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Mathias Brome Expected To Sign With Detroit Red Wings

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The Vancouver Canucks have lost a free agent battle with the Detroit Red Wings, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Mathias Brome is expected to sign in Motown. Brome had been deciding between the two clubs after another outstanding season in the SHL.

Now 25, the undrafted forward is coming to North America for the first time in his hockey career, one that has been marked by drastic year-over-year improvement. Brome has become a star at every level of hockey in Sweden, and is coming off a 43-point performance with Orebro HK in the 2019-20 season. That was good enough for sixth in the SHL scoring race, obviously drawing some interest from across the pond.

It’s hard to blame an unproven free agent like Brome for picking Detroit, given how many opportunities will be available next season. The Red Wings are still just at the beginning of their rebuild and will need bodies to fill in a roster that will likely look considerably different next season. For Detroit GM Steve Yzerman, signing a player like Brome could not only give his team a boost on the ice, but perhaps an extra trade chip come deadline day.

Snapshots: Early Draft, Brome, Martin

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The NHL floated a “trial balloon” earlier this week with the idea that the 2020 Entry Draft could be held in June, before a potential restart for the 2019-20 season. That brought up all kinds of questions about how the draft order would be determined and if teams would be able to complete trades, something draft day has been known for in the past. On yesterday’s edition of Insider Trading for TSN, Pierre LeBrun explained that he asked around front offices to gauge their response to the idea.

LeBrun states that 15 teams gave him a “hard no” on the idea of a June draft, with only five open to the idea. That kind of response certainly won’t help the plan get off the ground, meaning we may have to wait until after the season concludes to get the draft over with.

  • One player that won’t have to wait for the draft to find out where he’ll play next year is Mathias Brome, a 25-year old forward that has spent the last three seasons in the SHL. Rick Dhaliwal of TSN reports that the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings are “in the mix” to sign Brome once the new transfer agreement comes into place. With 17 goals and 43 points for Orebro HK this season, Brome ranked sixth in league scoring and could be considered an option to step directly into the NHL.
  • Max Martin didn’t get drafted when he was eligible either, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be playing professional hockey. The Kamloops Blazers standout has signed a one-year contract with the Texas Stars of the AHL for the 2020-21 season, giving him a chance to show what he can do at the next level. The 20-year old defenseman had 14 goals and 58 points in 57 games after an early-season trade from Prince Albert. The Blazers just so happen to be owned by Tom Gaglardi, who also owns the Dallas and Texas Stars.

Snapshots: Markstrom, Vegas, Hartford

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When the 2019-20 NHL season was paused, Vancouver Canucks were right on the edge of returning to the playoffs. It’s not somewhere they’ve been since 2015, so turning things around is an impressive accomplishment for this young group. One of the older players on the team that was around (however infrequently) for that 2014-15 season is Jacob Markstrom, who happens to be scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer.

If you ask him though, this won’t be his last chance to help Vancouver reach the playoffs. Markstrom was on a conference call with reporters yesterday including Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, and explained that he wants to “stay in Vancouver” and has “no plans of leaving.” Markstrom does understand the complicated situation that every team is in with regards to free agents and an uncertain salary cap, but is obviously hoping that he can stick around for a while longer. The 30-year old goaltender was having the best season of his career, posting a 23-16-4 record and .918 save percentage when the season was paused.

  • If you’ve been wondering whether or not the Vegas Golden Knights would ever name a captain, Peter DeBoer has some answers for you. According to Ken Boehlke of SinBin.vegas, DeBoer discussed the captain question on a season ticket holder podcast, explaining that he believes a team should have one and that the Golden Knights have several candidates. For what it is worth, Boehlke expects Mark Stone to be the captain if one is named. Stone is currently the highest-paid player on the Golden Knights and is signed through 2026-27.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack are bringing back some experience for next season, signing Vincent LoVerde and Mason Geertsen to one-year AHL contracts for 2020-21. LoVerde, 31, is. two-time Calder Cup champion that scored 21 points in 62 games for the Wolf Pack this season. Geertsen, 25, won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2017 before establishing himself as a full-time AHL player the last three years.

Pacific Notes: Hall, Reaves, Edler

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It’s been three weeks since Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka told The Athletic that while no specifics on a contract with Taylor Hall had been discussed during the NHL suspension break, he and Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, had been in discussion about a potential deal. The Coyotes traded for Hall in December with the hope that they would become the favorite to convince the star forward to sign with the team when he hit unrestricted free agency this offseason.

However, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that Ferris says that he has not been approached by Chayka regarding contract talks during the break, putting even more confusion on whether Hall will choose Arizona as his long-term home. Hall has fared well with 10 goals and 27 points in 35 games with the Coyotes, but those are hardly numbers of a star player, although there is some transition time expected of any player when traded to a new team. However, the team also didn’t show much improvement with Hall in the lineup with the team going 14-17-4 during that time, although the team did have some goaltending issues during that time.

Hall is looking for a long-term deal in the range of seven or eight years, potentially around $10MM per season. The Coyotes are already right up against the cap and have little coming off their books next season, which might require Chayka to shake up their roster a bit if they want to retain Hall.

  • The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) analyzes some the chances that the Vegas Golden Knights will bring back each of their pending unrestricted free agents, noting that there is a strong likelihood that the team will retain forward Ryan Reaves, who was heavily recruited two years ago when he was a free agent. Reaves signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal to return to Vegas, but now at age 33, is likely going to be willing to take less to stay with the Golden Knights. He is rooted in Vegas as a fan favorite, who has his own beer company in the city and he holds more endorsements than any other Vegas player. He tallied eight goals and 15 points in 71 games this year to go with a league-leading 316 hits.
  • The Athletic’s Harman Dayal (subscription required) looks at the Vancouver Canucks’ possession statistics and how the play of rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes has made quite the difference. However, Dayal does note that one player who has seen a significant decline in play last year was Alexander Edler, who had the lowest possession exit percentage among team defensemen with just 25.8 percent (compared to Hughes’ 48.1 percent). With the league average at 34.6 percent, Edler’s numbers have been in decline for a couple of years now. He is currently in the middle of a two-year, $12MM contract.

Several European Teams Pursuing Reid Boucher

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  • Several European teams have expressed an interest in signing Canucks pending restricted free agent Reid Boucher, reports TSN 1040’s Rick Dhaliwal (Twitter link). However, at this time, the winger intends to remain in North America.  Boucher spent the entire season with AHL Utica and led the Comets in scoring with 33 goals and 34 assists in 53 games.  His 67 points were second to only Sam Anas (Minnesota) in the league while his 1.26 point per game led all AHL players.

Micheal Ferland Experiencing No Concussion Symptoms

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Though players all around the league would obviously like to get back on the ice and start competing for the Stanley Cup once again, there is one silver lining in this current season suspension. Injured players, like Micheal Ferland of the Vancouver Canucks, have received even more time to rest and recuperate from their ailments. Ferland, who has suffered multiple concussions and was limited to just 14 games this season, is back home according to his agent who told Rick Dhaliwal of TSN that the power forward is experiencing “zero symptoms.”

The 27-year old Ferland signed a four-year, $14MM deal with the Canucks last summer to be part of their new identity as a fast, physical team. Joining other power forwards like J.T. Miller, Jake Virtanen and Antoine Roussell upfront, Ferland gave the Canucks a reliable 40-point winger who could move up and down the lineup depending on the situation. Unfortunately, his health has been completely unreliable for the team, after suffering the third (known) concussion of his career in early November. He would return just over a month later but lasted all of 13 minutes over two games before he was taken out with symptoms again. Another try at the AHL level in February would last just a single period before the symptoms came back, with concern growing for his future at every turn.

At this point, all anyone can do is hope that Ferland’s day-to-day life can return to normal. It’s not clear how the rest of his hockey-playing career will go, but there is still three years and $9.5MM left on his contract.

Discussions Picking Up With Nikita Tryamkin

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  • With the KHL season now over, talks between the Canucks and defenseman Nikita Tryamkin have picked up, reports Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. The 25-year-old spent parts of two seasons in Vancouver before returning to Russia for the last three seasons.  However, Tryamkin is looking to return to Vancouver for the 2020-21 campaign but his agent Todd Diamond acknowledged that the uncertainty surrounding next year’s salary cap is also likely to play a role in any contract talks.

Snapshots: NHL Draft, Ovechkin, Crosby, Guentzel

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Yesterday, the NHL postponed the 2020 NHL Draft, which had been set to take place in Montreal on June 26-27. The league did not however indicate what the plan was to make up the event, which must occur in some form or fashion prior to the 2020-21 season. However, Pierre LeBrun writes for The Athletic that there are three possible solutions for the draft make-up. The least likely would be that the draft is simply postponed to a later date and takes place in Montreal as initially planned. LeBrun does not believe that a full draft, complete with teams, prospects, and fans alike in attendance, is a realistic option. Slightly more likely would be a scaled-down version, which LeBrun compares to the post-lockout draft in 2005, that still takes place in Montreal but with far less fanfare, but even this seems unlikely. The outcome most see occurring, falling in line with what junior leagues have decided for their own drafts, would be a virtual NHL Draft, wherein teams make their picks live from their individual war rooms. LeBrun mentions the possibility of a centralized location, in Montreal or elsewhere, with team reps and top prospects in attendance to react to the virtual selections.

If the draft does move to a virtual format, LeBrun reports that the league has promised Montreal that they will receive either the 2021 or 2022 NHL Draft. He adds that the NHL may even consider combining the NHL Entry Draft and NHL Expansion Draft into one week-long event in Montreal next summer. Given the rabid fan base of the city, it would be as good a location as any – barring Seattle itself maybe – to hold the Expansion Draft. If Montreal were to lose the draft this year only to gain two drafts next year, that would be quite the consolation prize.

  • Count arguably the two biggest names in hockey as supporters of calling the regular season and jumping right into the playoffs. On a conference call today among representatives of each of the Metropolitan Division teams, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin lobbied for the NHL to skip the remaining regular season games and resume play with the first round of the postseason, in whatever format they choose. Crosby opined that playing as many regular season games as possible would be best for the integrity of the season, but he “wouldn’t mind starting right at the playoffs.” Ovechkin was more direct, saying that he is “bored” with the league’s current pause and that his Capitals “don’t want to play those extra games” and would “rather start the playoffs right away.” Unsurprisingly, Carolina’s Jordan Staal, whose Hurricanes are safely in the postseason right now, agrees with Ovechkin and Crosby, while brother Marc Staal of the New York Rangers, who were hot before the league postponed its action, would rather resume the regular season in hopes of getting in. Curiously though, Columbus’ Nick Foligno, whose Blue Jackets would be in the standard playoff structure by total points but not by points percentage, the likely determinant of qualification, supported a jump right to the postseason, while the New York Islanders’ Anders Lee, whose team is in the opposite situation, preferred to finish the regular season. Opinions are sure to change based on the length of the league’s pause, the options for returning to action, and the potential format of postseason play, but for now there is major support behind surrendering the regular season in favor of an immediate postseason of some sort.
  • There are few NHL stakeholders who are benefiting from the current indefinite break in action. One of the only exceptions is Crosby’s teammate, Jake Guentzel. Guentzel suffered a shoulder injury in late December and was given a four-to-six-month recovery window following surgery. In a normal league year, that likely meant that Guentzel would be lucky to play again this season, only able to return for the playoffs, and almost certainly wouldn’t be able to get back to full strength. However, given the delay of the current pause, the status quo has shifted. Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relays word from GM Jim Rutherford that Guentzel’s rehab is going well and the team is optimistic that he will play again if the season resumes. Especially considering the strong likelihood that the NHL will need a mini training camp for teams to get back to game speed, Guentzel may even be back at full strength before a potential resumption of the regular season or start of the postseason in June or July. Guentzel recorded 43 points in 39 games playing with an injury-depleted forward corps prior to his own injury and would be a major asset for the Penguins, who would be the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division if the playoffs began based on the current standings.

Poll: If Season Ends Now, Who Should Win Calder Trophy?

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The NHL has every intention in trying to finish out the regular season and have a playoffs to cap off the 2019-20 season. However, with the unknown nature of the quickly changing COVID-19 virus, the season already has been suspended and could be pushed back further and further to avoid players contracting the virus. There has been talk of a drop-dead date as the league doesn’t want the 2019-20 to interfere with the 2020-21 season, which could make the regular season expendable if things begin to extend further and further into the summer. If the regular season ended on March 11, who would walk away as the league’s top rookie?

At midseason, it looked like an obvious choice as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar dominated the first half of the season after coming over from UMass-Amherst last season. The 21-year-old had a dominant 11 goals and 37 points in 41 games before the all-star break. While his numbers dipped slightly, Makar has still been impressive in a much more limited second half. He did miss five games with an upper-body injury in late February where Colorado lost three of those five games, yet he still had a goal and 13 points in 16 games since the break. In total, however, Makar currently has 12 goals and 50 points in 57 games, an impressive feat for a rookie blueliner.

While Makar seemed like the inevitable choice early on, Vancouver Canucks rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes came on late to have his own impressive season. Hughes has been a solid addition to a Canucks defense at the end of last season as he came out of the University of Michigan. While he had solid numbers in the first half, with five goals and 34 points in 48 games before the all-star break, he did explode in February with 15 points in 13 games and tallied eight goals and 53 points in 68 points. While Makar might have had a better points-per-game average, it was Hughes who provided the healthier player on the ice.

There are several other candidates who will receive some consideration, including Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik, who scored 30 goals already in just 68 games in his first season in North America. The 24-year-old had spent his entire career overseas in the Czech League and the NLA, but adjusted to North American skating rinks quickly and was a key piece to the Blackhawks’ squad.

Several goalies dominated this season, but New Jersey Devils goalie MacKenzie Blackwood so far has a 22-14-8 record on a struggling Devils team. While he did post a 2.77 GAA, his save percentage suggests that he has been a dominant netminder for the Devils this season at .915.

So, if the regular season ended today, who would be the Calder Trophy winner?

If the season ended today, who would win the Calder Trophy?
Vancouver's Quinn Hughes 51.05% (1,115 votes)
Colorado's Cale Makar 29.90% (653 votes)
Chicago's Dominik Kubalik 14.15% (309 votes)
New Jersey's MacKenzie Blackwood 4.90% (107 votes)
Total Votes: 2,184

For Pro Hockey app users, click here to vote.

Jacob Markstrom Has Fully Recovered From His Knee Injury

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  • Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom has fully recovered from his knee injury, GM Jim Benning acknowledged in an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). With Vancouver on the outside looking in at a Wild Card spot (tied with Nashville but they hold the tiebreaker), that’s good news for any potential stretch run.  Benning also reiterated his desire to get the pending UFA signed to a contract extension but with next year’s salary cap in question given everything that has happened these last few weeks, it’s unlikely that there will be much in the way of negotiations in the next little while.

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