Adam Fantilli Wins 2023 Hobey Baker Award
It was a banner year for Wolverines center Adam Fantilli and he was rewarded for his efforts on Friday by winning the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in the NCAA. He beat out Golden Gophers forwards Logan Cooley and Matthew Knies.
Fantilli’s freshman year was nothing short of dominant with Michigan. The 18-year-old leads the NCAA in scoring this season with 30 goals and 35 assists in 36 games; he collected at least a point in all but three of his appearances. That also helped him take home National Rookie of the Year honors earlier today. Fantilli also suited up at the World Juniors for Canada where he picked up five points in seven contests. His performance this season has him as the consensus second-overall selection in the upcoming draft in June.
Cooley was the third-overall pick by the Coyotes last summer and had a dominant freshman year, notching 22 goals and 38 assists in just 38 games for the University of Minnesota with one more contest to come tomorrow in the championship game. That puts him second in college scoring this season behind only Fantilli. Cooley also dominated at the World Juniors with seven goals and seven assists in just seven games and while that had no bearing on the voting for this award, the Coyotes have to be thrilled with the progression of their top prospect. It’s possible that he’s a one-and-done player with a decision on that front to come likely early next week.
Knies, a second-round pick of the Maple Leafs back in 2021, has been one of the more prominent power forwards at the NCAA level while often playing alongside Cooley on the Golden Gophers. The 20-year-old has 21 goals and 21 assists in 39 games this season, good for a tie for 15th in NCAA scoring, and can add to those totals tomorrow against Quinnipiac. It’s widely expected that he will turn pro after Saturday’s championship game with his entry-level deal likely to begin immediately, giving Toronto a bit of extra depth heading into the first round against Tampa Bay later this month.
Fantilli becomes the third Wolverine to win the award since it was first handed out in 1981, joining former NHL players Brendan Morrison (1997) and Kevin Porter (2008).
Last year’s winner of the award was goaltender Dryden McKay. An undrafted free agent, McKay eventually signed a two-year AHL deal with Toronto. A full history of Hobey Baker Award winners can be found here.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Alexander Nylander
Apr. 7: Nylander is once again back up with Pittsburgh after being recalled on an emergency basis.
Apr. 6: A few hours after being recalled, it seems Nylander is headed back down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. The Penguins announced in advance of their game tonight against the Minnesota Wild that Nylander has been reassigned back to their AHL affiliate.
Apr. 3: According to a team release, the Pittsburgh Penguins sent forward Alexander Nylander down to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Monday.
Nylander, 25, heads back to the minors after sitting as a healthy scratch for eight straight games. He’s one of Pittsburgh’s best recall options out of their relatively thin depth in the AHL but was a week away from requiring waivers to head back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Pittsburgh remains locked into a tight battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as they look to keep their 16-year postseason streak alive, by far the longest in the league. With salary cap constraints, though, they’re forced to carry a trim roster, having less than $100,000 in space before returning Nylander to the minors.
The eighth-overall pick in 2016 is having by far his best season in the AHL, leading the team in goals and points per game. His 25 goals and 25 assists in 54 games have given him his first 50-point season, marking another step in a long road back to potential NHL relevancy after an injury-plagued development period.
He could remain a lineup option for the Penguins in the playoffs if they make it there. He has one assist in six games this season with Pittsburgh, his first NHL point since the 2019-20 season.
Capitals Notes: Malenstyn, Gibson, Persson
The Capitals announced that they’ve recalled winger Beck Malenstyn from AHL Hershey. The 25-year-old comes up a day after winger Anthony Mantha was a late scratch against Montreal due to a lower-body injury, giving them 12 healthy forwards on the roster once again. Malenstyn has played in five games with Washington so far this season, picking up a goal and an assist despite averaging just 8:34 per night of playing time. He hasn’t been much more productive in the minors either, collecting just seven goals and three assists in 39 contests. Malenstyn has one more year left on his deal after this season with it converting from a two-way pact to a one-way agreement for 2023-24.
More from Washington:
- Mitchell Gibson’s previously reported deal with the Caps is now official, per a team release. He receives a one-year, entry-level contract for next season which carries a cap hit of $867,500. The 23-year-old posted a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV% with Harvard in 27 games this season, earning him a spot on the All-ECAC Hockey Second Team. Gibson is expected to sign a tryout agreement with AHL Hershey to finish the season with the Bears.
- The Capitals also announced that they’ve re-assigned forward Ludwig Persson to Hershey. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick last summer and is already signed to his entry-level deal. Persson spent this season playing at home in the second-tier Allsvenskan, recording four goals and 11 assists in 45 games with BIK Karlskoga. He also made one appearance at the SHL level, extending his streak to four straight seasons with at least one game played in Sweden’s top division.
Senators Assign Two To AHL
With Ottawa (and the rest of the league) off today, they have elected to send a pair of players down to the minors, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned center Ridly Greig and goaltender Leevi Merilainen to AHL Ottawa.
Greig has played in 20 games with the Sens this season including nine on this most recent recall. He fared a bit better offensively in that second stint, picking up a goal and four assists in that stretch, giving him two goals and seven helpers on the season. At the minor league level, the 20-year-old has been much more productive, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists in 35 games in his first full professional campaign.
Merilainen, meanwhile, has gotten into two games with the Senators this month. He made 34 stops in an overtime loss to Carolina on Tuesday but his second start didn’t go as well as the 20-year-old was yanked early in the second period versus Florida. Overall, he has a 4.23 GAA and a .878 SV% with the Sens after posting a 2.02 GAA and a .918 in 42 games with Karpat of the Finnish league.
Belleville is back in action on Saturday for a rematch against Cleveland as they battle for a play-in spot in the North Division so it’s unlikely that Greig and Merilainen will be recalled for Ottawa’s contest tomorrow versus Tampa Bay.
Panthers Assign Mack Guzda To AHL
There is some good news on the horizon for the Panthers on the injury front in goal as the team announced today (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned Mack Guzda to Charlotte of the AHL.
The 22-year-old is in his first professional season after signing with Florida last year as an undrafted free agent. Although Guzda has been up for the better part of the last month, he has yet to see any NHL action, instead serving as a backup netminder. He has suited up in 26 games with the Checkers this season, posting a 2.86 GAA along with a .899 SV%.
Guzda’s demotion means that Sergei Bobrovsky has been cleared to return from the undisclosed injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last week and a half; George Richards of Florida Hockey Now notes (Twitter link) that the veteran will serve as the backup tomorrow against Washington. While it might seem odd that Bobrovsky won’t start right away, Alex Lyon is coming off a career-high 56 saves last night against Ottawa and has won his last five games. If nothing else, they’ll have a capable second netminder behind him as they look to lock down a Wild Card spot in the final week of the season.
Ducks Recall Olle Eriksson Ek
Apr. 7: Another day, another Eriksson Ek transaction. This time, he’s back on his way to Anaheim with the team announcing that he has been recalled once more from San Diego.
Apr 6: Eriksson Ek has been returned to the AHL today. The Ducks don’t play again until Saturday, after losing to Edmonton last night.
Apr 5: In case of a potential injury to starting goaltender John Gibson, Derek Lee of the Sporting Tribune reports that the Anaheim Ducks have recalled Olle Eriksson Ek from their AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls. This will mark Eriksson Ek’s third call-up to the professional club so far this season.
After being drafted 153rd overall in the 2017 NHL draft, Eriksson Ek has had a difficult time moving up in the Ducks’ organization. He has spent the last four seasons in North America, splitting time between the AHL and the ECHL. Understandably, he has produced much better numbers playing with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers.
Unfortunately for the Ducks, Eriksson Ek has produced increasingly depressed numbers each season he has been within the organization. In his rookie season in the AHL, he played in 15 games, going 8-6-1, carrying a .901 SV% and a 3.14 GAA.
Last year, Eriksson Ek followed his rookie campaign up with a 7-15-3 record in 26 games, posting a .880 SV% and a 3.44 GAA. This year hasn’t been any better, going 2-14-0, with a .852 SV% and a 4.81 GAA in 20 games. If Gibson is injured for tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, and Eriksson Ek does play, it will be his first-ever start in the NHL.
Thomas Greiss Out For The Rest Of The Season
The St. Louis Blues have announced that goaltender Thomas Greiss will be out for the remainder of the season with a lower body injury. Greiss played in 21 games for the Blues and will finish the season with a 7-10-0 record to go with a .895 save percentage and a 3.64 GAA. He underwent a procedure this past Monday and it was being speculated that it would sideline him until the end of the year.
Greiss was signed in the offseason as a backup to Jordan Binnington and struggled in his first season with the Blues. It was his 14th season in the NHL and his second season in a row where he put up a save percentage under .900.
Greiss had a tremendous five year run with the New York Islanders from 2015-2020 which saw him win 101 games and put-up a save percentage of .915. However, by the time Greiss signed in St. Louis late last summer there was talk that he nearly retired due to a lack of interest in his services.
Now given his struggles the past two seasons it seems possible that the 37-year-old could hang up his skates after this season. It’ll be interesting to see what Greiss does, there remains a possibility that he could still find work as a backup, given how thin the free agent goaltending market will be this summer.
Robert Thomas Back Skating With St. Louis Blues
Some good news for the St. Louis Blues as they enter the final week of the regular season. Lou Korac of NHL.com is reporting that Robert Thomas is back skating today at the team’s optional skate. Thomas has missed the last five games with an upper body injury but took a step towards returning as he did some drills with Blues assistant coach Steve Ott this morning.
Thomas had started to heat up just before his injury with three points in the two games prior to getting hurt. Before that he had been on a cold streak going pointless in four straight. Thomas has been streaky this year putting up points in bunches and then going cold for a handful of games. Despite this, he still has 19 goals and 63 points in 70 games this year.
The Blues have just three games left in the regular season, so it is not yet known whether Thomas will return before the Blues play game 82. St. Louis is already officially eliminated from the playoffs so there is little rush to bringing him back too soon, especially with his eight year $65MM dollar extension kicking in next season.
St. Louis will be an interesting team to watch this offseason. The team has been visibly frustrated with the play of goaltender Jordan Binnington, their defense is old and could use an injection of youth, and they’ve got a solid group of forwards led by Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. They aren’t that far removed from their 2019 Stanley Cup and will likely be looking to push for the playoffs again in 2023-24.
Seattle Kraken To Assign Shane Wright To AHL
John Shannon of The Bob McCown Podcast is reporting that it looks as though the Seattle Kraken will assign 2022 first round pick Shane Wright to their AHL affiliate. Wright had his OHL season ended last night when his Windsor Spitfires were knocked out of the playoffs by the Kitchener Rangers.
Seattle could call Wright up to be an extra skater for the big club in their playoff push, but it appears as though they feel that some time with the Coachella Valley Firebirds would be better for his development.
Wright has had quite the rollercoaster ride during the 2022-23 season. He started the year by making the Kraken out of training camp after a solid showing. Following that he was used in a limited capacity before eventually being assigned to the AHL. In his first run with the Firebirds, Wright tore it up with four goals in five games before being called back up to Seattle. He then won gold with Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championships before being re-assigned to the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. The Windsor Spitfires then traded seven draft picks and two players for Wright and finished as the number one seed in the regular season. Finally, last night the Spitfires were swept in the first round by the number eight seed Rangers.
For all the highs and lows this season, Wright has produced offense more often than not. His only offensive struggles occurred at the NHL level as he has just a single goal and assist with the Kraken in eight games. Given his recent history, it makes sense that the Kraken would like to see Wright gain some traction in the AHL before making a return to the NHL.
Joel Eriksson Ek Out Week-To-Week, Kirill Kaprizov To Return
The Minnesota Wild’s center depth took a hit on Wednesday, as Joel Eriksson Ek was listed as week to week with a lower-body injury, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. The news is a significant blow to the team’s weakest position and takes the Wild’s best two-way forward out of the lineup longer-term as the playoffs quickly approach. Trade deadline acquisition Oskar Sundqvist is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
It wasn’t all bad news, though, as Russo reported that Kirill Kaprizov is set to return to the lineup tomorrow against the St. Louis Blues after missing multiple weeks with a lower-body injury.
Kaprizov has been the Wild’s best skater by a mile again this season, scoring 39 goals and 35 assists in 65 games. His return will be a welcome sight for a team that will struggle to fill the gap left at center by Eriksson Ek’s injury. The Wild managed to stay afloat in his absence, going 7-3-3 in 13 games without their star scorer and recording 3.62 goals per game, well above their season average of 2.9.
The news on Eriksson Ek, however, is concerning for the Wild, as the 26-year-old has been one of the team’s most reliable players this season. He has scored 23 goals and 38 assists in 78 games, logging almost 19 minutes per game in the process of his career offensive year. The Wild have limited options at center without him, though, and pressure will shift back onto last year’s breakout star, Ryan Hartman, down the stretch to carry the weight in the middle of the ice.
Sundqvist’s injury may be less severe than Eriksson Ek’s, but it still leaves the Wild with another hole to fill in their lineup. The Wild acquired Sundqvist in a trade deadline deal with the Detroit Red Wings and has provided solid depth scoring in the bottom six, recording seven points in 15 games with Minnesota.
As Russo notes, the Wild will need to call up a forward ahead of tomorrow’s game from the AHL’s Iowa Wild to ice 12 players at the position. It could be a chance for 21-year-old Marco Rossi, who had one assist in 16 games earlier this season, to get a late-season look in the NHL lineup.