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Morning Notes: Hischier, Predators, Frk

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The AHL-CHL agreement is an interesting part of every offseason, stopping players who otherwise would be ready to join the professional ranks of the minor leagues and keeping them in junior hockey. That agreement, which limits anyone under the age of 20, doesn’t apply to players on loan from their European clubs. We saw it last year when Alexander Nylander played for Rochester of the AHL despite being just 18 at the start of the season.

It was expected that Nico Hischier, a top prospect in this year’s draft could do the same, but according to Mike Morreale of NHL.com he isn’t on loan from his former Swiss club Bern, and will not be eligible for the AHL should he not make his NHL club next season. That means the 18-year old Hischier will likely return to Halifax for one more season and try to win a Memorial Cup.

  • Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports that despite trying to reach a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights in order to protect both James Neal and Calle Jarnkrok from selection in the upcoming expansion draft, the two sides have yet to come to an agreement. As we discussed in our Nashville Expansion Primer, the Predators are at real risk of giving up the most talented player in the entire draft. LeBrun suggests they’ll look elsewhere for a deal, but protection lists are due tomorrow evening and they’re running out of time.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Martin Frk has been qualified by the Red Wings, just days after scoring the Calder Cup-winning goal. Frk is a restricted free agent this summer and had an outstanding AHL season with 50 points in 65 games after being claimed off waivers from Carolina. The qualifying offer for Frk would have been $715K, though he still qualifies for a two-way offer.

Grand Rapids Griffins Win 2017 Calder Cup

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After a tense, back-and-forth Game 6, Grand Rapids emerged victorious with a 4-3 final score over the Syracuse Crunch, capturing the 2017 Calder Cup. The newly crowned AHL champions found the eventual game winner off a mid-3rd period tally from winger Martin Frk. His shot from the point found its way through traffic and beat Crunch tender Mike McKenna. McKenna had misplayed an earlier goal as well, which is an unfortunate turn of events for the veteran who’d performed quite well, posting a .914 save percentage through 21 games.

Other important Red Wings prospects who will  benefit from this experience include Tyler Bertuzzi, Tomas Nosek (who led the team in points), and Ben Thomas. Also of note were the performances of Eric Tangradi, Ben Street, and Mitch Callahan. Captained by veteran defenseman Nathan Paetsch, and backstopped by 25 year-old goalie Jared Coreau, the team defeated the Milwaukee Admirals in 3 games, the Chicago Wolves in 5 games, and the San Jose Barracuda in 5 games on their march to the finals.

The Crunch had a lead for the majority of the game, but the Griffins kept close and eventually pulled ahead. Syracuse’s most noticeable player of the night was Yanni Gourde, who scored two of the team’s three tallies in the losing effort. Cory Conacher also had a resurgent season, leading the whole field in both playoff goals and points.

Man On Wire: Checking In On The Waiver Claims

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In the new NHL where trades between cap-strapped clubs are so difficult, many teams look to the waiver wire to make small but potentially valuable additions to their club. That bottom pairing defenseman or fourth line center you just can’t seem to find may be available when another team has a roster crunch due to injury or poor play.

Since October 8th when teams made their final cuts before the season opener, there have been 26 players claimed on waivers. Many of these are duplicates as teams claim, then waive a player hoping to slip him through and down into the minors. Here we’ll check in on how they’ve done with their new clubs.

Martin Frk:
CAR from DET – 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A (returned to Detroit and sent to minors)

Mike Condon:
PIT from MTL –  1 GP, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV% (traded to Ottawa for a 5th round pick)

Seth Griffith:
TOR from BOS – 3 GP, 0 G, 0 A
FLA from TOR – 21 GP, 0 G, 5 A (returned to Toronto and sent to minors)

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Red Wings Claim Martin Frk Off Waivers From Carolina

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The Detroit Red Wings have reclaimed right winger Martin Frk off of waivers from Carolina, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link).  Bob Duff of the Windsor Star adds via Twitter that Frk has been assigned to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

Frk, originally drafted by the Wings in the second round (49th overall) in 2012, has spent the bulk of his professional career at the minor league level.  Last season was his first full season at the AHL level after splitting the previous two campaigns between Grand Rapids and Toledo of the ECHL. In 2015-16, he played in 67 games for the AHL’s Griffins, scoring 27 goals while adding 17 assists.

The Wings waived Frk last month but the Hurricanes scooped him off the wire and were one of three teams in total to place a claim according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link).  However, Carolina rarely used the 23 year old as he has played in just two games so far this season, being held pointless with a -3 rating while averaging just 8:20 of ice time per game.

Because no other team placed a claim on Frk, Detroit was be able to send him down.  Had another team put in a claim, the Red Wings would have been forced to keep him on their NHL roster or re-waive him to attempt to send him to the AHL.

[Related: Red Wings Depth Chart]

Meanwhile for Carolina, with Frk now off the roster, the team has activated defenseman Ryan Murphy off of injured reserve.  Murphy suffered a lower body injury in the preseason and has not yet suited up for the Hurricanes this season.

Snapshots: Sergachev, Frk, Bauer

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The red-hot Montreal Canadiens have assigned rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. The ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft started the season with the Canadiens, going pointless in 3 games. The Canadiens are 8-0-1 so far this season.

Sergachev is expected to play a big role for the Spitfires, where he scored 57 points in 67 games last season. He was one of the top-ranked defensemen for last summer’s draft, alongside Olli Juolevi and Jakob Chychrun.

As a result of him not reaching nine games played, his contract will slide to next year. There are now 20 slide-eligible rookies in the NHL.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes have placed Martin Frk on waivers. Frk went pointless and -3 in 2 games played with the Hurricanes, his first two NHL games. Carolina claimed Frk on waivers earlier this month from the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings will get first waiver priority to claim their 2012 second rounder, then the remaining order is the reverse standings order from the end of the 2015-16 season. The waiver priority will change to this season’s standings on November 1st.
  • Some high profile NHLers may be without endorsement deals as soon as today. Players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Alex Ovechkin all make between $300K and $500K per season for using Bauer equipment. However, Bauer’s parent company, Performance Sports Group (PSG), has filed for bankruptcy protection. TSN’s Rick Westhead quoted a source as saying a bankruptcy judge can “cancel those endorsement contracts and list the players as creditors.” PSG is expected to have more than $400MM in debt by the end of the year. There are also shareholders preparing to file a lawsuit for inflated sales figures and growth prospects. PSG bough Bauer from Nike in 2008, and also purchased equipment makers Cascade and Easton in recent years.

Snapshots: Reilly, Kokkonen, ‘Canes

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The Minnesota Wild have sent defenseman Mike Reilly to the AHL after just one game, allowing the 23-year old to play bigger minutes and be in the lineup every night. Reilly was a scratch against the Los Angeles Kings, and instead of watching from the press box he’ll go down and lead.

The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Reilly in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of the BCHL and watched as he flourished in the NCAA, increasing his scoring totals in all three years at the University of Minnesota. They couldn’t sign him however, and he ended up getting a contract from the Wild in 2015. Last year for the Iowa Wild he put up 23 points in 45 games and earned himself an extended look in the NHL.

Though this is a setback in his career, it won’t be long until he’s back up with the NHL squad if his development continues as it has. His long wingspan and offensive pedigree will be excellent tools once he improves his work in his own end.

  • According to FinnProspects.com, 15-year old Mikko Kokkonen will make his Liiga debut for Jukurit tomorrow, making him the youngest player to ever play in the league. The defenseman was born in 2001, and isn’t NHL draft eligible until 2019, but has turned heads already in Europe. Kokkonen played in a pre-season tournament against this same level, but will now experience it when it counts. His 5’11”, 190-lb frame is already big enough to handle some punishment, but is almost certainly still growing.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have made some lineup changes going into Tuesday’s tilt with the Oilers, as Michael Smith reports.  Phillip Di Giuseppe, Martin Frk and Jakub Nakladal will all dress according to coach Bill Peters.

Successful Waiver Wire Pickups

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As teams frantically worked to trim their rosters to the league-mandated, 23-man limit this week, several interesting players were exposed to waivers, eligible to be picked up by new teams for nothing more than assuming the remaining term of the player’s contract. Occasionally the claiming team lands a talented young player who simply didn’t have an opportunity to crack the lineup of his former employer due to the presence of experienced veterans. Other times it doesn’t work out, but it’s still a worthwhile gamble for clubs that may not have better options already on their roster.

In the last few days, Emerson Etem (Vancouver to Anaheim), P.A. Parenteau (New York Islanders to New Jersey), Teemu Pulkkinen (Detroit to Minnesota) and Martin Frk (Detroit to Carolina) changed clubs via waivers. All, with the exception of Parenteau, are younger players still looking to establish themselves as regular NHL contributors. Obviously, their new teams are hoping their faith in these players will be rewarded. Here are a few examples of younger players who have changed teams via waivers and have gone on to carve solid NHL careers for themselves.

Chris Kunitz – Originally signed in 2003 as an undrafted free agent by Anaheim, Kunitz would appear in 21 games with the Mighty Ducks, as they were known then, during the 2003-04 campaign. Following the lockout which wiped out the entire 2004-05 schedule and just before the 2005-06 season began, Kunitz was picked up by the then Atlanta Thrashers on waivers. He would last just two weeks in Atlanta, seeing action in two games before being placed on waivers again and being claimed by Anaheim.

Kunitz would go on to tally 192 points in 313 regular season games over parts of the next four seasons with the Might Ducks/Ducks as he firmly established himself as a quality middle-six winger. He was later dealt to Pittsburgh where he really blossomed as a top-six scorer. Kunitz has potted 20+plus goals in four of his seven full seasons with the Penguins and has netted 359 points in 498 games during that time.

I once had occasion to speak with a high-ranking member of the Ducks front office who told me that of all the acquisitions he personally had a hand in, both the original signing of Kunitz and bringing him back via waivers qualified as two of his proudest achievements.

Kyle Quincey – Quincey was Detroit’s fourth-round selection in the 2003 draft and would suit up for 13 contests over parts of three seasons. He would be placed on waivers in October of 2008 and was claimed by the L.A. Kings. In his first season in Southern California, Quincey scored 38 points which is still the 11-year veteran’s career best total. In 495 career NHL games, Quincey has tallied 30 goals and 140 points, while averaging better than 20 minutes of ice time.

David Schlemko – While not a household name and maybe not young by today’s standards, Schlemko has proven himself to be at least a quality third-pair defender since the start of the 2015-16 season. An undrafted free agent signing by the Arizona/Phoenix franchise back in 2007, Schlemko would spend parts of seven seasons with the Coyotes before being placed on waivers during the 2014-15 season. The Stars would grab Schlemko and he would spend five games in Dallas before hitting the waiver wire again, with the Calgary Flames winning the claim. He would finish without a point in 19 games with Calgary and became an unrestricted free agent following the season, ultimately joining the Devils on a one-year deal. Schlemko would finish with career-highs in games played, goals, assists and points with the Devils and would parlay that steady play into a four-year deal with San Jose this past summer.

Andrej Nestrasil – Nestrasil was chosen by Detroit in the third-round of the 2009 draft and spent most of his time in the organization playing in the minors with Grand Rapids in the AHL and Toledo in the ECHL. His best minor league campaign came in 2013-14 with Grand Rapids, scoring 36 points in 70 games. He debuted in the NHL with Detroit during the 2014-15 campaign but was placed on waivers after appearing in 13 games and claimed by Carolina. Finally given a regular role, Nestrasil has responded for the Hurricanes, totaling 41 points in 96 games for Carolina. He’s also been an excellent puck possession driver, recording a 55.0% Corsi For % since joining the Hurricanes.

Of course with the possible exception of Kunitz, none of the above mentioned players can be considered stars, either today or at any point in their respective careers. But they’ve each developed into quality NHL players who can fill a regular role and that has value in today’s NHL. Any of the teams who claimed a player this week would be happy if their new acquisition developed into a quality regular.

 

Is Ken Holland Feeling The Heat In Detroit?

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Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp writes that Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland could be feeling the heat for building a “so-so” team. Though Sharp isn’t a beat writer for the team, he sounds off on a topic that has been trending in Detroit. The general manager set the bar low this season, telling the media that fans should have lower expectations due to the competitiveness of the league.

But a lot of fans–and analysts–aren’t buying it, feeling that Holland is to blame for the mess Detroit is in. National outlets like NBC are even picking up on it.

Holland was questioned by many for re-signing Darren Helm to a lucrative deal while adding Steve Ott and re-signing Drew Miller to one-year deals. Then, Holland placed Martin Frk and Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers, and both were claimed, by Carolina and Minnesota respectively.

The waiving of both players caused a ripple through fan blogs, encouraging Winging It In Motown’s Prashanth Iyer to pen a long article (following Frk’s departure) about Holland’s offering of entry-level contracts and the lack of those players ever playing for the Red Wings. Iyer also said this about Holland’s work, but it was the most recent column by The Malik Report’s George Malik that may have raised eyebrows. Malik, will lean toward portraying the Red Wings’ brass in a positive light, but today he  taps into the frustrations being felt by the fanbase. Add in this quote from head coach Jeff Blashill and though it didn’t come from Holland, it felt like a team mandate to many. From the Free Press’ Helene St. James:

Mantha scored the game-winning goal but “I didn’t think him or AA were good enough, to be honest with you,” Blashill said. “They’ve got to be better than that. These are big games for those guys and you’ve got to be better.

“I told the young guys in camp to slap me in the face and tell me you’re better than other options. It can’t be a period, it’s got to be 60 minutes. But with that said, I thought they picked it up in the third.”

Though Andreas Athanasiou was named to the roster today, Anthony Mantha was sent down to Grand Rapids. It was another in a series of moves that puzzled analysts and enraged fans, especially since the Red Wings are desperate for goal scoring.

Holland has had a tremendous run as the Red Wings general manager, winning three Stanley Cups (1998, 2002, 2008) and presiding over a terrific run of success with the team. But the more recent realities have been a team on the decline, and when choosing veterans not known for scoring goals over younger players drafted to purportedly score goals, that tends to reflect poorly on upper management’s thinking. Further, a look at the salary cap situation now, and into the future does not bode well for the Wings, with many players on the wrong side of 30 promised large sums of money for long durations. Add in the masterful work of former Red Wing and front office apprentice Steve Yzerman in Tampa and it creates a perfect storm of criticism.

As a mainstay of the Detroit front office, it’s understandable that ownership would give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But should this team, after significant criticism, struggle out of the gate and throughout the season, the quiet drumbeat for accountability will only grow steadier–and louder.

Prospect Notes: Lazar, Mantha, Frk

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On the last day before the regular season starts, some final cuts are making their way down the wire. In Ottawa, Curtis Lazar has been assigned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL as he continues to recover from a bout of mono he’s suffered through this summer.  Lazar, 21, has played the last two seasons exclusively in the NHL and shouldn’t be down for long. His 20 points were a solid building block in his development as he continues to grow into his frame.

This is good news for Tom Pyatt, who will debut on the Sens third line according to Brent Wallace of TSN. Pyatt has spent the last two seasons playing in Switzerland, where he found quite a bit of success. 62 points in 92 games there hearkened back his junior days for Saginaw, where he was an effective offensive centerman, even scoring 43 goals one season. The Sens will see if he can contribute on their bottom six as a strong defensive winger who can maybe chip in a few goals.

  • In Detroit, the team has finally made the decision to send Anthony Mantha to Grand Rapids official. Many had hoped the former first-round pick would crack the roster this year and make his presence felt as a power forward in the NHL, but he’ll have to wait just a little bit longer. Mantha, 22, has found success at the AHL level the past two seasons and made his debut last year for the Red Wings in a ten-game cup of coffee. He’ll need to develop some more consistency in both ends of the rink in order to get into Jeff Blashill’s lineup, but still has quite a bit of time to develop; power forwards often take a little longer.
  • Newest Carolina addition Martin Frk hit the ice for the first time today according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, skating alongside Bryan Bickell and Jay McClement on the fourth line. A former Grand Rapids Griffin himself, Frk is still just 23 years old and possesses a nose for the net. His 27 goals last season put him second on the AHL squad, while chipping in another four points in four playoff games for the Detroit affiliate.

Week In Review: 10/3/16 – 10/9/16

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It’s officially the last week of the offseason with the first games of the new regular season slated for Wednesday. Obviously roster pare downs dominated the headlines this week but there were a few other transactions of note as well as a handful of injuries that might prompt teams to see what’s available on the open market. Without further ado, here is the roundup of this week’s top hockey stories.

Key Free Agent Signings:

  • Kris Russell – Edmonton (one year, $3.1MM): It’s probably not the lucrative deal Russell was looking for at the outset of free agency but the veteran shot-blocker finally did secure a contract for 2016-17. Perhaps with a solid performance for the Oil, Russell will be in better position to pursue a multi-year pact next summer.
  • Tobias Rieder – Arizona (two years, $4.45MM): It looks like the Coyotes got the player at the price they wanted. It had been reported that Rieder was looking for $5MM over two years while the club was offering $4.4MM. Clearly the 23-year-old forward gave more than he got, presumably because he wanted to get back on the ice.
  • Jakub Nakladal – Carolina (one year, $600K): It will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old Nakladal fits with the Hurricanes current crop of talented blue liners. Not including Nakladal, Carolina has seven NHL-caliber defensemen on the roster, only one of whom is older than 24.

Added on Waivers:

  • Martin Frk – Carolina: Carolina wasn’t the only team that put a claim in on Frk but the Hurricanes were awarded the young Czech RW. He potted 27 goals for Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids in 2015-16 and it was mildly surprising to see the Wings risk losing him by placing him on waivers but clearly they felt the roster spot was best committed elsewhere.

Trades: 

Injury Report:

  • Jonathan Huberdeau is expected to miss 3 – 4 months with what is being called a lower-body-injury. It will be interesting to see if Panthers management looks outside the organization in an attempt to fill the void as Huberdeau was the team’s top scorer on the LW. The team does have around $10MM in cap space if they did choose to go that route.
  • Nick Bjugstad will be out for four weeks due to a broken hand. The Panthers third-line pivot tallied 34 points in 67 games last season.
  • Michael Del Zotto is set to miss the next 4 – 5 weeks with the dreaded lower-body-injury.
  • Again with the lower-body-injury, the Flyers will also be without C Scott Laughton for three to our weeks.
  • Devils defenseman Jon Merrill is out four weeks with a broken index finger.
  • Penalty-killing specialist Matt Hendricks will miss significant time, once more due to a lower-body-injury. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan indicated it would be “weeks” before Hendricks would be able to return.

Retirements:

  • Defenseman Barret Jackman called it quits after a solid, 14-year NHL career. Jackman was originally chosen in the first-round by St. Louis back in 1999 and played all but one season with the Blues before finishing up in Nashville. He wraps up his career with 186 points more than 1,100 penalty minutes in 876 regular season contests.
  • Dan Boyle announced his retirement following 17 seasons in the NHL. Boyle, one of the league’s top offensive blue liners throughout much of his career, recorded at least 39 points eight out of nine seasons from 2002-03 through 2011-12. He would score more than 600 regular season points in nearly 1,100 NHL games. Boyle was a member of the 2003-04 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Lightning and also spent time with Florida and San Jose before wrapping up his career playing two seasons with the New York Rangers.

 

 

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