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Atlantic Notes: Marner, Bertuzzi, Panthers, Dickinson

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The tides may be turning in this summer’s edition of the Mitch Marner saga. Speaking on TSN 1050’s “First Up” on Monday, Darren Dreger reports that general manager Brad Treliving may prefer to put his resources into extending the star winger rather than trading him this summer as he enters the final year of his contract.

Dreger did note that the Leafs haven’t started extension discussions with Marner’s camp yet. His quote today falls in line with previous reporting that Toronto wouldn’t approach Marner about waiving his no-move clause until an acceptable offer was presented to them. Additionally, Chris Johnston of SDPN, TSN and The Athletic said over the weekend that the team wasn’t fully committed to the idea of trading Marner.

It won’t stop trade speculation from ramping up, though, nor will it likely quiet any actual trade talks going on behind the scenes. Teams will still pursue the winger – The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta listed the Blackhawks, Golden Knights, Predators and Stars as interested parties today. If there’s an exceptionally strong offer presented to Treliving, there’s no indication that he’d turn away.

Regardless, it doesn’t appear there’s a huge sense of urgency to resolve the situation in the next few weeks. However, waiting until after the opening of free agency, when teams spent the majority of their offseason cap space, to swing a trade would heavily complicate discussions.

Sticking with Toronto, Pagnotta said today that Treliving remains in negotiations with pending free agent winger Tyler Bertuzzi to try and keep him from hitting the UFA market in a couple of weeks. An extension doesn’t appear imminent, though. The 29-year-old had 21 goals and 43 points in 80 games this season after signing a one-year, $5.5MM deal in free agency with the Leafs last summer.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • The Panthers have entered into a “multi-year” affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates, per a team announcement. They said late last week that they wouldn’t be renewing their ECHL affiliation with the Florida Everblades, who have won three consecutive Kelly Cup titles. With the move, the Panthers land an ECHL affiliation much closer to their primary minor-league club, the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Considering moves between AHL and ECHL affiliates occur almost daily, it’s a better setup for the club’s fringe minor-leaguers. The Ghost Pirates entered the league in advance of the 2022-23 campaign and have spent the last two seasons as the second-tier affiliate of the Golden Knights. They’ve yet to make the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Playoffs.
  • Top 2024 NHL Draft defense prospect Sam Dickinson said his pre-draft interview with the Senators was one he was “looking forward” to in an interview with TSN’s Mark Masters. Dickinson told Masters the interview went “really well” and that his preparation for it was a “little more intense” given the chance of the Ontario-born blue liner staying close to home. The 18-year-old racked up 18 goals, 70 points and a +56 rating in 68 games with the OHL’s London Knights this season, leading their defensemen in scoring. He’s the seventh-ranked North American skater in the class by NHL Central Scouting and could very well be available when Ottawa steps up to the podium with the seventh overall pick.

Sharks Notes: Warsofsky, Sturm, Graham, Wiseman, ECHL

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The threat of losing Ryan Warsofsky to another team was likely a contributing factor in the Sharks’ choice to name him as their next head coach, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet opined on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast. Warsofsky, who became the youngest head coach in the league this week at age 36, would have received considerable interest from around the league if he was passed over for the job in San Jose for the second time in three years.

Warsofsky was always a strong candidate for internal promotion after serving as an assistant under David Quinn for the past two seasons. He was interviewed for the head coaching job in 2022 after they let go of Bob Boughner, but the team opted to go with Quinn instead. They still managed to land Warsofsky in an assistant role, though, a decision they evidently think has paid dividends by his recent promotion.

While all the other head coaching vacancies this summer were filled by the time San Jose made their choice, a late GM change in Columbus has had some wondering if Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent could be dismissed. There hasn’t been a ton of noise around Vincent in recent days, though, and the longer it stays quiet, the safer his job is. Still, Warsofsky likely could have landed an associate coach title somewhere else if he didn’t get the San Jose job, a smaller but still meaningful promotion as he eyed a clearer pathway to becoming a head coach. It’s a moot point now, though.

Here’s more on the Sharks:

  • Kings AHL bench boss Marco Sturm may have finished second to Warsofsky in the Sharks’ search, but advancing to multiple rounds of interviews has still put him on other NHL teams’ radars, Friedman said. He remains under contract with Los Angeles next season, as confirmed by John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor, but it’s unclear how much longer he’s signed. Still, the Kings have obviously given him permission to seek other opportunities.
  • Neil Graham, who’s spent parts of the last five seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars, was also considered as one of the initial candidates for the Sharks’ vacancy, per Friedman. The 39-year-old has been in the Dallas organization for more than a decade, first joining as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads in 2012. He worked his way up to Steelheads head coach in 2015 and was promoted to the AHL bench four years later. The Calgary native hasn’t been connected to many NHL coaching jobs yet, but he’ll be a name to watch when the carousel starts spinning again next offseason.
  • Sharks assistant Brian Wiseman is “most likely” to stick with the club after being granted permission to speak with other teams this offseason, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet said yesterday. Wiseman, 52, worked with the Sharks’ forward group and power play unit under Quinn the past two seasons after stints with the Oilers and the University of Michigan as an assistant.
  • The Sharks have re-upped their affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, per a team announcement. The Thunder have been affiliated with San Jose since the 2022-23 season after previously working under the Oilers’ and Senators’ organizational umbrellas.

Rangers Reach Affiliation Agreement With ECHL Bloomington

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The Rangers have reached an affiliation agreement with the expansion Bloomington Bison of the ECHL, general manager Chris Drury announced today. It makes the second straight offseason in which the Rangers have changed ECHL affiliates.

New York has long had a steady top-level affiliation with AHL Hartford, maintaining a primary relationship with them since 1997. They’re the ones more affected by any changes in secondary affiliations. Previously, the Rangers held an ECHL affiliation agreement with the Jacksonville Icemen in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons but switched affiliates with the Sabres last July and entered into an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones. That relationship ended up lasting just one season. The Cyclones are now without an NHL affiliate for 2024-25, although they’ll likely reach an agreement with a new club in the coming months.

Two players under contract with the Rangers – both goaltenders – spent time in the ECHL this season with Cincinnati. Their primary tandem was 2021 fourth-round pick Talyn Boyko and 2018 second-round pick Olof Lindbom, both of whom were on entry-level contracts this year. ECHL teams often play an important role in developing goalies for the NHL parent clubs, especially compared to other positions.

Boyko will likely return to the ECHL next season, now with Bloomington, while Lindbom is less likely. The Swede struggled with a .884 SV% in 29 games and is a pending restricted free agent, but he’s a strong non-tender candidate after that poor minor-league showing. 6’8″ netminder Hugo Ollas, who the Rangers drafted in the seventh round in 2020 and recently signed out of Merrimack College, is also a likely candidate for assignment to the Bison.

With the Illinois-based franchise and the Tahoe Knight Monsters both set to begin play next season, the ECHL will be comprised of 29 teams. Tahoe is the only club without an NHL/AHL affiliation.

Pacific Notes: Marchessault, Smith, Oilers

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Heading into the offseason, the Vegas Golden Knights have just shy of $900K in cap space with notable players such as Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson headed for unrestricted free agency in just over four weeks. Unfortunately for Vegas, even if the organization were to free up cap space on the trade market, they would likely be unable to open up enough flexibility to keep both players.

Between the two, Stephenson is not expected to sign for as rich of a contract as Marchessault on the open market, which could entice the Golden Knights to pursue his services instead. Keeping that in mind, Mark Anderson of the Associated Press reported today that Marchessault has still not been approached by Vegas’ front office about a contract extension.

It may be a tough pill for both player and team as Marchessault recently completed the highest goal-scoring season of his career. As one of the original ’misfits’ still on the Golden Knights, Marchessault has been adamant about finishing his career in Nevada. However, due to the financial constraints the team imposed upon itself at this past year’s trade deadline, Marchessault is expected to be wearing another team’s jersey by the start of next season.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Already showing tremendous humility as a young NHL prospect, Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks organization is not expecting to be gifted a spot in the NHL out of the gates. Although his entry-level contract should be made official today, Smith told Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now that he is more than willing to join the organization’s AHL affiliate if the Sharks think it is best for his development. Nevertheless, the former fourth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft should immediately jump into San Jose’s top six if he can make the roster after scoring 25 goals and 71 points in 41 games for Boston College last year.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have extended their ECHL affiliate with the Fort Wayne Komets according to an announcement from the organization. The partnership between the two teams began just before the 2022-23 season, and Assistant General Manager Keith Gretzky was quoted as saying, “Our players have also relished their time in the city of Fort Wayne. They have received first-class treatment during their time there and we truly believe that the Komets and their fans make them the premier organization in the ECHL“. In the two years as Edmonton’s ECHL affiliate, the Komets have won 69 games in total, qualifying for the Kelly Cup playoffs during the 2022-23 ECHL season.

Afternoon Notes: Stars, Ovchinikov, ECHL

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Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer has designated both Roope Hintz and Jani Hakanpaa as day-to-day with injuries ahead of the Western Conference Finals, per Lia Assimakopoulous of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Hintz suffered an upper-body injury during Game 4 of the Second Round, since missing Dallas’ last two games, while Hakanpaa has missed the team’s last 26 games with a lower-body injury.

Dallas managed to pull past the Colorado Avalanche in Hintz’s absence, though there’s no doubt that he’s sorely missed. Hintz has managed six points in 11 postseason appearances while commanding a strong line of Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. Hintz hit the 30-goal mark for the third consecutive season this year, posting 30 goals and 65 points through 80 games. He’s emerged as a core pillar of the Stars lineup over the last three seasons, and could be a pivotal piece of Dallas’ push to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Hintz’s injury has made space for Radek Faksa, while Hakanpaa has opened a spot for Nils Lundkvist and Alexander Petrovic to compete for a role. Hintz will slot immediately into the lineup when he’s ready to return, while Hakanpaa’s status could be more up in the air after such a long absence.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Minnesota Wild prospect Dmitry Ovchinikov has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Sibir Novosibirsk, per Kyle Cush,am of The Score (Twitter link). Ovchinikov has spent parts of the last three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, though each season has been limited – totaling 12 points across 32 career games in the AHL. He’ll now return to the KHL, where he played he’s already appeared in 103 career games and scored 17 points. Ovchinikov was part of a Trade Deadline swap that sent Connor Dewar to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but stayed loaned to the Marlies for the remainder of the season.
  • The ECHL has announced that Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst will depart from the league at the end of the postseason. The news will end Ernst’s storied career in the ECHL, stretching across 33 of the league’s 36 years of existence. He originally served in 16 seasons as a referee before being promoted to Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2011 and to his current role in 2018. Ernst’s role in the league runs so deep that he is not only in the ECHL Hall of Fame – inducted in 2011 – but also serves on the ECHL Hall of Fame Committee. He is stepping away to take on a senior management role with Zawyer Sports and Entertainment, who own and operate four different ECHL clubs – the Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, upcoming Tahoe Knight Monsters, and Allen Americans.

Jets Sign Thomas Milic To Entry-Level Contract

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed goaltender Thomas Milic to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $841.7K beginning next season. Winnipeg drafted Milic in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft and signed him to a minor-league contract in October.

Milic has since played out his first professional season, starting the year in the ECHL but climbing into the AHL starting role by February. He totaled 19 wins and a .900 save percentage in 33 AHL games this year, leading the Manitoba Moose in all three stats. Milic also represented Team Canada in December’s Spengler Cup, allowing two goals on 18 shots in his only appearance. It was his fourth time representing Canada internationally, having previously played in the World U17 Hockey Challenge, the World U18 Championships, and the World Juniors.

The climb to AHL starter has to feel rewarding for Milic, who went undrafted twice before Winnipeg selected him in his final year of eligibility. He posted strong numbers throughout parts of four seasons in the WHL, totaling 60 wins and a .917 save percentage in 91 games in juniors – but the 2023 World Juniors earned Milic his acclaim. Still draft-eligible, he won all five of his starts and posted a .932 save percentage en route to Canada’s gold medal win. He’s carried the momentum from a strong juniors career into the pros, now being rewarded with his first NHL contract.

Milic will get another chance to compete for the AHL starting role next season, going up against Oskari Salminen and Domenic Divincentiis, the only other minor-league goalies Winnipeg has under contract. Winnipeg will also need to negotiate a new deal with NHL backup Laurent Brossoit, who made up one-half of the team’s William M. Jenning Trophy win this season.

Kings Notes: Turcotte, Thomas, Laferriere, Swamp Rabbits

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As the Los Angeles Kings prepare for the team’s final game of the regular season on Thursday night, they will have a young prospect returning to the lineup. The organization announced they have activated forward Alex Turcotte from long-term injured reserve, and have loaned forward Akil Thomas to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Turcotte, who was the fifth overall pick of the Kings back in the 2019 NHL Draft, will return to the active roster for the first time in about a month due to an upper-body injury. At the NHL level, Turcotte has suited up in 20 games for Los Angeles, scoring one goal and four points in total. In Ontario, he has been far more productive, scoring seven goals and 25 points in 33 games, leading to four separate call-ups this season.

Thomas, on the other hand, has spent far less time at the NHL level as compared to Turcotte. Recalled on an emergency basis on March 31st, Thomas has matched Turcotte’s production on the year, scoring one goal and four points in seven games. Similarly to Turcotte, the former 51st overall pick has been far more productive with the Reign, scoring 22 goals and 43 points over 61 games this season.

Other Kings notes:

  • According to CapFriendly, since Kings’ forward Alex Laferriere played in his 80th game of the season last night against the Minnesota Wild, he has lost his waiver exemption status for next season. Whether it be after training camp or any time during next season, Los Angeles will have to place Laferriere on the waiver wire if they wish to send him down to the AHL. Nevertheless, it is rather unlikely the Kings would choose to send Laferriere anytime soon, as he has scored 11 goals and 23 points throughout this season, making for a productive rookie campaign.
  • Moving to the ECHL, the Kings organization has signed their current ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, to a two-year extension. Located in South Carolina, the Swamp Rabbits have been the ECHL affiliate of Los Angeles since the start of the 2022-23 NHL season and will continue in that role until the end of 2025-26.

Newfoundland Growlers Cease Operations

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Before the end of the season, the ECHL Board of Governors announced today that the league has terminated the membership of the Newfoundland Growlers. The league announced that the action would be effective immediately, and that it was due to Newfoundland’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the ECHL bylaws.

For the players, the league announced that any player currently on an ECHL contract will become unrestricted free agents, but no other team on the league may sign more than two former members of the Growlers roster. Furthermore, if there are any players are on AHL/NHL contracts, they will report to that team or have their 2023-24 season concluded.

The downfall of the Growlers began less than a week ago, as reports suggested that Deacon Sports and Entertainment, the majority owner of Newfoundland and the Trois-Rivières Lions, is nearing bankruptcy and owed close to $1MM. The ECHL reportedly gave the ownership group a deadline of April 2nd to sell the two franchises, with only the Lions being saved.

Founded in 2018 as the ECHL affiliate for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL and the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, the Growlers experienced a great deal of success in the organizations short lifespan. Winning the Kelly Cup in their inaugural season, Newfoundland made it to two straight Eastern Conference Finals in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 season’s, losing to the Florida Everblades in each appearance.

It will mark the fourth time since 2005 that Newfoundland has seen a semi-professional organization either fold or relocate, as the city of St. John’s has fielded three separate AHL clubs over the last two decades. Now, without the Growlers, Newfoundland is back to square one in generating a sustained organization in the Province.

ECHL Newfoundland, Trois-Rivières May Not Finish Season

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The ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers and Trois-Rivières Lions are at risk of folding before the 2023-24 regular season draws to a close, per a report from Matthew Vachon and Paule Vermot-Desroches of Le Nouvelliste. The clubs, which are the second-tier affiliates of the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens, respectively, are majority-owned by Deacon Sports and Entertainment, which is nearing bankruptcy and owes the city of Trois-Rivière more than $600K.

According to Vachon and Vermot-Desroches, the ECHL has set a deadline for DSE to sell the clubs by April 2. However, the sale of both franchises is unexpected to happen in time. The ECHL’s board of governors, led by commissioner Ryan Crelin, will meet Tuesday to decide whether to allow them to play out the season. Regardless, the league will absorb ownership of the two franchises after the April 2 deadline.

Both teams have 10 or fewer games remaining on their regular-season schedule. The Growlers and Lions are both in the league’s North Division and are part of a tight race to claim the final two playoff spots available with Maine, Reading, and Worcester – all five clubs are within five points of each other. As Vachon points out, it’s worth noting that each team will have a representative at the board of governors meeting that will decide the Growlers’ and Lions’ fate, and it’s fair to assume those in the playoff hunt could help swing a vote toward not allowing the clubs to finish the season.

The Growlers have been one of the league’s most successful teams since their inception in 2018-19, winning the Kelly Cup in their inaugural campaign and making it to the Eastern Conference Final in 2022 and 2023. The Lions are only in their third year of existence and their lone playoff appearance, coming in their inaugural season, was cut short in the first round at the hands of Newfoundland.

No players under contract with the Canadiens are currently on assignment to Trois-Rivières, but they hold the exclusive signing rights of three players on the squad: forward Jakov Novak, a 2018 seventh-round pick of the Senators whom they acquired last offseason; defenseman Miguël Tourigny, a 2022 seventh-round pick; and goaltender Joe Vrbetic, a 2021 seventh-round pick.

However, two NHL-signed players are on assignment to Newfoundland. Maple Leafs 2021 sixth-round pick Vyacheslav Peksa is the team’s current backup netminder, posting an .890 SV% and a 5-10-1 record in his first season in North America. Panthers defense prospect Nathan Staios was loaned to the club late last month.

Panthers Assign Evan Cormier To Minors

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March 17: Cormier has been returned to the minors after backing up Sergei Bobrovsky in yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Lightning, per CapFriendly. The move suggests Stolarz will be healthy enough to at least back up Bobrovsky for the Panthers’ next game, which isn’t until Thursday against the Predators.

March 16: Signed to an NHL deal earlier this month, goaltender Evan Cormier will now get at least a brief look with Florida.  The team announced (Twitter link)  that the netminder has been recalled from ECHL Florida to serve as the backup goaltender tonight with Anthony Stolarz unavailable due to illness.

The 26-year-old had been playing on a minor league deal but for the second straight season, that contract was converted to an NHL one just before the trade deadline, allowing him to be recalled for a situation just like this one.  Cormier has played in 19 ECHL games with the Everblades this season, posting a 2.88 GAA and a .906 SV%.  He also has six AHL appearances with Charlotte but has struggled, putting up a 3.64 GAA with a .868 SV%.

He’ll be covering for Stolarz who has been a bright spot for Florida’s goaltending this season.  Signed to a low-cost one-year deal in the summer, the 30-year-old has thrived, compiling a 2.02 GAA and a .925 SV% through 21 games so far.  A pending unrestricted free agent, Stolarz is certainly well-positioned to earn a sizable raise on his $1.1MM price tag.

While Florida has Spencer Knight in the minors as well, they can’t afford to call him up.  They’re using one of their cap-exempt emergency goalie recalls to add Cormier to the roster but cap-exempt recalls have limitations on who is eligible based on their salary.  At $4.5MM, Knight is well above that threshold, taking him out of the mix this time around.

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