Overseas Notes: Sorensen, Chlapik, Maltsev
Marcus Sorensen has signed a contract with HC Vita Hasten in Sweden’s second league, according to the team. The San Jose Sharks forward is still under contract in the NHL, meaning this is almost certainly a loan agreement for the next few months until NHL training camps open again. The 28-year-old forward is set to earn $1.5MM on the final season of his two-year contract with San Jose.
With just 197 regular season games under his belt, Sorensen is on track to be quite an interesting free agent case next offseason. He scored just 18 points in 60 games during the 2019-20 campaign, but did put up 17 goals a year before that. At some point this year the Sharks could look to extend the Swedish forward, but for now he’ll be suiting up overseas to stay in shape.
- Filip Chlapik doesn’t have a contract with the Ottawa Senators, but playing overseas won’t stop him from getting one. The young Ottawa Senators forward will be playing for HC Sparta Praha for free while he continues to negotiate his next NHL deal. Just 23, Chlapik is coming off his entry-level contract and scored six points in 31 games for the Senators this season. He is not arbitration-eligible, meaning the Senators could just issue him a qualifying offer and wait to see if he takes it.
- The New Jersey Devils have sent Mikhail Maltsev back to the KHL for the time being. Loaned to SKA St. Petersburg, Maltsev will join a crowded roster for the next few months and then be recalled in time for NHL training camps. The 22-year-old forward scored 21 points in 49 games for the Binghamton Devils this season, his first in North America.
Calgary Flames Loan Dmitry Zavgorodniy To SKA St. Petersburg
The Calgary Flames have played a trick on hockey writers everywhere, loaning Dmitry Zavgorodniy to SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. The announcement does not indicate whether the young forward will be returning to North America when camp opens, but Ryan Pike of FlamesNation notes that the team will be able to recall him at that time.
Zavgorodniy, 20, is coming off three seasons with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, including an outstanding 2019-20 that saw him register 29 goals and 67 points in just 40 games. A seventh-round pick in 2018, he stands just 5’9″ but has shown enough to earn the entry-level contract he signed in 2019.
Like so many other teams around the league, the Flames will use overseas loans as a way to keep their prospects playing and developing while the AHL figures out how and when to stage a 2020-21 season. Zavgorodniy is joining a strong team in SKA, one that he’ll have to battle for playing time on.
Montreal Canadiens Agree To Terms With Jake Lucchini
New contracts for minor league players continue to pour in, with the Montreal Canadiens the latest to sign one of their pending free agents. Jake Lucchini has inked a new one-year, two-way contract with the team that will carry a $700K NHL salary ($85K in the AHL).
Lucchini, 25, arrived in the Montreal organization along with the recently re-signed Joseph Blandisi through a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The late-February deal sent Phil Varone and Riley Barber the other way. While Blandisi has quite a bit of NHL experience, Lucchini has never played a game at that level and instead spent the entire 2019-20 season in the AHL.
That’s not to say he won’t ever get a chance with the Canadiens though, as Lucchini did have a ton of success at the NCAA level. An undrafted free agent signing in 2019, his college career resulted in 104 points in 164 games. That kind of production wasn’t evident with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins through most of this season, but Lucchini did score four goals in just eight games after the move to the Laval Rocket.
Perhaps in that situation again next season he will be able to show his worth and become a useful depth piece for the Canadiens down the road.
Detroit Red Wings Re-Sign Dominic Turgeon
The Detroit Red Wings have inked another one of their minor league restricted free agents, signing Dominic Turgeon to a one-year contract for 2020-21. While the press release does not include financial details, CapFriendly reports that he will earn $750K at the NHL level and $115K in the minor leagues.
Son of former NHL star Pierre Turgeon, the 24-year-old forward has been part of the Red Wings organization since they used a third-round pick on him in 2014. Making his NHL debut in 2018, the younger Turgeon has now suited up in nine games with the Red Wings, held scoreless in each. Instead, he spends most of his time with the Grand Rapids Griffins where he scored 23 points in 63 games this season.
At this point it’s hard to imagine that Turgeon will ever become an impact player at the NHL level, but he remains a depth option for the team that can fill in if needed.
The Red Wings have a huge number of restricted free agents still to sign this offseason, including important pieces like Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Several Teams Spoke With Buffalo About Jack Eichel
When a franchise struggles for a long period of time and changes their general manager, installing someone with little front office experience, you can assume that the rest of the league takes flight like vultures to try and pick the roster clean of any talent. That’s exactly what seems to have happened in Buffalo when the Sabres made the move to fire Jason Botterill and hire Kevyn Adams as GM.
Bob McKenzie of TSN tweets that several teams including the New York Rangers called on the availability of Jack Eichel, though none of those conversations resulted in “trade traction” with Adams and the Sabres. McKenzie also makes sure to point out that neither the Sabres or Eichel himself have expressed any desire to part ways, in fact just the opposite appears to be true at the moment.
Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston tweets that he was told the Bruins were also one of the teams speaking with the Sabres regarding Eichel, though again these talks don’t seem to have gone anywhere.
It’s easy to imagine why other general managers will continue to poke at the Sabres on the status of Eichel. Not only is the 23-year-old center one of the best players in the NHL coming off an incredible 36-goal, 78-point campaign, but he’s also a $10MM ticket on a team that hasn’t played a postseason game since 2011 and is reportedly looking at working under a drastically reduced internal salary cap due to recent financial restrictions.
If Buffalo is going to turn things around, it’s hard to imagine it would be without Eichel leading the charge. The young forward is a true franchise talent that now has 337 points in 354 career games, despite often playing with an underwhelming roster. Even at that $10MM cap hit he likely represents excess value for the team, unlike some of his high-priced teammates (Jeff Skinner, who carries a $9MM cap hit through 2026-27, scored just 23 points this season).
All that said, Eichel has been quite clear in the past about his desire to win. His agent Peter Fish even re-upped that stance with McKenzie today, explaining that the star center doesn’t want out but is frustrated with the team’s results so far. If the Sabres can’t turn things around, this won’t be the last time that teams are calling about his availability or his name pops up in trade rumors.
Calgary Flames Re-Sign Justin Kirkland
The Calgary Flames have brought back minor league forward Justin Kirkland for another year, re-signing the pending restricted free agent to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $700K.
Kirkland, 24, was selected 62nd overall in 2014 but has yet to make it to the NHL. Four seasons in the minor leagues have resulted in consistent if underwhelming point totals, with the 6’3″ winger recording 28 in 53 games this season. While he doesn’t offer a ton of scoring upside, Kirkland still represents a depth option for the Flames that they could use in a bottom-six role if necessary.
Seven more restricted free agents remain unsigned for 2020-21, including Andrew Mangiapane who broke out as a full-time NHL player this season. Not everyone on that list is guaranteed a new deal, but Kirkland will be able to stay put and try to reach another level of play with the Stockton Heat.
NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing
In the penultimate update, the NHL has released a statement on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble. For the ninth straight week, there have been zero positive tests. Their statement reads as follows:
The NHL completed the ninth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 773 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 20-26. The NHL has administrated 33,174 tests to Club personnel, including players, since the start of Phase 4 with zero positive tests. The NHL will issue its final update on COVID-19 testing results following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.
With just a few days left until the championship is awarded, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.
Chicago Blackhawks Trade Dylan Sikura
The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Dylan Sikura to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a familiar face. Brandon Pirri, who started his career with the Blackhawks, will be coming back to Chicago in the one-for-one deal.
Despite strong numbers in the minor leagues, Sikura never seemed to fit into the Blackhawks plan and has played just 47 NHL games since turning pro in 2018. He’s scored just a single goal in those games and recorded 14 points, not nearly enough for a player of his offensive nature.
In Vegas, perhaps Sikura will be given a bigger opportunity to show what he can do, but that chance wasn’t going to come in Chicago. He’s heading into the final year of his current deal and can become a Group VI unrestricted free agent if he fails to play in 33 NHL games next season.
Pirri meanwhile is a much more proven NHL commodity, though he comes with warts of his own. Now 29, the Blackhawks second-round pick from 2009 has shown an aptitude for scoring goals at the highest level but not a lot else. Pirri has 72 tallies in his 275-game NHL career, but just 49 assists to go with it. In his best offensive year, he scored 22 times with the Florida Panthers and amazingly recorded just two assists.
Technically Pirri will be staying put, given he has spent the last three seasons playing most of his games with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The Golden Knights have changed their affiliate to Henderson, Nevada, but Pirri could very well stay in Chicago if he can make the Blackhawks roster. He comes on the final year of his contract and carries a $775K cap hit.
Nashville Predators Sign Yakov Trenin
Sep 28: Now that he is under contract, the Predators can officially loan Trenin overseas to get him back on the ice. They did just that today, sending him to SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL until the start of 2020-21 NHL training camp.
Sep 24: The Nashville Predators have completed some offseason business, signing Yakov Trenin to a new two-year contract. The deal is worth just $700K in 2020-21 and $750K in 2021-22, making the young forward a league-minimum option for the Predators moving forward. Trenin was scheduled to become a restricted free agent next month.
Now 23, Trenin was a second-round pick of the organization back in 2015 but has only just made his NHL debut. Playing in 21 games for the team this season he recorded six points, but proved he could be relied upon at the defensive end of the rink. That alone would likely be enough to put him in the running for next season’s bottom-six, but add in the fact that he scored 20 goals and 35 points in just 32 AHL contests and you can bet Trenin has an inside track.
The 6’2″ forward has proven he can handle himself physically at the next level and should find himself in the NHL lineup more often than not unless Nashville makes some additions this offseason. The fact that he’ll only cost the league minimum and is no longer waiver-exempt only adds to his case.
Latest On Torey Krug’s Pending Free Agency
It was always going to be difficult for the Boston Bruins to re-sign Torey Krug because of their salary cap situation, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying. Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the team’s last offer to Krug was a six-year, $39MM contract ($6.5MM AAV). Since that may not be enough to ink the offensive defenseman, Seravalli also notes that there has been “significant interest” from teams hoping to trade for Krug’s rights before the free agent period opens next month.
The 29-year-old defenseman is one of the top free agents set to hit the open market on October 9th, perhaps even second behind Alex Pietrangelo among defenders. There are very few players who can match his offensive output, which totaled 49 points in 61 games this season with the Bruins. In fact, over the last four seasons, Krug trails only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, John Carlson, and Roman Josi in scoring among defensemen, five players who are consistently in the Norris Trophy race. He’s well ahead of Pietrangelo in that category, though the rest of his game is not nearly as polished.
For a team looking to improve their powerplay though, there may be no better option available. Krug trails only Brent Burns in powerplay scoring among defenseman over the last four years, a total developed through consistent performance instead of breakout seasons. The Bruins quarterback has at least 39 points in each of his seven NHL seasons and has performed even more exceptional in the postseason. Through his first 75 playoff contests, Krug has 52 points
The Bruins, with Jake Debrusk and Matt Grzelcyk still to sign as restricted free agents, aren’t swimming in cap space. The team currently sits with just over $14.4MM for the 2020-21 season, but need to consider the future when discussing a long-term deal with Krug. Charlie McAvoy will be looking at a huge raise when his current deal expires in 2022, while Brandon Carlo is up after this upcoming season. There are plenty of other question marks around the roster given the expiring deals of Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak and David Krejci, though that could potentially provide an opportunity to invest in younger talent instead.
Should a team trade for Krug’s rights, they would have less than two weeks to work out a deal before he reaches free agency. It’s tough to give up a valuable asset for that small window, though perhaps it would be worth it if you believe he is the difference-maker your team needs.
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