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Archives for August 2021

New York Rangers To Hire Ryan Martin

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Aug 25: The Rangers have officially announced the hiring of Martin, naming him to the roles previously reported.

Aug 13: The New York Rangers have added to the front office, hiring Ryan Martin as assistant general manager according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Martin will also serve as general manager of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the role previously held by Chris Drury before he was promoted in the Rangers organization.

It’s a big change for Martin, who has worked in the Detroit Red Wings front office for more than 15 years, including more than a decade as the team’s assistant GM. He also served as the GM of the Grand Rapids Griffins since 2013, winning the Calder Cup in 2017. Martin is also part of the staff for the U.S. World Junior program, which resulted in a gold medal at this year’s tournament.

The Rangers front office group is finally starting to take shape under Drury, who also hired John Lilley away from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month as director of player personnel and amateur scouting. The team underwent a drastic management dismissal earlier this year after some embarrassing losses, and has made it very clear that the team will undergo stylistic changes for the 2021-22 season. Players like Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves, Patrik Nemeth, Jarred Tinordi and Sammy Blais have been brought in to give the team some significant size and physicality.

Martin’s history with contract negotiation and salary cap management will be key for the Rangers over the next few years, as they enter contract talks with some of their key players. Norris winner Adam Fox has just one year left on his entry-level deal, while top center Mika Zibanejad is scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer. With those and many other contract talks coming up, cap concerns could become very pressing for the Rangers in short order.

San Jose Sharks Sign Jasper Weatherby

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The San Jose Sharks have signed Jasper Weatherby to a two-year entry-level contract. Weatherby has spent the last three seasons at the University of North Dakota but will forego his senior season and turn pro. PuckPedia reports that the terms of $842,500 AAV deal are as follows:

Both seasons: $750,000 NHL salary, $92,500 signing bonus, $82,500 games played bonus, $70,000 minors salary

That’s actually not what was expected, as Weatherby told his coaching staff earlier this year that he would be returning for his senior season. Instead, he’ll take a chance to compete for an NHL spot on a Sharks roster that is desperately looking for inexpensive contributions. In fact, there may well be a chance for the 6’4″ Weatherby to step right into the NHL as a bottom-six option in San Jose after his strong 2020-21 season. He recorded 14 goals and 24 points in 29 games for North Dakota, while also winning nearly 60% of his faceoffs.

Sharks GM Doug Wilson released a statement on the signing:

Jasper’s performance at our development camp showcased his offensive skill, as well as his ability to utilize his size and strength to consistently win faceoffs. He was a top collegiate player last season and served in a leadership role for North Dakota on and off the ice. The ingredients he brings meshes well with the top young players who are emerging in our system. We would like to thank the North Dakota hockey program for all of their hard work in helping Jasper reach this stage of his career.

Even if he doesn’t land a spot right away, the fourth-round pick is obviously physically mature enough to compete at the AHL level and continue his development on the pro circuit. Now 23, he was limited to a two-year entry-level deal and will be an RFA at its expiry.

The Sharks have a number of players competing for those bottom-six minutes, including a veteran addition in Andrew Cogliano. With so much money tied up in a handful of players, the fringe of the roster is always going to have to be made up of players on their entry-level deals or who have accepted low-cost contracts. One thing that won’t help in his pursuit of a spot is that Weatherby will be waiver-exempt this season.

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic first reported the deal.

OHL Will See Influx Of 2021 NHL Draft Selections For 2021-22

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After a year that saw a straight-up canceled season, one of the most prestigious junior programs in the world will see an influx of talent for the 2021-22 campaign. The Canadian Hockey League as a whole has received some welcome news over the past few days, as high-end prospects from the 2021 NHL Draft have signed on to play with various teams in the CHL next season. Today, Stanislav Svozil, a third-round pick of Columbus, added himself to that list. We’ll dive into a list of notable first-rounders from the 2021 Draft who are expected to be returning to the OHL or coming there for the first time after stints elsewhere last season.

F Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks, 3rd overall) – A somewhat surprising selection, the 6′ 2″, 207-pound power forward will be among the OHL’s biggest stars when the league resumes play after a lost 2020-21 season. McTavish played last season on loan with EHC Olten in the second-tier Swiss League, and impressed with 11 points in 13 regular-season games and seven points in just four playoff games. With an impressive 11 points in seven games for Canada’s U18 squad, serving as their captain during the U18 World Championships, McTavish comes back to his Peterborough Petes as the team’s best and most dynamic forward. He’ll look to improve on his rookie season with the team in 2019-20, in which he scored 29 goals and 42 points in 57 games.

D Brandt Clarke (Los Angeles Kings, 8th overall) – One of the most dynamic defensemen in the draft, Clarke fell all the way to Los Angeles at eighth overall, a lucky break for an already stacked prospect pool. Clarke, property of the OHL’s Barrie Colts, spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan with HC Nove Zamky in Slovakia’s Tipos Extraliga. Posting 15 points in 26 games, the two-way defender flaunted his skating ability on a professional stage. The immense growth in his game overseas will surely be on full display this year in Barrie.

F Brennan Othmann (New York Rangers, 16th overall) – A teammate of McTavish’s with EHC Olten in 2020-21, Othmann looks to bring his elite shot back to the OHL for 2021-22 with the Flint Firebirds. Othmann was able to score some decent playing time in Switzerland, posting 16 points in 34 regular-season games. Those numbers in a professional setting lead many to believe that Othmann will improve on his 17 goals and 33 points that Othmann put up in 55 games with Flint in 2019-20.

F Oskar Olausson (Colorado Avalanche, 28th overall) – Joining Clarke with the Barrie Colts, Olausson is somewhat of a surprise addition to this list. The newly-minted Avalanche prospect has spent the entirety of his career in his native Sweden, yet his decision to move to North America signals a desire to join the Avalanche organization professionally as soon as possible. Picked up by Barrie in the OHL’s Import Draft, Olausson will find more opportunity there than he would have overseas, especially after his HV71 team was relegated to the second-tier Allsvenskan for the upcoming season. His offense should help create an extremely strong attack in Barrie, who’ll have one of the deeper teams in the league next season.

 

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Stanislav Svozil

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Aug 24: Fans in North America won’t have to wait to see Svozil in action. The young defenseman has signed with the Regina Pats, who held his CHL rights after selecting him 15th overall in the 2020 Import Draft. The first year of his entry-level deal will not be burned by playing in the WHL.

Aug 13: The Columbus Blue Jackets have inked one of their 2021 draft picks, signing Stanislav Svozil to a three-year entry-level contract. The young defenseman was selected 69th overall last month.

Svozil, 18, already has two full seasons under his belt at the highest level in the Czech Republic, playing 71 games for HC Kometa Brno since 2019. At the same time that he was learning how to defend against professional players, he was suiting up for his country at U17, U18, and U20 international tournaments. He took home the Extraliga rookie of the year award in 2020 and is expected to return to his club team overseas in 2021-22.

The biggest question about Svozil is whether his size will limit him at the next level given how little he provides offensively. His game is all about defending, and at just 6’0″ that may be a difficult sell for the NHL. Still, playing pro at 16 is no small task, and Svozil has plenty of time to round out the offensive side of his game and develop into a two-way option for the Blue Jackets. Signing his entry-level deal was just the first step.

Snapshots: Power, Belanger, Lipon

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When the Buffalo Sabres secured the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, they had a decision to make. Usually, the top pick in a draft steps directly into the NHL and is given a full-time role on his team. This year, things were different with Owen Power, the consensus top prospect. The big defenseman had already hinted publicly that he was leaning toward a return to the University of Michigan, meaning he wouldn’t be able to help the Sabres during the early part of the season. As revealed today in a behind the scenes video from their pre-draft interview, Power didn’t just hint, he made it quite clear that he wanted to go back to school.

The Sabres, even then, were on board with the idea. GM Kevyn Adams told Power that he loved what he had said about returning to school to chase a national championship and dominate the college scene with no rush to get to the NHL. Michigan should be a powerhouse this season with not only Power returning, but also second-overall pick Matty Beniers and fifth-overall Kent Johnson also returning to the program. Add in fourth-overall Luke Hughes, who will be a freshman with the Wolverines, and it’s easy to see why Power would want to take at least one last crack at an NCAA title before turning pro.

  • The Montreal Canadiens have appointed France Margaret Belanger to the position of President, Sports and Entertainment of Groupe CH. Belanger has been with the organization since 2013 and already served as an alternate governor of the club. As Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweets, Geoff Molson remains the team’s owner and president, but it is Belanger who will be in charge of the day to day operations now. She is the first woman to serve on the Canadiens’ executive in its 104-year history, according to a press release.
  • J.C. Lipon went to the KHL last season and it appears as though he’s going to stay for another year. The former NHL forward has signed a one-year deal with Sochi for the 2021-22 season, after scoring 20 points in 37 games for Dinamo Riga this year. Originally selected 91st overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2013, Lipon played nine games 2015-16 but has mostly been in the minor leagues. In 2019-20 he scored 13 goals and 31 points with the Manitoba Moose, racking up 100 penalty minutes (his sixth AHL season with at least that many).

Valtteri Filppula Signs In Switzerland

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It appears to be the end of the NHL journey for veteran forward Valtteri Filppula. The 37-year-old became a free agent when his two-year, $6MM contract expired this offseason and now he’s heading overseas to finish his career. Filppula has signed with Geneve-Servette HC of the Swiss National League, becoming the team’s fourth import player.

Filppula played in 38 games for the Detroit Red Wings last season, scoring six goals and 15 points. If that is indeed the final season of his NHL career, it has been a very impressive one. The Finnish center played 1,056 regular season games and another 166 in the postseason, going deep into the postseason several times. He reached the Stanley Cup Finals three times, winning it in 2008 with the Red Wings. He currently sits at 197 goals and 530 points, quite the legacy for the 95th overall pick in 2002.

He also made quite a bit of money in his career, with CapFriendly estimating his contract earnings at just under $50MM. Filppula’s return to Detroit in 2019 may not have gone exactly to plan, but he still did contribute 36 points in 108 games while the team went through a rebuild. His departure is one of many that will open roster spots for some of the Red Wings’ younger players as they try to turn the corner and start the long road toward contention.

In Switzerland, he’ll join Daniel Winnik, Marc Pouliot and Henrik Tommernes as the foreign contingent for Geneve-Servette.

Morning Notes: Laberge, Savard, Michkov

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The Maine Mariners have signed Pascal Laberge to a minor league deal, after the Philadelphia Flyers failed to extend him a qualifying offer this summer. The 23-year-old forward was selected 36th overall in 2016 but has yet to really establish himself in professional hockey. In 14 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season, Laberge recorded just three goals and four points.

It’s not too late for Laberge to develop into a strong AHL player, but the idea that he will ever be an NHL option is quickly disappearing. Given the fact that German Rubtsov, he of four career NHL games, was the team’s first-round pick that season you might think the 2016 class is a write-off for Philadelphia. Not so, as the four picks after Laberge have all played in the NHL, including a goaltender by the name of Carter Hart, selected 48th overall.

  • One of junior hockey’s biggest programs is getting a high-profile coach, as Marc Savard has been hired by the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL as head coach. Savard had 706 points in 807 NHL games, including a pair of 95+ point seasons before his career was cut short by concussion issues. He served as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues in 2019-20, but this will be his first chance to run a high-level program. The Spitfires have won the Memorial Cup three times, most recently in 2017 when they had players like Mikhail Sergachev and Gabriel Vilardi leading the way. Savard has his own history of success in the OHL, twice leading the league in scoring (with 139 and 130 points) for the Oshawa Generals.
  • Matvei Michkov, a name you will hear more and more in the coming years, is making his debut for the senior SKA St. Petersburg squad today. Why is that impressive? Well, Michkov is just 16 years old and not eligible for the NHL Draft until 2023. The dynamic winger has carved through the Russian junior system scoring at will and was a big reason why his team won gold at the recent Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. While there are several incredible prospects set to be eligible in that 2023 draft, Michkov has a real shot to compete for the top spot.

New York Rangers Announce Full Coaching Staff

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The New York Rangers have rounded out their coaching staff, hiring several new names to join Gerard Gallant behind the bench this season. Gord Murphy, Mike Kelly, and Jim Midgley have been hired as assistant coaches with the Rangers, while Steve Smith has been named an assistant coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack.

This group brings plenty of familiarity to the bench, as both Murphy and Kelly have previously worked with Gallant at the NHL level. The latter in fact has been something of his right-hand man, coaching with both the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, Gallant’s previous two stops. Murphy coached with Gallant’s Columbus Blue Jackets, but isn’t a newcomer to the Rangers organization. He served as head coach of the Wolf Pack and has stepped into roles with New York whenever necessary over the last few years.

Midgley, a newcomer to the NHL, can actually be seen right now at the IIHF Women’s World Championship where he is serving as an assistant coach for Team Canada. The 43-year-old has never held a coaching position in the NHL but did serve as an amateur scout last season for the Philadelphia Flyers. Before that, he was the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads for a season and even had some time coaching overseas in the DEL.

The Rangers have a new focus this season under new leadership and will be pushing for a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. With newcomers like Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Reaves, and Sammy Blais they should be a much more physical group, making it tough to play against them every night. Whether that results in more wins remains to be seen, but Gallant certainly hasn’t had much trouble in that department recently. The head coach held a .601 winning percentage in his two-plus years in Vegas.

Free Agent Profile: Artem Anisimov

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For teams still looking for a competent, veteran depth option at center, Artem Anisimov remains on the open market. The 33-year-old Russian is coming off of a five-year, $22.75MM extension he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks prior to the 2015-16 season, which kicked in for the 2016-17 campaign. After his offensive production started to decline in Chicago, though, he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators, where he spent the final two seasons of the deal.

Anisimov looked better during his first season in Ottawa, leading some to believe he still had gas left in the tank. A lot of luck went into his 2018-19 season, though, scoring 15 goals but only five assists for 20 points in 49 games. His production wasn’t helped by the fact that he saw a significant ice-time reduction in Ottawa, playing under 14 minutes a night for the first time since 2009-10.

The Russian center still had a respectable year this season but was often a healthy scratch. While his performance may have not necessarily warranted in on a team as thin as the Senators, the aging veteran didn’t quite mesh with the team’s youth movement and was removed from the lineup in favor of ice time for younger players. His finishing luck didn’t quite hold up this season either, but still was respectable offensively in a limited role.

Despite being most well-known for his time in Chicago, he joined the team just after their last Stanley Cup in 2015. Through 13 seasons, Anisimov has never lifted the Stanley Cup above his head. He still has six years and 43 games of playoff experience, though, including a run to the 2012 Eastern Conference Final with the New York Rangers. He’ll likely attempt what could be his last chance at a championship this year on a one-year deal.

Stats

2020-21: 19 GP, 2-7-9, +1 rating, 2 PIMS, 30 shots, 46.3% CF, 12:02 ATOI
Career: 771 GP, 180-196-376, -17 rating, 214 PIMS, 1,380 shots, 49.7% CF, 15:58 ATOI

Potential Suitors

The market may be thin for a player such as Anisimov at this point. While the fact remains that he prefers to stay in North America, his lack of defensive reliability doesn’t quite line up with what many teams are currently looking for in a fourth-line pivot.

If Anisimov is staying in the league, his role will likely be as a team’s 13th forward and certainly won’t be in the lineup every night. A return to a former team in the Rangers may make some amount of sense. He’ll add an additional veteran presence to a team trying to make a surprise run at a championship this season, and would compete for spots in the lineup with Kevin Rooney, Dryden Hunt, and others. He’d do just fine in a sheltered, not-overworked role with a bolstered squad around him.

The Toronto Maple Leafs could also be in the market for a more offensively-minded center that they can use in certain situations, mainly as an alternative to defensive players David Kampf and Pierre Engvall. It’s another good opportunity for Anisimov to chase a championship, as they return with a strong defense and improved goaltending.

Projected Contract

Anisimov was not among the players included on our Top 50 UFA list, published at the end of July. But after the dust has settled and many players have found homes, Anisimov remains as one of the more sure and consistent options left on the market, which may not be saying much. It’s hard to envision a world where Anisimov would make seven figures on a potential one-year deal, especially considering the lack of games played last season. However, it’s still feasible to predict that Anisimov will have at least one more year in the NHL.

St. Louis Blues Agree To Terms With Zack Bolduc

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The St. Louis Blues have agreed to a three-year, entry-level deal for first-round pick Zack Bolduc. The young forward was picked 17th overall in 2021 and is coming off a strong season with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL.

Bolduc, 18, had 29 points in 27 games this season for Rimouski, following his 30-goal 2019-20 campaign that earned him the QMJHL Rookie of the Year honors. The former linemate of 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, Bolduc is a talented offensive player in his own right who has been compared to players like Sean Monahan in the past. His ability to play the middle of the ice is an important one, as true center prospects are difficult to acquire, especially ones with the upside that Bolduc represents.

That’s not to say he’ll be in the NHL right away. In fact, it seems very likely that the young forward will be back in the QMJHL this season to continue his development with the Oceanic and really try to dominate the league offensively. He’ll also be a candidate for Team Canada at the World Juniors and was recently at the team’s summer camp.

If he does return to junior, Bolduc’s contract will slide forward, meaning the first year of his three-year deal will not be burned in 2021-22. That could actually happen again is 2022-23 should he go back to the QMJHL once again, meaning this contract gives the team plenty of control.

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