Flames Re-Sign Artyom Zagidulin
Artyom Zagidulin’s first season in North America didn’t see him come close to putting up the numbers he did in the KHL in 2018-19 but he showed enough to convince the Flames to give him another look as they announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year, two-way contract extension. CapFriendly reports that the deal carries a $700K salary at the NHL level, a $125K salary in the minors, and an overall guarantee of $225K.
The 24-year-old spent this season with Stockton of the AHL in a timeshare with Jon Gillies as each goalie made 30 appearances for the Heat. Zagidulin’s numbers (3.07 GAA, .898 SV%) weren’t quite as strong as Gillies (2.69 GAA, .907 SV%) but it’s worth noting that Gillies was in his fourth season at the AHL while Zagidulin was in his rookie campaign.
With Gillies slated to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this offseason, Zagidulin should have a chance for a bigger chunk of the workload in Stockton next season. Calgary has two other young netminders that are eligible for restricted free agency in Tyler Parsons and Nick Schneider. Both spent the season with Kansas City of the ECHL and put up rather pedestrian numbers. Accordingly, it’s possible that one may be non-tendered with the other serving as Zagidulin’s backup in the AHL next season.
Pacific Notes: Markstrom, Vancouver, Calgary
Without an official start date announced for the expanded NHL postseason, it is nearly impossible to guess when the Stanley Cup might be awarded this year and when the off-season may begin. All that Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning cares about is that by the time the off-season does arrive, goaltender Jacob Markstrom is back under contract. “He’s an important guy for us,” Benning told Ben Kuzma of The Province, adding “My intent is to figure out something that works for him and us. I’m hoping to get him signed.” Markstrom is part of a trio of key free agents for Vancouver that includes defenseman Chris Tanev and forward Tyler Toffoli, but the All-Star netminder appears to be Benning’s priority. The GM has been working to extend Markstrom all year, while Markstrom himself has said multiple times that he would like to remain in Vancouver. All that is left is for the two sides to meet on money in the confines of a potential flat salary cap and the Canucks’ hefty payroll. Markstrom enjoyed a career year in 2019-20 and could still boost his stock even further with a strong playoff performance. If the Canucks don’t pay him, someone else undoubtedly will.
- The city of Vancouver is hoping to have a first-hand look at the coming postseason. The province of British Columbia has put together a formal proposal, designed and approved by its top healthcare professionals, that recommends Vancouver as one of the two “hub cities” for the NHL’s makeshift playoff format. Per the Canadian Press, this proposal will be presented to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for approval and then finally to the NHL. Vancouver was already on the shortlist of possible locations that the league was considering, but are now taking steps to be a front runner for the event. Whether or not the NHL would allow the Canucks to play at home or instead send the Eastern Conference teams to Western Canada remains to be seen.
- Working against Vancouver’s odds of hosting a postseason tournament is Canada’s continued insistence on a 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the country. If this policy is still in place once the postseason is ready to commence, it would present a holdup that the NHL cannot afford. Before it even reaches that possible breaking point, the quarantine rule is already impacting training camp plans. Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving tells TSN’s Ryan Rishaug that the organization already has a plan in place to hold their July training camp in the U.S. if the quarantine rule is not lifted or an exception is not made. “I don’t want guys coming back to Calgary and sitting on their butts for two weeks,” Treliving stated, “It may make more sense for us to have camp in the U.S. so we can have guys together quicker and being productive. The quarantine issue is a big one.” There is no word yet on where exactly this fallback training camp would take place, but hockey-centric cities relatively close to Calgary include Spokane, Washington and Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Dustin Wolf Named CHL Goaltender Of The Year
What a run for Dustin Wolf. The Calgary Flames prospect has now added CHL Goaltender of the Year to his resume, following his previous selections as the top netminder from both the WHL and USA Hockey. Wolf also signed his entry-level contract with the Flames last month.
Wolf, 19, has done nothing but dominate at the junior hockey level, recording a .934 save percentage across three seasons and 127 appearances. His goals-against average during that time was a minuscule 1.85 and he posted an 88-31-6 record in the regular season.
One might expect a goaltender like that to be a top draft pick, especially given he won the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year award in his draft year. Wolf, however, fell all the way to the seventh round before the Flames used the 214th overall pick on him a year ago.
The reason is simple, Wolf stands just 6’0″ 165-lbs, much smaller than the goaltenders that have reached the peak of professional hockey in recent years. In comparison to mammoth netminders like Ben Bishop and Mikko Koskinen—both standing 6’7″—it’s easy to see why teams may hesitate on Wolf’s potential.
Still, the Flames are obviously willing to give him a shot to show what he can do at the professional level. That won’t happen until next year when he is eligible for the AHL, but with a contract in hand and a history of success he’ll be one of the more interesting goaltending prospects to follow.
Previous winners of the CHL award include current NHL goaltenders like Carter Hart (twice), Darcy Kuemper, Jake Allen and Carey Price.
Jakob Pelletier's QMJHL Rights Traded To Val-d'Or
The QMJHL draft is just underway and already there has been a notable trade agreed upon. TVA Sports’ Mikael Lalancette (Twitter link) is among those to report that Flames prospect Jakob Pelletier has been dealt from Moncton to Val-d’Or. RDS’ Stephane Leroux adds (Twitter link) that a pair of first-round picks are among the five picks and a prospect going the other way.
Stretch Run Storylines: Calgary Flames
As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks. Assuming the regular season continues (something the league remains hopeful of doing), there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run. Over the weeks ahead, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team. We continue our look at the Pacific Division with Calgary.
The Flames have had a bit of a tumultuous season. After winning the division last year, Bill Peters was let go early in the season for prior incidents that came to light. Their top five scorers from 2018-19 are all producing at a lower clip this season. They’re allowing more goals than a year ago while scoring less per game. But despite that, they’re still sitting in a playoff spot and are within striking distance for second in the Pacific. Here’s what to watch for from them down the stretch.
Scoring Races
Despite underachieving considerably compared to last year, Matthew Tkachuk (61 points) and Johnny Gaudreau (58) are in a tight battle for the team lead in scoring. Both were starting to heat up before the break as well with Gaudreau averaging a point per game over his last 16 contests while Tkachuk had 19 points in that same span. Neither will come close to their mark from a year ago but it should make for an interesting scoring race over the final few weeks.
There is another scoring race to watch for in Calgary between a current winger in Milan Lucic and their former winger in James Neal. As part of the offseason trade, a 2020 third-round pick from the Oilers to the Flames was put in it with some rather unique conditions. For the pick to transfer, Neal has to score at least 21 goals this season and have 10 more tallies than Lucic.
Let’s look at where things stand now. Neal is at 19 goals so he’s two shy of getting the first half. Meanwhile, Lucic has rebounded slightly from his goal total a year ago but he only sits at eight. If Neal picks up a couple over their final stretch, Calgary should net themselves the pick unless Lucic comes back and gets on a hot streak right away.
Rebound From Rittich?
Expectations were high for David Rittich heading into the year. The goaltender was coming off of a strong 2018-19 campaign and was expected to push for even more playing time this season. He got off to a strong start as well, posting a .915 save percentage across his first 35 appearances. That was a little better than a year ago (.911) and it helped him make it to his first All-Star Game when he took the place of Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper.
Things haven’t gone as well since then. In his last 13 games, his save percentage plummeted all the way down to .883. In other words, from about NHL average to below-average backup territory. That’s not the biggest of sample sizes but his struggles and a nagging elbow issue paved the way for Cam Talbot to play more regularly before the pause in the schedule.
Can Rittich rebound after the break or will Talbot, who took a one-year deal last summer to take another run at landing a starting job this coming offseason, continue to cut into his playing time? This is a potential dual-goalie situation which would be ideal for a compressed stretch run but come playoff time, they’ll likely want to stick with one netminder over a platoon.
Valimaki Ready?
Juuso Valimaki didn’t look out of place in Calgary last season. The blueliner made the team and held his own early before being sent to the minors. However, he was recalled late in the year and even saw some playoff action. That had him in line to push for a regular spot on the back end until he tore his ACL in early September. He wasn’t expected to play this season but the break in the schedule has made that a legitimate possibility now.
From a short-term standpoint, adding another defenseman would be ideal for a stretch run that will likely be compressed if it gets off the ground. It’d also certainly be beneficial from a development perspective.
But there is another consideration at play. If Valimaki plays in a single game in 2019-20, he would become eligible for selection in next summer’s Seattle expansion draft. But if he doesn’t, he won’t accrue a professional season of service which means he’d fall under the exempt category. By the way, that applies for any AHL playing time either in the unlikely event that their season resumes.
That presents Calgary with a potentially intriguing decision. It’s hard to justify sitting someone that could help in a late-season or playoff game but are a handful of games from someone who has been off so long enough to justify making him required to be protected. Worth noting, Mark Giordano, Noah Hanifin, and Rasmus Andersson will all require protection next summer and teams only have three guaranteed protection slots. It’d be an interesting decision either way.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Calgary Flames Sign Dustin Wolf
The Calgary Flames have added another top goaltending prospect to their system, signing Dustin Wolf to a three-year entry-level contract. Wolf recently finished his third season in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips, where he dominated once again, posting a .935 save percentage in 46 games.
If you look at Wolf’s career to date in junior hockey, you might wonder why exactly he fell all the way to the seventh round before the Flames selected him with the 214th pick last year. There’s one simple answer for that—size. Despite being one of the most consistent and outstanding goaltenders in the WHL for three straight seasons, Wolf stands just 6’0″ 165-lbs, numbers that do not inspire confidence at the NHL level.
Still, there’s reason to be excited about Wolf’s future in the professional ranks. His positioning is exquisite and his ability to read the play in front of him and track the puck is nearly unmatched at the junior level. There will obviously be some real challenges in front of him, but at this point all he’s ever done is succeed.
Wolf’s contract will not kick in next season if he plays another year in the WHL, which is almost certain at this point. He is not eligible for the AHL.
Calgary Flames Sign Johannes Kinnvall
Now that the transfer agreements are in place, teams around the NHL are finalizing their contracts with European free agents. The Calgary Flames were one of those teams waiting to get a deal done and have now announced a two-year entry-level contract for Johannes Kinnvall. The team has already announced that Kinnvall will remain in Sweden for the 2020-21 season before joining the Flames organization in North America for 2021-22.
Kinnvall, 22, exploded offensively this season with HV71, scoring 40 points in 51 games. That was good enough for eighth in the entire SHL and four points more than teammate Linus Sandin, who just signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Of course, that is all the more impressive given that Kinnvall is a defenseman. He was the second-highest scoring blueliner in the league and will be an interesting option for the Flames should he be able to bring that offensive production to North America.
That won’t be easy, but he’ll have another year to hone his craft before coming over.
Calgary Flames Sign Emilio Pettersen
The Calgary Flames have signed one of their more interesting prospects, inking Emilio Pettersen to a three-year entry-level contract according to several reports including Frank Seravalli of TSN. Pettersen recently finished his sophomore season at the University of Denver, but will turn pro and join the Flames organization.
The 20-year old forward was originally a sixth-round pick of the Flames in 2018 following two seasons in the USHL. Norwegian-born, he has been playing in North America since 2014 and has improved at every level. This season recorded 35 points in 36 games for DU, leading the program in scoring and earning himself a Hobey Baker nomination as one of the best players in college hockey.
It’s hard to know exactly where Pettersen’s potential will end up taking him, but at this point he looks like a late-round steal for the Flames. The next step will be continuing to produce at the AHL level, in hopes of one day contributing in the NHL.
Flames Expected To Sign Johannes Kinnvall
Earlier today, Flames GM Brad Treliving told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link) that the team was waiting for the finalization of a new transfer agreement before they could confirm the signing of a Swedish free agent. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays (via Twitter) that the player that Treliving was referencing was Swedish defenseman Johannes Kinnvall.
The 22-year-old is coming off of a breakout season in the SHL where he finished second in league scoring after collecting 11 goals and 29 assists in 51 games with HV71. He was already on Calgary’s radar before this season though as he attended their development camp last summer.
Kinnvall is already signed for next season which is why the extension of the current transfer agreement between the NHL and the Swedish Federation is required. Friedman notes that there were rumblings earlier in the week about the NHL wanting to do one-year extensions on their current agreements so that will be something to watch for in the days to come.
Assuming a deal eventually is finalized, Kinnvall will receive a two-year, entry-level deal and join a Flames back end that has several youngsters that are already established in the NHL. However, with both Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason, there could be an opening or two on their back end and with the year that Kinnvall just had, he could certainly push for a spot sooner than later.
West Notes: Pietrangelo, Talbot, Gagner
The season isn’t even over yet, but the St. Louis Blues have been busy adding talent to their future with two signings on defense. The team extended defenseman Marco Scandella, while agreeing to term with collegiate Scott Perunovich on a contract. That leaves quite a bit of depth on the Blues’ blueline and leaves even more questions on whether St. Louis intends to sign pending unrestricted free agent Alex Pietrangelo to a long-term deal.
In his most recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that he believes the Blues continue to prioritize signing Pietrangelo and believes that his $9MM AAV asking price might now be too high and he might have to accept less or a short-term deal as the NHL deals with the effects of COVID-19. Regardless, the Blues will likely have to unload some contracts to make a deal possible as Rutherford suggests the team is likely going to have to move backup goaltender Jake Allen or buying out forward Alex Steen. Allen, in particular, could have some value after posting a 2.15 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 24 appearances, and could attract some teams looking for help in net as he will have one year remaining next year at $4.35MM.
- Speaking of goalies, Calgary Flames veteran Cam Talbot, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, that he is looking for one more chance to be a starting goaltender again and that will be his basis for signing with a team. “I wouldn’t rule out coming back, but, obviously, my goal coming here was to show the rest of the League that I still have it in me to be a starting goalie and I think I accomplished that,” Talbot said. The 32-year-old had a bounce-back season in Calgary after signing a one-year deal with the Flames with a 2.63 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 26 appearances as the backup to David Rittich.
- In his most recent mailbag, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector suggests that there is a strong likelihood that the Edmonton Oilers will re-sign fourth-line center Sam Gagner to another short-term deal. He believes that Edmonton general manager Ken Holland looks at Gagner as a future member of his front office in the same way he looked at Dan Cleary, Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby when he was with the Detroit Red Wings. On top of that, Gagner is likely looking for a one-year deal at under $1MM, a contract that a team like Edmonton would value considering how top-heavy the team is in expensive contracts. Edmonton is also Gagner’s family’s home, suggesting that is where he would prefer to stay.