Examining Sergei Bobrovsky’s Future
When a team is eliminated from the postseason, and especially when it is four straight games, the entire organization goes under the magnifying glass. That’s exactly what has happened for the Florida Panthers, after bowing out quietly against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. The Panthers scored just three goals in four games and were shut out completely in the deciding match.
Suddenly, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning squad went from the elation of advancing in the playoffs for the first time since 1996, to a team judged as a huge disappointment. Things like interim head coach Andrew Brunette‘s future, which seemed so clear just a few weeks ago, have immediately come into question.
The same could be said about Sergei Bobrovsky, the veteran netminder with a checkered (if not downright bad) history in the playoffs. No team can blame their goaltender when they score just three goals in a four-game stretch but given his contract, which extends through 2025-26 and carries a $10MM cap hit, Bobrovsky was still expected to do more than the .911 save percentage he posted in the playoffs. It doesn’t ever help to be directly compared to Andrei Vasilevskiy at the other end of the rink, but given that he makes more money than the Tampa Bay netminder, some obviously will.
It’s not really about whether Bobrovsky was to blame, though. Nothing can change that fact, and the Panthers still have the core of a Stanley Cup contender in place. The question now is whether the 33-year-old goaltender will be the one playing behind them next season, especially given the presence of top prospect Spencer Knight.
Because the team selected Knight 13th overall in 2019, Bobrovsky’s name has been continuously thrust into trade speculation. But now with Knight pushing for more playing time and Bobrovsky’s game still not back to the Vezina-winning level he found in Columbus, there’s good reason for that speculation. Elliotte Friedman even spoke about how the Panthers did some work in that regard this year in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet:
I suspect that they tried hard to trade him this year, or at least lay the groundwork to do it. I don’t know if it’s possible. I’ve heard they really worked on it. They really tried to see if it was possible.
Even if the Panthers worked hard, a trade isn’t really even up to them. Bobrovsky holds a full no-movement clause through the end of 2023-24. At that point, it would change to a 16-team no-trade list, meaning the team could potentially get out of the last two years. As of right now, anything would have to go through the veteran netminder.
Notably, the Panthers have quite a few pending free agents and a buyout penalty that jumps to more than $6.5MM for the 2022-23 season. Combine that penalty with the rising salaries of players like Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe, and you have a team that is almost already right up against the cap ceiling for next season. Moving Bobrovsky would obviously alleviate that problem, though there is certainly no guarantee the team would actually improve.
While Knight is still one of the top young goaltending prospects in the world, it is not like he has absolutely dominated to this point. The 21-year-old had a .908 save percentage in 32 NHL games this season, and a .905 in 11 minor league appearances. While there isn’t much doubt that he should become a legitimate NHL starter in time, the Panthers want to contend now with the in-their-prime core they have built.
This all leads to a very difficult summer for general manager Bill Zito and his front office, who has to make some tough decisions about the direction of the franchise.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Tom Wilson Undergoes Knee Surgery
The Washington Capitals won’t have Tom Wilson for the start of the 2022-23 season. The team announced today that Wilson underwent a successful surgical procedure to reconstruct the torn ACL of his left knee. The current recovery timeline is set at six to eight months.
That would essentially rule Wilson out for all of training camp and the first month of the season at least, with the very real possibility of him missing a much bigger chunk of games. The seriousness of the surgery will also immediately draw speculation about Wilson’s effectiveness going forward, something that won’t be known for quite some time.
A player that is known for his power, speed, and physicality, Wilson has developed into quite an offensive threat for the Capitals. Selected 16th overall after scoring just nine goals in his draft season for the Plymouth Whalers, the 28-year-old forward now has three seasons with at least 21 goals and set a new career high of 52 points in 78 games this year.
He even scored on one of his three shifts against the Florida Panthers before exiting game one with an injury. Amazingly, Wilson actually skated with the team several times as the series continued–on what is now confirmed to be a torn ACL–but did not re-enter the lineup.
This news will come as a brutal blow to the Capitals as they try to reload for another Stanley Cup run in 2022-23. The team is already dealing with some uncertainty for Nicklas Backstrom as he deals with a serious hip injury and has an aging core led by Alex Ovechkin (36) and T.J. Oshie (35). While the Washington roster is still a good one, red flags are starting to wave.
For Wilson in particular, any loss of that full throttle speed and power could be devastating to his game. Always among the league leaders in hits, he has missed quite a few games throughout his career (even outside of the suspensions) and will now face a lengthy rehab.
Brian Lashoff Signs AHL Contract
The Grand Rapids Griffins will retain their captain, as Brian Lashoff has signed a one-year AHL contract with the club. The team has also signed Tyler Spezia to a two-year AHL deal.
Lashoff, 31, has spent his entire professional career with the same organization, originally signing with the Griffins as an undrafted free agent more than a decade ago. During the time he’s been there, the veteran defenseman has signed several NHL contracts with the Detroit Red Wings, including one that covered 2021-22. That two-way deal carried a cap hit of $750K in the NHL while also rewarding him handsomely with a $325K minor league salary.
Given he hasn’t appeared with the Red Wings since the 2019-20 season, an AHL deal seems appropriate at this point. Once a regular call-up and injury replacement, Lashoff has been passed on the organizational depth chart by several younger defensemen. Over the years, he racked up 136 regular season appearances, and 15 points.
Still, his value to the Griffins can’t be overstated, as he has become something of an institution with the AHL club. Captain since 2020, he’s played nearly 600 regular season games in the minor leagues and is a two-time Calder Cup champion.
Should the Red Wings need him at any point in 2022-23, they would have to first sign him to a new NHL contract.
Atlantic Notes: St. Louis, Giroux, Senators
The Montreal Canadiens made waves earlier this season when the most storied franchise in NHL history replaced a head coach that had just guided them to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in nearly 30 years with someone who had no professional coaching experience to speak of. However, under Laval native Martin St. Louis, the Canadiens, despite being battered and bruised, looked rejuvenated and carried much more of the same energy that had taken them through four rounds in 2021.
Now, it appears that St. Louis has done enough to impress the team’s front office and guide them through what’s likely to be a tumultuous next few seasons in terms of roster construction. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that he expects the Canadiens to announce an extension for St. Louis “in the near future”, although there’s no timeline given for this. The Canadiens finished the season 14-19-4 under St. Louis, a marked improvement over the team’s abysmal 8-30-7 record under Ducharme.
- After being swept out of the Second Round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Claude Giroux expressed interest today in returning to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers. How the team manages to make that work under the salary cap, though, is a gigantic mystery. While the Panthers don’t have any significant pieces to re-sign aside from Giroux and Mason Marchment, the team is greatly restricted in salary space next year by the combined $6.575MM cap hit from the Keith Yandle and Scott Darling buyouts. With that, the team will have just $4MM in cap space this offseason with depth roster spots to fill. Giroux would need to take a steeply discounted deal, which could be unlikely given the much more rich offers he’ll receive elsewhere. Giroux had 23 points in 18 games down the stretch for the Panthers in the regular season and eight points in 10 playoff games.
- The Ottawa Senators appear to be ready to take aggressive steps in exiting their rebuild, with general manager Pierre Dorion saying that the team’s seventh overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft is on the table for trade. Dorion also said that he’s focused on acquiring a top-four defenseman or a high-end forward, if possible. While the Senators do have a strong pool to deal from, they’re also a core that has proven very little with the team staying stagnant in the standings this season. With the team sitting on over $20MM worth of cap space again this offseason, though, they have the roster flexibility to make moves.
Minor Transactions: 05/25/22
While the North American focus on hockey remains starkly on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, most European seasons have wrapped up by now. That means a lot of players with NHL pedigrees are involved in some foreign transactions. We’ll keep track of those here today:
- Defenseman Andrey Pedan, a 2011 third-round pick of the New York Islanders and 13-game NHL veteran with the Vancouver Canucks, is on the move in the KHL. SKA St. Petersburg acquired him via trade today from Dynamo Moskva, meaning Pedan will suit up for his third different KHL team since returning to Russia in 2018. Born in Lithuania, Pedan has Russian citizenship but underwent the majority of his development in North America. He came to join the OHL in 2010 and played professionally exclusively in North America through 2018.
- Former Minnesota Wild and Washington Capital Casey Wellman announced his retirement today via Instagram. The California native was never drafted but made the jump to the NHL after the Wild picked him as a free agent from UMass in 2010. Before beginning a professional career in Europe in 2015, Wellman appeared in 54 NHL games, scoring six goals, 10 assists and 16 points.
Pittsburgh Penguins Extend Taylor Fedun
It turns out there’s a second piece of news regarding a Pittsburgh Penguins depth defenseman today. The team announced Wednesday morning that Taylor Fedun has agreed to a two-year, two-way contract extension that runs through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $762,500.
The news comes after news broke that Juuso Riikola had left the organization as an unrestricted free agent, opting to play in Sweden for 2022-23.
Fedun, now 33, last played in the NHL during the Dallas Stars’ run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. After he ended up spending the entire 2020-21 season with the Stars either on the taxi squad or in the AHL (only two games), Fedun signed as an unrestricted free agent with Pittsburgh this past offseason. He spent the entirety of 2021-22 with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, serving as captain and tallying five goals, 11 assists, and 16 points in 44 games.
The Edmonton-born defender will stick around in the AHL as a valuable mentor for up-and-coming Penguins defensemen, and he can still be a decent call-up option in the case of injury.
Undrafted, Fedun first broke into the league as a 25-year-old with the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14. Since then, he’s appeared in NHL games for the Stars, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Buffalo Sabres. Over seven separate seasons, Fedun has 127 NHL games under his belt with eight goals, 27 assists, and 35 points. He’s seen limited usage in those games, averaging a career number of 13:56 per game.
Juuso Riikola Signs In Sweden
The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be getting at least one depth defenseman back next season. IK Oskarshamn of the SHL has announced the signing of Juuso Riikola for the 2022-23 season.
Riikola spent four years in the Penguins organization but spent most of his time in the AHL for the first time this year. He signed with the team in 2018 as a free agent after a six-year stint in the Finnish Liiga with KalPa. However, Riikola had played just seven NHL games over the past two seasons combined, playing just two in 2020-21 while spending the entire season on the taxi squad.
Over the past four NHL seasons, the 28-year-old Riikola played 80 games, tallying three goals, 10 assists and 13 points. While a reasonable option to slide into the lineup in case of injury, at his age, Riikola will likely opt to stay in Europe long-term, playing out his prime years in a more sizeable role.
Overseas Notes: Blankenburg, Verbeek, Merkulov
Nick Blankenburg‘s World Championship is over. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Blue Jackets’ rookie defenseman has left Team USA due to injury. Blankenburg sustained a knee injury during the international tournament in Finland and decided to return home. However, Hedger adds that the injury is not supposed to be severe and that Blankenburg’s health by the start of next season is not in doubt. Even with the early exit from the Worlds, Blankenburg has had quite the unforgettable year. The 24-year-old defender had a career season as the senior captain of Michigan, recording 14 goals and 29 points in 38 games en route to a Frozen Four appearance. He then signed with Columbus as an undrafted free agent and proceeded to record three points in seven NHL games down the stretch. Blankenburg earned a spot with Team USA at the World Championship and played in four games with the team. He will look to continue his success streak by winning a regular role with the Blue Jackets next season.
- Hayden Verbeek‘s uncle may be the new GM of the Anaheim Ducks, but the young forward won’t wait around for NHL free agency in hopes of a family deal on a new contract. Verbeek has opted to leave North America altogether and sign a one-year deal with Slovakian club HK Spisska Nova Ves, the team announced. Verbeek is no stranger to Slovakia, having played in the Extraliga early in 2020-21 while awaiting the delayed AHL season. While Verbeek played exclusively in the AHL after returning last year, he did spend some time in the ECHL this season, which could have been the deciding factor in his move overseas. Four seasons into his pro career, including the first three on an NHL contract, Verbeek has played largely in the AHL but has been demoted to the ECHL in three seasons and has seen no NHL action. Looking for a more consistent role in a top league, Verbeek will try his hand again in Slovakia next season.
- When Georgi Merkulov, a star prospect out of the MHL, left Russia in 2020 to embark on a development path in North America with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms and then the NCAA’s Ohio State Buckeyes, the odds that he would one day star in the KHL slipped. Then-rights holder HK Sochi decided to trade Merkulov to Amur Khabarovsk, doubting that he would ever suit up for the team. When Merkulov surprisingly turned pro after just one college season, signing with the Boston Bruins this spring, those odds fell even further. Amur has now decided to move on as well. KHL powerhouse CKSA Moscow, whose youth system Merkulov developed in, has decided to take a long-term gamble, acquiring the rights to their former prospect, per the KHL. In exchange, Amur received minor league defenseman Ilya Dervuk. Merkulov recorded 20 goals and 34 points in 38 games this season for Ohio State as one of the top freshmen in the NCAA and then added five points in eight AHL games with the Providence Bruins. Boston certainly hopes that this scoring prowess translates to the NHL and that these KHL trades are ultimately meaningless.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Marcus Bjork
The Columbus Blue Jackets have entered the early free agency mix, adding to their blue line with an overseas addition. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch relays a team press release announcing that Swedish defenseman Marcus Bjork has signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. The 24-year-old has spent the past four seasons in the SHL.
Bjork will not be entirely new to North American hockey when he arrives in Columbus next season. In 2016-17, the young defender began the season with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. However, he returned to Sweden after just eight games. The following year, Bjork played in Sweden’s second-tier pro league, the Allsvenskan, and earned Defenseman of the Year honors by leading the league’s defensemen in goals and points. The breakout campaign earned him a contract in the SHL, but he didn’t immediately continue his upward trajectory. Bjork has found more success in recent years with Brynas IF however, recording 39 points in 116 games over parts of three seasons.
The Blue Jackets clearly like what they have seen from Bjork, whose game has balanced out since his younger years as well. At 6’3″ and over 200 lbs., Bjork brings good size and physicality to go with his offensive game. While he may take some time to adjust to the NHL – or perhaps more likely the AHL – Bjork could become a nice two-way piece for Columbus. He joins a young blue line that includes Zach Werenski, Andrew Peeke, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist, Nick Blankenburg, and Jake Christiansen as NHL options under 25.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Ivan Prosvetov
The Arizona Coyotes have inked goaltender Ivan Prosvetov to a one-year contract, avoiding restricted free agency this summer. The young netminder is coming to the end of his entry-level contract and would not have had arbitration rights. General manager Bill Armstrong released the following statement:
We are very pleased to sign Ivan to a contract extension. He is a big, athletic goaltender who is very talented. We look forward to continuing to watch him develop.
Prosvetov, 23, has made a handful of appearances at the NHL level already, entering the net three times in each of the last two seasons. Selected 114th overall in 2018, the Russian-born netminder had already come to North America to play in the NAHL and USHL before his draft, and then spent the 2018-19 campaign in the OHL. That meant getting him into the organization was no issue, though the results have not followed in the years since.
Through those six NHL appearances, the 6’5″ goaltender has just an .858 save percentage, but it’s his performance at the minor league level that is perhaps more concerning. He posts an .880 save percentage in 45 games this season for the Tucson Roadrunners, a step backward from the numbers he put up in his first two go-rounds. While there is obviously still plenty of potential, Prosvetov will need to start delivering results if he’s to really be in the Coyotes’ plans for the NHL level.