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Archives for January 2024

Seattle Kraken Recall Ryker Evans

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The Seattle Kraken have announced that defenseman Ryker Evans has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Evans, 22, last played for the Kraken on December 27th. He’s spent all of 2024 so far with Coachella Valley, and has done very well there. The Firebirds have collected seven points out of eight available since Evans returned to their lineup, and Evans himself has scored four points in that span of games. That puts him up to 12 points in 22 games at the AHL level, which is not far off from last season’s scoring pace when he put up 44 points in 71 regular-season games.

After a stellar playoff run that saw Evans score 26 points in 26 games en route to a heartbreaking loss in overtime of Game Seven in the Calder Cup final, there was a widespread belief that 2023-24 would be the season Evans broke into the NHL with the Kraken.

The team’s first-ever second-round pick has played in nine NHL games so far this season, averaging 17:58 time-on-ice per game. He’s scored four points in those nine games while also receiving time on the club’s second power play unit.

Evans’ recall gives the Kraken a seventh defenseman on their active roster, and at the moment he figures to be a healthy scratch. With the team beginning a six-game road trip tomorrow, though, he could end up getting into some games seeing as former seventh defenseman Jaycob Megna was recently claimed off of waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Avalanche Recall Sam Malinski, Jason Polin

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02:20 PM: The Avalanche have also recalled forward Jason Polin from the Eagles, according to a team announcement. This recall should be seen as an indication that Wood is likely out for tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. The 24-year-old will likely fill in for Meyers, who was sent down, as the team’s last healthy forward.

That would put Polin, a natural left winger, in Meyers’ spot as the team’s fourth-line left winger alongside Fredrik Olofsson and Kurtis MacDermid. While Polin was a top-end offensive player in his final campaign with Western Michigan University, he’s not found the same level of offensive success in the early days of his pro career. He has just two points in 20 career AHL games, but nonetheless he could end up getting the chance to make his NHL debut tonight against Boston.

10:29 AM: The Avalanche recalled defenseman Sam Malinski from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Monday, per a team announcement.

This is the 25-year-old’s fourth recall of the season and his first of the calendar year. His most recent stint on the active roster lasted over a month, heading up to the Avalanche on emergency loan on November 29 before being returned to the Eagles on December 30.

The Avalanche suit up tonight against the Bruins and, without a recall, may have only had 17 skaters available for tonight’s game. Winger Miles Wood is uncertain after missing Saturday’s loss to the Panthers with an illness, and the Avalanche were down to 11 forwards after returning Ben Meyers to the Eagles on Saturday night. Malinski’s recall may indicate head coach Jared Bednar is planning to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Bruins unless an additional recall is made later today.

If he does play tonight, it will be the 15th NHL appearance for Malinski, both this season and in his NHL career overall. The Minnesota-born blueliner is in his first professional season after completing his collegiate career with Cornell University in 2022-23, where he recorded 26 points and a +10 rating in 34 games during his senior campaign, earning First Team honors on the NCAA’s All-Ivy League year-end squad for the second season in a row.

The Avalanche snapped up Malinski, who was not selected in any previous NHL Entry Drafts, as a free agent last March and signed him to a two-year, two-way deal. He began the season with the Eagles but has filled in for the Avalanche on numerous occasions this season when injuries struck, recording a goal and five points along with a +1 rating in 14 games. He hasn’t seen much in the way of heavy minutes, averaging 14:11 per game, and his 45.5% Corsi share at even strength does leave something to be desired. However, Malinski has still seen more NHL action than most expected this year, potentially serving as a precursor to a more lengthy stay in Denver as a sixth or seventh defenseman option.

Calgary Flames Kevin Rooney Clears Waivers

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1/9: Rooney has cleared waivers and is awaiting assignment.

1/8: The Calgary Flames have placed forward Kevin Rooney on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move is a precursor to Rooney getting activated off of long-term injured reserve, as should he clear waivers the Flames would be able to activate him and assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.

In addition to this move, Sportsnet 960’s Patt Steinberg reports that forward Jakob Pelletier has been activated off of season-opening injured reserve and been assigned to the Wranglers. Pelletier is recovering from shoulder surgery, and now he can get into some AHL practices as part of that recovery. Long-term, the expectation is likely that Pelletier will return to the NHL level as that is where he scored seven points in 24 games last season.

As for Rooney, the six-foot-two veteran pivot was originally signed by the Flames to a $1.3MM AAV contract in order to serve as their fourth-line center. He’d filled that role admirably for the New York Rangers for the prior two seasons, and was fresh off of a run with the club to the Eastern Conference Final.

Rooney struggled in Calgary, and only played in 17 NHL games last season compared to 51 in the AHL. Now likely to be a Wrangler once again, the Flames will be tagged with $150k against the cap from Rooney’s deal as $1.15MM of the full $1.3MM total is considered “buried” when Rooney is on the AHL roster.

Minnesota Wild Reassign Jake Lucchini

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With the news that forward Marcus Foligno has returned from his injury and is ready to play tonight as the Minnesota Wild host the Dallas Stars, the Wild have decided to send a forward down back to the AHL: Jake Lucchini.

Lucchini was a healthy scratch for the Wild’s most recent game, but now with Foligno returning it appears Nic Petan will take his spot in the team’s press box, pushing Lucchini back to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. The 28-year-old veteran of 261 AHL games last played in Iowa on December 20th, before receiving his first NHL game of the year just three days later.

The 28-year-old undrafted veteran broke out as an AHL scorer in 2021-22, potting 20 goals and 51 points for the Belleville Senators. He had an even better campaign in Belleville last year, and then the Wild committed a $300k AHL salary to Lucchini for 2023-24 in order to sign him, and he’s been a top scorer for the AHL Wild so far this year.

With 24 points in 24 games, Lucchini is among the Wild’s top AHL scorers, and with this reassignment, he’ll likely resume his role at or near the top of the team’s forward depth chart. Given the Wild’s tendency for injury this season, their significant lack of cap space, and Lucchini’s league-minimum $775k cap hit, it’s certainly possible we haven’t seen the last of Lucchini in the NHL this season.

Injury Updates: Wild, Sabres, Lehkonen

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The Minnesota Wild have been dealing with an absolutely massive slate of injuries in their recent stretch of games, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the team. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that the trio of core pillars for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Jared Spurgeon are all “progressing and skating,” and thereby in their “next phase” toward full returns to the ice.

Adding Kaprizov, Spurgeon, and Gustavsson back to their roster would give the Wild their number-one winger, number-one defenseman, and number-one goalie back. The team has been strong under new head coach John Hynes, but in order for them to truly have a chance of keeping up in the Central Division that trio of players will need to return to the ice sooner rather than later.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • As reported by the Buffalo Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe, Buffalo Sabres wingers Victor Olofsson and Jordan Greenway are currently sick and out on a day-to-day timeline for the team. Olofsson was a healthy scratch for the team’s most recent game in favor of Eric Robinson, while Greenway skated on their third line alongside Zach Benson and Casey Mittelstadt. With captain Kyle Okposo now out week-to-week, the possibility both Greenway and Olofsson miss tomorrow’s game against the Seattle Kraken would mean the team could potentially need to recall a forward or two from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that forward Artturi Lehkonen is skating at Avalanche practice in a white jersey, meaning he has officially moved past the non-contact stage of his injury recovery. The 28-year-old Finnish winger had a breakout campaign last season when he scored at a 27-goal, 65-point 82-game pace and had scored eight points in 12 games this season before suffering his significant injury.

Calgary Flames Bring Yan Kuznetsov Back Up

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1/9: The Calgary Flames brought Kuznetsov back to the NHL on Tuesday, after sending him down on Monday.

1/8: The Calgary Flames have reassigned defenseman Yan Kuznetsov back to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. This move comes just a few short days after Kuznetsov was first recalled from the AHL, and places him back with their top developmental affiliate before he’s had the chance to make his NHL debut.

The 21-year-old served as a spare blueliner for the Flames during their two road losses against the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks. There was some hope that the big 2020 second-round pick might draw into the Flames’ lineup in place of a player such as Jordan Oesterle, but that did not end up being the case.

Blueliner Dennis Gilbert was on the receiving end of a scary hit against the Nashville Predators, and although he has not played since he appears to not be in line to miss significant time. As a result, Kuznetsov is no longer needed on the Flames’ roster as a spare defenseman. And with Oliver Kylington working his way back to full NHL readiness, that’s another factor contributing to the general sense that Kuznetsov doesn’t quite have a place in the NHL with the Flames just yet.

That’s not to say he won’t have his place there relatively soon, of course. The big defenseman was solid in his first AHL campaign last year and has been making progress this season as well. Ilya Solovyov might be ahead of him on the depth chart at the current moment, as he’s already played in six NHL games, but Kuznetsov isn’t far off and this original recall illustrated that.

San Jose Sharks Recall Scott Sabourin

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that forward Scott Sabourin has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. This recall puts the veteran forward in a position to play in his first NHL games since 2021-22.

The Sharks cleared a roster spot when they reassigned forward Jack Studnicka to the AHL on the fifth, and specifically appeared to need to fill that roster spot with a forward recall since they were already carrying eight blueliners.

They’ve passed over the Barracuda’s leading scorer, Daniil Gushchin, in favor of recalling Sabourin, perhaps because this recall doesn’t come with assurances of a lineup spot attached so they’d prefer the 21-year-old Gushchin remain playing big minutes in the AHL rather than play fourth-line minutes or sit in the press box at the AHL level.

That’s not to say Sabourin hasn’t earned this recall in his own way, though, as in all fairness he was on pace to score 22 goals and 32 points before this recall. The 31-year-old undrafted grinder stands six-foot-four, 207 pounds and plays with an imposing level of physicality.

He’s racked up over 1,000 career penalty minutes in the AHL, and could be a better fit for the Sharks’ fourth line compared to the 24-year-old Studnicka, a former top prospect who plays an offensive style but without the points to show for it.

Over the past two years, Sabourin has become a more productive player at the AHL level, setting a career high in production with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23. Now he’ll get another shot at the NHL level, his first since his AHL offensive breakout.

Maple Leafs Sign William Nylander To Eight-Year Extension

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10:51 a.m.: Toronto has made the eight-year length and $92MM total value of the contract official, per a team release. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that approximately $69MM of the deal will be paid out in signing bonuses.

9:00 a.m.: The Maple Leafs have officially completed talks on an eight-year, $11.5MM average annual value extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Monday morning. The contract will carry a full no-movement clause in all eight seasons, running from 2024-25 to 2031-32. TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report the NMC inclusion earlier Monday.

Nylander, 27, is now the recipient of the largest total value contract in the Maple Leafs’ 100-plus-year history at $92MM. He will be 36 years old when his mega-deal expires in 2032, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career as his prime years are assumedly winding down.

This is a landmark deal for a player who’s emerged as undoubtedly their second-most important forward this season. While superstar first-line center Auston Matthews has stolen the show with his 30 goals in just 36 games, Nylander has broken the bank in terms of points. His 21 goals and 33 assists give him 54 points on the year in 37 games, putting him on pace for 120 – shattering last season’s career-high mark of 87.

Nylander’s been viewed as a bona fide top-six winger since he finished sixth place in Calder Trophy voting in 2016-17. However, there have always been external questions surrounding the compete and consistency level of the 2014 eighth-overall pick. Most of those have been quieted in the past 12 months, with Nylander continuing to provide excellent postseason play (despite Toronto’s abbreviated playoff runs), adding in excellent possession metrics and now proving himself as a yearly threat for 40-plus goals.

The leading thought among public opinion will likely be that new GM Brad Treliving shoehorned himself by not signing Nylander to a deal last summer when discussions were reportedly in the $9MM-$10MM AAV range. However, Friedman countered that on this morning’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. He believes that Nylander’s camp has been holding steadfast to a higher number since negotiations began last July, and while he couldn’t confirm that an $11.5MM AAV on an eight-year deal was Nylander’s initial ask, it was close enough to get the deal done once the Leafs arrived at that number.

It’s unlikely the Leafs were comfortable with a $1.5MM jump in value per season based on a 30-game hot streak. Advanced metrics show this run of play from Nylander could very well be sustainable over the first few seasons of the deal, however, making the team’s third $11M+ cap hit on the books next season easier to swallow.

For one, he’s shooting the puck more – likely due to an uptick in ice time this season of around a minute and a half. He’s now shown he’s able to weather more than 20 minutes per game on a routine basis, something the Leafs will rely on him to do as their bevy of high-paying contracts restricts their ability to add depth on offense. Thus, despite his career-high 47-goal pace, Nylander is shooting at a percentage right around his career average (12.9% this season compared to his 12.3% average), and at a shooting percentage lower than three out of the last four seasons. His possession numbers remain quite strong, too, including a 53.4% Corsi share and a 4% relative Corsi share at even strength this year. Put simply, his play this season warrants the box-score numbers he’s produced.

That makes it an incredibly difficult decision to consider parting with Nylander, who’s developed into a core player for Toronto in every sense of the word. He’ll have spent a decade already in the organization next summer, and he’s managed to withstand, at times, a great deal of public criticism from local media and respond with an 18-month span that’s solidified him as a top-five right wing in the league. By keeping him around long-term, the Maple Leafs will get to reap the rewards of their patience.

Whether or not the team’s current construction under the salary cap can lead to a Stanley Cup win is the most pressing question, though, a cry that will become louder with now over 50% of next season’s salary cap devoted to Nylander, Matthews, Mitch Marner and captain John Tavares. In hindsight, that may be a more important metric in assessing this deal’s value rather than Nylander’s individual production over the next eight seasons.

For now, Nylander will be one of the six highest-paid players in the league next season in terms of AAV behind Matthews ($13.25MM), Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6MM), Oilers superstar Connor McDavid ($12.5MM), Rangers winger Artemi Panarin ($11.64MM), and Penguins blueliner Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM). It’s quite lofty company for Nylander at the beginning of the contract, but his cap hit’s place in those standings will continuously drop as more eight-figure deals get inked with the impending sharp rise of the salary cap’s Upper Limit.

In signing this deal, the Maple Leafs also take the top pending unrestricted free agent of the 2024 class off the board. That title now goes to a group of first-line talents in the Eastern Conference – Penguins first-line mainstay Jake Guentzel, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, and, amidst a breakout season on pace for 59 goals and 105 points, Panthers winger Sam Reinhart.

Nylander’s full no-movement clause will protect him from any trades, waiver placements, or future expansion drafts over the life of the deal unless he consents. It does not, however, prohibit Toronto from buying out his contract if the last seasons of the deal age poorly.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Maple Leafs Closing In On William Nylander Extension

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Jan. 8: Nylander and the Maple Leafs are indeed closing in on an eight-year, $92MM total value extension, TSN’s Darren Dreger corroborates Monday morning. There is still “some work getting done” on the deal, however, and it’s unclear whether it will become official today. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic expects the deal to contain full no-movement protection and “favorable bonus structuring.”

Jan. 6: The Maple Leafs could announce an extension for star winger William Nylander after returning from their California road trip, potentially on Monday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on tonight’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. Per Friedman, it’s likely to be an eight-year deal carrying a stratospheric AAV of $11.5MM.

That price tag is roughly $2.5MM higher than what new Toronto GM Brad Treliving offered in the early stages of negotiations last summer. Nylander’s 43-goal, 116-point pace through 36 games has eliminated the possibility of a seven-figure cap hit, however, solidifying him as the best pending free agent available in the 2024 class.

It’s also a significant increase on the $10MM-per-season deal Nylander reportedly requested before this season began. Throughout his torrid start to the campaign, which included a franchise-record 17-game point streak, the reported cap hit on an extension began to steadily climb. With that ascent now seemingly arriving at the $11.5MM mark, Treliving won’t wait any longer to put pen to paper and keep his team’s current points leader in the organization long-term.

That contract would tie Nylander for the fifth-highest cap hit in the league beginning next season with Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who they have at a reduced price of $10MM through the retained salary trade that brought him there from the Sharks last summer. It also leaves Toronto with two of the top five most lucrative contracts in the league beginning in 2024 – star center Auston Matthews’ $13.25MM AAV extension will give him the highest cap hit in the league.

His performance this season seems like the real deal, and advanced metrics suggest this similar rate of production should be sustainable for a number of years as he plays out his prime. Despite his career-high goal-scoring pace, his 12% shooting percentage this season is actually less than his 12.3% career average. His two-way game has never been better, either – he’s on pace for an expected rating of +24.6, which would shatter his career-high of +18.9 set last season.

So, in a vacuum, it may be difficult to criticize the price tag given his market value as a pending UFA. However, that cap hit works out to a combined $46.6MM in spending wrapped up in Matthews, Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares next season – over 53% of the $87.5MM salary cap in 2024-25 spent on four forwards. That doesn’t include Morgan Rielly and his $7.5MM cap hit, which works out to nearly 62% of the salary cap spent on five players. With the current LTIR relief of John Klingberg, Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin all coming off the books next summer, it’ll be an extremely tight one-year squeeze until Marner’s and Tavares’ deals expire in 2025.

Assuming both Marner and Tavares stay with Toronto, the former likely won’t command a significant raise on his current $10.9MM cap hit. However, Tavares’ $11MM cap hit will likely see a multi-million dollar reduction, freeing up a notable amount of money for Treliving as the salary cap jumps to an expected value of $92MM in 2025-26.

Nylander will be 28 years old when the deal begins, and if it’s signed as reported, he’ll be 35 years old in the last season of the deal in 2031-32. Avoiding a long-term commitment to Nylander into his late 30s should help Toronto avoid some serious devaluation of the contract in the final few seasons, but even with a rising salary cap, it’s fair to expect the contract to age poorly in its seventh and eighth seasons as is the case with most long-term deals signed near the beginning of a player’s UFA eligibility.

Nonetheless, it expects to be another landmark signing for a team that’s had quite a few of them in the last decade. The ultimate question – whether or not this core can lead them to a Stanley Cup – of course remains to be seen. With Nylander posting a point per game over his last three playoff runs, however, there’s little doubt about his individual ability to perform in mid-April and beyond.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Alex Stalock, Reassign Jackson LaCombe

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Before the puck dropped in tonight’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, the Ducks announced they had called up goaltender Alex Stalock, and reassigned defenseman Jackson LaCome to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. As mentioned in previous reporting, it was discovered that netminder John Gibson would be out of tonight’s game due to an illness, and the Ducks would be reintroducing forward Troy Terry back into the lineup.

As the third-string goaltender in the organization, this will mark Stalock’s third call-up of the season, with the other two coming on November 1st and December 20th, respectively. Failing to play a game in either of those two transactions, Stalock has only played for the Gulls this season, carrying a 1-7-1 record through nine games, and also possessing a .894 SV%.

If Anaheim continues to maintain relatively good health between the pipes, Stalock could very well only play in the AHL this season for a struggling San Diego team. It would mark the first time Stalock has only suited up in the AHL for any given year since the 2011-12 season. Employed as a backup for the Chicago Blackhawks last year, Stalock has a career record of 70-65-20, with a .908 SV% primarily serving as a backup with the Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, and San Jose Sharks.

In LaCombe, it will mark his first demotion to the minor leagues over his young career, making his NHL debut last season after wrapping up his career with the University of Minnesota. LaCombe initially made his way to the Ducks organization after being selected by the team with the 39th overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft.

It would be an understatement to say that LaCombe has struggled in his first full year in the NHL, only tallying four assists through 35 games this season. Playing in almost 20 minutes each night, LaCombe has managed a -22 rating, the worst on Anaheim’s roster. Furthermore, even in the more advanced metrics, LaCombe has produced a CorsiFor% of 38%, and an on-ice save percentage in all situations of 88.7%, which are simply not going to cut it at the NHL level.

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