North Notes: Tkachuk, Batherson, Sandin, Oilers, Danault
Senators winger Brady Tkachuk is leaning towards declining an invitation to play for Team USA at the upcoming World Championships, suggests Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. While he would undoubtedly be a key player for them, he is a pending restricted free agent, something that he acknowledged could be a factor in him taking a pass if he goes that route:
I haven’t made a full decision yet but it’s always an honour to represent your country and play for the guys who paved the way and USA Hockey. We’ll have to see but it’s definitely a different set of circumstances here, especially with the things going on this summer.
Tkachuk isn’t the only one leaning towards taking a pass for that reason either as Garrioch adds that winger Drake Batherson is doubtful to suit up for Canada with his restricted free agency on the horizon. While Tkachuk is expected to land a substantial raise this summer no matter what, Batherson’s case is a bit murkier as while he has played well this year with 33 points in 53 games, it’s his only full NHL season thus far.
More from the North Division:
- Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin isn’t expected to play in Toronto’s remaining three games for salary cap reasons, notes Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. By moving him back to the taxi squad, they would create enough cap room in order to activate Riley Nash from LTIR, allowing him to potentially get a game or two in before the end of the regular season to get him ready for the playoffs. Nash was ruled out for the rest of the year while in Columbus but Toronto’s schedule runs nearly a week longer as a result of the COVID-related postponements.
- While the Oilers look to be set in second place in the North, don’t expect them to rest anyone down the stretch, relays Postmedia’s Rob Tychkowski. Instead, head coach Dave Tippett wants to try to create some momentum over their final four games, something that could be more difficult with players rotating in and out of the lineup.
- Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters today, including Sportsnet’s Eric Engels (Twitter link), that center Phillip Danault has been diagnosed with a concussion. He had previously been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He had already been ruled out for tonight’s game against Toronto but with that diagnosis, he will likely miss the final two games against Edmonton as well.
Bobby Ryan Not Planning On Retiring After This Season
It has been a tough last 12 months for veteran winger Bobby Ryan. He was bought out of the final two years of his deal with Ottawa, getting paid more than $7MM over the next four seasons not to play for them. He quickly landed with Detroit but didn’t get an opportunity to join a contender at the trade deadline as he needed surgery to repair a torn tendon in his triceps which ended his season prematurely. Despite the disappointing year, the 35-year-old told reporters, including NHL.com’s Jon Lane, that he intends to play again next season and is hoping to re-sign with the Red Wings:
The thing I do know right now is, I want to play hockey next year. That’s been my immediate focus, trying to get ready to do that. You hope it’s Detroit. I haven’t had those conversations yet. I’ll certainly be open to it. If I’m part of the plans, I’d love to be here.
From an offensive standpoint, Ryan had a relatively quiet year with seven goals and seven assists in 33 games while averaging over 15 minutes per game. On the other hand, with a contract of only $1MM, that’s a reasonable return on that price tag from a veteran. However, he was frequently praised by teammates for what he also brought off the ice which has to be taken into consideration as well, especially on a team as young as Detroit is.
It would certainly be understandable if the Red Wings wanted to bring Ryan back although it would probably need to be in more of a limited role. While giving him some minutes in the top six was manageable in a season like this where they weren’t really eyeing a playoff spot, that shouldn’t be the case moving forward as they look to integrate some of their younger players and add to their roster with an eye on getting out of the basement in the standings. If he’s amenable to a reduced role, it certainly seems as if something could be worked out. If not, he’ll hit the open market looking to catch on somewhere else to extend a 14-year career that has placed him seventh in scoring among all players from his 2005 draft class.
Canadiens Update Injury Status For Several Players
As Montreal looks to secure a playoff spot in the North Division, they’re doing so without several of their more prominent veterans who are out of the lineup with various injuries. The team announced updates on the majority of those players and it appears as if most of them could be back for the postseason.
Goaltender Carey Price has resumed skating as he works his way back from a concussion suffered last month against Edmonton but there remains no timetable for his return. In the meantime, Jake Allen will continue to shoulder the majority of the workload between the pipes.
Winger Brendan Gallagher has also resumed skating and remains on pace to return within the six-week timeframe listed a month ago when he was diagnosed with a thumb injury. With the North Division schedule being extended due to their and Vancouver’s COVID-pauses, that could give Gallagher an opportunity to return at the start of the playoffs. Meanwhile, Paul Byron has missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury. He remains considered as day-to-day but the team did not indicate that he has resumed skating yet.
Defenseman Shea Weber has missed five straight games with an upper-body injury but has resumed skating and is also listed as day-to-day.
Joining that group of players in the infirmary is center Phillip Danault. He left Thursday’s game against Toronto in the first period due to an upper-body injury. He has returned to Montreal for evaluation and as a result, he will not be available for the rematch against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. Arpon Basu of The Athletic clarifies (Twitter link) that Danault travelled by a car service, allowing him to remain in the bubble and not be subject to a seven-day quarantine to rejoin the team. If Montreal wants to dress 12 forwards tomorrow, they will have to use an emergency recall on either Michael Frolik or Alex Belzile who are the only two healthy forwards on their taxi squad, a group that also consists of three other injured forwards from the AHL.
The Canadiens are also without winger Jonathan Drouin who was placed on LTIR late last month after taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. There remains no update on his situation with the team at the time of the announcement asking everyone to respect his privacy.
While it certainly sounds as if some of their veterans should be ready to play if they can make it, there won’t be any immediate help on the horizon as they look to officially clinch a spot in the playoffs.
International Notes: Schneider, Pettersen, Dichow
With Islanders goalie Cory Schneider not playing once this season while clearing waivers, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll look to stay in the NHL or look at options overseas. If he opts to consider the latter, Lugano of the Swiss NLA could be a landing spot as Watson’s Klaus Zaugg notes that Lugano is pondering making an offer to the 35-year-old for next season. It’s worth noting that Schneider holds dual citizenship between the United States and Switzerland which could certainly make him an intriguing option for teams in that league where he wouldn’t take an import position. If Schneider does decide he wants to keep playing and doesn’t anticipate getting an NHL offer, signing in Switzerland – with Lugano or elsewhere – would certainly make some sense.
More from the international hockey world:
- Calgary winger prospect Mathias Emilio Pettersen has joined Norway’s entry for the upcoming World Championships, notes Torie Petersen of the Flames’ team site. The 21-year-old was a sixth-rounder back in 2018 (167th overall) and recently wrapped his first season in North America, putting up a decent six goals and eight assists in 29 games with AHL Stockton.
- Canadiens prospect Frederik Dichow has signed a one-year deal with Kristianstad in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, per a team announcement. The 21-year-old goaltender was a fifth-round pick of Montreal back in 2019 (139th overall) and was supposed to play with Sudbury of the OHL this season. Instead, with that league not playing this year, he was limited to six appearances with two teams in Denmark this season and will undoubtedly be looking for more playing time next season.
Canucks, Devils To Relocate AHL Teams
May 6: The AHL Board of Governors has approved the relocations to Abbotsford and Utica, from Utica and Binghamton respectively. The new divisional alignment will be announced at a later date, but Vancouver will be using Abbotsford and New Jersey using Utica for the 2021-22 season.
In addition, Utica and New Jersey have announced a new ten-year affiliation agreement. The organization will remain the Utica Comets, but jersey designs and colors will be revealed later in the year.
May 4: Amidst speculation that their current AHL affiliate in Utica will become New Jersey’s affiliate next season, Vancouver has found a new home for their prospects. The Canucks announced today that they will move their AHL squad to Abbotsford for next year, pending approval from the AHL’s Board of Governors on Thursday. Team owner Francesco Aquilini released the following statement:
With momentum starting to build, we are pleased to confirm our goal to bring our AHL franchise and Canucks prospects home to the City of Abbotsford. The move would bring significant opportunities for both our team and the community and it would begin a new chapter, bringing Canucks hockey to even more fans throughout the Lower Mainland.
Vancouver intends to operate the team out of the Abbotsford Centre which hosted Calgary’s AHL team from 2009 through 2014 after previously playing in Moline, Illinois. Travel was a concern as they were the westernmost city in the league and eventually, Calgary opted to head to New York.
Interestingly enough, the Canucks are taking the opposite approach, leaving New York to go to Abbotsford. Clearly, the fact that they’ll be able to have their AHL prospects in the same province is certainly ideal from a development standpoint but travel shouldn’t be as significant of a concern now with there now being an entire Pacific Division. At first glance, it would seem likely that Abbotsford would join that group, making it an eight-team division for next season with Palm Springs set to join that group for 2022-23.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Karel Vejmelka
May 5: The Coyotes have officially announced the contract for Vejmelka, confirming that it will start in the 2021-22 season. GM Bill Armstrong released a short statement:
We are very pleased to sign Karel. He is a talented young goaltender with the combination of size and quickness. We look forward to working with him next season and will monitor his development.
May 4: The Arizona Coyotes have come to an agreement with a goaltending prospect as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed goalie Karel Vejmelka to a one-year, entry-level deal. The contract is for next season and carries a $750K base salary, a $92.5K signing bonus, and $82.5K in performance bonuses for a $925K AAV. CapFriendly originally reported that Nashville had signed Vejmelka but subsequently revised that report.
The 24-year-old was drafted by Nashville all the way back in 2015 when they selected him with the 145th overall selection but they lost his rights by not signing him by 2019. Since then, he has played with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga. This season, Vejmelka posted a 2.79 GAA along with a save percentage of .911 in 35 regular season games, numbers that were actually below his career averages in that league (2.56 GAA, .913 SV%).
With Antti Raanta and Adin Hill both on expiring contracts this season, there appears to be a potential opening for someone to step in, especially if Hill moves up to Arizona to back up Darcy Kuemper. Vejmelka joins Ivan Prosvetov and David Tendeck as other goalies under contract for next season. Prosvetov has split his time between the AHL and NHL while Tendeck has exclusively played in the ECHL so on the surface, it appears as if Vejmelka will be battling Tendeck for a spot in AHL Tucson next season.
Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Kraken, Boucher, Donato
It has been a tough season for Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov. He missed time earlier this season due to COVID-19 (and is back on the CPRA list today) while being benched for last night’s contest as well for team disciplinary purposes. On top of that, he has underwhelmed offensively with 29 points in 41 games. Accordingly, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic noted in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link) that Washington may be willing to listen to offers on the 28-year-old this summer. While a season like this doesn’t help his value, it’s once again a quiet UFA market in terms of impact centers so there would certainly be plenty of interest in Kuznetsov’s services, even though he carries a $7.8MM AAV through 2024-25 and a 15-team no-trade clause at a time where cap space will be limited for many teams.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- For the upcoming expansion draft, the Kraken have to select at least $48.9MM in contracts. One thing that they’ll need to keep in mind with who they select will be signing bonuses as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 31 Thoughts column that if they select someone who had a July 1st bonus paid, Seattle will have to repay that signing bonus to the original team. Knowing that who they pick could cost cap space and a cash repayment to the team they took the player from could certainly affect some of their selections.
- Winger Reid Boucher is receiving some interest from NHL teams, Friedman reports in the same column. The 27-year-old has been a strong point producer in the minors but after playing just one NHL game over the previous two seasons, Boucher went overseas and joined Avangard Omsk of the KHL. Not surprisingly, he was quite productive there this season, leading the team in scoring with 24 goals and 24 assists in 51 games. There should be lots of interest from teams looking for a productive veteran to play in the minors but he may be hard-pressed to find a team willing to give him a long look at an NHL opportunity.
- The Sharks are expected to hold contract talks with winger Ryan Donato once the season comes to an end, notes Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. The 25-year-old is in his first season with San Jose since coming over from Minnesota in an offseason trade and has managed just six goals and 14 assists in 50 games this season. Owed a $2.15MM qualifying offer this summer, the fact he has arbitration eligibility puts him in that zone where it could be deemed too risky to tender him an offer. With that in mind, early talks to see if something can be agreed to beforehand certainly makes a lot of sense.
Blackhawks Prospect Slava Demin Transfers To UMass
Another NHL prospect is changing colleges. After entering the transfer portal two weeks ago, Blackhawks prospect Slava Demin has found his new school as Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports (Twitter link) that he is off to UMass after spending his first three seasons at Denver.
The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick (99th overall) of Vegas back in 2018 and was moved to Chicago as part of the deal that also saw them acquire Malcolm Subban and a second-rounder (Drew Commesso) in exchange for Robin Lehner.
Demin was more of an offensive defenseman in his BCHL days back with Wenatchee but that hasn’t translated to the college ranks with any consistency. His career high in points came in his freshman year when he had four goals and ten assists in 41 games although he put up a slightly better point per game rate in this pandemic-shortened season with three goals and five helpers in 21 contests.
UMass has lost a couple of blueliners to the pros recently in Zac Jones (Rangers) and Marc Del Gaizo (Predators) so it stands to reason that Demin should have an opportunity to step in and play a big role right away in the hopes of securing an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks.
Flyers Sign Olle Lycksell
The Flyers have come to an agreement with one of their prospects as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have signed forward Olle Lycksell to a two-year, entry-level deal. The contract begins next season and carries an AAV (including performance bonuses) of $875K.
The 21-year-old was a sixth-round pick (168th overall) of the Flyers back in 2017 which meant that the clock was ticking on getting him signed as Philadelphia would have lost his rights had he not signed by June 1st. Lycksell spent last season with Farjestad of the SHL after playing in Linkoping’s system from their junior team all the way to their SHL squad. The change of scenery didn’t result in a significant uptick in production as he put up 21 points for the second straight season although he was able to do it in five fewer games this season (46 games compared to 51 in 2019-20) while his playing time actually dipped slightly from 13:52 per game down to 13:10.
It’s worth noting that Lycksell has another year left on his deal with Farjestad. As some other teams have done with their international prospects lately, Philadelphia could loan him back there for next season to give him more time developing at home. At this stage of his development, Lycksell is likely a few years away from being NHL-ready but clearly, he has shown enough so far for the Flyers to want to keep him as part of their organization for a little while longer.
Senators Notes: Chabot, Brown, Murray, Prospects
Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot left Monday’s game against Winnipeg due to an upper-body injury. Head coach D.J. Smith told reporters today, including Ian Mendes of The Athletic (Twitter link) that it’s unlikely that Chabot will return this season. While the injury isn’t believed to be serious, Ottawa has been eliminated from playoff contention so there isn’t a lot to play for. Chabot had been weighing the idea of playing at the upcoming World Championships but his presence there may be in jeopardy.
Smith also indicated that blueliner Josh Brown is likely to miss the final four games as well due to an undisclosed injury. His first season with the Senators will end on a quiet note as the former Florida defender had just a single assist along with 30 PIMS in 26 games this season.
More from Ottawa:
- While Matt Murray was expected to be their goalie of the future when they acquired him from Pittsburgh last summer, Postmedia’s Ken Warren suggests that at this point, it’s unlikely that he will be protected from Seattle in expansion this summer. With both Filip Gustavsson and Joey Daccord also requiring protection and showing some promise in limited action this season, he posits that one of them will be held back from the Kraken with the expectation that Murray’s deal – which carries a $6.25MM AAV through 2023-24 – will be too expensive for them to willingly take on.
- Prospects Ridly Greig and Roby Jarventie are currently quarantining in Belleville and will see some AHL action down the stretch, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Greig, a first-round pick last year, got a brief look in the minors at the start of the season before having to return to the WHL where he had 10 goals and 22 assists in 21 games with Brandon. As for Jarventie, the 33rd pick last year recently signed his entry-level deal and had 14 goals and 11 assists in 48 games with Ilves of the SM-liiga this season.