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Nikita Zadorov

Canucks Announce Offseason Plans

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Rick Tocchet spoke with the media on Thursday about the team’s plans for the upcoming off-season. Coming off their most successful season in nine years, Allvin started interviews by emphasizing that the team needs to enter the summer with the mindset that they only managed to reach the second round. As shared by Pass It To Bulis’ Daniel Wagner, Allvin said “I’m not happy sitting here today…we lost our last game and it was only in round two.” 

The team’s off-season plans will reflect that high bar, with Allvin most notably sharing that they’re looking to bring in a top-six winger, shares Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin added that the team is also looking to bring in more speed, while Tocchet spoke to needing more creativity and shooting out of the lineup. Each of those attributes could be met by pending Carolina Hurricanes free agent Jake Guentzel, who Vancouver was reportedly very interested in ahead of the Trade Deadline.

The Hurricanes ultimately acquired Guentzel in exchange for Michael Bunting, top prospects Vaisili Ponomaryov and Cruz Lucius, and second-and-fifth-round picks in 2024. That’s a tall price to pay for a Spring rental, and there’s no doubt Carolina will make a hardy push to extend Guentzel after he posted a combined 34 points in 28 games with the club. But Guentzel left the door open to other destinations in his exit interview, acknowledging that hockey is ultimately a business. He’ll almost assuredly be due for an enthusiastic call from Allvin, should he decide to enter the open market.

The search for a top-six winger will headline Vancouver’s summer, with Allvin sharing that the team wants to retain its pending free agents otherwise, per Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin went on to name Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, and Dakota Joshua as specific free agents the team is looking to retain. There shouldn’t be any pushback from the player’s side, with Joshua’s agent expressing a desire to return on the Donnie & Dhali Show while Zadorov speaking openly about his love for Vancouver during exit interviews. The trio are a part of Vancouver’s 11 pending free agents – a list that most notably includes Elias Lindholm and backup goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Casey DeSmith. The Canucks paid a pretty penny to acquire Lindholm earlier this season, while Silovs earned expanded opportunity with his fantastic playoff run. If and how the Canucks are able to lock up both players will be a major factor in how their 2024-25 roster is constructed.

Among his other thoughts, Allvin also made sure to mention the team’s top prospects – sharing that the team wants to create opportunity for those players. While he didn’t name any players outright, it’s not hard to reason that reigning SHL ’Rookie of the Year’ Jonathan Lekkerimaki is among the top to earn a chance. Lekkerimaki recorded 31 points in 46 SHL games this season, adding two points in six AHL games following the end of Orebro’s season. He signed a three-year, $4.3MM entry-level contract in early May and could be one of Vancouver’s most exciting breakout candidates next season. Other top prospects Aatu Raty, Danila Klimovich, and defenseman Elias Pettersson could also push for an added role.

Vancouver’s postseason berth was just their second of the last nine seasons, and just their seventh time making it to the second round this century. It seems the team’s leadership core is ready to carry that winning mentality forward, looking at making impacts with externally, internally, and prospect decisions.

Canucks Notes: Zadorov, Demko, Mikheyev, Cole

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Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov has fit in quite well since being acquired from Vancouver and has seen his playing time jump to over 20 minutes a night in the playoffs while adding four goals and four assists.  That performance certainly will help his cause as he reaches unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer.  To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggested in a recent appearance of Canucks Conversation by Canucks Army (video link) that the blueliner could be seeking a six-year contract with an AAV in the $6MM range this summer.  That would certainly represent a sizable raise on his current $3.75MM price tag while giving him some contractual stability which he hasn’t had; since his entry-level deal, Zadorov hasn’t had a contract longer than two years.

More from Vancouver:

  • While goaltender Thatcher Demko has resumed skating, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Postmedia’s Steve Ewen that it “would be a stretch” for his starter to return in this series. He has been out since suffering a knee injury in the first game of the opening round against Nashville.  However, Arturs Silovs has done well in his absence, posting a 2.62 GAA and a .907 SV%, getting them a game away from being Edmonton which lessens the urgency to get Demko back in the lineup.
  • After missing last game with an undisclosed injury, it doesn’t appear as if winger Ilya Mikheyev will return tonight. Thomas Drance of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that there’s unlikely to be any lineup changes tonight which means he’ll be out once again.  Mikheyev took part in the optional skate with Demko which suggests he’s not too far away from returning.  It has been a tough postseason for the 29-year-old as he has been held off the scoresheet in ten games after scoring just once in his last 50 regular season contests.
  • Speaking of injuries, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that blueliner Ian Cole is dealing with an undisclosed lower-body injury. The veteran has had some struggles this round but is still logging over 15 minutes a night while chipping in with nearly three blocks per game in the first five matches of this series.

Afternoon Notes: Devils Coaching, Drouin, Zadorov

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The New Jersey Devils have seemingly found their favorites on the coaching market, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting on the Jeff Marek Show that the team is currently favoring Sheldon Keefe and Jay Woodcroft (Twitter link). More specifically, Woodcroft was the favorite before Keefe’s firing. But the Devils were quick to interview Keefe when he became available, even going as far as requesting permission to interview him amidst his closing days in Toronto. The interview clearly went well, with Keefe now a favorite for what Elliotte Friedman described as the coaching role with the highest ceiling.

New Jersey would offer a similar backdrop for Keefe – boasting some of the strongest top-end forwards but struggling to find the same consistency in net. The Devils have the exciting advantage of a much, much deeper defense group than Toronto carried during Keefe’s tenure – with the core quartet of Dougie Hamilton, Simon Nemec, Luke Hughes, and Jonas Siegenthaler stronger than what most of the league offers. New Jersey’s season was marred by injuries, best exemplified by star centerman Jack Hughes missing 20 games and star defender Hamilton missing 62. The inconsistent lineup was too much for head coaches Lindy Ruff or Travis Green to handle, with the Devils ending the year with a 38-39-5 record.

But even after the slow season, the sky still seems to be the limit for the New Jersey Devils. A fully healthy season out of Jack Hughes, a full year of young defenders Hughes and Nemec, and a fruitful addition with the 2024 10th-overall pick should set the bar high for the skilled Devils lineup, giving them playoff aspirations under the right leader.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche could be set to add a top-six winger back to the lineup, with head coach Jared Bednar dubbing Jonathan Drouin as a game-time decision, per Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Drouin has so far missed every postseason game with a lower-body injury – but upgraded to a full-contact jersey, and top power-play unit reps, at the team’s Monday practice. Those are good signs of progress for Drouin, who recorded a career-high 56 points in 79 games this season. He’s seemingly found his footing in Colorado, and will now be set to add to his postseason career totals of 21 points in 33 games. His return should bump one of Joel Kiviranta or Brandon Duhaime out of the lineup, depending on if Colorado wants to prioritize skill or grit.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has fined Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov for cross-checking Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid at the end of Game 3. Zadorov hit McDavid right into Carson Soucy, who landed a cross-check on McDavid’s face. Soucy will have a hearing sometime today for the incident. And while they’re certainly holding their breath in anticipation of a possible Soucy suspension, the Canucks are certainly relieved that Zadorov avoided harsher punishment. He has been one of Vancouver’s best defensemen this postseason, posting four goals and seven points through nine games, while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time each night. Zadorov has brought skill, finesse, and grit to the lineup – although maybe a bit too much of the latter, as he’s now facing DoPS punishment.

Pacific Notes: Zadorov, Labanc, Gudas, Carrier

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Nikita Zadorov is one of the more intriguing pending unrestricted free agent defensemen and it appears he’s poised to land a fair-sized raise on his current contract.  In an appearance on Sekeres and Price (Twitter video link), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggests that Calgary felt that Zadorov’s asking price was likely to be in the $5MM range on a multi-year contract which helped facilitate his trade to the Canucks.  Zadorov has 18 points in 66 games between the two teams so far while averaging a little under 18 minutes a night.  He’s currently on a $3.75MM price tag but with his size and the fact that the salary cap is going to go up next season, the 28-year-old has a strong case for a raise, one that could ultimately price him out of Vancouver.

More from the Pacific:

  • Speaking with reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, Sharks winger Kevin Labanc acknowledged that he knows he’s in his final days with the organization and that there hasn’t been much communication with the coaching staff. The 28-year-old had a respectable 33 points in 72 games last season but he has been a frequent healthy scratch this year, notching just nine points in 41 appearances when he has played.  It’s fair to say that he won’t come close to getting his current $4.875MM AAV on the open market this summer but he could be an intriguing buy-low candidate if a team feels that he can get back to his old offensive levels in a new environment.
  • Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas did not accompany the team on their road trip to Seattle, relays Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune (Twitter link). The 33-year-old has been out for the last week and a half with an upper-body injury.  Gudas has played a big role on Anaheim’s second pairing this season, notching 16 points, 124 penalty minutes, 142 blocks, and 213 hits in 60 games; he sits in the top ten league-wide in PIMS and hits.
  • Golden Knights winger William Carrier is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has battled injury issues this season, being limited to just 39 appearances so far.  Carrier has six goals and two assists in those games along with 90 hits in the final year of his contract; he’ll be UFA-eligible for the first time this summer.

Nikita Zadorov Receives Two-Game Suspension

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After announcing a hearing just a few hours ago, the Department of Player Safety has made a quick ruling on Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov.  The league announced (Twitter link) that the blueliner has been handed a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head against Detroit forward Lucas Raymond.

The incident occurred early in the second period today with Zadorov receiving a match penalty on the play.  As the league’s accompanying video notes, Zadorov’s hit satisfies both elements for an illegal check to the head with the head being the principal point of contact and the hit being avoidable; it was deemed that Zadorov’s hit was mistimed and that he needed to take a better angle to hit Raymond’s core.

With Vancouver being back in action on Sunday, the league needed to make a ruling fairly quickly.  Zadorov will miss that contest against Washington as well as Tuesday’s game versus Chicago; he’ll be eligible to return on Thursday when they host Detroit in a rematch of today’s game.  It’s the first suspension of Zadorov’s career and he will forfeit a little over $39K in salary, that money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Nikita Zadorov To Have Hearing For Illegal Hit To The Head

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Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov will have a hearing this evening for an illegal hit to the head on Detroit Red Wings winger Lucas Raymond. The hit came halfway through Vancouver’s Saturday loss to Detroit and earned Zadorov a match penalty. The 28-year-old hasn’t faced punishment from the Department of Player Safety in his career up to this point. He’s scored four points, all assists, through 27 games with the Canucks this season. He’s also played in 21 games and scored six points with the Calgary Flames

Zadorov is on pace to break his career-high in penalty minutes this season, now up to 83 penalty minutes – just 20 minutes short of the career-high he set in 2017-18 – with 30 games left on Vancouver’s schedule. His attendance in the box has become routine, with Zadorov’s 180 penalty minutes ranking higher than any other Flames player, including Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane, over his three seasons with the team.

The Canucks traded for Zadorov in late November, sending Calgary a third and fifth pick. He’s stepped into a second-pairing role with his new club, playing primarily with Tyler Myers. Calgary and Vancouver have since swapped forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrei Kuzmenko, with Vancouver adding a first-round pick, conditional fourth-round pick, and two prospects. Lindholm has scored two goals in his first three games in Vancouver, playing on the team’s top line.

Evening Notes: Pettersson, Kane, Canucks

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Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that Ottawa Senators prospect Oskar Pettersson will join the team’s AHL affiliate in Belleville and make his debut with the team this weekend. Pettersson was selected 72nd overall in the 2022 NHL entry draft and will be joining a team in North America for the first time in his short career. Pettersson had been on loan from the Senators to Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League where he posted a single assist in 26 games.

Pettersson may have struggled offensively this season, but he has been a strong offensive contributor with Rögle BK J20 over the past three seasons registering 74 points in 74 games. The 19-year-old has shown that he can be a strong player along the boards and can play with the puck in traffic, both skills that should him thrive in the North American game.

Pettersson will likely debut on Friday against the Syracuse Crunch.

In other evening notes:

  • Detroit Red Wings reporter Daniella Bruce tweeted that winger Patrick Kane could suit up on Wednesday if he is 100%. Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters that the team would know more tomorrow after practice but that the 35-year-old is very close to a return. Kane has been very effective this season in just 19 games with seven goals and nine assists, however, the team is inexplicably just 8-9-2 with him in the lineup and 18-9-3 without him.
  • Elliotte Friedman appeared on Donnie and Dhali today and said that the Canucks remain in pursuit of a top-six forward with Calgary Flames forward Elias Lindholm at the top of their list of potential targets. The Canucks are said to be looking at forwards who can play multiple positions up front and may need to outbid other teams to facilitate a trade with Calgary. The Flames and Canucks may be bitter rivals, but they have made one trade already this season with the Canucks acquiring defenseman Nikita Zadorov in exchange for two draft picks.

Evening Notes: Fantilli, Capitals, Zadorov

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Star Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli suffered a cut on the back of his leg in the team’s Sunday night loss to the Seattle Kraken. He was seen leaving the game on crutches and the team announced today that he will miss their Tuesday night game against the St. Louis Blues. Fantilli has been a bright spot in a dark Blue Jackets season, tied for second on the team in scoring with 27 points through 49 games. The 19-year-old is one of only four Blue Jackets to play in all 49 of the team’s games this season.

Columbus drafted Fantilli with the third-overall pick in last year’s draft and now becomes the last of the top-three picks to face an injury this season. Chicago Blackhawks sensation Connor Bedard is currently grappling with a jaw injury that’s limited him to 39 games, while Leo Carlsson faced a knee injury that’s held him to just 30 games this season. The trio of top picks is joined by Zach Benson – who has played in 38 games – as the only players to jump directly into the NHL. Despite playing in more games than anyone else in the class, Fantilli doesn’t lead the group in scoring – as Bedard has managed 15 goals and 33 points despite his injury.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Washington Capitals have signed a six-year extension with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. The new deal carries the partnership through the 2029-30 season. Hershey has been Washington’s affiliate since 2005, when they were coached by NHL-coaching veteran Bruce Boudreau. Hershey won the Calder Cup Championship in their first year under the Capitals, and have since become a legacy team in the minor leagues, winning three other championships. This includes last season when they toppled the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a seven-game series. With six more years ahead of them, Hershey will look to continue to add to their trophy cabinet.
  • Player agent Dan Milstein has shared that his client Nikita Zadorov is not expecting to be traded by the Vancouver Canucks before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. Speculation arose after Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman discussed Vancouver’s desire to clear up cap space, listing Andrei Kuzmenko and Zadorov as options for moving out cap. Zadorov joined the Canucks on November 30th, with Vancouver sending a 2024 fifth-round pick and 2026 third-round pick to the Calgary Flames. The 28-year-old defender has since played in 24 games with the Canucks, scoring four points and recording 39 penalty minutes. He carries a $3.75MM cap hit through the end of the season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Coyotes Liam O’Brien Fined For Roughing

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced last night that Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien would be fined $2,018.23 for roughing Vancouver Canucks forward Sam Lafferty on January 18th. The amount is the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the money from it will be put towards the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

O’Brien was given a minor penalty for roughing on the play, which occurred at the 5:26 mark of the first period. O’Brien left Arizona’s bench and immediately went after Lafferty after the Canucks forward had laid a big hit earlier in the game. O’Brien threw off his gloves and began punching Lafferty, who did not offer a response. The referees pulled O’Brien away and restrained him before escorting him to the penalty box.

The situation did not cool down after that as O’Brien fought Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov later on in the first period which earned him another five penalty minutes. O’Brien is now the NHL leader in penalty minutes with 105 PIM in 43 games which nearly eclipses the 114 minutes he accumulated last season in 56 games with Arizona.

The 29-year-old has spent parts of seven NHL seasons with the Coyotes, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche and set career highs last season in games played with 56, goals with three, and assists with eight. He has not faced discipline before from the DOPS.

Evening Notes: Zadorov, Vlasic, Poehling

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Elliotte Friedman reported today that Vancouver Canucks recent trade acquisition Nikita Zadorov never received a formal contract extension offer from the Calgary Flames. Friedman went on to add that Calgary and Zadorov had different opinions on the length of a potential extension as the Flames wanted to be cautious while Zadorov was looking for long-term security.

It’s an understandable position from both sides given the circumstance they both find themselves in. Calgary has several undesirable long-term contracts on the books and was likely hesitant to add another one, while Zadorov has never had more than two years of security on a contract (outside of his ELD). The differences were too much for both sides to overcome which led to the Flames dealing the pending unrestricted free agent to Vancouver.

In other evening notes:

  • Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News is reporting that San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic is unlikely to be traded anytime soon. While that news isn’t surprising, the timing is interesting given that Vlasic was re-inserted into the Sharks lineup two nights ago after being a healthy scratch for a stretch. It seems that for the right price any contract in the NHL can be moved, however, there hasn’t been a contract situation quite like Vlasic’s. The 36-year-old has no points in 15 games this season and is playing under a $7MM cap hit for this season, and two more years after that. He has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of three teams in which he would accept a trade. The other wrinkle in a potential trade is that if the Sharks were to retain salary, it would represent the final time they can do that until one of the current retained contracts expires.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced tonight that center Ryan Poehling would miss their game against the Arizona Coyotes due to an illness. No word yet on whether Poehling is expected to be out of Flyers lineup for any length of time. Poehling has already missed three games this season as a healthy scratch as the 24-year-old has struggled during his first season in Philadelphia. Poehling has had a far more advantageous deployment in Philadelphia than he did in Pittsburgh last year, but his analytics and defensive metrics aren’t what they were despite being given more offensive opportunities.

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