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Prospect Notes: Holtz, Podkolzin, NCAA Transfers

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While the New Jersey Devils showed signs of life earlier this season, it’s another subpar season for the club and they continued their rebuild at the trade deadline by moving three veterans for picks and prospects. However, help is on the way in the form of an elite prospect. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald confirmed to the media, including The Athletic’s Corey Masisak, that he is actively working on a contract with 2020 first-round pick Alexander Holtz. Fitzgerald did not provide a timeline and stated that the details of the deal and the immigration issues are still being hammered out, so at this point in the season it’s possible that Holtz may not actually suit up with the Devils until next season. Whenever he does arrive though, the reigning No. 7 overall pick should make an immediate impact. The 19-year-old just wrapped up his second full season in the SHL, the top pro level in Sweden, and recorded 18 points in 40 games. Holtz is a prolific goal scorer whose junior and WJC performances have pointed toward a potential future 30-goal scorer or better. Playing with New Jersey’s young forward corps filled with upside, Holtz could make an immediate impact next year as the Devils finally look to take the next step.

  • Similarly, the Vancouver Canucks are in a holding pattern this season with top prospect Vasili Podkolzin. Although GM Jim Benning had stated earlier this season that his intention was to have the 2019 tenth overall pick make his NHL debut this season, he seemed less optimistic about the possibility speaking with the media, including The Athletic’s Thomas Drance. Podkolzin’s KHL season is now over, his SKA St. Petersburg club losing in the semifinals of the Gagarin Cup, so contract talks have officially begun. However, it is more likely that Podkolzin’s deal will not begin until next season with limited time left in this season and contractual and immigration hurtles to jump through. When Podkolzin does debut in Vancouver, he will be hard to miss. The big, strong winger plays an explosive offensive game and is always making his presence felt around the net. Although he recorded only 11 points in 35 KHL games this year, that’s quite an accomplishment for a 19-year-old playing a bottom-six role on a top contender. Canucks fans should be excited for the arrival of Podkolzin, whenever that will be.
  • The NCAA’s extension of eligibility has prolonged a number of NHL prospects’ collegiate careers and the transfer market has been buzzing, with a number of names heading to new places. The biggest move of late has been former Bemidji State goaltender Zach Driscoll transferring to North Dakota. Driscoll has been one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA over the past few years, posting three straight seasons with a GAA of 2.32 or lower, including a 1.63 GAA and .937 save percentage last year. He now moves to the program that finished No. 1 in the nation in the regular season and will take over the starter job for the departed Adam Scheel, who signed with the Dallas Stars, hoping that he too will earn an NHL contract this time next year. In fact, upon Driscoll’s arrival, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Peter Thome announced that he was leaving for the newest Division I program, St. Thomas. Thome, a 2016 sixth-round pick, had sat behind Scheel and Cam Johnson for four years as a stellar backup, but was finally eyeing the Fighting Hawks starting job. Instead, he’ll man the net for St. Thomas in their inaugural season before turning pro.
  • Elsewhere in the transfer market, defenseman Will Cullen, who was expected to have pro interest following a dominant season at Bowling Green, has graduated in three years and has opted to become a grad transfer to Miami (Ohio). Cullen, 24, is a mobile, right-shot defensemen who recorded 25 points in 28 games for the Falcons this season as one of the top scoring defensemen in the NCAA. His decision not to turn pro is a surprise, but the interest should still be there next season.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 04/14/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is the list for today:

Boston – Jaroslav Halak
Colorado – Bowen Byram, Philipp Grubauer*
Edmonton – Dmitry Kulikov*
Los Angeles – Matt Roy
Montreal – Jon Merrill, Erik Gustafsson*
Philadelphia – Jackson Cates*
Toronto – Nick Foligno, Riley Nash, William Nylander, Ben Hutton, Nicholas Robertson*
Vancouver – Jalen Chatfield, Alexander Edler, Jayce Hawryluk, Nils Hoglander, Zack MacEwen, Nate Schmidt, Jake Virtanen

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Brandon Montour, Florida Panthers; Braydon Coburn, New York Islanders; Travis Boyd, Vancouver Canucks; Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks; Braden Holtby, Vancouver Canucks; Bo Horvat, Vancouver Canucks; Marc Michaelis, Vancouver Canucks; Tyler Motte, Vancouver Canucks; Tyler Myers, Vancouver Canucks; Antoine Roussel, Vancouver Canucks; Brandon Sutter, Vancouver Canucks

Grubauer is about the worst player to test positive for the Avalanche, but at least the team did add to their goaltending depth at the deadline. The team canceled morning skate today but are still expected to play tonight against the Blues. The 29-year-old has been one of the best goaltenders in the league this season with a 25-8-1 record, posting a .920 save percentage in his 34 appearances. Without him, the recently acquired Devan Dubnyk will likely be forced into an increased role.

Also added to the list is Robertson, who was recently recalled from the Toronto Marlies. The Marlies have now been shut down due to COVID-19 protocols, and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports, Robertson has been added to the list under precautionary measures. Still, the young forward has been around the Maple Leafs for the last several days and has played each of the last two nights.

For the Canucks, seeing a swathe of players come out of the protocol is excellent news as they prepare for action Friday night. The team hasn’t played since March 24 and will be forced to jump right back into the fray against the Oilers. Their list is down to just seven, with more players expected to be removed tomorrow.

*denotes new addition

New York Islanders Agree To Terms With Collin Adams

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The New York Islanders have agreed to terms with prospect Collin Adams on a two-year entry-level contract that will begin in the 2021-22 season. Adams recently finished his senior season at the University of North Dakota and could have become an unrestricted free agent had he waited until August. Instead, he’ll sign with the team that drafted him back in 2016.

Adams, a sixth-round pick of the Islanders five years ago, turned in a dominant season for UND this year. In 29 games he recorded 14 goals and 34 points, earning himself an honorable mention for the NCHC All-Star Team. It’s a pretty substantial win for the Islanders to have him not only snub free agency but also agree to start his contract next season, meaning he’ll be under the entry-level limits through 2022-23. They don’t need him in the NHL this year, but could use him as inexpensive depth for the next couple of years.

Standing just 5’9″, Adams isn’t an imposing figure on the ice, but he has a real chance to make it to the NHL because of his strong skating ability. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic recently ranked him as the Islanders’ 11th-best prospect, though did project him as a “AAAA” player, meaning he’ll be stuck somewhere between the NHL and AHL. He’ll get his chance to prove he’s much more than that when his contract kicks in next season.

Washington Capitals Extend Conor Sheary

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The Washington Capitals have signed Conor Sheary to a two-year extension, keeping him in the organization after a strong season. The deal will carry an average annual value of $1.5MM. Sheary is a pending unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year, $735K deal with the Capitals in late December.

It’s been a very interesting career for the 28-year-old winger. Undrafted despite dominating the Massachusetts prep scene, the 5’9″ forward went to UMass-Amherst and just never stopped scoring. In 138 NCAA games he scored 38 goals and 104 points, but was still overlooked and ended up signing an AHL deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate for the 2014-15 season. When he dominated the minor leagues, there was no overlooking him anymore. Sheary signed his entry-level deal with the Penguins in 2015 and quickly became a regular, impact player on a team that won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.

Then, in 2018 he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres as part of a salary dump and basically forgotten, watching his production decline like so many others for the struggling franchise. By the time he reached unrestricted free agency again last offseason, the $3MM salary he had been earning seemed like a huge overpay. Enter the Capitals, who brought him in for just a little over the league minimum and guaranteed very little to the undersized forward. As Washington head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including Tom Gulitti of NHL.com just today, Sheary has been an excellent addition to the team:

I think everybody really admires & respects the way he went about his work this year. He doesn’t make any noise. He just competes really hard out on the ice and put himself in a position where you want him out there a lot in different situations.

Whatever line he goes to, I think he helps make it a better line. Right now, he’s in a real good place with regard to his game and confidence and it shows by the way he’s playing.

With 11 goals and 19 points in 40 games, Sheary has been the ideal role player for the Capitals. The fact that he brings a wealth of playoff experience—61 games already in his five-season career to this point—only adds to the value he holds for Washington. The team obviously believes so as well, inking him to a reasonable multi-year extension well before he hits the open market.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke news of the contract on Twitter.

More to come…

Snapshots: Calgary Event Centre, Marlies, Canucks

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The new arena development in Calgary has hit a snag, as Tom Ross of 660 News reports. Kate Thompson, CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation released a statement about budget issues:

At this early stage in the project, there is a difference in the current budget estimate and the program requirements for the facility. Given the significance and importance of the project, the parties have jointly agreed to pause the project team to allow time to resolve these challenges. The decision to take this pause is the responsible and prudent approach to ensure we find the best solutions to move the project forward successfully, without incurring any additional costs on the project while these discussions progress.

Construction on the new arena development was expected to begin in August after the city of Calgary and the Flames agreed to split the cost in 2019. Ross reports it was due to open in 2024, but does not speculate on what kind of delay this pause will cause. Eric Francis of Sportsnet offers some clarification from a source who says “the arena isn’t in jeopardy.” The Flames have been playing in the Saddledome (currently the Scotiabank Saddledome) since 1983.

  • The Toronto Marlies have shut down their operations for the time being and three games have been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. Matches on April 15, 18 and 21 have been postponed, though no make-up dates have been determined at this point. The Marlies are 10-11-1 through the first 22 games of the season and have lost their last three. It is not yet clear if the entire minor league roster will be unavailable for call-up to the Toronto Maple Leafs—as was the case during other AHL outbreaks this season—or if the protocol is just affecting a select few.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are operating as though their season will resume later this week and today recalled two players from the AHL. Guillaume Brisebois and Arturs Silovs have been recalled to the taxi squad. The Canucks had 16 players still on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list yesterday, though that number is expected to continue to decrease as players finish their mandated quarantine and test negative. The team is scheduled to play on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Buffalo Sabres Hire Jason Karmanos

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1:30pm: The Sabres have made it official, hiring Karmanos as associate general manager. The release indicates that Karmanos will serve as general manager of the Rochester Americans and also oversee the Sabres’ scouting, player development and analytics departments.

11:30am: The Buffalo Sabres are “finalizing the details” in the hiring of Jason Karmanos as associate general manager, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. John Buccigross of ESPN tweeted earlier today that he also expects Karmanos to join the Buffalo front office.

Son of former Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, Jason Karmanos has been involved in NHL front offices for more than two decades. He was part of the Hurricanes executive team from 1998 until 2013, then followed Jim Rutherford to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he served as vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager for six years. Karmanos was let go by the Penguins in October, just a few months before Rutherford would eventually resign from the GM position.

In Buffalo, he’ll join GM Kevyn Adams, a familiar face from the Carolina days. Adams was part of the 2006 Hurricanes team that won the Stanley Cup (though amazingly, he registered zero points in 25 postseason games that year) and played several years for the organization before ending his playing career in 2008. Karmanos has been linked to the Buffalo AGM job since he left the Penguins, but it appears that will now soon become official.

Dallas Stars Sign Joel Hanley

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The Dallas Stars have rewarded one of their depth defensemen with a two-year contract extension, signing Joel Hanley through the 2022-23 season. Hanley was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer but has now inked a two-year, $1.5MM ($750K AAV) deal with the team he has spent the last three seasons with.

Hanley, 29, hadn’t come close to becoming a regular at the NHL level before recently, with just 46 games played through the end of the 2019-20 season. Then he played 12 times for the Stars in the postseason bubble and has returned as a semi-regular this season. In 24 games he has four points (all assists, as he still looks for his first career regular season goal) but has been a useful depth option for the Stars, eating around 12 minutes a game without issue.

That depth role isn’t likely to increase with this contract, but it does keep him in the organization as a valuable piece for just a little more than the league minimum. Should he play three more games this season, he’ll also fill the Stars exposure requirements for the upcoming expansion draft. Up until now, only Esa Lindell, John Klingberg, and Andrej Sekera had played enough games and were also signed through 2022, meaning at least one of them would have to be exposed to the Seattle Kraken. Signing Hanley gives the team a little bit more flexibility in that respect since Lindell and Klingberg are obvious choices for protection along with Miro Heiskanen.

While the deal may have some added expansion draft benefits, it’s really about how well Hanley has developed into a part-time NHL player. Undrafted, he spent four seasons at UMass-Amherst before grinding away in the minor leagues for years. A two-year deal is a nice reward for a player that has always been ready when his number was called.

Ben Bishop, Alexander Radulov Out For Season

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The Dallas Stars will not get Ben Bishop or Alexander Radulov back this season, announcing that both are now focused on returning to full health for the 2021-22 campaign. Radulov will soon be undergoing surgery to repair a core muscle injury, while Bishop continues his rehabilitation and will not return this season.

Bishop, 34, hasn’t played at all this season, spending the year on long-term injured reserve after meniscus surgery in his right knee. That surgery happened in October and the hope was that he could be back in action by March. That obviously didn’t happen and now it is unclear when Bishop will be back in the crease at all for the Stars. The veteran goaltender has dealt with knee issues for a long time now but still does have two years left on his contract with the Stars. He’ll turn 35 in November.

Given that they never had Bishop in the first place, the update today on Radulov perhaps comes with a little more bite. The big winger last played for the team on March 18 and had 12 points through 11 appearances this season. A huge part of their offense, the 34-year-old Radulov has just one year remaining on his current contract and will now be facing a surgery that has often affected players’ performance long after the official rehab is complete.

In Radulov’s absence, some younger players have taken up residence at the top of the Stars points chart. Jason Robertson has been a revelation for the team, scoring 12 goals and 29 points in his rookie season. Roope Hintz has continued his development into a top-line player, and even Denis Gurianov–the ever-inconsistent forward–has still had flashes of brilliance. With Radulov missing most of the year and Tyler Seguin having yet to play a single game, it’s the new guard that will have to find a way to catch the Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot in the Central Division.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 04/14/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:

West Division

North Division

Central Division

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have re-assigned Nicolas Beaudin, Ian Mitchell, and Matt Tomkins to the taxi squad, as both Adam Boqvist and Calvin de Haan are both missing practice due to injury. Beaudin, 21, has 10 points in nine games with the Rockford IceHogs and will likely soon be a staple on the Chicago blue line.
  • Philip Tomasino, one of the Nashville Predators’ top prospects, was recalled to the team’s taxi squad today from the minor leagues. The 19-year-old forward has 20 points in 18 games for the Chicago Wolves in his first year of professional hockey. Tommy Novak has been returned to the AHL in his place.

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day

Colorado Avalanche Cancel Morning Skate Due To Positive COVID Test

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The Colorado Avalanche have canceled their morning skate today after a positive result in their COVID-19 testing yesterday. The person is isolating and the rest of the tests have all returned negative, meaning the game against the St. Louis Blues this evening is still currently scheduled as planned.

As Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now reported last night, the Avalanche players were vaccinated on Monday. Peter Baugh of The Athletic tweets that Colorado head coach Jared Bednar revealed on the radio that some players are also feeling fatigued because of this. The team already had Bowen Byram in the COVID protocol after a positive test last week, and now seem likely to be missing at least one more player when they take on the Blues this evening.

In addition to Byram and the other player who tested positive, the team will also be missing Logan O’Connor (lower-body, indefinite), Matt Calvert (upper-body, week-to-week), Patrik Nemeth (upper-body, day-to-day), Pavel Francouz (lower-body, rest of season), and Erik Johnson (upper-body, rest of season). Colorado sits first in the West Division with a 29-9-4 record.

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