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Minnesota May Allow Danila Yurov To Remain In KHL

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It has been a poorly kept secret the Minnesota Wild were banking heavily on overseas prospects such as Danila Yurov, Liam Ohgren, and Marat Khusnutdinov coming to North America next year, infusing their forward core with a young jolt of offense. Nevertheless, in an article (subscription required) from Michael Russo of The Athletic, Yurov may sign an extension in the KHL, and the Wild may be more than satisfied with that scenario.

Drafted 24th overall by Minnesota in the 2022 NHL Draft, Yurov had a disappointing start to his career in the KHL the following year with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In 59 regular season games, Yurov was rarely used by Metallurg and only went on to score six goals and 12 points in total. Metallurg would make it as far as the Eastern Conference semifinals in last year’s Gagarin Cup playoffs, but would ultimately be swept by Avangard Omsk.

This season, both Yurov and the team are on entirely different trajectories. Now, being one of the most used forwards on the team in all situations, Yurov has 12 goals and 27 points in 38 games, tied for the top of the team in both categories. The organization, on the other hand, has 57 points so far this season, sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Given his seemingly constant communication with the Wild organization, the situation appears dissimilar to the correspondence between the team and fellow countrymen, Kirill Kaprizov, when he was first drafted back in 2015. However, with a reasonable idea that he could have had a home in Minnesota’s top-six next year, much of that hope was fazed out this past summer after extensions were given to Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno, and Ryan Hartman.

With Kaprizov, as well as Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek all locked up long-term as well, it may take longer than expected for these prospects to make the jump to North America without the promise of an opportunity to be higher up in the team’s forward core. Given the number of available spots on the roster, it appears that the General Manager and President of Hockey Operations for the team, Bill Guerin, is resolute in his reasoning that this may be the best approach moving forward.

If all these players stayed in their professional leagues overseas, Minnesota would not have as much of a direct hand in their development as they may like, but it would likely serve as a better experience than growing in the American Hockey League. Whatever the case may be, all signs indicate the Wild still hold a strong relationship with their overseas prospects and will be able to influence the direction they do ultimately take.

Trade Notes: Maple Leafs, Johnson, Martinez

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Once the roster freeze across the league is lifted on Thursday morning, it will mark the unofficial start to trade season in the NHL calendar. Up to this point, much has been made of the potential trade targets for the Toronto Maple Leafs, primarily centered around veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, currently with the Calgary Flames.

Instead of sorting through potential targets, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic wrote an article (subscription required article) examining the assets currently available to the Maple Leafs they will have to offer in any deal leading up to the trade deadline. Given the team’s current positioning in the standings and their liberal usage of draft selections in the past, Toronto’s first-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft will likely be in play.

However, given the team’s recent history of trading first-round draft picks, there should be some considerable internal pushback in moving the asset once again. Since 2019, the Maple Leafs have used their first-round pick to acquire Jake Muzzin (2019), Nick Foligno (2021), Ryan O’Reilly (2023), Noel Acciari (2023), Jake McCabe (2025), and Sam Lafferty (2025). The team also traded their 2020 first-round selection to move Patrick Marleau to the Carolina Hurricanes, and their 2022 first-round selection to move Petr Mrazek to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Of the six players acquired by Toronto for first-round draft picks in the last six seasons, only one of them (McCabe) is still in the organization, as the rest have moved on to different organizations, or have seen their careers end. Keeping this in mind, if the Maple Leafs are to use their 2024 first-round draft pick as leverage for a trade this season, they would be much better served in acquiring a player with term.

Other notes:

  • Heavily linked to Calgary center, Elias Lindholm, Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now indicates if the price for Lindholm remains high, the Boston Bruins may look to a recent trading partner in the Chicago Blackhawks to improve down the middle of the ice (article link). Murphy indicates that shortly after the roster freeze is lifted, Chicago will make center Tyler Johnson available for trade, also being able to retain salary in the deal. With a high amount of injury concern attached, Johnson may still be an effective buy-low middle-six option for the Bruins.
  • After the recent extension given to defenseman Ben Hutton, Ken Boehlke of SinBin reports that more changes may be coming to the blue line of the Vegas Golden Knights. With seven defensemen already on the active roster, and with Shea Theodore and Kaedan Korczak both expected back at some point, Boehlke notes the Golden Knights may be inclined to move out defenseman Alec Martinez. The moving out of Martinez would open up space in the defensive core as well as cap space for an additional upgrade elsewhere.

Prospect Notes: Phillips, Hildeby, Minnetian, Terrance, Duda

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Currently on the roster through an emergency loan from December 9th, the top brass with the Chicago Blackhawks appear unconvinced that defenseman Isaak Phillips has earned a full-time spot with the NHL team, much to the dismay of Phillips. In an article by Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Pope highlights the disappointment head coach Luke Richardson has had with the inconsistency still present in Phillips’ game.

Regardless of their opinion, without much in the way of NHL-ready talent available to the organization on the blue line, and factoring in the injuries to both Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic, the Blackhawks are all but forced to play Phillips most nights. In 17 games played so far this season for Chicago, Phillips has averaged approximately 18 minutes of ice time per night, playing in a shutdown role with veteran defenseman, Connor Murphy.

For most teams, the ’shutdown’ tandem on the blue line is generally tasked with lining up against the opposing team’s top offensive units, to suppress much of the firepower coming their way. For lack of better words, over his current stretch with the Blackhawks, Phillips has looked largely uncomfortable in his role.

Phillips remains one of the team’s better prospects without a full-time role on the NHL roster, and his current ailments may be multifactorial. At only 22 years old, Vlasic very well could be placing too much pressure on himself, which often tends to create a chain reaction in mental errors on the ice.

Other notes:

  • One goaltending prospect who is beginning to gain quite a bit of traction is Dennis Hildeby, currently rostered on the Toronto Marlies as a part of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. In his first full season in North America, Hildeby holds a 7-4-2 record in 13 games played for the Marlies, carrying a .921 SV% and a 2.18 GAA. In a report from this morning, the Marlies unexpectedly scratched Hildeby for the team’s game tonight, giving some indication he may be receiving a callup for his NHL debut shortly (X Link).
  • Chris Peters of FloHockey is reporting that Aram Minnetian and Carey Terrance will be used as reserve players in case of injury for the U20 United States team at the 2024 World Junior Championship. Minnetian, who was drafted 125th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 2023 NHL Draft, is currently on the nation-leading Boston College program in the NCAA. Terrance, on the other hand, was drafted 59th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2023 NHL Draft and is in the OHL with the Erie Otters.
  • Per a team announcement, Artem Duda has committed to Toronto Metropolitan University of USport, the Canadian equivalent to the NCAA in the United States. Duda was originally the 36th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft, taken by the Arizona Coyotes. Due to playing in 14 games for CSKA Moskva in the Kontinental Hockey League last year, Duda was unable to participate in the NCAA, given their guidelines of previous play in professional leagues.

Central Notes: Johnson, Dickinson, Wild

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According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, forward Tyler Johnson is the most recent injury to the Chicago Blackhawks roster, as he did not travel with the team to take on the St.Louis Blues. Johnson joins a growing list of high-priced members of the organization to go down with injury this season, as Seth Jones, Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou all currently find themselves on the team’s injured reserve.

In the final season of a seven-year, $35MM contract originally signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2017, Johnson was included in a salary dump move to Chicago, who also acquired a second-round draft selection in the deal, that sent Brent Seabrook’s contract back the other way. Having his time with the Blackhawks mired by injury concerns, Johnson has only suited up in 114 games for the franchise, scoring 22 goals and 50 points overall.

As Pope mentions in his reporting, with Johnson out tonight against the Blues, young forward Cole Guttman will draw back into the lineup for Chicago. In 14 games this year, Guttman has one goal and three points, only averaging a touch over 11 and a half minutes of ice time per night.

Other notes:

  • Sticking in Chicago, in an article today from Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCSN – Chicago, he mentions the growing trade value of Blackhawks’ forward Jason Dickinson leading up to the trade deadline. Being one of a handful of teams trying to stay above the salary cap floor, Chicago would have the ability to retain 50% ($1.325MM) of Dickinson’s contract, making him quite the bargain with 10 goals and 32 games this season.
  • Before their game tonight against the Boston Bruins, Michael Russo of The Athletic shared several injury updates surrounding certain members of the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the organization, they will still be without captain Jared Spurgeon, as well as forward Ryan Hartman. With plenty of issues plaguing the team this year, the inability to field a complete roster has led to plenty of inconsistency in Minnesota this season.

Pacific Notes: Soucy, Barabanov, Moverare

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Still, without a firm timeline for his return, the Vancouver Canucks will likely be getting defenseman Carson Soucy back very shortly, as he has finally begun skating again after suffering a fractured leg in November (article link). Factoring in the recent acquisition of Nikita Zadorov, once their defensive core becomes completely healthy, there is a very reasonable argument to be made that Vancouver may have the best defensive core in the league.

Joining the organization this past summer as an unrestricted free agent, Soucy would sign a three-year, $9.75MM contract after spending the last two seasons with the Seattle Kraken organization. Throughout his two years in Seattle, Soucy would skate in 142 regular season games, scoring 13 goals and 37 points, becoming a very valuable two-way defenseman for the Kraken.

Now in Vancouver, Soucy skated in 13 games before his injury, scoring two goals and five points, averaging just under 17 minutes of ice time per night. Without any real reason to carry eight defensemen on the active roster, Soucy’s return will likely spell the end of either Mark Friedman or Noah Juulsen’s time in the NHL.

Other notes:

  • Earlier today, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported that forward Alexander Barabanov will be out of the lineup tonight with an illness. Already missing over a month of the season with a finger injury, Barabanov has been quite good upon his return on December 3rd, scoring one goal and four assists in eight games for the San Jose Sharks.
  • According to the AHL transactions log, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Jacob Moverare from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. It will mark the 10th time already this season that Moverare has been recalled by the Kings, scoring zero points in four games at the NHL this year.

Snapshots: Gibson, Perron, Dell

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According to the EliteProspects transaction page, former NHL goaltender, Christopher Gibson, will return home to Finland, as he has signed a contract with Rauman Lukko of the Finnish Liiga. As recently as last year, Gibson was rostered in the Seattle Kraken organization, playing all season for their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Gibson was originally drafted 49th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2011 NHL Draft but would wind up signing his entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2013. Only two years later, Gibson was a part of the trade that sent Michael Grabner to the Maple Leafs, has was included in the return for the New York Islanders.

Spending the better part of 10 years in the American Hockey League, Gibson is a veteran of 244 games at the minor league level, carrying a record of 124-77-37, with a .910 SV% and a 2.64 GAA. At the NHL level, Gibson will leave North America having played in only 16 games over seven seasons, carrying a .901 SV% and a 3.33 GAA.

Other snapshots:

  • Returning to the lineup tonight regardless of the decision, the NHL decided to uphold the six-game suspension of Detroit Red Wings forward, David Perron, after the NHLPA filed an appeal on his behalf. After the appeal process played out, Commissioner Gary Bettman relied heavily on Perron’s intentions during the play to defend the original suspension, as the entirety of his reason can be found here.
  • Signing Aaron Dell to a professional tryout agreement only four days ago, the Carolina Hurricanes will be watching Dell from overseas as they decide on his immediate future with the organization. Approaching next week, Dell has been added to Team Canada’s roster for the 2023 Spengler Cup, and will likely serve as Dell’s overall tryout with the Hurricanes organization.

West Notes: Meyers, Landeskog, Carlsson

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For the second time in as many days, the Colorado Avalanche have sent forward Ben Meyers back down to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. In the team’s victory last night against the Ottawa Senators, Meyers skated in just under six minutes of ice time, producing a -1 rating on the evening.

Before his call-up yesterday, Meyers had been rostered on the Avalanche from December 11th to December 20th, scoring one goal in four games, averaging just under 10 minutes of ice time over that stretch. Fortunately for Meyers, although taxiing back and forth from the AHL and NHL can be stressful, the Eagles’ home arena is only located about an hour north of Ball Arena in Denver.

It will likely not be the last time that Meyers is used as a depth forward stashed in the minor leagues throughout his career, as his tenure with the Avalanche has been largely unsuccessful since coming over from the University of Minnesota in 2022. Including this season, Meyers has spent three years in the Avalanche organization, scoring six goals in 49 games at the professional level.

Other notes:

  • Staying with Colorado, Kyle Fredrickson of the Colorado Gazette indicated that Avalanche captain, Gabriel Landeskog is very close to resuming skating. Even if Landeskog does return to the ice to resume skating, there will still be no way to guarantee his return to the NHL. After missing the last two regular seasons, including this year, the knee cartilage surgery underwent by Landeskog does not have any sort of track record on returning athletes to their respective sports.
  • Derek Lee of the Sporting Tribune reports standout rookie for the Anaheim Ducks, Leo Carlsson, is still undergoing tests on his right leg to determine the severity of the injury. In last night’s game against the Calgary Flames, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar awkwardly fell on Carlsson’s leg, which caused his right knee to collapse under the weight.

Vegas Golden Knights Extend Ben Hutton

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Right after the top of the hour, the Vegas Golden Knights announced a two-year, $1.95MM extension for defenseman Ben Hutton. It serves as a modest $125K salary increase on Hutton’s current AAV of $850K, but will nevertheless keep Hutton in Nevada for the foreseeable future.

If Hutton remains with the Golden Knights through the end of the contract, it will mark the longest stretch he’s spent with an NHL organization throughout his career. Drafted 147th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2012 NHL Draft, Hutton would spend three successful seasons at the University of Maine, before finally coming to the NHL in the 2015-16 season.

In his rookie campaign, Hutton played in 75 games for the Canucks, scoring one goal and 25 points averaging just under 20 minutes a night in ice time, impressively leading all Vancouver defensemen in scoring. Although Hutton showed a serious ability to move the puck up ice throughout his time with the Canucks organization, his offensive talents were not enough for the organization to look over his defensive inefficiencies.

The end of the rope finally came in Vancouver following the 2018-19 season, as they would non-tender Hutton leading into the offseason. Spending nearly all summer without a new home, Hutton finally signed with the Los Angeles Kings in mid-September leading up to the 2019-20 season.

Since signing that contract with the Kings, Hutton has largely operated as a bottom-pairing defenseman, spending pit stops with the Anaheim Ducks as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs. It wasn’t until nearly a month into the 2021-22 season that Hutton would land with Vegas, giving them a serviceable defenseman at the bottom of their roster.

This will not be the first extension that Hutton has signed with the Golden Knights, inking a two-year, $1.7MM contract only five months after joining the organization. Given his serviceable play with the team, Vegas has given their vote of confidence as well as their loyalty to Hutton for the next two seasons.

Snapshots: Skinner, Greenway, Hill, Atanasov

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Rumoured to be on the horizon for several days now, the Buffalo Sabres have officially activated forwards Jeff Skinner and Jordan Greenway from injured reserve tonight, per a team announcement. According to the stipulations provided in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Sabres can activate both, and carry a 24-man roster over the roster freeze since they are under the salary cap.

Barring something extreme, Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio expects both players to be in the lineup tonight as the Sabres take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Skinner, dealing with an upper-body injury, has missed three games for Buffalo, while Greenway, also dealing with an upper-body injury, has missed a total of nine games throughout his injury.

It is positive news for a Sabres organization seemingly unable to stay healthy up to this point in the 2023-24 regular season. With a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 games, Buffalo has failed to gain any sort of traction this season, sitting stagnantly in seventh place in the Atlantic Division.

Other snapshots:

  • Playing in only one game since December 1st, the expectation is that the Vegas Golden Knights will place goaltender Adin Hill on injured reserve (X Link). Not slowing down a bit since his impressive performance in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, Hill holds a 10-2-2 record this season, carrying a league-leading .933 SV% and a 1.93 GAA in 15 starts.
  • According to Elliotte Friedman, one player who is gaining plenty of overseas traction in the NHL is Vasili Atanasov, currently rostered on Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League. With one year remaining on his current contract, the 21-year-old forward has 19 goals and 38 points in 39 games. Although he has shown quite the ability to score at the professional level, he is a bit undersized standing at 5’11” and 157 pounds.

Roster Updates: Kraken, Larsson, Stalock

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Currently sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference and three points back of the final Wild Card spot with three games less in hand, the Seattle Kraken are experiencing somewhat of a playoff hangover from their run to Game Seven of the Conference Semifinals last Spring. Nevertheless, even with a healthy amount of rental assets currently on the roster, the Kraken have no desire to sell at this year’s trade deadline, according to Elliotte Friedman.

Evidenced primarily from their recent acquisition of Tomas Tatar from the Colorado Avalanche, Seattle is still hoping to turn their season around in an attempt to compete for a playoff spot. However, with an ample amount of time before the trade deadline, Kraken could certainly look to move out expiring assets such as Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, and Alexander Wennberg.

Whatever the case may be, Seattle will need to become much more consistent in either direction to confirm a trade deadline strategy in the next few months. In a top-heavy Western Conference, Seattle still has plenty of hope to make the playoffs this season.

Other notes:

  • After spending a little over a week on the active roster, the Ottawa Senators have sent down defenseman Jacob Larsson to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, per a team announcement. Unfortunately for Larsson, he was a healthy scratch for every game over that stretch, returning to a Belleville team where he has registered two goals and four points in 18 games.
  • Recalled only yesterday, the Anaheim Ducks have now returned goaltender Alex Stalock to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Given the team lines up against the Calgary Flames this evening, it likely spells the return of top goaltender, John Gibson, who was placed on the Non-Roster list only three days ago.

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