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Minor Transactions: 10/23/20

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The off-season continues on with NHL teams keeping busy, but minor league, European, collegiate and junior clubs continue to make moves in preparation for next season and in some cases in reaction to a season that has already begun. With many moving parts at every level, especially as the world continues to deal with the Coronavirus, transactions continue to be frequent. Here are some of today’s notable moves:

  • Carson Meyer has never known anything but Ohio hockey and that is set to continue as he begins his pro career. The Powell, OH native who attended Miami University and transferred to Ohio State University and was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets has signed with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. The club announced that Meyer has inked a one-year AHL contract. Meyer, 23, finished his NCAA career in style with a career campaign that included a near point-per-game scoring pace. The scoring forward could make an immediate impact in the minors next season.
  • Veteran minor league Phil Varone is leaving North America for the first time in his hockey career. The 29-year-old, who has 97 NHL games and over 500 AHL games on his resume, is headed to the KHL. Agent Aljosa Pilko announced that his client has signed with a team in the league. It is believed that he is bound for Barys Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan. Varone split this past season with the Laval Rocket and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and has suited up for five different AHL squads in his nine pro seasons.
  • Former Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Fonstad is not waiting for the WHL season to begin. His hometown team, the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins, announced that Fonstad has joined the club for the time being. Fonstad will re-join the Everett Silvertips once WHL training camp begins. In the meantime, the fifth-round pick who has logged 65+ points in each of the past three seasons will be make a massive impact for Estevan. He hopes to prove this season that he is worth an entry-level contract when he ages out of junior.

Nikita Nesterov Signs With Calgary Flames

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4:50pm: The Flames have officially announced the Nesterov signing. The veteran defenseman has signed a one-year, one-way contract worth $700K.

3:45pm: The Calgary Flames appear to be closing in on a contract with free agent defenseman Nikita Nesterov, according to PuckPedia. A report out of Russia says that the deal will be a one-year, $700K contract, bringing Nesterov back to North America after several years in the KHL. It is important to note that the same outlet reported just recently that Nesterov was close to a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This certainly isn’t the first time that an NHL return for Nesterov has been speculated on. Just this summer he was linked to the Los Angeles Kings, with reports even surfacing that he turned down a multi-year contract with the team.

If you’re wondering why so many teams would be after a player who recorded just 33 points in 132 NHL games, bouncing up and down from the minor leagues during his first tenure in the league, you wouldn’t be alone. But over his three years in the KHL Nesterov has taken real developmental steps to polish his game at both ends of the rink while winning an Olympic gold medal and Gagarin Cup championship.

For the Flames, Nesterov is attractive not only because of his improvements, but also his versatility. The 27-year-old has experience playing both sides and penalty kill, meaning he could potentially help fill in for the holes left by the departures of unrestricted free agents T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Derek Forbort, Erik Gustafsson, and Michael Stone. The team did bring in Chris Tanev on an expensive deal and have their own young defensemen ready to step up, but needed to add some experience and depth to the position before the offseason was complete.

Sharks Loan Ivan Chekhovich To The KHL

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The Sharks have loaned one of their prospects overseas as HC Torpedo of the KHL announced that they’ve added winger Ivan Chekhovich from San Jose.  Unlike a lot of the loans in recent months, this one will be for the duration of the KHL season though he’ll be eligible to return to San Jose’s system after that.

The 21-year-old was a seventh-round pick (212th overall) of the Sharks back in 2017 and signed an entry-level deal following a dominant season in the QMJHL where he finished second in the league in scoring with 43 goals and 62 assists in 66 games with Baie-Comeau.  As they were eliminated quickly in the playoffs, he was able to report to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL and had seven points over nine contests between the end of the regular season and playoffs.

Accordingly, expectations were relatively high heading into his first full professional campaign but the results simply weren’t there.  Chekhovich managed just four goals and eight assists in 42 games this past season before the pandemic put an end to the rest of their regular season and playoffs.

With that in mind, playing back home next season makes some sense as a way for Chekhovich to reset after a tough year.  This is his first time with the Torpedo program as he was in Dynamo Moskva’s system before making his way to the major junior ranks.

Minor Transactions: 10/20/20

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While NHL teams continue to fill out their rosters and prepare for the 2020-21 season, minor and European leagues also are working on new contracts. We’ll keep track of some of the newsworthy minor transactions right here:

  • Shane Starrett has been signed by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to an AHL contract after becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent. Starrett’s last two contracts were with the Edmonton Oilers, who he joined in 2017 after staring for the Air Force Falcons. The undrafted goaltender had an .874 save percentage in 14 appearances this season.
  • Nail Yakupov is on the move, though it’s not back to North America. The 2012 first overall pick has been traded in the KHL from Amur Khabarovsk to Avangard Omsk, in exchange for monetary compensation. Yakupov had just one goal and seven points in 15 games for Amur.

Flames To Loan Artyom Zagidulin To The KHL

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Calgary goaltending prospect Artyom Zagidulin should soon have an opportunity to get in some game action as Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL announced that they have a preliminary loan agreement in place with the Flames.

The 25-year-old made his debut in North America last season, suiting up in 30 games with AHL Stockton after signing with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in April of 2019.  His numbers weren’t the greatest with a 3.07 GAA and a .898 SV% but he showed enough for the Flames to hand him a one-year deal back in June.

Zagidulin will be going to a familiar environment as Magnitogorsk is his hometown and has played in their system growing up.  It was his performance with them back in 2018-19 (1.96 GAA, .924 SV% in 25 games) that got him on the NHL radar to begin with and now he’ll try to use this as a springboard to a better sophomore year in Calgary’s system.

Tampa Bay Loans Alexei Lipanov To The KHL

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At least one more Lightning prospect will be playing in the coming weeks as Dynamo Moskva of the KHL announced that Tampa Bay has loaned Alexei Lipanov to them.  However, unlike many of the players that have been loaned overseas while they wait for training camps to open, this one is for the duration of the season.

The 21-year-old was a third-round pick (76th overall) back in 2017 but his first full professional season didn’t go as planned.  Lipanov played in just four AHL games with Syracuse and instead spent the majority of the year with ECHL Orlando.  Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the most productive with the Solar Bears either, notching just nine goals and seven assists in 37 games.

This won’t be Lipanov’s first stint in Dynamo’s system as he spent parts of three years in that system before coming to the OHL after being drafted.  Perhaps a return home will be enough to get him going offensively again.

Lipanov still has two years left on his entry-level deal with Tampa Bay.  As he’s no longer junior-aged, the contract will not slide a year as a result of this loan so assuming he returns for the 2021-22 season, he’ll have some work to do to secure a qualifying offer.

Predators Loan Egor Afanasyev To CSKA Moscow

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One of the Nashville Predators’ top prospects is headed to one of the best teams in Europe. Egor Afanasyev, the Predators’ second-round pick in 2019, has been loaned to CSKA Moscow of the KHL, Nashville announced. The club did not specify whether the loan is for the entire 2020-21 season or merely until NHL training camp begins.

Afanasyev was born in Russia, but this will be his first time playing at a competitive level in his native country. Afanasyev moved to the United States earlier in his life and came up through the USHL before jumping to the OHL this past season. However, this move to the KHL – short or long term – could be a major benefit to Afanasyev’s development. The 6’4″, 200-lb. winger recorded 31 goals and 67 points in 62 games in his first OHL season and looked like he had already outgrown the junior ranks. Playing against older competition, and some of the best outside of North America, in the KHL will only help prepare Afanasyev to make the jump to Nashville sooner rather than later.

CSKA Moscow is not a bad place to start your pro career either. The 2019-20 regular season champs and 2018-19 Gagarin Cup champs are an elite squad. Afanasyev will be joining a roster that is flush with NHL experience and has made an effort to get younger. While he may not get significant ice time, Afansysev will be able to compete for opportunities and to learn from a number of player who know what it takes to break into the NHL.

Sharks Loan Alexei Melnichuk To The KHL

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While Sharks prospect Alexei Melnichuk opted to pursue a career in North America and left the KHL back in May, his playing days at home aren’t quite done yet.  Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL announced (Twitter link) that they’ve added the goaltender on a loan agreement from San Jose.  This comes on the heels of Torpedo acquiring his KHL rights in exchange for the rights to Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi.

Melnichuk had several teams pursuing him back in the spring following a dazzling season with SKA St. Petersburg that saw him post a 1.68 GAA and a .930 SV% in 16 KHL contests.  He was almost as good while playing a level lower in the VHL with a 1.95 GAA and a .925 SV% in eight contests down there.

The move will give him an opportunity to stay in playing shape and should help give him an edge as he tries to make a push to earn a spot with the Sharks for next season.  With Aaron Dell set to become an unrestricted free agent next week, there is a vacancy between the pipes for San Jose and if they don’t fill it with a veteran, Melnichuk could have a strong opportunity to see NHL action next season.

Alexei Toropchenko Assigned To HC Kunlun Red Star

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The St. Louis Blues have sent another one of their prospects overseas, loaning Alexei Toropchenko to HC Kunlun Red Star in the KHL. The young forward will be available to return when training camps open for the 2020-21 season.

Toropchenko, 21, is coming off his first season of professional hockey, playing 59 games for the San Antonio Rampage. The 6’3″ winger scored just nine points during those games but is still an interesting prospect to keep an eye on given his mix of size and skill. Toropchenko did record 30 goals in 86 games during his final season of junior hockey but hasn’t yet been able to bring that level of offense to the next level.

If you wanted to learn from someone with offensive skill, it’s hard to find a better place than Kunlun. The team is coached by former NHL star Alexei Kovalev, one of the most skilled forwards to ever play the game.

Overseas Notes: Sorensen, Chlapik, Maltsev

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Marcus Sorensen has signed a contract with HC Vita Hasten in Sweden’s second league, according to the team. The San Jose Sharks forward is still under contract in the NHL, meaning this is almost certainly a loan agreement for the next few months until NHL training camps open again. The 28-year-old forward is set to earn $1.5MM on the final season of his two-year contract with San Jose.

With just 197 regular season games under his belt, Sorensen is on track to be quite an interesting free agent case next offseason. He scored just 18 points in 60 games during the 2019-20 campaign, but did put up 17 goals a year before that. At some point this year the Sharks could look to extend the Swedish forward, but for now he’ll be suiting up overseas to stay in shape.

  • Filip Chlapik doesn’t have a contract with the Ottawa Senators, but playing overseas won’t stop him from getting one. The young Ottawa Senators forward will be playing for HC Sparta Praha for free while he continues to negotiate his next NHL deal. Just 23, Chlapik is coming off his entry-level contract and scored six points in 31 games for the Senators this season. He is not arbitration-eligible, meaning the Senators could just issue him a qualifying offer and wait to see if he takes it.
  • The New Jersey Devils have sent Mikhail Maltsev back to the KHL for the time being. Loaned to SKA St. Petersburg, Maltsev will join a crowded roster for the next few months and then be recalled in time for NHL training camps. The 22-year-old forward scored 21 points in 49 games for the Binghamton Devils this season, his first in North America.

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