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Snapshots: Nedeljkovic, Draisaitl, Latimer, AHL Trade

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Not too many players receive Calder Trophy votes in two separate seasons. Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is one of those players. The former Carolina Hurricanes netminder lead an impressive rookie campaign down south before a surprising trade to the Red Wings that summer. Since the trade though, Nedeljkovic has struggled to adjust, slipping to a 3.31 goals-against average and .901 save-percentage. Things haven’t gone his way this season either, slipping further to a troubling 4.09 goals-against and .880 save-percentage.

With those struggles, many have wondered what Detroit will do with the goaltender, who is now the third-string behind starter Ville Husso and backup Magnus Hellberg. Some have wondered if a conditioning stint will be next for Nedeljkovic, who hasn’t played since December 8th. Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told Michigan Live’s Ansar Khan that discussion of a conditioning stint hasn’t happened yet, but “[e]verything is on the table.” Lalonde added that the team will need that roster spot eventually with players coming back from injury, so “something will probably shake down.”

  • Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl, who missed last night’s game against the Seattle Kraken, is unlikely to play tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, says TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. Draisaitl, who Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said was nursing some bumps and bruises, didn’t practice Thursday either. The 27-year-old has 21 goals and 36 assist through 36 games this season. With Edmonton’s struggles, despite having Draisaitl and Connor McDavid in the lineup, they’ll need the former back in the lineup as soon as possible to keep things rolling.
  • Ottawa Senators prospect Carson Latimer has been dealt in the WHL. The former Prince Albert Raiders forward will be heading to the Kootenay Ice in exchange for forward Aiden Oiring, a third-round pick in 2024, and a conditional third-round pick in 2025. Latimer has spent parts of four seasons with Prince Albert and the Edmonton Oil Kings, sitting on 28 points through 31 games thus far in 2022-23.
  • The Colorado Eagles and Hartford Wold Pack completed a small trade in the AHL earlier today, reports NHL.com and AHL.com’s Patrick Williams. Forward Ben Tardif is heading to Hartford while defenseman Luke Martin will be heading to Colorado. Tardif, 22, has four points through 15 games in the AHL this year, as well as nine points in seven ECHL games. The ability for offensive dominance is there for Tardif, who had 59 points over 53 ECHL games last year. Martin, 24, was a second-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2017, and though he hasn’t made his NHL debut yet, he’s also dominated the ECHL with 68 points in 84 games on the backend over this season and last.

Flyers Sign Ethan Samson To Entry-Level Contract

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The Flyers have agreed to terms with one of their prospects as NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman relays (Twitter link) that they’ve signed defenseman Ethan Samson to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 19-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Philadelphia back in 2021 (174th overall) but Samson has outperformed his draft stock since then.  After putting up 48 points in 68 games with Prince George of the WHL last season, he’s off to an even better start this year with 24 points in 27 contests.  That was enough to earn Samson an invitation to Canada’s camp for the World Juniors although he wasn’t able to crack their roster.

Samson will remain in junior this season so technically, while the first year of the deal is this season, it will slide a year and still have three years remaining on it.  He’ll be eligible to turn pro next season and with the Flyers only having three of their current AHL defensemen under contract beyond this year at the moment, there should be an opportunity for Samson to suit up for AHL Lehigh Valley in 2023-24.

Ducks Sign Gage Alexander To Entry-Level Contract

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The Ducks have signed one of their 2021 draft picks, announcing the signing of goaltender Gage Alexander to a three-year, entry-level contract.  CapFriendly reports that the deal carries an AAV of $810K.

The 20-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Anaheim back in 2021 (148th overall) out of Winnipeg of the WHL.  Prior to this season, Alexander was moved to Swift Current where he was splitting time with Boston prospect Reid Dyck.  Alexander had the better numbers of the two, posting a 3.47 GAA and a .898 SV% in 15 games.

While most players that sign their entry-level contracts in-season typically return to their junior teams, that’s not the case here.  Instead, the Ducks have assigned Alexander to San Diego of the AHL.  With Lukas Dostal still up with Anaheim for the time being, Alexander should be paired up with Olle Eriksson Ek with the Gulls and get a chance to start his professional career in the near future.

Although he started the year in junior, Alexander will burn the first year of the contract this season even if he doesn’t get into an NHL action with Anaheim in the second half of the season.

Florida Panthers Loan Aleksi Heponiemi To AHL

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On December 15th, the Florida Panthers recalled Aleksi Heponiemi from the AHL on an emergency recall, as the team was dealing with an illness that was working its way around the roster.

Now, per a team announcement, Heponiemi has been returned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. It’s been a busy season so far for the young Finnish forward, as marks Heponiemi’s ninth transaction of 2021-22.

Heponiemi has scored three points in 10 NHL games this year and eight points in 18 AHL games. The 23-year-old was drafted by the Panthers 40th overall at the 2017 draft, fresh off of his impressive rookie season in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos. While Heponiemi scored 86 points in 72 games that year, it was his sophomore WHL season that rocketed him towards top prospect status.

In 2017-18, Heponiemi scored 118 points in just 57 games, which went along nicely with the 30 points he scored in 26 playoff games as the Broncos took home the WHL title.

That stunning performance led him to make his professional debut in the Finnish Liiga, playing for Karpat. He scored 46 points in 50 games, no small feat given the somewhat conservative nature of Liiga, and after that year he headed to North America.

Unfortunately for Heponiemi, the immense scoring success he found in Finland and in the WHL hasn’t translated to the North American professional ice. Heponiemi’s AHL scoring started slow, with just 14 points in 49 games in 2019-20. Last year it began to come along, though, as he scored 39 points in 56 games.

In the NHL Heponiemi has struggled with the lack of time and space he is afforded by a league with such fast and physical players. While his total of just six points and 25 total games played is a disappointment considering his once-lofty prospect status, the fact remains that he won’t turn 24 for a few more weeks, meaning there is still time for his game to grow.

He’ll need to put together a strong, productive season at the AHL level first, though, and this loan back to Charlotte will restore his platform to put that sort of year on his resume.

West Notes: Myers, Shaw, Luypen, Blumel

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With the Maple Leafs set to miss Jake Muzzin for several more months and perhaps longer, it has led to some speculation that they could look to acquire a veteran rearguard in his place.  To that end, some have suggested that Canucks blueliner Tyler Myers could be a fit but Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston reports that Toronto’s interest is believed to be lukewarm at most.  Myers is signed through next season with a $6MM AAV and has logged over 20 minutes a night throughout his career.  However, his production has fallen off over the past few seasons as he has only scored once in his last 97 games.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • Mason Shaw has impressed since being recalled from the minors last month and has made enough of an impression on the Wild that they’ve told him that he’ll be staying up with them for the rest of the season, relays Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. The 24-year-old played in three games with Minnesota last year but has already surpassed that with a dozen appearances this season that have seen him pick up two goals and three assists along with 24 hits while averaging nearly 13 minutes a night of ice time.  Shaw is making the league minimum this season and will have arbitration rights next summer.
  • Back in August, when the Blackhawks signed prospect Jalen Luypen to an entry-level contract, it was expected that the 20-year-old would play with AHL Rockford this season. However, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the plan has changed now that his junior rights were acquired by Tri-City.  Instead of turning pro, Luypen will report for his final season in the WHL once he’s cleared to return after he underwent rotator cuff surgery in the summer.  Even though he’ll go back to junior, he will burn the first year on his contract this season.
  • The Stars have brought back Matej Blumel, notes Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).  He was sent down yesterday when it was expected that they’d need to bring up an extra goaltender.  However, that’s no longer the case so Dallas has the cap room to bring the 22-year-old back up.

West Notes: Oilers, Beaupit, Bowers

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While Evander Kane will be on LTIR for the next several months, don’t expect the Oilers to be active when it comes to trying to replace the power forward.  As Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment (video link), Edmonton isn’t expected to make a move of significance to add a replacement.  Since Kane is expected to be able to return down the stretch, they’re unlikely to want to take on a sizable contract knowing they’ll have to get back to cap compliance in order to bring Kane back to the active roster.  Short of AHL recalls (of which they’ve already made two), Ken Holland probably won’t be much more active than that when it comes to bringing up a replacement.  They do have one open roster spot still and ample LTIR space so one other recall could come at some point.

More from the West:

  • Sharks goalie prospect Mason Beaupit is on the move at the junior level as WHL Winnipeg announced that they’ve acquired the 19-year-old from Spokane. Beaupit was a fourth-round pick of San Jose (108th overall) this past summer after posing a save percentage of .893 last season in 49 games.  Things haven’t gone as well this year, however, as that dropped to .833 in nine contests with the Chiefs.  The Sharks have until June 1, 2024 to decide whether or not to sign him.
  • The Avalanche officially registered the recall of forward Shane Bowers today, per the AHL’s transactions log, paving the way for him to make his NHL debut tonight. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick (28th overall) back in 2017 and is the final first rounder from that draft class to make an NHL appearance.  Bowers is off to a good start with AHL Colorado with six points in his first ten games this season.

Hockey Canada Names Coaching Staff For 2023 World Juniors

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The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is just around the corner, with Canada once again expected to dominate the tournament with what should be a roster full of future stars. Today, Hockey Canada announced their coaching staff for the championship, headlined by Dennis Williams as their head coach.

Hockey Canada also named Stéphane Julien, Brent Kisio, and Alan Letang as assistant coaches, and Kelly Guard as a goaltending consultant.

Williams sees a promotion from last year’s tournament, where he served as an assistant coach under Dave Cameron. The 43-year-old is a two-time WHL Western Conference Coach of the Year winner with the Everett Silvertips and also served as the head coach for Canada’s “Black” team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2018. He was also an assistant coach at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky U18 tournament.

It’s been quite the coaching ride for Williams, who got his first coaching experience immediately after graduating from Bowling Green University as a graduate assistant in 2002-03. 20 seasons and five leagues later, he gets the call to lead the reigning gold medalists at the top junior tournament in hockey.

Combined success at the World Juniors and as a bench boss in the CHL can often quickly lead to NHL opportunities. It wouldn’t be surprising if Williams found himself on an NHL bench in 2023-24 if Canada can repeat as champions.

Julien, 48, is the head coach of the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix and has held the role for the past seven-and-a-half seasons. He was the head coach for Canada at this year’s edition of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which ended just two months ago. It’s his first time joining the coaching staff for the U20 team.

Kisio and Letang return to the Canadian bench at the U20 tournament as assistants, reprising the roles that they held in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Guard’s only previous national team experience came as the goaltending coach for Canada White at the 2021 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Nashville Predators Send Luke Prokop To WHL

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After eight games in the ECHL, it has been determined that Luke Prokop might not be quite ready for professional hockey. The Nashville Predators have sent the defensive prospect back to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL after his rights were traded a few weeks ago. The Edmonton Oil Kings, who had traded for Prokop last season, sent his rights to Seattle in exchange for a first and two third-round picks in the WHL draft.

All three picks were conditional on him being loaned back, which suggested that this was the plan for a while. The 2020 third-round pick still has this year left in his junior eligibility and can try to help Seattle win a league championship.

Selected 73rd overall in 2020, the 6’6″ Prokop was a force for Edmonton last season, scoring 33 points in 55 games during the regular season and only increasing that production in the playoffs. That helped take the Oil Kings to a title, though they would eventually fall in the Memorial Cup. It was the Thunderbirds that the Oil Kings defeated in the WHL final, and Seattle is poised to get back to the dance this year.

It will be interesting to see if the massive Prokop pairs with someone like Kevin Korchinski, Seattle’s star defenseman and a Chicago Blackhawks top prospect, or if he’s played on a different pairing to balance out the defense.

Despite going back to junior, his entry-level contract will kick in this season as he is now 20. That means Prokop will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025.

Snapshots: Ruff, Valimaki, Segafredo

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In today’s edition of their 32 Thoughts Podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek name New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff as being one of the early names on the hot seat to start the year. The Devils have dropped both their opening games to the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings.

Although they’ve played well overall in both outings, they’ve gotten just a .804 save percentage from Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood, goaltending that doesn’t exactly permit you to win many games. Firing Ruff may not fix that, but some of his usage decisions have admittedly been puzzling as well. Forward Jesper Bratt, who has three points in those two games and has been extremely strong analytically to start the year, ranks sixth among Devils forwards in average ice time to start the year, behind players like Ondrej Palat, who has a -5 rating and is pointless through two games.

  • PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan notes that Arizona Coyotes defenseman Juuso Valimaki will make his team debut tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being claimed off waivers last week from the Calgary Flames. Valimaki has been unable to play with the team due to work visa issues in the US, which still aren’t resolved, but he can play in Canada on the team’s three-game road trip through the eastern part of the country. He’s looking to secure a full-time NHL role again after playing just nine games for the Flames last year.
  • The WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders today released forward Alessandro Segafredo, who will be returning home to Europe. The Italian-born forward was technically eligible for last year’s draft but was born on the cutoff date of September 15, so he’s hardly an overage prospect. He raised some eyebrows in his first North American appearance, registering 10 points in 19 games last year for the Seattle Thunderbirds, but has scored just five points in 25 games split between the Raiders and Winnipeg Ice since. Segafredo has a Swiss player license and will likely return there to continue his junior career.

Ladislav Smid Joins Edmonton Oil Kings

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After playing the last several years back home in Czechia, Ladislav Smid recently announced his retirement. He’s now coming back to North America, joining the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL as a development coach.

Smid, 36, is very familiar with the area, having played parts of eight seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, and three more a few hours south with the Calgary Flames. The big, defensive defenseman spent his entire career in Alberta, making his NHL debut with the Oilers after a trade from the Anaheim Ducks (one that saw Chris Pronger go the other way), and playing his last game with the Flames in 2016.

He had just 72 points during his 583-game career and had the misfortune of never playing in a single postseason game. He’ll now try to help the next generation of players reach their dream, and perhaps even get a taste of some elusive playoff hockey.

The Oil Kings are off to a brutal 1-7-1 start after losing basically all of the top players that made them so dangerous last year.

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