Oliver Kylington Expected To Re-Join Flames Next Season
TSN is reporting that Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney stated Monday that defenseman Oliver Kylington will re-join the team next season. Maloney made the announcement this afternoon at a Flames press conference and stated that he was excited to see the Swede coming back to Alberta. The former second round pick didn’t play in Calgary this season and wasn’t with the team as he was dealing with a personal matter.
Kylington was very effective for the Flames in 2021-22 as he set career highs with nine goals and 31 points in 73 games playing alongside defensive defenseman Chris Tanev on the second pairing. His breakout season led the Flames to re-sign the Stockholm native to a two year $5MM contract extension in August 2022.
With Kylington returning it could make for an interesting shuffling of the deck chairs on the Flames back end. Calgary is just $1.25MM under the 2023-24 salary cap without accounting for Kylington’s cap hit. His return will most certainly put the Flames over the salary cap and require them to move out a player or two.
Calgary might already be interested in moving out some players given the year the team just had missing the playoffs. The Flames made huge moves last summer and was expected to compete for the Stanley Cup, but instead ending up parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving and firing head coach Darryl Sutter. The Flames have no shortage of tradeable assets and could move a couple of their pending unrestricted free agents this summer should they decide to rebuild or retool their roster.
Matt Murray To Be Toronto Maple Leafs Third Goalie
David Alter of Sports Illustrated is reporting that Matt Murray is set to take the role as the Toronto Maple Leafs third goalie as they get set to begin their second round series against the Florida Panthers. The Thunder Bay native joined his Leafs teammates at practice today for the first time since he suffered a concussion on April 2 during a 5-2 Toronto loss against Detroit.
The 28-year-old will fall behind Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll on the Maple Leafs goaltending depth chart and will likely travel with the club when they head to Florida for games three and four. Murray has an exemplary track record in the playoffs having backstopped the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups as a rookie in 2016 and 2017.
A lot has changed since those two championships as Murray has been relegated to an afterthought since being traded by the Penguins to the Ottawa Senators in 2020. Murray never found his footing in Ottawa as he battled inconsistency and injuries and was eventually traded last summer to Toronto in a salary dump.
Murray had an uneven first season in Toronto posting a 14-8-2 record with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. While he hasn’t posted elite numbers in years, he does offer Toronto a strong backup option should Samsonov stumble.
New York Islanders Sign Hudson Fasching To Extension
The New York Islanders have signed forward Hudson Fasching to a two-year contract extension. The Islanders announced the extension that will keep the Apple Valley native in New York through the 2024-25 season. The 27-year-old appears to have finally found a home for the foreseeable future after bouncing around the past few years. Fasching is a former fourth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings and signed a two-way contract with the Islanders last summer.
Fasching set career highs in almost every offensive category this season with 10 goals and nine assists in 49 games while finishing +10. He also dressed in 18 games for Bridgeport in the AHL putting up 11 points. He had just three points in 38 NHL games coming into last season and decimated those numbers as he finally found a role in New York.
Fasching was once a highly touted prospect when he played at the University of Minnesota, and now after his career year he will get a bit of security with the first one-way contract of his career. He is set to count $775K against the salary cap according to CapFriendly and will likely continue his role in the Islanders bottom six. Although he has demonstrated an ability to slide up and down the lineup having taken some shifts with Mathew Barzal last season.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Maksymilian Szuber To ELC
The Arizona Coyotes announced today that they have signed defenseman Maksymilian Szuber to an entry level contract. The Coyotes didn’t announce the terms of the three-year contract as per club policy.
The 20-year-old German was a Coyotes sixth round pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft. He spent this past season with EHC München of the DEL where he posted three goals and 10 points in 46 games. Szuber is built for playoff hockey standing 6’3” and weighing north of 200 pounds. In fact, just this week Szuber helped EHC München to a German Premier League championship while putting up two assists in 15 games.
Szuber will likely be joined very soon by a ton of young talent. Arizona has 35 draft picks in the next three NHL drafts, and already has a stable of good prospects. Should he continue to develop at his currently pace he could have an opportunity to play hard-nosed hockey for a strong Coyotes team.
Szuber won’t produce much in the way of offence as he has produced just 17 points in 83 career games in the DEL, however given his draft position it would be a massive win for Arizona should he become an NHL regular.
Washington Capitals Sign Ivan Miroshnichenko
The Washington Capitals have gotten one of their best prospects under contract, announcing the signing of forward Ivan Miroshnichenko to a three-year entry-level contract. Miroshnichenko will earn $855,000 in the NHL and $82,500 in the AHL per season over the course of his deal, which makes him a restricted free agent in 2026.
For Miroshnichenko, this is certainly a mountaintop moment. The young forward was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma before draft day last year, but was cleared to return to training before the draft and played a full, healthy season of hockey in 2022-23.
He had a tough postseason run in Russian juniors, but did notch 14 points in 12 games with the MHL’s Omskie Yastreby during the regular season. He also spent 23 games with Avanagard Omsk in the KHL, earning four points.
He’s destined for a prominent role on the AHL’s Hershey Bears next season, continuing his development as one of the brightest spots in a weak pool of Capitals prospects. Miroshnichenko was drafted 20th overall in 2022.
A power winger with good instincts, Miroshnichenko stands 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds and should ideally put up 30-40 points if he plays the entire 2023-24 season in the AHL without any health issues. It may not be time to call him up to the NHL roster just yet, but it’s a huge step in Miroshnichenko’s development to get this far.
Winnipeg Jets Sign Nikita Chibrikov To Entry-Level Contract
The Winnipeg Jets signed forward Nikita Chibrikov to a three-year, entry-level contract Monday, per a team release. Chibrikov’s contract will begin in 2023-24 and carry a cap hit of $925,000. Chibrikov has also signed a professional tryout contract with the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, and he’ll join the team as they continue their play in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Winnipeg drafted Chibrikov, 20, with the 50th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. His development path since hasn’t been smooth, failing to secure extended playing time in any league in Russia. The constant shuttling between levels has stunted Chibrikov’s offensive development, with his point production today not dissimilar to his production during his draft year.
It makes the timing of the signing significant. With Chibrikov now under Winnipeg’s control, he’ll remain in North America next season and see extended time with the Moose, allowing him to play in an organization solely focused on his development.
He played most of this past season with Spartak Moskva in the KHL, recording just two points in 31 games with a very limited role. His game revolves around speed and skill, something he’ll have more opportunity to showcase with more minutes in the AHL.
Chibrikov will be a restricted free agent in 2026.
PHR Playoff Primer: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers
With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs now underway, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We begin our Second Round coverage with the Atlantic Division matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
Two teams with very short histories of recent playoff success will face off against each other in the Second Round. What could go wrong?
Both teams overcame adversity to get to this point, although one team’s path is much more impressive than the other. The Florida Panthers are here against all odds, finishing the regular season as the 17th-place team in the league but vanquishing the record-setting Boston Bruins in seven games. It’s the first time in franchise history the Panthers have advanced in the postseason in back-to-back years.
The Maple Leafs, while favored to win their series, exorcised past failures in their own right, advancing in the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades. It’s a massive step toward ending the longest championship drought in the league, one in which they’ll have to vanquish both Florida teams to end.
Regular Season Performance
Toronto: 50-21-11, 111 points, +57 goal differential
Florida: 42-32-8, 92 points, +17 goal differential
Head-To-Head
January 17, 2023: Florida 4, Toronto 5 (OT)
March 23, 2023: Toronto 6, Florida 2
March 29, 2023: Florida 3, Toronto 2 (OT)
April 10, 2023: Toronto 2, Florida 1 (OT)
Toronto takes season series 3-0-1
Team Storylines
It was a tale of two seasons for the Florida Panthers, who went 12-5-2 after the trade deadline to rocket back into playoff position after a disappointing first half to the campaign. Fortunately for them, they were able to keep it rolling in the playoffs, and their early-series dominance and late-series heroics were enough to create one of the largest upsets in NHL history.
It should strike fear into the Toronto Maple Leafs, who deserve full credit for their series win, but were outplayed heavily at times by the Lightning and got some soft goals past a normally stout Andrei Vasilevskiy. One main reason for optimism for Leafs fans, however, is their play against Florida down the stretch. Three of their four season matchups game within the last few weeks of the campaign, with Florida scratching and clawing for playoff positioning. Toronto came out victorious in two of the three games, dropping the other in overtime.
Toronto was able to get to the slot with ease in their 6-2 win, forcing nine high-danger chances against Sergei Bobrovsky. Their more balanced attack, with the inclusion of Ryan O’Reilly to the third line, will be key in getting through a Florida defense that lacks depth behind Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad.
Goaltending may as well be a toss-up in this series. With Bobrovsky reclaiming the starter’s net in Florida, he and Ilya Samsonov have had very similar postseasons. Both have let in shaky goals at times but have turned it on in clutch moments, stealing their team’s games despite mediocre save percentages.
Defensively, Toronto will need to change their game plan when hemmed in their own zone. A common criticism against Toronto in the first round was their passiveness, allowing the Lightning to cycle freely in the zone and activate their defensemen at the points. With Montour’s current offensive dominance for Florida, he’ll be an unleashed weapon in this series if the Leafs aren’t more aggressive in covering the points. There’s also the matter of Matthew Tkachuk to stop, who’s taken Florida on his back this season.
The same goes for Florida, who have to contend with a red-hot Morgan Rielly for Toronto. The Maple Leafs were much more confident moving the puck in their series-clinching Game 6 win, largely in part due to swapping in Timothy Liljegren in the lineup for Justin Holl. That change is expected to stick for Game 1.
Prediction
Both teams won their series in similar ways: clutch saves and mastering a “bend but don’t break” mentality. With the monkey off the Maple Leafs’ backs, however, the advantage goes to the team with better depth at every position.
Toronto’s ability to roll three lines and advance the puck out of the zone with a more confident defense, as well as a dialed-in Ilya Samsonov, should keep the upstart Panthers at bay and guide the Maple Leafs to the conference finals for the first time since 2002.
Prediction: Maple Leafs win in six games.
Joel Eriksson Ek Underwent Surgery, Will Be Ready For Camp
Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek played just one shift in his team’s first-round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, sidelined by a lower-body injury sustained during the tail end of the regular season. Speaking during the team’s season-ending media availability today, Eriksson Ek told reporters, including The Athletic’s Joe Smith, that he sustained a broken fibula that “didn’t hold up” during his attempted return in Game 3.
The Wild center had surgery to repair the break and plans to be ready for training camp next season.
Eriksson Ek, the team’s strongest all-around center, was a critical absence in the Wild lineup as they failed to get much offense generated against the Dallas Stars. He notched a career-high 38 assists and 61 points in 2022-23.
Perennially in the Selke conversation, Eriksson Ek’s presence down the middle is a must-have for Minnesota to continue success with a cap-strapped roster next season. The Wild are expecting a breakout campaign from young Marco Rossi next year but need the leadership of Eriksson Ek to maintain playoff positioning.
Eriksson Ek joins pending restricted free agent Mason Shaw as Wild centers sidelined with long-term injuries over the offseason.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Maxim Groshev
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward prospect Maxim Groshev to a three-year entry-level contract, his agent Dan Milstein announced on Twitter Monday. Tampa Bay selected Groshev in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft with the 85th overall pick. Financial details of the contract have not been reported.
Groshev, 21, has bounced different levels of Russian league play since Tampa drafted him, logging time in the pro (KHL), minor pro (VHL), and junior (MHL) ranks since his draft year. Before Russia was barred from international competition, Groshev represented Russia once at the U18 World Juniors at twice at the U20 tournament, collecting two silver medals.
2022-23 saw Groshev gain his most extensive experience yet in Russia’s top league, scoring six points in 34 games with SKA St. Petersburg. He earned a top-six role in the Russian minors, scoring 18 points in 22 games with the VHL’s SKA-Neva St. Petersburg.
Groshev will likely report to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch next year to take the next steps in his development. While he remains a strong skater with good size and boasts a middle-six ceiling in the NHL, he needs time in the minors to adjust to the Lightning organization and nail down the fundamentals of his game.
Latest On Ottawa Senators Sale
As the process of selling the Ottawa Senators nears completion, an unexpected name has reportedly entered the heated bidding war for the team. Ian Mendes of The Athletic reported Monday morning that iconic artist Snoop Dogg has aligned with a Los Angeles-based bid to purchase the team, competing with another celebrity-backed bid with Ryan Reynolds.
The process of selling the Senators franchise began after longtime owner Eugene Melnyk passed away in March of last year. Reynolds has been connected to the team’s sale all throughout the process, but Snoop Dogg’s name is a late and unexpected addition to ownership rumors.
Joining a group led by American entrepreneur Neko Sparks, Mendes reports Snoop’s potential involvement with the team focuses on “using his celebrity power and status to amplify and grow the Ottawa Senators brand,” potentially drawing multiple other celebrities into the fray. Mendes also reports the 51-year-old is “intrigued by the possibility of growing and marketing hockey to families from diverse backgrounds in the Ottawa area — and beyond — who haven’t necessarily been targeted by the sport in the past.”
It would certainly be a new and unique look for NHL ownership, one that some would argue is desperately needed. Mendes said that the group led by Sparks isn’t intimidated by rumors of a potential sale price of $1 billion and could become a serious player in sale negotiations.
Also of note to Senators fans, Mendes reports that longtime NHL Swedish defenseman Mattias Norström is consulting with the Sparks group on the transaction, paving the way for former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson to take a significant role in the team’s hockey operations department.