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Jalen Chatfield

Snapshots: Conn Smythe Candidates, Chatfield, Snee

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With the Panthers going up three games over the Oilers in last night’s win, it’s truly safe to start talking about Conn Smythe candidates. Shayna Goldman and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wasted no time breaking down some of the leading candidacies this morning. Should the series end without a catastrophic implosion on Florida’s part, there are three leading finalists for the playoff MVP honor: captain Aleksander Barkov, defensive stalwart Gustav Forsling and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky is trying his hardest to pull away from the pack, allowing only four goals through three Cup Final games and posting a .953 SV%. He may be going so far as to solidify a spot in the Hall of Fame, let alone a Conn Smythe, but as Goldman and LeBrun dive into, it shouldn’t demerit the elite performances from Barkov and Forsling over the last two months that are more-than-deserving of recognition.

Other notes as the weekend (and end of the season) draws near:

  • The Hurricanes’ recent confirmation of an extension for defenseman Jalen Chatfield was a long time coming. Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal reports Friday that the team tried to engage in contract discussions midseason, but Chatfield’s camp opted to delay talks in hopes of boosting his market value down the stretch. It worked out well for the blue liner, who still takes a slight discount on what he could have likely landed elsewhere in free agency but earns a nearly 400% raise over his previous average annual value with a large portion of the deal paid upfront via signing bonuses.
  • Earlier this week, the Wild announced that Mike Snee is returning to the organization as their vice president of the Minnesota Wild Foundation and community relations. Snee was one of the first people hired by the team before their inception for the 2000-01 season, working in sales and sponsorship. A longtime member of the governing board for USA Hockey, Snee has spent the last 12 years as the executive director of College Hockey, Inc., working to develop several new NCAA hockey programs as well as landing a Canadian broadcasting rights agreement for the collegiate circuit.

Hurricanes Sign Jalen Chatfield To Three-Year Extension

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June 14: The team has made this signing official, with interim general manager Eric Tulsky sharing with The Athletic’s Cory Lavalette, “Jalen has been an integral part of our blue line over the last two seasons and firmly established himself as an NHL defenseman. His elite speed and tireless work ethic make him an incredibly dynamic player at both ends of the ice.”

June 13: The Hurricanes are expected to extend defenseman Jalen Chatfield, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports Thursday. He was slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It’s a three-year, $9MM contract with a $3MM cap hit, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. PuckPedia has the full breakdown of the deal:

2024-25: $1MM base salary, $2.75MM signing bonus, no-move clause
2025-26: $1MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, no-move clause
2026-27: $775K base salary, $1.475MM signing bonus, 15-team no-trade list

Chatfield joined Carolina on a two-way deal as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2021 after getting a brief NHL shot with the Canucks the season prior. In the three years since, he’s developed into one of the better depth options in the league on a bargain-bin contract that actually carried a $762.5K cap hit below the league minimum salary this season.

The 28-year-old split his first season between the Canes and AHL Chicago but became a fixture in the lineup beginning with the 2022-23 season. He’s played 70-plus games the past two years, developing his offensive game while crushing his bottom-pairing minutes with high-end shot attempt and possession quality percentages.

With sizeable turnover expected on the Hurricanes blue line next season, Chatfield could be in line for an increase on the 14-15 minutes per game he’s averaged so far over his tenure in Raleigh. He was one of four notable pending UFAs Carolina had on defense – Tony DeAngelo, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei remain without deals next season.

A speedy two-way defender, Chatfield has 14 goals, 26 assists and 40 points with a +28 rating in 184 career regular-season games while averaging 14:32 per contest. This past year with Carolina, he had a career-high eight goals and 22 points with a +15 rating in 72 games while controlling 61% of shot attempts at even strength.

If the $3MM cap hit report is accurate, the Hurricanes now have $23.87MM in projected space this offseason, per CapFriendly.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Canucks Notes: Lindholm, Chatfield, Zadorov

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Elliotte Friedman reported on the Jeff Marek Show today that it doesn’t appear that the Vancouver Canucks will be able to hang on to pending unrestricted free agent center Elias Lindholm. Friedman referenced recent reports that the Canucks were willing to offer Lindholm a seven-year deal for $7MM per season but adds that the Canucks are reportedly looking to their next options as Lindholm’s departure becomes more of a reality.

The Canucks gave up a massive package to acquire the 29-year-old sending a first-round pick in 2024, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024, as well as two prospects and Andrei Kuzmenko to the Calgary Flames and aren’t likely to find a suitable replacement in free agency.

In other Vancouver Canucks notes:

  • Rick Dhaliwal spoke today on Donnie and Dhali about Carolina Hurricanes pending free agent defenseman Jalen Chatfield. Dhaliwal said that if Chatfield reaches free agency the Canucks will have interest, however, he has also heard that the Hurricanes are pushing to re-sign him. Chatfield started his NHL career with the Canucks, dressing in 18 games during the 2020-21 season and registering one assist. He then signed with Carolina as a free agent in 2021 and has been with the team the past three seasons. Last year the 28-year-old posted eight goals and 14 assists in 72 games and averaged 15:12 of ice time per game.
  • Dhaliwal also reported that all is quiet when it comes to contract negotiations between the Canucks and pending free-agent defenseman Nikita Zadorov. The 29-year-old was also acquired at the trade deadline and reportedly hasn’t spoke with Vancouver over the past few days. The Canucks have just over $24MM in cap space available but have pending extensions to sign in the next three seasons for Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko and will need to be careful how they allocate long-term cap space. Reports have surfaced previously that Zadorov is looking for a six-year deal at $6MM per season.

Metro Notes: Flyers, Rust, Chatfield

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Earlier today, the Philadelphia Flyers announced a plethora of injuries, revealing that Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale would both be out week-to-week with upper-body injuries and that Travis Konecny would be out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Still holding strong in their attempt to make the playoffs, these injuries could impact the Flyers’ competitiveness moving forward over their next several games.

Not only will Philadelphia be playing without some of their regular players for the next couple of games, but it will take a potential trade chip off the board in Ristolainen. Although he does carry a relatively expensive cap hit of $5.1MM until after the 2026-27 NHL season, Ristolainen has appeared in some trade chatter over the last several weeks. Dealing with some injury concerns earlier in the season, Ristolainen has responded with one goal and four points over 31 games with the Flyers, averaging 16:41 of ice time per game.

The major concern, however, will be with Drysdale, who is building an extensive injury history in only his fourth season in the NHL. Last season, Drysdale infamously lost the entirety of the year after eight games for a shoulder injury that would require surgery and did miss two months of action earlier this season when he was still a member of the Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury.

Other Metro notes:

  • Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Falling further and further out of contention, the loss of Rust for the next few weeks will certainly not help Pittsburgh rise in the standings. Potentially becoming one of the deadline’s more important sellers, losing both Rust and Jake Guentzel over the last few days may ultimately force the Penguins’ hand in their eventual deadline approach.
  • Missing the team’s last four games with an upper-body injury, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is set to return tonight according to the Hurricanes’ Editorial Content Producer, Walt Ruff. Chatfield has been solid for Carolina this season, scoring five goals and 14 points in 49 games, while holding a strong CorsiFor% of 58.4%.

Injury Notes: Monahan, Chatfield, Crevier

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Jets center Sean Monahan is not in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Coyotes due to illness, the team’s communications department said.

This is Monahan’s first absence since Winnipeg acquired him from the Canadiens for a 2024 first-round pick and a 2027 conditional third-round pick on Feb. 2. The 29-year-old is on a tear with five goals in his last four games, his only points in a Jets uniform.

He’s averaging 17:45 per game since the trade while holding down the second-line center spot, winning 57.6% of his draws to boost his already career-high 55.4% win rate on the season. Veteran utility man Vladislav Namestnikov is seeing a promotion tonight, centering a second line of Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo in Monahan’s absence.

Monahan, the 2013 sixth-overall pick, has 40 points in 57 games on the season, his highest per-game clip since he scored 34 goals and notched 82 points in 78 games with the Flames en route to a regular-season conference championship in 2018-19. He’s seeing usage on Winnipeg’s top power-play unit with Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi, and his even-strength possession numbers have been strong in a small sample with a 54.3 CF%

Other injury updates as the weekend draws to a close:

  • Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is absent from tonight’s ongoing contest against the Sabres with an upper-body injury, according to the NHL’s roster report. Chatfield remains listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has now missed his fourth straight contest. The 27-year-old Michigan native last suited up on Feb. 17 against the Golden Knights, and Carolina is 2-1-0 in his absence. The rock-steady bottom-pairing defender has five goals and 14 points in 49 games this season while averaging a career-high 14:52 per game. In line with the rest of the team, the undrafted free agent has a strong 59.3% Corsi share at even strength, tracking similarly to his previous two seasons in Raleigh. Chatfield is in the back half of a two-year, $1.525MM extension and will be a UFA this summer.
  • Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier is returning from a facial injury against the Red Wings tonight, according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 22-year-old rookie missed Chicago’s last two games after taking a puck to the mouth against Carolina on Monday. The 6-foot-8, 228-pound youngster was a seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft and has three assists through 20 games this year, his first NHL stint. He’s struggled to keep pace with the NHL, though, posting below-average possession numbers on an already defensively-challenged Blackhawks team with a 39.3 CF% at even strength and a -13 rating while averaging 15:47 per game.

Evening Notes: Toews, Hurricanes, Mechura

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Adrian Dater wrote on X today that the Colorado Avalanche and Devon Toews have made some progress toward a contract extension for the pending free-agent defenseman, but he is hearing that they aren’t nearing a deal yet. Dater added that he isn’t sure if Toews will negotiate into the regular season, but his sense is that both sides will continue talking.

Toews has been widely regarded as one of the NHL’s best bargains over the last few seasons since joining the Avalanche in 2020. He is in the final season of a four-year contract that carries an AAV of $4.1MM and could come close to doubling his cap hit on a long-term deal. The 29-year-old has posted 29 goals and 109 assists in 199 games as a member of the Avalanche and has received Norris Trophy consideration in each of the past three seasons.

In other evening notes:

  • Cory Lavalette of The Athletic tweeted today that Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Don Waddell has said that the team is not actively shopping any of their defensemen. The Hurricanes currently have four defensemen who are pending unrestricted free agents in Tony DeAngelo, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, and Jalen Chatfield, and appear uninterested in moving out any of their depth. While Waddell said the team isn’t actively trying to move out anyone, he didn’t close the door on a trade should a team come along with a good offer for one of the team’s rearguards.
  • Mark Divver of NHL.com is reporting that the Providence Bruins have signed 20-year-old undrafted center Adam Mechura to a two-year AHL contract. The native of Pisek, Czech Republic played for the Bruins at the Prospects Challenge before he was invited to the Providence training camp. The 6’4” 208-pounder spent last season in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans where he posted 26 goals and 26 assists in 58 games. The Bruins are looking for creative ways to build depth after spending many years moving out future assets, with this move they essentially get a young player with size into their AHL lineup without giving up an asset.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Hart, Chatfield

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According to Rob Rossi of The Athletic, a pair of Pittsburgh Penguins have seemingly dodged a bullet when it comes to injuries. The Penguins appeared to be in a difficult spot when Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta both left Tuesday night’s game early with injuries. It seemed unlikely they would have the cap space to make a recall and even find six healthy defensemen for their game with the New York Rangers tonight.

However, somewhat surprisingly, it sounds like both Petry and Rutta will be good to go tonight. Both players participated in morning skate and said afterwards that they expect to be in the lineup this evening. The team even said forward Ryan Poehling is likely to be activated from long-term injured reserve and play for the first time since February 11.

  • Olivia Reiner of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Carter Hart was back with the Philadelphia Flyers at practice this morning. Hart missed the team’s last game with an illness, but appears to have recovered quickly and could be in goal when they face the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night. Hart has a 2.96 GAA and a .906 SV% in 48 games this season.
  • Walt Ruff of NHL.com reports Jalen Chatfield is back as a full participant for the Carolina Hurricanes. The right defenseman was skating on the third pairing with Shayne Gostisbehere with a regular jersey on instead of the no-contact jersey he had been using. Chatfield has not played since March 7, but head coach Rob Brind’Amour says he hopes Chatfield will be ready to step back into the lineup either when the Hurricanes take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night or the Flyers on Saturday.

Injury Notes: Fabbri, Carlson, Hurricanes

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More than just Detroit Red Wings fans cringed when they saw Robby Fabbri limp off the ice last night with a lower-body injury. The 27-year-old has been through multiple major knee surgeries in his career, but keeps coming back and showing that he can contribute at the NHL level on reconstructed ACLs.

When he missed practice today, it seemed like it might be bad news for the talented winger, but head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters that Fabbri is only out day-to-day. The Red Wings will be cautious for obvious reasons, but the team is optimistic that he avoided a serious injury.

  • John Carlson was on the ice again today for the Washington Capitals, as he continues to recover from the head injury he suffered earlier this season. Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that the defenseman joined the scratches’ skate, albeit in a non-contact sweater. A more significant update is still expected in the next few days.
  • It’s finger-crossing days for the Carolina Hurricanes, who will have to hope their goaltending depth will stay healthy through a playoff run this time. Today, head coach Rod Brind’Amour explained that the team is hopeful the recent injury to Antti Raanta is “not too serious” but couldn’t give a more specific timeline. Jalen Chatfield, meanwhile, is getting evaluated today and is expected to miss some time.

Injury Notes: Merzlikins, Chatfield, Coyotes

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The Columbus Blue Jackets lost their starting goaltender after the first period of this evening’s contest with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Per a team release, Elvis Merzlikins would not play the remainder of the game due to an illness. Michael Hutchinson was forced into action with Merzlikins ruled out for the night. Merzlikins did return to the team’s bench early in the second period, which should rule out anything serious. After trading goaltender Joonas Korpisalo at the trade deadline, the Blue Jackets can’t afford to have another netminder unavailable to them.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced defenseman Jalen Chatfield would not return to the team’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. He suffered an upper-body injury after playing just over seven minutes of action. Chatfield has played 61 games for the Hurricanes this season, scoring five goals and 12 points. The team added some depth on the blue line at the deadline when they acquired Shayne Gostisbehere, and that extra depth could be tested if Chatfield misses any time.
  • Per a team release, Arizona Coyotes winger Liam O’Brien is out of the lineup due to illness. The 28-year-old forward has scored one goal and seven points in 38 games for the Coyotes this season. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports added newcomer Brett Ritchie will have to wait before making his Coyotes debut as he is still dealing with visa issues after being acquired on Mar 3 from the Calgary Flames.

Carolina Hurricanes Extend Jalen Chatfield

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The Carolina Hurricanes have done a little offseason business ahead of time, signing minor league defenseman Jalen Chatfield to a two-year contract extension. The deal is two-way in 2022-23, paying Chatfield $750K at the NHL level, $250K at the AHL level and includes a $300K minor league guarantee. In 2023-24, it is a one-way contract worth $775K. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell released a statement:

From the moment camp began, he’s played the Hurricane way. Jalen earned this two-year extension, and we know he will continue to bolster our blue line.

Chatfield, 25, has appeared in seven games for the Hurricanes this season but spent most of his time in the AHL, recording four goals and seven points in 21 games for the Chicago Wolves. Undrafted, he signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2017 and spent three seasons with the Utica Comets. In 2020-21, he made his NHL debut by skating in 18 games with the Canucks, registering a single point.

While he doesn’t figure to play a ton at the NHL level, Chatfield represents strong depth for the Hurricanes organization and can continue to lead with the Wolves. He cleared waivers without a problem at the beginning of October and now, with this two-year extension in hand, will likely clear them the next time the Hurricanes need to sneak him through.

Despite being just 25, Chatfield would have qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer. He’s now avoided RFA status altogether, as he’ll be a UFA when this new deal expires in 2024.

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