Zdeno Chara Signs One-Day Contract With Boston Bruins; Announces Retirement
One of the most legendary players in NHL history has officially called it quits today. Zdeno Chara has announced that he will be retiring from professional hockey, signing a one-day contract this afternoon with the Boston Bruins to do it as a member of the team he is connected to most.
In a post on Instagram, “Big Zee” released the following:
After 25 seasons of professional hockey 1,680 NHL regular season games, 200 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and hundreds of international games I am proud to announce my decision to retire from the National Hockey League. In doing so, I am honored to return to TD Garden today to sign a one-day contract with the Boston Bruins and officially finish my career with the team that has meant so much to me and my family.
There are so many people that have helped contribute to my success, including all of you, and I look forward to properly thanking everyone this afternoon.
Starting his career with the New York Islanders back in 1997 after being selected in the third round, Chara would eventually find his way to the Ottawa Senators where he became a true star. After four years patrolling the blueline of Canada’s capital, he would join the Boston Bruins where he would spend the next 14 seasons and 1,023 games.
In total, his 1,680 regular season games put him seventh all-time in NHL history, first among defensemen. Even as he entered his mid-forties, he was still playing regularly for the Washington Capitals and, finally, the Islanders once again, as a bookend for his career.
The winner of the 2009 Norris Trophy, and a finalist on five other occasions, Chara should not have to wait long to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He got close to the Stanley Cup several times, but only lifted it once, in 2011 with the Bruins.
There are few players that have ever been more imposing, more dominant, or more recognizable than Chara, whose 6’9″ frame will be missed by many on NHL rinks moving forward. With 209 goals, 680 points, and 2,085 penalty minutes, there was something unique about the gigantic defender.
Minor Transactions 09/19/22
The start of the NHL season is near, and training camps across the NHL are getting started. Many leagues in Europe as well have already begun their seasons. We’ll keep track of any last-minute minor league/foreign league transactions here.
- As part of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s announcement of their training camp roster, it was revealed that the team has signed goaltender Brad Barone to a PTO agreement. Barone was the starting netminder for the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears last season, and while potentially earning a contract is likely out of the cards for the 31-year-old playing goalie at the training camp of one of the best teams in the NHL will undoubtedly be the experience of a lifetime.
- Corey Trivino, a 2008 second-round pick of the New York Islanders and former star forward at Boston University, is switching teams. The forward, who has been a top scorer in the second division of German hockey for the past few seasons, has joined Eisbaren Regensburg, another DEL2 team, per a team announcement. Regensburg is currently 1-1 in the current DEL2 campaign and will hope to earn promotion to the top-tier DEL.
- Defenseman Alex Stevens, who turned pro last year after a four-year career at Pennsylvania State University, has signed a contract with the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush. Rapid City is actually where Stevens finished his 2021-22 campaign, as he also got into games for the Wheeling Nailers and Norfolk Admirals earlier in the year. The 25-year-old joins a Rush club that is looking to improve upon a strong, 36-win 2021-22 season.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Dallas Stars Acquire Nils Lundkvist
7:30 PM: Both teams have now officially announced the trade.
7:28 PM: Per Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News, the conditional 2025 fourth-round pick in the deal becomes a 2025 third-round pick if Lundkvist scores 55 or more total points over the next two seasons.
7:10 PM: The Athletic has reported that the Rangers will also receive a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick as part of the deal.
6:46 PM: Just as training camps are set to begin, Nils Lundkvist has found his new team. As first reported by The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman, Lundkvist has been traded to the Dallas Stars.
The Stars are sending the Rangers a top-10 protected 2023 first-round pick in return, per the New York Post’s Larry Brooks. If the pick lands in 2023 and the Stars keep it, the Rangers would receive an unprotected 2024 first-rounder.
Lundkvist, 22, had requested a trade from the Rangers, a trade request that received significant media coverage in recent days. Because the Rangers’ defense features five players (Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, and Braden Schneider) who are either currently established long-term pieces or on the path to that status, Lundkvist felt that he would not have any chance to earn a top-four spot with power play time in New York.
It’s that locked-out feeling that inspired this trade request rather than any animosity towards the organization, and now Lundkvist heads to a team that features a defensive group that’s a bit less set in stone. On paper, it looks like this acquisition is part of the Stars’ attempt to make up for the loss of John Klingberg. The team signed defenseman Colin Miller to a two-year, $1.85MM deal this summer, and as of now thanks to that deal he has the inside track on winning Klingberg’s old job on the team’s second pairing next to Esa Lindell.
But now Miller has Lundkvist to compete with for that role, and since the Stars surrendered a quality asset to acquire Lundkvist, Miller’s early grip on that second-pairing job might not be as strong as it once looked to be.
Additionally, the team signed defenseman Will Butcher to a contract earlier this summer, and it seemed at the time that Butcher would be Miller’s primary competition for that role as the team’s go-to offensive blueliner. With this trade, Butcher’s status in the team’s blueline mix is more uncertain.
One other lineup factor at play here is the presence of Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen’s mastery of the defensive side of the game could make him the preferred partner for Lundkvist, whose game has a more offensive bent. Additionally, a Lundkvist-Heiskanen pairing would allow Heiskanen to move to the left side, which he could prefer.
This is not a cheap addition for the Stars, but it’s a clear indication that the team has faith that Lundkvist will be every bit of the dynamic offensive force at the NHL level that he looked to be in the SHL. With Klingberg gone, the Stars need to find a way to replace the offense he brought to their blueline, and Lundkvist currently represents their highest-upside chance at doing so.
For the Rangers, this is a great return for a prospect who had already requested a trade and was unlikely to be in the team’s long-term plans. While the Rangers’ salary cap issues might have made Lundkvist (and his affordable cap hit) especially useful in the next few years, the Rangers do have other young defensemen like Zac Jones who can fill a similar role. Getting a coveted 2023 first-rounder (even if it’s top-ten protected) or an unprotected 2024 first-rounder in return for Lundkvist is about as strong of a return as the Rangers could reasonably expect to receive.
While the cost looks steep for the Stars now, the Stars won’t mind having paid that price if Lundkvist has a breakout year this season. It’s become increasingly common for fans to assign instant winners and losers to every transaction, and this trade will be no different. With that said, though, it’s important to keep in mind this is the type of trade where it will be difficult to truly judge Dallas’ side of the deal until we see how Lundkvist fares in victory green.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Sean Couturier Out Week-To-Week, Potentially Season-Ending
6:10 PM: Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the Flyers are “hoping” that Couturier’s back will heal in six to eight weeks. He also adds that if Couturier’s back doesn’t heal in that timeframe, surgery would be required, which would leave Couturier out for what Seravalli called a “significant period of time.”
5:00 pm: The Flyers have released an official statement on Couturier, confirming that he has an upper-body injury. His official status is week-to-week, although that shouldn’t discredit the reports of SanFilippo and Friedman.
3:55 pm: Philadelphia Flyers star center Sean Couturier has a herniated disk in his back that could keep him out for the entire 2022-23 season, reports Crossing Broad’s Anthony SanFilippo. It’s expected that Couturier will be out for at least several months.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Flyers and Couturier are seeking out a second opinion to determine the exact nature of the injury. It’s unclear whether it’s the same issue that kept Couturier out for all but 29 games last season.
Couturier, now 29, has played just 74 games over the past two seasons after winning the Selke Trophy in 2020. The Flyers have certainly felt his absence, missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1993 and 1994. Given the state of the team now, especially without Couturier, it’ll be a third such season in 2022-23.
One of the league’s best defensive forwards, Couturier’s stock has risen astronomically over the past five seasons after a somewhat slow start to his career. Elevated in the lineup for the 2017-18 season, Couturier then enjoyed back-to-back 76-point seasons while playing over 20 minutes a game. Now the team’s uncontested no. 1 center with Claude Giroux gone from the team, he’s the heart and soul of the Flyers’ offense.
Significant back injuries in back-to-back seasons also don’t bode well for Couturier’s long-term future. If it’s another significant injury that requires him to miss the whole season, it becomes a question mark whether Couturier will be able to return to his previous level of play when healthy.
The Flyers have been busy adding forwards on the PTO market in the past few days, including Antoine Roussel and Artem Anisimov. Neither of them, even if they sign, would come even close to replacing Couturier’s crater-sized hole in the Flyers’ lineup. Kevin Hayes will have a huge role to play next season as the team’s likely first-line center for the foreseeable future after having 31 points in 48 games last season.
What might have been at least a mediocre season for the Flyers if everything went right now seems over before it even began. Without Couturier, it’s hard to imagine this edition of the Flyers finishing anywhere outside of the bottom-five teams in the league, if not bottom-three. It’ll be an incredibly challenging first season for new head coach John Tortorella, who’ll be tasked with reconfiguring the offense in Couturier’s absence.
Kurtis Gabriel Retires From Pro Hockey
In a Twitter post Monday, forward Kurtis Gabriel announced his retirement from professional hockey after a nine-year career.
Gabriel, 29, spent last season with the Toronto Marlies and Rockford IceHogs in the AHL, also getting two NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He also spent time in the Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks organizations.
He retires with 371 AHL games under his belt, including 72 points and a whopping 639 penalty minutes. He had five points in 51 NHL games, totalling 153 penalty minutes as well.
With his 6’4″, 212-pound frame, Gabriel was one of the few prototypical enforcers left in pro hockey. Off the ice, he’s a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Well-loved wherever he played, Gabriel promises to have many post-career options if he wants to stay in the game.
The Newmarket, Ontario native was originally a third-round draft pick of the Wild in 2013.
Ivan Miroshnichenko Waiting On Medical Clearance
In March, just as teams were starting to put together their boards for the 2022 NHL Draft, some terrible news came out about a top prospect. Ivan Miroshnichenko, a player some expected to go very close to the top of the first round, had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cancer that affects the immune system. It was unclear at the time whether he would play at all in 2022-23.
That started a freefall in his ranking (combined with the geopolitical factors affecting Russian players), and though he was cleared to return to training more than a month before the draft, Miroshnichenko was no longer the top-ten selection that many assumed a few months earlier. Instead, he fell to the Washington Capitals at No. 20 which was still ahead of fellow Russian forward Danila Yurov – who went four picks later to the Minnesota Wild – but much lower than expected.
Today, Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney gave Tom Gulitti of NHL.com an update on the young prospect. Miroshnichenko has been cleared to return to the ice, has been skating, and expects to play this season. Unfortunately, he still needs to wait for clearance from the actual KHL to get into any game action.
While that may not be ideal in terms of his development, it is great news to hear that he has progressed to this point so quickly. The 18-year-old is a brilliant skater and had even appeared as a potential challenger for the first-overall pick at one point. Under contract in Russia through 2023-24, the Capitals will have to wait patiently to see if their pick was a worthwhile one.
Snapshots: Sandin, Senators, Schneider
One of the unsigned restricted free agents still waiting on a contract is Rasmus Sandin of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Some have suggested that the Maple Leafs could trade the young defenseman, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet threw some cold water on that today during the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I really don’t think Toronto has a desire to trade Sandin. You look at their depth chart over the next couple of years and basically every defenseman aside from [Timothy] Liljegren and [Morgan] Rielly come off the cap pretty soon. I think they have a desire to keep him.
Friedman notes that some agents believe the leverage for Sandin (and fellow unsigned RFA Nicolas Hague) has been lowered by some of the recent deals signed, including the ones for Michael Anderson (one year, $1MM) and Sean Durzi (two years, $3.4MM) with the Los Angeles Kings. Camp starts in just a few days, meaning Sandin might be absent if a deal can’t be worked out at the last second.
- The Ottawa Senators announced their full leadership group ahead of what should be a very interesting season. Claude Giroux will be one of Brady Tkachuk‘s alternates, along with Thomas Chabot, after signing a three-year, $19.5MM contract this offseason. Giroux served as captain of the Philadelphia Flyers for ten seasons before reaching unrestricted free agency this summer.
- Cory Schneider will be back in the New York Islanders organization this season says general manager Lou Lamoriello, who spoke with media including Kevin Kurz of The Athletic today. The 36-year-old goaltender leaned into his role with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders last year, posting a .921 save percentage in 30 games, while also making one appearance at the NHL level (and winning his first game since 2019-20). Like so much other Islanders-related news, it is not clear what kind of contract Schneider will be signing, or what role is expected of him this year.
Mark Stone Expected To Be Ready For Camp
Everything appears to be going smoothly with Mark Stone‘s injury rehab, as head coach Bruce Cassidy told Jesse Granger of The Athletic that the Vegas Golden Knights captain is expected to be on the ice for the first day of training camp. Stone underwent back surgery in May after missing large chunks of the 2021-22 season.
Cassidy did admit that Stone may be limited by the team’s medical staff, but that his star winger feels great.
One of the biggest reasons that the Golden Knights missed the playoffs last season was the absence of Stone, who ended up playing just 37 games. Among the best defensive forwards in the game, and a top-5 Selke finalist for three years running, his ailing back kept moving him in and out of the lineup until he was finally shut down.
In those 37 games, Stone still managed to score nine goals and 30 points but averaged his lowest ice time since his rookie season. If fully healthy, he should be back in contention for the Selke and back to the point-per-game production he showed through his first two years in Vegas.
Given that the Golden Knights are dealing with a major injury to goaltender Robin Lehner and have some other holes popping up around their roster, the play of their stars will be even more important. Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, and Shea Theodore will have to be excellent for the team to get back to the postseason.
Edmonton Oilers Sign Jake Virtanen To PTO
While it appeared as though the Edmonton Oilers had moved on from Jake Virtanen, that isn’t the case. The team has announced that the former Vancouver Canucks forward will join them in training camp on a professional tryout, along with Jason Demers, whose PTO was reported previously.
Virtanen, 26, is actually skating with the group today, according to Mark Spector of Sportsnet.
Selected sixth overall in 2014, Virtanen had a tumultuous career with the Canucks, scoring 55 goals in 317 games, and never turning into the top-line power forward that they had hoped for. His play on the ice, however, was completely overshadowed in 2021 when he was placed on leave from the Canucks after “concerning allegations” were made regarding a sexual assault that allegedly took place in 2017.
His contract was eventually bought out after the Canucks tried to trade him, and following a civil lawsuit filed last summer, he signed in the KHL. Earlier this year, the Vancouver Police Department charged Virtanen with sexual assault, and he underwent a trial this summer.
On July 26, a jury found Virtanen not guilty after a week-long trial.
He’ll now receive another chance in the NHL, at least for the preseason. His play in the KHL didn’t really deserve it – Virtanen had nine goals and 16 points in 36 games – but there have been tantalizing flashes of upside in the past for the former Calgary Hitmen star. The Oilers will give him an opportunity to show that skill, though a PTO does not guarantee an NHL contract of any sort.
Calgary Flames Sign Sonny Milano To PTO
After scoring a career-high 14 goals and 34 points, Sonny Milano finally has a training camp to attend. The Calgary Flames will bring Milano in on a professional tryout. As with any PTO, this doesn’t mean Milano is actually on the Flames, only that he will be attending camp. It is, however, an opportunity for the team to get comfortable with the player and for the player to showcase himself to the entire league.
Milano, 26, was left unqualified by the Anaheim Ducks this offseason, thanks to a breakout campaign that likely would have led to a large arbitration award. The young forward would have needed a qualifying offer of $1.8MM and would have secured much more than that given his strong offensive totals from last year.
Playing nearly the entire season on the wing of playmaker extraordinaire Trevor Zegras (and a good chunk more with solid offensive players like Rickard Rakell and Troy Terry), Milano made the best of his opportunities. Still averaging just over 15 minutes a night, he nearly doubled his career points total, and potted 14 goals, a number he had hit as a rookie in 2017-18 but come nowhere near since.
There have always been questions about Milano’s overall impact on a game, his tendency to try highlight-reel plays instead of more traditional options, and a habit of drifting to the perimeter, but there is no doubt that he has the skill to play at a high level. The fact that he hasn’t found a contract yet likely has more to do with him searching for a good fit than the phone not ringing.
Whether he can find that fit in Calgary is unclear. For a player that will need powerplay time and minutes with top-end players to be effective, the Flames roster looks awfully crowded. Even with the losses of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary can ice a top-six that includes Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Andrew Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm, and Tyler Toffoli. Blake Coleman, Mikael Backlund, and Dillon Dube are all capable of moving into those roles as well, while the veterans like Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis patrol the bottom six.
So while Milano may be deserving of an NHL contract, it will be interesting to see whether it ends up being the Flames that sign him. For now, he’ll attend training camp with the team, and get a chance to remind them of the skill that scored two goals in three games against Calgary last season.