Klim Kostin, Max Comtois Among World Junior Captains
The NHL’s Western Conference will be well represented at the World Junior Championships, an international tournament that begins today. The event will feature some of the very best U20 players in the entire world, and will include several that have already made their NHL debuts. One of those players is Max Comtois, who started the year with the Anaheim Ducks and has now been named captain of Team Canada. Comtois is the lone returning player from last year’s gold medal-winning squad, and will be helped by Evan Bouchard (EDM), Ian Mitchell (CHI) and Jaret Anderson-Dolan (LAK) who have all been named alternates.
The young Ducks forward got off to a great start, recording seven points in his first ten NHL games and even added another goal during a four-game conditioning stint with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Comtois is now back with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL, a team that is expected to compete for the Memorial Cup after making several high profile trades.
The United States meanwhile will be captained by University of Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Michael Anderson, a Los Angeles Kings prospect. Selected in the fourth round during the 2017 draft, Anderson is a rock solid defenseman capable of shutting down the opponent’s best forwards while contributing offensively from time to time. The 19-year old has seven points in 16 games this season, but will be relied on to stop some of the most potent forwards from around the world while Quinn Hughes—named an alternate for the team—carries the offensive load from the blue line. Josh Norris, another returning player and an Ottawa Senators prospect, rounds out the leadership group.
For Russia, the captain role is often given to a veteran player from their development system who hasn’t reached North America yet. Not so this time around, as St. Louis Blues prospect Klim Kostin will serve as the team’s leader in the upcoming tournament. Kostin played all of last season in the AHL, and has 11 points in 28 games for the San Antonio Rampage this year. He’ll be assisted by Vitaly Kravtsov and Dmitry Samorukov, prospects of the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers respectively.
Finland’s entry looked young and inexperienced until they got some late-December additions, and several will play a big part in the leadership group this time around. Urho Vaakanainen (BOS) and Henri Jokiharju (CHI) have both been named alternates, but will leave the captain duties to Aarne Talvitie who served in the same role at the Summer Showcase. Talvitie, a New Jersey Devils sixth-round pick, currently plays for Penn State U and has 16 points in 17 games as a freshman.
Radel Fazleev Clears Unconditional Waivers, Signs In KHL
Dec. 25: It hasn’t taken long for Fazleev to find a new team. The KHL announced that he has signed a contract with Ak Bars Kazan for the remainder of the season.
Dec. 21: Friedman reports that Fazleev has cleared waivers.
Dec. 20: Along with Patrik Berglund of the Buffalo Sabres, another player is gracing unconditional waivers today. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Philadelphia Flyers prospect Radel Fazleev will see his contract terminated provided he clears waivers as expected. The 22-year old forward is in the final year of his three-year entry-level deal signed in 2015, and has just two points in 15 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season.
Fazleev was a sixth-round selection in 2014 out of the WHL, where he had put up good numbers in his first year of junior hockey. Those numbers continued to grow as he developed with the Calgary Hitmen, eventually leading to a 71-point season in 2015-16 and a silver medal at the World Juniors. Unfortunately, that kind of playmaking talent wasn’t carried over to the minor leagues and Fazleev has struggled in the minor leagues with Lehigh Valley.
As CapFriendly pointed out today, situations like this are almost always due to a player failing to report or leaving the club. There have been plenty of examples of contract terminations this year, and Fazleev will likely join the majority of them in finding a new job overseas. The Russian forward could very well be headed to the KHL to try his luck.
Full World Junior Championship Schedule
In what has become a holiday season tradition, tomorrow will mark the start of this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship. The best U20 players from all over the world will come together in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia to compete for the coveted gold medal, and a place in junior hockey history. Many have already been drafted by an NHL team, but still have to prove their worth to their future organization or show the many scouts just what they missed out on.
Things will kick off tomorrow afternoon and continue through to Saturday, January 5th when the final relegation, bronze and gold medal games will all be played at Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks.
The full schedule is as follows (all times in CST):
Wednesday, December 26th
Czech Republic vs Switzerland – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
United States vs Slovakia – 5:30pm – Victoria, BC
Canada vs Denmark – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Finland vs Sweden – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Thursday, December 27th
Russia vs Denmark – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Slovakia vs Sweden – 5:30pm – Victoria, BC
Switzerland vs Canada – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Finland vs Kazakhstan – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Friday, December 28th
Czech Republic vs Russia – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Kazakhstan vs United States – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Saturday, December 29th
Denmark vs Switzerland – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Slovakia vs Finland – 5:30pm – Victoria, BC
Canada vs Czech Republic – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Sweden vs United States – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Sunday, December 30th
Switzerland vs Russia – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Kazakhstan vs Slovakia – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Monday, December 31st
Denmark vs Czech Republic – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Sweden vs Kazakhstan – 5:30pm – Victoria, BC
Russia vs Canada – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
United States vs Finland – 9:30pm – Victoria, BC
Tuesday, January 1st
No games scheduled
Wednesday, January 2nd
Relegation Match 1 of 3 – 1:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Quarter Final 1 of 4 – 3:00pm – Victoria, BC
Quarter Final 2 of 4 – 5:30pm – Vancouver, BC
Quarter Final 3 of 4 – 7:00pm – Victoria, BC
Quarter Final 4 of 4 – 9:30pm – Vancouver, BC
Thursday, January 3rd
No games scheduled
Friday, January 4th
Relegation Match 2 of 3 – 11:00am – Vancouver, BC
Semifinal 1 of 2 – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Semifinal 2 of 2 – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Saturday, January 5th
Relegation Match 3 of 3 – 11:00am – Vancouver, BC*
Bronze Medal Game – 3:00pm – Vancouver, BC
Gold Medal Game – 7:00pm – Vancouver, BC
*If necessary
Snapshots: Three Stars, Transfer Fees, Wilson
The NHL awarded their weekly Three Stars again today, this time choosing Sergei Bobrovsky as the easy recipient of the top honors. After struggling early in the season, Bobrovsky is right back to being arguably the best goaltender in the league as he posted a 4-0-0 record last week that included two shutouts. The pending unrestricted free agent has stopped 179 of the last 186 shots he has faced and now carries a .913 save percentage on the year.
Second and third went to two Atlantic Division rivals, as Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning appeared on the list. The Toronto defender added to his scoring lead among all NHL defensemen with a nine-point week, while Kucherov continued to show why he is one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league with his own nine-point effort.
- According to the Associated Press, the NHL paid more than $35MM in transfer fees last season to sign players from around the world, as part of a continuing agreement with leagues in Sweden, Finland and other countries. The idea behind the transfer agreements is to funnel money back into the development programs all around the world, which in turn provides more diverse talent for the NHL. It has worked as planned in recent years as top talents like Rasmus Dahlin, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Miro Heiskanen and Patrik Laine have all been selected in the top three picks of the entry draft. The KHL and the Swiss NLA do not have transfer agreements with the NHL at this time, which also complicates the process of their talent coming over in the first place.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins think they have an answer to the physical play that rival Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals provides, and he’s already in their system. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette examines how Garrett Wilson could be brought back up after the holiday season in order to provide some leadership and toughness for the Penguins, who recently lost physical defenseman Jamie Oleksiak at the hands (or, perhaps hand) of Washington’s Wilson. Pittsburgh’s Wilson cleared waivers earlier this month and was sent down to the minor leagues a few days ago to make room for the activation of Dominik Simon.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Pittsburgh Penguins
As the holiday season quickly approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Click here for the other articles in this series.
What are the Penguins most thankful for?
Kris Letang‘s return to health.
It’s hard to mention the Penguins without immediately pointing to the continued stardom of Sidney Crosby, or the luxury of having Evgeni Malkin as a second-line center, but if anyone can steal some of the spotlight it’s Letang. The 31-year old defenseman has played 34 of the Penguins’ 36 games this season and is showing why at one point in his career he was considered one of the best in the entire world. After years of struggles with injuries both major and minor, Letang finally found some health last season and rewarded the Penguins with a 51-point season. That was good for 17th among all NHL defenders, but Letang had more to prove after the Penguins were eliminated and failed to capture their third straight Stanley Cup.
This year, the right-handed defenseman has taken on even more responsibility and is averaging more than 26 minutes a night. That’s five minutes more than his closest teammate, and puts Letang fourth in the entire league behind only Drew Doughty, Seth Jones and Ryan Suter. With that kind of ice time he has responded brilliantly, tightening up his defensive play and recording 28 points through his 34 games. The next highest-scoring defenseman on the Penguins is Jamie Oleksiak with 11 points, showing just how much responsibility is heaped upon Letang’s shoulders on a nightly basis.
Who are the Penguins most thankful for?
While any of the Penguins superstars could be the answer here, it’s the unexpected nature of DeSmith’s season that makes him so wonderfully appreciated. If someone were to have said that Matt Murray had only played 14 games by Christmas, and his save percentage was exactly .900 it would have been hard to imagine the Penguins would be anywhere near a playoff spot. But there they are in third place in the Metropolitan Division because of the exquisite play of DeSmith, who has made a legitimate case to take over as the team’s full-time starter.
In 24 appearances DeSmith has posted an 11-6-4 record and leads the way with a .926 save percentage, good enough for fourth in the league among goaltenders with at least ten starts. The undrafted University of New Hampshire product trails just Jaroslav Halak, Andrei Vasilevskiy and John Gibson in that statistic, giving the Penguins more than enough to keep them in the hunt.
Interestingly, the 27-year old goaltender is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and could very well be playing his way into being this year’s Scott Darling or Carter Hutton. DeSmith has never carried a team as the starter for very long, but might get that chance from a desperate organization if he doesn’t re-sign with the Penguins before July 1st.
What would the Penguins be even more thankful for?
A Derick Brassard sighting.
Last year the Penguins were desperately trying to find some depth to put down the middle behind Crosby and Malkin, and ended up selling off Ian Cole and several other assets to acquire Brassard from the Ottawa Senators (with the Vegas Golden Knights helping along the way). At the time it looked like an immediate win for the Penguins, who could plug Brassard in beside players like Phil Kessel and ride towards another Stanley Cup. The fact that Brassard was under contract for another season at a now-reduced cap hit was just icing on the cake.
Not so fast, as Brassard never totally fit in with the Penguins down the stretch and disappeared in the playoffs. His ice time was reduced during the postseason run, something that has recently happened again this season. The 2006 sixth-overall pick has been nowhere to be found this year, recording just nine point in 27 games while registering poor possession numbers and being absent on the powerplay even when he is given the opportunity. If the team could somehow get a piece of the 60-point center Brassard once was they would have one of the most dangerous groups in the league. As it stands, they’re struggling to find much consistency or production in the bottom six.
What should be on the Penguins’ Holiday Wish List?
Another center.
It makes almost no sense that the Penguins would need to go after another center given how they loaded up over the last 12 months. The team has a group consisting of Brassard, Riley Sheahan, Derek Grant and Matt Cullen who have all have experience in the middle, and yet can’t seem to get any production from the position outside of their top two options. This wasn’t supposed to be an issue for them this year after adding depth, but it’s proving to be once again.
GM Jim Rutherford hasn’t been shy about making deals to improve his club in the past, and has already traded away Carl Hagelin and Daniel Sprong this season. He would need to balance the salaries somewhat in order to do anything, but is spending big on a rental option like Kevin Hayes or Matt Duchene even really an option? The team hasn’t selected a player in the first round for four consecutive years, and traded Kasperi Kapanen (22nd overall in 2014) before he ever even played a game for them. Surely at some point they’ll have to say enough is enough and keep their draft picks, but perhaps Rutherford will take another shot this time around.
Poll: What Does Your Team Need For Christmas?
The holiday season is a time to give gifts to show how much you appreciate others, but hungry front offices around the NHL have already begun to think about what they want to receive instead. What exactly does your team need the most this year? We’ve asked this same question for the last two years, and gotten very different answers.
2016 was the year of the top-four defenseman, with Kevin Shattenkirk dominating headlines as one of the top targets. Shattenkirk was eventually dealt to the Washington Capitals in a deal that certainly didn’t turn out as well as they hoped. The Capitals would be knocked out of the playoffs once again, and the offensive defenseman would hit unrestricted free agency only to sign with a division rival.
In 2017 readers were more focused on a scoring winger, with Evander Kane the big prize that everyone was discussing. Kane would eventually find his way to the San Jose Sharks, who liked him so much that they handed him a seven-year $49MM extension just a few months later. That extension cost them a conditional draft pick as well, but Kane seemed to fit in beautifully with the Sharks down the stretch. Though he’s still been fine for the team, a pace of 23 goals and 49 points isn’t exactly what the Sharks were hoping for out of their $7MM man.
This season’s trade deadline is shaping up to have even more talent available than previous years, and teams could very well acquire a game-changing player at any position. So if your team had a chance to pick up a piece in early January for a run at the playoffs, or to solidify their status as a Cup contender, what would it be? Cast your vote below and be sure to leave a comment explaining your decision.
What does your team need for Christmas?
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Top 4 Defenseman (i.e. Alex Pietrangelo, Jake Muzzin) 32% (330)
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Scoring Winger (i.e. Artemi Panarin, Mark Stone) 28% (283)
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Draft Picks (It's over folks) 18% (181)
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Top 6 Center (i.e. Kevin Hayes, Matt Duchene) 10% (105)
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Starting Goaltender (i.e. Sergei Bobrovsky, Jonathan Quick) 8% (85)
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Other (Explain in comments) 4% (37)
Total votes: 1,021
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Brandon Manning “Open” To Trade Out Of Chicago
Usually as the trade deadline approaches in the NHL, 28-year old defensemen with a history of success aren’t readily available. Ones that pack a physical punch and are signed to a reasonably low cap hit are usually even more rare, and can generate bidding wars that can get out of hand. Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brandon Manning checks all those boxes, but his struggles this season have made him unwanted on the market and by his current team. There have been reports for weeks that the Blackhawks were looking to move one or both of Manning and Jan Rutta, and today Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription required) checked in with the former to see how he feels about the situation.
Manning is very clearly not demanding a trade out of Chicago, but the fact remains that he has been scratched repeatedly under new head coach Jeremy Colliton. In fact he hasn’t played at all since December 12th, and even then only saw 13:20 of ice time—a total far lower than the 18 minutes he averaged over the last two seasons in Philadelphia. Those two seasons were where Manning had made his mark as a physical defenseman for the Flyers who could move the puck reasonably well. Those two seasons are also what earned him a two-year contract with the Blackhawks that carries a $2.25MM cap hit, but they aren’t enough to generate much interest from around the league. Lazerus writes that Chicago “surely would have to retain up to half of Manning’s salary in order to move him.”
It’s that retained salary that might make a Manning trade even more difficult for the Blackhawks to pull off, and why they might decide to just bury him instead. Every team in the NHL is allowed only three retained salary transactions at a time, and using one of them on a player who is unlikely to generate any return doesn’t make much sense. Chicago knows they might have to blow things up soon and start a true rebuild, and if they ever want to get out from under some of their long-term contracts they would almost certainly need to retain salary. Even at a cost of just $1.125MM per season, no team is going to hand over a viable asset for Manning right now.
Getting him off the books would help if he’s not going to play—especially given his contract runs through 2019-20—but sending him to the minor leagues would also reduce the cap hit by $1.025, nearly as much as a 50% retained salary trade anyway. He’d have to clear waivers in order to be sent to the AHL, but that poses little risk at this point. More likely, the Blackhawks are looking for a soft landing spot for Manning where he can actually get an opportunity to play. Where that will come from is anyone’s guess.
Minor Transactions: 12/24/18
Though teams cannot technically complete any minor transaction today given the full roster freeze for Christmas, some moves from last night are still coming through the wire. Teams have cleared off any players that they can in order to bank extra cap space, given that they won’t be playing again until Thursday at the earliest. We’ll keep track of all those minor moves right here:
- John Quenneville has been sent down to the minors by the New Jersey Devils, and it will be interesting to see if he returns to them after the freeze is lifted. Seeing limited minutes with the Devils, the 22-year old still hasn’t been able to carve out a specific role for himself. It’s now been nearly two years since his last NHL point, a frustrating notion for both Quenneville and the Devils who invested a first-round pick in him several years ago.
- The Los Angeles Kings have sent Michael Amadio, Daniel Brickley and Sean Walker to the minor leagues to bank cap space, something they’ve been doing all season long. The Kings are using long-term injured reserve space to stay cap compliant, but with Carl Hagelin expected back at some point in the new year the team is going to have to clear some salary eventually.
- Clark Bishop and Janne Kuokkanen have been sent down for a similar reason, though in the Carolina Hurricanes case it’s more to save actual money than cap space. Both players earn a significantly lower salary while in the minor leagues on their two-way deals, something the fiscally conscious Hurricanes have to be aware of.
- Brandon Pirri was returned by the Vegas Golden Knights, something that certainly isn’t because of his play. The offensive-minded Pirri has three goals and four points in his first three Golden Knights games, and saw 16 minutes of ice time on Sunday night against the Kings. He’ll likely be recalled at some point to inject some more offense, though it’s important to note that Vegas still did lose two of those three games.
- Michael Bunting and Adin Hill are going down to the Tucson Roadrunners, another salary saving move by the Arizona Coyotes. Hill’s season is very interesting, given his solid performance and the goaltending situation in Arizona. The team still has Darcy Kuemper and Calvin Pickard, but still seems to want to keep Hill in the mix at the NHL level. The 22-year old goaltender will likely be back up before long.
- The Toronto Marlies have a game on Boxing Day, and could very well have one of their best forwards back in the lineup. The Maple Leafs have sent Trevor Moore back down for the time being, though with Zach Hyman and Tyler Ennis out he’ll likely be back up before long.
Re-Signing Matthew Tkachuk Is “Priority One” For Calgary Flames
Despite their recent two-game losing streak, the Calgary Flames woke up today still comfortably in first place in the Pacific Division, four points ahead of both the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. The team is also tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the best goal differential in the entire Western Conference, and have bought themselves some time to slowly assess their roster heading into 2019. When looking at their contract situation though, one name sticks out as a pending free agent. Matthew Tkachuk will reach restricted free agency for the first time at the end of this season, and Flames GM Brad Treliving made it quite clear to TSN’s Jermain Franklin that a re-signing the young forward is a focus:
Matthew is a terrific player. He’s on the last year of his contract. We’ve said all along, our goal is to get him signed obviously before the start of next season. Nothing’s changed in that regard, we’re going to continue to see if we can’t get something done. Both Matthew and us know the most important thing right now is the play on the ice of the team, and Matthew’s play. We’re trying to limit any distractions so that the sole focus can stay on the games ahead of us, but certainly it’s priority one for us to get him signed to a new contract, and we will.
Tkachuk, 21, is one of a number of talented players coming up on restricted free agency at the end of the year, and could very well wait to see what his contemporaries sign for before putting ink to paper. The entire league just watched a long negotiation between the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander result in a hefty long-term contract, and most will want to avoid that type of situation. While Tkachuk’s first two seasons didn’t have the same sort of offensive totals that Nylander did, he’s off to an outstanding start in the first half of 2018-19 and could very well set his asking price extremely high.
The physical, talented winger was selected sixth overall in 2016 and had an immediate impact for the Flames, recording 13 goals and 48 points as a rookie. His total increased by just a single point in his sophomore season due to playing just 68 games, but this year Tkachuk already has 41 points in his first 36 games. That kind of output could very well put him in another category of contract, one that the Flames will have to carefully plan over the coming months.
While he may call it a priority, it’s also important to note that Treliving and the Flames have never rushed before in their contract negotiations. Johnny Gaudreau inked his second contract on October 10th, 2016, just two days before the season began and Sam Bennett waited until September 2017 to sign his two-year bridge deal. Perhaps the team will want to avoid that delay with Tkachuk, but won’t put themselves in a place to get pushed around given that they don’t have unlimited cap space going forward. The team already has over $67MM in commitments for next season, which doesn’t include a new deal for Bennett or an extension for one of their current goaltenders.
Marcus Johansson Placed On Injured Reserve
The New Jersey Devils will be without the services of Marcus Johansson for at least the next seven days. Johansson has been placed on injured reserve, while Stefan Noesen was activated today. It’s an upper-body injury for the Devils forward, suffered early last night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Johansson has certainly not had an easy ride since being acquired by the Devils in the summer of 2017. Dealing with multiple injuries last year, the versatile forward played in just 29 regular season games and was limited to just 14 points. That’s easily the lowest total of his career, a number he had already surpassed this season with 15 points in 31 games. Any more offensive contribution will have to wait, though it’s not clear yet for how long.
The Devils haven’t been able to recreate the magic that took them all the way to the playoffs last season, but still have plenty of time to turn things around. If they don’t, and continue to fall towards the bottom of the standings, you can bet some changes might be in order at the trade deadline. One of those changes could very well be Johansson, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the year finishes. The 28-year old does have a modified no-trade clause, but it only blocks trades five teams. His salary might be the bigger impediment, as a cap hit of $4.58MM is more than some will be able to take on even at the advanced date.
New Jersey could obviously decide to keep Johansson and try to re-sign him, but with more young players coming through the pipeline and a Taylor Hall extension coming quickly he might find himself on the outside looking in. This injury certainly doesn’t help his cause, especially if he’s out for more than a few games.