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Oskari Laaksonen Signs Two-Year Deal In SHL

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Dallas Stars pending restricted free agent defender Oskari Laaksonen has signed with the SHL’s Luleå HF for the next two seasons, keeping him overseas through 2025.

The 23-year-old arrives in Luleå after two-and-a-half seasons in the AHL. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the 89th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Dallas acquired Laaksonen in a minor trade in December 2022.

There’s still some untapped potential in Laaksonen, who posted 34 points in 71 games with the Rochester Americans in 2021-22 before becoming a healthy scratch as the postseason began. In Texas this season, Laaksonen registered eight points in 29 games, adding three points in six playoff contests.

Dallas can retain Laaksonen’s NHL rights upon the expiration of his SHL deal if they issue a qualifying offer next month.

Before his time in the AHL, the Finnish defenseman amassed four seasons of pro experience in the Finnish Liiga with the Ilves and Pelicans clubs. Notably, Laaksonen was also a part of the Finnish national team that clinched the IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship title in the 2018-19 season.

Luleå general manager Stefan Nilsson expressed his excitement about Laaksonen’s acquisition in a translated statement:

It feels great with Laaksonen, who we feel is a skilled two-way defender who will be able to help the team. In addition to having a solid defensive game, he is also a good skater who likes to participate in the offensive game. In addition, he is a right-handed shooter, which we don’t have too many of.

Laaksonen also spoke on his decision to move overseas:

It feels great to move to Luleå and take on a new challenge together with Luleå Hockey in the SHL. Before I decided to sign, I spoke to Juhani Tyrväinen, because I have played with his brother before, and he had nothing but good things to say about both the association and the team, so it was an easy decision to make.

Sampo Ranta Signs In Sweden

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Pending Colorado Avalanche restricted free agent forward Sampo Ranta has signed a two-year contract with the newly-promoted MoDo Hockey of the SHL, as announced by the team Thursday.

Colorado can still issue a qualifying offer to Ranta, which would keep him on the organization’s reserve list when his SHL deal expires in 2025. The Avalanche would maintain his rights at that point if he wanted to make an NHL return.

The 22-year-old Finn was a third-round selection of the Avalanche in 2018, but his promising collegiate numbers haven’t yet translated to the pro level. Over the past two-and-a-half seasons with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, Ranta has registered 22 goals and 43 points in 110 games. It’s not awful, but after a point-per-game junior campaign with the University of Minnesota in 2020-21, the organization was expecting a bit more.

Ranta did get multiple NHL looks, accumulating 16 regular-season games and two playoff games, but he failed to register a single point. For an Avalanche team that relies heavily on its top-six forward group, there weren’t many ice time opportunities for Ranta even when in the NHL lineup.

It’s likely why he’s opted to head overseas to a hungry MoDo team looking to stay in Sweden’s top league after earning promotion from the Allsvenskan this past season. He’ll have plenty of opportunity there and should be among the team’s scoring leaders at season’s end.

Born in Naantali, Finland, this will be Ranta’s first time playing in a European league since junior action with the Red Bull Hockey Academy in Austria in 2015-16.

East Notes: Eyssimont, Talvitie, Pajuniemi

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Team USA will be without the services of forward Michael Eyssimont for Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup against Czechia as the IIHF announced that he has received a one-game suspension for a kneeing incident in Tuesday’s game against Sweden.  The 26-year-old was a late addition to the team after the Lightning were eliminated in the first round but had suited up all seven games so far.  Eyssimont had two assists in those contests along with 11 shots and 29 penalty minutes in just over 12 minutes per game.  Team USA has one extra forward on their roster, Montreal prospect Luke Tuch who will likely suit up as the extra forward in Eyssimont’s absence.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Devils prospect Aarne Talvitie has decided to go back overseas as TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga announced that they’ve signed the forward to a two-year contract. The 24-year-old showed some promise at Penn State after being drafted and was quite effective at the World Juniors in 2020.  However, that didn’t translate to much success in the pros as he followed up a 12-goal, 24-point rookie campaign with a three-goal, 14-point sophomore season in 2022-23, resulting in him looking to head back home.  New Jersey can still retain Talvitie’s RFA rights with a qualifying offer in June and he isn’t UFA-eligible until 2026, they might still do so.
  • Pending Rangers RFA Lauri Pajuniemi has decided to try his hand in the SHL as he has joined Malmo on a one-year contract, per a team announcement. The 23-year-old winger had a good sophomore year with AHL Hartford, notching 19 goals (fourth-most on the team) and 38 points (sixth-most) in 68 games while chipping in with six points in nine playoff appearances.  However, Pajuniemi didn’t receive a recall at any point during the regular season.  New York can retain his rights through 2027 by still tendering him a qualifying offer next month.

East Notes: Ostlund, Rangers, Blue Jackets

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It appears that Sabres prospect Noah Ostlund has determined where he’ll play next season.  Johan Svensson of SportExpressen reports that the center will play with Vaxjo of the SHL in 2023-24 with a formal announcement expected in the next few days.  Ostlund was a first-round pick by Buffalo last year (16th overall) and spent the season with Djurgardens of the second-tier Allsvenskan, collecting 26 points in 37 games.  Ostlund is currently with AHL Rochester but isn’t expected to play during the rest of their Calder Cup run.  He has already signed his entry-level contract but if he plays next season in Sweden, his contract will slide a year and still have three years remaining after 2023-24.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic provides (subscription link) an update on the Rangers’ coaching search, noting that veterans Peter Laviolette and Mike Babcock both had their interviews this week. Staple suggests that Kraken assistant Jay Leach could also be on their radar but was unable to confirm if New York has reached out to get permission to interview him.  There are presently six teams looking for a new bench boss around the NHL so once one of the preferred candidates comes off the board, other teams might be looking to finalize their hires soon after.
  • Finding a head coach isn’t the only thing that the Blue Jackets have to do with their staff as the goaltending coach position is also open. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch puts forth a trio of names that could be in the mix for that role, including Michael Lawrence who is a goalie coach in Switzerland and worked with Elvis Merzlikins for two seasons.  Merzlikins struggled considerably this season but with four years left on his contract, getting him back on track is of paramount importance if Columbus is going to find a way to get back into the playoff picture.

Snapshots: Sullivan, Lomberg, Hainsey, Martinsen Lilleberg

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There has been some speculation recently that a possible chain reaction of hirings could eventually result in Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan being let go and moving behind the bench for the Rangers.  However, the bench boss poured cold water on that idea, telling Mollie Walker of the New York Post that he is “here for the long haul” with Pittsburgh.  Sullivan has four years left on his contract with Pittsburgh and is expected to have some sort of say in who the team brings in to fill out their front office after dismissing GM Ron Hextall and Brian Burke at the end of the regular season.  Accordingly, it stands to reason that he’ll be behind the bench when the puck drops on the 2023-24 campaign in October.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Panthers winger Ryan Lomberg was a full participant at practice today, notes George Richards of Florida Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 28-year-old suffered an upper-body injury partway through the first round against Boston and missed the entire second round versus Toronto.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated after practice today that his full team is available for the series opener tomorrow in Carolina so it appears that Lomberg will be back after missing the last eight games.
  • Ron Hainsey is moving up the ranks at the NHLPA as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli relays (Twitter link) that the long-time NHL blueliner is now their Assistant Executive Director. Hainsey, who played 17 seasons in the league with eight different teams, played a significant role in the search new Executive Director Marty Walsh and he has been rewarded for those efforts with a promotion.
  • Coyotes prospect Emil Martinsen Lilleberg is on the move as Vaxjo of the SHL announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a two-year contract. The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Coyotes (107th overall) back in 2021 and had three goals and eight assists in 46 games with IK Oskarshamn and is currently playing in his third straight World Championship with Norway.  Drafted as a 20-year-old, Arizona only has Martinsen Lilleberg’s draft rights until June 1st so it appears that they will not be signing him based on this new agreement in Sweden.

Minor Transactions: 05/16/23

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For the first time since the playoffs began, we have a break in the NHL schedule. While the four remaining teams won’t start their Conference Final series until Thursday and Friday, offseason activity hasn’t slowed down in other leagues as rosters for 2023-24 take form. As always, we’re keeping tabs on all notable minor transactions from across the hockey world, and we’ll list today’s right here.

  • SHL veteran Filip Sandberg signed a one-year extension with Skellefteå AIK today, the team announced. Sandberg, who began his pro career with HV71, was an undrafted free agent signing by the San Jose Sharks in 2017 but played just over one full campaign with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda before returning to Sweden in November of 2018. After two additional seasons with HV71 and a brief stop in Finland with TPS, Sandberg is now back in his home country, having recorded 11 goals and 27 points in 52 SHL games with Skellefteå last season.
  • The SHL’s Frölunda HC and longtime forward fixture Ryan Lasch have agreed to part ways this offseason with a year left on his contract, the team said Tuesday. The 36-year-old American never made much of an impact professionally stateside, mostly due to his 5-foot-7, 157-pound frame, but has excelled overseas in a longstanding pro career. Lasch led the entire SHL in scoring in 2021-22, recording well over a point per game, but lost a step this year with Frölunda, posting just five goals and 24 points in 41 games.
  • Former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Kristers Gudlevskis is extending his stay in Europe with a two-year contract in Germany, signing today with the DEL’s Fischtown Penguins. The 30-year-old Latvian netminder was pivotal last season in earning Swedish club MODO Hockey promotion back to the SHL, recording a .920 save percentage in the regular season, but MODO opted to bolster their crease this offseason by signing pending Anaheim Ducks free agent Olle Eriksson Ek. Gudlevskis now returns to Fischtown, where he played 25 games in the 2019-20 season.

This page will be updated throughout the day…

Jonathan Lekkerimaki Will Play In SHL This Season

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Despite signing his entry-level contract earlier this month, Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki won’t play for the organization this season. Orebro HK has announced a contract with the young forward, one that extends through the 2024-25 season.

In the release, the team explains that Lekkerimaki will travel to Vancouver for training camp in the summer but return to Sweden before the season begins. That same process will be repeated the following year, though the Canucks will have the option to put him on the NHL roster if they feel he is ready.

Lekkerimaki will be joined in this exercise by fellow Swedish prospect Elias Pettersson (no, not that Elias Pettersson), who signed his entry-level deal in April. Both players can continue to develop overseas, while their contracts slide forward, maintaining team control.

Selected 15th overall in 2022, the 18-year-old Lekkerimaki has still not found consistent success at the highest level in Sweden. While there were encouraging signs in 2021-22 with Djurgardens IF, the club was relegated the following season, meaning he was limited to Allsvenskan competition.

Now joining Orebro gives him a chance to compete in the SHL once again, challenging his development and preparing him for life in the NHL.

Minor Transactions: 05/15/23

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With Game Seven between the Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken tonight, the NHL’s second round is set to come to a close. Just four NHL franchises will remain in contention for the Stanley Cup, while the majority of teams are now earnestly preparing for their offseason work.

One minor league did give out a championship yesterday, the Federal Prospects Hockey League, a league that brands itself as being “Single-A” level. (Where the ECHL is Double-A, AHL is Triple-A, and so forth.) The Danbury Hat Tricks erased a 2-0 series deficit and took home the Commissioner’s Cup in a decisive Game Five, the first title for a Danbury team since the now-defunct Danbury Whalers won the same trophy in 2013. The Hat Tricks’ victory was another notable moment in the history of pro hockey in Danbury, a city whose former pro team, the Trashers, once rostered players with NHL experience such as Mike Rupp, Rumun Ndur, and Brent Gretzky and was the subject of a Netflix documentary.

With fewer and fewer leagues still set to play and the IIHF World Championships fully underway, teams across the hockey world are getting to work on their offseason moves. We’ll keep track of any notable transactions here:

  • After hitting the open market late last month, former NHL forward Patrice Cormier has found his next team. The 32-year-old two-time Manitoba Moose captain has signed with the DEL’s Eisbaren Berlin, a club desperate for a bounce-back season after following up their back-to-back titles with a playoff miss. Cormier is five seasons removed from his last in North America and has been in the KHL for that entire period. He spent this past season with Automobilist Yekaterinburg and scored 19 points in 55 games. He’s also had stops elsewhere in Russia and in Kazakhstan in his time since playing for the Moose.
  • Former Florida Panthers depth defenseman Colby Robak announced his retirement from professional hockey today on social media, according to the Daily Sentinel’s Ben Birnell. The 33-year-old defenseman played 47 NHL games, mostly for the Florida Panthers, between 2011-12 and 2014-15. Beyond his NHL experience, Robak’s career highlights include three seasons spent as a star defenseman for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, being named to the AHL All-Star game in just his second season as a professional, and leading the German DEL in points by a defenseman in 2020-21. After spending 2021-22 with the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings, his third campaign in Germany and second as an alternate captain for the franchise, Robak didn’t play in 2022-23 and has now made the choice to end his playing career.
  • Matt Bradley, a former Montreal Canadiens prospect and ECHL champion, has signed with the DEL’s Straubing Tigers after spending the better part of the last two seasons playing for the Vienna Capitals in the ICEHL. The 26-year-old has played exceptionally well in the Austrian capital, notching 82 points in 67 games alongside 22 points in 22 playoff games. His success in the Central European ICEHL has now earned him a chance in Germany’s top flight, and while Vienna will now need to cope with the loss of their top scorer Bradley gains a significant opportunity to step onto a DEL playoff team and look to seize a similarly important offensive role.
  • Slovakian forward Miroslav Mucha, a recent graduate of the college hockey ranks with Lake Superior State and Michigan State University, has signed with Bili Tygri Liberec of Czechia’s Extraliga. The 25-year-old has three games of pro experience under his belt, them all coming with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits on a contract he signed late in the ECHL campaign. The former Michigan State captain scored 35 points in 37 games in his final season with Lake Superior State University before transferring to the Spartans for this season, and scored 17 points in his final 38 games of college hockey. Now he’ll head to Czechia, where he’ll look to score his first professional points and establish himself in the country’s top league.
  • Two-time SHL champion Eric Martinsson, a veteran of the European pro circuit, has signed with the Vaxjo Lakers of the SHL, the club he played for from 2014-2018. Martinsson is a 30-year-old blueliner who spent this past season playing for HV71, and the year before played for Barys Astana in Kazakhstan. Martinsson has 13 games of pro experience in North America, all of them coming in 2018-19 with the Iowa Wild. He scored an impressive nine points in that span but ultimately chose to return to Europe to play in Switzerland. Now, he’ll get to join the reigning Swedish champions.
  • HC Davos of Switzerland’s National League made two notable signings today. First, they inked a deal with 34-year-old veteran blueliner Noah Schneeberger, who has over 500 games of experience at the National League level. Schneeberger has played for Davos before, and won a title with the team in 2015. The other player they signed is 24-year-old Aleksi Peltonen. The captain of St. Lawrence University this past season, Peltonen is the son of Finnish Hockey Hall of Famer Ville Peltonen, who also is the head coach of Liiga side HIFK Helsinki. He’s also the grandson of another Finnish hockey Hall of Famer, Esa Peltonen, a former top scorer and champion at HIFK. Now, the younger Peltonen will get his pro career started in Switzerland, the league where his father was a head coach for two seasons.
  • Young blueliner Theodor Johnsson has made the switch from the SHL to the Finnish Liiga. The 20-year-old has transferred from the Malmo Redhawks to Liiga’s Vaasan Sport. Johnsson broke into the SHL this past season skating in 35 games for the Malmo Redhawks, a team that only narrowly avoided relegation to the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. While he only scored three points, Johnsson’s performance in that stretch and his 18-game run for the Vaxjo Lakers last year proved good enough for Vaasan to take this chance and sign him to this contract.
  • Undersized defenseman Aleksi Anttalainen has signed a contract with SaiPa after spending the last four seasons with TPS Turku in Liiga. Anttalainen impressively carved out a role as a lineup regular for TPS the season after aging out of the QMJHL, where he played with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Moncton Wildcats. Though some might look at Anttalainen’s physical attributes and typecast him as more of an offensive defenseman, Anttalainen has actually remained in the lineup in TPS despite not producing very many points. He’s scored just 24 in 149 career Liiga games, and SaiPa are clearly comfortable with the unique package of skills he’ll bring to their lineup, hoping that his blend of skating skill and physicality will help improve a team that came in last place in last season’s Liiga campaign.
  • Recent ICEHL champions EHC Red Bull Salzburg have announced that four players will not be continuing with the club. Among those names is Danish forward Nikolai Meyer, the player who scored the team’s championship-winning goal in Game Seven of the finals against HC Bolzano, and was among their top scorers on a point-per-game basis with 26 points in 31 games this season. The 29-year-old is no stranger to success in the European pro ranks, as he led HockeyAllsvenskan in scoring during his 2018-19 season with Sodertalje SK and was named the league’s forward of the year. While his short stay in Czechia with HC Plzen didn’t exactly go swimmingly, Meyer has been productive in multiple leagues across Europe and should be able to receive some interest now that he’s hit the open market.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Snapshots: Brossoit, Boedker, McCabe Trade Conditions

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After helping the Vegas Golden Knights to a comfortable first-round series win over the Winnipeg Jets, the expectation was that Laurent Brossoit would be between the pipes for Vegas during their playoff run, their Stanley Cup hopes resting on his shoulders. Brossoit suffered a lower-body injury stopping an Edmonton Oilers scoring chance in Game Two of the second round, though, scuttling those plans. With Vegas now on the brink of qualifying once again for the Western Conference final, it does not seem as though Brossoit’s return is imminent.

As relayed by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Brossoit wouldn’t be traveling with the team to Edmonton for Game Six. This has left Vegas in the hands of Adin Hill, who the team acquired from the San Jose Sharks over the summer in exchange for a fourth-round pick. While Hill is a capable goalie, one might presume that Vegas would feel more comfortable backstopped by the netminder who helped them win their series against Winnipeg. In any case, it’s looking as though Vegas will have to attempt to fend off Edmonton without Brossoit in their crease.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • The SHL’s HV71 announced today that Mikkel Boedker, a veteran of over 700 games in the NHL, would not be returning to the club for next season. It’s a disappointing if entirely unsurprising result for the 33-year-old, as he struggled in his return to Sweden’s top flight, a league he hasn’t played in since he skated in two contests for Frolunda HC way back in 2006-07. A former 50-point scorer in the NHL, Boedker managed just 11 points in 41 games for HV71 and could not help them make noise in the league standings as the team finished 11th. Now he’ll have to look for a new opportunity to continue his pro career, and perhaps a return to the Swiss league could be in the cards as he played for Lugano from 2020-2022.
  •  While the storylines involving the franchise’s general direction might draw more attention, Maple Leafs’ elimination last night also made some more minor news. One of the conditions of the Maple Leafs’ trade for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty was finalized as McCabe played in more than 50% of Toronto’s playoff games. As a result, all McCabe must do is play in more than 25% of the Maple Leafs’ regular-season games next year, and Toronto will receive a 2025 fifth-round pick as part of the deal. Should McCabe play in less than 25% of games, the Maple Leafs will instead receive Chicago’s 2025 third-round pick.

Panthers RFA Logan Hutsko Signs In Sweden

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After a pair of seasons in the minors, Panthers prospect Logan Hutsko has opted for a change of scenery.  The forward has signed a two-year contract with IK Oskarshamn of the SHL, per a team release.

The 24-year-old was a third-round pick by Florida back in 2018 (89th overall) but only has a couple of years of pro experience under his belt since he played a full four years at Boston College.  Hutsko had a good first season in the minors last year with 38 points in 71 games but injuries limited him to just 43 appearances in 2022-23 where he was fairly productive with 27 points.  That makes his decision to leave a little surprising but the fact that he wasn’t among Florida’s ‘Black Ace’ promotions earlier this month probably didn’t help things.

Florida can still control Hutsko through 2026 and with this deal running through the end of the 2024-25 campaign, it seems likely that they will still tender him a qualifying offer this summer to retain his rights.  In the meantime, they’ll hope that Hutsko can take another step in his development in Sweden and then assess if he’s worth bringing back in a couple of years.

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