Latest On Linus Ullmark
After reports emerged yesterday that Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark nixed a trade to the Kings via his 16-team no-trade clause, GM Don Sweeney told reporters that he “wasn’t that aggressive” about moving his 2023 Vezina Trophy winner (via Matt Porter of the Boston Globe). Nonetheless, it doesn’t appear Los Angeles was the only team Sweeney spoke to about moving out half of the league’s best tandem. Multiple clubs not on Ullmark’s no-trade list engaged in discussions about the netminder and are likely to circle back over the summer, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on “Saturday Headlines.”
Ullmark, 30, will remain with the Bruins through the end of the season and the playoffs, but the likelihood of him finishing out his current deal in Boston seems to be diminishing as interest continues to rise. He carries a $5MM cap hit through next season and will be a UFA in the summer of 2025. His 16-team no-trade list will downgrade to a 15-team list on July 1.
The start counter between him and creasemate Jeremy Swayman remains relatively even, although his counterpart has a slight edge, 35-30. Ullmark’s numbers are far worse than last season’s league-leading performance, although still significantly above average with a .909 SV%, 2.77 GAA, and 9.4 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. It’s becoming clear that Swayman, among the league’s best with a .922 SV%, will be their starter to begin the postseason.
Boston needs to free up some money for what will likely be a long-term extension for Swayman over the summer. A pending RFA with arbitration rights, Sweeney would love to avoid an arbitration scenario with Swayman for a second straight year. He carries a $3.475MM cap hit this season but will command a significant raise after wrestling away the starting role from Ullmark.
The Bruins have $22.5MM in projected cap space next season with a roster size of 15, so their flexibility isn’t zero. If they want to go big-game hunting in free agency to address their deficiency at center and continuously thinning overall forward depth, though, freeing up Ullmark’s $5MM would be a wise move. They’d also capitalize on his trade value over the offseason rather than as a deadline rental next year, as teams would be willing to pay more for a full year of his services rather than a few months and a playoff run.
Flames Recall Matthew Coronato, Jakob Pelletier
The Flames recalled wingers Matthew Coronato and Jakob Pelletier before today’s game against the Panthers, per CapFriendly. Both were ferried to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on deadline day to make them eligible to suit up in the Calder Cup Playoffs. With ample cap space, no corresponding transactions were necessary.
Coronato, a 5-foot-10 rookie, gets his fourth recall of the season and his second this month. Calgary made him the 13th overall pick in the 2021 draft coming out of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, followed by two seasons at Harvard before signing his entry-level deal in March of last year. He’s been one of the best rookie performers in the minor leagues this season, notching 42 points and a +8 rating in 40 games with the Wranglers, leading them in scoring by a wide margin.
The Flames’ top forward prospect, Coronato will need to battle to remain in the Flames’ lineup as they try and make a miracle playoff run once A.J. Greer and Connor Zary are ready to return from injuries. Both are expected back by the end of the month. He’s fared decently in 16 games with the big club this year, scoring a goal and three assists with a -5 rating while averaging 14:03 per game. Perhaps his best professional outing came just prior to the deadline in a 6-3 win over the Lightning on Thursday, in which he recorded an assist and a +3 rating. His possession metrics have improved from an early-season lull, recording a 51.3 CF% at even strength and a 48.6 xGF%.
Pelletier, 23, was a first-rounder two years before Coronato. A shoulder injury cost him most of the season to date, but he’s notched three points in four games with the Wranglers and three points in nine games with the Flames since returning in January. He’ll slot into a top-six role alongside Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko and, like Coronato, will need to show dependability to remain in the lineup ahead of Greer and Zary if they remain in the playoff hunt over the next few weeks.
These transactions were not made under emergency conditions, according to CapFriendly, so the Flames have used up half of their four post-deadline standard recalls. Thus, expect Coronato and Pelletier to remain on the roster – even if they fall out of the lineup – through the end of the season unless unforeseen cap complications force the Flames to reassign them.
Sabres Recall Lukáš Rousek
The Sabres had winger Lukáš Rousek back in the lineup for today’s shootout win over the Oilers after recalling him from AHL Rochester on an emergency loan late last night, per CapFriendly.
Rousek, 24, is in his second NHL season and his third playing North American pro hockey in the Sabres organization. A sixth-round pick of the team in 2019, he’d suited up in eight major league games heading into today’s action. The smooth-skating winger has solidified himself as a top-line presence in the minors but has yet to blow the doors off in the NHL, recording a goal and an assist with four shots on goal while averaging 10:55 per game. He didn’t get on the scoresheet in today’s game, but he registered an even rating and one shot on goal and logged nearly 13 minutes.
He’s continually progressed throughout his time in Rochester, however, and could very well make some noise for a spot on the Sabres’ opening-night roster in 2024-25. The 5-foot-11 winger has stayed on pace with last season’s totals, clicking at roughly a 0.8 points per game rate with 10 goals, 38 points, and a -8 rating in 48 games with the Amerks this year. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams inked Rousek to a two-year extension with a $775K cap hit last summer, so he won’t reach restricted free agency until 2025. He’ll have arbitration rights upon expiry.
Rousek’s recall does not count against the Sabres’ four post-deadline recalls because it was executed under emergency conditions. Buffalo would have been short a forward today with Rousek as Jordan Greenway was out with an undisclosed injury.
Senators Recall Three Players On Emergency Loans
The Senators thinned out their roster late yesterday but have since reversed those moves. Forwards Rourke Chartier, Jiri Smejkal, and defenseman Max Guenette are back on the active roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Sharks, per the AHL’s transactions log. All three players were briefly assigned to the Belleville Senators, making them eligible to suit up in the Calder Cup Playoffs. CapFriendly notes today’s moves are emergency loans, not standard recalls.
Chartier, Guenette, and Smejkal are projected to play in San Jose. Three forwards and two defensemen are unavailable due to injuries, and winger Parker Kelly is unavailable after being suspended yesterday night.
Chartier, 27, has settled back in as a capable minor-league scoring center after concussion symptoms nearly forced him out of the sport in 2019 and 2020. His time in the NHL has been less fruitful, though, scoring three goals and adding one assist in 55 games since making his debut with the Sharks in 2018-19. The San Jose 2014 fifth-round pick has played in a career-high 36 games this year with Ottawa, recording three points and a -4 rating while averaging 10:45 per game. Despite his limited offensive production, he has some value in the dot with a 50.9 FO% and a solid 50.2 xG%.
He’ll be in for a more expanded role tonight, sliding into a third-line position with Joshua Norris hurt and Vladimir Tarasenko traded to the Panthers before the deadline. Norris is expected to miss the remainder of the season as he searches for other opinions on his third left shoulder injury in the past few years, so Chartier may get an extended run in increased minutes down the stretch.
If the Senators want to assign him to the minors again this year, they’ll need to place him on waivers if he plays at least eight games and remains on the roster for 27 more days. He’s already played in two games and been rostered for three days after last clearing waivers on Jan. 31.
Smejkal, 27, is in his first professional season in North America after inking a one-year, two-way deal ($870K NHL/$82.5K AHL) in May 2023. However, the Czech power forward hasn’t had much impact in the NHL or AHL and is likely to return to Europe this summer. Skating in 10 games with the Sens, Smejkal has one assist and a -2 rating while averaging a minuscule 9:21 per game. He’s gotten caved in terms of possession quality in his limited minutes, recording a 36.6 xGF%. In Belleville, he has 19 points and a -11 rating in 39 games.
The 22-year-old Guenette carries the most intrigue as a somewhat recent draft pick, taken by the Sens in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. While he’s averaged only 11:56 through his three NHL showings this year, he’ll get a shot in the team’s top four tonight alongside Jakob Chychrun with Thomas Chabot out with a lower-body injury. A pending RFA nearing completion of his entry-level contract, Guenette has had a strong season in the minors with five goals, 29 points and a +4 rating in 49 games.
These recalls are under emergency conditions, so they don’t count toward Ottawa’s four allotted post-deadline recalls.
Predators Sign Dante Fabbro, Two Others To Extensions
Predators GM Barry Trotz has announced the signings of defenseman Dante Fabbro and forward Mark Jankowski to one-year and two-year extensions, respectively (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). Fabbro’s deal sees him earn $2.5MM next season, per a team release, and is paid entirely in base salary. Jankowski’s deal will pay him $775K in 2024-25 and $825K in 2025-26, per the team, translating to an $800K cap hit. Additionally, the team has signed undrafted free agent goaltender Gustavs Grigals to a one-year, two-way deal for the remainder of the season, worth $775K at the NHL level.
Fabbro and Jankowski will be UFAs at the end of their respective deals. Nashville was set for a potential arbitration hearing with Fabbro if he did not re-sign before the summer, while Jankowski was a pending UFA upon completion of the one-year, $775K extension he signed nearly a year ago.
The Predators drafted Fabbro, 25, with the 17th overall pick in 2016. He turned pro at the end of the 2018-19 campaign and has since appeared in 304 games for the Preds, recording 71 points and a +11 rating while averaging 18:10 per game. He’s slipped to a more limited role this year, averaging only 16:34, but he’s been effective in that sheltered even-strength role with 12 points, a +11 rating, and career-best possession numbers in 51 games.
Oddly enough, that career-best-showing hasn’t earned him the full trust of head coach Andrew Brunette. Fabbro was a healthy scratch for Nashville’s season opener and has been on 12 other occasions this season as part of a rotation with Tyson Barrie, Alexandre Carrier, Jeremy Lauzon, and Luke Schenn for depth minutes.
Jankowski, 29, has spent the last two seasons in the Predators organization. The 2012 first-round pick stayed mostly in the NHL in 2022-23, recording seven goals and 12 points in 50 games, but has spent most of this year on assignment to AHL Milwaukee. He’s been a top performer there, notching 47 points and a +29 rating in 40 games, which has earned him some more NHL ice as of late. Aside from a few paper transactions, he’s stayed on the roster since Feb. 12 and has two goals and an assist in 14 NHL contests.
A one-way deal indicates the Predators envision Jankowski on next season’s opening night roster, but if he doesn’t make the cut, he’d have to clear waivers. The Hamilton, Ontario, native has also spent time with the Flames, Penguins and Sabres over his eight-year, 336-game NHL career.
By inking Grigals to an NHL contract, the Predators add a potential Black Ace for the postseason and give themselves the option to retain his exclusive signing rights with a qualifying offer this summer. The 25-year-old Latvian has spent most of the season with their ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, where he has a 3.68 GAA, .898 SV%, 7-15-0 record, and one shutout in 26 games. He fared poorly in his lone AHL showing with Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve, posting a .846 SV% in a 4-3 loss to the Rockford IceHogs. He’s in his first professional season after four seasons with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and a graduate transfer season with UMass-Lowell last year.
Bruins Sign Joey Abate To Two-Way Deal
The Bruins have signed forward Joey Abate to a one-year, two-way contract for the remainder of the season, a team release states. Abate’s deal carries a cap hit and NHL salary of $775K, however, the team did not disclose his minor-league pay.
Abate lands his first NHL deal after signing on with the AHL’s Providence Bruins in 2022. At least one other team had interest in signing Abate in recent days, New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver reports.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha program, Abate has settled into a bottom-six bruiser role on the Bruins’ farm. Since joining Providence last season, Abate has five goals, 16 points, and 166 PIMs with a -11 rating in 75 games. He’s provided a more fair amount of secondary scoring this year, posting two goals and 10 points in 40 games, although it’s still not enough to suggest the 25-year-old winger will be anything more than a fourth-line enforcer in the NHL.
The Bloomington, Illinois, native will be an RFA this summer. He’ll also have arbitration rights because he’s logged at least one season of professional experience and signed his first contract after the age of 24.
Flames Sign Kevin Rooney To Extension
The Flames have inked pending UFA center Kevin Rooney to a one-year, $1.3MM extension, per a team announcement.
Rooney didn’t make his season debut until February 6th, missing the first four months of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He’s since slotted into Calgary’s fourth-line center role, recording one point in 13 games – though he hasn’t scored in 11 games – while averaging over 10-and-a-half minutes of ice time each game. Rooney also played in four AHL games during a conditioning stint, scoring one goal. It’s his first year back in a full-time NHL role after spending much of last season in the minors, playing in 51 AHL games and scoring 17 points. It was his first extended stint in the AHL since the 2018-19 season.
Rooney has totaled 240 career games in the NHL, scoring 25 goals and 47 points. He joined the Flames in free agency ahead of the 2022-23 season, signing a two-year, $2.6MM contract. His new deal keeps his cap hit the same, extending him through the end of next year. While the extension shows Calgary’s affinity for Rooney, he’ll still need to find an extra edge if he wants to maintain his lineup spot when Connor Zary and A.J. Greer return from injury, and Martin Pospisil returns from a suspension.
Flames Acquire Nikita Okhotiuk From Sharks
The Flames have acquired left-shot defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk from the Sharks as the deadline passes, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff confirms. A 2024 fifth-round pick is heading to San Jose in return, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Okhotiuk has appeared in 43 NHL games this season, scoring one goal and eight points and adding 44 penalty minutes and a -22. It’s his official rookie season in the league, though he played in 15 games with the New Jersey Devils across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He’s totaled three goals and 11 points across his three-year career, also adding x points in 116 AHL games since debuting in 2020-21. The 23-year old was originally drafted in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft, turning pro after three seasons with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s.
Okhotiuk is yet another new face to a Calgary blue-line that’s recently added Joel Hanley, Daniil Miromanov, and Brayden Pachal. Together, the quartet will fill the holes left by Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin, both traded by the Flames ahead of the Trade Deadline. Hanley has earned top-line minutes in the fallout of Calgary’s moves, playing in nearly 18 minutes in his first game with the Flames. The four new defenders will compete with each other for consistent spots in the lineup, though one will likely have to serve as Calgary’s seventh defenseman, unless the team opts to keep Dennis Gilbert in that role.
Maple Leafs Acquire Connor Dewar
The Maple Leafs have acquired depth forward Connor Dewar from the Wild, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports. The Wild are receiving a 2026 fourth-round pick in return, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Forward prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov is also headed to Minnesota in the deal, per an official announcement from the Wild.
Dewar has settled into a comfortable fourth-line role since making his debut in the 2021-22 season, finding an extra layer to his game this year with a career-high 10 goals, though he’s still four points shy of the 18 points he managed in 81 games last season. Last year marked the first time that Dewar spent all season in the NHL, a trend he’s continuing this year, after scoring 59 points in 105 AHL games between 2019 and 2022. Dewar was a third-round draft pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, playing in the sixth-most NHL games of any player selected after that year’s first round. While his impact isn’t too grandiose, Dewar has shown flashes of strong puckhandling and good fundamentals, helping him fit into the needs of whatever the coach’s system may be.
Minnesota swaps a depth forward for a depth prospect, bringing in Ovchinikov, who is in his first full season in the AHL after splitting the last two years between the AHL and KHL. He’s scored seven goals and 10 points in 20 games this season, adding four penatly minutes and a -1. It’s the second-most that Ovchinikov has scored at a professional level, behind the five goals and 13 points he managed in 68 KHL games last season. Ovchinikov is a slick-moving forward with good puck skills, though his game has lacked direction and poise. He will need to boost his drive to the net, and ability to work with his teammates, if he wants to climb his way up Minnesota’s depth charts.
Blues Did Not Trade Pavel Buchnevich, Eyeing Extension
The Blues did not trade star winger Pavel Buchnevich ahead of the 2 p.m. CT trade deadline, per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic.
Buchnevich was undeniably one of the market’s top forwards, boasting 24 goals and 48 points in 61 games this season and 191 points in his 197 games since joining the Blues ahead of the 2021-22 season. St. Louis acquired him by sending Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick to the Rangers. It was a cheap sale at the time but Buchnevich quickly made it look downright foolish, scoring a career-high 30 goals and 76 points in his 73 games during his first season with the Blues. His cerebral playmaking and quick shot proved dominant, and he made sure they stayed consistent as well – earning 26 goals and 67 points in 63 games last year. He was also a potent playoff performer, scoring 11 points in 12 games during the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Buchnevich was seemingly the dream of any team in need of a scoring winger, made even better with a modest $5.8MM cap hit through the end of next season. But with high production came a high asking price, with the Blues reportedly looking for as much as two first-round picks for their star winger. And St. Louis is okay standing pat, with general manager Doug Armstrong telling Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that the team is now eyeing an extension in the off-season. Armstrong said, “He’s eligible for a contract extension on July 1. There’s no real rush for us to get us to get the cart ahead of that horse… He’s been a top player for us… So he’s a valuable piece of our team. In July, we can sit down with he and his representative and make sure he wants to be here and we can work something out.”
A Buchnevich extension likely comes at a high price, with the winger emerging as one of St. Louis’ stars over the last three seasons. But with Buchnevich soon to turn 29, any long-term extension will likely carry him through the majority of his remaining career. The Blues will walk the line between overpaying and overcommitting, as they look to secure a crucial piece of their top line.