Alexander Khovanov Undergoes Surgery To Remove Tumor
The Minnesota Wild won’t have Alexander Khovanov in their lineup for the upcoming NHL Prospect Tournament, as they have announced the young forward underwent surgery last Friday to remove a benign bone tumor (Osteoid Osteoma) in his left leg. Khovanov is expected to miss four to six weeks, likely meaning he’ll miss his chance to take part in any of NHL training camp.
The 19-year old was selected in the third round in 2018 and experienced a breakout season for Moncton of the QMJHL in 2018-19. Scoring 74 points in 64 games, the Russian forward was impressive at both ends of the rink and is an exciting prospect for the Wild to look forward to. He is expected to return for a final year of junior with the Wildcats.
Minnesota will have an impressive group on the ice at the Prospect Tournament which takes place in Traverse City, Michigan between September 6-10. Nico Sturm, Ivan Lodnia, Will Bitten and Mat Robson will be among the players featured there for the Wild. They will take on teams from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and New York Rangers organizations in the Ted Lindsay Division.
Cody McLeod Signs In AHL
The run of eleven consecutive seasons in the NHL appears to be coming to an end for Cody McLeod. The 35-year old forward has signed an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild along with Olivier Archambault and Kyle Bauman. McLeod played last season with the New York Rangers and Nashville Predators.
Undrafted out of the WHL, McLeod battled his way through the minor leagues before breaking into the NHL as an enforcer for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2007-08 season. A scrappy fourth-line player that could chip in now and again he actually recorded a career-high 15 goals in his sophomore season, but was known more for his physical presence and fisticuffs than anything else. Across a 776-game NHL career, McLeod has recorded 1,630 penalty minutes and 127 points. The last time he played in the AHL was during that 2007-08 season with the Lake Erie Monsters.
Archambeault and Bauman meanwhile are just depth options for the Wild, though the latter comes with a solid college pedigree. The 26-year old Bauman played four years at Bemidji State University and captained the team during the 2017-18 season before making his professional debut. In his first full AHL season last year he recorded 18 points in 67 games for the Ontario Reign.
Guerin: "Full Confidence" In Boudreau As Head Coach
- While new general managers often like to handpick their head coach, don’t expect that to be the case in Minnesota. New Wild GM Bill Guerin told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he has “full confidence” in head coach Bruce Boudreau so there is no coaching change on the horizon. The veteran bench boss could reach the 1,000 games coached mark this season but the team has won just two postseason contests over his first four seasons with the team.
Florida Panthers Acquire Gustav Bouramman
The Florida Panthers have acquired minor league defenseman Gustav Bouramman from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for future considerations, marking another move by new Wild GM Bill Guerin. The 22-year old has one-year remaining on his entry-level contract and played last season for the Iowa Wild.
Bouramman was selected 201st overall back in 2015 after an excellent OHL debut and continued to move the puck and contribute offensively for the Soo Greyhounds through the end of the 2016-17 season. In his first season of professional hockey, the Swedish defenseman recorded 28 points in 54 games for the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and impressed enough to be included as part of the Iowa blueline. He’ll now join the Florida organization and likely get a chance to play again in the AHL this season.
Trading a player for future considerations is normally to either clear a contract slot or is followed closely by a deal including a player on an AHL contract. For Minnesota this is likely about the former. The team was at 47/50 contracts before the move (though Alexander Khovanov will come off that total), but still have Kevin Fiala and Louis Belpedio sitting as restricted free agents. A move like this clears some space for additional signings or adds some flexibility for waiver pickups at the end of training camp. With Guerin taking control of the team and wanting to make his own stamp, it makes a lot of sense to give himself wiggle room to operate.
Bill Guerin Planning To Meet Kirill Kaprizov
Bill Guerin has plenty on his plate after taking over as general manager of the Minnesota Wild just a few weeks from training camp, but Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that one of the first things he did was call the agent for prospect Kirill Kaprizov to set up a meeting in Russia. Kaprizov was drafted by the Wild back in 2015 but has had an extremely complicated relationship with the organization since and has continued to play in the KHL. Former Wild GM Paul Fenton set up a similar visit in 2018 when he took over from Chuck Fletcher.
Kaprizov, 22, is considered one of the best offensive players currently outside of the NHL. The undersized forward scored 30 goals and 51 points last season for CSKA Moscow, his third consecutive season with at least 40 points. While there’s no guarantee that he would find success in North America, he has long been one of the most intriguing prospects in the game and one that Guerin and the Wild would love to get their hands on.
After all the meetings, negotiations and confusion, perhaps there is a resolution in sight between Kaprizov and the Wild. His contract with CSKA expires in April of 2020 and he has expressed an interest in coming over—though it hasn’t been an enthusiastic guarantee to be sure. Guerin will now be the third Wild GM to try and convince Kaprizov that he belongs in the NHL. The Wild will retain his exclusive draft rights indefinitely.
Mikko Koivu (Knee Surgery) Expects To Be Ready For Training Camp
- Wild center Mikko Koivu expects to be ready for training camp after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus and ACL last season, reports Jessi Pierce of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, it’s likely that he will be limited during the preseason as a precaution. The 36-year-old is entering the final year of his contract which carries a $5.5MM cap hit and with his output dipping in recent years, it will be interesting to see if the 14-year veteran will get a chance to stay with the only NHL team he has ever known or if new GM Bill Guerin will opt to move on.
Jack LaFontaine Joins The University of Minnesota
Carolina Hurricanes prospect goalie Jack LaFontaine is back in the NCAA. The 21-year-old keeper has enrolled at the University of Minnesota and will play this season, the program announced. LaFontaine had been away from the college game for one year with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL, having previously spent two seasons with the Big Ten rival University of Michigan.
LaFontaine was a third-round pick of the Hurricanes back in 2016 out of the NAHL. While some considered the pick to be a reach, seeing as Fontaine had not been challenged at an elite level yet and was raw in terms of his skill development, Carolina was clearly happy to select a player with good size and athleticism who they could groom as a long-term project. LaFontaine jumped right into the college ranks after being drafted, but failed to take advantage of no clear starter in net for the Wolverines. In each of his two years, the young netminder posted a GAA over 3.33 in just eleven appearances. Seeking a fresh start, LaFontaine left Michigan and signed with Penticton. He was beyond impressive last season, recording a .923 save percentage and 2.19 GAA in 45 starts and earning the BCHL’s Top Goaltender honors.
Having re-asserted himself as a promising young goalie, LaFontaine is ready to give the NCAA another go. He has two years of eligibility remaining, after which he hopes to have proven himself to be a pro-caliber prospect. Much like when he began with the Wolverines, the Gophers net is wide open; all three goalies who made an appearance last season, including starter and recent Minnesota Wild signing Mat Robson, have departed. LaFontaine is the odds-on replacement, but he will have to hold off 20-year-old Jared Moe, a sixth-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2018. If he can do so and can put up numbers similar to this past season in Penticton, perhaps the Hurricanes will come calling even sooner than two years from now.
Minnesota Wild Sign Joel Eriksson Ek
It’s hard to make a quicker first move than Bill Guerin just did. After officially being hired as the Minnesota Wild GM this afternoon, the team has already signed restricted free agent Joel Eriksson Ek to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1,487,500 and totals $2.975MM. Jokes aside, assistant GM Tom Kurvers who had been operating as interim GM, had likely worked out this contract with Eriksson Ek. The young forward will still be a restricted free agent when the deal expires, though he will have arbitration rights.
Eriksson Ek, 22, has long had tantalizing potential without much production to show for it. The 20th overall pick in 2015 routinely flashes the ability to be a solid top-nine forward and key contributor for the Wild, but still only has 37 points in 148 career NHL games. During his short stints in the minor leagues—amazingly just 18 games over three years—he has produced at a point-per-game pace and looked like the best player on the ice. But as soon as he is under the bright lights of an NHL rink things haven’t quite clicked.
That’s not to say they can’t. The Swedish forward only turned 22 in January and still has plenty of time to develop into the type of versatile two-way center the Wild have been waiting for. In fact, under new GM Bill Guerin he may get an even larger opportunity to do just that. The team recently committed to Mats Zuccarello in free agency, but there very well may be a turn towards youth and the future if the new GM doesn’t believe they’re ready to contend as currently built. Eriksson Ek and fellow restricted free agent Kevin Fiala (who share the same agent) should be considered building blocks if the team wants to start a mini rebuild, or at least start taking responsibility away from aging veterans like Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Eric Staal.
Minnesota Wild Hire Bill Guerin
The search is over for the next Minnesota Wild GM. Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the team has hired Bill Guerin, taking him away from the Pittsburgh Penguins where he served as assistant GM. The Wild fired Paul Fenton from the position in July after just 14 months on the job.
This will mark the second assistant GM that the Penguins have seen take over their own team in the last two years, after Jason Botterill was hired by the Buffalo Sabres in 2017. When Botterill departed, Guerin was given even more responsibility in the Penguins organization, most notably taking over as GM of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL.
Though he will not come with any experience as a GM of an NHL franchise, there was little doubt that Guerin was on the path towards running his own front office somewhere around the league. The 48-year old had a long and productive playing career that ended with the Penguins in 2010 and quickly transitioned into a front office role with the team, first as a development coach. His ascension up the ranks in Pittsburgh showed just how capable he was in his new career.
In Minnesota however, Guerin will be given a very different task than in Pittsburgh. He must try to rescue a ship that has taken on water over the last two years and start sailing it back in the right direction. The team still has some good young players and veteran talent but have seemed to waver between rebuilding and contending without accomplishing either. Fenton for instance was allowed to sign Mats Zuccarello to a five-year, $30MM deal just before being relieved of his duties, a deal that comes with quite a bit of risk for a club that found itself out of the playoff race last season.
The fact that the new GM is coming in just a few weeks from training camp makes it an even more difficult task, and one that is rarely seen around the NHL. What this means for head coach Bruce Boudreau and the rest of the front office is unclear, though Russo notes that Tom Kurvers who had been working as the interim GM is expected to stay on in some capacity.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minnesota GM Search Down To Three
The Minnesota Wild seem to have narrowed their search down a bit as three names seem to have forced their way to the top. In his recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that it likely will come down to Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM Bill Guerin, Montreal Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby and former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall.
Guerin continues to be the frontrunner as Wild owner Craig Leipold is enamored by Guerin’s stature and leadership, something that is of high priority after issues with previous GM Paul Fenton, who lasted just over a year with many issues surrounding his ability to lead. Guerin is believed to be a man who can not just lead a front office, but has the ability to affect the coaching staff and the players in a positive way, which Russo believes makes him the favorite. The only issue for the Wild is that they were hoping to get a general manager that already has experience as a GM, which Guerin doesn’t.
Hextall, who many thought was the favorite immediately when the job became available, is still in the mix. Russo writes that while there are rumors that many in Philadelphia were glad to see Hextall leave due to his lack of leadership, the scribe has interviewed quite a few people and believes that those complaints can be easily explained of justified, which might suggest that Hextall, who has the most experience as a general manager, might also make a good GM. However, if the team is worried about re-creating the same problem they had when Fenton was in charge, the team might opt to go in a different direction.
Mellanby could be the darkhorse, however. He has an impressive track record in Montreal and after interviewing on Wednesday, rumors are he impressed Leipold quite a bit. The only other longshot would be New Jersey’s Tom Fitzgerald, but after extensive interviewing with Minnesota a year ago, the Devils aren’t thrilled about allowing him to interview again and only allowed a 20-minute chat. There has been no further interviews with the idea that the only way it can hire Fitzgerald is if they just offer the job to him outright without further discussion, which seems unlikely.