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Minor Transactions: 12/15/22

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It’ll be a busy night on the NHL schedule tonight as 24 of the league’s 32 clubs will do battle. Among the many contests are a few games that look like they’ll be especially entertaining, such as the New York Rangers taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs and the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins going up against a Florida Panthers squad looking to spark some sustained positive momentum. As we keep track of this flurry of action tonight, we’ll also track notable transactions in minor leagues and foreign leagues. Those moves can be found here:

  • 2016 Rangers sixth-round pick Tyler Wall signed a one-year AHL contract with the Hershey Bears, the top affiliate of the Washington Capitals, today. While Wall, 24, couldn’t quite carve out a consistent role in the Rangers organization after a successful four-year collegiate career at UMass-Lowell, he now has an AHL contract in hand and the rest of the season to put some quality starts on his resume for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.
  • Quinton Howden, a 2010 first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, was released from his tryout contract with Jukurit, a team in the Finnish Liiga. Howden scored just one point in ten games for Jukurit despite playing middle-six minutes and getting a chance on their power play. Howden, 30, scored 18 points in 45 games last season for Cologne in the German DEL and will look for a contract with another club to continue his pro career.
  • J.D. Dudek, a 2014 fourth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils, signed a one-year contract with the Coventry Blaze, a team in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the United Kingdom’s top pro hockey league. The 26-year-old went overseas this summer after two seasons in the ECHL, signing with Tranas AIF in the third tier of Swedish hockey. The former Boston College Eagle had eight points in 14 games in Sweden and will look to keep that solid scoring up as he joins a new league.
  • Nando Eggenberger, a former NHL draft prospect who three times represented his native Switzerland at the World Junior Championships, signed a two-year contract with Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta. The deal will begin next season, as Eggenberger will finish out 2022-23 with his current club, Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. The former Oshawa General has seven points in 29 games so far this season.
  • Another Swiss club announced the signing of a young forward to a two-year contract beginning next season: the ZSC Lions. Per their announcement, they signed forward Yannick Zehnder, currently of EV Zug, to a two-year, 2023-2025 contract. Zehnder is a Swiss champion who has six points in 27 games so far this season.
  • Talented veteran defenseman Nick Bailen saw his KHL rights change hands today, with Spartak Moscow acquiring them from Traktor Chelyabinsk in exchange for 27-year-old blueliner Alexander Bryntsev. While Bailen, 33, is currently playing for Cologne in the DEL, he has 367 KHL games on his resume, including a brilliant 2021-22 season where he scored 42 points in 49 games. If Bailen makes the choice to return to the KHL, it seems now he’ll have to do so in Moscow.
  • Veteran KHL depth defenseman Ruslan Ibatullin had his contract with KHL side Admiral Vladivostok terminated today. The 28-year-old had set a career-high in KHL games played this season, getting into 34 contests in Vladivostok. In need of a new contract, it’s likely that Ibatullin will return to playing in the second-tier VHL, the league where he has spent the bulk of his professional career.

Three Columbus Blue Jackets Injured, Brendan Gaunce Recalled

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced a flurry of injury updates today, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. Forward Jakub Voracek is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, Sean Kuraly is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Patrik Laine is day-to-day with an illness. Forward Brendan Gaunce was also recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, per a team release.

Voracek missed the second game of Columbus’ Global Series matchups in Finland last week with the injury. It’s a huge blow to their depth scoring if he’s out long-term, as he was tied for second in scoring on the team with six points in 11 games.

Kuraly sustained his upper-body injury in the second Global Series game, leaving in the second period after playing 8:09. He had two goals and two assists through 12 games and was tied for the worst +/- rating on the team (-8).

Laine’s illness is hopefully short-term, as he’s only been present for half of the Blue Jackets’ season thus far with an elbow injury. The Finnish winger has scored twice and is averaging nearly 20 minutes a game.

Gaunce ends up on the active roster as the only healthy extra. The AHL veteran was off to a hot start in Cleveland, registering 11 points through 10 games.

Tyler Ennis Signs In Switzerland

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After lots of discussion about whether he would head to Europe, O2K Sports Management today confirmed that their client, free agent forward Tyler Ennis, has signed on with SC Bern in the NL for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Bern is already off to a strong 8-2-4 start, but only three of those eight wins have come in regulation. Ennis essentially replaces another former NHL forward on their roster, Dominik Kahun, who is expected back from a shoulder injury in early December. Kahun had eight points through his first seven games.

Ennis should headline what is already a red-hot offense for Bern to start the year, spearheaded by a trio of former NHLers: Christopher Didomenico (18 points in 12 games), Colton Sceviour (11 points in 14 games), and Oscar Lindberg (10 points in 14 games). In his last stint in the NL (then the NLA) during the brief 2012-13 lockout, Ennis had eight points in nine games with the SCL Tigers.

The veteran of exactly 700 NHL games had a rather productive season last year with the Ottawa Senators in a depth role, notching 24 points in 57 games, but there were no takers for Ennis on the free agent market last offseason. Now 33 years old, the speedy, diminutive forward likely closed the book on his NHL career by heading overseas. If so, he finished with 144 goals, 202 assists, and 346 points across 13 seasons with the Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 26th overall in 2008.

Latest On Patrik Laine

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The Columbus Blue Jackets got some tough news last week when star winger Patrik Laine sustained an elbow sprain in the team’s season opener and had to be moved to injured reserve immediately. Fortunately, though, it seems his three-to-four-week recovery timeline is still right on schedule, if not a bit ahead. The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger reported today that Laine skated on his own in full gear for the past two days at the team’s practice facility. Hedger also noted the Finnish star is confident he’ll be ready to play by the first week of November when the Blue Jackets travel to Finland to play a set of games against the Colorado Avalanche.

That’s obviously a huge deal for Laine personally, but also the league, as Laine is the most marketable hometown player who’ll skate in the back-to-back set of games in Tampere. Laine hails directly from Tampere, and while his Avalanche counterpart in Mikko Rantanen may have more publicity overall, there’s nothing like getting to see one of your town’s best-ever hockey products play an NHL game on home soil.

A quick return from Laine is also crucial for Columbus’ playoff hopes. While Johnny Gaudreau has held up his end of the bargain, recording four points in his first four games as a Blue Jacket, their lack of quality offensive depth has been exposed by Laine’s injury. Minor-league and European league journeyman Justin Danforth was the team’s first option to replace Laine on the top line, which is obviously a less-than-ideal situation.

Victor Rask Signs In Switzerland

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After failing to secure a contract with Columbus after attending training camp with them on a PTO agreement, veteran Victor Rask has found his next team as Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss NLA announced that they’ve signed the center to a one-year deal.

The 29-year-old started his career with Carolina and quickly became a key two-way player for them, breaking in as a full-timer in 2014-15.  Early on, it looked as if he was going to be an integral part of their long-term plans.  However, Rask’s production fell off considerably in 2018-19 which led to a trade involving a pair of players who were underachieving.  It worked out great for the Hurricanes as they landed Nino Niederreiter but not so well for Minnesota as Rask’s struggles continued.

Over the last few seasons, Rask’s role dropped from being a top-six regular to a fourth liner to being out of the lineup as a reserve forward altogether.  He cleared waivers last season and was briefly sent to the minors before Seattle acquired him at the trade deadline.  Rask played relatively well for the Kraken, notching eight points in 18 games down the stretch but it wasn’t enough to secure him a guaranteed NHL deal this summer.

A move overseas might very well be what is best for Rask at this point in his career.  Rather than serving in a reserve forward role (which is likely what he would have had if he earned a deal with Columbus) or as a minor league recall, going to Switzerland will give him an opportunity to play the type of minutes he had with Carolina at the beginning of his career.  A good showing in that role with Fribourg-Gotteron could get Rask back on the NHL radar as soon as next summer which would certainly make this decision a wise one.

Minor Transactions: 08/27/22

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Most of the moves that happen this weekend will come on the international front as players and prospects look to secure their plans for the upcoming season.  Here’s a rundown of some of the moves with NHL ties.

  • Blue Jackets prospect Nikolai Makarov has signed an extension with CSKA Moscow through the 2024-25 season, the KHL team announced. The 19-year-old defenseman split last season between all three Russian leagues but spent the bulk of his year at the junior level, picking up 14 points in 22 games.  As the NHL and Russia don’t have a signed transfer agreement in place, Columbus holds Makarov’s rights indefinitely so while they’ll have to wait quite a while to sign him, they won’t lose his rights in the meantime.
  • Coyotes goaltender Josef Korenar has been loaned to Dukla of the Czech second division, per a team announcement. The 24-year-old inked a two-year deal with Sparta Praha instead of re-signing with Arizona and it appears he’ll split time this season between the two levels.  Korenar had a save percentage of just .855 along with a 4.46 GAA in 22 AHL games last season but his limited NHL numbers have been respectable as he has a 3.10 GAA and a .901 SV% in a dozen appearances.
  • Veteran center Mark Arcobello has decided to stay overseas as HC Lugano of the Swiss NLA announced that they’ve inked the 34-year-old to a one-year deal.  Arcobello played in 139 NHL games over parts of four seasons and was relatively productive with 24 goals and 29 assists but he has spent the last six seasons in Switzerland, averaging a little more than a point per game over that time.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Alexandre Texier Signs In Switzerland

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A day after the Blue Jackets revealed that forward Alexandre Texier would not be suiting up for them this season citing a need to be closer to family, he has found his team for the upcoming season as Zurich of the Swiss NLA announced they’ve inked Texier to a one-year deal.

The 22-year-old got off to a good start last season, notching 11 goals and nine assists in 36 games, already career bests.  However, he suffered a finger injury back in January and then before he could return, he was granted a leave of absence from the team in March following a pair of deaths in the family.  Texier did suit up for France at the World Championship in May where he picked up five points in seven games.

Officially, Texier is under suspension by Columbus which allowed them to bypass needing to pass him through waivers in order to loan him overseas.  As such, the Blue Jackets will toll his existing contract which has one year left on it which will now cover the 2023-24 campaign.  Between that and an agreement that also included the NHL and the NHLPA, Texier will now be able to play much closer to home to be closer to his family as he joins Zurich who intends to use him at both center and the wing next season.

Nashville Predators Loan Joakim Kemell To Finnish Team

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Joakim Kemell was one of the brightest stars for Team Finland in their silver medal effort at the 2022 World Junior Championship. After the Nashville Predators drafted him 17th overall in 2022 and signed him to his entry-level contract earlier this summer, though, he’ll be headed back to JYP in the Finnish Liiga for another season next year, per the team.

As Kemell wasn’t drafted out of the Canadian Hockey League, he could, in theory, have suited up for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals next season if Nashville and Kemell believed that was the best solution for him. However, it appears all parties involved believe another season in his home country against some more seasoned players is the better option for Kemell.

An unexpected faller in the 2022 draft, Kemell showed why the teams that passed on him were wrong with 12 points in seven games at the World Juniors earlier this month. He had 23 points in 39 Liiga games last season with JYP as well, and he’ll be expected to play an increased top-six role next season.

Juho Lammikko Signs In Switzerland

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A second NHL player has opted to sign overseas in the Swiss National League today. Former Vancouver Canucks forward Juho Lammikko has signed a one-year contract with the ZSC Lions after not receiving a qualifying offer last month, per his new team.

Lammikko joins his third different European league in four seasons with this signing. The former Panthers prospect spent the 2019-20 season with Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga and the first part of 2020-21 with the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

The Finnish-born forward returned to Florida for the shortened 2020-21 season after he appeared in 40 games for them in 2018-19. A preseason trade saw him spend the 2021-22 season with Vancouver, however, finally departing the Panthers organization after they drafted him in 2014.

It’s rare that a European player can make two successful comebacks from heading abroad, so much like Michael Raffl earlier today, it’s likely that we’ve seen the last of Lammikko in the NHL. Across three seasons, he played in 159 games, scoring 11 goals, 15 assists, and 26 points. The 6’3″, 203-pound forward was taken by Florida in the 2014 NHL Draft with the 65th overall pick.

Michael Raffl Signs In Switzerland

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Unrestricted free agent forward Michael Raffl has signed a two-year contract with Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League, per a team release early Thursday morning.

The team’s head coach, John Fust, commented on the signing (translated from French):

Michael has proven his worth as a leader in the NHL and on the Austrian national team. He has a versatile profile, since he can play at center or on the wing. We look forward to having him in our organization for the next two seasons.

At age 33, this is almost certainly the end of Raffl’s nine-season NHL career. Signed by the Philadelphia Flyers as an undrafted free agent out of Leksands IF (then in the second-tier Swedish league, Allsvenskan) in 2013, Raffl immediately became a full-time NHL player at age 25. He would then suit up for 504 games in a Flyers uniform.

In a total of 590 NHL games spent with Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals, and the Dallas Stars, Raffl totaled 89 goals, 90 assists, 179 points, 235 penalty minutes, and a career average ice time of 13:21 per game.

2021-22, his only season spent in Dallas, left something to be desired offensively. Finishing with only seven goals and 16 points on the year in 79 games, it was disappointing production for a player who was given almost 15 minutes per game of ice time. Raffl did have one of the best defensive campaigns of his career, though, so it’s somewhat surprising an NHL team wasn’t willing to bring him on as a defensive specialist in their bottom-six.

Raffl immediately becomes one of Lausanne’s top players, joining former NHLers Miikka Salomaki, Jiri Sekac, and Cory Emmerton at forward. Washington Capitals prospect Damien Riat is also a member of the team.

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