one in the coming weeks. Josh Cybulski assessed the markets for non-tendered winger Max Comtois and bought out winger Zack Kassian while Josh Eriksson looked into what teams might have a need for veteran netminder Brian Elliott.
Lastly, with camps coming up next month, there will be some teams with some tough decisions to make with their roster. Ethan examined several of those, previewing the defensive battles that will be ongoing for the Rangers and Canadiens while the Blue Jackets appear to have an intriguing battle on the horizon for the final few forward spots on their roster.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventh Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
4th Overall: Matt Duchene, Atlanta Thrashers (3)
5th Overall: Chris Kreider, Los Angeles Kings (19)
6th Overall: Nazem Kadri, Phoenix Coyotes (7)
Rather than have history repeat itself by selecting Oliver Ekman-Larsson with the sixth pick, PHR readers instead opted to give the Coyotes a center with nearly 30% of the votes cast coming in for Kadri.
It took some time for Kadri to find his footing in the NHL but a breakout performance in the lockout-shortened 2012-23 campaign saw him secure a full-time role. That year, he posted a 0.93 points per game average and it looked like Toronto had found a true impact center, a vacancy they had dealt with for several seasons by that time with the likes of Mikhail Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, and Matt Stajan playing big minutes in the previous seasons.
However, it took a while for Kadri to really take off as he wasn’t able to produce like a true top-line middleman with consistency. In fact, it wasn’t until Auston Matthews arrived in 2016-17 that Kadri was able to reach the 30-goal mark, a milestone he then reached in back-to-back years. Unfortunately for Toronto, discipline issues became too much of a concern and in the 2019 offseason, he was traded to Colorado with Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot as part of the package coming the other way. Barrie lasted one season in Toronto before signing with Edmonton while Kerfoot held a middle-six role for each of the last four years and signed with Arizona last month.
Meanwhile, with the Avs, Kadri started slow, recording just 30 goals in his first two seasons combined, spanning 107 games. But in 2021-22, he had a career year, exploding for 87 points; his previous career-high was only 61. He then followed that up with an impressive playoff performance, notching 15 points in 16 games while helping lead Colorado to the Stanley Cup.
That made Kadri one of the more sought-after players last summer and while it took a while for Calgary to create enough cap room to sign him, a seven-year, $49MM deal eventually got done. Year one didn’t go so well (as was the case for many Flames) as his production dipped to 56 points. That’s still the third-best single-season mark of his career but they were undoubtedly hoping for a bit more from him as Calgary ultimately missed the playoffs. With six years left on that contract, he should be a fixture in their lineup for a while.
While Ekman-Larsson was a franchise fixture in the desert for more than a decade, they spent a lot of that time also searching for a center and it certainly is interesting to wonder what might have been had Kadri been the pick for them.
In the meantime, we move on to Toronto with the seventh selection. Obviously, their original pick (Kadri) is off the board so they’ll be getting someone new here. Who should they take? Make your selection using the ballot below.
If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NHL Executive Committee Approves Senators Sale To Michael Andlauer
One more hurdle has been cleared as the sale of the Senators nears a formal conclusion. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Michael Andlauer met with the NHL’s Executive Committee and has been given the green light to finalize his purchase of the team for a reported $950MM. Andlauer’s bid was the winning one in a long process that concluded back in mid-June.
A source tells Garrioch that the transaction is likely to be completed in the next few days. From there, it will then go to a vote of the Board of Governors who must have a vote of two-thirds approval to formally ratify the transaction. At this point, there is little reason to think they won’t give the green light to the transaction.
Andlauer is well-known to the Board as he already is an alternate representative of the Canadiens as he presently owns a 10% share of the team. Garrioch notes that Andlauer is hoping to complete a sale of that chunk of the team to majority owner Geoff Molson (who sits on the Executive Committee) soon. However, if an agreement can’t be reached on that front, Andlauer’s portion would then be placed into a trust.
Andlauer won’t be buying the team outright as his bid has several partners. Those include Anna and Olivia Melnyk (who will retain a 10% stake), local businessman Jeff York (whose portion has more than 20 local investors), the Ottawa real estate-based Malhotra family, Toronto-based investment group Yorkville Asset Management, Paul and Michael Paletta of Burlington-based Alinea Group holdings, and OHL Oshawa owner Rocco Tullio.
Once the sale is made official, the Sens are expected to bring back long-time executive Cyril Leeder who is likely to replace Anthony LeBlanc who resigned as president of business operations last month. Meanwhile, there have been discussions for franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson to return to the franchise in some capacity.
While it still might be another couple of weeks before everything is made official (in terms of the transaction being completed and then ratified by the Board of Directors), it appears that this long sale process following the death of long-time owner Eugene Melnyk is about to come to a conclusion.
Summer Synopsis: Boston Bruins
Last season, things couldn’t have gone any better for Boston from October through the beginning of April. They were the top team in the NHL and not by a small margin. GM Don Sweeney made multiple moves to add at the trade deadline, cementing themselves as a heavy favorite for the Stanley Cup. However, they were ousted in the opening round, blowing a 3-1 series lead to Florida. Their additions last season came at a cost and as a result, their roster looks considerably different now than it did just a few months ago.
Draft
3-92: F Christopher Pelosi, Sioux Falls (USHL)
4-124: F Beckett Hendrickson, USA U-18 (NTDP)
6-188: F Ryan Walsh, Cedar Rapids (USHL)
7-214: F Casper Nassen, Vasteras (Sweden U20)
7-220: D Kristian Kostadinski, Frolunda (Sweden U20)
Not surprisingly, with the Bruins being a buyer for several years in a row, they didn’t have a lot to work with here. Their first-round pick was traded for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway while their second-round selection belonged to Anaheim as part of the Hampus Lindholm acquisition, their big move the year before. (And if you’re looking ahead a year, the cupboard is even thinner as Boston has already moved their top three picks plus their seventh-rounder.)
Pelosi and Hendrickson (son of former NHLer Darby Hendrickson) are set to be teammates with Sioux Falls of the USHL this season before beginning their college careers in 2024-25. Walsh, meanwhile, is joining Cornell in 2023-24 after finishing second in USHL scoring last season. All of these picks have at least four years before they need to sign so this is a draft class that won’t be making an impact anytime soon.
Trade Acquisitions
D Ian Mitchell (from Chicago)
D Alec Regula (from Chicago)
D Reilly Walsh (from New Jersey)
Mitchell showed some promise offensively at the college level, making him one of Chicago’s better prospects just a few years ago. However, while he has been productive in the minors (with 42 points in 67 games over three seasons), that hasn’t translated to the NHL where he has just four goals and a dozen assists in 82 games. The 24-year-old did get into 35 games with the Blackhawks last season but had been passed over by a few players on their depth chart, making him expendable. Now waiver-eligible for the first time, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it through waivers if Boston tries to send him down to AHL Providence. Accordingly, he could stick in a depth role in training camp.
Regula and Walsh, meanwhile, will also be battling to try to land a spot toward the back of Boston’s blueline but don’t have as much pedigree or NHL experience as Mitchell. Pending waivers, both will likely be with Providence this season. All three players agreed to one-year deals worth the NHL minimum in July.
Key UFA Signings
F Jesper Boqvist (one year, $775K)
F Patrick Brown (two years, $1.6MM)
F Alex Chiasson (PTO)
F John Farinacci (two years, $1.82MM)*
F Morgan Geekie (two years, $4MM)
F Milan Lucic (one year, $1MM plus $500K in bonuses)
D Kevin Shattenkirk (one year, $1.05MM)
F James van Riemsdyk (one year, $1MM)
*-denotes two-way contract
Spreading the wealth was the name of the game for the Bruins who had several spots to fill and not a lot of money to spend. Their biggest splash up front was Geekie, a player who was somewhat surprisingly non-tendered by Seattle, likely to avoid the risk of an arbitration award higher than they wanted to pay. The 25-year-old has been a producer in junior and in the minors and while that hasn’t translated to the NHL level just yet, he should have a good opportunity to play a bigger role in Boston which should give him a chance to be more of an impactful player.
The other addition they’re likely counting on for consistent production is van Riemsdyk. The 34-year-old is coming off a down year in Philadelphia but has either reached the 20-goal mark or had a goal-per-game pace at that level in every other season since his rookie campaign back in 2009-10. While he has slowed down, this was quite a reasonable pickup as he looks for a bounce-back showing.
Most of their other additions are of the depth variety. Lucic isn’t close to the player he was in his prime with Boston but should play a regular role on the fourth line. Brown, Boqvist, and Chiasson (if he earns a deal) are likely to battle for spots on that trio as well or to be the reserve forward. Farinacci, meanwhile, could also get into the mix after signing earlier this month as part of the August 15 free agent group but may be better off starting his pro career in the minors.
As for Shattenkirk, the 34-year-old has been a contributor offensively for most of his career and should be able to do so here. He’s a top-four defender who’s being paid like a depth one, making the veteran one of the better bargain additions of the summer. He played with Lindholm in Anaheim and the two could see time together this season as well.
Key RFA Re-Signings
F Trent Frederic (two years, $4.6MM)
G Jeremy Swayman (one year, $3.475MM)
Frederic has developed slowly but steadily since being a first-round pick (29th overall) back in 2016 and had a breakout performance last season, notching 17 goals and 14 assists in 79 games despite averaging less than 12 minutes a night. With a long list of departures, Frederic is likely to land a higher spot on the depth chart and could even see time down the middle, his natural position.
Swayman, meanwhile, followed up an All-Rookie performance in 2021-22 with an even better showing last year, albeit in fewer games with Linus Ullmark also having a career year between the pipes. With just 88 NHL appearances under his belt during the regular season, a long-term deal wasn’t feasible and this one ultimately wound up in the hands of an arbitrator.
Key Departures
F Patrice Bergeron (retirement)
F Tyler Bertuzzi (Toronto, one year, $5.5MM)
D Connor Clifton (Buffalo, three years, $10MM)
F Nick Foligno (trade with Chicago)
F Taylor Hall (trade with Chicago)
F Garnet Hathaway (Philadelphia, two years, $4.75MM)
F David Krejci (retirement)
F Tomas Nosek (New Jersey, one year, $1MM)
D Dmitry Orlov (Carolina, two years, $15.5MM)
D Mike Reilly (buyout, signed with Florida, one year, $1MM)
The departures of Bergeron and Krejci shouldn’t come as much surprise. Bergeron pondered hanging up his skates the year before while Krejci (whose retirement only covers the NHL, not international play) had already left once before coming back last season. That said, the expectation of their departures doesn’t make it any easier to stomach for the Bruins. Bergeron was a premier two-way center and even though his production had dipped a bit, he was still a catalyst for their top line. Krejci, meanwhile, was the perfect fit as a second option while being someone that could move up when Bergeron was injured. Boston will try to fill their departures internally for now with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle but with all due respect to those capable veterans, that’s a considerable step back.
Hall (and the rights to Foligno) were moved to Chicago in a move that amounted to a straight salary dump that was necessarily to open up enough cap space to fill out their roster. His $6MM went to several of the players they inked on the first day of free agency. Hall wasn’t a top-line player for most of his tenure with Boston but was a capable secondary scorer. The same can be said for Bertuzzi, whose time with the Bruins was much shorter. A deadline acquisition, the 28-year-old only managed four goals after being acquired but was one of their top playoff performers, collecting five goals and five helpers in their loss to Florida. Bertuzzi wanted a long-term deal this summer but wasn’t able to land it, resulting in him opting for a one-year deal in Toronto.
Nosek’s departure isn’t as significant as Bergeron and Krejci’s but the 30-year-old was a capable depth center. He won over 56% of his faceoffs over his two seasons with the Bruins while playing a prominent role on their penalty kill. Hathaway, meanwhile, didn’t light up the scoresheet after being acquired but gave Boston extra physicality. His role is likely to be filled by Lucic next season.
On the back end, the departure of Orlov comes as no surprise either as there was no way that Boston could realistically find a way to afford to keep him. He picked up 17 points in 21 games while logging 22 minutes a night and while they’ll be hoping that Shattenkirk can cover some of the lost production, Orlov’s all-around impact will be harder to replace. As for Reilly, he was buried in the minors for the bulk of last season. They could have gone that way again this year but the buyout only costs them $333K this coming season which means they saved enough to fill close to two roster spots by making that move. In 2024-25, however, the buyout cost increases by $1MM.
Salary Cap Outlook
It wasn’t easy and the exodus of talent certainly was tough to watch from a Boston perspective but the team is now cap-compliant with CapFriendly projecting them having around $429K in cap room as things stand. That number is bogged down by $4.5MM in bonus overage penalties incurred from the contracts for Bergeron and Krejci last year, meaning that they’re carrying a bigger cap charge when they’re not playing compared to when they were in the lineup last year. That was a well-known outcome when the Bruins structured those deals they way they did a year ago; it’s not as if that penalty came as a surprise to them.
Key Questions
Can They Upgrade Down The Middle? Sweeney has made it known that they’d like to find a way to upgrade at center. With who they’ve lost, that goal makes plenty of sense. However, they’re in a spot where they basically have to match money while they lack the draft pick and prospect capital needed to help put their offers over the top. That makes a top-six upgrade difficult but if they’re open to making a smaller-scale one to improve their depth, that option might be a bit more palatable (and affordable).
What’s Next For DeBrusk? Winger Jake DeBrusk is now extension-eligible and you can be sure that his camp will be pointing to the eight-year, $52MM extension that Tampa Bay just gave Brandon Hagel as a starting point for discussions. Is that a price point that Boston is willing to go to in order to keep the 26-year-old? It’s not as if his tenure with the team has been smooth throughout with a long-lasting trade request only being rescinded a couple of years ago. And if it’s not a price tag they’re willing to pay, could they justify trying to move him to help match money to get an impact center? If they want to make a move for a center sooner than later, it would behoove them to have an idea of what DeBrusk is looking for extension-wise soon if they haven’t already started discussions.
What Will The Goalies Do For An Encore? The combination of Ullmark and Swayman was nothing short of dominant last season. Ullmark led the league in wins, save percentage, and goals-against average, becoming only the third goalie in the last three decades to lead all three categories; the win mark is particularly impressive considering he only played in 49 games. Swayman, meanwhile, was fourth in the NHL in SV% and GAA. With a weaker roster now in front of them, how much will their performance be affected? If the two can play at even a close rate to 2022-23, the Bruins could still be quite dangerous.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Atlantic Notes: Nylander, Watson, Chiasson
While the Maple Leafs were able to get an extension done with Auston Matthews earlier this week, it doesn’t appear as if much progress has been made on a new deal with pending UFA William Nylander. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun relays that the two sides are at least $1MM apart per year on a new agreement. Toronto is hoping to sign the 27-year-old around the $9MM mark while his camp is seeking something starting with a ten. Nylander is coming off a career year that saw him put up 87 points in 82 games, his second straight campaign of at least 80 points. If Nylander doesn’t sign now and goes and has another 80-point showing, he should be well-positioned to have someone meet his asking price on the open market next summer.
More from the Atlantic:
- Earlier this week, veteran winger Austin Watson agreed to a tryout deal with Tampa Bay but it was a bit surprising that it came to that point. Senators play-by-play voice Dean Brown recently reported (Twitter link) that his former team in Ottawa offered him a one-year contract earlier in free agency but that the 31-year-old was hoping to land a three-year agreement. Clearly, that didn’t come to fruition and resulted in very limited interest on the open market. That said, Watson should have a good chance to earn a spot with the Lightning with several key checkers leaving the organization this summer. However, with their salary cap situation, his deal, should he land one, is almost certain to be at or close to the minimum salary of $775K.
- Winger Alex Chiasson told Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe that he received a “fair number” of PTO offers around the NHL this summer. In the end, he chose the Bruins based on his perceiving an opportunity to land a regular roster spot along with a desire to play for a contender. This will be Chiasson’s fifth training camp on a PTO. He landed an NHL deal with the first three while the fourth (with Arizona last season) was unsuccessful.
Pacific Notes: Broberg, Burakovsky, Brown
With Philip Broberg being fourth on the left side of Edmonton’s depth chart and the team clearly being in win-now mode, Allan Mitchell of The Athletic wonders (subscription link) if the blueliner could be best utilized as a trade asset this season. The 22-year-old spent the bulk of last season with the Oilers, getting into 46 games but was limited to just a goal and seven assists while logging only 12:36 per night. That ATOI dipped to just 6:53 per contest in the playoffs. Broberg, a 2019 first-round pick (8th overall), has had some offensive success in the minors (27 points in 38 games with AHL Bakersfield) and should be able to bring back a considerable asset should GM Ken Holland decide to move him in the coming months if he can’t lock down a bigger role in the lineup.
Elsewhere out in the Pacific:
- Kraken winger Andre Burakovsky has resumed skating as he works his way back from a torn groin muscle he sustained back in February, notes Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The hope is that the 28-year-old will be fully recovered for training camp next month. Burakovsky led Seattle in scoring at the time of his injury with 39 points in 49 games and was expected to be back just after the trade deadline which played a role in the team opting to not make an addition up front. However, he wound up suffering a setback and underwent surgery which ended his season.
- The Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario recently announced the hiring of Adam Brown as their goaltending development coach. The 31-year-old had worked with Los Angeles in a similar role for the past two seasons while also doing some scouting. After working with their goalies throughout the organization, Brown will now work in a more traditional coaching role with the Reign and will be tasked with aiding newcomer Erik Portillo whose rights were acquired back in March.
Sharks Loan Filip Bystedt Back To Swedish League
The Sharks have decided that the time isn’t right for prospect Filip Bystedt to make his North American debut. Instead, CapFriendly recently reported (Twitter link) that San Jose has loaned the center back to SHL Linköping for the upcoming season.
The 19-year-old was the 27th pick back in 2022 after a strong showing in Sweden’s junior level where he recorded 16 goals and 33 assists in 40 regular season games while adding ten points in eight playoff contests. He also got into 15 games with Linköping at the top level in his draft year and while he didn’t produce much (one goal and one assist), he showed enough offensive promise at the junior level to warrant a first-round selection.
Last season, Bystedt was a regular at the SHL level, suiting up in 45 of their 52 games. While he didn’t light it up like he did in junior, he still finished seventh on the team in scoring, tallying seven goals with 13 helpers while logging nearly 13 minutes a night. Once the regular season ended, Bystedt was then sent down to the junior level where he picked up six points in four games to end his year on a high note. Meanwhile, he was quite productive at the World Juniors, finishing tied for sixth in tournament scoring with four goals and six assists in seven games although they came up short in the medal round, finishing fourth. That helped earn him his entry-level deal back in June.
While still junior-eligible, Bystedt was eligible to go to the AHL this coming season since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL. However, it appears that San Jose feels he’d be best served with another year in Sweden’s top division over suiting up with AHL Barracuda. This means that his contract will slide for the 2023-24 campaign and will still have three years remaining on it at this point next summer.
Summer Synopsis: Arizona Coyotes
Last season, Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong suggested that he felt his team was still a few years away from truly getting to a point of contention. However, Arizona made several moves this summer to improve their team in the short term. While it probably won’t be enough to get them into the playoff picture, these moves shouldn’t have them in the discussion for 32nd in the NHL either.
Draft
1-6: D Dmitri Simashev, Yaroslavl (MHL)
1-12: F Daniil But, Yaroslavl (MHL)
2-38: G Michael Hrabal, Omaha (USHL)
3-70: F Jonathan Castagna, St. Andrew’s (CAHS)
3-72: F Noel Nordh, Brynas (Sweden U20)
3-81: F Tanner Ludtke, Lincoln (USHL)
3-88: F Vadim Moroz, Minsk (KHL)
4-102: D Terrell Goldsmith, Prince Albert (WHL)
5-134: G Melker Thelin, Bjorkloven (Sweden U20)
5-160: D Justin Kipkie, Victoria (WHL)
6-162: F Samu Bau, Ilves (Liiga)
6-166: G Carsen Musser, USA U-18 (NTDP)
The Coyotes made a pair of selections that many would qualify as perceived reaches with their first two selections. Simashev is a tall, strong-skating blueliner who hasn’t really had much of a chance to show his offensive upside just yet. Arizona is hoping that he’ll become a top-half option in time but they’ll have to wait at least two years to bring him over. But, meanwhile, was one of the tallest forwards in the draft and showed a nice scoring touch at the MHL level in Russia. He isn’t a true power forward, however, as he isn’t particularly physical overseas. Nonetheless, there’s a profile there that makes him an intriguing top-six option down the road but one that went 10-15 spots earlier than most rankings had him.
On the flip side, their lone second-round selection is someone who slid a bit more than most expected. Hrabal, one of the tallest goalies in the draft, was viewed as a possible first-round selection but in the end, he wasn’t even the first netminder off the board. Hrabal did relatively well in his first season in North America in the USHL and is going the college route and thus is several years away from being a possible option for the Coyotes.
Trade Acquisitions
D Sean Durzi (from Los Angeles)
Durzi has shown considerable promise offensively in his first two NHL seasons and was second on the Kings in points by a blueliner last season. However, their cap situation and strong right-side depth made him the odd man out. Durzi goes from being in a more limited role with Los Angeles to one where he should play a much bigger role. Considering he’s heading into the final year of his bridge deal and has arbitration eligibility for the first time next summer, the timing of this move could work out quite well for the 24-year-old.
Key UFA Signings
F Nick Bjugstad (two years, $2.1MM)
D Travis Dermott (one year, $800K)*
D Matt Dumba (one year, $3.9MM)
F Alexander Kerfoot (two years, $7MM)
D Troy Stecher (one year, $1.1MM)
F Jason Zucker (one year, $5.3MM)
*-denotes two-way contract
Zucker’s addition raised some eyebrows as they weren’t expected to be shopping in the higher end of the UFA pool up front. However, it’s worth noting that several players didn’t get the type of interest they were hoping for and the 31-year-old wasted little time pivoting toward a pillow contract instead. Zucker should be able to land a top-six role which could give him a shot at another 25-goal campaign. In a perfect world for him, another performance like last year could boost his value in what he (like many others) hopes will be a more favorable market next summer. Meanwhile, in a perfect world for the Coyotes, Zucker becomes one of the more prominent rental players to move closer to the trade deadline.
Kerfoot feels like a transition player for the Coyotes. When they signed him, they likely eyed him on the second line (before Logan Cooley had a change of heart and decided to turn pro). Now, he might be a better fit on the third line. Either way, he’s the type of player that can fill a few different roles in a lineup while allowing prospects more time to develop. Bjugstad returns after being flipped at the deadline. He went to the Coyotes last summer to rebuild his value and did just that, scoring more goals last season than he did in the previous three combined. He should give them a bit more scoring punch in their bottom six compared to the group that finished up the year. Dermott missed most of last season due to continuing concussion symptoms but with 279 career NHL appearances under his belt, he could push for a full-time spot on the roster.
Dumba is another player who simply didn’t have as strong of a market as he hoped for. Unlike Zucker who took his one-year deal on the first day of free agency, Dumba opted to wait it out but still had to take a one-year pact himself. After a tough year with Minnesota, the 29-year-old should get plenty of opportunities to play a bigger role, see some power play time, and try to improve his value for next summer. Meanwhile, the Coyotes likely have another strong trade deadline asset. Stecher also returns after being flipped at the deadline and is likely to reprise his role on the third pairing.
Key RFA Re-Signings
F Michael Carcone (two years, $1.55MM)
G Connor Ingram (three years, $5.85MM)
F Jack McBain (two years, $3.2MM)
McBain (who took $1 less than $1.6MM for his cap hit) is coming off his first full NHL campaign. He brought plenty of physicality to the table and showed some offensive promise with 26 points but with such a limited track record, a bridge deal was the only route they could realistically take. Carcone has spent most of his career in the minors but made an impression at the Worlds back in May. In doing so, he gave himself enough leverage to land a one-way deal which should give him a legitimate opportunity to make Arizona’s roster in training camp.
Ingram got off to a rough start, posting a save percentage of just .866 in his first eight appearances. However, he played at a .921 mark the rest of the way (spanning 19 games), bolstering his case heading into arbitration eligibility. He’s set to remain Karel Vejmelka’s backup for the upcoming season and could push for more playing time if he starts out the way he finished last year.
Key Departures
F Christian Fischer (Detroit, one year, $1.125MM)
F Zack Kassian (buyout, unsigned UFA)
D Connor Mackey (NY Rangers, one year, $775K)*
D Patrik Nemeth (buyout, Bern, NLA)
F Brett Ritchie (unsigned UFA)
Kassian’s primary value to Arizona came on the trade front when they moved up three spots in the first round in 2022 while also picking up a pair of other picks for assuming the rest of his contract. The 32-year-old struggled mightily last season, however, managing just two goals without a single assist in 51 games, resulting in Arizona opting to pay him to go away. Fischer was considerably more effective with 27 points but the Coyotes didn’t want to run the risk of an arbitration award coming in higher than they were willing to pay. With the added depth up front, they should be well-positioned to cover these two departures. Ritchie came over at the trade deadline from Calgary (in a swap for his brother, no less) and held his own with five points in 16 games. He’s a candidate to land a PTO in the coming days.
Like Kassian, Nemeth’s main value for the Coyotes came in the draft picks (a pair of second-rounders) that came with him to take on the two remaining years of his contract. The 31-year-old held down a regular spot on the third pairing but wasn’t going to be part of their future plans, resulting in the buyout. As for Mackey, he had a very limited role with Calgary for the bulk of last season but averaged nearly 16 minutes a night after being acquired at the deadline but Arizona opted to go in another direction rounding out their back end for the upcoming season.
Salary Cap Outlook
Even with more than $21MM of injured veterans on the roster, the Coyotes find themselves nearly $4MM under the cap ceiling, per CapFriendly. That gives them ample room to free up in-season space while if they get hit with a rash of injuries, any of Shea Weber, Bryan Little, or Jakub Voracek can be placed onto LTIR so the cap will not be a problem for them at all in 2023-24.
Key Questions
What Will Cooley’s Impact Be? Cooley’s decision to opt to turn pro gives Arizona a player who could push for big minutes relatively quickly. As one of the key cogs of their rebuild, he should find himself with a prominent role right away. His presence as a top rookie is likely to be overshadowed by another freshman in his division (who will be playing for Chicago) but a strong showing could help to provide some light at what has already been a long rebuild for Arizona.
Notably, Cooley is also worth keeping an eye on to see how his presence affects Barrett Hayton’s progress. The 2018 fifth-overall pick had somewhat of a breakout year last season while working his way onto the top line in the process. If Cooley is able to play his way up the depth chart quickly, will Hayton’s numbers dip? It’s a contract year for the 23-year-old so Cooley’s presence and performance could make an impact in those discussions for Hayton.
Can Ingram Secure A Bigger Role? Which version of Ingram will the Coyotes get this season? He certainly finished up on a strong note which helped him land nearly $6MM guaranteed despite having just 30 career regular season games under his belt. Vejmelka has done a nice job in his two seasons in the desert but Ingram outperformed him in the second half of last season. If Ingram secures a bigger share of the workload, it’s possible that Vejmelka – who has been in trade speculation before – could become a more plausible candidate to move.
Is Schmaltz Next? In recent seasons, there has been no shortage of veterans moving out of Arizona. One who hasn’t moved yet is Nick Schmaltz. He is coming off two productive seasons of 59 and 58 points, each in 63 games while moving primarily to the wing after spending a lot of time down the middle. However, his heavily backloaded contract starts to loom large as he’s owed $24.45MM over the final three years of his deal. If the Coyotes are still a few years away from contention, Schmaltz might not be part of their longer-term plans. If that’s the case, it stands to reason that Arizona might look to move him at some point to save some money while landing some strong younger assets as well. It might not be the case early but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Schmaltz in trade speculation as the season progresses.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Seattle Loans Niklas Kokko To Finnish League
While the Kraken signed prospect goaltender Niklas Kokko to his entry-level deal back in May, he won’t be making his North American debut right away. Instead, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that Seattle has loaned him back to Karpat in Finland for the upcoming season.
The 19-year-old was a second-round pick by the Kraken back in 2022 (58th overall) after a strong showing with Karpat’s Under-20 team. Last season, he moved up, splitting the year between Finland’s top two professional divisions, getting into nine appearances in the top-level Liiga and 14 more in the second-tier Mestis, posting save percentages of .901 and .903 respectively at the two levels.
While Kokko is eligible to play in the AHL at 19 since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, he likely wouldn’t have received much playing time with Coachella Valley. With Seattle bringing back Joey Daccord, either he or Chris Driedger will be the odd one out in training camp behind Philipp Grubauer with the loser of that battle ticketed for the Firebirds pending waivers. Meanwhile, Ales Stezka is expected to play in the AHL this coming season after spending 2022-23 in his native Czechia.
That would have made Kokko the third-string option in the minors and faced between the options of giving him limited playing time in the AHL, regular minutes in the ECHL, or loaning him to stay at home, they’ve made what seems like the logical choice. His contract, which officially begins this season, will instead slide a year and still have three years remaining on it heading into 2024-25.