Seattle Kraken Sign Carsen Twarynski, Cale Fleury
One of the more surprising moves from this summer’s expansion draft was the Seattle Kraken selecting Carsen Twarynski from the Philadelphia Flyers. The team immediately defended the pick though, saying they felt the young forward could help the depth of the organization, and now he’s agreed to a contract. The Kraken have signed Twarynski to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL.
He’s not alone in inking a deal with the Kraken though, as CapFriendly reports that the team has also signed Cale Fleury to a one-year, two-way deal worth $750K at the NHL level. Both players were restricted free agents but not eligible for salary arbitration.
Twarynski, 23, was a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2016 and has 22 games of NHL experience under his belt. Seven of those came this season, but he was held scoreless meaning his total of a single goal remains. The 6’2″ forward is likely never going to be a big scoring threat at the NHL level, but does bring some size and physicality to the lineup in a bottom-six role. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement on the young forward:
Carsen plays a physical, high-energy game. We like his tenacity and willingness to compete. He plays a responsible game and we like his motor.
Those aren’t things that will make you jump out of your seat, but every team does need depth options like Twarynski to fill out the organizational chart. On an expansion team, he very well could get regular minutes if he manages to make the opening day roster. Given he is no longer waiver-exempt, that seems like a real possibility.
Fleury on the other hand was the team’s selection from the Montreal Canadiens after deciding to pass on Carey Price. It seems like it will be much harder for him to see any real NHL time this season given how many NHL defensemen the Kraken still have on the roster, but he too is eligible for waivers. The 22-year-old played 41 games for Montreal in 2019-20, but spent this year entirely in the minor leagues or on the taxi squad. The brother of fellow Kraken defenseman Haydn Fleury, he hasn’t quite yet managed to reach his potential as a two-way defender.
If either of these two clear waivers and is sent to the minor leagues, they’ll be joining the Charlotte Checkers, where the Kraken are going to send some players this season. In fact, in the original announcement of the AHL partnership, Seattle indicated that they would be sending “between eight and 12 players” to the Checkers. At this point, the team has only seven players under contract to send if they want to keep a 23-man roster. More work is still left to do for Francis and company, and those moves will shed more light on whether Twarynski or Fleury will see NHL time this season.
Casey Fitzgerald Signs With Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have brought back Casey Fitzgerald, bringing back the young defenseman on a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $750K. CapFriendly reports that the deal will come with a $125K AHL salary in 2021-22 and a $300K AHL salary in 2022-23.
Fitzgerald, 24, was a third-round pick of the Sabres back in 2016, but still hasn’t made his debut at the NHL level. Part of that is because he’s been unable to stay healthy, with just 51 AHL contests under his belt to this point, but part is also that he hasn’t been able to find the same kind of offensive consistency that he showed in his early years with Boston College. In fact, Fitzgerald’s scoring numbers declined in each of his four seasons at BC as he transitioned into a pure shutdown option–even winning Hockey East’s Best Defensive Defenseman award in 2018.
The problem is that at the NHL level, it’s hard to be a defensive option standing just 5’11”. More and more teams are looking for size and length on the blueline, something that Fitzgerald is just never going to be able to bring no matter how hard he works.
Perhaps that’s why the deal has such a strong minor league salary. Fitzgerald is likely headed back to the Rochester Americans where he can really help the minor league club find success.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Jacob Moverare
The Los Angeles Kings have reached a deal with another one of their restricted free agents, signing Jacob Moverare to a one-year, two-way contract. The contract will carry an NHL salary of $750K.
Moverare, 22, was a free agent for the first time after spending the last few seasons bouncing around the world. The young defenseman was selected 112th overall in 2016 out of Sweden, but after signing his entry-level deal came to North America to play for the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. In 2018-19 when he had aged out of the junior ranks, he took his game back to Sweden to play two seasons for Frolunda. His time overseas was supposed to end in 2020-21, but since the AHL wasn’t up and running at the start of the season, he ended up playing with SaiPa in Finland. After 50 games there, he joined the Ontario Reign for their shortened campaign, and ended up playing in 26 AHL games, his first professional season in North America.
After just a few months in the minor leagues, Moverare was never going to get more than a two-way deal, but his time in the AHL was certainly impressive. He finished second among all Reign defensemen in scoring with 15 points despite playing just over half the games and showed the polish that comes from several seasons playing against professionals in Europe. The 6’2″ defenseman will likely be on his way back to Ontario for 2021-22, but things are trending towards a potential NHL appearance in the near future.
Notably, Moverare is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning if the Kings want to send him to the minor leagues he will have to be risked to the rest of the league. At the end of this contract, he will once again be an RFA, but this time eligible for salary arbitration.
Snapshots: Stalberg, Wisdom, Schedule
After a long, productive professional career, Viktor Stalberg is hanging up his skates. The 35-year-old forward last played in the NHL during the 2016-17 season and has been suiting up in Switzerland for the last several years. Originally selected 161st overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006, the Swedish forward took the unusual route (especially 15 years ago) of playing for the University of Vermont to continue his development, passing up the opportunity to play pro hockey at home.
After three years in the NCAA, he signed and quickly stepped into the Maple Leafs lineup, recording nine goals in his rookie season. A few years later he would be hoisting the Stanley Cup overhead with the Chicago Blackhawks. In all, he played for the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Ottawa Senators over an eight-year NHL career spanning 488 regular season games.
- Philadelphia Flyers prospect Zayde Wisdom has undergone shoulder surgery and will be out indefinitely. The 19-year-old forward played 28 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season when the OHL failed to hold a season, and impressed everyone with an excellent 18-point campaign. Wisdom was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2020, but has already shown an ability to score at the minor league level. He would be one of the players that could potentially become eligible to return to the AHL next season on a one-time exemption, even though he would normally be required to return to the CHL. That obviously also now depends on his recovery from shoulder surgery.
- The league has announced the start times for the 2021-22 regular season, which will kick off with a banner raising in Tampa Bay on October 12 before the Lightning take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. That game will be followed by the Seattle Kraken’s first contest, taking on the Vegas Golden Knights in the late slot. The regular season will conclude on April 29.
Anaheim Ducks Sign Three Draft Picks
The Anaheim Ducks have announced deals for three draft picks, inking Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger and Sasha Pastujov to three-year entry-level contracts.
It was reported yesterday that Pastujov would be signing, as his plans for next season have changed. The young forward took back his commitment to the University of Notre Dame and will instead play for the Guelph Storm of the OHL. A player in the NCAA isn’t able to ink an NHL contract, but that’s not the case for someone in the CHL. Pastujov can continue his development in the junior league while also being under contract with the Ducks, receiving his signing bonus in the process.
The 18-year-old was a big-time offensive threat for the U.S. National Team Development Program, but dropped to the third round of the recent draft. The Ducks snapped him up with the 66th pick, and will hope that he can continue that development path in the OHL. Pastujov’s contract will slide forward should he spend the year in junior, meaning the first season will not be burned in 2021-22.
For Zellweger, it’s much of the same story. The 34th overall pick from this year’s draft, he’ll be heading back to the WHL to refine what is an intriguing package of tools. Just 5’10”, Zellweger is one of the youngest players in the 2021 draft class and won’t even turn 18 until next month. He flew up draft boards this year, going from C-rated to the start of the second round. There’s no doubt that size will be a challenge, but scouts rave about Zellweger’s maturity, work ethic, and hockey IQ, not to mention his obvious skating ability.
The big fish in this group though is McTavish, the third-overall pick from last month’s draft. Physically, McTavish could likely handle the grind of an NHL season right now. The Swiss-born, Canadian center spent this year overseas playing for Olten EHC where he scored nine goals and 11 points in just 13 games. His physical, bang-and-crash style makes a fan of every coach he plays for, as McTavish regularly engages down low and comes out with control of the puck. That’s not to say he lacks offensive flair, though there may not be the same kind of scoring upside in McTavish as future teammate Trevor Zegras.
That’s likely exactly why the Ducks are so excited by the pick, as the 18-year-old can provide a stylistic complement to the slick Zegras down the middle in Anaheim. While those days still may have to wait for a little while, there’s little doubt that McTavish will climb the ranks quickly and become an NHL talent before long. If he does return to junior this season for the Peterborough Petes, it will be more about letting him dominate a level offensively and perhaps play at the World Juniors. His contract–like the other two–would slide if that happens, meaning the Ducks would have McTavish signed through at least 2024-25.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Samuel Helenius
Aug 13: The deal has been officially announced and though the Kings include an average annual value of $850,833, that doesn’t include the performance bonuses that are part of the contract. Helenius can earn $82,500 in each of the first two years of the deal, and $57,500 in the third, taking the contract total to $2,775,000 and the cap hit to $925K as CapFriendly reported.
Aug 12: The Los Angeles Kings have signed draft pick Samuel Helenius to a three-year, entry-level contract according to CapFriendly. The deal will carry an NHL cap hit of $925K.
Helenius, 18, was selected 59th overall by the Kings and is still expected to play for JYP in Finland next season. The huge forward–standing 6’6″–spent the full year in Liiga, playing pro against men sometimes more than a decade older than him. He also took part in the World Junior Championship for Finland, scoring four points in seven games.
The Kings prospect pool is deep and wide, with stars and depth players alike. Helenius will be just another name on that list but is certainly one to monitor over the next few years. The son of former NHL defenseman Sami Helenius, the young forward isn’t quite the same type of player but is still more than willing to throw his huge frame around and engage physically. If he can consistently use that size and wingspan to create offensively, he could be a valuable piece for years to come.
Boston Bruins Announce Front Office, Coaching Updates
The Boston Bruins have announced several changes in their front office and coaching staff, starting with Chris Kelly who has been named an assistant coach. Kelly previously served as the player development coordinator for the Bruins the past two seasons. Taking his place will be former teammate Adam McQuaid, who will serve in that coordinator role. The team also announced that Ryan Mougenel has been named the head coach of the Providence Bruins.
Kelly, who Boston fans best remember as an important deadline addition during the team’s 2011 Stanley Cup championship, returned to the Bruins in 2019 after spending a year as a development coach with the Ottawa Senators. He will now move from the development team to the coaching staff in Boston, joining Bruce Cassidy‘s group. Kelly suited up for 288 regular season games for the Bruins during his playing career, recording 101 points.
McQuaid meanwhile was also on that 2011 team, offering his brand of physical play on the blueline. The 6’4″ defenseman was actually drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but found his way to the Bruins in time for his NHL debut in the 2009-10 season. Over a ten-year NHL career, McQuaid played 462 of his 512 games in a Bruins uniform, racking up 652 penalty minutes along the way.
Mougenel has been with Providence for three seasons, serving as an assistant for former head coach Jay Leach. With Leach off to join the Seattle Kraken, there was an opening behind the bench for the AHL Bruins. That spot will be quickly filled by an internal candidate, and one that has plenty of head coaching experience already. Mougenel served as the head coach for the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL for four seasons, the same league where he spent most of his playing career.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Zac Rinaldo
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed free agent forward Zac Rinaldo to a one-year, two-way contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal will be worth $750K in the NHL, $275K in the AHL, and comes with a $300K minor league guarantee.
Rinaldo, 31, has carved out a 374-game NHL career despite never being anything more than a fourth-line presence. In a league that is almost completely devoid of enforcers, there’s still Rinaldo, playing NHL games every year and racking up penalty minutes. In 2020-21 he played four games with the Calgary Flames, averaged fewer than six minutes a night, and fought former teammate Austin Watson.
With 42 career points and 748 career penalty minutes, it’s clear what Rinaldo’s job will be with the Blue Jackets, whenever they put him in the lineup. The 31-year-old forward has never had more than five goals or nine points in a single season. With Columbus going through something of a transition period, trading away Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones, among others, the team will look very different this season. Perhaps Rinaldo will find his way into the lineup more often as they look to establish an identity under new head coach Brad Larsen.
Florida Panthers Sign Joe Thornton
Jumbo is on his way to Sunrise. The Florida Panthers have signed Joe Thornton to a one-year contract for the 2021-22 season. The deal is worth the league minimum of $750K. GM Bill Zito released a statement explaining the move.
With more than 1,600 games played in the NHL, Joe will bring a wealth of experience to our locker room and lineup. His drive to succeed is unmistakable and we are thrilled that he chose to sign with our club and that he believes in what we are building here in South Florida.
Thornton, 42, continues his chase for the elusive Stanley Cup with another contender, joining the loaded Panthers forward group as a potential depth option. Last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs the former Hart Trophy winner started on the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, but was barely playing by the time the team was eliminated from the postseason. In 44 regular season games, Thornton recorded five goals and 20 points, while he added just one goal in the playoffs.
There are certain things that Thornton can still do well, but overall his game has diminished considerably over the last few years. Even in 2018-19 he recorded 16 goals and 51 points for the San Jose Sharks, totals he has barely matched in the two seasons since combined.
In Florida, he won’t be asked to play top-six minutes given their impressive depth. Even players like Anthony Duclair, Frank Vatrano or Patric Hornqvist might find themselves in the bottom-six depending on how things shake out, meaning there won’t be many minutes left for the grizzled Thornton.
Still, he certainly brings no lack of experience to the table. Thornton sits sixth all-time in games played and could potentially reach third if he plays in the majority of games next season. At some point, things will have to end for the legendary forward, but it’s not just yet.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 08/12/21
While the NHL tinkers around the edges, the minor leagues are still filling out roster spots in many cases. As always, we’ll keep track of the notable minor moves right here:
- Chris Bigras, the 32nd overall pick in 2013, has signed a new minor league contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the upcoming season. Bigras has played just 46 NHL games in his professional career, bouncing around the AHL instead. Last season he recorded eight points in 21 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
- The Abbotsford Canucks have added a British Columbia boy for their first season, inking Jarid Lukosevicius to a one-year AHL deal. Lukosevicius was a start for the Powell River Kings of the BCHL before going on to the University of Denver, and has spent the last two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
- The Rochester Americans have beefed up their depth chart, signing five different players to AHL contracts. Ryan Scarfo, Lukas Craggs, Brendan Warren, Peter Tischke and Mat Robson have all signed one-year deals with the Americans.