Calgary Flames Fire Darryl Sutter
As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Calgary Flames are expected to fire head coach Darryl Sutter. Sutter was set to enter a two-year extension with the team on July 1. The team made the news official later Monday morning.
Calgary will owe Sutter the $4MM per season committed on his extension, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirms.
While the news comes with some surprise after the team retained Sutter while parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving weeks ago, it’s not entirely unexpected based on Calgary’s incredibly disappointing season. After making multiple high-octane changes during the offseason, the Flames were expected to compete for the Pacific Division title entering 2022-23. Instead, burnout struck the team, which missed the playoffs for the third time in six seasons.
Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation president and CEO John Bean gave the following statement on Sutter’s dismissal:
On behalf of ownership and all Calgary Flames fans, we want to thank Darryl for his cumulative years of service to the Calgary Flames and to the community at large.
The news concludes Sutter’s second tenure as head coach of the Flames. After serving behind the bench for three seasons between 2002 and 2006, the Flames brought Sutter back into the fold during the 2020-21 season. In total, he ends his Flames career as head coach with 404 games, a 210-136-15-43 record, and a Western Conference championship in 2004.
Sutter’s reputation for strong defensive teams came through strong in 2021-22, with Calgary enjoying their best regular-season record behind their Stanley Cup-winning 1988-89 campaign. Finishing first in the Pacific Division with 111 points, Calgary’s strong play dried up in the Second Round, losing to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
That same mentality didn’t carry over to a 2022-23 team with significant offensive turnover, and prized acquisitions Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri struggled heavily to fit into Calgary’s system. With the team committed to both players for many years to come, interim general manager Don Maloney decided a new direction behind the bench was necessary for future success.
Whoever Calgary’s next head coach may be, they’ll inherit a team that still has the key components necessary to compete in the Western Conference. With a system more suited to the capabilities of Huberdeau and Kadri, as well as more opportunities for younger players such as Dillon Dubé, Jakob Pelletier, and Adam Ruzicka, the Flames aren’t in a position where they need to tear down and start over.
Toronto Maple Leafs Loan Erik Källgren To AHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a roster move ahead of their second-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers, as they have loaned goaltender Erik Källgren to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The move comes as the Maple Leafs are nearing full health among their goaltending depth for what seems like the first time in months.
Källgren was the emergency backup on Toronto’s roster behind Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll during the team’s first-round win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s played 24 games with the Leafs over the past two seasons, recording a .892 save percentage and an 11-6-5 record, but has now been surpassed by the younger Woll in the hierarchy of Toronto goalies.
The loaning of Källgren to the Marlies is likely a sign that two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray is healthy enough to return to game action. Murray hasn’t played since April 2, sustaining a concussion in a game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Even if Murray is ready to return to play, it’s unlikely he’ll see any game action, and it’s unclear whether he’d even dress as the backup. Woll has had an impressive season at both the NHL and minor-league levels and played strong hockey down the stretch.
Källgren now returns to aid the Marlies in their playoff run, currently tied 1-1 with the Utica Comets in a best-of-five semifinal series. He posted a 10-9-2 record and a .883 save percentage in 24 games with the Marlies this season.
New Jersey Devils Assign Topias Vilén To AHL
The New Jersey Devils made an exciting announcement regarding one of their defensive prospects today. The team has reassigned 2021 fifth-round draft pick Topias Vilén to the AHL’s Utica Comets, per the team’s affiliate.
Vilén, a 20-year-old defender from Finland, just finished his season in the Finnish Liiga with Pelicans. Vilén played a vital role in a lengthy playoff run, logging top-four minutes as his team lost in the league final.
Considered a promising two-way defenseman with strong skating ability and excellent hockey IQ, Vilén took a step forward offensively in his third full season playing with Pelicans. His 17 points in 41 games were second among the team’s defenders, and he added on four goals and five assists in 18 postseason games. He also earned a spot on Finland’s roster at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship, part of an impressive developmental season for the late-round pick.
Vilén signed his entry-level contract with the Devils last offseason, spending the year back in his home country on loan from the NHL club. Due to his age, Vilén burned the first year of his contract and has two years remaining before becoming a restricted free agent.
Expect Vilén to spend next season on North American ice, acclimating to the Devils organization and playing a role with the Comets. An NHL recall likely isn’t in the cards for another season or two, but Vilén is still well above the trajectory of an average fifth-round selection.
Ryan Lomberg Out Week-To-Week
After a miracle win in overtime last night, the Florida Panthers have been hit with some unfortunate news ahead of their Second Round playoff matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to David Dwork of Local 10 Miami, forward Ryan Lomberg is labeled as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Head coach Paul Maurice disclosed to reporters Monday that Lomberg was injured in Game 1 against the Boston Bruins and tried to play through it. Today’s news means Lomberg will likely miss significant time after also missing Games 5, 6, and 7 against the Boston Bruins, a blow for a Florida team looking to advance past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996.
Lomberg had a solid season in a depth role for the Panthers this season, playing in all 82 games and registering 12 goals, a career-high, and eight assists. Best known for his physicality and energy on the ice, Lomberg was certainly visible in the first half of the Boston series and his ability to stir the pot will be missed.
33-year-old Zac Dalpe has largely replaced Lomberg in Florida’s bottom six, recording his first Stanley Cup Playoffs goal in the process at a pivotal moment in Game 6 against Boston. Rough-and-tumble winger Givani Smith also remains on Florida’s active roster and could be an option.
Five Key Stories: 4/24/23 – 4/30/23
The month of April has come to an end with the bulk of the first round now concluded. Meanwhile, off the ice, there was some news of note around the hockey world which is recapped in our key stories.
Hallander Signs In Sweden: Penguins prospect Filip Hallander has shown some promise in his young career after being drafted in the second round in 2018. The 22-year-old has seen limited NHL action in his two North American seasons but that will be it for a while as Hallander signed a five-year contract with Timra in Sweden. Pittsburgh can tender him a qualifying offer to keep his rights but since he will be an unrestricted free agent when his deal is up in 2028, there won’t be much value in holding those rights. It’s certainly a disappointing outcome for the Penguins as one of their more intriguing prospects has ended his time with the team much earlier than expected.
Braun Retires: After a tough season with the Flyers that saw him spend time as a healthy scratch and on the wing, defenseman Justin Braun has opted to not test the open market this summer and instead has called it a career, announcing his retirement. The 36-year-old hangs up his skates following a 13-year career spanning over 800 regular season appearances in the NHL plus another 119 playoff games with the Sharks, Rangers, and Flyers. Braun was never a big point producer (he finishes just one shy of 200) but was a reliable defensive defender in his prime that could kill penalties and provide a physical presence while playing around 20 minutes a night.
Cogliano Injury: Andrew Cogliano’s playoffs have come to an early end as the veteran suffered a fractured neck on a hit from Seattle winger Jordan Eberle in the sixth game of their series. The 35-year-old has been a reliable bottom-six forward throughout the year, chipping in with ten goals during the season. He has had a similar role for the bulk of his career which spans more than 1,200 games with five different teams over 16 years. Eberle received a minor penalty on the play and no further supplemental discipline, something that couldn’t be said for Cogliano’s teammate Cale Makar who received a one-game suspension for his hit on Jared McCann earlier in the week.
Offer Sheet Thresholds: It’s very rare that a player actually signs an offer sheet but it is a tool that teams have at their disposal if they want to try to use it. With that in mind, the various compensation tiers were set. The top rate, one that would see a team surrender four first-round picks, kicks in just past the $10.75MM mark, one that teams will likely want to stay away from while a $6.435MM offer would only cost a team first- and third-round selections. Of note, the divisor on an offer sheet is five; if an offer sheet is signed that’s longer than five years, the total salary is divided by five to determine the compensation tier. Also worth noting is that teams must have their own draft picks to sign a player to an offer sheet, they can’t substitute one acquired from another team.
Global Series: Earlier this month, it was confirmed that the NHL would host preseason games in Australia but that’s only part of their international schedule. There is typically a regular season component and this one will feature four teams this time as Sweden will play host to four games in November. Toronto, Ottawa, Detroit, and Minnesota will be the four teams participating. The Red Wings and Wild will each have one home and one away game while the Senators will have both of their contests qualify as home games while both Maple Leafs’ ones will be road affairs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those that were eliminated early. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at San Jose.
Expectations were rather low for the Sharks this season as GM Mike Grier signaled that a rebuild was on the way, highlighted by the move that saw Brent Burns go to Carolina. The team muddled their way through this season and while there were some strong individual performances, San Jose was still near the bottom of the Western Conference. With them still in teardown mode, their checklist this summer largely revolves around moving out more veterans.
Create Cap Flexibility
Typically, a lot of teams at the bottom of the standings often have cap space at their disposal. This comes as a result of jettisoning some veterans in favor of using younger players. That is quite likely the goal for San Jose as well but they’re nowhere near that point yet.
At the moment, assuming the salary cap goes up by $1MM to $83.5MM, the Sharks have about $15MM to work with, per CapFriendly. They also have upwards of seven spots to fill with that money which doesn’t give them much room to try to go after an impact free agent if they want to expedite things or get involved on the trade front to take on a contract or two while being compensated with draft picks or prospects for doing so.
Grier should also want to keep an eye on 2024-25 this summer as well. San Jose’s commitments drop to a little under $47MM for that season but that’s with only eight players signed. Spending less than that amount to sign upwards of 60% of his roster will be difficult, especially if the Upper Limit of the cap jumps that summer, sending salaries upward quicker. Creating more flexibility for that season is something that will need to be considered as well.
Buyout Decisions
Keeping 2024-25 (and beyond) in mind is likely to impact what San Jose does on the buyout front. They have several players whose performance could legitimately have them under consideration in defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Radim Simek plus winger Kevin Labanc. But doing so adds a lot of dead money to San Jose’s cap when they already have Martin Jones’ buyout on the books through 2027.
Vlasic’s contract has been a bust so far. He still has three years left on a deal that carries a $7MM AAV which is top-pairing money. However, the 36-year-old has been more of a third-pairing player in recent years. A buyout would free up over $5.5MM next season but the structure of the contract means the cap savings would only be $2.8MM in 2024-25 while overall, nearly $16MM in dead cap charges would hit San Jose’s books over six seasons. That’s a high price to pay someone not to play for you anymore and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Grier wait at least one more year to make the charges a little less drastic.
As for Simek and Labanc, both are entering the final year of their deals so there is no long-term cap consideration at play here. Simek’s buyout would save $1.3MM on the cap next season while adding $650K in 2024-25. Meanwhile, Labanc’s would free up nearly $4MM next season but add almost $2MM on the books for 2024-25. Both were scratched at times this year and could see their spots filled by someone younger and cheaper.
Individually, there’s a case to be made for all three players to be bought out but adding more dead money to the books for 2024-25 when they’re going to have so many spots to fill will have to be considered as well. Will that wind up being too much of a deterrent? They have a couple of months to figure that out.
Decide Karlsson’s Future
It’s not often that a 32-year-old player has a career year. But that’s what happened to defenseman Erik Karlsson this season. A year after managing 35 points in 50 games, his numbers took off as the veteran tallied 25 goals and 76 assists to lead all NHL blueliners in scoring while making him a contender for his third career Norris Trophy. In doing so, Karlsson’s name came up in trade speculation although no deal materialized.
Of course, there’s a very good reason for that. Karlsson has four years remaining on his deal which carries an AAV of $11.5MM, the highest given to a defenseman in NHL history. In a salary cap world, that’s a hard deal to move at any time but especially in-season. But now it’s the offseason when deals are a little easier to make. That will bring Karlsson’s future back to the forefront.
On the one hand, it’s hard to imagine Karlsson’s value getting any higher than it might be now. On the other hand, with that contract, his trade value might not be all that high. It’s a contract that Grier will have to pay down to some extent; doing so would encumber two of their three retained salary slots through the 2025-26 campaign, not to mention costing millions in actual salary dollars for a player not to play for them.
A year ago, it looked like Karlsson would have been in the mix for the most untradeable contract in the league. Now, it looks like they’ll have an opportunity to get some value for him, although if the deal winds up being like the Burns one, a good chunk of the return might wind up simply being cap space.
Goaltending Upgrade
While it might seem counter-intuitive for a rebuilding team to look for a goaltending upgrade, getting a starting netminder has been on San Jose’s to-do list for a while since Jones failed to live up to his old deal. Former GM Doug Wilson hoped he addressed the vacancy when he picked up Kaapo Kahkonen last year but the 26-year-old has played to a 3.64 GAA and a .890 SV% since being acquired. He’s under contract for next season at $2.75MM so he’ll be in the mix but as a pending UFA in 2024, Kahkonen isn’t really a long-term fixture at this point.
James Reimer has been a serviceable veteran backup but he’s set to hit the open market this summer and doesn’t appear to be a strong candidate to return. Meanwhile, veteran Aaron Dell is a serviceable third-stringer but isn’t a long-term solution at the NHL level either. He’s also a pending UFA.
In terms of their prospects, Eetu Makiniemi showed some promise with the Barracuda this season but isn’t believed to be a starter in the making. Strauss Mann held his own in his first taste of the minors but isn’t close to being NHL-ready. San Jose is hoping Magnus Chrona could be part of the solution eventually but he is only starting his pro career next season and also isn’t close to being in the mix.
If there’s an opportunity to acquire a young netminder with some upside in a trade (perhaps as part of a Karlsson swap), it wouldn’t be surprising to see Grier try to do that. Failing that, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them hand out a multi-year contract to a veteran in July to make sure they have a bit of stability at that position while continuing the search for a longer-term solution.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Golden Knights, Red Wings, Offer Sheets, Lafreniere, Swayman, Coyotes, Conn Smythe
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the potential for an offer sheet this summer, Alexis Lafreniere’s future with the Rangers, Jeremy Swayman’s trade value, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s mailbag.
aka.nda: What wizardry does the Golden Knights’ offseason have in store for us?
Rarely has there been a dull summer for Vegas since they joined the league but I think this offseason could be the exception. They’re not in a spot where they have to dump salary to be compliant with the salary cap. I’m sure they’d like to try to re-sign Ivan Barbashev but depending on what happens with other areas, they might not even need to clear money to make that happen.
A lot of their offseason activity this summer will revolve around Robin Lehner. Is he able to come back? If yes, then they might want to look to trim some money if they want to realistically try to keep Barbashev in the fold. Otherwise, they can put him back on LTIR and use his $5MM. Some of that will go towards a backup to Logan Thompson (likely Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit, or another veteran netminder) but that won’t cost $5MM alone; they can use some of that plus their cap space and try to keep Barbashev that way.
If they do decide they want to move some money out, Alec Martinez is the logical choice. He’ll be on an expiring deal next season and isn’t the impact defender he was when he first joined the Golden Knights. Accordingly, his $5.25MM AAV is on the high side. They probably won’t be able to clear that full deal without either paying part of it down or giving up other assets but they could take back a forward making a bit less to fill one of the vacancies that will be created in free agency.
Vegas likes to chase down the big deal, I get it. But there isn’t an elite free agent out there and let’s face it, they probably don’t have the prospect pool and draft capital to make the top offer in the bidding for an impact player on the trade market. Years of moving picks and prospects will do that to a team. So perhaps this summer will be a quiet one for Vegas, one that sees them lose a few players but keep the core largely intact. In other words, the type of summer that befits a strong contender.
gowings2008: What are some 2nd line center options for Detroit heading into next season?
I have some bad news for any team looking for help down the middle this summer – there isn’t much in free agency to get excited about. Is Max Domi worthy of a long-term commitment to play on the second line? Maybe but I’m not sure Detroit is the right team to give him that deal. Has J.T. Compher shown enough to be a legitimate second-liner? I’m not sold that he’s a 50-point player on the Red Wings. Ryan O’Reilly (the established veteran, not the Detroit center prospect with the same name) could fit as a short-term option and fits the bridge veteran approach GM Steve Yzerman has taken with some of his pickups in recent years so perhaps he’s an option. Assuming that Boston’s middlemen re-sign or retire, those three are the top options on the open market.
On the trade front, is the time right for Detroit to push a bunch of chips in to make a big splash and add an impact center? That’s not typically what a non-playoff team does so I’m not sure they really are too active on this front. Without many long-term commitments on the books, I wouldn’t be shocked if they kicked the tires on Kevin Hayes in Philadelphia, especially if the Flyers are willing to pay that deal down a little bit. Then that becomes another bridge veteran approach, someone that can hold a spot while they hope to draft and develop a future impact center.
Honestly, I think the answer to this question is the same player as this year, Andrew Copp. I like him more as a third-liner but I don’t think Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno are true top-six options at this point in time. As a result, I think it’s Copp’s spot to lose.
Josh2831: Any players you see that could get a serious offer sheet this summer and could the Predators be the team to make the offer?
Generally speaking, offer sheets are so rare that my answer to a question like this will almost automatically be no. In most cases, the offer has to be so high above market value to deter the team from matching and when you look at the thresholds, it’s hard to find a price point for a player that the signing team is comfortable with and the other team won’t match. I don’t think anyone goes above the $8.58MM level and unless the player isn’t that good, whichever team is offer sheeted will match. Frankly, I think the lower end of the market is where there could be so much more activity (in the third-round range or less) but everyone plays nice on that front so I don’t expect anything to happen there either.
But there is one player who could theoretically be a bigger risk to sign an offer sheet, Pierre-Luc Dubois. He’s a year away from unrestricted free agency and if Winnipeg was to match a one-year offer sheet, they wouldn’t be able to trade him. The Jets would then be faced with accepting the draft pick compensation as a return or walking him straight to the open market in 2024. And if he really wanted to make it interesting, he’d opt for the top of the grid where the compensation is a first-round pick and a third-rounder ($6.435MM). Doing so probably leaves money on the table but anything higher than that is a punitive price for the signing team for what’s likely to be a one-year rental and Winnipeg would happily take the picks and run and Dubois shouldn’t want to hurt his potential new team.
At that lower price point, it’s a harder call to make, especially if GM Kevin Cheveldayoff wants to give some of this core group one more chance, perhaps with a couple of changes based on how the playoffs went. Dubois probably wouldn’t sign a multi-year offer as doing so means Winnipeg could match and he’d have to stay longer than he might want to, assuming his end goal is still to move elsewhere.
By the way, I don’t think it would be Montreal, his speculative desired destination, giving him that offer sheet as with where they are in their rebuild, moving an unprotected first-round pick isn’t a good idea, especially if they think they could get him in free agency a year later. For a contender with some cap space though, that pick is going to be much lower in the first round and such a move becomes more justifiable.
Now, for Nashville specifically, my answer is a question back to you. Why would they get in on an offer sheet? They’re a team that appears to be in transition right now, the type of team that shouldn’t be willing to part with unprotected draft picks to sign a player at above-market value. I don’t see the incentive for them to get in on any offer sheets this summer.
Jasen: With the Rangers being in win-now mode, and the Canadiens being in a rebuild, any chance at all that the Canadiens might be able to trade for Lafreniere? And if yes, would a 1st and A prospect be enough to get the deal done?
Philosophically speaking, a team that’s rebuilding probably shouldn’t be parting with first-round picks but Montreal technically did last year, flipping the first-rounder they got for Alexander Romanov to get Kirby Dach. So, I suppose it’s possible they could kick the tires, especially since they have an extra pick in the first round in June. I don’t think they’d go that high with an offer, however, considering he hasn’t been able to consistently crack New York’s top six and the fact that Montreal isn’t at the point yet where they should be moving their top prospects or their first-round pick which will be no worse than seventh overall. An offer that has Florida’s first-round pick this year (assuming it lands at 17th overall) and a couple of ‘B’ prospects (or equivalent pick) is around as high as I think they’d go right now. And unless New York has soured on him that much, I don’t think they should take that offer.
As for the Rangers’ side of things, I don’t think the idea of moving Lafreniere is necessarily a bad one. They’re going to have some tough decisions to make this summer from a cap perspective and while they could try to bridge the 21-year-old to keep the short-term cost down, it’s only kicking the cap problem down the road for a year or two. Are they better off taking a futures-based return now and using that money to put on a long-term K’Andre Miller contract instead? I think there’s a case to be made for that approach, especially if New York is hesitant in thinking that Lafreniere will break out and become that top-level talent that made him the first-overall selection back in 2020. Moving on that quickly from a top pick would sting but if they can get a first-round pick plus an ‘A’ prospect like your proposal suggests, it might be the right move for them to make. I just don’t see the Canadiens being the team to offer the top package.
SkidRowe: If he’s too expensive to re-sign, what can the Bruins get for Jeremy Swayman in the offseason?
Whenever I get a goalie trade value question, I usually take the answer that comes up in my head and dial it down a peg or two since recent history suggests that goalie trade values aren’t very good. But I’m not going to do so here.
Here are two quick stat lines to consider before reading further.
Swayman: 88 GP, 2.27 GAA, .920 SV%
Mystery Player: 98 GP, 2.20 GAA, .927 SV%
The mystery player is Cory Schneider and those are his career numbers at the time he was traded at the draft back in 2013 in a deal that saw Vancouver pick up the ninth-overall pick. Schneider’s numbers are a bit better but Swayman is younger and has more team control (three years) than Schneider did at the time (two years). If I’m Boston GM Don Sweeney, a first-round pick in that range is what I’m looking for. Pittsburgh at 14 is the only team that stands out so an equivalent drafted prospect could also be an option, if not potentially preferable if they’re looking to stay in the mix next season.
Granted, there are many teams that eschew the idea of drafting a goalie in the first round. But there’s a difference between drafting one and getting one who has already shown himself to be an above-average goaltender. At a time when a lot of teams are looking for quality goaltending, a young, controllable option with an early good track record sounds pretty appealing, even if it costs a first-rounder or equivalent prospect. It has been a while since a goalie has brought that type of return but I think Swayman can be the exception.
Minor Transactions: 04/30/23
It’s a day of Game Sevens across the hockey world, with two such contests set to be played in the NHL and one completed in Europe. In the NHL, the defending champion Colorado Avalanche are facing the upstart Seattle Kraken, while the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins are looking to fend off a challenge from Matthew Tkachuk‘s Florida Panthers.
In Europe, MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik earned promotion to the SHL with a Game Seven victory over last year’s relegated club, Djurgardens IF. Former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Kristers Gudlevskis‘ brilliant performance puts MoDo back in the SHL for the first time since 2015-16, and represents a significant achievement for the club after seven consecutive seasons in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. Elsewhere in Europe, today is a major day for the KHL as many teams are announcing the expiry of contracts for soon-to-be free agents.
A few final seasons in Europe are wrapping up and most clubs in foreign and minor leagues are getting to work on their offseason business. We’ll keep track of any notable moves they make here.
- Former New Jersey Devils forward Nikita Gusev, a longtime star in the KHL, has mutually agreed with his club, SKA St. Petersburg, to terminate his contract and allow him to become a free agent. Gusev, 30, had an exceptional regular season in St. Petersburg, scoring 23 goals and 49 points in just 37 games played. Gusev returned to Russia in October 2021 after flaming out in the NHL, never quite able to recapture the success of his 44-point rookie season. Now a free agent, it could be possible that a return to North America is under consideration for the four-time KHL All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist.
- 2011 12th overall pick and 175-game NHL veteran Ryan Murphy is among the players announced to be leaving KHL side Ufa Salavat Yulaev today. The 30-year-old’s 2022-23 season was a strong one, as he scored 17 points in 43 games and was selected to the KHL’s All-Star Game. Although Ufa were upset by Admiral Vladivostok in the first round of the playoffs, Murphy’s strong season opens the door for him to potentially earn a two-way NHL contract or AHL deal to return to North America. Former Buffalo Sabre Victor Antipin was also announced today to be departing Ufa, but seeing as he has been in the KHL for the past five seasons, it’s unlikely North America is in the cards for him.
- Former Arizona Coyotes top prospect Brandon Gormley‘s contract with his KHL side HK Sochi has expired today, per a team announcement. The 31-year-old has had a difficult run of results since winning back-to-back Champions Hockey League titles with Frolunda HC. Sochi were the worst team in the KHL this season, and Gormley managed just 12 points and a -21 rating in 43 games played. He’ll now have free rein to seek a new opportunity as a free agent.
- Original Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft pick Teemu Pulkkinen‘s contract with the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk expired today. Pulkkinen played the last two seasons in Chelyabinsk and saw his production decline this year, from 22 goals in 2021-22 to 15 in this campaign. Pulkkinen, the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year in his native Finland’s Liiga, is nonetheless an accomplished scorer in minor and European pro leagues and should have interest from many clubs looking to add some scoring for next season.
- After signing former NHLer Remi Elie yesterday, the SHL’s Linkopings HC have made another big addition to their forward corps, inking former Philadelphia Flyer Taylor Leier to a two-year contract. The former WHL champion and AHL All-Star had a strong two-season run with the Tigers, totaling 39 goals and 101 points in 109 games there. Now, he’ll look to shoulder a similarly significant offensive workload as Linkoping attempts to climb the SHL standings.
- Alexander Sharov, the fourth-leading goal scorer in the KHL this past season, will not return to HC Sibir Novosibirsk for next season. The 27-year-old Moscow native emerged as one of the better wingers in the KHL this past season, and could now be looking to parlay his goal-scoring success into a lucrative contract with a higher-profile KHL club.
- Patrice Cormier, a former Winnipeg Jets center and former captain of their AHL affiliate has had his KHL contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg expire today. Cormier, 32, has twice finished the KHL’s most penalized player since signing in Kazakhstan in 2018, and now will have the chance to potentially return to North America or seek new opportunities in the KHL as a free agent.
- Arizona Coyotes 2022 43rd overall pick Julian Lutz could be nearing the signing of his entry-level contract, according to an announcement from his club Red Bull Munich. Per Red Bull Munich, talks are ongoing between the 19-year-old winger and the Coyotes, likely on plans for an entry-level deal and his playing in North America (likely with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners) next season. Lutz had a decent season for the eventual DEL champions, scoring eight points in 24 games. He also made Germany’s team for the 2023 World Junior Championships and registered two points in five games at the tournament.
West Notes: Kopitar, Fiala, Chibrikov
The Los Angeles Kings’ season-ending loss last night is still fresh in the minds of many, but that hasn’t stopped some of the team’s players from looking forward to the future in today’s exit media availabilities. One of those players is captain Anze Kopitar, who said today to the media (including The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein) that he wants to retire as a “one-franchise player” and would like to have a conversation about a contract extension this summer.
Kopitar, 35, will see his $10MM AAV deal expire next summer and is therefore eligible for a contract extension at the start of the new league year. Despite reaching his mid-thirties Kopitar remains the Kings’ most important player. He’s a lineup-topping first-line-center who scored 74 points in the regular season and seven points in the team’s six-game playoff loss. While the Kings might not have the financial bandwidth to have his next contract match his current $10MM cap hit, this looks to be a situation where both sides are highly motivated to get a deal done and therefore it’s a decent possibility that we see a Kopitar contract extension this summer.
Some other notes from the Western Conference:
- The Kings’ most important winger, Kevin Fiala, talked to the media today as well and gave an update on the status of his health. While he did not want to dive into specifics, Fiala called the injury that caused him to miss three games of the Kings’ first-round series a continuation of the knee injury he suffered earlier in the season against the Colorado Avalanche. He did state that no summer surgery would be necessary to get him back to full health, which is great news for the Kings as Fiala (72 points in 69 regular-season games and six points in three playoff contests) is their most dynamic offensive generator.
- Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays word from Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff at his press conference today that Jets 2021 second-round pick Nikita Chibrikov is in Winnipeg and is expected to join the AHL’s Manitoba Moose at the conclusion of his KHL contract. The expectation is that the 20-year-old winger will play in North America next season after spending most of this season with Spartak Moscow in the KHL. As is the norm for many younger players in the KHL, Chibrikov received very few minutes in the 31 games he played in the KHL this season, sometimes playing as little as 46 seconds, as he did in a February loss to Dynamo Moscow. It’s very possible that the Jets view the AHL as a better developmental environment for Chibrikov, prompting today’s announcement.
Kevin Cheveldayoff To Remain Winnipeg Jets GM
Those expecting sweeping organizational changes after the Winnipeg Jets’ frustrating five-game series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights are likely to be disappointed. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Kevin Cheveldayoff will remain in his position as Jets’ general manager and will be the one to guide the club through what looks to be an extremely uncertain future. In addition, Cheveldayoff announced that head coach Rick Bowness would remain the team’s head coach.
Cheveldayoff has been the only GM the Jets have had since they relocated from Atlanta in advance of the 2011-12 season. His reign seemed to reach its peak in the 2017-18 season when he was named a finalist for the GM of the Year Award. The Jets made a run to the Western Conference Final that year, falling to the upstart Vegas Golden Knights.
Their core of Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler and 44-goal scorer Patrik Laine looked to be among the most complete cores any competitive team could boast, and that conference finals run looked to be simply a warning shot to the rest of the league that a new era of true Stanley Cup contention was set to begin in Winnipeg.
That didn’t happen, though, and for a variety of reasons the Jets currently find themselves in an uncertain organizational place. Byfuglien’s surprise retirement proved quite the curveball for the team to handle, and while the emergence of Morrissey and Neal Pionk has helped Winnipeg maintain a solid stable of blueliners, Byfuglien added a dynamic element to their team that the Jets still miss.
On offense, Laine’s maddening inconsistency and uncertain contract situation prompted the team to deal him and another frustrating first-round pick, Jack Roslovic, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois scored 67 points in 78 combined regular-season and playoff games this season, but his night-to-night inconsistency and his apparent desire to test the unrestricted free-agent waters in 2024 has left the Jets wanting more.
Now, Winnipeg has four key players set to potentially hit the open market after next season: Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Scheifele, and Dubois.
Cheveldayoff has in the past traded players in similar situations, such as Jacob Trouba and Andrew Copp, rather than let them hit the open market and be lost for “nothing.”
One might assume given how long Cheveldayoff has been in position as the Jets general manager, the organization might prefer a fresh face to lead them in any sort of rebuilding or retooling direction.
With so many key players inching closer to unrestricted free agency, the best path for the Jets could very well be to cash in on those assets and use them to retool around a new core of players like Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Pionk, and Morrissey.
It’s also true, though, that the news that Cheveldayoff will remain in charge of the Jets’ hockey operations indicates that such a drastic shift in organizational direction (towards a re-tool) isn’t yet on the table.
Instead, it could be that Cheveldayoff’s mandate for the summer will be to surround his existing core with as much talent as possible in order to make one last run for a Stanley Cup next season.
If that’s indeed the direction the organization prefers, the 2023-24 season becomes possibly the most important campaign in this new era of Jets hockey. Based on Friedman’s reporting, it seems Cheveldayoff will be the one to guide the Jets through that all-important year, and this upcoming all-important summer.
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