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Waivers: 10/1/22

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October 2nd: Per CapFriendly, all players placed on waivers yesterday, October 1st, have cleared (link).

October 1st: It’s expected to be another busy day on the waiver wire today as teams continue to trim down their rosters.  We’ll keep track of the players being placed on waivers here.

Edmonton

F Seth Griffith

Montreal

F Nate Schnarr

NY Rangers

G Louis Domingue

St. Louis

D Steven Santini
F Nathan Todd
D/F Luke Witkowski

Tampa Bay

D Sean Day

Vegas

F Byron Froese
G Michael Hutchinson
D Brayden Pachal
F Sheldon Rempal

Winnipeg

F Michael Eyssimont
D Leon Gawanke
F Jeff Malott
D Ashton Sautner

All 22 players that were on waivers yesterday cleared.

Canadiens Extend Jake Allen

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Jake Allen will be sticking around with the Canadiens for a little longer as the team announced that they’ve signed the goaltender to a two-year contract extension.  The deal will carry an AAV of $3.85MM.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:

2023-24: $500K signing bonus, $3.9MM salary, partial NTC
2024-25: $1MM signing bonus, $2.3MM salary, partial NTC

The 32-year-old is entering his third season with Montreal after being acquired from St. Louis back in 2020.  Barely a month after being acquired, he signed a two-year extension, the last season of which will be played this season with that deal carrying a $2.875MM AAV.  At the time, he was being brought in as more of a proven second option behind Carey Price.  However, that situation has changed with Price missing most of last season, likely all of this year, and the rest of his playing career being in question and this new contract reflects that change in role.

Last season, Allen played in 35 games with Montreal, posting a 3.30 GAA along with a .905 SV% in what was an injury-mired campaign.  He missed time in both concussion and COVID protocols while also dealing with groin trouble on two separate occasions.  Now healthy, he should get the bulk of the workload for the Canadiens this season with Samuel Montembeault serving as his backup.

Montreal doesn’t have a true goalie of the future just yet with Cayden Primeau representing the closest option to being NHL-ready.  This extension will basically serve as a bridge for the Canadiens to navigate through what’s expected to be a bit of an extended rebuild while also giving them some time to plan to draft or acquire their next starter.  It also takes what would have been one of the more intriguing rental veterans off the market as without this deal, Allen would have been a speculative candidate leading up to the trade deadline in March.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Montreal Canadiens To Hire Gordie Clark

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  • The Montreal Canadiens have re-shaped the look of their organization under Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes’ new management, both on and off the ice. With the season about to begin, the Canadiens have made another off-ice move. In an interview on former NHLer Chris Nilan’s Raw Knuckles podcast, Gorton said that the team would be “bringing on” former New York Rangers executive Gordie Clark. Before his contract was not renewed this summer, Clark had been working for the Rangers for two decades and will bring experience and leadership to this still-growing Canadiens front office.

Latest On Montreal Canadiens Rebuild

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For many, looking at the Montreal Canadiens’ situation from afar, they would classify it as a “rebuild.” After appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals in the shortened 2020-21 season, the team was eager to repeat their success, but instead found themselves in the basement of the NHL standings. Not only that, it began to appear more and more clear that future Hall of Fame goaltender Carey Price would be sidelined long-term, if not for good. Losing their once-in-a-generation netminder would seem to make it all the more clear that this was a rebuild.

On Tuesday, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes discussed the state of the franchise with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Hughes said that early on after being hired (Hughes was named General Manage on January 18th of this year), he and his boss, Jeff Gorton, had declined to put any sort of label on their plans, whether that be a rebuild, a retool, a reset, or something else. However, when pressed by LeBrun about whether Price’s status impacts the direction of Montreal’s plans, Hughes said “I think so” before adding, “[I]f we had a fully healthy Carey Price,” then remarking that they did owe it to Price to try and remain competitive.

While Hughes still failed to put a label on their plans, being without Price for the 2022-23 season and likely beyond seems to push Montreal closer to a more conventional rebuild. Had Price been healthy and the the player everyone has come to expect, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that Montreal, with a few changes, could become competitive rather easily. Now, without a game-changer like Price, Montreal could opt to change course and take things slow.

When it comes to labeling the team’s process, one might wonder why the team would avoid doing so, and that reasoning could, of course, simply be subjective. On his reasoning, Hughes says, “people can put different connotations on what a rebuild means versus a reset or a re-tool. To me, they’re just words.” Instead, Hughes added, it’s more about trying to build something while not limiting his flexibility as far as conforming to the timeline and process that his words have put him into.

That seems to make the most sense for any team in this sort of situation, but especially the Canadiens. For one, there is a chance, albeit small, they could have Price back in the future. Second, this group has recently had great success. And third, although the team finished dead last in the entire league last season, there was a noticeable positive change after current head coach Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme behind the bench, not to mention their injury situation, which was among the worst in the NHL.

Some might worry that Hughes’ unwillingness to put a label on the process constitutes unwarranted optimism that there may be no long-term tear down or protecting his and the team’s image as they prepare for a long-term teardown, and that concern may be fair. However, consider a similar situation that played out a few hundred miles south of Montreal with the New York Rangers. Recall in early 2018 when Rangers management, including Gorton himself, somewhat infamously issued a statement to fans, essentially advising them of a full-scale rebuild after years of success.

Many feared the worst after the team had traded an overwhelming majority of its prospects and draft picks in the years prior. But, the organization was able to hit on a number of their draft picks, many of which they acquired when they traded away veterans from their team. They were also fortunate to score in the draft lottery by securing a first and second overall pick, used to select Alexis Lafreniere in 2020 and Kaapo Kakko in 2019, respectively. Add on to that the acquisition of Adam Fox, who developed into a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman and the emergence of superstar netminder Igor Shesterkin. Perhaps most notable was, just 17 months after their announcement of a rebuild, the team signed superstar Artemi Panarin to a blockbuster deal.

Two seasons after that announcement, the Rangers found themselves as a play-in team in the 2020 bubble; three years later, they were in the playoff hunt up until the last week or so of the regular season; and four years after, they were big-time buyers at the trade deadline, gearing up for a Stanley Cup run. Sure, the Rangers were far more clear about their intentions (not many teams explicitly state their intention in a letter to fans either), but Hughes vagueness could give him the opportunity to assess his situation as it progresses and see where it fits. Perhaps there’s more good fortune beyond number one overall selection Juraj Slafkovsky and the process is accelerated like in New York; perhaps it’s a little longer and more deliberate like that of the Ottawa Senators or Detroit Red Wings; or perhaps it’s a drawn out, full-scale rebuild like the Arizona Coyotes. For now though, based on Hughes’ comments, flexibility in the process will be the name of the game in Montreal.

Evening Notes: PWHPA, Hischier, Hodgson

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There’s some exciting news coming on the women’s hockey front. In an interview with The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy, Canadian National Team captain Marie Philip-Poulin confirmed that the current touring structure for PWHPA games will turn into a league for the 2023-24 season, bringing two professional women’s leagues back into the fold for the first time since the CWHL and NWHL were both active.

The PWHPA Dream Gap Tour is the main pool of talent that Canada and the United States select for their national teams. They’ve effectively been limited to playing exhibition games without a league structure governing competition, although that shouldn’t diminish the level of talent and competition on display. A league structure should bring more financial stability and a better plan for growing the women’s game in North America.

  • New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier left the team’s in-progress preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens at the first intermission. The team reports that Hischier’s absence is simply due to cramping and that he won’t return to the game for precautionary reasons. Hischier registered a shot on goal and played 6:24 in the first period, his preseason debut.
  • Philadelphia Hockey Now’s Sam Carchidi tabs winger Hayden Hodgson as a candidate to crack the Flyers’ roster out of camp this year. Hodgson made waves in the Flyers organization this season after a breakout year in AHL Lehigh Valley, earning an NHL contract near the end of the season and a six-game call-up, where he registered three points. Hodgson hadn’t even played in the AHL since 2017-18, spending every season since then entirely in the ECHL (and partly in Slovakia).

Sean Monahan Could Be Ready For Start Of Season

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Freshly acquired Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan was a bit of a question mark for the upcoming year after missing the last month of the 2021-22 season and the entire playoffs. Labelled as questionable for the start of the season a few weeks ago, things are looking up for Monahan as his recovery from hip surgery continues. Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said today that they are being cautious with Monahan, holding him out of scrimmages, but that he will play in preseason games at some point, boding well for his opening-night availability.

The Canadiens received a conditional 2025 first-round pick from the Calgary Flames for taking on the final season of his $6.375MM AAV contract, which was much too rich a price for a cap-strapped Calgary to pay given Monahan’s declining health and production. After Monahan had just eight goals and 23 points in 65 games last season, Montreal is hoping a return to consistent top-nine minutes will help them recoup serious offensive value in the final season of Monahan’s deal, and maybe even flip him at this year’s trade deadline with some salary retained.

Monahan told the media last month that “he’s ready to play hockey again at a high level.” It will take a lot of patience and conditioning for Monahan to sniff his previous 30-goal, 60-point-calibre play, but St. Louis seems to understand that. Monahan will be competing for time down the middle with Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, and Kirby Dach, who could likely shift to the wing.

Montreal opens their preseason on Monday at home against the New Jersey Devils.

Edmundson Out Indefinitely; Suzuki Out Two Weeks

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  • Speaking of tough starts, the Montreal Canadiens will be without new captain Nick Suzuki for the next two weeks after he suffered a lower-body injury. Josh Anderson and Jake Evans are also out day-to-day, while Joel Edmundson is still dealing with a lower-body injury and is out indefinitely. Sean Monahan, working his way back from surgery has not yet been cleared to participate, though he is skating. Eric Engels of Sportsnet is attempting to find out whether Edmundson’s lower-body issue is related to the back injury he dealt with last season, though there is no clarity to this point. The veteran defenseman played only 24 games last season.

Finding A Match For A Nils Lundkvist Trade

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With Rangers prospect Nils Lundkvist’s trade request now well-known, efforts continue to find the youngster a new home for the upcoming season.  If the belief that he won’t attend training camp in New York holds true, that could be a trigger point for GM Chris Drury to avoid any distractions heading into camp while getting a chance to integrate whichever player or prospect they get for the rearguard at training camp.

With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the potential suitors for Lundkvist.  Since he’s looking for a team that will have a chance to give him an NHL opportunity in the short-term, the focus will be on those squads although there undoubtedly will be others that will kick the tires.  Los Angeles is a team that has been speculated as a landing spot with their deep prospect pool but they don’t really have an opening on the right side of their back end for him to slide into so they don’t appear among the teams below.

Detroit: The Red Wings have two right-side rearguards in place in Calder winner Moritz Seider and young veteran Filip Hronek.  There are questions behind those two, however.  Gustav Lindstrom has yet to establish himself as a full-time player while Mark Pysyk will miss the first half of the season after undergoing surgery in July to repair a torn Achilles tendon.  If Lundkvist was to go there and do well, it could free them up to move Hronek who is the type of blueliner that could yield a nice return for the Red Wings.

Detroit has a couple of young centers that the Rangers would likely show some interest in.  One is Joe Veleno who is close to being ready for full-time duty while Jonatan Berggren, who was picked just five spots after Lundkvist in 2018, had a very promising first season in North America in 2021-22.  They also have an extra second-round pick at their disposal if New York ultimately decides that a draft pick is the right return.  Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported a few days ago (subscription link) that at least one team had a second-rounder on the table in an offer for the blueliner.

Montreal: At the moment, the right side of the back end for the Canadiens is David Savard, Justin Barron, and Chris Wideman.  The only established full-time player out of that group is Savard.  Montreal is likely to use several prospects throughout the season (Jordan Harris and Kaiden Guhle among them) but those are left-shot options, not righties like Lundkvist.  It’s plausible that Lundkvist could jump into their lineup right away.  Jeff Gorton, who was GM at the time Lundkvist was drafted, now works in Montreal’s front office.

While the Rangers wouldn’t be likely to get a return that could help them right away, Montreal’s prospect pool is one of the deeper ones around the league with recent center picks like Jan Mysak, Owen Beck, and Riley Kidney potentially being of interest.  They could also deal from the left side of their defensive pool if New York would prefer a defenseman in return with Harris, Mattias Norlinder, and prospect Jayden Struble being possible options.

San Jose: The only established must-play right-shot defender on their roster is Erik Karlsson.  Matthew Benning got a four-year deal but could bounce in and out of the lineup while Ryan Merkley could stand to spend more time in the minors before becoming an everyday regular.  With Brent Burns not really being replaced after his trade to Carolina, there’s a definite need for a second defenseman to help shoulder the offensive load.  Worth noting, one of New York’s former top scouts, Chris Morehouse, is now heading up San Jose’s amateur scouting ranks.  He wasn’t there when Lundkvist was drafted but he’ll have some extra familiarity with the blueliner.

Center Thomas Bordeleau didn’t look out of place in his brief NHL stint late last season and acquitted himself well at the World Championship as well and is the type of young center that might entice the Rangers.  Merkley himself could be an option if Drury decides to look for a similar player, one that will be more amenable to being in the minors to start the season.  The Sharks don’t have an extra second-round pick but the one that they do have projects to be a good one based on the state of their roster heading into training camp.

Seattle: While the addition of Justin Schultz lessens their need for an extra offensive defenseman, the third RD spot is far from secure with William Borgen spending a lot of time as a healthy scratch last season.  That’s a spot that Lundkvist could conceivably battle for or least position himself to be the first one recalled.

The Kraken don’t have the deepest of prospect pools to work with since they’ve only been around for two drafts but they do have three second-rounders for the 2023 draft.  Parting with one for a potentially near-ready young defenseman would be a defensible move for the second-year squad.

Vancouver: The Canucks have been busy this summer when it comes to their forward group but nothing has been done with their back end yet and it’s not for a lack of trying.  Vancouver already has an offensive weapon in Quinn Hughes but someone like Lundkvist could potentially help run a second power play group and perhaps take some minutes from veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson who is getting near the point where he will need to be managed more carefully.  With Tucker Poolman’s availability uncertain for training camp, there’s a spot on the right side of their back end up for grabs.

As for possible trade options, Linus Karlsson is coming off a strong SHL season and shouldn’t be too far away from being NHL-ready which would give New York another option down the middle.  Alternatively, winger Nils Hoglander is someone that, on the surface, might be on the fringes of making Vancouver’s roster with their additions on the wing.  Perhaps there’s a trade to be made featuring those two?

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list and other teams will inquire but if Lundkvist and agent Claude Lemieux’s intention is to have him start the upcoming season in the NHL, that does limit the number of viable opportunities for a trade if the Rangers decide to move him before training camp.

They don’t have to move Lundkvist, however.  He’s still waiver-exempt and even if he doesn’t want to report to the minors, they can send him there and suspend him for not reporting.  If it’s going to be more of a drawn-out process, a loan overseas (as they did last year with Vitali Kravtsov) is also on the table.  There are certainly non-trade options they’ll want to consider but if they do decide to go ahead with a trade, they’ll have some viable teams to consider.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

No Extension Talks Yet Between Canadiens And Cole Caufield

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Canadiens winger Cole Caufield is entering the final season of his entry-level contract and after a strong finish to his season that saw him put up 20 goals and 13 assists in his final 34 games, some have wondered if he might receive an early extension.  However, the 21-year-old told Postmedia’s Stu Cowan that there have yet to be any discussions on a new deal so far.  Caufield only has 97 career NHL appearances under his belt (including the playoffs) so it’s possible that Montreal GM Kent Hughes wants to see if Caufield’s strong second half is a sign of things to come or if his production will dip a bit.  A long-term deal for Caufield at this point could be in the $7MM range even with the limited experience but also could go up if he picks up where he left off last season.

Filip Mesar Expected To Stay In North America For 2022-23

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  • As prospect games got underway today, including one contest between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens featuring prospect Filip Mesar, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu provided an update on Montreal’s plans for Mesar for the upcoming season. Basu reports the team isn’t sure if they would like Mesar to play with the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate, or with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, who hold Mesar’s rights. However, it appears clear Mesar will not be returning Europe for the upcoming season. The 26th overall selection from this year’s NHL draft, Mesar played the last two years for Poprad in his native Slovakia, recording 30 points in 73 games over the two campaigns. The decision not to keep Mesar in Europe makes sense, given the need to help him adjust to North American ice and its style of hockey. Deciding between the AHL and OHL could be tough, as the OHL won’t give Mesar opportunities to play against older and more experienced competition, but will give him experience as a top of the lineup player, like Montreal hopes he will be. The AHL will give Mesar a taste of what playing in the NHL will be like in some respects, but may be a bit too advanced for him to see the top of the lineup and thrive like he might in Kitchener.

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