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Flyers Notes: Johansen, Kolosov, Znarok

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While the Flyers were hoping to get some confirmation on the Ryan Johansen situation in the near future, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that it may take until closer to the start of the regular season before they get a resolution on that front.  Philadelphia has run the veteran through termination waivers citing a breach of contract, one that his representation intends to grieve citing Johansen’s hip injury.  However, the actual termination has not yet taken place, meaning his $4MM cap charge remains on their books in full.  At the moment, the team would need to dip into LTIR, per PuckPedia, an outcome that wouldn’t be necessary if the Flyers are indeed able to get Johansen’s deal off their books entirely.

More from Philadelphia:

  • Also from Kurz, a team source notes that Alexei Kolosov’s situation remains “in limbo” after a late-August meeting between the club and the goaltender’s representatives. His situation has been well-documented with Kolosov’s desire being to play in the KHL this season on loan, something that the Flyers don’t want to do.  While Calvin Petersen (pending waiver clearance in the preseason) will be at AHL Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia’s preference is to have Kolosov developing down there as their third-stringer with the potential to see NHL action at some point in the season.  We’ll find out in the coming weeks which side gets their way.
  • While not announced by the team, they have hired long-time international coach Oleg Znarok as their European Player Development and Scouting Consultant, according to their hockey personnel page. The 61-year-old coached in Latvia and Russia for the better part of two decades, including multiple stints at the World Championship and the Olympics.  Out of coaching since late 2022, it appears that Znarok has given up on going back behind a bench and will now serve as an advisor to a Philadelphia team that is getting Matvei Michkov this season while having Ivan Fedotov for an entire year after he got his feet wet in the NHL late in 2023-24.

East Notes: Kapanen, Kolosov, Mercer

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Canadiens center prospect Oliver Kapanen signed a two-year deal with Swedish Hockey League club Timrå IK back in May. He’s already made quite an impression on his new head coach, longtime NHLer Olli Jokinen, who showered the 21-year-old with praise in a recent interview with Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gambling.

In fact, Jokinen’s been so pleased with Kapanen’s play during the SHL preseason that he’s concerned about him spending more time than expected in Montreal next month when he heads to North America for training camp. “He’s been too good for our league so far this preseason, playing like a dominant force in every single game,” Jokinen said. “He’s been great offensively, scoring some goals, but also defensively and in the faceoff circle, which will be his biggest advantage going into Montreal.”

Kapanen may have inked a multi-year commitment with Timrå, but he also signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens shortly thereafter. While technically eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Laval Rocket, there’s a European Assignment Clause in his ELC that will allow him to return to Timrå if cut from Montreal’s NHL roster, Jokinen said.

It would be a surprise to see Kapanen unseat another Canadiens youngster like Joshua Roy to win a roster spot, but the Finnish national is certainly trending in the right direction after recording 34 points in 51 games last season with Liiga’s KalPa. If he does play this season in Timrå, he’ll likely be their leader in ice time among forwards as “a first-line center with power play and penalty kill time,” said Jokinen.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Flyers are now operating under the assumption that goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov won’t be reporting to training camp, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports. He also adds that general manager Daniel Brière remains unwilling to loan the 22-year-old back to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s played for most of the past four seasons. Kolosov, a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2021, has two years left on his entry-level contract with Philadelphia. He’s been in dispute with the club about where to play this season since at least May, when reports emerged he had trouble adjusting to the North American environment after ending the 2023-24 campaign with a pair of appearances for Philly’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that he’s confident the Devils’ pending agreement with RFA forward Dawson Mercer will be a short-term one. With just under $5MM in projected cap space (PuckPedia), he doesn’t think the Devils would be able to fit a long-term deal with Mercer under the cap this season without a significant preseason corresponding transaction. Mercer remains unsigned with less than two weeks to go until training camp, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald said last month that a resolution wasn’t too far off.

Marc Staal Retires, Joins Rangers As Development Coach

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Veteran defenseman Marc Staal has announced his retirement after 17 seasons. He’s immediately beginning his front office career with the Rangers as a player development assistant, the team announced.

For Staal, it’s a return to where his NHL career began nearly two decades ago. The No. 12 pick in the 2005 draft by the Rangers, he was the third Staal brother to reach the NHL, following Eric Staal with the Hurricanes and Jordan Staal with the Penguins.

Staal, now 37, spent two post-draft seasons back in junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves before becoming a full-time fixture on the New York blue line immediately upon turning pro in 2007. He challenged for top-four minutes in his rookie season, posting 10 points and a +2 rating in 80 games while averaging nearly 19 minutes per night en route to finishing 12th in Calder Trophy voting in 2007-08.

By the time his entry-level deal expired, Staal was averaging over 22 minutes per game and had become one of the better stay-at-home defenders in the league on a team consistently in the playoff race. He also contributed a decent amount of offense, posting 27 points in his final ELC year of 2009-10 – all at even strength. That led the Blueshirts to give him a five-year, $19.88MM payday after a somewhat lengthy holdout during the 2010 offseason, putting pen to paper on the deal just around when training camp began in September.

Staal would remain a top-four fixture for the Rangers throughout the 2010s, signing a six-year, $34.2MM extension on top of his previous deal in 2015 to avoid becoming an unrestricted free agent. He helped guide the Rangers to the 2014 Eastern Conference championship, although they lost the Stanley Cup Final in five games to the Kings. His top showing was inarguably the 2010-11 campaign, when he recorded a career-high 22 assists, 29 points, and averaged 25:44 per game en route to receiving Norris Trophy votes for the only time in his career.

The stalwart defender saw his usage drop early on in that six-year extension, though, and he was a bottom-pairing option by the time the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. With one year left on his deal, the Rangers attached a second-round pick for the Red Wings to take on the final season of his contract. He’d spent two seasons on a rebuilding Detroit club, signing a one-year pact to extend his stay, before landing with the Panthers as a free agent for the 2022-23 campaign.

Staal seemed to get some life back in South Florida, playing alongside brother Eric for the second time (Eric had a brief stint with the Rangers in 2016). He appeared in all 82 games for the third time in his career and posted 15 points with a +10 rating, sliding into top-four spot duty alongside Brandon Montour. He was held without a point in 21 playoff games but averaged nearly 21 minutes per night as Florida charged through to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Golden Knights.

A reunion wasn’t in the cards, though, leaving Staal to land a one-year, $1.1MM deal in free agency with the Flyers last summer. He was relegated to fringe usage as a No. 7 option, though, making only 35 appearances and averaging 13:49 per game.

For his career, Staal scored 53 goals, 181 assists, and 234 points and posted a +52 rating while averaging 19:56 per game across 1,136 regular season appearances. He also totaled 20 points, a -17 rating and averaged 21:46 per game in 128 playoff games with Florida and New York. He’ll be working with the organization’s defense prospects in his development role, per Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post was first to report Staal’s retirement and development role with the Rangers.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Flyers Sign Eetu Makiniemi To PTO

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The Flyers will have some extra goaltending depth on hand at training camp.  The agency for Eetu Makiniemi, WD Sports and Entertainment, announced (Twitter link) that the netminder has accepted a PTO offer and will attend training camp with Philadelphia.  Team reporter Bill Meltzer relayed last week that the Flyers were interested in bringing Makiniemi to camp.

[Related: 2024 Professional Tryout Tracker]

The 25-year-old was originally drafted in the fourth round by Carolina in 2017 but after spending one year in their farm system, he was dealt to San Jose in 2022 as part of the Brent Burns trade.  Makiniemi spent the last two years in the Sharks’ system, primarily at the AHL level but he did make two appearances with the big club, putting up a 2.13 GAA and a .906 SV%.

Last season, Makiniemi played in 18 games with AHL San Jose, putting up a 3.14 GAA with a .900 SV%.  He also suited up for three contests with ECHL Wichita, posting a 3.39 GAA and a .907 SV% in those outings.  At the end of the contract, he became a Group Six unrestricted free agent.

There has been some uncertainty surrounding Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov who is believed to be seeking a return to the KHL for the upcoming season while the organization does not appear to be willing to loan him back.  Veteran Cal Petersen is expected to be the starter with AHL Lehigh Valley (assuming he clears waivers once again in training camp) while the Phantoms have added Keith Petruzzelli and re-signed Parker Gahagen to give themselves some insurance between the pipes.  Makiniemi will now try to play his way into that mix on what would likely ultimately be an AHL contract.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Tuomaala, Penguins

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The newest Ottawa Senators starter Linus Ullmark is reportedly getting comfortable in Ottawa. TSN’s Shawn Simpson shares that the former Vezina Trophy winner has purchased a home in the area and could begin discussing a contract extension soon. Ullmark is entering the final year of a four-year, $20MM contract signed with the Boston Bruins. He spent the deal emerging as one of the NHL’s premier goalies, posting a dazzling 88 wins and .924 save percentage across 130 games in Boston. But the emergence of Jeremy Swayman made Ullmark’s role expendable and the Bruins decided to sell high – sending him to Ottawa in exchange for a first-round pick, Joonas Korpisalo, and Mark Kastelic.

Ullmark now stands as the most promising Senators goalie in at least a few years. Korpisalo served as the team’s most recent starter and performed dismally, posting just 21 wins and an .890 save percentage in 55 games played. The performance was the peak of a string of struggling years for the Senators goaltending room, which has featured a different starter in every season since 2019-20. Ullmark will look to buck that trend this year by upholding his strong play under the scrutiny of the Canadian market.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Philadelphia Flyers prospect Samu Tuomaala shared in an interview with Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he almost retired from hockey two years ago – one year after his second-round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. He had worked his way up to the Liiga, Finland’s top league, but struggled to find much of a role, or much scoring. Those woes continued into the 2022-23 season and through moves across four Finnish teams – but Tuomaala ultimately managed just three points in 40 Liiga games. His struggles continued into the Mestis, Finland’s second-tier league, until Tuomaala was finally moved to Kettera, where he resurged with 46 points in 29 games. He rode that momentum into a rookie AHL season this past year, tallying an impressive 43 points in 69 games – good for third on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in scoring. The wind is clearly back behind Tuomaala’s sails and, at just 21, there’s still plenty of time for him to become a true top prospect. He’ll have a chance to prove that worth, and maybe even fight for an NHL debut, next season.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been shy about trades this offseason but they may still sit a few moves away from a compliant roster. Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now points out that the current lineup would force the Penguins to send multiple six-figure contracts down to the minor leagues. That’s a hefty investment – and is likely a prevalent thought as the team considers moving players like Lars Eller and Noel Acciari. Pittsburgh currently carries $874K in cap space, per PuckPedia.

Flyers Invite Two To Rookie Camp

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  • The Flyers have added a pair of prospects to their upcoming rookie camp roster. Jonathan Bailey of Philly Hockey Now relays that goaltender Sam Hillebrandt and forward Josh Zakreski will join them in September.  Hillebrandt had a 3.67 GAA with a .899 SV% in 36 games last season with OHL Barrie while serving as the third goalie for Team USA at the World Juniors.  Zakreski, meanwhile, is their lone undrafted invitee from July’s development camp to move on to rookie camp so far.  He had 21 goals and 28 assists in 68 games in 2023-24 with WHL Portland.

Flyers Place Ryan Johansen On Unconditional Waivers For Contract Termination

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Aug. 21: Johansen has cleared waivers, and the Flyers may terminate his contract, per Friedman. Johansen’s camp has up to 60 days to file a grievance.

Aug. 20: The Flyers announced they’ve placed center Ryan Johansen on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract following a “material breach.” Johansen is expected to clear waivers and file a grievance with the NHLPA following his termination, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Philadelphia acquired Johansen from the Avalanche before the trade deadline, taking on his reduced $4MM cap hit to provide relief in the deal that sent defenseman Sean Walker to Colorado. From the start, it was clear the Flyers never intended for Johansen to play a game for the club. The Flyers promptly waived Johansen after the trade in an attempt to send him to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms and potentially flip him before the deadline passed. But there were no takers, and days later, the league reversed Johansen’s AHL assignment after he failed his physical following the trade due to a nagging hip injury.

Johansen’s injury prevented him from being bought out by the Flyers in June, giving them a bit of a salary cap headache. That will be solved after he clears waivers tomorrow, and his termination will at least temporarily wipe his $4MM cap charge from Philly’s books. However, the Flyers may still be hit with a cap charge if his expected grievance proves successful.

His contract termination will also have an immense cap benefit for the Predators, who had retained 50% of his initial $8MM cap hit when they traded him to the Avalanche last summer. Their $4MM cap penalty for the retention will be wiped out, just as the Capitals’ $3.9MM cap charge for retaining money on Evgeny Kuznetsov was wiped out when the Hurricanes mutually terminated his contract a few weeks ago.

Johansen, 32, would have become an unrestricted free agent after next season upon completing the eight-year, $64MM deal he signed with Nashville in 2017.

The 2010 fourth-overall pick has struggled with inconsistency in the latter stages of his career, and Nashville decided to get out of half of his deal after he was limited to 12 goals, 16 assists, and 28 points with a -13 rating in 55 games in the 2022-23 season. The Avs, who had been struggling to fill their second-line center vacancy after Nazem Kadri departed in free agency following their Stanley Cup win in 2022, took him off Nashville’s hands.

Unfortunately for the Avalanche and Johansen alike, his play faltered even more in Denver. His offensive production dropped to 13 goals and 23 points in 63 games, with his 0.37 points per game marking his worst output in over a decade. He averaged 13:39 per game, his lowest figure since his rookie season. While he was still effective in the faceoff dot, winning 53.1% of his draws, he wasn’t the answer in Colorado.

The now-revealed injury likely contributed to his overall struggles. Friedman adds that his delay in reporting it is the source of the breach mentioned above.

Johansen will become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow after clearing waivers. He’ll technically be eligible to sign with any team, but he won’t be able to until he can pass a physical.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report Johansen had landed on waivers.

Latest On Ryan Johansen

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Ryan Johansen was placed on unconditional waivers this morning by the Philadelphia Flyers for the purposes of terminating his contract. Since the initial reporting more news has come out regarding the 32-year-old’s contract situation with the Flyers. Anthony DiMarco of Daily Faceoff tweeted that he’s hearing that Philadelphia feels that they have grounds to terminate the deal based on the alleged hip injury that Johansen reported after he cleared waivers in March and was sent to the AHL.

Johansen initially flew in to join Lehigh Valley shortly after the trade to the Flyers from the Colorado Avalanche in March and met with Phantoms doctors (as per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic). Not much is known about what was discussed at that time, but Johansen never dressed after that initial meeting. The injury caught Philadelphia off guard because Johansen had played in all of Colorado’s games leading up to the trade and was part of the Avalanche’s morning skate the day of the trade to Philadelphia.

Johansen’s agent Kurt Overhardt added to the intrigue by tweeting that Johansen has a severe hockey injury that will require surgery and the procedure is already scheduled for a future date. He also added that he was disappointed in Philadelphia’s decision and would work with the NHLPA to defend Johansen.

The Flyers reportedly intend to use the cap space if Johansen’s money comes off the books (as per DiMarco) but would need to keep that money available should Johansen’s grievance prove successful.

East Notes: Laine, Makiniemi, Sutter

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Patrik Laine has no reservations about his ability to return to being an impact player following yesterday’s trade to the Canadiens. “I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal-scorer. I want to come back as a 40, 50- (goal-scorer). I’ve done that previously and it’s not by accident,” he told reporters (including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers).

“But it’s not just all about that,” Laine continued. “I want to come in and do whatever it takes to contribute to the team and help the team win, whether it’s me scoring 50 or scoring 20, as long as the team wins. I’m getting to that age, I’m not 19 years old anymore. I just want to win.”

Regardless of what exact number he produces, Laine’s career-average 14.7% shooting rate should be a boon to a Montreal offense that’s finished in the league’s basement the last few years. He’s only hit the 40-goal plateau once in his sophomore season with Winnipeg in 2017-18, but he’s hit or been on pace for 30 goals five other times, often limited by injuries.

Elsewhere from the Eastern Conference:

  • Team official site contributor Bill Meltzer relays that the Flyers are interested in bringing in free-agent netminder Eetu Mäkiniemi for a professional tryout. Philadelphia already has a pair of netminders under contract slated for minor-league action this season in Alexei Kolosov and buried veteran Calvin Petersen. However, the former’s availability is uncertain amid his reported preference to return to Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk on loan. Mäkiniemi, 25, became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the last two seasons in the Sharks organization. He split last year between the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, posting a .900 SV% in 18 AHL contests and a .907 SV% in three ECHL games. The Finn was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2017 and found his way to San Jose in the 2022 Brent Burns trade.
  • The Rangers have hired Shaun Sutter as an amateur scout, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports. His familiar last name isn’t a coincidence – he’s the son of former Blues captain Brian Sutter and the nephew of Stanley Cup-winning head coach Darryl Sutter. The 44-year-old has spent the last 13 years with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, including the last 10 as an assistant/associate general manager. He’ll presumably stick to scouting the region he’s developed an innate familiarity with over the past decade-plus.

Metropolitan Notes: Kolosov, Bergeron, Vaisanen

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Flyers goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov’s status for next season remains in the air. Reports over the last month indicated that Kolosov had informed the team that he wouldn’t report to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, if assigned there in the fall. Those were later refuted by general manager Daniel Brière, who said the team had no confirmation about Kolosov’s desires for the 2024-25 campaign.

Early this morning, Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling reported that Kolosov had switched his representation, now being represented by Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein. He was previously represented by CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, who also represents Philly netminder Ivan Fedotov and likely Calder Trophy contender Matvei Michkov.

That was quickly followed up by a report from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz that Kolosov’s new camp, led by Milstein, is expected to meet with the Flyers later this week. A source tells Kurz that Kolosov does indeed wish to return to his native Belarus on loan this season to play for Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s played since 2020. The Flyers, who signed Kolosov to his entry-level contract in 2023, loaned Kolosov to Minsk last season, expecting him to play the final two years of his rookie deal in North America, either with the Phantoms or the Flyers.

Kurz says the plan hasn’t changed, and the Flyers aren’t interested in loaning Kolosov back to Minsk or terminating his contract. Philadelphia, whose NHL tandem is expected to consist of Fedotov and Samuel Ersson out of camp, could suspend Kolosov without pay if he refuses to report to Lehigh Valley upon assignment in the fall. Since the KHL now exists independently from the IIHF and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, there would be no sanctions against them if Kolosov signed a contract with Minsk in violation of his deal with the Flyers.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • The Blue Jackets have hired Chris Bergeron as an associate coach for the Cleveland Monsters, their AHL affiliate, the team announced today. He’s the replacement for Mike Haviland, who was promoted to the NHL bench earlier this month as an assistant under new head coach Dean Evason. An Ontario native, Bergeron sticks in the only state he’s ever known as a coach. The 53-year-old boasts a collegiate career spanning 24 years as an assistant with Miami University, a head coach with Bowling Green State University, and a second stint with Miami as head coach.
  • Penguins defense prospect Joona Väisänen has committed to Western Michigan University, the school announced. Pittsburgh selected Väisänen, 20, as an overage pick in the seventh round of this year’s draft. The puck-moving Finn is coming off his first season in North America, posting 40 points and a team-leading +31 rating in 53 games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The right-shot blue-liner will suit up for WMU as a freshman this fall.

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