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Minor Transactions: 05/16/23

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For the first time since the playoffs began, we have a break in the NHL schedule. While the four remaining teams won’t start their Conference Final series until Thursday and Friday, offseason activity hasn’t slowed down in other leagues as rosters for 2023-24 take form. As always, we’re keeping tabs on all notable minor transactions from across the hockey world, and we’ll list today’s right here.

  • SHL veteran Filip Sandberg signed a one-year extension with Skellefteå AIK today, the team announced. Sandberg, who began his pro career with HV71, was an undrafted free agent signing by the San Jose Sharks in 2017 but played just over one full campaign with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda before returning to Sweden in November of 2018. After two additional seasons with HV71 and a brief stop in Finland with TPS, Sandberg is now back in his home country, having recorded 11 goals and 27 points in 52 SHL games with Skellefteå last season.
  • The SHL’s Frölunda HC and longtime forward fixture Ryan Lasch have agreed to part ways this offseason with a year left on his contract, the team said Tuesday. The 36-year-old American never made much of an impact professionally stateside, mostly due to his 5-foot-7, 157-pound frame, but has excelled overseas in a longstanding pro career. Lasch led the entire SHL in scoring in 2021-22, recording well over a point per game, but lost a step this year with Frölunda, posting just five goals and 24 points in 41 games.
  • Former Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Kristers Gudlevskis is extending his stay in Europe with a two-year contract in Germany, signing today with the DEL’s Fischtown Penguins. The 30-year-old Latvian netminder was pivotal last season in earning Swedish club MODO Hockey promotion back to the SHL, recording a .920 save percentage in the regular season, but MODO opted to bolster their crease this offseason by signing pending Anaheim Ducks free agent Olle Eriksson Ek. Gudlevskis now returns to Fischtown, where he played 25 games in the 2019-20 season.

This page will be updated throughout the day…

Minor Transactions: 05/11/23

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As the NHL season has drawn to a close for most of the league, free agency periods for other leagues are entering their frenzy. Many North American minor leagues and European pro leagues are making significant transactions, and as always, we provide a daily running list of the most notable ones from around the men’s hockey world.

  • Vancouver Canucks 2017 draft pick Petrus Palmu has signed a two-year agreement to return to TPS in the Finnish Liiga after an extremely disappointing SHL campaign in 2022-23. Palmu’s high-end European scoring production made him an appealing prospect early on in his development, but he was never able to make a dent professionally in North America after playing junior hockey with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. Returning to Finland after his draft year, Palmu only ever played 12 games in the Canucks system with the AHL’s Utica Comets in 2018-19, recording just one assist. Now, he’ll head back home to the Liiga, where he scored at a point-per-game pace with Jukurit in 2021-22. He split the 2022-23 season between two SHL clubs, Örebro HK and Linköping HC, but scored just one goal and nine points in 41 games.
  • AHL mainstay Garrett Wilson is staying with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the next two seasons after signing a contract extension today. Wilson, 32, does have 84 NHL games under his belt with the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s been exclusively in the minors since 2019-20, however, and this will be Wilson’s fourth and fifth seasons with the Phantoms. Last season, he scored 43 points in 68 games and led the AHL in penalty minutes (195).

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Canadiens UFA Frederic Allard Signs In Sweden

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Rather than see what might come up in free agency this summer, Canadiens pending UFA defenseman Frederic Allard has found his next team as Lulea of the SHL announced that they’ve signed the rearguard to a two-year contract.

The 25-year-old played in three games with Montreal this season after being acquired from Los Angeles at the trade deadline in exchange for AHL forward Nate Schnarr.  However, Allard only has one other NHL appearance under his belt, that coming back in 2021 with Nashville, the team that drafted him in the third round back in 2016.

For the majority of his pro career, Allard has played at the AHL level, getting into 297 games over six seasons with affiliates of the Predators, Kings, and Canadiens.  Over that stretch, he has 23 goals and 91 assists along with 114 penalty minutes while chipping in with three goals and three helpers in 11 playoff contests.

While Allard certainly would have had NHL offers this summer, they almost certainly would have been of the two-way variety with an eye on him continuing to play in the minors.  Instead, he’s decided that it’s time for a change and will try his hand overseas.  As he has not played in enough AHL contests to qualify for full veteran status, there should be interest in Allard down the road if he decides to give it another go at some point in North America.

St. Louis Blues Sign André Heim

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The St. Louis Blues signed undrafted free agent forward André Heim to a one-year entry-level contract Monday, per a media release. Heim, who plays both center and wing, has played the past six seasons in the Swiss National League.

St. Louis did not disclose the financial term of Heim’s one-year pact, although it will be a two-way contract. The 25-year-old was nearing the end of his eligibility to sign an entry-level deal and will be a restricted free agent in 2024.

Heim spent the past two seasons with HC Ambrì-Piotta, seeing a much larger role than in previous seasons with SC Bern. In 2022-23, Heim was an alternate captain for the Swiss club and posted 12 goals, 19 assists, 31 points, and a +10 rating in 42 regular-season games. While his team didn’t qualify for the postseason, he did win the Spengler Cup tournament with Ambrì-Piotta, scoring a goal and an assist in four games.

Florida Panthers Sign Mackie Samoskevich

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Forward prospect Mackie Samoskevich has agreed to terms with the Florida Panthers on a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Monday. Florida selected Samoskevich, 20, with the 24th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft.

PuckPedia provided the terms of Samoskevich’s deal, which begins immediately with a $925,000 cap hit and expires after the 2024-25 season. At that point, he’ll be a restricted free agent. Given Samoskevich was on Florida’s reserve list at the time of the trade deadline, he is now eligible to play in any remaining Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Panthers.

Panthers general manager Bill Zito offered the following statement on the signing:

Mackie is a creative, dynamic playmaker who possesses an elite shooting ability and high hockey IQ. We’re excited to sign him to our organization and to see him take the next step in his progression as a professional.

The Connecticut-born Samoskevich comes from quite the hockey family, with sisters Maddy Samoskevich and Melissa Samoskevich putting up impressive numbers in their collegiate careers with Quinnipiac. Melissa Samoskevich had a breakout pro season for the PHF’s Connecticut Whale in 2022-23, scoring 16 points in 24 games.

Their brother opted to play his college hockey at the University of Michigan, though, where he reached the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four in back-to-back seasons. Samoskevich opted to turn pro at the end of Michigan’s season, signing a professional tryout agreement with Florida’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. There, he registered six assists in nine combined regular-season and playoff games, a strong start to a promising career.

Samoskevich was named to the Big 10 conference’s all-rookie team after the 2021-22 campaign after he registered 29 points in 40 games. He left those offensive totals in the dust this season, though, with 20 goals and 43 points in 39 games for Michigan.

He also represented the United States at the 2022 Men’s World Junior Championship, recording three assists in five games.

New Jersey Devils Recall Eight Players

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The New Jersey Devils announced multiple additions to their 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs roster today in the form of eight Black Aces from the AHL’s Utica Comets:

F Graeme Clarke
F Nolan Foote
F Brian Halonen
F Alexander Holtz
F Tyce Thompson
D Šimon Nemec
D Topias Vilén
G Nico Daws

Clarke, a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, tallied 25 goals and 33 assists in 68 regular-season games for the Comets and added six points in six playoff games. Foote, initially a Tampa Bay Lightning first-round pick in the 2019 draft, notched 37 points in 55 games for the Comets this season and added a goal in six games for New Jersey.

Halonen, an undrafted free agent signing late last season out of Michigan Tech, recorded 17 goals and 13 assists in 57 games with Utica in his first full professional season. Holtz, the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, had the most NHL experience this season out of any of the above recalls and scored three goals and an assist in 19 games with the Devils.

Thompson, a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, scored 26 points in 56 games for the Comets after missing most of the 2021-22 campaign with an injury.

The Devils also added two promising young defenders to their playoff roster in Nemec and Vilén. Nemec, the second overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, broke out for 34 points in 65 games with the Comets in his post-draft year, a remarkable feat for a 19-year-old. Vilén, 20, played one playoff game for Utica after playing nearly all of the 2022-23 season with Pelicans in the Finnish Liiga.

Daws, 22, posted a .904 save percentage and two shutouts in 33 games for Utica after making 25 appearances for New Jersey in the 2021-22 season.

Minor Transactions: 05/08/23

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Today is a big day on the NHL calendar. The best prospect in nearly a decade is set to learn his fate tonight, with the results of the NHL Draft Lottery deciding who will land Connor Bedard on draft day. A flurry of transactions continues to come in from across the Atlantic Ocean, though, as European professional leagues have all largely wrapped up their seasons and are entering transfer periods. We’ll accumulate a list of those notable minor transactions right here, as always:

  • Despite heading for second-tier play next season, Swedish Allsvenskan club Brynäs IF has signed former NHL goalie Anders Lindbäck to a one-year contract extension. Lindbäck, 35, posted just a .893 save percentage in 35 games for Brynäs last season but will now attempt to gain the club promotion back to the SHL for 2024-25. The 2008 seventh-round pick of the Nashville Predators hasn’t played in the NHL since a 19-game stint with the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16.
  • Former ECHL All-Rookie Team selection Myles Powell is opting to go down a level in Swedish hockey for more playing time, heading to the Allsvenskan’s IF Björklöven for 2023-24. The 28-year-old forward registered 15 points in 50 games with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn last season but will return to second-tier play, where he scored over a point per game in 2021-22. Powell also recorded over a point per game across three ECHL seasons after ending his collegiate career at RIT.
  • Unsigned Arizona Coyotes prospect Emil Martinsen Lilleberg will not be returning to IK Oskarshamn next season, the team announced this morning. Lilleberg, 22, was an overage selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-2 defender recorded 11 points in 46 SHL games this season and is on Norway’s roster for the upcoming World Championships. Arizona has until June 1 to sign Lilleberg to an entry-level contract before his draft rights expire.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Canucks Sign Jonathan Lekkerimaki

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The Canucks have signed one of their top prospects, announcing that they’ve inked winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal has a cap hit of $950K and an AAV of $1.425MM per season after factoring in $475K in ’A’ bonuses in each year.  GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement about the signing:

Jonathan had a good run in the playoffs and gained a lot of valuable experience but unfortunately his team fell short of its ultimate goal. Each player’s development path is different and in Jonathan’s case, he had to deal with a lot of adversity this past year. But with each challenge he faced, he found a way to learn and grow. With the help of our staff, we will find the best path forward for him and we look forward to Jonathan joining our development camp in July.

The 18-year-old was the 15th overall pick at the draft last summer after a strong showing in Sweden’s junior league while also more than holding his own with seven goals in 26 games with Djurgardens of the SHL.  However, his club team was relegated down a division to the Allsvenskan in 2022-23 but it didn’t result in a big jump in output for Lekkerimaki.  Instead, he wound up with just three goals and six assists in 29 regular season games while picking up four points in seven contests for Sweden at the World Juniors.

However, Lekkerimaki was able to finish up strong, picking up a point per game in the playoffs in 15 contests but Djurgardens fell in the finals, preventing them from returning to the top level next season.  Accordingly, the winger had recently been linked to Leksands for next season in a report from Aftonbladet in Sweden.  This contract doesn’t preclude Lekkerimaki from playing overseas next season with Leksands or elsewhere; to that end, Lekkerimaki told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link) that he is in discussions with SHL teams for next season.  If Lekkerimaki doesn’t play in ten games with the Canucks next season (an outcome that seems likely at this point), his contract will slide a year and still have three seasons remaining on it at this point next year.

Boston Bruins Sign Matthew Poitras To ELC

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The Boston Bruins have signed forward Matthew Poitras to a three-year entry-level contract starting next season with a cap hit of $870,000, the team announced today.

Poitras, 19, is coming off a wildly successful season with the OHL’s Guelph Storm, where he recorded 95 points (16 goals, 79 assists) in 63 games. He ranked second in the league in assists and was tied for fifth in scoring.

Poitras also had a productive rookie season with Guelph in 2021-22, tallying 50 points (21 goals, 29 assists) in 68 games. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward was selected by the Bruins in the second round, 54th overall, of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Born in Brooklin, Ontario, Poitras is an incredibly cerebral center that plays a surgical game, identifying small gaps in the ice to escape defenders and make passes. It’s a style that tracks to translate well to NHL ice, where Poitras will have much less space and time to maneuver around the rink.

Poitras has only played two seasons of junior hockey, however, with his rookie campaign stripped due to the COVID pandemic. In all likelihood, he’s headed back to Guelph for another season of OHL hockey, looking to potentially surpass the 100-point mark in a single season. He would be the first Storm player to do so since Nate Schnarr in 2018-19.

Poitras’ contract is eligible for an entry-level slide due to his age, meaning if he plays less than 10 NHL games next season, the beginning of his contract will defer to the 2024-25 season.

Ottawa Senators Sign Jiří Smejkal To Entry-Level Contract

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The Ottawa Senators announced the signing of undrafted Czech forward Jiří Smejkal to a one-year, entry-level contract Friday morning. The 26-year-old, who spent the last seven seasons playing in top professional leagues around Europe, brings an intriguing mix of size and skill to the Senators organization.

Smejkal, who stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 223 pounds, could crack the Senators’ bottom six out of training camp next season. In the release announcing the news, general manager Pierre Dorion expressed excitement about the impact Smejkal could have on the team.

Jiří’s signing is a good addition for us; it improves our depth and provides us with an additional bottom-six option at forward. He’s a big body who’s strong with previous experience playing in North America which should help his transition to a rink with smaller dimensions. We’re pleased that he’s committed to the Senators for the next step in his career.

The North American experience Dorion is referencing came in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, when Smejkal played junior hockey with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors and Kamloops Blazers. In 130 games, he recorded 17 goals and 42 assists for 59 points, 102 penalty minutes, and a -25 rating.

In the past two seasons, Smekjal was a standout performer in the Finnish Liiga with Pelicans and in the SHL with IK Oskarshamn, where he recorded a combined 48 goals and 40 assists for 93 points across the two leagues. He also represented Czechia at the 2021 and 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championships, registering three goals and four assists in 18 games.

While Smejkal’s recent goal-scoring production is impressive, his size and physicality could be even more valuable to the Senators in a checking role. With his ability to play a power-forward style of game, he could provide a needed presence in front of the net and in board battles. His point production overseas suggests he’ll bring enough offensive IQ to avoid being a liability on the ice.

Smejkal, who can play left wing and center, is a classic low-risk, high-reward acquisition, especially at a one-year term. Per CapFriendly, Smejkal will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

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