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Snapshots: Norris, Vladar, Dvorsky

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Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun has reported that the Ottawa Senators are hopeful centerman Joshua Norris can make his season debut in their Wednesday night game. Norris has been absent for the entirety of the early season and much of training camp, continuing to nurse a shoulder injury that was initially suffered roughly one year ago.

The injury held Norris out of all but eight games in the 2022-23 season, cutting short what would have been his third NHL season. Norris played 66 games in the 2021-22 campaign, scoring a dazzling 35 goals and 55 points. His 35-goal mark was, at the time, the most scored by a Senator in a decade, although Brady Tkachuk tied it and Tim Stutzle topped it with 39 goals last year. Norris showed similar goal-scoring capabilities in his rookie season of 2020-21, netting 17 goals in 56 games, tied for third on the Ottawa roster.

Norris returned to practice centering the Senators’ third line, between Drake Batherson and Dominik Kubalik. Batherson has been one of Norris’ most common linemates throughout his first two NHL seasons, with the duo accounting for 75 goals for and 44 goals against through a combined 1042 minutes of ice time together.

More notes from around the league:

  • The latest episode of the ’Big Show with Rusic and Rose’ shared that Calgary is reengaging in preliminary trade talks for goaltender Daniel Vladar. They also shared that Calgary shopped Vladar this summer, but the cost was too high for interested teams. It’s unsure whether the Flames have changed their asking price now that the season has begun. Vladar has an expensive $2.2MM cap hit but could be a hot commodity for teams looking to bolster their goaltending room.
  • 2023 NHL Draft Top 10 pick Dalibor Dvorsky has mutually terminated his contract with IK Oskarshamn. Dvorsky was loaned to the Swedish club at the start of the year but has gone without a point through their first 10 games of the season. Dvorsky is expected to join the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL.

Senators Expect Josh Norris To Practice Sunday

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  • Also coming from Friedman last night, the Ottawa Senators expect center Josh Norris to return to practice today in a non-contact jersey ahead of their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. A return for their former 35-goal man is not imminent, but Friedman reports the Senators hope Norris will be able to return to contact practice later this week and offer a more definitive timeline for his return. The team has held off placing him on LTIR up until this point, signaling optimism that he’ll be able to return by the end of the month. Norris’ shoulder injury and subsequent setbacks have limited him to just eight games since the start of last season. Norris is beginning the second season of an eight-year, $63.6MM deal carrying a $7.95MM cap hit.

Latest On Shane Pinto

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Failing to clear the adequate cap space throughout the offseason, the Ottawa Senators are still unable to sign restricted free agent forward Shane Pinto. Throughout the last several weeks, Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95MM cap hit have popped up in the rumor mill, listed as a viable cap-clearing candidate for the Senators to afford Pinto’s new deal. Even recently, former first-round pick, Erik Brannstrom has also seen his name appear in trade negotiations.

Nevertheless, without an apparent end in sight to the contract negotiations, and simply too much attention on the entire ordeal, both Darren Dreger and Bruce Garrioch of TSN are reporting that Pinto has left Ottawa for the time being, and has returned home to the United States to continue his training. With only a handful of teams being able to comfortably fit in either contract of Joseph or Brannstrom at this point of the season, the unfortunate stalemate between the Senators and Pinto may continue for the next couple of weeks, if not longer.

If Ottawa is expecting to compete for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, they may need to pull the trigger on a trade sooner, rather than later. In Pinto’s absence, and with Joshua Norris still working his way back from a shoulder injury, the Senators now have to deploy Rourke Chartier as one of their centermen, a 27-year-old veteran of only 20 NHL games.

Last season for the Senators, in a rather explosive breakout season for the organization, Pinto would play in all 82 games, scoring 20 goals and 15 assists. Even down the middle of the ice specifically, he did well with a 52.1% faceoff percentage, although 56.9% of those opportunities were in the team’s offensive zone. In the meantime, Pinto will continue training at home in an effort to be game-ready once there is a resolution on a new contract.

Daniel Alfredsson Returns To Ottawa In Coaching Role

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Daniel Alfredsson has returned to the Ottawa Senators organization, this time in a key development and coaching role, per the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. Alfredsson took the ice with the Senators during their Friday morning practice – fans’ first look at Alfredsson in his new role. The exact details of Alfredsson’s role, or his job title, aren’t known yet, although President of Senators Hockey Operations Steve Staios said, “He’s going to be with our players, our coaches, he’s going to be around the room and he’s going to help them out. It’s player development, but also coaching Certainly D.J. was thrilled with the possibility of Alfie being part of this.”

All but 68 games of Alfredsson’s Hall-of-Fame career were spent with the Senators, who drafted the forward in the sixth round of the 1994 NHL Draft. He made his debut with the club during the 1995-96 season, scoring 26 goals and 61 points. This earned him the Calder Trophy, given to the Rookie of the Year, beating out runner-ups Éric Dazé and Ed Jovanovski. Alfredsson would go on to become an integral piece of the Senators organization for 17 seasons, netting a 100-point season in 2005-06, winning the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2011-12, and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2012-13.

Garrioch points out that new Senators owner Michael Andlauer was a piece of returning Guy Lafleur to the Montreal Canadiens organization when he was a part-owner of the team. Alfredsson’s eyes apparently “lit up” when he was offered this new coaching and development role. On bringing him back, Staios said, “Never mind that he’s Daniel Alfredsson, I look at his character and his acumen, I was eager to get him in wherever he wanted… His role will grow, as we discussed, but he’s got a great deal of passion for the game. We wanted to get him on the ice and get him started.”

Senators Have Had Erik Brannstrom Trade Talks

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As Ottawa looks to clear up cap space to sign Shane Pinto, a second trade option has emerged.  While it’s well-known that the Senators have had discussions surrounding Mathieu Joseph, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in the latest Insider Trading segment (video link) that the Sens have also had trade discussions involving defenseman Erik Brannstrom.

The 24-year-old was the centerpiece of the Mark Stone trade back in 2019 as Ottawa hoped that the 2017 first-rounder would become a key cog on their back end, particularly on the offensive side of the ice.  That hasn’t exactly happened though as Brannstrom has just four goals in 191 career appearances at the top level.  While he established himself as an every-game regular last season, he averaged just 16:07 per game, basically being their sixth defender.

On the surface, moving Brannstrom should be an easier task for GM Pierre Dorion than Joseph.  While Joseph has three years left on his deal at a $2.95MM cap hit, Brannstrom is on a one-year agreement at a $2MM cost.  With a lot of teams capped out or close to it, even $2MM isn’t the easiest for some clubs to take on but with a shorter-term agreement, a few teams might be more open to it.

That said, with Ottawa’s cap situation (they have less than $65K in room, per CapFriendly), moving out Brannstrom alone isn’t enough to get them enough money for Pinto as he’s expected to come in around the $2.5MM mark on his contract.  In Brannstrom’s case, they’d need to bring a sixth defender back onto the roster if he was to be moved, eating into their cost savings.  A follow-up move would need to be made – potentially via the waiver wire – in order for the money to fall into place.

On top of that, it’s worth noting that if Pinto gets a two-year bridge deal as expected, the cap hit for this season will be higher than the AAV (while next season would be lower).  That gap from the AAV increases each day he goes unsigned, creating a bit more pressure for Dorion to find a suitable cap-clearing trade sooner than later whether it involves Brannstrom, Joseph, or someone else.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 10/12/23

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It’s another busy day on the NHL schedule, with quite a few teams set to make their season debuts tonight. Top prospect Adam Fantilli is set to debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, while Red Wings fans will get their first regular-season look at Alex DeBrincat wearing the winged wheel.

Regular season hockey is back just about everywhere (save for the AHL which begins tomorrow) and as a result player movement remains active across the hockey world. As always, we’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • Former Toronto Marlies star forward Jeremy Bracco and his club, the KHL’s Barys Astana, have mutually agreed to terminate the player’s contract. Bracco, 26, joined the KHL’s Kazakh club in July 2022 and had a solid first season there, scoring 14 goals and 40 points in 59 games. This season, though, Bracco has struggled and has only managed one point in six games. He’ll now look elsewhere to continue his pro career, whether it be in North America (where he is a former AHL First-Team All-Star and Calder Cup champion) or in Europe (such as Germany, where he played in 2021-22.)
  • The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have signed two forwards to one-year AHL contracts: former NHLer Justin Bailey and former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Tanner Kaspick. Bailey, 28, has been on the NHL/AHL bubble for much of his pro career, skating in NHL games for three separate teams. He’s long been a quality top-six forward at the AHL level, and scored 19 goals and 32 points in 58 games for the Bakersfield Condors last season. Kaspick, 25, hasn’t yet made his NHL debut but has been a regular AHLer for most of his professional career. He scored six points in 43 games for the Iowa Wild last season playing in a checking role.
  • Undrafted forward Samuel Asselin, an undersized forward who once led the QMJHL in goals, may not have earned an NHL contract from the New York Islanders off the back of his PTO. What he earned instead was an AHL deal with the Bridgeport Islanders, something the team announced today. After his stellar final season of Major Junior hockey, Asselin spent his first year as a professional in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators, scoring at a near-point-per-game rate. Since that season Asselin has been a full-time AHLer, and he set a career high in 2021-22 with eight goals and 30 points. He’ll now take his services to Bridgeport, likely with the hope of making a push for consideration for an NHL deal in the future.
  • Former Vegas Golden Knights prospect Peter DiLiberatore has signed a one-year ECHL contract with the South Carolina Stingrays, according to a team announcement. DiLiberatore endured a difficult 2022-23 campaign, one in which he suited up for four different teams across the AHL and ECHL. He finished the season playing in West Virginia with the Wheeling Nailers, scoring one assist in five games. Now in South Carolina, perhaps the stability potentially offered by this signing will help DiLiberatore translate some of the production he showed in college at Quinnipiac University to the professional level.
  • Last week, Jáchym Kondelík was placed on unconditional waivers by the Nashville Predators for the purpose of contract termination. Now a free agent, Kondelík has decided to sign in Czechia with Extraliga club Motor České Budějovice. Kondelík, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Predators at the 2018 draft, selected out of the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. He went on to have a quality career playing NCAA hockey with the University of Connecticut, captaining the team as a senior. He turned pro near the end of 2021-22 and played 2022-23 with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, making it the first full season of his pro career. He scored just 11 points in 38 games, though, and now appears to prefer continuing his career closer to home.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Alex Formenton Signs Partial Contract In Switzerland

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  • Former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton has signed a contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the National League (NL), the top league in Switzerland. This deal carries through the end of the calendar year, with the option to extend it to last the whole season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Leevi Merilainen Assigned To ECHL

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  • In a somewhat surprising move, Ottawa Senators goalie prospect Leevi Merilainen, 22, was assigned to the ECHL’s Allen Americans. This is likely a result of Mads Søgaard and Kevin Mandolese earning the right to serve as the Belleville Senators’ AHL tandem, though it could also be that the Senators would prefer Merilainen get some ECHL experience under his belt before he’s exposed to the rigors of the AHL full-time. Merilainen is one of the Senators’ best goalie prospects, and he spent 2022-23 mostly with Kärpät in Liiga, posting a .917 save percentage and 2.05 goals-against-average in 42 games played.

Atlantic Notes: Norris, MacEwen, Mittelstadt, Brown

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Injury troubles have been a persistent issue for Ottawa Senators center Joshua Norris, as since his 35-goal breakout campaign he’s only managed to play in eight NHL games. Despite undergoing shoulder surgery all the way back in January, Norris’ status remains in question as the Senators prepare for an extremely important 2023-24 season.

Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan relays word from Senators head coach D.J. Smith that there is currently still no timeline on Norris’ recovery, though the hope remains that he will be back shortly. At this point, no LTIR placement is being considered and Scanlan adds that Norris will travel with the team to Carolina for its game against the Hurricanes. The Senators’ center depth is currently in somewhat rough shape, as Rourke Chartier and Ridly Greig are the team’s projected middle-six centers (they combine for just 39 games of NHL experience) so getting Norris back in action is going to be a major priority for the team as they look to start the season on the right foot.

Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

  • Another Senator currently battling injury is winger Zack MacEwen. Scanlan reports that MacEwen is currently unavailable on a day-to-day injury timeline, and as a result, the Senators may be forced to start the season with an opening-night lineup short a player. Ottawa currently does not possess the necessary cap space to recall a replacement player from the AHL’s Belleville Senators, so the club could be forced to play with just 11 forwards tomorrow in Raleigh.
  • According to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Buffalo Sabres forward Casey Mittelstadt “tweaked something” in his upper body yesterday and as a result sat out of practice today. Head coach Don Granato reassured reporters saying that Mittelstadt’s absence is not expected to extend into the team’s opening-night contest Thursday against the New York Rangers. Mittelstadt is an important cog in the Sabres’ offense, and is coming off a breakout 2022-23 season where he scored 15 goals and 59 points.
  • Just shortly after he cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL’s Providence Bruins, Boston Bruins forward Patrick Brown was recalled back to the NHL roster today. The 31-year-old veteran forward will likely be in the TD Garden press box for the Bruins’ opening-night contest against the Chicago Blackhawks, though he could end up claiming the fourth-line center role on the team should rookie John Beecher fail to carry over the momentum he built in the preseason into regular-season action.

Senators Re-Claim Lassi Thomson Off Waivers From Ducks

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3:25 p.m.: No other team put in a claim for Thomson, and he has been reassigned to AHL Belleville, according to a team announcement.

1:09 p.m.: The Ottawa Senators have re-claimed defenseman Lassi Thomson off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks today after losing him on the waiver wire just days ago, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. If the Senators were the only team to put in a claim for Thomson over the past 24 hours, they can assign him directly to AHL Belleville without having to waive him again.

If Ottawa cannot immediately assign Thomson to Belleville, that will put them in quite the pickle. They need clarity within the next two hours, as claiming Thomson puts them over the salary cap Upper Limit by approximately $800K. They don’t have room for any healthy extras with center Joshua Norris on injured reserve to start the season. Thomson requiring waivers to go to the AHL again would require Ottawa to paper down one of two waiver-exempt players on their opening night roster – center Ridly Greig or defenseman Jake Sanderson – to submit a cap-compliant roster.

Ottawa selected Thomson, 23, with the 19th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He spent most of the 2022-23 season in the minors but did receive a two-game call-up with Ottawa, scoring a combined seven goals and 33 points in 58 contests across the two levels. The right-shot defenseman failed to overtake veteran Travis Hamonic for a regular roster spot during Senators training camp this year and, if he ends up back in AHL Bellville, will play leading minutes there once again.

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