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Joonas Donskoi

Brendan Lemieux To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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While the NHL decides whether the season will even continue, life goes on at the Department of Player Safety. They have announced that New York Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux will have a hearing tomorrow to determine supplementary discipline for his hit on Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi. Lemieux collided with Donskoi after the Avalanche player took a shot on net, appearing to impact his head in the process.

Obviously it’s not clear how a suspension would play out given the uncertainty around the rest of the season, but if handed out Lemieux would have to serve it at some point. Even with their loss last night the Rangers are still within striking distance of a playoff spot, should more regular season games be played.

Lemieux was given a minor penalty for interference on the play and has been suspended for an illegal check to the head in the past.

Ryan Lindgren Will Not Receive Suspension

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Following a hearing today, the Department of Player Safety has decided that New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren will not receive any supplementary discipline for his hit on Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi last night. Donskoi was knocked out of the game, while Lindgren then fought Nazem Kadri and suffered an injury of his own. The DoPS gave this explanation:

While there was significant head contact on this play, Lindgren took a proper angle of approach, did not extend outward or upward and hit through Donskoi’s core. Therefore, under Rule 48.1 (i), the head contact was determined to be unavoidable.

If an incident warrants a hearing with the league, it almost always results in a suspension for the player involved. Not so for the Rangers’ young defenseman though, who will escape without punishment (other than that which Kadri dealt) and his record intact. That’s important for any future incidents, as this will no longer be held against him.

The question now is whether or not Lindgren and Donskoi will be out for any length of time. The Avalanche did not practice today or give an update on Donskoi, while the Rangers explained yesterday that they believe Lindgren will be okay.

Evening Notes: Sharks Lineup, Gaudette, Johansson

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The San Jose Sharks had to cast off a number of forwards this offseason after they inked star defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92MM contract three weeks ago. The team let Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi off and there continue to be rumors that they may have to trade off Melker Karlsson later on this summer to free up more cap room.

Of course, San Jose is expected to re-sign Joe Thornton and are likely to also bring back Patrick Marleau. Yet, despite those signings, there are likely going to be some holes in their lineup. In fact, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that there could be a major change in the top-six. The scribe writes that San Jose might look to its prospect depth to fill one of the wing positions on the second line this season as Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekovich could be the beneficiaries of that job.

Chmelevski, a sixth-round gem found in the 2017 draft, has scored 70 goals and 151 points in the past two seasons with the Ottawa 67s of the OHL. Chekovich, a seventh-round stud picked up in the 2017 draft as well, scored 43 goals and 105 points last season in the QMJHL, but also gotten some time in the AHL with three goals and seven points in nine AHL games. Kurz writes that the only way they would make the team is if one of them played on the second line. A spot on the bottom-six would make less sense, however, as they could get valuable minutes with the San Jose Barracuda instead.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have been quite active this offseason and have added quite a bit of depth to their team. However, Patrick Johnson of the Vancouver Sun writes that the team will have a significant roster jam at the forward position this fall. The team currently has 13 healthy forwards under NHL deals and still have to sign Nikolay Goldobin and Brock Boeser to deals. Throw in the injured Antoine Roussel, the team has a lot of forwards with only 12 spots. That could put the spot of Adam Gaudette, who many people feel deserves a spot as the team’s third-line center, in jeopardy as the 22-year-old is the only player on the team (minus Elias Pettersson and Boeser) who can be sent down without having to pass through waivers. Unless Gaudette can have a dominant camp and beat out some of the others like Brandon Sutter, he could find himself starting the year off in Utica of the AHL.
  • The two-year deal that winger Marcus Johansson signed Saturday with the Buffalo Sabres includes a modified no-trade clause, according to CapFriendly. Johansson has the ability to provide Buffalo with a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to during both his seasons. That’s an improvement on his previous deal where for the past two years he could submit five teams he couldn’t be traded to.

Timo Meier Signs Extension With San Jose Sharks

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The San Jose Sharks might not be huge players in the unrestricted free agent market this year, but they are keeping another one of their excellent young players. Timo Meier has signed a four-year contract extension with the Sharks that will carry a $6MM average annual value. Meier will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal, and will be eligible for salary arbitration. GM Doug Wilson released a statement on his young forward:

Timo is one of only a few young, dominant power forwards in the NHL and we’re extremely pleased that he stepped forward to make this commitment to the Sharks. Timo has elevated himself into a core part of our hockey team and his play last season was a huge part of our success. We feel that his best hockey is still ahead of him.

With numbers rolling around for some of the top restricted free agents that sometimes approaches eight digits, the Sharks look like they got a steal of a deal with Meier. The 22-year-old had a breakout season and keeps showing marked improvement in each year, which the team was hoping for when they made him the ninth-overall pick in 2015. Meier tallied three goals and six points in 34 games during his rookie season, but took that to a new level in his sophomore campaign when he tallied 21 goals and 36 points. While solid, Meier took his game to a whole new level this year as he became a major component to the Sharks’ offense, scoring 30 goals and 66 points.

With a better than expected $6MM deal, the Sharks should have some extra money to add depth to their team. The team has lost a number of key players from last season as they recently allowed captain Joe Pavelski as well as winger Joonas Donskoi to walk away in free agency. The team also traded away defenseman Justin Braun on defense and have quite a few holes to fill.

Avalanche Sign Joonas Donskoi

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The Avalanche have added some winger depth on the open market, signing Joonas Donskoi to a four-year contract worth a total of $15.6MM. That means the former San Jose Sharks forward will carry a cap hit of $3.9MM in Colorado, putting a little more pressure on him to perform in a bigger role.

Donskoi is coming off of an up-and-down season with San Jose.  He started off quite well, scoring 14 goals in the first 46 games of the season, providing the Sharks with some quality secondary scoring.  However, he faltered considerably down the stretch as he was held goalless over the final 34 games of the regular season while he scored just once in a dozen postseason contests.

The 27-year-old represents an intriguing option for Colorado.  If he can revert to his early season form, he could be a capable secondary piece for the Avalanche who also added Andre Burakovsky earlier this offseason.  However, if it turns out that his offensive outburst wasn’t a sign of things to come, this deal could be a tough one for the Avalanche down the road.

UFA Notes: Donskoi, Benn, Varlamov

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Free agent frenzy came early this year, with details leaking out on many of the top names a day early. Teams are not supposed to actually discuss specific financials, but cap hits and terms have poured out all evening. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tried to summarize all of the day’s leaks and also reported some new information on a few names. One of those is Joonas Donskoi, who is still expected to sign with the Colorado Avalanche for an average annual value between $3-4MM. Friedman doesn’t give a suggestion on the term of the deal.

Donskoi ranked 21st on our list of the Top 50 UFAs after a quietly effective campaign, where we projected him to sign a three-year, $9.6MM deal with the Avalanche. The former San Jose Sharks forward may be able to outperform even that if given a bigger role in Colorado alongside some of their other talented forwards. Some other notes on pending free agents:

  • Tyler Myers and Jordie Benn are both expected to sign with the Vancouver Canucks according to Friedman, though obviously nothing is finalized until tomorrow afternoon. Myers has been linked to the Canucks for some time and may very well challenge for the biggest contract given out to a defenseman tomorrow. Benn meanwhile is also coming off a career season and has set himself up for a nice payday, though it shouldn’t come close to the money handed out to Myers. Vancouver allowed Derrick Pouliot and Ben Hutton to hit the market by not issuing them qualifying offers, and apparently have already found some veteran replacements.
  • The league-wide game of goalie musical chairs continues, with Friedman suggesting that Semyon Varlamov could be heading to the New York Islanders. The Islanders have been unable to come to terms with pending free agent netminder Robin Lehner despite his outstanding season, and since it looks like they missed out on Sergei Bobrovsky as well they needed an established goaltender to come in and help Thomas Greiss next season. No details on what Varlamov will be signing have emerged yet, but we projected just a two-year, $6.5MM deal for him in our ranking.

Snapshots: Duchene, Donskoi, Vrana, Engelland, McElhinney, Berglund

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While speculation has center Matt Duchene likely signing a long-term deal with the Nashville Predators, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that the Montreal Canadiens aren’t out of the running yet. While Nashville may still be the favorite to land the star center, Friedman writes that one of his sources says that it’s not locked in and Montreal still is in the race.

Duchene, who grew up a fan of the Canadiens, would be a big addition for the Canadiens if they can land him. Duchene would likely become their top center in hopes of vaulting Montreal back into a playoff spot.

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that while things are still in the works, he believes that the Colorado Avalanche and an unidentified team are the finalists to sign unrestricted free agent forward Joonas Donskoi. The 27-year-old scored 14 goals and 37 points last season and could provide the team with a solid middle-six option for the Avalanche. While LeBrun notes that he doesn’t know who the other team is, he believes that Buffalo and Edmonton are not in the running anymore.
  • The Washington Capitals managed to trade off one of their key restricted free agents in Andre Burakovsky Friday in hopes of saving some cap room, but even being free of that contract, the money is tight in Washington. In fact, Washington general manager Brian MacLellan said that because the NHL salary cap was lower than expected ($81.5MM), the team will likely be forced to sign restricted free agent Jakub Vrana to a short-term deal, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulliti. Washington had initially planned to lock up Vrana to a long-term deal when the team had expected the cap to be set at $83MM, but with the number being lower than expected, the MacLellan doesn’t believe the team has the money to sign him long-term.
  • Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee confirmed that the team is close to signing veteran unrestricted free agent defenseman Deryk Engelland, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. The 37-year-old had a down season last year, but the veteran who actually played in Vegas in the ECHL before the Golden Knights came about, has been a community leader there. He is likely expected to take a bottom-six role next season and could find himself more in a 6th/7th role on defense.
  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Montreal Canadiens are among three teams that are interested in signing veteran goaltender Curtis McElhinney. The 36-year-old had a great season in Carolina after the Hurricanes claimed him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the beginning of the year. He finished the season with a 2.58 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 33 appearances. LeBrun also adds that it doesn’t look like Toronto is one of the other two teams.
  • Former NHL player Patrik Berglund, who walked out on the Buffalo Sabres in the middle of last season, is exploring a return the the NHL and has several teams interested, according to Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. Berglund, who was packaged to Buffalo in the Ryan O’Reilly trade last offseason, didn’t like it in Buffalo and finally requested that his contract to be terminated after playing just 23 games in a reduced role. The 31-year-old scored 17 goals in the 2017-18 season, but scored just twice before walking away this year.

Joonas Donskoi Drawing Interest

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The San Jose Sharks won’t be able to afford new contracts for all of their pending free agents, so names like Joonas Donskoi are going to have to scour the market for a new opportunity. That isn’t going to be very difficult, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that nearly have the league has already “kicked the tires” on Donskoi, and lists the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche and Buffalo Sabres as teams with real interest.

The 27-year old winger has scored 14 goals in each of the last two seasons and reached a new career-high with 37 points in the 2018-19 campaign. That was despite averaging just over 13 minutes a night, making him quite an efficient scorer in the lower half of the Sharks’ lineup. It comes as no surprise then that teams are interested in bringing him aboard, hoping they can coax even more production out.

It is important to note that unlike many depth wingers, Donskoi has virtually no experience on the penalty kill and thus would need to be able to contribute enough offensively to warrant whatever deal he eventually earns. Though he’s not useless defensively and isn’t completely against physical play, those are certainly not his calling cards.

Edmonton, as LeBrun points out, is checking the market on basically every free agent winger including Donskoi’s teammate Gustav Nyquist, who is also drawing interest but hasn’t ruled out a return to San Jose. The Oilers are in desperate need of help this season to try and avoid missing the playoffs again, and will look to add some skill to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the open market.

Free Agent Notes: Salary Cap, Marner, Gusev, Duchene, Dillon

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With rumors of the 2019-20 salary cap possibly being lower than the $83MM that teams initially expected, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that an NHLPA spokesperson told him that there should be an announcement on the salary cap this evening.

With talks that the salary cap could be as low as $81.5MM, LeBrun writes that the NHLPA is taking their time to weigh that number. That number is expected to have a significant effect on teams, especially on those that are tight to the cap as that leaves them even less room to work with and could force teams to dump salaries even more than ever.

  • LeBrun also tweets that the agent for Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner, Darren Ferris, is expecting to hear from other teams on Wednesday, the day the RFA speaking period begins. With plenty of talks of high demands and a suggested willingness to sign an offer sheet, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has his hands full. Dubas and Ferris did not meet this week in Vancouver and Ferris is expected to leave the draft for home, although there is plenty of time for both Dubas and Ferris to meet next week.
  • While many fans of the Vegas Golden Knights have been looking forward to seeing KHL star forward Nikita Gusev play this season, TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests that the restricted free-agent may not end up getting the chance. With plenty of cap concerns, Vegas may not have enough money to sign the 26-year-old winger, and the Golden Knights may opt to trade him to relieve some of those cap issues. Dreger adds that multiple teams have inquired about Gusev, who currently would be penciled in on their third line and could be expendable for the right price. Gusev signed a one-year deal, $925K in April of this year, but he didn’t appear in a game for the Golden Knights. He won the KHL MVP award in 2018 and has scored 63 goals in the last three season for SKA St. Petersburg.
  • The Athletic’s Craig Custance reports that he has heard there won’t be any deal between the Columbus Blue Jackets and unrestricted free agent center Matt Duchene before the speaking period opens on Sunday. While that isn’t a major surprise, of all the Blue Jackets’ big-named free agents, Duchene was their best hope to re-signing. However, especially after the recent P.K. Subban deal, it is believed that Nashville has become the front-runner for Duchene’s services.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that the San Jose Sharks would be open to moving defenseman Brendan Dillon for the right price. Dillon, who is currently slated to play on the top defensive pairing next to Brent Burns is making $3.27MM, but with significant cap issues coming this offseason, the team could use the extra cap room to try and make sure it can sign all of its top free agents, including restricted free agent Timo Meier, as well as unrestricted free agents Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Joonas Donskoi and Gustav Nyquist, although the latter two are less likely to return.

Joonas Donskoi To Wait Until UFA Interview Period

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The San Jose Sharks inked one of their big unrestricted free agents when they signed Erik Karlsson to a massive contract extension, but may not be able to bring everyone else back. Joonas Donskoi is going to talk to other teams during the UFA interview period next week according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, though the forward is expected to keep San Jose in the mix.

The 27-year old Donskoi is coming off a fine season with the Sharks, recording 37 points almost entirely at even-strength. He did that while averaging just 13:25 per game, but still ended up in the press box as a healthy scratch at the end of the season and in the playoffs. That was partly because of a lengthy goal drought—Donskoi failed to score in his last 34 games in the regular season—but also because of a lack of what head coach Peter DeBoer termed confidence to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News. That may be what LeBrun is referring to when he suggests that Donskoi might need a fresh start, one he could find through free agency.

Even if the Sharks wanted him back, they might simply not have enough cap space to do it. While the team currently projects to be about $15MM under the ceiling, they still need new contracts for restricted free agents Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc and Joakim Ryan. Any money left over from those negotiations is likely ticketed for Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton, while not forgetting that the team could also re-sign Gustav Nyquist as well. Donskoi, despite his solid contributions, may be on the outside looking in.

In free agency however, there should be plenty of teams interested in the Finnish forward. Now with 122 points in 283 games, the right winger should find a fit on the third line somewhere and be able to contribute in several situations. His possession statistics have been excellent—though that was the case with basically every Sharks player this season—and he has shown an ability to contribute on the powerplay in the past.

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