Avalanche Recall Ivan Ivan, Zakhar Bardakov
Jan. 16th: According to a team announcement, the Avalanche have also brought Ivan back to the NHL roster. Colorado now has a full 23-man roster for their return to action today.
Jan. 15th: As expected, the Avalanche announced that they’ve recalled Bardakov ahead of tomorrow’s contest against the Nashville Predators.
Jan. 13th: The Colorado Avalanche have shedded a few depth forwards from their active roster. According to a team announcement, the Avalanche have reassigned Ivan Ivan and Zakhar Bardakov to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
Despite the new rules that stipulate a player must play at least one game with their respective AHL team before being eligible for recall, Colorado is in a brief window to make a “paper transaction” to accrue cap space. The Avalanche don’t play again until January 16th, and the Eagles play tonight and tomorrow at home, giving each player more than enough time to meet the requirements. Additionally, as their name alludes to, Colorado’s AHL affiliate plays approximately an hour north of Denver, making for a brief trip back to the NHL roster.
Ivan, 23, hasn’t spent as much time in the NHL as he did last season. Particularly due to multiple injuries, Ivan spent half the season with the Avalanche last year, scoring five goals and eight points throughout his rookie season, averaging 10:02 of ice time per night. Fortunately, Colorado hasn’t needed him as much this season, as he’s featured in only five contests.
Given his youth, it’s more beneficial for Ivan to play in the AHL, where he has access to more ice time. He has not exhibited the same scoring ability as in previous years, tallying only two goals and eight points in 30 games this season. Two years ago, his first with the Eagles, Ivan scored 12 goals and 31 points in 67 games.
Meanwhile, Bardakov, 24, has spent much more time in the NHL this year. Much like Ivan, he’s been used in a depth role, scoring one goal and eight points in 32 games, averaging 7:17 of ice time per night. However, unlike Ivan, the former standout for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg has yet to appear in an AHL contest, meaning he’ll make his debut for the Eagles either today or tomorrow.
West Notes: Canucks, Necas, Bardakov
Ever since they traded J.T. Miller midseason, the Canucks have been on the lookout for help down the middle. However, they haven’t had any success doing so just yet. Speaking with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, GM Patrik Allvin acknowledged that he hasn’t given up looking for center help just yet and continues to keep an eye on the market:
We continue to talk to teams but there hasn’t been a whole lot available here leading up to this point. Obviously, it comes down to the cost of acquisition and, you know, where the fit is for (coach) Adam Foote and his style of how we want to play. That’s definitely something we continue to look at.
You’re right, the more depth you can have at centre, probably the stronger you are as a team. It’s an area where we’ve identified that if we’re going to make a trade. . . our preference to strengthen our lineup is a centre iceman.
As Allvin noted, there hasn’t been much in the way of available impact centers this offseason. Several free agents ultimately re-signed with their teams while the trade market hasn’t materialized either, especially with so many teams joining the Canucks in their pursuit of a middleman. As things stand, Filip Chytil projects to be Vancouver’s second center heading into training camp, a spot on the depth chart he hasn’t held too often in his career.
More from out West:
- While Martin Necas is eligible to sign a contract extension now and getting one done would eliminate the possibility of the same concerns they had last season with Mikko Rantanen, Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette argues that it wouldn’t be in his best interest to do so just yet. Rantanen and Mitch Marner didn’t take top dollar on their respective deals to truly reset the market but that’s not expected to be the case with Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov. If Necas (and others) wait until Kaprizov establishes the new benchmark, that might allow him to get a bit more compared to what the number might be now. Necas is coming off a career year that saw him record 27 goals and 56 assists in 79 games between Carolina and Colorado.
- Still with the Avalanche, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post suggests that prospect winger Zakhar Bardakov could be one of the biggest wild cards heading into training camp later this month. The 24-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing his entry-level deal back in April. Bardakov had 17 goals and 18 assists in 53 games with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL last season and GM Chris MacFarland has brought him up unprompted twice when discussing their roster. Colorado churned through many different bottom-six options last season and if Bardakov can come in and even hold down a regular spot on the fourth line right away, that would certainly help deepen their lineup.
Avalanche Sign Zakhar Bardakov To Entry-Level Deal
The Colorado Avalanche announced that they have signed forward Zakhar Bardakov to a one-year, entry-level deal, per a team release.
In 53 games this season for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, Bardakov posted 17 goals and 35 points. The 24-year-old set career highs in goals and assists this season (while nearly doubling his previous career high in points) and served as an alternate captain. He added two points in six KHL playoff contests. In 209 regular season games in the KHL, he scored 79 points. The Russian native also spent three seasons in the MHL, scoring 70 points in 104 games.
Bardakov plays center and utilizes his 6’2, 210-pound frame to fend off defenders. He was originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round in the 2021 draft, but acquired by the Avalanche in a trade with the Devils last season.
While the Avalanche continue with their Stanley Cup aspirations, the club’s prospect pool has quite a few promising forwards, including Maxmilian Curran, Cooper Gay, and Taylor Makar, younger brother of superstar Cale Makar. There is also forward Christian Humphreys, whose rights belong to Colorado although he remains unsigned. After 10 games at the University of Michigan this previous season, Humphreys joined the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, where he posted 33 points in 28 games.
For Bardakov, he appears to have the physical traits to break camp with the Avs to start next season, although he’ll likely start in the AHL as he acclimates to a North American style of play.
Evening Notes: Bjorkqvist, DeSmith, Bardakov
Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Kasper Bjorkqvist has signed with Ilves in Finland’s Liiga (according to Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). The 26-year-old has spent the past two seasons in Finland after spending parts of three years in the Penguins organization where he largely played in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Bjorkqvist was the Penguins’ second-round pick in 2016 (61st overall) but was never able to find his offensive game as a professional in North America tallying just 10 goals and four assists in 65 career AHL games. He was able to get into six NHL games during the 2021-22 season, posting a single goal. Since returning to Finland two years ago to play with Kärpät, Bjorkqvist has dressed in 82 games tallying nine goals and 14 assists.
While he will remain in Finland in the near future, Bjorkqvist’s NHL rights will remain with the Penguins.
In other evening notes:
- Vancouver Canucks play-by-play voice Brendan Batchelor tweeted that Canucks goaltender Casey DeSmith has a lower-body injury but should be good to backup for the Canucks tonight when they try to end their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. DeSmith practiced with the Canucks this morning, but it appeared in the game day skate that Artūrs Šilovs would be the starting goalie for Game 5. There is a possibility that DeSmith could start tonight, but Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet stopped short of announcing his starting goalie.
- Colorado Avalanche prospect Zakhar Bardakov has reportedly signed a one-year extension with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. The 23-year-old was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL entry draft (203rd overall) and has yet to sign an ELC with the Avalanche after he was traded on March 1st of this year along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for Kurtis MacDermid. While Bardakov has signed in the KHL for another season, he could come to North America in 2025. Bardakov posted six goals and six assists in 51 regular season games last season with SKA.
West Notes: Hronek, Vilardi, Tourigny, Bardakov
In an appearance on Sekeres and Price (video link), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli discusses the importance of the Canucks avoiding salary arbitration with pending RFA defenseman Filip Hronek. The team may view Quinn Hughes’ $7.85MM cap hit as a ceiling they don’t want to surpass when it comes to spending on their defensemen. However, Hronek has already set career highs in assists (40) and points (45) this season while logging over 23 minutes a night. Arbitration-eligible for the first time this summer, the two sides going to a hearing could push Hronek’s award past the $7MM mark. Accordingly, settling before it gets to that point should be high on Vancouver’s priority list this offseason.
More from the Western Conference:
- Jets center Gabriel Vilardi returned to practice today as he works his way back from an enlarged spleen. Murat Ates of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old is expected to skate with the team every day this week as he works on getting back into playing condition. When healthy, Vilardi has been a key producer for Winnipeg this season, notching 16 goals and 14 assists in just 38 games so far.
- Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny is expected to serve as Canada’s head coach at the upcoming World Championship although it’s not yet official, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. Tourigny served in that role last year, helping lead Canada to the gold medal.
- Avalanche prospect Zakhar Bardakov intends to sign with Colorado and play in North America after next season, his agent Shumi Babaev told Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. The 23-year-old was picked up from New Jersey in the Kurtis MacDermid trade and had a dozen points in 51 games with SKA St. Petersburg this season. Bardakov’s KHL deal is expiring and Babaev noted that Bardakov intends to play next season in that league; it remains to be seen if that will be with SKA or another organization.
Devils Acquire Kurtis MacDermid From Avalanche
The Devils have acquired winger/defenseman Kurtis MacDermid from the Avalanche in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick and the signing rights to center prospect Zakhar Bardakov, per a team release. New Jersey didn’t have an opening on its roster before the trade, so winger Brian Halonen has been assigned to AHL Utica in a corresponding transaction, per CapFriendly.
The 29-year-old MacDermid moves to his third NHL team, spending four years with the Kings before joining the Avalanche via trade in 2021. Strictly an enforcer, MacDermid was briefly a member of the Kraken after they selected him from the Kings in the 2021 Expansion Draft, but they dealt him to Colorado for a fourth-round pick less than a week after picking him up. Primarily playing defense in his days with Los Angeles, he’s shifted to wing on a deeper Colorado blue-line, averaging 7:12 per game over his 131 appearances in the Mile High City.
MacDermid logged 29 games for the Avs this year, recording two goals and a +3 rating with an unusually low 23 PIMs. He has been a healthy scratch in nine of Colorado’s 12 games since the beginning of February.
New Jersey, who already has eight defensemen on the roster, will utilize MacDermid in a similar role. He’ll likely skate as their fourth-line left wing when in the lineup, rotating in and out with players like Tomáš Nosek and Chris Tierney.
The Avalanche, on the other hand, likely care more about clearing MacDermid’s $987.5K cap hit than they do about losing his bottom-six presence. They now have two open roster spots and $2.3MM in space with captain Gabriel Landeskog and goaltender Pavel Francouz on long-term injured reserve, significantly opening up their options to take on a player with double salary retention. They could realistically take on a player whose cap hit is in the $8MM range if the selling team and a third party each retain 50% of his contract.
MacDermid is in the second season of a two-year, $1.975MM contract and will reach unrestricted free agency this summer. If the Devils choose to buy at the deadline in a last-ditch effort to make the playoffs, they have $8.3MM in space remaining with Dougie Hamilton on LTIR for the rest of the season, per CapFriendly.
In Bardakov, the Avs pick up a 2021 Devils seventh-round pick who’s remained in his native Russia since his draft year. The 23-year-old Seversk native logged middle-six minutes for second-place SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL, scoring six goals and 12 points in 51 games with a -3 rating.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and nearly 200 lbs, Bardakov possesses a physical element to his game and adds slightly to a thin pool of center prospects in Colorado. His contract with St. Petersburg is up this season, so he’s an option to sign with Colorado once SKA St. Petersburg’s run in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, which began today, wraps up.