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Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes Announce AHL Affiliates

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The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers have both officially announced their new AHL affiliates, continuing the domino-effect changes that have followed the relocation of the Henderson Silver Knights. Carolina, who had been affiliated with the Charlotte Checkers, has now signed a three-year agreement with the Chicago Wolves starting in 2020-21. The Panthers, who previously used the Springfield Thunderbirds as their AHL affiliate, have inked a multi-year agreement with the Checkers.

When the Vegas Golden Knights purchased the San Antonio Rampage and moved them to Henderson, the St. Louis Blues were without an AHL affiliate and the Wolves were without an NHL parent. The Blues then affiliated with Springfield, continuing the musical affiliate chairs and forcing the Panthers to look elsewhere.

The biggest shock is still the breakup of the Hurricanes and Checkers after the two had been so closely linked by affiliation and obviously geography for so long. The Checkers owner, Michael Kahn, even invested in the Hurricanes and became an ownership partner back in 2011.

In terms of details, the Hurricanes announced that Ryan Warsofsky will continue to serve as AHL coach, moving over to lead the Wolves after the new agreement. His entire staff will come with him to the new organization. The move to Charlotte is a big first announcement for new Panthers GM Bill Zito, though the agreement was in place long before he came on board earlier this month.

Offseason Keys: Carolina Hurricanes

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As teams are eliminated from the playoffs, it means that the offseason has arrived for several more squads.  Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the official first round.  Next up is a look at Carolina.

After what many would call a Cinderella playoff run a year ago, the Hurricanes picked up where they left off this season and found themselves in a postseason position before the pandemic hit.  From there, they made short work of the Rangers, a popular sleeper pick, in the Qualifying Round and it looked like they might be on their way again.  However, Boston stopped them in their tracks to end their season.  While it ended on a sour note, it seems unlikely that Carolina will make a bunch of changes but some tweaks may be on the menu.  Here’s what GM Don Waddell should be looking to accomplish over the coming months.

Look Into Goalie Upgrade

On the surface, suggesting that a team that allowed the sixth-fewest goals in the league this season needs a goalie upgrade would seem a little strange.  However, it’s certainly an area that could be improved upon and it’s looking like this could be an offseason where there is more goalie movement than usual so the timing may be right.

Petr Mrazek and James Reimer have both been starters for stretches of their careers and backups for others due to their inconsistency.  Mrazek had the larger share of the workload but only managed a .905 SV% this season which is well below average for a starter.  Reimer fared better at a .914 mark but in 15 fewer games.  Between the two of them, they combined for a .908 SV% which isn’t great and looks a bit worse when you consider they play in front of one of the better defense corps in the league and allowed the second-fewest shots during the regular season at 29.3 per game.

Both netminders are also a year away from unrestricted free agency.  At this point, it doesn’t seem likely that both would be brought back and the team still has hopes for Alex Nedeljkovic to be part of their future plans as well.

With that in mind, why not look to try to upgrade?  At the very least, they’ve been linked to Toronto’s Frederik Andersen already and there will undoubtedly be others as well.  With Mrazek and Reimer, the Hurricanes have a reasonable floor to work with between the pipes but even finding a small upgrade during the offseason goalie shuffle would be an important step and it’s something that should be attainable.

Extension Talks

Late last month, Waddell indicated that there’s no timetable to work on contract extensions for two of his top players but that he hopes to work on new deals for winger Andrei Svechnikov and defenseman Dougie Hamilton sooner than later.  Knowing that both are in line for considerable raises, getting early extensions done would go a long way towards providing some certainty towards what they’ll have to spend beyond 2020-21 which could have an impact on what types of other additions they target in the coming months.

The 20-year-old Svechnikov took a big step forward offensively this season, finishing third on the team in scoring with 24 goals and 37 assists in 68 games.  He did so without a major jump in playing time as well as he logged just 16:44 per night.  There’s room for a bigger role and with it, the potential for another offensive jump next season.  Accordingly, it’s reasonable to think that a long-term deal will cost more a year from now if one of the two sides opt to wait.  On the other hand, with the salary cap projected to only increase minimally for the next few years now due to the pandemic, Svechnikov becomes a candidate for a bridge contract which is something they could try to work out now to get that cost certainty in place.

As for Hamilton, he was in the midst of a career year before fracturing his fibula on mid-January.  Before that injury, he was just shy of a point per game (40 points in 43 contests) while logging 23:17 per game, a new career best.  He also got into five playoff games (after missing the Qualifying Round series against the Rangers with another injury), picking up a goal and an assist while playing nearly 25 minutes a night.  With his performance this season, Hamilton has shown himself to be capable of being a top-pairing defenseman which makes his current $5.75MM cap hit look like quite a bargain.  He’ll be 28 when he hits the open market and will be in the prime of his career so even with the cap projections not being what they were earlier this season, he’s going to be in line for a big raise.  Hamilton is a big part of Carolina’s back end and locking him up on a long-term deal would be a big win for them this offseason and ensure that another foundational piece sticks around.

Add A Secondary Scoring Upgrade

With Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Teuvo Teravainen, the Hurricanes have a strong top line offensively.  All three managed to pick up more than 60 points in the pandemic-shortened campaign which is quite good.  However, they were the only three forwards to have more than 37 points.  Only two players managed to reach the 20-goal mark while Martin Necas (who was fourth in points with 36) may have had a shot at it had the regular season not been ended early.

On paper, Carolina has quite a few players that should fit that bill.  Nino Niederreiter was great in his first season with the team but tapered off this season while Jordan Staal’s output has dropped in recent years as well.  Ryan Dzingel was brought in to replace Justin Williams (who eventually came back) but he wasn’t even able to hold down a regular spot in the lineup.  Vincent Trocheck was added at the trade deadline but was quiet in his first action with his new team.

Optimistically speaking, some of those players should be better next season and that in itself should help.  But adding someone to replace Williams and do the job that Dzingel hasn’t would go a long way towards helping secure a reliable second offensive trio which is something they will need to get back to being a playoff threat for next season and beyond.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hurricanes Interested In Frederik Andersen

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The Hurricanes have shown interest in Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 31 Thoughts column.  It was reported last week that Andersen was among the Toronto players that were being dangled around the league as they look to reshape their roster for next season following an exit at the hands of Columbus in the Qualifying Round.

Carolina was one of the stingier defensive teams in the league this season, allowing the sixth-fewest goals in the league before the pandemic hit.  However, Petr Mrazek’s numbers took a step back from his first year with the Hurricanes as his save percentage dropped from .914 to .905 while his goals against average increased 30 points from 2.39 to 2.69.  James Reimer’s numbers were slightly better, checking in at .914 and 2.66, respectively.

By comparison, Andersen’s numbers were quite similar this season at a .909 SV% with a 2.85 GAA.  However, over his four-year tenure with Toronto, he has a .916 SV% and was able to do so without playing behind one of the top defenses in the league like Carolina has.  Accordingly, he’d represent an upgrade on Mrazek and Reimer while his contract ends following the 2020-21 season, the same time that Carolina’s netminders see their deals expire.  While Andersen’s $5MM price tag would be difficult to fit in under their current structure, it stands to reason that they’d move out one of their current goalies at some point in the offseason if this was to come to fruition.  Both carry cap hits of over $3MM ($3.125MM for Mrazek, $3.4MM for Reimer) so the net increase to their payroll wouldn’t be too large.

But while there is a fit for the Hurricanes, there isn’t as clear of one for the Maple Leafs.  Friedman notes that Toronto would only move Andersen if they could secure a goaltending upgrade and neither Mrazek nor Reimer (who was part of a goaltending carousel in Toronto not long ago) would represent one.  As a result, a deal like this could only be completed if they could either find another starter to trade for or agree to terms with one on the free agent market and there aren’t many legitimate number ones that are set to become available.

As we’ve seen once already this offseason with the trade of winger Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas isn’t hesitant to pull the trigger when he gets the deal he likes even though the eight remaining teams in the playoffs aren’t eligible to make trades at the moment.  However, this would be a move that would almost certainly have to wait until later in the offseason to have a chance at materializing.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Kravtsov, Svechnikov, McDonagh

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New York Rangers fans learned more than a week ago that prospect Vitali Kravtsov would be loaned to his former team, Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL this coming season. However, a small wrinkle developed since as Traktor announced the transaction this morning, revealing that Kravtsov was going to spend the entire season with their team.

That was contrary to general beliefs that the 20-year-old Russian would spend time in North America with a chance to win a roster spot with the Rangers in 2020-21. Up until now, most teams are loaning their prospects overseas with the ability to recall them for NHL training camps whenever that will be. That may not be the case here, although a recent report from USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano suggests that the Rangers can recall him at any time. However, the scribe adds that the team could very conceivably leave him in Russia for the entire KHL season, although the team will likely wait to see how he fares.

Kravtsov, who had a tumultuous first pro season in which he split time between the AHL, KHL, VHL and then back to the KHL, isn’t expected to automatically win a spot on the Rangers roster and with the AHL season being pushed back until December, it makes lots of sense to allow him to develop for a full season in the KHL to develop his skills. Whether New York will recall him for training camp in November or December isn’t clear, but it should be noted that unless Traktor makes the playoffs, he could be available to join the Rangers in late February or after his team is eliminated in the playoffs, which means he could be available to join the Rangers with plenty of season left in the NHL.

  • NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov, who suffered what looked to be a severe ankle sprain during the team’s series against the Boston Bruins, said he’s feeling 100 percent and believes that he would be able to play now for the Hurricanes had the team managed to get past Boston in the first round. Svechnikov was a key component to the team’s success with four goals and seven points in six playoff games before being injured in Game 3. The Hurricanes lost consecutive one-goal games in Games 4 & 5, suggesting his play could have made the difference in the series.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh for Game 4 in a key game against the Boston Bruins, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. McDonagh, who has been out since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 1, will be replaced once again with two defensemen as the team is expected to play Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn as the team will go with seven defensemen for a second straight game.

 

Andrei Svechnikov Open To Beginning Extension Talks

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Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov is now eligible for a contract extension as he will be entering the final year of his entry-level contract next season.  While some of the potential top RFAs from the 2021 class may want to wait to sign to see what the financial picture looks like a year from now, the 20-year-old told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he’s open to beginning talks this offseason.

Svechnikov’s second season was a strong one as he bested his rookie numbers despite the campaign getting shortened by the pandemic.  Overall, he put up 24 goals and 37 assists in 61 games to finish third on the team in scoring while logging a little under 17 minutes per game.  He played quite well in the playoffs too, collecting four goals and three assists in six games before suffering a high ankle sprain in the third game against Boston.  There won’t be any lingering concerns from that as Svechnikov indicated that he has nearly fully recovered from the issue and would have been ready to return had Carolina moved on.

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said that he doesn’t have a timetable in place to try to work out extensions for Svechnikov or defenseman Dougie Hamilton who is a year away from UFA eligibility:

Certainly, they are both important players for this organization, and it makes more sense to get to it sooner than later.  You’re looking at two different types of contracts. One (Hamilton) is going to be an unrestricted free agent come next year after the upcoming year. Andrei will be coming off his entry-level deal. So it’s two different kind of negotiations we’re looking at. There’s no timetable. There’s no deadlines. They both have another year left. … We have a good relationship with both players. I fully expect both players to want to stay here.

While some top young players have signed extensions in recent years, last summer saw a shift towards players going to restricted free agency even without salary arbitration eligibility (including teammate Sebastian Aho).  That was in a different financial landscape though, one that projected a continual increase in the salary cap but it may be a few years before there is any sizable jump now.  Accordingly, Svechnikov may prefer to take a short-term deal (either this offseason or next) rather than lock in at a rate that could be below market value if revenues eventually work their way back up.  Talks will likely begin at some point over the coming weeks but this may be a case where waiting until next season makes the most sense.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Dvorak, Vermont

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With the Carolina Hurricanes exiting the postseason this afternoon following a Game Five loss to the Boston Bruins, the conditions surrounding their acquisition of defenseman Sami Vatanen have been finalized. Initially, the ’Canes had traded for Vatanen from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson, and a conditional draft pick with the following conditions: the Devils would get a 2020 fourth-round pick if Vatanen appeared in at least five regular season games and a 2020 third round pick if Vatanen played in 12 regular season games or 70% of the team’s playoff games; if Vatanen did not appear in at least five regular season games for Carolina, then the Devils would get no pick at all. However, these conditions had to be altered due to Vatanen being unable to suit up for a regular season game with Carolina prior to the league’s pause. These new conditions locked in a fourth-round return for New Jersey as long as Vatanen played in at least two games of the Hurricanes’ qualifying round series with the New York Rangers, which he did. In order for the pick to bump up to a 2020 third-rounder, Vatanen had to play in 70% of the Hurricanes’ remaining playoff games. Four of five games against the Bruins met that benchmark, meaning Carolina will send their own 2020 third-round pick to the Devils, as outlined by CapFriendly. While Vatanen’s three points in a three-game sweep of the Rangers was a nice ’Canes debut for the defender, his zero points and -3 rating against the Bruins makes the increased cost of his acquisition somewhat of a bitter pill.

  • As always, news of injuries emerges as series are completed. A quick note following tonight’s dismissal of the Arizona Coyotes comes directly from head coach Rick Tocchet. ’Yotes beat writer Craig Morgan relays that center Christian Dvorak played the entirety of the team’s first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche and the latter half of their qualifying round series versus the Nashville Predators with a separated shoulder. Dvorak was a non-factor in the first round, being held off the score sheet entirely and limited to 14 minutes of ice time or less in four of five games. This injury undoubtedly contributed to Dvorak’s struggles against the Avalanche, but his efforts would not have made much of a difference in somewhat of a one-sided series.
  • Is the impact of Mike Babcock joining the staff at the University of Vermont already showing? Jeff Cox of The New England Hockey Journal reports that Jordan Kaplan, one of the top scorers at Sacred Heart this past season, will transfer to Vermont. Kaplan’s 24 points this year would have been considerably better than anyone on the Catamounts and will be a major boost to a struggling program. Additionally, the program announced their recruiting class and it includes another transfer in Miami’s Noah Jordan as well as 2020 NHL Draft prospect Raimonds Vitolins, a Latvian standout who could hear his name called in November. If he is drafted, Vitolins would be just the second player on the current Catamounts roster to have been drafted, joining Minnesota Wild pick Bryce Misley, who is entering his senior season with little to show for the past three years.

Boston Bruins Sign Matt FIlipe

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The Boston Bruins made some news last night with a prospect signing, inking Matt Filipe to a two-year entry-level contract. Filipe was a third-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes whose draft rights had expired on Saturday evening after failing to reach an agreement. He has spent the last four seasons at Northeastern University, serving as an alternate captain this year.

The deal for Filipe will start in 2020-21, but it represents a lottery ticket for the Bruins that could provide some additional depth. The 22-year old forward never really developed into that dominant presence at the college ranks but did record nine goals and 22 points during his senior year.

At the very worst, Filipe should feel comfortable signing with the Bruins organization. He’s from Lynnfield, just north of Boston, and played his high school hockey at Malden Catholic. It’s not often that third-round picks become unrestricted free agents, but the Bruins will hope this one can live up to some of that potential the Hurricanes saw in him four years ago.

Carolina Hurricanes Andrei Svechnikov Could Miss Rest Of Playoffs

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The Carolina Hurricanes have watched as 20-year-old winger Andrei Svechnikov has quickly developed into a star player for the team. Then they watched him get tangled up with Boston’s Zdeno Chara in Game 3 of the first-round of the playoffs and go down with an apparent leg injury. It didn’t look good.

However, two days later and another MRI still to come, Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said (via News & Observer’s Chip Alexander) he “highly doubts” that Svechnikov will return for the rest of the playoffs, which would be a big blow to the team.

Svechnikov has been one of the key leaders on the ice for the Hurricanes, having scored four goals and seven points in six games so far. However, he fell backwards late in Game 3, with his right leg bending awkwardly on the way down while battling in front of the net with Chara. The loss could cripple the team’s offense as he was a major fixture on the team’s top line. He posted a solid 20-goal, 37-point season as a rookie last year, but really took his game up a notch with a 24-goal, 61-point season this past year and was looking even better in the playoffs.

More details of the injury and how long the young winger will be out will likely come in the next few days.

Snapshots: Spezza, Brind’Amour, Komets

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty to talk about following their qualification round exit at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, including some pending free agent decisions. One of those scheduled for unrestricted free agency is veteran forward Jason Spezza, who came to his hometown of Toronto on a minimum contract to try and chase a Stanley Cup.

Today, when speaking to reporters including Luke Fox of Sportsnet about his future, Spezza explained that “the fire still burns” and that he hopes to be back in Toronto next season. For being a part-time player at the beginning of the season and seeing fourth-line minutes throughout, Spezza was pretty impressive with nine goals and 25 points in 58 games. He even got in a fight during the postseason, trying anything he could think of to wake up the Maple Leafs.

  • Rod Brind’Amour didn’t like a call in the Carolina Hurricanes-Boston Bruins game earlier today and voiced his displeasure to several reporters including Sara Civian of The Athletic. Brind’Amour got a quick fine from the league for his comments, earning a $25,000 penalty. He also received a conditional fine of $25,000 which will be collected if Brind’Amour has any other “inappropriate behavior” in the next year.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have signed a new two-year affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets, who have been partnered with the organization for the last two years. Fort Wayne was coached this season by Ben Boudreau, son of long time NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau. They went 31-23-6, but weren’t able to take part in the playoffs thanks to the COVID-19 cancelation.

Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes Game One Postponed

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The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets were locked in a duel for the ages on Tuesday night, playing into a fifth overtime in a game that began at 3:00pm ET – the fourth-longest game of all time. As a result of this historic game and the unprecedented circumstances of the bubble postseason, Game One of the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes series that was supposed to begin at 8:00pm ET has now been postponed. The league has announced that the two teams will square off at 11:00am ET on Wednesday, which should allow for the Washington Capitals-New York Islanders game to proceed as scheduled at 3:00pm ET.

With Game Two of the Bruins-Hurricanes still scheduled for Thursday night, the teams will open their first round series with back-to-back games. As with every series this year, there is already a back-to-back scheduled, for Games Five and Six on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. As a result, Boston and Carolina could end up playing six games in nine days in this series. Backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and James Reimer could very well see a start or two in this series.

Additionally, the Hurricanes long wait has been extended even further. Carolina was the only team to sweep their qualifying round series, knocking out the New York Rangers last Tuesday, August 4. The team had already waited a week, but now will have gone eight days between action. The Bruins meanwhile played their final round robin game on Sunday.

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