Alex Formenton Signs In Switzerland
No longer eligible to play in the NHL this season, Ottawa Senators restricted free agent Alex Formenton has signed a contract with HC Ambri-Piotta, the same club that yesterday added Nick Shore. The deal will only last through the 2022-23 season, and the team release included the following (translated by Google):
The HCAP knows that the player and some of his teammates from Canada’s U20 World Cup winners in 2018 were involved in a criminal investigation which resulted in a decree of abandonment. The investigation was recently reopened following revelations about the Canadian federation’s practice in similar cases.
The HCAP, after discussion with the player, who fully cooperated with all authorities during the investigations carried out by the London Police (Ontario, Canada), the NHL and the Canadian Hockey Federation, and his lawyers, believes that there is no any element not to assert the presumption of innocence against him. Should the new investigation by the Canadian police reveal elements that are currently unknown, the Club and the player have reserved the right to reevaluate their contractual relationship.
Formenton, 23, failed to reach a contract with the Senators before the December 1 deadline, making him ineligible for the rest of the year. The impasse followed a breakout season in which the young forward scored 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games, using his elite skating and long reach to create regular scoring chances for himself and his teammates.
The Senators have never commented on whether the re-opened investigation into an alleged 2018 sexual assault had anything to do with Formenton’s negotiations or lack thereof. Yesterday, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the league’s investigation into the incident is nearly complete, but there is still an ongoing investigation by the London Police Service, and follow-up that needs to be completed between the NHL and NHLPA before anything is released.
He will remain a restricted free agent and on the Senators’ reserve list unless they choose to leave him unqualified this summer.
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Assign Maxime Lajoie
Dec 14: A few days later, the Hurricanes have sent Lajoie back to the minor leagues. He played in two games, seeing a total of 13 shifts during his recall.
Dec 8: The Carolina Hurricanes announced this evening that they have recalled defenseman Maxime Lajoie from the Chicago Wolves, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move was announced. This brings Carolina to a full 23-man roster.
The 25-year-old is in his third season in the Hurricanes organization, having played primarily for the Wolves during that period of times. In fact, the defenseman was recently named captain of the Wolves on November 8th. In 17 AHL games this season, Lajoie has six points, all assists. This won’t be his first time on Carolina’s roster this year either, having played one game for the team back on November 14th.
Originally an Ottawa Senators draft pick in 2016, the bulk of Lajoie’s NHL experience came during the 2018-19 season, where he suited up for 58 games for Ottawa. Since then, he’s played in just 12 NHL games spread over three seasons. Now an AHL veteran and leader, Lajoie has made the most of his time in the AHL recording 93 points in 211 career games.
Ottawa Senators Recall Jake Lucchini
After parts of five seasons in the minor leagues, Jake Lucchini is finally getting a chance in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators have recalled both Lucchini and Dillon Heatherington, as they deal with injuries to Tim Stutzle and Tyler Motte. Both regular forwards were absent from practice today, according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.
Stutzle is expected to miss at least a week with a shoulder strain.
Lucchini, 27, was skating on a line with Rourke Chartier and Dylan Gambrell, not exactly the group that Ottawa was expecting when they started the year. It will be his NHL debut after grinding out 200 games in the AHL.
Undrafted, Lucchini played four years at Michigan Tech and was eventually named captain, before signing with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to start his pro career. After two years with the Laval Rocket, he joined the Belleville Senators last season and scored 51 points in 70 games.
That earned him a one-year, two-way contract, and now a chance to show what he can do at the highest level. The Senators take on the Montreal Canadiens this evening after winning two in a row.
PHF To Increase Salary Cap
The Premier Hockey Federation has once again announced a major increase to its salary cap, raising the per-team ceiling to $1.5MM for 2023-24. That is twice as much as it was this season, and an incredibly large increase since 2021, when it was just $150K per team.
Reagan Carey, PHF commissioner, released a statement:
This historic salary cap increase reflects the strength of our league and developing business model, and supports an enhanced player experience that over the last year has introduced full healthcare benefits, facility upgrades, league expansion, and a record 84-game schedule.
We know how dedicated and selfless these players are to building more opportunities for women in sport, and the PHF is committed to prioritizing our support of these talented and skilled players on and off the ice. Players, alumni, staff, coaches, volunteers, partners, ownership, and our passionate fans have all been working towards ensuring full-time professional hockey is a career path for women.
The PHF is currently the only professional women’s hockey league in North America, though many of the best players are still touring with the PWHPA, which puts on showcase events across the continent.
The Boston Pride currently lead the way with a 7-1 record, while Brittany Howard is running away with the scoring race. The Toronto Six forward (and former PWHPA member) has 11 goals in eight games, five more than her closest competitor.
Red Wings Recall Soderblom; Place Maatta On Injured Reserve
The Detroit Red Wings are getting Elmer Soderblom back, recalling him from the minor leagues after his recent return from injury. To clear room on the roster, Olli Maatta has been moved to injured reserve, retroactive to his last game on December 6.
Soderblom, 21, played just two games with the Grand Rapids Griffins on what equated to a conditioning stint, failing to score a point in the process. The 6’8″ forward last played in the NHL over a month ago but should get a chance to re-enter the lineup in the coming days.
Maatta, meanwhile, is out with an illness and was already ruled out for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Given how long it has been since his last game, he’ll be able to be activated as soon as he’s ready to return.
At that point, the team will have to make a decision on who to send back down. Steven Kampfer, recently recalled from the minors, could be an option once Maatta is healthy enough to play.
Minor Transactions: 12/13/22
While it was a relatively quiet day on the transactions front in the NHL today, there have been some moves made overseas involving players with ties to the NHL, both past and present. Here’s a rundown of those transactions.
- Nick Shore’s international travels continue as HV71 in Sweden announced they’ve signed the forward to a deal for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old was last a regular in the NHL back in 2019-20 but has since spent time in Slovakia, Switzerland, and Russia before today’s move. With a quiet showing in Switzerland this season, it’s unlikely that the veteran of 299 career NHL contests will be on the radar in free agency next summer.
- Former Colorado blueliner Chris Bigras is also changing leagues as Iserlohn in Germany revealed that they’ve signed him to a deal for the rest of the season. The 27-year-old decided to try his hand overseas this season after spending the last four years exclusively in the AHL and signed in the KHL but was released last month after picking up just a single assist in 23 games with Barys Astana.
- Former Anaheim winger Kevin Roy has found a place to play this season as he has joined Brynas in Sweden, per a team release. Roy played in 28 games with the Ducks but had been a regular in the minors for the last few years. He had 33 points in 62 games with AHL Laval last season but hadn’t signed anywhere until now.
- The Ducks have re-assigned prospect Maxim Golod to Tulsa of the ECHL, per the ECHL’s transactions log. Anaheim signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent back in 2020 but has seen only sparing time at the AHL level thus far. Golod has 10 points in 13 games at the ECHL level this season. Considering he’s in the final year of his entry-level deal, he will need to turn things around in the second half if he wants a chance at being tendered a qualifying offer next summer.
- The Senators have activated defenseman Jonathan Aspirot off season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to AHL Belleville, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is entering his fourth professional season, all with the Sens, and had 18 points and 52 penalty minutes in 47 games in 2021-22. Aspirot is set to become a restricted free agent this summer as his entry-level contract comes to an end.
Blackhawks Activate Tyler Johnson Off IR
The Blackhawks will welcome a veteran forward back into their lineup tonight as the team announced that center Tyler Johnson has been activated off injured reserve and will suit up against Washington.
The 32-year-old had gotten off to a nice start to his season with two goals and four assists in his first six games. However, in that sixth contest back in late October, he suffered an ankle injury, one that has kept him out for the last 20 contests.
With Chicago certainly isn’t looking to make a push for the playoffs, getting Johnson back and into game shape will help give them some stability in their middle six while he should be able to at least slightly bolster an offense that comes into tonight’s action ranked last in the league in goals scored. He’ll start on the third line for the time being.
While the Blackhawks will be sellers over the next few months, Johnson almost certainly won’t be among those that they’re able to move. He has another year left on his contract after this one with a $5MM AAV plus partial no-trade protection. In this market, with so many teams lacking cap space, that’s not a deal they’re easily going to be able to move.
The team also confirmed that goaltender Petr Mrazek was activated off IR and he will get the start against the Caps. Jaxson Stauber has been returned to AHL Rockford in a corresponding move. However, it’s not all good news on the injury front when it comes to players returning as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes (Twitter link) that defenseman Caleb Jones isn’t quite ready to come back from his hip injury.
Penguins Place Jeff Petry On LTIR, Recall Two Players
The Penguins will be without one of their top defenders for at least a little while as the team announced that they have placed Jeff Petry on long-term injured reserve retroactive to December 11. The move frees up some short-term cap space and Pittsburgh used some of that right away as they recalled defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Drew O’Connor from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Petry was injured in Saturday’s victory over Buffalo with what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury. Following the game, he suggested it wouldn’t be a long-term issue but clearly, this placement suggests otherwise. The Penguins acquired the 35-year-old over the offseason from Montreal with the hopes of giving them a strong one-two punch on the right-hand side with Kris Letang. Petry has fit in well with a dozen points in 28 games while averaging over 22 minutes a night, a number that jumped to over 26 minutes per contest while Letang was recovering from his stroke. Now, Letang will be counted on to take on a heavier workload with Petry out for at least the next 10 games and 24 days. Chad Ruhwedel will likely slot in as a regular on the back end in Petry’s absence.
O’Connor is the top scorer for Pittsburgh’s farm team as he has eight goals and 14 assists in 20 games so far this season, a rate that’s a small improvement over the 32 points in 33 AHL contests he had last year. The 24-year-old played in 22 games with Pittsburgh last season where he had three goals and two assists but so far this year, he has been limited to just three contests, being held off the scoresheet while averaging 8:32 per night.
As for Friedman, he played in a career-high 26 NHL contests last season but Pittsburgh was able to get him through waivers back in October and assigned him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton upon clearing. He has played in 19 games in the minors so far, collecting a goal and four assists. For Pittsburgh to be able to activate Petry when he’s able to return, they will have to get cap-compliant which likely means that Friedman and O’Connor will have to go back to the minors at that time, barring other injuries.
Florida Panthers Recall Grigori Denisenko
With the Florida Panthers struggling lately, losing three of their last four by wide margins, it’s time to try something new. The team has recalled Grigori Denisenko from the minor leagues, while moving Radko Gudas to injured reserve. Given Gudas has been out for ten days already, he can be activated whenever healthy enough to return.
Denisenko, 22, was the 15th overall pick in 2018 but still hasn’t lived up to the hype he had throughout his draft year. While there have been flashes – including two excellent performances at the World Juniors – his play hasn’t been consistent at the minor league level. This season, he has just three goals and 11 points in 24 games with the Charlotte Checkers.
Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, however. Eight of those 11 points have come in his last ten games, and he has racked up at least two shots on goal in each of his last nine. The consistency that Florida has been waiting for is starting to bubble up to the surface, and Denisenko’s recent strong play has now earned him a call-up.
Interestingly, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports that Carter Verhaeghe isn’t warming up with the team ahead of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which could explain the timing Denisenko recall. Either way, it’s a great opportunity for a young player that has thus far struggled to make an impact in the organization.
Oliwer Kaski Signs In SHL
When Oliwer Kaski left North America in 2020, after just one season in the AHL, the Carolina Hurricanes weren’t going to give up his rights completely. The team issued Kaski a qualifying offer, meaning he stayed on their reserve list and could only sign a contract with them if he wanted to return.
Those rights were only held through his age-27 season, though, which is this year for the undrafted defenseman. If Carolina wanted to bring him back, they would have to sign him by the end of June, or Kaski would become an unrestricted free agent.
It doesn’t appear like that will happen, as the Finnish puck-mover has signed a contract with HV71 in the SHL through 2024. That ends a short run in the Swiss league where he found little success, playing 20 games for Lugano this season.
He scored just four points in those games, but that’s not common for Kaski, who has filled the net wherever he plays. Over the last two seasons in the KHL, he scored 26 goals and 67 points in 105 games. When this contract with HV71 ends, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in North America too, meaning there could potentially be a return.
He’ll also be closing in on 30, though, so he may just continue to be an excellent offensive defenseman overseas, and never realize that dream of playing in the NHL.