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Nick Ellis Announces Retirement From Professional Hockey

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In a surprising decision, Edmonton Oilers minor league goaltender Nick Ellis announced his retirement today via a post on his Instagram page. Ellis will instead pursue a career as a teacher and coach, ending his professional playing career just a few years after it began.

Ellis, 24, was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer after spending the last two seasons in the Edmonton organization playing for the Bakersfield Condors and Wichita Thunder. Though it seemed likely that he wouldn’t get a qualifying offer, it’s unusual to see players walk away from the game at such a young age. Ellis signed out of Providence College in 2016, but never made it into a game at the NHL level.

In his only season as a starter for Providence, Ellis dominated the NCAA ranks with a 25-7-4 record and .936 save percentage. Turning that into a pro contract, he found early success in the AHL and looked like a solid signing for the Oilers to provide some depth at the goaltender position. This season Ellis wasn’t as effective, and it’s easy to see how he wouldn’t have had a job with Bakersfield next season. Dylan Wells is an upcoming prospect for the Oilers, and after signing Mikko Koskinen the team will likely have to send Al Montoya to the minor leagues. Shane Starrett is also still around, while Stuart Skinner—while still in junior—is being groomed as the goaltender of the future.

For Edmonton, this is little more than a few hundred thousand dollars lost for their trouble. Ellis didn’t take up a draft pick, or steal any real development time from their other goaltending prospects. Though he was an effective goaltender at times, the team has other plans for the position.

Oilers Leaning Towards Keeping The Tenth Pick Over Trading It

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  • While Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli suggested following the season that they could move their first-round pick (tenth overall), Oilers radio analyst and team employee Bob Stauffer suggested via Twitter that moving that selection for short-term help isn’t a likely outcome.  David Staples of the Edmonton Journal adds that it’s becoming more and more apparent that Chiarelli isn’t willing to move that pick.  He noted at the end of the season that there are several defensemen that he likes and there’s a good chance a quality defender will be available if they stand pat.

Pacific Notes: Boeser, Viveiros, Cammalleri, Carrier

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While most people have been under the impression that rookie sensation Brock Boeser would be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, general manager Jim Benning confirmed that, according to an NHL.com report.

Boeser suffered a back injury back on March 5 when he hit his back on an open bench door and broke a transverse process, a spur that projects off the side off each vertebrae. The injury, which Boeser once referred to as “career threatening,” ended a dominant rookie season to that point. In 62 games, he tallied 29 goals and 55 points. On top of all of that, he also was dealing with a wrist injury he suffered in February, which required platelet-rich plasma injections and four weeks of immobilization.

“My understanding is he’ll be 100 percent for training camp,” Benning said. “My understanding is the cast was taken off a week ago. I haven’t talked to Brock about it, but I believe the cast had to be on a month. The doctor that he went back to see in Minnesota is the Vikings’ hand specialist and that’s the doctor that did Brock’s surgery two years ago. We were able to get an appointment for him and we wanted to get him in there and have the doctor have a look at him. The worst-case scenario was that he would require another surgery, but he didn’t need to do that.”

  • Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that the Edmonton Oilers’ hiring of WHL Swift Current head coach Emaneul Viveiros is an underrated hire after the team announced their new assistant coaches Friday. What impresses the scribe the most is the way Viveiros’ Broncos, which captured the WHL title this season, had the league’s best power-play unit with a 29.4 percent success rate. If he can bring that ability to an Oilers team that struggled immensely in the last year in special teams play, Edmonton could be on their way to a rebound season. Staples himself adds that he believes the team was misusing both Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the power play as they were usually placed in the right face-off circle, a position that didn’t benefit either player.
  • Sticking with the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins analyzes the value of bringing back forward Mike Cammalleri for next season. The soon-to-be 36-year-old veteran joined the Oilers in a November trade with the Los Angeles Kings and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. While his numbers on offense (seven goals and 22 assists in 66 games last year) don’t stand out, they are actually quite solid for bottom-tier forward. His experience and IQ on the ice could prove valuable to a team with a lot of young players. His suspect defense doesn’t help his cause, but his solid face-off skills even out some of that. The scribe concludes that if the Oilers consider bringing him back, it should only be for the league minimum.
  • While a report yesterday stated that Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said that he expects forward William Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals, it looks doubtful that he’ll be available for Game 1 on Monday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Carrier was wearing a red no-contact sweater in practice today, suggesting he’s likely not ready yet to rejoin the team. He missed the entire Western Conference Finals against the Winnipeg Jets with an undisclosed injury.

 

Edmonton Oilers Hire Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, Manny Viveiros

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Friday: The Oilers have made the hirings official, and Viveiros is indeed the third assistant coach. Edmonton likely had to wait until his Swift Current Broncos were eliminated from the Memorial Cup, which happened with their Wednesday defeat at the hands of the Regina Pats. Viveiros led Swift Current to a WHL championship this year, after a 48-17-7 season, and will now get his first opportunity to coach in the NHL.

Thursday: The Edmonton Oilers have been on the lookout for new assistant coaches for Todd McLellan, and have apparently settled on some familiar names. John Shannon of Sportsnet and Jason Gregor of TSN are both reporting that Glen Gulutzan and Trent Yawney are expected to be announced in the near future as new assistant coaches, while Manny Viveiros could be the third name.

Gulutzan of course was most recently the head coach of the Calgary Flames, but was fired after just two seasons on the job. Despite his 83-68-14 record while there, the Flames failed to reach the playoffs the season and needed a change. He’ll join Edmonton and attempt to bring the same sort of high possession results he enjoyed in Calgary, though he’ll be working under McLellan.

Yawney had worked with the Anaheim Ducks organization for the last several years, but failed to receive a contract renewal after the team was eliminated early. The former NHL defenseman has worked all over the Western Conference, spending time in Anaheim, San Jose and Chicago over the years. He’ll likely be tasked with improving the production from the blue line for the Oilers, who struggled to find much consistency last season from a talented group. It will be interesting to see if that group stays together through the summer, as there are continual rumors that Edmonton might be interested in acquiring another big-name option.

Lauri Korpikoski Signs Long-Term Contract In Finland

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Veteran NHL forward Lauri Korpikoski signed in Switzerland with the ZSC Lions of the NLA last summer in an effort to rejuvenate his career. However, things did not go as planned as injuries limited Korpikoski to eight points in just 19 games. He did manage to play in 16 of 18 playoff games for the team, contributing six points, en route to a league title, but overall the season was a disappointment for the two-way forward. As a result, Korpikoski will not be returning to the NHL nor re-signing with the Lions, but instead he will head home to Finland. Korpikoski has signed with TPS of the Liiga, the organization he began his hockey career with all the way back in juniors, the team announced.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this move is that the 31-year-old has reportedly inked a six-year deal with TPS. The team revealed that the contract allows Korpikoski to play abroad during the term of the deal, but the length implies that Korpikoski may be resigned to the fact that his days as an elite player are over. While TPS itself is a historic club that finished second in the regular season last year, the Liiga is at best the fifth-best pro league in the world. A veteran of more than 600 NHL games and former first-round pick, its just as easy to believe that Korpikoski could still make a living for himself in the NHL or elsewhere.

Korpikoski was drafted 19th overall by the New York Rangers in 2004, but didn’t debut with the team until 2008-09. He was then dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes after just one year in New York and flourished into a legitimate two-way top-nine forward. Korpikoski recorded 145 points in 401 games over six seasons with the Coyotes and twice received votes for the Selke Trophy during that time. In his final two seasons in Arizona and the subsequent two years spent with the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Columbus Blue Jackets, Korpikoski was a consistent albeit unspectacular performer, with four straight years of 20-odd points in around 70 games while playing a more physical, checking style. However, this wasn’t enough to draw sufficient interest from NHL teams last summer and Korpikoski hoped a year away in Switzerland could bring back his 40-point play from his early years with the ’Yotes. This didn’t happen with ZSC, but with TPS there is still a chance that he could rediscover his elite two-way game. If not, he has the security to simply stay home and help develop future Finnish stars over the course of his six-year deal.

Todd Nelson Eyeing NHL Assistant Jobs

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The head coach of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, the 2017 Calder Cup champions, has his eye on greener pastures. According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, Todd Nelson is a hot name on the coaching market right now among teams in need of an NHL assistant. Nelson is reportedly considering offers from many teams. Custance describes Nelson as an AHL coach who has proven himself ready to be an NHL head coach, but is facing the dilemma of deciding how best to position himself for that move.

Nelson, 49, has a long history with the Griffins and will not be quick to choose an NHL assistant position if the fit is not perfect. The former defenseman spent much of his playing career in the minor leagues, wrapping up his career in Grand Rapids in 2002. He immediately jumped into coaching as an assistant with the Griffins the next year. While he left the team after just one year, Nelson found his way back to Grand Rapids in 2015 as the head coach and took home a title last year. In his decade away from the team, Nelson spent time as an assistant with the Atlanta Thrashers, was the long-time head coach of the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, and even briefly served as the interim head coach of their then-parent club, the Edmonton Oilers. While Nelson’s Oilers won just 17 of 51 games under his guidance, it was an invaluable experience and strays greatly from Nelson’s other head coaching outcomes, in which he has a career .611 points percentage in the AHL.

It’s possible that Nelson could land in the same scenario as Oklahoma City if he stays in his current position, possibly taking over for Jeff Blashill of the Detroit Red Wings, who have struggled of late, during or after the next season. However, this time he would likely be given a longer tryout as head coach for Detroit given his improved coaching pedigree. Nelson could also get a jump on that process by simply becoming one of Blashill’s assistants, the same path that Jack Adams candidate Bruce Cassidy took, moving from head coach of the Providence Bruins to an assistant in Boston before taking over. Yet, Custance hears that Nelson is still considering a move. “By no means am I unhappy in Grand Rapids,” Nelson told Custance, but added “I just want to see what the next step might present… My goal is to be a head coach in the National Hockey League. Maybe it means going with a different organization where I’m more visible.” Teams reportedly chasing Nelson include the Dallas Stars, and new head coach Jim Montgomery, and at least one other Western Conference team, per Custance. Only time will tell what choice Nelson makes, but he is certainly a name to keep an eye on in the coming years as a top head coach candidate in the NHL.

Snapshots: Heiskanen, Bachman, Belov

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It has been quite a year for Miro Heiskanen, the third overall pick last year by the Dallas Stars. The young defenseman put up 23 points in 30 games in the Finnish Liiga, played well at the World Juniors and the Olympics, and most recently has starred in the World Championships. As reported by the Associated Press, the only logical next step is the NHL. “I want to play there as soon as possible, that’s my goal”, Heiskanen said about joining the league’s best in the NHL next season. Heiskanen knows that he could still get stronger and smarter, but his skill is very clearly pro-ready. Heiskanen is likely to step in and immediately play a key two-way role on the Dallas blue line. Expect the announcement sooner rather than later that arguably the best defensive prospect in hockey will be a full-time Star next season.

  • Former Stars goalie Richard Bachman has struggled to ever be more in the NHL than he was as Dallas’ primary backup in 2011-12. He has spent almost all of the past five years toiling in the AHL for the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Heading into free agency, it seems Bachman has decided to move on from the NHL. Swedish news site Hockey Sverige reports that Bachman is expected to sign with Timra of the SHL. Instead of sitting behind Swedes – Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson – in the NHL, the 30-year-old Bachman is expected to be given the starter’s job initially with Timra as he begins a new chapter in his career.
  • Former NHL defenseman Anton Belov won’t be making the jump across the Atlantic this summer. The Russian rearguard has re-signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the team he has played with since leaving the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14, for three more years per a team release. This extension likely rules out a future return to the NHL for the 31-year-old, though he will remain a visible name on the international stage as a top defender for a perennial KHL contender and as a frequent member of Russian national teams.

Oilers Expected To Let Markus Niemelainen's Rights Expire; Ryan Mantha's Blood Clot May Be Career-Ending

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The Oilers are not expected to sign 2016 third-round pick Markus Niemelainen, reports Postmedia’s Jim Matheson.  The 19-year-old was the 66th overall selection out of Saginaw of the OHL that year but he had a tough post-draft season and wound up being loaned to HPK of the SM-liiga for 2017-18 where he posted three points in 42 games.

Meanwhile, Matheson notes that the blood clot that Edmonton defensive prospect Ryan Mantha sustained earlier this season could be a career-ender.  Mantha was originally a fourth-round pick of the Rangers back in 2014 but did not sign with them and wound up joining the Oilers in March of 2017.  He last suited up for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield in early February and tallied ten points in 41 contests.

Western Notes: Pettersson, Fabbri, Blues, Skinner

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The Vancouver Canucks top prospect Elias Pettersson received a gold medal today at the IIHF World Championships. While the 19-year-old center did not  play after fracturing his thumb last week in a game against finals opponent Switzerland, there is also no word on whether he intends to sign his entry-level deal with the Canucks either, according to Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal.

Dhaliwal said he believes that Pettersson has yet to make up his mind about whether he wants to sign with Vancouver or stay another year in the SHL and play another year for Vaxjo. There is no timetable when the 2017 fifth-overall pick will make his decision.

  • In a mailbag edition, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that the best option for both the St. Louis Blues and restricted free agent Robby Fabbri is a one-year deal. Fabbri who hasn’t played a game since Feb. 4, 2017, is recovering from a torn ACL injury and had to undergo surgery a second time in training camp this year when he reinjured the same knee. Gordon writes with his value at an all-time low, as many players have trouble coming back from double surgery to the same knee, so both teams would want a one-year deal, including Fabbri who would want to prove to everyone he’s healthy if he wants to cash in on a lucrative contract.
  • Sticking with the Blues, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that the St. Louis Blues continue to shop some of worst contracts in hopes of clearing some cap space, including Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka and goaltender Jake Allen, although it’s unlikely they would be able to move any of those contracts. The 29-year-old Berglund has a $3.85MM AAV deal for another four years. Sobotka has two more years at $3.5MM AAV, while Allen has three more years at $4.35MM.
  • The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) evaluates the play of Edmonton Oilers goaltending prospect Stuart Skinner, who has been a solid prospect, but had a really good stretch after he was traded to the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. The 2017 third-rounder posted a .932 postseason save percentage in 26 games, leading Swift Current to the WHL title. Is he the goalie of the future for the Oilers? Mitchell compares the prospect to other top goaltending prospects, but still admits its too early to know how good he could be. Regardless, the Oilers have something to look forward to in the future.

 

Edmonton Oilers Extend ECHL Affiliation

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The Wichita Thunder have announced that they’ve extended their affiliation with the Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors for the 2018-19 season. Wichita is part of the ECHL, where more and more teams are building a legitimate tier of player development. The Thunder are coming off their first playoff appearance since joining the ECHL in 2014.

As sports science and analytics become more ingrained in organizations around the league, teams find themselves with a need for player development past just the AHL. Franchises like Toronto and Pittsburgh have built a tiered model that allows players who may have previously been considered too raw to be introduced to professional hockey a chance to work on their weaknesses in a lower risk situation. Players like Tom Kuhnhackl, Josh Archibald and Mike Condon have all spent time with the Wheeling Nailers (Pittsburgh) while Garret Sparks, Christopher Gibson and Darcy Kuemper have all spent time with the Orlando Solar Bears (Toronto, Minnesota).

That model is spreading, and the Oilers could try to take advantage of it with their Wichita affiliation. Goaltending prospect Dylan Wells was able to get into a game after his junior season ended, and he could start his professional career there next season. That position in particular is one that can be used heavily, as there are only so many starts to go around at the AHL level.

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