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NHL Announces 2023 Vezina Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has announced the 2023 Vezina Trophy nominees. The award is given “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position” and is voted on by the NHL general managers. Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers won the award last year becoming the ninth different winner in the past ten seasons.

This year the finalists for the award are Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark.

Hellebuyck is looking to become just the second goalie in the last ten years to win two Vezina Trophies as the Jets netminder also picked up the award in 2020. Hellebuyck could have an interesting 12 months if he is able to grab another award for best netminder, the 29-year-old is entering the final year of his contract with the Jets and can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Hellebuyck posted elite numbers this past season in what was a bounce back season for the Michigan native after struggling in 2021-22. He posted a 37-25-2 record with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

Speaking of unrestricted free agency, Ilya Sorokin can also become a free agent in a year’s time as he is entering the final year of his three-year deal with the Islanders. Sorokin would no doubt love to pad his resume with a Vezina Trophy as he has been playing on a below market contract for the past two seasons. Sorokin posted terrific numbers this season with a sparkling .924 save percentage to go along with six shutouts and a 31-22-7 record.

Finally, the front runner must be Linus Ullmark. The Swedish netminder posted wild numbers this season as he backstopped the Boston Bruins to a historical regular season. Ullmark had a 40-6-1 record with a .938 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average. He also led the league in goals by a goaltender having potted a tally into an empty net in a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Ullmark became just the 13th goalie in NHL history to accomplish the feat.

The Vezina Trophy will be awarded in June at the NHL Awards ceremony in Nashville.

Leon Gawanke Signs Long-Term Deal In Germany

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Winnipeg Jets prospect Leon Gawanke signed a four-year contract with Adler Mannheim in the German DEL, The Athletic’s Murat Ates reported on Wednesday. The deal comes after the 23-year-old defender spent the past four seasons playing in the AHL for the Manitoba Moose.

Gawanke was selected by the Jets in the fifth round, 136th overall, of the 2017 NHL Draft. He played some junior hockey in Germany before moving to North America to play for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the QMJHL in his draft year, 2016-17. Gawanke would then put up impressive numbers in juniors, tallying 57 points (17 goals, 40 assists) in 62 games in his final season with Cape Breton in 2018-19.

Since turning pro, Gawanke has played exclusively with the Moose, aside from a six-game loan to the DEL’s Eisbären Berlin in the COVID-affected 2020-21 season. He has shown flashes of his offensive potential in the AHL, recording 114 points (35 goals, 79 assists) across 207 games. However, his defensive game is still a work in progress, and he hasn’t received any NHL looks throughout his time in Manitoba.

Gawanke was a non-factor in five playoff games for the Moose this season, posting just one assist and a -5 rating. As a pending restricted free agent, the Jets now have the choice to issue Gawanke a qualifying offer to retain his NHL rights when his German contract expires in 2027. He’ll have just turned 28, making an NHL role seemingly unlikely.

Adler Mannheim is one of the most successful teams in the DEL, having won seven championships since the team’s inception in 1994, most recently in 2019. The club hopes that Gawanke can help them add to that total in the coming seasons as part of a defensive corps that includes multiple former NHLers in John Gilmour, Korbinian Holzer, and Jyrki Jokipakka.

Gawanke’s departure also means more opportunity for other Jets defense prospects at the AHL level, such as Tyler Bauer, Declan Chisholm, and Simon Lundmark.

Should Risk Of Injury In Walk Years Force Jets To Move Top Centers This Summer?

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Jets centers Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois enter this summer with one year of team control remaining for each of them.  Scheifele is under contract while Dubois has a final season of arbitration eligibility remaining.  While it’s possible both could play on expiring deals next season, allowing GM Kevin Cheveldayoff more time to assess the future of his core, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press suggests doing so would be tantamount to professional malpractice.  Instead, he argues that the risk of them being injured in their walk years would be too great so if the middlemen aren’t willing to sign long-term with Winnipeg, moving them this summer would be the right approach, allowing them to get strong returns for each of them in the coming months.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby To Be Group 6 UFA

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  • While Gaudreau was locked up by his team, one play that is now eligible to hit the open market is Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Jonsson-Fjallby. As capfriendly.com reports, the 25 year old will become a Group 6 UFA because of his age, and career games played. Had the Swedish winger played 75 career games before the end of this season, he would have retained RFA status and remained property of the Jets. He finished this season with 74 career games played.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Nikita Chibrikov To Entry-Level Contract

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The Winnipeg Jets signed forward Nikita Chibrikov to a three-year, entry-level contract Monday, per a team release. Chibrikov’s contract will begin in 2023-24 and carry a cap hit of $925,000. Chibrikov has also signed a professional tryout contract with the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, and he’ll join the team as they continue their play in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Winnipeg drafted Chibrikov, 20, with the 50th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. His development path since hasn’t been smooth, failing to secure extended playing time in any league in Russia. The constant shuttling between levels has stunted Chibrikov’s offensive development, with his point production today not dissimilar to his production during his draft year.

It makes the timing of the signing significant. With Chibrikov now under Winnipeg’s control, he’ll remain in North America next season and see extended time with the Moose, allowing him to play in an organization solely focused on his development.

He played most of this past season with Spartak Moskva in the KHL, recording just two points in 31 games with a very limited role. His game revolves around speed and skill, something he’ll have more opportunity to showcase with more minutes in the AHL.

Chibrikov will be a restricted free agent in 2026.

West Notes: Kopitar, Fiala, Chibrikov

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The Los Angeles Kings’ season-ending loss last night is still fresh in the minds of many, but that hasn’t stopped some of the team’s players from looking forward to the future in today’s exit media availabilities. One of those players is captain Anze Kopitar, who said today to the media (including The Fourth Period’s Dennis Bernstein) that he wants to retire as a “one-franchise player” and would like to have a conversation about a contract extension this summer.

Kopitar, 35, will see his $10MM AAV deal expire next summer and is therefore eligible for a contract extension at the start of the new league year. Despite reaching his mid-thirties Kopitar remains the Kings’ most important player. He’s a lineup-topping first-line-center who scored 74 points in the regular season and seven points in the team’s six-game playoff loss. While the Kings might not have the financial bandwidth to have his next contract match his current $10MM cap hit, this looks to be a situation where both sides are highly motivated to get a deal done and therefore it’s a decent possibility that we see a Kopitar contract extension this summer.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Kings’ most important winger, Kevin Fiala, talked to the media today as well and gave an update on the status of his health. While he did not want to dive into specifics, Fiala called the injury that caused him to miss three games of the Kings’ first-round series a continuation of the knee injury he suffered earlier in the season against the Colorado Avalanche. He did state that no summer surgery would be necessary to get him back to full health, which is great news for the Kings as Fiala (72 points in 69 regular-season games and six points in three playoff contests) is their most dynamic offensive generator.
  • Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays word from Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff at his press conference today that Jets 2021 second-round pick Nikita Chibrikov is in Winnipeg and is expected to join the AHL’s Manitoba Moose at the conclusion of his KHL contract. The expectation is that the 20-year-old winger will play in North America next season after spending most of this season with Spartak Moscow in the KHL. As is the norm for many younger players in the KHL, Chibrikov received very few minutes in the 31 games he played in the KHL this season, sometimes playing as little as 46 seconds, as he did in a February loss to Dynamo Moscow. It’s very possible that the Jets view the AHL as a better developmental environment for Chibrikov, prompting today’s announcement.

Kevin Cheveldayoff To Remain Winnipeg Jets GM

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Those expecting sweeping organizational changes after the Winnipeg Jets’ frustrating five-game series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights are likely to be disappointed. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Kevin Cheveldayoff will remain in his position as Jets’ general manager and will be the one to guide the club through what looks to be an extremely uncertain future. In addition, Cheveldayoff announced that head coach Rick Bowness would remain the team’s head coach.

Cheveldayoff has been the only GM the Jets have had since they relocated from Atlanta in advance of the 2011-12 season. His reign seemed to reach its peak in the 2017-18 season when he was named a finalist for the GM of the Year Award. The Jets made a run to the Western Conference Final that year, falling to the upstart Vegas Golden Knights.

Their core of Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler and 44-goal scorer Patrik Laine looked to be among the most complete cores any competitive team could boast, and that conference finals run looked to be simply a warning shot to the rest of the league that a new era of true Stanley Cup contention was set to begin in Winnipeg.

That didn’t happen, though, and for a variety of reasons the Jets currently find themselves in an uncertain organizational place. Byfuglien’s surprise retirement proved quite the curveball for the team to handle, and while the emergence of Morrissey and Neal Pionk has helped Winnipeg maintain a solid stable of blueliners, Byfuglien added a dynamic element to their team that the Jets still miss.

On offense, Laine’s maddening inconsistency and uncertain contract situation prompted the team to deal him and another frustrating first-round pick, Jack Roslovic, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois scored 67 points in 78 combined regular-season and playoff games this season, but his night-to-night inconsistency and his apparent desire to test the unrestricted free-agent waters in 2024 has left the Jets wanting more.

Now, Winnipeg has four key players set to potentially hit the open market after next season: Hellebuyck, Wheeler, Scheifele, and Dubois.

Cheveldayoff has in the past traded players in similar situations, such as Jacob Trouba and Andrew Copp, rather than let them hit the open market and be lost for “nothing.”

One might assume given how long Cheveldayoff has been in position as the Jets general manager, the organization might prefer a fresh face to lead them in any sort of rebuilding or retooling direction.

With so many key players inching closer to unrestricted free agency, the best path for the Jets could very well be to cash in on those assets and use them to retool around a new core of players like Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Pionk, and Morrissey.

It’s also true, though, that the news that Cheveldayoff will remain in charge of the Jets’ hockey operations indicates that such a drastic shift in organizational direction (towards a re-tool) isn’t yet on the table.

Instead, it could be that Cheveldayoff’s mandate for the summer will be to surround his existing core with as much talent as possible in order to make one last run for a Stanley Cup next season.

If that’s indeed the direction the organization prefers, the 2023-24 season becomes possibly the most important campaign in this new era of Jets hockey. Based on Friedman’s reporting, it seems Cheveldayoff will be the one to guide the Jets through that all-important year, and this upcoming all-important summer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jets Notes: Hellebuyck, Dubois, Ehlers, Bowness

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The future of Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg is one of the things many will be keeping an eye on this offseason.  The 29-year-old had a standout showing this season, posting a 2.49 GAA with a .920 SV% while leading the NHL in games played.  He’s eligible to sign a contract extension this summer but indicated in his end-of-season media availability (video link) that he hasn’t yet given any thought to signing another deal with the Jets and discussions with the team on that front have not started.  Hellebuyck indicated that his primary goal remains to go after a Stanley Cup so if Winnipeg opts for a rebuild this summer after their disappointing playoff exit, it would be surprising if Hellebuyck chose to sign an extension.  Regardless of what team he signs that next contract with, he’ll be getting a sizable raise from his current $6.166MM AAV.

More from Winnipeg:

  • In his availability (video link), Pierre-Luc Dubois remained non-committal about his future with the team, instead stating that he hasn’t given much thought to his future just yet. The 24-year-old, who acknowledged that he dealt with hip trouble this season, has been in trade speculation going back to last summer amid reports that he thought he could be moved to Montreal at the draft.  Dubois accepted his $6MM qualifying offer last summer and will be in his final year of restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility in July.
  • Winger Nikolaj Ehlers indicated in his session (video link) that it’s possible that he’ll be able to suit up at the World Championships next month despite missing all but one game in their series against Vegas. He declined to disclose the nature of the injury that kept him out for more than two weeks.  Ehlers would certainly be a key addition to a Denmark squad that will be missing a few of its NHL players at least with those teams having already moved onto the second round.
  • After a short and blunt presser following their elimination game, some wondered if head coach Rick Bowness would stay on for next season. He told the media today (video link) that his intention is to remain behind the bench in Winnipeg but declined to comment on what changes to the team might be needed, instead deferring to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.  The 68-year-old has one more season plus a team option remaining on his contract after joining the Jets last summer.

A Multi-Year Offer Might Help Convince Vladislav Namestnikov To Remain With Jets

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  • Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov has certainly bounced around lately, playing for seven different teams since 2019. With that in mind, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe wonders if Winnipeg offering the 30-year-old a multi-year extension would be enough to get the pending UFA to become a longer-term piece for the team instead of just being another rental.  Namestnikov had 10 points in 20 games during the regular season after being acquired at the trade deadline while chipping in with a pair of assists in their five-game loss to Vegas.

Jets Assign Two Players To AHL

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While Winnipeg’s season came to an end on Thursday, a pair of players that were up with the Jets will see their campaign continue a little while longer.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltenders Oskari Salminen and Arvid Holm were returned to Manitoba of the AHL.

Salminen is in the first year of an entry-level deal signed last May.  The 23-year-old was recalled to Winnipeg at the beginning of the playoffs but didn’t see any game action while up with the big club.  Salminen had a decent first season in North America, posting a 3.06 GAA along with a .896 SV% in 39 games, leading the Moose in appearances by a goaltender.

As for Holm, the pending RFA served as the backup for the Jets at the end of their series against Vegas after being brought up last weekend.  The 24-year-old was the better of the two netminders in the minors this season, posting a 2.67 GAA and a .911 SV% in 35 appearances, a strong improvement from his rookie campaign in 2021-22.

The assignments are a welcome one for Manitoba with their best-of-five second-round series getting underway yesterday.  Having their regular goalie tandem intact instead of emergency options can only help their chances of advancing this postseason.

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