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Jack Johnson "Trending" Toward NHL Contract

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Jack Johnson is in Colorado Avalanche camp on a professional tryout, but that could be converted to an NHL deal before long. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports that things are “trending in the direction” of a new contract, though nothing has been filed just yet. An injury to Devon Toews has opened a potential spot for the veteran defenseman, who, according to Baugh’s source, had interest from other teams before deciding to head to Colorado.

The 34-year-old is coming off a one-year, $1.15MM deal with the New York Rangers, but is still earning a little more than $916K from the Pittsburgh Penguins in each of the next five seasons, thanks to a buyout in 2020. It’s been a brutal few years for Johnson, who has played in 950 regular season games over a long career but has posted terrible analytics for many of them. In a depth role perhaps he can be effective for the Avalanche, but there’s little chance of him being a real impact player for them at this point.

Lower-Body Injury For Pavel Francouz Last Season Was Surgery On Both Hips

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  • Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that basically cost him all of last season, relays Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The 31-year-old clarified that he had surgeries on both hips, the same procedures that former Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov had during his time with Colorado.  Francouz is slated to back up newcomer Darcy Kuemper this season with both goalies set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.

Cale Makar Recovering From Offseason Procedure

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  • When Cale Makar graced the ice today in a non-contact sweater, Colorado Avalanche fans panicked wondering what happened to their star defenseman. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic that Makar had a procedure in the offseason and the team will take their time getting him up to speed. Bednar didn’t seem concerned, explaining that Makar would be “good to go” soon enough.

Logan O’Connor Signs Three-Year Extension With Avalanche

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Logan O’Connor’s ice time has slowly gone up the last couple of seasons and he has been rewarded for his improvement as the Avalanche announced that they’ve signed the winger to a three-year contract extension.  Peter Baugh of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the deal carries a $1.05MM AAV.  GM Joe Sakic released the following statement:

Logan is a high-energy player who works hard, competes and brings grit and depth to our lineup. He is a strong skater and penalty killer and has continued to improve his game every year as a professional.

O’Connor was frequently shuffled back and forth to and from the taxi squad last season while also dealing with a lower-body injury but still got into a career-best 22 games with Colorado last season where he picked up three goals and two assists in just under 11 minutes a game in playing time.  He also saw action in a pair of playoff contests where he was held off the scoresheet.  To this point in his career, the 25-year-old has primarily been used in a checking role over his 43 total NHL appearances but with the departures of Joonas Donskoi and Brandon Saad this summer, there will be an opportunity for O’Connor to have a bigger role on the depth chart.

The fact that Colorado has handed him this deal now suggests that they expect O’Connor to be more of a regular player this coming season and have opted to sign him now over potentially needing to pay him more had they waited until next offseason.  Either way, O’Connor picks up a nice raise as he is scheduled to make the league minimum of $750K in salary in 2021-22 while actually carrying a cap hit below that price tag at $725K.

Devon Toews To Miss Start Of Season Following Surgery

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The Colorado Avalanche won’t have Devon Toews in the lineup on opening night, as head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic that the defenseman had shoulder surgery this offseason and has not yet been cleared for contact.

Toews, 27, had a brilliant first season in Colorado after the team acquired him from the New York Islanders last October. The trade, which cost the Avalanche two second-round picks, was followed quickly by a four-year, $16.4MM contract that showed just how much Toews’ new team believed in him. That belief paid off, as Toews became the regular partner of either Cale Makar or Samuel Girard and set new career-highs in goals and points despite playing just 53 games in the shortened season.

Locked in as a top-four option when healthy, Toews’ absence can only mean more minutes for young Bowen Byram and newcomer Ryan Murray as they piece together a group in the early part of the season. Bednar also explained that Kurtis MacDermid, acquired from the Seattle Kraken for a fourth-round pick, will start at defense but could end up playing some wing later on in the year.

The Avalanche still have a deep group on the back end, especially if Erik Johnson proves healthy again after playing in just four games during the 2020-21 campaign. The veteran is expected to be back, though it’s unclear what kind of role he’ll have now at age-33. The team also has Jack Johnson in training camp on a professional tryout, who could perhaps earn a spot if Colorado suffers any further injuries.

Snapshots: Fantilli, Avalanche, Tocchet

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Everyone wants a piece of top 2023 NHL Draft prospect Adam Fantilli, even those who probably don’t have a reasonable shot at him. The Ontario native made his development plans clear when he spurned the OHL for the USHL and then solidified his intent by committing to the University of Michigan last month. However, at least one team back home in Ontario is still hoping that he changes his mind. The North Bay Battalion have announced that they have acquired the OHL rights to Fantilli from the Saginaw Spirit in exchange for a package of picks. While most of the selections are conditional, Saginaw will at least land a 2022 sixth-round pick outright (not to mention the 2022 compensatory first-rounder already heading their way based on Fantilli’s “defected status.) Should North Bay’s gamble pay off, the Spirit would receive a 2024 second-round pick and 2025 second-round pick if Fantilli plays an OHL game in 2023-24 and an additional 2023 third-round pick and 2024 fourth-round pick if he plays any earlier. With Fantilli expected to join the Michigan Wolverines next year, it is highly unlikely that Saginaw will receive all four conditional picks. However, if the NCAA does not go as planned or if Fantilli decides to turn pro immediately after being drafted but is reassigned to the OHL, there is a slight chance that they could land those second-rounders. In reality though, Fantilli will likely shine at the college level and either be on an NHL roster or leading Michigan for one last season in 2023-24. The big scoring center is still worth the risk for North Bay, but the odds of a payoff are low.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have revealed a coaching shake-up in the minor league ranks. Brett Clark, assistant coach for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, will be unable to coach this season due to “new league protocols”. This implies that Clark is unvaccinated and cannot work with players during the 2021-22 campaign. In his place, Colorado has promoted Tim Branham, the head coach of their ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, to the AHL assistant position. Branham, 40, has held the head coach as well as GM role for the Grizzlies since 2013 but will finally get a chance to show what he can do at the next level. The team release notes that Clark hopes to return to coaching as soon as possible.
  • The top free agent coach right now is very likely Rick Tocchet, who mutually parted ways with the Arizona Coyotes this off-season and was a finalist for seemingly every other vacancy across the league. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan writes that Tocchet did have at least two offers to serve as an assistant in the NHL, but decided to go in a different direction. Tocchet has joined TNT as a studio analyst, Morgan notes, and will work alongside Wayne Gretzky during the network’s weekly broadcast. That is, until another head coach position opens up. Tocchet felt that he had to stay close to the game to stay relevant as a coaching candidate, but decided that working as an analyst could accomplish that goal. “It’s an opportunity to stay in the game, learn more about the game and reinvent yourself,” Tocchet said. “I think that every year, coaches have to hit the refresh button on something. You can’t bring the same thing to the table every year. You’ve got to learn new things because the game is always changing; players are always changing.” A former standout two-way forward in addition to an experienced coach, Tocchet will bring a lot to the analyst position – for however long it lasts.

 

Oskar Olausson Confirms Intent To Join OHL's Barrie Colts

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Colorado Avalanche Sign Artem Anisimov To PTO

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The Colorado Avalanche are bringing another veteran to training camp, signing Artem Anisimov to a professional tryout according to CapFriendly. Anisimov joins Jack Johnson who will also be in camp on a PTO, battling for an NHL contract.

Anisimov, 33, has been in limbo for several years, burdened by a cap hit much higher than his on-ice value. Once a consistent 20-goal, 40-point center, he has registered a total of 17 goals and 29 points over the last two seasons combined while playing for the Ottawa Senators. He happened to have a cap hit of $4.55MM during that time, making him a difficult player to target for any contender at the deadline, despite his history of success at the NHL level.

Given he only played 19 games this season with the Senators, who had obviously moved on to younger options, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to see Anisimov have to accept a PTO. It’s completely unclear what his value is at the NHL level at this point, though his possession statistics actually point to a player who could still be of some use in a limited role.

For Colorado, who were forced to watch Philipp Grubauer walk out the door in free agency because of their cap situation, signing veteran depth to professional tryouts is about the only way they can really add at this point. CapFriendly projects the team to have just under $2.4MM in cap space right now, but that is with just 12 forwards penciled into the roster. In reality, it’s even lower than that, and potential performance bonuses for Bowen Byram could result in cap overages for next season if they push right up to the $81.5MM upper limit this year.

That means whoever comes in to fill out the roster will have to be at or near the league minimum, something that may be realistic for a player like Anisimov. In fact, there actually could be some value here in a veteran of 771 NHL games. Remember that PTOs are not necessarily only for the team that signs them; Anisimov will be showcasing himself for the entire league, and can still sign an NHL deal with any team.

Pavel Francouz Has Fully Recovered From Lower-Body Injury

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  • Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that caused him to miss all of last season, reports Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 31-year-old has just one full NHL season under his belt but clearly, Colorado is comfortable with the expectation that he’ll be able to return at a similar level as 2019-20 as they didn’t add any extra depth between the pipes although they did re-sign Jonas Johansson who briefly served as their backup last season.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Jack Johnson To PTO

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The Colorado Avalanche are giving another chance to veteran defenseman Jack Johnson, who has signed a professional tryout agreement with the club according to CapFriendly. That means Johnson will attend training camp with the Avalanche in the hopes of earning an NHL contract after spending last season with the New York Rangers.

Notably, Johnson is still earning a $916,667 from the Pittsburgh Penguins this season and for four more years after a buyout in 2020. That cut his five-year, $16.25MM deal short, but Johnson earned an additional $1.15MM last season from the Rangers on a one-year deal.

The Rangers didn’t get much value for their money, as the now 34-year-old Johnson appeared in just 13 games, averaging fewer than 17 minutes a night. Once a legitimate two-way force, racking up points for the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets, the veteran defenseman’s game has fallen completely off a cliff in recent years and is just trying to hold onto a roster spot at this point. Selected third overall in 2005, he has played in 950 regular season games and another 30 postseason contests.

A tryout does not guarantee Johnson anything other than an opportunity to show he still has something left in the tank. Often, these deals are as much about showcasing a player to other teams in the league as the one the tryout is actually signed with. Colorado has a deep, effective defensive depth chart, meaning it might actually be easier for Johnson to catch on somewhere else. At any rate, he has somewhere to go for training camp as he looks to land another NHL contract.

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