Ducks, Flames Leading Candidates To Acquire Jack Eichel
Jack Eichel has been on the trade block for what seems like forever and has not been on the ice for the Buffalo Sabres this preseason as he continues to await neck surgery. Yet, his market is heating back up. As TSN’s Darren Dreger wrote earlier this week, the Sabres have been pushed by Eichel’s new agent, Pat Brisson, to share medical files with interested parties. The result has been more clarity as to Eichel’s serious suitors, which could finally lead to a trade.
Eichel’s desired surgical cure, which has been at the center of his ongoing feud with the Sabres, is a disc replacement surgery that has never been attempted on an NHL player. By sharing the specifics of Eichel’s injury, teams can gain more insight into the nature of Eichel’s condition and whether they would agree to his preferred route rather than the typical fusion procedure. As Pierre LeBrun reports for The Athletic, this has helped Kevyn Adams and the Sabres strengthen their trade pitch, as some of the unknowns of an Eichel deal have been cleared up. While LeBrun believes that there will still be a conditional aspect to any deal, Buffalo now finally has a chance to finally close a deal and closer to full value.
Among the teams that LeBrun feels have backed off of the Eichel pursuit are the Minnesota Wild and Philadelphia, and even the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings who seemed like top contenders at one point. However, LeBrun notes that the Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames have done their due diligence on Eichel’s condition and the ADR surgery and remain interested in the star center.
Though the cost for Eichel remains a mystery, especially with the suspected conditional component, there will still be a considerable price to pay. Anaheim offers a number of young roster forwards, as well as numerous talented prospects. Calgary offers more current star talent, some of whom would have to move for cap purposes, as well as some top prospects. Both teams would be able to make a strong pitch for Eichel and have good reason for doing so. The Flames may be one major piece away from jumping into Stanley Cup contention, while the Ducks have a budding young core and know that Eichel has expressed some desire to play on the west coast.
While LeBrun stops short of saying a trade is imminent, this is first time that concrete conversations have been had with a media source confirming that Eichel talks are occurring. Eichel needed surgery “like yesterday” per LeBrun and both he and the Sabres desperately need to move on, so for the good of all involved, including NHL fans, hopefully this situation will be resolved before too long.
Blake Coleman Suspended For One Preseason, One Regular Season Game
5:36 pm: The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Coleman will be suspended for one preseason and regular-season game. He’ll miss Calgary’s season opener on the road in Edmonton on October 16th, but will be back for their home opener on October 18th against the Anaheim Ducks.
12:03 pm: The Department of Player Safety has some more work to do, as Blake Coleman will have a hearing today following his hit on Jansen Harkins last night. The Calgary Flames forward hit Harkins while he was already down on his knees, driving his head into the boards. Coleman was issued a boarding penalty and then later in the game received a misconduct along with Harkins when the two came together again.
Because Harkins did not suffer a major injury on the play and Coleman does not have a history of suspension at the NHL level, the penalty here should not be excessive. Still, the hearing implies that the Flames will be without his services for at least the final preseason game tomorrow night, if not the first game of the regular season as well.
This actually isn’t the first incident of Coleman checking from behind. In the NCAA tournament in 2015, Coleman was given a suspension after receiving his third misconduct of the season. The first two were for checking from behind, while the third was for delivering a check to the head. The 29-year-old forward has made a living playing a hard, physical game and often coming right up to the line, and this time appears to have stepped over it. He’ll have to face the consequences, with a decision expected later today.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/25/21
While the bulk of training camp cuts will come later in camp – regular waivers don’t even open up until Thursday – some teams will make roster moves early on. We’ll keep tabs on those here.
Calgary Flames (via team release)
F Lucas Ciona (to Seattle, WHL),
F Cole Huckins (to Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL)
D Cole Jordan (to Moose Jaw, WHL)
F Rory Kerins (to Soo, OHL)
D Greg Moro (to Stockton, AHL)
F Ilya Nikolaev (Tri-City, USHL)
F Reid Perepeluk (to Stockton, AHL)
G Carter Serhyenko (released to Prince Albert, WHL)
G Connor Ungar (released from ATO to Red Deer, WHL)
D Cameron Whynot (to Halifax, QMJHL)
D Koletrane Wilson (to Stockton, AHL)
F Ben King (released from ATO to Red Deer, WHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via team release)
G Patrik Hamrla (to Rimouski, QMJHL)
D Bryce Montgomery (to London, OHL)
F Bobby Orr (to Halifax, QMJHL)
F Justin Robidas (to Val-d’Or, QMJHL)
D Ronan Seeley (to Everett, WHL)
Detroit Red Wings (via team release)
G Jan Bednar (to Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL)
G Sebastian Cossa (to Edmonton, WHL)
F Cross Hanas (to Portland, WHL)
D Oscar Plandowski (to Charlottetown, QMJHL)
F Pasquale Zito (to Windsor, OHL)
F Cameron Butler (released from ATO to Niagara, OHL)
F Luke Toporowoski (released from ATO to Spokane, WHL)
F Cooper Walker (released from ATO to Guelph, OHL)
Edmonton Oilers (via team release)
F Jake Chiasson (to Brandon, WHL)
F Matvey Petrov (to North Bay, OHL)
F Tyler Tullio (to Oshawa, OHL)
F Brady Burns (released from ATO to Saint John, QMJHL)
F Drew Englot (released from ATO to Regina, WHL)
G Ethan Kruger (released from ATO to Brandon, WHL)
F Henry Rybinski (released from ATO to Seattle, WHL)
New York Rangers (via team Twitter)
F Jayden Grubbe (to Red Deer, WHL)
Ottawa Senators (via team Twitter)
F Carson Latimer (to Edmonton, WHL)
D Ben Roger (to London, OHL)
D Chandler Romeo (to Hamilton, OHL)
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Calgary Flames Sign Jeremie Poirier
The Calgary Flames have inked one of their 2020 draft picks, signing Jeremie Poirier to a three-year entry-level contract. The young defenseman was selected 72nd overall in 2020 and is currently attending training camp with the team.
Poirier, 19, will be heading back to the QMJHL this season where he has racked up a ton of points over the last two years. In just 33 games during 2020-21 he had 37 points and he led all defenders in goals with 20 during the 2019-20 season. A high-flying, offensive defenseman, he will need to find a balance between his risky play and a more conservative approach at the professional level, but that may not matter for his CHL season. Poirier could very well lead all QMJHL defensemen in scoring this year, should he stay healthy.
Because he’s still young enough, the first year of this entry-level deal will not be burned in 2021-22. Instead, it will slide forward meaning Poirier is essentially under contract through 2024-25 with this new deal. There’s quite a bit of development still to go, but he possesses real offensive upside that could help him reach the NHL level.
Connor Zary Out Week-To-Week With Fractured Ankle
Connor Zary, one of the players who found immediate success in the AHL last season despite being too young to normally play there, had a good news-bad news kind of day. The good news is that he won’t require surgery on the ankle he injured this week, the bad news is that he did suffer a fracture in it and will be out on a week-to-week basis.
If you wondered how the Flames are going to add more scoring punch in the years to come, the answer may be Zary, the 24th overall pick from 2020. The 19-year-old center had seven points in nine games with the Stockton Heat before the WHL started up again, and then went back to the Kamloops Blazers to record 24 points in just 15 games down the stretch. This time around, Zary won’t be forced back to the junior level when he returns. He’ll turn 20 tomorrow, meaning he is now eligible for the AHL this season and can report right to the Heat after recovering from this injury.
Johannes Kinnvall Suffers "Significant" Lower-Body Injury
- Johannes Kinnvall of the Calgary Flames suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s prospect camp, and GM Brad Treliving described it as “significant” today at his opening press conference. The 24-year-old defenseman will not be able to participate in the main training camp, obviously a big blow to his chances of making the team to start the year. It was always a long shot, but Kinnvall has played extremely well over the last two seasons in the SHL, racking up 62 points in 83 games.
Brad Treliving Comments On Calgary's Offseason
- While many expected the Flames to shake up their core this summer, that didn’t exactly happen aside from the departure of defenseman Mark Giordano to Seattle in expansion. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis spoke with GM Brad Treliving who commented that a lack of viable options is what played a role in no big moves being made: “I know everybody screams for change, and we talked about that, but we can only do things that are available to you. I can’t click my heels and make things happen. You have to have a trade partner. Nobody is ever done in this business — you’re always looking for ways to improve. But it has got to make sense.” Calgary did make some additions to get tougher this summer, adding Blake Coleman, Nikita Zadorov, and Erik Gudbranson, giving head coach Darryl Sutter a grittier roster to work with.
Calgary Flames Sign Erik Gudbranson, Michael Stone
The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Erik Gudbranson to a one-year contract worth $1.95MM. Michael Stone is also on his way back on a one-year deal worth $750K. PuckPedia reports Stone’s deal is one-way, unlike last year’s two-way deal.
Gudbranson, 29, has become something of a joke among analytics-leaning fans because of his brutal possession statistics, but seems to keep getting opportunities because of his size, draft pedigree, and a short stretch of success with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 6’5″ right-handed shot defenseman was the third-overall pick in 2010 and has played in 563 regular season games to this point, but not many of them have been very productive. Gudbranson has just 77 points in those games, while racking up 640 penalty minutes and 1,330 hits.
Last season, playing for the Ottawa Senators and Nashville Predators, Gudbranson recorded four points in 45 games while averaging fewer than 18 minutes a night. That was his lowest average ice time since his rookie season, but don’t expect him to get much more in Calgary. This move gives the team some additional depth on the right side, but certainly shouldn’t eat any minutes away from Rasmus Andersson or Chris Tanev, two of the team’s most important defensemen.
Stone meanwhile isn’t even guaranteed playing time with his league-minimum contract, though he obviously brings some familiarity. The 31-year-old has spent parts of the last five seasons in Calgary, and played 21 games for them last season. All of those appearances came after Darryl Sutter took over as head coach, however, suggesting that perhaps Stone will get a chance after all. In fact, this contract is a one-way deal after he played 2020-21 on a two-way contract, meaning he’ll make that $750K no matter where he plays.
The Flames have turned to experience, grit, and size this offseason, adding players like Blake Coleman, Tyler Pitlick, Trevor Lewis, Brad Richardson, Nikita Zadorov, and now these two, but it’s not really clear if they’re all that much improved. It certainly looks a lot more like a Sutter roster and does have plenty of depth at all positions, but whether this mix will be more successful remains to be seen.
These signings could very well spell trouble for Calgary’s younger players, like Connor Mackey and Oliver Kylington, though both of them play the left side predominantly. There are now a lot of defensemen fighting for minutes on the back end, and even with Mark Giordano‘s departure there may not be enough to go around.
Flames Sign Daniil Chechelev To AHL Deal
It has been speculated over the past few weeks that the Oilers are likely to bring a right-shot defenseman on a tryout basis for training camp. It appears they have a couple of targets in mind as Postmedia’s Jim Matheson pegs veterans Michael Stone and Jason Demers as the likeliest candidates to sign one of those deals with Edmonton. Stone is no stranger to the PTO route having been on one with Calgary last year before ultimately signing a two-way deal where he got into 21 games with the Flames and four more with AHL Stockton. Demers hasn’t been in that situation before but after a tough year with Arizona that saw him dropped to a third pairing and reserve role, he may have to settle for a tryout at this stage of free agency.
- The Flames announced that 2020 fourth-round pick Daniil Chechelev has signed a one-year AHL deal. The 20-year-old goaltender spent last season split between the VHL and MHL in Russia, suiting up in 40 games along the way. He joins Dustin Wolf, Adam Werner, and Tyler Parsons as those that will be battling for time with AHL Stockton next season and as a result of that battle, Chechelev may find himself with ECHL Kansas City if they want to give him ample playing time.
Free Agent Profile: Devan Dubnyk
Here is a snapshot of the free agent market at the goalie position: Tuukka Rask, who is committed to the Boston Bruins, Devan Dubnyk, Curtis McElhinney, who is older, played less, and performed worse than Dubnyk last season, Cory Schneider, who is also older than Dubnyk and didn’t play an NHL game last season, and a scattering of young goalies that did not receive qualifying offers and have a handful of NHL appearance between them. In short, the UFA goalie market is essentially just Dubnyk.
Now this doesn’t erase his performance from last season, or the year before last for that matter. The 35-year-old has not been on his game for some time now, performing well below his career numbers in each of the past two years. His age compounded by a number of years as a workhorse starter for the Minnesota Wild has shown in Dubnyk’s play, which has lacked sharpness and consistency even playing behind good teams like the Wild and Colorado Avalanche.
With that said, it speaks volumes that Colorado, a Stanley Cup favorite, still went out and acquired Dubnyk from the San Jose Sharks at the NHL Trade Deadline last season. The team was facing down several injuries and net and were desperate for help, but still would not have given up assets for a player they didn’t trust could help their team. While Dubnyk was ultimately forgettable in his short stint with Colorado, he delivered five starts and three wins for the team as they battled for supremacy in the division standings.
At this point in his career, Dubnyk is what the Avalanche saw in him: an experienced veteran who was once one of the best in the game and can still be relied upon in a pinch. In the meantime, Dubnyk can mentor young goalies and contribute to a locker room. It’s not exactly the sales pitch of a league-winner, but Dubnyk can still contribute even if he is no longer capable of serving in a starting or even 1B role. Ideally, the veteran could find a spot where he can act as a No. 3 and, if need be or if he shows he is capable, can take over a backup role. Again, it isn’t the most valuable label, but it could benefit a number of teams.
At the end of the day, for those clubs who decide they need another goalie this late in the off-season or in-season but don’t want to make a trade, Dubnyk is the best of a group of less than stellar options. Teams are not going to be looking for a young player with upside or a cold, broken down veteran if they are in urgent need of help. Outside of Rask, who may as well be signed, Dubnyk is the only goalie that can provide value as a free agent addition. Teams would be smart to keep tabs on him as training camps begin to open up.
Stats
2020-21: 22 GP, 6-11-2 (.368), .895 SV%, 3.20 GAA, .444 QS%, 1 SO
Career: 542 GP, 253-206-54 (.546), .914 SV%, 2.61 GAA, .539 QS%, 33 SO
Potential Suitors
At first glance, the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres are the two teams with the greatest needs in net. Carter Hutton and Josef Korenar for the ‘Yotes and Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell for the Sabres is a list of names that would be hard-pressed to even find backup jobs elsewhere in the league. With that being said, neither team has much incentive to bring in yet another veteran. Both Arizona and Buffalo are resigned to bottom-dweller status this season and don’t need to add depth in goal, especially when it blocks young keepers like Korenar in Arizona or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Only if the veteran starters for these clubs suffered long-term injuries would Dubnyk really make sense.
Instead, the veteran is a more realistic target for a contender that needs depth and experience in net. Even after adding Louis Domingue, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goalie group that also includes the inconsistent Tristan Jarry and the injury-prone Casey DeSmith could use added stability and guidance. Another team that jumps out as an option is Calgary. The Flames acquired promising youngster Daniel Vladar this summer to back up Jacob Markstrom and he cannot be reassigned to the AHL without the risk of waivers. However, if Vladar struggles in his first full-time NHL role and Calgary is not any more secure with Tyler Parsons or Adam Werner, Dubnyk could be a nice free agent addition to stabilize the net.
Any other suitors would likely be a product of injury at this point, but that could mean more than it sounds. Injuries in hockey are obviously not uncommon and Dubnyk clearly stands out as the best unsigned option available.
Projected Contract
Barring an off-season training injury before camps open, a PTO seems like the most likely “contract” to be heading Dubnyk’s way. The experienced veteran would provide a good camp presence while proving that he does (or does not) have gas left in the tank. If anyone was urgent to add a goalie it likely would have happened by now, meaning some patient team is probably going to merely extend Dubnyk the opportunity to earn a deal.
With that being said, urgency can be created quickly, especially once camps begin. If Dubnyk isn’t already on a PTO elsewhere, he will be the first call from teams with thin goalie depth who suffer an injury in net and don’t want to waste time or capital on the trade market. Even in this situation though, the league minimum $750K is likely the extent of Dubnyk’s value. It would likely take several injuries across the league to force a bidding war that lands the veteran anything more.