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Armstrong: Simashev, But Could Debut For Utah Next Season

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The Utah Hockey Club could only be a summer away from seeing their top two prospects debut. In a report from Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune, team General Manager Bill Armstrong believes there’s a good chance defenseman Dmitri Simashev and forward Daniil But will join the roster next season.

Both players are rostered on the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, helping sweep their opening round matchup against the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in this year’s Gagarin Cup playoffs. Unfortunately, the former isn’t coming off a promising season and could benefit from another developmental year overseas.

Simashev was considered a lengthy reach at the time of his selection. He was ranked as the 19th best European skater by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau before the draft. However, the Arizona Coyotes selected Simashev with the sixth overall pick. He’s been rostered with Lokomotiv since, scoring five goals and 16 points in 119 regular season contests.

It’ll be interesting to see how Utah utilizes him if he were to make the jump to North America. The team already has six defenseman signed to NHL contracts for the 2025-26 season, and it doesn’t make sense to bring him over just to practice with the NHL squad.

Meanwhile, But has shown more promise between the two. Selected 12th overall in the same draft, But is coming off a season where he scored nine goals and 28 points in 56 games, which is good for seventh on the team in scoring.

Luckily, no matter how well their game translates to the NHL level in the immediate future, both have professional size and are willing to play physically. Still, Utah may have to thin out the roster this summer to create space for the pair.

Prospect Notes: Kirsanov, Pinelli, Hage

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With the end of the season nearing, news surrounding some of the league’s top prospects is beginning to ramp up. The Los Angeles Kings are the focal point of the latest updates, after news that Russian defender Kirill Kirsanov could sign with the team at the end of the season, per Scott Coffman of Mayor’s Manor.

The Kings drafted Kirsanov in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, just months after his rookie season in Russia’s KHL came to a close. He tallied just three points in 29 games in his first pro year, but showed upside as a heavy and physical presence in the defensive end. Kirsanov continued to plant his feet in the KHL in the subsequent three seasons, routinely rivaling 25 games and a few points each year. He’s found a bit more stride with Novgorod Torpedo this season, with a career-high seven points in a career-high 34 KHL games – though his best impact remains close to his end boards. It will be the six-foot-two, 220-pound frame that Los Angeles looks forward to in signing the 22-year-old Russian, as they look to find the hefty compliment for impactful youngsters like Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence.

Other notes across the prospect world:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned 2023 fourth-round draft pick Luca Pinelli to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Pinelli’s OHL season with the Ottawa 67s came to an end on Sunday. He closed the season with a team-leading 37 goals and 71 points in 52 games. That’s just narrowly ahead of his scoring pace last season, when he potted 48 goals and 82 points in 68 games. But Pinelli’s story tood tall this year, as he led a 67s roster that struggled to score when he was off the ice. Ottawa managed just 205 goals as a team, good for third-lowest in the OHL. Pinelli is a speedy puck-handler who pushes transition – and carries surprising heft and strength on the puck for his five-foot-nine frame. He’ll be an interesting prospect to watch in the pros, after scoring 252 points in 246 career games, and four seasons, in the OHL.
  • Top Montreal Canadiens prospect Michael Hage has decided to return to the University of Michigan for his sophomore season, per Marco D’Amico of RG Media. Montreal drafted Hage 21st overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, after he scored 33 goals and 75 points in 54 USHL games as the Chicago Steel’s top center. He followed that performance with 13 goals and 34 points in 33 games in Michigan’s top-role this year – good for second in scoring on the Wolverines behind 23-year-old junior T.J. Hughes’ 38 points. Hughes is viewed by many as a top college free agent this summer. His signing could open a clear path for Hage to become Michigan’s true star scorer next year. On top of many returnees on a young roster, Hage will be joined by 2025 NHL Draft prospects Cole McKinney and Aidan Park in 2025-26.

International Transactions: Galchenyuk, Perlini, Pulkkinen, Tracey

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The former third-overall selection of the 2012 NHL Draft won’t return to North America anytime soon. According to a public announcement from the Kontinental Hockey League, forward Alex Galchenyuk has signed a two-year extension with the Amur Khabarovsk.

Galchenyuk has played in the KHL for the last two seasons, scoring 16 goals and 42 points in 61 games with SKA St. Petersburg during his first year outside North America since the 2012-13 season. The Milwaukee, WI native’s time with Amur has been mutually beneficial, scoring 20 goals and 37 points in 53 games en route to a KHL All-Star appearance. Alex Broadhurst joins him as the only other American on the team’s roster.

Despite the strong offensive production in Russia, there’s likely little interest for Galchenyuk to return to any NHL organization. Less than two weeks after signing a one-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023, it was revealed that Galchenyuk had been arrested on multiple charges, leading the Coyotes to terminate his contract. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program shortly after.

Other international transactions:

  • Another former first-round pick, Brendan Perlini, has signed a new contract overseas. The NL’s Lausanne HC announced they’d signed Perlini for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after his contract was mutually terminated with the KHL’s Spartak Moskva after only four games. It’ll be Perlini’s second attempt in the NL, scoring nine goals and 16 points in 21 games for HC Ambrì-Piotta in the 2020-21 season. He’s also a veteran of 262 NHL and 98 AHL contests scoring 81 and 72 points respectively.
  • Former prospect for the Detroit Red Wings, Teemu Pulkkinen, is signing on with a third team this season. HC La Chaux-de-Fonds, a team in the second tier of professional ice hockey in Switzerland, announced a contract for Pulkkinen for the remainder of the season. Given that he’s already been mutually terminated from contracts in Germany and Slovakia this season, this appears to be one of the final seasons for Pulkkinen’s professional career.
  • Forward Brayden Tracey’s professional career might be grinding to a halt. After flailing out of the Anaheim Ducks organization after being the 29th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, Tracey signed a one-year deal with the Finnish Liiga’s Jukurit to rebuild his value. Instead, after scoring only one goal and five assists in 13 contests, Jukurit announced yesterday they’ve mutually terminated Tracey’s contract. Tracey was interested in returning to North America when he originally signed but could have difficulty finding a new landing spot with that production.

Brendan Perlini Released From KHL Contract

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Former NHL winger Brendan Perlini’s most recent stay overseas was short-lived. After signing with Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League last month, he was released from his contract Sunday after making four appearances, the team announced.

Perlini, 28, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2021-22 season, when he skated in 23 games with the Oilers. He then spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons on AHL contracts with Chicago and Charlotte before remaining unsigned well into the 2024-25 regular season.

That led the England-born winger to pursue opportunities overseas for the first time since the COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign when he notched 16 points (albeit with a -17 rating) in 21 games for Switzerland’s HC Ambrì-Piotta. This stint wasn’t as productive for Perlini, who was limited to one assist and a minus-two rating in his quartet of games with Spartak.

Perlini was productive on his minor-league deals, so he should spark some mid-season interest from AHL clubs, although any two-way offers from an NHL club will likely have to wait until the summer. Last season, he recorded nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 37 games with Charlotte while accompanying the Panthers’ prospects and depth players.

The 6’4″, 212-lb winger has posted 50 goals and 81 points in 262 NHL games since the Coyotes drafted him 12th overall in 2014. In addition to bookending his career to date in Arizona and Edmonton, he made stops with the Blackhawks and Red Wings.

Spartak will retain Perlini’s KHL rights if he returns to the Russian league later in his career.

International Notes: Leipsic, Bitten, Timashov, Gagner

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The current roster freeze will prevent several roster moves in the NHL over the next few days. However, that won’t stop roster moves on the international stage, particularly in the Kontinental Hockey League. A couple of those transactions overseas include notable former NHL talent.

Longtime NHL veteran Brendan Leipsic has been traded in the KHL from Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg to Sibir Novosibirsk, per a release from the latter. In his first season with Yekaterinburg, Leipsic scored six goals and seven points in 25 KHL contests. It’s been six years since Leipsic suited up in the NHL, most recently for the Capitals. The former third-round pick of the Nashville Predators played in 187 games in the NHL from 2016 to 2020, scoring 16 goals and 59 points overall. He’s been far more productive in Russia, scoring 46 goals and 114 points in 197 games since joining the KHL ranks in 2020-21.

Other international transactions:

  • Former NHL prospect William Bitten is on the move in the KHL. Anton Nekrasov of Championat confirmed that HK Sochi has claimed Bitten off waivers from Spartak Moscow. Only a year removed from scoring 39 goals and 78 points in 133 games for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds and debuting in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23, Bitten’s transition to the KHL has been nothing short of disastrous. He scored one goal and five points in 21 games for Moscow, leading the team to move on relatively quickly.
  • In a corresponding move, Sochi released former Maple Leafs, Red Wings, and Islanders winger Dmytro Timashov, the team announced on Telegram. The 28-year-old Swede has been a non-factor in his first season in Russia, posting a goal and three assists in 22 games. He last suited up in the NHL with the Isles in 2020-21 and has quickly established himself as a European journeyman since, suiting up in Sweden and Switzerland before arriving in Sochi over the offseason. A fifth-round pick of Toronto in 2015, Timashov recorded four goals and five assists in 45 NHL contests while averaging 8:30 per game across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
  • Unrestricted free agent center Sam Gagner is in Sweden training with Djurgårdens IF of the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, reports Andreas Hanson of HockeyNews.se. Gagner, 35, has yet to play in 2024-25 but was recently named to Team Canada’s roster for this year’s Spengler Cup. The veteran of 1,043 NHL games could sign overseas for the first time since playing in Austria during the 2012 lockout if he has a decent showing at the tournament. After posting 10 points in 28 games in a limited role with the Oilers last season, Gagner signed a professional tryout with the Hurricanes in September but was released at the end of training camp.

PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed to this article.

Minor Moves: Pánik, Reedy, Pulkkinen

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Longtime NHL winger Richard Pánik is continuing his trek around Europe and Russia. After spending the first part of 2024-25 in his native Slovakia with HC Slovan Bratislava, the Kontinental Hockey League announced today that the 33-year-old has signed with Russian side Traktor Chelyabinsk for the remainder of the season.

Pánik last played in the NHL with the Islanders in 2021-22. Once a 20-goal scorer with the Blackhawks in 2016-17, he’s been relatively productive over the past three years while continuing his professional career overseas. He was decent with Bratislava in the early going, compiling six goals and 13 points in 18 games before leaving for tougher competition in the KHL. He spent last season in the Czech Extraliga, where he amassed 20 goals and 34 points in 51 games with HC Oceláři Třinec and HC Dynamo Pardubice.

A second-round pick of the Lightning in 2009, Pánik has undoubtedly had a journeyman’s career. In his NHL time, he suited up for seven clubs in 10 seasons, posting 195 points in 521 games with the Bolts, Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Coyotes, Capitals, Red Wings, and Isles. He also suited up for three Ontario Hockey League squads in his major junior career and has signed on with five different European franchises since 2022.

Some other minor moves involving former NHLers:

  • Ex-Sharks center prospect Scott Reedy has finally found a place to play for 2024-25, signing a tryout with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Now 25, the Minnesota native spent last season under contract with the Stars but was limited to 12 AHL contests due to injury, registering five goals and two assists. After being a Group VI unrestricted free agent over the summer, the 2017 fourth-rounder of San Jose will now look to catch on with his third NHL organization since turning pro out of the University of Minnesota in 2021. Reedy recorded seven goals and two assists in 35 NHL games with the Sharks in 2021-22 before being traded to Dallas for Jacob Peterson the following year.
  • Once a depth NHLer in the mid-2010s, Finnish scoring winger Teemu Pulkkinen has terminated his contract with Germany’s Schwenninger Wild Wings to pursue options back in his home country, the team announced. The former Red Wings, Wild and Coyotes winger had four goals and 11 points in 22 Deutsche Eishockey Liga games this season. Since leaving North America back in 2018, Pulkkinen has suited up with seven teams across Russia, Belarus, China and Germany. He amassed 13 goals and 22 points in 83 NHL games between the 2013-14 and 2016-17 campaigns.

Zachary Fucale Eyeing NHL Comeback

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Former Canadiens and Capitals farmhand Zachary Fucale is looking to return stateside and is generating “significant interest” from NHL clubs on a contract for the 2025-26 season, Kevin Weekes of ESPN reports.

Fucale, now 29, hasn’t played in North America since the 2022-23 season. He headed to Russia to sign with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Traktor Chelyabinsk upon reaching unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, a move that’s proved prudent for boosting his stock.

Since arriving in Russia, the former Montreal second-rounder in 2013 has been one of the league’s best goaltenders. After posting a sparkling 2.16 GAA and .929 SV% with six shutouts in 46 games for Traktor last season, he’s having a strong encore performance in 2024-25. Through 25 games, his 14 wins are tied for second in the league, and he’s supported his record with a .924 SV% and five shutouts.

Fucale was often streaky in the North American pros, usually bouncing between AHL and ECHL affiliates during his time in the Montreal and Washington umbrellas. He only ever got one NHL call-up, a four-gamer in 2021-22. It went quite well for the Quebec native, who logged a 1-1-1 record with a .924 SV% and 1.75 GAA. He’s one of only a few netminders in NHL history to record a shutout in his first career start, blanking the Red Wings with 21 saves on Nov. 11, 2021.

But by the end of 2022-23, Fucale had lost his grip on an AHL starting job and was surpassed by Hunter Shepard for the No. 3 job in the Capitals organization as he guided Hershey to the first of back-to-back Calder Cup wins. Overall, Fucale’s minor-league numbers have been pedestrian – a .902 SV% in 149 AHL games over eight seasons and a .905 SV% in 116 ECHL contests.

Nonetheless, Fucale’s numbers in Russia have been strong enough to warrant him another chance at opening the season as someone’s No. 3 option stateside. He’ll likely need to start in the AHL and work his way back up if he wants to add to his NHL resume, and although his minor-league salary may be rich, it’ll still likely be a two-way pact if he lands one next summer.

Minor Transactions: 12/10/24

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As usual, there have been a handful of minor moves around the hockey world today.  Here’s a rundown of the ones that haven’t been previously mentioned.

  • The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve once again recalled Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. The 26-year-old has been shuffled back and forth in recent days but has yet to see any game action with Ottawa in 2024-25 but got into four games with the big club last season.  Matinpalo has played in 17 games with Belleville this season, collecting two goals and four assists, nearly halfway to his point production from 2023-24.
  • Hurricanes prospect Anttoni Honka will be staying overseas next season. HC Ajoie of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed him to a two-year contract that begins in 2025-26.  The 24-year-old is playing for Ajoie this season while on loan from Carolina, the second straight year he has played overseas despite being on an NHL agreement; he suited up for JYP in Finland last season.  This is the final year of Honka’s entry-level deal and considering he has already decided to stay in Switzerland, there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered this summer.  Honka was selected late in the third round in 2019.
  • Still with Carolina, the Hurricanes have re-assigned defenseman Ty Smith to AHL Chicago, per a team release. Smith has been shuffled back and forth throughout the season while spending time in a seventh defender role at times with Carolina but has yet to get into an NHL game this season.  The 24-year-old has three goals and four helpers in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Former NHL winger Brendan Perlini has found a place to play this season. Spartak of the KHL announced that they’ve inked the 28-year-old for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.  Perlini has 262 career NHL games under his belt over parts of five seasons with four different teams, collecting 50 goals and 31 assists over that span.  He spent the last two years exclusively at the AHL level, however, and picked up nine goals and 11 assists in 37 games with AHL Charlotte last season.
  • A day after being sent down, Max Sasson has been recalled by the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has two assists in seven games in his first taste of NHL action this season.  Sasson also has nine points in 16 games with AHL Abbotsford.  His demotion allowed Vancouver to bank a tiny bit more cap space as they look to avoid dipping into using LTIR.

Snapshots: Oilers, Trikozov, Connor, Montgomery

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Heading into Sunday’s action, the Oilers find themselves around the middle of the pack in terms of goals allowed.  They’re struggling considerably on the penalty kill, checking in with a success rate of just 62.5% while starting goaltender Stuart Skinner is off to a slow start.  Accordingly, some are wondering if the time is right for Edmonton to start shopping around for blueline help as teams by now are starting to get a better feel of what they have and what they need.

However, Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal posits that the time isn’t right for the Oilers to be making a move like that.  While it’s clear their need is to upgrade on the back end, he suggests that they’d be best served by waiting until later in the year when they ideally would have more cap space to play with.  At the same time, more teams should be established as sellers which should give them more options to choose from compared to if they tried to make a trade now.

Other quick notes around the league:

  • Top Carolina Hurricanes prospect Gleb Trikozov had his KHL rights traded from Omsk to Spartak on Saturday, per Spartak’s Instagram page. Forward Matvei Zaseda was dealt the other way. This move means little as things stand, with Trikozov currently a member of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. But he’s gone without any scoring through his first six AHL games – potentially enough of a spark to return him to a tremendously productive career in Russia. Trikozov recorded 31 points in 64 games in the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league, over the last two seasons – and arguably earned a hardier chance at KHL minutes. Spartak could stand to offer that increased role as they look to add the gut punch needed to get over SKA and Lokomotiv in the KHL’s Western Conference. For their part, the underachieving Omsk receives a seasoned pro in Zaseda – who’s totaled 36 points in 105 KHL games and 75 points in 120 VHL games at the age of 25.
  • Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel shared that star winger Kyle Connor is OK after getting pulled from Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay by concussion spotters, per Murat Ates of The Athletic. Connor took a hit from behind by Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov that pushed his head directly into Erik Cernak. He labored briefly but didn’t seem severely injured. That’s been confirmed now, and Connor will get to continue his role as the leading scorer (18 points in 11 games) on one of the NHL’s hottest teams.
  • Senators prospect Blake Montgomery has left USHL Lincoln and will instead join OHL London, Jeff Marek reports. Montgomery was a fourth-round pick back in June, going 117th overall.  He was off to a good start with Lincoln with ten points in his first ten games after putting up 43 points in 58 games last season.

Snapshots: Ness, Greensboro, KHL

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Veteran blue-liner Aaron Ness is still plying his trade in the minors despite not suiting up in the NHL since 2020-21 with the Coyotes. He’s now in his third season in a row with the Capitals’ affiliate, the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and he’ll make it a fourth next year after signing an extension today, the team announced.

Ness is no longer the dominant offensive presence he once was at the minor-league level, but he is still coming off a decent 23-point campaign in Hershey with a +18 rating as he won his second straight Calder Cup championship. He’s spent the last four seasons exclusively on AHL contracts with Providence and Hershey and hasn’t been bound by an NHL agreement since the two-year, league-minimum deal he signed with the Coyotes expired in 2021.

A second-round pick of the Islanders back in 2008, Ness led all AHL defenders in scoring with 55 points (5 G, 50 A) in 71 games with Hershey in 2019. The Minnesota native has just seven points in 72 career NHL games, though, coming with the Isles, Caps, and Yotes in parts of seven seasons. He has 322 points in 731 AHL games in parts of 14 seasons, though, tied for fourth among active AHLers in games played with Gabriel Dumont.

More from around the hockey world:

  • The ECHL continues to expand what seems like every year. After teams in Tahoe and Bloomington joined the fold this season, they’ll add a team in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the 2025-26 campaign, per an announcement today. The second-tier minor league is up to 29 teams this year, giving all but three NHL clubs a full-time affiliate to feed their AHL depth and develop longer-timeline prospects. They’ll play at the First Horizon Coliseum in the Greensboro Complex, which hosted the Hurricanes during their first two seasons in the market while they awaited the completion of their current home in Raleigh. The Canes are one of three teams without a full-time ECHL affiliate, so they’ll be a natural favorite to strike an agreement with the new franchise in Greensboro. They do have a working agreement to send some players to Bloomington, though, which has a full-time affiliation with the Rangers.
  • The recent changes in how Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League conducts business internationally haven’t affected players’ ability to make the jump to the NHL, deputy commissioner Bill Daly told James Murphy of Responsible Gambler. He also said there haven’t been any under-the-table deals to help get players out of their KHL contracts to come to the NHL in lieu of an official transfer agreement between the leagues. “There have still been players from Russia entering the NHL even though officially we’re not communicating with [the KHL] on any kind of commercial or business basis,” Daly said. “They find ways to get here that don’t involve direct participation by the NHL or any of our clubs. I don’t believe there’s been any reduction in the number of players that entered the league during this period of time,” referring to after the KHL declared independence from the IIHF last year.

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