Montreal Canadiens Sign Vasili Demchenko
The Montreal Canadiens have added some more goaltending depth to the organization, agreeing to terms with KHL netminder Vasili Demchenko on a one-year entry-level contract. The deal is for 2020-21. Demchenko recently finished his sixth season in the KHL.
The 26-year old goaltender has a .925 career save percentage through 212 regular season KHL contests, but posted his worst number at .907 in this most recent campaign.
Eric Engels of Sportsnet believes that the team is bringing in Demchenko to give top prospect Cayden Primeau some more time at the AHL level, and expects the team to bring in another NHL veteran as well to compete for time behind Carey Price. Currently, the team is looking at a Price-Charlie Lindgren tandem for next season, but given that Keith Kinkaid will be an unrestricted free agent there wouldn’t be much NHL experience in the system.
Demchenko is certainly experienced, even if it isn’t at the NHL level, but it is also unclear how much real upside he possesses at this point. The 6’1″ goaltender has never really been the best in the KHL and saw all of his numbers really take a hit this season. Perhaps he can take another step in the Canadiens’ system, but given that he does not have a European Assignment Clause in his contract it seems likely he’ll end up filling out the depth chart in the minor leagues.
Potential Compliance Buyout Candidates: Part II
As the current Coronavirus crisis wears on, it seems more and more likely that the NHL will not return to action soon and when play resumes, it will almost certainly not be the full remaining regular season schedule. That lost revenue is expected to impact the 2020-21 salary cap, perhaps even keeping the current $81.5MM upper limit in place. Given that teams expected an increase, initially projected to be between $84-88.2MM, this stagnation could have a harsh impact on a number of clubs’ cap situations. As such, many expect that compliance buyouts will return in some form or fashion to ease that pain. These buyouts, which do not count against the salary cap, would allow for teams to open up space that they otherwise expected from a cap increase.
After taking a look at the first ten teams, we move on to the middle third of the NHL:
Detroit Red Wings: Justin Abdelkader
– When Abdelkader signed a seven-year extension with an AAV of $4.25MM following his career-best season in 2014-15, it was perceived to be a bargain at the time and few expected that it would turn out poorly. Yet, with three years still to go Abdelkader has failed to impress in each of the first four seasons, recording a total of just 78 points and consistently missing time due to injury. On a young rebuilding team, the 33-year-old forward’s slow, plodding game is not a fit and his salary is not commensurate to his role on the club. New GM Steve Yzerman wouldn’t hesitate to buy out the career Red Wing if given the opportunity.
Edmonton Oilers: James Neal
– Last summer’s swap of Neal for Milan Lucic was labeled as two teams exchanging bad contracts. However, Neal got off to a hot start and ended up with 19 goals and 31 points despite being limited to just 55 games due to injury. That being said, the 32-year-old forward, who was a -20 this season, is still probably the worst contract on the team. The likelihood of Neal playing up to his remaining $17.25MM over three years seems slim and the Oilers could use the cap space to add a younger, better winger. If Neal has earned the trust of the team, Kris Russell could be bought out before his final year at $4MM.
Florida Panthers: Sergei Bobrovsky
– Would the Panthers move on from Bobrovsky just one year after handing him a seven-year, $70MM deal? That could be the biggest question of the off-season if compliance buyouts become reality. The star goalie’s first season in Florida could not have gone worse as he posted a career-worst GAA and didn’t boast a shiny save percentage either. Expected to be the Cats’ savior in net, Bobrovsky was anything but. If they hesitate to cut ties with Bobrovsky and his play does not improve, he would undoubtedly become the worst contract in hockey. Though on the other hand, if Bobrovsky goes elsewhere and succeeds and Florida cannot find a suitable location, some would surely say that they didn’t give him enough of a chance.
Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Quick
– The rebuilding Kings have been trying to move Quick for a couple of years now and it would be a surprise if they did not take advantage of a compliance buyout opportunity. A holdover contract from the days of yore, Quick’s ten-year, $58MM deal signed in 2012 remained a bargain for the first half of the term until Quick hit a wall last year. While his play rebounded this season, Quick is still not playing up to the all-world level that had become the norm. L.A. is still a ways away from contending and can make more use of extra cap space over the next three years than a goalie who is past his prime.
Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise
– The Wild and new GM Bill Guerin came awfully close to trading Parise at the deadline this season and in recent years players who have been rumored to be leaving Minnesota are always eventually dealt. However, the potential trade included the team taking back bad salaries to facilitate the movement of Parise’s remaining five years and $37.69MM. Although Parise showed a return to form somewhat over the past two years, he has never been able to replicate his numbers from earlier in career and the team has generally been unhappy with the results of their 13-year gamble. If the possibility to dump the 35-year-old Parise without any cap repercussions opened up, it would become a serious conversation. More interesting would be if the Wild also discuss Mats Zuccarello as a buyout candidate after he was a bust in the first of a five-year, $30MM deal.
Montreal Canadiens: Karl Alzner
– While there will be those that find some of the bigger names on Montreal as intriguing buyout candidates, Alzner seems like an obvious choice that will improve the roster without any risk of releasing a good player or upsetting team chemistry. Few players in recent history have had their team turn on them following a major contract as quickly as the Canadiens did with Alzner. After signing the physical defenseman as a top free agent in 2017, the Habs decided just a year later that he was not worthy of an NHL roster spot following a difficult first season. Alzner has played just 13 NHL games over the past two years, buried in the AHL for the remainder. With two years at $4.625MM remaining, Montreal would be happy to be completely rid of Alzner’s contract rather than receiving just minor saving from sending him to the minors instead.
Nashville Predators: Kyle Turris
– For a long time, Nashville GM David Poile was opposed to handing out expensive, long-term contracts. That policy served him well for quite a time, as the Predators ended up with a number of tremendous values on the roster. Since the team has started to move away from that practice, things have not gone so well. Turris is the poster boy for this statement. He signed a six-year, $36MM extension with Nashville not long after being acquired by the club early in the 2017-18 season and has never lived up to the expectations. His 54 total points over the past two years is less than the one-year total the season prior to his joining Nashville. Turris has become an expendable player, not only missing time due to injury but also as a healthy scratch. The team has been eager to move him and they likely wouldn’t hesitate to do so with a compliance buyout.
New Jersey Devils: Cory Schneider
– An overpaid, under-performing starting goalie is one thing; an overpaid, under-performing backup is another. It has been quite a time since Schneider was the top man in net in New Jersey and young Mackenzie Blackwood has now taken the reins. However, Schneider’s horrific numbers over the past two year suggest that he isn’t even capable of being an NHL backup at this point in his career. With two years remaining at $6MM, Schneider’s might be the worst goalie contract in the league and a rather obvious buyout candidate.
New York Islanders: Andrew Ladd
– Ladd, part of the infamous 2016 class of terrible free agent contracts, Ladd has never provided adequate value to the Islanders compared to his $5.5MM AAV. The team finally buried him in the AHL this season after recording just 71 points through his first three years. With the majority of their forwards signed to substantial long-term deals, there is almost no chance that Ladd can ever work his way back into the NHL mix for the Islanders. New York was ready to move him at the trade deadline and would be quick to buyout the final three years of his deal rather than continue to pay major money for him to play in the minors.
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
– While it would be a sad day for the Blueshirts and their fans, the reality is that Lundqvist is the best use of a compliance buyout on the team. New York was considering moving young Alexandar Georgiev at the deadline rather than continue to carry three goaltenders, as Igor Shesterkin looks like the starter of the future and King Henrik has become an immovable contract. However, the team would be far better off retaining both young goalies and moving on from Lundqvist, who at 38 years old had the worst season of his career and still has a season remaining at $8.5MM. That’s a hefty salary to pay the man who would be your third-string goalie next season if Georgiev is not moved. The Rangers have no shortage of options though if they cannot overcome the loyalty they feel toward Lundqvist. Defensemen Marc Staal, $5.7MM AAV, and Brendan Smith, $4.35MM AAV, have both outworn their welcomes in New York and would not be missed in the final years of their respective contracts.
Stay tuned for Part III coming soon.
Andrei Markov Announces Retirement
Andrei Markov never will get the chance to reach 1,000 games played in the NHL. The 41-year old defenseman has announced his retirement today, his agent reaching out to various reporters including Richard Labbe of La Presse. Markov hasn’t played in the NHL since 2017 when he left for the KHL, but had been reportedly interested in a return to North America and the Montreal Canadiens as recently as last summer.
It’s hard to climb up the mountain of elite NHL players that have come through Montreal in the history of the Canadiens, but Markov certainly tried. The sixth-round pick from 1998 played his entire career with the organization, racking up 990 games played–second to only Larry Robinson among Montreal defensemen. His 572 career points for Montreal ties him with Guy Lapointe for second (also behind Robinson) and his 119 goals come in third.
Sure, Markov didn’t have anywhere near the postseason success of those two—Lapointe and Robinson each raised the Stanley Cup six times as Canadiens—but he’ll still be remembered as one of the most impactful blueliners the franchise has ever had.
His exploits extended further than the NHL however. Markov suited up at three different Olympics, five World Championships and two World Cups for Russia over his long career. He also won the Russian league title three times, including the KHL’s Gagarin Cup in 2018, the first year back following his return from the NHL.
A savvy, cerebral player that could set up a teammate in the blink of an eye, he received Norris Trophy votes on six different occasions.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Konstantin Okulov Re-Signs In KHL
It wasn’t so long ago that news about a 25-year old KHL forward re-signing in Russia would be easily swept aside by daily NHL updates, but such as it is, Konstantin Okulov‘s new contract is one of the top stories of the day. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reported earlier today that the free agent had re-signed with CSKA Moscow for another year, ending (for now at least) any interest from NHL clubs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens had been the leading pursuers earlier this year and were considered aggressive enough at the time that other teams had hesitated to invest any time in the recruitment of Okulov. The undrafted forward recorded 17 goals and 38 points this season for CSKA, putting him fifth on the team in scoring behind familiar names Kirill Kaprizov, Linden Vey, Anton Slepyshev and Mikhail Grigorenko. It was the third season in four years that he has scored at least 17 goals, actually a relatively impressive accomplishment in the shorter-seasoned KHL.
Perhaps the Maple Leafs’ recent acquisition of Alexander Barabanov spoiled their interest in Okulov, or perhaps he just decided to remain in Russia for another year. His name will surely come up again next spring when he is a free agent once again, though it’s not clear which NHL teams—if any—would be interested at that point.
Charles Hudon Receiving Interest From The KHL And NLA
- Agent Allain Roy confirmed to Guillaume Lefrancois of La Presse that Canadiens winger Charles Hudon has received interest from the KHL and the NLA for next season. However, Hudon’s preference is to try to remain in the NHL. It has been a tough year for the 25-year-old as he has struggled with Montreal, picking up just one goal and one assist in 15 games. However, he is in the top-five in AHL goals with 27 in just 46 games with Laval which is helping to generate his interest from those other leagues. He will be a restricted free agent this offseason with arbitration eligibility.
Frederik Dichow Coming To North America
After a year playing in Sweden for the Malmo Redhawks organization, Montreal Canadiens draft pick Frederik Dichow will test his game on North American soil. The Danish goaltender has committed to the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL for the 2020-21 season. Sudbury owned his CHL rights after selecting him 41st overall in the 2019 Import Draft.
Notably, Dichow says he spoke with Buffalo Sabres prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen about the Sudbury organization:
I am super excited and can’t wait to get to Sudbury. After the draft last year, Ukko-Pekka reached out to me and let me know it is a great place to play and develop. I look forward to meeting the coaches and all my new teammates. I hear the fans and support are awesome in Sudbury and I want to help the Wolves win.
Luukkonen spent the 2018-19 season with Sudbury for his first taste of North American hockey and ended up being named the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player after posting a .920 save percentage in 53 games. Though the 19-year old Dichow isn’t quite as well-regarded as a prospect, he will try to follow in Luukkonen’s footsteps as a dominant presence between the pipes.
The Canadiens spent the 138th overall pick on Dichow in 2019, the 12th goaltender off the board. His huge 6’5″ frame is imposing in the net, though he still has plenty to work on moving forward. Montreal has not yet signed the young goaltender to an entry-level contract, but still have time to wait and assess his development next season.
Stretch Run Storylines: Montreal Canadiens
As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks. Assuming the regular season continues, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run. Over the coming weeks, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team. We continue our look at the Atlantic Division with Montreal.
After narrowly missing out of the playoffs a year ago, the Canadiens chose to bring back virtually the same roster in 2019-20 and the results haven’t been as good. As this point, their only playoff chances are if the NHL opts to go with an expanded field over resuming the regular season. Nevertheless, there are a few players in particular to watch for if games resumed and they headline Montreal’s stretch run storylines.
Lindgren’s Time?
The Canadiens have been seeking a legitimate backup goaltender behind Carey Price for a long time now. In recent years, they’ve used Al Montoya, Antti Niemi, and Keith Kinkaid with the results largely being underwhelming. Throughout that time, they’ve had Charlie Lindgren in the fold but other than as an injury recall, he has rarely had the opportunity to establish himself as someone that could legitimately serve as the number two option over a full season.
Just prior to the shutdown, Lindgren had played in a couple of games and it looked as if he was going to have a chance at regular playing time over the final month of the season. If play resumes, he should get that opportunity.
From his perspective, at 26, he’s nearing the point of being labelled a career third stringer if he doesn’t prove himself in the NHL soon. From Montreal’s point of view, they need to see if he can be counted on for next season. If not, they’ll be among the teams going after someone in free agency and with Seattle’s expansion draft on the horizon, they may have to commit a two-year deal to whoever they get which would be a big blow to Lindgren’s NHL aspirations. If the NHL returns to regular season play, how he fares in his remaining games (as limited a sample as it may be) could very well determine his future with the team and potentially around the league.
Domi’s Next Deal
Max Domi’s first year with the Canadiens was impressive. He blew past his career highs with 28 goals and 44 assists while adapting to play center on a full-time basis. Heading into 2019-20, both Domi and Montreal were hoping for a repeat performance, one that would have solidified a long-term contract as a restricted free agent in the summer.
But that hasn’t happened. Instead, it has been a roller coaster year and the numbers haven’t been anywhere near as good. He set a franchise record with a six-game road goal streak but he only has 11 other goals outside of that stretch. His assist total (27) is comparable to that of his time with the Coyotes which, while not terrible, is not long-term contract material either. The team has experimented with moving him back to the wing to try to get him going and when that didn’t work, they moved him back down the middle but dropped him to the third line.
That’s not the type of platform year he was hoping for. All of a sudden, a shorter-term deal is looking more realistic but a strong stretch run could certainly bolster his leverage as Domi is eligible for arbitration. It was only a year ago that Domi looked like a core player in Montreal but that could be changing.
Which Version Of Drouin?
One of GM Marc Bergevin’s reasons for keeping the team largely intact from last year was the hopes that some of his younger players would show signs of improvement. Number one on that list was Jonathan Drouin. While he’s in his sixth year in the league, he only turned 25 last week and after a disappointing season, it was understandable to think he might yet have another gear.
In the early going of 2019-20, he looked like he was indeed taking that next step as he collected 15 points in the first 17 games of the season. But things went downhill from there. He was injured about a week after that hot stretch and the ensuing wrist surgery kept him out for the better part of three months. After returning to action, a lingering ankle issue hampered him considerably and he was held off the scoresheet before being taken out of the lineup in late February.
The first version of Drouin from this season was a core player while the other version is a player that a team would have to provide extra incentive to take on. Now that the ankle issue has healed, the Canadiens would certainly like to see if Drouin can get back to his early season form if games resume. If things don’t go well, it’s a hole in their lineup that they may have to add to their offseason shopping list to try to improve upon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Montreal Canadiens Extend Laurent Dauphin
The Montreal Canadiens will be bringing back another one of their minor league forwards, agreeing to a one-year, two-way contract extension with Laurent Dauphin. The deal will carry a salary of $700K in the NHL, $175K in the AHL and a $200K guarantee. Dauphin was scheduled to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the season after playing in just 35 NHL games through his first several professional seasons.
Dauphin, 25, was originally selected in the second round of the 2013 draft, but never did really become the offensive weapon in the pros that he was at the junior level. After a number of years in the Arizona Coyotes minor league system, peppered with 35 NHL games across four different seasons and a trade to the Chicago Blackhawks that lasted just six months before he was returned, Dauphin found himself on the move last February to the Nashville Predators organization.
Even with his new home, there wasn’t much of an NHL opportunity, so Dauphin found himself on the move again a few months ago. He arrived in his native Quebec and ended up suiting up for 25 games with the Laval Rocket, scoring 15 points. He apparently has done enough to prove he deserves another shot next season, though it’s still unlikely he ever becomes an impact player in the NHL.
Snapshots: League Timeline, 2021 Draft, Bouwmeester
UPDATE 4:45pm: The Toronto mayor’s office clarified the ban to TSN radio, indicating that it does not include sporting events, only “city events and event permits.”
4:00pm: As mentioned in the earlier story about the NHL extending their period of self-isolation for players and team staff, even April 15th—the new end date the league announced—seems very aggressive given the much longer bans that states, provinces, and cities have already instituted. This afternoon Toronto, one of the league’s biggest markets, announced a ban on all public events through June 30th. That would seemingly include playoff hockey games, making it quite difficult to resume any action that includes the Maple Leafs in the next three months.
While there could be ways around a ban like this for regular season games—neutral venue sites could potentially be used—it’s hard to see a world where the Maple Leafs would be forced to play playoff contests somewhere else. Revenue from the playoffs in the league’s big markets is crucial, especially so in a season cut short. At this point, fans can only wait and see what happens, but the NHL season is just getting further and further away.
- Another major market that has already lost an NHL event is Montreal, where the Canadiens were stripped of the 2020 Entry Draft—or at least the full scale of it. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Montreal can expect to have a full draft either in 2021 or 2022, though there is another interesting option for next year. LeBrun tweets that the new Seattle franchise has shown interest in trying to bring the entry draft in next season to pair with the expansion draft, though it isn’t clear if it will be feasible at this point.
- Among all the disruptions and distractions, it’s sometimes hard to find any good news these days. Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues gave us some of that today, when he told reporters including Dan Rosen of NHL.com that teammate Jay Bouwmeester is doing well in his recovery from a cardiac episode he suffered in February. The Blues captain noted that teammates have checked in on Bouwmeester and that he has seen him walking about their shared neighborhood recently.
Prospect Notes: Rasanen, Niemelainen, Berglund, Farrance, Harris
There have been many international prospects over the years that have turned to the NCAA to try to help get ready for the NHL or bolster their chances of getting drafted. There aren’t as many that have gone the other way but it appears that’s the case with Oilers prospect Aapeli Rasanen. The 21-year-old recently wrapped up his junior year at Boston College but Jeff Cox of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link) that the forward has informed the team that he’s leaving and is returning to Finland to play professionally. Rasanen grew up playing in the Tappara so it’s likely that he would rejoin that program.
- Still with the Oilers, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector notes that Edmonton is hoping to sign defensemen Markus Niemelainen and Filip Berglund. Both players were draft picks in 2016 and have until June 1st to sign their entry-level deals. Niemelainen played in 55 games with Assat Pori of the Finnish SM-liiga this season while Berglund suited up in 52 contests with SHL Skelleftea, his fourth straight year of being a regular in that league. They’re also both under contract for next season already (Berglund for two more years) but both countries have a transfer agreement with the NHL so those deals shouldn’t get in the way.
- Predators prospect David Farrance is coming off a very strong junior year with Boston University that saw him collect 14 goals and 29 assists in just 34 games. While it certainly seems as if he’s ready to turn pro, AHL reporter Mark Divver mentions (Twitter link) that the 20-year-old hasn’t yet decided whether or not to return for his senior season. With Nashville’s back end being filled with low salary players, it’s quite possible that Farrance could immediately make the jump to the NHL like Dante Fabbro (a Boston University alum) recently did.
- Canadiens prospect Jordan Harris has given a verbal commitment to return to Northeastern for his junior year, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels (Twitter link). Last month, GM Marc Bergevin mentioned the possibility that Harris could forego the rest of his college eligibility and turn pro but that doesn’t appear to be the plan. Harris had 21 points in 33 games this season while chipping in with a goal in five games for Team USA at the World Juniors.