Karson Kuhlman Signs In Finland
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
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
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
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
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.
Capitals Loan Ludwig Persson To Liiga’s Jukurit
For the second season in a row, the Capitals have loaned 2022 third-round pick Ludwig Persson to Finland. The 20-year-old forward will suit up for Jukurit in the top-level Liiga this year, the team announced today.
Persson, 20, has yet to play a game in the Washington organization despite signing his entry-level contract nearly two years ago. The Gothenburg, Sweden native has taken a tour of European leagues instead. The Caps first loaned him to BIK Karlskoga of the Swedish second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, where he was a decent depth contributor in his first full year of professional hockey with 15 points in 45 games.
things changed for the better last year after the Capitals loaned Persson to IPK, which plays in Mestis, Finland’s second-tier pro league. Persson quickly became a star for the Iisalmi-based club, leading them in scoring with 55 points (10 goals, 45 assists) in 48 games. He added 19 points in 19 playoff games as IPK took home its first Mestis championship since being promoted from the third-tier Suomi-sarja in 2016.
Clearly ready for increased competition, Washington will have Persson try his luck in a top-level Euro league for the first time since a lone appearance with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League in 2022-23. He’ll join a Jukurit team that boasted a 30-20-3-7 record last season, its second-best since being promoted from Mestis in 2016.
It could be Persson’s last season in Europe before arriving in North America with AHL Hershey. While Persson’s entry-level contract had slid the past two seasons since he failed to play in at least 10 NHL games in each campaign, he’s no longer eligible for a slide. His deal will go into effect beginning with 2024-25 and will cost $814,999 against the cap if in the NHL through 2026-27, reduced from its initial $878.3K since he’s had $190K worth of signing bonuses paid out during the slide years.
Rangers Loan Kalle Vaisanen To Finnish League For 2024-25 Season
Back in April, the Rangers signed winger Kalle Vaisanen to his entry-level deal and it looked like he’d be playing his first full season in North America in 2024-25. However, that won’t be the case as Ilves in Finland’s Liiga announced that New York has agreed to loan Vaisanen to them for the upcoming year although he might participate in training camp with the Rangers in the fall before going over.
The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick by New York back in 2021, going 106th overall after a strong showing offensively in Finland’s junior system. Vaisanen has spent the last two full seasons at the top level but unfortunately for him, production has been rather difficult to come by. He had five points in 47 games in 2022-23 and only boosted that output to nine goals and five helpers in 58 games with TPS last season but impressed enough to get his first contract and a late-season stint with AHL Hartford.
While it would have made sense for Vaisanen to get a full season in with the Wolf Pack, they’ve decided it’s better to let him get another year in back at home though he’ll now do so with a new team. Once his campaign in Finland comes to an end, Vaisanen will likely return to North America and could very well get into a handful of games in Hartford as he did last season.
Rangers RFA Olof Lindbom Signs In Finland
Goaltender Olof Lindbom‘s time in the Rangers organization may be coming to an end. The pending restricted free agent is heading to Europe next season, signing a one-year deal with Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga with a one-year option.
Lindbom, 23, was the first goaltender taken in the 2018 NHL Draft, taken off the board in the early second round with the 39th overall pick. Nearly six years later, it seems like a regrettable choice. Justus Annunen, Lukáš Dostál, Samuel Ersson, and Joel Hofer are just some of the goalies selected after him who have already logged NHL action and still have more to grow.
The Stockholm native waited until the 2022 offseason to sign his entry-level contract with the Rangers. He came to North America after putting up decent but unimpressive numbers as a starter in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league.
Lindbom wasn’t able to even carve out a role with New York’s AHL affiliate in Hartford, though, and spent most of the last two seasons on assignment to the ECHL with the Jacksonville Icemen and Cincinnati Cyclones. This year in Cincinnati was especially difficult for Lindbom, struggling with a .884 SV%, 3.56 GAA, one shutout and a 10-15-3 record in 29 games. He fared slightly better in limited action with Hartford, logging a .916 SV% in six games, but his sub-.900 play in the ECHL over the past two years offers little hope for an NHL future.
As such, he’s heading to Finland for the first time after spending all of his pre-Rangers days in Sweden. The 6’2″ netminder’s NHL rights could still stay with the Rangers if they issue him a qualifying offer before the June 30 deadline, although it wouldn’t surprise many to see him be non-tendered. He’ll team up on Pelicans next year with Jasper Patrikainen, another young netminder who’s had an up-and-down run over the past few years.
Metropolitan Notes: Chytil, Fast, Jarventie
It appears that Blake Wheeler won’t be the only Rangers forward who will be able to return from the sidelines for the Eastern Conference Final. Center Filip Chytil told reporters including Lohud’s Vince Z. Mercogliano that he wants to suit up against Florida although he stopped short of pronouncing himself at 100%. Chytil missed more than six months working back from a suspected concussion and subsequent setbacks and was able to return to the lineup for the third game last round against Carolina. However, he missed the following game due to illness (believed to be a bug going around the room, not a recurrence of concussion-like symptoms) and didn’t suit up in the final two contests. If healthy, Chytil would give New York another threat offensively but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team be extra cautious with the 24-year-old for the rest of the playoffs.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Hurricanes winger Jesper Fast missed the entire postseason due to a neck injury and it appears the extent of it is still unknown. Speaking at his exit interview with reporters including team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link), the 32-year-old was still in a neck brace and indicated that he’s still undergoing tests to determine exactly what happened. Fast had 19 points in 73 games during the regular season and will be entering the final year of his contract next season, one that carries a $2.4MM cap hit.
- Penguins prospect Emil Jarventie has signed a one-year deal with Tappara in Finland’s Liiga, per a team announcement. The 19-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Pittsburgh last year, going 217th overall. Jarventie, whose brother Roby plays in Ottawa’s system, spent this season primarily at the second-tier Mestis level with Koovee, picking up nine goals and 12 assists. Pittsburgh has until June 1st, 2027, to sign him to an NHL deal so they can afford to be patient with Jarventie’s development for a while.
Afternoon Notes: Huhtanen, Lyle, Nečas
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made the signing of forward prospect Niko Huuhtanen official, following reports of the signing yesterday. The three-year, entry-level deal will kick off next year and carries $57.5K in performance bonuses and $92.5K in signing bonuses each season, in addition to its $867.5K cap hit. Huuhtanen is currently playing with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, appearing in two games of the Calder Cup Playoffs but still searching for his first AHL point.
Huuhtanen played through his second full season in Finland’s Liiga this season, recording 19 goals and 46 points in 52 games. Tampa drafted Huuhtanen in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft, selecting him out of Finland’s U20 league after he posted 20 goals and 34 points in 37 games. He moved to America in the following season – appearing in 65 games and recording 77 points with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. But his juniors career was short-lived, and Huuhtanen returned back to Finland ahead of last season – posting 17 goals and 30 points in 48 games as a Liiga rookie.
Huuhtanen has scored at every level and served as a staple for Finland’s international teams for the last six seasons. He’s a hefty winger who sacrifices swift feet for strength. He doesn’t lack finesse, though, and knows how to use his strong frame to fight for space and become an option for teammates. From there, Huuhtanen’s shot is strong enough to make him dangerous anywhere in the offensive end. He’ll likely return to the AHL next season, though his strong performances against pro competition in the Liiga could help him rival the Lightning lineup soon.
Other notes from around the league:
- Pending Calgary Flames free agent Brady Lyle has signed with HC Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. Lyle was previously a Group 6 free agent in the NHL, set to become an unrestricted-free agent if Calgary didn’t sign him by July 1st. He’ll now head to Russia, after posting 15 points in 47 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers this season. The scoring brought his career point totals up to 51 across 186 AHL games. With Lyle now headed to Russia, Calgary’s only remaining Group 6 free agent is centerman Benjamin Jones.
- Carolina Hurricanes centerman Martin Nečas is joining Team Czechia for the remainder of the World Championship, reports Walt Ruff of NHL.com (Twitter link). Nečas’ NHL season ended with Carolina’s Game 6 defeat on Thursday. He contributed nine points in 11 playoff games – a boost in production after he managed just 53 points during the regular sesaon. This will be the first time that Nečas has played with Team Czechia since the 2019 World Juniors, when he posted four points in five games. He made his World Championship debut in 2018, with five points in seven games.