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Evening Notes: Senators, Flames, Othmann, Trenin

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Rumors that the Ottawa Senators were interested in adding a defenseman to bolster their blueline have persisted since the beginning of this offseason. Over that time, the team has brought in a few exciting forwards like Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat, acquired goaltender in Cam Talbot and saw forward Shane Pinto start to break out. Still, the team hasn’t been able to find the defenseman they were looking for. Recent struggles from the team have ignited those rumors even more, with the waiving of Nikita Zaitsev this week seeming to be the ’cherry on top.’ However, today’s Thomas Chabot injury has managed to heat things up even more.

On this evening’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Chabot’s status in relation to the injury was unknown, but that it could certainly accelerate Ottawa’s process to find another defenseman. Friedman adds that other executives around the league have confirmed that Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been “looking under every rock” when it comes to a defenseman. Still, Dorion may be hesitant, given the team’s situation, he could easily be handcuffed into a pricey move he may not truly want to make. On top of this, another reason Friedman mentions that could hold up a trade is the number of players who have no-trade clauses excluding most, if not all Canadian cities.

  • Many have wondered how the struggling Calgary Flames, who have lost seven in a row, plan to break out of their funk. Lead by what seemed to be a slump-proof head coach in Darryl Sutter, the Flames have been unable to win a game since their 5-1-0 start, no matter the change or tweak. Also from Friedman this evening, it appears the Flames have been actively looking for a scoring forward. However, Friedman adds, the team has been on that search since August, meaning it’s not the team’s poor performance that has necessitated that search, but instead an offseason objective yet to be fulfilled. Not having found the player they wanted this offseason, the team eventually signed forwards Sonny Milano and Cody Eakin to PTO’s, but released the pair after underwhelming training camp performances. Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike speculates that perhaps the team had hoped the scoring forward could be found in one of those PTO’s or one of the team’s young players, and with neither of those coming to fruition, the team finds itself once again searching for that asset.
  • There hasn’t been an NHL trade since the Ethan Bear deal on October 28th, and certainly no blockbusters in a while, but it looks as though a big time OHL deal will be going down. New York Rangers 2021 first-round pick Brennan Othmann is expected to be dealt by the Flint Firebirds to the Peterborough Petes, says Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. Othmann, 19, is off to a red-hot start to this season with 11 goals and 13 assists in 16 games. Ironically, Flint is in Peterborough this evening to take on the Petes, however Othmann, who is suspended, did not play.
  • Nashville Predators forward Yakov Trenin will not play in tonight’s game against the New York Rangers, the team announced. According to the Predators, Trenin is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old has one goal and three assists through 14 games this season.

Snapshots: Avalanche Transactions, MacKenzie, Orlov

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The Colorado Avalanche made some roster tweaks early this morning, sending both Martin Kaut and Mikhail Maltsev to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. This isn’t the first roster shuffle of the year for either of these players, as both have split time this year between the Eagles and the Avalanche.

This transaction, though, is likely more of a cap-related paper transaction than a move made with the intention of getting Kaut and Maltsev into AHL games. Without any corresponding call-ups, this move has left the avalanche with just ten forwards on their active roster. While it’s entirely possible that Kaut and/or Maltsev are headed to the AHL for an extended period, that doesn’t look like the likely outcome of these roster moves at the moment.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • Derek MacKenzie, a retired former NHLer with over 600 career games on his resume, seems to have found a new coaching job. After departing the Florida Panthers this summer, (he was there as an assistant coach from 2018-19 through 2020-21) MacKenzie looks set to join the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves as their next head coach, per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. The Wolves make this move hoping that MacKenzie will be the person to turn their season around amid a 3-8-2 start that led to the firing of coach Craig Duncanson.
  • Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov left last night’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes with a lower-body injury. While the full extent of that injury is not yet known, we do have some more information on Orlov’s status. NBC Sports Washington’s Matt Weyrich reports that Orlov wasn’t on the ice for the start of Capitals practice this morning. Per coach Peter Laviolette, Orlov’s status is considered day-to-day.

Wyatt Johnston Will Stay In NHL

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As we approach the ten-game mark for many teams, decisions will have to be made on young players who are still slide-eligible. That designation means that if they spend the year outside of the NHL, they will not burn a season off their entry-level contract, effectively extending their time as an inexpensive option. For Wyatt Johnston, a return to junior isn’t in the cards. The young forward has done enough to convince Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill to keep him around, confirming yesterday’s report from Jeff Marek of Sportsnet. Notably, Nill did explain that they could return Johnston later in the year if necessary.

For some front offices, the 40-game mark is actually more important for a young player. It is at that point that the season is considered a full year of service time in regard to unrestricted free agent status. That is to say, if Johnston plays more than 40 games this year, he’ll be one year closer to hitting the open market.

Still, with how well he has played so far, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After completely dominating the OHL last season, winning the league’s Most Outstanding Player trophy, the Most Sportsmanlike trophy, the scoring race, and the playoff scoring race, it was clear that he was ready for professional hockey. Because of the CHL-NHL agreement, that couldn’t be in the AHL, as Johnston is still only 19. So when the decision is between sending him back to a league where he scored 165 points in 93 games, or keeping him in the NHL, the team would be looking for a reason to keep him at the highest level.

Johnston has provided that reason, scoring three goals and four points in nine games while averaging just over 14 minutes a night. He’s overmatched in the faceoff circle as many young forwards are, and there are some rough edges that still need to be polished on his overall game. But there is oodles of talent in the 2021 first-round pick (23rd overall), and enough maturity to stick around.

Notably, he has averaged more even-strength ice time than players like Roope Hintz, Denis Gurianov, and Jamie Benn, showing just how much confidence head coach Peter DeBoer has in the young forward. The Stars are transitioning to a new wave of talent and now sit first in the Central Division – though that could change over the next little while with Jake Oettinger’s injury. It appears as though they’re willing to let Johnston learn on the job, and make his junior days a thing of the past.

Snapshots: Samuelsson, Bear, Wright

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Buffalo Sabres fans held their breath last night when freshly extended defenseman Mattias Samuelsson went down with an injury in their game against Vancouver. Now, The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Samuelsson avoided a long-term injury but is still set to miss at least “a few weeks,” joining Henri Jokiharju on the list of injured Sabres top-four defensemen.

An exact timeline won’t be had on Samuelsson until the team returns to Buffalo, head coach Don Granato said today, and the injury will force some depth defenders to shine in order for Buffalo to keep up its strong start. Lawrence Pilut will make his season debut in the team’s next game after two seasons overseas, and free-agent acquisition Ilya Lyubushkin will be tasked with replacing Samuelsson as the defensive anchor on the top pairing alongside the red-hot Rasmus Dahlin.

  • It’s no secret the Canucks are in trouble, winless so far to start the year. With injuries and general positional depth weakness hampering their defense, the team has been looking to add, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that the team has checked in on defenseman Ethan Bear as a potential trade acquisition. Bear, the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, has been thrust down the depth chart in Carolina and has yet to appear in a game this season. The Hurricanes were shopping him prior to the season’s start, and the Canucks have more than enough room thanks to LTIR to accommodate his $2.2MM cap hit. He still has some upside and could provide some better matchups once Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ponders whether the Seattle Kraken may opt to send Shane Wright back to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs after an unimpactful start to the season. Wright hasn’t received many opportunities, he has shown smooth skating and pace, but Bukala points out that Wright’s had some positional issues defensively and may need a bit more development before being able to execute his playstyle properly at the NHL level.

Canadiens Send Filip Mesar To Junior

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10/16/22: Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek has issued an update on Mesar’s situation. As things currently stand, Mesar is sorting out IIHF transfer issues and is not expected to be available for selection to the Rangers’ lineup until Friday, when the team takes on the Sudbury Wolves.

10/15/22: It’s not very often that players drafted in the previous summer start the season in the minors as an 18-year-old.  For those drafted out of the major junior ranks in Canada, it’s not even an option.  But there are a handful of international players who were picked in July that have started this season in the AHL.  That list shrunk by one today as the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned Filip Mesar to Kitchener of the OHL.

The 18-year-old was the 26th pick this summer after a decent showing in the Slovak Extraliga where he had eight goals and eight assists in 37 games while adding four more points in six playoff contests.  Having played at a professional level the last two years, Mesar’s camp had indicated that his preference was to spend the year in the minors and not go to junior.

However, after seeing limited action on the fourth line with AHL Laval last night, Montreal has decided that the best opportunity for Mesar’s development will be to have him play big minutes in the OHL.  As a result of the assignment, his three-year, entry-level deal will slide a season and still have three years left on it leading up to the 2023-24 campaign.  His contract will also be credited off the Canadiens’ 50-contract limit which now stands at 45.

Snapshots: Sprong, Dickinson, Mailloux

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After converting his PTO into another NHL contract, Seattle Kraken winger Daniel Sprong isn’t able to be a full participant with the team just yet. According to The Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte, Sprong is dealing with work visa complications and is expected to rejoin the team within the next few days.

This does put Sprong’s availability for Seattle’s season opener on Wednesday in Anaheim in doubt. While Sprong was productive in terms of goals after joining the Kraken at the trade deadline last season, their added depth on the wing puts him squarely in a fourth-line role with everyone healthy. In his stead, Karson Kuhlman is expected to dress against Anaheim if Sprong can’t play.

  • Similarly, new Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson is also battling visa issues after arriving from Vancouver. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus reports that Dickinson will miss the team’s first two games of the season at the least, potentially missing three. Dickinson’s absence and his ability to be designated as a non-roster player in the meantime allowed them to claim defenseman Jarred Tinordi off waivers today without making a corresponding roster move.
  • While Montreal Canadiens defense prospect Logan Mailloux will start the season on injured reserve, he won’t stay there for long. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes to expect Montreal to send him back to the OHL’s London Knights after he returns to practice. Mailloux is expected to play a full season in London after injuries and a lengthy suspension due to his sexual misconduct charge during his draft year in Sweden limited him to 12 games.

Edmonton Oilers Hire Steve Staios

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The Edmonton Oilers have nabbed one of junior hockey’s most successful executives, hiring former NHL defenseman Steve Staios as a special advisor to the hockey operations staff. Staios will report to general manager Ken Holland and work closely with the team’s prospects.

Notably, the announcement also ends Staios’ time with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, a team he led to the league championship earlier this year. He joined the Bulldogs in 2016 after spending several years in the Toronto Maple Leafs player development department, a role that followed his long playing career.

That playing career included parts of eight seasons in Edmonton, where he played 573 regular season games for the Oilers, more than half of his career total. The physical defenseman racked up 743 penalty minutes and 146 points during those games and wore an “A” as alternate captain at times. In 2011-12, Staios eclipsed the 1,000-game mark for his career while playing in his final season with the New York Islanders, before retiring at the age of 38.

As general manager and president of the Bulldogs, he twice took home the OHL Championship, while also winning the GM of the Year award this past season. Many of the top contributors to the recent Hamilton squad were undrafted talents that were helped along and put in prime positions for success, something that the Oilers could certainly use some of as they continue to try and surround Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with depth.

If Staios can help set up a pipeline of junior talent to the Oilers, his presence will certainly be worth it.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Montreal Canadiens Sign Owen Beck

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6:54 pm: Beck’s contract breakdown is as follows, via CapFriendly:

2022-23: $775K base + $95K signing bonus + $82.5K minors salary + $10.5K juniors salary
2023-24: $835K base + $95K signing bonus + $82.5K minors salary + $10.5K juniors salary
2024-25: $855K base + $95K signing bonus + $82.5K minors salary

8:22 am: While all eyes were on first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, one of the real standouts in Montreal Canadiens camp was second-round pick Owen Beck. While he likely won’t make the team out of camp, he’ll at least leave with something in hand. Beck has been signed to a three-year, entry-level contract that carries a cap hit of just under $917K.

Beck, 18, played last season for the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL, after missing the entire 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID shutdown. That may have clouded his upside slightly, dropping him to 33rd overall, but so far his impression on Canadiens brass and fans has been a good one. Given how many picks the team had this year, the 2022 draft could go down as a franchise-altering moment for Montreal, especially if second-rounders Beck and Lane Hutson reach their potential as NHL difference-makers.

While Beck is still in camp with the Canadiens, the likely outcome for him is an assignment back to Mississauga where he can continue his growth. After scoring 51 points in 68 games, he should be a much more productive offensive piece this time around, and set himself for another good training camp a year from now. There’s not much more he could have done this time around, and this contract rewards him for his strong play.

Evening Notes: Coyotes Goaltending, Angello, Bloom, Raty

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As this offseason was wrapping up with most team’s rosters relatively clear, the Arizona Coyotes and GM Bill Armstrong made it known that the team was still looking for goaltending with all options, internal and external, on the table. To that end, the team had signed journeyman Christopher Gibson to a PTO ahead of training camp, but released him a couple of days ago. A day later (yesterday), the team claimed another journeyman netminder in that of Jonas Johansson off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche. Should Johansson stick with the Coyotes, it would be his fourth team in three seasons.

Earlier today, Armstrong talked with PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan about Johansson and where the team’s goaltending situation stands. Armstrong said Johansson is expected to be on the ice at the team’s practice facility tomorrow and they will get as many looks as possible at the goaltender during their final three preseason games. The GM added that they will continue to monitor the goalie market and waiver wire going forward. Johansson could have a chance as the Coyotes’ primary backup to Karel Vejmelka, a role that seemed destined for either Ivan Prosvetov, who was assigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners earlier this evening, or the recently-signed Jon Gillies.

  • St. Louis Blues forward Anthony Angello left tonight’s game with an apparent injury and will not return to the game, the team announced. The injury is a tough break for Angello, 26, who is in camp with the Blues after signing a one-year, two-way deal with them earlier this summer. Angello spent his entire career to-date in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, spending time in both the NHL and AHL. It’s unclear how severe the injury is and no timetable has been announced yet, but any significant absence would be bad news for the former Cornell University standout who could have a chance to latch on with St. Louis as a quality depth option.
  • Buffalo Sabres prospect Josh Bloom took another intriguing step in his development, having been named Captain of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, the team announced. While the honor doesn’t necessarily develop any on-ice skills for the 19-year-old, his ability to be a leader on his team does seem to bode well for his off-ice development and his future in the NHL. The winger had 30 goals and 31 assists in 67 games last year for Saginaw. Mitchell Smith and Dean Loukus will serve as full-time Alternate Captains for the Spirit, while a third alternate will be split between T-Bone Codd and Brayden Hislop.
  • Earlier today when New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert met the media, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz asked the new bench boss about top prospect Aatu Raty, who has impressed so far in Islanders camp. Specifically, Kurz wondered if Raty, who is a natural center, could be a fit on the wing, to which Lambert replied that the 19-year-old is a center only. This would seem to indicate that despite his strong impression, Raty is unlikely to make the Islanders opening night roster, given the team’s strong depth down the middle with Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Casey Cizikas. Considering the prospect’s struggles in his first full season in the Finnish Liiga, which contributed to his draft stock slipping, it might make sense that Raty doesn’t spend his first full season in North America in the NHL. However, if he can produce similarly to how he did last season with Jukurit (40 points in 41 games), it is possible Raty could force his way into the NHL sooner rather than later.

Pavel Mintyukov Sent To OHL

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There won’t be a surprise NHL appearance by the tenth overall pick this year, as the Anaheim Ducks have sent Pavel Mintyukov back to the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. His entry-level contract will slide forward, meaning he is now signed through 2025-26 at a minimum.

Mintyukov, 18, actually should be entering his third season with the Spirit, after agreeing to come to North America in 2020. Unfortunately, the year that would have been his rookie season in the OHL was canceled, due to the league’s COVID restrictions. That lost development certainly didn’t slow the Russian defenseman down. Mintykov exploded onto the junior scene with 17 goals and 62 points in 67 games, flying up draft boards and finding himself creeping into the top ten.

While there has been concern about selecting Russian players because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, Mintyukov has shown a clear desire to play in North America. Not only had he come over to play in the OHL but he signed his entry-level contract with the Ducks just a few days after being selected. Returning to the Spirit for another season should allow the team to have at least a bit of oversight on his development, even though they won’t be directly coaching him.

With how well he did last season, there is a good chance that Mintyukov dominates the league this year and sets himself up to compete for a spot with the Ducks a year from now. At that point, he also may be eligible for AHL action, depending on how his OHL status was determined. As an import player, if the NHL lists him as “on loan” to the CHL during his draft year, he will qualify for the AHL even before the age of 20, as others such as Filip Zadina and Rasmus Sandin have in the past. One factor likely not in his favor is that he did not play professional games before joining the Spirit, only suiting up in the Russian MHL (junior equivalent).

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