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Minor Transactions: 12/21/20

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The countdown has begun to the start of the NHL season and as expected there is no shortage of moves being made in response. Combine a slew of recalls from loans with the usual moves from the junior, collegiate, and European levels and there was plenty going on across the hockey world on Monday:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Pius Suter from Switzerland’s ZSC Lions, the club announced. Suter was signed as a free agent by the Blackhawks this summer after a career year in the NLA. The Swiss forward stayed home when the NHL season was delayed but is finally ready to make his move to Chicago to show that he has what it takes to play in the NHL. The Blackhawks also recalled Swiss prospect Philipp Kurashev from the NLA’s HC Lugano. Kurashev played well in his first AHL season, but Chicago hopes the dynamic forward can take another step forward this year.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled a recent free agent addition of their own in Radim Zohorna. The big power forward had returned to his Czech club, BK Mlada Boleslav, while awaiting the NHL season but will now report to Penguins camp, the team announced. Zohorna faces an uphill battle to crack the NHL roster but the Penguins are excited to see what he can do in the AHL.
  • After returning to his former KHL club Dinamo Minsk on loan, Yegor Sharangovich has been recalled by the New Jersey Devils, the team announced. The young forward has played well in the AHL over the past two seasons, but took his game to a new level during his brief stay in Belarus. The Devils hope that is the game that will show up in training camp and at whichever level Sharangovich ends up this season.
  • Goaltender Jacob Ingham’s stint in the ECHL didn’t last long, as the league’s transactions indicate that he has been recalled by the Los Angeles Kings after two games with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Ingham didn’t exactly impress in the minors either, but he is still a top prospect who will look to impress in training camp and win the top role in the AHL this season.
  • Forward Max Veronneau will not be among the second wave of NHL free agent signings. After just one season in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Princeton product has signed in Sweden. The SHL’s IK Oskarshamn has announced a one-year deal with the skilled forward, who seemingly feels he has a better chance of impressing future NHL suitors overseas than with a season in the AHL.
  • QMJHL standout Nathan Legare, a prospect of the Pittsburgh Penguins, is on the move. On the first day that the QMJHL has re-opened trading, Baie-Comeau Drakkar has traded their captain and last season’s leading scorer to the Val-d’Or Foreurs. It’s a hefty return for the prized prospect: a future first-, third-, and a trio of fourth-round picks, as well as rookie forward Justin Sullivan. 
  • The fallout of the Ivy League’s cancelled winter season extends beyond just this year. Ivy League schools do not use graduate student-athletes, meaning current seniors missing their seasons cannot use their fifth and final year of NCAA eligibility at their current schools. UMass has reaped the benefits with a pair of additions today, as Cornell’s Cam Donaldson and Dartmouth’s Matthew Baker have committed to transferring to Amherst next year, reports Jeff Cox of the New England Hockey Journal.

Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators Complete Minor Trade

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The Ottawa Senators have acquired Zach Magwood from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Michael Carcone, swapping minor league forwards before training camp opens. Both players are in the last year of their respective two-way contracts.

Magwood, 22, went undrafted out of the OHL but signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Predators in 2018. After spending most of the 2018-19 season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, he was sent down to the ECHL for much of last season. At the lower level, Magwood dominated, scoring 47 points in 51 games for the Florida Everblades. He’ll now have to fight for a spot with the Belleville Senators if he wants to stay in the AHL this time around.

Carcone meanwhile is also an undrafted signing, though his professional career so far has been a tumultuous ride. Originally signed by the Vancouver Canucks in 2016, this is now Carcone’s third time being traded. The Canucks originally sent him to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 2018 trade for Josh Leivo and then he was included in the Cody Ceci–Connor Brown swap last year between Toronto and Ottawa. A solid AHL performer, he had 27 points in 59 games for Belleville last year but has still not made it to the NHL.

Neither player figures into the NHL plans for this year, though Carcone does have quite a bit more experience at the AHL level.

Snapshots: Playoffs, Hoffman, Schedule, Travel, 2021-22 Season

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With the agreement between the NHL and NHLPA official now in the books after both sides have voted to approve it, teams would play their entire season within their own conference (altered conferences can be found here). From there, the playoffs will not alter from the regular season too much as the top four teams in each division will play against each other with 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 for the first two rounds, according to NHL.com’s John Shannon. Each division winner gets a spot in the Stanley Cup semifinals, seeded by their regular season points percentage.

  • With the rumors and now agreement on a 56-game season, the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that there is plenty of talks heating up around the top unrestricted free agent still available on the market in Mike Hoffman. The 31-year-old is coming off a 29-goal season last year in 69 games and had a 36-goal campaign the previous year. Garrioch reports that as many as six teams are in on him. However, most teams are already tight against the salary cap, which has complicated his status and why he has waited this long. Hoffman has been talked about in a number of situations, including Nashville, Boston and Columbus with several other teams in the mix.
  • Garrioch also notes that a schedule is expected to be released mid-week this week once the NHL comes to an agreement with the Canadian provinces. While most of the talk between the NHL and the Canadian provinces are centering around the Canucks and B.C., there still hasn’t been an agreement with the province of Ontario either regarding whether the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators will be able to play in their own rinks. It is believed that an agreement with Ontario should be easier to finalize, however, than with B.C. Garrioch adds that even if there is a province-wide lockdown, it shouldn’t affect Ottawa’s training camp, although access to the training facility would be really limited.
  • While restrictions should be better for players as they no longer will be forced into a bubble like during the playoffs, the travel restrictions for teams that go on the road will not be much better, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli. Players and staff will be restricted to the game rink, practice rink or the hotel. No exceptions, including food.
  • Seravalli notes that NHL players have the right to opt out of the 2020-21 season, but the league “may investigate any circumstances … that these provisions were intentionally used to, or had the effect of, circumventing the CBA” for salary cap purposes.
  • Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that the NHL intends to return to a traditional season for 2021-22, which is expected to start in October. The league had initially hoped to get an 82-game season in this year, but instead will shorten the 2020-21 season in hopes of finishing their season in mid-July.

Snapshots: Rattie, Gaunce, Jarventie

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Even as the NHL works towards finalizing a plan to begin the 2020-21 season, with a second wave of free agent signings expected in response, many NHL veterans continue to look elsewhere for work this season. The latest appears to be forward Ty Rattie. Rattie, 27, actually played in the KHL last year but to this point had held out hope for a return to North America after a strong showing in Russia. Instead, he is expected to remain in Europe for another year. Johan Svensson of Swedish source Kvallsposten reports that the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks are close to finalizing a deal with Rattie. The skilled forward is just the latest name to be linked to a European club, as the likes of Mirco Mueller and Valentin Zykov have been among those rumored to be moving overseas this past week as well.

  • Other free agents continue to wait for NHL interest to develop ahead of the new season. Among some of the more intriguing depth names available are the brothers Gaunce. Of the 60 remaining unsigned unrestricted free agents, Cameron Gaunce and Brendan Gaunce top the list in terms of points per game this past season. Of course, a major caveat is that they finished at the bottom of that list in games played with just four games total between them. Yet, the brothers were not only efficient with minimal NHL opportunity, both were very productive in the AHL as well. Defenseman Cameron, 30, notched four points in three games with the Tampa Bay Lightning and added 32 points in 52 minor league games with the Syracuse Crunch while forward Brendan, 26, recorded a point in his lone appearance with the Boston Bruins and scored 37 points in 52 games with AHL Providence. Elite prospects who have established themselves as reliable pros over the years, the Gaunce brothers are among those whose patience should be paid off with a contract shortly.
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Roby Jarventie was not expected to challenge for a roster spot this season, but it seems the talented young forward is unlikely to make the jump to North America next year either. Finnish club Ilves of the Liiga has announced that they have exercised the option on Jarventie’s contract for the 2021-22 season. Although the NHL and the Liiga have a transfer agreement, Ilves likely made this move with the expectation that Jarventie would be around to fulfill the final year of his current contract. The second pick of the second round in the 2020 NHL Draft, Jarventie is a top prospect but is one of many for the Senators. However, with 14 points through 19 games already this season, the big forward’s stock is on the rise and Ottawa won’t want to wait too long to bring him over.

Senators Recall Vitali Abramov From Loan

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With the expectation that training camps will be starting within the next few weeks, several players who had been loaned overseas have started to make the trek back to North America.  The latest to do so is Senators winger Vitali Abramov as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Abramov has left his team in Finland to fly to Ottawa and begin his self-quarantine period.

The 22-year-old fared well in what wound up being limited action with Jukurit of the SM-liiga as injuries limited him to just eight games.  However, Abramov made the most of those contests, picking up five goals and two assists.  He has been a productive scorer in the minors and notched 18 goals and 23 assists in 51 games with AHL Belleville last season and as a result, he’s expected to be among those considered for one of the final roster spots with the Sens.  If that doesn’t happen, however, Jukurit GM Jukka Holtar indicated that Abramov could return to Finland this season:

Naturally, we hope that he will get a place in the NHL, but, if that doesn’t happen, we’ll have to (think) seriously (about bringing him back) for the rest of the season.  We’ve been in regular contact with Ottawa and have been very pleased. It’s known there the activities here are of high quality, and for them Jukurit is one of the absolute options.

While it’s the final year of Abramov’s entry-level contract, going back to Finland may be a good idea, especially with the AHL season expected to be truncated (and in Belleville’s case, they’ll only play three other Canadian-based teams for their entire campaign).  It’s also not slated to start until early February, assuming it isn’t pushed back for the second time so if he is cut, returning overseas would guarantee him getting back into game action earlier.  Of course, Abramov’s focus will be on earning a spot with the Senators next month but if that doesn’t happen, he will have some options.

Evan Bouchard And Filip Gustavsson Recalled From Loans

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With NHL training camps expecting to get underway in the near future and the postponement of their two games this weekend, Sodertalje of the Allsvenskan in Sweden announced that defenseman Evan Bouchard (Oilers) and goaltender Filip Gustavsson (Senators) have been recalled by their respective NHL clubs, ending their loan agreements.

Bouchard, the tenth-overall pick back in 2018, has shown offensive promise wherever he has played and that carried over to his time in Sweden as he posted six goals and 11 assists in 23 games.  That production was enough to put him second among defensemen and in the top-20 league-wide.  As things stand, he may be on the outside looking in at a regular spot with Edmonton but if there are expanded rosters and/or a taxi squad to start the season, he should at least wind up there.

Gustavsson, meanwhile, has been one of the better starters in the Allsvenskan this season, posting an 11-7-0 record with a 2.30 GAA, a .919 SV%, and one shutout in 19 appearances.  After a bit of a tough year in the minors with AHL Belleville, this should certainly give him a boost heading into training camp.  Even with Anders Nilsson’s situation uncertain due to his concussion-like symptoms, Gustavsson will enter Ottawa’s camp battling for number three duties behind Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg with the winner of that competition (which should also involve Joey Daccord) also earning a spot on the expanded roster or taxi squad.

Senators Extend Lease Agreement With AHL Belleville

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  • The Senators received some short-term relief from the City of Belleville in terms of aiding their cash flow when it comes to their AHL team and as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes, the Sens have in turn agreed to a two-year lease extension. Instead of their agreement with Belleville expiring in 2025, it will now run through June 30, 2027 with an option to further extend the deal tacked on as well.  Belleville took over as Ottawa’s top minor league affiliate back in 2017 following Binghamton being in that spot for 15 seasons.

Erik Brannstrom Recalled From Loan

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The Ottawa Senators are bringing back defensive prospect Erik Brannstrom as they prepare for the upcoming season. Brannstrom’s loan with the SCL Tigers in Switzerland has now ended, with the team wishing him well back in North America.

It is a huge season for Brannstrom, the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft. Now 21, the young defenseman made his NHL debut at the end of the 2018-19 season, played in 31 games last year for the Senators, and now will be competing for a full-time spot. A wizard with the puck, he is expected to develop into an offense-driving force for the Senators, though that didn’t come through last season when he had just four assists during his 31-game stint. He did of course produce at nearly a point-per-game clip in the AHL, but some of that production will have to translate before he can really be considered a star at the next level.

Still, he is one of the many young bright spots on a Senators roster that should be improved. The team brought in Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Galchenyuk to give them a little more punch up front, Matt Murray to stabilize the goaltending position, and players like Erik Gudbranson, Josh Brown, and Austin Watson to make the team tougher to play against. Those additions, along with the natural development of young players like Brannstrom and Brady Tkachuk, should make Senators’ games much more competitive.

While they still might not be able to compete with some of the top teams in the All-Canadian division, this is no longer a “tank” year for the Senators. Real, tangible improvements from players like Brannstrom is the goal, and losing every night won’t accomplish that.

Ottawa Senators Plan To Be Buyers At Trade Deadline, Beyond

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The Ottawa Senators have been dwelling at or near the bottom of the Atlantic Division for several years now as owner Eugene Melnyk has taken a team that was one win away from going to the Stanley Cup in 2017 and has torn it down piece by piece, selling off practically every asset in on its team. Interestingly enough, if you look back to that 2017 team, only two players remain still on the roster from that squad three years ago — Colin White, who played just two games, and forward Nick Paul, who played one.

However, after posting a combined 82-124-29 record over the last three years, Melnyk spoke to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun on the day of the team’s 30th anniversary, claiming the team is now heading in the right direction and are well on their way to a being a Stanley Cup contender.

“We have turned the corner. We just now need to execute on what we have,” Melnyk said. “This is the team, with what we have right now, I believe can win a Stanley Cup already, and that’s without adding some veterans, which we plan to do.”

Ottawa, which has progressively moved all of its stars over the past three years, which includes a list of Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, amongst others. The team then cut ties with a number of veterans this year, including goaltender Craig Anderson and forward Bobby Ryan before going out and signing a number of free agents in the offseason, bringing in Evgenii Dadonov, Alex Galchenyuk, Erik Gudbranson to complement their youth movement and even added a few others via trade, including goaltender Matt Murray.

Melnyk said in the interview that the team intends to continue to be active at the trade deadline, but no longer as sellers.

“We’ll be a team that’s active at the trade deadline and not as sellers, but as buyers, just like we used to be,” Melnyk said. “If you look at my track record on spending on players, we were always up there. We were never at the top, but we were always right there or around the centre. Now, we’re going to stay somewhere in the centre, depending on where it’s at. Our budgets are always somewhere around $70 million, which is in the centre.”

In those three years of struggles, the Senators have put together a pool of impressive young talent, including a few top lottery selections over the past few years such as Brady Tkachuk (2018), as well as Tim Stuetzle and Jake Sanderson, both top-five picks in this year’s draft. The team has accumulated quite a few picks in the draft too, including six picks in the top 61 this past year and have four more picks in the first two rounds of 2021. With many of their young talents either ready or quite close to being ready to contribute, the Senators could make quite a jump in the standings in the next couple of years, especially if the owner is willing to spend.

Melnyk already made sure to lock up 23-year-old Thomas Chabot to an eight-year, $64MM extension last year and Tkachuk could easily be the next in line to sign an extension within the next year as he will be a restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season.

Atlantic Notes: Eichel, Hyman, Senators

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While many fans look to the Buffalo Sabres offseason as a success, team star Jack Eichel is just as excited about the team’s moves. The 24-year-old expressed frustration with the Sabres’ team and made it clear the Sabres were in need of more veteran players. The team did just that under new general manager Kevyn Adams, who brought in a number of experienced players, including Taylor Hall, Eric Staal and Cody Eakin to bolster their forward depth.

“I know the league is trying to go younger, but I think that you still need those older guys, the veteran guys, the guys that have been there and won,” said Eichel in an interview with Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski. “I think you need them in your locker room, first of all, and you need them on the ice. We’ve definitely been young. We’ve been in a transition for a few years now. There’s always young guys coming through the organization and you want to see everyone have success, but you look at the transformation that our team made this offseason.”

Eichel, who has not been to the playoffs in his entire career, as Buffalo hasn’t reached the playoffs in nine years, has seen a number of veteran players moved out such as Ryan O’Reilly and Eichel’s friend Zach Bogosian in favor of bringing in younger players. However, Eichel is enthusiastic of the direction of the team this season.

“It’s so hard to win when you’re young,” said Eichel. “I think it’s so important to have that veteran presence in the room and on the ice, so I think it was good for us to add that this offseason. We’ll see what happens.”

  • The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel and James Mirtle (subscription required) debate whether the Toronto Maple Leafs can retain some of their other soon-to-be free agents, including goaltender Frederik Andersen, defenseman Morgan Rielly and forward Zach Hyman. While all three are not likely to be retained due to the team’s continual cap problems in the future, both writers agreed that the slam dunk signing would be Hyman, whose hard-working attitude and competitive culture that he sets in the locker room are critical to bringing back down the road. Of course, both writers did add that much of those hopes will come down to whether Hyman, now 28 and coming off two 20-goal seasons, will be willing to accept a minor home-town discount to stay. If he’s looking to cash in, that could force the team to go in a different direction.
  • While many people are beginning to see hope in Ottawa with some of their offseason moves this offseason as well as the development of their youth, The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian (subscription required) writes that the Senators could find themselves at quite a disadvantage next season assuming they end up in an all-Canadian division next season. Ottawa struggled against their Canadian counterparts, posting a 4-8-2 record, including a minus-12 goal differential against those teams. To make matters worse, most of the Canadian teams have improved during the offseason, which could make Ottawa’s season that much more challenging with no cellar dwellers they can take advantage of.

 

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