Colorado Sends Annunen to AHL, Prosvetov Becomes Backup
The Colorado Avalanche have sent goaltender Justus Annunen to the minor leagues. This seemingly locks in waiver claim Ivan Prosvetov as the team’s backup while Pavel Francouz is injured. There remains no timetable for Francouz’s return from an injury that required adductor surgery this summer.
Colorado drafted Annunen in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft, the third-highest-picked goalie from the class. He’s appeared in four NHL games over the last two seasons, recording a 2-1-1 record and a .859 save percentage. He has also played in 91 AHL games over four seasons, recording a .904 save percentage through that stretch.
Annunen, 23, has only played North American hockey for roughly three seasons, coming over from Finland after Karpat’s second-round playoff defeat in 2021. He moved into the AHL with professional experience on his back, appearing in 49 Liiga games while in Finland and another 22 Mestis games – Finland’s top league and second league respectively. He recorded a confident 2.18 goals-against-average and .906 save percentage in his Liiga experience, setting a 22-15-11 record.
Prosvetov is one year older than Annunen and has much more experience with North American hockey, playing in the NAHL, USHL, and OHL before turning pro with the Arizona Coyotes. Prosvetov has played in 125 AHL games, setting a .895 save percentage and a nicely-split 54-54-11 record. He’s also added 13 NHL games, recording a .871 save percentage. His most recent NHL experience game just last season, serving as one of three goalies to suit up for Arizona last year.
The two goalies are in competition for a backup role that’s left by Francouz, who is still recovering from a groin injury suffered in May. Francouz has been assigned to injured reserve for the start of the season.
Hurricanes Assign Coghlan, Three Others To Minor Leagues
The Carolina Hurricanes have made their final roster cuts, assigning seven players to various leagues or injury designation. Dylan Coghlan (Springfield), Caleb Jones (Colorado), and Pyotr Kochetkov (Syracuse) have been assigned to various teams in the AHL. Domenick Fensore has been sent to Norfolk of the ECHL. 2023 Draft prospect Felix Unger Sorum was sent back to Leksands in Sweden. And Vasily Ponomarev and Ryan Suzuki were assigned to the team’s injured non-roster list. The final Hurricanes lineup can be viewed here.
The process of assigning players to the minor leagues has been a tricky one for Carolina, who are without an AHL affiliate for the season after the Chicago Wolves opted to go independent. This has meant that every player Carolina wants to assign to the AHL must be loaned out, explaining why Coghlan, Jones, and Kochetkov were dispersed.
Unger Sorum was an exciting name to follow throughout Carolina’s training camp. The winger was just barely eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft, being born a day before the cutoff. That means that he only turned 18 on September 14th. And yet he was able to carve out a significant role for much of the team’s camp, even earning speculation over whether he was ready to join the NHL lineup. Instead, he becomes one of their final roster cuts and will rejoin Leksands in Sweden. Unger Sorum primarily played for Leksands’ U20 team last year, appearing in 42 games and recording 46 points. He also played in seven SHL games, although he didn’t manage to record any points. The 2023 second-round pick will be an exciting international name for Canes fans to follow throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
Winnipeg Jets Extend Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck
3:34 p.m.: Both contracts carry a full no-movement clause from 2024-25 through 2026-27 and a modified no-trade clause for the rest of the deal, per PuckPedia.
2:27 p.m.: The Winnipeg Jets have signed center Mark Scheifele and netminder Connor Hellebuyck to matching seven-year extensions carrying an $8.5MM cap hit, according to a team announcement Monday. PuckPedia has the full breakdown of both contracts:
2024-25: $5MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2025-26: $10MM salary
2026-27: $7.5MM salary
2027-28: $10MM salary
2028-29: $9MM salary
2029-30: $7MM salary
2030-31: $6MM salary
This is absolutely massive news for the Jets franchise on the eve of the 2023-24 NHL season. Not only have they retained their number-one center and star netminder for the remainder of the decade, but they’ve taken two of the top pending free agents off the market next summer.
Scheifele, 30, was entering the final season of an eight-year deal carrying a $6.125MM cap hit. Hellebuyck, also 30, was nearing the end of a similar deal earning him $6.167MM per season. It’s a raise of around $2.4MM per season for both as they remain Jets throughout (and past) their primes. Both players will be 38 when their deals expire, meaning these are potentially the last contracts they’ll sign in the NHL. Per CapFriendly, Winnipeg now has around $18MM in cap space for the 2024-25 campaign assuming an Upper Limit of $87.5MM with five to eight roster spots to fill. With no other big negotiations to worry about (other than young forward Cole Perfetti), it’s a reasonable financial picture for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff as he enters his 12th year on the job.
Scheifele is as core as core gets for a franchise. He was the team’s first draft pick after relocating from Atlanta, selected 7th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft, and he’s the team’s leader in goals since their relocation. The 6-foot-3, 207-pound pivot has notched 272 goals, 373 assists and 645 points in 723 career games as a Jet across 12 seasons – a number that will increase to a spectacular 21 should he finish out this contract in Manitoba. His value has never been higher, either – he just eclipsed the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career and logged over 20 minutes per game for the seventh straight season in 2022-23.
He is quite the opposite of a defensive specialist, however, and his liabilities without the puck will likely lead to debate over whether he’s worth the money on this extension. Still, he’s notched at least a point per game in six out of the last seven seasons and more than deserves a shot to help lead the Jets to their first championship in franchise history. By sinking significant resources into their core until their late 30s, Cheveldayoff is sending a clear message that Cup contention remains the goal entering 2023-24.
There will surely be concerns about the value of these massive contracts as they age. However, if the cap continues to increase in five percent intervals as initially laid out by the league, the Upper Limit could be as high as $117.25MM in 2030-31. In that case, Scheifele’s and Hellebuyck’s contracts would amount to roughly 14.5% of the cap, softening the blow of their potential declines in value.
Hellebucyk is also a career Jet, selected 130th overall a year after Scheifele during the 2012 NHL Draft. He made his big-league debut at age 22 during the 2015-16 season, and he claimed his role as the team’s undisputed starter a season later when he posted a 26-19-4 record and a .907 save percentage in 53 starts in 2016-17.
2017-18 saw Winnipeg win their first playoff series in franchise history, advancing all the way to the Western Conference Final. Hellebuyck’s breakout that season as a truly elite netminder was the driving force behind it, as he led all NHL netminders in starts (67) and wins (44) that season while recording a .924 save percentage. He’s now posted a save percentage north of .920 three times in his career (including last season), and his 357 starts over the past six seasons lead all NHL goalies – as do his 10,412 saves. Hellebuyck is nothing short of a workhorse and has been incredibly consistent over the past years, an incredibly rare quality in a goaltender. He projects to remain in the NHL’s upper echelon of netminders well into his 30s.
His contract comes in just a hair more expensive than New York Islanders superstar Ilya Sorokin, who signed an eight-year extension carrying an $8.25MM cap hit earlier this summer. He’s two years younger than Hellebuyck, but the added eighth year on the extension means that the contract will expire after Sorokin’s age-37 season. Reports earlier this summer suggested Hellebuyck was rather closed to the idea of re-signing in Winnipeg and wanted a $9MM AAV offer from teams interested in trading for him, but those offers never materialized.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Senators Re-Claim Lassi Thomson Off Waivers From Ducks
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.
Waivers: 10/08/23
Oct. 9: Four players on this list were claimed today: A.J. Greer (Calgary), John Ludvig (Pittsburgh), Ivan Prosvetov (Colorado), and Lassi Thomson (Ottawa). All others have cleared and are expected to be assigned to their team’s respective AHL affiliates, aside from Boyd, who PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports remains on the Coyotes’ active roster for now.
Oct. 8: It’s expected to be a busy day on the waiver wire, as NHL teams are making their final adjustments to the roster they’ll bring into the start of the 2023-24 season. There have already been numerous notable names exposed to the waiver wire thus far this preseason, and that list could only expand today. All players from yesterday’s waiver wire have cleared.
Anaheim Ducks
D Lassi Thomson
G Alex Stalock
F Andrew Agozzino
Boston Bruins
Arizona Coyotes
F Travis Boyd
F Zach Sanford
G Ivan Prosvetov
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
F Raphael Lavoie
F Lane Pederson
D Ben Gleason
Florida Panthers
F Zac Dalpe
D John Ludvig
D Casey Fitzgerald
Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
F Joel Armia
D Gustav Lindström
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
G Magnus Hellberg
F Colin White
D Mark Friedman
F Vinnie Hinostroza
F Radim Zohorna
St. Louis Blues
F Mackenzie MacEachern
D Calle Rosen
G Malcolm Subban
F Nathan Walker
Tampa Bay Lightning
D Zach Bogosian
F Gabriel Fortier
Toronto Maple Leafs
G Martin Jones
F Kyle Clifford
F Dylan Gambrell
D William Lagesson
D Maxime Lajoie
Vancouver Canucks
F Jack Studnicka
D Christian Wolanin
Vegas Golden Knights
Winnipeg Jets
D Kyle Capobianco
G Collin Delia
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
The big surprise here out of Arizona regards Boyd. The versatile 30-year-old veteran doesn’t have an exorbitant contract (just $1.75MM through the end of the season) and has scored 69 points across the last two seasons.
He’s been something of a breakout player for the Coyotes as his 17-goal, 35-point 2022-23 was far and away his best season in his career, so it’s definitely a surprise to see him exposed on waivers.
For Anaheim, the move to waive Stalock likely means that Lukáš Dostál has won the Ducks’ backup goalie job behind John Gibson, as should Stalock clear the Ducks will have the option to send him down to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
In Edmonton, it comes as a little bit of a surprise to see Lavioe waived. The 23-year-old power forward was drafted just outside of the 2019 first round, and took a real step forward in his development last season. He became a genuinely impactful AHLer, scoring 25 goals and 45 points. He’s a name to watch in terms of players with the potential to be claimed out of this group.
Anderson-Dolan finally made the NHL on an extended basis last season, and scored 12 points in 46 games. He even got some playoff action under his belt, but seeing as he was a near-point-per-game scorer in his last season in the AHL, it seems the Kings could prefer to have him start the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
Rosen appears the likeliest candidate from the Blues’ group of waived players to be of interest to other teams, as he’s owed just a $762.5k cap hit this season and impressed in 49 games of NHL action last season. He scored 18 points in that span and could interest teams in need of some additional defensive help.
Out of Tampa is Bogosian, and it’s reported that the Lightning are hoping to put the veteran blueliner in a position to land on another team where he can play a bigger role than he’d be offered in Tampa. The 33-year-old won a Stanley Cup for the Lightning and it seems that the organization is looking to do right by the player while also turning to other options to staff their defense.
One of the biggest names on waivers comes out of Toronto, as Jones played in 48 games last season but now finds himself exposed to 31 other clubs. With an $875k cap hit, the veteran netminder could end up claimed by teams in need of instant goaltending support, such as the Lightning who don’t have much depth after the injury to superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Islanders Place Ross Johnston On Waivers
The New York Islanders placed veteran enforcer Ross Johnston on waivers today, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
This will not allow the Islanders to assign him to AHL Bridgeport before tonight’s 4 p.m. CT opening-night roster deadline. However, as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports, the Islanders will designate Johnston as a non-roster player while on waivers, eliminating his $1.1MM cap hit from the books within the next few hours to help the Islanders get under the salary cap’s $83.5MM Upper Limit.
Johnston’s waiver assignment comes as a bit of a surprise, as New York has carried him as an extra forward since 2018-19. He’s played 109 NHL games in that span, scoring 18 points. Johnston is currently in the second year of a four-year, $4.4MM contract. This deal was signed at the start of the 2021-22 season. Johnston would go on to score seven points and record 44 penalty minutes in 32 games that year.
The Islanders signed Johnston as an undrafted free agent out of the QMJHL in 2015. His appeal was largely as an enforcer, leading his QMJHL team in the final two years of his four-year juniors career. He brought this precedent to pro hockey as well, leading the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL in penalty minutes as soon as his sophomore year in the league. He even led the New York Islanders in penalty minutes, recording 62 in only 24 games, during the 2017-18 season; Johnston’s rookie year. This was nine minutes more than Cal Clutterbuck, whose 53 penalty minutes through 76 games ranked second on the team.
While Johnston’s return to the AHL is surprising given his duration with the NHL club, it’s not likely that this is the last fans have seen of him at the top level. The Islanders clearly have an affinity for his reckless style. He’ll certainly remain one of the team’s top options to fill in gaps in the NHL lineup.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley added to this report.
Penguins Claim John Ludvig Off Waivers From Panthers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed defense prospect John Ludvig off waivers from the Florida Panthers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Monday.
Ludvig, 23, was a third-round pick of the Panthers in the 2019 NHL Draft. He turned pro in 2020 but dealt with significant injuries over the following two seasons, only gaining an extended look in the pros for the first time last season. With AHL Charlotte, Ludvig skated in 54 games, recording 17 points and a +18 rating – finishing second on the team in that regard. There’s obviously some defensive upside here with Ludvig, who broke out for 62 points in 60 games while serving as captain of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks during his final season in juniors.
Ludvig signed his first deal with the Panthers in 2020, following his 62-point season in Portland. He immediately moved to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, playing in 13 games and recording eight points during an early taste of professional hockey – shortened by the AHL only playing during part of the 2020-21 season.
This move brings competition in for Ryan Shea, who was already slated to be Pittsburgh’s seventh-man. It also brings Pittsburgh within $170K of the cap ceiling – adding to the tension caused by the claim. Luckily, Dubas has a proven ability to find little bits of cap space throughout the season, although that doesn’t settle the competition for the seventh-man role. Like Ludvig, Shea has yet to see his NHL debut, playing his last three seasons in the AHL. This includes 70 games last year, where Shea recorded 28 points. Pittsburgh will need to decide which of the two young defenders is fit to back up a defense room filled with proven NHL veterans.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley added to this report.
Flames Claim A.J. Greer Off Waivers From Bruins
The Calgary Flames claimed winger A.J. Greer off waivers from the Boston Bruins on Monday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Boston had initially acquired Greer, 26, by signing him to a two-year, $1.525MM contract in free agency during the summer of 2022. Eyebrows raised when it was announced Greer received a one-way deal after spending most of his pro career in the minors, but he managed to crack the record-breaking Bruins out of camp and never looked back. The gritty winger avoided AHL assignment for the first time in his career and notched five goals, seven assists, and 12 points in 61 contests with Boston – as well as 114 penalty minutes. After the team’s trade deadline moves, however, he was mostly a healthy scratch and did not play during their first-round playoff loss to the Florida Panthers.
With younger players like Jakub Lauko and Matthew Poitras taking strides in their development, Greer lost his roster spot and was waived yesterday. He heads to a team in need of forward depth in Calgary, who is down two initially projected regulars for this season after Jakob Pelletier and Kevin Rooney sustained long-term injuries during training camp. Greer will challenge other depth forwards like Walker Duehr and Dryden Hunt for ice time on the Flames’ fourth line to begin the season.
Avalanche Claim Ivan Prosvetov Off Waivers From Coyotes
The Colorado Avalanche have shored up their backup situation, claiming netminder Ivan Prosvetov off waivers from the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the news.
Prosvetov, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2018. He made a career-high seven NHL starts in the desert last season, posting a 4-3-0 record but a poor .880 save percentage and 3.98 goals-against average. Still, he was regarded as a potential long-term fit in Arizona after a strong showing behind a subpar AHL Tucson squad last season, posting a .900 save percentage, 3.06 goals-against average, 16-13-4 record, and a shutout in 40 contests.
He’s signed to a two-way contract paying him $775K in the NHL and $225K in the AHL and will be a restricted free agent at season’s end. Many expected Prosvetov to end up on waivers, with the Coyotes’ goaltending tandem of Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram looking solid heading into 2023-24.
With the Avalanche, he could immediately step in as the backup to starter Alexandar Georgiev. Backup Pavel Francouz is on injured reserve to start the season as he continues to recover from offseason adductor surgery, and there’s no clear timeline for his return. The Avalanche’s third-string netminder, 23-year-old Justus Annunen, does not need waivers to head to AHL Colorado, and the Avalanche could very well assign him to the minors within the next two hours.
Columbus Blue Jackets Assign David Jiricek To AHL, Make Other Roster Moves
The Columbus Blue Jackets have their final 23-man roster in place to start the season, making a flurry of camp cuts today to do so. Those cuts are headlined by defenseman David Jiricek, who’s been assigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters for the second straight season after the club selected him sixth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Defenseman Nick Blankenburg and forward Dmitri Voronkov were also assigned to the AHL, while their other top pick in 2022, defenseman Denton Mateychuk, has been returned to the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Lastly, Columbus placed forwards Yegor Chinakhov and Jordan Dumais, as well as goaltender Daniil Tarasov on the season-opening injured/non-roster list. Forward Mathieu Olivier was also placed on injured reserve.
Many believed Jiricek, 19, would make Columbus out of camp thanks to a strong showing in his rookie season with the Monsters. However, after Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen added a pair of veteran bodies to his blueline this summer in Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, the path to a roster spot muddied significantly for the Blue Jackets’ many young defense prospects. Jiricek is still looking for his first NHL point after skating in four NHL contests with Columbus last season. With Cleveland, he recorded six goals, 32 assists, 38 points, and a -11 rating in 55 games.
Blankenburg and Voronkov were also both strong candidates to make Columbus’ opening-night roster. Blankenburg, a 5-foot-9, 174-pound right-shot defenseman, joined the Blue Jackets in 2022 via free agency after captaining a star-studded University of Michigan squad. The 25-year-old immediately stuck in the NHL, thanks partially in part to the Blue Jackets’ rash of injuries on the blue line last season, but he didn’t look out of place at all. While injuries affected Blankenburg too, limiting him to 36 contests, the diminutive defender recorded four goals and ten assists for 14 points – an impressive 32-point pace over 82 games. He’s destined for a major role in Cleveland to start the season and will be one of Columbus’ first call-up options aside from Jiricek.
Voronkov, 23, will get his first taste of North American hockey in the minors. The 2019 fourth-round pick was expected to make a push for a roster spot after breaking out for 18 goals and 31 points in 54 contests with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan last season. Like the two others mentioned before him, expect a recall for Voronkov at some point during the 2023-24 campaign.
Mateychuk, however, will likely have to wait until 2024-25 (or at least the very end of 2023-24) to get his first taste of NHL hockey. The 12th-overall selection in 2022 returns to Moose Jaw, where he will reclaim his role as the team’s captain after registering 129 points in 128 games over the past two campaigns.
There’s nothing new regarding the injuries to the four players destined for IR. All injuries were previously reported and were expected to keep them out through at least opening night. These are paper moves to get the team’s roster compliant before tonight’s deadline.