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Alex Newhook

East Notes: Parise, Tatar, Romanov, Newhook

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One player who will not be at the New York Islanders training camp this September is veteran forward, Zach Parise. In April, Parise was adamant about returning to the Islanders for his 19th season in the NHL but appeared to become more uncertain once the 2022-23 season reached its conclusion.

General Manager of the Islanders, Lou Lamoriello believes that this isn’t the end for Parise, indicating that Zach is taking a bit more time to spend with his family to cap off the summer months. In the article, Lamoriello states, “I think he made the right decision for his family, and then we’ll just keep the door open for him. And as I said to him, we’ll keep the number (No. 11) open, too“.

Including his career resurgence with the Islanders following an unceremonious end to his career with the Minnesota Wild, Parise is a veteran of 1224 NHL games, scoring 429 goals and 450 assists in an 18-year career spent with the Islanders, Wild, and New Jersey Devils. Although still an unrestricted free agent, if Parise does choose to continue playing, it is a guarantee it will be in New York, following a similar career path as his late father, J.P. Parise.

Other news from the Eastern Conference:

  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that unrestricted free agent forward, Tomas Tatar, has switched agents following a tumultuous time on the open market. In the same report, Friedman also indicated that Tatar is leaning towards signing with a team from the Eastern Conference. There has been some recent indication there was mutual interest between Tatar and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it appears the Penguins will go in a different direction. Another team in the Eastern Conference that does have a bit of cap space and an opportunity in their middle-six for more scoring would be the Ottawa Senators.
  • Another report coming out of New York is that defenseman Alexander Romanov may not be ready for training camp following an offseason shoulder surgery shortly after the Islanders playoffs came to an end in late April. The report indicates that even if he is not ready for the start of training camp, Romanov is very close to returning at the very least. Becoming another solid shut-down defenseman on the Islanders’ blue line, Romanov would score two goals and 20 assists in his first full season last year, as well as adding an incredible amount of physicality to the back end.
  • The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, has a lot of confidence in one of the newest members of the organization, forward Alex Newhook. Speaking to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, St. Louis indicated that he did not watch much film on Newhook, believing he did not want to judge Newhook based on his last season playing for the Colorado Avalanche (X Link). One of the most important quotes from St. Louis, which should provide a lot of confidence for Newhook heading into a new environment is when he said, “So, to me, what I’m really happy about is I feel we’ve got a hockey player, I don’t think I’m getting a kid who plays hockey, and there’s a big difference“.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Alex Newhook

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The Montreal Canadiens have gotten a deal worked out for their big trade addition this offseason. After nabbing the signing rights to former first-round pick Alex Newhook via trade from the Colorado Avalanche last month, the team’s now inked him to a four-year contract with an average annual value of $2.9MM. CapFriendly reports the breakdown of the deal as follows:

2023-24: $3.5MM salary
2024-25: $3.3MM salary
2025-26: $2.7MM salary
2026-27: $2.1MM salary

Newhook will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this semi-long-term commitment, given he’s still just 22 years old and has only two full seasons of pro experience. This is the longest contract possible for Newhook without surrendering his signing rights at the end – a five-year deal would have walked him directly to unrestricted free agency in 2028.

While Newhook may not have taken the step forward most hoped for in Colorado last season, a $2.9MM cap hit is still fair value for his services, even if he doesn’t pan out as hoped with the Canadiens. The 2019 16th overall pick played in all 82 games for the Avalanche last season but posted just 14 goals, 16 assists, and 30 points despite being given top-six minutes to start the season. He’d later fall down the depth chart in favor of J.T. Compher, who earned himself a payday in free agency by signing a five-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

As it stands right now, Newhook is a fine third-line center whose game translates to the wing rather seamlessly. The contract may be a slight overpay based on last year’s performance, but it could be a significant bargain in a couple of years should he approach his ceiling – a bonafide top-six playmaking center.

Newhook projects to fit in somewhere among Montreal’s second or third lines, although predicting line combinations at this stage in the offseason isn’t a prudent exercise given the team’s backlog among forwards of depth veterans and up-and-comers alike. It does seem likely he’ll start the season on the wing, however, unless the team pursues trading someone like Christian Dvorak.

RFA Notes: Frost, Dellandrea, Newhook

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With fewer and fewer of the top unrestricted free agents still left on the open market, the focus in some markets has shifted from who teams will be bringing in this offseason to what sort of contracts their restricted free agents might receive. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of those teams, and The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported today on Twitter that contract talks with restricted free agent center Morgan Frost “are ’positive’ and progressing.”

Frost, 24, set himself up extremely well for this summer’s negotiations with a breakout 2022-23 campaign. He flew past his career-highs to post 19 goals and 46 points in 81 games, and he could end up a long-term middle-six center for Philadelphia. The Flyers still have more than enough cap space to entertain all possible forms of a Frost extension, whether bridge contract or long-term pact, so the main issue will likely be how the Flyers evaluate Frost’s long-term future and how comfortable they are making a long-term financial commitment to that future.

Some other notes on RFA’s across the NHL:

  • Pagnotta reports that the Dallas Stars have “just started discussions” on a new contract for RFA forward Ty Dellandrea. Just 22 years old, Dellandrea is a valued leader in Dallas who took a major step forward this season. The 2018 13th overall pick followed up his strong 2021-22 AHL campaign by establishing himself as a full-time NHL player and scoring 28 points. The Stars’ cap situation might mean that a short-term deal is necessary here, though the Stars are obviously big believers in Dellandrea so a long-term pact wouldn’t be entirely surprising either.
  • Finally, Pagnotta reports that the Montreal Canadiens and newly-acquired RFA forward Alex Newhook still “haven’t begun” negotiations on a new contract. Seeing as the Newhook trade was widely cited as mirroring last year’s Kirby Dach deal, it would be no surprise to see Newhook’s contract match the deal Dach signed last offseason, a four-year pact with an AAV a little above $3MM. Newhook has been more productive in the NHL than Dach was to that point, so Newhook’s deal could look a little different, but using that contract as a general guide is likely to be wise.

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Alex Newhook

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Rumors had been swirling the past few days regarding the Montreal Canadiens wanting to get their hands on a young forward. They’ve done just that, making a trade with the Colorado Avalanche to acquire the rights to promising young center Alex Newhook, parting ways with their 31st and 37th overall picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, along with defenseman Gianni Fairbrother.

Already a Stanley Cup champion, the St. John’s, Newfoundland-born Newhook recorded 14 goals and 16 assists in 82 regular-season games for the Avalanche in 2022-23. They’re nice totals, but Colorado was expecting (hoping?) for him to take over the second-line center spot – a job he lost weeks into the season to J.T. Compher. After recording just one assist in seven playoff games in a first-round loss against the Seattle Kraken, the Avalanche evidently felt it was time to cut ties and get two decent draft picks in a loaded 2023 class.

A first-round pick of the Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Draft (16th overall), the 5-foot-10, 190-pound center has accumulated 27 goals and 39 assists in 159 career games. He recorded four assists in 12 playoff games during Colorado’s run to the 2022 Stanley Cup.

For Montreal, this is awfully reminiscent of last year’s Kirby Dach trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. They’re hoping to strike gold twice after Dach emerged as a legit top-six threat for the Habs in 2022-23. In order to do that, though, they’ll need to get Newhook signed to a new contract – he’s a pending restricted free agent. It shouldn’t be much of an issue with Carey Price’s $10.5MM cap hit destined for long-term injured reserve yet again in 2023-24. NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston says the two sides don’t have an extension in place yet.

It did take a little more value from Montreal’s end to acquire Newhook than it did Dach, though. The late first and early second-round picks in this draft are arguably equivalent to late first-round picks in last year’s, although the 22-year-old Fairbrother is a bit of a wild card after missing the entire 2022-23 season with a knee injury. Montreal had used the 77th overall pick on him in 2019.

Avalanche Notes: Toews, Johnson, Newhook

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In the second part of this latest mailbag series for The Athletic, Avalanche beat reporter Peter Baugh commented on many of the pressing issues surrounding the 2022 Stanley Cup champions over the coming months.

One such question is the future of standout defender Devon Toews, whose team-friendly four-year contract earning him $4.1MM per season expires in 2024. While Colorado will have some extra cap space for the 2023-24 campaign due to Gabriel Landeskog’s injury, Toews is due a gigantic raise that may complicate the long-term financial picture, especially with the trajectory of the salary cap uncertain.

Some would entertain the idea of trading the player behind him on the Avalanche depth chart, Samuel Girard, to create cap space, but Baugh says that’s not likely without an extension for Toews already in place. Given Girard’s cost certainty at a $5MM cap hit through 2027, Baugh even went so far as to suggest Toews being a potential trade candidate himself if an extension appears unlikely to materialize late into next season.

  • Baugh also said he believes defender Erik Johnson, the team’s longest-tenured player, is interested in returning to the team next season. The 35-year-old is a pending free agent upon expiration of his seven-year, $6MM cap hit extension signed in 2015 and likely wouldn’t command much above the league minimum on a one-year deal. Johnson registered just eight assists in 63 games last season while again dealing with some injuries.
  • Despite a lack of development this season, Baugh doesn’t think the Avalanche have lost faith in young center Alex Newhook. Expected to step into the vacated second-line center spot to begin the season, Newhook quickly slipped back into a bottom-six role and ended his regular season with 30 points in 82 games. While Colorado will likely use their additional cap flexibility this summer to add higher-end depth at center, the organization still needs more out of important young players like Newhook to maintain Cup contention.

Avalanche Notes: Waivers, Newhook, Helm

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Saying the Colorado Avalanche have had a flurry of waiver-wire activity over the past couple of days surely wouldn’t make them unique; that would make them about a dime-a-dozen amongst other NHL clubs. However, their situation has created some buzz, and now we’re getting some clarity on it as well that not all teams necessarily provide. For one, as reported by Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater, former top prospects Shane Bowers and Martin Kaut, who were both placed on waivers yesterday, cleared and have been assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Given the sheer number of players being placed on waivers this weekend, it’s not shocking that this pair would clear, especially given their lack of NHL success, however it was interesting to see the two placed on waivers given their former status as prospects and their still relatively young age (both are 23).

Turning to today’s waiver players, we noted earlier in today’s Waivers tracker that the Avalanche have put forwards Anton Blidh and Mikhail Maltsev on waivers. When head coach Jared Bednar met with the media, including Dater, earlier today, he shed some light on why that decision was made, indicating the two players were placed on waivers for “cap flexibility” purposes. That itself is not particularly surprising, considering that’s likely the reason for many waiver placements around the league right now, but Bednar did continue, saying that he felt Maltsev was “too quiet” in camp. The coach also added, without naming any specific names, “there’s a lot of guys that can ’play hockey.’ But we’re trying to win.”

  • For the most part, training camp is used as a time to decide who makes the roster, and for those who have already secured a spot, it may be about deciding where they play and what role(s) they occupy. That was set to be the case this camp for Avalanche center Alex Newhook, who appeared to be in line for the open second-line center job that was left vacant by Nazem Kadri who signed with the Calgary Flames. However, the team also inked veteran center Evan Rodrigues to a one-year, $2MM contract his offseason, giving Newhook formidable competition for the role. With camp in the rear-view and a focus on the regular season ahead, it seems as though the Avalanche have not made a concrete decision on who will occupy what role. Instead, Bednar told the media, including Dater, that he will give Newhook a real, everyday chance to win the job over “a couple of months.” The decision to essentially not make one, appears to make sense. Operating this way will not only to allow Colorado to evaluate team chemistry and see how Newhook’s development continues, but also to see where Rodrigues stands, who broke out with 43 points in 82 games last year.
  • On the injury front, Bednar said veteran forward Darren Helm likely won’t be able to play until “some time” early in the season. Helm, who played through an abdominal injury during Colorado’s Stanley Cup run last spring, is still recovering. A lack of a concrete timetable at this juncture is a bit concerning, however an early season return is nonetheless encouraging.

Andre Burakovsky Expected To Re-Enter Colorado Lineup

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The Colorado Avalanche are expected to make a lineup change for tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues, re-inserting Andre Burakovsky after he was made a healthy scratch the last two matches. Burakovsky was working with the second powerplay unit at morning skate, while Alex Newhook was on the ice late with the other expected scratches. Speaking to reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic, head coach Jared Bednar explained that if Burakovsky does play tonight he wants “to see him come in and work and play his best game.”

Burakovsky, 27, has always been something of an enigma. Armed with all of the skills and measurables that should make him an elite offensive player in the league, he has struggled with consistency for his entire career, both with the Washington Capitals and once he got to Colorado. It seemed as though he had put some of that behind him this season when he set new career highs with 22 goals and 61 points in 80 games, but a difficult run of play in the postseason had him down on the fourth line and then up in the press box. He has three points in seven playoff games, all of them coming in the deciding game four against the Nashville Predators.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole saga is that Burakovsky is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Currently in the final season of a two-year deal he signed in 2020, which carries a cap hit of $4.9MM, the 6’3″ winger could be a highly sought-after commodity on the open market. He also could be an important piece for the Avalanche to bring back, but with nearly half their roster headed for free agency, it might not be financially possible if he’s looking for a raise. Burakovsky is joined by Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson, and Darcy Kuemper among the team’s many pending UFAs, meaning some difficult decisions will have to be made.

There’s no doubt that on many teams, Burakovsky would be nowhere near the press box despite his inconsistent play. The Avalanche are one of the deepest forward groups in the league at the moment, and have the luxury of moving someone like Newhook in whenever necessary. Make no mistake though, this is the time of the year that can really change a player’s perception around the league and add millions of dollars to a contract negotiation; Burakovsky has a chance to take advantage of that opportunity, and show he can be relied on in the most important situations.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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The Colorado Avalanche are being hit with the injury bug early this season, as The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports that forward Valeri Nichushkin is sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

With the team already missing Devon Toews and Pavel Francouz from their lineup prior to the season’s start, the team’s forward core has now lost three members in the past three days. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is suspended for the next two games, Nathan MacKinnon’s season debut is on hold as he remains on COVID protocol, and it’s now apparent the Avs have lost a third top-nine forward for the time being.

The 26-year-old Nichushkin has had somewhat of a career renaissance with Colorado after a rough start with the Dallas Stars, the team that drafted him 10th overall in 2013. He’s received Selke votes in back-to-back seasons, scoring 23 goals and 48 points in 120 games from 2019 to 2021 in an Avalanche uniform. Nichushkin had one assist in 15:03 of ice time on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.

The team will now turn to Mikko Rantanen to carry the offensive load in the absence of MacKinnon and Landeskog. They’ll look towards forwards like Andre Burakovsky, Tyson Jost, and a pair or rookies in Alex Newhook and Sampo Ranta to increase production in depth roles to compensate for the loss of Nichushkin.

Snapshots: Newhook, Smith, Hardman

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With Avalanche top prospect Alex Newhook turning pro late last month, it looked as if he’d become an interesting late-season recall option if for no other reason than to get his feet wet in the NHL before the playoffs.  However, head coach Jared Bednar told Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that the plan for the 20-year-old is to remain in the AHL for the rest of the season.  Newhook, the 16th pick in 2019, had 16 points in just a dozen games with Boston College this season while picking up six more in six contests at the World Juniors.  As Colorado will need to inject some cheaper players into their lineup for next season, he should have an opportunity to push for a roster spot in training camp but it appears that will be his first crack at an NHL opportunity.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Golden Knights winger Reilly Smith left this afternoon’s game against Anaheim in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Following the game, head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters, including Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the forward is day-to-day.  Smith has had a quieter year offensively with nine goals and seven assists in 44 games after putting up at least 53 points in each of his first three seasons with Vegas.
  • Blackhawks winger Mike Hardman is expected to see some game action with Chicago before the end of the season, notes Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 22-year-old signed late last month with a commitment to play this season and was able to get that offer with several other teams showing interest.  Hardman had 22 goals over his two seasons at Boston College.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Alex Newhook

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Boston College has lost another key member as the Colorado Avalanche have convinced Alex Newhook to sign his three-year entry-level deal, ending his college career. The top prospect will leave BC after just two seasons and turn pro, giving the Avalanche another explosive weapon to build around. His contract will kick in for this season, meaning the first year will be burned and he’s available to play once through COVID protocols. CapFriendly reports the breakdown of the deal is as follows:

2020-21: $875K salary (including performance bonus), $50K in performance bonuses
2021-22: $925K salary (including performance bonus), $850K in performance bonuses
2022-23: $925K salary (including performance bonus), $850K in performance bonuses

Newhook, 20, was the 16th overall pick in 2019 and dominated the college circuit in his freshman campaign. The winner of the Tim Taylor Award as rookie of the year in 2020, he scored 32 points in 34 games. It was an outstanding debut, but unfortunately, Newhook managed just 12 contests for BC in his sophomore season due to an injury suffered at the World Juniors and reaggravated in early January. Still, he put up seven goals and 16 points in those 12 games, showing exactly why he’s considered one of the top offensive prospects in the world right now.

In fact, back in October, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic listed Newhook 11th among the top-50 drafted prospects, down from fourth before the 2020 draft was held. “Power and explosiveness” is what Wheeler wrote about Newhook then, and indicated he has “no concerns” about the young forward’s future as a top-six option in the NHL.

He’ll have to crack one of the league’s deepest forward units, but the Avalanche do have some big names coming off the books soon enough. Gabriel Landeskog is a free agent this summer, though he’s expected to re-sign at some point given his status with the franchise, but so are Brandon Saad, Matt Calvert and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Andre Burakovsky, Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin are all up after the 2021-22 season, meaning the team will have plenty of room for Newhook if he proves himself worthy of a full-time spot by then.

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