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Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Calen Addison

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In a press release, the Minnesota Wild announced that the team has agreed to a one-year, $825K contract with defenseman Calen Addison. Being the last restricted free agent on the roster, the Wild and Addison were able to get a deal done only one day before training camp started.

Coming over to Minnesota in the trade that sent Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2020, it would take Addison two full years migrating back and forth from Minnesota and their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, before finally receiving the full-time call-up for the 2022-23 NHL season. Missing three weeks of action in October due to a foot injury, Addison still had a solid rookie season, scoring three goals and 26 points in 62 games for the Wild.

For Minnesota specifically, Addison would break the team’s rookie record for points by a defenseman, and also finish second in all-time points by a rookie defenseman, finishing one point back of Filip Kuba’s 2000-01 rookie season. In the entirety of the NHL last year, Addison would finish first among rookies in powerplay points, and tying for fifth in assists, and third in points for all rookie defensemen, respectively.

Even after his impressive rookie campaign, all signs indicate that Addison will be locked in a battle for a top-four role on the right side of the defensive unit for training camp. Another prospect, Brock Faber, who was acquired by the organization from the Los Angeles Kings in the trade that sent Kevin Fiala to the West Coast, is being given the opportunity to earn that role, after his excellent season at the University of Minnesota last year.

In fact, during the Wild’s opening-round matchup against the Dallas Stars in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Faber played in all six games, averaging over 14 minutes a night, while Addison only suited up for three games, playing a touch over 12 minutes a night.

Although Faber is already seen as a more defensively sound player than Addison on the blue line, as Addison would finish last season with a -17 rating to end the season, Addison’s possession metrics, highlighted by his CF% of 60.8%, and his ability to transition out of the zone and move the puck effectively make him just as solid as an option.

All-in-all, although the winner of the competition remains to be seen, it may come down to Minnesota riding the hot hand for much of the season. Addison will likely still receive an abundance of powerplay time throughout the year, while Faber should garner more defensively-minded roles and situations.

Sarah McClellan of Star Tribune Sports was the first to report that Minnesota had signed Addison

Latest On Lukas Reichel

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Leading up to training camp opening up, the General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, Kyle Davidson, spoke about his vision for the future of forward prospect Lukas Reichel. Charlie Roumeliotos of NBC Sports Chicago reports that Davidson believes Reichel is NHL-ready for the upcoming season and envisions him to play down the middle of the ice.

Reichel was originally drafted by Chicago as the 17th overall selection of the 2020 NHL Draft, a few years after the rebuild started for the Blackhawks organization. He spent the next season with the Eisbaren Berlin of the DEL, before finally making the transition to North American hockey for the 2021-22 NHL season. Being a part of the taxi squad at the beginning of the season for Chicago, Reichel received two separate call-ups in February and April of that year.

Primarily playing in the AHL, Reichel showed an impressive rookie effort for the Rockford Ice Hogs, scoring 21 goals and 36 assists in 56 games, finishing first on the team in scoring as a 20-year-old. Playing in 11 games for the Blackhawks that year, Reichel only recorded one assist, receiving a tad over 13 minutes of ice time per night. Aside from his play on the ice, Reichel did suffer from an undisclosed injury that would keep him out of the lineup for a little over two weeks but has sustained a clean bill of health since that point.

Much like his first year playing in North America, Reichel spent much of last season in Rockford but did play with the Blackhawks in a full-time role for the last month of the season. In a similar effort to his previous season, Reichel was once again effectively a point-per-game player in the AHL, scoring 20 goals and 31 points in 55 games.

Receiving the full-time callup one day before the 2022-23 trade deadline, Reichel became a focal point of the Blackhawks offense down the stretch. Well, outside of the playoff picture at that point, the organization was able to give Reichel just under 17 minutes a night, and he rewarded the team with six goals and six assists in only 19 games.

With his play to wind down the 2022-23 regular season for the Blackhawks, there shouldn’t be any question as to whether or not Reichel is ready for NHL minutes, but more so around Davidson’s belief he will be an effective option at center moving forward. Chicago did give Reichel 13 opportunities in the dot last year, as he would finish with a FO% of only 38.5%.

Although he has limited NHL experience up to this point, Reichel’s defensive metrics and possession metrics have not struck much confidence in his play on both sides of the puck. Without a doubt, the Blackhawks will start Connor Bedard as their number one center option this season, and one would also assume that their 2022 13th overall selection, Frank Nazar, will get the nod in the future holding down the second line.

Nevertheless, although it is never a given that a team will not make the playoffs, the Blackhawks still do not project as a playoff team for the upcoming season. Given where they are at in their organizational timeline, they don’t have much to lose trying Reichel out at the center position for this year.

Colorado Avalanche Eyeing Goalie Market

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09/19/23: Yesterday, Adrian Dater wrote on X confirming that the Avalanche are indeed “looking for new backup goalie.” He named Halak and DeSmith as options, as well as Calgary Flames netminder Daniel Vladar.

Vladar is an interesting case as the motivation from the Flames to deal him would in all likelihood be in order to clear an NHL spot for top goalie prospect Dustin Wolf. Wolf has accomplished just about everything a goalie could hope to accomplish in the AHL save for a Calder Cup title, posting a 77-20-7 record and .927 save percentage there. He’s a two-time AHL goalie of the year and the reigning AHL MVP, so it’s understandable that the Flames would want to give him a clear path in the NHL next to starter Jacob Markstrom.

What could complicate a Vladar trade is the fact that Vladar is making $2.2mM for the next two seasons, and struggled to the tune of a .895 save percentage last season.

09/14/23: Earlier this afternoon, Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff reported that the Colorado Avalanche will likely be without regular backup goaltender Pavel Francouz to start the year, as the goaltender has not yet fully recovered from an offseason adductor surgery. In one minor comparable to the Gabriel Landeskog situation, the timeline of Francouz’s recovery is seemingly unclear.

As an internal candidate to take over the backup role in Colorado, young netminder Justus Annunen would be the likeliest candidate. Of all the goaltenders in the Avalanche organization, he is one of only three with NHL playing experience, having played in four games over the last two seasons, posting a 2-1-1 record, carrying a .859 SV% and a 3.92 GAA. His numbers in the AHL have been markedly better but he has not struck much confidence at the top level, even with limited playing time, making it unlikely that Colorado will pick him as their second goalie.

In late June, veteran netminder, Jaroslav Halak, indicated that he is committed to playing for the 2023-24 NHL season, despite still finding himself on the free agent market. With little interest in his services up to this point, this may be the situation that Halak had been waiting for. With approximately $500K in cap space after putting Landeskog on LTIR to start the season, if Francouz also finds himself on LTIR to start the year, the Avalanche would have ample space to bring in Halak as a stopgap.

Lastly, in the trade market, the most obvious trade connection for Colorado comes from the Canadian Northeast. Only a few weeks ago, it became public knowledge that after acquiring goaltender Casey DeSmith from the Pittsburgh Penguins due to their involvement in the Erik Karlsson trade, the Montreal Canadiens have committed to finding a different landing spot for him. Last year, as a backup to Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, DeSmith posted a 15-16-4 record in 38 games, with a .905 SV% and a 3.17 GAA. Although the backup goaltender position does not typically carry the highest of expectations, DeSmith would likely improve upon those numbers behind a much more capable Colorado defense.

Nevertheless, even in the case of Francouz’s potential placement on LTIR, the Avalanche are going to be a bit close to the cap to start the year and will have to get creative in this situation. Relying heavily on goaltender Alexandar Georgiev last season, if the backup goaltending situation stagnates in Colorado, Georgiev could potentially see even more than 62 starts as he did last season.

Latest On Shane Pinto

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The NHL continues to crawl closer to the start of training camp, and as usual, most teams have done much of their heavy lifting already, eager to see how new acquisitions mesh with their new teams. Unfortunately for the Ottawa Senators, they are still left without a contract for their sixth-highest goal-scorer during the 2021-22 season, Shane Pinto.

Only last week, the Boston Bruins, who much like the Senators have little salary cap flexibility to work with, had a reported interest in acquiring Pinto to fill their newfound void at the center position. Nevertheless, only a day later, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet spoke candidly about Pinto’s situation, describing that Ottawa would need to make a trade to fit him under the salary cap for the upcoming season.

It’s no surprise as to why the Senators would want to extend Pinto, as well as the reported outside interest from other teams around the league. At 22 years old, Pinto is coming off a 20-goal season and should come at a fairly cheap price as he is coming off of his entry-level contract.

Speaking in place for new owner Michael Andlauer during Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s monthly breakfast at City Hall, General Manager of the Senators, Pierre Dorion spoke to the situation surrounding the contract of Pinto.

Dorion noted that both sides are hoping to have a deal done by next Tuesday, which could provide a resolution by the end of the upcoming weekend. However, Dorion did acknowledge there still is a gap between the two parties, and that the team does need to move a contract of magnitude in order to keep Pinto in the fold for the 2023-24 season. Dorion said, “We’re working on that one (Pinto), hard. We’d like to see him next week when we open camp“.

Whatever the outcome is for this ordeal, it’s important to point out that the Ottawa organization should be uniquely busy this weekend, unlike most teams during this time of the year. As things currently stand, the Senators have approximately $895K in cap space, and will likely need to free up around $900K-$1MM to sign Pinto comfortably. Whether it comes through a small deal, or even some roster manipulation by Dorion, a solution should be arranged by early next week.

Poll: Which Team Is The Most Improved This Offseason?

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This offseason, there were some teams that made quite a few large-scale moves. The New Jersey Devils inked contract extensions with forwards Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt, as their Metropolitan division rival, the New York Islanders, handed out an eight-year contract to arguably the best goaltender in the NHL, Ilya Sorokin.

Although those contract extensions are important deals in their own right, this poll is specifically about which team is most ’improved’ after this offseason, not necessarily which team had the ’best’ offseason.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who already had two former MVP winners in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, as well as a defenseman who has received plenty of Norris votes throughout his career in Kris Letang, went for the big fish and acquired Erik Karlsson in a three-team trade. There are certainly some defensive issues that come into question in this deal, but it’s hard to see how acquiring not only the reigning Norris Trophy winner but a defenseman who scored over 100 points only a season ago, as anything other an improvement.

Even after winning their first playoff series in quite some time, the Toronto Maple Leafs 2023 playoff run was still considered a failure in many ways. In an attempt to get even deeper into the playoffs next spring, the Maple Leafs brought in John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves, Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi just to name a few. At the very least, both Bertuzzi and Domi had solid playoff performances last season, and add extra grit to Toronto’s lineup.

Not considered even a fringe playoff team for this season, there is an argument to be made that the Chicago Blackhawks are actually the most improved team this summer. No other team in the NHL was able to select Connor Bedard, and if everything goes as expected, will make even Connor McDavid look human. After an early summer trade with the Boston Bruins, the team will also be able to position Taylor Hall on Bedard’s wing, as well as adding Nick Foligno and Corey Perry as extra forward depth.

There are even more teams than these three alone that could have been considered as the most improved. That is why we ask, who do you think is the most improved team after this offseason?

Which Team Is The Most Improved This Offseason?
Other (Comment Below) 35.43% (383 votes)
Chicago Blackhawks 28.58% (309 votes)
Pittsburgh Penguins 22.39% (242 votes)
Toronto Maple Leafs 13.60% (147 votes)
Total Votes: 1,081

Peter Abbandonato Expected To Join Penguins On PTO

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are expected to add forward Peter Abbandonato to their training camp roster under a PTO contract according to Tony Androckitis. In early July, Abbandonato reached a one-year AHL agreement with the Chicago Wolves organization for the 2023-24 AHL season.

Although a seemingly unrecognizable player to most, Abbandonato was one of the biggest names in major junior hockey not all that long ago. During the 2018-19 QMJHL season, Abbandonato was a part of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies organization, leading not only his team but the entire league in points. The Huskies would end up defeating the Eastern Conference champion Halifax Mooseheads in the President Cup Finals in six games. Rouyn-Noranda would continue their playoff momentum, winning the 2019 Memorial Cup, with Abbandonato leading the way scoring six goals and 21 assists in 15 games.

Unfortunately, Abbandonato’s junior league success did not transfer into the semi-professional leagues of North American hockey, as while being split between the AHL and ECHL for much of his career up to this point, had been unable to score more than 25 points over a full season in either league.

Last season, playing in his first full year with the Laval Rocket, Abbandonato had one of his best seasons since his famed 2018-19 QMJHL year. Playing in 66 games for the Rocket, Abbandonato would score 11 goals and 35 assists, finishing second on the team in total scoring. Although he has already committed to the Wolves for the upcoming season, if Abbandonato impresses in camp with the Penguins, and builds on his best year in the AHL to this date, he may be in line for some surprise NHL minutes in his future.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Declan Chisholm

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced a one-year, two-way contract for defenseman Declan Chisholm. The deal will pay Chisholm a total of $775K at the NHL level and will be the second professional contract of his career after being drafted by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

For the most part, Chisholm spent much of his entry-level contract with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Over the last two years in the AHL, although a bit limited due to injuries, Chisholm was not only one of the highest-scoring defensemen on the Moose but one of the highest-scoring players overall.

In those two seasons, over 112 regular season games, Chisholm had 14 goals and 59 assists but also carried a -12 rating. Given the current depth of their defensive core at the time being, it’s most realistic that Chisholm once again starts the year in Manitoba, but he could be an exciting call-up option in the case of injury.

Based on how the regular season goes in Winnipeg, the team will have two expiring contracts on their blue line in Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo, and they both could be moved by the trade deadline. However, given that he excels in moving the puck and still needs a bit of improvement to his defensive assets, Chisholm likely will not replace either of those two in the lineup. Nevertheless, given his play in the minor leagues, Chisholm should see more playing time at the NHL level this season.

East Notes: Parise, Tatar, Romanov, Newhook

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One player who will not be at the New York Islanders training camp this September is veteran forward, Zach Parise. In April, Parise was adamant about returning to the Islanders for his 19th season in the NHL but appeared to become more uncertain once the 2022-23 season reached its conclusion.

General Manager of the Islanders, Lou Lamoriello believes that this isn’t the end for Parise, indicating that Zach is taking a bit more time to spend with his family to cap off the summer months. In the article, Lamoriello states, “I think he made the right decision for his family, and then we’ll just keep the door open for him. And as I said to him, we’ll keep the number (No. 11) open, too“.

Including his career resurgence with the Islanders following an unceremonious end to his career with the Minnesota Wild, Parise is a veteran of 1224 NHL games, scoring 429 goals and 450 assists in an 18-year career spent with the Islanders, Wild, and New Jersey Devils. Although still an unrestricted free agent, if Parise does choose to continue playing, it is a guarantee it will be in New York, following a similar career path as his late father, J.P. Parise.

Other news from the Eastern Conference:

  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that unrestricted free agent forward, Tomas Tatar, has switched agents following a tumultuous time on the open market. In the same report, Friedman also indicated that Tatar is leaning towards signing with a team from the Eastern Conference. There has been some recent indication there was mutual interest between Tatar and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it appears the Penguins will go in a different direction. Another team in the Eastern Conference that does have a bit of cap space and an opportunity in their middle-six for more scoring would be the Ottawa Senators.
  • Another report coming out of New York is that defenseman Alexander Romanov may not be ready for training camp following an offseason shoulder surgery shortly after the Islanders playoffs came to an end in late April. The report indicates that even if he is not ready for the start of training camp, Romanov is very close to returning at the very least. Becoming another solid shut-down defenseman on the Islanders’ blue line, Romanov would score two goals and 20 assists in his first full season last year, as well as adding an incredible amount of physicality to the back end.
  • The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, has a lot of confidence in one of the newest members of the organization, forward Alex Newhook. Speaking to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, St. Louis indicated that he did not watch much film on Newhook, believing he did not want to judge Newhook based on his last season playing for the Colorado Avalanche (X Link). One of the most important quotes from St. Louis, which should provide a lot of confidence for Newhook heading into a new environment is when he said, “So, to me, what I’m really happy about is I feel we’ve got a hockey player, I don’t think I’m getting a kid who plays hockey, and there’s a big difference“.

Islanders Expected To Sign Jackson Cates To PTO

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In an effort to create as much competition as possible in their forward group for training camp, Andrew Gross of Newsday is reporting that the New York Islanders have signed Jackson Cates to a professional tryout agreement. An undrafted free agent signing by the Philadelphia only three years ago, Cates became a Group Six UFA this offseason.

Up to this point, Cates has been unable to transfer his high level of play during his last season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth to the professional level. Capping off his last year of play in the NCAA during the 2020-21 season, Cates would play in 28 games for the Bulldogs, scoring 11 goals and 16 assists, helping his team reach the 2021 Frozen Four.

Over the next three seasons, Cates primarily played for the Flyers AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, suiting up in 102 regular season games, scoring 13 goals and 20 assists in two seasons. Without much of an opportunity at the NHL level, Cates has only played in 20 total games for Philadelphia, registering one goal and one assist, averaging just under nine and a half minutes of ice time per game.

As the Islanders are currently constructed, it will be incredibly unlikely to see Cates make the team out of training camp. Per CapFriendly, the team already has a projected 14 forwards ready to take on NHL minutes, without also factoring in the return of forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who will be cleared to play following a lower-body injury in April.

At the very least, if Cates does perform well in training camp for New York, there is a real possibility that the team could offer him a two-way contract and store him in the AHL for much of next season. However, with there being a handful of forwards ahead of him on the depth chart, it would seem unlikely that the team would offer him a call-up even in the case of injuries to their active roster.

Quinn Hughes Named Canucks Captain

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After trading away Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders before the trade deadline last season, the Vancouver Canucks had a decision to make regarding their captain moving forward. Today, that decision has been made, as the team announced defenseman Quinn Hughes would be the 15th captain in franchise history.

In the end, for head coach Rick Tocchet and the rest of his staff, the decision likely came down to Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and J.T. Miller. All three players have leadership capabilities and thorough experience in the league up to this point, and all three players would have been realistic choices to take over the captaincy. Hughes will become the first defenseman for the Canucks to wear the ’C’ since Doug Lidster during the 1990-91 NHL season.

The seventh overall selection for Vancouver in the 2018 NHL Draft, Hughes would join the Canucks at the end of the 2018-19 season, finishing off his college career at the University of Michigan. A year later, in his first full season, Hughes thoroughly showed what he could do at the NHL level, scoring eight goals and 45 assists in 68 games. In that first full year for Hughes, he would finish second in Calder Memorial Trophy voting and even garnered some Norris Trophy votes at season’s end.

Since then, it has been much of the same for Hughes, racking up a high amount of assists, and generating quite a bit of offense from the blue line for Vancouver. This past season, in what would be his most impressive year up to this point, Hughes would score seven goals and 69 assists in 78 games, becoming a point-per-game player as a defenseman.

A three-time All-Star already in his career, one of Hughes’s best improvements has been his defensive metrics. At the beginning of his career, there were some questions surrounding his defensive proficiency from the blue line, improving his takeaway numbers, and holding strong possession numbers for much of his career.

Now, at almost 24 years old, Hughes will be tasked with being the leader for the Canucks, both on and off the ice. As Vancouver continues to build and restructure their team into a playoff contender, it will be much of Hughes’s responsibility to lead this team into their next era.

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