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Niklas Svedberg To Sign In Sweden

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It was a short-lived NHL comeback for goaltender Niklas Svedberg. The 28-year-old free agent returned from two years abroad in the KHL with a one-year deal with the Minnesota Wild, but is now reportedly headed back to his native Sweden. A Swedish newspaper, the Kvalls Posten, revealed that Svedberg has agreed to terms with Timra IK of the SHL and two sides are hammering out the details of a contract, per GM Kent Norberg.

Svedberg originally made a name for himself in Sweden, breaking into the elite ranks with MODO at just 17 years old in 2007-08. He played five seasons in the SHL, including three as a starter, and led Brynas IF to the championship in 2012. Following his success overseas, the undrafted keeper signed a two-year deal with the Boston Bruins. Svedberg entered the NHL with high expectations that a combination of underwhelming performance and a lack of opportunity has kept him from reaching. In his first year in Boston, Svedberg was blocked by the emergence of Anton Khudobin as the backup to Tuukka Rask and did not play a single game in the NHL that year for the eventual Eastern Conference champions. However, he did post top marks in the AHL. The next season, Svedberg finally made his debut, but was held to just the one impressive outing as Boston again got reliable backup play, this time from Chad Johnson. Meanwhile, his play dropped off in the AHL. Finally, in 2014-15, Svedberg was promised the backup job in Boston and re-signed with the team. He performed well, posting a .918 SV% and 2.33 GAA, but did so in just 18 appearances as Rask started 70 games.

Seemingly was fed up with his role in Boston and unable to find work elsewhere in the league, Sveberg left for the KHL in 2015 and proceeded to serve as the starter for Salavat Yulaev Ufa for the next two seasons. Although he was the unchallenged starter, Svedberg’s performance in the KHL last year was the worst of his pro career and the journeyman goalie decided he would settle for a backup job in the NHL, signing with the Minnesota Wild last summer. Again, Svedberg’s luck was poor; he expected to replace Darcy Kuemper as the backup to Devan Dubnyk, but instead lost the job in camp to Alex Stalock and did not make an appearance with Minnesota this year. His performance with AHL Iowa was pedestrian as well.

Now, Svedberg seems to be content to just head home to Sweden and make his living as a starter in the SHL. He has his work cut out for him with Timra, who return to the country’s top league after being relegated back in 2013. The team has some promising young talent up front, but the adjustment to tougher competition will be much smoother with Svedberg in net. With that said, a recently promoted team is unlikely to be immediately successful and Svedberg may not put up flashy numbers with the team. As such, it may be hard for him to work his way back into the international spotlight. The NHL may have seen the last of Svedberg.

Minor Transactions: 12/14/17

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The Ottawa Senators got off the schneid last night, defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 for just their second regulation win in 14 games. Perhaps that can build them a little bit of momentum as they head into the NHL 100 Classic on Saturday night, outside against the Montreal Canadiens. As the Senators and the rest of the league prepares for an eventful weekend, we’ll keep track of all the minor movement right here. Check back throughout the day.

Goalie Notes: Talbot, Dubnyk, Hutton, Lehtonen

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Oilers goalie Cam Talbot is aiming to return to Edmonton’s lineup within the next week, notes Postmedia’s Robert Tychkowski.  He acknowledges that he may not be 100% recovered at that time but as long as there’s no risk of re-aggravating his injury, he will be prepared to play.  That may take some of the pressure off GM Peter Chiarelli who has been scouring the league for extra goaltending depth in recent weeks.  As it turns out, one of the goalies he was looking into – Winnipeg’s Michael Hutchinson – happens to be hurt himself now on a day-to-day issue.

Other goaltending notes from around the league:

  • Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been ruled out of playing on Thursday against Toronto as a result of a lower-body injury sustained on Thursday night, head coach Bruce Boudreau told Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. Dubnyk told his bench boss that he doesn’t think it’s a particularly bad injury although an MRI will ultimately determine the extent of it.  Unless they think Dubnyk can dress as the backup, Minnesota will have to call up a goaltender before puck drop tomorrow, likely one of Niklas Svedberg or Steve Michalek, their current tandem with AHL Iowa.
  • Blues goalie Carter Hutton took part in practice on Wednesday which signals that he is nearing a return to the lineup, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hutton is eligible to be activated off injured reserve on Friday and could be in line to start one of their upcoming back-to-back games against Winnipeg over the weekend.
  • Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen has seen his workload reduced this season with the addition of Ben Bishop but told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News that he’s happy with where he is even with his role being reduced. The 34-year-old has posted a .909 SV% heading into Wednesday’s start against the Islanders, his highest mark since 2013-14.  Speaking of that start, Lehtonen set a new NHL record for most appearances made by a Finnish-born goaltender with 624, passing Miikka Kiprusoff.

Detroit On Top Of NHL In No-Trade Clauses

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No trade clauses seem to have become the “in-thing” in negotiations as NTC’s are more prevalent than ever. Many general managers are forced to offer them to entice free agents to come to their teams. Other teams just give them to their top players to prove their loyalty to that player. For instance, the Tampa Bay Lightning have eight no-trade clauses on their roster, but that’s normal for a team that is expected to contend for a Stanley Cup.

However, what about the Detroit Red Wings. The struggling franchise is tied with Ottawa for a league-high 10 no-trade clauses on their roster for a team that’s already capped out with nothing to show for it but a roster of aging, overpriced veterans. The best option for Detroit and general manager Ken Holland, who handed out those no-trade clauses would be to trade off their veterans and start a massive rebuild. Can’t do that, according to Yahoo Sports Greg Wyshynski, who writes that Detroit is in a tough situation compared to other teams. One key to the way general managers use no-trade clauses is how they are utilized and with all of their no-trade clauses, the team will be hamstrung for many years.

Holland and the Red Wings have given full no-trade clauses to Justin Abdelkader, who has three more years of a no-trade clause before it becomes a modified trade clause, but the 30-year-old is locked up for another six years. Gustav Nyquist has a full no-trade clause for the two years remaining on his contract. Darren Helm also has a full no-trade clause through next season, although that can be voided beyond that if he fails to be among the team’s top-nine forwards or if the team doesn’t make the playoffs. However, again, he has a four-year deal. Four defensemen have full no-trade clauses, including Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson and newly signed Trevor Daley. Other than Green, all of them possess full no-trade clauses for the next year, but eventually turn into modified no-trade clauses in 2018-19 or later. To make matters even more difficult, Detroit also has three players with modified no-trade clauses, including Frans Nielsen, Niklas Kronwall and goaltender Jimmy Howard, that will only make a rebuild more challenging for the Red Wings.

Perhaps the biggest problem, according to Wyshynski, is that seven of the 10 no-trade clauses are in the hands of players that are 30 or older and whether there was a need to give one this offseason to Daley, who many viewed as a questionable acquisition in the first place, let alone that they gave him a two years worth of a full no-trade clause to go with his three-year, $9.5MM contract at age 33.

While some no trade clauses are unavoidable and even necessary to get a player to sign on the dotted line, it’s critical to know when to offer one and when not to. Wyshynski uses the Minnesota Wild as an example of a team who has six no-trade clauses on their roster and used them wisely. They handed ones out to Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter, where they were critical in negotiations and are franchise-type players. They used one on veteran Eric Staal to convince him to come to Minnesota last year, which worked out quite well. Finally, defenseman Jared Spurgeon and goaltender Devan Dubnyk each received modified no-trade clauses, but again, both are key pieces to the team’s success. That’s how it should be done.

The question is, how long will it take for Detroit to recover from these long-term contracts with all these no-trade clauses in place. Of course, after the Daley deal, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Detroit has learned from its mistakes anyway.

Wild Re-Sign Kurtis Gabriel

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The Minnesota Wild have reportedly come to terms on a new deal with gritty forward Kurtis Gabriel. While the team has yet to make the contract official, TVA’s Renaud Lavoie believes that the ink has dried on a one-year, two-way contract worth $715K at the NHL level for the restricted free agent. With several frequent fourth liners in 2016-17 now gone – Tyler Graovac (traded to Washington), Erik Haula (selected by Vegas), Jordan Schroeder (traded to Columbus), Ryan White (will not be re-signed) – Gabriel will be given every chance to earn a regular spot in the lineup next season.

A 2013 third-round pick, Gabriel has not been able to come close to the offense he showed with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack in his three years of pro experience. Gabriel has just one point in 16 NHL games over two seasons and 40 points in 190 career AHL games. The value that Gabriel does bring to the table is his toughness and two-way ability. Gabriel averaged two hits per game in his brief NHL stints in 2016-17 and racked up more than two penalty minutes per game. That was in just about 5 minutes of ice time per game too. At 6’4″, 211-lbs., the big winger is a force to reckon and, given the proper amount of ice time, could be one of the most ferocious checkers in the NHL. He also wins battles along the boards and is an above-average shot blocker. Increasing his offensive output or at least working on a horrendous possession game would help Gabriel’s chances of sticking with the Wild next season, but fourth-line opportunity and physical domination often go hand-in-hand regardless.

Gabriel is locked up for next year, but the off-season is far from over for GM Chuck Fletcher and the Minnesota front office. They still have major restricted free agents to sign in Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Marcus Foligno, as well as competition for Gabriel on the checking line in Zack Mitchell, not to mention an ongoing search for a reliable back-up goalie behind Devan Dubnyk. It’s nice to have one box checked off, but the Wild brass have their work cut out for them this summer.

Kings Sign Goalie Darcy Kuemper

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Speculated upon for some time, and confirmed by the L.A. Times’ Helene Elliot, the Los Angeles Kings have signed Darcy Kuemper to be a backup goalkeeper next season. The contract is for only one season and comes in at the league minimum $650,000 AAV. Kuemper has struggled mightily after being the most promising goaltending prospect in Minnesota for years. The 6’5 tender is still only 27, and will look to rebound in a new location. In 102 games NHL games, he’s posted 42 wins alongside a .910 save percentage and 2.60 goals against average.

Kuemper had a down season for the Wild as Devan Dubnyk was forced to start 63 contests. Considering Jonathan Quick’s injury troubles, Kuemper will likely have a larger workload this season as L.A. coach John Stevens tries to reduce the strain on the athletic starter. Kuemper will need to do better than his .902 last season, and he certainly seems capable of doing so. After trading Ben Bishop to Dallas, it was a possibility that the Kings would look for another goaltender on the cheap. Jeff Zatkoff is still on the squad, but general manager Rob Blake was apparently looking for more security in between the pipes.

Kuemper still has a bit of upside to his game, as his is athletic and mobile. He was the top keeper of the CHL in 2011, so the talent is there. His confidence seemed to take a major hit this last season in Minnesota, and he never seemed to fully recover back to form. Kuemper is surely not the biggest name acquired today, but he could be a high-reward pickup with only minimal risk on Los Angeles’ part.

Poll: Which Team Will Be Next To Make Stanley Cup Debut?

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With a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final last night, the Nashville Predators punched their ticket to the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup appearance. In fact, Nashville had never even advanced beyond the conference semifinals until this heroic run and now stand just four wins away from hosting the greatest trophy in sports.

A Stanley Cup berth has certainly been a long time coming for the NHL’s 27th franchise whose inaugural season took place in 1998. GM David Poile, who has been the man in charge through it all, did not qualify for the postseason for the team’s first five seasons of existence, but since 2003 the Predators have only missed the playoffs three times. With other 1990’s expansion or relocation teams having made the Final before, like the San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, and Florida Panthers, and even more having won a Stanley Cup, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, and Carolina Hurricanes, many would expect that the Predators may be the last team to accomplish the feat. However, there are four teams who have yet to make it to Stanley Cup Final, the Expansion Class of 2000 – the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets, the current Winnipeg Jets, and the original Winnipeg Jets, now the Arizona Coyotes. Which of these teams will be the next to realize their dreams of playing in June?

The Minnesota Wild certainly seemed to be heading in that direction for much of this season as they had their way with the Western Conference. Although in a tough Central Division with the Cup-bound Predators, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota is armed with a depth and talent at every position and showed (in the regular season) that they can fight through a tough schedule. The team was able to turn goaltender Devan Dubnyk into a star, has one of the strongest defensive cores in the NHL, and has a combination up front of strong veterans like Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Eric Staal and exciting young players like Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle. However, everything fell apart when it mattered most, as the Wild were easily bounced in the first round by the Blues. Can the Wild bounce back and, with the aid of top prospects such as Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin, make a Stanley Cup appearance in the next few years?

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be racing them for that honor. Almost mirror images of each other in 2016-17, the Blue Jackets also surprised many by dominating the Eastern Conference early in the year. At the time, the New Year’s Eve match-up between Columbus and Minnesota, both on historic winning streaks, was even touted as the game of the year. The Blue Jackets too have a stellar goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky and deep group of talented defenseman, like young game-changers Zach Werenski and Seth Jones. However, where Columbus may edge out Minnesota is in their youth up front. Although similarly successful, the Jackets were able to reach 108 points to the Wild’s 106 with a much younger forward corps. The likes of Brandon Saad, Alexander Wennberg, Boone Jenner, and Josh Anderson, plus incoming talent like Pierre-Luc Dubois and Oliver Bjorkstrand could keep Columbus in the running for a Cup longer than the Wild.

Speaking of youth, the Arizona Coyotes seem to be building something special in the desert. Question marks abound throughout the roster, such as starting goalie and a long-term partner for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and many don’t expect the Coyotes to be contenders for several more years. However, after the rapid ascent of the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs this season, fueled largely by under-21 talent, Arizona may be relevant sooner rather than later. Their best players are also their top prospects – Max Domi, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini, Jakob Chychrun – and that’s just the beginning, as even better young talent is on its way in Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome, not to mention whoever they select with the 7th and 23rd overall picks this year. It seems inevitable that the Coyotes will be good down the road, and, regardless of whether it’s in Arizona or not, have a strong chance to host a Stanley Cup final. However, will that day come before the likes of Minnesota or Columbus can take advantage of their current success?

Finally, there’s the Winnipeg Jets. They weren’t a playoff team this year like Columbus or Minnesota and they aren’t armed with years worth of high draft picks like Arizona either. Yet, the Jets may actually be the dark horse to reach the Stanley Cup first. Winnipeg finished ninth in the Western Conference in 2016-17, tenth in 2015-16, and eighth in 2014-15, consistently hanging around as a fringe team, not truly competing for a title. That seems like it is about to change. The Jets have one of the more dangerous forward groups in the NHL with Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, and captain Blake Wheeler leading the charge. They also have talented defenseman in Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, and Jacob Trouba. The Jets are a deeper team than many know and this season did not have a single player over the age of 32. Next year, they’ll add ace forwards Kyle Connor and Jack Roslovic to the mix, and possibly goaltender Eric Comrie as well, all part of what The Hockey News called the top prospect system in the NHL. Given the wealth of talent on this team already, it seems strange they haven’t performed better. Throw some dynamic young players in and use some of the team’s ample cap space, and the Winnipeg Jets could be a breakout team in 2017-18.

What do you think?

Wild Notes: Dubnyk, Vezina Finalists, Yeo

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It was a tough day for the Wild’s Devan Dubnyk tweets Sportsnet’s John Shannon, who allowed the game-winning overtime goal to Magnus Paajarvi in today’s Game 5. The veteran goaltender, who is coming off a great 2016-17 season, yielded four goals in what turned out to be their season-ending game. To make matters worse, Dubnyk, who was a candidate to be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy this year, was not selected. The NHL announced their finalists today as Washington Capitals’ Braden Holtby, Columbus Blue Jackets’ Sergei Bobrovsky and Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price.

Still, the 30-year-old Dubnyk remains a cornerstone for the franchise after finishing the season, having played 65 games with a 2.25 GAA and a .925 save percentage. He is also locked up contractually until the 2020-21 season.

The team should be expected to contend for another few years as they also have the core of their team locked up for the next few years behind veterans Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and defenseman Ryan Suter. The team’s youth is also ripening with solid seasons from Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and defenders Jared Spurgeon, Mathew Dumba and Jonas Brodin.

The team may have some tough decisions for the upcoming expansion draft. The veteran team is sure to lose a quality player, and must contend with the No Movement Clauses of Koivu, Pominville, Parise and Suter. That leaves only a handful of spots left, depending on which path the Wild chooses to take. Tough decisions will have to be made about several players, including Jason Zucker, Erik Haula, Chris Stewart as well as veteran Eric Staal, who went down during Game 5. Even young defensemen like Brodin and Dumba could be exposed as well.

The team only has a handful of unrestricted free agents, namely Martin Hanzal and Ryan White, both acquired at the trade deadline from Arizona to help with their playoff run. The team must decide if they want or able to being one or both veterans back to the team next season.

  • One consequence to the Wild’s ouster in the playoffs will benefit the Arizona Coyotes. When Minnesota traded for Hanzal and White at the trade deadline, the team sent their 2017 first-round pick, a 2018 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2019 as well as prospect Grayson Downing. To the Wild’s benefit, that 2019 conditional fourth-rounder will remain a fourth-rounder. However, the series loss will allow the Coyotes to get a better pick than they had expected. The Wild at the time of the trade had the top record in the Western Conference and many figured that the pick would land in the high 20’s. Now the Wild could be handing a pick as early as No. 23 to the Coyotes for Hanzal and White, who are both unrestricted free agents in the offseason.
  • Blues head coach Mike Yeo said he has no special feelings about beating the Wild, the team that fired him during the 2015-16 season. “It’s not about me. I’ve been sincere when I’ve said that. I don’t think that what I’m feeling right now would be any different if it was any other team.”

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