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Wyatt Kalynuk Signs With Liiga’s Pelicans

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Pelicans of Liiga, Finland’s top-level professional league, have signed free agent defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to a one-year deal, per a team press release.

Kalynuk, 27, spent last season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds while on a two-way contract with the Blues. He became a UFA at the end of the season after finishing fourth among Thunderbirds defenders in scoring with five goals, 13 assists and 18 points in 66 games with 65 PIMs and a -1 rating.

A seventh-round pick of the Flyers in 2017, Kalynuk spent three seasons at Wisconsin but opted not to sign with Philadelphia upon graduating. Instead, the Manitoba native inked an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks in 2020 after a junior year with the Badgers that saw him post 28 points in 36 games while serving as captain, earning Big 10 First All-Star Team honors.

Kalynuk made his NHL debut in his first professional season, suiting up in 21 games with Chicago during the abbreviated 2020-21 campaign. The left-shot defender stayed on the NHL roster or taxi squad for most of the year, doing well in a bottom-pairing role with four goals, five assists, and 25 hits while averaging 16:16 per game with a -6 rating. In his short stint with AHL Rockford that year, he was elite offensively, with 10 points in only eight games.

But things went downhill from there for Kalynuk, who played only five NHL contests the following season. His effectiveness in the minors was also diminished, but he was still Rockford’s second-highest-scoring defender with 27 points in 52 games. Still, it wasn’t enough to convince Chicago to keep him around, and they opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his ELC expired in 2022.

Kalynuk has since played exclusively in the minors on two-way deals, suiting up for the Blues’, Canucks’ and Rangers’ primary affiliates. After failing to repeat his previous offensive success wherever he went, it’s not surprising to see the blue-liner opt for perhaps a bigger role in Finland. He leaves the AHL behind after 74 points in 187 games over the last four years.

He’ll be Pelicans’ second defenseman with NHL experience on this season’s roster, joining former Hurricane Michal Jordan. The Lahti-based club will suit up in the Champions Hockey League beginning next month after finishing as the runner-up to the Liiga championship last season.

International Notes: Beaudin, Schmiemann, Zahejsky

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Some notable minor transactions from around the hockey world today as August moves along:

  • Former Senators center J.C. Beaudin will remain overseas this season after signing a one-year deal with Finland’s TPS, per a team announcement. Beaudin, 27, was a third-round pick of the Avalanche back in 2015 but didn’t make his NHL debut until 2019-20 with Ottawa, posting an assist and a -4 rating in 22 games. He spent the following two seasons in the AHL with Belleville and Laval before heading overseas in 2022. He signed with Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the German DEL, where he racked up 22 goals and 48 points in 90 games over the last two seasons.
  • Defenseman Quinn Schmiemann is making his first jump across the pond, as Slovakia’s HC Dukla Trencin announced on Facebook that they’ve signed the 23-year-old to a one-year contract. Schmiemann was a sixth-round pick of the Lightning in 2019 out of WHL Kamloops but never signed, instead beginning his professional career in the Canucks organization on an AHL deal with Abbotsford in 2022. Schmiemann rarely got into the lineup in Abbotsford and was sent back to the Lightning organization at last season’s AHL trade deadline, finishing the season with the Syracuse Crunch. The 6’2″, 201-lb left-shot defender had four goals and 10 assists for 14 points and a +10 rating in 67 AHL games the last two years and will now head to Europe after failing to land an NHL contract.
  • A potential first-round pick in next year’s draft is coming to North America. Czech forward Vit Zahejsky has signed a scholarship and development agreement with WHL Kamloops after they selected him second overall in last month’s CHL Import Draft, the team announced today. Zahejsky is one of the younger players in the 2025 class and doesn’t turn 17 until this weekend. The 5’10”, 170-lb forward spent last season in his native Czechia with HC Karlovy Vary’s U20 club, managing 19 goals and 39 points in 42 games against much older competition. He’s currently representing Czechia at this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he has a goal and an assist in two games.

International Notes: Schneider, Richards, Melnick

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An AHL fixture is heading a bit off the beaten path this season. After 13 minor-league seasons and six NHL games, forward Cole Schneider has signed a two-year deal with Norway’s Storhamar, the team announced yesterday.

Schneider, 33, is coming off a tough campaign. The Williamsville, New York native signed on with the independent Chicago Wolves last season and was expected to be one of their top scorers, but he faltered with only 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 56 games. In the two seasons prior, Schneider had served as the captain of the Predators’ affiliate in Milwaukee and put up seasons of 60 and 51 points.

Since making his AHL debut all the way back in 2012, Schneider has totaled 247 goals, 327 assists and 574 points in 776 career games. That puts him inside the top 50 in league history in both goals and appearances. But his NHL call-ups were few and far between, only appearing in a half-dozen contests with the Sabres across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, recording one assist and a +2 rating.

Schneider heads to a Storhamar team that went 33-3-9 last season and won the Norwegian Eliteserien championship, putting them in the continent-wide Champions Hockey League for 2024-25. He’s a major reinforcement for Storhamar’s first appearance in the continental cup since 2018-19. He joins former Avalanche, Blackhawks and Canadiens winger Andreas Martinsen as Storhamar’s only players with NHL experience under their belt.

More recent international signings:

  • Free agent center Justin Richards is heading overseas for the first time, signing a one-year deal with Germany’s Dusseldorfer EG. The 26-year-old Orlando native spent all of last season in the minors while on a two-way deal with the Sabres and became a Group VI UFA at the end of the year. The son of former Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards took a step back with AHL Rochester after a career-best campaign with Cleveland the year prior, only contributing 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 58 games with a -13 rating. Richards has two assists in three career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Rangers across the 2020-21 and 2022-23 campaigns.
  • After six years of solid play in the AHL, center Josh Melnick signed a one-year deal with Karpat of the Finnish Liiga today, per a team release. Melnick, 29, had spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Wolves and four years before that in the Stars’ system with Texas. He was signed to an NHL contract by Dallas coming out of Miami Ohio in 2019 but never got a call-up. The 5’10”, 181-lb pivot has 129 points in 300 career AHL games.

Evening Notes: Perunovich, Condors, Savoie

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St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich seems set up for a make-or-break season after spending the first three years of his pro career dealing with what seemed like neverending injuries. Forced absences have held Perunovich to just 73 appearances, and 23 assists through his entry-level contract. But despite what’s seemed like years of bad luck in St. Louis, Perunovich shared with Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that he wouldn’t want to play anywhere else. He said, “I want to succeed in the league, but the team I want to succeed with the most is St. Louis… They drafted me. Every other team looked over me and they’ve always had confidence in me. This is where I want to succeed, and I’ve never not thought that for a second.”

Perunovich explained how he’s changing his approach after a hardy year with the Blues lineup, adding that he’s hoping to think less and shoot more. Those certainly seem like timely changes as Perunovich approaches his 75th NHL game, still searching for his first career goal. And while goal-scoring has never been Perunovich’s forte, he did flash much more offensive upside in college, where he seemed much more confident in skating the puck across the red line and joining the offensive rush. He’s been much more pass-first at the professional level, though he’s improved his poise in sitting with the puck and waiting for opportunities to open up.

A strong start to the year could quickly earn Perunovich top-pair minutes, with Torey Krug facing injury and little competition coming from Nick Leddy or Pierre-Olivier Joseph. That could give Perunovich the groundwork for a breakout season, though he’ll need to first win out the battle for ice time.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • The AHL’s Bakersfield Condors have hired Adam Krug as an assistant coach and Kelly Guard as a goaltending coach. Krug has spent the last decade coaching the NCAA D-III Men’s team at Adrian College, having previously captained Adrian during two seasons of his own playing career. Krug took the team to unprecedented heights, including their first D-III championship in 2022 and a second-place finish in 2023. Adrian has developed into a powerhouse of D-III hockey and a major supporter of collegiate club hockey as a whole, with their ACHA D-II team winning a championship in 2021 and also finishing second in 2023. Meanwhile, Kelly Guard moves to Bakersfield after spending 12 years as the goalie coach of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. He’s overseen some impressive goalie seasons in that span – including Ian Scott’s .932 save percentage in 49 games of the 2018-19 season. He’ll look to carry that momentum into the pro level while Krug adjusts to a big jump in competition as Bakersfield makes two interesting, potentially high-impact hires.
  • Former Oilers forward prospect Carter Savoie is heading overseas on a one-year contract with Liiga’s TPS, per a team announcement. Savoie, 22, didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Edmonton upon the expiration of his entry-level contract last month. The older brother of new Oilers prospect Matthew Savoie, whom they acquired via trade from the Sabres after non-tendering Carter, recorded 18 goals and 33 points in 109 games with AHL Bakersfield in parts of the last three seasons but never received an NHL call-up. Edmonton selected him 100th overall in the 2020 draft.

Prospect Notes: Hemming, Berggren, Willander, Dragicevic

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Dallas Stars 2024 first-round pick Emil Hemming has signed with the OHL’s Barrie Colts for the 2024-25 season. Hemming will forgo the final year of his three-year contract with Liiga’s TPS, where he’s played the past two seasons. Much of his 2022-23 campaign was spent on the TPS U20 roster – with Hemming potting 16 points in 22 games. He returned to the U20 lineup at the start of last season, though quickly earned a promotion to the Liiga after scoring 11 goals and 18 points in the first 13 games of the U20 season.

Hemming took the move to Finland’s top flight in stride, showing off just how physically mature his heavy, shoot-first style was. He only managed 11 points in 40 league games but showed plenty of growth as the year progressed, becoming much more confident in the defensive zone and more aggressive on offense. He curbed a meager two-point performance at the World Juniors with six points in five games at the World U18 Championships, continuing to show his strides as the season went along. All of that was enough to earn Hemming the 29th overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, coupling him with a Stars team that’s quickly become known for finding draft-day steals. Hemming has shown he’s sturdy enough to play at a pro level and will now join Utah prospect Cole Beaudoin and Edmonton prospect Beau Akey as some of the many heavy and physical options in Barrie.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Jonatan Berggren is a bit buried down the Detroit Red Wings depth charts, but Max Bultman of The Athletic says he isn’t expecting Berggren to be traded. Instead, Bultman posits the benefits of a role reminiscent of Daniel Sprong’s role: operating on the team’s third line but still managing consistent power-play minutes. Berggren led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring last season, netting 24 goals and 56 points. He’s also scored a commendable 17 goals and 34 points in 79 NHL games over the last two years. He’ll now have a golden chance to secure a consistent NHL role, with Sprong headed to the Vancouver Canucks on a one-year contract.
  • Vancouver Canucks defense prospect Tom Willander has suffered a minor lower-body injury and won’t play at the World Junior Summer Showcase, shares Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK Sports. Willander was a surprising choice at 11th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, though he showed top-prospect upside during his freshman year at Boston University. Willander scored 25 points in 38 games, ranking second among Terrier defensemen. With injury now holding him out of Team Sweden’s summer games, Willander will shift his focus towards a breakout sophomore season at BU, where he’ll get a full run towards the top-defender role after Lane Hutson signed his entry-level contract.
  • Seattle Kraken defense prospect Lukas Dragicevic has seen his WHL rights traded from the Tri-City Americans to the Price Albert Raiders as part of a massive, seven-asset trade. Dragicevic signed his entry-level contract with Seattle in March after Tri-City missed out on the WHL playoffs. He finished the year with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, recording one assist through his first three AHL games. Prince Albert paid a hefty price for Dragicevic, suggesting that he could be set for a return to the CHL after getting a quick taste of the pros.  If that is the case, he’ll return looking to rediscover his strong scoring touch after recording 25 fewer points this season (50) than he did in 2022-23 (75).

Karson Kuhlman Signs In Finland

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A year ago, unrestricted free agent Karson Kuhlman was coming his second straight campaign where he was a full-timer on an NHL roster.  However, his time in North America is now over, at least for the time being as Lukko in Finland announced that they’ve signed the winger to a one-year contract.

The 28-year-old signed with Boston out of college back in 2018, spending parts of five years in their system.  In three of those seasons, he split time between them and AHL Providence before becoming a full-time NHL player in 2021-22.

That season, Kuhlman broke camp with the Bruins and got into 19 games with them before being waived in mid-January where he was claimed by Seattle.  He remained with the Kraken for the rest of that season and the beginning of 2022-23 before being waived in December, being claimed by Winnipeg.

Despite being a full-timer on the roster for two straight years, Kuhlman didn’t generate strong interest in free agency last summer, instead settling for a two-way deal with the Islanders.  While the hope was that he could push for a depth spot or at least position himself as one of the first recall options, that didn’t materialize.  Instead, he spent the entire year with AHL Bridgeport, recording 12 goals and 10 assists.

Kuhlman leaves North America with 147 career NHL games under his belt between Boston, Seattle, and Winnipeg, totaling 30 points.  He also has played in 146 AHL contests over that stretch, tallying 61 points.  Now, he’ll look to establish himself as more of an offensive threat in the Liiga and a good showing there could get him back on the North American radar next summer.

Minor Transactions: 7/18/24

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As expected, signing activity across the NHL has largely dried up with training camps still more than a month and a half away.  However, there are some NHL-drafted prospects and players formerly on NHL contracts that have found new places to play in recent days.  We’ll run through those moves here.

  • Free agent blueliner Nick Cicek has signed a one-year deal with Adler Mannheim, the DEL team announced. The 24-year-old started last season in San Jose’s system before being moved to Vancouver where he remained in the AHL.  Between the two teams, Cicek had four goals and 12 assists in 67 games, resulting in him being non-tendered last month.  Cicek does have 16 career NHL appearances under his belt, all coming in the 2022-23 campaign where he had four assists.
  • Capitals prospect Ilya Protas has signed with OHL Windsor for the upcoming season, per a team announcement. Protas, whose brother is a regular in Washington, was a third-round pick last month, going 75th overall.  The 18-year-old, who signed his entry-level deal with the Caps earlier this month was the third-overall selection in the CHL Import Draft and the top selection from an OHL-based club following a strong showing with USHL Des Moines.  In 61 games with the Buccaneers last season, Protas had 14 goals and 37 assists.
  • Still with Washington, the Capitals farm team in Hershey was busy today as the team announced six signings, all on one-year contracts. Joining the Bears are forwards Grant Cruikshank, Austin Magera, Micah Miller, Justin Nachbaur, and Tyler Weiss, along with defenseman Jayden Lee.  The five forwards played professionally last year – primarily at the ECHL level – while Lee is turning pro after a five-year stint at Quinnipiac.
  • After being non-tendered by Dallas last month, free agent forward Max Ellis has found a new place to play as he has joined Jukurit in Finland, per a team release.  The 24-year-old spent last season in Toronto’s system, getting into 36 games in the AHL with the Marlies where he had four goals and ten assists.  His signing rights were thrown into the draft day trade for the rights to Chris Tanev but that was simply for contract-matching purposes.
  • Panthers prospect Vladislav Lukashevich has changed his college commitment. Nathaniel Bott of the Lansing State Journal relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner will now play at Michigan State next season instead of Northern Michigan.  The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick back in 2021, going 120th overall and spent last season with USHL Tri-City where he had 11 goals and 32 assists in 54 games.

Blackhawks Loan Antti Saarela To Finnish League

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After a rough first year in North America last season, the Blackhawks are giving prospect forward Antti Saarela a fresh start.  Per an announcement from Luuko in Finland’s Liiga, Chicago has loaned Saarela to them for the upcoming season.

The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2019, going 123rd overall.  After a good showing with Lukko in 2022-23 that saw him record 18 points in 41 games, Chicago signed Saarela to a two-year, entry-level contract just a couple of months before they would have lost his NHL rights.

However, things didn’t go well for him in his first year with AHL Rockford.  Between injuries and some struggles, Saarela was limited to just 27 games where he picked up five goals and one assist.  He did not suit up for the IceHogs in the postseason.

Saarela is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer with salary arbitration rights.  Considering how the first season went, it’s safe to say that Saarela is tracking toward non-tender status unless he has a very strong showing back home next season.

Devils Loan Jakub Málek To Liiga’s Ilves

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Ilves of the top-level Finnish Liiga announced they’ll receive Devils goaltending prospect Jakub Málek on loan for the 2024-25 season. New Jersey signed Málek to his entry-level contract earlier this offseason, and the Rome Daily Sentinel’s Ben Birnell reported at the time that he’d be heading to Ilves this year.

Málek, 22, will return to the club he’s spent the last two seasons with. He was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2021, and the 6’4″ Czech netminder has done well in European professional leagues since. His post-draft year was electric, backstopping VHK Vsetín of the second-tier Czech league with a .932 SV% and 1.95 GAA in 31 games en route to being named the circuit’s best goaltender. Clearly ready for top-flight action, he headed to Finland, where he’s put up a strong .910 SV% and 2.24 GAA with four shutouts and a 25-11-9 record in 49 appearances over the past two years.

Needless to say, he’s trending upward and his chances of making the NHL at some point over the next few seasons seem high. But it won’t be next year, as a bit of a goalie logjam in Newark means he’ll be better served getting some guaranteed playing time with Ilves. The Devils already had prospects Tyler Brennan and Isaac Poulter under contract and slated for AHL Utica this year, as well as unsigned RFA Nico Daws.

Málek will likely arrive in North America in the fall of 2025, better positioned to command AHL starts and eventually become a call-up option.

Kraken Sign Kim Saarinen To Entry-Level Contract

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The Seattle Kraken have signed goaltender Kim Saarinen to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an NHL annual average value of $975K. Saarinen notably becomes the first goaltender from the 2024 NHL Draft to sign his first NHL contract. He was the eighth goalie off the board when Seattle took him with the 88th overall pick.

Saarinen spent his draft season bouncing around HPK’s system in Finland. He spent the bulk of the year with their U20 club, where he posted 14 wins and a .917 save percentage across 23 appearances. He carried that production into spot starts at the U18 level – with eight wins and a .945 in nine appearances. It also carried into his first two games in the Liiga, Finland’s highest league, where Saarinen saved 50 out of 55 shots en route to one win and a .909 save percentage.

Saarinen is a distinctly responsible goaltender, excelling at never pushing the bounds of his positioning and always staying square to shooters. He uses his size to take up the net and follows pucks to his pads. With that said, Saarinen is still missing the fine tunings of a true top-flight goaltender, notably needing to improve his aggression and agility in such a big frame. He’ll get plenty of chance to hone those talents now on an NHL deal, joining a goalie room that’s already seen strong development out of Niklas Kokko. The pair will serve as Seattle’s top goaltending prospects moving forward, vying for roles over Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord.

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