Roman Ahcan, Cole Fonstad Land Professional Tryouts
The number of professional tryouts for Columbus Blue Jackets training camp continues to grow, with CapFriendly reporting that Roman Ahcan and Cole Fonstad will both be invited. They join three other players who had previously signed PTOs as the team gets to work early on their camp roster.
Ahcan, the brother of Boston Bruins defenseman Jack Ahcan, played 24 games with the Cleveland Monsters this year after finishing his career at the University of Wisconsin and will now try to land an NHL entry-level contract. The 23-year-old forward went undrafted and is actually already signed to an AHL deal with the Monsters for the upcoming season, though that wouldn’t pose a problem if Columbus wanted to put him on an NHL deal. In his short AHL stint last season, he scored three goals and seven points.
Fonstad, meanwhile, was a fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2018 and saw his rights expire with them in 2020 after failing to sign an entry-level deal. The 22-year-old forward played this season with the Cleveland Monsters, scoring nine goals and 20 points in 45 games, and will now try to earn a new deal with the Blue Jackets.
Brandon Sutter Still Dealing With COVID Symptoms
Former Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter, who’s now an unrestricted free agent after his contract expired this offseason, hasn’t played an NHL game since May 1, 2021. That fact doesn’t look to change anytime soon, as Sutter tells The Province’s Ben Kuzma that he’s still dealing with symptoms of long COVID, presumably from his infection during the widespread outbreak on the Canucks during the 2020-21 season.
Sutter didn’t suit up at all in 2021-22 after symptoms worsened during the offseason. Overall in 2020-21, the now 33-year-old Sutter had nine goals and 12 points in 43 games.
With Sutter noting in the interview that he still can’t do any cardio training at this point, a return to NHL play for him seems like an infinitesimally small chance. He does say he’s still focused on returning to play, but with his symptoms not improving yet, it just doesn’t seem like a reality.
If it’s the end of the road for Sutter, he finishes with 152 goals, 137 assists, and 289 points in 770 career NHL games.
Latest On Jonathan Toews
It wasn’t too many years ago that Jonathan Toews and his Chicago Blackhawks were at the top of the league’s pecking order, but it somehow also seems like the team’s rebuild has dragged on for too long with no end in sight. It’s an arduous process that’s called Toews’ (and Patrick Kane‘s) future with the team into question, as the Blackhawks legends are just one year away from the expiration of their contracts and unrestricted free agency. Speaking with The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, Toews says he “really doesn’t know” what the future holds for him and said the idea of a lengthy rebuild “[didn’t] sound appealing.”
In his interview, Toews spoke frankly about Chicago’s moves since the turn of the calendar year, specifically referencing the team’s trades involving Brandon Hagel, Alex DeBrincat, and Kirby Dach. Calling it “unfortunate that it’s come to that,” Toews especially named Dach as a player he felt he had under his wing and had developed a good mentor relationship with.
On a more positive note for Toews and Blackhawks fans, he spoke highly of the team’s expected approach under new head coach Luke Richardson. If he isn’t approached about a trade prior to the season (he does still have a full no-movement clause), he said he’s “really excited” to play under Richardson and his hard-working approach.
Regardless, this is a significant crossroads for Toews and the Blackhawks organization. Considering his declining production and recent health issues, it could very well be that this is simply Toews’ last season playing in the NHL. Toews had just 37 points in 71 games last season, and even his half-retained cap hit of $5.25MM might be too hard to stomach for most interested teams. If Toews plans to either retire or sign elsewhere in free agency, Chicago risks ill-affordable poor asset management by not getting potential trade value in return for Toews.
With that said, it’s nearly impossible to predict when Toews’ trade value would be highest. Does Chicago bank on Toews having a rebound year, allowing them to get a higher return closer to the trade deadline, or do they trade him prior to the season in anticipation of declining value? It’s a delicate, tricky situation as all parties are concerned.
Los Angeles Kings To Retire Dustin Brown’s Number
The Los Angeles Kings are poised to add a seventh member to their list of retired numbers. On February 11, 2023, the team will retire winger Dustin Brown‘s no. 23, unveiling a statue of him as well prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, per the team.
He’ll be the team’s third winger to have his number retired, joining Dave Taylor (18) and Luc Robitaille (20). Defenseman Rob Blake (4), center Marcel Dionne (16), goalie Rogie Vachon (30), and Wayne Gretzky‘s no. 99, which the team had a separate ceremony for in addition to its league-wide retirement.
Brown announced his retirement late in the 2021-22 season, saying he’d retire after the culmination of the Kings’ playoff run, which ended in seven games against the Edmonton Oilers in the First Round. He finished his career as the team’s all-time leader in games played with 1,296, although Anze Kopitar is set to surpass that mark shortly as well. Captaining the team to two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, he’s remembered as one of, if not the best, power forwards the team’s had in their history.
While his production dipped mid-career, Brown never gave up on playing meaningful minutes, and his work ethic led to a late-career resurgence that included 61-point and 51-point seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Brown will be just the third individual to have a statue in his honor in LA, joining Robitaille and Gretzky.
Bobby Brink Undergoes Hip Surgery
The Philadelphia Flyers can’t catch a break. Bobby Brink, one of the team’s most exciting young players, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. He has been given a recovery timeline of five months, according to Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic.
Brink, 21, made his NHL debut at the end of last season after an outstanding year with the University of Denver that included winning the national championship and leading the NCAA in scoring. While he didn’t score a goal during his ten-game stint with the Flyers, he showed enough talent and upside to suggest he would break camp with them this season.
Now, his next chance to suit up will be in the middle of the year, if the recovery timeline is accurate.
This news follows other injury announcements from the team, including one to Joel Farabee, the team’s other talented young winger, which could force him to miss the start of the regular season as well. Not to mention Ryan Ellis, whose future is still completely unclear, and Ivan Fedotov‘s uncertain Russian situation. A lot of the reasons to get excited about Flyers hockey this season have been removed from the picture, at least temporarily, meaning it will be a tough task for new head coach John Tortorella at the start of the year.
Hopefully, Brink will return to full strength on schedule and will be able to contribute to the Flyers this season. He enters the second year of his entry-level contract, and is scheduled for restricted free agency in the summer of 2024.
Minor Transactions: 07/26/22
It may not seem like it but we’re now just about six weeks away from players starting to gather in their respective cities to prepare for the season, with training camps opening just a little while after that. That’s despite several top free agents still being unsigned, now nearly two weeks into free agency. Meanwhile, minor league teams are starting to fill out their rosters and players who aren’t going to get a good NHL offer are accepting deals overseas. As always, we’ll keep track of all those minor moves right here.
- The Tucson Roadrunners have signed Adam Cracknell to a one-year, AHL contract, bringing in the veteran minor league forward after he spent the last two seasons with the Bakersfield Condors. Cracknell has long been one of the most consistent players in the AHL, and showed it again with 21 goals and 47 points in 58 games this year, while also suiting up for Canada at the Olympics. Now 37, he isn’t ready to hang it up just yet.
- Alexei Emelin is staying in the KHL, after signing a new one-year contract with Dinamo Minsk for 2022-23. The 36-year-old is a three-time Gagarin Cup champion, and has been back in Russia since 2018, when he decided to leave his NHL career behind. In 456 regular season games, mostly with the Montreal Canadiens, Emelin has 81 points.
- Former top prospect Justin Pogge has signed a deal with a new DEL team, going from Kolner Haie to Grizzlys Wolfsburg for the upcoming season. The 36-year-old netminder is replacing Chet Pickard, another former top NHL prospect, who has decided to retire after spending the last seven seasons in Germany. Pogge, selected 90th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004, appeared in seven NHL games. Pickard, 18th overall in 2008 by the Nashville Predators, never hit the ice for an NHL match.
- Cam Morrison has signed a one-year two-way minor league contract with the Charlotte Checkers, after failing to receive a qualifying offer from the Chicago Blackhawks. The 23-year-old forward was a second-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche back in 2016 but never signed with them, instead becoming a free agent after a four-year career at Notre Dame. In 43 games with the Rockford IceHogs this year, he recorded 14 points.
- The Chicago Wolves announced they’ve signed three players, including two players who failed to receive NHL qualifying offers a few weeks ago. Most notable out of those players is former Nashville Predators defense prospect David Farrance, whose strong offensive game failed to translate from college to the pros with just 14 points in 50 games with the Milwaukee Admirals last season. He is still just 23 years old though, and it’s a nice get for the Carolina Hurricanes organization on an AHL deal. They also signed former Chicago Blackhawks goalie prospect Cale Morris and undrafted free agent forward Eric Cooley, the older brother of top 2022 draft pick Logan Cooley.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Edmonton Oilers Sign Jesse Puljujarvi
The Edmonton Oilers have avoided arbitration with restricted free agent Jesse Puljujarvi, agreeing on a one-year, $3MM contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Puljujarvi was the next scheduled arbitration hearing, set for this Friday, which will no longer be necessary.
The 24-year-old winger had been issued a qualifying offer before he filed for salary arbitration and had a rather strong case after scoring 36 points in 65 games this season. Selected fourth overall in 2016, Puljujarvi has had a rocky career with the Oilers so far (including a stint spent in Finland) but is starting to show signs of being a strong two-way winger that can contribute and help drive play.
This season, he set a career-high in points, assists, shots, and average ice time, while also even earning a fourth place Selke Trophy vote. His defensive ability has developed nicely, even if his overall offensive ability is still incredibly inconsistent.
There have been many who believe a change of scenery is the best option for both the Oilers and Puljujarvi, a thought only amplified when Ken Holland said at his end-of-year media availability that he had to “sort out” the situation and talk to the coaching staff before making a decision. Reports have continued to surface in the weeks since that though there were a handful of teams interested, the Oilers would be selling him for a relatively low return.
That could still happen after this agreement, and in fact, it might help any trade talks move along. Teams rarely target players headed for arbitration as acquiring them means preparing for the hearing as well. In Puljujarvi’s case, figures would have been exchanged tomorrow and once the hearing began, no settlement is allowed.
Now, the Oilers sit over the cap with a 19-man roster, though Mike Smith and Oscar Klefbom are both expected to spend the entire season on long-term injured reserve, giving the team a bit of flexibility. Edmonton still has two key restricted free agents to go, including Kailer Yamamoto whose arbitration hearing is set for August 7. When that case is settled, they will receive a short buyout window that could be used to clear additional cap space, if they chose to use it.
San Jose Sharks Hire David Quinn
July 26: The Sharks have now made it official, announcing Quinn as their next head coach. Earlier in the day, Kevin Weekes of ESPN also reported that Calder Cup-winning coach Ryan Warsofsky will be interviewing with the team for an assistant position, after failing to land the head coaching job.
July 21: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the San Jose Sharks are “zeroing in” on former New York Rangers bench boss David Quinn to be their next head coach. While this is no confirmation that a deal between the two parties is done, it seems likely that Quinn will return to an NHL bench in 2022-23 with the Sharks.
Friedman reports that Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery, who was reported as a candidate yesterday, and Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci were finalists for the job.
Quinn has been out of an NHL job since the Rangers fired him shortly after the 2020-21 season, concluding a mediocre three-year run with the team. According to reports, Quinn was at one point the front-runner for the Boston Bruins’ vacancy this offseason before they opted to go with former Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery.
Those three seasons in the Big Apple comprise Quinn’s only NHL coaching experience aside from one season spent with the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach in 2012-13. Between 2013 and 2018, Quinn had a strong run as the head coach of the Division I program at Boston University.
He’s also represented USA Hockey as a coach at multiple international tournaments, including serving as their head coach for the 2022 Winter Olympics and World Championships. The USA failed to medal in either tournament.
This story will be updated as details emerge.
Arizona Coyotes Hire John Madden
The Arizona Coyotes have added another coach to the mix, hiring John Madden as an assistant for Andre Tourigny’s staff. The team’s general manager Bill Armstrong released a statement on the move:
We are very pleased to add John to André Tourigny’s coaching staff. John is an experienced coach and a three-time Stanley Cup champion. He’s a proven winner who had a very good NHL career as a defensive specialist. I’m confident that he will be able to help our penalty-killing unit and he will be a great addition to our staff.
Madden, 49, has been with the San Jose Sharks the last two seasons but parted ways along with the rest of the staff when the team gave general manager Mike Grier the choice of the next coach. Before that, Madden served as head coach of the Cleveland Monsters for three seasons and as an assistant with the Florida Panthers.
That’s where his playing career ended as well, with Madden hanging up his skates in 2012 after more than 1,000 total games in the NHL. That includes 141 playoff contests, which, as Armstrong notes, resulted in three Stanley Cup championships. He is a Selke Trophy winner, having taken home the trophy in just his second year in the league, after a long grind to get to that level.
Undrafted, Madden played four years at the University of Michigan and two years in the minor leagues (where he was an absolute superstar) before playing his first full NHL season at the age of 26. For a team that is trying to build a program from the ground up, an experience like that can only help the young talent that will need to fight and claw for ice time.
Edmonton Oilers Hire Mark Stuart
After John Buccigross of ESPN broke the story in the morning, the Edmonton Oilers officially announced the hiring of Mark Stuart as an assistant coach.
The veteran defenseman will join Jay Woodcroft’s staff after previously serving under his brother, Todd Woodcroft, at the University of Vermont in 2020-21. This season, he was an assistant with Colorado College, making this quite the jump for the former NHL regular. Stuart played in 673 regular season games during a long career, suiting up for the Boston Bruins, Atlanta Thrashers, and Winnipeg Jets during that time. His career ended after one year overseas in 2018, but he hasn’t been relaxing much in retirement.
In 2018-19 he re-joined the Jets organization to help the Manitoba Moose, and then went to school to finish his college degree. Coaching since then, he’ll now be back on an NHL bench (or at least behind it) for the upcoming season.
He joins Glen Gulutzan and Dave Manson as assistants with the Oilers, who also announced today that skating coach David Pelletier will return for 2022-23.