Flames Sign First-Round Pick Samuel Honzek
The Calgary Flames announced today they’ve signed forward Samuel Honzek, their first-round pick in last month’s 2023 NHL Draft. It’s a standard three-year, entry-level contract, and FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike reports it carries an average annual value of $950K. Selected 16th overall by the Flames, Honzek is the tenth 2023 first-round talent to sign his entry-level deal.
Calgary selected the 18-year-old Slovak forward out of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. Able to play both wing and center, Honzek leveraged his massive 6-foot-4 frame to register 23 goals and 56 points in 43 games for the Giants during an injury-shortened campaign. He may have gone earlier than some expected, but it’s hard to be too angry about the pick value Calgary got with Honzek in the mid-teens.
Honzek headlined a quietly intriguing 2023 draft class for the Flames, who also nabbed Canadian defenseman Étienne Morin in the second round and high-scoring Russian winger Aydar Suniev in the third. The intelligent and all-around smooth-skating Honzek is the prize of their class, though, and he ranks as the organization’s fourth-best forward in the pipeline, according to DobberProspects.
Calgary will likely return Honzek to junior hockey next season, which will slide his entry-level contract back a year to 2024-25. Given Honzek was 18 at the time of signing his ELC, Calgary is allowed to execute this maneuver twice. If he’s not ready for full-time NHL play in 2024 either, the Flames could delay the start of Honzek’s deal to 2025-26, keeping him under contract for a six-figure cap hit as far along as 2028.
Coyotes, Logan Cooley Close To Entry-Level Contract
It appears prized center prospect Logan Cooley will not be returning to the University of Minnesota for his sophomore season. Per a report from PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (backed up by this rather cryptic tweet from the team itself), the Arizona Coyotes are “gaining momentum” on signing Cooley to an entry-level contract and bringing him to the NHL in 2023-24. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds he’d be “very surprised” if Cooley does not sign within the next two days.
Cooley has been one of the more hot-button names in the Coyotes organization after he opted not to sign an entry-level deal earlier this offseason, a decision he partially attributed at the time to the team’s proposed arena plan in Tempe falling through. He acknowledged this to Morgan in an interview earlier this month but also said, “There’s still some things I want to accomplish in college before I make the step to the NHL. I’d say the arena played a little factor, but it wasn’t do or die like I’m not coming or anything like that.”
Arizona selected Cooley with the third overall pick in 2022, a pick that was somewhat controversial at the time with top prospect Shane Wright still available. They have to be excited with early returns, though, as Cooley led Minnesota all the way to a national championship loss with 22 goals and 60 points in just 39 games as a freshman. His points total was eclipsed only by fellow freshman and 2023 Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli, who went to the Columbus Blue Jackets at third overall last month.
Adding Cooley to a top-six forward group that’s already gained Jason Zucker in free agency suddenly gives the rebuilding Coyotes quite a formidable attack at the top of their lineup. Led by Clayton Keller, emerging as a true star after scoring 37 goals and 86 points in 82 games last year, Arizona’s offense is quickly resembling that of a playoff bubble team rather than a basement-dweller. They’re not likely to reach postseason play in 2024 with the state of their defense, but getting their best center prospect under contract is a big step in Arizona’s return to on-ice relevancy.
This certainly isn’t music to the ears of the University of Minnesota, who could unexpectedly lose their best player two months after he committed to rejoin the team. Cooley, along with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies and St. Louis Blues prospect Jimmy Snuggerud, arguably formed the best line in college hockey last season. Only Snuggerud will remain in a Golden Gophers jersey next season.
Signing a three-year entry-level deal would keep Cooley under contract in the desert through 2025-26, after which he’d be a restricted free agent. While unlikely, he is eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners this season.
Maple Leafs To Place Matt Murray On LTIR
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they will be placing goaltender Matt Murray on the LTIR prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. No details on Murray’s injury were provided in the release, which will surely lead to a lot of speculation in the coming days. With Murray joining Jake Muzzin on LTIR, the Maple Leafs will remain $2.1MM over the salary cap, meaning that they will need to do some cap gymnastics in the coming weeks to try and get under the $83.5MM salary cap by October.
Murray’s first season in Toronto was a difficult one for the former two-time Stanley Cup champion as he battled inconsistency and injuries once again. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native hasn’t been able to steady his game or remain in the net since his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Murray was dealt by the Penguins to the Ottawa Senators in October 2020 and quickly signed a four-year extension worth $24MM. The deal was heavily criticized at the time as being too rich and too long for a goaltender that had struggled to stay healthy and consistent.
The Senators were then forced into a cap dump last summer as they traded Murray to the Maple Leafs along with two draft picks for future considerations. Trading for Murray was a good idea in theory from former general manager Kyle Dubas, however, in reality, the deal never worked out for Toronto as Murray was unable to bounce back or stay healthy. Murray dressed in just 26 games going 14-8-2 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
The move will effectively end any talks of a buyout, which is ultimately the best outcome for the player and team. Matt Murray will retain his entire $8MM salary for the upcoming season and the Leafs will be able to use the entire $4.7MM of the cap space that would have been allocated to Murray.
It is quite the fall from grace for a netminder who looked like a budding superstar just six years ago. Murray won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a rookie and looked like he was the future of the Penguins when the team moved on from franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury. However, Murray’s career began to derail a short time later due to multiple injuries and inconsistent play and since then he has been unable to right the ship.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Sebastian Aho To Eight-Year Extension
The Carolina Hurricanes have announced an eight-year, $9.75MM AAV contract extension for star center Sebastian Aho.
This is a massively consequential contract extension for the Hurricanes, who secure Aho through the 2031-32 season at a 15% raise from his previous cap hit of $8.46MM. The $78MM total value of the deal makes it the largest contract in Hurricanes franchise history.
According to PuckPedia, the contract carries a full no-move clause and no-trade clause for its first seven years before converting to a 15-team no-trade clause in year eight.
Hurricanes GM Don Waddell issued the following statement regarding the extension:
Sebastian has developed into one of the best two-way centers in hockey. He’s a tremendous leader on and off the ice who sets a great example for our younger players. We’re grateful that he’s decided to stay in Carolina for the foreseeable future.
It didn’t necessarily always look like Aho would be in Carolina for the long term, as his current contract was actually an offer sheet he signed with the Montreal Canadiens that was designed to walk him directly to UFA status.
But the Hurricanes did the widely expected move and matched the hostile offer for Aho, and have now secured him for what is likely to be the prime years of his playing career at a $9.75MM AAV. The deal gives Aho the 17th-highest cap hit in the NHL, tied with Johnny Gaudreau of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After scoring 36 goals and 67 points last season it might be a stretch to call Aho a top-20 player league-wide.
But before last year, Aho scored at above or near a point-per-game rate every season since 2018-19, while also seeing consistent minutes on a Hurricanes penalty kill that has long ranked among the league’s best. That’s the Aho that could genuinely be called a top-20 player in the NHL.
While Aho might not be the Art Ross Trophy-contending 100+ point dominant offensive center some Hurricanes fans might wish he’d be, he’s still a true first-line center who, excluding last season’s moderately declined production, has played at an elite level for quite some time now.
His impact on both ends of the ice is immense, and the Hurricanes simply do not have anyone on their roster or in their prospect pool who projects as a difference-making number-one center the way Aho does.
This contract certainly isn’t cheap, of course, but it’s also a totally reasonable price to pay for Aho as long as his decline to 67 points last season doesn’t prove a sign of things to come. A similarly-aged center in Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders net $9.15MM on his own massive contract extension, and Barzal has been significantly less productive than Aho over the course of the last few years and doesn’t offer the same defensive value.
Seeing as Carolina purchased eight UFA years of Aho, they were never going to get a true discount on his contract. But with the cap set to rise over the next few seasons, getting Aho at an AAV below $10MM is hard to complain about.
With Aho now locked up and projected second-line center Jesperi Kotkaniemi under contract through 2029-30, the Hurricanes may feel they’ve secured their first and second-line centers for the rest of the decade.
If Kotkaniemi can build on his 43-point performance from last season and the momentum he had in the second half, he could become a strong second-line center behind Aho. Alongside this contract extension, that would give the Hurricanes a potentially elite two-way first-line center and a decent second-line center at a total cost of $14.57MM against the cap.
As the cap rises, we could very well see a star player or two end up commanding a $14MM AAV before the end of the decade, and it’s with that view of the future that this Aho extension feels most valuable. If Aho can manage to perform up to the standard he’s set over the past few seasons, let alone grow past that standard, he’ll provide genuine surplus value on this $9.75MM AAV.
Seeing as this deal doesn’t commit the Hurricanes to Aho deep into his thirties, the contract contains relatively minimal downside risk, meaning it should be considered a home run signing for the franchise.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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.