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Senators Notes: DeBrincat, Holden, Smith, Watson, Hamonic

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With the Ottawa Senators’ post-season press conference occurring this morning, many players gave insights into their futures with the team. The most followed offseason storyline will undoubtedly be Alex DeBrincat, as the 25-year-old gifted sniper is a restricted free agent come July 1. The Michigan-born winger told reporters this morning he’d be “open” to a long-term extension but also noted he wants to take a few months to discuss his future with his agent and his family.

DeBrincat is due a $9MM qualifying offer this summer thanks to the backloaded structure of his previous contract, a three-year deal signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019. If Ottawa and DeBrincat reach a long-term extension, the number wouldn’t seem likely to be much higher (if any higher at all) than that. DeBrincat took a step back offensively during his first season with the Senators, recording 66 points in 82 games after hovering at a point-per-game pace during the previous two seasons.

More from the Senators news cycle this morning:

  • The team has informed defenseman Nick Holden he won’t be back next season, says Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Holden told reporters this morning he plans to test free agency after completing the 10th full season of his NHL career. The 35-year-old played 141 games with the Senators after Ottawa acquired him via trade in 2021, recording seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points while averaging 18:24 per game. With the emergence of rookie Jake Sanderson and the late-season addition of Jakob Chychrun, there was little opportunity remaining for Holden in Ottawa after his role decreased significantly this season.
  • Garrioch also says to expect Senators head coach D.J. Smith to join Team Canada’s coaching staff for the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Championship. This will be two years in a row for Smith on the national team’s coaching staff, also serving as an assistant at last year’s tournament. Before that, Smith’s only international coaching experience with Canada came as an assistant at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.
  • Forward Austin Watson says he played games in March on a broken foot before the team shut him down for the season last week. The 31-year-old grinder amassed nine goals but just two assists in 75 games this season. Watson, an unrestricted free agent this summer, also told reporters “the door isn’t closed” on a reunion with the Senators, although the multi-year contract he desires may not be palatable to the team given his career trajectory.
  • Defender Travis Hamonic clarified that his season-ending injury sustained at the end of March was a knee issue, and he would have attempted a return if Ottawa made it to the playoffs. Hamonic, who is also a pending UFA, finished fourth in scoring among Senators defenders with 21 points in 75 games and recorded a -5 rating.

Canada Wins 2023 World Junior Championship

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Team Canada has won the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, defeating Czechia to win the gold medal. The game-winning goal came off the stick of Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther in overtime, ending Czechia’s bid for their first gold since 2001.

It’s Canada’s second consecutive gold medal and their second gold medal in just five months after the delayed 2022 tournament occurred in August. It’s also the second straight tournament in which Canada won in 3-on-3 overtime, with Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish scoring the winner last year.

The 2023 presumptive first-overall pick and tournament MVP, Connor Bedard, finished the tournament with an astonishing 23 points in seven games, leading all other players in the tournament by nine points. He’s now the all-time leader for Canada at the World Juniors and set a single-tournament point record for Canadian players.

It’s a tough loss to swallow for Czechia, who played their hearts out and deserved to get this far in the tournament. Getting their first medal since 2005 is still a great success, and they’ll take home the silver. Goaltender Tomas Suchanek was named to the media All-Star team after posting a .934 save percentage and playing every minute of the tournament for Czechia.

Buffalo Sabres 2022 first-round pick Jiri Kulich led the Czechs in scoring, potting seven goals in seven games and adding two assists.

Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears

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More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.

In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.

  • Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
  • Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
  • With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
  • Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.

Snapshots: Guenther, Barkov, Toporowski

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With World Junior camps opening, many expected a handful of NHLers such as Shane Wright, Brandt Clarke and Dylan Guenther to leave their NHL teams for a short time to compete for gold. All three of those players will join their native Canada, making an already formidable squad just that much better. Although Wright and Clarke struggled to find consistent playing time and production with their NHL teams, both ultimately sent to the AHL on conditioning loans, the same cannot be said for Guenther. The 19-year-old, who was selected by the Arizona Coyotes ninth-overall in 2021, has 11 points in 21 games already, playing just over 12 minutes per game.

While Guenther’s loan to Team Canada wasn’t exactly shocking news, it also wasn’t the lock that Clarke and Wright’s loans appeared to be. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan had a chance to discuss Guenther with Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong, who said he wanted to see how prospects performed “under fire.” Armstrong continued, “[y]ou like to see them in those pressure situations because you find out a lot about them and they really tend to grow for them.” The GM cited two of his former St. Louis Blues players, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, who were sent to the World Juniors, and the impact the experience had on their development.

  • After it was reported yesterday that Aleksander Barkov was expected to return today from a bout with pneumonia, the Florida Panthers confirmed their captain would play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Adding the superstar back into the lineup will no doubt give Florida, who went 2-3-2 in his absence, a big boost. Still, illness will continue to hold them back. The team announced that goaltender Spencer Knight and forward Anton Lundell are both missing tonight’s game with non-COVID illnesses.
  • NHL.com’s Mark Divver wonders if the Boston Bruins termination of Victor Berglund’s contract could pave the way to an NHL contract for forward Luke Toporowski. As Divver points out, this will leave the Bruins with 47 contracts, perhaps enough flexibility to add one back in that of Toporowski. NHL teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 50 contracts within the organization, but generally prefer to stay away from having 50, or even 49, in order to give them flexibility in certain situations. Divver adds there is interest from other teams in Toporowski, but Boston has exclusive rights with him until January 1st, and even thereafter can match any other offer Toporowski accepts. A product of both the WHL and USHL, Toporowski went undrafted but signed on with the Providence Bruins this offseason after scoring 35 goals in just 49 games between the Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers last season. The 21-year-old has 17 points in 21 AHL games so far this season.

Shane Wright Loaned To Team Canada For World Juniors

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Dec 8: As expected, the Kraken have officially loaned Wright to Team Canada.

Dec 7: Seattle Kraken top prospect Shane Wright is expected to report to Team Canada’s selection camp for the 2023 World Junior Championship tomorrow, per TSN’s Darren Dreger.

When Wright wasn’t named to Canada’s selection camp roster announced Monday, some eyebrows were raised. But Canada could not add him to their roster until the Kraken loaned him there, and after the team’s plan of getting Wright back into a game after his AHL conditioning stint, it appears that’s exactly what Seattle will do.

The 2022 fourth-overall pick scored his first NHL goal last night, making it two points in eight games with the Kraken. Appearing in five games with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, he sniped four goals in just five games, proving he belongs in professional hockey.

Yet the Kraken don’t have a choice in where they send him long-term this year: it’s either the NHL or juniors, given his age and the NHL-CHL transfer agreement. Given Wright’s limited role on the team, and with Seattle sitting pretty in a playoff spot, it seems Wright is destined to return to junior hockey when the tournament concludes.

Wright joins an offense loaded with talent, including defenseman Brandt Clarke, who was loaned to Team Canada by the Los Angeles Kings just hours ago.

Snapshots: Barkov, Puljujärvi, Poulin

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Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov has missed much of the past few weeks with an illness, and now we have clarity on why his absence was so long. Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards relays a Finnish report that Barkov was dealing with a bout of pneumonia, causing him to be away from the team.

Thankfully, Barkov is now healthy. He’s returned to skating with the team and is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow against Detroit, says Richards. In the seven games Barkov missed, the Panthers went 2-3-2. The return of their captain can’t come soon enough, as the team currently sits outside a playoff spot after winning the President’s Trophy last year. Richards also notes the team is optimistic that Anton Lundell can return from an injury tomorrow after missing the last two games.

  • After scoring just one goal in 26 games this season, offensive struggles are beginning to weigh on Edmonton Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi. Puljujärvi told a Finnish news agency today (translated) that “of course, I’d like to be a productive top-line player, but right now, it looks like I can’t do that in NHL. Maybe some other league.” The Finn had a career year last season with 36 points in 65 games and even received some Selke votes, but his play on both sides of the puck has dipped this year. Hopefully, the Oilers can help Puljujärvi figure out a way to regain his confidence.
  • Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin has deservedly won the 2022 Northern Star award, given to Canada’s top athlete of the year. Poulin led Canada’s top women’s hockey contingent to both Olympic gold and World Championships gold, scoring a combined 27 points in 14 games. She’s the first hockey player to win the award in seven years.

Los Angeles Kings Loan Brandt Clarke To Team Canada

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Finally, Brandt Clarke is getting his chance to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors. After not being named to the roster for the 2022 World Juniors, the Los Angeles Kings have now loaned the 19-year-old to Canada for 2023.

Clarke has not played for the Kings in over a month and was recently recalled from an AHL conditioning stint that allowed him five games in the minors. He’s been a healthy scratch since.

Those scratches haven’t necessarily been because of his play. Clarke is sitting at NHL games on the season – one more would cause his entry-level contract to go into effect. If he doesn’t play another game for LA, his contract will slide to next season.

Head coach Todd McLellan spoke on the team’s decision-making progress with where to assign Clarke moving forward:

Sometimes players get rushed and we don’t want to do that with Clarkie. There’s the hockey part, and then there’s all of the strength and professional habits, practice habits, travel habits and teammate habits that are really important and you don’t always get that at the junior level when you play 38 minutes a night and you stay on the power play for two straight minutes. I’m not saying that’s happening with Clarkie, they’re a very well-run team [in Barrie], but that can happen in certain situations. Right now, we think that this is a real good spot for him and we’ll see where it goes.

The eighth overall pick in 2021, Clarke has a goal and three assists in 14 games split between NHL Los Angeles and AHL Ontario this season. Despite notching over a point-per-game on a subpar Barrie Colts team in the OHL last season, Canada did not name him to their 2022 World Juniors roster.

It didn’t harm them – they won gold anyways. But with several players aging out of the tournament, Canada’s defense seemed weaker than last year’s when their selection camp roster was announced Monday. Clarke’s addition undoubtedly brings this team to an entirely different level and solidifies their status as favorites to win back-to-back gold medals for the first time since they won five straight from 2005 to 2009.

Hockey Canada Reveals 2023 WJC Selection Camp Roster

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With the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships beginning in three weeks to the day, teams are beginning to prepare for the second version of the tournament in just five months due to COVID. Organizations are already starting to release their first edition of rosters for the tournament, with USA Hockey doing so earlier today. Hockey Canada joined them minutes ago, releasing their list of 29 players invited to their World Junior Championship Selection Camp.

The organization will need to make six cuts before the tournament, but their camp selections are as follows:

F Caedan Bankier – Kamloops, WHL (MIN 86th overall, 2021)
F Owen Beck – Mississauga, OHL (MTL 33rd overall, 2022)
F Connor Bedard – Regina, WHL (2023 draft-eligible)
F Zachary Bolduc – Québec, QMJHL (STL 17th overall, 2021)
F Colton Dach – Kelowna, WHL (CHI 62nd overall, 2021)
F Zach Dean – Gatineau, QMJHL (VGK 30th overall, 2021)
F Jordan Dumais – Halifax, QMJHL (CBJ 96th overall, 2022)
F Adam Fantilli – Michigan, NCAA (2023 draft-eligible)
F Nathan Gaucher – Québec, QMJHL (ANA 22nd overall, 2022)
F Ryan Greene – Boston University, NCAA (CHI 57th overall, 2022)
F Riley Kidney – Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL (MTL 63rd overall, 2021)
F Zack Ostapchuk – Vancouver, WHL (OTT 39th overall, 2021)
F Brennan Othmann – Peterborough, OHL (NYR 16th overall, 2021)
F Joshua Roy – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (MTL 150th overall, 2021)
F Reid Schaefer – Seattle, WHL (EDM 32nd overall, 2022)
F Logan Stankoven – Kamloops, WHL (DAL 47th overall, 2021)

D Nolan Allan – Seattle, WHL (CHI 32nd overall, 2021)
D Ethan Del Mastro – Mississauga, OHL (CHI 105th overall, 2021)
D Tyson Hinds – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (ANA 76th overall, 2021)
D Kevin Korchinski – Seattle, WHL (CHI 7th overall, 2022)
D Carson Lambos – Winnipeg, WHL (MIN 26th overall, 2021)
D Jack Matier – Ottawa, OHL (NSH 124th overall, 2021)
D Evan Nause – Québec, QMJHL (FLA 56th overall, 2021)
D Ethan Samson – Prince George, WHL (PHI 174th overall, 2021)
D Olen Zellweger – Everett, WHL (ANA 34th overall, 2021)

G Tyler Brennan – Prince George, WHL (NJD 102nd overall, 2022)
G Benjamin Gaudreau – Sarnia, OHL (SJS 81st overall, 2021)
G Thomas Milic – Seattle, WHL (undrafted)
G William Rousseau – Québec, QMJHL (undrafted)

While Shane Wright is noticeably absent from this roster, all it means is that the Kraken have yet to loan him to Team Canada. Wright is eligible to play in the tournament as long as he is loaned to Canada by December 25.

Team Canada Wins Gold At 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championships

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Team Canada has completed their run at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championships, culminating today in a 2-1 win against the United States to take home the gold medal for the second straight season.

For the national Canadian women’s team, it’s a sweep of the three major international events — they won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and at the U18 Women’s Worlds in June, also against the United States.

This year’s edition of the Women’s World Championships also saw Czechia take home the bronze, marking the first time that they’ve medalled at the tournament. It’s the first time there’s been a new medalist at the Women’s Worlds in over a decade, a hallmark of the constantly increasing parity in the game.

Canada was led in scoring by youngster Sarah Fillier, who tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points in seven games. Team captain and international legend Marie-Philip Poulin finished second in team scoring with ten points. Overall in the tournament, American Taylor Heise led the pack with seven goals, 11 assists, and 18 points in seven games.

The Women’s Worlds was the last major event of the 2022 IIHF season.

Mason McTavish Named 2022 World Juniors MVP

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After his Team Canada won gold last night at the much-delayed 2022 World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Anaheim Ducks prospect Mason McTavish was named the tournament’s MVP by the IIHF. He also took home the IIHF Directorate Award for Best Forward, while Florida Panthers prospect Kasper Puutio won Best Defender and Minnesota Wild prospect Jesper Wallstedt won Best Goalkeeper.

This World Juniors team was the seventh different team McTavish played on in the 2021-22 season if you count the canceled WJC in January as a separate team. He saved his best performance of the year for last, leading the tournament with an astounding 17 points in just seven games. As captain of the squad, McTavish led the team in goals with eight and tied his future Ducks teammate, Olen Zellweger, for the team lead in assists with nine.

McTavish’s next stop will be Ducks training camp next month. While not a guarantee, it would be a shocking development at this point if McTavish was not a full-time member of the Ducks next season.

In the WJC playoffs, McTavish played at least 20 minutes of every game Canada played, including a whopping 26:50 in their gold medal game overtime win — not to mention his game-saving save just seconds before the eventual winner.

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