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Detroit Red Wings Sign Pontus Andreasson

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The Red Wings have announced today that they have signed winger Pontus Andreasson to a one-year contract.

Andreasson, 23, is an undrafted player who has spent his entire career playing in his native Sweden. He has worked his way up the ranks of Swedish hockey over the past few years. In 2018-19, Andreasson had 38 points in 38 games for Hanhals IF of HockeyEttan, the third tier of Swedish hockey. From 2019-20 to 2020-21, Andreasson played for IF Bjorkloven in the second tier of Swedish Hockey, Allsvenskan, where he remained productive, posting a combined 52 points in 103 games. Andreasson then moved to the top-tier Swedish Hockey League level, where he was second in points among rookies with 38 in 52 games for Lulea HF. He starred in Lulea’s run to the SHL playoff finals, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 13 games. It’s off the back of this impressive playoff performance that Andreasson lands his first contract with an NHL club.

For Detroit, signing Andreasson means they add a developed but still-young player to their growing stable of impressive young talent from Andreasson’s country. Swedish import and top prospect Simon Edvinsson recently signed his entry-level deal, and Swedish rookie Lucas Raymond is already a star on the roster.

Regardless of if Andreasson is ultimately successful in North America or not, his signing in Detroit represents an impressive achievement for an undrafted player who has climbed the professional hockey ladder in his home country.

Nashville Predators Sign Yaroslav Askarov

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Today seems to be the day for top goalie prospects to sign their entry-level contracts. Just after the Minnesota Wild inked their own top goalie prospect, Jesper Wallstedt, to his entry-level deal, the Nashville Predators have announced that they have signed their own top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to a three-year entry-level contract. Askarov signed an AHL tryout contract with the Predators’ affiliate Milwaukee Admirals earlier this month, indicating that his full signing with the Predators would be coming soon. Now, the move is official.

Askarov, 19, is one of the top goalie prospects in all of hockey and also one of the highest-drafted goaltenders in recent years. Askarov was the eleventh pick in the 2020 draft, the highest pick since current Maple Leafs starter Jack Campbell went eleventh to the Dallas Stars at the 2010 draft. Askarov has thus far spent his career developing in his native Russia, where he has starred in limited action at the KHL level. In nine games for SKA St. Petersburg in 2020-21, Askarov posted a .951 save percentage and a 1.21 goals-against-average, numbers that are reminiscent of Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin’s KHL dominance but at a far younger age. (Albeit with a far smaller sample size of games.) Askarov got into six KHL games this season, posting a .913 save percentage and a 1.81 goals-against-average.

With Vezina finalist Juuse Saros already entrenched as Nashville’s number-one goaltender and under contract for at least the next three seasons, Askarov will have plenty of time to acclimate himself to goaltending in North America and should be afforded ample opportunity to develop at his own pace. Too many prospects have had their development tracks derailed by teams rushing them to the NHL out of necessity, due to that team needing the talent the prospect brings, however raw it may be at the time. Thankfully for the Predators, though, with Saros in net, it’s unlikely that will be an issue for Askarov. Instead, Predators fans can get excited about the next few years of Milwaukee Admirals hockey featuring one of the most promising young goaltenders in the sport.

East Notes: Point, Boyle, Goodrow

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It looks like the Battle of Florida will be missing one of its biggest stars, at least for Game 1. After falling awkwardly in their Game 7 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point is doubtful for Game 1 of their Second Round series against the Florida Panthers, according to head coach Jon Cooper. Cooper notes that Point’s availability remains day-to-day, however.

Point’s injury didn’t look good, to say the least. Toe-picking along the wall with not much time remaining in the first period, Point’s leg went into the boards and he immediately winced in pain, grabbing his right leg near his hip. Point attempted to return for a shift in the second period and did not return after, although he did stay on the bench. The Leafs did a decent job of limiting Point in that series, holding him to just four points in seven games (and a -6 rating), although he did score the overtime winner in Game 6 to tie the series. Nonetheless, he remains an extremely important piece for the Lightning if they hope to get past their Presidents’ Trophy-winning Floridian counterparts and keep the three-peat dream alive.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that veteran forward Brian Boyle underwent successful knee surgery today with an expected recovery time of six weeks. Boyle was injured in the team’s Game 6 loss to the New York Rangers. The 37-year-old was a pleasant surprise this season for Pittsburgh, notching 21 points in 66 games and two assists in six playoff games. The cancer survivor signed a PTO with the Penguins during training camp after not playing professionally in 2020-21 and carved out a regular spot in the lineup. It remains to be seen whether Boyle will return to the NHL next season.
  • Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow won’t be available for Games 1 and 2 of their Second Round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, but he still has a chance to return from injury during the series according to head coach Gerard Gallant. Goodrow was injured in Game 1 against the Penguins and hasn’t played since. He remains week-to-week with an undisclosed injury.

Jesper Wallstedt Signs Entry-Level Deal With Minnesota

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12:46 pm: The Wild have made Wallstedt’s signing official. The contract will begin for the 2022-23 season.

9:33 am: With all the uncertainty around the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation for next season, it looks like fans could get a chance to see the team’s future in goal in North America in 2022-23. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports Monday morning that the Wild are close to signing 2021 first-round selection Jesper Wallstedt to his three-year, entry-level contract.

Wallstedt alluded to the move himself with an Instagram post, thanking his Swedish club, Lulea HF, for the four seasons he spent there but said it was time to take the next step in his career. Lulea lost the SHL championship series to Farjestad, scoring just one goal in the final two games as Farjestad rebounded to take the series in seven games.

The 19-year-old native of Vasteras, Sweden, was widely regarded as the top goaltending prospect in the 2021 draft. Some public boards went so far as to rank him as one of the top 10 prospects available. However, a small late-season dip in his play combined with a stellar run in the WHL playoffs from the Edmonton Oil Kings’ Sebastian Cossa led to Wallstedt being the second goalie off the board at 20th overall. The pick originally belonged to the Edmonton Oilers, but the Wild made a draft-day trade to move up two spots from 22nd overall, surrendering the 90th overall pick (Luca Munzenberger) to the Oilers in return as well.

Wallstedt improved significantly on his numbers from last season this year. After a rough end to the 2020-21 season in Lulea and a subpar pair of playoff games, Wallstedt rebounded to post a 12-10-0 record, .918 save percentage, 1.98 goals-against average, and three shutouts in 22 games with Lulea this season. While the more experienced Joel Lassinantti got the starting role in the playoffs for Lulea, he played only nine more games than Wallstedt in the regular season.

That’s all to say that Wallstedt is still one of the best goalie prospects in the world, and this is significant news for the Wild organization. He’s a smooth, aggressive, and confident netminder with great vision. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to suggest that Wallstedt challenges for the backup spot in training camp in September, but how the Wild approach their second goaltender alongside Cam Talbot remains to be seen.

Johnny Beecher Signs Entry-Level Deal With Bruins

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Matt Porter of The Boston Globe reports that the Boston Bruins have signed prospect Johnny Beecher to his three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $925,000.

Beecher, Boston’s 30th overall selection in 2019, was on an AHL tryout with the Providence Bruins after he opted to turn pro. Beecher had just finished his junior season with the University of Michigan, and he tallied five points in nine regular-season games (as well as an assist in two playoff games) down the stretch for Providence.

The New York-born forward had a rough go of things during his college career, as he never hit the 10-goal mark in a single season and never scored more than the 16 points he had his freshman year. The versatile forward does have a large frame at 6’3″ and 209 lbs, but he’ll need to improve his offensive awareness in order to make a meaningful NHL impact with the Bruins.

The contract will take him through to 2024-25.

Vegas Golden Knights Fire Peter DeBoer

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6:07 pm: Per the Golden Knights, assistant coaches Ryan Craig and Misha Donskov will remain on the team’s staff for next season. Goaltending Coach Mike Rosati has not been let go, but will interview with the new coaching staff once they are hired (link).

2:33 PM: As reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, two Golden Knights assistant coaches, Steve Spott and Ryan McGill, have also been let go by the team.

11:02 AM: The Vegas Golden Knights announced Monday morning that the team has fired head coach Peter DeBoer.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon will meet with the media at 3:00 p.m. CT to address the firing. He said the following in a statement today:

After lengthy discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season.

DeBoer was appointed as the Golden Knights’ head coach midway through 2019-20 after the team fired Gerard Gallant due to a sluggish start. Through his two-and-a-half seasons in Vegas, DeBoer guided the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 games (.650 points percentage). DeBoer had one year remaining on his contract, paying him $3.25MM.

His firing comes after the Golden Knights missed the playoffs this season for the first time in franchise history, dropping a series of key games down the stretch with a 4-2-4 record in their final 10 games. Some will be quick to defend DeBoer as the team suffered a laundry list of injuries to star players throughout the season, including captain Mark Stone, sniper Max Pacioretty, defenseman Alec Martinez, and starting netminder Robin Lehner.

However, while the Golden Knights still managed to generate chances offensively despite the injuries to key scorers, defense and special teams were where the team struggled the most this season. The team finished below league average on both the power play and penalty kill, and stellar play at the end of the season from youngster Logan Thompson in goal helped cover up some of the defensive shortcomings the team had developed throughout the year.

Vegas will need to do more than to just find a new bench boss for next season, though. The team is already in the red in terms of salary cap space, boasting a projected cap hit of $83.1MM for 2022-3. The team won’t be able to re-sign any pending UFAs to NHL deals (which include Reilly Smith and Mattias Janmark) and will likely need to shed another contract in order to become cap-compliant and reallocate a small amount of money in free agency. Moving forward, the team will need to count on a healthy and productive trio of Jack Eichel, Pacioretty, and Stone to avoid another disappointing season.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report.

2022 Masterton Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues to release finalists this week for their major awards. Today, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli revealed the three finalists for the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, as voted on by the PHWA. New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara, Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, and Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes were named for the award.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Each NHL team is able to put forth a nominee for the award, and voting members then select nominees from that list.

Chara earned his nomination after returning to the league for his 24th (and likely final) NHL season. The 45-year-old defenseman suited up for 72 games with the New York Islanders this season, his most games in a season since he played 73 in 2017-18. Finishing with two goals, 12 assists, and 14 points, Chara gave his best to the Islanders team that originally drafted him back in 1996. Those 14 points were actually the most he registered in a season as an Islander — he spent four seasons with the team from 1997-2001, recording a previous high of 11 points in 1999-00.

Price, the future Hall-of-Fame goaltender, battled back to play five games at the end of this season after being sidelined for the majority of the season with a knee injury and spending time in the NHLPA Player Assistance program. With the injury severe enough to cause uncertainty surrounding the future of his playing career, Price obviously did all he could in order to try and return to the crease after carrying his team to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Hayes would be the second Flyer to win the trophy in as many years if victorious. Oskar Lindblom won the trophy last year after battling back from cancer diagnosis and treatment. Hayes played not only through injuries that limited him to just 48 games, but also dealt with the sudden news of his brother and former NHLer, Jimmy Hayes, passing away just prior to the season. Kevin still managed 31 points this season on a weak Flyers team despite the adversity.

New York Islanders Name Lane Lambert Head Coach

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The New York Islanders announced today that the team named Lane Lambert as their head coach, succeeding the previously fired Barry Trotz.

Lambert is an internal promotion, having served as an associate coach with the team since the 2018-19 season. Lambert’s led a long career as both a player and coach, also serving as an assistant coach under Trotz for both the Nashville Predators (2011-2014) and Washington Capitals (2014-2018). Lambert’s last experience as a head coach came with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals from 2007-2011.

Lambert actually took over as the team’s head coach for a few games midseason while Trotz was away from the team on a personal leave of absence. He’s the uncle of top 2022 draft prospect Brad Lambert. He becomes the 18th person to coach the Islanders and the fourth in the past 10 years.

Under Lambert, the Islanders look to return to their winning ways after missing the playoffs by 16 points this season. The team had advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in the previous two seasons. Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said the following today regarding his hiring:

I had the opportunity to work with Lane over the past four years, which includes spending time with him on a one-on-one basis when he served as the interim Head Coach this past season. In my opinion, he is the right person to coach this team.

Lambert was a candidate of interest for many teams around the league for head coaching roles. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reported today that Lambert was a candidate for the Arizona Coyotes’ coaching vacancy last season before the team decided to opt for Andre Tourigny.

It’s a large cloud moved off the Islanders’ offseason, as they’re able to move forward into the draft and free agency with their situation settled behind the bench.

Boston Bruins Extend Jakub Zboril

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Slated to become a group six unrestricted free agent this summer, a former first-round pick has decided to stay with the organization that drafted him. Defenseman Jakub Zboril signed a two-year contract extension with the Boston Bruins this morning, carrying a cap hit of $1.138MM per season.

Zboril, now 25, played just 10 games this season before tearing his ACL in a game against the Nashville Predators on December 2, 2021. The Czech defender played well this season in a bottom-pairing role, notching three assists in 10 games as well.

While Zboril won’t hit the ceiling the team envisioned for him when they drafted him 13th overall in 2015, he has turned into an everyday NHL player. That’s important for the cap-strapped Bruins, who now retain a reliable depth defenseman for a reasonable cap hit with some term. Per CapFriendly, though, the Bruins now have just $2.4MM in cap space entering this offseason with multiple UFAs, including captain Patrice Bergeron. With Zboril locked in now, an indication they view him as a regular next season, expect the Bruins to move on from either Matt Grzelcyk or Mike Reilly via trade. Both are left-shot defensemen who fell out of favor with the Bruins coaching staff near the end of the season.

Zboril will become an unrestricted free agent again in 2024.

Five Key Stories: 5/9/22 – 5/15/22

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It was an eventful week around the NHL with plenty of seventh games, some notable coaching news, a lottery winner, and more.  We recap some of the biggest off-ice news in our key stories.

Trotz Fired: Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has quite a history when it comes to his coaching decisions with a knack for some surprising ones.  He added to that reputation after he dismissed head coach Barry Trotz in a move that hardly anyone saw coming.  While New York missed the playoffs this season, Trotz had led the Isles to the Eastern Conference Final the two previous years which led to an expectation he’d be back for 2022-23 and the final year of his contract.  Instead, Lamoriello indicated he felt the team needs a new voice and he’ll now set out to hire a new coach or promote associate coach Lane Lambert to the top job.  Meanwhile, Trotz will become a contender for the rest of the coaching vacancies out there if he wants to be back behind an NHL bench next season.

Boudreau Returns: One coach that won’t be going anywhere is Vancouver’s Bruce Boudreau.  While there was some uncertainty about his future with the Canucks after management indicated there wouldn’t be a contract extension forthcoming, the team confirmed that the 67-year-old will return for next season.  Boudreau took over from Travis Green midseason and led the team to an improbable second half run with a 32-15-10 record that got them within striking distance of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  He’s just one regular season win away from 600 for his career while he’s 19 away from landing in the top 20 in NHL history.

Hanging Them Up: Free agent forward Patrick Marleau wasn’t able to catch on with a team this season and has decided to officially call it a career as he announced his retirement.  The 42-year-old had a very impressive 23-year NHL career with the majority of that coming with San Jose.  Although Marleau never won the Stanley Cup, he leaves with his name in the record books after he passed Gordie Howe last season for the most regular season games played in NHL history with 1,779.  While Marleau only averaged more than a point per game in a season three times, his longevity helped him amass 1,197 points, good for 50th all-time.

Draft Lottery: This was the first year of the new draft lottery format, restricting teams from moving up no more than 10 spots with a victory which gave Montreal basically a one-in-four chance of holding onto the top pick.  They were able to do as they won the draw for the top selection while New Jersey’s good fortune in the lottery continued as they were victorious for the second spot, dropping Arizona, Seattle, and Philadelphia all down a spot.  Shane Wright is widely expected to be the pick for the Canadiens who will pick first in the draft that they’re hosting in July; it will be the first time since 1985 that the host city also had the number one selection.

Sharks Sign Two: Interim Sharks GM Joe Will indicated after the season that he wanted to re-sign winger Alexander Barabanov and defenseman Jaycob Megna.  He was able to do exactly that, signing both players to two-year deals.  Barabanov received a nice raise on his $1MM AAV from this season as this contract carries a $2.5MM cap hit on the heels of recording 10 goals and 29 assists in 70 games.  Megna, meanwhile, received the league minimum for both years (a cap hit of just over $762K) but managed to secure a one-way salary for the first time in his career after playing on two-way pacts for each of his first four NHL contracts.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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