Snapshots: Oilers, Senators, Lokomotiv
While it has been a while since they had any sustained success, the Edmonton Oilers have one of the richest histories of winning in the NHL. To honor that history, the team has decided to establish the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame, which will include all ten members that currently have their banners in the rafters of Rogers Place and two new inductees to be announced later this month.
The first ten members are Al Hamilton, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Glen Sather, and Rod Phillips. The 2022 inductees will be announced on September 20 and were selected by a committee that includes Wayne Gretzky, Ron Low, Louie DeBrusk, Chris Joseph, and Bruce MacGregor, along with media members Jim Matheson, Terry Jones, Bob Stauffer, and Jason Gregor, and community members Chief Wilton Littlechild and Shannon Szabados. Players nominated for the honor must be retired for at least five seasons.
- While there is plenty of positive momentum for a new arena closer to downtown Ottawa, Senators executive Anthony LeBlanc told media members including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia today that there is still 18 months of due diligence to be done. The excitement around the team is building, however, with season tickets increasing as much as 60 percent already, according to LeBlanc. The Senators had an impressive offseason, which included the additions of Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, and Cam Talbot to a young squad.
- Eleven years ago today, a plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team crashed, killing 43. Members from different generations of hockey were lost that day. Among them was 18-year-old Maxim Shuvalov, just starting his professional career, and 52-year-old Brad McCrimmon, a Stanley Cup champion and new head coach. More than a decade later, their absence is still felt in the hockey world.
Snapshots: Dach, Sharks Rookie Tournament, Stadium Series
After being originally reported by Sportsnet’s Eric Engels last week, his colleague Elliotte Friedman confirmed the original report today on the 32 Thoughts podcast. Echoing the fact that the Canadiens and Dach are close to signing Dach to a four-year contract, he added that the team is likely working on other moves before making the deal official.
Cap implications aside, the team will likely need to trade a forward (or two) just to have space for Dach in the lineup. With the addition of Sean Monahan into the fold for next season, Dach will likely shift to wing. He has the most experience there out of Montreal’s five natural centers in their top 12 forwards. With Cole Caufield, Mike Hoffman, Josh Anderson, Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov, and Brendan Gallagher all in the fold, there’s just not enough room in Montreal’s NHL lineup to have Dach play an appropriate role to continue developing. Cap implications are certainly a part of that, though, as a $3.5MM cap hit as surmised by Friedman and Engels would still put Montreal dangerously close to the salary cap even with Carey Price‘s $10MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve.
- The San Jose Sharks are hosting this year’s 2022 Rookie Faceoff, a voluntary tournament for teams’ rookie camp rosters to get some game experience against each other. The Anaheim Ducks announced their participation today, noting that the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, and Vegas Golden Knights will also participate. The tournament will feature nine games in total across four days from September 16 through September 19. Anaheim has not lost a rookie tournament game in regulation since 2016, going 11-0-2 in the process.
- The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that American coverage of the 2023 Stadium Series game will be on ESPN after TNT/Turner Sports hosted coverage last season. ESPN will broadcast the Carolina Hurricanes’ first-ever outdoor game as they host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on February 18, 2023. Shapiro also adds that the full slate of American national TV games is expected to come out later this week as the regular season approaches.
Snapshots: Penguins, Vikman, Jenner
With nine defensemen on their roster, it would appear at first glance that the Penguins might be a team to watch for on the trade front. Team president Brian Burke acknowledged to Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now that there are some teams calling to inquire about their blueliners although, for the time being, there aren’t any active trade discussions. Prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph is now waiver-eligible and likely wouldn’t sneak through and while Ty Smith is exempt from hitting the waiver wire, they didn’t acquire him from New Jersey for John Marino simply to play him in the minors. While there’s nothing on the front-burner now, there’s a good reason to think that Pittsburgh could be moving a defenseman at some point over the next month.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- While Golden Knights prospect Jesper Vikman is eligible to turn pro and play in their minor league system this season, it’s expected that he’ll be returned to WHL Vancouver, notes Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province. The 20-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Vegas back in 2020 and had a decent start to his major junior career with a 3.05 GAA and a .903 SV% in 35 games with the Giants. While the Golden Knights might benefit from a bit of extra depth in their farm system with some of the uncertainty that they have between the pipes, sending him back would likely be best for his development.
- Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link) that he has fully recovered from the back injury that cost him the final 23 games of last season. Jenner has missed time with back trouble in three different seasons now but all three have been in different areas. The 29-year-old had 44 points in 59 games last season while logging over 20 minutes per night for the first time in his career and he will undoubtedly be a welcome return for a Columbus team that is looking to turn their fortunes around quickly following the addition of Johnny Gaudreau this summer.
Snapshots: McLeod, Red Wings, Boudreau
With the Oilers having minimal cap flexibility (as it is, they likely need to clear money), Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal believes that RFA center Ryan McLeod will ultimately be forced to take a one-year contract. The 22-year-old had 21 points in 71 games last season but doesn’t have much leverage on his side as it’s unlikely he’ll be offer-sheeted while the bulk of his NHL experience is from 2021-22. Accordingly, Leavins posits that a one-year agreement might check in just above the league minimum which would help Edmonton’s cap situation but also give him arbitration rights next summer.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Red Wings have invited prospect Ivan Ivan to rookie camp, the youngster confirmed to Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now. The 20-year-old went undrafted back in July despite a strong season with Cape Breton of the QMJHL where he had 31 goals and 34 assists in 65 games. Ivan most recently suited up for the Czechs at the World Juniors last month and is eligible to play in the pros this season so even if he can’t earn an entry-level contract with Detroit, an AHL deal could still be a possibility.
- Last season, Bruce Boudreau was the toast of the town in Vancouver as the new bench boss nearly led the Canucks to an improbable playoff appearance. Despite that, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News posits that the head coach is squarely on the hot seat for 2022-23. The team is clearly in win-now mode and has returned its core from last season with a couple of additions and he wasn’t picked by current management as he was installed behind the bench before Patrik Allvin took over as GM. Allvin declined to offer a contract extension after the season so Boudreau instead will coach on the final year of his deal. Those factors will certainly put pressure on him early and often.
Snapshots: Miller, Sabres, Oettinger
As part of his seven-year, $56MM contract that was signed yesterday, Canucks forward J.T. Miller received a full no-move clause. That in itself isn’t noteworthy but he was eligible to have it apply to the upcoming season as part of the contract as well since he’s of UFA age. However, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that this was not the case. As a result, Miller does not have any sort of trade protection between now and July 1st when the NMC kicks in so if things don’t do well next season or Vancouver decides to shake things up, Miller will be trade-eligible even with his new deal in place.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Sabres GM Kevyn Adams told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News that part of the reason they weren’t overly active in free agency this summer was to give them the flexibility to extend their internal core as their contracts come up. We saw an example of that recently with the seven-year agreement with center Tage Thompson while Dylan Cozens is a year away from a pricey new deal of his own; Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Peyton Krebs are extension-eligible next summer. If Adams intends to work out long-term deals with all of those players, they’ll need all the flexibility they can get so their discipline this summer will be worth it later.
- While Jake Oettinger ultimately settled for a three-year, $12MM bridge deal, the netminder told reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that has made it clear to his representatives that he wants to stay in Dallas for the long haul. The contract still represents quite the raise for someone that actually spent a month in the minors last season before being recalled for good in mid-November and his AAV will get a notable bump three years from now as he’ll be owed a $4.8MM qualifying offer.
Snapshots: Wild, Kraken Captaincy, Halbgewachs
While Minnesota freed up $2.25MM in cap space today with the trade of defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to Anaheim, don’t expect that money to be spent right away. GM Bill Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link) that while he wouldn’t rule out using it on a free agent, it’s unlikely that he’ll opt to do so. Guerin felt that the Wild needed more cap space and while they’re shown as having a little over $5.7MM in room right now per CapFriendly, that figure has them with a minimum-sized roster which is likely to change. But even with adding a couple of players to that current projection, Minnesota will be well-positioned from a cap perspective to make additions to their roster in-season and will have some room to work with if injuries arise. It may not seem like much but that’s a cap situation that many teams would like to have right about now.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Last season, the Kraken had Mark Giordano as their inaugural captain but that post has been vacant since the veteran was moved to Toronto at the trade deadline. GM Ron Francis told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he’ll sit down with head coach Dave Hakstol to decide if they even want to name a captain this season and that if they do, they’ll likely wait to see how training camp goes before making a decision. Veterans Yanni Gourde, Jordan Eberle, and Adam Larsson would be candidates for the captaincy if they do decide to name one for 2022-23.
- Free agent winger Jayden Halbgewachs has drawn interest from MoDo in Sweden, sports director Henrik Gradin acknowledged to Ornskoldsviks Allehanda. The 25-year-old is coming off a productive year with AHL San Jose where he had 41 points in 59 games while also getting into three games with the Sharks, picking up his first career point. While he’s the type of player that would typically generate a fair bit of interest on a two-way deal, heading overseas to play in a top league there might ultimately help his value in the long run if he was to get back to being a top scorer as he was back in junior.
Snapshots: Kane, White, Red Wings
With the Blackhawks clearly embarking on a large-scale rebuild, there has been an expectation that long-time star winger Patrick Kane will be on the move. However, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (audio link) that the veteran isn’t interested in being traded this offseason. Instead, if a deal is going to happen, it will come closer to the trade deadline. From a cap standpoint, that would be more palatable for contending teams when three-quarters of his $10.5MM will be paid off. Kane has full control over where he moves but it appears that move won’t be coming for a while yet.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Panthers center Colin White told Ian Mendes of The Athletic (subscription link) that his preference this summer was to sign a one-year contract over pursuing a multi-year agreement on the open market. Some had speculated he’d follow long-time agent Kent Hughes to Montreal and while White mentioned he gave some consideration to doing so, he decided that it was more important to go to a winning team. While White is coming off a pair of injury-plagued seasons, the 25-year-old could be an upside signing for Florida on his one-year, $1.2MM deal.
- While extension talks between the Red Wings and Dylan Larkin clearly haven’t resulted in a new deal yet, MLive’s Ansar Khan believes an agreement, whenever it does get reached, should give the Michigan native maximum term and an AAV in the $8MM range. The 26-year-old isn’t the prototypical number one center from an offensive standpoint as he has never reached the point-per-game mark but he has logged more than 20 minutes a game on average over the past five seasons. If a deal does get done in that price range, it would represent a roughly $2MM increase on what Larkin is making now.
- Robert Mastrosimone’s decision to leave Boston University for Arizona State University raised some eyebrows but Khan notes in a separate column that the Red Wings were on board with the idea of him transferring. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick in 2019 (52nd overall) and was coming off a good season with the Terriers that saw him put up 25 points in 34 games but he should have an opportunity for a bigger role with the Sun Devils next season in the hopes that a good showing will give him an entry-level deal.
Snapshots: Brewer, Salary Cap, PHF
After promoting Sergei Brylin to an assistant role at the NHL level, the New Jersey Devils hired Andrew Brewer as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Utica Comets, per a team release. Brewer has spent the past eight seasons in an NHL video coaching role, and now the 36-year-old will get a crack at some more responsibility in the AHL.
Brewer most recently served as the video coach for the Florida Panthers for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he served in the same role for the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014-15 season and for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2015 through 2020. He’s also gained experience as the video coach for Team Canada at various international tournaments. Brewer will join Ryan Parent (assistant coach) and Brian Eklund (goaltending coach) behind Utica head coach Kevin Dineen.
- Speaking today during his media tour in Europe, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said he believed the NHL salary cap could rise significantly after the 2023-24 season. That marks a change in course from previous league forecasts post-pandemic, which pegged a significant cap jump after the 2024-25 season. The cap will likely raise another $1MM after this year to $83.5MM for 2023-24, but could now increase by much more than that for 2024-25. Some big names, including Auston Matthews and William Nylander, Steven Stamkos, Jake Guentzel, and Sebastian Aho are slated to hit the free agent market then, potentially making it easier for their current teams to re-sign them.
- The PHF will continue to stay more accessible to American fans. ESPN announced today that they’ve reached a two-year extension on their broadcast agreement, keeping the PHF on ESPN platforms through 2024. The league’s championship game, the Isobel Cup final, aired on ESPN2 last season, which was ESPN’s first cable broadcast of professional women’s hockey. PHF regular-season games will continue to air on the ESPN+ subscription service.
Snapshots: Greig, Weiss, Khudobin
One of the brightest stars in the Ottawa Senators’ deep prospect pool is left-wing Ridly Greig, who’s coming off a gold-medal-winning effort as a member of Team Canada at the 2022 World Juniors. 2021-22 was a banner year for him, notching 63 points in just 39 games as the captain of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings before joining Canada for the tournament. There, he registered six points in five games.
Unfortunately, his tournament was cut short by an injury and Greig missed the team’s semifinal game against Czechia and the gold medal game against Finland, and he played just 3:58 in the team’s quarterfinal round game against Switzerland. Now, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reports he’s out three to four weeks with a separated shoulder and will likely miss Ottawa’s rookie tournament games. However, general manager Pierre Dorion did note that Greig will be healthy for the preseason, where he’s expected to get a long look in camp but is likely destined for a big role with the AHL’s Belleville Senators.
- Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that Colorado Avalanche draft pick Tyler Weiss is likely moving on to a pro career after not registering for classes at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Weiss’ signing rights are still held by the Avalanche, so after scoring 33 points in 36 games last season in Omaha, Weiss will likely sign within the organization before the start of the season.
- Dallas Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika believes that a pre-season trade is the most likely outcome for the future of Stars netminder Anton Khudobin. Khudobin struggled through last season with injuries, playing in just nine games and posting a .879 save percentage. With Jake Oettinger expected to reprise his starting role and Scott Wedgewood signed on a cheap one-way deal as the backup, there’s simply no room left for Khudobin in the organization.
Snapshots: Backstrom, Miller, Connolly
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has put together an incredible career, especially considering that he has been dealing with chronic hip pain for parts of at least half of it. Up until this season, Backstrom has missed very little time due to injury throughout his career despite the nagging injury, however as the injury became more and more unbearable, the veteran knew he needed to address it for real, not simply ride it out. That ultimately lead to hip resurfacing surgery back in June, a procedure that should alleviate much of Backstrom’s day-to-day pain, but could affect his long-term career plans, much as the procedure did to Ryan Kesler and Ed Jovanovski.
Recently, Backstrom sat down for an interview with Swedish website expressen.se to discuss life before and after the surgery (link to original Swedish article). Washington Hockey Now’s Sammi Silber broke down Backstrom’s interview, originally in Swedish, profiling the Capitals star’s road to recovery (link to Silber’s article in English). Of note, Backstrom said prior to the surgery he had trouble doing things as simple as tying his shoes or putting on his socks. He added that skating had become easier than walking at times with the injury. On the brightside, however, Backstrom says that since the surgery, his quality of life has improved greatly and he’s been able to enjoy the offseason. Though the injury can end the careers of professional athletes, and there’s no timetable on when or if Backstrom can return, the All Star says that he’s not ready to think about hanging up his skates and for the first time in a long time, feels optimistic about where things are. Despite the injury and his age (34), Backstrom remains an incredibly important part of the Capitals’ build and has three more seasons at a $9.2MM AAV left on his contract.
- CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal appeared on the Sekeres and Price podcast to discuss the impact that Nazem Kadri‘s free agent deal will have on 2023 UFA and current Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller. In sum, Dhaliwal told the pair, “Kadri’s agent did J.T. Miller‘s agent a favor,” referencing the seven year, $49MM contract Kadri signed with the Calgary Flames. Looking a little deeper at what Dhaliwal means, Kadri is about to turn 32 years of age, coming off a career-best 87 points in 71 games, crushing his previous career-best of 61 points in 82 games back in 2016-17. If Kadri, who is a year-and-a-half older than Miller will be next summer, can secure a seven-year deal after one 87-point season, “there is no way Miller will accept anything under seven or eight years.” While there’s never been anything stopping Miller from setting that as his asking price, Kadri’s contract simply helps Miller make his own case for at least the same, if not a better contract. Miller is coming off his own career-best of 99 points in 80 games, but also boasts an impressive 46 points in 53 games and 72 points in 69 games the two seasons prior. Still, it will be up to Miller to have another stellar performance like he did this year if he wants to easily secure a contract greater than Kadri’s.
- An interesting bit of news, if it can be called that, was free agent forward and former Capital Brett Connolly joined several members of the Capitals at an informal skate at the team’s facility in Arlington, Virginia on Friday. Connolly skated alongside John Carlson, Lars Eller, Carl Hagelin, Garnet Hathaway, Hendrix Lapierre, Joe Snively, Sam Anas and Alexander Alexeyev, and though he was a teammate of a few of them from 2016-19, he wasn’t skating with them as a teammate Friday. The veteran forward instead told El-Bashir he was in town for personal reasons and simply needed a place to skate. An NHLer, and one who helped bring a Stanley Cup to D.C., Connolly was simply able to skate in a familiar place with some familiar faces. The veteran is currently a UFA awaiting his next deal, which could likely be on a PTO and invite to training camp with an NHL team looking for a proven offensive weapon.