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Gavin Bayreuther

International Transactions: Glauser, Bayreuther, Svechnikov

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Defenseman Andrea Glauser will not come to the National Hockey League after all. According to a press release, Fribourg-Gottéron of Switzerland’s National League announced they have signed Glauser to a seven-year contract starting in the 2025-26 season. Glauser previously played for Fribourg-Gottéron between 2015-2018.

A few months ago, there was documented interest in Glauser from the New York Islanders organization which was reportedly set to offer the 28-year-old defenseman a one-year, $1.5MM contract. Glauser excels in the transition game from the blue line and plays a very physical game compared to his peers which led to Lou Lamoriello and Patrick Roy scouting the Swiss defenseman. It is unknown if the Islanders offered Glauser a contract but he has inevitably decided to stay in his home country.

It’s difficult to imagine Glauser having excelled after transitioning to North American hockey at the professional level given that his career-high in points (in a much weaker league to add) is 17. He’s also suited up for Team Switzerland in the last three World Championships where he has scored two goals and four points in 24 tournament contests.

Other international transactions:

  • It did not take long for Lausanne HC to replace Glauser on the back end as the team announced they had signed defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to a one-year contract. It will be Bayreuther’s first attempt at international hockey after spending the last eight years split between the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations. The former undrafted free agent from St. Lawrence University is a veteran of 122 games at the NHL level while adding five goals and 28 points to the scoresheet. Bayreuther spent much more time in the AHL where he has suited up in 238 games while scoring 25 goals and 117 points in the process.
  • Another former NHL player is on the move internationally as Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL announces they have signed forward Evgeny Svechnikov to a one-year contract. The former 19th overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2015 NHL Draft spent last season in the KHL with Ak Bars Kazan where he scored eight goals and 13 points in 31 games. Svechnikov never panned out to live up to his draft ranking with Detroit but did earn 39 goals and 101 points at the AHL level with 186 games played.

Dallas Stars Sign Gavin Bayreuther

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The Dallas Stars have signed Gavin Bayreuther, ending the undrafted blueliner’s three-year stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The contract is a one-year, one-way deal with a $775k cap hit.

The 29-year-old is an undrafted player who actually began his pro career with the Stars organization. He earned an entry-level deal in March 2017 from the Stars, and had a strong rookie season in the American league scoring 32 points in 71 games as the Stars made a run to Game Seven of the Calder Cup Final.

Bayreuther earned his first NHL call-up the year after and while he got into 19 games in Dallas he didn’t do enough to remain in the team’s plans for the following season.

He spent 2019-20 entirely in the AHL before signing in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have given Bayreuther a much longer look in the NHL than what he received in Dallas, and he’s played over 100 contests as a Blue Jacket.

He’s averaged bottom-pairing minutes in that time but did sneak onto the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill this season, averaging just under a minute played short-handed per game. Getting a one-way deal in Dallas is a nice reward for Bayreuther after a season where he played in the most NHL games of his career, and getting that deal from a familiar team is a valuable bonus.

Now Dallas gets a familiar face back to bolster their blueline at the AHL level while also serving as valuable depth for the NHL organization. While he’s unlikely to unseat a veteran like Joel Hanley as Dallas’ seventh defenceman, he’s surely going to end up a premier call-up option for head coach Peter DeBoer should the Stars run into defensive injury issues.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Fantilli, Viel, Bayreuther

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In any other year, a player like University of Michigan forward and Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli would be a near-guarantee to be the first overall pick at the draft. But this season happens to also feature generational talent Connor Bedard, and as a result, Fantilli is likely to find himself headed to the Anaheim Ducks rather than the Chicago Blackhawks. Whether Fantilli heads to Anaheim to play with their NHL team in the fall (or in the NHL with whatever non-Anaheim team drafts him, should something surprising happen on draft day) or chooses to return to college hockey for another year is still up in the air.

Fantilli himself addressed the topic in a draft diary posted to NHL.com, writing “I will wait until after the NHL Draft before making a decision on whether or not I will return to Michigan for 2023-24.” Fantilli, who scored a whopping 65 points in 36 games for the Wolverines, expressed disappointment at failing to win a National Championship at Michigan but stressed that his decision would be more “about development and being able to mature as a person” than any lingering desire to win a national title. It certainly seems as though Fantilli could hold his own in the NHL next year but it seems that with players such as 2022 third-overall pick Logan Cooley and 2021 first-overall pick Owen Power taking some extra time in college to develop, Fantilli may opt for that route himself as well.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Undrafted forward Jeffrey Viel, now 26, was slated to be a restricted free agent this offseason with a strong likelihood of continuing his run with the San Jose Sharks into a sixth season. Now, it seems his time with the organization that plucked him out of the QMJHL as an undrafted free agent will be coming to an end. Viel’s agent, Allain Roy, relayed to The Athletic’s Corey Masisiak that “Viel will enter the market on July 1 and look for a new opportunity.” (subscription link) Viel only played four NHL games this season and as a result, qualified for Group Six unrestricted free agency. A valued leader, Viel scored 15 goals and 31 points in the AHL this past season and should be of interest to other teams looking to beef up their AHL middle-six.
  • Another player set to change teams this summer is defenseman Gavin Bayreuther of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 29-year-old played in 94 games for Columbus over the past two seasons, seizing opportunities provided by the multitude of injuries that have hit the Blue Jackets’ defense in that span of time. But now that the team has added considerable talent to their blueline in recent days (through trades for Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson) they have quite the logjam on defense. Columbus has eight defensemen on one-way contracts at the moment and that doesn’t include David Jiricek, the 2022 sixth-overall pick who will likely play his way into NHL consideration quickly in the fall. As a result, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that “it seems a safe bet” that Bayreuther will hit the open market and move on from the club he’s been with for the past three seasons. (subscription link)

Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Marcus Björk – Björk had a nice, albeit abbreviated rookie season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 25-year-old Swede split the year between Columbus and the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. In 33 NHL games Björk tallied three goals and eight assists, while in the AHL he put up seven goals and eight assists in 44 games. Björk earned a lot of praise from the Columbus coaching staff and at one point was being dubbed a player who could have a long NHL career, this was before his game fell off during the middle of the season. He was demoted for a few months before being recalled towards the end of the year to re-join Columbus. While his play trailed off, one might wonder if it was tied to fatigue as Björk had never played more than 52 games in a season prior to this year. Columbus will likely lock up Björk for a season or two to take a long look at a player who could become a hidden gem for the Blue Jackets should he be able to build on his small success from this past year.

RW Mathieu Olivier – Olivier has never topped 19 points since turning pro back in 2018-2019. His career high came in the AHL when he put up 10 goals and nine assists in 58 games for the Milwaukee Admirals in the pandemic shortened 2019-2020 season. This past season the 26-year-old played a career high 66 NHL games for the Blue Jackets putting up 81 PIM, as well as five goals and 10 assists. Olivier offers sandpaper and is always willing to battle and stick up for his teammates, however he will never put up much in the way of offence. But given his status as one of Columbus’ most pressing RFA cases, it is a real indication of the lack of NHL talent that the Blue Jackets have on their NHL roster at this time. Olivier will likely be re-signed to a one year/two-way contract for around the league minimum.

Other RFAs: Tim Berni, Joshua Dunne, Carson Meyer, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Jacob Christiansen

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Gavin Bayreuther – Bayreuther is the Blue Jackets top unrestricted free agent heading into this offseason and was famously taken by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft two years ago only to be left unsigned. Bayreuther then became a free agent and quickly signed back with the Blue Jackets where he has played the past few seasons. The New Hampshire native toiled in the AHL with the Texas Stars for four seasons before finally getting a chance in the NHL with the Blue Jackets in the 2021-22 season. The 29-year-old spent most of this past season with Columbus where he put up two goals and 12 assists in 51 games.

Bayreuther has never put up much in the way of offense in his career as he has just 28 career points in 122 career games, he is the epitome of a tweener. He is too good for the AHL however he is likely not a strong enough player to sustain success in the NHL. He will likely be given the opportunity to sign a two-way contract this summer with a decent downside guarantee at the AHL level and the chance to split time between the AHL and the NHL.

F Lane Pederson – The Blue Jackets claimed Pederson off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks this past January. The Saskatoon native spent 27 games in the NHL this season split between to the two clubs and put up three goals and three assists. Much like Bayreuther, Pederson is also a tweener. He’s been a very good offensive player in the AHL the past few seasons as he has put up nearly a point a game since 2018-19. But this offensive success just simply hasn’t carried over the NHL as Pederson has just four goals and seven assists in 71 NHL games.

Pederson will get a two-way contract with a good AHL salary and will likely make for a good 13th or 14th forward next season.

G Michael Hutchinson – Hutchinson is the definition of a journeyman. He has played 153 NHL games spread over ten seasons posting a .902 career save percentage. Early in his career the 33-year-old looked as though he would be a solid NHL backup as posted a .914 save percentage in 38 games going 21-10-5 for the Winnipeg Jets in 2014-15. However, by 2017 Hutchinson found himself back in the AHL and struggled to find consistent NHL work, dressing in just 54 NHL games over the past six seasons. Given his age and recent track record it is realistic to guess that Hutchinson will find work as a teams third string goaltender that can take the bulk of the AHL starts and fill in at the NHL level should an injury occur.

Other UFAs: Joona Luoto, Justin Richards, Jon Gillies

Projected Cap Space

Columbus has ample cap room to fill out their roster as they currently have just under $17MM in space and 21 players signed for next season. However, filling out their roster simply won’t be good enough given how thin the team is on NHL talent. The club has committed big money to Patrik Laine, Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski but haven’t been able to insulate them with much in the way of offensive talent. They have some terrific young players and will need to be careful to leave room for their future contracts, however the Blue Jackets need to do a better job of providing depth scoring so they don’t rely so heavily on their top line scorers. Columbus has been largely unsuccessful in unrestricted free agency making it interesting to see how they will play the market when it opens in July.

 

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Columbus Blue Jackets Expected To Recall Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork

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It was a great win over their former coach last night but it came at a price for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team appears to have lost Zach Werenski long-term, while Erik Gudbranson was also removed from the game with a more minor injury. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic expects an update for both later today but notes that Gavin Bayreuther and Marcus Bjork will likely be coming up from the AHL.

Bayreuther, 28, played in 43 games for the Blue Jackets last season and has already suited up once this year. The minor league veteran doesn’t bring much offense to the table but is at least an experienced option to insert into the lineup. For long stretches, he’s probably not what you want though, which is what makes the recall of Bjork a little more interesting.

The 24-year-old Swede signed a one-year, entry-level contract last May to join the Blue Jackets organization after playing the last four seasons in the SHL. A star at the junior and minor league level in Europe, the undrafted defenseman has shown incredibly well in his short stint with the Cleveland Monsters. Through 11 games, Bjork has two goals and five points, and appears to be getting his first call-up to the NHL.

While losing Werenski drastically injures the Blue Jackets’ hopes of competing in the Metropolitan Division, it also could open up some opportunities to test young players. Top pick David Jiricek also played two games for the club earlier this year and has been good in the minor leagues, while Jake Christiansen played eight games for the team last season and could be due for another opportunity.

Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Nick Blankenburg

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Ahead of today’s game in Finland, the Columbus Blue Jackets have activated Nick Blankenburg from injured reserve. The move meant Gavin Bayreuther has been assigned to the AHL, though he took morning skate with the team overseas so won’t be playing for the Cleveland Monsters tonight.

Blankenburg, 24, missed several games with an elbow injury and will go directly back into the lineup. He was skating next to Vladislav Gavrikov on the second pair yesterday. The undrafted defenseman had two points in his first three games of the season before exiting early in number four, and appears to be a nice find for the club. Signed out of the University of Michigan, he now has five points in his career and will look to build on that number in Finland today.

The club takes on the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Global Series, allowing Patrik Laine to suit up in his hometown of Tampere. Bayreuther, 28, won’t get a chance to experience that and will have to go back to the Monsters when they return to North America. The minor league veteran was scoreless in his one NHL appearance this season.

Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Gavin Bayreuther

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According to a team release, the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled defenseman Gavin Bayreuther from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

The move comes after rookie defenseman Nick Blankenburg left last night’s game with an upper-body injury, speculated to be an injury to his left arm. The 24-year-old undrafted free agent signing out of the University of Michigan had two points through his first four games this season and had even earned a look on the team’s top pairing alongside Zach Werenski. His brief emergence pushed another young defender, Adam Boqvist, out of the lineup. Boqvist had been held off the scoresheet in three games this season and averaged just a few ticks over 16 minutes per game, though.

Bayreuther comes up from Cleveland to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman, suggesting Blankenburg may miss some time. Blankenburg has not been placed on injured reserve, but there’s no pressing need to as the team was carrying 22 out of a maximum of 23 players anyways. The 28-year-old Bayreuther has three assists in his first three games in Cleveland and is in the second year of a two-year, $750,000 cap hit deal which is a one-way contract for 2022-23. Bayreuther spent the majority of the 2021-22 season on the Jackets’ active roster, usually as a healthy scratch, registering eight assists in 43 games.

Waivers: 10/03/22

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The waiver wire is full as teams continue to get closer to regular season rosters. These are the players available today, after Radim Zohorna and Magnus Hellberg were claimed from yesterday’s list.

Anaheim Ducks

Olli Juolevi
Justin Kirkland

Columbus Blue Jackets

Trey Fix-Wolansky
Gavin Bayreuther

Los Angeles Kings

T.J. Tynan

Minnesota Wild

Joe Hicketts
Joseph Cramarossa

Tampa Bay Lightning

Gemel Smith
Alex Barre-Boulet

Winnipeg Jets

Kevin Stenlund

Bayreuther, Liljegren Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs will be missing a pair of depth defenders for the next little while, as Gavin Bayreuther and Timothy Liljegren have been placed in the COVID protocols. For both teams this is something of a setback, given they’ve activated several players over the last few days and are preparing to resume their seasons in the coming days.

Bayreuther, 27, joins Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eric Robinson, and Joonas Korpisalo in the protocol for Columbus as the Blue Jackets get ready to take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow night. The veteran minor league defenseman has played 17 games this season, nearly matching his previous career total with five assists. Even though he’s been in the lineup, he’s not playing much, averaging just over 14 minutes a night on the year and just 12 in his last five matches.

Liljegren meanwhile joins William Nylander, Ilya Mikheyev, David Kampf, Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and Petr Mrazek in the protocol for the Maple Leafs, a team that saw almost the entire roster go on over the holidays. Toronto hasn’t played a single game since December 14 and won’t hit the ice until Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

The 22-year-old Liljegren has played in 19 games for the team this season, even logging more than 21 minutes in the team’s last game. A first-round pick in 2017, he’s barely played in the NHL to this point, totaling just 32 contests over parts of three years.

Notably, Liljegren and Bayreuther could now be facing different protocol rules after the NHL slightly changed their isolation periods for U.S.-based teams. Neither player has been listed as a confirmed positive by his team and no details on symptoms have been revealed.

Dean Kukan Out Eight Weeks With Broken Wrist

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have moved Dean Kukan to injured reserve after he suffered a wrist fracture in last night’s game against the Dallas Stars. Kukan is expected to miss eight weeks with the injury. In his place, the team has recalled Gavin Bayreuther from the AHL.

Kukan, 28, is in the second season of a two-year contract signed in 2020 that carries an average annual value of $1.65MM. The Swiss defensemen has been a part-time player for the Blue Jackets in each of the last several seasons, totaling 114 regular season games since coming to North America in 2015. This season he has appeared in two games, failing to record a point in nearly 30 minutes of total ice time.

While not a key player for Columbus, Kukan’s injury will certainly weaken the depth of the blue line as the team continues to try and compete in the difficult Metropolitan Division. Adam Boqvist is also dealing with a minor injury, necessitating the recall of Bayreuther who will be the eighth defenseman on the active roster.

The 27-year-old Bayreuther has just 28 games at the NHL level in his career but is a well-respected minor league veteran that can step into the lineup in a pinch. In five games with the Cleveland Monsters this season, he has three points. Interestingly enough, Bayreuther was actually given a two-game AHL suspension just today after a cross-checking incident over the weekend. That will not affect his NHL availability, but means he’ll have to sit out whenever he returns to the Monsters.

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