Snapshots: Denisenko, World Cup, Perreault, Robins
Although he decided to return home and play in the KHL this season, winger Grigori Denisenko hasn’t given up on playing in North America just yet. In an interview with Championat’s Lev Lukin, the 25-year-old indicated his dream is still to get back to the NHL. He hasn’t spent much time there lately, however, getting into just seven NHL games over the past two seasons with Vegas. He spent most of last season in the minors with Henderson and Milwaukee, collecting 17 goals and 21 assists in 65 games and rather than accepting a two-way deal as a Group Six unrestricted free agent and likely starting in the minors again, he’ll try to work his way back with a big season with Ak Bars Kazan.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Speaking to reporters including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen at the media tour earlier this week, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly provided an update on the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. They have whittled through expressions of interest from both North American and European cities and are about to begin the bidding process. The belief is that there will be round-robin games on both continents before moving to North America only for the medal round. Daly added that while they hope to have a qualifying round down the road, that won’t be in place for this particular event.
- UFA winger Jacob Perreault has a team for the upcoming season as the Bruins’ AHL team in Providence announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year deal. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Anaheim in 2020, going 27th overall but he has struggled considerably in the pros. Last season, he spent time with Montreal and Edmonton’s farm teams, collecting just three goals and 11 assists in 44 games, leading to a non-tender in late June. Perreault has made one NHL appearance, that coming back in 2021-22.
- After being non-tendered by Ottawa this summer, unrestricted free agent winger Tristen Robins has reportedly found a place to play. Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis reports (Twitter link) that the 23-year-old is set to sign in Czechia with Kladno. Robins was a 2020 second-round pick by San Jose and was moved to the Sens as part of the Fabian Zetterlund trade at the deadline. Robins played in 56 AHL games last year, picking up eight goals and 16 assists. He has three career NHL games under his belt back in the 2022-23 season.
Canadiens, Oilers Complete Minor Swap
Two of the league’s storied Canadian franchises have gotten together on a minor-league deal. According to a press release from the Montreal Canadiens, the former is sending forward Jacob Perreault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer.
Hoefenmayer is an older prospect being drafted with the 108th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He transitioned to professional hockey for the 2020-21 season but spent much of his first two years in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliates.
The last three years have given Hoefenmayer more consistent playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and Bakersfield Condors. He scored 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Marlies in 2022-23 while adding 114 PIMs. His move to Bakersfield has been far less productive scoring only eight goals and 25 points in 58 games with the Condors.
Perreault is the only player in the swap to make his NHL debut. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks organization and selected 27th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell out of favor rather quickly in Anaheim, largely due to his defensive inefficiencies, and was traded to the Canadiens this past March for fellow 2020 draftee, Jan Mysak.
The deal is between two teams heading in different directions in the AHL standings. The Laval Rocket are fourth overall in the league standings with a 14-6-1 record through 21 games while the Condors sit in 25th with a 7-8-2-1 record through 18.
Canadiens Activate And Assign Jacob Perreault To AHL
While the Canadiens are dealing with some more injuries, one of their prospects has been cleared to return. Per the AHL’s Transactions Log, Montreal has assigned forward Jacob Perreault to AHL Laval, meaning that he has been activated from the injured, non-roster list.
The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by Anaheim back in 2020, going 31st overall but has seen his stock drop since then. Perreault made his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season, getting into one contest while putting up 37 points in 55 AHL appearances. However, his output dipped to 19 points in 48 games the following year.
After a similar first three-quarters of last season, Anaheim decided to move Perreault to Montreal in exchange for prospect Jan Mysak. The change of scenery didn’t do him much good as he managed just a goal and an assist in 13 games before being sidelined with the injury that kept him out of the lineup until now. The Canadiens attempted to send him down in late September but that was later reversed since injured players can’t be assigned to the minors.
Perreault is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and with how things have gone for him the last couple of years, he’s not guaranteed to land a qualifying offer next summer. Rather than focusing on trying to earn a recall in the coming months, his focus will likely be on locking down a full-time spot in Laval’s lineup and demonstrating that he’ll be worth keeping around.
Canadiens, Ducks Swap Jan Mysak For Jacob Perreault
The Canadiens and Ducks have exchanged forward prospects Jan Mysak and Jacob Perreault, both teams announced. It’s a one-for-one swap of U-22 prospects whose development has stalled with their respective minor-league clubs.
Perreault, 21, is a Montreal native and was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2020 after scoring 39 goals and 70 points in 59 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. Concerningly, his production has declined after a strong rookie season with AHL San Diego in 2020-21 (17 points in 27 games), and he’s tallied seven goals and 18 points in 31 games this season with a -3 rating. He made his NHL debut in January 2022 but has not seen major league action since.
The son of former Canadien Yanic Perreault and the older brother of Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault, Jacob is a natural right-winger. He still has one season remaining on his entry-level contract with a cap hit of $863.3K, so he won’t be a restricted free agent until the summer of 2025.
Unlike Perreault, Mysak can shift to center. The 21-year-old Czech forward was a second-round pick by Montreal in 2020 and had the rare experience of immediately playing pro hockey. Despite being drafted out of a Canadian junior league, he was permitted to suit up for the AHL’s Laval Rocket in 2020-21 because the OHL had paused game action due to COVID. There, he notched two goals in 22 games before returning to the OHL the following year, where he tallied 34 goals and 64 points in 61 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs en route to a Memorial Cup appearance. He’s on an opposite trajectory to Perreault – slowly heating up in the minors with 20 points in 48 games for AHL Laval this year after recording just nine in 40 games last season.
Mysak is also in the second season of his entry-level deal and will be an RFA in 2025. His cap hit is slightly lower at $828.3K, but as both players are assigned to the minors at the time of the trade, the swap has no salary cap impact for either team.