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International Notes: Menell, MacInnis, Gilmour, Jokipakka

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It appears that defenseman Brennan Menell has signed a three-year extension to continue his stay in the KHL. Menell has apparently re-signed with Dynamo Moskva to extend his career overseas. The smooth skating defenseman was able to re-capture some of his scoring touch is his return to the KHL after suffering through an offensive drought in the 2021-22 season. Menell had returned to North America for 2021 with the Toronto Marlies and couldn’t find any consistency before being dealt to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of the season. He finished out the year and signed a deal with Dynamo last summer.

This past season in the KHL the 25-year-old put up two goals and 22 assists in 44 games to finish seventh on the team in scoring. It was a return to form for the Minnesota native as he had shown an offensive flair in his only previous KHL season in which he scored 38 points in 47 games for Dinamo Minsk.

In other international notes:

  • Center Ryan MacInnis has re-signed with Adler Mannheim of the DEL on a one-year deal. The St. Louis native was a second-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2014 and played 26 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets over two seasons, tallying just a single assist. The big, strong forward is the son of NHL legend Al MacInnis and had a terrific OHL career with the Kitchener Rangers, but at this point given his lack of offensive production it’s hard to see him returning the NHL.
  • Sticking with Adler Mannheim, they have signed defenseman John Gilmour to a contract. Gilmour was a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2013 and played this past season with Minsk Dynamo where he put up nine points in 52 KHL games. The Montreal native has previously dressed in games for the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, notching five points in 37 NHL games.
  • Finally, Adler Mannheim also signed defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka to a contract.  The 31-year-old Finland native last played in the NHL during the 2016-17 season with the Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames. That final NHL season saw the rearguard notch six points in 41 NHL games. Jokipakka spent last season in Liiga where he had 19 points in 50 games playing for Ilves.

Michael Bunting Suspended Three Games

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has announced that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting has been suspended for three games for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak. Bunting will miss games 2-4 of the Lightning-Leafs first round series while Cernak will not play in game two on Thursday after taking the hit to the head.

Tampa Bay could also be without the services of defenseman Victor Hedman, who will be a game time decision for game two. Hedman also left the Lightning’s 7-3 victory with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The hit on Cernak led to a match penalty and a five-minute powerplay that the Lightning ultimately cashed in on twice. Tampa Bay was 4-8 on the man advantage in game one.

Bunting has been a revelation for the Leafs after coming over from the Arizona Coyotes on a two-year deal. After putting up 63 points last season in 79 games, this year he put up 49 points in 82 games. Despite his strong offensive numbers, the Bunting incident is eerily similar to the suspension issues the Maple Leafs dealt with when Nazim Kadri was in Toronto. He had several incidents in the playoffs that eventually led to a trade to the Colorado Avalanche and now Bunting has had a few issues this season with various run-ins with the league. However none have led to suspensions until his hit in game one.

Jack Johnson’s Injury Not Believed To Be Serious

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Ryan Boulding of NHL.com that he doesn’t believe the injury to Jack Johnson is serious and he has the defenseman as day to day. Johnson was scratched late on Tuesday night before their game one matchup with the Seattle Kraken. Erik Johnson took his spot on the blue line in the 3-1 loss.

Jack Johnson had signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks last summer after winning his first Stanley Cup with Colorado. The Michigan alum then returned to the Avalanche in a midseason trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. Overall, the former third overall pick had two goals and six assists in 83 games split between both teams.

While Jack Johnson doesn’t possess the offensive abilities that he once did and has struggled at times in his own end, he is likely the best fit for Colorado’s third pairing. If he can play in game two on Thursday it would likely bump Erik Johnson back out of the lineup. The 2006 first overall pick has struggled this season after putting up a respectable 25 points just last year.

The Avalanche currently find themselves down 1-0 to the lower seeded Kraken as they begin the defense of the Stanley Cup. They are already missing Gabriel Landeskog and Josh Manson and can ill afford to lose any more bodies as they try to claw back even in their series with Seattle.

Buffalo Sabres Hope To Extend Power And Dahlin

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The Buffalo News reporter Lance Lysowski reported today that Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has expressed to the agents of Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin that the team would like to sign both defensemen long term. The Sabres have been aggressive in locking up their young core to long term deals and this development would keep in line with that gameplan. Both players have a year left on their current contracts and would be restricted free agents in 2024, albeit with much different degrees of bargaining power.

Dahlin will be completing a three-year bridge contract and since his contract was backloaded, he will carry a qualifying offer of $7.2MM. The former first overall pick could simply accept the one-year deal and march into unrestricted free agency in summer 2025. Power on the other hand will have just completed his two-year entry-level contract and would only be due a qualifying offer just under $875K. He would also be ineligible for an offer sheet since he wouldn’t have enough service time to qualify as a Group 2 RFA. This could make for an interesting negotiation and keep the average annual value down.

Dahlin is coming off a career season in which he put up 15 goals and 58 assists in 78 games. He teased his offensive prowess in recent seasons but this season he was finally able to breakthrough and produce like an elite offensive defenseman. The 23-year-old Swede, along with Power led a defensive unit that backed the Sabres to their highest point total since 2010-11, the last time the club made the playoffs.

Power on the other hand just completed his first full NHL season and ranked second in 5-on-5 ice time per game played (19:46) among all NHL skaters. On the offensive side, Power had four goals and 31 assists in 79 games and helped spark the Sabres second defensive pairing. He played a little over half of the powerplay time that Dahlin played and only managed eight assists on the man advantage. Should Power see more time on the powerplay, he could see a large uptick on his point totals.

While there is an element of risk in any extension the Sabres have not shied away from taking the plunge. When Buffalo signed Tage Thompson to a seven year $50MM contract extension last August many felt that they had rushed to judgment and could end up with a bloated overpay. However, Thompson followed up his new contract with a second straight career year, finishing with 94 points in 78 games. One could make a similar argument for Power who has played just a single full NHL season, however in the case of Dahlin, he has demonstrated a half decade of impressive play and appears to only be getting better.

Skyler Brind’Amour Signs PTO With Charlotte Checkers

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PHR reported earlier this week that Skyler Brind’Amour would not be putting pen to paper with the Edmonton Oilers and now the 23-year-old has signed a professional tryout with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Skyler, the son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, just wrapped up his fourth college season at Quinnipiac where he posted 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games.

The Oilers 2017 sixth round pick will join Charlotte for their first-round playoff battle with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and begins his professional hockey career at the age of 23. Brind’Amour has ties to the area through his father, and was also born in nearby Raleigh. Now he will get to jump straight into the playoffs after finishing his college career.

Brind’Amour’s draft rights to the Oilers will expire in August at which time Brind’Amour will be a free agent and can sign with anyone he pleases. He will get an opportunity to showcase his skills in the coming weeks. Brind’Amour hasn’t been much of a scorer at any level and topped out at 14 goals this season, the highest total of any of his college seasons. He figures to get an opportunity to insert some energy into Charlotte’s bottom six as he auditions for a job next season. Charlotte figures to be the favorite in their series against the Phantoms as they finished third in the Atlantic Division and Lehigh Valley finished sixth.

Vancouver Canucks Optimistic They Can Extend Elias Pettersson

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin spoke with Patrick Johnston of The Province today and said he is very optimist that the team can get a long-term deal done with Elias Pettersson. The Swedish center has one more year left on his bridge contract at a cap hit of $7.35MM and will be in line for a big raise when he becomes a restricted free agent in 2024.

Much like Alex DeBrincat, Pettersson’s contract is back loaded, meaning that Vancouver will need to qualify him at a number just shy of $9MM. Pettersson could take the one-year deal and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 at the age of 26. Should the former fifth overall pick elect to do that, he would have no shortage of suitors.

Pettersson was a horse this season as he averaged of 20 minutes of ice time per game. He is coming off a career year that saw him post 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games. His powerplay goals dropped dramatically this season as he scored just six times with the extra man, but what is truly impressive was that he put up 68 points at even strength, which tied him for sixth in the entire NHL behind the likes of Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid. These numbers put Pettersson in elite company and will have him looking for a long-term deal with an eight-figure average annual value.

The Canucks may be optimistic about signing their superstar center, but their short-term cap situation would give anyone pause. The club has struggled to commit to a specific direction over the last year and appear to be spinning their wheels. They have a lot of long-term contracts with players that are producing well below their cap hits, which could make it difficult to improve the on-ice product and entice Pettersson to stay. Jim Rutherford, Allvin and company seemed committed to a rebuild when they were first hired over a year ago, but appeared to change course when they narrowly missed the playoffs in 2022. They have been unable to shed any of the bloated contracts handed out by the previous management group and have further added to them with the extension to J.T. Miller. Their direction over the next 12 months will be interesting to observe as they appear set to retool rather than teardown and rebuild.

Ottawa Senators Want To Sign Alex DeBrincat To Extension

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Postmedia hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch tweeted today that the Ottawa Senators would like to sign Alex DeBrincat to a long-term deal, but they aren’t sure if he wants to stay. For his part, DeBrincat has been non-committal but did tell Garrioch today that he’d let the Senators know his intentions before the draft. Garrioch added that it is believed that DeBrincat would like to see where the Senators ownership situation goes before signing any long-term contract extension.

It makes sense from DeBrincat’s perspective to take a wait and see approach. He has put himself in a position to take a $9MM qualifying offer from Ottawa and then cash in next summer with any team of his choosing. For him to sign right now would mean he would be committing himself for the near future without knowing who will be signing his cheques.

DeBrincat had a steady, but unspectacular first year in Ottawa. He had 27 goals and 39 assists in 82 games, but nearly half of his production came on the power play. DeBrincat managed only 36 even strength points, a sharp drop from the 50 even strength points he produced in his last season in Chicago. DeBrincat also didn’t have great possession numbers at five on five and seemed to struggle without the benefits of the man advantage.

While it is not unusual for a player to struggle in his first season with a new club, it must give the Ottawa Senators some reservations about committing to another $8MM player. The Senators already have Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Joshua Norris signed to contracts around that mark, with Jake Sanderson due an extension next summer. Adding a long term DeBrincat contract to the ledger could leave the Senators with precious little cap space to shore up their goaltending, or fix their bottom six, something general manager Pierre Dorion has talked about improving.

PHR Playoff Primer: New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers

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With the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs just a few days away, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We begin our look with the Metropolitan Division matchup between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.

There was a time in the 1990’s where it seemed like the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils would meet in the playoffs every spring. Now in 2023, they meet in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The last time the two teams met it was a dramatic back and forth six game Eastern Conference Finals series that ended with an Adam Henrique overtime goal to catapult the Devils into the Stanley Cup Finals.

What a difference a decade plus makes. The Devils haven’t won a series since that dramatic overtime victory, while the Rangers have won a lot of playoff hockey but haven’t been able to capture hockey’s ultimate prize. The battle of the Hudson River has always been a bitter rivalry, but it’s been a while since so much has been on the line for both teams.

The Devils and Rangers enter the playoffs poised to make a deep run, but only one will be able to escape the first round. This matchup may not be the most anticipated series in the first round, but it does seem like the series most likely to produce fireworks. The Devils believe they are destined for greatness, and they probably are, but will that happen this year, or will the Rangers make another deep playoff run?

Regular Season Performance

New Jersey Devils: 52-22-8, 112 points, +65 goal differential
New York Rangers: 47-22-13, 107 points, +58 goal differential.

Head-To-Head

November 28, 2022: New York 3, New Jersey 5

December 12, 2022: New York 4, New Jersey 3 (OT)

January 7, 2023: New Jersey 4, New York 3 (OT)

March 30, 2023: New Jersey 2, New York 1

New Jersey takes the season series 3-0-1

Team Storylines

The Devils and Rangers franchises have had so much in common over the years, and even still do to some degree. Both franchises loaded up for these playoffs, can score in bunches and expect to go deep in the playoffs. But that is where the similarities end. They are built differently, have different experience, and have different strengths and weaknesses.

New Jersey plays with a ton of speed and skill, they push the pace and come at you in waves. But they are small. New York on the other hand plays big, they come at you with force and can crash over top of you. But they play slow in comparison. In a seven-game series it’s hard to predict who will bend first, will New York wear New Jersey down with their physicality? Or will the Devils tire out the Rangers with their pace? Advantage New Jersey.

On the backend, both teams boast strong blue lines. They both have shutdown defenseman, puck movers, point producers, speed, skill, and grit. The Rangers defense can do it all, they are one of the most elite units in the league, if not the most elite. They can’t move the puck quite as good as the Devils unit can, but they are much more physical. And in the playoff’s physicality can sometimes mean getting that extra inch of space to make a play, or providing that big hit that completely changes a series, just ask Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Advantage New York.

In goal, the comparisons dry up. New York boasts arguably the best goaltender in the world in Igor Shesterkin. But, after having a historic season last year, Shesterkin has looked human for much of this year. He has been up and down, evidenced by his drop in save percentage from .935 last year to .916 this season. For the Rangers to beat the Devils in a seven-game series, Shesterkin will need to play at a Vezina award winning level. Over in the Devils net Vitek Vanecek has given the Devils something they were desperately looking for, league average goaltending. Vanecek’s save percentage this year was .911 which was just a tick above his career average coming into this season. While Vanecek has never had an experience like this before and will have to deal with nerves, Shesterkin looked very human in last year’s playoffs and for long stretches of this past regular season. Despite his up and down play this year, one would have to believe that the goaltending advantage belongs to New York.

I mentioned star power earlier and both teams boast a ton of it up front and on the back end. The stars aren’t all home grown either, both teams have made significant trades over the last 12 months to bring in major pieces that they hope can give them that final push. The Rangers brought in Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko at the trade deadline, and while neither player his lit up the scoresheet, they have both provided secondary scoring. Kane has produced 12 points in 19 games since joining the Rangers, while Tarasenko has 21 points in 31 games. On the Devils side, they acquired arguably the biggest piece at the deadline in Timo Meier. Meier has also struggled to fit in but seems to be finally finding his footing. The former San Jose Shark has 14 points in 21 games since joining the Devils.

Ironically, the line that could set these teams apart might be a group of homegrown talent for the New York Rangers. Alexis Lafrenière, Filip Chytil, and Kaapo Kakko were dynamite together in the playoffs last season, particularly in the first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They were a difference maker on a nightly basis. This season all three players have hovered around the 40-point mark during the regular season. If the trio can dial it back to 2022 and produce anything close to last year’s playoff magic it could be the difference between a Rangers series win, or a Devils series win.

Prediction

It’s hard to predict who will win a series when the teams are this evenly matched. When a matchup like this does occur, you must imagine that it will come down to whichever team can get their goaltender on a heater. Last year the Rangers outlasted Pittsburgh because the Penguins had to rely on their third string goaltender. This year they’ll have to hope that Shesterkin can return to his Vezina winning form to get past the Devils.

The other element that comes into play is experience. New York has a ton of experienced playoff performers, and the Devils are green. In a toss-up, this could be the piece that pushes one team past the other.

The prediction: Rangers win in seven games.

Henri Jokiharju Won’t Return To Tonight’s Game

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The Buffalo Sabres have announced that defenseman Henri Jokiharju won’t return to tonight’s game after leaving with a lower body injury. Jokiharju left the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after logging just 2:43 of ice time a registering a single shot. The former first round pick will finish the season with 13 points in 60 games.

The 23-year-old is in his fourth season with Buffalo after coming over to the Sabres in a trade that sent Alexander Nylander to the Chicago Blackhawks. He established a career high in points last season with 19 points in 60 games. While he couldn’t produce the same offense that he did last season, he continued to kill a lot of penalties for the Sabres while providing a steady defensive presence.

Jokiharju has had issues staying healthy as he has never been able to play a full NHL season. Although he is unlikely to miss any time due to this injury, he did miss a month of hockey back in December with another lower body injury. That injury was from blocking a shot against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which isn’t that surprising for a penalty killing defenseman.

Jokiharju will be hoping for a full summer of rest and training as the Sabres look to take the next step in their rebuild. Buffalo didn’t qualify for the playoffs this season but were in the mix until the last week of the year. With much of their core coming back next season, and a potential franchise goalie now in the mix, Buffalo figures to be a team that can contend for a playoff spot in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference.

Minnesota Wild Sign Frederick Gaudreau To Extension

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The Minnesota Wild announced that they’ve taken care of some offseason business early as they have inked forward Frederick Gaudreau to a five year $10.5MM extension. Gaudreau was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, but his extension will keep him with the Wild for the next five seasons.

Gaudreau originally signed a two year $2.4MM contract with the Wild in July 2021 after spending a single season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. While that contract carried some risk, it turned out to be an absolute bargain for Minnesota. The 29-year-old has put up 80 points in 157 games for Minnesota and added some cheap depth scoring.

Minnesota has been hamstrung by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The veterans buyout will account for nearly $15MM of the Wild’s salary cap space next year. Despite the cap issues, GM Bill Guerin has been able to bargain shop on multiple occasions and hit more often than he misses.  Even more impressive for Guerin is that he’s been able to build a competitive team without cap space and while also not mortgaging the future. Minnesota has all their first and second round draft picks for the near future.

While getting the Gaudreau contract done early is a tidy piece of business for the Wild, they do have some other pending free agents who will be much more difficult to extend and just $6.8MM in cap space to do it. John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist are all unrestricted, while defenseman Calen Addison and goaltender Filip Gustavsson are restricted free agents. Minnesota will likely have to make some tough decisions this summer, but with one of the best farm systems in the NHL, they should be able to remain competitive while getting younger and cheaper.

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