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Morning Notes: McDavid, Drouin, Bavis

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Connor McDavid wants to get some more consistent linemates this season, but is confident that the Edmonton Oilers can get back to their 2016-17 form during the upcoming season. McDavid spoke to reporters including Luke Fox of Sportsnet at the recent Pro Edge Power training camp in Toronto, where players from all around the league come to work on fine tuning their game in the offseason. Even though the 2017-18 season didn’t go as planned, McDavid found solace in how the team kept fighting until the end of the season.

There’s just got to be a point in time where you get sick of losing, and you just don’t anymore. Guys came together. Guys were sick of how the year was going and came back to playing hockey the way it should be, the way you need to,

Those Oilers haven’t done much to address their biggest weaknesses, but did bring in Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak to help out their offensive group. One other thing that may come of the addition? A stronger locker room, given that McDavid specifically notes Brodziak’s solid reputation as a good teammate and notes that the team could use his help.

  • If you thought Jonathan Drouin may end up back on the wing this season for the Montreal Canadiens, he has news for you. After struggling through the transition to center last season, Drouin told Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette that he will be back in the middle when training camp opens next month. Drouin admitted that he finally started to have some fun with the position in the second half of the 2017-18 season, which showed on the scoreboard as well. 18 of Drouin’s 46 points came in his final 25 games, including nine in nine to finish the year. If he can find that kind of offensive consistency right from the start of the season, the Canadiens might finally see the player they believed they had acquired for Mikhail Sergachev last summer.
  • The Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL have hired Mike Bavis as their new head coach, after losing Mark Dennehy to the AHL a few days ago. Dennehy never actually coached a game for the Nailers, accepting the position only to be poached a few months later. Bavis spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at Boston University, but will get his first head coaching job at the professional level with the Nailers this season. Pittsburgh’s ECHL affiliate missed the playoffs the last two seasons but hasn’t posted a losing record in a decade. Bavis will be tasked with taking the group back to the postseason, while also developing some of Pittsburgh’s more raw or unheralded prospects.

Minor Transactions: 08/07/18

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While the NHL takes its annual August rest, other leagues around the world are still working. The KHL preseason is underway, and junior leagues have already started shifting players around for their upcoming season. We’ll keep track of several interesting moves right here:

  • Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jesse Blacker has signed a one-year contract with Barys Astana in the KHL, moving over after playing with Kunlun Red Star last season. Blacker was once a second-round selection of the Maple Leafs, and made his one career NHL appearance for the Ducks in 2014-15. An incredible skater, Blacker could never find enough consistency in his own end to make an impact in the NHL, and instead left the minor league grind a few seasons ago. The 27-year old could potentially return to the AHL one day, but will remain in the KHL for at least one more year.
  • Minnesota Wild prospect Ivan Lodnia has been traded from the Erie Otters to the Niagara Ice Dogs in the OHL, and could find more opportunity to show off his offensive skills with the new club. The third-round pick was recently cut from the US roster at the Summer Showcase, but is still a possibility for the World Junior team if they lose players over the next few months.
  • Charlie Sampair has signed an AHL contract with the San Antonio Rampage after his huge ECHL season in 2017-18. After recording just 14 points in 102 games at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and just 13 in his first season in the ECHL, Sampair scored 32 goals and 61 points last season for the Tulsa Oilers. That will earn him a chance at the next level, where he’ll be pushed even more to produce offense for the Rampage. The Rampage also signed Jared Thomas to an AHL deal, reuniting the former UMD forward with Sampair at the next level.
  • Former Minnesota Wild prospect Dylan Labbe failed to impress at the pro level in the five years since he was a fourth-round selection in 2013 and now the 23-year-old defenseman has been left with no option but to sign an ECHL contract. Labbe, a former standout with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, earned brief looks in the AHL in each of his first two post-draft years before being returned to juniors and then played full-time with the AHL’s Iowa Wild in his first pro season. However, disappointing returns led to Labbe spending the past season and a half in the ECHL. Now, with his entry-level contract expired, he is headed back to the “AA” level on a one-year contract with the Wichita Thunder, the league reported.

New Jersey Devils To Hire Mark Dennehy As AHL Head Coach

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The New Jersey Devils have snatched a coach from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, agreeing to terms with Mark Dennehy as head coach of their AHL affiliate. Dennehy had been hired earlier this offseason to lead the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, but was given permission to interview for the advanced position in the AHL. New Jersey AGM Tom Fitzgerald released a statement thanking the Penguins:

I want to thank Jim Rutherford, Bill Guerin, the Penguins’ organization and the Wheeling Nailers ownership group for the opportunity to speak with Mark on this position. Mark has spent considerable time building, coaching and recruiting in one of college hockey’s most competitive conferences. His experience will help him connect with players coming from the collegiate and junior hockey levels. Mark is extremely excited for a new challenge and to take the next step in his coaching career.

Dennehy has spent the last 13 years coaching Merrimack College, where he was tasked with developing young players and getting them ready for their transition into the professional ranks. He’ll be given a similar role with the Binghamton Devils, where the job is to get picks and prospects ready for their NHL futures while still maintaining a culture of winning.

Coaching Notes: Kowalsky, Grier, Warsofsky

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The New Jersey Devils have hired Rick Kowalsky as an assistant coach, adding him to John Hynes’ staff for the upcoming season. Kowalsky had been the head coach of the Binghamton (and Albany) Devils, winning Coach of the Year in the AHL for the 2015-16 season. Hynes had this to say about the addition:

Rick will be a great addition to our team and this is well-deserved. He and I have had a strong relationship over the past three seasons and he’s done an excellent job in developing our young players. Rick is a high-energy, hard-working coach, great communicator and a tactician who has a great mind for the game.

The hiring leaves the AHL Devils without a head coach for the time being, but adds a knowledgeable voice to the NHL group and one with plenty of first-hand experience with some of their young players. New Jersey didn’t add much this offseason, which should give some of their minor league standouts a chance to crack the NHL roster in training camp. Kowalsky will be a big part of making that transition a smooth one, and helping New Jersey remain deep enough to compete in the Metropolitan Division.

  • It won’t just be Kowalsky though, as the Devils also announced that Mike Grier has been hired as an assistant coach with the NHL club. Grier, a long-time NHL player with over 1,000 regular season games under his belt, has been working as a pro scout for the Chicago Blackhawks but will now get his first professional coaching experience. The 43-year old was actually teammates with Hynes back at Boston University in the mid-’90s, which likely led to this opportunity with the Devils.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have given an up-and-coming coaching prospect his next opportunity, hiring Ryan Warsofsky as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Warsofsky is only 30 years old, but was the successful head coach of the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL the past two seasons. He took that team to the Kelly Cup Finals in 2017, and posted an 88-44-12 record during his time behind the bench. Expected to quickly climb the hockey coaching ladder, Warsofsky actually may have to coach against his brother David Warsofsky who is in the Colorado Avalanche organization and expected to spend the majority of the year in the AHL.

Central Notes: Trouba, Crawford, Wild

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The Winnipeg Jets have proven to be a place where winning and success is starting to take fruition. Over the last couple of years, the team hasn’t had much trouble signing their key free agents, whether it’s Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers or Connor Hellebuyck.

That’s why its troubling to see the Jets and defenseman Jacob Trouba going to arbitration, the first player to take the Jets to arbitration in their history. This will be the second time the two sides have gone against each other in contract negotiations with the first encounter being quite heated and made it clear that Trouba didn’t want to be in Winnipeg. Considering that only one case in out of 55 last year went to arbitration, this just is another bad sign, according to Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free-Press.

No matter what happens, the damage will have been done as arbitration only increases animosity between teams. With still lingering effects to the 15-game holdout between Trouba and the Jets, this will only worsen the problem. Wiecek suggests the team has two years to fix the problem and should start looking for a trade partner as soon as possible, because no matter how much he claims he loves it in Winnipeg, it looks more and more like he’ll bolt the first chance he reaches unrestricted free agency. Trading him as soon as possible will only bring home the best returns, which would be another solid defenseman.

  • Mark Lazerus of The Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Chicago Blackhawks will know more about the status of goaltender Corey Crawford in the coming weeks. The veteran goaltender, who missed a large portion of the season last year, is expected to start skating soon and so far looks to be on track to returning this season. “I ran into him [Monday] and talked to him for a while,” general manager Stan Bowman said on Tuesday. “Things are looking good. He said he hasn’t done a whole lot of on-ice stuff yet, but a few of our guys were just starting to skate today, as well. I think they’ll get ramped up over the next six weeks and get more on-ice preparation. I know he’s been training off-ice. Hopefully, things are good.”
  • The Minnesota Wild announced their new affiliation with the Allen Americans as their new ECHL franchise for the 2018-19 season. The team, based in Allen, Texas, has been a successful franchise over its nine years of existence, making the playoffs nine straight years including five years in the CHL and another four in the ECHL. They won the President’s Cup in 2013 and 2014, while winning the Kelly Cup in 2015 and 2016. The Wild used their Rapid City Rush last year as their ECHL affiliate.

Central Notes: Edmundson, Boqvist, Jets

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Although he has yet to sign his new contract, the Blues shouldn’t have to move anyone once defenseman Joel Edmundson puts pen to paper on a new contract, suggests Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Given GM Doug Armstrong’s comments following the season that suggested a long-term contract wasn’t likely for any of their RFAs, a short-term pact for the 25-year-old is likely.  That shouldn’t cost more than their roughly $4MM in cap space so while they once again don’t project to have room for in-season moves, they shouldn’t be forced to subtract anyone from their roster.  If they decide that they want some extra flexibility during the year, Gordon suggests veteran defenseman Carl Gunnarsson could be a candidate to be moved.  He has one year remaining on his contract with a $2.9MM cap hit.

More from the Central:

  • Blackhawks defenseman prospect Adam Boqvist was interested in playing with London of the OHL last season but the GM in Brynas shot down the idea, notes Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. That played a role in their decision to sign him already as doing so gave Chicago much more control over the development of their top 2018 draft pick moving forward.  If he doesn’t crack the NHL roster next season, he has already committed to playing for the Knights at the junior level.
  • The Jets announced that they have renewed their affiliation agreement with the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL for next season. 2017-18 marked the inaugural year for the franchise and they struggled in the standings, finishing fifth in the South Division.  There are still several teams that have yet to announce affiliations and with only 27 in the league, at least four NHL teams won’t have an affiliate for next year.  While teams without specific affiliates can loan their players elsewhere via a working agreement, they can’t technically share an affiliation with another NHL team.

Minor Transactions: 07/20/18

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Though free agency is basically over for a lot of NHL teams, minor league affiliates are still busy adding players from development camp or overseas. We’ll keep track of all the minor moves of the day right here.

Snapshots: Jagr, Snowden, Golden Knights, Canada

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Jaromir Jagr was on the ice today in the Czech Republic, practicing for the first time this year with Kladno, the team he owns in his home country. That doesn’t mean the 46-year old has any intention on an NHL comeback though according to NHL.com correspondent Michael Langr, who caught up with the legendary forward. Jagr simply wants to get healthy after a knee injury has kept him from the ice for the last six months. Finally, the youthful Jagr is admitting that his body can’t keep up the way it used to.

My biggest limit is age. There are things I would like to handle but I can’t do it anymore. At my age these limitations come more and more often. But I believe that when my leg and the entire body gets stronger, it will all get better and better.

Though it likely won’t be in the NHL, we might see Jagr in game action again this season. One of the all-time greats in the game of hockey, any chance to have him continue his career at this point is a welcome bonus. It would be interesting to see if Jagr is interested in suiting up for the Czech Republic next spring at the World Championships, if he is healthy enough to contribute. The tournament will be held in Slovakia next year.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired John Snowden as an assistant coach for their newly crowned ECHL team the Newfoundland Growlers. Snowden had worked as an associate coach with the previous affiliate Orlando Solar Bears the last three seasons, but will now be under Ryan Clowe on the Canadian east coast. The 36-year old had a long minor league playing career that included stops in the AHL and ECHL, but never did make it all the way up to the AHL.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have come to a trademark agreement with the U.S. Army and will be allowed to continue using the “Golden Knights” name for the on-ice product and merchandise. The Golden Knights name has long been used by an army parachute team and will continue to going forward.
  • Liam Foudy, Markus Phillips and Akil Thomas have all been added to Hockey Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster, replacing Jordy Bellerive, Robert Thomas and Josh Brook. The latter three will be unable to take part in the camp due to injury, but are not necessarily out of the running for the roster that will head to the tournament in late December.

Kings Re-Sign Defenseman Alex Lintuniemi

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The Los Angeles Kings have locked up the last of their restricted free agents. The Kings have announced a new contract extension for defenseman Alex Lintuniemi, their last unsigned RFA. It is a one-year, two-way contract for the young Finnish rearguard that carries a minimum $650K cap hit at the NHL level.

Lintuniemi, 22, has made great strides in each of his pro seasons. The 2014 second-round pick was drafted for his size, strength, and potential but was still a very raw prospect when he turned pro in 2015. He spent his entire first full season in the Kings’ system developing at the ECHL level, before becoming a part-time player in the AHL in 2016-17. This past season was easily his best, as he became a dependable, every-day player for the AHL’s Ontario Reign and recorded a career-high four goals and 24 points.

Lintuniemi still has some work to do on his game and will likely never be much of an offensive threat in the NHL, but is taking steps toward becoming a solid defensive player. While the Kings run seven or eight deep on the blue line with true NHL-caliber players, don’t be surprised to see Lintuniemi get his first look at the top level some time in the upcoming season.

Josh Currie Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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If you’ve been a fan of the Bakersfield Condors for the last few seasons, today is the day you’ve expected for a while. Josh Currie, who was playing for the Condors on an AHL contract, has signed his first NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Because Currie is already 25 he was not held to the entry-level system, and has instead signed a two-year deal with the team.

Undrafted, Currie is an incredible example of the ECHL development system as he worked his way up through the lower minor leagues. The former QMJHL star scored 104 points in his final year of junior but had to wait five more years to get an NHL deal. He’ll almost assuredly play in the minors this season, but has now created the possibility of an NHL call-up should the Oilers experience injury trouble.

The two-year deal will take him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020, but should give him quite the raise on his previous minor league deals.

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