Tyler Wall Agrees To Entry-Level Contract
The New York Rangers already have several NHL-level goaltenders, but are still adding depth to the position. The perfectly-named Tyler Wall has agreed to terms on his entry-level contract with the team, which will begin in the 2020-21 season. The contract will be for two years.
Wall, a 22-year old netminder who was drafted 174th overall in 2016, became a star at UMass-Lowell over his four seasons there. As a senior in 2019-20 he recorded a .931 save percentage in 32 appearances, earning him a spot on the Hockey East Third All-Star Team.
While he may not come with the hype of Igor Shesterkin and may take longer than Alexandar Georgiev to make an impact at the professional level, Wall is a solid prospect in his own right. The 6’3″ goaltender posted a .918 save percentage over his college career and also served as an alternate captain this season.
Wall will likely join Adam Huska in the Rangers minor league system next season, but there are obviously still questions about how the team will deal with the NHL goaltending position. Even with Shesterkin and Georgiev ready to take over the full duties, Henrik Lundqvist remains on the roster with one more year left on his contract.
KHL Notes: Yakupov, Tolchinsky, Tryamkin
While the NHL sits in a holding pattern while they decide what to do with the rest of the season, the draft and the playoffs, the KHL is moving along with their offseason. May is the major signing period for the Russian league and several interesting players have already moved around.
Today, a name very familiar to NHL fans was on the move. Nail Yakupov was traded away by SKA St. Petersburg in exchange for Pavel Koltygin, a sixth-round pick of the Nashville Predators, and the rights for Philadelphia Flyers prospect German Rubtsov. Yakupov scored ten goals and 20 points in 46 games for SKA this season.
- Four NHL games may be all that ever happen for former Carolina Hurricanes forward Sergey Tolchinsky. The 25-year old has signed a new two-year deal with Avangard, leaving CSKA Moscow after two seasons. The undersized forward was a strong offensive player in both the OHL and AHL, but failed to make an impact in his short time in Carolina.
- That may not be the case for Nikita Tryamkin, who could be returning to the Vancouver Canucks next season. There is a delay in any contract announcement however because of the current league situation and Rick Dhaliwal of TSN reports that the uncertain salary cap situation could complicate things for the Canucks. Dhaliwal suggests that this waiting game could test Tryamkin’s patience, given that KHL training camps are scheduled to open in July. The giant defender played 79 games with the Canucks between 2015-2017 before returning to Russia for the last three seasons.
Paul McFarland Leaving Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking for a new assistant coach once the 2019-20 season is completed. Paul McFarland, who was only brought in at the beginning of the year, will depart the organization after accepting a head coaching position with the Kingston Frotenacs of the OHL. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe explained the organization’s support:
Paul has been a great member of our staff and I look forward to continuing our work together through to the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. Normally this type of move would be done during the off-season, but given that these are far from normal circumstances, we are in full support of Paul’s desire to pursue this position in Kingston and gain more experience as a head coach.
McFarland, 34, was the head coach of the Frontenacs for three seasons before spending three years in the NHL as an assistant. His time with the Florida Panthers and then Maple Leafs included running powerplays, where he created a name for himself as a strong offensive coach.
While returning to the OHL may be seen as a step backwards, there’s no doubt that McFarland is still an up-and-coming head coaching prospect for the NHL. One thing to remember in this instance is that he wasn’t actually hired by Keefe, who took over from Mike Babcock midseason.
Notably, McFarland will be taking over a program that has one of the next great prospects leading the way. Shane Wright, who was granted exceptional status and played much of this season with Kingston as a 15-year old, is in line to be a potential first-overall pick in 2022. The young center scored 39 goals and 66 points in just 58 games, despite several years younger than his opponents.
2020 International Games Postponed
The NHL has announced the postponement of the 2020 international games, effectively canceling them for this year.
The Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators were scheduled to play in Prague, Czech Republic, while the Colorado Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets were to face off in Helsinki, Finland. The Bruins and Predators were also going to be taking part in exhibition games in Germany and Switzerland respectively.
None of that will be able to take place due to the COVID-19 situation and likely delay of the 2020-21 season. The league is hopeful they will be able to return to the Global Series in 2021.
Alexander Romanov Agrees To Terms With Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have made it official, Alexander Romanov is coming. The question now becomes when. The team has announced that Romanov agreed to terms on a three-year entry-level contract, though the start date is still dependant on whether or not the season resumes. Montreal GM Marc Bergevin was obviously excited about his newest prospect:
We are very happy to confirm that we have come to an agreement with Alexander Romanov. Alexander is a young, solid, and very reliable defenseman who is determined to pursue his career in the NHL. He is part of our group of young prospects, and we strongly believe he will become an important asset of our defensive squad for years to come.
Romanov, 20, is one of the most exciting defense prospects in the entire league, after finding his footing in the KHL and dominating players his own age (or older) at the World Juniors. The two-way defenseman has a bronze and silver medal at home from the tournament, along with two All-Star nominations and a “Best Defenseman” award from 2019. Basically, it was hard to watch any Russian game at the event without noticing Romanov, whose poise and awareness is almost unmatched among defensemen his age.
For the Canadiens, the expectation is that Romanov will move directly into the NHL lineup when he arrives (even if that is potentially a resumed season this summer). The team does have five defensemen already signed for next season, but one of them is Karl Alzner who has only played a handful of meaningful NHL games over the last year.
Even the other more veteran options on the roster may not be standing in Romanov’s way very long, as long as his performance continues.
Focus Shifting To 24-Team Playoff
Up to this point in the coronavirus pause, the NHL has maintained that their goal is to stage regular season games that remain on the schedule. The hope was that they could finish an 82-game campaign, even with a long break in the middle, in order to determine the playoff standings like any other year. Now, it seems as though that focus has shifted. Both Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Larry Brooks of the New York Post have written today about a potential 24-team playoff instead of any regular season matches. Friedman lists it as a personal opinion, while Brooks has more firm reporting from sources on “both sides of the aisle,” meaning the NHL and NHLPA.
Brooks reports that the playoffs would include a “best-of-three play-in round” though the rest of the format is not clear. Both reporters list reasons why the league is headed that way, including the understanding that players do not want to be quarantined away from their families for several months.
While there is obviously no concrete plan of action at this point, moving directly into the playoffs does seem to be the most prudent course of action if the 2019-20 campaign is to be resumed at all. There are so many complications that will have to be sorted out before players are even allowed to practice again, that removing a third of the league would only help things along.
The teams that would be eliminated in this scenario, according to both scribes, are the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils.
Those are the teams most interested in a draft lottery (sorry San Jose) as well, given they reside at the bottom of the standings. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet has an update on that too, tweeting that momentum has slowed regarding a June draft. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Johnston that “everything is still on the table.”
Several managers have spoken out against the idea of holding a draft before the conclusion of the season, including Brian MacLellan of the Washington Capitals who told Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside of The Athletic (subscription required) that “most of the managers would like it to happen in a natural order.”
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Dmitry Semykin
The Tampa Bay Lightning have convinced another prospect to join the organization, signing Dmitry Semykin to a three-year entry-level contract. Semykin has spent the last three seasons in Russia’s MHL with the SKA St. Petersburg organization.
Semykin, 20, was nabbed by the Lightning at the end of the third round of the 2018 draft, but was actually ranked as the 25th-best international skater by NHL Central Scouting. While he never did make it all the way up to the KHL, the Lightning have obviously seen enough development to reward him with an NHL contract.
The 6’2″ defenseman had 24 points in 44 MHL games this season and brings a history of physicality and toughness to the organization as well. You can bet he’ll start in the minor leagues and try to continue to develop, but there are few organizations with as strong of a track record in the middle or late rounds.
New Jersey Devils Interview John Stevens
The New Jersey Devils may have to play some additional regular season games if the league ever starts up again, but that won’t stop them from doing some offseason work. The team has already interviewed several head coaching candidates including Gerard Gallant, despite the strong job that Alain Nasreddine has done since taking over. Add one more to the list, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the team has interviewed Dallas Stars assistant John Stevens.
Stevens was a head coach in the NHL most recently with the Los Angeles Kings, though he lasted only 99 regular season games with the club after taking the top job. His first year went well enough, with the Kings posting a 45-29-8 record and making the playoffs, but a sweep at the hands of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights paired with a slow start in 2018-19 left Stevens without work. He had previously held the head coaching position in Philadelphia too, even taking the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.
It is important to note that the Devils are operating at this moment with an interim GM as well after Tom Fitzgerald took over from Ray Shero partway through the season. There are changes coming in New Jersey, though many have pointed out that Nasreddine is still a contender to keep the job.
KHL Determines Final Standings
The KHL has arrived at an interesting way of determining their final standings for the 2019-20 season. After canceling the playoffs in late-March and announcing that they would not award the Gagarin Cup this season, the league has progressed normally into their free agent period this month. Today, they have released the final standings with a unique twist.
The eight teams that had clinched the second round of the playoffs before the cancelation have all been awarded an equal “1-8 place” at the top of the standings. The other 16 teams fall into place behind them.
Notably, the “1-8” group includes Jokerit even though the Finnish squad actually pulled out of the playoffs before a decision was made by the league.
The NHL is surely watching how other leagues determine their standings, as they would have to make a similar decision should the resumption of play never actually take place. This kind of a playoff group at the top may not seem prudent for a league that relies so heavily on draft ranking, though given that the draft seems destined to happen next month regardless of whether the season is canceled or not, perhaps that wouldn’t be an issue.
Alexey Marchenko, Others Re-Sign In KHL
Just a few months ago it appeared as though Alexey Marchenko was considering a return to the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens were suggested as a landing spot, given his familiarity with top prospect Alexander Romanov, who is expected to make the leap to the NHL next season.
Marchenko won’t be coming to Montreal or anywhere else in North America however, as he has signed a new two-year contract with Lokomotiv in the KHL.
The 28-year old defenseman played in 121 NHL contests, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, before returning to the KHL in 2017. Though he never found much success in North America, he has been a key contributor in Russia, taking home an All-Star nod and Gagarin Cup championship in 2019 with CSKA Moscow. He also won Olympic gold with Russia in 2018.
Marchenko isn’t the only familiar name hitting the transaction page in the KHL today. Stephane Da Costa and Alexander Burmistrov have new one-year deals with Ak Bars, Andrei Kostitsyn has a new one-year deal with Neftekhimik and, interestingly, Victor Antipin saw his deal with Mettalurg terminated.
Antipin played in 47 games for the Buffalo Sabres in 2017-18 before returning to Russia. It is not clear where his next step lies.