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East Notes: Point, Penguins Front Office, Popugayev

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Jun 15: Point is officially playing in tonight’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, per Cooper.

Jun 14: There’s finally confirmation that Brayden Point will be back within the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup this season. Point took practice today with the team, practicing on the first power-play unit. Head coach Jon Cooper said after practice that “there’s a chance” Point will play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tomorrow night, and that he “really anticipates” Point being available for Game 2.

Point’s return certainly begins to stack the cards more in favor of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Historically a point-per-game player in the playoffs, a healthy Point gives Tampa Bay two elite centers to counteract the strong Colorado Avalanche offense. With Nazem Kadri potentially still injured for Colorado, it swings the center matchup massively in Tampa’s favor.

Montreal Canadiens Bring Back Otto Leskinen

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The Montreal Canadiens are bringing a familiar face back to the organization. Montreal announced today they’ve agreed to terms with defenseman Otto Leskinen on a one-year, two-way contract, paying him the league-minimum $750,000 at the NHL level and $300,000 at the minor-league level.

It’s the second time Leskinen has signed with the Canadiens as a free agent. The native of Pieksämäki, Finland, spent the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons in the Canadiens organization before he returned to Finland for 2021-22. He played six games with Montreal at the NHL level over those two years.

He returns to North America after a triumphant return to his native Finland last season. Starting the season with Jokerit Helsinki of the KHL, Leskinen left mid-season and joined Tappara in the Liiga for the stretch run, notching eight points in 10 regular-season games and 10 points in 15 playoff games en route to a league championship.

The 25-year-old will play a prominent role in AHL Laval next season in all likelihood, but he’s also solid injury insurance and a good call-up option if things go awry on the back end for Montreal. Leskinen will again be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Lukas Sedlak

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The Colorado Avalanche announced the signing of forward Lukas Sedlak to a one-year contract for 2022-23. The contract brings Sedlak back to the NHL after three years spent in the KHL. No financial terms have been disclosed as of yet.

Sedlak was actually signed through next season with Traktor Chelyabinsk, but the team terminated his contract early last month, opening the door for Sedlak to return. HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga had snapped up Sedlak to bring him back to his home country just a few days after his contract was terminated, but Sedlak has apparently opted to take advantage of the assumed NHL out-clause in his Czech contract to return for a shot at an NHL role.

A solid 13th forward for three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado will be just the second NHL organization Sedlak’s been affiliated with. Sedlak was Columbus’s property ever since the team drafted him in 2011 all the way until he left the team as a free agent in 2019. He’s been one of the top scorers in the KHL ever since, putting up 43 points in 49 games with Chelyabinsk in 2021-22.

Cheap, affordable veteran depth will be crucial for the Avalanche as the team’s Cup window looks to open for years to come. They’ll inevitably push closer and closer to the salary cap, requiring the usage of players like Sedlak to be able to step into the lineup occasionally and perform. While nothing more than a depth role should be expected, he’s shown the ability in the past to be a reliable NHL forward and he returns as a more experienced player.

Dmitry Zavgorodniy Signs In KHL

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After mutually terminating his contract a couple of weeks ago, former Calgary Flames prospect Dmitry Zavgorodniy is headed back to the KHL full-time. HK Sochi announced Sunday that the team inked the 21-year-old to a two-year contract through 2023-24.

No one thought much of Zavgorodniy at the time he was drafted, having fallen all the way to the Flames in the seventh round (198th overall) in the 2018 draft. But for the next two seasons, the 5′ 9″ forward took a huge step forward with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic, culminating his junior career with a 29-goal, 67-point season in 40 games in 2019-20.

He’s yet to replicate that offense after leaving juniors, though. In 29 games with the AHL’s Stockton Heat during the COVID-affected 2020-21 season, Zavgorodniy mustered just four points in 29 games. In just 12 games this season, he had one assist. He did spend some time in the KHL on loan during the past two seasons, scoring six assists in 16 games across time with SKA St. Petersburg and Sochi. Now, the Omsk-born forward will have a chance to play at home full-time as a free agent in the eyes of the NHL.

Zavgorodniy, at 21, still has time to develop his game and return to the NHL later in his career if things go right for him.

Ilya Konovalov Clears Unconditional Waivers

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June 9: Konovalov has cleared waivers according to CapFriendly and has had his contract terminated. He is now an unrestricted free agent.

June 8: The Edmonton Oilers still need to figure out their goaltending for next season but you can rule out at least one player. Ilya Konovalov has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination. He had one year left on his entry-level contract.

Mark Spector of Sportsnet tweets that Konovalov is headed back to the KHL.

Originally selected 85th overall in 2019, it’s sort of a surprising move for the young netminder after just one season in North America. A contract termination will make him an unrestricted free agent, whereas had the Oilers not signed him, they would have held his draft rights indefinitely.

At just 23 years old, there’s still lots of upside for Konovalov, despite his struggles with the Bakersfield Condors this season. He posted an .893 save percentage in 17 appearances, winning just five times.

Even if he is heading back to Russia, this may not be the end of Konovalov’s story when it comes to North America. He is still young enough to continue his development overseas before attracting some attention down the road.

Christian Jaros Signs In KHL

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June 9: Jaros has now officially signed a one-year contract with the KHL club.

May 30: A few months ago, Christian Jaros cleared unconditional waivers and saw his NHL contract with the New Jersey Devils terminated. That made him an unrestricted free agent, but one that had limited options as the trade deadline had already passed. The 26-year-old didn’t join another league but now may be on his way overseas.

Reporting out of Russia has Jaros linked to Avangard Omsk of the KHL for next season, which would be a notable foreign addition to the league. Many players from other countries have signed contracts elsewhere, not wanting to be involved with Russia while the invasion of Ukraine was ongoing. If Jaros does sign, it would be his first experience in the KHL, having previously played in the SHL, AHL, and NHL as a professional.

For years, Jaros has been a key part of the Slovakian national team, participating in three World Championships and helping the country qualify for this year’s Olympic Games. That’s where they won their first ever hockey medal, finishing third and taking home the bronze. Notably, Jaros wasn’t included in the World Championship roster this year.

If he does end up in the KHL, it could very well be the end of Jaros’ time in the NHL. The young defenseman has 94 games under his belt including 11 this season with the Devils but hasn’t been a regular season the 2018-19 season.

Morning Notes: Draft Prospects, Pokka, Kravtsov

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More than 70 percent of PHR voters believe that Shane Wright is still the top choice for the Montreal Canadiens at the upcoming 2022 NHL Draft, and if you asked Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, he’d agree. Wheeler has Wright in the No. 1 spot on his updated top-100, though does note that he is no longer in a tier above the rest of the field.

Interestingly enough, Juraj Slafkovsky, who overtook Wright on Corey Pronman’s recent list, is much further down Wheeler’s. The big winger isn’t even the top-ranked player from Slovakia, as the prospect prognosticator continues to rank Simon Nemec higher than most of the other publicly available lists. As always, the entire list is worth a read, given how detailed Wheeler dives into some of the lower-ranked names.

  • Highly-ranked prospects don’t always work out though, something the Chicago Blackhawks found our first hand with Ville Pokka, the 34th overall pick in 2012 and a big part of the return for Nick Leddy two years later. Pokka, despite strong offensive numbers in the AHL, never could put together his defensive game well enough to earn an NHL opportunity, and the defenseman left for the KHL in 2018. After four years in Russia, he’s headed to Sweden, where he’ll join Farjestad next season.
  • Vitali Kravtsov, another prospect that hasn’t quite panned out just yet, has apparently turned down an offer from the KHL as he eyes a return to North America. The 22-year-old winger is a pending restricted free agent but will still be under control of the New York Rangers, should they issue him a qualifying offer. In his partial season with Traktor this year, Kravtsov proved he can play to a high level in the KHL, scoring 13 goals and 23 points in a combined 34 games.

Oilers Expected To Terminate Ilya Konovalov’s Contract

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Oilers prospect Ilya Konovalov hasn’t had a great first season in North America and it appears he won’t be getting a second one as Dynamo Moscow’s GM Alexei Sopin told Championat’s Sergei Yemelanov that an agreement is in place to bring the netminder back to the KHL next season.  The move is pending a contract termination from Edmonton which is expected to come once their playoff run comes to an end.

The 23-year-old was a third-round pick of Edmonton back in 2019, going 85th overall.  He remained with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL for two seasons after being picked before opting to come to North America for this season.  However, Konovalov was limited to just 17 games with AHL Bakersfield this season, posting a 2.73 GAA with a save percentage of just .893.  He was briefly up with Edmonton on their taxi squad but didn’t get into any NHL action.

This move has been in the works for a while as last month, Dynamo Moscow traded for Konovalov’s rights at the beginning of the KHL’s transactions window.  Assuming the termination goes through as planned which should come sometime later this month, Edmonton will lose Konovalov’s NHL rights but free up a contract slot.  They’d also clear out the logjam in the AHL crease with both Olivier Rodrigue and recent college signing Ryan Fanti already under contract for next season.

Latest On Andrei Kuzmenko

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The waiting game on Russian free agent Andrei Kuzmenko continues, as no decision has been made yet for where he’ll start his NHL career. Thomas Drance said today on Sportsnet radio that he has heard Kuzmenko is now circling back for second interviews, and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV has heard the same. Dhaliwal tweets that the Vancouver Canucks remain “very very high” on Kuzmenko’s list.

It’s been quite a while since reports first emerged that the 26-year-old winger was considering coming over to North America, and yet his pursuit seemingly hasn’t generated the buzz that some other KHL free agents have in the past. Some of that perhaps is due to the ongoing geopolitical situation that Russia has put itself in but more than that, hockey fans may be starting to get a “fool me once” attitude in these situations.

Over the last several years several free agent forwards have made the jump from the KHL and found little success on NHL ice, though there have also been some successful transitions. Alexander Barabanov and Ilya Mikheyev have both carved out significant roles on this side of the ocean, with the former recently inking a new two-year, $5MM contract with the San Jose Sharks. Mikheyev is also set to hit unrestricted free agency and is looking at a big pay raise after scoring 21 goals in 53 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When compared to those two, in particular, it’s easy to see why fans should be excited about Kuzmenko. His 2021-22 was better than any season Barabanov or Mikheyev put up in the KHL, as he scored 20 goals and 53 points in just 45 games. His playoff performance was better too, with seven goals and 14 points in 16 games this year for SKA St. Petersburg.

Still, the specters of players like Vadim Shipachyov and Nikita Gusev hang in the air of scenarios like this; elite KHL players who found it very difficult to make the transition to North America and become a consistent NHL presence. Both of those two have had more success in Russia than Kuzmenko likely ever will, earned huge contracts before even playing here, and yet managed a combined 100 games in the NHL.

Whether Kuzmenko lands in column A or column B remains to be seen, but the Canucks and plenty of other teams are willing to find out.

Nikolay Goldobin, Joakim Nordstrom Re-Sign Overseas

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It seems like a long time ago that Nikolay Goldobin was in North America, lighting it up for the Utica Comets. In reality, that was just two years ago and Goldobin isn’t even 27 yet. The former Vancouver Canucks forward won’t be coming back just yet though, as he has signed a new one-year contract extension with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL.

The same could be said about Joakim Nordstrom, who played in the NHL even more recently, spending 2020-21 with the Calgary Flames. The Swedish forward won’t be staying in the KHL but has signed a new two-year deal with HC Davos in Switzerland.

Goldobin, 26, was a first-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2014, and quickly worked his way to the NHL after putting up strong numbers in the OHL, Liiga, and AHL. By 2017 however, he was on his way to Vancouver in a deadline deal for Jannik Hansen, as the Sharks had their eyes on the Stanley Cup. With the Canucks, Goldobin was quickly given a full-time opportunity in the NHL, even reaching 27 points in 63 games during the 2018-19 season.

But after spending another year nearly entirely in the minor leagues, he bolted for the KHL and the team decided not to qualify him. After a so-so 2020-21, Goldobin was back in the driver’s seat this year, and became one of the most reliable players in the entire KHL. With 39 points in 42 regular season games and then another 18 in 23 postseason contests, he would ave likely been on a few radars around the NHL. He still will be next year, especially if he can provide a repeat performance in 2022-23.

While Nordstrom never had the kind of upside that Goldobin represents, he was a more consistent NHL player. His defense and checking were enough to land him a full-time role for many years, racking up nearly 500 games in the league. After appearing at the Olympics and World Championship for Sweden, he’s off to a new challenge in Switzerland, where a two-year deal will likely remove any thoughts of a return to North America.

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