Ilya Kovalchuk Off Voluntary Retirement List
Happy Birthday!
Former New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk reached his 35th birthday today, but that milestone has more meaning for the KHL and Olympic star, who has indicated he wants to return to the NHL after a five-year layoff. The veteran, today on his 35th birthday, is officially off the voluntary retirement list and is now an unrestricted free agent, free to negotiate and agree to terms with any NHL team, although he can’t officially sign a contract until July 1, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
While many players once they hit their mid-thirties begin to see their play begin to fade, Kovalchuk hasn’t slowed down yet. In fact, his past two years in the KHL have been two of his best in his career. The winger has scored 64 goals combined during that two-year period and tallied 143 points as well. He also won MVP honors and helped lead Russia to a gold medal at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. He’s indicated that he would like to return to the NHL for another two to three years with the goal of winning a Stanley Cup.
While there have already been rumors that he has agreed to a side deal with the New York Rangers as he has always held a fascination with playing in New York, he has come out recently and refuted that rumor. The Rangers may also wait on making a decision about Kovalchuk until they hire a coach. On top of that, if Kovalchuk’s true interest is winning a Stanley Cup, then the Rangers might not be the ideal destination as they are in rebuild mode. However, Kovalchuk and his agent have an earlier advantage on most pending unrestricted free agents which might allow him to find an early home.
Ken Hitchcock Announces Retirement From Coaching
Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock has announced his retirement from coaching. As Elliotte Friedman explained in his most recent 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Hitchcock had signed just a one-year deal in Dallas with the intention to move into a consulting role. Still, some believed that he wouldn’t really give up the bench, especially after the disappointment of this season. In a letter announcing it, Hitchcock says thank you to everyone who has been a part of his career:
The game of hockey has been my entire life and I could never repay what the game did for me and all the wonderful people I got to meet in my career. I would like to thank everyone for their friendship and support over the years. I have contemplated this since our last game and I came to the conclusion that now is the right time to step away and let the younger generation of coaches take over.
Hitchcock will go down as one of the most successful coaches in the history of the NHL, ranking fourth all-time in games coached and third in wins. He won a Stanley Cup with the Stars during his first tenure in 1999, only to take them back to the Finals a year later. This season though wasn’t exactly a sunset to ride out on.
The Stars loaded up in the offseason, bringing in players like Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop, only to struggle for large chunks of the season and eventually miss the playoffs entirely. Though several players took steps forward in their development under Hitchcock, the Stars couldn’t find much consistency and would lose 12 of their final 17 games to fall out of the running.
Now a search begins for the Stars, who will need to find a new coach in time for the 2018-19 season. Since this was not a quick decision, the team has likely at least somewhat planned for their future and has a list of candidates in mind. The team does have quite a bit of experience among their assistants, including Curt Fraser who has head coaching experience with the Atlanta Thrashers, Stu Barnes with long ties to the Dallas organization as both a player and assistant, and Rick Wilson who replaced Hitchcock as interim coach of the Stars in the 2001-02 season.
Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp To Retire At End Of Season
Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Sharp played in his final home game Friday and is expected to play his final game of his career Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg, ending a lengthy career since 2005 and including 10 years as a integral piece to the Blackhawks, which led to three Stanley Cup championships.
“I think I’ve known what I wanted to do for a long period of time here and it’s never easy, you know?” an emotional Sharp said in the Blackhawks’ dressing room following the loss via Chris Kuk of The Athletic. “But I think I’m just ready to take that next step in my life, and I’m looking forward to it.”
In two stints with Chicago, the 36-year-old Sharp has tallied 249 goals and helped the Blackhawks to Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015. After winning the title in 2015, Sharp was then traded to the Dallas Stars where he 28 goals over two seasons. He signed a one-year, $800K contract to return to Chicago. With his skills on decline, the winger played the lowest average minutes of his career since his rookie season, averaging 12:50, scoring 10 goals and 21 points in 69 games.
While Sharp didn’t announce his retirement beforehand, it was quite obvious to anyone who watched Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Sharp played the most minutes of the season, playing 19:03. His parents were in attendance and the veteran started on the team’s top line. He wore his old “A” on his sweater and the team gave him a video tribute during the third period. At the end of the game, Sharp skated to center ice under the spotlight teammates stayed on the bench and tapped their sticks.
On a whole, including two seasons playing for the Philadelphia Flyers who drafted him in the third round back in 2001, Sharp finished his career with 287 goals, 333 assists and 620 points in 939 games. He also was part of Team Canada’s gold medal Olympic team in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Jonathan Cheechoo Officially Retires From Professional Hockey
Though he hasn’t played in the NHL since 2010, Jonathan Cheechoo has officially announced his retirement from professional hockey. The 37-year old winger had played the last four seasons in the KHL, though wasn’t part of a professional team for the 2017-18 season. The San Jose Sharks, Cheechoo’s most recognizable team, will honor him before their game on March 24th.
Selected in the second round of the 1998 draft, Cheechoo was a dynamic offensive player in the OHL and quickly turned that goal scoring prowess into success in the NHL. In 2005-06 after the lockout, Cheechoo took home the Maurice Richard trophy for leading the NHL in goals with 56. He, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were nearly impossible to stop (especially on the powerplay), scoring 93, 92 and 86 points respectively that season for the Sharks. Though Thornton and Marleau are still excellent players in the NHL, Cheechoo’s flame would burn brightly and quickly extinguish.
After another impressive season with 69 points, Cheechoo’s offensive production would quickly deteriorate to the point where he registered just 14 points in his final season with the Ottawa Senators. He’d continue to score in the AHL, until leaving for the KHL in 2013 to become one of the league’s more dangerous offensive threats. In four seasons in Russia, Cheechoo put up 164 points in 217 games and was named an All-Star three times. Cheechoo’s NHL career ended with 305 points in 501 games.
In his announcement, Cheechoo thanks the Sharks for giving him a chance in the NHL:
First of all, I would like to thank the San Jose Sharks organization for drafting me and giving me the opportunity of playing in the National Hockey League. We had many awesome years of incredible hockey! I want to thank all of my former teammates. It was an awesome experience to play alongside all of you. You made the game enjoyable and helped me to become a better player and person.
Mike Fisher Ends Retirement, Officially Signs With Nashville
2/26: The Predators have officially announced the signing.
2/25: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Predators will announce a one-year, $1MM deal with Fisher tomorrow. The pro-rated deal will only cost Nashville around $225K to bring back their former captain for one last run at the Stanley Cup. Fisher has been working out with the team since the initial report last month and no doubt will be ready to go when he gets his first chance to again take the ice.
1/31: In probably the most surprising turn of the season, Mike Fisher is set to come out of retirement and sign with the Nashville Predators for the remainder of the season.
Fisher hung up his skates in August after deliberating for much of the offseason, calling it the “hardest decision” he’d ever had to make. The 37-year old center captained the Predators all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, after a successful regular season which saw him record 18 goals and 42 points. The Predators have brought in both Nick Bonino and Kyle Turris since then to try and fill out their center depth, and adding Fisher now will make them an impressive group.
Just recently, Predators’ GM David Poile admitted to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that he would like to make an addition up front, though a big splash didn’t seem likely. With Fisher back in the fold, the Nashville forward group can be matched up with anyone in the league, at least when healthy.
There is no exact timeline yet on when Fisher will be ready for game action, but his contract must be signed and added to the roster before the February 26th deadline in order to be eligible for the playoffs. Depending on how well he’s kept himself in shape since retiring, it could be even sooner than that. No financial details have been released yet, but the contract is expected to only be for the rest of 2017-18.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Trade Deadline Notes: Flames, Plekanec, Neal
“Will GM Brad Treliving and the Calgary Flames ‘pull a Hextall’?”, wonders the Calgary Sun’s Eric Francis with mere days left before the NHL Trade Deadline. Francis is referring to Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall, who recently acted quickly to acquire goaltender Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings when his top two goalies went down with long-term injuries. Treliving and the Flames are now in a similar position, with their one experienced keeper, Mike Smith, out with a groin injury and a return not imminent. Calgary is currently working with two rookie goalies, David Rittich and Jon Gillies, as they try to keep up in the Western Conference playoff race. If Treliving, like Hextall, feels that he owes his team a true starting-caliber goalie, he could hit the rental market for some help down the stretch. Options could include Buffalo’s Robin Lehner, an impending RFA and likely the top available target, Arizona’s Antti Raanta, if the Coyotes are willing to move him, a reunion with Chad Johnson, or even a lesser option albeit with more experience such as Michael Hutchinson or Andrew Hammond. However, as Francis points out after his conversation with Treliving, if the team continues to put forward lackluster performances in front of their young goalie tandem, perhaps paying the steep price to bring in an upgrade won’t be worth it. The situation is one worth monitoring as the deadline fast approaches.
- One player expected to move before the deadline is career Canadien Tomas Plekanec. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that calls have been flooding in to Montreal GM Marc Bergevin, especially following the Derick Brassard news, inquiring into the cost of trading for the veteran center. Plekanec, 35, has seen his offense fall off dramatically over the past two seasons, but still plays a reliable two-way game and can still be an experienced asset for many teams. With the Canadiens far outside the playoff picture and Plekanec on an expiring contract, possibly headed for retirement, a deal will almost certainly be struck with an interested team. It seems the days are numbered on a relationship that began in 2003-04.
- The Vegas Golden Knights placed James Neal on injured reserve today, per beat writer Steve Carp. While Neal is simply suffering from an illness right now, an undisclosed illness has also kept teammate Shea Theodore out of the lineup for more than a week. With forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and William Carrier also on IR and an unclear picture of when Neal will return to action, one has to wonder if the Knights will take a longer look at the forward market before the deadline passes them by.
Deadline Primer: Detroit Red Wings
With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Detroit Red Wings.
The trades have already begun in Hockeytown as the Detroit Red Wings realize that it’ll be another season without a playoff appearance. Restocking a thin prospect pool, and getting younger are priorities for a team that hasn’t been a true contender in nearly a decade.
Record
24-25-9 (57 points); 5th in Atlantic
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$1.62MM per CapFriendly
Draft Picks
2018: DET 1st, DET 2nd, OTT 2nd; DET 3rd, PIT 3rd, DET 4th, PHI 4th*, DET 6th, MON 6th.
2019: DET 1st, DET 2nd, DET 3rd, PHI 3rd*, DET 4th, DET 5th, BUF 5th, DET 6th, DET 7th
-* conditional picks
Trade Chips
What hasn’t been written about who the Red Wings have made available? The Red Wings have been shifting players out of Detroit since October, dealing Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh and then sending Scott Wilson to Buffalo after he didn’t work out following the Sheahan trade. Goaltender Petr Mrazek was flipped to Philadelphia yesterday, starting what many believe will be the movement of other Red Wings. Mike Green is all but gone–the only questions remain where and when?
Tampa Bay and Washington seem to be the front runners but don’t count out the Vegas Golden Knights, who have the draft picks Ken Holland covets. Gustav Nyquist is another name linked with other contenders as well as winger Luke Glendening, who could see a reunion with former bench boss Mike Babcock in Toronto. The Red Wings could retain salary on Green, making his contract hit much less since he’s in the final year of a deal.
More intriguing names to watch are defenseman Danny DeKeyser, netminder Jimmy Howard and forward Tomas Tatar, who could potentially find new homes for the right team. However, DeKeyser and Tatar are owed a lot of money with a lot of years while Howard will most likely be shipped near the draft when teams are retooling rosters. Finally, Xavier Ouellet a possibility to move on as well.
Names To Watch: Mike Green, Gustav Nyquist, Luke Glendening, Xavier Ouellet, Tomas Tatar.
Team Needs
- Defensemen: The Red Wings are a mess on the blue line, their Achilles heel since losing Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski to retirement in 2012 and 2011 respectively. Unable to properly address it, Detroit has to find top end talent or try and get high enough draft picks that will net a defenseman who could contribute soon. There’s help on the way–with promising d-men in Filip Hronek and Villi Saarijarvi, but fairly, that was also said about Ouellet, and Ryan Sproul, who was traded for Matt Puempel. Dennis Cholowski is playing well in the WHL, but he may still be a year away. Many wonder if Ken Holland looks back with disdain at not taking Jakob Chychrun when he had the chance during the 2016 draft. Regardless, building depth and finding those top pairing defensemen has to be the top priority. Though they need a couple big time scoring forwards as well, the key to Detroit’s resurgence is solidifying the blue line, once a stalwart of the Red Wings’ success in the 90’s and 2000’s.
Ilya Kovalchuk To Again Test NHL Market
Around this time last year, word got out that former NHL superstar Ilya Kovalchuk was considering a comeback. The big, Russian sniper retired from the league in 2013, before even his 30th birthday and just three years into a massive (and now patently illegal) 15-year, $100MM contract with the New Jersey Devils. Kovalchuk returned home to Russia and had played with the KHL’s powerhouse club, SKA Saint Petersburg, every year since. However, his NHL ambitions had him thinking about a return trip across the Atlantic last summer. For much of the latter half of the season and into the off-season, Kovalchuk’s potential return was one of the hottest topics in hockey circles. Then, on July 4th, mere days into unrestricted free agency, Kovalchuk re-signed with SKA and his triumphant return was no more.
Now, a year later, it seems Kovalchuk is up for round two. The veteran scorer has shown no signs of slowing down in the KHL, already racking up 63 points through 53 games this season, and with the Olympics about to begin, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes talk of a potential return is about to heat back up (Thought 27). As Friedman alludes to, Kovalchuk’s re-entry into the NHL will be much simpler this summer as the Devils will no longer possess his rights. Last off-season, Kovalchuk’s only chance of a return – outside of signing with the Devils – was to find a team both willing to sign him to an expensive contract and then trade for his rights from New Jersey. Devils GM Ray Shero remarked after Kovalchuk decided to stay in Russia that Kovalchuk never came to him with a contract offer and no team came to him with a trade proposal, so clearly the interest was low in having to acquire a free agent via trade, especially an older one who had been out of the NHL for several years. This time around, that risk will be much less painless as the Devils will no longer hold his rights. Once he turns 35 on April 15th, Kovalchuk will be removed from the “Voluntary Retirement” list and will be made an unrestricted free agent, capable of negotiating a deal with any team in the league.
So where will he end up? The Hockey News clearly expects him to draw a lot of attention, as they ranked him ninth on their 2018 free agent board. Here at PHR, Kovalchuk was an afterthought in our Mid-Season UFA Rankings, not cracking the top 20. The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle with certain teams having specific interest in his skill set and others unwilling to take the risk on an aging player with a notoriously selfish playing style. As for Kovalchuk himself, Friedman believes that he would prefer to land in New York City. You can cross the Devils off that list; they’re paying $250K in recapture penalties every year until 2025, so they’re not giving Kovalchuk another dime. Plus, if New Jersey really wanted him, the two sides would have struck a deal last year. So that leaves the Rangers and Islanders as Kovalchuk’s Big Apple options. With John Tavares and possibly Josh Bailey and Calvin de Haan to re-sign, the Isles are not likely suitors. The Rangers on the other hand tend to be a team that’s often interested in the headline-making acquisition and, with Rick Nash coming off the books, have the cap space to add some salary. Kovalchuk and the Rangers could be a pairing to watch for this summer.
Western Notes: Jagr, Domi, Blues, Golden Knights
It’s a shame that the Hockey Hall of Fame voted long ago to abolish the selection committee’s ability to waive the three-year post-retirement waiting period for candidates that are exceptional. Because if there is someone that shouldn’t have to wait three years to gain entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Jaromir Jagr would seem to be a good bet that person, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.
While Jagr is not retired yet, as he remains on loan from the Calgary Flames to Kladno in the Czech League, his career has been exceptional and would deserve that immediate honor of getting his wait time waived that only 10 players have ever earned such as Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux. However, that rule was removed back in 1999. Regardless, Jagr has played in 1,733 career NHL games, with 766 goals and 1,921 points.
- In the same article, Brooks also writes that he’s heard the Arizona Coyotes are offering young center Max Domi to teams for the right price. The 22-year-old former first-round pick in 2013 has been struggling in his third season in the NHL. After a solid rookie year in which he put up 18 goals and 34 assists, his numbers have declined as he put up just 38 points in 59 games last year and currently has just three goals in 52 games. The team already moved on from winger Anthony Duclair a month ago as the Coyotes are trying to find the right balance of youth and veterans to start winning some games.
- The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) responds to mailbag questions and suggests that if New York Islanders center John Tavares reaches free agency this summer, he believes the St. Louis Blues will be aggressive suitors for the 27-year-old center. The scribe writes that the team is expecting to have about $13MM available and it should cost between $10 and $12MM to sign Tavares. That will likely make for a tight cap, especially since the team still has to sign several of their own free agents including restricted free agent defenseman Joel Edmundson. However, with the salary cap likely going up and the ability to move out a contract or two, it is very possible the team can afford Tavares. Add in that Tavares is friends with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and the team is already a playoff team with young winger Vladimir Tarasenko needing a star center to take that next step, there is a good chance he will strongly consider St. Louis. It’s still a long shot, but not unrealistic.
- NHL.com’s Gary Lawless tweets part of an interview with Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee about the trade deadline. The veteran GM says that its still too early to know whether the team will be buyers, sellers or plan to stand pat. “We still don’t know what we’re going to do at the deadline,” said McPhee. “We’re still three weeks away. We’ll know more when we get there. Every team in the league has needs… We’ll see. I like our group. I don’t know if we’re going to do a lot, if anything.”
Petr Nedved Could Come Out Of Retirement To Face Jaromir Jagr
The #2 overall pick in the 1990 NHL Draft could be making his return to pro hockey to face an old friend. Czech Second Division team HC Benatky nad Jizerou announced today that 46-year-old Petr Nedved could suit up for the team this weekend after four years away from the game. The occasion? The possible return to Czech hockey for Jaromir Jagr, who was assigned to Czech Second Division team HC Kladno yesterday.
Jagr is expected to suit up for Kladno – a team he is a part owner of – for the remainder of the season in hopes of winning the team a spot in the First Division next season. However, it remains to be seen if he will be ready to go by Saturday night, when Kladno takes on Benatky.
If Jagr, 45, is feeling physically healthy and mentally ready to go on Saturday, he will face off with a fellow countryman and long-time teammate and competitor in Nedved. Jagr was selected just three spots behind Nedved in the 1990 draft, with the former going to the Vancouver Canucks and the latter famously joining the Pittsburgh Penguins, who would win the next two Stanley Cups. Nedved would later join Jagr on the Penguins for two years beginning in 1995 and the pair would also reunite with the New York Rangers in 2003-04. Overall, Jagr and Nedved were teammates or competitors in the NHL for 16 years before Nedved returned to the Czech Republic in 2007. Nedved hung up his skates for good in 2014 after six seasons as the captain of Czech First Division squad HC Bili Tigri Liberec.
Four years later, Nedved is ready to lace ’em up again and, hopefully, he’ll get the chance to do so and face off against old friend Jagr one last time in a reunion of two of the best Czech players of all-time.