Mackenzie MacEachern Sent On AHL Conditioning Stint
If the St. Louis Blues are able to get past the Minnesota Wild, it appears as though they might be getting another physical option to insert into the lineup at some point. Mackenzie MacEachern has been loaned to the Springfield Thunderbirds on a conditioning stint, after spending the last month on long-term injured reserve.
MacEachern, 28, has played just 14 games for the Blues this season, but could potentially be used as a bottom-six option if other injuries take place. For now, he’ll join a Springfield team that is headed into a playoff series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow evening. Given he hasn’t played since suffering an injury in early April, it may take him a little while before he’s able to step into an NHL playoff game–if they decide to do that at all.
The Blues, known for their physical playoff run from a few seasons ago where they beat and battered opponents into submission, are tied 2-2 with the Minnesota Wild in their first-round series. The two teams are back at it again tonight, with games six and seven scheduled for Thursday and Saturday respectively.
Patrick Marleau Announces Retirement
Thank you, hockey. That’s how Patrick Marleau titled his retirement post with the Players’ Tribune, announcing that he is finally stepping away from the game for good. The NHL’s all-time games played leader didn’t play this season, and will finally hang up the skates officially at the age of 42.
It was all too fitting that a kid from Aneroid, Saskatchewan would be the one to pass Gordie Howe‘s record, as Marleau did last season. With 1,779, no one has appeared more in the regular season than the 1997 second-overall pick. The first pick that season? None other than long-time teammate Joe Thornton, who shared so many memories with the San Jose Sharks. Despite spending a few years with the Toronto Maple Leafs and a handful of games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s San Jose where Marleau will be irrevocably linked.
Though he won no individual awards and the Sharks never hoisted the Stanley Cup, Marleau’s career was far from disappointing. He twice pulled an Olympic gold medal over his head with Team Canada, a key part of both the 2010 and 2014 Games. Add two World Championship medals and nearly 200 playoff contests, and it’s easy to see why Marleau lasted just as long as he did.
Perhaps most impressive was his durability. In none of the 82-game seasons he played in did he suit up fewer than 74 times (which happened as a rookie) and for more than a decade at the end of his career, he was on the ice every night. Remember, this was still while suiting up in the playoffs nearly every year, as Marleau appeared in the postseason in 20 different campaigns.
The ultimate accumulator, Marleau will finish with 1,197 career regular season points, good enough for 50th all-time. While some may argue with his Hall of Fame credentials, he seems a good bet to eventually get in because of just how long he played at the highest level, and how consistent he was during those years.
2022 Vezina Finalists Announced
Over the next week, the NHL will be releasing the finalists for all of the major regular season awards. After yesterday’s Norris announcement, next up is the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.
This year’s finalists are Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames, Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers, and Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.
Markstrom, 32, is a finalist for the first time, following his best and most consistent season to date. Appearing in 63 games for the Pacific Division-winning Flames, the big netminder won 37 games, posted a .922 save percentage, and led the league with nine shutouts. The backbone for his team all season long, Markstrom was a huge part of the stingy Flames team that turned from a high-flying circus into a controlled, defensive team under head coach Darryl Sutter.
Shesterkin, 26, is the odds-on favorite to win the award, despite his recent struggles in the playoffs. The Rangers would have been absolutely lost without him this season, and he led the league in both save percentage and person goals-against average. That .935 mark was ten points higher than his nearest competitor and raised Shesterkin’s career number to something of legends. Among goaltenders with at least 100 NHL appearances (he has exactly that), his .928 career save percentage is well ahead of Dominik Hasek‘s .922 for first place. It will obviously be hard to maintain that over a whole career, but the Russian netminder is off to a historic start.
Saros meanwhile shouldn’t be forgotten. The 27-year-old netminder appeared in 67 games for the Predators, more than any other goaltender in the league, despite being injured in the final week. Last year’s sixth-place finisher, he posted a strong .918 save percentage and dragged Nashville into a playoff spot. One of the smallest goaltenders in the league at 5’11”, Saros continues to show why the Predators were so excited about his development even when they still had Pekka Rinne in place as the starter. Since his rookie season in 2016-17, Saros hasn’t posted a save percentage under .914 and now has a career mark of .920 in 222 appearances, good for seventh on the all-time list.
Latest On Canucks’ Offseason Plans
The Vancouver Canucks have lots of questions to answer this offseason. The most pressing one is whether they can get a deal done with head coach Bruce Boudreau, who has a negotiating window until June 1 but no contract extension in place just yet. The two sides have said all the right things when it comes to working together and will have to iron out a deal if the veteran coach is to stay put. It certainly seems like he’s going to be sticking around though, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported yesterday on CHEK TV that Boudreau was present (virtually) in the meeting with Russian free agent Andrei Kuzmenko.
Beyond the coaching situation though, more decisions are coming on players like Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and J.T. Miller. Currently, none of the three are signed past the 2022-23 season, with Boeser not even signed for next season yet. If the new management group wanted to shake up the core, those three are certainly avenues to consider.
Still, there is another name that earns big money in Vancouver and could potentially be part of a retooling effort. Friedman went on to tell Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that the team is trying to find a trade market for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, just a year after acquiring him from the Arizona Coyotes.
Now 30, Ekman-Larsson is signed to a massive eight-year, $66MM contract that won’t expire until the summer of 2027. As part of it, he also owns a full no-movement clause that gives him total control of his situation. When the Coyotes made it clear that they wanted to move him, Ekman-Larsson gave just two teams that he would be willing to go to–the Canucks and the Boston Bruins. If Vancouver has now soured, it seems he would have to provide someone else if a trade is to occur. The Bruins, of course, found their own Swedish defenseman at the deadline, acquiring and extending Hampus Lindholm to a long-term deal.
It’s not that Ekman-Larsson had a terrible year, as he put up 29 points in 79 games while averaging more than 22 minutes a night. But the contract that was so happily acquired by the previous management group is a difficult one to deal with, even despite the Coyotes retaining a small portion. Vancouver already has nearly $70MM in cap hits committed to next season with just 13 players, making it tough to really add to the group if they wanted to.
Again, the veteran defenseman has full control in this situation. A buyout would be untenable at this point and even if the Canucks wanted to retain additional salary to facilitate trade, Ekman-Larsson would have to first accept the destination.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Montembeault, Mukhamadullin, Tynan
The Montreal Canadiens have officially announced that Sam Montembeault underwent wrist surgery last week, a successful procedure that took place in New York. The young netminder is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of training camp in September. Montembeault’s role at that training camp remains to be seen, as is his spot on the organizational depth chart.
An arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer, Montembeault ended up playing in 38 games this season for the Canadiens, posting a .891 save percentage in the process. That was because of the injuries to Carey Price (and Jake Allen), injuries that are still putting the veteran netminder’s career in doubt. If Price doesn’t return to the Montreal crease, it would be Allen’s net at present, with the backup position up for grabs between Montembeault and Cayden Primeau, the only two other goaltenders under contract. Obviously, a free agent signing could change that, meaning a quick return to health is important for the future of Montembeault.
- The New Jersey Devils have officially assigned Shakir Mukhamadullin to the AHL, now that he has arrived in North America. The top prospect will join the Utica Comets for practice, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Mukhamadullin will just watch for the time being and only enter game action when he’s comfortable enough. The Comets kick off their series against the Rochester Americans tomorrow night.
- It’s always an incredible achievement for a player to be named MVP in consecutive seasons, but that’s exactly what T.J. Tynan has accomplished. The Ontario Reign forward was named the most valuable in the AHL once again, following the honor in last year’s shortened season. Now 30, the 5’8″ Tynan has only ever played in 21 NHL games and has never scored a goal at the highest level, but is an absolute dynamo in the minor leagues. With 98 points in 62 games this season he raised his AHL total to 446 career points.
Minnesota Wild Sign Pavel Novak
The front office work for a team never stops, even when they’re in the thick of a tight playoff series. The Minnesota Wild have signed Pavel Novak to a three-year entry-level contract that starts next season. Novak spent this season with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL but saw his season end last month with a first-round defeat.
Novak, 20, was a fifth-round pick of the Wild in 2020, after his first season in North America. While that season will be remembered most for the 58 points in 55 games he scored, the young forward also made an impression with an eight-game suspension for a brutal hit from behind, when he sent a Kamloops Blazers player flying into the boards. That kind of play is actually rather uncommon for Novak, who was given just 14 penalty minutes this season when he returned to the WHL after spending 2020-21 back in the Czech Republic.
A talented offensive player, he had 29 goals and 72 points in 62 games this season, while also taking a short break to attend the World Junior tournament that was ultimately postponed. Despite turning 20 last month, he will still be eligible for the event when it is held later this summer, though this time he’ll be there representing the Wild.
Novak will be eligible to play in the AHL next season and his entry-level contract will kick in regardless of where he spends the year.
Latest On Sharks’ Offseason Plans
The San Jose Sharks announced a pair of extensions today, locking up Alexander Barabanov and Jaycob Megna for the next two years. Those deals were necessary for two players who have found a home in San Jose but certainly not the headline-making news that fans are hoping for, now that the team is going to be under new management.
Long-time general manager Doug Wilson has stepped down, leaving the Sharks with Joe Will as interim manager until a more permanent solution is found. When that new solution is found, however, there will be some huge questions to be answered in terms of the direction of the team. After an almost unprecedented era of regular season success, that saw the Sharks qualify for the postseason in 19 of 21 seasons, they’ve missed the playoffs in each of the last three and now face some difficult decisions.
The biggest among those: what to do with an aging, expensive defense corps?
The Sharks have $26.5MM in cap hits tied up in three defensemen that will all be at least 32 at the end of this month. Erik Karlsson, the youngest of the three, carries an $11.5MM cap hit through 2026-27. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 35, is signed at a $7MM cap hit through 2025-26. And then there is franchise legend Brent Burns, who despite turning 37 a few months ago, is still carrying an $8MM cap hit through 2024-25.
It is Burns’ future that is perhaps the most intriguing. Karlsson and Vlasic each have full no-movement clauses, blocking any potential trade unless they approve it but Burns will have to submit a new list on July 1, one which would allow the Sharks to trade him to three teams without getting his approval again. While that obviously doesn’t give them much wiggle room, Burns’ front-loaded contract, shorter term, and still strong play have at least sparked some speculation. On today’s 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet explained:
I believe they had some trade talks with a couple of teams on Karlsson this year. However, I don’t think that has gone anywhere, and I’m told it’s not that likely, because it’s just a big contract. Burns has three years left, the contract in terms of actual salary goes down, and he’s still a heck of a player.
I just think that everybody recognizes here that there is the possibility this might be one of the ways that the Sharks try to break up their logjam, as long as they get what they want. I was told specifically by one of the teams that they are not giving Burns away. That is just not happening. There is a package they want and they are going to demand it.
Though the contract carries an average annual value of $8MM, Burns is owed just $16.5MM over the last three years of the deal, $3.5MM of which will be due in signing bonuses next season.
Despite his age, Burns has continued to be a huge factor for the Sharks on the ice. He averaged more than 26 minutes a night this season, played in all 82 games, and racked up another 54 points. Though some may think of the veteran defenseman as an offense-only player, he actually logged nearly three minutes a night on the penalty kill this year, while recording a career-high 150 blocked shots. That level of play is obviously still valuable, but there is so much risk in having nearly a third of the salary cap tied up in those three aging defensemen.
One can see exactly why by dissecting the play of Vlasic, who has taken several steps back in recent years. Once one of the most feared shutdown defenders in the entire league, his playing time was slashed dramatically this season, to the point where he was averaging just over 15 minutes a night when he was in the lineup. A buyout is one way out for the Sharks but if they went that direction this offseason, they’d be carrying a substantial cap hit through 2029-30. Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek both agree that while a buyout did seem like a possibility, Will spoke as though Vlasic would be coming back at the team’s end-of-year media availability.
An interesting wrinkle in all of this is the situation surrounding Mario Ferraro, arguably the team’s most valuable defenseman behind Burns. The 23-year-old is a restricted free agent this offseason and could be in line for a hefty raise, if the team wanted to sign him long-term. As it stands that doesn’t really even seem possible with so much money tied up elsewhere, meaning the team could have to go short-term and try again later; Ferraro does not have arbitration rights this offseason and would theoretically have to sign his qualifying offer if the team wanted to squeeze him (or an offer sheet elsewhere).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Seattle Kraken Extend Max McCormick
The Seattle Kraken have completed a bit of offseason work, signing Max McCormick to a two-year contract extension. The two-way deal carries an average annual value of $762.5K and keeps McCormick from hitting the open market this summer as an unrestricted free agent. Kraken general manager Ron Francis released the following statement:
Max is a valuable part of the leadership group in Charlotte as the Checkers begin their playoff run. He impressed us with his play in Seattle. We are excited that he is returning to our organization for the next two years.
Interestingly enough, McCormick actually returned to an old stomping ground when he joined the Kraken organization this season. Because the team did not yet have their own AHL affiliate up and running, Seattle sent players to the Charlotte Checkers, where McCormick spent most of the year. He’d already spent a season with the Checkers in 2019-200, when he scored 35 points in 56 games while also racking up 120 penalty minutes. While his penalty numbers may have dropped, McCormick was once again a solid player for Charlotte this season, scoring 13 goals and 29 points in 46 games.
Meanwhile, his NHL career is still a big scattershot. Since signing with the Ottawa Senators out of Ohio State University in 2014, McCormick has played 93 games at the highest level, but never more than 30 in a single season. He suited up ten times for Seattle this year but failed to register a single point.
With the Coachella Valley Firebirds set to start play next season as the Kraken affiliate, players like McCormick are the perfect foundation for the AHL roster. He poses little risk of claim on waivers but can serve a role as an injury replacement at the NHL level if needed. There’s even a chance that he ends up as the Firebirds’ first captain, given he wore an “A” as an alternate for the Checkers this year and Zac Dalpe–who has the “C” this year in Charlotte–is signed with the Florida Panthers.
San Jose Sharks Extend Alexander Barabanov, Jaycob Megna
The San Jose Sharks have decided to keep Alexander Barabanov around, reaching a two-year extension with the versatile forward. The deal keeps him under contract through 2023-24 and will carry an average annual value of $2.5MM, according to Chris Johnston of TSN. Johnston adds that it will include a ten-team no-trade clause, and signing bonuses of $1.0MM in 2022-23 and $500K in 2023-24. Barabanov was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Interim general manager Joe Will released the following statement:
Alexander had a very good first full year in the NHL, showing that he is a consistent point producer and playmaker. Paired with his grit and hard work, he has the potential to improve upon his success this past year.
Barabanov, 27, has found a perfect fit in San Jose since arriving there in a 2021 trade. The Toronto Maple Leafs seemingly gave him a fresh start after struggling to get into their lineup, and things exploded nearly immediately for the Russian winger. After scoring seven points in nine games down the stretch in 2020-21, Barabanov returned with another strong campaign for the Sharks this year, scoring 39 points in 70 games. While he isn’t expected to be a top-end offensive producer, his work ethic and two-way ability make him a valuable piece that can move around the lineup.
In fact, given he has spent the vast majority of his time in San Jose with Tomas Hertl, who the Sharks just signed to a massive eight-year extension, it made a ton of sense to keep Barabanov in the fold. The two, along with Timo Meier, who has often been on the right side, have found nice chemistry together and produced at both ends of the rink. Whether Barabanov’s success is mostly a product of Hertl is another question entirely, and one that will certainly need to be answered if he ends up finding himself somewhere else in the lineup at some point in these next two years.
Minutes later, the Sharks announced that they have also signed Jaycob Megna to a two-year extension. The 29-year-old defenseman was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer after finding a nice role with the Sharks this year. In 44 games, the 6’6″ Megna averaged over 19 minutes a night, easily the biggest opportunity of his professional career. Originally selected 210th overall in 2012, he had played just 43 NHL games before this season, all with the Anaheim Ducks, and none of them had come since 2019.
The team did not immediately release details on Megna’s contract, though Will also released a short statement on the deal:
Jaycob is a reliable player that defends well. He is a high-character person that was recently recognized by Team USA and will be playing for his country at the World Championship.
Hockey Canada Announces 2022 IIHF World Championship Roster
The roster is set, with just a few days to go before things kick off for Hockey Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. The defending gold medalists will be icing a rather youthful roster this season, highlighted by some of the league’s up-and-coming stars, along with some established top-end youngsters.
The full roster will be:
G Chris Driedger
G Logan Thompson
G Matt Tomkins
D Thomas Chabot
D Ryan Graves
D Nick Holden
D Dysin Mayo
D Travis Sanheim
D Damon Severson
D Zach Whitecloud
F Josh Anderson
F Mathew Barzal
F Drake Batherson
F Max Comtois
F Dylan Cozens
F Pierre-Luc Dubois
F Morgan Geekie
F Noah Gregor
F Kent Johnson
F Adam Lowry
F Dawson Mercer
F Eric O’Dell
F Nicolas Roy
F Cole Sillinger
For a player like Mayo, this selection truly solidifies the hard work he has put in over years of grinding in the minor leagues. The fifth-round pick spent parts of seven seasons in the AHL before arriving this year with the Arizona Coyotes and becoming one of the team’s most reliable options. Now 25, he’ll be suiting up for his country for the first time at a major international tournament.
Meanwhile, someone like Cozens is taking the next step in representing his country, after last captaining Team Canada at the 2021 World Juniors (where he scored an incredible 16 points in seven games). The Buffalo Sabres forward had 38 points in his first full-length NHL season and has huge upside as a potential franchise cornerstone. The same could be said for players like Johnson and Sillinger, two names that will likely drive the offense for years to come in Columbus.
Perhaps the most interesting name in the group is Dubois, given the Winnipeg Jets center doesn’t have a contract for next season. Pending restricted free agents, especially ones as important as Dubois, usually skip the tournament because of insurance issues and the risk of injury. Instead, he’ll head overseas to play in a tournament he’s already attended twice previously, despite still just being 23 years old.