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Archives for September 2016

Bryzgalov Would Retire Rather Than Join KHL

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Enigmatic goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov told Russia’s Championat.com (link in Russian) that he would rather retire than play in the KHL if he cannot find a job in the NHL this season. Bryzgalov made waves earlier this summer when he announced he wanted to return to the NHL in some role. Bryzgalov cites family as the main motivation for eschewing Russia and the KHL.

Bryzgalov last played for Anaheim in 2014-15, going 1-4 in six games with a 4.19GAA and an .847SV%. He had more respectable numbers the year prior, posting a 2.68GAA and a .909SV% with both Minnesota and Edmonton. The Russian goalie signed a rich nine-year, $51MM contract with Philadelphia in 2011-12 after a stellar year with the then-Phoenix Coyotes, but the Flyers bought his contract one year in after a less-than-stellar performance.

Bryzgalov is now 36 and it seems unlikely that teams will bite as most teams do not need goaltending at this point. He may, however, receive a PTO invite from a team like the Washington Capitals who are losing both starting goalies to the World Cup of Hockey this fall. Bryzgalov should not lose faith, however, as even a 42 year-old Martin Brodeur found an interested party in St. Louis two years ago midseason.

 

George Parros Joins NHL Department of Player Safety

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The NHL announced yesterday that former NHL heavyweight George Parros has joined the NHL front office as a Director in the Department of Player Safety. The Princeton-educated player will handle NHL player disciplinary issues, as well as educate players on current and future rules. He joins fellow former NHL players Stephane Quintal and Chris Pronger by making the jump to the NHL’s disciplinary arm.

Parros last played in the NHL with the Montreal Canadians in 2013-14, scoring 0G and 1A in 22 games, but racking up 85 penalty minutes. Parros played primarily as a classic enforcer, acquiring 812 penalty minutes in 356 NHL games—most of which took place in Anaheim where he played for six seasons. He suffered two concussions while playing for Montreal, however, and decided to retire at the season’s end.

Parros’s hiring will help the league with it’s fine balancing act between the sport’s physicality and protecting its players. Part of the enforcer art is playing physical but within the rules. Rated one of the smartest athletes by The Sporting News, Parros should be well-qualified to handle the increasingly subtle disciplinary issues that are arising as a result of a faster game pace.

Connor McDavid Named Team North America Captain

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McDavid19 year-old Edmonton Oiler forward Connor McDavid was named Captain of Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey. Philadelphia Flyers’ Sean Couturier and Florida Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad were named Alternates.

McDavid leapfrogs older players on the roster such as Ryan Murray, Morgan Rielly, and Mark Scheifele, which speaks volumes about the faith GM Peter Chiarelli has with the young phenom. It is worth nothing that McDavid plays for Chiarelli’s Oilers in the NHL, and the Oilers are currently captain-less. If McDavid handles the captaincy well, there should be no doubt that he’ll be handed the ’C’ when he returns to Edmonton.

Team North America features the best American and Canadian players under 24 on the same team in the World Cup of Hockey. Alongside McDavid is 2016 1st overall pick Auston Matthews, as well as still-unsigned RFAs Jacob Trouba and Johnny Gaudreau.

Jets Notes: Setoguchi, Trouba, Heritage Classic

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In a heartbreaking (but wonderful) piece by David Pollak of The Hockey News yesterday, Devin Setoguchi comes clean about his history with alcoholism and how it almost destroyed his career. The former 8th overall pick was a thirty goal scorer in the NHL once upon a time, but yesterday signed a professional tryout with the Los Angeles Kings after spending last season in Switzerland.

It’s been six years since he last scored 20 goals in an NHL season, but is still only 29 years old and feels he has enough left to help a team on the ice – even if it’s at the AHL level or in Europe.

Today, on the Hustler and Lawless show on TSN 1290, Setoguchi related a story about how Evander Kane came to his house once while they were teammates on the Winnipeg Jets, and poured out all his alcohol in an attempt to help him break his addiction. Ironically, some may say, because of Kane’s own troubled history, it may have been a turning point in his battle and he now is working towards helping younger players understand the risks involved.

  • Also on TSN 1290, former NHL executive Bill Watters opined that the Jacob Trouba camp “wants out of Winnipeg”. While Watters isn’t close enough to either side to have any particular insight past what his hockey sense tells him, it does continue the narrative that has been going on. Both Matt Larkin of The Hockey News and Darren Dreger of TSN spoke recently on the station about a possible Trouba deal, with Larkin going so far as saying “I’m seeing a trade in Trouba’s future, because the two camps seem to be so far apart in terms of how they value what Trouba has done in the NHL so far.”  Indeed, Trouba is currently playing at the World Cup without a deal, and both sides seem just as far apart as ever on the future of the young defenseman.
  • The final rosters for the legends game at the Heritage Classic were announced today, after having their first group presented last month.  Among the final few additions were Curtis Joseph for the Edmonton Oilers, and Eddie Olczyk for the Winnipeg Jets.  The game will take place on October 22nd, with Dale Hawerchuk leading the hometown Jets against a star-studded Oilers squad captained by Wayne Gretzky.

Three More Players Receive PTOs

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According to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail, Adam Pardy and Justin Fontaine weren’t the only two players to receive professional tryouts today. Eric Nystrom and Yan Stastny have both signed with St. Louis, while Zach Boychuk has signed with Arizona.

Nystrom, the most well-known of the bunch, has played in 593 NHL games over ten seasons, scoring 123 points along the way. The winger is coming off a career-low seven points last season, recording zero assists in 46 games for Nashville.

Stastny, the elder brother of St. Louis standout Paul Stastny and son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, has never had the raw talent or success of his family members. Never really being able to crack an NHL lineup for long, he’s spent the last few seasons in Europe, playing in the KHL, DEL and SEL.

Boychuk on the other hand, has performed very well in his AHL career so far, scoring 317 points since debuting in the league in 2009. Suiting up for 127 NHL games, the 26-year old has yet to find a consistent spot on any team, never playing in more than 31 in a single season.

Florida Panthers Invite Justin Fontaine On PTO

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So much for Adam Pardy being the last player invited to camp in Florida. According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Justin Fontaine will be attending Panthers camp on a professional tryout.

Fontaine has spent the past three seasons with the Minnesota Wild, scoring 68 points in 197 games. Originally signed after dominating at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Fontaine found immediate success in the AHL with the Houston Aeros, putting up 111 points over his first two seasons. As an NHL rookie in 2013-14 he scored 13 goals and looked to be on his way to a productive career with the Wild, but has seen his goal totals drop in each following season, bottoming out at five last season.

Still only 28, Fontaine is a perfect candidate for a PTO as he’s shown NHL ability before but is coming off the worst season of his career. If the Panthers find that he’ll still be able to contribute at the highest level, he could fit in nicely as a cheap bottom-six option, or jump into a top line role with their AHL affiliate.

Minor Transactions: 09/08/16

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A number of minor moves were made across the NHL today:

  • The San Diego Gulls announced they’ve signed seven players to AHL deals. Stu Bickel, Brian Cooper, Antoine Laganiere, Zac Larraza, Tyler Morley, Scott Sabourin, and Nick Tarnasky will all be suiting up for the Ducks’ affiliate this season.
  • Ryan Haggerty has signed an AHL deal with the Wilks-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 23-year old wasn’t given a qualifying offer by Chicago earlier this summer and became a free agent.
  • The Providence Bruins have signed Adam Roach and Matt Ginn to AHL deals.  Roach spent last year with the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL, while Ginn was with the Atlanta Gladiators for all but one game – which he spent with these Bruins of the AHL.
  • Paul Gaustad has announced his retirement after 12 years in the NHL. The veteran of 727 games only played for two teams in his entire career, Nashville and Buffalo. Well respected for his leadership and work ethic, Gaustad was once even traded for a first-round pick despite only scoring 21 points that season. Although he says he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gaustad join a coaching staff in the next few years.

Martin Reway Hospitalized With Virus, Will Not Attend Camp

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According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Martin Reway will not participate in training camp this year, as he’s currently hospitalized in Slovakia due to a virus.

Reway, 21, is a former fourth-round pick who was drafted out of the QMJHL in 2013. After heading back to Europe in 2014, he split last season between the Czech and Swiss leagues, scoring 36 points in 33 games.

An undersized (5’9″, 173lbs) but skilled forward, Reway would have had a chance to make his North American professional debut this season with the new Laval team, should the organization choose to bring him over. Now, we’ll hope for his health and wait on word regarding his future in hockey.

“Laval Rocket” Chosen As New Name For Montreal Affiliate

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Earlier this summer it was announced that Montreal would be moving their AHL affiliate from St. John’s to Laval after the upcoming year, to bring the team closer to home. Today, it was announced that the team will be nicknamed the Rocket (Rocket de Laval in the native French), according to Dave Stubbs of NHL.com.

Starting in 2017, the team will play its games at the new 10,000-seat Bell Place, an arena just 25 minutes from downtown Montreal. By bringing the team to Quebec, they’ll be able to keep a closer eye on their prospects while also providing less expensive professional hockey to the residents of Montreal.

The team is currently the St. John’s Icecaps, which will the third franchise to leave the eastern Canadian city over the past ten years. They’ll look for another franchise to try and entice east, and would be a strong candidate should Quebec City ever regain their team.

Flyers Notes: Dutch Gretzky, Bardreau, Gudas

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When Dale Weise entered the league in 2010-11, he wasn’t seen as much more than an enforcer, meant to play less than ten minutes a night and protect his teammates. As we wrote earlier today, it’s a role he felt he was pushed back into after last year’s mid-season trade to the Blackhawks. But after posting back to back double-digit goal seasons, Weise feels like he has more to offer. In a new piece by Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, Weise credits that to the time he spent in the Netherlands during the last lockout.

“Dutch Gretzky” as he was named during his European stint, Weise scored 22 goals in 19 games and rediscovered his offensive game. When the NHL resumed, it took a trade to the Canadiens before he was really given a similar chance, finally playing over 12 minutes a night and being an excellent contributor from the bottom-six.

Now the Flyers will try to coax some of that Gretzky talent out of the 28-year old.  Paul Holmgren said as much last week “He’s kind of a third-, fourth-line guy but he can also play higher up in the lineup with some of your skill players if you get into a jam.” Flyers fans probably shouldn’t hope he gets a chance up the lineup, but rest easy that he’s at least capable of a bit more if he does.

  • Also from Isaac, GM Ron Hextall announced today that prospect Cole Bardreau will miss all of training camp after undergoing abdominal surgery a week ago. Tim Panaccio of CSN adds that it’s a 4-6 week timeline and is expected back in mid-October. Bardreau was signed out of Cornell university in 2015, and played last season for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, scoring 30 points in 54 games. While he’s not young for a prospect after spending four years in college, the 23-year old will try to compete for minutes in the top-six on the minor league squad and continue his quest for the NHL.
  • Hextall also said that he had been given some different information on Radko Gudas, and that the reported hairline fracture in his wrist was incorrect. While he still suffered an “upper-body injury”, it’s not as bad as initially reported, but Hextall wouldn’t go into further detail. Gudas dropped out of the World Cup last week after suffering the injury. He was set to suit up for the Czech Republic in the upcoming tournament but instead will focus on the start of the regular season.

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