Matthew Peca Signs Two-Year Extension
Late last night, CapFriendly reported that the St. Louis Blues signed Matthew Peca to a two-year, two-way contract extension. The deal comes with an NHL cap hit of $762.5K and will keep him in the organization through the 2023-24 season. The Springfield Thunderbirds, who Peca is currently playing for, have now officially announced the contract.
Peca, 28, is having a fantastic season for the Thunderbirds, scoring 20 goals and 51 points in 53 games so far. He’s added just five NHL contests and one point, meaning this is a lot more about organizational depth than making a real impact for the Blues moving forward.
Still, the contract represents some stability for the pending free agent forward and keeps their AHL affiliate happy with a star player in the system. Peca meanwhile is a perfect injury replacement, as he has actually scored 21 points in 83 career NHL games–not bad for someone who has averaged fewer than 11 minutes in those games.
Snapshots: IIHF, Boqvist, Hathaway
The IIHF has referred two cases to their newly-created independent Ethics Board for review, to determine if the actions of an IIHF National Association or an individual associated with the IIHF could constitute an ethical conduct violation. The first case involves the Russian Ice Hockey Federation’s alleged instruction of KHL teams to take demonstrative actions in support of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The second is the involvement of IIHF Life President Rene Fasel with Russia and the KHL, along with public statements about the war. Currently, no disciplinary action has been brought. Earlier this year, the IIHF suspended the Russian and Belarusian teams from several international competitions.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated Adam Boqvist from injured reserve after he missed the last 11 games. The 21-year-old defenseman has had a strong debut in Columbus after a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring ten goals and 19 points in just 40 games.
- Garnet Hathaway has a little less spending money this month, after earning a $2,000 diving/embellishment fine from the league today. The incident that caused the fine happened on a March 18 game against the Carolina Hurricanes, following a warning that Hathaway received earlier this year.
Christian Jaros Clears Unconditional Waivers
March 24: Jaros has cleared waivers and will now have his contract terminated.
March 23: The New Jersey Devils have placed Christian Jaros on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. Just this week, Jaros already cleared regular waivers and was assigned to the minor leagues. If he clears again, he will become an unrestricted free agent. He would then be able to sign with any club he wanted, though he would not be eligible for the NHL playoffs.
The Devils have also recalled A.J. Greer and Kevin Bahl from the AHL, who will join the team in Toronto when they face the Maple Leafs this evening.
Jaros, 25, has actually not played a single game in the minor leagues this season, suiting up 11 times for the Devils instead. Originally selected 139th overall in 2015, he quickly rose through the ranks and was making his debut by the 2017-18 season with the Ottawa Senators. It looked as though he would quickly establish himself as a full-time NHL option, though after his progression stalled, he’s now bounced around and could be headed back to Europe.
In Bahl, the Devils have the big ticket from the Taylor Hall trade up with the big club, after his successful sophomore AHL campaign. The 6’6″ defenseman has 15 points in 49 games for the Utica Comets and from all accounts has taken a strong step forward in his development. He’s now played 11 games and is still looking for his first goal.
Torey Krug Out Week-To-Week
The St. Louis Blues made a considerable addition to their defense corps by bringing in Nick Leddy at the trade deadline, and it was pretty good timing. Today, the team has announced that Torey Krug will be out on a week-to-week basis after leaving Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
Krug, 30, ended up playing just 11 minutes in that game, easily his low mark of the season. In his second year in St. Louis, Krug is averaging close to 21 minutes a night and leads all Blues defensemen with 35 points. Taking that out of the lineup is no small thing, and opens up a huge opportunity for the newcomer. With Krug out, Leddy ended up seeing more than three minutes of powerplay time and finished with over 20 overall. That’s despite the team dressing seven defensemen, showing how much the team is going to rely on the former Detroit Red Wing over the last few weeks of the season.
The Blues ended up winning that game, but are still just 3-4-3 in their last ten and find themselves only barely ahead of the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators in the Central Division. Even the Dallas Stars are only six points behind them, meaning St. Louis needs to start chugging in the right direction soon. Krug’s absence certainly won’t help that, even if they did add Leddy to the mix.
Of course, Scott Perunovich would have been useful in this case, but he too underwent surgery earlier this month and is still weeks away from a return.
Joonas Korpisalo To Undergo Hip Surgery
When Joonas Korpisalo wasn’t moved at the deadline, a few eyebrows were raised around the league, given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent. The Columbus Blue Jackets have essentially explained why, announcing that Korpisalo will undergo hip surgery and is expected to miss the next six months. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen released a statement:
This is an injury that Joonas has been dealing with for some time and it has now gotten to the point where surgery is the best option. We are disappointed for him as he has worked extremely hard to be able to play, but this is the best course of action.
Korpisalo, 27, now heads into the offseason with an uncertain future. A six-month timeline would suggest he could be ready for the start of next season but he now will be without a contract, unless he re-ups with the Blue Jackets at some point before hitting the open market. In just 22 appearances this season, Korpisalo has registered a career-worst .877 save percentage and 4.15 goals-against average. He is among the worst in the league at goals saved above average, ahead of only Philipp Grubauer in that category. While this injury explains at least part of that, it also complicates his future, as a return to his previous form is anything but a guarantee.
This isn’t even the first goaltender to require hip surgery for the Blue Jackets this season. Daniil Tarasov, essentially the team’s third-string option, also underwent surgery and was given a six-month timeline in February. That leaves Elvis Merzlikins and Jean-Francois Berube as the NHL options for the rest of the season, while Jet Greaves and Cam Johnson continue in the minor leagues.
Cal Clutterbuck Out Rest Of Season
The New York Islanders rewarded Cal Clutterbuck with a recent contract extension, something that certainly came at the right time for the veteran forward. The team announced today that Clutterbuck will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury that will require surgery. Additionally, Scott Mayfield will miss four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.
Clutterbuck, 34, last played on March 19, two days before the trade deadline when he inked a new two-year, $3.5MM extension that keeps him with the Islanders through the 2023-24 season. While his name had surfaced in trade speculation, it seems likely that it was never really in the cards given this injury and the timing of his extension.
Through 59 games this season, Clutterbuck has racked up six goals and 15 points, actually eclipsing the totals from each of the last two years. The last time he posted double-digit goals was 2015-16, and he hasn’t broken 25 points in a single season since he was still with the Minnesota Wild. Despite that lack of offensive output, Clutterbuck has been an important part of the smothering defensive system in New York, racking up almost countless hits in a bottom-six role. This season he sits fourth in the entire league with 229 collisions, trailing only Radko Gudas, Ryan Reaves, and Tanner Jeannot.
Set to turn 35 in November and now coming off shoulder surgery, it’s easy to wonder what kind of impact Clutterbuck can really have moving forward. His $1.75MM cap hit is half of what he’s earned for the last five years, but still seems like a relative overpay, given how uncertain his future contributions are.
Mayfield, who also was included in some pre-deadline speculation, was injured when he blocked a shot on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators and will now miss a good chunk of what’s left in the regular season. The depth defenseman is already signed through next season and has taken another step forward this season, adding 18 points in 61 games to his already stalwart defensive play. While he’s not a top-pairing option, some believed Mayfield could have been a sought-after addition for contenders at the deadline had he been made available by the Islanders.
With the team sitting 17 points behind the Washington Capitals for the second wild card spot, with the Columbus Blue Jackets in between, it was always going to be an extreme longshot for the Islanders to make a playoff push. Losing two more pieces from their lineup will only make that climb more difficult and could potentially end up giving them some better lottery odds instead.
AHL Shuffle: 03/24/22
The NHL is back in full swing this evening with ten games on the schedule, as teams all across the league enter the home stretch. Ben Chiarot will make his return to Montreal (though he never really left) to face the Canadiens as a member of the Florida Panthers, while Evander Kane welcomes in his old teammates from San Jose when the Sharks face the Edmonton Oilers. As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Chase Pearson from the AHL, his first call-up of the season. The 24-year-old forward has yet to play an NHL game since signing out of the University of Maine in 2019 and has 17 points in 47 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins this year.
Metropolitan Division
Central Division
Pacific Division
This page will be updated throughout the day
Philippe Myers Loaned To Toronto Marlies
When the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Alex Biega to the Nashville Predators on deadline day, the return was listed as future considerations. It seems now that those considerations may have revolved around Philippe Myers, the big defenseman who cleared waivers over the weekend.
Myers has been loaned from the Nashville Predators to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, where he will apparently continue his season instead of joining the Milwaukee Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the Predators.
The 25-year-old Myers, who once looked like he would be a long-term pillar in the Philadelphia Flyers defense corps, was traded to the Predators as a major part of the deal that sent Ryan Ellis out of town. His time in Nashville hasn’t gone smoothly though, registering just four points in 27 games while seeing his playing time trend endlessly downward. While he led of his season with 21 minutes against the Seattle Kraken in October, Myers was averaging just over 12 minutes by the end of his run earlier this month. After clearing waivers, it is not clear where exactly his future lies.
With a back-loaded contract that carries a $2.55MM cap hit through next season, Myers actually is an interesting buyout candidate for the Predators. Because of his age, the team would only need to cover one-third of the remaining salary, and it would actually result in a $616,666 cap bonus in 2022-23, before a $633,334 penalty in 2023-24. That is to say, the Predators could clear his entire hit off the books for next season and even create a little bit extra room, if they were to, for instance, be trying to fit in an expensive extension for a goal-scoring winger.
At any rate, it’s unclear how long his stay in Toronto will be, but the Marlies have for now added a player that was once a dominant presence at the AHL level. In 2018-19, before he burst onto the NHL scene, the undrafted Myers had 33 points in 53 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms while being a physical defensive force in his own end.
Evgenii Dadonov Trade Officially Canceled
The NHL has officially invalidated the Evgenii Dadonov trade between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks from Monday. In a statement, the league explained:
The trade could not be concluded because Dadonov’s contract includes a limited no-trade clause, which has not been complied with.
Dadonov now remains on the Golden Knights’ roster, while John Moore and Ryan Kesler are still part of the Ducks.
The invalidated trade, which would have seen the Golden Knights clear enough cap space to activate at least Alec Martinez from long-term injured reserve when he is ready to return, now raises plenty of questions about what comes next for Vegas. To clarify, the team is still able to trade Dadonov to another team not on his no-trade list, but he would then be ineligible to play again for the rest of the season and playoffs unless the NHL made an exemption in this case. The Arizona Coyotes were discussed as a potential landing spot on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast between Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman, though it is unclear at this point whether the two sides would be able to reach a deal.
Even if they do, Dadonov, through no fault of his own, is now in a very tricky situation. The Golden Knights were obviously ready to move on from him–the trade was originally confirmed by the league, making him a Duck for a short time–but if he now goes somewhere else he’ll miss a chance to play for the rest of this year. He would still collect his owed salary, and be able to play next season on his current contract which extends through 2022-23.
It also is a tough blow for Anaheim, who had not only grabbed a useful forward but cleared two contracts that weren’t helping them and added a conditional second-round draft pick. It looked like a big win for the Ducks, who have made out with a huge haul of future assets at the deadline by trading off several expiring contracts of their own.
The biggest question among the entire situation is how the NHL Central Registry approved the trade in the first place. Friedman tweeted yesterday that the league and Golden Knights were “led to believe” that Dadonov’s no-trade list had expired in some fashion, though there then turned up proof that he had submitted it on time.
For the Golden Knights, CapFriendly breaks down the situation. With Dadonov back on the roster, they would now need to clear $4.84MM in order to activate Martinez, and a total of $9.1MM to activate captain Mark Stone. Again, any player traded after the deadline is ineligible for not just the playoffs, but the rest of the regular season as well.
Jonathan Toews Discusses Future In Chicago
When Brandon Hagel, a 23-year-old forward signed and developed by the Chicago Blackhawks was traded last week, it showed just how serious general manager Kyle Davidson is in his attempt to rebuild the organization. The team is expected to sell off many of its biggest assets and build through the draft, having already acquired several high draft picks in recent days.
The obvious question that surfaced is what does the future hold for Blackhawks’ icons Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who have spent their entire careers with Chicago and are scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2023.
After calling the situation “pretty discouraging” recently, the captain was asked by Phillip Thompson of the Chicago Tribune specifically about the direction of the franchise today, and how he felt about his future in Chicago:
I wouldn’t say it makes me question [my future with the team] as much as like…you know for the longest time the thought never entered my mind to ever leave Chicago. In this case you can’t help but picture yourself and what it would be like to play for another team and just what that experience would bring. The thought pops into your mind obviously but again, Chicago’s my home, I love the Blackhawks, I love the organization. It’s been my family for a long time and I’m not putting the cart before the horse or getting ahead of myself.
Toews has gone through a dreadful couple of years when it comes to his hockey career, missing all of the 2020-21 season and posting his worst offensive campaign in 2021-22. He has just eight goals and 25 points through 52 games, numbers that put well behind what is expected of a $10.5MM cap hit. There was always more than just offense to Toews’ game, but it also seems likely that even with resurgent personal play in the 2022-23 season, he wouldn’t see the playoffs again before this contract is over if he plays it out in Chicago.
While Kane is still producing at an All-Star level with 71 points in 59 games, Toews’ struggles would make trading him a difficult task even if he decided to waive his no-move clause and go somewhere else. It should be noted, however, that despite currently retaining salary on two players, both of those will expire before the 2022-23 campaign, meaning Chicago could potentially lower a cap hit substantially if they do end up moving their franchise icons.
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