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Alexis Lafreniere Considers Possibility Of Playing In Europe

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The NHL draft lottery is scheduled for Friday, June 26, which likely will determine where top draft prospect Alexis Lafreniere will end up in the future. However, will that future begin in the 2020-21 season? With the NHL focused on the 24-team playoff format at the moment, little is known about when next season might get underway, although a long delay is expected before Lafreniere can start his NHL career.

With the playoffs likely to start in late July or August, it’s entirely possible that the 2020-21 season may not start until November or even later. With that being the case, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported recently on Insider Trading, that Lafreniere is likely to look into every possible option to get his season started on time. One possibility would be to sign a deal to play in Europe for a season (assuming that hockey starts in Europe on time).

“When is the National Hockey League going to begin the 2020-21 season? October? November? December? Even January? We don’t know,” said McKenzie. “On top of all that, where’s Alexis Lafreniere going to play this fall if the NHL season isn’t happening until January and the draft isn’t until October or November? Is the CHL going to be playing? Is the American Hockey League an option? We don’t know at this point. But one thing I can tell you – Emilie Castonguay for Alexis Lafreniere is looking at all the options on the table and that will include seeing if the European club teams are up and operating in September and October.”

Lafreniere, barring an unforeseen circumstance, is expected to be the first-overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft, but the draft is expected to be delayed until after the conclusion of the NHL playoffs, which could be in September or October. NHL.com’s Mike Morreale revealed that Lafreniere won the CHL’s Top Draft Prospect Award on Friday, his fourth award since his season with Rimouski Oceanic ended due to COVID-19. He also won the Jean Beliveau Trophy as the leading scorer in the QMJHL with 112 points, the Paul Dumont Trophy for the QHJHL’s top personality and the Michel Briere Trophy as the QMJHL’s top player.

The only notable comparison for such a move might be Auston Matthews, who played in the NLA. However, that was the year before he was drafted. Regardless, it still seems like a longshot that Lafreniere would pass up his first NHL season over a few months. The Detroit Red Wings have the best chances of winning the draft lottery at 18.5 percent.

Peter Cehlarik Linked To HC Lugano

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Last month, Bruins forward Peter Cehlarik voiced his frustration with head coach Bruce Cassidy in an interview with TA3 in his native Slovakia and indicated that he was looking for a change of scenery.  That change doesn’t appear to be coming with another NHL team though.  Instead, he appears to be heading overseas.  His agent Louis Leitch told Mattias Persson of HockeyNews.se last week that he was fielding interest from teams in Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.  It appears he’ll be heading to the latter of the three countries as a report from Flavio Viglezio of Corriere Del Ticino in Switzerland has the 24-year-old close to signing with HC Lugano of the Swiss NLA.

After a strong rookie AHL season in 2016-17 that also saw him get into 11 games with Boston, it looked as if Cehlarik was going to be a part of their future core.  However, he hasn’t progressed much since then and wound up clearing waivers this season.  He played in 48 games with AHL Providence this year and picked up a respectable 16 goals and 21 assists while adding an assist in three contests with the big club.

As a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility this offseason, the Bruins can retain his NHL rights by issuing him a qualifying offer.  However, with Cehlarik expressing his desire to leave on top of what appears to be stagnated development, they could also just decide to cut bait altogether by non-tendering him later this offseason.

Brian Gibbons Linked To NLA

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If the NHL season (or postseason) does commence at some point this summer with expanded rosters, you can bet that Brian Gibbons would be an ideal candidate to provide some depth for the Carolina Hurricanes. The veteran forward has plenty of NHL experience but has spent most of this season in the minor leagues. Even if he does spend some more time with the Hurricanes however, he might be headed elsewhere when the season concludes. A report out of Switzerland today suggests that Gibbons will sign a contract with Lausanne HC of the NLA for next season.

Lausanne recently parted ways with Petteri Lindbohm, another former NHL player, but Gibbons would be joining Mark Barberio and Cory Conacher among the foreign players for the team. The 32-year old forward played 15 games for Carolina this season but failed to register a single point, recording 18 in 26 minor league contests instead.

Gibbons has over 200 games in the NHL, but it is clear that his best chance to be an impact player at that level is behind him. He did score 12 goals and 26 points in just 59 games for the New Jersey Devils in 2017-18, a total that looks like it will end up his career-high.

With a new transfer agreement in place between the NHL and NLA, Gibbons’ contract with the Hurricanes will need to expire before he’s technically allowed to sign a new one with Lausanne—if in fact that’s where he’s heading next season.

Mikkel Boedker Signs In NLA

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Though the Ottawa Senators technically haven’t been eliminated from play in 2019-20 yet, Mikkel Boedker has already planned the next step of his hockey career. The veteran forward has signed a two-year contract with HC Lugano in the Swiss NLA that will begin whenever the Senators season is officially over.

Boedker, 30, is in the last season of a four-year, $16MM deal signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2016. The speedy winger was originally selected eighth overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2008, and though he does have some success at the NHL level he never became that dominant offensive presence that many believed he could be.

Through 709 NHL contests, Boedker scored 118 goals and 327 points, only making the playoffs on a handful of occasions. Senators fans will likely only remember him as part of a frustrating sequence of trades that ended up with Mike Hoffman heading to a division rival, given he played just 91 games for the team over the last two seasons.

A two-year deal at this point may mean Boedker’s NHL journey is over, but it certainly doesn’t mean he will disappear from the hockey consciousness. One of the best players in the world from Denmark, he has competed at six World Championships, Olympic qualifiers, and a World Cup for his country.

Snapshots: Antipin, KHL Rumors, Bakersfield, Tugnutt

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Just one day after his KHL contract was terminated, former Buffalo Sabres defenseman Victor Antipin has quickly found a new team. KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg has announced that they have signed Antipin to a two-year contract. The 27-year-old is joining just his second KHL club and third pro club ever, as Antipin grew up in the development system of Metallurg Magnitogorsk and played for their KHL team on either side of his 2017-18 season with the Sabres. Antipin heads to SKA with 144 points in 381 career KHL games, not to mention ten points in 47 NHL games. The puck-moving defenseman will still be on the right side of 30 when his new contract expires, so a return to North America in the future cannot be ruled out.

  • Two other notable names are expected be on the move in Europe. Johan Svensson of the Kvalls Posten reports that Swedish winger Pontus Aberg is headed back overseas for the first time since 2013-14. The 26-year-old forward spent this season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his fifth NHL franchise in six years, but played in only five games at the top level. Aberg has had a difficult time carving out a full-time role in any of his NHL stops, so he is expected to move on. Svensson reports that Aberg is currently negotiating with the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk and is likely to end up in the KHL one way or another. Meanwhile, fellow Swede Oscar Lindberg is nearing an agreement with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow, reports Russian source Championat. Lindberg surprisingly was unable to find an NHL home this past off-season and signed with EV Zug of the Swiss NLA. The 28-year-old had a strong season is Switzerland and is now upgrading to Europe’s top league. Lindberg, who has five full NHL seasons to his credit, has been a useful player throughout his pro career and it is no wonder that he is in demand for one of the KHL’s top teams.
  • The AHL’s Bakersfield Condors have made an intriguing signing, adding collegiate defenseman Yanni Kaldis on a two-year deal. Kaldis, 24, was the captain of the Cornell Big Red this season, one of the top teams in the NCAA. A productive two-way defenseman in college, Kaldis has proven that he has pro chops and could play a major role for the Condors. Bakersfield also extended forward Jakob Stukel, a former Vancouver Canucks prospect who suited up for 36 games with the team this season.
  • Matt Tugnutt, son of former NHL goaltender Ron Tugnutt, is transferring schools. The talented forward may not be going far geographically, but he is making a major move in terms of competition level and ability to compete for a national title. Tugnutt, 23, will play his senior season at Providence College after spending his first three years at Sacred Heart, he announced on his personal Twitter. A near point-per-game player and a +21 for a very good Sacred Heart team this year, Tugnutt is a big addition for the Friars. However, he will have to adjust quickly to the difference between Atlantic and Hockey East competition if he hopes to make a similar impact.

NHL Announces New Player Transfer Agreements

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The NHL has announced new player transfer agreements today, including one-year extensions with the existing ones. Those include the IIHF Member Federations/Leagues in Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

They have also extended the existing CHL Agreement with the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL, QMJHL). This means that nothing will change in regards to players drafted out of the CHL being eligible for AHL play before the age of 20. Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) recently polled scouts on whether the believed the agreement should be amended; 60% felt it should be, however, any changes will have to wait at least another year.

The biggest news however is the new one-year agreement with the Swiss Ice Hockey Association and Swiss League, something that previously did not exist. This will provide extra opportunities for players in Switzerland to come over to North America, and will slightly tweak the rules for draft picks out of the league.

With these agreements announced, we will likely see a flood of contracts for European players officially filed over the next few days.

SC Bern Hires Florence Schelling As GM

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In what is a groundbreaking hire, SC Bern of the Swiss National League has announced that former national team goaltender Florence Schelling will now serve as sports director and GM. Schelling becomes the first woman to be named GM of a top-tier men’s professional team.

Bern is one of the most popular teams in the world outside of North America and has previously been the home for many NHL talents. Players like Daniel Briere, Dany Heatley, Marc Savard, John Tavares and others from North America have suited up for the club during NHL lockouts, while Swiss-born stars like Roman Josi and Nico Hischier were developed by the organization.

Schelling meanwhile was no slouch on the ice, netminding for the Swiss national team for more than a decade. She appeared in ten World Championships, four Olympics and is one of the best goaltenders in Northeastern University’s history. In 2012 she was named a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award as the NCAA’s top collegiate player and has twice taken home the Swiss Ice Hockey Woman of the Year award.

In the 2014 Olympics she carried an underdog Swiss team to the bronze medal, stopping 28 of 31 shots in the third-place game against Sweden to win tournament MVP (and best goaltender). It’s hard to find a more decorated women’s hockey player in Switzerland, but this next chapter will be even more notable for Schelling as she takes the reins of a powerhouse National League team. Bern’s arena holds more than 17,000 fans and draws capacity crowds on a regular basis, putting it right on par (or ahead of) many NHL franchises.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Tim Berni

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have added another prospect to the cupboard, signing Swiss defenseman Tim Berni to a three-year entry-level contract. Berni recently finished his second full season with Zurich in the NLA and has attended Blue Jackets’ development camp in the past.

Those fans who watched the World Juniors closely the last few years will remember seeing Berni, as he competed in three-straight tournaments for Switzerland between 2018 and 2020. The undersized by agile defenseman captained the squad at the most recent event and was named a top-3 player on the team.

Selected 159th overall in 2018, there was nowhere to go but up for Berni in terms of prospect status, and he has done just that. Earning an entry-level deal is just the first step on what should be an interesting professional journey in North America. The 20-year old left-handed defenseman recorded just 11 points in 45 games for Zurich this season but has shown solid progress on the defensive side of the puck.

Cory Conacher Expected To Sign In Swiss League

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Five years ago, Cory Conacher decided to head to Switzerland over primarily playing in the AHL but came back after that one season.  It appears that the pending unrestricted free agent is leaning towards going down that path again as Gregory Beaud and Jerome Reynard of Le Matin report that Conacher is expected to sign with Lausanne of the Swiss NLA for next season.

The 30-year-old has seen at least one NHL game with the Lightning in each of the four seasons he has played since the 2016-17 campaign.  However, aside from a 36-game stretch in 2017-18, his role has primarily been as a short-term injury recall with the majority of his playing time coming in the minors.

This season, Conacher has played in four games with Tampa Bay, collecting a single assist.  However, he continues to be quite productive in the minors, tallying 14 goals and 24 assists in 43 games with AHL Syracuse.  It’s that ability to produce in the AHL that has helped lead the Lightning to give him one-way deals in three of the last four seasons but with his NHL time diminishing, it would certainly be understandable if they didn’t want to do so again.

If this is indeed the end of his NHL playing days, he’ll wrap up with 75 points in 193 NHL contests between the Lightning (two separate stints), Senators, Sabres, and Islanders.

NLA’s EHC Biel-Bienne Pursuing NHL Free Agent Targets

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The Swiss season is over, as the NLA has decided to cancel the remainder of its season. However, that will give perennial contender EHC Biel-Bienne even more time to plan ahead for what they hope is an impact off-season. According to Swedish news source Hockey Sverige, the club plans to go after some impending NHL free agent defensemen. The trio specifically named are all Swedes and include the Anaheim Ducks’ Christian Djoos and Joel Persson and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Gustav Forsling.

Djoos, 25, was just recently traded to the Ducks by the Washington Capitals and is set to be a restricted free agent this summer. A former AHL standout, Djoos grew into a regular contributor for the Caps in the previous two seasons, but roster and salary cap pressure forced him back to the minors this year. However, since the trade to Anaheim he has played exclusively in the NHL, recording three points in nine games which is technically a career-high clip albeit in a small sample size. Given Djoos’ history and RFA status, he seems the least likely of the listed names to jump to Switzerland this summer.

Persson, 26, is an entirely different case, other than the fact that he too will be an RFA. Persson has no NHL history other than his 13 games this season with the Edmonton Oilers. An undrafted prospect who turned heads in the SHL, Persson signed with the Oilers back in 2018 but was loaned back to Sweden last season. He was extended and came over to suit up for the Oilers this year, but failed to impress and has spent the bulk of the season in the AHL. Persson was dealt to Anaheim for next to nothing – ECHL goaltender Angus Redmond and a 2022 conditional seventh-round pick – at the deadline and has not played for the Ducks yet. He could very well depart North America after a disappointing year, but may choose to head elsewhere rather than go back to Sweden. Biel could be an attractive option in this case.

Forsling, 23, is the youngest of the players named and is also the hardest to speculate on. After beginning his pro career with considerable NHL action in each of his first three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, the young defender has played exclusively in the AHL this season following an off-season trade to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are exceptionally deep on the blue line and that isn’t about to change. Heading into next season, Forsling will be eighth or ninth at best on the organization’s depth chart. As such, if the team opts to make him a qualifying offer, he could choose instead to depart North America and play a top role somewhere else. However, it’s fair to argue that remaining in the AHL may still be the better decision for his career. Of the players named, Forsling would be the least likely to stay with Biel long-term, but could produce the greatest immediate impact.

At this point, it is difficult to project that any of these three names will end up jumping to the NLA to play for Biel, especially given that all three are restricted free agents and that Djoos and Forsling have considerable NHL experience for their ages. However, if the top Swiss club pushes hard, potentially using this extended off-season to their advantage, they may be able to convince one of these three or another NHL free agent that a move to Biel to play a top pair role is the right call.

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