Latest On J.T. Miller
It appeared as though there might be a J.T. Miller trade in the works earlier this month when the entire NHL was gathered in Montreal for the draft. The Vancouver Canucks had not been able to work out an extension, and several reports emerged saying the “Miller watch” had started.
But then the draft came and went without incident, the Canucks added Ilya Mikheyev, Andrei Kuzmenko, and others in free agency, and now Miller’s camp is opening up about his desire to stay in Vancouver. In an article for The Athletic, Harman Dayal quotes agent Brian Bartlett:
I do think there’s a realistic path for an extension with the Canucks. J.T. loves it in Vancouver. He feels like the team is improving, he loved his role there, his family likes the city.
This messaging from the Miller camp will serve to put pressure on the Canucks, who have always maintained there is no rush to make a decision on the veteran forward. With him signed through the 2022-23 campaign, they have plenty of time to make a decision on whether to trade or extend Miller and could even push it off until partway through the year.
They too have indicated that an extension is possible, though whether they will offer something amenable to the Miller camp remains to be seen. Coming off a 32-goal, 99-point season, where he was the best player on the ice many nights, the 29-year-old is in line for a massive extension, regardless of whether it is with the Canucks or not.
Sergei Plotnikov Re-Signs In KHL
There will be no redemption tour for Sergei Plotnikov in the NHL, as the veteran forward has re-signed in the KHL on another two-year deal. The contract keeps him with CSKA Moscow, the team he helped to a Gagarin Cup championship this season.
One of the most notable players in KHL history, Plotnikov has suited up more than 600 times in the league, appeared at five World Championships, and took home a silver medal this season as a part of the Russian Olympic team.
His NHL career, if you can call it that, lasted all of 45 games during the 2015-16 season and failed to result in a single goal. In 2015, he signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins that included massive performance bonuses. By March, he had been dealt to the Arizona Coyotes for basically nothing.
He would leave for the KHL as soon as that one-year deal in the NHL was over, with the Coyotes not even bothering to issue him a qualifying offer. Zero goals and three points are his NHL totals, to go along with 24 penalty minutes–all minor penalties.
With a new two-year deal in place, the 32-year-old has essentially sealed those North American totals.
Andrew Mangiapane Interested In Long-Term Deal With Calgary
While there are questions about whether or not Matthew Tkachuk wants to stick around with the Flames on a long-term basis, the same can’t be said for fellow winger Andrew Mangiapane. Ritch Winter, the agent for the 26-year-old, told Sportsnet 960 (audio link) that his client is interested in a long-term deal to stay in Calgary:
I don’t want to get into the negotiations – I share Brad (Treliving’s) view that it’s never really healthy for the process – but I think ultimately to admit that Andrew has submitted a proposal on a multi-year deal tells you he’s quite interested in staying here despite the uncertainty that surrounds Matthew Tkachuk.
Certainly, Andrew feels very comfortable with the coaching staff, he likes the management team here, he likes the city, he’s had a good experience. He said to them he’s quite willing to stay on a longer-term deal.
Mangiapane is coming off a career season that saw him score 35 goals in 82 games while also adding 20 assists, career-highs across the board. Impressively, that came with a dip in ice time as he averaged just 15:44 per game and was the only player in the top-30 in goals league-wide to average below 17:40 per contest. Mangiapane also chipped in with three goals and three assists in a dozen postseason contests.
Those numbers certainly bolster his value in his final year of RFA eligibility while Mangiapane was one of 24 players to file for arbitration over the weekend. He received a qualifying offer of $2.45MM last week although, with the year he had, his next contract could wind up being closer to double that amount.
It stands to reason that what happens with Tkachuk could ultimately play a role in what type of deal Mangiapane lands. While they have ample cap room to re-sign their RFAs (a group that also includes defenseman Oliver Kylington, another of the 24 players to file for a hearing), if Tkachuk ultimately moves on, GM Brad Treliving may very well have to change course in which case Mangiapane could go from a secondary scorer to a top-liner with the asking price changing accordingly. Arbitration hearings will start to be scheduled as of July 27th and run for a couple of weeks so there is still some time to work out a new deal and see what happens with Tkachuk but it appears that regardless of what happens with him, Mangiapane is hoping to stick around in Calgary for the long haul.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Tkachuk, Geekie, Kravtsov, Mikheyev
In what has so far shaped up to be a nightmarish offseason for the Calgary Flames, there could be another high-profile departure yet to come. Matthew Tkachuk, the team’s remaining superstar winger, is headed for an arbitration battle with the Flames, as we found out yesterday. They may not even reach that point, though. Eric Francis of Sportsnet believes that the Flames and Tkachuk are “parting ways,” and that the club elected to pursue arbitration in order to “buy more time” to find an appropriate exit plan. Francis added on that he thinks the situation “will be wrapped up within the week,” and if he’s right the deal would cement this July as one of the most transformative months in Flames history.
The decision to potentially trade Tkachuk comes thanks to the reality of his contract situation. Tkachuk is in a position to hit unrestricted free agency next summer and looks poised to do so. The Flames have had every opportunity to extend Tkachuk on a long-term extension, and yet have failed to secure his signature on a deal to this point, indicating that Tkachuk’s heart may not be in Calgary long-term, just like Gaudreau. As a result, the Flames might be motivated to move Tkachuk now in order to avoid a situation where the team allows 100-point wingers to leave in free agency in two consecutive offseasons. The Flames asking price, should they be open to a Tkachuk trade, is likely to be sky-high, although the lack of cap space league-wide could limit them in their chase to get the largest return package possible.
Now, for some other notes from across the league:
- Conor Geekie scared quite a few Arizona Coyotes fans early in the team’s development camp when he went down with what looked to be a pretty grisly lower-body injury. Thankfully, though, the injury was not serious, and Geekie confirmed as much today to PHNX’s Craig Morgan. Per Morgan, Geekie “did not elaborate” on the nature of his injury or any timeline for a return to the ice, but he did note that he was still doing cardio and working out his upper body. With his entry-level deal already signed, Geekie has the chance to make the Coyotes’ opening-night roster, so he’ll want to ensure that this upper-body injury is fully recovered by this fall so he can hit the ground running at training camp.
- There has been some nervousness from people across the NHL regarding Russian players and whether they’ll be able to easily return to North America from offseasons spent in Russia for training camps this fall. For the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks, they won’t need to worry much longer about two of their players. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal has learned from agent Dan Milstein that the Canucks’ big offseason signing, Ilya Mikheyev, has arrived in North America in order to begin his preparations for the upcoming season. The New York Post’s Mollie Walker has also learned from Milstein that winger Vitali Kravtsov has arrived in New York City in advance of training camp.
Jets Sign Saku Maenalanen
The Jets have decided to give Saku Maenalanen another opportunity in North America as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the center to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay $750K in the NHL and $225K in the minors.
This will be the 28-year-old’s second stint in North America after spending the 2018-19 campaign with Carolina. He split that season between the NHL and AHL, picking up eight points in 34 games with the Hurricanes (while also getting into nine postseason contests) and added 14 points in 31 appearances in the minors. However, while Carolina tendered him a qualifying offer in 2019, he opted to go back overseas instead.
Since then, Maenalanen has played in Finland, spending two years with Jokerit in the KHL before joining Karpat of the SM-liiga last season. He was quite productive in 2021-22, leading the team in scoring with 41 points in 47 games while also making appearances for Finland at the Olympics and World Championships. That was enough to convince Winnipeg to offer Maenalanen another NHL opportunity while the center walks away from the two remaining years on his Finnish contract to do so.
Winnipeg has several roster spots up front to fill next season so as things stand, there will be some openings in training camp in the fall. With him doing reasonably well in a limited role with Carolina in the past, Maenalanen could have an inside track on one of those openings with the Jets likely opting once again to turn to low-cost depth to round out their roster for 2022-23.
Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Cal Burke
The Colorado Avalanche have rewarded a hard-working minor-leaguer with a one-year, two-way NHL contract. Per a team announcement, the Avalanche have signed forward Cal Burke to a one-year deal carrying a $750K cap hit and a $100K AHL salary.
Burke, 25, is an undrafted player who made his professional debut in 2020-21 after a successful collegiate career at Notre Dame. In his senior season, Burke captained Notre Dame and scored 21 points in 37 games, all while being relied upon as one of their most important defensive forwards.
As a professional, Burke had a difficult first season in Colorado. He only scored nine points in 33 games and had to handle a difficult, limited role without much in the way of offensive opportunities. This season, the ice opened up for Burke and he scored 12 goals and 26 points in 57 games.
Burke was a second-unit penalty killer for the Eagles and he even saw a bit of power-play time. Burke’s tenacity, two-way play, and commitment to his work ethic are what’s earned him this NHL contract, and his fast start to this past AHL year (14 points in 19 games) is an indication that there may yet be some more offensive upside to be unlocked in his game. Burke will likely head to training camp in the fall, hoping to earn a spot on the defending champ’s fourth line.
Philadelphia Flyers Extend Isaac Ratcliffe
The Philadelphia Flyers have gotten some business done today, finalizing an extension with one of their restricted free agents: Isaac Ratcliffe. Per a team announcement, Ratcliffe has signed a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $813K cap hit.
Ratcliffe, 23, spent most of last season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and got ten games in with the main Flyers squad. Ratcliffe had his most productive professional season yet, scoring 11 goals and 28 points in 59 AHL games, a total that ranked fourth among Phantoms forwards. The six-foot-six, 200-pound winger is a former top prospect who was drafted 35th overall at the 2017 draft.
Ratcliffe was drafted so high thanks in part to his prolific scoring numbers in junior hockey. In his draft year, Ratcliffe scored 28 goals and 54 points, and followed that season up with a successful final year in the OHL, scoring 50 goals and 82 points. Ratcliffe has struggled to translate his goal-scoring prowess from juniors to the pro ranks, and his issues as a skater have largely been to blame.
Per The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor, Ratcliffe will be in a position to contend for a fourth-line role on the Flyers in training camp, and this one-year extension indicates that 2022-23 will be a do-or-die year for Ratcliffe and his future as a developmental project in the Flyers organization.
In his media availability following free agency, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher alluded to 2022-23 being an “important” year for many of the team’s young players to prove they still had NHL potential, and it’s likely that Ratcliffe is one of those young players who needs a strong season to remain in the organization’s long-term plans.
Los Angeles Kings Add Jim Hiller To Coaching Staff
The Los Angeles Kings have a new member of their coaching staff: Jim Hiller. The Kings announced that Hiller would be joining coach Todd McLellan‘s staff and added that he would “primarily work with forwards” as well as “focus on the powerplay.” Hiller replaces former assistant Marco Sturm, who is now the coach of the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.
Hiller, 53, was let go by the New York Islanders earlier in the offseason, as part of the team’s transition to a largely new coaching staff led by Lane Lambert. Hiller’s strong body of work for the Islanders landed him “on the radar” of multiple teams with head coaching vacancies, including the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, according to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes.
Prior to Hiller’s three-year tenure with the Islanders, he was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and also spent 2014-15 as an assistant on Mike Babcock’s Detroit Red Wings staff. Hiller also has head coaching experience, as the head coach of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and Chilliwack Bruins, who were later relocated to Victoria.
This is a bit of a return for Hiller, as he was drafted by the Kings as a player in 1989 and made his NHL debut with the team, playing 40 games for them in 1992-93 before being traded to Detroit.
Hiller will have his work cut out for him, as the Kings’ power play converted just 16.1% of its opportunities last season, a rate that ranked 27th in the NHL and worst among all playoff teams. The Kings have worked hard this summer to solve the issues on their power play, as seen by their trade for Kevin Fiala last month, and it appears that the addition of Hiller is part of that solution as well.
Florida Panthers Sign Chris Tierney
July 19: The Panthers have now officially announced the signing.
July 16: The Panthers have signed center Chris Tierney, per CapFriendly, who is the second former Ottawa Senator they’ve taken a chance on this offseason, after their earlier signing of Colin White. While we are waiting on the official announcement of the deal, CapFriendly has details on the finances. Tierney is getting a one-year, $750K two-way deal with a hefty $400K AHL salary.
Tierney comes from the Senators organization, and it was there that he was once viewed as a foundational part of their rebuild, a potential middle-six staple for many years. Tierney arrived in Ottawa through the Erik Karlsson trade and was coming off of an impressive year in San Jose where he had 17 goals and 40 points. Tierney’s first year in Ottawa was impressive, and although he only had nine goals he finished with 48 points. From that point, Tierney steadily declined in offensive production, battling injuries along the way, and got to the point where he could only muster 18 points in 70 games, as he did in 2021-22.
Tierney’s two-way game had always been his calling card, but his reliability on that front suffered as well. Tierney’s once-reliable win rate at the face-off dot dipped below 50% and Tierney’s time on the Senators’ penalty kill, where he was once a fixture, all but evaporated. Tierney is only 28 years old, so there is still room for him to bounce back, and he heads to Florida with a chance to re-emerge as an impactful NHL player.
The Panthers have had success in reviving the careers of former Ottawa Senators, just one look at Anthony Duclair‘s numbers in Florida confirm that. Tierney’s signing gives him a chance to follow in Duclair’s footsteps and re-establish himself as an NHL option on the Panthers.
Minor Transactions: 07/19/22
It hasn’t even been a week since free agency opened but things have already slowed to a crawl. After hundreds of NHL contracts were handed out, minor league deals are starting to come fast and furious. We’ll keep track of the notable minor transactions right here.
- The Manitoba Moose have agreed to terms with three players to AHL deals, bringing back Evan Cormier, Thomas Caron, and Isaac Johnson. Cormier, a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2016, had a .905 save percentage in 14 games for the Moose this season.
- In addition to first-round pick Emile Poirier, the Laval Rocket have also signed Alex Green and Kevin Poulin to AHL contracts for the upcoming season. Poulin, 32, was excellent for Laval this season, registering a .920 save percentage in 30 appearances.
- Scott Wilson, Stanley Cup champion and veteran of more than 200 NHL games, has signed another AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers. The 30-year-old winger was a force for the team this season, scoring 24 goals and 40 points in 71 games while being his normal hard-working two-way self.
- The ECHL’s Allen Americans have added an interesting player fresh out of college hockey. Hank Crone, 24, signed a one-year contract with the Americans after a strong final collegiate season with Northern Michigan University. In 32 games Crone had 44 points and showcased his all-around game as one of the team’s most heavily relied-upon forwards. Crone will make his pro debut in Allen and hope to translate his collegiate success to professional hockey.
- Veteran professional winger Andrew Johnston was among the British EIHL’s top scorers in 2019-20, and now he’s returning to that league after two successful seasons in France. Johnston has signed a contract for 2022-23 with the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers, per a team announcement. The former ECHL journeyman had 31 points in 39 games for the Rouen Dragons of the French Ligue Magnus and will join a Panthers squad eager to improve on last season’s disappointing first-round playoff exit.
- The Minnesota Wild AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, announced that they have signed three players to one-year, two-way (AHL/ECHL) contracts: Mitchell Balmas, Kevin Conley, and Patrick Curry. Balmas, 24, is a former junior hockey star who led the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in scoring in his final season in juniors. 2021-22 was Balmas’ professional debut and he split time between the AHL and ECHL, and had five points in ten AHL games and 12 points in 17 ECHL games. Conley, 25, is the former captain of the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks and made his professional debut as well last season, with three points in six games for the ECHL’s Reading Royals. Curry, 26, hasn’t quite cut it as an AHL forward yet, with just eight points in 53 career games, but he had a lot of success as an upperclassman at Boston University and had eight points in his five-game ECHL run with the Toledo Walleye.
- Orli Znojmo of the European ICEHL could have a tough time repeating last season’s run to the playoffs. Two days ago, the team lost their leading scorer, Anthony Luciani, and it seems they’ve lost their captain this offseason as well. Per an announcement from his new club, Radim Matus, Orli Znojmo’s captain, has signed with Eisbaren Regensburg of Germany’s second-tier DEL-2. Regensburg are looking to establish themselves in DEL-2 after being promoted from the German third tier earlier this year, and Matus should be able to help them achieve that goal.
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