Canada Wins 2021 IIHF World Championship
The 2021 IIHF World Championship came to an end today with Canada taking home the gold medal in a win over Finland. The Canadians won 3-2 in overtime against the Finns, on an Ottawa connection no less between Connor Brown and Nick Paul, to finish off an unlikely run. Though it sounds strange, no one expected Canada to come out on top after several early losses in group play and just narrowly making it into the playoff rounds. However, they proved that they should never be counted out, becoming the first team to ever win the tournament after losing their first three games.
The United States won the bronze medal earlier in the day, defeating Germany 6-1. The Americans actually exited group play with the points lead in the tournament, but due to Canada’s struggles it led to the two hockey powers clashing in the semifinals with Canada coming out on top. Germany continues its rise as a hockey nation, finishing fourth but nearly reaching the final with a 2-1 loss to Finland in the semis.
Other countries that impressed included Slovakia, which reached the playoff rounds behind 12 points in group play, and Kazakhstan, who totaled 10 points in group play and would have reached the next round – knocking out Canada – if not for a surprise regulation loss to Norway. Every nation in the 16-team tournament other than Italy picked up at least one win and four points. It was a tournament to forget for Sweden though; the elite hockey country only notched 10 points in group play and missed the cut.
Individually, it is no surprise that most of the leading scorers of the tournament were impact NHL players from the top teams in the tournament. Brown led the way with 16 points, while Canadian Andrew Mangiapane of the Calgary Flames was named MVP as one of the top scorers and sharing the lead in goals. American Conor Garland of the Arizona Coyotes finished second in points and Canadian Adam Henrique – who centered a line with Brown and Mangiapane – also among the leading scorers. However, two additional players in the mix will come as a surprise. Boston Bruins property Peter Cehlarik of Slovakia tied Mangiapane and Henrique with 11 points and Arizona Coyotes prospect Liam Kirk tied Mangiapane for the tournament lead with seven goals. In net, Calvin Petersen of the Los Angeles Kings was stellar for the U.S., recording a .953 save percentage and 1.29 GAA, but unheralded Finnish netminder Jussi Olkinuora was just as good. The former University of Denver standout and AHL/ECHL veteran has quietly been putting up impressive numbers for five years in Europe in the Liiga and KHL and may very well be on NHL radars now.
Hockey Canada Announces 2021 World Championship Roster
The IIHF World Championship roster is always a little different. Because the tournament takes place during the NHL playoffs, many players are unable to attend. Many others choose not to participate because of injuries they sustained during the season, meaning there are often some interesting choices that compete for their country.
Like the U.S. roster that was officially released just a few days ago, the Canadian contingent looks even more odd than normal. Not only does the management team have injuries and the postseason to deal with, but many players haven’t seen their families for months and just want to spend some quality time at home.
Though the initial paperwork had been reported on recently, the full official roster is as follows:
G Adin Hill
G Darcy Kuemper
G Michael Dipietro
D Braden Schneider
D Colin Miller
D Owen Power
D Sean Walker
D Mario Ferraro
D Troy Stecher
D Nicolas Beaudin
D Jacob Bernard-Docker*
F Liam Foudy
F Dillon Dube
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
F Gabriel Vilardi
F Adam Henrique
F Justin Danforth
F Nick Paul
F Brandon Hagel
F Michael Bunting
F Connor Brown
F Max Comtois
F Brandon Pirri
F Andrew Mangiapane
F Cole Perfetti
Like the U.S. squad, which includes draft-eligible Matthew Beniers, the Canadians have decided to take along his University of Michigan teammate Power. The 18-year-old Power is expected to challenge for the first overall selection this season and will get a chance to showcase his talents on the international stage, after being denied his opportunity to compete at the World Juniors.
*added after the initial roster was announced
Trade Rumors: Pearson, Flames, Capitals, Bruins
As the Vancouver Canucks’ season descends further and further into an inescapable disappointment, TSN’s Darren Dreger states on “Insider Trading” this evening that no impending free agent in Vancouver is off limits to suitors. However, that doesn’t mean that all current impending free agents will remain as such through the trade deadline in just over five weeks. Dreger notes that the Canucks would prefer to re-sign forward Tanner Pearson, who is coming off a career year in 2019-20. Negotiations on a new contract have not yet begun, but GM Jim Benning would like to start talks as soon as possible in order to have a clear picture ahead of the deadline. If there is no meeting of the minds on a potential extension and seemingly little chance of progress ahead of the deadline, the Canucks will have to trade Pearson. The two-way winger is their most valuable rental trade chip, as depth options Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, and Jordie Benn have lofty cap hits relative to their value and veteran defensemen Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic have No-Movement Clauses that they may not be eager to waive. If the Canucks can’t re-sign Pearson before the deadline, or at least get a handshake agreement in place, trading him to a contender is their best chance of leaving the deadline with a nice haul of picks or prospects without having to move a term player.
- The rival Calgary Flames are currently buyers and their biggest need is a winger, but Pearson doesn’t meet their most important criteria. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Calgary GM Brad Treliving is on the hunt for a right winger and, more specifically, a natural right-handed shooting right winger. The Flames’ best right-shot forward is Elias Lindholm and, while he has played on the wing many times before, the team prefers his fit at center. Unfortunately, that leaves the club with a lack of top-six caliber righties to put on the wing. Josh Leivo, Brett Ritchie, and the recently-waived Dominik Simon (a lefty) have not been the answer. The team also prefers to keep top-nine lefties like Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube on the left side if possible and certainly do not want both on their off side. As a result, Calgary is seeking a trade partner. Seravalli does not address whether the Flames are only seeking rentals or if, seeing as the righty problem isn’t going away, they are looking at all options. The team already faces some difficult Expansion Draft decisions in regards to its deep forward corps, so a term acquisition could prove problematic. Among rentals, New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri and Nikita Gusev or Detroit’s Bobby Ryan stand out as the few top available options at a shallow position on the market.
- Seravalli notes that another team with a very specific need could be the Washington Capitals. While Washington has received a stellar performance in net from rookie Vitek Vanecek, pressed into the starting role temporarily while Ilya Samsonov was sidelined, both Samsonov and Vanecek lack a crucial component to playoff success: experience. Seravalli wonders if the Capitals trust the young tandem enough to ride them into the playoffs, with veteran Craig Anderson as the third-string, or if the team needs to make a trade. Bob McKenzie echoed this same concern on NBC Sports on Wednesday. Experienced rental options include Devan Dubnyk, Antti Raanta, Jonathan Bernier, and possibly Pekka Rinne. But the question becomes whether or not any of these older goalies are an upgrade to Vanecek based only on experience, as only Rinne has outplayed him this season.
- While it should come as no surprise to anyone who has reviewed their salary cap status, Bob McKenzie appeared on NBC Sports’ broadcast on Wednesday night and essentially stated that the Boston Bruins have the cap flexibility to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. He added that the team is in this situation “by design” and that GM Don Sweeney is open to any and all possibilities. The Bruins have dealt with injuries on defense and at forward and have experience concerns on the back end and scoring issues up front, so fans were happy to hear McKenzie say they could add a prominent defenseman or forward, “or both”. Currently pressed by injuries, the Bruins have just under $3.5MM in cap space which still prorates to nearly $8.7MM at the deadline, per CapFriendly. However, the Bruins banked cap space earlier this season when they had fewer injuries and could still get healthier before the trade deadline. With no one on the injured reserve eating up cap space at the deadline, CapFriendly estimates that Boston could have upwards of $12.7MM in prorated cap space. For context, that could be enough to add top-priced rental Taylor Hall and a defenseman like Ryan Murray while staying under the cap. The Bruins will be a team to watch over the next five weeks.
Latest On Calgary’s Sam Bennett
Over the last couple of weeks, it has felt like Sam Bennett has had one skate out the door in Calgary. The Flames forward, although he denies formally requesting a trade, was believed to be upset with his role in Calgary and wanting out. This reportedly came as a surprise to the team initially, but it also seemed like they too were working toward moving Bennett, an idea fueled by a healthy scratch for the young forward days after the news emerged. Yet, as Daniel Austin writes for the Calgary Sun, it has suddenly grown very quiet on the Bennett front.
Part of this change, Austin notes, is simply because Bennett’s trade drama also aligned with several injuries up front for the Flames. Derek Ryan, Elias Lindholm, and most recently Mikael Backlund have all been sidelined for various lengths of time. The Flames need Bennett in the lineup right now. The other major change is where exactly in the lineup Bennett has been playing. Amidst the chaos of Bennett’s unknown future with the team, head coach Geoff Ward made the decision to move Bennett to the top line with stars Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Bennett responded to the promotion with his first two goals of the season over the past four games. While Bennett is still struggling this season relative to his past seasons, his teammates, and his expectations as a top-five NHL Draft pick, his play has noticeably picked up of late.
The question of course, as posed by The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek last week, is why the lineup change was made. Was Ward honestly trying to repair the relationship with Bennett by showing him that the organization trusts him and sees his top-six upside despite his recent struggles and historic inability to hold down the role? Possibly, but it does sound like somewhat of a stretch. The alternative reason could be, in light of Bennett’s desire to leave Calgary, that the team decided to showcase his ability for a while in an effort to maximize a possible return. Given that injuries had shuffled the lineup anyhow, this seems like a very plausible reason for the timing of the move.
The underlying issue for the Flames is that, while they honestly may not want to trade Bennett, both sides stand to benefit. As Duhatschek writes, Bennett represented an impending Expansion Draft problem well before his trade request. The Flames can protect, at most, seven forwards from selection in the draft. With a deep and talented forward corps, Gaudreau, Monahan, Lindholm, and of course Matthew Tkachuk are already locks for protection while Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane also seem like safe bets. If Milan Lucic does not waive his No-Movement Clause, that is your group of seven. Even if he does waive, Calgary will still have to decide between Bennett and the younger, more dynamic Dillon Dube. Whichever of the two they don’t protect seems very likely to be the selection of the Seattle Kraken. As a result, the Flames have to wonder why they would keep a disgruntled Bennett this season to either lose him in expansion or to lose Dube instead and hope Bennett’s production and attitude improve moving forward.
Bennett allegedly wants out of Calgary and the Flames have a very valid reason to trade him. Yet, it has grown quiet on the rumor mill. It could be the timing of injuries or the team wanting to extend Bennett’s stint on the top line as they field offers. Either way, this situation seems far from resolved. Without a major boost in production this season or another major injury or transactional shake-up to the roster, it is difficult to see the relationship between Bennett and Flames lasting the season.
2020 Arbitration Tracker
Originally published on Oct 13
The dates for the upcoming arbitration hearings have been set, with the first three being held on October 20. Hearings will continue through November 8. It is important to remember that this offseason, once a hearing begins, teams are no longer allowed to negotiate with the player in question while the arbitrator deliberates.
The full schedule is:
October 20
Andrew Mangiapane – Settled, 2 years $2.43MM AAV
Anthony DeAngelo – Settled, 2 years $4.8MM AAV
Matt Grzelcyk – Settled, 4 years, $3.69MM AAV
October 21
Ilya Mikheyev – Settled, 2 years $1.65MM AAV
October 22
Connor Brown – Settled, 3 years, $3.6MM AAV
October 25
Tyler Bertuzzi – Player filing: $4.25MM – Team filing: $3.15MM – Awarded: $3.5MM
October 26
Linus Ullmark – Settled, 1 year, $2.6MM AAV
October 27
Sam Reinhart – Settled, 1 year, $5.2MM AAV
October 28
Jake Virtanen* – Settled, 2 years, $2.55MM AAV
October 30
Joshua Ho-Sang – Settled, 1 year, $700K AAV (two-way)
October 31
Devon Toews – Settled, 4 years, $4.1MM AAV
Alexandar Georgiev – Settled, 2 years, $2.43MM AAV
November 1
Nick Paul – Settled, 2 years, $1.35MM AAV
November 2
Gustav Forsling – Settled, 1 year, $700K AAV (two-way)
November 4
Victor Olofsson – Settled, 2 years, $3.05MM AAV
Warren Foegele – Settled, 1 year, $2.14MM AAV
November 5
Ryan Strome – Player filing: $5.7MM, Team Filing: 3.6MM – Settled: 2 years, $4.5MM AAV
November 6
Brendan Lemieux – Player filing: $2MM, Team Filing: 2 years, $1.0125MM AAV – Settled: 2 years, $1.55MM AAV
Ryan Pulock – Settled, 2 years, $5.0MM AAV
November 7
Christian Jaros – Settled, 1 year, $750K (two-way)
November 8
Chris Tierney – Settled, 2 years, $3.5MM AAV
MacKenzie Weegar – Settled, 3 years $3.25MM AAV
Haydn Fleury – Settled, 2 years, $1.3MM AAV
*Virtanen was not included in the NHLPA’s announcement, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports he will have a hearing on the 28th.
Calgary Flames Sign Andrew Mangiapane
The Calgary Flames have reached an agreement with restricted free agent forward Andrew Mangiapane, avoiding arbitration that was scheduled for just a few days from now. The two-year contract will carry an average annual value of $2.425MM. Mangiapane was set to be the first hearing of the arbitration schedule on October 20.
The 24-year-old Mangiapane broke out in 2019-20, finally finding his footing as a full-time NHL player and scoring 17 goals in the process. He was a difference-maker all over the ice and managed to record his 32 points almost entirely at even-strength, in fewer than 14 minutes a night no less.
That kind of production is the stuff that makes you believe a player can take another step if given a bigger chance, and with the new contract Mangiapane will certainly be in the mix for more minutes. Playing in the minor leagues as recently as 2018-19, the sixth-round pick will be a core piece for Calgary this season.
Settling that arbitration case means that the Flames now have just Oliver Kylington left to sign as a restricted free agent, though he wasn’t eligible to file this time around. Calgary has a little more than $77.5MM committed to just 17 players, meaning the rest of the roster will either have to be filled out on cheap deals or someone will be moved out.
Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames
With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. While the Calgary Flames have one or two key restricted free agents to deal with, they may have quite a few questions that will need answering among their unrestricted free-agent defensemen.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Andrew Mangiapane – Throughout his career, Mangiapane has done everything right and only continues to get better. A former sixth-round pick in 2015, he worked his way into permanent role in 2018-19 and solidified himself as a top-six forward this year and it showed, posting career highs in his second full season, scoring 17 goals and 32 points. He added another three goals in 10 playoff games this year. The 24-year-old is likely to get a raise after making $800K on his now-expiring entry-level deal. He has proven his value as a key future forward on this team.
F Mark Jankowski – There was a lot of hope for Jankowski, the team’s first-round pick from 2012, but his third season in the NHL was a bit disappointing. In fact, after his rookie campaign in 2017-18 in which the 26-year-old tallied 17 goals, he has seen a continual decline, posting 15 goals in 2018-19 and followed that up with just five goals this year and has seen his playing time continue to drop as he played just 11:06 of ATOI. And at 6-foot-4 and a bottom-line player, he doesn’t play much of a physical game with just 80 recorded hits over three full seasons. However, the team has to decide whether he is worth the $1.75MM qualifying offer to retain his rights.
Other RFAs: F Justin Kirkland, D Oliver Kylington, D Andrew Nielsen, G Tyler Parsons.
10.2(c) Players: F Glenn Gawdin, G Nick Schneider (ineligible for arbitration or an offer sheet)
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Travis Hamonic – The Flames gave up quite a bit to bring in the defensive-minded Hamonic back in 2017. While not particularly much of an offensive player, the 30-year-old blueliner is quite a defensive player and was second on the team in ATOI this season at 21:11. Of course, the team was without his services in the playoffs as he opted out due to COVID-19 and family concerns. His daughter has had a significant battle with a life-threatening respiratory virus in the past while Hamonic has a new baby boy as well. However, the blueliner also was dealing with an upper-body injury for a large chunk of the regular season as well. Will the team bring him back? He was quite an affordable commodity at $3.86MM for the last few years, but undoubtedly will be looking for a raise and how many years is Calgary willing to offer to someone who is already 30 years old? With a team as cash-strapped as Calgary, Hamonic may be too pricey to keep.
D Erik Gustafsson – With five unrestricted free-agent defensemen, the team is likely to have to make some tough decisions in the near future. The Flames picked up Gustafsson for just a third-round pick at the trade deadline, which looked like a steal when Hamonic opted out of the playoffs. The team was expecting to lean on the once-high scoring defenseman. Instead, Gustafsson got just third-pairing minutes and wasn’t a big contributor down the stretch, suggesting the team may move on from him. While the 28-year-old’s price tag likely has dropped since posting a 17-goal, 60-point season back in 2018-19 and then following that up with a six-goal, 29-point season this year, a reunion would seem less likely considering the team has limited means as it is.
D T.J. Brodie – A constant trade-rumor candidate last summer, Brodie has found a way to remain with the team and produce quality minutes and may be the best option for Calgary if they were able to re-sign just one starter in the offseason. While his minutes have declined significantly since 2014-15, he still can put of solid defensive numbers and potentially provide solid play for less than the cost of either Hamonic or Gustafsson. He is capable of playing either side of the ice and plays a game that might suggest he could play deeper into his career than other defensemen.
G Cam Talbot – The Calgary Flames added Talbot to their roster as a veteran backup for young David Rittich and instead, Talbot walked away with the starting job, playing in all 10 of the team’s playoff games with Rittich getting just 16:35 of ice time in the final game before they were eliminated by Dallas (he gave up three goals on six shots). Talbot, who posted solid numbers this year, with a 2.63 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 26 regular season games, put up even better numbers in those 10 playoff games, including a 2.42 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The 33-year-old UFA made it clear he is looking for a starting job, but is Calgary willing to give up on Rittich just yet? And are they willing to pay up to keep Talbot, who could have quite a few suitors after his impressive season?
Other UFAs: F Austin Czarnik, D Derek Forbort, F Byron Froese, G Jon Gillies, F Ryan Lomberg, F Alan Quine, F Tobias Rieder, F Zac Rinaldo, F Buddy Robinson, D Michael Stone, D Rinat Valiev.
Projected Cap Space
The Flames only have about $16MM in available cap space and plenty of players they need to sign, including at least one or two defensemen and a starting/tandem goaltender. That doesn’t leave much money left for the team to spend on potential free agents unless the Flames find a way to move out some salary or some key players. Of course, with several rumors spreading about the availability of Johnny Gaudreau, it could be an interesting offseason for the Calgary Flames.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Vegas’ Pick, Marleau, Sheahan, Archibald
The NHL announced its Three Stars for last week with Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz getting the top honors. Francouz, filling in for the injured Philipp Grubauer went 3-0-1 for the week, posting a 1.46 GAA and a .941 save percentage along with a 1-0 shutout over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Francouz is in his first full season with the Avalanche and had done an exceptional job as their emergency starter where he ranks fifth in the league with a 2.27 GAA and tied for fourth in the league with a .927 save percentage.
Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers received the second star, scoring three goals and five assists over three games for the Rangers. He helped lead New York to three victories as the rebuilding franchise suddenly is within four points of a playoff spot. Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane takes the third star honors with five goals and six points in three games, which includes his first-career hat trick against Anaheim on Feb. 17.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have been quiet so far on Monday, but the team still managed to pick up a fifth-round pick in 2021 from the Carolina Hurricanes, a condition of the Erik Haula deal this offseason, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Haula was traded earlier today to Florida as part of a package for Vincent Trocheck, which enacted a condition in the Golden Knights trade which stated that the Hurricanes would send a fifth-round pick to Vegas if Haula was traded to another team for a player.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz adds that even though the San Jose Sharks have traded away veteran forward Patrick Marleau to Pittsburgh earlier today, the veteran is expected to be welcome back next year to San Jose if he is interested. The 40-year-old is just 53 games away from breaking Gordie Howe‘s all-time games played mark. A reunion would allow him to do it in a Sharks sweater next season.
- The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reports that the Edmonton Oilers are currently working on getting extensions worked out for forwards Riley Sheahan and Josh Archibald, both who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. Both players are key players on the team’s penalty kill with Sheahan logging the second-most minutes on the PK, while Archibald is fourth. Both players have fared well after singing one-year pacts this summer. Sheahan has seven goals and 14 points in 57 games, while Archibald has with 10 goals and 17 points in 53 games.
Minor Transactions: 10/22/19
The NHL has a wild Tuesday night on tap with ten games on the schedule, including the Anaheim Ducks traveling to Nashville to prove they’re not just an early-season mirage. The Ducks are off to a 6-3 record to start the year, while the Predators, considered by many to be a Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference, have recorded a more pedestrian 4-3-1 record through their first eight games. As teams prepare for all the action tonight, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves around the hockey world.
- Griffin Reinhart has signed a one-year deal with Kunlun Red Star of the KHL according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express. While that certainly wouldn’t have been included in the minor notes a few years ago when Reinhart was a top prospect, he can no longer be considered one. Selected fourth overall in 2012, the 25-year old defenseman has played just 37 games at the NHL level, not many of them very well. He recorded 16 points in 75 games for the Chicago Wolves last season and had skated with the Belleville Senators this year on a professional tryout.
- The Calgary Flames have flipped Oliver Kylington and Alan Quine again, recalling the former while assigning the latter to the minor leagues. The Flames are expected to welcome back Andrew Mangiapane tonight, meaning they didn’t have room for the extra forward.
- After placing Jonathan Ericsson on waivers, the Detroit Red Wings made a few other transactions. Evgeny Svechnikov has been recalled, while Alex Biega was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Adam Erne has also been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to October 18th.
- The Dallas Stars have sent Rhett Gardner and Joel Hanley back to the minor leagues, though that is likely more to do with banking cap space than anything else. The Stars do not play again until Thursday, and a recall can be expected before then unless Roman Polak and Blake Comeau are both ready to return.
Pacific Notes: Oilers Cap Space, Bjornfot, Mangiapane
The Edmonton Oilers have two major contracts already on their roster and a handful of reasonably well-paid players, leaving them little wiggle room this past summer when they tried to upgrade their roster. Instead, general manager Ken Holland spent much of the summer finding bargain-bin players and veterans to fill their ranks to stay under the cap.
Well, what about next year? What about the team going out and bringing Taylor Hall back into the fold?
The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis (subscription required) breaks down the Oilers’ future cap situation this coming summer where the team could have as much as $26MM available in cap space. However, that’s with 13 roster players still to sign, and if Hall costs the team approximately $11MM AAV, that would leave little room to fill out the rest of their roster, which includes a number of RFA’s such as Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning, who would likely command raises, suggesting that going after Hall is likely a pipedream. The scribe does add that the team could attempt to unload a contract like Kris Russell, whose $4MM AAV with one year remaining might be moveable.
Regardless, it looks like quite a longshot and that doesn’t even factor on whether Hall would want to return to the Oilers in the first place.
- The Los Angeles Kings demoted 18-year-old Tobias Bjornfot Friday to the Onatrio Reign of the AHL, which The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman (subscription required) writes is a positive sign for the 2019 first-round pick. Bjornfot shocked quite a few people when the team opted to keep the Swede on the NHL roster. He played the first three games, picking up a minus-four plus/minus, but much of that can be attributed to the team’s lack of defense. However, general manager Rob Blake said that the initial talk during training camp was to return Bjornfot to his SHL team this season. With Bjornfot being instead sent to the AHL, it suggests the team still feels that the youngster might have a future in the NHL still this season.
- Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports that forward Andrew Mangiapane did not join the Calgary Flames for their road trip against the Kings and Ducks this weekend. However, the scribe suggests that Mangiapane should be available to play at some point next week, possible early as Tuesday against the Washington Capitals. Mangiapane has been out with an undisclosed injury. The forward scored a goal in each of his last two games before taking injury.