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Nikolai Prokhorkin Returns To KHL

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After just one season in the NHL, Nikolai Prokhorkin is going home. The Los Angeles Kings forward’s entry-level contract is set to expire, but he won’t be re-signing with the team. Instead, he has inked a two-year deal in the KHL with Magnitogorsk.

The 26-year old forward has had quite an interesting relationship with the Kings over the years, dating back to their selection of him in 2012. Prokhorkin quickly signed with the organization a few months after being drafted and actually came over to play eight games with the Manchester Monarchs at the start of the 2012-13 season. Unfortunately, his contract was then ruled invalid, sending him back to the KHL and starting a long breakup between the two sides.

Prokhorkin would spend the next seven years in the KHL, playing for three different organizations before coming back to the NHL this past season. He signed his new entry-level contract in May of last year and ended up playing 43 games for the Kings. With four goals and 14 points, he at least will get to say that he held his own at the highest level in North America. Whether he ever comes back is a different story.

Normally with restricted free agents that leave for other leagues, the NHL team is able to retain their rights with a qualifying offer and try to sign them again down the road. Unfortunately in this case given his age, those rights will expire before the Kings have a chance to re-sign Prokhorkin, meaning this is ultimately going to leave him an unrestricted free agent in 2022 able to sign with any NHL organization.

Devils UFA Julian Melchiori Signs In The KHL

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After spending the last three seasons exclusively in the minors, Devils defenseman Julian Melchiori has decided not to wait for another crack at the NHL free agent market.  Instead, he has decided to head overseas as Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL announced (Twitter link) that they have signed Melchiori to a one-year contract.

The 28-year-old spent most of this season on a minor league deal with New Jersey but did well enough that the Devils converted Melchiori to an NHL contract just before the trade deadline to give them the option to recall him down the stretch.  However, the pandemic put an end to those plans.  Overall, he played in 61 games with Binghamton this season, picking up a career-best 17 points (6-11-17).

Melchiori has played in parts of three NHL seasons over his career with Winnipeg, the franchise that drafted him back in the third round (87th overall) back when they were in Atlanta.  But with just 30 games with the Jets being all of his experience over eight professional seasons, his decision to take a guaranteed deal overseas seems like a sound one over testing the NHL market a few months from now.

Markus Granlund Officially Signs In KHL

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When the Edmonton Oilers announced their Phase 3 training camp roster last week, there were several veteran names left off. Mike Green was among them after opting out of the return to play format, while Markus Granlund was another.

It was easy to see why the latter wasn’t included. Granlund had been sent to the minors in March before the season was suspended and didn’t look like he had much of a future with the organization. That idea was furthered when reports surfaced at the end of May that Granlund would be signing in the KHL after his contract with the Oilers expired, but at that time it appeared as though he would still be available for the club should the 2019-20 season resume.

Now that he has been left off of the roster, Granlund has indeed signed a contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL. The deal is for two seasons and may effectively mark the end of the 27-year old’s NHL career.

Granlund at one point actually looked like quite an impressive prospect. A second-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2011, he put up huge numbers playing in Finland before eventually making the jump to North America. In the minor leagues, Granlund quickly became a star, tallying 25 goals and 46 points in 52 games as a rookie for the Abbotsford Heat. The NHL wasn’t quite as kind however and that promising young prospect was shipped to Vancouver in 2016 for Hunter Shinkaruk.

While he did have a 19-goal campaign for the Canucks, Granlund never has really fulfilled his potential on a consistent basis. In 2019-20 he split the year between the NHL and AHL, recording only four points in his 34 games for the Oilers.

He will be an unrestricted free agent again after this two-year pact expires, but it is hard to believe Granlund will ever be an impact player in the NHL again.

Philadelphia Flyers Loan Maksim Sushko To KHL

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Like the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers before them, the Philadelphia Flyers have decided to send one of their prospects over to the KHL. Maksim Sushko has been loaned to Dynamo Minsk, giving him the chance to play right away instead of waiting for the eventual 2020-21 season here in North America.

Sushko, 21, was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017 and spent the 2019-20 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Belarussian winger recorded 11 goals an 21 points in those 53 AHL contests and will now continue his development overseas.

This option, of sending a player to the KHL to get him into game action, will likely be taken by several teams around the league as they try to figure out how to best serve their prospects. Sushko will still be under contract with the Flyers through the end of the 2021-22 season and can be recalled if the AHL season does get underway. In fact, this may actually give him a leg up on the rest of the AHL competition whenever that training camp does get underway.

Maxim Shalunov Re-Signs In KHL

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If you’re a Chicago Blackhawks fan waiting to hear that Max Shalunov has finally decided to come to North America, you’re going to have to wait a while longer. The Russian forward has re-signed with CSKA Moscow for another season.

Shalunov, 27, was originally drafted by the Blackhawks back in 2011 but has never signed an NHL contract. He did play one season in the minor leagues, mostly with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL, but has been back in Russia ever since. The Blackhawks own his exclusive NHL rights indefinitely, which could mean that he never ends up seeing a North American rink.

In a bizarre story from Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required), Shalunov’s agent Shumi Babaev explains that he hasn’t heard back from Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman since the end of the KHL season. He put into words what so many of us are feeling these days, telling Powers “everything is so strange right now.” If Shalunov did sign, he’d have to wait until the 2020-21 season to begin, something that his agent doesn’t recommend.

The fourth-round pick has had plenty of success in the KHL, scoring at least 25 points in each of the last five seasons. But the Blackhawks obviously don’t seem to be in any rush to sign him, instead bringing over other European players like Dominik Kubalik. For the moment, Shalunov remains a Blackhawks draft pick. Whether we’ll ever get to see him play for the team is another story.

Devils Loan Yegor Sharangovich To The KHL

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With the pandemic delaying the start of the 2020-21 season, some teams are trying to make arrangements for their prospects to play elsewhere.  The Devils are one of those as Dinamo Minsk of the KHL announced that they have reached an agreement with New Jersey that allows prospect Yegor Sharangovich to start next season with them.

The winger is no stranger to the Belarusian program as it is his hometown team and he spent a season with them in 2017-18.  He did well enough with them to convince New Jersey to use a fifth-round pick on him (141st overall) to secure his NHL rights in the 2018 draft.

The 22-year-old has spent the last two seasons with their AHL affiliate in Binghamton where his offensive progression has been limited.  Sharangovich managed 10 goals and 15 assists in 57 games this season which represented an improvement on his 17 points (9-8-17) in 68 contests in his rookie year.  However, he’ll need to take a big step forward on the final year of his entry-level deal to get an NHL opportunity.

Going this route certainly won’t hurt his chances.  Sharangovich will get the opportunity to get into playing shape during the KHL season which should give him the chance to hit the ground running when AHL training camp eventually opens as Minsk has already committed to allowing him to return to North America.  If the AHL season winds up starting around the same time the NHL is projected to start, he’ll have more than two months worth of games under his belt by then.

Snapshots: Lehner, Gilbert, Sekac

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One of the more interesting storylines in the NHL’s return to play playoff tournament is the extra chance it gives to players who were acquired at the trade deadline. Those that switched residence at the end of February were only given two weeks—usually just a handful of games—to show their new teams what they could do before the entire league shut down. One of those players was Robin Lehner, who went from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Vegas Golden Knights (via Toronto) and ended up playing in just three games before the season ended.

Lehner, who stopped 78 of 83 saves (a .940 save percentage) in those three games, also happens to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The playoffs then represent his last chance to show the Golden Knights why he deserves to be re-signed, something he hopes will happen according to Danny Webster of NHL.com. Lehner pointed directly to the dedication he has seen out of his new teammates as they prepare for the upcoming playoffs as a reason he’d like to stay longer. While the Golden Knights have a complex cap situation to deal with next season, there’s no doubt that Lehner will be one of the most sought-after goaltenders on the market should the team let him walk into free agency.

  • One of Lehner’s old teammates in Chicago won’t get the chance to show what he can do, as Dennis Gilbert has announced he requires surgery on his wrist and will not play again this season. The 23-year old defenseman was just getting his NHL career underway, playing in 21 games with the Blackhawks this season. That’s all he’ll get for 2019-20 as he’ll now have to look forward to next year.
  • Another former Blackhawk is looking for a new job, after CSKA Moscow released Jiri Sekac today. The veteran of 115 NHL games has played in the KHL for the last four seasons, putting up excellent numbers and winning the Gagarin Cup in 2018. He may not be waiting for a job long, as recently a report surfaced in the Czech Republic that Sekac would be joining Avangard Omsk for the 2020-21 season.

Nikita Tryamkin Re-Signs In KHL

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The idea that Nikita Tryamkin could come back to North America for the 2020-21 season has been scrapped, with the big Russian defender signing a new one-year contract with Yekaterinburg of the KHL. Tryamkin had been in contact with the Canucks about a return, but according to Thomas Drance of The Athletic felt there was “too much risk” in waiting given he hasn’t played since February.

Tryamkin will turn 26 at the end of August and is now three years removed from playing in the NHL. He left in 2017 after 79 relatively unsuccessful games with the Canucks and has played for his hometown team in the interim. There was still hope from fans and the Canucks front office that he would one day return and take up residence on the team’s blueline once again, but that hope does seem to be slipping away at this point.

While the Canucks will be able to retain his rights until next summer, Tryamkin will become an unrestricted free agent on his 27th birthday—August 30, 2021. That doesn’t leave a huge window of negotiation given the 2020-21 season will likely end later than normal, and could mean the end of any potential return.

Overseas Notes: Andrighetto, Berglund, Morrow

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It was a bit of a surprise when forward Sven Andrighetto bolted for Europe last summer. The 27-year-old had shown flashes of great ability over the years, and while he failed to score consistently, he still had developed into a serviceable depth forward. Andrighetto had recorded 83 points in 216 NHL games with Montreal and Colorado and had played in a career-high 64 games in 2018-19. Yet, when the Avalanche declined to extend him a qualifying offer, Andrighetto left North America entirely, signing a two-year deal with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk. A year later, he clearly has no regrets. Andrighetto has made a major career decision that puts a future NHL career in doubt. The ZSC Lions of the Swiss NLA, the same club who Andrighetto played for during his early developmental years, announced that they have brought their homegrown product back on a stunning five-year deal. The final year of Andrighetto’s deal with Omsk has been terminated and he is now under contract with ZSC through the 2024-25 season. Should he play out that entire contract, Andrighetto would be well into his 30’s by the next time he is a free agent. While he has the potential to put up big numbers with the Lions, filling the shoes of the departed Pius Suter under the tutelage of head coach Rickard Gronberg, it may not be enough to drum up interest in a 32-year-old who is six years removed from NHL action. If Andrighetto is to play in the NHL again, it would likely mean he has to break his contract with his hometown club to return within the next five years. That seems unlikely at this point, which could mean we have seen the last of a talented, capable forward in the NHL ranks.

  • The same goes for NHL veteran Patrik Berglund. Hinted at earlier this month with reports that he was negotiating with the SHL’s Brynas IF, Berglund seemingly had no intention of a return to the NHL this off-season after abandoning the Buffalo Sabres midway through the 2018-19 season. That has now been confirmed, as Berglund has signed a two-year deal with Brynas per a team release. Berglund, 32, spent this year with Djurgardens IF and found great success; the long-time St. Louis Blue recorded 31 points in 49 games for one of the best per-game scoring seasons of his pro career. He now moves to Brynas, who did not make the SHL playoffs this year despite the efforts of star forward Anton Rodin. The team could desperately use some veteran leadership and Berglund hopes that he can fill that role and that he and Rodin can turn the team back into a contender. With his efforts clearly focused on making an impact at home in Sweden, Berglund is unlikely to be back in the NHL again.
  • A wild ride continues for defenseman Joe Morrow. Morrow, 27, who earned a contract extension and 41 games with the Winnipeg Jets just two years ago, has been in a whirlwind ever since. Morrow was unable to find an NHL contract last off-season and attended training camp with the New York Rangers, only to earn a contract offer from the rival New Jersey Devils. However, after months with the Devils without seeing any NHL action, Morrow’s contract was terminated and he departed for the KHL, signing a two-year deal with Dynamo Minsk. This was amazingly the first multi-year deal of Morrow’s pro career since his entry-level deal had expired and it looked like Minsk might be a good place for the veteran to rebuild his stock as a top player for the club. Instead, Morrow was a bust in Minsk, managing just three assists and a -8 rating in 22 games. Perhaps not so surprisingly, the two sides have now gone their separate ways, with the second year of Morrow’s contract terminated according to the team. What’s next for the veteran defenseman remains a mystery at this point.

Edmonton Oilers Loan Dmitri Samorukov To KHL

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After reports surfaced last month that the Edmonton Oilers had approved of a plan for Dmitri Samorukov to seek out a contract in the KHL, the team has officially loaned him to CSKA Moscow for the 2020-21 season. Samorukov will play for the Russian powerhouse and try to continue his development before the Oilers make a decision on future seasons. Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that Edmonton GM “fully expects” the prospect back in North America “if he is deemed ready.”

Samorukov, 21, had a very up-and-down start to his professional career, recording 10 points in 47 games for the Bakersfield Condors. Last month when the talk of heading to the KHL came up, his agent Pat Morris explained why they were going down that route:

He wants to play. He doesn’t want to lay dormant for 8-10 months in this current situation. And he, unlike some other players, has this option. We’re exploring it long and hard.

For players that won’t be included in the upcoming playoff tournament, there could be a very long layoff before they see game action again. For a 21-year old prospect trying to make a name for himself, that development time is crucial.

The 6’3″ defenseman was the 84th overall pick in the 2017 draft and had an outstanding 2018-19 season with the Guelph Storm, showing his offensive upside. That upside didn’t get a chance to shine for Bakersfield, but it may for CSKA who are always among the top teams in the KHL.

Samorukov’s entry-level contract is scheduled to expire after the 2021-22 season.

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