Snapshots: Heiskanen, Bachman, Belov
It has been quite a year for Miro Heiskanen, the third overall pick last year by the Dallas Stars. The young defenseman put up 23 points in 30 games in the Finnish Liiga, played well at the World Juniors and the Olympics, and most recently has starred in the World Championships. As reported by the Associated Press, the only logical next step is the NHL. “I want to play there as soon as possible, that’s my goal”, Heiskanen said about joining the league’s best in the NHL next season. Heiskanen knows that he could still get stronger and smarter, but his skill is very clearly pro-ready. Heiskanen is likely to step in and immediately play a key two-way role on the Dallas blue line. Expect the announcement sooner rather than later that arguably the best defensive prospect in hockey will be a full-time Star next season.
- Former Stars goalie Richard Bachman has struggled to ever be more in the NHL than he was as Dallas’ primary backup in 2011-12. He has spent almost all of the past five years toiling in the AHL for the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Heading into free agency, it seems Bachman has decided to move on from the NHL. Swedish news site Hockey Sverige reports that Bachman is expected to sign with Timra of the SHL. Instead of sitting behind Swedes – Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson – in the NHL, the 30-year-old Bachman is expected to be given the starter’s job initially with Timra as he begins a new chapter in his career.
- Former NHL defenseman Anton Belov won’t be making the jump across the Atlantic this summer. The Russian rearguard has re-signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the team he has played with since leaving the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14, for three more years per a team release. This extension likely rules out a future return to the NHL for the 31-year-old, though he will remain a visible name on the international stage as a top defender for a perennial KHL contender and as a frequent member of Russian national teams.
Snapshots: Niemelainen, Mantha, Hurricanes, Soderstrom
The Oilers are not expected to sign 2016 third-round pick Markus Niemelainen, reports Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. The 19-year-old was the 66th overall selection out of Saginaw of the OHL that year but he had a tough post-draft season and wound up being loaned to HPK of the SM-liiga for 2017-18 where he posted three points in 42 games.
Meanwhile, Matheson notes that the blood clot that Edmonton defensive prospect Ryan Mantha sustained earlier this season could be a career-ender. Mantha was originally a fourth-round pick of the Rangers back in 2014 but did not sign with them and wound up joining the Oilers in March of 2017. He last suited up for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield in early February and tallied ten points in 41 contests.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- With the report last week that the Hurricanes are open for business when it comes to player movement, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted during a segment with Sportsnet 960 (audio link) that they will be willing to retain on contracts to improve their return, particularly with winger Jeff Skinner. They already have one of their three retention slots used up when they held back 10% of center Marcus Kruger’s contract in the trade with Arizona earlier this month. He also suggested that while winger Sebastian Aho may be considered the lone untouchable off the active roster, center Martin Necas, their 2017 first-round pick, also has that distinction and that teams have been calling regarding his availability.
- After spending this past season on loan with HV 71 of the SHL, Islanders goalie prospect Linus Soderstrom is expected to play in North America next season, notes Newsday’s Andrew Gross. The 21-year-old had stellar numbers in 2016-17 but a shoulder injury didn’t help his cause in 2017-18 as he wound up getting into just 14 games and had a save percentage that was 49 points lower than the previous campaign. With both Kristers Gudlevskis and Christopher Gibson eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency in July, there should be plenty of playing time available with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
Snapshots: Quinn, Korpikoski, Draft Rankings
All signs continue to point towards David Quinn becoming the next head coach of the New York Rangers, though the team still has not officially announced the hiring. Mike McMahon of College Hockey News is the latest to report on a timeline that had Quinn turning down the Rangers four-year offer last week, only to eventually sign for five years and $12MM. While we likely won’t get confirmation from the team on those numbers for some time, that contract gives Quinn enough security to leave Boston University where he was considered one of the top college coaches in the country.
McMahon also suggests that Joe Sacco, currently an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins, is a candidate to replace Quinn at BU in the coming weeks. Sacco played for BU in the late 80’s before embarking on an NHL career that spanned more than a decade, five organizations and 738 games.
- Lauri Korpikoski has signed a six-year contract in Finland, after spending last year in the Swiss NLA. The journeyman played more than 600 games in the NHL, suiting up for four organizations over his last three seasons. A first-round pick by the New York Rangers in 2004, he never did perform up to expectations, only once breaking the 40-point mark during his career. Now 31, a six-year deal essentially guarantees he won’t be playing in the NHL again, unless something happens to break the contract at some point.
- Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) has released his final 2018 draft rankings, and though he formats it differently than most there will still be plenty of surprises. Brady Tkachuk, considered to be a contender for second overall by some pundits, finds himself way down Pronman’s ranking at #9, while Evan Bouchard is even lower at #18. The vast differences in rankings heading into this year’s event are shaping up to create some drama on the draft floor, with no one quite sure how things will fall after the Buffalo Sabres select Rasmus Dahlin with the first pick.
Snapshots: D.C. Metro, Backstrom, MacKinnon
In one of the stranger hockey-adjacent stories in recent memory, fans attending Thursday night’s Game Four match-up between the Capitals and Lightning in Washington via public transportation are getting some help from a small Middle Eastern country. The Washington Post reported this evening that the D.C. Metro subway and bus system will stay open for an extra hour on Thursday night, until 12:30 a.m. ET, to accommodate fans attending the game which will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET and the decision comes courtesy of Qatar. The country recently invested in the development of Washington’s City Center and now will support that investment with an additional $100K to keep public transportation operating late tomorrow night. The same extended hours are in effect tonight for Game Three, due to a similar fee paid by the Exelon and Pepco companies, but the investment by Qatar is certainly more intriguing. Perhaps Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the country’s monarchical head of state, has his eye on a Stanley Cup ring if the Capitals go all the way this postseason.
- For those attending Game Three tonight in Washington, they will again be missing out on Nicklas Backstrom. The Caps announced that Backstrom would not play tonight, making it his fourth missed game in a row, dating back to the final game of the Penguins series. Backstrom continues to be sidelined with a hand injury and while the Capitals have three convincing wins thus far without him, his absence is a growing concern. If Backstrom’s hand injury keeps him out for the remainder of the playoffs, Washington may find it difficult to close out the Eastern Conference finals or come away with the Stanley Cup in the next round. The star center would be a major boost to the team if he were to return and we will continue to monitor the situation.
- Draft-eligible defenseman Will MacKinnon announced his commitment to the University of New Hampshire today. The Ohio native is set to join the Wildcats next season. MacKinnon is an intriguing prospect out of the USHL. Prior to this season, MacKinnon was considered a likely mid-round pick after showing his defensive ability with the U.S. National Development U-17 team last season, but his transition to the Des Moines Buccaneers this year has not produced the anticipated boost in scoring and most of his hype has dried up. At this point in his development, MacKinnon appears to be a low-offense, defensive-minded defender, but at just 5’11” it is fair to question if he can play that style at the next level. MacKinnon could very well wind up in a situation where he goes undrafted this year, but improves his draft stock for 2019 with a strong freshman season at UNH. MacKinnon also has be benefit of being the son of experience NHL executive Dan MacKinnon, who is currently the Sr. Director of Player Personnel for the New Jersey Devils. Perhaps New Jersey or one of the elder MacKinnon’s past stops – the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators – could take a late flier on the college-bound rearguard this season. Drafted or not, look for MacKinnon to provide an immediate boost to a Wildcats team that struggled this season and for him to potentially pair up with Florida Panthers draft pick Max Gildon.
Snapshots: Trouba, Worlds, Subban
Jacob Trouba was a big hockey story in the summer of 2016, when he held out on the Winnipeg Jets and asked for a trade. Trouba wouldn’t sign a new contract as a restricted free agent until November 7th of that year, missing a month of the season before settling on a two-year $6MM deal. The prevailing thought at that point was that Trouba wasn’t happy with his role or future on the team since the Jets already had Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers locked in on the right side, but things seemed to have changed in the years since.
Today, Jim Toth of TSN 1290 reported that Trouba has told his agent he wants to be with Winnipeg long-term, meaning signing a new contract this summer when he’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent once again. The 24-year old defenseman has developed into quite the player for the Jets, and has logged the second-most minutes in the postseason for them (behind only Byfuglien, who is averaging a ridiculous 26:15 through 14 games). Signing Trouba long-term would certainly be a win for the Jets, but the team has to be careful with how much money they hand out this offseason, as there are even more extensions—namely Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor—coming down the road.
- The quarter-final matchups are set for the IIHF World Championships, with Sweden facing Latvia, Russia facing Canada, the Czech Republic matched up with the USA and Switzerland taking on Finland. The games will be held on Thursday, with Saturday and Sunday holding the semi-final and medal rounds. Denmark, the hosts of this year’s tournament, were dramatically eliminated in the final game against Latvia despite winning three games in the preliminary round. That included a 3-2 upset of Finland, who ended up winning the group.
- Though it never had much merit in the first place, any rumors surrounding a trade of P.K. Subban out of Nashville were summarily shut down today by the club. As Joe Rexrode of the Tennessean writes, despite never having a full guarantee that a player won’t be traded, the Predators are about as far from dealing their Norris-trophy finalist as they ever have been. The relatively early exit at the hands of Winnipeg notwithstanding, the Predators had an outstanding season and Subban was a big part of that. He’ll almost assuredly be back in a Predator uniform to start next season.
Snapshots: Hunwick, Pitlick, Stars
Matt Hunwick‘s first season in Pittsburgh did not go according to plan. After signing a three-year, $6.75MM contract with the Penguins at the opening of free agency, the expectations were that Hunwick would be a capable everyday defenseman. Yet, by the trade deadline Hunwick had missed 18 games due to injury and a few more due to healthy scratches and had just five points on the year to show for the games he did play in. Less than a year in to a three-year pact, GM Jim Rutherford was searching for a way to move his contract. When he couldn’t, Hunwick ended up watching 26 of the Penguins final 29 regular season games and each game of the postseason from the press box. These disappointing results are not lost on Hunwick though; the veteran defenseman was honest in his self-criticism when speaking to the gathered media yesterday, reports The Athletic’s Seth Rorabaugh. Hunwick did attribute some of the blame for his poor play to injury and a Penguins system that was difficult to adjust to, but largely took responsibility for the campaign by admitting his lack of a mental edge. “I don’t think I played with enough confidence throughout the season…Maybe (confidence was) part of the reason (for struggling)”, Hunwick said, adding ““I’d hope to play a lot better (next season). I’d like to be more assertive and be more confident right out of the gate. Now knowing the system and the guys, I think that should happen.” Maybe that will happen for Hunwick, but that is assuming he remains in Pittsburgh to begin next season. Rutherford still faces the pressure of the salary cap crunch and an overpaid depth defenseman is an ideal target to move out, if possible. Hunwick has proven to be a capable player over his career and he very likely would improve in year two with the Penguins, but he may not be afforded the opportunity after a rough start this year.
- On the other end of the spectrum is Dallas Stars forward Tyler Pitlick. In grading out the roster after a frustrating end to the season – a late-season collapse that cost the team a playoff spot – Sportsday’s Joshua Friemel calls Pitlick a highlight of an otherwise disappointing season. In fact, Friemel states that Pitlick may have even been a better off-season addition than big-name acquisitions Ben Bishop, Marc Methot, or Martin Hanzal. The Stars spent right up to the cap in 2017-18, but paid Pitlick only $1MM and got 80 games and 27 points back in return. Friemel points out that his 14 goals were good enough for sixth on the team and they were also more than Jason Spezza and Antoine Roussel combined, who together made $9.5MM. Pitlick also contributed on the penalty kill and was one of the Stars’ more physical and effective two-way players. Better yet, Pitlick still has two years remaining on his deal at that same bargain rate. The underutilized Edmonton Oilers prospect may have been little more than a waiver when he signed in Dallas and may have flown under the radar this season, but going forward his value will no longer go unnoticed.
- Staying in Dallas, Stars owner Tom Gaglardi made the rare cross-organization reassignment today. The Kamloops Blazers, the WHL team that Gaglardi shares ownership in, today announced several front office changes, including the assignment of GM Stu MacGregor to the Stars organization, as Gaglardi also owns both Dallas and AHL Texas. The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro clarifies that MacGregor has been transferred to the Stars’ amateur scouting department, where his experience with junior hockey can be put toward a different purpose. With the Blazers finishing with the fifth-worst record in the league this season, changes were expected, but it’s a shrewd move by Gaglardi to replace his GM for one team without losing an asset by instead strengthening his other team.
Snapshots: KHL, Oilers, Tkachuk
Recently, Sport.Buisness-gazeta out of Russia published a list of players that were expected to leave the NHL this summer and return to the KHL. The list was made up of Nikolai Kulemin, Victor Antipin, Nikita Soshnikov, Rinat Valiev, Sergey Tolchinsky, Radel Fazleev, Andrey Pedan, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Sergei Boykov, Yakov Trenin and Anton Slepyshev. With the news this morning of Dyblenko’s pending contract termination, another one of the players have been confirmed to be returning. When added to the already confirmed exits of Tolchinsky, Valiev and others, it lends credibility to the entire list, meaning several others will likely be announced in the coming days.
Players like Soshnikov and Antipin were expected to be contributors to their NHL squads in 2018-19, but are both pending restricted free agents meaning they can easily go home if they so choose. For the NHL club, extending a qualifying offer will retain the exclusive negotiating rights with the player going forward, rights that won’t expire because of the lack of a transfer agreement between the two leagues.
- The Edmonton Oilers are set to select 10th in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, but as Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes, GM Peter Chiarelli has made it clear they will explore trading the pick. Connor McDavid is already one of the best players in the league, and the Oilers need to take advantage of these prime years while they have them. Their defense corps just wasn’t good enough this season, and whoever they would take this season likely wouldn’t be ready to contribute until 2019-20 at the earliest. The Oilers have plenty of other tough decisions to make this summer, as they face contract negotiations with Darnell Nurse and Ryan Strome, and the daunting task of providing some support for McDavid up front. The team has already brought in some competition for Cam Talbot in the form of Mikko Koskinen, who cost the team a one-year $2.5MM contract.
- Speaking of draft picks who won’t make an impact next season, Mike McMahon of College Hockey News is reporting that the plan right now is for Brady Tkachuk to return to Boston University for his sophomore season. Tkachuk is expected to be a top-5 pick in the upcoming entry draft, and could still obviously be convinced by an NHL team to leave school early. That may change the draft board for some of the top teams who want to compete in 2018-19 and are hoping for a player who can step right into the league in October.
Snapshots: Kovar, Nurse, Edmundson, Morin
Last year, Czech center Jan Kovar was one of the more intriguing international players out there but he wasn’t able to come to the NHL since he had one more year left on his KHL deal. That has now expired and in an interview with VK’s Pavel Kadoshnikov (link in Russian), Kovar confirmed that he is leaving the KHL and is open to crossing the pond to play in North America. His offensive numbers were down in 2017-18 (35 points in 54 games after putting up 63 in 59 contests last year) but he did play well in the Olympics and should still garner some NHL interest. As he’s 28 years old, he falls outside the restrictions of the entry level system.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse is set to become a restricted free agent for the first time but noted to Dhiren Mahiban of the Sporting News that he isn’t particularly worried about the situation, nor does he plan to get overly involved in the negotiations. He also indicated that he’d like to remain in Edmonton; with their salary cap situation though, there are bound to be some changes on the horizon. Nurse led all Oilers defensemen with 26 points and sat second on the team in ice time. As a result, he is well-positioned to land a significant raise on the $863K he received this past season.
- After missing the opener at the World Championships on Friday, Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson is expected to officially be added to Canada’s roster and play on Sunday against Korea, reports TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). He had been dealing with a groin injury.
- Flyers defenseman prospect Samuel Morin is expected to play for the first time in more than three-and-a-half months, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Daily News. He’ll be suiting up with their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley as they continue their second-round series against Charlotte. It has been a trying year for the 2013 first-rounder as recurring groin issues have hindered him all season long which certainly doesn’t help his bargaining position as he enters restricted free agency in July.
Snapshots: Richardson, Gionta, Blue Jackets
Arizona’s acquisition of center Marcus Kruger from Carolina on Thursday could have an impact on one of their pending unrestricted free agents. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports suggests that Kruger could push fellow pivot Brad Richardson to the open market. While GM John Chayka wouldn’t confirm that, he did acknowledge that Kruger has “a similar type of profile” to Richardson and that they wanted to make sure they could get a player like that if one became available. Richardson recorded 15 points in 76 games this season while posting a 52.1% success rate at the faceoff dot but also had a career-low shooting percentage at just 2.9%.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Brian Gionta’s inclusion in Game Four for Boston against the Lightning could have some implications beyond this season. CapFriendly notes (Twitter link) that because he played in one game this round, he’s eligible for a $50K performance bonus if the Bruins win the series. They finished with just over $100K in cap space at the end of the season per CapFriendly and that amount is before any performance bonuses get added in. If Boston does indeed go over the Upper Limit due to bonuses, any overage would be deducted from their cap room for 2018-19.
- Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski underwent shoulder surgery yesterday and he may not be the only one going under the knife. GM Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) that at least two others could be facing surgeries in the weeks to come although he wouldn’t specify which players are in that situation. In the meantime, they’re resting in the hopes that doing so will be enough to avoid going the surgical route. If that doesn’t work, Werenski may not be the only player whose status heading into the start of next season could be in question.
Snapshots: Koskinen, Francouz, Kruger, Martinook
The excitement of the Edmonton Oilers’ signing of KHL goaltender Mikko Koskinen wore off quickly. As The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis points out, Koskinen’s $2.5MM cap hit on his one-year deal now looks like a major over-payment compared to a more recent deal for an import goalie. When the Colorado Avalanche signed Pavel Francouz yesterday, they got a better goalie for considerably less. Francouz’s deal with the Avs is also for one year, but for just $690K. Yet, Francouz was the best keeper in the KHL this year with a .946 save percentage and 1.80 GAA in 35 appearances for Traktor Chelyabinsk. With no disrespect to Koskinen, who was very good as well, the new Oiler had a .937 save percentage and split time with young Igor Shestyorkin, playing in just 29 games, yet will make more than triple what Francouz does next season. In fairness, Koskinen did have superior GAA this year (1.57) and has a small amount of NHL experience, but that does not totally make up for the $1.81MM difference between the two contracts. To add another layer, Francouz is also a younger and more athletic goalie than Koskinen and likely has a brighter long-term future in the NHL. Admittedly, the Oilers signed Koskinen first, so this could me more of a case of Colorado GM Joe Sakic getting his man for below-market value, but it seems more likely that it goes along with the trend of Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli setting his sights on a player and not considering fair value or alternative options. Past results of these decisions have not worked out well for the Oilers, but we will have to wait for next season to see how the Koskinen signing pans out.
- In digging deeper into another recent transaction, today’s Marcus Kruger–Jordan Martinook trade has some scratching their heads. Given the team is currently operating without a GM, it is truly impressive that the Carolina Hurricanes seemingly came out on top in this deal in all aspects. Not only was Kruger available to the Arizona Coyotes for free earlier this year, but they gave up Martinook to get Kruger, who is much like a younger, better version of Kruger. The two forwards are both known for their two-way ability, but Martinook has 64 points in 239 games over the last three seasons compared to Kruger’s 44 points in 247 games over the past four years combined. At nearly 28 years old, Kruger’s career high in points is 28 with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013-14 and he has never recorded double-digit goals, while the 25-year-old Martinook reached his career best of 25 points just last year, including 11 goals. Martinook has just as many 20+ point seasons as Kruger in only three full NHL seasons exclusively playing for the lowly Coyotes, while Kruger has spent almost his entire career with the dynastic Blackhawks. Defensively, Kruger does have the advantage of being a natural center who does well at the dot most years and is a positive possession player, but Martinook is far more physical and great along the boards, not to mention he has been the Coyotes’ best takeaways man since entering the league. Unlike past deals where the Coyotes took on a bad contract from another team in exchange for draft capital or prospects, Martinook will actually make less in salary than Kruger next season and even with the Hurricanes’ retention of a tenth of Kruger’s deal, the money essentially cancels out. So why make this deal? Arizona GM John Chayka must have a good reason, but on its face the only benefit to the Coyotes is a jump of 20-odd draft slots this June from the top of the fourth round to the middle of the third round.