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Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Tavares, Benson, Peterka

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The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby earlier this morning with Joseph Woll missing the next few days due to “lower-body tightness“. It’s official the latter goaltender will miss at least the next three games with PuckPedia reporting the organization has placed him on injured reserve.

PuckPedia also shared that the organization has moved forward Connor Dewar to long-term injured reserve which puts their available cap space at $337K after today’s moves. Dewar has been nursing a shoulder injury suffered at the end of last season but did skate during training camp in a non-contact jersey.

The news doesn’t bode well for the organization as injury concerns have plagued Woll since he became the full-time goaltender last season. An ankle injury suffered last year lost him nearly two months of the regular season limiting him to only 25 games played. The Maple Leafs brought in a solid insurance option this summer in Anthony Stolarz but the team prefers to have both netminders healthy and available.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Although many of the headlines will be taken by Mitch Marner’s extension negotiations, the Maple Leafs have another big one to focus on. Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic that the organization has begun contract talks with center John Tavares who will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. LeBrun shares that there’s mutual understanding between Tavares and Toronto that there will be a pay cut upon his $11MM salary but the scale factor of change is still up in the air. That will make the extension negotiations more delicate but there is still a desire between both parties to extend their relationship.
  • The Buffalo Sabres shared a report from the team’s practice earlier today showing forwards Zach Benson and John-Jason Peterka were back on the ice. They are both options for the team tomorrow night in their regular season opener in North America after sustaining minor injuries in the team’s games in Prague against the New Jersey Devils.

Panthers Recall Spencer Knight, Reassign Chris Driedger, MacKenzie Entwistle

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As expected, Spencer Knight will start the year with the Florida Panthers. The organization announced they recalled Knight from their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers while sending goaltender Chris Driedger and forward MacKenzie Entwistle back the other way.

The move was primarily made for salary cap implications thanks to Knight’s $4.5MM salary. The organization signed him to a three-year, $13.5MM extension in 2022 while Knight was in the midst of the best season of his young career. The deal would prove premature with Sergei Bobrovsky taking back the net and Knight exclusively seeing AHL action last season.

He still carries significant prospect pedigree as the 13th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. He holds a 32-17-6 record in 49 starts since the start of the 2020-21 NHL season with a .906 save percentage and 2.91 goals-against average. The numbers may look fairly solid for an NHL backup but according to HockeyReference, Knight has a .421 quality start percentage, a 100 GA%-, and a -0.7 goals saved above average showing him as fairly pedestrian at the NHL level.

Last season with the Checkers didn’t do much to inspire confidence either with a 25-14-5 record in 45 games with a .905 SV%. He’s still the best option for the Panthers behind Bobrovsky despite being fairly expensive.

Driedger will immediately become the starting netminder in Charlotte after an impressive season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He finished with a 24-7-7 record in 39 games with a .917 SV%. He backstopped the Firebirds to a second straight Calder Cup final on the heels of a .906 SV% in 18 postseason contests.

Florida signed Entwistle this past summer after being non-tendered by the Chicago Blackhawks. He’ll likely be a bubble player for most of the year in the Panthers organization with 15 goals and 35 points over 193 appearances in four years at the NHL level.

Wild Notes: Leipold, Boldy, Middleton, Chisholm

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The owner of the Minnesota Wild, Craig Leipold, took part in a lengthy interview with Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic carrying a wide array of topics. Despite not making the playoffs last year and not advancing past the second round since 2003 Leipold assures Wild fans the organization is firmly committed to bringing a Stanley Cup to the State of Hockey.

Leipold shared that Minnesota was never interested in a full-scale rebuild and the organization is now in year two of a five-year plan to win a Stanley Cup. The major factors in this rebuild are extending star player Kirill Kaprizov next summer and bringing in some marquee free agents when they have more financial flexibility.

The longtime Wild owner touched on the importance of the inevitable negotiations with Kaprizov saying, “Am I convinced that we can (persuade him to stay)? No. Am I convinced that we will have a better offer than anybody else can do in the league? The answer is yes. I told you that this five-year plan is not a straight line. He’s the most important piece of our five-year plan. I think I can say that“.

Minnesota is still financially reeling from the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter from a few years ago with $14.74MM owed to the players this season. That number will drop to only $1.66MM next summer giving the Wild a ton of room to work with as the cap continues to rise.

Other Wild notes:

  • The injuries that limited forward Matt Boldy and defenseman Jacob Middleton during training camp will not extend into the regular season. Jessi Pierce of the NHL reports that both players are expected to be in the Wild lineup tomorrow for their regular season opener. Boldy was suffering from a lower-body injury and was originally designated as week-to-week on September 23rd before being downgraded to day-to-day on October 1st.
  • One player confirmed to not be in the lineup tomorrow night is defenseman Declan Chisholm who is battling an illness (X Link). There was no guarantee Chisholm would have been in the lineup if healthy as the team may have opted for Jonathon Merrill and Zach Bogosian on the bottom pairing regardless. Minnesota did use Chisholm more than he ever has in his career last season averaging 16:52 of ice time in 29 contests after being claimed on waivers.

Florida Panthers Extend Carter Verhaeghe

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The Florida Panthers have come to terms on an extension with one of their best forwards from their run to a Stanley Cup championship a season ago. The team announces they have agreed to an eight-year extension with forward Carter Verhaeghe beginning next season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Verhaeghe will earn $7MM each year of the deal with $46MM of the $56MM being paid out in bonuses. Friedman also adds that Florida gave Verhaeghe a six-year no-move clause that will begin this season and last the first five years of his new deal.

Verhaeghe had an odd pathway toward becoming one of the most consistent forwards on a Stanley Cup championship team. The Toronto Maple Leafs originally drafted him with the 82nd overall pick of the 2013 draft but he would only play two games in the organization by way of two appearances with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2013-14. The Maple Leafs moved on quickly from Verhaeghe despite two solid years with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs as he was moved in the trade that brought Michael Grabner to Toronto.

His time in the New York Islanders organization was eerily similar to his time with the Maple Leafs playing exclusively in the AHL or ECHL. He failed to move his way up the Islanders’ depth chart and the team moved him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a minor 2017 trade for Kristers Gudļevskis. His offensive potential was beginning to blossom upon his arrival in Tampa Bay scoring 51 goals and 130 points in 134 games for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch from 2017-19.

Verhaeghe made his NHL debut over six years after being drafted on October 3rd, 2019. He skated in 52 games for the Lightning that season scoring nine goals and 13 points while averaging 9:22 of ice time. He also played sparingly in Tampa Bay’s run to the Stanley Cup Final that season tallying two assists in eight games while getting his name on the Cup for the first time in his career.

The Bolts were seemingly unimpressed by Verhaeghe’s pedestrian scoring output in his rookie campaign and non-tendered him over the offseason. Their interstate rivals, the Panthers, acted quickly by signing Verhaeghe to a two-year, $2MM contract.

His major breakout happened almost instantaneously with the Panthers. He scored 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games for Florida in the Covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign and quickly became one of the best bargain contracts in the league. Verhaeghe followed up his breakout campaign with another solid year with 24 goals and 55 points in 78 contests which firmly cemented him in the Panthers’ top six.

The last two years have been Verhaeghe’s best with 76 goals and 145 points in 157 games since the start of the 2022-23 NHL season. He’s also been one of Florida’s best playoff performers in the team’s back-to-back runs to the Stanley Cup Final scoring 18 goals and 38 points in 45 postseason contests.

General manager of the Panthers, Bill Zito, spoke highly of Verhaeghe by saying, “Carter is one of our most trusted players. South Florida has watched him evolve into one of the NHL’s most elite goal scorers while also being a relentless forechecker. His willpower and perseverance have allowed him to repeatedly succeed as a critical performer on the biggest stages. He is an integral part of our team now and into the future, and we are thrilled to see him remain a part of our core group“.

Florida is making a major push to lock in their core for the foreseeable future and keep their contention window wide open. Verhaeghe’s extension marks the sixth Panthers’ player with at least six years left on their contract including Gustav Forsling, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Anton Lundell.

Central Notes: Rantanen, Nichushkin, Hellebuyck, Crouse

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All signs indicate the Colorado Avalanche will enter the 2024-25 regular season without an extension ironed out with one of their star forwards, Mikko Rantanen. The organization isn’t concerned about Rantanen reaching unrestricted free agency next summer with Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports reporting general manager Chris MacFarland isn’t worried about the negotiations.

Rantanen has been one of the most underappreciated players in the league over the last several years scoring 242 goals and 579 points in 486 games since 2017-18 with an additional five goals and 25 points in 20 games during Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2022. He hasn’t received as much attention as teammates Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar on the national stage but he’s become an integral part of the Avalanche’s success.

His camp will likely use Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl’s new eight-year, $112MM extension as a starting point and work down from there. Draisaitl has averaged 0.16 more points a game than Rantanen since the 2017-18 season with an Art Ross Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award. He will certainly increase his current $9.25MM salary but Colorado will attempt to keep him under MacKinnon’s $12.6MM salary.

Other Central notes:

  • MacFarland also gave a small update on Valeri Nichushkin who is still away from the team due to his six-month suspension last season (X Link). Nichushkin can return to the ice with the Avalanche on November 13th, 2024 but general manager MacFarland shares that he expects Nichushkin to return to Denver sometime toward the end of October. The team continues to work through his reintegration process back to the NHL but all signs have been positive up to this point.
  • Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has been away from the Winnipeg Jets because of personal reasons. The absence isn’t expected to carry over into the regular season with TSN’s John Lu reporting he will return to practice with the team on Wednesday and will be the opening night starter tomorrow night against the Edmonton Oilers.
  • The Utah Hockey Club has already laid out its leadership hierarchy to start the year by naming Clayton Keller the first captain in franchise history. TSN’s Chris Johnston reported earlier the team has named Lawson Crouse an ’associate captain’ for the 2024-25 regular season which is an interesting designation. Most teams refer to players wearing an ’A’ on their jerseys as ’alternate captains’ unlike what Utah has done with Crouse.

Pacific Notes: Kane, Savoie, Wright, Eberle

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As expected the Edmonton Oilers have announced they have placed forward Evander Kane on long-term injured reserve to start the 2024-25 NHL season. He had major surgery in mid-September on two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias, and two torn lower abdominal muscles which will keep him off the ice for the next four months.

The move gives Edmonton some much-needed financial breathing room and will allow them to safely register Travis Dermott’s one-year, $775K contract. Kane’s LTIR placement gives the Oilers $5.125MM in cap room after starting the year with only $53 of space.

Things will get tricky for Edmonton once Kane returns from surgery in mid-January since his contract will be added back to the active roster. The team will still accrue cap space thanks to a separate transaction today (more on that later) but will still be in a bind when Kane returns.

Other Pacific notes:

  • In the same announcement, the Oilers shared they have reassigned forwards Matthew Savoie and Cameron Wright to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. The two combined for $1.811MM in cap space with the latter signing a one-year, $925K contract with the team yesterday. Coupled with the team officially signing Dermott to a one-year, $775K contract they have opened up another $1.036MM in salary cap space.
  • Before the team’s first game of the regular season against the St. Louis Blues this afternoon, the Seattle Kraken named their second captain in franchise history. Forward Jordan Eberle will now don the ’C’ for Seattle and will be the first player to do so since defenseman Mark Giordano. Eberle was selected by the Kraken from the New York Islanders in the 2021 Expansion Draft and signed a two-year, $9.5MM extension with the club during the 2023-24 regular season.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Jackson Blake, Reassign Bryce Montgomery

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The Carolina Hurricanes will get one of their top forward prospects into the lineup for their regular season opener on Friday. The organization announced they have recalled Jackson Blake from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves while sending recently signed defenseman Bryce Montgomery the other way.

Blake has become a ’diamond in the rough’ find for Carolina with the team selecting him with the 109th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft. His play came to life at the University of North Dakota with 38 goals and 102 points in 79 contests. The Hurricanes quickly signed Blake to his entry-level contract last spring after tying for fourth in the NCAA in scoring and finishing third in Hobey Baker Award voting.

He should find a consistent role in Carolina’s middle-six to start the year with the team losing so much forward depth over the summer. The Hurricanes still need a more reliable winger to put next to Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis on the top line which could be Blake’s if he adjusts well to the NHL. He finished his first preseason in Carolina with one goal and two points in four contests.

AHL Chicago was always the likely landing spot for Montgomery after the team signed him to his entry-level contract yesterday. He appeared in 48 last year for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays scoring four goals and 12 points overall. He’s a big defenseman standing at 6’5″, 231lbs, and should bring a lot of physicality and roughness to the Wolves back end this season.

Atlantic Notes: Laine, Xhekaj, Struble, Guentzel, Nosek

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The Montreal Canadiens have already been busy today with their long-term injured reserve, adding forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard earlier today. They have added another with PuckPedia reporting the team has added forward Patrik Laine to the LTIR opening up $8.7MM in cap space.

PuckPedia also confirmed that defensemen Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble’s reassignments to the AHL yesterday were merely a paper transaction with both being recalled to the opening night roster. These moves mean the Canadiens will open the season with $6.625MM in cap space and an LTIR pool of $9.717MM without putting goaltender Carey Price’s $10.5MM salary on LTIR.

Despite the callup, Struble will not be in the lineup for the Canadiens’ regular season opener tomorrow night. The organization announced he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Even when healthy Struble will have difficulty playing as consistently as last season with Montreal carrying Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, and Xhekaj on the left side of their defense.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Some were speculating in Tampa Bay that new winger Jake Guentzel wouldn’t start the season on time after missing some of the team’s practice on Sunday and all of the team’s practice yesterday. Jon Cooper, head coach of the Lightning, downplayed that speculation earlier sharing that the team expects Guentzel back at practice on Thursday and there’s no doubt in his mind that he will be in their regular season opener on Friday. There are high expectations for Guentzel coming into this season after scoring 30 goals and 77 points in 67 games last year between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes while also signing a brand new seven-year, $63MM contract in Tampa.
  • The Florida Panthers will be without some forward depth at the bottom of their lineup for the next few weeks. Senior digital content manager for the Florida Panthers, Jameson Olive, reported forward Tomas Nosek is still out week-to-week with an upper-body injury and confirmed he would not return by next week. Nosek signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Panthers this offseason and is largely expected to be the 12th or 13th forward for the team in most games.

Capitals Sign Jakub Vrana

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Oct. 8: The Capitals have made Vrana’s signing official. It’s a league-minimum deal, as reported.

Oct. 7: The Washington Capitals are bringing back a familiar face on a guaranteed contract. PuckPedia reported earlier today that the organization will sign forward Jakub Vrana to a one-year, $775K contract after playing on a professional tryout agreement for the preseason.

Vrana’s contract won’t be registered until tomorrow when the Capitals are expected to make the signing official. He will start the season on Washington’s opening night roster and play his first game with the organization in over three years.

He was originally drafted by the Capitals with the 13th overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and debuted with the club in 2016-17. It wasn’t an encouraging start to his NHL career, with three goals and six points in his first 21 games.

His play picked up over the next three years, with 62 goals and 126 points for the Capitals in 224 games from 2018-2020. He played a part in Washington’s run to their first Stanley Cup championship in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, scoring three goals and eight points in 23 games, including the first goal of the clincher.

Although Vrana was an emerging member of the Capitals’ top six, the team traded him to the Detroit Red Wings during the 2020-21 season for Anthony Mantha. He got off to an electric start on a poor Red Wings team with eight goals and 11 points in 11 games.

His time in the Motor City was shortlived thanks to injuries and a stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. He finished his tenure in Detroit with 22 goals and 32 points in 42 games before being traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23.

Vrana finished the 2023-24 season with two goals and six points in 21 games while being demoted to their AHL affiliate for much of the year. He’s far removed from earning the three-year, $15.75MM contract the Red Wings gave him in 2021, but Vrana and the Capitals hope he can turn his career around in a familiar environment.

Miscellaneous Transactions: 10/7/24

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Today marks the eve of the official start of the 2024-25 NHL regular season. All 32 teams are expected to finalize their 23-man rosters today and several transactions coming along with it. Some of these moves will be considered “paper transactions” so clubs can maximize their cap space for the regular season as most of these names will be involved in new transactions over the coming days. Here’s a look at some of today’s action:

  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports the New York Rangers have placed Jimmy Vesey on long-term injured reserve and Ryan Lindgren on injured reserve to start the season. In a major sway with their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers have sent down Adam Edstrom, Matt Rempe, William Cuylle, Victor Mancini, and Brett Berard while recalling Jake Leschyshyn, Adam Sykora, Anton Blidh, and Ben Harpur.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned promising defensive prospect, Harrison Brunicke, to the WHL’s Kamploop Blazers. Brunicke was the 44th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft and became a popular candidate to make the Penguins’ roster out of training camp. He scored 10 goals and 21 points in 49 games for the Blazers last season and will now look to extrapolate on that during his third year with the team.
  • Despite suiting up in three games for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs; defenseman Maxwell Crozier will not make the team out of camp. The organization announced they assigned Crozier to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, to start the 2024-25 NHL season. He tallied two assists in 13 regular season games for the Bolts last year.
  • The San Jose Sharks made their final four cuts from their training camp roster earlier today. The team announced they assigned defensemen Luca Cagnoni and Jack Thompson and forwards Ethan Cardwell and Collin Graf to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.
  • The Ottawa Senators recently released their 23-man roster to start the year and with that came a few roster cuts. Graeme Nichols of The Hockey News reported the Senators reassigned Jan Jenik after passing through waivers and Zack Ostapchuk to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
  • Unsurprisingly, the Buffalo Sabres sent Lukas Rousek and Kale Clague to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, after the two cleared waivers earlier today. Rousek has been a rock-solid player for the Americans over the last two years with 26 goals and 97 points in 121 games.
  • To make space for their final 23-man roster, the Carolina Hurricanes made a series of roster moves. Walt Ruff, an employee for the organization, reported the Hurricanes sent down Josiah Slavin, Ty Smith, and Ryan Suzuki who all cleared waivers earlier today to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Forward prospect Jackson Blake has also been assigned to AHL Chicago but the Hurricanes are expected to make more moves before their regular season opener on Friday.
  • When the Colorado Avalanche announced their opening night roster for the 2024-25 campaign, they also announced a few transactions. The team reassigned Adam Scheel, T.J. Tynan, Nikolai Kovalenko, Ondrej Pavel, and Ivan Ivan to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Colorado only has 11 forwards currently listed on the roster so there is a reasonable assumption the team will bring one of the forwards back up to the NHL roster before their regular season opener.
  • Forward James Malatesta became the odd man out for the Columbus Blue Jackets as the team announced he was the final cut from the training camp roster. The quick forward will look to grow his game with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters after scoring 12 goals and 22 points in 56 games for the team last year in addition to one goal and two points in nine postseason contests.
  • All five players placed on waivers by the Detroit Red Wings yesterday have cleared and been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The team announced defensemen Justin Holl, William Lagesson, and Brogan Rafferty were reassigned with forwards Joe Snively and Sheldon Dries.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have made their final training camp cuts as they announced their official opening night roster. Samuel Fagemo, Jack Studnicka, and Pheonix Copley have all been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, after clearing waivers yesterday while forward prospect Koehn Ziemmer has been loaned to the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
  • One surprising training camp cut came out of the St. Louis Blues preseason. The team announced Zachary Bolduc, Tyler Tucker, and Corey Schueneman had been assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Blues front office brass may be looking for more offensive accomplishments from Bolduc before making him a full-time NHL player after only scoring eight goals and 25 points in 50 games in the AHL last year.

This page will be updated with additional transactions. 

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