- Another celebrity has joined in on the bidding for the Senators as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that The Weeknd has joined the Kimel bid, one of the seven groups believed to still be in the race for the team. This comes on the heels of Snoop Dogg partnering up with Neko Sparks’ bid in recent days while Ryan Reynolds and the Remington Group are known to be putting together a competitive bid. The rough deadline for final offers is the middle of May.
Senators Rumors
Viktor Lodin's Reported Deal In Sweden Is Now Official
- Viktor Lodin’s recently rumored deal with Oskarshamn in Sweden is now official, per a team release. The Senators prospect had 15 points in 28 games with AHL Belleville this season while making his NHL debut at the end of the 2021-22 campaign. It’s a two-year agreement for the 23-year-old, meaning he’ll still be RFA-eligible at its expiration. Accordingly, it’s likely that Ottawa will still tender the forward a qualifying offer next month, allowing them to retain his NHL rights in case Lodin’s production takes off in the SHL.
Minor Transactions: 05/05/23
The NHL second round continues today with Game Two between the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes. After a disheartening 5-1 loss in Game One, tonight is an important opportunity for the Devils to tie the series and head back to New Jersey on stable ground, while the Hurricanes will look to take a convincing 2-0 series lead into their set of away games in Newark.
The AHL playoffs are also underway, and their slate of games is highlighted by an all-important fifth game between Seattle Kraken affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Colorado Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche’s affiliate. Elsewhere in the hockey world, Great Britain earned promotion to the 2024 IIHF World Championships via a gold medal-winning victory over Italy in the IIHF Division 1A World Championships.
As these North American playoffs continue, many teams across the hockey world have begun their offseason work. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- Former Vancouver Canuck Linden Vey, a two-time KHL All-Star and champion in both Russia and Switzerland, is moving on to Germany to continue his professional career. Adler Mannheim have signed the 31-year-old forward to a one-year contract. Vey hasn’t played in North America since 2016-17 but has firmly established himself as a star in the Euro hockey circuit. He led the KHL’s Kazakh club Barys Astana in scoring with 41 points in 57 games this season and will now join other former NHLers in Jyrki Jokipakka, John Gilmour, and Tom Kuhnhackl as a new Mannheim signing.
- Ottawa Senators prospect Viktor Lodin is reportedly headed back to Sweden, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. Svensson reports that the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn will sign Lodin to a two-year contract, completing his return to Sweden after a little over one season in North America. Lodin, a 2019 fourth-round pick, signed an entry-level deal with the Senators in 2021. Lodin was a key piece helping Timra IK earn promotion to the SHL that year, so following his entry-level contract signing the Senators loaned Lodin back to Timra, where he would help them avoid relegation back to HockeyAllsvenskan. He then crossed the Atlantic and had a blistering hot start to his North American career, potting eight points in 10 AHL games and earning his first NHL game. But now he’s headed back to his home country after enduring a difficult campaign this year, a season that ended in February and included enduring a hard hit from Arber Xhekaj in a rookie tournament preseason game.
- IK Oskarshamn also officially signed a player today, acquiring former Vancouver Canucks prospect Lukas Jasek. The 25-year-old Czech winger is fresh off of a strong two-year run with Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans, including these past Liiga playoffs where his 13 points in 17 games helped the Pelicans reach the Liiga finals. Jasek spent parts of four seasons playing in the AHL with the Utica Comets but ultimately made the choice to return to Europe after failing to gain traction in the American league. Now, he’s headed to the SHL where he could be counted on as one of his team’s top scorers.
- Recently-promoted SHL side MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik have made a significant signing to support their efforts next season to avoid relegation back down to HockeyAllsvenskan. They have added former NHL top prospect David Rundblad on a two-year contract. The 32-year-old blueliner spent this past season playing for Karpat in the Finnish Liiga, where he scored 26 points in 60 games. Rundblad is a former Salming Trophy winner, which is the award given to the SHL’s defenseman of the year, and will be one of the top defensemen in MoDo’s lineup next season. The 2014-15 Stanley Cup Champion has scored 73 points in 153 career games at Sweden’s top level and before 2022-23 had spent six consecutive seasons in the KHL.
- After failing to carve out a consistent role in a crowded crease with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie prospect Filip Lindberg has made the choice to head overseas. The 24-year-old starred in the UMass Minutemen’s NCAA championship season in 2020-21 but struggled this season after a strong start to his AHL career last year. He posted a .896 save percentage in 20 games this season, the worst of the Penguins’ three main AHL goalies. He’s now made the choice to sign in a top European league, inking a two-year deal with TPS Turku in Finland’s Liiga. A strong performance in Turku could help him return to North America on stronger footing, should he still want to chase down eventually becoming an NHL goaltender.
- Former QMJHL star netminder Samuel Harvey has signed with Lukko of the Finnish Liiga, finalizing a significant step up for his career after he led HC Bolzano on a run to the ICEHL finals this past season. It’s a significant opportunity for Harvey, as the competition level in Liiga is higher than what he faced in Italy. Harvey’s campaign in Bolzano was his first as a European pro, having split 2021-22 between the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets and AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
- Lukko has made another signing, inking twin brothers Pathrik Westerholm and Ponthus Westerholm to contracts for next season. The pair have a sort of Sedin-like chemistry that has established them as quality contributors in the SHL, where they have spent the last three seasons playing for the Malmo Redhawks. The pair has played for Lukko before, a strong 2019-20 campaign that saw them rank second and third in team scoring behind current Columbus Blue Jacket Justin Danforth. Now, they’ll head back to Liiga hoping to help Lukko win a league title.
- Grizzlys Wolfsburg have made an aggressive push to improve their team after losing in Game Seven of the DEL Semifinals to the league’s eventual champions. The team has announced that they have signed two-time DEL champion and Eisbaren Berlin star Matt White to a one-year contract. White, 33, has scored at a point-per-game rate in Berlin for the last three seasons and has extensive professional experience. He’s a former Nashville Predators farmhand who was a solid scorer in the AHL and has brought offensive production nearly everywhere he’s played. While a return to North America for the former USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year is likely off the table at this stage of his career, this signing gives White the chance to add some more hardware to his trophy cabinet in Germany’s top pro league.
- Liiga’s Assat Pori have signed former Quebec Rampart Martin Lefebvre to a one-year contract. Lefebvre is coming off of an extremely successful season, a year where he won a Norwegian Championship with the Stavanger Oilers and also was named the league’s Player of the Year. The 30-year-old blueliner’s highest-level professional experience came in 2018-19 when he played for Krefeld Pinguine in the DEL, and now his run of success in one of Europe’s lower-level pro leagues has earned him a chance in one of the continent’s top competitions.
Ottawa Senators Sign Jiří Smejkal To Entry-Level Contract
The Ottawa Senators announced the signing of undrafted Czech forward Jiří Smejkal to a one-year, entry-level contract Friday morning. The 26-year-old, who spent the last seven seasons playing in top professional leagues around Europe, brings an intriguing mix of size and skill to the Senators organization.
Smejkal, who stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 223 pounds, could crack the Senators’ bottom six out of training camp next season. In the release announcing the news, general manager Pierre Dorion expressed excitement about the impact Smejkal could have on the team.
Jiří’s signing is a good addition for us; it improves our depth and provides us with an additional bottom-six option at forward. He’s a big body who’s strong with previous experience playing in North America which should help his transition to a rink with smaller dimensions. We’re pleased that he’s committed to the Senators for the next step in his career.
The North American experience Dorion is referencing came in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, when Smejkal played junior hockey with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and Kamloops Blazers. In 130 games, he recorded 17 goals and 42 assists for 59 points, 102 penalty minutes, and a -25 rating.
In the past two seasons, Smekjal was a standout performer in the Finnish Liiga with Pelicans and in the SHL with IK Oskarshamn, where he recorded a combined 48 goals and 40 assists for 93 points across the two leagues. He also represented Czechia at the 2021 and 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championships, registering three goals and four assists in 18 games.
While Smejkal’s recent goal-scoring production is impressive, his size and physicality could be even more valuable to the Senators in a checking role. With his ability to play a power-forward style of game, he could provide a needed presence in front of the net and in board battles. His point production overseas suggests he’ll bring enough offensive IQ to avoid being a liability on the ice.
Smejkal, who can play left wing and center, is a classic low-risk, high-reward acquisition, especially at a one-year term. Per CapFriendly, Smejkal will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
Snapshots: Gaudreau, Jonsson-Fjallby, Bell
The Minnesota Wild were eliminated in the first round of the postseason and have now revealed what injuries their players were dealing with in the playoffs. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, forward Frederick Gaudreau has been dealing with a significant abdominal injury and will require surgery. The injury has been nagging him for four months and he continued to play through it, but will now have surgery to repair the damage.
Gaudreau played all 82 regular season games and all of the team’s six playoff games, so the injury did not take him out of the team’s lineup. The 30-year-old forward scored 19 goals and 38 points for the Wild, adding some depth scoring and playing a gritty, defensively responsible role as well. He added three goals in six postseason contests as well. After proving his value this season, Gaudreau signed a five-year contract extension last month that kicks in next season and has a $2.1MM cap hit.
- While Gaudreau was locked up by his team, one play that is now eligible to hit the open market is Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Jonsson-Fjallby. As capfriendly.com reports, the 25 year old will become a Group 6 UFA because of his age, and career games played. Had the Swedish winger played 75 career games before the end of this season, he would have retained RFA status and remained property of the Jets. He finished this season with 74 career games played.
- The Belleville Senators have announced their new head coach. Per a team release, David Bell will take over behind the bench and becomes the third head coach in franchise history. The 46 year old was the team’s interim head coach since February 2, but was officially named the future bench boss for the 2023-24 season this week. He had been the team’s assistant coach since 2019 and has been behind the bench of an OHL or AHL team going back to the 2004-05 season.
Latest On Ottawa Senators Sale
As the process of selling the Ottawa Senators nears completion, an unexpected name has reportedly entered the heated bidding war for the team. Ian Mendes of The Athletic reported Monday morning that iconic artist Snoop Dogg has aligned with a Los Angeles-based bid to purchase the team, competing with another celebrity-backed bid with Ryan Reynolds.
The process of selling the Senators franchise began after longtime owner Eugene Melnyk passed away in March of last year. Reynolds has been connected to the team’s sale all throughout the process, but Snoop Dogg’s name is a late and unexpected addition to ownership rumors.
Joining a group led by American entrepreneur Neko Sparks, Mendes reports Snoop’s potential involvement with the team focuses on “using his celebrity power and status to amplify and grow the Ottawa Senators brand,” potentially drawing multiple other celebrities into the fray. Mendes also reports the 51-year-old is “intrigued by the possibility of growing and marketing hockey to families from diverse backgrounds in the Ottawa area — and beyond — who haven’t necessarily been targeted by the sport in the past.”
It would certainly be a new and unique look for NHL ownership, one that some would argue is desperately needed. Mendes said that the group led by Sparks isn’t intimidated by rumors of a potential sale price of $1 billion and could become a serious player in sale negotiations.
Also of note to Senators fans, Mendes reports that longtime NHL Swedish defenseman Mattias Norström is consulting with the Sparks group on the transaction, paving the way for former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson to take a significant role in the team’s hockey operations department.
Ryan Reynolds Group Preparing Huge Bid For Ottawa Senators
Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that the Remington Group led by Ryan Reynolds and real estate tycoon Christopher Bratty are preparing a billion-dollar bid in hopes of purchasing the Ottawa Senators. The Markham based group has apparently ramped up their attempts to secure the team as well as the Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators current arena in suburban Ottawa. This past Sunday Postmedia reported that the organization hired by the Melnyk family to sell the team had set a May 15 deadline for the final bids.
Sources have said that Reynolds and Bratty would like to close this deal sooner than later, and their actions would certainly echo that. They have already met with the National Capital Commission to discuss development of a downtown arena and entertainment district, and even met with Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe. The mayor had concerns about the re-development of the 75 acres of land that houses the Senators current home arena, but it is believed that The Remington Group would be prepared to find new purposes for the land in Kanata.
The NHL has been upfront about the fact that they would like to see Ryan Reynolds involved with whatever ownership group should emerge. But one would have to think that if the latest reports are true the Remington Group must be the favorite to land the club. Reynolds is Canadian and would bring international attention to a club that has had issues attracting attention within the city it plays in. The Deadpool actor also has a bit of a track record with sports ownership, having purchased Wrexham FC in February 2021, and leading the club to plenty of early success.
While Reynolds and company are the front runners, there is plenty of interest from other groups with deep pockets and experience in sports franchise ownership. One of the most notable would-be Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, the owner of the NBA club surprised a lot of people two weeks ago when he made an unexpected visit to Canada’s capital city.
NHL Announces 2023 Global Series
The NHL is heading back to Europe, sending four teams to Sweden for the 2023 Global Series games. The Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild will play a total of four games in mid-November.
The games will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, a city that has hosted more NHL games than any other outside of North America. The four matches will be:
- November 16: Red Wings vs. Senators
- November 17: Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings
- November 18: Wild vs. Senators
- November 19: Maple Leafs vs. Wild
The four teams have several Swedish-born stars on their current rosters and long franchise ties to the country. Hall of Fame former players like Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, and Borje Salming will certainly be represented in the sea of NHL sweaters, while current names like Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Filip Gustavsson, Lucas Raymond, and William Nylander will surely wow the crowds.
The games will be played at Avicii Arena, the famous Globe that regularly holds some of Sweden’s largest events.
Final Bids For Senators Due In Mid-May
- Things have largely been quiet lately when it comes to the sale of the Senators but Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that it looks like final offers will be required by mid-May. At that time, the seven groups will have had to submit paperwork outlining proof of financing. Expectations are that the club will sell for at least $800MM based on the strong interest in the franchise.
Ottawa Senators Want To Sign Alex DeBrincat To Extension
Postmedia hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch tweeted today that the Ottawa Senators would like to sign Alex DeBrincat to a long-term deal, but they aren’t sure if he wants to stay. For his part, DeBrincat has been non-committal but did tell Garrioch today that he’d let the Senators know his intentions before the draft. Garrioch added that it is believed that DeBrincat would like to see where the Senators ownership situation goes before signing any long-term contract extension.
It makes sense from DeBrincat’s perspective to take a wait and see approach. He has put himself in a position to take a $9MM qualifying offer from Ottawa and then cash in next summer with any team of his choosing. For him to sign right now would mean he would be committing himself for the near future without knowing who will be signing his cheques.
DeBrincat had a steady, but unspectacular first year in Ottawa. He had 27 goals and 39 assists in 82 games, but nearly half of his production came on the power play. DeBrincat managed only 36 even strength points, a sharp drop from the 50 even strength points he produced in his last season in Chicago. DeBrincat also didn’t have great possession numbers at five on five and seemed to struggle without the benefits of the man advantage.
While it is not unusual for a player to struggle in his first season with a new club, it must give the Ottawa Senators some reservations about committing to another $8MM player. The Senators already have Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Joshua Norris signed to contracts around that mark, with Jake Sanderson due an extension next summer. Adding a long term DeBrincat contract to the ledger could leave the Senators with precious little cap space to shore up their goaltending, or fix their bottom six, something general manager Pierre Dorion has talked about improving.