Afternoon Notes: Perfetti, Chernyshov, Wranglers
Recent trade rumors have suggested the Winnipeg Jets offered Cole Perfetti for Carolina Hurricane forward Martin Necas. However, Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Suns has emphasized that there’s no truth to the claim, though Carolina did show interest in acquiring Perfetti. Billeck adds that Necas wasn’t interested in signing long-term in Winnipeg, driving a wedge into trade negotiations.
Necas, 25, has since signed a two-year extension that walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026, giving him a chance to hand-pick where he spends his prime years. Necas has come into form over the last two seasons, posting a collective 52 goals and 124 points in 159 games. He’s developed into a high-energy scorer with the ability to play both wing and center.
Perfetti, 22, offers that same flexibility, though he’s still searching for his footing at the NHL level. He managed 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games this season despite inconsistent, and controversial, ice time. Perfetti looks poised to join Necas’ ranks of top-six goal-scorers over the next few seasons, though the pair’s age disparity makes them tough to evaluate side-by-side.
Other notes from around the league:
- San Jose Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov shared with Sergey Demidov of Russia’s Responsible Gaming that he’ll likely be moving to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit after San Jose’s training camp. Chernyshov signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks on Thursday and will move to the CHL with rare pro experience, having played in 39 games with the KHL’s Dynamo Moskva over the last two seasons. He’s scored just five points in those appearances – deceptively low considering the impact he brings shift-to-shift. Chernyshov showed a bit more offense in the MHL – Russia’s U21 junior league – with 66 points in 60 games over the same span. He will now be tasked with finding his footing and rediscovering that production in Saginaw, as he fights to earn a spot among San Jose’s pro ranks.
- The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers have announced the signings of forward Connor Mylymok, defender Charles Martin, and goaltender Connor Murphy. Mylymok and Martin have inked two-year AHL/ECHL contracts, while Murphy re-signs with the Wranglers on a one-way AHL deal. Murphy found his stride after earning an AHL call-up last season, posting a .922 save percentage across 15 games with the Wranglers. With Dustin Wolf set for a promotion to the NHL, Murphy will battle with Devin Cooley and Waltteri Ignatjew for a hardy AHL role. Meanwhile, Mylymok and Martin will continue their pursuit of a call-up from the ECHL.
Central Notes: Stars, Utah, Nabokov
After losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals in last year’s playoffs, the Dallas Stars went through numerous changes this summer — especially on the blue line. However, general manager Jim Nill does not believe the team has taken a step backward as referenced in an interview with Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the NHL.
In the interview, Nill is quoted as saying, “I think our team might be a little bit better than we were last year at this time, and now let’s see. Let’s get the season started. Let’s see where we’re at“. The Stars will bring back one of the best offenses in the league next year even while losing veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement. The emergence of Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven should give Dallas some continuity in their offense and create one of the deeper lineups in the league.
It’s difficult to imagine Nill believes the defense has gotten better than last season as the team effectively swapped Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpaa, and Ryan Suter for Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The organization will have a little financial wiggle room after getting Thomas Harley locked into a new deal but it may not be enough to round out the top four. If the Stars cannot make it to the Stanley Cup Final again next season, it would not be surprising if defense is the culprit.
Other Central notes:
- The Utah Hockey Club has shored up its ECHL affiliation as the organization announced a one-year agreement with the Allen Americans of Allen, TX. The short length of the affiliate agreement may indicate that Utah is hoping to eventually organize a deal with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL after their current deal with the Colorado Avalanche concludes. The Americans started play in the ECHL for the 2014-15 season and immediately won back-to-back Kelly Cup Finals. In the meantime, the Americans have qualified for the playoffs in every season but one.
- According to Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now, Colorado Avalanche prospect Ilya Nabokov has had his contract restructured in the KHL. After paying him three million rubles for the 2023-24 KHL season, Metallurg Magnitogorsk is now set to pay 22 million rubles to the young netminder. Nabokov is the de facto starter for Metallurg after earning a 23-13-3 record in 43 games last year while holding a .930 save percentage. The new pay will not influence the length of the contract; however, as Nabokov is still expected to make it to North America next year.
International/Minor Transactions: Thoresen, Voynov, Kawaguchi, Skirving
Veteran forward Patrick Thoresen will play during his age-41 season as he’s signed a contract to play for Djurgårdens IF of HockeyAllsvenskan according to his previous team, Storhamar in Norway. The international veteran started his professional career in the 2003-04 season with Mörrums GoIS of HockeyAllsvenskan after a brief two-year stint in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Although he’s mostly known for his international efforts, Thoresen spent two years in the NHL from 2006-08 with the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers where he collected six goals and 24 points in 106 games as the first undrafted Norwegian to crack an NHL roster. Unfortunately, his NHL career did not pan out as expected and Thoresen returned to Europe with HC Lugano in Switzerland.
Thoresen has also regularly represented Team Norway in the Olympic Games and the World Championships where he’s collected nine points in 13 games in the former, and 55 points in 66 games in the latter. During the World Championships in 2012, Thoresen scored seven goals and 18 points in only eight games which ended up being one point less than tournament scoring leader Evgeni Malkin.
Other international/minor transactions:
- Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL announced they have signed former NHL defenseman Slava Voynov to a contract for the 2024-25 season. Voynov was a member of the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL where he helped the team win Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014 while collecting 18 goals and 81 points in 190 career games. Infamously, Voynov pleaded no contest to a reduced misdemeanor charge in a domestic violence case brought forward by his wife Marta Varlamova on December 1st, 2014. The Kings terminated Voynov’s contract on September 17th, 2015 and he has continued his career in Russia ever since.
- Former captain at the University of North Dakota, Jordan Kawaguchi, is trying his luck in the Elite Ice Hockey League as the Belfast Giants announced they have signed the young forward for the 2024-25 season. Kawaguchi managed a productive career in North Dakota before signing his entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars in 2021. Unfortunately, Kawaguchi failed to make much noise in the AHL with the Texas Stars and was demoted to playing with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. He was much more productive in Idaho but he briefly retired after the 2022-23 ECHL season due to injuries such as concussions, a torn MCL, and a broken thumb. Kawaguchi still returned to hockey last year and scored eight goals and 31 points in 23 games for the Steelheads.
- Longtime ECHL veteran Todd Skirving is sticking in the league as he has signed a one-year contract with the Reading Royals as announced by the team. It will be Skirving’s seventh straight season in the ECHL and his first in Reading. Split between the Orlando Solar Bears, Utah Grizzlies, Atlanta Gladiators, Newfoundland Growlers, and the Florida Everblades, Skirving has scored 74 goals and 149 points in 301 ECHL games while winning a Kelly Cup in 2019 with the Growlers, and last year with the Everblades.
East Notes: Hurricanes, Demidov, Strome
The Hurricanes are continuing to rebuild their minor-league pipeline after spending 2023-24 without full-time AHL or ECHL affiliates. They inked a three-year agreement to re-affiliate with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier this offseason, but they remain without a full-time third-tier affiliate.
That won’t change for 2024-25, but they have landed what the team calls a “working agreement” with the Bloomington Bison, an expansion franchise beginning play in the fall. Bloomington has already landed an outright affiliation agreement for next season with the Rangers, but they’ll also be the preferred destination for the handful of players under contract with Carolina who get demoted all the way down to the ECHL. The Hurricanes had the same setup with ECHL Norfolk last season, whose primary affiliate was the Jets. Six players who were under contract with Carolina – Domenick Fensore, Griffin Mendel, Blake Murray, Yaniv Perets, Justin Robidas and Ronan Seeley appeared in action for Norfolk under the agreement.
Elsewhere from the East:
- Following up on a report from The Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan earlier this week, it’s becoming more certain that 2024 fifth-overall pick Ivan Demidov will play out the final season of his contract with the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg next season. Speaking with matchtv.ru, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg confirmed the plan is for Demidov to remain on the KHL roster instead of being loaned to a lower-level league (via Marc Antoine Godin of Radio-Canada). Demidov spent nearly all of last season on loan to SKA’s junior club in the MHL, where he had arguably the best draft-eligible season in league history with 60 points and a +47 rating in 30 games.
- Coming off back-to-back Calder Cup championships, the AHL’s Hershey Bears have retained a core part of their club. The Capitals’ primary affiliate has re-signed left winger Matthew Strome to a two-year deal, per a team announcement. The brother of Washington center Dylan Strome and Ducks forward Ryan Strome had a career-best 20 points in 50 games with the Bears last season and scored the overtime winner in the series-clinching Game 6 of the Calder Cup Final against Coachella Valley. He was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017 but hasn’t been under an NHL contract since his entry-level deal expired in 2022 after not receiving a qualifying offer.
AHL Notes: Parent, Isley, Sucese, Ahac
The Utica Comets kicked off a day of minor league signings by re-signing forwards Xavier Parent and Jace Isley to one-year, two-way, minor-league contracts. The duo will have a chance to earn an increased salary at the AHL level next season, after both spending a season in the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder.
Parent graduated from the Thunder partway through the 2022-23 season, after scoring 23 goals and 51 points in 50 games. He’s continued producing through his rookie AHL season this year, ranking third on the Comets in scoring with 45 points in 71 games. Isley has followed Parent’s path this year, graduating to Utica after 55 games in the ECHL, though he only scored 23 points of his own. He’ll aim to earn his first full AHL season next year, while Parent will be fighting to earn his first NHL contract.
Other notes from around the minors:
- The Hartford Wolf Pack have announced the signing of forward Nate Sucese to a one-year contract. He’ll move east after spending the last two seasons with the Chicago Wolves. Sucesse found his stride in Chicago, posting a career-high 23 goals and 37 points in 72 games this season – topping his previous high of 23 points, set last season. The pair of years was a big improvement from the 21 points in 49 games that Sucese totaled in his first two AHL seasons. The Penn State alum seems to have the wind behind his sails, and will now look to carve out a strong role in Hartford’s middle-six.
- Sticking in the realm of Big Ten alumni – the Abbotsford Canucks have signed former Ohio State defender Layton Ahac to a one-year deal. It will be the first move of Ahac’s career, after spending his first four pro years with the Henderson Silver Knights. He failed to find much space on the scoresheet, recording just one goal and 17 points across 148 games. But Ahac has nonetheless fought his way into a routine role, on the back of smart defending and passing. He’ll look to form a more robust resume with a move to Canada, joining a Canucks organization with a wide open defense depth chart.
- The Chicago Wolves have joined teams making additions today, signing forward Nikita Pavlychev to a one-year contract. Pavlychev will move to Chicago after spending the last three seasons signed with the Ontario Reign, though he spent the majority of those seasons with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Pavlychev managed 108 points across 106 games in Greenville, ultimately working his way into a career-high 29 AHL games this season. He vindicated those performances with a stout 10 points, and will now look to firmly cement his feet as an AHL talent with the Wolves.
AHL Notes: Weissbach, Penguins, Wolf Pack
Free agent forward Linus Weissbach has signed with Frölunda HC of the SHL. Weissbach was a Group-VI UFA with the Sabres, effectively moving to unrestricted free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer from the team before July 1st.
This move returns Weissbach to his hometown of Göteborg, Sweden, where Weissbach grew up through the Frölunda pipeline. He made his debut with the organization’s top club in 2016, though he only played in one game before moving to North America and pursuing a four-year career with the University of Wisconsin. He graduated college in 2021 and has since spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, accumulating 117 points across 191 games in the minor leagues. But despite consistent production and a stout role in Rochester’s top-six, Weissbach was never the top option for a call-up, losing standing to more robust minor leaguers like Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray, and more recently bumped out by prospects like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen.
With that logjam only increasing after Buffalo’s successful 2024 NHL Draft, Weissbach will change his focus to pursuing a career with his hometown club. Frölunda’s sporting director Fredrik Sjöström shared his excitement for the move, saying, “We have lost two offensively skilled players in [Malte Strömwall] and [Jere Innala]. We wanted to bring in offensive skill and “Weiss” is just that. He is a skilled forward with good speed and plays like a pattern breaker. He fits what we wanted. We’ve been on him for a while and knew we needed to wait for some other parameters before he could choose us (Linus has been a free agent in North America). But he did and we are happy about that, says Fredrik Sjöström, sports director.”
Other notes out of the minor leagues:
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added Nick Luukko as an assistant coach. Luukko, 32, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, leading the team to the postseason in each year, though they never made it past the second round. He earned the role with Jacksonville just two seasons after ending his own playing career – which spanned 274 ECHL games – after just one season as an ECHL assistant coach. He’ll now fast-track to the next level, joining a Penguins organization in the midst of cycling out much of their org chart.
- The Hartford Wolf Pack have hired Brendan Burke as a goaltending coach. Burke has spent the last two seasons as a goaltending coach for his former youth and junior hockey teams – the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Portland Winterhawks. He earned an NHL Draft selection with Portland in 2012-13, hearing his name called in the sixth round by his hometown Phoenix Coyotes. Burke is the son of legendary NHL goaltender Sean Burke, who is now serving as Vegas’ Director of Goaltending.
Minor Transactions: 7/13/24
The hockey summer has entered a standstill, with moves around Europe headlining much of the news. We’ll keep track of the notable signings here:
- Starting in North America, former St. Louis Blues forward prospect Keean Washkurak has signed a one-year, minor league deal with the Belleville Senators. Washkurak entered unrestricted free agency this summer, after not receiving a qualifying offer from St. Louis. He didn’t have much to show prospective new teams, with just four goals and 10 points in 63 AHL games last season. It was another low-scoring and low-minutes year for Washkurak, who’s totaled a measly 46 points across 176 AHL games since turning pro in 2020. He’s so far spent his career on two two-way NHL contracts with the Blues – a status that he’ll now have to work his way back to with Belleville.
- Goaltender Zane McIntyre has signed a one-year deal with the Straubing Tigers of the DEL, Germany’s top league. The move ends McIntyre’s nine-year tour around the AHL; a trip that took him through stops with six different clubs, including the Providence Bruins and Iowa Wild. McIntyre has generally filled a backup role throughout his career, ultimately totaling 153 wins and a .908 save percentage in 300 AHL games. He’s now set for his first full year in Europe, though he did spend a brief six games with the KHL’s Dynamo Riga during the 2020-21 season.
- Kyle Keyser is joining the string of goaltenders moving internationally, signing a one-year deal with the Kunlun Red Star, China’s KHL club. Keyser has spent the last six seasons with the Providence Bruins, though he’s split his time between the roles of AHL backup and ECHL starter. The 25-year-old Keyser has totaled 29 wins and a .902 in 73 AHL games and 16 wins and a .891 in 42 ECHL across his career. He’ll fight for better production in a more prominent role with Kunlun.
* This post will be updated throughout the day.
Central Notes: Cogliano, Francouz, Colorado Goaltending, Everblades
A pair of former Avalanche players will be sticking around the organization. The team announced that Andrew Cogliano has been appointed as a Special Assistant to General Manager Chris MacFarland while Pavel Francouz is now a Goaltending Scout. Cogliano retired in May after a 17-year NHL career spanning nearly 1,300 NHL appearances, the last three of which were spent with the Avs. Francouz, meanwhile, was supposed to be the backup to Alexandar Georgiev last season but didn’t play due to a lower-body injury. He unofficially served in a scouting capacity during the season and now has had that role formalized.
More from the Central:
- Still with the Avalanche, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post wonders if they might wait until training camp to add another netminder as they did last season when they picked up Ivan Prosvetov off waivers. Notably, Justus Annunen is now waiver-eligible and wouldn’t be a lock to clear after putting up a 2.25 GAA and a .928 SV% in 14 appearances last season. However, with the team set to have some extra cap flexibility to start the year with Valeri Nichushkin not counting against the salary cap while in the third phase of the Player Assistance Program, Colorado could elect to carry three goalies and have a battle for the backup position extend into the regular season.
- The Blues will have an ECHL affiliate for next season as the Florida Everblades announced that they’ve reached a multi-year affiliation agreement with St. Louis. It’s the first time the Blues have had a full affiliation at this level since the 2019-20 campaign. The Everblades, meanwhile, have won the Kelly Cup for three straight years while affiliated with two different NHL teams, Nashville and Florida but announced last month that they’d be seeking a new parent franchise which they now have.
Minor League Signings: 7/9/24
As the summer calms down for NHL teams, it’s beginning to pick up for minor league programs looking to fill out the depth of their lineup. We cover the notable AHL signings from July 9th here.
- The Ontario Reign have signed forward Shawn Element and defender John Parker-Jones. Element is moving north after spending the first three years of his career with the Syracuse Crunch. He’s found his groove as a bruiser over the last two seasons, posting 88 penalty minutes in 48 games last season and 100 in 64 games this year. His scoring has stayed consistent during the stretch, with Element marking nine goals and 18 points in both years. He’ll look to bring that grit to a hard-hitting Reign lineup. The same can be said about Parker-Jones, who recorded 90 penalty minutes in 55 games with the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions this year. He’s only played 22 AHL games since turning pro in 2022-23, recording just three points, but could get a better shot at ice time as he moves to a Reign lineup in need of defensive depth.
- The Henderson Silver Knights have signed centerman Mitch McLain to a two-year deal. The move will return McLain to the United States, after spending the last two seasons with the Calgary Wranglers. He recorded 32 goals, 51 points, and 220 penalty minutes in 119 games over the pair of years. The performances have helped McLain further dig his feet into the role of a high-event forward, after posting 17 goals, 23 points, and 113 penalty minutes in 76 games with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2021-22. He’ll hope his bruting presence can continue to Henderson, where he’ll back a young Silver Knights lineup.
- Henderson has also announced one-year deals for forwards Riley McKay and Braeden Bowman. McKay joins the Silver Knights after two years with the Laval Rocket and a brief stint with Trois-Rivieres. He’s recorded 17 points and 266 penalty minutes in 69 games with Laval – though he’s still searching for the heights he reached in 2021-22, when he managed 27 points and 192 penalty minutes in 51 ECHL games. Meanwhile, Bowman joins the Silver Knights as an undrafted free agent, after playing through a four-year career with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Bowman managed 180 points across 184 games in the OHL and captained Guelph in this past season.
- The Charlotte Checkers have signed veteran AHL centerman Kyle Criscuolo to a one-year, minor-league contract. Criscuolo has spent the last 10 seasons in the AHL, playing for six different clubs and winning the Calder Cup in 2017. The 32-year-old has managed 143 points and 248 penalty minutes in 430 career games in the AHL. That includes Criscuolo’s career-high 42 points in 63 games this year. He’s also earned spot starts with three different NHL clubs, ultimately totaling 16 games and three points in the league. Criscuolo has a long track record in the hockey world, captaining Harvard University from 2014 to 2016 and since spending five years of his AHL career as an alternate captain. He’ll bring leadership and stout scoring to Charlotte’s lineup.
- Former Colorado Eagles captain Jayson Megna will stick with the team, after signing a two-year, minor-league contract (Twitter link). Megna spent parts of four seasons with the Eagles from 2019 to 2023, though he opted to sign a one-year, two-way deal with the Boston Bruins last summer. That moved him to the Providence Bruins for the 2023-24 season – to fantastic effect, with Megna posting a career-high 56 points in 69 games. It was the most time Megna has spent in the minors since 2018-19, spending much of his time since then filling a depth forward role int he NHL. He’s earned 33 points and 40 penalty minutes in 204 NHL games over the course of his career, but will instead focus on bringing his newfound scoring back to the Eagles next season.
- The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have re-signed forward Jacob Gaucher to a one-year deal, per Tony Androckitis of AHL.com (Twitter link). Gaucher played through his AHL rookie season this year, posting 16 points, split evenly, in 59 games and adding just 18 penatly minutes and a -7. The measly stat line comes after a tremendous ECHL season last year. In what was his first professional season, Gaucher posted 22 goals and 61 points in 71 games with the Reading Royals, adding 12 points in 11 playoff games. That performance has seemingly played him out of an ECHL role, though he’ll need to find his scoring at an AHL level next year if he wants to keep things that way.
Snapshots: Buchnevich, Cajkovic, Leafs, Durandeau
Just a few months after shopping him around the Trade Deadline, the St. Louis Blues have agreed to terms on a long-term extension with top winger Pavel Buchnevich a year early. But general manager Doug Armstrong acknowledged that the team had to cave to Buchnevich’s term, telling Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post, “We talked [with Buchnevich’s side] again on the first, did the deal on the second. I’ll be honest with you, I budged.” Armstrong added that giving ground on term is the cost of doing business in today’s market.
For their effort in the negotiations, the Blues have now locked up Buchnevich at a manageable $8MM cap hit, set to begin in 2025-26 after his current deal expires. The 29-year-old winger recorded 27 goals and 63 points in 80 games this season, the lowest scoring of his tenure with the Blues. He had a career year in his first year with the club in 2021-22, recording 30 goals and 76 points in just 73 games. Buchnevich scored at a similar pace last year, though an ankle injury would limit him to just 63 games and 67 points.
Buchnevich has emerged as a premier winger in St. Louis, and a great addition to the high-tempo duo of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. He’ll look to really get comfortable in that role next year, after agreeing to what will be the longest contract of his career.
Other notes from around the league:
- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Maxim Cajkovic has signed with HC Verva Litvinov of Slovakia’s Tipsport Extraliga. The Penguins acquired Cajkovic from the Minnesota Wild in January, sending Will Butcher the other way. The deal proved moot for both teams, as Butcher currently awaits a new deal on the free-agent market. Cajkovic, 23, is returning to Europe after spending all year in the minor leagues, tallying five points in 10 AHL games and four points in 13 ECHL games. He’ll be playing in his third European pro league on this deal, after spending time in Sweden’s SHL and Austria’s ICE Hockey League during his U21 career.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced a new ECHL affiliation, signing an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones set to begin next season. The duration of the deal hasn’t been revealed. Toronto turns to the Cyclones after their previous affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers, ceased operations before the end of the 2023-24 season. The Cyclones are a familiar face in the ECHL, appearing in 23 of the league’s last 30 seasons. They’ve won two Kelly Cup Championships in that span – in 2008 and 2010. Cincinnati will look to return to those heights now in partnership with the Leafs: the fifth NHL club they’ve been affiliated with.
- Montreal Canadiens winger Arnaud Durandeau has signed with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Durandeau went on a quick tour around the minor leagues this season, playing for three different AHL clubs this season after a mid-year loan was followed with Montreal acquiring Durandeau from the New York Islanders in exchange for Tyce Thompson. Durandeau scored 24 points across 48 AHL games this season, bringing his career totals to 132 points in 215 games. He also appeared in four NHL games during the 2022-23 season, though he failed to score.