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Slava Voynov

Pacific Notes: Voynov, Theodore, Gusev, Sbisa

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Despite rumors this morning that former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has been cleared to talk to NHL teams, Sportsnet’s John Shannon tweets that a source told him the NHL has not cleared the 28-year-old defenseman who left the NHL in 2014 after he was suspended by the league due to a domestic abuse case.

Voynov, who has played the past three years in the KHL, has indicated he’d like to return to the NHL and looked to be close to getting that opportunity in July when he was granted an expungement of his domestic abuse conviction. The Kings still own the rights to Voynov as he currently sits on the voluntary retirement list. Assuming he gets cleared at some point, Voynov would have to find a team interested in him, which might be difficult. Then that team would have to trade for his rights as the Kings have showed no interest in bringing the blueliner back.

Shannon added that if the NHL eventually decides to allow Voynov to return, he still would face a suspension from the league. The league, union and Voynov’s agent are all discussing his return.

  • Las Vegas Review Journals’ David Schoen reports there is little new information on the contract status of restricted free agent defenseman Shea Theodore. The scribe writes that with just three and a half weeks remaining until the start of training camp, there is some concern the 23-year-old blueliner might opt to hold out rather than settle. While there is no word how far apart they are in negotations, Theodore has expressed interest in signing a long-term deal and is likely to get money comparable to other deals signed by New Jersey Devils’ Damon Severson (six years, $25MM) and New York Rangers’ Brady Skjei (six years, $31.5MM), although a bridge deal isn’t out of the question either.
  • After recently meeting with Russian forward Vladimir Tkachyov a couple of days ago, Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee was also seen immediately after that in St. Petersburg at a preseason KHL game involving SKA, the team that Nikita Gusev plays for, tweeted international reporter Igor Eronko. The highly-touted 26-year-old, whose rights are owned by the Golden Knights, will be a free agent next season and the team has made it clear they would like to bring him over for the 2019-20 season. Gusev has scored at least 20 goals in each of the last four seasons.
  • In another Golden Knights note, The Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins tweets that he’s heard a rumor that Vegas is considering offer defenseman Luca Sbisa a PTO in the coming days. Sbisa produced a solid season for the Golden Knights when he wasn’t injured. Unfortunately, Sbisa only managed to be healthy for 30 contests, but proved to be a valuable leader. His offense also improved as he had 14 points in those 30 games, good second on his career-totals.

Snapshots: Karlsson, Voynov, Blidh, Varady

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Although the Senators have offered defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension as they promised they would, it doesn’t appear like it was well-received.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa has given teams interested in acquiring him permission to discuss a contract extension with the 28-year-old.

Brooks adds that Karlsson is seeking the same contract that Kings blueliner Drew Doughty received at eight years and $88MM.  That appears to be too rich for the Senators and accordingly, it appears that the odds of him playing elsewhere next season have gone up.

More from around the league:

  • Slava Voynov’s path back to the NHL took a step forward today as he was granted an expungement of his domestic abuse conviction, reports Curtis Zupke of the LA Times. This paves the way for him to seek a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman about being reinstated into the league.  The Kings still hold Voynov’s rights as he sits on the voluntary retired list following his original contract being terminated.  While all signs point to Los Angeles not wanting to bring him back, they would be allowed to trade his rights if and when he is reinstated.
  • The Bruins have re-signed winger Anton Blidh to a one-year, two-way contract, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The deal is worth the league minimum $650K at the NHL level.  The 23-year-old suited up once with Boston last season but spent the majority of the year in the minors where he collected 11 goals and 15 assists in 71 games.
  • The Coyotes have filled their head coaching vacancy at the AHL level. The team announced that they have appointed Jay Varady as the new bench boss of the Tucson Roadrunners.  He spent last season as the head coach of OHL Kingston while he had previously filled that same role with Sioux City of the USHL.  Varady takes the place of Mike Van Ryn, who was named an assistant coach with St. Louis back in May.

Latest On Slava Voynov’s Potential NHL Return

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Despite still pending legal matters regarding his 2014 arrest and three full seasons away from North America, Slava Voynov is attempting a comeback. The latest developments in his situation are examined thoroughly by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who claims that there is real interest from teams around the league. That would require a California court expunging his previous plea of no-contest to corporal injury to a spouse, acquiring a work visa for the United States, and being granted re-instatement from the league. None of these things are certain at this point, but he has a court hearing on July 2nd to get the process moving.

Friedman also reports that even if Voynov is given re-instatement he likely will face further discipline from the league, explaining that “no team that takes him is going to get him free and clean.” Though he’s referring to potential suspension or other discipline, there is also obviously the potential public relations disaster that any team willing to give him a contract would face. It’s not clear what the reaction would be from fans, but it won’t be an easy contract to sign even for a small market team.

Voynov, 28, is a talented puck-moving right-handed defenseman who is still in his prime and recently won an Olympic gold medal with the Russian team. He has two Stanley Cups already, and was an excellent player for the Los Angeles Kings early in his career. Drafted 32nd-overall in 2008, he was paying off huge dividends for the Kings and looked like a key part of their future. If those skills haven’t diminished—and his success in the KHL and internationally suggests they haven’t—he could help nearly every team in the league. Whether he’ll be given that chance is still far from decided, but his intent is certainly there to return at some point in the 2018-19 season.

Even if re-instatement does happen and a team wants to sign Voynov, they’d have to go through the Kings to do it. Just like with Ilya Kovalchuk last offseason, the Kings still own Voynov’s rights as he’s currently on their Voluntary Retirement List. The team could sign him themselves, or work out a sign-and-trade with another team.

Western Notes: Canucks Defense, Blues, Voynov

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The Vancouver Canucks will have two big holes on offense with the losses of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. Having been with the club since 1999, the Sedins have always been a source of offense and even though their skills had begun to deteriorate over the past few years, the two still combined for 105 points this past year at age 37. However, offense may not be the Canucks’ biggest need this season as the team has its biggest troubles on their blueline and might need to focus on that this offseason, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

The team has a lot of question marks about the blueline with only Erik Gudbranson locked up for any length of time (three years at $4MM AAV). Top defenseman Alexander Edler is on his last season with the team and is already 32. With the team considering possibly trading veteran Chris Tanev who one of their biggest trade chips, there is little to look forward to on defense.

That isn’t the case on offense. The team might have lost the Sedins, but they have a group of prospects who are ready or close to ready to move into the lineup, including Elias Pettersson, Adam Gaudette, Kole Lind, Jonathan Dahlen and Nikolay Goldobin. However, defensive prospects are few and far between in Vancouver. The team has high hopes that 2015 fifth-overall pick Olli Juolevi might be ready to take on a major role with Vancouver next season. Taken ahead of both Mikhail Sergachev and Charlie McAvoy that year, the team has high expectations for him. The team also has the seventh overall pick in this year’s defensive-heavy draft, which should bring aboard another top defenseman to help the team out, although there is talk of the team moving that pick for a more developed pro-prospect instead, such as the rumors of the team wanting to acquire Carolina’s Noah Hanifin.

One possibility that MacIntyre suggests is instead of Hanifin would be to go out and trade for Colorado’s Tyson Barrie, who could find himself on the trade market with the team’s influx of youth on the blueline.

  • After a recent report in which St. Louis Blues general manager spoke about how the team wants to acquire a top center this offseason, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that offers for John Tavares are likely unrealistic, the free agent pool is few and likely to become too high-priced and prospect Robert Thomas would be better off starting as a third-line center to get his feet wet. Despite that, he writes there are several potential trade options for the team if they really wants a realistic option for a second-line center. He suggests that both Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tyler Johnson and Montreal Canadiens’ Alex Galchenyuk would make for good options, especially the latter as Montreal is in need of defense, which St. Louis has plenty of.
  • Former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who has expressed interest in returning to the NHL after his contract with the Kings was terminated after pleading no contest to a charge stemming from a domestic dispute, supposedly had gained permission to cross the border to the U.S., according to KHL insider Aivis Kalnins, and look for a job in the NHL this offseason. While he is still looking for work in the NHL, NHL.com’s Igor Eronko reports that Voynov received that permission more than a year ago and traveled to the U.S. last summer. No word on whether any team is considering the former King, who played four seasons for them and the past three with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. Eronko adds that July 2 is the first day that Voynov can apply for a U.S. work visa.

Overseas Notes: Shirokov, Plotnikov, Volchenkov, Boychuk

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One of the KHL’s top scorers is on the move. The league announced that Sergei Shirokov has signed a two-year deal with Avangard Omsk. Shirokov, 32, finished third in scoring this season for SKA St. Petersburg, the KHL regular season champs, with 41 points in 49 games. He was a top ten finisher in the league in goals per game and plus/minus among the top twenty in overall goals and points. He now takes those talents to Omsk, a team that has been a popular destination so far this off-season. Since hiring head coach Bob Hartley, the team has theoretically fixed its goaltending and scoring issues with additions of Karri Ramo and Igor Bobkov in net and Shirokov and young Denis Zernov up front. Shirokov, a sixth-round pick of the Vancouver in 2006, may not have impressed in his two NHL seasons with the Canucks, but has enough talent to turn Avangard into a true contender.

  • On the other hand, SKA seems to be bleeding assets. Shirokov joins leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk (in theory), long-time star Vadim Shipachyov, and starting goaltender Mikko Koskinen in departing St. Petersburg and there is still a chance that star forward Nikita Gusev and top defenseman Slava Voynov could eye a jump to the NHL this summer. Fortunately, Sergei Plotnikov isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Despite a bounce back season that had some thinking he might take another shot at the NHL, Plotkinov has signed a four-year extension with SKA per a team release. Plotnikov will now be looked upon as a top scorer for St. Petersburg alongside Gusev and won’t be able to disappear for long stretches as he was known for during his brief stay in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Arizona Coyotes. The team’s continued place as a top contender in the KHL may depend on it.
  • Anton Volchenkov is gearing up for his 18th season of pro hockey. The 36-year-old defenseman has signed a one-year deal with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, the KHL announced. The Russian veteran was cut from his team, Admiral Vladivostok, in early February and there was speculation that it would be the end of his career. However, the menacing blue liner will live to skate another day. Admittedly, Volchenkov’s play has slipped since he left the NHL after the 2014-15 season. The long-time Ottawa Senator was a first-round pick of the team in 2000 and played close to 700 games with the Sens, New Jersey Devils, and Nashville Predators. He previously played with Torpedo during the work stoppage that shortened the 2012-13 season and likely used those connections to return to Novgorod. Never much of an offensive threat, Volchenkov can still play a leadership role and will bring his aggressive possession game to the team.
  • It appears Zach Boychuk will put off any attempt at returning to North America for at least another year. The former Carolina Hurricanes top prospect has signed a one-year deal with Severstal Cherepovets, the team revealed today. This marks the third season for Boychuk in the KHL after failing to find NHL employment in 2016. Boychuk, the 14th overall pick in 2008 and the cousin of Johnny Boychuk, had high expectations when entering the NHL. Despite a solid, two-way game, Boychuk never provided the offensive pop that justified his early selection or that could keep him in the league full-time. He still has only production overseas. After spending years mostly buried in the AHL, it remains unknown if Boychuk will ever try to make the jump back across the Atlantic when he continues to land more lucrative contracts in the KHL.

Snapshots: Voynov, Van Ryn, Gronborg, Oilers Top Pick

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Defenseman Slava Voynov remains interested in trying to return to the NHL.  Speaking with ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly acknowledged that Voynov’s representation “is interested in understanding the parameters under which he’d be allowed to rejoin the league” but that since the NHL is of the belief that there are still some legal hurdles to be cleared before he could do so, they would have no further comment on his situation.

Voynov has spent the past three seasons with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL after his contract with the Kings was terminated following him pleading no contest to a charge stemming from a domestic dispute.  His KHL deal is now up and his court-ordered probation expires in July so it appears that the 28-year-old will attempt to try to latch on with another NHL team for next season.

More from around the hockey world:

  • The Blues are expected to add Mike Van Ryn to their coaching staff, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). He has spent the last two seasons with the Coyotes, serving as a development coach in 2016-17 and head coach of their AHL affiliate in Tucson this past season.  The 39-year-old is no stranger to the St. Louis organization as he spent parts of three years with the team at the start of his career, playing in 69 total games with the Blues.
  • A trio of teams have expressed an interest in Swedish coach Rikard Gronborg, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The Rangers are among those squads but Brooks suggests his addition to their staff is a long-shot.  The Sabres and Hurricanes are the others with interest.  The 49-year-old Gronborg has been involved with Sweden’s national team programs at the junior and senior levels since 2006 and served as the bench boss for their entries into the Olympics and World Championships this year.
  • While Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli suggested following the season that they could move their first-round pick (tenth overall), Oilers radio analyst and team employee Bob Stauffer suggested via Twitter that moving that selection for short-term help isn’t a likely outcome.  David Staples of the Edmonton Journal adds that it’s becoming more and more apparent that Chiarelli isn’t willing to move that pick.  He noted at the end of the season that there are several defensemen that he likes and there’s a good chance a quality defender will be available if they stand pat.

Slava Voynov Hoping To Return To The NHL

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Monday: Russian news outlet Sport-Express reports that there is interest in five NHL teams, listing the Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets as Voynov’s preferred landing spots. The Los Angeles Kings are not interesting in bringing Voynov back, which, as explained below, complicates his potential return.

Sunday: The elimination of SKA St. Petersburg earlier in the KHL playoffs brought an end to defenseman Slava Voynov’s contract in the KHL, paving the way for him to seek reinstatement to the NHL which he is expected to pursue in the coming months.  Voynov has been suspended from the NHL indefinitely after he faced domestic violence charges back in October of 2014.

The 28-year-old last suited up with Los Angeles and while his original contract was terminated at the time of his departure, the Kings still hold his rights.  Team president Luc Robitaille told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider that there have been no discussions on him possibly rejoining the team as the league would first have to rule him as eligible to play.

Despite recent reports that Voynov is seeking a return, there is nothing clear about his current status. It’s out of our hands.  It’s between the league and Slava and his agent. If and when something happens, we’ll discuss it then.”

GM Rob Blake acknowledged that he has received phone calls from teams seeking clarification regarding Voynov’s situation but not necessarily to inquire as to whether or not they would trade his rights.

Voynov played in 39 KHL games this past season, recording 23 points while contributing six more in six Olympic contests.  If he is able to get reinstated by the NHL (which would require a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman), he would give the Kings another top-four option on their back end or a trade asset if they decide to flip him elsewhere.  With Los Angeles already having more than $70MM in contracts committed for 2018-19, the latter option may be the more likely scenario although given how he originally left, the interest elsewhere may not be as robust as it otherwise could have been.

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