Snapshots: Rochester, Dubnyk, Danault
The Rochester Americans have added a new pair of assistant coaches, and Buffalo Sabres fans will certainly be familiar with them. Mike Weber and Adam Mair, who suited up for a combined 839 regular season games for the Sabres in their playing careers, will join Seth Appert‘s staff in the AHL this season.
Mair is moving over from the development side with the Sabres where he has served for the past five years, while Weber is making the jump to pro coaching from the OHL. Appert, who will be coaching a pro team for the first time, has decades of experience at the collegiate level and with the USNTDP.
- Devan Dubyk’s name has come up lately in the rumor mill, as the Minnesota Wild continue to reshape their roster heading into next season. Michael Russo of The Athletic touched on the goaltender in his latest piece, explaining that he has heard the Wild will not be buying out Dubnyk this offseason. That suggestion has surfaced because of the $4.33MM cap hit that the veteran goaltender carries this year despite losing the crease to Alex Stalock and posting a .890 save percentage in 2019-20. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted today that the Montreal Canadiens did consider Dubnyk before eventually trading for Jake Allen earlier this summer.
- Speaking of the Canadiens, Friedman also wrote today that Phillip Danault‘s name is “out there” generating interest, though there is still uncertainty about whether he’s actually available. The 27-year-old center is heading into his final year under contract before reaching unrestricted free agency for the first time. The Canadiens currently have only three NHL forwards signed past the 2020-21 season (Jonathan Drouin, Paul Byron and Nick Suzuki), meaning GM Marc Bergevin can pretty much do whatever he wants to shape this group for the years to come.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Nicolas Aube-Kubel
The Philadelphia Flyers have finished some offseason business early, reaching a contract with Nicolas Aube-Kubel before he hits restricted free agency. The new two-year deal will carry an average annual value of $1.075MM and run through the 2021-22 season.
Aube-Kubel, 24, made his presence felt in the NHL for the first time this season, scoring 15 points in 36 games with the Flyers. The 48th overall selection from 2014, he had played three full seasons in the minor leagues and had just nine NHL games and no NHL points to show for it before 2019-20 started. When he agreed to a one-year, two-way $700K contract last summer he seemed like he may be destined to be organizational filler instead of a real option for the Flyers lineup.
Now, after finding himself on the ice for 13 of the team’s 16 postseason games, it’s hard to imagine he won’t get a real shot at a full-time roster spot in 2020-21. With Nate Thompson, Derek Grant and Tyler Pitlick all scheduled for unrestricted free agency, there may be some more minutes to go around for players like Aube-Kubel.
With a $1.075MM contract, he becomes an inexpensive option that could technically still be completely buried in the minor leagues if the team needed. That cap number is precisely the amount that comes off the books when someone is stashed in the AHL, though Aube-Kubel would need to clear waivers in order to go to the minors in the first place. One other thing to worry about is Group VI UFA status after the deal expires, though he’ll need just 22 games over the length of the contract to avoid that designation.
The Flyers still have some work to do with their restricted free agents, including Nolan Patrick, Philippe Myers, and Robert Hagg.
Prospect Notes: Askarov, Hogberg, McPhee
If anyone needed a reminder of just how good Yaroslav Askarov is, he provided it today. The top 2020 draft-eligible goaltender posted his first KHL shutout when he blanked Spartak by stopping all 33 shots he faced (including a penalty shot). Askarov only turned 18 a few months ago but is already turning heads at the highest level in Russia, raising expectations even further as he heads into the draft next month.
A consensus first-round pick, the young goaltender is signed through the 2021-22 season with SKA St. Petersburg but is a potential franchise starter for a team willing to take the chance on him in a few weeks. How high he climbs that board is unclear, though Spencer Knight‘s selection at #13 last year may show that teams are now a little less hesitant to spend big on goaltending at the draft.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned Linus Hogberg to HC Vita Hasten of the Swedish second league, keeping him overseas once again. Drafted in 2016, Hogberg’s rights would have expired had he not signed an entry-level contract with the Flyers before June 1 of this year. He ended up inking his two-year deal on May 30, but will be staying in Sweden for the time being. The 22-year-old defenseman has played four full seasons in the SHL, scoring 14 points in 50 games in 2019-20.
- Just a few days ago Graham McPhee signed a one-year AHL contract with the Bakersfield Condors, but now he’s suiting up for Vienna in the Austrian pro league. The son of Vegas Golden Knights executive George McPhee, the 22-year-old forward actually became an unrestricted free agent when the Edmonton Oilers decided not to sign him to an entry-level deal last month. After four years at Boston College, the fifth-round pick will have to work his way up the professional hockey ladder, starting in Europe for now.
Darcy Kuemper Drawing Trade Interest
New Arizona Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong has plenty of work to do in the coming weeks, especially if the reports of slashing payroll are true. The Coyotes could be one of the team’s most affected by the current financial landscape in the NHL, meaning sweeping changes may come to their roster this offseason.
One player drawing plenty of interest is goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has been asked about by the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers, and San Jose Sharks. Each of those teams has uncertainty in net for the 2020-21 season, or at least could use an upgrade at the position.
Kuemper, 30, has two years left on his contract with the Coyotes and carries a $4.5MM cap hit but has been one of the most dominant goaltenders in the league for the last several seasons. Since the start of 2017-18, Kuemper has posted a 55-38-15 record with 11 shutouts and a .924 save percentage in 113 appearances. He finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting a year ago but ended up playing in just 29 regular season games this year due to injury.
In a recent column by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, James Reimer‘s name is listed as a possible target for Arizona, given that almost his entire salary has already been paid out in the form of a signing bonus. Reimer has just $850K left to earn this year, and LeBrun also notes that Kuemper is a target for Carolina. Reimer and Petr Mrazek split the duties in Carolina this season and were just okay, a continuing theme for the Hurricanes goaltending situation over the last several years.
The Coyotes of course also have Adin Hill freshly inked to a new contract and ready to take on at least a backup role at the NHL level. They don’t necessarily need to bring a goaltender back in any Kuemper deal, leaving the netminding duties to Hill and Antti Raanta this season.
Kuemper also isn’t the only Arizona player being asked about. The Flames, Oilers and Boston Bruins have all “checked in” on Oliver Ekman-Larsson according to Friedman, while the Colorado Avalanche have asked about Niklas Hjalmarsson. If the team is really looking to cut payroll, captain Ekman-Larsson would obviously be an easy target, given the seven years and $58MM remaining on his huge extension signed in 2018. The 29-year-old defenseman does however have a no-movement clause, complicating any potential trade.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Hire Manny Malhotra
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost an assistant coach earlier this year when Paul McFarland decided to return to the OHL and take a job running the Kingston Frontenacs, but have found his replacement. The Maple Leafs have hired Manny Malhotra, who has spent the last few seasons working with the Vancouver Canucks. Head coach Sheldon Keefe released a statement on his new assistant:
The work ethic, character, intelligence and attention to detail that made Manny the ultimate teammate when he played are all assets that have translated to his coaching. That, combined with his charisma and communication skills, make us really excited to have him join the organization. On behalf of the Leafs, I’d like to thank Travis Green, Jim Benning and the Canucks organization for the opportunity to speak with Manny.
Malhotra, a veteran of more than 1,000 NHL games, is still relatively new to the coaching world having just retired from playing in 2016. The 40-year-old scored just 295 points in the NHL but was a hard-nosed checking center that was always among the leaders in faceoff percentage. He received votes for the Selke Trophy on many occasions, even finishing fifth in 2011.
He was hired by the Canucks in 2017 as a development coach, meaning his move to Toronto will actually be a step up and takes him a little closer to being an NHL head coach. It comes with the added benefit of a homecoming, given Malhotra is from Mississauga, just outside of Toronto.
David Singh of Sportsnet did a long feature on Malhotra earlier this summer, noting that “several people within the industry peg him as a rising star in the coaching ranks” but that he would also need some time behind the bench as an assistant at some point. That time appears to be now with the Maple Leafs.
Toronto had been linked to several other names around the league, including former Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau, but according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic decided to go with Malhotra instead. Rocky Thompson, another coach they spoke with, is likely heading to the San Jose Sharks to join Bob Boughner‘s staff.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the news on Twitter.
Arizona Coyotes Hire Bill Armstrong
Thursday: The team has officially announced Armstrong as the new GM. Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez released a statement on the hire:
We are very excited to welcome Bill to the Coyotes as our new General Manager. We were extremely impressed with his experience, vast hockey knowledge, great ability to assess talent, and his tremendous draft record. Bill is a proven winner who has a strong work ethic and is a good communicator. He is a man of integrity and we are confident that he’s the right person to build a winning culture here and lead our hockey operations department into the future.
Wednesday: The Arizona Coyotes have still been slowly working their way through their offseason work, with the latest move coming yesterday when they signed Adin Hill to a new one-year contract. Still, that work is being done without a full-time GM, as Steve Sullivan fills in while they look for a new front office leader.
Last night, Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reported that the team had made an offer to Bill Armstrong to become their next GM. Armstrong currently serves as AGM with the St. Louis Blues. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (among others) confirmed that Armstrong is the leading candidate and could get the job “over the next day or so.” Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet are both reporting that the deal is done with Armstrong to become the team’s next GM. The expectation is he will be signing a five-year contract with the team, worth more than $1MM per season.
If you were a fan of the Hershey Bears or Providence Bruins in the early nineties, you may remember Armstrong as the massive, old-school defenseman that was more than willing to drop the gloves at a moment’s notice. A third-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1990, the 6’5″ Armstrong would never make the NHL, instead settling for 1,169 penalty minutes in 439 AHL contests. Soon after his retirement from playing in 1998 he joined the P-Bruins as an assistant coach, before taking over the head coaching duties a few years later.
Eventually, Armstrong found his way to the Blues in 2004 as a scout and has been with the organization ever since. In 2018 he became an assistant GM for Doug Armstrong—to which there is no relation—after Martin Brodeur left the organization.
The Coyotes are looking for a new GM after John Chayka’s ugly public divorce from the team earlier this summer. Formerly the youngest GM in the league, Chayka had served in the role since 2016 but terminated his contract with the team in July.
IIHF Announces 2021 World Juniors To Be Held In Bubble
The IIHF has announced that the 2021 World Junior Championship, originally scheduled to be held in Red Deer and Edmonton, Alberta, will now be a single-venue tournament held in just Edmonton. It will use the “bubble” protocols that the NHL has pioneered for their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and will be held without spectators. The tournament schedule will be revised and released at a later date.
Because of the changes to this year’s tournament, the IIHF has also made a swap down the line. The 2022 event will no longer be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, but is now scheduled for the original hosts of Red Deer and Edmonton with spectators. Sweden will now host the 2024 tournament instead.
The governing body has also canceled the lower division 2021 tournaments, meaning there will be no promotion or relegation this year. The relegation round for the World Juniors will no longer take place.
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Brian Pinho
The Washington Capitals have reached an agreement with another one of their restricted free agents, this time re-signing Brian Pinho to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $725K in the NHL, but is two-way in 2020-21 and one-way 2021-22.
Pinho, 25, actually made his NHL debut in these playoffs for the Capitals, suiting up twice against the New York Islanders (but receiving just 18 total shifts). The 2013 sixth-round pick finally made it all the way to the show after four years at Providence College and two full seasons in the AHL. While Pinho didn’t find any success in 2018-19 with the Hershey Bears, he broke out this year by scoring 20 goals in just 62 games.
It’s hard to imagine a way for Pinho to make a real impact on the NHL team, but the extension certainly puts him in a position to compete for a roster spot. Notably, he is still waiver-exempt for one more season meaning he can be sent to the minor leagues and held there as depth.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Joel Edmundson
The Montreal Canadiens took a chance when they traded a fifth-round pick for the negotiating rights of Joel Edmundson, but it has worked out the way they hoped. Today, the Canadiens have signed Edmundson to a four-year contract that will carry a $3.5MM average annual value. Edmunson will also receive a 10-team no-trade clause in the deal, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.
Edmundson, 27, is coming off the best offensive season of his career, scoring 20 points in 68 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. That followed his arrival from the St. Louis Blues as part of the package that landed Justin Faulk, just a few months after Edmundson won the Stanley Cup. While he certainly should not be considered an offensive defenseman, he has logged big minutes in the past and was a big contributor to Carolina’s penalty kill. That defensive acumen was obviously coveted enough by Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin for him to go out and use an asset to acquire Edmundson before he hit the open market, while also handing out a long-term contract.
Montreal of course has star defensemen Shea Weber and Jeff Petry manning the blueline, but the latter is heading into his final year under contract. The team has now shored up the group with another capable defender, though it’s unclear exactly how the playing time will now shake out. Alexander Romanov was expected to challenge for a spot on the NHL roster immediately, but Edmundson’s addition actually gives the Canadiens a glut of left-handed options. Still, having defensive depth was always going to be required for the Canadiens to compete in the Eastern Conference and the team had plenty of cap space to work with this offseason.
For Edmundson, this contract represents the first real long-term stability he has had in his NHL career. He’d previously been playing on short-term deals, including just a one-year $3.1MM contract awarded through arbitration in 2019-20. While this doesn’t represent much of a salary increase on his last two contracts, he does get some financial security and is now locked in through the 2023-24 season.
Buffalo Sabres Acquire Eric Staal
The Buffalo Sabres have traded Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Eric Staal. No salary will be retained by either team. Though both players hold partial no-trade clauses, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that neither one had their new team blocked.
This deal represents a swap of two players scheduled for free agency in 2021, though Johansson is nearly six years younger than Staal. The former Buffalo forward heads to Minnesota after experiencing arguably the worst offensive season of his career, scoring just nine goals and 30 points in 60 games. Johansson never really found his footing in Buffalo and couldn’t manage the move back to center ice, a position he hadn’t routinely played since his second season in the NHL. If he stays in Minnesota, it will be interesting to see where he fits into the lineup since the Wild have made it clear they are looking for an upgrade down the middle. They recently acquired Nick Bjugstad who can also play center, though he wasn’t used there full-time in Pittsburgh.
For Staal, this trade apparently took him by surprise. Russo tweets that the veteran forward is “stunned” though he’ll have some familiar faces in Buffalo to greet him. Kevyn Adams, who will mark his first trade as Sabres GM with this deal, was a teammate of Staal’s with the Carolina Hurricanes, winning a Stanley Cup together in 2006. Perhaps more notably though is the connection with Sabres forward Jeff Skinner, who played several years with Staal in Carolina and is coming off a dreadful 23-point season after signing a huge $72MM extension.
There’s no doubt that Staal represents an upgrade down the middle for the Sabres, as even at the age of 35 he was still effective this season. In 66 regular season games with Minnesota, he recorded 47 points, a total that would have put him third on the Sabres behind only Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. The fact that he comes at a discount—Staal is owed just $3MM and carries a cap hit of $3.25MM for next season, compared to $4MM and $4.5MM for Johansson—makes this seem like an easy win for the Sabres, as long as his play doesn’t drop off a cliff next year.
Still, there is a chance that Johansson can find his “MoJo” in Minnesota. Remember that this is a player who scored 24 goals and 58 points as recently as 2016-17 and will only turn 30 next month. He also played quite well for the Boston Bruins in last year’s playoffs, scoring 11 points in 22 games as a depth option. That postseason performance is exactly what earned him the two-year $9MM deal with the Sabres last summer.
For the Wild, the acquisitions of Johansson and Bjugstad over the last few days have added a pair of players on expiring deals that will both be looking to rebuild their value before free agency. Either one could be potential trade chips at the deadline should the 2020-21 season go sideways, or potential extension candidates if they can get back on track. For Buffalo on the other hand, Staal’s acquisition is much more about starting to turn the team in the right direction and providing some backup for Eichel upfront. Saving $1MM in salary may also be important for a team that has been rumored to be looking at an internal budget this season due to reduced revenues.
Darren Dreger of TSN was first to break that Johansson had been traded from Buffalo, while Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported it is a one-for-one deal.
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