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KHL’s Dinamo Minsk Signs Xavier Ouellet

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Dinamo Minsk, the lone Belarusian team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, announced the signing of defenseman Xavier Ouellet today. The French-born Canadian is a pending unrestricted free agent after completing a two-year, two-way deal with the Penguins.

Reports linked Ouellet to Minsk over the weekend. A second-round pick of the Red Wings back in 2011, the 30-year-old spent nearly a decade with them and the Canadiens before signing with Pittsburgh in free agency in 2022. He was placed on waivers to begin both seasons of his contract and spent the entirety of the deal on assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, not even landing an NHL call-up for injury insurance purposes.

As such, while Ouellet has been signed to an NHL contract every season since 2012-13, he hasn’t played in a major-league game since a six-game run with Montreal in 2020-21. He last avoided AHL assignment in 2017-18 with Detroit, serving as a bottom-pair/seventh defenseman for the Wings for a pair of campaigns. He’s made 178 total NHL appearances in parts of eight seasons, totaling five goals and 28 points with a -3 rating while averaging 16:07 per game.

He’d still played an important depth role for the Pens while a part of the organization, serving as an alternate captain with WBS for the past two seasons. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game in 2023 after posting 17 points in 29 games, but an injury ended his season after New Year’s. This season, he compiled 25 points with a +9 rating in 63 showings, finishing second to Ty Smith on the team in points from defensemen.

Ouellet now takes his services to Europe for the first time, assumedly on a one-year deal. Dinamo didn’t disclose the length of his contract. He links up with a handful of former minor-league mainstays in Minsk, including one-time leading point-getter Sam Anas, ex-Islanders center Tanner Fritz, and Flames pending Group 6 UFA defenseman Brady Lyle.

Evening Notes: Myers, Graves, Alfredsson

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Ben Kuzma of The Vancouver Province writes that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers is hoping to re-sign with the Canucks and remain in Vancouver. The 34-year-old had his best season in Vancouver, playing in a reduced role that saw him average less than 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career. The reduced playing time benefitted Myers and he posted five goals and 24 assists in 77 games which were his best numbers since his last year in Winnipeg back in 2018-19.

Kuzma writes that Myers is projected for a $3MM AAV on a three-year deal which would be much more palatable than the $6MM that Myers made this past season. If the Canucks can lock Myers up around that number it will allow them to pivot to their remaining free-agent defenseman Ian Cole, Filip Hronek, and Nikita Zadorov.

In other evening notes:

  • After a poor first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Graves became a lightning rod for criticism from fans of the team. Dan Kingerski writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be best to avoid buying out the remaining five years of the contract which would lead to an annual cost of $750K for the next ten years. Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas has stated in the past that he prefers trades to buyouts and given the season that Graves just had it would be nearly impossible to find a trade partner unless the Penguins agree to take back a bad contract. The Penguins have a need for a top-6 forward as well as some depth scoring on their bottom two lines and have just under $13MM in available cap space. Moving Graves would go a long way to opening up the room to maneuver, but given the circumstances, it seems likely that he will be with the team next season.
  • Ottawa Senators great Daniel Alfredsson is leaning towards returning to his assistant coaching role next season under new head coach Travis Green (as per Bruce Garrioch). The franchise’s all-time leading scorer was brought back to the franchise in a player-development role, but that role was changed when the Senators relieved previous head coach D.J. Smith of his duties. The Senators will have to fill out their coaching staff and have been linked to former NHL head coach Mike Yeo as well as former NHLer and current Manitoba Moose assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.

Brayden Yager Named CHL’s Sportsman Of The Year

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  • Penguins prospect Brayden Yager was named the CHL’s Sportsman of the Year today, per a league announcement. The 19-year-old was a first-round pick last year, going 14th overall.  Yager had a very strong year with Moose Jaw, notching 95 points along with just 20 penalty minutes in 57 regular season games.  He added 27 points in 20 playoff contests and is tied for second in Memorial Cup scoring with six points in four games.

Xavier Ouellet Linked To KHL

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Defenseman Xavier Ouellet has played 178 career NHL games so far along with 441 career appearances in the AHL.  However, it appears that he won’t be adding to those totals next season as Belarus Hockey relays that the blueliner is expected to sign with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL.  The 30-year-old was a full-time NHLer for a couple of years with Detroit but since then, he has primarily played in the minors.  Ouellet inked a two-year deal with the Penguins in 2022 and was expected to be a key veteran with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while being a capable recall when injuries arose.  However, injuries limited the pending unrestricted free agent considerably in 2022-23 and while he was healthier this season, he didn’t get a recall to Pittsburgh and wound up posting two goals and 23 assists in 63 minor league appearances.

John Snowden Linked To WBS For Coaching Vacancy

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  • At the AHL level, Anthony Di Marco of TheFourthPeriod reports that John Snowden has been heavily linked to the head coaching vacancy of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Snowden, currently serving as an assistant coach for the interstate Lehigh Valley Phantoms, has a connection to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ current General Manager, Kyle Dubas. Before his stint with the Phantoms, Snowden was an assistant coach for the Toronto Marlies during the last two years of Dubas’ tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

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Penguins Working To Hire Jaromír Jágr

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly working on hiring legendary winger Jaromír Jágr to their front office, shares Rob Rossi of The Athletic in an interview with Penguins’ President of Business Operations, Kevin Acklin. Acklin shared that the team is ready to enter a “new chapter” after Jágr’s retirement ceremony in February. The team has been working on recruiting Jágr ever since, recently making an extra push while visiting Prague for the World Championship.

Pittsburgh doesn’t yet have a clear idea of Jágr ’s role, though Acklin shared that it would center around Jágr spending most of his time in his hometown Kladno, Czechia. That’s where Jágr’s been since the 2017-18 season, serving as a player and owner for the Czechia Extraliga’s Rytíři Kladno. He’s continued defining his legacy with Kladno, elevating the team to the Czechia Extraliga in 2019, helping keep them afloat on the brink of relegation in 2022, and setting the record for the oldest player to score in professional competition with a goal in April. Jágr ’s age of 52 years and 63 days narrowly topped Gordie Howe’s long-standing record of 52 years and nine days.

Jágr’s return to Czechia has continued building out his memory as one of the greatest hockey players of all time – a legend he built across a 24-year career in the NHL. He played in 1,733 career NHL games – the fourth-most games played in NHL history – scoring 1,921 points, the most of any NHL player not named Wayne Gretzky. Jágr formed an all-time duo with Mario Lemieux in the first 11 seasons of his career, pitting the Penguins against the legacy lineups of the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings and leading the Penguins to two Stanley Cups. He was just as good when he kicked off a solo career around the NHL, playing with eight clubs in the final 13 years of his career, including four years with the New York Rangers. Jágr was productive until the very end, recording 16 goals and 46 points in the 2016-17 season, the most any NHL player 44 or older has scored or played in one season. He left the NHL following a knee injury in the subsequent season, taking his talents through the KHL before settling in Czechia. He continues to bring a positive impact to the lineup, recording four assists in 15 games during the regular-season and two points, one goal and one assist, in three postseason games.

The Penguins are now looking to reignite Jágr’s story in the NHL, while also solidifying their presence in central Europe. Acklin spoke gingerly about Jágr’s daily lift with the team, acknowledging just how busy his schedule has become in Czechia. Thus, Rossi acknowledges that Jágr would likely carry a minimal day-to-day role, adding that getting him in Pittsburgh just a few times a year would be a success for the Penguins. That could mean the legend is set for a modest scouting role, though Acklin praised Jágr’s understanding of the business side of the sport throughout Europe –  built up over his time with Kladno. No timeline has been laid out for Jágr’s return to the Penguins organization, and President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas will have a final say on what his exact role will be. But there’s no doubting that any return to Pittsburgh – and reunion with Mario Lemieux – would add yet another layer to Jágr’s neverending legacy in the hockey world.

Photos courtesy of USA Today.

Offseason Checklist: Pittsburgh Penguins

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The offseason has arrived for all but a handful of teams who are still taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into the 2023-24 season with playoff expectations after turning over nearly half of their roster last summer and acquiring reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. However, things didn’t go as planned as the power play and poor team defense were the Penguins’ undoing, leading them to miss the playoffs for a second straight season and just the third time since Sidney Crosby’s arrival in 2005. General manager Kyle Dubas made a lot of moves last summer after arriving from Toronto and has now had a full season to evaluate the team’s needs and how he can help get the group back into the playoff picture. The Penguins have one of the oldest rosters in the league and Dubas has expressed interest in getting younger which will make for a busy summer in Pittsburgh.

Extension Talks

The Penguins have plenty of holes to fill on their roster but all the talk over the next month will be about Crosby’s potential extension that he is eligible to sign on July 1st. It seems likely that the Penguins will be extending Crosby as both he and the team have expressed strong interest in him ending his career in Pittsburgh. Until that deal is done and sealed, the talk in Pittsburgh will be about the future of 87. Crosby had a season for the ages at 36 years old and could command any number he wanted on the open market. However, he has taken a hometown discount on each of his last two extensions and has had an $8.7MM average annual value since 2008-09. With his next deal, Crosby may finally elect to carry a cap hit north of $10MM for the first time in his career, although it wouldn’t be shocking to see him take less once again so the Penguins can add to their lineup. Much of the chatter has been about Crosby inking a short-term extension in July, one that could take him to the end of Kris Letang’s current contract.

The Penguins also have a few other players of note that will become extension-eligible on July 1st. Marcus Pettersson is the most defensively consistent player on the Penguins roster and has developed into a very effective shutdown defender for Pittsburgh. The 28-year-old posted career highs this past season tallying four goals and 26 assists while registering a plus-28 rating. He plays a quiet responsible game and has been asked to play alongside both Karlsson and Letang, leading to both players showing more effectiveness when paired with the big Swede. Karlsson struggled when he wasn’t paired with Pettersson and showed a noticeable decline when flanked by Ryan Graves. Pettersson is slated to make just $4.025MM in the final year of his five-year deal and could command upwards of $6MM on a long-term deal should he reach unrestricted free agency. The Penguins have reportedly already initiated contract talks with Pettersson, which makes sense given that they don’t have many effective defenders in their lineup. The team could explore a potential offseason trade, but it would leave a massive hole in their top four and provide another issue for Dubas to solve.

Drew O’Connor is another Penguins player who will be eligible for an extension this summer and is coming off a career year. The 25-year-old has been on the cusp of becoming an NHL regular for a number of years and finally lived up to the potential that many pundits thought he had when the Penguins signed him out of the NCAA back in March 2020. O’Connor had 16 goals and 17 assists in 79 games this season while finally using his speed and size to become a disruptive force on the Penguins forecheck. O’Connor spent the final few weeks of the regular season paired with Sidney Crosby and didn’t look out of place on the Penguins’ first line scoring six goals in the Penguins final 12 games. A contract extension with O’Connor would carry a great degree of risk, but plenty of upside as well depending on the version of O’Connor the Penguins could get long-term. He has proven himself to be a solid third-line winger on the Penguins, but if he were their answer on Crosby’s wing, it would open up an opportunity to extend him at a discount for the foreseeable future. At this stage it seems likely the Penguins will wait to see the kind of player that have in O’Connor this season before extending him long-term.

Add/Replace Depth Scoring

The Penguins don’t have many pending free agents as most of their top-end players are already signed for the 2024-25 season. However, they don’t have many impact players in the bottom of their lineup at the moment and desperately need to inject some offensively gifted players into their bottom-six forward group.

The Penguins don’t have much in the pipeline in terms of young NHL-ready forwards, but a few prospects could challenge for roles next season. Valtteri Puustinen appears ready for full-time NHL work and could see time on the Penguins’ third line, as well as recent trade acquisitions Ville Koivunen and Vasili Ponomarev, both of whom were acquired in the Jake Guentzel trade.

Last summer Dubas opted for a defensive first bottom six in hopes that the Penguins top six forwards could carry the weight offensively. While the likes of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Letang and Karlsson provided the offensive punch, the bottom six didn’t offer much help in the scoring department, particularly the fourth line that had several long stretches without a single goal. Lars Eller had a good season as the Penguins’ third-line center, but given his skill set and age he would probably be better suited as the Penguins’ fourth-line center, a move that would push current center Noel Acciari to the wing. 32-year-old Acciari struggled in his first year in Pittsburgh posting just four goals and three assists in 55 games and would benefit from an easier assignment on the wing. Acquiring a third-line center would have a positive ripple effect on the bottom two lines and could be enough to create some additional scoring throughout the Penguins lineup. Pittsburgh’s limited cap space will make an addition like that a challenge, but a few names to keep an eye on would be free agents Chandler Stephenson and Jack Roslovic.

If the Penguins are unable to add a third-line center, a speedy winger such as Anthony Duclair would be a good addition under head coach Mike Sullivan’s system.

Add Top-Six Winger

The Penguins will have roughly $13MM in cap space this summer when free agency opens and they have a need for another top-six winger, particularly if they trade Reilly Smith. The Penguins made a sound move in acquiring Smith last summer from the Vegas Golden Knights, however, the 33-year-old didn’t fit with Pittsburgh and struggled to 13 goals and 27 assists while playing primarily with Evgeni Malkin. If the Penguins are able to move Smith and his $5MM cap hit, it would open up a lot of options in free agency, or potentially the trade market.

A name that has been thrown around has been former Penguin Jake Guentzel who was Crosby’s running mate since breaking into the NHL in the 2016-17 season. Crosby and Guentzel have remarkable chemistry and in theory, the move is a no-brainer. However, the Penguins never fully engaged Guentzel on an extension when he was with the team and signing him would run against Dubas’ comments about the team getting younger.

Another potential reunion that would be available for the Penguins could be Jason Zucker who split last season between Arizona and Nashville. The 32-year-old had 14 goals and 18 assists in 69 games, a steep drop from his final season in Pittsburgh when he tallied 27 goals and 21 assists in 78 games. Zucker had good chemistry with Evgeni Malkin in his final season with the Penguins and his speed would be a good fit in Sullivan’s system.

Outside of former Penguins, one winger that Pittsburgh could target would be Jake DeBrusk of the Boston Bruins. DeBrusk is one of the younger free-agent wingers at just 27 years old and would be a great addition to Pittsburgh’s top-6 forward group. A solid two-way forward, DeBrusk had a down year this season posting just 19 goals and 21 assists in 80 games. The former first-round pick has the talent to be a 40-goal scorer in the NHL but has never topped 27 goals in a season, despite hitting the 25-goal mark on three separate occasions. DeBrusk could be a cheaper option for the Penguins to slide in alongside Sidney Crosby and could provide Crosby with a solid scoring winger during the twilight of his career.

Make The Goalie Splash

The Penguins coaching staff didn’t show much trust in starter Tristan Jarry down the stretch as backup netminder Alex Nedeljkovic started Pittsburgh’s final 13 games and nearly willed the club into the playoffs. Nedeljkovic steadied the Penguins goaltending situation at the end of the season but is a pending unrestricted free agent and likely priced himself out of Pittsburgh with his solid play down the stretch. That leaves Jarry and youngster Joel Blomqvist as the Penguins’ top two options heading into next season and could become a real issue as the Penguins look to get back to the playoffs.

Jarry was signed to a five-year deal last July in a move that was a necessity for the Penguins since there weren’t many better goaltending options available. The 29-year-old started the season well and had some solid stretches of play, but overall, his numbers were pedestrian as he finished the season 19-25-5 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Jarry remains a talented netminder and could probably generate some interest on the trade market but he has a history of playing poorly when the games matter the most and also has a long injury history as well.

Dubas has stated that the Penguins could start next season with Jarry and Blomqvist as their top two netminders but haven’t exactly shown a lot of confidence in Jarry given his lack of play in April of this past season. If the Penguins do opt to move on from Jarry it would not be easy as goaltender trades have been complicated in recent seasons as evidenced by the Flames’ inability to move netminder Jacob Markstrom. The Penguins could look to swap contracts with another club that has a struggling goaltender or attempt to go after a bigger fish such as 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, but that would require additional resources that Dubas may not be willing to commit.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ludovic Waeber Signs With NL’s EHC Kloten

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Swiss netminder Ludovic Waeber is returning home after making a brief go of it in North America. He’s signed a two-year deal with EHC Kloten of the National League, the team confirmed Friday.

Waeber, 27, was a free-agent pickup by the Panthers last June, signing a one-year, two-way deal. While he’d been one of the better netminders in the NL for the past few seasons, he was never in contention to land an NHL spot over Spencer Knight or Anthony Stolarz and was solely expected to serve as injury depth.

Even on the farm, Waeber struggled, posting a .887 SV% in 15 games with AHL Charlotte. He was briefly assigned to the ECHL, where he allowed five goals on 16 shots in his lone outing with the Florida Everblades.

With Florida looking to shore up its goaltending depth at the minor-league level, Waeber was sent to the Penguins along with a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick in exchange for the more proven Magnus Hellberg, who has 26 games of NHL experience under his belt as well. Waeber demonstrated improvement after the swap with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, logging 1.78 GAA and .919 SV% with one shutout in four appearances, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the Penguins organization or in North America at all.

The Penguins will not retain Waeber’s rights moving forward, as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It’s likely the last we see of Waeber, who had a .918 SV% and 11 shutouts across 97 games with ZSC Lions in the three seasons prior to signing with the Panthers, on this side of the Atlantic.

Waeber is expected to slot into the starting role for Kloten next season, with 34-year-old Sandro Zurkirchen backing up. Unlike many other NL teams, Kloten doesn’t have anybody on the roster with NHL experience.

Penguins Sign Jonathan Gruden, Filip Kral To New Contracts

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Shortly after news broke that the Pittsburgh Penguins are keeping defenseman Jack St. Ivany in the organization for the next three seasons, two similar signings were announced. The team has signed forward Jonathan Gruden to a two-year extension worth $775K, as well as defenseman Filip Kral to a one-year contract for the same amount.

Much like St. Ivany, Gruden was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, going 95th overall to the Ottawa Senators. A little over two years later, without having played a game in the Senators organization, Ottawa traded Gruden with a second-round pick in 2020 to the Penguins in exchange for goaltender Matt Murray.

Primarily serving as organizational depth at the forward position, Gruden just completed his fourth season at the professional level, but largely played with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Since officially joining the team in the 2020-21 season, Gruden has suited in 208 games for WBS, managing 45 goals and 96 points up to this point.

In Pittsburgh, the team has kept a very tight leash on Gruden, allowing him to play 16 games but limiting him to an average of 8:03 of ice time. Much like he did during the 2023-24 NHL season, Gruden should once again serve as injury insurance for the Penguins, with a majority of his games coming at the AHL level.

After suiting up in two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2022-23 regular season, Kral spent last season playing for the Lahti Pelicans in the Finnish Liiga. Over 46 games, Kral scored five goals and 37 points, which led all defensemen on the team in both assists and points. After a quality season overseas, General Manager Kyle Dubas brings another former Toronto player into the Penguins organization.

Penguins Sign Jack St. Ivany To Three-Year Extension

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According to a team announcement, the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a three-year contract, paying St. Ivany an AAV of $775K at the NHL level. The contract will keep the young defenseman in the only organization he has ever known until the end of the 2026-27 NHL season.

Originally drafted with the 112th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Ivany opted to forego signing his entry-level contract with the Penguins’ interstate rivals, and instead continue his playing career at the collegiate level. Totaling 115 games played split between Yale University and Boston College during his tenure in the NCAA, St. Ivany put up 12 goals and 60 points in total.

The California native would wait until well into the offseason of the 2022-23 NHL season before finally inking his entry-level deal with the Penguins. Since then, St. Ivany has appeared in 117 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with another 14 coming in Pittsburgh, scoring 23 and 1 point, respectively.

Over the life of the new contract, St. Ivany should still regularly factor in at the top of the depth chart at the AHL level, serving as injury insurance at the top level with the Penguins. However, if St. Ivany were to have a productive training camp this upcoming September, he could earn a spot on the team’s bottom pairing.

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