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Archives for July 2022

Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL

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After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.

A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.

His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.

Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.

Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.

Arizona Coyotes Give Conor Geekie Entry-Level Contract

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2022 NHL Draft picks are continuing to fly off the “unsigned” board. Today, the Arizona Coyotes signed 11th overall pick Conor Geekie to his three-year entry-level contract, per general manager Bill Armstrong. Presumably, the contract will carry a max entry-level cap hit of $950K.

Geekie was ranked all over the map in the first round by public scouts, and although he wasn’t a consensus top-ten pick at the end of the season like he was at the beginning, Arizona still snatched him up just outside of that range. Playing second fiddle on the WHL’s Winnipeg ICE to ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie, Geekie notched 70 points in 63 games.

He’s still a few years out from being an NHL impact player, in all likelihood. But Arizona is still getting a high-end prospect that mainly excels as a two-way center that’s tough to play against both at even strength and on the penalty kill. He’s got size teams and scouts dream of at 6′ 4″ and 200+ pounds, and he still boasts decent offensive upside (although maybe not as much as teams hoped pre-season).

San Jose Sharks Sign Luke Kunin, Kaapo Kahkonen

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The San Jose Sharks have signed Luke Kunin to a two-year contract, according to PuckPedia. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75MM. Kunin was eligible for salary arbitration this summer but chose not to file. Sharks general manager Mike Grier also announced Monday afternoon that the team has signed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to a two-year contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the deal carries a cap hit of $2.75MM.

Kunin, 24, was acquired from the Nashville Predators this offseason in exchange for John Leonard (who also signed today) and a third-round pick. The young forward has changed his game in recent years to lean into his physicality, and after racking up a whopping 223 in 2021-22, he offers something new to the San Jose bottom six.

There’s also a bit of offensive skill in the 2016 first-round pick, who has double-digit goals in each of his last three seasons, all of them coming at even-strength or while short-handed. That kind of scoring upside will come in handy as the Sharks start to tear apart the old core and rebuild it under new general manager Mike Grier.

Notably, it will leave Kunin as a restricted free agent at its expiry, giving the Sharks a chance to re-assess whether he can be a long-term solution. He will once again be up for arbitration at that point.

Kahkonen excelled after San Jose acquired him at the Trade Deadline from the Minnesota Wild. The 2020 AHL Goalie of the Year had just a 2-6-1 record, but that was no fault of his own, posting a more-than-respectable .916 save percentage in 11 games played (10 starts). Kahkonen has a career .908 save percentage through 65 NHL games, 54 of which came with the Wild. He’ll join a crowded crease in San Jose next year that also includes James Reimer and Adin Hill.

The 25-year-old Finn will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024 when his new contract expires.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Sam Montembeault

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Today, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced that the team has agreed to terms on a two-year, one-way contract with goalie Sam Montembeault. The contract will take him to his first eligible year of unrestricted free agency in 2024. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports the deal is worth $1MM per season.

Montembeault found his way to Montreal at the beginning of 2021-22 when the team claimed him off waivers from the Florida Panthers. With Carey Price’s nagging knee injury keeping him out for the vast majority of 2021-22, Montembeault played in 38 games for Montreal this year, more than doubling his previous total of 25 with Florida. Serving as the backup to Jake Allen and the starter for brief periods when Allen was injured, Montembeault had a season to forget with an 8-18-6 record, .891 save percentage, and 3.77 goals against average along with one shutout.

The 2015 third-round pick is still relatively young in goalie years at 25, though, and there may be a small bit of untapped potential in the Quebec native. He’s yet to show it at the NHL level, though, as his save percentage hasn’t hit .900 in any of the three seasons he’s appeared in.

Montembeault’s role this season will once again depend entirely on the health of Price, barring a trade in the Montreal crease. If Price is able to battle back from what’s become an increasingly serious knee ailment to start the 2022-23 season on time, Montembeault and his seven-figure price tag would almost certainly pass through waivers unclaimed.

Minor Transactions: 07/18/22

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The NHL free agent frenzy has slowed down considerably as we head toward the end of the month but there are still lots of spots to fill in the AHL. While we head into the summer, we’ll be keeping track of all the notable minor moves around the hockey world.

  • The Utica Comets have signed Filip Bratt, Dylan Blujus, Xavier Parent, and Nolan Stevens to AHL contracts. Bratt, the younger brother of New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt, joins the organization after going undrafted and will try to work his way up to his brother’s level. His deal is a two-way minor league contract, meaning he’ll earn even less if he ends up in the ECHL.
  • The Providence Bruins have signed Fedor Gordeev to a one-year AHL deal, potentially giving the big defenseman a chance to play in the AHL after spending 2021-22 in the ECHL with the Iowa Heartlanders. Originally a fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2017, he was eventually traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he signed his entry-level deal. This summer he was not issued a qualifying offer, making him a free agent and able to sign wherever he wanted.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Nashville Predators Sign Tommy Novak

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After finishing up John Leonard’s deal earlier today, the Nashville Predators have put the finishing touches on another restricted free agent contract. Tommy Novak has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level.

Novak, 25, made his NHL debut this season with the Predators, playing in 27 games for the team and recording seven points. That’s a heck of a rise for a player who had to settle for an AHL contract coming out of college.

Originally a third-round selection of the Predators in 2015, he technically became an unrestricted free agent in 2019 after four years at the University of Minnesota, though had already agreed to an AHL deal with the Milwaukee Admirals by that point. He hit the ground running in the AHL, scoring 42 points as a rookie in 2019-20, and then was even better with the Chicago Wolves the following season, as the Predators shared an affiliate.

With a new deal, his focus will be on making a more regular appearance at the NHL level, and showing he belongs there as a full-time member of the roster. With strong puck skills and advanced playmaking ability, he could fit in as a player who plays limited even-strength minutes but contributes to the powerplay. Whether the Predators are open to something like that on a regular basis remains to be seen, but they now have the player to do it locked up on a league-minimum deal.

Boston Bruins Sign Three Players

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The Boston Bruins have signed three players, starting with Jack Ahcan, whose one-year, two-way contract was reported over the weekend. He’ll be joined by Matt Filipe, who has agreed to a one-year two-way contract with an NHL salary of $787.5K, and Ryan Mast, who has inked his three-year entry-level deal that comes with a cap hit of $850K.

Filipe, 24, was a third-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2016 but never signed with the team, leading to an entry-level contract with his hometown Bruins after he finished his college career at Northeastern. This season, he scored seven goals and 17 points in 59 games for the Providence Bruins, not exactly the kind of numbers that inspire confidence in a future NHL career.

The 6’2″ forward did enough to earn a qualifying offer though, which is what he is signing today. The $787.5K may actually hurt his chances–if only slightly–of playing in the NHL next season, as he’ll take up more cap space than the average minor league call-up. Still, he’ll continue his development with Providence and improve on his numbers in year three of professional hockey.

Mast meanwhile was a sixth-round pick of the Bruins in 2021 and will be headed back to the OHL to continue his junior career with the Sarnia Sting. The 6’5″ defenseman has quite a few holes in his game but has shown enough–31 points in 59 games this season–that his size offers at least a bit of intrigue as a future professional.

New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Three Players

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The New York Rangers have finished some offseason business, agreeing to terms with three players (two of them which were previously reported). Turner Elson, Andy Welinski, and Austin Rueschhoff have all agreed to one-year contracts.

While Elson and Welinski were reported in the early part of free agency, it is Rueschhoff that will draw some attention. The 24-year-old forward was a restricted free agent this summer after his entry-level contract expired and is coming off an impressive sophomore campaign with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The winger had 14 goals and 24 points in 59 games, offensive totals that aren’t that impressive even for an undrafted college free agent. It’s his size–6’7″ 230-lbs–that makes Rueschhoff so intriguing as an NHL prospect. Quite frankly, he doesn’t need to score very much to make an impact on the ice, and the fact that he is providing some offensive touch only makes him a more interesting package.

With this new deal, the Rangers are showing that they believe so too. It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to suit up for an NHL game this season, as the New York front office has put importance on size and physicality in the bottom six. While he may never end up being a regular, this contract gives him another chance to serve as a call-up in case of injury as soon as this year.

Ottawa Senators Sign Rourke Chartier

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The Ottawa Senators have signed Rourke Chartier to a one-year two-way contract, confirming the terms first reported by CapFriendly a few days ago. The deal will pay the minor league forward $750K in the NHL and $165K in the AHL.

Chartier, 26, had been playing for the last few seasons on AHL contracts, after failing to receive a qualifying offer in 2019 from the San Jose Sharks. In 33 games for the Belleville Senators this year, he scored ten goals and 25 points, another one of the success stories from the upstart minor league club. Belleville went 40-28-4 this year and was loaded with talent from top to bottom, leading players like Chartier to resurgent years.

Originally selected 149th overall by the Sharks in 2014, Chartier eventually made his NHL debut during the 2018-19 season and scored one goal in 13 appearances. His career other than that has been generally unremarkable, though this new contract will give him another opportunity to at least compete for a call-up.

Nashville Predators Sign John Leonard

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The Nashville Predators have found some common ground with newcomer John Leonard, signing the restricted free agent forward to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will be worth $750K at the NHL level.

Leonard, 23, was recently acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a trade that saw Luke Kunin go the other way. He was eligible for arbitration this summer but did not file, likely due to the two sides being close on this new contract.

It will be interesting to see if the young forward can carve out a regular role with Nashville, or if he is destined to spend another year in the minor leagues. Through 58 NHL games to this point, he has scored four goals, recorded 15 points, and notably, taken just a single minor penalty. While that may not seem like a big deal, the Predators were far and away the most penalized team in the league last season, averaging more than 12.6 PIM a game. A good bit of that is due to their league-leading 59 fighting majors, but perhaps a player like Leonard could help offset that a bit given his history of staying out of the box (he has just six PIM in 47 minor league games as well).

The Predators’ lineup is by no means set at this point, with only nine forwards (including Kiefer Sherwood) signed to one-way contracts. There should be good competition for playing time in the bottom six, and Leonard is one of the players who could grab a regular role with a strong training camp. The fact that he is waiver-exempt probably doesn’t help his case, but costing just $750K against the cap will.

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