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Finland Releases 2023 IIHF World Championship Roster

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Finland has released the roster of players that will represent them at the 2023 IIHF World Championships next week. Finland will compete in Group A of the tournament, a group containing fellow hockey heavyweights such as Sweden, the United States, and Germany. They are hosts for half of the tournament and the medal games, with Group A contests, the semifinals, and finals set to be played at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.

This Finnish roster boasts some impressive talent, notably headlined by Colorado Avalanche superstar Mikko Rantanen. Other current NHLers on the roster include Kaapo Kakko, Olli Maatta, Kasperi Kapanen, and Joel Armia. Columbus Blue Jackets sniper Patrik Laine, one of the most naturally talented Finnish players in the world, won’t be playing in the tournament due to injury. Per a team announcement, Laine isn’t yet back to 100% after missing the final 12 games of the NHL season with an injury and prioritizing his recovery the choice was made to not represent Finland.

Perhaps the most interesting group of players to look at outside just the NHLers is in the crease. The Finns have 26-year-old Christian Heljanko as an option, fresh off of a season where he shined in the highest-pressure moments for his club Tappara Tampere. He backstopped Tappara to a Champions Hockey League title and Liiga title, but one wonders if that’ll be enough to unseat last year’s starter Jussi Olkinoura.

Olkinoura began the year with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but struggled through 15 games and eventually left to help save Brynas IF from relegation from the SHL, an attempt that ultimately failed. He shined in international play last year, though, earning Goalie of the Tournament honors at last year’s edition as well as the gold medal at both the IIHF Worlds and 2022 Winter Olympics. Also in the mix to start for Finland is Emil Larmi, who was among the best goalies in the SHL this season and recently led Vaxjo Lakers to a championship, winning playoff MVP honors along the way.

Will Finland trust their tournament in the hands of one of two players coming off of an excellent club season? Or will they keep faith in Olkinoura, who struggled in club play this season but led the country to Olympic and World Championship glory last year, and has a 14-1-1 record, 1.17 goals-against-average, and .947 save percentage in IIHF World Championship play?

Here’s the team as a whole:

F Marko Anttila
F Joel Armia
F Hannes Bjorninen
F Teemu Hartikainen
F Kaapo Kakko
F Kasperi Kapanen
F Juho Lammikko
F Sakari Manninen
F Waltteri Merela
F Ahti Oksanen
F Harri Pesonen
F Mikko Rantanen
F Jere Sallinen
F Antti Suomela

D Niklas Friman
D Miika Koivisto
D Mikko Lehtonen
D Olli Maatta
D Atte Ohtamaa
D Ville Pokka
D Mikael Seppala

G Christian Heljanko
G Emil Larmi
G Jussi Olkinuora

Latest On Matt Dumba

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The Minnesota Wild’s 2022-23 season ended with yet another first-round playoff loss last week, beginning the offseason work of general manager Bill Guerin. Guerin has a tall task ahead of him, as his mandate is to build a Stanley Cup contender around superstar Kirill Kaprizov but he must do so with the cap penalties charged for the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts set to rise to nearly $15MM combined.

One of the first cap casualties the Wild are anticipated to face due to the cost of those buyouts regards longtime Wild blueline staple Matt Dumba. The five-year, $6MM AAV contract Dumba signed in 2018 is set to expire, leaving his future in Minnesota in uncertain territory. Yesterday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast that it is “much more likely than not [Dumba] tests the market” when the new league year begins in the summer.

While Dumba may not reach the $6MM on his next contract that he earned on his last, it seems as though the Wild simply will not have the financial bandwidth to offer Dumba a market-rate contract. Friedman did add that the Wild are not yet closing the door on finding a way to retain Dumba, due to how much they respect and appreciate the player, but that his return has to be considered highly unlikely.

The upcoming class of free agent right-shot defensemen isn’t exactly overflowing with talent, and Dumba fits in as one of the top names set to be available, next to teammate John Klingberg and New Jersey Devils rearguard Damon Severson. While Dumba’s play has definitely declined since his 50-point peak in 2017-18, and his offensive production hit career-lows this past season, the 28-year-old still gave head coach Dean Evason over 21 minutes a night, including nearly two minutes short-handed.

21 minutes a night is, to be fair, a noticeable decline from the past few years as Dumba hadn’t averaged below 22 nightly minutes since he was in his first few seasons as an NHL regular. As a result, this decline in tangible returns for Dumba’s play (the decrease in ice time, points production) has left the 28-year-old’s ultimate value in a relatively nebulous place.

Is he still the dynamic, at times game-changing blueliner he was in the past? Can he still reach that point on his next contract?

Or is he a defense-only blueliner at this point in his career, and if that’s the case how much value in his own end will he bring?

Those are the questions teams will have to answer for themselves when they ponder extending Dumba a contract offer in the offseason.

It’s unclear at the current moment the level of wider leaguewide interest there is in Dumba, though it’s worth noting that all it really takes is one “believer” for Dumba to get a nice payday on his next deal.

Based on the fact that the Wild remain passionate supporters of Dumba’s overall value, and the fact that the team is still reportedly holding out hope they can find a way to retain him despite their dire cap situation, it’s entirely possible that another front office holds Dumba in a similarly high regard. If that’s the case, though, then his time in Minnesota (which has thus far lasted nearly 600 games played) is likely over.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2023 Jack Adams Award Finalists Announced

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The 2023 finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented to the coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success” and voted on by the NHL Broadcasters Association, were announced tonight.

The finalists are Dave Hakstol of the Seattle Kraken, Lindy Ruff of the New Jersey Devils, and Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins.

Of the three finalists, only Ruff has already won the award earlier in his career. Ruff won it in 2006 on the back of an impressive 52-win campaign. In his third season as the Devils’ bench boss, Ruff has guided a young team out of their rebuilding phase and into Stanley Cup contention. Under his guidance, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier have emerged as superstar talents and the Devils won their first playoff series since their 2011-12 run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Hakstol, a longtime college hockey coach at the University of North Dakota, is a finalist thanks to a stellar second season behind the bench of the expansion Seattle Kraken.

While Seattle did not enjoy the type of instant success the Vegas Golden Knights had in their first season, 2022-23 has been more kind to Hakstol’s squad.

The former Philadelphia Flyers coach has overseen the rise of one of the NHL’s deepest teams and led them to an upset victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions in their first-ever playoff series.

New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant won the Jack Adams for his work managing the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, and one of the most important factors leading to his win was to just how many players reached new heights in their careers with Gallant as head coach.

Hakstol has overseen similar career elevations in Seattle, with players such as Jared McCann, Vince Dunn, Daniel Sprong, and Eeli Tolvanen authoring career-best years in 2022-23. Now, with a chance to win a Stanley Cup for Seattle, Hakstol has a chance to take home some individual hardware as well.

Although Ruff and Hakstol are both exceptionally qualified candidates for the award, the favorite has to be Montgomery, the Bruins’ head coach. Despite the disappointment of the Bruins’ first-round playoff exit, Montgomery’s work with the Bruins is undeniably worthy of recognition. He managed the veteran team to the winningest regular season in NHL history, breaking numerous records en route to the Presidents’ Trophy.

Making that success even more impressive is the fact that this year was Montgomery’s first behind the bench in Boston. He took on the challenge of filling 2020 Jack Adams Award winner Bruce Cassidy’s shoes and delivered an all-time great regular season.

Although a Stanley Cup would undoubtedly have been the more desirable reward for his efforts this season, Montgomery nonetheless is in a prime position to take home one of the highest individual honors an NHL coach can receive.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 05/05/23

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The NHL second round continues today with Game Two between the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes. After a disheartening 5-1 loss in Game One, tonight is an important opportunity for the Devils to tie the series and head back to New Jersey on stable ground, while the Hurricanes will look to take a convincing 2-0 series lead into their set of away games in Newark.

The AHL playoffs are also underway, and their slate of games is highlighted by an all-important fifth game between Seattle Kraken affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Colorado Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche’s affiliate. Elsewhere in the hockey world, Great Britain earned promotion to the 2024 IIHF World Championships via a gold medal-winning victory over Italy in the IIHF Division 1A World Championships.

As these North American playoffs continue, many teams across the hockey world have begun their offseason work. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • Former Vancouver Canuck Linden Vey, a two-time KHL All-Star and champion in both Russia and Switzerland, is moving on to Germany to continue his professional career. Adler Mannheim have signed the 31-year-old forward to a one-year contract. Vey hasn’t played in North America since 2016-17 but has firmly established himself as a star in the Euro hockey circuit. He led the KHL’s Kazakh club Barys Astana in scoring with 41 points in 57 games this season and will now join other former NHLers in Jyrki Jokipakka, John Gilmour, and Tom Kuhnhackl as a new Mannheim signing.
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Viktor Lodin is reportedly headed back to Sweden, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. Svensson reports that the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn will sign Lodin to a two-year contract, completing his return to Sweden after a little over one season in North America. Lodin, a 2019 fourth-round pick, signed an entry-level deal with the Senators in 2021. Lodin was a key piece helping Timra IK earn promotion to the SHL that year, so following his entry-level contract signing the Senators loaned Lodin back to Timra, where he would help them avoid relegation back to HockeyAllsvenskan. He then crossed the Atlantic and had a blistering hot start to his North American career, potting eight points in 10 AHL games and earning his first NHL game. But now he’s headed back to his home country after enduring a difficult campaign this year, a season that ended in February and included enduring a hard hit from Arber Xhekaj in a rookie tournament preseason game.
  • IK Oskarshamn also officially signed a player today, acquiring former Vancouver Canucks prospect Lukas Jasek. The 25-year-old Czech winger is fresh off of a strong two-year run with Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans, including these past Liiga playoffs where his 13 points in 17 games helped the Pelicans reach the Liiga finals. Jasek spent parts of four seasons playing in the AHL with the Utica Comets but ultimately made the choice to return to Europe after failing to gain traction in the American league. Now, he’s headed to the SHL where he could be counted on as one of his team’s top scorers.
  • Recently-promoted SHL side MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik have made a significant signing to support their efforts next season to avoid relegation back down to HockeyAllsvenskan. They have added former NHL top prospect David Rundblad on a two-year contract. The 32-year-old blueliner spent this past season playing for Karpat in the Finnish Liiga, where he scored 26 points in 60 games. Rundblad is a former Salming Trophy winner, which is the award given to the SHL’s defenseman of the year, and will be one of the top defensemen in MoDo’s lineup next season. The 2014-15 Stanley Cup Champion has scored 73 points in 153 career games at Sweden’s top level and before 2022-23 had spent six consecutive seasons in the KHL.
  • After failing to carve out a consistent role in a crowded crease with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie prospect Filip Lindberg has made the choice to head overseas. The 24-year-old starred in the UMass Minutemen’s NCAA championship season in 2020-21 but struggled this season after a strong start to his AHL career last year. He posted a .896 save percentage in 20 games this season, the worst of the Penguins’ three main AHL goalies. He’s now made the choice to sign in a top European league, inking a two-year deal with TPS Turku in Finland’s Liiga. A strong performance in Turku could help him return to North America on stronger footing, should he still want to chase down eventually becoming an NHL goaltender.
  • Former QMJHL star netminder Samuel Harvey has signed with Lukko of the Finnish Liiga, finalizing a significant step up for his career after he led HC Bolzano on a run to the ICEHL finals this past season. It’s a significant opportunity for Harvey, as the competition level in Liiga is higher than what he faced in Italy. Harvey’s campaign in Bolzano was his first as a European pro, having split 2021-22 between the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets and AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
  • Lukko has made another signing, inking twin brothers Pathrik Westerholm and Ponthus Westerholm to contracts for next season. The pair have a sort of Sedin-like chemistry that has established them as quality contributors in the SHL, where they have spent the last three seasons playing for the Malmo Redhawks. The pair has played for Lukko before, a strong 2019-20 campaign that saw them rank second and third in team scoring behind current Columbus Blue Jacket Justin Danforth. Now, they’ll head back to Liiga hoping to help Lukko win a league title.
  • Grizzlys Wolfsburg have made an aggressive push to improve their team after losing in Game Seven of the DEL Semifinals to the league’s eventual champions. The team has announced that they have signed two-time DEL champion and Eisbaren Berlin star Matt White to a one-year contract. White, 33, has scored at a point-per-game rate in Berlin for the last three seasons and has extensive professional experience. He’s a former Nashville Predators farmhand who was a solid scorer in the AHL and has brought offensive production nearly everywhere he’s played. While a return to North America for the former USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year is likely off the table at this stage of his career, this signing gives White the chance to add some more hardware to his trophy cabinet in Germany’s top pro league.
  • Liiga’s Assat Pori have signed former Quebec Rampart Martin Lefebvre to a one-year contract. Lefebvre is coming off of an extremely successful season, a year where he won a Norwegian Championship with the Stavanger Oilers and also was named the league’s Player of the Year. The 30-year-old blueliner’s highest-level professional experience came in 2018-19 when he played for Krefeld Pinguine in the DEL, and now his run of success in one of Europe’s lower-level pro leagues has earned him a chance in one of the continent’s top competitions.

Washington Capitals Sign Michael Sgarbossa To Two-Year Contract Extension

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The Washington Capitals have signed forward Michael Sgarbossa to a two-year, two-way contract extension, according to CapFriendly. The deal reportedly has a league-minimum $775k AAV and a hefty $525k min0r-league salary. It represents a small raise for Sgarbossa, who took home a $500k AHL salary this past season.

This contract is a significant guarantee to a player who has been the best player on the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for several years. The 30-year-old is a two-time AHL All-Star who has 393 points in 530 career games in the American league. The former Sudbury Wolves star has filled in as NHL depth on 65 occasions across his 11-year professional career, and scored 16 career NHL points.

This season, Sgarbossa has been the Bears’ top scorer with 58 points in 60 games. He’s led Hershey to the AHL’s Atlantic Division Finals, with his three points helping push Hershey past the Charlotte Checkers. Sgarbossa has played for the Bears since 2018-19, and seems to have found his long-term role as a top-of-the-lineup Hershey Bear and priority call-up for the Capitals.

In a league where stability can be hard to find, this two-year contract extension serves as a nice reward for Sgarbossa’s strong play, as well as an important investment by the Capitals and their AHL affiliate in the success of Washington’s player development pipeline.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Michael Eyssimont To Two-Year Contract Extension

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that forward Michael Eyssimont has been re-signed to a two-year, one-way contract extension. Per the team release, the deal carries an $800k AAV.

The Lightning acquired Eyssimont, 26, in a trade with the San Jose Sharks a few months ago. Before that point, Eyssimont had been claimed off of waivers from the Winnipeg Jets by San Jose. He was set to become a Group Six unrestricted free agent, meaning this contract extension keeps Eyssimont from testing the open market.

Eyssimont is a 2016 fourth-round pick who brings considerable energy to any line he plays on. A former top scorer at St. Cloud State in the NCAA, Eyssimont three middling seasons with the Ontario Reign in the AHL, seasons where he failed to establish himself as a true NHL option.

Eyssimont signed with the Jets in the summer of 2021 and took a step forward with their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Eyssimont scored 42 points in 58 games with Manitoba and earned the right to make his NHL debut. This season, Eyssimont only spent nine games in the AHL before being called up to Winnipeg in November. After earning another shot in the NHL, Eyssimont didn’t look back, turning in quality play for the Jets.

Winnipeg attempted to send him back down to the Moose in January but at that point, Eyssimont had shown enough at the NHL level to entice another club to claim him on waivers. The Sharks did exactly that, and Eyssimont turned in a healthy eight points in 20 games in San Jose before being dealt to the Lightning, a team with designs on competing for the Stanley Cup.

While the Lightning fell in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Eyssimont’s individual season was far from a disappointment.

In just one season Eyssimont went from little-known AHLer to a well-regarded bottom-six energy player for one of the NHL’s most highly-regarded franchises.

His new contract is a one-way deal, helping his odds of remaining in the NHL for next season, although if he continues to play as he has recently finding a spot on coach Jon Cooper’s roster shouldn’t be a major issue.

For Tampa Bay, this contract locks in a bottom-six player at a highly affordable price. Should Eyssimont take another step forward in his game next season, the two-year term of this contract allows the Lightning to retain him on their roster at an $800k price tag.

It’s a solid bet for Tampa Bay’s front office to make, as well as a nice reward for a hard-working player who has only recently established himself as an NHLer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nashville Predators Sign Fedor Svechkov To ELC

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The Nashville Predators have signed one of their top prospects, inking 2021 19th overall pick Fedor Svechkov to a three-year entry-level deal. The financial terms of the contract were not included in the official announcement.

Svechkov, who turned 20 last month, is a Russian center who has thus far spent his entire hockey career in his home country. Up until his first season as a Nashville prospect, Svechkov played for Lada Togliatti in his home city of Tolyatti. In his draft season, he scored 15 points in 15 games at Russia’s junior level and potted an impressive 15 points in 38 games playing against men in the VHL, Russia’s second-highest level of hockey.

Svechkov’s positive traits (namely his polished two-way game) made him a highly-touted prospect at that year’s draft, and he was ranked sixth among international skaters by NHL Central Scouting. After he was selected 19th overall, Svechkov was traded to SKA St. Petersburg, where he made his KHL debut and scored 31 points in 30 VHL games.

In a move that helped him see more regular time in the KHL, Svechkov was traded last summer to Spartak Moscow in a major trade that landed top Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin in St. Petersburg. The move allowed Svechkov to play in 27 KHL games this past season, and although he registered just four points it’s worth noting that Svechkov’s role steadily increased as the year went on.

Now with this entry-level deal signed, Svechkov will begin his career with the Predators’ organization and begin to acclimate himself to North American ice. While he’ll in all likelihood get a chance to compete for a roster spot in Nashville, it seems the most prudent choice for his development would be to get some experience under his belt beforehand in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Regardless of where he ultimately begins his season in the fall, this signing brings a talented player into the fold for a re-tooling Predators team and could give AHL fans in Milwaukee the chance to watch one of Nashville’s top prospects in action.

Minor Transactions: 04/30/23

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It’s a day of Game Sevens across the hockey world, with two such contests set to be played in the NHL and one completed in Europe. In the NHL, the defending champion Colorado Avalanche are facing the upstart Seattle Kraken, while the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins are looking to fend off a challenge from Matthew Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers.

In Europe, MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik earned promotion to the SHL with a Game Seven victory over last year’s relegated club, Djurgardens IF. Former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Kristers Gudlevskis’ brilliant performance puts MoDo back in the SHL for the first time since 2015-16, and represents a significant achievement for the club after seven consecutive seasons in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. Elsewhere in Europe, today is a major day for the KHL as many teams are announcing the expiry of contracts for soon-to-be free agents.

A few final seasons in Europe are wrapping up and most clubs in foreign and minor leagues are getting to work on their offseason business. We’ll keep track of any notable moves they make here.

  • Former New Jersey Devils forward Nikita Gusev, a longtime star in the KHL, has mutually agreed with his club, SKA St. Petersburg, to terminate his contract and allow him to become a free agent. Gusev, 30, had an exceptional regular season in St. Petersburg, scoring 23 goals and 49 points in just 37 games played. Gusev returned to Russia in October 2021 after flaming out in the NHL, never quite able to recapture the success of his 44-point rookie season. Now a free agent, it could be possible that a return to North America is under consideration for the four-time KHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist.
  • 2011 12th overall pick and 175-game NHL veteran Ryan Murphy is among the players announced to be leaving KHL side Ufa Salavat Yulaev today. The 30-year-old’s 2022-23 season was a strong one, as he scored 17 points in 43 games and was selected to the KHL’s All-Star Game. Although Ufa were upset by Admiral Vladivostok in the first round of the playoffs, Murphy’s strong season opens the door for him to potentially earn a two-way NHL contract or AHL deal to return to North America. Former Buffalo Sabre Victor Antipin was also announced today to be departing Ufa, but seeing as he has been in the KHL for the past five seasons, it’s unlikely North America is in the cards for him.
  • Former Arizona Coyotes top prospect Brandon Gormley’s contract with his KHL side HK Sochi has expired today, per a team announcement. The 31-year-old has had a difficult run of results since winning back-to-back Champions Hockey League titles with Frolunda HC. Sochi were the worst team in the KHL this season, and Gormley managed just 12 points and a -21 rating in 43 games played. He’ll now have free rein to seek a new opportunity as a free agent.
  • Original Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft pick Teemu Pulkkinen’s contract with the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk expired today. Pulkkinen played the last two seasons in Chelyabinsk and saw his production decline this year, from 22 goals in 2021-22 to 15 in this campaign. Pulkkinen, the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year in his native Finland’s Liiga, is nonetheless an accomplished scorer in minor and European pro leagues and should have interest from many clubs looking to add some scoring for next season.
  • After signing former NHLer Remi Elie yesterday, the SHL’s Linkopings HC have made another big addition to their forward corps, inking former Philadelphia Flyer Taylor Leier to a two-year contract. The former WHL champion and AHL All-Star had a strong two-season run with the Tigers, totaling 39 goals and 101 points in 109 games there. Now, he’ll look to shoulder a similarly significant offensive workload as Linkoping attempts to climb the SHL standings.
  • Alexander Sharov, the fourth-leading goal scorer in the KHL this past season, will not return to HC Sibir Novosibirsk for next season. The 27-year-old Moscow native emerged as one of the better wingers in the KHL this past season, and could now be looking to parlay his goal-scoring success into a lucrative contract with a higher-profile KHL club.
  • Patrice Cormier, a former Winnipeg Jets center and former captain of their AHL affiliate has had his KHL contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg expire today. Cormier, 32, has twice finished the KHL’s most penalized player since signing in Kazakhstan in 2018, and now will have the chance to potentially return to North America or seek new opportunities in the KHL as a free agent.
  • Arizona Coyotes 2022 43rd overall pick Julian Lutz could be nearing the signing of his entry-level contract, according to an announcement from his club Red Bull Munich. Per Red Bull Munich, talks are ongoing between the 19-year-old winger and the Coyotes, likely on plans for an entry-level deal and his playing in North America (likely with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners) next season. Lutz had a decent season for the eventual DEL champions, scoring eight points in 24 games. He also made Germany’s team for the 2023 World Junior Championships and registered two points in five games at the tournament.

West Notes: Kopitar, Fiala, Chibrikov

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The Los Angeles Kings’ season-ending loss last night is still fresh in the minds of many, but that hasn’t stopped some of the team’s players from looking forward to the future in today’s exit media availabilities. One of those players is captain Anze Kopitar, who said today to the media (including The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein) that he wants to retire as a “one-franchise player” and would like to have a conversation about a contract extension this summer.

Kopitar, 35, will see his $10MM AAV deal expire next summer and is therefore eligible for a contract extension at the start of the new league year. Despite reaching his mid-thirties Kopitar remains the Kings’ most important player. He’s a lineup-topping first-line-center who scored 74 points in the regular season and seven points in the team’s six-game playoff loss. While the Kings might not have the financial bandwidth to have his next contract match his current $10MM cap hit, this looks to be a situation where both sides are highly motivated to get a deal done and therefore it’s a decent possibility that we see a Kopitar contract extension this summer.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Kings’ most important winger, Kevin Fiala, talked to the media today as well and gave an update on the status of his health. While he did not want to dive into specifics, Fiala called the injury that caused him to miss three games of the Kings’ first-round series a continuation of the knee injury he suffered earlier in the season against the Colorado Avalanche. He did state that no summer surgery would be necessary to get him back to full health, which is great news for the Kings as Fiala (72 points in 69 regular-season games and six points in three playoff contests) is their most dynamic offensive generator.
  • Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays word from Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff at his press conference today that Jets 2021 second-round pick Nikita Chibrikov is in Winnipeg and is expected to join the AHL’s Manitoba Moose at the conclusion of his KHL contract. The expectation is that the 20-year-old winger will play in North America next season after spending most of this season with Spartak Moscow in the KHL. As is the norm for many younger players in the KHL, Chibrikov received very few minutes in the 31 games he played in the KHL this season, sometimes playing as little as 46 seconds, as he did in a February loss to Dynamo Moscow. It’s very possible that the Jets view the AHL as a better developmental environment for Chibrikov, prompting today’s announcement.

Kevin Cheveldayoff To Remain Winnipeg Jets GM

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Those expecting sweeping organizational changes after the Winnipeg Jets’ frustrating five-game series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights are likely to be disappointed. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Kevin Cheveldayoff will remain in his position as Jets’ general manager and will be the one to guide the club through what looks to be an extremely uncertain future. In addition, Cheveldayoff announced that head coach Rick Bowness would remain the team’s head coach.

Cheveldayoff has been the only GM the Jets have had since they relocated from Atlanta in advance of the 2011-12 season. His reign seemed to reach its peak in the 2017-18 season when he was named a finalist for the GM of the Year Award. The Jets made a run to the Western Conference Final that year, falling to the upstart Vegas Golden Knights.

Their core of Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler and 44-goal scorer Patrik Laine looked to be among the most complete cores any competitive team could boast, and that conference finals run looked to be simply a warning shot to the rest of the league that a new era of true Stanley Cup contention was set to begin in Winnipeg.

That didn’t happen, though, and for a variety of reasons the Jets currently find themselves in an uncertain organizational place. Byfuglien’s surprise retirement proved quite the curveball for the team to handle, and while the emergence of Morrissey and Neal Pionk has helped Winnipeg maintain a solid stable of blueliners, Byfuglien added a dynamic element to their team that the Jets still miss.

On offense, Laine’s maddening inconsistency and uncertain contract situation prompted the team to deal him and another frustrating first-round pick, Jack Roslovic, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois scored 67 points in 78 combined regular-season and playoff games this season, but his night-to-night inconsistency and his apparent desire to test the unrestricted free-agent waters in 2024 has left the Jets wanting more.

Now, Winnipeg has four key players set to potentially hit the open market after next season: Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Scheifele, and Dubois.

Cheveldayoff has in the past traded players in similar situations, such as Jacob Trouba and Andrew Copp, rather than let them hit the open market and be lost for “nothing.”

One might assume given how long Cheveldayoff has been in position as the Jets general manager, the organization might prefer a fresh face to lead them in any sort of rebuilding or retooling direction.

With so many key players inching closer to unrestricted free agency, the best path for the Jets could very well be to cash in on those assets and use them to retool around a new core of players like Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Pionk, and Morrissey.

It’s also true, though, that the news that Cheveldayoff will remain in charge of the Jets’ hockey operations indicates that such a drastic shift in organizational direction (towards a re-tool) isn’t yet on the table.

Instead, it could be that Cheveldayoff’s mandate for the summer will be to surround his existing core with as much talent as possible in order to make one last run for a Stanley Cup next season.

If that’s indeed the direction the organization prefers, the 2023-24 season becomes possibly the most important campaign in this new era of Jets hockey. Based on Friedman’s reporting, it seems Cheveldayoff will be the one to guide the Jets through that all-important year, and this upcoming all-important summer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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