Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Fraser Minten
While the Toronto Maple Leafs organization is undoubtedly now devoting its full focus to the 2022-23 NHL season, that hasn’t stopped them from looking ahead to their future. Today, the Maple Leafs announced that they’ve signed prospect forward Fraser Minten to a three-year entry-level deal. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Minten, 18, was the Maple Leafs’ top draft pick at the 2022 draft in Montreal, getting selected 38th overall after Toronto traded out of the first round as part of the Petr Mrazek trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Minten is a WHL product who spent his draft season with the Kamloops Blazers. On a strong Blazers team, Minten scored 55 points in 67 regular-season games and added 16 points in 17 playoff games. Minten brings solid size and strength to the center position, and has drawn praise for his shooting ability.
Since Minten will play 2022-23 with the Blazers, the Maple Leafs’ choice to sign him to this entry-level deal isn’t motivated by any desire to improve their roster in the short or medium term. Instead, signing Minten to this deal gives GM Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs organization a chance to demonstrate their commitment to Minten’s development and reward him for his performances in rookie camp and the preseason.
With this deal in hand, Minten will head back to the Blazers once he recovers from an injury he suffered during training camp. In Kamloops, Minten will in all likelihood be asked to shoulder an even greater role as the Blazers look to build towards another deep run in the WHL playoffs.
Snapshots: Nurse, Hischier, Zherdev
The NHL Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine to Darnell Nurse for his hit on Kyle Burroughs last night. At the very end of the first period between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, Evander Kane delivered a hit to Burroughs in the corner of the rink as he played the puck. A moment later, Nurse delivered a second hit on the Canucks defenseman as time expired.
Nurse was given a two-minute minor penalty on the play but will also lose a few dollars for the play. While it doesn’t seem like much, relative to the salary that the Oilers’ defenseman makes, this fine will be added to Nurse’s disciplinary record, meaning he could face stiffer penalties in the future. For now, the Oilers will be glad he didn’t face a suspension for the hit.
- Nico Hischier won’t be in the New Jersey Devils’ lineup tonight, as he’s still not ready to return, according to team reporter Amanda Stein. The young forward was at practice between Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt but will miss at least the opener. The Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers tonight and then go home to welcome in the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, where Hischier might be able to debut.
- Remember Nikolai Zherdev? The fourth-overall pick in 2003 that burst onto the NHL scene and was gone before you knew it? Well, he’s still playing pro hockey overseas, or at least he was until he was released by Yunost Minsk in the Belarusian league today. The 37-year-old has bounced around the last few years after a long stint in the KHL, and will now have to find a new place to ply his trade.
Three Players Clear Waivers
Oct 13: All three have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
Oct 12: The season is just getting started and waivers won’t stop. Three more players have been placed on the wire today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, including Martin Pospisil of the Calgary Flames, Scott Harrington of the San Jose Sharks, and Pierre-Cedric Labrie of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In Pospisil’s case, he had been on season-opening injured reserve but must have recovered enough to now be sent to the minor leagues. There is little risk of claiming the 22-year-old forward, even if he did have a nice season for the Stockton Heat last year.
Selected 105th overall in 2018, Pospisil had seven goals and 25 points in 47 games for the team, while also racking up 95 penalty minutes. His size and physicality have always been his calling card, going back to his junior days with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL where he had a whopping 253 penalty minutes in 49 games as a rookie.
Harrington, meanwhile, played in one of the two games for the Sharks overseas but now with the team needing to reduce their roster for the return to North America, there isn’t room. The 29-year-old played almost all of last season in the minors with the Cleveland Monsters and appears likely to do it again, this time with the Barracuda.
It was interesting to see Labrie even get an NHL contract, let alone stick around this long on the roster. The veteran forward is an AHL staple with 685 games played at that level, and hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since 2013. He will almost certainly spend the entire year in the minor leagues, though perhaps the team just wanted him signed in case they needed a physical presence for a handful of games this year.
Latest On David Pastrnak
The NHL saw a number of high-priced extensions this summer, with players like Nathan MacKinnon, J.T. Miller, and Jonathan Huberdeau, all signing long-term deals since the beginning of August to keep them away from unrestricted free agency. As the names started ticking off the list, the focus narrowed to a handful of names that still don’t have deals for 2023-24.
Chief among them is David Pastrnak, the Boston Bruins superstar that could hit the open market at the age of 27 in a little over eight months from now. Pastrnak is one of the most consistent offensive players in the league, with at least 34 goals in each of the last five full-length seasons (and 20 in the shortened 2020-21 campaign).
Coming off a 77-point season, he started things off on the right foot last night by posting four points against the Washington Capitals to take the early NHL lead. Friend and teammate David Krejci told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic after the game, that Pastrnak “has no ceiling” and “just keeps getting better.”
With that in mind, the extension negotiations between Pastrnak and the Bruins could lead to quite a contract. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that talks continue between the two sides, and notes that the star forward is a “Panarin-level player on the open market.”
That, of course, is referring to New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, who secured one of the biggest contracts in the league when he reached the open market in 2019. The Rangers handed Panarin a seven-year, $81.5MM deal that carries a cap hit of $11.64MM, making him the highest-paid winger in the league and second only to Connor McDavid in terms of overall cap. Both have since been eclipsed by MacKinnon’s whopping eight-year, $100.8MM deal.
“I don’t play hockey for money, man,” said Pastrnak in 2019 when discussing his last deal, a contract that put him at a very team-friendly $6.67MM cap hit for six years. It has become one of the most valuable deals in the league, with the Czech winger far outpacing his salary in terms of on-ice production.
Now, as the next contract approaches, it will be interesting to see if Pastrnak again gives Boston a discount. LeBrun notably said that he would be Panarin-level on the open market, but suggested that re-signing with the Bruins is a different story. Currently, Boston’s highest-paid player is Charlie McAvoy, who signed an eight-year, $76MM extension almost exactly a year ago.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Kent Johnson
Only a blip on the radar for top prospect Kent Johnson, who has been recalled by the Columbus Blue Jackets after missing their first game. The team has sent Jet Greaves, last night’s backup goaltender, back to the minor leagues to make room.
While Johnson had made the team out of camp, an illness for Elvis Merzlikins necessitated the early change. Things could be very different 24 hours later, as the Blue Jackets watched Patrik Laine leave last night’s game with an injury. If Laine is out for any length of time, it could be Johnson stepping into a top-six role, as his offensive skillset plays better there than lower in the lineup.
Selected fifth overall in 2021, the 19-year-old forward was a dominant offensive player at the University of Michigan and has shown his skills at the World Juniors, World Championship, and Olympics. In nine games down the stretch with Columbus last season he recorded three assists, a total that is indicative of his pass-first mentality.
That’s a much different style than Laine, but if the Finnish sniper is out, the Blue Jackets will need someone else to help Jonny Gaudreau carry the load. They were thoroughly outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes last night en route to a 4-1 loss, with only Laine scoring for Columbus before exiting (he totaled 7:49 of ice time). The Blue Jackets are back in action tomorrow night but things won’t get any easier. They welcome in the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Evening Notes: Price, Laine, Panik, Oilers Injuries
When Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was announced at tonight’s home opener, the standing ovation he received from the crowd was about the least surprising bit of news this evening. Price, who is one of, if not the best goaltender of his generation, has been a staple in the Canadiens lineup since his debut in 2007-08. His recent injury woes have forced him to take a step back from the game in order to try to return to full health not only on the ice, but off of it. Whether he is able to come back and play in the NHL again remains to be seen, but for now Montreal will have to proceed with Price on the sidelines.
Recently, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu had a chance to speak with Price about his health and where he stands right now. Unfortunately, the update was far from ideal. As Price said, “[a]gain, my knee still isn’t doing great. Like, I’m still not walking up a set of stairs pain-free yet. I still don’t feel like my knee’s in a place where I’m going to be able to play hockey.” Price’s own words seem to indicate that for now, the focus isn’t necessarily on hockey, but a quality of life at the moment. Price added that he’s also focusing on being able to do things in the future such as skate and play sports with his children (recall Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom discussing similar issues a couple of months ago). Interestingly, Price said those are things he wants to do “when I’m, you know, officially done,” language Basu points to as perhaps significant given the line between Price being ‘officially done’ and where he is now is a very thin one.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced forward Patrik Laine left tonight’s game at the Carolina Hurricanes with an upper-body injury and will not return. The forward appeared to be in some discomfort after being sandwiched along the boards by Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce. Laine had already contributed a goal in tonight’s contest prior to leaving, the only Blue Jackets tally at the time of writing.
- According to CapFriendly, the New York Islanders have loaned forward Richard Panik to Lausanne HC of Switzerland’s National League. Panik, 31, had been with the Islanders organization since he was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in the deal that sent Nick Leddy to Detroit in the summer of 2021. Outside of a brief four game stretch on Long Island, the team had buried Panik and his $2.75MM salary in the AHL last season, which he otherwise split between the Bridgeport Islanders and Chicago Wolves. While on loan, Panik’s buried cap hit of $250,000 (Detroit retained $1.375MM in the deal, $1.125MM is buried) will continue to count against the Islanders cap. By going to Lausanne, the veteran forward should have a chance at more consistent minutes far closer to home and should give the Islanders more opportunities to get younger players into the Bridgeport lineup.
- The Edmonton Oilers will be without forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele for tonight’s opening night matchup against the Vancouver Canucks. It’s unclear what injuries either player is suffering from. However, because Edmonton began the season with just 21 players on its roster for cap compliance purposes, they will only be able to dress 17 skaters – all that are left on the roster after Yamamoto and Foegele. Sportsnet’s Bob Stauffer was the first to report.
Minor Transactions: 10/12/22
Another slate of opening night contests are on tap around the NHL this evening, including the NHL debut of 2022 number one overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky with the Montreal Canadiens and Johnny Gaudreau‘s Columbus Blue Jackets debut down in Carolina. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of it here.
- The Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, made several cuts from its training camp roster today. Forwards Patrick Guay, Daniel D’Amato, Lynden McCallum, and defenseman Connor Corcoran have all been assigned to the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL (link). Guay could be an intriguing name in this group, coming off a season in which he scored 55 goals to go with 49 assists in just 68 games with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. The forward was a fifth-round selection by Vegas in 2022 as a 20-year-old.
- Similarly, the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, cut a handful of players from its roster. Forward Jordan Kawaguchi, defensemen Dawson Barteaux and Owen Headrick, and goaltender Remi Poirier were all assigned to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. (link). Of note, Poirier, a sixth-round selection by Dallas in 2020, recently finished an impressive four-year stint with the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL.
- The Arizona Coyotes are sending forward Matias Maccelli to the AHL (link). A fourth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2019, Maccelli made his NHL debut last season, recording six points in 23 games for Arizona. In the AHL, however, Maccelli was nothing short of an elite playmaker, scoring 14 goals to go with 43 assists in just 47 games. If the young winger can translate some of his AHL production into the NHL one day, the Coyotes will surely have themselves an exciting player.
- Forward Emilio Pettersen has been activated off of season-opening IR by the Calgary Flames and subsequently sent down (link). The Norwegian forward was a sixth-round selection of Calgary in 2018 and spent the previous two seasons with the Stockton Heat, then Calgary’s AHL affiliate.
- Like Pettersen, Florida Panthers forward Justin Sourdif has been activated from season-opening IR and sent down. (link). A third-round pick by Florida in 2020, Sourdif recently finished up an impressive junior career spent primarily with the Vancouver Giants, who dealt him to the Edmonton Oil Kings mid-way through last season. The 20-year-old forward had 71 points in 52 games last year in the WHL.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Winnipeg Jets Sign Brad Lambert To Entry-Level Deal
The Winnipeg Jets announced this evening that they’ve signed prospect Brad Lambert to a three-year, entry-level deal. Lambert, the 30th overall selection of the 2022 draft, had a very impressive training camp before being sent to the AHL late last week. The deal will carry an AAV of $1.2MM the team says, though his cap hit will be only $950K.
Lambert’s signing doesn’t necessarily point to the young forward being recalled imminently or even any time soon, but it does allow him to play in the AHL outside of a tryout. Impressive as he was in training camp, Lambert did struggle to produce offensively during his time in the Finnish Liiga, recording just 27 points in 99 games over the previous four seasons split between three teams. His production also did not take the step forward one would hope for in his draft year either, registering just four points in 25 games for his hometown Lahti Pelicans.
This lack of production was likely a key factor in Lambert slipping all the way down to number 30 in this year’s draft. Though Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright was the closest the 2022 draft class had to a consensus number one pick (and ultimately, that did not go as expected anyways), Lambert was at times thought to be able to go near that number one slot. After his strong camp, it appears a good deal of Lambert’s stock has been rebuilt, but now it will be up to him to prove he can produce at the professional level and now in North America.
For the specific financial picture, PuckPedia breaks down the contract as follows: a $950,000 base salary and a $95,000 signing bonus for all three seasons. The second and third seasons will include up to $375,000 in performance bonuses in each year. The contract also includes an $82,500 minors salary.
Pittsburgh Penguins Promote Kerry Huffman
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a notable front-office change, promoting Kerry Huffman to the role of Director of Professional Scouting.
Huffman had joined the Penguins last season as a pro scout after serving five years as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The former Philadelphia Flyer hung up his playing skates in 1999 and only has one previous year of scouting experience with Pittsburgh.
He comes in to replace Ryan Bowness as he previously held the role, with Bowness leaving the organization four months ago. Per the Penguins, Huffman will oversee a team of four as the scouting team puts its attention on the NHL and AHL.
Prior to his coaching and scouting career, Huffman was a player agent from 2012-2016 and represented clients such as current/recent NHLers Tyler Seguin and Alex Galchenyuk.
Snapshots: Samuelsson, Carrier, Roos
When the Buffalo Sabres announced a gargantuan seven-year, $30MM extension for defenseman Mattias Samuelsson earlier today, it raised some eyebrows around the league – and justifiably so. Samuelsson has yet to score an NHL goal and has played just 54 NHL games, coming over the past two seasons. But as The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski notes in his column breaking down the deal, general manager Kevyn Adams thinks Samuelsson and his contract and both key parts of his approach to building a championship contender.
“We wanted to be really disciplined and smart with how we put our roster together and the reason for that is we can do things like this and make sure that we identify the people that we’re gonna move forward with long-term and we know there’s more coming,” said Adams today. Buffalo is banking on development here, but the organization believes in Samuelsson and that he has long-term top-pairing potential. How that bet pans out remains to be seen.
- After sitting out last night’s season-opening win in Los Angeles, Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier may be healthy for tomorrow’s home opener against Chicago, according to head coach Bruce Cassidy. Carrier has been listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury since September 26 but has obviously returned to practice. He’ll likely draw in for Michael Amadio if he does play, as Amadio was the only Golden Knights forward to receive 10 minutes or less of ice time against Los Angeles.
- One of the more interesting names to appear on opening night rosters will be making his NHL debut tonight: Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Filip Roos. The 23-year-old Roos is a rare case: a European, undrafted free-agent on an entry-level contract playing in his NHL team’s first game of the season. Roos had six points in 50 games for Skellefteå in the SHL last season and will suit up on the third pairing alongside Alec Regula.