Hayden Hodgson Signs NHL Contract
Lost in the shuffle yesterday was an NHL contract, according to CapFriendly, for Hayden Hodgson with the Philadelphia Flyers, rewarding him for his strong play in the AHL this season and making him eligible for the stretch run. The deal is for the rest of this season and will carry a cap hit of $750K.
Hodgson, 26, has 18 goals and 29 points in 44 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, playing on an AHL contract after spending parts of the last five years in the ECHL. The 6’2″ undrafted forward had some other NHL teams “sniffing around” on him according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, but he ended up signing with the organization he was already a part of. He will stay with Lehigh Valley for now.
An NHL contract means that Hodgson could get a chance to play with the Flyers down the stretch, but it also means that he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. He will be eligible for arbitration, though it seems more likely that the two sides would agree on another two-way contract ahead of time, if the team wants to keep him for next season.
Seattle Kraken Acquire Victor Rask
The Minnesota Wild have gotten out from under Victor Rask‘s contract, at least partially. The team has traded Rask to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations while retaining 50 percent of his remaining deal. Rask carries a cap hit of $4MM in the last season of a six-year, $24MM deal signed in 2016. Rask will report to the Charlotte Checkers, a team he once played for during his time in the Carolina Hurricanes organization.
Rask, 29, was once a young, exciting forward for the Hurricanes, scoring 62 goals and 157 points over his first four seasons in the league. Since then, however, he’s fallen completely off the map, even clearing waivers twice this year. Now the Wild are simply giving him away while retaining a portion of his contract, in order to clear a bit of cap space and a contract slot for the stretch run.
Minnesota added a good chunk of salary today with Marc-Andre Fleury, but still had more than enough space to fit everything in. In fact, with Rask in the minor leagues he was already only costing them $2.875MM against the cap, not that much different than what they’ll now carry. The fact that the Kraken immediately announced that he would report to their AHL affiliate makes this even more confusing, as it appears as though Rask won’t get an NHL opportunity in Seattle either–at least not right away.
Set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, it will be interesting to see if Rask even gets an NHL offer in the summer or returns to Sweden to continue his career overseas. At least the Checkers will be getting a nice boost–Rask has ten points in ten AHL games with the Iowa Wild this year.
Ryan Ellis Out For Rest Of Season
The Philadelphia Flyers received less than 100 minutes of ice time from Ryan Ellis this season. The veteran defenseman has been ruled out for the rest of the season, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher told reporters including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic. Though he still wouldn’t reveal details on the injury, Fletcher noted that they are still making a decision on whether Ellis needs surgery.
While this should come as no surprise, given how the year has gone for Philadelphia, Ellis’ first season with the team is now completely lost. The 31-year-old appeared in just four games, the last coming on November 13. He actually recorded points in each of those appearances, exactly the kind of frustrating teaser that Flyers fans don’t want to think about after a season that has been marred by injury after injury, and is ending with the captain and face of their franchise traded to an Eastern Conference rival.
Acquired for Nolan Patrick and Philippe Myers in the offseason–two players who have also disappointed–Ellis was supposed to be the right-handed answer in Philadelphia, finally replacing the two-way play that they had lacked on that side since Matt Niskanen‘s unexpected retirement. He had, after all, played that role to perfection for many seasons in Nashville, offering 40-point upside while contributing in all situations.
Unfortunately, the Flyers are now looking at a player on the wrong side of 30, signed for five more seasons, that carries a $6.25MM cap hit and has missed essentially an entire year due to injury. It’s not at all clear what level of play Ellis will be able to provide next season, especially should they decide on surgery.
Still, the Flyers aren’t really looking at a rebuild, despite moving on from Claude Giroux and some other expiring pieces. The team re-signed Rasmus Ristolainen to a long-term deal and have talked about how Fletcher will be given a “blank check” to fix the team. Should Ellis return to his previous form, it will be a huge boost to the lineup, though at this point even a recovery timeline is not certain.
Los Angeles Kings, Winnipeg Jets Complete Minor Trade
The Los Angeles Kings have acquired Nelson Nogier from the Winnipeg Jets, sending Markus Phillips back the other way. Both players are currently playing in the minor leagues and will likely report to their new respective AHL affiliates. Additionally, the Kings have recalled Quinton Byfield, Rasmus Kupari, Gabriel Vilardi, and Jordan Spence, after they were sent down on paper to become eligible for the AHL playoffs.
The swap brings a slightly older defenseman to the Ontario Reign in Nogier, but also one with considerably more experience. The 25-year-old has played 11 games in the NHL and is in his sixth full season of professional hockey, after being drafted 101st overall in 2014. Through 25 games with the Manitoba Moose this season he has six points, which is actually not all that far off his AHL career-high of 13. On an expiring contract, he’ll be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, making this essentially a deadline rental for the Reign, who are second in the Pacific Division and looking for a Calder Cup.
In Phillips, the Moose are getting a 23-year-old who is in just his second full season of pro hockey, after a long career in the OHL. Selected 118th overall in 2017, the left-shot defenseman has five points in 38 games this season and will be a restricted free agent in the summer, without arbitration rights. While he could potentially go unqualified, he’ll at least get a chance down the stretch to show the Jets organization he’s worth another contract, even if it is of the two-way variety.
Michael McNiven Traded To Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have added a little more goaltending depth, acquiring Michael McNiven from the Calgary Flames in exchange for future considerations. This is the second time McNiven has been dealt for future considerations just this season, after arriving in Calgary a little over two weeks ago from the Montreal Canadiens.
McNiven, 24, made his NHL debut this season for the Canadiens, unfortunately allowing three goals on just seven shots to give him a career .571 save percentage at the highest level. While he’s just 24, there’s no guarantee he gets a chance to change that, at least not yet. The move to Ottawa doesn’t mean he’s going to be heading to the NHL level, as he’ll likely report to the minor leagues again.
In all, the young netminder never did actually enter a game for the Flames organization, meaning this may be a forgotten stopover in an odd season. While he’ll be a restricted free agent again this summer, McNiven remains (as he has in the past) a prime candidate to go unqualified. In 82 career AHL games, he has posted a 31-35-13 record with an .891 save percentage.
While future considerations often don’t mean very much, in this case, it appears to have been an AHL player heading back the other way. Tyrell Goulbourne has been traded from the Belleville Senators to the Stockton Heat. Players on AHL contracts can’t be included in the same trade as NHL players, meaning this had to be done as two separate transactions.
Ryan Carpenter Traded To Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames have made another addition to their forward group, acquiring Ryan Carpenter from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks will receive a 2024 fifth-round pick in return.
If you could create the perfect Darryl Sutter-style bottom-six forward, Carpenter might be it. The 31-year-old forward is physical, can play all three forward positions, and routinely takes on incredibly difficult defensive deployment. There isn’t a single regular on Chicago who has started a higher percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone, or a forward that has logged more short-handed ice time. Sam Lafferty has started to take over some of that role since being acquired in January but Carpenter remained a key cog in the Blackhawks’ penalty-killing system and will likely take on a similar role in Calgary.
After also acquiring Calle Jarnkrok and Tyler Toffoli earlier in the year, the Flames have considerably deepened their forward group in preparation for a long playoff run. For the price of a fifth-round pick, they’ve acquired someone that can play a specific role–and play it well–while not adding any issues to their future cap situation. Carpenter is on the final year of a three-year, $3MM deal and carries a cap hit of just $1MM. He’ll be a UFA this summer, though with just three goals and 11 points this year, likely will have trouble securing a similar multi-year contract.
For Chicago, adding anything of value for Carpenter was the goal today as they start a full rebuild. A fifth may not be much, but it’s another draft pick to add to the pile–a pile that is growing quickly under new general manager Kyle Davidson.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff broke the deal on Twitter.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi Signs Long-Term Extension
Now that he could officially ink an eight-year deal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is locked in with the Carolina Hurricanes. The team has announced an eight-year extension which will carry an average annual value of $4.82MM. PuckPedia reports the full breakdown:
- 2022-23: $4.0MM
- 2023-24: $4.5MM
- 2024-25: $4.82MM
- 2025-26: $4.82MM
- 2026-27: $4.82MM
- 2027-28: $5.2MM
- 2028-29: $5.2MM
- 2029-30: $5.2MM
The deal does not contain any signing bonuses and includes a ten-team no-trade clause once he is eligible for it in 2025.
Kotkaniemi, 21, will always be a hot-button issue for Carolina and Montreal Canadiens fans, after he was signed to an offer sheet last summer that came with plenty of gamesmanship between the two franchises. The young forward certainly hasn’t lived up to the $6.1MM cap hit he carried this season but will now lock in at a much more reasonable number for the next chunk of his career.
Still, this is a huge commitment from the Hurricanes and one that includes a ton of risk. The young forward has not taken a substantial step forward since entering the career as a teenager in 2018-19 and has just 11 goals and 23 points this season in limited minutes with the Hurricanes. Sure, he would likely see more offensive production if given more than the 12 minutes he averages for Carolina, but this isn’t the kind of player that usually earns an eight-year deal. Given the fact that the Hurricanes also had to forfeit first- and third-round picks as offer sheet compensation, they’ve sunk a huge amount of resources into this player already, without much to show for it.
There’s certainly a chance that he outproduces this contract, especially given the fact that Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter could both leave in unrestricted free agency, opening plenty of playing time at center and wing, but also no guarantee that he can play regular minutes in the top-six next season, at least not on a team as strong as Carolina. If not, the team is backing themselves into a corner with a contract of this length, one that would be hard to move if Kotkaniemi’s development falls flat.
In for a penny, in for a pound, though, as the Hurricanes commit to the young Finn and look to use him as a building block moving forward. He’s now signed longer than any player in the organization.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
New Jersey Devils Acquire Andrew Hammond
For the second time this season, Andrew Hammond is on the move. The goaltender has been traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Nate Schnarr.
Hammond, 34, was acquired earlier this season when the Canadiens had a lack of healthy goaltending options, but is actually now hurt himself after playing in four games for them. Expected back in the next few weeks, he’ll head to a New Jersey team that has had plenty of their own injury issues when it comes to goaltending.
A name that will be forever remembered by Ottawa Senators fans for his incredible run as a 26-year-old rookie in 2014-15, the “Hamburgler” actually played great in his short time in Montreal. In four appearances, he posted a .920 save percentage and went 3-0, his first wins since 2016. While there’s probably not a ton left for his playing career, it was a nice little addendum for a goaltender that was so well-liked in his early days. Signed to a one-year, two-way contract, Hammond will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
In Schnarr, the Canadiens actually are getting something of value back, even if he’s never played at the NHL level. The 23-year-old has been good for the Utica Comets this season, posting 13 goals and 26 points in 43 games, and can help the Laval Rocket down the stretch. Whether Schnarr, who is in the last season of his entry-level contract, earns a qualifying offer this summer isn’t totally clear, as to this point he hasn’t really shown any NHL upside despite his status as a third-round pick in 2017.
Winnipeg Jets Acquire Zach Sanford
The Winnipeg Jets are the next team that will take a chance on Zach Sanford, acquiring him from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2022 fifth-round pick. Sanford is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Sanford, 27, was originally selected in the second round by the Washington Capitals, as his mix of size and skill was quite the attractive prospect. After just 26 games with the Capitals though he ended up traded to the St. Louis Blues in a deal for Kevin Shattenkirk, where he would spend the next few seasons. Another trade took him to Ottawa last fall, and now he’ll get one last chance to show what he can do before hitting the open market. In 62 games this season he’s registered nine goals and 17 points, though is still providing that trademarked physicality, racking up 131 hits in that time.
It’s kind of an odd move for the Jets, given they sold Andrew Copp to the New York Rangers, but there’s certainly still a possibility that they could contend down the stretch. A fifth-round pick isn’t going to hurt the future very much, and it could also give the team a headstart on an extension, should they feel like Sanford fits what they’re trying to do in Winnipeg.
For Ottawa, grabbing a draft pick for Sanford was better than losing him for nothing, as it was becoming clear that the team’s young forward prospects would likely keep him from reaching an extension anyway. With their moves the last few days, the Senators have racked up a good number of draft picks, assets they can use to acquire more talent in the summer or continue to stock the cupboard with prospects.
Darren Dreger of TSN broke the trade on Twitter.
Petr Mrazek, Four Others Clear Waivers
March 21: Mrazek, Clifford, Turris, Jaros, and Nash cleared waivers today ahead of the Trade Deadline. Sateri, Richardson, and Pouliot were all claimed.
March 20: The Toronto Maple Leafs have been dealing with goaltending issues for the past while, and after Erik Kallgren was given the net for the last several games, it was unclear where Petr Mrazek fit into the future of the team. Today, the Maple Leafs have offered Mrazek to the rest of the league by placing him on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He is one of three Maple Leafs on the list today, joined by Kyle Clifford and Harri Sateri, a free agent goaltender the Maple Leafs have signed from the KHL, who has to clear waivers before he comes back to North America.
Those aren’t the only players on waivers though. The full list is as follows:
Riley Nash (ARI)
Brad Richardson (CGY)
Kyle Turris (EDM)
Christian Jaros (NJD)
Kyle Clifford (TOR)
Petr Mrazek (TOR)
Harri Sateri (TOR)
Derrick Pouliot (VGK)
Sateri, 32, just won an Olympic gold medal with Finland and has been an excellent netminder in the KHL for the last three seasons, but certainly doesn’t have a very long track record of success in North America. Drafted 106th overall back in 2008 by the San Jose Sharks, he struggled in parts of four minor league seasons before going to Russia. A few years later he was back with the Florida Panthers, where he played in nine NHL games and posted a .911 save percentage. After another sub-par year in the minors he was back overseas.
His signing, which will consist of a one-year contract that carries a cap hit of $750K through the end of this season, could be seen as nothing more than organizational depth at the deadline. With Mrazek’s struggles and placement on waivers today though, along with a recent injury to Jack Campbell, the Maple Leafs crease is completely up for grabs, even for a player like Sateri that is coming in fresh from outside the organization. That is of course as long as he clears, something that is certainly not a guarantee given how inexpensive his contract is.
It’s Mrazek that is the big name, given the fact that he signed a three-year, $11.4MM contract with the Maple Leafs just last summer. With a $3.8MM cap hit through 2023-24, a loan to the minor leagues would only clear $1.125MM for Toronto ahead of the deadline. With how quickly he has fallen out of favor with the Maple Leafs, Mrazek seems a prime buyout candidate for this offseason, should the team be unable to trade his contract elsewhere in the coming months.
Among the rest of the names are some veterans who could be snatched for a playoff run, though none are difference-makers at this point in their respective careers. Notably, for a player to be eligible for the rest of the AHL season and playoffs, he has to be on the roster at tomorrow’s deadline. For these players to get to that threshold, they needed to be placed on waivers today, if there was any thought of stashing them in the AHL down the stretch.