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Evening Notes: Utica, Marchenko, Pavelski

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The Utica Comets have signed defenseman Will MacKinnon and goaltender Jeremy Brodeur to one-year, one-way AHL contracts. MacKinnon has spent the bulk of his three professional seasons in the ECHL but dressed in 40 AHL games last season with the Comets, posting three goals, three assists, and a +7 rating. The 24-year-old is the son of Comets general manager Dan MacKinnon, who is also the assistant general manager of the New Jersey Devils.

Brodeur has dressed in just five AHL games across his seven-year professional career and played in one AHL game last season. He has never won an AHL game, but the 27-year-old did have a career year last year in the ECHL going 18-9-3 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. The son of NHL Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur might not see a lot of AHL time as the Comets have goaltenders Isaac Poulter and Nico Daws ahead of him on the depth chart.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that the Columbus Blue Jackets and forward Kirill Marchenko will go to arbitration on July 31st. It was reported earlier this week that the Jackets and the 23-year-old had discussed both a short-term and long-term contract, but at this point, it appears likely that Marchenko’s next deal could be decided by an intermediary. The 2018 second-round pick has 44 goals and 23 assists in 137 NHL games over two seasons and was reportedly looking for a long-term deal this summer.
  • Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that recently retired Joe Pavelski spoke with the San Jose Sharks about a potential return to the organization where he spent the first 13 years of his NHL career. The 40-year-old played 963 games for the Sharks before departing in free agency to join the Dallas Stars in July 2019. Pavelski played five seasons in Dallas and ultimately never won a Stanley Cup during his playing career, although he was a big-time playoff performer during runs to the Stanley Cup Final with San Jose and Dallas.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Kevin Mandolese

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Only one day after acquiring his signing rights from the Ottawa Senators, the Colorado Avalanche made quick work signing their new goalie. The organization announced they have signed goaltender Kevin Mandolese to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 season. Although the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed in the press release, the expectation is that it will be a two-way contract for the league minimum salary at the NHL level.

The Avalanche acquired Mandolese’s signing rights and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2026. The soon-to-be 24-year-old goaltender should start next season with the team’s AHL affiliate in Loveland, CO, and could even feature with the organization’s ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies.

Mandolese has spent the last four years of his career in the Senators’ organization while primarily playing for the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Serving the majority of the time as the team’s backup goaltender, Mandolese recently put together a 10-9-2 record in 23 games during the 2023-24 AHL season while collecting a .901 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average in the process. He has not featured in an NHL contest since the 2022-23 season as he procured three games with Ottawa where he secured a 1-2-0 record in three contests in addition to a .916 SV% and a 3.29 GAA.

The young netminder could earn the role of starting goaltender for the first time with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles as the Avalanche are expected to graduate Justus Annunen to the full-time backup position in the NHL. The Eagles will deploy a combination of Mandolese and Trent Miner during the 2024-25 AHL season with the former likely receiving a plethora of the starts.

Torey Krug To Potentially Miss 2024-25 Season

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The St. Louis Blues could be without defenseman Torey Krug for the entire 2024-25 regular season as the team announced they detected pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle. Krug will spend the next six to eight weeks performing physical therapy that will likely center around pain relief, strengthening, and range-of-motion exercises to see if the joints in his ankle can stabilize enough to perform in professional hockey.

In the press release, the Blues shared that the pre-arthritic conditions stem from a fractured ankle earlier in his career. Krug has dealt with multiple injuries to his left ankle throughout his professional career as he missed time during the 2012-13 season with the Providence Bruins in January due to a sprained ankle. At the NHL level; Krug suffered an ankle injury in the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning before re-aggravating the injury in the last preseason game of the year heading into the 2018-19 regular season.

The organization announced that Krug will be reevaluated after physical therapy to see if surgery is necessary. If Krug needs surgery on his ankle, he will miss the 2024-25 regular season. St. Louis could then put Krug and his $6.5MM salary for next season on their long-term injured reserve.

Krug would be entering the fifth year of a seven-year, $45.5MM contract signed with the Blues organization in 2020. Coming off a solid nine-year run with the Boston Bruins; St. Louis brought in the Livonia, MI native to soften the blow of Alex Pietrangelo’s departure to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Over four years in the Blues organization Krug has scored 22 goals and 146 points in 255 regular season games. His points-per-game average is a bit depressed compared to his time with the Bruins but his goal-scoring has seen the biggest drop-off. Krug produced several double-digit goal totals during his time in the American Northeast but has failed to garner even one during his time with the Blues.

St. Louis has attempted to move on from Krug over the past two years largely due to his lack of production on the scoresheet and the fact that he has missed just over 15% of games due to injury over his four years with the organization. Krug infamously blocked a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers last offseason with his No-Trade Clause and the current injury gives context to the lack of trade talks this summer.

Krug and his contract will become more tradeable after the upcoming season as his No-Trade Clause turns into a 15-team No-Trade Clause on July 1st, 2025; but the current injury would do nothing but hurt his value on the market. For different reasons, Krug and the Blues organization will hope for a total avoidance of surgery and a healthy 2024-25 NHL season from the defenseman.

New York Islanders Re-Sign Simon Holmstrom

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The New York Islanders announced they have re-signed forward Simon Holmstrom to a one-year deal. PuckPedia reports Holmstrom has signed a one-way, $850K with the Islanders instead of accepting his qualifying offer which would have been a one-year, two-way contract of $874K.

The Islanders originally drafted Holmstrom with the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and he made his debut with the organization the following season. Holmstrom suited up in 46 games for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the 2019-20 season and scored eight goals and 15 points in his rookie campaign. He played another 24 games with the Tigers the following year but also played in the HockeyAllsvenskan on loan and Team Sweden’s international junior team.

The 2021-22 campaign in the AHL was Holmstrom’s coming out party at the professional level as he scored 12 goals and 43 points in 68 games which was good for third on the team in scoring. Now labeled as the Bridgeport Islanders, the team made the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time during Holmstrom’s tenure and he would score three goals and four points in six postseason contests.

He made his NHL debut with the Islanders the following season but largely earned bottom-six minutes during his rookie season. Holmstrom scored six goals and nine points over 50 games while averaging 11:16 of ice time per game. The young Swede performed much better over his sophomore campaign as he entered into a middle-six role with the team’s forward core. Over 75 games played, Holmstrom scored 15 goals and 25 points while finishing sixth on the team in goals.

There is no question that New York is looking to add more offense into their lineup next season as they finished as one of only 11 teams not to average at least three goals per game during the 2023-24 regular season. While on a very reasonable contract for the next year, Holmstrom should again be used as a valuable secondary scorer for the Islanders next season.

Boston Bruins Re-Sign Marc McLaughlin

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The Boston Bruins announced they have re-signed forward Marc McLaughlin to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2024-25 NHL season. McLaughlin will earn the league minimum of $775K at the NHL level on this deal but the Bruins did not disclose his salary in the American Hockey League.

McLaughlin has spent nearly his entire life in the greater Boston area aside from a two-year stint with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the USHL. The young forward went undrafted during his time in the USHL and committed to Boston College in the NCAA with his freshman beginning in 2018. The North Billerica, MA native spent his entire collegiate career during the last four years of long-time Eagles coach, Jerry York.

Suiting up in 130 games for Boston College during his four-year career, McLaughlin scored 40 goals and 76 points while spending his junior and senior seasons as the team’s captain. The team finished first in their conference during McLaughlin’s sophomore and junior seasons but failed to move beyond the Regional semifinal of the Frozen Four tournament.

Since his collegiate career came to an end following the 2021-22 NCAA season, McLaughlin has spent the last three years with the Bruins organization after signing as a collegiate free agent. McLaughlin suited up in 11 games for Boston down the stretch of the 2021-22 NHL season and scored three goals in total. Since then, McLaughlin hasn’t had much of a chance in the NHL with the Bruins and has primarily played for their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

He’s produced modestly in the last three years with Providence as he’s scored 21 goals and 44 points in 135 games. However, McLaughlin’s leadership skills have translated well to professional hockey as the 24-year-old served as one of the assistant captains for the AHL Bruins last season. It is more than likely McLaughlin will start the season with Providence once again but could earn a bottom-six role with Boston out of training camp.

Devils Loan Jakub Málek To Liiga’s Ilves

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Ilves of the top-level Finnish Liiga announced they’ll receive Devils goaltending prospect Jakub Málek on loan for the 2024-25 season. New Jersey signed Málek to his entry-level contract earlier this offseason, and the Rome Daily Sentinel’s Ben Birnell reported at the time that he’d be heading to Ilves this year.

Málek, 22, will return to the club he’s spent the last two seasons with. He was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2021, and the 6’4″ Czech netminder has done well in European professional leagues since. His post-draft year was electric, backstopping VHK Vsetín of the second-tier Czech league with a .932 SV% and 1.95 GAA in 31 games en route to being named the circuit’s best goaltender. Clearly ready for top-flight action, he headed to Finland, where he’s put up a strong .910 SV% and 2.24 GAA with four shutouts and a 25-11-9 record in 49 appearances over the past two years.

Needless to say, he’s trending upward and his chances of making the NHL at some point over the next few seasons seem high. But it won’t be next year, as a bit of a goalie logjam in Newark means he’ll be better served getting some guaranteed playing time with Ilves. The Devils already had prospects Tyler Brennan and Isaac Poulter under contract and slated for AHL Utica this year, as well as unsigned RFA Nico Daws.

Málek will likely arrive in North America in the fall of 2025, better positioned to command AHL starts and eventually become a call-up option.

Canucks Sign Arturs Silovs To Two-Year Deal

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The Canucks have signed RFA goalie Arturs Silovs to a two-year contract, per a team announcement. Silovs will earn $850K per season, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

Silovs, 23, has only limited regular-season experience, having made nine combined appearances for Vancouver over the past two seasons. He started all of them, posting a mediocre .898 SV% and 2.62 GAA but still managing a 6-2-1 record.

It’s in clutch time where the 2019 sixth-round pick has truly shined, though. He gained somewhat of a cult following representing his native Latvia at last year’s World Championship when he posted a .921 SV% in 10 games en route to winning a bronze medal, Latvia’s first in tournament history. For his efforts, Silovs was named the tournament’s best goaltender and most valuable player. He also had a strong preceding campaign for AHL Abbotsford in his first full season at the top minor-league level, compiling a 26-12-5 record with a .909 SV% in 44 appearances.

Silovs posted a similar stat line on the farm with Abbotsford last year and entered the playoffs as Vancouver’s third-string netminder behind Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. But by Game 4 of their first-round series against the Predators, both Demko and DeSmith had exited with injuries, forcing Silovs into action. He held the fort, eventually backstopping the Canucks to a series win and a date with the Oilers in the second round. All in all, Silovs logged a .898 SV%, 2.91 GAA and one shutout in 10 games as he helped draw Edmonton, the eventual conference champion, to a Game 7. He remained in control of the crease even after the far more experienced DeSmith returned to health.

There was talk of the Canucks adding a supplementary netminder to give Silovs some competition for the backup job in training camp, but it hasn’t happened yet. For now, he projects to enter the season as the No. 2 behind Demko, who finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season. As such, he’ll likely double or even triple his total number of NHL appearances to date. His role in Abbotsford will be replaced by former Golden Knight Jiří Patera, who they picked up as a UFA earlier this month.

Silovs will be 25 when his new deal expires in the summer of 2026, making him an RFA again.

Jacob Trouba Likely To Remain With Rangers Next Season

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After a healthy dose of trade rumors earlier in the offseason, it appears Rangers captain Jacob Trouba won’t be on the move this summer after all, reports Arthur Staple of The Athletic. Staple adds that “there was never anything close” in regards to a rumored deal around the draft that would have sent Trouba to the Red Wings, which he would have nixed anyway by placing Detroit on his 15-team no-trade list. A source also tells Staple that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has spoken to Trouba in the past few weeks to do some “fence-mending on the team’s part.”

One important consideration in any Trouba trade, as Staple highlights, is the lack of a suitable internal replacement. The Blueshirts don’t have a right-shot defenseman ready to take on everyday NHL minutes behind Adam Fox and Braden Schneider. They only have three RDs signed to NHL contracts outside of that trio – veteran depth defender Chad Ruhwedel, who’s best served as a No. 7, Casey Fitzgerald, who spent all of last season in the minors; and 22-year-old Victor Mancini, who’s a few years away from NHL consideration as he enters his first professional campaign. There aren’t any impact UFAs left on the market who would replace Trouba’s two-way, physically-oriented style of play, either.

It is clear that Trouba should expect a decreased workload in the Big Apple next season, though. The 30-year-old has averaged north of 21 minutes per game in all 11 of his NHL seasons, but that streak could come to an end with the younger Schneider set to be elevated into a top-four role after a strong end to the 2023-24 campaign. Trouba, who’s signed to an $8MM cap hit through 2025-26, is coming off arguably the most disappointing season of his career with 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) with a -7 rating in 69 games. He struggled to control possession, posting a career-low 47.2 CF% at even strength.

That down season, plus his hefty no-trade list, made his deal understandably difficult to move. Staple expects that to change next summer, calling the chances of a Trouba trade in the 2025 offseason “nearly certain.” That’s because the Rangers will need every inch of cap space available to re-sign RFAs Alexis Lafrenière, K’Andre Miller and top pending UFA netminder Igor Shesterkin, whose combined cap hits could very well total over $20MM.

A lack of a Trouba move indicates the Rangers are likely done with major moves for the summer. They have over $5.1MM in projected cap space remaining, per PuckPedia, but a solid chunk of that will go toward a new deal for RFA defender Ryan Lindgren.

Joe Pavelski Confirms Retirement

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Forward Joe Pavelski will indeed be retiring, he told Sirius XM’s Scott Laughlin today. He told reporters after the Stars were eliminated from the playoffs in early June that he expected 2023-24 to be his final season. The league has confirmed Pavelski’s retirement.

Pavelski, who turned 40 last week, has spent nearly a decade as one of the league’s most consistent two-way forwards and best net-front tippers while producing well above expected in his later years. After departing his longtime home with the Sharks for the Stars in free agency in 2019, many expected him to enter a decline, but he instead played a top-line role on a club that’s reached three Western Conference Finals in the last five years.

He finally showed signs of slowing down last year, though. His 67 points in 82 games, while still top-six-caliber, was his worst per-game production since his first season in Dallas. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he’d been bumped down to second-line duties alongside Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, and the normally clutch postseason performer struggled to produce with only a goal and three assists in 19 games. Still, he ended his career on a rather high note, checking in as one of the better UFAs available on this summer’s market. Instead, he’s hanging up his skates.

Pavelski’s rise to stardom was quite unexpected after waiting until the seventh round to hear his name called by San Jose in the now-fabled 2003 draft. After a two-year run at the University of Wisconsin that resulted in him producing well over a point per game and winning a national championship, Pavelski signed his entry-level contract and turned pro during the 2006 offseason.

He started the season in the minors, but after racking up 26 points in 16 games with AHL Worcester, he was off to the big leagues without ever looking back. He hit the ground running with 14 goals and 28 points in 46 games with the Sharks to close the campaign, and he soon was firmly entrenched in a middle-six role on one of the best forward groups of the time. He was a crucial secondary scoring presence through most of his 20s, racking up 150 goals and 336 points in 479 games over his first seven campaigns while receiving outside Selke Trophy consideration annually.

Entering the final season of his contract, the Sharks inked him to a five-year, $30MM extension to keep him from reaching UFA status the following summer. He responded with a career-high 41 goals, totaling 79 points and placing top 10 in both Hart and Selke Trophy voting. Hockey Reference attributed 11.5 standings points to Pavelski’s play that season, finishing fourth among skaters behind Sidney Crosby and future teammates Corey Perry and Tyler Seguin.

Pavelski produced similarly the following two seasons, putting together a multi-year iron-man streak while routinely tossing up over 70 points. His 11 game-winning goals in 2015-16 led the league before embarking on a spectacular playoff run, posting a league-leading 14 goals in 24 playoff games – four of which were GWGs – as San Jose advanced to its first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. Pavelski and the Sharks were usurped by the Penguins in six games, however, the closest he would come to winning it all.

That was also his first season as Sharks captain, a title he’d hold until departing for Texas. He remained an effective top-six presence in his final years in the Bay, although not quite as dominant as his early-2010s play. He gave the Sharks 89 goals, 109 assists and 198 points in 238 games over his final three seasons before a cap crunch helped usher him out the door in the summer of 2019 when his extension expired, inking a three-year, $21MM deal with Dallas.

In his first season with the Stars, it looked like an ill-advised deal. He looked like he’d lost a step, averaging around two minutes per game fewer than his last year in San Jose, and his 31 points in 67 games was the worst production of his career on a per-game basis. But after the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season early, Pavelski returned with a vengeance in the bubble playoffs, rediscovering his form with 13 goals (a league-leading 10 at even strength) in 27 contests as the Stars upset their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Just like he had with San Jose in 2016, though, Dallas fell to the Lightning in a six-game Final.

It was a precursor of things to come for Pavelski in Dallas. Upgraded to a new-look first line with rookie Jason Robertson and third-year center Roope Hintz for the 2020-21 season, he racked up 25 goals and 51 points in the shortened 56-game campaign. The Stars missed the playoffs, but they’d be back the following year on the heels of a career-best 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) from “Captain America” as he continued to gel seamlessly with Hintz and Robertson, playing a pivotal role in their development. He continued to hover north of 0.8 points per game, tossing up 77 and 67 points in his final two campaigns as he helped pass the torch to Dallas’ young talent, losing to the Golden Knights and Oilers in back-to-back Conference Finals.

He now retires having played 1,332 regular-season and another 201 playoff games over 18 seasons. Playing on some of the best two-way lines in the league throughout his career, he logged a career +201 rating that’s tied for 42nd all-time among forwards. He tallied 1,068 points (476 goals, 592 assists) while compiling 458 PIMs, 75 game-winning goals, and a remarkable 54.5 CF% while averaging 18:34 per game. His estimated career earnings neared $81MM, per PuckPedia. All of us at PHR salute Pavelski for an exceptional career that’s sure to earn him Hall of Fame consideration.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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