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Minor League Signings 07/01/2023

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On day one of the free agent market opening up, the league saw a grand total of 166 signings, with a whopping $646.4MM handed out over the course of 291 total contract years. This class of free agents was expected to be one of the weaker in recent memory, but the excitement still remained as quite a few players switched cities. In all the chaos, there were some minor contracts that were inked yesterday that may have slipped under the radar for most:

  • The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Keeper spent last season playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He only managed to play for about half of the Canucks games, scoring one goal and five assists in 35 games. In the playoffs, although eliminated in the first round, Keeper scored one goal in two games for Abbotsford (CapFriendly).
  • Defenseman Ryan Shea has inked a one-year, $775K, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shea was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2015, but never actually signed with the team, joining the Dallas Stars on an entry-level contract in 2020. The Northeastern University product played a combined 162 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, scoring 10 goals and 56 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The Washington Capitals signed forward, Pierrick Dube, to a two-year, $1.9MM, entry-level contract yesterday. An undrafted free agent last year, Dube joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Dube played very well for the Rocket, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 44 games down the stretch. Still only 22 years old, Dube could factor into one of the top lines on the Hershey Bears next season, potentially even finding minutes with the Capitals in the near future (CapFriendly).
  • Another depth signing for the Penguins, the team has added forward Joona Koppanen to a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract. Koppanen was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, playing the majority of his career up to this point with the Providence Bruins. Last season, Koppanen did get his first change in the NHL, playing five games for the Bruins in January, tallying only one assist while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time a game (CapFriendly).
  • The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract yesterday. The defenseman was acquired in 2021 from the Blackhawks in an early-April trade. Although playing in 40 games during 2021-22 for Florida, Carlsson spent the majority of last season with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In the minor leagues, Carlsson was one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, scoring 20 goals and 34 assists in 61 games (CapFriendly).
  • Securing his first contract in professional hockey, the Edmonton Oilers have added defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer to a one-year, $845K, entry-level contract. A former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, Hoefenmayer never played in the Coyotes system, eventually playing on minor-league contracts with the Toronto Marlies after finishing his junior career with the Ottawa 67’s. Hoefenmayer played quite well for the Marlies, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season (CapFriendly).
  • Returning back to North American hockey after spending the last two seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Philippe Maillet to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Already 30 years old, Maillet has spent parts of his career with the Capitals and Los Angeles Kings organizations before finally making the jump overseas in 2021-22. In 66 games played for Metallurg last season, Maillet scored 22 goals and 31 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy from the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, Hunter Shepard, has signed a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract to remain with the Capitals organization. Shepard was sensational en route to the Hershey Bears winning the 2023 Calder Cup, managing a 14-6-0 record throughout the playoffs, carrying a 2.27 GAA and a .914 SV% (CapFriendly).

 

Kings Sign David Rittich, Steven Santini

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Aside from the free agent deals for both Andreas Englund and Mikhail Maltsev, the team has also announced separate signings of goaltender David Rittich, and defenseman Steven Santini. Both players received one-year deals, while Rittich will make $875K at the NHL level, and Santini will receive $800K.

It was previously reported that the Kings were targeting a goalie to sign to a relatively cheap contract to pair with incumbent Pheonix Copley to complete their goalie tandem. They’ve found exactly that in Rittich, 30. Rittich spent last season as Connor Hellebuyck’s backup with the Winnipeg Jets, posting a .901 save percentage in 21 games.

He’s been a backup goaltender for the past three seasons, but before that point he received a greater workload as a member of the Calgary Flames.

Before the Flames’ signing of Jacob Markstrom, Rittich received 40+ games played from the Flames and performed decently well, scoring a .911 save percentage in 2018-19 and a .907 in 2019-20.

Copley managed to post a 26-6-3 record with a .903 save percentage last season, so if Rittich can manage to post similar numbers next season the Kings should be in decent shape.

They’ve got quite a bit of talent all throughout their roster and seem to be looking to emulate the Golden Knights from early in these past playoffs, wherein a cheap netminder good enough to give his team a chance to win consistently is propelled to victories by a talent-rich roster.

Conventional wisdom has stated that teams need strong, reliable goaltenders to be able to have playoff success, but the Golden Knights bucked that trend by winning a Stanley Cup behind a netminder with a career-high of 27 NHL games played in a single season. Now, the Kings look to be attempting to do a similar thing.

As for Santini, he’s a 28-year-old six-foot-two blueliner with 123 games of NHL experience under his belt. He’s played a handful of NHL games in the last few seasons but has largely been an AHL defender in that time frame. He’ll likely get a shot in training camp to make the NHL roster but will be overwhelmingly likely to play most of his games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

The Kings faced quite a few injury issues last season, so in signing Santini, Los Angeles has secured some experienced depth in case the injury bug bites once again.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Seattle Kraken Sign Brian Dumoulin

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The Seattle Kraken have made an addition to their blueline, inking former Pittsburgh Penguins defender Brian Dumoulin to a two-year, $3.15MM AAV contract.

Dumoulin is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has been a staple of their blueline since the 2015-16 season. Dumoulin was a bit of a late bloomer in the NHL, as he first became an NHL regular at the age of 24.

Ever since his rookie season Dumoulin has been a relied-upon top-four defenseman for the Penguins, and he has been the team’s leading penalty-killing defenseman for the past several years.

While many viewed Dumoulin as a player in decline this past season, the Kraken are clearly buying into his potential to remain a top-four defensive specialist for his age-32 and age-33 campaigns.

He’ll potentially slot in next to offensive defenseman and former teammate Justin Schultz on the Kraken blueline, and will likely join Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson on the Kraken penalty kill.

If Dumoulin’s bad moments from late in his tenure in Pittsburgh become more regular in Seattle, this deal will end up being a poor investment.

But with Seattle looking to make a push deeper into the playoffs after winning their very first playoff series a few months ago, Dumoulin brings the type of valuable Stanley Cup experience that many executives view as worth risking on.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New York Islanders To Retain Pierre Engvall, Scott Mayfield

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Per a team release, the New York Islanders have announced separate contracts for forward Pierre Engvall and defenseman Scott Mayfield. Both contracts will be for seven years, while Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets is reporting that Engvall’s AAV will be for $3MM. Similarly, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Mayfield’s AAV will be $3.5MM.

Engvall, who was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs at last year’s trade deadline, fit quite well into the lineup after the move to New York. In 18 games played down the stretch in the regular season, Engvall scored five goals and four assists, creating a very stable presence in the team’s middle six. An analytics darling, Engvall transitioned quite well to the Islanders’ defense-first brand of hockey and will continue to do so for the next seven seasons.

Like Engvall, Mayfield also received a lengthy contract term from New York, one that may bode quite nicely for the team. This past season was the best of his career, playing in all 82 games for the Islanders, scoring six goals and 18 assists all while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per night. Mayfield has become one of the better two-way defensemen on the roster, aiding in New York’s top-10 penalty kill in the league last season.

San Jose Sharks Extend Jacob Peterson

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The San Jose Sharks announced that they have signed trade-deadline acquisition, Jacob Peterson, to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but one could assume it will be for the league minimum at $775K at the NHL level.

Before arriving in San Jose, Peterson had spent the entirety of his career with the Dallas Stars organization, until he was traded at last year’s deadline to the Sharks for Scott Reedy in a minor-league swap. So far in his young career, Peterson has recorded 77 games played at the NHL level, scoring 14 goals and 11 assists split between Dallas and San Jose. Primarily playing in the AHL for the Texas Stars, Peterson scored 13 goals and 13 assists in 44 games before his move to the Sharks organization.

In only eight games played for the San Jose Barracuda, Peterson got off to a scorching start with the team, scoring one goal and five assists. Once recalled via an emergency loan in late March, Peterson finished off the season with the Sharks. Currently, San Jose is in the midst of a rebuild, so it would be unsurprising to see Peterson spend the majority of his time at the NHL level next year.

 

Minnesota Wild Extend Three Players

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Before free agency kicks off tomorrow afternoon, the Minnesota Wild are taking care of some small pieces. The team has announced they have signed Zane McIntyre, Dakota Mermis, and Nick Swaney each to a one-year, $775K extension, all of them being two-way deals.

Under reasonable expectations, all three players should be beginning the 2023-24 season with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. Mermis has the most experience at the NHL level throughout the group, having played 27 games split between the Arizona Coyotes, New Jersey Devils, and now with the Wild. Over those 27 games, Mermis has produced pretty tepid numbers, scoring one goal and three assists, averaging about 15 minutes of ice time per night throughout his career. At the minor-league level, he has been much more serviceable, scoring five goals and 21 assists in 63 games last season in Iowa.

McIntyre’s last taste of NHL action came all the way back during the 2016-17 season, playing with the Boston Bruins, producing a record of 0-4-1 in eight games. For the last two years, McIntyre has been a part of the Minnesota Wild organization, earning a total record of 35-26-8. Last season was a bit of a rough stretch for McIntyre, as he ended the regular season with a SV% of only .899, 21 points lower than the previous year.

Lastly, Swaney has the least amount of experience at the NHL level, having only played one game last year for Minnesota. He was originally drafted 209th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, not making the jump to the Wild organization until 2021. Despite being such a relatively low pick, Swaney has actually produced quite well at the AHL level, scoring 35 goals and 35 assists over 116 regular season games for the Iowa Wild. Even with injuries to the NHL roster, it is unlikely that Swaney will receive a call-up, but he does provide the organization with a bit of depth at the AHL level.

Free Agency Notes: Gostisbehere, Quick, No-Movement Clauses

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As the defending Eastern Conference Champions start the 2023-24 NHL season, they will reportedly be without defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. Both will be recovering from separate surgeries, and both are expected to be out for about a month after the season kicks off. Needing another defenseman aside from Gustav Forsling to manage the offensive load on the back end, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports the team has an interest in unrestricted free agent, Shayne Gostisbehere.

A top-pairing of Gostisbehere and Forsling shouldn’t be expected to replicate the output of Ekblad and Montour, but those two would be serviceable for the first month of the season, and would even represent a superb top-four once Ekblad and Montour make their return. If the Panthers and Gostisbehere do come to an agreement, it will be interesting to see the term handed out, as the team currently doesn’t have any defenseman signed beyond 2024-25.

It wasn’t so long ago that Gostisbehere was considered a salary dump, after being traded along with a second-round pick in 2022 and a seventh-round pick in 2022, to the Arizona Coyotes for nothing but future considerations. After landing in the desert, Gostisbehere had an offensive resurgence of sorts, scoring 24 goals and 58 assists in 134 games with the Coyotes. At last year’s trade deadline, Gostisbehere was moved to the Carolina Hurricanes for a third-round pick in 2026. In a combined total of 38 games in Carolina, Gostisbehere scored three goals and ten assists split between the regular season and the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Other notes:

Free Agency Notes: Kings, Kurashev, Merkley

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The Los Angeles Kings have been busy over the last couple of months, shipping out Calvin Petersen and Sean Walker to the Philadelphia Flyers, as well as acquiring and extending Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets most recently. After those moves, the Kings have a little over $4.5MM in cap space, with only 15 roster spots filled, according to CapFriendly. Due to the nature of their cap situation, it is more than unlikely that trade deadline acquisition, Joonas Korpisalo, will be retained by the team.

Los Angeles, who currently only has Pheonix Copley under contract to mind the net, will be looking for another goalie to pair with him next season. Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period has shed some light on how exactly the Kings are looking to fill that hole in their lineup, reporting that Los Angeles is looking for a goalie in the $1MM-$1.5MM range. It is unknown at the time if the Kings are planning on using Copley as their main starter next year, but it will be tough to find a goalie better than him at that price.

Many teams still have time to qualify their eventual restricted free agents, so Los Angeles may have some options available to them after that list is more well-known. At the time, in that range of salary, the Kings will likely be looking at goalies such as Alex Stalock or David Rittich, and even a potential bounce-back candidate in Alex Nedeljkovic.

Other notes:

  • Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Chicago reports that the only restricted free agent on the Chicago Blackhawks to receive a qualifying offer will be Philipp Kurashev. This means that Anders Bjork, Austin Wagner, and Caleb Jones will all go to the open market on Saturday. Jones is one of the more surprising players not to receive a qualifying offer, as he was originally brought in from the Edmonton Oilers to play with his brother, Seth Jones. Caleb is not a game-breaking player by any means but did eat just over 19 minutes a night for Chicago this season while also bringing quite the physical presence to their back end. Given that his qualifying offer would have been $1.35MM, and the Blackhawks are not in a cap crunch, it is likely that he will be playing for another team next season.
  • The Colorado Avalanche did not issue a qualifying offer to defenseman Ryan Merkley, as reported by Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Merkley was originally acquired by the Avalanche along with Matthew Nieto from the San Jose Sharks for Martin Kaut and Jacob MacDonald. Coming into the 2018 NHL Draft, Merkley was one of the most talented players in the draft, but questions about his attitude and work ethic led to his slide to 21st overall. Failing to turn a corner in his professional career, Merkley will head to unrestricted free agency this Saturday.

Poll: What Has Been The Most Impactful Pre-Draft Trade?

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The 2023 NHL Draft is now only three days away, and there has already been a flurry of activity in the NHL trade market. Yesterday, we saw the Colorado Avalanche acquire Ryan Johansen from the Nashville Predators, and the Arizona Coyotes acquire Sean Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings. Following up on those deals, there is heavy expectation that the St. Louis Blues will acquire Kevin Hayes from the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Carolina Hurricanes will add back Anthony DeAngelo to their lineup. If yesterday didn’t bring enough action, it’s also expected that the Kings are close to acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets.

After losing Nazem Kadri to the Calgary Flames last offseason, the Avalanche had a very difficult time replacing the void left by Kadri on the team’s second forward line. Throughout this past season, Colorado originally tried to patrol Alex Newhook in that role, but after failing to live up to expectations, J.T. Compher was thrust into that role. Compher did excel, scoring 17 goals and 35 assists this season, the best statistical performance of his career. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, Compher is set to enter unrestricted free agency, and Colorado may not have the cap space to retain him.

By acquiring Johansen from the Predators, the Avalanche clearly wanted to make an outside move to complete their second line. This past season, Johansen did not play particularly well, scoring 12 goals and 16 assists in 55 games, having his season ended by a foot injury in February. However, the year prior, Johansen was a proficient offensive player in Nashville, scoring 26 goals and 37 assists.

Sticking in the Central Division, the expected acquisition of Hayes for the Blues should fill the void left behind by Ryan O’Reilly last season. Hayes has very much had an up-and-down career, having much of his time spent in Philadelphia hampered by injuries. This past season, he did have the best offensive output so far with the Flyers, scoring 18 goals and 36 assists in 81 games. It was well known that Hayes and head coach John Tortorella sparred quite consistently, and it was becoming more and more clear that his time in Philadelphia would be coming to an end.

In Los Angeles, the Kings’ trade of Durzi largely indicated that the team was trying to move out money to acquire better talent. In Durzi, Los Angeles largely had a defenseman that was exceptional at moving the puck but was not as responsible on the defensive side of the game. He did score 38 points last year for the Kings, but the underlying defensive metrics were not positive. Opening up $1.7MM with that trade, it has now been reported that the Kings are expected to acquire Dubois, as well as sign him to an extension. Not only will this move allow the Kings to strengthen their second line, but by being able to move Phillip Danault to the third-line center position, Los Angeles may be one of the deepest teams in the Western Conference.

Lastly, the Hurricanes are bringing back a familiar face, as reports indicate that Carolina and Philadelphia are working on a trade. Last offseason, the Hurricanes felt that DeAngelo’s asking price on his next contract was too rich for their blood, and moved him to the Flyers for three draft picks. By acquiring DeAngelo, Carolina now has four defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency next season, even though it does strengthen their blue line for next year.

After all the moves up to this point, which player do you think will have the biggest impact on their next team?

What Has Been The Most Impactful Pre-Draft Trade?
Pierre-Luc Dubois (Los Angeles) 41.14% (476 votes)
Ryan Johansen (Colorado) 30.16% (349 votes)
Kevin Hayes (St. Louis) 15.73% (182 votes)
Sean Durzi (Arizona) 6.83% (79 votes)
Anthony DeAngelo (Carolina) 6.14% (71 votes)
Total Votes: 1,157

Arizona Coyotes Extend Connor Ingram

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June 25th: The Coyotes have officially announced the deal. In regards to the signing, General Manager in Arizona, Bill Armstrong, said, “Connor is a good young goaltender who played well for us last season. He and Karel Vejmelka provided us with a strong goaltending tandem. We look forward to having him back between the pipes.”

June 24th: Set to hit restricted free agency this summer, the Arizona Coyotes have done a bit of work to give them some clarity in net, signing Connor Ingram to a three-year extension. The deal will be a three-year, $5.85MM contract extension, paying Ingram a total of $1.95MM each season in the NHL.

Most importantly with Ingram’s deal, it actually buys out two years of potential unrestricted free agency for the netminder. Already having Karel Vejmelka signed until the 2024-25 season, the Coyotes will likely roll with these two for next year at the very least. Ideally, Arizona would like goaltending prospect Ivan Prosvetov to make the full-time leap to the NHL but must have felt that the young goaltender still needed a bit more seasoning at the minor-league level.

Originally drafted in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ingram never managed to make the jump to the NHL in southwest Florida. He was traded to the Nashville Predators during the 2018-19 season, spending much of his time with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. Last season, he finally managed to make the jump to the professional league in Nashville, posting a 1-2-0 record in three games, achieving a .879 SV% and a 3.71 GAA.

Before the start of this past season, Ingram was waived by Nashville, being claimed by the Coyotes. Now playing in the net for a statistically worse team, Ingram had the benefit of having much more access to ice time than he previously had. In 27 games for the Coyotes, Ingram went 6-13-8, earning a .907 SV% and a 3.37 GAA, much better numbers than his cup of coffee with the Predators a year prior.

It is most likely that Vejmelka will once again be the starting goaltender in Arizona at the beginning of next season, but Ingram does give the team a reliable backup option. There is absolutely no indication that the Coyotes are planning for contention next year, so Ingram can take this time to boost his stock for his next round of free agency in three years.

Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports was the first to report that the Arizona Coyotes had extended Ingram. 

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report the contract details for Ingram. 

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