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Vancouver Canucks Sign Philip Holm To One-Year Deal

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Well, as if the Canucks were upset by the earlier report that they were just a front-runner, the team has announced a one-year entry-level contract with Swedish defenseman Philip Holm. It had been rumored that the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks were two of the other teams interested. The deal will see Holm paid $925K in the NHL, and was the only length he could have accepted due to his age.Philip Holm

The 25-year old played for Vaxjo this year, recording 21 points in 52 games. Canucks GM Jim Benning released a statement about why they went after Holm.

Philip is a mobile, two-way defenceman who adds depth to our blueline. He made strides in his development last season with Vaxjo and played a strong series with Sweden at the World Championships. We’re pleased to welcome him to the Canucks organization.

It sounds as though the Canucks have been scouting Holm for a while, mentioning the strides he took this season when joining Vaxjo. Along with Calle Rosen, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Holm was part of one of the most mobile pairings in the league and saw his point total triple while his responsibility was also severely increased. The left-handed defender will compete right away for a job in Vancouver, especially if the team does move on from Alex Edler or Chris Tanev this summer. They had already lost one defenseman in Nikita Tryamkin when he decided to head back to the KHL earlier this spring.

Holm will be a restricted free agent after next season, making this quite risk-free as far as moves for the Canucks. They get to see if the young defenseman can be part of their team going forward, without locking up a roster spot for too long. The rebuilding team will search every avenue to try and kickstart their turnaround, and European free agents—especially ones who can hold their own against NHL talent at international tournaments—is one way to do that.

Ben Kuzma of Postmedia reported the financials on the deal. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Philip Holm’s NHL Market

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Swedish defender Philip Holm is still garnering NHL interest, according to a new report from Henrik Sjoberg in Expressen. This time, it says that four or five teams have expressed interest but the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks are the front-runners. That flies in the face of the previous report that Holm had already chosen Toronto, though when the Maple Leafs announced the signings of both Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman, it seemed like the may have moved on from Holm.

Holm was Rosen’s partner for Vajxo this season in the Swedish Hockey League, and recently represented his country at the World Championships. Team Sweden would win gold, though Holm didn’t play in the final game against Canada. He did get into seven games in the tournament though, recording three points. For Vaxjo this season, he put up 21 points in 52 games which led all defenders on his team and put him ninth in the league from the back end. At 25, he could earn a one-year entry-level deal should he sign with an NHL club.

Chicago has been on the lookout for any cheap players who could contribute next season as they continue to fight salary cap issues. The team has already signed David Kampf and are still in the running for Jan Rutta. They were also linked to Victor Ejdsell before he signed in Nashville. The Canucks on the other hand are looking for any young talent that they can get as they try to rebuild for the first time in many years. While Holm isn’t a prospect anymore, he is still young enough to be part of a rebuild should he prove his worth on North American ice. Three very different options have presented themselves to Holm, who will now have to decide where the best place to showcase his talents will be.

Toronto Revokes Permission To Interview Kyle Dubas

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  • Though this week it was reported that the Colorado Avalanche had requested and been given permission to talk to Toronto Maple Leafs Assistant General Manager Kyle Dubas it seems as though a hiring is off the table. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on the Boomer & Warrener radio show this morning, and said that “that window is closed” and that “it’s over”. Friedman specifies that he thinks that it was Toronto who “closed the window” not letting Dubas follow through with the process. Dubas is an up-and-coming GM candidate in Toronto, and is part of a crowded front office with Lou Lamoriello and Mark Hunter. It was surprising in the first place that Toronto would let him interview for what would likely be a lateral move, seeing as Joe Sakic seems safe for now in Colorado.

Colorado Interested In Maple Leafs AGM Kyle Dubas

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Last night during Ottawa’s miraculous 2-1 victory to force game seven with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Elliotte Freidman of Sportsnet dropped a bomb on another Ontario town. Friedman reported that the Colorado Avalanche had asked for permission to speak with Maple Leafs Assistant General Manager Kyle Dubas for a position in Denver. Friedman continued on Twitter, explaining that he’s not sure where the interaction sits now, but that it very much did happen.

Like John Chayka in Arizona, Dubas is Toronto’s whiz-kid executive who was hired by the team at the age of 28. He had been successfully running the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League since he was 24, and is considered one of the top young minds in hockey. Still just 31, his current role includes GM of the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, usually a stepping stone to the big chair in an NHL front office one day. There has been much speculation that Dubas was being groomed as the next GM of the Maple Leafs when Lou Lamoriello eventually retires, but with a successful candidate in Mark Hunter also present that has never been confirmed.

It’s not clear what Dubas’ new role would be with the Avalanche, as Joe Sakic currently sits firmly in the GM chair—though it might be getting a little warm—and it’s unlikely that the Maple Leafs would want him to move laterally to another AGM position. The Avalanche are working hard to fix their organizational structure, also firing three coaches yesterday to allow Jared Bednar to have a team of his own creation.

Details On Rosen, Borgman Contracts

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Details on the contracts for new Toronto Maple Leafs defenders Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman have come down, with Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reporting that each will earn $832,500 on their entry-level contracts, with full “Schedule A” performance bonuses that will allow them to make up to $850K more each season. The deals also come with a $92.5K signing bonus each season, making the maximum they can earn $1.775MM in each season.

Nylander Wins MVP At World Championships

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The Toronto Maple Leafs must be happy after William Nylander and the gold-medal winning Team Sweden captured the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships over Canada Sunday. Nylander, coming off his first full season with Toronto, was named the World Champion MVP after scoring seven goals in the tournament.

Nylander, the eighth overall pick in 2014, completes an eventful year with that award. He already had been named NHL Rookie of the Month twice (in October and March), helped the Maple Leafs reach the playoffs for the first time since 2013 by scoring 22 goals in his first full season. His success in Germany at the world championships dealt with more than just the seven goals. He tallied seven assists for 14 points. He also finished with the best plus-minus in the tournament (+11) and was named a World Champion All-Star and a Top 3 player on his team.

Nylander capped off the overtime shootout victory by body slamming his own goaltender New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist after the victory. His success only further heightens the anticipation of the Maple Leafs’ season next year after he and Auston Matthews teamed up to almost knock off the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs.

Do Maple Leafs Have Too Many Young Contracts?

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Is it possible to have too many young players? That may be the question the Toronto Maple Leafs may be asking themselves this offseason as they look to sign several players and draft picks to contracts, according to thestar.com’s Kevin McGran, who looks at the situation of prospect Dominic Toninato’s future in the NHL.

The former college star and Toronto’s 2012 fifth-round pick can be a free agent on August 16 if he chooses, but he claims that he wants to play for Toronto next year. The Minnesota-Duluth captain who led his team to the U.S. college hockey finals finished his career with 55 goals in four season. The question is, are the Maple Leafs able to sign him?

The NHL Collective Agreement limits teams to 50 pro contracts, not including players who remain in junior hockey. While many teams keep that number to the late 40’s to give them flexibility, Toronto is already at 50. While that number could shrink to 36 or 37 when the offseason officially gets underway, the Maple Leafs have other players to consider as well.

The Leafs have five players from 2015 under contract, but will have to make decisions on forwards Martins Dzierkals (third round) and Nikita Korostelev (seventh round) and defenseman Stephen Desrocher (sixth round). To make matters even more complicated, the team only has two of 11 2016 draft picks under contract and the junior careers of Adam Brooks (fourth round), Vladimir Bobylev (fifth round) and Jack Walker (sixth round) are ending and the team must make decisions on them.

The team would consider the option of signing Toninato to a minor league contract with the Toronto Marlies. Many former teammates at Minnesota-Duluth have done this recently, including 2011 fifth-rounder Tony Cameranesi, J.J. Piccinich, a fourth-rounder in 2014. However, Tonitato’s agent Neil Sheehy says he will not sign a minor-league contract, which may force him to take the free agent route if he wants a pro contract.

Morning Notes: Babcock, Maple Leafs, Borowiecki

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The Toronto Maple Leafs fan base has been abuzz over the last few days after seeing pictures of Mike Babcock at games 3 and 4 between Nashville and Anaheim, even being joined by GM Lou Lamoriello for the latter. His appearance immediately made many think that he was scouting Ducks defensemen eligible for the expansion draft, though Sportsnet’s Luke Fox has an additional theory.

Predators captain Mike Fisher will be a free agent this summer, and though he’s obviously tied strongly to the Nashville community—he’s married to country music star Carrie Underwood after all—the numbers might just not leave enough room for him. Nashville has a busy offseason ahead of them, with both Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson hitting restricted free agency. If Fisher were to hit the open market, Toronto would likely be interested after the comments Babcock made earlier this year about him.

  • Maple Leafs fans will also be happy to see the success of their two young stars at the World Championships. Mitch Marner and William Nylander have been some of the best forwards in the tournament thus far, with Nylander especially finding incredible chemistry with playoff-foe Nicklas Backstrom. Nylander and Backstrom have a long history, going back to the latter’s rookie season in Washington when he was welcomed into the home of then-teammate Michael Nylander, William’s father. The two, almost 10 years apart, spent a lot of time together during those first two seasons playing ping-pong in the basement or mini-sticks in the hallway. It seems all that time spent so many years ago has created a sort of familiarity on the ice, that has blossomed into some incredible goals since Backstrom joined the tournament.
  • The Ottawa Senators won’t get Mark Borowiecki back tonight, though he took the morning skate with the team. According to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, the bruising defenseman suffered a setback pushing too hard to try and get back on the ice. He still hopes to return in this series, which would stretch to next Thursday should it go all seven games. The Senators will try to take a commanding 3-1 series lead tonight as they take on the Penguins at home.

 

Maple Leafs Adding Next Wave Of Youth

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  • The Maple Leafs’ addition of Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman yesterday were the fourth and fifth entry-level deals the team has given out this spring. Miro Aaltonen, Jeremy Bracco and Carl Grundstrom also all inked contracts, adding to the impressive young pipeline the Maple Leafs are building. The influx of another group of 19-23 year-olds should continue to build the long-term success that President Brendan Shanahan and head coach Mike Babcock have spoken often of. Mining the European ranks for talent seems to be a growing trend in the NHL as teams look for every advantage.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Calle Rosen, Andreas Borgman

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After a report earlier today that Andreas Borgman was coming to the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they have signed both him and countryman Calle Rosen to two-year entry-level contracts. Rosen had been linked to the Maple Leafs for almost a month now, with reports surfacing that he would sign with the team before long. Mike Babcock told Darren Dreger of TSN just a few days ago that the team would announce some signings soon.

Rosen, 23, is the more experienced of the two and has played the last two seasons for Vaxjo in the Swedish Hockey League. His two-way game is considered ready for at least a part-time role in the NHL, and he will have a chance to break camp with the Maple Leafs on the third-pairing. Both Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak are unrestricted free agents after spending the majority of the season in that role.

Left-handed but capable on both sides of the ice, Rosen is a solid skater that joins the rush and can move the puck effectively out of traffic in his own end. While it’s not a lock that he’ll make much of an impact at the NHL level he provides a depth option that can be inserted right away if need be.

Borgman on the other hand is a little further away at just 21-years old. His path likely begins in the AHL for the Toronto Marlies, where he’ll try to repeat the breakout performance from this season. Named the SHL’s Rookie of the Year, Borgman made the jump from the Allsvenskan quite well and even improved his game further in the postseason. His ceiling likely lands as a depth option as well, but it’s a little less certain at this point.

The Maple Leafs needed depth on the blueline, after going much of the year without injury and still seemingly not having much consistency. While Rosen and Borgman don’t provide the elite right-handed defender they’d like, they do add some options to the system other than prospects Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen.

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