Minnesota Wild Sign Andrew Hammond
The Minnesota Wild have grabbed one of the last few goaltenders on the market with any NHL experience, signing Andrew Hammond to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. The announcement came with some bad news, however, as Alex Stalock is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.
Earlier this month our Zach Leach profiled Hammond, making the case for him as the market’s top remaining goaltender. That’s hard to believe given he hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2017-18 season, but here he is just a few weeks later earning himself a contract. Given Stalock’s injury, he may earn himself some time in the NHL as well.
Make no mistake, Hammond isn’t here to become the future in net for Minnesota. The team signed Cam Talbot to a three-year contract in free agency and have top prospect Kaapo Kahkonen waiting in the wings for his chance to take over. If Kahkonen isn’t going to get regular playing time in the NHL though, it makes sense for him to not have to serve as Talbot’s backup, anchoring the AHL’s Iowa Wild instead.
If 2020 seems like it has been a full decade and you can’t remember back to the spring of 2015, you may have forgotten about how Hammond took the NHL by storm. The undrafted goaltender came up for the Ottawa Senators and proceeded to go 20-1-2 down the stretch, posting a .941 save percentage and even earning himself Hart and Vezina Trophy votes. The “Hamburglar” became a folk hero in Ottawa and will always be remembered for that run.
Amazingly, even though he has appeared in just 31 regular season games since that 2014-15 season, Hammond was again forced into playoff work with the Colorado Avalanche in 2018. He appeared in three games against the Nashville Predators and actually posted a .933, but failed to get the Avalanche through to the second round.
It’s those impressive short-term performances that make Hammond such a perfect fit for the Wild as they deal with Stalock’s injury. He can potentially spell Talbot early in the year as the team navigates a condensed schedule, while still allowing Kahkonen to start at the AHL level if the team chooses.
Shawn Boudrias Signs AHL Contract
Though he failed to sign an NHL contract with the Minnesota Wild earlier this year, making him an unrestricted free agent, Shawn Boudrias will stay with the organization that drafted him. The 21-year-old forward has signed an AHL contract with the Iowa Wild and will start his professional career there after an impressive finish to his junior years.
Boudrias, selected 179th overall by the Wild in 2018, scored 35 goals and 79 points in 59 games with the Cape Breton Eagles last season, trailing only Ottawa Senators second-round pick Yegor Sokolov for the team lead in both categories. That was the cherry on top of a pretty effective QMJHL career which included more than 100 goals and 200 points over parts of five seasons.
In Iowa, the 6’5″ forward can continue to develop his game and attempt to prove that he was worth an entry-level deal after all. What that first AHL season will look like is still unclear, but whenever it starts and whatever it looks like, Boudrias will be there.
Russia Finalizes World Junior Roster
Next up, Russia has submitted a final roster for the upcoming World Junior Tournament in Edmonton later this month. As usual for Russia, the roster contains a number of prospect names familiar to NHL fans, but also has a few players who have made their name in their native country but have not been drafted into the NHL. Below is the 2020 Russian entry:
F Mikhail Abramov (TOR)
F Yegor Afanasyev (NSH)
F Rodion Amirov (TOR)
F Zakhar Bardakov (undrafted)
F Daniil Bashkirov (undrafted)
F Yegor Chinakhov (CLB)
F Vladislav Firstov (MIN)
F Arseniy Gritsyuk (NJD)
F Maxim Groshev (TBL)
F Marat Khusnutdinov (MIN)
F Vasili Podkolzin (VAN)
F Vasili Ponomaryov (CAR)
F Ilya Safonov (undrafted)
F Yegor Spirodonov (SJS)
D Roman Bychkov (BOS)
D Daniil Chayka (2021)
D Semyon Chistyakov (NSH)
D Kirill Kirsanov (2021)
D Artemi Knyazev (SJS)
D Yan Kuznetsov (CGY)
D Shakir Mukhamadullin (NJD)
D Yegor Shekhovstov (undrafted)
G Artur Akhtyamov (TOR)
G Yaroslav Askarov (NSH)
G Vsevolod Skotnikov (undrafted)
This is a deeper Russian roster compared to some more recent entries, especially on defense – often a weak area – where arguably every player will be an NHL draft pick by this time next year. The team contains 18 existing NHL selections from 11 different clubs. The Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs lead the way with three prospects apiece, including several of the team’s best players. The Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, and San Jose Sharks each have two different members of the squad.
Unsurprisingly, all but four of Russia’s selections are currently playing in the country, participating at various levels including the KHL, VHL, and MHL. Abramov and Ponomaryov are currently playing in the QMJHL. Interestingly, the University of Connecticut notes that teammates Firstov and Kuznetsov are the first ever NCAA selections to Russia’s WJC roster.
Overseas Notes: Guskov, Kochetkov, Postma
Minnesota Wild prospect Matvey Guskov has reversed course on his development plan, and in a big way. The 19-year-old Russian forward, a fifth-round pick in 2019, has spent the past two seasons in the OHL with the London Knights. Even after an off-season trade to the North Bay Battalion, there was no indication that Guskov planned to leave North America. Whether due to the delayed start to the OHL season or for some other reason, that has now changed. Guskov has signed with the KHL’s CSKA Moscow, the top team of the program that he grew up in. However, this is not just until the OHL season resumes or even just for the 2020-21 season. CSKA has announced a three-year contract with Guskov, keeping him in Russia – and away from Minnesota – until at least 2023. The Wild are no strangers to playing the waiting game with Russian prospects; the club was finally able to sign 2015 pick turned KHL superstar Kirill Kaprizov this year. CSKA is one of the KHL’s best clubs and Guskov could very well beneift from his time spent there. However, it has to be frustrating for Minnesota to have another talented player skip out of team control and into the Russian void, especially one that seemed committed to the North American development route.
- Since he was selected in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes, things have not gone according to plan for goaltender Petr Kotchetkov. The Hurricanes were happy to take the overager early in the second round in 2019 after he dominated the Russian minor league VHL and looked strong in a pair of KHL starts. However, he failed to take a step forward last season; his VHL numbers improved, but he struggled in his KHL opportunities and was eventually traded away by powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg. His play improved somewhat with Vityaz Podolsk, but he was still demoted to the junior-level MHL for some time as well, where he continued to struggle. So far this season, Kotchetkov had played exclusively on the KHL with Vityaz, however his play has again failed to live up to expectations. As a result, Kotchektov has been demoted to the VHL. He is headed back to HK Ryazan, the same team he made his name with in his draft year, showing full circle how the prospect has failed to improve since then. With a very weak pipeline in net and questions at the NHL level in the immediate future, the Hurricanes need to decide whether Kotchetkov, 21, is still their potential goalie of the future and if so may need to bring him over to North America soon to try to get him back on track.
- Defenseman Paul Postma has been unable to stay in one place for very long since leaving the NHL and is on the move again. The veteran over more than 200 NHL games with the Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins, Postma left North America 2017-18 after he was used sparingly by the Bruins. He landed with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan, where he was an All-Star and one of the best defensemen in the league in 2018-19. He jumped to Metallurg Magnitogosk last summer on a lucrative one-year deal, but ended up leaving the club early in the season. He eventually signed with HC Lugano of the Swiss NLA where he was again a productive player on the blue line. Yet, Postma opted not to stay in Switzerland either. Possibly waiting for an NHL offer, Postma has remained a free agent well into the seasons of many European leagues. He has finally landed with Austrian club Klagenfurter AC, where he should again be a dominant presence on a one-year deal. What happens after this contract expires is anyone’s guess, but Postma should have his pick in Europe if the interest in North America continues to be underwhelming.
Mats Zuccarello Out Indefinitely Following Surgery
Whenever the upcoming NHL season actually gets underway, the Minnesota Wild will be without one of their veteran forwards. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Mats Zuccarello will not be ready for the start of the season and “may be out a good bit longer” after surgery on his right arm. The procedure was weeks ago, but he has flown from Norway to Minnesota to see the team doctors.
Zuccarello, 33, broke that right arm two seasons ago and Russo reports that though not necessarily related, it was discovered to have a torn ligament. The veteran forward played last season through discomfort, which potentially could be why his numbers declined quite drastically in his first year with Minnesota. In 65 games the undersized winger scored 15 goals and 37 points, which was the first time he failed to crack the 40-point mark in a year where he played at least 48 games. In Minnesota’s four postseason contests, he recorded just a single assist.
The five-year, $30MM contract that the Wild signed Zuccarello to in 2019 has been a disaster so far, especially given Paul Fenton, the GM at the time, was fired just a few weeks later. When combined with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the Wild have more than $20MM in cap space committed through at least 2023-24 to a trio of players already in their mid-thirties. For a club trying to find their way under a new coaching staff and front office, that doesn’t bode well for the future.
Perhaps of course Zuccarello will be able to return at full strength and once again assume his place as one of the league’s top playmakers, but it’s now been several years since that 44-assist season in 2016-17. If he is out for a long period of time the Wild could potentially put his $6MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve in order to bring in a replacement—notably, Minnesota fan favorite Mikael Granlund remains unsigned—but it also could mean more opportunity for the young players in the system. Jordan Greenway still hasn’t reached the ceiling he has flashed as a top power forward, while first-round draft pick Marco Rossi will be battling for an NHL spot after returning from the World Juniors. Kirill Kaprizov was already guaranteed a spot, but this could mean even more responsibility and ice time lands on his shoulders as he makes the transition to the NHL.
Morning Notes: Boston University, 2021 UFAs, Wild
It’s 2020 still, so there is more disappointing COVID-19 news to pass along. The Boston University men’s hockey program has paused all activity after a positive test result, canceling the upcoming game against UConn in the process. The positive test was from the team’s Tier 1 personnel, but the identity of the player, coach, manager, or support staff has not been revealed.
Though stoppages like this are not unexpected, it is frustrating for prospect watchers looking forward to seeing some of the best young players in the country at BU. The team is loaded with NHL prospects that need as much development time as they can get over the next few months.
- Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) took a look forward to the 2021 offseason and ranked some of the pending unrestricted free agents into tiers, with Alex Ovechkin coming in at the very top of the “elite” category. No one really believes that the legendary forward will play anywhere outside of Washington (at least in the NHL), but his negotiation is still an interesting one to keep an eye on. Now 35, he hasn’t shown any real sign of slowing down—in fact, Ovechkin was on a 58-goal pace this year had the season been a regular 82-game schedule. That would have been the second-best goal-scoring season of his career, a point almost unbelievable this far into it. The rest of the free agent list is just as interesting, with several “affordable” names popping off the page as potential steals.
- The Minnesota Wild should have a new captain soon, as GM Bill Guerin told media today including Sarah McLellan of the Star-Tribune that the team will “have something done before training camp.” The Wild allowed Mikko Koivu to leave in free agency after wearing the “C” for more than a decade in Minnesota, but Guerin has spoken before about the need to have someone take over the role this year. There are plenty of candidates, including defensemen Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon, who are both still under contract for at least another five years.
Marco Rossi To Attend World Juniors
If you needed another reason to tune in for the World Junior Championship later this month, you’ve got it. Marco Rossi, the Minnesota Wild forward who led the OHL in scoring last season, will soon be assigned to Team Austria for their training camp that begins this weekend according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. The Wild believe it is a “great opportunity” for Rossi to lead the Austrians, where he will likely be the team’s best player in the tournament.
Rossi, 19, is currently on loan to the ZSC Lions in Switzerland and has played one game for the pro club. The undersized center was one of the best players in the entire CHL last season, scoring 120 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s and winning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL Most Outstanding Player. Considered one of the most NHL-ready prospects in the draft, he was selected ninth overall by the Wild and was hoping to jump right into the league.
As with everything else right now, that is entirely up in the air. The NHL doesn’t have a firm start date or even a training camp schedule, leading to the decision by the Wild to send him to the World Juniors. Rossi’s agent, Serge Payer, told Russo that he will report to Minnesota after the tournament in Edmonton.
The development of Rossi is paramount in Minnesota. The team has been searching for a new franchise center for years, and though GM Bill Guerin has acquired names like Nick Bonino, Marcus Johansson, and Nick Bjugstad this summer, all of whom have experience down the middle, it’s Rossi that still carries the hope of an entire fanbase. If he is able to fulfill his potential and find any sort of chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild could have a duo to build around for years to come.
Even though the Wild haven’t often been considered real Stanley Cup contenders, they still have been mired in the middle of the pack and haven’t received prospects like Rossi very often. In fact, he’s the highest draft pick they’ve had since Matt Dumba went seventh overall in 2012.
Minnesota Wild Not Shopping Matt Dumba
Trade speculation will always follow Matt Dumba. The Minnesota Wild defenseman has been in the rumor mill for years and after the team signed Jonas Brodin to a seven-year extension in September, things heated up again. Today, speaking with reporters including Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, Minnesota GM Bill Guerin made it clear that he is not shopping Dumba:
I’m prepared to start the season with him, and we really like that. He’s a good young player. He’s got good energy. I love his competitiveness. Our defensive corps, I’ll put them up against anybody’s.
Of course, some will read that quote and see that Guerin didn’t commit to holding Dumba all the way through the season. Even though the team has the cap space to keep all of their high-priced blue liners through the entire 2020-21 campaign—Dumba, Brodin, Ryan Suter, and Jared Spurgeon combine for a $25.3MM cap hit—something waits at the end of the road that may force them to complete a trade.
The Seattle Kraken will join the NHL as the league’s 32nd team in 2021 and they will have an expansion draft after the upcoming season to build the core of their team. The Wild, like every other team in the league (save for the Vegas Golden Knights), have a chance to protect several roster players from selection. The problem for Guerin is that teams are either allowed to protect seven forwards and three defensemen or eight skaters. Going the normal 7/3 route would mean Dumba is left unprotected, given the no-movement clauses that the other three hold (Brodin’s new contract added an NMC onto the final season of his last deal). Protecting eight would leave the team’s forward group a little more vulnerable, though it still may be the better option if a trade isn’t reached before the expansion proceedings.
Expansion concerns shouldn’t be new to Minnesota fans. When the Golden Knights entered the league, the Wild made a deal with them to select Erik Haula, trading them Alex Tuch for a third-round pick in the process. Dumba was the main reason for that move as he was left exposed (along with others like Eric Staal and Marco Scandella) but essentially protected through the deal to select Haula, who was a restricted free agent that the team was going to have trouble signing. It was obviously tough watching Tuch become a strong contributor in Vegas, scoring 20 goals and 52 points in 2018-19—it would be troubling to see the team have to do something similar this time around.
In the same interview, Guerin also explained that the Wild will be naming a new captain before the season begins. Mikko Koivu, who had worn the “C” for more than a decade in Minnesota, was let go this offseason and signed a one-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Greg Pateryn Expected To Be Ready For Training Camp
It was a bit of a mystery when Greg Pateryn was ruled out for Minnesota Wild training camp when they got together to prepare for the postseason bubble, with the ominous “out indefinitely with an upper-body injury” tag placed upon him. Turns out, that’s because he had back surgery in June. Michael Russo of The Athletic caught up with Pateryn to talk about a tough year that included core muscle surgery last September which kept him out for all but 20 regular season games, and a microdiscectomy to repair a herniated disc in June.
Despite those injuries, Pateryn is focused on the upcoming season and is expected to be ready for training camp when things finally get off the ground. That’s good news for the Wild who invested $6.75MM in the free agent defenseman when they signed him to a three-year contract in 2018. When he was last healthy, playing 80 games for the Wild in 2018-19, he was a serviceable bottom-four guy who could contribute on the penalty kill and add some physicality to the lineup. Those kinds of players are valuable, even if it’s not the most glamorous role or one that really excites a fan base.
The question now though is what role will be left for him this season. After emerging as a full-time option in Pateryn’s absence, Carson Soucy was given a three-year deal this offseason and should see an increase in playing time. The team still has Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin locked into top-four roles, with young players like Calen Addison soon to be pushing up from the minor leagues. It’s hard to see Pateryn as anything better than the sixth option on this team, and even that’s assuming that he’s playing over veteran Brad Hunt.
Still, it is at least good news that the 30-year-old Pateryn is back on the ice and ready to compete for a spot at training camp. The challenge now will be getting back to his former level of play and showing—ahead of another UFA summer—that he can still hack it at the NHL level.
Central Notes: Wild, Husso, Stars
Despite no start date set for next season, several Minnesota Wild players, who live locally, have begun skating once a week in Edina with skating and skills consultant Andy Ness, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required). Among those participating are Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise, Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Kyle Rau as well as former Wild players Luke Kunin, Eric Staal and Jason Zucker.
Russo said that according to sources, Suter, who was injured in Game 3 of the playoffs and missed Game 4 before being eliminated, looked good on the ice and should be fully ready for the start of the season. Reports also suggest that Bjugstad, who the Wild acquired from Pittsburgh earlier in the offseason and is recovering from back surgery, is progressing nicely.
- Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes it’s very likely the St. Louis Blues stick with backup goaltender Ville Husso in net as opposed to going out and signing a veteran netminder for one more year. Husso, has never made an NHL appearance and would appear to be a candidate to struggle considering his limited experience at the NHL level. However, the scribe writes that besides being cheap, the team has a number of other young and talented goalies in the system and the team must learn sooner or later what Husso can offer them. He has been the No. 3 guy for a while now, but Jordan Binnington and Jake Allen never got injured, so Husso never got a chance to show what he can do at the top level.
- The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf (subscription required) writes that the Dallas Stars are likely going to have to turn to some rookies to step in for Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop who are both expected to miss a large chunk of next season. The team will likely turn to top prospects Jason Robertson and Ty Dellandrea to step in and fill roles, with Robertson a leading candidate to fill a top-six role while Seguin is out. The team will also have to depend on rookie Jake Oettinger to backup Anton Khudobin, while Bishop is on the mend. Seguin underwent right hip arthroscopy and labral repair, while Bishop underwent right knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.