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Archives for January 2021

Michael Stone Signs PTO With Calgary Flames

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Since being picked up via trade from the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, the Calgary Flames have kept defenseman Michael Stone on the roster in some capacity since then. Looks like little has changed as Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg reports that Stone has agreed to a player tryout contract with the club.

Flames general manager Brad Treliving said that bringing in Stone on a PTO was all about depth, according to Steinberg. The GM said that considering the compact season, NHL teams may need as much depth as possible, possibly going as deep as 10-11 defensemen. Treliving also said that no contract has been handed to Stone. He will have to earn a contract during camp.

Stone was a regular in the lineup with Arizona in his five-plus years with the team from 2011 to 2017, but while he had a full-time role with the Flames in 2017-18, his role has diminished over the next few years. He played in just 14 games in 2018-19 with a blood-clotting issues amongst several injuries he dealt with and began to look like an overpriced depth player. In August of 2019, the Flames chose to buyout Stone, who had a $3.5MM cap hit. The cost of the buyout required cost the team $1.17MM last season and will still be hitting the team this season. However, the team shocked many when they turned around and signed Stone to a minimum salaried deal a month later and have held onto him.

Stone played in 33 games last season for Calgary as the team’s seventh defenseman, scoring two goals and seven points.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Travis Hamonic To PTO

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The Vancouver Canucks announced that they have signed one of the top remaining unrestricted free agents, defenseman Travis Hamonic, to a player tryout contract. Much like the PTO that Mike Hoffman signed last week with St. Louis, it’s expected that Hamonic will likely sign a one-year deal once Vancouver clears out some money. The blueliner is expected to travel to Vancouver today and begin a seven-day quarantine before joining the team at training camp.

The 30-year-old Hamonic was one of those free agents who normally would have received a long-term deal on the free-agent market. However, with the pandemic and a flat $81.5MM salary cap, Hamonic struggled finding a long-term deal that he was hoping for. Like many others already, Hamonic will bet on himself this season and hope to find that long-term deal next offseason when hopefully, the NHL’s financial outlook will look more promising.

Hamonic, who spent the last three years with the Calgary Flames, was second on the team last year in ice time. The blueliner averaged 21:11, and while he’s never been an offensive presence on the ice (three goals, 12 points in 50 games), Hamonic has been a solid defensive presence, which included 110 blocked shots.

The defenseman should provide Vancouver with another top-four presence on their blueline after the team lost Chris Tanev to the Flames during the offseason, which almost makes it a one-for-one move. The Canucks also lost Troy Stecher, leaving an opening on right defense. With Quinn Hughes, Tyler Myers and Jordie Benn already on the roster from last year, plus the addition of Nate Schmidt from Vegas, the Canucks roster looks completely rebuilt. Hamonic should be able to provide the team an outstanding penalty killer, bolstering the Canucks chances of challenging among the better teams in the new North Division after the team lost a number of top free agents, including Tanev, goaltender Jacob Markstrom and Tyler Toffoli.

To get Hamonic under contract in the next few weeks, it looks like Vancouver just needs to wait until it can place Micheal Ferland on LTIR at the start of the season and the team can officially ink the blueliner.

Penguins Sign John Marino To Six-Year Extension

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Always cash-strapped, the Pittsburgh Penguins chose to lock up one of their young defenseman to a long-term deal at a reasonable deal in what they hope will be a bargain down the road. The team announced they have signed John Marino to a six-year, $26.4MM contract extension with a $4.4MM AAV.

Here is a breakdown of the deal (via TSN’s Pierre LeBrun):

2021-22: $1.75MM base salary
2022-23: $3.5MM base salary
2023-24: $5.25MM base salary
2024-25: $6.15MM base salary
2025-26: $5.3MM base salary
2026-27: $4.45MM base salary

While the Penguins are well known as a team that trades away future draft picks, general manager Jim Rutherford has become quite adept at bringing in collegiate talent to supplant some of those lost picks. Marino was one of those acquisitions as the GM picked him up from the Edmonton Oilers for a 2021 sixth-round pick as he refused to sign with the Oilers. The defenseman played three years at Harvard University. Marino subsequently signed with Pittsburgh, made the NHL squad out of training camp and very quickly worked his way into the team’s top-four, offering the team hope for the future. The 23-year-old scored six goals and 26 points in 56 games and looks to have a future.

With the team pushing for one more Stanley Cup run with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin getting older, salary cap space will be more and more critical for Pittsburgh over the next few years. Rutherford has been heavily criticized in recent years with his constant trading of top draft picks (the team has traded away their first rounder in six of the last eight years) as well as overpaying for defenseman Jack Johnson, who they team bought out this offseason. However, Rutherford has made up for those moves in other ways. While it can be risky to hand a six-year pact to player who has just one year of work in the NHL, Rutherford has made quite a living with signing good players to affordable NHL deals, including Brian Dumoulin, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel. The hope is that Marino outplays his contract quickly and gives the team a star blueliner at a reasonable deal, something that is quite possible with him.

Marino will be counted on to play a significant role, especially with Rutherford having shaken up the blueline during the offseason. The team still has Kris Letang and Dumoulin on the top line, but the team moved on from Justin Schultz and Johnson, while bringing in Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci.

LeBrun was the first to report the deal. 

Prospect Notes: Lodnia, Khovanov, Kravtsov, Andersson

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A pair of Minnesota Wild forward prospects currently on loan in Russia will go different ways for the rest of the season. Ivan Lodnia, the team’s third-round pick in 2017, will leave the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk to return to North America in time for the Iowa Wild’s AHL camp later this month, reports The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Lodnia is in his first pro season after five years in the OHL and has seven points through 27 KHL games thus far. The skilled American forward is expected to spend the rest of his season in the AHL, but could push for an NHL look late in the year if he impresses with Iowa. Meanwhile, 2018 third-round pick Alexander Khovanov will stay in Russia for the rest of the year. Currently on loan to the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan, who in turn have loaned him to the minor league VHL, Khovanov has 15 points in 16 VHL games after getting blanked though seven KHL games. Also a first-year pro, Khovanov scored 99 points in the QMJHL last year but is not as far along in his development as Lodnia and can take the rest of the year to work on his game in his native Russia.

  • As expected, New York Rangers GM Jeff Gorton has confirmed to the media that prospect forward Vitali Kravtsov will remain in Russia through the end of the KHL season. Kravtsov is currently on loan to his longtime KHL club Traktor Chelyabinsk and he is currently finding success with 12 goals and 17 points in 34 games. Gorton stated that the team felt Kravtsov’s development was better served by letting him play out the KHL season given this success. However, the team will explore bringing Kravtsov back once the KHL season is complete. The 21-year-old Kravtsov, the No. 9 overall pick in 2018, played in 39 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack last season but has yet to make his NHL debut.
  • A teammate of Kravtsov’s in Hartford early last year, Lias Andersson also finished the season in Europe. Andersson tells The Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris that he had planned to spend the entire 2020-21 season back in Sweden with the SHL’s HV71. However, an off-season trade from the New York Rangers to the Los Angeles Kings changed his mind. Andersson now plans to spend the whole season in North America, regardless of his role within his new organization. For what it’s worth, Andersson notched 11 points in 19 games while on loan to HV71 so far this season and personally feels that his game has improved, so perhaps he can finally carve out a regular NHL role with the young Kings squad.

Brendan Gaunce Signs With Vaxjo Lakers

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After a long off-season waiting for an NHL opportunity, forward Brendan Gaunce will have to settle for a season overseas. The 26-year-old forward has signed with the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers, the team announced. The release quoted Gaunce as stating that his motivation to join the Lakers, who are currently third in the SHL, was the chance to win a Swedish championship, which of course wouldn’t hurt his chances of finding his way back to the NHL next year.

Gaunce may have only played in one NHL game in 2019-20, but the lack of NHL interest is still somewhat surprising. After all, Gaunce was playing for the President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, a club with more than enough depth and talent that didn’t need the veteran forward’s services. Gaunce did record a point in his lone appearance with Boston though and added 37 points in 52 AHL games. He had a similarly impressive output in the minors in 2018-19 and again scored at a point-per-game pace in limited action with the Vancouver Canucks. The 2012 first round pick played in 114 games with Vancouver in the three seasons prior.

A two-way power forward with equally strong offensive and defensive instincts, Gaunce may not have produced points as a regular in the NHL, but has been an effective scorer in the AHL and in his limited NHL opportunities over the past two years. Whereas he likely deserved another shot in the NHL, instead he will head to Sweden where the talent level is arguably even lower than it is in the AHL. Joining Vaxjo, Gaunce will be playing alongside fellow NHL veterans like Christian Folin, Joel Persson, and Viktor Fasth and NHL prospects like Jack Drury and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson. Gaunce’s addition to an already talented roster could boost the Lakers up to the SHL’s top spot in the standings and makes them a favorite to win the title this season.

Yannick Weber Signs PTO With Nashville Predators

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When the Nashville Predators released their training camp roster on Saturday, there was a familiar yet surprising name included on the list. Veteran defenseman Yannick Weber, who has donned a Nashville sweater for the past four years, will be back with the team in camp. However, it will not be in a contractual capacity for the season. The free agent defender will compete for a roster spot and thereby an extension while playing on a PTO agreement.

Weber, 32, is another example of a solid veteran player who has been left without options by this off-season’s flat cap market. While Weber is no offensive dynamo, he has built a long NHL career off of being a sound, reliable defensive player who works especially well as a plug-and-play depth option. Although some may not think of Weber as a surefire starter, he has quietly played in over 70% of Nashville’s games over the past four years as a regular in one of the league’s best defense corps. Weber has at least earned the right to prove he can still be an effective player and Nashville knows better than anyone that he is worth a look.

The problem though is that the Predators have all but replaced Weber’s role this off-season. The team re-hauled its bottom pair in free agency with the additions of Mark Borowiecki and Matt Benning, two similar defensive-minded blue liners. The team also has promising prospect Jeremy Davies waiting in the wings and an already-large group of experienced depth options in Jarred Tinordi, Ben Harpur, Tyler Lewington, and Alexandre Carrier. Weber is arguably a better option than many of these players but he is unlikely to unseat Borowiecki and Benning as a starter and would likely battle Tinordi or Davies to be the next man up as well. While the taxi squad offers some expanded opportunities for depth this season and could be an ideal spot for Weber, his PTO does not necessarily imply that a contract is eventually guaranteed.

 

East Notes: Bratt, Olofsson, Ratcliffe, Rangers

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Devils winger Jesper Bratt is one of eight remaining restricted free agents around the league.  GM Tom Fitzgerald spoke with reporters today; Catherine Bogart of New Jersey’s team website provided Fitzgerald’s update on the status of negotiations with the 22-year-old:

Jesper’s agent and I have been in constant communication.  We’re trying to find a common ground on their thoughts on how a deal should be structured versus how we think a deal should be structured. I see a lot of parallels with Jesper’s situation with the Mackenzie Blackwood situation, and you know the contract negotiations.

Blackwood recently inked a three-year, $8.4MM deal coming off of his entry-level contract, the same situation that Bratt finds himself in.  He has had between 32 and 36 points in each of his three NHL seasons and had a career-high 16 tallies in 2019-20.  Even if they can come to terms in the next day or two, it’s unlikely that the Devils will have Bratt in the lineup on opening night as he will have to get his work visa, fly over from Sweden, and go through mandatory quarantine protocols before being cleared to suit up.

More from the East Division:

  • Sabres winger Victor Olofsson left practice early after crashing into the net, relays NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). While Olofsson was able to briefly return, he was not on the ice for their final session of the day.  He is currently being evaluated, per head coach Ralph Krueger.
  • Included in the Flyers’ announcement of their training camp roster was a note that winger Isaac Ratcliffe will be out for at least four weeks after sustaining a fractured rib in training. The 21-year-old made his pro debut last season, notching six goals and nine assists in 53 games with Lehigh Valley of the AHL.
  • The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that centers Mika Zibanejad and Justin Richards plus goaltender Keith Kinkaid are all listed as day-to-day and will not be available when on-ice workouts begin early next week. No further explanations were given for their absences.  Meanwhile, GM Jeff Gorton confirmed that the team will not recall winger Vitali Kravtsov from his loan to Chelyabinsk of the KHL until that season is complete, relays Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today (via Twitter).  The 21-year-old has a dozen goals and five assists in 34 games so far this season.

2020 Year In Review: April

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2020 was certainly a unique year away from the rink.  However, it was also a year that featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  Next up is a look at April where some teams tried to take care of some contractual business while waiting out the pandemic.

Goalie Deals For Columbus: The inexperienced tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins wound up playing rather well for the Blue Jackets and they were awarded sizable raises as a result.  Korpisalo signed a two-year, $5.6MM deal with his $2.8MM AAV more than doubling his previous $1.15MM price tag.  Merzlikins, meanwhile, fared even better, inking a two-year, $8MM pact with his $4MM AAV being more than four times higher than his $874K salary from last season.  The contracts give Columbus a pretty good goalie tandem for a fairly low cost.  However, the moves also walk both goaltenders to UFA eligibility in the 2022 offseason and at that time, they will almost certainly have to pick which one to keep and which one will go elsewhere.

Cave Passes Away: Oilers forward Colby Cave passed away at the age of 25.  Days before his passing, he had been placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering a brain bleed and underwent emergency surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing pressure on his brain and while that procedure was successful, he remained in the coma until his death.  He played in 67 career NHL games over parts of three seasons between Boston who signed him back in 2015 and Edmonton who claimed him off waivers in January of 2019.

Byfuglien Termination Official: After Winnipeg was unable to find a taker in a trade for Dustin Byfuglien, they agreed on a mutual contract termination, putting an end to one of the more bizarre situations in recent memory.  The veteran reported for camp, then left abruptly and ultimately underwent ankle surgery in October without consulting the team.  He then filed a grievance to try to recover his pay, citing it was a hockey-related injury.  That grievance was settled as part of the termination with the Jets not owing any of his $14MM that was remaining on his contract.  Byfuglien immediately became an unrestricted free agent and spurned overtures from teams in free agency this offseason, including Minnesota.

Veteran Retirements: A pair of long-time NHL veterans decided to call it a career.  Defenseman Andrei Markov hung up his skates after spending the last three seasons in the KHL.  Before that time, he was a fixture on Montreal’s back end, playing in 990 games over parts of 16 NHL seasons which ranks him sixth in franchise history in that regard while he potted 119 goals and 453 assists.  Meanwhile, winger Kris Versteeg also announced his retirement.  He split last season between the minors and a brief stint in Slovakia where he got to play with his brother Mitch.  Versteeg played with seven different NHL teams over parts of 11 seasons, amassing 149 goals and 209 assists in 643 contests.

St. Louis Extensions: The Blues took care of a pair of pending free agents by signing them to new deals.  First, winger Sammy Blais signed a two-year, $3MM deal after averaging nearly four hits per game last season while chipping in with 13 points in 40 games.  The team then reached an agreement on a four-year, $13.1MM extension with defenseman Marco Scandella the next day.  He was acquired from Montreal in advance of the trade deadline and looked good in 11 regular season games before the pandemic hit while logging over 20 minutes a night.  In extending him, the Blues sent their 2021 fourth-round pick to the Canadiens as part of the trade, something that has since been ruled illegal as part of the new CBA.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Senators Notes: Captains, Camp Roster, Brassard, Brannstrom

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The Senators have wasted little time determining their leadership group, announcing (via Twitter) that they will go without a captain and go with three alternates again this season.  It’s a brand-new trio from the ones that started the season in that role last year as all three departed either via trade or free agency.  Wearing the ‘A’ this season will be defensemen Thomas Chabot and Erik Gudbranson as well as winger Brady Tkachuk.  Chabot and Tkachuk are core pieces of Ottawa’s rebuild while Gudbranson, an Ottawa native, was acquired from Anaheim in the offseason.  The team has not had a full-time captain since trading Erik Karlsson to San Jose back in 2018.

More from Ottawa:

  • The Sens announced their training camp roster with some notable omissions. Recently-acquired veterans Derek Stepan, Cedric Paquette, and Braydon Coburn are all not on the max-sized roster nor is top prospect Tim Stuetzle who is still at the World Juniors.  Stepan is still in Arizona with his wife recently gave birth to their third child while Paquette and Coburn are currently quarantining and won’t be able to join the team for on-ice drills for another week.  Stuetzle will eventually make his way to camp as well but will also need to go through an isolation period which will eat up most of the remaining training camp time.
  • Ottawa has one player in camp on a PTO deal in goaltender Francois Brassard. The 26-year-old was actually drafted by the Sens back in 2012 but never signed with the team.  He spent last season with ECHL Maine, putting up a 2.76 GAA with a .908 SV% in 14 appearances.  He is likely hoping to land an AHL contract with a successful tryout as the Senators already have five netminders on NHL deals.
  • Defenseman Erik Brannstrom had requested that Ottawa allow him to try to play his off-side on defense but that request was denied, relays TSN 1200’s Shawn Simpson (Twitter link). The Sens prefer him to stay on his natural side although there is likelier an easier path to playing time if he was to switch.

David Warsofsky Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Warsofsky has cleared waivers, CapFriendly reports.

Friday: The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed David Warsofsky on waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The minor league defenseman was included in the Kasperi Kapanen trade earlier this summer, coming to Toronto from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Warsofsky, 30, actually has 55 games of NHL experience under his belt, but likely won’t be seeing the league this season as he finds himself quite a way down the Maple Leafs depth chart. The veteran minor leaguer served as captain for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last season, recording 33 points in 51 games, and will likely serve a leadership role with the Toronto Marlies whenever the AHL gets underway.

That is of course unless he is claimed for whatever reason, something that potentially could happen a little more often this year once the season gets underway. Teams will likely be scrambling for depth throughout the condensed schedule, even with the added benefit of taxi squad players. Warsofsky, who last played in the NHL during the 2017-18 season, could be a valuable emergency option for Toronto or someone else.

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