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Overseas Notes: Rychel, Enstrom, KHL

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After years of trying to find his place in the NHL, former top prospect turned journeyman Kerby Rychel has decided to take his talents to Sweden. Orebro HK of the SHL announced today that Rychel has signed a one-year contract with the club. Rychel brings with him nearly 300 games worth of AHL experience, as well as 43 NHL games. The 19th overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, Rychel entered the pro level with high expectations as both the son of respected former player and OHL executive Warren Rychel and as a player who had done serious damage on the score sheet at the junior level. Rychel looked to be on his way to becoming an established NHL player when he suited up for 32 games with Columbus in his second pro season, but a trade to Toronto – in exchange for current Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington – altered his trajectory. Rychel never played a single game for the Maple Leafs, spending close to two full seasons with the AHL’s Marlies. He was then traded to the Montreal Canadiens at the tail end of the 2017-18 season as part of the package for rental Tomas Plekanec. Despite performing well in a brief showing with the Habs, Rychel was traded again last summer to the Calgary Flames for Hunter Shinkaruk. Even as he was enjoying the best per-game production of his AHL career with the Stockton Heat, Rychel earned just two appearances with the Flames and the team did not make him a qualifying offer earlier this summer. Putting a tumultuous NHL career behind him, Rychel will now try his hand at the SHL. Orebro struggled last season, finishing tenth out of 14 teams and will be glad to add an experienced talent like Rychel. Between he, fellow new addition Ryan Stoa, and returning top liner Shane Harper, Orebro should pack some more offensive punch next season.

  • Given the lackluster NHL free agent market this summer, it’s no surprise that few veterans who had previously made the jump to Europe have been able to find a fit back in North America. Count defenseman Tobias Enstrom among that group. The 34-year-old has re-signed with his hometown team, MODO of the Swedish minor league Allsvenkan, the club announced. It is a new one-year deal for the captain, who returned to Sweden last off-season. A career member of the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise, Enstrom found himself without a home for the first time in 11 years last summer as a free agent without a market. He held out hope, waiting for an offer until late August, before opting to head home. In returning to MODO, the team he grew up playing for – albeit in the SHL at that time – Enstrom took on a leadership and also saw a spike in his production. MODO hopes that the strong play continues from their veteran ace, as the team looks to contend for promotion back to the SHL in the upcoming season.
  • The quiet NHL free agent market has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the European leagues, as few players left their respective clubs while talent continues to come over from North America. While Sweden has had a strong off-season in the import business, the winner thus far in terms of NHL additions is unsurprisingly the KHL, considered to be the best of the European leagues. Among the players who have signed in the KHL this off-season are forwards Sven Andrighetto, Ty Rattie, Nikita Soshnikov, Jori Lehtera, Peter Holland, and Lukas Sedlak, defensemen Andrej Sustr, Igor Ozhiganov, Bogdan Kiselevich, and Jakub Jerabek, and goaltender Harri Sateri. It’s a valuable influx of talent for a league that is seeking better competitive balance.

Peter Holland Signs In KHL

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It’s the end of the road in North America for Peter Holland, at least for the next two seasons. The minor league forward has signed a two-year contract with Avtomobilist in the KHL. Holland played last season entirely in the minor leagues with the Hartford Wolf Pack and Rockford IceHogs, the first time in his career that he didn’t suit up at least a handful of times in the NHL.

Holland, 28, was originally selected 15th overall back in 2009 by the Anaheim Ducks, but never did realize his full potential. The 6’2″ center made his debut with the Ducks in 2011-12 but was moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs a few years later. Despite setting career highs in games played, goals and points, Holland still didn’t provide much upside for the Maple Leafs with just 63 points in 174 games even in a sheltered offensive role. He was flipped to the Arizona Coyotes in 2016-17, before finding himself in the Montreal minor league system.

Last playing in 2017-18 with the New York Rangers, Holland’s NHL career may well be over at this point. While he has proved to be an excellent minor league scoring threat, his offensive game disappeared in the NHL and he didn’t provide much at the other end of the rink. Perhaps some success in the KHL will create some intrigue, but that will at least have to wait for two seasons.

Blackhawks Acquire Peter Holland

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The Blackhawks and Rangers have swung a minor deal as Chicago has acquired center Peter Holland from New York.  Heading the other way is defenseman Darren Raddysh.  Both teams have announced the swap.

Holland was a first round pick (15th overall) of Anaheim back in 2009 but has not lived up to his draft billing.  Instead, he has become somewhat of a journeyman in recent years as this will be the fifth organization he has been with since December of 2016.  He has been quite productive at the AHL level in 2018-19, tallying 49 points (20-29-49) in 52 games which puts him in a tie for sixth overall in league scoring.  He’ll head to AHL Rockford where he will serve as a potential call-up for Chicago down the stretch; he last saw NHL action last season when he suited up in 23 games with New York.  Holland carries a cap hit of $675K and will be an unrestricted free agent in July.

As for Raddysh, he’s in the first season of a two-year, entry-level contract after the Blackhawks upgraded his AHL deal to an NHL one back in May.  He was a dominant offensive presence with OHL Erie back in 2016-17 with 81 points (16-65-81) in just 62 games and while he hasn’t come close to those numbers in the minors, he’s in the midst of a decent season offensively with eight goals and 18 assists in 54 games with AHL Rockford this season.  With Chicago having several quality defensive prospects that will be turning pro in the near future, Raddysh will likely have a better shot at making it to the NHL with the Rangers although he will remain at the minor league level for now.

Training Camp Cuts: 9/29/18

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With the season-opening roster deadline fast approaching, many teams will be putting the final touches to their rosters this weekend so another busy day of cuts is expected.  We’ll keep tabs on the non-waiver roster cuts here and update this post throughout the day.

Boston Bruins (via CapFriendly)

G Zane McIntyre (to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (via team Tweet)

D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

D Michal Cajkovsky (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Janne Kuokkanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Saku Maenalanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Nicolas Roy (to Charlotte, AHL)

Dallas Stars (per Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge)

F Denis Gurianov (to Texas, AHL)

Detroit Red Wings (per team release)

D Jake Chelios (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Patrik Rybar (to Grand Rapids, AHL)

Edmonton Oilers (per CapFriendly)

G Al Montoya (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Anthony Greco (to Springfield, AHL)
G Michael Hutchinson (to Springfield, AHL)
D Julian Melchiori (to Springfield, AHL)

New York Rangers (per CapFriendly)

D Chris Bigras (to Hartford, AHL)
F Peter Holland (to Hartford, AHL)
G Marek Mazanec (to Hartford, AHL)
F Cole Schneider (to Hartford, AHL)
G Dustin Tokarski (to Hartford, AHL)

Vancouver Canucks (via CapFriendly)

F Brendan Gaunce (to Utica, AHL)

Washington Capitals (per team Twitter)

F Shane Gersich (to Hershey, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (via TSN’s Brian Munz)

F Dennis Everberg (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Seth Griffith (to Manitoba, AHL)
F J.C. Lipon (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Nicolas Kerdiles (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Cameron Schilling (to Manitoba, AHL)

Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Rangers

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

New York Rangers

Current Cap Hit: $73,823,569 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Pavel Buchnevich (one year remaining, $925K)
D Neal Pionk (one year remaining, $925K)
F Lias Andersson (three years remaining, $894K)
F Filip Chytil (three years remaining, $894K)
D Anthony DeAngelo (one year remaining, $863K)
G Alexandar Georgiev (two years remaining, $793K)

Potential Bonuses

Pionk: $850K
Andersson: $850K
Deangelo: $400K
Chytil: $350K

Total: $2.45MM

With the team in quick rebuild mode, there are some entry-level deals already and if the team continues to trend in that direction, they will have quite a bit more. The team’s most prominent player at the NHL level to date would be Buchnevich, who improved on his rookie campaign with a 14-goal, 43-point season last year. He saw more ice time as well, improving from 13:16 ATOI to 15:01 as well as saw significant time on the team’s power play, potting five goals and 11 assists with the man advantage and has earned himself a solid spot in the team’s top-six. Another improved season could see him being an expensive restricted free agent.

The team has high expectations for their two 2017 first-rounders in Andersson and Chytil. Both have shown excellent skills and have received some time playing for the NHL with Andersson seeing seven games, while saw nine games. Both are expected to earn time with the Rangers out of training camp, but both may find themselves on bottom-six lines unless they can prove that they can center the second or third lines in training camp.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Kevin Hayes ($5.18MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($4.5MM, UFA)
D Rob O’Gara ($874K, RFA)
F Cody McLeod ($750K, UFA)
D Fredrik Claesson ($863K, RFA)
F Peter Holland ($675K, UFA)
D Steven Kampfer ($650K, UFA)
G Marek Mazanec ($650K, UFA)

The team agreed to a one-year deal with Hayes, avoiding arbitration, but now face the possibility that Hayes could walk away at the end of the season as he will be unrestricted, which will force the team into two possible directions, including attempting to work out a long-term deal with the team after Jan. 1, 2019, or trading him, possibly at the trading deadline if the two sides can’t agree on anything. Hayes, who has been a jack of all trades playing multiple positions, seems to have developed into a solid center as he produced his best season ever, which included 25 goals, eight more than any previous year. The question is, do the Rangers view him as a fixture in their lineup as they continue to rebuild?

At age 30, Zuccarrello still puts up solid numbers, but despite the high-end minutes that the veteran gets, he falls into a similar category to that of Hayes where you have to ask whether he is in the team’s long-term plans. The winger is penciled in to play on the team’s top line once again, but has only put up 31 goals over the past two seasons. He does produce quite a few assists (81 over the past two years), but what the Rangers need more than anything is goals. Zuccarello will also turn 32 before he begins his next contract and at that age, how long are the Rangers willing to commit to him?

Two Years Remaining

F Chris Kreider ($4.63MM, UFA)
F Ryan Spooner ($4MM, UFA)
F Vladislav Namestnikov ($4MM, UFA)
F Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM, UFA)
F Matt Beleskey ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Jesper Fast ($1.85MM, UFA)

Kreider is coming off a tough year in which he had to deal with blood clots and had surgery to relieve the pressure and missed almost two months of time. The 27-year-old didn’t have as solid of a season as he tallied just 16 goals in 58 games, which is a far cry from the 28 goals he scored in 2016-17 although a lot of that is due to the fact that his playing time dipped as the team didn’t want to play him too many minutes due to the blood clot issue. Regardless with a full offseason to rest and recuperate, Kreider should be able to bounce back as one of the team’s top scorers.

The team also have high expectations from two other forwards that the team acquired through at the trade deadline a year ago in Namestnikov and Spooner. Namestnikov was the biggest name to arrive in New York in the Ryan McDonagh trade with Tampa Bay. He was a key player for the Lightning, posting 20 goals and 44 points with them, but he actually lost playing time once he arrived in New York and put up just two goals and four points in 19 games. The team hopes that a new coach and proper training camp with his new team will make quite a difference. Spooner came over in the Rick Nash trade with Boston and has posted solid numbers with the Bruins over the past few seasons and could turn out to be a top-six wing or third-line center in New York. Between the two teams, Spooner combined for 13 goals and 28 assists.

The team also expect big things from Vesey, who signed as a undrafted collegiate free agent a couple of years ago and if finally starting to show that he belongs in the NHL. The 25-year-old winger has put up solid numbers for two years, but could find himself getting more opportunities in the team’s rebuild. In two years, he’s combined for 33 goals and 55 points.

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Minor Transactions: 2/24/18

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Though the expectation is to see less “minor” transactions and more fireworks over the next 48 hours, the day-to-day operations of NHL teams don’t stop just because of the trade deadline. With a busy slate of 12 games coming up today, teams continue to tweak their rosters in preparation, though some moves could also signal an impending trade. Follow along to find out.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have reversed the decision they made yesterday, announcing an identical swap of Joonas Korpisalo and Markus Hannikainen for Jeff Zatkoff. Zatkoff heads back to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters after just one day, while Korpisalo and Hannikainen re-join the Jackets. The veteran goalie Zatkoff has yet to make an NHL appearance this season, but Korpisalo hasn’t had much better luck, struggling through 12 games, including just two dismal performances in February.
  • Blake Pietila is on his way back to the minors, as the New Jersey Devils have also changed their mind on a recent call-up, sending the young forward back to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. Pietila played in his first two NHL games of the 2017-18 campaign on this call-up, but failed to record a point in under 20 minutes of total ice time.
  • St. Louis Blues beat writer Lou Korac notes that the AHL lists defenseman Jordan Schmaltz and forward Tage Thompson headed to St. Louis and defenseman Chris Butler and forward Sammy Blais reassigned to the San Antonio Rampage. More likely than not, the Blues are swapping out some in-between players for others to shake up a lineup that has been ineffective of late, but there’s also a good chance that they would like to showcase all of their young pro talent ahead of the deadline. St. Louis has just three wins in their past ten games and risk missing the playoffs if their play doesn’t improve one way or another.
  • According to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, the New York Rangers have placed Peter Holland on waivers today. Holland is no stranger to having an uncertain future; the 27-year-old has been with four different NHL organizations in the past two years and wouldn’t be surprised to join a fifth on this go-round through the waiver wire. However, the 2009 first-rounder is on pace for the fewest NHL games and points of his career this season and may not hold much value for other teams.
  • After clearing waivers himself, newly-acquired L.A. goaltender Scott Wedgewood is heading to the AHL, per Kings beat writer Josh Cooper. Joining Wedgewood on the trip to the AHL’s Ontario Reign is forward Jonny Brodzinski, while defenseman Paul LaDue has been recalled. LaDue has played in only seven games with the Kings this season after 22 in his 2016-17 rookie campaign and again looks to be just a depth option for Los Angeles on this call-up.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled prospect Laurent Dauphin from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL. The 22-year-old center was re-acquired by Arizona on Jan. 10 after he had been traded to the Chicago Blackhawks during the offseason. Dauphin was originally traded in June with Connor Murphy for defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. The prospect was then reacquired when Arizona traded forward Anthony Duclair to Chicago with Richard Panik. Dauphin had 17 goals last year for the Roadrunners and was expected to take that next step. However, he struggled with the Rockford IceHogs early on, scoring just four goals to go with 10 assists in 33 games. He seems to have found his game since then as he has five goals and 10 assists in just 16 games and might be ready to take on a role with Arizona now that the team moved Tobias Rieder recently to Los Angeles.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they recalled winger Ty Rattie and activated Andrej Sekera from injured reserve today. The 25-year-old Rattie has 20 goals and 19 assists with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, but has struggled to break into the NHL over the years. He signed with Edmonton in the offseason. Sekera, who was struck in the face with a puck back on Feb. 9, has struggled this year after tearing his ACL last season. He has no goals and one assist in 18 games for Edmonton with a minus-10 rating. The team did need some defensive depth after they traded away Brandon Davidson to the New York Islanders earlier today.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned forwards Tomas Hyka and Stefan Matteau to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL today, according to the Chicago Wolves. Hyka scored his first NHL goal Friday and had played well, but the team is likely making space for recently acquired Ryan Reaves and the impending return of James Neal to the lineup. Both were likely expected to be returned to Chicago by Monday anyway, as if the Golden Knights want them to play in the AHL playoffs, they must not be with the NHL club at the trade deadline.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Kalle Kossila from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. The 24-year-old averages more than a point a game as he has 13 goals and 25 assists in 35 games for the Gulls. For the Ducks, he has one goal and one assist in 10 games.

Minor Transactions: 01/15/18

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The NHL is back at it after an eventful weekend, and now have just a couple of weeks until another break for the All-Star game. Things are tightening up in the standings, and the next month will feature teams finally deciding to sell at the deadline. For all the league’s minor moves, keep it right here.

Mika Zibanejad Out With Concussion

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The New York Rangers, fresh off a loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers have confirmed that Mika Zibanejad—who missed that game with an upper-body injury—has suffered a concussion and will not practice with the team. New York did add a center in Peter Holland earlier today, but it was expected that he’ll remain in Hartford for at least the time being.

Zibanejad was scratched from the Florida game just before it started, but according to head coach Alain Vigneault (via Matt Calamia of NHL.com) he suffered the concussion during last Friday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Symptoms didn’t present themselves until Tuesday morning. It’s a huge loss for the Rangers, who already had depth issues at center ice after trading away Derek Stepan in the offseason. Zibanejad had taken over as the top option in the middle and led the team in scoring through 25 games.

If he’s out for an extended period of time, Holland or even Filip Chytil could potentially see time in the middle once again. Chytil did begin the year with the Rangers but has been playing in Hartford for some time. The first-round pick 12 points in 13 games for the AHL club, but is still a raw prospect at just 18 years of age.

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Adam Cracknell

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The Montreal Canadiens have completed a minor trade, swapping minor league forward Peter Holland for Adam Cracknell from the New York Rangers. Cracknell was claimed off waivers from the Dallas Stars earlier this year, but will report directly to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for the time being.

While this is just a minor league swap on paper, both players have considerable NHL experience. Holland was a first-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2009 but could never quite find a role as a top-six center in any of his previous stops. A natural puck-carrying forward, his offense has been limited throughout his career. For Laval this season, he had 18 points in 20 games and will certainly improve the Hartford attack.

Cracknell on the other hand has always been a hard working bottom-six player, but actually had 10 goals last season for the Stars. He was waived early on but couldn’t catch on in New York either. The 32-year old could add some size to Montreal’s group if called up, but is likely just a minor league depth addition at this point.

Montreal’s Holland, Carr Among Seven On Waivers

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While Saturday’s group heading to the waiver wire is not as large or containing as many noteworthy names as each of the last few days, it contains over 150 2016-17 NHL games played and a handful of players with some substantial NHL pedigree. The following seven players were placed on waivers today:

F Peter Holland, Montreal Canadiens
F Daniel Carr, Montreal Candiens
F Anton Rodin, Vancouver Canucks
F Nicolas Deslauriers, Buffalo Sabres
D Taylor Fedun, Buffalo Sabres
D Viktor Loov, New Jersey Devils
G Tom McCollum, Detroit Red Wings

The two biggest names on the list are the pair of Montreal Canadiens wingers. Carr, 25, has played in 58 games in the past season and a half with the Habs after signing with the team following a prolific collegiate career at Union College. While Carr only recorded nine points in his 33 2016-17 games, many expected him to take on a larger role this season. Instead, the Canadiens will try to send him down to the AHL to begin the new season. The more surprising decision may be Holland, who signed a two-year deal with Montreal as an unrestricted free agent this off-season. Granted, the reason the 26-year-old was able to sign such a deal was that he was first not qualified by the Arizona Coyotes, but Holland is still a veteran of 243 NHL games and showed promise with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2014 to 2016. Holland is in a very similar situation to Kenny Agostino, recently placed on waivers by the Boston Bruins after signing with the team this off-season. Both have shown ample ability on the ice, but have been unable to show the consistency of an NHL regular. Agostino cleared waivers and Holland may too, but there is some risk involved in this move by Montreal.

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