Henrik Lundqvist

Snapshots: Allen, Heiskanen, Rangers

August 17, 2018 at 8:13 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 7 Comments

Despite the vast improvements made by the St. Louis Blues this off-season, the common perception is that their fate still lies in the hands of goaltender Jake Allen. Last season, in the first of a new four-year, $17.4MM contract, Allen took a major step back. The 27-year-old had been a great success as a part-time goalie early in his career and looked like he was ready for full-time duty after the 2016-17 campaign, but was unable to handle the workload. Allen’s appearances actually dropped last season from 61 to 59 as backup Carter Hutton took over the starter’s job with consistent and impressive play. Allen posted a .906 save percentage and career-worst 2.75 GAA and failed to record a plus quality starts percentage. That has to change next season. As The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton writes, Allen is the key to St. Louis’ success (or failure) in 2018-19. With Hutton gone, replaced with journeyman Chad Johnson, the pressure is back on Allen to be the legitimate starter that he has shown flashes of. The Blues should be applauded for re-hauling their forward core this off-season, somehow managing to add Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Patrick Maroon without going over the salary cap. The team also continues to sport one of the deeper blue line’s in the league. However, they need consistent capable play out of Allen or it could be all for not. St. Louis has a contender’s roster if only they can get Allen back on track.

Dallas Stars super-prospect Miro Heiskanen is all-in on making the team this season. The 19-year-old is just one year removed from being selected third overall in the NHL Draft and is ready to show that he was worth the selection. Stars beat writer Mark Stepenski reports that Heiskanen has already arrived in Dallas and has begun working out with teammates, including veteran leaders Jamie Benn and Ben Bishop. The young defenseman has worked hard this summer and is preparing to wow the Stars’ coaches and executives in training camp. For their part, the Stars’ decision-makers already believe that Heiskanen is ready, although they caution that there will be some adjustments to make and that expectations may be getting too high. Some have even stated that Heiskanen is a legitimate threat to No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres in the upcoming Calder Trophy race. They might not be too far off; like Dahlin, Heiskanen has two years of pro experience already, in the Finnish Liiga, and possess both elite skating ability and next-level awareness and positioning. With those skills already at a pro level, it might not be too difficult of a transition for Heiskanen after all.
The New York Rangers not only lost captain Ryan McDonagh last season, but they also lost alternate Rick Nash and head coach Alain Vigneault. In speaking with new coach David Quinn, NHL.com’s Dan Rosen discovered that the freshman bench boss would like to get to know his locker room and see how the season begins before naming a new leader. Quinn said:

“We’ve talked about it as an organization. I think a captain emerges. You don’t want to put a burden on somebody that isn’t ready for it. So I think that will just happen one way or the other. It either will happen that someone will emerge and separate themselves as someone who is clearly going to be the captain, or it won’t happen. I think that will take care of itself.”

Frequent alternates Marc Staal or Jesper Fast could emerge as favorites, but neither jumps out as a spectacular candidate for captain. Long-time forward Mats Zuccarello also wore the “A” often, but one has to wonder if it would be worth giving the “C” to a player on an expiring contract who seems unlikely to earn an extension. The same could be said for top center Kevin Hayes. While it is uncommon, Quinn could lean towards awarding the captaincy to star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who Rosen writes he has already gotten to know very well. Young defenseman Brady Skjei, fresh off of a six-year extension this summer, appears to be the cornerstone of the Rangers’ rebuild and could emerge as a top candidate. As Quinn says, only time will tell.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Rangers

August 11, 2018 at 6:20 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

New York Rangers

Current Cap Hit: $73,823,569 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Pavel Buchnevich (one year remaining, $925K)
D Neal Pionk (one year remaining, $925K)
F Lias Andersson (three years remaining, $894K)
F Filip Chytil (three years remaining, $894K)
D Anthony DeAngelo (one year remaining, $863K)
G Alexandar Georgiev (two years remaining, $793K)

Potential Bonuses

Pionk: $850K
Andersson: $850K
Deangelo: $400K
Chytil: $350K

Total: $2.45MM

With the team in quick rebuild mode, there are some entry-level deals already and if the team continues to trend in that direction, they will have quite a bit more. The team’s most prominent player at the NHL level to date would be Buchnevich, who improved on his rookie campaign with a 14-goal, 43-point season last year. He saw more ice time as well, improving from 13:16 ATOI to 15:01 as well as saw significant time on the team’s power play, potting five goals and 11 assists with the man advantage and has earned himself a solid spot in the team’s top-six. Another improved season could see him being an expensive restricted free agent.

The team has high expectations for their two 2017 first-rounders in Andersson and Chytil. Both have shown excellent skills and have received some time playing for the NHL with Andersson seeing seven games, while saw nine games. Both are expected to earn time with the Rangers out of training camp, but both may find themselves on bottom-six lines unless they can prove that they can center the second or third lines in training camp.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Kevin Hayes ($5.18MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($4.5MM, UFA)
D Rob O’Gara ($874K, RFA)
F Cody McLeod ($750K, UFA)
D Fredrik Claesson ($863K, RFA)
F Peter Holland ($675K, UFA)
D Steven Kampfer ($650K, UFA)
G Marek Mazanec ($650K, UFA)

The team agreed to a one-year deal with Hayes, avoiding arbitration, but now face the possibility that Hayes could walk away at the end of the season as he will be unrestricted, which will force the team into two possible directions, including attempting to work out a long-term deal with the team after Jan. 1, 2019, or trading him, possibly at the trading deadline if the two sides can’t agree on anything. Hayes, who has been a jack of all trades playing multiple positions, seems to have developed into a solid center as he produced his best season ever, which included 25 goals, eight more than any previous year. The question is, do the Rangers view him as a fixture in their lineup as they continue to rebuild?

At age 30, Zuccarrello still puts up solid numbers, but despite the high-end minutes that the veteran gets, he falls into a similar category to that of Hayes where you have to ask whether he is in the team’s long-term plans. The winger is penciled in to play on the team’s top line once again, but has only put up 31 goals over the past two seasons. He does produce quite a few assists (81 over the past two years), but what the Rangers need more than anything is goals. Zuccarello will also turn 32 before he begins his next contract and at that age, how long are the Rangers willing to commit to him?

Two Years Remaining

F Chris Kreider ($4.63MM, UFA)
F Ryan Spooner ($4MM, UFA)
F Vladislav Namestnikov ($4MM, UFA)
F Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM, UFA)
F Matt Beleskey ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Jesper Fast ($1.85MM, UFA)

Kreider is coming off a tough year in which he had to deal with blood clots and had surgery to relieve the pressure and missed almost two months of time. The 27-year-old didn’t have as solid of a season as he tallied just 16 goals in 58 games, which is a far cry from the 28 goals he scored in 2016-17 although a lot of that is due to the fact that his playing time dipped as the team didn’t want to play him too many minutes due to the blood clot issue. Regardless with a full offseason to rest and recuperate, Kreider should be able to bounce back as one of the team’s top scorers.

The team also have high expectations from two other forwards that the team acquired through at the trade deadline a year ago in Namestnikov and Spooner. Namestnikov was the biggest name to arrive in New York in the Ryan McDonagh trade with Tampa Bay. He was a key player for the Lightning, posting 20 goals and 44 points with them, but he actually lost playing time once he arrived in New York and put up just two goals and four points in 19 games. The team hopes that a new coach and proper training camp with his new team will make quite a difference. Spooner came over in the Rick Nash trade with Boston and has posted solid numbers with the Bruins over the past few seasons and could turn out to be a top-six wing or third-line center in New York. Between the two teams, Spooner combined for 13 goals and 28 assists.

The team also expect big things from Vesey, who signed as a undrafted collegiate free agent a couple of years ago and if finally starting to show that he belongs in the NHL. The 25-year-old winger has put up solid numbers for two years, but could find himself getting more opportunities in the team’s rebuild. In two years, he’s combined for 33 goals and 55 points.

Three Years Remaining

G Henrik Lundqvist ($8.5MM, UFA)
D Kevin Shattenkirk ($6.65MM, UFA)
D Marc Staal ($5.7MM, UFA)
D Brendan Smith ($4.35MM, UFA)

Lundqvist has made it clear he wants to stay with the Rangers, rebuild or not, but his numbers have steadily declined over the past four years when he posted a 2.25 GAA in 2014-15. However, those numbers have dropped each year to 2.48 in 2015-16, 2.74 in 2016-17 and finally to 2.98 GAA in 2017-18. Granted the defense that has surrounded the veteran has been horrible, but if Lundqvist can’t start rebounding, the team will have to find someone else to take some of his load in the future.

With a team looking to rebuild, the team does have quite a few contracts that suddenly don’t look that good anymore when it comes to their offseason signings last year of Shattenkirk and Smith. Shattenkirk put up solid numbers to start the season, but dealt with a knee injury in January and was eventually shut down. Regardless, the team can only hope the 29-year-old can bounce back and quarterback their offense, which was lacking this season. Smith, however, came into camp out of shape and struggled immensely before the team finally buried his contract in the AHL. Supposedly, Smith has been working out all summer and is expected to earn back a roster spot for this year.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Mika Zibanejad ($5.35MM through 2021-22)
D Brady Skjei ($5.25MM through 2023-24)

Zibanejad is another center who seems to fall into a long line of players who fans wonder whether he’s good enough to be their future No. 1 playmaker. The 25-year-old, however, had a solid season, posting 25 goals and 47 points as their top-line center. He is locked up for another four years, so he’s likely to stay there unless Andersson and Chytil develop into that elite center the team has been looking for years.

Skjei signed his extension over the summer, and is expected to be a key contributor to the team for years. However, the problem is that Skjei regressed last year after a big rookie season. Whether it had something to do with the coaching or their defensive system or whether he wasn’t ready for a big role on the team’s defense, Skjei struggled to produce points, posting just 25 points after scored 39 the previous year. Regardless, most feel that Skjei will bounce back and be one of the team’s top defensemen over the next few years.

Buyouts

D Dan Girardi ($3.61MM in 2018-19 and 2019-20; $1.11MM in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Zibanejad
Worst Value: Smith

(Excluding entry-level contracts)

Looking Ahead

The Rangers future, however, looks bright as they have no contracts that will hold the team hostage in four years, meaning New York can build their future now and sign their best players without having to worry about big contracts weighing down their team. Granted, the team still must deal with four big contracts in Shattenkirk, Smith, Staal and Lundqvist for the next three years, but hopefully the team and new coaching staff can get more out of that group next year. Regardless, if the team can develop talent, they are in good long-term position to rebuild this franchise.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Which Open Coaching Job Is Best?

May 1, 2018 at 6:36 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

It was an uncommon year in the NHL with no coaches being fired in-season. Some of the worst teams in the NHL – the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks – had coaches in their first seasons and were willing to reserve judgement at least into a second season. Others, like the Ottawa Senators (confirmed today), Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders are willing to wait and see with relatively new staffs.

Entering the first full month without regular season activity, the season is over for all but eight teams. Yet, only two coaches have been fired: the New York Rangers’ Alain Vigneault and the Calgary Flames’ Glen Gulutzan. The Dallas Stars’ Ken Hitchcock retired and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Bill Peters opted out. Peters then quickly took the Flames job and what is left are just three coaching openings in the NHL.

The Carolina Hurricanes, under new ownership, are still looking for a GM and likely will wait to make a decision on a head coach until after that initial decision has been made. However, for those free agent coaches, the ’Canes do offer an attractive mix of long-term depth and talent on defense, youth and skill on offense, a solid prospect pipeline, and mass amounts of cap space to get better. However, Carolina lacks two of the hardest things to find in hockey: a legitimate starting goaltender and a bona fide #1 star center. Any coach who is excited about the team’s potential has to look at Peters’ inability to turn it into wins and wonder if the few pieces missing in Carolina are the most important ones.

It took a late season collapse for the Dallas Stars to miss the postseason this year. The team has three superstars in Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg and a handful of very good players behind them like goalie Ben Bishop, defensemen Marc Methot and Esa Lindell, and forwards Alexander Radulov and Radek Faksa. They also have the potential for a quick turnaround if Jason Spezza and Martin Hanzal can bounce back. Beyond that group though, the team is lacking in depth on the roster and there doesn’t appear to be real game-changing talent in the pipeline either outside of Miro Heiskanen. They’re also right at the top of the salary cap limit. The Stars have the appearance of a team that is close to being a contender, but may not be able to get much better than they already are.

The New York Rangers are this year’s rebuild option for a coaching candidate. After trading away both impending free agents and core players at the deadline, the Rangers are left with a young-top nine that bring energy and skill but lacks experience and top-end talent and defense corps with veteran leadership surrounded by youth and potential but also lacking any high-end ability. However, they still have an all-world goalie in Henrik Lundqvist and are now loaded with prospects at every position and a wealth of draft picks. The Rangers may not look like much now but have a lot to offer down the road.

So, if you were a top head coach candidate with no particular style preference, which team would you choose?

Henrik Lundqvist Turned Down Trade Opportunity

April 19, 2018 at 5:07 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 11 Comments

Though earlier this season the New York Rangers ownership and front office explained to fans that they would be heading into a rebuilding process, Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t about to abandon ship. As Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports, Lundqvist was given the option of being traded at the deadline to a “good landing place” but quickly declined, saying that he wanted to “see it through.”

Lundqvist has three years remaining on his current contract, and is still playing at a high level. In 63 games this season he recorded a .915 save percentage, despite a weak defense corps that struggled to contain the opposition on a nightly basis. He will begin next season at age-36, meaning if he stays with the Rangers through the end of his contract it’s unlikely he’ll get another real opportunity at the Stanley Cup.

That prize has remained out of Lundqvist’s grasp for his entire career, despite plenty of success at the international level and during the regular season. With Olympic and World Championship gold (and silver) medals, a Vezina trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, two SHL Championships and 11 playoff appearances in 13 NHL seasons, he’s a proven winner and likely Hall of Fame inductee when he finally retires. If the Rangers are committed to a real rebuild though, the chances of a second Stanley Cup Finals appearance are relatively small.

The question then becomes whether a real “rebuild” is in order in New York. That term usually brings about finishes near the bottom of the standings for several years, using draft picks to slowly improve the team’s prospect pipeline until it is ready to contend again. It often takes five or more years to complete, though there are obviously outliers on both sides. The Rangers though seem poised to compete for the playoffs much sooner. After trading off assets like Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller in the last calendar year, they find themselves flush with high end prospects ready to make an impact at the NHL level before long.

The idea that a core built around players like Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren—not to mention the three first-round picks the team owns in the upcoming draft—could be ready to compete for the Stanley Cup in the next three years isn’t out of the question. With other relatively young talents like Brady Skjei, Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Namestnikov still on the roster, the Rangers could be in for a quick bounce back. If Lundqvist can stay healthy, and remain an above-average goaltender in the NHL there could be a chance to have one or two more playoff appearances. If that’s what he means by “see it through,” Rangers fans should be happy he stuck around.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Pettersson, Haula, Lundqvist

April 16, 2018 at 7:24 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson is likely to play on the wing to start next season if he makes the NHL roster, GM Jim Benning acknowledged to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. Pettersson, a natural center, spent most of this past season on the wing so it’s hard to foresee him switching back to the tougher position while trying to get used to playing at the NHL level. Accordingly, Kuzma speculates that Vancouver could be in the market this offseason for a veteran on a short-term deal that could act as a bridge for players like Pettersson and Adam Gaudette to allow them to ease into NHL duty.

Elsewhere around the league:

Golden Knights center Erik Haula will not face a disciplinary hearing for an incident involving Kings center Anze Kopitar on Sunday, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. After being knocked down, Haula hit Kopitar in the face with what appeared to have been the butt-end of his stick but a league spokesman stated that there were no plans to review the play. That means that Haula will be available as Vegas goes for the first round sweep on Tuesday night.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has declined an invitation to join Team Sweden for the upcoming World Championships, notes Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The veteran has been battling a knee issue that was initially sustained last year in that tournament although he still played in 63 games for New York this season. Brooks reports that Lundqvist will receive platelet-rich plasma treatment and will rest for around the next three weeks before kicking off his offseason training routine.

New York Rangers Fire Coach Alain Vigneault

April 8, 2018 at 9:02 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

Hours after putting up an egg in their 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, the New York Rangers fired their head coach Alain Vigneault after five years. After four playoff appearances, the Rangers struggled, finishing 34-39-9 on the season. In all, however, Vigneault had quite a bit of success in his time in New York, which included taking the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2013-14, his first season with the team. He led the team to a 226-147-37 record over the five years.

The firing also came after Vigneault himself stated in his post-game press conference that he deserved to stay and defended his record, according to Newsday’s Colin Stephenson.

“Yes, yes. Without a doubt,’’ he said when asked if he thought he would hold on to his job despite the Rangers’ 34-39-9 record, which caused them to miss the playoffs for only the second time since the NHL lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season. “I think my staff is the right staff for this job. I think — and this is just my opinion — but I think one of the strongest assets of this organization is its coaching staff and their experience.’’

Some of Vigneault’s struggles were not his doing as the Rangers decided to rebuild on the fly, sending out a letter on Feb. 7, telling fans about their decision to rebuild the team. The Rangers followed that by selling off several veterans including Michael Grabner, Rick Nash, Nick Holden, J.T. Miller and captain Ryan McDonah.

However, Stephenson also points out several issues that came up this season that forced the Rangers to head in that direction. After re-designing its defense with the acquisitions of star free agent Kevin Shattenkirk and re-signing Brendan Smith, the team was hoping to possess one of the best defenses in the league. Instead, the team started slowly at 1-6-2 in its first nine games and was 3-7-2 after 12 in which Vigneault almost lost his job. The team was able to right the ship after that, but only because of the impressive play of both the team’s goaltenders in Henrik Lundqvist and Ondrej Pavelec. Neither goalie was able to sustain their great play.

Injuries also played a part. Shattenkirk was playing hurt, while Smith came into camp out of shape and never returned to form before eventually being sent down to the AHL. Winger Chris Kreider missed 24 games due to a blood clot that led to surgery on his ribs. Center Mika Zibanejad missed nine games with a concussion, while Shattenkirk had knee surgery in January and never came back.

The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello writes (subscription required) that there were other reasons as well that stand out when it came to Vigneault. The coach’s lack of success at the blueline have been issues for years as his system had failed repeatedly. Vigneault had undergone three different defensive assistant coaches in three years, including Ulf Samuelsson, Jeff Beukeboom and Lindy Ruff and replaced most of the defense and still failed to get them going. His tough love was also an issue as he butted heads with many players, especially Miller and Pavel Buchnevich. However, the most telling numbers is the team’s record from Jan. 7 to Feb. 25, when Vigneault led the team to just a 5-16-1 record.

Vigneault has a 648-435-98 overall record throughout his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and the Rangers. He won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in 2007.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first to report the news.

Snapshots: Emergency Goalie, Lundqvist, Pettersson, College Free Agents

March 8, 2018 at 7:02 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

The Winnipeg Jets may have called up Michael Hutchinson on paper, but they weren’t actually able to get him on the roster in time for their game tonight against the New Jersey Devils. According to the team, Hutchison’s flight into New York was delayed and he was unable to arrive to the game in time. As a result, the Jets were forced to sign an emergency backup to a tryout deal. The man behind Connor Hellebuyck tonight will be Zane Kalemba, a New Jersey native and a friend of Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler. Kalemba played junior hockey with Wheeler for the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and went on to star for Princeton University. Kalemba only retired from hockey in 2016, having spent time in the ECHL, CHL, and several European leagues. An experienced keeper who, most importantly, was nearby, will have to do for the Jets tonight.

A goalie in the tri-state area with a little more experience than Kalemba is New York Rangers superstar Henrik Lundqvist. In fact, when Lundqvist takes the ice tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he will tie former Tampa goalie Nikolai Khabibulin for the most NHL starts by a foreign-born goalie. The Rangers report that Lundqvist’s appearance, his 799th, is enough to share the top mark. When the Swedish keeper makes his next start, which could be as early as Saturday, he will not only reach a benchmark 800th appearance, but will also become the most experienced foreign keeper in NHL history.
Another Swede setting records is Vancouver Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson. Pettersson, who was selected fifth overall last year by Vancouver, has been playing in the top Swedish pro league, the SHL, this season. After a four-point outburst today, the Canucks pointed out that Pettersson’s 55 points on the year set a new record for the most points by a player under 20 in SHL history. The Vaxjo Lakers forward snapped a 42-year-old record while also taking over the league scoring lead. That’s not too shabby for a young player who looks to be an absolute stud-in-the-making for the Canucks.
Some other young players looking to make an impact in the pros is the 2018 crop of college free agents. While Zach Whitecloud’s deal with Vegas today was the first NHL deal so far, a few other NCAA prospects have already hooked up with AHL teams for contracts and tryout agreements for the remainder of the season and could earn big-league deals if they impress. These transactions include Whitecloud’s Bemidji State teammate Kyle Bauman joining the Ontario Reign (LAK), the San Jose Barracuda (SJS) inking Alaska-Fairbanks’ Zach Frye, Yale’s Ryan Hitchcock going nearby to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI), the Chicago Wolves (VGK) adding Wisconsin’s Ryan Wagner, and both Derian Plouffe of Niagara and Josh Kestner of Alabama-Huntsville signing with the Toronto Marlies (TOR).

Canadian Juniors Could Change Approach To Foreign Goalies

February 28, 2018 at 8:15 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 3 Comments

In 2013, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), the overarching body in major junior hockey that governs the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Western Hockey League (WHL), and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), decided to ban teams from drafting European goalies. The CHL holds an annual Import Draft in which all 60 teams across the three leagues are given two chances to draft foreign talent in an attempt to fill their two import slots on the roster for the following season. Sometimes the players who are drafted come over and other times they don’t. However, five years ago, CHL president David Branch and company decided to no longer take the risk of bringing in foreign keeper who could then in turn block young North American goalies by not allowing teams to select them in the import draft. While the idea was to protect the development and value of homegrown products, the result was a weaker product across the CHL and a more difficult time for their business partners in the NHL to evaluate foreign goalies.

In fairness, the decision was made after a stretch of dominant play by European keepers at the major junior level. In 2010-11, the top save percentage in both the OHL and QMJHL belonged to imports: Petr Mrazek and Christopher Gibson. Not long before, Michal Neuvirth was one of the OHL’s best as well. In the mid-2000’s, Ondrej Pavelec controlled the QMJHL, leading the league in goals against average in back-to-back seasons among other accomplishments, and is arguably still the league’s best goaltender in history.

This isn’t to say that Canadian and American goalies didn’t also flourish at that time as well, which calls the decision back into question. This was always a concern of quality over quantity, as the vast majority of teams still employed a North American starter and often a local backup or two as well. The CHL may have been concerned with the talent of some foreign prospects overshadowing Canada’s best, but they could never have honestly argued there was a lack of opportunity due to imported players. Top 2018 draft-eligible CHL prospects Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina are both imports, yet they would never ban forwards.

Nevertheless, the CHL made a decision which clearly hurt their own competition level by excluding some of the top junior-level goaltending talent in the world without any evidence that it was truly hurting their domestic counterparts. Now, years later, the league is rethinking that decision. John Matisz of the Toronto Sun reports that the league is considering lifting the ban on foreign goalies, and for good reason. The ban has simply made it harder for NHL team to evaluate European keepers – with foreign leagues often dominated by older, experienced players, while the top young skaters come overseas – but hasn’t stopped them from being drafted into the pros at the same rate as CHL goalies. Meanwhile, top prospects such as Ukko-Pekka Luukonen (Buffalo), Filip Gustavsson (Ottawa), and 2018-eligible Jakub Skarek still reside overseas, but could surely benefit nearly any team in the CHL. The major juniors face little risk that a reversal would harm them in any way.

Interesting enough though, it may still be in European goalies’ best interests to remain in Europe and for NHL teams to focus on those who stay and face older, professional talent. The list of foreign goaltenders who played major junior in Canada and remain in the NHL – Mrazek, Neuvirth, Pavelec, Peter Budaj, Philipp Grubauer, Jaroslav Halak, Anton Khudobin, Marek Langhamer, Robin Lehner, and the most recent CHL import star, Oscar Dansk – all have one thing in common: they aren’t bona fide starters. Meanwhile, the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky, Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask, and Andrei Vasilevskiy avoided North America until turning pro, and it worked out much better for them. With a new class of European goalies likely to join the CHL sooner rather than later, we’ll see if that trend continues.

Minor Transactions: 2/18/18

February 18, 2018 at 10:07 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With a full slate of games last night, the Vegas Golden Knights continued their winning ways. With their victory over the Montreal Canadiens, the first-year expansion team has become the NHL points leader once again as the team now has 82 points so far this season. With a seven-game matchup today, many NHL teams will be making moves today. Check back in as those moves are made throughout the day.

The New York Rangers announced they have assigned goaltender Brandon Halverson to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. He was recalled Saturday to serve as backup to starter Henrik Lundqvist against the Ottawa Senators. However, due to Lundqvist’s struggles against Ottawa, Halverson did manage to make his NHL debut last night, allowing one goal and saving five shots in 12:33 of action. Halverson was a second-round pick in 2014. With backup Ondrej Pavelec out with a strained MCL, the team had called up Alexander Georgiev from Hartford, but he was out Saturday with the flu. Halverson’s assignment would suggest that Georgiev should be ready for the team’s next game on Thursday.
The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz tweets that the San Jose Sharks have recalled forward Daniel O’Regan from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL for today’s game. The scribe suggests that Tomas Hertl might not be ready to play yet after leaving Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury when he crashed into the boards. He already missed one game. O’Regan has been up and down for much of the season. He has played 17 games for the Sharks this year and has four assists. O’Regan has seven goals and 18 assists in 30 games with the Barracuda.
The Dallas Stars announced that they have sent forward Jason Dickinson to Texas of the AHL. He has played in 13 games with Dallas this season, averaging 9:19 per night while being held off the scoresheet. He has been more productive at the minor league level though, recording 22 points in 33 contests.

Snapshots: Lundqvist, Zetterberg, Ronning

February 2, 2018 at 3:09 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The New York Rangers are staring down the barrel of a potential rebuild, but their one constant is here for the long haul. Henrik Lundqvist told Larry Brooks of the New York Post today that though he hopes to compete for the Stanley Cup every year, he has no intention of going anywhere even if they do start selling off assets.

I want to play for one organization. This one. I love it here. I want to be here and battle through the ups and downs, the good and the bad. It’s important to me.

Lundqvist has three years remaining on a contract that carries an $8.5MM cap hit and a full no-movement clause, and despite struggles in his last two games still carries a .919 save percentage this season. That mark is just barely under his career number, in what has been a likely Hall of Fame career already.

Henrik Zetterberg, another legendary Swedish-born player who has played for just a single organization, is perhaps already in the midst of a sort of rebuild. The Detroit Red Wings are struggling to fight for a playoff spot and are rumored to be looking at deals for players like Mike Green and Petr Mrazek, but won’t be asking Zetterberg to waive his trade protection anytime soon. Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the current Red Wings front office will not try to deal Zetterberg even if a contender comes knocking.
Ty Ronning, son of long time NHL forward Cliff Ronning, is finding a ton of success as he finishes his junior career with the Vancouver Giants. The 20-year old forward has 44 goals in 50 games, and could find himself under a professional contract before long. Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver reports that Ronning has had “positive talks” with the Rangers, who drafted him 201st overall in 2016. The undersized sniper played 12 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack last spring, scoring five points in the process.

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