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West Notes: Vladar, Perfetti, Molendyk

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With Jacob Markstrom now in New Jersey, the starting job in Calgary is up for grabs.  While top prospect Dustin Wolf is garnering most of the attention, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson relays that Flames netminder Daniel Vladar is now pain-free and fully recovered from his hip injury.  The 27-year-old struggled mightily last season in limited action, putting up a 3.62 GAA with a .882 SV% in 20 appearances before undergoing surgery in March but he noted that he had been dealing with discomfort for at least the last two seasons.  It’s a contract year for Vladar who carries a $2.2MM price tag.  A pending unrestricted free agent, he could push for double that if he’s able to secure the starting role in 2024-25.

More from out West:

  • While there appears to be a gap to still bridge in discussions between the Jets and RFA forward Cole Perfetti, the 22-year-old told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that he has given no consideration to the thought of trying to land an offer sheet over concern of creating tension with the organization. Perfetti had a career-best 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games last season but is most likely heading for a short-term bridge deal, allowing Winnipeg to stay cap-compliant while giving Perfetti a chance at a fair-sized increase with arbitration rights in the near future.
  • Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk could be hindered in his push to make the team by the NHL-CHL agreement that will prevent him from being assigned to the AHL this season, suggests Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. The 19-year-old had 56 points in 50 games with WHL Saskatoon last season, putting him in a spot where he could legitimately make a push for a roster spot in training camp.  However, without an ability to recall him once returned to junior, Molendyk will have to show that he’s worthy of keeping around by his play over the next few weeks.  Otherwise, his NHL debut will have to wait another year.

Canucks Have Offered Kevin Lankinen A Contract

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In recent weeks, the Canucks have been offering PTO deals to some veteran goalies as some insurance with Thatcher Demko’s health still in some question.  After being unable to get either Kevin Lankinen or Antti Raanta to agree to a tryout, they’ve now gone a step further.  Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver has made a one-year full contract offer to Lankinen.  However, the offer was believed to be for less than $1MM, a price tag he doesn’t appear to be willing to accept at this time.

The 29-year-old made $2MM last season in Nashville so Vancouver’s offer would certainly represent a sizable pay cut.  However, the Canucks have less than $200K in cap space per PuckPedia and have made it known that they don’t want to go into using LTIR.  Accordingly, even to make that offer work, they’d have to drop a skater off their roster to be able to afford Lankinen, effectively having to carry three goalies heading into the season if Demko isn’t able to play.

Lankinen spent the last two years with the Predators and put up solid numbers overall, posting a 2.79 GAA and a .912 SV% in 43 games over that span.  Those are certainly above-average for a second-string option which is likely why his camp has been holding out in the hopes of landing a more substantial offer.  However, barring an injury of some significance, most teams have their goaltending set so that better offer might not materialize for a while yet if at all if he continues to wait.

The fact that the Canucks have opted to make a full offer to Lankinen would imply that they remain concerned about Demko’s recovery from a knee injury sustained early in the playoffs last spring.  If they felt he was on track to return on time or even a few games into the season, Vancouver could simply run with Arturs Silovs and new third-stringer Jiri Patera for a couple of weeks and get by that way.  Silovs had a good run in the playoffs and could easily handle the starting role for a handful of games early on.

But if they feel their best option now is to get someone on a full-season deal, it would seem as if there is at least the potential for Demko’s recovery period to drag out even longer.  That type of uncertainty is hardly ideal with training camps now less than a week away.  Whether that will push them to up their offer or if they’ll hold out hope that Lankinen will have a change of heart and accept their most recent offer remains to be seen.

Golden Knights Notes: Marchessault, Theodore, Hagg

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The departure of Jonathan Marchessault to Nashville in free agency was one of the bigger surprises with many expecting that he’d have re-signed with the Golden Knights.  Team reporter Gary Lawless transcribed a part of a Sirius XM interview with Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon where he indicated that while they eventually went to four years on their offer for the 33-year-old, they weren’t comfortable going to five which is how many he received from the Predators.  Marchessault spent seven seasons with Vegas, recording 192 goals and 225 assists in 514 games, making him the franchise leader in every category.

More from Vegas:

  • One player who will beat at least one of those club records this season is defenseman Shea Theodore who sits just two assists behind Marchessault (while also being 70 games behind that mark). The 29-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and Vegas’ Jason Pothier highlights how it won’t be easy to retain him.  Theodore held out for a pricey post-entry-level contract after being acquired (one that sees him making $5.2MM) and has been one of the more productive blueliners since then, ranking 13th in points by a defender since 2018.  He’ll begin his next deal at 30 and could add $3MM or more to his current price tag.  With Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin already on the books at more than $16MM combined, it might be tough for the Golden Knights to afford a third big-ticket rearguard on their books.
  • Veteran free agent blueliner Robert Hagg inked a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K with Vegas this summer. The 29-year-old told Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom that he had an offer from Modo in Sweden this summer which would have been a return to the program he played in before making the move to North America.  However, after a rough 2023-24 season that saw him play in just five NHL games with Anaheim, Hagg wanted an opportunity to show that he can be more of a contributor at the top level and isn’t ready to return to play at home just yet.

Antti Raanta Indicates He Won’t Play In The NHL Anymore

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One of the remaining veteran free agent goaltenders is Antti Raanta but don’t expect his name to be added to the list of players accepting PTOs.  The veteran told Ilta-Sanomat’s Sami Hoffren that he has decided that his playing days in North America have come to an end.

The 35-year-old indicated that he did have some interest from NHL teams in free agency, including Toronto.  Meanwhile, Vancouver reached out with a PTO offer a few weeks ago as they look for veteran insurance with the uncertainty surrounding Thatcher Demko’s situation.  However, Raanta indicated that those teams were viewing him more as an insurance option and that there was a possibility that he would have had to start in the AHL.

Last season, Raanta was back with Carolina after a strong 2022-23 showing that saw him post a 2.23 GAA and a .910 SV% in 27 games.  Unfortunately for him and the Hurricanes, he struggled mightily last year, putting up a 2.99 GAA with a save percentage of just .872 and eventually, Carolina had to run him through waivers multiple times, sending him down to AHL Chicago after he cleared.  He didn’t see much playing time with the Wolves but didn’t fare any better than he did with Carolina.  Accordingly, the type of offer he was hoping for from an NHL team was unlikely to materialize.

Raanta’s NHL playing days end with 277 career appearances at the top level with four different organizations.  He posted a 139-80-29 record while putting up a 2.48 GAA, a .915 SV%, and 20 shutouts.  Overall, it was a solid career for someone who went undrafted and didn’t make his NHL debut until his age-24 campaign.

But while it’s the end of the road for Raanta in North America, it’s not necessarily the end of his playing days.  Raanta indicated to Hoffren that he’s looking to land a spot in Switzerland, Czechia, or Germany.  While he had offers from there in the spring, he turned them down at the time, hoping for an NHL offer to his liking to come around.  At this point, with international leagues either underway already or about to start, Raanta will be biding his time for the time being with the hopes of getting a call in the near future.

Morning Notes: Raymond, Whitehead, Walsh

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Elliotte Friedman spoke on the 32 Thoughts podcast about the Detroit Red Wings negotiations with forward Lucas Raymond. Friedman had used recently signed Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis as a comparable contract for Raymond stating that his $7.42MM cap hit was likely what Raymond’s camp was using in negotiations. However, Friedman informed his audience that a player agent told him that Raymond’s agent is more than likely using a higher comparable and mentioned Senators forward Tim Stützle and his eight-year $66.8MM contract.

Friedman added that there is little chance that Yzerman would accept that comparison and Stützle’s $8.35MM AAV. Stützle signed that contract extension after posting 58 points in 79 games, which was a good season, but not worth that number. At that time the Ottawa Senators were desperate to show their market that they were ready to contend and gave Stützle an above-market deal that now looks like a bargain. Friedman thinks that the Jarvis comparable is probably too low at this stage, which likely means that a Raymond extension will fall between the cap hits of Jarvis and Stützle.

In other morning notes:

  • Greg Wyshynski of ESPN is reporting that Braxton Whitehead of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats has received a verbal commitment from Arizona State University that would open the door for him to play in the NCAA in the 2025-26 season. Whitehead is the first Canadian Hockey League player to receive a commitment from the NCAA since a class action lawsuit was proposed against the NCAA and 10 universities last month that claimed the eligibility rules around the league violated antitrust laws.  The class action suit is looking to allow players to play hockey in college as well as major junior, something that would be a massive change from the current paradigm.
  • NHL player agent Allen Walsh also tweeted in regard to Whitehead’s news saying that he’s heard from several NCAA head coaches who expected that there will be former CHL players dressing in the NCAA as early as next season. The current NCAA eligibility rules don’t allow any player who has played a major junior hockey game to play college hockey in the United States, however, the aforementioned class action lawsuit could turn that rule on its head depending on how it plays out.

Snapshots: Crosby, Ullmark, Perfetti

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Elliotte Friedman spoke on his 32 Thoughts podcast about Sidney Crosby’s contract negotiations with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Friedman believes that Crosby will sign a short-term deal because he doesn’t want to leave the Penguins in a difficult salary cap situation if his play was to fall off. Friedman adds that he has talked to sources who’ve said that Crosby doesn’t want to do anything that would affect the long-term outlook for the Penguins or his legacy with the team. Crosby is coming off one of the finest seasons ever for a 36-year-old after posting 94 points in 82 games and appears more open to playing into his 40s, however, no one knows if that is his intention.

In other news from around the NHL:

  • Elliotte Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Boston Bruins traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators before signing Jeremy Swayman, because they were concerned that if they waited until July, Ullmark could change his no-trade list and put Ottawa on it. Boston did not have to ask the former Vezina Trophy winner for permission to move him to the Senators, however, it did create a situation where they now rely solely on Swayman for starting goaltending this season, which could be problematic if Swayman misses any length of time due to a contract dispute.
  • The Winnipeg Jets and forward Cole Perfetti appear to have a gap in the financials regarding the 22-year-old’s contract extension (as per Elliotte Friedman). Perfetti is reportedly negotiating a bridge deal with the Jets, and while they appear to be on the same page with regard to terms, the two sides have room between them when it comes to dollars. Perfetti is coming off his third NHL season and posted 19 goals and 19 assists last year in 71 games while averaging just 13:35 of ice time per game. He was benched down the stretch last season but does seem poised for a breakout this year, particularly if he can continue to generate chances in the offensive zone and post good defensive numbers.

Evening Notes: Hurricanes, Oligny, Mukhamadullin

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Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Carolina had to make a number of roster changes this evening prior to their first game of the Prospect Showcase. The Hurricanes announced that their fifth-round pick this year Justin Poirier, as well as invitees Braydon McCallum and Carter Kowalyk would not play due to injury. No word yet on the specifics of the ailments.

Carolina has added forward Sahil Panwar to the roster for the showcase. The undrafted Panwar is signed by the Canes AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves for this season and at 22 years old has already played a season of professional hockey in the ECHL. The Mississauga, Ontario native had a solid offensive season with the Cincinnati Cyclones registering 22 goals and 32 assists in 64 games.

In other evening notes:

  • Former Manitoba Moose captain Jimmy Oligny is taking his career overseas as the 31-year-old has signed with HKM Zvolen in Slovakia (as per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey). The left-shot defenseman has been with the Moose for the past six seasons and captained the team for the last three years. Oligny was undrafted and has never suited up in an NHL game despite playing 473 career AHL games. The move overseas will be a drastic change for Oligny as he has played his entire professional career in the AHL except for one ECHL game back in 2015-16.
  • Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that San Jose Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin will miss the remainder of the Rookie Faceoff tournament due to injury. The 22-year-old did not travel with the team for the tournament and has been ruled out with general soreness. The Sharks don’t seem concerned about the issue becoming a problem long-term and fully expect him to be ready for their main training camp. Mukhamadullin dressed in three NHL games last season and is expected to compete for a depth role this coming season.

Islanders To Sign Artyom Kudashov To PTO

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The New York Islanders reportedly have brought in defensive prospect Artyom Kudashov on a professional tryout agreement according to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. Kudashov, 19, will attend the Islanders’ rookie and training camp over the next several weeks hoping to earn a contract.

Kudashov will be the second player poached by the Islanders this summer from the KHL if he signs a contract joining Maxim Tsyplakov who signed his entry-level deal in May. He doesn’t carry the same pedigree as Tsyplakov so he must earn his spot on the team before New York offers him a contract.

It won’t be the first time he’s skated with an NHL team as the undrafted Russian skated with the Philadelphia Flyers during their summer camp. According to Rosner, the Islanders took an interest then and followed him back overseas while he started the 2024-25 KHL season with Dynamo Moskva.

He spent much of last year with Dynamo’s MHL team scoring five goals and eight points in 21 games. His time in the KHL wasn’t as fruitful with Kudashov failing to put up any points in 25 contests. He considers himself a two-way defenseman but leans much heavier into the defensive side — something New York could use at all levels of their organization.

Artyom is excited about an NHL opportunity after watching his father, Alexei Kudashov, play 25 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1993-94 season. Given that New York could use two-way depth on defense, Kudashov should have every opportunity to earn himself a two-way contract out of camp.

Injury Notes: Danford, Sorokin, Meriläinen

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TSN’s Mark Masters reports the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without recent first-round pick Ben Danford for the rest of the weekend due to an injury. Danford reportedly was on the receiving end of a big hit in yesterday’s rookie camp scrimmage and will be re-evaluated after the upcoming weekend.

Toronto originally traded down to the 31st pick at the 2024 NHL Draft with the Anaheim Ducks indicating they’ve had their eye on Danford for quite some time. He plays maturely for his age as he’s shown prowess for defending his zone and transitioning the puck up ice on a breakout.

The rookie camp would have been the first extended look at Danford working in the Maple Leafs’ system but at least he will be close by if the injury prohibits him from suiting up in any more games. Danford is expected to suit up for the Oshawa Generals located just northeast of Toronto and will look to expand upon his 33-point effort from last year.

Other injury notes:

  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic relayed a note from the general manager of the New York Islanders, Lou Lamoriello indicating that goaltender Ilya Sorokin sustained an injury in summer training but is already back skating. Sorokin should only miss a few days of training camp as Islanders’ brass have no worries the injury issue will extend into the season. Sorokin had a bit of a down year compared to his career averages last season and New York will hope he can rebound from the difficult year as his eight-year, $66MM contract kicks in.
  • According to a team report, Ottawa Senators prospect Leevi Meriläinen will not participate in this year’s prospect challenge as he’s dealing with a lower-body injury. The Finnish netminder was drafted 71st overall by the Senators in the 2020 NHL Draft and debuted with the organization in the 2022-23 campaign. Meriläinen spent last year split between the AHL’s Belleville Senators and ECHL Allen Americans recording a .906 SV% and .926 SV%, respectively.

Flyers Hire Wayne Simmonds In Hockey Ops Role

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After signing a one-day contract in April to retire as a Flyer, Wayne Simmonds is sticking in the organization. The longtime NHL winger has joined Philadelphia’s front office as a community relations ambassador and hockey operations consultant, the team announced today.

It’s the first front-office gig for the 36-year-old. He hasn’t suited up since the 2022-23 season with the Maple Leafs, spending most of last year as a free agent before confirming his retirement in March.

Simmonds will work closely under general manager Daniel Brière in the role and will likely be a name to watch for promotions in the coming years. Starting as a hockey ops consultant is an increasingly frequent route taken by recently retired NHLers, including the Blues’ Alexander Steen just last season. He’s already been promoted to a special assistant to GM Doug Armstrong for 2024-25 and will take over as GM in 2026.

Simmonds, a second-round pick of the Kings in 2007, played three years in Los Angeles before arriving in Philly via trade in the 2011 offseason. He spent parts of eight years in the City of Brotherly Love, racking up 203 goals, 175 assists, 378 points, a -78 rating, and 784 PIMs while averaging 17:05 per game across 584 appearances.

He was one of many hires announced by the Flyers today. Another former NHLer, Reid Simpson, joins Simmonds in Philly as their director of European pro scouting after serving in a US-bound role for the Canadiens since 2016.

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