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Snapshots: Tkachuk, Sens Sale, Flames

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Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that he has fully recovered from the broken sternum that sidelined him late in the Stanley Cup Final back in June.  He sustained the injury in the third game of the series and found a way to play the fourth before doctors shut him down.  The 25-year-old followed up his breakout campaign in 2021-22 with an even better showing last season, finishing tied for sixth in league scoring with 109 points.  Florida is expected to be without key blueliners Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for a while – Tkachuk speculated about a late-December return for each of them – so they will be leaning heavily on their offensive star when the season gets underway next month.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While there was some hope that the sale of the Senators to Michael Andlauer would be finalized by now, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes that this is no longer the case. While there isn’t believed to be any issue – the financing is secure and he has already received approval from the NHL’s Executive Committee – things are moving slower than expected.  Now, the hope is that the sale will be made official by Monday.
  • The Flames haven’t ruled out bringing in someone on a tryout in the coming days, relays Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). While GM Craig Conroy has expressed a desire to let some of Calgary’s younger prospects push for a spot on the roster after not getting too many looks last season, a veteran willing to take the league minimum could give that player a leg up over a youngster on a more expensive entry-level deal.  That difference could be notable as Calgary is one of many teams that project to be close to the cap line this season.

Snapshots: Hellebuyck, Oilers, Trade Deadline

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When word surfaced this summer that Connor Hellebuyck was hoping for a long-term deal worth around $9.5MM per season, trade speculation cooled sharply.  To that end, Murat Ates of The Athletic speculates (subscription link) that the Jets could shift focus and look to try to extend the netminder on a short-term contract.  Since Winnipeg’s books are relatively clean for 2024-25, they could theoretically make an offer around that range in the hopes that they could entice him to stick around for at least another year or two.  That would allow Hellebuyck to get the top dollar that he’s seeking while extending Winnipeg’s current window, one that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff believes his team can contend in.  If a long-term deal at that price point can’t be done, this could be the next best option.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal breaks down the various camp battles that will be coming at training camp. The most notable one is likely the battle for the 12th (and quite possibly final) forward spot on the roster.  Veterans Sam Gagner and Brandon Sutter will be in camp on tryouts while internally, James Hamblin and Raphael Lavoie are candidates.  Lavoie’s contract – he opted to take his qualifying offer instead of signing a two-way deal that traded some NHL pay for more guaranteed money – makes him hard to fit in on their books.  Accordingly, Leavins gives Gagner the edge for now but wonders if Edmonton might be keeping an eye on the waiver wire as camp progresses to see if another option presents itself.
  • The trade deadline has tentatively been set for March 8th, relays Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). While that seems later than usual – it’s often in late February – there are games scheduled until April 18th; the deadline typically falls 40 days before the end of the regular season.

Snapshots: Lindholm, Heatley, Mikheyev

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The 2023-24 season hasn’t even started yet, and some Calgary Flames fans may already be tired of discussing pending UFA Elias Lindholm’s future with the team. It’s been a major talking point this summer, with a potential mass exodus of unrestricted free agents from the Flames next offseason. Last week, however, Lindholm confirmed he’s open to the idea of an extension in Calgary, and today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave us some clarity on what a deal may look like.

Speaking on NHL Network, Friedman said he “really thought [Bo] Horvat was going to be the comparable at 8×8.5, and I think it’s possible Lindholm now actually comes in higher than that, potentially… I think the number is going to have to be above Horvat, I’ve heard it might be closer to 8.75 or 9.” He, of course, is referring to Horvat’s eight-year, $8.5MM AAV extension signed with the New York Islanders after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks this past season. While he does have multiple years of experience as a defensively solid first-line center, that would be quite a lot of money to pay someone who’s cracked the 70-point mark just twice in his career and the 30-goal mark only once.

Last season, Lindholm finished second on the Flames in scoring with 22 goals, 42 assists and 64 points in 80 games. It was a falloff from his career-high 2021-22 campaign between Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, where the then-27-year-old posted 42 goals and 82 points in 82 games alongside a ridiculous +61 rating. For comparison, 25-year-old Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson, who’s scored 85 goals in 156 games over the past two seasons, is signed for seven more seasons at a $7.143MM cap hit.

Elsewhere from around the NHL today:

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have confirmed the hire of two-time All-Star Dany Heatley as a pro scout, notes independent Flyers reporter Charlie O’Connor. This will be Heatley’s first documented off-ice staffing role since retiring from pro hockey in 2016. The 42-year-old former sniper won the 2002 Calder Trophy as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers and scored 372 goals in 869 NHL games across 13 seasons with the Thrashers, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild, and Anaheim Ducks.
  • Vancouver Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev is still recovering from an ACL injury that was aggravated and then operated on in late January, and CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports it may keep him out of preseason action. Mikheyev initially sustained the injury in preseason action for Vancouver last season but only missed a handful of weeks before being cleared to play in mid-October and recording 28 points in 46 games for the Canucks. He is still expected to be ready to go for opening night, however, and could very well begin his second season in British Columbia’s biggest city in a top-six role after averaging almost 17 minutes per game last season.

Snapshots: Calder Trophy, Ullmark, Fritz

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The 2023-24 Calder Trophy race should be one of the most exciting in recent memory. While Connor Bedard is undeniably the runaway favorite, there is a suite of other talented rookies that could challenge Bedard’s title. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and Harman Dayal recently ranked their top-20 Calder candidates. Bedard unsurprisingly took the top spot, with Arizona Coyotes center Logan Cooley, Buffalo Sabres goalie Devon Levi, and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli making up the rest of the top four. The list also included names like Luke Hughes, Matthew Knies, and Joel Hofer.

The list featured more Anaheim Ducks prospects than any other team, with Leo Carlsson (#7) and Olen Zellweger (#9) ranked in the Top 10, while Lukas Dostal, Jackson LaCombe, and Pavel Mintyukov were all listed as honorable mentions. The Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks were among other teams with multiple prospects featured.

Some other notes from around the NHL:

  • Ty Anderson, a reporter for Boston radio show 98.5 The Sports Hub, shared that one team approached the Bruins with a, “fair, market value return” for reigning Vezina Trophy-winner Linus Ullmark. Ullmark posted a league-best save percentage (.938) and goals-against-average (1.89) last season. He followed it up with a .896 save percentage and 3.33 goals-against-average while appearing in six of Boston’s seven postseason games. And while he didn’t walk out of the postseason with any hardware, he confidently won the Vezina, receiving 22 votes to win it where no one else received more than three. Ullmark is signed to a $5MM cap hit through the next two seasons.
  • The Bridgeport Islanders have signed 32-year-old forward Tanner Fritz. Fritz has been a minor league player since 2015-16 when he split time between the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks and the Islanders AHL affiliate. His performances that season – notably his 12 points in 19 AHL games – were enough to earn him a consistent AHL role. The Grand Prairie, Alberta native got a taste of NHL experience in 2017-18, appearing in 34 games with the Islanders. He tacked on an additional eight NHL games in the following year but has been in the AHL ever since. With this deal, Fritz will remain a core piece of the Islanders depth chart, after recording 10 points in nine AHL playoff games last season.

Snapshots: Hronek, Bratt, Michkov

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The Vancouver Canucks paid a handsome price to the Detroit Red Wings last season in order to acquire defenseman Filip Hronek, surrendering a first and second-round pick. Part of their rationale in acquiring Hronek was that ascending right-shot blueliners capable of scoring at or above a 40-point pace are exceedingly rare, and by acquiring Hronek the team managed to add a defenseman who would arguably slot in as their best behind franchise blueliner Quinn Hughes.

But with just four total games under his belt and a contract set to expire at the end of the season (he’ll be an RFA, one season away from UFA status) the 2023-24 season is shaping up to be a massive one in determining whether the Canucks’ investment in Hronek will be a lasting one. As TSN’s Travis Yost writes, Vancouver is “betting on” Hronek emerging as a capable, reliable top-four defenseman and building on the development he showed over the last two years in Detroit. If he can shore up a spot as the Canucks’ number-two defenseman, a long-term extension in Vancouver could come before the end of the season.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • New Jersey Devils winger Jesper Bratt had put off settling down and signing a long-term contract extension until this past summer, and that patience paid off as his back-to-back 73-point seasons earned him a $7.875MM AAV deal that stretches through the 2030-31 season. Despite now earning that guaranteed financial security, Bratt explained to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the removal of the pressure of playing on a one-year deal won’t impact his preparation or motivation for the seasons to come. Bratt said “Now that the eight-year deal has come around, I know what it means,” adding that “work that has to be put in every day” so that he can live up to the lofty price tag. The Devils have grand designs for their era of contention led by Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and if the team ends up achieving those lofty goals next season it’s highly likely Bratt will be a major reason why.
  • Philadelphia Flyers top prospect Matvei Michkov was a healthy scratch for his KHL club’s season-opening game today, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall. The 2023 seventh-overall pick is beginning the first of three seasons left on his KHL contract and scored 20 points in 27 games on loan with HK Sochi last season. His success as a scorer last season raises questions as to why Michkov has been scratched, especially seeing as the move was not, per Hall, injury-related. While Michkov has a long runway to develop his game before he’ll have to hit the ice for the Flyers, it’s certainly not a positive for either Michkov or Flyers fans that he’s not drawing into SKA St. Petersburg’s lineup.

Snapshots: Parayko, Norfolk Admirals, Penguins TV Deal

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When a team in the NHL takes a step back and performs below expectations, typically there will also be a few key players on that team who have taken individual steps back, steps back that help contribute to the larger decline. The St. Louis Blues had a difficult 2022-23 season, one that saw them finish outside the playoffs. That’s been a rarity during the Blues’ current competitive run, one that yielded the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019, and one of the bigger reasons for that step back was the decline of key defenseman Colton Parayko.

Parayko, 30, is making $6.5MM AAV through 2029-30 but saw his all-around results decline from 2021-22 to 2022-23. He went from 35 points scored to 27, his ice time went down a tick, and his defensive play was not up to his usually high standards. That led to speculation that the Blues and Parayko could seek out a change of scenery in the offseason, though that didn’t end up coming to pass. Those trade rumors haven’t deterred Parayko, either, who told The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford that he plans on remaining a Blue “for a long time.” (subscription link) As the owner of a full no-trade clause, it’s going to be up to him whether that actually happens, and it appears moving forward both parties view a bounce-back season as the optimal solution to Parayko’s decline rather than a trade.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes have announced a working agreement with the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals that will allow the Hurricanes to assign prospects to the ECHL club. The Admirals are the official affiliates of the Winnipeg Jets, but per this agreement, they’ll share the ability to send prospects to Norfolk alongside Winnipeg. The ECHL is typically not where NHL teams send most of their prospects, but in the case that the Hurricanes find they need to send a prospect to North America’s third-tier league they now have a clear path to do so.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins announced “SportsNet Pittsburgh” today, finalizing the home of Penguins hockey for all regionally televised games. Per the announcement, the Penguins “entered into an agreement to acquire and re-brand the existing AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh network,” the Penguins’ regional sports network from last season. There has been significant uncertainty in the regional sports broadcasting market in recent months, but with this announcement Penguins fans get some clarity as to what entity will broadcast their team’s games moving forward.

Morning Notes: Super 16, Blackhawks, Whynot

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NHL.com’s writers have released their Super 16 pre-training camp power rankings, and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights sit atop the list. Despite a lack of a clear-cut starting goalie and depth concerns, the league website’s voters still consider the Golden Knights the team to beat, with NHL.com’s senior editorial director Shawn P. Roarke claiming there’s “no reason they can’t overcome [those issues] again.” The Carolina Hurricanes come in at number two as the top Eastern Conference team after reaching the Conference Finals last season and bolstering their roster with several key free-agent signings, such as Michael Bunting and Dmitry Orlov. A pair of Central Division powerhouses in the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche round out the top four, while the New Jersey Devils land at number five after their young core broke out to lead the team to a 112-point performance in the 2022-23 season. Two non-playoff teams from last season broke into their rankings, both in the Eastern Conference: the Buffalo Sabres at 16 and the Pittsburgh Penguins at 14. The New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets didn’t make the cut after earning wild-card berths in their respective conferences last season.

Elsewhere from around the hockey world this morning:

  • According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs have hired Matt Smith as their goalie development coach. At 33 years old, Smith has already had coaching stints with the Soo Greyhounds and Guelph Storm of the OHL, but he hasn’t been on any team’s staff since the 2017-18 season with Guelph. Nonetheless, the Blackhawks will look to Smith to play a crucial role in developing a pair of promising goalies within the Blackhawks organization slated to form Rockford’s tandem next season: Drew Commesso and Jaxson Stauber.
  • After the Calgary Flames conceded the exclusive signing rights to defense prospect Cameron Whynot, the 20-year-old will now suit up for Acadia University in Canada instead of turning pro, according to SaltWire’s Willy Palov. The Flames opted not to sign the 2021 third-round pick to an entry-level contract earlier this summer after a pair of disappointing post-draft seasons with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, during which he failed to eclipse the 0.68 points per game and the +13 rating he posted during his draft year. It’ll be at least another summer before Whynot attempts to make the jump to pro hockey, likely by signing an AHL or ECHL contract (or heading overseas).

Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Tocchet, Bochek

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In his ongoing series throughout the summer, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News touched on Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov and explained that he is on the hottest seat for the Capitals entering into the upcoming season. Although Washington and Kuznetsov seem intent on starting the 2023-24 season together, the Russian forward has not officially rescinded his trade request from last summer.

Following up on one of the most disappointing seasons of his career, Kuznetsov has a lot to prove this year. Last season, playing in 81 games, Kuznetsov scored 12 goals and 43 assists with a -26 rating, not quite living up to his $7.8MM salary. If the Capitals hope to move Kuznetsov for something substantive, or even hope to make the playoffs in a loaded Metropolitan division, they will need Kuznetsov to find his old form in the top six.

Washington might be best served in transferring Kuznetsov to the wing and allowing Nicklas Backstrom and Dylan Strome to take the top two center positions on the roster. Both Backstrom and Strome play significantly better defensively, and Kuznetsov would likely fit in nicely on the second-line left-wing role. Nevertheless, new head coach Spencer Carbery and the entire organization will have to do much better in getting the maximum potential out of Kuznetsov next year.

Other snapshots:

  • In an interview with Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Rick Tocchet, touched on several topics, including the pending restricted free agency of Elias Pettersson, and the ceiling of the Canucks headed into next season. Tocchet notes that if Vancouver can’t make the playoffs next year, the organization will need to “check most of the boxes” to entice him to stay, such as improvements from the coaching & development staff, as well as team cohesion throughout the season. Tocchet also said that the team is “capable of success”, but would not elaborate entirely on his use of the word ’success’.
  • General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes, Bill Armstrong, announced a multi-year contract extension with Development Skills Coach, Kyle Bochek. It is unclear how long the contract will be for, but Bochek will be entering his third season in the Coyotes organization, having worked with both NHL and AHL talent. Arizona must have some trust in Bochek, as the team has graduated players such as Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther under his watch.

East Notes: Östlund, Reinbacher, Gomez, Bochner

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The Buffalo Sabres confirmed today they’ll be loaning 2022 first-round pick Noah Östlund to the Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League. It’s unclear what the delay was in Buffalo announcing the move – Växjö confirmed it in early June. Regardless, it presents a step up for Östlund, as the 19-year-old center spent last season in the second-tier Allsvenskan with Djurgårdens IF, where he recorded a respectable 26 points in 37 games. He’ll aim to carve out a top-nine (potentially even top-six) role in Växjö, who is coming off two SHL championships in the span of three years. This is expected to be his last season in Sweden before coming to North America to play for either the Sabres or AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2024-25.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • In some other loan news, CapFriendly reports the Montreal Canadiens have recalled 2023 fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher from EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League ahead of rookie camp next month. Reinbacher will not suit up for them this season, however – they’re expected to return him to Switzerland when training camp is over, and he’ll lace up the skates in a top-four role for Kloten. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound right-shot Austrian defender could see full-time NHL action as soon as the 2024-25 season.
  • Former New Jersey Devils forward Scott Gomez has found a new post-hockey home with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, the junior A club with which he posted 124 points in just 56 games with during the 1996-97 season. Gomez, a Calder Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion with New Jersey, will be an assistant coach next season. Gomez has not worked behind a bench in nearly five years, last serving as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2017 to 2019.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have hired Daniel Bochner as a development coach, according to a team release. The 38-year-old has spent the last five seasons on staff with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg in a player development role, graduating to an assistant coach job in 2020-21. Born in Toronto, the former pro defenseman carries Israeli nationality and represented them at multiple low-level World Championship tournaments throughout the 2000s.

Goalie Notes: Forsberg, Leinonen, Schwab

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Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg is geared up for the upcoming training camp, telling The Athletic’s Ian Mendes he’s fully recovered from a double MCL tear sustained during a goalmouth collision in February.

“I’ve been back to 100 percent for a long time,” Forsberg told Mendes. “I would have been back last year if we made the playoffs.” He’ll be entering next season as part of what Ottawa hopes is a more fortified goalie tandem, with Joonas Korpisalo replacing Cam Talbot as Forsberg’s partner in the crease. Forsberg has given Ottawa some solid play since once again breaking out as a full-time NHLer in Canada’s capital, accumulating a 33-28-6 record, .912 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average, and three shutouts over the past two seasons. He says he can return to that level of play, as he told Mendes he doesn’t feel any lingering effects from the major knee injuries – a remarkable statement given they occurred just six months ago. If he can maintain the solid numbers and challenge Korpisalo for the lion’s share of the starts, Ottawa does have a true shot at breaking through into the postseason for the first time since losing in the 2017 Eastern Conference Final.

Some other goalie-related items of interest:

  • Buffalo Sabres goalie prospect Topias Leinonen will miss the beginning of 2023-24 due to injury, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski relays. Buffalo selected the massive 6-foot-5, 234-pound netminder in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, but he struggled last season with just a .885 save percentage in the Finnish junior circuit. He’ll miss around the first two months of the Liiga season, although he’s expected to take on a backup role for JYP once he returns.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have confirmed the last of their remaining extensions for their assistant coaches, signing goalie coach Corey Schwab to a multi-year deal. Schwab is one of the Coyotes’ longest-tenured organizational members at this point, serving with the team as a coach in some capacity since 2015. While the team hasn’t had much success during his tenure, goaltending has been far from an issue – names like Adin Hill, Darcy Kuemper, Antti Raanta, and Karel Vejmelka have all churned out solid performances under Schwab’s tutelage.

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