The New York Islanders are hoping that top goalie prospect Ilya Sorokin will be coming over to North America sooner rather than later, but his KHL team is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. Aivis Kalnins reports that CSKA Moscow has made a long-term contract offer to Sorokin, though at this point that doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
The fact that news of the offer made it out might also be a negotiating tactic for Sorokin, who is now 24 and has dominated the KHL for years. A third-round pick in 2014, Sorokin would be held to the entry-level system when he comes over, limiting his earning potential. If he signed that one-year ELC before the end of this season–his current deal in the KHL expires in April–he could become a restricted free agent and negotiate a more expensive deal. That’s exactly what Nikita Gusev did last season, and ended up signing a two-year, $9MM deal with the New Jersey Devils before playing a game in the NHL.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have things back on track under new head coach Sheldon Keefe, but still don’t have an answer for their lack of consistent backup goaltending. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet gives his thoughts on some of the potential options, but isn’t convinced they are going to do anything. Friedman does note however that the Maple Leafs could trade Kasperi Kapanen easily if they ever decided to, though currently don’t want to do that. Kapanen, 23, has turned into an extremely valuable two-way player for the Maple Leafs.
- The Montreal Canadiens announced that Guy Lapointe has been diagnosed with oral cancer. The physicians treating the Hall of Fame defenseman included a note that it has a very high cure rate and will start treatment in the coming weeks. Everyone at PHR wants to extend our best wishes to Guy and the Lapointe family.
On behalf of a whole mess of PHR members, I’d like to extend our well-wishes to Guy Lapointe & Family.