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Saku Maenalanen

Minor Transactions: 09/21/23

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As NHL training camps officially open, the professional hockey season is finally getting started in North America. While there’s still a way to go before the regular season begins in the NHL, AHL, or ECHL, we can finally see puck drop on the horizon.

In Europe, the pro hockey season is fully underway, and today’s slate of games featured numerous notable moments. Philadelphia Flyers top prospect Matvei Michkov scored an electric game-winning goal for Sochi in the KHL, while historic Finnish club Jokerit earned a long-awaited victory on the back of an overtime goal from Leevi Lemberg. It was Jokerit’s first victory in the Finnish hockey system (they play in the second division, Mestis) since 2014, before the club left Liiga for the KHL.

Teams in Europe and North America are still completing transactions to add players or otherwise modify their rosters, and as always we’ll keep track of those moves here:

  • The potential number-one pick in the 2025 NHL draft, James Hagens, announced his college commitment on social media. He and his brother, Michael, have committed to play NCAA hockey at Boston College. The Eagles already boast a wealth of highly-drafted prospects on their roster, such as 2023 fourth-overall pick Will Smith and 2022 fifth-overall pick Cutter Gauthier. While both of those names are likely to be in the NHL by the time Hagens arrives on campus, Hagens’ commitment ensures that Boston College’s pipeline of elite NHL prospects will remain intact.
  • Former Chicago Blackhawk Buddy Robinson signed a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL. For Robinson, 31, this will be his first opportunity to play for an overseas club in his pro career. The six-foot-six physical winger played in 52 games for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs last season, scoring 20 points. He also played in nine NHL games, and has 62 total NHL games on his resume. In the late 2010’s Robinson was a productive AHL scorer, potting 25 goals and 53 points in 74 games for the Manitoba Moose in 2017-18. But that scoring has dried up as he’s reached his late twenties and early thirties, and that could have contributed as to why Robinson has elected to sign in the KHL rather than continue in North America.
  • Saku Mäenalanen, who played 64 games for the Winnipeg Jets last season, was supposed to be spending training camp with the Colorado Avalanche on a PTO. But he reportedly failed his physical and was released from that deal. So instead of in Colorado, Mäenalanen will hit the ice in Switzerland, where he’s signed a three-year contract with the SCL Tigers of the National League. Mäenalanen has yet to play in the Swiss NL, but he has extensive experience overseas in both Liiga and the KHL. Mäenalanen has won a Liiga championship, a IIHF Men’s World Championship gold medal, and an Olympic gold medal, and now he’ll join his former Charlotte Checkers teammate Aleksi Saarela in Switzerland.
  • Fans of the Florida Panthers or Springfield Thunderbirds might recognize the name of Finnish winger Henrik Haapala from the 25 games he played in North America for those clubs in 2017-18. While Hapaala didn’t last long in the NHL or AHL, he went on to have a productive career in Europe. This past season, Hapaala scored at a point-per-game rate for Ilves Tampere in Liiga, and now he’s headed to Switzerland to continue his career. The 29-year-old has signed a one-month tryout contract with HC Genève-Servette, the reigning Swiss champions.
  • HPK Hämeenlinna of the Finnish Liiga have signed two defenders to contracts: veteran Juuso Pulli and 26-year-old Elias Ulander. Pulli spent last season with Vaasan Sport in Liiga, skating in 52 games and scoring seven points. He’s collected three Liiga bronze medals in his career and was once an alternate captain for Ilves Tampere. Ulander spent last season with HK Spisska Nova Ves in the Slovak league, and has had success in Finland before, such as in 2016-17 when he was named the U20 SM-Liiga’s best defenseman. Pulli’s contract is a one-year deal with a tryout option through November, while Ulander is on a tryout deal.
  • 2017 Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick Kyle Olson has signed a one-year contract with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. Despite scoring at above a point-per-game rate in his final two WHL campaigns, Olson did not receive an entry-level deal from the Ducks and instead signed an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in 2020. Olson has spent the last three seasons in Pennsylvania and managed 12 goals and 21 points in 71 games in 2021-22. This past year, Olson’s production tanked, and he only managed six points in 55 games. He’s now signed with the Royals in the ECHL, likely with the hope that he’ll have a productive season in North America’s third-tier league and work his way back into the AHL.
  • The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed a one-year contract extension with 23-year-old Brett Kemp, ensuring one of the league’s more productive young talents will remain with the only ECHL franchise he’s ever known. Kemp, who once scored 77 points in 62 WHL games for the Medicine Hat Tigers has compiled 82 points in 76 career ECHL games. He’ll now be able to return to Greenville and will likely remain one of the team’s top scorers as he looks to earn more AHL call-ups to the Ontario Reign.
  • Former Baie-Comeau Drakkar scorer Jordan Martel was one of the ECHL’s breakout players last season, scoring 18 goals and 44 points in just 45 games for the Utah Grizzlies. The team confirmed he’d be returning for the 2023-24 season today, signing Martel to a one-year ECHL deal.  Martel hadn’t found much success in pro hockey until he arrived in Utah, and now he’ll have the chance to build some continuity and momentum in Utah as the team chases its fifth consecutive playoff berth.
  • The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye have signed Chase Gresock to a one-year contract, according to an official announcement. The 25-year-old forward dipped his toes into the waters of pro hockey last season, skating in two games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda at the conclusion of his collegiate career. Gresock was an effective NCAA player, captaining Merrimack College and scoring 31 points in 36 games for Bowling Green State in his final collegiate campaign.
  • Fiery Wheeling Nailers winger Cam Hausinger has re-signed with the only ECHL team he’s ever played for. The 24-year-old will play a third season in West Virginia and is coming off a solid 2022-23 season. He didn’t play in as many ECHL games as the year before, but he still scored 19 points in 23 games for the Nailers to go alongside his 70 penalty minutes. Hausinger also earned AHL call-ups with two franchises, the Iowa Wild and Milwaukee Admirals. It was with Milwaukee where Hausinger scored his first AHL goal, and his hope will be to get some more AHL contests under his belt in 2023-24.
  • Star scorer Johnny Curran has transferred to the most dominant club in the EIHL, signing a one-year contract with the Belfast Giants. The 28-year-old forward, who represents the United Kingdom internationally, has scored 126 career points in 155 EIHL games. He’s thus far only suited up for the Coventry Blaze, but now will get to join a Champions Hockey League-caliber team that took home the EIHL title last season.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Avalanche Notes: Toews, Cogliano, Manson, Wagner, Maenalanen

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Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews told reporters including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post that the two sides had some discussions about a possible contract extension.  The 29-year-old has dominated over the past two seasons, reaching the 50-point mark both times while logging over 25 minutes a night.  That’s the type of stat line for a number one defenseman but Toews is being paid nowhere near there with the AAV on his expiring deal checking in at $4.1MM; it wouldn’t be surprising to see him double that on a long-term contract.  Toews also made it known that his desire is to remain with Colorado but with the big-ticket deals they have on the books and Mikko Rantanen being UFA-eligible in 2025, it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to accommodate Toews’ preference.

More from Colorado:

  • Forward Andrew Cogliano will take part in training camp but is unlikely to suit up in the preseason, relays NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding (Twitter thread). He suffered a fractured vertebra in the playoffs against Seattle and it stands to reason that the Avs will opt to be careful with the 36-year-old who signed a one-year, $825K deal with them earlier this offseason.
  • Over the weekend, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that the expectation for defenseman Josh Manson would be that he’d be ready for the start of camp. While he’ll be able to meet that timeline, Bednar told Boulding that Manson is dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t be 100% recovered.  The 31-year-old battled injuries last season and was limited to just 27 games where he had 10 points but was limited to just 17:41 per game, a career low.
  • Offseason signing Chris Wagner won’t be able to push for a roster spot after all as Bednar told Boulding that the forward ruptured his Achilles tendon and will be out until sometime in 2024. The 32-year-old has 360 career NHL games under his belt and could have fit in on a new-look fourth line but instead, he’ll miss at least the first half of the season.
  • Saku Maenalanen was supposed to push for a roster spot while playing on a PTO but Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the winger failed his physical and has been released from his deal. The 29-year-old had 10 points in 64 games with Winnipeg last season and will now look to catch on elsewhere.  Peter Holland and Joel Kiviranta are the remaining PTO forwards that will be aiming to secure a contract with the Avalanche.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Saku Mäenalanen To PTO

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The Colorado Avalanche have signed veteran forward Saku Mäenalanen to a PTO, according to CapFriendly.

The 29-year-old forward will join the Avalanche for their preseason and training camp, adding to a crop of veterans on PTOs including Joel Kiviranta and Peter Holland.

Mäenalanen returned to the NHL last season with the Jets, skating in 69 combined regular season and playoff games with the club. He scored a combined 11 points in that span, averaging 10:19 TOI including 1:23 TOI per game on the penalty kill.

Standing six-foot-four, 207 pounds, Mäenalanen found his way into Jets head coach Rick Bowness’ nightly lineup on a consistent basis on the back of his ability to perform on a checking line.

In the NHL, he’s not the type of scoring-line productive forward he is in Europe, and the 41 points he scored in 2021-22 over in Liiga with Kärpät won’t be repeated in the NHL.

But in a depth capacity, Mäenalanen can hold his own on NHL ice and even contribute on a penalty kill, as he did last year on a top-10 shorthanded unit with the Jets.

In Colorado, Mäenalanen will compete for a bottom-six or spare forward role against his fellow PTO players and players on NHL deals with the Avalanche.

Ben Meyers, Fredrik Olofsson, and Riley Tufte are the main players Mäenalanen will likely be up against for one of the available jobs in the Avalanche preseason, and their battle for available depth roles will be one of the main storylines to watch of the preseason in Colorado.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Winnipeg Jets Activate Saku Maenalanen

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced that forward Saku Maenalanen has been activated off of injured reserve. In a corresponding move, forward David Gustafsson has been placed on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury.

The move allows the Jets to dress Maenalanen for tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, a move that became necessary when forward Morgan Barron went down with a non-COVID-related illness, per the Jets’ radio color commentator Jamie Thomas.

Maenalanen has been out since December 8th, when he was sidelined by an apparent shoulder injury after being driven into the boards by St. Louis Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola.

The Jets signed Maenalanen last summer, inking him to a one-year $750K deal with a hefty $225K AHL guarantee. The team made the signing after Maenalanen authored an impressive 2021-22 season in his native Finland, scoring 41 points in 47 games for Karpat.

This season Maenalanen hasn’t been able to translate his scoring success from Liiga but has nonetheless managed to skate in 25 total names. He has six points in that span, operating largely in a depth role with some limited penalty-killing time.

This activation gives Maenalanen the chance to get into some more NHL games, with the hope of him playing well enough to earn a contract extension, as his deal expires at the end of the season.

Replacing Maenalanen on injured reserve is Gustafsson, a 22-year-old 2018 second-round pick. Gustafsson had an impressive year in the AHL in 2021-22, scoring 30 points in 47 games. He has just five points in 38 games this season and now lands on injured reserve.

With just six points in 66 NHL career games, generating offense at the game’s highest level has been a challenge for Gustafsson. But he has managed to feature on the Jets’ penalty kill, and has a well-regarded defensive game. He’ll now land on injured reserve, setting back what has been an underwhelming first run as a regular NHLer.

Central Notes: Jets, Middleton, Langlois

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The Jets have been banged up this season and there isn’t much short-term help on the horizon.  Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays (Twitter link) that center Saku Maenalanen is the closest to returning and is about a week away.  The 28-year-old has been a regular in the bottom six for Winnipeg this season, notching four goals and two assists in 25 games but has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body injury.

Next up on the return list is expected to be Cole Perfetti.  The youngster is expected to miss a week to ten days with an upper-body issue.  Perfetti has been one of Winnipeg’s more productive players this season as he’s tied for sixth in team scoring with 20 points in 33 games.  Unfortunately for them, those are the only players that are somewhat close to returning as their other injuries (a list that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, and Nate Schmidt, among others) are at least multiple weeks away from returning.

More from around the Central Division:

  • Wild defenseman Jacob Middleton did not accompany the team on their trip to Winnipeg due to a non-COVID illness, the team announced (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first full season with Minnesota and has shored up their third pairing nicely.  Middleton has six points, 57 blocks, and 48 hits in 33 games this season.  His absence is why the team recalled Andrej Sustr from AHL Iowa earlier today.
  • Coyotes prospect Jeremy Langlois is on the move in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved the defenseman to Quebec for a pair of draft picks. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick this past summer (94th overall) after an impressive season offensively that saw him collect 47 points in 60 games.  His numbers are down slightly this year although he’s still on pace for 40 points.  Langlois has not yet signed his entry-level contract but is eligible to turn pro next season.

Evening Notes: Robertson, Maenalanen, Cotton

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Just after getting an important veteran defenseman back from injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have lost another player due to injury. The Maple Leafs have announced that forward Nicholas Robertson will not return to tonight’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings due to a shoulder injury. Robertson sustained the injury after taking a hit from Kings defenseman Michael Anderson. Anderson’s hit drove Robertson into the corner, and Robertson remained on the ice for some time before heading straight to the dressing room.

Robertson has dealt with significant injury troubles recently, injuries that limited him to just 38 games played last season. Robertson has five points in 14 games so far this season, and ideally his being taken out of this game would be more of a precautionary measure than anything else. But until we get more details on the injury, any speculation on a timeline is just that, speculation. At this point, all Toronto can do is hope that Robertson’s injury is less severe than it initially seemed to be.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • The Winnipeg Jets announced that forward Saku Maenalanen would not return to tonight’s contest against the St. Louis Blues. Maenalanen was driven into the boards taking a hit from Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola and immediately went to the locker room with a shoulder that appeared to be in discomfort. Maenalanen, 28, returned to the NHL with the Jets this season after a successful year in 2021-22 for Karpat in Liiga, and has six points in 24 games so far.
  • The San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, announced that they have acquired forward David Cotton from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, in exchange for future considerations. Cotton was signed by Coachella Valley in September, and heads to San Diego having played two games for the club. Cotton is a former captain of the Boston College Eagles who scored 21 points in his first 26 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves in 2020-21.

Jets Sign Saku Maenalanen

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The Jets have decided to give Saku Maenalanen another opportunity in North America as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the center to a one-year, two-way deal.  The contract will pay $750K in the NHL and $225K in the minors.

This will be the 28-year-old’s second stint in North America after spending the 2018-19 campaign with Carolina.  He split that season between the NHL and AHL, picking up eight points in 34 games with the Hurricanes (while also getting into nine postseason contests) and added 14 points in 31 appearances in the minors.  However, while Carolina tendered him a qualifying offer in 2019, he opted to go back overseas instead.

Since then, Maenalanen has played in Finland, spending two years with Jokerit in the KHL before joining Karpat of the SM-liiga last season.  He was quite productive in 2021-22, leading the team in scoring with 41 points in 47 games while also making appearances for Finland at the Olympics and World Championships.  That was enough to convince Winnipeg to offer Maenalanen another NHL opportunity while the center walks away from the two remaining years on his Finnish contract to do so.

Winnipeg has several roster spots up front to fill next season so as things stand, there will be some openings in training camp in the fall.  With him doing reasonably well in a limited role with Carolina in the past, Maenalanen could have an inside track on one of those openings with the Jets likely opting once again to turn to low-cost depth to round out their roster for 2022-23.

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