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Capitals Assign Seven Players To The AHL

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One day after being swept by the New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals announced that they’ve assigned seven players to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Washington’s AHL affiliate is the top seed and are the defending Calder Cup champions.

The Capitals loaned goaltender Mitchell Gibson, forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre, as well as defensemen Lucas Johansen, Vincent Iorio, Dylan McIlrath, and Hardy Haman Aktell to the Bears. The group will have an opportunity to make a deep playoff run in Hershey. Iorio, Johansen, Lapierre, and McIlrath were all part of Hershey’s Calder Cup championship team from last season.

Of the players being assigned to Hersey only Lapierre and Miroshnichenko played more than 20 NHL games this season. Lapierre dressed in 51 games for Washington posting eight goals and 14 assists as well as a goal and an assist in four playoff games. He tallied his first career postseason goal last night with a beautiful individual effort that tied the game at two.

Miroshnichenko dressed in 21 games with Washington this year, posting two goals and four assists. The 20-year-old was the Capitals first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and appeared mostly in the AHL this season where he had nine goals and 16 assists in 47 games.

Iorio, Johansen, and Aktell all appeared in six games for Washington this season, while McIlrath dressed in three NHL games. Gibson didn’t see NHL action this year and spent most of the season in the ECHL, aside from two games with the Bears.

Hershey opens their Atlantic Division Semifinals series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday at GIANT Center. Lehigh Valley swept the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in two games this past weekend and will be a big underdog against the Bears, especially with all the reinforcements that Washington has sent down.

Penguins Sign Sam Poulin To Two-Year Extension

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed young forward Sam Poulin to a two-year two-way contract extension with an average annual value of $775K. The contract runs through the 2025-26 season and likely signals that the Penguins expect the 23-year-old to break the NHL roster next season after he played just six NHL games over the past two seasons including three games this past year in which he went scoreless. Thus far in his limited NHL action, Poulin has tallied a single assist.

Poulin would have become a restricted free agent on July 1st. His new contract will break down as follows (Figures courtesy of PuckPedia):

  • Year 1: $775K NHL/$100K AHL
  • Year 2: $775K NHL/$325K AHL

The Penguins 2019 first-round pick (21st overall) spent the bulk of the 2023-24 season with the Penguins American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he had an offensive breakthrough posting 16 goals and 15 assists in 41 games. Poulin’s 31 points ranked him fourth on the team in scoring and was his best offensive season in professional hockey despite dealing with injuries and illness for a big chunk of the year.

The Blainville, Quebec native likely would have seen more time at the NHL level but the timing of his injuries was unfortunate as he found himself hurt on several occasions when Pittsburgh needed to bring players up from the AHL. When he was eventually recalled after the NHL trade deadline, he was ill on multiple occasions which led to him being scratched for much of his stay on the NHL roster.

Poulin will have ample opportunities to make the Penguins out of training camp as the Penguins have been underwhelmed by the offensive output of their bottom six forwards for several seasons in a row.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Lomberg, Brazeau

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Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is traveling with the club back to Boston after missing the third period of Game 4 due to illness, but head coach Sheldon Keefe still won’t commit to him being available in a must-win Game 5. Speaking to reporters today, including ESPN’s Kristen Shilton, Keefe said the team is “hopeful he’s available and feeling good and back to himself.”

Matthews, 26, has been dealing with an illness for most of the last week, keeping him from being a full participant in practice with the club ahead of their losses in Games 3 and 4. He’s tied for the team lead in scoring in the series with a goal and two assists, all of which came in their Game 2 win in Boston. They now trail the Bruins 3-1 and need to win three straight to make it to the second round in back-to-back years for the first time since a four-year run between 1999 and 2002.

If Matthews is unable to go, Max Domi will slide over from the wing to center the first line, flanked by Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, as suggested by today’s line rushes in practice. Connor Dewar projects to return to the lineup in a fourth-line role after being scratched in Game 4.

Other updates from the Atlantic’s contingent of postseason teams:

  • Panthers enforcer Ryan Lomberg has been cleared to return from an illness but will remain scratched for Game 5 against the Lightning tonight, the team’s Jameson Olive indicates. Head coach Paul Maurice said yesterday that Lomberg was “down pretty hard” and will need a few more days to return to a game-ready conditioning level. The 29-year-old last played in Florida’s 3-2 Game 1 win, recording one shot in 6:32 of ice time. He had five goals and two assists in 75 games of regular-season action, as well as 80 PIMs.
  • Bruins winger Justin Brazeau is an option to make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in tomorrow’s Game 5, head coach Jim Montgomery said (via The Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan). The 26-year-old rookie practiced without any non-contact designation today, a quicker recovery than expected after previously being ruled out for the entirety of the first round. He’s been out since the beginning of the month with an upper-body injury, causing him to miss the final six games of the regular season. After spending most of the season on a minor-league contract with AHL Providence, he has five goals and seven points while averaging 11:07 in 19 games with Boston since signing a two-year, two-way deal in mid-February.

Snapshots: Larsson, Yurov, Oshie

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Swedish goaltender Filip Larsson has announced he is leaving the SHL’s Leksands IF to pursue an NHL contract, as reported by the team (Twitter link). Larsson just wrapped up his first full season in the SHL, posting an admirable 19 wins and .920 save percentage through 28 regular season games. It was tied for the highest save percentage in the SHL among goalies with 20 or more starts, alongside veteran Lars Johansson, who posted a .920 in 40 games.

Larsson, 25, was formerly a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, hearing his name called in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He came over to America in the subsequent season, playing one year with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm before moving to the University of Denver for a year. He posted strong stats through both juniors and college, posting a .941 and .932 save percentage in the respective seasons. However, his strong performances fell flat when Larsson turned pro in the 2019-20 season. He spent the bulk of the year as a backup searching through starts in the AHL and ECHL – ultimately posting a .843 in seven AHL games and a .910 in 10 ECHL games.

Larsson moved back to Sweden for the 2020-21 COVID season and has since climbed the ranks through Sweden’s second-tier league, the HockeyAllsvenskan. He recorded 30 wins and a .918 save percentage across three seasons and 60 games in the league. Those appearances, and one spot start in the SHL, were all Larsson had to go on when he took on Leksands’ starting role this year. And he still performed well, even adding a .929 save percentage through five postseason appearances. Rather than settle down too much, Larsson is now trying to seize that momentum and make a return to North American pros. While his track in North America could’ve been better, Larsson has shown exactly what he’s capable of with dominant years throughout Swedish hockey. He’ll undoubtedly be a free agent to follow, with so many NHL teams vying for new and impactful goaltending.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Top Minnesota Wild prospect Danila Yurov is reportedly set to sign a one-year extension in the KHL as soon as tomorrow, per Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). This news comes after Yurov completed his championship run with Magnitogorsk Metallurg. He led the team in regular season scoring, with 21 goals and 49 points in 62 games, and added nine points in 23 playoff games. Minnesota drafted Yurov as the 24th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and they will now have to wait one more year to bring him to North America.
  • It was revealed after their Game 4 loss that Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie played through the elimination game with a broken hand, shares The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber (Twitter link). It was linemate Dylan Strome who revealed Oshie’s injury while praising him for being such a great teammate. Strome added that fans don’t know the full extent of things Oshie has to do to prepare for a game, which certainly makes sense after the veteran forward suffered a seemingly endless string of injuries this year. He was limited to just 52 games this season, scoring 12 goals and 25 points. He has one year left on his deal, but after reaching 1,000 games and battling through injuries, there’s a chance the 37-year-old Oshie could bring his career to a close. On that idea, Strome says, “If it is his last game, he’s a hell of a warrior, hell of a guy. Everything you can ask for in a teammate.”

Kraken Fire Head Coach Dave Hakstol

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The Kraken are firing head coach Dave Hakstol, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Assistant coach Paul McFarland will also not return to the team next season, the team confirmed.

Speaking to reporters early last week, general manager Ron Francis declined to confirm whether Hakstol would be back with the team in 2024-25 despite a two-year extension kicking in on July 1. Francis released a statement on Hakstol’s firing today:

I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise. Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.

Hakstol, now 55, was hired as the first head coach in Kraken history in June 2021, four months before the puck dropped on their inaugural season. The former Flyers bench boss had been working on Sheldon Keefe’s bench in Toronto as an assistant after getting fired by Philadelphia in 2018-19, partway through his fourth season with the club.

While the Kraken weren’t able to catch lightning in a bottle like their older expansion siblings, the Golden Knights, they’ve still reached a competitive standard of play in short order. They were nowhere near contention in their inaugural season, finishing with a 27-49-6 record, but the understaffed roster managed decent possession results at even strength in Hakstol’s system and was largely doomed by below-average seasons from goalies Chris Driedger and Philipp Grubauer.

Goaltending didn’t improve much in 2022-23 with Martin Jones entering the fold, but another season of above-average 5-on-5 possession and a second-place 11.6 shooting percentage earned Seattle a 100-point season and, with it, their first playoff berth. Despite missing 40-goal scorer Jared McCann for nearly half of their playoff games, the Kraken upset the defending champion Avalanche in the first round and took the 108-point Stars to seven games in the second before finally bowing out. It showed what the team could do against strong competition with even just average goaltending, supported by Grubauer’s .903 SV% and 2.7 goals saved above expected in 14 games, per MoneyPuck. Hakstol earned a nomination for that year’s Jack Adams Award as a result.

This season saw Joey Daccord give the club some much-needed stability between the pipes, but a major drop in offense (289 GF in 2022-23, 217 GF in 2023-24) doomed the club to a finish just below the .500 mark, 17 points back of a playoff spot. The drop in offense was mainly due to a 2.5% drop in their finishing to 9.1%. Seattle still managed solid possession numbers across the board at 5-on-5, controlling 51.8% of shot attempts, 51.2% of scoring chances and 50.6% of high-danger chances despite top defenseman Vince Dunn and top-six winger André Burakovsky missing significant time with injuries.

Across the board, those results suggest the Kraken are what they’ve been in all three seasons – a solid two-way team without a truly game-breaking offensive talent. It’s hard to fault Hakstol for a roster construction issue, but as Seattle is set to graduate prospects like Ryker Evans and Shane Wright to full-time NHL roles, it’s evident Francis wants a different voice to oversee the club as they shift their aim toward becoming more consistent playoff challengers. They’ll add to an already solid prospect pool with the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, although that position may change based on the results of next week’s draft lottery.

Luckily for Hakstol, there are plenty of vacancies on the market that he could be considered for. The Blues, Devils, Kings, Senators and Sharks either fired their coach after the season ended or finished the campaign with interim bench bosses without a full-time replacement named.

For Seattle, it’s fair to wonder if Hakstol’s replacement may come from within. Assistant Jay Leach has drawn documented interest for head coaching vacancies in the past and will do so again with multiple positions open. If not, though, the recent rash of coach firings leaves Francis with an experienced list to pick from, as well as multiple up-and-coming candidates like University of Denver head coach David Carle.

Like Hakstol, McFarland had been with the Kraken since their inception. He was previously the GM and head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs and has held assistant roles with the Maple Leafs and Panthers.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Avalanche Recall Chris Wagner

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The Colorado Avalanche have recalled veteran forward Chris Wagner back to the NHL roster. He’ll provide added depth as the team addresses Joel Kiviranta’s lower-body injury, which has the winger out day-to-day. The Avalanche originally filled the spot with Russian prospect Nikolai Kovalenko, who made his NHL debut in Game 4. Kovalenko moved to America following the end of the KHL season and posted four points through six AHL games before being recalled ahead of yesterday’s game. He received just seven minutes of ice time in his debut, with four hits marking the only change to his stat line.

Kovalenko is an exciting young prospect who could provide a spark should the Avalanche need it. But their 5-1 win in Game 4 made it clear that the lineup’s top-end can handle the scoring and that the bottom six should instead focus on defense and physicality. That’s exactly what the Avalanche will get in Wagner, who’s served as a depth checking-forward able to make spot starts in the NHL for much of the last decade. Wagner only has 65 points in 373 career games, but he’s proven to be a stout fourth-liner capable of making a consistent impact on his own side of the ice.

That could be the trait Colorado needs as they approach a chance to clinch the series in Game 5. Wagner joins Kovalenko, Kiviranta, and Jonathan Drouin – the latter two both injured – as Colorado’s extra forwards. While exactly when the pair of injured forwards will return isn’t clear yet, it will be interesting to see which healthy scratches earn a spot in the lineup when everyone is at full strength. The Avalanche now carry a healthy of skill, two-way reliability, and bruting defense in their extras, giving them a chance to build lineups that can fit a lot of different approaches.

NHL Announces 2024 Vezina Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has revealed the finalists for the 2024 Vezina Trophy, awarded each year to the top player at the goaltending position. Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark took home the award last year, after backing a historically-strong Bruins season.

This year’s finalists are the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, the Florida Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky, and Vancouver Canucks’ Thatcher Demko.

Hellebuyck likely leads the pack, after vindicating his six-year extension signed last summer by leading all goalies with 30 or more appearances in save percentage. Hellebuyck posted 37 wins and a .921 save percentage in 60 starts this season, already winning the William M. Jennings Trophy alongside batterymate Laurent Brossoit for the highest save percentage from a goaltending tandem. It was Hellebuyck’s highest save percentage since the 2017-18 season when he posted a .924 in 67 appearances. Hellebuyck finished second in Vezina voting that season, and went on to win the award following the 2019-20 season. He’d become the fifth netminder to win the award multiple times since 2000, should he take home hardware this summer.

Hellebuyck would join a list of repeat winners that already contains Sergei Bobrovsky, who won the award in the 2013 and 2017 season, both with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky could be on track to hear his name once again, following a smash year with the Florida Panthers that saw him post 36 wins and a .915 save percentage in 58 games. While Bobrovsky’s time in Florida hasn’t always gone smoothly, he seemed to rediscover his groove this season, looking dialed-in from the start to the end. He’s now poised to stamp his place in history, with the potential to become just the third goalie since 2000 to win the award three-or-more times. He’d join legendary goaltenders Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur in the accolade, should he win.

And while Hellebuyck and Bobrovsky have strong cases to return to the podium, Thatcher Demko could be poised to squash their reunion and becoming the 11th-different player to win the award in as many years. Demko was a cornerstone piece of Vancouver’s surprising run to the top of the standings, posting 37 wins and a .918 save percentage in 51 games. Demko missed 14 games with a knee injury near the end of the regular season, limiting his chance to put a bow on his standout season, but his performances aren’t going unrecognized, with this being his first time as a Vezina finalist.

The award will be announced at the NHL Awards this summer. That event is still pending a time and location.

Maple Leafs Sign Nikita Grebyonkin To Three-Year Entry Level Deal

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed forward prospect Nikita Grebyonkin to a three-year, entry-level contract, shares agent Dan Milstein (Twitter link). The deal carries a $950K cap hit and $95K in signing bonuses, per Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star (Twitter link). This news follows reports that Grebyonkin would sign his first NHL contract in time to play in Stanley Cup Playoff games. Grebyonkin is coming off a Gagarin Cup win with Magnitogorsk Mettalurg of the KHL. He ranked second on the team in scoring through the regular-season, posting 19 goals and 41 points in 67 games. It was the highest scoring of his young pro career, after posting 26 points in 45 games last year.

Grebyonkin will offer much-needed depth to a Leafs team on the fritz. While starting him in a playoff elimination game could be a risky use of the former fifth-round pick, Grebyonkin showed an impressive ability to match the fast pace of the KHL while still filling his roles in all three zones – a trait that should make moving to the NHL a bit more seamless. If he doesn’t make his NHL debut in this postseason, Grebyonkin will join Toronto’s long list of roster players on the fringe. His role is best served on the wing, though he’s served intermittent roles as a centerman when need calls for it.

Grebyonkin has emerged a bit out of nowhere over the last two seasons. His only international experience prior to this season came with Russia’s U16 and U17 teams in 2019 and 2020. He played in just six games between the two years, though, scoring two goals. That meant for incredibly limited viewings, with Grebyonkin even going undrafted in 2021, his first year of eligibility. He was ranked as the #37-overall European prospect by NHL Central Scouting that year, but was entirely unranked ahead of his actual draft day in 2022. He’s since climbed the ranks of Russian hockey and established himself as a player with the pace, fundamentals, and grit needed to challenge a pro role. He’ll put those skills to the test when he moves over to a deep, and scrutinized, Toronto Maple Leafs program.

Atlantic Notes: Raddysh, Fleury, Matthews

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Tampa Bay Lightning reporter Chris Krenn tweeted that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said defenseman Darren Raddysh is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. The 28-year-old missed game 4 of Tampa Bay’s first-round series last night after he’d averaged over 17 minutes of ice time in the first three games.

The native of Toronto, Ontario spent nearly five seasons toiling in the AHL before emerging this season as a solid depth option for the Lightning. In 82 games this year, Raddysh posted six goals and 27 assists while playing over 19 minutes a game. A late bloomer, Raddysh set career highs in almost every offensive category this season, while still providing the Lightning with solid work in the defensive zone.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Jon Cooper also told Chris Krenn that defenseman Haydn Fleury is healthy and available to play for the Lightning. The former seventh-overall pick hasn’t played since colliding with an official back on April 6th in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and did take warm-ups last night with the team. While he is available for game 5, Fleury may serve as a healthy scratch given the depth Tampa Bay has on their back end. Fleury has never lived up to his top-10 draft status but remains a decent depth option for the Lightning should a defenseman go down to injury.
  • TSN’s Chris Johnston tweeted that Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke about superstar Auston Matthews saying that the illness he’s been suffering from has lingered and worsens when he gets on the ice and begins to push himself. Matthews left last night’s game early as the Maple Leafs fell into a deep hole and now trail the Boston Bruins 3-1 in their first-round matchup. The 26-year-old played just 14:16 yesterday, registering a single shot on goal and has just a goal and two assists in four playoff games thus far. Toronto will face elimination tomorrow night in Boston.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Jack Campbell And Philip Broberg

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The Edmonton Oilers have recalled goaltender Jack Campbell and defenseman Philip Broberg from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL after the affiliate was eliminated from the AHL playoffs last night. The Condors were swept in the first round, losing in two games to the Ontario Reign.

Campbell hasn’t dressed in an NHL since giving up five goals on 34 shots back on November 4th. The 32-year-old played in just five NHL games this season going 1-4 with a 4.50 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage. After being demoted to the AHL, Campbell put up respectable numbers in 33 games, going 18-13-1 with three shutouts, and a .918 save percentage. He has struggled in two seasons since joining the Oilers as a free agent after signing a five-year $25MM contract.

Broberg returns to the NHL after recording two assists in 12 games with the Oilers this season. The 22-year-old spent the bulk of the year in the AHL, dressing in 49 games and tallying five goals and 33 assists. The former eighth-overall pick has been recalled three times in the past three weeks and will likely serve as depth for the Oilers going forward unless injuries force him into the lineup.

Broberg does have NHL playoff experience having dressed in nine games last spring for the Oilers and one game during the 2021-22 post-season. While he’s never registered an NHL playoff point, he does remain a strong depth option for the Oilers as many pundits feel he’s an NHL defenseman who has been stuck in the AHL for much of this season.

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