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USA Hockey Announces 2022 Women’s World Championship Roster

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Right now, the 2022 Men’s World Junior Championships is sitting centerstage when it comes to international hockey, however soon after the tournament ends, that attention will turn to the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championships, which are set to run from August 25th through September 4th. Hosting the tournament will be the cities of Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark.

In advance of the tournament, USA Hockey announced its 23 woman roster earlier today, which includes a large contingent of familiar faces and several exciting stars, including 18 members of the 2022 USA Olympic team which took home Silver. Talking about his team, head coach John Wroblewski said in a release:

“I am excited to officially have our team as we continue to prepare for women’s worlds. As a staff, we are confident in the skill and grit of this team and are excited to begin our journey to achieve our goals in Denmark.”

Below is the full United States roster:

Goalie:

Aerin Frankel

Maddie Rooney

Nicole Hensley

 

Defense:

Caroline Harvey

Cayla Barnes

Jincy Dunne

Lee Stecklein

Megan Keller

Rory Guilday

Savannah Harmon

 

Forward:

Abby Roque

Alex Carpenter

Amanda Kessel

Grace Zumwinkle

Hannah Bilka

Hannah Brandt

Hayley Scamurra

Hilary Knight

Jesse Compher

Kelly Pannek

Kendall Coyne Schofield

Lacey Eden

Taylor Heise

Bilka, Guilday, and Heise will also participate on the United States Women’s National Team for the first time in their careers. On the other hand, this will be Coyne Schofield’s ninth appearance at the world championships and Knight’s twelfth – a USA Hockey record.

Free Agent Profile: Tyler Ennis

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It’s not often that we see someone bring their career almost entirely back from the dead, but that’s exactly what happened just a handful of seasons ago with Tyler Ennis. Now entering his potential 14th NHL season at age 33, though, Ennis remains without a contract for next season.

Ennis failed to record more than 10 goals or 25 points in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018, largely due in part to injuries but also declining play. It led the Minnesota Wild to buy out the final season of a five-year, $4.6MM AAV contract (originally signed with Buffalo) after just one season with the team. A 12-goal campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018-19 despite virtually no ice time raised some eyebrows, and, in 2019-20, Ennis was back on the map with a 37-point campaign split between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers.

2020-21 was a rough one for Ennis, though, as it looked like the resurgence had run out for the veteran forward. Opting to stay with Edmonton after the previous year’s trade, Ennis appeared in just 30 games and was limited to nine points, often being a healthy scratch. Returning to Ottawa for the 2021-22 campaign restored some of that production, though, looking much closer to being an everyday bottom-six player. For teams looking for a skill option on the wings, Ennis presents an inexpensive gamble with a 20-to-30 point upside.

Stats

2021-22: 57 GP, 8-16-24, -6 rating, 16 PIMs, 89 shots, 48.8% CF, 12:33 ATOI
Career: 700 GP, 144-202-346, -84 rating, 224 PIMs, 1446 shots, 46.3 CF%, 15:10 ATOI

Potential Suitors

If you ask Ennis, he’s almost surely looking for a chance to win after a 700-game NHL career has yielded no playoff success outside of the first round. But Ennis isn’t in the top tier of veteran free agents looking to land deals (think Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel, Evan Rodrigues). With so many teams uncomfortably close to or over the salary cap, Ennis might not have many offers from the best of the best.

Unless you’re talking about the defending Stanley Cup champions. If the Colorado Avalanche can’t manage to re-sign Nazem Kadri, they have ample cap space to add a couple of remaining free agents, especially at a league minimum cost. With a depleted bottom-six group, Ennis could be an improvement on expected fringe players like Mikhail Maltsev, Anton Blidh, and Jayson Megna.

And while they may not be the best of the best right now, a return to the State of Hockey could also be in the cards for Ennis. The Minnesota Wild are still looking for some extra roster depth, allowing youngsters like Adam Beckman to have a big role in the AHL rather than sitting around as a healthy scratch. Ennis likely provides more offensive upside than someone like Connor Dewar or Brandon Duhaime, and if things really don’t pan out, he’d be a valuable veteran addition to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

Projected Contract

You’d be hard-pressed to find a team willing to give Ennis much more than the league-minimum $750K on a one-way deal. He is coming off a one-year contract that paid him $900K, but as his offensive upside continues to get less likely with age, a raise for Ennis likely isn’t in the cards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yevgeni Kashnikov Signs In KHL

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The San Jose Sharks will have to wait to see Yevgeni Kashnikov in North America again. The 2021 draft pick has signed a two-year contract with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL, ending his time in the QMJHL.

Kashnikov, selected 199th overall last year, was already an overage prospect who will turn 20 in December. He recorded 13 goals and 32 points in 62 games for the Gatineau Olympiques last season, playing both defense and forward. His 6’6″ frame and love of physical hockey made him a feared opponent (especially at the junior level), as Jacob Mathieu found out in March, when the two dropped the gloves.

With his return to Russia, Kashnikov’s exclusive draft rights will now be held indefinitely, meaning the Sharks can wait and see if he turns into something worthy of an NHL contract. For a seventh-round pick that is nothing more than a lottery ticket, this is actually sort of a beneficial thing for the team. Had he stayed in North America, Kashnikov’s rights would have expired next June as a player drafted out of the CHL.

Now, he’ll get to use that size in the KHL and see if he can develop a bit more, while the Olympiques gain another import slot to fill. Marcel Marcel, who they selected 42nd overall in this year’s import draft, arrived yesterday.

Snapshots: Miller, Ruff, DeBoer

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All summer there has been chatter about J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks, with reports swinging between extension talks and trade speculation as the star forward approaches unrestricted free agency. Signed for just one more season, the Canucks have been clear that they would love to keep Miller but it has to be at a price they feel comfortable with.

On the latest Dropping the Gloves podcast with former NHL enforcer John Scott, Miller spoke about his situation and admitted that his camp and the Canucks are “not as close” as they would like to be at this point. Miller continued to suggest that he wants to stay in Vancouver if possible but understands that it might not be possible.

  • Lindy Ruff spoke with team reporter Amanda Stein about the New Jersey Devils offseason acquisitions, gushing about the addition of Ondrej Palat. Explaining that Palat will be “big-time” for the team, Ruff was clear with the goal for this year. Development time is over and the veteran coach must now “make sure that this team gets to the playoffs.”
  • In an interview with Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun, former Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer admitted that he was surprised to be fired this offseason. While the team missed the playoffs for the first time in their history, they still finished with a 43-31-8 record, despite missing several key players for a huge part of the season. In fact, DeBoer had a 98-50-12 regular season record with Vegas over parts of three seasons and reached the third round in both of the first two years. DeBoer is now with the Dallas Stars, while Bruce Cassidy will takeover the Golden Knights.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Jake Leschyshyn, Paul Cotter

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The Vegas Golden Knights have announced a pair of three-year contract extensions, keeping Jake Leschyshyn and Paul Cotter in the organization for the next few seasons. Both players will earn the league minimum in all three years (PuckPedia adds that Cotter’s first year will be a two-way contract). Leschyshyn was a restricted free agent, meaning his deal starts in 2022-23, while Cotter was going into the last season of his entry-level contract, meaning this extension starts in 2023-24.

Leschyshyn, 23, was part of the Golden Knights’ inaugural draft class, selected 62nd overall in 2017. He Played 41 games for the team this season in his first taste of NHL action and managed six points in the process. The minor league portion of his year was much more productive with 27 points in 34 games but he enters next season in the mix for a full-time bottom-six role with Vegas.

While the team does have some forward prospects with a bit higher ceiling – namely Brendan Brisson – Leschyshyn represents a nice homegrown talent that can help fill out the lineup in the years to come. Any regular playing for the league minimum is providing surplus value, meaning if there can be any increase in production out of the young center, this contract could actually be quite a bargain for the Golden Knights moving forward.

The same might be said about Cotter, who managed to make it to the NHL for seven games this year and scored two goals in the process. Given this will be his age-23 season (he turns 23 in November), he is signing away nearly all of his restricted free agent years at the league minimum. It gives him some nice security to have one-way contracts in 2024-25 and 2025-26 but if he can take another step forward that too could be a nice bargain for the Golden Knights.

Cotter had 20 goals and 35 points in 59 games this season for the Henderson Silver Knights, while also racking up 62 penalty minutes (including two fighting majors).

Snapshots: Eller, Golden Knights, DeBrincat

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With Washington’s top two centers being Evgeny Kuznetsov and newcomer Dylan Strome (with Nicklas Backstrom injured) and Connor McMichael in the mix as well, some have wondered if the Capitals should look into moving veteran middleman Lars Eller.  However, Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now cautions against that approach, noting that having a bit of a logjam down the middle is never a bad thing while Eller can certainly help on the defensive side of things, an area that McMichael isn’t ready to take on just yet.  With one year left at $3.5MM, Washington would have some interest if they were to shop the 33-year-old around but his best value might come later in the season compared to now when the trade market is not yielding top returns for veteran players.

More from around the hockey world:

  • While the season-ending injury to Robin Lehner has many thinking that the Golden Knights need to acquire a goaltender, Vegas’ Ken Boehlke argues that the best move they could make is to make no move at all. That will allow them to evaluate whether the core of this roster is truly good enough to contend and assess the readiness of Logan Thompson to be a full-time NHL goaltender.  If they’re in the playoff picture midseason, that approach would also give them a bit of cap flexibility to try to add thanks to LTIR as they won’t have spent Lehner’s $5MM at that point.  Vegas hasn’t shown much patience in their brief NHL tenure but there’s definitely a case to be made for them to have some now.
  • In his latest mailbag column (subscription link), Scott Powers of The Athletic reports that Alex DeBrincat didn’t show interest in signing a long-term deal with the Blackhawks before his trade to Ottawa last month. The 24-year-old was only eligible to sign an extension at the start of the new league year on July 13th (a few days after the swap) and is owed a qualifying offer of $9MM next summer.  That amount will likely be the starting point for extension negotiations with the Senators as he’s coming off his second 41-goal campaign over the last four years.

Atlantic Notes: Zacha, Sabres, Edmonds

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Although the Bruins weren’t able to get Pavel Zacha signed to a multi-year deal, GM Don Sweeney recently told reporters in a press conference (video link) that they did try to get one done before ultimately settling on a one-year, $3.5MM agreement, one that will walk the 25-year-old to the open market next summer.  Sweeney indicated that they have already stated their intention to Zacha’s camp to work out an extension on the contract that they just signed.  However, they’ll have to wait until January before they’ll be permitted to do so.  Zacha will be entering his first year with Boston after being acquired from New Jersey last month and is projected to center their third line behind Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • While the Sabres were hoping that prospect defenseman Ryan Johnson would turn pro after development camp, Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News reports that the blueliner has informed Buffalo that he’ll go back to college for his senior season. The 21-year-old was the 31st pick in 2019 and had 19 points in 39 games for the Minnesota Golden Gophers last season.  If he doesn’t sign with Buffalo and becomes a free agent next August, the Sabres would receive the 31st pick of the second round in the 2024 draft as compensation.
  • Also from Lysowski’s article, he relays that the immigration issue that prevented prospect Alexander Kisakov from participating in development camp has been resolved, paving the way for him to attend training camp next month. Kisakov had 62 goals over the past two years in Russia’s junior league and is expected to play with AHL Rochester next season.
  • The Lightning attempted to sign prospect winger Lucas Edmonds as a free agent last season but they weren’t allowed to as Central Scouting ruled he had to go through the draft, notes Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link). Instead, Tampa Bay traded up on the second day of the draft to select the 21-year-old in the third round (86th overall).  Edmonds led the OHL in assists with 79 last season and finished third in points with 113 and the team has already since signed him to his entry-level deal.

Free Agent Profile: Sam Steel

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The flattened trajectory of the Upper Limit in the NHL in recent years has resulted in teams increasingly opting to non-tender players to avoid the risk of a salary arbitration award coming in higher than what they were willing to pay or could afford.  Some of those players signed quickly while others remained unsigned exactly one month into the opening of the market.

Sam Steel fits in the latter of the categories in an outcome that few could have predicted just a couple of years ago.  A first-round pick back in 2016 (30th overall), Steel was quite impressive in the minors in his rookie campaign in 2018-19, earning himself a 22-game stint with Anaheim.  He did quite well with the Ducks, recording 11 points while seemingly entrenching himself as a staple of their future center plans.

Unfortunately for both him and Anaheim, things have largely gone downhill for Steel since then.  While he has played exclusively in the NHL since then, he hasn’t come close to producing at the per-game levels of his first professional campaign.  As a result, his playing time and role diminished over the last couple of seasons to the point where he was a healthy scratch a handful of times last season.

Still, young centers are hard to come by and often get extra looks with the organization that drafted them.  But Anaheim wasn’t worried about being able to afford his cap hit; they simply wanted to part ways with the 24-year-old.  The perceived upside from a few years ago and the fact he plays a premium position makes Steel one of the more intriguing players still available on the open market.

Stats

2021-22: 68 GP, 6-14-20, -17 rating, 16 PIMS, 66 shots, 46.0 CF%, 49.3 FO%, 12:19 ATOI
Career: 197 GP, 24-41-65, -35 rating, 52 PIMS, 226 shots, 47.5 CF%, 50.5 FO%, 14:09 ATOI

Potential Suitors

While some veteran players are likely hoping to catch on with a team with a chance of a long playoff run, Steel should be looking in the complete opposite direction.  A squad that will give him a chance at earning a 13th or 14th spot on the roster is an opportunity for another season of NHL money but then what?  Another year with limited minutes and production doesn’t bode well for him for the 2023 offseason.  For Steel, finding a landing spot with a team that will give him a chance at seeing somewhat regular playing time is crucial.  That could have him gravitating towards a rebuilding team over a veteran-laden squad with postseason expectations.

In the East, Ottawa is one team that might be a happy medium in terms of playoff hopes with a shot at playing time.  The Sens have cycled through depth centers in recent years and have some younger players that have mostly been minor leaguers to this point that are going to push for playing time plus Dylan Gambrell who was on the fringes when it came to playing time a year ago.  Steel could potentially supplant one of those players and see somewhat regular minutes on a team that should make a postseason push.  The Hurricanes lost both Vincent Trocheck and Derek Stepan this summer.  Stepan’s spot, in particular, could be a spot for Steel.  If Montreal clears out some of its forward surplus in the coming weeks, they could wind up being a bit thin down the middle, creating an opportunity there as well.

Out West, Arizona has several young centers already but two of them – Jack McBain and Nathan Smith – haven’t played in the AHL yet.  If the Coyotes prefer to give one of them top minutes in the minors, that could create a spot for him on a team that could justify playing him heavy minutes in a rebuilding year.  The Jets need to add some forwards to fill out their roster and no established centers have been added yet to replace Andrew Copp (moved at the trade deadline) and Paul Stastny (currently a UFA).  If Minnesota would prefer Marco Rossi to get more time in the minors, a spot on the middle of their fourth line might be a fit as well.

As a player that will likely have a limited role to start wherever he winds up, Steel might be better off waiting until partway through training camp to sign when preseason injuries could open up playing time opportunities that aren’t presently there although that approach certainly carries some risk.

Projected Contract

At this point, with the year that Steel had and the fact he remains unsigned at this point, it’s hard to imagine him receiving more than the league minimum.  He has two years of team control remaining through arbitration but, again, that can work against players that are lower on the depth chart.  If a team wanted a two-year commitment to avoid that arbitration risk next summer, Steel might be able to get a bit more than the minimum but otherwise, he’s likely to sign for $750K wherever he winds up in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nikolai Knyzhov Undergoes Surgery, Out For Six Months

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Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov has had nothing but bad luck on the injury front lately.  He missed all of last season due to a core muscle injury and now the start of 2022-23 will be delayed as well as the team announced that the blueliner tore his right Achilles tendon in offseason training and underwent surgery on Wednesday.  The procedure carries an estimated recovery time of six months.

Back in 2020-21, the 24-year-old established himself as a full-timer on San Jose’s back end as he played in all 56 games, picking up 10 points while logging a little under 17 minutes of playing time.  Those numbers aren’t eye-popping by any stretch but for a team that was tight to the salary cap, having a regular player under contract for less than $800K was ideal from a cap management perspective.

The Sharks signed Knyzhov to a one-year, $850K one-way deal back in April with the hopes that he’d be able to reclaim his spot on the third pairing.  Clearly, that won’t be the case now as he’ll be out for at least the first half of the season and probably longer.  San Jose will be able to put Knyzhov on LTIR which will give them a little bit of extra cap flexibility, especially with the team already carrying some extra depth in goal, up front, and on the back end,

Nolan Patrick Likely To Be On LTIR Next Season

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Vegas already has plenty of their payroll earmarked for LTIR next season.  Robin Lehner and his $5MM will be there after his hip surgery while they added Shea Weber’s $7.857MM AAV in a trade with Montreal this summer with the veteran’s playing days already over.  Those two might not be the only ones on there, however, as Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun relays that it’s widely expected that forward Nolan Patrick will also be on LTIR in 2022-23 as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury that dates back to last season.

The 23-year-old has basically had nothing but bad luck since being selected second overall in 2017.  He has missed considerable time with migraines and after getting a fresh start with the Golden Knights, Patrick missed 55 games to various injuries.  In the end, he played in just 25 games, recording only two goals and five assists.  On a related note, the player he was initially traded for in the three-way swap – defenseman Ryan Ellis – only played in four games himself last season with lingering questions continuing about his availability for next season as well.

If Patrick isn’t able to play, his $1.2MM would be added to Vegas’ already sizable LTIR pool which would give them a little bit more flexibility to work with this summer albeit with another roster spot to try to fill as well.  On top of that, it would likely call his playing career into question.  Things aren’t quite at that point just yet but if Patrick can’t suit up at all next season, it will certainly be fair to wonder if what once looked like a promising career will be coming to a very premature end.

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