Morning Notes: Team Canada, Crosby, Bokk
The Canadian contingent for the IIHF World Championship has named their leadership group, with Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot given the captaincy. The team will go with a group of alternates including Josh Anderson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Adam Lowry, and Damon Severson for the event, likely rotating each game.
The tournament, which starts tomorrow, is a nice way for Chabot to get some more on-ice reps after missing a huge chunk of this season, though with the amount he plays it has already been a long year. In 59 games this season, the Senators’ defenseman scored 38 points and averaged more than 26 minutes a night for the third season in a row.
- There’s no update yet on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, as head coach Mike Sullivan only confirmed that his captain is dealing with an upper-body injury and will be evaluated further on their return home. Crosby took a hit from Jacob Trouba in last night’s game that kept him out, and obviously has a long history with head injuries. The Penguins stayed in New York after last night’s loss and will fly to Pittsburgh today to prepare for tomorrow’s game six.
- After spending half of this season playing back home in Germany, Dominik Bokk is coming back to North America. His club team announced today that Bokk will re-join the Carolina Hurricanes organization for the 2022-23 season, a previously agreed upon decision. After playing 32 games in the AHL this year, Bokk was loaned to Eisbaren Berlin in the DEL for the stretch run, where he scored 11 points in 14 games and another three in 12 playoff contests. The first-round pick originally selected by St. Louis in 2018 has one year left on his entry-level deal.
Dominik Bokk Loaned To DEL
It hasn’t worked for Dominik Bokk in the Carolina Hurricanes organization, and his time there may be coming to an end. The young forward has been loaned from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL to Eisbaren Berlin of the DEL for the rest of the season. He is expected to join the team tomorrow.
Bokk, 22, was the 25th overall pick in 2018 by the St. Louis Blues and ended up in Carolina as part of the package for Justin Faulk. In two seasons with the Wolves, he has recorded just 12 goals and 28 points in 61 games, finding himself further and further down the lineup. As Scott Wheeler of The Athletic points out on Twitter, this move “feels like it may be the end of the NHL road for him” though he’s obviously still young enough to prove otherwise, should his career turn around in Germany.
The German forward was selected after dominating the Swedish junior level with Vaxjo and has shown ability, if inconsistently, to produce high-end offensive results in the right environment. He was a big reason why his country worked its way back into the top division at the World Juniors, and then dominated at the 2020 event, scoring six goals in seven games.
Still signed for the 2022-23 season under his entry-level contract, it’s not clear where Bokk will spend next year. He would be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2023.
Hurricanes Recall Dominik Bokk From Loan
It has been an interesting few months for Hurricanes prospect Dominik Bokk. Originally loaned to Krefeld in Germany back in September to get him some development while waiting for play in North America to resume, that never really materialized as the DEL was forced to shut down. A month later, he was off to Djurgarden in Sweden. His time there has now come to an end as the Hurricanes announced that they’ve recalled the winger and assigned him to AHL Chicago.
The 20-year-old was a first-round pick of St. Louis (25th overall) back in 2018 and was the centerpiece of the 2019 trade that saw defenseman Justin Faulk head to St. Louis. He has spent the last several seasons playing on various teams in the SHL but his offensive output took a nosedive this year as he had just two goals and an assist while playing just 9:59 per night, nearly three minutes a game below his 2019-20 average.
Considering that he’s a big part of Carolina’s prospect pool, it stands to season that Bokk will receive more playing time with the Wolves this season which will be his first games in North America. But with the quiet showing in Sweden, he may not be on the NHL radar for a little while yet.
Dominik Bokk Linked To The SHL
A month ago, Hurricanes prospect Dominik Bokk was slated to play with Krefeld in Germany. However, with the start of their season delayed once again, the team announced yesterday that he would be moving on with the hopes of finding somewhere he can play. It appears that location will be Sweden as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that the winger is on his way to Djurgarden of the SHL.
This will be Bokk’s third straight year in the SHL but it will be his third different team after playing with Vaxjo in 2018-19 and Rogle last season. He has put up 40 points in 94 games with those two teams, numbers that are quite impressive for someone that was still eligible to play junior hockey. Playing against his peers at the World Juniors with Germany, he led them in scoring with six goals and two assists in seven games while helping them avoid relegation.
It’s unknown how long this loan will be for. While the original plan was to have the 20-year-old return from Krefeld when training camps opened up, Svensson notes that Djurgarden is seeking players to play the full season, not just a couple of months. As a result, it’s possible that Carolina may have to wait a little longer for Bokk, the centerpiece of the Justin Faulk trade last year, suit up in their system.
Canadiens Acquire Negotiating Rights To UFA Joel Edmundson
The Montreal Canadiens had a free agent target in mind for this off-season, but rather than wait until October 9th they have decided to pull the trigger now. The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they have traded impending unrestricted free agent defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Canadiens. The return for Carolina is a 2020 fifth-round pick.
The Canadiens now have nearly a month to negotiate exclusively with Edmundson on a new contract. A relatively young UFA at 27, Edmundson would be a great addition for the Habs. Edmundson showed this season that he is more than just his 6’4”, 215-lb. frame, posting both a career high 20 points and showing he is reliable defender with a career-best 55% defensive zone starts. Edmundson was less a rugged stay-at-home defender and more of a refined, two-way contributor for Carolina and the Canadiens hope that he can continue to grow in that role. Edmundson has also shown back in his days with the St. Louis Blues that he is capable of playing big minutes, which would provide even more value to Montreal moving forward. Given the lack of high-end talent on the Montreal blue line behind aging Shea Weber and 2021 free agent Jeff Petry, Edmundson could land a long-term deal with the Canadiens to lead a new generation of defenders, such as Victor Mete and Alexander Romanov.
On the other side, the Hurricanes have to be happy with landing a decent pick (No. 140 overall) for a player they seemed unlikely to re-sign anyhow. Edmundson was acquired by Carolina just last summer as part of a package from the St. Louis for Justin Faulk. While Edmundson was a valuable member of a very good ‘Canes team this year, prospect Dominik Bokk was always seen as the true prize in the return for Faulk. Edmundson was on an expiring contract and was joining the deepest defense core in the league, making him a likely rental candidate. The Hurricanes’ impressive blue line depth only improved this season as well, as the team acquired Brady Skjei and saw flashes of brilliance from young Haydn Fleury, who will join Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, and Jake Gardiner as the likely starters next year.
Hurricanes Loan Dominik Bokk To Krefeld
While Hurricanes prospect Dominik Bokk intends to make his North American debut next season, he’s not finished with his time overseas just yet. Krefeld of the DEL announced via their Facebook page that they’ve added the winger on loan from Carolina for the start of their season.
The 20-year-old was a first-round pick (25th overall) of St. Louis back in 2018 but he wasn’t with the Blues for long. He was moved to Carolina as the centerpiece of the Justin Faulk trade back during training camp in September but remained in Sweden which meant that his contract slid another year and will now expire following the 2022-23 season.
Bokk has spent the last two seasons in the SHL where he has produced well for a youngster. He spent this year on loan with Rogle and managed to pick up a respectable 11 goals in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night of ice time. He was also quite productive in the World Juniors as he led Germany in scoring with six goals and two helpers in seven games while helping to keep them in the top division and avoid relegation.
As has been the case with many of these international moves in recent weeks, Bokk is expected to rejoin Carolina when training camps open up as his deal with Krefeld does contain an NHL out clause. In the meantime, he’ll get a chance to play closer to home and stay in shape while waiting for a chance to push for a roster spot with the Hurricanes a few months from now.