Minor Transactions: 7/25/17
For a Tuesday in late July, it’s been an especially busy day for hockey transactions, including the NHL signings of Mika Zibanejad with the New York Rangers, Robin Lehner with the Buffalo Sabres, Mark Streit with the Montreal Canadiens, and several deals by the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils. Yet, there has been a flurry of notable activity in the AHL and overseas today too, including the following:
- The once-promising NHL career of Matt Fraser has taken another odd turn away from its original path. Fraser, still just 27 years old, has signed with Dornbirner EC of the EBEL, a lower tier European league based mostly out of Austria. The team has announced the deal, though terms have not been released. Fraser moves to the EBEL after a season in Sweden, where injuries limited him to only four games with Rogle BK. Before that, many will remember Fraser as a star in the AHL for the Texas Stars and, after the Tyler Seguin trade, the Providence Bruins. Fraser even played in 60 NHL games with the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 and looked to be on his way to becoming an NHL regular. However, after signing a one-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets in 2015 and failing to make the team, Fraser had the worst AHL season of his career and decided to head overseas. So far, it has not worked out, but Fraser will now try his hand at EBEL action, where he could easily be the best player for Dornbirner, who currently count another former Bruin, Jamie Arniel, as their top scorer.
- Another player who failed to meet expectatiosn in North America and will now head to a lesser European league is Dane Fox. The former Erie Otters superstar, who scored 107 points in 67 games in his final OHL season, has not found anywhere near the same success at the pro level. A high-profile signing by the Vancouver Canucks in 2014, the undrafted forward has made his last junior season look very much like a fluke with his play since then. Fox has skated almost exclusively in the ECHL over the past three seasons, playing in only two AHL games and not even in consideration for an NHL look with the Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. Now, Fox will head to Germany to play with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the DEL. Nurnberg is the likely favorite in the DEL next season and roster many players with NHL experience, including 2016-17 top scorer Steve Reinprecht and recent signee Tom Gilbert. Fox’s pro hockey career is very much up in the air right now, but if he can shine through on an experience Ice Tigers roster, perhaps he’ll get another shot in North America .
- The AHL’s San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks’ affiliate, has re-signed forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas to a two-year minor league deal, the league announced. The 27-year-old recorded a pro career-high 24 points and +13 rating for the Gulls last year and is a fan favorite and active member of the San Diego community. The former NCAA standout was a seventh-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, but was never signed to an entry-level deal after spending five years in college.
- The Chicago Wolves, now the new affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, have signed one of their own, inking Scooter Vaughan to a one-year deal, according to a team release. The hard-nosed defenseman worked his way up through hockey’s ranks, spending four years at the University of Michigan, three years in the ECHL, and going on four years in the AHL, with the last two spent in Chicago. The next stop could be the NHL, now that the Wolves are associated with the Knights, who obviously have the least organizational depth of any team in the league. A career-best performance in 2017-18 could earn Vaughan his first NHL contract next year.
- A pair of AHL defenseman will change teams for the upcoming season as Paul Geiger, recently of the Rochester Americans, has signed with the Hershey Bears, the Washington Capitals’ affiliate, while the Carolina Hurricanes’ minor league partners, the Charlotte Checkers, have signed former St. John’s Ice Caps defender Josiah Didier. Both Geiger and Didier are still just 24 years old and were solid college players, at Clarkson and Denver respectively, but need big seasons with their new teams after pedestrian starts to their pro careers, that is if they want to reach the NHL someday.
- The 2016-17 captain at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has found his new home, and he’s in a good spot. Riley Bourbonnais, a 23-year-old center who was nearly a point per game player for RPI last year, has inked his first AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the feeder team of the two-time Stanley Cup champs. The team announced their newest addition and have high hopes that he can bring the same well-rounded game he showed in college to the pros.
Minor Notes: Didier, Muzito-Bagenda, Tarasov
It has been a relatively eventful day for a Monday in late July for the NHL. RFA fever and impending arbitration is occupying many general managers’ time. That said, teams have also been busy at work with their AHL rosters and reviewing their prospect situations.
The Rochester Americans, the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate, announced the signing of Daniel Muzito-Bagenda to a two-way contract. The former Missassauga Steelhead generally plays on his off wing, the right side. He’s never displayed overwhelming offensive capabilities, and did struggle slightly to adjust to the North American game after playing two seasons for MODO’s under-20 squad in Sweden. He played well for the Steelheads in their very abbreviated playoff appearance in the 2015-16, leading that team in points through their 7 games played. Last season he played in 61 games for the Amerks, tallying only 15 points.
Muzito-Bagenda has a lot to prove if he wants to push for a 4th-line call up. Still, for a 6’1 player he has decent promise and should be able to improve his output at least marginally. The only way he’ll see spot duty is if there is a mass of injuries and he leapfrogs many others. Still, at only 21, he has room to grow.
- The Charlotte Checkers, Carolina’s AHL Affiliate, signed defenseman Josiah Didier to a two-way contract today. Didier split time between the AHL in St. John’s and the ECHL in Brampton last season. It will be interesting to see if he can solidify himself some playing time this year and earn consideration for another contract down the line. He only saw 39 games of action and tallied a meager 8 points in that time. At 24 years old, the former fourth-round pick of Montreal is certainly hoping to finally put it together. His right-handed shot is certainly intriguing, but this will have to be the year to get noiced.
- The NHL website ran an intriguing piece on Columbus’ 3rd round selection at the 2017 Draft, goaltender Daniil Tarasov. Tarasov showcased some amazing ability at the 2016 World Juniors, but missed the year due to injury. He could prove another sneaky good selection by GM Jarmo Kekalainen, who has truly revitalized that franchise through solid scouting and prospect management. Finally getting recovering to ful health once again, Tarasov will ease himself back into the game by playing for the “junior KHL”, the MHL, for a team called Topar Ulfa. It will be interesting to see whether this gamble pays off, and how quickly Tarasov could push for a KHL position. His athleticism and poise definitely turned heads, but a year off can harm any player’s development.
Free Agent Profile: The Goalie Market
More than three weeks into free agency, there are still several big names available on the market. Among PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents, you can still find Thomas Vanek (#8), Jaromir Jagr (#13), Andrei Markov (#14), Drew Stafford (#21), Cody Franson (#22), and many more without NHL homes. What you can’t find is a single goalie on that list left unsigned. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a single free agent goaltender that the casual hockey fan would recognize.
The following is list of available keepers who were on NHL contracts in 2016-17: Daniel Altshuller, Mantas Armalis, Sam Brittain, Mac Carruth, Ryan Faragher, Michael Garteig, Jonas Gunnarsson, Matt Hackett, Jake Paterson, Mackenzie Skapski, Colin Stevens, and Stephon Williams. Are none of those names standing out? They shouldn’t. Not one of those 13 players made a single NHL appearance last season and only Altshuller, Brittain, and Garteig even sat on an NHL bench. Of the group, only Hackett and Skapski have ever played in the NHL and neither one has suited up since 2014-15. The group leaves little to be desired.
This could explain why many other teams have decided to reach overseas for goalie depth this off-season, with the Nashville Predators bringing back Anders Lindback, the Minnesota Wild signing Niklas Svedberg, the Vegas Golden Knights signing Oscar Dansk, the Florida Panthers signing Harri Sateri and, most recently, the New York Rangers bringing in young Alexander Georgiev. Yet, even the foreign market is drying up. The top leagues in Sweden and Switzerland have nothing to offer net-needy NHL team, while the best remaining free agent goalies in the KHL and Finnish Liiga are 37-year-old Alexander Yeryomenko and 34-year-old Pekka Tuokkola respectively. Other KHL free agents like Riku Helenius, Drew MacIntyre, Justin Pogge, and Kevin Poulin are all former NHL wash-outs themselves who have done little to improve their stock overseas and don’t present much of an upgrade over many of the North American options.
So which keepers are the best of this rag-tag bunch? The short answer is that none are ready to make NHL starts any time soon. Every NHL free agent either spent time in the ECHL in 2016-17 or should have because of unsightly AHL numbers, whereas none of the KHL free agents were particularly impressive this past season either.
Poulin is the most likely of any to earn an NHL contract for next season, as he has more NHL experience than everyone else on this list put together – with just 50 appearances. The 27-year-old went back and forth between the New York Islanders, who drafted him in 2008, and their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, from 2010 to 2015. In that time, Poulin had an 18-25-3 record with an .899 save percentage and 3.07 GAA. While it isn’t the best NHL stat line, it isn’t the worst either. Outside of the NHL, Poulin has always posted a save percentage of .909 or better, including a .909 exact and 2.66 GAA with Barys Astana of the KHL last year. For a team in need of a goalie, even just for AHL depth, Poulin isn’t a terrible option.
Hackett would be next on the list and also has the second-most NHL games played. Once considered the “goalie of the future” for the Minnesota Wild after a spectacular rookie season in 2011-12, the now 27-year-old’s career has gone in the opposite direction. Pedestrian play in the AHL and inconsistency in his NHL efforts took Hackett out of the running as an NHL starter, but he’s still been able to find work as a third-string backup after Minnesota with the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks. Even after an AHL season where he was passed up on the depth chart, saw only seven games of action, and posted poor numbers, Hackett still seems like a safe bet to find a new deal somewhere.
Beyond Poulin and Hackett, a contract for any of the other free agent goalies would come as a surprise. At 23 years old, Paterson is the youngest of the free agents and has put up strong numbers in each of his first two pro seasons. However, those numbers have come in the ECHL rather than the AHL. Paterson’s junior numbers in the OHL aren’t spectacular, so the competition level of the ECHL may simply be where he’s best suited. Nevertheless, he has the most room to grow of anyone available. On the flip side, the 37-year-old Russian keeper Yeryomenko is by far the most talented goalie available statistically. The KHL veteran was arguably the best goalie in the league last year, posting a .950 save percentage and 1.29 GAA in 37 starts. There is no reason to think that Yeryomenko is eyeing a move overseas at this point in his career nor that he could adjust to the NHL’s pace of play at his age, but if he is open to it, he could be a low-risk gamble as a stop-gap veteran backup in the AHL for some team.
Potential Suitors
Luckily, most NHL teams are not in dire straits in net that they should have to be taking a long look at the current free agent market. Nearly every viable name has already been scooped up and few teams have a pressing need. However, it never hurts to have several fallback options in net, and even teams with three or four solid players can end up scooping up that one extra keeper as the off-season goes on.
The one team that really must make a move is the Columbus Blue Jackets. Yes, they have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky, and promising young backup Joonas Korpisalo, but after trading Anton Forsberg away this summer, the Blue Jackets are lacking in depth. The only other goalie under contract is Matiss Kivlenieks, who is entering his first pro season out of the USHL. Kivlenieks is probably not suited to even start at the AHL level yet, nevertheless be the next man up for Columbus. The Blue Jackets could stand to add two goalie even, though their need is great enough that they could be scouring the trade market instead for their third-stringer.
Even after replacing Ryan Miller with Anders Nilsson in free agency, the Vancouver Canucks could still use another goalie. Thatcher Demko is a stud prospect and ready to carry the bulk of AHL starts, and Richard Bachman is a good veteran AHL option capable of making an NHL spot start too. However, should Jacob Markstrom or Nilsson, both injury-prone and relatively new to their 2017-18 roles, struggle or be sidelined, Demko or possibly Bachman will be ready to go, but without much reliable backup depth in Utica. Vancouver could simply re-sign Garteig, who was in the system last year, but may want to go with a superior talent given the unproven nature of their top three goalies at the NHL level.
Expected Contract
It might be a stretch to assume that any of the goalies remaining on the free agent market, NHL or international, will sign an NHL deal this summer. If they do, it will surely be a one-year, two-way deal worth the minimum $650K or simply a minor league AHL deal. There’s not much left to offer on the market, but with some holes still in need of filling across the league, understanding the strengths and many, many weaknesses of the goalie market could help to make sense of any upcoming deals.
Minor Moves: Finn, Moore, Johnston
After spending most of last season in the ECHL, Matt Finn has reached a deal with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on a two-way AHL deal. Just like a two-way NHL contract, that means Finn will be paid different amounts between the ECHL and AHL. He will not count towards the New York Islanders’ contract limit.
Just 23, Finn has been a disappointment since being selected 35th-overall by the Maple Leafs. During his days for the Guelph Storm of the OHL, and before that in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, Finn was a dynamic two-way defenseman capable of racking up points while also shutting down the opponent’s best offensive weapons. That next-level ability disappeared in professional hockey, and he’s bounced up and down between the two minor leagues for several years.
- The San Jose Barracuda have inked Bryan Moore and David Makowski to one-way AHL contracts, bringing them in after successful seasons with the Allen Americans of the ECHL. The pair combined for 101 points in 86 games for the club, but will now get their chance to play in the AHL. Makowski, a defenseman, is best known for his play at the University of Denver where he captained the Pioneers to a NCHC Championship in 2014.
- The Manitoba Moose have hired Marty Johnston as an assistant coach, bringing him away from Carleton University in Ottawa. Johnston has coached there for seven seasons. A former minor league player, Johnston is an up-and-coming coach who may get a head coaching chance in the AHL at some point in the next few years. For now he’ll get the chance to work with some of Winnipeg’s top prospects, including Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor if they don’t make the Jets out of camp.
Overseas Notes: Pirri, Brule, Villacher
Despite some early reports, it remains unclear whether free agent forward Brandon Pirri is leaving the NHL or not. News out of local sources in Switzerland made it sound as if the young scorer had already come to an agreement with the ZSC Lions of the NLA. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, one of hockey’s top news-breakers, did some digging today and has doubts about the deal. Friedman believes that Pirri still plans on staying in North America, despite what is likely ample interest from European clubs. Pirri, still just 26 years old, has not been tendered a qualifying offer in back-to-back years, despite racking up 47 points in 121 games with the New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, and Florida Panthers over the past two seasons. Before that, Pirri notched a 22-goal season for the Panthers in 2014-15. Yet, often described as a one-dimensional player, Pirri has been unable to find a long-term NHL home. Will he wait out the market or take a minor league deal, as Friedman suggests, or will eventually succumb to the pressure of overseas offers, like that of ZSC, and leave North America?
- One former NHLer who first turned to the ZSC Lions when he could not find a new NHL team was Gilbert Brule. The sixth overall pick of the 2005 NHL Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Brule left for Swtizerland in 2012 after his once-promising career had produced only 95 points in 296 NHL games over seven pro seasons. Brule attempted a comeback the following year, but found a similar lack of success and moved on to the KHL, where he has played ever since. According to a press release from Russian club Traktor Chelyabinsk, Brule is on the move again, but still within the KHL. Traktor has acquired the now 30-year-old forward for cash compensation from Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Brule is coming off his best pro season in 2016-17, after posting 42 points in 52 games between Neftekhimik and Medvescak Zagreb. Brule will look to stay hot in the final season of his contract after finishing in the top 25 in points per game last season in the KHL.
- Brule’s former team, Medvescak Zagreb, has now left the KHL and has re-joined the EBEL, a league based mostly out of Austria, but that includes other European clubs like Zagreb, a Croatian team, and others from the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia. While league re-alignment has been a major story for the EBEL, another has been the active off-season for Villacher SV, the lowest-placing Austrian team in 2016-17. In the past two days, Villacher has added arguably the two biggest names of any EBEL signings this summer in Rob Flick and Ben Walter. Flick, a fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and a well-regarded enforcer, had been unable to crack an NHL lineup despite solid defensive play and moderate offense in the AHL and ECHL. The 26-year-old finally found his scoring touch with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays last season, notching 63 points in 60 games and will now look to keep that going with Villacher. Walter, a veteran of lower-level European hockey, was one of the top scorers in the EBEL in 2014-15 with 43 points in 50 games. Walter was a fifth-round selection of the Boston Bruins in 2004, and unlike Flick, saw 24 games of NHL action with the Bruins, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils. While Flick and Walter may not be massive names by any means to most North American fans, their relative talent level make them huge acquisitions for Villacher.
Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Gonchar, Canucks
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been the subject of much confusion this summer, as the team works under the confines of the salary cap despite two huge contracts for players that won’t play this season. Joffrey Lupul and Nathan Horton and their $10.55MM combined cap hit are destined to sit out the season with long-term injuries, but many believed that the Maple Leafs had work to do to be cap compliant before the season began.
As James Mirtle of The Athletic explains, and GM Lou Lamoriello confirmed to reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN today, the team is using off-season LTIR for at least one of those players in order to remain under the cap. That means Toronto’s cap ceiling is increased, leaving room for a new Connor Brown contract at some point this summer.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have added another former player to their coaching staff full-time, bringing Sergei Gonchar in as an assistant. Gonchar had already been working as a part-time development coach for the club, but will join Mark Recchi and Jacques Martin as assistants next year. Even after losing Rick Tocchet to the Arizona Coyotes, the Penguins have an extremely experienced staff that should be able to fill the roles quite well. Gonchar, 43, is only a few years removed from an outstanding playing career that saw him suit up for over 1300 games.
- The Vancouver Canucks will have a new ECHL affiliate this season, inking a one-year deal with the Kalamazoo Wings. The Canucks had been affiliated with them before, though the last two seasons the K-Wings have been tied to the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ll house some distant prospects for the Canucks next season, and try to get back to the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
Blackhawks Announce Qualifying Offers
With tomorrow’s 5:00 PM ET deadline fast approaching for teams to submit qualifying offers to their impending free agents, names are about to flood in over the next 24 hours. Most RFA’s of any value are usually qualified and their teams retain sole control over their rights, while all others become unrestricted free agents. Each year, there are always some surprises though. Some names, like the New York Rangers’ Brandon Pirri, Adam Clendening, and Mackenzie Skapski, have already been leaked over the past few weeks as not being qualified. On the other hand, all RFA’s who were protected in the Expansion Draft had to first be extended a qualifying offer. That still leaves a long list of players to be determined tomorrow.
Count the Chicago Blackhawks as one team that won’t be scrambling tomorrow. Chicago has already made public which of their restricted free agents were and were not qualified. Among those whose negotiation rights the Blackhawks will retain are forwards Dennis Rasmussen and Tomas Jurco and defensemen Ville Pokka and Erik Gustafsson. Who is headed for unrestricted free agency? Forwards Michael Latta and Kenton Helgesen and defenseman Nolan Valleau. There is no official word, but it is overwhelmingly likely that the Blackhawks will qualify recently-acquired goalie Anton Forsberg, who GM Stan Bowman called the team’s 2017-18 backup at the draft this weekend.
There isn’t much surprise to Bowman’s decisions regarding his RFA’s. The 26-year-old Rasmussen has been a key bottom-six forward for the Blackhawks, skating in 112 games and recording 17 points while serving an important role as a defensive forward and penalty kill contributor. His qualifying offer was just $650K, the 2017-18 league minimum and well worth the services of a good, young two-way forward. Jurco, still just 24, made his NHL debut with the Red Wings back in 2013 and was an “up-and-coming prospect” in Detroit for a long time. It cost the Blackhawks a third-round pick to pry him from the Red Wings and they’ll look to make up for that loss by developing a player with undeniable talent who hasn’t been able to put it all together. Even though he’ll likely cost the cap-strapped ‘Hawks $1MM or more per year, expect a deal to get done. Pokka, while he has not yet made his NHL debut, has been the top blue liner for the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs for two years now and will certainly get his shot in the coming season for a weakened Chicago defense. One of the main pieces in the Nick Leddy trade, the Blackhawks have plans for the Finnish defender. Gustafsson played 41 games for the Blackhawks just two years ago and posted 14 points while playing to a +11 rating and seeing significant ice time. He may not have appeared in 2016-17, he seemed to be a viable candidate for a role this season as well. Valleau not so much. The 24-year-old out of Bowling Green University has struggled to produce in two AHL seasons and his -19 rating compared to just eight points this past season was likely his ticket out of town. Laatta, perhaps the most recognizable name on this list, is still not much of a surprise. As a young player with the Washington Capitals, Laatta showed promise as a career checking line player, but even in that role there were holes in his game. After signing with the Los Angeles Kings last summer, Laatta was dealt to the Blackhawks mid-season for another Capitals cast-off, Cameron Schilling. In neither L.A. nor Chicago did Laatta make an NHL appearance and may be a career minor leaguer moving forward. Helgesen is surely a career minor league player; he has spent the entirety of the past two seasons in the ECHL with nearly no production.
While Chicago’s qualifying moves are fairly straightforward, they don’t always go that way. Stay tuned for more qualifying offer announcements over the next 24 hours.
Snapshots: Pokka, Wichita, Kostin
The Chicago Blackhawks are in negotiations with Ville Pokka on a new contract, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. The young defenseman has still yet to make his NHL debut, but with the Blackhawks facing cap problems once again and Trevor van Riemsdyk likely headed for the Vegas Golden Knights, it might be time for Pokka to make an impact this season.
The 23-year old was selected 34th overall in the 2012 draft by the New York Islanders and is a restricted free agent this summer. It’s not often you see high draft picks make it all the way through their entry-level contract without a sniff of the NHL, but because of it Pokka should be relatively inexpensive on his next deal. That said, he’s a candidate for Group VI free agency should the Blackhawks not get him into 80 games by the summer after his 25th birthday, meaning he’s probably unwilling to sign anything longer than two years without any guarantees at playing time. After three up-and-down seasons in the AHL that showed both his potential and deficiencies, it will be tough to put him right into the NHL to start next year.
- The Edmonton Oilers have announced their partnership with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL as a new minor-league affiliate. The Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate will work closely with the Thunder to develop their prospects. Though Bakersfield and Wichita are still quite a distance from each other, the Oilers had been affiliated with the Norfolk Admirals last season on the east coast. That team is now working with the Nashville Predators while the Thunder will indeed be much closer geographically.
- Klim Kostin is clear that he wants to play in North America next season, and he will likely get a mutual termination with his KHL club in order to do so. In a recent translated article with Sovsport, Kostin—a top prospect for the 2017 entry draft, expected to go sometime in the first round—says that even though he has two years remaining on his current deal, their is a good chance the team will “understand me and let me go.” Kostin has previously said he doesn’t want to play in the WHL where the Kootenay Ice hold his junior rights. He instead could go directly to the NHL or AHL if he were to sign an entry-level contract right away.
Snapshots: Schedule, Rapid City, Samsonov
The full 2017-18 NHL schedule will be released on a special television production on the NHL Network on Thursday at 2pm CDT, and with it will likely come the end of any last hope for the league to go to the 2018 Winter Olympics. Anyone holding out hope that the league would change their staunch position and find common ground with the IIHF should drop it when the schedule is finalized and released.
Already, the league has announced that the All-Star game will be in Tampa Bay, and there will be regular season games played in Stockholm, Sweden. With several outdoor games also on the docket and the Vegas Golden Knights entering the league, it should be an interesting season to be sure.
- The Rapid City Rush have come to an agreement with the Minnesota Wild to be their new ECHL affiliate, after the Quad City Mallards left the Minnesota organization to partner with the Golden Knights. The Rush were previously the affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, but are much closer geographically to both St. Paul and Des Moines, where the Minnesota and Iowa Wild respectively play. Though there is (very) rarely movement from the ECHL to the NHL, Iowa and Rapid City will be working closely together to develop the young Wild prospects.
- In speaking with Tarik El-Bashir of CSN, Washington Capitals Assistant General Manager Ross Mahoney said that he thinks prospect Ilya Samsonov is still a year away from coming to North America, and that they’re happy to wait for him. Samsonov was the first goalie off the board in 2014, and had an outstanding season with Magnitogorsk this year, registering a .936 save percentage in 27 games. It’s tough to find a better goaltending prospect than Samsonov, who has the size and mobility to be a starter in the NHL should he keep developing.
Morning Notes: Doughty, Portland, Granato
Start your engines Toronto Maple Leafs fans, because the speculative signings are about to get crazy. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was on TSN 1050 radio today and dropped a quote that will be shared all over the internet:
I think all of us Southern Ontario players, we secretly want to play for the Leafs, you know, we all have that kind of soft spot.
Doughty would go on to explain that he’s not sure how he would react to being that big of a “celebrity” in the city and said that’s the issue a lot of players have when deciding whether to sign with Toronto. Doughty of course plays in Los Angeles where he’s a small fish, but would become a megastar should he ever return to Ontario. The 27-year old defenseman has two years remaining on his current contract, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.
- The people of Portland, Maine will be getting a professional hockey team soon enough, as the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers has purchased the defunct Alaska Aces of the ECHL and will move them to the northeastern city according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. The team is still unnamed and will hope to have an NHL affiliation before long.
- Don Granato will indeed join the Chicago Blackhawks coaching staff for the upcoming season, working with Joel Quenneville and the also-announced Ulf Samuelsson among others. It was reported last week that Granato was in the running for an assistant coaching job, after working with the University of Wisconsin this season.
- Shelley Anderson spoke to the Pittsburgh Penguins today as they cleaned out their lockers, and shared a ton of interesting information. Not the least of which was that Matt Murray’s injury sustained in the warm up of game 1 of the playoffs was a torn hamstring, making it impossible for him to play through it.
- Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion is looking at all options when it comes to the draft, willing to move up or down in the first round according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Ottawa currently holds the 28th overall pick, but could potentially deal it for the right addition to their squad after going deep into the playoffs this season. With Erik Karlsson only under contract for another two seasons, they may feel pressure to go after a Cup run right now.