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Alex Galchenyuk And Kyle Capobianco Listed As Week-To-Week

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While it was a successful tryout for Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk who inked a one-year deal for the league minimum salary earlier this week, the news got worse fairly quickly.  Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports (Twitter link) that the 27-year-old is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.  Galchenyuk split last season between Ottawa and Toronto, notching 13 points in 34 games and was pushing for a regular spot in Arizona’s lineup to start the season.

Meanwhile, in that same report, Morgan adds that blueliner Kyle Capobianco is also listed as week-to-week due to a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old had a chance at landing a spot on the opening roster for the Coyotes after spending most of last season in the minors where he had 13 points in 20 games with AHL Tucson.  Instead, Capobianco will also be starting the year on injured reserve.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Alexander Nylander’s stock has certainly fallen since the 23-year-old was selected eighth overall by Buffalo back in 2016 but it could be dipping even more as Scott Powers of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that Nylander is a likely candidate to be waived by the Blackhawks after a disappointing training camp. Powers suggests that Arizona is a team that could have interest in Nylander, who missed all of last season due to knee surgery after recording 10 goals and 16 assists in 65 games in 2019-20.
  • While he has an AHL contract in hand, Jets winger Evgeny Svechnikov is expected to be converted to an NHL two-way deal in the coming days, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe. The 24-year-old impressed in the preseason with four points in five games – good for third on Winnipeg – which still has him in the mix to earn a spot at the end of the roster to start the regular season.  Svechnikov had eight points in 21 games with Detroit last season before clearing waivers in early April.

Alex Galchenyuk Signs With Arizona Coyotes

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After taking a professional tryout to attend training camp, Alex Galchenyuk has earned himself another chance with the Arizona Coyotes. Late last night Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the Coyotes have signed the enigmatic forward to a one-year, $750K contract for the 2021-22 season. The team officially announced the signing in the early afternoon, releasing this statement from GM Bill Armstong:

We are very pleased to sign Alex. He is a versatile, skilled forward who works hard and has earned a spot on our roster. He will be a good addition to our team.

Galchenyuk, 27, seemed to reinvent himself last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, scoring 12 points in 26 games down the stretch and four more in six playoff games. While he still is frustratingly inconsistent at times, this is a player with more scoring upside than most of the Coyotes’ current roster. Arizona, which is going through another drastic rebuilding phase under Armstrong, look to be going into the season with aging veterans like Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, and Andrew Ladd in the nightly lineup.

Even though he’s making quite a bit less than those players, Galchenyuk offers something they don’t at the offensive end of the rink and should get some looks playing alongside Arizona’s more talented forwards. The last time he played for the Coyotes was the last time he had a strong season, scoring 19 goals and 41 points in 2018-19. If he can even repeat that he would be easily worth the league-minimum salary he earned, and would likely play himself into a trade deadline deal once again.

Whether he can really get his career back on track is completely unclear, but Galchenyuk is still young enough to earn a multi-year deal next offseason if he can prove to be a valuable top-six and powerplay option. There aren’t many spots around the NHL where he would receive a better opportunity at those minutes than in Arizona.

Defense Notes: Hamonic, Hajek, Capobianco

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Training camp is well underway but the Vancouver Canucks are still awaiting the arrival of veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic. Now, with the deadline to opt out of the coming season arriving on Friday, the team is left to wait to see if they will have the reliable blue liner back after extending him this off-season. Yet, it appears that they will remain patient and calm with Hamonic, who has family concerns to take into account with his decision. Hamonic previously opted out of the 2020 playoff bubble due to his daughter’s respiratory infection and with the NHL returning to a full slate of travel this season, he may be concerned about potential exposure to the Coronavirus and bringing that home. GM Jim Benning tells Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma that he is “confident” that Hamonic will arrive to camp and play this season, but also notes that “he’s dealing with a personal issue and I think everybody should just leave it alone.” Benning did however speak to the team’s COVID vaccination status when discussing Hamonic, which may also imply that he is unvaccinated, adding another layer to his decision. Whatever the cause, time is running out for Hamonic to make his decision, but the Canucks hope the veteran defenseman will be back in the fold as soon as possible.

    • Just a few years after being one of the cornerstone prospects in the Ryan McDonagh trade return, Libor Hajek’s job with the New York Rangers could be in jeopardy. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that sources believe Hajek has slid outside a starting job on the Rangers’ depth chart and possibly even outside of a roster spot. Behind established 23-year-old Ryan Lindgren, 21-year-old rising sophomore K’Andre Miller, and 20-year-old rookie Zac Jones, the 23-year-old Hajek has not done enough to assert himself as a roster lock and can no longer depend on his upside with so much talented youth around him. Lindgren and Miller both greatly outplayed Hajek last year and Jones came in late in the season, after a long college season that ended in a National Championship with UMass, and proceeded to match Hajek’s season point total in just ten games.  Beyond just the youngsters, Brooks reports that veteran free agent addition Patrik Nemeth is also above Hajek on the depth chart. With four lefties seemingly locked into roster spots, Hajek would have to unseat a righty to make the team – and that certainly won’t be Adam Fox or Jacob Trouba – or hope that New York opts to carry eight defenseman, five of which are lefties. Another promising rookie, Nils Lundkvist, is currently penciled in for the final spot on the right side, while a potential fifth lefty spot would also be open to competition from veterans Jarred Tinordi and Anthony Bitetto and promising prospect Matthew Robertson. This all goes to show that there are a lot of defensemen in the mix for the Rangers and Hajek no longer has the shine of a budding star. Even though the likes of Miller, Jones, Lundkvist, and Robertson are all waiver-exempt, don’t be surprised to see New York subject to Hajek to waivers anyhow in order to ensure the best players are on the NHL roster. Whether that decision ultimately means Hajek’s days in the Big Apple are numbered remains to be seen.
    • The Arizona Coyotes have announced that Kyle Capobianco is currently sidelined with a knee injury, which is exactly what the young defenseman did not want in training camp this year. Though PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan writes that he is only considered day-to-day, this is a critical preseason for Capobianco. The left side of the Coyotes blue line was obliterated this off-season with the trade of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, free agent departures of Alex Goligoski and Jordan Oesterle, and retirement of Niklas Hjalmarsson. Even with the addition of Shayne Gostisbehere to a left side now led by Jakob Chychrun, Capobianco flew up the depth chart into a top-three slot. This was his chance to finally secure an NHL starting job, but he risks missing out with a surplus of right-handed defensemen also jockeying for position. If youngsters like Victor Soderstrom, Conor Timmins, and Ty Emberson all prove they should be on the NHL roster while Capobianco sits out, he could lose his starting job, especially with veterans Ilya Lyubushkin and Anton Stralman able to play their off-side.

Coyotes Hire David Oliver, Scott Pellerin

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The New Jersey Devils were one of the teams to announce during the start of training camp that a player in their organization was unvaccinated, and today Mackenzie Blackwood confirmed that it was him. When speaking with media including Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, Blackwood explained that he hasn’t decided whether or not he will be vaccinated in the future, but has “a couple of health concerns and health reasons” why he has not received it yet.

Though Blackwood will be held to stricter protocols because of his status, the Devils won’t be forced to go without him at the start of the season like some other teams with unvaccinated players. New Jersey is not scheduled to travel to Canada until a December 3 game against the Winnipeg Jets, meaning there would still be time for the young goaltender to receive a league-approved vaccine in time to accompany them on the road trip if he chooses to do so. Blackwood was one of the players to test positive for Coronavirus earlier this year, missing several games.

  • The Arizona Coyotes have hired David Oliver and Scott Pellerin as pro scouts, adding to a scouting department that has experienced a complete overhaul since general manager Bill Armstrong took over the front office. Oliver has spent the last several years as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers, and before that worked for years with the Colorado Avalanche organization. Pellerin meanwhile was previously the Toronto Maple Leafs’ director of player development and had been with the club for seven years.
  • While Kirby Dach is busy preparing for an important season with the Chicago Blackhawks, little brother Colton Dach is heading to a new team in the WHL. The 18-year-old forward, who was picked 62nd overall by the Blackhawks this year, has been traded from the Saskatoon Blades to the Kelowna Rockets. Colton Dach has not yet signed his entry-level with the Blackhawks, but is another big-bodied two-way player that has a legitimate future in the middle of the ice. He had 11 goals and 20 points in 20 games for Saskatoon last season, but will try to build on that this time around in Kelowna.

GM Armstrong: Coyotes Unlikely To Be Busy During The Season

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Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane was slowed by a nagging injury last season although he was still able to be quite productive in the shortened 2020-21 campaign.  However, as Kane told reporters, including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the injury hasn’t healed yet although the 32-year-old is optimistic his recovery is going in the right direction.  GM Stan Bowman clarified that the undisclosed injury won’t require surgery.  Nevertheless, as Kane projects to once again be a top scorer for Chicago in a season where expectations are much higher following the acquisitions of defenseman Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury, the fact that the injury is still lingering has to be a little concerning for Kane and the team.

Elsewhere around the Central:

  • Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that basically cost him all of last season, relays Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The 31-year-old clarified that he had surgeries on both hips, the same procedures that former Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov had during his time with Colorado.  Francouz is slated to back up newcomer Darcy Kuemper this season with both goalies set to become unrestricted free agents next summer.
  • After a busy summer from the Coyotes, Arizona Sports’ Tom Kuebel notes that GM Bill Armstrong suggested that Arizona is unlikely to be too active on the trade front during the season. Among those that are now gone from the desert are defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski, forwards Christian Dvorak and Conor Garland, plus both ends of their goalie tandem from last season.  Armstrong hasn’t ruled out using the significant amount of draft capital he has amassed as trade assets down the road but with this season firmly being a rebuilding one, it’s unlikely those moves will come in 2021-22.

Phil Kessel Out Weeks With Foot Injury

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The Arizona Coyotes will be without top scorer Phil Kessel for the next few weeks after he suffered a foot injury in his offseason training. Kessel’s current timeline is two to three weeks, as GM Bill Armstrong explained to reporters including Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports. Three weeks from today would mean a return on the eve of the Coyotes’ regular season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Missing a few weeks of training camp isn’t a big deal for most players, but remember that Kessel is currently on a streak of 900 consecutive games played. The veteran forward has played every single game in each of the last 11 seasons, starting his streak way back in November of 2009. That’s the fifth-longest streak in NHL history and could be in jeopardy if he doesn’t return in the expected timeline.

  • Johannes Kinnvall of the Calgary Flames suffered a lower-body injury during the team’s prospect camp, and GM Brad Treliving described it as “significant” today at his opening press conference. The 24-year-old defenseman will not be able to participate in the main training camp, obviously a big blow to his chances of making the team to start the year. It was always a long shot, but Kinnvall has played extremely well over the last two seasons in the SHL, racking up 62 points in 83 games.
  • Angus Crookshank suffered a major knee injury at the Ottawa Senators prospect camp and will require surgery. The young forward will miss the next four to six months according to GM Pierre Dorion, ending any bid he had of making the club. The 21-year-old Crookshank was a fifth-round pick in 2018, partly because of the competition he faced in the BCHL, but started climbing prospect charts with a strong three-year career at the University of New Hampshire. By the time he was joining the Belleville Senators earlier this year he was on a roll and instantly became a top offensive option for the team. In 19 AHL games, Crookshank registered 16 points, a level of production he’ll have to try to get back to after this long rehab.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Alex Galchenyuk To PTO

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The Arizona Coyotes are bringing a familiar face back to training camp, signing Alex Galchenyuk to a professional tryout according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

Galchenyuk, 27, appeared to be on his way out of hockey entirely before the Toronto Maple Leafs picked him up this season and worked to rebuild his game. It proved effective–at least somewhat–in the regular season when he registered 12 points in 26 games, but Galchenyuk was back to his frustratingly inconsistent self in the postseason. Flashes of brilliance were marred by one brutal giveaway, making his four points in six games against the Montreal Canadiens not mean much of anything.

It’s that inconsistency that has plagued Galchenyuk since his 30-goal season in Montreal when he looked like the star they hoped to select at third overall in 2012. He has struggled to find a fit with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators since then, meaning his last successful season was actually in Arizona in 2018-19. He had 19 goals and 41 points that year playing away from the bright lights of a big market, a form he is obviously hoping to regain with this tryout contract.

For the Coyotes, skill, inconsistent as it may be, is needed on this year’s roster. The team has Clayton Keller, Phil Kessel, and Nick Schmaltz at the top, but otherwise have a group of forwards that are all basically bottom-six options at this point. In fact, many of them couldn’t even secure that role on other teams, meaning Galchenyuk should have at least a fighting chance for an NHL contract.

Andrew Ladd Healthy, Ready To Resume NHL Career

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You may have thought Andrew Ladd was retired. You wouldn’t be alone, but you’d be wrong. The veteran forward confirmed exactly that to Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic, explaining that not only is he still active, but he’s healthy and ready to contribute for the Arizona Coyotes this season. Ladd was acquired by the Coyotes in July as part of a salary dump by the New York Islanders, heading to the desert along with a package of draft picks in exchange for future considerations.

Even though he intends on playing, there still appears to be some doubt on how long his career can last. The conditions on the final pick included in that trade are that it only goes to Arizona if Ladd fails to play in a single professional game during the 2022-23 season or retires prior to that campaign. Yes, the 35-year-old is not only under contract for this season but also next, on the seven-year, $38.5MM deal he signed with the Islanders in 2016. He’ll carry a $5.5MM cap hit through 2022-23, though his actual salary is a bit less than that.

It’s hard to remember now, but Ladd was actually active during the 2019-20 season for the Islanders, playing 34 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before a call-up in March. Unfortunately, that call-up was cut short when the league shut down due to the rising COVID-19 situation, but Ladd also dressed for a postseason game for the Islanders that summer. In 2020-21, he played just a single game for the Sound Tigers, but he’s ready to resume his career and go for that 1,000 regular season games played mark that so few are able to achieve.

For the Coyotes, who are clearly in a rebuild, Ladd represents lots of positive opportunities. Not only did they receive draft picks to take on his contract, but it helps them get to the cap floor and the veteran forward can provide some leadership on the ice in what will likely be a difficult season. He joins fellow 35+ players like Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Anton Stralman, and Carter Hutton on the roster, a group that will help guide the younger players in the roster along the way. Ladd, who served as captain with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets before his time in New York, has always been considered a well-respected leader in the league. He’ll have a brand new challenge this season as he looks to play out his final few years, reaching personal milestones along the way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Arizona Coyotes Hire John Ferguson Jr.

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1:15pm: The Coyotes have made it official, signing Ferguson Jr. to a multi-year contract as AGM. Bill Armstrong released a statement:

We are very pleased to name John as our new assistant general manager. John is extremely knowledgeable about the game and with 20-plus years in the NHL, brings a tremendous amount of experience to our hockey operations department. We are thrilled to have him join our team and I am looking forward to working with him.

11:25am: The Arizona Coyotes are expected to announce a new assistant general manager shortly, as both Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald and Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports are reporting that John Ferguson Jr. will join the club.

The long-time executive has spent the last seven years with the Boston Bruins organization, serving as a director of player personnel. Prior to that he was with the San Jose Sharks as a director of pro scouting, Toronto Maple Leafs as general manager, St. Louis Blues as assistant GM and the Ottawa Senators as a scout. The son of five-time Stanley Cup winner John Ferguson, who played 500 games with the Montreal Canadiens before his own long front office career, Ferguson Jr. has been around the league for basically his entire life.

There are still some who point to the failed tenure as GM in Toronto as a reason to doubt Ferguson Jr. but make no mistake, he is a well-respected executive and was valuable to the Bruins organization. The Coyotes, who are trying to rebuild not only the on-ice product but also the perception of the front office, will happily welcome his experience and knowledge to their management group.

Since firing Steve Sullivan earlier this year, the Coyotes have operated without an official AGM. Morgan reports that Ferguson Jr. will in charge of the Tucson Roadrunners, who went without a GM for part of this season after Sullivan’s departure. That’s something he is very familiar with, having been GM of the Providence Bruins for the past five seasons.

Snapshots: Fantilli, Avalanche, Tocchet

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Everyone wants a piece of top 2023 NHL Draft prospect Adam Fantilli, even those who probably don’t have a reasonable shot at him. The Ontario native made his development plans clear when he spurned the OHL for the USHL and then solidified his intent by committing to the University of Michigan last month. However, at least one team back home in Ontario is still hoping that he changes his mind. The North Bay Battalion have announced that they have acquired the OHL rights to Fantilli from the Saginaw Spirit in exchange for a package of picks. While most of the selections are conditional, Saginaw will at least land a 2022 sixth-round pick outright (not to mention the 2022 compensatory first-rounder already heading their way based on Fantilli’s “defected status.) Should North Bay’s gamble pay off, the Spirit would receive a 2024 second-round pick and 2025 second-round pick if Fantilli plays an OHL game in 2023-24 and an additional 2023 third-round pick and 2024 fourth-round pick if he plays any earlier. With Fantilli expected to join the Michigan Wolverines next year, it is highly unlikely that Saginaw will receive all four conditional picks. However, if the NCAA does not go as planned or if Fantilli decides to turn pro immediately after being drafted but is reassigned to the OHL, there is a slight chance that they could land those second-rounders. In reality though, Fantilli will likely shine at the college level and either be on an NHL roster or leading Michigan for one last season in 2023-24. The big scoring center is still worth the risk for North Bay, but the odds of a payoff are low.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have revealed a coaching shake-up in the minor league ranks. Brett Clark, assistant coach for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, will be unable to coach this season due to “new league protocols”. This implies that Clark is unvaccinated and cannot work with players during the 2021-22 campaign. In his place, Colorado has promoted Tim Branham, the head coach of their ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies, to the AHL assistant position. Branham, 40, has held the head coach as well as GM role for the Grizzlies since 2013 but will finally get a chance to show what he can do at the next level. The team release notes that Clark hopes to return to coaching as soon as possible.
  • The top free agent coach right now is very likely Rick Tocchet, who mutually parted ways with the Arizona Coyotes this off-season and was a finalist for seemingly every other vacancy across the league. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan writes that Tocchet did have at least two offers to serve as an assistant in the NHL, but decided to go in a different direction. Tocchet has joined TNT as a studio analyst, Morgan notes, and will work alongside Wayne Gretzky during the network’s weekly broadcast. That is, until another head coach position opens up. Tocchet felt that he had to stay close to the game to stay relevant as a coaching candidate, but decided that working as an analyst could accomplish that goal. “It’s an opportunity to stay in the game, learn more about the game and reinvent yourself,” Tocchet said. “I think that every year, coaches have to hit the refresh button on something. You can’t bring the same thing to the table every year. You’ve got to learn new things because the game is always changing; players are always changing.” A former standout two-way forward in addition to an experienced coach, Tocchet will bring a lot to the analyst position – for however long it lasts.

 

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