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Connor Brown

Snapshots: Senators Injuries, Kastelic, Teravainen, Kuzmenko

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The Senators will get some help on the injury front for their game against New Jersey on Monday as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, winger Connor Brown, and center Dylan Gambrell will all return to the lineup.  Zaitsev has been out for nearly two months due to a heel injury, Brown has missed just under a month with a broken jaw, and Gambrell has been out for a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury.  Gambrell and Zaitsev will need to be activated off injured reserve but the Sens carried a minimum-sized roster through the All-Star break so no corresponding moves will need to be made.

More from around the hockey world:

  • Still with Ottawa, the Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Mark Kastelic from Belleville of the AHL. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut late last month and has played in three games for Ottawa this season, averaging just under eight minutes a game while winning over 72% of his faceoffs.  Kastelic has a dozen points in 34 games at the AHL level.
  • While the Hurricanes were hoping that winger Teuvo Teravainen would be good to go following the All-Star break, it appears his lingering lower-body injury hasn’t healed as well as the team hoped. Instead, as Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer notes (Twitter link), Teravainen is listed as a game-time decision for their game against Toronto on Monday.  He has missed the last two games due to the injury.
  • Free agent winger Andrei Kuzmenko will miss the Olympics due to an unspecified injury, relays Steven Ellis of The Hockey News. The 25-year-old wrapped up the KHL season in second place in KHL scoring with 53 points in 45 games with SKA St. Petersburg and is expected to make the jump to North America next season and sign with an NHL team.  While the KHL called the rest of their regular season yesterday, their playoffs will get started after the Olympics so that announcement won’t affect when Kuzmenko will sign.

Snapshots: Canadiens, Staal, Brown

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The Montreal Canadiens are getting closer to naming a new general manager, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports they’ve narrowed their search to just three candidates. Engels believes that Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche are two of those three, and notes that some of the other candidates interviewed could still land different positions with the organization.

Montreal has been without a GM since firing Marc Bergevin in November, but with Jeff Gorton in place as executive vice president of hockey operations, there was no rush to fill the position. Even the new hire isn’t expected to carry the same weight of responsibility that Bergevin did over the last decade and was always expected to be someone with less experience in NHL front offices. While Darche has been with the Tampa Bay Lightning since 2019, Briere has been serving as GM and president of the Maine Mariners of the ECHL the last several years.

  • While Eric Staal is focused on the Olympics with Team Canada, he spoke to Michael Russo of The Athletic and indicated that he would gladly drop that dream to sign in the NHL immediately, if a team offered him a contract. It isn’t likely that contract is going to come with the Minnesota Wild, even though Staal is currently with their AHL affiliate on a professional tryout. Staal currently sits at 1,293 regular season games played and could become just the 64th player in NHL history to break 1,300 should he sign for the stretch run this year.
  • Connor Brown played more than 19 minutes last night, scoring a goal and an assist in the Ottawa Senators win over the Calgary Flames. He did it all with a broken jaw, apparently, as head coach D.J. Smith told TSN radio today that the forward was hit with a puck in the warm-up that caused the injury. He’ll is considered out week-to-week now as he recovers. Brown has five goals and 19 points in 26 games this season.

Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Ottawa Senators canceled practice today for precautionary reasons, suggesting that there was more bad COVID news coming down the pipe. The team has now announced that Connor Brown and Dylan Gambrell have both been placed in the COVID protocol and are unavailable. In their place, the team has recalled Scott Sabourin and Egor Sokolov from the AHL.

The two Senators forwards join teammates Austin Watson, Nick Holden, and coach Jack Capuano in the protocol, though the team has not confirmed any additional positive results. Ottawa is set to take on the Boston Bruins tomorrow, and though that game is still scheduled for the moment, it’s unclear who will actually be available for the Senators.

For Sokolov, it would be his NHL debut should he enter the lineup tomorrow. The 21-year-old forward was a second-round pick in 2020, picked after going undrafted in previous years. He quickly showed that his combination of size and scoring ability was good enough to make up for any skating concerns at the AHL level, scoring 15 goals and 25 points in his rookie season. This year he’s been even better for the Belleville Senators, getting off to a strong start with six points in nine games.

Meanwhile, losing Brown for any length of time is a big hit for the Senators, given how big a role he plays for the team. Averaging more than 20 minutes a night, the 27-year-old forward actually sees more short-handed ice time than even any of the team’s defensemen. He’s also a regular contributor on the powerplay and one of the group’s most reliable offensive players. In 11 games, he has seven points on the year.

The concern now is how widespread these breakthrough infections will be, and how many other players will be affected. After games tomorrow and Thursday, the Senators have a back-to-back over the weekend, games that hopefully they will have some good news for.

Canada Wins 2021 IIHF World Championship

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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

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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

North Notes: Senators, Canucks Contract Talks, Amirov

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While rental players typically generate most of the trade interest at this time of year, it appears a pair of Senators signed beyond this season are garnering some attention.  Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan notes that teams have been calling about forwards Nick Paul and Connor Brown although he adds that the expectation is that neither will move.  Paul is logging over 16 minutes a night, a career high while his $1.35MM price tag for this season and next is the type of lower-cost acquisition that many teams will be restricted to targeting.  As for Brown, his offensive numbers have dipped a bit this year but he has still chipped in with a dozen goals and ten assists in 41 games while playing in both special teams roles as well.  He has two more years left after this at $3.6MM after avoiding arbitration this offseason and any interested team would likely be looking to move a contract the other way as part of any offer for him.

More from the North Division:

  • While the Canucks have started contract discussions with pending restricted free agents Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, GM Jim Benning indicated to reporters, including NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley, that those talks have been centered around term and not money so far. Vancouver has over $64MM in commitments to just 12 players for next season per CapFriendly which would make it difficult to sign both to long-term deals.  If one is amenable to a bridge deal, that could give Benning a bit more cap flexibility to work with this offseason.  Discussions are expected to pick up over the next few weeks.
  • Contract talks between the Maple Leafs and prospect winger Rodion Amirov are expected to start next week, reports Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was the 15th pick back in October and while his offensive numbers were limited this season (nine goals and four assists in 39 games), the fact that he was able to hold down basically a full-time spot in the KHL this season with Spartak was certainly impressive.  Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has indicated a willingness to move one of his top prospects to try to add by the deadline and teams will undoubtedly be inquiring about Amirov in those talks.

2020 Arbitration Tracker

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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. 

Connor Brown Avoids Arbitration

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The Ottawa Senators have avoided arbitration with Connor Brown, settling on a three-year contract just hours ahead of his scheduled hearing. The new contract will carry an average annual value of $3.6MM and keeps Brown under contract through the 2022-23 season. Senators GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement:

We’re very happy to have Connor back under contract. He brings a veteran presence to our lineup and is a player who can play in different situations. He’s durable, has a strong work ethic with great practice habits and is regarded as a leader by his teammates. His ability to play up and down the lineup while producing offensively is especially valuable to us as we continue our transition towards being a consistent winner.

Brown was scheduled to have an arbitration hearing later today. That would have resulted in a one-year contract that would have taken the 26-year-old right to unrestricted free agency, but he’ll stay in the organization a little longer with this three-year deal. Brown had filed for $4.8MM while the team had filed for just $2.25MM.

All five of this week’s arbitration hearings were settled prior to taking place. The next one on the schedule is Tyler Bertuzzi on Sunday.

Brown scored a career-high 43 points this season with the Senators, while averaging more than 20 minutes a night to lead their entire forward group. That included a huge amount of penalty killing responsibility, along with a good amount of powerplay time as well. That versatility is key to why Brown is so well-liked on any team he plays for, and a big reason why the Senators have decided to keep him around.

Connor Brown, Ottawa Senators Exchange Arbitration Figures

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The second scheduled arbitration hearing this offseason will be Connor Brown of the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, meaning today was the day they needed to exchange filings. According to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, Brown’s camp has filed for $4.8MM, while the Senators have filed for $2.25MM. Because of his age, the contract can only be a maximum of one year in length.

It is important to remember that in the NHL, the arbitrator does not need to choose one filing or the other and usually instead awards a contract somewhere in the middle. The two sides can also come to an agreement in the coming days, though this year once the hearing begins they must wait for the reward and cannot settle while the arbitrator deliberates.

In Brown’s case, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic suggests that a contract similar to the one Kevin Labanc just signed with the San Jose Sharks could potentially be a comparable should the two sides settle before arbitration. Labanc signed a four-year deal that carries a $4.725MM cap hit, though LeBrun suggests $4.35MM “isn’t crazy to think” about for Brown.

A 20-goal scorer in 2016-17 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brown hasn’t yet reached that mark again in his four-year NHL career. He did see his point totals balloon in Ottawa though, recording a career-high 43 points this season while averaging more than 20 minutes a night. He was easily the teams most-used forward, especially on the penalty kill where he logged more than two and a half minutes a night.

It’s obvious that Brown has the coaching staff’s trust, and on a roster that will be made up mostly of prospect forwards, he is actually one of the most experienced at the age of 26.

Notably, if Brown does go through the arbitration process and receive a one-year contract, he will walk into unrestricted free agency next offseason at 27. Should he receive an award over $4,538,938, the team could also choose to walk away and make him a UFA this offseason instead.

Snapshots: Brown, Thomas, Gomez

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Connor Brown may seem like just one of a number of additions the Ottawa Senators have made this off-season, but it turns out that the team had their eye on the veteran forward for some time and have high expectations for him this year. Speaking with Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Senators GM Pierre Dorion states that his interest in Brown began long before the team hired former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith as their new head coach and belongs in a separate category from familiar additions Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, and Tyler Ennis. While that group of veterans was brought in from Toronto to provide leadership and stability in a young locker room under a first-time NHL head coach, Dorion sees a larger role for Brown. “We just feel he was someone on a very skilled team that probably didn’t get the offensive looks he would have gotten on a lot of other teams,” Dorion states, suggesting “We feel he’s going to get back to being the 20-goal scorer he was in his rookie year.” Brown did hit 20 goals, as well as 36 points, in a breakout rookie campaign three years ago, but his goal scoring totals have dropped precipitously since then: 14 goals in 2017-18 and 8 goals in 2018-19. Brown will certainly have the opportunity to improve his numbers on an Ottawa roster that lack many established scorers, but Dorion’s projection of 20+ goals may be lofty for a player who has looked comfortable as a 30-point, two-way forward over the last few years.

  • Akil Thomas is on the Los Angeles Kings’ roster for their upcoming rookie tournament and is poised to compete for an NHL roster spot in training camp. However, even though their intention was to honor the young forward, his junior team made it clear that they don’t expect him to break camp with the Kings this year. The OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs have named Thomas their captain for the 2019-20 season, the team already announced, although Thomas is still weeks away from pushing for a place with the Kings. Thomas more than earned the role with his play last year, recording 102 points in 63 games for a powerhouse team that has since lost the likes of Jason Robertson, Jack Studnicka, and Ben Jones to the pros. Nevertheless, even those dominant numbers don’t guarantee the 2018 second-round pick a role with L.A. this season. The Kings sport an impressive group of prospects competing for few openings. Recent high picks Rasmus Kupari and Jaret Anderson-Dolan probably have an edge on Thomas if the Kings opt to add a rookie forward to the starting lineup, likely leading Niagara to safely assume that their star forward will be back this season.
  • After two years on the job, Scott Gomez has decided to leave the New York Islanders coaching staff, Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports. The team has confirmed the move and stressed that Gomez was not fired. Gomez was originally hired by Doug Weight, but served under Barry Trotz last season as well. Gomez is remembered most for his dynamic offensive play early in his pro career with the New Jersey Devils. It could be that his philosophy on offense didn’t mesh with Trotz’ ultra-conservative scheme, prompting him to seek a better fit elsewhere, but there has been no word as to the reasoning behind Gomez’ departure. If Gomez wants to continue coaching, there is undoubtedly a place for him in the pro or junior ranks.

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