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Archives for April 2022

Vancouver Canucks Extend Spencer Martin

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April 8: Martin has indeed signed a one-way contract, and a two-year deal at that. The team announced the contract today, with general manager Patrik Allvin releasing the following statement:

We’re pleased with the success Spencer has had this season, not only in the American Hockey League but also during his stint with Vancouver earlier this year. He has been very reliable for Abbotsford, contributing greatly to their Calder Cup Playoff berth earlier this month, and has shown an ability to perform in high-pressure situations.

Dhaliwal reports that the deal will carry the league minimum of $750K in 2022-23 and $775K in 2023-24.

April 7: For three games in January, the Vancouver Canucks were forced to rely on minor league journeyman Spencer Martin in net. All he did in those games was stop 113 of 118 shots, including a 47-save performance to secure a point in overtime against the Edmonton Oilers. Now, he may end up with his reward. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reports that the Canucks are discussing a new contract with Martin, who could become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and that the expectation is it would be a one-way deal.

Martin, 26, was a third-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2013, but has bounced around the minor leagues without a lot of extended success. He’s played for the Fort Wayne Komets, San Antonio Rampage, Colorado Eagles, Orlando Solar Bears, and Syracuse Crunch before reaching the Canucks, only ever entering three NHL games back in 2016-17.

Last year, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and then was traded just a few months later for nothing more than future considerations. That move has proved a savvy one for the Canucks, who not only received those three NHL performances, but also a goaltender that has put up a 17-4-2 record in the minor leagues with Abbotsford.

The Canucks, meanwhile, have received inconsistent backup play from Jaroslav Halak, who is also a pending unrestricted free agent and will turn 37 next month. A potential extension for Martin could put him in line to be the regular NHL backup next season, or at very worst a strong third-string option. If he does earn a one-way contract, it will be for the first time in his career.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Max Ellis

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed another undrafted forward out of the University of Notre Dame, inking Max Ellis to a two-year entry-level contract. The deal begins in the 2022-23 season and Ellis will join the Toronto Marlies on a professional tryout for the rest of 2021-22. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports that it will carry an average annual value of $838,750 at the NHL level.

Ellis, 22, follows former teammate Alex Steeves into the Maple Leafs organization. Steeves signed last spring after his junior season with Notre Dame, and now Ellis has done the same, following his 16-goal, 28-point year with the Fighting Irish. It’s been a rollercoaster career for the young forward to this point, who played for four different USHL teams in two years before heading to college and was forced to fight and claw his way up the Notre Dame depth chart.

Now, he enters the Toronto organization as another undersized winger with some interesting offensive upside and will have to do the same for the Marlies lineup card. An entry-level contract certainly doesn’t guarantee him any NHL playing time and there are many other young forwards already signed for next season. In fact, the Maple Leafs already have 12 forwards on entry-level deals for 2022-23, plus Joey Anderson’s $750K one-way deal. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and should create plenty of competition in the minor leagues.

AHL Shuffle: 04/08/22

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Just five games are on the schedule for this evening but they bring a lot of fireworks. The Tampa Bay Lightning welcome in the Boston Bruins in a crucial Atlantic Division matchup, while the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues battle for second in the Central. As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling around the league.

Atlantic Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have sent Cole Reinhardt back to the AHL, after he made his NHL debut last night. The 22-year-old forward played just over eight minutes, recorded two hits, and took a hooking penalty that ended up costing the Senators the game. In 60 appearances with the Belleville Senators, he has 26 points.
  • Josh Brook has been assigned all the way down to the ECHL by the Montreal Canadiens, as he tries to get his career back on track. The 22-year-old defenseman has played just six games this season because of injury and is still quite a ways from being the impact NHL player that some expected of him. Brook spoke about his season and his career in a recent column from Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have assigned winger Taro Hirose to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. With the return of Mitchell Stephens, who has been out since November 13th, the team needed to make room on their roster, so Hirose gets sent down. Hirose, 25, has gotten into 12 NHL games this season and has posted four points. He has been a crucial player for the Griffins this season, where he has 45 points in 52 AHL games. Hirose has 20 points in 54 career NHL games, going back to when he made his NHL debut in the 2018-19 season.

Metropolitan Division

  • The New Jersey Devils have recalled defenseman Kevin Bahl from the AHL’s Utica Comets to meet the team in Dallas. Bahl, 21, was famously part of the Devils’ return from their trade of Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, and the 2018 55th overall pick has 13 NHL games to his name. He has 16 points in 54 games in the AHL this season as well.

Central Division

Pacific Division

This page is updated throughout the day

Latest On Andrei Kuzmenko

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The world has changed quite a bit since Andrei Kuzmenko’s name surfaced in November as a player that was drawing interest from NHL teams. Given his place in the KHL and Russia’s actions in the invasion of Ukraine, it wasn’t at all clear whether teams would still pursue the soon-to-be free agent. On last night’s Insider Trading, Chris Johnston cleared that up.

I think what’s interesting is that even with the situation with Russia having invaded Ukraine, it doesn’t seem to have scared teams off at this point. And his contract in Russia runs through April 30. So as of May 1, he’s available to sign an NHL deal.

Kuzmenko, 26, had a brilliant regular season in the KHL this year, scoring 53 points in 45 games, and has carried that play right over into the postseason. Through 12 playoff games with SKA St. Petersburg, the dynamic forward has seven goals and 13 points, leading the team to the Conference Finals. Importantly, SKA is actually down 2-1 in their series against CSKA, meaning they could be eliminated in the coming days. If that happens, Kuzmenko will have plenty of time to talk to NHL clubs before his contract officially expires at the end of the month.

Johnston notes that a deal is not “cooked” yet, meaning there isn’t an agreement in place at this point. The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks have confirmed interest, but in 2018, the last time Kuzmenko was discussing contracts in the NHL, his agent said 24 teams reached out. If it’s anywhere near that many this time around, he’ll have quite a few options to choose from.

To be clear, Kuzmenko would not be eligible for this year’s playoffs, even if he joins a team still involved. Because he is not on any team’s reserve list as an undrafted player, he would have had to sign a contract before the trade deadline to help them in this postseason.

PHR Chatter: The Definition Of Value

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As we head into the stretch run of the 2021-22 season, PHR is excited to announce a new feature aimed at encouraging discourse between reader and writer. On Friday mornings (and perhaps even more often than that), we’ll post a topic of discussion that we think will draw out varied and interesting perspectives from both our commenters and the other staff writers.

For too long there has only been a couple of outlets for our readers to interact with the PHR staff. Live chats and mailbags offer a chance at some discussion, but also run the risk of being too crowded or even outdated by the time the answer arrives. With this new feature, we’re hoping to get weekly chatter going on a topic that normally would have to be brought into the spotlight by a reader before even being discussed.

Last week, the topic centered on the early deadline returns and how teams were adjusting to their new players. This time, we might as well talk a bit about what the rest of the hockey world seems to be discussing.

What does Most Valuable Player really mean? The Hart Trophy has been up for debate long before this year, but Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Jonathan Huberdeau, Roman Josi, and Igor Shesterkin seem to be making things even more heated this season. Everyone has an idea of what it means to be the MVP–let’s see if we can’t come to a consensus. This will be a free-flowing discussion that doesn’t have a lot of guidelines, so make sure you chime in and check regularly to continue the conversation.

Looking At The Philadelphia Flyers Pursuit Of Centers

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After trading star center and face-of-the franchise Claude Giroux at the NHL Trade Deadline a few weeks ago, the Philadelphia Flyers have recently been linked to the center market for this upcoming offseason. The Flyers have never been a team that has looked to go into a full rebuild, and it appears they won’t break that trend after a dreadful season which is still ongoing. The team has dealt with a slew of injuries, most notably to defenseman Ryan Ellis, who the Flyers acquired last offseason to add to what was expected to be a formidable defense group.

Looking towards next season, the Flyers are poised to bring back a strong group of veteran defensemen, and a mix of young and veteran wingers who, if healthy, could be rather competitive. Philadelphia’s center depth, however, could use an upgrade, especially now that Giroux is out of the picture. Right now, the Flyers could expect Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, and Patrick Brown to compete for spots up the middle next year, with some spilling over to roles on the wing.

One intriguing name speculated by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his 32 Thoughts, was Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri. After a career-high 61 points in 82 games back in the 2016-17 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kadri has exploded in a career year for Colorado before heading into free agency this offseason. Kadri currently has 83 points, including 26 goals and 57 assists, in 65 games this season. One concern however, is that as talented as Kadri is, he will turn 32 years old just in time for the start of next season, and after this breakout season, it would seem highly likely that he will seek a six or seven year contract, says Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period (link). A seven-year deal would carry Kadri through his age-38 season, and could cause some issues for the Flyers in the back half of that potential deal.

Di Marco also suggests Carolina Hurricanes’ center Vincent Trocheck as an option for Philadelphia.  Trocheck is certainly not the presence Kadri has been, however he has long been considered a reliable, 200 foot player for his teams. The veteran has had an impressive 46 points in 70 games for the Hurricanes this season, however that is still well short of his career best 75 points in 82 games for the Florida Panthers back in 2017-18.

What might make Trocheck the more intriguing option for the Flyers is his age. He will be 29 years old on opening night, nearly three years younger than Kadri, and teams may have the ability to sign him to a shorter deal, perhaps four to six years. Although Kadri surely has the edge over Trocheck in their overall game, Trocheck would still fit nicely on a second line, lengthening the Flyers’ lineup down the middle and giving players like Hayes, Konecny, or Frost chances on the wing.

In addition to Kadri and Trocheck, there are several more pending UFAs at center that the Flyers could pursue to fill the need, such as the Hurricanes’ Max Domi, the New York Rangers’ Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp, and the Winnipeg Jets’ Paul Stastny, to name a few. Each of these names would be a step back from someone like Trocheck, but each can provide a middle-six presence at center that the Flyers are looking to add.

After all, despite being injured and out for the remainder of this season, the Flyers still have Couturier, one of the NHL’s elite centers, under contract through 2029-30. What the Flyers have planned for the offseason is still a mystery, but the options on the table are rather intriguing, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that despite their struggles this season, their internal options are certainly legitimate.

Snapshots: Michigan, Meyers, Penguins, McCarron

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7:14 pm: Denver University forward, and Edmonton Oilers draft choice, Carter Savoie, came up big, scoring the overtime winner for Denver to defeat Michigan and send Denver to the men’s college hockey championship on Saturday, with Minnesota State and the University of Minnesota playing tonight for the other spot in the final. With the conclusion of Michigan’s season, attention will now turn to Michigan’s core of future NHL talent to see if and when they sign their first professional contracts.

6:55 pm: According to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, seven or eight Michigan University players are expected to turn pro after their NCAA season comes to an end (link). Most notable among them are Sabres’ number one overall draft choice in 2021, Owen Power; the second overall selection in 2021 and the first draft pick in Seattle Kraken history, Matty Beniers; and the fifth overall choice in 2021 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Kent Johnson. Another premier name on the highly-talented Michigan team, Luke Hughes, who was selected fourth overall in 2021 by the New Jersey Devils, is not expected to turn pro and will return to Michigan next year. The NCAA men’s hockey championship game is scheduled for Saturday night at 8:00 pm ET.

  • Another player expected to turn pro is forward Ben Meyers, says Kaplan. The 23-year-old Meyers, who went undrafted, has been a standout for Minnesota, scoring 39 goals to go with 56 assists in 101 games with Minnesota over three seasons. Prior to Minnesota, Meyers spent parts of three seasons with the Fargo Force of the USHL.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins are dealing with an array of non-COVID illnesses and will miss several pieces tonight, including captain Sidney Crosby, in their game against the New York Rangers. The Penguins announced they will be missing Crosby, John Marino, and Radim Zohorna for the game. The team has not confirmed if any of the players are expected to be out beyond tonight’s game. The Penguins next play Saturday afternoon at home against the Washington Capitals.
  • Michael McCarron will be out of the lineup for at least a couple of weeks, as the Nashville Predators announced the forward is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old has split time between the NHL and AHL this season for Nashville, providing seven goals and seven assists in 46 games at the NHL level, using his 6’6″ frame to provide a physical presence for Nashville. There is no firm time-table yet for McCarron’s return, but the Predators will hope to get him back in time for the playoffs, if the Predators qualify, where his play style will be quite helpful in winning tough playoff-style games.

AHL Shuffle: 04/07/22

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While the majority of attention in the hockey world is on the four schools taking part in tonight’s 2022 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, there’s still a lot of NHL action on this Thursday. And, while transactions between teams and their minor league affiliates generally calm down as roster limits go away after the Trade Deadline, teams are still looking to tinker with their rosters and give young players a chance during the home stretch. Keep up with today’s list of AHL transactions:

Atlantic Division

  • Per the team, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned forward Kyle Criscuolo to the Grand Rapids Griffins today. Criscuolo has played two NHL games this month with Detroit, his first two since a pair of games in mid-December. The 29-year-old AHL veteran has two assists in his four games with the big club this year, but he returns to Grand Rapids now, where the alternate captain is sixth on the team with 32 points in 49 games.
  • Forward Cole Reinhardt will make his NHL debut for the Ottawa Senators tonight against the Nashville Predators, as the team recalled him today upon learning Tim Stützle would be unavailable with a lower-body injury. Reinhardt, a sixth-round pick in 2020 (two years after he was eligible), is in his second professional season. With the Belleville Senators this season, he has 11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points, and 56 penalty minutes in 60 games.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • The Winnipeg Jets have swapped defenseman, calling up Dylan Samberg on an emergency basis while returning Ville Heinola to the Manitoba Moose, as the team tweeted today. Samberg has the chance to get into his first NHL game since January, where a weeks-long call-up saw him get his first two NHL assists in six games. Heinola is somewhat mysteriously sent down after registering three points in his last four games.

Pacific Division

  • The Vancouver Canucks announced that they have recalled forward Sheldon Dries from Abbotsford of the AHL under emergency conditions ahead of tonight’s game at the Arizona Coyotes. In a related move, the Canucks have reassigned defenseman Jack Rathbone to Abbotsford. This season, Dries has played in just two games for the Canucks, but has had a stellar season for Abbotsford, recording 35 goals and 27 assists in 54 games. Rathbone has played in nine NHL games this season for Vancouver, but has not played since November 11th.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Snapshots: Ekblad, Sharks, Valimaki

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While he may not be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, things are still looking positive regarding the health of Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. Head coach Andrew Brunette said today that Ekblad remains week-to-week, but he has started skating and should return sometime in early May. That makes it seem likely that Ekblad will at least make an appearance during Florida’s First Round series, which will likely be against the Washington Capitals. It will be the second season in a row where Florida starts the playoffs without their star defenseman due to a lower-body injury, but this time around, it seems he’ll be ready to step in shortly after. Ekblad will have finished his regular season with 15 goals and 42 assists for 57 points in just 61 games, which is still currently eighth among all NHL defensemen.

More from around the NHL today:

  • While San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson had been on a medical leave of absence since November, his departure announcement from the organization today still came as a shock. Long-time assistant GM Joe Will has taken duties since then, and he’ll remain in the interim position, but team president Jonathan Becher said today that the Sharks will hope to have a new GM by the beginning of next year. With that, it’s entirely possible that the Sharks head into a draft and free agency period with Will still at the helm of the club. That may not be an entirely bad thing, considering his familiarity with Becher and the club, but it takes away the chance for his successor to craft their roster ahead of next season.
  • After being sent down early in the year and falling out of favor with head coach Darryl Sutter, the Calgary Flames have brought top defense prospect Juuso Valimaki back up to the big club from the AHL’s Stockton Heat. Valimaki played in 49 of the team’s 56 games last season, recording 11 points and never touching AHL ice. But after just two assists in eight games this season in limited minutes, the team opted to send Valimaki back down to the minors, where he had 17 points in 30 games. The team has no injuries on defense, so it’s a clear sign that the organization wants to see what effect his AHL stint this year had on him and whether he can be relied upon to play minutes for the team in the playoffs if injuries strike.

Los Angeles Kings Activate Brendan Lemieux, Matt Roy

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The Los Angeles Kings have activated both Brendan Lemieux and Matt Roy from injured reserve, giving them some reinforcements for an important game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers. Because it is past the trade deadline, the team is not limited by a 23-man roster anymore, meaning corresponding moves aren’t necessarily required.

Lemieux, 26, last played over a month ago, leaving a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first period and landing on the shelf. The bang-and-crash winger has recorded eight goals and 11 points in 44 games this season, racking up 86 penalty minutes and 108 hits along the way. Notably, he also missed time with a five-game suspension for biting, during an altercation with Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

While he doesn’t provide a ton of offense, Lemieux does give them another bottom-six option to work with while they chase a Pacific Division playoff spot, something that certainly isn’t guaranteed after some recent scuffles.

Roy, 27, is the much bigger addition, returning after several weeks on the sideline himself. In each of the two games before he suffered an injury, Roy had actually logged nearly 27 minutes of ice time, stepping into a huge role with so many other Kings’ defenders on the injured list. Overall, the seventh-round pick has put together quite the season for himself, averaging close to 21 minutes a night through 58 games and registering 17 points.

He’s not the flashiest player, but given how many injuries the Kings have dealt with on the back end, Roy’s return will be a welcome sight. He practiced on the top pairing with Sean Durzi yesterday, though things could obviously be switched in his first game back given how long he’s been out.

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