Snapshots: Blashill, Pilut, Canadiens
The Detroit Red Wings season has come to an end following the announcement of the return to play format, meaning they’ll go down as one of the worst teams in history (at least in terms of points percentage). The club finished 17-49-5 and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, leading many to question the future of Jeff Blashill.
Steve Yzerman, Detroit GM, is not one of those questioning his head coach. On a conference call with reporters today including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Yzerman explained that he has “no plans on making a coaching change at this time.” Blashill signed a two-year contract extension in 2019 that carries him through the 2020-21 season but now has a 153-194-52 record as head coach of the Red Wings.
- A report out of Russia has Buffalo Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut heading to the KHL next season, though it has not been confirmed at this point. Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News reports that the Sabres are inquiring with Pilut to see if he has indeed signed or agreed to terms with Traktor Chelyabinsk. Pilut is scheduled to become a restricted free agent later this summer, but with the Sabres already eliminated from play he could be looking for a new opportunity already. The 24-year old Pilut ended up playing just 46 games over two seasons for Buffalo, despite being excellent in the minor leagues and showing he could handle NHL duty. Should he decide to pursue a contract overseas, the Sabres could temporarily retain his rights by issuing him a qualifying offer.
- With just a few days left to sign them, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin explained to reporters including Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports that they will not be issuing contract offers to a few prospects. Allan McShane, Cole Fonstad and Samuel Houde–all players that will see their draft rights expire on June 1st–will not receive contracts from the Canadiens.
Nick Bjugstad Undergoes Surgery
2:45pm: Despite the earlier report, when the Penguins announced Bjugstad’s surgery (identified as a herniated disc) his recovery timeline was listed at a minimum of just eight weeks. It seems unlikely that the 2019-20 season will be over by then, though it’s unclear what exactly would have to take place for a player to return to action after such a major injury during the restricted format.
9:59am: If the Pittsburgh Penguins return to play this summer to try and win a qualifying round, they won’t have the services of Nick Bjugstad. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports that Bjugstad has suffered a setback in his recovery and underwent surgery yesterday. He will be out for the rest of the 2019-20 season and joins Dominik Simon on the shelf for the Penguins.
Bjugstad, 27, will end 2019-20 after playing just 13 games and registering two points. That is an absolute disaster for the Penguins after they acquired Bjugstad and Jared McCann in 2019 for a package of picks and players, hoping the big forward could solidify their top-six. Instead, the former Florida Panther has been injured almost exclusively during his time in Pittsburgh and has just 16 points in 45 games with the team.
After the Penguins acquired Jason Zucker this season to fill one of those top-six spots, the question will now become whether or not Bjugstad has played his last game in Pittsburgh. With a $4.1MM cap hit next year on the final season of his contract, he could be a piece that GM Jim Rutherford looks to move in the offseason.
In fact, with raises due for McCann and other restricted free agents the Penguins may have to shed salary just to keep the rest of the group together. Losing Bjugstad wouldn’t really hurt, since he hasn’t been there much anyway.
Jake Bean Wins AHL Defenseman Of The Year
After handing out the top goaltending honors yesterday, the AHL continued today by announcing the top defenseman. The Eddie Shore Award has been given to Jake Bean of the Charlotte Checkers after a vote from coaches, players and media members around the league.
Bean, 21, isn’t just another AHL defenseman. Drafted 13th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016 he is still one of the top defensive prospects in the game, even if it has taken him a few years to reach the NHL. 2019-20 served as his second full season in the AHL and after making the All-Rookie Team and winning a Calder Cup championship in his first, it was hard to believe he could take another step forward.
A step forward he did take however, scoring 48 points in 59 games with the Checkers and landing a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team. The defenseman of the year award is just a cherry on top of an outstanding season, one that should probably be Bean’s last in the AHL.
Still under his entry-level contract in 2020-21, Bean represents an inexpensive option for the Hurricanes if they decide to shed some salary from the back end. After acquiring Brady Skjei midseason it may be difficult to keep around others like Joel Edmundson and Trevor van Riemsdyk—who are both scheduled for unrestricted free agency—meaning there could be an additional opportunity in the NHL.
That’s not guaranteed however, as Carolina still has Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Jake Gardiner, Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton penciled into full-time roles for the time being. Haydn Fleury is also still around, though he needs a new contract as an RFA. The Hurricanes may be the most difficult blueline in the league to crack for a young player, but at this point it’s hard to argue Bean could have done anything more to prove he is ready for the next level.
League Still Not Allowing New Contracts For 2019-20
When Scott Perunovich agreed to terms on two different contracts with the St. Louis Blues back in March, it led to plenty of confusion around the league. The plan was to have Perunovich sign a contract for 2019-20 if the season returned, allowing him to step right into a spot on the Blues roster for the playoffs. Several other top college and international players agreed to similar structures, hoping to burn the first year of their entry-level contracts before the 2020-21 season began.
Unfortunately, as Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reported, that made the league furious given that they had put a hold on any contracts for 2019-20. Teams were still holding out hope that the league would change their minds and allow players to sign, but yesterday Gary Bettman and Bill Daly dealt another blow to those hopes.
Daly explained that the league’s position was still that new players are not allowed to sign a contract for 2019-20, even going so far as to call them “ringers.” That means players like Perunovich won’t be seeing action this summer and will have to file their contracts for the 2020-21 season instead.
CapFriendly has even tentatively added them to their database in those spots. Along with Perunovich, this includes Alexander Romanov (MTL), Ian Mitchell (CHI), Grigori Denisenko (FLA), John Leonard (SJS), and Brinson Pasichnuk (SJS) though there are countless others like New York Islanders prospect Ilya Sorokin that have been waiting on word from the league as well.
The question now is how that affects their decisions moving forward, especially for the Russian players. The 2020-21 season is not expected to start on time, with the commissioner even suggesting yesterday that it could kick off with the Winter Classic in early January 2021. That would mean a very long wait for players ineligible to join the playoff festivities this summer, and could lead to some returning to the KHL should it open sooner.
NHL Announces Details On Return To Play Format
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman today explained how exactly the 24-team return to play format will work, a proposal that was submitted to and approved by the NHLPA executive board over the weekend.
First and foremost was the announcement that the 2019-20 regular season is officially over. There will be no more regular season games, meaning that Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is the 2020 Art Ross winner as leading scorer.
Should the league return this summer, there will be 24-team postseason held in two hub cities. In early June, the league hopes to move to Phase 2 of small group workouts. Phase 3, which is a three-week training camp, is expected to start in early July.
The hub locations that are still in consideration are Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver. The final determination will come later.
The top four teams in each conference will play a round-robin to determine seeding for the playoffs. The other teams in each conference will be matched up in a qualifying round. Neither of these rounds are technically considered the playoffs, but are also not the regular season. The qualifying matchups are as follows:
- 5. Pittsburgh vs. 12. Montreal
6. Carolina vs. 11. Rangers
7. Islanders vs. 10. Florida
8. Toronto vs. 9. Columbus - 5. Edmonton vs. 12. Chicago
6. Nashville vs. 11. Arizona
7. Vancouver vs. 10. Minnesota
8. Calgary vs. 9. Winnipeg
The league has not yet determined whether or not they will reseed after each round or use a bracket system throughout the playoffs.
The NHL Draft Lottery will be held in one or two phases and is quite a bit more complicated than in year’s past. It will be held on June 26th and include the seven eliminated teams—Detroit, Ottawa, San Jose (owned by Ottawa), Los Angeles, Anaheim, New Jersey and Buffalo—along with eight placeholders for the teams who will be eliminated in the qualifying round. Those 15 slots will have the same odds as previous years.
Should one of the bottom seven teams win the first, second or third pick, they will be awarded it. If those any of those picks are won by a placeholder, there will be a second lottery held after the qualifying round is over to determine which eliminated team is awarded it. Once those two lotteries are completed, the remaining 12 spots will be assigned in inverse order of their regular season points percentage.
The 2020 NHL Entry Draft will take place after the conclusion of the 2019-20 playoffs.
It is important to note that though this will be the format should the NHL resume, that is not yet a guarantee. As Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild explained recently to Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required), there are still plenty of hurdles to overcome just to get teams into their hub cities.
Kaapo Kahkonen Wins AHL Goalie Of The Year
The minor leagues were absolutely littered with high-end goaltending prospects this season, but only one could take home the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best netminder. That honor was given to Kaapo Kahkonen of the Iowa Wild today, after a vote from coaches, players, and media around the league.
Kahkonen, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild way back in 2014, but only came over to North America for the 2018-19 campaign. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game and led the league in shutouts during his first season, but took another huge step forward this year.
In 34 appearances, Kahkonen registered a .927 save percentage and led the league in wins (25) and shutouts (7). Iowa ended up with the best record in franchise history, partly because of his strong play in net.
Kahkonen also received his first opportunity in the NHL, playing in five games for Minnesota. The young goaltender posted a .913 save percentage in those games, a good indication that he’ll be able to handle the transition at some point in the future.
Snapshots: Henderson, UAH, Lizotte
The Vegas Golden Knights new AHL affiliate will announce their team name on Thursday night, revealing the logo they will use for the 2020-21 season (should it happen) as well. The team, which will eventually play out of Henderson, Nevada is expected to be named the Henderson Silver Knights (although Murder Hornets was also a popular choice).
The Henderson City Council recently approved $42MM in funding for a new arena to house the AHL franchise, though it is not expected to be ready until 2022. For now, they will play games at Orleans Arena just a few blocks away from T-Mobile Arena, the home of the Golden Knights.
- If you’re one of those fans disappointed by the recent news that the University of Alabama-Huntsville had canceled their men’s hockey program due to financial concerns, you have a chance to help. The hockey community has started a GoFundMe to try and save the Chargers, working out a deal with the school to keep the program in place if it raises $1MM by the end of the week. Cam Talbot, the school’s most notable hockey alumni, is even spreading the word in hopes that his former program won’t be shut down.
- Jon Lizotte has re-signed with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 2020-21, returning on an AHL contract after starting his professional career this season. The former St. Cloud State defenseman scored 17 points in 59 games for WBS but still won’t be on an NHL deal when hockey kicks back up. The 25-year old would need to take a substantial development step to really challenge for an NHL roster spot in the future.
Jonathan Dahlen Staying In Sweden
Despite dominating the Swedish second league in 2019-20, Jonathan Dahlen still isn’t ready to come to the NHL. The 22-year old San Jose Sharks prospect will be remaining in Sweden for next season, his agent explaining to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he still does want to play in the NHL someday.
Dahlen, a second-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2016, has already been traded twice in his short professional career. Originally signing his entry-level deal with the Vancouver Canucks in 2017 he has played just 63 AHL games so far, instead spending most of the contract loaned back to his club team in Sweden.
After putting up two point-per-game seasons for Timra in 2016-17 and 2017-18, Dahlen returned this year and took his game to an entirely different level. The skilled forward was named the Allsvenskan MVP after putting up 77 points in 51 games, leading the league in goals with 36.
His entry-level contract will expire this summer, meaning the Sharks will have to extend a qualifying offer in order to retain his exclusive rights. You can bet they’ll do that even if he doesn’t plan on coming over in 2020-21, given the upside he still represents as a future top-six NHL player.
Sergei Mozyakin Re-Signs In KHL
It’s not that he was going to come over to North America at this point in his career, but there was some doubt if Sergei Mozyakin would continue at all. The all-time KHL scoring leader has decided to come back for one more season (at least), signing a one-year extension with Magnitogorsk.
Mozyakin, 39, is one of the great players that decided never to try his hand at the NHL. The legendary Russian forward now has 735 points in 647 games since the KHL was formed in 2008, not to mention his countless awards and trophies. A two-time Gagarin Cup champion, Mozyakin also has Olympic and World Championship gold medals to his name and has served as captain of the Magnitogorsk team for the better part of a decade.
It’s hard to really know what he could have accomplished if Mozyakin ever did decide to play in North America, but you can bet he would have made it fun to watch. The flashy forward still routinely makes highlight-reel plays and once tallied 48 goals in a 60-game KHL season.
He’ll turn 40 before this contract ends, but technically is still on the Columbus Blue Jackets reserve list. Because draft rights are held indefinitely for Russian league players, that ninth-round, 263rd overall pick still has him attached to the Blue Jackets organization. Last summer, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) profiled Mozyakin as “the greatest Blue Jacket who never was.”
Full List Of 2020 Expiring Draft Rights
When drafting a player out of North America or any European country with a transfer agreement, a team acquires their exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and become unrestricted free agents (or choose to re-enter the draft, depending on specific circumstances). This year, even though many other NHL deadlines have been shifted, CapFriendly reports that June 1 will still act as the threshold for expiring draft rights.
While this doesn’t always result in a flurry of signings in the last week of May, there are usually a few players who ink their deals at the last minute to stay in the organization that drafted them. With the deadline set for 4:00 pm CT next Monday, CapFriendly has provided a full list of players who will see those rights expire:
Arizona Coyotes
Dennis Busby (145th overall, 2018)
Patrick Kudla (158th overall, 2016)
Buffalo Sabres
Brett Murray (99th overall, 2016)
Philip Nyberg (129th overall, 2016)
Calgary Flames
Linus Lindstrom (96th overall, 2016)
Milos Roman (122nd overall, 2018)
Carolina Hurricanes
Luke Henman (96th overall, 2018)
Chicago Blackhawks
Wouter Peeters (83rd overall, 2016)
Mathias From (143rd overall, 2016)
Alexis Gravel (162nd overall, 2018)
Jake Ryczek (203rd overall, 2016)
Colorado Avalanche
Brandon Saigeon (140th overall, 2018)
Dallas Stars
Fredrik Karlstrom (90th overall, 2016)
Curtis Douglas (106th overall, 2018)
Jakob Stenqvist (176th overall, 2016)
Detroit Red Wings
Alfons Malmstrom (107th overall, 2016)
Mattias Elfstrom (197th overall, 2016)
Florida Panthers
Linus Nassen (89th overall, 2016)
Minnesota Wild
Shawn Boudrias (179th overall, 2018)
Montreal Canadiens
Allan McShane (97th overall, 2018)
Cole Fonstad (128th overall, 2018)
Samuel Houde (133rd overall, 2018)
Arvid Henrikson (187th overall, 2016)
Nashville Predators
Hardy Haman Aktell (108th overall, 2016)
Milan Kloucek (213th overall, 2018)
New Jersey Devils
Xavier Bernard (110th overall, 2018)
Mitch Hoelscher (172nd overall 2018)
New York Islanders
Blade Jenkins (134th overall, 2018)
New York Rangers
Nico Gross (101st overall, 2018)
Ottawa Senators
Markus Nurmi (163rd overall, 2016)
Philadelphia Flyers
Linus Hogberg (139th overall, 2016)
David Bernhardt (199th overall, 2016)
St. Louis Blues
Filip Helt (211th overall, 2016)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Riley Stotts (83rd overall, 2018)
Zachary Bouthillier (209th overall, 2018)
Vegas Golden Knights
Connor Corcoran (154th overall, 2018)
Xavier Bouchard (185th overall, 2018)
Jordan Kooy (208th overall, 2018)
Winnipeg Jets
Jacob Cederholm (97th overall, 2016)
Declan Chisholm (150th overall, 2018)
Giovanni Vallati (153rd overall, 2018)
Washington Capitals
Alex Kannok-Leipart (161st overall, 2018)
Eric Florchuk (217th overall, 2018)