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Snapshots: Pietrangelo, Barabanov, AHL Suspensions

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When the St. Louis Blues went out and acquired Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes, only to sign him to a seven-year $45.5MM extension immediately, eyebrows raised around the hockey world. Where exactly did that leave captain Alex Pietrangelo, who plays the same position and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season? Well, the Blues tried to answer some of that question by pairing Pietrangelo and Faulk together for a time, but that didn’t take (though hasn’t been completely abandoned either, as we saw last night), and now there is a report about some recent meetings between the two sides.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Pietrangelo’s agents met with GM Doug Armstrong yesterday, and reports that the Blues are hoping to use Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s eight-year, $66MM deal as a “baseline” in talks. That $8.25MM average annual value currently makes Ekman-Larsson the fourth-highest paid defenseman in the league behind only Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Another interesting comparable for Pietrangelo might be Roman Josi, who is also dealing with extension negotiations at the moment with the Nashville Predators.

  • One other note from the 31 Thoughts column revolves around Alexander Barabanov, a 25-year old KHL forward that Friedman reports will be scouted in-person by several NHL executives. Barabanov’s ice time has drastically reduced this season, but recorded 46 points in 58 games last year for SKA St. Petersburg. That total put him behind only New Jersey Devils forward Nikita Gusev and ahead of other Russian stars like Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Plotnikov.
  • Suspensions came down today in the AHL, with both Hubert Labrie of the Belleville Senators and Paul Thompson of the Springfield Thunder facing two-game bans for incidents on Saturday. In Labrie’s case, his elbow caused Kenny Agostino of the Toronto Marlies to suffer a concussion that will keep him out indefinitely. Thompson meanwhile hit Thomas Hickey of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but the veteran defenseman was back in action yesterday as he tries to fight his way back to the NHL.

Waivers: 09/20/19

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The waiver period for the 2019-20 season opened today, and teams all around the league started clearing spots on their rosters. These players are all on waivers:

Dallas Stars

F Michael Mersch
D Reece Scarlett

Edmonton Oilers

F Josh Currie
F Joseph Gambardella
F Brad Malone
D Keegan Lowe

Florida Panthers

F Joel Lowry
F Paul Thompson
F Kevin Roy
D Tommy Cross

New York Rangers

F Matt Beleskey

St. Louis Blues

F Jordan Nolan
F Mike Vecchione
F Nick Lappin
D Joey Laleggia
D Jake Dotchin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Louis Domingue
G Mike Condon

Vancouver Canucks

F Justin Bailey

Vegas Golden Knights

F Tyrell Goulbourne
D Brett Lernout
D Jaycob Megna

Florida Panthers Sign Jacob MacDonald, Paul Thompson

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The Florida Panthers have signed another pair of minor league players, inking Jacob MacDonald and Paul Thompson to two-year, two-way contracts. Both should add some much-needed depth to the Springfield Thunderbirds lineup, and even add some injury replacements for the Panthers if necessary.

Thompson, 29, is coming back to the Panthers after one year with the Vegas Golden Knights organization. He played 76 games for the Chicago Wolves, scoring 38 points and wearing an “A” as an alternate captain. The former standout University of New Hampshire player and Hobey Baker finalist, Thompson has been a solid professional minor league player for many years.

MacDonald, 25, represents a little more upside after scoring 20 goals and 55 points from the blue line last season. He’s come out of nowhere on the professional scene, after never really finding much offensive success in college or the low minor leagues. Now, as one the AHL’s most dangerous defensemen he should earn a call-up at some point to see if he can do it at the highest level. It may not be this season, but if he continues to produce for the Thunderbirds there’s no reason to not give him a shot. For a late-bloomer like MacDonald, getting a two-year NHL contract is quite an accomplishment.

Minor Transactions: 2/11/18

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With the NFL season over, the NHL seems to have increased their Sunday games from just a handful to a nine-game set today. With a busy weekend, there should be quite a bit of movement on many NHL rosters today.

  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled forward Nikolay Goldobin from the Utica Comets of the AHL. He returns almost a month after he was sent down. The 22-year-old 2014 first-round pick has nine goals and leads the Comets in assists with 21 assists. He has played 14 games for the Canucks this season. He has two goals and two assists, but has averaged just 12:01 of ice time for the NHL club so far this year.
  • After losing backup goaltender Malcolm Subban to injury, the Vegas Golden Knights have officially recalled goaltender Manny Lagace from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Lagace had his moments earlier this season while starting for Vegas, while both Subban and Marc-Andre Fleury were out. Lagace was 6-6-1 in 14 games. He had his ups and downs as he carries a 3.79 GAA and a .872 save percentage during that time. He has a 2.65 GAA and a .907 save percentage in Chicago.
  • The San Jose Sharks made a couple of moves as they have recalled defenseman Tim Heed and Rudolfs Balcers from the San Jose Barracuda. For Heed, this is one of many moves over the last few days. He was sent to the Barracuda on Wednesday, recalled the following day and then sent back to the Barracuda Friday. He played one game for the Barracuda. For the Sharks, the 27-year-old offensive defenseman played in just 27 games this season and has three goals and eight assists. Balcers gets his first call-up to the Sharks. The 20-year-old wing has 12 goals and 31 points this season for the Barracuda.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights made a second move for the day as they have recalled forward Paul Thompson, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. This will be the first time the 29-year-old has been recalled for Vegas as he’s spent the whole season in Chicago of the AHL. In 48 games with the Wolves, Thompson has 14 goals, 26 points and 82 penalty minutes. He did play 21 games with the Florida Panthers last year and had three assists.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they recalled defenseman Nick Seeler from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. The team also announced the have assigned forward Viktor Loov to Iowa. Seeler, 24, has played 49 games for Iowa and has two goals and 10 assists on the year. If he plays Tuesday, it would be his NHL debut. Loov, was just picked up Thursday in a minor trade from New Jersey. The 25-year-old did not get into a Wild game, however. Loov had five goals and 12 assists in 36 games for the Binghampton Devils of the AHL before the trade.

Eighteen Players Placed On Waivers

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With training camp cuts coming fast and furious, many names were placed on waivers today as teams begin to try and slip players through to their minor league affiliates. Below is a complete list of players on waivers today, thanks to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports:

Michael Latta (ARI)
Tyler Gaudet (ARI)
Dustin Tokarski (ANA)
Jordan Szwarz (BOS)
Tommy Cross (BOS)
Andrew Agozzino (COL)
Rocco Grimaldi (COL)
Trent Vogelhuber (COL)
Felix Girard (COL)
Joe Cannata (COL)
Jesse Graham (COL)
Reece Scarlett (FLA)
Alexandre Grenier (FLA)
Cody Bass (NSH)
Tye McGinn (TB)
Reid Boucher (VAN)
T.J. Tynan (VGK)
Paul Thompson (VGK)

Graham Black Leaves Pros For University

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In general, people play college sports before playing professionally. For AHL veteran Graham Black, that isn’t the case. Black was included today as part of the recruiting class for the University of Calgary, CUSN’s Victor Findlay reports. Findlay adds that while Black is ineligible to compete this season, he will be back on the ice in 2018-19 for the Dinos.

The “big surprise” of the class announcement, Black has played in 131 AHL games in the last four years after leaving the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. Black, 24, was a fifth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2012 and looked ready for the next level after scoring 97 points in 69 games for the Broncos in 2013-14. The scoring center signed a three-year ELC with New Jersey in 2014, but his production fell off in the minors. Through two seasons with the AHL’s Albany Devils, Black had just 23 points in 98 games. Last summer, he was shipped alongside Paul Thompson to the Florida Panthers as the meager return for the Devils taking on Marc Savard’s contract in exchange for a second-round pick as well. While Thompson found a home in South Florida, skating in 21 games with the Panthers, Black never got past the bench. He registered eight points in 33 games with the Panthers’ affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, and watched several games from the press box.

The Panthers did not tender Black a qualifying offer this off-season, making him an unrestricted free agent, but with so little scoring to show for at the pro level, it seems as though Black made the decision to move on from pro hockey. The Regina native will head back up north, far from Florida, to get an education while still playing hockey, something he could not have done in the United States. Meanwhile, the University of Calgary will have the rare opportunity of having a veteran pro to lead their college squad. It’s a win-win for both parties and a fresh start for Black as he embarks on a unique career path.

Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers

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The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Florida Panthers’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Alex Petrovic only had 1 goal and 13 assists last season, but his possession stats were remarkably solid among his peers at 50.8% Corsi For. He earned $1.05 MM on his last contract, and he is due at least a slight raise. His size (6’4″) and physicality is an important asset to round out the bottom pairings of the defensive corps, even if management isn’t expecting him to light the world on fire. D Mark Pysyk, also 25 years old, has shown a bit more potential. He has less of a shutdown presence, but makes up for it by contributing to the offense on occasion. He moves the puck well with a solid if unremarkable first pass – which in today’s possession-centric NHL tends to increase value. Pysyk still hasn’t put it all together, but he’ll be a useful cog for Florida going forward. Interestingly enough, Florida’s defense is so sparse that both Pysyk and Petrovic were protected.

Other RFA’s: G MacKenzie Weegar.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Jaromir Jagr. Jagr is certainly on the downside of his career, but he still can produce points at a decent clip. He’s been a mainstay of the Panthers offense for the last two-and-a-half seasons. He only netted 16 goals, but added 30 assists to reach a reasonable 46 points. However, his contract was a tad overpriced for a 45 year old, at a $4 MM cap hit. Management apparently wants the veteran back on the squad next season according to a report by the Miami Herald’s George Richards. Richards states that the price would need to come down, but there is a solid chance he could get last year’s salary from another team desperate for production. If Florida truly wants to bring back the battle-tested winger (who sits 3rd in all-time goals), they will need to find room within their internal cap structure. His speed is certainly becoming an issue, and it remains to be seen how integral he is perceived internally.

F Thomas Vanek doesn’t look likely to make a return to the Sunshine State, as he is quite arguably the 4th best winger available after Alexander Radulov, Justin Williams, and Patrick Marleau. The chances of seeing Vanek seeing a contract similar to his $6.5 MM earned the last three seasons are almost completely non-existent, but he could easily fetch near $5 MM offer for multiple years from an offense-starved squad. Vanek did net 48 points last season, but he has the potential to do more. Vanek will almost surely find his kindest offers elsewhere. He only netted two goals in 20 games after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings.

Other UFA’s: F Micheal Scarbossa, D Jakub Kindl, G Sam Brittain, F Kyle Rau, F Brody Sutter, G Adam Wilcox, F Chase Balisy, F Graham Black, F Paul Thompson, D Reece Scarlett, G Colin Stevens, F Steven Hodges, D Brent Regner.

Projected Cap Space: The Panthers do have slightly over $20 MM in cap space if they were to re-sign no one, but they are almost certain to re-sign Pysyck and Petrovic to short-term deals. Weegar has also been extended a qualifying offer, but it will likely be a two-way deal. Assuming they make a combined $4 MM, GM Dale Tallon will likely have about $16 MM in space with 16 roster players accounted for.  His main concern has to be solidifying the defense so a repeat of last year doesn’t happen. However, with Jon Marchessault and Reilly Smith inexplicably shipped to Vegas, and likely one of Jagr and Vanek headed to other destinations, Tallon needs to add solid secondary scoring. It’s expected that Florida will be active on July 1st and into the Summer, especially with so many expiring organizational contracts – they only have 26 of the allotted 50 as of today. The organization has tried to revamp on the fly, but they will need a remarkably successful summer to re-coup all that is being lost especially in light of the meager talent available in the UFA pool. The biggest money constraint is whatever ownership places the internal cap at, which is unbeknownst to the league at large.

Minor Transactions: 2/1/2017

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Here’s where we will track the day’s less significant roster transactions:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets reassigned defenseman Dean Kukan to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline (via Twitter). The 23-year-old blue liner was recalled Sunday but did not appear in the Jackets wild 6 – 4 win over the New York Rangers last night. He appeared in eight games last season, his first in the NHL, but failed to register a point. The Swiss-born Kukan signed a deal with Columbus prior to the 2015-16 season after a lengthy pro career playing in his home country. In 37 games this year with Cleveland, Kukan has 13 points.
  • Joe Haggerty of CSNNE has relayed that Zane McIntyre has been recalled by the Boston Bruins to replace Anton Khudobin as the team’s backup netminder. The Bruins are desperate for quality play in goal behind starter Tuukka Rask. McIntyre and Khudobin have combined to post a woeful record of 1 – 8 – 2 in 15 appearances with a GAA of 3.42 and a S% of 0.875. Boston has just two back-to-backs scheduled this month, suggesting they won’t have to rely on their backup much, provided Rask remains healthy.
  • Defenseman Dylan McIlrath and forward Paul Thompson, each of whom was placed on waivers by Florida yesterday, went unclaimed and will remain in the Florida Panthers organization, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. George Richards, who covers the Panthers for the Miami Herald, later added that McIlrath was reassigned to Springfield, along with forward Jared McCann.  McIlrath, acquired earlier this season from the New York Rangers, has seen action in just five games for Florida this season. The former first-round draft pick has had trouble earning regular playing time. Thompson, 28, has played in 21 games for the Panthers, registering three assists while averaging less than eight minutes per game.
  • The Washington Capitals returned blue liner Christian Djoos to Hershey of the AHL, reports Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Djoos was Washington’s seventh-round selection in the 2012 entry draft and has yet to debut in the NHL. He’s in the midst of a solid season for Hershey, tallying 26 points in 35 AHL contests.

 

Panthers Waive Paul Thompson And Dylan McIlrath

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The Florida Panthers will be changing up their roster coming out of the All-Star break as the team has waived right winger Paul Thompson and defenseman Dylan McIlrath, Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel reports (Twitter link).

The 28 year old Thompson was acquired from New Jersey last offseason as part of the deal that saw the Panthers unload Marc Savard’s contract.  He has played in 21 games for Florida this season, recording three assists, 22 penalty minutes, and a -4 rating while averaging just 7:54 per night.  He is earning $575K at the NHL level and $225K in the AHL and is in the final year of a two year deal signed back in July of 2015.  He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

As for McIlrath, Florida acquired him back in November from the Rangers in exchange for blueliner Steven Kampfer and a 2018 7th round pick.  He has played in just five games with the Panthers since then, picking up a goal and ten penalty minutes while playing only 9:34 per contests.  This marks the second time he has been waived this season as New York waived him back in October where he passed through unclaimed.

The former 2010 first rounder (tenth overall) also has seen action in six AHL contests with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, recording two points (1-1-2) and 13 penalty minutes.  He carries a salary and cap hit of $800K this season and will be a restricted free agent afterwards.

[Related: Panthers Depth Chart]

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