Marcus Foligno Signs Three-Year Extension
Moose isn’t going anywhere for a while. The Minnesota Wild have signed Marcus Foligno to a three-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.1MM. Foligno currently carries a cap hit of $2.875MM on the final season of his four-year, $11.5MM deal signed in 2017.
The 29-year-old Foligno may not contribute a ton at the offensive end of the rink, but he is one of the few rare players in the NHL that doesn’t really need to. Standing 6’3″ and close to 230-lbs, the power forward combines speed, power, and fearlessness to create a valuable middle-six winger that punishes defenders constantly while limiting chances against. Foligno posts strong possession numbers every year, averages around 200 hits per season, and even received Selke Trophy consideration in 2019. He’s well-liked by management in Minnesota and this early extension only confirms how committed they are to him.
Interestingly, Foligno actually experienced something of a breakout offensively last season, scoring 11 goals and a career-high 25 points in just 59 games. That’s nice, but it’s not what he’s paid for. Expected to line up beside Jordan Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek on the Minnesota third line, he’ll hunt down defenders, cause havoc in the corners, and backcheck relentlessly.
Still, and it’s important to note this even if you’re a Minnesota fan happy to keep Foligno around, the Wild have made a habit of committing early to their core players and this new deal only locks up more cap space moving forward. The team now has nearly $58MM on the books for 2021-22 with just 13 players signed, seven of which (including Foligno) will be at least 30 when that season begins. For a franchise that hasn’t experienced any real playoff success in its history, sticking with the same core may not be the best strategy.
Of course, as Michael Russo of The Athletic points out, this new extension for Foligno does not include trade protection of any sort. He’s not guaranteed to stay in Minnesota throughout the deal and in fact, easily could become a target for the Seattle Kraken in the upcoming expansion draft. The Wild have a lot of tough decisions to make before that expansion process is completed, given all of the no-move clauses they’ve handed out over the years.
For now, Foligno has some financial security in hand and a season to play with the team he has known since 2017. Minnesota kicks things off on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes Complete Minor Trade
The Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes are tweaking their depth charts with the season just around the corner, swapping Max Lajoie and Clark Bishop in a minor deal. Bishop cleared waivers a few days ago and Lajoie just yesterday, meaning both can report directly to the taxi squad or minor league affiliate of their new organization (though, because of quarantine restrictions that may take some time). In fact, Ottawa includes in the release that Bishop will be assigned to Belleville.
Lajoie, 23, was a fifth-round pick of the Senators back in 2016 but surprised everyone when he made the NHL roster out of camp just two years later. He would play 56 games for the team in the 2018-19 season, recording seven goals and 15 points while averaging nearly 19 minutes a night. The Senators would finish last in the entire league that year and Lajoie would find himself pushed down the depth chart again in 2019-20. He ended up playing just six NHL games last season, spending most of the year with Belleville instead.
In Carolina, he’ll have an even tougher group to crack if he wants to get back to the NHL. The young defenseman is likely ticketed for the Chicago Wolves where he will continue his development and try to make the best of the final year on his entry-level contract.
Bishop meanwhile comes to Ottawa as another forward option after playing 25 NHL games over the past two seasons. The depth center can be some injury insurance in Belleville but doesn’t offer a ton of offensive upside. Selected in the fifth round by the Hurricanes in 2014, Bishop has just 18 goals and 59 points in 201 regular season AHL games but did help capture the Calder Cup in 2019 with the Charlotte Checkers.
ECHL Announces Two Expansion Teams For 2021-22
The ECHL is about to expand. The league’s board of governors has approved expansion applications for new teams in Coralville, Iowa, and Trois-Rivieres, Quebec for the 2021-22 season. Commissioner Ryan Crelin released a short statement:
This is an extremely exciting day for the ECHL and the future of our League, welcoming these two great markets and beautiful state-of-the-art facilities. We have a great history of working with Dean [MacDonald]’s ownership group and leadership team and look forward to bringing ECHL hockey to Trois-Rivieres and Coralville, making an impact as an asset to these communities.
Deacon Sports and Entertainment, led by MacDonald, will own both new franchises in addition to the Newfoundland Growlers. The two new franchises will take the league total to 28 for the 2021-22 season. According to the league, both teams will be playing in brand new facilities, called Xtreme Arena and LeNouveau Colisee respectively.
The 2020-21 season has been a struggle for the ECHL, with many of its teams opting out due to financial and health concerns. This news brings a ray of hope among the darkness that has been the past year. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be able to see some extra minor league action in two new hockey-starved markets. It’s not clear yet where the teams will be placed division-wise, but it would certainly make sense to add a seventh team to both the North and Central divisions, which currently have fewer teams than the South and Mountain.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Boo Nieves
The Tampa Bay Lightning have added a little more forward depth. Boo Nieves, who had been in Lightning camp on a professional tryout, has signed a one-year, two-way contract. The 26-year-old Nieves became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this offseason when his last contract with the New York Rangers expired. Joe Smith of The Athletic reports that the deal is worth $708K at the NHL level.
It hasn’t been a smooth road for Nieves, who was selected 59th overall in 2012 but spent the next four seasons at the University of Michigan. After signing with the Rangers in 2016 he seemed to spend every other day on the transaction page, bouncing up and down between the NHL and AHL. Over the four seasons he spent in New York, Nieves played in 76 NHL games and 147 AHL games, never seeming to stay in one place for very long. Last season he failed to score a single point in his four Rangers appearances.
Still, the Lightning—or Rangers South as some have come to call them thanks to their long list of players that have suited up for both franchises—obviously believe he can provide some value to the team. With Nikita Kucherov out long-term and the team still potentially looking to clear cap space by moving veteran forwards, extra bodies will be needed if Tampa Bay wants to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. No, Nieves isn’t expected to play a big role, but NHL experience is valuable in a condensed season that could be sidetracked at any moment due to injury or illness.
Several Players Claimed Off Waivers
With the sheer number of players on waivers yesterday, you could bet at least a couple would be claimed by teams in need of added depth. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Carolina Hurricanes have claimed Anton Forsberg (EDM), the San Jose Sharks have claimed Rudolfs Balcers (OTT), the New Jersey Devils have claimed Eric Comrie (WPG) and the Nashville Predators have claimed Luca Sbisa (WPG). The rest of the 100+ players have all cleared.
Forsberg, 28, returns to the organization he played for last season, an interesting move given the Hurricanes did not re-sign him in the offseason. The veteran goaltender has spent time with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks as well but has been limited to minor league duty for most of the past two years. In 2019-20 he played three games for the Hurricanes, posting an .897 save percentage. In the minor leagues, he had a .905. Forsberg will likely serve as the team’s third goaltender this season but would have to clear waivers in order to go to the taxi squad. Perhaps the team believes they can slip him through in a few days after carrying three goaltenders for the first part of the season.
The Oilers now must find another option for their own taxi squad, though Dylan Wells or Stuart Skinner could fill that role for the time being. Both goaltenders are waiver-exempt, though they were destined to fill the net in the minor leagues this season. The Hurricanes did put Alex Nedeljkovic on waivers today, though with the complicated salary cap dance the Oilers are performing they may not be able to fit him in on the NHL roster at this point.
Balcers, 23, is also rejoining a familiar organization, heading back to the team that drafted him in 2015. The young Latvian forward was part of the Erik Karlsson deal in 2018 and has played 51 games for the Senators over the last two seasons. His name was a surprising one on waivers yesterday, given how well he has played in the minor leagues so far in his short career. Balcers has 115 points in 143 career AHL games, including 56 goals. For a team still just barely turning the corner on a rebuild, it’s hard to watch a young prospect disappear for nothing.
Where he fits into the San Jose lineup isn’t clear at all, but Balcers is worth a claim if you believe that he can still become a regular in the NHL. The Sharks need young talent as badly as anyone.
Comrie becomes the answer in New Jersey, where the Devils suddenly lost Corey Crawford to retirement and needed some depth at the goaltending position. Whether he can actually help them at the NHL level is still to be determined, given the 25-year-old goaltender has just an .868 save percentage in eight career games. Comrie has been an excellent option for the Manitoba Moose however, including posting a .918 save percentage last season after returning to the Jets organization (he was claimed by Arizona, traded to Detroit, and then claimed back by the Jets all in the span of a few months during the 2019-20 season).
Sbisa is an interesting one, given his long history at the NHL level. The 30-year-old defenseman has played in 548 games over a long career, including 44 last season with the Jets. As we wrote last month, the Predators were in dire need of another depth defenseman if only to provide some injury insurance this season and they’ve now found just the player. Sbisa can come in and out for them whenever needed but costs very little with an $800K contract. Still, Jarred Tinordi may end up the casualty here, though it seems likely he would clear waivers if necessary.
Jeremy Colliton Agrees To Extension With Chicago Blackhawks
Earlier this morning, the Chicago Blackhawks decided their young coach deserved an extension, signing Jeremy Colliton through the 2022-23 season. Colliton is heading into his third year behind the bench in Chicago. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman released a statement explaining why the team felt an extension was warranted:
Jeremy has shown an innate ability to develop young talent throughout his two seasons as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. This, coupled with his vast knowledge of the game, exceptional communication skills and determination to win, makes us extremely confident Jeremy has what it takes to lead our team back to an elite level as we continue to build a roster that can compete year in and year out.
That first sentence is perhaps the most important, given that the Blackhawks are inching towards an existence without any of their Stanley Cup-winning core. Jonathan Toews is already absent as he deals with a health issue, Brent Seabrook is desperately trying to get back on the ice to continue his career and Duncan Keith will turn 38 in a few months. Even Patrick Kane, who is still 32, healthy, and ready to lead the Blackhawks this season has just three seasons left on his contract and will be soon entering a decline phase whether he likes it or not. Colliton’s ability to develop the next wave of Blackhawks stars is perhaps the most important task for the organization right now.
Of course, that doesn’t mean winning isn’t important. The 35-year-old coach led the Blackhawks to a playoff appearance last season, shocking the Edmonton Oilers in a qualification round before bowing out quickly to the Vegas Golden Knights. Colliton’s overall record since taking over from legendary coach Joel Quenneville is 62-58-17 and it’s not expected to improve very much this season. Chicago heads into the year with a completely unproven goaltending tandem, plenty of questions on defense and several key forwards out due to injury. It will be a challenge to be sure.
Training Camp Cuts: 01/12/21
It’s the last day before NHL hockey returns, so teams will have to finalize their rosters and get ready for action. Though most of the heavy lifting was done yesterday, there will still be some cuts made today. We’ll keep track of them right here. This page will be updated throughout the day as more releases come in.
Buffalo Sabres (via team release):
F Andrew Oglevie (to Rochester, AHL)
F Arttu Ruotsalainen (to Rochester, AHL)
D Jacob Bryson (to Rochester, AHL)
D Mattias Samuelsson (to Rochester, AHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via team release):
F Jeremy Bracco (to Chicago, AHL)
F David Cotton (to Chicago, AHL)
F Jason Cotton (to Chicago, AHL)
F Seth Jarvis (to Chicago, AHL)
F Stelio Mattheos (to Chicago, AHL)
F Jamieson Rees (to Chicago, AHL)
F Sheldon Rempal (to Chicago, AHL)
F Drew Shore (to Chicago, AHL)
F Spencer Smallman (to Chicago, AHL)
F Ryan Suzuki (to Chicago, AHL)
D Joey Keane (to Chicago, AHL)
D Maxime Lajoie (to Chicago, AHL)
G Antoine Bibeau (to Chicago, AHL)
Chicago Blackhawks (via team release):
F John Quenneville (to Rockford, AHL)
D Anton Lindholm (to Rockford, AHL)
D Nick Seeler (to Rockford, AHL)
G Matt Tomkins (to Rockford, AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (via team release):
F Riley Barber (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Kyle Criscuolo (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Turner Elson (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Taro Hirose (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Chase Pearson (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Evgeny Svechnikov (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Dominic Turgeon (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
D Joe Hicketts (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
D Brian Lashoff (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
D Dylan McIlrath (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Kaden Fulcher (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Pat Nagle (released)
Montreal Canadiens (via team release):
F Brandon Baddock (to Laval, AHL)
F Alex Belzile (to Laval, AHL)
F Joseph Blandisi (to Laval, AHL)
F Laurent Dauphin (to Laval, AHL)
F Jacob Lucchini (to Laval, AHL)
F Joel Teasdale (to Laval, AHL)
F Lukas Vejdemo (to Laval, AHL)
F Jordan Weal (to Laval, AHL)
D Otto Leskinen (to Laval, AHL)
D Gustav Olofsson (to Laval, AHL)
D Xavier Ouellet (to Laval, AHL)
G Vasili Demchenko (to Laval, AHL)
G Michael McNiven (to Laval, AHL)
G Cayden Primeau (to Laval, AHL)
F Kevin Lynch (to Laval, AHL)
Philadelphia Flyers (via team release):
F Pascal Laberge (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Zayde Wisdom (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Linus Sandin (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Tyson Foerster (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Matthew Strome (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Tyler Wotherspoon (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Mason Millman (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Chris Bigras (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Derrick Pouliot (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Egor Zamula (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
D Wyatte Wylie (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
G Felix Sandstrom (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Max Willman (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
G Roddy Ross (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
San Jose Sharks (via team release):
F Kurtis Gabriel (to San Jose, AHL)
F Antti Suomela (to San Jose, AHL)
D Trevor Carrick (to San Jose, AHL)
D Nick DeSimone (to San Jose, AHL)
D Fredrik Claesson (to San Jose, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release):
F Sam Anas (to Utica, AHL)
F Dakota Joshua (to Utica, AHL)
F Tanner Kaspick (to Utica, AHL)
F Hugh McGing (to Utica, AHL)
F Curtis McKenzie (to Utica, AHL)
F Jake Neighbours (to Utica, AHL)
F Evan Polei (to Utica, AHL)
F Nolan Stevens (to Utica, AHL)
F Nathan Walker (to Utica, AHL)
D Scott Perunovich (to Utica, AHL)
D Mitch Reinke (to Utica, AHL)
D Steven Santini (to Utica, AHL)
D Tyler Tucker (to Utica, AHL)
D Jake Walman (to Utica, AHL)
G Evan Fitzpatrick (to Utica, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Utica, AHL)
F Matthias Laferriere (to Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)
Vancouver Canucks (via team release):
F Jonah Gadjovich (to Utica, AHL)
F Lukas Jasek (to Utica, AHL)
F Kole Lind (to Utica, AHL)
F Will Lockwood (to Utica, AHL)
D Josh Teves (to Utica, AHL)
D Jett Woo (to Utica, AHL)
G Jake Kielly (to Utica, AHL)
Washington Capitals (via team release):
F Shane Gersich (to Hershey, AHL)
F Michael Sgarbossa (to Hershey, AHL)
F Phillippe Maillet (to Hershey, AHL)
D Lucas Johansen (to Hershey, AHL)
D Paul Ladue (to Hershey, AHL)
D Cameron Schilling (to Hershey, AHL)
AHL Notes: Moore, Porter, Gulls
The AHL has named Hayley Moore to the position of Vice President, Hockey Operations today, bringing in the NWHL executive for the upcoming minor league season. Moore will be responsible for overseeing the league’s on-ice operations, including the AHL officiating program and disciplinary process. AHL CEO Scott Howson released a short statement on the hire:
Hayley has extensive experience at every level of hockey, and will provide outstanding leadership in her role with the American Hockey League. On behalf of our Board of Governors, I am pleased and excited to welcome her to the AHL.
Moore currently serves as president of the NWHL’s Boston Pride and will begin working with the AHL when the NWHL season concludes. The 34-year-old was a star player for Brown University before joining the CWHL for a short time.
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will have a familiar face behind the bench for the upcoming season, hiring Kevin Porter as an assistant coach. Porter played several seasons of his long professional career with the AHL Penguins, including as an alternate captain in 2016-17. The 34-year-old forward scored 354 points in 528 career AHL games, while also suiting up for more than 250 contests in the NHL. He recently served as a volunteer assistant with the U18 NTDP and can certainly help collegiate players transition to the professional ranks—Porter won the Hobey Baker Award in 2008 as a senior with the University of Michigan.
- The San Diego Gulls added several players today, signing Jeff Glass, Keegan Lowe, Keegan Kanzig, and Nikolas Brouillard to one-year AHL contracts. While the other three have plenty of minor league experience, Brouillard is coming back to professional hockey after three years at McGill University in Montreal. In his one year of ECHL action, he scored 21 points in 39 games for the Orlando Solar Bears during the 2016-17 season.
NHL Planning Outdoor Games At Lake Tahoe
Jan 11: The NHL has officially announced the games, confirming the dates reported by Friedman earlier this month. The Avalanche and Golden Knights will play in the “Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday” while the Bruins and Flyers will play in the “Honda NHL Outdoors Sunday.”
Jan 1: On February 20, the NHL is going to Lake Tahoe. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report this morning that the league plans on hosting two outdoor games at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort next month with no fans. The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights will play on February 20, while the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins battle the following day.
Previous reports had the league searching for an outdoor location like this, with Lake Louise, Alberta, and Park City, Utah two that Friedman mentions in today’s piece. While those locations ultimately proved impossible, the league is still getting its outdoor games.
These matches will do something to replace the usual outdoor games that have been canceled for this season. The Winter Classic (originally scheduled for today) and Stadium Series matches were nixed for this season, with Minneapolis and Raleigh expected to host events in the future. Those were obviously supposed to draw huge crowds and drive revenue for the host clubs, something that the Lake Tahoe event isn’t designed for. Instead, it will be a more intimate performance on the golf course, with Friedman reporting that only around 400 people will be involved.
Jay Bouwmeester Announces Retirement
It shouldn’t come as any shock today that Jay Bouwmeester has retired from the NHL. The veteran defenseman announced as much through Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, explaining that he “knew [he] was done essentially when it happened, to be quite honest.” ‘It’ in this case refers to the cardiac episode that Bouwmeester experienced in February of last year, collapsing on the bench and requiring transport to a nearby hospital.
Bouwmeester didn’t play again but did show his face around the Blues again after recovering and last month St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong was clear that he would love to work with him at some point in the future.
It’s hard to explain just how beloved the 37-year-old Bouwmeester is around the NHL, not by teammates for his personality and demeanor, but by coaching staffs and front offices for his unassuming rock-solid gameplay. The smooth-skating defenseman played in 1,240 NHL games during a 17-year career, but it was rare for him to really dominate the highlight packages. Instead, he’d calmly defend and move the puck quickly, logging 25, 26, or 27 minutes of ice time without even being noticeable for much of it.
In 2007-08 for instance, he averaged 27:28 a game for the Florida Panthers, scoring 15 goals and 37 points in the process. He failed to receive even a single vote for the Norris Trophy despite playing more than anyone else that year. Even if the major awards didn’t recognize him, his coaches did. Bouwmeester was playing more than 21 minutes a night even at the very end of his career, still calmly diffusing offensive chances with his floating stride.
Even though his career was cut short, Bouwmeester still cracked the top-100 for games played in the history of the NHL, currently tied with Patrik Elias and Eric Staal for 96th overall. He managed to raise the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2019, 17 years after he was drafted third overall by the Panthers.
Perhaps most importantly, Bouwmeester told LeBrun that though it hasn’t been “totally smooth sailing” since his incident, he’s staying active and is “feeling OK.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images