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Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Niclas Almari

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially signed Niclas Almari to a three-year entry-level contract. The 20-year old defenseman has played in Finland’s Liiga for the last several years, but is now expected to come to North America and compete for a spot on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Assistant GM Bill Guerin released a statement on the signing:

Since we drafted Niclas he has developed exactly how we want our prospects to progress, at a steady incline. Each year, he has continued to get better. When we drafted him, he was playing big minutes for his junior team. Niclas eventually graduated to Finland’s top league, getting his feet wet by playing a secondary role before assuming major minutes for eventual league champion HPK this year.

Now we feel he is ready to come over to North America and contribute. As is the case with any young player that we bring over, we want to manage expectations his first year and put Niclas in a position to succeed.

Almari was a fifth-round pick of the Penguins in 2016, and as Guerin points out has found more and more success each season since. This season he recorded just five points in 42 regular season games, but will leave Finland with a league title under his belt. That playoff experience will be invaluable as he tries to make the jump to the North American professional ranks, a challenge that will test his offensive ceiling. His low point totals in Finland shouldn’t necessarily discount that ability, though in order to reach the NHL he’ll have to at least be able to move the puck quickly and effectively out of his own end.

If Pittsburgh can squeeze some production out of Almari it would be a huge development for their 2016 draft class. No one has yet cracked the NHL from that group, and the one perhaps the closest, goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson, was traded to the Ottawa Senators last season. The lack of impact draft picks for Pittsburgh over the last several years is a big part of why the team is so active in the college and international free agent markets, but it would be more helpful if they could hit on a few of these mid or late-round selections. Since 2013, Jake Guentzel and Dominik Simon are the only Pittsburgh draft picks to have suited up for at least 100 games with the Penguins. Tristan Jarry, Kasperi Kapanen (who was traded) and Daniel Sprong (also traded) are the only other players to have even played in the NHL.

Vancouver Canucks Will Not Qualify Derrick Pouliot

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The deadline to make qualifying offers to restricted free agents is still more than six weeks away, but the Vancouver Canucks have given one of their impending RFA’s an early heads up. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the team has informed defenseman Derrick Pouliot and his representation that they will not qualify him this off-season. As a result, Pouliot will now be an unrestricted free agent this summer, free to sign with any team he likes.

This move is both surprising and unsurprising all at once. On one hand, Pouliot’s name is still associated with youth and upside. On the other, he has never lived up to his expectations and that “youth and upside” may have very well passed him by. The 25-year-old was the 8th overall pick in 2012 by the Pittsburgh Penguins and dominated the junior level with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks before turning pro. In his first two pro seasons, Pouliot split his time between playing for the Penguins and putting up major numbers with their AHL affiliate and looked to be on the verge of a breakout in Pittsburgh. Instead, the 2016-17 season was a major disappointment; Pouliot was held scoreless in just 11 NHL games and his production dropped off in the minors as well. The Penguins dealt him to the Canucks that off-season in exchange for a mere fourth-round pick and Andrey Pedan, who never played a game in Pittsburgh and has since bolted for the KHL. Pouliot was handed a starting role in Vanouver last year and responded with a strong campaign. He set career highs across the board, recording 22 points in 71 games and playing second-pair minutes. He even showed he could be an adept shot blocker, knocking down 118 shots despite never previously displaying any ability in that area. However, just like in Pittsburgh, when Pouliot seemed primed to take the next step, it was instead a step backward. This year, he played in only 62 games, registered only 12 points, and saw his ice time and defensive responsibility cut back.

Likely contributing to the decision to move on from Pouliot is also the influx of young talent on the blue line in the Canucks’ system. With Pouliot stalling in his development, the team probably figured they would be better off using the roster space elsewhere. Heading into 2019-20, the Canucks will have ample competition for jobs even without Pouliot. Calder hopeful Quinn Hughes will lead a young unit that could include fellow top pick Olli Juolevi, undrafted free agents Mitch Eliot, Brogan Rafferty, and Josh Teves, mainstays Troy Stecher, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, and Alex Biega, and AHL standouts Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois, and that’s not even including unrestricted free agents Alexander Edler and Luke Schenn, both of whom would like to re-sign. There’s too many cooks in the kitchen as there is, so it makes sense that the Canucks have decided to move on from a player they feel was given a fair shot and didn’t make the most of it.

Pouliot isn’t in danger of being dismissed by every other NHL team though. On a Vancouver club that was not very good during his tenure, Pouliot still put up respectable offensive numbers and showed more of his defensive game than he did in Pittsburgh. Still a high-end skater who is only 25, it seems likely that there will be plenty of teams lining up this summer to give Pouliot another chance. This may be the last time that his name value helps him out however, especially after a down year, so look for Pouliot to choose a team where there is both a clear path to ice time, but also enough protection that he can continue to grow and round out his game without being overexposed.

Mike Babcock To Return As Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach

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Despite plenty of fans calling for his head, and some recent speculation given his connection with Ken Holland, Mike Babcock will be the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20. Bob McKenzie of TSN spoke to Toronto GM Kyle Dubas, who gave a full vote of confidence to his head coach:

We’re all in on Mike and Mike is all in on us. We’ve had productive management meetings as an organization and Mike and I have had some really good meetings as well since the season ended. It’s our very strong belief Mike is the one to lead us, that’s the reality of it.

Babcock, 56, still has four years left on his eight-year deal with the Maple Leafs, one which pays him $6.25MM per season. That kind of commitment wasn’t made without considerable faith in the veteran head coach, and won’t be dismissed so easily.

Speculation started when the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the first round for the third consecutive season, and Dubas refused to guarantee the coaching staff would be back, instead deflecting the question and explaining that everyone from the top down would be evaluated. It still would have been very surprising to see Toronto move on, given the growth they’ve experienced since Babcock joined the team.

Hired in 2015, the former Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings head coach promised pain to the fan base when he joined the club given the state of the team at the time. The Maple Leafs finished last in the NHL during that first season and won the draft lottery for the chance to select Auston Matthews, before immediately surprising the league in Babcock’s sophomore season. Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and other rookies carried the team to the playoffs where they showed plenty of fight against the Washington Capitals, only to lose in six games. Two consecutive seven-game series against the Boston Bruins followed, but the Maple Leafs eclipsed the 100-point mark in each year.

The vote of confidence in Babcock did not extend one way or the other to the assistant coaches, which is important to note given the presence of a Dubas hire sitting in the minor leagues. Sheldon Keefe, who worked with Dubas with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, has the Toronto Marlies undefeated in the Calder Cup playoffs and looking like they might repeat as AHL champions. Keefe could be a potential option for several coaching vacancies around the league, which only fueled the speculation around Babcock further.

Snapshots: Jonsson-Fjallby, Ferschweiler, Penguins

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The Washington Capitals have assigned Axel Jonsson-Fjallby to the Hershey Bears, after his Swedish club recently failed to capture the SHL title. Jonsson-Fjallby continued his development in Sweden this season despite having already signed his entry-level contract with Washington, but will now join Hershey as they try to climb out of their 0-2 hole in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

The 21-year old forward actually played 16 games with the Bears this season before exercising his European Assignment Clause to force a loan back to Sweden. His regular season with Djurgardens wasn’t exceptional, but the fifth-round pick exploded in the playoffs with seven goals and 12 points in 19 games and should be returning to North America with quite a bit of confidence in his offensive game.

  • Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the Detroit Red Wings have not renewed the contract of assistant coach Pat Ferschweiler, meaning head coach Jeff Blashill will have a new face on the bench this season. Ferschweiler had been with Detroit since 2015-16 when Blashill was promoted to the NHL job, but with Steve Yzerman now in as GM there was always likely to be some changes to the organization.
  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have announced a principle agreement on a 10-year arena lease extension, meaning to keep the franchise in Northeast Pennsylvania for the next decade. The team has been the primary AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins since they debuted in 1999 and have experienced nearly unparalleled regular season success. When the team missed the Calder Cup playoffs this season it marked the end of a 16-year run of qualifying for the postseason, and just the third time in team history that they had missed. Despite all of that success, the team is still looking for their first league title.

Penguins’ Liam Gorman Commits To Princeton University

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The Princeton University Tigers received some major news today, as Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Liam Gorman announced that he had committed to join the program for next season. The big power forward will join a roster that did not feature any NHL draft picks this past season and lost several veteran leaders, and could immediately step into a top role as a freshman.

Gorman, who turns 19 this week, was a sixth-round pick by the Penguins last year out of St. Sebastian’s School in Massachusetts. The Boston-area native returned to St. Sebastian’s for one more year as the team’s captain and senior leader, but played through the whole season without making a decision on his NCAA future. In the meantime, he helped to grow his own game while playing a key role for a talented St. Sebastian’s squad. On one of the more talented teams at the New England prep school level this year, Gorman played alongside highly-regarded 2019 draft-eligible defenseman Jayden Struble, Boston University commit Liam Connolly, and uber-talented 15-year-old Jack Hughes. Gorman was the glue guy though – a 6’3″, two-way center who works hard and using his big frame to win battles and create offense.

Princeton hopes that he can bring that game to the college level right away next season. Outside of a surprise ECAC Tournament championship in 2018, it has been a decade since the Tigers were a presence on the national scale. Even with recently-signed NHLers Ryan Kuffner and Max Veronneau on the roster, Princeton still finished ninth in the conference and now have to deal with the loss of their top two scorers. They hope that Gorman, who is undoubtedly the highlight of the incoming recruiting class, can help make up for those losses and take the program on that first step back toward relevance during his tenure. Playing at the home of Hobey Baker himself, the pressure will be on the Penguins prospect to be a difference-maker, but with his size, strength, and mature game, Gorman should be ready to handle the expectations.

Penguins Notes: Malkin, Kessel, Maatta

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Even in a year in which the Pittsburgh Penguins were swept out of the first round, they somehow are still creating headlines deep into the playoffs. As wild card teams battle for a chance at the Stanley Cup, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is sitting back dissecting what went wrong this year and how to change things for 2019-20. This week’s 31 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman starts out with a discussion of the Penguins, specifically addressing the Evgeni Malkin rumors that have popped up once again. Friedman put it this way:

I did get a call last night from somebody who has heard the rumors, and he thinks that they are not media make-up. He thinks they are legit. Malkin didn’t have a great year. He wasn’t up to Malkin standards. And [this source] is wondering if they’re trying to rattle [Malkin’s] cage a little bit. Just to say, “you know Evgeni, last year wasn’t you. We want you to be you,” and maybe this is a way of doing it. Malkin has a no-movement clause, and the word is he’s at least thinking about would he agree [to waive it]. 

It seems that there have been Malkin trade rumors after every season that didn’t end in a Pittsburgh Stanley Cup, and this year appears to be no different. The important part to note is that no-movement clause however, as the 32-year old center controls his own destiny. Malkin is under contract for three more seasons with a $9.5MM cap hit, and and recorded 72 points in 68 games this season.

Before getting into Malkin, Friedman slips in a note on another Penguins superstar:

The Penguins are contemplating some major changes. I think it is very likely that [Phil] Kessel is traded regardless.

Kessel, 31, has strong trade protection in his contract as well. The former Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs forward submits an eight-team list that he can be traded to, limiting where the Penguins could send him without his blessing. The enigmatic winger had another outstanding offensive season recording 82 points and played in every game for the ninth consecutive year. He has three years left on his current contract, but since the Maple Leafs are still retaining $1.2MM of it he comes with a cap hit of just $6.8MM.

When the conversation turns to the Penguins blue line and the now infamous comments by Rutherford on the strength of his defense right now, the obvious center of discussion is Kris Letang. The offensive defenseman put up 56 points in 65 games this season and is under contract for three more years. Interestingly though it is another Penguins defenseman that Friedman dishes some information on:

I’ve been told that [Olli] Maatta’s trade value is very low. They’ve tried to do that for a while, and it hasn’t gone anywhere. So, we’ll see.

Maatta ended up a healthy scratch in the playoffs this season for the Penguins, and finished with just 14 points on the year. His foot speed has been questioned in the past, but the 24-year old is just a few years removed from signing a six-year, $24.5MM extension after looking like a core piece through the first part of his career. Still, he remains a likely candidate to be moved if the Penguins are really shaking things up this offseason.

Pittsburgh Penguins Extend Thomas DiPauli

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Tuesday: The Penguins have officially announced the contract.

Monday: Jim Rutherford and his Pittsburgh Penguins got an earlier start to this postseason than they would have liked, but they are using the extra time to their advantage. In the midst of swirling trade rumors, the team has now made three signings since their playoff exit, the latest of which has come to light this evening. According to CapFriendly, the Penguins have re-signed forward Thomas DiPauli to a one-year, two-way extension. DiPauli is set to make the new 2019-20 minimum salary of $700K at the NHL level and $100K at the AHL level, with $135K guaranteed. The AHL numbers are a slight raise from this past season, but come in just under those of fellow minor league forward Joseph Cramarossa, who re-upped with the Penguins on Thursday.

The new deal for DiPauli prevents the young forward from leaving this off-season. DiPauli, who celebrates his 25th birthday today, just narrowly qualified as a Group 6 unrestricted free agent as a player of age 25 or older who has completed three or more seasons of pro hockey without playing in a total of 80 NHL games. In fact, DiPauli has played in zero NHL games thus far, due largely in part to struggling with long-term injuries suffered in two of his three pro seasons. Yet, the shifty forward showed enough in just 29 AHL games this season to earn a new contract, registering 15 points and a +6 rating for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

DiPauli, a native of Italy who also holds American citizenship, originally came to the Penguins as a college free agent in 2016. A fourth-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2012, the U.S. National Team Develop Program product played four years at the University of Notre Dame and starred alongside promising prospects like Boston’s Anders Bjork and Montreal’s Jake Evans. Following his senior year, DiPauli opted not to sign with the Capitals, instead holding out until August to sign with the rival Penguins. There were some expectations that DiPauli could crack the Pittsburgh lineup in year one and become yet another quick, versatile forward who could excel in the Penguins system. Perhaps that role is still on the horizon, as the Penguins seemed determined to keep DiPauli around despite his lack of impact at the NHL level thus far.

2019 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced

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The finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the player most valuable to his team, have been announced. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the three finalists are Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid.

Kucherov is considered to be a favorite for the award after putting up a tremendous year. The 25-year-old took his game to another level as he has already captured this year’s Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in total points. He finished the year with 41 goals and 128 points, the most in the league since the 1995-96 season. His totals are also the most-ever by a Russian-born NHL player. Kucherov has also been nominated for the Ted Lindsay Award, awarded to the most outstanding player and voted on by the players. Kucherov led his team to the Presidents’ Trophy, given to the team with the best regular-season record.

Crosby had an impressive season as well. Often forgotten when talking about the league’s best players, Crosby helped lead the Penguins to the playoffs this year and did it by breaking the 100-point mark for the first time in five years. On top of that, he was 18-points better than any other players on his team, making his season quite valuable for a Pittsburgh franchise that struggled to get into the playoffs this season.

McDavid’s name is not surprising either, other than the fact that the Edmonton Oilers didn’t have a very impressive season and while they weren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs until late in the season, they were never truly considered to be a playoff threat this season. In fact, McDavid is just the sixth player in NHL history to be a Hart finalist from a non-playoff team. McDavid, however, who won the Hart Trophy in the 2016-17 season when he tallied 30 goals and 100 points, continues to improve on each season as he tallied 41 goals and 116 points to reach new career highs.

Several interesting players were left off the finalist list as well, including Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane.

 

Maple Leafs’ Off-Season On Hold Until Mitch Marner Decision

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With over $74MM tied up in 17 players heading into next season, none of whom are young star winger Mitch Marner, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in for a tough summer. It is clear that signing Marner is “priority one”, but what Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston points out is that in terms of not just importance, but also time. Speaking with Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, there was an understanding that Toronto cannot do much this off-season prior to signing Marner (or else moving him):

Without an answer on Mitch, we’re going to kind of be in a stalemate, right? It is a top priority because we’re not going to jump around and chew up our cap space that we may need for Mitch with fringe signings, either. It’s important. We’ve just got to get to work on it and get it done… It’s a tough process. It’s long, and just don’t expect anything to get done nice and smoothly. It’s always a battle.

Dubas has been adamant that the team will need to resolve the Marner situation by July 1st, one way or another, and for good reason. Following another early playoff exit, the team is hoping to improve this off-season and the free agent market, which opens on that date, will be one of their main opportunities. However, as Dubas notes, the team cannot make even fringe additions until Marner is signed and their salary cap status is clear. The team is expected to lose defenseman Jake Gardiner, but more affordable extensions with the likes of Ron Hainsey, Tyler Ennis, and Michael Hutchinson remain possible, yet harder to get done once those players hit the open market.

One other way to solve the cap crisis is via trade, but even that route is risky without clarity on Marner. While fans may prefer to see the likes of Nikita Zaitsev, Nazem Kadri, or Connor Brown dealt away, it is Marner’s RFA brethren Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson who will carry more value on the trade market. Just like their UFA counterparts in Toronto, Dubas and company cannot re-sign Kapanen and Johnsson – who are due substantial raises of their own – without first knowing the details on Marner. The team would also be taking a major risk by trading either one in hopes of creating the space needed for Marner, as failure to get the star forward signed regardless would leave them down two young scoring assets.

Johnston writes that offer sheets – often an over-hyped false reality anyway – are the least of the Leafs’ worries. Not only would the team have the right to match any offer made to Marner, but a deal large enough to lure him away from his hometown team would likely net Toronto four first-round picks. That price could be worth giving Marner up, if any team actually had the audacity to make such a move.

There seems to be mutual benefit between Marner and the Maple Leafs in getting a new deal done. However, only Toronto has a time crunch to manage, while Marner can hold out for his best possible deal, as he has every right to do. It seems like the Leafs won’t possibly be able to sign Marner without first moving out some salary, so if any move can occur before a Marner extension, expect it to be a cap dump by Dubas. Otherwise, prepare for a quiet couple of months in Toronto until this situation can be resolved.

Eastern Notes: Zaitsev, Niskanen, Mayfield, Komarov

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After another disappointing exit for the Toronto Maple Leafs, in which the team lost in a Game 7 to the rival Boston Bruins, has left the team with nothing more than an off-season to look forward to for the remainder of the year, many expect changes to be made to an already strong, but flawed roster.

The Athletic’s Ian Tulloch (subscription required) grades out each player for the season, breaking down who were the elite players on the team and who struggled throughout the season. While it’s no surprise that the Maple Leafs problems often centered on their defense, Tulloch points out that both Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey fell into the underwhelming category. Zaitsev, in particular, struggles to get the puck up the ice which often puts him constantly on the defensive, hence why his defensive numbers are so weak. Although his play has improved since being paired up with Jake Muzzin, Tulloch believes that Muzzin has been carrying him. The scribe adds that the Maple Leafs must find a way to rid themselves of Zaitsev’s contract, which will be critical for general manager Kyle Dubas.

Of course, that’s a tall task for Dubas as the underachieving defenseman has five more years on his contract at $4.5MM AAV and a modified no-trade clause kicking in this coming season, meaning that Toronto will have to give up something significant to a team that is willing to take on his salary.

  • In a playoff report card for the Washington Capitals, The Athletic’s Chris Kuc (subscription required) grades out the defensive combination of Matt Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov with C’s, suggesting that while neither defenseman hurt the team with their play, neither blue liner helped the team either. In fact, Kuc points out that at age 32, Niskanen is beginning to show signs of slowing down, compared to last year, and a sudden lack of jump could set the franchise back if he can’t return to form next season. Niskanen still has two years remaining on his deal at a $5.75MM AAV.
  • Newsday’s Andrew Gross writes that there is nothing to worry about after defenseman Scott Mayfield and forward Leo Komarov did not practice Saturday. Head coach Barry Trotz said that both players received maintenance days, but are expected to play in Game 2 of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Komarov has a goal and an assist in five playoff games so far. Mayfield has averaged more than 20 minutes in his last two playoff games.

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