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Minor Transactions: 8/23/24

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We’ve seen a trade of note in the NHL today but there has been some transaction activity elsewhere as well.  Here’s a rundown of the ones with an NHL connection.

  • Former Buffalo blueliner Victor Antipin is on the move in the KHL as Barys Astana announced that they’ve signed the 31-year-old to a one-year deal. Antipin played in 47 games with Buffalo back in 2017-18 (notching ten assists while logging 15:17 per night) but elected to return to Russia early in free agency the following year.  Last season, Antipin played in 57 games with Traktor Chelyabinsk, recording 17 points.
  • Jets prospect Markus Loponen has, as expected, signed a contract with WHL Victoria, per a team release. The 18-year-old forward was a fifth-round pick by Winnipeg two months ago, going 155th overall.  Loponen had 25 goals and 29 assists in 45 games last season for Karpat’s under-20 team, resulting in him being picked in the first round of the CHL Import Draft this summer.  Loponen requested and was granted his release by Karpat earlier this week, paving the way for him to join the Royals.
  • Sharks prospect Leo Sahlin Wallenius has been loaned to Nybro in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan, the team announced. The blueliner was the 53rd overall pick back in June following a strong showing in Vaxjo’s junior system.  Sahlin Wallenius had 42 points in 43 regular season games at the Under-20 level while also picking up three assists for Sweden at the World Under-18s in the spring.

Edmonton Oilers Directly Linked To Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Schultz

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The Edmonton Oilers are still dealing with the ramifications on their blue line of denying to match a two-year, $9.16MM offer sheet given to defenseman Philip Broberg by the St. Louis Blues. Having already been linked to Tyson Barrie for a professional tryout agreement, Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff reports the team has additional interest in Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Schultz.

The two main links between all three defensemen are their right-handedness and ability to move the puck. Given that Broberg is a left-handed shot with limited experience at the NHL level, it stands to reason this is a desire from the Oilers that predates the loss of Broberg and is not made in an attempt to replace him. Behind Evan Bouchard, the only internal options for Edmonton on the ride side of defense would be Josh Brown, Ty Emberson, or Troy Stecher. Given that none of the three can be relied upon to shoulder top four minutes, it makes sense that the Oilers continue to peruse the market.

Shattenkirk is recently coming off a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins in a season where he was limited to only 15:47 minutes of ice time on average. He still produced respectably, however, as he accrued a number of those minutes on the powerplay. In 61 games for Boston Shattenkirk put up six goals and 24 points which made for a better point-per-game average than two out of his three previous years with the Anaheim Ducks.

Schultz has been nearly identical to Shattenkirk over the last four years between the Washington Capitals and Seattle Kraken organization with 21 goals and 110 points in 263 games compared to Shattenkirk’s 20 goals and 101 points in 273 contests. Depending on what the Oilers are looking for exactly, Schultz has averaged a 6.2% shooting percentage throughout his career (with two years of 7% with the Kraken) compared to only 5.5% from Shattenkirk. If Schultz were to carry the same success rate from his shot totals on last year’s team in Edmonton, he would have finished second amongst defensemen.

The Oilers have a few different options to sort through and all three of the defensemen they have reportedly shown interest in could do a lot worse than sign on with the defending Western Conference champions. Edmonton now has enough cap flexibility to pluck any of the trio from the free-agent market with the ability to make further upgrades at next year’s trade deadline.

Max Pacioretty Expected To Sign Soon

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One of the better free agent options left on the board should find a new home in the coming days as Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports forward Max Pacioretty has at least three offers from teams and should decide on his new home soon. Seravalli did not indicate whether Pacioretty was deciding between offers for a one-way contract or a professional tryout agreement with any of the speculated teams.

Pacioretty’s days as a lethal goal scorer are in the rearview mirror as a pair of Achilles tears briefly put his career on the brink. The veteran scorer’s last truly effective season came in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season in which he scored 24 goals and 51 points in 48 games for the Vegas Golden Knights. Pacioretty was once again a point-per-game player the following year with 19 goals and 37 points but only managed 39 games due to fractures in his foot and wrist.

That summer, Pacioretty suffered his first Achilles tear which had him poised to start the season on LTIR for the Golden Knights. With a need for salary cap relief during the offseason, Vegas traded Pacioretty and defenseman Dylan Coghlan to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for future considerations. The Hurricanes were hoping for a quality season from Pacioretty once he recovered from his Achilles tear.

In one of the more heartbreaking events of the 2022-23 NHL season, Pacioretty would only suit up in five games for Carolina before suffering another Achilles tear on January 19th in a game against the Minnesota Wild which ended his season. With the future of his career up in the air, Pacioretty committed to returning to the NHL and landed a bonus-laden contract with the Washington Capitals on the first day of free agency last year.

Pacioretty debuted with the Capitals in early January and managed 47 games for the organization to finish the season. He was relatively productive, scoring four goals and 23 points, as he received limited responsibility in Washington averaging the least amount of ice time over a season since his sophomore year with the Montreal Canadiens in 2009-10.

Depending on where he lands, Pacioretty should be a serviceable offensive option to plug into any team’s middle-six. The 2011-12 Bill Masterton Trophy recipient is still in pursuit of his first Stanley Cup ring over his 16-year career and may be content with a lesser-valued role to achieve that goal.

San Jose Sharks Acquire, Extend Yaroslav Askarov

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The Nashville Predators’ number one goaltending prospect seems to have gotten his wish for a move outside of the Predators organization as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the San Jose Sharks are close to acquiring Yaroslav Askarov. According to a press release from Nashville, the Sharks will acquire Askarov, forward Nolan Burke, and Colorado’s third-round pick of the 2025 NHL Draft while sending away forward David Edstrom, goalie Magnus Chrona, and Vegas’ first-round pick in 2025.

It’s a major get for a rebuilding Sharks organization that was missing a true impact talent between the pipes. Over the past few years, San Jose has built up a nice young core of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Sam Dickinson, Filip Bystedt, and Shakir Mukhamadullin but has since failed to procure a long-term goaltender. With Askarov now in the fold, the Sharks have a 22-year-old goalie who has done nothing but dominate in the American Hockey League over the last two years.

With his entry-level contract set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, the Sharks moved quickly on an extension for Askarov with his agent Dan Milstein announcing a two-year deal for the young goaltender. Shortly thereafter PuckPedia relayed that Askarov will earn a $1.7MM salary with a $200K signing bonus in 2025-26 and a $2.1MM salary in 2026-27 with an AAV of $2M.

Askarov’s rise to stardom didn’t happen overnight. He was ranked as the highest available European goaltender in the 2020 NHL Draft leading to him being the first one taken off the board with the 11th overall pick by the Predators. In his draft year, Askarov suited up in 18 games for the VHL’s SKA-Neva St. Petersburg where he produced a 12-3-3 record along with a .920 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average.

The young Russian netminder spent a few more years playing in Russia’s junior league before signing his entry-level contract with Nashville in 2022 and joining the organization for the 2022-23 season. In his rookie season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, Askarov put up a 26-16-5 record in 48 contests coupled with a .911 SV% and 2.69 GAA which immediately put him on the map as a legitimate high-end goaltending prospect.

Askarov gave the Predators a decision to make. Over nearly the last two decades, Nashville has had the privilege of high-end goaltending with the organization seamlessly transferring from Pekka Rinne to Juuse Saros. The Predators quickly began receiving trade calls for both Askarov and Saros before signing Saros to an eight-year extension earlier this summer.

Despite the trade chatter, Askarov dominated in the AHL once again this past season with a 30-13-1 record in 44 games with a duplicated save percentage. Despite another year of solid play between the pipes, the Predators signed goalie Scott Wedgewood to serve as Saros’ backup next year, leading to Askarov requesting a trade from the organization.

He may not get the starting minutes right away with the Sharks as the team already deploys Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek as their current options. Given the current competitive status of the team, however, Askarov will have every opportunity to earn the starting minutes down the stretch and could even be the Sharks undisputed starter by season’s end.

Heading back to Nashville is a nearly identical package that the Sharks received for forward Tomas Hertl at this past year’s trade deadline. Edstrom was originally drafted with the 32nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and has been working his way through the SHL with Frölunda HC on loan. The young two-way center brings solid awareness to both sides of the puck and should be a decent middle-six option for the Predators down the road.

Chrona will likely be deployed as a serviceable third-string goaltender for Nashville with a majority of his starts coming with the team’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. The University of Denver alum helped the Pioneers to their ninth National Championship in program history during the 2022 Frozen Four tournament. He finished his senior year with a 22-9-0 record in 31 games. Chrona signed with the Sharks as a collegiate free agent and made his debut with the team last year toward the end of the season where he collected one win in nine games on the heels of a .859 SV%.

The first-round pick, also acquired by San Jose in the Hertl trade, will be top-10 protected according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. If the draft choice were to fall in the top 10 of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sharks would have the option of sending their pick or Vegas’ to Nashville.

Although Edstrom has decent upside as a forward prospect, he may not necessarily have the prospect pedigree that Nashville was originally looking for in exchange for Askarov to start the summer. However, the team still got much better in free agency with the acquisitions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei and now have three first-round picks for the 2025 NHL Draft.

Blues Sign Quinton Burns To Entry-Level Deal

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The Blues have signed defenseman Quinton Burns to a three-year entry-level contract, per a team release. Financial terms were not disclosed by the team but PuckPedia reports that the deal has a cap hit of $870K and an AAV of $950K including games played bonuses.

Burns, 19, has done well in tough minutes on a mediocre Kingston Frontenacs team in the Ontario Hockey League the past couple of years. A St. Louis third-round pick in 2023, Burns recorded six goals, 29 assists, 35 points, and 120 PIMs in 58 games for Kingston in 2023-24, all career highs.

The left-shooting Burns is entering what he hopes will be his first full training camp with the team. He attended as an unsigned prospect in 2023, but his viewings were limited after he sustained a lower-body injury early in the preseason against the Coyotes.

He still needs a few years of development before he’s ready to bring his stay-at-home game to the NHL. Burns isn’t yet old enough for a full-time AHL assignment, so the Blues will return him to the Frontenacs for his final season of junior hockey when cutting him from their camp roster in the next few weeks. Doing so will defer the first season of his deal to 2025-26, making him a restricted free agent upon expiry in 2028.

Burns didn’t quite crack The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s list of the Blues’ top 15 prospects back in February, but he was mentioned as falling just short of the cut. St. Louis can be patient with the Ontario native, who they hope will be the next in a string of defensively-minded blue liners that they’ve been able to turn into NHL-caliber players, joining the likes of Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker.

AHL Mandating Cut-Resistant Neckwear For Players, Officials

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The AHL announced today that all players and officials will be required to wear cut-resistant neckwear during games starting this season. The top feeder league’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the policy.

It’s the first time a North American professional league has instituted such a rule regarding neckwear. The AHL began requiring its players and officials to wear cut-resistant socks and wrist sleeves starting last year.

The NHL doesn’t require either form of protection to be worn, but they’ve been spiking in popularity in recent years – especially the latter. Neck protection is also quickly becoming common in the league following the death of former NHLer Adam Johnson last year due to a skate laceration to his neck suffered while playing in the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League.

Mandatory cut protection is gradually rising from the lower levels of the game. USA Hockey announced last month that beginning Aug. 1, all youth, high school, and junior hockey players competing within the organization’s purview must wear neck protection during all games and practices. The AHL’s release didn’t specify whether practices are included in the mandate.

It’s a trend that will likely continue, although there’s no indication yet when the NHL may follow its primary feeder league in instituting such a rule. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said last year that the league had initiated discussions with the NHLPA, but it doesn’t appear they’ve gone anywhere since. The overwhelming majority of NHLers were against a full mandate for neck protection in a poll conducted by The Athletic in February.

East Notes: Suzuki, Falk, Pulkkinen

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The Canadiens essentially picked up two new top-six forwards, which should give them the offense they need to challenge for a playoff spot this season, captain Nick Suzuki told Arpon Basu of The Athletic.

“I think we can beat anybody,” Suzuki said. “I thought last year we competed against really good teams all the time. We’re still a young group, but with the addition of (Patrik Laine), and (Kirby Dach) coming back up front, it makes our forward unit look pretty scary.”

Montreal’s offense is largely headed in the right direction, especially with the emergence of 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky as a legitimate top-six option. But last year, especially with Dach sustaining a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the campaign, their top unit of Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Cole Caufield was their only true impact line. As Basu points out, a more legitimate secondary attack spearheaded by Dach and Laine should force defending teams to spread their matchups, alleviating some defensive pressure against the Suzuki line.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Former Sabres depth defenseman Justin Falk has returned to the team as a scout, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. Falk, 35, retired after splitting the 2019 season between the Avalanche and Senators organizations and has spent the last three years as the general manager and head coach of Manitoba’s Winkler Flyers, a Junior ’A’ club. He spent two years as a Sabre, posting a goal and nine assists with a -19 rating in 98 games in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns. He made 279 NHL appearances over a 10-year career, also suiting up for the Avs, Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Wild.
  • Defenseman Jesse Pulkkinen became the first member of the Islanders’ 2024 draft class to put pen to paper on his entry-level contract last month, but his on-ice debut with the team may have to wait. The 19-year-old has sustained a lower-body injury that may prevent him from participating in training camp, as relayed by Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. The overage 6’6″, 220-lb blue liner was the No. 54 overall selection earlier this summer and will be loaned back to his Finnish club, JYP, in the fall.

Canadiens Kept Signing Rights To Ty Smilanic, Relinquished Blake Biondi

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August 15 free agency for unsigned NHL-drafted players exiting their NCAA careers is one of the most complex parts of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Public resource lists (including ours) do their best to encapsulate which players come off teams’ reserve lists that day each year, but they often need a few corrections after the fact.

The Canadiens are one of those teams that need a revision. They were expected to lose the signing rights to center prospect Ty Smilanic, who spent last year with their ECHL affiliate, the Trois-Rivières Lions, after a three-year collegiate career. However, the team confirmed to Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gambling that they’ve been able to retain his NHL signing rights, keeping him off the open market.

That’s because the stipulation that allows unsigned collegiate players to become free agents after their NCAA career ends hinges on them obtaining a degree, something Smilanic never did. After transferring from Quinnipiac to Wisconsin in 2022 and turning pro with the Lions less than a year later, the 22-year-old pivot never graduated.

Smilanic remains Canadiens property in the NHL’s eyes, but today’s news doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t have a valid contract signed for this season. He’s coming off a disappointing end to his collegiate tenure and an even tougher transition to the pros, recording just seven points in 31 games with Trois-Rivières last year. A third-round pick of the Panthers in 2020, Montreal acquired his signing rights in the March 2022 trade that sent defenseman Ben Chiarot to the Sunshine State.

While they’ve retained Smilianic, they let another 22-year-old center hit free agency despite being able to keep him. That’s Blake Biondi, who was eligible to remain on the Canadiens’ reserve list for another year after recently transferring to Notre Dame for his fifth and final NCAA season in 2024-25. But the Canadiens had seen enough of their 2020 fourth-round selection, filing paperwork to relinquish his signing rights and open up a reserve list spot.

Biondi spent the past four seasons playing for his hometown University of Minnesota–Duluth. In his draft year, he was named the state’s best high school hockey player after scoring 76 points in 25 games for Hermantown High, but he couldn’t consistently perform offensively for the Bulldogs. He recorded 30 goals and 58 points in 119 games there.

Cheveldayoff: Jets Never Received Reason For Rutger McGroarty’s Unwillingness To Sign

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Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke to members of the media yesterday, including Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press, noting that Rutger McGroarty’s camp never disclosed why the 2022 first-round pick was unwilling to sign in Winnipeg despite being asked by the GM multiple times.

“We were at the draft combines and got a text from his agent (Pat Brisson) that he wanted to meet… he informed us that Rutger had said that he didn’t intend to sign,” Cheveldayoff said (via Connor Hrabchak of The Hockey Writers). “That’s the first inkling that we got that there was nothing that was going to come to fruition there. We sat down and asked the agent why, and he said he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t have a reason. I went through a litany of questions to the agent to see – was it player development? Was it that we didn’t burn a year [off his entry-level contract]? He said no, no, no, it just didn’t feel right.”

When the news of McGroarty’s desired exit from Winnipeg first broke before the draft, a league source told Murat Ates of The Athletic that the player felt “his path to the NHL is best suited in another organization.” Ates wrote that the Jets felt the AHL was the best place for McGroarty to play in 2024-25, an outcome he wasn’t interested in. Thus, he returned to the University of Michigan for his junior season. However, he’ll reverse that decision and turn pro after signing his entry-level contract with the Penguins immediately following yesterday’s trade.

But Cheveldayoff’s transparency about his conversations with Brisson indicates this wasn’t a new rift between McGroarty and the Jets, even if it wasn’t brought up until recently. Both Brisson and McGroarty said his hesitations about signing with Winnipeg stemmed from his first development camp showing with the club, Cheveldayoff relayed.

The Jets can be thankful that McGroarty’s stellar play in Ann Arbor the last two seasons helped them get a fair return for his services. A strong all-around forward who can play both center and left wing, he’s coming off a banner 2023-24 campaign that saw him finish second on the Wolverines in scoring with 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 36 games with a +17 rating. He also captained the United States at the World Junior Championship, scoring five goals and four assists for nine points in seven games to lead the Americans to a gold medal.

One of McGroarty’s under-discussed collegiate achievements was his ability to maintain a physical style of play without harming his team by racking up penalty minutes. The Nebraska native racked up 65 PIMs in 54 games during his draft year with the U.S. National U18 Development Team but logged just 24 PIMs in 75 games over his two years in Michigan.

He’s a tough loss, but the Jets recouped another blue-chip forward prospect in Brayden Yager to take his place. He’s not quite as pro-ready as McGroarty, but the 19-year-old could answer Winnipeg’s long-time hole at the second-line center position as soon as 2025-26. After posting 95 points in 57 games with the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors and leading them to their first WHL championship last year, he’ll likely get a long look in the role during training camp and could end up on the opening night roster. A nine-game trial to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level contract is possible for Yager, who needs to be returned to Moose Jaw if he’s not on the NHL roster this season.

Notably, Winnipeg also lands a player eager to return to his Central Canada home. “You see the fan base in Winnipeg, it’s pretty special,” Yager, a Saskatchewan native, told team color analyst Mitchell Clinton. “Especially in the playoffs – the whiteout and everything – it’s crazy. So I’m super excited.”

DEL’s Dusseldorfer EG Signs Tyler Angle

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Düsseldorfer EG of Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga have signed center/left winger Tyler Angle, per Tobias Kemberg of D.Sports. It’s a one-year deal for the Niagara Falls native, who heads overseas early in his career.

Angle, 23, had spent the last four years playing in the Blue Jackets organization. He played mostly for their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, but he did log two games with Columbus in each of the past two seasons.

Early on, Angle looked like he might be a gem after falling to the seventh round of the 2019 draft, selected on the heels of a strong season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires. With the OHL pausing its operations for 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Angle turned pro early on an amateur tryout with the Monsters. He immediately made an impact, posting 11 goals and 24 points in 23 games, leading the team in scoring during the shortened campaign.

Angle’s entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets went into effect in 2021-22, but the 5’10”, 172-lb forward never regained his scoring touch. His point-per-game production nearly halved, limited to 11 goals and 37 points in 71 contests the following year. By last season, Angle was no longer a fixture in the Cleveland lineup, only playing in 40 of 72 games and recording 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) with a -11 rating. On the heels of that performance, the Jackets opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his ELC expired this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

His brief NHL usage did yield a goal, coming against the Sabres on April 14, 2023. He posted a -3 rating across his four appearances, five shots on goal, and an average of 9:54 per game while going 11-for-27 in the dot (40.7%).

Angle joins a Düsseldorf club headlined by former Avalanche defenseman Kyle Cumiskey on the back end. He’ll reunite with center Justin Richards, who played out 2022-23 with the Monsters on a two-way deal with Columbus and signed a deal with the German side earlier this month.

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