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New Lawsuit Creates More Doubt Around Ottawa Arena Deal

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Yesterday in Ottawa, the National Capital Commission (NCC) went public with concerns over “internal partnership issues” within RendezVous LeBreton Group, a venture between Capital Sports Management Inc. (CSMI), a group headed by Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, and Trinity Development Group Inc., chaired by John Ruddy. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson called out the group quite bluntly, saying that “they have to get their act together” before any potential development plan could be pushed forward surrounding the LeBreton Flats area near downtown Ottawa. The RendezVous group was trying to build a new arena for the Senators along with other commercial ventures in the space, but haven’t been able to put together a concrete development plan.

The NCC gave the group until early January to find some internal consistency, but that deadline does not seem relevant after today’s news. According to the Canadian Press, Melnyk and CSMI have started legal proceedings against Ruddy’s company and are “seeking damages arising out of a failed joint venture between Trinity and CSMI.” According to Shaamini Yogaretnam of the National Post, the lawsuit is claiming $700MM in damages and alleges that Trinity “misused confidential inside information about the LeBreton project and abused the trust (CSMI) had placed in them.”

While the news yesterday from the NCC put a huge wall in the way of a downtown arena, this lawsuit may have both parties walking away from each other entirely. The project seems almost certainly to be over, though no one has issued a statement to that exact effect as of yet. The Senators currently play outside the city center at an arena that is difficult for many fans to travel to, and have been attempting various means of moving closer to downtown for years.

Melnyk, who has been outspoken about the team’s poor financial situation in the past, is at the middle of this next unfortunate chapter in the Senators search for a new home. The owner has repeatedly claimed to not be interested in selling the franchise, even as immense pressure from the fan base builds after their plummet in recent seasons. Ottawa was in overtime of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals just a year an a half ago, but have seemingly found nothing but disaster at every turn since Chris Kunitz scored to send the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Florida Panthers Loan Maxim Mamin To KHL

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Friday: Mamin has been officially loaned to CSKA Moscow.

Monday: Though their news release earlier today stated that Maxim Mamin was on his way to the Sprinfield Thunderbirds, Darren Dreger of TSN reports the Florida Panthers are doing something different with their young forward. Mamin will instead be loaned back to the KHL and join CSKA Moscow for the remainder of the season. Mamin’s NHL contract includes a European Assignment Clause, meaning he could force a move like this if the Panthers tried to send him to the minor leagues.

Mamin, 23, came over to North America last season and split the year between the Thunderbirds and Panthers, showing off his high-end playmaking skills at the minor league level especially. The sixth-round pick from 2016 had already found success in the KHL, but couldn’t replicate it during his short NHL experience. This year he was still without a point through seven games, and had been a healthy scratch more times than not. The fact that he was in the NHL for as long as he was may have been because the Panthers knew they would lose him if they tried to send him down, but they eventually needed to make a decision given their place in the standings.

Florida is now tied for last in the entire Eastern Conference and have just seven wins on the season, in a year which they were expected to challenge for a playoff position in the Atlantic Division. The team has oodles of young talent in the way of Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, Mike Matheson and more, but haven’t been able to put things together this year. Mamin was assigned to the minor leagues earlier today alongside Denis Malgin in order to get Micheal Haley back into the lineup, to hopefully provide some physicality and spark to a listless group.

The question for the Panthers now is whether they’ll be able to convince Mamin to come back next season. Though he’ll remain under contract with the Panthers for the rest of this season, the young forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent in the summer and could very well choose to re-sign and stay with CSKA. His entry-level contract is set to expire, and he is not eligible for salary arbitration. The Panthers will retain his rights by issuing him a qualifying offer, but given the fact that there is no deadline for a deal to be signed the lure of the KHL will be tough to compete with.

Minor Transactions: 11/23/18

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The NHL was off yesterday while America celebrated Thanksgiving, but is back with a bang today with 30 of 31 teams taking part. The action gets kicked off this afternoon with the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers battling in a Metropolitan Division matchup. With all the action there might not be a ton of minor moves, but we’ll keep track of them either way.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Marko Dano Off Waivers

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The Winnipeg Jets will say hello to an old friend, as they have reclaimed Marko Dano off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche. The Jets have immediately assigned Dano to the minor leagues, meaning they were the only team to put in a claim. Josh Brown meanwhile, who was on waivers with Dano, has cleared and can be assigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Dano, 23, is reaching the end of the line as a top prospect after flaming out of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks and now Avalanche organizations. He’s been given an opportunity at the NHL level with four different franchises now, and has been unable to assert himself with any of them. Still, he’ll return to a Jets organization that is known for its strong development system. His progress may have been slowed the last few seasons by the lack of consistent playing time, something he’ll surely receive in the minor leagues with the Manitoba Moose.

The Moose are now without Kristian Vesalainen for the rest of the season given his recent departure to the KHL, and could use another high-end forward to help them in their pursuit of the Calder Cup. Dano has only actually played in 89 regular season games in the minor leagues since debuting in 2013-14, meaning a full season in the AHL might be exactly what he needs to turn the corner in his career.

Calgary Flames Recall Oliver Kylington, Ryan Lomberg

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It’s been a long wait for Oliver Kylington, but he’s finally back in the NHL after the Calgary Flames recalled him today. Kylington made his NHL debut back in 2016 as an 18-year old, but has spent the last two seasons in the AHL with the Stockton Heat. The team has also recalled Ryan Lomberg, as both Michael Stone and Michael Frolik were placed on injured reserve.

Kylington, 21, was one of the most impressive defensemen in the Swedish junior and minor league ranks when he was selected 60th overall in 2015 and has continued to record solid offensive numbers in North America for Stockton. The incredibly smooth-skating defenseman has tremendous upside despite the fact that he hasn’t made an impact at the NHL level yet, and could still become a force in the top-4 for Calgary one day. That may not necessarily come today, but just the fact that he was one of the first recalls when injury struck has to be reassuring to the young defenseman.

Lomberg meanwhile is a 23-year old winger, but comes with a much different pedigree and play style. The bang-and-crash forward has put up solid numbers in the AHL since signing as an undrafted free agent, and could provide some energy to the fourth line for Calgary. Lomberg played in seven games last season for the Flames, but is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres Expected To Start Extension Talks Next Month

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The Buffalo Sabres are on a roll, and a lot of their recent success can be traced back to Jeff Skinner. The talented winger is on pace for 55 goals this season and is an early candidate for steal of the offseason after coming over to Buffalo for the low price of three non-first-round draft picks and prospect Cliff Pu. If the Sabres can convince Skinner to re-sign in Buffalo the trade will look even better, at least if they can get him at a reasonable cap hit. That’s what made the report earlier this month that Skinner was looking for a salary upwards of $9MM per season a little scary, given that the team may not want to commit that much cap space to a player so early into their rebuild.

As we wrote when the report surfaced, the salary figure seemed like an attempt from the Skinner camp to use their early leverage—the kind that they earned from him playing so well this season—to frame upcoming negotiations. It wasn’t clear if the two sides were even talking yet, something we were given more clarity on today. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the two sides haven’t discussed anything but they will get together next month to discuss where Skinner’s future lies. Obviously it’s not clear where exactly that original number came from, but you can bet that the Sabres want to get into a room with their leading goal scorer before making any judgement on whether they’ll be able to fit him in.

Skinner, 26, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent less than two months after his 27th birthday and would be an attractive option for basically the entire league. Though he obviously wore out his welcome in some way for the Carolina Hurricanes, there was little doubt he could still be an effective scoring option in the NHL. Skinner now has 219 goals through his first 601 NHL games, a rate that puts him just a hair under 30 per season. The fact that he’s scheduled to hit the market at such a relatively young age is extremely appealing for anyone looking to invest heavily in him, hoping that they’ll have four, perhaps five seasons of very good production.

Among those teams interested though will surely be the Sabres, who are experiencing real success for the first time in years. Skinner has been a big part of that, and with other young players still on their way there is lots to look forward to in Buffalo. Jack Eichel’s $10MM cap hit already eats up a lot of their salary structure, but other than that contract they’re relatively free of long-term commitments. There’s work to be done down the road with extensions for Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt, but getting Skinner under extension would give them some cost (and scoring) certainty to build around.

Oliver Wahlstrom Could Leave Boston College

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Friday: That was fun while it lasted. Kennedy updates the situation by tweeting that Wahlstrom will play today for Boston College and has “no intention of leaving the team.” Perhaps there was some frustration on the young forward’s part that leaked out, and he will now try to squash any rumors of his disappointment.

Thursday: Islanders prospect Oliver Wahlstrom appears to be looking for a change of scenery as Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports that he is looking to leave Boston College.  The eleventh pick back in 2018 is off to a slow start in his freshman college season with just two goals in nine games so far this season while the Eagles have won just three of those contests.

There are a few options for the 18-year-old if he does indeed decide to leave.  The USHL quietly announced (Twitter link) that Tri-City of the USHL has added his rights so if he wants to return to that league, that’s where he would have to play.  However, Mark Divver of the Providence Journal adds (via Twitter) that there hasn’t been any contact between Wahlstrom and the Storm just yet.  He’d basically be dropping down a level to play there which may not be the best for his long-term development.  Transferring to another NCAA school would result in him having to sit so that’s not an ideal option either.

At the major junior level, his rights are held by Cape Breton of the QMJHL.  Kennedy notes that his preference is to not play in that league but he can’t be dealt to an OHL or WHL franchise.  That would seemingly rule out the junior route but there may be teams within the QMJHL that could try to convince him to report to them and then acquire his rights from the Screaming Eagles.

Since Wahlstrom wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, he’s eligible to turn pro and play in the AHL.  Not every team is willing to have 18-year-old players suiting up at that level though so that’s far from a guarantee.

Interestingly enough, he is the second Islander first rounder in as many years in this situation.  2016 top pick Kieffer Bellows opted to leave Boston University last season and finished out the campaign with Portland of the WHL.  He turned pro for this season and is off to a decent start with AHL Bridgeport.

With the World Juniors fast approaching and Wahlstrom being a strong candidate to make that team, this is something he’ll want to resolve quickly.  With that in mind, there’s a good chance there will be more information about this available in the coming days with him deciding to leave or declaring his intentions to stay with Boston College at least for the time being.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Ninth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Through the first 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)
4th Overall: Brad Marchand (Washington Capitals)
5th Overall: Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins)
6th Overall: Jordan Staal (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)
26th Overall: Chris Stewart (Calgary Flames)
27th Overall: Andrew MacDonald (Dallas Stars)
28th Overall: Viktor Stalberg (Ottawa Senators)

With their original selection off the board in Foligno, the Senators instead wind up with Stalberg, a speedy winger who winds up going a lot higher than his original draft slot (161st overall to Toronto).

It took a little while for Stalberg to make it to Toronto as he spent three years at Vermont after being drafted before turning pro.  He made an impact with the Maple Leafs fairly quickly, splitting the season between the NHL and AHL in his rookie year.  However, that was his only year with the team as they moved him to Chicago as part of a five-player deal that saw them land winger Kris Versteeg.

The 32-year-old spent parts of three seasons with the Blackhawks with some mixed results.  Although he had a 22-goal season in that time, he was more of a complementary piece and as a result, he was allowed to walk in free agency in 2013 just weeks after Chicago won the Stanley Cup.

Nashville believed that Stalberg could become more of a consistent contributor and as a result, they inked him to a four-year, $10MM deal that summer.  It didn’t happen.  By the second year of his deal, he had cleared waivers and spent a big chunk of the year with Milwaukee of the AHL.  In the 2015 summer, the Predators bought him out; he remains on their books this season with a cap hit that’s just over $1.16MM.

He joined the Rangers that offseason and spent one year with the team before moving onto Carolina in free agency the following year.  His time with the Hurricanes was short-lived as he was dealt at the trade deadline to Ottawa in February of 2017.

After being unable to land a contract that summer, Stalberg signed with EV Zug of the Swiss NLA and was quite productive last year with 50 points in 46 games which tied for second in league scoring.  He remained with them to start this season but transferred to Omsk of the KHL in late October.

Stalberg will once again be a free agent this summer and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to land an NHL deal one more time.  If that doesn’t happen, he’ll wrap up his NHL playing days with 168 points in 488 games which is pretty good for a player selected in the sixth round.

We move to the twenty-ninth pick which was held by Phoenix.  After landing Peter Mueller with the eighth pick, they looked to the back end and selected Chris Summers.  That pick hasn’t panned out particularly well as the blueliner has spent the majority of his professional career at the minor league level.  They’ll wind up with a better player in our redraft but who should they take? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Anaheim Ducks

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Anaheim Ducks.

What are the Ducks most thankful for?

The resiliency of their healthy players.  To say Anaheim has been hit hard by injuries so far this season would be an extreme understatement.  More than half of their roster has already missed time to an ailment or two and through the first quarter of the season, they had missed a whopping 130 man-games due to injury.  That many injuries to that many key players (including Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Cam Fowler, and now Hampus Lindholm) can derail the fortunes of a team in a hurry.  Instead, the Ducks find themselves third in the Pacific Division and in a playoff spot.  Considering everything they’ve gone through, that’s a pretty good accomplishment even if there have been some other teams that have underachieved thus far.

Who are the Ducks most thankful for?

For a team to have this many injuries and still be in a playoff spot, the goaltending needs to be at the top of its game.  That has been the case thus far as John Gibson has posted a .927 save percentage through his first 18 starts, good for a tie for sixth in the league among qualifying netminders.  He has faced the second-most shots of any goaltender in the NHL and has provided them with top-level goaltending most nights.  Ryan Miller also deserves some credit as his numbers are only slightly off of Gibson’s and are among the best among backup goaltenders.

In terms of skaters, Lindholm was off to a really good start before his injury.  Anaheim was asking him to play extremely heavy minutes (25:29 per night, more than three and a half minutes above his career average) and he showed he was up to the task.  With him and Fowler now out, Josh Manson and Brandon Montour are going to have to pick up even more of the slack.

What would the Ducks be even more thankful for?

Beyond staying healthy, their top players being productive.  While Getzlaf has hovered near the point-per-game mark, Rickard Rakell is off to a very slow start with only three goals on the campaign after seasons of 34 and 33.  Adam Henrique produced close to a 30-goal pace after being acquired last year but has just five goals so far.  Pontus Aberg, a waiver claim at the end of training camp (who later cleared waivers with Anaheim before being recalled in mid-October) is tied for the team lead in goals with six.  Not surprisingly, this team is really struggling to score and that’s going to need to change sooner than later if they want to stay in a playoff spot.

What should be on the Ducks’ Holiday Wish List?

Adding a top-six forward would really go a long way towards stabilizing their attack in the short-term and deepening their depth if and when their forward group gets fully healthy.  However, with extremely limited cap space to work with, GM Bob Murray is going to have to get creative to find a way to bring one in.  In the short-term, it wouldn’t be surprising if he targets an underachieving player in need of a change of scenery in the hopes of getting a small uptick in scoring that way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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