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Metropolitan Notes: Kolosov, Kakko, Boll

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While a report last weekend indicated that Flyers goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov told the team he wouldn’t report to AHL Lehigh Valley in the fall, general manager Daniel Brière says the team doesn’t “have any confirmation that he’s not coming back” and expects him to be their third-string netminder this season, he told Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now.

Kolosov, 22, signed his entry-level contract last summer but was returned on loan to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. Only after Dinamo’s season ended was Kolosov brought over to North America, where he finished the season with an .885 SV% in only two games for Lehigh Valley.

Last weekend, sources told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey that Kolosov felt isolated after arriving in North America, a notion Brière refuted in his interview with Carchidi. “As we know, he’s coming back for camp in September,” the GM said. “He was not left by himself, and we thought everything was going good. If he wants to play hockey, he has to come back over. He’s under contract with us, so that’s why I don’t understand all the fuss. I guess a Russian team could say they’re not going to honor the contract. But he’s under contract with the Flyers and that’s where he’s going to have to play if he wants to play hockey.”

Kolosov, a third-round pick of Philadelphia in 2021, posted a .907 SV%, 2.39 GAA and 22-21-3 record with four shutouts in 47 games for Minsk last season.

Here’s more from the Metropolitan:

  • In a mailbag for The Athletic, Arthur Staple opines that Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko is stuck as a “buy-low” trade candidate after signing a one-year, $2.4MM deal for this season back in June. While Staple says there’s been some amount of documented interest in the 2019 second-overall pick on the trade market, he’s “not a player other teams are coveting.” The Finn averaged a career-low 13:17 per game under head coach Peter Laviolette last year amid the worst offensive showing of his five-year NHL resume, limited to 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 61 games.
  • While the Blue Jackets settled on their next head coach with the hiring of Dean Evason last month, it didn’t mean the rest of the coaching staff was set in stone. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported a couple of weeks ago that the futures of all three of their assistants, Jared Boll, Steve McCarthy and Mark Recchi, were up in the air pending meetings with Evason. Today, Portzline confirmed that Boll’s job is safe for next season, while McCarthy’s and Recchi’s futures haven’t been decided on. The Blue Jackets were already down an assistant after opting not to renew the contract of Josef Boumedienne.

New York Notes: Wahlstrom, Nelson, Trouba, Barbashev

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Breaking down a variety of Islanders topics in a mailbag published Thursday, Arthur Staple of The Athletic believes a waiver placement is the most likely option for winger Oliver Wahlstrom when training camps wrap up in a couple of months.

The Isles avoided an arbitration hearing with Wahlstrom last month, settling with the RFA on a one-year, $1MM contract. But it was clear at the time that the settlement didn’t necessarily mean he’d be back in an Islanders uniform next season.

Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello has been shopping the 2018 11th overall pick as far back as the June draft, but Staple believes offers for the winger have “been tepid at best.” He also says that Wahlstrom likely doesn’t have a path to regular bottom-six minutes under head coach Patrick Roy, but that he also “would need to have an incredible camp to secure a top-six spot.” His trade value will remain the same if he sticks in the press box, and the Isles don’t have the cap flexibility to routinely make a seven-figure cap hit player a healthy scratch. For that reason, if Wahlstrom finds his way out of Long Island in the coming weeks, it’ll likely be on the waiver wire.

Here’s more from the New York teams:

  • The Isles have a bevy of crucial pending free agents, namely second-line center Brock Nelson. Staple believes they’d consider shopping Nelson before the trade deadline “if they’re well out of [the playoff race],” but if they opt to work on an extension, it’ll likely result in a long-term deal to keep his cap hit down. The cap-strapped Isles also need to ink star blue liner Noah Dobson to a new deal next summer – he’s a pending RFA. Nelson turns 33 in October, so a seven or eight-year extension would take him into his 40s.
  • Last month, the dust largely settled on a hectic summer for Rangers captain Jacob Trouba with a report that he was likely to remain with the Blueshirts this season after a heavy dose of trade rumors. The 30-year-old, who has two years left on his contract with a hefty $8MM cap hit, told The Athletic’s Peter Baugh that he’s happy to remain with New York and excited for the upcoming campaign. “It’s part of the business,” Trouba said. “I knew that part of my contract turned this year (to a no-trade list), and I submitted a list. That’s what I did. All the other noise was pretty much noise.” The defender also dispelled any notion that there was a rift between he and Rangers GM Chris Drury, saying communication with the entire front office was “great the whole time” throughout the summer.
  • The Rangers no longer own the signing rights to 2022 fifth-round pick Maxim Barbashev, but he’s staying in the organization on a one-year contract with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, the team announced today. The 20-year-old winger is coming off a disappointing fourth junior campaign in which he was limited to 35 points in 59 games between the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats and Shawinigan Cataractes. His signing rights lapsed after he wasn’t signed to an entry-level contract by the Blueshirts before June 1, but he’ll now get a bit of runway with Hartford to prove he can adjust to the pro game.

Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Montgomery, Nadeau, Daws

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The Rangers’ defense core from last season is largely returning, minus Erik Gustafsson, who departed for the Red Wings in free agency. But the big stars and supporting cast are largely back, even down to seventh defenseman Chad Ruhwedel. All that likely means more opportunity for the younger Zachary Jones, who’s spent the last few seasons in a fringe role. But as Peter Baugh of The Athletic writes, that lack of major moves will mean defense takes the top spot on the Rangers’ trade deadline shopping list.

New York’s group of defenders was good enough to get them to another President’s Trophy last season and deep into the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost to the eventual champion Panthers. But it will rely more on youth next season, asking more out of Jones and especially Braden Schneider. Schneider is expected to assume top-four duties on the right side, with captain Jacob Trouba declining into a third-pairing role.

“The type of defenseman Drury pursues could depend on how the team looks through the first half,” Baugh wrote. “If Jones settles in nicely, the Rangers probably could look more at shutdown candidates. If Trouba and Lindgren both rebound from up-and-down 2023-24s, the front office could look to someone more offensive-minded.”

The Blue Jackets’ Ivan Provorov and the Kraken’s William Borgen and Adam Larsson are among some preliminary targets should the Rangers look to pick up a rental blue-liner in March, Baugh opines.

There’s more from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Hurricanes defense prospect Bryce Montgomery is staying in the organization on a two-way AHL/ECHL deal with the Chicago Wolves next season, the team announced yesterday. Montgomery, 21, was a sixth-round pick of the team in 2021 but has yet to sign his entry-level contract. They have until June 1, 2025, to sign him before his exclusive draft rights expire. Montgomery spent last season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, with 14 points and a +4 rating in 42 games.
  • Sticking with Carolina, 2023 first-round pick Bradly Nadeau is fully intent on making the NHL roster out of camp in his first full professional season, he told NHL.com’s Kurt Dusterberg. Nadeau, 19, was drafted out of the British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees and jumped to NCAA hockey for 2023-24, lighting up the collegiate circuit with 46 points in 37 games for Maine as a freshman. That performance made him a one-and-done player, and he signed his entry-level contract with Carolina to close out last season. “The jump from Penticton (of the BCHL) to the NCAA is honestly probably a bigger jump than what he is going to do next,” Hurricanes assistant general manager Darren Yorke told Dusterberg. “No disrespect to the league he played in previously, but that’s a huge jump.” He could be an impact piece to watch with multiple open spots in Carolina’s forward group.
  • The Devils yesterday re-upped RFA netminder Nico Daws on a two-year contract, which carries a two-way structure in 2024-25 before converting to a one-way deal in 2025-26. Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advance Media writes that indicates a clear succession plan at backup with veteran Jake Allen entering the final season of his contract. Daws will likely start this season on assignment to AHL Utica, but the 23-year-old should be ready for full-time backup duties behind Jacob Markstrom in 2025-26.

Rangers, Ryan Lindgren Avoid Arbitration

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4:25 PM: The Rangers have confirmed the signing according to a public announcement.

12:52 PM: The Rangers and defenseman Ryan Lindgren have reached an agreement prior to their arbitration hearing, which was scheduled for Aug. 2. It’s a one-year deal worth $4.5MM, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Lindgren, 26, will return to the Blueshirts for his seventh NHL season. In his time in New York thus far, the Minnesota-born blue liner has blossomed as a stay-at-home partner for Adam Fox on the team’s top pair. Lindgren’s averaged 19:34 per game since 2020-21, and his offense has remained consistent, providing between 15 and 20 points per campaign. However, he’s coming off a difficult season, one that likely impacted how long negotiations stretched out.

At first glance, last season seemed par for the course for Lindgren, who had 17 points and a +22 rating in 76 appearances while averaging 19:21 per night. But advanced metrics painted a much different story, as his relative CF% and xGF% dipped into the negatives for the first time since his rookie season. The Rangers were out-attempted 1,258-1,153 with Lindgren on the ice at even strength, and his pairing with Fox only controlled 46.5% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. That figure is way down from 54.6% in 2022-23.

The younger brother of Capitals netminder Charlie Lindgren will try and redeem himself in a 2024-25 campaign that will be the most important of his career. That’s because a one-year pact walks him directly to unrestricted free agency next summer.

After signing Lindgren, the Rangers’ projected opening-night roster is at a full 23-player count with $623K in projected cap space, per PuckPedia. That prorates to about $2.8MM in space come trade deadline day. He’ll be given a chance to reprise his first-pairing role alongside Fox, hopefully with better possession play at even strength.

Last season, Lindgren finished seventh on the Rangers in hits (114) and fifth in blocks (103). Drafted by the Bruins in the second round in 2016, Lindgren was acquired in a 2018 deal that sent Rick Nash to Boston.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Eric Staal Announces Retirement

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It’s been all quiet on the Western Front for Eric Staal for over a year now. The free-agent center reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers in 2023 but didn’t sign or play anywhere last season.

On Tuesday, Staal confirmed he’d played his last NHL game, signing a one-day contract with Carolina to retire as a Hurricane. The Canes will also retire Staal’s No. 12 at a yet-to-be-announced game this season.

“I want to thank my family, former teammates, coaches and staff members who played a role in helping me live my dream, playing in the NHL,” Staal said in a statement released by the team. “I will forever treasure the memories and friendships made during my 18 years in the world’s best league.”

“There was no doubt in my mind that when it became time to hang up my skates, I would want to retire as a Carolina Hurricane,” he continued. “To now also know that the team is retiring my No. 12 is truly humbling and I am extremely grateful and honored.”

Staal, 39, is often overlooked as one of the NHL’s early salary-cap-era stars. But the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was always expected to make an indelible impact on the Canes after being drafted second overall in the famously stacked 2003 draft. While he hasn’t played there in over eight years – his tenure ended with a trade to the Rangers in 2016 – he’s still arguably the most impactful talent in Carolina history since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.

His best came early, erupting as a sophomore in the 2005-06 season to lead the Canes in scoring with 45 goals and 100 points, both career-highs. 21 at the time, Staal was the centerpiece of the Canes’ best season in franchise history to that point, crossing the 50-win and 100-point thresholds for the first time. It ended in glory, adding nine goals and 28 points in 25 playoff games as he led the team in scoring en route to their first and only Stanley Cup.

Over parts of 12 seasons in Raleigh, Staal solidified himself as the Canes’ post-relocation leader in games played (909), goals (322), assists (453), points (775), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13) – hat tip to the team’s Walt Ruff for those stats. He averaged over 20 minutes per game in a Carolina uniform and served as their captain from 2009 to 2016, succeeding franchise pillar Rod Brind’Amour.

Age-related decline came for Staal early, though, and his point totals were steadily decreasing by the time he was traded to the Rangers at age 31. His stay with the Blueshirts didn’t extend past the last few months of the season, and he landed in the State of Hockey with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2016. He had a bit of a resurgence in Minnesota, most remembered for a 42-goal, 76-point campaign in 2017-18 that placed him 17th in Hart Trophy voting. But his days of being a dominant top-line threat were behind him.

He played the final few seasons of his career with the Sabres, Canadiens and Panthers, serving as a good veteran depth piece on Montreal and Florida teams that each reached the championship series (2021 and 2023, respectively). But he couldn’t recapture the honor he had nearly two decades ago and was on the losing end of both series.

All in all, Staal wraps up his career with 455 goals, 608 assists and 1,063 points in 1,365 NHL games across 18 seasons. The eldest of the four Staal brothers with NHL experience, including Jared Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal, retires at 76th on the league’s all-time scoring list. All of us at PHR congratulate Staal on a championship-caliber career and wish him the best as he enters the next phase of his hockey career.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker

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It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL.  After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around.  As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending.  Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.

Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.

Contracts Settled

D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM

Contracts Awarded

D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)

Scheduled Hearings

none

A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:

  • A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
  • Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
  • Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
  • The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
  • The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.

Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded.  The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.

Rempe Hoping For A Bigger Role, Wants To Work On Penalty Killing

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  • After having a very limited role when he was in the lineup down the stretch last season, Rangers winger Matt Rempe told reporters including Larry Brooks of the New York Post that he’s hoping to secure a more prominent role for next season, singling out the penalty kill as an area he wants to work on. The 22-year-old averaged just 5:38 in 17 games during the regular season so even becoming a passable option shorthanded could allow him to play more of a regular role as he looks to lock down a full-time roster spot.

Rangers' Reilly Smith Could Start Season In Top-Line Role

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  • After a tough season with the Penguins, veteran winger Reilly Smith could find himself in a top-line role with the Rangers come opening night, writes NHL.com’s David Satriano. The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners have a demonstrable hole at right wing in their top six and were on the hunt for a more offensively-inclined partner for Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad at even strength. Smith, 33, was limited to 13 goals and 40 points in 76 games last season in Pittsburgh. That’s likely not the high-octane punch the Blueshirts are looking for, but it would be an upgrade over the rotating cast of Kaapo Kakko, Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler that held the role last season. Smith “probably will be given the first chance” to fill that vacancy after being acquired via trade, Satriano posits, but it could end up being their top trade deadline wish list item should he fail to make an impact.

AHL Notes: Weissbach, Penguins, Wolf Pack

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Free agent forward Linus Weissbach has signed with Frölunda HC of the SHL. Weissbach was a Group-VI UFA with the Sabres, effectively moving to unrestricted free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer from the team before July 1st.

This move returns Weissbach to his hometown of Göteborg, Sweden, where Weissbach grew up through the Frölunda pipeline. He made his debut with the organization’s top club in 2016, though he only played in one game before moving to North America and pursuing a four-year career with the University of Wisconsin. He graduated college in 2021 and has since spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, accumulating 117 points across 191 games in the minor leagues. But despite consistent production and a stout role in Rochester’s top-six, Weissbach was never the top option for a call-up, losing standing to more robust minor leaguers like Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray, and more recently bumped out by prospects like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen.

With that logjam only increasing after Buffalo’s successful 2024 NHL Draft, Weissbach will change his focus to pursuing a career with his hometown club. Frölunda’s sporting director Fredrik Sjöström shared his excitement for the move, saying, “We have lost two offensively skilled players in [Malte Strömwall] and [Jere Innala]. We wanted to bring in offensive skill and “Weiss” is just that. He is a skilled forward with good speed and plays like a pattern breaker. He fits what we wanted. We’ve been on him for a while and knew we needed to wait for some other parameters before he could choose us (Linus has been a free agent in North America). But he did and we are happy about that, says Fredrik Sjöström, sports director.”

Other notes out of the minor leagues:

  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added Nick Luukko as an assistant coach. Luukko, 32, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, leading the team to the postseason in each year, though they never made it past the second round. He earned the role with Jacksonville just two seasons after ending his own playing career – which spanned 274 ECHL games – after just one season as an ECHL assistant coach. He’ll now fast-track to the next level, joining a Penguins organization in the midst of cycling out much of their org chart.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack have hired Brendan Burke as a goaltending coach. Burke has spent the last two seasons as a goaltending coach for his former youth and junior hockey teams – the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Portland Winterhawks. He earned an NHL Draft selection with Portland in 2012-13, hearing his name called in the sixth round by his hometown Phoenix Coyotes. Burke is the son of legendary NHL goaltender Sean Burke, who is now serving as Vegas’ Director of Goaltending.

Jacob Trouba Likely To Remain With Rangers Next Season

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After a healthy dose of trade rumors earlier in the offseason, it appears Rangers captain Jacob Trouba won’t be on the move this summer after all, reports Arthur Staple of The Athletic. Staple adds that “there was never anything close” in regards to a rumored deal around the draft that would have sent Trouba to the Red Wings, which he would have nixed anyway by placing Detroit on his 15-team no-trade list. A source also tells Staple that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has spoken to Trouba in the past few weeks to do some “fence-mending on the team’s part.”

One important consideration in any Trouba trade, as Staple highlights, is the lack of a suitable internal replacement. The Blueshirts don’t have a right-shot defenseman ready to take on everyday NHL minutes behind Adam Fox and Braden Schneider. They only have three RDs signed to NHL contracts outside of that trio – veteran depth defender Chad Ruhwedel, who’s best served as a No. 7, Casey Fitzgerald, who spent all of last season in the minors; and 22-year-old Victor Mancini, who’s a few years away from NHL consideration as he enters his first professional campaign. There aren’t any impact UFAs left on the market who would replace Trouba’s two-way, physically-oriented style of play, either.

It is clear that Trouba should expect a decreased workload in the Big Apple next season, though. The 30-year-old has averaged north of 21 minutes per game in all 11 of his NHL seasons, but that streak could come to an end with the younger Schneider set to be elevated into a top-four role after a strong end to the 2023-24 campaign. Trouba, who’s signed to an $8MM cap hit through 2025-26, is coming off arguably the most disappointing season of his career with 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) with a -7 rating in 69 games. He struggled to control possession, posting a career-low 47.2 CF% at even strength.

That down season, plus his hefty no-trade list, made his deal understandably difficult to move. Staple expects that to change next summer, calling the chances of a Trouba trade in the 2025 offseason “nearly certain.” That’s because the Rangers will need every inch of cap space available to re-sign RFAs Alexis Lafrenière, K’Andre Miller and top pending UFA netminder Igor Shesterkin, whose combined cap hits could very well total over $20MM.

A lack of a Trouba move indicates the Rangers are likely done with major moves for the summer. They have over $5.1MM in projected cap space remaining, per PuckPedia, but a solid chunk of that will go toward a new deal for RFA defender Ryan Lindgren.

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