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West Notes: Kaprizov, Keith, Jets Prospects

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Concerns continue to rise about the availability of Russian players to NHL teams next season. One player who’s come into focus today due to a variety of conflicting reports is Kirill Kaprizov, who Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin confirmed today is still in Russia despite rumors stating he had returned to the United States. In response to reports this morning that Kaprizov is currently wanted in Russia for buying a false military ID card five years ago, Guerin said the following:

We’re not going to push the panic button or anything like that. We’re just trying to gather information right now and find out if this is even credible.

Kaprizov is one of the multiple players whose situations are in limbo, exacerbated by the fact their KHL rights are held by CSKA Moscow, a Russian army-owned team. Russo notes that in the past, CSKA players have been exempt from military service, but this is an informal and non-codified rule. In addition, Kaprizov’s exemption from mandatory military service via a studentship in a Russian organization expired at the end of June. Very little is confirmed about the situation, but it’s a significant development that bears watching over the course of the offseason as it pertains to Kaprizov’s availability to the Wild next season.

  • The Edmonton Oilers will get some clarity soon on the playing future of defenseman Duncan Keith, who could potentially decide to retire with one season remaining on his contract carrying a $5.54MM cap hit. General manager Ken Holland noted that he’d spoken to Keith twice in the past few weeks and that he’s requested an answer by this Saturday. That gives the Oilers a brief window of time ahead of free agency to work out replacement plans for Keith if he retires. The 38-year-old defenseman would not inflict a cap penalty on the Oilers if he opts to call it a career.
  • Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff gave injury updates today on a pair of important Jets prospects. Cole Perfetti, who suffered an upper-body injury in mid-February, has just started skating again and is not cleared to participate in the 2022 World Junior Championship for Team Canada. Additionally, 2021 first-rounder Chaz Lucius, who underwent ankle surgery after suffering a late-season injury with the University of Minnesota, won’t participate for the United States.

Pavel Datsyuk Plans To Retire From Hockey

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Six years after leaving NHL ice, legendary Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk has announced his plans to retire from professional hockey at age 43. Datsyuk informed the media of his decision while attending the retirement game of another former NHLer, Alexander Semin.

Datsyuk, while not a member of the original “Russian Five” that helped to spearhead the success of elite Russian talent in the NHL, still remains one of the best not only from his country but all time. He’s a member of the rare Triple Gold Club, winning Stanley Cups in 2002 and 2008, a World Championship gold medal in 2012, and an Olympic gold medal in 2018. Add in a variety of silver and bronze medals internationally, a 2005 Russian Super League championships and 2017 Gagarin Cup championship in the KHL, four Lady Byng trophies, and three Selke trophies, and you have one of the most dominant and well-respected two-way centers in hockey history.

One of the most memorable puck handlers in recent memory, Datsyuk wrapped up his 14-year NHL career (all spent with Detroit) in 2016 with 314 goals, 604 assists, and 918 points in 953 games. The team’s 171st overall selection in 1998 will retire seventh on the all-time points list in Detroit, trailing Russian counterpart Sergei Fedorov by a handful.

After returning to the KHL, Datsyuk played five more years of professional hockey before not suiting up for the 2021-22 season. After spending three productive years as the captain of SKA St. Petersburg, Datsyuk returned to his hometown to play the final two seasons of his career with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. Including the first half of 2012-13 spent with CSKA Moscow due to the NHL lockout, he also finishes with 60 goals, 144 assists, and 204 points in 260 KHL games.

Ryan Murphy Signs In KHL

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After a season with the Detroit Red Wings that failed to result in any NHL action, Ryan Murphy is going back to Russia. The veteran defenseman has signed a new one-year contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa for the 2022-23 season.

Murphy, 29, was the 12th overall pick back in 2011 but failed to ever really establish himself as a full-time NHL player. The offensive defenseman managed 175 games, most recently with the New Jersey Devils in 2019, but left for the KHL that year to try his hand overseas. On his return in 2021, he wore an “A” as an alternate captain with the Henderson Silver Knights and won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman.

Now just a year later and he’s headed back to the KHL to continue his career. With Ufa, he’ll get a chance to play under someone who has plenty of NHL experience of his own in Viktor Kozlov. He has been promoted to head coach for this season, after previously serving as an assistant.

While it has been a somewhat disappointing career so far for the former top prospect, there’s no doubt that Murphy can be a difference-maker at the KHL level. He’s also still young enough that there could be another NHL contract in his future, even if the AHL is more likely his stomping ground moving forward.

Maxim Mamin Linked To KHL

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After returning to the Florida Panthers this season, Maxim Mamin appeared to have re-established himself as a legitimate NHL option. The Russian forward is a pending unrestricted free agent and could have been an interesting pickup for teams looking to add a bit of scoring punch on an inexpensive contract. That might not be happening, at least for anyone in North America, as Russian news agency TASS is reporting that Mamin has signed a new three-year contract with CSKA Moscow in the KHL.

Originally selected by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, there always was worry about whether Mamin would ever come to North America. He was a born-and-bred CSKA player, a top program in the KHL, but Florida managed to convince him in 2017, adding him to the NHL roster. That stint lasted just 33 games though, as he returned to Russia partway through the 2018-19 season after failing to get regular ice time.

Three years later and he was back, though it still wouldn’t be exactly what he envisioned. Not only would he start the year in the minor leagues but Mamin would find himself on the taxi squad again partway through the year, and deal with an injury that cost him nearly a month. That led to just 40 NHL appearances, scoring seven goals and 14 points. He did also get into four postseason matches but was held scoreless.

With the Panthers facing more important free agent negotiations, it seemed likely that Mamin would end up on the open market either way. Now, if the report from TASS proves true and he’s heading home, it could essentially end his time in the NHL. In 73 career games, he scored ten goals and 18 points.

Daniil Miromanov Signs Extension With Golden Knights

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Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Daniil Miromanov has signed a two-year extension to stay in the desert, according to a team announcement Tuesday afternoon. Miromanov’s extension will carry him through 2024 and has an average annual value of $762,500.

The Golden Knights acquired the 1997-born Miromanov as an undrafted free agent in March of 2021, signing him to a one-year entry-level contract after he had 10 goals, 19 assists, and 29 points in 58 games with HK Sochi in the KHL during the 2020-21 campaign. Miromanov, 24, spent his first full professional campaign in North America this season, playing well with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights for 40 points in 53 games. He played his first 11 NHL games this season as well, notching an assist.

The versatile defenseman can also play right wing, as he did on limited occasions for Vegas this season due to injuries. While he likely won’t be a full-time member of the team come next October, he’ll be high up on the list of recall options from Henderson. Long-term, the NHL upside is still there.

Evening Notes: Game Three Scratches, O’Brien, Boucher

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A storyline of these playoffs has been the last-minute availability and absence of key players, and tonight’s Game Three of the Stanley Cup Finals doesn’t appear to be any different. The most notable absence is that of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point, who did not take the ice for warmups. Point had missed the entirety of the second and third rounds for Tampa after suffering a a lowery-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game Seven of their first round series. Point had been listed as a game-time decision heading into tonight, but that decision appears to be made. With the Lightning down 2-0 in the series, they will need a stepped-up team effort at home to not only make up for Point’s absence, but to get back in the series as a whole. Forward Riley Nash will take Point’s place.

Just across the ice, the Colorado Avalanche are going to be without forwards Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky for Game Three. Both players were also listed as day-to-day, Kadri still recovering from a hand injury, and subsequent surgery, suffered in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals when he was boarded by the Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane. Burakovsky, who sustained an upper-body injury at the start of the second period of Game Two against Tampa Bay, did not travel with the team to Florida, but has since joined the rest of the group, so his status for Game Four is still up in the air it would appear. Forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel will take Burakovsky’s place in the lineup.

  • Boston University forward and 2018 Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick Jay O’Brien recently underwent surgery on his hip, reports Mark Divver of NHL.com, but is expected to be ready for the start of the 2022-23 season. O’Brien’s case is an interesting one, yet to sign a professional contract, he has struggled at times since being drafted. As a freshman at Providence College, he recorded just five points in 25 games before leaving. He spent 2019-20 in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees where he was expectedly good, tallying 66 points in 46 games before a transfer to Boston University for the 2020-21 season. Over the past two seasons at Boston University, O’Brien has impressed with 38 points in 40 games. Although his future professional career still has promise, it will be up to O’Brien to recover strong from injury and impress once again in the NCAA in order to prove he belongs as one of the Flyers’ top prospects.
  • According to Thomas Hall of Yahoo Sports, former NHLer Reid Boucher has signed a one-year deal to return to Omsk in the KHL. Boucher left North America and signed with Omsk ahead of the 2020-21 season, putting up solid numbers before moving onto Yaroslavl, and now returning to Omsk. In that time, Boucher has dealt with legal trouble back in North America, his contract with Yaroslavl terminated in February after he pled guilty to sexual assault of a minor.

Vladimir Tkachev Signs In KHL

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After just one season in North America, Vladimir Tkachev has gone back to the KHL. The Los Angeles Kings restricted free agent has signed a one-year contract with Avangard Omsk, his hometown club.

Tkachev, 26, signed with the Kings last spring as an undrafted free agent but ended up spending most of the year in the minor leagues. He appeared in just four NHL games, recording two points in the process. For the Ontario Reign, where he was stationed for the majority of the season, the undersized forward added seven goals and 29 points in 41 regular season games.

Though the Kings can technically retain his exclusive rights by issuing him a qualifying offer this summer, those rights will expire when Tkachev turns 27. Since that happens in October, it means he’ll become an unrestricted free agent once again next year when this one-year KHL deal ends.

Whether he will consider a return at that point is unclear, though it should be noted this wasn’t his first time trying to carve out a career in North America. Tkachev also spent two seasons in the QMJHL as a young player, even coming within one goal of the league championship while playing for the Quebec Remparts.

If he does decide to come back, he would be able to once again negotiate with the entire league.

Pontus Aberg, Ryan Spooner Staying In Europe

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A pair of former NHLers are staying across the Atlantic Ocean for the 2022-23 campaign. Swedish winger Pontus Aberg has signed a one-year agreement with BK Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Extraliga, while Canadian forward Ryan Spooner is remaining in the KHL with Dinamo Minsk.

Aberg, 28, attempted an NHL comeback last season when he signed a one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators. However, he was waived prior to the season and spent 17 games with the Belleville Senators before mutually terminating his contract to return to Sweden with Timrå IK in the SHL. He netted two goals, nine assists, and 11 points in those 17 games with Belleville. Aberg’s last taste of NHL action came in 2019-20, where he got a five-game look with the Toronto Maple Leafs, registering one assist. A second-round pick of the Nashville Predators in 2012, Aberg could really never hold onto a full-time NHL role, shuffling between the NHL and AHL in nearly every season he spent in North America.

Spooner hasn’t been in the league since 2018-19, when he split the season between the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. He’s been one of the best scorers in the KHL since then, and after one year in Yekaterinburg, he returns to Dinamo Minsk where he led the club in scoring in 2019-20 with 37 points in 43 games. Spooner had a few NHL stretches where it looked like he could become a great middle-six depth piece, especially when he scored 41 points in 59 games between the Rangers and Boston Bruins in 2017-18. His offense disappeared the next season, however, and he hasn’t returned to North America. Now 30 years old, it’s unlikely he ever will.

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.

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