Kings Sign Liam Greentree
11:58 AM: The Kings have officially confirmed Greentree’s signing and the $975K AAV.
8:55 AM: The Kings have agreed to terms with their top selection in last month’s draft as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed Liam Greentree to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal pays $877.5K per year in salary with a $97.5K signing bonus for each season for a $975K cap hit.
[Related: 2024 NHL Draft Signing Tracker]
The winger was selected by Los Angeles with the 26th pick after the Kings opted to trade down five spots earlier in the day. Greentree had a very strong sophomore year with OHL Windsor, doubling his output from his rookie season. All told, he finished up with 36 goals and 54 assists in 64 games before collecting four more points at the World Under-18s. That resulted in many of his draft rankings slotting between the middle of the first round and the end of it.
While Greentree will likely get at least a brief look at training camp in the fall, it’s highly likely that he’ll return to the Spitfires next season. Assuming that happens and that he doesn’t get into ten or more NHL games before that time, Greentree’s contract will slide a year and still have three years left on it next summer.
Red Wings Sign Joe Veleno To Two-Year Contract
Saturday: The team officially confirmed Veleno’s re-signing and the $2.275MM AAV.
Friday: The Detroit Red Wings have signed centerman Joe Veleno to a two-year contract, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). The deal will carry an annual average value of $2.275MM and settles negotiations with a multi-year deal before Veleno was set for salary arbitration.
Veleno found his footing in the NHL during the 2022-23 season, posting 20 points in 81 games as he fought to carve out a role in Detroit’s middle-six. The performance was enough to earn him a one-year, “prove it” deal with the Red Wings last summer, though it came at a $70K cut in salary from his entry-level deal. But Veleno made quick work of the opportunity, stamping out 12 goals, 16 assists, and 28 points this season – all career-highs.
He’s had to work out of the high-energy, high-scoring role he carried through his four-year QMJHL career, instead leaning much more into the physical advantages of his 6-foot-1, 201-pound frame. That change in style has made him much more effective at filling the responsibilities of a third-line centerman, with Veleno ranking fourth among Red Wings forwards and hits (108) and third among centermen in faceoff percentage (49.0 percent) this season. Veleno’s production has grown in tandem with his intangibles, and he’ll now get a chance to earn one more pay raise before his prime years.
Austin Czarnik Signs In Swiss League
After splitting time between the NHL and the AHL in recent seasons, center Austin Czarnik has decided it’s time to try something different. SC Bern of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed the veteran to a one-year contract.
The 31-year-old spent extended time with both Detroit and Grand Rapids last season. With the Red Wings, he got into 34 games, his highest total since the 2018-19 campaign. However, Czarnik wasn’t able to muster up much offensively, recording just one assist while winning 49% of his faceoffs in just 8:26 per game, a career low.
However, he was once again a key producer in the minors with the Griffins. In 38 regular season games with them, Czarnik potted 10 goals and 18 assists before adding four goals and four assists in nine postseason contests.
That follows a recent trend for Czarnik. In the minors, he has been a top point-getter, notching 290 points in 308 career games at that level. But it hasn’t translated to much offensive success in the NHL as he has just 51 points in 205 career appearances. Most of that came early in his career as Czarnik has just 16 points in 92 games over the last five years.
It seems reasonable to infer that Czarnik would have had two-way offers on the table if he wanted to continue in the role he has had in recent seasons. But now, he’ll have a chance to play an impactful role for a full season overseas, giving him some stability in the process. Depending on how things go in Switzerland, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Czarnik back in the NHL two-way mix next summer.
Devils Sign Cam Squires To Entry-Level Deal
The Devils have inked right winger Cam Squires to his entry-level contract, the team implied in an X post on Friday. It’ll be a three-year deal for the 19-year-old.
Squires has spent the past three seasons as one of the better offensive options for the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles, where the Prince Edward Island native has totaled 79 goals and 91 assists for 170 points in 197 games. The 6’0″, 170-lb forward broke out for 30 goals and 64 points in 67 games in his draft year and improved to 33 goals and 72 points in 66 games last season.
New Jersey snagged Squires a tad later than some expected him to go in last year’s draft, taking him with their lone pick in the fourth round (No. 122). TSN’s Craig Button had him as the No. 87 prospect in the class, while FC Hockey had him at No. 95. In their 2023 NHL Draft Guide, Elite Prospects’ David St-Louis called him “an intelligent player, one who can intercept opposing plays and transform them into offense, make imaginative passing plays, fakes, and who can find openings in goalie’s coverage.” The scouting site listed his puck protection game and his overall agility as his biggest weaknesses.
Squires is still too young for a full-time AHL assignment, per the NHL’s transfer agreement with the CHL. He’s not projected to make a push for a roster spot out of camp in the fall, so he’ll likely be loaned back to Cape Breton for his final season of junior hockey. As such, his ELC will slide to 2025-26 and expire in the 2028 offseason, at which point he’ll be an RFA.
Minor Transactions: 7/18/24
As expected, signing activity across the NHL has largely dried up with training camps still more than a month and a half away. However, there are some NHL-drafted prospects and players formerly on NHL contracts that have found new places to play in recent days. We’ll run through those moves here.
- Free agent blueliner Nick Cicek has signed a one-year deal with Adler Mannheim, the DEL team announced. The 24-year-old started last season in San Jose’s system before being moved to Vancouver where he remained in the AHL. Between the two teams, Cicek had four goals and 12 assists in 67 games, resulting in him being non-tendered last month. Cicek does have 16 career NHL appearances under his belt, all coming in the 2022-23 campaign where he had four assists.
- Capitals prospect Ilya Protas has signed with OHL Windsor for the upcoming season, per a team announcement. Protas, whose brother is a regular in Washington, was a third-round pick last month, going 75th overall. The 18-year-old, who signed his entry-level deal with the Caps earlier this month was the third-overall selection in the CHL Import Draft and the top selection from an OHL-based club following a strong showing with USHL Des Moines. In 61 games with the Buccaneers last season, Protas had 14 goals and 37 assists.
- Still with Washington, the Capitals farm team in Hershey was busy today as the team announced six signings, all on one-year contracts. Joining the Bears are forwards Grant Cruikshank, Austin Magera, Micah Miller, Justin Nachbaur, and Tyler Weiss, along with defenseman Jayden Lee. The five forwards played professionally last year – primarily at the ECHL level – while Lee is turning pro after a five-year stint at Quinnipiac.
- After being non-tendered by Dallas last month, free agent forward Max Ellis has found a new place to play as he has joined Jukurit in Finland, per a team release. The 24-year-old spent last season in Toronto’s system, getting into 36 games in the AHL with the Marlies where he had four goals and ten assists. His signing rights were thrown into the draft day trade for the rights to Chris Tanev but that was simply for contract-matching purposes.
- Panthers prospect Vladislav Lukashevich has changed his college commitment. Nathaniel Bott of the Lansing State Journal relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner will now play at Michigan State next season instead of Northern Michigan. The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick back in 2021, going 120th overall and spent last season with USHL Tri-City where he had 11 goals and 32 assists in 54 games.
Blackhawks Loan Antti Saarela To Finnish League
After a rough first year in North America last season, the Blackhawks are giving prospect forward Antti Saarela a fresh start. Per an announcement from Luuko in Finland’s Liiga, Chicago has loaned Saarela to them for the upcoming season.
The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2019, going 123rd overall. After a good showing with Lukko in 2022-23 that saw him record 18 points in 41 games, Chicago signed Saarela to a two-year, entry-level contract just a couple of months before they would have lost his NHL rights.
However, things didn’t go well for him in his first year with AHL Rockford. Between injuries and some struggles, Saarela was limited to just 27 games where he picked up five goals and one assist. He did not suit up for the IceHogs in the postseason.
Saarela is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer with salary arbitration rights. Considering how the first season went, it’s safe to say that Saarela is tracking toward non-tender status unless he has a very strong showing back home next season.
Penguins Sign Harrison Brunicke
A week after signing Tanner Howe, the Penguins have now agreed to terms with the top pick from their draft class last month. The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Harrison Brunicke to a three-year, entry-level contract. The team did not disclose financial terms but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal will carry a cap hit of $875K and does not contain any performance bonuses.
[Related: 2024 NHL Draft Signing Tracker]
The 18-year-old was the 44th selection last month, going two spots ahead of Howe. Brunicke recorded 10 goals and 11 assists in 49 games last season with WHL Kamloops, leading his team in goals scored by a blueliner. The South Africa native plays for Canada internationally and picked up a goal and three assists in seven games at the World Under-18s, helping his team to a gold medal.
As is often the case with players signing this quickly after being drafted, Brunicke won’t actually begin his entry-level contract next season unless he plays in ten or more games with Pittsburgh. That’s unlikely to be the outcome at this point as he’ll likely return to the Blazers for the 2024-25 campaign (and likely one more after that). Assuming that happens, Brunicke’s deal will slide and still have three years remaining on it next summer.
Predators Sign Adam Wilsby
The Nashville Predators have signed defender Adam Wilsby to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a $775K salary at the NHL level.
Nashville drafted Wilsby in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, selecting him in his final year of eligibility after a strong season with Sodertalje SK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league. Wilsby recorded 30 points in 41 games that year, helping Sodertalje earn promotion to the SHL and following the performance up with two strong seasons at the top flight to help keep them there.
With a successful run in Sweden in the rearview, Wilsby signed an uncommon two-year entry-level contract with the Predators in 2022. But he struggled to carry his momentum over from Sweden, posting just 18 points as an AHL rookie, though he did play in all 72 games. He also appeared in 16 postseason games, where a quicker pace boosted him to a productive eight points. He improved to 21 points in 61 games this season, though still seems far from finding the comfortable footing he had in the SHL.
Still, there’s reason to be excited about Wilsby’s stout control of the blue line and ability to spark transition. He’s a young defender who seems to have more to give and will get a chance to prove his worth to the Predators next season, fighting for a much hardier NHL deal next summer.
Rourke Chartier Signs With KHL’s Kunlun Red Star
Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League announced the signing of center Rourke Chartier to a one-year deal today. He’ll be the 10th player with NHL experience to suit up for the China-based club next season.
Remarkably, Chartier was one of the better UFA center options left on the market, at least in terms of those with recent NHL action. The 2014 Sharks fifth-round pick had found his way into the Senators system over the past three seasons, where he worked his way up from minor-league fixture to frequent fourth-line option.
At the beginning of his professional career, Chartier had strong numbers with San Jose’s AHL affiliate and looked like he may be a strong value pickup for his draft billing. However, significant concussion symptoms beset him early on, limiting him to 28 AHL appearances in 2017-18 and 39 total AHL and NHL appearances in 2018-19 before costing him the 2019-20 campaign entirely.
After being non-tendered by the Sharks at the end of his entry-level contract, Chartier got back on track on minor league deals with AHL Toronto and Belleville before landing a two-way deal with Ottawa ahead of 2022-23. The 5’11” pivot made six showings for the Sens in spot call-up duty to mark his first NHL appearance in four years but was held without a point. It didn’t stop him from having a solid season in the minors, scoring 20 goals in 40 games with the B-Sens.
Chartier was again non-tendered by the Senators last summer but returned on a slightly richer two-way deal for 2023-24 regardless. It proved beneficial for the 28-year-old, who routinely subbed in as Ottawa’s fourth-line center with injuries affecting their forward corps en route to playing a career-high 37 games. Unfortunately, he was a non-factor offensively, limited to two goals and an assist while averaging 10:46 per game. He still managed strong production in brief action with Belleville, recording seven goals and 13 points in 19 games.
Ottawa didn’t bring Chartier back this time around, though, as he reached UFA status on his own this summer. They instead opted to replace his role by bringing in the younger, speedier Noah Gregor on a one-year deal, and prospects such as Angus Crookshank and Zack Ostapchuk were going to challenge Chartier for NHL minutes anyway. That paved the way for Chartier’s move to Kunlun, which has played in Mytishchi, Russia, since the COVID-19 pandemic but is still technically based in Beijing.
NL’s ZSC Lions Sign Santtu Kinnunen
After making a brief go of it in North America, defenseman Santtu Kinnunen is heading back overseas. The right-shot Finn has inked a one-year deal with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League, per a team announcement. The former Panthers prospect was a UFA after being non-tendered last month.
Kinnunen, 25, was the Panthers’ seventh-round pick in 2018. He played four seasons in the Liiga with Pelicans and Tappara before eventually signing his entry-level contract with Florida in May 2022. Kinnunen seemed to fit in well upon arriving in the Panthers’ system and didn’t have many adjustment pains while on assignment to AHL Charlotte. The smooth-skating defender finished second among Charlotte blue-liners in scoring in 2022-23, posting 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) with a -7 rating in 69 games.
But it wasn’t enough to earn him any in-season call-ups amid competition from a deep Florida defense at both the major and minor-league levels, nor was it enough to give him any serious chance at a roster spot last fall. Thus, entering the second and final year of his ELC, he was returned to Charlotte, where his offensive production dipped last season to four goals and 21 points in 68 games, along with a -15 rating. After spending two seasons without a call-up, it wasn’t surprising to see Kinnunen’s name on the list of RFAs who didn’t receive qualifying offers by June 30.
He returns to Europe, although not his native Finland. He signs on with a Zurich-based Lions club whose roster for next season includes former NHLers Sven Andrighetto, Rudolfs Balcers, Derek Grant, Dean Kukan, Denis Malgin, and Yannick Weber, as well as head coach Marc Crawford. Prior to heading to the Cats’ system, Kinnunen was one of the better two-way defenders in Finland, posting 23 points and a +18 rating in 54 games with Tappara in 2021-22 while helping them to the league title.