Jokerit, Dinamo Riga Withdraw From KHL
Amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, two international teams have opted to distance themselves from the primarily-Russian Kontinetal Hockey League. On Friday, Finnish club Jokerit withdrew from the upcoming KHL postseason. Today, Latvia’s Dinamo Riga has taken it a step further. The club has announced that they have withdrawn from the league entirely.
Riga, which did not qualify for the playoffs this season and could have waited to take a stand, instead decided to make their position soundly known. “The decision to withdraw from KHL has been made, thus expressing a clear position of the club management,” the team announced, as relayed by The Hockey News’ Ian Kennedy. “In such a military and humanitarian crisis, we do not see any opportunity for cooperation with the Kontinental Hockey League.” The team representing Latvia has decided to stand with Ukraine, a fellow former Soviet nation.
With this as an example, Jokerit could soon follow suit and fully withdraw from the league, especially given the media and sponsor pressure the team faced to cancel its playoff participation. While Riga’s future is currently unknown having been a member of the KHL since 2008, Jokerit could easily return to the Finnish Liiga, where they played prior to moving in 2013; perhaps they could bring Riga along with them. Kazakhstan’s Barys Nur-Sultan, China’s Kunlun Red Star, and Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk represent the three non-Russian teams remaining in the KHL, but there has been no anticipation to this point that any will follow the lead of Riga and Jokerit.
This is just the beginning of how the invasion of Ukraine could have a trickle down effect on the hockey world, as the IIHF is considering sanctions on Russia as well as Belarus, called upon by Switzerland but since echoed by Latvia. In response, the KHL is rumored to be considering a lockout of all import players. This is not the last that of this story by a long shot.
Coyotes’ Liam O’Brien Listed As Week-To-Week
The Arizona Coyotes tweeted today that forward Liam O’Brien is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury that he sustained last Friday during the team’s game versus the Vegas Golden Knights.
Largely a career AHLer, O’Brien has worked his way into a full-time NHL role with the Coyotes this season as one of the few enforcers left in the league. Getting into 37 games with Arizona this year, easily a career-high, O’Brien has two goals and an assist for three points. He leads the league with 106 penalty minutes.
With O’Brien out, it’s likely a chance for veteran Riley Nash to get into the lineup on a more frequent basis as the team tries to showcase him ahead of the Trade Deadline. Claimed off waivers earlier in the season, Nash has two assists in 41 NHL games this year.
It could also be an opportunity for the team’s youngsters such as Jan Jenik or Ben McCartney to earn another call-up from AHL Tucson as the team tries to evaluate which prospects could make the NHL full-time in 2022-23.
Trade Deadline Primer: Detroit Red Wings
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Detroit Red Wings have impressed this season, enjoying growth all around from their young core and gigantic rookie performances from Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. With the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference virtually set in stone, though, any playoff aspirations for Detroit at this point are ill-advised, but that doesn’t take away from the extremely solid stepping-stone season Detroit and general manager Steve Yzerman have built to help set up the future.
Record
23-24-6, 5th in the Atlantic
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$35.80MM today, $55.49MM in full-season space, 1/3 retention slots used, 43/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: DET 1st, DET 2nd, WSH 2nd, DET 3rd, DET 4th, COL 4th, VGK 4th, DET 5th, DET 7th
2023: DET 1st, DET 2nd, DET 3rd, DET 4th, DET 5th, DET 6th, DET 7th
Trade Chips
Detroit’s on the emerging end of a rebuild, so any decent player with term for the Wings is likely safe from trade speculation. However, there’s a decent amount of pending unrestricted free agents for whom Detroit would love to retain assets.
The highest-caliber of these Detroit pending free agents is undoubtedly defenseman Nick Leddy. The long-time New York Islander was shipped to Detroit this past offseason in a salary-clearing move, with Detroit yielding a second-round pick to acquire his services. The 30-year-old has 12 points in 48 games this year and is still capable of logging top-four minutes, meaning that Yzerman should be able to at least recoup similar value for Leddy on the trade market. Leddy has struggled defensively, often being outshined by his partner Seider, but could benefit from facing lesser competition on a better team.
Marc Staal is another left-shot veteran defenseman on an expiring deal that could make some sense for teams. He’s having his best season in recent memory, rebounding with some solid two-way play after being an analytical nightmare for the past few years. His +12 rating is the only positive rating among active Detroit defensemen, and with a reasonable $2MM cap hit, many contenders could work him into a third-pairing/seventh man role with ease. He does have a no-movement clause, however, meaning he’d need to accept any trade in order for it to clear.
On offense, there’s Vladislav Namestnikov. Fifth on the team in goals with 13, he’s having a much better season than his first year in Detroit. He’s a good two-way presence capable of logging middle-six minutes, and his versatility among forward positions makes him an attractive option to have in the lineup when injury strikes. He could likely command a third- or fourth-round pick on the trade market, perhaps more.
Others To Watch For: F Sam Gagner ($850K, pending UFA), D Troy Stecher ($1.7M, pending UFA), G Thomas Greiss ($3.6MM, pending UFA)
Team Needs
1) 2023 Draft Picks — Detroit already has considerable pick depth in 2022 with an additional second-round choice and two extra fourth-round picks, but they’re lacking any additional selections in 2023. With that 2023 Draft class shaping up to be one of the overall highest-quality ones in recent memory, it would be wiser to load up the following year rather than trading for more 2022 selections. It could also give Detroit additional trade chip material at the 2023 Trade Deadline if the team finds itself in playoff contention.
2) Forward Prospects — While the Red Wings have an incredibly bright and deep future on defense, the Red Wings are now lacking many high-end forward prospects in the team’s development system after players like Lucas Raymond and Joe Veleno have graduated to full-time NHL roles. Additional depth there would be a nice get for Detroit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Muzzin, Oilers, Russia
When defenseman Jake Muzzin landed on long-term injured reserve earlier in the week, speculation ramped up that the Toronto Maple Leafs could make an unexpected big splash at the Trade Deadline with some added salary cap flexibility. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on yesterday’s edition of 32 Thoughts that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is telling teams around the league that if Muzzin “is healthy enough to return before the end of the regular season, they’re not going to hold him out until the playoffs.” That’s to say that the team isn’t operating under the assumption that they’ll have the full $4.47MM in deadline cap space that CapFriendly suggests. While the team is still in a position to add a solid depth piece, or even a higher-end middle-six forward with some salary retention, any chance of Toronto being among the deadline’s biggest buyers is likely gone at this point.
Some more hockey notes on this Sunday:
- The Edmonton Oilers will be without both forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto for today’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Defenseman Philip Broberg continues to draw into the lineup as they’ll again ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamoto are both likely out with short-term injuries, both suffered during yesterday’s game in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. Colton Sceviour and Brendan Perlini, who both have just five points on the year, will get opportunities to draw into the lineup as Edmonton’s two extra forwards.
- TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the IIHF is likely to make “significant decisions” surrounding the participation of Russia in future international hockey events during a council meeting tomorrow, beginning first and foremost with the upcoming Men’s World Championships in Finland, scheduled to take place in the middle of May. The report comes just as news broke that the Switzerland hockey governing body has requested additional sanctions placed on both the Russian and Belarussian hockey programs. Those additional sanctions include removing Russia as the host of the upcoming 2023 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship and 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, as well as the immediate exclusion of Russia and Belarus as member federations of the IIHF as the country’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
AHL Shuffle: 02/27/22
After an exciting Saturday of hockey featuring an outdoor game, a 1-0 nail-biter, and a 10-7 thriller, the NHL is back in action Sunday with an eight-game slate, featuring what should be an exciting Edmonton Oilers vs. Carolina Hurricanes matinee. We can still expect plenty of player movement throughout the day:
Atlantic Division
Metropolitan Division
Central Division
Pacific Division
- The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they have recalled forward Jonas Rondbjerg from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, Vegas assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn to Henderson. Leschyshyn has just one goal and three assists in 20 games this season for Vegas, but has put up a strong 12 goals and 12 assists in 31 games for Henderson this season. Rondbjerg, on the other hand, has had a remarkably similar season, tallying two goals and two assists in 16 games for Vegas, while putting up 11 goals and 12 assists in 31 games for Henderson this season. The team has also reassigned goaltender Logan Thompson to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
- The Edmonton Oilers have shifted veteran defenseman Kris Russell to long-term injured reserve, the team announced. Russell has been on IR since February 7 with an undisclosed injury, but with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto now sidelined, the team needed additional cap space to field a full roster, necessitating Russell’s transition. Brad Malone has received the call to fill that newfound space; the 32-year-old forward is in his fifth season with the Oilers organization, but hasn’t played in an NHL game since 2018-19.
- With starter John Gibson likely to miss some time with an illness, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled young netminder Lukas Dostal from the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Dostal, 21, has been very impressive in three appearances with the Ducks this season and certainly appears to have the makings of an NHL regular in the near future.
- Rudolfs Balcers has been placed on injured reserve by the San Jose Sharks. Replacing him on the roster is Scott Reedy, the team announced. Reedy, 22, has played in five NHL games in his first pro season but has yet to record a point. However, the big center has 18 goals and 27 points in 38 games with the AHL Barracuda in an impressive rookie campaign.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Washington Capitals Activate Vitek Vanecek And Loan To AHL
The Washington Capitals announced Sunday morning that they have assigned goaltenders Vitek Vanecek and Pheonix Copley to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Vanecek, the Capitals announced, will only be with Hershey on a conditioning loan after spending time on injured reserve. Copley, meanwhile, will remain in Hershey.
The Capitals had been without the steady Vanecek since he was injured in a game February 1st against the Pittsburgh Penguins. While Vanecek has been strong in net for the Capitals this season with a .915 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average, his net-partner Ilya Samsonov has struggled to a .905 save percentage and 2.85 goals-against average. Vanecek’s return should provide a more reliable presence in net for the Capitals, while allowing them to put Samsonov in for favorable matchups.
The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell suggests that Vanecek will likely play tonight for Hershey and if all goes well, he could be recalled to Washington in time for their game tomorrow night against Toronto.
Also sent down to Hershey is Copley, who had only played in two games after being recalled in the wake of Vanecek’s injury. Copley had not played in the NHL before this season since he suited up for 27 games with the Capitals back in the 2018-19 season. Since he does not need waivers, Copley should join Hershey immediately and remain available to the Capitals should they need him down the stretch.
Trade Deadline Primer: Toronto Maple Leafs
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As has been the case for the past few seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs are once again under immense pressure to buy at the deadline and finally make the jump out of the first round of the playoffs. The team has already made one move, adding defensive depth to the roster in the form of former Arizona Coyote Ilya Lyubushkin, but with some potential added cap flexibility due to defenseman Jake Muzzin‘s injury, general manager Kyle Dubas has the chance to make a bigger splash prior to March 21st.
Record
33-14-4, 3rd in the Atlantic
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$4.47MM today, $4.47MM in full-season space, 1/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: TOR 1st, TOR 2nd, TOR 7th*
2023: TOR 1st, TOR 2nd, TOR 3rd, TOR 4th, TOR 5th, TOR 6th
* – if Brennan Menell plays 30 regular-season games for Toronto in 2021-22, the Minnesota Wild receive Toronto’s 2022 seventh-round pick. Menell has yet to make his Leafs debut this season.
Trade Chips
It’s been widely reported that the team is reluctant to move their first-round pick this year or much of their top prospect pool. Taking that into account, it’s likely that any trade package includes a body from their now-extremely deep defensive pool. The most appealing option for trade partners is likely Travis Dermott. The team’s second-round selection in 2015 has been continually pushed down the depth chart by the emergence of Rasmus Sandin, but still has upside at 25 years old. He’s consistently mustered solid defensive results, and increased opportunity could help unlock some more offense. He has just five points in 37 games this year.
There’s also the matter of Justin Holl. He offers some cost certainty for teams, which is appealing — he’s locked into a $2MM cap hit through the end of next season. But he’s been prone to some egregious defensive mistakes this season, causing him to slip further down the lineup and become a healthy scratch at times. He does have experience playing top-four minutes, though, and does have a solid defensive track record throughout his short career. He still likely has some trade value.
Toronto also has a trio of young goalies in their AHL system in Erik Källgren, Joseph Woll, and Ian Scott. While the organization is high on Woll and would prefer to retain him, one of Kallgren or Scott could almost certainly be a part of a trade package. Källgren in particular likely carries some value, as he’s posted a solid .909 SV% in 22 AHL games and was the netminder behind Växjo’s run to the Swedish Hockey League championship in 2021.
Others To Watch For: F Alex Steeves ($834K through 2024), F Pontus Holmberg ($828k through 2023), D Mac Hollowell ($800k this year, $750k through 2023)
Team Needs
1) Wing Depth — Toronto has gotten impressive seasons out of free-agent wild cards Michael Bunting and Ondrej Kase, as well as Alexander Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev. But too much depth is never a bad thing, and the Leafs could use an upgrade to slot into the top-six, likely alongside John Tavares on the second line. Kerfoot’s versatility allows him to slide back down to a third-line role with ease, helping create a better matchup game for head coach Sheldon Keefe come playoff time.
2) Potential Muzzin Replacement — The health status of Jake Muzzin for the playoffs remains uncertain, as he’s on long-term injured reserve indefinitely as he recovers from his second concussion in a short timeframe. If Muzzin isn’t ready to go, an experienced left-shot D-man (Mark Giordano?) could make sense, especially as to not put too much pressure on the shoulders of the young Sandin and Liljegren.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Canucks, Johnson, Canadiens, Nugent-Hopkins
The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed defenseman Kyle Burroughs on injured reserve while transferring blueliner Tucker Poolman to LTIR. Burroughs has had his first taste of extended NHL action this season, playing in 36 games while collecting five points and was injured last weekend against Anaheim. The move was made to open up the roster spot for yesterday’s recall of Phillip Di Giuseppe. As for Poolman, he will be eligible to return at any time if the placement is retroactive to his injury in late January but it temporarily adds his $2.5MM to their LTIR pool, enabling them to recall other players if there are more injuries in the near future.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Blackhawks are expected to get center Tyler Johnson back in the lineup on Thursday against Edmonton, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). Johnson underwent artificial disk replacement surgery back in December, the same neck surgery Jack Eichel had. The veteran last played in late October and has a goal and two assists in eight games this season, his first with Chicago.
- The Canadiens are expected to hire Adam Nicholas in a player development role, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. Nicholas has worked as a skills consultant with Toronto since 2019 and is the founder of a player development company called Stride Envy.
- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left today’s game with an upper-body injury with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector suggesting (via Twitter) that it looks like a shoulder issue. He took a hit from Florida’s Ryan Lomberg in the first period. Nugent-Hopkins only has seven goals in 45 games this season but still sits third on Edmonton in points thanks to his 30 assists.
This Day In Transactions History: Lightning Acquire Ryan McDonagh And J.T. Miller
Four years ago today was the 2018 NHL trade deadline, one that featured several notable swaps, including Evander Kane to the Sharks, Tomas Tatar to the Golden Knights, and Paul Stastny to the Jets. But the biggest one of all came from the Lightning and Rangers. New York had released their letter committing to rebuilding their franchise earlier in the month and had already made some moves to shore up their future. This was their biggest one with Tampa Bay moving out several future assets in an effort to win now.
The Lightning picked up defenseman Ryan McDonagh along with winger J.T. Miller in exchange for winger Vladislav Namestnikov, center Brett Howden, defenseman Libor Hajek, plus a first-round pick in 2018 and a second-rounder in 2019. It has only been four years but it’s safe to say it worked out a whole lot better for Tampa Bay than it did for New York.
McDonagh immediately became a stabilizing force on the back end for the Lightning. They didn’t need him to play upwards of 24 minutes a night as he was with the Rangers but gave them someone beyond Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman that was capable of shouldering a key load on the back end. Then-GM Steve Yzerman wasted little time working on an extension with McDonagh and as soon as he became eligible to sign one in July, McDonagh inked a seven-year, $47.25MM deal to ensure he’ll be sticking around for the long haul.
Miller didn’t exactly have the same fate. He was quite productive down the stretch for Tampa Bay, averaging nearly a point per game after the trade but struggled in the playoffs and didn’t produce as much the following year. That resulted in him being traded to Vancouver for a pair of draft picks, including the 2020 first-round selection that they ultimately flipped to New Jersey in 2020 as part of the Blake Coleman trade. Coleman, of course, played an important role on Tampa Bay’s Cup-winning teams in 2020 and 2021 so even though Miller didn’t have the type of impact they were hoping for, they still ultimately got a good return out of his inclusion in the trade.
As for what the Rangers got, things haven’t gone quite so well. Namestnikov was quiet down the stretch but his performance with Tampa Bay before the trade was still good enough to land him a two-year, $8MM contract that would take him to unrestricted free agency. One year later after a quiet season, he was flipped in a cap-clearing trade for minor league blueliner Nick Ebert and a fourth-round pick in 2021 that was used on Kalle Vaisanen. Not a great return on the impact forward they were hoping Namestnikov would be. He’s now in Detroit and is a candidate to be moved by March 21st.
Howden was a first-round pick of the Lightning back in 2016 (27th overall) and profiled as a key two-way center after putting up some impressive numbers in junior. However, that offensive output didn’t materialize in the pros and after scoring just 16 goals in 178 games over parts of three seasons with the Rangers, they gave up on him, sending him to Vegas for a 2022 fourth-round pick. Howden has actually done fairly well this season with 18 points in 39 games for the Golden Knights despite spending a lot of time on the fourth line.
Hajek was another player who impressed at the junior level and it looked as if he’d become a quality NHL defenseman before too long. While he was a regular for a lot of last season, he was a fixture on the third pairing with sheltered minutes and this year, he has been a frequent healthy scratch. They don’t want to lose him for nothing on waivers but this is a situation where if they move him, the return will almost certainly be as underwhelming as Howden’s was.
As for the draft picks, it’s a bit too early to make any significant conclusions on those. The first-rounder yielded defenseman Nils Lundkvist and while he has been fairly quiet in his first season in North America, his track record of offensive success in Sweden is promising. The second-rounder turned into center Karl Henriksson who isn’t putting up big numbers in Frolunda of the SHL but is holding down a regular spot in the lineup. Both could certainly be part of New York’s future with Lundkvist getting a sniff of NHL action earlier this season.
For New York to have any chance of salvaging any sort of value from this trade, they’ll need those prospects to become impact players. They’re down to Vaisanen, Lundkvist, Henriksson, a fourth-round pick, and Hajek (or whatever limited return they get for him). That’s not a great return from a trade that they were hoping would give them several long-term building blocks for the future, a cautionary tale for how even trading for players that appear to be quality prospects can still not work out as well as intended. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has won a couple of Stanley Cup titles since then and while McDonagh’s contract may not age great considering he’s signed through 2026, he’s still playing an important role for them. The biggest swap of the 2018 deadline looks like a clear-cut victory for them as a result.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Metropolitan Notes: Texier, Flyers, Capitals
While Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier was originally expected to miss four weeks with a finger injury (a time period that has come and gone), Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports (Twitter link) that the 22-year-old is still a few weeks away from returning. Texier is having the best season of his career so far with 11 goals and nine assists in 36 games but this injury will have taken away that momentum.
Texier has found his name in recent trade speculation with teams calling about him but the injury won’t help things on that front either. On that front, Hedger adds in a follow-up tweet that the team has no interest in moving him. He has long been viewed as a future building block for the Blue Jackets and since he has shown some promising signs in his development this season, it’s understandable that they’d want to keep him around.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Prior to their game this afternoon against Washington, the Flyers announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Joel Farabee and center Derick Brassard off injured reserve. Farabee has missed a little more than a month due to an upper-body injury but is still tied for third on Philadelphia in goals with 11 in 33 games. Brassard, meanwhile, has been battling hip issues all season long but has managed to pick up 11 points in 20 games. If Brassard can stay healthy, he could be a trade candidate for a team looking to add some depth before the trade deadline. Meanwhile, Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now adds that center Kevin Hayes could return late next week after being out for more than a month with an adductor injury.
- While Washington has very limited cap space that’s entirely based on Anthony Mantha’s LTIR placement, both J.J. Regan and Andrew Gillis of NBC Sports Washington believe that the Capitals need to find a way to add an impact goaltender by next month’s trade deadline. Vitek Vanecek is currently injured and while Ilya Samsonov was able to play this afternoon despite appearing to suffer an injury in the warmup, he has struggled with inconsistency this season. They’ve been previously linked to Chicago’s Marc-Andre Fleury but would likely need to get Chicago to retain half of his $7MM contract plus a third-party facilitator to take on another 25% of the contract to have a chance at fitting him into their cap structure.