Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Snapshots

Snapshots: Iginla, Kirk, Greco

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Calgary Flames announced today that Jarome Iginla will officially retire from professional hockey on Monday, though he hasn’t been an active player for a full season. Iginla, 41, did attend some AHL practices this past season and was a potential candidate for the Canadian Olympic team, but failed to actually play in any games. Monday will mark the end of a more than two decade long playing career that is sure to put him into the Hall of Fame without much delay.

Iginla ended up with 1,554 career regular season games in which he scored exactly 1,300 points. He never did raise the Stanley Cup—though Flames fans will still tell you how they deserved to win in 2004—but will still go down as one of the game’s all-time power forwards. With 625 career goals he ranks 15th on the career leaderboard, tied with Olympic teammate Joe Sakic. Iginla did win two gold medals at that tournament, and was the player who sent an incredible pass to Sidney Crosby for the “Golden Goal” in Vancouver in 2010. We’ll have more on Iginla’s retirement when it becomes official on Monday.

  • Liam Kirk, the first English born and trained player to ever be drafted into the NHL, has signed on to play with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL this season. Kirk was selected 189th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in June, and will have to compete at a brand new level next season. Playing for the Sheffield Steelers last season in the EIHL, Kirk recorded just 16 points in 52 games. He’ll be asked to do more than that this season for the Petes, but will have the luxury of playing against players his own age.
  • The New York Islanders have struggled for quite some time to find above-average starting goaltending, and they’ll try a different approach this season. The team has hired Piero Greco to replace Fred Brathwaite as their goaltending coach, taking him from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization where he has worked with their minor league affiliate for the past few seasons. Greco is credited for developing Maple Leafs goaltender Garret Sparks from a seventh-round afterthought into the AHL Goaltender of the Year, and will now try to turn around the careers of Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss. Both goaltenders have shown high-level ability in the NHL, but will find some consistency if the Islanders are to compete in the Metropolitan Division this season.

Snapshots: Offer Sheets, Hall, O’Gara

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With a limited pool of quality unrestricted free agents this year and quite a few impressive names among restricted free agents available, one has to wonder whether this might be the year that a team makes an attempt to pry away one of them with an offer sheet.

Sure, no team has used an offer sheet since 2013 when the Calgary Flames attempted to sign center Ryan O’Reilly away from the Colorado Avalanche. It didn’t work and since then, there hasn’t been one. Yet with names like Noah Hanifin, Dylan Larkin and William Nylander still available, you would think a team might attempt to go the offer-sheet route.

However, Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that won’t be happening this year, if again. The scribe informally polled nine general managers, who all collectively said there would be no offer sheets handed out this summer. One reason is that general managers see it as a way to drive up salaries, which they don’t want, and since almost all offer sheets are matched, then what would be the point? Custance adds that the compensation for offer sheets must be changed, so teams might be more willing to let a player go.

  • Chris Ryan of nj.com analyzes the success of Hart Trophy winners the following year they won, as he wonders how New Jersey Devils Taylor Hall will respond next season after winning the Hart Trophy with a 39-goal and 93-point season. While most of the previous winners (going all the way back to the 2006 season) saw a decline in their play the following year, most of them still put up solid numbers and still were in the voting for the Hart Trophy the following year, even if they didn’t win it. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid finished fifth in the voting the following year, while 2016 Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane finished sixth the next season.
  • Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that former Boston Bruins defenseman Rob O’Gara, who was traded at the trade deadline to the New York Rangers as part of the Nick Holden trade felt the trade was bittersweet. The 25-year-old blueliner was still on his entry-level contract and had only played 11 NHL games before the trade, but the four-year Yale University product had already lost some faith in him. In a league where youth thrives, O’Gara had already run out of time as he failed to crack Boston’s rotation and was often passed over for promotion by younger defenseman. In New York, however, he got a legitimate chance to take on a more permanent role, as he played in 22 games, a role he hopes to hold onto this season.

Snapshots: Eaves, Bjork, Kunin

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Anaheim Ducks look to be getting back a familiar face next season as general manager Bob Murray told a group of season ticket holders today that he expects veteran Patrick Eaves to return and play a full season, according to the Orange County Register’s Elliott Teaford.

After coming over in 2016-17 during a trade deadline deal, Eaves proceeded to ink a new three-year, $9.45MM extension that summer only to miss all but two games last season after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, he is expected to return to the Ducks next season to add to their veteran core, although the team might now lose Ryan Kesler, who has been limited with a hip injury from last season and could miss part or even all of next season.

“I’m more confident that Patrick Eaves is going to play for the full season than I am of Ryan Kesler at the moment, although ‘Kes’ says he’s going to be fine,” Murray said during an event with Ducks season-ticket holders at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Eaves, 34, came off a 32-goal season in 2016-17 between the Dallas Stars and the Ducks and could provide significant help to an offense that has aged quickly over the last season or two.

  • Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Hub writes that one forgotten player among the Boston Bruins is Anders Bjork, who underwent shoulder surgery in the middle of his rookie season. The 21-year-old prospect out of Notre Dame put up just four goals and 12 points in 30 games, but Anderson notes that Bjork was considered to be the team’s top prospect just a year ago behind Charlie McAvoy. Bjork will attempt to win a spot on the team’s top-six this year. “I definitely think the games I got were helpful,” Bjork said. “I learned a ton, just tried to soak it all up when I was playing those games, and even just practicing and being around, tried to soak up as much as I could. I think I’m going to use that as an advantage for going into camp next year and trying to learn from the guys I watched, especially the young guys — what worked and what didn’t.”
  • Dane Mizutani of twincities.com writes that the Minnesota Wild’s 2016 first-round pick Luke Kunin, who suffered a torn ACL injury on Mar. 4 and had surgery in April, says that he intends to lace up his skates this week, but isn’t sure he will be ready by the time training camp comes around. “I’m not going to put a timeline on it or anything like that,” Kunin said. “Obviously, I would love to be ready by training camp. That’s my goal. I want to play. That said, at the end of the day, it’s up to the doctors and what they say as far as how it’s going. It’s one of those things that I know I can’t rush. Just trying to stick with it and trust the process.” Kunin split time this season with Minnesota and the Iowa Wild. He posted two goals and four points in 19 games at the NHL level, but was likely to get brought back for the team’s stretch run at the end of the season before being injured.

Snapshots: Canucks, Johnsson, Zucker

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With Vancouver still not having yet decided whether or not to sign top pick Quinn Hughes for next season, Postmedia’s Jason Botchford suggests there is some pressure on the Canucks to clear up their logjam on the back end to help pave a path for the youngster to play in the NHL in 2018-19.  However, he points out that their trade options are limited due to no-trade clauses, players underachieving last season, or inflated contracts.  Their best trade chip may be Troy Stecher but dealing him opens up a hole on the right side while Hughes is a left-shot player.  Accordingly, someone like Derrick Pouliot (who is on an affordable $1.1MM deal) could be the most realistic trade option they have although the return for him likely wouldn’t be particularly substantial.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Maple Leafs and winger Andreas Johnsson did discuss a multi-year deal before Johnsson ultimately decided to take his qualifying offer, notes James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required). However, given the lack of comparable players for someone who has some promise but just nine regular season NHL games under his belt, they weren’t able to settle on something that made sense for both sides.  Johnsson is playing under a two-way deal once again next season but considering that he’s a lock to be claimed off waivers if Toronto tried to send him down, that provision in his contract is merely just a formality.
  • After getting Mathew Dumba locked up earlier today, Minnesota is now shifting their focus to their other arbitration-eligible restricted free agent in winger Jason Zucker. On a conference call, Wild GM Paul Fenton told reporters, including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link) that they had several discussions with his camp this week and remain hopeful that they can get a new deal done before his hearing next weekend.  Zucker is coming off of a 64-point season and is projected to receive a significant raise on the $2MM he received in each of the last two seasons.

Snapshots: Jagr, Snowden, Golden Knights, Canada

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Jaromir Jagr was on the ice today in the Czech Republic, practicing for the first time this year with Kladno, the team he owns in his home country. That doesn’t mean the 46-year old has any intention on an NHL comeback though according to NHL.com correspondent Michael Langr, who caught up with the legendary forward. Jagr simply wants to get healthy after a knee injury has kept him from the ice for the last six months. Finally, the youthful Jagr is admitting that his body can’t keep up the way it used to.

My biggest limit is age. There are things I would like to handle but I can’t do it anymore. At my age these limitations come more and more often. But I believe that when my leg and the entire body gets stronger, it will all get better and better.

Though it likely won’t be in the NHL, we might see Jagr in game action again this season. One of the all-time greats in the game of hockey, any chance to have him continue his career at this point is a welcome bonus. It would be interesting to see if Jagr is interested in suiting up for the Czech Republic next spring at the World Championships, if he is healthy enough to contribute. The tournament will be held in Slovakia next year.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired John Snowden as an assistant coach for their newly crowned ECHL team the Newfoundland Growlers. Snowden had worked as an associate coach with the previous affiliate Orlando Solar Bears the last three seasons, but will now be under Ryan Clowe on the Canadian east coast. The 36-year old had a long minor league playing career that included stops in the AHL and ECHL, but never did make it all the way up to the AHL.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have come to a trademark agreement with the U.S. Army and will be allowed to continue using the “Golden Knights” name for the on-ice product and merchandise. The Golden Knights name has long been used by an army parachute team and will continue to going forward.
  • Liam Foudy, Markus Phillips and Akil Thomas have all been added to Hockey Canada’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster, replacing Jordy Bellerive, Robert Thomas and Josh Brook. The latter three will be unable to take part in the camp due to injury, but are not necessarily out of the running for the roster that will head to the tournament in late December.

Snapshots: Blackhawks, Chynoweth, Sharangovich, Army

at CDT | by 10 Comments

While many have expected the Blackhawks to make a splash following last week’s trade of Marian Hossa, that may not necessarily be the case.  Speaking with reporters, including Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times, GM Stan Bowman alluded to the possibility that instead of adding more help this summer, they are comfortable carrying their cap room into the season:

“It’s an option if we can find the right player or the right situation.  We certainly have more options than we did before. I wouldn’t say we have to do something. Having cap space is an asset in and of itself, so things will come along maybe in the summer, maybe in the beginning part of the year.”

The Blackhawks have been linked to several notable players this summer including Carolina winger Jeff Skinner and defenseman Justin Faulk plus Montreal winger Max Pacioretty but clearly, they haven’t been able to find the right trade just yet.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Hurricanes announced that they have hired Dean Chynoweth as an assistant coach. He replaces Steve Smith, who resigned to join Buffalo’s coaching staff last week.  Chynoweth spent last season as an associate coach with Vancouver of the WHL but has three seasons of NHL experience behind the bench with the Islanders from 2009-10 to 2011-12.  He rounds out a new-look coaching staff with Rod Brind’Amour taking over for Bill Peters as head coach and Jeff Daniels, who was hired as their other assistant earlier this summer.
  • The Devils have inked center Yegor Sharangovich to an entry-level deal, his agent Dan Milstein announced (via Twitter). The 20-year-old was New Jersey’s fifth-round pick (141st overall) in last month’s draft.  Sharangovich spent last season with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL, collecting four goals and eight assists in 47 regular season games while finishing second on Team Belarus in scoring at the World Juniors.  He also suited up in seven games for Belarus at the World Championships.
  • The Wild are expected to name Tim Army as their new AHL head coach, Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports (Twitter link). He served as an assistant with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season but also has 15 years of NHL coaching experience under his belt between Anaheim, Washington, and Colorado.

Snapshots: Rangers, Wilson, Mitchell

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have hired David Oliver and Greg Brown as assistant coaches, rounding out David Quinn’s new staff in preparation for 2018-19. Lindy Ruff, a holdover from the last staff, will also be retained as an assistant. Oliver actually hired Quinn as head coach when working as GM of the Lake Erie Monsters, and even served as an assistant for him before the head coach was promoted to Colorado and then departed for Boston University.

Brown is coming in from Boston College where he has spent nearly a decade and a half, coaching elite collegiate talents including Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. Quinn should be quite familiar with Brown from their days coaching against each other at the college level, and will try to bring a new enthusiasm and style to the Rangers as they continue to rebuild their NHL organization.

  • Tom Wilson is still without a contract, and according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post the Capitals preference is to work out a long-term deal with the power forward. The two sides have had “steady dialogue” and GM Brian MacLellan admitted that he’s the top priority right now. Even if a deal isn’t imminent, it’s clear that there will be something done to keep Wilson playing for the Capitals for some time. After a successful season with 35 points, Wilson really dominated in the playoffs for the Capitals and recorded 15 points in 21 games while making an impact physically on almost every shift. Selected in the first round six years ago with a hope that he’d turn into a premiere power forward in the NHL, the Capitals and Wilson are starting to see the results of his hard work.
  • Torrey Mitchell has signed a one-year contract in Switzerland, leaving the NHL after a decade and 666 regular season games. The 33-year old forward recorded 11 points last season while suiting up for 60 games between the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings, but may not have received much interest in free agency. He’ll join Lausanne HC for next season to hit the ice with other former NHL players like Joel Vermin, Dustin Jeffrey and Christoph Bertschy.

Snapshots: KHL, Steelheads, Buchberger

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

According to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express, Philip Holm has signed with the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo of the KHL, ending his North American career before it ever really took off. After signing last summer with the Vancouver Canucks, Holm played in one NHL game and was eventually traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Brendan Leipsic. Given no NHL playing time in Vegas, he’s decided to go to the KHL where he should receive plenty of minutes and be able to show off his offensive upside. Holm was given a qualifying offer meaning the Golden Knights will retain his rights.

Former Canucks top prospect Nicklas Jensen will also be remaining in the KHL next year, after agreed to use his one-year option with Jokerit. Jensen scored 37 points to lead Jokerit last season, after failing to carve out a role with the New York Rangers in 2016-17. A talented offensive forward who has dominated the AHL at times, Jensen is now 25 and may not get another chance at the NHL level in his career.

  • The Dallas Stars have reached a two-year agreement with the Idaho Steelheads to continue their minor league partnership, extending a long affiliation with the ECHL club. The Steelheads have won two Kelly Cups during their partnership with the Stars, and will be looking for another one in 2018-19 after going 44-20-8 last season. One of the most successful ECHL teams (and before that WCHL teams) in history, Dallas will continue to supply them with talented players for at least the next two seasons.
  • Kelly Buchberger is the latest New York Islanders assistant coach to find work elsewhere, hired as head coach of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. When Barry Trotz was brought in as the new head coach of the Islanders it was expected he would bring an entire new staff, and Buchberger has found a nice landing spot as the bench boss of the Americans. Tri-City has been to the WHL playoffs in 14 of the last 15 seasons, though they are still looking for a championship; Buchberger will be asked to take them there.

Snapshots: Edmundson, Gionta, Giroux

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After being active in the early stages of free agency, the Blues will be turning their focus to re-signing their own players now.  The most notable of those is RFA defenseman Joel Edmundson.  GM Doug Armstrong told reporters, including Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that they have had initial talks with him so far but plan to really pick up negotiations next week.

Edmundson is coming off of the best season of his brief career, one that saw him collect seven goals and ten assists in 69 games while averaging over 20 minutes per game for the first time.  He also led the Blues in blocked shots per game.  Edmundson filed for arbitration last week and his case has been set for July 25th which gives the two sides two weeks to hammer out a deal before going to the hearing.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Veteran unrestricted free agent winger Brian Gionta hasn’t decided whether he’s finished playing or not, he acknowledged during an interview with the NHL Network (video link). He sat out most of last season but played in the Olympics and then signed with Boston for the stretch run but was told that they would not be offering him a new contract this summer.  He’s certainly at peace with having possibly playing his last game, stating that “The main focus right now is my family, my kids and trying to figure out what’s best for everyone involved. I’ve had a great run, playing a long time in the NHL, and if this is the end, it’s the end.”  If he does retire, Gionta could potentially get into coaching, something he dipped his toes into briefly last month as he served as a guest coach at Buffalo’s development camp.
  • After being unable to land a replacement for center Valtteri Filppula via free agency, the Flyers could be forced to shift Claude Giroux back to his former position, notes John Boruk of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Giroux flourished last season as a winger where he led the league in assists with 68 and finished second in points with 102.  However, considering that they have strong depth on the wing, shifting the 30-year-old back down the middle would allow them to run a much more balanced attack next season.  With the free agent market for centers largely dry, it will be interesting to see if GM Ron Hextall makes a trade for some insurance at center or if he opts to stick with the status quo and opens up the potential for Giroux to change positions again.

Snapshots: Ducks, Arbitration, Panarin

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Anaheim Ducks will retire two numbers this season, honoring Paul Kariya’s #9 and Scott Niedermayer’s #27 at two different ceremonies. Both players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame following outstanding playing careers, and were huge parts of a franchise that has had quite a bit of success over its first 25 years in existence.

Kariya, the team’s very first draft pick, recorded 669 points in 606 games for the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and was named captain just a few years into his career. His dynamic offensive skill and speed brought the team international attention, and when paired with Teemu Selanne formed one of the most exciting young duos to watch in the NHL. He won just about everything he could in his career except for a Stanley Cup, including Olympic, World Junior and World Championship gold medals, an NCAA title and a pair of Lady Byng trophies.

Niedermayer had a different path to success in Anaheim, coming as an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2005. The superstar defenseman brought championship experience to the Ducks, and quickly led them to a Stanley Cup of their own in 2007. That was the team’s first and only NHL championship, and Niedermayer’s Conn Smythe-winning performance was good enough to cement him in their history forever. Another three seasons at an elite level only confirmed his designation as one of the greatest players to ever suit up in Anaheim.

  • A few arbitration dates have already been set, as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Mathew Dumba and Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild have hearings on July 23 and 28th respectively. Members of the Washington Capitals will also be in Toronto on one of those days, as Liam O’Brien has a hearing set for the 23rd. It’s important to note that teams can sign these players to contracts at any time before an arbitrator actually makes a decision, and only a few (if any) of those who filed for player-elected salary arbitration will even make it that far. For Zucker, an arbitrator could only grant a one-year contract since the Minnesota forward is already 26 and is scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019.
  • Rumors have been swirling for some time about the status of Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Artemi Panarin, given that he isn’t willing to open negotiations with the team regarding his upcoming free agency. Panarin is scheduled to hit the open market next summer, and agent Dan Milstein spoke with The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) to make it clear that his client holds no grudge or animosity towards his current team. Quite the contrary, Milstein explains that the Blue Jackets have been an outstanding organization for Panarin, but that the 26-year old forward simply hasn’t make a decision on his future. Panarin is one of the league’s very best offensive talents, but the Blue Jackets would have to consider trading him if there is a clear indication that he won’t entertain a long-term extension at some point.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top