Adam Werner Loaned To HC Vita Hasten
While goaltending depth was perhaps eventually the downfall of the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs, you can’t say that they didn’t try to build up the pipeline. The team ended up with Michael Hutchinson starting for them in the postseason but also have some young talent pushing for a larger opportunity. While Hunter Miska needs a new contract this offseason as a restricted free agent, Adam Werner, his minor league partner, will be headed overseas to keep his game sharp.
Werner has been loaned to HC Vita Hasten in the Swedish second league until NHL training camps open for the 2020-21 season. You may remember the 23-year-old goaltender from his two appearances with the Avalanche this season, where he posted a .914 save percentage including what really should have been credited as a shutout in his debut. On November 12, Werner was forced into the game in relief of Pavel Francouz after just 31 seconds and stopped all 40 shots he faced from the Winnipeg Jets.
The young goaltender had a .909 save percentage at the AHL level this season but has been a dominant performer in the SHL before, meaning he could be quite the weapon for his new Allsvenskan team. With no real certainty in the Colorado net past next season, Werner’s development will be an interesting story to watch this year.
Rasmus Asplund Loaned To Vasteras IK
The Buffalo Sabres have loaned one of their young forwards overseas, sending Rasmus Asplund to Vasteras IK of the Swedish second league. Asplund had been training with the team for months but is now officially allowed to play in games until NHL training camps start.
Asplund, 22, played in 29 games for the Sabres this season, recording his first three NHL points. The 33rd overall pick in 2016, he has 69 points in 108 AHL games over the past two years and is a real candidate to grab a full-time roster spot in Buffalo for 2020-21. Getting some more development time in Sweden will only help that goal, given the uncertainty around the upcoming AHL season.
The young forward is heading into the final year of his entry-level contract, meaning he’ll need a new deal next summer when he becomes a restricted free agent for the first time. You can bet he’d like some more NHL experience to use in those negotiations, though Asplund will not be arbitration-eligible. For now, he’ll play in a league he skipped entirely when he moved from the junior ranks directly to the SHL as a teenager.
Canadiens Loan Jesse Ylonen To Finland
While Canadiens prospect Jesse Ylonen left his Finnish team late in the season to get a head start on playing in North America, his time playing at home isn’t over yet. GM Marc Bergevin confirmed to Mathias Brunet of La Presse that Montreal has loaned the winger to Pelicans Lahti of the SM-liiga.
The 20-year-old was a second-round pick (35th) overall back in 2018 and has spent the last two years with Pelicans. His offensive numbers dipped a little bit in his sophomore campaign but he still managed to finish fourth in team scoring with 12 goals and 10 assists in 53 games. He left the team in late February to report to Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval for their stretch run but he was hurt upon arrival and the pandemic arrived soon after so he never got the chance to suit up.
Instead, he’ll play back at home for a few months while awaiting the beginning of NHL training camp which is when he will return to Montreal. Bergevin confirmed that their other three prospects on loan – defenseman Otto Leskinen, center Lukas Vejdemo, and winger Hayden Verbeek – will also all be recalled from their loans whenever camp gets underway.
Fabian Zetterlund Loaned To HC Vita Hasten
The New Jersey Devils have sent another prospect overseas, loaning Fabian Zetterlund to HC Vita Hasten of the Swedish second league. Zetterlund is heading into the second year of his entry-level contract and coming off his first year of professional hockey in North America. He can be recalled in time for the 2020-21 NHL season.
Just 21, Zetterlund was a third-round pick (63rd overall) by the Devils in 2017 and spent the 2019-20 season with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. In 46 games there the forward recorded 19 points, a relatively disappointing output that continued a pattern to this point in his career.
Though an excellent skater, Zetterlund has not been able to translate his speed and work ethic into much offense at almost any level, only really impressing during the 2016-17 junior season in Sweden. Even at the World Juniors in 2019 where he was a returning player and wearing an “A” as an alternate captain, Zetterlund was held completely scoreless. In his 66 games at the SHL level he had just 11 points, though he was much younger than most of the competition.
While there is a place in the NHL for hard-working forwards who are excellent on the forecheck, Zetterlund will have to start seeing some offensive improvement if he’s ever to really push for a spot with New Jersey. Perhaps a return to the Allsvenskan, a lower-tiered league than he is used to, will spark his scoring touch and get him back on the right development path.
Washington Capitals Loan Axel Jonsson-Fjallby To Vastervik IK
The Washington Capitals have sent another prospect overseas for the next few months, loaning Axel Jonsson-Fjallby to Vastervik IK of the Swedish second league. Jonsson-Fjallby is expected to be recalled in time for NHL training camps before the 2020-21 season, though it isn’t clear exactly when that will be at this point.
The 22-year-old forward is coming off his first full season in North America in which he played 61 games for the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Scoring 12 times and recording 23 points, the fifth-round pick showed that he can compete at the professional level and potentially be a depth option for the Capitals down the road. Jonsson-Fjallby is heading into the final season of his three-year entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Given that he has already played multiple seasons in the SHL, the Allsvenskan should be even easier for Jonsson-Fjallby. The higher Swedish league decided not to take any more short-term loans of players on NHL contracts, meaning clubs around North America are scrambling to find minutes for their young prospects. The AHL season is completely up in the air at this point, with no concrete dates or plans in place thanks to an ever-changing COVID-19 situation in both the United States and Canada.
Canadiens Loan Hayden Verbeek To Banska Bystrica
After a pair of quiet seasons to start his professional career, Canadiens prospect Hayden Verbeek is getting a short-term change of scenery. The team announced that they’ve loaned the winger to Banska Bystrica of the Slovak league and that he’ll be recalled when training camps get underway.
Montreal signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent in 2018 when he was in the midst of a career year with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL when he had 30 goals in 67 games, more than his the rest of his junior tenure (spanning 183 games) combined.
However, that hasn’t materialized in much success in the minors. Verbeek battled injuries this season and when he was healthy, he spent most of his time with Adirondack of the ECHL where he had five goals and 14 assists in 21 games. Over 54 career AHL contests though, he has just four goals and three assists.
Verbeek has one year remaining on his entry-level deal and through his first two seasons, he looks a potential non-tender candidate in the 2021 offseason. With that in mind, an early start to his season to get some extra game action could go a long way towards determining his future fate.
Hurricanes Loan Dominik Bokk To Krefeld
While Hurricanes prospect Dominik Bokk intends to make his North American debut next season, he’s not finished with his time overseas just yet. Krefeld of the DEL announced via their Facebook page that they’ve added the winger on loan from Carolina for the start of their season.
The 20-year-old was a first-round pick (25th overall) of St. Louis back in 2018 but he wasn’t with the Blues for long. He was moved to Carolina as the centerpiece of the Justin Faulk trade back during training camp in September but remained in Sweden which meant that his contract slid another year and will now expire following the 2022-23 season.
Bokk has spent the last two seasons in the SHL where he has produced well for a youngster. He spent this year on loan with Rogle and managed to pick up a respectable 11 goals in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night of ice time. He was also quite productive in the World Juniors as he led Germany in scoring with six goals and two helpers in seven games while helping to keep them in the top division and avoid relegation.
As has been the case with many of these international moves in recent weeks, Bokk is expected to rejoin Carolina when training camps open up as his deal with Krefeld does contain an NHL out clause. In the meantime, he’ll get a chance to play closer to home and stay in shape while waiting for a chance to push for a roster spot with the Hurricanes a few months from now.
East Notes: Steen, Fenton, Patrick
Another young player will suit up overseas to begin the season as Boston Bruins minor league forward Oskar Steen has been loaned to IF Bjorkloven in the Swedish second league. Steen has one year left on his entry-level contract and has still yet to make his NHL debut, but did have a decent debut in the AHL. In 2019-20 the 22-year-old forward recorded 23 points in 60 games.
Steen will return to North America for training camp, though it’s still not exactly clear when that will be. Given he dominated the SHL the last time he played in Sweden, the sixth-round pick should find the Allsvenskan easy enough as long as he is given quality minutes.
- Bill Zito is in charge of the Florida Panthers now and he may be bringing in a former NHL GM to help. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Paul Fenton is “on the radar” to join Florida, and Chris Johnston points out that the former Minnesota Wild executive worked with Zito in Columbus this season as a scout. The first thing anyone thinks about when Fenton’s name is brought up is that infamous (and incredible) feature by Michael Russo of The Athletic, which detailed the 14-month period when he was in charge of the Wild. It’s easy to forget that before he was hired by Minnesota, Fenton was one of the most well-respected assistant GMs in the NHL, spending close to two decades beside David Poile with the Nashville Predators. Though his time in Minnesota will certainly color many expectations, it shouldn’t surprise many that he is in the mix for another NHL job.
- The Philadelphia Flyers season didn’t come to the end many were hoping for, but there are reasons for optimism moving forward. Namely, the health of Nolan Patrick, which continues to improve according to GM Cliff Fletcher. Patrick missed the entire season due to a migraine issue, but has been skating for the past few months and is apparently on the road to recovery. Still, Fletcher admitted that his future is still unclear until he starts practicing with contact. Patrick is a restricted free agent and will need a contract this offseason, but has just 61 points in 145 career games to this point.
Adam Huska Loaned To HKM Zvolen
While much of the focus this offseason revolves around the New York Rangers three-headed goaltending problem at the NHL level, another one of their netminders will head overseas to get his game in order. Adam Huska, who spent most of the season in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, has been loaned to HKM Zvolen in Slovakia to start the year.
Huska, 23, was a seventh-round pick of the Rangers in 2015 but has consistently developed his game in various North American leagues. The Slovakian-born netminder first joined the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL where he was named the goaltender of the year, before heading to the University of Connecticut in the NCAA. After an up-and-down collegiate career, Huska signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Rangers in 2019.
With just one year remaining on that contract, the young goaltender will have to prove he can handle the AHL before the Rangers commit to another deal. Huska recorded just an .894 save percentage in 28 games and will have some extra competition from Tyler Wall in 2020-21. For now, he’ll get started overseas and try to take his game to another level as we all wait for the AHL season to get underway at some point in the winter.
Overseas Notes: Hajek, Zboril, Plekanec, Sulzer
Add a pair of young defensemen to the ever-growing list of players heading to Europe to begin their 2020-21 seasons. Michael Kosturik of Czech source iSport reports that the New York Rangers’ Libor Hajek and the Boston Bruins’ Jakub Zboril with join HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga ahead of the start of the NHL season. Hajek, 22, is under contract with the Rangers for the coming season and the two teams are currently hammering out the details on a short-term loan. Zboril has joined the squad on his own accord as an impending restricted free agent. However, Kosturik does add that the Bruins are interested in an extension with the first-round prospect. Zboril has played in just two games for Boston, but has been a steady, consistent defender for the AHL’s Providence Bruins over three pro seasons. Hajek on the other hand played the majority of his games with New York this season and has 33 NHL games total on his resume. While offense has been hard to come by at any level, Hajek is growing into a reliable stay-at-home defenseman. The pair will provide a major boost to Brno to begin the season, who at this point have not been able to recruit any other NHLers on short-term loans or contracts.
- Long-time NHLer Tomas Plekanec played last season in Brno, but will now return to Rytiri Kladno of the Czech 2nd League, with whom he spent part of the 2018-19 season. Due to family reasons, Plekanec announced last month that he would be leaving Brno to return to his hometown of Kladno. However, it was unclear whether he would continue playing or not. Plekanec was very successful last season with 33 points in 50 games, but at age 37 no one would have been surprised to see him opt to retire. Yet, it seems his friend and legendary player-owner of Kladno Jaromir Jagr, 48, has convinced him to give it one last try – or more accurately two – as the club has announced a two-year deal with Plekanec. Plekanec and Jagr worked hard to get Kladno elevated from Czech2 to the Extraliga in 2018-19 only for the team to be relegated this past season in Plekanec’s absence. The duo will undoubtedly have their sights set on getting the club back to the top level again this year.
- One former NHLer who is calling it a career is defenseman Alexander Sulzer. Sulzer, 36, played in 131 NHL games with four teams over seven seasons in North America. One of the best defensemen to ever come out of Germany, representing the country twice at the Olympic Games, Sulzer returned home to play in the DEL in 2014-15. He spent five seasons with Kolner Haie before moving to Dusseldorfer EG last season. However, he never played for the team as he required surgery to remove a tumor on his spine last summer which caused him to miss the entirety of the season. In the year since his operation, Sulzer has come to the decision not to try to return to play and the DEL announced that he has officially retired. A big, balanced defenseman, Sulzer made an impact in the NHL and an even greater impact in his native Germany over a long career.