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Zach Werenski Changes Agents

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Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has decided to make a change in representation as he nears the window to begin working on a contract extension.  According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link), he is no longer being represented by CAA’s Pat Brisson and will soon sign with Judd Moldaver of the Wassermann and Orr Hockey Group.

The 23-year-old will enter the third and final year of his current contract this summer meaning that when the 2021-22 calendar officially begins in July with free agency, he will become eligible to sign a new deal.  His current pact carries a $5MM AAV which is certainly below market value but his salary jumps to $7MM next year which means that will serve as his qualifying offer in 2022, one that Columbus will certainly make.

At that point, he will be eligible for salary arbitration and a year away from unrestricted free agency so if talks don’t go well, he can simply elect to go to a hearing, get what he gets, and try his luck on the open market.  That makes this news more interesting as it suggests that Werenski’s intention is to try to work on a deal this summer; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a need to make the agent switch now.

Werenski has become a legitimate top-pairing defenseman, recording at least 37 points in each of his first four seasons while logging over 22 minutes per game in all but his rookie year.  This season has been a bit tough due to injuries as a hernia and two lower-body injuries have limited him to just 35 games although he has averaged a career-high 24:22 per game which means this deal should be high on the priority list.

Having said that, it may have to wait a little bit as fellow blueliner Seth Jones – who happens to still be represented by Brisson, no less – is also entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for an extension.  Unlike Werenski, however, Jones would be unrestricted next summer if he remained unsigned while Werenski has that RFA year remaining so GM Jarmo Kekalainen may have to put Jones’ file at the top of his to-do list.

The current salary cap climate certainly doesn’t work in Werenski’s favor but Columbus is a team that has plenty of flexibility and has had some difficulty retaining some of their top players.  Expect Kekalainen to try to avoid history repeating itself by working on a new deal for Werenski sometime this summer except it will now be handled by Moldaver and his agency.

Seattle Kraken Interested In Goaltender Chris Driedger

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The Seattle Kraken have an enormous amount of decisions to make in the next few months as the expansion draft rolls in. The team must select players from 30 teams and decide on the core of their team for the immediate future. The Vegas Golden Knights hit the jackpot when the opportunity to bring in Marc-Andre Fleury from Pittsburgh became a reality, giving them a face of the franchise, which he continues to be. Now the Seattle Kraken must look to see who can man the net for the next few years.

There are a number of possibilities, including a number of free-agent options for the team, including Philipp Grubauer, Tuukka Rask, Linus Ullmark, Antti Raanta, Mike Smith, Jonathan Bernier and Chris Driedger to name just a few.

However, in his new mailbag piece while talking about goaltending options for Toronto next season, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) mentions that Driedger isn’t a likely option for the Maple Leafs as sources are telling him that Seattle likes Driedger as one of their goalies for next season.

The idea makes some sense as Driedger, while a latecomer to the NHL, has seized his opportunity with the Florida Panthers despite the fact that they signed Sergei Bobrovsky to a seven-year, $70MM contract back in 2019. The 26-year-old dominated in 12 appearances in 2019-20 with a 2.05 GAA and a .938 save percentage and has proven he can keep producing, posting a 2.17 and .923 save percentage in 22 appearances this year.

The team chose not to trade Driedger at the trade deadline even though the goaltender would have brought in a significant return. However, with the Panthers success during the regular season, holding onto Driedger for the postseason was too important to allow the netminder to leave.

However, with free agency approaching as well as a significant payday, the Panthers likely can’t afford to pay big money for Driedger to serve in either a tandem or backup role to the high-priced Bobrovsky. On top of that, Florida just signed top goalie prospect Spencer Knight, who has already made his NHL debut and is next in line to step into the backup role at some point. That leaves Driedger out in the cold and looking for a new job. While there are plenty of teams who will be looking for a netminder next offseason, Seattle could be quite an intriguing option for Driedger.

Unfortunately for Seattle, the team has only a 48-hour exclusive window before the expansion draft to negotiate with Driedger and any other UFA and have them agree to terms, which means they could select him with their expansion pick. Driedger would have to be willing to go to Seattle as opposed to signing with a number of interested teams.

North Notes: Andersen, Holl, Koskinen, Lerby

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The Toronto Maple Leafs might be getting back a familiar face in net as goaltender Frederik Andersen, who has been on the ice for more than a week now saw his practice routine ramped up Sunday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe, who said today was a “good step” in his recovery from a knee injury he suffered in mid-March, according to TSN’s Mark Masters.

He is not expected to join the team on their road trip to Montreal, but is expected to participate in Wednesday’s practice as they build up his workload.

TSN’s Kristen Shilton reports that Justin Holl, who left Saturday’s game in the third period after being hit in the face with a puck, was not at practice Sunday. He was replaced in the lineup by Timothy Liljegren. Keefe said that Holl “is doing well,” but will not be travelling to Montreal with the team, according to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. However, Holl is not expected to be out for a significant amount of time.

  • Sportnet’s Mark Spector reports that the Edmonton Oilers are expected to give some starts to goaltender Mikko Koskinen over the team’s final seven games. Koskinen, who lost his job as the team’s starting netminder, got his first start Wednesday since April 7 and fared quite well, stopping 29 of 30 shots against Winnipeg. Despite the impressive play of veteran Mike Smith, the team might want to kick the tires on Koskinen and see what he has to offer after struggling earlier this year. He has posted an 11-11 record this season with a 2.99 GAA and a .906 save percentage this season, allowing Smith to overtake him as the team’s No. 1 option.
  • The Calgary Flames may be losing a prospect as defenseman Carl-Johan Lerby is close to signing a new contract with Malmo of the SHL after his two-year deal with Calgary expires this offseason, according to Johan Svensson of KvallsPosten (translation required). Of course, nothing has been confirmed, but the 23-year-old Lerby, who signed with the Flames as an undrafted free agent in 2019, has yet to make his NHL debut and doesn’t look on track to do it this season. He spent the first season of the contract on loan to Malmo and has spent this season with the Stockton Heat of the AHL where he has seven assists in 22 games.

Yegor Chinakhov Signs With Columbus Blue Jackets

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Sunday: Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the entry-level deal for Chinakhov is now official. However, with little time remaining in the season and plenty of visa paperwork still needed to be done, Chinakhov will not be able to play for the team this season. However, his contract will begin this season, meaning that he will become a restricted free-agent after the 2022-23 season. The Blue Jackets have confirmed the deal.

Friday: After winning the Gagarin Cup earlier this week, Yegor Chinakhov had a decision to make whether to re-sign in the KHL and continue his career in Russia, or join the Columbus Blue Jackets who drafted him last fall. When his KHL contract expired today, the decision was made, and Chinakhov is coming to North America according to his agent Shumi Babaev. The Blue Jackets have not released any details, but the 20-year-old forward will be limited to a three-year entry-level contract.

As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweets, it seems unlikely Chinakhov will be able to play before the end of this season because of the time it takes to secure a visa, but this is still a big step for the Blue Jackets as they look to turn the page on a disastrous campaign. Selected 21st overall in October, a shocking decision according to many analysts, Chinakhov was an overage draft prospect set to make his KHL debut. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has never been shy about picking the player he believes in regardless of consensus draft ranking, and Chinakhov looks like another winner.

In 32 games for Avangard Omsk during the regular season, Chinakhov recorded 10 goals and 17 points. Add in another five goals and seven points in the postseason and you have quite the strong campaign for a player who only turned 20 in February and was playing at the KHL level for the first time. Near the end of the playoffs, he was logging substantial minutes on the championship squad, even eclipsing veteran names like Ilya Kovalchuk and Sergey Tolchinsky at times (though an illness kept him out of the clinching game).

Columbus has very few players actually signed for the 2021-22 campaign, meaning there could be plenty of opportunity in the organization should Chinakhov prove to be NHL ready. After such a disappointing season for Kekalainen’s team, change seems inevitable.

Edmonton Oilers Assign Philip Broberg To Taxi Squad

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With his SHL season complete, the Edmonton Oilers have immediately recalled one of their top prospects, Philip Broberg, and have assigned him to the team’s taxi squad, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

Broberg was the Oilers top pick in 2018 — the eighth overall pick. While the defenseman was quite raw when he was drafted, he did offer the team a combination of size (6-foot-3) and speed and has progressed well over the last two years. Broberg was given limited playing time in the SHL in 2019-20, but saw an increased role with the team last year, which also included being named captain of the World Junior team. While he struggled there due while playing through an injury, Broberg looks ready to take the next step and cross over to North America.

This won’t be his first venture in North America. The 19-year-old came over last year to participate in Oilers’ training camp before the bubble and impressed the organization with his skating abilities. He was invited to join the team in the bubble, but never got into a game with the team. With the pandemic underway, the Oilers loaned him back to Skelleftea where he received more playing time and even saw some time on the power play. He finished the season with three goals and 13 points in 44 games.

While there is no word on whether he will get an opportunity to play for the Oilers this year, he will be given a chance to earn a promotion to the team over the next few games. It’s more likely the young blueliner will spend next year in the AHL.

Nikita Tryamkin Signs Two-Year Extension To Stay In KHL

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Ever since 6-foot-7, 253-pound defenseman Nikita Tryamkin left the Vancouver Canucks back in 2017, they have been working to bring him back. There was plenty of optimism recently that the Canucks were close to convincing the blueliner to return to the team. Instead, it looks like Tryamkin’s chances of returning to Vancouver could be over after the KHL announced he signed a two-year extension with Yekaterinburg Automobilist. To make matters worse, Tryamkin’s rights with Vancouver will expire in two years, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023-24.

The two sides did attempt to work out a deal recently, but were not able to work out a deal, according to Canucks reporter Rick Dhaliwal.

“I told the Canucks what it would take on both a 1 or 2 year term and they told me what they could guarantee today and the gap was just too wide for Nikita,” said Tryamkin’s agent, Todd Diamond. “Nikita didn’t want to wait and be in a situation like last summer where the team didn’t act and the KHL Club had nearly exhausted its budget.”

Diamond, revealed earlier this year that he believes Tryamkin was ready to take another chance in the NHL after struggling in his two years with the team years ago. The 26-year-old has developed into a solid two-way defenseman and could have had a major impact on the Canucks defense next year had they been able to come to terms. The blueliner was already known as a good skater considering his size, but only averaged 16:52 of ice time with Vancouver between 2015-17. He has excelled with Automobilist, scoring 17 goals and 63 points over four seasons there.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 05/02/21

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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:

Central Division

North Division

  • The Montreal Canadiens announced they have assigned forward Ryan Poehling and Alex Belzile from the taxi squad to the Laval Rocket of the AHL. Poehling, who played 21 games for the Canadiens last season, has yet to make his season-debut with Montreal this year. He has 11 goals and 25 points in 28 games with Laval.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have recalled forward Jonah Gadjovic from the Utica Comets of the AHL, according to the AHL transactions page. The 22-year-old has had a breakout season in the AHL with a career-high 15 goals in just 19 games.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned forward Denis Malgin from the taxi squad to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, according to CapFriendly. Malgin has spent the entire season on loan in the NL where he has posted 19 goals and 42 points in 45 games there. With the season over in Switzerland, he will now join the Marlies until needed.

East Division

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have reassigned goaltender Felix Sandstrom from the taxi squad to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, according to CapFriendly. The 24-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut.

West Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Amir Miftakhov To Entry-Level Deal

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The Tampa Bay Lightning signed goaltending prospect Hugo Alnefelt Saturday and now have added another netminder to their stable of prospects as the team announced they have inked Amir Miftakhov to an entry-level contract.

Despite being a Lightning’s sixth-round pick from the 2020 draft, it looks as if Tampa Bay intends to fast-track Miftakhov as it is believed that he will come to North America and likely compete with Alnefelt next year in the AHL.

While being drafted a year later than the 19-year-old Alnefelt, Miftakhov is actually a year older than him. The 21-year-old was passed over in the draft twice before finally being selected by Tampa Bay last year. One likely reason for not being drafted immediately was his size as Miftakhov is just 6-foot, 172 pounds, quite small for a netminder.

Regardless of his size, he has fared quite well in three seasons with Bars Kazan of the VHL and this year got an opportunity with seven games in the KHL where he posted a 2.25 GAA and a .917 save percentage. He also was the starting goaltender at the 2020 World Junior Championships in which he led Team Russia to a silver medal.

Latest On Rod Brind’Amour

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The Carolina Hurricanes have the most points in the entire NHL and look poised for another long playoff run. Their coach happens to be a franchise icon that served as captain during the organization’s only Stanley Cup championship in 2006. What seems like the easiest extension in history has been expected for some time with head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who is only under contract through the end of the 2021-22 season. But the deal still hasn’t been signed, and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shed some light on exactly why:

They don’t have an extension done yet for next year and I understand that one of the biggest issues there is that Brind’Amour has asked that as much as he wants himself to get a contract extension, he also wants extensions for his coaching staff, the training staff and the equipment staff–which also aren’t signed for next year.

As Friedman explains, the odds are still on Brind’Amour signing with the Hurricanes, but there are teams “that would like to back up the Brinks truck” to steal him away from Carolina. It’s easy to understand why after the success he’s had through the early part of his coaching career. In three seasons, Brind’Amour is currently sitting at a 117-64-19 record, which would put him sixth all-time in winning percentage among coaches with at least 200 games.

Obviously, some of that is the Hurricanes core coming into its own, but there’s no doubt that Brind’Amour has impressed behind the bench. The fact that he is now sticking his neck out for the rest of the staff will only improve his reputation, even if it does make it a little more difficult to work out a new contract in Carolina.

Of course, there is now an NHL team without a head coach and it happens to be managed by former teammate and long-time Hurricanes colleague Ron Francis. The Seattle Kraken are taking their time deciding who will lead the team during their inaugural season and though there has not been a direct connection yet to Brind’Amour, you can bet they would be one of the (many) teams keeping an eye on the situation in Carolina.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 05/01/21

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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 today’s list:

Anaheim – Adam Henrique
Arizona – John Hayden*
Calgary – Josh Leivo
Los Angeles – TBA
New Jersey – Jonas Siegenthaler

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: P.K. Subban, New Jersey Devils

One name added, one name removed for the NHL today, as Subban is eligible to rejoin the Devils. Hayden played last night against the Golden Knights but won’t be available for the rematch. Hopefully, his is a contact situation or false positive, but both the Coyotes and Golden Knights will be a team to watch here the next few days.

*denotes new addition

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