John Gilmour Signs In KHL
Another former NHL player is headed to the KHL as John Gilmour has signed a contract with CSKA Moscow for the rest of the season. Gilmour became an unrestricted free agent after his one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres expired this summer and will be forced to take his talents overseas for the time being.
Now 27, Gilmour was originally a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2013 but never did sign with that organization. Instead, he inked an entry-level deal with the New York Rangers in 2016 after a four-year career at Providence College which included a National Championship. The smooth-skating defenseman made 33 appearances with the Rangers over two seasons but spent most of his time in the minor leagues.
In 2019, after becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent, he decided to move on from the Rangers and signed a one-year deal with Buffalo. That resulted in another four NHL games, but his time was once again spent mostly in the AHL, this time with the Rochester Americans.
Through 227 AHL games, Gilmour has recorded 38 goals and 118 points including an impressive 20-goal campaign in 2018-19 that earned him an AHL First All-Star Team nomination. In Russia, he’ll bring that same offensive ability and could be an effective weapon for CSKA. Whether he ever returns to the NHL is unclear, but with so few opportunities in this shortened season, perhaps this was the only chance he really had to play meaningful minutes at a high level.
Morning Notes: Return To Play, Wahlstrom, Miller
The NHL and NHLPA continue to work towards finalizing an agreement on the upcoming season, though it doesn’t appear as though any announcement will come today. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweets that there is “hope” that something will be done in the “coming days.” We’re getting a lot closer to that January 13th start date that has been reported and players from all around the world are starting to make their way back to North America.
- Oliver Wahlstrom is one of those players, recalled from his loan in Sweden by the New York Islanders. The 20-year-old Wahlstrom had eight points in ten games for AIK of the second tier but returns to North America with his eyes set on an NHL roster spot. Selected 11th overall in 2018, Wahlstrom made his NHL debut last year with nine appearances but failed to record a single point. With the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL he had 22 points in 45 games.
- The St. Louis Blues have found a replacement for former AGM Bill Armstrong, who left this offseason to take over the Arizona Coyotes. Ryan Miller (no, not that Ryan Miller) has been promoted to assistant general manager from his position as director of hockey operations. Miller had already been intimately involved with almost every move the Blues have made over the last several years but now, as the press release puts it, “he’s getting the title to go with it.”
Shawn Boudrias Signs AHL Contract
Though he failed to sign an NHL contract with the Minnesota Wild earlier this year, making him an unrestricted free agent, Shawn Boudrias will stay with the organization that drafted him. The 21-year-old forward has signed an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild and will start his professional career there after an impressive finish to his junior years.
Boudrias, selected 179th overall by the Wild in 2018, scored 35 goals and 79 points in 59 games with the Cape Breton Eagles last season, trailing only Ottawa Senators second-round pick Yegor Sokolov for the team lead in both categories. That was the cherry on top of a pretty effective QMJHL career which included more than 100 goals and 200 points over parts of five seasons.
In Iowa, the 6’5″ forward can continue to develop his game and attempt to prove that he was worth an entry-level deal after all. What that first AHL season will look like is still unclear, but whenever it starts and whatever it looks like, Boudrias will be there.
Joe Thornton Returning To Toronto
Veteran forward Joe Thornton won’t get to spend the holiday season in Switzerland after all. The 41-year-old has been recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs and is on his way back to North America to begin his pre-training camp quarantine.
Thornton was signed to a one-year, $700K contract with the Maple Leafs this offseason but had been playing in Switzerland for HC Davos, where his family usually spends the summer. In 12 games for the club, he scored 11 points, a short return for one of the most legendary players in Davos history (despite his relatively low games played totals). Thornton had previously spent the 2004-05 lockout with Davos and had returned for the first half of 2012-13 when the NHL was on hold once again.
The former San Jose Sharks captain will start a new chapter of his hockey career in Toronto, the club that his father cheered for and one just a few hours up the road from his St. Thomas childhood home. While some may snicker at the idea that Thornton would chase a Stanley Cup in Toronto—a team that hasn’t won in more than 50 years—there’s no doubting the team is loaded with talent. Whether the addition of a grizzled veteran will take them over the top is still to be determined, though detractors will point out that Thornton himself has never sipped from the Cup.
Another thing that isn’t quite so certain yet is whether Thornton even has any game left. His point totals dropped off a cliff last season for the Sharks and though he has told the media he feels refreshed after the long break, 41 is 41.
New York Islanders Acquire Dmytro Timashov
The New York Islanders have acquired restricted free agent forward Dmytro Timashov from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for future considerations. Timashov does not yet have a contract for the 2020-21 season.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see Timashov head to the Islanders, given he is a well-known commodity in the eyes of GM Lou Lamoriello. The 24-year-old winger was selected in the fifth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs just a month before Lamoriello took over as that team’s GM, meaning he oversaw Timashov’s development for years.
After several strong seasons in the AHL where he was used as a quarterback on the powerplay (operating from the half wall) and winning a Calder Cup in 2018, Timashov got his chance in the NHL this past season. In 39 games for the Maple Leafs he registered nine points, but was eventually the odd man out and found himself on waivers at the trade deadline. The Red Wings claimed him and Timashov would play five more games with Detroit, failing to register a point.
Even in Detroit, there didn’t seem like a ton of opportunity for Timashov, so perhaps a move to New York will give him a chance to play in the NHL again. Even if he wants to play in the AHL he’ll need a new contract, but perhaps Lamoriello knows that he’ll be able to work that out. It’s not as though he represents a ton of upside, but getting even a fringe NHL player for “future considerations” is usually worth it. In a year where a taxi squad or expanded rosters could be used, Timashov may fit that role of an in-betweener perfectly.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Detroit Red Wings
We’ve now made it past Thanksgiving and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.
What are the Red Wings most thankful for?
Sweden’s development system.
Detroit as an organization has always been known for its willingness to look outside of North America to find the best players in the world, and while that certainly is no longer an attribute limited to just them, it continues to this day in the team’s drafting strategy. Sweden, in particular, has stood out as a proving ground for the Red Wings eventual picks, with four players picked directly from the Frolunda organization over just the past two years.
That group is led of course by fourth-overall pick Lucas Raymond, who likely won’t be in Sweden much longer, but also includes Theodor Niederbach, Elmer Soderblom, and Gustav Berglund. Other Swedes picked in recent years include William Wallinder, Albert Johansson, and Albin Grewe, all selected with picks in the top 66. When the World Juniors hits the screen later this month, don’t be surprised if you hear “Red Wings draft pick” often when watching a Sweden game.
Who are the Red Wings most thankful for?
At the head of that draft strategy is Yzerman, who has experienced first hand throughout his playing and managing career the kind of impact international players can have. Though the team hasn’t experienced much on-ice success since he took over from Ken Holland in 2019, it’s hard to argue with the job he’s done so far in the rebuild.
The Red Wings prospect system is packed with high-end talent, they have another six picks in the first three rounds of 2021 and the roster is unencumbered by any expensive, long-term deals. In fact, only Anthony Mantha, who received a new deal last month, is signed through the 2023-24 season. Yzerman can form this roster in whichever direction he chooses, but names like Raymond and Moritz Seider are a great place to start.
What would the Red Wings be even more thankful for?
A breakout from one of their older prospects.
There was talent in the system even before Yzerman arrived, too. It’s hard to know where 21-year-old Michael Rasmussen‘s career trajectory is pointed at this juncture after a somewhat disappointing first few years, but if he ever did reach his ceiling (or perhaps break through it with his 6’6″ frame) he could be a dynamic presence in the middle of the lineup.
So too could Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno, the two players Detroit selected in the first round of 2018. Both have immense upside as a top-end sniper and two-way center respectively, but neither has quite followed through on that potential just yet. It’s certainly not time to give up on either one, but if there is a breakout coming the Detroit rebuild could be accelerated considerably.
What should be on the Red Wings holiday wish list?
Even more draft picks.
This train is headed in the right direction, but there might be one last year of pain for the Red Wings with the roster as currently presented, meaning one last collection of picks would do the team good. Darren Helm, Valtteri Filppula, Luke Glendening, Bobby Ryan, Sam Gagner, Marc Staal, Patrik Nemeth, Jon Merrill, Alex Biega, and Jonathan Bernier are all scheduled to be unrestricted free agents after this season—you can bet a good number of them won’t finish the year in Detroit.
It’s not that these kinds of players will bring back a huge package of assets, but every third or fourth-round pick they land for an aging-but-capable veteran means another lottery ticket that could turn into something great. (Don’t look now, but Frans Nielsen, Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov, Danny DeKeyser, Troy Stecher, and Thomas Greiss will all be UFAs in 2022 and could face similar fates.)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Arizona Coyotes Hire David Ludwig
The Arizona Coyotes have hired David Ludwig as the team’s Director of Hockey Operations & Salary Cap Compliance, joining the front office under new GM Bill Armstrong. He comes to the Coyotes after a decade at KO Sports, a licensed agency led by Kurt Overhardt that represents NHL talents like Jaccob Slavin, Viktor Arvidsson, Jacob Trouba, and, perhaps most notably, Coyotes forwards Christian Dvorak and Nick Schmaltz. Armstrong released this statement on the hire:
David brings a wealth of experience to our hockey operations department. His knowledge and expertise in contract negotiations, salary cap management and the CBA will be invaluable to us and he will play an important role in helping us build a winner in the desert.
Armstrong has quite the task in front of him to rebuild the Coyotes infrastructure after former GM John Chayka left this summer and the team was penalized heavily for draft infractions. Ludwig will join a new management group that is growing after already adding scouting guru Darryl Plandowski earlier this offseason.
Cap compliance is certainly something the Coyotes need as they currently sit nearly $3MM over the ceiling for the 2020-21 season. That’s including Marian Hossa‘s $5.275MM hit, but the intricacies of how to maximize the relief for that contract are complicated and now, likely, up to Ludwig to figure out. The Coyotes have a lot of money tied up long-term in contracts for Schmaltz, Dvorak, and others, but also have a number of players coming off the books after this season. While an entire rebuild of the roster isn’t necessary, you can bet changes will be coming before long not only in the front office, but on the ice as well.
WJC Notes: Czech Republic, Alfredsson, Robertson
The Czech Republic has cut their World Junior roster down to 28, the group that will travel to Edmonton to begin their quarantine. Three more players will then be cut from the official 25-man roster, but it looks promising for NHL prospects like Michal Teply, Adam Raska, and Jan Mysak. The Czechs will try to compete in a tough Group B where the United States, Russia, and Sweden—a team that hasn’t lost a group stage game in more than a decade—reside.
Lukas Parik, a third-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings, and Jan Bednar, a fourth-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings, will be joined in the goalie trio by a familiar NHL name. Nick Malik, the son of former NHL defenseman (and shootout superstar) Marek Malik has also made the team, though he was not selected in this year’s draft. The 18-year-old went last year too and actually got into one game for the Czechs, even though Parik and star prospect Lukas Dostal were on the team.
- Daniel Alfredsson was contacted by the Swedish team that lost most of its coaching staff to positive COVID-19 tests, but he is ineligible to help out at the tournament thanks to quarantine rules. No other staff are allowed to be added to the traveling party at this point even if they are already residing in Canada, meaning the Swedes will be led by Joel Ronnmark, an assistant coach, and head coach Tomas Monten will help from home after testing positive. The Edmonton Oilers will also loan their video coach, Jason Pietrzykowski to the team, while Anders Eriksen, the coach of the U18 team, will serve as an assistant. It would have been fun to see Alfredsson behind the bench for the Swedes, but they’ll have to try and battle through this adversity without him.
- The U.S. team was expected to name Nick Robertson to the squad later today, but Bob McKenzie of TSN tweets out there may be an issue keeping him from competing. The Toronto Maple Leafs have always been clear that they would let Robertson play if it did not interfere with NHL training camp, but as McKenzie points out, not only is the gold medal game scheduled to be held after the NHL is hoping to open camps, but Robertson would have to serve a seven-day quarantine if he flew from Edmonton to Toronto, potentially missing it entirely. Robertson did not attend the camp in Plymouth with the rest of the U.S. hopefuls, instead staying in Toronto to train (and avoid any border quarantines). The Chicago Blackhawks, who are in the same situation with Kirby Dach who has been named to the Canadian squad, have made the decision that he will have an NHL roster spot even without a training camp.
Hockey Canada Announces Final World Junior Roster
After a month-long selection camp that included a two-week quarantine period, Hockey Canada has finally made their final cuts and announced the roster that will be competing at the upcoming World Junior Championship. The event starts in two weeks in Edmonton, Alberta and will host teams from all over the world. The best junior-aged players will compete for gold in a year unlike any other.
Because the NHL has not started yet, players like Kirby Dach and Quinton Byfield will get the chance to compete for Canada at the end of 2020. Dach missed the tournament a year ago thanks to his commitments with the Chicago Blackhawks but should be a leader this year at the tournament. Byfield meanwhile will get a chance to convince the world that his struggles at the event last year were not indicative of his talent, while trying to add a second gold to his trophy cabinet.
Canada’s roster is loaded up front, with incredible offensive talent all the way to the final forward spot. But perhaps their defense too will be a force with names like Bowen Byram and Jamie Drysdale leading the way. In net, somewhat unheralded prospects will get the chance to prove they are winners, with Taylor Gauthier the only undrafted player on the final roster.
The full roster is as follows:
F Kirby Dach (CHI)
F Connor Zary (CGY)
F Dylan Holloway (EDM)
F Cole Perfetti (WPG)
F Jakob Pelletier (CGY)
F Alex Newhook (COL)
F Ryan Suzuki (CAR)
F Connor McMichael (WSH)
F Peyton Krebs (VGK)
F Quinton Byfield (LAK)
F Dawson Mercer (NJD)
F Dylan Cozens (BUF)
F Philip Tomasino (NSH)
F Jack Quinn (BUF)
D Braden Schneider (NYR)
D Kaedan Korczak (VGK)
D Bowen Byram (COL)
D Thomas Harley (DAL)
D Jamie Drysdale (ANA)
D Jordan Spence (LAK)
D Kaiden Guhle (MTL)
D Justin Barron (COL)
G Devon Levi (FLA)
G Taylor Gauthier (undrafted, eligible for 2021)
G Dylan Garand (NYR)
This means that Mavrik Bourque, Samuel Poulin, Donovan Sebrango, Ryan O’Rourke, Jamieson Rees, Seth Jarvis, Graeme Clarke, Gage Goncalves, and Lukas Cormier were the team’s final cuts.
Erik Brannstrom Recalled From Loan
The Ottawa Senators are bringing back defensive prospect Erik Brannstrom as they prepare for the upcoming season. Brannstrom’s loan with the SCL Tigers in Switzerland has now ended, with the team wishing him well back in North America.
It is a huge season for Brannstrom, the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft. Now 21, the young defenseman made his NHL debut at the end of the 2018-19 season, played in 31 games last year for the Senators, and now will be competing for a full-time spot. A wizard with the puck, he is expected to develop into an offense-driving force for the Senators, though that didn’t come through last season when he had just four assists during his 31-game stint. He did of course produce at nearly a point-per-game clip in the AHL, but some of that production will have to translate before he can really be considered a star at the next level.
Still, he is one of the many young bright spots on a Senators roster that should be improved. The team brought in Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Galchenyuk to give them a little more punch up front, Matt Murray to stabilize the goaltending position, and players like Erik Gudbranson, Josh Brown, and Austin Watson to make the team tougher to play against. Those additions, along with the natural development of young players like Brannstrom and Brady Tkachuk, should make Senators’ games much more competitive.
While they still might not be able to compete with some of the top teams in the All-Canadian division, this is no longer a “tank” year for the Senators. Real, tangible improvements from players like Brannstrom is the goal, and losing every night won’t accomplish that.