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East Notes: Cossa, Poirier, Drozg

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The Detroit Red Wings are currently enjoying a great start to Ville Husso’s tenure as the team’s starting goalie, as the team’s summer acquisition already has a shutout to his name and is boasting a .923 save percentage through two games. But despite that solid start, the long-term future for the Red Wings in net may not lie in Husso’s hands. The team selected Sebastian Cossa 15th overall at the 2021 draft, and he is among the top goalie prospects in hockey. He could be their future, but it may take some time to reach that point.

Today, the Red Wings made their plans for Cossa’s development a bit clearer. After he made his professional debut in a victory over the Milwaukee Admirals, the team reassigned Cossa to their ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye. While some might view an ECHL demotion as a major step back in a prospect’s development, this move should be seen positively in Cossa’s case. Beginning his career in the third-tier ECHL will afford Cossa a longer runway to grow his game, and allow him to take on more of his team’s starts than he would have in Grand Rapids, where the battle for time in the crease is more competitive. Getting consistent game action is crucially important for goalie development, so this move will allow Cossa to play more consistently and in a lower-pressure environment.

Now, for some other notes regarding Eastern Conference teams:

  • The Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, announced today that they have reached a mutual agreement with Emile Poirier to terminate the forward’s contract. A 2013 first-round pick, Poirier signed an AHL deal with Laval in the summer and was set to make his return to North American pro hockey after spending last season in both the KHL and SHL. But after not being included in Laval’s opening-night lineup, Poirier and the team have decided that pursuing other opportunities would be the best path forward for both parties.
  • Jan Drozg, a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2017 draft class and former QMJHL star, has found a place to play for the 2022-23 season. Per the KHL’s official website, Drozg has signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk. The 23-year-old Slovenian winger spent time with both the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL last season and will look to improve the offensive attack of one of the lowest-scoring clubs in the KHL.

Andrew Hammond Terminates KHL Contract

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It’s been an interesting few months for Andrew Hammond. First, he was headed to Florida Panthers training camp on a PTO, then a few days later he decided to sign with a KHL club. Now, after just two appearances in Russia, he is on his way home. Hammond has terminated his contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk.

All of this comes after Hammond’s most productive NHL season in years. The 34-year-old goaltender played in 11 games, split between the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, going 4-5-1 overall. He had last appeared in the NHL in 2018 when he was forced into the Colorado Avalanche net in the playoffs (and performed admirably, with a .933 in three appearances.).

With some clubs already facing some goaltending injuries, and others thin at the position to begin with, one would think that Hammond could land a deal somewhere to add depth to an organization. What’s next isn’t clear, though, after such a tumultuous offseason. Overall, the veteran netminder has appeared in 67 NHL games and holds a .916 save percentage for his career.

Mikhail Berdin To Spend 2022-23 In KHL

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It was interesting, earlier this week, when the Winnipeg Jets recalled Arvid Holm from the minor leagues to serve as an extra goaltender. That third-string spot would have presumably gone to Mikhail Berdin under normal circumstances but he was away from the team.

Now, the Jets have explained where Berdin is. In a release, the team has indicated that per a recommendation from the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program, the young goaltender will not be with the organization this season. His agent Dan Milstein tweets that Berdin will return to Russia to be closer to his family and will play in the KHL this season.

The Jets will not incur a cap charge and Berdin will not be paid by the team. Instead, he will be allowed to sign a one-year deal in the KHL for this season. His NHL rights will stay with Winnipeg for the time being.

Now 24, Berdin was a sixth-round pick of the Jets back in 2016 and has been away from Russia for years. He spent two full seasons in the USHL following his draft, and has been in the minor league system for the past four. There was a short 14-game stint with St. Petersburg SKA in 2020-21 when the AHL season was postponed, but beyond that, he has been competing in North America for six years.

Hopefully, whatever has caused him to need this split from the organization will be resolved and he can continue his pro career here in the future. The young netminder has a lot of upside and posted a .902 save percentage in 32 games with the Manitoba Moose last season.

Interestingly, because of his age and contract status, Berdin should actually qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer. That means the two sides could be parting ways permanently, though since this is a special circumstance there could be other factors at play. Even if he does qualify for UFA status, the Jets would be free to sign him to another contract next offseason.

Ryan MacInnis Signs In KHL

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Oct 4: It appears as though MacInnis has changed his mind. Adler Mannheim of the DEL has now announced a contract with him, replacing injured forward Tyler Gaudet. He will no longer be headed to the KHL.

Sep 15: After failing to get much of an opportunity at the NHL level, Ryan MacInnis has decided to try his luck overseas. The minor league forward has signed a contract with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL.

MacInnis, 26, became a Group VI unrestricted free agent (for the second time) this summer after his one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres came to an end. The 2014 second-round pick has only played in 27 NHL games to this point, just one of them coming last season. In 49 games with the Rochester Americans, where he spent most of the year, he scored 11 goals and 27 points.

The son of NHL legend Al MacInnis, Ryan was an excellent junior player and has shown at least flashes of the ability to fill out a fourth-line role in the NHL. But with basically zero production – he has just a single assist in those 27 games – it’s hard to justify putting him in the lineup.

In the KHL, he should find quite a bit more playing time and the chance to see a more offensive role. It seems likely that we’ll see him in North America again some point down the line, though another NHL chance may be out of the picture.

Michael Chaput Signs In KHL

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Since making his professional debut in the 2012-13 season, forward Michael Chaput has been a quality depth contributor for five NHL franchises. In 445 career AHL games, Chaput has 292 points, and he also has nearly 200 NHL games on his resume.

Now, Chaput will continue his professional career overseas. Kazakhstan’s KHL club, Barys Astana, announced today that they’ve signed Chaput to a one-year contract.

Chaput signs this deal after a moderately successful 2021-22 campaign. While he was a solid contributor for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, scoring 33 points in 57 games, Chaput didn’t find his way into any NHL games. That marked 2021-22 as Chaput’s first season since his rookie pro season in 2012-13 where he couldn’t crack an NHL lineup at least once.

Now 30 years old, Chaput will head to Kazakhstan likely with the goal of playing well and earning a shot in an NHL training camp next fall. Chaput will join Linden Vey, Jeremy Bracco, Nelson Nogier, and Chris Bigras as former members of NHL organizations now looking to help Barys Astana (four wins, six losses through ten games) make the KHL’s playoffs.

New York Islanders Sign Nikita Soshnikov, Cory Schneider, Parker Wotherspoon

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Nikita Soshnikov is coming back to North America after spending the last three seasons in the KHL. The 28-year-old forward has signed a one-year deal with the New York Islanders, according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets reports that the one-way deal is worth $750K.

The team has also confirmed one-year contracts for Cory Schneider and Parker Wotherspoon, though did not include any financial details. CapFriendly notes that Schneider’s one-year, two-way contract is worth $750K in the NHL and $400K in the minor leagues while PuckPedia adds that Wotherspoon’s deal will pay $750K in the NHL, $175K in the minors, and carries a guarantee of $225K.

Lou Lamoriello, of course, has experience with Soshnikov from his time as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and will now give the talented forward a chance to compete for another NHL opportunity.

In 33 games last season split between CSKA Moscow and Avangard Omsk, Soshnikov scored just 16 points. That production improved in the playoffs though, where he posted five goals and eight points in just 13 games. With a history of success in the KHL and 87 games of NHL experience, it seems a worthwhile gamble for an organization that needs some secondary scoring.

Schneider and Wotherspoon meanwhile will be headed to the minor leagues, as Lamoriello indicated recently. The veteran netminder played well with the Bridgeport Islanders last year, posting a .921 in 30 appearances.

Wotherspoon, 25, was one of the final unsigned RFAs and had 24 points in 57 games last year, while also racking up 127 penalty minutes.

Brennan Menell Signs In KHL

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Sep 19: Menell has indeed signed a one-year contract with Dynamo Moscow, becoming only the third American-born player to join them in team history.

Sep 14: It wasn’t so long ago that Brennan Menell was considered an up-and-coming defenseman who would soon push for NHL playing time. Undrafted, he had become a star for the Iowa Wild of the AHL, and even got into five games with the Minnesota Wild. Now, it appears he’s headed back to the KHL, as Sport-Express is reporting that he has signed a contract with Dynamo Moscow.

Menell, 25, already spent one season overseas, playing the 2020-21 campaign with Dinamo Minsk. He was outstanding for the KHL club that year, registering the most assists by any KHL defenseman and finishing with 38 points in 47 games. He was even better in the playoffs where he had seven points in five games, but that success didn’t follow him back to North America.

In easily his worst professional season to date, Menell had just 11 points in 38 games split between the Toronto Marlies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Perhaps that is why he’s headed back overseas, along with the fact that he became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. There just hasn’t been much NHL opportunity for the smooth-skating Menell, who is a classic example of offensive defensemen not being able to crack into the higher level as a depth option. Still just 25, it likely isn’t the last we’ve heard of him.

Andrew Hammond Signs In KHL

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As reported a few days ago, Andrew Hammond will no longer be headed to Florida Panthers’ training camp. A one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk was announced today, as the Hamburglar heads to the KHL for 2022-23. The release indicates that Hammond will fly to Russia as soon as his visa is worked out.

While he is 34 now and getting closer to the end of his playing career, it is somewhat surprising that Hammond has chosen to go to the KHL. He has never played overseas before, he had secured a PTO with the Panthers, he is coming off a season with 11 NHL appearances, and he has been a strong AHL performer for nearly a decade.

Still, perhaps he is excited about the opportunity he will receive with Traktor, where he can form a goaltending room with Emil Garipov, who has been brutal through two games so far this season. Ilya Proskuryakov, a 35-year-old netminder who spent last season in the VHL, and Sergei Mylnikov, a young goalie with barely any KHL experience are there too, not much competition for the consistent play of Hammond.

At this point in his career – Hammond will turn 35 in February – a year in the KHL may end any chance of another appearance in the NHL. Through 67 appearances at the highest level, Hammond posted a 31-20-7 record with a .916 save percentage and four shutouts. He also posted a .924 in five playoff appearances, losing three of them.

Nelson Nogier Signs In KHL

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After splitting last season between the Manitoba Moose and Ontario Reign, Nelson Nogier is off to the KHL. The minor league defenseman has signed a one-year deal with Barys Nur-Sultan, leaving North America after parts of six years in the AHL.

While a player with just 11 NHL games signing in the KHL isn’t usually much of a story, Nogier’s Group VI unrestricted free agency and subsequent departure ends a decades-long trade tree, one that originated with the most famous transaction in NHL history. As Sportsnet’s Steve “Dangle” Glynn points out, Nogier was the last remaining piece of the Wayne Gretzky tree.

The 26-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Jets in 2014 and actually made it to the NHL just a few years later, but hasn’t been able to establish himself at the highest level. When he was swapped for Markus Phillips earlier this year, he joined the tree, and after Phillips was left unqualified by the Jets and signed with Assat in Liiga, Nogier became the very last branch.

Trade trees are just for fun, but it is somewhat surprising that Nogier wasn’t able to secure at least a minor league deal in the AHL to this point. Perhaps he wasn’t willing to play for that and was looking for a bigger opportunity, but he has been a capable defenseman for years. He is even coming off his longest playoff appearance, where he added three points in five games for the Reign.

Minor Transactions: 09/12/22

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Hockey is so close you can taste it. In less than a month, regular season games will be happening for the 2022-23 campaign and the long grind toward the Stanley Cup will have started. Over the next few weeks, we’ll keep track of all the notable minor signings to see where minor league and fringe players will ply their trade this season.

  • Jake McGrew, who was not issued a qualifying offer by the San Jose Sharks earlier this summer, has signed with AIK in Sweden for the upcoming season. The 23-year-old sixth-round pick spent most of last season with the San Jose Barracuda, scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 57 games. Now an unrestricted free agent, he’ll try to continue his development overseas.
  • Maxim Letunov, dealt to the New York Rangers at the deadline in exchange for Tarmo Reunanen, has signed with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL after becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. Letunov, 26, played three games in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks in 2019-20 and scored one goal.
  • Adam Johnson, last seen with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, has signed with the Augsburger Panther in the DEL. The 28-year-old forward has 13 NHL games to his name, all of them with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who signed him in 2017 out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

This page will continue to be updated with any further transactions. 

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