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Panthers Sign Ben Steeves To Entry-Level Deal

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March 25: Steeves’ signing is official, per a team release. The team did not disclose financial terms, but confirms it’s a two-year ELC that begins next season.

March 24: The Panthers are expected to sign college free agent forward Ben Steeves to an entry-level contract, according to Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. He will likely finish the season on a tryout with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.

Steeves isn’t new to the Panthers organization, having attended their development camp last offseason. The 21-year-old brother of Maple Leafs forward Alex Steeves spent the last two seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, eclipsing the 20-goal mark each time. The diminutive forward is a pure sniper, having never posted more assists than goals in a single season at any recorded level of play. During his time with the Bulldogs, Steeves led the team in goals by a remarkable margin, serving as one of only two double-digit goal-scorers on the squad each season.

Now set to turn pro, Steeves wraps up his collegiate career with 45 goals, 17 assists, 62 points, and 66 PIMs in 72 games. He was named to the NCHC’s All-Rookie Team last season and was UMD’s nominee for the Hobey Baker Award this year.

At 5-foot-8 and 165 lbs, Steeves has a long road ahead of him to prove he can hang at the professional level before earning an NHL recall. He does help fill out a Panthers forward prospect pool that lacks punch outside of 2021 first-round pick Mackie Samoskevich, but he’ll need to round out his game with Charlotte to earn a qualifying offer when his ELC expires.

Kraken Recall Logan Morrison, Ryan Winterton

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The Kraken have recalled forwards Logan Morrison and Ryan Winterton from AHL Coachella Valley on emergency loans, per CapFriendly. The emergency designations suggest multiple forwards are questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Ducks.

If Morrison slots into the lineup, it would mark his NHL debut. The 21-year-old center is in his first professional season with Coachella Valley, where he’s done quite well with 15 goals and 40 points in 60 games. It’s an earlier recall than expected for the Guelph, Ontario native, who inked an entry-level contract with Seattle as an undrafted free agent in April 2023.

It was a tough road to the pros for Morrison, who went undrafted in 2020 as a member of the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs and was shut out of the 2020-21 campaign entirely when the league canceled its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He responded well, though, rattling off 100 points in 60 games the following year en route to a league championship, also capturing the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for the postseason MVP after he potted 17 goals in 19 playoff games. The 6’0″ pivot also earned OHL First All-Star Team honors last year, recording 40 goals and 94 points in 56 games split between Hamilton and the Ottawa 67’s.

An extremely sportsmanlike player, Morrison has only recorded 2 PIMs through his 60 minor-league contests. He’s benefitting greatly from Coachella Valley’s optimally deep development environment, which boasts nine double-digit goal-scorers this season.

This is the second NHL call-up for the 20-year-old Winterton, who played his first three major league games across a five-day stint in early November 2023. The 2021 third-round pick and longtime teammate of Morrison with Hamilton averaged just 8:12 through his trio of appearances, however, and notched just one shot on goal without getting on the scoresheet. His possession stats were quite poor as well, despite seeing most of his time in the offensive zone, posting a 37.1 CF% at even strength and a -0.5 expected rating.

Things have gone considerably better for Winterton in the minors, where, like Morrison, he’s having a strong first professional season. Once one of major junior hockey’s most prolific players at getting pucks on net, Winterton is tied for second on Coachella Valley in goals with 21 in 55 games. He also leads the squad with a +26 rating.

Five Key Stories: 3/18/24 – 3/24/24

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While there won’t be much in the way of activity on the transactions front for a while beyond prospect signings, there was still some news of note in the NHL over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Proposed Rule Changes: Each year, a handful of tweaks to the rules are recommended by NHL general managers.  That continued this year, albeit with a few more proposed changes than usual.  Among the suggested amendments are that goalies can be assessed a minor penalty for intentionally knocking the net off, allowing a coaches’ challenge for delay of game and high-sticking (for friendly fire), and bringing back a warm-up for goalies coming into a game when the starter is taken out due to injury.  They won’t be enacted right away as they still need to be ratified by the Competition Committee and the NHL Board of Governors.

Bowness Away From Jets: For the second straight week, a head coach has taken a leave of absence.  After Martin St. Louis left Montreal for family reasons, Rick Bowness is away from Winnipeg for the second time this season, this time for a minor medical procedure.  He left the Jets on their road trip for treatments while Scott Arniel is serving as interim head coach for the second time this season.  Winnipeg struggled over the weekend but finds itself in a tight battle for the top spot in the Central Division.

Wilson Gets Six: Capitals winger Tom Wilson has a lengthy history with the Department of Player Safety.  Another entry was added this past week as he received a six-game suspension for his high stick on Maple Leafs winger Noah Gregor.  It’s the sixth suspension of his career, bringing his total to 36 games cumulative while he forfeits more than $161K in salary, bringing that running total to a little over $1.5MM.  More importantly for Washington, they lose a key top-six winger as they try to chase down Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.  Wilson will be eligible to return to the lineup on April 4th and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports (Twitter link) that no appeal will be filed.

Coyotes Likely To Stay At Mullett Arena In 2024-25: The future of the Coyotes in Arizona is once again in question after their planned arena site fell through earlier this year.  There’s another option that involves a public auction that won’t happen until June.  While the team’s fate might be better known at that time, the possibility of relocation that late into the offseason would be difficult to pull off.  Accordingly, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the team is likely to stay at Mullett Arena at Arizona State University for the 2024-25 season regardless of the outcome of that auction.  That will be the final year of the original three-season agreement although there are two one-year options to extend it.

Two Former NHLers Pass Away: We end on a sad note as a pair of players passed away.  Former Penguins winger Konstantin Koltsov died at the age of 42.  A first-round pick back in 1999, Koltsov played in 144 NHL games over parts of three seasons with Pittsburgh before spending the next decade playing internationally, primarily in Russia.  Soon after, it was revealed that Chris Simon passed at the age of 52.  He had a 15-year NHL career with seven different franchises and picked up a Stanley Cup title with Colorado back in 1996.  He was with that franchise after being part of the Eric Lindros trade back in 1992.  Simon had 1,824 penalty minutes in his career, good for 67th in NHL history.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Lindholm, Stalock, Crotty, Wilsby, NCAA Bracket

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Canucks forward Elias Lindholm has struggled as of late and snapped a 15-game goalless streak last night against his former team in Calgary.  It appears there’s a reason for those struggles as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last night (video link) that the veteran is set to meet with a specialist in the coming days to determine the extent of the undisclosed injury that he is currently playing through.  The 29-year-old has just nine points in 22 games since being acquired at the end of January and has been dropped to the third line in recent games, not the type of impact they were looking for from their biggest trade acquisition of the season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Ducks announced that they recalled goaltender Alex Stalock from AHL San Diego. The 36-year-old had been brought up four times this season but has yet to see game action with Anaheim, instead serving in a short-term backup role.  He’ll be reprising that role against Tampa Bay with John Gibson out for personal reasons.  Stalock has played in a dozen games for the Gulls this season while playing on a one-year, one-way deal worth $800K, posting a 3.72 GAA with a .894 SV%.  He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
  • The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Cameron Crotty from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis. The 24-year-old is in his fourth professional season and this will be his first recall and first game as he took the place of Josh Brown who was out due to an illness.  Crotty has three goals and nine assists in 45 games with the Roadrunners this season.
  • Predators prospect Adam Wilsby has been linked to SHL Farjestad next season, notes Varlands Folkblad’s Johan Ekberg. The 23-year-old blueliner was a fourth-round pick back in 2020 and has spent his three-year entry-level deal playing with AHL Milwaukee where he has six goals and eight assists through 49 games so far.  A pending restricted free agent, it might make more sense for Wilsby to return home over continuing to play in the minors as he’s likely behind several prospects on Nashville’s organizational depth chart.
  • The NCAA revealed the official bracket for the tournament leading to the Frozen Four and the DI Men’s Ice Hockey Championship with Boston College serving as the top seed. Games get underway on Thursday and as teams are eliminated, we’ll start to see some of the more notable free agents start to sign while others will forego the rest of their college eligibility to turn pro.

Atlantic Notes: Samsonov, Jost, Panthers, Engstrom

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Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov left Saturday’s victory over Edmonton with what looked to be a lower-body injury.  However, it appears that the netminder won’t miss much time as head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters postgame including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that the injury isn’t anywhere near as severe as it initially appeared to be.  That said, he was not in uniform today against Carolina.  It has been an interesting year for the 27-year-old who posted a .862 SV% in his first 15 games, resulting in him clearing waivers.  However, since returning in mid-January, Samsonov has won 14 of his 19 decisions while putting up a much stronger .908 SV%.  Eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, Samsonov will need a strong finish to have a shot at besting his current $3.55MM contract on the open market.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Sabres will be without center Tyson Jost tonight due to an undisclosed injury, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). The 26-year-old played in their last game on Thursday but was unable to practice yesterday.  Jost has played in 36 games with Buffalo so far this season, notching just two goals and two assists; his early-season struggles resulted in him clearing waivers back in late December.  That’s hardly the type of season he was hoping for as he becomes eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.
  • The Panthers could get a pair of key players back shortly. com’s Adam Kimelman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Aaron Ekblad and center Aleksander Barkov could return within the week from their respective lower-body injuries.  Ekblad, who has been limited to just 47 games this season, is right on schedule after being injured a little over two weeks ago while Barkov, who sits fourth in team scoring with 66 points in 62 games, has been out for the past week.
  • The Canadiens are hoping to sign prospect Adam Engstrom once his SHL playoffs with Rogle come to an end, notes The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription link). The 20-year-old was a third-round pick (92nd overall) in 2022 and is coming off a decent campaign that saw him pick up 22 points in 51 games in his second full year in Sweden’s top division.  Unlike some college players who will sign and play right away, it’s likely that any agreement with Engstrom wouldn’t begin until next season.

Golden Knights Recall Jiri Patera, Move Tomas Hertl To LTIR

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The Golden Knights recalled goaltender Jiří Patera from AHL Henderson on Sunday, per a team release. He’ll serve as the backup to Logan Thompson to kick off their four-game road trip after Adin Hill sustained an undisclosed injury in the third period of yesterday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets. To open up space for Patera’s $775K cap hit, the team moved center Tomas Hertl to LTIR, per CapFriendly, retroactive to when he underwent knee surgery in February as a member of the Sharks.

Patera, 25, sits firmly in the third spot on Vegas’ goaltending depth chart. He’s been recalled multiple times this season in the wake of injuries to Hill and Thompson, yielding mixed results with a .901 SV%, 1-3-0 record, 3.75 GAA, and -2.5 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck. The Prague-born netminder was selected in the sixth round of the Knights’ inaugural 2017 Entry Draft class and inked a one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$100K/$145K) to remain in the desert after reaching restricted free agency last offseason.

His play has dropped off slightly in the minors this year, however. After taking over as Henderson’s starter last season with a .911 SV% in 31 games, he’s posted a .902 SV%, 3.04 GAA, and 10-10-4 record in 24 AHL games in 2023-24. He’s still posted the best numbers out of any Silver Knights netminder, however, and is at little risk of losing his starting spot for the time being.

Moving Hertl to LTIR does not affect his timeline or eligibility to return to the lineup. He remains listed as week-to-week but is expected to make his Golden Knights debut before the postseason begins. Placing him on LTIR frees up an additional $6.75MM in relief, increasing their salary pool to $21.25MM.

Bruins Sign Riley Duran To Entry-Level Deal

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The Bruins have come to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract with center prospect Riley Duran, per a team release. The contract carries a cap hit of $867.5K and will begin next season. Duran, who completed his junior season at Providence College last weekend, will finish the season on a tryout with the Bruins’ AHL club in the same city.

The 22-year-old Duran was drafted by the Bruins in the sixth round of the 2020 draft and had one season remaining of collegiate eligibility before his exclusive signing rights with Boston expired. The 6-foot-2, 181-lb Massachusetts native was selected straight out of high school and spent his post-draft season playing major junior hockey with USHL Youngstown before kicking things off with Providence in 2021-22.

Duran was relatively consistent through his three seasons with the Friars, although his play dropped off slightly in 2023-24. He recorded 55 points in 102 games with the school, a 0.54 points per game average, but produced only 0.46 per game this season (9-7–16 in 35 GP). He was an unexpectedly important piece of the United States contingent at the 2022 World Junior Championship, where he rattled off 2-3–5 in 5 GP en route to a quarterfinal loss.

His ceiling is that of a two-way, third-line center, but he will need some significant seasoning in the AHL before he’s considered for a recall. He’ll be an RFA when his deal expires in 2026.

Flames Sign Joni Jurmo To Entry-Level Deal

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The Flames have signed Finnish defense prospect Joni Jurmo to a two-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement Sunday. The deal carries an AAV of $850K.

Calgary picked up Jurmo’s signing rights earlier this season, acquiring them as part of the deal that sent Elias Lindholm to the Canucks. As defense prospect Hunter Brzustewicz also signed his ELC earlier this March, both unsigned prospects acquired in the deal are now Flames property through at least 2026.

Jurmo, 21, carries appeal with his 6-foot-5, 209-lb frame. A strong skater for his size, he was a second-round pick of the Canucks in the 2020 draft but has had a rather tumultuous tenure since in various levels of the Finnish system.

However, he has been a mainstay in the pros since the 2021-22 campaign, when he logged 10 points and a +10 rating in 50 games for Jukurit in a strong first showing as a full-timer in the Liiga. He also represented Finland at the delayed World Junior Championships the following summer, recording an assist in seven games en route to a silver medal.

He’s played for three teams in the following two seasons, heading from Jukurit to Ilves over last offseason and being moved again to KooKoo in a midseason trade. He’s held a bottom-pairing role with all three clubs, posting 8-20–28 with a -2 rating in 168 Liiga games since his debut with JYP in the 2020-21 season. He finished his 2023-24 season with five points and a +3 rating in 46 games split between Ilves and KooKoo.

Jurmo will be eligible to suit up for AHL Calgary next season, but if his ELC holds a European Assignment Clause, he may also be loaned back to KooKoo, which holds his Liiga rights through next season. For the Flames, he’ll be an RFA upon expiry in 2026.

Blue Jackets Modify Brendan Gaunce’s Recall, Reassign Trey Fix-Wolansky

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The Blue Jackets are down to two post-trade deadline recalls after they covered Brendan Gaunce’s emergency recall into a standard one Sunday, per a team release. The club also assigned winger Trey Fix-Wolansky to AHL Cleveland.

Gaunce, 29, has been in the majors since an emergency summons on March 12 in the wake of depth forward Justin Danforth exiting the lineup due to a suspected concussion and a brief illness sidelining Kirill Marchenko. The 6-foot-2, 217-lb center has played in all seven Blue Jackets games since, recording a goal and a -2 rating while averaging 12:19 per game.

The 2012 first-round pick is on his third NHL organization, ending up with Columbus in 2021 after stints with the Canucks, Bruins, and the Swedish Hockey League’s Växjö Lakers HC. He hasn’t been overtly impressive in major-league minutes while with the Blue Jackets, posting 7-5–12 in 50 games over the last three seasons with a -3 rating while averaging under 10 minutes per contest, but keeping him around allows younger prospects like Fix-Wolansky to play out the stretch run of the minor-league campaign with Cleveland and log high-end minutes.

Gaunce, who remains third on Cleveland in scoring with 19-20–39 in 46 games, is in the back half of a two-year, $1.525MM extension signed in June 2022. He carries a cap hit of $762.5K but earns a slightly higher base salary of $775K in the NHL due to the league minimum increasing by $25K last offseason.

Fix-Wolansky was the first post-deadline standard recall for the CBJ, coming up to the majors on March 8 after lighting up the minors at over a point-per-game pace (23-31–54 in 51 GP). The 5-foot-8 winger could not convert that success to the majors, however, posting one assist in eight games with a -2 rating. His only other NHL appearance this season came during a brief recall in November, and he was held without a point in a loss to the Coyotes.

The 24-year-old will return to spark Cleveland as they jockey for playoff positioning in the AHL’s North Division, in which they sit second with a 35-21-3-3 record. He’s appeared in NHL games in three straight seasons, a solid feat for the 2018 seventh-round pick.

Fix-Wolansky is in the first season of a two-year, $1.55MM extension he inked shortly before reaching restricted free agency last summer. He earns a $350K salary while in the minors but is guaranteed at least $425K in salary this year.

Bruins Reassign John Beecher

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Bruins forward John Beecher is back on the farm with AHL Providence after being reassigned Sunday, per CapFriendly.

The 22-year-old center/winger has spent most of the season in the majors, landing a spot on the opening-night roster and making his NHL debut over four years after Boston selected him with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He was designated for the minors for the first time this season on Jan. 20 and remained there through the trade deadline until being recalled on three separate emergency loans earlier this month. He’d been on the NHL roster without reassignment since Mar. 16 after being papered between leagues five times in six days.

Beecher had played in four consecutive contests before being scratched due to illness in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Flyers. He scored once on three shots on goal and added an assist and a +1 rating in that timeframe, playing solid bottom-six minutes while averaging 12:28 per game.

He wouldn’t have lasted much longer on the active roster anyway, at least as an emergency recall. Winger James van Riemsdyk returned from an illness that kept him out for most of mid-March against Philadelphia, ending the conditions that required Beecher to have 12 healthy forwards. If the Bruins want to bring Beecher up without any other absences from their forward group, they would need to utilize one of their three remaining post-deadline standard recalls.

After an injury-plagued collegiate career with the University of Michigan and middling offensive results in the minors, it seems unlikely the 6-foot-3 pivot will reach the ceiling Boston hoped for by selecting him in the first round. Overall, early returns on his impact in a fourth-line role aren’t terribly promising outside of his 54.7 FO%, as he’s managed only six goals and three assists through 43 games.

He’s also recorded the worst even-strength CF% (37.7) of any Bruins skater with at least 10 games played. His -6.3 expected rating is also the lowest on the team. Beecher’s point totals likely aren’t sustainable either, as he’s shooting at an unusually high 20% rate.

Beecher has shown some improvement with Providence this season, posting 4-4–8 with a +9 rating in 17 games compared to 9-14–23 and a +9 rating in 61 games last year. The New York native is in the second season of his three-year, $2.775MM entry-level contract, which pays him a $70K salary at the minor-league level.

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