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Prospect Notes: Kravtsov, Zary, Krys

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Vitaly Kravtsov’s KHL team was eliminated from the playoffs today, meaning the New York Rangers prospect can now come to North America to join his NHL club. The 21-year-old winger is already under contract and was just loaned overseas, meaning he could play as soon as his quarantine protocols are over. That’s expected to take up to two weeks, but it could still mean the Rangers have a boost down the stretch.

Kravtsov, the ninth overall pick in 2018, scored 16 goals and 24 points in 49 KHL games this season, a strong offensive showing for a player that had struggled at times in the past. The 6’3″ winger is still an important part of the Rangers’ future and gives them another young forward to build around.

  • With the British Columbia teams in the WHL set to return soon, Connor Zary’s time with the Stockton Heat is finished. The 19-year-old forward has been assigned back to the Kamloops Blazers after scoring seven points in nine AHL contests. Zary was the 24th overall pick in 2020 and is too young for the AHL whenever the WHL is in session, but showed quite well in his first taste of professional hockey. The Calgary Flames prospect had 38 goals and 86 points last season for the Blazers and should be even more dominant now that he has some AHL experience under his belt.
  • Chad Krys, the Chicago Blackhawks second-rounder from 2016, will end his own 2020-21 season after just six AHL appearances. The Rockford IceHogs announced today that Krys underwent successful shoulder surgery yesterday and will be out for the next five to seven months. Hopefully, that leaves him able to compete in Blackhawks training camp for next season, but Krys has a long road back at this point.

Ducks Notes: Eakins, Getzlaf, Heinen, Tracey

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The Anaheim Ducks are off to another poor start this season, currently sitting in last place in the West Division with the fourth-worst record in the NHL. They aren’t trending in the right direction either; at 1-6-3, no team in the league has been as bad as the Ducks over their past ten games. Although head coach Dallas Eakins is only in his second season with Anaheim, there is still growing scrutiny of his failures so far and speculation as to his job security. After all, Eakins was brought in to lead the rebuild in Anaheim due to his past success with young players, yet many of the young Ducks continue to fall short of expectations. Eakins’ conservative style has also stymied the team’s offensive potential, as they sit second-to-last in the NHL in scoring with just 2.16 goals per game this season.

However, in the eyes of his general manager there is no need for Eakins to worry about his job just yet. Speaking with the media, Ducks GM Bob Murray gave a firm vote of confidence to his head coach. “I’ve got total confidence in Dallas,” Murray said. “I think he’s doing a pretty good job right now with everything that’s going on. I have no issues whatsoever. I have no problem with Dallas.” Despite this emphatic note of support, Murray did state later in the press conference that he expected the team to better this season. So if the blame does not lie with Eakins, could it fall on Murray? Many believe that the veteran GM could also be in danger of losing his job. If that is the case, Eakins’ own job security may only be as good as that of the man who hired him. Something has to change in Anaheim and ownership may soon step in and make changes.

  • As for one major change that Ducks fans are hoping to avoid, Murray shared some news that they will find comforting. With rumors floating around that long-time captain Ryan Getzlaf could be traded, Murray made no qualms about his thoughts on that matter. “I’m tired of hearing this… how his name is out there,” Murray said, “the only way Ryan Getzlaf would go anywhere is if he came to me and said, ’Bob, can you try and trade me to a contender?’ As an impending free agent who would be a desirable rental even at his advanced age, there is certainly value in moving Getzlaf. However, the career Duck has earned the right to decide his own future. According to Murray, the two sides will wait to see how Getzlaf feels both physically and mentally about continuing his career and doing so in Anaheim, but he calls the relationship “wonderful” and is open to an extension if Getzlaf is.
  • One player who seems likely to be traded or, if not, unlikely to return next season is Danton Heinen. Still only in his first season with the Ducks, Heinen’s name did not emerge as a trade candidate until a string of healthy scratches and then a very public negotiation between the Ducks and Vancouver Canucks that included he and Jake Virtanen. In over a week since that hypothetical deal went viral, Heinen has been scratched in three of the Ducks five games. In the two games he has played, Heinen has been held without a point or even a shot on goal, is a -2, and has seen a notable drop-off in ice time. Heinen simply does not seem to be a fit in Anaheim and as an impending free agent will see his time with the team come to an end soon, one way or another. If there is interest in acquiring the winger, who recorded 47 points as a rookie with the Boston Bruins just three years ago, then he will surely be traded. If not, he will walk this summer and have to look for a fresh start elsewhere.
  • A young player who the Ducks will not rush into their rebuild this year is Brayden Tracey. The 2019 first-rounder is under contract and has already played a dozen AHL games this season, but his time in the pros won’t go any further in 2020-21. The San Diego Gulls have announced that Tracey has been reassigned to his junior club, the WHL’s Victoria Royals, to play out the rest of the season. With the Ducks having been criticized for bringing too many of their current top prospects to the NHL before they were ready, they will let Tracey continue to develop against his own peers instead. The 19-year-old forward has shown great skill at the junior level, but was held scoreless in the minors and will be grateful to re-discover his scoring touch back in the WHL.

Snapshots: Rutherford, Tortorella, Wolf

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It’s still not exactly clear what made Jim Rutherford suddenly resign his post as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this year. Given that he still has “the bug” to help a front office, as he told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic recently, some have wondered if there was perhaps a philosophical disagreement between Rutherford and his Pittsburgh bosses. When asked on the Cam and Strick Podcast about whether he had tried to trade Kris Letang but ownership stopped it, the legendary executive denied any rumors:

Nope. Not accurate. As a matter of fact, I’ve said publicly a few times. Because you get to a point in a player’s career–should you trade ’em, get something young for them or not–but I’ve actually took the position that because the core guys won Stanley Cups, three Stanley Cups, that [Sidney] Crosby, [Evgeni] Malkin and Letang should play their whole career in Pittsburgh. I wish I could say the same thing about [Marc-Andre] Fleury, but we got squeezed on the cap at an earlier time. But those four guys should have played their whole career in Pittsburgh. There’s three of them still there. That’s how I felt then, that’s how I feel now.

If Letang and Malkin are to play their whole careers in Pittsburgh, they’ll need new contracts before long. Both players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the 2021-22 season. Crosby meanwhile is signed through 2024-25, which potentially could cover the end of his career already. He’ll be 34 this offseason, meaning his contract takes him through his age-37 season.

  • John Tortorella got the infamous vote of confidence from his general manager earlier today, as Jarmo Kekalainen explained he isn’t looking to make changes to the coaching staff and trusts this group to get the Columbus Blue Jackets out of their recent slump. The Blue Jackets have lost five straight and sit fifth in the Central Division, only ahead of the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings, and Dallas Stars (who have only played 16 games, the fewest in the entire league). Tortorella, though respected as a strong systems coach that can get a lot out of a mediocre roster, has been known to eventually have players tune him out in his previous stops. Kekalainen, as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic writes, hasn’t seen that kind of thing yet. A Stanley Cup champion with the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning, Tortorella has been the head coach of the Blue Jackets since the 2015-16 season and has had a winning record in each season with the club.
  • Dustin Wolf has been reassigned back to the WHL, re-joining the Everett Silvertips after a short taste of professional hockey. The 19-year-old goaltender played three games for the Stockton Heat, winning two of them and posting an .895 save percentage. A seventh-round pick in 2019, Wolf is an extremely intriguing prospect trying to break through despite a significant disadvantage–he stands a (generous) 6’0″ and would be one of the smallest goaltenders in the NHL, should he ever make it. So far that size discrepancy hasn’t stopped him, winning CHL Goaltender of the Year and recently taking home a World Junior gold medal. Now that the WHL is returning, Wolf is no longer eligible to play in the AHL.

Minor Transactions: 03/01/21

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As a strange season continues, with leagues around the globe at different places in their respective seasons, it does not appear as if there will ever be a shortage of noteworthy transactions. Here is the latest group of minor moves:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned a pair of prospects back to their junior clubs in the WHL, with the league finally getting back to work. Gage Goncalves and Jack Finley, both under contract, as well as fellow Tampa draft pick Jaydon Dureau had all been playing in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch, albeit with four total appearances between them. All three will have a greater role as leaders of their junior teams. The trio are all staying in the U.S., as Goncalves returns to the Everett Silvertips, Finley to the Spokane Chiefs, and Dureau to the Portland Winterhawks.
  • The Laval Rocket and forward Kevin Lynch have agreed to a mutual contract termination. Laval revealed that Lynch and his family simply wished to return home to the U.S., so the Michigan native may still wind up with another club this season. Lynch, 29, is a veteran of over 200 AHL games and previously played on a two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19.
  • New York Rangers prospect Leevi Aaltonen does not appear too eager to begin his North American career any time soon. The 2019 fifth-round pick just moved to a new Liiga team, Kookoo, for the remainder of this season, the club announced. However, the new contract also includes an additional two years, keeping him under contract in Finland through the 2022-23 season. Fortunately, the Rangers have until June 1, 2023 to sign him to an entry-level contract before they would lose his rights. Aaltonen seems comfortable maximizing his development time at home in Finland before making that decision.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Gianni Fairbrother

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The Montreal Canadiens have signed prospect Gianni Fairbrother to a three-year, entry-level contract which will begin in the 2021-22 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $848K. The window to sign drafted players for next season opened today, meaning this is likely the first of many deals announced in the next few weeks.

Fairbrother, 20, was the team’s third-round pick in 2019, 77th overall. He has played three games for the Laval Rocket this season, registering his first point at the professional level. Just yesterday, Fairbrother was sent back to the WHL where he will play the shortened season with his Everett Silvertips.

If he had not signed a deal by June, his draft rights would have expired. The two-way defenseman had strong numbers last season, recording 25 points in just 37 games for the Silvertips, but missed the second half of the year due to injury.

WHL Notes: NHL Loans, Guenther, Knak

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The Western Hockey League is finally back in action. Nearly a year since the top junior league canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the WHL has returned to play. The league announced a 24-game season back in early January with a to-be-determined late-February start date and that date was Friday, as four Central Division teams matched up. As one might expect, the re-opening of the WHL has a number of previously displaced players rushing back to their respective teams. Below are the signed NHL prospects who had been playing in the AHL that have been officially reassigned to the WHL:

Adam Beckman, Minnesota Wild –> Spokane Chiefs
Gianni Fairbrother, Montreal Canadiens –> Everett Silvertips
Kaiden Guhle, Montreal Canadiens –> Prince Albert Raiders
Ridly Greig, Ottawa Senators –> Brandon Wheat Kings
Ozzy Wiesblatt, San Jose Sharks –> Prince Albert Raiders
Tristen Robins, San Jose Sharks –> Saskatoon Blades

  • The WHL season may only be one day old, but the league’s leading scorer is a name to know. Dylan Guenther, a consensus top-ten prospect in the 2021 NHL Draft, started his campaign with the Edmonton Oil Kings with a pair of goals and a pair of assists to take the WHL’s top scoring spot. Guenther is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the WHL’s return, however brief, if the NHL does not postpone the 2021 draft. The top prospect was facing the possibility of missing out on his entire draft year, having only played in four games in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. While many CHL players jumped to the USHL this season, Guenther held out hope that the WHL would return and is now rewarded with 24 games to show what he can do. Likely a top-ten pick either way, the lack of certainty in this NHL draft class will now allow Guenther to fight his way into the top-five and potentially even to the top overall spot with an elite performance. A supremely skilled scoring winger, Guenther is the biggest name to watch in the WHL’s shortened season.
  • Another name to watch is Swiss forward Simon Knak. Despite some expectation that he would be selected last year in his first NHL Draft go-round, Knak slipped through the cracks. That was despite finding success in his first season in North America, recording 34 points in 49 games for the Portland Winterhawks. However, the draft dream is still alive. Knak has spent this season back home in Switzerland, suiting up for powerhouse HC Davos at the top level of the Swiss National League. He held his own too, recording eight points in 25 games in his first pro experience. Knack very easily could have stayed in Davos and continued his pro career. However, possibly inspired by his recent success as well as a strong run as captain of Switzerland’s U-20 team, Knak has decided to stay true to his plans and head back to Portland. Davos announced that Knak has been recalled from his loan and is returning to the WHL, hoping to catch the eye of NHL scouts by playing a top role for the Winterhawks. The question is whether he can do enough in a shortened season to earn a selection as an overage pick.

West Notes: Krebs, Strand, Kostin, Wiesblatt, Robins

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With the WHL getting closer to a start date, many teams are beginning to send their prospects back to their junior leagues. The Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, announced they have assigned center Peyton Krebs to the Winnipeg Ice.

With the WHL shutdown for most of the season so far, the Golden Knights’ top pick in 2019 (17th overall) got a rare opportunity to play amongst men in the AHL. He managed to get in five games with the Silver Knights, posting a goal and five points and looking like he’s ready for his next challenge. However, with the WHL starting back up soon, Krebs either had to be on the Golden Knights roster or return to his junior team. The 20-year-old posted impressive numbers with Winnipeg last season, including 12 goals and 60 points in just 38 games before joining the Golden Knights in the bubble for the playoffs last summer even if he didn’t get to appear in an NHL game.

  • The Department of Player Safety announced that they have fined Los Angeles Kings defenseman Austin Strand $3,168 for cross-checking forward Conor Garland. The incident occurred at 19:52 of the second period (video here) in which Strand used the shaft of his stick to strike Garland in the face. Strand received a two-minute minor penalty for cross checking. The fine was the maximum amount allowable under the CBA.
  • With Sammy Blais on the COVID Protocol list, the St. Louis Blues find themselves down to 11 forwards. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas writes that despite their lack of depth at the forward position all of a sudden, there is no plan to bring back prospect Klim Kostin from Russia. The 2017 first-rounder was loaned for the season to Omsk Avangard of the KHL in September, but the team has indicated that’s where he’ll stay until the KHL season ends. Of course, their regular season ends at the end of this month, but Omsk Avangard is expected to be in the playoffs, lengthening his stay there. While the forward’s numbers aren’t overly impressive (seven goals and 18 points in 41 games), Thomas notes that he has been much more impressive lately with four goals and nine points in his last six games.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have assigned two of their top picks in the 2020 NHL draft to the WHL. Both Ozzy Wiesblatt and Tristen Robins, who were playing with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL while junior play has been suspended, will return to their teams. Wiesblatt, the team’s first-round pick (31st overall), played in three games for the Barracuda, scoring one goal and will return to Prince Albert of the WHL. Robins, the team’s second-round pick (56th overall), played in two games with the Barracuda and will return to Saskatoon of the AHL.

 

Jake Neighbours Assigned To WHL

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In the first of what will soon be a cascade of moves, Jake Neighbours has been assigned to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. With the junior league being granted approval to play in the province of Alberta yesterday, things are moving forward on a season that starts in just under a month. Neighbours, like many top prospects, was caught in limbo somewhere between junior and the minor leagues. The 18-year-old first-round pick likely needs more time before joining the AHL and playing against professionals on a regular basis, but didn’t have a junior league to go back to until the WHL started up again.

Of course, that doesn’t mean all prospects will be going back. Only the five WHL clubs in Alberta have announced their restart plans as the league continues to work on approval in the other provinces and states that house teams. It also doesn’t have anything to do with the OHL, which is still in a holding pattern waiting for the Ontario government to loosen restrictions. The Toronto Marlies and Belleville Senators don’t even have official approval yet, let alone a junior hockey league spread out across the entire province (and some of the bordering states).

For Neighbours in particular though, this is good news. The young winger scored 23 goals and 70 points in 64 games last season and likely would have been in over his head in the AHL. Now, the Calgary native can remain in Alberta and continue his development against players his own age, at least for the 24-game schedule they have planned. After the WHL season is over, Neighbours and any other prospects will be able to assigned to the minor leagues again (should there still be games to play).

His entry-level contract, which was signed in October, will slide forward for this season and could again next year should he not be in the NHL.

Snapshots: Penguins, Lapointe, WHL

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The vacant general manager position in Pittsburgh is a tricky but appealing role for many executives around the hockey world, and Pierre LeBrun rattled off an early list of candidates on the latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading. Jason Botterill, Chris Drury, Mark Hunter, Tom Fitzgerald, Ron Hextall, Peter Chiarelli, Scott Mellanby, Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman, John Ferguson, and Mike Futa are all on Pittsburgh’s radar and LeBrun believes the team wants to have the next GM in place over the next few weeks.

In the same segment, Darren Dreger speculates on the future of Pittsburgh’s star players and believes whoever comes in would owe it to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang to have a conversation about the direction of the franchise. Don’t jump to conclusions and think that Crosby is all of a sudden on the trading block, given CEO David Morehouse’s claim that the team is still in “win-now” mode, but if Pittsburgh misses the playoffs this season they will be a fascinating situation to keep an eye on.

  • One front office member likely not on that list of candidates? Martin Lapointe, who has signed a three-year extension with the Montreal Canadiens to continue as director of player personnel through the 2023-24 season. Lapointe will also take on the role of director of amateur scouting, making him even more integral to the operation in Montreal. The former NHL forward was first hired as director of player development in 2012 and has worked his way up the front office ladder. He is on track to be a GM of his own down the road if he wants to be.
  • The WHL has been granted approval to return to play in the province of Alberta, starting their season on February 26. The five WHL clubs based in Alberta—the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Oil Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Calgary Hitmen—will form the Central Division and play a 24-game regular season entirely within the province. The league continues to work with the health officials in the other provinces and states to try and establish a start date for East, B.C., and U.S. divisions this season. There are WHL teams based in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Washington, and Oregon.

USHL Gaining Top Players With Canadian Junior Leagues Out Of Action

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The United States Hockey League, USHL, is the top junior league in the U.S. and has been growing as a top developmental destination in recent years. Yet, they have never seen an influx of talent as they have this season. Early on, it was NCAA players whose teams (mostly Ivy League programs) canceled play this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, as the CHL leagues – OHL, WHL, and QMJHL – and other Junior-A Canadian leagues remain out of action, the flow of top players has continued. The USHL season is ongoing and has thus far operated without much delay, making it the greatest beneficiary on the other side of the border from the stalled Canadian leagues. This past week has shown that talented players throughout Canada are running low on patience with their current leagues and are now making the move south.

On Tuesday, the trend really began to pick up steam when the BCHL announced nine departures, four to the USHL including two top players from the powerhouse Penticton Vees. Buffalo Sabres forward prospect Matteo Costantini, who had joined Penticton this season before heading to the University of North Dakota next year, has now joined the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Well-regarded 2021-eligible defenseman Owen Murray is also headed to the NCAA next season as a University of Massachusetts commit, but instead of staying with the Vees this year, he has now joined the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers.

On Wednesday, Penticton lost another top defenseman, as projected 2021 second/third-round pick Jack Bar left for the USHL’s Chicago Steel and will not return to the Vees next season with Harvard University in his sights. However, the bigger story was the exodus from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. Detroit Red Wings 2020 second-round pick Cross Hanas and potential 2021 first-round forward Jack O’Brien, along with two other teammates, all left for the USL’s Lincoln Stars. Lincoln also picked up 2021 defenseman and Boston University commit Charles-Alexis Legault from the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.

The biggest move to date is a major addition for the Sioux Falls Stampede. Forward Cole Sillinger, a consensus 2021 first-round pick, left the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers to head to the U.S. Sillinger recorded 53 points in 48 games with the Tigers last year and may just be one of the best players in the USHL now that he has arrived in Sioux Falls.

The question of course with all of these transfers is whether any of these players will leave if their Canadian teams are able to play this season. These USHL clubs undoubtedly hope they can retain their newfound talent throughout their season and postseason and they almost certainly will if junior play in Canada is unable to return. However, the WHL is already taking steps toward a possible return and other leagues will try to follow. Regardless, this influx of talent is great for the competition level of the USHL this year and its reputation moving forward as it looks to compete for top players with the CHL elite in the future.

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