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Russian, Belarusian Players Ineligible For CHL Import Draft

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Last year, 16 Russian and 11 Belarusian prospects were selected in the CHL Import Draft. This year, there will be none. According to several reports including Darren Dreger of TSN, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, the CHL is set to announce that players from Russia and Belarus will be declared ineligible for this year’s draft. The change will not affect players already on protected lists, like those selected last year.

For many international players, coming to the CHL early is a way to acclimatize yourself to North American hockey and get in front of higher-level hockey operations executives. Slovakian-born Martin Chromiak, for instance, was the second overall pick in the 2019 Import Draft and has now become one of the most exciting prospects in the OHL, scoring 44 goals and 86 points this season for the Kingston Frontenacs. He even made it into a pair of AHL games last spring with the Los Angeles Kings, who managed to sign him without any trouble.

In 2018 it was Finnish-born Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who went third overall to the Sudbury Wolves after the Buffalo Sabres had already spent a second-round pick on him. He managed to win the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player before jumping directly into North American pro hockey.

The year before that, of course, was dominated by Russian players, including Andrei Svechnikov, who went first overall to the Barrie Colts. Because Svechnikov was already over in North America (he’d played 2016-17 in the USHL), the Carolina Hurricanes had no worry about making him the second overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. He wasn’t under contract in the KHL and would immediately make the jump to the NHL level.

That is where this announcement could have an effect on NHL teams. With Russian and Belarusian players no longer able to come to the CHL (at least for the time being), they will pose a much bigger risk at the NHL Draft, given their uncertain futures. Many of them will have to find other places to showcase their talents, leading not only to clubs that will try to retain them, but also transfer rules that could send them back overseas even after signing entry-level contracts. For many, playing and developing in a league closer to where their professional futures lie is appealing.

The Import Draft will take place on July 1.

Seattle Kraken Sign Ryker Evans

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The Seattle Kraken have inked their second-ever draft pick, defenseman Ryker Evans, to a three-year entry-level contract. The team announced that Evans will join the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for their first-round matchup in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark clarified that the plan is for Evans’ entry-level deal to begin next year, so he can sign an amateur tryout agreement to play for the Checkers this year. In a statement, Kraken GM Ron Francis had the following to say about Evans:

We’re excited to sign our second-ever draft pick, Ryker had a really impressive season with the Regina Pats and we’re looking forward to having him continue his development with our organization.

Evans, 20, experienced a huge rise in his prospect profile in just one season. After going undrafted as an eighteen-year-old prospect in the 2020 draft, Evans posted 28 points in 24 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 WHL season and, off the back of that success, got selected just outside of the first round (35th overall) in the 2021 draft. In the team’s announcement of the contract, the Kraken stated their amateur scouts were “pounding the table” to get Evans. With his level of production, it’s easy to see why. Evans has followed up his 2020-21 success with another productive season for the Regina Pats, this time posting 61 points in 63 games.

Evans had to battle being tagged as “undersized” earlier in his career, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a high-quality defensive prospect. He was recently named to the second All-Star team of his division in the WHL, and his puck-moving style is a great fit for the modern NHL. While the Kraken haven’t had a ton to celebrate in their inaugural season, and much of the fanbase has already set their sights on the draft lottery next month, Evans’ progression to being one of the top offensive defensemen in the WHL has to be a reason for optimism for the young franchise.

Gannon Laroque Signs AHL ATO

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The San Jose Sharks officially assigned Daniil Gushchin to the AHL today, but he won’t be heading there alone. The team has signed another CHL draft pick, inking Gannon Laroque to an amateur tryout contract.

Laroque, 18, was one of the most improved players in the WHL this season, going from depth defenseman to star puck-mover seemingly overnight. The 2021 fourth-round pick ended up with 52 points in 63 games, after previously recording just seven points at the WHL level. Now, with the Victoria Royals finishing outside the playoff picture, the 6’2″ defenseman will get a chance to test himself at the professional level.

Notably, Laroque was among the youngest players available last draft, as he won’t turn 19 until August. That means he’s not eligible to play in the AHL next year, and he’ll have to go back to the WHL to continue his development. After finishing this season tenth among all WHL defensemen in scoring, he’ll be an incredibly interesting prospect to watch next season, especially if he is moved to a better team or Victoria takes a step forward.

On that note, there’s a chance the Royals fortunes could change dramatically in the next few days. On Thursday, the WHL draft lottery will be held, where Victoria has four of 21 balls which would move them up to first overall. Teams can only move up a maximum of two spots, meaning they will be picking high either way after finishing third-worst this season.

For now, Laroque will get a chance to join the Barracuda, but unfortunately, it won’t be a very long stay. The team has just three games left (including tonight) and will not be qualifying for the postseason.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Lukas Svejkovsky

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed another prospect, this time inking Lukas Svejkovsky to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin in 2022-23 and carries an average annual value of $859,167 at the NHL level. Svejkovsky currently plays with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL.

Svejkovsky is a name that some NHL fans might be familiar with, given his father Jaroslav Svejkovsky played in 113 games, mostly for the Washington Capitals, after being the 17th overall pick in 1996. While dad had to deal with a league much less friendly to undersized scoring talents, Lukas will have a much better chance of making an impact, should his upside come anywhere close to his father’s.

Selected in the fourth round in 2020, Svejkovsky has put up 73 points in 55 games this season, splitting time between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle. That midseason trade will allow the young forward to chase a WHL championship one last time before turning pro, as the 20-year-old will likely join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins next season.

League Notes: World Cup, Combine, Trade Lists

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Although the trade deadline has passed and the draft and free agency are still months away, it hasn’t stopped TSN’s best from breaking significant news. In the latest “Insider Trading” segment, the group had plenty to say about upcoming events and changes for the NHL. Though down the road quite a ways, Darren Dreger reports that there could soon be a more concrete plan for the proposed 2024 and 2028 World Cups of Hockey. The NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, and individual national federations are meeting in Paris this week to discuss how the NHL-operated international tournament could look. One major issue at hand is the possibility of a play-in tournament to determine the eight participants in each World Cup. There are many questions as to who might automatically qualify for the World Cup versus who might take part in the play-in, but Dreger at least notes that the play-ins would be held during the summer prior to the tournament, which could mean August 2023 would mark the start of the selection process.

Dreger does not believe that Canada and the United States would be taking part in play-ins (and does not make mention of Team North America, a novel and entertaining concept from the 2016 World Cup but one that appears to be dead all the same). Whether all European nations or just those lower on the IIHF rankings would participate in play-ins remains to be seen, as does the viability of a Russian entry given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and resulting IIHF sanctions. The most recent IIHF rankings have Finland and Russia among the top four hockey countries in the world with Canada and the U.S., with Germany, Czechia, Sweden, and Switzerland rounding out the top eight. The question becomes how many of these nations should earn automatic bids to the World Cup and how many spots should otherwise stay open for play-in winners. Slovakia, Latvia, Norway, and Denmark would certainly like a fair shot at qualification, especially given that each has NHL representation, while it might also be entertaining to see an expanded play-in field featuring some less established hockey countries like France and Great Britain, both of whom are currently within the top 16 globally. Dreger does not note the possibility of a return of Team Europe, encompassing players from non-qualifying nations, but that concept is likely to go the way of Team North America.  There is still plenty to figure out, but this week’s meetings in Paris could be a very productive step toward clarifying the return of the World Cup.

  • Dreger adds that another NHL-sponsored event making its return is the NHL Draft Combine. After being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the league will again host the pre-draft evaluation event this year, returning to Buffalo. The combine will be held from May 29 to June 4, giving teams plenty of time to assess results before the 2022 NHL Draft on July 7-8. As usual, the NHL playoffs will still be ongoing during the combine, but active teams can manage. More concerning though is that the CHL playoffs will also still be underway, which has not typically been the case. Due to COVID delays to the regular season schedule, the OHL and WHL will not kick off their postseasons until late April while the QMJHL will not get started until early May, making crossover with the combine a month later impossible to avoid. Dreger notes that the NHL wanted to hold an in-person combine at all costs in an effort to get the draft process back to normal, even if that meant some prospects could not participate. The CHL leagues will have to determine for themselves whether they will allow players to leave their teams or potentially pause postseason action during the combine. Scheduling flexibility is limited with the Memorial Cup dates already set for June 20-29. However, the junior leagues and teams have stock in the draft success of their players and know that those top prospects still playing and unable to attend the combine could be put them at a disadvantage.
  • As the ripples of the Evgenii Dadonov saga continue to be felt far beyond Las Vegas and Anaheim, Pierre LeBrun reports that changes to how trade lists are documented appear likely. As the NHL GM’s prepare to meet this week, with the Dadonov fiasco still fresh in their minds, it is not only LTIR management that they will discuss. LeBrun notes that they will also recommend that the complete terms of trade protection be shared with the NHL Central Registry and the NHLPA. Currently, only teams and player agents know the full contents of trade and no-trade lists and are the only ones monitoring when and if those lists are submitted. Seeing how well that worked out in Dadonov’s case, having extra eyes on that process from both the team and player side only serves to benefit the entire process. Though there is concern about a higher likelihood of these lists becoming public, this is outweighed by the procedural positives of trade protection.

AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22

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It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule.  There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

 

Metropolitan Division

  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
  • The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.

Central Division

  • The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
  • After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
  • Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.

Pacific Division

  • The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors.  Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
  • Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
  • After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
  • The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Ilya Usau To Entry-Level Contract

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they have signed forward Ilya Usau to a three-year, entry-level contract. Additional terms of the deal were not made available. Usau was previously undrafted and last played in North America for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL in 2019-20.

Usau, who was born in Minsk, Belarus, first came to North America in 2017-18, where he played in just four games for the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the USHL. He would return once again for his age 18 season, where he played for Prince Albert. there, he had an impressive 22 goals and 30 assists in 58 games for the Raiders. After a strong showing, he would return to Belarus and sign with his hometown team Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. In 2020-21, he recorded just three goals and three assists in 56 games as a 19-year-old. However, Usau took a step in his development this year, putting up nine goals and 17 assists in 40 games for Minsk this season.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Cross Hanas

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The Detroit Red Wings have inked a top prospect, signing Cross Hanas to a three-year entry-level contract. Hanas currently plays for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, where he will remain for the rest of the CHL season.

Hanas, 20, was picked 55th overall by the Red Wings in 2020 after a decent sophomore season with the Winterhawks but has turned some heads this year with his strong play. The Texas native has scored 22 goals and 70 points in 53 games, leading a Portland team that has already clinched a playoff spot and has its eyes set on the WHL championship.

Every time the Winterhawks get a powerplay, the puck goes onto Hanas’ stick, where he has racked up 20 assists with the man advantage (and leads the team with 48 overall). He also happens to lead all Portland forwards in penalty minutes with 65, a good chunk of which came from a boarding incident that earned him a two-game suspension in January.

Once Portland’s season is over, Hanas will likely be joining the Grand Rapids Griffins for the next stop in his hockey career. Whether that happens at the tail end of this AHL season or next, he’ll be another interesting prospect to watch come through the Red Wings’ system.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Arshdeep Bains

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The Vancouver Canucks have dipped their toes into the undrafted free agent waters, signing local product Arshdeep Bains to a three-year, entry-level contract. Bains currently plays for the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. Though not specifically mentioned, the contract likely starts in 2022-23.

Bains, 21, is tied for the lead in WHL scoring this season with 82 points in 55 games and leads all players with 52 assists. The undrafted winger is in his fifth season in the CHL, but has come a long way from the player who registered just seven points in 2017-18. With Red Deer heading to the WHL playoffs after a strong season, he likely won’t be joining the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks for some time.

Vancouver GM Patrik Alvin promised that the team would be looking everywhere for talent, not just through the draft, and this is the first step toward following through in the few months he’s been at the helm. A lesson he likely learned during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Allvin knows that to truly fill out the organizational depth chart they need to take chances on players that might have otherwise been overlooked. Bains has a chance to be just that if he can carry over his offensive production to the professional level.

Washington Capitals Sign Henry Rybinski

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2:05pm: The team has made it official, announcing the three-year entry-level contract that will start in 2022-23.

12:30pm: The Washington Capitals are getting into the CHL free agent forward market, as Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that the team has signed Henry Rybinski from the WHL. Rybinski currently plays for the Seattle Thunderbirds and was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2019. Because he failed to sign a contract with them by last summer, he became a free agent and quickly started to draw interest from around the league.

Today is the first day teams can sign free agent prospects to entry-level contracts that kick in for the 2022-23 season and given his age, Rybinski will be signing a three-year deal. The 20-year-old forward has been outstanding this season for the Seattle Thunderbirds, recording 18 goals and 54 points in 39 games. That’s good enough for 27th in league scoring even though he’s played up to 15 games fewer than some of his competitors.

Rybinski was in Edmonton Oilers development camp last August, and before that had been in camps run by the Panthers. That’s actually where he transitioned back to center, the position he now plays full-time. Adding another center prospect to the pipeline is never a bad thing, and Washington–like Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, who added players today–always needs to refresh the system in ways outside of the draft because of their perennial contender status and trade deadline escapades. There’s still a long road ahead of someone like Rybinski, but when his contract is made official, he’ll be taking a big step.

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