Sidney Crosby Undergoes Wrist Surgery
The Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has undergone arthroscopic wrist surgery, the team announced today. The star forward has been given an expected recovery period of three-to-four weeks.
Though this is obviously not major surgery, it does suggest that Crosby was playing through injury in the team’s qualification round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports that the organization does not believe this will set Crosby back significantly, given the distant state date of the 2020-21 season.
Crosby, 33, is coming off his 15th consecutive season scoring at least a point per game. In November he underwent sports hernia surgery and missed two months of the regular season.
Snapshots: Overages, Bowness, Sodergran
The suspension of the last part of the 2019-20 season will cause financial ramifications for years to come, most notably the flat salary cap ceiling. Several teams dealing with that cap crunch will also have to deal with some bonus overages, as Frank Seravalli of TSN outlines in his latest piece. These are performance bonuses that have been awarded, but that would push teams over the salary cap ceiling. Normally these are put against the next season’s cap, but in this unique season they can now be split over the next two years.
The team with the biggest overage is the Dallas Stars, who have already racked up a $2.95MM penalty. That number could increase considerably—by another $1.65MM—should Miro Heiskanen earn the Conn Smythe trophy this season.
- Speaking of the Stars, head coach Rick Bowness spoke today about his future with the organization. Dan Rosen of NHL.com reports that Bowness has agreed to wait until after the playoffs to speak with GM Jim Nill about a contract extension, however long that may take for the surging Stars. Bowness is still working under an interim tag after taking over from Jim Montgomery midseason.
- The Los Angeles Kings have loaned Johan Sodergran to Almtuna in Sweden’s second league for the next few months, with an expectation that he will return in time for the 2020-21 season. Sodergran, a sixth-round pick in 2018, recorded seven points in 48 games for the Ontario Reign.
San Jose Sharks Announce Several Loans
The San Jose Sharks have announced several loans for young players that will be headed to Europe for the next few months. Josef Korenar, Fredrik Handemark, Timur Ibragimov, Jonathan Dahlen, Evan Weinger and Krystof Hrabik have all been loaned overseas.
Several of these loans had been reported previously, including Korenar who will join HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech professional league. The 22-year-old goaltender had an .891 save percentage for the San Jose Barracuda this season, but is an interesting prospect to keep an eye on.
Handemark, 27, only signed with the Sharks in May and is on a one-year deal for the 2020-21 season. The veteran SHL forward had 38 points in 52 games last season for Malmo and will return there until training camp opens in North America.
The 19-year-old Ibragimov was a sixth-round pick of the Sharks in 2019 and is headed to TPS in Finland, possibly for the whole season. The young forward has spent the last few seasons in the MHL but will test his skills in the Liiga instead.
Dahlen perhaps is the most well-known of the bunch, as he’s already been involved in a few trades through his short career. A second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2016, Dahlen was part of the Alexandre Burrows trade in 2017 and then another deal to send him to San Jose in 2019. The 22-year old is actually scheduled to be a restricted free agent, but he’ll be staying with Timra of the Swedish second league for the time being, where he dominated this year. In 51 games, Dahlen scored 77 points and earned the Allsvenskan MVP.
Weinger and Hrabik are both signed to AHL deals with the Barracuda, but will head to TPS (Finland) and Bili Tygri Liberec (Czech) respectively.
Henderson Silver Knights Hire Manny Viveiros
The Henderson Silver Knights have decided on who will be the team’s first coach, hiring Manny Viveiros today. The former NHL defenseman has played and coached all over the world, but last served as head coach of the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL in 2019-20. Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon released a statement on the hiring:
Whether it’s been on the ice, behind the bench or in the front office, Manny Viveiros has been a part of the game at every level. In our search for the Silver Knights Head Coach, we were looking for someone who could not only lead a winning team to the Calder Cup Championship but could set a positive example for our prospects. We’re confident Manny is up for the task and are excited to see his impact on our organization.
Viveiros, 54, was an NHL assistant with the Edmonton Oilers in 2018-19, but otherwise has spent most of his career overseas in Austria and Germany. In fact, Viveiros was the Austrian head coach at the Olympics in 2014 after spending more than a decade playing in the country.
The Silver Knights will be heading into their very first season after relocation from San Antonio, but when exactly that campaign begins isn’t clear. Whenever it does, it’ll be Viveiros behind the bench when they drop the puck for hockey in the desert.
NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing
In what has become routine, the NHL has issued another update on its COVID-19 testing within the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto. Just like the last several weeks, there were zero positive results among the 2,814 tests administered. All members of the remaining team’s 52-member traveling parties were tested daily between August 23-29.
The league has now administered over 27,500 tests inside the bubble with zero positives.
With more and more teams being eliminated from postseason contention, securing the bubble should be even easier moving forward. So far the league has done an exceptional job keeping its players and staff safe and separated, though there is obviously still more work to be done.
New York Rangers Hire Jacques Martin
When Lindy Ruff was hired to be the next head coach of the New Jersey Devils, it left a vacancy on the bench for the New York Rangers. Ruff had been coaching in New York for three seasons, lending his wealth of experience to rookie head coach David Quinn. Now Quinn will have a different veteran voice as the Rangers have announced the hiring of Jacques Martin as an assistant for the upcoming season.
Martin, 67, has been an NHL coach since 1986, serving in various positions on eight different teams. Most recently he had served as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, spending the last seven years with the organization. When the Penguins were knocked out unceremoniously this summer, all of the assistants were chopped, leaving Martin a high profile free agent.
The Rangers snapped him up quickly and will add him to a group that has a bright future ahead of them. New York made waves this season with their strong play despite committing to a rebuild just a few years ago and now have a chance to compete for the playoffs in 2020-21. Martin’s defensive structure will likely be implemented with a young blueline group that has plenty of upside, including a pair of 22-year-olds in Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox.
Martin brings decades of experience and was with the Penguins for their latest two Stanley Cups. He has been a head coach for 1,294 regular season games, good enough for 14th all-time. Though it’ll be Quinn’s team, you can bet he’ll lean on the experience and success that Martin brings.
Patrick Russell Re-Signs With Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers will bring back Patrick Russell for another season, signing the pending free agent Patrick Russell to a one-year contract. The team has not released financial specifics, but Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that Russell will earn just $750K next season (Elliotte Friedman has it at $700K).
Now 27, Russell is an example of hard work and determination. The undrafted forward out of Denmark played a season in the USHL, two in the NCAA and three in the AHL before really getting a chance at the NHL level, where he spent 45 games this season in Edmonton. A strong goal-scorer at every level, that ability disappeared on Russell when he joined the Oilers. In 45 games he recorded just five assists, failing to score a single time.
Still, bringing him back on an inexpensive deal made sense for the Oilers as they look to retool for next season. Russell can play a depth role for the team, moving in and out of the lineup whenever necessary. Though it’s hard to imagine him providing a ton of offense in the NHL, he has improved tremendously in the second year at every level and could potentially take another step forward with some more experience, even in his late-twenties.
Victor Soderstrom, Oliver Wahlstrom Loaned To AIK
Two more top prospects have been loaned overseas, as a report from Sweden has both Victor Soderstrom and Oliver Wahlstrom set to join AIK (Allsvenskan). Those are two huge additions for the second league team, who will get to enjoy some elite talent while the AHL and NHL seasons are delayed.
Soderstrom’s connection was reported last week and he’ll represent a legitimate top-pairing option for AIK, at least for the next few months. The 19-year-old defender has already had great success in the SHL and should be a prime candidate to join the Arizona Coyotes in 2020-21 even at a young age. The 11th overall pick from 2019, Soderstrom has all the pieces to be an impact player in the NHL but needs to continue his development if he’s to reach his ceiling.
Wahlstrom meanwhile doesn’t have quite the same prospect shine, but that could be only because we’ve been hearing his name since he was nine years old. The 20-year old New York Islanders prospect still has huge offensive potential and recorded 22 points in 45 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season. Though Wahlstrom failed to record a point in nine NHL contests, it’s important to remember just how young he is—he still qualified for this year’s World Junior tournament.
Both prospects will be back by the time NHL training camp gets underway, but it’s hard to know exactly when that will be. Just yesterday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote that the owners will “wait as long as possible” to try and find a path towards having (some) fans in the stands next season. For now, they’ll get their reps in Europe.
Brady Keeper Re-Signed By Florida Panthers
Even though the Florida Panthers are currently without a GM, the front office is still taking care of business. The team has announced a new one-year contract for Brady Keeper, one of their players scheduled for restricted free agency. The deal will be two-way, though the financial details have not been released.
Keeper, 24, played the entire 2019-20 regular season in the minor leagues, scoring 18 points in 61 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds. An undrafted free agent signing in 2019, Keeper had previously played two seasons at the University of Maine. Interestingly enough, he got into just his second NHL game this summer when he played just over 13 minutes against the New York Islanders, recording two hits and two blocked shots.
It’s hard to know where anyone stands in the Florida organization right now, given the uncertainty in the front office, but there are bound to be some changes coming to the NHL roster before the start of the 2019-20 season. Should defensemen be moved out to shake things up, Keeper will be one of the first men up on the depth chart to try and take a full-time role.
Prospect Notes: Rossi, Fleming, Soderstrom
For prospects eligible to be selected in the 2020 draft, right now is a time of uncertainty. Those who may go in the top few picks often want to challenge for an NHL roster spot immediately, but it’s not clear exactly when training camp will even start. The NHL is hoping to get the 2020-21 season underway in December, but there’s no telling exactly when games will actually begin at this point.
Earlier this summer, Alexis Lafreniere, the consensus top prospect, decided he will not play in Europe and instead spend the offseason training. Today, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic reports that another top prospect has come to the same conclusion. Marco Rossi, who was ranked sixth by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters and is expected to go in the top-10 picks, will not sign with a European club for the start of the season and is instead training in the hopes of making an NHL roster right away. Wheeler adds that he believes Rossi does have the talent to make the NHL right away. The Austrian-born center scored 120 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s this season.
- Another future NHL draft pick has made a decision on where he’ll play down the road, as Maddox Fleming commits to the University of Notre Dame. Fleming, 16, is a top prospect for the 2022 draft and will be joining USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program for the next two seasons. Notre Dame would come after that, though it’s important to remember that commitments are often changed. Fleming already stands 5’11” 174-lbs and recorded 52 points in 42 games for the prestigious Shattuck St. Mary’s prep team this season.
- Victor Soderstrom may be the next top NHL prospect being loaned out to another league to get some game action, as the Arizona Coyotes defenseman has been linked to AIK in Sweden by Johan Svensson of Expressen. Soderstrom played in the SHL the last two seasons, but is expected to compete for a spot on the Arizona roster as soon as this year. The 11th overall pick from 2019 has quickly turned into one of the best defensive prospects in the world, landing 15th overall in Wheeler’s recent list of the top drafted prospects.