Jack Johnson Signs One-Year Deal With Colorado
The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman Jack Johnson to a one-year, $750,000 deal Sunday per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Johnson was previously with the team on a professional tryout contract.
Johnson likely stands as a seventh defenseman and/or a waiver candidate later in the year, especially on a team as deep as Colorado. But as the team deals with an injury to Devon Toews early on in the season, Johnson is a candidate to slot into the team’s opening night lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.
A veteran of 15 NHL seasons and 950 games, Johnson does bring some veteran experience to a blueline that’s headed by a set of younger names in Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, and Bowen Byram. It’ll be Johnson’s first time playing for a Western Conference team since he was traded away from the Los Angeles Kings midway through the 2011-12 season.
After averaging over 20 minutes a night for the 11 seasons of his career, Johnson’s seen his ice time dwindle progressively down to that of a third-pairing or seventh defenseman in recent years. Johnson appeared in only 13 games with the New York Rangers last season, scoring one goal.
Over his entire NHL career, Johnson’s lit the lamp 71 times and scored 303 points.
New York Rangers Extend Mika Zibanejad
The New York Rangers announced Sunday morning that they’ve extended center Mika Zibanejad. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports an eight-year deal with a cap hit in the $8.5MM range. Per CapFriendly, the contract breakdown is as follows:
2022-23: $1MM salary + $7MM signing bonus
2023-24: $1MM salary + $9MM signing bonus
2024-25: $1MM salary + $9.5MM signing bonus
2025-26: $1MM salary + $9MM signing bonus
2026-27: $1MM salary + $7.5MM signing bonus
2027-28: $1MM salary + $6.75MM signing bonus
2028-29: $1MM salary + $5.75MM signing bonus
2029-30: $1MM salary + $5.5MM signing bonus
CapFriendly also adds that the deal contains a full no-move clause through the first seven years of the deal plus most of the eighth year. In 2030, that clause will drop to a 21-team no-trade clause seven days before the trade deadline.
Zibanejad’s extension will begin in the 2022-23 season, taking him through 2029-30 — his age 37 season. He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this campaign.
With Zibanejad’s $8.5MM reported cap hit, it’s an increase of a little over $3MM on his previous $5.35MM cap hit. The center is coming off a five-year, $26.75MM deal he signed with the Rangers prior to the 2017-18 season.
The contract has immediate salary cap ramifications for the Rangers, who’ll have a busy and challenging offseason ahead of them at the conclusion of this season. The team is projected to have $20.2MM in space next year with the cap increasing to $82.5MM. That space is all they have to re-sign Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Sammy Blais, and Alexandar Georgiev, as well as filling out the rest of their roster. They’re handicapped by a $3.4MM cap penalty from the combined buyouts of Kevin Shattenkirk, Dan Girardi, and Anthony DeAngelo.
Throughout his 604-game NHL career, Zibanejad’s scored 200 goals, 234 assists, and 434 points. He’s averaged over 20 minutes a game for the Rangers for three consecutive seasons, cementing his role as a bonafide top-line center. He scored 24 goals and 50 points during last season’s shortened 56-game campaign.
Drafted sixth overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2011, he’s done his best work away from the team that drafted him after Ottawa shipped him away to the Rangers in 2016 in exchange for Derick Brassard. He’s scored 283 points in 323 games as a Ranger.
Theoretically, this deal also had a direct impact on another New York squad. The Rangers have long been linked as a possible destination for former Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel via trade. Yet an eight-year commitment of this magnitude to a player that’s served as their first-line center for years now would suggest that the Rangers have placed their bets in-house on a center that can take them to a Stanley Cup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Images.
All salary cap figures courtesy of CapFriendly.
Alex Ovechkin Out Day-To-Day With Lower Body Injury
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Ovechkin left last night’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers when he fell awkwardly after laying a hit on Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny.
Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic notes that Ovechkin was seen walking around the Capitals’ facility this morning without a brace, wrap, or limp.
The fact that Ovechkin is walking around without assistance so soon is extremely promising, especially when considering how dangerous the fall looked at first glance. While his day-to-day status still puts his availability for their home opener against the New York Rangers on Wednesday in doubt, a long-term absence now seems extremely unlikely at this point. Capitals forward Lars Eller had this to say on Ovechkin’s health:
I never seen [the Russian machine] break. And it gets repaired pretty quickly. It’s not broke for long.
If Ovechkin can’t play on opening night, the Capitals would be without their two best forwards. Center Nicklas Backstrom remains sidelined with a hip injury with no timetable for a return.
The 36-year-old Russian enters the 2021-22 campaign with 730 career goals, good enough for sixth all-time and just one goal behind Marcel Dionne, who holds fifth place. Ovechkin had led the league in scoring for seven out of the past nine seasons, only losing out on the Rocket Richard trophy in 2016-17 (Sidney Crosby) and 2020-21 (Auston Matthews).
Islanders-Devils Preseason Game Canceled Due To Power Outage
Tonight’s preseason game between the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils won’t take place, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. A partial power outage at Prudential Center in Newark prevented the game from taking place.
Per Gross, the contest has been cancelled and won’t be made up, ending New Jersey’s preseason prematurely. Their focus now turns to their season opener at home on October 15th against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Islanders, on the other hand, have one exhibition match remaining. They have a tilt scheduled for Saturday against the New York Rangers to be played in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
It’s a tough break for New Jersey, who was expecting to give multiple players just one more audition tonight. The team still has 33 players on their training camp roster, needing to cut ten more before opening night.
Jimmy Vesey, Mark Jankowski, Frederik Gauthier, and Tyler Wotherspoon remain with the Devils on professional tryout contracts. The team will now need to make a snap evaluation on whether to offer contracts to any one of them, if at all.
The team will also need to decide what to do with young forwards Alexander Holtz and Dawson Mercer, who’ve both impressed at camp. They both stand chances of making the team, fighting with other forwards like Marian Studenic and Tyce Thompson for the final spots on the roster.
The Athletic’s Arthur Staple was first to report a possible cancellation.
Jonathan Drouin Out With Non-COVID-Related Illness
The Montreal Canadiens announced that forward Jonathan Drouin will miss tonight’s preseason tilt against the Ottawa Senators, citing a non-COVID-related illness as the reason for the late scratch.
While the team hasn’t given any further information on Drouin’s health, a preseason absence from a guaranteed roster player usually isn’t too much to worry about. With Montreal already entering the season with a depleted roster, the full health of their players is of utmost priority right now, so Drouin’s absence can best be predicted as precautionary.
However, if Drouin does miss any period of time, it could be yet another challenge for the team at the beginning of the season. Montreal starts the season with three games in four nights against the Maple Leafs, Sabres, and Rangers. They’re currently without Carey Price, Shea Weber, Paul Byron, Mike Hoffman, and Joel Edmundson to begin the year, with all players expected to be out for varying lengths of time.
Drouin returns to the team in 2021-22 after taking a leave of absence at the end of last year, missing the entire playoffs as well. He’s struggled with injuries over the past two seasons, tallying just nine goals and 38 points in 71 games. Expected to fit into the team’s top-nine forward group this season, his return is greatly anticipated for a team looking to return to the playoffs this season.
Josh Ho-Sang Signs AHL Deal With Toronto Marlies
The Toronto Marlies signed forward Josh Ho-Sang to an AHL contract Tuesday night, per NHL insider Chris Johnston. The move comes after the Toronto Maple Leafs released Ho-Sang from his professional tryout contract.
Ho-Sang joined the Leafs this offseason on a PTO after he was left unqualified by the New York Islanders. Ho-Sang had been in the Islanders organization since they drafted him 28th overall in 2014.
The 25-year-old forward spent last season on loan in Europe. In nine games in the Swedish Hockey League, Ho-Sang scored two goals and one assist for three points. He split time between Orebro HK and Linkoping HC.
Ho-Sang has gotten into 53 NHL contests so far in his career, all with the Islanders. He hasn’t played an NHL game since 2018-19, spending his time in the AHL and SHL since then.
A skilled playmaker, Ho-Sang hopes to revitalize his career in the Maple Leafs’ organization. He had a strong camp, notching multiple points in the preseason. He’ll now need to excel on the Marlies’ roster before proving he can make an impact again at the NHL level.
With Ho-Sang signing an AHL deal, he does not need to be placed on waivers to be assigned to the Marlies. Toronto can sign him to an NHL contract and bring him up to the Maple Leafs at any time, however, they will need to waive him in order to send him back to the AHL if they wish.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Three Skaters
The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they’ve recalled Jonas Rondbjerg, Daniil Miromanov, and Jake Leschyshyn ahead of tonight’s preseason contest against the Colorado Avalanche. The trio of two forwards and one defenseman could suit up tonight on the road as the Golden Knights continue their preseason schedule.
Rondbjerg, Leschyshyn, and Miromanov were all assigned to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday as part of a larger cut from Vegas’ training camp roster.
None of the three skaters are expected to crack the opening-night lineup, and their recall gives the Knights some extra roster flexibility for tonight’s game. It’s extremely likely that they’re re-assigned to Henderson within the next few days.
That isn’t to say that some of these names aren’t intriguing — especially Miromanov’s. The 24-year-old undrafted free agent can play both defense and wing and is the most likely out of these three names to get called up this year if injuries strike. Miromanov’s now had multiple years of professional experience in the KHL, Czech Extraliga, ECHL, and AHL. He impressed with HK Sochi in the KHL last season, tallying 10 goals and 29 points in 58 games. His versatility and professional experience make him a viable candidate.
Leschyshyn and Rondbjerg are both products of the Knights’ inaugural 2017 draft class, picked in the second and third rounds respectively. They’ve both garnered at least a year of AHL experience, but need more development time before they’re considered for a call-up.
31 Players Clear Waivers
Oct 4: 31 of the 32 players placed on waivers have cleared. The Buffalo Sabres have claimed Jonsson-Fjallby from the Washington Capitals.
Oct 3: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that, originally, 13 names have hit the waiver wire today. PuckPedia reports an additional 19 names that have found themselves on waivers today. The 13 names are as follows:
D Trevor Carrick (ANA)
D Kodie Curran (ANA)
D Brendan Guhle (ANA)
F Vinni Lettieri (ANA)
F Danny O’Regan (ANA)
D Brogan Rafferty (ANA)
F Zachary Senyshyn (BOS)
D Nick DeSimone (CGY)
D Kevin Gravel (CGY)
F Matthew Phillips (CGY)
D Andy Welinski (CGY)
D Jalen Chatfield (CAR)
D Joshua Jacobs (CAR)
F Seth Griffith (EDM)
F Cooper Marody (EDM)
F Brandon Baddock (MTL)
F Laurent Dauphin (MTL)
F Jean-Sebastien Dea (MTL)
G Michael McNiven (MTL)
F Anthony Richard (NSH)
F Brian Flynn (NJD)
F Robbie Russo (NJD)
F Greg McKegg (NYR)
F Pontus Aberg (OTT)
D Dillon Heatherington (OTT)
F Kole Sherwood (OTT)
D Tommy Cross (STL)
D Sean Day (TBL)
F Gabriel Dumont (TBL)
F Charles Hudon (TBL)
F Darren Raddysh (TBL)
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (WSH)
More to come…
Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning Begin Extension Talks
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that the Tampa Bay Lightning have begun contract extension talks with head coach Jon Cooper. Cooper is entering the final season of a three-year deal paying him $3.5MM per season.
A raise is undoubtedly in order for Cooper, who’s now guided the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. It’s an incredible achievement for Cooper, who’s already the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. He took over the reins with 15 games left in the 2012-13 season after Guy Boucher was fired.
The Lightning have never won less than 40 games in a full season coached by Cooper, who’s now 54 years old. His coaching record stands at 384-197-53, good enough for a .647 points percentage during his time as a head coach in the league. Those numbers tie him for 42nd all-time in wins and 11th among all current head coaches in the league.
Cooper’s job could get more challenging this year. Salary cap constraints hit the Lightning hard this offseason, and they’re now a team that will be relying on their youth more than in recent years. He’s shown at multiple junctures in the past that he can get the most out of Tampa’s prospect system, helping coach underappreciated assets like Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli to the heights of their success.
He’ll have to perform a similar act this year with names such as Ross Colton, Callan Foote, Mathieu Joseph, and other potential roster players such as Alex Barre-Boulet and Taylor Raddysh. If Cooper’s able to guide Tampa Bay to yet another Stanley Cup championship, he could become the first coach to win three straight Stanley Cups since Al Arbour won four in a row from 1980 to 1983.
Edmonton Oilers’ Josh Archibald Diagnosed With Myocarditis
TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald has been diagnosed with myocarditis and is out indefinitely. The diagnosis comes after it was revealed Archibald contracted COVID-19 over the summer.
It was revealed last month by general manager Ken Holland that Archibald entered training camp as the only unvaccinated member of the Oilers. Just days ago, head coach Dave Tippett announced that Archibald was being held out of camp, saying he “[wasn’t] feeling like he should be.”
The 28-year-old right wing carries a cap hit of $1.5MM. Due to the nature of the condition, he’ll likely be placed on long-term injured reserve and could very well miss the entire season.
Archibald’s spent the last two seasons in a depth role for the Oilers, playing on the third and fourth lines for the most part. He’s tallied 19 goals and 34 points in 114 games as an Oiler.
Over the course of his career, the sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011 has bounced around the league, now on his third team after making a stop with the Arizona Coyotes in between. He currently sits with 39 goals and 70 points in 235 games.
Archibald becomes the third player under NHL contract to miss time due to a COVID-related heart condition. Oilers netminder Alex Stalock will miss the entire campaign this year after contracting COVID-19 during last season, while the Wild’s Marco Rossi is returning to play after missing an entire year due to the condition.