Anaheim Ducks Interested In Ryan Miller Return
The Anaheim Ducks are interested in bringing back Ryan Miller for another year, according to Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest. Strickland suggests it would be a bonus-laden contract, meaning it could only be for one season. Miller is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer after his current two-year, $4MM deal expires.
Players are only eligible to receive performance bonuses in certain situations, but a one-year deal for Miller would qualify given his age. The 38-year old goaltender is coming off a year in which he suited up just 20 times, his fewest games played in a single season since 2003-04. The veteran still put up a .912 save percentage in those appearances, but dealt with a sprained MCL that limited his action.
Miller has been clear in the past that he only wants to play in California at this point, given his wife Noureen DeWulf’s career as a Hollywood actress. With Anaheim still relying on John Gibson to carry the majority of the load, Miller might still be the best backup option available. As recently as 2017-18 he recorded a .928 save percentage and a 12-6-6 record for the Ducks, and a bonus-laden deal would be of little risk to the team. Miller is currently making just $2MM, but had strong trade protection in order to ensure he controlled his playing destination.
The question now will be simply if he wants to suit up again, as Miller can clearly still contribute when healthy. The Ducks are hoping for a better season with whoever they install as head coach, and a tandem of Gibson and Miller would certainly help them accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves.
Seattle Willing To Wait For General Manager Candidates
The Vegas Golden Knights had a valuable asset, and they knew it. When the team promoted Kelly McCrimmon to general manager yesterday, teams around the league had to change course on their own front office searches. The Edmonton Oilers were interested in McCrimmon, but according to Ryan Rishaug of TSN are now looking at either Keith Gretzky or Mark Hunter for the job. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that the Seattle expansion franchise is “willing to be patient” now that McCrimmon is off the market. The Seattle group “would have gone hard” this summer to hire McCrimmon, but could now wait until next year.
It was always a possibility that the new team wouldn’t have a GM until 2020. The Vegas Golden Knights hired George McPhee to lead their expansion preparation in July 2016, less than a year before they had to make their selections in the expansion draft. The Seattle team won’t be doing that until 2021, meaning there is still plenty of time to get the management group in order.
Still, McCrimmon seemed like a perfect candidate given his success with Vegas in the first draft. The Seattle team will try to emulate the Golden Knights’ success, but may not have quite so many opportunities to pull good young players away now that team’s have experience preparing for a draft of this nature. LeBrun notes that Ken Holland may still be of “serious interest” to the Seattle group, but the Red Wings executive is taking his time to decide what is next.
Of note is the recent report that Dave Tippett has interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres coaching position. The veteran coach was serving in an advisory role for the Seattle organization and some had speculated that he would join their front office in some capacity. It appears as though the coaching bug has bitten Tippett again however, leaving it unclear whether or not he will be part of the organization for much longer.
Penguins Notes: Malkin, Kessel, Maatta
Even in a year in which the Pittsburgh Penguins were swept out of the first round, they somehow are still creating headlines deep into the playoffs. As wild card teams battle for a chance at the Stanley Cup, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is sitting back dissecting what went wrong this year and how to change things for 2019-20. This week’s 31 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman starts out with a discussion of the Penguins, specifically addressing the Evgeni Malkin rumors that have popped up once again. Friedman put it this way:
I did get a call last night from somebody who has heard the rumors, and he thinks that they are not media make-up. He thinks they are legit. Malkin didn’t have a great year. He wasn’t up to Malkin standards. And [this source] is wondering if they’re trying to rattle [Malkin’s] cage a little bit. Just to say, “you know Evgeni, last year wasn’t you. We want you to be you,” and maybe this is a way of doing it. Malkin has a no-movement clause, and the word is he’s at least thinking about would he agree [to waive it].
It seems that there have been Malkin trade rumors after every season that didn’t end in a Pittsburgh Stanley Cup, and this year appears to be no different. The important part to note is that no-movement clause however, as the 32-year old center controls his own destiny. Malkin is under contract for three more seasons with a $9.5MM cap hit, and and recorded 72 points in 68 games this season.
Before getting into Malkin, Friedman slips in a note on another Penguins superstar:
The Penguins are contemplating some major changes. I think it is very likely that [Phil] Kessel is traded regardless.
Kessel, 31, has strong trade protection in his contract as well. The former Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs forward submits an eight-team list that he can be traded to, limiting where the Penguins could send him without his blessing. The enigmatic winger had another outstanding offensive season recording 82 points and played in every game for the ninth consecutive year. He has three years left on his current contract, but since the Maple Leafs are still retaining $1.2MM of it he comes with a cap hit of just $6.8MM.
When the conversation turns to the Penguins blue line and the now infamous comments by Rutherford on the strength of his defense right now, the obvious center of discussion is Kris Letang. The offensive defenseman put up 56 points in 65 games this season and is under contract for three more years. Interestingly though it is another Penguins defenseman that Friedman dishes some information on:
I’ve been told that [Olli] Maatta’s trade value is very low. They’ve tried to do that for a while, and it hasn’t gone anywhere. So, we’ll see.
Maatta ended up a healthy scratch in the playoffs this season for the Penguins, and finished with just 14 points on the year. His foot speed has been questioned in the past, but the 24-year old is just a few years removed from signing a six-year, $24.5MM extension after looking like a core piece through the first part of his career. Still, he remains a likely candidate to be moved if the Penguins are really shaking things up this offseason.
Boston Bruins Sign Oskar Steen
The Boston Bruins have signed prospect Oskar Steen to a three-year entry-level contract. Steen’s deal will kick in next season and carries an average annual value of just over $809K.
A sixth-round pick from 2016, the 21-year old Steen broke out this season in the SHL scoring 17 goals and 37 points in 46 games. That was good enough to lead all forwards on his team, and should bode well for his chances at the professional level in North America. The first thing you’ll notice with Steen is an incredible first step, as his acceleration is the key to his offensive game. The 5’9″ forward can create separation in the offensive zone almost at will, and get behind defenders through the neutral zone.
Still, there’s a long way to go for Steen to be an NHL contributor. He’ll need to prove his talent at the AHL level first, but any sort of contribution from a sixth-round pick is a bonus. The Bruins’ 2016 draft looks like a great one so far, as Charlie McAvoy, Trent Frederic and Ryan Lindgren have already made their NHL debuts—the latter for the New York Rangers after a trade in 2018.
New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Vitali Kravtsov, Igor Shesterkin
For the second day in a row, the New York Rangers have signed a top prospect. After convincing Adam Fox to forego his senior season at Harvard yesterday, the Rangers have finalized an entry-level contract with Vitali Kravtsov, according to CapFriendly. Kravtsov will earn the full $925K maximum in each of his three years, and can also earn up to $850K in performance bonuses. Notably, the deal also includes a European Assignment Clause that would give him the option of returning to the KHL if the Rangers decide to keep him in the minor leagues.
The team also announced that they have agreed to terms with goaltender Igor Shesterkin, another top prospect who spent the last several seasons in the KHL.
Kravtsov, 19, was the ninth-overall pick in last June’s draft and impressed on several stages this season. In 50 games with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL he recorded eight goals and 21 points, solid production for a player his age, and really starred at the international level. Kravtsov recorded six points in seven games with Team Russia at the World Junior tournament, helping them secure a bronze medal. The big winger can contribute no matter what kind of game his team wants to play, bringing physicality, speed and skill in bunches.
The Rangers already have several young forwards ready to make a splash at the NHL level, and will likely add either Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko with the second-overall pick this year. The idea of lining up Kakko, Kravtsov, Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil and Brett Howden as they grow and develop has to be exciting for GM Jeff Gorton, who has done a nice job quickly rebuilding the team.
It’s not just forwards that Rangers fans have to look forward to though, as Shesterkin is an impressive talent in his own right. Originally a fourth-round selection in 2014, the 23-year old goaltender has been one of the best in the KHL for the last three years. Leading the league with a .953 save percentage this season in 28 games with St. Petersburg, Shesterkin had an almost unbelievably low goals against average of 1.11.
His arrival does pose some questions for the future however. Henrik Lundqvist still has two years left on his massive contract that carries an $8.5MM cap hit, but young Alexandar Georgiev has also shown he can handle play at the NHL level. With Shesterkin coming to North America the Rangers now have some decisions to make on how long they will wait before installing one of their young Russian goaltenders in the net full time. Lunqvist has said in the past that he wants to stick around New York and even turned down the opportunity of a trade last year. The 37-year old goaltender has a full no-movement clause in his contract.
Speculation Still Surrounding Ken Holland
The Edmonton Oilers lost a potential GM candidate today when the Vegas Golden Knights promoted Kelly McCrimmon in an effort to keep him with the franchise. It was no secret that the team was hoping McCrimmon would become available, but will have to turn their search in a different direction now. Immediately, the Golden Knights’ announcement made people wonder if former Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland would appear at the top of the Edmonton short list once again, or perhaps even be recruited by the expansion Seattle franchise which had also shown interest in McCrimmon.
Holland recently left the Red Wings position in order to bring Steve Yzerman back into the organization, but signed a multi-year extension in order to stay on in a senior position. That means there isn’t any rush for Holland to find another job, and he is apparently going to take some of that time. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that Holland is “currently taking stock of what lies ahead for him” but that the jobs in Edmonton and Seattle are still possibilities. For what it’s worth, Ryan Rishaug of TSN believes that the Edmonton situation is essentially a “two horse race” between Keith Gretzky and Mark Hunter.
There is obviously good reason to believe Holland would be open to another front office role with increased responsibility. While he admitted that he allowed Yzerman to come back to Detroit in order to help the franchise, a 62-year old Holland had signed a two-year extension with the Red Wings just over a year ago, expecting to be leading the rebuild. That rebuild has gone quite well, despite the Red Wings’ struggles on the ice the last few seasons. The team has started to shed their long expensive contracts and has a better prospect pool than they have had in years. Detroit will also pick four times in the first two rounds this June, and ten times overall unless Yzerman makes an additional move.
Holland commands quite a bit of respect around the league, and if LeBrun is correct that he will “want to probably resurface at some point” there undoubtedly will be organizations willing to offer him the GM role. We’ll have to wait and see if that time comes this summer or down the road, but nothing seems imminent at this point.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 05/02/19
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
Jakub Jerabek Returns To KHL
After two seasons bouncing around North America, Jakub Jerabek has decided to return to the KHL. The defenseman is technically still under contract with the St. Louis Blues, but that didn’t stop the KHL from tweeting out that he has signed a one-year contract with Podolsk Vityaz, his former team. Jerabek had been playing with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, but their season ended without a playoff berth. He was not part of the Blues’ “Black Aces” recall, likely meaning the team has let him leave without issue.
Jerabek, 27, signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017 after an impressive KHL debut but failed to really catch on in the NHL. After 25 games for the Canadiens and 17 more for their AHL affiliate, he ended up traded to the Washington Capitals at the deadline to provide some defensive depth. Jerabek actually did get into two games with the Capitals during their Stanley Cup playoff run, but mostly sat on the sidelines and watched his team celebrate victory after victory.
In the offseason Jerabek signed a one-year, $1MM deal with the Edmonton Oilers but failed to find a place on their blue line and was traded to St. Louis just before the season began. After playing a single game with the Blues, Jerabek was placed on waivers and sent down to San Antonio. He ended up hitting the ice 52 times for the AHL club, recording 15 points and a -22 rating.
Adam Fox Signs Entry-Level Contract
It’s official now, Adam Fox will not return to Harvard for his senior season. The New York Rangers today announced a three-year entry-level contract for their newest prospect, recently acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes. Fox’s contract will kick in for the 2019-20 season.
The 21-year old defenseman was originally selected by the Calgary Flames in 2016, but after making it clear to them he did not intend to sign the team attached him to Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland and sent him to Carolina. The trade made huge waves in the hockey world as it saw Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin go the other way, leaving some to point to Fox as the “key to the deal” for the Hurricanes, given Ferland’s expiring contract and the big potential heading to Calgary. While the Flames certainly don’t regret the deal after Lindholm broke out playing with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, the Hurricanes aren’t doing so bad either—Hamilton has seven points in ten games for Carolina, who are on the brink of making it to the third round.
After Fox indicated that he wouldn’t sign with the Hurricanes either, it became clear that they would need to try and work out a deal with the Rangers this summer. The young defenseman could have become an unrestricted free agent in the 2020 offseason after his senior year at Harvard, and was expected to sign with New York anyway. As he puts it, Fox “grew up a big Rangers fan, and to have the opportunity to hopefully suit up for them is definitely special.”
He’ll likely get that chance next season, as Fox is already a polished player ready for the NHL level. The right-handed defenseman is a natural powerplay quarterback that racked up 48 points in 33 games as a junior and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker. He has already far outgrown the third-round label, but will have to continue to develop if he’s ever to log big minutes for the Rangers in the defensive end. That will be the next test, now that his college career is behind him.
Red Kelly Passes Away At Age 91
Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs legend Red Kelly has passed away at the age of 91. The Kelly family released a statement through the Red Wings:
Red was a devoted husband and caring father and grandfather and was tremendously proud of his many hockey accomplishments. He was very moved by decades of love and support from Red Wings fans and was humbled to have his jersey retired earlier this year. We are comforted in knowing that he impacted so many people both at and away from the rink and know that his life will be celebrated.
Maple Leafs president and former Red Wings player Brendan Shanahan also released a statement on the passing of Kelly:
The entire Toronto Maple Leafs organization mourns the passing of Red Kelly. For those of us who were lucky enough to have known or encountered Red, we will all miss his sharp mind and keen intellect. He was a gentle man but a fierce competitor. Above all, he was a family man, and he will be missed by his hockey family. Our deepest sympathies go out to Andra, their children, grandchildren and the entire Kelly family.
There have been few players in the history of professional hockey to achieve the success Kelly did on the ice. A defenseman for the Red Wings starting in 1947, Kelly was almost immediately recognized as one of the best players in the game. He received votes for the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in just his third season, and would win the first of four Lady Byng trophies in his fourth. The exceptional two-way player would hoist the Stanley Cup four times with the Red Wings, only to see his career take a sharp turn later on.
After a dispute with the Red Wings ended in a nixed trade to the New York Rangers and a brief retirement for Kelly, he would end up getting a call from the Maple Leafs. A famous meeting between Kelly and Toronto coach Punch Imlach resulted in the defenseman changing positions and becoming a center, in order to check Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens. Kelly would find immediate success with the Maple Leafs, and helped them to four more Stanley Cup victories over the years. The final time came on May 2, 1967, exactly 52 years ago today. The Maple Leafs have still not raised the Cup again.
Kelly’s No. 4 was raised to the Detroit rafters earlier this season, retired by the Red Wings. The Maple Leafs did the same, making Kelly one of 17 players to see their numbers retired in a 2016 ceremony. Both franchises were completely changed by Kelly’s presence on the ice, and he will never be forgotten by fans around the hockey world.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images