Devils Sign Max Willman To A One-Year Deal
Call it a successful PTO for winger Max Willman. While he finds himself on waivers today, it’s for a good reason. The Devils announced (Twitter link) that he has signed a one-year, two-way contract. New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols relays (via Twitter) that the contract pays $775K in the NHL, $135K in the minors, and has a total guarantee of $150K.
The 28-year-old spent the last four years in Philadelphia’s system, primarily playing at the AHL level. However, he got into 41 games with the Flyers back in 2021-22 where he picked up six points. Last season, however, his time in the NHL was limited to just nine appearances. However, he did chip in with 23 points in 54 games with AHL Lehigh Valley.
Willman became an unrestricted free agent this summer and wasn’t able to land a guaranteed contract, resulting in him being one of many to go the PTO route. He becomes one of the few to be converted to an NHL deal and assuming he clears waivers (a likely outcome since he couldn’t get a full deal in free agency), he’ll be assigned to AHL Utica where he’ll look to play his way into a recall when injuries strike.
Waivers: 10/7/23
The final day of the preseason is today so pretty soon, teams will be finalizing their season-opening rosters which means there will be plenty of players on waivers this weekend. Here is today’s group, via TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).
Boston Bruins
F Jesper Boqvist
F Oskar Steen
D Jakub Zboril
Buffalo Sabres
F Brandon Biro
D Kale Clague
D Riley Stillman
Colorado Avalanche
D Jack Ahcan
D Brad Hunt
Columbus Blue Jackets
Edmonton Oilers
D Cam Dineen
D Philip Kemp
F Brad Malone
G Calvin Pickard
Los Angeles Kings
Nashville Predators
F Denis Gurianov
F Jachym Kondelik (unconditional for the purposes of release, per CapFriendly)
New Jersey Devils
F Shane Bowers
F Justin Dowling
F Tyce Thompson
F Maxwell Willman
Seattle Kraken
G Chris Driedger
D Cale Fleury
F John Hayden
As expected at this point in training camp, the majority of these players have some form of NHL experience.
Boston’s trio is certainly intriguing. Boqvist is coming off a 21-point season (10 goals, 11 assists) with the Devils but was non-tendered this summer due to arbitration eligibility, resulting in him signing a one-year deal for the minimum with the Bruins. Still just 24, a rebuilding team might be inclined to give him a shot. Steen played in 20 games with Boston back in 2021-22 and looked like a potential fourth-line center of the future at the time. He cleared waivers last season but teams looking for depth down in the middle could consider him. As for Zboril, he was limited to just 22 games last season but has 76 appearances at the top level under his belt. A first-round pick back in 2015 (13th overall), he has a bit of a higher cap hit ($1.1375MM) which could scare teams off but he could be a fit on the third pairing of some rebuilding squads.
Among the other forwards on the wire today, Gurianov stands out. He put up 20 goals with Dallas back in 2019-20, following that up with 30 points in just 55 games one year later. However, he has struggled considerably since then and notched just seven goals between Dallas and Montreal last season. Still, with an $800K price tag, he’s a player who could be claimed. Madden was viewed as a quality prospect not long ago but has yet to see NHL action. However, he’s only 23 and is signed for the minimum this season which makes him a possible claim candidate as well.
On the back end, Fleury was up with Seattle all of last season but was limited to just a dozen games. He impressed in 2021-22 while playing with AHL Charlotte and as a right-shot defender – the side that many teams covet – he could garner some consideration. Stillman was acquired from Vancouver last season and played in 50 games between the two teams, albeit in a number six role. While he has a fair bit of experience (158 games in total), his contract could hurt his chances of being claimed as a $1.35MM price is more than a lot of teams can afford.
In goal, Driedger is the headliner here but at $3.5MM, there’s very little chance he’ll be picked up. He missed most of last season due to an injury sustained at the 2022 Worlds. Pickard didn’t see any NHL action last season for the first time since 2013-14. The 31-year-old put up a 2.70 GAA with a .912 SV% in Bakersfield last season and has 116 NHL games under his belt. Notably, he’s signed for the minimum which gives him a small chance of being picked up at least.
These players will be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sunday will be the last day for teams to place players on waivers and have them clear prior to Monday’s season-opening roster submission so expect plenty of waiver activity tomorrow.
More to follow.
Golden Knights Claim Grigori Denisenko Off Waivers From Panthers
The Golden Knights dipped into the waiver pool as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed winger Grigori Denisenko off waivers from Florida. Everyone else from Friday’s group cleared.
The 23-year-old was formerly viewed as one of the top prospects for the Panthers after they picked him 15th overall back in 2018 following a good season in the MHL in Russia. He spent two more seasons playing at home, working his way up to the KHL level, before coming to North America in 2020 when he signed his entry-level contract.
Denisenko saw NHL action in each of his three years on that first deal, spanning 26 contests. However, while he has seven assists in those appearances, he’s still looking for his first goal. Meanwhile, he has had some success in the minors and is coming off a year that saw him put up a dozen goals with 24 assists in 56 games with AHL Charlotte.
He opted to take less than his qualifying offer this summer in exchange for a two-year, one-way deal worth the NHL minimum of $775K in the hopes that doing so could help him earn a spot at the end of Florida’s roster. Clearly, that didn’t happen with his placement yesterday but now, he’ll look to stick with the Golden Knights. While Denisenko isn’t a prototypical fourth-liner, he could add some offensive upside to that line or alternatively, bide his time as a low-cost reserve forward. Either way, it’s a low-cost pickup for Vegas that will have a chance to give them a nice reward if Denisenko is able to reach his offensive potential with them.
Blue Jackets RFA Tim Berni Likely To Play In Switzerland This Season
There are two remaining unsigned restricted free agents across the NHL – Ottawa center Shane Pinto and Columbus defenseman Tim Berni. While talks are ongoing with the former, it doesn’t appear as if the latter will be signing with the Blue Jackets. Instead, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the blueliner is expected to play in his native Switzerland this season.
The 23-year-old played a regular role in Columbus for a good chunk of last season due to injuries, suiting up in 59 games, third-most among their defenders. Although he didn’t do much offensively with just three points in those contests, Berni logged just shy of 17 minutes a night and averaged a little over two hits per game. That had him hoping that he’d be able to get more than his qualifying offer, a price tag that was actually a dip on his $925K AAV from his entry-level deal as it checked in at just over $874K.
However, earning a roster spot with the Blue Jackets this season was going to be much more difficult. The team added Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson over the summer while Zach Werenski and Jake Bean are coming back from long-term injuries. Between that and the other pieces they brought back from last season, Berni was thought to be on the outside looking in. To his credit, he attended camp on a tryout agreement – a move rarely seen for RFAs – but was cut earlier this week.
With that cut happening, Berni has two options. Sign a two-way deal with Columbus and get run through waivers to go to AHL Cleveland or head overseas. It appears he’s choosing the latter, allowing him to play at home for the upcoming season. Having qualified him in the summer, the Blue Jackets will continue to hold his rights.
Minnesota Wild Sign Ryan Hartman To Three-Year Extension
The Minnesota Wild have signed another veteran to an extension, announcing a three-year deal with forward Ryan Hartman. The deal will carry an AAV of $4MM, more than double his current price tag. CapFriendly adds that Hartman receives a no-move clause effective immediately through the 2024-25 campaign. In 2025-26, he’ll have a 15-team no-trade clause and in 2026-27, it will be a ten-team no-trade clause.
Minnesota acquired Hartman, 29, when they signed him to a two-year, $3.8MM contract in the summer of 2019. He agreed to terms on a three-year extension carrying a $1.7MM cap hit with the Wild before the 2021-22 season began, of which he was entering the final season in 2023-24. His third deal with the Wild keeps him in the State of Hockey through 2026-27, and he’ll be 32 years old when the contract expires.
This is a similar extension to the ones Minnesota signed last week with forwards Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello. General Manager Bill Guerin gave both players two-to-four-year deals around the $4MM mark per season.
At first glance, this looks like a reasonable extension for a player who’s stepped into a valuable role since joining Minnesota. He’d built up a solid reputation as a gritty bottom-six winger before signing with the Wild in 2019. Since then, however, he’s played a pivotal role in centering the team’s first line between Zuccarello and star winger Kirill Kaprizov. While Hartman may not be a long-term solution at the first-line center spot for a team with championship aspirations, he’s still a quality, versatile middle-six forward who’s a solid bet for 40 to 60 points per season over the life of this extension.
After recording a career-high 34 goals and 65 points in 2021-22, Hartman battled injuries last season. An upper-body injury sidelined him for roughly six weeks in November and December of 2022, but he still managed to record 15 goals and 37 points in 59 appearances. That’s on pace for 21 goals and 51 points throughout 82 games. The former first-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks has recorded north of 90 penalty minutes in back-to-back seasons, along with solid possession metrics over his four campaigns with the Wild.
Importantly, Guerin now has even more financial certainty for the 2024-25 campaign – the last season with considerable effects from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. Minnesota will get dinged again with a combined $14.74MM penalty next season, dwindling to just $1.67MM from 2025 through 2028-29 when the buyouts end. Hartman joins Foligno, Matt Boldy, Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Frédérick Gaudreau, and captain Jared Spurgeon as core members locked in through 2027. Notably, Kaprizov’s current contract carrying a $9MM cap hit will expire in 2026.
Looking specifically down the middle, the team’s current top three centers, Hartman, Eriksson Ek and Gaudreau, are now locked in for the next four seasons. What does that mean for 22-year-old Marco Rossi, who will stick in the NHL full-time this season for the first time since Minnesota selected him ninth overall in the 2020 NHL Draft? He’ll likely assume a fourth-line role for this season, but moving forward, it’s apparent Hartman will likely shift back to his natural position on the wing before this extension expires.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the two sides were nearing an extension and the $4MM price tag.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Transactions: 10/7/23
With the preseason coming to an end tonight, today’s transactions are largely highlighted by teams recalling players to give them one final look while giving a regular some extra rest heading into the season. We’ll run down today’s minor moves here.
- The Maple Leafs announced the recalls of forwards Nicholas Abruzzese, Max Ellis, Roni Hirvonen, Logan Shaw, and Ryan Tverberg, defensemen Tommy Miller, Topi Niemela, and Marshall Rifai, plus goaltender Dennis Hildeby from AHL Toronto. The majority of those players are expected to suit up tonight in Detroit.
- The Blackhawks have recalled forwards Dave Gust, Brett Seney, and Mike Hardman from Rockford of the AHL, reports Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. The three have already cleared waivers in training camp and these temporary promotions won’t count against their 10-game/30-day clock before they’d need to pass through again.
- The Senators announced they’ve recalled forwards Tarun Fizer, Zack Ostapchuk, and Egor Sokolov along with Dillon Heatherington, Jacob Larsson, and Nikolas Matinpalo from AHL Belleville. All six are expected to be in the lineup against Montreal tonight.
- Veteran Paul Thompson has announced his retirement at the age of 34. The forward played in 24 career NHL contests between Florida and New Jersey where he had three assists. Thompson spent the bulk of his time at the AHL level, making 697 appearances over parts of 13 seasons.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Speculation Swirling Around Logan Couture
Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News wrote an article speculating on the future of San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture. In the article, Richardson wonders if the Sharks will look to move the Guelph, Ontario native once he is back in the lineup. The Sharks have made moves in recent years to shed their high-priced veterans, and at 34 years of age, Couture would fit that description. He is entering the fifth year of an eight-year $64MM contract that carries an annual cap hit of $8MM.
Richardson is not the first pundit to suggest that the Sharks will move on from the center. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said earlier this week that he believed that Couture was a prime trade candidate, and even added that he could see the Sharks using their final retained salary slot to facilitate a move. It would make sense for the Sharks to move on as they are unlikely to be contenders in the remaining years of Couture’s contract. The team has moved on from Brent Burns, Timo Meier, and Erik Karlsson and has little reason to keep Couture other than to be a mentor for some of their younger players.
Couture is coming off a very productive season in which he scored 27 goals and 40 assists in 82 games. His 67 points last year weren’t far off his career high of 70 points that he registered in 2018-19. While he was part of a power play that was led by Norris Trophy winner Karlsson, he only recorded 20 points with the man advantage, a number that isn’t above his average production. And while San Jose has little urgency to trade him, Couture’s trade value is probably the highest it will be for the remainder of his contract.
For Couture’s part, he has talked about his predicament before. On an August episode of the San Jose Hockey Now podcast, Couture said that he would love to end his career in San Jose, but he wanted to play more meaningful games. Something that isn’t likely to happen in San Jose for at least a few seasons. While some might view Couture’s statement as neutral, his words do show that he has a desire to play for a winning team.
Latest On Pittsburgh Penguins Roster Decisions
Josh Yohe of The Athletic speculated last night about who the Pittsburgh Penguins will keep as their 12th and 13th forwards. As mentioned in an article earlier this week, the Penguins had a litany of options in their bottom six and have whittled that number down to just a few players. Yohe figures that Jeff Carter, Lars Eller, Drew O’Connor, Matthew Nieto, and Noel Acciari should be locked in to start the season on the third and fourth lines. This leaves just two spots as the Penguins typically like to carry 13 forwards.
Yohe believes that the final two spots will come down to three players Radim Zohorna, recent waiver pickup Jansen Harkins, and Colin White who is currently on a PTO. Yohe seemed particularly impressed with Harkins, who was acquired off waivers on Monday and at 26 years old, could be a late bloomer. He scored 25 goals in 44 AHL games last season and has played 154 NHL games in his career. Harkins has inserted himself physically in the pre-season, something that the Penguins don’t have a lot of.
Zohorna has bounced around the league since coming to North America in 2020. He has been a member of the Penguins previously, the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs. In 35 NHL games, he has 5 goals and 6 assists, and while those numbers don’t jump off the screen, he has been very effective in the preseason and offers size at 6’6” and 230 pounds.
Yohe believes that Harkins and Zohorna should be the final two players to make the Penguins NHL roster although he does concede that White is a legitimate NHLer with some upside. The Penguins don’t have a lot of scoring options in the bottom six and White is a former first-round pick who has posted 44 goals and 69 assists in 292 NHL games.
Whoever the Penguins elect to cut will likely find work elsewhere, which should make for interesting roster gymnastics as the Penguins try to maximize their forward depth and keep as many players as they can. The Penguins start the season on October 10th against the Chicago Blackhawks and will need to decide their lineup before the start of the season.
Metropolitan Notes: Unger Sörum, Palmieri, Fasching
As training camp draws to a close, the Carolina Hurricanes were among the teams making significant roster cuts today. Notably, 2023 second-round selection Felix Unger Sörum was not among them – he remains on the team’s camp roster for now. The Norwegian-born Swede turned 18 just a few weeks ago, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged his impressive camp today and didn’t rule out Unger Sörum remaining on the team’s roster through the first few games of the season.
That would be one of the most improbable developments of camp. It’s rare players selected outside the top ten choices make an immediate jump to the NHL – let alone players who were selected in later rounds altogether. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound winger posted 10 goals and 46 points in 42 games in Swedish junior play with Leksand last season, and he’ll get loaned back to the organization when his time with Carolina is over this season. His stint on the Hurricanes’ opening night roster will likely be tied to the health of star winger Andrei Svechnikov, who is expected to be ready for the team’s regular season opener after undergoing knee surgery in March. If that’s not the case, however, Brind’Amour says the young Swede may stick around for a nine-game trial to avoid burning the first season of his entry-level contract.
Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division tonight:
- The New York Islanders announced pre-game that winger Kyle Palmieri will play in Friday’s preseason tilt against the New Jersey Devils, meaning the veteran winger will likely be available for the team’s first game of the regular season next weekend. Palmieri, 32, notched 33 points in 55 games last season and is expected to form the team’s second forward line along with Brock Nelson and Pierre Engvall. He returned to full practice with the team two days ago after head coach Lane Lambert would not confirm Palmieri’s availability for opening night.
- Sticking with the Islanders, one player who is not in tonight’s game is winger Hudson Fasching, who Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports is day-to-day with a minor injury and has now missed his third straight preseason game. Fasching is likely to be healthy for the start of the season, but whether he can keep his role in the lineup from last season remains to be seen. The AHL mainstay forced his way into a career-high 49 NHL games with the Isles last season, posting ten goals and nine assists for 19 points. His main competition for a spot in the lineup is 25-year-old Julien Gauthier, an offseason free agent signing who’s gotten recent looks higher up in the lineup during camp.
Atlantic Notes: Knight, Poitras, Klingberg
Eyebrows raised this morning when the Florida Panthers announced presumptive backup netminder Spencer Knight would start the 2023-24 campaign with AHL Charlotte. However, head coach Paul Maurice said today it’s not a performance-related demotion.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Knight missed the last two months of the regular season and all of the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which he later said was to get treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). After missing significant time, Knight still managed to churn out an incredibly strong postseason performance – one that influenced the organization to want to give him a chance as a true starter out of the gate this season in order to maintain his positive momentum. “This was something we looked at from the start (of training camp),” Maurice told NHL.com. “He’s made great progress in his program. He feels good, he looked fantastic in training camp. But we need to put him in kind of a No. 1 position, a No. 1 role, and then run his program and work on what he’s been working on. But he’s been good.” The 22-year-old is beginning the first season of a three-year deal carrying a $4.5MM cap hit, meaning he’ll still carry a significant cap penalty while in the AHL, as that’s far above the buriable threshold – $3.35MM, to be exact. Veteran Anthony Stolarz will sit behind undisputed starter Sergei Bobrovsky to start the season after the latter guided Florida to its second Stanley Cup Final in franchise history last season.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division today:
- One of the surprise rookies of training camps leaguewide has been Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras, just one season removed from going off the board at 54th overall at the 2022 NHL Draft. He’s played so well, in fact, that the 19-year-old may just have an inside track to make the team out of camp. As rosters continue to get trimmed, Bruins independent reporter Joe Haggerty noted Poitras continued to stay with the main group in practice today, centering a prospective third line between Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie. That’s a notable development for Poitras, as he’s impressed enough to push Geekie, the team’s free-agent signing that they expected to fill a third-line hole, out to the wing. The Bruins can still defer the start of his entry-level contract to 2024-25 if he plays less than ten games before Boston re-assigns him to the OHL’s Guelph Storm.
- After battling an upper-body injury throughout the last week, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg will be ready for the team’s season-opening contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, head coach Sheldon Keefe tells NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy. Klingberg, the team’s key free agency addition to their top four on defense, says he feels good enough to play in tomorrow’s preseason finale against the Detroit Red Wings but that he’s “going to listen to the doctors, I think they’re smart enough to know.” The veteran 31-year-old power-play quarterback is expected to see reps on the team’s top man-advantage unit to start the season, allowing longtime Leaf Morgan Rielly to help bolster the second power-play unit.