East Notes: Bruins, Blue Jackets, Hirvonen
The Bruins are hopeful that they’ll be able to avoid arbitration with their three free agents who filed earlier this week, GM Don Sweeney told reporters (video link). Goaltender Jeremy Swayman highlights that group as his reward will ultimately determine if they need to make another cost-clearing move; recent comparable signings could push his award past the $4MM mark in a hearing. Winger Trent Frederic will be in for a nice raise after putting up a career-best 31 points in 79 games and could double his previous $1.05MM AAV on his next deal. Meanwhile, blueliner Ian Mitchell is the other filer but he isn’t likely to get much more than his $874K qualifying offer; it wouldn’t be shocking to see them settle for a lower NHL price tag in exchange for a pricier AHL salary. Boston has just shy of $7MM in cap space at the moment, per CapFriendly, and it’s possible that it could cost more than that to sign these three.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Blue Jackets are still looking to add a veteran goaltender this summer, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). With Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov in place as the tandem in Columbus, they’re instead looking for a third-stringer with some NHL experience that can split time in the minors with Jet Greaves but also be called upon if one of their top two get injured. There are a handful of players in free agency that can fill that role while they could also look to pick one up in a swap if they try to make a move from their potential forward surplus.
- Maple Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen suffered a concussion earlier today in a scrimmage game at Toronto’s development camp, notes David Alter of Sports Illustrated. Assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser indicated that the 21-year-old will need some time to recover. Hirvonen was a second-round pick by Toronto back in 2020 (59th overall) and spent last season on loan to HIFK in Finland where he had 28 points in 57 games. He’s expected to play in North America this upcoming season with the AHL Marlies.
Kings Re-Sign Akil Thomas
The Kings have signed their final remaining restricted free agent, announcing they’ve inked forward Akil Thomas to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay the NHL minimum of $775K at the NHL level.
The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by Los Angeles back in 2018 (51st overall) and was a prolific point producer at the OHL level, recording 186 points in just 112 games in his two post-draft seasons. That helped Thomas earn an entry-level deal back in 2019, one that expired at the end of last month.
However, Thomas spent the entirety of that entry-level pact in the minors with AHL Ontario. He got off to a nice start last season with the Reign, picking up five goals and three assists in 13 games. However, in mid-November, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, undergoing surgery soon thereafter. It’s the second time Thomas has had shoulder trouble; he had double-shoulder surgery back in 2021.
In his career, Thomas has just 93 professional games under his belt with Ontario where he has done relatively well, totaling 24 goals and 23 assists. He will be waiver-eligible in the fall so he’ll need to pass through unclaimed if he’s to return to the Reign. But with a little over a year’s worth of cumulative professional experience and coming off another shoulder surgery, it seems like there’s a good chance he’ll be able to do so successfully and will try to show that he’s fully recovered in the fall with Ontario, trying to earn his first NHL recall from there.
Sabres Notes: Free Agency, Wahlberg, Amerks
While Buffalo was active on the opening day of free agency, their NHL signings were on the back end with the pickups of Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton. However, GM Kevyn Adams told reporters including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that they were also looking to make an addition up front and even got close to one before it fell through. With Jack Quinn tearing his Achilles tendon in offseason training which will keep him out for a couple of months in-season at least, there’s now an open spot on the wing that they could have been looking to fill on a short-term deal. With that in mind, the Sabres are a team to keep an eye out on as the UFA market slows down; perhaps a bargain option will present itself later in the summer. Alternatively, Quinn’s injury could also put a possible Victor Olofsson swap on hold.
More from Buffalo:
- Last month, the Sabres selected center Anton Wahlberg with the 39th selection in the draft. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News relays that Buffalo tried to trade for a second first-round pick without success and then tried to trade up in the second round (also without success) to secure Wahlberg, who was clearly rated much higher on their list. Wahlberg was close to a point-per-game player in Sweden’s junior level last season and is poised to have a full-time spot with Malmo of the SHL in 2023-24.
- Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester brought back three veterans yesterday, announcing the re-signings of forwards Mason Jobst and Brendan Warren along with goaltender Michael Houser on minor-league deals. Jobst had a career-best 38 points in 63 games for the Amerks last season while Warren chipped in with seven in 43 contests before putting up five in seven playoff appearances. As for Houser, he had a 2.80 GAA with a .906 SV% in 21 appearances while having his contract converted to an NHL one for the third year in a row back in February.
KHL Registers Contract For Ivan Fedotov
Last summer, the Flyers thought they were getting top prospect Ivan Fedotov to play for them, inking him to a one-year deal. Instead, he wound up spending the season fulfilling his military obligations and did not suit up in a game. That permitted Philadelphia to toll the netminder’s contract, rolling it over to next season. However, in the meantime, Fedotov agreed to terms on a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow a while back on a deal beginning in 2023-24, hoping to stay overseas.
Earlier this week, Sport-Express in Russia reached out to the KHL for more information and they indicated that they asked the NHL to get clarification on Fedotov’s status. At that time, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that it is their opinion that Fedotov has a valid contract with the Flyers for the upcoming season. The NHL and KHL have previously operated with a Memorandum of Understanding between the two leagues, meaning one league can’t poach a signed player away from the other. The NHL suspended that agreement last year. Meanwhile, the KHL announced today that they disagree with the NHL’s assertion and have registered the contract for Fedotov with CSKA Moscow.
For the first time now, both leagues believe they have a legitimately-registered contract with Fedotov for the upcoming season, meaning they’re entering some uncharted territory when it comes to determining who is correct. The KHL’s announcement indicates that Fedotov’s clearly-stated preference is to remain in Russia.
The 26-year-old was drafted by the Flyers in the seventh round back in 2015 (188th overall) and has emerged as one of the top goalies in the KHL while putting up a stellar 1.61 GAA with a .943 SV% in the 2022 Olympics. Last summer, the plan was for him to serve as the backup to Carter Hart and when that option fell through, they turned to internal options Felix Sandstrom and Samuel Ersson.
Now, veteran Cal Petersen is also in the mix after the team took on his contract in a pre-draft three-way trade involving Los Angeles and Columbus. However, with two years and $10MM left on his contract, it’s safe to say that he would pass through waivers successfully next season if they needed to open up a roster spot for Fedotov should the NHL and Flyers prove successful in any hypothetical hearing to determine his fate and get him to North America for 2023-24.
Notably, Fedotov is only one year away from reaching NHL unrestricted free agency so if his long-term intention is to remain in Russia, if the NHL is able to enforce his contract with them, he could simply play out the season in North America and then head back to the KHL for 2024-25 and beyond. Alternatively, Fedotov’s camp may ask Philadelphia to simply do a mutual termination of his contract although doing so would mean that the Flyers would relinquish his NHL rights immediately.
The KHL’s decision today to register Fedotov’s contract is an important next step in the process of determining where the netminder will play next season. But with relations between the two leagues not at their best at the moment, it’d be surprising if this announcement was the end of the discussion as it relates to where Fedotov plays in 2023-24.
Prospect Notes: Carlsson, Clara, Wild
The Ducks drafted center Leo Carlsson with the second-overall pick in the draft last month and he is widely considered to be one of the most NHL-ready prospects of this draft class. However, Carlsson’s agent Matt Keator told Jim Alexander of The Press-Enterprise that there is no rush for him to make a decision on where the youngster will play in 2023-24. Carlsson is under contract for two more years with Orebro of the SHL but as Carlsson is a first-round pick and Sweden has a transfer agreement with the NHL, a contract with Anaheim can supersede that. Carlsson had 25 points in 44 games last season in Sweden’s top division and a decision on where he plays next season will be jointly made between him and the team.
Other prospect news from around the hockey world:
- There were a total of a dozen NHL-drafted players in the recently-completed CHL Import Draft. One name that wasn’t on that list was Ducks goaltender Damian Clara. Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register notes that several CHL squads expressed an interest in bringing over the 18-year-old Italian but that the netminder remained committed to playing on loan in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan next season with Brynas. He has two years remaining on his deal over there but if things don’t go as planned for him next season, Clara would be eligible for selection in the Import Draft next summer as well.
- Wild prospects Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren both intend to play in North America in 2024-25, relays Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link). The pair were first-round picks back in 2022, going 19th and 22nd overall, respectively, and are two of Minnesota’s top prospects. Both are under contracts with their club teams (Metallurg Magnitogorsk for Yurov and Farjestad for Ohgren) next season but the plan is for Yurov to sign once that contract expires while Ohgren, already signed, will have his deal slide once more. The Wild will need an influx of young, cost-controllable talent and these two could push to make the jump to the NHL right away once they sign.
Snapshots: Pettersson, Blackhawks, Draper, Rangers
In an appearance on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (video link), J.P. Barry, the agent for center Elias Pettersson, indicated that he doesn’t expect to have any discussions about a possible contract extension for his client until the end of the summer. It’s not a matter of early discussions not going well but rather a decision to just take a break for the summer and reassess closer to training camp. The 24-year-old is eligible to put pen to paper on a new deal now and is certainly coming off a great showing in 2022-23, notching 39 goals and 63 assists (both career highs) while finishing tenth in league scoring. The Canucks owe him a qualifying offer of $8.82MM next summer and his performance last year coupled with an anticipated jump in the salary cap could have his camp looking to surpass $10MM on his next agreement. That’s a deal that is going to take some time to put together.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Speaking with reporters today including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson indicated he feels that the bulk of the heavy lifting this summer is done although they will need to finalize a deal with RFA Philipp Kurashev who filed for arbitration today. Chicago has been active this summer, adding veterans Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, and Ryan Donato up front to augment an offense that has also added top pick Connor Bedard (who also needs to sign his entry-level deal). They still have ample cap space so if the opportunity presents itself to utilize it over the coming weeks, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Blackhawks make another move at some point.
- After spending the last four seasons as Detroit’s Director of Amateur Scouting, the team announced that Kris Draper has been named as the Red Wings’ new Assistant GM; Draper will retain his old position as well. As a player, Draper spent 17 seasons with the Red Wings as a key checking center, helping them win four Stanley Cup titles. He retired in 2011 and immediately joined Detroit’s front office, working his way up from Special Assistant to the GM.
- The Rangers have a new affiliate team as the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones announced that they have affiliated with the organization. Previously, the Cyclones had been with Buffalo for the past six seasons while New York had been with Jacksonville since 2021.
Patric Hornqvist Announces His Retirement
It’s a move that has been widely expected and hinted at but long-time NHL winger Patric Hornqvist made it official today, telling Aftonbladet’s Per Bjurman that he has retired at the age of 36.
Hornqvist spent last season with Florida, getting into 22 games before being shut down in early December with another concussion although he was skating with the team through their playoff run. Fortunately, this announcement isn’t related to lingering issues from that injury as the veteran confirmed that he’s feeling fine now.
He spent 15 seasons in the NHL between Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Florida and is certainly one of the most successful late-round picks in recent memory as he was picked with the final selection in 2005, going 230th overall. Hornqvist hangs up his skates with the 14th-most games played from that draft class while sitting ninth in scoring with 543 points. His 264 goals are tied for the tenth-most by a Sweden-born player.
Hornqvist also won a pair of Stanley Cup titles with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 plus a World Championship gold medal in 2018. He was Florida Bill Zito’s first acquisition after Zito took over as general manager, wanting to give the Panthers some grit and an improved net-front presence.
Florida is hoping that Hornqvist will remain in the organization in some capacity, something Zito alluded to back at the draft. For the time being, nothing is set in place at this time although Hornqvist acknowledged there was mutual interest in making something happen. However, for the time being, at least, he has moved his family back to Sweden so if he is to remain with the Panthers organization, it’s likely to be in a scouting or part-time development role in the short term.
Kraken Sign Tucker Robertson To Entry-Level Deal
The Kraken have agreed to terms with one of their prospects as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Tucker Robertson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal carries a cap hit of $870K and an AAV of $950K and breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $80K AHL salary
2024-25: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $80K AHL salary
2025-26: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
The 20-year-old was a fourth-round selection by Seattle back in 2022 (123rd overall) after going undrafted in his first year of eligibility. That came on the hands of an impressive 2021-22 campaign. After having a limited role in his rookie season, Robertson broke out with 41 goals and 40 assists that year, cracking the top 20 in scoring.
That was followed up by an even better showing in 2022-23 as Robertson picked up 36 goals and 54 assists in 68 games, good for a tie for 11th in league scoring. He then finished second on the Petes in scoring in the playoffs, helping lead them to a league title and a spot in the Memorial Cup.
Robertson technically could return to the OHL next season for his overage year but after the two years he just had, that seems extremely unlikely. Instead, he’ll get his feet wet in the pros and will likely suit up with AHL Coachella Valley in the fall.
East Notes: Murray, Zadina, Zamula
After signing both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, the Maple Leafs now find themselves nearly $9MM over the salary cap, per CapFriendly. Even with the LTIR allowance for Jake Muzzin, they’re still more than $3MM over that ceiling. Accordingly, there is an expectation that they will need to move out goaltender Matt Murray. To that end, in his latest post for NorthStar Bets, Chris Johnston notes that Toronto’s preference at this point is to try to trade Murray over using the second buyout window, a move that would open up $4MM in cap space in 2023-24 but add $2MM in dead cap charges in 2024-25. Considering they have pricey extensions on the horizon for Auston Matthews and William Nylander, having dead cap charges on the books won’t help.
The Maple Leafs will get a second buyout window if an arbitration-eligible player files for arbitration. That would be RFA Ilya Samsonov so expect him to be one of many players filing for arbitration by Thursday’s deadline. But that’s Plan B for them. For now, GM Brad Treliving will be shopping around to see who’s willing to take on that contract and just how much it will cost in an incentive to do so.
Elsewhere in the East:
- When Detroit waived Filip Zadina yesterday, the move came as a surprise. However, GM Steve Yzerman told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that the youngster had requested a trade a couple of weeks prior to the draft. Clearly, that didn’t materialize and after he cleared today, it’s back to the drawing board on that front. Zadina has two years left on a contract that carries a $1.825MM AAV and it appears that the Red Wings will need to pay some of that down or take a similar contract back if they want to move him. Alternatively, the fact he cleared now suggests they could waive him in training camp, saving $1.15MM in cap room in the process for any time that he’s in the minors.
- Flyers prospect Yegor Zamula is on the move…in the KHL, that is as Torpedo announced that they’ve acquired his KHL rights from SKA St. Petersburg. The 23-year-old split last season between Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley. With the Flyers, Zamula had four assists in 14 games while logging a little over 13 minutes per night. However, he was more productive with the Phantoms, notching 19 points in 44 contests. Zamula is already under contract for the upcoming season on a one-way deal worth the NHL minimum. Coyotes unsigned prospect Ilya Fedotov was also part of the four-player swap.
West Notes: Bouchard, Stars, Cooley
The Oilers are expected to have to sign Evan Bouchard to a short-term bridge contract to fit him within their cap structure. On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that the deal might fall within the $3.5MM to $4MM range. For comparison, Colorado’s Bowen Byram inked a two-year bridge deal with a $3.85MM AAV and Bouchard has more than twice as many games played as points as Byram. The 23-year-old is coming off his second straight regular season of at least 40 points and led all NHL blueliners in playoff scoring with 17 points in just 12 contests.
More from the Western Conference:
- The Stars haven’t given up on pursuing outside help defensively via the trade route, relays Saad Yousuf of The Athletic (subscription link). However, they are prepared to enter next season with what they have now with the hopes that Thomas Harley and Nils Lundkvist can take a step forward in their development to help bolster the depth of their unit. Dallas has been quiet with their back end this summer with their only NHL-related moves being the trade of Colin Miller to New Jersey, the signing of Gavin Bayreuther, and the re-signing of Joel Hanley.
- Coyotes prospect Logan Cooley told Jenna Ortiz of the Arizona Republic that he’s not putting a timeline on when he turns pro. The 19-year-old was the third-overall pick last year and had a standout first season at Minnesota, putting up 60 points in 39 games to finish second in NCAA scoring while also averaging two points per game at the World Juniors. As it is, some feel that Cooley doesn’t have much left to prove at that level so while he’s not willing to put a firm expectation in place for when he turns pro, it certainly feels like that should be happening when his college season comes to an end either next March or April.