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Calgary Flames To Carry Ten Defensemen

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There is a logjam on the blue line in Calgary, but the team is content to keep it that way. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis recently spoke to Flames GM Brad Treliving who stated that the team won’t be changing it’s current configuration on defense. With the recent recall of veteran Michael Stone from a conditioning stint in the AHL, Calgary currently has nine defenseman on the NHL roster. Treliving doubled down on his commitment to competition on the back end by adding that Juuso Valimaki, currently logging major minutes in the minors, will soon be recalled as well. At that point, the Flames will have ten defensemen and plan to carry that group through the remainder of the season.

With ten defensemen seeking play time, one would think multiple jobs are up for grabs. In fact, Francis writes that only one spot is really available if the Flames are at full health. The grouping of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, and Noah Hanifin are all cemented in their top-four roles and the team has no complaints with young Rasmus Andersson on the bottom pair. That leaves five rearguards to battle for the one left-side spot beside Andersson on a nightly basis, while the other four watch from the press box.

The favorite to see the most ice time the rest of the way is trade deadline addition Oscar Fantenberg. Francis notes that head coach Bill Peters prefers to have a balanced blue line between righties and lefties (even though Brodie is a natural left-handed shot who plays to Giordano’s right) and Fanteberg has fit in nicely in his natural position next to Andersson. The former L.A. King was considered more of a depth addition when he was acquired, but has settled into a starting role in the recent weeks. Of course, Stone will also get plenty of consideration as the top veteran option next to the inexperienced Andersson. However, he has also been sidelined since November and may take some time to get back up to speed. Stone is also a right-shot, which isn’t preferred. Oliver Kylington is a left-shot and has played more games for the Flames this season than any of his competitors. At the same time, the 21-year-old has averaged the least ice time per game of the group and may not have the full trust of the coaching staff just yet. Kylington has shown flashes, but is still susceptible to defensive mistakes. The same can be said for Valimaki, who is just 20, but the recent first-rounder has looked strong in recent weeks with the Stockton Heat and logged 22 games with Calgary earlier this season. Finally, there’s stay-at-home defenseman Dalton Prout, who has been used primarily as an extra man over the past few years, but can be a dependable presence in his own zone and a physical threat, albeit with limited offensive ability.

Treliving tells Franics that he feels the numbers on the blue line are not a detriment to the team, but an opportunity for competition to make everyone better. Without a clear No. 6, the Flames will certainly have some competition down the stretch and it may very well result in a motivated winner. However, there is some risk that too much shuffling will leave Calgary without an obvious pick to man the bottom pair in the postseason. With little room for error in the playoffs, a cold defenseman or a choice without the requisite chemistry with Andersson could prove to be a problem. Depth for the purpose of safeguarding injuries is always an asset, but the Flames would be best-served to find a winner of this battle sooner rather than later and turn ten defensemen into six starters and four backups well prior to the postseason.

Detroit Red Wings Sign NCAA Top Scorer Taro Hirose

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The Detroit Red Wings have added a local product, who also happened to be the highest scoring player in the NCAA this season. The team has announced a two-year entry-level contract with Michigan State standout Taro Hirose. The talented winger led the college ranks in assists, points, and multi-point games this season and now he joins Princeton’s Ryan Kuffner, also signed today, as two top collegiate talents heading to Detroit.

Hirose, 22, is a Calgary native who first started garnering attention as a top scorer in the BCHL back in 2015-16. Many considered it a surprise that Hirose was never drafted, though others have pointed to a lack of size and strength as deterring NHL teams from taking the risk. Hirose has defied the skepticism, taking his talents to Michigan State and excelling, despite a lack of equal ability around him. Hirose has led the Spartans in scoring in each of the past two years, this season taking his game to the next level with an NCAA-best 50 points in 36 games.

Hirose is a strong skater with both straight ahead speed and great quickness and also makes decisions at a fast pace. A high-end play-maker with good vision, Hirose was undoubtedly one of the most creative offensive players at the college level this season. However, the 5’10”, 161-lb. winger is undersized and wouldn’t be the first game-breaking talent out of the NCAA to struggle with the adjustment to the bigger, stronger NHL. He’ll need to continue working and exceeding expectations if he is to keep up his scoring prowess in the pros.

Despite Hirose’s best efforts, Michigan State was bounced early from the Big Ten Conference tournament and he immediately became one of the top targets on the college free agent market. Clearly, there was a draw to staying in-state with Detroit, but there may have been another incentive. It’s unclear as of yet whether Hirose will report to the Red Wings right away and burn the first year of his contract or if he will instead play out the year with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, but the former is more likely. Hirose is capable of contributing right away to a Detroit team with little left to play for this season and both sides could benefit from an early look at how he fits at the highest level. Even if his debut is held off until next season, Hirose will enter camp as an intriguing candidate for a top-nine role with the Red Wings next year.

Rangers Notes: Tanking, Panarin, Shattenkirk

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A concern of New York Rangers fans all season long has ironically been that they aren’t bad enough. The team had little expectation of pushing for a playoff spot in 2018-19, yet continued to hang around with the likes of the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings, rather than down with the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils. When the postseason is out of reach, many focus only on an improvement of their draft lottery odds, which has certainly been true with New York fans. While the Rangers’ pipeline is well-stocked and deep with talent at every position, the team is still looking for their next surefire star. Surely after the trade deadline, in which their third- and fourth-highest scorers – Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello – were dealt away, the Rangers’ play would drop off, right? Entering last night, the team was on a six-game win-less streak; however, they had picked up the loser point in four of  those six games and then got back in the win column by taking down the Devils. The Rangers continue to stay afloat, currently ranked 13th in the East and 23rd in the NHL, with multiple teams less than two points ahead of them. If they stay on their current trajectory, the Rangers will likely have between a 3% and 6.5% chance at the No. 1 pick and combined odds of no more than about 20% of landing any of the top three lottery spots. They stand a much higher chance of picking outside the top ten than inside the top three. And there’s no reason to believe that their pace won’t continue. According to NHL.com’s strength of schedule calculations for the remainder of the season, the Rangers have the easiest stretch run of any team in the Metropolitan Division and are second only to the Sabres in the conference. Only half of their remaining games are against playoff-bound competition and five of their final 14 games come against teams presently below them in the standings. So as for those hopes of tanking, they may be all for not. With weak competition on the schedule and top young talent taking more responsibility in the lineup, the Rangers could potentially improve or at the very least stay the course for the remainder of the campaign.

  • If they can’t land one of the top prospects in the coming draft, will Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and company look to add star power in the free agent market? The Athletic’s Craig Custance writes that the expectation that New York will add heavily in the off-season may be overblown after speaking with Gorton. The GM states that he is only looking for players that will be “part of the rebuild, not someone who is going to restrict it.” This likely means a free agent on the younger side who fits the preferred system and the style of the Rangers’ up-and-coming young players. While Custance knows Gorton would never say it outright, Columbus Blue Jackets star winger Artemi Panarin sounds like the ideal target to fit that mold. The 27-year-old has the immense talent to be a short-term difference-maker and the youth and longevity to be a long-term fit who doesn’t clog up cap space down the road. All three of the New York-area teams have been considered likely landing spots for Panarin, the top free agent forward this summer, but the draw of playing in the heart of the Big Apple in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd could be enough to entice Panarin, who has his sights set on growing his persona in the next stage of his career.
  • If the Rangers are going to sign Panarin, it is going to take money and a lot of it. One player who could be shown the door to accommodate the need for extra cap space could be defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. The Rangers’ big free agent addition just two years ago has not been the player that the team expected and the New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes that he is fighting for life in these final games of the season. Shattenkirk was a healthy scratch the other night for the second time this season, parking himself and his $6.65MM AAV salary in the press box. He has just 23 points on the year so far, the same amount as last season when he missed close to half of the season due to injury. Compare that to 40+ points in five of his six seasons prior to joining New York and it explains why patience is running out. Brooks feels that if Shattenkirk cannot show substantial improvement in his effort and results down the stretch, he could be a prime candidate for a buyout this summer. Per CapFriendly, such a move would save the Rangers more than $5MM against the cap next season, with minor savings in 2020-21 as well, at a cost of just $1.433MM in each of the two seasons after. Despite it being a buyout that makes sense on paper, Brooks writes that “no one wants this”. He has spoken to both Shattenkirk and head coach David Quinn about what Shattenkirk needs to do to improve on his slow, overly-methodical style and it sounds as if they are on the same page. “I know what I have to do, I know how I have to play,” Shattenkirk says, but the question is whether he can actually do it. Failure to act on his shortcomings could mean his days in New York are numbered.

Minor Transactions: 03/09/2019

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With the Montreal Canadiens losing last night – and in convincing fashion, 8-2 to the Anaheim Ducks – the Tampa Bay Lightning have become the first NHL team to clinch a 2019 playoff spot. The President’s Trophy favorites needed just 68 games to do so, the second-fastest team to earn the “X” in the salary cap era. Don’t expect the Lightning to coast the rest of the regular season, but with a 15-point lead over the Boston Bruins for the league, conference, and division crowns, Tampa Bay is in a pretty good spot. For the Bruins, Habs, and 28 other teams (even the Ottawa Senators have not been statistically eliminated) the hunt for a postseason berth continues and tweaks to the roster will accompany that pursuit. There are 24 teams in action today, more than half of whom are currently in playoff positions, so expect a flurry of activity as teams prepare for critical contests at this point in the year.

  • After months of practicing with the team and weeks now of playing for their AHL affiliate, veteran forward Lee Stempniak will finally make his official return to the Boston Bruins. The Bruins announced that Stempniak has been recalled on an emergency basis, as Marcus Johansson and Jake DeBrusk remain sidelined with minor injuries. The 36-year-old winger was signed to a contract just prior to the trade deadline and has accumulated five points in seven games with the Providence Bruins this season. When he last played for the Bruins in 2015-16, Stempniak recorded ten points in 19 games; Boston would be ecstatic to get that kind of per-game production out of him again three years later. Stempniak spent the past two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, registering 49 points in 119 total games. Even that level of scoring may be wishful thinking, but this recall can at least be used to get the respected veteran of more than 900 NHL games back up to speed so that he can step in if needed in the postseason.
  • CapFriendly reports that the Los Angeles Kings have given forward Carl Grundstrom his first call-up. After being a late scratch by the AHL’s Ontario Reign last night, it seems likely that Grundstrom is on his way to L.A. and could potentially be set to make his NHL debut tonight. Acquired in the Jake Muzzin trade, Grundstrom was a second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016. A hard-nosed winger with great work ethic and defensive instincts, Grundstrom already appears capable of being an impact bottom-six forward in the NHL. How his offense comes along – he has 39 points in 55 AHL games this season – will ultimately determine whether his ceiling is any higher. Either way, the Kings are likely excited to get a look at a young player who should be a regular next season.
  • Matt Read’s near-daily shuffle between the NHL and AHL continues.  The Wild announced that the veteran winger has once again been returned to Iowa.  He has been recalled and sent down four times already this month, something that is likely to continue as long as the health of some of their regular players continues to be in questions.  His earlier recalls have been on an emergency basis so they haven’t been counting against their four post-deadline non-emergency call-ups.
  • The Flames have returned center Curtis Lazar to Stockton of the AHL, per a team release.  He was recalled back on February 15th but did not get into a game in his time with Calgary.  The 2013 first-rounder (17th overall to Ottawa) has been productive with the Heat in the minors this season with 36 points in 46 games and with a qualifying offer of $1.05MM required this summer, he’s looking like a potential non-tender candidate in June.
  • With the massing amount of injuries, the New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled Eric Tangradi and Brandon Gignac from the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. The 30-year-old Tangradi has played in 144 NHL games throughout his career, but hasn’t played in a game since the 2015-16 season when he was with the Detroit Red Wings. He has nine goals and 19 points this season in the AHL. Gignac will be recalled for the first time. The 21-year-old, who was a third-round pick in 2016, has 10 goals and 30 points in 54 games this year with Binghamton. With those two added to their roster, New Jersey now has 21 forwards on their active roster.

New York Rangers Sign Goaltender Adam Huska

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The New York Rangers sure work quickly. The collegiate season of prospect goalie Adam Huska came to an end last night with an impressive (albeit meaningless) win for the University of Connecticut over the No. 2-ranked University of Massachusetts. Less than 12 hours since the final horn, Huska is now a pro. The Rangers have announced that they have signed the young keeper to a an entry-level contract. CapFriendly reports it is a two-year deal beginning next season, but financial terms are not yet available.

Huska, 21, has forfeited the final year of his NCAA eligibility to go pro, as the junior goaltender leaves UConn after three years and 69 games with the Huskies. The move comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the drop off in Huska’s play this season. After posting a .912 save percentage and 2.59 GAA in 27 games last year, Huska’s save percentage fell to .896 this season while his goals against average ballooned to 3.34, resulting in just 21 games played as he lost starts to impressive freshman and Nashville Predators draft pick Tomas Vomacka. In fact, it was Vomacka in net last night for the big win. Most likely, the Rangers’ brass saw Huska losing the starting job to Vomacka next season and agreed to sign him to his first pro contract and thus control his usage at the ECHL level next season. If instead he does push for AHL time right away next season, he will ironically be right back in the same arena he played at with UConn, also shared by the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Despite some struggles, there is still reason to believe that Huska is an encouraging prospect for New York. A seventh-round draft pick out of Slovakia in 2015, Huska went on to be one of best goalies in the USHL the following season, being named Goaltender of the Year. He has also represented Slovakia several times at the World Junior Championships, gaining that invaluable experience against some of the best young players in the world. At 6’4″, 227 lbs., Huska has great size and athleticism. The fundamentals of his game need improvement and he will almost certainly spend several years in the minors before becoming an option in the NHL, but under the tutelage of the Rangers’ staff, Huska could see immediate improvement. He will have to work hard to earn recognition among a mountain of young goalies in the pipeline, including current backup Alexandar Georgiev, KHL star Igor Shestyorkin, UMass-Lowell standout Tyler Wall, and recent second-round pick Olof Lindbom, but it says a lot that the Rangers were willing to rush Huska out of the NCAA and into the pros.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Jan Rutta

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UPDATE: Smith reports that defenseman Anton Stralman is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It’s not exactly an injury that screams play time for Rutta, so the newly-acquired defenseman is likely up in Tampa Bay as insurance for the time being. In the meantime, he can practice with the team and get the feel for his new teammates and coaches. If Stralman’s absence ends up being longer than expected, perhaps Rutta will make his return to NHL action.

 

It’s been a long time coming, but the moment is finally here. Defenseman Jan Rutta, acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in early January, has finally been called up by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, with whom Rutta has played exclusively since the deal was made, were the ones to break the news, but note that GM Julien BriseBois initially announced the move. 

Rutta, 28, is in his second NHL season after coming over from the Czech Republic ahead of the 2017-18 season. The big, two-way defender played in 57 games for the Blackhawks last season, notching 20 points, and despite spending the last three months in the minors, has 23 NHL games to his credit this year as well, along with six points. In 26 AHL games this year, eight of which came with the Rockford Ice Hogs, Rutta has twelve points. Since joining the Crunch, Rutta has been a dependable defensive presence for the team and has logged an impressive +15 rating. While it helps that Syracuse is a good team this season with the second-best record in the AHL, Rutta has done enough to show that he can be an NHL asset and perhaps a contributor to a playoff run.

As for why the call-up has finally come, The Athletic’s Joe Smith notes that the timing is a surprise and to his knowledge no Lightning defenders are currently injured. Tampa Bay has had the cap space to recall Ruuta if need be, but lacked the roster space – part of the reason they traded Slater Koekkoek in the first place to acquire Ruuta. However, with the trade deadline passed and roster limits eliminated, Ruuta was free to be recalled. It remains unclear where he fits barring an unreported injury, however. The Lightning have seven defensemen who have played more than 41 games this season already and Ruuta is not about to replace any of them in head coach Jon Cooper’s blue line rotation. Yet, the veteran defenseman is probably content just to be back at the NHL level in a season that has surely not gone as he expected.

Strength Of Schedule And The Eastern Conference Wild Card Race

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The Tampa Bay Lightning had a chance to clinch a playoff spot last night on the first Thursday in March. While it didn’t go their way, the Bolts are undoubtedly going to be the top seed in the Eastern Conference and are well on their way to a President’s Trophy with a 15-point lead on the next-best team in the league. That next team up is the Boston Bruins, who are second only to Tampa in both the NHL and within their own Atlantic Division. Riding an 18-game point streak, the Bruins’ playoff position is also in little doubt. The Toronto Maple Leafs, currently holding a top-five record in the league, are on pace to finish third in their own division and without home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Boston and Toronto seem destined to meet in that opening round, with the winner likely getting Tampa Bay as their reward for moving on.

As frustrating as the current playoff format may be for the Leafs – as well as the Bruins and Lightning – at least the three teams know where they stand in the postseason structure with a month to go in the regular season. The same can’t be said for the rest of the Eastern Conference contenders. Just eight points separate the New York Islanders, the current Metropolitan Division leaders, from the Columbus Blue Jackets, presently in ninth in the East and on the outside of the playoff picture, in the standings. Between the two are three more Metropolitan teams, as well as the Atlantic’s Montreal Canadiens. With all six of these competitors struggling to pull away from the rest of the group, it could be that each team’s schedule down the stretch determines where they end up by the end of the regular season. Three divisional spots and two wild card spots are up for grabs; who has the luck of the schedule on their side?

According to the strength of schedule numbers released by the NHL this morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ opposing points percentage of .555 is the most favorable of the group. That’s not to say the Pens face an easy slate, though. Pittsburgh faces eight current playoff teams in their final 15 games, not including tomorrow night’s tilt against Columbus, but end the year with a nice stretch that includes a home-and-home against the lowly Red Wings and a final match-up against the Rangers. The experienced Penguins team is a safe bet to stay in the playoff picture, especially if they can get healthy on the back end.

The Montreal Canadiens have a similarly easy schedule, a .575 opposing points percentage, but with a dramatically different ending. Fighting for just one of two wild card spots, the Habs will face eight current playoff teams themselves, again not including a game against the Blue Jackets, but only three of those contests are within their next nine games. Montreal may get a nice boost over the next couple of weeks, but face a daunting final stretch; Columbus, Winnipeg, Tampa, Washington, and Toronto await them in their final five games. How they fare against those Cup contenders could determine whether they make or miss the postseason.

With just seven current playoff teams on the schedule from here on out, not including two run-ins with Columbus, the New York Islanders are in good shape with a .567 opposing points percentage. The team also avoids any road trips of longer than two games for the rest of the season. While a regular season finale against the Capitals could prove critical, the Islanders look as if they should be able to hold on to their playoff spot. The health of Robin Lehner could be a game-changer, though.

Things have not gone as expected since Jarmo Kekalainen and the Columbus Blue Jackets went all out at the trade deadline. The team sits outside of the playoff picture currently, two points back of the final wild card spot, and there is no guarantee that things will get better. The Jackets have a .581 opposing points percentage, including ten games against current playoff teams, and play just six of their final 15 games at home. Perhaps the one saving grace will be trips to Buffalo, the Rangers, and Ottawa in three of their last four games, but Columbus has their work cut out for them.

The Carolina Hurricanes have a similarly tough schedule, but benefit from having a game or two in hand on their playoff berth competition. In their final 16 games, the ’Canes will face opposition with a .586 points percentage, ten of which are playoff teams. They also have three sets of back-to-back games remaining. However, with the cushion of extra games and dates with the Devils and Flyers to round out the year, the red-hot Hurricanes are on pace to erase their league-worst nine-year playoff drought.

Finally, there are the defending champs. The Washington Capitals not only have the most difficult remaining schedule in the East’s wild card race, but in the entire NHL. At a .599 opposing points percentage, the Caps are about to go through the ringer in their final 15 games. Ten playoff teams are on the docket for Washington, including three games against the powerhouse Lightning and five playoff teams among their final six competitors. Fortunately, the team does play more than half of their remaining match-ups at home, but there’s little else to find comfort in. If any team in this race is at risk of a dramatic fall from their current playoff position, it is the Capitals, especially if the extra work of last year’s Stanley Cup run starts to catch up to them down the stretch.

Chicago, Philadelphia To Begin 2019-20 Season In Prague

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The NHL has been very happy with their Global Series efforts in recent seasons and very motivated to continue their preseason and regular season ventures in countries throughout Europe and Asia. As early as November, Prague – the capital of the Czech Republic, a major supplier of hockey talent – emerged as a likely destination for a Global Series event next season. Per Sportsnet’s John Shannon, that has now been confirmed and the competitors have been chosen. The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers will start the 2019-20 season in Prague.

If the 2018-19 format is to be followed , the Blackhawks and Flyers are likely to play just the regular season opener overseas. This season, the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers started the year with a game in Sweden, which was preceded by exhibition contests elsewhere in Europe. However, in November the Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets faced off in a pair of games in Finland, so it could be that the league opts to schedule two matches in the Czech Republic to open the season. All of the Global Series games had great success this year, which could encourage the league to expand on the total number of contests.

Also like the Global Series competitors this season, Chicago and Philadelphia have ties to the location. While the Blackhawks and Flyers are undoubtedly teams that the NHL likes to promote in league events, they also each have popular players among Czech fans. Jakub Voracek, long-time Flyers star forward, is one of the more popular Czech players in the NHL, while teammate Radko Gudas is a Prague native. Meanwhile, the ’Hawks have several intriguing young players with Czech connections. Standout rookie Dominik Kahun has both Czech and German citizenship, second-year player David Kampf came over directly from the top Czech pro league, and NLA superstar and Czech native Dominik Kubalik was recently acquired from the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago could push to sign him this summer. The game would garner great attention in a great hockey country like the Czech Republic regardless, but with several locals to watch it should be a quite popular event.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Defenseman Simon Benoit

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3/7: The Duck have confirmed the signing and the terms of the deal for Benoit, noting that the first-year pro leads the Gulls and is third among all AHL rookie defensemen in plus/minus, while also leading San Diego rookie defenders in goals, shots, and games played. The strong performance from the under-the-radar junior signing has clearly impressed the Anaheim brass this season.

3/4: The Anaheim Ducks have made an unexpected splash into the free agent market, signing a player off their AHL squad. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that the Ducks have signed undrafted QMJHL product Simon Benoit to a three-year entry-level contract. CapFriendly adds that the contract begins next season and carries an AAV of $925K, offset by a $278K signing bonus and $348K in potential performance bonuses over the term of the deal. Benoit has played all season on an AHL contract with the San Diego Gulls.

Benoit, 20, has made the most of his first pro season after he failed to draw NHL interest this past summer. The 6’3″, 192-lb. possession defenseman has established himself as a capable two-way defender in the AHL and looks to have NHL upside. A former standout with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, Benoit has moved to the pro level seamlessly, recording 12 points and a team-best +17 rating thus far through 50 games with the Gulls.

With San Diego head coach Dallas Eakins as the heavy favorite to take over as head coach in Anaheim next season, the future could be bright for Benoit if he can continue his dependable defensive play. The Ducks have lost Shea Theodore, Sami Vatanen, Marcus Pettersson, and Brandon Montour from their blue line in the last 18 months, opening up the door for prospects to play a bigger role moving forward. With Anaheim’s cap crunch so tight, they are unlikely to make many major additions on the back end this off-season either. With just three core defensemen remaining and signed through next season, it is very likely that there could be three, if not four or five, spots on the Ducks blue line up for grabs in training camp next year. Benoit will certainly throw his hat in the ring and at the very least could earn his NHL debut at some point in the 2019-20 season.

Atlantic Notes: Zadina, Holmstrom, Steen

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When Detroit Red Wings rookie forward Filip Zadina takes the ice tonight, it will mark his fifth NHL game. More importantly, it means he is halfway toward burning the first year of his entry-level contract. Under the NHL CBA, an 18- or 19-year-old player may have their entry-level contract “slide” if he does not play a minimum of 10 NHL games in a given season. For the first-year pro Zadina, this looked like a likely outcome for much of the year. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft had played exclusively in the AHL this season until late last month, when he was finally recalled by the Red Wings. Now Detroit has a decision to make.

With 14 games remaining in the regular season for a team that is well beyond any playoff hopes, the Red Wings brass must decide if they want to limit Zadina to less than five more games down the stretch, thereby extending his rookie deal by one year, or instead continue to provide NHL experience to an elite young player who is likely to be a regular contributor beginning next season. Zadina, a talented forward who had recorded 31 points in 45 AHL games prior to his recall, projects to see a major raise in his next contract given his draft pedigree and expected production over the next few years, giving Detroit all the more reason to extend his affordable entry-level deal if possible. However, to both appease the young core player and further his development, they may just opt to keep Zadina in Detroit for the remainder of the season at the cost of burning a year off the deal. Either way, Zadina is bound for a return to the Grand Rapids Griffins for a postseason run, so the only question is simply when he is sent back down. Two other players who risk losing their “slide” status are Boston Bruins defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas, both of whom are presently in the AHL and have played a handful of games in the NHL this season and would be near the top of the recall list if their team was to suffer injuries down the stretch or in the postseason.

  • One Red Wings prospect who looks like he may never suit up for the team is Axel Holmstrom. All season long, there has been rumors that the 22-year-old Swedish forward was eyeing a return to Europe when his current contract expired at the end of the season. Although Holmstrom will be a restricted free agent, Detroit can do nothing to keep him in the system if he wishes to leave and can only retain his NHL rights moving forward by making a qualifying offer. The doubt about Holmstrom’s longevity in North America even prompted his KHL rights to be traded this season. However, a new report from Swedish news source Kvall Posten has turned up the heat on the Holmstrom rumors and makes it sound as if the NHL and KHL are both out of the running already. The article states instead that Holmstrom has become a hot commodity back home in Sweden, with several SHL teams reportedly already bidding for his services. In fact, it is stated that two well-known teams have already been priced out. Skelleftea AIK, the team Holmstrom played for prior to coming to North America three years ago, and the Vaxjo Lakers HC, another top contender in SHL this season, are both expected to be out of the running. The remaining bidders are thought to be current league leader Lulea HF, whose GM recently met with Holmstrom in person in Grand Rapids, and HV71, who are believed to have made the highest offer. With this kind of bidding war going on among teams in his home country, it is very unlikely that Holmstrom will be back with Detroit next season. The young forward has been consistent if unspectacular in two full AHL seasons with the Griffins and does not seem all that close to pushing for a regular role with the Red Wings. He is bound to land a greater role and a raise on his current salary of less than $700K if (when) he returns to Sweden.
  • One player looking to make the opposite move – a jump to the NHL – is Boston Bruins prospect Oskar Steen. A sixth-round pick in 2016, Steen immediately looked like a steal for the Bruins. The small, but skilled forward played 47 games in the SHL as an 18-year-old in 2016-17 and then followed it up by making the Swedish World Junior team last year while again playing in 45 SHL games and doubling his previous point total. However, this year he has shed his role player status and blossomed into a top scorer for Farjestad BK. Still just 20, Steen has nevertheless posted 37 points in 44 games to lead all forwards in scoring and help the team to a top playoff seed. His play has begun to garner attention outside of Sweden. The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver notes that Steen is being considered for a spot on Sweden’s entry into the upcoming World Championships, while adding that he is expected to sign with Boston this off-season. Steen will likely have to spend some time in the AHL at first, but is yet another young forward who will push for ice time with the Bruins next year.

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