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Snapshots: Dadonov Fallout, Dansk, No Trade Clauses

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The cancellation of Monday’s Evgenii Dadonov trade is a decision that could have an impact on the rest of this season and into the future. Because the Golden Knights’ place in the Western Conference’s playoff picture has become significantly more precarious than it was in the earlier months of the season, activating Alec Martinez and captain Mark Stone off of long-term injured reserve has suddenly become far more necessary than the team may have anticipated it would be. But without the cap space that was set to be cleared by Monday’s voided trade, the team is going to have a far more challenging time trying to get their players back from the long-term injured list. So, this means that the Golden Knights could pursue other trades to clear the cap room. In his 32 Thoughts blog, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman details what that could entail. He floats the Arizona Coyotes as a potential suitor for taking on Dadonov’s contract but states that the potential Dadonov-to-Arizona trade would be less appetizing to the Golden Knights than their voided trade to Anaheim was.

Friedman writes that “Arizona will make itself available” should the Golden Knights want to pursue that avenue of a solution, but it could be expensive. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the cost of a team taking on Dadonov’s contract from the Golden Knights could be “a first-round pick” plus more. For Vegas, that is a steeper price than the second-rounder they were set to send Anaheim. With the trade deadline passed and any trade of Dadonov now making him ineligible to play again this season, what little leverage Vegas did have has likely evaporated. Even worse for the team, Dadonov’s no-trade protection, the center of most of this conversation, could further cut into the number of teams willing to engage with Vegas on this type of deal. So the central question for Vegas will be: if getting rid of Dadonov’s contract to be able to activate Martinez and Stone is essential to reviving the team’s fading playoff hopes, how much is this season worth to GM Kelly McCrimmon? How much is it worth to owner Bill Foley? The Golden Knights have been remarkably aggressive in their young existence as a franchise, with a relentless commitment to maximizing their team’s ability to win a Stanley Cup with their current core of players. This season has been perhaps their most challenging, and the Dadonov situation brings them to a fork in the road. Will they pay what could be an exorbitant price to trade Dadonov and activate some reinforcements? Or could they potentially refuse to pay that price, and end up missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history?

  • Speaking of the Golden Knights, in another nugget of information from his 32 Thoughts blog, Elliotte Friedman brings up a name that Vegas fans should remember. Friedman reports that Oscar Dansk is pondering a return to North America after his first season overseas since he spent 2016-17 tending the pipes in the SHL. Dansk was the 31st overall pick in the 2012 draft and never quite lived up to his potential. After a 2020-21 season where he only got into 12 games across the NHL and AHL levels, Dansk left for the KHL. He played in 17 regular-season games for Spartak Moscow and registered a .910 save percentage. In three games for the team in the KHL playoffs, Dansk is sporting an impressive .932 mark. Given his track record as a solid AHL goalie (he had a .910 save percentage over a 75-game stretch for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2018-19 through 2019-20), it’s possible that he could return to this side of the Atlantic and get a chance as a team’s third netminder similar to the role he played for Vegas when he was last in North America.
  • One potential long-term impact of the voided Dadonov trade could be a change in how no-trade protections associated with contracts are tracked. A central issue with the Dadonov trade was that Dadonov’s contractual right to refuse a trade to the Anaheim Ducks was not communicated when the Knights made the trade earlier this week. The specifics of no-trade protection on NHL contracts are information typically only shared between a player, his representation, and the team he is contracted to. But with this Dadonov situation, that could change. In his piece detailing more information about Dadonov’s situation and no-trade clauses in general, the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun notes (subscription required) that with the annual GM meetings set to be held next week, the creation of a centralized, league-monitored place to store information on no-trade clauses could be an item on discussion. As with any piece of information, the more eyes that get to see it, the more likely it is to leak. So some parties may be opposed to this solution given that an unintended consequence could be more players’ no-trade lists becoming public information. But given the mess that the Dadonov trade situation evolved into, one wonders if that’s a risk the league’s decision-makers are willing to take.

Snapshots: Bertuzzi, Larsson, Bergeron, White, Chara

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While Red Wings winger Tyler Bertuzzi has been in some trade speculation as of late, he told reporters including MLive’s Ansar Khan that his desire is to stay with Detroit, the team that drafted him back in the second round in 2013.  The 27-year-old has one year left on his deal with a $4.75MM AAV and will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.  He sits second on the team in scoring this season with 49 points in 51 games which means GM Steve Yzerman would be placing a very high price tag if a contender wants to take a run at adding Bertuzzi today.

Other news and notes around the league:

  • The Coyotes have made some progress on a trade involving center Johan Larsson, reports PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been out for nearly two months with a lower-body injury but is nearing a return. Larsson has 15 points in 29 games this season but has been a checker for most of his career which is the role contending teams would have in mind for him.  With a $1.4MM AAV, he’s someone several teams will be able to afford.
  • Boston is hoping that center Patrice Bergeron will be able to return from his arm injury for Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay, note Elaine Cavalieri and Eric Russo of the Bruins’ team site. The veteran will miss his third straight game tonight against Montreal and has 45 points in 56 games this season.
  • Senators center Colin White is someone that a couple of league executives believes in play, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 25-year-old recently returned to the lineup after missing the first 50 games of the year with a shoulder injury.  He has six points in a dozen contests but with three years remaining on his deal with a $4.75MM AAV, it would be surprising to see him moved unless Ottawa is willing to take a similar-sized deal in return.
  • The Oilers are among the teams to check in on Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara, Chris Johnston reports in his latest Toronto Star column. The 45-year-old is still averaging more than 18 minutes a night and with a base cap hit of just the league minimum of $750K, he’s someone that they should be able to afford with their limited cap space.  Chara also has another $750K in undisclosed performance bonuses which an acquiring team may become responsible for absorbing although that can roll over to next year’s cap if necessary.

Snapshots: Krejci, Reimer, Islanders

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Recent rumors of a potential return of David Krejci to the Boston Bruins were shut down by Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney today, reports Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now (link). Sweeney said that Krejci has decided to stay home with his family in the Czech Republic.

The Bruins have been looking to possibly add to their forward depth as the trade deadline approaches, and the former Bruins star center had been rumored to return almost since he announced he was returning to Europe after last season. Krejci had been a cornerstone for the Bruins for much of his career, totaling 215 goals and 515 assists in 962 career games.

  • The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that interest in San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer had been picking up, however he’s not sure if the Sharks will end up wanting to move the goaltender. Reimer has another season at $2.25MM left on his contract and has performed well for the rebuilding Sharks. After a promising start tot he season, the Sharks have fallen off, however they could be in line to turn the corner on their rebuild faster than expected, and keeping Reimer around could help to facilitate that. On the other hand, several teams are in need of goaltending, and Reimer’s extra year at an incredibly fair $2.25MM cap hit could land San Jose a return that is too good not to take.
  • The New York Islanders announced prior to their game against the Philadelphia Flyers this afternoon that forward Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Andy Greene were day-to-day and are being held out of today’s game for maintenance purposes. While that certainly may be the reason, it is important to note that both players are pending UFAs who are candidates to be traded by the trade deadline tomorrow. Also worth mentioning is that the Islanders are a very tight-lipped organization and could be holding their cards close.

Snapshots: Giordano, Braun, Robertson, Martinook

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One of the biggest names remaining on the trade-bait list is Seattle Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano. A pending UFA and still producing at a high level, many teams have been calling Seattle about the 38-year-old. Still, the price on Giordano remains high, rumored to be at least a first-round pick. Although this price may be reasonable for Giordano, many teams have balked at the it, some perhaps not necessarily viewing it as unfair, but not a prudent decision for their organization. One such organization is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have made it known that they do not want to trade a first-round pick or a top prospect for a true rental player.

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wondered if perhaps Seattle would be willing to take two second-round picks or a second-round pick and a prospect in lieu of a first-round pick (link). LeBrun speculates that if Seattle was willing to accept a package like this, then that may open the market up to Toronto and the St. Louis Blues, another organization who has made it known they do not want to trade a first-round pick. Another team that is in the mix for Giordano’s services is the New York Rangers, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman pointed out on Hockey Night in Canada yesterday evening. The Rangers, unlike Toronto or St. Louis, could be persuaded to trade a first-round pick, considering the young talent they have and the fact that they have not been without one in several years. While that does give the Rangers an advantage, Giordano, Seattle’s captain, has made it clear that if he is to be traded, he strongly prefers his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers plan to make defenseman Justin Braun a healthy scratch for today’s game against the New York Islanders, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. The scratch is not indicative of poor performance or any injury related matters, and is purely an asset-management move ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline, when Braun is likely to be traded.
  • The Maple Leafs announced that they have sent forward Nicholas Robertson to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The move does not necessarily mean that the Maple Leafs are planning, or not planning, to trade Robertson, and is more-likely-than-not a result of the Maple Leafs working around salary cap constraints to put themselves in the best position possible for the trade deadline. To date, Robertson has just one goal and zero assists in nine NHL games this season, but three goals and five assists in nine AHL games this season.
  • According to Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour, forward Jordan Martinook will be out of the lineup for a few weeks after being injured in Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs (link). Carolina expects to have Martinook back this season, however Hurricanes’ alternate captain is a key figure and leader in the locker room, so his absence, even if temporary, could prove costly to the team.
  • Friedman also Tweets that he believes the Vancouver Canucks are a team that is considering Travis Dermott at the deadline. Dermott has been the subject of trade rumors well before this year’s trade deadline, and those rumors have only heated up since, and it is believed he will be traded by the deadline regardless. Vancouver has been looking to acquire a defenseman with term, and Dermott is signed through 2022-23 at just a $1.5MM cap hit.

Snapshots: Kubalik, Giordano, Sanderson

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The Chicago Blackhawks have had a nightmare season and chief among the underachievers has been Dominik Kubalik. The 26-year-old forward has just 11 goals and 21 points in 61 games, a far cry from the 30-goal season he put up as a rookie in 2019-20. With that disappointing season getting even worse of late–Kubalik has just one goal and four points in his last 18 games–his name started to rise in trade speculation recently and is now a prime candidate to be moved in the coming days.

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Blackhawks are “making progress” on a Kubalik trade, with the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers as frontrunners. Whoever does acquire the enigmatic winger is getting a player on the last year of his current contract that will be a restricted free agent and eligible for arbitration in the summer. Kubalik will be owed a $4MM qualifying offer just to retain his rights as an RFA.

  • Another top deadline target, Mark Giordano, isn’t expected to play tonight for the Seattle Kraken as they look to protect their asset. The 38-year-old defenseman is supposed to be honored for playing 1,000 games–a mark he hit on the road earlier this month–but will apparently have to do it in street clothes as head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters Giordano won’t be in the lineup. Already confirmed to be heading somewhere, the 2019 Norris Trophy winner should bring Seattle a strong package of assets despite his age and expiring contract.
  • Jake Sanderson was expected to join the Ottawa Senators after his college career ended, but the young defenseman has suffered another injury that could potentially jeopardize that. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that Sanderson will miss the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and is out week-to-week with this new issue. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia adds that the Senators’ medical staff has reached out to the University of North Dakota staff to get a full report and there is some concern that he could be out “a while.” Sanderson was limited to just 23 games for UND this season, while missing time at both the World Juniors (which was eventually canceled) and the Olympics (in which he played just one game because of COVID and injury issues).

Snapshots: Kallgren, Poehling, Smith

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will have Erik Kallgren in net tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars, giving the 25-year-old goaltender his first start as they desperately look for an answer between the pipes. With Jack Campbell hurt and Petr Mrazek playing his way out of town, Kallgren–a seventh-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2015 who signed with Toronto after playing the last two seasons overseas–has a chance to show what he can do at the NHL level.

With so much uncertainty around the Maple Leafs’ goaltending situation, the team might have been looking across the rink at the Stars net for an answer had some complicating factors not occurred in the last few days. Braden Holtby, who was considered by many to be a top trade deadline candidate, is dealing with a minor injury while third-string netminder Anton Khudobin is now out for the year. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweets, it is “safe to say” that Holtby will remain with the Stars through the deadline as Dallas chases down a playoff berth.

  • Ryan Poehling will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, the Montreal Canadiens announced today. Poehling took a hard shot from Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Justin Braun over the weekend and exited the game. Though he still hasn’t contributed a ton of offense, Poehling looked like he was finally finding his stride in the NHL as a big-bodied center, a progression that will now be halted as he deals with this injury. The 23-year-old first-round pick has five goals and 12 points in 45 games this season.
  • Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith has been medically cleared according to team reporter Walt Ruff, though he is still dealing with some pretty scary effects. Smith suffered a fractured skull and is still dealing with partial hearing loss in one ear after taking a puck in the head last month. Smith and fellow injured defenseman Tony DeAngelo both skated today for the Hurricanes.

Snapshots: Draft Capital, Juniors, Anderson

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When it comes to acquiring rentals at the trade deadline, the most used currency is draft picks. Dozens of picks usually change hands, with several first-round selections being tossed around to try and give teams the best chance at the Stanley Cup. This year has an interesting “wrinkle” according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, who reports that 2023 selections are seemingly preferred over 2022 picks at the moment.

There’s no doubt that the excitement around next year’s draft is palpable. Not only is there Connor Bedard and Matvei Michkov at the very top (though the latter’s status is a bit complicated by the recent change in the NHL-KHL relationship) but an early feeling that 2023 will be an impressive draft well into the middle rounds. That opinion manifested in a recent trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes. In it, the Maple Leafs surrendered a conditional pick that is either a 2023 third or 2025 second. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong even explained at the time that they believed 2023 would be a very strong draft, and that they would take that pick if “the player is there” when the turn comes up.

  • There soon may be another league for scouts to visit, as Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports that an announcement on a new junior hockey league based on the west coast is expected tomorrow. The league, yet unnamed, is backed by four NHL franchises and spearheaded, according to Kennedy, by Ben Robert, founding partner of West Coast Hockey Sports and Entertainment. The league would potentially give players from the area an alternative to the USHL or CHL.
  • Craig Anderson is expected to generate some “tire kicking” according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, though the insider notes that it is likely up to the veteran goaltender on whether he goes or stays. Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman also touched on Anderson in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet, explaining how much the Buffalo Sabres have appreciated his leadership this season. Anderson, 40, has a .907 save percentage in 18 appearances this season, winning career game number 301 on Sunday at the Heritage Classic.

Snapshots: Paul, Hughes, PWHPA

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Nick Paul has a decision to make and is running out of time to do so. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that progress on a new contract for the impending UFA is still lacking and that Paul appears to be the one dragging his feet. Both Paul and the Ottawa Senators have publicly stated interest in an extension, but with just eight days until the NHL Trade Deadline there has been nothing new on that front. A hard-working, two-way forward, Paul has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches as well as the fans in Ottawa. As the Senators look to take a step forward as a club, they do not want to allow homegrown talent to walk away. However, if Paul cannot give them any assurance by the deadline, GM Pierre Dorion and company will have little choice but to make a trade. Paul is drawing considerable interest and the rebuilding Senators would gain valuable capital in a move. They would prefer to keep him, but that decision remains out of their hands so long as Paul cannot make a commitment to a new contract.

  • Another impressive Hughes is heading to Michigan; however, this one has no relation to Quinn or Luke. The Wolverines have received a commitment from record-breaking AJHL scorer T.J. Hughes, as announced by his current team, the Brooks Bandits. At 20 years old, Hughes is an older prospect and college commit, but has earned his spot with an elite program like Michigan this season. Hughes just completed a 66-goal, 127-points season in just 60 games – an incredible 2.12 points per game. It was the most goals in a single season in Brooks history, as well as a top-ten historical mark in the AJHL and the first 60+ goal season in the league since before the turn of the century. As the star-studded Wolverines continue to chase an NCAA title this season, their incoming classes also continue to grow more and more impressive. Meanwhile, the Bandits are a juggernaut in the AJHL as the playoffs begin. The team holds the top seed in the postseason and each of the top four scorers in the league. They will look to make the most of Hughes’ efforts before he departs for Ann Arbor.
  • The Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association is closing in on the formation of a fully-funded league. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that the PWHPA is nearing an announcement of a women’s league that would be the first of its kind in terms of financial backing and sponsor support. The PWHPA represents players that broke off from the PHF (and its previous iterations) and has only been operating as showcases to this point, but a change seems to be on the horizon. Of note, Marek does not believe that this newly-constructed league has any association with the PHF and the two will likely exist separately as competing leagues. Additionally, there is no evidence as of yet to suggest that the NHL is tied in to this new league either.

Snapshots: Kotkaniemi, Staal, Foligno

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Nothing has really been definitive on the various reports of a Jesperi Kotkaniemi extension in Carolina over the past 24 hours, and now there’s some clarity why. CapFriendly reports that Kotkaniemi, as a result of the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding that the league and NHLPA passed prior to the bubble playoffs, can’t actually sign his eight-year extension until after this year’s Trade Deadline. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported yesterday afternoon that an extension between the two parties was on the horizon, with Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland then reporting an eight-year extension in the $4.25MM-$4.5MM range while PuckPedia pegs it at $4.82MM. The hockey world will need to wait at least a week and a half to learn the official deal, however.

Some other Saturday morning notes:

  • Detroit Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal will become the third Staal brother to play 1,000 NHL games tonight, setting a record in the process. It’ll be the first time in NHL history that three brothers will have played in 1,000 or more games, besting out the Sutter and Stastny families, among others. He’ll set the marker at the Saddledome in Calgary.
  • The Wild’s Marcus Foligno has been under scrutiny from NHL Player Safety for a variety of plays this season, and they may be handing out a punishment to ’Moose’ once again in the form of a fine. The Athletic’s Michael Russo says that while he’s likely to escape a suspension for a knee-on-knee collision with Columbus’ Jakub Voracek last night, he could see a fine in the near future.  Update: That fine did indeed come with the Department of Player Safety issuing a $5K penalty.

Snapshots: Sharks Goalies, Coyotes, Langhamer, Lindberg

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The Sharks are set to get some much-needed good news on the injury front when it comes to their goaltending as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays that Adin Hill is likely to start tomorrow against Los Angeles.  He has missed the last seven weeks with a lower-body injury and had posted a 2.78 GAA along with a .901 SV% in 24 games.

Meanwhile, James Reimer has resumed on-ice workouts and could be cleared to return at some point next week from his own lower-body injury sustained at the beginning of the month.  Since then, the Sharks have gone with veteran Alex Stalock and prospect Zachary Sawchenko who picked up his first career NHL victory on Thursday.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong told NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika that he anticipates the team making one or two small deals by the trade deadline. Arizona has made it known that they’re willing to utilize their cap space to yield other assets as they’ve done several times already over the past year but they’re trying to space out their draft picks.  To that end, Armstrong indicated that they’ve nearly accumulated enough picks for 2024 and will soon be starting to work on adding more selections for the 2025 draft.
  • Still with Arizona, Coyotes goaltender Marek Langhamer has signed a one-year extension with Ilves, the Finnish team announced. The Coyotes still hold the rights to the 27-year-old when they tendered him a qualifying offer that went unaccepted in 2018.  Those rights will expire in July and with this deal, it’s clear that Arizona will be losing him in a few months.
  • Penguins prospect goaltender Filip Lindberg is out for the rest of the season, notes Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 23-year-old was drafted by Minnesota but signed with Pittsburgh after three stellar seasons at UMass (Amherst).  However, he suffered an ankle injury in November in just his seventh professional game and it appears it’s significant enough that he won’t return for the stretch run.

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