Snapshots: Ellis, PHF, Kane
It’s been a trying year for Ryan Ellis, who played just four games for the Philadelphia Flyers after a trade from the only organization he had ever known previously. Injured, recovered, and injured again, the 31-year-old has basically lost an entire season, while watching his new team go down in flames. Now, the speculation over his future in Philadelphia is starting to ramp up, with a report today from Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period, who writes that some within the Flyers “wonder if Ellis even wants to be part of the organization.”
There has certainly been some confusion around where the veteran defenseman stands in his current recovery, as in late March, more than four months after he last appeared in a game, general manager Chuck Fletcher told reporters that they were still making a decision on whether Ellis needed surgery. Of course, with five years remaining on his contract and carrying a $6.25MM cap hit, Ellis is one of the most important players the Flyers have and one that is integral to any thoughts of competing for the playoffs next season.
- The PHF has announced that free agency will open May 1 and this year will not include an entry draft. Instead, all amateur athletes graduating from NCAA and USports programs will immediately qualify for unrestricted free agency. The salary cap has also been confirmed to be set at $750K for this season, with a floor of $562.5K, and players are now eligible to sign two-year contracts which can include signing bonuses up to 10 percent of the total value. These increases all come following a massive private investment earlier in the year, which has also allowed the league to provide comprehensive benefit plans.
- Evander Kane‘s grievance hearing was started yesterday but will require a second day, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Unfortunately, that doesn’t come right away, and the second day is still to be determined. As suggested yesterday, the outcome of this grievance is still not expected for some time and should not have any effect on Kane’s current contractual status with the Edmonton Oilers.
Three Washington Capitals Picks Sign AHL ATOs
Three more Washington Capitals draft picks have decided to try their hand in the AHL, signing amateur tryout agreements today. Dru Krebs, Benton Maass, and Garin Bjorklund will all join the Hershey Bears for the rest of the season.
For Maass, it means leaving his college career behind after going all the way to the national championship with Minnesota State-Mankato. That was his first season with the Mavericks after transferring from the University of New Hampshire, where he played four other seasons. The sixth-round pick had 14 points in 42 games for Minnesota State, and will turn 24 in November. Whether he earns an entry-level contract still remains to be seen, but he would not have been eligible to play in the AHL had he signed one for this season.
Meanwhile, Krebs and Bjorklund are coming over from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL after the team finished dead last in the league. With just 11 wins in 68 games, it’s hard to evaluate any of the Tigers’ players as potential NHL prospects as the group as a whole was overmatched nearly every night.
In Krebs case, the 19-year-old defenseman managed just 19 points in 66 games while racking up a whopping -58 rating, trying to play big minutes on a bad team. The younger brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs, Dru was selected in the sixth round in 2021 and, despite his struggles, is an excellent skater with some obvious puck-moving upside.
Bjorkland, 19, was the goaltender left out to dry on most nights for Medicine Hat, posting an .877 save percentage in 48 appearances. Again, it’s difficult to really evaluate the young netminder’s upside at this point because of the team he played for, but Bjorklund did show well in the shortened 2020-21 season and could get a chance to show what he can do next season in the low minors. He’ll turn 20 next month, making him eligible for the AHL and ECHL, should the team decide to go that route with the 2020 sixth-round pick.
NHL Draft Lottery Set For May 10
For teams already eliminated from playoff contention, the next biggest date on the schedule is the NHL Draft Lottery. The event, which determines the order of selection in the upcoming NHL Draft, can drastically change the direction of a franchise or prolong a rebuild by forcing them to miss out on top talent. This year’s event will be held remotely on May 10, according to Chris Johnston of TSN.
Currently, the Arizona Coyotes have the best chance at the top pick, though that could change in the coming weeks. The Montreal Canadiens are just two points ahead of them and actually have two fewer regulation wins, the first tiebreaker should it come to that. The Philadelphia Flyers are also doing their best to secure a top spot, losing six in a row to drop them down below the Seattle Kraken in terms of points percentage.
The draft, set to begin July 7 in Montreal, still has a likely first-overall pick in Shane Wright, though that is no longer a consensus. Players like Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley have pushed themselves up draft boards with strong play, while another potential top selection–Ivan Miroschnichenko–was unfortunately diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
With a few games left to jostle position, the race is on toward May 10 and the lottery.
Amanda Kessel Joins Penguins Executive Management Program
The Pittsburgh Penguins have established a new Executive Management Program, designed to help candidates develop and work alongside the partnership, marketing, communication, broadcast, and hockey operations departments. The first participant will be three-time Olympic medalist and member of the U.S. women’s national team Amanda Kessel. She released the following statement:
I am excited to learn from one of the best franchises in professional sports. The Penguins presented me with the opportunity to use my experience and love for hockey in a whole new capacity and I look forward to making the most of this program.
Kessel, 30, is not completely closing the book on her playing career, telling Emily Kaplan of ESPN that she is just excited to begin taking the next steps in her hockey journey. She recently competed for the U.S. at the 2022 Olympics, scoring eight points in seven games to take home the silver medal. An incredible offensive talent, Kessel once racked up 101 points in 46 games for the University of Minnesota, winning the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top collegiate player in the country. She is currently a member of the PWHPA.
Obviously, she also already has ties to the Penguins organization or at least a shared history with some of their recent alumni. Phil Kessel, her brother, won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the organization just a few years ago. She also played at the famed Shattuck St. Mary’s prep academy just a few years after Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby.
The new program for the Penguins will focus on women and minority athletes, and provide a one-year opportunity to work alongside all of the different departments in order to expose them to the entire sports business. That includes graduate school and community service components. In a statement, Penguins CEO David Morehouse also explained that it gives “unprecedented access” to attain permanent front office positions.
AHL Shuffle: 04/20/22
Just four games on the schedule this evening, but it’s all eyes on Vegas and the Golden Knights, who are in essentially a must-win situation to save their season. Unfortunately, they’ll be up against a team that has some experience ending their seasons in the Washington Capitals–the club that defeated Vegas in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. The Golden Knights are now tied with the Vancouver Canucks and four points back of the Dallas Stars for the final wild card position with just five games to play. As they and others prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the minor shuffling:
Atlantic Division
- Rafael Harvey-Pinard has been recalled from the AHL by the Montreal Canadiens, giving the young forward another chance to show what he can do at the NHL level. In 64 games with the Laval Rocket, Harvey-Pinard has scored 19 goals and 51 points, showing once again that his size will not hold him back at the professional level. Later in the day, the team announced that Corey Schueneman has been returned to Laval.
- The Detroit Red Wings have assigned Riley Barber to the AHL, sending him back to the Grand Rapids Griffins for the time being. Barber, 28, has played in just three NHL games this season, spending most of his time lighting up the score sheet in the minor leagues. Through 44 games with Grand Rapids, he has 42 points.
- The Boston Bruins have returned Jack Ahcan to the AHL, as they travel back east. The Bruins will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night before an afternoon home game on Saturday against another potential playoff opponent. Ahcan, 24, has one goal in five NHL games this season.
- After making his Ottawa Senators debut on Monday and playing just over four minutes in his second game yesterday, Zachary Senyshyn has been sent back to the AHL. The 25-year-old forward does not appear like he’s going to break through in Ottawa down the stretch, meaning it’s likely Group VI unrestricted free agency for him this summer.
Metropolitan Division
- The New Jersey Devils have recalled Nikita Okhotiuk from the AHL, the first time he has been on the active NHL roster. The 21-year-old defenseman has 12 points in 63 games for the Utica Comets this season but plays a physical game, racking up 68 penalty minutes in the process. In return, the team has sent Nico Daws back to the AHL.
- Linus Hogberg has been recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers, after 57 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season. The 23-year-old defenseman has yet to make his NHL debut but will be available for tonight’s game against the Canadiens.
Central Division
Pacific Division
- After recalling him just yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks have returned Spencer Martin to the AHL. The depth goaltender, who signed a one-way contract extension earlier this month, has been excellent whenever called upon this season. In three appearances with Vancouver, Martin has posted a .958 save percentage.
This page is updated throughout the day
Snapshots: Byron, Team Canada, Perbix
Paul Byron can’t catch a break. The veteran forward has been limited to just 26 games this season due to injury. While many of these absences came while Byron was recovering from hip surgery, he has continued to be in and out of the lineup ever since he returned. The Montreal Canadiens announced that he was returning to the lineup on Tuesday night – but the return was short-lived. Less than two periods into the game, the Habs revealed that Byron has left the game and would not return due to a lower-body injury. Its unclear if this is another new injury or a reoccurrence of his hip issue. Either way, with just five games remaining in a lost season, it might be time for Montreal to simply shut Byron down for the year. Byron has one year remaining on his contract and will be back with the Canadiens in 2022-23 if he isn’t traded or bought out.
- The Canadian entry into the upcoming IIHF World Championship may look very familiar to the fans of a Canadian NHL team. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Senators head coach D.J. Smith, who will be an assistant for Team Canada, has recruited several of his star players to join the tournament. If healthy, Drake Batherson, Connor Brown, and Thomas Chabot will suit up for Canada. Health is a question though; Chabot is currently on the injured reserve with a fractured hand and Batherson and Brown have both missed time due to injury this season and may not rush to play extra games if those issues flare up.
- Another notable name has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Defenseman Jack Perbix, an Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick in 2018, is leaving the University of Minnesota. Most would have expected that if Perbix was leaving the Gophers, it would be for the NHL. Older brother Nick Perbix, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, signed his entry level contract last month after four years at St. Cloud State University. Rather than follow suit, Jack will instead stay in college for his senior year but will don a different jersey and have a different name on his degree.
Marc-Andre Fleury Plans To Return Next Season
With Marc-Andre Fleury‘s three-year, $21MM contract extension expiring this offseason, many wondered if the 37-year-old netminder would return to NHL ice for 2022-23, especially after his offseason trade to the Chicago Blackhawks and ensuing retirement rumors. The answer to that query appears to be yes, with Fleury saying today he’d “like to play another season” after this one.
Fleury had a rough start to the season in Chicago, putting up one of the league’s worst goaltending performances early on behind a shoddy defense. But as the defense improved under new head coach Derek King, so did he, to the point where he boasted a .908 save percentage and fetched a conditional first-round pick at the Trade Deadline from the Minnesota Wild. He’s kept his solid play going since the trade, posting a .921 save percentage and saving 4.45 goals above average so far in a Wild uniform (according to Natural Stat Trick).
He is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, however, and with Minnesota’s impending severe cap crunch, many contending teams are likely to be in a position to offer him more money. It’s not impossible to rule out the option of Fleury taking a discount to stay in the Twin Cities, though, especially if he helps catapult the team to a deep playoff run.
If Fleury does join a fifth NHL team though, it would be his fourth in just the past three seasons, a high level of movement for the future Hall-of-Famer considering he spent the first 13 years of his career in Pittsburgh. Another season as a starter would give him a fighting chance at 1,000 NHL games, a mark achieved only by three other goalies in NHL history — Martin Brodeur (1,266), Roberto Luongo (1,044), and Patrick Roy (1,029). He currently sits at 935 games played, and with a few more starts down the stretch this season, he’d like need 55-60 games worth of action next year to hit the millennium mark.
One team likely to make a huge pitch for Fleury is the Colorado Avalanche, who were linked to him multiple times throughout the season but ended up pulling out with Darcy Kuemper regaining his form. Kuemper is a pending unrestricted free agent, though, and if the two can’t agree to an extension, expect the Avalanche to once again be connected to ‘Flower.’
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Horvat, Kane, Matthews
The Vancouver Canucks are steaming toward the playoffs, and they’re doing it without captain Bo Horvat, who left a game last week with a lower-body injury. Ruled out for at least two weeks, it seems he only has a chance to return this year if the Canucks do in fact come all the way back and grab a spot in the Western Conference postseason. Even if they are able to do that, his regular season ended with 31 goals in 70 games, a career-high, and a total that sets him up for quite well the summer.
Eligible for an extension in July when the calendar flips from 2021-22 to 2022-23, Horvat has just one year left on his current deal. He would be an unrestricted free agent after that and with the uncertainty surrounding the Canucks after making sweeping changes to the front office, it wasn’t clear if a new contract would be on the table. Today, his agent Pat Morris was on CHEK TV with Rick Dhaliwal, and explained that the Canucks management likes Horvat, and Horvat loves Vancouver and would like to stay. The two sides will “talk when the time is right,” suggesting no negotiations have taken place to this point. While the focus for everyone is on the playoff chase, things in Vancouver will quickly turn to the future if they aren’t able to secure a position in the postseason.
- Evander Kane‘s grievance hearing with the league over his contract termination began this morning, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The Edmonton Oilers forward is away from the team for a few days while he deals with this grievance, which is fighting the process which the San Jose Sharks used to terminate the more than $22MM that remained on his seven-year contract. The decision is not expected for some time and will likely have no impact on his current contract status with the Oilers, regardless of the outcome.
- The league’s leading goal scorer will have to wait for a chance to chase 60, as Auston Matthews is still not playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening, despite feeling “really good” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke with reporters including Mark Masters of TSN. The Maple Leafs are obviously more concerned about their first-round playoff matchup than individual performance records, as they still haven’t advanced in the postseason since 2004. Matthews still leads in the Rocket Richard race, four ahead of Leon Draisaitl in second place.
San Jose Sharks Sign Strauss Mann
The San Jose Sharks have landed a very interesting goaltender, inking Strauss Mann to a one-year contract. Mann recently became an unrestricted free agent when he left Skelleftea AIK of the SHL. No details on the contract were released. Shin Larsson, Sharks’ supervisor of European scouting, released a statement on his newest find:
Strauss is a quick athletic goalie with history of leadership and success exemplified by being named the first goalie Captain at University of Michigan in 78 years. He followed his successful collegiate career with a strong season for Skelleftea in the SHL and represented Team USA at the most recent Olympics. We look forward to adding a quality goaltender and person to our organization.
Mann, 23, posted a .914 save percentage in the SHL this season, appearing in 22 games for Skelleftea after leaving Michigan. He also managed to suit up for the U.S. at the Olympics, and now enters the North American professional ranks as a legitimate NHL prospect. Undrafted out of the USHL, Mann developed into a dominating presence for the Wolverines, posting a .926 save percentage over 77 starts and earning the captain’s “C” in his junior year.
While he doesn’t fit the prototypical NHL goaltending frame, standing just 6’0″, Mann’s excellent quickness and ability to read the play have resulted in strong results everywhere he has been so far. In fact, before signing in the SHL, he was ranked third by Corey Pronman of The Athletic among undrafted free agent players from college and Europe, with the scribe noting he projects as a No. 2 or 3 option for an NHL club. If that’s what the Sharks have landed with nothing more than an entry-level contract, it will be a big win for the organization.
Of course, in San Jose there is certainly no shortage of NHL options for next season. James Reimer and Adin Hill are both under contract through 2021-22 at more than $2.1MM each, and Kaapo Kahkonen was acquired at the trade deadline as a potential future starter. The hope, it seems, is that Mann will be able to fill one of those higher roles when Reimer and Hill both become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2023–when the former will be 35 years old.
Alberta To Host World Juniors, Hlinka-Gretzky
The 2022 IIHF World Junior tournament was postponed after just a few games because of a COVID-19 outbreak, but that doesn’t mean it was canceled altogether. The event will happen this summer, and Hockey Canada today announced that it will officially be held in Edmonton, Alberta from August 9-20. It won’t be the only hockey tournament in the province though, as the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup will take place in Red Deer between July 31-August 6.
Scott Smith, president of Hockey Canada, released the following statement:
While we were disappointed to have not been able to complete the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship as intended in December, our focus quickly shifted to hosting the event again when it was safe to do so. Now, fans will be able to cheer on Team Canada at the World Juniors in Edmonton and at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer.
The World Juniors will have an interesting twist this summer. Players born in 2002 that were originally eligible for the tournament in December will still be able to participate, even if they have aged out in the months since. That means a player like Cole Perfetti, born on January 1, 2002, would still actually be able to take part if he and the Winnipeg Jets decide to do so. Perfetti of course is dealing with an upper-body injury and is by no means a sure thing for the tournament, but his eligibility could mean the event has an incredibly deep and talented pool of players to select from.
It also could swing the other way though, with many younger players having more prominent roles. Given its placement in August, names like Owen Power or Matty Beniers may decide not to attend, instead focusing on their upcoming rookie seasons in the NHL. Both players were set to log huge minutes at the event in December, but after making their NHL debuts and even suiting up at the Olympics, it does seem a bit of a risk to go back to compete at a junior tournament so close to training camp.
The Hlinka-Gretzky, meanwhile, will return as a premier U18 scouting event that could have plenty of talent as well. Both Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli were among the players named to Canada’s U18 World Championship team and could be headed for the Red Deer tournament as well later this summer, after Hockey Canada decided not to attend in 2021. Matvei Michkov, who led the Russian team to gold at last year’s event with 13 points in eight games, could also return, given he won’t turn 18 until December 2022.