Carolina Hurricanes Sign Klas Dahlbeck To One-Year Deal
The Carolina Hurricanes work quickly. The team has announced a one-year extension for Klas Dahlbeck, which will pay him $850K for next season. Dahlbeck was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and would have been eligible for arbitration.
Dahlbeck’s new deal comes as just a slight raise from this season when he earned $750K, and extends his partnership with the Hurricanes after they claimed him off waivers just before the beginning of the season. Dahlbeck ended up playing in 43 games for Carolina, though he averaged just under 14 minutes a game.
With Carolina’s glut of young defenders, Dahlbeck provides a nice depth option and fulfills the expansion requirement we recently discussed. To this point, Carolina would have had to expose Justin Faulk as he was the only defender who met the required amount of games played and had a contract through next season. Dahlbeck will now be that expansion fodder, though he’s unlikely to be claimed.
Instead, he’ll likely come back as an option for a team that is looking to move out a defender to upgrade their forward position. Rumored to be involved in the Matt Duchene sweepstakes at the deadline, their interest in several high-priced forwards will return this summer. Dahlbeck at least provides a fall back option for the bottom pairing if they move on from one of their younger players and don’t think Haydn Fleury is ready for the NHL.
Morning Notes: Lorentz, Penguins, Datsyuk, Setoguchi
The Carolina Hurricanes have added a talented young forward to their prospect ranks, inking Steven Lorentz to a three-year entry-level deal. The contract will pay him $650K in the first two years, and $700K the third season—contingent on him staying in the NHL. At the AHL level he’ll earn just $60K, but does receive a healthy $185K signing bonus. Not bad for a seventh-round pick in 2015 who despite being looked over in the draft has exploded onto the scene in the OHL playoffs, recording 15 points in 9 games and leading the Peterborough Petes to the third round.
Lorentz has the size and scoring ability to make an impact at the professional level, and will try to continue his playoff dominance against the Mississauga Steelheads. He’s got a long way to go to see the NHL, but he’s already outgrown his draft status.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have returned Josh Archibald, Tom Sestito and Cameron Gaunce to the AHL to help the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in their first round series with the Providence Bruins. Pittsburgh is off for a few days following their elimination of the Columbus Blue Jackets last night, and will nurse any wounds while waiting for the victor of the Capitals-Maple Leafs series.
- Despite Pavel Datsyuk not being healthy enough to play in the clinching game in the Gagarin Cup, he intends to play in 2017-18 for SKA St. Petersburg. Dan Milstein, Datsyuk’s agent, tweeted that the 38-year old will also be looking forward to the 2018 Olympics, where he will presumably be selected to participate for Russia. Datsyuk found great success with SKA this season, scoring 34 points in 44 games while being much closer to his family in Russia.
- Devin Setoguchi has signed with Adler-Mannheim of the German Hockey League, inking a two-year deal to continue his hockey career overseas. Setoguchi made an impressive comeback this year, making the Los Angeles Kings out of camp and recording 12 points in 45 games. The former 30-goal man has a long troubled history in the league but continues to work his way back to health and happiness. He’ll join several former NHL players including Carlo Colaiacovo, Marcel Goc and Drew MacIntyre with the Eagles next season.
Minor Moves: Labanc, Mete, Kuokkanen, Oilers
The San Jose Sharks have sent Kevin Labanc back to the AHL prior to their AHL affiliate San Jose Barracuda’s first playoff game. Labanc wasn’t going to get into the Sharks lineup unless an injury struck, and he will be a huge help to the Barracuda’s chances. In 55 NHL games this season, Labanc registered 20 points and was a point-per-game player in the 19 matches in the AHL.
A former OHL superstar, Labanc scored 127 points in his final year of junior with the Barrie Colts, and has turned from sixth-round afterthought to legitimate prospect in the San Jose system. Here are some more moves from around the league…
- The St. John’s IceCaps have signed Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Victor Mete to an amateur tryout. Mete was a fourth-round pick last summer who has enjoyed an excellent season in London, out performing fifth-overall pick Olli Juolevi offensively. His 44 points in 50 games was best on the team from the blueline, and he’ll now get a chance to show off at the professional ranks. Only 18, Mete will head back to London next year for another chance at the Memorial Cup.
- The Charlotte Checkers have added a London Knight of their own, as the Carolina Hurricanes re-assigned Janne Kuokkanen to their AHL affiliate. The 18-year old center was signed to a three-year entry-level deal just last month after his huge rookie season in the OHL. Scoring 62 points in 60 games, he proved why the Hurricanes made him a second-round pick (43rd overall) last summer.
- After letting Jesse Puljujarvi head to Team Finland for the World Championships, the Edmonton Oilers have recalled a group of Black Aces for their playoff run. Jordan Oesterle, Mark Fayne, Joey LaLeggia and Anton Lander will all join the club now that the Bakersfield season is over. This group will be first up should anyone suffer an injury during the Oilers’ postseason series against the Sharks.
Checking In On The 2014 Draft Class
This season has been one of the most successful rookie seasons in recent history, with almost a dozen players enjoying seasons that would normally be considered for Calder trophy nomination. That, mixed with the continued success of second year players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin has given the reins of the NHL to the youth of the game.
2014 was another solid draft class, headlined by the NHL-ready Aaron Ekblad at first overall. While many of the players in the first round have taken slower routes than those from the 2015 and 2016 groups, they found their footings this season all around the league. Some of the success stories from this year include Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton (3rd overall), William Nylander in Toronto (8th overall), Nikolaj Ehlers in Winnipeg (9th overall) and David Pastrnak in Boston (25th overall).
These are just a few of the very successful young players, but what about those that haven’t made it just yet? Should they be considered busts, just a few short years after their draft? Here are updates on the four players from the 2014 first round who have yet to make their NHL debut.
Conner Bleackley, 23rd overall, Colorado Avalanche
In perhaps the most interesting story of the four, Bleackley never did sign with the Avalanche and was traded to the Arizona Coyotes last February. With his rights in tow, the Coyotes decided to take the supplemental second-round pick that would be compensation for him re-entering the draft. When Bleackley did put his name into the draft again, he fell all the way to the fifth round where the St. Louis Blues selected him 144th overall. Injuries decimated much of Bleackley’s junior career, and he split this season between the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL. He’s still a long way from an NHL game.
Travis Sanheim, 17th overall, Philadelphia Flyers
Sanheim returned to the Calgary Hitmen for two additional seasons after being selected in the first round and exploded offensively, recording 65 and 68 points from the blue line. His playmaking ability allowed him to dominate the junior league, and has transferred quite well to the AHL this season. With 37 points in 76 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Sanheim is set for his first taste of playoff hockey at the professional ranks. Though he’s not a perfect prospect, he’ll easily get a chance sooner than later in Philadelphia,
Haydn Fleury, 7th overall, Carolina Hurricanes
While Fleury has continued to progress as a solid two-way defender in the Hurricanes’ system, you can be sure they regret not taking Nylander or Ehlers after seeing them debut so strongly. With Carolina now apparently dangling some of their young defenders to try and acquire more scoring, they could have saved themselves the trouble in the draft. That’s not to take anything away from Fleury though, who put up a solid rookie season in the AHL with 26 points in 69 games. If Carolina does in fact move one of their NHL pieces, Fleury will be sure to get a look in the next year or so. He’s still just 20, and is starting to fill out nicely into his 6’3″ frame.
Michael Dal Colle, 5th overall, New York Islanders
Everything looked good in the first year after the Islanders picked Dal Colle, as he put up 93 points in 56 games for the Oshawa Generals and dominated the playoffs with 31 more points. The next season though saw a step backwards, with only 25 points in 30 games before being traded to the Kingston Frontenacs mid-season. Rebounding with his new team, Dal Colle has still given Islanders’ fans slight worry that he’ll never become the elite goal-scoring winger he was projected as.
In his first season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL Dal Colle put up a solid 41 points in 75 games, but was overshadowed by Josh Ho-Sang, the Islanders other first-round pick from 2014. The Sound Tigers didn’t make the playoffs despite a 44-28-4 record, and now we’ll have to wait to see what adjustments the former fifth-overall pick makes in the summer. He’ll be 21 next season, and will push hard in camp to make the Islanders and prove that they didn’t waste a top pick on him. His skill should shine through eventually, making him a natural compliment to some of the good young forwards in New York.
Expansion Requirements Still Needing Attention
For teams outside the playoffs, preparation for the summer months starts early. Free agency, coaching staffs, prospect profiles and this year, another interesting workload: the Expansion Draft. For many teams, much of the work to prepare for the expansion draft was already done during the season. We saw extensions for players like Michal Rozsival, trades for fringe forwards like Eric Fehr, and goaltenders given contracts without ever really making an NHL impact.
But still there remains much to be done in preparation for the draft, and contracts should come out over the next month to protect teams from an unexpected loss. Each team must expose at least two forwards and one defender who is both a) under contract for 2017-18 and b) played either 40 games in 2016-17 OR a total of 70 games in 2015-16 and 2016-17 combined. They must also expose one goaltender who is either under contract for 2017-18 or will be an RFA this summer. While much of this depends on who each team decides to protect, these are the situations that will likely see a move or extension handed out before the deadline.
Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes currently have just three forwards who could fill this requirement: Jamie McGinn, Tobias Rieder and Brad Richardson. While Richardson is an easy choice, the other two don’t deserve to be exposed even if McGinn did have a disappointing year. The easy way to solve it would be extend Josh Jooris, who qualifies but doesn’t have a contract past this season currently. Peter Holland could also be sacrificed, though it’s unclear whether the front office believes in him as a piece going forward for this team.
Analysts Weigh In On The Stars’ Hiring Of Ken Hitchcock
The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell says it’s necessity, and not nostalgia, that led Ken Hitchcock back to Dallas. Writing that the Stars are a “mess” in net and on the blue line, Campbell sees Hitchcock as the perfect tonic for a team struggling to find an identity and build on its successes during the 2015-16 season. From Campbell:
Hitchcock, of course, is the only coach in franchise history to win a Stanley Cup in Dallas. And hooking up with the old ex certainly worked out for Claude Julien and the Montreal Canadiens, Randy Carlyle and the Anaheim Ducks and Paul Maurice and the Carolina Hurricanes.
And there’s no doubt that the market’s familiarity with Hitchcock is a nice bonus, GM Jim Nill is far too smart to pass over more qualified candidates just to get the band back together. Ken Hitchcock is coaching the Dallas Stars next season because Ken Hitchcock is exactly what the Dallas Stars need next season.
Campbell believes that Hitchcock will prove an immediate gain for the penalty kill, which was a source of discontent for Dallas all season. He also writes that Hitchcock should improve the overall defensive strategy, which in turn, will help the netminders, who have been underwhelming.
- Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning-News’ Mike Heika recalls that it was after a visit to Detroit in 2010 that Hitchcock became acquainted with Nill, who was then the assistant general manager in Detroit. Heika cautions that for this to work, Nill has to unconditionally support Hitchcock, who has been known to rankle his players–going back to his first stint in Dallas. He adds that this shouldn’t be challenging for Nill, since Detroit did employ two of the toughest coaches in terms of mindset: Scotty Bowman and Mike Babcock.
- Finally, Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski rejects the nostalgia route as well, believing that it was absolutely the hire that Nill had to make. Hitchcock, Wyshynski writes, is exactly the guy to stop the Stars’ slide and make them a more defensively competent team. Further, the netminder between the pipes is irrelevant as Hitch succeeded regardless of the goalie during his other stops. Outside of perhaps Eddie Belfour, Hitchcock delivered winners in spite of goalies who rarely stole games for his team. Instead, it was defensive prowess that Hitchcock used to win, and will use again to get Dallas back to where they should be.
Evening Snapshots: Zaitsev, Polak, Bickell
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev suffered an injury tonight in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus captain Nick Foligno hit Zaitsev just as time expired in the first period, and Zaitsev left the ice awkwardly. The young defenseman tried to return in the second before leaving again. The Leafs hope the injury is not serious as they are close to signing Zaitsev to a seven-year deal.
- Making matters worse for the Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Roman Polak also went down with an injury tonight. Polak collided with Blue Jackets’ Boone Jenner in front of the Toronto net and labored back to the bench. He soon after left the bench and went to the dressing room. Polak’s injury leaves Toronto with only four defensemen for the rest of the game. And while this game has no impact for the Blue Jackets, the Maple Leafs’ playoff position depends on whether they gain a point tonight. One point will move the team to 3rd in the Atlantic and set to face the Ottawa Senators. If Toronto fails to gain a point, they will play the Washington Capitals as the second wild card seed.
- Carolina Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell plays his last NHL game tonight as the Hurricanes take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Bickell was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and just recently made his return last week. He announced yesterday that he will retire at season’s end. Bickell will finish his career with 66G and 70A in 394 games, and three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bryan Bickell To Retire After This Season
Carolina Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell will retire from the NHL after this season.
He has only played in nine games this season after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in November. After playing 10 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, Bickell returned to the Hurricanes’ lineup two games ago, and will play the final two games of his career this weekend.
Bickell told NHL.com of his decision on Saturday morning. Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters was close to tears when asked about his player’s decision. Peters coached Bickell when the two were with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate from 2008-2010. Peters called Bickell “a man’s man” and “a pro’s pro,” as well as “unbelievably brave.”
The Hurricanes will wear “29” stickers on their helmets to honor Bickell this weekend. Bickell will be in the starting lineup and on the first unit power-play. His teammates also surprised him this morning by attending a fundraising walk with “Bickell Brave” t-shirts on.
Bickell played parts of nine seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, winning three Stanley Cups. He’s perhaps most-known for his incredible run during the 2013 playoffs, where he scored nine goals and 17 points in 23 games. That included the game-tying goal in Game Six of the Finals, followed by Dave Bolland‘s Cup-winner just 17 seconds later.
Everyone at Pro Hockey Rumors wishes Bickell the best in his post-NHL days.
Snapshots: McNeill, Tolchinsky, Borgstrom
The Dallas Stars have recalled a pair of prospects for their final game of the season tomorrow against the Colorado Avalanche. Mark McNeill and Denis Gurianov are both on their way to Dallas and would be making their Stars debut should they be inserted into the lineup. McNeill, 24, came over in the Johnny Oduya trade at the deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, where he had been a first-round pick (18th overall) and top prospect. The big center has just one NHL game under his belt and is actually in the midst of his worst (though still effective) AHL season yet. He’ll need a breakthrough at the NHL level soon if he’s to stay in the plans of the Stars long-term, as he’s approaching the end of “prospect status”.
Gurianov is the Stars’ own first round pick from 2015 (12th overall) and has had a solid rookie campaign in the AHL after coming over from Russia this year. With 25 points in 54 games he’s only brushing the surface of his eventual power forward game, and still hasn’t quite filled out into his 6’3″ frame. He’ll be making his NHL debut, and hope to push for a full-time role in the next year or so at the top level.
- Speaking of young Russian wingers, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Sergey Tolchinsky from the Charlotte Checkers, while sending Andrew Poturalski back down. Tolchinsky has 22 points on the year in the AHL and still hasn’t replicated the immense scoring talent he showed for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL. The 22-year old has some of the slickest hands in professional hockey, but has had trouble at times with his big size disadvantage. When he gets the puck in space though, watch out as you might see a highlight every time.
- The Buffalo Sabres have brought Linus Ullmark back up, likely meaning that Anders Nilsson isn’t quite ready to get back on the ice just yet. Ullmark was sent down yesterday in what was apparently just a paper transaction, as neither the Buffalo Sabres nor the Rochester Americans played last night.
- Andy Strickland of Fox Sports is reporting that Henrik Borgstrom will return to the University of Denver next season, meaning the Florida Panthers won’t get him into their system just yet. The first-round pick had 43 points in 36 games for DU this year, and will play for the national championship tomorrow night against Minnesota-Duluth. The lanky center has a great shot at the NHL after his college career ends, but the questions from the World Juniors still remain. He disappeared in the tournament for Finland and was held scoreless, not the first time he’s played poorly at an international event. With Finland firing their head coach mid-tournament, perhaps it was just a symptom of a bad system. For Borgstrom, he’ll need to prove his doubters wrong by continuing the consistent play he’s shown this year in the NCHC.
Snapshots: Hughes, Hurricanes, Ekman-Larsson
It’s not a name that you may be familiar with just yet, but Jack Hughes is one to remember. The 15-year old was captain of the Toronto Marlboros, one of the best midget teams in the country and expected to go first overall in the upcoming OHL draft to the Barrie Colts. Eligible for the 2019 NHL entry draft, Hughes is an early (very early) favorite for the top few picks.
Instead, Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that Hughes—born in Orlando, Florida—will sign with the US National Development Team for the next part of his hockey career. As Dreger says, it will be interesting now to see how far he falls in the OHL draft as there have been examples before of players telling the league they would be heading somewhere else, only to sign with a stronger team (see: London Knights) after falling in the draft. Regardless of where he plays, Hughes is a phenom that deserves attention even at a young age.
- In addition to recalling Bryan Bickell less than five months after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the Carolina Hurricanes have brought up Andrew Poturalski from Charlotte and sent Lucas Wallmark and Phillip Di Giuseppe to the AHL. Poturalski went undrafted and signed with the Hurricanes last spring out of the University of New Hampshire. He has shown immense promise in his rookie AHL season, scoring 48 points in 69 games.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson‘s season has come to an end early, as the team granted him early release to head home and deal with the death of his mother. She had been fighting a battle with cancer all season, something that has weighed on Ekman-Larsson throughout the year. “This has been a very difficult year for me personally,” said Ekman-Larsson in a statement on the team website. “I’d like to thank the Coyotes organization and all of my teammates for their incredible support all season long. I’m sorry that I’ll miss our last three games but family comes first.”
- The Coyotes won’t be the only team without a top defender for the last few games, as the Florida Panthers will likely shut down Aaron Ekblad for the remainder of the season according to George Richards of the Miami Herald. Ekblad returned from a concussion on March 21st—a move that seemed reckless at the time—only to suffer headaches immediately after the game, causing coach Tom Rowe to admit his mistake. For the Panthers, who are eliminated from playoff contention, protecting your superstar defenseman is more important than winning some meaningless games down the stretch.