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Vadim Shipachyov

Vadim Shipachyov To Terminate Contract, Return To Russia

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Though Eric Engels of Sportsnet is standing by his report that Shipachyov has decided to go back to Russia, Bob McKenzie of TSN now tells us that Shipachyov will not be on unconditional waivers today. He admits it might happen in the future, but the fact that he isn’t just yet does leave a tiny bit of hope for those who would like to see another team in the NHL acquire him. Part of the hold up is likely that Shipachyov will be required to pay back some of his $2MM signing bonus (pro-rated for the amount of contract that is to be terminated), a defense against these very scenarios. Engels reports that that process is underway.

It still seems overwhelmingly likely that the Russian center will return to the KHL this season, ending what can’t even be called a promising NHL career. In three games he scored his first goal, but was then sent back down to the AHL because of a combination of roster constraints and inconsistent play. When he does, watch out for him on the next iteration of the Russian Olympic roster. Though he obviously wasn’t included yet, he will become a candidate for selection as soon as he returns home.

Earlier updates

  • Though there seemed to be some hope Monday morning when a report surfaced that Vadim Shipachyov’s agent was still talking to teams about a possible trade, that glimmer of hope has been destroyed. Engels reports that the Vegas Golden Knights’ forward has decided to return to Russia, and will be put on unconditional waivers tomorrow in order to mutually terminate his contract.

Vadim Shipachyov Trade Still A Possibility

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When the waiver list came out today, it conspicuously did not include the name of Vadim Shipachyov (or any others for that matter). The Vegas Golden Knights forward is currently suspended for leaving their AHL affiliate, and was considered to be a candidate for contract termination. That would require clearing unconditional waivers, but as Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports there remains the possibility of a trade. Shipachyov signed a two-year $9MM contract this summer, but has played just three games for the Golden Knights so far this season.

Vadim ShipachyovShipachyov started the year on the roster of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL due to his waiver-exempt status, but didn’t report to the team for their first few games. Instead, he stayed in Vegas with his family helping them become accustomed to life in the United States. When he was called up to the Golden Knights, he played three games but didn’t make much of an impression on his coach even while the team continued their torrid start. When sent down this time, he first reported to practice before leaving the team once again. He was subsequently suspended, making a bad situation even more tense.

Should the Golden Knights not be able to find a trade partner, a mutual termination of his contract would likely come with a return to the KHL. It remains very unlikely that he would sign a new contract with someone in the NHL this season, though technically that would be a possibility. Engels reported last night on Sportsnet that he believed Shipachyov’s agent Petr Svoboda was still talking with a few teams trying to help facilitate a trade, though it is not clear how close any deal is.

The Golden Knights have recently waived both Jason Garrison and Griffin Reinhart without incident, sending them through to the minor leagues and opening up roster spots. One of those is expected to be used on Shea Theodore instead of Shipachyov, showing that this isn’t just about roster construction. The team has room to bring him back up if they wanted to, but with how he has reacted recently it may have forced their hands.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Western Notes: Vlasic, Shipachyov, Kossila, Oleksy

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The San Jose Sharks seem to have faired well on a five-game East Coast road trip and the team is 5-5. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) released his 10 Sharks observations, and is quick to lodge his complaint on the team’s usage of veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who he believes should not be used on the power play any more.

While Kurz writes that he isn’t taking away from Vlasic’s defensive game as he is fantastic at covering other team’s top players, he points out that he is the wrong guy for the power play and has been for some time. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Vlasic has played 169:25 minutes of ice time on the power play for San Jose, sixth-most on the team. He has one goal and seven assists in those two-plus years on the power play and just a lone assist this year in 25 minutes of power play time.

The team needs to look for a younger defenseman to take over that role on San Jose’s second power play unit and Kurz pointed to rookie Joakim Ryan as a possible candidate. While the 24-year-old has been pointless so far this season, Ryan led the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in shots on goal last season with 185. His 10 goals and 39 assists last year, suggest he might be able to handle that role.

  • The Vadim Shipachyov saga isn’t over yet. Expected to skate tonight with the AHL Chicago Wolves after being assigned there Wednesday by the Vegas Golden Knights, the 30-year-old playmaker is not in tonight’s lineup for the Wolves in their game against the Milwaukee Admirals, according to Jesse Granger of The Las Vegas Sun. Chicago has not specified why he isn’t in the lineup. However, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Shipachyov will not play and is returning to Las Vegas to be with his family. He did practice with Chicago yesterday, which is why he was expected to play today. The KHL veteran had been assigned at the start of the year to Chicago, but didn’t report and Vegas allowed him to stay in Vegas. However, there is no indication the team had planned to allow him the same courtesy this time around.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have reassigned center Kalle Kossila and defenseman Steven Oleksy to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Two moves had to be made after the team activated both Sami Vatanen and Ryan Miller for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kossila, played in two games for Anaheim this week, putting up a goal and an assist. The 24-year-old had two goals and four assists in five AHL games. Oleksy was called up Thursday, but did not play. The 31-year-old blueliner has two goals and two assists in five games for the Gulls.

Snapshots: Shipachyov, Mete, Eaves

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Vadim Shipachyov has reported to the Chicago Wolves and was on the ice practicing with them today, meaning he’ll likely accept his demotion to the AHL and avoid suspension from the team. The 30-year old forward will still earn his full $5MM salary ($2MM of which was already paid out as a signing bonus) while in the minor leagues, but the team will benefit from a bit of cap relief. Still, with his agent apparently talking to other teams about potential trades he may not be there for long.

Representatives from Shipachyov’s former team SKA St. Petersburg in Russia made clear to KHL reporter Aivis Kalnins that they cannot negotiate with him while he’s still under contract with the Golden Knights or any other NHL team. There can be no talks until a mutual termination is achieved which both seems unlikely for a number of reasons, and has never been intimated by Shipachyov or his representatives. For now, he’ll have to just continue to try and adjust to the North American game while playing in the AHL.

  • Victor Mete played in his tenth NHL game this season last night for the Montreal Canadiens, crossing the threshold to burn the first year of his entry-level contract. There is another (sometimes more important) threshold at 40 games, in which the player moves a year closer to unrestricted free agency, but Mete seems destined to clear that as well. The team today told him to find a place to live according to Richard Labbe of La Presse, as he won’t be sent back to junior anytime soon. Mete has been a shining light in an otherwise dark start to the season for the Canadiens, serving as their lone true puck-moving defenseman. The 19-year old is undersized, but has shown all the makings of a top-4 defenseman for the long-term. While Montreal has many problems to start the year, Mete isn’t one of them.
  • Lastly, some great news out of Anaheim. After Ducks’ forward Patrick Eaves was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome earlier this month, he announced on his Twitter page that he’s home and resting with his family. Eaves is expected to make a full recovery, though there is no clear timetable on his return to the ice. For now, the Ducks will need to move on without the 33-year old forward, whose long-term health is much more important than the games he is missing.

Vadim Shipachyov Not On Columbus Radar

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One of the biggest stories in the NHL right now is the ongoing drama surrounding Vadim Shipachyov and the Vegas Golden Knights. After being sent down once again to the minor leagues this week, reports broke yesterday that the team had given his representatives the green light to seek out potential trade partners. We already heard that Montreal is likely not interested, and now Aaron Portzline of The Athletic crosses another name off the list. Portzline has been told that Columbus “will not be a landing spot” for the Russian forward, despite having a perceived depth issue at center.

Columbus recently lost Lukas Sedlak for six weeks to an ankle injury, and had already moved Nick Foligno to center ice full-time for the first time in his NHL career. While they certainly have the wing depth to keep him there all season—and why not, his play has been excellent so far—adding depth at an important position is never a bad thing.

Still, Shipachyov comes with a hefty price tag as he’s owed $4.5MM this year and next. While Columbus would have the cap room should they change their minds, committing that much money to a player who so far hasn’t shown much in his short NHL career is a tough decision to make. Add in whatever asset the Golden Knights are looking for in trade, and you have a risky proposition for any team, let alone one that is already considered a Stanley Cup contender. If the Blue Jackets do make a forward addition, it likely won’t be Shipachyov.

Vadim Shipachyov’s Representatives Given Permission To Pursue Trade

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The Golden Knights have given permission for Vadim Shipachyov’s representatives to pursue a trade for the center, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link).  However, they have yet to find the right fit for a deal.  TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (via Twitter) that the permission was granted Tuesday morning.

Shipachyov was the top free agent signing for Vegas as he inked a two-year, $9MM contract back in May.  He was coming off of a dominant season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL where he finished second on the team in scoring (third in the league) with 26 goals and 50 assists in 50 games (plus 16 points in 15 postseason contests).  As a result, many expected him to be the top line center to start the season.

Oct 17, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Vegas Golden Knights center Vadim Shipachyov (87) skates with the puck during a game against the Buffalo Sabres at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY SportsHowever, that has not been the case.  Shipachyov was among the players who fell victim to a numbers game when it came to waiver exemption.  In an effort to keep as much talent as possible without risking running players through waivers, the 30-year-old was sent to Chicago of the AHL to start the season (along with winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Shea Theodore).  That has allowed them to keep nine defensemen on the active roster and GM George McPhee is believed to be seeking a trade for one of his surplus defenders (including Griffin Reinhart, Brad Hunt, and Jon Merrill) but nothing has come to fruition just yet.

Shipachyov was told he didn’t have to report to the minors and wound up being recalled back on October 14th as injuries started to strike.  He got into three games with the Golden Knights, recording a goal but he averaged just 10:35 per night in ice time.  The team had to make a roster move yesterday to activate Jonathan Marchessault off IR and it was Shipachyov who lost his spot as he was sent back to the minors.

Shipachyov had interest from NHL teams dating back to two years ago but he was under contract in Russia through 2016-17 so he wasn’t able to make the jump initially.  However, teams were hesitant to commit multiple years to him which played a role in him choosing to go to Vegas in the first place.  Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes (Twitter link) that Montreal (who had interest in the past on a one-year deal) was contacted but they are not interested in pursuing him now.  With just three NHL regular season games plus four preseason contests under his belt though, he hasn’t really had the opportunity to showcase himself enough to the point where another team might be more confident to take a chance on him.

With his agent having less than 48 hours to secure a possible trade partner, there’s still plenty of time to get something done.  In the meantime, it will be worth watching to see if Shipachyov reports to the AHL’s Wolves this time around.  If he doesn’t, the Golden Knights will be able to suspend him without pay if they so desire.  With the trade market not being particularly robust at this time, his name is likely to come up in plenty of speculation in the days to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vadim Shipachyov Assigned To AHL

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Amazingly, the Vegas Golden Knights have once again assigned Russian forward Vadim Shipachyov to that AHL, according to SinBin.vegas. With the team welcoming Jon Marchessault back off of injured reserve, a move needed to be made to clear a roster spot. Shipachyov is that move, as the veteran center will return to the AHL and wait for his next opportunity. Whether he actually reports to the Chicago Wolves this time is unclear, as he did not play a game for them on his first minor league stint.

Shipachyov has one point in three games, but head coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t exactly glowing about his play so far. Asked by David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal what he thought of Shipachyov’s first three games, he had this to say:

I didn’t have expectations for him. I know he’s a high [priced] free agent we got this summer and we’d like to see him score more and all that. It’s tough on the guy. He didn’t start here, he started in the minor leagues. Came up and played a few games, and you know he was okay. Wasn’t great, but he was okay. He’s been bounced around a little bit, and we just want him to compete hard and get used to the NHL game. Like I said, it hasn’t been easy right now for him but we’re seven games in so we’ve got to be patient.

The 30-year old center was signed to a two-year, $9MM contract this summer but with the way the Golden Knights are playing they can afford to keep him out of the lineup. The team is 6-1 and has received scoring help from many different sources. Like defenseman Shea Theodore, who remains in the minor leagues despite nine points in five games, Shipachyov will likely have to wait until this hot streak dies down or another injury takes a key player out of the lineup. As waiver-exempt players, both represent asset protection for the expansion club.

NHL Snapshots: MacDonald, Haula, Marchessault, Bennett

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss four to six weeks with a lower body injury. According to NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer, MacDonald stepped into a path of a slap shot from Edmonton’s Milan Lucic during a penalty killing shift of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. It hit his knee and MacDonald suffered a deep bone bruise, according to CSN’s Tim Panaccio.

Despite the injury, MacDonald stayed in the game. In fact, after taking the hit and going down, he still forced himself to get up and help clear the puck. The 31-year-old blueliner had a dominant performance against the Oilers, as he recorded three shots on goal, six blocked shots and played the second-most minutes on the team at 22:03.

No corresponding moves have been made, although its possible the Flyers will promote defenseman Samuel Morin, who made the team out of training camp, but was a healthy scratch for four games before he was sent down to Lehigh Valley. In five games with the AHL team, he has put up a goal, three assists, 10 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +3.

  • While the Vegas Golden Knights await the injury status of goaltender Malcolm Subban, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweets out that Erik Haula, who was put on injured reserve eight days ago, practiced with the team today and told Carp he is ready to return to the team, but wouldn’t say when. David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that Jon Marchessault, who was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15, also says he is ready to return to the Golden Knights lineup and said he expects to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks after practicing today. The team may reverse their transactions from last week and send Vadim Shipachyov and Alex Tuch back to the AHL. Both Shipachyov and Tuch tallied no points and neither had any shots on goal in Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Shipachyov received only 10:22 of ice time, while Tuch had 8:49.
  • Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) answers mailbag questions about Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett, who has zero points after eight games. Wilson writes the lack of offense would be acceptable if he was impacting the game in other ways, but that isn’t the case. Bennett, whose first full season showed a lot of promise two years ago when he finished with 18 goals and 18 assists, took a step down last year when he only had 13 goals and 13 assists. Now his numbers look even more bleak. Wilson suggests the team move the 2014 fourth-overall pick to the wing in hopes of helping the 21-year-old’s success and promoting Mark Jankowski, who is tearing up the AHL right now with five goals and four assists in six games.

Vegas Recalls Vadim Shipachyov, Will Make Debut Sunday

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The Vegas Golden Knights have finally recalled center Vadim Shipachyov today from the Chicago Wolves, tweeted Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. In a corresponding move, Johnston tweets that Vegas has placed Erik Haula on injured reserve after a fight with Detroit’s Tomas Tatar last night.

For Shipachyov, it’s been a long wait to make his NHL debut. Considered to be a key signing by Vegas and quite possibly one of their best playmakers on the team, Shipachyov fell into a numbers crunch with the team’s extreme defensive depth of non-waiver eligible defensemen. In hopes of making a late trade, general manager George McPhee instead decided to option the Russian center to avoid having to place one of those defensemen on waivers and lose them. The 30-year-old has played his entire career in the KHL, putting up big numbers last season for St. Petersburg with 26 goals, 50 assists and 76 points, all career-highs. He signed a two-year deal with Vegas on May 4.

Instead, while he had been optioned to Chicago in the AHL, he never played for them, having stayed in Vegas. There were reports he was upset about the situation and his agents were looking for a way out of his contract situation. McPhee later said that he had no options, although that might be debateable, however, he said he spoke to Shipachyov’s camp and explained the situation better to the KHL veteran. Now, it looks like Shipachyov will make his debut Sunday at T-Mobile Arena against the Boston Bruins.

As for Haula, the 26-year-old wing has had a goal and an assist in four games. Claimed from the Minnesota Wild in the expansion draft, Haula had 15 goals and 26 points for the Wild last season and did score his lone goal last night against the Red Wings. The speedy wing had trouble getting minutes in Minnesota despite four years with the team and then chose to sign a three-year deal with Vegas, making him the Wild’s expansion selection.

Latest On Vadim Shipachyov

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2:35pm: Vegas GM George McPhee spoke to reporters, including those from SinBin.vegas, to clarify the Shipachyov situation. McPhee said that Shipachyov’s camp didn’t understand the situation at the beginning, but do now and that “he can’t [return to the KHL], he’s under contract with us.”

While that’s partly true, Shipachyov can’t just go home to play in the KHL, he could technically “retire” from the NHL to return home. It would void his contract, burn bridges and likely be the very last option. It’s more likely that he just waits out this period and eventually makes his return to the Golden Knights.

11:06am: The Vegas Golden Knights were backed into a corner to start the year, unable to trade any of their NHL defensemen. Unwilling to lose any on waivers for nothing, the team instead decided to send Vadim Shipachyov and Shea Theodore—two waiver-exempt players—to the minor leagues despite being obvious NHL talents. Shipachyov especially was an interesting choice, after the team signed him to a two-year $9MM contract this summer.

Now, according to a report out of Russia, Shipachyov’s representatives are already looking for a way out of the contract. The 30-year old KHL veteran isn’t with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, despite being listed on their opening roster, and is also not travelling with the Golden Knights.

Obviously, this entire fiasco (if you can even call it that) could be resolved at any moment by an injury or opening a roster spot through trade or waivers. The Golden Knights could recall Shipachyov to the NHL, plug him into the lineup and forget anything even happened. But as long as he remains off the roster—Vegas is now 2-0 after their first two games—the more defecting back to Russia for the KHL and Olympics would seem attractive. Of course, that would mean sacrificing his salary with the Golden Knights.

There is no telling if that option is a realistic one, or if this is just a way of his camp expressing their frustration with the situation. While taking the idea of defection with a grain of salt, expect the speculation around the Golden Knights trade block to continue to increase.

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