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Archives for August 2024

Minor Transactions: 8/3/24

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It’s unlikely that there will be considerable activity on the NHL transactions front at this point of the summer but some of their affiliates have been busy in recent days.  Here’s a rundown of those moves and any news on former NHL players.

  • Free agent winger Nick Swaney has signed a one-year deal with AHL Chicago, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 26-year-old spent the last four years in Minnesota’s system but was limited to just seven games due to injuries last season.  Swaney had 30 points in 48 AHL contests in 2022-23, resulting in him making his NHL debut as well.
  • Former NHL blueliner Joe Morrow is sticking around in England as he has re-signed with EIHL Manchester, per a team release. The 31-year-old played in 162 NHL games over parts of five seasons with Boston, Montreal, and Winnipeg, collecting 32 points.  Last season with the Storm, Morrow had 27 points.  He has had somewhat of a nomadic journey since leaving North America, spending time in Belarus, Finland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland, and now England.
  • Nick Jones, who spent the last four seasons on Winnipeg’s AHL team, has opted for a change of scenery as Vlci Zilina of the Slovak Extraliga announced on their Instagram page that they’ve inked the winger to a one-year deal. The 28-year-old had 16 points in 47 games with the Moose last season but now qualifies for the lower tier of veteran status with more than 260 career AHL appearances (but below the main veteran threshold of 320) which likely limited his North American options this summer.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Stuart Skinner Changes Agents

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Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner will enter the second season of a three-year bridge deal in 2024-25 on a contract that carries a $2.6MM AAV.  Accordingly, he’s still a year away from becoming eligible to discuss an extension.  However, that hasn’t stopped the netminder from changing representation as Alpha Hockey’s Ray Petkau announced (Twitter link) that his agency is now representing Skinner.

It has been an eventful couple of years for the 25-year-old.  In his first full NHL season, Skinner made the All-Rookie team while posting a 2.75 GAA and a .913 SV% in 50 regular season games, taking over as the starter from Jack Campbell.  That helped earn him the three-year deal from then-GM Ken Holland.  Skinner also got the bulk of the workload in the 2023 postseason, putting him in a good position to be leaned on as the undisputed starter for 2023-24.

While Skinner played big minutes like a true starter last season, it wasn’t exactly easy.  Through the first two months of the season, he posted a save percentage of just .881, resulting in Calvin Pickard starting to see regular NHL action for the first time in several years.  However, he was much better when the calendar flipped to 2024, posting a .914 SV% from January on.  Skinner then followed that up with a 2.45 GAA and a .901 SV% in 23 playoff starts before falling to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final.

At this point, it’s fair to suggest that Skinner has boosted his stock beyond his $3MM required qualifying offer in 2026.  The goal now will be to play more consistently and show that he’s worth starters’ money (more than double his current AAV) on a long-term deal.  Regardless of when discussions for that next deal start, it’ll be someone different handling the negotiations on Skinner’s end this time around.

Hurricanes Have A Decision To Make With Their Second Buyout Window

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On Monday, the Hurricanes avoided salary arbitration with restricted free agent Martin Necas, inking him to a two-year, $13MM contract.  He was their only player to file so with that case now settled, a short-term second buyout window has opened up.

As a refresher, teams get their second buyout window once a team’s arbitration cases have been resolved.  It opens up 72 hours after signing and lasts for 48 hours (meaning time is nearly up for Carolina to consider this).  The only contracts that can be bought out in this window are for players with cap hits higher than $4MM and the player had to have been on the team’s roster at the last trade deadline.

At first glance, the idea of using the window might not make much sense.  After all, they have $6.44MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, an amount that is higher than most teams.

However, it’s a misleading figure as they still have restricted free agent Seth Jarvis to re-sign; the winger wasn’t eligible for arbitration.  The 22-year-old is coming off a breakout year, one that saw him record 33 goals and 34 assists in 81 regular season games before adding nine more points in 11 playoff contests.  A first-round pick in 2020, it’s fair to say that the Hurricanes envision Jarvis as being a core piece of their long-term future.

Generally, Jarvis is the type of player that they’d like to sign to a max-term eight-year agreement, buying an additional four years of team control.  However, coming off the year he had, it’s quite likely that such an agreement would cost more than what they have in cap room.  For the price tag to come in around $6MM, it would likely need to be a three-year bridge agreement.  So if GM Eric Tulsky wants to sign Jarvis for that long, he’ll need to create some cap space.

One way to do that is in this second window where one potential candidate stands out, Jesperi Kotkaniemi.  He has not lived up to his third-overall draft billing and is coming off his most disappointing season, one that saw him notch 12 goals and 15 assists in 79 games while logging only 12:59 per game.  That’s not a great return on a $4.82MM AAV, especially when that contract runs through the 2029-30 season.

Typically, a buyout on that expensive and long of a contract would make no sense.  But because Kotkaniemi is only 24, the buyout cost is one one-third, not the standard two-thirds.  Accordingly, the buyout would break down as follows:

2024-25 to 2026-27: $835K per season
2027-28 to 2029-30: $455K per season
2030-31 to 2035-36: $835K per season

That means that a Kotkaniemi buyout would save the Hurricanes $3.985MM, bringing their cap space total to $10.425MM which is ample space to give Jarvis a max-term extension while giving them enough flexibility to afford a replacement roster player for Kotkaniemi.

Are there other ways to open up that cap space?  Of course; they could look to the trade market and try to find a way to shed salary that way.  And let’s face it, the prospect of paying Kotkaniemi until 2036 not to play for them is far from appealing.  Frankly, it would be a surprise if they went this route.  But if they want to work out a long-term deal with Jarvis and need to free up the money, this is one route they can go but only for a few more hours.

Free Agent Profile: Oliver Kylington

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Now more than a month into free agency, pretty much all of the top talents are off the board.  However, there are a handful of intriguing players still available, one of whom is defenseman Oliver Kylington.

It has been a series of ups and downs for the 27-year-old for the past three seasons, to put it lightly.  In 2021-22, he had a breakout year.  After showing flashes of upside in the past without much consistency, Kylington was able to put together a consistent showing, picking up 31 points in 73 games while logging over 18 minutes per night, good for fourth among Calgary blueliners.

While he improved, he also wasn’t progressing to the point of being a high-end piece, so Flames management saw fit to give Kylington what amounted to a second bridge contract, a two-year, $5MM agreement that walked him right to UFA eligibility.  It was a move that gave them a bit of cap flexibility while hedging against him taking a step back.  Meanwhile, had Kylington continued his progression, he’d have been well-positioned to cash in on the open market.

Of course, it didn’t quite happen that way.  Kylington missed the entire 2022-23 campaign for mental health reasons; that also carried over into last season before he eventually returned to the Flames in January.

Upon returning, Calgary understandably eased him in.  After averaging more than 18 minutes a night in his last season, it took him until the 13th game to reach that mark.  Overall, Kylington played in 33 games, notching three goals and five assists while logging 17:15 per contest.  Those numbers don’t exactly jump off the table which undoubtedly hurt his case heading into free agency.

Stats

2023-24: 33 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 PTS, -6, 12 PIMS, 17:15 ATOI, 48.7 CF%
Career: 201 GP, 17 G, 38 A, 55 PTS, +24, 52 PIMS, 15:39 ATOI, 50.7 CF%

Potential Suitors

The possible fits for Kylington come down to a couple of types of teams.  If he’s looking for playing time, trying to land with a weaker team that can give him a chance at being a fourth defender would be the way to go with the hopes of rebuilding some value.  Alternatively, he could elect to try to join more of a contending team and play more of a limited role but hope that being in a winning environment will help in the long run.

In the East, Pittsburgh currently has five regular defensemen before things turn to a variety of depth players and question marks.  Bringing in Kylington would at least give them a sixth proven option while they have ample cap space to fit him in.  Carolina has Alexander Nikishin coming but he’s still a year away.  Kylington could be a depth option that helps bridge the gap.  Meanwhile, the Rangers are currently set to have Zachary Jones on their third pairing.  If they’re not comfortable with that, Kylington could be a viable piece to fit on their third pairing.  However, he’d have to take a pay cut to fill that spot with New York being largely capped out.

Out West, San Jose has been adding some short-term veterans in an effort to improve their competitiveness and Kylington would at least raise the floor at the back of their blueline.  Over time, he could push his way into a bigger role as well.  If Ryan Suter’s addition in St. Louis wasn’t a hedge against Torey Krug’s injury, Kylington could serve as a depth replacement and injury insurance.  While a reunion in Calgary may seem unlikely at this point, there were extension discussions back in June so evidently, there was at least some mutual interest in a new deal with the Flames not that long ago.

Projected Contract

Kylington narrowly missed out on our Top 50 UFA list, checking in two spots below the cut-off.  Last month, the expectation was that Kylington was hoping to land a two-year deal a little above the $2.5MM AAV he had on his now-expired contract.  At this point, achieving both seems unlikely; a one-year agreement is now the likeliest outcome while there aren’t many viable options that can afford Kylington at that price point.  Something closer to the $1.5MM mark would give him some opportunities that otherwise might not come about.  That would be a disappointment based on his early expectations but at this stage of the game, few get the types of contracts they were originally seeking.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

KHL Notes: Blais, Barabanov, Miftakhov

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With NHL interest not being to his liking, it appears as if free agent winger Sammy Blais is considering options in the KHL, according to Metaratings’ Dmitry Levin.  The 28-year-old had a breakout showing in 2022-23, notching 25 points in 71 games, the bulk of which came after being reacquired by St. Louis; he had 20 points in 31 contests down the stretch that year.  However, Blais wasn’t able to carry over that success into last season as injuries and ineffectiveness limited him to just 53 games where he had only one goal and six assists along with 194 hits in 9:41 of action.  From a longer-term standpoint, the idea of Blais going overseas where he can play a bigger role and work on his offensive game makes some sense in the hopes of trying to get back to North America with a better market than he appears to have now.

Other KHL news:

  • Earlier this week, UFA winger Alexander Barabanov signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan but it wasn’t for a lack of NHL interest. His agent Yuri Nikolaev told AllHockey.ru that he had NHL options on the table but that they didn’t suit him.  Speculatively, that’s likely to mean that teams were coming in with low-cost offers (or even tryout agreements) following a rough year that saw him record just four goals and nine assists in 46 games with San Jose, well below the 47 points in 68 games he put up in 2022-23.
  • Former Tampa Bay goalie prospect Amir Miftakhov wasn’t a fan of playing in the AHL early in his career, which eventually led to a mutual contract termination. However, he might be open to a change of heart, telling AllHockey.ru that he would be ready to play in the AHL moving forward.  The 24-year-old was limited to just nine KHL appearances last season but has a 2.20 GAA and a .919 SV% over five years at that level.  He’s under contract with Ak Bars Kazan through the upcoming season but if he’s still willing to go to the AHL when free agency opens up, he’ll likely garner some NHL interest at that time.

Kings’ Defensive Success Sits With High-Scoring Prospects

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The Los Angeles Kings will be entering the 2024-25 season with a glaring absence on defense after Matt Roy opted to sign with the Washington Capitals. Roy was a pillar of the Kings’ lineup, averaging 20 minutes a night over the last three seasons and serving as the consistent, well-rounded impact that allowed riskier players like Drew Doughty to thrive. But despite losing a paramount right-handed defender, Los Angeles has yet to make any notable blue-line additions – save for a surprisingly expensive, four-year deal for left-shot Joel Edmundson.  They’re now left with just $1.4MM in remaining cap space, leaving the job of filling Roy’s role up to top young Kings Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke.

Spence is the more seasoned of the two, having appeared in 101 NHL games over the last three seasons. He broke out in a major way during his first professional season in 2021-22, earning an NHL call-up after posting 42 points through his first 46 AHL games. The scoring translated to the top level, with Spence posting eight points through his first 24 NHL games – the fifth-highest point-per-game scoring of any Kings defender that season. He settled in for a full AHL season in the following year, playing in six NHL games and scoring just one point, though Spence did post an impressive 45 points in 56 AHL games. That production was, again, enough to earn him a consistent NHL role this season – something he managed to good effect, netting 24 points in 71 games despite averaging just 14:26 in ice time.

Meanwhile, Clarke stands as Los Angeles’ unrivaled top prospect and looked stellar in his first professional season this year. He fought for the scoring lead on the AHL’s Ontario Reign for much of the year, ultimately recording 46 points in 50 games – the highest scoring rate of an AHL rookie defender since Jack Rathbone in 2020-21, and Justin Schultz in 2012-13 before him. While Rathbone and Schultz have each seen their scoring stall at the NHL level, Clarke seems to be poised to buck the trend after netting six points in his first 16 games with the Kings. Even more exciting – Clarke stood up to a variety of roles in his first NHL stint, playing as little as seven minutes, or as much as 18 minutes, on any given night.

Both Spence and Clarke have fought their way towards more-and-more opportunity in the Kings organization on the back of strong offense, but also carry reasons to hesitate before they’re thrust into the spotlight. Spence has looked admittedly lanky and easy to knock around at times, shying him away from driving too deep into either zone. Clarke shares that hesitancy, as someone still finding his pro footing, and has also yet to show the breakaway speed of a top NHL offensive-defenseman. But the pair still offers tantalizing scoring upside for a Kings defense that’s only supported one 50-point defender since 2000 – Doughty, who’s achieved the feat five times.

Roy was never much of a scorer, even in top minutes, with a career-high of just 26 points. His departure, juxtaposed by the scoring upside of former top-10 pick Clarke, and point-per-game minor leaguer Spence, matched with the defensive safety net of Gavrikov, could be enough to finally give the Kings another high-scoring defender. But one of the two top young defenders will need to take a major step forward if they want to embrace the lofty, top-four vacancy in the L.A. lineup.

Afternoon Notes: Perfetti, Chernyshov, Wranglers

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Recent trade rumors have suggested the Winnipeg Jets offered Cole Perfetti for Carolina Hurricane forward Martin Necas. However, Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Suns has emphasized that there’s no truth to the claim, though Carolina did show interest in acquiring Perfetti. Billeck adds that Necas wasn’t interested in signing long-term in Winnipeg, driving a wedge into trade negotiations.

Necas, 25, has since signed a two-year extension that walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026, giving him a chance to hand-pick where he spends his prime years. Necas has come into form over the last two seasons, posting a collective 52 goals and 124 points in 159 games. He’s developed into a high-energy scorer with the ability to play both wing and center.

Perfetti, 22, offers that same flexibility, though he’s still searching for his footing at the NHL level. He managed 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games this season despite inconsistent, and controversial, ice time. Perfetti looks poised to join Necas’ ranks of top-six goal-scorers over the next few seasons, though the pair’s age disparity makes them tough to evaluate side-by-side.

Other notes from around the league:

  • San Jose Sharks prospect Igor Chernyshov shared with Sergey Demidov of Russia’s Responsible Gaming that he’ll likely be moving to the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit after San Jose’s training camp. Chernyshov signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks on Thursday and will move to the CHL with rare pro experience, having played in 39 games with the KHL’s Dynamo Moskva over the last two seasons. He’s scored just five points in those appearances – deceptively low considering the impact he brings shift-to-shift. Chernyshov showed a bit more offense in the MHL – Russia’s U21 junior league – with 66 points in 60 games over the same span. He will now be tasked with finding his footing and rediscovering that production in Saginaw, as he fights to earn a spot among San Jose’s pro ranks.
  • The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers have announced the signings of forward Connor Mylymok, defender Charles Martin, and goaltender Connor Murphy. Mylymok and Martin have inked two-year AHL/ECHL contracts, while Murphy re-signs with the Wranglers on a one-way AHL deal. Murphy found his stride after earning an AHL call-up last season, posting a .922 save percentage across 15 games with the Wranglers. With Dustin Wolf set for a promotion to the NHL, Murphy will battle with Devin Cooley and Waltteri Ignatjew for a hardy AHL role. Meanwhile, Mylymok and Martin will continue their pursuit of a call-up from the ECHL.

Metropolitan Notes: Kolosov, Kakko, Boll

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While a report last weekend indicated that Flyers goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov told the team he wouldn’t report to AHL Lehigh Valley in the fall, general manager Daniel Brière says the team doesn’t “have any confirmation that he’s not coming back” and expects him to be their third-string netminder this season, he told Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now.

Kolosov, 22, signed his entry-level contract last summer but was returned on loan to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. Only after Dinamo’s season ended was Kolosov brought over to North America, where he finished the season with an .885 SV% in only two games for Lehigh Valley.

Last weekend, sources told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey that Kolosov felt isolated after arriving in North America, a notion Brière refuted in his interview with Carchidi. “As we know, he’s coming back for camp in September,” the GM said. “He was not left by himself, and we thought everything was going good. If he wants to play hockey, he has to come back over. He’s under contract with us, so that’s why I don’t understand all the fuss. I guess a Russian team could say they’re not going to honor the contract. But he’s under contract with the Flyers and that’s where he’s going to have to play if he wants to play hockey.”

Kolosov, a third-round pick of Philadelphia in 2021, posted a .907 SV%, 2.39 GAA and 22-21-3 record with four shutouts in 47 games for Minsk last season.

Here’s more from the Metropolitan:

  • In a mailbag for The Athletic, Arthur Staple opines that Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko is stuck as a “buy-low” trade candidate after signing a one-year, $2.4MM deal for this season back in June. While Staple says there’s been some amount of documented interest in the 2019 second-overall pick on the trade market, he’s “not a player other teams are coveting.” The Finn averaged a career-low 13:17 per game under head coach Peter Laviolette last year amid the worst offensive showing of his five-year NHL resume, limited to 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 61 games.
  • While the Blue Jackets settled on their next head coach with the hiring of Dean Evason last month, it didn’t mean the rest of the coaching staff was set in stone. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported a couple of weeks ago that the futures of all three of their assistants, Jared Boll, Steve McCarthy and Mark Recchi, were up in the air pending meetings with Evason. Today, Portzline confirmed that Boll’s job is safe for next season, while McCarthy’s and Recchi’s futures haven’t been decided on. The Blue Jackets were already down an assistant after opting not to renew the contract of Josef Boumedienne.

Brad Hunt Signs With AHL’s Hershey Bears

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The Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, have landed veteran free agent defenseman Brad Hunt on a one-year deal, a team announcement reads. The blue liner settles for a minor-league contract after spending the last two seasons on a two-way deal with the Avalanche.

Hunt, 36 later this month, saw NHL action in 10 straight seasons from 2013-14 onward before spending all of last year in the minors. The left-shot defender’s NHL upside has always been limited because of his diminutive 5’9″, 176-lb stature, but he was one of the more offensively talented defenders available that was still unsigned.

It’s a nice move for the Capitals organization. Washington doesn’t acquire Hunt’s signing rights with today’s news, but they (or any NHL team) can still sign Hunt to a contract at any time if they wish. He adds 288 games of NHL experience to the pipeline and immediately becomes the top defenseman for a Bears team that’s won back-to-back Calder Cup championships.

Hunt spent the last two seasons captaining the Avs’ affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Last season, he led the team in scoring with 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 70 games and was named to the AHL’s year-end First All-Star Team. Dating back to his professional debut over a decade ago, Hunt has 279 points (80 goals, 199 assists) in 381 AHL games in parts of eight seasons.

His last extended run in the NHL came in the front half of his now-expired two-year deal with the Avalanche, suiting up in 47 contests for them in the 2022-23 campaign. He wasn’t given any special teams usage and averaged just 11:13 per game, but still contributed 10 points (four goals, six assists) with a +4 rating. The British Columbia native has 88 career points (26 goals, 60 assists) with a -32 rating in parts of 10 NHL seasons for the Oilers, Wild, Golden Knights, Predators, Blues, Canucks and Avs.

International Notes: Keeper, Bergman, Asselin

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After spending last season on a two-way deal with the Canadiens, defenseman Brady Keeper is headed to Slovakia on a one-year deal with HK Poprad, the team announced.

Keeper, 28, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Panthers out of Maine in 2019 and stayed mostly in the minors, only suiting up for the big club twice before his entry-level contract expired in 2021. Injuries have limited him to 57 combined regular-season AHL games over the past three years, during which he’s spent time in the Canadiens and Canucks organizations.

He had a goal and three assists with 53 PIMs and a +1 rating in 22 games for Montreal’s affiliate in Laval last season. Poprad, which had the best regular-season record in the Slovak Extraliga last season, will be his first overseas stop.

Some other notable international signings to come across the wire today:

  • Former Sharks prospect Julius Bergman is continuing his tour of his native Sweden, now landing with Nybro Vikings IF on a three-year contract. The 28-year-old Stockholm native had his rights dealt to the Senators and Rangers before opting to return home in 2019 after a four-year professional career spent entirely in the AHL. He’s played mostly for Swedish clubs but finished last season in Slovakia with HC Slovan Bratislava, where he had three points in 10 games. He’ll suit up for Nybro now, which plays in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. The 2014 second-round pick of San Jose previously had 19 points in 75 Allsvenskan games for Karlskrona HK and Sodertalje SK.
  • Center Samuel Asselin, once an undrafted free agent signing by the Bruins, is heading over to Switzerland’s HC Sierre on a two-year deal. Asselin, 26, spent last season on an AHL contract with the Islanders’ affiliate in Bridgeport after being non-tendered by Boston in 2023. He wasn’t much of a factor, contributing six goals and 16 points in 52 games on one of the AHL’s worst teams. The 5’11”, 183-lb forward will look to play a pivotal role for Sierre, which suits up in the second-tier Sky Swiss League.

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