Anton Stralman Signs With Boston Bruins
Oct 12: The contract has been officially filed and announced by the Bruins, confirming the $1MM salary.
Oct 11: Defenseman Anton Stralman has converted on his PTO with the Boston Bruins, signing a one-year, $1MM contract, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
Stralman brings 930 games of NHL experience to a Bruins blueline that’s battered with injuries, missing two of their three best defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. While he’s no longer the player he was at his peak with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid-2010s, he’s still a capable right-shot man who can log bottom-pairing minutes comfortably. He’ll be supporting Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton, and Jakub Zboril on the team’s right side with McAvoy remaining out until around Thanksgiving.
Playing last season with the Arizona Coyotes, Stralman notched eight goals, 15 assists, and 23 points in 74 games, his best offensive totals in six years. He won’t be asked to play the 21-plus minutes per game he did in Arizona last season, either, and with a bit more support around him, expect him to play comfortably on the Bruins blue line.
Stralman could easily form a shutdown third pairing alongside Derek Forbort to begin the season, or he could also be a defensive anchor on the team’s second pairing alongside a more offensively-minded Mike Reilly.
Snapshots: Kravtsov, Pastrnak, Flames
The New York Rangers and winger Vitali Kravtsov were both hoping that the former top prospect could finally make an NHL impact this season in a top-six role. Unfortunately for Kravtsov, his season has gotten off to a rough start. After taking a hit early in the first period of tonight’s season opener from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, the Rangers said that Kravtsov would not return to the game with an upper-body injury.
The ninth overall pick in 2018 returned to North America this season after spending last year with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, recording 13 points in 19 games. He made his season debut tonight skating on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Kravtsov played just 1:28 before leaving the game.
- Talks remain amicable between the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak on an extension. Still, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported today that the Bruins have yet to make a specific offer to Pastrnak’s camp. It makes sense, all things considered, as Pastrnak has publically said multiple times since he was eligible for an extension that his main focus is on starting the season strong. The team will need to rely on him heavily, of course, with Brad Marchand out of the lineup. Dreger cited Jonathan Huberdeau‘s recent eight-year, $84MM extension as a reasonable comparison.
- Speaking of the Calgary Flames, head coach Darryl Sutter said today that the team has “no need” to name a captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Flames have not had a captain since the 2021 offseason when Mark Giordano was claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. New acquisition Huberdeau was a commonly discussed candidate for the role, as well as longtime Flame, Mikael Backlund.
New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Talyn Boyko
6:37 pm: CapFriendly reports Boyko’s contract carries an $851K cap hit. The full salary breakdown is as follows:
Year 1: $750K base + $82.5K signing bonus
Year 2: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
Year 3: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
5:19 pm: The New York Rangers have made a big signing – literally, not figuratively. General manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender prospect Talyn Boyko on a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Boyko is one of the largest (if not the largest) goalie prospects in the league, standing at 6′ 8″ and 201 pounds. The soon-to-be 20-year-old netminder was drafted by the Rangers with the 112th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
After a rough start to the 2021-22 campaign in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans, Boyko was traded after just eight games to the Kelowna Rockets where he regained form en route to a second All-Star team nod for the WHL’s BC Division. He posted two shutouts, a .913 save percentage, and a 28-12-4 record in 46 games with Kelowna.
Boyko, who attended Rangers training camp this year, will likely play the 2022-23 campaign with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen due to the goalie logjam with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. As he’s just barely aged out of juniors, the ECHL is probably the best place for Boyko’s development regardless. His gigantic frame makes him a tantalizing prospect, but as with most goalies, it’ll be a few seasons at least before we see Boyko poised for NHL time.
Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone
6:34 pm: CapFriendly reports the AHL salary for Stone’s two-way deal is $400K. He’s set to receive $450K guaranteed.
1:26 pm: As suggested by their placement of Nicolas Meloche on waivers today, the Calgary Flames have signed veteran defenseman Michael Stone to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay him $750K in the NHL.
This is Stone’s fourth consecutive one-year deal with the Flames at the league minimum, following a buyout of his previous three-year contract with the club. He will continue a relationship with the organization that started in 2017 and become the latest player to convert his PTO.
It’s not like Stone has been a regular during that time. He has played just 79 regular season games over the last four seasons combined but during last year’s playoffs he showed exactly why it is so important to have capable veterans available. In nine postseason games, as the Flames dealt with injuries on the back end, Stone registered five points including two goals.
Adding him as the extra body makes sense, especially if he is fully healthy. The 32-year-old does have more than 500 games of NHL experience and a familiarity with the coaching staff, meaning he’ll be a useful piece to put in and out of the lineup as necessary.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Jordan Martinook
After clearing waivers a few days ago, beloved forward Jordan Martinook is back up on an NHL roster with the Carolina Hurricanes. Evidently, the team has made the salary cap moves necessary to accommodate him on the active roster.
In a corresponding move, the team assigned forward Jamieson Rees and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Waiving Martinook and temporarily assigning him to the AHL allowed Carolina to optimize their cap space as much as possible prior to placing defenseman Jake Gardiner on long-term injured reserve to start the season. With Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit now on LTIR, the team now had the flexibility to recall Martinook.
He’ll likely reprise his role as the team’s fourth-line left wing, with AHL superstar Stefan Noesen serving as the team’s 13th forward for the time being. He’ll likely flank Derek Stepan and Ondrej Kase, making for a dynamic fourth line.
St. Louis Blues Recall Jake Neighbours, Josh Leivo
After sending them down yesterday to submit a cap-compliant opening night roster, the St. Louis Blues have recalled forwards Josh Leivo and Jake Neighbours ahead of the team’s season opener on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Neighbours is attempting to stick in the NHL full-time this season after receiving a nine-game trial in 2021-22. One of the team’s best prospects, the 20-year-old Neighbours can be a dominant power forward at times and is coming off a Memorial Cup appearance with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. Neighbours will now be able to be sent to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds if he can’t stick in the NHL, rather than having to return to junior hockey. He’s slated to make his season debut along with the rest of the team on Saturday, likely playing alongside Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev.
Leivo is also expected to play Saturday as Logan Brown is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. A new addition to the Blues organization, Leivo had three points in seven games last season with the Carolina Hurricanes and was dominant in the playoffs with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves en route to a Calder Cup championship, scoring 29 points in just 18 games. With over 200 games of NHL experience, Leivo is a fine fill-in on the team’s fourth line and could make a case for himself to stay up with the team longer-term, albeit if it’s just as a healthy scratch. It wouldn’t be a new experience for him, infamously playing just 16 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017-18 under then-head coach Mike Babcock despite being healthy and on the active roster virtually all season long.
Edmonton Oilers To Send Down Philip Broberg, Recall Devin Shore
Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said today, appearing on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer, that the team will send defenseman Philip Broberg down to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and recall forward Devin Shore.
It appears the Oilers need to make this move out of salary cap necessity. With Edmonton’s tricky situation, it could actually cause them to start the season short a player. The team has basically maxed out their LTIR relief coming from Oscar Klefbom, Mike Smith, and Tyler Benson, who combine for a $7.117MM cap hit, meaning they can’t recall an extra player to fill in. Forwards Warren Foegele and Kailer Yamamoto are day-to-day with injuries, and if neither of them can suit up tomorrow against the Vancouver Canucks, the team would need to play with 11 forwards and six defensemen.
Why Broberg and Shore in this transaction? The Oilers had 21 skaters on the active roster, including Foegele and Yamamoto: 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. With injuries threatening Edmonton’s forward health, the team opted to send down Broberg, who does not require waivers and was projected to be a healthy scratch for the season opener in favor of Ryan Murray, for Shore.
Shore carries a cap hit of $850,000 and cleared waivers earlier this week. Entering his third season with the Oilers, Shore had five goals, six assists, and 11 points in 49 games last year. He’ll draw into the lineup in the event that either one of Foegele or Yamamoto cannot play tomorrow.
Philadelphia Flyers Recall Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison, Egor Zamula
The Philadelphia Flyers needed to work around the salary cap to get the opening day lineup they wanted, and that meant several transactions today. Sean Couturier has been moved to injured reserve, Bobby Brink, Patrick Brown, and Felix Sandstrom to the injured non-roster, and most notably, Ryan Ellis to long-term injured reserve.
That last move gives the team enough flexibility to officially recall Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison, and Egor Zamula from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Ellis is not expected to play this season.
Laczynski, 25, has dealt with his own injuries over the last couple of seasons and has just six NHL games under his belt to this point. The Ohio State standout is still looking for his first point at that level but does have 27 in 42 career minor league matches.
Allison, 24, has done a little better at the highest level, racking up four goals and seven points in 15 career games. All of those points came in 2020-21 though, as Allison was limited to just 29 professional games last season.
It is Zamula who is perhaps the most interesting among the three, if only because of his upside. The 22-year-old defenseman went undrafted out of the WHL but quickly made an impact at the pro level and was playing minutes with the Flyers in 2020-21. After an excellent season with the Phantoms last year, where he scored 29 points in 58 games, Zamula looks like he could be a long-term piece to the back end.
Still, with such little experience, each of these players will be tested at the NHL level and could find themselves back in the minor leagues at some point. The Flyers aren’t expected to contend for the playoffs – but don’t tell them that. John Tortorella is trying to set a “new standard” with the organization and will be doing everything he can do make them as competitive as possible.
Dylan Ferguson Signs Professional Tryout
Oct 11: Two months later, Ferguson’s time in Toronto isn’t over yet. The netminder has signed an AHL PTO to remain with the Toronto Marlies for the time being.
Aug 10: In the Vegas Golden Knights first season, some will remember a short period when every goaltender in the system was injured or unavailable at the same time. Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban, and Oscar Dansk all hit injured reserve together, meaning the team had just Maxime Lagace to play. In came Dylan Ferguson, a junior hockey netminder who was only a few months removed from being drafted in the seventh round. He was supposed to only serve as the backup but ended up on the ice in a game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Ferguson stopped one of two shots he faced during his nine-minute stint, and then returned to junior where he re-joined his Kamloops Blazers for the rest of that season, and another. His entry-level contract continued to slide but after three seasons bouncing around the minor leagues, the Golden Knights decided not to issue Ferguson a qualifying offer this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Now, he has signed a professional tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs according to CapFriendly, as he tries to earn a new deal and get his career back on track. In 13 appearances with the Henderson Silver Knights last season, Ferguson posted a .907 save percentage.
Choosing the Maple Leafs is an interesting path, given how full their goaltending system is at the moment. The team has Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray at the NHL level, Erik Kallgren and Joseph Woll at the AHL level, and college standouts Keith Petruzzelli and Dryden McKay signed to AHL contracts. Hard to see where Ferguson would fit in, unless someone suffers an injury during camp, but it is important to remember that PTOs aren’t necessarily only to showcase a player’s skill for the team they sign with.
Often, it is to make sure they are in camp with someone, so that they can try to catch the eye of a team in the league. If Ferguson wants an NHL deal, he’ll get the chance to prove it in Toronto.
Latest On Jason Demers
Jason Demers was released from his recent professional tryout with the Edmonton Oilers but he was back on the ice with them today. That led to speculation that he was going to sign a contract but that also may be a little premature. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that Demers is expected to stay with the organization on an AHL PTO for the time being – something that will allow him to keep training. Kevin Weekes of ESPN, meanwhile, notes that the situation is “fluid” and Demers may sign an AHL contract.
The 34-year-old Demers hasn’t played an NHL game since 2020-21 and spent last season playing internationally. Once a consistent two-way presence in the league, he has 699 career games under his belt and 214 points. Adding that kind of experience on an AHL contract would certainly help the Bakersfield Condors, while sort of providing the Oilers with extra depth.
Though he couldn’t be recalled, the team could choose to sign him to a deal down the road if they face injury issues. In fact, they did almost this exact thing with Brad Malone last year, keeping him on an AHL deal before converting it to an NHL contract in early February. It wouldn’t cost them anything to do it, though Demers would obviously have to agree to a minor league deal, somewhere he hasn’t spent much time in his career.
Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Demers has played just a single game in the AHL – a match for the Tucson Roadrunners in 2018-19.