Miikka Salomaki

Morning Notes: Draft Rankings, Dallas, Salomaki

June 10, 2022 at 10:45 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Another draft ranking is out, and this time it’s not Shane Wright or Juraj Slafkovsky at the top. Chris Peters has released his list for Daily Faceoff, and Logan Cooley is in the No. 1 position. The scribe suggests that the young USNTDP forward has the highest ceiling among the top names and notes that he’ll probably be a one-and-done player for the University of Minnesota, stepping into the NHL by 2023-24.

The Montreal Canadiens did meet with Cooley at the combine as they prepare to make the first overall selection, and some have suggested that they are considering other options than Wright. Whether he goes first or further down the list, Cooley looks like a can’t-miss prospect that should be making an impact for whoever picks him.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has walked back his comments a bit about Pete DeBoer, noting that he may have gone a little too far in saying that he expects the coach to join the Dallas Stars. DeBoer is a candidate in the Stars coaching search but general manager Jim Nill told Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that they have only just started narrowing their list. With so many qualified candidates, coaching searches across the league could take a little longer than normal this year.
After bouncing around the minor leagues his last few years in North America, Miikka Salomaki took his game overseas in 2021, playing for Orebro HK in the SHL and HIFK in Finland. This year, he’ll be in Switzerland, after signing a two-year deal with Lausanne HC. Salomaki actually racked up 167 regular season NHL matches, all of them coming with the Nashville Predators but hadn’t been a regular in several years.

Morning Notes: Van Ryn, Sedgwick, Salomaki

June 23, 2021 at 11:54 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Arizona Coyotes are still conducting a search for their next head coach, but it won’t be Mike Van Ryn. The St. Louis Blues assistant is officially out of the running according to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. It’s not clear whether that decision came from the team or the coach.

It made sense that Van Ryn would be a candidate, given the fact that Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong was with the Blues for nearly two decades before joining Arizona. The Blues assistant also actually started his NHL coaching career with the Coyotes organization, serving as a development coach in 2016-17 after a stint in the OHL. Arizona has also spoken to candidates including Todd Nelson, Benoit Groulx, Jay Leach and Andre Tourigny as they look to find their next bench boss.

The Montreal Canadiens have reached a three-year contract extension with their resident capologist John Sedgwick, who serves as Vice President of Hockey Operations and Legal Affairs. Sedgwick has been with the team since 2013 and has been a big part of bringing the Canadiens minor league teams—the Laval Rocket and the Trois-Rivieres Lions—closer to home. The extension quickly came with a wave of media members lauding the move, with Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com calling Sedgwick “one of the brightest minds in the game.”
Minor league forward Miikka Salomaki has signed a two-year contract with Orebro in Finland, leaving the NHL behind for the time being. The 28-year-old spent the entire 2020-21 season in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles, scoring just two goals in 26 games. Salomaki was once a regular in the Nashville Predators lineup, but has just five NHL games played since the end of 2018-19.

Colorado Recalls Eight Players

May 21, 2021 at 8:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 7 Comments

With Colorado’s AHL team falling 5-1 to San Jose in Wednesday’s play-in game, the Avalanche have made their end-of-season recalls to join their ’Black Aces’. Per CapFriendly, the following players have been brought up from the Eagles:

Goalies: Justus Annunen, Adam Werner
Defensemen: Kyle Burroughs, Keaton Middleton
Forwards: Martin Kaut, Sampo Ranta, Miikka Salomaki, T.J. Tynan

The majority of these players likely won’t see any action for the Avs during the postseason barring a rash of injuries but will continue to skate to stay in playing shape unless they’re called upon. Three of the eight – Burroughs, Middleton, and Kaut – saw NHL action this season with Burroughs being the only one to record a point, notching an assist in five games. Among the others, Annunen and Ranta are two of their better prospects but are highly unlikely to suit up and are just up for the experience.

Tynan was one of the top scorers in the AHL this season, averaging an assist per game while picking up eight goals in 27 contests. Among players who played in at least 20 games this season, his 1.30 points per game average was the best in the league. Salomaki has the most NHL experience among the group with 167 appearances spread across six seasons with Nashville but hasn’t yet had an opportunity to suit up for Colorado.

Training Camp Cuts: 1/10/21

January 10, 2021 at 4:09 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With the start of the season just days away, more teams should be starting to trim their rosters. We’ll keep tabs on those moves here and update this post throughout the day.

Colorado Avalanche (via team release)
D Kyle Burroughs (to Colorado, AHL)
C Sheldon Dries (to Colorado, AHL)
RW Nick Henry (to Colorado, AHL)
D Jacob MacDonald (to Colorado, AHL)
C Jayson Megna (to Colorado, AHL)
D Dan Renouf (to Colorado, AHL)
RW Miikka Salomaki (to Colorado, AHL)
D Peter Tischke (to Colorado, AHL)
C T.J. Tynan (to Colorado, AHL)
RW Mike Vecchione (to Colorado, AHL)
G Adam Werner (to Colorado, AHL)

Large Group Of Players Placed On Waivers

January 8, 2021 at 11:18 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

With just a few days before the start of the regular season, a huge number of players have been placed on waivers. The full list includes:

Anaheim Ducks:

Anthony Stolarz
Andy Welinski
Christian Djoos
Andrew Poturalski
Chase De Leo
Vinni Lettieri
Sam Carrick
Andrew Agozzino
David Backes

Carolina Hurricanes:

Antoine Bibeau
Steven Lorentz
Spencer Smallman
Jeremy Bracco
Gustav Forsling
Drew Shore
Max McCormick

Colorado Avalanche:

Jacob MacDonald
Dan Renouf
Kyle Burroughs
Mike Vecchione
T.J. Tynan
Miikka Salomaki
Jayson Megna
Sheldon Dries

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Nic Petan

These massive waiver placements are no different than the normal training camp cuts that would occur in late-September in a normal year. Should they clear, these players will be eligible to report to the taxi squad or AHL. There are a few names that stand out from the crowd though.

Backes, a veteran of 950 NHL games, still carries a $6MM cap hit on the final season of the five-year, $30MM contract he signed with the Boston Bruins in 2016. As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports, this is not a move by the Ducks to try and rid themselves of Backes, but create some additional flexibility. At any rate, his contract basically makes him waiver-proof as no other team would want to take it on at this point in the season.

Bracco, a former top prospect that scored 79 points in 75 games for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL as recently as 2018-19, has seen his development stall and finds himself on the outside looking in for the Hurricanes once again. Djoos, once an up-and-coming defenseman in the Washington Capitals system, is now 26 and available to the whole league, should they want to take a chance.

Colorado Avalanche Announce Four Minor Contracts

October 9, 2020 at 4:20 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Colorado Avalanche are expected to be a potential landing spot for some of the very best free agents on the market, but for now they’ll announce some organization depth instead. Sheldon Dries, Miikka Salomaki, Kiefer Sherwood and Mike Vecchione have all signed contracts with the Avalanche. Financial details have not yet been announced.

Dries was already in the system, signed out of Michigan University in 2017 as an undrafted free agent. He has played in 45 NHL games over the years but does most of his damage in the minors. In 50 AHL games this season he recorded 21 goals and 35 points, making him an easy call-up option.

Starting with Salomaki, the other three names have NHL experience of their own. The 27-year-old former Nashville Predators forward has played 167 games at the highest level, but registered just 27 points in that time.

Sherwood, who is just 25, has played 60 NHL games over the last two seasons but was another strong minor league performer. He’ll provide even more goal scoring for the Colorado Eagles, a team that will be loaded once again.

Vecchione was a sought after college free agent in 2017 and ended up inking a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, but hasn’t played in the NHL since that spring. Instead he’s been a monster in the minor leagues, recording seasons of 40, 38 and 36 points without even playing 70 games in a single one.

Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators Swap Depth Players

February 22, 2020 at 6:37 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 15 Comments

The Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs connected on a trade as the Predators announced they have traded forward Miikka Salomaki to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenseman Ben Harpur. While neither has made much of a mark on their NHL teams this year, each team bolstered their depth for their upcoming playoff run.

This deal is more likely to satisfy each team’s AHL squad. The 26-year-old Salomaki is a player who has plenty of NHL experience, but has struggled to find a full-time role and never fulfilled the potential that made him a second-round pick in 2011. He appeared in a career-high 61 games for Nashville in 2015-16 and then again in 58 games in 2017-18, but in between spent most of his playing time with the Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL. This year, he has appeared in five games for the Predators with one goal, but has spent 41 games in Milwaukee with five goals and 15 points. He should provide some much needed wing depth for the Toronto Marlies, who have sent several of their top forwards to help with the Maple Leafs’ depth issues.

On the other hand, Harpur can add some depth for the Predators. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound blueliner has also struggled to realize his potential and has fared poorly with the Marlies as a third-pairing option there. The team picked him up as part of the offseason trade that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs send Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown and other parts to Ottawa for Cody Ceci and Harpur and other pieces as well. The 25-year-old hasn’t seen any NHL action this year and, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle, has wanted out of Toronto for a while. He adds a big body for a Milwaukee team and can serve as emergency insurance in case Nashville’s defense suffers injuries. He has one goal and 11 points in 33 games with the Marlies.

Minor Transactions: 11/17/19

November 17, 2019 at 2:52 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Most of the NHL is at rest today after the huge number of Saturday games, meaning just four teams are in action. The Buffalo Sabres travel to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks, while the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights get reacquainted in Sin City. As teams prepare for the next week of action, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

Noah Gregor has been returned to the AHL after playing in ten games for the San Jose Sharks. The 21-year old center failed to register his first NHL point but at least got his feet wet and saw what would be required of him at the next level.
Former NHL goaltender Justin Pogge has found a new home for this season, signing a one-year deal with Sodertalje SK in Sweden’s second league. The 33-year old netminder has spent the last several seasons overseas after a North American career that saw him quickly turn from top prospect to AHL afterthought. In seven career NHL games, Pogge posted an .844 save percentage and 4.36 goals against average.
Miikka Salomaki has been assigned to the minor leagues by the Nashville Predators after five games with the team. The 26-year old was recalled on October 19th, meaning he’s close to needing waivers again. Sending him to the AHL now leaves the Predators with some extra roster flexibility.
The Boston Bruins have returned three players to their AHL affiliate, according to the AHL transactions page. The website reports that the Bruins have sent forwards Paul Carey and Trent Frederic and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to Providence. Carey played Saturday in their shootout loss to Washington, receiving 6:22 of playing time. Frederic played back-to-back games Friday and Saturday, but was held scoreless, while Vaakanainen played in three games, playing 19:19 on Saturday.
The Athletic’s Darren Haynes reports that the Calgary Flames have recalled forward Dillon Dube from the Stockton Heat of the AHL. Dube, who has dominated in the AHL, but struggled last year in his first taste of NHL action, was brought in to spark the team, which has been struggling with offense recently. Dube has four goals and 13 points in 13 games with the Heat. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis adds that forward Alan Quine was sent to Stockton in a corresponding move.
The Vegas Golden Knights announced they have assigned forwards Brandon Pirri and Nicolas Roy to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Pirri cleared waivers and has already been reported to have been sent to Chicago, while Roy has been up and down multiple times this year as a fourth-line option for Vegas. The 22-year-old has fared well in six games, posting a goal and three points.
The Dallas Stars announced they have re-assigned center Rhett Gardner to the Texas Stars of the AHL. The 23-year-old had appeared in eight games for Dallas but failed to register a point. He had eight shots on goal over that span. With no game until Tuesday, it could just be a paper transaction to save some cap space.
The Detroit Red Wings announced they have assigned defenseman Joe Hicketts to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Hicketts has appeared in five games for the Red Wings, which included picking up his first point of the season Saturday in their shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.
The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned defenseman Colton White to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. White was recalled Friday by the team but served as an emergency defenseman for Saturday’s game against Montreal.
The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled forward Eetu Luostarinen from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, according to a Checkers’ release. The 21-year-old Luostarinen was recalled 10 days ago, and appeared in three games for the Hurricanes, registering one assist, before being returned to Charlotte. The 2017 second-round pick has looked good in the AHL with five goals and eight points in 12 games.
After being sent back to the minors following Saturday’s game, the Canadiens announced that they’ve recalled winger Charles Hudon from AHL Laval. He played less than eight minutes yesterday in his season debut but with Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin both injured, Montreal was down to just 11 healthy forwards.
The Rangers have decided to give Lias Andersson some more playing time as they’ve assigned him to Hartford of the AHL per a team release. The seventh pick in 2017 has just one assist in 17 games this season while playing less than ten minutes per night. Winger Tim Gettinger has been recalled to take his place on the roster.

Training Camp Cuts: 10/01/19

October 1, 2019 at 9:27 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Even with the season starting tomorrow, teams still have some final cuts to make today. Rosters have to be cap compliant by the end of the day. though with so much talent on waivers there might still be some last-minute moves. We’ll keep track of those right here. Keep checking back throughout the day for updates.

Arizona Coyotes (per team release)

D Ilya Lyubushkin (to Tucson, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Remi Elie (to Rochester, AHL)
F Curtis Lazar (to Rochester, AHL)
F Scott Wilson (to Rochester, AHL)
D Casey Nelson (to Rochester, AHL)

Calgary Flames (per team release)

F Alan Quine (to Stockton, AHL)
F Zac Rinaldo (to Stockton, AHL)
F Dillon Dube (to Stockton, AHL)
D Andrew MacDonald (released from PTO)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

F Clark Bishop (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Julien Gauthier (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Brian Gibbons (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Gustav Forsling (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Anton Forsberg (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Max McCormick (placed on injured/non-roster)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk (placed on injured/non-roster)

Chicago Blackhawks (per team release)

G Collin Delia (to Rockford, AHL)
F Kirby Dach (placed on injured/non-roster)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Marko Dano (to Cleveland, AHL)
D Andrew Peeke (to Cleveland, AHL)
F Liam Foudy (placed on injured/non-roster)

Colorado Avalanche (per team release)

F Jayson Megna (to Colorado, AHL)
D Kevin Connauton (to Colorado, AHL)
D Calle Rosen (to Colorado, AHL)
D Ian Cole (placed on injured/non-roster)

Detroit Red Wings (per team release)

D Jared McIsaac (to Halifax, QMJHL)
F Chase Pearson (placed on injured/non-roster)

Edmonton Oilers (per team release)

F Sam Gagner (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Minnesota Wild (per team release)

F J.T. Brown (to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Ryan Poehling (to Laval, AHL)

Nashville Predators (per team release)

F Miikka Salomaki (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Steven Santini (to Milwaukee, AHL)

New Jersey Devils (per team release)

D Matt Tennyson (to Binghamton, AHL)
D Ty Smith (to Spokane, WHL)

Pittsburgh Penguins (per team release)

D John Marino (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)
G Casey DeSmith (to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, AHL)

Vegas Golden Knights (per team release)

F Nicolas Roy (to Chicago, AHL)
D Nicolas Hague (to Chicago, AHL)

Washington Capitals (per team release)

F Liam O’Brien (to Hershey, AHL)
F Michael Sgarbossa (to Hershey, AHL)
D Christian Djoos (to Hershey, AHL)
D Michal Kempny (placed on injured/non-roster)

Winnipeg Jets (per team release)

D Sami Niku (to Manitoba, AHL)

Waivers: 09/30/19

September 30, 2019 at 9:07 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 15 Comments

Today is the last day to use waivers in order to get a roster cap compliant for the start of the regular season, so we will see a lot of players available for selection.

Anaheim Ducks

F Daniel Sprong
F Sam Carrick

Boston Bruins

F Peter Cehlarik

Buffalo Sabres

F Remi Elie
F Curtis Lazar
F Scott Wilson
D Casey Nelson

Calgary Flames

F Alan Quine

Carolina Hurricanes

F Clark Bishop
D Gustav Forsling
G Anton Forsberg

Chicago Blackhawks

D Carl Dahlstrom