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Morning Notes: Laine, Red Wings, Swoyer

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Scott Billeck of The Winnipeg Sun writes that he doesn’t believe the Winnipeg Jets will pursue a reunion with former Jet Patrik Laine. Billeck cites the Jets’ lack of cap space and poor fit as the reasons Winnipeg would pass on the former 2016 second-overall pick. The Jets would need to move out money to acquire the Columbus Blue Jackets forward, even if Columbus retained half of Laine’s cap hit (something they are hesitant to do).

Winnipeg currently has Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brad Lambert and possibly Vladislav Namestnikov slated to play in their top six, and new head coach Scott Arniel reportedly would like to add Cole Perfetti into the mix as well, further crowding the top two lines. The Jets could move Ehlers out via trade given his contract situation and hesitancy to sign long-term, but he could provide a lot more value to Winnipeg if the new coaching staff can deploy him properly.

In other morning notes:

  • Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde plans to increase the leadership roles of youngsters Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond next season (as per Helene St. James of Detroit Free Press). Lalonde adds that he isn’t worried about the ongoing contract negotiations between the team and the two franchise cornerstones saying that whenever they have spoken this summer, they have not discussed the contract situation. Detroit has used a rotating leadership group the past couple of seasons, relying solely on veterans to fill the assistant captain roles. But with the Red Wings ready to take the next step, it appears they are also ready to allow their younger stars to have a bigger role in the leadership of the team.
  • The Toledo Walleye of the ECHL announced that they’ve signed former Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Colin Swoyer for the 2024-25 season. The 26-year-old joined the Penguins organization on an amateur tryout in March 2022 and eventually signed an ELC. He played 45 AHL games over parts of three seasons and spent the majority of last season with the South Carolina Stingrays, registering two goals and five assists in 40 games. During his AHL career, Swoyer has split time between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey, tallying a goal and 13 assists.

Afternoon Notes: Perfetti, Chernyshov, Wranglers

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Recent trade rumors have suggested the Winnipeg Jets offered Cole Perfetti for Carolina Hurricane forward Martin Necas. However, Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Suns has emphasized that there’s no truth to the claim, though Carolina did show interest in acquiring Perfetti. Billeck adds that Necas wasn’t interested in signing long-term in Winnipeg, driving a wedge into trade negotiations.

Necas, 25, has since signed a two-year extension that walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026, giving him a chance to hand-pick where he spends his prime years. Necas has come into form over the last two seasons, posting a collective 52 goals and 124 points in 159 games. He’s developed into a high-energy scorer with the ability to play both wing and center.

Perfetti, 22, offers that same flexibility, though he’s still searching for his footing at the NHL level. He managed 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games this season despite inconsistent, and controversial, ice time. Perfetti looks poised to join Necas’ ranks of top-six goal-scorers over the next few seasons, though the pair’s age disparity makes them tough to evaluate side-by-side.

Other notes from around the league:

  • San Jose Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov shared with Sergey Demidov of Russia’s Responsible Gaming that he’ll likely be moving to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit after San Jose’s training camp. Chernyshov signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks on Thursday and will move to the CHL with rare pro experience, having played in 39 games with the KHL’s Dynamo Moskva over the last two seasons. He’s scored just five points in those appearances – deceptively low considering the impact he brings shift-to-shift. Chernyshov showed a bit more offense in the MHL – Russia’s U21 junior league – with 66 points in 60 games over the same span. He will now be tasked with finding his footing and rediscovering that production in Saginaw, as he fights to earn a spot among San Jose’s pro ranks.
  • The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers have announced the signings of forward Connor Mylymok, defender Charles Martin, and goaltender Connor Murphy. Mylymok and Martin have inked two-year AHL/ECHL contracts, while Murphy re-signs with the Wranglers on a one-way AHL deal. Murphy found his stride after earning an AHL call-up last season, posting a .922 save percentage across 15 games with the Wranglers. With Dustin Wolf set for a promotion to the NHL, Murphy will battle with Devin Cooley and Waltteri Ignatjew for a hardy AHL role. Meanwhile, Mylymok and Martin will continue their pursuit of a call-up from the ECHL.

Hurricanes Attempted To Trade Necas Prior To Extension

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One of the biggest names on the trade market this offseason was taken off the board earlier today as the Carolina Hurricanes signed Martin Necas to a two-year, $13MM extension. However, the Hurricanes were also close to moving on from Necas earlier in the summer according to Frank Seravalli in Daily Faceoff’s podcast, the DFO Rundown (approximately 31-minute mark).

Seravalli asserts that Carolina had agreed to a Necas trade with the Buffalo Sabres. However, Seravalli did admit in the podcast that it may not have been the Sabres but he was fairly certain. The trade broke down relatively quickly as Necas purportedly would not agree to sign a new contract in Buffalo. Furthermore from Seravalli, the Hurricanes also had substantial trade talks with the Winnipeg Jets about Necas. He states the Jets had offered prospect Rutger McGroarty, forward Cole Perfetti, and an unspecified draft pick for Necas.

It is unknown when these trade conversations happened as Carolina may have taken Necas off the market entirely after losing Jake Guentzel to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes expect to compete for a Stanley Cup next spring, and their competitive aspirations would have been greatly diminished by losing two top-six forwards in one summer.

All points made by Seravalli point to the idea that Necas had a lot of control over the negotiations and effectively blocked his inclusion in either trade due to his unwillingness not to sign an extension with either organization. Necas has committed himself to Carolina for two more seasons and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the contract.

Factoring in Buffalo’s other moves from the summer, adding Necas into the team’s top six would have allowed them to move Jason Zucker down to the third line. Even still, with Zach Benson prepping for a bigger season in 2024-25, and Jiri Kulich on the cusp of cracking the roster; Necas may have dramatically saturated Buffalo’s forward core. However, unlike Benson and Kulich, Necas is an established player at the NHL level.

Without knowing the return to Carolina in the rumored swap with Buffalo, he is coming off a season in which he scored 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games and is only two years removed from scoring 71 points over a full season. He would have helped the Sabres return to their 2022-23 team goal production after seeing a nearly 50-goal decrease this past year, but Buffalo may have been better served by letting the rest of their prospect develop over the next two or three seasons.

The reported deal from the Jets organization appears on paper as a massive overpay, as Perfetti has arguably already shown he can be a top-six threat in limited playing time. The former 10th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft averaged 13:35 minutes last year and still managed to score 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games. Including McGroarty in the deal (who is coming off a 52-point campaign at the University of Michigan) would have given Carolina two two-six talents in exchange for one.

Nevertheless, Necas was never dealt with this summer and will remain with the Hurricanes organization for the foreseeable future. He will look to rebound off a depressed campaign last season and look to build upon his production in 2022-23 before entering the free agent market when he is 27 years old.

Jets' Scott Arniel Hosting Summer Coaching Summit

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The Blackhawks were one of the league’s more active teams in free agency at the beginning of this month, adding a decent slate of veteran talent to avoid overworking their prospects as they slowly begin to exit their rebuild stage. Expect two of those additions to flank Connor Bedard on the Hawks’ first line come opening night, writes The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. Lazerus projects Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen to serve as Bedard’s wingers to begin 2024-25 after they each inked multi-year deals to come to Chicago.

Taylor Hall, who was acquired last summer to fill the “Bedard mentor” role but played only 10 games, will likely get second-line reps as he makes his return from knee surgery, Lazerus posits. One youngster noticeably absent from Lazerus’ lineup projection is 2022 13th overall pick Frank Nazar, who could fall victim to a numbers game and start this season on assignment to AHL Rockford. Unlike Lukas Reichel, Chicago’s 2020 first-round selection, Nazar doesn’t require waivers. The Hawks may prefer Reichel to start the season in the minors after struggling with just 16 points (5 G, 11 A) in 65 games in 2023-24, but doing so would risk exposing him to the league’s other 31 teams on the wire. Thus, Nazar will likely be headed to the AHL with roster spots needed for other veteran additions such as Pat Maroon, Ilya Mikheyev and Craig Smith.

Another player who could start the campaign in Rockford, this time for pure development reasons, is defenseman Kevin Korchinski. Chicago’s lack of depth on defense last season likely forced Korchinski into more NHL minutes than the team would have liked. With T.J. Brodie and Alec Martinez signed in free agency to provide depth and older prospects like Wyatt Kaiser and Isaak Phillips on the cusp of NHL minutes, the organization “wouldn’t mind another year’s worth of patience for any of his young defensemen, Korchinski (and Kaiser) included,” says Lazerus.

There’s more from the Central:

  • After getting bounced by the Avalanche in the first round last year, the Jets enter 2024-25 with a new-look coaching staff. Scott Arniel has stepped into the big-boss chair to replace the retired Rick Bowness, while Dean Chynoweth and Davis Payne were brought in as external hires to fill a pair of assistant vacancies. To that end, Arniel is hosting a “summer coaching summit” to acclimate his new staff, report Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Free Press. One focus under Arniel will be implementing more advanced stats into the Jets’ coaching strategy. “So, what we’re trying to do is funnel [statistics] to our coaching staff, so we can determine, ‘OK, what is it that we want? What do you guys want, what do you guys (in the analytics department) have?,” he told McIntyre and Wiebe.
  • On Nashville Scene’s “It’s All Your Fault” podcast Monday, Dan Hinote spoke about why he parted ways with the Predators this offseason, leaving his assistant coach role there to take an AHL role in the Avalanche organization as the associate head coach of the Colorado Eagles. The 47-year-old, who played 353 games for the Avs between 1999 and 2006, said he prefers working in more of a development-oriented environment, something Nashville is shifting away from after adding a trio of high-profile veteran UFAs. “The thing about what I realize is that the part of the game that I love coaching the most is the development side,” Hinote said. “I had 10 years to not perfect it, but work on it. I’ve gotten there. I feel like I have a good recipe, I’ve had good results for a lot of guys that were kind of up and down and have now kind of solidified themselves as NHL’ers through this process, so I know it works. That’s kind of what it came to” (hat tip to Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal).

Jets And Capitals Reportedly Discussed A Connor McMichael Trade

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When Washington acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from Los Angeles earlier this summer, it pushed Connor McMichael down the Capitals’ center depth chart with Dylan Strome entrenched in the top spot.  Accordingly, the Jets were among the teams to inquire about his services; Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press relays that there was chatter at the draft that the two sides discussed a McMichael swap.

Winnipeg tried several internal options to serve as their second center behind Mark Scheifele last season.  When those didn’t pan out as planned, they moved a first-round pick to Montreal for Sean Monahan in the days leading up to the trade deadline.  While Monahan certainly helped stabilize that spot, the Jets couldn’t retain him in unrestricted free agency as he ultimately inked a five-year, $27.5MM contract with Columbus.

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has since been unable to fill that role so as things stand, the internal options from last season (Cole Perfetti, Vladislav Namestnikov, and even Adam Lowry moving up from the third line) remain the choices to play behind Scheifele.  Accordingly, it’s fair to suggest that Winnipeg is still on the lookout for help down the middle.

McMichael would be an interesting target on that front.  The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by the Capitals back in 2019, going 25th overall.  After spending most of 2021-22 in the NHL (when Winnipeg head coach Scott Arniel was an assistant in Washington), McMichael spent most of 2022-23 in the minors with AHL Hershey before playing a full-time role with the Caps last season.  He got into 80 games with them, picking up 18 goals and 15 assists in just under 16 minutes a night of playing time.  McMichael struggled at the faceoff dot though, winning just 42.4% of his draws.

With two years left on a bridge deal at a $2.1MM price tag, McMichael is someone who could fit on Winnipeg’s books.  The team currently has just over $5.8MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, with Perfetti currently being a restricted free agent.  If they went with a bridge deal for him, they should be able to afford both of them without needing to make any corresponding move to clear money.

Having said that, while McMichael is a good fit for Winnipeg, it’s less clear as to why Washington would consider moving him.  While Dubois and his $8.5MM price tag would get the early nod ahead of McMichael down the middle, both players have also spent time on the wing in the NHL.  It’s quite conceivable that head coach Spencer Carbery could elect to put one of those two on the wing, ensuring that both play in the top six.

With the moves they’ve made this summer, ones that brought in Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Jakob Chychrun, and Matt Roy, it’s fair to say that GM Chris Patrick and Director of Hockey Operations Brian MacLellan envision the Capitals getting back to the playoffs so subtracting McMichael from their roster would run counter to that idea at this point of the summer.  They sit well over the cap right now on paper but Nicklas Backstrom is expected to remain on LTIR while T.J. Oshie could land there as well which would get them back into compliance so they’re not in a spot where they necessarily need to free up cap space.

Back at the draft, free agency was approaching and there were several centers on the open market so a futures-based return could have worked in theory, knowing there were options about to become available to replace him.  (Speculatively, Rutger McGroarty, who has been in plenty of trade speculation lately, could have been a fit in a trade at that time.)  But those free agents have since landed elsewhere and there isn’t a great McMichael replacement remaining.  Accordingly, it stands to reason that they’d want an NHL-level asset in return which could complicate things if discussions were to get rekindled.

With their second center position needing to be addressed again, Cheveldayoff and the Jets are undoubtedly considering all their options.  McMichael would have been an interesting one back at the draft but now, a move involving him looks less feasible so they’ll likely have turned their focus elsewhere.

Jets Re-Sign Simon Lundmark To Two-Way Deal

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The Jets have re-signed defense prospect Simon Lundmark to a one-year, two-way deal, per a team release. It’s an NHL salary and cap hit of $775K, although his AHL salary wasn’t disclosed by the team.  However, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press relays that Lundmark will make $100K in the minors.

The 51st pick of the 2019 draft, Lundmark spent all three seasons of his entry-level contract on assignment to AHL Manitoba. He became an RFA this summer after the Jets tendered him a qualifying offer.

Before signing his ELC in 2021, Lundmark spent two post-draft seasons with Linköping HC in his native Sweden. There, the right-shot defender scored twice and added 14 assists for 16 points in 118 games with a -20 rating before making the move across the pond.

Lundmark put up good offensive totals at the junior level in Sweden, but he was always projected as more of a stay-at-home defender in the professional ranks. That profile has held true on the farm, where he’s consistently averaged around 0.25 points per game across his three AHL seasons. In total, Lundmark has put up 48 points (12 goals, 36 assists) with a -17 rating in 188 games with Manitoba.

He’s still likely developed a bit slower than expected. Five years post-draft, the Jets would have at least liked Lundmark to earn an NHL recall at some point, even if he’d yet to establish himself as a full-timer.

That hasn’t been the case for the 23-year-old Stockholm native, but it could change next season with his new contract in hand. The loss of Brenden Dillon on the open market and the buyout of Nate Schmidt will open up some increased opportunities for the Jets’ young defenders, namely 2019 first-round pick Ville Heinola. But Lundmark, who was selected 31 spots after Heinola that year, should find himself in that conversation as well.

The youngsters will be competing with more experienced adds Dylan Coghlan and Haydn Fleury, who both signed two-way deals with Winnipeg this summer, for call-ups from Manitoba. Heinola, who’s logged 35 NHL appearances but spent all of last season in the minors, may be on the opening night roster this fall.

Cole Perfetti Open To Staying With Jets Long Term

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PuckPedia has tweeted the dates of several upcoming salary arbitration hearings. Arbitration dates haven’t been as widely released as in previous summers, leading to very few leaks about when arbitration cases will be heard. Confirmed dates that have been released are:

New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren also has an upcoming arbitration hearing that is reportedly on August 2.

In other evening notes:

  • Scott Billeck of The Winnipeg Sun writes that Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti has been talking with the new head coach, Scott Arniel, about his role in Winnipeg. Arniel is reportedly willing to put Perfetti in a top-six role and provide him with power play opportunities, something that Perfetti wasn’t getting under the previous coaching regime. Billeck believes that this development is big for Winnipeg as it could be the thing that keeps Perfetti with the Jets long-term after he looked like a prime candidate to sign a bridge deal this summer. With the change in Perfetti’s role in the future, it appears he is open to the idea of a long-term extension with the Jets.
  • Former NHL defenseman Matt Gilroy is reportedly in the process of joining Harvard as an assistant coach (as per Mark Divver of NHL.com). Gilroy was the 2009 Hobey Baker Award winner as the top collegiate player in the NCAA. He finished his college career and moved to the NHL, playing in 225 games with four different teams across five seasons. Following his NHL career, Gilroy played overseas in the KHL for four seasons in what was the best run of his professional career. The 40-year-old has spent the last two years with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program as an assistant coach.

History Suggests A Bridge Deal Is Likeliest Outcome For Perfetti

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Last season had its ups and downs for Jets forward Cole Perfetti.  The 22-year-old was briefly tested down the middle before moving back to the wing while he put together a career year offensively with 19 goals and 19 assists in 71 games.  However, he also spent time as a healthy scratch late in the year, not exactly the type of ending he wanted for his platform year heading into restricted free agency for the first time.

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press examined Winnipeg’s history with former first-round picks as restricted free agents under GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, noting that six out of the ten wound up signing bridge deals.  He feels Perfetti is likely to follow the trend, suggesting that a two-year bridge pact around $3MM per season might be the right price point for him and the Jets.

Winnipeg Jets Re-Sign Ville Heinola

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The Winnipeg Jets will keep around a depth defenseman for the next two years as the organization announced a two-year, $1.6MM contract for defenseman Ville Heinola. The contract will keep Heinola around for his fifth and sixth seasons with the club while becoming arbitration-eligible at the end of the deal.

The future was bright for Heinola after being selected by the Jets with the 20th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft but the organization’s habit of slow-playing prospects to the NHL level has prohibited Heinola from showing the best of his abilities up to this point in his career. Heinola has factored into a handful of games for Winnipeg over the last five years but has failed to play more than 12 games in a season up to this point.

Because of his usage as one of the team’s depth defensemen, Heinola has played 35 games for the Jets since the start of the 2019-20 season and has registered one goal and 11 points. The Finnish blue-liner has averaged 15:15 of ice time in his games at the NHL level but recently recorded the lowest average of his career in 2022-23 with 13:16.

Heinola spent the entire 2023-24 season with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose where he recorded 10 goals and 27 points in 41 games. He demonstrated more of an ability to score goals after posing three goals and 37 points in 48 games the year prior.

Winnipeg’s defensive core has been thinned out this offseason which may lead to a regular role for Heinola this upcoming season. However, with defensemen Dylan Samberg and Logan Stanley also looking for a regular spot in the lineup, Heinola may have his work cut out for him during training camp in September.

Jets Showed Interest In Adam Henrique Before He Re-Signed With Oilers

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Before he ultimately re-signed with Edmonton, the Jets took a run at signing center Adam Henrique on the opening day of free agency, notes Postmedia’s Scott Billeck.  Winnipeg was eyeing the 34-year-old as a replacement for Sean Monahan, who turned down an offer from them to ink a five-year deal with Columbus.  Henrique had a solid showing last season, notching 51 points in 82 games between Anaheim and Edmonton and could have slotted in behind Mark Scheifele to anchor the second line but opted to return to play a lesser role with the Oilers.

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