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Edmonton Oilers Extend Joakim Nygard

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If Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland is anything, he’s loyal to his players and a man of his word. The veteran executive has shown that yet again today by extending forward Joakim Nygard. The move comes just weeks after a report emerged that Holland and company were happy with the play of their depth forwards and hoping to sign the impending UFA’s in that group. Zack Kassian was re-signed days after that announcement and now Nygard, one of the other players specifically named, can also be checked off the re-signing list. Nygard’s new deal is for the 2020-21 season and carries an $875K cap hit, per PuckPedia.

Nygard, 27, is in his first NHL season after signing with the Oilers this past spring out of Sweden. The left winger had previously been a standout performer for many years for Farjestad BK of the SHL but decided to make the jump to the top level. So far, he has recorded nine points in 33 games, but has battled injuries along the way and is currently sidelined with a broken hand. At his best, Nygard has shown flashes of offensive pop and has even spent some time on Edmonton’s little-used second power play unit. None of Nygard’s numbers this season really jump off the page, but clearly there was mutual interest in an extended relationship between player and team and at worst he is an affordable depth option, especially after taking a slight salary hit off of his $925K number this year.

With Nygard’s new deal complete, Holland can continue down the list. The other forwards named in the prior report include Josh Archibald and Riley Sheahan, who have both been valuable role players for the Oilers this season. At this rate, don’t be surprised to see both ink extensions by the end of the regular season.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Samuelsson, Kreider

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, and unsurprisingly Leon Draisaitl lands on top. The Edmonton Oilers superstar now leads the entire league in scoring and has actually been on fire since being separated from Connor McDavid. Draisaitl has 22 points in the 11 games away from McDavid, finally finding some wing help in the form of Kailer Yamamoto.

Second star Steven Stamkos won’t turn many heads after appearing in these spots many times before, but the same can’t be said about J.T. Miller who takes home the third star. Miller has found a new level of production with the Vancouver Canucks and is already just a few goals and points short of his career-highs.

  • Ulf Samuelsson had been serving as a pro scout for the Seattle expansion franchise, but will leave the organization to take a job as head coach of Leksands IF in the SHL. That’s the team Samuelsson played for before joining the NHL back in 1984 for a long, productive career.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) examined several potential trade scenarios for the deadline, giving his take on what it would take to acquire some of the top rentals. Chris Kreider is the first name he writes on, reporting that eight teams have told the New York Rangers that “they’ve got Kreider at the top of their wish list.” LeBrun’s speculative trade will turn a lot of heads, as he suggests a package similar to the one that New York received for Kevin Hayes last year.

New York Rangers Loan Lias Andersson To SHL

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The New York Rangers announced they have loaned suspended forward Lias Andersson to HV71 of the SHL. While the team had been looking for a potential trade partner for their disgruntled forward since he walked out on his AHL team on Dec. 21, the team has decided that allowing him to play overseas for now is the best case for his continued development and could drum up some interest before the trade deadline.

Despite being drafted seventh-overall back in 2017, Andersson hasn’t lived up to his billing, having scored just six points in 42 games with the Rangers in 2018-19 and got even less playing time this year. In 17 games with New York, Andersson played mostly on the fourth line, averaging just 9:33 per night, and tallied just one assist in that time. He was eventually assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack where he scored four goals and five points in 13 games, but was also seeing a decline in his playing time, which wasn’t going to help him return to the Rangers squad. Unhappy with his playing time and frustrated that he still wasn’t with the Rangers, Andersson choose to walk away from the team and demanded a trade, where the team responded by suspending him. He returned to his home country of Sweden not long after that.

Since then, Andersson has been in direct contact with Rangers team president John Davidson for the past few weeks and was rumored to be working out with a low-level team in Sweden. The 21-year-old should be quite familiar with HV71 as he played with the team for two years before he was drafted, scoring nine goals and 19 points as a 17-year-old in 2016-17.

With little trade value at the moment, the Rangers have to hope that Andersson can continue his development in the SHL and improve that value, although it would seem unlikely that all that can happen before the trade deadline. Being a seventh-overall pick, New York would expect a solid return for a 21-year-old player and aren’t likely to give the youngster away for less than that. If Andersson can become one of the team’s top players and put up some numbers over there, he could improve his stock and either opt to return to the team or give the team a better chance to trade him.

Snapshots: Chara, Caggiula, Gustafsson

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Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was a surprise absence from the lineup on Thursday night, with the team providing little indication before puck drop that he would not be available. However, the reasoning is tied to the only cause of missed action for Chara dating back to the 2019 postseason. Chara suffered a fractured jaw in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final and missed the remainder of the game, though he admirably returned for Games Five through Seven. Chara underwent surgery this summer, but was healthy by training camp and the 42-year-old has not dealt with any other injuries so far this year. Chara only missed his first game of the season back in December due to a clean-up procedure on his jaw. Now, it seems the jaw has stuck again, after Chara took a couple of good shots from the Nashville Predators’ Yakov Trenin in a fight on Tuesday night. There has been no time frame provided for Chara’s return to action, as this could simply just be soreness related to the surgically-repaired jaw, which would lend itself to the late announcement that he would not play. The Bruins will be happy to have their veteran leader back whenever he is ready, as the iconic defenseman continues to play big minutes for Boston.

  • Drake Caggiula has returned to the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday after having missed nearly two months with a concussion. Caggiula, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers last season, is hoping he can return to the same level of production he flashed after initially arriving in Chicago, recording 12 points in 26 games. Caggiula had just four points through 15 games to begin this season, but the opportunity is there for the two-way forward to take on a bigger role for the offense-challenged Blackhawks.
  • Winnipeg Jets rookie David Gustafsson played his first 22 games of the season in the NHL and then played well at the World Junior Championship. His reward? A demotion to the AHL. The Manitoba Moose report that Gustafsson has been reassigned to the team, where he will make his AHL debut after reporting directly to the Jets after coming over from Sweden this year. Gustafsson had just one lone point with the Jets before being loaned to the WJC, but if his production in the SHL and on the international stage are any indication, he could be a scoring force for the Moose and earn his way back to Winnipeg shortly.

Three Players Clear Waivers

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Monday: According to CapFriendly, all three players have cleared waivers. Holm’s contract can now be terminated.

Sunday: There are three defensemen hitting the NHL waiver wire today, though none should come as much of a surprise. New Jersey’s Matt Tennyson, who cleared waivers earlier this season, has again been waived for the purpose of reassignment to the AHL. Meanwhile, Montreal’s Christian Folin is also on waivers after being a healthy scratch for more than two months.  Chicago’s Philip Holm, who has not seen any NHL action this season, has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

Folin, 28, played well down the stretch with the Canadiens last season after a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers and did enough to earn a one-year extension with the team this season. Signing a one-way deal to stay in Montreal, many expected that Folin could be a regular piece of the roster this season. However, he has hardly been utilized instead, playing in five games with the Habs, seven games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, and watching most games from the press box. After the Canadiens acquired Marco Scandella last week, it was clear that a re-shuffling of the blue line was in order and Folin is now headed back to the minor, pending safe clearance through waivers.

Tennyson, 29, has been a serviceable defender for the Devils this season, playing in 19 games already, which is equal to his past two seasons combined. Tennyson signed a two-year, two-way contract with New Jersey this summer and was expected to play the role of AHL veteran and deep depth option, but has already provided more value than that. However, he landed on the injured reserve back in early December and the Devils have gotten healthy and learned to play without him in the weeks since. Now healthy, Tennyson will return to the minors, unless another team was impressed enough with his early-season play to claim the affordable depth option.

Holm, 28, returned to North America this season after spending last year in the KHL. The former SHL standout took his time coming over initially, waiting until 2017 before signing with the Vancouver Canucks. Potentially as a result of his unfamiliarity with the NHL style, Holm has struggled to translate his ability. He played in one game with the Canucks early in the 2017-18, zero with the Vegas Golden Knights following a mid-season trade, and zero with the Blackhawks this season. His opportunity and thus his production has been better in Europe, making it far from a shock that he is abandoning his one-year, two-way contract with Chicago early to pursue other options. Expect his contract to be terminated tomorrow once he clears waivers.

Mattias Norlinder Signs Extension In Sweden

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The Montreal Canadiens have plenty of questions among their defense corps right now, but it seems as though some answers are coming in the way of top prospects. Alexander Romanov was a second-round pick in 2018 but looks like he’ll be coming over before long, and Mattias Norlinder has already raised his stock considerably since being selected in the third round last June.

Norlinder, 19, has been excellent this season for MODO in the Swedish second league, scoring 14 points in 28 games. He was recently named to the Swedish World Junior team alongside an elite defensive group, and teammates are convinced he’ll make the NHL one day. That won’t be next year though, as Norlinder has signed a one-year extension with MODO to continue his development in Sweden for 2020-21.

To be sure, the Canadiens will be watching his play closely as he takes on more responsibility with his club team. If MODO can win promotion to the SHL all the better, but even without that he has become a prospect to keep your eye on. With Cole Caufield set to star for Team USA at the upcoming World Junior tournament, we may even see some battles between future teammates in the coming weeks.

Adam Boqvist Not Joining Team Sweden

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After already deciding that Kirby Dach wouldn’t be heading to the World Junior Championship later this month, the Chicago Blackhawks have come to the same conclusion regarding Adam Boqvist. The young defenseman will not join Team Sweden for the event and has been replaced by Arizona Coyotes prospect Victor Soderstrom on the roster.

Boqvist, 19, played his ninth game of the season for the Blackhawks last night, getting 15 minutes of ice time in a loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Blackhawks collapsed in the third period to blow a 3-0 lead and now sit at 12-15-6 on the season. Despite their team struggles, management has obviously decided that getting Dach and Boqvist more NHL experience is more important than any success they could have overseas against other junior-aged players.

Interestingly, the next game that Boqvist plays for the Blackhawks is an important one. It would trigger his entry-level contract for this season, making him a restricted free agent in the summer of 2022. That is already the case for Dach, who now has 27 NHL games under his belt since going third overall last June.

Soderstrom meanwhile will get an exciting opportunity in Boqvist’s place. The 11th overall pick from 2019, Soderstrom is already one of the most polished two-way defensive prospects in the game. Already with most of a season under his belt at the SHL level a year ago, he’s back at the highest level in Sweden this season and finding great success. With nine points he leads all defenseman in scoring for Brynas, despite having played just 15 out of their 24 games. He’ll join an elite Swedish defense corps that still may get Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Prospect Notes: Barron, Holtz, Romanov

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Top 2020 draft prospect Justin Barron has been ruled out indefinitely by the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, after a blood clot diagnosis this week. Barron had been considered a potential top-15 selection in the upcoming draft after another great start in the CHL. The 6’2″ right-handed defenseman has 17 points in 27 games for the Mooseheads and was part of Canada’s gold medal-winning Hlinka-Gretzky team in the summer.

If Barron misses a substantial part of the season, it will be interesting to see how far he falls down draft boards. An all-around talent that could play on both the powerplay and penalty kill one day in the NHL, he’ll hopefully be able to get healthy enough to return to action before Halifax finishes their year.

  • Sweden is expected to release their World Junior camp roster tomorrow, but one top name may potentially have to miss out. Alexander Holtz, considered a potential top-five pick in the 2020 draft, suffered a knee injury today and had to leave the game. He’ll be examined further by the team, but a serious injury would mean he misses the chance to perform in front of scouts from all over the world. Holtz, an incredibly skilled winger, has been playing at the highest level in the SHL despite being just 17-years old.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin met with Alexander Romanov today in Russia, but the young defenseman still hasn’t made a decision on whether he’ll come to North America next season. Romanov was given just eight minutes of ice time by the CSKA coaching staff as Bergevin looked on, but it wasn’t a terrible day—he was named to the Russian World Junior camp roster.

Toronto Marlies Hire Greg Moore As Head Coach

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Since the promotion of former head coach Sheldon Keefe to the same position with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies have been searching for his replacement. The team has decided to go outside of the organization to tab their next bench boss, a rare move in-season, and have announced that Greg Moore has been named head coach. Moore was hired away from the USHL’s Chicago Steel midway through his second season with the team.

Moore, 35, is very familiar with developmental hockey. A young head coach, Moore was himself an NHL prospect not long ago. The Maine native played for the U.S. National Team Development Program in the early 2000’s and then played his college hockey at home at the University of Maine. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames after his freshman year, but his rights were traded to the New York Rangers before he turned pro. Moore made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 2007-08 overall made ten NHL appearances with the Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets over five pro season in North America. He also played a leadership role with nearly every AHL club he played for. Moore moved to Germany in 2011 and extended his playing career another four years before calling it quits in 2015. He immediately jumped into the coaching ranks, becoming an intern assistant coach with the USNTDP. After two seasons as an intern, he became full-time in 2017-18 only to be named head coach for USHL rival Chicago a year later.

Moore is well-regarded among young NHL coaching prospects. His Steel team went all the way to the Clark Cup in his first season and recorded a 52-25-5 record overall in 82 games with Moore behind the bench. His name had already been in the mix for possible NCAA openings this off-season, but he gets an even better deal with an AHL promotion mid-season. The Leafs organization has seemingly had an eye on Moore for some time, as they invited him to be a guest coach at development camp this summer and worked quickly to hire him just ten days after the firing of Mike Babcock and promotion of Keefe. Moore will be in the spotlight with the Marlies, but has a bright future ahead of him following this major career move.

Overseas Notes: Bailey, Rasanen, Hiller

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Casey Bailey has certainly had a whirlwind start to the 2019-20 season. The former Penn State standout joined the Washington Capitals in training camp and later their farm team, the Hershey Bears, but failed to land a contract with either club. He signed with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays in October and was loaned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers earlier this month. After performing well with both teams, it seems Bailey was able to parlay his success into another contract. The Vaxjo Lakers of the SHL have announced that they have signed Bailey to a contract for the remainder of the season. While this is Bailey’s first foray into Swedish hockey, it marks a return to Europe for the 28-year-old, who spent last year with the KHL’s Slovan Bratislava. A two-way right wing with NHL experience, Bailey has never reached the potential he flashed while a member of the Nittany Lions, but brings size, speed, and a track record of strong numbers in the AHL to Vaxjo. Bailey could emerge as a top contributor for the Lakers, who count talented but inexperienced NHL prospects Emil Pettersson (ARI), Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (BOS), and Marcus Davidsson (BUF) among their best players.

  • Eemeli Rasanen is making an unexpected trip to Denmark for the next month. In a move rarely seen, especially with NHL prospects, the KHL’s Jokerit has loaned Rasanen to the Frederikshavn White Hawks of Norway’s Metal Ligaen, the team announced. It is quite the demotion for the 20-year-old defenseman, a 2017 second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs who spent a brief stint in the AHL last year. Fortunately, it is just for a month, as the loan agreement expires after Christmas. Jokerit undoubtedly will make some money off of this deal, but also likely hopes that it jumpstarts Rasanen. The big blue liner has split his season to this point between the KHL and minor league Mestis, failing to make much of an impact at either level. He will have a major advantage over the competition in Denmark though, where he hopes to re-discover his game.
  • Former NHL keeper Jonas Hiller is currently playing the final season of a long, successful career. Or is he? The starting goalie for the NLA’s EHC Biel-Bienne is dominating the Swiss ranks at the ripe old age of 37, calling into question whether he is really done. Hiller holds a .933 save percentage and 2.03 GAA through 19 games, the best numbers of his career at any pro level. He leads the NLA in both categories as well. Nicola Berger of NZZ Sport writes that Biel-Bienne is trying to convince Hiller not to retire while he is still at the top of his game. The team does not want to suffer a major drop-off in performance in net, so much so that Berger indicates that they could try to poach New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider if Hiller follows through on his departure. While Hiller has entertained the idea of continuing to play when approached by the media, Berger writes that he would be happy to go out on top, not wanting poor play to instead force his hand. While Hiller’s days in the NHL are undoubtedly over, his continued dominance in Switzerland at his age remains an entertaining story to follow.

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