Oscar Klefbom Out For 2020-21 Season
Though there had been speculation for months, Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland finally confirmed today that defenseman Oscar Klefbom will miss the entire upcoming season. Klefbom is hoping to be ready for the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Holland also explained that Gaetan Haas will miss the start of training camp after being a close contact with a positive COVID-19 case in Switzerland.
It’s tough news for Klefbom, who was dynamic for the Oilers last season, scoring at the best pace of his career (34 points in 62 games) and logging more than 25 minutes a night. The 27-year-old defenseman has only played more than 66 games in a single season once through his entire career and will now miss an entire campaign due to an injury in his prime.
For the Oilers, though they’d obviously much rather have a healthy Klefbom on the ice, his injury may clear up some things financially. The team was capped-out but now could potentially move the defenseman’s $4.167MM cap hit to long-term injured reserve to add some relief. That process is complicated, but Edmonton could now add another free agent or trade for a player to help shore up the back end. Names like Travis Hamonic (whose preference to play in Western Canada should be noted) and Sami Vatanen both immediately come to mind, though nothing is certain yet.
Still, neither of those players have the same impact that Klefbom has shown over the last few seasons, meaning other internal names will likely have to step up. If there’s one player that could benefit most, it’s Tyson Barrie who signed a one-year, “prove it” deal with the Oilers to try and get his career back on track. Barrie has a good shot to be on the first powerplay with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, an enviable position for anyone trying to pump up their point totals.
Ethan Bear, the remaining unsigned restricted free agent for Edmonton, also should have an increased role this season when he eventually signs. The 23-year-old scored 21 points in 71 games last season, trailing only Klefbom and Darnell Nurse among Oilers defensemen.
Philip Broberg Named Captain For Team Sweden
Team Sweden was released from quarantine today at the World Juniors and will be practising later today. Yesterday, the team announced the leadership group for the tournament which will be led by Edmonton Oilers prospect Philip Broberg. Broberg will wear the “C” as captain of the squad and will be joined by alternates Tobias Bjornfot, Victor Soderstrom and Albin Sundsvik.
Broberg, 19, is set to spend this season in Sweden again after the tournament concludes but is a top prospect to keep an eye on for the Oilers. Selected 8th overall in 2019 he has already represented Sweden twice at the WJC and should be a force on the blueline once again. An incredible skater, Broberg has been criticized at times for his decision making but shows signs of quickly turning into a top defenseman for Edmonton. He was so impressive this summer that he actually made the Oilers postseason bubble roster, playing in one of the exhibition games. Though he didn’t actually suit up for his NHL debut, it’s not far off.
Bjornfot meanwhile has already made that debut, suiting up for three games with the Los Angeles Kings at the start of the 2019-20 season. The 19-year-old was the 22nd overall pick in 2019 and is also a returning member of the Swedish WJC team. Bjornfot spent last season with the Ontario Reign as one of the youngest defensemen in AHL history, scoring 19 points in 44 games. He has been playing with Djurgardens IF this year and has three points (and 33 penalty minutes) in 15 games.
Soderstrom, another defenseman, is also one of the top prospects in the world, selected 11th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2019. He was a dynamic offensive presence for the Swedes at last year’s tournament, recording six points in seven games. He’s been on loan this season to AIK in the Swedish second tier and has six points in 12 games. Alongside Broberg and Bjornfot, Soderstrom forms a trio of outstanding defenders who could take over the tournament.
Sundsvik is perhaps the most interesting choice, given he was not at the tournament last year and isn’t a top prospect. The 19-year-old center was selected 160th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in this year’s draft (his second year of eligibility) and has just three points in 23 games at the SHL level this year. Perhaps this honor is a sign of things to come and the Ducks landed a steal in the late rounds.
IIHF Provides Update On WJC COVID-19 Testing
Dec 21: In an update, the IIHF has announced that one additional staff member for the German squad has tested positive and will remain in quarantine until December 30. No new players have tested positive on any of the teams and Sweden–minus the two staff members who tested positive previously–will be allowed to exit quarantine.
Dec 18: The IIHF has provided an update on the COVID-19 testing of World Junior Championship players that have arrived inside the Edmonton bubble for the tournament that is set to start in the coming days. Since the traveling parties entered the bubble, more than 2,000 tests have been conducted. Of those tests, ten came back positive.
The German team has had eight players test positive for COVID-19. The entire team will remain in quarantine until December 24.
The Swedish team has had two staff members test positive for COVID-19. The team will remain in quarantine until December 21.
The release indicates that all other teams will be released from the quarantine period once all test results have been confirmed.
The Germans had dealt with positive tests before traveling to Canada too, with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Lukas Reichel being among those that were not allowed to attend the tournament. Sweden too has known their share of positive results, with almost all of their coaching staff already experiencing it and being removed from the team. These quarantines will obviously mean that several pre-tournament games will no longer be able to happen.
Erik Haula Drawing Free Agent Interest
The NHL is coming back, which means there are just a few weeks for the remaining unrestricted free agents to find work if they intend on playing the entire season. One of those unsigned players, Erik Haula, is generating plenty of interest according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who reports that more than five teams have circled back on the free agent center.
Haula, 29, came into the offseason as one of the best centers available on the open market. He was listed 16th on our Top 50 UFA ranking, with a prediction of three years and $11.25MM coming his way. It will be interesting to see if he lands anywhere close to that number when he eventually does sign, or settle for a one-year deal to hit the market again when revenues have (hopefully) rebounded.
Unfortunately for Haula, not only is the market depressed, but his value likely is as well after two disappointing seasons. He played just 15 games for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018-19 before a gruesome leg injury ended his season and returned in 2019-20 with the Carolina Hurricanes. He never quite found the same level in Carolina, scoring just 12 goals and 22 points in 41 games before a late-season trade to the Florida Panthers, where he had just two points in seven games before the year was canceled.
Buyers will likely be looking at Haula’s 29-goal, 55-point 2017-18 season as what they could potentially acquire on the open market, but given that was an outlier in itself—Haula had previous career-highs of 15 goals and 34 points—confidence that he will ever get back to that level is low. Still, it’s not often that you can find a middle-six center at the end of free agency on a bargain contract, which is why so many teams have shown interest. Any number of clubs around the league could be after him, though Pagnotta does not indicate which are the five that have circled back.
Nikita Kucherov Dealing With Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning may be without one of their best players when the season begins, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Nikita Kucherov is dealing with an injury that may keep him out “awhile.” The Lightning are expected to clarify the specifics later this week, but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that Kucherov got a hip injection last week.
Notably, as Friedman suggests, this could potentially be a fix for Tampa Bay’s cap problems. If Kucherov is forced onto long-term injured reserve, the team would theoretically not need to move any of their other high-priced assets to get under the $81.5MM salary cap ceiling. A return at any point during the regular season would obviously complicate the situation, though as James Mirtle of The Athletic points out with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, there is no salary cap come playoff time (which is only a few months away in a shortened season).
Still, losing Kucherov is obviously a huge blow for a team looking to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. The 27-year-old forward is one of the very best offensive players in the entire world and scored 85 points in 68 games last season. That, amazingly, only landed him the 13th spot in Hart Trophy voting, but the year prior he took home the Hart, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay awards as the undisputed best player in the league. He recorded 41 goals and 128 points in 2018-19, a true example of how dominant Kucherov can be when healthy and surrounded by talent.
It may be some time before we get to see that Kucherov on the ice again.
Snapshots: Strome, Hallander, NHLPA Update
The last few days have come with a few new contracts in the NHL, with restricted free agents like Justin Bailey and Oliver Kylington inking new two-way deals. We’re still waiting on the big RFA dominoes to fall though, with one of those being Chicago Blackhawks forward Dylan Strome who remains unsigned. This morning, Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman told reporters including Brandon Cain of NHL.com that the team has had conversations with Strome’s representatives and is optimistic something will get done, but couldn’t provide any timeline on the process.
Strome, 23, was included in our look at the mid-tier restricted free agents still waiting on contracts, but for Chicago, he’s all that really matters right now. The team’s roster appears largely set for the upcoming season, given that Strome’s eventual deal will likely eat up a good chunk of the remaining cap space. The young forward hasn’t lived up to the third-overall pick that Arizona used on him in the 2015 draft but does have 89 points in 106 games since coming to Chicago. As the team inevitably moves away from aging franchise icons like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane over the next few years, a player like Strome could step up and be a leader for the Blackhawks.
- When the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt Kasperi Kapanen to the Pittsburgh Penguins, much of the focus was on the first-round pick coming the other way. The Maple Leafs actually acquired another piece in that deal though, 20-year-old center Filip Hallander, who had been drafted in the second round in 2018. Hallander was expected to come to North America this winter to take part in training camp with Toronto but is now going to stay in Sweden where he plays for Lulea HF in the SHL. Hallander has 10 points in 21 games this season and is an intriguing prospect for the Maple Leafs, whose system didn’t have much center depth beyond the NHL.
- In his daily update, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweeted this morning that there is a call scheduled for this evening between the executive board of the NHLPA to update the player reps on where things stand. LeBrun does not expect the call to include a vote as the documentation for the upcoming season is not yet completed. While there seemed like some momentum for things to be finalized this weekend, it does not appear as that will happen tonight.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Roland McKeown
The Carolina Hurricanes have signed restricted free agent defenseman Roland McKeown to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a salary of $700K at the NHL level, but it doesn’t seem that will ever be paid out. McKeown has immediately been loaned to Skelleftea AIK of the SHL. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell released a statement on the move:
Roland had a solid season in the AHL last season and it is important that he get back on the ice to continue his development. Playing in the Swedish league is a great opportunity for him to do just that.
This is an extremely interesting move, given that so many other AHL-bound prospects are still sitting around wondering where they will be playing this season. If the minor league isn’t able to put together a plan, we could see a hurried exodus of talent to Europe in order to fill the few foreign spots available. McKeown looks like he’ll have a head start and should be able to get in a good chunk of development overseas.
The 24-year-old defenseman has played ten games at the NHL level in the past, but spent both 2018-19 and 2019-20 entirely in the AHL. Selected 50th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, he arrived in Carolina via a trade for Andrej Sekera less than a year later. While he hasn’t been able to crack the Hurricanes blueline, that may be more to do with the strength of the NHL group than his own play, which though inconsistent at times has still been strong for the Charlotte Checkers. In 61 games last season he recorded 24 points.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
Just over a month ago we put out a call for mailbag questions, leading the piece with the news that free agency had come to a “screeching halt.” Since then, amazingly, there have been zero one-way contracts handed out to unrestricted free agents, with the last still being Dominik Kahun‘s one-year deal signed on November 2.
There has been news though, with World Junior rosters selected, long-term extensions signed with several restricted free agents, and updates on the upcoming season slowly dripping out. With those things in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR mailbag.
If you missed that last edition, it was broken into two parts. The first focused on several Metropolitan Division teams and the ongoing Mike Hoffman mystery, while the second examined top coaching candidates, Nashville’s goaltending situation, and the remaining free agents.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. We’ll try to get to everything when the mailbag runs this weekend.
Mason Millman Signs With Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have signed one of their recent draft picks, inking Mason Millman to a three-year entry-level contract. Millman has spent the last two seasons with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL and was picked in the fourth round by the Flyers in 2019.
Millman, 19, was unfortunately cut from Team Canada’s World Junior camp recently due to COVID-19 restrictions, but will still get some good news this holiday season with an entry-level deal. The defenseman scored 13 goals and 44 points last season for Saginaw, turning heads as a potential mid-round steal for the Flyers. The fact that he’s already earned a deal should only solidify that feeling, though where Millman goes from here is very unclear.
The OHL has still not set a date for its official return and some are wondering whether the 2020-21 junior season can be saved at all. For a player like Millman, who is ineligible for the AHL—and likely not ready to compete professionally—this season is looking like a potentially lost development year. Perhaps with him now under contract, the Flyers will find somewhere overseas to get Millman on the ice competing again, keeping the momentum he built since his draft in 2019.
Kirby Dach Named Team Canada Captain
Though it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, Kirby Dach was officially named team captain today for Canada at the World Junior Championship. The Chicago Blackhawks forward has a full NHL season under his belt and is expected to be one of the most effective players in the entire tournament. He’ll be joined in the leadership group by Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram, who have both been named alternate captains for the event.
The captaincy is often given to a returning player, but Dach actually didn’t get to play for Canada last year because he was too busy with the Blackhawks. The 19-year-old forward was picked third overall in 2019 and stepped nearly directly into the NHL, scoring 23 points in 64 games with Chicago. His play in the postseason bubble was even more impressive when he was one of the most dangerous players on the ice for the Blackhawks and recorded six points in nine games.
Cozens meanwhile returns to the WJC after dominating a year ago, scoring nine points in seven games for Canada to help them win the gold medal. The Buffalo Sabres prospect trailed only Alexis Lafreniere and then-captain Barrett Hayton in scoring for the team and should be another top player for Canada this year. An absolute freight train when he gets up to full speed, Cozens’ size, skating ability, and reach make him an incredibly difficult player to contain.
Byram will wear an “A” and likely anchor the top pairing for Canada after playing a lesser role last year at the tournament. The fourth-overall pick from 2019 has almost limitless upside at the offensive end and should be a big part of Canada’s quick transition game. Another excellent young defenseman in the Colorado Avalanche system, this WJC could certainly be his coming out party in front of the rest of the hockey world.