Minor Transactions: 07/26/23
Today’s been quite a busy day for player movement around the world of pro hockey, as numerous teams in the many pro leagues are looking to secure quality players for next season. As always, we’ll keep track of the notable moves made in those minor and foreign leagues.
- Michael Frolík, the 2006 10th overall pick and a veteran of over 850 NHL games has signed with Rytíři Kladno, his hometown team in the Czech Extraliga. This is the second longtime NHL player who has secured his place in Kladno for next season this week, as captain Tomáš Plekanec re-signed with the club on July 24th. Frolík, now 35, last played in North America on a PTO with the St. Louis Blues, though he ultimately failed to make the team in St. Louis and chose to sign with Lausanne in the Swiss National League. This past season Frolík made the move to his home country in Czechia, and ended up scoring 24 points in 48 games for Bílí Tygři Liberec. Now, he’ll join Plekanec as an expected top player for his hometown team in Kladno.
- 182-game NHL veteran Michael Chaput, a longtime NHL-AHL tweener, has had his contract terminated with his KHL club, Kazakhstan’s Barys Astana. Chaput wasn’t available for most of 2022-23, meaning he only played in 10 games in the KHL, scoring three goals. It was his first campaign overseas after a long pro career in the NHL and AHL, and as recently as 2021-22 Chaput was a productive AHLer. He scored 33 points in 57 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins that year and could potentially return to the AHL now that he’s a free agent.
- Yesterday, the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears signed a top-scoring ECHL rookie to a one-year AHL contract. The team signed 25-year-old former Yale University and UConn center Kevin O’Neil, rewarding him with an AHL contract after he scored 50 points in 53 games for their ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. The five-foot-eleven center was never all that productive playing college hockey (he scored 60 points in 130 career games) but ever since making his pro debut he’s been on a roll. He got a ten-game cameo late last season with the Stingrays and scored 10 points, and now has scored at a near point-per-game rate his rookie year while also earning two AHL call-ups. The real test for this fall will be seeing if he can push for a more regular spot in the AHL with Hershey, and now with this contract he’ll have the chance to do just that.
- The AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, signed former UConn and Notre Dame captain Adam Karashik to a one-year AHL contract extension, securing his place with the team for 2023-24. 2022-23 was Karashik’s first full season as a professional hockey player, and although he began in the ECHL by the time he was called up to Lehigh Valley in early January he didn’t look back. Karashik was a regular in the Phantoms’ lineup for both February and March, and ended his season with 23 games played in the AHL. This extension gives Karashik the chance to continue establishing himself as a regular at the AHL level.
- The Rochester Americans, AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, have signed ECHL defenseman Brandon Fortunato to a one-year AHL contract. Fortunato, 27, spent last season with the ECHL’s Jacksonville IceMen, scoring 23 points in 48 games. Fortunato in total has played in over 130 ECHL games and has played in 23 AHL games, though the most recent were in 2021-22.
- 28-year-old winger Jimmy Soper successfully worked his way from the fourth-tier SPHL to the ECHL in 2021-22, going from 22 points in 47 games with the SPHL’s Macon Mayhem to an impressive 43 points in 69 games with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. Although Soper’s time in Tulsa ended last season via a trade to the Rapid City Rush, Soper played well enough to secure his spot in the ECHL for next season. He’s signed a one-year contract extension with the Rush after scoring 19 points in 28 games there, and now based on how productive he’s been in the ECHL over the past two seasons it seems he may have put the SPHL firmly in the past of his career.
- St. Cloud State defenseman Ondřej Trejbal is turning pro, having finished his four-year career in college hockey. The 24-year-old Czech blueliner will bring some size (six-foot-three) and nearly 130 games of NCAA experience to his first pro destination: Liiga’s SaiPa. The club announced a one-year contract for Trejbal containing a trial period until September 2023 as well as a club option to extend the contract through next season as well. It’ll be a major step up in competition level for Trejbal to go from playing college hockey against his peers to Liiga hockey against seasoned professionals, though it’ll also be a major opportunity for him to start his pro career in an exceptional league. The team also announced that Finnish defenseman Atso Lehtinen, who finished 2022-23 with SaiPa but spent most of the season in second-tier Mestis, would not see his tryout period result in a full-time contract.
- 22-year-old former Erie Otters star Maxim Golod finished his third season as a full-time pro player on a low note, scoring just one point in his final five games. He couldn’t quite build up momentum with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel the same way he did with the Tulsa Oilers, where he scored 43 points in 42 games, and now he’s made the decision to sign in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan rather than return to the ECHL. He’s signed with the Nybro Vikings and the hope will be for him to be a top offensive player just as he was at times in the OHL and ECHL.
- 29-year-old former ECHL First-Team All-Star Patrick Watling is transferring from Slovakia to the United Kingdom. The center has signed a one-year deal with the EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers, and according to the team release will pursue an MBA degree at a local university while also playing for the Steelers. Watling hasn’t yet played in the EIHL, and 2022-23 was his first as an overseas pro player, but given the fact that he was relatively productive in Slovakia (30 points in 34 games across two teams) and scored a whopping 77 points in 55 games for the Wheeling Nailers in his most recent AHL season, he’ll be a likely candidate to compete for the scoring lead for the Steelers.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
Calgary Flames Reportedly Hire Kerry Huffman
The Calgary Flames are making a major addition to their professional scouting department, per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey. Kerry Huffman, who’d served as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ director of pro scouting for the past two seasons, is on his way to Calgary to join their pro scouting department.
The 55-year-old Huffman has turned into a rather respected scout after a 401-game NHL career split between the Philadelphia Flyers, Quebec Nordiques, and Ottawa Senators. After last suiting up in 1999, it would be 15 years before Huffman returned to the sport, joining a Wilkes/Barre-Scranton area youth team as a head coach.
It’s been a quick rise up the front office ranks since then, becoming an AHL assistant coach before long in 2016 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He served there for five seasons before joining Pittsburgh’s scouting department.
He now heads to Calgary, who will rely on their pro scouts heavily in the next few months as they consider trades for their pending UFAs – certainly defenseman Noah Hanifin, while forwards Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund could lead to some major trades as well, pending their extension statuses.
Huffman’s dismissal in Pittsburgh was one of the first orders of business for incoming interim GM Kyle Dubas last month, as he was fired just a day after Dubas took his post. Some trades made in Pittsburgh the last few seasons weren’t exactly inspiring, especially the team’s acquisition of Mikael Granlund at last year’s trade deadline, but it’s impossible to place that blame solely on the scouting department.
Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz Passes Away
Chicago Blackhawks chairman and principal owner Rocky Wirtz has passed away suddenly after a brief illness, according to a statement from the team. Wirtz was 70 years old.
The Wirtz family has consistently left an indelible mark on the Blackhawks, for better or for worse, and Rocky was no different. Under his ownership, the team was revitalized, to say the least – his choices to get Blackhawks home games back on local television after the team selected Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in back-to-back drafts helped regenerate a dying interest in the team, and fans’ passions were soon rewarded with three Stanley Cups in a six-year span (2010, 2013, 2015).
He oversaw the longest sustained period of success for Chicago in recent memory. The team reached the playoffs in nine straight seasons from 2009 to 2017 after the team went over a decade without winning a playoff series. Things were rough for Chicago in the last few seasons, however, and not just on the ice.
As Pope notes, Wirtz’s last public appearance came over a year ago when the team introduced new general manager Kyle Davidson – a press conference that came just over a month after Wirtz was criticized heavily for comments made during a town-hall discussion regarding the team’s involvement in the 2010 sexual assault scandal involving former video coach Brad Aldrich. He shut down reporters inquiring about the team’s steps forward from the incident and how to rectify the organization’s culture, telling the media it was “none of your business” while his son, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz, was trying to answer a question from The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. Wirtz immediately apologized for his wording, releasing a statement that read, “I want to apologize to the fans and those reporters, and I regret that my response overshadowed the great work this organization is doing to move forward.”
It’s unclear what the immediate path forward is for Blackhawks ownership, but the team will surely stay in the hands of the Wirtz family as they continue a rich family legacy in the city.
PHR sends our condolences to the Blackhawks organization and the Wirtz family.
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope initially reported Wirtz had passed away.
East Notes: Bruins, Werenski, Elson
The Boston Bruins got some expected but tough news today, with captain and two-way dynamo Patrice Bergeron retiring after a fruitful 19-year career with the club. However, their focus can’t drift too far away from their main to-do list items still unchecked this offseason: new contracts for restricted free agents Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic.
Boston is facing arbitration hearings with both players. Swayman’s is up first on July 30, while Frederic’s is slated for August 1. The two parties have up until the start of the hearing to settle on a deal themselves – otherwise, their next contracts will be decided by an independent arbitrator. Independent Bruins reporter Joe Haggerty surmised today that a pair of recent arbitrators’ decisions, Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev (two years, $2.25MM AAV) and Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov (one year, $3.55MM AAV), have set the framework for Frederic’s and Swayman’s deals if they both reach arbitration. It’s worth noting that Samsonov was only eligible for a one-year deal via arbitration, given his pending UFA eligibility next season, while Swayman is still eligible for two. Even so, a combined $5.8MM cap hit for Frederic and Swayman would push the Bruins to the limit of the salary cap, per CapFriendly, and would likely result in the team carrying less than the maximum 23-man roster to start the season.
More out of the Eastern Conference today:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets need a giant refresh button after a disappointing and injury-laden campaign last season. No one needs it more than their number one defender, Zach Werenski, who’ll be ready to go after missing all but 13 games last season with a shoulder injury. Today he told reporters, including BlueJackets.com’s Jeff Svoboda, that he’s met with incoming head coach Mike Babcock and is feeling revitalized ahead of an important transitional season for the club. Werenski said the conversation “kind of fired me up a little bit. I think from that point on, I just wanted to get to training camp and get the season going.” The 26-year-old left-shot defender registered eight points in his limited action last year and skated over 23 minutes per game.
- A rare press release error was clarified by CapFriendly today, confirming that minor-league forward Turner Elson will remain under contract with the Rangers next season despite the team saying they’d signed him to a one-year deal in 2022. CapFriendly reported the two-year deal correctly at the time. Elson, 30, played a bottom-six role with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack last year and will earn a minimum guaranteed salary of $250K in 2023-24. Coming to the Rangers last summer after a decade spent in the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings organizations, Elson registered a strong 17 goals, 24 assists and 41 points in a team-leading 72 games for the Wolf Pack. It’s been quite the winding career for the undrafted free agent, who has three NHL games to his name and has cemented himself as solid veteran leadership and scoring depth in the minors.
Pacific Notes: Ronni, DiCasmirro, BC Hockey
An intriguing prospect for the Calgary Flames will get a chance to rejoin his national team at next year’s World Junior Championship, as Finnish center Topi Ronni has been named to Finland’s roster for the World Junior Summer Showcase. Ronni joins an interesting slate of young Finns headed to the pre-season tournament held in Plymouth, Michigan, including top 2024 draft-eligible prospects Aron Kiviharju and Konsta Helenius, as well as recently-inked Seattle Kraken prospect Jani Nyman.
A likely contender to land on the team’s final roster for the 2024 edition of the WJC, Ronni will look to have a strong showing and improve on his 2023 performance which saw him fail to get on the scoresheet in five contests for the Finns. Standing at 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds, Calgary selected Ronni 59th overall in 2022 and is still looking to make a major impact in the professional ranks. He got into just 22 games with Liiga side Tappara last year, recording two goals and three assists. He’ll try and build on those totals as well next season, as he remains unsigned by Calgary and will re-join Tappara for 2023-24. Finland, meanwhile, will look to Ronni to help them get back to the medal rounds after a disappointing quarterfinal loss last year.
More from the Pacific Division today:
- The Edmonton Oilers have added to their minor-league coaching staff, naming Nate DiCasmirro an assistant coach for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors today, per a team release. DiCasmirro fills out Bakersfield’s coaching staff, replacing former NHL forward Josh Green, who served just one year with the Condors. The 44-year-old coach spent the last two seasons on the bench of the AHL’s Iowa Wild but did not have his contract renewed by parent club Minnesota this summer. The Iowa job was DiCasmirro’s first in the AHL after retiring from pro hockey in 2019. Over a 17-year pro career, DiCasmirro also played 401 games in the AHL between 2002 and 2008.
- After its major league split from Hockey Canada earlier this year, British Columbia junior hockey has undergone a major restructuring. The junior-A BCHL left the national governing body to gain the ability to recruit U-18 prospects from Canadian provinces outside of British Columbia, leaving the BC Hockey governing body without a league at the country’s second-highest junior level below the major-junior CHL. Today, BC Hockey promoted three junior-B leagues – the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, the Pacific Junior Hockey League, and the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League – to junior-A status, bringing them to the same level as the BCHL. The BCHL consistently sees its players head onto collegiate careers in the NCAA as well as drafted directly to NHL teams, such as Carolina Hurricanes 2023 first-round selection Bradly Nadeau.
Flyers Sign Alexis Gendron To Entry-Level Contract
The Philadelphia Flyers announced they’ve signed forward Alexis Gendron, a seventh-round pick from their 2022 draft class. The team did not disclose the financial terms of Gendron’s contract, although CapFriendly reports it’s a three-year contract worth $860K per season. Gendron will earn $775K in the NHL, an $85K signing bonus, and an $82.5K salary in the minors in each season.
Selected six spots before the draft concluded, Gendron is the first member of Philadelphia’s 2022 draft class to sign his entry-level contract. The team’s top prospect from that year, fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier, is expected to return to Boston College for his sophomore season in 2023-24 and remains unsigned. Philadelphia acquired the 220th overall pick used to select Gendron and the signing rights to defenseman Tony DeAngelo, whom they bought out earlier this month, from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Gendron, 19, can play both right wing and center and was selected out of the QMJHL from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Amidst a strong post-draft season in the Q, he was dealt to the Gatineau Olympiques in December 2022, and he went on to post the most postseason goals of any QMJHLer in this year’s playoffs with 14 in just 13 games.
The undersized forward relies on his creativity to generate offense, and he’s got a distinctive eye for plays such as bank and stretch passes. He obviously has decent shooting acumen, too, and while he’s not a defensive liability, he likely won’t be tasked with much penalty-killing responsibility in the NHL at just 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds.
Gendron will likely return to Gatineau in 2023-24 for his final season in juniors, although due to his 20th birthday falling before January 1, he’s not eligible for an entry-level slide, and the Flyers will burn the first year of his contract regardless of how many NHL games he plays. Gendron is eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, however, another unusual quirk because of his late December birthday.
Snapshots: DeAngelo, Sutter, Kowal
Now that Anthony DeAngelo is back with the Carolina Hurricanes under a one-year agreement, questions arose around the desire of the Philadelphia Flyers to buy out his contract, merely a year after signing it. Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer shed some insight on this, getting a quote from DeAngelo saying, “The coach and I wound up not fitting together, I guess that would be the main reason” (Tweet Link).
This is not the first instance of a player not fitting with head coach John Tortorella in Philadelphia, or even over the course of Tortorella’s career. Arguably the Flyers’ top offensive player last season, Tortorella infamously benched forward Kevin Hayes earlier in the season, leading to a divorce in late June, as Hayes was traded to the St.Louis Blues.
In his only season with Philadelphia, DeAngelo actually received more playing than at any other point in his career, sitting second out of all Flyers’ players averaging just over 22 minutes a night. However, his effort on the defensive side of the puck, or lack thereof, was called into question again, evidenced by his low oiSV%. Historically, Tortorella has not only desired but required a high defensive work ethic even from more of his offensively gifted talent.
Other snapshots:
- The Calgary Wranglers of the AHL have announced a one-year deal to retain their captain, Brett Sutter. A veteran with 60 games played at the NHL level earlier in his career, Sutter is most known for his play in the minor leagues. Playing 1,044 games over 17 seasons spent with the Calgary Wranglers, Ontario Reign, Iowa Wild, and Charlotte Checkers, Sutter has accrued 190 goals and 263 assists, wearing the “C” for three different organizations.
- In more unfortunate news, the NHL Alumni Association announced the passing of former Buffalo Sabre, Joe Kowal today at the age of 67. Kowal was drafted by the Sabres with the 33rd overall pick in the 1976 NHL Draft and managed 22 games in Buffalo over two years at the NHL level. All of us at PHR extend our condolences to Kowal’s family.
Central Notes: Wild, Savoie, Moose
In an effort to restructure and strengthen their executive pyramid, the Minnesota Wild announced a series of promotions this morning. The most high-profile promotion will go to Matt Majka, most recently serving as the President and Alternate Governor of the Wild organization, who will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer overseeing all the properties in the Minnesota Sports & Entertainment conglomerate. Such assets include the Wild franchise, the Iowa Wild, Saint Paul Arena Company, and Xcel Energy Center, among others. Majka will still report to Wild Owner Craig Leipold, but will now be tasked with leading the innovative effort to take the franchise into the future.
On the hockey side of operations, current General Manager Bill Guerin will now add on President of Hockey Operations as a title, now being given an executive advisory role with the club, as well as still controlling his team-developmental duties. Leipold gave high praise to Guerin for his performance up to this point, saying, “Four years ago, Bill brought his championship pedigree to our organization and the improvements he’s made to our hockey team and organization are self-evident. The results are both tangible and intangible and he continues to demonstrate his talent for building a Stanley Cup contending team. We are excited about what the future holds for fans in the State of Hockey”.
Lastly, the third and final promotion went to Mitch Helgerson, who had been serving as the organization’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Broadcasting. Going forward, Helgerson will become the new Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing much of the revenue streams coming through the organization.
Other notes:
- Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago reports that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed prospect Samuel Savoie to a three-year, $2.63MM ($878.3K AAV) entry-level contract. Savoie was drafted by the Blackhawks organization with the 81st overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, coming out of the Gatineau Olympiques program of the QMJHL. In his final season with the Olympiques, Savoie expanded greatly on his playmaking abilities, scoring eight more goals and 18 more assists in four fewer games compared to his draft year.
- The AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, the Manitoba Moose, announced two signings today, bringing in Thomas Caron and Mark Liwiski on separate one-year deals. The former captain of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, Caron has seen much of his career crippled by injury, only managing one full season in the last five years. Liwiski, on the other hand, played his first full professional season last year with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, becoming one of the most feared players to line up against, racking up 192 PIMs in 67 games.
Patrice Bergeron Announces Retirement
Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, one of the greatest players in franchise history and arguably the greatest defensive forward of all time, announced his retirement today.
Bergeron provided a statement regarding this decision in both French and English, which can be read in full here. An excerpt from the statement reads:
Finally, to the next generation of hockey players. I had a dream at 12 years old, and through hard work and perseverance my dreams came true more than I ever could have imagined. Respect the game and your peers. Welcome adversity and simply enjoy yourself. No matter where you go from there the game will bring you so much happiness.
As I step away today, I have no regrets. I have only gratitude that I lived my dream, and excitement for what is next for my family and I. I left everything out there and I’m humbled and honored it was representing this incredible city and for the Boston Bruins fans.
Bergeron turned 38 yesterday, and has been a regular in the NHL since his rookie season in 2003-04.
It was evident early on that Bergeron was something of a special player. Not many players drafted 45th overall take an immediate step into the NHL at the age of 18, and even fewer have as productive of a rookie season as Bergeron had.
He stepped straight into the Bruins’ lineup from the QMJHL and scored 16 goals and 39 points, averaging over 16 minutes per night.
By the age of 20, Bergeron had become a true top-six center in the NHL, scoring 31 goals and 73 points in his second full season. At the age of 24, Bergeron first appeared on a Selke Trophy ballot, and soon he would set the gold standard for defensive play by a center in the NHL. Bergeron’s victory in the Selke Trophy voting has been a formality for much of his career, and he finishes his playing days having won the prestigious award a record six times.
Beyond just setting the standard for two-way excellence, Bergeron has long been viewed as one of the game’s exceptional leaders. Bergeron won both the Mark Messier Leadership Award (2020-21) and King Clancy Memorial Trophy (2012-13) and was a yearly fixture on the Lady Byng Trophy ballot.
He also set the standard for work at the face-off dot, leading the NHL in face-off win percentage four times and posting a career 58.9% win rate.
Bergeron had long served as an alternate captain for the Bruins before taking up the captain’s role after the departure of Zdeno Chara. Under his watch, the Bruins had their most successful era of hockey since Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito tore the league apart in the early 1970s. The Bruins won three Prince of Wales trophies during Bergeron’s tenure, three Presidents’ Trophies, and the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1972.
In 2011 Bergeron truly shined, scoring 20 points in 23 playoff games, including the Stanley Cup-winning goal. While the Bruins undoubtedly would have loved to go on one last deep playoff run during Bergeron’s final season, a year where they set records for regular-season success, the organization is undoubtedly more than happy with the more than a decade of legitimate Stanley Cup contention Bergeron led them through.
Beyond just his work for the Bruins, Bergeron found success representing Canada internationally. At times forming a lethal two-way line alongside Bruins teammate Brad Marchand and superstar Sidney Crosby, Bergeron took home the gold medal at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics as well as the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.
A slam-dunk first-ballot Hall of Famer, Bergeron re-defined what it meant to be a two-way center in the NHL over the course of his career. Whenever NHL draft prospects playing center are asked who they’d like to emulate in the NHL, Bergeron is frequently the most commonly referenced name. That’s despite the existence of centers that have long surpassed Bergeron in offensive production, such as Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
That likely reflects something that made Bergeron truly valuable: so much of what made him special was something another player could feasibly replicate through an immense amount of hard work.
If a player doesn’t possess the natural talent of a McDavid or a MacKinnon, expecting them to reflect those players in the NHL is impossible. But Bergeron, on the other hand, is a player whose many great qualities can be mimicked.
Not only did Bergeron provide Boston with exceptional individual on-ice value, he also provided the organization with an invaluable role model for other players to follow. His relatively affordable contracts created a team-friendly financial structure under the salary cap for the Bruins to be able to field a contending team year after year. Countless Bruins players, such as Pavel Zacha, for example, have seen their game improve after practice after practice under Bergeron’s wing.
Teams across the NHL dream of establishing a clear team culture that emphasizes excellence and selflessness both on and off the ice, as well as the importance of shared sacrifice in the pursuit of winning. Bergeron embodied that culture for the Bruins throughout his career, and for nearly two decades the Bruins and the city of Boston were better for it.
Even after his retirement, Bergeron is likely to be viewed as the pinnacle of two-way excellence for centers in the NHL and will continue to be a name oft-cited by draft prospects looking to establish credibility as a two-way player.
Although he leaves Boston in a relatively unclear spot down the middle (the team’s two top-six centers projected for next season are Zacha and Charlie Coyle, neither of whom have ever scored 60 points in the NHL) the franchise can ask nothing more of Bergeron, who played on a below-market $2.5MM contract last season.
Bergeron will now get to enjoy his retirement and leave a Bruins organization that will be eternally grateful for the nearly two decades of leadership, class, and on-ice excellence he provided.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Florida Panthers Extend Eetu Luostarinen
The Florida Panthers have announced a three-year contract extension with forward Eetu Luostarinen, which carries a $3MM AAV according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The deal pays the soon-to-be-25-year-old Luostarinen through the 2026-2027 season, covering his two remaining years of RFA eligibility as well as buying out one UFA year. CapFriendly reports Luostarinen will earn $1MM in base salary in all three seasons, supplemented by a $2.5MM signing bonus in 2024-25, a $2MM signing bonus in 2025-26, and a $1.5MM signing bonus in 2026-27.
Panthers GM Bill Zito offered the following statement regarding the signing:
Eetu is a dynamic two-way center whose speed and strength allow him to excel on any line. His consistency and dependability are a great asset to our forward group, and we are excited about what he can continue to bring to our lineup in the coming seasons.
Although Luostarinen finished the season injured and didn’t quite have the impact during the Panthers’ miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final he’d likely hoped to have, his 2022-23 season was undoubtedly his best as a professional hockey player, even going back to his productive days in Liiga in his native Finland.
Luostarinen arrived in Florida as part of the trade that sent Vincent Trocheck to the Carolina Hurricanes.
At the time, he was a 2017 second-round pick whose rangy six-foot-three frame and productivity in Liiga for KalPa suggested legitimate NHL upside, only he had struggled to make a consistent impact in his first season in North America.
As recently as last season, Luostarinen’s 26 points stood as a career-high for any season in North America.
This past year, though, Luostarinen finally put together all his tools at the NHL level and scored 17 goals and 43 points in 82 games. As Zito alluded to, Luostarinen’s combination of size and speed, as well as his versatility to be able to be used throughout the lineup made him an important player for the Panthers. He really clicked under first-year head coach Paul Maurice, and with this contract extension is likely to be a staple on a Panthers scoring line moving forward.
Luostarinen will make $1.5MM against the cap next season before this contract kicks in, and while the team might have struggled to afford this AAV next season, the cap’s expected rise could make things a bit easier for 2024-25.
Assuming Luostarinen can be relied upon to at the very least match his production from last season, this signing is a savvy bet from Zito. $3MM is already an affordable price to pay for 17 goals and 43 points of production, but if Luostarinen takes another step in his game this deal is a candidate to provide significant surplus value.
Seeing as the Panthers are intent on competing for a Stanley Cup in the next few seasons, getting Luostarinen locked up at this manageable price tag is a nice bit of business by the team’s front office.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.