Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

KHL

Snapshots: Three Stars, Olympics, KHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The NHL has named Tuukka Rask, Mark Scheifele, and Pekka Rinne as the three stars of the week.

Rask went 4-0-0 with a 0.970 SV% and a 0.75 GAA. He had two shutouts, and has now won 10 of his first 11 games, making him the second Bruins goalie in their 92-year history to do so. Bruins legend Gerry Cheevers is the only other Bruins goalie to do so. Boston is proving to be rather dependent on Rask; they’re 0-5 without him and 10-1 with him.

Scheifele scored 3 goals and 6 points in 4 games, pushing him into a first place tie for the NHL scoring lead. The Jets earned 7 out of a possible 8 points during the week, bumping them to second in the Central Division.

Rinne went 3-0-0 during the week, with a sparkling 0.976 SV% and a 0.67 GAA to go alongside one shutout. Rinne has five wins so far this season, as Nashville makes their way back into playoff contention after a tough start.

  • It’s not looking great for NHL fans hoping to see their favorite players in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Commissioner Gary Bettman has admitted that he has explored the idea of the NHL skipping 2018 in Pyeongchang but returning in 2022 in Beijing. The NHL has participated in every Winter Olympics since Nagano 1998. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly noted the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to pay the NHL for what they have in the past has not changed. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston points out that the NHL and NHLPA have “stated unequivocally that they’re unwilling to start paying the estimated $10-million while also interrupting the season.” That money is for player travel and insurance.
  • Meanwhile, the KHL is considering trimming the number of franchises in their league. League president Dmitry Chernyshenko told R-Sport that they’re planning to talk about “an optimization of the number of clubs taking part.” Chernyshenko suggesting it’s possible that “the league could contract.” The KHL just expanded to China for this season, but Kunlun Red Star has struggled to attract fans. As well, the floundering price of oil has hurt the league’s funding in Russia.

Jaromir Jagr’s Quest For Second Place

at CDT | by 6 Comments

If you were a hockey fan in the early 90’s, you probably remember watching Rock’em-Sock’em tapes and being amazed by the different goals and saves from each year. One of the standouts each time, was none other than the mullet-donning Pittsburgh Penguin winger Jaromir Jagr. He was a star of the videos not just because Don Cherry couldn’t pronounce his name correctly (Yammy, for those who don’t remember) but because he was constantly scoring highlight goals.

Now, two decades later and the ageless wonder is still going strong. Who would have known back then that we were watching a player who would go down as one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the NHL.  We all knew he was great, but exactly how great was a lesson still to come.

After notching an assist last night, Jagr is now just 14 points behind Mark Messier for second place all time in NHL scoring at 1873. He ranks third in goals with 750, and sixth in assists. This season he’ll turn 45 years old, something only Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios have accomplished while still playing in the NHL, and if he stays healthy he’ll play in his 1700th career game (he currently ranks sixth all time in GP with 1640).

Read more

Jets “Gauging Interest” On Alexander Burmistrov

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Winnipeg Jets’ forward Alexander Burmistrov has just one point through his first ten games, and has seen less than 15 minutes of ice time in each of them. Now, according to a tweet from Gary Lawless of TSN, the Jets are “gauging trade interest” on the 25-year old.

Obviously, general managers gauge interest on many players at many times, and it doesn’t mean they’re looking to trade them. In Burmistrov’s case though, it does seem like his favor has soured somewhat and he could be on his way out. After scoring just 21 points last season despite his playing time actually increasing down the stretch, he’s now been relegated to the fourth line most nights and almost removed from the powerplay entirely.

While trading him at this point would represent a case of selling-low for the Jets, perhaps his eighth-overall pedigree and relative youth could still command a solid return. Burmistrov clearly has skill, as he showed during his time in the KHL; the forward scored 63 points in 107 games at a very young age.  With the Jets struggling out of the gate, perhaps adding a different type of player could give them a boost and vault them back into playoff contention in the Western Conference.  If not, fans and coaches alike might just have to hope Burmistrov can find his game and become the player the Jets’ (then Thrashers) envisioned when they selected him in 2010.

Snapshots: Kovalchuk, Sabres, Kings

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Could former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk be looking to follow in Alexander Radulov’s footsteps next summer?

KHL analyst Aivis Kalniņš believes Kovalchuk wants to return to the NHL. The Russian sniper retired from the NHL back in 2013 in order to play in the KHL after 11 seasons in North America. He was just three seasons into a controversial 15-year, $100MM contract when he retired.

Kalniņš reported that CSKA has begun contract talks with former NHLers Kovalchuk and Viktor Tikhonov; while Tikhonov is considered close to an extension, Kovalchuk is not. It’s a similar situation to Radulov, in that CSKA attempted to sign him but he chose to leave money on the table to give the NHL another go.

Whether or not the NHL allows Kovalchuk to return is another question. Because he signed his voluntary retirement papers, all 30 NHL teams would have to approve the move. It’s unlikely that 29 teams would approve a competitor’s bid to sign a former consistent 30-plus goal scorer.

  • Brayton J. Wilson of WGR 550 in Buffalo reported a hard-to-believe stat about the Sabres. With their win over Minnesota, the Sabres are now 4-3-2, or one game over 0.500. Wilson reported that this is the first time the Sabres have been over 0.500 since the third game of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. That’s 299 games ago, and a sign of the harsh realities of being a struggling franchise in the NHL.
  • After being shut out for the third consecutive game, Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter told reporters his message to the team was “there’s nobody coming in on a white horse to play goal for us or score goals or to come up [from the minors].” The Kings have approximately $1MM in salary cap space, despite placing the injured Jonathan Quick on LTIR. While Quick’s injury does give them some space in the interim, that would go away when he returns in three months, which rules out trading for Jaroslav Halak and likely Ondrej Pavelec too.

James Wisniewski Signs In KHL; Includes NHL Out Clause

at CDT | by 1 Comment

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, free agent defenceman James Wisniewski has signed a deal with the Vladivostok Admirals of the KHL. The deal will include an NHL out clause, meaning the former Blue Jacket could bolt if a spot opened in North America. James Wisniewski

Wisniewski was a journeyman defender that played for five teams in four years before settling in Columbus for a few seasons. During his years there, he continued as an excellent offensive contributor, matching a career high of 51 points in 2013-14. “Wiz”, just hasn’t been able to stay healthy throughout his career though, and played only a single game last season.

The 32-year old was only able to secure a PTO from the Lightning this summer, but was released after not showing enough to make the NHL squad. While his intent is still to return to the NHL, Russia offers an opportunity to make some money while keeping his skills sharp. Vladivostok is the home of other NHL defenders, including Jonathon Blum and Anton Volchenkov. Wisniewski’s strong first pass should play well on the bigger ice surface.

Metro Division Snapshots: Carolina, Jooris, Buchnevich, McIlrath, Poulin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Carolina Hurricanes, a team projected by some as a potential dark-horse in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, have won just one of their first six games and currently reside in the Metro Division basement. They’ll finally get a taste of home cooking Friday after starting the campaign on a six-game road trip as the Hurricanes will host the New York Rangers. Despite a respectable offense that is averaging three goals a game and a defense limiting opponents to the fourth-fewest shot attempts, Carolina has been undone by poor goaltending and as Ben Pope writes for Today’s Slapshot, it might be time for the Hurricanes to panic.

Cam Ward and Eddie Lack have combined for an 85.3% save percentage, the worst in the NHL, and have allowed four goals a game. Beyond the common numbers, the Hurricanes goalie duo is also performing at a below average level preventing goals against on low-, medium-, and high-danger shots, as Pope notes.

After just six games it’s fair to wonder about sample-size but Pope goes on to write that Ward, while sometimes making the spectacular save, has been a subpar netminder for much of his career. Lack, on the other hand, is nearly league-average in stopping shots from the outside but struggles mightily against attempts from in close.

Citing statistics available on Corsica.hockey, Pope opines the team’s defense hasn’t done the goalies any favors. Even though they have been excellent overall in suppressing shots, the ones they do allow have been of the medium-to-high-danger variety. The data shows 81.2% of the shots Carolina gives up are either of the medium of high-danger variety with the league average coming in at 63.4%.

Ultimately, the Hurricanes need better play between the pipes if they want to remain a relevant playoff contender. If that improvement doesn’t come internally, Carolina may have to scour the trade market to find a solution.

More from around the Metro Division:

  • With Pavel Buchnvich expected to return to the lineup Friday the New York Rangers were facing a difficult decision regarding whom to remove from their 23-man roster to open a spot for the rookie forward. But the injury to Josh Jooris Wednesday night allowed the Rangers to delay that decision a little longer, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. However, instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, the Blueshirts this morning have placed Dylan McIlrath on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club will likely send their 2010 first-round draft pick to Hartford of the AHL. McIlrath has suited up for just one game this season and has been a healthy scratch six times.
  • Former New York Islander netminder Kevin Poulin has signed a deal with Barys of the KHL, tweets Igor Eronko of Sports Express. Poulin showed promise early in his career after debuting in the league with a 92.4% save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.44 in 10 appearances as a 20-year-old back in 2010-11. It’s been downhill ever since with his save percentage declining in each subsequent campaign. Poulin last saw action in the league in 2014-15, starting once and allowing three goals on 26 shots. He appeared in 29 contests for Stockton in the AHL, winning 14 and stopping 90.9% of the attempts against.

Morning Snapshots: Backes, Trouba, Rantanen, Boychuk

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Former Blues captain David Backes inked one of the richest deals of the offseason when he left the mid-west to join the Boston Bruins on a five-year, $30MM deal. While Backes is an excellent two-way player, many criticized the length of the contract given to the 32-year-old C/RW. However, teams today seem to realize that is an inherent risk of free agency and generally hope to see surplus value in the earlier years of the pact.

Backes is only four games into his Bruins career yet the early returns are solid – two goals and three points. But as the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa writes, the biggest benefit of the Backes addition may be in how it’s allowed bench boss Claude Julien to balance out his lines to better take advantage of the skill-sets of his other forwards.

With Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup, he joins Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the Bruins top line. Backes, meanwhile, is slotted in as the second line RW with rookie Danton Heinen on the left of veteran pivot David Krejci. The left-handed Heinen and right-handed Backes  give Krejci two wings who play on their strong side and allow the gifted center to deliver passes to his linemates’ forehands. As Shinzawa notes, Krejci has had some of his best seasons when he’s “had a right-hand strongman clearing space on his wing.” In past years, Nathan Horton, Jarome Iginla and Blake Wheeler have provided Krejci with just that and now he has Backes.

More from around the NHL:

  • The Jacob Trouba saga in Winnipeg appears no closer to a resolution, as ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun writes. Trouba and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, recently made public the defenseman’s request to be traded citing a desire to play top-four minutes on his natural, right side. With Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien under contract with the Jets for at least the next three years, that opportunity didn’t appear to be in Winnipeg. For their part, the Jets have understandably placed a high price tag on Trouba, rumored to be a left-handed defenseman of comparable age and talent to the former first-round draft choice. According to LeBrun, the club hasn’t received an offer to their liking and are prepared to wait it out until they do. There is a hard deadline of December 1st; if Trouba is not under contract at that point he won’t be eligible to play this season.
  • The Colorado Avalanche appear poised to recall prospect Mikko Rantanen next week from San Antonio of the AHL, writes Mike Chambers of The Denver Post. Rantanen has been with the Rampage since the start of the season in what has effectively been a conditioning assignment as he works his way back from an ankle injury suffered during training camp. The Avalanche used their first-round selection in the 2015 draft to select Rantanen and the Finnish forward debuted in the NHL in 2015-16, appearing in nine games for the Avalanche. Chambers speculates the team will make room on their 23-man roster by placing veteran center John Mitchell on IR or by sending Gabriel Bourque or Ben Smith to San Antonio.
  • Zach Boychuk, who has appeared in 127 NHL games over parts of seven seasons with Carolina, Pittsburgh and Nashville, has inked a pact of HC Sibir of the KHL according to this link, re-tweeted by Cap Friendly (original link in Russian). Boychuk was chosen in the first-round of the 2008 draft by Carolina and has scored 12 goals and 30 points during his NHL career. He has had more success in the minors, once tallying 36 goals and 74 points while playing for Charlotte of the AHL during the 2013-14 campaign.

James Wisniewski Nearing KHL Deal

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Unrestricted free agent defenseman James Wisniewski is closing in on an agreement to join Barys Astana of the KHL, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (via Twitter).  Despite heading overseas, Dreger notes that Wisniewski is still hopeful of an NHL return at some point.

Wisniewski was bought out by Carolina back in June after an injury cost him the majority of last season; he played all of two shifts before tearing his ACL.

He was due a salary of $3MM this year with a cap hit of $5.5MM.  Instead, the Hurricanes opted to pay Wisniewski $2MM in salary over the next two seasons and are incurring a cap charge of $3.5MM this season and $1MM next year for him to not play for them.

Wisniewski was only able to secure a PTO with Tampa Bay over the summer but was cut partway through training camp after the team had concerns with his ability to learn the system quickly enough.  Evidently, no other opportunities have presented themselves.

The 32 year old has played in 552 NHL games over his career with the Blackhawks, Ducks, Islanders, Canadiens, Blue Jackets, and Hurricanes.  He has 53 goals and 221 assists under his belt while logging an average of 21:22 per game.

At the very least, a healthy season from Wisniewski in the KHL should help alleviate any concerns teams may have with his surgically repaired knee which should set him up for a possible return to the NHL next season.

Top KHL Salaries And Their NHL Comparables

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The KHL has long been labelled a place where fringe NHLers can go to get a bigger opportunity and paycheck. However, a report by KHL writer Aivis Kalniņš suggests that might not be the case.

Kalniņš tweeted a list of the top 30 player salaries in the KHL this season, and the salaries have a much lower ceiling and drop off quite quickly. The top 30 in the KHL add up to a shade over $55MM, while the NHL’s top 30 cap hits amount to an astounding $291.15MM.

Here are some notable names on the list, and comparable salaries in the NHL. It is important to note that Kalniņš’ list does not include bonuses, which could bump many of the numbers up. All numbers are from Kalniņš or Cap Friendly.

Kalniņš notes that new Montreal Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov was offered $7MM by CSKA, but chose to sign in Montreal for $5.75MM back in July.

The KHL has never released player salaries. Kalniņš speculates that this reveal could lead to full disclosure about KHL salaries. While some NHL teams are beginning to release numbers, most of what we know is based on reports from insiders.

2016-17 Season Preview: Philadelphia Flyers

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With just days remaining before the NHL gets back to playing meaningful games, Pro Hockey Rumors is starting to wrap up their Season Preview series. This evening we move on to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Last Season: 41 – 27 – 14, 96 points, fifth in the Metro. Lost to Washington in round one of the playoffs.

Cap Space: $40.834K (According to Cap Friendly)

Key Additions: RW Dale Weise (free agent – Chicago); C Boyd Gordon (free agent – Arizona); Roman Lyubimov (free agent – KHL)

Key Departures: C Sam Gagner (free agent – Columbus); C Ryan White (free agent – Arizona); D Evgeny Medvedev (free agent – KHL); C R.J. Umberger (buyout – unsigned)

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

Players to Watch: Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth. Philadelphia should be just fine up front with Claude Giroux (67 points), Jakub Voracek (55 points), Brayden Schenn (26 goals, 59 points) and Wayne Simmonds (32 goals, 60 points) leading the way offensively. The Flyers boast a tremendous crop of young blue liners led by Shayne Gostisbehere, who is set to be joined this season by 19-year-old Ivan Provorov. Not far behind is Robert Hagg and Samuel Morin. The key for the Flyers will be to once again get quality goaltending out of Mason and Neuvirth.

Last season when the Flyers surprised some by making the postseason, Mason and Neuvirth combined to stop 91.7% of shots against which was good enough to tie them with two other teams for fifth best in the NHL. The Flyers also allowed 2.56 goals-per-game, a rate bested by 11 clubs in the league. The goaltending was indeed good last season and it was a big reason why the Flyers made it to the playoffs.

The questions is: can they again be that good or better? Since joining Philadelphia, Mason, a former Calder Trophy winner, has stopped 92.2% of the shots he has faced. But that rate is inflated by a 92.8 save percentage in 2014-15. If we remove that season, Mason has a 91.9% save percentage with the Flyers, which is still a solid number.

The bigger question is Neuvirth, who prior to 2015-16 had never recorded a save percentage better than 91.4% in any season in which he appeared in more than 13 games. Over the last three seasons, Mason has started 161 games for the Flyers, which means in all probability Neuvirth will get close to 30 starts. The Flyers need Neuvirth to be at least league-average in those starts to give them a good chance to contend in the highly competitive Metro Division.

Key Storylines: Can the Flyers take the next step? They improved by 12 points over their 2014-15 season total and while it’s not likely they’ll experience another double-figure leap in points, the next step in their progression is passing some of the teams that finished above them . This past season the Flyers finished 8th in the conference, grabbing the second wild card spot and a guaranteed reservation with the regular season’s best team, the Washington Capitals, in the playoffs. Earning a higher playoff seed and a playoff series win would constitute a successful campaign.

It wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world if the Flyers took a marginal step back. They still have a ton of young talent getting closer to the NHL and with Mark Streit ($5.25MM AAV) and Michael Del Zotto ($3.875MM AAV) both set for free agency, the Flyers might have a little bit of money to spend next summer, assuming they rely on prospects to fill those openings. Then again, Gostisbehere is likely going to eat up much of that available cash on his next deal, presuming he has another productive campaign in 2016-17.

GM Ron Hextall and head coach Dave Hakstol have the Flyers on the right track. Hextall has extricated the club from some, not all, but some of their onerous contractual obligations. At the same time the franchise has added a lot of young talent to the organization that will begin to bear fruit as soon as this season.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top