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Mikhail Sergachev

Snapshots: Stone, Harkins, Zohorna, Sergachev

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The Vegas Golden Knights will be without Mark Stone for the next little while, announcing that he is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. That will scare a lot of fans worried about his back, but head coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t comment. As much as anything, Vegas’s return to contention has a lot to do with the play of Stone, who managed just 37 (rarely healthy) games last season.

Through 43 appearances this year, the 30-year-old forward has 17 goals and 38 points, and once again has taken his place as one of the best two-way players in the game. A lengthy absence will be a huge blow to the Golden Knights, especially given how close the standings are in the Pacific Division. Remember, Vegas led the division at this point last year too, only to fall out of the race and miss the playoffs completely by the end of the season.

  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Jansen Harkins under emergency conditions as several forwards deal with a non-COVID illness. To make room, Ville Heinola has been sent back to the minor leagues. Harkins, 25, has scored five goals in 22 games this season with the Jets, but was getting just a handful of shifts the last couple of times he dressed in the NHL. Heinola, meanwhile, has appeared just eight times, recording his first point of the season earlier this month.
  • Radim Zohorna continues his daily shuffle, this time headed back down to the AHL. The big forward has already been involved in five transactions this month, going down between games so that the Flames can save some cap space.
  • Mikhail Sergachev’s wallet is a little bit lighter after he was handed a $5,000 fine for punching Conor Garland in last night’s Tampa Bay Lightning-Vancouver Canucks game. The play went unpenalized by the on-ice officials, causing confusion among anyone watching the game. The Lightning are lucky Sergachev isn’t getting sat down for a game, though perhaps that has to do with the fact that Garland attempted a similar shot a few seconds earlier. Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet reports that Sergachev apologized to Garland after the game and that the Vancouver forward was “used to it” because he has “played like a rat” since he was 16.

Snapshots: Wilson, Sergachev, Holm

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Despite a strong 7-2-1 run in their last ten, the Washington Capitals remain in sixth place in the tough Metro, four points out of a divisional playoff spot. As they chase down the teams ahead of them, though some reinforcements are coming. Tom Wilson donned a regular jersey at practice today and skated on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, though the return for the first two is still a little way down the road. Wilson and Backstrom will not travel with the team to Ottawa according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, though Nic Dowd, Alex Alexeyev, and Darcy Kuemper will.

Wilson, 28, is one of the most unique players in the league, able to contribute at a high level offensively while still acting like a pseudo-enforcer on the ice. Racking up at least 93 penalty minutes in each of his nine NHL seasons, he had 24 goals and 52 points in 78 games last season. Since the Capitals never put him on long-term injured reserve, they can activate him without worrying about cap implications. Backstrom, whose $9.2MM cap hit has sat on LTIR all year, is a different story; the team will need to clear quite a bit to get him back on the roster.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev’s bank account took a little hit today, as he was fined $5,000 for slashing Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting last night. That is the maximum allowable fine under the current CBA. While it doesn’t seem like much, the incident will be considered in any future supplementary discipline decisions, and could lead to increased punishment down the line. For Tampa Bay, they at least are escaping Toronto with no suspensions, after being pummeled by the Maple Leafs in a performance head coach Jon Cooper called “a complete bag of you know what.”
  • As expected, Arvid Holm has been returned to the minor leagues by the Winnipeg Jets, meaning Connor Hellebuyck has recovered enough from his illness to return to action. In his absence, David Rittich stopped 35 of 36 shots in a win over the Ottawa Senators, raising his save percentage to .909 on the year – his highest since 2018-19.

Injury Notes: Lightning, Wild, Orlov

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are lagging behind the pace in the Atlantic Division, and injuries are becoming a complicating factor. Neither defensemen Erik Cernak nor Cal Foote was on the ice for their morning skate today after sustaining injuries in Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, according to The Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina. Mikhail Sergachev, who was also injured in that game, was present.

Tampa could be without both Cernak and Foote when they take on the Capitals in a rematch tonight. If neither is ready to go, no recalls will be necessary as Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers are already on the active roster as healthy extras. The Lightning’s depth is doing little to support the strong play of its stars, a stark change from years past. They’ll need a gritty performance tonight to avoid dropping to .500 on the season.

  • Jordan Greenway has been a rarely-seen presence in the Minnesota Wild lineup this season, with injuries limiting him to just two games. After suffering yet another upper-body injury, he’s not expected to travel with the team on their one-game road trip to Nashville early this week, according to Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He’ll miss that game and today’s home matchup against the Sharks, while Matt Boldy continues to slot in aside Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek in Greenway’s usual spot. Brandon Duhaime, who’s missed two weeks with an upper-body injury, is a possibility for the Nashville game.
  • The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov participated in morning skate ahead of the team’s game tonight against Tampa, but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. Orlov is on injured reserve and remains day-to-day. The 31-year-old has five assists in 13 games.

Sergachev, Cirelli, Cernak Sign Eight-Year Extensions In Tampa

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Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is staying in Tampa for nine more years. He’s signed an eight-year extension which will kick in for the 2023-24 season, per his agent Dan Milstein. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports the cap hit is $8.5MM.

That’s not it. Anthony Cirelli has also signed an eight-year extension with the team, this time worth $6.25MM per season according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. The semi-retired insider didn’t stop there. Erik Cernak has also inked an eight-year extension. His will be worth $5.2MM per season.

The team has now confirmed all three deals.

Sergachev was the first extension, and it’s a massive one. The Russian defender made an immediate impact after his trade from the Montreal Canadiens, authoring an impressive 40-point rookie year. Since then, Sergachev has been an important all-around defenseman for the Lightning during their Stanley Cup runs and is now being rewarded for it. Sergachev scored 7 goals and 38 points this season and has scored around that rate for most of his NHL career. Sergachev played 22:28 minutes per night last season and saw time on both the Lightning’s power play and penalty kill.

At max term and an $8.5MM AAV, the Lightning are banking on additional improvements from Sergachev. Sergachev is a great player right now, but $8.5MM is the sort of price tag typically assigned to lineup-anchoring number-one defensemen. Sergachev is now making more than his Norris Trophy-winning teammate, Victor Hedman, and only $500K less than the reigning Norris Trophy winner, Cale Makar. The Lightning are paying Sergachev like a number-one defenseman, and now it’s up to him to back up their faith with his play on the ice.

The second extension announced was one for Cirelli. Cirelli, who is just about to turn 25, is among the top defensive players in all of hockey. He has two top-five Selke Trophy finishes on his resume and helps the Lightning kill penalties. He’s also an important secondary scorer, with 17 goals and 43 points. Another top-of-the-line defensive center, Phillip Danault, was signed last season on a long-term deal with a $5.5MM AAV. Cirelli’s deal is in the same range as that contract.

Finally, we have the extension for Cernak. Cernak came to Tampa Bay as part of a heist of a trade, getting him from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Ben Bishop, who played only seven games in Los Angeles. Cernak has been a stay-at-home, physical top-four defenseman for the Lightning, a player who has admirably handled every challenge thrown to him by coach Jon Cooper. Cernak averaged 2:48 time on ice short-handed last season and was successful in that crease-clearing role. There’s not much offense to Cernak’s game, but the Lightning are very familiar with him and have ensured that so far highly successful marriage is extended.

On the back of all this positive news, BriseBois also announced some unfortunate as well. Joe Smith of The Athletic tweets that Cirelli and defenseman Zach Bogosian underwent shoulder surgery and will be out for the next four to six months, missing the start of the year.

Mikhail Sergachev Changes Agents

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The Tampa Bay Lightning cleared out cap space moving forward by selling off Ryan McDonagh, and now one of the biggest options on their to-do list is signing Mikhail Sergachev to a long-term extension. Heading into the final year of his current deal, the 24-year-old will be eligible to sign an extension this summer and will now be doing it with new representation.

Sergachev has joined Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Colleague Chris Johnston notes that the young defenseman is likely to sign an extension in the coming weeks.

While an agent change can sometimes bring a worry to a front office, the Lightning group is quite familiar with Milstein. He also represents Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy, two players that Tampa Bay had no trouble locking up. In fact, some might say that both Russian superstars gave the Lightning a discount of sorts–something that is a bit offset by the lack of state income tax–when they signed their current contracts, both for $9.5MM per season.

Kucherov signed an eight-year, $76MM contract just a few days after he became eligible in 2018, and Vasilevskiy took just a few weeks before signing an identical one (at least in years and total dollars) the following summer.

With McDonagh now in Nashville, there will be even more responsibility heaped on Sergachev (and fellow extension candidate Erik Cernak) in the coming years. Coming off a three-year bridge deal that carried a cap hit of $4.8MM, the young defenseman has a huge amount of leverage in any negotiation, and should see a monster number on his next deal. Not only does he sit 27th in scoring among all defensemen since he entered the league–ahead of names like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Darnell Nurse–but his current contract is set to pay out $7.2MM this season. That means a matching qualifying offer would be necessary just to keep him in 2023-24, a season which would also be his last before unrestricted free agency.

It would be difficult to create better conditions for a massive long-term extension, another reason why the team needed to clear money off the back end this summer.

Lightning Place Five In COVID Protocol

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The COVID test results are in for the Lightning and the end result is that they’ll be missing several players for the next little while.  Bryan Burns of Tampa Bay’s team website relays (Twitter link) that goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, and assistant coach Rob Zettler have all been placed in COVID protocol.

As is the case with anyone who enters COVID protocol, they will all miss at least the next ten days.

Vasilevskiy is certainly a notable loss for Tampa Bay as he is off to another fine start to his season with a 2.14 GAA along with a .928 SV% in 24 starts.  Not having Elliott available either means that two of their AHL netminders – Maxime Lagace, Hugo Alnefelt, and Amir Miftakhov – will need to be brought up and only Lagace has limited NHL experience.

As for Sergachev, his output is quite similar to his pace from last season as he has two goals and a dozen assists in 30 games while averaging 21:57 per game, the third-highest ATOI on the Lightning.  Unless Erik Cernak is ready to return from his injury, they’ll need to recall someone from AHL Syracuse to cover his spot as well.  Bellemare is in his first season with Tampa Bay after coming over from Colorado and has chipped in with three goals and four assists in what has basically been a checking role.

As things stand, Tampa Bay is set to return to action on Tuesday against Montreal.

Mikhail Sergachev Suspended Two Games

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The Department of Player Safety has announced a two-game suspension for Tampa Bay Lightning Mikhail Sergachev following his hit on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner last night. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note that Marner’s head is the main point of contact on this hit. Sergachev’s shoulder and back make substantial contact with Marner’s jaw, as the head takes the brunt of the force of the check. It is also important to note that the head contact on this play is avoidable. While Marner is bent slightly and being slowed by the hook, he does not change the position of his head or body just prior to, or simultaneous with the check, in a way that significantly contributes to the head being the main point of contact.

If he wants to deliver this hit, Sergachev must stay low and take an angle of approach that hits through Marner’s shoulder and core, rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact. 

The league admitted that though Sergachev has been fined in the past, they deemed him to have no relevant history. The Tampa Bay defenseman’s fine was for a dangerous cross-check in 2019. Marner also did not suffer a serious injury on the play and did not even leave the game. Marner explained after the game that Sergachev apologized to him in the second period.

Coming off the overtime loss to the Maple Leafs, the Lightning will be without Sergachev for their afternoon tilt tomorrow in Ottawa and Tuesday’s game against the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes.

Mikhail Sergachev To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety has some more work to do today, as Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev will have a hearing for his illegal check to the head of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner last night.

Near the end of the first period, Marner was being hooked from behind by Tampa’s Victor Hedman when Sergachev came across the ice and delivered a check that appeared to catch the Maple Leafs forward directly in the head. He was given a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head, but stayed in the game. Marner meanwhile didn’t even leave the ice, staying on for the ensuing powerplay.

It appears as though the league will be handing out some supplementary discipline for the hit, despite Marner not suffering a serious injury on the play. Sergachev has not been suspended previously but did receive a fine in 2019 for a dangerous cross-check. While he won’t be considered a repeat offender in terms of salary forfeiture, his entire disciplinary history is considered.

Central Notes: Kucherov, Sergachev, Slavin, Knight

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may have taken a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers Saturday, but at a cost as Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev were both injured during the game. While there have been no updates on either players’ status for Game 5, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that early indications are that neither injury is considered serious.

Kucherov, who left Saturday’s game after being slashed in the knee by Florida’s Anthony Duclair, also suffered a head-to-head injury when he was shoved into goaltender Chris Driedger. Smith writes that the knee injury isn’t considered serious. Sergachev, however, who left the game with a head injury after a shoulder-to-shoulder hit against the boards from Patric Hornqvist. The belief is that he will be fine, although there is no word if either player would be made available for Game 5.

Smith also notes that there is nothing expected from the Department of Player Safety on anything that happened in Game 4.

  • It looks like the Carolina Hurricanes will be without their top defenseman again Sunday as head coach Rod Brind’Amour said the team will have no lineup changes including no Jaccob Slavin, according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Slavin who has missed Games 2 & 3 so far due to a lower-body injury, is still considered to be day-to-day, but Brind’Amour stated that he is not ruling out the blueliner for the rest of the series. Slavin led the team during the regular season in ATOI with 22:58 and was second on the team in plus/minus with a +22.
  • Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said that he will not name a goaltender for Game 5 until Monday, but rookie goaltender Spencer Knight is a possibility to start, according to George Richards of FloridaHockeyNow. While that may not sound like much, Knight was in the starter’s net for practice Monday, while Sergei Bobrovsky and Driedger were sharing the other net. Neither Bobrovsky and Driedger have impressed so far in four playoff games. Each netminder has made three appearances with Driedger being the better of the two, boasting a 3.70 GAA and a .871 save percentage, while Bobrovsky carried a 5.33 GAA and a .841 save percentage. Knight, who fared well in four regular season appearances, could get an opportunity to try to spark a team that’s close to elimination.

Mikhail Sergachev Re-Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked up one of their incredible young talents for another few years, signing Mikhail Sergachev to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.8MM. Sergachev was a restricted free agent without arbitration rights. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports the full breakdown:

  • 2020-21: $2.4MM
  • 2021-22: $4.8MM
  • 2022-23: $7.2MM

Technically, this move takes the Lightning about $2MM over the $81.5MM salary cap ceiling for the upcoming season, with Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak still to sign. Still, getting Sergachev under contract for a reasonable amount was imperative, especially with the threat of an offer sheet still theoretically out there.

Make no mistake, even at $4.8MM, Sergachev still represents some excess value for the Lightning. The 22-year-old defenseman, who the Lightning acquired in exchange for Jonathan Drouin in 2017, would likely be a top-pairing player already on many of the teams around the league. That hasn’t been required in Tampa Bay where Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh continue to soak up huge minutes on the blue line, but Sergachev has still seen substantial increases in playing time each season. This year, his third with the Lightning, he recorded a career-high 10 goals in 70 games, racking up 34 points and logging more than 20 minutes a night. That performance carried over to the postseason where he was even more effective, averaging more ice time than any Tampa player not named Hedman or McDonagh en route to a Stanley Cup victory.

Not only could Sergachev probably shoulder a heavier offensive load, but his defensive game has also improved enough to believe he could be an all-situations star. He became a legitimate option on the penalty kill this season, producing excellent results whenever trusted to be out there short-handed, while still playing a strong second fiddle to Hedman on the team’s powerplay units. Financially, he’ll now slot in behind Hedman ($7.875MM cap hit) and McDonagh ($6.75MM) in a tricky cap puzzle for GM Julien BriseBois.

That puzzle has a few extra pieces right now, making it even more challenging to finish. The team will have to at some point move out one or more of their expensive contracts like Tyler Johnson, who was shopped and placed on waivers earlier this summer. There is of course the chance that a player could be injured and placed on long-term injured reserve to help them become compliant, but with Cirelli and Cernak to come the team simply can’t afford everyone.

Sergachev will still be a restricted free agent when this contract expires, though he’ll be just one year away from UFA status and arbitration-eligible. If his career continues down its current path, he’ll have an incredible amount of leverage in his next negotiation. One would have thought the offer sheet scenario would have been extremely enticing to a player like him, who could have certainly made more elsewhere, but Joe Smith of The Athletic reports that Sergachev actually agreed to a three-year structure with the Lightning shortly after the season ended and wanted to “give it another go” with the Cup champions in Tampa.

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