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Kings Re-Sign Akil Thomas

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The Kings have signed their final remaining restricted free agent, announcing they’ve inked forward Akil Thomas to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay the NHL minimum of $775K at the NHL level.

The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by Los Angeles back in 2018 (51st overall) and was a prolific point producer at the OHL level, recording 186 points in just 112 games in his two post-draft seasons.  That helped Thomas earn an entry-level deal back in 2019, one that expired at the end of last month.

However, Thomas spent the entirety of that entry-level pact in the minors with AHL Ontario.  He got off to a nice start last season with the Reign, picking up five goals and three assists in 13 games.  However, in mid-November, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, undergoing surgery soon thereafter.  It’s the second time Thomas has had shoulder trouble; he had double-shoulder surgery back in 2021.

In his career, Thomas has just 93 professional games under his belt with Ontario where he has done relatively well, totaling 24 goals and 23 assists.  He will be waiver-eligible in the fall so he’ll need to pass through unclaimed if he’s to return to the Reign.  But with a little over a year’s worth of cumulative professional experience and coming off another shoulder surgery, it seems like there’s a good chance he’ll be able to do so successfully and will try to show that he’s fully recovered in the fall with Ontario, trying to earn his first NHL recall from there.

Sabres Notes: Free Agency, Wahlberg, Amerks

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While Buffalo was active on the opening day of free agency, their NHL signings were on the back end with the pickups of Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton.  However, GM Kevyn Adams told reporters including Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that they were also looking to make an addition up front and even got close to one before it fell through.  With Jack Quinn tearing his Achilles tendon in offseason training which will keep him out for a couple of months in-season at least, there’s now an open spot on the wing that they could have been looking to fill on a short-term deal.  With that in mind, the Sabres are a team to keep an eye out on as the UFA market slows down; perhaps a bargain option will present itself later in the summer.  Alternatively, Quinn’s injury could also put a possible Victor Olofsson swap on hold.

More from Buffalo:

  • Last month, the Sabres selected center Anton Wahlberg with the 39th selection in the draft.  Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News relays that Buffalo tried to trade for a second first-round pick without success and then tried to trade up in the second round (also without success) to secure Wahlberg, who was clearly rated much higher on their list.  Wahlberg was close to a point-per-game player in Sweden’s junior level last season and is poised to have a full-time spot with Malmo of the SHL in 2023-24.
  • Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester brought back three veterans yesterday, announcing the re-signings of forwards Mason Jobst and Brendan Warren along with goaltender Michael Houser on minor-league deals. Jobst had a career-best 38 points in 63 games for the Amerks last season while Warren chipped in with seven in 43 contests before putting up five in seven playoff appearances.  As for Houser, he had a 2.80 GAA with a .906 SV% in 21 appearances while having his contract converted to an NHL one for the third year in a row back in February.

KHL Registers Contract For Ivan Fedotov

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Last summer, the Flyers thought they were getting top prospect Ivan Fedotov to play for them, inking him to a one-year deal.  Instead, he wound up spending the season fulfilling his military obligations and did not suit up in a game.  That permitted Philadelphia to toll the netminder’s contract, rolling it over to next season.  However, in the meantime, Fedotov agreed to terms on a two-year deal with CSKA Moscow a while back on a deal beginning in 2023-24, hoping to stay overseas.

Earlier this week, Sport-Express in Russia reached out to the KHL for more information and they indicated that they asked the NHL to get clarification on Fedotov’s status.  At that time, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that it is their opinion that Fedotov has a valid contract with the Flyers for the upcoming season.  The NHL and KHL have previously operated with a Memorandum of Understanding between the two leagues, meaning one league can’t poach a signed player away from the other.  The NHL suspended that agreement last year.  Meanwhile, the KHL announced today that they disagree with the NHL’s assertion and have registered the contract for Fedotov with CSKA Moscow.

For the first time now, both leagues believe they have a legitimately-registered contract with Fedotov for the upcoming season, meaning they’re entering some uncharted territory when it comes to determining who is correct.  The KHL’s announcement indicates that Fedotov’s clearly-stated preference is to remain in Russia.

The 26-year-old was drafted by the Flyers in the seventh round back in 2015 (188th overall) and has emerged as one of the top goalies in the KHL while putting up a stellar 1.61 GAA with a .943 SV% in the 2022 Olympics.  Last summer, the plan was for him to serve as the backup to Carter Hart and when that option fell through, they turned to internal options Felix Sandstrom and Samuel Ersson.

Now, veteran Cal Petersen is also in the mix after the team took on his contract in a pre-draft three-way trade involving Los Angeles and Columbus.  However, with two years and $10MM left on his contract, it’s safe to say that he would pass through waivers successfully next season if they needed to open up a roster spot for Fedotov should the NHL and Flyers prove successful in any hypothetical hearing to determine his fate and get him to North America for 2023-24.

Notably, Fedotov is only one year away from reaching NHL unrestricted free agency so if his long-term intention is to remain in Russia, if the NHL is able to enforce his contract with them, he could simply play out the season in North America and then head back to the KHL for 2024-25 and beyond.  Alternatively, Fedotov’s camp may ask Philadelphia to simply do a mutual termination of his contract although doing so would mean that the Flyers would relinquish his NHL rights immediately.

The KHL’s decision today to register Fedotov’s contract is an important next step in the process of determining where the netminder will play next season.  But with relations between the two leagues not at their best at the moment, it’d be surprising if this announcement was the end of the discussion as it relates to where Fedotov plays in 2023-24.

Prospect Notes: Carlsson, Clara, Wild

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The Ducks drafted center Leo Carlsson with the second-overall pick in the draft last month and he is widely considered to be one of the most NHL-ready prospects of this draft class.  However, Carlsson’s agent Matt Keator told Jim Alexander of The Press-Enterprise that there is no rush for him to make a decision on where the youngster will play in 2023-24.  Carlsson is under contract for two more years with Orebro of the SHL but as Carlsson is a first-round pick and Sweden has a transfer agreement with the NHL, a contract with Anaheim can supersede that.  Carlsson had 25 points in 44 games last season in Sweden’s top division and a decision on where he plays next season will be jointly made between him and the team.

Other prospect news from around the hockey world:

  • There were a total of a dozen NHL-drafted players in the recently-completed CHL Import Draft. One name that wasn’t on that list was Ducks goaltender Damian Clara.  Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register notes that several CHL squads expressed an interest in bringing over the 18-year-old Italian but that the netminder remained committed to playing on loan in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan next season with Brynas.  He has two years remaining on his deal over there but if things don’t go as planned for him next season, Clara would be eligible for selection in the Import Draft next summer as well.
  • Wild prospects Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren both intend to play in North America in 2024-25, relays Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link). The pair were first-round picks back in 2022, going 19th and 22nd overall, respectively, and are two of Minnesota’s top prospects.  Both are under contracts with their club teams (Metallurg Magnitogorsk for Yurov and Farjestad for Ohgren) next season but the plan is for Yurov to sign once that contract expires while Ohgren, already signed, will have his deal slide once more.  The Wild will need an influx of young, cost-controllable talent and these two could push to make the jump to the NHL right away once they sign.

Offseason Notes: Knight, Burakovsky, Suess

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Not featured in the Florida Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, goaltender Spencer Knight is getting back on the ice before the season gets underway. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports that Knight has been granted permission to participate in the team’s offseason development camp.

After spending much of last season in the league’s NHLPA Player Assistance Program, Knight is looking to make his return to the NHL. Although the Panthers did sign goaltender Anthony Stolarz to a one-year, $1.1MM contract on the first day of free agency, Knight will almost certainly find playing time in Florida’s net.

Before going into the Player Assistance Program in February, Knight would finish the year with a 9-8-3 record, earning a .901 SV% and a 3.18 GAA. Although those numbers would be a career low for Knight, the former 13th overall pick is looking to improve on those numbers during the 2023-24 NHL season.

If the team is looking to make another postseason run next year, Knight will undoubtedly play a role. Already having Sergei Bobrovsky in the net, both have shown throughout their careers they have the ability to take over games during the regular season or playoffs.

Other notes:

  • Missing just under half of the 2022-23 NHL season due to a lower-body injury, forward Andre Burakovsky expects to make a full comeback next year. According to General Manager Ron Francis, Burakovsky is feeling “stronger every day” (Tweet Link). Burakovsky’s addition back to the Seattle Kraken lineup will be a tremendous benefit for the team, as he scored 39 points in 49 games, shortly before the Kraken eliminated his former team, the Colorado Avalanche, in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
  • The AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets has added some strength at forward, signing C.J. Suess to a minor-league contract. This will be the second time Suess has featured in the Jets’ organization, playing for the team from 2017-2022. In his 166 games played for the Moose so far throughout his career, Suess has 45 goals and 38 assists.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Andreas Johnsson

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Continuing to add to their forward core, the Pittsburgh Penguins have announced they have agreed to a one-year, $800K contract with Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson most recently played for the San Jose Sharks after a trade deadline deal with the New Jersey Devils.

Included in the deal to land the Devils Timo Meier, Johnsson is ready for a bounce-back year. Severely limited in playing time under head coach Lindy Ruff during the 2022-23 NHL season, Johnsson only managed to play in 13 games last year, mostly for the Sharks and tallied three points (all assists) in total. A true-to-fashion change of scenery candidate, Johnsson will be looking to find his game in Pittsburgh.

Not so long ago, Johnsson was projected to be a regular top-six forward. During the 2018-19 season, Johnsson scored 43 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 73 games, incredibly only averaging just under 14 minutes of ice time per night. Unfortunately for Johnsson, as his ice time increased, his production took a dive. Just over one year later, the Maple Leafs would trade him to the Devils for depth forward, Joey Anderson.

Johnsson has shown flashes during his time in New Jersey and his time in Toronto as being a particularly above-average forward on the defensive side of the puck, and he will most certainly need to recapture that in Pittsburgh. By their current roster construction, Johnsson will most likely feature in the team’s bottom six, where defensive responsibility will be just as important as his offensive upside.

Seattle Kraken Re-Sign William Borgen

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The Seattle Kraken have re-signed defenseman William Borgen to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $2.7MM and finish after the 2024-25 NHL season.

Drafted by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft from the Buffalo Sabres, Borgen took off significantly for the Kraken last year. Primarily used as an extra defenseman in the team’s first year, Borgen only managed eight points in 36 games, averaging just over 15 minutes a night. He did show off a decent amount of physicality, recording 89 hits in a little less than half a year. Spending time on the penalty kill and showing some true defensive prowess, Borgen was coming into his own as a defensive defenseman.

This season, the Kraken extended the leash on Borgen quite a bit, suiting him up for all 82 games. In the best statistical season of his career so far, the former 92nd overall pick scored three goals and 17 assists, averaging over 16 minutes a night. He still kept a lot of the physicality he showed off in his first season, blocking 89 shots and throwing 203 hits. Unfortunately, though, Borgen may have a difficult time moving up in the Kraken lineup.

Seattle already has Justin Schultz and Adam Larsson signed on the right side of their defensive unit, and Borgen plays a similar game to Larsson. Given that it will be a two-year pact, the Kraken may have plans for Borgen to eventually replace Larsson after he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 NHL season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the contract.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Vinnie Hinostroza

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that the team had added forward Vinnie Hinostroza to a one-year deal for the 2023-24 NHL season. The contract will pay Hinostroza the league minimum, $775K over one year.

This will be Hinostroza’s fifth team in his career, having spent parts of eight years with the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, and Buffalo Sabres. Hinostroza’s best year came back in the 2018-19 season, scoring 39 points in 72 games for the Coyotes. Now joining a team in dire need of forward depth in the bottom six, Hinostroza could certainly add some value to the Penguins’ lineup.

If Hinostroza is unable to crack Pittsburgh’s lineup by the start of the season, he will be an even greater addition to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Last season, the baby Penguins had quite a fall, going 26-32-8-6, falling well short of the playoffs in the Atlantic Division. Even worse for them, they were only one of three teams in the AHL last season not to record at least 200 goals as a team.

Even being a little undersized standing below six feet tall, Hinostroza has 120 games played at the AHL level, scoring 35 goals and 56 assists. Although most of those games came at the beginning of his career, Hinostroza’s skill and style of play should benefit the Penguins organization no matter what level he plays at.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was the first to report that the Penguins had signed Hinostroza. 

Seattle Kraken Sign Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

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The Seattle Kraken have bolstered their lineup with the addition of veteran center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The team announced via Twitter that they’ve reached an agreement with the 38-year-old French center on a one-year contract worth the league-minimum $775K.

Bellemare brings 10 seasons and 660 games of NHL experience to the Kraken lineup despite not making his NHL debut until 12 seasons into his professional career, which began in France’s top league in the 2002-03 season. An undrafted free agent signing out of the SHL, Bellemare’s played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and most recently the Tampa Bay Lightning since joining the league in 2014.

He’s reached the Stanley Cup Final twice – once with Vegas in their inaugural season and in in 2022 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Playing a key role as a bottom-of-the-lineup shutdown forward, Bellemare registered two goals and an assist in 23 games en route to Tampa’s 2022 Final loss to Colorado.

He comes to the Kraken as a serviceable fallback option for their fourth-line center spot, especially if 2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright fails to secure a spot out of training camp or gets sent back to juniors midway through the season, as he was last year.

After a rocky three seasons in Philadelphia, Bellemare’s become quite strong in the faceoff circle, holding a 53.4% win percentage since leaving the Flyers in 2017. While his defensive game did show recent significant lapses during last season with the Lightning, it’s an extremely low-risk signing and a solid veteran add for an already deep Kraken offense. It also marks a reunion with head coach Dave Hakstol, who Bellemare played under in Philadelphia from 2015 to 2017.

Last season, Bellemare recorded four goals and 13 points in 73 games. In his NHL career to date, he’s managed 60 goals and 131 points.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Tobias Bjornfot

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The Los Angeles Kings have retained defenseman Tobias Bjornfot for the foreseeable future, as they’ve signed the 22-year-old restricted free agent to a two-year contract extension. The deal, reported by PuckPedia, carries an annual average value of $775K and will keep Bjornfot in the Kings’ lineup through the 2024-25 season.

Selected 22nd overall by the Kings in the 2019 NHL Draft, Bjornfot has fallen a tad behind his predicted development track but still has untapped upside. Hailing from Sweden, he made his professional debut with Djurgardens IF in the SHL during the 2018-19 season, shortly before being drafted by the Kings.

Following his selection, the 6-foot, 201-pound defenseman signed a three-year entry-level contract with Los Angeles just weeks after the draft. He would play in North America immediately, mostly with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, but did earn a three-game NHL audition in his post-draft year. With COVID delaying the start of next season, though, the Kings loaned him back to Djurgarden in August 2020 before returning to Los Angeles after the calendar flipped to 2021, where he’d record his first NHL goal and add five assists in 33 games.

Bjornfot’s transition to the NHL was realized in the 2021-22 season when he became a true full-time player for the Kings, appearing in 70 out of 82 games and tallying eight assists. However, this past season, he found himself reduced to an AHL role due to the emergence of other youngsters like Sean Durzi and the trade deadline addition of Vladislav Gavrikov, which impacted his place on the Kings’ depth chart.

Despite his fluctuating role in the organization last season, Bjornfot’s two-way potential remains highly regarded by the Kings’ management. The two-year extension gives the Kings a much-needed cost-effective player to insert into their lineup, and his league minimum cap hit could result in more NHL ice time with the Kings slated to be tight against the cap’s Upper Limit throughout this season, and Durzi shipped out to the Arizona Coyotes.

Upon the contract’s expiration in 2025, Bjornfot will again become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and a qualifying offer of $814K.

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