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Philip Holm

Pacific Notes: Vancouver’s Defense, Kane, Muzzin, Sekera

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The Vancouver Canucks have been hurting for offense for quite some time. Yet despite adding veteran Thomas Vanek and rookie sensation Brock Boeser to the team’s lineup, the team is ranked 27th in the league in scoring. The Vancouver Sun’s Jason Botchford writes that the main reason is due to the defense’s inability to move the puck forward and help create offense.

Vancouver lacks a true offensive defenseman as the team seems to have little, but defensive blueliners in their rotations. The team’s top offensive defenseman is offseason acquisition Michael Del Zotto, who has 12 points this year, but Botchford says that the 27-year-old has rarely been the answer this season. The teams had hoped that third-year defenseman Ben Hutton might improve on his rookie year’s 25 points. Yet he has no goals and just six assists so far this year. Alexander Edler also has failed to improve on his offense as well.

Botchford says the team does have one possibility in AHL’s Philip Holm, who has seven goals and 19 points in 30 games this year in Utica. However, the team has not used him this year despite their need for an offensive spark. The team has a logjam of defenders and a trade deadline deal to move out Erik Gudbranson might be the best thing for the Canucks as it would allow the team to start playing the 26-year-old Holm.

  • The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while he believes that San Jose Sharks might be interested in acquiring Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane at the trade deadline, there are definitely some issues with doing that. While Kane would provide the Sharks an immediate top scorer (his 35 points would make him San Jose’s top point-getter) which could offer the Sharks the depth needed to field three solid lines, there are other factors San Jose would have to consider before making a trade. The current asking price by Buffalo is a first-rounder, a top prospect and a conditional pick. The team lacks resources as they attempt to retool their franchise, so moving those three assets would be tough to do. On top of that, the team would have to have confidence to re-sign Kane to a long-term deal and would they want to do that. He has a history of concerning incidents in his past, including a recent scuffle with teammate Justin Falk. Would the team want to sign him to a seven or eight year deal?
  • Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin is listed as doubtful, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. Muzzin, who had played in a consecutive 281 games, broke that streak last Saturday when he missed a game against Nashville with an undisclosed injury. He is not expected to play tonight against the Ducks, but is making progress.
  • Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal grades the performances of all the Oilers after Friday’s victory over Arizona and points out the defenseman Andrej Sekera has improved every game he’s played since returning and is already looking more as himself since returning from a torn ACL.

Minor Transactions: 11/24/17

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With no games on the schedule on Thursday, Friday is a busy day in the NHL with all but three teams in action.  Here’s where we’ll keep tabs on today’s minor roster moves.

  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have assigned defenseman Jaycob Megna and goaltender Reto Berra to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Megna, who was placed on waivers Thursday and cleared this morning, will indeed, be sent to the Gulls. Now that Cam Fowler was healthy, the team had to make a move to reduce their number of defensemen. Berra will also return to San Diego as backup Ryan Miller is expected to return after being out for the past week with a lower-body injury. The team didn’t have to put Berra on waivers as the goaltender had been placed on waivers on Nov. 4 and cleared. Since he wasn’t up for 10 games or 30 days, he doesn’t have to pass through waivers again.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have reassigned defenseman Philip Holm to the Utica Comets of the AHL. The 25-year-old defenseman was recalled on Monday, but did not see any action. Holm has two goals and eight assists in 15 games for Utica. He was sent down after the team activated defenseman Troy Stecher off injured reserve.
  • Dallas Stars prospect Nick Caamano has been dealt from the Flint Firebirds to the Hamilton Bulldogs tweets NHL.com’s Sean Shapiro. Caamano has 21 points in 23 games and was highlighted during training camp as a player who continues to rise through the organization. Within that article, The Dallas Morning-News’ Mike Heika writes that he would return to Flint “as a face” to specifically sell Firebird hockey. Now, he’s off to Hamilton where he will be reunited with former Flint coach John Gruden.

Earlier updates:

  • The Capitals announced that they have recalled center Tyler Graovac from his long-term conditioning loan with Hershey of the AHL. He got into four games with the Bears during that stretch, recording a goal and an assist.  Those loans typically only last three games but Graovac agreed to the extension.  The 24-year-old played in three games with Washington early in the season before suffering an upper-body injury back on October 17th.
  • Buffalo has reassigned defenseman Casey Nelson to AHL Rochester per a team release. That suggests that Rasmus Ristolainen is ready to return to the lineup after missing the last three weeks with an upper-body issue.  While Nelson was recalled back on November 16th, he didn’t get into any action with the Sabres.  In 14 minor league games this season, he has a goal and three assists.
  • Tampa Bay has recalled forward Cory Conacher according to an announcement from their AHL team in Syracuse. Conacher leads the Crunch in scoring this season with 13 points (6-7-13) in 17 games.  While this will be his first NHL stint in 2017-18, the 27-year-old did relatively well in his NHL action with the Lightning last year when he recorded a goal and three helpers in 11 contests.  GM Steve Yzerman told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link) that a couple of forwards are dealing with minor injuries so Conacher’s recall is insurance as the team heads into back-to-back games.
  • Calgary has brought up goaltender David Rittich from Stockton of the AHL, reports Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun (Twitter link). The Flames were expected to bring up a goaltender following their decision to waive Eddie Lack on Thursday.  The 25-year-old is off to a solid start with the Heat, posting a 2.17 GAA and a .931 SV% in six minor league appearances so far this season.
  • The Canadiens announced that they have assigned defenseman David Schlemko to Laval of the AHL on a conditioning stint.  This marks the second time this season that this has happened; he played in one game the first time and then went back on injured reserve with the same hand injury.  He has yet to play in Montreal after being acquired from Vegas shortly after the Expansion Draft.

Minor Transactions: 11/20/17

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With just six games on a Monday and a couple of suspensions last night, many teams may look to make minor changes to their roster for the coming week. Keep up with those moves right here:

  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled defenseman Philip Holm from the Utica Comets and reassigned Patrick Wiercioch in a corresponding move. Holm will be recalled for first time as the undrafted free agent signed a one-year deal with Vancouver this summer. At 25 years of age and coming over from Sweden, he needed time to adjust to the North American hockey, but appears to be ready. He has played 15 games for Utica, leading all Comet defensemen in scoring as he has put up two goals and eight assists on the year. Wiercioch, who had been shuttled up and down for most of the season has been up with the team since Oct. 23, but has been serving as an emergency defenseman and hasn’t seen any action yet this year. He has only played two games for the Comets this season.
  • The Nashville Predators announced they have recalled forward Pontus Aberg and goaltender Juuse Saros as well as Frederick Gaudreau from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The team also reassigned Anders Lindback to Milwaukee. Aberg had been serving in Milwaukee on a conditioning stint since Nov. 11. The 24-year-old had cracked the team’s lineup last year  after putting up a 30-goal season in Milwaukee. He then proceeded to play in 16 playoff games for Nashville, but had trouble finding playing time this year as he had only played in nine games to start the year and was often a healthy scratch. In four games for the Admirals, he had four goals and two assists. Saros, the team’s backup behind starter Pekka Rinne, has struggled in his time with the Predators. In four games, he has posted a 3.94 GAA and a .855 save percentage. He was sent down to start for Milwaukee to get in some playing time. Although he took the loss in Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Monsters, he only allowed two goals in the game, stopping 20 shots. Lindback returns to Milwaukee after serving as an emergency backup for the team on Saturday.
  • Arizona Sports reported that the Arizona Coyotes have assigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to the AHL Tucson Roadrunners. The 23-year-old blueliner has played seven games for Arizona with the team’s rash of defensive injuries from Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jakob Chychrun. Hjalmarsson is expected to return to the lineup tonight.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the AHL Texas Stars Monday as backup Kari Lehtonen is unavailable due to personal reasons, according to the team. The 34-year-old McKenna has been a journeyman in the AHL and last got into an NHL game with the Arizona Coyotes back in the 2014-15 season and has played in 22 NHL games in his career. In 12 games with Texas, he has a 3.51 GAA. The Stars also announced they have recalled defenseman Julius Honka from Texas. The 2014 first-round pick has been unable to carve out a full-time role with Dallas as he struggled to earn playing time at the start of the year. He was sent down on Oct. 31 after playing six games, putting up no points. He played eight games with the Texas Stars, but also failed to produce a point.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Philip Holm To One-Year Deal

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Well, as if the Canucks were upset by the earlier report that they were just a front-runner, the team has announced a one-year entry-level contract with Swedish defenseman Philip Holm. It had been rumored that the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks were two of the other teams interested. The deal will see Holm paid $925K in the NHL, and was the only length he could have accepted due to his age.Philip Holm

The 25-year old played for Vaxjo this year, recording 21 points in 52 games. Canucks GM Jim Benning released a statement about why they went after Holm.

Philip is a mobile, two-way defenceman who adds depth to our blueline. He made strides in his development last season with Vaxjo and played a strong series with Sweden at the World Championships. We’re pleased to welcome him to the Canucks organization.

It sounds as though the Canucks have been scouting Holm for a while, mentioning the strides he took this season when joining Vaxjo. Along with Calle Rosen, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Holm was part of one of the most mobile pairings in the league and saw his point total triple while his responsibility was also severely increased. The left-handed defender will compete right away for a job in Vancouver, especially if the team does move on from Alex Edler or Chris Tanev this summer. They had already lost one defenseman in Nikita Tryamkin when he decided to head back to the KHL earlier this spring.

Holm will be a restricted free agent after next season, making this quite risk-free as far as moves for the Canucks. They get to see if the young defenseman can be part of their team going forward, without locking up a roster spot for too long. The rebuilding team will search every avenue to try and kickstart their turnaround, and European free agents—especially ones who can hold their own against NHL talent at international tournaments—is one way to do that.

Ben Kuzma of Postmedia reported the financials on the deal. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Philip Holm’s NHL Market

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Swedish defender Philip Holm is still garnering NHL interest, according to a new report from Henrik Sjoberg in Expressen. This time, it says that four or five teams have expressed interest but the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks are the front-runners. That flies in the face of the previous report that Holm had already chosen Toronto, though when the Maple Leafs announced the signings of both Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman, it seemed like the may have moved on from Holm.

Holm was Rosen’s partner for Vajxo this season in the Swedish Hockey League, and recently represented his country at the World Championships. Team Sweden would win gold, though Holm didn’t play in the final game against Canada. He did get into seven games in the tournament though, recording three points. For Vaxjo this season, he put up 21 points in 52 games which led all defenders on his team and put him ninth in the league from the back end. At 25, he could earn a one-year entry-level deal should he sign with an NHL club.

Chicago has been on the lookout for any cheap players who could contribute next season as they continue to fight salary cap issues. The team has already signed David Kampf and are still in the running for Jan Rutta. They were also linked to Victor Ejdsell before he signed in Nashville. The Canucks on the other hand are looking for any young talent that they can get as they try to rebuild for the first time in many years. While Holm isn’t a prospect anymore, he is still young enough to be part of a rebuild should he prove his worth on North American ice. Three very different options have presented themselves to Holm, who will now have to decide where the best place to showcase his talents will be.

Toronto Maple Leafs Eyeing Swedish Help On Defense

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For all the success the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie forward group had this season, with Auston Matthews immediately becoming #1 center, Mitch Marner proving his size doesn’t change the fact that he’s a wizard with the puck, and William Nylander coming into his own as a possession-driving forward, their was still (at least) one thing wrong with the team. Their defense, even with the addition of 25-year old rookie Nikita Zaitsev, were often criticized for giving up leads and looking lost in their own end.

So they entered this season with a clear direction: add depth on defense. Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Zaitsev gave them three reliable options—ones that are now all locked up for next season—but they needed to fix the bottom pair if nothing else. Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak are both free agents, and though at times held their own were generally a weakness on the team.

When Mike Babcock finished the season, he immediately said he’d be heading to the World Championships to watch a few players, and this week told Darren Dreger that the team would soon be announcing a few European signings. It seems like those will include at least two Swedish defenders, namely Calle Rosen and Philip Holm. Rosen was linked to the Maple Leafs last month, while yesterday a report surfaced from a Swedish source that said Holm was also committed to the Maple Leafs.

Rosen and Holm both played this season for Vaxjo of the SHL, and are even usual partners there. Both shoot from the left-side, and have a common ability to skate the puck out of traffic and move it with crisp passes. During the year Holm, the elder of the two at 25, recorded 21 points while Rosen notched 19 in 11 fewer games.

With Holm getting into his first two matches at the World Championships for Sweden, Babcock likely has seen him up close. His three point effort against the Italians today would certainly impress, as he keeps up with the other outstanding defenders on Sweden.

Though nothing has been officially announced just yet, Rosen and Holm would definitely add a new wrinkle to the Maple Leafs defense group next season, and perhaps even get another chance to play together under the bright lights of professional hockey. While Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello said recently that there is one player in particular in the minors that they’d like to take a look at, these Swedish defenders may block any prospect from making the jump just yet.

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