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Minor Transactions: 03/11/20

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The party ended for the Philadelphia Flyers last night, unable to extend their winning streak to ten games after being defeated 2-0 by the Boston Bruins. They’ll be able to get right back on the horse tomorrow night, but first the NHL will hold five games this evening. Today’s schedule is heavily represented by Western Conference teams, with a battle between the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers perhaps the most interesting in terms of playoff implications. As they prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves throughout the day.

  • Ahead of their road trip that starts tonight in Chicago, the San Jose Sharks have recalled Nick DeSimone. San Jose will face the Blackhawks, Blues, Stars and Avalanche before heading home later this month.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have sent Lukas Vejdemo back to the minor leagues after playing in three games during this latest recall. The 24-year old forward scored his first NHL goal last night but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Nashville Predators.
  • Once again, Martin Kaut has been recalled by the Colorado Avalanche, the third such occasion over the last few weeks. The young forward has looked ready to make the jump to the NHL and will give Colorado another body as Nathan MacKinnon deals with a lower-body injury.
  • The New York Rangers have recalled Steven Fogarty under emergency conditions, likely meaning that Filip Chytil will not be ready to go tonight against the Avalanche. Chytil has been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Fogarty, 26, has played in six games this season and 17 in his career, but is still looking for his first NHL point.

Snapshots: League Cancellations, Bjugstad, Hamonic

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As the spread of COVID-19 continues around the world, professional sports leagues and organizations are starting to feel the effects. The San Jose Sharks are the first NHL team that is dealing with the consequences, as gatherings of more than 1,000 people have been banned in Santa Clara county. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) examined the situation in full, noting that the possibility exists that the Sharks will play in front of no fans later this month.

It’s not just individual teams feeling the changes though. Today, both the EBEL and DEL, leagues in Austria and Germany respectively, have cancelled the remainder of their seasons, including playoffs. The EBEL also includes teams from Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic.

  • It has become routine among the Pittsburgh Penguins this season to expect injury, though one still has to feel for Nick Bjugstad. The forward has suffered another lower-body injury that is unrelated to any prior, and has been listed as “week-to-week” once again according to head coach Mike Sullivan. Bjugstad has played just 13 games this season, scoring two points.
  • Travis Hamonic was back at practice in full for the Calgary Flames today, skating alongside T.J. Brodie on the second defense pairing. That suggests the veteran defenseman will return to the Flames’ lineup later this week for the first time in over a month. Calgary is barely holding onto their third place position in the Pacific Division, meaning Hamonic’s return will be a welcome one as they prepare for the stretch run.

Jacob Middleton Week-To Week With A Lower-Body Injury

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  • Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton was just starting to secure a regular role in the lineup after being recalled late last month but that momentum has been derailed. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News mentions that Middleton is listed as week-to-week with his lower-body injury and may not be back this season.  The 24-year-old has played in ten NHL games this season and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility in July.

Radim Simek Signs Four-Year Extension

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March 9th: The Sharks have officially signed Simek to a four-year extension. GM Doug Wilson released a statement on the deal:

Radim has been an integral piece of our team defense for the last two seasons. His style of play blends a sound defensive game, coupled with a heavy physical ingredient and good puck-moving skills. His impact on our club when he is in the lineup is undeniable and we’re pleased he will be part of our team’s core moving forward.

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that the deal is for $9MM total, an average annual value of $2.25MM

March 2nd: When the San Jose Sharks didn’t trade pending unrestricted free agent Radim Simek at the deadline, it was easy to wonder if they planned on re-signing him instead. Well that seems to be the case, as a report has emerged out of the Czech Republic that the depth defenseman has agreed to terms on a four-year extension worth around $8MM. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that though the deal has not yet been signed, the framework is in place.

Simek, 27, is in his second NHL season after originally signing with the Sharks organization in 2017. The Czech defenseman was undrafted but grew into an incredibly reliable presence in his own end, something that has carried over to his time with the Sharks. Though he has only played in 84 games, people around San Jose will tell you just how important he was last season giving the team a defensive anchor to allow some of their more offensive players to be creative. Obviously things haven’t gone quite as well this season in San Jose, but there is reason to believe he can bounce back.

Given that the Sharks have a few other defensemen headed for unrestricted free agency, it makes sense to keep Simek around. But handing out raises to players still has to be done carefully. San Jose has more than $25MM locked up in Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, meaning they’ll always need to have some bargains on the back end of their defense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Kaprizov, Nalimov, Ferraro, Dugan

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In his most recent mailbag series, The Athletic’s Micheal Russo (subscription required) writes even though prized prospect Kirill Kaprizov could finish his KHL season early, don’t expect him to be in a Minnesota Wild uniform before the season ends. The scribe writes that Kaprizov’s contract with CSKA Moscow doesn’t expire until Apr. 30, which means the soonest that Minnesota could sign the 22-year-old will be on May 1 to a two-year deal. While nothing is set in stone, it is believed that Kaprizov, who will be a free agent, will sign with the Wild this summer.

Minnesota also expects Kaprizov to play for Russia at the World Championships this summer (assuming it isn’t cancelled due to the coronavirus), before reporting the Minnesota this summer, according to Russo, who spoke to general manager Bill Guerin. It’s expected that he will attend development camp between June 28 to July 3 and would be expected to play in one of the rookie games in September.

Kaprizov is wrapping up his best season yet in the KHL as he has tallied 33 goals and 62 points in 57 games and should be one of the top rookies in the NHL next season.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that Chicago Blackhawks goaltending prospect Ivan Nalimov is expected to sign a professional tryout agreement with their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs in the next few days. After playing with Sochi this season in the KHL, Nalimov has become a free-agent and is allowed to negotiate with the Blackhawks. Nalimov’s play over the years has been inconsistent, so the idea of signing him to an AHL PTO is a low-risk maneuver and will allow the team a chance to evaluate him up close before deciding whether to sign him to a NHL contract. The 25-year-old finished his season with Sochi with a 7-14-1 record in 24 appearances with a 2.50 GAA and a .911 save percentage. The Blackhawks have a number of decisions to make in net throughout the organization with just Collin Delia and Matt Tompkins signed. The team will have to make decisions on Corey Crawford, Malcolm Subban, Kevin Lankinen and now Nalimov this summer.
  • The San Jose Sharks will be without defenseman Mario Ferraro all weekend. The rookie defenseman has been trying to play through a lower-body injury for a week and a half, but finally requires a break as he will sit out Saturday’s game against Ottawa and against Colorado on Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. Head coach Bob Boughner hopes Ferraro will be available by Wednesday, the start of the team’s four-game road trip. Ferraro, the college defensive partner of Colorado’s Cale Makar, has two goals and 11 points in 61 games in his first season with the Sharks.
  • David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes that the Vegas Golden Knights might get a depth addition as soon as next weekend (assuming they don’t get into the NCAA tournament) as Jack Dugan, who currently leads college hockey with 52 points, could sign with Vegas. Dugan, the Golden Knights’ fifth-round pick in 2017, has dominated in college and could add provide some depth, especially after the team learned that Cody Glass will miss the rest of the season.

Minor Transactions: 3/7/20

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As usual, Saturday is a busy day on the schedule with 20 teams in action including the Panthers who will be retiring Roberto Luongo’s number in advance of their game against Montreal.  There should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day which we’ll keep track of here.

  • The Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Dennis Gilbert to AHL Rockford, per the AHL’s Transactions Page. The 23-year-old played for them on Friday while being up on emergency recall and logged 13:36 of ice time.  He has suited up 21 times for Chicago this season, picking up a goal and two assists.
  • With Lawrence Pilut dealing with the flu, the Sabres announced the recall of defenseman John Gilmour from AHL Rochester. The 26-year-old blueliner has played in four games with Buffalo this season but has spent most of the year in the minors.  After putting up 54 points at the AHL level a year ago, Gilmour has just 13 with Rochester so far this season.
  • The Oilers announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned defenseman William Lagesson to AHL Bakersfield.  With Oscar Klefbom being activated off injured reserve, the odds of Lagesson getting any NHL ice time go down considerably as he already was a regular healthy scratch but he’ll log plenty of minutes for the Condors.  Meanwhile, getting Klefbom back after missing three weeks due to a shoulder issue will certainly help Edmonton’s push for first place in the Pacific Division.
  • The Sharks announced the recall of defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov from the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.  The 21-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent back in July and has played in 33 AHL games this season, picking up a goal and four assists. The San Jose Sharks later announced they have recalled defenseman Nick DeSimone from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The 25-year-old DeSimone has yet to make his NHL debut. He has five goals and 19 points in 48 games.
  • After being recalled earlier in the week on an emergency basis, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Guillaume Brisebois to AHL Utica.  The 22-year-old has been up three times with Vancouver this season but has yet to see any action with them in 2019-20.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled forward Janne Kuokkanen from the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. The Devils picked up Kuokkanen from the Carolina Hurricanes at the traded deadline for Sami Vatanen. Kuokkanen has fared quite well with Binghamton since acquired, scoring three goals and six points in four games. He has 15 goals and 48 points in 56 AHL games. The 21-year-old Kuokkanen has 11 NHL games under his belt, having played seven games with the Hurricanes last season with no points.
  • The Boston Bruins announced they assigned forward Karson Kuhlman to the Providence Bruins of the AHL after the team activated defenseman Connor Clifton from injured reserve. The 24-year-old Kuhlman played in 25 games for Boston, posting one goals and six points. Clifton, has been out since Dec. 29, with an upper-body injury. While offense was never a strong point for the 24-year-old with two goals and two points in 30 games, Clifton did provide some physicality with 85 hits.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced they have recalled forward Morgan Geekie from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. The 21-year-old center became one of the top forward options on the Checkers squad after the team traded away a number of prospects recently, including Kuokkanen, Julien Gauthier (to the New York Rangers) and Eetu Luostarinen (to the Florida Panthers). With the increased playing time, Geekie captured AHL Player of the Week honors for his performance last week, which included four goals and seven points in four games.

Minor Transactions: 03/04/20

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Just four games are on the NHL schedule this evening, though the earliest game is one to tune in for. The Philadelphia Flyers will travel and take on the Washington Capitals in a battle of the top two teams in the Metropolitan. The Flyers, on a six-game winning streak, have climbed to within three points of the division lead and look unstoppable of late. As they and the rest of the league prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves.

  • After last night’s game, the San Jose Sharks sent Nick DeSimone back to the minor leagues. Today however they’ve recalled him again, continuing his season of bouncing up and down between leagues.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled both Nicolas Roy and Brandon Pirri, giving them two more forward options for their game on Friday night.
  • After being recalled by the Dallas Stars to fill in for an injured Ben Bishop, Jake Oettinger has been returned to the minor leagues. The top goalie prospect will get his chance one day in the NHL but that time is not just yet.
  • With Tomas Tatar’s injury last night, the Montreal Canadiens have recalled Lukas Vejdemo from the minor leagues. The young forward will join the team on the road and is available for Thursday night.

Pius Suter Drawing NHL Interest

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If you were a fan of the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2014, you will remember what a powerhouse club they were. Led by future NHL talents like Brock McGinn, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jason Dickinson and Robby Fabbri, the team went 52-12-4 and walked through the playoffs en route to an OHL championship. One of the depth players on that team was a Swiss-born forward named Pius Suter, who would be one of the club’s best players the next season before returning to Europe.

Undrafted, Suter has spent the last five seasons playing for Zurich SC of the Swiss professional league, continuing his development as a top two-way center. In 2018 he suited up for Switzerland in the Olympics and this season has seen him take the jump to league superstar, leading the NLA in both goals and points. It comes as no surprise then that a report today has NHL teams showing interest in Suter, though there will be complications.

Suter’s contract with the Lions extends through the 2022-23 season, but the report indicates that it includes an out-clause this summer. Should he decide to exercise that and try his hand in the NHL, it will be interesting to see which teams pursue the 23-year old.

Much was made recently when the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Denis Malgin, a former teammate of Auston Matthews during his time in Switzerland. Well Suter was also on that team with Matthews and Malgin, one which took home the league championship. Malgin and Suter were on the Swiss World Junior team that year as well, alongside San Jose Sharks star Timo Meier and New Jersey Devils top center Nico Hischier, among others.

Evening Notes: Marleau, Stamkos, Timashov, Merzlikins

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Just a handful of months ago, veteran winger Patrick Marleau made it clear he only wanted to play for the San Jose Sharks after he was bought out of his previous contract. He did eventually sign with them, but with Marleau’s approval, the Sharks traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline in hopes he might be able to chase a Stanley Cup.

However, with just 51 games remaining before he breaks Gordie Howe’s games played record, many wonder if Marleau might opt to re-sign with the Sharks this summer. When asked, Marleau admitted that might be a possibility, according to Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka.

“Yeah, I think the door’s open maybe to come back,” said Marleau. “I definitely would like to play another season, so that would be good.”

  • Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said that the decision to allow forward Steven Stamkos to undergo muscle core surgery was a tough one, but was the result of multiple tests and discussions with Stamkos and doctors, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Stamkos will have the surgery on Monday and will miss six to eight weeks, meaning he is likely to miss some of the playoffs. The timing is tough, but Cooper added, “Good thing is when it gets done, it’s done, and now we never have to worry bout it again.”
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Dmytro Timashov, claimed off waivers last Monday, will make his debut with the Red Wings Saturday in Ottawa. However, the forward will not travel with the team back home, however, as the forward is still dealing with visa issues and can only play with Detroit because they are in Canada at the moment, according to NHL.com’s Dana Wakiji. “He’ll have to stay in Canada here,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “He has to pick up his passport. So he’s hoping to get that Monday and get back for the game Monday night.”
  • The Athletic’s Alison Lukan reports that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who left last Monday’s game after colliding with Ottawa’s Anthony Duclair, is out with a concussion. The scribe writes that the head injury is considered to be minor, but Columbus is taking the injury cautiously. Merzlikins has a 2.53 goals against and a .922 save percentage in 32 appearances. However, with Joonas Korpisalo back in the fold, the team doesn’t have to rush Merzlikins back quickly.

Pacific Notes: Russell, Nygard, Lehner, Meier, Backes

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The Edmonton Oilers have gotten a boost on defense. The team announced they have swapped roster players. The Oilers have activated defenseman Kris Russell from long-term injured reserve, while placing forward Joakim Nygard on IR as well. Russell’s return is well-timed after the team lost Mike Green for an extended period.

The 32-year-old Russell has been out since Jan. 29 with a concussion, but finally appears ready to return to the team’s defense. Russell is expected to step in as a third-pairing defender Saturday. He has appeared in 49 games with eight assists and 93 blocked shots. Nygard has been out of the lineup since Jan. 29 with a broken hand, but the team didn’t place him onto IR until now. He is not expected back until late March.

  • The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) looks into the possibility of whether the Vegas Golden Knights could find a way to keep goaltender Robin Lehner, an unrestricted free agent this summer, in the future. With the estimation of a six-year, $6MM AAV contract as a potential contract for Lehner, Granger notes that it is possible to keep both Lehner and veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, who still has two years remaining at $7MM AAV. However, it would put the team in a very tight cap situation and investing $13MM in goalies doesn’t make much sense. However, the scribe did admit it is possible that the team could conceivably attempt to trade someone like Paul Stastny, who would be in the final year at $6.5MM. Either way, the Golden Knights will have to make some tough decisions this summer.
  • The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier is seriously considering playing at the World Championships that will be held in Switzerland. The 23-year-old from Switzerland said he hasn’t given it any real thought yet, but admits it would be a great opportunity to play in front of his own country. Meier did play for the Swiss back in 2018 when they took a silver medal.
  • Recently acquired forward David Backes hopes to get into an Anaheim Ducks game soon, perhaps even Sunday against the New Jersey Devils, according to OC Register’s Eliott Teaford. The 35-year-old was acquired a few days before the trade deadline that saw forward Ondrej Kase headed to Boston for Backes, a 2020 first-round pick and a prospect. Backes, however, has not appeared in an NHL games since Jan. 9, and has spent his time this week getting back into game shape. “I’ve probably reached a saturation point where it’s been just me and a coach out there being in a practice situation,” Backes said. “I’ve done a lot of that, so now it’s bumping and grinding and timing and angles. When you haven’t played in two months, it’s going to be a process. But I’m excited to start that process, hopefully, sooner than later.”

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