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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.

Flyers' Austin Moline Commits To Colorado College

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  • Flyers defense prospect Austin Moline announced his commitment to Colorado College today, per an announcement from his junior team, the USHL’s Madison Capitols. Moline, 18, was a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft out of Shattuck St. Mary’s, where he had 41 points (11 goals, 30 assists) in 71 games for the prep school. The Las Vegas native already has immense size at 6’5″ and 201 lbs, which will be one of the biggest factors in getting him to the NHL someday. He’ll make the jump to Madison this season before heading off to Colorado Springs for his freshman year in 2025-26.

Keith Petruzzelli Signed To AHL Deal With Lehigh Valley

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  • Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley officially announced the previously reported signing of goaltender Keith Petruzzelli to a one-year deal.  The 24-year-old was originally a prospect of Detroit but didn’t sign with them, instead inking a minor-league deal with Toronto, one that was eventually elevated to an entry-level pact.  Last season, Petruzzelli played in 17 games with the AHL’s Marlies, posting a 3.55 GAA and a .867 SV%, resulting in him being non-tendered in late June.  With there being some uncertainty surrounding Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov’s plans for the upcoming season, Petruzzelli will serve as some insurance between the pipes.

Pennsylvania Notes: Crosby, Drysdale, Bernard, Sedley

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Penguins fans are still waiting on confirmation that Sidney Crosby has signed an extension. Early last month, Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported that a three-year deal in the $10MM AAV range was close to being finalized, but nothing came across the wire. Speculation then ran rampant that he might ink a deal to keep him in Pittsburgh past this season on his birthday, Aug. 7, but that date also came and went without any news.

It’s a situation that has the potential to cast a dark cloud over the Penguins’ season if Crosby remains without a new contract when training camp begins, Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes. “This isn’t good for ticket sales,” Yohe opines. “It’s not good for corporate sponsorships. That lack of buzz around the Penguins right now is deafening, but it grows a little louder every day that passes without Crosby signing a new deal. He’s the Penguins’ heartbeat. He keeps the organization financially stable.”

Aside from the lack of any recent news, there’s no real indication that the relationship between Crosby’s camp and the Penguins’ front office, led by general manager Kyle Dubas, has fractured in the slightest. Both sides have still maintained constant public messaging that signing an extension is their top priority. The 37-year-old is still the team’s most impactful player by a wide margin, coming off a 42-goal, 94-point season in 2023-24.

More notes out of the Keystone State:

  • The Flyers are entering their first full season with defenseman Jamie Drysdale in tow. The 22-year-old defenseman was one half of a blockbuster swap with the Ducks last January, heading to Philly in exchange for the signing rights to 2022 fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier. After again struggling to stay in the lineup last season due to injuries, Drysdale enters a make-or-break 2024-25 campaign that will likely set the tone for the rest of his tenure with the Flyers, Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports writes (subscription required).
  • The Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, have signed Xavier Bernard and Sam Sedley to contracts for the 2024-25 campaign, per a team announcement. Bernard, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2018 but never signed his entry-level contract. He’s spent the past few seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL, most recently in the Oilers organization with the Bakersfield Condors and Fort Wayne Komets. He spent nearly all of 2023-24 in the ECHL with Fort Wayne, where the 6’4″ left-shot had 16 points, 92 PIMs and a +23 rating in 64 games. Sedley, meanwhile, is entering his first professional season after five years with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. The 21-year-old had been invited to multiple Flyers rookie camps in the past. The diminutive right-shot defender led Owen Sound defensemen in scoring last year with 63 points in 64 games.

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