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Colorado Avalanche Recall Jean-Luc Foudy

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The Colorado Avalanche continue to make changes to their group, this time recalling prospect Jean-Luc Foudy. The young forward will be joining the team on a regular for the first time in his career; his only other NHL experience was as a Black Ace last spring during Colorado’s playoff run.

There is real excitement about the 2020 third-round pic, who has five goals and 14 points in 18 games with the Colorado Eagles, especially because of the way he has been able to develop the last few years. Normally (as new Seattle Kraken fans are learning), a player selected out of the CHL is not able to be assigned for an extended period of time to the AHL until they are 20 years old. It is either the NHL or back to junior, a difficult decision for some that have shown an ability to dominate their peers through a specific skill.

Some hockey minds wonder whether it is good for their development at all, to continue playing at a level that doesn’t challenge them to find other ways to compete. Foudy was potentially going to be one of these players, given the elite speed and athleticism that he possesses. He had been an offensive force from the moment he entered the OHL, scoring 49 points as a rookie.

Because of the way COVID-19 restrictions played out, however, Foudy never played a game in junior after he was drafted. The 2020-21 OHL season was canceled, leaving players eligible to suit up in other leagues. The Avalanche sent their young forward to the AHL, where he played 34 games for the Colorado Eagles. Overmatched as an 18-year-old for much of the season, he would score just three goals, 14 points, and finished with a -17 rating.

In 2021-22 he still wouldn’t have qualified for AHL play, but a one-time exemption was made for players who suited up at least 20 times in the previous COVID-affected season. Since Foudy had played 34 games for Colorado, he was allowed to spend last year with the Eagles as well. While things still started out difficult, by the end of the season he had learned how to play at that level, and was a strong performer in the playoffs, scoring four goals and seven points in nine games.

It was no surprise that he came back this year even better, and has now earned a call-up to the big squad. As one of the first players with a development path like this, Foudy will be an interesting case to watch in the coming years.

Snapshots: Memorial Cup, Spengler Cup, Hanus

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The CHL has officially announced the four clubs that have submitted applications to host the 2024 Memorial Cup. The Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, Saginaw Spirit, and Soo Greyhounds will send in bids before the deadline in January, with the winning club announced in March.

The tournament is moved through the leagues each year, meaning it was only open to OHL bids for 2024. The 2023 tournament will be held in Kamloops, British Columbia.

  • Team Canada has its leadership for the Spengler Cup decided, with Shane Doan managing the roster and Travis Green taking head coaching duties, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Green is still under contract with the Vancouver Canucks, though he hasn’t coached since being fired in the middle of 2021-22.
  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have parted ways with Clay Hanus, as the undrafted defenseman has decided to leave pro hockey and accept the education package given by his former junior club. Hanus had only played two games – both at the ECHL level – since signing an AHL deal in the summer.

Snapshots: Pastujov, Wedgewood, Kings Defense

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We are, presumably, still a few months away from the NHL’s blockbuster trading season, however the hot stove in the WHL, QMJHL, and OHL is red hot, with a few blockbusters already completed. The OHL’s Sarnia Sting managed to make one of their own tonight too, acquiring forward and Anaheim Ducks prospect Sasha Pastujov from the Guelph Storm. Heading back to Guelph will be forward Max Namestnikov along with a 2022 second-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 fifth-round pick, and 2026 fifth -round pick, all in the OHL draft.

Pastujov, 19, was a third-round selection by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2019 NHL Draft, who has put up massive numbers for Sarnia since joining them after a stint with the USNTDP prior. In just 14 games to start this season, Pastujov has 11 goals and eight assists, building on his sensational 2021-22 campaign where he recorded 34 goals and 42 assists in 65 games.

  • Having recently got goaltender Jake Oettinger back from injury, the Dallas Stars were surely hoping to keep their goaltending duo intact for as long as possible, however backup netminder Scott Wedgewood was forced to leave tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers, and it did not look good. The injury happened as Wedgewood made a stop against forward Anton Lundell on a breakaway. Lundell was kept off the scoresheet, but Wedgewood remained on the ice for some time before a stretcher was brought out to help the ailing goaltender off the ice. Through seven games to start the season coming into tonight, the 30-year-old carries a 3.21 goals-against average and .903 save-percentage. The Stars added that Wedgewood is “okay” and being further evaluated in their locker room. In this sense, okay may not necessarily mean uninjured, but instead as a reference to the scary situation as Wedgewood was unable to leave the ice himself.
  • Earlier today on TSN’s Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun touched on the Los Angeles Kings and their envious predicament of having too many defenseman. As a response, the team has placed defenseman Brandt Clarke on a conditioning loan in the AHL and Jordan Spence, who has proven to be a capable NHL defenseman, is currently a teammate of Clarke’s with the Ontario Reign of the AHL. LeBrun notes that teams have been wondering if the Kings are or will be willing to trade from their defensive depth, however it appears Los Angeles has indicated they are planning to hold onto their defenseman, at least for now.

Lukas Fischer Signs In OHL

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The development path of a top prospect is a delicate thing. Some young players end up taking the wrong route and end up buried on a loaded team, unable to really show what they are capable of. Sometimes they take a more difficult path and struggle with the high expectations and responsibility involved. That’s why when a potential high NHL draft prospect drastically changes paths, it can be big news.

Today, Lukas Fischer, son of former NHLer and current Detroit Red Wings director of player personnel Jiri Fischer, completed one of those path switches. The 16-year-old defenseman has signed with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, passing up any NCAA opportunities that were coming his way. He’ll make his debut with the club tomorrow night against the Windsor Spitfires.

A few months ago, this certainly wasn’t the plan. Fischer fell to the 11th round in the OHL Priority Selection because he was supposed to be committed to playing in the USHL. He went sixth overall this year to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders after a strong camp with the USNTDP and played four games for them Now, he’ll head over the border and play much closer to his hometown with the Sting, who are off to a 9-6-3 record so far.

Already 6’3″, Fischer has a frame reminiscent of his father, who older hockey fans will remember as a 6’5″ behemoth for the Red Wings years ago. His brother, Braidan Simmons-Fischer, who plays for the University of St. Thomas, currently measures in at 6’7″.

This doesn’t mean that the young defenseman will be picked higher, but it will give OHL fans a closer look at him in the next few years. Fischer is eligible for the 2024 NHL draft.

Nashville Predators Sign Nolan Burke

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The Nashville Predators have landed an interesting undrafted free agent, signing Nolan Burke to a three-year entry-level contract. The young forward is currently tearing it up with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, where he will remain for the rest of this season.

Burke, 19, has 15 goals in 16 games with Sarnia this season and appears to be a classic late-bloomer. After recording 13 total points through his first two years of OHL action, he exploded last year with 34 goals and 59 points in 64 games. Passed over twice in the draft, the Predators just couldn’t overlook his performance so far this season and have taken the gamble of an entry-level deal.

As CapFriendly points out, despite still being 19, Burke’s contract will not actually slide forward, meaning the first year will be burned in 2022-23. That’s because he turns 20 in December, meaning he will count toward the 50-contract limit right away. It will also mean that he isn’t eligible for this year’s World Junior squad, something that he potentially could have played his way onto with an incredible goal pace.

Either way, the young center now has an NHL deal in hand and an organization to join at the end of the year. Burke will likely join the Milwaukee Admirals for a short stint once his OHL season ends.

Evening Notes: Senators, Flames, Othmann, Trenin

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Rumors that the Ottawa Senators were interested in adding a defenseman to bolster their blueline have persisted since the beginning of this offseason. Over that time, the team has brought in a few exciting forwards like Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, acquired goaltender in Cam Talbot and saw forward Shane Pinto start to break out. Still, the team hasn’t been able to find the defenseman they were looking for. Recent struggles from the team have ignited those rumors even more, with the waiving of Nikita Zaitsev this week seeming to be the ’cherry on top.’ However, today’s Thomas Chabot injury has managed to heat things up even more.

On this evening’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Chabot’s status in relation to the injury was unknown, but that it could certainly accelerate Ottawa’s process to find another defenseman. Friedman adds that other executives around the league have confirmed that Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been “looking under every rock” when it comes to a defenseman. Still, Dorion may be hesitant, given the team’s situation, he could easily be handcuffed into a pricey move he may not truly want to make. On top of this, another reason Friedman mentions that could hold up a trade is the number of players who have no-trade clauses excluding most, if not all Canadian cities.

  • Many have wondered how the struggling Calgary Flames, who have lost seven in a row, plan to break out of their funk. Lead by what seemed to be a slump-proof head coach in Darryl Sutter, the Flames have been unable to win a game since their 5-1-0 start, no matter the change or tweak. Also from Friedman this evening, it appears the Flames have been actively looking for a scoring forward. However, Friedman adds, the team has been on that search since August, meaning it’s not the team’s poor performance that has necessitated that search, but instead an offseason objective yet to be fulfilled. Not having found the player they wanted this offseason, the team eventually signed forwards Sonny Milano and Cody Eakin to PTO’s, but released the pair after underwhelming training camp performances. Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike speculates that perhaps the team had hoped the scoring forward could be found in one of those PTO’s or one of the team’s young players, and with neither of those coming to fruition, the team finds itself once again searching for that asset.
  • There hasn’t been an NHL trade since the Ethan Bear deal on October 28th, and certainly no blockbusters in a while, but it looks as though a big time OHL deal will be going down. New York Rangers 2021 first-round pick Brennan Othmann is expected to be dealt by the Flint Firebirds to the Peterborough Petes, says Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. Othmann, 19, is off to a red-hot start to this season with 11 goals and 13 assists in 16 games. Ironically, Flint is in Peterborough this evening to take on the Petes, however Othmann, who is suspended, did not play.
  • Nashville Predators forward Yakov Trenin will not play in tonight’s game against the New York Rangers, the team announced. According to the Predators, Trenin is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old has one goal and three assists through 14 games this season.

Snapshots: Avalanche Transactions, MacKenzie, Orlov

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The Colorado Avalanche made some roster tweaks early this morning, sending both Martin Kaut and Mikhail Maltsev to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. This isn’t the first roster shuffle of the year for either of these players, as both have split time this year between the Eagles and the Avalanche.

This transaction, though, is likely more of a cap-related paper transaction than a move made with the intention of getting Kaut and Maltsev into AHL games. Without any corresponding call-ups, this move has left the avalanche with just ten forwards on their active roster. While it’s entirely possible that Kaut and/or Maltsev are headed to the AHL for an extended period, that doesn’t look like the likely outcome of these roster moves at the moment.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • Derek MacKenzie, a retired former NHLer with over 600 career games on his resume, seems to have found a new coaching job. After departing the Florida Panthers this summer, (he was there as an assistant coach from 2018-19 through 2020-21) MacKenzie looks set to join the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves as their next head coach, per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. The Wolves make this move hoping that MacKenzie will be the person to turn their season around amid a 3-8-2 start that led to the firing of coach Craig Duncanson.
  • Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov left last night’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes with a lower-body injury. While the full extent of that injury is not yet known, we do have some more information on Orlov’s status. NBC Sports Washington’s Matt Weyrich reports that Orlov wasn’t on the ice for the start of Capitals practice this morning. Per coach Peter Laviolette, Orlov’s status is considered day-to-day.

Wyatt Johnston Will Stay In NHL

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As we approach the ten-game mark for many teams, decisions will have to be made on young players who are still slide-eligible. That designation means that if they spend the year outside of the NHL, they will not burn a season off their entry-level contract, effectively extending their time as an inexpensive option. For Wyatt Johnston, a return to junior isn’t in the cards. The young forward has done enough to convince Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill to keep him around, confirming yesterday’s report from Jeff Marek of Sportsnet. Notably, Nill did explain that they could return Johnston later in the year if necessary.

For some front offices, the 40-game mark is actually more important for a young player. It is at that point that the season is considered a full year of service time in regard to unrestricted free agent status. That is to say, if Johnston plays more than 40 games this year, he’ll be one year closer to hitting the open market.

Still, with how well he has played so far, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After completely dominating the OHL last season, winning the league’s Most Outstanding Player trophy, the Most Sportsmanlike trophy, the scoring race, and the playoff scoring race, it was clear that he was ready for professional hockey. Because of the CHL-NHL agreement, that couldn’t be in the AHL, as Johnston is still only 19. So when the decision is between sending him back to a league where he scored 165 points in 93 games, or keeping him in the NHL, the team would be looking for a reason to keep him at the highest level.

Johnston has provided that reason, scoring three goals and four points in nine games while averaging just over 14 minutes a night. He’s overmatched in the faceoff circle as many young forwards are, and there are some rough edges that still need to be polished on his overall game. But there is oodles of talent in the 2021 first-round pick (23rd overall), and enough maturity to stick around.

Notably, he has averaged more even-strength ice time than players like Roope Hintz, Denis Gurianov, and Jamie Benn, showing just how much confidence head coach Peter DeBoer has in the young forward. The Stars are transitioning to a new wave of talent and now sit first in the Central Division – though that could change over the next little while with Jake Oettinger’s injury. It appears as though they’re willing to let Johnston learn on the job, and make his junior days a thing of the past.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Canadiens Send Filip Mesar To Junior

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10/16/22: Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek has issued an update on Mesar’s situation. As things currently stand, Mesar is sorting out IIHF transfer issues and is not expected to be available for selection to the Rangers’ lineup until Friday, when the team takes on the Sudbury Wolves.

10/15/22: It’s not very often that players drafted in the previous summer start the season in the minors as an 18-year-old.  For those drafted out of the major junior ranks in Canada, it’s not even an option.  But there are a handful of international players who were picked in July that have started this season in the AHL.  That list shrunk by one today as the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned Filip Mesar to Kitchener of the OHL.

The 18-year-old was the 26th pick this summer after a decent showing in the Slovak Extraliga where he had eight goals and eight assists in 37 games while adding four more points in six playoff contests.  Having played at a professional level the last two years, Mesar’s camp had indicated that his preference was to spend the year in the minors and not go to junior.

However, after seeing limited action on the fourth line with AHL Laval last night, Montreal has decided that the best opportunity for Mesar’s development will be to have him play big minutes in the OHL.  As a result of the assignment, his three-year, entry-level deal will slide a season and still have three years left on it leading up to the 2023-24 campaign.  His contract will also be credited off the Canadiens’ 50-contract limit which now stands at 45.

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