Snapshots: Kuzmenko, Boudreau, Price
While the IIHF recently announced an additional sanction on hockey in Russia, and the NHL has cut ties with the KHL, Russian players are still permitted to sign as free agents with NHL clubs. With the KHL season set to end shortly, KHL free agents seeking to cross the Atlantic and sign with an NHL team have come under the microscope. Perhaps the most attention has been paid to Andrei Kuzmenko, who is set to become a free agent on May 1st. Kuzmenko, 26, had 53 points in 45 games in this KHL campaign, along with 14 points in 16 playoff games. Kuzmenko’s offensive profile is tantalizing to many NHL teams, and since he is still just 26 years old it is not unreasonable to think there is room for him to grow.
Like many of the KHL free agents who came before him, Kuzmenko is expected to have a competitive market when he and his representatives choose to begin negotiations. On TSN’s Insider Trading program, TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reported that next week Kuzmenko will begin the interview process with NHL teams. Johnston reports that it is believed that 20 NHL teams will reach out to Kuzmenko with at least “some degree of interest.” In terms of what factors may play into Kuzmenko’s decision-making process, Johnston says that Kuzmenko “wants to go somewhere where he can play, where he’s going to have a role,” and that the market and city a team plays in is a less important factor. That should certainly make the competition to secure Kuzmenko’s services a bit more wide-open, and given that he only costs a signing team cap space and no assets to acquire, there will likely be many fanbases across the NHL hoping their team can be the one to land this intriguing KHL veteran.
Now, some more snapshots from across the NHL:
- While Bruce Boudreau’s contract situation has been a major storyline in recent months, it seems the fears of a potential offseason departure for the 67-year-old Canucks skipper can be all but dismissed. In an interview with CHEK’s Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave an update on Boudreau’s status. In his interview, Friedman states that Boudreau will return as Vancouver’s coach “if everybody is reasonable.” Friedman believes that as long as neither party is “being ridiculous,” as he terms it, then there should be no real issue securing an agreement on Boudreau’s return. Both the Canucks’ players and fanbase have responded extremely well to Boudreau’s coaching, and since he arrived in Vancouver the Canucks have been among the tougher teams to beat in the NHL. So while there may have once been fears of an offseason divorce for Boudreau and the Canucks, it now seems that there is very little chance of those fears becoming reality.
- Carey Price has made his return to the Montreal Canadiens, but that doesn’t mean his future is made any more certain. In another note from TSN’s Insider Trading program, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun gave an update on Price’s status. LeBrun reports that Price “wants to play next season” as a number-one priority for him, but in order to do so, he needs to have full health in the injured knee that cost him so many games this season. According to LeBrun, not a certainty that Price’s knee can get there. Lebrun doesn’t cast any majorly pessimistic forecasts on Price’s health, but he does state that there is “a bit of uncertainty” to Price’s health situation that may complicate not only his future but also the future of the Canadiens.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Magnus Hellberg
April 14: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Hellberg has indeed cleared waivers and can now join Detroit for the last few games of the regular season.
April 13: The goaltending for the Detroit Red Wings hasn’t really been up to snuff this season, with 26-year-old Alex Nedeljkovic posting a .900 save percentage in 53 appearances. That’s what makes today’s signing of Magnus Hellberg so interesting. Hellberg has signed a one-year contract. CapFriendly reports that the contract is for this season and includes an $800,000 salary, He now has to clear waivers in order to be eligible to play for the Red Wings down the stretch, and then would be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
This makes things very interesting in Detroit’s crease. Hellberg, 31, was a second-round pick of the Nashville Predators in 2011 who had a few cups of coffee in the NHL before leaving for the KHL in 2017. Over the last five seasons he has posted very strong numbers there, registering a .927 save percentage in 169 KHL contests. Add in a .940 in 22 playoff appearances, a World Championship gold medal and a recent Olympic appearance for Sweden, and Hellberg’s resume is pretty impressive.
He could potentially take the spot of Thomas Greiss, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and offer a potential tandem option for Nedeljkovic who is set to become a UFA in the summer of 2023. The Red Wings have Sebastian Cossa on his way, but the first-round pick is still just 19 and still a ways off being an NHL starter.
Hellberg at the very least offers them a depth piece for the organization as they try to transition from rebuilding to contending, and an experienced one at that. The fact that he is 6’6″ and fills nearly the entire net certainly doesn’t hurt.
Snapshots: Kravtsov, Wallmark, Celebrini
The New York Rangers are primed for a legitimate Stanley Cup run, but it appears as though their malcontent prospect will not be joining them. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that instead of joining the Rangers for the playoff run, Vitali Kravtsov will begin his offseason training regimen in Russia, with the plan of arriving in New York well ahead of training camp.
Kravtsov, who requested a trade and basically forced his way back to the KHL for this entire season rather than play in the minor leagues, was eliminated from the KHL playoffs this week when Traktor Chelyabinsk fell to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. The 22-year-old forward is a restricted free agent this summer and would need a new contract if he’s to play in New York next season.
- Earlier this month, both Lucas Wallmark and Joakim Nordstrom terminated their contracts in the KHL because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their agent, Claes Elefalk, told SVT Sport that the two left “substantial amounts” on the table by terminating contracts that would have originally kept them in Russia until May 2023. The pair of Swedes are obviously well known to NHL fans, who watched Wallmark play nearly 200 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks, and Nordstrom play nearly 500 with the Blackhawks, Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, and Calgary Flames, before leaving for the KHL last summer. Both are now unrestricted free agents.
- Though he was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Macklin Celebrini ended up being drafted first overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the most recent WHL U.S. Prospect Draft, after playing parts of two seasons at the powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s prep academy in Minnesota. Celebrini put up incredible numbers this year for the program, scoring 50 goals and 117 points in just 52 games. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, it appears as though that pick was wasted (at least for now). Celebrini–a top prospect for the 2024 draft–has signed a tender agreement with the Chicago Steel of the USHL for the 2022-23 season. He will take the place of Chicago’s first-round pick in next month’s USHL draft, and will continue his development at another powerhouse program with the Steel.
Latest On Andrei Kuzmenko
The world has changed quite a bit since Andrei Kuzmenko‘s name surfaced in November as a player that was drawing interest from NHL teams. Given his place in the KHL and Russia’s actions in the invasion of Ukraine, it wasn’t at all clear whether teams would still pursue the soon-to-be free agent. On last night’s Insider Trading, Chris Johnston cleared that up.
I think what’s interesting is that even with the situation with Russia having invaded Ukraine, it doesn’t seem to have scared teams off at this point. And his contract in Russia runs through April 30. So as of May 1, he’s available to sign an NHL deal.
Kuzmenko, 26, had a brilliant regular season in the KHL this year, scoring 53 points in 45 games, and has carried that play right over into the postseason. Through 12 playoff games with SKA St. Petersburg, the dynamic forward has seven goals and 13 points, leading the team to the Conference Finals. Importantly, SKA is actually down 2-1 in their series against CSKA, meaning they could be eliminated in the coming days. If that happens, Kuzmenko will have plenty of time to talk to NHL clubs before his contract officially expires at the end of the month.
Johnston notes that a deal is not “cooked” yet, meaning there isn’t an agreement in place at this point. The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks have confirmed interest, but in 2018, the last time Kuzmenko was discussing contracts in the NHL, his agent said 24 teams reached out. If it’s anywhere near that many this time around, he’ll have quite a few options to choose from.
To be clear, Kuzmenko would not be eligible for this year’s playoffs, even if he joins a team still involved. Because he is not on any team’s reserve list as an undrafted player, he would have had to sign a contract before the trade deadline to help them in this postseason.
Jokerit, Dinamo Riga Officially Withdraw From KHL
The KHL will be down to 22 teams for the 2022-23 season, announcing today that both Jokerit and Dinamo Riga will no longer take part. Jokerit had already withdrawn from this year’s playoffs after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Just a few years ago in 2016-17, the KHL hit a peak of 29 teams. That number has been reduced again, removing many opportunities from the league and potentially leading even more players to pursue jobs elsewhere around the world.
It is not clear if Jokerit will re-join Liiga in Finland for next season. The team has only announced that club president Jari Kurri has left his position on the KHL board of directors, and will announce future plans “as soon as possible.” The club made the move from Liiga to the KHL in 2014, and was quite successful during its time there. Making the playoffs every season, it was one of the teams to abandon the postseason in 2020 due to COVID concerns and first to withdraw this year.
Riga meanwhile has been in the KHL since the club was re-founded in 2008, but had failed to qualify for the postseason in each of the last eight years. It is not at all clear what will happen next for the Latvian club, or if they will play at all in 2022-23.
Kirill Marchenko, Ivan Morozov Linked To NHL
At the end of this month, many contracts in the KHL will expire, making a whole wave of players free agents eligible to sign in other professional leagues. For some, it appears as though NHL contracts are on the horizon. A report from Leonid Zakhvatov of Match TV in Russia indicates that both Kirill Marchenko and Ivan Morozov will sign entry-level contracts with their respective NHL clubs, leaving the KHL behind.
Marchenko, 21, was selected 49th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2018, a team that has patiently awaited his arrival in North America. The young forward has shown an ability to score even in limited KHL minutes while playing with SKA St. Petersburg the last few seasons, adding 12 goals in 39 games this year despite averaging under 12 minutes of ice time.
He actually hasn’t played with the KHL club since January though, heading to the VHL instead for the affiliate’s playoff run, where he added four goals in ten games so far. Marchenko is playing a lot more there, but is in danger of being eliminated tomorrow as SKA is down 3-1 in their semi-final series.
Morozov, meanwhile, was the 61st pick in 2018, this time by the Vegas Golden Knights. He too was playing with SKA the last few seasons and saw a demotion to the VHL squad this year, before ending up with HC Sochi for the end of the year. The complicated year for Morozov is especially curious, given how well he had previously shown at the highest level. In 2020-21 he scored 31 points in 55 regular season games, added seven more in 15 playoff contests, and then was named to the Russian World Championship team. This year, in 22 KHL games combined between SKA and Sochi, he had five goals and 11 points.
Both players represent no sure thing but could be quick risers through the system and contribute at the NHL level in 2022-23, should the contracts be finalized. In fact, technically either one would even be eligible to play in the postseason this year, though it would mean burning the first year of the entry-level deal.
Anton Slepyshev Re-Signs In KHL
If you wondered whether Anton Slepyshev would attempt an NHL comeback after his strong performance in the KHL and at the Olympics this year, think again. The 27-year-old forward has signed a new contract with CSKA Moscow that will keep him in Russia through the 2024-25 season.
Slepyshev was originally selected 88th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2013, and eventually made it over to North America for the 2015-16 season. After making his NHL debut that season, he was a regular in the Oilers lineup for the next two years, including during the team’s 2017 playoff run, the last time they have made it out of the first round.
After the 2017-18 season and his entry-level contract came to an end, though, he ended up returning to Russia to join the powerhouse CSKA program, and has not returned. His NHL rights, which were temporarily held by the Oilers, expired last year and he could have returned to sign with any North American organization had he wanted to. Instead, his prime years will all be spent in Russia, suggesting that his NHL career could come to an end with just over 100 games played. This season for CSKA, he registered ten goals and 25 points in 35 games, and helped his country take home the silver medal at the Olympics with a strong performance.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Petr Mrazek, Four Others Clear Waivers
March 21: Mrazek, Clifford, Turris, Jaros, and Nash cleared waivers today ahead of the Trade Deadline. Sateri, Richardson, and Pouliot were all claimed.
March 20: The Toronto Maple Leafs have been dealing with goaltending issues for the past while, and after Erik Kallgren was given the net for the last several games, it was unclear where Petr Mrazek fit into the future of the team. Today, the Maple Leafs have offered Mrazek to the rest of the league by placing him on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He is one of three Maple Leafs on the list today, joined by Kyle Clifford and Harri Sateri, a free agent goaltender the Maple Leafs have signed from the KHL, who has to clear waivers before he comes back to North America.
Those aren’t the only players on waivers though. The full list is as follows:
Riley Nash (ARI)
Brad Richardson (CGY)
Kyle Turris (EDM)
Christian Jaros (NJD)
Kyle Clifford (TOR)
Petr Mrazek (TOR)
Harri Sateri (TOR)
Derrick Pouliot (VGK)
Sateri, 32, just won an Olympic gold medal with Finland and has been an excellent netminder in the KHL for the last three seasons, but certainly doesn’t have a very long track record of success in North America. Drafted 106th overall back in 2008 by the San Jose Sharks, he struggled in parts of four minor league seasons before going to Russia. A few years later he was back with the Florida Panthers, where he played in nine NHL games and posted a .911 save percentage. After another sub-par year in the minors he was back overseas.
His signing, which will consist of a one-year contract that carries a cap hit of $750K through the end of this season, could be seen as nothing more than organizational depth at the deadline. With Mrazek’s struggles and placement on waivers today though, along with a recent injury to Jack Campbell, the Maple Leafs crease is completely up for grabs, even for a player like Sateri that is coming in fresh from outside the organization. That is of course as long as he clears, something that is certainly not a guarantee given how inexpensive his contract is.
It’s Mrazek that is the big name, given the fact that he signed a three-year, $11.4MM contract with the Maple Leafs just last summer. With a $3.8MM cap hit through 2023-24, a loan to the minor leagues would only clear $1.125MM for Toronto ahead of the deadline. With how quickly he has fallen out of favor with the Maple Leafs, Mrazek seems a prime buyout candidate for this offseason, should the team be unable to trade his contract elsewhere in the coming months.
Among the rest of the names are some veterans who could be snatched for a playoff run, though none are difference-makers at this point in their respective careers. Notably, for a player to be eligible for the rest of the AHL season and playoffs, he has to be on the roster at tomorrow’s deadline. For these players to get to that threshold, they needed to be placed on waivers today, if there was any thought of stashing them in the AHL down the stretch.
NHL Suspends Agreement With KHL
After the NHL cut business relations with Russia recently, they’ve taken things even further in a memo sent to teams yesterday. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was first to report that the league has cut ties with the KHL following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, telling teams to cease contact and suspending the memorandum of understanding between the two leagues.
Bill Daly told clubs in the memo that they will now “have only limited contractual information regarding players who are currently or last played in the KHL.” Teams will now have to go through the Central Registry to request contract information on a player’s contractual status and produce “independent written evidence” that shows a player is entirely free of KHL obligations, before signing them for the 2022-23 season.
Previously the two leagues did not operate under a transfer agreement but had an MOU indicating that they would respect contract terms. According to Seravalli, the NHL has told the KHL that it will continue to respect existing and future contracts, though communication will now be cut off.
This will certainly complicate not only free agency but the upcoming draft, which was already a point of discussion given the possibility that young Russian athletes would be denied work visas to enter Canada and the United States. Danila Yurov, for instance, was expected to go near the top of the 2022 draft but is still under contract with Magnitogorsk for the 2022-23 season at least. Without continued communication, it’s hard to know whether an NHL team that drafts him will be able to even speak with the young forward, though the memo does indicate that teams are still allowed to work with North American-based agents.
There are also several pending KHL free agents like Andrei Kuzmenko who were expected to sign after the KHL playoffs are completed. Kuzmenko was drawing the attention of many NHL teams around the league after an outstanding season, where he scored 20 goals and 53 points in 45 games. It is now completely unclear whether his immediate future lies in North America or if he will re-sign in Russia and stay with SKA.
Snapshots: KHL Departures, AHL Signings, NHL Trade Market
Amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the exodus in the KHL continues. While many North American players had already left their respective Russia-based club and two non-Russian teams left the league altogether, perhaps the largest blow yet occurred Friday as European players across the KHL left their teams en masse. The move takes place as the Gagarin Cup playoffs are underway.
The Eastern Conference first round match-up between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Sibir Novosibirsk will look decidedly different moving forward. Ufa, the No. 3 seed in the conference, announced that all of their import players have left the team. This includes names familiar to NHL fans like Markus Granlund, Teemu Hartikainen, and Philip Larsen. Granlund and fellow departure Sakari Manninen led the club in scoring this season. Novosibirsk revealed that a pair of former NHLers had left their ranks as well in goaltender Harri Sateri and defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka. Leading scorer Nick Shore had already left the team and is now joined by the starting goaltender and arguably their best defender. Perennial favorite CSKA Moscow is not immune to this movement; the team announced that they have lost recent NHL contributors Joakim Nordstrom and Lucas Wallmark, both of whom served in top-six roles. Finally, regular season champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk may have lost their title hopes with the departure of starting goaltender Juho Olkinuora. The former AHLer and University of Denver standout was among the best keepers in the KHL this season. This is not the extent of the departures of foreign players, nor will it be the last.
- There has been a flurry of activity in the AHL of late, headlined by an extension for veteran forward Tanner Fritz. The Hartford Wolf Pack announced that their plus/minus leader has inked a new contract for the 2022-23 season. Fritz, 30, has played his pro career almost exclusively in New York and Connecticut, spending five years with the New York Islanders and their affiliate in Bridgeport before moving to Hartford this season. While appreciative of a new contract, Fritz is probably eyeing a contract with the New York Rangers next, if possible. In Toronto, the Marlies have elevated NHL veteran Joseph Blandisi from a PTO to a contract for the remainder of the season. Blandisi, 27, has been a near point-per-game player for the Marlies this season and is well-deserving of a real contract. Down in Charlotte, the Checkers are bringing in some fresh blood from the junior ranks. Defenseman Robert Calisti of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and forward Xavier Cormier of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic have each signed two-year contracts with the club, beginning next season. The two combined for 72 points in 81 games this season and the Checkers hope that production translates to the pros.
- If it seems like all the action right now is outside of the NHL, while the trade market remains all bark and no bite, it’s true. Despite the usual speculation, there have been nearly no early moves made this season with the deadline just over two weeks away. Outside of Tyler Toffoli and Nick Ritchie/Ilya Lyubushkin, the only trades made of late have included future considerations, seventh-round picks, and third-string goaltenders. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the holdup on the market comes from the buyers rather than the sellers. He believes that the salary cap concerns, especially from those teams managing long-term injuries, is slowing deal-making. However, there may be hope that things will pick up soon, as LeBrun notes that sellers are getting antsy. Contenders with cap space, such as the Predators, Rangers, Wild, and Bruins, could be the beneficiaries if other cap-strapped teams continue to drag their feet.