West Notes: Flames, Carlsson, Blackwell
The Calgary Flames have their leadership group to supplement new captain Mikael Backlund for the 2023-24 season, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson, left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, center Elias Lindholm, and defenseman Chris Tanev will rotate in and out of the two alternate captain spots per game throughout the campaign.
All these names are notable for a variety of reasons – starting with Andersson, 26, who expressed interest in becoming the team’s captain earlier this offseason before Backlund received it, signing an extension in the process. The 2015 second-round pick has solidified himself as a top-flight defender in this league, logging significant time on both the power play and penalty kill over the past two seasons while posting 99 points in 161 games since the beginning of 2021-22. He’s also the only player who didn’t wear a letter on his jersey last season. He essentially replaced Backlund, while Huberdeau, Lindholm and Tanev all wore ‘A’s on their sweaters at different points throughout 2022-23.
More from the Western Conference this weekend:
- Anaheim Ducks promising center prospect Leo Carlsson will not be out long-term after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice yesterday, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. There is no exact timeline for the 18-year-old’s return, however, meaning he could miss the team’s season-opening game on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights next Saturday. The second-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft is coming off a strong camp, one GM Pat Verbeek said earlier this week has secured him a spot on the Ducks roster for the entire 2023-24 season.
- Chicago Blackhawks depth forward Colin Blackwell practiced for the first time in over six months today as he continues his recovery from sports hernia surgery in March, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Blackhawks expected Blackwell back for the beginning of camp, but the player said he hadn’t fully recovered when he first took the ice last month. With the pending return to health, the 30-year-old becomes a waiver candidate in the coming days after posting just two goals and ten points in 53 contests with Chicago last season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Colin White To Two-Way Deal
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed former first-round pick Colin White to a one-year, two-way contract, a team release states. The contract carries an NHL cap hit and salary of $775K and a minors salary of $500K, reports PuckPedia.
White, 26, had been in Penguins camp on a professional tryout signed nearly one month ago. Three others remain in Penguins camp on PTOs without a contract – defenseman Libor Hájek, defenseman Mark Pysyk (who sustained an injury during camp), and forward Austin Wagner.
Selected 21st overall in 2015 by the Ottawa Senators, White’s tenure in Canada’s capital came to an end last summer when the Senators bought out the final three seasons of a six-year, $28.5MM contract he’d signed in 2019. He found a home on the Florida Panthers’ fourth line in 2022-23, skating in all 21 playoff games as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996. Injuries have thrown White’s career off-course since he posted 41 points in 71 games as a 22-year-old rookie in the 2018-19 campaign, finishing 11th in Calder Trophy voting and earning himself the now ill-advised payday on behalf of the Sens. Even when healthy, he hasn’t been able to manage the same production – he’s registered just 28 goals and 66 points in the 198 games since and averaged under ten minutes per game with Florida last season.
It’s likely the Penguins will waive White before Monday when opening night rosters are due. However, a league-minimum salary and, evidently, a strong showing in camp keeps his chances of a call-up high. He also earned a longer stay in camp than some other Penguins’ depth pieces competing for jobs, namely Alexander Nylander and Rem Pitlick, who both cleared waivers and were assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier this week.
Yegor Chinakhov, Daniil Tarasov Will Begin Season On IR
The Columbus Blue Jackets will place both forward Yegor Chinakhov and goaltender Daniil Tarasov on injured reserve prior to Monday’s opening-night roster deadline, per The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. Chinakhov is listed as day-to-day with a back injury, while Tarasov carries a day-to-day designation for a knee injury. Both sustained the injuries shortly after training camp began in mid-September.
Chinakhov, 22, is three years removed from being one of the most surprising first-round picks in recent memory. So far, it appears to have been somewhat of a worthy gamble – he notched 13 points in 30 games for Columbus last season and has posted strong numbers in limited AHL action since coming to North America before 2021-22. Unfortunately, missing nearly all of training camp may have cost him a spot in the NHL lineup when he does return from injury. Not only does the winger not require waivers for assignment to AHL Cleveland, but his roster spot wasn’t secured – many young forwards were battling for spots in Columbus’ bottom six, all of whom had more chances during camp to earn the trust of head coach Pascal Vincent.
While it’s concerning that an injury that’s carried a day-to-day designation for two-and-a-half weeks may stretch out closer to a month, the news surrounding Tarasov’s health gives even more pause. When the Blue Jackets confirmed Tarasov’s injury on September 23rd, Portzline reported that it wasn’t serious. In fact, he went so far as to say Tarasov would be available at that point if the regular season was beginning. Luckily, Portzline had already confirmed this knee injury is not related to a significant one he suffered during the 2021-22 campaign, but it’s still not a good sign to see a seemingly innocuous pre-season injury stretching out and affecting regular-season availability.
The 24-year-old Tarasov had a much clearer path to a roster spot entering camp as the undisputed backup to starting netminder Elvis Merzlikins. A 2017 third-round draft pick, Tarasov got off to quite a hot start to his career, posting a .936 save percentage in four contests with Columbus in 2021-22 before the previous knee injury ended his campaign. He played 17 games last season, recording a subpar .892 save percentage and 3.91 goals-against average, but still posted far superior numbers to Merzlikins’ eye-opening .876 save percentage and 4.23 goals-against average. There were few goalies worse than Merzlikins last season, and his -25.9 goals saved above expected per MoneyPuck ranked last out of all goalies to play 20 games in 2022-23.
Another name near the bottom of last season’s list was Spencer Martin, who the Blue Jackets claimed on waivers last week from the Vancouver Canucks to serve as Merzlikins’ backup until Tarasov returns to action. Martin, 28, is largely an AHL veteran but got a shot as the Canucks’ backup last season, appearing in 29 contests and recording a .871 save percentage. It was a necessary claim, as the Blue Jackets’ only two goalies under NHL contract were 22-year-old Jet Greaves, an undrafted free agent signing entering his third season of pro hockey, and 19-year-old Nolan Lalonde, who will spend this season as the starter for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Minnesota Wild Sign Ryan Hartman To Three-Year Extension
The Minnesota Wild have signed another veteran to an extension, announcing a three-year deal with forward Ryan Hartman. The deal will carry an AAV of $4MM, more than double his current price tag. CapFriendly adds that Hartman receives a no-move clause effective immediately through the 2024-25 campaign. In 2025-26, he’ll have a 15-team no-trade clause and in 2026-27, it will be a ten-team no-trade clause.
Minnesota acquired Hartman, 29, when they signed him to a two-year, $3.8MM contract in the summer of 2019. He agreed to terms on a three-year extension carrying a $1.7MM cap hit with the Wild before the 2021-22 season began, of which he was entering the final season in 2023-24. His third deal with the Wild keeps him in the State of Hockey through 2026-27, and he’ll be 32 years old when the contract expires.
This is a similar extension to the ones Minnesota signed last week with forwards Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello. General Manager Bill Guerin gave both players two-to-four-year deals around the $4MM mark per season.
At first glance, this looks like a reasonable extension for a player who’s stepped into a valuable role since joining Minnesota. He’d built up a solid reputation as a gritty bottom-six winger before signing with the Wild in 2019. Since then, however, he’s played a pivotal role in centering the team’s first line between Zuccarello and star winger Kirill Kaprizov. While Hartman may not be a long-term solution at the first-line center spot for a team with championship aspirations, he’s still a quality, versatile middle-six forward who’s a solid bet for 40 to 60 points per season over the life of this extension.
After recording a career-high 34 goals and 65 points in 2021-22, Hartman battled injuries last season. An upper-body injury sidelined him for roughly six weeks in November and December of 2022, but he still managed to record 15 goals and 37 points in 59 appearances. That’s on pace for 21 goals and 51 points throughout 82 games. The former first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks has recorded north of 90 penalty minutes in back-to-back seasons, along with solid possession metrics over his four campaigns with the Wild.
Importantly, Guerin now has even more financial certainty for the 2024-25 campaign – the last season with considerable effects from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. Minnesota will get dinged again with a combined $14.74MM penalty next season, dwindling to just $1.67MM from 2025 through 2028-29 when the buyouts end. Hartman joins Foligno, Matt Boldy, Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Frédérick Gaudreau, and captain Jared Spurgeon as core members locked in through 2027. Notably, Kaprizov’s current contract carrying a $9MM cap hit will expire in 2026.
Looking specifically down the middle, the team’s current top three centers, Hartman, Eriksson Ek and Gaudreau, are now locked in for the next four seasons. What does that mean for 22-year-old Marco Rossi, who will stick in the NHL full-time this season for the first time since Minnesota selected him ninth overall in the 2020 NHL Draft? He’ll likely assume a fourth-line role for this season, but moving forward, it’s apparent Hartman will likely shift back to his natural position on the wing before this extension expires.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the two sides were nearing an extension and the $4MM price tag.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Metropolitan Notes: Unger Sörum, Palmieri, Fasching
As training camp draws to a close, the Carolina Hurricanes were among the teams making significant roster cuts today. Notably, 2023 second-round selection Felix Unger Sörum was not among them – he remains on the team’s camp roster for now. The Norwegian-born Swede turned 18 just a few weeks ago, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged his impressive camp today and didn’t rule out Unger Sörum remaining on the team’s roster through the first few games of the season.
That would be one of the most improbable developments of camp. It’s rare players selected outside the top ten choices make an immediate jump to the NHL – let alone players who were selected in later rounds altogether. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound winger posted 10 goals and 46 points in 42 games in Swedish junior play with Leksand last season, and he’ll get loaned back to the organization when his time with Carolina is over this season. His stint on the Hurricanes’ opening night roster will likely be tied to the health of star winger Andrei Svechnikov, who is expected to be ready for the team’s regular season opener after undergoing knee surgery in March. If that’s not the case, however, Brind’Amour says the young Swede may stick around for a nine-game trial to avoid burning the first season of his entry-level contract.
Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division tonight:
- The New York Islanders announced pre-game that winger Kyle Palmieri will play in Friday’s preseason tilt against the New Jersey Devils, meaning the veteran winger will likely be available for the team’s first game of the regular season next weekend. Palmieri, 32, notched 33 points in 55 games last season and is expected to form the team’s second forward line along with Brock Nelson and Pierre Engvall. He returned to full practice with the team two days ago after head coach Lane Lambert would not confirm Palmieri’s availability for opening night.
- Sticking with the Islanders, one player who is not in tonight’s game is winger Hudson Fasching, who Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports is day-to-day with a minor injury and has now missed his third straight preseason game. Fasching is likely to be healthy for the start of the season, but whether he can keep his role in the lineup from last season remains to be seen. The AHL mainstay forced his way into a career-high 49 NHL games with the Isles last season, posting ten goals and nine assists for 19 points. His main competition for a spot in the lineup is 25-year-old Julien Gauthier, an offseason free agent signing who’s gotten recent looks higher up in the lineup during camp.
Atlantic Notes: Knight, Poitras, Klingberg
Eyebrows raised this morning when the Florida Panthers announced presumptive backup netminder Spencer Knight would start the 2023-24 campaign with AHL Charlotte. However, head coach Paul Maurice said today it’s not a performance-related demotion.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Knight missed the last two months of the regular season and all of the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which he later said was to get treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). After missing significant time, Knight still managed to churn out an incredibly strong postseason performance – one that influenced the organization to want to give him a chance as a true starter out of the gate this season in order to maintain his positive momentum. “This was something we looked at from the start (of training camp),” Maurice told NHL.com. “He’s made great progress in his program. He feels good, he looked fantastic in training camp. But we need to put him in kind of a No. 1 position, a No. 1 role, and then run his program and work on what he’s been working on. But he’s been good.” The 22-year-old is beginning the first season of a three-year deal carrying a $4.5MM cap hit, meaning he’ll still carry a significant cap penalty while in the AHL, as that’s far above the buriable threshold – $3.35MM, to be exact. Veteran Anthony Stolarz will sit behind undisputed starter Sergei Bobrovsky to start the season after the latter guided Florida to its second Stanley Cup Final in franchise history last season.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division today:
- One of the surprise rookies of training camps leaguewide has been Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras, just one season removed from going off the board at 54th overall at the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s played so well, in fact, that the 19-year-old may just have an inside track to make the team out of camp. As rosters continue to get trimmed, Bruins independent reporter Joe Haggerty noted Poitras continued to stay with the main group in practice today, centering a prospective third line between Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie. That’s a notable development for Poitras, as he’s impressed enough to push Geekie, the team’s free-agent signing that they expected to fill a third-line hole, out to the wing. The Bruins can still defer the start of his entry-level contract to 2024-25 if he plays less than ten games before Boston re-assigns him to the OHL’s Guelph Storm.
- After battling an upper-body injury throughout the last week, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg will be ready for the team’s season-opening contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, head coach Sheldon Keefe tells NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy. Klingberg, the team’s key free agency addition to their top four on defense, says he feels good enough to play in tomorrow’s preseason finale against the Detroit Red Wings but that he’s “going to listen to the doctors, I think they’re smart enough to know.” The veteran 31-year-old power-play quarterback is expected to see reps on the team’s top man-advantage unit to start the season, allowing longtime Leaf Morgan Rielly to help bolster the second power-play unit.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Saige Weinstein To Entry-Level Contract
The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Saige Weinstein to a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement Friday. After going undrafted at this year’s 2023 NHL Draft, Weinstein was a free agent.
Weinstein, 18, attended training camp with the Avalanche on an amateur tryout but was returned to the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs over a week ago. He played exhibition games for Colorado at the 2023 Rookie Faceoff tournament hosted by the Vegas Golden Knights and during standard preseason play.
Seeing Weinstein go undrafted wasn’t a surprise, although some public scouts had him labeled as a potential selection in the later rounds. However, Colorado likes what he’s shown them over the past few weeks, and he’ll remain in the organization for the next three to five seasons. The Avalanche can slide the beginning of his ELC to as late as 2025-26 if he plays less than ten NHL games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, a likely scenario for the unpolished defender. In that case, his contract would expire after the 2027-28 season.
His career stats in junior to date scream physical, bottom-pairing defender: 32 points in 122 career games with Spokane across three seasons to go along with 179 penalty minutes. The 6-foot, 174-pound Weinstein is more of a threat in transition than those numbers indicate, though; he’s a capable puck-handler who can help activate plays in transition. However, how much that skill translates to the professional ranks remains to be seen, and it may be his physical tendencies that end up giving him an NHL shot someday.
Los Angeles Kings Agree To Terms On Extension With Todd McLellan
7:39 p.m.: The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta reports it’s a one-year deal for McLellan, keeping him behind the L.A. bench through 2024-25.
6:54 p.m.: The Los Angeles Kings are close to signing head coach Todd McLellan to an extension, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The veteran head coach was entering the 2023-24 campaign on an expiring contract.
The move comes ahead of a pivotal season for the Kings, who have yet to win a playoff series exiting their retool/rebuild over the late 2010s. Stakes haven’t been this high in Los Angeles for quite some time, with immense pressure on the team to perform with Pierre-Luc Dubois added down the middle and youngsters like Quinton Byfield looking for a statement season.
McLellan took over behind the Kings bench in the summer of 2019 after he was fired midseason during the 2018-19 campaign by the Edmonton Oilers. That meant his first truly full season with the team didn’t come until 2021-22 – his first two campaigns in Hollywood were shortened due to COVID-19. He’s coached 290 games for the Kings over the past four seasons now, accomplishing a 141-115-34 record in the regular season and a 5-8 record in the playoffs over their last two defeats, which, ironically, came at the hands of the Oilers.
With the Kings making linear progress over the past three seasons, the organization evidently feels McLellan has earned the opportunity to see things through and guide the team deeper into the postseason. Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, Los Angeles has made the playoffs just four times and has yet to win a playoff series.
The 56-year-old has plenty of experience. He surpassed the 1,000 games coached mark in 2021-22 and now has a total of 1,096 regular season games of head coaching experience between the Kings, Oilers, and San Jose Sharks. McLellan’s 575 career wins rank 23rd in NHL history, but his teams have historically fallen flat in postseason play – he’s got a career record of 42-46 despite overseeing the dominant Sharks squads of the early 2010s.
Pacific Notes: De Leo, Carlsson, Flames Arena, Smyl
Anaheim Ducks forward Chase De Leo will miss the next eight weeks after sustaining an MCL sprain during a Tuesday game against the Los Angeles Kings, per a team announcement. He sustained the injury on a knee-on-knee hit from Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev, whom the league suspended for four games today as a result.
De Leo, 27, has just seven games of NHL experience to his name but has been a high-end mainstay at the AHL level since turning pro in 2015. Despite his game never really translating to the game’s highest level, De Leo has been a dominant offensive force in the minors, spending four out of his eight pro seasons with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego. He returned to San Diego last season after spending 2021-22 with the New Jersey Devils, serving as team captain for the first time and racking up 23 points in 22 games during a tough season for the Gulls. He’ll land on injured reserve to begin the season in Anaheim and will likely be waived and assigned to San Diego upon clearance when he’s ready to return.
More from the Pacific Division tonight:
- Sticking with the Ducks, GM Pat Verbeek confirmed on a radio spot on SiriusXM today that the team envisions keeping 2023 second-overall pick Leo Carlsson on the roster for the entire season. Verbeek wouldn’t commit to Carlsson being an everyday player, however, it seems he’ll get that shot out of the gate – multiple websites project Carlsson will slide into Anaheim’s top-six to begin the season, given the finger injury to free-agent signing Alex Killorn. The 18-year-old has had a strong camp and is coming off an incredibly strong draft year that saw him boost his stock into a top-four lock, recording 25 points in 44 games with SHL club Örebro HK and finishing off the season with five points in eight games for Sweden at the World Championship. He already has NHL size at 6-foot-3 and nearly 200 pounds.
- All parties involved have now officially signed off on a new arena deal for the Calgary Flames that was originally approved in April, according to multiple members of the Calgary media pool. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reported Wednesday that a rather significant announcement was coming on the arena front today, and he wasn’t wrong – as part of this approved agreement, the Flames will open up their new home with a 35-year lease to keep the team in Alberta. Construction will begin on the site next year, and is anticipated to be NHL-ready for the 2026-27 campaign, meaning the Flames have three seasons left (including this one) at the historic Scotiabank Saddledome.
- Former Vancouver Canucks forward and longtime hockey operations staffer Stan Smyl will transition away from his day-to-day duties with the club, the team said in a statement Thursday. Smyl has been a full-time employee of the Canucks since beginning his playing career with the team in 1978-79. After a 13-season NHL career with Vancouver, including multiple seasons as captain, Smyl immediately transitioned to an assistant coaching role upon retiring in 1991. He’s served in various coaching and advisory roles with the organization ever since and had most recently served as the team’s vice president of hockey operations for the last season and a half, earning a promotion from senior advisor in December 2021. Smyl, 65, will remain closely working with the organization in a reduced role.
League Notes: 2026 Olympics, Men’s U18s, 2024 Draft
On today’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger dove into some more details surrounding a potential NHL return to Olympic participation in 2026. With the next edition of the Winter Olympics set to commence in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, it would be the NHL’s first time letting its players participate in the international event since 2014 in Sochi, Russia. After electing not to participate in the 2018 event, the NHL was on track to return to the Olympics in 2022 before concerns around travel and COVID insurance could not be resolved, leading the league to pull the plug on Olympic participation for a second straight cycle.
They appear on track to change that, with the NHL set to attend tomorrow’s IIHF meeting in Portugal with discussions around travel costs for 2026 on the agenda, per Dreger. Both the NHL and NHLPA have expressed a renewed vigor for international participation in recent months after former United States Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh assumed the lead post at the players’ association, quickly identifying a return to best-on-best international play as one of the players’ highest short-term priorities.
Some more administrative notes from the Insider Trading crew:
- The NHL/IIHF partnership remains a topic of discussion, as Dreger also reports the league is stepping up to host an IIHF tournament for the first time. In conjunction with USA Hockey, the NHL will host/sponsor the 2025 edition of the Men’s U18 World Championships, the last major showcase tournament for draft-eligible prospects in a yearly cycle. Normally held in mid-to-late April, it’s unclear in which American city the tournament will be hosted at this time. The United States last hosted the tournament in 2021 in Frisco and Plano, Texas, and captured their record 11th gold medal at the tournament in 2023. 2025 will be the fourth time the US has hosted the tournament since its inception in 1999.
- Lastly, Chris Johnston adds that the NHL is continuing to sort out logistical concerns regarding a venue for the 2024 NHL Draft, which is expected to take place in Las Vegas along with the 2024 NHL Awards. With the Vegas Golden Knights’ T-Mobile Arena seemingly unavailable for the Draft due to scheduling conflicts, Johnston reports the NHL has explored hosting next year’s draft at Sphere, the rather eye-drawing concert venue which boasts the largest LED screen in the world, newly opened by Madison Square Garden Company and New York Rangers majority owner James Dolan. It would certainly be a departure from normal procedure for the league, which has opted to host the Draft exclusively at team arenas, hotels and league offices throughout the event’s history.