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.
Snapshots: King Clancy Trophy, Kucherov, Bishop, Holzapfel
Now that the NHL has reached the conference championship phase of the playoffs, so too can the NHL awards, which are expected to be handed out day-by-day over the next couple of weeks. First up is expected to be the King Clancy Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community. The trophy will be awarded this evening before the start of Game 1 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars. The three finalists for the awards are Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba, New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and New Jersey Devils’ P.K. Subban.
Dumba has been committed to racial and social justice and the Hockey is for Everyone initiative and helped form the Hockey Diversity Alliance with seven current and former NHL players. Lundqvist supports several different initiatives, including aid for children’s health, education, underprivileged youth, Hockey Fights Cancer and the Make a Wish Foundation. Subban also supports several groups, including initiatives for underprivileged youth, medical support and promoting racial and social injustice.
- Despite the bad news that the Tampa Bay Lightning will have to go through the Eastern Conference Finals without Steven Stamkos, the team did get some good news, however, on the injury front. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that first-line forward Nikita Kucherov is expected to be available Monday for the Lightning’s first game against the New York Islanders. Kucherov was forced to leave Game 5 against the Boston Bruins with an undisclosed injury, but has had almost a week to recover. The 27-year-old has been quite effective in the playoffs so far with four goals and 16 points in 13 games.
- The Dallas Stars will be without starting goaltender Ben Bishop once again as The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that Bishop and defenseman Taylor Fedun remain “unfit to play.” Both skated today, but neither appear ready to play. The scribe did add that forwards Andrew Cogliano and Mattias Janmark are both expected to be game-time decisions today. Bishop has appeared in just three games during the playoffs and hasn’t made an appearance since Aug. 31 against Colorado when he allowed four goals in 13 minutes before being replaced. The team will rely on Anton Khudobin once again, who is 8-5 with a .909 save percentage in 14 games during the playoffs.
- Former AHL forward Riley Holzapfel announced his retirement after spending his four years with the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian League. Holzapfel was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2006 and five season in the AHL before opting to play overseas in 2013, playing three seasons in the SHL before joining Vienna in 2016. He was never able to break into the NHL, however. The 32-year-old was still productive with Vienna, scoring 18 goals and 46 assists in 48 games.
New York Rangers Hire Jacques Martin
When Lindy Ruff was hired to be the next head coach of the New Jersey Devils, it left a vacancy on the bench for the New York Rangers. Ruff had been coaching in New York for three seasons, lending his wealth of experience to rookie head coach David Quinn. Now Quinn will have a different veteran voice as the Rangers have announced the hiring of Jacques Martin as an assistant for the upcoming season.
Martin, 67, has been an NHL coach since 1986, serving in various positions on eight different teams. Most recently he had served as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, spending the last seven years with the organization. When the Penguins were knocked out unceremoniously this summer, all of the assistants were chopped, leaving Martin a high profile free agent.
The Rangers snapped him up quickly and will add him to a group that has a bright future ahead of them. New York made waves this season with their strong play despite committing to a rebuild just a few years ago and now have a chance to compete for the playoffs in 2020-21. Martin’s defensive structure will likely be implemented with a young blueline group that has plenty of upside, including a pair of 22-year-olds in Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox.
Martin brings decades of experience and was with the Penguins for their latest two Stanley Cups. He has been a head coach for 1,294 regular season games, good enough for 14th all-time. Though it’ll be Quinn’s team, you can bet he’ll lean on the experience and success that Martin brings.
East Notes: Kravtsov, Svechnikov, McDonagh
New York Rangers fans learned more than a week ago that prospect Vitali Kravtsov would be loaned to his former team, Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL this coming season. However, a small wrinkle developed since as Traktor announced the transaction this morning, revealing that Kravtsov was going to spend the entire season with their team.
That was contrary to general beliefs that the 20-year-old Russian would spend time in North America with a chance to win a roster spot with the Rangers in 2020-21. Up until now, most teams are loaning their prospects overseas with the ability to recall them for NHL training camps whenever that will be. That may not be the case here, although a recent report from USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano suggests that the Rangers can recall him at any time. However, the scribe adds that the team could very conceivably leave him in Russia for the entire KHL season, although the team will likely wait to see how he fares.
Kravtsov, who had a tumultuous first pro season in which he split time between the AHL, KHL, VHL and then back to the KHL, isn’t expected to automatically win a spot on the Rangers roster and with the AHL season being pushed back until December, it makes lots of sense to allow him to develop for a full season in the KHL to develop his skills. Whether New York will recall him for training camp in November or December isn’t clear, but it should be noted that unless Traktor makes the playoffs, he could be available to join the Rangers in late February or after his team is eliminated in the playoffs, which means he could be available to join the Rangers with plenty of season left in the NHL.
- NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov, who suffered what looked to be a severe ankle sprain during the team’s series against the Boston Bruins, said he’s feeling 100 percent and believes that he would be able to play now for the Hurricanes had the team managed to get past Boston in the first round. Svechnikov was a key component to the team’s success with four goals and seven points in six playoff games before being injured in Game 3. The Hurricanes lost consecutive one-goal games in Games 4 & 5, suggesting his play could have made the difference in the series.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh for Game 4 in a key game against the Boston Bruins, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. McDonagh, who has been out since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 1, will be replaced once again with two defensemen as the team is expected to play Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn as the team will go with seven defensemen for a second straight game.
Chris Drury Withdraws From Florida’s GM Search
The Panthers have cast a wide net as they look to find a replacement for former GM Dale Tallon whose contract was not renewed. In recent weeks, Scott Mellanby, John Ferguson Jr., Bill Armstrong, Laurence Gilman, Sean Burke, Ron Hextall, and Kevin Weekes have all interviewed for the position, and Florida Hockey Now’s adds Peter CHiarelli and Eddie Olczyk to the list as well. Rangers Assistant GM Chris Drury additionally interviewed for the vacancy. However, as Florida sets their shortlist for the next round of interviews, Drury has withdrawn his name from consideration, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
Drury has been with New York since 2015 when he started as their Director of Player Development. He was promoted to assistant GM the following year and became GM of AHL Hartford in 2017 as well. In 2019, he got his first international GM assignment when he headed up Team USA at the World Championships. That experience made it no surprise when he came under consideration to replace Tallon.
His name has come up for several GM vacancies around the league over the years so while he won’t wind up with this job, it only seems like a matter of time before Drury gets a chance to run his own NHL team. No reason for withdrawing from this search was given.
Meanwhile, Brooks adds a couple more names to the list of candidates in former Boston and Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli and Blackhawks/NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk. He mentions that both are expected to be among the finalists for the position.
New York Rangers To Loan Vitali Kravtsov To KHL
The New York Rangers have decided to send Vitali Kravtsov back to the KHL, at least for now. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that Kravtsov will be loaned back to Traktor Chelyabinsk for the 2020-21 season.
It’s been a very interesting year for Kravtsov, the ninth-overall pick from 2018. Last September it seemed as though he may challenge for a roster spot in the NHL with the Rangers, but after failing to make the team and being sent to the minor leagues things quickly went awry. Kravtsov was a healthy scratch for the Hartford Wolf Pack and played just five minor league games before exercising his European Assignment Clause to return to the KHL.
Less than two months after arriving in Russia though, he ended up back on a plane to Hartford where he spent the rest of the season. In all, Kravtsov played just 11 games for Traktor (scoring three points) while suiting up 39 times for the Wolf Pack. Splitting 50 games between two different leagues (and continents), while scoring only 18 points certainly isn’t the usual path for a top prospect with as much skill as Kravtsov, but that’s exactly what happened in this case.
Brooks does not specify whether Kravtsov will be back for NHL training camp in a few months, but even if he did there’s no telling for certain at this point. What is important, at least for fans of the Rangers hoping for another top offensive weapon, is that he’s going to be getting into game action quickly and (hopefully) consistently. Still just 20 years old, Kravtsov has a long playing career ahead of him and years of development to go.
Panthers Receive Permission To Interview Rangers Assistant GM Chris Drury
While the Panthers have a couple of months before the offseason opens up, it appears that they are looking to fill their GM vacancy quickly. Last week, Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby and former Kings executive Mike Futa were linked to Florida and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest Saturday Headlines segment (video link) that Rangers assistant GM Chris Drury has received permission to interview for the position.
Drury has been with the Rangers since 2015 when he joined them as their Director of Player Development. The following year, he was promoted to assistant GM and became GM of AHL Hartford in 2017 as well. In 2019, he got his first international GM role when he was in charge of Team USA at the World Championships where they lost in the quarterfinals. Given his experience, his name has come up for several GM vacancies around the league over the years.
Friedman adds that Bruins assistant GM John Ferguson Jr. and Maple Leafs assistant GM Laurence Gilman are also believed to be interview targets although those have not been finalized as of yet. Ferguson Jr. spent five seasons as Toronto’s GM from 2003-04 through 2007-08 while Gilman hasn’t had the opportunity to be a GM at the NHL level.
PHR Mailbag: New York Rangers Edition
Our latest call for questions for the PHR Mailbag featured plenty of questions about the New York Rangers. They were quickly eliminated by Carolina in the Qualifying Round although they wound up with quite the consolation prize. With that in mind, the Rangers get the focus of this edition of the mailbag with any non-New York questions being tackled next weekend.
pitmanrich: With the number one pick, the Rangers look set at left wing for the next few years. Do they look to accelerate the rebuild next season by trading for a 1st line d-man to play with Trouba and a quality center to play on the 2nd line if Strome leaves or wait 12 months until Hank’s contract is up and the salary cap is looking better for them and then go for it?
The Rangers seem to be falling over themselves to say that getting the top selection isn’t going to do anything in terms of changing their rebuilding timeline. It’s the right call to make too as with as many youngsters as they have, throwing them to the wolves with a win-now expectation is risky.
They also simply don’t have the cap space to attempt those moves right now. As things stand, New York is going to be hard-pressed to simply retain their roster that finished up the season with Ryan Strome and Anthony DeAngelo headlining a notable group of restricted free agents.
On top of that, Alexis Lafreniere (assuming he’s the top pick as expected) is also going to complicate their cap situation. Yes, he’ll have his base salary capped at $925K but he’s a lock to get a max bonus contract which features up to $850K in ‘A’ bonuses that are certainly achievable plus another $2MM in ‘B’ bonuses. Yes, the bonus overages can be rolled over to the following year but that would only delay the cap challenges. GM Jeff Gorton may want to leave himself some financial wiggle room to at least keep some of those bonuses in 2020-21 which means even if he wanted to splurge and spend to fill their vacancies, he couldn’t. Their roster upgrades in the short term will have to come from internal improvement.
acarneglia: With the Rangers winning the Draft Lottery, what does the near- and long-term future look like for the team?
As I noted above, this shouldn’t have much of an impact in the short term as they don’t have the cap space to fill their bigger roles while keeping the rest of the roster intact. Yes, adding Lafreniere will help while a full season from Igor Shesterkin should certainly improve their record as well so New York will be better but they’re not going to go from a bubble team to a contender right away.
Their long-term prospects are certainly promising though. Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko give them two players that should be high-end snipers and both will be around for a while. Artemi Panarin will be around for a while yet he’s certainly no slouch offensively either. They should be able to have the firepower to contend for a while although they will need to shore up their back end over the next few years which should represent their window with their young stars still under team control.
MZ311: Now that the Rangers have locked up the #1 pick, do they take Lafreniere, trade the pick, or take the top center on the board?
If Lafreniere wasn’t in a tier of his own in this draft class, I could at least entertain the idea of going with Quinton Byfield. But there is a sizable gap between the two and when you’re dealing with top-end talent, passing up on one for a better positional fit is the type of decision that could come back to haunt them down the road. Get the best player and then work out the fit afterwards.
As for the idea of trading the pick, I wouldn’t say no outright to that. Lafreniere isn’t a generational talent by any stretch, he just projects to be a high-scoring winger (which is still quite good). He’s someone that every team would want in the right fit and if there’s a team willing to part with a young center with a front line ceiling to get him, then it’s something that would need to be considered. Otherwise, they should make the safe and obvious play and select Lafreniere.
met man: What are the chances that Lundqvist hangs up his skates? Love the guy, but can’t see him happy being the #3 goalie on the Rangers.
I can think of $5.5MM reasons why Henrik Lundqvist won’t retire. I’m sure he’s not thrilled about his role down the stretch and where he likely sits on the depth chart but that’s a lot of money (a $1MM signing bonus and $4.5MM of salary) to leave on the table willingly.
If he’s thinking that he only wants to play for the Rangers in his NHL career, there are two more realistic options at play. One is that he’s bought out, resulting in a $5.5MM cap hit for 2020-21 ($3MM in savings) and $1.5MM in 2021-22. He gets most of the money that’s owed to him and then he retires or opts to go play overseas if the itch to play is still there. The other is that they find some sort of lingering issue that makes him eligible for LTIR. He stays on the books but New York could spend over the cap by up to his $8.5MM AAV, alleviating their cap concerns. There is a significant downside to that approach though as any achieved bonuses from Lafreniere, Kakko, or Shesterkin, would roll over to 2021-22. Shesterkin’s on a max-bonus deal (Lafreniere will be too) and Kakko is just below that so that’s a big risk to take, especially with other youngsters such as Adam Fox likely to hit some of their lower ones as well.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lundqvist’s time with the Rangers has come to an end but I would be surprised if he’s the one that initiates the separation by calling it a career and leaving that much money on the table.
CoachWall: If Henrik decides to stay, what might Georgie bring back in a trade?
The goalie trade market is always tough to predict. For starters, it often seems to be underwhelming although this offseason presents a whole new set of salary cap challenges which may make more cap-strapped teams desperate. While Alexandar Georgiev is a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility, he’s not going to be getting number one money. A one-year or two-year bridge deal is the likely outcome and that’s going to be affordable for most teams.
Georgiev’s trade value is ultimately going to be decided by whether or not there are teams that think he’s a future starter in this league. There are games where he looks like he will be but others where he has struggled considerably.
I see some parallels to another Ranger goalie who was in that situation a while ago and that’s Cam Talbot. He was stuck behind a long-term starter (Lundqvist) and had some flashes of dominance and others where he didn’t look so good. He ultimately went for second and third-round picks and I’d peg a baseline return around there unless there are several teams that view him as a starter of the future. If they stick with Lundqvist as Shesterkin’s backup, I think they’d prefer the picks or a prospect to avoid adding any more salary to the books. It may not be an overwhelming return but let’s face it, goalies rarely bring back a big package in a trade.
Eaton Harass: Who should the Rangers be targeting for a 2nd line center?
That’s certainly a void they’d like to have filled by a more proven option but I don’t think their best-case scenario sees them making a move to get one. It seems fair to infer that Strome is not the long-term solution at that position but spending big on an upgrade may not be the best idea considering their cap situation and the fact that Mika Zibanejad is only a couple of years away from UFA eligibility where he’ll be in line for a huge raise on his $5.35MM price tag if continues to play like he did this year. They’ll have to spend big on him and their wingers so a more cost-effective second center will be needed.
They may have that already in Filip Chytil. His performance the last couple of seasons has been a bit underwhelming but he has produced in the minors. The 20-year-old also hasn’t had a lot of ice time in the top six either. Strome’s career year had a lot to do with that but from a development perspective, they’d be wise to try to give Chytil a bigger role next season to better assess if he can hold his own as a capable second option or if they’ll eventually have to go outside the organization to fill that role and so much can change between now and next offseason to speculate on who could be feasible targets.
Impact top-six centers are hard to get and when you have limited money to spend on that spot, they’re even harder to acquire. In a perfect world, they’re targeting Chytil to be the guy behind Zibanejad and skipping the trade route and free agent market altogether.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NHL Announces 2020 King Clancy Finalists
The NHL has announced the finalists for the 2020 King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is presented “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Jason Zucker, then of the Minnesota Wild.
This year’s finalists are Matt Dumba of the Wild, Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers and P.K. Subban of the New Jersey Devils.
The selection committee, led by Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, consider the following criteria:
- Clear and measurable positive impact on the community
- Investment of time and resources
- Commitment to a particular cause or community
- Commitment to the League’s community initiatives
- Creativity of programming
- Use of influence; engagement of others
Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Penguins, Lundqvist
The Toronto Maple Leafs held a wide-ranging media availability today, where players and management both expressed their frustration with how the season ended. The Maple Leafs once again failed to win a postseason series, extending a drought that is now up to 15 years. In his part of the availability however, team president Brendan Shanahan told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that he still believed in the people running the program:
I have complete faith in Kyle (Dubas) as a general manager, in Sheldon (Keefe) as a coach and complete confidence in what we’re going to do here in Toronto.
Dubas, who has been on the job since taking over from Lou Lamoriello in 2018, stuck up for several of his players including Mitch Marner, whose criticism from fans over the last few days he called “idiotic.” The Maple Leafs now enter the offseason with a huge chunk of their salary cap tied up in their star forwards and lots of need to improve other areas.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t get much of the same defense from their general manager yesterday when Jim Rutherford said changes would have to be made. Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) released his annual examination of which roster players could be the target of Rutherford’s wrath and on their way out this summer. While Justin Schultz—a specific target of Rutherford yesterday—finds himself in the “So Long, Farewell” tier, so does Nick Bjugstad who just a few years ago was a 20-goal scorer with plenty of promise. Bjugstad recorded just one goal and two points in 13 games for the Penguins this season.
- The New York Rangers aren’t expected to carry three goalies next season and that could mean an end to Henrik Lundqvist‘s run with the franchise. That won’t be done without speaking to him first, however, as according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com team president John Davidson already had a “personal discussion” with the legendary goaltender after getting off the plane ride home. Lundqvist has always been loyal to the Rangers, but has another year with an $8.5MM cap hit and has already relinquished the starting role to Igor Shesterkin.