Blues Sign Simon Robertsson To Entry-Level Contract
The Blues have announced the signing of right-wing prospect Simon Robertsson to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.
A third-round pick by the Blues in 2021, Robertsson has spent the entirety of his post-draft career under contract with Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League. He hasn’t landed a full-time spot in the lineup, though, and has been routinely loaned out to lower-level clubs.
2022-23 was a particularly tumultuous season for him, suiting up for clubs in the SHL, the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, the third-tier HockeyEttan, and Sweden’s top junior league, the J20 Nationell. He did manage decent production in limited action with Skellefteå, scoring five goals and seven points in 16 regular-season games before adding a goal in eight playoff games.
Robertsson, 21, earned more stability and SHL minutes this year, making 42 total appearances with Skellefteå compared to 15 with Brynäs IF of the HockeyAllsvenskan. The sharp-shooting winger had two goals and four points in 27 regular-season games for Skellefteå and was a bottom-six regular by the time the playoffs rolled around, posting a goal and an assist in 15 games as they took home the league championship earlier this week.
Few expected Robertsson to be available when the Blues selected 71st overall. Numerous public rankings, including TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s polling of NHL scouts, graded Robertsson as a likely late first-round or early second-round pick.
The 6’0″ winger won’t be in consideration for an NHL roster spot yet, but signing his ELC means he could come to North America and suit up for AHL Springfield next season. He’ll be waiver-exempt for his first three seasons under contract or his first 80 NHL games, whichever comes first, and will become a restricted free agent when his contract expires in 2027.
Lightning Reportedly Extend Jon Cooper
The Lightning have signed head coach Jon Cooper to a one-year extension, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports. He’ll remain in Tampa through the 2025-26 campaign. He’d previously signed a three-year extension in October 2021 that ensured he’d be paid by the team through 2024-25. Speaking to reporters at this morning’s end-of-season media availability, general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters the team wouldn’t hold extension talks with Cooper this summer because “he had term,” indicating he’d signed or agreed to sign an extension past next season (via the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina).
Cooper just wrapped up his 11th full season behind the Lightning bench, guiding the squad to a 45-29-8 record to match last season’s point total of 98, earning them the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. For the first time in his tenure, though, the Bolts finished in the bottom third of the league in goals against and posted a rather underwhelming -19 goal differential at 5-on-5. Their well-above-average power play and penalty kill buoyed them, but both were neutralized in the first round of this year’s playoffs by the Panthers, who ended Tampa’s season with a 6-1 win in Game 5 on Monday.
It was inarguably a down season for the team, marred by losing number two defenseman Mikhail Sergachev for over half the season and starting the campaign without All-Star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. But the 56-year-old Cooper’s track record does more than enough heavy lifting to convince the Lightning front office that he’s the right person to extend their dwindling championship window.
After he took over for Guy Boucher with 15 games remaining in the shortened 2012-13 season, the Lightning have only missed the playoffs once in Cooper’s tenure. The longest-serving coach in the league has compiled a 525-279-75 record in 879 regular-season games behind the Tampa bench, as well as an 87-63 record in an astounding 150 playoff appearances. His 612 total wins with the Lightning are the third-most all-time with a single franchise, trailing Lindy Ruff with the Sabres (628) and Al Arbour with the Islanders (859).
Before this season, the Lightning hadn’t gone more than one year without a playoff series victory since advancing to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Now, they’ve fallen short of a .600 points percentage in back-to-back years and are 3-8 in their 11 playoff games over the last two seasons. Cooper’s sole task over the next two is to keep the club from falling into the trap of post-dynasty mediocrity, much like the current edition of the Penguins and the early 2010s Red Wings.
The roster he leads next season won’t look considerably different. 16 roster players are signed for next season at a combined $75.1MM cap hit, per CapFriendly. The notable exception is captain Steven Stamkos, who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 for the first time in his career if BriseBois can’t get him signed to an extension. BriseBois added in today’s media availability that working on a deal with Stamkos over the next two months is a “priority,” although only preliminary talks have been held.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Evening Notes: Bjorkqvist, DeSmith, Bardakov
Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Kasper Bjorkqvist has signed with Ilves in Finland’s Liiga (according to Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). The 26-year-old has spent the past two seasons in Finland after spending parts of three years in the Penguins organization where he largely played in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Bjorkqvist was the Penguins’ second-round pick in 2016 (61st overall) but was never able to find his offensive game as a professional in North America tallying just 10 goals and four assists in 65 career AHL games. He was able to get into six NHL games during the 2021-22 season, posting a single goal. Since returning to Finland two years ago to play with Kärpät, Bjorkqvist has dressed in 82 games tallying nine goals and 14 assists.
While he will remain in Finland in the near future, Bjorkqvist’s NHL rights will remain with the Penguins.
In other evening notes:
- Vancouver Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor tweeted that Canucks goaltender Casey DeSmith has a lower-body injury but should be good to backup for the Canucks tonight when they try to end their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. DeSmith practiced with the Canucks this morning, but it appeared in the game day skate that Artūrs Šilovs would be the starting goalie for Game 5. There is a possibility that DeSmith could start tonight, but Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet stopped short of announcing his starting goalie.
- Colorado Avalanche prospect Zakhar Bardakov has reportedly signed a one-year extension with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. The 23-year-old was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL entry draft (203rd overall) and has yet to sign an ELC with the Avalanche after he was traded on March 1st of this year along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for Kurtis MacDermid. While Bardakov has signed in the KHL for another season, he could come to North America in 2025. Bardakov posted six goals and six assists in 51 regular season games last season with SKA.
Lightning Assign Three Players To AHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that they re-assigned defensemen Maxwell Crozier and Emil Lilleberg as well as netminder Matt Tomkins to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. The moves come one day after the Lightning were eliminated from the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Florida Panthers.
Crozier dressed in three of the five Lightning playoff games, going scoreless while recording a -1 and averaging 14:15 of ice time per game. The 24-year-old rookie also played in 13 regular season games for Tampa Bay, recording two assists while registering 16 hits and 11 blocked shots. The Calgary, Alberta native was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL entry draft and spent four seasons in the NCAA with Providence College before an abbreviated run with Syracuse last spring. In his first full professional season, Crozier was impressive enough to get a spot in the lineup for his first taste of NHL playoff hockey.
Lilleberg returns to Syracuse, where he spent the first half of the 2023-24 season dressing in 33 games for the Crunch, tallying two goals and 11 assists. The 23-year-old spent the second half of the season with the Lightning, dressing in 37 NHL games and posting five assists. While he’s unlikely to develop into an offensive defenseman, Lilleberg showed enough in the regular season to earn a spot in the lineup for all five Lightning playoff games. Now he’s in line to play big minutes for the Crunch in the AHL playoffs.
Tomkins took seven years of professional hockey before making it to the NHL this season at 29. The Edmonton, Alberta native was drafted in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL entry draft and bounced around from the AHL to the ECHL, to the SHL before finding his way back to North America and making his NHL debut with Tampa Bay. In his first NHL action, Tomkins dressed in six games going 3-2-1 with a 3.33 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage. He’ll now return to Syracuse where he played 29 games this season and went 15-12-2 with a .904 save percentage.
Syracuse is currently tied at 1 with the Rochester Americans in their best-of-five North Division Semifinals series, game 3 goes Thursday night in Syracuse.
Capitals Notes: Oshie, Backstrom, Extensions, Bear
Veteran forward T.J. Oshie told the media on Tuesday that he’ll need reassurance that injuries won’t be an issue before he decides on if he’ll play next season, shares Monumental Sports’ Tarik El-Bashir in a video of the press scrum (Twitter link). Oshie has one season remaining on the eight-year contract he signed with the Capitals in 2017. He was limited to just 56 games this season, bearing with a nagging back issue that ended his season a few weeks early last year. Oshie also shared that he broke his left hand on a hit from New York Ranger Matt Rempe in Game 3 and played through the injury in Game 4.
Back injuries late in a career always deserve extra care, as most veterans can attest to. So it makes sense that the 37-year-old Oshie could hesitate to push himself much more. He’s done it all throughout his 16-year NHL career, winning the 2018 Stanley Cup and representing America at one Olympic Games and three World Championships or World Cups. He polished off his résumé by reaching the 1,000-game mark this season, a feat he was eager to achieve. Oshie seems open to working his way back to full health, though Caps fans will have to hope he’s able to overcome his long battle with his back injury.
Other notes out of D.C.:
- Oshie’s fellow assistant captain Nicklas Backstrom is also facing injury questions next season, with general manager Brian MacLellan saying he expects Backstrom to remain on LTIR, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). Backstrom attempted to come back from back from hip resurfacing surgery this past season, but only managed eight games before his hip issues flared back up. The hip injury has forced Backstrom out of 152 games over the last three seasons, including ending his 2022-23 season in January. The Capitals will continue to receive $9.2MM in LTIR relief with Backstrom remaining sidelined.
- MacLellan also shared that the team has engaged forwards Beck Malenstyn and Connor McMichael in extension conversations, per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Both McMichael and Malenstyn carved out daily roles this season, playing in 80 and 81 games and scoring 33 and 21 points respectively. While they rotated around the lineup, especially in response to Washington’s injury bug, both players found a home on the team’s third line. They’re each set to become restricted free agents on July 1st, coming off deals that paid them just above the league minimum. They’re not likely to cost too much more on new deals, though the Capitals will still have to be careful with the money they hand out, with just $6.685MM in projected cap space this summer.
- Capitals defenseman Ethan Bear has exited the NHLPA Player’s Assistance Program, per Silber (Twitter link). Bear entered the program in late March, missing out on Washington’s last 11 regular-season games. After recovering from shoulder surgery, Bear signed a two-year contract with Washington in late December. He’ll look to vindicate that deal and its $2.0625MM price tag with a strong return next season.
Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews Ruled Out Of Game 5
6:00 PM: Matthews has officially been ruled out of Game 5, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Friedman added that the issue may not solely be his illness anymore, hinting that the star forward could be dealing with nagging injury as well.
3:30 PM: The Toronto Maple Leafs could be without superstar Auston Matthews in tonight’s Game 5, reports Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Matthews has played through an unknown illness in the team’s last two games, though he left before the third period of Game 4, getting pulled by team doctors who assessed that his symptoms were too severe. Matthews has since been recovering, and joined Toronto’s optional morning skate earlier today for all of eight minutes, working on simple motions and not exerting himself. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told The Athletic that Matthews’ availability would be up to the team doctors.
Matthews is on a shortlist of the toughest players in the league to replace when they’re injured. He made history this season, becoming the first player to reach the 69-goal mark since Mario Lemieux in the 1995-96 season. Matthews is a generational scoring talent, with the potential to take over games for his team, even in a hobbled state. He’s so far struggled this postseason, with just three points in four games but the Leafs need all of the help that they can get – facing yet another First Round elimination game and coming off the heels of a 3-1 loss.
Max Domi is expected to take over duties as the team’s top center in Matthews’ absence, while Connor Dewar will return to the fourth line after losing his spot to William Nylander‘s return. Dewar is one of just 12 Leafs skaters to record a point in this series, notching an assist in Game 1. Meanwhile, Domi is tied with linemate Tyler Bertuzzi and Matthews for the team lead in playoff scoring, with three points. The Leafs will hope that the shifts in the lineup, and Nylander’s return, will generate a big spark, as they face elimination without their star.
Latest On Penguins Coaching Staff
The Penguins have not received any formal requests to speak with head coach Mike Sullivan about other league vacancies, general manager Kyle Dubas told The Athletic’s Rob Rossi. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not internally debating the future of the rest of their coaching staff, as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports internal discussions about the future of their assistants have “contributed to noise” about Sullivan and increased other teams’ interest in his services. Rossi added that the Devils are interested in Sullivan to succeed Lindy Ruff, who they fired and replaced with interim boss Travis Green midseason, but haven’t submitted a request to speak with him.
While there’s no concrete indication yet that the Penguins are considering moving on from Sullivan, it does appear the futures of associate coach Todd Reirden, assistants Ty Hennes and Mike Vellucci and goaltending coach Andy Chiodo are uncertain. Reirden and Vellucci have either held NHL head coaching roles or generated interest in head coaching roles in the past and may get interviews for the five-plus vacancies around the league if Pittsburgh opts not to bring them back. They both signed two-year deals in 2022 that finished up in 2023-24 and will no longer be under contract with the Pens as of July 1.
The Penguins have already made one coaching change this summer, opting to part ways with a pair of AHL coaches, including bench boss J.D. Forrest. It was an unexpected choice, as a middling WBS squad finished ninth in the AHL with a 39-24-8-1 record.
The NHL club, meanwhile, fell short of the postseason for the second straight season despite a 42-goal, 94-point campaign from captain Sidney Crosby. It’s their first time missing the playoffs in back-to-back years since they were out of postseason contention from 2002 to 2006.
Firing Sullivan would mean Pittsburgh is still on the hook to pay him a reported total of $16.5MM over the next three seasons, thanks to an extension signed under previous GM Ron Hextall in 2022 – that certainly qualifies as a deterrent.
Matvei Michkov May Sign With Flyers Before End Of KHL Contract
Heading into the 2022-23 season, Russian winger Matvei Michkov was the slam-dunk second-best prospect available in the 2023 draft behind eventual Blackhawks first-overall pick Connor Bedard. Fast forward to draft day, though, and Michkov was still available with the Flyers’ pick at seventh overall. There were a couple of reasons for this – Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli had their draft stocks rise throughout the year thanks to spectacular campaigns, earning them second and third overall billing. Michkov had a slow start to the year, marred by injury and inconsistent playing time with his KHL club, SKA St. Petersburg.
SKA loaned Michkov out to bottom-feeder HK Sochi midway through the season, though, where he erupted for 20 points in the final 27 games of the season. That repaired his stock somewhat, but there were concerns about how long a team would have to wait to see Michkov in their lineup. He’s under contract with SKA through the 2025-26 campaign, and without a transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL, there’s no way for the Flyers to buy him out of his deal if it isn’t a mutual decision.
It turns out that may not be a concern after all. Speaking with matchtv.ru, SKA chairman Alexander Medvedev said that the club has good relations with the Flyers front office and will consider letting Michkov depart for the NHL before his contract ends (translated by PHLY Sports’ Alexander Appleyard). Medvedev confirmed that if SKA opts to release him, the Flyers want Michkov in the NHL as soon as next season.
SKA will make a call on whether to retain Michkov for at least next season by the end of June, Medvedev said. Even if Michkov can’t/doesn’t make the jump to North America this summer, the club might still let him transfer to Philadelphia in the 2025 offseason with one year left on his contract with SKA.
Michkov, 19, led all KHL junior players in points this season with 41 in 48 games played, all but one coming on his second consecutive loan to Sochi. He led the team in points per game and led them outright in goals, scoring 19 times in 47 games. Their leading scorer, 27-year-old winger Artur Tyanulin, had 17 goals and 45 points in 63 games. That solidifies him as the Flyers’ bonafide number-one prospect and one of the best U-20 players in the world.
Signing Michkov this summer would allow him to first reach restricted free agency in 2027. If he plays for the Flyers next season, he’d likely slot into a middle-six right wing role out of the gate, creating competition for other youngsters like Bobby Brink and veterans like Cam Atkinson.
NHL Announces 2024 Calder Trophy Finalists
Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, Wild defenseman Brock Faber and Devils defenseman Luke Hughes have been named finalists for this year’s Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie.
Bedard, still just 18, led or tied for the lead in rookie (and Blackhawks) scoring with 22 goals, 39 assists and 61 points despite being limited to 68 games with a broken jaw sustained midseason. He’s the the second-youngest rookie in NHL history to lead their team in all three major offensive categories behind Sidney Crosby, who did so with 39 goals, 63 assists and 102 points in 81 games with the Penguins in 2005-06. Last year’s first-overall pick also led rookies league-wide in shots on goal and takeaways.
While he’s the favorite to win the award, there likely won’t be a very large gap between him and Faber when the voting breakdown among PHWA members is released. The 2020 second-round pick of the Kings had his signing rights dealt to Minnesota in the Kevin Fiala trade a few years back, and he turned pro last spring after three seasons at the University of Minnesota. He immediately jumped into the NHL lineup and stabilized the Wild defense this year with captain Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season with various injuries, posting eight goals and 47 points while playing in all 82 games. Faber averaged 24:58 per game – the most among qualified rookies since the stat has been tracked (1997-98), beating out Atlanta’s Toby Enström by a full 30 seconds.
Those advocating for Faber to take home the award will point to Bedard’s -44 rating, which sat near the bottom of the league. Both players had difficult usage against other teams’ top competition, especially Faber. Yet, compared to their teammates, Bedard was better at controlling possession than Faber, posting a 0.2 relative CF% at even strength compared to Faber’s -3.4 CF% impact. In a team context, though, Faber was much better at dominating possession quality with a 50.6 xGF% compared to Bedard’s 42.3 xGF%, per Hockey Reference.
Hughes’ chance at the award is minimal compared to his peers, but the nomination still puts a bow on a nice rookie season for the younger brother of Jack and Quinn. With Dougie Hamilton missing most of the campaign, New Jersey relied on Hughes as their top puck-moving and power-play option on the blue line. He responded well, tying Faber’s offensive totals with 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) while also playing in all 82 games, a rarity for a Devils team that struggled to stay healthy this season. He averaged 21:28 per game and controlled possession well at even strength with a 55.0 CF% and a 52.3 xGF%, with his -25 rating largely sunk by the team’s poor goaltending.
Blues Sign Samuel Johannesson, Marcus Sylvegard
12:15 p.m.: St. Louis has now confirmed the signings of both Johannesson and Sylvegård, as previously reported, although financial terms were not disclosed. It’s a one-year entry-level agreement for Sylvegard. PuckPedia reports both deals carry cap hits of $870K, broken down into a $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus, and $82.5K minors salary.
10:00 a.m.: The Blues are landing unrestricted free-agent defenseman Samuel Johannesson from the Swedish Hockey League’s Örebro HK, HockeyNews.se reports. League rules dictate it’ll be a two-year, entry-level contract when announced for the 23-year-old.
Johannesson was a sixth-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2020, but his exclusive signing rights lapsed in June 2022 after he didn’t ink an ELC. He was already knocking on the door of being a full-time SHL player by the time he was drafted, skating in 44 games for Rögle BK in 2019-20, and has only solidified that standing since then. The 5’11” right-shot blue liner has bounced around with a few organizations, landing with Brynäs IF in 2022-23 and joining Örebro for this season after Brynäs lost their relegation series last summer and ended up in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.
He’s now emerged as a solid puck-mover and one of the better offensive defenders in the SHL since earning top-of-the-lineup minutes with Brynäs last season. The Halmstad, Sweden, native remained in top-four minutes for Örebro, finishing second on the team in points with 27 (11 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games with a +5 rating. He added a goal in three playoff games as Örebro lost its play-in series to Luleå HF.
Johannesson was under contract with Örebro through 2024-25, so the Blues will need to buy him out – something HockeyNews.se says is important for an Örebro club that’s struggling financially. His deal will expire after the 2025-26 season, and the Blues will control his signing rights as an RFA. He’s their second expected signing out of the SHL this offseason, joining 24-year-old winger Marcus Sylvegård.