Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Mikael Pyyhtia
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed another young forward, this time inking Mikael Pyyhtia to a three-year, entry-level contract. Pyyhtia is coming off his second full season with TPS in Finland’s Liiga.
Selected 114th overall in 2020, the 20-year-old winger exploded offensively this season, scoring 21 goals and 35 points in just 56 games. That production didn’t slow down in the postseason, where he added eight goals and 13 points in 18 games for TPS. It’s performances like his that should give Blue Jackets fans so much hope, as they try to continue to build a supporting cast for some of their top young players.
There was actually no rush to getting him under contract, given that the Blue Jackets held his rights until June, 2024, meaning that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen must have seen enough to suggest that Pyyhtia could help the organization much sooner. His entry-level deal will kick in next season regardless of where he plays, making him a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
Alexandre Texier To Play In World Championship
After missing the last chunk of the season, Alexandre Texier is set to return to competition. The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that Texier will compete for France at the upcoming IIHF World Championship, set to start later this month in Finland. Blue Jackets’ general manager Jarmo Kekalainen released the following statement:
Alexandre Texier reached out to let us know that he was ready to get back on the ice and asked our permission to participate in the World Championships. We were very happy to hear that he is doing well physically and mentally and ready to take this next step in his journey. We are excited that he will be representing France at the World Championships and look forward to his return to the Blue Jackets next season.
Texier, 22, last played on January 26 before missing the rest of the season due to a set of unfortunate circumstances. He broke a finger which took him out of the lineup for more than a month before the team announced in March that he was taking a leave of absence. Stating that Texier had “experienced personal losses of people very close to him,” the Blue Jackets granted the leave to return to Europe and be with his family.
Hopefully, a return to the ice at the Worlds means that Texier will also be ready for training camp later this year and can resume his blossoming NHL career. This was the first season of a two-year contract he signed last summer, which carries a cap hit of $1.525MM. In 36 games before he was injured, Texier managed to tally 11 goals and 20 points, flashing that dazzling speed and skill combination that made him such an appealing prospect.
Of course, there was also some rumbling this season about his availability in trade, though that disappeared quickly when he took his leave. It doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Blue Jackets to move a promising young forward, though they certainly do have the replacements in the pipeline. With names like Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, and Kent Johnson all in the fold now, there’s lots of young talent up front in Columbus looking to make an impact.
France will kick off their tournament on May 13 against Slovakia.
Kirill Marchenko Signs With Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets have landed a top prospect, inking Kirill Marchenko to a two-year entry-level contract. Marchenko has spent the last several seasons in the KHL while the Blue Jackets waited patiently for an opportunity to sign him.
Marchenko, 21, was selected 49th overall in 2018, falling to the second round despite an obvious size and skill combination that projected well in professional hockey. He had already made his KHL debut at that point, but was quickly snapped up by the powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg program in 2018 and has been there for the years since.
This season, he scored 12 goals and 20 points in 39 games, before going back down to the VHL for their minor league playoff run. He scored six goals in 12 postseason games with the lower level club, a demotion that suggested his days in Russia could be numbered. Marchenko’s ice time this season was severely reduced from the year prior, when he had scored 15 goals and 28 points in 41 games, often a tactic taken by KHL clubs when a player is heading to North America in the near future.
In Columbus, Marchenko will join a young up-and-coming roster that already has another 21-year-old Russian winger in Yegor Chinakhov. While he might not necessarily jump directly into the NHL, there is plenty of reason to believe that Marchenko will make it there quickly and add another option for the team moving forward. Nearly half the Columbus forward group were on entry-level contracts by the end of the year, suggesting that the team is only going to improve in the years to come. Where he shakes out in the depth chart will be determined by how quickly his game translates to North America, and the moves that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen makes this offseason.
NHL Announces 2022 Draft Lottery Odds
With the conclusion of the 2022 regular season coming this afternoon after the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in regulation, the entire league standings are finally settled, and so are the odds for the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, which will take place on Tuesday, May 10th, at 6:30 pm ET. The odds, which increase in reverse order of the NHL standings, are as follows (link):
Montreal Canadiens – 18.5%
Arizona Coyotes – 13.5%
Seattle Kraken – 11.5%
Philadelphia Flyers – 9.5%
New Jersey Devils – 8.5%
Chicago Blackhawks* – 7.5%
Ottawa Senators – 6.5%
Detroit Red Wings – 6.0%
Buffalo Sabres – 5.0%
Anaheim Ducks – 3.5%
San Jose Sharks – 3.0%
Columbus Blue Jackets – 2.5%
New York Islanders – 2.0%
Winnipeg Jets – 1.5%
Vancouver Canucks – 0.5%
Vegas Golden Knights** – 0.5%
* As a result of the Seth Jones trade on July 23, 2021, Chicago will transfer their 2022 first-round pick to Columbus, unless it is a top-two pick, at which point they will transfer their 2023 first-round pick instead.
** As a result of the Jack Eichel trade on November 4, 2021, Vegas will transfer its 2022 first-round pick to Buffalo, unless it is a top-ten pick, at which point they will transfer their 2023 first-round pick instead.
As a reminder, the NHL announced changes to the rules for the operation of the draft lottery on March 23, 2021, which in effect limits the amount of spots certain teams may move up. Teams are not eligible to move up more than 10 spots in the lottery; so, only the eleven teams with the highest odds can receive the first-overall pick. For example, the San Jose Sharks have the potential to receive the first overall selection, however the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have the next-highest odds, cannot select any higher than second overall. In previous years, any team in the lottery was eligible to move up to the first, second, or third position.
Another change to the lottery this year will be that only two teams will be chosen in the lottery, unlike previous years when three were selected. Then, like previous years, the remaining teams will be awarded their selection in reverse order of the NHL standings. This change means that a team with the highest odds, this year Montreal, will be guaranteed a top-three selection, whereas they could drop to as low as fourth in previous lotteries.
Although the odds drop off steeply as the list goes on, the lottery is still worth paying attention to for fans of the lower teams. Sure, Montreal is much more likely to win one of the two lotteries than the Islanders or Jets, however previous teams with poor odds have prevailed, most notably including the 2017 Flyers and 2020 Rangers.
Elvis Merzlikins To Play For Team Latvia At World Championships
- From Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins is expected to play at the upcoming World Championships in Finland (link). Not a favorite to win the championship, Merzlikins’ home country of Latvia carries with it a passionate group of players and supporters, including Merzlikins. The goaltender recently opened up more about the loss of his close friend and fellow Latvian and Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender, Matiss Kivlenieks, who passed away this summer. Playing for their home country could surely be a way for Merzlikinis to honor his late friend.
Jenner Won't Need Surgery, Werenski Undergoes Surgery To Repair Broken Nose
Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner will not require surgery for the back injury that kept him out for the final seven weeks of the season, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’s expected to be able to have a full summer of training and be ready for training camp in the fall. The 28-year-old had a strong year offensively, notching 23 goals and 21 assists in just 59 games, the highest per-game rates of his career. While his current contract is expiring this summer, Jenner signed a four-year extension last July at the same $3.75MM price tag.
- Still with Columbus, Portzline reports in a separate tweet that defenseman Zach Werenski underwent surgery this week to repair a broken nose. The procedure may keep him out of playing for the United States at the upcoming World Championships. Werenski led all Blue Jackets blueliners in scoring this season with 11 goals and 37 assists in 68 games; his assist and point totals were both career bests.
Andrew Peeke To Play In World Championship; Josh Norris Will Not
Another name for Team USA at the upcoming World Championship has emerged, as Andrew Peeke will head to Finland for the event next month according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Peeke’s first full season in the NHL will come to an end tonight when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It’s been an impressive year for the 24-year-old defenseman, who quickly went from organizational depth to top-pairing option. Over his last 45 games, Peeke has averaged nearly 24 minutes a night, racking up hits and blocked shots while carrying a huge defensive load. His deployment at even-strength is skewed heavily toward the defensive end, he averages more penalty-killing time than anyone else on the Blue Jackets roster, and his 168 blocks and 191 hits lead all Columbus defenders by a wide margin.
All of that comes at a cap hit of just $787.5K, as Peeke signed a two-year contract last summer that is paying him the league minimum this year. While he doesn’t provide much offense–just two goals and 15 points in 81 games–he’s still been one of the most valuable players on the Blue Jackets all season long. He’ll now be rewarded by getting a chance to represent his country on the international stage, something that hasn’t happened very often throughout his career. This will be his first chance at the World Championship, and though he did make the 2018 World Junior squad and played in one Hlinka-Gretzky, he isn’t a product of the USNTDP like so many others, which has limited his exposure to international tournaments.
The U.S. team will unfortunately not have Josh Norris, however, as Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that the Ottawa Senators forward has turned down the opportunity to play at the event. Norris is a pending restricted free agent, a status that often leads to players declining an invitation as they try to secure their future. Just 22, the San Jose draft pick scored 34 goals this season in just 65 games and looks like a candidate for a long-term extension. With no arbitration eligibility though, the Senators could go for a bridge deal or even squeeze him into a one-year, extremely inexpensive contract, if they want to try and maximize savings.
Metropolitan Notes: Marchenko, Morehouse, Panarin, Copp
It is only a matter of time now before prospect Kirill Marchenko officially signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Marchenko, 21, has finished his KHL season, as SKA St. Petersburg fell in the conference finals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, and he isn’t wasting any time making his next move. While his contract does not officially end until April 30, like many of his SKA teammates Marchenko is already negotiating his next deal. Russian source Sport Express reports that Marchenko will soon sign his two-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. The 2018 second round pick is coming off a 20-point KHL season, finish fifth for St. Petersburg in scoring – a notable feat for a player of his age in a league with many accomplished veterans. A big, rangy winger with a goal scorer’s mentality, Marchenko figures to be yet another young impact player next season for a Columbus team that will have Yegor Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger, and Kent Johnson up front as well.
- After 16 years on the job and contributing to three Stanley Cup titles, Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse has stepped down, the team announced. The Penguins’ release states that Morehouse made the decision himself, though the move comes not long after the team was sold to the Fenway Sports Group which may have played a role. Morehouse, a Pittsburgh native, joined the team in 2007 to spearhead the arena construction project that became Consol Energy Center and now PPG Paints Arena. Not only did Morehouse oversee the construction of the arena, but played a key role in filling the seats as well. Morehouse played a role in a number of strategic initiative and capital projects that have taken advantage of the Penguins’ lengthy stretch of consistent success to help build one of the NHL’s most valuable franchises.
- Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp both left Tuesday night’s game between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes due to injury, but head coach Gerard Gallant was adamant that these were precautionary measures. He told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that both would have returned if it was a playoff game. There is reason to be skeptical of these comments though. First, last night’s game was virtually a playoff game; the Rangers faced the Hurricanes in a must-win for New York if they hoped to take the division crown from Carolina. Even more interesting though was the Rangers’ lineup for tonight’s game. New York understandably kept a number of starters in the press box for the contest with Tuesday’s loss cementing their playoff position. However, rather than listed as a health scratch like the rest, Panarin and Copp were listed as injured. Rosen reports that Panarin is out with an upper-body issue and Copp with a lower-body issue. In case this ends up being a strategic move by the Rangers to downplay these injuries ahead of a seven-game series, the health of Panarin and Copp bears watching.
Injury Notes: Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Blue Jackets
The Toronto Maple Leafs, while still remaining competitive with a tough schedule, have faced significant injury setbacks over the past few weeks. A mass of updates came today during a press conference with head coach Sheldon Keefe, where he revealed that forward Michael Bunting will miss the final two games of the regular season, defenseman Rasmus Sandin is likely to return for the team’s finale on Friday versus the Boston Bruins, and forward Ondrej Kase remains day-to-day with no timeline to return.
As the Maple Leafs prepare for a likely impending First Round matchup with the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, this is mostly positive news. The language surrounding Bunting’s injury wasn’t initially positive after he fell awkwardly during an April 23 game against Florida, but his prognosis has improved since then and it looks like a possibility that he could be ready for the beginning of the series. Sandin has missed over a month with a knee injury, while Kase has missed the same duration with a concussion.
- There are some more updates on various players on a Stanley Cup contender, as the Colorado Avalanche deal with some injury issues of their own. Head coach Jared Bednar spoke to reporters today, saying that defenseman Devon Toews will return to the lineup tonight after dealing with an undisclosed injury, forward Mikko Rantanen is working toward a return on Thursday against the Nashville Predators, and captain Gabriel Landeskog won’t return until the postseason. Toews has missed just around a week and a half, but his absence cannot be understated, as he continues to be one of the most underrated defensemen in the league with 57 points in just 64 games this year (while averaging over 25 minutes per game). Meanwhile, the Colorado captain has been out since early March with a leg injury.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today that both captain Boone Jenner and Sean Kuraly will miss the short remainder of the season with respective injuries. Kuraly, in his first season with Columbus, suffered a foot injury last Sunday and will miss the remaining three games. Jenner will have missed the last month and a half of the season with a back injury.
Yegor Chinakhov To Return For Columbus
- It’s been more than three weeks since rookie Yegor Chinakhov was in the lineup for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but he’ll make his return today against the Oilers. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda tweets that Chinakhov will go into the lineup for Brendan Gaunce, giving the 21-year-old a chance to add to his totals down the stretch. Selected 21st overall in 2020, the young forward has 14 points in 58 games this year.