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Los Angeles Kings At 50-Contract Limit

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Lost in the shuffle of the Los Angeles Kings’ recent signings of 2021 draft picks Brandt Clarke and Samuel Helenius and the extension of prospect defenseman Jacob Moverare is that the team has painted themselves into a corner with the league’s contract limit. An oft-overlooked rule in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement is that no club can have more than 50 players signed to standard player contracts at one time for the current league year. Upon signing Moverare on Friday afternoon, the Kings hit that 50-contract mark. This may force the team to make a move before heading into the season without any flexibility.

There is an exception to the rule, but it will only be of minimal use at best to the Kings in mitigating their contract crunch. Similar to the entry-level slide rule, players aged 18 or 19 and signed to an ELC do not count against the 50-contract limit if assigned to their junior team, so long as they have not played in 11 NHL games that season. L.A. has four players who fit that age range: Quinton Byfield, Helge Grans, and the recently-signed Helenius and Clarke. However, the 2020 No. 2 overall pick Byfield is not going back to junior and Europeans Grans and Helenius were never selected in the CHL Import Draft and will not be playing junior in North America. That leaves only Clarke as a potential candidate to return to junior and save a roster spot. He technically does not count against the roster limit until playing in the requisite games, so L.A. is really at 49 contracts despite having 50 players signed; and it should stay that way. Though a talented top-ten pick, it is highly likely that Clarke will return to to the OHL’s Barrie Colts this season. In the event that he astounds in training camp and cracks the roster though, the Kings would be back at the 50-contract limit.

Even at 49 contracts, the Kings could still be looking to add some flexibility. L.A. has vowed to improve their roster this season, but could be handicapping themselves in trade talks and may even prevent themselves from taking full advantage of waivers with their limited roster flexibility. While the Kings too could lose players in early-season waivers, which would open up contract slots, that is not something they can depend on. Even if the club is content with their current roster and does not want to add any players early on, having no contract flexibility could hurt them down the road at the trade deadline or during the late-season college and junior free agency rushes. Look for L.A. to make a move at some point in time to add some flexibility, regardless of the end result with young Clarke.

The Tampa Bay Lighting (48 contracts with two potential exemptions) and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights (47 contracts with one potential exemption) could be other teams looking to add some flexibility, not to mention some salary cap space.

AHL Exemption Coming For Some CHL Prospects

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In the 2020-21 season, with the OHL not playing at all and the other two CHL leagues playing shortened schedules, many prospects that would not normally be eligible for the AHL played in the minor leagues. According to the CHL-NHL agreement, many of those players would be forced back to junior for 2021-22, if they had not yet reached the age of 20. For a player like Cole Perfetti, it meant he would either have to make the Winnipeg Jets or return to the Saginaw Spirit, despite scoring 26 points in 32 games for the Manitoba Moose, clearly proving he can compete at the AHL level.

Special circumstances need special rules though, and Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the finishing touches are being put on an agreement that will allow junior eligible players who played 20 or more AHL games this season to return to the AHL in 2021-22. Perfetti, to stay with the same example, would not be required to go back to the OHL even though he is still just 19 years old.

The move would be a huge boost for the AHL, as the minor league could now have more young star power competing next season, but it is also a huge loss for the junior leagues, the OHL in particular. Players like Seth Jarvis or Connor Zary from the WHL didn’t have time to reach that 20-game threshold before their junior season started up again, even though they did play well in the short minor league stint.

One interesting case is Jamie Drysdale of the Anaheim Ducks. The 19-year-old defenseman played just 14 games at the AHL level, but that’s not because he went back to junior. Drysdale instead joined the NHL club for 24 games. Though he is likely to stay with the Ducks for next season, it is interesting to note that under the proposed rule, he would appear not to be eligible for AHL action if he struggles at all to start the year. Dreger does tweet that the eventual agreement will be a little more complicated, so perhaps there will be exceptions for players like Drysdale.

2021 CHL Import Draft Results

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The CHL held its annual import draft today, where teams from across the Canadian junior leagues get to select the rights of players around the world. Often these are recently drafted prospects, or those seen to have a good chance at next year’s draft. Being selected has no guarantee that the player will actually ever suit up for the team, as Filip Chytil proved in 2017. Chytil was selected seventh overall by the North Bay Battalion but ended up spending the year with the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack after impressing in his first training camp.

There are clear benefits from picking at the top of the draft though, as the Sudbury Wolves found out in 2018-19. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the third-overall selection and ended up winning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player. Because things in the hockey world were so unclear last season, only 66 players ended up being picked in the 2020 draft. Even selections as high as tenth overall were forfeited. This time around things will be a little different as the CHL prepares for a return to a normal schedule in 2021-22.

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Minor Transactions: 6/23/21

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As we cross the middle of the week, many minor transactions are coming up on the wire. Many teams are trying to solidify depth for the 2021-22 campaign as a return to normal operations is expected throughout the hockey world. You can keep up on today’s slate of minor transactions right here:

  • The AHL’s Rockford IceHogs announced today via their team website that they’ve re-signed goalie Cale Morris to a one-year contract. After four seasons (three as the starter) for the University of Notre Dame, Morris, who went undrafted, signed with the IceHogs prior to the 2020-21 campaign. As Rockford faced goalie uncertainty this year with expected starter Kevin Lankinen working his way up to the Chicago Blackhawks, Morris impressed in a backup role. Playing in seven contests, Morris amassed a .923 save percentage in spite of a 2-3-0 record. The Larkspur, Colorado native will likely split time between Rockford and the ECHL’s Indy Fuel next season as Chicago’s goalie depth chart is replenished.
  • Another AHL club made moves today as well, as the Cleveland Monsters made two additions on offense, announced today on the team’s website. One of them was Justin Scott, who’ll return to the team for a sixth straight season. Signing with Cleveland after his last OHL season, Scott’s been a member of the club since 2016-17. He served as an assistant captain this past season, posting seven points in 18 games. Scott should be a solid voice in the room, as the Blue Jackets will rely heavily on Cleveland in the coming seasons to develop their next generation of players. The team also announced the re-signing of Tristan Mullin, who got into 15 games with Cleveland last year after his college career ended with the University of Vermont. The 6′ 2″ forward showed flashes of potential, scoring three goals, but still might spend time in the ECHL next year with a restocked Cleveland roster.
  • A rather large trade was announced this morning in the QMJHL via the league’s Twitter account. The Acadie-Bathurst Titan acquired Washington Capitals first-round selection Hendrix Lapierre and a 2023 seventh-round draft pick from the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in exchange for forwards Julien Bourget and Alexis Dubé along with a myriad of draft selections, including first-rounders in 2022 and 2023. Lapierre was one of the most highly-regarded prospects in the 2020 draft before a season laced with injury limited him to just 17 points in 19 games. Lapierre, healthy this season, improved mightily on the scoresheet, scoring 31 points in a shortened 21-game season with Chicoutimi. He’ll now spend his last season in the OHL with Acadie-Bathurst as he continues his development.
  • Teams will be adding a couple of names to their draft boards soon, as CapFriendly clarified the draft re-entry status of two NHL prospects. Mathew Hill, a former sixth-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks, and Eemeli Rasanen, a former second-round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will both re-enter the draft in July. One of the last selections taken before Kyle Dubas became general manager, Rasanen appealed with his physical presence and 6′ 7″ frame. However, the Finnish defenseman has struggled immensely overseas, posting no points this year with HPK in the Liiga. He’ll re-enter the draft as a 22-year-old overager, and it’s unlikely he’ll be selected at this point. Hill, just 20 years old, has also failed to pan out in the way Anaheim wished. With his Barrie Colts not playing a season this year in the OHL, and Hill seeing just three games of action in Demark’s junior league on loan, his future in the NHL remains extremely uncertain.

Minor Transactions: 06/21/21

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With both the Expansion and Entry Drafts quickly approaching, minor transactions are popping up all across the hockey world. As teams rush to meet expansion requirements and gain a more detailed idea of their organizational makeup ahead of the draft, expect this steady flow of minor deals to continue throughout the summer. You can read all about today’s transactions right here:

  • While their big sibling made bigger news today by re-signing Matt Nieto, the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have announced a slew of moves. Per the team’s site, forwards Joe Garreffa, Krystof Hrabik, and Kyle Topping all signed one-year AHL extensions with the Sharks’ affiliate. Garreffa only got into two games with the Barracuda in 2020-21, but spent 59 games in the ECHL between the Allen Americans and Orlando Solar Bears, tallying 42 points for a decent first professional season. Hrabik played in only one regular-season matchup but had two goals in three games during the AHL’s Pacific Division postseason tournament. Topping got the most AHL action out of the trio, tallying a single goal in four games with the baby Sharks.
  • The Barracuda also dipped into the free-agent market, signing a pair of WHL players. The bigger fish of the two is former Portland Winterhawks captain Nick Cicek. Cicek, a Winnipeg-born, 201-pound defenseman, had by far his best offensive campaign to date in 2020-21, tallying 21 points in just 24 WHL games. It was a career-high for him after tallying 13 and 14 points in his previous two seasons. Their other signing, Montana Onyebuchi from the Kamloops Blazers, carries a somewhat similar development pattern. Similar in size (6′ 3″, 209 pounds) to Cicek, Onyebuchi also had an offensive breakout campaign with 12 points in 20 games. The Barracuda hope that the two overagers can boost their defense in the coming years.

WHL Cancels 2021 Postseason

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A difficult season for junior hockey in Canada continues. The Western Hockey League, whose teams did not begin regular season play until late February at the earliest, will play no more than their shortened 24-game season this year. The league has announced that there will be no 2021 WHL Playoffs due to “the ongoing challenges with COVID-19”. The season will conclude when all teams have completed their schedules, which for some is as early as later this month, and no league champion will be named.

On the heels of the announcement last week that that the CHL Memorial Cup would also not be played, the WHL’s decision not to host a postseason further limits their players’ abilities to showcase themselves to NHL teams. With the QMJHL facing a similar decision and the OHL still out of action this season, this is simply yet another blow to NHL front offices and their ability to evaluate top Canadian prospects ahead of July’s 2021 NHL Draft, not to mention the prospects hoping to be selected. While there have been talks of a CHL Top Prospects pre-draft tournament, such an event will not make up for a missed postseason, or in the OHL’s case a missed season.

Alas, the league is trying to put the health and safety of their players and staff first, even if that means impacting their draft chances. They also faced logistical struggles due to teams from multiple provinces and the United States participating, as travel is still restricted at Canadian borders. In the WHL’s release, they summarize the situation with the following:

We remained hopeful that public health conditions would improve, but unfortunately that is not the reality we see in front of us today. The ongoing challenges with non-essential interprovincial and international cross-border travel leave us no alternative but to cancel the 2021 WHL Playoffs.

Scheduling Notes: World Championships, Olympics, CHL Top Prospects Event

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With the NHL Trade Deadline passed and the season proceeding as planned (for the most part), not to mention the college season coming to an end with European seasons soon to follow, it may seem as though the hockey schedule has reached a quiet period. However, there are still some major events on the horizon and planning never stops, especially with numerous challenges still being faced. The next big hockey event, even before the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs really hit their stride, is the 2021 IIHF World Championship – and that is part of the problem. While the World Championships typically take place during the NHL’s postseason, the continued delays of the league’s schedule is going to create an even larger conundrum this year. The tournament, scheduled to take place in Latvia from May 21 to June 6, are proceeding as planned. However, the NHL regular season is currently on pace to end on May 16, if not later, due to the delays created by the recent COVID-19 outbreak within the Vancouver Canucks locker room. This means that when the World Championship begins, the postseason will have just begun and national teams will be without options from 16 NHL teams. There are still ongoing concerns related to the Coronavirus as well, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger. He notes that there are talks that the World Championship could take place in a bubble format. This could mean that new entrants are not permitted or, at the very least, would need to quarantine. Realistically, this means that players from NHL playoff teams are unlikely to play in the tournament at all and those on teams whose regulars seasons end late, they too might not be available from the get-go, if at all. The Worlds could have a very different look this year, but after the 2020 event was canceled, the IIHF seems determined to make it work one way or another.

  • The 2022 Winter Olympic Games are less than a year away and with the re-scheduled 2020 Summer Games proceeding this summer, there is little doubt that the Winter Games will happen. The NHL has not officially announced that they are returning to the Olympics, but national committees have been operating as if they will. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that Hockey Canada specifically has already begun trimming their list of roster candidates for the upcoming tournament. He states that the Canadian brain trust began with a long list of possibilities but that his has been reduced by about 20% already by Doug Armstrong and his staff and the hope it to get down to a “medium list” by the end of the season. This will allow the team to hold an Olympic camp this summer to further evaluate their candidates and form a short list before next season. At that time, LeBrun notes that the yet-to-be-named coaching staff will be part of the final roster cuts. However, for this plan to proceed as Hockey Canada hopes, the NHL and NHLPA need to first confirm the return to the Olympics and then officially permit Olympic camps to be held this summer. There are still steps that need to be taken before Olympic fever can truly start to heat up ahead of next year’s games.
  • With the OHL still out of action and the WHL and QMJHL having shortened seasons, there are still efforts being made to help out NHL teams and CHL prospects alike. Dreger notes that the two leagues are working together to hold a “Top Prospects Event”, likely to be a small tournament, in early July before the 2021 NHL Draft. With this year’s draft staying put as scheduled, despite some discussion of a delay, both leagues want to do their best to make up for missed time for Canada’s top junior prospects with a chance for NHL teams to evaluate talent ahead of the draft. Planning for the event is still in its early stages, but Dreger reports that the league would like to replicate the Edmonton playoff bubble from last year for the pre-draft tournament, but will first need permission from the Albertan government. There is still clearly work to be done on these plans with not much time left, but all draft stakeholders stand to gain from the event taking place and the push will continue for as long as possible.

Prospect Notes: OHL, U18, Kostin

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The Ontario Hockey League hasn’t played a game in over a year. The junior league is the last member of the CHL still not playing, but there was hope that that could change in the next few weeks and allow young players to get back on the ice. That looks unlikely now, as David Hains of Queen’s Park Briefing reports that due to the changing health situation the OHL season has been “benched until further notice.” Ontario’s Minister of Sport Lisa MacLeod told Hains that it would be “irresponsible” to send the young players back into action right now.

It seemed in March as though things were moving towards a shortened season, with MacLeod even confirming that the OHL and the province had reached an agreement on the return to play that has since been thrown out. Though the door hasn’t been completely closed, it is looking less and less likely that there will be any meaningful OHL season.

  • The 2021 U.S. U18 roster has been announced for the upcoming World Championship, scheduled to take place in Frisco and Plano, Texas starting later this month. The group includes Jack Hughes–no not that Jack Hughes (or even that Jack Hughes)–who is one of the top prospects for the 2022 draft. Hughes, 17, is committed to Northeastern for the 2022-23 season. The rest of the roster includes many other top prospects and should be an impressive group for the upcoming tournament.
  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic pointed out on Twitter that Klim Kostin is currently playing game seven in the KHL conference finals, and could be headed to North America should his club fail to advance. The 21-year-old Kostin signed his entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues way back in 2017 but went to the KHL on loan this year when there was still uncertainty surrounding the NHL and AHL seasons. In four games with the Blues last season, he scored a goal and could be an option down the stretch for them once he sorted out visa and quarantine issues. (As of this writing, Kostin’s team is up 2-1 and he has an assist.)

CHL Cancels 2021 Memorial Cup

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The WHL and QMJHL have been back in action for a while now, they won’t be chasing a Memorial Cup this season. The CHL has announced that the 2021 Memorial Cup has been canceled. The full statement reads:

There is no question that the 2020-21 season has been difficult for all involved in CHL hockey. We have focused on making decisions that put the health and safety of our players, staff and the entire CHL family first, while balancing the need to provide our players with the best hockey development in the world. 

With the WHL and QMHL in the midst of shortened seasons and the OHL continuing return-to-play discussions with the Ontario government, unfortunately, we have once again had to make the difficult decision to cancel the Memorial Cup. As a league, we waited as long as we could in hopes that this was not the decision that we were going to have to make. Regrettably, we do not see a path in which we will be able to produce champions in our three member leagues due to border restrictions and quarantining requirements.

The Memorial Cup is steeped in tradition and is one of the most difficult trophies to win in all of sport. We look forward to awarding it next season to the CHL championship team that has earned the right to hoist it.

Further decisions regarding the timing and location of the 2022 Memorial Cup will be announced at a later date. 

This is another development event that the 2021 draft class will now miss, further obscuring their full scouting profiles ahead of the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. The Memorial Cup is where many CHL players truly forge their name in junior hockey, performing on the biggest stage to determine a national champion.

The Cup itself has been handed out since 1919, but was not awarded last year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The hope was that things would have improved enough to host the tournament this year, but as explained in the statement, the leagues are unlikely to even crown champions in their shortened seasons. The Halifax Mooseheads, who took home the Cup in 2019, remain champions for another year.

Of note, this could mean that CHL prospects can return in time for the AHL playoffs, depending what the minor league decides in regards to hosting a postseason. Players like Connor Zary and Seth Jarvis had been playing incredibly well in the professional ranks before being forced back to the WHL when it opened up due to their age.

Snapshots: Bowman, Kiersted, OHL

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As expected, accomplished Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman will be the next leader of Team USA. Sportsnet’s Frank Seravalli reports that USA Hockey has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday where they will officially name Bowman as the GM for the U.S. entry into the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Given the NHL’s absence at the most recent Olympics paired with the quality of American players who have blossomed into superstars over the past eight years, expectations are high for Team USA. A two-time Stanley Cup winning GM, whose current rebuild seems to be moving along nicely as well, Bowman has found great success in his career and appears ready for the challenge. With a familiar face in Chicago icon Patrick Kane leading the way, Bowman’s Team USA could be legitimate contenders for gold. He won’t be alone in the decision-making, either; Seravalli notes that Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin will be named an assistant of Bowman’s as well. Nashville’s David Poile and Carolina’s Don Waddell are also likely to be considered for the brain trust, among others.

  • North Dakota defenseman Matt Kiersted, considered by many to be the top college free agent available this year, is already having to chip away at his list of suitors. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that 20+ NHL clubs have already shown interest in the dependable puck-mover, and he has begun to whittle that down to a “workable” number. What criteria Kiersted is using to choose between what are virtually identical entry-level offers is unknown and there has been few whispers of which teams might remain in the running. However, Russo notes that the Elk River, Minnesota native will definitely keep his hometown Minnesota Wild in consideration. Russo adds that the impending Expansion Draft could strip the Wild of one of their starting defensemen and there could be NHL opportunity right away for the local product. Among other likely landing spots, it is hard to ignore the immense North Dakota presence in the Ottawa Senators’ pipeline, which could link the team to Kiersted and fellow premiere UFA Jordan Kawaguchi.
  • The OHL’s shortened season is expected to begin soon and teams would prefer that their players return as soon as possible. However, the league has yet to set a firm date, seemingly dragging its feet with actually opening up play as opposed to merely discussing it. This is posing quite a conundrum for some top prospects, writes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Many top junior-age draft picks in recent years have been playing in the AHL this season with the OHL out of commission. This includes Washington’s Connor McMichael, Los Angeles’s Quinton Byfield, Montreal’s Jan Mysak and Carolina’s Ryan Suzuki, while Anaheim’s Jamie Drysdale would have to stay put with the Ducks. Per the CHL Transfer Agreement, these players must return to the OHL once the season begins if they are not on NHL rosters. However, without a solid start date and facing a quarantine period, it is a difficult ask to suggest that these talented young players leave their AHL clubs and head for the unknown. McMichael has been outspoken on the subject, stating “I honestly want to stay here and just play pro hockey. I think it would be best for my development” and Friedman feels the others likely share in that sentiment. Will there be an exception made to allow this group to stay put to close out the season? Or will they be forced to take yet another break from hockey to quarantine only to return to a junior game that they have outgrown?

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