Snapshots: Maurice, Morrissey, Davies
Finland wound up in second place in its group at the Olympics and have a chance at a bye before the quarterfinals. However, at one point, it looked like the team could have been led by a different bench boss. Helsingen Sanomat’s Sami Hoffren and Teemu Suvinen report that following a tough showing at the 4 Nations Face-Off and World Championship, a group of NHL veterans made an effort to try to get Panthers head coach Paul Maurice appointed to Finland’s coaching staff for these Olympics. GM Jere Lehtinen acknowledged discussing the idea with the players who wanted the change but nothing further came of it with head coach Antti Pennanen remaining in charge, a role he will hold through the spring of 2027 at a minimum.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey missed Friday’s Olympic game against Switzerland and has already been ruled out for Sunday’s contest against France, relays Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link). However, Canada’s head coach Jon Cooper indicated that “by no means is he out for the tournament.” That suggests that the undisclosed injury is at least relatively minor if he’s going to potentially be back within the next week. That would be a big boost for Canada’s back end as well as Winnipeg’s with a busy stretch of games coming up after the break.
- After having his contract with Florida terminated a little more than a week ago, Josh Davies has found a new team. The AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals announced that they’ve signed the forward to a deal for the remainder of the season. Drafted in the sixth round in 2022, Davies has played primarily in the ECHL over his professional career and it appears he was willing to walk away from the rest of his NHL deal to get an opportunity to play at the AHL level for the first time this season.
Panthers Place Josh Davies On Unconditional Waivers
Feb. 6: Davies passed through waivers and is now a free agent, per Friedman.
Feb. 5: The Panthers placed forward prospect Josh Davies on unconditional waivers Thursday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll have his contract terminated and become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow after he clears.
Davies, 21, walks away from his entry-level contract less than two seasons in. He was a sixth-round pick out of the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos in 2022 and, after inking his ELC in December 2023, turned pro before last season. In over a year and a half in Florida’s ranks, though, he’s yet to record a point at the AHL level.
Davies played just 18 games for Charlotte last season, posting no scoring stats and 27 penalty minutes with a -8 rating. He’s seen no AHL time this season and has instead played exclusively with ECHL Savannah, where he has eight goals and 12 points in 31 games. He also had 16 points in 34 games for the Ghost Pirates last season as a rookie.
Now, the heavy-hitting 5’10” winger will look to catch on elsewhere, presumably on a minor-league deal with such a limited high-end track record in the pros. He was a decent scorer in juniors, totaling 78 goals and 140 points across 204 WHL games, but he hasn’t been able to take the next step.
Florida’s contract count will drop to 45 tomorrow, leaving them with five open spots nearing the trade deadline.
Panthers Sign Josh Davies To Entry-Level Contract
The Panthers have agreed to terms with 2022 sixth-round pick Josh Davies on a three-year, entry-level contract, per a team release. Davies’ contract will slide to the 2024-25 season given he plays less than ten NHL games this season, a likely scenario. After signing the deal, the Panthers immediately returned Davies to the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, according to CapFriendly. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Davies, 19, can play left-wing and center and was selected from the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos two years ago. He was a consensus mid-to-late-round pick coming into the draft, as his offensive production was mediocre (36 points in 64 games), but his physicality was intriguing. Despite his 5-foot-9, 196-pound frame, Davies is a tenacious checker and is not afraid to fight, as evidenced by his 100+ penalty minutes in the last two WHL seasons.
This season, however, Davies’ offense has exploded in his last season in junior hockey. An offseason trade to Portland has breathed life into his game, and he currently sits fourth on the Winterhawks in scoring with 19 goals and 31 points in 22 games. Described as a “diverse shooter” by Elite Prospects, he’s growing into an intriguing all-around talent who may have an NHL future ahead of him.
Given the delay in his offensive breakout, though, Davies’ ceiling is likely as a bottom-six energy winger with some scoring upside. Still, he’s one of the brighter spots in a Panthers’ prospect pool that’s been decimated over the past few years as the team has moved into a championship-contending window, especially among forwards – outside of 2021 first-round pick Mackie Samoskevich, who has ten points in 16 games with AHL Charlotte in his first full professional season.
Atlantic Notes: Gostisbehere, Robertson, Davies
The Red Wings added defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere early in free agency to help replace some of the production they lost when they moved Filip Hronek to Vancouver last season. Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News notes that the blueliner didn’t have a ton of interest on the open market despite recording 92 points in the last two seasons which resulted in him picking the team that he thought gave him the best chance of securing a multi-year agreement next summer, either with Detroit (who gave him a $4.125MM deal) or elsewhere. That approach worked for Olli Maatta who signed a one-year deal last summer and then inked a two-year extension back in February and it’s one that the 30-year-old Gostisbehere will be looking to follow.
More from the Atlantic:
- Toronto winger Nick Robertson told TSN’s Mark Masters (video link) that he has fully recovered from his season-ending shoulder surgery in January and will be ready to participate in training camp next month. It has been a rough go for the 21-year-old who has battled injury trouble in each of the last three seasons. He played in just 17 games last season between the NHL and AHL with 15 of those coming with the Maple Leafs where he had a respectable five points. This is the final year of Robertson’s entry-level deal and with cap space expected to be limited, his cap hit of less than $800K will certainly help his chances of seeing NHL action in 2023-24.
- Panthers prospect Josh Davies is on the move in junior as WHL Portland announced that they’ve acquired the forward from Swift Current. The 19-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Florida in 2022 (186th overall) after a 36-point, 119-PIM season. However, Davies wasn’t able to build on those numbers in 2022-23, recording 20 goals and 14 assists along with 131 penalty minutes. He’ll be hoping that a fresh start could help him find another gear offensively to try to land an entry-level deal from Florida by the June 1st deadline.