Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer had a dominant 2020-21 season, earning himself a Vezina Trophy nomination along the way as he posted a 1.95 GAA along with a .922 SV% in 40 games. That has him extremely well-positioned heading into unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer, even in a flat-cap marketplace. However, talks on his next deal haven’t started yet as his agent Allain Roy told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that those discussions will wait until Colorado’s playoff run comes to an end. Grubauer is in the final season of a three-year, $10MM contract and could potentially double that on the open market this summer with a couple of recent comparables at $6MM or higher.
Avalanche Rumors
Colorado Signs Andreas Wingerli
The Avalanche have added to their prospect pool as they announced the signing of center Andreas Wingerli to a one-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an AAV of $925K including signing and performance bonuses.
The 23-year-old was under contract with Skelleftea of the SHL for next season but earlier today, his deal was terminated so it was only a matter of time before his destination was announced. Wingerli has seen regular action in Sweden’s top league since 2015-16 where he has developed into a reliable two-way presence while being known for his speed. This season, he played in 50 games, finishing fifth in scoring with a dozen goals and 16 assists along with 66 penalty minutes.
His performance this year helped him earn a spot on Sweden’s entry at the World Championships. While they didn’t qualify for the medal round, Wingerli had a decent showing, notching a goal and two assists in seven games while averaging just over 10 minutes a night on the fourth line. Clearly, he did enough to catch the eye of the Avs who signed him soon after his tournament came to an end.
Colorado has three regular forwards plus trade deadline acquisition Carl Soderberg set to reach unrestricted free agency this summer and they won’t be able to keep their whole core intact. Accordingly, they’ll be relying on some low-cost depth and with Wingerli’s deal being an entry-level one, he’s someone that could conceivably be part of their plans next season.
NHL Upholds Nazem Kadri’s Eight-Game Suspension
June 2: Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reports that Kadri’s hearing with the neutral arbitrator is set for Friday.
May 31: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the eight-game suspension that the Department of Player Safety assessed to Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri. Kadri had appealed the decision looking for a reduction, but Bettman concluded that the discipline handed out was warranted.
In the decision, Bettman notes that the NHLPA attempted to compare Kadri’s disciplinary history to that of Tom Wilson, Radko Gudas, Brad Marchand, and Zac Rinaldo, arguing that recent decisions regarding those players “illustrate the concept that if a Player plays clean for a given amount of time,” he should not be considered a player who repeatedly violates the league rules. The commissioner did not agree with this assertion, even directly examining the records of each player and comparing them to Kadri. While the NHLPA asserted that a four-game suspension would have been the correct discipline, Bettman disagreed.
The Avalanche forward can now appeal to a neutral arbitrator, though that process only examines the methodology used by the league to determine the length of the suspension and does not make a ruling on the actual incident itself. Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey now reports that Kadri will indeed pursue this route as Wilson did in 2018. In that case, the 20-game suspension that Wilson received was reduced to 14 by the neutral arbitrator Shyam Das, the same one that Kadri will have hear his case.
Kadri has already served three games of the suspension, all Colorado wins.
2021 Vezina Finalists Announced
Over the next week, the NHL will be releasing the finalists for all of the major regular season awards. First up is the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.
The finalists this season are Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights, Philipp Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche, and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Fleury, 36, has been written off several times in his long career but seems to just get better with age. He posted the best regular season of his career in 2020-21, recording a .928 save percentage while splitting the net with Robin Lehner. The tandem already won the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the league, and Fleury personally ranked among the top of almost every category. Despite winning nearly 500 games in the NHL, Fleury has never been a Vezina finalist before.
Grubauer, 29, is also a finalist for the first time. The Avalanche netminder posted a .922 save percentage in 40 appearances, leading the league in shutouts with seven. His record was impeccable, losing only nine games in regulation all season. Though Grubauer has put up numbers like this before, he has never carried a heavier workload. His career to this point may be easy to overlook, but among goaltenders with at least 200 starts, Grubauer’s .920 save percentage would put him fifth all-time.
The two new finalists will have to slay a giant if they want the award though, as Vasilevskiy is back again. The Lightning goaltender has been a Vezina finalist for four consecutive seasons, winning the award in 2019. For the fourth year in a row, he had led the NHL in wins, this time taking home 31 of his 42 appearances. His .925 save percentage matched his career-high (the number that won him the Vezina) and his goals-against average dropped even further. Even though he’s only 26, it seems clear that Vasilevskiy is destined to go down as one of the best goaltenders the NHL has ever seen.
Snapshots: NHL Draft Forwards, Rangers Front Office, Johnson
Just three days after NHL Central Scouting released its top five lists for North American and international players, NHL.com’s Mike Morreale released his list of the top 10 forwards for upcoming NHL draft. With no dominant player at the top of draft lists this year, most draft rankings have differed significantly from list to list, and Morreale’s is no different. After NHL Central Scouting listed Michigan center Matthew Beniers as the No. 6-ranked North American skater, Morreale has him as the top NHL forward in this upcoming draft, moving him ahead of names such as Mason McTavish, Kent Johnson and Dylan Guenther.
McTavish, who has moved up the draft rankings quite a bit since his performance at the recent WJC-18’s, ranking as the second-best forward in the draft. He notched five goals and 11 points in seven games for gold-medal winning Team Canada. Sweden’s William Eklund, Johnson and Guenther round out the top five.
- It looks as if the New York Rangers front office continues to get smaller and smaller as the New York Post’s Larry Brooks confirms that Nick Bobrov, who has served as the team’s director of European scouting over the last six years has left the organization. Bobrov has had a hand in quite a bit of the Rangers’ drafts over the years, giving the team quite an international flavor in their young prospects. Bobrov joins a list of exiting executives, including the firings of President John Davidson, GM Jeff Gorton and head coach David Quinn as well as the resignation of Brian Leetch of Hockey Ops.
- The Colorado Avalanche got a welcome sight on the ice when defenseman Erik Johnson stepped onto the ice this morning for an optional morning skate, according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. The veteran blueliner has been out since January with an upper-body injury and was ruled out for the season. Head coach Jared Bednar said he doubted that Johnson would return at some point in the playoffs, however. “I don’t know about him being fully cleared or anything like that to actually play,” said Bednar. “He’s just taking it step-by-step. … As he feels better, he’s doing more.”
Logan O'Connor Could Return This Round
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now (Twitter link) that winger Logan O’Connor may be available to play at some point in their series against Vegas. The 24-year-old played in 22 games during the regular season before suffering a lower-body injury in late March. While he is more of a role player, having someone that’s well-rested could be helpful later in the round if Bednar needs to tweak his lines.
Nazem Kadri To Appeal Suspension
May 27: Colorado head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post today that the appeal was in the “conclusion stage.” Today’s hearing was with the commissioner, which means Kadri can still appeal to a neutral arbitrator depending on the decision given in this first stage.
May 23: Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri has decided to appeal the eight-game suspension that he received earlier this week for an illegal hit on St. Louis defenseman, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). He has already served the first two games (the second of which was today) so the process will need to move fairly quickly for him to have a chance of having any games shaved off.
The process can go through two separate stages. The first is a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman who can decide whether or not to uphold the eight-game ruling or to reduce it. If he opts to uphold it, Kadri can then appeal to have it heard by a neutral discipline arbitrator. Notably, this is the route Washington’s Tom Wilson took to have his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 back in 2018. However, it’s worth noting that this process takes some time; it was 13 days between Wilson’s hearing for the arbitrator to issue a ruling while taking a month after the incident took place to have a hearing. If this was to follow a similar timeline if it gets that far, Kadri’s entire suspension would have been served and a ruling would only reduce the absence on paper, if at all.
While the NHLPA is initiating this process through Kadri’s request, Line Movement’s Nick Kypreos reports (Twitter link) that Kadri is likely to hire outside counsel as well for his hearing. Players don’t always go that route but he will have ample representation for his hearing with Bettman which will likely take place over the next few days.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Trent Miner
The Colorado Avalanche have signed another one of their prospects, inking Trent Miner to a three-year entry-level contract. The young goaltender would have become an unrestricted free agent if not signed by June 1, but won’t have to worry about re-entering the draft.
Miner, 20, was originally selected 202nd overall by the Avalanche in 2019, but has quickly become more than just a seventh-round lottery ticket. In 15 games for the Vancouver Giants this season he posted a .915 save percentage, but it is the .903 he put up in six appearances for the Colorado Eagles that is so impressive. Miner even collected his first shutout at the AHL level when he blanked the Tucson Roadrunners in February, before he returned to the WHL for its shortened season.
In 84 games with the Giants, Miner has posted a 48-28-5 record and .910 save percentage. He’ll likely return to the Eagles for the 2021-22 season when this NHL contract kicks in, giving him a chance to show that his game lends itself better to the professional ranks than junior. At the very least, he gives the Avalanche another goaltender to plug into the pipeline and fill one of the minor league spots while they deal with the position at the NHL level. Philipp Grubauer, Devan Dubnyk, and Jonas Johansson are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, meaning there could be some opportunity for younger goaltenders to move up.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Alex Beaucage
Not a bad week so far for Alex Beaucage. On Sunday, he scored two goals in game four of the QMJHL semi-finals, on Tuesday his Victoriaville Tigres clinched a berth in the Presidents Cup finals, and today he has signed his entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche. The team announced the three-year contract this afternoon. Per CapFriendly, the deal carries a $925K AAV and breaks down as follows:
2021-22: $750K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $82.5K games played bonus
2022-23: $775K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus
2023-24: $832.5K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus
Beaucage, 19, was selected 78th overall in 2019 by the Avalanche, part of an impressive class that has already produced NHL talent in Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook. He was the team’s fifth selection that year, but has already shown exactly why the Avalanche jumped at the opportunity to select him. In his first post-draft season, Beaucage recorded 40 goals in 63 games for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, finishing tied for third in the league. This season he came back and put up 14 goals in 14 games for the Huskies before a late-season trade took him to Victoriaville. In the postseason he has been a dominant force, posting six goals and 17 points in ten games.
Though not an elite skater, the 6’1″ forward has learned to use his strength and excellent shot to create goals from anywhere in the offensive zone. Before this season Corey Pronman of The Athletic listed him as one of the Colorado prospects with NHL potential, and that certainly hasn’t changed in the shortened QMJHL year. If anything, Beaucage has established himself as another player to watch in the Avalanche system and one who could quickly work his way through the minor leagues if his goal-scoring ability transitions to the professional level.
For Colorado, that 2019 class is looking like an incredible piece of managerial work from GM Joe Sakic and his staff. Not only was the team already one of the most dangerous groups in the NHL but continue to supplement their roster with homegrown talent.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Jean-Luc Foudy
The Colorado Avalanche have a few days off between playoff series, so why not do a little planning for the future. The Avalanche announced today that they have signed prospect Jean-Luc Foudy to a three-year entry-level contract.
Foudy, 19, split this season between Sweden’s Hockey Ettan (third tier) and with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, eligible for minor league hockey only because the OHL never returned to play. The third-round pick from 2020 scored three goals and registered 14 points in 34 games for the Eagles, playing almost every game as an 18-year-old before his birthday earlier this month. Though he was a team-worst -17, even playing at the AHL was an impressive development step for the young forward.
He is now stuck in that unique spot with several other OHL prospects who are too young to be eligible for the AHL again next season. If Foudy fails to make the Avalanche out of camp, he would be forced to return to his junior team the Windsor Spitfires. That is the most likely scenario, but still an odd one after playing an entire (albeit shortened) professional season.
Consider him a strong candidate for Canada’s World Junior team next winter after winning a Hlinka-Gretzky silver medal. His older brother Liam Foudy is currently suiting up for his country at the IIHF World Championship.