Vancouver Canucks Sign Nikita Tolopilo
The Vancouver Canucks have signed goaltender Nikita Tolopilo to a two-year entry-level deal, according to a team announcement. According to CapFriendly, the contract carries a $950k average annual value and begins in the 2023-24 season.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin issued the following statement on the signing:
We are excited to have agreed to terms with Nikita as we continue to build out our prospect pool and add to our organization’s depth in goal. He provides a combination of tremendous size and skill and has developed well at the professional level the past two seasons in Sweden, serving as one of the more accomplished goaltenders in his league this year.
Tolopilo, 22, is an undrafted netminder who has spent the last two seasons manning the crease for Sodertalje SK, a club in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second tier of Swedish pro hockey. Before Sodertalje, Tolopilo played in his native Belarus, where he worked his way up the development ladder all the way to the KHL with Dynamo Minsk.
Last season, Tolopilo split the crease with 2013 San Jose Sharks draft pick Fredrik Bergvik, posting an .899 save percentage and 3.27 goals-against-average in 34 games played.
Tolopilo seemed to struggle behind a poor Sodertalje squad, but when the games counted most he shined. He posted a .951 save percentage and 1.57 goals-against-average in Sodertalje’s postseason, saving the club from relegation to third-tier HockeyEttan.
Tolopilo carried on that impressive postseason performance to this year, his first as Sodertalje’s undisputed number-one goalie. His share of starts grew from 34 to 45, while Bergvik’s dropped to just 10, and with that increased workload came significant improvements in Tolopilo’s numbers.
This season he posted a .924 save percentage and 2.17 goals-against-average, leading Sodertalje to HockeyAllsvenskan’s promotion play-offs just a year after nearly getting relegated.
While more credit towards fueling Sodertalje’s improvement may belong to offseason additions such as former Colorado Avalanche draft pick Linus Videll (57 points in 42 games) and Daniel Norbe (38 points in 49 games from the blueline) it’s also true that Tolopilo’s game took a leap.
With promising numbers in a professional league and the type of size NHL teams covet (he’s listed as six-foot-six by his club) it’s easy to see why the Canucks have made this signing.
While the Canucks no longer have an ECHL affiliate to work with, Tolopilo could potentially work in a tandem with Latvian Arturs Silovs next season in AHL Abbotsford, although that hinges on Spencer Martin either returning to NHL backup duty or leaving the organization, as he’s under contract through next year.
Regardless of the Canucks’ development plan for Tolopilo, it’s hard to complain about the organization’s choice to sign him. His play over the past year-plus has been impressive, and he offers the physical traits NHL teams love to see in goalie prospects. Although he still has a lot to prove before he’s an NHL consideration in Vancouver, this entry-level deal gives him the opportunity to climb the North American professional hockey ladder.
Jonathan Toews To Return To Chicago Blackhawks Lineup
On March 28th, we covered reports stating that Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was attempting to make a comeback from the injuries that sidelined him indefinitely earlier this year in order to play some more games before the end of this season.
With Toews reportedly considering retirement, it seemed as though he may have a desire to have a final send-off from Blackhawks fans, similar to the one Carey Price received last season after making his way back from significant health-related challenges.
With the Blackhawks set to take on the New Jersey Devils in a nationally-televised home game tomorrow, it seems Toews will get his wish. Chicago head coach Luke Richardson told the media, including NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, that Toews will play in Saturday’s game. It will be Toews’ 47th game of his season, and his first since late January.
In February, Toews issued a statement detailing some of the health-related challenges he was facing, challenges that were seriously threatening his ability to play. In that statement, he disclosed that he was “still dealing with the symptoms of Long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome,” and that he had “reached the point where [he] had no choice but to step back and concentrate on getting healthy.”
Thankfully, today’s announcement indicates that Toews’ health has improved since that point, which even putting aside any hockey-related considerations is news to celebrate.
From an on-the-ice perspective, Toews’ improved health also means a great deal to the Blackhawks. While the team is currently in prime contention to earn the best odds for the upcoming draft lottery, Toews’ return isn’t about giving the team a better chance of winning some of the few games they have left this season.
Instead, Toews’ return injects some much-needed meaning and significance to what remains of the Blackhawks’ season, as it could be Blackhawks fans’ final few chances to see a franchise icon take the United Center ice.
So while Blackhawks fans and the Chicago market overall remain wholly fixated on the future and the players who might enter the organization in the coming months, Toews’ return serves as an important opportunity for the organization to celebrate its past, and potentially say an official goodbye to the leader of the most successful era in Blackhawks history.
New York Islanders Sign Two NCAA Free Agents
The New York Islanders have announced the signings of two college free agents to two-year entry-level deals beginning in the 2023-24 campaign: Aidan Fulp and Travis Mitchell.
The first of these two signings, Fulp, adds a big defensive defenseman to the Islanders’ system. Six-foot-four, 215-pound right-shot defensemen don’t grow on trees, and those unreachable physical attributes alone make him an intriguing player for Islanders fans to track.
The 23-year-old, a top-four defenseman for Western Michigan, has an edge to his game and is an intimidating presence in his own zone, playing the sort of chance-killing style that many coaches have come to appreciate.
While there’s not much of an offensive game to speak of (he scored 39 points in 97 career games at Western Michigan) Fulp brings some leadership value to the table as well, having served as an alternate captain in college and as the captain of the Dubuque Fighting Saints during his time in the USHL.
He even won the Curt Hammer Award as a USHLer, an award given to the “player that distinguishes himself both on and off the ice by demonstrating outstanding performance skills, pride and determination.”
The second player the Islanders signed, Mitchell, is like Fulp a big stay-at-home defenseman. The 23-year-old Cornell University product scored 19 points in 34 games this season and earned this entry-level contract on the back of a pro-ready defensive game.
He’ll be able to hold his own in a more difficult professional setting and should be a solid addition to the Islanders’ defensive equation with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders, next season.
These two free-agent additions represent a useful injection of young talent to what is generally seen as a weak prospect pool. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked the Islanders’ farm system #27 in the NHL earlier this year, (subscription link) and that came before the Islanders dealt away top-ranked prospect Aatu Raty.
With only three blueliners in the Islanders’ top-10 prospects as ranked by Wheeler, adding these two NCAA free agents to their system is a strong, needed bit of business by GM Lou Lamoriello.
Los Angeles Kings Recall Tobias Bjornfot On Emergency Basis
The Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Tobias Bjornfot from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on an emergency basis.
This recall was likely necessitated by an injury sustained by top-pairing defenseman Mikey Anderson, an injury that knocked him out of last night’s 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
While the Kings already had seven defensemen on their roster (Sean Walker was a healthy scratch versus Edmonton) adding Bjornfot gives coach Todd McLellan additional defensive reinforcements for the Kings’ upcoming trip to the Pacific Northwest, with games against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.
Bjornfot, 21, is a 2019 first-round pick who has spent most of this season with the Reign. With the Kings’ trade deadline acquisition of Vladislav Gavrikov, the team’s pool of left-shot defensemen got even deeper, further pushing Bjornfot down the depth chart, even though he played 70 NHL games last season.
In the AHL, Bjornfot has played a top-pairing, minutes-eating role that has often paired him alongside 2019 fourth-rounder Jordan Spence. His sound overall game has led him to be the defensive anchor on that pairing, and as a result, he has helped Spence play with the sort of offensive freedom that has allowed him to post 42 points in 51 games.
Bjornfot’s numbers aren’t quite there (he has 12 points in 47 games) but he has had a strong run of recent production, with a four-game point streak between March 21st and 26th.
Now back in the NHL for the first time since February, Bjornfot will have the chance to re-enter the Kings’ lineup and show what he can do on an NHL stage. As he’s eligible for restricted free agency over the summer, any NHL time Bjornfot receives could be crucial in helping him leave a strong impression before offseason negotiations.
San Jose Sharks Reassign Martin Kaut
The San Jose Sharks announced today that forward Martin Kaut has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The move comes just after Kaut registered an assist in the Sharks’ 4-3 overtime victory against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kaut’s reassignment is somewhat surprising given the strong form he has displayed in recent games. Since his March 18th recall, Kaut has scored four points in six games, seeing his ice time rise to over 18 minutes on two occasions.
Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Ryan Merkley in a swap of underachieving 2018 first-round picks, (the deal also involved two other players) Kaut has fit in quite well wherever he’s been assigned in the Sharks organization.
In the AHL, Kaut has scored 13 points in 15 games for the Barracuda, and his overall total for the Sharks is five points in nine games. While he has just 11 career points in 56 games, the Sharks were intrigued enough by what Kaut could bring to the table to surrender Merkley, a player who was once the team’s top defensive prospect.
While it’s still too early to tell if the swap will ultimately pay off for GM Mike Grier, it’s impossible to be anything but encouraged by how Kaut has been playing. Now back with the Barracuda, he’ll be expected to take an important, top-of-the-lineup role as the team looks to close out what has been an uneven AHL campaign.
This reassignment obviously hurts the 23-year-old’s ability to get a few more productive NHL games on his resume before his contract expires over the summer and he hits restricted free agency. But if he can continue to play well in the AHL, he will likely head into offseason negotiations on stronger footing than he entered the year on.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Akito Hirose
Mar. 29: The Canucks have officially signed Hirose to an entry-level contract, which will last one season. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal confirms the contract is for this season, carrying an NHL salary of $855,000, a minors salary of $82,500, and a $95,000 signing bonus. As CapFriendly notes, because it’s a one-year contract signed late in the season, it has a pro-rated cap hit of roughly $2.11MM. Hirose will report directly to Vancouver.
Mar. 26: The Vancouver Canucks are expected to land their second NCAA free agent of the day: Minnesota State defenseman Akito Hirose.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal was first to indicate mutual interest between Hirose and Vancouver, while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added that Hirose could join the Canucks this week. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta notes that Hirose’s expected signing with Vancouver “has been in the works” for a few weeks.
While it’s important to clarify that nothing as of yet is official and until an official contract announcement is made anything can happen, this reporting does hint at a widely-held expectation that Hirose will be signing with the Canucks.
The expected acquisition of Hirose comes just after the Canucks announced the signing of Max Sasson from Western Michigan University. With Hirose expected to join the team and Sasson plus former Northeastern University forward Aidan McDonough in the mix, these recent transactions indicate that targeting NCAA talent will be an organizational priority for this still relatively new Canucks front office.
The younger brother of Detroit Red Wings minor leaguer Taro Hirose, Akito has made a name for himself over the past few seasons. He was named BCHL defenseman of the year in 2019-20 and was his conference rookie of the year in 2020-21. Last season, he helped Minnesota State reach the NCAA National Championship game and his stellar defensive play helped contribute to netminder Dryden McKay‘s Hobey Baker Award win.
This season, Hirose has been a top-pairing, all-situations minutes-eater for Minnesota State. Paired with Jake Livingstone, a fellow coveted free agent, he led his program back to the NCAA tournament before they fell to St. Cloud State. He finishes his college career with a healthy 68 points in 104 games, and as Friedman notes could get his feet wet against NHL competition sooner rather than later.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Jon Gillies On Emergency Basis
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that netminder Jon Gillies has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, on an emergency basis. The move comes after starting netminder Elvis Merzlikins suffered an apparent leg injury during the team’s 8-2 loss last night against the Montreal Canadiens.
Veteran Michael Hutchinson entered last night’s game in relief for Merzlikins and is now likely to take over the starter’s crease for as long as Merzlikins is sidelined. Hutchinson was acquired at the trade deadline from the Vegas Golden Knights in the Blue Jackets’ Jonathan Quick trade and has appeared in eight games in Columbus.
He hasn’t been great in that span and has a .874 save percentage, but it’s important to note that Hutchinson has often been placed in less-than-ideal circumstances having to enter games in relief for other goalies.
Hutchinson in total has played 15 games this season, those eight with Columbus and seven in the AHL with the Golden Knights’ affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. He posted a 1-5-1 record and an .897 save percentage with Henderson but does have a .917 career save percentage in the AHL.
The Blue Jackets’ newest netminder is Gillies, 29, a 2012 second-round pick who was acquired from the Arizona Coyotes when Columbus sent Jakub Voracek‘s contract to the desert.
The former college hockey star was the backup for five games with AHL Cleveland and has played a total of 15 games this season, all for Arizona’s AHL affiliate. Gillies has a career .893 save percentage in 32 NHL games, with 19 of them coming with the New Jersey Devils last season.
Both Gillies and Hutchinson are on expiring league-minimum two-way contracts this season, meaning the rest of this season serves as an important opportunity for each to put some solid starts on tape and give themselves the best possible footing to enter the offseason.
Philadelphia Flyers Send Tyson Foerster, Egor Zamula To AHL
The Philadelphia Flyers are providing their AHL affiliate with a major boost for their playoff push. Per a team announcement, Tyson Foerster and Egor Zamula have been loaned back to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
While the Phantoms are unlikely to be able to catch the Hershey Bears for the second seed in the AHL’s Atlantic Division (therefore securing them a bye past the best-of-three first round of the playoffs) they could still feasibly catch the Charlotte Checkers to earn the third seed, which could be a factor that motivated these two loans.
Foerster in particular has made this decision a difficult one due to how well he’s played in his first taste of NHL action. Foerster is riding a five-game point streak with three goals and seven points in that span. The Flyers have won four out of their last five games as well, with their only loss coming in overtime against the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
While this is unlikely to have been any significant motivator to the team sending Foerster back to the AHL, the Flyers are now four points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the fifth-best odds in the draft lottery.
By sending their red-hot rookie scorer back to the AHL, the Flyers have (perhaps not intentionally) raised their chances of getting back into prime Connor Bedard contention.
There is, of course, a legitimate case to be made that this is the most appropriate choice for Foerster’s development, and that’s likely to be the sole reason the Flyers have sent him down.
Despite how much NHL front offices seem to value gaining the best odds in the draft lottery, a team is still far more likely to make decisions on individual players based on what they believe to be best for the player’s development.
It’s reasonable to believe that having Foerster play a crucial role in meaningful AHL games for the rest of this season will be better for his development than playing some extra NHL contests near the end of what has been a generally miserable Flyers season.
The 21-year-old 2020 first-round pick has excelled in the AHL this season, thoroughly bouncing back after an injury-plagued 2021-22. He’s scored 19 goals and 39 points in 57 games and will be counted on as a top offensive option for second-year head coach Ian Laperriere.
If the Phantoms end up making any noise in the Calder Cup playoffs, it’s likely that Foerster will be a major reason why.
As for Zamula, he heads back to the AHL where he, like Foerster, has spent most of this season. The 22-year-old has scored 16 points in 42 AHL games and has been a top-pairing all-situations blueliner for the team.
Eligible for restricted free agency in the summer, a strong showing as a number-one defenseman for a Calder Cup playoff team would put Zamula in a strong position for offseason contract negotiations, and help support the idea that he’ll be ready to compete for a more regular NHL role in next fall’s training camp.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Boston Bruins Recall Oskar Steen On Emergency Basis
The Boston Bruins have announced that forward Oskar Steen has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, on an emergency basis. The recall puts Steen in a position to play his first NHL game(s) of the 2022-23 season.
Steen, 25, has been a developmental success story for the Bruins organization, as the 2016 sixth-round pick has 100 points in nearly 200 career AHL games and has 23 total NHL games to his name. That’s a solid return for such a late draft pick, and with an $800k cap hit through next season Steen should serve as capable, energetic depth for a stacked Bruins team.
Steen scored 35 points in 49 AHL games last season and got 20 games at the NHL level, scoring six points. Due in large part to how talented this year’s Bruins lineup is from line one through four, Steen hasn’t yet played in the NHL this season.
But despite that disappointment, he has remained a healthy contributor to Providence, where he has scored 31 points and helped them clinch a Calder Cup playoff spot.
Now, Steen will potentially get a chance to play some NHL games and show that can be an option for the team next season. With the Bruins potentially set to be tight against the salary cap’s upper ceiling for next season, Steen’s affordable cap hit and progress in the AHL could make him an attractive candidate for a bottom-six role next season. Now called up to his team’s main roster, Steen will have the chance to make his case in front of Bruins decision-makers.
Chicago Blackhawks Reassign Buddy Robinson
The Chicago Blackhawks have reassigned forward Buddy Robinson to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, per a team announcement. The move ends Robinson’s latest run of NHL time, a stretch that began when he was recalled on March 13th before a game against the Boston Bruins.
This six-game run began well, with Robinson playing over 11 minutes in his team’s stunning 6-3 victory over the league-leading Boston Bruins. He then helped the Blackhawks to a victory over the Nashville Predators, playing 10 minutes in a 2-1 win. Since that point, though, things have taken a turn for the worse, as Chicago has lost their last four games and been outscored 18-4 in that span.
While Robinson’s ice time has ticked up slightly with each passing game, his contributions did not translate onto the box score. In the losing streak, he registered seven shots on goal and two penalty minutes, and perhaps the most impressive thing he can boast from that stretch is the fact that he had an even plus-minus rating in three of four games despite how decisively Chicago was defeated in those games.
In total, Robinson hasn’t yet found the scoresheet in his seven NHL games this season. He’s been brought to the NHL more for his size and ability to add to a team’s physical game, which is something he leverages his six-foot-six, 232-pound body to be able to contribute.
Now that he’s back in Rockford, Robinson will be able to help the IceHogs in their playoff push. He’s a more accomplished scorer in the AHL than he has been able to be in the NHL, and has 19 points in 45 games this season. His value as a versatile AHL scorer and NHL bottom-six grinder is reflected in the contract he signed last summer, a one-year league-minimum deal that boasted a hefty $475k AHL salary.
If he can help Rockford reach the playoffs and potentially even go on a run, while also bringing bottom-six grit when called upon in the NHL, he’ll put himself in a sound position should he hit the open market in a few months.