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Overseas Notes: Toronto Targets, Zubov, Ullstrom

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Free agency is never truly over. NHL executives keep an eye on impending free agents all year long and will take any opportunity to create a positive impression on a possible target. It’s no different when it comes to foreign talent, as recently demonstrated by Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. KHL insider Igor Eronko reports that while scouting in Russia recently, Dubas met with two recognizable KHLers who are set to hit the open market next summer: Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Nesterov. Grigorenko, 25, was a first-round pick of Buffalo in 2012 who played over 200 games with the Sabres and Colorado Avalanche before returning home to Russia in 2017. The power forward was a top-ten scorer in the KHL last season and helped to lead CSKA Moscow to a Gagarin Cup title. He’s picked up right where he left off this season, recording 15 points through his first 16 games, and is likely to be highly sought-after by both KHL and NHL clubs this off-season. Nesterov, 26, is Grigorenko’s teammate for CSKA, coming over with him in 2017 after three NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. Nesterov is a reliable defensive defenseman, which can often be hard to find in the KHL. He has played an important role for Moscow over the past two years, even if he doesn’t frequent the score sheet. Both Grigorenko and Nesterov are core pieces for CSKA and the team will not let them walk away easily. However, that didn’t stop Dubas from doing his due diligence on the duo in case they do become available. The Maple Leafs have been successful of late in prying talent from the KHL, including the likes of Par Lindholm, Igor Ozhiganov, and now Ilya Mikheyev. He appears to be readying himself for another run at Russia’s elite this summer.

  • While most only think of Sergei Zubov as a former NHL defenseman, and soon a Hockey Hall of Famer, he has continued his hockey career overseas as a coach. After hanging up his skates in 2010, Zubov joined the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg as an assistant coach in 2011. He spent five years as an assistant with St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow before being named head coach of HK Sochi ahead of the 2017-18 season. In two plus seasons, Zubov did not have as much success from the bench as he had on the ice in his playing career. Sochi qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, but in both years they finished with a negative goal differential, last season they finished below .500 in the regular season, and they were bounced easily in the first round to end both postseason efforts. With just five wins in their first 17 games to begin this season, Sochi has opted for a coaching change. The KHL announced that Sochi has fired Zubov, who will now be left to look elsewhere for coaching work. Perhaps when he is in Toronto for Induction Weekend in November there will be NHL executives with interest in speaking to him about a full-time return to North America. A world-class talent on defense, it’s hard to imagine Zubov staying unemployed for long if he wished to continue coaching.
  • Former New York Islander David Ullstrom is on his way out of the KHL. After spending last season with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners, under contract with the Arizona Coyotes, Ullstrom returned to Europe this season, signing with Dinamo Riga of the KHL. However, he has already parted ways with Riga after playing in just eleven games. EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss NLA has scooped up the free agent forward, announcing that they have signed Ullstrom to a one-year contract. Ullstrom, 30, spent three seasons with the Islanders organization from 2010 to 2013, recording 13 points in 49 NHL games. While his ability was always apparent, the Swedish power forward struggled with puck security and decision-making, leading to a lack of trust at the top level. He has gone on to find success in the KHL and SHL in recent years, but never to the extent expected of him when he was a prospect. Ullstrom performed well with Tuscon last year, recording 23 points in 29 games, and some questioned his decision to return to Europe. He was never recalled by Arizona, but had his foot in the door with the organization. An NHL return seems unlikely now, but a strong season could get him back into AHL or even two-way contract consideration. He likely hopes that his first foray into Swiss hockey will produce a career season and possibly a multi-year deal, as he has played for nine different teams in the seven years since he left the Islanders and has never once spent more than a season and a half in one spot.

Minor Transactions: 10/12/19

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It was a relatively quiet night in the NHL on Friday, with just three games on the schedule. However, the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres made the most of spotlight by extending their season-opening point streaks. The ‘Canes are back in action again tonight, looking to stay perfect alongside a number of other unbeaten teams. At least one member of the elite group will fall, as the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers go head-to-head. It’s a busy night of action that could be preceded by a busy day of roster transactions. Keep up with all of the moves here:

  • Golden Knights authority SinBin Vegas reports that it will be Oscar Dansk getting the call from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to replace the injured Malcolm Subban as the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury. It’s a somewhat surprising decision for a couple of reasons. First, Vegas acquired Garret Sparks from the Toronto Maple Leafs this off-season with what many considered was the intention of making him a quality third-string option who could put pressure on the often unreliable Subban. In their first opportunity to recall Sparks, they passed. Second, in Dansk’s first appearance of the AHL season, he surrendered seven goals on just 25 shots – a .720 save percentage. Dansk looked out of sorts and surely not ready for an NHL promotion. It could be that the Knights are making a short-term move ahead of tonight’s game by recalling a fresh Dansk in case of emergency instead of Sparks, who got the start last night for the Wolves. However, if Dansk remains as the backup moving forward while Subban is sidelined, the team will have to hope he can replicate his stellar performance from a brief call-up in 2017-18 rather than his showing in his AHL season debut.
  • Casey Bailey is back in North America, inking a one-year deal with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. It’s been a somewhat precipitous decline for Bailey, who once seemed like a surefire NHLer. A standout at Penn State University, Bailey left school early in 2015 to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He even played in six games and recorded his first (and only to date) NHL point in that same season. In his first full pro campaign, Bailey put up good numbers in the AHL in a season split between the Toronto Marlies and Binghamton Senators after he joined Dion Phaneuf in the package sent from Toronto to Ottawa that year. The following season, Bailey again performed well in the AHL and skated in seven games with Ottawa, but it wasn’t enough to earn an extension or draw NHL interest as a free agent. After one more season in the minors, again with strong numbers, Bailey opted to head overseas last year, joining HC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL. However, he failed to find his footing and recorded just five points in 45 games. With Bratislava leaving the KHL, on top of a tough first season with the team, Bailey had more than enough reason to return to North America. The question now is whether he can turn this opportunity with the Stingrays into something more, perhaps working his way back into relevance at the pro level.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced they have activated defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk from non-roster injured reserve. The 28-year-old missed training camp and the first few games of the season as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery. Van Riemsdyk has been practicing with the team for a while already, so he may not require a conditioning stint. He has been a key piece to the Hurricanes’ defense as he has appeared in all but seven games in the past two years. With Carolina, however, loaded in defensive depth, the team hasn’t missed him too much, but could be eventually forced to make another roster move.

Prospect Notes: Nalimov, Andersson, Pare

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The doctrine of “no trade-backs” apparently isn’t held in as high regard in Russia. Chicago Blackhawks goalie prospect Ivan Nalimov has had a strange past few months to say the least. The 25-year-old keeper signed with HK Sochi early in the off-season, but was surprisingly traded not long after to SKA St. Petersburg in July. A product of SKA’s system and a former first-round pick of the team, Nalimov actually seemed like he had stumbled into some good luck with a familiar fit on a top club. Yet, after not making an appearance through the first month of the season, Nalimov has been traded back to Sochi, the team announced. When Nalimov asked for a trade last season, he was talking about his NHL rights, but KHL teams obliged nonetheless, as this is his third time being traded since. He began last season with the Kunlun Red Star, but was moved to Avangard Omsk midway through the year. He’s now in his second stint with Sochi since last season ended. In fact, Nalimov has been a part of seven different KHL clubs over the past four years. Some would think that lack of consistency would have a negative effect on his development, but Nalimov has been solid for several years now and was stellar down the stretch and in the postseason for Omsk last year. Yet, it’s no wonder why he is so eager to make the jump to North America and find some normalcy to his career. Nalimov has since rescinded his trade request from the Blackhawks, and just in time too. Chicago’s tandem of Corey Crawford and Robin Lehner will both be unrestricted free agents this season and veteran minor leaguers Anton Forsberg and Jean-Francois Berube are now gone. If he plays well again this season and then signs with the Blackhawks, there’s a real possibility that Nalimov could compete with Collin Delia for the backup job in Chicago next year.

  • Another prospect getting a fresh start is young defender Axel Andersson. Property of the Boston Bruins, who selected him in the second round in 2018, Andersson stayed overseas last year in his native Sweden. While he made the jump from the junior-level SuperElit to the second-tier Allsvenskan, it was a somewhat underwhelming campaign. Andersson arrived at training camp this year looking for a change of scenery and for a while it looked like that might come with AHL Providence. Andersson suited up for a couple of Boston’s preseason games and then took part in the entirety of Providence’s camp. However, he always faced an uphill battle to find regular ice time with the team this year, as they count Alexander Petrovic, Urho Vaakanainen, Jeremy Lauzon, and Jakub Zboril, as well as long-time member Chris Breen and highly-regarded project Cooper Zech among the names with guaranteed play time. So instead Andersson has joined his CHL rights holder, the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. The Bruins have officially loaned Andersson to Moncton, who are excited to add a talented defenseman that they used a first-round pick on in this year’s CHL Import Draft. Moncton head coach and director of hockey operations John Torchetti, a Boston native, was no doubt influential in convincing the Bruins that the QMJHL would be more beneficial for Andersson than a return to Sweden or limited minutes in the AHL. He’ll get to play internationally this season anyway, as Andersson is expected to suit up for the Swedes in the World Junior Championship.
  • The Bruins are happy with the decision on Andersson, somewhat of a project player, but may already be regretting giving up on another slow-to-develop prospect. Cedric Pare, a sixth-round pick of Boston in 2017, is tearing up the QMJHL early this season. Pare is the first player with double-digit goals in the entire CHL, notching ten through eight games with Rimouski Oceanic. Of course, it bears mentioning that Pare is centering a line that features presumptive 2020 top pick Alexis Lafreniere and Calgary Flames dark horse prospect Dmitri Zavgorodny. However, Pare is still showing that his skill and skating are finally catching up to his size and two-way intelligence. Those latter abilities were on display though his first three junior seasons, but the offense was lacking. Pare has yet to crack 20 goals or 50 points in a season, but is well on his way at an outrageous pace of 80+ goals and 130+ points. The Bruins’ rights to Pare expired early this summer when the team opted not to extend him an entry-level contract. He is now likely to be a hotly-pursued free agent later this year and the odds are that Boston is not at the top of his list of destinations.

Snapshots: Pietrangelo, Barabanov, AHL Suspensions

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When the St. Louis Blues went out and acquired Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes, only to sign him to a seven-year $45.5MM extension immediately, eyebrows raised around the hockey world. Where exactly did that leave captain Alex Pietrangelo, who plays the same position and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season? Well, the Blues tried to answer some of that question by pairing Pietrangelo and Faulk together for a time, but that didn’t take (though hasn’t been completely abandoned either, as we saw last night), and now there is a report about some recent meetings between the two sides.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Pietrangelo’s agents met with GM Doug Armstrong yesterday, and reports that the Blues are hoping to use Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s eight-year, $66MM deal as a “baseline” in talks. That $8.25MM average annual value currently makes Ekman-Larsson the fourth-highest paid defenseman in the league behind only Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Another interesting comparable for Pietrangelo might be Roman Josi, who is also dealing with extension negotiations at the moment with the Nashville Predators.

  • One other note from the 31 Thoughts column revolves around Alexander Barabanov, a 25-year old KHL forward that Friedman reports will be scouted in-person by several NHL executives. Barabanov’s ice time has drastically reduced this season, but recorded 46 points in 58 games last year for SKA St. Petersburg. That total put him behind only New Jersey Devils forward Nikita Gusev and ahead of other Russian stars like Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Plotnikov.
  • Suspensions came down today in the AHL, with both Hubert Labrie of the Belleville Senators and Paul Thompson of the Springfield Thunder facing two-game bans for incidents on Saturday. In Labrie’s case, his elbow caused Kenny Agostino of the Toronto Marlies to suffer a concussion that will keep him out indefinitely. Thompson meanwhile hit Thomas Hickey of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but the veteran defenseman was back in action yesterday as he tries to fight his way back to the NHL.

Minor Transactions: 10/06/19

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After a loaded Saturday slate, there are just three NHL games on the docket today. However, off-day teams could still use the time to make roster transactions to prepare for the coming week. Meanwhile, minor league and European teams alike continue to tinker with their rosters early in the year. Keep up with all of the action today right here:

  • The KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk made a swap of NHL veterans today, announcing the signing of forward Andrej Nestrasil and the release of defenseman Paul Postma. Nestrasil, 28, has had a strange start to the new campaign. The former Carolina Hurricanes forward was somewhat surprisingly not offered a contract extension by the KHL’s Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk this off-season despite two good seasons with the team since leaving the NHL. Without any options, Nestrasil returned home to the Czech Republic and signed with HC Ocelari Trinec just two weeks ago. After only two games with club – and a team-leading four points in those two games – Magnitogorsk came calling with an offer to return to the KHL for at least one more year and Nestrasil took it. His roster spot came at the cost of Postma’s in a way, whose contract was jointly terminated. Postma last played in the NHL with the Boston Bruins in 2017-18 and enjoyed a strong first KHL season with Ak Bars Kazan last year. He signed with Metallurg this summer, but lasted just ten games into his new one-year contract before the two sides apparently agreed to part. While there has been nothing yet to link the two sides, Postma spent much of his NHL career with the Winnipeg Jets, who are sorely in need of some defensive depth right now and could potentially look into a reunion.
  • Another former Bruins defenseman, Chris Casto, is headed overseas. After spending last season on an AHL contract with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Casto has opted to head to Germany. Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the DEL has announced a one-year deal with the 27-year-old former college standout. Ironically, what prompted the move was a season-ending injury to another past Boston defensive prospect, Ryan Button. Like Button, Casto could never take his well-rounded game to that next level in North America, but could be an impact player in Europe.
  • Ben Thomson has found a new home in the AHL. The 26-year-old enforcer has signed a one-year deal with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the team announced. Thomson spent last season on the opposite coast with the San Diego Gulls, but will now head back to tri-state area, where he once suited up for three games with the New Jersey Devils. A fourth-round pick of New Jersey in 2012, Thomson made a name for himself with the AHL Devils as an aggressive checking forward a consistent penalty minutes leader. That role has continued to find him employment at the minor league level, but Thomson is unlikely to get back to the NHL any time soon.
  • The jury is still out on who the goalie of the future may be for the Boston Bruins, if any of their current prospects. Dan Vladar has the most history with the organization, while Jeremy Swayman may have the most intrigue as he continues his development at the University of Maine. However, the most likely candidate may be 20-year-old Kyle Keyser, an undrafted signee who finished his junior career off on a high note with a strong OHL season and a World Juniors showing with Team USA. Yet, the Florida native will at least start his first pro season closer to home with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators. Mark Divver reports that Vladar and free agent third-string Maxime Lagace will begin their seasons with AHL Providence, while the Bruins have reassigned Keyser to Atlanta. It’s not uncommon for young goaltenders, even talented ones, to spend some time in the ECHL for the purpose of consistent starts, but Keyser will certainly be looking to prove he is worth of a look in the AHL right away this season.
  • The Ottawa Senators are certainly not lacking in prospect depth and the team seems likely to switch their talented young names in and out of the NHL and AHL lineups early on to ensure equal ice time until they can get a better feel for who belongs in Ottawa full-time. Today, the team has reassigned Drake Batherson and Filip Chlapik to AHL Belleville. They did not announce a corresponding move, meaning the same duo or two other prospects could be called up in the coming days.
  • With Evgeny Kuznetsov returning from suspension, the Washington Capitals had some salary cap maneuvering to do. The team has announced that forward Travis Boyd has been placed on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. They also announced that rookie defenseman Martin Fehervary has been sent down to Hershey. The 2018 second-round pick performed well in the team’s first three games, but some more seasoning in the minors won’t hurt. As for Boyd, the 26-year-old center is probably safe on the waiver wire, but is more of a risk than last season after recording 20 points in 53 games last season. The team has also “demoted” defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, but it is a paper move expected to be made frequently this season by the Capitals as they look to bank as much cap space as possible while fighting a very tight cap crunch.

Prospect Notes: Raymond, Dorofeyev, McGuire

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Just like fellow Swedish phenom and 2020 top prospect Alexander Holtz, Lucas Raymond has also signed an extension with his current SHL team. Raymond, considered a surefire top-five pick who could possibly even challenge to go No. 1 overall with a strong campaign, is clearly open to a developmental path that doesn’t require jumping straight to the pro level in North America. Raymond’s rookie contract with the SHL’s Frolunda HC was announced as a two-year pact, extending through 2020-21. He could conceivably return to Sweden next year for more seasoning before embracing his NHL future, if he so chooses. The NHL and SHL have a transfer agreement that allows Raymond to supercede his new deal with an NHL contract if he and the team lucky enough to draft him decide that it is the best course of action. If Raymond continues to progress this season, there could be little left for him in the SHL. He already played in ten games with the Indians last year and was one of the best players in the SuperElit top junior league. Raymond is a natural; a super-skilled two-way forward with excellent hockey IQ, he looks like the most well-rounded prospect in the 2020 draft class early on. A dynamic player in nearly every regard, Frolunda may be excited at the idea of Raymond coming back next season, but the odds are slim for the soon-to-be NHLer.

  • A far more concerning extension is the one signed by Vegas Golden Knights prospect Pavel Dorofeyev this week. Dorofeyev, a third-round pick back in June, was entering the final year of his KHL contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. However, the league has announced that the two sides have agreed to a two-year extension, keeping Dorofeyev with the team through the 2021-22 season. Unlike with the SHL, there is no transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL and for all intents and purposes Dorofeyev is locked in with Magnitogorsk for the next three seasons. That could make it tough for Vegas to get a good read on the young forward prospect, not to mention it increases the risk that he may never make the jump to North America. Dorofeyev was a polarizing prospect in this draft class and “the Russian factor” was only on part of the differing opinions many had of him. A gifted puck-handler who plays with speed and vision, there is no questioning Dorofeyev’s skill. On that alone, some felt he was a first-round prospect. However, his lack of attentiveness to the defensive aspects of the game and some criticism of his motor and willingness to be aggressive dropped him from others’ draft boards completely. If the Golden Knights had hoped to avoid having Dorofeyev settle into the single-minded offensive style that many Russian forwards adopt, two extra years in the KHL won’t help.
  • While it remains to be seen whether he develops into a legitimate NHL prospect or not, many will nevertheless be interested in following the college career of Ryan McGuire. McGuire is the son of former NHL coach and scout Pierre McGuire, who many know now for his work as analyst for NBC Sports. The younger McGuire, 17, has played two years of prep school hockey for Belmont Hill outside of Boston and has also spent some time with the USHL’s Madison Capitols. However, he’ll soon be playing at Colgate University, after recently committing to the ECAC program. Colgate isn’t exactly an NHL prospect factory, but they did produce the likes of Andy McDonald and Chris Wagner, not to mention Pierre’s NBC colleague Mike Milbury. As he enters his first season of NHL Draft eligibility, McGuire hopes to be the next NHLer out of Colgate. The small, but smart and speedy center will have name value among NHL scouts, but could use a strong season with Belmont Hill and/or Madison to show he also has the tools to be future pro.

Minor Transactions: 10/01/19

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Teams all around the league are setting their opening day rosters to get cap compliant, while minor league clubs are still out finalizing their groups for the upcoming season. We’ll be right here to keep track of all those moves like always:

Los Angeles Kings Assign Nikolai Prokhorkin To AHL

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The Los Angeles Kings are only just starting their rebuilding phase of their franchise, and the team has already decided that KHL veteran winger Nikolai Prokhorkin won’t be part of their immediate future as the team announced that they have assigned him to the Ontario Reign of the AHL.

The 25-year-old was brought in to Los Angeles with the hopes of immediately jumping into their lineup. He has played six full seasons in the KHL already, and had his best season last year when he picked up career highs with St. Petersburg SKA with 20 goals and 41 points. A fourth-round pick back in 2012, he opted to sign with the Kings in May to a one-year, entry-level contract, which would make him a restricted free agent next season. He did attempt to sign with the franchise back in 2012 and played eight games with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL, before his contract was ruled illegal and was forced to return to Russia.

Prokhorkin does have a European assignment clause that can go into effect at a later date, according to Fox Sports Jon Rosen, but there so far has been no indication that Prokhorkin intends to return to the KHL. With a significant amount of young players on the roster, Prokhorkin may just want to play for Ontario to get used to North American rinks and hope the team will recall him at some point so he can prove he belongs in the Kings’ lineup at a later date.

 

 

Saku Maenalanen Signs In KHL

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One of the unsigned restricted free agents that wasn’t getting nearly as much press recently was Saku Maenalanen of the Carolina Hurricanes. Well, unsigned no more, as Maenalanen has now inked a deal with Helsinki in the KHL. The contract is a one-year deal with another option year, and will get him playing hockey almost immediately. The Hurricanes will retain his rights after issuing a qualifying offer earlier this summer.

Maenalanen, 25, only came over to North America a year ago and split his time between the AHL and NHL in the Carolina organization. In 34 regular season games with the Hurricanes he recorded eight points, but did well enough to be included in nine postseason contests. The 6’4″ winger had shown real offensive promise during his days in Finland, but couldn’t quite seem to bring that same level of success to the NHL.

Even though the Hurricanes will own his rights for now, it does seem as though perhaps that is the end of the NHL experiment for the big Finn. He’ll turn 26 at the end of the 2019-20 season and will likely find more success in the KHL than he ever could in North America.

Craig MacTavish Fired In KHL

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After just eight games as the head coach of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in the KHL, Craig MacTavish has been fired. The former Edmonton Oilers executive left the NHL to pursue a new opportunity overseas this year, but will be looking for a new job after just a few games. MacTavish ends his KHL career with a 3-5 record.

When Ken Holland was brought in to steer the ship in Edmonton earlier this offseason, MacTavish was one of the first of the old front office to go. After two decades with the organization serving at various times as assistant coach, head coach, general manager and senior vice president of hockey operations, much of the good will he built as a player had gone among Edmonton fans. MacTavish of course was a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the team in the late-80s.

With such an extensive resume it seems likely that MacTavish will land on his feet somewhere, though he may not be given the kind of power he had for years in Edmonton. It is unfortunate that his stint in Russia didn’t work out, but there have been many other coaches chewed up by the KHL system before and he won’t be the last.

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