Washington Capitals Sign Bogdan Trineyev
The Washington Capitals have finished a bit of business before starting their first-round playoff series, signing Bogdan Trineyev to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $859,167.
Trineyev, 20, was a fourth-round pick of the Avalanche in 2020 and has barely even played at the KHL level. He spent most of this season in the MHL with Dynamo Mosco, scoring 18 points in 21 games. Despite his lack of experience though, he was involved in this year’s KHL playoffs, where he recorded his first point at that level. A member of the 2020 Hlinka-Gretzky team that won gold, it will be interesting to see just what Trineyev can bring to the Capitals system, given how little professional action he has to this point.
There’s plenty of time for him to develop though, as Washington certainly isn’t rushing a prospect like this to NHL minutes. The team already has 13 forwards signed to one-way contracts for next season, with several youngsters in the mix on their entry-level deals. The team is always looking for some additional depth, but a young player like Trineyev will have time to establish himself, should he come to North America next season.
Winnipeg Jets Not Expected To Retain Coaching Staff
The Winnipeg Jets decided that the blame for this season’s collapse was not on general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, or at least not enough to stop them from signing the executive to a three-year extension. It’s a very different story for the coaching staff. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that interim head coach Dave Lowry and assistants Jamie Kompon and Charlie Huddy will not return next season. Wade Flaherty, also an assistant, is expected to remain with the team. Speaking to the media today, Cheveldayoff explained that the club will conduct an exhaustive search and that Lowry has at least done enough to earn an interview.
Lowry of course is more than just the interim coach of the team, he’s also the father of Jets’ center Adam Lowry who is currently signed through the 2025-26 season. The coach took over from Paul Maurice when he resigned from the team in December, but posted a record of just 26-22-6 down the stretch, not quite good enough for a team that was expected to be a Stanley Cup contender at the beginning of the year.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the future of the group in Winnipeg, not the least of which is Mark Scheifele, who seemed to suggest at yesterday’s media availability that he could be open to a change of scenery this offseason. That isn’t really in his hands, given the veteran center is signed through 2023-24, something you can say for basically the whole core group in Winnipeg.
The sole outlier is Pierre-Luc Dubois, who is a restricted free agent and could be after quite a big contract this summer. If he is going to commit long-term, or if the team expects Scheifele and others to continue to be interested in the path forward, the coaching staff is obviously a big problem to solve. With Lowry out, Cheveldayoff and company will have to conduct a search to find a suitable replacement, something that he hasn’t had to do for a decade.
Just a few years after Cheveldayoff took over in 2011, he fired Claude Noel and hired Maurice, who then served parts of nine seasons behind the Winnipeg bench. A future Hall of Fame coach, Maurice is one of the most experienced bench bosses in NHL history, having coached nearly 1,700 regular season games. Replacing him was always going to be a difficult job, and especially so for someone like Lowry, who had only ever been an assistant at the NHL level.
Now a more permanent replacement will have to be found, one that is in lockstep with a front office that has several difficult decisions to make. If the Jets don’t believe they can compete with the group they have, it could be a long few years for whoever is brought in.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Kirill Marchenko Signs With Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets have landed a top prospect, inking Kirill Marchenko to a two-year entry-level contract. Marchenko has spent the last several seasons in the KHL while the Blue Jackets waited patiently for an opportunity to sign him.
Marchenko, 21, was selected 49th overall in 2018, falling to the second round despite an obvious size and skill combination that projected well in professional hockey. He had already made his KHL debut at that point, but was quickly snapped up by the powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg program in 2018 and has been there for the years since.
This season, he scored 12 goals and 20 points in 39 games, before going back down to the VHL for their minor league playoff run. He scored six goals in 12 postseason games with the lower level club, a demotion that suggested his days in Russia could be numbered. Marchenko’s ice time this season was severely reduced from the year prior, when he had scored 15 goals and 28 points in 41 games, often a tactic taken by KHL clubs when a player is heading to North America in the near future.
In Columbus, Marchenko will join a young up-and-coming roster that already has another 21-year-old Russian winger in Yegor Chinakhov. While he might not necessarily jump directly into the NHL, there is plenty of reason to believe that Marchenko will make it there quickly and add another option for the team moving forward. Nearly half the Columbus forward group were on entry-level contracts by the end of the year, suggesting that the team is only going to improve in the years to come. Where he shakes out in the depth chart will be determined by how quickly his game translates to North America, and the moves that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen makes this offseason.
Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With Santtu Kinnunen
The Florida Panthers have another new prospect, agreeing to terms with Santtu Kinnunen on a two-year, entry-level contract. Kinnunen would have become an unrestricted free agent if not signed by June of this year. Instead, he’ll join the Panthers on a deal that will likely start in 2022-23. General manager Bill Zito released a statement:
Santtu is a talented defenseman who has proven himself playing professionally in Finland with Tappara Tampere. We look forward to watching him further his growth and development as he transitions to hockey in North America.
Kinnunen, 23, has been a regular for Tampere the last two seasons, and reached a career-high of 23 points in 54 regular season games this year. The young defenseman has come a long way since being the 207th overall pick in 2018, and was a big part of the club winning the Liiga championship. Whether that’s his last taste of action in Europe isn’t clear, as the Panthers could loan him back for next season given he still has a contract for 2022-23.
Still, there’s also at least some chance that he could show he’s ready to help at the NHL level, given the amount of polish he showed this season and his professional experience to this point. While he’s not a game-changing acquisition for the Panthers, Kinnunen represents a strong depth piece that is much more valuable than the average seventh-rounder.
That’s exactly why he’s been given a contract, and it’s not like the Florida organization has a surplus of defenders for next season. With Ben Chiarot, Robert Hagg, Petteri Lindbohm, Lucas Carlsson, Markus Nutivaara, and Chase Priskie all scheduled for unrestricted free agency, there were only five defensemen signed to one-way contracts for 2022-23, and eight total, including entry-level deals. Kinnunen makes it nine, a number that will certainly have to be increased through the offseason.
Five Key Stories: 4/25/22 – 5/1/22
The regular season has come to an end which has resulted in some notable news from both on and off the ice which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.
Changes For The NHLPA: Late Friday, the NHLPA quietly put out a news release that indicated they have started the process to find a new Executive Director. Don Fehr has been in that role for more than a decade and has headed up the last two CBA negotiations which yielded sizable increases to the minimum salary and the recreation of the World Cup of Hockey, among other things. He will stay on for the time being until the search committee – which consists of Ian Cole, Justin Faulk, Sam Gagner, Zach Hyman, Kyle Okposo, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk – determines who his successor will be.
Blashill Out In Detroit: The Red Wings were the first team to make a coaching change as they announced that Jeff Blashill’s contract would not be renewed for next season, ending his tenure behind the bench. Blashill had been with Detroit’s organization for over a decade going back to his time with AHL Grand Rapids and had spent the last seven seasons leading the Red Wings. They missed the playoffs in each of the last six seasons and while some young players had strong years including Calder contenders Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, GM Steve Yzerman determined a change was needed. Blashill’s tenure ends with a 204-271-72 record.
Price’s Future Uncertain: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price missed the majority of this season due to a knee injury and while he was able to suit up for five games down the stretch, the injury remains. Speaking at his end-of-season media conference, the veteran indicated that his playing future is uncertain, stating that if things didn’t improve, he didn’t think he’d be able to continue playing; he even indicated that he prepared for Friday’s game as if it could be his last in the NHL. Price has been the franchise goalie for Montreal for most of his 15-year career and still has four years remaining on his contract with a $10.5MM AAV. If he’s unable to return, the Canadiens could put him on LTIR and then would need to either find a new starter by trade or in free agency.
Saros Injured: In order to get to the playoffs, the Predators had to lean hard on Juuse Saros as he led the NHL in games played this season. Now that they’re there, they may not have his services after he suffered a lower-body injury in the final week of the regular season. While the exact length of his injury wasn’t disclosed (as is basically an automatic at this time of year), missing Saros for any games would make an already difficult task considerably harder as Nashville gets set to take on Colorado in the opening round. Connor Ingram and David Rittich are the tandem if Saros isn’t able to return.
From MLB To The NHL: When Chicago was conducting its GM search, one of the finalists was Jeff Greenberg, someone who had plenty of front office experience but not in the NHL. Ultimately, the spot went to then-interim GM Kyle Davidson but the Blackhawks were able to land Greenberg as well, hiring him as an associate GM. Greenberg had been with the Chicago Cubs since 2012 but will now change sports and look to help the Blackhawks work through what appears to be a fairly sizable rebuilding process.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets Agree To Three-Year Extension With Kevin Cheveldayoff
While Winnipeg ended their season on a high note today with a victory over Seattle, it was a disappointing season overall for the Jets as they finished in sixth place in the Central Division while missing the playoffs by eight points. However, despite the tough year, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe reports that the team has signed GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to a three-year contract extension.
Cheveldayoff is the third-longest-tenured general manager in the NHL having joined the team back in September of 2011, putting him only behind Doug Armstrong (St. Louis) and David Poile (Nashville). He has been the only GM the franchise has had since it relocated from Atlanta.
Over that time, Winnipeg has only reached the playoffs in five of eleven seasons, although most of those appearances have come in recent years; their streak of four consecutive postseasons came to an end this year. Along the way, Cheveldayoff has built a strong core, anchored by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, center Mark Scheifele, wingers Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers, and defenseman Josh Morrissey, among others. But despite that core, they’ve only reached the Western Conference Final once and made it out of the first round twice.
The Jets underwent a big change midseason when head coach Paul Maurice surprisingly resigned, prompting Cheveldayoff to elevate Dave Lowry to the interim role. It didn’t result in any improvement as the points percentage for both coaches were nearly identical, .534 for Maurice and .528 for Lowry. Deciding Lowry’s future, as well as that of the rest of the coaching staff, figures to be at the top of the priority list over the coming days and weeks.
But determining whether or not the core needs another shakeup will also have to be on Cheveldayoff’s list. He made one significant move last season when he moved Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Pierre-Luc Dubois in an effort to shore up their depth down the middle. Dubois, a pending RFA, had a nice season but it didn’t result in any extra team success.
Center Mark Scheifele has been a fixture in Winnipeg’s lineup since he was their first-ever draft pick (after moving) but his comments following the game suggested that his future with the team could be in question as well:
I’d love to be in Winnipeg, but I also have to see where this is all going and what direction this team is going in and I guess we’ll see this summer. I’m in the prime of my career. I still have so much to improve on too and I like where my game is at. I like the physical nature that my body is at. I’m only improving, I’m only getting better and I’m only going to be a better player next year than I was this year.
I just have to know where this team is going and what the direction is and what the changes are going to be, if any. I have to think about my career and what’s going to be best for me. Those are going to be…talks with my agents and everyone in my family and stuff like that and figure out what I really want. So, it will be a tough talk tomorrow.
If Cheveldayoff was to move the 29-year-old, there would be no shortage of interested teams although moving their top center would also open up a big hole down the middle. He has two more years left on his deal with a team-friendly $6.125MM AAV.
The GM will also need to navigate a tight salary cap situation as the team already has around $16MM in cap room this summer, per CapFriendly, about half of which will need to be spent on a new deal for Dubois while they will need to sign several players to round out their roster. There isn’t enough room to bring in another core player to bolster the team without moving one out so Cheveldayoff will have to think long and hard as to whether this group is good enough to contend in the West. If not, some changes will need to come.
Cheveldayoff has done well enough in his tenure in Winnipeg to get this vote of confidence. However, some big decisions lie ahead for him and the Jets.
PHR Mailbag: Ellis, Playoffs, Fiala, Jets, Devils, Draft, Kane
Topics in this edition of the mailbag include Ryan Ellis’ future with the Flyers, playoff discussion, Evander Kane’s grievance process, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s mailbag.
InFletchWeTrust: Rumors flying around that Ryan Ellis may not want to be in Philly, and that is the reason for the yet-to-be-released nature of the injury that has kept him out all year…if true, sure seems like it just blows up Fletcher’s retooling plan…could we possibly be looking at a season even worse than this one? Who’s gonna take Ellis’ salary on, especially after a four-game season?
I don’t think there’s much to those reports. Yesterday, Ellis told reporters, including Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that it took visits to several specialists and a wide range of testing before they were finally able to identify the root cause of the injury – a multi-layered one in his pelvic region. Perhaps the reason that it took so long to identify the injury wasn’t because he wanted out and was being difficult but rather that the injury took a long time to identify? That makes a lot more sense to me.
Ellis, who also clearly stated his desire to remain in Philadelphia in that same press conference, has been around long enough to recognize that missing 78 games due to injury in a season more or less tanks that person’s trade value. Even if he wanted out, he’d be smart enough to know that a trade request coming from his situation would almost certainly fall on deaf ears. It doesn’t matter who could take his salary on – he’s not going anywhere. He wouldn’t have solved all of the issues for the Flyers this season but a full year from him would really make that back end a lot better.
Nha Trang: Alright, here’s one: what team’s going to be the surprise club that makes an unexpectedly deep postseason run?
My first thought is whoever comes out of the Minnesota-St. Louis series. Both of those teams are good enough to give Colorado a good run for their money in the second round. The Avs could get Nashville without Juuse Saros which could be a quick series, giving them a long layoff and with the intensity I expect we’ll see between the Blues and Wild, that could hurt Colorado early in a potential series as they adapt after what could be an easier series against the Predators. If that’s enough to see Minnesota or St. Louis move on, they’d be going deeper than many expect.
I can’t think of a great option from the East to pick as I don’t really see any big upsets happening in the first round. If Boston can get by Carolina (which could happen with the Hurricanes dealing with goalie issues of their own), they’d have a good shot at getting out of that side of the bracket which would surprise many but I don’t think we’ll be overly shocked at the results in that conference in the next couple of weeks.
urban shocker: Alternatively, which team is overrated and will fold like a cheap suit?
I’m hesitant to call a team overrated as it’s a good accomplishment to make it to the playoffs. But if you’re asking me for a team that could be a quick out, Dallas comes to mind. Teams with a negative goal differential typically don’t fare well in the postseason (although there have been some exceptions) but I don’t think their goaltending is good enough to shut down Calgary’s attack while Jacob Markstrom and Calgary’s back end are quite strong.
In terms of a perceived contender that could go early, Tampa Bay comes to mind. Yes, they’re the reigning back-to-back champions but that’s actually a main reason why I’m a little leery about them. They’ve played a ton of games the last two years, playing well into the summer. We saw this season that the other teams that played deep into the playoffs last year get decimated by injuries (Vegas and Montreal, in particular) and I can’t help but think the Lightning could get caught by that at some point. Maybe it’s not in the first round but I wouldn’t be surprised if they go out earlier than expected. Carolina could be in trouble depending on their goaltending situation as well.
W H Twittle: Injuries are a big part of the playoffs. Which teams are less likely to go into a tailspin if one of their top d-men gets injured and which teams are most vulnerable?
As Montreal showed last year, teams can overcome iffy defensive depth (their bottom two defenders hardly played) as long as they have a strong top four. For me, that means the teams that have strong third pairings with players that can move up are the ones that shouldn’t be hindered as much in that scenario although losing a top rearguard would be problematic for everyone.
In terms of teams that have the strong defensive depth to potentially overcome a top player going down, Colorado comes to mind. Assuming he stays healthy, Bowen Byram is capable of moving into the top four and their depth defenders (Jack Johnson and Ryan Murray, when healthy) can be counted on. Boston’s depth is pretty strong as well and while Carolina isn’t as deep, they have five top-four defenders on their roster that would help mitigate the loss.
On the other hand, Nashville’s back end certainly isn’t as deep as it once was and losing one of their better options would be quite costly, especially if it’s coupled with Saros’ uncertainty in goal. The Kings have already been dealt a tough blow with Drew Doughty’s absence and another core blueliner going down would be quite costly. In the East, the Rangers look a little vulnerable on that front; I was a bit surprised they didn’t do more on the back end at the deadline beyond adding Justin Braun. Washington couldn’t afford any upgrades at the deadline but their defense corps would greatly be thinned out with a key player going down as well.
Johnny Z: Is there a chance that Kevin Fiala signs an Offer Sheet? 16 teams could do a 5 x $8M.
You’re correct in that there are that many teams that have the draft picks to do that type of offer sheet but of those, how many have the cap space to do it? Of those that do, how many are rebuilding and couldn’t really justify parting with three draft picks (a first, second, and a third) to bring Fiala in? Now we’re dealing with a pretty small list.
Is it possible that he signs an offer sheet? In theory, sure. Minnesota’s vulnerable with their cap situation for next season and those are the teams to try to take advantage of. But I don’t think he’s really a viable candidate for a couple of reasons.
First, I don’t think his situation gets to the point where an offer sheet is an option. Either he’s traded before the start of free agency or the Wild have opened up the cap space to keep him by moving someone else so I’m not sure he gets to the point where a team could even offer him one. But for the sake of discussion, let’s say it gets that far. I think Fiala would be more inclined to file for arbitration and take himself out of the offer sheet picture, get a one-year deal with a big raise, and hit unrestricted free agency in his prime. There should be more interest in him as a UFA than as an RFA through an offer sheet so why not wait for a stronger market? An offer sheet could happen but I don’t think Minnesota should be concerned about the possibility.
selanne 76: Assuming that the Jets clean house from a coaching perspective, who comes in as Head Coach to shake up and demand accountability from this leadership group? Will it even be the same leadership group?
Assuming Dave Lowry isn’t back behind the bench next season, this will be one of the biggest decisions of GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s tenure. This is a team that’s built to win now, not a few years from now. For me, that’s a strike against most of the first-time head coaching candidates; they need someone who is going to get under their skin quickly and whip them into shape. A few years from now, the act will wear thin and that will coincide with a likely rebuild.
Writing those sentences out, John Tortorella immediately comes to mind. He gets buy-in from his teams quickly and isn’t going to put up with the varying levels of effort that plagued the Jets this season. They need that but I don’t think he’s necessarily the right fit to unlock the offensive potential this group has. If Vancouver doesn’t get something done with Bruce Boudreau, I like that fit. Jim Montgomery is someone that’s in between those two. He has some experience and success running an NHL bench in Dallas, albeit playing low-event hockey that may not be the best for Winnipeg. But I think he can fix some of the defensive concerns they have and be a fresh voice that this team would certainly benefit from. I think he’d be a good fit overall for them so I’ll pick him.
I think it will largely be the same core group in place although Mark Scheifele’s comments to reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe postgame today certainly raise some eyebrows. Cheveldayoff is known to be one of the safer general managers out there and assuming they do bring in a new voice (which could turn into several if there are changes on the bench as well), he may be inclined to think that will be the spark they need. I lean that way myself, actually. Winnipeg has a pretty strong core group in place. A fresh voice and some depth improvement may very well be enough to get them back into the playoff picture next season.
Canadiens To Face Sizable Bonus Overage Penalty
It was a tough year for the Canadiens, to put it lightly. After reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season, they finished dead last in the standings this season and have the highest cap payroll in the NHL with Shea Weber being on LTIR for the entire year and Carey Price for most of it. The end result was zero banked cap space during the season.
That means that any bonuses earned during the course of the 2021-22 season will have to be charged against their spending limit for the 2022-23 campaign. As CapFriendly points out (Twitter link), that is a fairly significant amount as it totals $1.1325MM, broken down as follows:
Nick Suzuki: $537.5K
Cole Caufield: $300K
Alexander Romanov: $212.5K
Jordan Harris: $82.5K
Montreal already had over $81.5MM in commitments for next season (per CapFriendly) before even factoring in this bonus overage. As a result, they are effectively over the cap for next year already before factoring in Weber’s expected return to LTIR while the uncertainty surrounding Price’s future will cloud things as well.
The list of free agents for the Canadiens isn’t overly long with many of their prominent rentals being moved at the deadline. Romanov and Rem Pitlick highlight the pending restricted free agents while Chris Wideman and Mathieu Perreault are among their unrestricted free agents. Romanov will be eyeing a sizable raise from his $894K entry-level cap hit while Pitlick, a midseason waiver claim, ended his season with 37 points in 66 games, putting him in line for a decent increase in his first trip through arbitration eligibility. The good news is that re-signing their players shouldn’t be too costly but they may need to make moves to free up space for those deals depending on Price’s situation.
With the Canadiens squarely in a rebuild, GM Kent Hughes was already going to be looking to clear out some veterans. But with this penalty basically putting them over the cap for next season already, the need to clear some contracts out of necessity will certainly increase.
Snapshots: Kadri, Housley, Rochester
There was concern earlier today out of Colorado Avalanche camp, as forward Nazem Kadri was notably missing from practice with an undisclosed illness. Those concerns were calmed a bit with the confirmation that the illness was not in fact COVID-19, says Peter Baugh of The Athletic (link). According to Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post, who spoke to Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar, Kadri is still expected to be ready for Game 1 on Tuesday night (link).
Keeping Kadri in the lineup is key for the Avalanche as they head into the playoffs with eyes set on the Stanley Cup. As strong as their lineup is, Kadri plays a pivotal role as their second-line center, playing a 200-foot game and contributing plenty offensively. The forward just finished his best season to date, in which he compiled 28 goals and 59 assists in 71 games. Colorado is set to take on the Nashville Predators at home Tuesday night in Game 1 of the first round.
- Staying out west, the Arizona Coyotes announced that they have mutually parted ways with Assistant Coach Phil Housley (link). Housley just finished the third year of a three-year contract he signed with Arizona in June of 2019. It’s unclear what the next step is for the Hall of Fame defenseman, who previously spent two seasons as the Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres, but the 58-year-old should be able to find opportunities if he wants them, considering his lengthy resume on and off the ice. As for Arizona, it does not appear that any additional changes are coming to the coaching staff, outside of possibly replacing Housley, but first-year Head Coach Andre Tourigny has drawn very favorable reviews despite Arizona’s struggles.
- The Buffalo Sabres announced that they have reassigned forward Peyton Krebs and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to the Rochester Americans of the AHL ahead of Rochester’s playoff series against the Belleville Senators. Both players, who were sent to Rochester on paper on March 21st, are eligible to compete for the team in the Calder Cup playoffs. The two have each spent time in Rochester and Buffalo this season and are viewed as key pieces of Buffalo’s future. For now, they will get valuable experience competing in professional playoff games.
Devils Notes: Hamilton, Hughes, Wood, Bernier, World Championships
After another disappointing season, the New Jersey Devils began their wrap-up today with the first half of the team speaking to the media for exit interviews. The Devils’ Amanda Stein had a chance to speak to many members of the Devils to gather injury updates and plans for the summer. One somewhat surprising note was the lingering injury issues that defenseman Dougie Hamilton had been dealing with in the second half of the season. Hamilton had initially been injured when he took a puck to the face in a January 2nd game against the Washington Capitals, causing him to require surgery and miss nearly two months. The defenseman was able to return on February 24th and finish out the regular season, but was clearly not the same player he was before the injury.
According to Stein, Hamilton said that he had never really felt quite the same after returning from the injury, which could have contributed to his dip in play (link). He also mentioned to the Devils’ Sam Kasan that he had actually broken his toe in the game prior to his jaw injury, perhaps also contributing to his second-half slump (link). As Stein cautions, the broken toe was only “one of” Hamilton’s other ailments in addition to his jaw, not the only other ailment (link). In 30 games prior to the injury, Hamilton had seven goals and 13 assists, which fell to just two goals and eight assists in 32 games after his return to the lineup.
- From one Devils cornerstone to another, Jack Hughes indicated to Stein that his recovery from his latest injury has been going really well, although he has not been back on the ice yet (link). Hughes suffered a season-ending knee injury after a hit from Oliver Wahlstrom on April 3rd when the Devils took on the New York Islanders, his second major injury of the year, after a shoulder injury caused him to miss a roughly six weeks in October and November. Despite the time missed, the Devil’s young star turned in an exceptional breakout season, putting up 26 goals and 30 assists in 49 games. Keeping the 2019 first-overall pick healthy will be a critical factor in New Jersey taking the next step in their build.
- Continuing on injuries, an unfortunate key story of the Devils’ 2021-22 season, Miles Wood shared with Stein that he was shut down after just three games this season after the hip injury that had kept him out until March 27th, wasn’t recovering as fast as he had expected after each game (link). With the Devils out of the playoff race in early April, it seemed to make more sense for the Devils to shut the veteran winger down and allow him to completely work through his injury and be able to start fresh for 2022-23. Speaking of next season, Wood is set to become an RFA this summer after the expiration of his four-year, $11MM contract and though the Devils have control of him, where Wood plays next season, and what his next contract looks like, could be a particularly interesting storyline to follow this offseason.
- The final injury update from today’s Devils interviews came from goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who had season-ending hip surgery on January 3rd. Bernier told Stein that he is hoping to be ready for the start of training camp in September, however he is not happy with where he currently is in terms of his recovery and rehab (link). On a positive note, Bernier did mention he had resumed skating last week, albeit without equipment. Hip surgery is always concerning for a goaltender, but from the Devils perspective, the organization now has a full offseason to address their goaltending situation, including Bernier’s rehab. Regardless of the goaltender’s recovery or New Jersey’s moves this offseason, Bernier still has another year at $4.125MM with the Devils next season.
- Looking to some positive news for New Jersey this spring, several players confirmed to Stein that they plan to represent their countries at the upcoming World Championships. Forward and team captain Nico Hischier (link) and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (link) both plan to represent Switzerland in the tournament, with forward Tomas Tatar (link) representing Slovakia, and defenseman Damon Severson (link) representing Canada.