Snapshots: Sergachev, Frk, Bauer
The red-hot Montreal Canadiens have assigned rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. The ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft started the season with the Canadiens, going pointless in 3 games. The Canadiens are 8-0-1 so far this season.
Sergachev is expected to play a big role for the Spitfires, where he scored 57 points in 67 games last season. He was one of the top-ranked defensemen for last summer’s draft, alongside Olli Juolevi and Jakob Chychrun.
As a result of him not reaching nine games played, his contract will slide to next year. There are now 20 slide-eligible rookies in the NHL.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have placed Martin Frk on waivers. Frk went pointless and -3 in 2 games played with the Hurricanes, his first two NHL games. Carolina claimed Frk on waivers earlier this month from the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings will get first waiver priority to claim their 2012 second rounder, then the remaining order is the reverse standings order from the end of the 2015-16 season. The waiver priority will change to this season’s standings on November 1st.
- Some high profile NHLers may be without endorsement deals as soon as today. Players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Alex Ovechkin all make between $300K and $500K per season for using Bauer equipment. However, Bauer’s parent company, Performance Sports Group (PSG), has filed for bankruptcy protection. TSN’s Rick Westhead quoted a source as saying a bankruptcy judge can “cancel those endorsement contracts and list the players as creditors.” PSG is expected to have more than $400MM in debt by the end of the year. There are also shareholders preparing to file a lawsuit for inflated sales figures and growth prospects. PSG bough Bauer from Nike in 2008, and also purchased equipment makers Cascade and Easton in recent years.
Slide-Rule: Who’s Staying In The NHL?
As the NHL season approaches the nine-game mark, teams will need to make decisions about whether or not to keep their rookies on their roster.
Should a rookie play more than nine regular season or playoff games in one NHL season, then their entry-level contract will begin. If the player plays nine or less NHL games before being sent back to their junior or their European clubs, then their entry-level contract slides to the next season and no longer counts towards the 50-contract limit. There is also an exception whereby rookies without a major junior affiliation can play a full season in the AHL without burning a year of their entry-level contract. This is why Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen still has a three years left on his entry-level, despite playing nine NHL games and 52 AHL games. Anaheim defenseman Jacob Larsson and Buffalo winger Alexander Nylander are able to slide, should they remain in the AHL for the remainder of the year.
There are 21 players still in the NHL who can slide to next year. Here’s a list, with games played (GP) and where they can be sent (information via Cap Friendly):
Arizona:
D Jakob Chychrun (6 GP, Sarnia Sting, OHL)
LW Lawson Crouse (5 GP, Kingston Frontenacs, OHL)
C Dylan Strome (3 GP, Eerie Otters, OHL)
Boston:
D Brandon Carlo (7 GP, Tri-City Americans, WHL)
Calgary:
LW Matthew Tkachuk (7 GP, London Knights, OHL)
Carolina:
LW Sebastian Aho (7 GP, Charlotte Checkers, AHL or Kärpät, Liiga)
Colorado:
LW Mikko Rantanen (1 GP, San Antonio Rampage, AHL)
Columbus:
D Zach Werenski (7 GP, Cleveland Monsters, AHL)
Edmonton:
RW Jesse Puljujärvi (6 GP, Bakersfield Condors, AHL or Kärpät, Liiga)
Florida:
C Denis Malgin (7 GP, Springfield Thunderbirds, AHL or ZSC Lions, NLA)
Minnesota:
C Joel Eriksson Ek (4 GP, Iowa Wild, AHL or Färjestad, SHL)
Montreal:
D Mikhail Sergachev (3 GP, Windsor Spitfires, OHL) (Assigned to junior Oct. 31)
New Jersey:
C Pavel Zacha (7 GP, Sarnia Sting, OHL)
New York Islanders:
C Mathew Barzal (2 GP, Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL)
C Anthony Beauvillier (7 GP, Shawinigan Cataractes, QMJHL)
Ottawa:
D Thomas Chabot (1 GP, Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL) (Assigned to junior Nov. 2)
Philadelphia:
F Travis Konecny (8 GP, Sarnia Sting, OHL)
D Ivan Provorov (8 GP, Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)
Toronto:
RW Mitch Marner (7 GP, London Knights, OHL)
C Auston Matthews (7 GP, Toronto Marlies, AHL, or Zurich, NLA)
Winnipeg:
LW Patrik Laine (8 GP, Manitoba Moose, AHL or Tappara, Liiga)
Matthews, Marner, Aho, Konecny, and Laine appear to be locks to remain in the NHL for good, while Werenski, Puljujärvi, and Provorov are more likely than not to stay in the NHL. The remainder of the list could go either way.
Should a player stick beyond nine games, there is another key deadline to be aware of: 40 games. Should a player play 40 games, then that season counts towards unrestricted free agency. A player must play seven seasons in order to qualify. This has happened twice in recent memory: Daniel Sprong played 18 games with the Penguins last season, starting the clock on his entry-level contract, but not burning a year towards UFA; the Oilers kept Leon Draisaitl in the NHL for 37 games in 2014-15.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Babcock, Andersen, MacArthur, Howard
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won just one of their first three contests but by virtue of two overtime/shootout defeats, the team has accumulated four of a possible six points. As Mark Masters of TSN writes, Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock is “relatively pleased” with where his team sits in the standings.
“We’ve had an opportunity, I believe, to be 3-0. We’ve got four out of six points, which if you told me that before this started I would’ve said, ‘That’s fine,’ but we could’ve had more and I’m a bit greedy and so are the guys.”
Toronto is one of the youngest teams in the league, with six rookies – Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Mitch Marner and Nikita Zaitsev – skating regular shifts for the Leafs. With that much youth it’s likely the team will understandably have plenty of ups and downs during the season. Babcock noted that the team’s top line, for example, which consists of Matthews, Nylander and Hyman, has some room to grow based on Wednesday’s performance against the Jets:
“I thought it was really dangerous offensively and not very good defensively.”
Toronto may or may not be ready to challenge for a playoff berth this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up for a Leafs team that boasts a ton of young, high-end skill and talent.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Also from the Masters piece, goaltender Frederik Andersen has struggled out of the gate as the Leafs new #1 goalie, posting a 3.61 GAA and a Save % of just 87.6% in three starts, but Andersen is not yet worried. “If you just look at stats it doesn’t look pretty, but I thought I played pretty well. Obviously, some small things I got to clean up and me and Stevey (goalie coach Steve Briere) got to work today in practice so small fixes. I’m not too worried.” The Leafs paid a steep price to land Andersen from the Ducks – a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 second-round pick – then rewarded the Danish netminder with a five-year, $25MM contract with the belief he would solve the team’s longstanding issues in goal. It’s a small sample size of course, but so far Andersen has not lived up to expectations in Toronto.
- Veteran forward Clarke MacArthur, concussed during Ottawa’s initial intrasquad practice in training camp, is expected to join the Senators on their three-game, Western Canadian road trip beginning this weekend, writes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. MacArthur is still not close to playing and may have only recently started skating but the news is still encouraging. This is the fourth documented concussion within the last 18 months for the 31-year-old winger. The hope for the Senators, according to head coach Guy Boucher, is that just having MacArthur around the team on the trip will be good for him: “Obviously, he’s not going to play. We’re talking about being with the guys, being part of the routine. It would be good for him mentally, but we still haven’t 100% decided that.”
- For six seasons, Jimmy Howard was the #1 goalie for the Detroit Red Wings before losing the job to Petr Mrazek last season. Howard struggled in the backup role in 2015-16 but coming into the season knowing Mrazek would again be the starter has helped the veteran netminder adapt, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Said Howard: “I think I know how to handle the situation a lot better now. Last year I didn’t quite understand how to be the backup, never had been it before. So I fully understand the role now and how to stay mentally sharp in between starts.” Howard qualifies as an expensive backup with a contract that runs through the 2018-19 season and that calls for a cap hit of nearly $5.3MM per. Detroit was rumored to be looking to trade the 32-year-old goalie this summer and could do so again this offseason, assuming he isn’t claimed in the expansion draft by Las Vegas.
The Future Is Now For The NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Winnipeg on Wednesday night to visit the Jets in a battle of two young teams trying to take a big step this season. It’s the first matchup between the top two picks of the 2016 NHL Draft, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine.
However, Laine and Matthews are far from the only two rookies in the game; 11 of the 40 players dressed are rookie NHLers. The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle called it “The Calder Bowl.”
League-wide, 592 players have played in at least one game this season, and 11 per cent (67 players) of them are rookies. The NHL defines rookies as players under the age of 26 who have played less than 25 games the prior season, or more than six games in each of the two preceding seasons.
The NHL has been getting younger year-over-year, for three reasons: rookies are cheap, fast, and skilled. With the salary cap not going up as much as expected, and the game faster than ever, rookies are more valuable than ever.
Last year, 226 of the 898 players who appeared in at least one game were rookies. That’s a full one-quarter of the NHL.
Here’s a look at the rookies on each NHL roster:
Anaheim Ducks – D Jacob Larsson and RW Nick Sörensen
Arizona Coyotes – D Jakob Chychrun, LW Lawson Crouse, C Laurent Dauphin, C Christian Dvorak, and C Dylan Strome
Boston Bruins – C Noel Acciari, D Brandon Carlo, C Austin Czarnik, C Danton Heinen, and D Rob O’Gara
Buffalo Sabres – RW Nicholas Baptiste, RW Hudson Fasching, and D Casey Nelson
Calgary Flames – D Brett Kulak and LW Matthew Tkachuk
Carolina Hurricanes – RW Sebastien Aho and RW Martin Frk
Chicago Blackhawks – D Gustav Forsling, C Vincent Hinostroza, and C Tyler Motte
Columbus Blue Jackets – RW Josh Anderson, RW Oliver Bjorkstrand, D Markus Nutivaara, and D Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars – D Stephen Johns, D Esa Lindell, and C Devin Shore
Edmonton Oilers – RW Jesse Puljujärvi and LW Anton Slepyshev
Florida Panthers – C Denis Malgin and D Michael Matheson
Los Angeles Kings – D Derek Forbort
Montreal Canadiens – LW Artturi Lehkonen and D Mikhail Sergachev
Nashville Predators – LW Kevin Fiala
New Jersey Devils – C Blake Speers, LW Miles Wood, and C Pavel Zacha
New York Islanders – C Mathew Barzal, C Anthony Beauvillier, and C Alan Quine
New York Rangers – LW Pavel Buchnevich, LW Jimmy Vesey, and D Brady Skjei
Ottawa Senators – D Thomas Chabot
Philadelphia Flyers – C Travis Konecny, D Ivan Provorov, and LW Roman Lyubimov
Pittsburgh Penguins – LW Scott Wilson
Tampa Bay Lightning – C Brayden Point
Toronto Maple Leafs – C Connor Brown, LW Zach Hyman, RW Mitch Marner, C Auston Matthews, C/RW William Nylander, and D Nikita Zaitsev
Winnipeg Jets – LW Kyle Connor, LW Patrik Laine, D Josh Morrissey, and LW Brandon Tanev