Marco Kasper Coming To North America
March 31: Late last night, the Red Wings officially recalled Kasper from Rogle, meaning he’ll immediately join the NHL team instead of reporting to the minors.
March 29: The Detroit Red Wings organization is getting a little stronger in the coming days, as Marco Kasper is set to come over from Europe now that his SHL season has ended. His club, Rogle, reports that Kasper will join the Red Wings “as early as this week,” though he didn’t specify whether he’ll go to Detroit or report to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.
Kasper, 18, was the eighth overall pick in the 2022 draft and scored 23 points in 52 regular season games for Rogle this season. In nine playoff games, he added three points, and will now get a chance to make his professional debut on this side of the pond.
Since he already signed his entry-level contract, Kasper is eligible to play at either level – and since the Red Wings only have nine games remaining, there’s no threat of burning the first year of his deal. The young forward can get his feet wet and then play full-time in North America next season, if the Red Wings deem him ready.
Otherwise, his contract with Rogle extends through 2024-25, and he could return to Sweden for another year of development. Either way, he has done nothing but impress since being drafted so high, and looks like another future star for the Red Wings to bring along.
Calle Clang Assigned To San Diego Gulls
The Anaheim Ducks have one young netminder in Lukas Dostal, who looks ready to make an impact, and they’re hoping another isn’t far away. Calle Clang has been reassigned to the San Diego Gulls after his SHL season ended recently, giving him a chance to start his North American pro career over the next few weeks.
Clang, selected 77th overall in the 2020 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, was included in the Rickard Rakell trade last year, coming to Anaheim along with Dominik Simon, Zach Aston-Reese, and a second-round pick that turned into Tristan Luneau.
The 20-year-old netminder struggled through a rather disappointing season this year, posting a .900 save percentage in 25 games for Rogle, but has shown a ton of potential as a young player. He posted a .944 in two World Junior games last year and even saw a bit of SHL playoff action in 2022.
Even if he is still years away, the Ducks can afford to be patient with his development. The team is rebuilding, John Gibson is still signed for several more years, and Dostal is next in line to replace him. Clang can focus on AHL action for the stretch run before he and the Ducks determine his future. Under contract through 2024-25 in Sweden, he’ll likely return to Rogle for more development back home next season.
Montreal Canadiens Reassign Emil Heineman To AHL
The Montreal Canadiens reassigned forward prospect Emil Heineman to the AHL’s Laval Rocket on Monday, per a team announcement.
Heineman, 21, arrived in the Canadiens organization last year in the second trade of his career. Initially a 2020 second-round selection of the Florida Panthers, Heineman’s signing rights were first transferred to the Calgary Flames in the Sam Bennett trade before he was again flipped to Montreal in the Tyler Toffoli deal.
Since being drafted in 2020, the 6’2″, 194 lb forward has played almost exclusively with Leksands IF in the SHL, aside from one game back in juniors in 2020-21. It’s the organization where he’s spent his entire career, all the way back to U16 hockey in 2015.
Signed to an entry-level contract for this season, Montreal opted to loan Heineman back to Leksands for another year of development in Sweden. He responded by scoring eight goals and 15 points in 35 games, roughly on track with the 16 points in 38 games he posted the season before.
Heineman shuffled up and down the Leksands lineup this season, seeing fourth-line ice time in some games and first-line ice time in others. He joins a Laval team that’s currently on the outside looking in of the Calder Cup playoff picture but sits only one point back of the Belleville Senators with a game in hand for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.
Emil Andrae Signing AHL ATO
The Philadelphia Flyers haven’t quite signed Emil Andrae yet, but he is joining the organization nonetheless. The young Swede will play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms down the stretch on an AHL amateur tryout, now that his SHL season has ended.
Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic tweets that the plan is still for Andrae to sign an entry-level contract with the Flyers at some point, likely one beginning in 2023-24. The team holds his exclusive draft rights until June 1, 2024.
The 21-year-old Andrae was the 54th overall selection in 2020, and broke out this season in his first full year of SHL action. With six goals and 26 points, he ranked 13th among league defensemen in scoring and now joins the Flyers as a potential building block.
Despite his size—Andrae stands just 5’8″—there has never been a doubt of his willingness to work in the corners or engage attackers in front of the net. The question now will be whether he can remain effective at those things as he transitions to North America, while still bringing a high level of poise and skill when the puck is on his stick.
Minor Transactions: 03/15/23
With the trade deadline long past us, playoff races are heating up across the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres are looking to end the league’s longest playoff drought, and their uphill climb to clinch a spot continues tonight as they take on the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs will get the chance to test themselves against the defending Stanley Cup champions. While hockey fans across the globe take in tonight’s games, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Juuso Riikola could be headed to Switzerland for next season, according to a report from Swiss outlet Watson. After playing four seasons in the Penguins organization, Riikola returned to Europe this summer, signing with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn. He’s done well for himself in Sweden, scoring 19 points in 42 games as an alternate captain, and is now rumored to be heading to the SCL Tigers, a team in the top tier of Swiss hockey.
- The San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, have signed University of Connecticut captain Roman Kinal, a six-foot-two 24-year-old defenseman, to an ATO agreement. This deal will allow him to be with the Barracuda as they grapple for position in the AHL’s Pacific Division, giving him his first professional experience. As their recent trade for Harvard Blueliner Henry Thrun suggested, the Sharks organization is expected to look to mine talent from the NCAA ranks, so adding an experienced college player furthers that strategy.
- Former Washington Capitals prospect Colby Williams has signed a one-year extension with his current club, KHL side Admiral Vladivostok. The former Regina Pats captain played his first season away from North America this year, after he signed with Vladivostok over the summer. After six seasons patrolling the blueline in the AHL, Williams scored 18 points in 67 games in Russia, a performance that earned him a one-year contract extension.
- After nine seasons and 441 games with the DEL’s Augsburger Panthers, including the last three as their captain, Calgary native Brady Lamb will be playing elsewhere. The team has announced they and Lamb have parted ways. Lamb, who led the DEL in assists by a defenseman in 2017-18, has been a the face of the Panthers in recent years, helping them reach the playoffs twice in his tenure there. Augsburg endured a difficult 2022-23 season, and now they’ll look for a fresh face of their franchise moving forward.
- Former New York Islander Johan Sundstrom is headed to Finland to continue his career, per a report from SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. The 30-year-old got 11 games with the Islanders in 2013-14 and has since played in Sweden, Russia, and China. After scoring 13 goals and 31 points for Frolunda in his first year back from the KHL, his effectiveness and role have declined, and he did not get into games for the club this season despite remaining on their payroll. Now, according to this report, he’ll be headed to Liiga’s Vaasan Sport to continue his pro career.
- Former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Markus Hannikainen will leave his current club, the SHL’s HC Linkoping, according to a team announcement. The 29-year-old, who has 91 career NHL games on his resume, was unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension with the club. Since leaving North America in the summer of 2020, Hannikainen played two years for Jokerit Helsinki in the KHL before spending last season playing for Mannheim in Germany. He scored eight goals and 19 points in the SHL this season and will now look to find the next stop in his career.
- Canadian Craig Schira, former captain of SHL side Rogle BK, will also not be returning to Linkoping for next season. He scored eight points in 76 games across two seasons for Linkoping and leaves after a difficult season that ended with Linkoping just outside the SHL’s relegation zone. He’s played in Europe since 2011-12 since leaving the Belleville Senators and has been an important defenseman for quite a few teams.
- Defenseman Eric Martinsson, who played in 13 games for the Minnesota Wild organization in 2018-19, is leaving the SHL’s HV71. The two-time SHL champion has spent two of the last three seasons at HV71, save for last year, which he spent playing in the KHL in Kazakhstan. He scored 37 points in 51 games for HV71 in 2020-21, but registered only 12 points this season, a decline that possibly prompted this parting of ways.
- The ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies have released defenseman Joey Colatarci, per the ECHL’s official transactions report. Colatarci, 28, has been a regular for the Grizzlies for the past two seasons but hasn’t registered a single point in 30 games this season. Now, the six-foot-two blueliner will look to find another club to continue his career in North America’s third-tier league.
- 23-year-old defenseman Jacob Semik, an alternate captain for Arizona State University, has signed with the Grizzlies. His arrival could be seen as taking the place of the released Colatarci, who plays a similar style to him. By adding Semik, the Grizzlies give a college player a chance to make his professional debut and the opportunity to begin the process of climbing North America’s pro hockey ladder.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Minor Transactions: 03/13/23
The NHL is into the stretch drive now as the trade deadline is well behind us and teams are pushing to be among the 16 that make it to the postseason. This time of year, the games take on greater meaning, but there are less transactions going on as everyone positioned themselves ahead of the deadline for the final quarter of the regular season. That being said, there is still player movement going on around the hockey world, and we will keep track of those transactions here.
- Sasha Chmelevski is staying put with Ufa in the KHL next season, according to Corey Masisak of The Athletic. The Russian winger scored 26 goals and 48 points in 67 games with Ufa this season after spending three years in the San Jose Sharks organization. He remains an NHL restricted free agent but the Sharks will retain his rights through 2023-24 while he plays overseas.
- Former Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos is changing teams in Swizerland next season per a team release. The 28 year old is currently play for EV Zug but has signed with Lausanne HC for the 2023-24 season. The native of Sweden scored nine goals and 36 points in 52 games this season, his second in Switzerland and will bring his two-way game to Lausanne.
- Also joining Djoos in Lausanne is Antti Suomela, the team announced. The Finnish forward is making the jump to Switzerland after one successful season in Sweden. The former San Jose Shark had 37 goals and 66 points for IK Oskarshamn, leading the SHL in goals and points.
- The San Jose Barracuda announced the signing of Anthony Vincent to an amateur tryout. Vincent is a 25 year old forward coming off a strong college season for Long Island University. He scored 17 goals and 37 points in 36 NCAA games and will look to continue that success at the AHL level.
Gustav Rydahl Expected To Return To SHL
After slowly developing into a star overseas, Gustav Rydahl drew the attention of NHL scouts, and earned a contract with the New York Rangers last spring. The signing was buried in the headlines of the Rangers first-round win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning some fans may not have even noticed his acquisition.
Less than a year later, Rydahl was shipped off at the trade deadline. The 28-year-old forward was sent to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Anton Blidh in one of the day’s more minor moves. He never played a game for the Rangers, and it appears his North American career could be over in the blink of an eye.
Reports out of Sweden indicate that Rydahl will return to the SHL next season, leaving any dreams of an NHL career behind. He won’t be returning to Farjestads, though. Instead, the big center will jump ship and play for rival Frolunda on a long-term contract.
It hasn’t gone according to plan for Rydahl in North America. Through 41 games in the AHL—all but one coming with the Hartford Wolf Pack—he has just seven goals and 15 points. While those numbers would likely increase with more experience here, the 2022 Olympian is expected to return home. A long-term deal with Frolunda at his age would suggest another stint in North America is out of the question.
Minor Transactions: 03/06/23
As the NHL looks forward to the playoffs, transactions are still happening across the league and internationally as well. Here are some of the minor transactions and news pieces so far today.
- The Colorado Avalanche has announced that goaltender Jonas Johansson has been recalled from the AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles. On the heels of incredibly shaky starts from Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev, the Avalanche will now employ a different option in the net. Recent acquisition Keith Kinkaid was sent down earlier this morning after coming in as backup during the blowout game against the Dallas Stars Saturday night. The Avalanche will enter play tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks as they look to stop their three-game losing streak.
- Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that defensemen Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary were seen in non-contact jerseys during this morning’s practice. Neither of the two has played since the Capitals’ game against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday. Jensen recently signed a 3-year, $12.15MM contract extension with the Capitals; coupled with the deal sending Dmitry Orlov to the Boston Bruins, Jensen figures to be an important part of Washington’s blue line moving forward.
- Outside of the NHL, veteran forward Patrik Lundh is in agreement on a 1-year extension with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League. Now in his second tenure with the Swedish club, Lundh has previously played in several of Europe’s most popular hockey leagues. After spending time in both the Kontinental Hockey League and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Lundh made the switch back to the SHL last season.
Minor Transactions: 02/22/23
While the NHL schedule tonight features just three games, the league’s trade market is as busy as ever. Two trades have already been announced today, and there still could be more to come as teams look to make deals before the March 3rd trade deadline. Just as NHL teams are making changes to their rosters, teams in minor and foreign leagues have been completing transactions. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- 2011-12 AHL MVP and Rookie of the Year Cory Conacher, 33, is heading back to the league he once dominated. The AHL’s Charlotte Checkers announced today that Conacher has been signed to a PTO. The undrafted veteran of nearly 200 NHL games was once traded for eventual two-time Vezina Trophy runner-up Ben Bishop, and while his NHL career ultimately fizzled out, he’s been a strong scorer in the AHL and Switzerland. This signing marks Conacher’s second PTO of the season, as he signed one in November with the Belleville Senators, although he was released after scoring one assist in two games.
- HC Sparta Praha and 2007 Florida Panthers second-round pick Michal Repik have signed a long-term extension that will run through the 2025-26 season. The 34-year-old is in his fourth season as a top scorer and captain for Prague, and has scored 23 goals and 35 points this season. He’s bounced around quite a bit since leaving North America after the 2011-12 season (when he scored 35 points in 55 AHL games and appeared in the NHL 17 times) playing in Switzerland, Finland, Russia, and Slovakia. He was an All-Star in the KHL and AHL, and will now be the face of Sparta Praha for the foreseeable future.
- The SHL’s HV71 has verbally agreed to a deal with former Buffalo Sabre Arttu Ruotsalainen, according to Finnish outlet Aftonbladet. Ruotsalainen, 25, will head to Jonkoping after a solid first season back in the European pro hockey circuit. Ruotsalainen is an undrafted player who crossed the Atlantic to play for the Sabres after an extremely productive three-year run with Ilves Tampere in his native Finland. While he scored quite well in the AHL (64 points in 70 total games) he couldn’t quite catch on in the NHL, and chose to sign in Switzerland last summer. He’s scored 37 points in 48 games for Kloten HC in Switzerland this season, a performance that has now reportedly landed him a deal to play in Sweden.
- Lukas Bengtsson, one of the SHL’s best defensemen on its top team, is making a surprising move to leave league-leading Vaxjo Lakers to sign with EV Zug in Switzerland, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. The 28-year-old former Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguin arrived in the SHL after a solid three-year run in the KHL, and has helped Vaxjo to an impressive season. He’ll now finish his season and two more with Zug, who are looking to climb the standings in Switzerland’s top league.
- Former QMJHL star and San Jose Barracuda Thomas Gregoire has reportedly signed a three-year deal with Rogle BK of the SHL, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. It’s a contract that would end his three-year tenure with Lukko Rauma in Finland’s Liiga, a period that has gone exceptionally well. Gregoire scored 34 points in 53 games last season, and helped Lukko win the Liiga championship in 2020-21. This season, he’s scored 39 points in 50 games, leading the team in scoring, and that performance has earned him a three-year deal in Sweden. Per Svensson, he will join Rogle for next season, allowing him to complete his campaign with Liiga’s current league leaders.
- 43 games into what is his first full season in the ECHL, forward Tyler Kirkup is headed across the Atlantic. Per a team announcement, the former Bemidji State Beaver has signed with the Coventry Blaze, a team in the EIHL, which is the top league of professional hockey in the United Kingdom. Kirkup wasn’t having a ton of scoring success with the ECHL’s Reading Royals, with just 15 points in 49 career games. He’ll now join the Blaze, who are at the moment in a solid position in the middle of the EIHL table. The Blaze have also signed Hungarian netminder Miklos Rajna, who played this season with UTE Budapest in Hungary’s Erste Liga. He’ll partner with starter Paavo Holsa and give Holsa some much-needed rest, as he’s started all but one of Coventry’s games this season.
- The AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins have signed former WHL, Canadian University star Riley Sawchuk to a PTO for the rest of the season as well as a contract for next season. This will allow the 23-year-old to make his pro debut for the club, fresh off of a two-year stretch at Mount Royal University where he registered a whopping 87 points in just 47 games. While it’s definitely a step up in terms of challenge to go from the Canadian University circuit to the AHL, Sawchuk was also a strong scorer in his final two seasons in the WHL and will be someone to watch for Griffins fans and AHL observers alike.
- Former Vegas Golden Knights netminder Dylan Ferguson, 24, has had his PTO with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies converted into a standard player contract. Ferguson, a Dallas Stars 2017 seventh-rounder who was acquired in the team’s trade for Marc Methot that same summer, has nine minutes of NHL experience. He won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2020-21 with the Fort Wayne Komets and has gone 3-2 with an .888 save percentage in his five-game run with the Marlies.
- The ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates have acquired big 24-year-old defenseman Jeremy Masella from the Kalamazoo Wings in exchange for future considerations. Masella, WHL champion in 2018-19 with the Prince Albert Raiders, has only played in three games in all of February for the Wings. He had seemingly lost his spot to Kurt Gosselin, who the team acquired via trade from the Toledo Walleye on February 12th, and will now get a fresh start in Georgia.
- Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik, a club in Sweden’s second-tier league, the HockeyAllsvenskan, has signed two players to two-year extensions: 2020 Detroit Red Wings second-round pick Theodor Niederbach and Danish former ECHL All-Star Mikkel Aagaard. The former, 20, transferred to MoDo from Rogle earlier this season, moving down a level in competition. The right winger has scored 12 points in 26 games for MoDo, an improvement on the one goal in 17 games he scored for Rogle. As for Aagaard, he extends in MoDo for another two years having scored 26 goals and 38 points in 45 games this season.
- Experienced Italian-Canadian defenseman Chad Pietroniro has been signed for the rest of the season by the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils. Pietroniro has split this season between three ECHL clubs, trying his hand at North American pro hockey after spending several seasons playing for Asiago in Italy and one year in France. The 28-year-old got into a total of 18 ECHL games for the Newfoundland Growlers, Maine Mariners, and most recently the Trois-Rivieres Lions, and now heads to Wales to continue his pro hockey career.
- The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed goaltender Trevin Kozlowski to a contract, per a team announcement. The 25-year-old won the ECHL’s Community Service Award last season and was a top goalie for the Army West Point in the NCAA. He turned pro last season, playing 23 games for the Iowa Heartlanders and three in the AHL for the Iowa Wild. The Heartlanders traded for Kozlowski in November after he signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones a month earlier, before releasing him in late January. He had an .869 save percentage in six games this season for Iowa, and will now get a chance to continue his pro career in South Carolina.
- Hulking six-foot-seven blueliner Steven MacLean has chosen to begin his professional career, signing a contract with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones. The 24-year-old leaves Wilfried Laurier University’s hockey program, where he has been for three seasons. MacLean never played at the OHL level, but the Cyclones will hope their staff can get the most out of his intriguing frame in his first taste of professional action.
- Former Edmonton Oilers prospect John McCarron has re-signed with the Florida Everblades, returning to the club he captained to a Kelly Cup victory last season. It’s a major addition for the defending champions, as McCarron has been an elite player for them for the past six seasons. The brother of Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Michael McCarron, John has scored 385 points in 406 career ECHL regular-season games, and 85 points in 94 career playoff contests, to go along with 789 combined penalty minutes.
- 2012 Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick Andrew O’Brien is leaving the ICEHL’s Fehervar AV19, a Hungarian club. A veteran of over 200 AHL games, O’Brien bounced from the KHL to the SHL to Liiga to the DEL after leaving North America after the 2018-19 season. Now, he’ll leave his fifth European league in just three seasons looking for a new place to play. He notched eight points and 72 penalty minutes in 36 games in Hungary.
- Rostislav Marosz, a veteran of over 400 games in the Czech Extraliga, has been released by his club, HC Vitkovice, by mutual agreement. Marosz was in the midst of a third season in Vitkovice and had scored 16 points in 38 games this season. His production had declined from the 35 points in 53 games he scored last season, so perhaps it’s that decline that motivated this release.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Brandon Davidson Signs In SHL
It’s off to Sweden for former NHL defenseman Brandon Davidson, who has signed a contract with Farjestad BK for the rest of the season. Davidson had previously been playing on an AHL deal with the Cleveland Monsters, which had followed a PTO with the Rochester Americans.
Last appearing in the NHL during the 2020-21 season, the 31-year-old Davidson has 180 games under his belt at the highest level in a long professional career. Most of those came with the Edmonton Oilers over two stints following his selection 162nd overall in 2010.
He has also played for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and Buffalo Sabres, as he bounced around trying to find a home. Now it’s off to Europe to try and keep that professional career going, with little chance of an NHL return in the future.
Davidson scored nine goals and 23 points in the NHL, and appeared in the postseason on three occasions.