Snapshots: Nordstrom, Cracknell, Murphy
A report out of Russia from Semyon Galkevich has linked Calgary Flames forward Joakim Nordstrom to the KHL, suggesting he will sign a one-year deal with CSKA Moscow. The 29-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent later this summer when the one-year, $700K deal he signed with Calgary last October expires. Though no one could have been expecting much offense from the bottom-six forward, Joakim still disappointed, scoring just a single goal in 44 games. In 444 career regular season contests, he has just 75 points.
More notes from around the hockey world:
- Adam Cracknell has signed a one-year AHL contract with the Bakersfield Condors, returning after a strong campaign with the Edmonton Oilers affiliate. Cracknell, 35, has played 15 years of professional hockey and can help insulate Oilers prospects while in the minor leagues. In 39 games with Bakersfield this season, he recorded 11 goals and 30 points, proving he’s far from just a locker room leader.
- Ryan Murphy, another long-time minor league star, has won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s most outstanding defenseman for 2020-21. The 28-year-old, who was originally selected 12th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes, had 27 points in 37 games for the Henderson Silver Knights this season. In 232 career AHL games, Murphy has recorded 146 points.
NHL Upholds Nazem Kadri’s Eight-Game Suspension
June 2: Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reports that Kadri’s hearing with the neutral arbitrator is set for Friday.
May 31: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the eight-game suspension that the Department of Player Safety assessed to Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri. Kadri had appealed the decision looking for a reduction, but Bettman concluded that the discipline handed out was warranted.
In the decision, Bettman notes that the NHLPA attempted to compare Kadri’s disciplinary history to that of Tom Wilson, Radko Gudas, Brad Marchand, and Zac Rinaldo, arguing that recent decisions regarding those players “illustrate the concept that if a Player plays clean for a given amount of time,” he should not be considered a player who repeatedly violates the league rules. The commissioner did not agree with this assertion, even directly examining the records of each player and comparing them to Kadri. While the NHLPA asserted that a four-game suspension would have been the correct discipline, Bettman disagreed.
The Avalanche forward can now appeal to a neutral arbitrator, though that process only examines the methodology used by the league to determine the length of the suspension and does not make a ruling on the actual incident itself. Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey now reports that Kadri will indeed pursue this route as Wilson did in 2018. In that case, the 20-game suspension that Wilson received was reduced to 14 by the neutral arbitrator Shyam Das, the same one that Kadri will have hear his case.
Kadri has already served three games of the suspension, all Colorado wins.
Filip Lindberg Could Test Free Agency
UMass goaltender Filip Lindberg has been unable to reach a contract with the Minnesota Wild according to Michael Russo of The Athletic and could become an unrestricted free agent later this summer. Despite being drafted in 2019 and playing only three seasons of college hockey, the 22-year-old Lindberg’s exclusive draft rights will expire after his agent submitted a letter informing Minnesota of his intention to forego his senior season, leave the NCAA and turn pro. As Russo states, the goaltender will be eligible to sign with any team when free agency opens on July 28.
Lindberg was a seventh-round pick in 2019 as a 20-year-old, a lottery ticket based on only 17 (albeit excellent) games of college hockey. The .934 he posted as a freshman was proven to be no fluke, however, as he returned with two more outstanding seasons for the Minutemen, including a national championship this year. In 50 total games for UMass, Lindberg posted a 29-10-6 record, a .937 save percentage, and a 1.58 goals-against average. Sure, those numbers are boosted by a strong team in front of him, but he has turned from a seventh-round lottery ticket into a legitimate NHL prospect in short order.
When he does sign, Lindberg will be limited to inking a two-year, entry-level contract. In Minnesota, he could potentially see his path to the NHL blocked by fellow top prospect Kaapo Kahkonen, given veteran Cam Talbot‘s remaining two years under contract. It’s unclear at this point which team would be the frontrunner to sign him, but make no mistake there will be interest in the college star if he hits the open market.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Seven
The Vegas Golden Knights, set to take on the Colorado Avalanche in game two of their second-round series tonight, have recalled seven players to the taxi squad. Carl Dahlstrom, Jack Dugan, Cody Glass, Kaedan Korczak, Jonas Rondbjerg, Jimmy Schuldt, and Logan Thompson have all been brought up. Glass and Thompson were on the ice with the rest of the team at practice, while the others are likely just serving as “Black Aces” for the team.
Jesse Granger of The Athletic tweets that both Mattias Janmark and Robin Lehner are game-time decisions for tonight’s match, explaining why the other two are practicing. Of course, the team will also be without Ryan Reaves for the next two thanks to a suspension for his antics in game one. Glass, 22, has played in just a single playoff game thus far and saw fewer than 13 minutes of ice time in it. The sixth-overall pick from 2017 has yet to really establish himself as a regular at the NHL level, with just 22 points in 66 career games.
It’s some of the other names that will draw interest if even just as examples of how well the Golden Knights staff has built up the depth of the organization. Players like Dugan, a fifth-round pick that scored 33 points in his first AHL season or Korczak, a second-rounder that looked excellent in his first year of professional hockey are going to challenge for playing time in the NHL at some point in the near future.
2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship To Be Held In Calgary
When the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship was canceled earlier this year just as players were preparing to travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia, it wasn’t at all clear whether it would find a new home. Quickly, locales from across North America started to chime in, offering their venues for the event. Today, the IIHF announced that it has officially selected Calgary, Alberta as the new host city.
The event will be held from August 20-31 at WinSport Arena in Canada Olympic Park, with ten teams competing. President of Hockey Canada Scott Smith released a statement on the change:
Despite the unfortunate cancellation of the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in April, Hockey Canada’s ongoing priority has been to host the event this year, and we have remained committed to running a world-class event in Canada. A tremendous amount of work and collaboration with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services has taken place to ensure the event will be held in a safe and secure manner. We are grateful to the Province of Alberta, the City of Calgary, Tourism Calgary, WinSport and all our event partners for working together to provide the best women’s hockey players in the world an opportunity to compete for a gold medal.
Teams from around the world are expected to arrive in Calgary on August 10 and will be required to enter a quarantine period before starting preparation for the tournament. The full schedule will be released at a later date.
This announcement comes just after the PWHPA completed a part of their Dream Gap Tour in Calgary, the first time games had been played in Canada by the organization in over a year. Now, a few months later, the best in the world will gather in the city to try and take home the gold.
Jason Spezza Hopes To Return To Maple Leafs
It was a devastating end to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ postseason run, losing three straight to be eliminated by the rival Montreal Canadiens. There is a lot of blame to go around for how things collapsed, but one player that is drawing almost universal praise is Jason Spezza. The veteran forward had an incredible season, scoring 30 points in 56 games and contributed another five points in seven playoff games, tying him with Auston Matthews for third on the team. Spezza is a pending unrestricted free agent but told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN at his end-of-year availability today that he would like to return:
Yeah, I would. I feel like there’s a lot of unfinished business, I feel very invested in the group here and hopeful that I get another opportunity to do that again next year and push this team over the top.
Even if he takes another league-minimum contract, Spezza will be getting a slight raise over this year’s salary as the number increases from $700K to $750K for the 2021-22 season. The hometown kid will turn 38 in a few days but seemed to have plenty of life in his legs and silk in his hands this season. It seems likely that the Maple Leafs will bring him back, given how tight they will be to the salary cap once again.
Joe Thornton also spoke today but explained to reporters that he has to “be a dad” for a little while before making a decision on his future. Thornton and Spezza aren’t the only unrestricted free agents the Maple Leafs have. Zach Hyman, Riley Nash, Wayne Simmonds, Nick Foligno, Alex Galchenyuk, Zach Bogosian, Ben Hutton, Frederik Andersen and David Rittich are all set to hit the open market later this summer, and there is no way that Toronto will be able to retain them all even if, like Spezza, they wanted to return.
2021 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced
This week, the NHL has started to release the finalists for all the major regular season awards. After the Vezina Trophy came out yesterday, the Ted Lindsay Award, given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA is up.
The three finalists this year are Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
Crosby, 33, is the veteran of the group and has been here several times before. The legendary Penguins center has taken home the Lindsay (which used to be called the Pearson) three times and could match Mario Lemieux for second behind Wayne Gretzky‘s five should he win another this year. He hasn’t taken home the award since leading the league in scoring in 2013-14, but there’s little doubt of his impact on Pittsburgh’s season. Crosby scored 24 goals and 62 points in 55 games, finishing tenth in league scoring. The Penguins were carried by their captain all year as they dealt with injuries to everyone from Brandon Tanev to Evgeni Malkin.
Matthews, 23, is the youngest of the group and is a finalist for the first time after his outstanding season with the Maple Leafs. He would become just the second American-born player to win the award, joining Patrick Kane in the 2016 season. Though he missed four games due to injury, Matthews still won the Rocket Richard trophy for the league’s top goal scorer, leading the field by eight tallies. His 41 in 52 is a pace that would have him score 65 in a full 82-game schedule, a number that has only been reached by 12 players in the history of the NHL and none since Alex Ovechkin did it in 2007-08. It wasn’t only goals though, as Matthews finished tied for fifth in league scoring with 66 points.
Still, it’s going to be difficult for either of the first two finalists to topple McDavid, who recorded 105 points in a 56-game season. He was 21 points ahead of the second-place scorer, who happened to be his teammate and reigning Ted Lindsay winner Leon Draisaitl. McDavid was 36 points ahead of the next non-Oilers player, an absolutely incredible stat in any season, let alone a shortened one. McDavid’s point pace would have given him 154 in a full 82-game season, something that has only ever been done by Gretzky, Lemieux, and Steve Yzerman. The scoring he accomplished this season was truly historic, and it seems likely to give him his third Lindsay already in a young career. Should he win it, he’ll tie Crosby, Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr, and Guy Lafleur with three wins.
Kevin Hayes Undergoes Core Muscle Surgery
The offseason is here for many teams and with it will come surgeries and lengthy injury recoveries. In the case of Kevin Hayes of the Philadelphia Flyers, that means core muscle surgery. Hayes went under the knife last week and is facing a recovery timeline of five weeks.
That obviously leaves him with plenty of time to get ready for next season, but it also doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be at full strength when things kick off in October. Core muscle surgeries are notorious for having long-lasting effects on performance, meaning the start of the season could be tough for the 29-year-old.
This injury could also explain some of the struggles that Hayes went through this season, scoring just 12 goals in 55 games for the Flyers and now really looking like the same player they had a year prior. He still ended up with 31 points but saw his role on the penalty kill decreased, resulting in zero short-handed goals for just the second time in his career. His nine even-strength goals were also easily the lowest total of his career, and certainly not what the team expected for more than $7.1MM per season.
Hayes still has five seasons left on that seven-year, $50MM contract he signed in 2019, meaning he’ll have to rebound if the Flyers are going anywhere in 2021-22. For those that believe a shakeup is in order, the veteran center is not a likely candidate to be moved, if only because of his no-movement clause. That clause will change to a 12-team no-trade after the 2021-22 season.
West Notes: Dumba, Brodin, Schwartz, Sharks
The future of Mathew Dumba with the Wild has been in question the last couple of years with expansion on the horizon. Now with Seattle’s roster less than two months away from being picked, the questions are picking up. With the most common protection scheme involving three defensemen and three Minnesota rearguards other than Dumba having no-move clauses guaranteeing protection, the 26-year-old is viewed as the possible odd man out. Speaking with reporters including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dumba made it clear that he’d like to stick around:
My name’s in trade speculation every year, at the deadline, throughout the year. I’ve become accustomed to it. It is what it is. I’ve expressed my feelings and where I want to be, where my heart is. At the end of the day, that’s all I can do.
Dumba has two years remaining on his deal with a $6MM AAV, a rate that could be viewed as a little high after he managed just 21 points in 51 games this season. However, he’s only three years removed from a 50-point campaign for the Wild and considering that he averages over 22 minutes per night, there will be interest if they opt to move him.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Also from McLellan, Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin’s upper-body injury wasn’t as bad as initially feared. He wound up suffering a sprained shoulder in Game Seven against Vegas, one that will keep him away from training for a couple of weeks but it won’t affect his preparation for next season.
- The Blues have not started talks regarding a new deal for winger Jaden Schwartz yet, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 28-year-old had a tough showing this season, notching just eight goals and 13 assists in 40 games. However, he had at least 55 points in three of the last four seasons and five of the last seven so his camp will undoubtedly be using that in talks. He played on a $5.35MM AAV this season and even in this cap environment, he could conceivably try to push for a small raise.
- While June 1st is known as a day where teams lose some of their unsigned prospects, it’s also a deadline for teams to tender bonafide offers to their previously-selected players to retain their rights. Most teams don’t issue a release when they do so but the Sharks announced that they’ve tendered offers to 2020 draft picks Brandon Coe and Timofey Spitserov. The forwards were picked in the fourth and seventh rounds respectively.
Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league finished up after missing the playoffs. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Los Angeles.
The rebuild has been in full effect for the Kings lately as they’ve missed the playoffs in three straight seasons while carrying one of the lowest payrolls in the league as they attempted to integrate several young players into their lineup with mixed results. GM Rob Blake has done well in terms of stockpiling quality young talent (particularly down the middle) but his veteran core, led by Drew Doughty, are hoping to see some win-now moves made. With their cap flexibility closing as their young players come off their entry-level deals, the time is right for Los Angeles to try to strike and accordingly, several items on their offseason checklist revolve around that idea.
Leverage Cap Space
This will be a common theme for the few teams that have cap room. The Kings have a little more than $20MM in space for next season and perhaps even more notably, few free agents of consequence (more on one of those later). While they have several contracts to hand out, some of those will be of the relatively cheap variety so they will have the ability to make a splash or two if they so desire. They’ll be a team to watch for in free agency or on the trade market as a result.
Defensive Upgrades
Doughty has been a fixture on the back end for Los Angeles for 13 years and with six years left on his contract that briefly was the richest for a defenseman in NHL history, it’s safe to say he’s going to be there for a while yet. However, while there are some supporting pieces in place, they don’t have the deepest of back ends and the rest of their players combined basically make what Doughty does ($11MM).
Matt Roy and Sean Walker have emerged as capable pieces but while both are signed for at least three more years, they’re more ideally suited to the bottom half of the depth chart. Michael Anderson had a nice rookie year and has top-four upside, a projection that could also be extended to Tobias Bjornfot though he is a little further away from getting there. They should be part of the picture for a while as well.
The depth thins out after that, however. Olli Maatta didn’t have a great year and considering he was brought in as a cap dump from Chicago, it’s unlikely that he’s part of their long-term plans. Kale Clague heads up a list of secondary prospects that could make it as role players.
At a minimum, one impact blueliner needs to be added to push most of their current ones down a spot on the depth chart to a more optimal position. Doughty has been a workhorse for many years now and logged more than 26 minutes a night again this season. But he’s 31 and can’t keep doing it alone for much longer. His request for Blake to add help is certainly understandable and he probably wouldn’t mind one bit if that help came at his position.
Determine Athanasiou’s Future
Last fall, one of the more intriguing non-tender decisions revolved around winger Andreas Athanasiou. Edmonton had just paid two draft picks for him at the trade deadline and needed to decide whether or not to tender a $3MM offer. They didn’t and he eventually landed in Los Angeles. The decision point is much lower this time around – $1.2MM – but the same question exists thanks to his arbitration eligibility.
Statistically speaking, it was a decent season for the 26-year-old. He had 10 goals and 13 assists in 47 games, good enough to finish sixth on the team in scoring. Extrapolated to a full season, that’s not far off a 20-goal pace which for $1.2MM is solid value. If it wasn’t for his ability to file for arbitration, this would be a no-brainer decision.
But he can file which makes things a lot harder. Given the fact that he was making $3MM just a year ago and has a recent 30-goal season under his belt from the 2018-19 campaign, there’s a strong likelihood that his camp will come in with a proposed contract even higher than that. Yes, it’s a different system from MLB in that an arbitrator doesn’t pick one number or the other but they often wind up close to the midpoint so even with the Kings coming in closer to the $1.5MM range, the midpoint where the deal would be more likely to fall might be higher than they’re comfortable going to.
As a result, this feels like a situation where there will need to be a concerted effort to get a deal done before the qualifying offer deadline. Athanasiou did well enough to earn a bit of a raise even in this marketplace but after not garnering a lot of interest on the open market (it took until late December for him to get this deal just as training camps were starting), sticking around with Los Angeles seems like a good idea for him.
Add Top-Six Wingers
Despite their poor finish, the Kings are in good shape down the middle. Anze Kopitar is still signed for three more years while Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, Gabriel Vilardi, and Rasmus Kupari are all recent first-rounders. That’s a nice core to build around.
They aren’t anywhere near as deep on the wings, however. Alex Iafallo’s new four-year deal kicks in for 2021-22 so he’s one piece of the puzzle. After that, there aren’t any long-term pieces. Dustin Brown has had a bit of a late-career resurgence but he’s entering the final year of his contract next season and at 36, he’s not going to be around for much longer. Adrian Kempe, a former center, is better suited on the third line than the top six. The rest of their current roster are role players or question marks.
Some of the young centers may wind up on the wing and players like Arthur Kaliyev should be part of their future plans but that’s a short-term solution. If they’re going to add and use that cap space this summer, they’ll need to go outside the organization. Fortunately for Blake, there are options in free agency and with some teams needing to make cap-shedding trades this summer, there will be several upgrades available and it wouldn’t be surprising to see one or two of them in a Kings uniform next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.