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Oscar Dansk

Calgary Flames Re-Sign Oscar Dansk

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The answer to the trivia question “Who was the first player Craig Conroy signed as general manager of the Calgary Flames?” will not be who you expect. Oscar Dansk, the organization’s minor league backup, has inked a one-year, two-way contract extension. The deal carries an NHL salary of $775K.

Dansk, 29, had been heading for unrestricted free agency after appearing 18 times with the Calgary Wranglers this season. The veteran minor league netminder put up a .905 save percentage in the regular season, far outpaced by starter Dustin Wolf’s .932 in 55 games.

With Wolf pushing for an NHL spot but the Flames still financially committed to Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar, it’s unclear where Dansk fits into the picture. He very well could be the AHL backup once again—a fourth-string option that could be used in a pinch.

There is a small amount of NHL experience in his past. Dansk has appeared in six games, all with the Vegas Golden Knights, and actually won four of them. His most recent appearance was in the 2020-21 season.

Calgary Wranglers Announce Name, Sign Five Players

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After announcing their name yesterday, Calgary’s AHL affiliate has signed five players to AHL contracts for 2022-23. Formerly known as the Stockton Heat, the Calgary Wranglers will begin play at the Scotiabank Saddledome next season.

The five players signed were goalie Daniil Chechelev (whose NHL rights are owned by Calgary), defenseman Simon Lavigne, center Mitch McLain (signed to a two-year deal), defenseman Rhett Rhinehart, and center Brett Sutter.

Chechelev, just 21, was Calgary’s 96th overall selection in the 2020 draft. He played last season in Stockton on an AHL deal, having yet to sign his entry-level contract. He was sent to the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks for the vast majority of the season, where he compiled a 12-12-5 record, 3.64 goals against average, .894 save percentage, and one shutout. He sits fifth on the organization’s depth chart behind Oscar Dansk and Dustin Wolf, and he’ll likely be loaned back to the ECHL this season.

Lavigne joins the Wranglers after serving as the captain of the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada last season, notching six goals and 30 assists for 36 points in 65 games. McLain, 28, signs a two-year pact in Calgary after scoring 17 goals in 76 games last season with the Milwaukee Admirals. Rhinehart posted 27 points in 53 games last year as an alternate captain with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. Sutter joins his father’s organization after spending the last five seasons as the captain of the Ontario Reign.

Steven Kampfer, Oscar Dansk Will Not Return To KHL

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The KHL season came to close last week, as CSKA Moscow took home the Gagarin Cup for the second time in four years. Now the offseason has begun, but roster building in the KHL this summer will not be as easy as most years. Due to the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, which has caused teams and foreign players alike to flee the KHL, teams must first determine which import players are staying, regardless of contract status, before they can determine the holes they need to fill. Two such departing players, both of whom have contracts in place for 2022-23, have been revealed. Russian source Championat reports that NHL veterans Steven Kampfer and Oscar Dansk will both be released by their respective KHL teams.

Kampfer, 33, was playing in his very first season outside of North America in 2021-22, moving on from seven consecutive seasons with at least one NHL game played to sign with Ak Bars Kazan on a one-year deal. Kampfer was enjoying a terrific start to the season in the KHL when he signed a one-year extension in December, at which time Kazan indicated their hope that he would be around for more than just 2022-23 as well. Of course, this new deal arrived before the invasion of Ukraine, which shifted the status quo for many imports and Kampfer was no different. While he continued to excel on the ice, finishing with 30 points in 46 games and four points in six playoff games, the Championat article implies that Kampfer only stayed with the team through the postseason to facilitate his release from his next contract with Ak Bars. Now that the season is over, the two sides have agreed to move forward with a termination.

Dansk, 28, signed a two-year contract with Spartak Moscow last summer after playing the previous three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights organization. Dansk ultimately ended up losing the starting job to Alexei Krasikov, but still performed well in 17 regular season appearances. However, it was Dansk and not Krasikov who got the call in the postseason as the hot hand late in the year. Dansk was stellar in five appearances, recording a .933 save percentage and 1.73. Yet, Dansk also seems to have wanted to depart the team well before the playoffs but felt he could not. Championat quotes the netminder as saying he felt “stuck” by the terms of his two-year deal, which required he pay back salary from year one if he did not honor year two. Dansk says that his agent is now working to resolve the issue, but that he definitively is not returning to Russia.

As both Kampfer and Dansk last played on NHL contracts before jumping to the KHL, they could look to return this offseason. However, with each having found success overseas this season, they might also stay in Europe, with Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland all providing opportunities for elite pro play and should be even stronger next season with the exodus of import players from the KHL.

Snapshots: Dadonov Fallout, Dansk, No Trade Clauses

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The cancellation of Monday’s Evgenii Dadonov trade is a decision that could have an impact on the rest of this season and into the future. Because the Golden Knights’ place in the Western Conference’s playoff picture has become significantly more precarious than it was in the earlier months of the season, activating Alec Martinez and captain Mark Stone off of long-term injured reserve has suddenly become far more necessary than the team may have anticipated it would be. But without the cap space that was set to be cleared by Monday’s voided trade, the team is going to have a far more challenging time trying to get their players back from the long-term injured list. So, this means that the Golden Knights could pursue other trades to clear the cap room. In his 32 Thoughts blog, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman details what that could entail. He floats the Arizona Coyotes as a potential suitor for taking on Dadonov’s contract but states that the potential Dadonov-to-Arizona trade would be less appetizing to the Golden Knights than their voided trade to Anaheim was.

Friedman writes that “Arizona will make itself available” should the Golden Knights want to pursue that avenue of a solution, but it could be expensive. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the cost of a team taking on Dadonov’s contract from the Golden Knights could be “a first-round pick” plus more. For Vegas, that is a steeper price than the second-rounder they were set to send Anaheim. With the trade deadline passed and any trade of Dadonov now making him ineligible to play again this season, what little leverage Vegas did have has likely evaporated. Even worse for the team, Dadonov’s no-trade protection, the center of most of this conversation, could further cut into the number of teams willing to engage with Vegas on this type of deal. So the central question for Vegas will be: if getting rid of Dadonov’s contract to be able to activate Martinez and Stone is essential to reviving the team’s fading playoff hopes, how much is this season worth to GM Kelly McCrimmon? How much is it worth to owner Bill Foley? The Golden Knights have been remarkably aggressive in their young existence as a franchise, with a relentless commitment to maximizing their team’s ability to win a Stanley Cup with their current core of players. This season has been perhaps their most challenging, and the Dadonov situation brings them to a fork in the road. Will they pay what could be an exorbitant price to trade Dadonov and activate some reinforcements? Or could they potentially refuse to pay that price, and end up missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history?

  • Speaking of the Golden Knights, in another nugget of information from his 32 Thoughts blog, Elliotte Friedman brings up a name that Vegas fans should remember. Friedman reports that Oscar Dansk is pondering a return to North America after his first season overseas since he spent 2016-17 tending the pipes in the SHL. Dansk was the 31st overall pick in the 2012 draft and never quite lived up to his potential. After a 2020-21 season where he only got into 12 games across the NHL and AHL levels, Dansk left for the KHL. He played in 17 regular-season games for Spartak Moscow and registered a .910 save percentage. In three games for the team in the KHL playoffs, Dansk is sporting an impressive .932 mark. Given his track record as a solid AHL goalie (he had a .910 save percentage over a 75-game stretch for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2018-19 through 2019-20), it’s possible that he could return to this side of the Atlantic and get a chance as a team’s third netminder similar to the role he played for Vegas when he was last in North America.
  • One potential long-term impact of the voided Dadonov trade could be a change in how no-trade protections associated with contracts are tracked. A central issue with the Dadonov trade was that Dadonov’s contractual right to refuse a trade to the Anaheim Ducks was not communicated when the Knights made the trade earlier this week. The specifics of no-trade protection on NHL contracts are information typically only shared between a player, his representation, and the team he is contracted to. But with this Dadonov situation, that could change. In his piece detailing more information about Dadonov’s situation and no-trade clauses in general, the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun notes (subscription required) that with the annual GM meetings set to be held next week, the creation of a centralized, league-monitored place to store information on no-trade clauses could be an item on discussion. As with any piece of information, the more eyes that get to see it, the more likely it is to leak. So some parties may be opposed to this solution given that an unintended consequence could be more players’ no-trade lists becoming public information. But given the mess that the Dadonov trade situation evolved into, one wonders if that’s a risk the league’s decision-makers are willing to take.

Oscar Dansk Signs in KHL

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The Vegas Golden Knights made it clear recently that Oscar Dansk wouldn’t be returning to the organization in 2021-22, but it wasn’t immediately apparent where he would be going. That question is now answered, with Dansk signing a two-year contract with Spartak Moscow of the KHL.

Now 27, Dansk was an unrestricted free agent, but still didn’t have much NHL experience to leverage in negotiations. Despite being selected 31st overall in 2012 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, he failed to ever play a game for them at the NHL level. After some middling minor league numbers and a two-year return to Sweden, he signed with the Golden Knights in 2017 as one of their first non-expansion additions. He would sign two more contracts with the Golden Knights over the last few seasons, but managed just six NHL appearances.

There is still enough upside left in Dansk that he could potentially return after showcasing his skills overseas, but this very well could be the end of his NHL career. In his six appearances, he went 4-1 with a .906 save percentage.

Golden Knights Sign Oscar Dansk To A One-Year Extension

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The Golden Knights will likely be calling on goaltender Oscar Dansk to serve as one of their extra goaltenders for the playoffs.  They’ll be calling on him for next year as well as the team announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year contract extension.  He gets a two-way deal that pays the league minimum of $700K at the NHL level.

The 26-year-old spent the majority of the 2019-20 season with AHL Chicago where he posted a 18-12-4 record with a 2.57 GAA and a .908 SV% in 35 games.  He also made one start with Vegas which didn’t go particularly well as he allowed six goals on 37 shots in a loss to Philadelphia back in October.  However, his first NHL action went much better as he won all three of his starts in the 2017-18 campaign while collecting a .946 SV% and a shutout.

Dansk was eligible to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this offseason but has passed up on that to remain in Vegas.  Garret Sparks, their third-string goalie, is also eligible for unrestricted free agency and this move may be a signal that he won’t be returning as prospect Dylan Ferguson will be looking to make the jump to a full-time AHL role after spending the majority of this season with ECHL Fort Wayne.  That would allow Dansk to move up a notch on the depth chart and with Robin Lehner unlikely to return as the backup in Vegas for next season, he becomes a candidate to be Marc-Andre Fleury’s understudy if their salary cap situation forces them to go with a low-cost backup.

The Unleashed 2020: Potential Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents

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Though most players have to wait until after their 27th birthday to become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team in the league without compensation, there are a few other ways to get to the open market. Players that complete seven full seasons in the NHL are eligible for UFA status, as are restricted free agents that do not receive qualifying offers. There is another way however, offered to those players who don’t get a long opportunity in the NHL but have put in several years at the professional level: Group VI unrestricted free agency.

Earlier this month, CapFriendly compiled a complete list of players on track to become free agents early. To refresh your memory on how a player qualifies for Group VI free agency, they must meet three requirements:

  1. The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
  2. The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.
  3. The player has played fewer than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

The entire list of players at risk can be found below, but make sure you check out CapFriendly for more detailed information on how they could avoid the designation this summer.

*Indicates that the player could still play in enough games this season to become ineligible for Group VI free agency

Anaheim Ducks

Andrew Poturalski
Justin Kloos

Arizona Coyotes

(none)

Boston Bruins

Ryan Fitzgerald

Buffalo Sabres

(none)

Calgary Flames

Ryan Lomberg
Rinat Valiev
Jon Gillies

Carolina Hurricanes

(none)

Chicago Blackhawks

(none)

Colorado Avalanche

Antoine Bibeau

Columbus Blue Jackets

Doyle Somerby

Dallas Stars

Gavin Bayreuther
Dillon Heatherington

Detroit Red Wings

(none)

Edmonton Oilers

Colby Cave*
Shane Starrett

Florida Panthers

Danick Martel
Jack Rodewald

Los Angeles Kings

(none)

Minnesota Wild

Carson Soucy

Montreal Canadiens

Laurent Dauphin
Gustav Olofsson

Nashville Predators

Michael McCarron*

New Jersey Devils

Brandon Baddock
Dakota Mermis

New York Islanders

Jordan Schmaltz

New York Rangers

Boo Nieves*
Vinni Lettieri
Danny O’Regan
Nick Ebert

Ottawa Senators

Morgan Klimchuk

Philadelphia Flyers

Reece Wilcox

Pittsburgh Penguins

Riley Barber
Thomas Di Pauli
Adam Johnson

San Jose Sharks

Anthony Greco

St. Louis Blues

Mackenzie MacEachern*
Andreas Borgman

Tampa Bay Lightning

Daniel Walcott
Patrick Sieloff
Spencer Martin

Toronto Maple Leafs

Kasimir Kaskisuo

Vancouver Canucks

Ashton Sautner

Vegas Golden Knights

Valentin Zykov
Oscar Dansk

Washington Capitals

Liam O’Brien
Colby Williams
Tyler Lewington

Winnipeg Jets

J.C. Lipon

Minor Transactions: 2/1/20

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The bye weeks are now over which means an uptick in games across the league.  Saturday is typically a busy day around the NHL but with 28 teams in action today, it’s even busier than normal.  There should be plenty of roster movement as a result which we’ll keep tabs on here.

  • The Blue Jackets announced the recall of defenseman Andrew Peeke from AHL Cleveland. They had just six healthy blueliners on their roster so the 21-year-old will likely serve as injury insurance for the time being.  He has one assist in seven games with Columbus so far this season while averaging 12:27 per game.
  • Late Friday, the Golden Knights made a pair of roster moves, per team releases. They returned goalie Oscar Dansk to Chicago of the AHL which comes as no surprise now that Marc-Andre Fleury has served his one-game suspension for withdrawing from the All-Star Game.  The other was the recall of defenseman Zach Whitecloud.  He played one game with Vegas in 2018 after signing with them but since then has played exclusively with the Wolves, where he has two goals and five assists in 35 games this season.
  • With Oliver Ekman-Larsson leaving Thursday’s game with an injury, the Coyotes announced that they have recalled defenseman Kyle Capobianco from AHL Tucson. The 22-year-old has played in eight games with Arizona this season but has spent most of the year with the Roadrunners where he has been quite productive with 21 points in 26 games.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have activated goaltender Jonathan Bernier off of injured reserve and as a result, have assigned Calvin Pickard back to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Bernier has been out of the Detroit lineup since Jan. 10 with a lower-body injury. Pickard has appeared in three games for Detroit and struggled immensely, posting a .797 save percentage.
  • CapFriendly reports that the San Jose Sharks have recalled forward Maxim Letunov from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The 23-year-old has fared well this year in the AHL already passing his points total from last year. He has 10 goals and 30 points in 39 games.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have recalled forward Sam Lafferty from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The 24-year-old has already appeared in 36 games with Pittsburgh, scoring four goals and 10 points. He was returned to the AHL, where he has had three goals in six games.

Vegas Golden Knights Recall Garret Sparks On Emergency Basis

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Is it time to panic in Las Vegas? Fans of the Golden Knights will surely not be thrilled to hear the news that Garret Sparks has been recalled on an emergency basis from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, especially in light of the fact that backup Malcolm Subban was a full participant in practice today. That just leaves one odd man out.

As The Athletic’s Jesse Granger summarizes, Sparks’ recall comes on the heels of a practice in which Subban looked fully healthy, while starter Marc-Andre Fleury was suspiciously absent for what head coach Gerard Gallant called a “maintenance day”.  If it was truly just a day off for the veteran keeper, the team would not have made this roster move, so it is safe to assume that Fleury is injured. The extent of that injury remains to be seen, but the Knights will almost certainly be without him for at least Saturday’ game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Although Vegas famously survived numerous injuries in goal in their inaugural season, the play behind Fleury has been a different story since the beginning of last season. The 34-year-old Fleury started 61 games last year, a workload brought on by the poor performance of Subban. The young backstop recorded a .902 save percentage and 2.93 GAA in 21 appearances. In his lone appearance so far this year, Subban allowed two goals on just 14 shots. While Subban was sidelined due to injury, Oscar Dansk made one start, allowing six goals on 37 shots, and Sparks, an off-season addition, made one relief appearance and mirrored Subban’s results with two goals allowed on 14 shots. The trio have allowed a combined ten goals on 65 shots over 107 minutes for an .846 save percentage and 5.61 GAA. Even in just one appearance apiece, these are still terrifying numbers for the Golden Knights, especially if Fleury is out for an extended period of time. Subban and Sparks leave a lot to be desired as the tandem leading Vegas against the Jets tomorrow and possibly beyond.

Snapshots: Scandella, Sparks, Tatar

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The Buffalo Sabres have been the topic of trade speculation since before the season began, starting with the acquisitions of Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju. Suddenly the team had more defensemen than seemed necessary and many people believed they would soon make a move. That speculation quickly focused on Rasmus Ristolainen after some interesting training camp quotes, but after a few early injuries things have quieted down.

Now, with some of those injured players returning, Buffalo is back in the spotlight. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports however that Ristolainen may no longer be the target, suggesting that the focus is now on veteran defenseman Marco Scandella and his expiring contract. Scandella carries a cap hit of $4MM for the rest of this season and then is scheduled for unrestricted free agency.

  • Not only have the Vegas Golden Knights recalled Nicolas Hague a few hours after they assigned him to the minor leagues—Hague played this afternoon for the Chicago Wolves—they’ve also brought up Garret Sparks. The former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender has been outstanding through four games for the Wolves, carrying a .931 save percentage for the AHL club. Oscar Dansk struggled in his first chance as the replacement for the injured Malcolm Subban, and it seems as though Sparks will get the next opportunity.
  • Tomas Tatar left practice today for the Montreal Canadiens with a lower-body injury according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, though the team has not issued an official update so far. It’s been a rollercoaster ride in the early season for Tatar, who has seven points through nine games but has also taken six minor penalties.

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