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Dallas Stars Acquire Nils Lundkvist

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7:30 PM: Both teams have now officially announced the trade.

7:28 PM: Per Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News, the conditional 2025 fourth-round pick in the deal becomes a 2025 third-round pick if Lundkvist scores 55 or more total points over the next two seasons.

7:10 PM: The Athletic has reported that the Rangers will also receive a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick as part of the deal.

6:46 PM: Just as training camps are set to begin, Nils Lundkvist has found his new team. As first reported by The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman, Lundkvist has been traded to the Dallas Stars.

The Stars are sending the Rangers a top-10 protected 2023 first-round pick in return, per the New York Post’s Larry Brooks. If the pick lands in 2023 and the Stars keep it, the Rangers would receive an unprotected 2024 first-rounder.

Lundkvist, 22, had requested a trade from the Rangers, a trade request that received significant media coverage in recent days. Because the Rangers’ defense features five players (Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, and Braden Schneider) who are either currently established long-term pieces or on the path to that status, Lundkvist felt that he would not have any chance to earn a top-four spot with power play time in New York.

It’s that locked-out feeling that inspired this trade request rather than any animosity towards the organization, and now Lundkvist heads to a team that features a defensive group that’s a bit less set in stone. On paper, it looks like this acquisition is part of the Stars’ attempt to make up for the loss of John Klingberg. The team signed defenseman Colin Miller to a two-year, $1.85MM deal this summer, and as of now thanks to that deal he has the inside track on winning Klingberg’s old job on the team’s second pairing next to Esa Lindell.

But now Miller has Lundkvist to compete with for that role, and since the Stars surrendered a quality asset to acquire Lundkvist, Miller’s early grip on that second-pairing job might not be as strong as it once looked to be.

Additionally, the team signed defenseman Will Butcher to a contract earlier this summer, and it seemed at the time that Butcher would be Miller’s primary competition for that role as the team’s go-to offensive blueliner. With this trade, Butcher’s status in the team’s blueline mix is more uncertain.

One other lineup factor at play here is the presence of Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen’s mastery of the defensive side of the game could make him the preferred partner for Lundkvist, whose game has a more offensive bent. Additionally, a Lundkvist-Heiskanen pairing would allow Heiskanen to move to the left side, which he could prefer.

This is not a cheap addition for the Stars, but it’s a clear indication that the team has faith that Lundkvist will be every bit of the dynamic offensive force at the NHL level that he looked to be in the SHL. With Klingberg gone, the Stars need to find a way to replace the offense he brought to their blueline, and Lundkvist currently represents their highest-upside chance at doing so.

For the Rangers, this is a great return for a prospect who had already requested a trade and was unlikely to be in the team’s long-term plans. While the Rangers’ salary cap issues might have made Lundkvist (and his affordable cap hit) especially useful in the next few years, the Rangers do have other young defensemen like Zac Jones who can fill a similar role. Getting a coveted 2023 first-rounder (even if it’s top-ten protected) or an unprotected 2024 first-rounder in return for Lundkvist is about as strong of a return as the Rangers could reasonably expect to receive.

While the cost looks steep for the Stars now, the Stars won’t mind having paid that price if Lundkvist has a breakout year this season. It’s become increasingly common for fans to assign instant winners and losers to every transaction, and this trade will be no different. With that said, though, it’s important to keep in mind this is the type of trade where it will be difficult to truly judge Dallas’ side of the deal until we see how Lundkvist fares in victory green.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Afternoon Notes: Crosby, Allvin, O’Reilly

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins signed Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to extensions this summer, they committed themselves to a “win-now” short-term competitive plan, focusing the energy and resources of their franchise into squeezing one last Stanley Cup victory out of their three franchise pillars. The face of the franchise, Sidney Crosby, has three years remaining on his current contract, and as things currently stand he’s not thinking beyond that point.

In an interview with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek for their 32 Thoughts Podcast, Crosby was asked about his playing future and whether he’d like to play into his forties as Zdeno Chara has. Crosby responded that he wouldn’t, and added on that he’s “thinking about [the] three more years” remaining on his contract before considering the next step for his career. At 35 years old, Crosby isn’t “Sid the Kid” anymore, but he did score 84 points in 69 games last year and remains an elite player. But based on these comments, the Penguins will need to consider that Crosby may not be playing for the entirety of Malkin or Letang’s new extensions.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin has been a busy man this summer, signing major contracts with J.T. Miller, Ilya Mikheyev, and Andrei Kuzmenko. And despite the fact that training camps are close, he may not be done. In a conversation with The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, Allvin stated that the team would still be looking to add to its current group of players, saying that there is enough “cap space, and roster spots, and contract slots” to be able to facilitate an addition. (subscription link) We’re certainly late into the offseason free agent market, but with the preseason waiver wire set to be active and a few free agents still remaining, it’s possible that the Canucks get a new face or two into the mix before they open their 2022-23 campaign.
  • The St. Louis Blues have signed some major extensions recently, specifically with their two top young players: Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. While the Blues are undoubtedly better off having signed those deals, they could come with a cost. As Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, the byproduct of these extensions is that the team could find it difficult to match the sort of offer captain Ryan O’Reilly could receive on the open market. Since both O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko will be unrestricted free agents next summer, the Blues seem to have made retaining their two franchise pillars a more difficult task with their recent moves.

Snapshots: Wild Training Camp, Boychuk, Lodin

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The Minnesota Wild may not have had their season end the way they’d hoped it would last spring, but that hasn’t stopped GM Bill Guerin from pushing forward with his plans to bring a Stanley Cup to the Twin Cities. The Wild are returning a very similar roster to the one they ran last season, and as a result, the Wild’s training camp is expected to be a highly competitive affair.

Wild head coach Dean Evason spoke on the upcoming competition in camp as part of an interview with The Athletic’s Michael Russo. (subscription link) Evason said that with the team’s top two lines relatively set in stone (Kirill Kaprizov’s line and the Joel Eriksson-Ek line), the team has seven forwards (Marco Rossi, Matt Boldy, Brandon Duhaime, Sam Steel, Frederick Gaudreau, Connor Dewar, and Nic Petan) competing for the six remaining available forward slots in the opening night lineup. Additionally, Evason previewed the camp competition for a spot on the defense’s third pairing, a competition expected to feature Alex Goligoski, Calen Addison, Andrej Sustr, and Dakota Mermis. All in all, expect a competitive camp in Minnesota, a camp fit for a team looking to have another strong regular season.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Johnny Boychuk played over 400 career games with the New York Islanders, and now he’s back with that organization, albeit not as a player. Per Newsday’s Andrew Gross, Boychuk has been hired by the Islanders in a player development role. The Islanders have long relied on their defense as the foundation of their success, so if this hire can help blueliners such as Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, Robin Salo, and Calle Odelius grow their game, it’ll be a major help to the organization.
  • After a successful season helping his Swedish club, Timra IK, survive its first season back in the SHL, Viktor Lodin crossed the Atlantic and saw his first North American professional action with the Senators. The 2019 fourth-round pick played well, scoring eight points in 10 AHL games and even got into his first NHL game. That success meant Lodin would be competing for a lineup spot in Senators training camp, but unfortunately he may have to wait. In today’s prospect tournament game vs. the Montreal Canadiens, Lodin went hard into the boards and sustained an upper-body injury that caused him to leave the game. While we don’t have word on the full extent of the injury, it’s surely not an ideal development for Lodin’s NHL odds.

West Notes: Holloway, Oilers Defense, Lindgren

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The Edmonton Oilers have had a busy offseason, signing Jack Campbell, Evander Kane, and Brett Kulak in an attempt to shore up their roster after a promising run to the Western Conference Final. One of the natural consequences of that spending has been that the team will rely on placing Oscar Klefbom and Mike Smith on long-term injured reserve in order to remain cap compliant. Today, Thomas Drance of The Athletic released an interview he conducted with Oilers GM Ken Holland, and in it, Holland spoke on the team’s cap situation as well as the state of their blueline. (subscription link)

When asked about the LTIR situation and how it relates to training camp battles, Holland said that top prospect Dylan Holloway is “probably going to have to be on the opening night roster” in order to maximize the benefit the team receives from those LTIR placements. He didn’t commit to keeping Holloway beyond that point, though, and did state that he’d rather Holloway play “20 minutes a night” in the AHL rather than play in a limited role in the NHL.

Now, for some other notes from across the Western Conference:

  • One other topic Holland touched on in his interview was the team’s defense. While Holland did state that he didn’t think the team would be able to carry 23 players on its roster, he did touch on the upcoming battle for spots on the Oilers’ blueline. Holland said that he wanted “one of” the group of Vincent Desharnais, Dmitri Samorukov, Markus Niemelainen, Philip Broberg, and Mike Kesselring “to make the team.” Of note here is that all but Samorukov on that list are waivers-exempt per CapFriendly, so that factor alone may give Samorukov the leg up in the battle for a spot on that defense.
  • While Karel Vejmelka impressed at times last season, describing the Arizona Coyotes’ goaltending situation as anything but wide-open would be a mistake. The team didn’t make major additions in their crease this summer, adding Jon Gilles on a minimum deal and Christopher Gibson on a PTO, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying. Craig Morgan of PHNX.com cites sources to report that the Coyotes “targeted” goalie Charlie Lindgren on the open market before he ended up signing with the Washington Capitals. Lindgren earned a three-year $1.1MM deal, a contract that surprised some in both its cost and length due to the fact that Lindgren was an AHL goalie last year, albeit a brilliant one. That contract should be less of a surprise now though as its clear there was competition to secure Lindgren’s services.

Looking Ahead At Next Summer’s Restricted Free Agents

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The contract standoffs between restricted free agents and their clubs have dominated the headlines this offseason. Matthew Tkachuk’s RFA status (and desire to reach unrestricted free agency) catalyzed this summer’s biggest blockbuster trade, and the ongoing contract negotiation between Jason Robertson and the Dallas Stars could have a major impact on the future of that franchise.

As new stars emerge across the NHL, the importance of a player’s RFA years has never been higher. More and more teams are locking up their young talent earlier and earlier, and here we’ll take a look at the respective situations of the players currently slated to be next summer’s big-name RFA’s.

The Easy Ones

One of the major reasons the Stars have had difficulty signing Robertson to a long-term deal is that they already have significant contracts on their books for next season, and have precious little cap space to work with. With Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Miro Heiskanen, and more already taking up a significant portion of the team’s salary cap, the Stars just don’t have the room to fit a market-rate long-term deal for Robertson into their balance sheet.

There are other teams, though, who don’t have that sort of problem, and whether they can get their upcoming restricted free agents locked up is more of a matter of finding the right deal for both sides rather than finding a way to fit another big contract onto their payroll.

A few players are in that situation, and their teams are likely to find getting them locked into new contracts a relatively easy process.

Two of the bigger names set to become RFA’s next summer, Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry, fit into that category. The Ducks are one of the few teams in the NHL still with a good amount of cap space on their books, and that figure will only rise next summer when John Klingberg, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Dmitry Kulikov’s deals expire.

So, while the Stars’ cap situation is likely going to keep them from inking a long-term deal with their star RFA forward, the Ducks won’t have that problem with their own two stars. Assuming Zegras continues his ascension to superstardom and Terry can be a productive top-six forward once again, GM Pat Verbeek and the Ducks should find their RFA negotiation process with those two players to be a relatively straightforward process.

The Buffalo Sabres are in a similar boat, with a significant amount of cap space currently at their disposal and even more set to open next summer. Center Dylan Cozens will be an RFA at that point, and the financial flexibility of the Sabres will come in handy.

Because the Sabres are in a healthy salary cap position, they could have the option to offer a long-term contract to Cozens that might cost more than he’s worth in the short-term, but provide long-term savings. (similar to what the Carolina Hurricanes had in mind when they gave Jesperi Kotkaniemi an eight-year, $4.82MM AAV extension) If the Sabres were a cap-strapped contender, such an option would likely be closed to them.

While the Montreal Canadiens aren’t flush with cap space at the moment like the Ducks and Sabres, they should be in better financial shape next summer after Jonathan Drouin and Evgenii Dadonov’s deals expire. The Canadiens, like the Sabres and Ducks, have a talented, ascending forward set to become an RFA next summer in Cole Caufield. Without the near-term pressures of Stanley Cup contention or major salary-cap issues, it’s likely that the Canadiens will have more than enough financial bandwidth to keep every possibility open regarding Caufield’s next deal.

The Contending Teams

This is where things get a bit dicey. For the teams mentioned above, the challenge in getting their young players signed long-term won’t be selling them on the team’s long-term vision. By virtue of their recent success, these clubs likely won’t have that issue. Instead, their problem will be the issue the Dallas Stars are facing now: a lack of cap space.

The New York Rangers are one of those teams. The Rangers went on a run to the Eastern Conference Final this spring, and it’s clear that the team is intent on going all-in to win a Stanley Cup over the next three seasons, the final three seasons where Hart Trophy candidate Igor Shesterkin costs just $5.6MM against the cap.

The Rangers’ desire to maximize their odds of winning in the short-term has its benefits, chief among them being that they have built one of the most talented rosters in the NHL for next season. But this win-now chase has its inevitable drawbacks. In building that talented roster, the Rangers have locked away a significant percentage of their cap space for the next several seasons, and have left little room to add more long-term deals onto their books.

Especially with their signing of Vincent Trocheck to an eight-year deal, it doesn’t look as though the Rangers will be able to fit any more long-term, market-rate contracts for top-four defensemen or top-six forwards onto their cap sheet. Which leaves the question: if one of Alexis Lafreniere or Filip Chytil (or both) establishes himself as a top-six forward this season, how will the Rangers be able to sign them to a long-term extension?

Moreover, since K’Andre Miller has played at a top-four level this past season, how will the Rangers be able to afford his next contract? If he takes another step in his development, do they even have a chance at affording a long-term deal with him?

They could, and likely will, go in the short-term direction with these contracts, looking to keep the costs as low as possible for these years where they’re in Stanley Cup contention.

But the long-term questions persist. Lafreniere, Chytil and Miller are supposed to be the foundational pieces that support the next generation of Rangers contenders. The Rangers sent a famous letter to their fans and embarked on a major rebuild in order to acquire players like that trio. If the Rangers are unable to keep these young players long-term because they’re locked into contracts for veterans such as Trocheck, Barclay Goodrow, and Jacob Trouba, it raises the question of why they even chose to endure such a painful rebuild in the first place.

So while the on-ice implications of an RFA crunch are relatively straightforward, — it’s about whether a team has a certain player on its roster or not — particularly difficult RFA situations such as the one the Rangers will face next summer have the potential to raise more significant questions about the long-term direction and overall team-building identity of a franchise.

It’s worth mentioning too that the Rangers aren’t the only team nearing that RFA crunch next summer, although they are the one in the most extreme position. The Edmonton Oilers, another Stanley Cup hopeful, could find themselves in a similar situation with defenseman Evan Bouchard.

The same can be said about the Minnesota Wild with Matt Boldy, and the Colorado Avalanche with Alex Newhook, with the latter team’s cap sheet set to become especially tight once Nathan MacKinnon’s upcoming mega-extension kicks in.

The Soon-To-Be-UFA’s

This group of restricted free agents is perhaps the most difficult for teams to manage. GM Brad Treliving and the Calgary Flames saw it this summer when Tkachuk informed them of his decision to not consider signing a long-term extension to remain a Flame. While not every RFA who is arbitration-eligible and close to hitting UFA status will force an exit, the RFA’s in this section have the potential to dominate the headlines next summer.

For example, the Dallas Stars could be in another difficult RFA negotiation next summer, when center Roope Hintz is an RFA. Hintz will have the option to accept a lucrative arbitration award and then hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2024. Since Hintz is now the Stars’ first-line center, they’re likely to want to keep him from doing so. But with Seguin and Benn each costing north of $9MM against the cap, the Stars might find it difficult to meet Hintz’s asking price.

They might find it especially difficult to do so if they also want to re-sign Joe Pavelski, who has been integral to Robertson and Hintz’s development and will need a new contract of his own.

The New York Islanders are in a similar situation with their own first-line pivot, with Mathew Barzal able to accept an arbitration award next summer and become a UFA in 2024. For the Islanders, the expiration of Josh Bailey, Matt Martin, and Cal Clutterbuck’s contracts in the summer of 2024 might be the key to getting Barzal’s next deal done.

That being said, though, Ilya Sorokin’s contract is set to expire then as well, meaning Barzal could set the Islanders up for a do-or-die, potentially franchise-altering summer in 2024 if he doesn’t sign a long-term contract as an RFA in 2023.

The Bottom Line

There are quite a few more pending RFA’s than the ones we’ve covered so far, such as Alex DeBrincat, Jesper Bratt, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Timo Meier, to name a few. It’s very possible that many of these names reach extension agreements during this season, avoiding the need for a drawn-out RFA saga. That’s likely to be the preferred outcome for each of these players’ teams.

But the high-stakes nature of NHL contract negotiations means that the reality typically never quite matches up to what teams would desire. Players are becoming more and more empowered to weaponize the tools available to them in order to get the most lucrative contracts possible, and restricted free agency is one of the most powerful tools a player has available to him.

So, despite each player and team likely desiring to have a quick, simple RFA process that leads to a fair long-term contract, that likely won’t be what we see happen next summer. It’s more than likely that a few of these players hit restricted free agency and dominate the headlines next summer.

Oftentimes, these situations end with both the player in question and his team conceding just a little bit more than they’d like to in order to reach a fair compromise. Other times, though, such a compromise can’t be found or is simply impossible to reach. That’s how we get the types of blockbuster deals we saw a few months ago.

Based on the look of things going into this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if, thanks to the multitude of impactful restricted free agents, next summer is every bit as exciting as this one was.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Financial information courtesy of CapFriendly. 

Minor Transactions: 09/16/22

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NHL hockey is nearly here. Rookie tournaments have started, and training camps are soon to follow. Over the next few weeks, we’ll keep track of all the notable minor signings to see where minor league and fringe players will ply their trade this season.

  • The St. Louis Blues have added another player to their training camp roster, signing Russian prospect Andrei Bakanov to a PTO. Bakanov, 20, last played in North America with the Guelph Storm of the OHL in the 2019-20 season and has seen game action at the KHL and MHL levels for the past two seasons.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets are bringing goaltender Hayden Stewart to their training camp on a PTO. Stewart, 27, has been a starting netminder in the SPHL for the past few seasons and has also seen fill-in duty in the ECHL since turning pro out of Cornell University in 2018. This PTO signing is extremely unlikely to result in a contract offer from the Blue Jackets, but nonetheless, Stewart will get the chance to show what he can do as an extra body to mind the crease for the Blue Jackets’ training camp.
  • Former NHL defenseman Ryan Sproul will be staying in China. The KHL’s Kunlun Red Star announced that they’d signed Sproul to a one-year extension. The former Detroit Red Wing is beginning his fourth season with the Red Star and seems to have found a long-term home with that club.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Preseason Notes: Pastrnak, Eklund, Canucks Centers

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One of the biggest stories that could play out this upcoming season is the contract situation between the Boston Bruins and their star goal-scoring winger, David Pastrnak. Pastrnak, a Rocket Richard trophy winner, will play the 2022-23 season on the final year of his $6.66MM AAV deal, and is undoubtedly in line to receive a significant raise on his next contract. He will be eligible for  unrestricted free agency at the end of this season, which has led many to speculate that he could leave Boston in a similar fashion to the way other star wingers, such as Johnny Gaudreau and Artemi Panarin, have left their teams as free agents.

According to Pastrnak, though, that’s not the ideal way for things to turn out. When asked today whether he was optimistic about an extension being finalized with the Bruins, Pastrnak answered yes, and added that he is “extremely happy” in Boston and that it’s an “honor” to wear the Bruins’ sweater. For the Bruins, getting Pastrnak signed to an extension has to be their number-one off-ice priority for next season. Pastrnak has scored at or above a point-per-game rate for the past four seasons and at 26 years old should have many prime years ahead of him. If the Bruins want to have any hope of remaining competitive in the next several years, they’ll need to find a way to keep Pastrnak around.

Now, for some other notes about preseason rumblings:

  • 2021 seventh-overall pick William Eklund spent most of last season playing in the SHL, but that won’t be where he’s playing in 2022-23. As relayed by Corey Masisiak of The Athletic, Eklund has said that he is “definitely” staying in North America and will either play for the Sharks in the NHL or the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL, wherever the organization deems he should be. Eklund endured a difficult campaign last year as his SHL club, Djurgardens, was relegated to the Allsvenskan. His choice to make the transition to North American hockey is wise, as he’ll have the chance to continue his development under the watchful eye of the Sharks’ development staff.
  • The Vancouver Canucks made headlines when they signed center J.T. Miller to a long-term extension, and the deal left many wondering if Elias Pettersson’s future was on the wing, since it was presumed that the Canucks would opt to keep Miller and Bo Horvat as centers. While that was a reasonable thing to wonder, it seems that the Canucks are planning to play Pettersson as a center for next season. Per Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau plans on deploying Miller, Horvat, and Pettersson as centers, believing that he is able to do so thanks to the team’s “upgraded top-nine.” Pettersson’s last two seasons have been rockier than he’d likely have hoped, so the Canucks are seemingly hoping that allowing Pettersson to center and drive his own line will help stabilize his game.

Nils Lundkvist Requests Trade, Will Not Report To Training Camp

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9/16/22: USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano has issued an update on the Lundkvist situation, relaying the message from Lundkvist’s agent, Claude Lemieux, that the Swedish blueliner would not be reporting for training camp. Lemieux likely believes that the best way for his client to get the trade he requested is by sitting out for training camp, and only time will tell if he is correct.

For the Rangers, they will have to operate without Lundkvist in their plans for their defense in training camp. Five Rangers defensemen are locks to make the roster, so with Lundkvist seemingly out of the equation, it looks as though the competition for the final two spots on the Rangers’ defense will be between Libor Hajek, Zac Jones, and Jarred Tinordi, barring the acquisition of another defenseman.

9/1/22: A top New York Rangers prospect could be on the move relatively soon. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks has reported that the Rangers are “engaged in an accelerated effort” to trade 2018 first-round pick Nils Lundkvist. Citing “multiple sources,” Brooks adds that Lundkvist is “unlikely to report” for Rangers training camp if the team cannot find a trade by the time camp is set to begin.

Lundkvist, 22, was one of the Rangers’ three first-round picks from the 2018 draft. If this news seems familiar, it’s because it’s generally similar to 2018 ninth-overall pick Vitali Kravtsov’s saga with the Rangers’ front office in the past. Kravtsov requested a trade from the Rangers last year, and spent a season in the KHL rather than continue his development in the AHL, in part because of the challenge of landing a scoring-line role in New York. This situation might also feel familiar for fans who remember 2017 first-round pick Lias Andersson and his strained relationship with the Rangers, who ultimately dealt him to the Los Angeles Kings.

But Lundkvist’s situation is different from Kravtsov’s and Andersson’s for one main reason: there is no of animosity between the player and the organization, something that cannot be said about the sagas of the latter two players. As Brooks puts it, “Lundkvist has no issues with management” but he views the Rangers’ current roster makeup as an “unyielding roadblock” to his ability to establish himself in the NHL.

This means that Lundkvist’s desire for a change of scenery is not about any sort of friction between him and the Rangers, and instead about the Rangers’ current roster makeup. Brooks reports that Lundkvist prefers to head to a destination that offers a “better opportunity” for the defenseman to “compete for a top-four spot and role as a power-play quarterback.”

If that’s the role Lundkvist sees himself ready for, it’s understandable for him to feel locked out of those roles in New York. The Rangers’ top-four on defense is established, with Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, new captain Jacob Trouba, and K’Andre Miller all but set in stone in those roles. Additionally, the Rangers are extremely reliant on their highly-effective first power play unit, and Lundkvist wouldn’t be challenging for Fox’s job as that unit’s quarterback any time soon.

So, from a depth chart perspective, the motivation for Lundkvist to move teams is certainly understandable. For the Rangers, there is less reason for them to want to move Lundkvist outside of wanting to accommodate the player’s wishes. The Rangers are hard-pressed against the cap and figure to be in that position for the foreseeable future, so having cheap young talent like Lundkvist on their roster is important to keeping New York competitive as their veteran players become cap casualties.

Per Brooks, GM Chris Drury’s “target” in trade talks over Lundkvist is to acquire a “young, top-nine center who might grow with the organization.” While no specific teams that are potentially interested in Lundkvist were mentioned in the reporting, a few possibilities emerge when looking over the depth charts of other NHL clubs.

The Detroit Red Wings, for example, have a potential opening on the left side of their defense if they don’t want to use Jordan Oesterle as an everyday third-pairing defenseman. Lundkvist could potentially be a fit there playing next to his countryman, Gustav Lindstrom. He could even compete for a chance to play next to Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider as well. Lundkvist is, of course, a right-shot defenseman but if he wants to prioritize the best fit possible on a new team he might need to be flexible with where exactly in a lineup he plays.

One other factor making Detroit an intriguing potential trade partner is the fact that the Red Wings also have a young centerman who could fit the Rangers’ desired return: Joe Veleno. Veleno might not have a regular role down the middle in Detroit next season, given the emergence of Michael Rasmussen and the addition of Andrew Copp. Could a swap of the two 2018 first-rounders make sense for both teams?

That’s just one possibility for the Rangers and Lundkvist, and there will certainly be more options. While Lundkvist hasn’t been exceptional in North America, that’s exactly what he was in his native Sweden when he played for Lulea in the SHL. This is a bit of an unexpected storyline to have emerged, but it’s something to watch as we get closer to the opening of training camps.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Martin, SHL, Foley

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Former St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin might be just outside of the top-20 winningest coaches in NHL history, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be resuming his head coaching career anytime soon. Instead, the longtime coach has decided to take his career in hockey in a new direction. Per a team announcement, the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL have hired Martin as a senior advisor in their hockey operations department.

In adding Martin, the Frontenacs have added not only a big name to their management team but also someone with a wealth of NHL experience and some valuable OHL experience. Martin won the Memorial Cup in his only season as an OHL head coach, and his tenure was so successful that he was immediately tapped by the Blues to be their head coach for the 1986-87 season.  The Frontenacs lost in the second round of the OHL playoffs last season and will hope that the addition of Martin can help offset the potential loss of top prospect Shane Wright, who could very well play this season as a member of the Seattle Kraken.

Now, for some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • The Swedish Hockey League and ESPN announced today that they’d entered into a partnership with the goal of “reaching  and expanding the global audience of the SHL.” While no specific details were offered in the announcement, it seems likely that ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+, will be the landing spot of some (or all) SHL games for American audiences this season. ESPN+ is already home to a significant chunk of the NHL schedule and based on the comments given in the press release it looks like the plan is to bring the SHL to the service as well.
  • Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has seen his franchise enjoy a run of success that is unprecedented for any expansion team in North American professional sports. With the Golden Knights an established quality NHL team, it seems that Foley is looking to add to his sports ownership portfolio. Per Mark McAdam of Sky Sports News, Foley is in “advanced talks” to buy AFC Bournemouth, a soccer club in the Premier League, the top division of English soccer. If Foley does make this acquisition, he would become the fourth NHL owner to also hold a significant ownership stake in a Premier League side, joining Fenway Sports Group (Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool), Josh Harris and David Blitzer (New Jersey Devils, Crystal Palace), and Stan Kroenke (Colorado Avalanche, Arsenal).

Minor Transactions: 09/15/22

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NHL hockey is nearly here. Rookie tournaments have started, and training camps are soon to follow. Over the next few weeks, we’ll keep track of all the notable minor signings to see where minor league and fringe players will ply their trade this season.

  • The Calgary Flames’ 2021 second-round pick, William Stromgren, is switching SHL clubs. The forward spent last season with Rogle BK and scored a hat-trick in his first game this season for Rogle’s junior team. Per a team announcement, Stromgren has signed a two-year contract with Brynas IF, the club he said he believes is the best place for his development.
  • Former New York Rangers prospect Gabriel Fontaine has nearly 200 AHL games on his resume, and now he’s chosen to leave that league and head overseas to continue his playing career. Fontaine has signed a contract with Lukko of the Finnish Liiga, and will head there hoping to find better offensive results than he had last season, when he scored just 13 points in 39 games.
  • Nate Pionk, the brother of Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk, is back in the ECHL. After splitting time last season between the ECHL and the SPHL, Pionk has signed a one-year deal with the Indy Fuel. Pionk had nine points in 29 games for the South Carolina Stingrays last season and will likely play a depth role for the Fuel as they look to rebound from a difficult 2021-22 campaign.
  • After turning pro with the Wichita Thunder last season, former Colgate Raider Tyler Jeanson will head overseas to continue his career. Per a team announcement, Jeanson has signed a contract with Nykopings SK of the Swedish third-tier HockeyEttan. Jeanson had just 29 points in his 114-game collegiate career but was a member of Colgate’s leadership team as a senior, and he will bring that skillset to Nykopings.
  • Goalie Jake Kielly, who was in the playoff bubble with the Vancouver Canucks in 2020, is headed to Europe. The netminder has signed a contract with the EC Kassel Huskies of the German second-tier DEL2. Kielly has played at both the AHL and ECHL levels since he finished his collegiate career at Clarkson University and will compete with DEL2 veteran Jerry Kuhn for ice time with the Huskies.

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