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Snapshots: Sprong, Dickinson, Mailloux

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After converting his PTO into another NHL contract, Seattle Kraken winger Daniel Sprong isn’t able to be a full participant with the team just yet. According to The Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte, Sprong is dealing with work visa complications and is expected to rejoin the team within the next few days.

This does put Sprong’s availability for Seattle’s season opener on Wednesday in Anaheim in doubt. While Sprong was productive in terms of goals after joining the Kraken at the trade deadline last season, their added depth on the wing puts him squarely in a fourth-line role with everyone healthy. In his stead, Karson Kuhlman is expected to dress against Anaheim if Sprong can’t play.

  • Similarly, new Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson is also battling visa issues after arriving from Vancouver. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus reports that Dickinson will miss the team’s first two games of the season at the least, potentially missing three. Dickinson’s absence and his ability to be designated as a non-roster player in the meantime allowed them to claim defenseman Jarred Tinordi off waivers today without making a corresponding roster move.
  • While Montreal Canadiens defense prospect Logan Mailloux will start the season on injured reserve, he won’t stay there for long. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes to expect Montreal to send him back to the OHL’s London Knights after he returns to practice. Mailloux is expected to play a full season in London after injuries and a lengthy suspension due to his sexual misconduct charge during his draft year in Sweden limited him to 12 games.

Seattle Kraken Sign Daniel Sprong

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Finally, a player has converted on his PTO, receiving an NHL contract. The Seattle Kraken today signed winger Daniel Sprong to a one-year, two-way contract for 2022-23 worth $750,000. PuckPedia adds that his minors salary is $325,000.

Sprong, 25, will get a second look in the Kraken lineup after playing in 16 games for them last season. Acquired from the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline (along with a 2022 fourth-round pick and 2023 sixth-round pick) for Marcus Johansson, Sprong had six goals and no assists down the stretch for the expansion Kraken. It was the third time Sprong had been traded in his young, yet bumpy career.

Hailing from Amsterdam, the Dutch forward was drafted 46th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. While he hasn’t been able to make it stick with one team, Sprong’s provided solid depth scoring wherever he’s gone. He’s scored 14, 13, and 14 goals in his last three full NHL seasons. He played just eight games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2019-20, instead spending significant time with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.

Sprong will need to work hard to crack what’s a considerably deeper Kraken forward core this season, especially on the wing. The additions of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Andre Burakovsky at the top make the Kraken’s top six more compelling, but it’s scorers like Sprong who will be relied upon to generate depth offense in The Deep this season.

Seattle Kraken Sign Andre Burakovsky

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The Seattle Kraken are getting a big free agent name yet again, signing winger Andre Burakovsky to a five-year deal worth a total of $27.5MM.

It’s an interesting move for the Kraken, who seem to be set on surrounding some of their elite young players with enough talent to be competitive. Burakovsky can potentially join a player like Matthew Beniers in his first full season, giving him a skilled winger that can contribute at both ends of the rink. The 27-year-old had 22 goals and 61 points this season, career-highs in both categories.

Still, even with that strong performance, there has still been criticism of inconsistency levied at the Austrian forward. Burakovsky can go through stretches where he seems extremely ineffective, only to then take over a game completely the next night. Standing 6’3″ with good speed and hands, there has always seemed to be no limit on what he could become at the NHL level.

Perhaps his time in Colorado has truly unlocked that potential and the Kraken are getting a player who has scored at an impeccable rate over the last three seasons. Since joining the Avalanche in 2019, Burakovsky has 150 points in 191 games, numbers that Seattle would obviously welcome with open arms.

A five-year deal carries plenty of risk though, especially if he reverts to the player that had just 25 points in 76 games for the Washington Capitals in 2018-19. Burakovsky is now tied for the highest-paid forward on the Kraken, and signed as long as anyone else on the roster.

Seattle Kraken Sign Andrew Poturalski

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The Seattle Kraken are signing one of the AHL’s best, getting forward Andrew Poturalski on a two-year, one-way deal, per his agency Bartlett Hockey. Poturalski is coming off of a Calder Cup championship with the Chicago Wolves.

The 28-year-old undrafted forward may have only four NHL games to his name, but make no mistake: this is one of the deadliest scorers the AHL has to offer. Forming a lethal partnership with Stefan Noesen, Poturalski scored 28 goals and 101 points in just 71 games and topped that regular-season brilliance off with 23 points in 19 playoff games. This year wasn’t a fluke, either, as Poturalski has been a highly productive player for the majority of his AHL career.

By signing in Seattle, Poturalski has secured a starring role on the AHL’s newest team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In signing Poturalski, the Firebirds have made a major splash and signed the player who is likely to lead them in scoring. Coach Dan Bylsma now has a top-of-the-lineup scoring threat and this signing is indicative of the Kraken organization’s desire to give their AHL affiliate all the tools they need to have a strong first season.

Nashville Predators Extend Jeremy Lauzon

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A busy day of signings continues today. The Nashville Predators announced they’ve extended defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to a four-year contract worth $8MM in total, carrying an average annual value of $2MM.

Nashville acquired Lauzon at the Trade Deadline this season from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a second-round pick (49th overall in the 2022 draft). He was Seattle’s expansion draft selection from the Boston Bruins.

Strictly a bottom-of-the-lineup player, Lauzon tallied two goals and seven points in 66 games combined between Seattle and Nashville this season. While he was in the lineup more consistently in Nashville, he often found himself as a healthy scratch with the Kraken. He averaged 17:40 of ice time per game this season, only a few seconds above his career average.

The veteran of 142 NHL games has some serious career stability now. He is decent defensively at even strength but has struggled on the penalty kill when used there, making more an ideal complementary player to a more high-end, offensively-inclined defenseman. If all goes well, he could end up being a good, cheap solution to partner with Roman Josi, but that’s assuming he maintains his solid defensive play post-trade. He’s known to be inconsistent at times, which raises a few red flags around the four-year term for this deal.

However, Lauzon is still just 25, and will still likely be in his prime at age 29 when the deal expires in 2026. It’s somewhat of a risky deal since the $2MM isn’t fully buriable in the minors, but it could just as well work out just fine. Lauzon was slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the contract’s end.

Snapshots: Point, Mock Draft, Kassian

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As the Stanley Cup Final is set to commence in two days, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche will retake the ice today to practice ahead of their last four to seven games of the season. Of note from Tampa’s side of things is that injured star center Brayden Point continued to take part in practice today and took line rushes for the first time, centering a line between Nick Paul and Ross Colton, per The Athletic’s Joe Smith. However, assistant coach Jeff Halpern said after practice that “he didn’t know if you could read too much” into Point’s status, noting that it was a light session.

Tampa will be waiting anxiously to get an answer on when Point can return. Given the uncertain health of Nazem Kadri on the other side for Colorado, Tampa Bay having their full center depth available to them would give them a much greater chance at winning their third straight Stanley Cup.

  • With the 2022 NHL Draft now within a month, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, one of the top public prospect evaluators, released his 2022 NHL Mock Draft, taking team needs, consensus, and intel into account aside from just his own rankings. Although more and more doubt remains around the status of Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright as the Montreal Canadiens’ no. 1 overall pick, Wheeler still has Wright listed in the first spot. Rounding out the top five is winger Juraj Slafkovsky to the New Jersey Devils, center Logan Cooley to the Arizona Coyotes, defenseman Simon Nemec going first off the board among d-men to the Seattle Kraken, and defenseman David Jiricek headed to the Philadelphia Flyers.
  • The first buyout window of the offseason opens July 1, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli has Edmonton Oilers winger Zack Kassian at the top of his list of 10 buyout candidates for this summer. Kassian, who carries a cap hit of $3.2MM through 2024, mustered just 19 points in 58 games this season and averaged under nine minutes per game in the playoffs. With the 31-year-old forward only set to continue declining, Edmonton could take the buyout penalty to free up more space to improve their depth scoring. The buyout for Kassian is relatively benign, per CapFriendly, with a cap hit of $666,667 in 2022-23, $1,866,667 in 2023-24, and $966,667 in 2024-25 and 2025-26. It offers $2.5MM in savings upfront in 2022-23, an appealing number for general manager Ken Holland.

Seattle Kraken Sign Peetro Seppala

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The Seattle Kraken have added to their young depth, signing Finnish defenseman Peetro Seppala to a two-year, entry-level contract (link). Seppala, 21, had not previously been drafted and just finished his fifth season with KooKoo Kouvola in Liiga. The contract carries an AAV of $762.5K.

While not a premiere name among NHL prospects, Seppala has a fairly lengthy track record with KooKoo, holding his own in Finland’s highest league since debuting in his age-17 season. For his career, the defenseman has 15 goals and 39 assists in 174 games, all for KooKoo. In 57 games this season, Seppala had eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points, enough to lead Kookoo defensemen and tie him for 12th among all Liiga defensemen (link).

Kraken GM Ron Francis described his new defenseman as one who “skates well and has offensive upside,” having proven himself “among the highest ranks in Finland” (link). Though talented, Seppala is not likely to join the Kraken full-time next season, instead he will presumably join Seattle’s AHL team in Coachella Valley, which begins play in the 2022-23 season.

AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22

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It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule.  There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

 

Metropolitan Division

  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
  • The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.

Central Division

  • The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
  • After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
  • Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.

Pacific Division

  • The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors.  Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
  • Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
  • After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
  • The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Snapshots: Giordano, Braun, Robertson, Martinook

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One of the biggest names remaining on the trade-bait list is Seattle Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano. A pending UFA and still producing at a high level, many teams have been calling Seattle about the 38-year-old. Still, the price on Giordano remains high, rumored to be at least a first-round pick. Although this price may be reasonable for Giordano, many teams have balked at the it, some perhaps not necessarily viewing it as unfair, but not a prudent decision for their organization. One such organization is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have made it known that they do not want to trade a first-round pick or a top prospect for a true rental player.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wondered if perhaps Seattle would be willing to take two second-round picks or a second-round pick and a prospect in lieu of a first-round pick (link). LeBrun speculates that if Seattle was willing to accept a package like this, then that may open the market up to Toronto and the St. Louis Blues, another organization who has made it known they do not want to trade a first-round pick. Another team that is in the mix for Giordano’s services is the New York Rangers, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman pointed out on Hockey Night in Canada yesterday evening. The Rangers, unlike Toronto or St. Louis, could be persuaded to trade a first-round pick, considering the young talent they have and the fact that they have not been without one in several years. While that does give the Rangers an advantage, Giordano, Seattle’s captain, has made it clear that if he is to be traded, he strongly prefers his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers plan to make defenseman Justin Braun a healthy scratch for today’s game against the New York Islanders, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. The scratch is not indicative of poor performance or any injury related matters, and is purely an asset-management move ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline, when Braun is likely to be traded.
  • The Maple Leafs announced that they have sent forward Nicholas Robertson to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The move does not necessarily mean that the Maple Leafs are planning, or not planning, to trade Robertson, and is more-likely-than-not a result of the Maple Leafs working around salary cap constraints to put themselves in the best position possible for the trade deadline. To date, Robertson has just one goal and zero assists in nine NHL games this season, but three goals and five assists in nine AHL games this season.
  • According to Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour, forward Jordan Martinook will be out of the lineup for a few weeks after being injured in Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs (link). Carolina expects to have Martinook back this season, however Hurricanes’ alternate captain is a key figure and leader in the locker room, so his absence, even if temporary, could prove costly to the team.
  • Friedman also Tweets that he believes the Vancouver Canucks are a team that is considering Travis Dermott at the deadline. Dermott has been the subject of trade rumors well before this year’s trade deadline, and those rumors have only heated up since, and it is believed he will be traded by the deadline regardless. Vancouver has been looking to acquire a defenseman with term, and Dermott is signed through 2022-23 at just a $1.5MM cap hit.

AHL Shuffle: 03/20/22

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After a busy Saturday that saw Nicolas Deslauriers traded to the Minnesota Wild, Hampus Lindholm traded to the Boston Bruins, and Claude Giroux traded to the Florida Panthers, as well as several exciting games, the NHL is back in action today. The New York Islanders will visit the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon in the Flyers’ first game since the Claude Giroux trade. The Dallas Stars head to Washington, D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals and try to break out of their recent slide. Perhaps most intriguing, the New York Rangers visit the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup of two Metropolitan Division heavyweights, and a potential playoff series in the making. Even with all the game action and the potential trade deadline action, there are still plenty of small transactions happening, and we will keep track of them here.

Atlantic Division:

  • After recalling him yesterday, the Ottawa Senators have sent defenseman Dillon Heatherington back to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Heatherington did not get a chance to suit up for Ottawa in their loss last night to Montreal before being sent down, and has not played an NHL game since December 18th. The 26-year-old has had a productive return to North America this season, putting up 11 points in 27 AHL games this season on the blue line after returning from a season in the KHL.

Metropolitan Division:

  • The Ontario Reign announced they have acquired defenseman Thomas Hickey on loan from the New York Islanders. Hickey, who was playing for the Bridgeport Islanders in the AHL, will head to the Reign of the AHL, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate. It’s an interesting move to see, as Hickey is an NHL caliber defenseman who has been playing in the minors for the Islanders for much of the past three seasons in the AHL, now moved in the AHL. Although Hickey does have to move from the east coast to the west, Bridgeport is currently out of the playoff race in the AHL, sitting in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, while Ontario is in second place in the Pacific Division, so an opportunity to help out in meaningful games may be appealing to Hickey.
  • The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Brett Leason from the Hershey Bears and re-assigned forward Mike Vecchione to Hershey. A second-round pick by Washington in 2019, Leason has split time between Hershey and Washington this year, tallying four points in 15 games for Hershey and six points in 35 games for the Capitals this season. Vecchione, on the other hand, has produced well for Hershey this year with 12 goals and 24 assists in 43 games, but has seen just one NHL game this year, playing Friday night against Carolina, his first NHL game since he played his only other two for the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2017.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled goaltender Jean-Francois Berube on an emergency recall basis. Berube, 30, has performed admirably so far this season, with a .924 save percentage in his four games played. As regular starter Elvis Merzlikins battles with injuries and Joonas Korpisalo is potentially getting traded before the deadline, Berube’s stay in Columbus could end up being more permanent than his emergency designation would lead one to believe.

Central Division:

  • The Winnipeg Jets announced that they have recalled forward Jeff Malott from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. If he plays, the 25-year-old Mallot would be making his NHL debut after spending the last two seasons with Manitoba. Previously, Mallot spent four years at Cornell University before turning professional for the 2020-21 season. With the addition to their roster, the Jets would now be able sit one of either Paul Stastny or Andrew Copp ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline (or both if they are willing to play 11 forwards and 7 defensemen).

Pacific Division:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn and defenseman Daniil Miromanov to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL. Leschyshyn has performed nicely this year in the face of adversity, being routinely shuffled between the NHL and AHL. (In fact, the shuffling continued today. Leschyshyn is already back in Vegas.) Though he has just five points through 27 NHL games this season, he has been a force for Henderson this year, posting 26 points in 32 games. It’s been almost the exact same story for Miromanov this season, shuffling between the NHL and AHL. Miromanov has just one point in nine NHL games this season as a defenseman, but has impressed with 30 points in 42 AHL games. The Golden Knights also called up defenseman Brayden Pachal. Pachal, 22, is an undrafted blueliner who has gotten into one game for the Golden Knights this year. He had seven points in 24 games for the Silver Knights last season.
  • The Seattle Kraken returned forward Kole Lind to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL from loan. Lind played just three games for Seattle on this assignment, and has only played seven this entire season, recording two assists. The forward has performed nicely in Charlotte this year, producing 17 goals and 18 assists in 46 games for the Checkers. The Checkers are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, however because Seattle’s AHL affiliate will not start until the 2022-23 season, the two teams have agreed to split their use of the Charlotte team for this season.

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