Rangers Sign Ryder Korczak
The Rangers have agreed to terms with one of their draft picks from last summer as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed center Ryder Korczak to a three-year, entry-level deal. The contract, which begins next season, breaks down as follows:
2022-23: $750K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $82.5K games played bonus
2023-24: $775K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5k games played bonus
2024-25: $775K salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5k games played bonus
The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (75th overall) in 2021 out of Moose Jaw in the WHL. Korczak had a strong season with the Warriors this season, finishing second on the Warriors in scoring with 25 goals and 54 assists in 68 games. He also chipped in with five points in as many games in the playoffs in their first round victory over Saskatoon.
As Korczak turns 20 in September, he will be eligible to turn pro and play in New York’s farm system next season or go back to junior. After the season he had, however, the likelier scenario is that he suits up with AHL Hartford in the fall.
Antti Raanta Leaves Game Two With An Injury
A day after Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith left Game One against the Rangers during overtime, another netminder has been injured. This time, it’s Hurricanes netminder Antti Raanta who left early in the first period in the second game of their opening round series against the Bruins.
The injury – which can be viewed on a tweet from Carolina team reporter Walt Ruff – occurred on a hit from Boston winger David Pastrnak. It was initially ruled as a five-minute major but after review, it was overturned to a two-minute minor.
There’s never an ideal time for an injury but this one is particularly impactful for the Hurricanes as they remain without starter Frederik Andersen who is also injured. While the team hopes he’ll be able to play at some point in the first round, there is no firm timetable for his return.
This meant that Pyotr Kochetkov, who only made his NHL debut less than two weeks ago, was pressed into duty. He has a 2.42 GAA along with a .902 SV% in his first three NHL appearances. Meanwhile, Jack LaFontaine is serving as Carolina’s emergency goaltender and will be the backup for the rest of the game with Raanta unable to return. He was convinced to leave college midseason to turn pro and got into two games with Carolina plus 13 more with AHL Chicago.
Five Key Stories: 4/25/22 – 5/1/22
The regular season has come to an end which has resulted in some notable news from both on and off the ice which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.
Changes For The NHLPA: Late Friday, the NHLPA quietly put out a news release that indicated they have started the process to find a new Executive Director. Don Fehr has been in that role for more than a decade and has headed up the last two CBA negotiations which yielded sizable increases to the minimum salary and the recreation of the World Cup of Hockey, among other things. He will stay on for the time being until the search committee – which consists of Ian Cole, Justin Faulk, Sam Gagner, Zach Hyman, Kyle Okposo, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk – determines who his successor will be.
Blashill Out In Detroit: The Red Wings were the first team to make a coaching change as they announced that Jeff Blashill’s contract would not be renewed for next season, ending his tenure behind the bench. Blashill had been with Detroit’s organization for over a decade going back to his time with AHL Grand Rapids and had spent the last seven seasons leading the Red Wings. They missed the playoffs in each of the last six seasons and while some young players had strong years including Calder contenders Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, GM Steve Yzerman determined a change was needed. Blashill’s tenure ends with a 204-271-72 record.
Price’s Future Uncertain: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price missed the majority of this season due to a knee injury and while he was able to suit up for five games down the stretch, the injury remains. Speaking at his end-of-season media conference, the veteran indicated that his playing future is uncertain, stating that if things didn’t improve, he didn’t think he’d be able to continue playing; he even indicated that he prepared for Friday’s game as if it could be his last in the NHL. Price has been the franchise goalie for Montreal for most of his 15-year career and still has four years remaining on his contract with a $10.5MM AAV. If he’s unable to return, the Canadiens could put him on LTIR and then would need to either find a new starter by trade or in free agency.
Saros Injured: In order to get to the playoffs, the Predators had to lean hard on Juuse Saros as he led the NHL in games played this season. Now that they’re there, they may not have his services after he suffered a lower-body injury in the final week of the regular season. While the exact length of his injury wasn’t disclosed (as is basically an automatic at this time of year), missing Saros for any games would make an already difficult task considerably harder as Nashville gets set to take on Colorado in the opening round. Connor Ingram and David Rittich are the tandem if Saros isn’t able to return.
From MLB To The NHL: When Chicago was conducting its GM search, one of the finalists was Jeff Greenberg, someone who had plenty of front office experience but not in the NHL. Ultimately, the spot went to then-interim GM Kyle Davidson but the Blackhawks were able to land Greenberg as well, hiring him as an associate GM. Greenberg had been with the Chicago Cubs since 2012 but will now change sports and look to help the Blackhawks work through what appears to be a fairly sizable rebuilding process.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets Agree To Three-Year Extension With Kevin Cheveldayoff
While Winnipeg ended their season on a high note today with a victory over Seattle, it was a disappointing season overall for the Jets as they finished in sixth place in the Central Division while missing the playoffs by eight points. However, despite the tough year, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe reports that the team has signed GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to a three-year contract extension.
Cheveldayoff is the third-longest-tenured general manager in the NHL having joined the team back in September of 2011, putting him only behind Doug Armstrong (St. Louis) and David Poile (Nashville). He has been the only GM the franchise has had since it relocated from Atlanta.
Over that time, Winnipeg has only reached the playoffs in five of eleven seasons, although most of those appearances have come in recent years; their streak of four consecutive postseasons came to an end this year. Along the way, Cheveldayoff has built a strong core, anchored by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, center Mark Scheifele, wingers Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers, and defenseman Josh Morrissey, among others. But despite that core, they’ve only reached the Western Conference Final once and made it out of the first round twice.
The Jets underwent a big change midseason when head coach Paul Maurice surprisingly resigned, prompting Cheveldayoff to elevate Dave Lowry to the interim role. It didn’t result in any improvement as the points percentage for both coaches were nearly identical, .534 for Maurice and .528 for Lowry. Deciding Lowry’s future, as well as that of the rest of the coaching staff, figures to be at the top of the priority list over the coming days and weeks.
But determining whether or not the core needs another shakeup will also have to be on Cheveldayoff’s list. He made one significant move last season when he moved Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Pierre-Luc Dubois in an effort to shore up their depth down the middle. Dubois, a pending RFA, had a nice season but it didn’t result in any extra team success.
Center Mark Scheifele has been a fixture in Winnipeg’s lineup since he was their first-ever draft pick (after moving) but his comments following the game suggested that his future with the team could be in question as well:
I’d love to be in Winnipeg, but I also have to see where this is all going and what direction this team is going in and I guess we’ll see this summer. I’m in the prime of my career. I still have so much to improve on too and I like where my game is at. I like the physical nature that my body is at. I’m only improving, I’m only getting better and I’m only going to be a better player next year than I was this year.
I just have to know where this team is going and what the direction is and what the changes are going to be, if any. I have to think about my career and what’s going to be best for me. Those are going to be…talks with my agents and everyone in my family and stuff like that and figure out what I really want. So, it will be a tough talk tomorrow.
If Cheveldayoff was to move the 29-year-old, there would be no shortage of interested teams although moving their top center would also open up a big hole down the middle. He has two more years left on his deal with a team-friendly $6.125MM AAV.
The GM will also need to navigate a tight salary cap situation as the team already has around $16MM in cap room this summer, per CapFriendly, about half of which will need to be spent on a new deal for Dubois while they will need to sign several players to round out their roster. There isn’t enough room to bring in another core player to bolster the team without moving one out so Cheveldayoff will have to think long and hard as to whether this group is good enough to contend in the West. If not, some changes will need to come.
Cheveldayoff has done well enough in his tenure in Winnipeg to get this vote of confidence. However, some big decisions lie ahead for him and the Jets.
PHR Mailbag: Ellis, Playoffs, Fiala, Jets, Devils, Draft, Kane
Topics in this edition of the mailbag include Ryan Ellis’ future with the Flyers, playoff discussion, Evander Kane’s grievance process, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s mailbag.
InFletchWeTrust: Rumors flying around that Ryan Ellis may not want to be in Philly, and that is the reason for the yet-to-be-released nature of the injury that has kept him out all year…if true, sure seems like it just blows up Fletcher’s retooling plan…could we possibly be looking at a season even worse than this one? Who’s gonna take Ellis’ salary on, especially after a four-game season?
I don’t think there’s much to those reports. Yesterday, Ellis told reporters, including Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that it took visits to several specialists and a wide range of testing before they were finally able to identify the root cause of the injury – a multi-layered one in his pelvic region. Perhaps the reason that it took so long to identify the injury wasn’t because he wanted out and was being difficult but rather that the injury took a long time to identify? That makes a lot more sense to me.
Ellis, who also clearly stated his desire to remain in Philadelphia in that same press conference, has been around long enough to recognize that missing 78 games due to injury in a season more or less tanks that person’s trade value. Even if he wanted out, he’d be smart enough to know that a trade request coming from his situation would almost certainly fall on deaf ears. It doesn’t matter who could take his salary on – he’s not going anywhere. He wouldn’t have solved all of the issues for the Flyers this season but a full year from him would really make that back end a lot better.
Nha Trang: Alright, here’s one: what team’s going to be the surprise club that makes an unexpectedly deep postseason run?
My first thought is whoever comes out of the Minnesota-St. Louis series. Both of those teams are good enough to give Colorado a good run for their money in the second round. The Avs could get Nashville without Juuse Saros which could be a quick series, giving them a long layoff and with the intensity I expect we’ll see between the Blues and Wild, that could hurt Colorado early in a potential series as they adapt after what could be an easier series against the Predators. If that’s enough to see Minnesota or St. Louis move on, they’d be going deeper than many expect.
I can’t think of a great option from the East to pick as I don’t really see any big upsets happening in the first round. If Boston can get by Carolina (which could happen with the Hurricanes dealing with goalie issues of their own), they’d have a good shot at getting out of that side of the bracket which would surprise many but I don’t think we’ll be overly shocked at the results in that conference in the next couple of weeks.
urban shocker: Alternatively, which team is overrated and will fold like a cheap suit?
I’m hesitant to call a team overrated as it’s a good accomplishment to make it to the playoffs. But if you’re asking me for a team that could be a quick out, Dallas comes to mind. Teams with a negative goal differential typically don’t fare well in the postseason (although there have been some exceptions) but I don’t think their goaltending is good enough to shut down Calgary’s attack while Jacob Markstrom and Calgary’s back end are quite strong.
In terms of a perceived contender that could go early, Tampa Bay comes to mind. Yes, they’re the reigning back-to-back champions but that’s actually a main reason why I’m a little leery about them. They’ve played a ton of games the last two years, playing well into the summer. We saw this season that the other teams that played deep into the playoffs last year get decimated by injuries (Vegas and Montreal, in particular) and I can’t help but think the Lightning could get caught by that at some point. Maybe it’s not in the first round but I wouldn’t be surprised if they go out earlier than expected. Carolina could be in trouble depending on their goaltending situation as well.
W H Twittle: Injuries are a big part of the playoffs. Which teams are less likely to go into a tailspin if one of their top d-men gets injured and which teams are most vulnerable?
As Montreal showed last year, teams can overcome iffy defensive depth (their bottom two defenders hardly played) as long as they have a strong top four. For me, that means the teams that have strong third pairings with players that can move up are the ones that shouldn’t be hindered as much in that scenario although losing a top rearguard would be problematic for everyone.
In terms of teams that have the strong defensive depth to potentially overcome a top player going down, Colorado comes to mind. Assuming he stays healthy, Bowen Byram is capable of moving into the top four and their depth defenders (Jack Johnson and Ryan Murray, when healthy) can be counted on. Boston’s depth is pretty strong as well and while Carolina isn’t as deep, they have five top-four defenders on their roster that would help mitigate the loss.
On the other hand, Nashville’s back end certainly isn’t as deep as it once was and losing one of their better options would be quite costly, especially if it’s coupled with Saros’ uncertainty in goal. The Kings have already been dealt a tough blow with Drew Doughty’s absence and another core blueliner going down would be quite costly. In the East, the Rangers look a little vulnerable on that front; I was a bit surprised they didn’t do more on the back end at the deadline beyond adding Justin Braun. Washington couldn’t afford any upgrades at the deadline but their defense corps would greatly be thinned out with a key player going down as well.
Johnny Z: Is there a chance that Kevin Fiala signs an Offer Sheet? 16 teams could do a 5 x $8M.
You’re correct in that there are that many teams that have the draft picks to do that type of offer sheet but of those, how many have the cap space to do it? Of those that do, how many are rebuilding and couldn’t really justify parting with three draft picks (a first, second, and a third) to bring Fiala in? Now we’re dealing with a pretty small list.
Is it possible that he signs an offer sheet? In theory, sure. Minnesota’s vulnerable with their cap situation for next season and those are the teams to try to take advantage of. But I don’t think he’s really a viable candidate for a couple of reasons.
First, I don’t think his situation gets to the point where an offer sheet is an option. Either he’s traded before the start of free agency or the Wild have opened up the cap space to keep him by moving someone else so I’m not sure he gets to the point where a team could even offer him one. But for the sake of discussion, let’s say it gets that far. I think Fiala would be more inclined to file for arbitration and take himself out of the offer sheet picture, get a one-year deal with a big raise, and hit unrestricted free agency in his prime. There should be more interest in him as a UFA than as an RFA through an offer sheet so why not wait for a stronger market? An offer sheet could happen but I don’t think Minnesota should be concerned about the possibility.
selanne 76: Assuming that the Jets clean house from a coaching perspective, who comes in as Head Coach to shake up and demand accountability from this leadership group? Will it even be the same leadership group?
Assuming Dave Lowry isn’t back behind the bench next season, this will be one of the biggest decisions of GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s tenure. This is a team that’s built to win now, not a few years from now. For me, that’s a strike against most of the first-time head coaching candidates; they need someone who is going to get under their skin quickly and whip them into shape. A few years from now, the act will wear thin and that will coincide with a likely rebuild.
Writing those sentences out, John Tortorella immediately comes to mind. He gets buy-in from his teams quickly and isn’t going to put up with the varying levels of effort that plagued the Jets this season. They need that but I don’t think he’s necessarily the right fit to unlock the offensive potential this group has. If Vancouver doesn’t get something done with Bruce Boudreau, I like that fit. Jim Montgomery is someone that’s in between those two. He has some experience and success running an NHL bench in Dallas, albeit playing low-event hockey that may not be the best for Winnipeg. But I think he can fix some of the defensive concerns they have and be a fresh voice that this team would certainly benefit from. I think he’d be a good fit overall for them so I’ll pick him.
I think it will largely be the same core group in place although Mark Scheifele’s comments to reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe postgame today certainly raise some eyebrows. Cheveldayoff is known to be one of the safer general managers out there and assuming they do bring in a new voice (which could turn into several if there are changes on the bench as well), he may be inclined to think that will be the spark they need. I lean that way myself, actually. Winnipeg has a pretty strong core group in place. A fresh voice and some depth improvement may very well be enough to get them back into the playoff picture next season.
Canadiens To Face Sizable Bonus Overage Penalty
It was a tough year for the Canadiens, to put it lightly. After reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season, they finished dead last in the standings this season and have the highest cap payroll in the NHL with Shea Weber being on LTIR for the entire year and Carey Price for most of it. The end result was zero banked cap space during the season.
That means that any bonuses earned during the course of the 2021-22 season will have to be charged against their spending limit for the 2022-23 campaign. As CapFriendly points out (Twitter link), that is a fairly significant amount as it totals $1.1325MM, broken down as follows:
Nick Suzuki: $537.5K
Cole Caufield: $300K
Alexander Romanov: $212.5K
Jordan Harris: $82.5K
Montreal already had over $81.5MM in commitments for next season (per CapFriendly) before even factoring in this bonus overage. As a result, they are effectively over the cap for next year already before factoring in Weber’s expected return to LTIR while the uncertainty surrounding Price’s future will cloud things as well.
The list of free agents for the Canadiens isn’t overly long with many of their prominent rentals being moved at the deadline. Romanov and Rem Pitlick highlight the pending restricted free agents while Chris Wideman and Mathieu Perreault are among their unrestricted free agents. Romanov will be eyeing a sizable raise from his $894K entry-level cap hit while Pitlick, a midseason waiver claim, ended his season with 37 points in 66 games, putting him in line for a decent increase in his first trip through arbitration eligibility. The good news is that re-signing their players shouldn’t be too costly but they may need to make moves to free up space for those deals depending on Price’s situation.
With the Canadiens squarely in a rebuild, GM Kent Hughes was already going to be looking to clear out some veterans. But with this penalty basically putting them over the cap for next season already, the need to clear some contracts out of necessity will certainly increase.
Atlantic Notes: Murray, Worlds, Petry, Gallagher, Senyshyn
Senators goaltender Matt Murray was hoping to return down the stretch to give him an opportunity to play for Canada at the upcoming World Championships but had to shut it down last week due to post-concussion symptoms, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). It was a tough season for the 27-year-old as he was limited to just 20 games where he had a GAA of 3.05 and a SV% of .906, numbers that aren’t worth his $6.25MM AAV. That resulted in Murray clearing waivers back in November. With Anton Forsberg signing an extension back at the trade deadline and prospect Filip Gustavsson being waiver-eligible in 2022-23, Murray’s spot on Ottawa’s roster to start next season is far from a guarantee.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Still with Ottawa, Ian Mendes of The Athletic mentions (Twitter links) that winger Drake Batherson and forward Tim Stutzle will represent Canada and Germany respectively at next month’s World Championships. However, forward Brady Tkachuk is unlikely to play for the United States in the tournament due to some nagging injuries.
- Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry told reporters, including TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link), that he hasn’t closed the door on staying in Montreal. The veteran blueliner requested a trade midseason but played much better in the second half under interim head coach Martin St. Louis, finishing up with 21 points in his final 28 games this season after having just six points through his first 40 contests. Petry has three years left on his contract with a $6.25MM AAV.
- Still with Montreal, Lu notes in a separate tweet that winger Brendan Gallagher declined an invite to play at the Worlds due to lingering injury issues while noting his hip issue from the playoffs last year was still acting up this season. Gallagher had the toughest offensive campaign of his 10-year career, notching just seven goals and 17 assists in 56 games.
- With the regular season now done (at least for 30 of 32 teams), several trades that have conditions in them have now been finalized. One of those was the move that sent Zach Senyshyn to Ottawa in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Had the winger played in five games with the Senators, the Bruins would have received Ottawa’s 2022 sixth-round pick. He only played in two so Boston will instead get their 2022 seventh-rounder.
Senators Waive Michael Del Zotto
Ottawa’s farm team will be beginning their playoffs next week and the Senators sent down several players today to help on that front. Their intention is to send one more down as James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Michael Del Zotto has been placed on waivers today for the purpose of being sent to Belleville.
Del Zotto has already cleared waivers once this season back in December. After that happened, he became a productive player in Belleville, collecting 27 points in 26 games which earned him a recall back to the big club after the trade deadline. The 31-year-old picked up seven points for Ottawa after that stretch and wrapped up his year with three goals and ten assists in 26 games while averaging 18:15 per game. Those 13 points matched his total in Columbus from 2020-21 but he needed 27 fewer games to get there this season.
Del Zotto has one year remaining on his contract with a $2MM cap hit and a $2.25MM salary. He has been a speculative buyout candidate as a result of him being in the minors for half the season so it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed; he’d be ineligible to play in the NHL or AHL playoffs if someone was to pick him up by 1 PM CT on Sunday. But after a decent offensive season, there could be interest in him later in the offseason if the Sens are willing to retain part of his contract to facilitate a trade.
Snapshots: Knight, Subban, Bourque, Avalanche
The NHL has named Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight as the Rookie of the Month for April. The 21-year-old finished up his first full professional campaign on a high note, posting a 2.16 GAA along with a .925 SV% in seven starts for Florida this month. With veteran Sergei Bobrovsky’s numbers checking in at 3.27 and .893 respectively over that same stretch, Knight has made a strong push for playing time in their upcoming playoff series against Washington. He’s the second Panther to get the award this season, joining center Anton Lundell who received the honor in January.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Sabres goaltender/surprise anthem singer Malcolm Subban told reporters today, including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link) that he’d love to return to Buffalo next season. The pending unrestricted free agent was traded to the Sabres in December but got into just four games before suffering a season-ending upper-body injury back in January. After clearing waivers earlier in the year, it seems likely that Subban’s best fit would be as a third-string netminder and Buffalo will likely have an opening in that spot with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen expected to be up full-time in the NHL next season.
- Veteran forward Chris Bourque announced (Twitter link) that he is retiring. The 36-year-old played in 51 career NHL games over parts of four seasons with Washington, Pittsburgh, and Boston while spending 13 years in the minors where he’s 20th in all-time AHL scoring with 746 points. Bourque spent the past three seasons with Ingolstadt in Germany, collecting 134 points in 141 games.
- Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid and winger Logan O’Connor avoided any suspensions from the league for their actions against Minnesota on Friday. However, both will be a little lighter in the wallet as the Department of Player Safety announced (Twitter links) that both players received fines worth half of one day’s salary, the maximum allowable under the CBA. MacDermid was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for kneeing winger Marcus Foligno who looked to be seriously injured on the play. O’Connor, meanwhile, had cross-checked defenseman Dmitry Kulikov although the blueliner was eventually able to return to the game.
Canucks Place Two On Waivers
For the second straight day, there is waiver activity in the NHL as the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed wingers Nic Petan and Sheldon Dries on waivers. The intention is for both players to report to Abbotsford of the AHL for the playoffs if they clear on Sunday; both players had to be waived in order to be sent down as they’ve played in more than ten NHL contests since last clearing waivers.
Petan signed a two-way deal with Vancouver last summer with the intention that he’d be a key performer at the AHL level and he did exactly that, notching a dozen goals and 32 assists in 36 games with the AHL Canucks which earned him a recall to the big club in mid-March. The 27-year-old was a regular after that point, getting into 18 games with Vancouver but he struggled offensively, collecting just two assists while averaging a little over ten minutes per game. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Dries, he also signed a two-way deal with the Canucks last summer with an eye on him playing a big role with Abbotsford. He had a very strong season offensively in the minors with 35 goals and 27 assists in 54 games which helped earn him a regular spot in Vancouver for the past three weeks. The 28-year-old, who also will be unrestricted again this summer, had a bit more success than Petan, picking up a pair of goals plus an assist in 11 games while also averaging a little over ten minutes a night.
If both players clear as expected on Sunday (if they’re claimed, they’re ineligible to play the rest of the season), they can then be sent to Abbotsford. Meanwhile, Vancouver did send four other players down today in goaltenders Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs plus wingers William Lockwood and Vasily Podkolzin.