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Archives for May 2023

More On Toronto’s GM Search

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a critical offseason ahead of them, with decisions on the future of several core players, potential extension talks with Auston Matthews, and a roster with ten pending unrestricted free agents. All of this to do, and no general manager to do it.

Toronto continues to search for a new front office leader after firing Kyle Dubas following another disappointing playoff exit. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports four names—Brad Treliving, Jason Botterill, Peter Chiarelli, and Marc Bergevin—that he expects to have interviews with the Maple Leafs.

Treliving, in particular, seems to have plenty of momentum as a top candidate after exiting the Calgary Flames earlier this spring. The veteran executive had been GM of the Flames since 2014, previously serving as an assistant with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Chiarelli, Bergevin, and Botterill should all be very familiar to Maple Leafs fans, given their respective terms as general managers of the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, and Buffalo Sabres. They are also likely not very exciting choices, at least from the fans’ perspective, given their questionable roster management in the past.

Still, it seems likely that Toronto will go with an experienced NHL name this time around as they try to figure out what’s holding them back from playoff success. Since Matthews and the rest of the young core debuted in 2016, the team has had just one playoff victory past the first round.

Colton Sceviour Re-Signs In Switzerland

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It was quite the European debut for long-time NHL forward Colton Sceviour in 2022-23. Joining SC Bern of the Swiss NL, the gritty forward put up 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points, only trailing other foreign-born skaters Chris DiDomenico and Oscar Lindberg.

The club was clearly impressed, as they have inked Sceviour to another one-year contract for 2023-24. Team director Andrew Ebbett called him one of their most “consistent” players, a work ethic that he was well known for in North America as well.

Now 34, Sceviour played over 500 games in the NHL, never scoring more than 11 goals or 26 points in a single season. But he maintained his spot in the lineup—playing for the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Edmonton Oilers—through attention to detail, a willingness to engage physically, and never-ending energy on the penalty kill.

It appears, with this new contract, that we can close the book on his NHL career. Sceviour scored 66 goals and 156 points over his 535 regular season games.

Minor Transactions: 05/26/23

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The Stanley Cup Final is just days away, meaning the NHL news cycle is likely to take a brief pause until a champion is awarded and the focus turns solely to the upcoming draft and free agency. This morning has been a busy one for overseas moves, however, as teams try to get some last bit of business wrapped up before the weekend.

  • American defender Ben Blood continues his wide-ranging European career, signing a one-year contract with the DEL’s Löwen Frankfurt. In the past five years, the former Ottawa Senators prospect has played for four different teams across Great Britain, Finland, and Austria. Now 34 years old, the hulking 6-foot-4 defender takes his services to Germany for the first time after recording five points and 39 penalty minutes in 32 games with the Liiga’s Pelicans last season.
  • Austrian World Juniors cult hero netminder Sebastian Wraneschitz is returning to his home country, signing a one-year deal with his hometown Vienna Capitals of the ICEHL. Wraneschitz, 21, played for Vienna in the 2020-21 season but opted to head to North America to play juniors in 2021-22. He settled in, playing 18 games with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, but injuries limited him to just three appearances there in 2022-23.
  • The Liiga’s Luuko has signed a pair of formerly NHL-contracted players to one-year deals: defenseman Josh Brook and forward Brayden Burke. Brook, a former second-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, spent the 2022-23 season on an AHL contract with the Calgary Wranglers but played just 13 games. The 23-year-old will now look to revive his career overseas. Burke, 26, amassed 202 games of AHL experience across six seasons between the Tuscon Roadrunners, Ontario Reign, Milwaukee Admirals, and Manitoba Moose.
  • Heading back to the DEL, the Nürnberg Ice Tigers have inked 27-year-old forward Charlie Gerard to a one-year deal. Playing with the ECHL’s Reading Royals, Gerard finished top 10 in league scoring in 2022-23 after spending most of 2021-22 up in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. This will be Gerard’s first experience overseas.
  • Former New York Rangers forward prospect Jake Elmer is heading to Denmark, signing a one-year contract with the Odense Bulldogs of the Metal Ligaen. Elmer failed to stick in the AHL after a strong overage showing in juniors, which led to an NHL contract from the Rangers after going undrafted. The 24-year-old played six ECHL games this season before heading overseas, finishing out the year with HK Nitra in the Slovak Extraliga.

More to come…

Oskari Laaksonen Signs Two-Year Deal In SHL

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Dallas Stars pending restricted free agent defender Oskari Laaksonen has signed with the SHL’s Luleå HF for the next two seasons, keeping him overseas through 2025.

The 23-year-old arrives in Luleå after two-and-a-half seasons in the AHL. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres with the 89th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Dallas acquired Laaksonen in a minor trade in December 2022.

There’s still some untapped potential in Laaksonen, who posted 34 points in 71 games with the Rochester Americans in 2021-22 before becoming a healthy scratch as the postseason began. In Texas this season, Laaksonen registered eight points in 29 games, adding three points in six playoff contests.

Dallas can retain Laaksonen’s NHL rights upon the expiration of his SHL deal if they issue a qualifying offer next month.

Before his time in the AHL, the Finnish defenseman amassed four seasons of pro experience in the Finnish Liiga with the Ilves and Pelicans clubs. Notably, Laaksonen was also a part of the Finnish national team that clinched the IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship title in the 2018-19 season.

Luleå general manager Stefan Nilsson expressed his excitement about Laaksonen’s acquisition in a translated statement:

It feels great with Laaksonen, who we feel is a skilled two-way defender who will be able to help the team. In addition to having a solid defensive game, he is also a good skater who likes to participate in the offensive game. In addition, he is a right-handed shooter, which we don’t have too many of.

Laaksonen also spoke on his decision to move overseas:

It feels great to move to Luleå and take on a new challenge together with Luleå Hockey in the SHL. Before I decided to sign, I spoke to Juhani Tyrväinen, because I have played with his brother before, and he had nothing but good things to say about both the association and the team, so it was an easy decision to make.

Free Agent Focus: Boston Bruins

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Boston Bruins.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Trent Frederic – Frederic earned a full-time role on the Bruins this season, which is an accomplishment when you consider the team won 65 games in the regular season, setting an NHL record. The 25-year-old center was a late first round draft pick in 2016 and just had his best NHL season. He scored 17 goals and 31 points, adding some offensive punch while routinely playing on the team’s fourth line.

Frederic is coming off a two-year contract where he earned just over $1MM per season. He signed that contract before he even became a regular in the lineup, so after scoring nearly 20 goals he will be looking for a big raise, and a bigger role on the ice as well. He has arbitration rights and a decent argument to make $2.5 – $3MM with his offensive numbers.

G Jeremy Swayman – Technically the team’s backup goaltender, Swayman was pretty busy, playing 37 games for the league leading Bruins. He posted a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SV%. Though he is just completing his entry-level contract, the 24 year old has played 88 career NHL games and has a 2.24 GAA and .920 SV% in that time. He has a great argument for a large raise on his $925k salary, and could earn as much as $3MM on a short-term deal which would give him a chance to really prove himself before cashing in on a longer contract.

Others RFAs: Samuel Asselin, Shane Bowers, Jakub Lauko, Marc McLaughlin, Kai Wissmann, Brandon Bussi, Michael DiPietro, Kyle Keyser

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Patrice Bergeron – Yet another Selke nomination (and likely winning) season in the books for Bergeron as he continues his reign as the best defensive forward in the game. The only question is, will he continue to play or is his career coming to a close? He played this season on a one-year contract with a cap hit of $2.5MM but a total value of $5MM when you include bonuses. Of course, the veteran is worth every penny, but is he going to sign another team-friendly deal?

At 37 years of age, and a long wait after the Bruins season ended to embrace his teammates, it appears Bergeron may be considering retirement instead of a return to the Bruins in 2023-24.

F David Krejci – Like Bergeron, Krejci played on a team-friendly deal this past season, but also appears to be considering the end of his playing career. He earned just $1MM in salary last season plus $2MM in bonuses, and scored 16 goals and 56 points in 70 games. The 37-year-old center played the 2021-22 season in Czechia and could be heading back there next season as well.

F Tyler Bertuzzi – Bertuzzi was a trade deadline pickup of the Bruins and could be in for a big payday if he decides to hit the open market this offseason. He fit in perfectly in Boston, scoring 16 points in 21 regular season games and ten points in seven playoff games with the Bruins. A bit of a scrappy winger, Bertuzzi adds a lot more than just offense and could capitalize on a rather weak free agent class this offseason.

The 28-year-old winger made $4.75MM for the past two seasons and is likely looking to add another $2MM or so to that on his next contract after a strong run with the Bruins and a 30-goal and 62-point season in 68 games in 2021-22. The Bruins will need to decide if they want to commit that to a winger, or hold onto that cap space to find centers.

F Nick Foligno – Foligno signed a two-year contract with the Bruins in 2021 and though he ended up being overpaid during that time, he did fill a valuable role on the team as an experienced winger who plays a scrappy style and adds a bit of scoring from the fourth line. The 35 year old had ten goals and 26 points in 60 regular season games and would be willing to return to Boston at a fraction of the $3.8MM salary he earned for the past two seasons.

F Garnet Hathaway – Another trade deadline pickup, Hathaway played on the team’s bottom six while bringing energy, physicality and strong defensive play. He also scored 22 points in 84 games split between the Washington Capitals and Bruins. Hathaway signed a four-year contract with a cap hit of $1.5MM with the Capitals in 2019 and played well in that time, earning himself a raise on his next contract. At 31 years of age, he may not get another four year deal, but a two or three year contract with a cap hit of $2MM would make sense, though the Bruins may look to spend their money elsewhere.

D Dmitry Orlov – Orlov was an elite fit on the Bruins lineup, earning the moniker (Orr)lov during his short stint in Boston. He arrived with Hathaway in a trade from the Capitals and clicked immediately on the left defense, scoring 17 points in 23 regular season games and eight more points in seven postseason contests. The Bruins already have big money committed to Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy on the blue line and may not have the space to retain Orlov.

The 31-year-old defenseman is arguably the most valuable player eligible to become a free agent this offseason, and would be wise to see what offers are out there for him. It has been suggested he wants to return to Washington, but wherever he ends up, he will sign a long-term agreement and it will surely be with a larger cap hit than the $5.1MM he has been earning since 2017. If he tests the open market, he could earn as much as $7MM on a five year contract.

Other UFAs: Tomas Nosek, Matt Filipe, Joona Koppanen, Vinni Lettieri, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, Jack Ahcan, Connor Carrick, Anton Stralman, Nick Wolff

Projected Cap Space

The Bruins show just under $5MM in cap space this offseason but they have some considerable holes to fill. If Bergeron and Krejci both leave the NHL, the Bruins are without their top two centers. Bertuzzi, Orlov and Hathaway were all trade deadline acquisitions but there is little chance they find the room to keep any of them with their limited space. Swayman has been excellent for them, and is just coming into his own at the NHL level, but will they be able to find space to keep him or does he get traded? Ideally, the Bruins would find a way to move Mike Reilly’s contract which has one year left on it at $3MM. This would open up a bit of space to re-sign some key players and fill out their roster. It will be an interesting offseason in Boston with so many holes to fill and not many dollars to spend.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Free Agent Focus: Arizona Coyotes

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Arizona Coyotes.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Christian Fischer – Fischer initially looked like a future top-six point producer for the Coyotes after being drafted early in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He scored 15 goals and 33 points in 79 games as a 20-year-old rookie in 2017-18. Unfortunately, he has not reached those totals again in his career, though he is coming off his second best offensive season. The 26 year old scored 13 goals and 27 points in 80 games and will now look for a bit of a raise.

At 6-foot-2 and 214 pounds, Fischer brings size and a bit of physicality to the ice, which gives him a little more value than just his offense. Fischer is coming off a one-year contract with a $1.125MM cap hit which he signed after scoring five goals and ten points in 53 games in the 2021-22 season. After basically doubling his offensive output on a per-game basis, Fischer will likely look to double his salary as well and try to get a few years of term on his deal as well.

F Matias Maccelli – Maccelli had one of the quietest strong seasons in the NHL this year. A bit of an unknown in hockey circles, Maccelli put together a strong rookie season and earned some mentions in Calder Trophy talks. He was not one of the three finalists, but once the ballots are released, I’m sure he will be one of the next few players on the list.

Dec 19, 2022; Matias Maccelli. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The 22 year old Finnish forward was a fourth round pick of the Coyotes in 2019 and has a strong AHL season in 2021-22 but really broke out with the Coyotes this season. He scored 11 goals and 49 points in 64 games which put him third on the team in points. He is just coming off his entry-level contract so he does not have arbitration rights yet which does not give the player much leverage. However, his point total will give him some reason to ask for a big raise, though the team will likely look for a bridge deal to see if he can repeat his offensive output while keeping his restricted free agent status following his next contract. A two-year deal with a cap hit of $2MM could make sense for both sides.

F Jack McBain – McBain was a third round pick of the Minnesota Wild but signed with the Coyotes after a four-year NCAA career at Boston College. While he developed into a star player at the college level, he is still just finding his way in the NHL. The 23 year old just wrapped up his first full NHL season by scoring 12 goals and 26 points in 82 games.

He has now completed his two-year entry-level contract but he burned the first year by playing ten NHL games following his college season ending just over a year ago. That means he does not have a ton of pro experience and not a lot of reason to ask for a big raise. The Coyotes were willing to give the young player a full-time NHL role right out of college and he would be wise to re-sign at a cap hit around $1M to continue developing his game in the best league in the world.

G Connor Ingram – Ingram earned the backup role for the Coyotes and played well behind a team that was not the greatest defensively. He suited up for 27 games and while his 3.37 GAA does not look great, he had a decent .907 SV% while facing a high quality of shots against. He will look for a small raise on his $733k cap hit from the past three seasons.

Other RFAs: Jan Jenik, Nathan Smith, Cameron Crotty, Ivan Prosvetov, David Tendeck

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Laurent Dauphin – Dauphin has proven to be a capable scorer at the AHL level in his career, but has not broken through to show he is a full-time NHL player yet. He played 21 games with the Coyotes this season and had just one point. The 28-year-old center now has 17 points in 94 career NHL games, though he did score 41 points in 48 AHL games this season.

Dauphin will sign another two-way contract with some team at a league minimum NHL salary but is destined for waivers at the start of next season on his way to another strong AHL campaign.

F Brett Ritchie – One part of the infamous brother trade that sent Brett to Arizona and Nick to Calgary, this Ritchie could now hit the open market. He had eight goals and 13 points in 50 games split between the Flames and Coyotes last season and will now look to sign another league minimum two-way deal for the upcoming season.

D Connor Mackey – Also traded from Calgary to Arizona midseason, Mackey was a promising college free agent just a few years ago and could prove to be valuable depth for a team like the Coyotes next season. He is currently playing at the World Championships after scoring seven points in 30 NHL games and his 6-foot-2 frame allows him to defend his side of the ice. He is a bit of a late bloomer, signing out of college at 24, and he is likely looking for a short term deal at league minimum as well.

Other UFAs: Michael Carcone, Bokondji Imama, Steven Kampfer

Projected Cap Space

Cap space won’t be an issue for Arizona this summer. In fact, they are going to have to be aggressive to spend to the cap floor. They have $27MM in cap space and need to spend about $6MM just to reach the league’s minimum salary for next season. They have been stockpiling draft picks and prospects but do not look to be ready to contend just yet. They will need to sign a few free agents or take on another dead contract like they already have with Shea Weber, Bryan Little and Jakub Voracek just to eat up cap space next season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Dallas Stars Announce Seven More Black Aces

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Dallas Stars radio announcer Bruce LeVine tweeted this afternoon that the club has announced seven more Black Aces that will join the club for the remainder of their playoff run. The Stars already announced this morning that they would be recalling Mavrik Bourque and Rhett Gardner from the Texas Stars, now they will have seven additional teammates joining them with the big club. Texas was eliminated from the AHL playoffs this past Sunday night by the Milwaukee Admirals.

Joining the Stars from the AHL will be forwards Oskar Back, Matej Blumel, Marián Studenič, and Riley Tufte. Defensemen Alexander Petrovic, and Ryan Shea will also join the fray, as well as goaltender Matt Murray. The Black Aces generally don’t dress for games; however, they do stay ready for action just in case. They will also practice with the club as well as soaking in the experience of being around the NHL playoff atmosphere.

The addition of Petrovic is an interesting coincidence given that in the 2017 Vegas Golden Nights expansion draft the Florida Panthers gift wrapped Jonathan Marchessault along with Reilly Smith to Vegas so they could protect Petrovic and three other defensemen. Marchessault has gone on to become the Golden Knights all-time scoring leader while Petrovic struggled to stay in the NHL and has spent the past four seasons in the AHL.

These Black Aces could have a short stay with the big club as Dallas can be eliminated as early as this evening should they drop game 4 to the Golden Knights.

Afternoon News: Capitals, Howden, Maple Leafs

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Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic wrote a piece today that highlighted the nine forwards he believes would fit what the Washington Capitals are looking for this offseason. El-Bashir begins the piece by shining a light on the salary cap crunch that will leave the Capitals with around $5MM in cap space this summer. That leaves Washington with precious little space to work with, however El-Bashir quickly points out that Evgeny Kuznetsov and Anthony Mantha are both trade options that are finding their names on a lot of trade boards.

El-Bashir feels that Washington won’t target players over 30 given their age and Washington’s precarious cap situation. He lists Tyler Bertuzzi, Connor Brown, Andreas Athanasiou, Ivan Barbashev, Michael Bunting, J.T. Compher, Max Domi, Pierre Engvall, and Evan Rodrigues as the likely targets for Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. Washington has an extensive group of forwards signed to contracts for next season but have a glaring hole on the right wing. Given the cost and the need I would likely put current Capitals forward Connor Brown near the top of the list. Brown was acquired from the Ottawa Senators for a second round pick last summer but only dressed in four games before suffering a season ending ACL injury in his right knee.

In other afternoon notes:

  • Jesse Granger of The Athletic is reporting that Brett Howden of the Vegas Golden Knights was on the ice for the team’s morning skate ahead of their game 4 matchup against the Dallas Stars. Granger reported yesterday that the 25-year-old center had tweaked a lower body injury in game 2 and tried to play through it but couldn’t. Howden missed game 3 and given that he’s seen a lot of time in Vegas’ top-6 as of late, his return would be a welcome boost if he can dress tonight. Howden had a pedestrian regular season with 13 points in 54 games, however in these playoffs he has three goals and three assists in 14 games. Vegas has a chance to sweep Dallas this evening.
  • Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star wrote an opinion piece today about why former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving checks so many of the boxes that Brendan Shanahan and the Toronto Maple Leafs would be looking to tick. McGran highlights Treliving’s experience in Calgary working in a collaborative environment with former president of hockey ops Brian Burke. Toronto’s future general manager would be tied to Shanahan as well as the board of MLSE, it is a job that is different from some other NHL clubs, however Treliving has worked within a similar structure. McGran also cites Treliving’s penchant for having the guts to make bold moves, Treliving spent last summer overhauling the Calgary Flames out of necessity by trading Matthew Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar as well as signing Nazem Kadri as a free agent.

Sampo Ranta Signs In Sweden

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Pending Colorado Avalanche restricted free agent forward Sampo Ranta has signed a two-year contract with the newly-promoted MoDo Hockey of the SHL, as announced by the team Thursday.

Colorado can still issue a qualifying offer to Ranta, which would keep him on the organization’s reserve list when his SHL deal expires in 2025. The Avalanche would maintain his rights at that point if he wanted to make an NHL return.

The 22-year-old Finn was a third-round selection of the Avalanche in 2018, but his promising collegiate numbers haven’t yet translated to the pro level. Over the past two-and-a-half seasons with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, Ranta has registered 22 goals and 43 points in 110 games. It’s not awful, but after a point-per-game junior campaign with the University of Minnesota in 2020-21, the organization was expecting a bit more.

Ranta did get multiple NHL looks, accumulating 16 regular-season games and two playoff games, but he failed to register a single point. For an Avalanche team that relies heavily on its top-six forward group, there weren’t many ice time opportunities for Ranta even when in the NHL lineup.

It’s likely why he’s opted to head overseas to a hungry MoDo team looking to stay in Sweden’s top league after earning promotion from the Allsvenskan this past season. He’ll have plenty of opportunity there and should be among the team’s scoring leaders at season’s end.

Born in Naantali, Finland, this will be Ranta’s first time playing in a European league since junior action with the Red Bull Hockey Academy in Austria in 2015-16.

NHLPA Investigating Kyle Dubas’ Relationship With Agent

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The NHLPA confirmed to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli today that it’s conducting a review of the relationship between former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and his agent, Chris Armstrong of Wasserman Sports. The review is focused on whether there has been a violation of the Certified Agent regulations that govern agent activity.

The NHLPA Certified Agent regulations explicitly prohibit agents from representing or providing services to any officer or employee of an NHL team. Currently, Armstrong is not an NHL-certified agent and, therefore, not subject to discipline by the NHLPA.

However, this investigation seeks to determine whether agents working for the same agency but in a different division or arm of the firm are also prohibited from representing hockey executives on the other side of the table. Wasserman Sports represents approximately 10 percent of the NHL’s total player pool, including high-profile stars such as Toronto’s own Auston Matthews.

Per Seravalli, several NHL-certified agents have expressed their belief that Dubas’ relationship with Armstrong is a clear violation of the regulations and have called for an investigation by the NHLPA.

Jeff Jackson, Wasserman’s hockey executive vice president, stated to Seravalli that he was unaware of any pending review by the NHLPA but expressed willingness to address any questions the association may have regarding the matter.

Dubas, a former certified player agent himself, would have been well aware of the regulations governing agents prior to entering into a relationship with Armstrong. Now a free agent after being let go by the Maple Leafs ahead of his contract expiring this summer, he’s been heavily linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager opening in recent days.

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