Golden Knights Rumors

Mason McTavish Is Day-To-Day With Injury

September 21, 2023 at 2:48 pm CDT | by Josh Cybulski 1 Comment

The Anaheim Ducks have announced that center Mason McTavish is day-to-day with an injury. Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune tweeted that Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek told reporters that McTavish tweaked something at yesterday’s practice while he was reaching for a puck. Verbeek remained optimistic that the injury was of the minor variety adding that he believed it was a muscle spasm that likely needed a day or two of rest before the 20-year-old could get back on the ice.

The Ducks are already missing several key young pieces at training camp who are without contracts for next year and can ill afford to miss McTavish for any length of time. Although the Ducks aren’t expected to be a contender this season the club is hoping that their young players like McTavish can take a big step forward and develop into frontline NHL players.

McTavish was the Ducks’ third overall pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft and had a good rookie season last year posting 17 goals and 26 assists in 80 games. Despite his decent numbers, McTavish ran out of gas for the last stretch of the season posting just a goal and an assist in the final 12 games of the regular season. He also suffered an injury on April 11th that effectively ended his season. A strong training camp will go a long way to getting McTavish some of his confidence back that he seemed to lose towards the end of last year.

If Verbeek’s assessment is correct it shouldn’t be an issue for the young McTavish to be well-prepared for the Ducks regular-season opener on October 14th against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Phil Kessel Unlikely To Sign With Pittsburgh Penguins

September 13, 2023 at 10:46 am CDT | by Josh Cybulski 10 Comments

A rumor that hasn’t been going away the past month is a Phil Kessel reunion with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kessel was largely beloved in Pittsburgh during his four years with the Penguins and was a huge part of their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017. Kessel had a very good claim to the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2016 that ultimately went to Sidney Crosby and was equally as effective in 2017 on the Penguins’ path to a repeat. He was an electric playmaker that fit the city of Pittsburgh like a glove.

But with the rumors flying Josh Yohe of The Athletic has poured cold water on the notion of the Penguins signing the now 35-year-old Kessel. Yohe writes that he doesn’t see the Penguins signing Kessel for a number of reasons. This echoes what Dave Molinari wrote last week in Pittsburgh Hockey Now where he said what Kessel brings to the table doesn’t fit with what General Manager Kyle Dubas and Head Coach Mike Sullivan are trying to do.

Both Yohe and Molinari’s assessments make sense given the roadblocks that would impede a potential return. The Penguins have signed a lot of bottom-six forwards for this upcoming season and appear to be favoring defensively responsible players, something Kessel has never been accused of being.

There is also the issue of Kessel leaving Pittsburgh on bad terms when he was traded in the summer of 2019. Many outside reports indicated that Kessel and Sullivan had a difficult relationship, however, both men have said that those reports were overblown by people who were outside of the situation.

The last hurdle, and perhaps the biggest one is the play of Kessel since he was traded by the Penguins to the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, he just hasn’t been as good as he was in Pittsburgh. Kessel has never taken great care of himself despite being the NHL Iron Man, and this has really shown in his play on the ice. Since the trade, Kessel has topped 14 goals just once, and 50 points once as well. Last season he found himself a healthy scratch for the majority of the playoffs as he watched the Vegas Golden Knights march to the Stanley Cup.

While a reunion would be fun and would add to what is going to be a wildly entertaining season of hockey in Pittsburgh, it doesn’t seem like it is going to happen, which will break the hearts of some Penguins fans.

Nick Holden Retires, Joins Golden Knights Front Office

September 12, 2023 at 4:04 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

Longtime NHL defenseman Nick Holden is retiring after a 12-season career and will immediately join the Vegas Golden Knights’ player development staff, according to a team release. His specialty will be working with the team’s group of young defensemen.

Initially eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Holden went undrafted and didn’t make it to an NHL organization until the Columbus Blue Jackets signed him to an entry-level contract in 2008 after completing his junior career with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins (who have since relocated to Victoria to become the Royals). He would remain in the Blue Jackets organization until 2013 but spent most of it in the AHL, playing just seven NHL contests without recording a point. An unrestricted free agent in 2013, he signed a two-year, $1.2MM contract with the Colorado Avalanche, which jumpstarted his career. Finally playing his rookie campaign as a 26-year-old in the 2013-14 season, Holden recorded 25 points in 54 games for the Avs while averaging nearly 19 minutes per game.

He would settle into a top-four role during his peak, averaging over 20 minutes per game from 2014 to 2019. His career-best season came as a member of the New York Rangers in 2016-17, posting 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points in 80 games and a +13 rating. With the Rangers struggling the following season, however, they dealt him to the Boston Bruins at the 2018 trade deadline, where he played a depth role down the stretch. That led him to sign with the Golden Knights for their second season, and he gave them solid play over the course of three seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21. After slipping down the depth chart and playing just 17 regular-season games in 2020-21, however, they dealt him to the Ottawa Senators in a swap for scoring winger Evgenii Dadonov.

Holden spent the final two seasons of his career in a Sens jersey, recording 35 points in 141 games while averaging 18:24 across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. His final NHL appearance came in an overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on April 13 of this year, in which he recorded a +1 rating, four shots on goal, 23:13 of ice time, and one block.

After turning 36 in May, Holden steps away from the playing side of the game with 654 career appearances. During his time with the Avalanche, Golden Knights, Blue Jackets, Rangers, Senators, and Bruins, Holden amassed 52 goals, 126 assists, 178 points, and a +16 rating.

“Nick was widely respected by management, teammates, and coaches during his time with the Golden Knights as a player,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He fills an important role with our player development and will work not only with our drafted prospects but also with our young pros with the Henderson Silver Knights.”

We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Holden on a respectable career, and we wish him the best as he moves into the next chapter of his career in the sport.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Max Comtois To PTO

September 12, 2023 at 11:00 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 6 Comments

09/12/23: The Vegas Golden Knights have made Comtois’ professional try-out official.

09/12/23: TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reported today that Comtois is currently in Las Vegas this week, and that “you have to expect” that Comtois’ PTO signing with the Golden Knights will be confirmed this week.

There still hasn’t been any official word from Vegas as to whether the former Ducks 16-goal scorer will join the Golden Knights for training camp and preseason. But at this point, there has been enough reporting and smoke around this signing to confidently believe that a PTO is indeed coming.

09/01/23: The Vegas Golden Knights are reportedly set to offer winger Max Comtois a professional tryout contract, as initially reported by BPM Sports’ Marc-Olivier Beaudoin. The former Anaheim Duck did not receive a qualifying offer from the team before the June deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Before the Ducks cut their 2017 second-round pick loose, Comtois had posted 38 goals, 48 assists and 86 points in 210 games. The 24-year-old broke out to lead the Ducks in scoring during the shortened 2020-21 campaign, recording 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games. Things haven’t gone nearly as well in the two seasons since, however. In the 116 games following that breakout year, he’s recorded just 35 points despite more than twice the games played while posting an abysmal -37 rating. However, the latter is more the fault of the team around him than poor individual defensive effort.

The Quebec-born forward plays with an edge to his game and has a solid finishing touch with a career 12.8 shooting percentage. However, consistency and play-driving remain issues, and he’ll need to demonstrate that he’s made some strides in those areas during camp to earn a deal with Vegas.

Should he crack the Golden Knights roster, there would be some opportunity for him in their top nine. He’ll compete directly with Paul Cotter, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden for a left-wing spot alongside William Karlsson or Chandler Stephenson on the team’s second or third line. There’s solid potential for his offensive totals to climb if he ends up on the same line with Stephenson and captain Mark Stone.

Theoretically, the Golden Knights could sign Comtois to a one-year deal up to around the $1.5MM mark and remain cap-compliant to start the season. CapFriendly projects Vegas with $851,653 in cap space entering the season with a full roster and Robin Lehner on long-term injured reserve, so they’d need to assign a player to the minors regardless of cap considerations to sign Comtois.

Minor Transactions: 09/06/23

September 6, 2023 at 2:32 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

Today was a busy morning in the hockey news cycle, with the Arizona Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins making notable front-office moves while the Toronto Maple Leafs added some potential scoring depth on a professional tryout. There’s also some notable movement on the transactions wire from other leagues, however, so let’s dive into today’s moves:

After two post-draft seasons with the OHL’s Barrie Colts, Vegas Golden Knights defense prospect Artur Cholach is staying in junior hockey for one more season with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, per an announcement from the Colts. Cholach, 20, remains unsigned after the Golden Knights selected him in the sixth round, 190th overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft. His exclusive signing rights did not expire this summer because he only played OHL hockey after his draft date – he played his draft season with Sokil Kyiv in the Ukrainian Hockey League, meaning they have until June 1, 2025, to sign him to an entry-level contract. Over the past two seasons with Barrie, Cholach scored four goals and added 30 assists for 34 points in 116 contests whilst recording a cumulative +9 rating. He also notched eight assists in five games for the Ukrainian national junior team at the 2022 Division 1B World Junior Championship.
The AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds have signed defenseman Ryan Jones to a one-year deal, according to a league release. Touted as a physical two-way defender out of the USHL’s Lincoln Stars in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him in the fourth round but did not sign him to an entry-level contract when he finished his collegiate career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2020. He’s spent the three seasons since on AHL deals, including the last two seasons with the Syracuse Crunch, recording 27 points, 114 penalty minutes and a +4 rating in 137 games. Now a full-time bottom-pairing defender at the AHL level, Jones, 27, will look to grasp a spot on the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, who already added Mitch Reinke to their defense corps by way of their parent club earlier this week.
Veteran goaltender Kevin Poulin announced his retirement on his Instagram page. The 33-year-old played in 50 NHL games over five seasons with the Islanders before embarking on a bit of a unique journey overseas, spending time in Kazakhstan, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. Poulin spent the last two years playing on an AHL deal in Montreal’s system, playing primarily with AHL Laval.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Golden Knights Prospect Arttu Kärki Commits To OHL’s Soo Greyhounds

August 28, 2023 at 11:49 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

Vegas Golden Knights defense prospect Arttu Kärki has signed an OHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Soo Greyhounds, bringing him to North America for the 2023-24 season. The Greyhounds selected Kärki with their first-round pick in the 2023 CHL Import Draft.

Kärki, 18, went off the board to Vegas with the final pick of the third round (96th overall) in this summer’s NHL Draft. A high-end offensive-minded defender in the Finnish junior circuit, Kärki confirms his move to North America just a day before OHL training camps begin.

Hailing from Viiala, Finland, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound defenseman recorded 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points in 36 regular-season games with Tappara U20 of the U20 SM-sarja Finnish league. He led his team’s defensemen in goals and finished second in goals from defensemen in the entire league.

Vegas took Kärki around where most public scouts expected him to go. They haven’t signed him to an entry-level contract yet, and since he was drafted out of Finland (not the CHL), they have four years to sign him before letting his exclusive signing rights expire.

That said, Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis is quite high on Kärki and expects the transition to North American major junior hockey to be a positive thing for his development. “Arttu has all the tools of an elite defenseman,” Raftis said. “His size, skating ability, and high-end puck skills make him a threat all over the ice.”

The Greyhounds currently have three other NHL-drafted prospects expected to suit up for them next season: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Andrew Gibson, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev and New York Rangers center Bryce McConnell-Barker.

August Free Agency Update: Pacific Division

August 16, 2023 at 8:36 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 5 Comments

As even most mid-tier free agents are now off the market, it’s a good time to look at how each team has fared on the free agent market this offseason. We’re publishing a list of one-way signings (i.e., likelier to start the season on the NHL roster) by team, per division, to keep you updated on NHL player movement since the new league year began on July 1.

Asterisked players denote a restricted free agent. Double-asterisked players denote the contract starts in the 2024-25 season. We finish up with the Pacific Division. You can check out the list of Atlantic Division signings here, the list of Metropolitan Division signings here and the list of Central Division signings here.

Anaheim Ducks

*F Troy Terry (seven years, $7MM cap hit)
F Alex Killorn (four years, $6.25MM cap hit)
D Radko Gudas (three years, $4MM cap hit)
G Alex Stalock (one year, 35+ contract, $800K cap hit)
D Robert Hägg (one year, $775K cap hit)

Calgary Flames

D Jordan Oesterle (one year, $925K cap hit)

Edmonton Oilers

*F Ryan McLeod (two years, $2.1MM cap hit)
F Lane Pederson (two years, $775K cap hit)
F Connor Brown (one year, $775K cap hit)

Los Angeles Kings

**F Anze Kopitar (two years, 35+ contract, $7MM cap hit)
D Andreas Englund (two years, $1MM cap hit)
G Cam Talbot (one year, 35+ contract, $1MM cap hit)
G David Rittich (one year, $875K cap hit)
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (one year, $775K cap hit)
F Trevor Lewis (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)
*D Tobias Björnfot (two years, $775K cap hit)

San Jose Sharks

G Mackenzie Blackwood (two years, $2.35MM cap hit)
*F Fabian Zetterlund (two years, $1.45MM cap hit)
D Kyle Burroughs (three years, $1.1MM cap hit)
F Filip Zadina (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)
F Givani Smith (two years, $800K cap hit)

Seattle Kraken

*D Vince Dunn (four years, $7.35MM cap hit)
D Brian Dumoulin (two years, $3.15MM cap hit)
*D William Borgen (two years, $2.7MM cap hit)
F Kailer Yamamoto (one year, $1.5MM cap hit)
*D Cale Fleury (two years, $800K cap hit)
F Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)

Vancouver Canucks

D Carson Soucy (three years, $3.25MM cap hit)
D Ian Cole (one year, $3MM cap hit)
F Teddy Blueger (one year, $1.9MM cap hit)
F Pius Suter (two years, $1.6MM cap hit)
*F Nils Höglander (two years, $1.1MM cap hit)

Vegas Golden Knights

*F Brett Howden (two years, $1.9MM cap hit)
*F Pavel Dorofeyev (one year, $825K cap hit)

Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly

Mark Stone Played Through Fractured Wrist In Cup-Clinching Game

August 15, 2023 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

The fifth and final game of the Stanley Cup Final was certainly a productive one for Golden Knights winger Mark Stone as he notched a hat trick, becoming the first player to score three in a game in the final series since 1996. It turns out he accomplished that despite being injured earlier in the contest. In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show (video link), the veteran indicated that he suffered a fractured wrist in the first period of that contest and played through it the rest of the way.

The 31-year-old is no stranger when it comes to having to battle through back trouble over the last two seasons, undergoing two surgeries in the span of nine months, the second of which came back in February. However, he was able to return for the playoff opener and had a very productive postseason, notching 11 goals and 13 assists in Vegas’ 22 games.

This particular injury shouldn’t be an issue when it comes to Stone’s availability for training camp next month. At the moment, there aren’t believed to be any carryover injuries from their appearance in the Final as goaltender Logan Thompson will be ready for camp. Robin Lehner is expected to be back on LTIR next season but missed all of the 2022-23 campaign after undergoing double hip surgery last August.

Pacific Notes: Marchessault, Bouchard, Blackwood

August 13, 2023 at 6:32 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

While there have yet to be any extension discussions between the Golden Knights and Jonathan Marchessault, SinBin.Vegas’ Jason Pothier notes that this shouldn’t be construed as Vegas being willing to move the veteran. The 32-year-old is entering the final year of his contract which carries a $5MM AAV and after putting up 123 points in 152 games over the last two seasons plus earning the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP, it stands to reason that he’ll be in line for at least a small raise. Vegas doesn’t generally rush to give their players early extensions but considering Marchessault’s importance to the team, it seems like only a matter of time before those discussions begin.

Snapshots: Kylington, QMJHL Fighting Ban, Kisio

August 10, 2023 at 5:16 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 16 Comments

Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington didn’t suit up at all in 2022-23, instead staying in his home country of Sweden on personal leave. Today, Kylington opened up about his year-long absence to Swedish outlet HockeyNews.se, saying (translated) that “These are things that have been going on in the family for many years but which escalated to become worse, and there were mental and psychological problems I suffered from.” A seemingly refreshed Kylington said at the end of the interview that he’s now feeling “absolutely fantastic” and is looking forward to re-join Calgary next season, as general manager Craig Conroy confirmed last month.

The 2015 second-round pick had a lengthy development track, but the 26-year-old Swede fully arrived on the scene in 2021-22. Stepping closer to a top-four role, Kylington recorded career-highs across the board with nine goals, 22 assists, 31 points, and a +34 rating in 73 games. With the addition of MacKenzie Weegar into the picture in Calgary, however, Kylington might start out next season in a bottom-pairing role under new head coach Ryan Huska. That’s assuming Noah Hanifin starts the season with the team, which is far from a given as he remains a trade candidate.

Other notes from around the hockey world this afternoon:

The QMJHL confirmed today that fighting will be banned entirely in the league beginning with the 2023-24 campaign, following up on pressure from the Quebec parliament earlier this year to enforce such a rule. After adding a ten-minute misconduct for fighting to the standard five-minute major penalty a few seasons back, a fight in the QMJHL will now automatically result in ejection from the game for both players, more closely resembling the NCAA. A ladder system of suspensions is also being introduced to supplement the automatic ejections. Per the league, an “instigator” will be issued an automatic one-game suspension, an “aggressor” will receive an automatic two-game suspension (with the potential for more), and an additional automatic one-game suspension will be imposed for players who fight multiple times in the same season. The NHL has not commented on the rule nor given any indication they intend to follow in the footsteps of one of their largest junior-league feeders anytime soon.
The Vegas Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate in Henderson has added Brent Kisio to their staff as an assistant coach, per a team release. Kisio, the son of Golden Knights pro scout Kelly Kisio, had spent the past eight seasons as the head coach of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes. He also served as an assistant coach for Team Canada at last year’s 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, where his squad took home the gold medal. Henderson will be under new leadership next year, with Ryan Craig replacing the outgoing Manny Viveiros as head coach.

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