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Anaheim Ducks Sign Three To PTOs

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The time of the tryout is upon us. Now that teams have pretty much filled out their rosters, players left without contracts will begin to accept professional tryouts with invitations to training camps. Just yesterday, Tyler Pitlick and James Neal were both added this way. CapFriendly has added a few more to that list, reporting that Brent Gates, Nikolas Brouillard, and Josh Healey have all signed PTOs with the Anaheim Ducks.

These are not players expected to challenge for NHL roster spots; instead, they will compete to try and secure two-way NHL deals, which would at least give them the chance of a call-up. None of the three have appeared at the highest level to this point, though all have varying degrees of success in the AHL.

Gates, 25, was a third-round pick of the Ducks in 2015 and has bounced back and forth between the AHL and ECHL ever since. This season, he saw 45 games with the San Diego Gulls and set a career-high with 12 goals and 23 points. Gates never did sign his entry-level contract, meaning his exclusive draft rights expired a number of years ago, but he has remained with the organization ever since.

Brouillard, 27, went undrafted out of the QMJHL and played one season in the ECHL before going to school, attending McGill University for three seasons. He has been with the Gulls since, and scored 39 points in 66 games last season–to go along with his 131 penalty minutes.

Healey, 28, was actually a pretty highly sought-after talent out of college a few years ago, and eventually signed with the Calgary Flames. His uber-physical game didn’t translate all that well to the professional ranks, however, and he never did make it to the NHL. The Flames left him unqualified, and after a one-year deal with the Nashville Predators, he played last season on an AHL deal. In 57 games for the Milwaukee Admirals, he scored eight points and racked up 89 penalty minutes.

St. Louis Blues Sign Tyler Pitlick To Professional Tryout

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The St. Louis Blues have signed Tyler Pitlick to a professional tryout, inviting him to training camp with the team. The veteran forward spent last season with the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens but hadn’t found a contract this summer so far.

Pitlick, 30, has suited up for 325 games in the NHL but hasn’t been able to find much consistency in recent years. after setting a career-high with 14 goals and 27 points in 2017-18, he’s bounced between five different teams, and scored just one goal in 39 appearances in 2021-22. That just isn’t enough to have teams chasing him, though the Blues do offer an interesting opportunity.

We’ve seen St. Louis sign players after training camp invitations before, and Pitlick’s size and physicality do lend themselves to Craig Berube’s style. Still, it would likely take an injury (or two) for a spot to open, given how many forwards will already be fighting for roster spots. Perhaps Pitlick stands out enough to earn a deal but this may be as much a showcase for the rest of the league as anything else.

Remember, despite signing a PTO with the Blues, Pitlick is still an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team that wants to offer him an NHL contract.

Dallas Stars Sign Jake Oettinger

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The Dallas Stars have signed restricted free agent goaltender Jake Oettinger to a bridge deal, inking him for the next three years. The deal will come with an average annual value of $4MM, and leave him an arbitration-eligible RFA at expiry. General manager Jim Nill explained just how important Oettinger is to the team:

Jake’s performance spoke for itself last season. He has elite physical ability and presence in the net, while also exhibiting phenomenal mental strength in high-pressure situations. Jake’s poise and character off the ice have made him a leader in our locker room. He has shown that he has the skill, work ethic, and poise to excel at the NHL level. He was a key part of the team’s success last season, and we’re excited to see him continue to grow here in Dallas.

Oettinger, 23, was one of three players the Stars selected in 2017 that have gone on to become franchise cornerstones. He was picked between Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson that day, a draft that essentially changed the direction of the team thanks to some savvy scouting. The big netminder took a few years to develop but now sits as the Stars’ no-doubt starter for next season, after recording a .914 save percentage in 48 appearances last year.

It was the playoffs where he really showed what he could do, though, posting a .954 in seven games to almost steal the first round from the Calgary Flames. With a bright future ahead of him and Robertson still to sign, a bridge deal always made sense for the young netminder. A $4MM cap hit still pays him handsomely while setting Oettinger up for an even bigger deal a few years down the line.

For Dallas, kicking the can down the road a few years was integral, as Jamie Benn’s $9.5MM will be coming off the books after the 2024-25 season. Esa Lindell, Ryan Suter, and Radek Faksa are also scheduled to be unrestricted free agents that summer, meaning Nill and the rest of the front office will finally get some flexibility back. A longer contract is expected for Robertson, who has already established himself as an elite offensive player in the league after scoring 41 goals and 79 points this season.

The Stars still have more than $6.3MM for that contract and could create more by waiving someone before the season begins (or sending one of their entry-level players back down). All of that space will likely be needed for Robertson’s contract, meaning this deal for Oettinger was never going to be able to get much bigger.

While there is no guarantee that he lives up to it, early returns on the big Minnesota native are promising. If Oettinger takes another step forward next season and starts putting up .920 save percentages, a $4MM cap hit will look like quite the bargain.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Who Will Win The Central Division?

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A few days ago, we asked the PHR community to predict which team would end up winning the Pacific Division, and there ended up being two clear leaders. The Vancouver Canucks Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks combined for less than 19% of the vote, with the rest nearly split in half between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

The Oilers came out a few percentage points ahead after adding netminder Jack Campbell and bringing back Evander Kane. Calgary’s remade roster with Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri still holds plenty of confidence, a stark change from the days after Jonny Gaudreau’s departure.

While that division is apparently a two-horse race, we now move to the Central, where the vote might not be as close (though maybe it should).

Last year, the Colorado Avalanche would end up taking it after going 56-19-7 in the regular season. They would ride that success all the way to a Stanley Cup championship, and return as the presumptive favorites to take the division once again.

However, there are some changes in Colorado. Kadri, who was an incredibly important play driver for the team last season, has departed to Calgary, while Darcy Kuemper was replaced with Alexandar Georgiev. Andre Burakovsky’s depth scoring has disappeared, and while the team still looks like a very strong contender–having a defense corps led by Cale Makar and Devon Toews will do that–there may be a few chinks in the armor after the dream season.

The Minnesota Wild were second last year, but don’t think they weren’t a powerhouse in their own right. The team finished with a record of 53-22-7, which would have put them first in the Pacific, and went into the playoffs on an 8-1-1 streak. While Kevin Fiala has been sent packing after an outstanding year, the development of Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi means there is still plenty of excitement in Minnesota.

Next was the St. Louis Blues, with their own 109-point campaign, but there is a big question mark in net for next season. Ville Husso, who had emerged as the more reliable option during the year, is gone, leaving Jordan Binnington with Thomas Greiss as his backup. With Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko both headed into their final year under contract, it will be interesting to see what direction the Blues go in this year.

It’s not often you can say a team with Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin, and Jamie Benn on it is driven by youth, but that’s exactly the case for the Dallas Stars, who will are ready to hand the keys over to the dynamic trio of Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen, and Jake Oettinger. All three were selected in 2017 and all three look like stars in the league at this point. The question for Dallas, of course, is that Robertson and Oettinger remain unsigned to this point.

The Nashville Predators were able to land Nino Niederreiter and Ryan McDonagh, adding some depth and Stanley Cup experience to the roster as they try to take another run at the division crown. The emergence of Tanner Jeannot has given them another weapon, while Yakov Trenin has also looked like he could be a difference-maker if given the opportunity.

Then there are the Winnipeg Jets, who many picked as contenders last year and far fewer are dubbing them that this time around. While there are still some outstanding pieces there, it’s getting harder and harder to see how they will keep up without Connor Hellebuyck getting back to Vezina-level goaltending.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes, meanwhile, are both trying to lose–at least enough to secure a high draft position. The rebuilding clubs shouldn’t pose much of a threat in the division, especially after the deadline when they sell off any pieces that are performing at a high level.

So now we ask you, PHR readers, to make your pick for who will win the Central Division in 2022-23! Vote in the poll below and explain your thoughts in the comment section.

Who will win the Central Division in 2022-23
Colorado Avalanche 62.19% (676 votes)
St. Louis Blues 12.05% (131 votes)
Minnesota Wild 9.84% (107 votes)
Nashville Predators 4.05% (44 votes)
Dallas Stars 3.86% (42 votes)
Chicago Blackhawks 3.86% (42 votes)
Winnipeg Jets 2.48% (27 votes)
Arizona Coyotes 1.66% (18 votes)
Total Votes: 1,087

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Minor Transactions: 09/01/22

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We are into September and preseason hockey is right around the corner. The summer has flown by and now teams must put the finishing touches on their rosters ahead of training camp. Like always, we’ll be keeping track of any notable minor moves right here, keeping you up to date on the entire hockey world.

  • Tyler Irvine has signed a one-year minor league contract with the Cleveland Monsters, after splitting last season with the Utica Comets and Adirondack Thunder. The 26-year-old forward had 42 points in 49 games with the Thunder but just five in 20 matches with Utica. Given it is a two-way AHL/ECHL contract he is signing, there’s no guarantee he stays at the higher level.
  • Gordie Green, who had been with the Toronto Marlies and Newfoundland Growlers last season, has signed a new deal with the Toledo Walleye. Green had 47 points in 57 games for the Growlers last year and was a huge part of their run to the Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Finals.
  • Belarusian defenseman Artyom Levshunov has been approved to play in the USHL this season, according to Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. The 16-year-old won’t be eligible for the NHL draft until 2024 and now will have a chance to get in front of more scouts in North America.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Matt Tennyson Signs AHL Contract

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Veteran defenseman Matt Tennyson has settled for an AHL contract this year, though he’ll at least get to play somewhere warm. Tennyson has signed a one-year deal with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the new Seattle Kraken affiliate that will begin play this season.

In fact, it is something of a homecoming for Tennyson, who grew up and played minor hockey in California long before his professional career started. In the release, he explained how he feels about returning to the state:

It’s awesome to be back in the Coachella Valley. My grandparents lived in Palm Springs and my parents live in Rancho Mirage, so the opportunity to be closer to family made the decision to sign here extremely easy for me. I grew up playing hockey in California and the youth hockey scene here has come quite a long way since then. I am looking forward to being able to give back to and play in front of this great fan base and community.

What a career it has been for the undrafted defenseman who turned 32 earlier this year. After developing for three years at Western Michigan, Tennyson has played in 173 NHL and 358 AHL games, constantly bouncing back and forth between the two leagues as a capable depth option.

This year that won’t be the case (unless he signs an NHL deal at some point), as he has agreed to a minor league contract that will keep him with the Firebirds. He will likely take on a leadership role on the new team, helping Kraken prospects navigate their way into pro hockey and establishing a culture for the organization.

Latest On Danny DeKeyser

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When there are relatively young offensive players like Evan Rodrigues and Sonny Milano struggling to land contracts in unrestricted free agency, the landscape for some more veteran names may be even worse. Not so for Danny DeKeyser, apparently, whose agent Matt Federico told ESPN that they are confident the defenseman will be signed before training camp.

DeKeyser, 32, may have to take a “lower money deal” but Federico points to the success that Jack Johnson had with the Colorado Avalanche this year as an example of what the long-time Detroit Red Wing could offer.

Over a ten-year career, DeKeyser has 547 games played, all of them with the Red Wings. In the most recent season, he recorded 11 points in 59 appearances, while averaging over 18 minutes a night. Pummeled with defensive-zone starts and penalty-killing duties his overall possession stats don’t look strong, but as a veteran depth option there are certainly worse directions a team could go.

Johnson, for example, signed a one-year, $750K deal with the Avalanche last fall, and logged just under 17 minutes a night for the Stanley Cup champions in the regular season. That performance took him to another one-year deal this year (at $950K this time) giving him the chance to continue his career even at age 35.

Now as the calendar turns to September and teams prepare for training camp, there may be some added pressure on any negotiations that are currently happening.

2008 NHL Draft Take Two: Fifth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science, and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)
3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)
4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)

After some other defensemen received more votes than him in our first three polls, Alex Pietrangelo shot up the chart for fourth overall, presumably because of how well he worked out for the Blues in particular. While other teams may have decided to go with someone like John Carlson or Erik Karlsson, St. Louis likely isn’t complaining about their 2008 pick. Pietrangelo became team captain and led them to a Stanley Cup – basically exactly what you want when picking near the top of the draft.

To round out the top five, we move on to the Toronto Maple Leafs and their highest pick in nearly 30 years.

Stuck in the middle of what would be a long playoff drought and without a franchise icon to build around (long-time captain Mats Sundin was leaving town) the Maple Leafs decided to trade up in 2008 in search of their next superstar. It cost them two additional draft picks to move up two spots and at the time, general manager Cliff Fletcher noted that “the top four defensemen” were “special” and the team needed to get one of them.

While there were several special defensemen available – including a number that will be in the Hall of Fame one day – the Maple Leafs didn’t pick one of them.

Instead, they took Luke Schenn, the monstrous blueliner from the Kelowna Rockets. The uber-physical WHL defender was the kind of player that relied on his size and defensive ability at the junior level, stapling opponents against the boards whenever possible. It made for an impressive highlight reel but Schenn’s upside was limited even then, because of his lack of offensive ability.

In his draft year for Kelowna, he had just 28 points in 57 games, ranking well behind the younger Tyson Barrie, who would go in the third round a year later. The thought was that Schenn would be able to star as a pure shutdown defender, logging huge minutes on Toronto’s blueline for years to come.

It did seem to start out well, with Schenn heading right to the NHL a few months after being drafted and playing nearly 22 minutes a night with the rebuilding Maple Leafs. Some, in the years since, have suggested that thrusting him into a role like that may have limited his development but it’s not like Schenn was a true bust.

No, in fact, while he may never have lived up to that “special” billing that Fletcher put upon him, Schenn has still carved out an impressive career of 863 regular season games. At 32, he sits sixth among the 2008 class in games played, and he recently won the Stanley Cup two years in a row with the Tampa Bay Lightning, albeit in a limited role.

So while he may not have been the correct choice in hindsight, there is something to be said about how well Schenn has continued to find his place in an NHL that almost immediately following his draft went away from his type of defenseman. He probably didn’t deserve to go fifth, but there may still be 1,000 NHL games next to his name when it’s all said and done.

Who should take his place, in our hindsight draft? With the fifth pick of the 2008 NHL Draft, who will the Toronto Maple Leafs select? Cast your vote below.

2008 Redraft: Fifth Overall
Erik Karlsson 57.49% (637 votes)
John Carlson 24.82% (275 votes)
Jacob Markstrom 4.24% (47 votes)
Braden Holtby 3.07% (34 votes)
Jordan Eberle 1.53% (17 votes)
Jared Spurgeon 1.35% (15 votes)
Cam Atkinson 1.17% (13 votes)
T.J. Brodie 0.81% (9 votes)
Josh Bailey 0.54% (6 votes)
Zach Bogosian 0.54% (6 votes)
Tyler Myers 0.54% (6 votes)
Matt Martin 0.45% (5 votes)
Gustav Nyquist 0.45% (5 votes)
Adam Henrique 0.45% (5 votes)
Tyler Ennis 0.36% (4 votes)
Jake Allen 0.36% (4 votes)
Travis Hamonic 0.36% (4 votes)
Jake Gardiner 0.27% (3 votes)
Luke Schenn 0.27% (3 votes)
Marco Scandella 0.18% (2 votes)
Mikkel Boedker 0.18% (2 votes)
Justin Schultz 0.18% (2 votes)
Colin Wilson 0.18% (2 votes)
Derek Stepan 0.09% (1 votes)
Michael Del Zotto 0.09% (1 votes)
Total Votes: 1,108

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Minor Transactions: 08/31/22

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August has come and gone, as teams prepare for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Activities will start ramping up over the next few weeks and some new contracts might filter in as well. With minor league seasons on their way as well, we’ll keep track of all the minor transactions right here.

  • Frank Hora, who spent most of last season with the Syracuse Crunch, is headed back to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, where he played previously. The 26-year-old defenseman had seven points in 42 games with Syracuse and is still looking for his first AHL goal.
  • Josh Teves is headed overseas after spending last season with the Rochester Americans. The 27-year-old defenseman has signed a one-year contract with JYP in Finland, and has already arrived there to join the club. Teves sits with just one NHL game played in his career so far.
  • Brandon Saigeon, who was a fifth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2018, has signed a new ECHL contract with the Kalamazoo Wings. In 49 games last season for the Wheeling Nailers, he had 21 points.
  • Odeen Tufto is one of five players that have signed one-year AHL contracts with the Tucson Roadrunners, joining Noah Laaouan, Reece Vitelli, Kaid Oliver, and Tyler Parks. Tufto, 25, failed to receive a qualifying offer this summer from the Tampa Bay Lightning after his entry-level contract expired.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

London Knights Acquire Sam Dickinson

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After Sam Dickinson made it clear that he wouldn’t be showing up to training camp for the Niagara IceDogs, there seemed to be two paths in front of him. The Chicago Steel, who had picked him late in the USHL draft, or the London Knights, who were rumored to be close to acquiring his rights.

It appears as though the latter is the path that Dickinson will choose, as the Knights have sent Niagara a package of seven draft picks for the young defenseman, who was the fourth-overall selection in this year’s OHL draft.

The IceDogs will receive:

  • 2023 3rd (NBB)
  • 2023 5th
  • 2024 2nd
  • 2025 2nd
  • 2025 3rd
  • 2026 2nd
  • 2026 3rd

Mark Hunter, general manager of the Knights, released the following:

We are extremely excited to trade for player of Sam’s caliber. He has a complete 200-foot game and is a top end talent of size, skill, and grit. He’s the type of player you win with.

Having only turned 16 in June, Dickinson already stands 6’2″ 194 lbs and was the first defenseman selected in the OHL draft this year. Joining London will likely help his stock rise even more, as the program is well-known for being an NHL training ground, because of its financial dominance in the CHL and first-class facilities.

Whether that turns into a pick near the top of the 2024 NHL draft remains to be seen but Dickinson appears to have made his way to the program he wanted.

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