Snapshots: Clarke, Brown, Blues
With some major departures this offseason of key veteran players, the New Jersey Devils should have some openings in their forward corps for emerging young players to grab in preseason and training camp. According to New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols, one of those young players looking to grab an NHL job is Graeme Clarke, who “expects himself” to make the NHL roster this fall. Although Clarke hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet, it’s easy to see why the 22-year-old forward believes he’ll be on the Devils’ roster by opening night.
Clarke led the Utica Comets in scoring last season in the AHL, potting 25 goals and 58 points in 68 games. It was a legitimate breakout year for a player who registered just 24 points the year before, and cemented his status as a talented prospect who profiles as a potential middle-six scorer in the NHL. It’s highly likely that Clarke would have gotten an NHL call-up last season were he playing for a less talent-rich franchise, but with training camp and the preseason coming it’s likely that Clarke won’t have to wait much longer to get his chance.
Some other notes from across the NHL:
- PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor reports that the Philadelphia Flyers are giving prospect Matt Brown, an invite player to their rookie tournament that begins tonight, a look on the team’s powerplay and a heightened role. O’Connor notes that the Flyers may be “considering offering him an ELC and want a closer look at his offensive ability.” Brown led Boston University in scoring last season with 16 goals and 47 points, and the 24-year-old could end up joining a Flyers prospect pool that already ranks among the league’s best.
- The St. Louis Blues are without a captain thanks to their trade of Ryan O’Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs at last year’s deadline, and even though the club hopes to rebound and return to the playoffs they may not do so with a player wearing the “C.” The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports in his recent mailbag that the Blues don’t have “imminent plans” to name a captain. (subscription link) Brayden Schenn is a player generally considered a candidate to be the team’s next captain, although Rutherford does note that the organization could opt to give the important leadership role to a younger core player, such as team number-one center Robert Thomas.
St. Louis Blues Sign Nick Ritchie To PTO
The other Ritchie brother has signed a PTO of his own. Relatively shortly after Brett Ritchie reportedly signed a PTO with the Florida Panthers, his brother Nick Ritchie has had a PTO agreement announced with the St. Louis Blues.
This is actually the second consecutive time the Ritchie brothers have seen their names appear next to each other on the transactions wire. Earlier this year, the brothers were traded for each other, with Nick and defenseman Troy Stecher headed to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Brett and Connor Mackey, who went to the Arizona Coyotes.
Ritchie isn’t coming off of a great season, which could be why he’s had to settle for a PTO rather than a full contract. He scored a total of 13 goals and 26 points last season, just three points more than he scored in 2021-22 despite playing in 17 additional contests. The six-foot-three, 236-pound former top prospect has scored at around the same rate (goals in the early teens, points in the mid-twenties) for much of his NHL career.
It was an intriguing combination of size and scoring ability that made Ritchie such a highly-touted prospect and is what got him selected 10th overall by the Anaheim Ducks at the 2014 draft. He hasn’t been able to translate his quality scoring numbers in both junior hockey and his brief stay in the AHL to the NHL, though.
The lack of time and space afforded in the NHL has been a particular issue for Ritchie, who lacks the sort of separation speed, deceptive puck skills, or overwhelming puck protection talents to create time and space for himself. As a result, he’s settled into more of a bottom-six role while offering a little bit more offensive touch than the average fourth-liner.
Arriving in St. Louis for camp, Ritchie does have something of a shot to make their NHL roster and earn a full contract. He’s competing with players such as Oskar Sundqvist, Samuel Blais, Mackenzie MacEachern, Alexey Toropchenko, Nathan Walker, and Nikita Alexandrov for a depth role on head coach Craig Berube’s roster.
With a strong camp and preseason, he could end up having a longer stay in St. Louis. But without the guarantee of a full contract to play somewhere this season, Ritchie has an extremely important month ahead of him.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: St. Louis Blues
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
St. Louis Blues
Current Cap Hit: $83,206,429 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Nikita Alexandrov (one year, $817K)
F Jake Neighbours (two years, $835K)
In his first full professional season, Neighbours split the year between St. Louis and Springfield. While he was a scorer in the minors, he didn’t have much success in 43 NHL contests. He should push for a full-time spot this season but barring a big breakthrough in his offensive play, he’s a strong candidate for a short-term second contract. Alexandrov got his first taste of NHL action last season but, like Neighbours, didn’t produce much with the Blues despite being a quality scorer with the Thunderbirds. Playing almost exclusively on the fourth line tends to do that. Now waiver-eligible, Alexandrov should be able to lock down a full-time roster spot but if he’s back in a similar role this season, his second contract is going to check in pretty close to this one.
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Sammy Blais ($1MM, UFA)
D Robert Bortuzzo ($950K, UFA)
F Kasperi Kapanen ($3.2MM, UFA)
D Scott Perunovich ($775K, RFA)
D Calle Rosen ($762.5K, UFA)
D Marco Scandella ($3.275MM, UFA)
F Oskar Sundqvist ($775K, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($2.625MM, UFA)*
*-Detroit is retaining an additional $2.625MM on Vrana’s contract
Kapanen was a somewhat surprising waiver claim from Pittsburgh late in the season as GM Doug Armstrong opted to take an extended look at him. After struggling with the Penguins, he finished up strong with the Blues but will need to carry that type of performance over for a full season if he wants a shot at beating this price tag on his next deal. Vrana was limited to just 25 NHL games last year between Detroit and St. Louis but was quite productive with the Blues, notching 10 goals in 20 games. He will need to stay healthy and keep up that scoring pace if he is going to have any chances of approaching the $5MM mark on his next deal.
Blais struggled last season with the Rangers and was basically a throw-in on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to help make the money work. But his return to St. Louis rekindled his production. Blais opted to sign an early extension not long after the swap, a move that might have cost him a bit of money had he tested the market. If he remains a double-digit scorer while chipping in with his usual physicality, he’ll be in line for a raise next summer. Sundqvist didn’t get much traction on the open market this summer despite having the second-highest point total of his career. If he’s in a depth role this season, he’ll have a hard time significantly bolstering his market but a spot on the third line could at least get him a small boost.
Scandella did well when he first joined St. Louis, quickly earning this contract which was a four-year deal. Things haven’t gone well at all since then as he has battled injuries and struggled when healthy. Unless something changes, his market value will be closer to the $1MM range next summer than the $3MM range. Bortuzzo is a prototypical depth defender best used as a sixth or seventh option. Those players usually sign for close to the minimum which is what he’ll need to take again if he wants to stick around.
Rosen saw limited action last season but was pretty productive with eight goals and ten assists in 49 games. That should turn some heads around the league and if he’s able to stick on the roster full-time this year as well, he could at least get closer to the $1MM mark next summer. Perunovich will be looking to unseat Rosen (or someone else). A productive scorer in both college and the AHL, injuries have derailed his development so far. He’s on a one-year minimum contract and if he can stay healthy, he should be able to play his way into the mix.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Pavel Buchnevich ($5.8MM, UFA)
G Joel Hofer ($775K, RFA)
F Alexey Toropchenko ($1.25MM, RFA)
D Tyler Tucker ($800K, RFA)
Buchnevich has found another level since joining St. Louis two years ago. While he did battle some injury trouble, last season was still by far his second-best season offensively and his second straight showing of over a point per game. After being more of a second liner with the Rangers in terms of production, he has become a legitimate top-line winger with the Blues while receiving second-line money, giving them a nice bang for their buck. Assuming he’s able to continue that over the next two seasons, Buchnevich could very well add a couple million per season to his next cap hit while pushing for close to a max-term deal; he’ll be 30 when his next contract kicks in.
The other three players in this group are the bridge brigade. Toropchenko held down a regular spot for most of last season, albeit in a limited role which made a short-term second contract an obvious outcome. Moving onto the third line with some regularity will help boost his next deal. Tucker spent the bulk of last season in the minors but did well in limited action when he was up. Now waiver-eligible, this deal should secure him at least the seventh spot on the depth chart; he’ll need to play his way into a regular role to get any sort of sizable raise. As for Hofer, he has primarily played in the minors so far which limited his earnings upside. If he fares well in the second-string role for two years, he should more than double this price tag.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Kevin Hayes ($3.571MM, UFA)*
D Nick Leddy ($4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Saad ($4.5MM, UFA)
*-Philadelphia is retaining an additional $3.571MM per season on Hayes’ deal
Saad hasn’t reached the 50-point mark since 2016-17 with Columbus but has settled in as a capable and somewhat consistent secondary scorer. This contract isn’t a bargain but they’ve received a decent return on it so far. Three more years around the 20-goal mark might give him a shot at a short-term deal close to this amount in 2026. Hayes comes over from Philadelphia who practically gave him away with retention. St. Louis should benefit nicely; while he’s not the $7MM-plus player his full contract is, he should easily be able to live up to half of that.
Leddy’s first full season with the Blues was a bit of a mixed bag. He logged some big minutes but didn’t provide a whole lot offensively while his possession numbers weren’t the strongest either. There were plenty of underachievers a year ago in St. Louis but they’ll be counting on more from him this season to get better bang for their buck.
Torey Krug Suffers Foot Injury
The St. Louis Blues have announced this morning that veteran defenseman Torey Krug has “suffered a right-foot injury while training for the upcoming 2023-24 season,” and will be re-evaluated on October 1st.
Based on the Blues’ announcement, the timeline of this injury means that Krug will miss a chunk of time at the start of Blues training camp, stretching through the team’s first few preseason games. It’s certainly not an ideal situation for Krug.
However, it is at least somewhat encouraging that the team did not offer a longer timeline for Krug’s absence, leaving room for optimism that he could be in far better shape health-wise around the time of his re-evaluation.
Of course, with the limited amount of information the Blues provided, it’s also certainly possible that Krug’s injury is more severe than this announcement makes it initially seem.
The inclusion of just a re-evaluation date but no firmer timeline does, after all, also allow for the possibility of a more extended absence.
What this injury means for the Blues’ defense isn’t entirely clear until the full extent of Krug’s absence is revealed.
Assuming Krug is ready for opening night, he’ll likely resume the top-four role he’s played in Blues coach Craig Berube’s blueline throughout his time in St. Louis.
But if he’s out for a more extended period, that could mean that a player like Scott Perunovich steps into a larger role on St. Louis’ defense early in the year. It would be an interesting twist for Perunovich, 25, to gain a greater NHL opportunity due to an injury to a teammate after his own injuries laid waste to his development over the last few seasons.
He plays an up-tempo offensive game that’s reminiscent of Krug’s and would be the best option among the Blues’ depth defensemen to replicate his style of game. But until more information comes to light about Krug’s injury, whether Perunovich (or another Blues defenseman) will get a chance to play a bigger role is still ultimately a mystery.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
No Suspension Coming For Kasperi Kapanen After Alcohol-Related Driving Charge
Taking over some of the NHL news cycle this afternoon, St.Louis Blues forward, Kasperi Kapanen has been charged with an alcohol-related driving charge in his native Finland. In a statement, Kapanen said, “Last month I made an unacceptable error in judgment and take full responsibility for my actions. I offer my apologies to my family, the Blues organization, my teammates, and the fans. I understand the severity of my mistake and am committed to doing everything I can to earn back their trust”. In a following statement, the President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the Blues, Doug Armstrong, said, “Today we became aware of the incident involving Kasperi and I have spoken with him and his agent. We are disappointed in his lapse of judgment and are entrusting him to make the necessary changes to avoid putting himself in a similar situation in the future” (X Link).
All signs indicate that Kapanen and the Blues organization will handle this matter internally, and no suspension will be coming down from the team or the NHL. Last season, after being picked up on waivers by St.Louis, Kapanen would score eight goals and six assists to cap off the last 23 games in the season.
Michael Del Zotto Announces Retirement
Longtime NHL defenseman Michael Del Zotto announced his retirement via Instagram today, ending a 13-season NHL career.
Del Zotto, 33, was drafted by the New York Rangers with the 20th overall pick out of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals in 2008. He would jump to professional hockey after one more season in juniors, recording 37 points in 80 games in 2009-10 and earning All-Rookie Team honors.
Unfortunately, while Del Zotto would turn into a serviceable NHL defenseman for over a decade, he didn’t develop into the potential bonafide top-pair player he hinted he could be at the beginning of his career. He would only beat his rookie totals once in New York, recording ten goals, 31 assists and 41 points in 77 games in 2011-12 before dropping to a bottom-pairing role in the 2013-14 campaign. Then-Rangers general manager Glen Sather dealt him to the Nashville Predators for shutdown defender Kevin Klein in a one-for-one swap in January of that season.
Things didn’t go much better for Del Zotto in a brief stint with Nashville to close out the season, which saw his ice time continue to decrease as he recorded five points in 25 games and a -4 rating. He was due a qualifying offer of $2.9MM that season with his contract expiring, which the Predators didn’t issue, and he signed a one-year, $1.3MM contract with the Philadelphia Flyers in August 2014. It turned out to be a prudent choice for Del Zotto, who, for a brief time, recaptured his former glory in Philadelphia. He notched 32 points in 64 games during his first season there while averaging nearly 22 minutes per game, but again fizzled out over the following two seasons with the Flyers.
After signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Vancouver Canucks in 2017, Del Zotto would play stints with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, and St. Louis Blues in depth roles until the 2021-22 season. While he didn’t appear in any postseason contests, Del Zotto was on the Blues’ roster for their 2019 Stanley Cup championship.
2021-22 was when it became clear Del Zotto’s days of playing at the highest level were drawing to a close. Despite recording a respectable 13 points in 26 games with Ottawa and posting decent possession numbers, the Senators waived him. They assigned him to AHL Belleville, where he managed over a point per game. It was enough to land him another NHL contract for 2022-23 with the Florida Panthers, but they waived him pre-season and didn’t include him on the opening night roster. He would record two goals and 10 points in 25 games with their AHL affiliate in Charlotte before they traded him back to Anaheim in the days leading up to Christmas in a three-way swap of minor-league players, including the Detroit Red Wings. Del Zotto closed the season with a strong 31 points in 40 games for AHL San Diego.
But without ever getting a callup to the NHL throughout the season despite a paper-thin defense in Anaheim, Del Zotto has opted to step away from the game. His 736 games rank 18th among players from the 2008 draft class at the time of his retirement, during which he recorded 63 goals, 199 assists, 262 points, and averaged 20:03 per game over the years. PHR congratulates Del Zotto on his lengthy career in the pros and wishes him the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Power Play Production Will Be Key If Blues Still Want To Move Krug
Blues defenseman Torey Krug has already vetoed one trade this summer, a move that would have sent him to Philadelphia. With a $6.5MM price tag for four more years, his contract won’t be an easy one to trade. However, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic believes (subscription link) that there is a pathway to an in-season swap for the 32-year-old. If Krug can get back to being a quality power play quarterback, that could bolster his market and the potential awkwardness of being with a team that clearly tried to trade him could create a potential opportunity for a move. Krug had 19 points with the man advantage last season – more than half his point total – but when he was with Boston, he was closer to 30 power play points in his final seasons with the team. Returning to that type of production would undoubtedly help Krug’s trade value.
Blues Loan Dalibor Dvorsky To Swedish League
Back in June, the Blues made center Dalibor Dvorsky their top pick, selecting him tenth overall. However, they’ll have to wait a little while longer for him to make his debut in North America as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that St. Louis has loaned Dvorsky to IK Oskarshamn of the SHL for the upcoming season.
Dvorsky spent last season in AIK’s system in Sweden, playing at three different levels. The bulk of his playing time came at the Allsvenskan level, their second-tier pro division. The 18-year-old held his own against the pros, picking up six goals and eight assists in 38 games.
However, it was his production against his own age group that moved Dvorsky up draft boards. He averaged more than a point per game on AIK’s Under-20 squad, then picked up seven points in four games in the Under-18 playoffs. Internationally, Dvorsky played for Slovakia at both the World Juniors and the World Under-18s, finishing sixth in tournament scoring for the latter with 13 points in just seven contests.
Dvorsky has a two-year deal in Sweden so this loan comes as little surprise as it’s unlikely that he would have competed for a roster spot in training camp. The loan means that he’ll be eligible to have his contract slide next season (as long as he doesn’t play in ten or more NHL contests later on in the year) which means it would still have three seasons remaining on it in 2024-25.
Latest On Colton Parayko
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.
St. Louis Blues Sign Isaac Ratcliffe To PTO
The St. Louis Blues have announced the signing of forward Isaac Ratcliffe to a professional tryout agreement for the preseason. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that there “could still be another” PTO signing coming for the team as they prepare for training camp.
In July, the AHL’s Chicago Wolves announced they’d signed Ratcliffe to an AHL contract for the 2023-24 season. Ratcliffe’s first priority will now be to make the Blues’ roster out of camp and earn a spot in the NHL, though AHL Chicago could very well end up his 2023-24 team should he fall short in that pursuit.
In Ratcliffe, the Blues are rolling the dice on a former highly-drafted prospect whose professional career has not to this point lined up with many scout’s projections.
Way back when he was a prospect for the 2017 draft, many scouts were intrigued by Ratcliffe’s imposing six-foot-six frame and coveted combination of size and goal-scoring ability.
He was ranked 15th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and was ultimately drafted near the top of the second round by the Philadelphia Flyers, 35th overall. Although Ratcliffe had slipped out of the first round, the Flyers ended up trading their own second-round pick, a third-rounder, and a fourth-rounder in order to move up nine spots in the draft order to be able to select Ratcliffe, highlighting just how highly Ratcliffe was viewed by some NHL evaluators.
Ratcliffe then proceeded to set the OHL on fire, scoring 41 goals the season after he was drafted and 50 goals in his final regular season of major junior hockey. Ratcliffe also added 30 points in 24 playoff games that year, partnering with Nick Suzuki to win the Guelph Storm an OHL title. At that point, there was a widespread belief that Ratcliffe had a chance to become an important part of the Flyers’ future forward corps, and he was ranked as the team’s fifth-best prospect by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman. (subscription link)
Pronman wrote at the time that “the pace [of the professional game] will be a big test” for Ratcliffe, noting that Ratcliffe’s “quickness is an issue.” That proved to be something of an understatement, as Ratcliffe struggled immensely to adjust to the faster pace of AHL hockey. While he could leverage his size and physicality to overpower his peers in junior hockey, the seasoned pros that populate the AHL proved far more difficult to outmuscle.
At the end of his rookie season as a pro player, Ratcliffe had collected six goals and 15 points in 53 games. His spot in the Flyers’ plans looked to be on increasingly thin ice, and after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped away much of the 2020-21 AHL season, Ratcliffe had the 2021-22 campaign as his best shot to prove to Philadelphia that he was still a legitimate NHL prospect.
He certainly played better, scoring 11 goals and 28 points in 59 games, and even earned his first NHL call-up, ultimately skating in 10 games in Philadelphia. But he still looked to be a step behind the pace of the pro game, and after injuries and inconsistency conspired to make the start of his 2022-23 season a real struggle, he was dealt to the Nashville Predators at the 2023 trade deadline.
Ratcliffe put together a solid stretch of games for the Predators’ AHL affiliate but ultimately was not issued a qualifying offer by the franchise, leading to his signing with the Wolves and this PTO with the Blues. The Blues have a few young wingers they’d like to see take real steps forward in their development and convincingly snatch regular roles in head coach Craig Berube’s lineup.
While players such as Oskar Sundqvist and Samuel Blais are locks for the Blues’ NHL roster, Ratcliffe will compete in camp against less established names such as top prospect Jake Neighbours, big Alexey Toropchenko, and veteran Mackenzie MacEachern.
With this PTO, Ratcliffe will have the chance to join the Blues for training camp and the preseason with the hope of pushing those players for an NHL job. While it’s ultimately unlikely that the Blues elect to sign and roster Ratcliffe over someone like Neighbours, Toropchenko, or MacEachern, he’ll have the chance to potentially showcase his talents to other clubs in preseason games as well.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images