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Central Notes: Avalanche, Leddy, Commesso

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With Colorado not really going out and replacing Nazem Kadri who left in free agency last summer, there has been an expectation that the Avalanche would add an impact center at the trade deadline.  While there are several rentals that are expected to be available, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post posits that there could be a different direction they could go.  If they’re comfortable with Evan Rodrigues and J.T. Compher as their middle-six middlemen, they could look to upgrade on the wing instead.  Durando suggests Panthers winger Anthony Duclair as a plausible target; Florida will have cap issues once he and Patric Hornqvist are able to return so there could be an opportunity to buy low.  At a $3MM AAV both this season and next, Duclair could be an intriguing option for Colorado, especially since his speed would fit in well with their style of play.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • The Blues could have defenseman Nick Leddy back in the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay, notes Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 31-year-old has missed the last four games due to an upper-body injury.  Leddy has 11 assists in 39 games so far this season and with Torey Krug out for a while, he’ll likely be called upon to play a bigger role offensively for St. Louis which is something he has been able to do with success in the past.
  • While he has another year of NCAA eligibility remaining, goalie Drew Commesso is likely to turn pro for next season, suggests Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 20-year-old was the 46th pick in 2020 by the Blackhawks and has had a bit of an up-and-down third season with Boston University.  His GAA (2.58) and SV% (.910) are actually a little worse than last season although a pair of rough starts out of his 14 appearances skew that somewhat.  Commesso has also dealt with a hamstring injury which has limited his playing time thus far.

Brian Gionta Joins Niagara University

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The next stage of Brian Gionta’s hockey career is about to get underway, as Niagara University has announced him as their new director of player development. This move follows a few years of coaching in the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program and could suggest a front office future for the former NHL forward.

Jason Lammers, the head coach of Niagara, released the following:

Brian’s commitment to developing players and helping them reach their full potential is his priority. Brian’s strong leadership skills and passion for the game are Uncommon and will bring a new level of development for our student-athletes both on and off the ice to the program.

Gionta, 43, retired in 2018 after captaining the U.S. at the Olympics, the second time he had suited up for his country at the Games. A veteran of over 1,000 NHL games, he served as captain for the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres, while racking up 291 goals and 595 points. His college career was outstanding, finishing as a Hobey Baker finalist three times while winning the NCAA championship in his senior year at Boston College. He won the Stanley Cup in 2003 with the New Jersey Devils, and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.

It potentially means nothing, but a move like this could indicate Gionta’s desire to climb the ladder in hockey development and operations. If he chooses, there will likely be many teams that would be willing to leverage his experience and knowledge. The third-round pick carved out an excellent career and was exceptionally well-respected during his time as a player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: McDonagh, Guenther, Gustavsson

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Amid their up-and-down season on and off the ice thus far, eight points out of a playoff spot coming into today, unable to extend Bo Horvat, and listing only Elias Pettersson as “untouchable,” it appears the Vancouver Canucks need to start setting their eyes on the future. Part of that future is likely with Pettersson, as well as Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and the recently-extended J.T. Miller, but will also come with their young prospects. One of those prospects, who has yet to sign with the team, is Northeastern University forward Aidan McDonagh.

The 23-year-old is finishing up his fourth season in the NCAA where he has 13 goals and 14 assists in just 20 games and is over a point-per-game during his four years. A 2019 seventh-round pick of the Canucks, Vancouver’s rights with McDonagh expire on August 15th. According to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin was in Boston this weekend to meet with McDonagh. Per Dhaliwal, that meeting went very well, with Allvin laying out his plan for the player should he choose to sign. Despite the positive meeting, there is still no indication of how likely McDonagh is to sign with the team that drafted him.

  • After scoring the golden-goal for Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors, Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther immediately rejoined his team, flying back to Arizona on Friday, less than 24 hours after the biggest goal of his life to-date. Given the whirlwind few days for Guenther and having been away form his NHL team for a few weeks, many would understand if the winger didn’t play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, that won’t be the case says PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, who reports that Guenther will play at home Sunday. Guenther, 19, had been one of a few key difference-makers for Canada at this year’s tournament, and has been off to a nice start to his NHL career too, recording 11 points in 21 games prior to joining Team Canada.
  • Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who last played Wednesday and has been out with a non-COVID illness since, is expected to start this evening’s game at home against the St. Louis Blues, says The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Gustavsson’s illness had apparently been enough that he couldn’t simply back-up for Marc-Andre Fleury, but the team had to instead recall netminder Zane McIntyre on an emergency basis Friday morning. The Wild play at home this evening before a two game midweek road trip to New York City and Long Island.

Snapshots: Hague, Pastrnak, Jets

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When Vegas Golden Knights training camp opens tomorrow morning, defenseman Nicolas Hague won’t be there as he awaits a new contract. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that he isn’t expected to be on the ice with his teammates Thursday morning at City National Arena, the team’s practice facility.

Hague is one of the few remaining restricted free agents in the NHL, alongside Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson as the marquee names. Granger expertly notes that Hague missing camp is more detrimental than in previous seasons, as new head coach Bruce Cassidy will be installing a completely foreign defensive system from what the Knights have been used to in past seasons. Hague, the 34th overall pick in 2017, had 14 points in 52 games last season.

  • Speaking today during preseason media availability, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney says it’s a priority for him to get pending free agent winger David Pastrnak signed as soon as possible. Pastrnak, while he’s expressed a strong desire to stay in Boston, hasn’t shared the same urgency in negotiations in previous reporting. Pastrnak, who’s notched 40 or more goals in his last two full seasons, will be in line for a substantial raise, and it may behoove Sweeney to get a deal done before his value rises even further.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have made three scouting hires, including the first woman scout in team history, Sydney Daniels. Daniels joins the team as an NCAA scout, having previously served as the assistant coach for the women’s team at Harvard. The team also brought on Jari Kekalainen, brother of Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, as a European scout, and former Toronto Maple Leafs scout Tony Martino as a USHL scout.

Taylor Heise Named 2022 Women’s World Championship MVP

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Despite losing 2-1 in the gold medal game to Canada today, a breakout member for Team USA has taken home the MVP award for the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Taylor Heise, a collegiate player from the University of Minnesota, won the award after leading the tournament in scoring with 18 points in seven games.

Heise is returning to Minnesota next season for her fifth and final year in the program. As an alternate captain last season, Heise exploded for 29 goals, 37 assists, and 66 points in just 39 games. Minnesota was the number 2 ranked program in the country at season’s end but lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to state rival Duluth.

Heise also won the Directorate Award for best forward at the tournament. USA goaltender Nicole Hensley and Czech defender Daniela Pejsova won their respective positional awards. Hensley finished the tournament with a 4-1-0 record, .930 save percentage, and 1.08 goals-against average in five games, while Pesjova finished with five goals, four assists, and nine points in six games en route to Czechia earning their first medal at the tournament.

University Of Denver Extends David Carle

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If you were wondering which college coach would make the jump to the NHL ranks next, it doesn’t look like it will be David Carle. The University of Denver head coach has signed an extension through the 2026-27 season after winning his second national championship (first as head coach) earlier this year.

There’s little doubt that he’ll eventually get there and no rush for the 32-year-old Carle, who already has a decade of coaching experience under his belt. His playing career was ended just before the 2008 draft when he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, taking any chance of an NHL future off the table. Despite that diagnosis, he was still picked 203rd overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who would acquire his brother Matt Carle just a few days later.

Instead of giving up on hockey, he became a student assistant coach at DU the following year, and after two years as an assistant with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, he was back as a full-time assistant in Denver in 2014. Given the head coaching role in 2018, he has led the program to a 86-43-13 recorder, ecently won Coach of the Year honors, and was the fourth-youngest head coach in history to take home the national championship.

With such an early start, there’s a good chance that if he wants to, Carle will be able to pursue an NHL coaching career at some point down the road. But that won’t be for a while yet, after agreeing to a long-term partnership with the school that gave him his first chance.

Looking At The August 15 Free Agents

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The middle of August is typically quiet in the hockey world, especially on a transactions front.  Most of the heavy lifting of team building is done and while there are some NHL free agents remaining, many of them will be waiting until closer to training camp for their next contracts.

But we’ll soon see a new group of players hit the free agent market as some teams will be losing the rights to some of their college prospects.  These are players that have played out their NCAA eligibility (or at least have gone four years since being drafted) but have not signed an NHL contract.  Those teams hold their exclusive rights up to and including August 15th.  Here’s a listing of those players as well as when they were drafted (round/overall, year).

Arizona
D Michael Karow (5/126, 2017)

Boston
F Jack Becker (7/195/2015)

Calgary

F Mitchell Mattson (5/126/2016)

Carolina
D Tyler Inamoto (5/133, 2017)

Chicago
D Stanislav Demin (4/99, 2018)*
D Josh Ess (7/215, 2017) – signed in France

Colorado
F Tyler Weiss (4/109, 2018)*

Columbus
G Peter Thome (6,155, 2016)

Montreal
F Brett Stapley (7/190, 2018)*

NY Islanders
F Logan Cockerill (7/201, 2017) – signed in Sweden
D Ben Mirageas (3/77, 2017)

Philadelphia
D Jack St. Ivany (4/112, 2018)*

Pittsburgh
D Clayton Phillips (3/93, 2017)

San Jose
G Mike Robinson (3/86, 2015)

Tampa Bay
F Cole Guttman (6/180, 2017)*
F Samuel Walker (7/200, 2017)*

Vegas
F Nicolas Campoli (6/158, 2017)*
F Brandon Kruse (5/135, 2018)

Washington
D Benton Maass (6/182, 2017) – signed with Washington’s farm team

*-The player is eligible to return for a bonus fifth season due to the pandemic.  Some of those decisions aren’t made public so some of these players might wind up playing another year and remain property of their respective NHL clubs.

Some years, there are some August 15 free agents that generate a lot of interest – Jimmy Vesey and Alexander Kerfoot are somewhat recent examples – but this class doesn’t have anyone like that.  However, there are some players that will be intriguing.

Guttman and Stapley are both coming off strong years with Denver that saw them post better than a point per game for the champion Pioneers.  Weiss was just shy of the point per game mark with Omaha-Nebraska while Walker had 27 points with Minnesota.  As for Karow, he got into 13 games with Dallas’ farm team down the stretch and didn’t look out of place.  Those are at least a handful of players that should be receiving some phone calls once they officially hit the open market.

Snapshots: Samoskevich, Avalanche, Michigan

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Some college prospects have a plan for when they want to turn pro.  First-round picks, in particular, are often staying for just a year or two before making the jump.  That was the case for several of Michigan’s players last season with one of the exceptions being Panthers prospect Mackie Samoskevich.  The 19-year-old told NHL.com’s Alain Poupart that he doesn’t have a set time in mind for turning pro.  He had 29 points in 40 games for the Wolverines in his freshman year and with several prominent players from 2021-22 making the jump to the pros already, Samoskevich will be in line for a bigger role next season.  How he performs with that opportunity will go a long way towards helping Florida determine if they want him turning pro after that.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While it’s understandable that Colorado wants to remain in the mix for free agent center Nazem Kadri, Paul Kiszla of the Denver Post suggests that the Avalanche should start to look at other options either by trade or by bringing back someone like Paul Stastny. The Avs don’t have enough money to bring back the 32-year-old at his desired asking price while a deal that might fit in better with their financial structure – the scribe suggests a $6.5MM AAV for four years – also would require some subtraction from their current roster.  Colorado can afford some patience with Kadri’s camp while the market has basically come to a complete halt but at some point, they may need to start looking at alternate plans to fill out their roster for next season.
  • After parting ways with Mel Pearson a few days ago, Michigan has decided to promote from within as they named Brandon Naurato as their interim coach for the upcoming season. The 37-year-old joined the Wolverines as an assistant coach last season after spending three years with Detroit as a Player Development consultant.  Michigan has lost Owen Power, Matthew Beniers, Thomas Bordeleau, and several others but they still have seven NHL draft picks on the roster for next season.

Minor Transactions: 07/27/22

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It’s been a long, slow grind since the craziness of free agency opening on July 13, with a good number of high-end free agents remaining unsigned. With many other leagues than just the NHL looking to get their rosters set for next season, though, that hasn’t been the case everywhere. Minor-league teams and overseas leagues are making moves and transactions to their squads every day, giving hockey fans something else to look at. We’ll keep track of today’s transactions right here.

  • Over in Germany, Wolfsburg in the DEL could look to add a major name with some NHL experience, per the German-language publication Wolfsburger Nachrichten. 34-year-old Kaspars Daugavins is still floating around in the European leagues after a brief NHL career between 2009 and 2013, where he’s been an all-star caliber player in both the KHL and Swiss NL. It appears SC Bern, his NL club for 2021-22, however, has bought him out after he registered 25 points in 34 games.
  • The AHL’s Ontario Reign today announced a one-year extension for defenseman Cameron Gaunce. A second-round pick back in 2008, the 32-year-old is a veteran of 731 AHL games but has seen just 37 games of NHL action in that timeframe. This will be his third straight season in the Los Angeles Kings organization, helping mentor their pack of young defenders that come up through Ontario. Gaunce had seven goals, 20 assists, and 27 points in 61 AHL games last season.
  • The Colorado Eagles have signed forwards Tarun Fizer and Cameron Wright to one-year, two-way AHL contracts. Fizer, 21, was the captain of the WHL’s Victoria Royals in 2021-22, scoring 17 goals, 34 assists, and 51 points in just 35 games. He had an impressive transition to pro hockey, suiting up for the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies after the conclusion of his junior campaign, and had 15 points in 18 games during their Kelly Cup Playoffs run. Wright, 23, joins the Eagles after a five-year NCAA career, the last season of which was spent with the University of Denver. A member of this year’s national championship team, Wright had 23 goals and 34 points in 41 games.
  • The Milwaukee Admirals have signed right wing Todd Burgess to an AHL deal for the 2022-23 season, per a team tweet. Burgess was drafted in the fourth round in 2016 by the Ottawa Senators, but the team let his rights expire after a disappointing college career and he’s yet to land an NHL contract. In 2021-22, his first professional season, Burgess had seven goals and six assists for 13 points in 35 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
  • Per The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, the Henderson Silver Knights have signed 25-year-old defenseman Darian Skeoch to an AHL contract for the 2022-23 season. Skeoch, a rare breed of enforcer, had a whopping 135 penalty minutes in 52 games with the ECHL’s Allen Americans last season, registering just eight points in the process. He can play both defense and right wing, but the 6’4″, 220-pound defenseman’s main focus is on physical play.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Alex Limoges, Kyle Capobianco

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed free agent forward Alex Limoges to a one-year, entry-level contract, per a team tweet today. Financial terms are currently unavailable. Per CapFriendly, the team has also signed former Arizona Coyotes defenseman Kyle Capobianco to a two-year deal worth $762.5K per year. Per PuckPedia, the contract is a two-way deal in 2022-23 with a $750K NHL / $325K AHL split, and a one-way deal worth $775K in year two.

Limoges, a 24-year-old native of Virginia, actually already has a year and a half of professional experience under his belt with the San Diego Gulls. He turned pro in 2020-21 after his college career with Penn State concluded, spending the remainder of the season with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

Staying in San Diego for the past two years, he’s been one of the most under-the-radar producers in the AHL during that time. He’s scored 34 goals, 27 assists, and 61 points in 85 games with the Gulls, and he also led the entire NCAA in points in 2018-19.

Now on an NHL contract for the first time, Limoges will get the chance to improve on those numbers in the Jets organization. If injuries strike Winnipeg hard this year, don’t be surprised if Limoges gets a crack at making his NHL debut.

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