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NCAA Notes: Farrell, Coronato, Transfer Portal

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While the emergence of Montreal Canadiens 2022 second-round pick Lane Hutson has attracted a significant amount of attention in the Montreal market (no doubt helped by the fact that it was his overtime goal that won Boston University the Hockey East title), 2020 fourth-round pick Sean Farrell has had an incredible season in his own right. The Harvard forward was recently named the ECAC’s player of the year after scoring 52 points in 33 games, and this comes after he scored six points in four games representing the United States at last year’s Winter Olympics. This has led to many wondering if the NHL could be just around the corner for Farrell, or if he would choose to play until graduation and potentially test the open market once his rights expire.

Based on recent reporting, it seems Canadiens fans may not have much to worry about. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin and Arpon Basu reported in a recent column (subscription link) that Farrell’s advisors at CAA have assured them that the scenario of Farrell graduating and testing free agency is “not one worth mentioning” because Farrell “has every intention of signing with the Canadiens.” This means that should Harvard be upset in their first-round matchup against Ohio State on Friday, “Farrell could be available as early as this Saturday,” and his signing would certainly add some excitement to what has been a rollercoaster Canadiens season.

Some other notes from college hockey:

  • Farrell’s teammate Matt Coronato, a 2021 lottery pick, is also a highly-regarded prospect who could be nearing an NHL debut. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reports that Flames general manager Brad Treliving is traveling to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Harvard’s aforementioned game against Ohio State with the goal of getting Coronato “signed and into an NHL game” whenever his season ends. Coronato just completed a second-straight point-per-game season, and is widely regarded to be the Flames’ best skater prospect.
  • New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver has reported that three NHL prospects are hitting the transfer portal, meaning they are exploring the possibility of transferring to another NCAA program. The first is Los Angeles Kings prospect Jack Hughes, a 2022 second-round pick who scored 16 points in 32 games for Northeastern. The next is Detroit Red Wings 2021 fourth-rounder Redmond Savage, who scored 14 points in 32 games for Miami University (Ohio) and made the United States World Juniors team the past two tournaments. The final player is Anaheim Ducks prospect Sam Colangelo, the 36th overall pick at the 2020 draft. Colangelo’s production declined from last season when he scored nearly at a point-per-game rate, and he could be looking for a fresh start for his age-22 campaign.

Seattle Kraken Sign Ville Ottavainen

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7:17 PM: The Kraken have now officially announced Ottavainen’s signing.

5:22 PM: According to CapFriendly, the Seattle Kraken have signed 2021 99th-overall pick Ville Ottavainen to a three-year entry-level deal set to begin next season. The contract reportedly carries a $876k cap hit with up to $57.5k in yearly performance bonuses. The contract also allocates Ottavainen minor-league salaries of $80k in the first year of the deal and $75k in the following two seasons.

Ottavainen had spent much of his younger days developing as a member of Karpat’s youth system, before choosing to spend his draft season in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers. Scoring just 15 points in 53 games, the OHL wasn’t the best fit for Ottavainen’s development and he ultimately went undrafted in his first year of eligibility at the 2020 draft.

As an August birthdate, though, there was always the possibility that Ottavainen was simply somewhat of a late bloomer, and upon his return to Finland with JYP he began to take some steps forward.

He was chosen in his second go-around at the draft, landing inside the 2021 class’ top-100 selections, in large part thanks to his big six-foot-five frame and the fact that he got into games with JYP at the Liiga level, a major step up from Kitchener.

Ottavainen established himself as a regular for JYP last season, and scored 14 points in 44 games, averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time per game. This season, he played in he scored 16 points in 51 games and averaged a similar amount of minutes per game.

Now that Ottavainen has more thoroughly filled out his big frame, he’s become a viable two-way defenseman in Liiga with some physicality to boot. While Ottavainen’s presence hasn’t stopped JYP from struggling considerably as a whole over the past few years, he has made himself into a legitimate NHL prospect for the Kraken.

Armed with this entry-level deal, Ottavainen could be in the mix to play for head coach Dan Bylsma’s AHL juggernaut Coachella Valley Firebirds and would give Kraken fans a big, interesting six-foot-five right-shot blueliner to pay attention to.

Injury Updates: Golden Knights Goalies, Makar, Aho

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While the Vegas Golden Knights have maintained their place in contention for the Pacific Division title this season, it hasn’t been an easy road for them, especially in the crease. Injuries to the team’s stable of goaltenders (starting way back over the summer when Robin Lehner underwent hip surgery) forced them to acquire the legendary Jonathan Quick from the Columbus Blue Jackets and has also forced Jiri Patera, who spent time in the ECHL last season, to make two starts. Thankfully for Vegas, though, it seems there could be a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the health of their goaltenders.

As relayed by Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy has revealed that all three of Quick,  Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit are traveling with the team on their three-game road trip. As a result of that trio nearing a return to the ice, the team sent Patera back to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. The return of Thompson in particular would come as a major boost to Vegas, as he had been the team’s number-one goalie before going down with an injury. He has posted a .914 save percentage in 36 games, and should he hit the ground running upon his return to the ice is in pole position to be the team’s playoff starter.

  • While he remains a player widely considered the best defenseman in the NHL, injuries have proved to be a roadblock for the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar, and have caused him to fall behind in the Norris Trophy race when compared to players such as the San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson. While he has thankfully seemed to put the concussion issues that sidelined him earlier this year behind him, there’s a new injury for him to deal with. Per the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando, Makar is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that the injury is “nothing too serious,” and that he is being held out for tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks as a precautionary measure. Makar has scored 61 points in 55 games this season and leads all NHLers in time-on-ice per game, averaging 26:36 TOI per game.
  • New York Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho left last night’s New York Islanders game with an injury, prompting the team to recall defenseman Samuel Bolduc to fill Aho’s spot in the lineup. Newsday’s Andrew Gross has more details on Aho’s injury, reporting that the Swede is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This season has been a breakout one of sorts for Aho, who has flown past his career-high in games played with 66 so far and seen his average time-on-ice tick upwards. He has scored 21 points this season and will hope to return to the lineup quickly to help New York clinch a return to the playoffs.

Minor Transactions: 03/15/23

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With the trade deadline long past us, playoff races are heating up across the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres are looking to end the league’s longest playoff drought, and their uphill climb to clinch a spot continues tonight as they take on the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs will get the chance to test themselves against the defending Stanley Cup champions. While hockey fans across the globe take in tonight’s games, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Juuso Riikola could be headed to Switzerland for next season, according to a report from Swiss outlet Watson. After playing four seasons in the Penguins organization, Riikola returned to Europe this summer, signing with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn. He’s done well for himself in Sweden, scoring 19 points in 42 games as an alternate captain, and is now rumored to be heading to the SCL Tigers, a team in the top tier of Swiss hockey.
  • The San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, have signed University of Connecticut captain Roman Kinal, a six-foot-two 24-year-old defenseman, to an ATO agreement. This deal will allow him to be with the Barracuda as they grapple for position in the AHL’s Pacific Division, giving him his first professional experience. As their recent trade for Harvard Blueliner Henry Thrun suggested, the Sharks organization is expected to look to mine talent from the NCAA ranks, so adding an experienced college player furthers that strategy.
  • Former Washington Capitals prospect Colby Williams has signed a one-year extension with his current club, KHL side Admiral Vladivostok. The former Regina Pats captain played his first season away from North America this year, after he signed with Vladivostok over the summer. After six seasons patrolling the blueline in the AHL, Williams scored 18 points in 67 games in Russia, a performance that earned him a one-year contract extension.
  • After nine seasons and 441 games with the DEL’s Augsburger Panthers, including the last three as their captain, Calgary native Brady Lamb will be playing elsewhere. The team has announced they and Lamb have parted ways. Lamb, who led the DEL in assists by a defenseman in 2017-18, has been a the face of the Panthers in recent years, helping them reach the playoffs twice in his tenure there. Augsburg endured a difficult 2022-23 season, and now they’ll look for a fresh face of their franchise moving forward.
  • Former New York Islander Johan Sundstrom is headed to Finland to continue his career, per a report from SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. The 30-year-old got 11 games with the Islanders in 2013-14 and has since played in Sweden, Russia, and China. After scoring 13 goals and 31 points for Frolunda in his first year back from the KHL, his effectiveness and role have declined, and he did not get into games for the club this season despite remaining on their payroll. Now, according to this report, he’ll be headed to Liiga’s Vaasan Sport to continue his pro career.
  • Former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Markus Hannikainen will leave his current club, the SHL’s HC Linkoping, according to a team announcement. The 29-year-old, who has 91 career NHL games on his resume, was unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension with the club. Since leaving North America in the summer of 2020, Hannikainen played two years for Jokerit Helsinki in the KHL before spending last season playing for Mannheim in Germany. He scored eight goals and 19 points in the SHL this season and will now look to find the next stop in his career.
  • Canadian Craig Schira, former captain of SHL side Rogle BK, will also not be returning to Linkoping for next season. He scored eight points in 76 games across two seasons for Linkoping and leaves after a difficult season that ended with Linkoping just outside the SHL’s relegation zone. He’s played in Europe since 2011-12 since leaving the Belleville Senators and has been an important defenseman for quite a few teams.
  • Defenseman Eric Martinsson, who played in 13 games for the Minnesota Wild organization in 2018-19, is leaving the SHL’s HV71. The two-time SHL champion has spent two of the last three seasons at HV71, save for last year, which he spent playing in the KHL in Kazakhstan. He scored 37 points in 51 games for HV71 in 2020-21, but registered only 12 points this season, a decline that possibly prompted this parting of ways.
  • The ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies have released defenseman Joey Colatarci, per the ECHL’s official transactions report. Colatarci, 28, has been a regular for the Grizzlies for the past two seasons but hasn’t registered a single point in 30 games this season. Now, the six-foot-two blueliner will look to find another club to continue his career in North America’s third-tier league.
  • 23-year-old defenseman Jacob Semik, an alternate captain for Arizona State University, has signed with the Grizzlies. His arrival could be seen as taking the place of the released Colatarci, who plays a similar style to him. By adding Semik, the Grizzlies give a college player a chance to make his professional debut and the opportunity to begin the process of climbing North America’s pro hockey ladder.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Christian Dvorak Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery

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The Montreal Canadiens’ season-long battle with the injury bug continues, as the team has announced that center Christian Dvorak underwent season-ending knee surgery today. Per the announcement, a full recovery is expected before the start of next season.

While no announcement has officially been made, it’s likely that Dvorak will land on injured reserve following this news. When that placement officially comes, he’ll join a whopping eight Canadiens players on either regular or long-term injured reserve.

The Canadiens have been absolutely decimated by injuries this season, and their list of contributors who have missed significant time this season rivals that of any other NHL club. They have lost players such as budding superstar Cole Caufield and promising rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj to their own season-ending surgeries, and now Dvorak joins that list.

The result of the slew of injuries the team has faced this season has been that coach Martin St. Louis has been forced to make do with an even more talent-depleted roster than the one the Canadiens entered the season with.

While some players such as longtime minor leaguer Alex Belzile and seventh-round pick Rafael Harvey-Pinard have seized the opportunities these injuries have provided them, it’s clear that the trouble the Canadiens have faced in the health department has cost them valuable development time for some key players.

For Dvorak, 27, this injury ends what has been an up-and-down season.

The former Arizona Coyotes center has always been the kind of player who is at his best when he can feed off of more gifted linemates, and in Montreal he has not been given that luxury.

As a result, his offensive production has declined as he’s settled into more of a defensive role.

He’s leading all Canadiens regulars in short-handed ice time per game and splits the task of handling the team’s hardest matchups with captain Nick Suzuki.

Dvorak, who makes $4.45MM against the cap through 2024-25, will finish his second season in Montreal with 10 goals and 18 assists in 64 games, which is a 13-goal, 36-point pace.

That’s a decline from the 48-point pace he posted last season, which is disappointing, but he has the type of consistency across his 422-game NHL career to suggest that he’ll have a chance to rebound next season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pittsburgh Penguins Place Dmitry Kulikov On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to March 12th. The move comes after Kulikov was knocked out of Sunday’s contest against the New York Rangers with a lower-body injury.

At the time, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told the media that Kulikov would be out on a week-to-week basis, and now the team has effectively confirmed that timeline by placing him on the long-term injured reserve list.

The veteran defenseman’s injury comes at an unfortunate time for Pittsburgh, as the team is looking to build some momentum and secure their spot in the playoffs. Kulikov was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks before the trade deadline and has played largely in a bottom-pairing role alongside offseason acquisition Jan Rutta.

While Kulikov averaged over 20 minutes of ice time in Southern California, he’s played a more limited role in Pittsburgh. As a Penguin, he’s averaging just under 13 minutes of ice time per game, but is logging nearly two of those minutes on the penalty kill.

While he’s a defenseman who is typically at his best when he goes unnoticed on the ice, the experience and stability he would bring to the Penguins’ bottom-pairing and penalty kill is valuable. In his place, Sullivan paired Pierre-Olivier Joseph next to Rutta, and Joseph struggled in over 17 minutes of ice time in the team’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Seeing as starting netminder Tristan Jarry has struggled immensely in recent games, it’s a difficult time for the team to lose such an experienced veteran defenseman like Kulikov.

While Pittsburgh eventually clinching a playoff spot seems like the likeliest outcome at the moment, (they have 78 points and two games in hand on the New York Islanders, who sit two points behind them in the second Wild Card Spot) losing Kulikov will certainly make things a little more difficult.

Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Daniil Tarasov On Emergency Basis

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that goaltender Daniil Tarasov has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

Per the team release, starting netminder Elvis Merzlikins is temporarily away from the team as he has returned to Latvia to be with his grandmother, who according to the announcement is seriously ill.

Tarasov’s return to the NHL roster will give Blue Jackets fans a preview of next season, when Tarasov will in all likelihood spend the season at the NHL level. The 23-year-old Russian netminder, who has struggled with significant injury issues over the past two years, loses his waiver eligibility next season, meaning he likely won’t be spending the year with AHL Cleveland as was the plan for this season.

In nine AHL games this season Tarasov has a .871 save percentage, although it is important to note that the Monsters’ lineup has been significantly impacted by the injury issues their parent-club has faced, meaning their talent on defense is more depleted than usual with so many players called-up.

At the NHL level, Tarasov has posted better numbers, with a .908 save percentage in 13 games. He has 17 career NHL games under his belt, and a career .914 save percentage, providing some optimism that he’ll be ready to back up Merzlikins next season. For as long as Merzlikins is away, Tarasov will share Columbus’ crease with veteran Michael Hutchinson.

Nashville Predators Reassign John Leonard

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The Nashville Predators have reassigned forward John Leonard to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

The brother of top 2023 NHL Draft prospect Ryan Leonard, John has been playing in Nashville since February 2nd, when he made his season debut in a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. Leonard scored his first goal of the year in that game, and finishes with just that goal and no assists in his four-game run at the NHL level.

A 2018 sixth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks, Leonard was sent to Nashville in the Luke Kunin trade over the summer. He made a name for himself playing college hockey at UMass Amherst, scoring around a point-per-game rate each year. He potted 27 goals in his final season of college, and scored 13 points in 44 NHL games with the Sharks the following year.

This season, he’s spent most of the year in Milwaukee, where he’s been a solid contributor. He has 32 points in 52 games at the AHL level, and heads back giving the Admirals a boost as they battle for position in the AHL’s Central Division.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Kirill Kudryavtsev

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev to a three-year entry-level contract, per a team release.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin issued the following statement regarding the signing:

Kirill has had a good season so far and our development team has been happy with his progress in the OHL. Our group looks forward to the opportunity to continue to work with him and get him ready for a pro career.

Allvin is entirely correct to say that Kudryavtsev has had a good season. The 2022 seventh-round pick has scored 45 points in 60 games for the Soo Greyhounds, a healthy increase from the 39 points in 68 games he scored in his rookie OHL season.

The Yaroslavl, Russia native doesn’t offer premier size standing at five-foot-eleven but he’s got a capable two-way game that should more easily translate to the professional game than some of the more high-octane styles of his peers in junior hockey.

Kudryavtsev has an entry-level deal in hand now, one that begins next season and pays him a league-minimum $775k base salary in the NHL, $80k in the minors (where he will likely spend time developing his game before he’s an NHL possibility) and a 75k signing bonus, according to CapFriendly.

With it, he’ll be able to enter Vancouver’s farm system and look to make a name for himself in what is a relatively thin Canucks defensive prospect pool.

Washington Capitals Loan Vincent Iorio to AHL

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The Washington Capitals have loaned defenseman Vincent Iorio back to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. This will place Iorio back to where he’s spent most of this season, having played 51 games at the AHL level.

Iorio, 20, is a 2021 second-round pick who has been with the Capitals for about a week. He played in his first three NHL games in that timeframe, getting between 12 and 15 minutes in each contest. He even registered his first NHL point, getting an assist in the Capitals’ 8-3 rout of the San Jose Sharks.

The six-foot-four former Brandon Wheat Kings is in his first season as a professional and has impressed with his mature play in the AHL. Iorio has registered just six penalty minutes despite playing a defense-first game, and while his 17 points in 51 games don’t jump off the page, he appears to be getting closer to NHL readiness.

Now, he’ll get to head back to Hershey for possibly the rest of their season, helping ready them for what the team hopes will be a long Calder Cup playoff run.

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