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USA Hockey Names National Junior Evaluation Camp Roster

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With the significantly delayed 2022 World Junior Championship just around the corner, national organizations are beginning to announce their preparatory rosters for the tournament. Sweden did so earlier today, and now it’s the United States’ turn.

The eligibility rules for this postponed event are the same, but with the tournament taking place during the offseason, expect a higher-than-normal level of talent released to national teams for the occasion. The full U.S. roster (link here) will have that same luxury.

Highlighting the team’s forward core are San Jose Sharks prospect Thomas Bordeleau, Calgary Flames prospect Matt Coronato, and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Matt Knies. Knies had the luxury of going to the 2022 Winter Olympics, playing at the most prestigious level of international hockey for the United States. On defense, New Jersey Devils prospect Luke Hughes and Los Angeles Kings prospect Brock Faber will take hold.

The most noteworthy part, though, like Sweden’s, is the amount of 2022-eligible choices who will now be under consideration for the final roster. There’s a strong group of forwards in that regard in addition to Logan Cooley, who made the team the first time around. Also under consideration are forwards Cutter Gauthier, Isaac Howard, Jack Hughes, Cam Lund, Rutger McGroarty, Frank Nazar III, and Jimmy Snuggerud. On defense, there’s Seamus Casey, Ryan Chesley, and Lane Hutson headlining the potential 2022 class.

There’s a very solid mix of youth, high-end skill, and veteran leadership on this United States team, who remain one of the favorites to capture a medal.

Evander Kane's Grievance Arbitration With San Jose Sharks Could Extend Into NHL Free Agency Period

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  • Earlier this evening, when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly conducted their media availability ahead of the Stanley Cup Finals, they touched on a range of NHL news and important topics, including the status of Evander Kane’s contract dispute with the San Jose Sharks. Today’s update was, in essence, not to expect an update all too soon, as Daly disclosed that it is likely Kane’s arbitration will not be decided until after the NHL’s free agency opens on July 13th (link). The reason, Daly added, is that the arbitrator in the matter is not available to conduct the next hearing until next month. Still, as TSN’s Chris Johnston’s notes, this isn’t expected to inhibit his ability to sign a contract for the 2022-23 season, or beyond.

Carter Hutton Retires From NHL

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A journeyman netminder has hung up his skates today. Veteran Carter Hutton announced his retirement from the NHL today, talking with Tom Annelin of the Chronicle Journal.

Speaking with Annelin today, Hutton had the following to say on his decision:

Honestly, I’ve been preparing myself for hockey to be over in some aspect for a while… The NHL has evolved into a young man’s league. The average age is now in the early 20s, so I know that this job wouldn’t be a lifelong one for me. Ultimately, I suffered an ankle injury in early 2021, which made the decision a lot easier for me. It restricted a lot of the mobility I needed to be as effective as I once was. This, compiled with a few other things helped me decide on retirement.

The news isn’t surprising in any aspect. Hutton appeared in just three games at the beginning of the season with the Arizona Coyotes, earning a 0-2-0 record and .741 save percentage. He spent the majority of the rest of the season injured before he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline for injury insurance there, but the team loaned him back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He did spend a few days at Leafs practice, however.

An undrafted free agent, Hutton had a long and arduous path to NHL success. Hutton spent four years developing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell before signing an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks for 2010-11. Hutton was the backup for the AHL affiliate in Worcester that season, posting a .902 save percentage. A restricted free agent, he was left unqualified and settled for an AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs in 2011-12.

Strong play there got him an NHL contract later in the season and again with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13, when he made his NHL debut at age 27. As an unrestricted free agent in 2013, the Nashville Predators snapped up Hutton in free agency, where he broke into the NHL and never looked back. After stops with the Predators, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Coyotes, Hutton retires with a career 94-90-27 record in 235 games played (207 starts), .908 save percentage, and 2.76 goals-against average, and 13 shutouts. For an undrafted free agent who wasn’t a full-time NHLer until 28, it’s an improbable and impressive resumé.

Free Agent Focus: San Jose Sharks

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Free agency is now less than six weeks away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Sharks.

Key Restricted Free Agents

  • G Kaapo Kahkonen – Kahkonen was acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline as part of the Jacob Middleton trade, and Kahkonen performed reasonably well as he began to take on a more prominent role late in the Sharks’ season. Kahkonen finished with ten starts in San Jose and posted a .916 save percentage. When combined with his 23 starts as a member of the Minnesota Wild, Kahkonen’s overall 2021-22 save percentage is .912, an encouraging mark for a goalie not set to turn 26 until the middle of August. The Sharks will have to make a decision this offseason, as once Kahkonen is re-signed they will have three NHL-caliber goalies under contract (Kahkonen, Adin Hill, and James Reimer), and are unlikely to spend a full season with a three-goalie group.
    As for Kahkonen’s next contract, he does have arbitration rights as an RFA meaning he has at least some negotiation power in deciding his future. A bridge deal at around $2MM-3MM could make sense, although there is an interesting contract comparable that could prove troublesome if the Sharks want to retain Kahkonen on the cheap. Los Angeles Kings goalie Calvin Petersen, in a similar RFA situation to Kahkonen, at a similar age, inked a three-year deal with the Kings at a $5MM AAV. Petersen’s numbers compared to Kahkonen’s are similar: when he signed his contract, Petersen was coming off of a season where he had a .911 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average in 32 starts, while Kahkonen enters his time as an RFA with a .912/2.87 in 33 starts. They’re basically identical numbers, the only major difference being that Petersen started 32 games in the shortened 2020-21 season, so his marks represented a larger share of the available games for a goalie to play. Given the similarity in his numbers, Kahkonen could reasonably demand a similar contract to Petersen and therefore likely make negotiations more difficult for the Sharks.
  • F Noah Gregor – Gregor has been a solid find for the Sharks as a 2016 fourth-round pick, developing from his time as a star in the WHL into the reliable two-way forward he was this past season. Gregor played sound two-way hockey and became a more and more trusted weapon of coach Bob Boughner, finishing the season with just under 15 minutes of average time on ice. Gregor didn’t overwhelm with his production, but his eight goals and 23 points in 63 games is decent enough, and his strong scoring at the AHL level indicates he may have some more offense to come as he gets more comfortable against NHL competition. While long-term deals for players with limited NHL experience are becoming more commonplace (Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud, as an example, got a long-term $2.75MM AAV deal and had less than a full season of NHL experience) a short-term bridge deal is the likeliest outcome for Gregor. Gregor worked on a $750k cap hit this year, so expect a raise but nothing major as Gregor doesn’t yet have arbitration rights, and the Sharks will be hard-pressed for cap space.
  • D Mario Ferraro – Ferraro has become an increasingly important defenseman in San Jose and just finished a season where he averaged 23 minutes of time on ice per game. His offense isn’t anything to write home about – just 14 points in 63 games – but it’s his leadership, physicality, and overall defensive game that makes him such a valued part of the Sharks lineup. There is some debate over Ferraro’s true overall skill level, and if his time-on-ice is truly reflective of his value, but it’s clear the Sharks rate him highly and that’s ultimately all that matters in contract negotiations. The Sharks could opt for a long-term deal with Ferraro, but since they figure to have some cap troubles and are intent on competing in the near future, a bridge deal seems more likely.

Other RFA’s: Jonathan Dahlen, Alexander Chmelevski, Jonah Gadjovich, John Leonard, Nicolas Meloche, Joachim Blichfeld, Zachary Gallant, Jacob McGrew, Antoine Morand, Brinson Pasichnuk, Zach Sawchenko

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

The Sharks’ only unrestricted free agents of any consequence are Anthony Bitetto, Ryan Dzingel, and Alex Stalock, three players who combined to play seven total games for the Sharks this past season. While Bitetto, Dzingel, and Stalock are all NHL veterans, they do not figure to play a major role in San Jose moving forward even if re-signed.

Projected Cap Space

This is where things get dicey for San Jose. The Sharks are currently projected to have just $5.67MM in cap room to start this offseason, and since they have NHL-caliber RFA’s to re-sign in Ferraro, Dahlen, Kahkonen, and Gregor, as well as an intention of improving their roster significantly, that’s just not enough space to make the moves their next GM will likely want to make. Big contracts for players such as Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic mean that finding the necessary wiggle room will take immense creativity, and their precarious cap position is further complicated by the uncertainty of the Evander Kane situation, as the deliberations over the grievance he filed have not yet been concluded. A buyout for Vlasic, a trade of one of the highly-paid players, or even dealing one of the players on a moderate deal such as Reimer would go a long way to creating room for San Jose to operate. Whatever path they choose, it’s clear they will have to do something in order to create the necessary breathing room under the salary cap they need to return to contention.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Sharks Expected To Narrow GM Search

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  • From one high-profile search to another, it appears the San Jose Sharks are also planning to narrow their list of candidates for their vacant General Manager position this week, says The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. It’s unclear who exactly would be on the Sharks’ shortlist, though LeBrun says the organization has had lengthy interviews of 4 to 6 hours each with a dozen candidates. The organization made clear after former GM Doug Wilson stepped down that they would take their time finding his replacement. Much like the Flyers, the organization has shown they are not interested in a lengthy rebuild and would like to find a GM who shares that vision (link).

Joachim Blichfeld Signs In SHL

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The San Jose Sharks won’t be able to rely on Joachim Blichfeld as an injury call-up next season, as the young forward has signed a two-year contract with the Vaxjo Lakers in the SHL. The team will be able to retain his exclusive rights by issuing a qualifying offer but this is a disappointing turn for a franchise that will need young talent in the coming years.

Blichfeld, 23, made his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season and got into another handful of games in 2020-21, before spending the entire 2021-22 campaign in the minor leagues. The 6’2″ winger was excellent for the San Jose Barracuda, scoring 24 goals and 45 points in 61 games but failed to even earn a single call-up, other than a short period on the taxi squad when it was brought back in January.

He then suited up for Denmark at the World Championship, where he scored another five goals in seven games, an impressive total that easily led the squad. All of that doesn’t really matter for the Sharks now as they’ll lose him for the next two years at least, and perhaps longer if Blichfeld decides to stay overseas. While he wasn’t someone they had invested a ton of resources into–Blichfeld was a seventh-round pick, 210th overall in 2016–he did represent some nice depth for the organization.

San Jose Sharks Sign Gannon Laroque

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After giving him an AHL tryout deal in April, the San Jose Sharks have announced that they have signed defenseman Gannon Laroque to his full entry-level contract. Sharks interim GM Joe Will gave the following statement about Laroque as part of the team’s announcement:

Gannon had a very strong season with Victoria and was arguably the most improved prospect in our system. He has displayed an impressive blend of steady, defensive play matched with an ability to generate offense. We’re excited about working with him to continue his development.

Will noted that Laroque was possibly the Sharks’ “most improved” prospect, and he’s probably right. Laroque, 18, had a draft year with the Victoria Royals where he didn’t produce a significant amount of offense, posting only 7 points in 21 games. This season, after going 103rd overall to the Sharks, Laroque found another gear to his game and put up 52 points in 63 games. The Royals didn’t have the best season, going 23-39-6, but Laroque was one of the bright spots on the team and grew into being their most important defenseman.

Laroque stands at six-foot-two, 190 pounds, and has made himself into a threat on the offensive side of the ice. The improvements to his game show why the Sharks drafted him just outside of the top-100, and Laroque earning his entry-level deal and getting into a few AHL games before he even turns 19 is a testament to how fast his prospect stock has risen. Laroque will in all likelihood return to Victoria next season and hope to have another strong WHL campaign.

Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those who were eliminated early in the postseason.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at San Jose.

After being a consistent playoff threat including 14 appearances in a 15-year stretch, things haven’t gone as well for the Sharks in recent years as they’ve missed in three straight seasons.  With a veteran-laden roster and minimal flexibility from a salary cap perspective, it’s a big checklist for them to navigate through this summer.

Hire A GM

Before even getting into what needs to be done, the Sharks need to determine who is going to do the work.  Interim GM Joe Will clearly has the green light to make moves as evidenced by the contract extensions for Alexander Barabanov and Jaycob Megna earlier this month.  Ownership has expressed an openness to having Will take the team through the draft and potentially into free agency as well.  While that’s a nice short-term vote of confidence, it doesn’t seem as if Will is considered a strong candidate for the full-time position.

But it isn’t just a matter of who the next GM will be, it’s when that person takes over.  If Will has control going into free agency, it’s possible he makes decisions that his successor won’t like.  That makes that scenario a tough one to play out.  As a result, determining who the full-time GM will be and getting that person under contract as soon as possible needs to be at the top of their priority list.

Move A Goalie

Most of the time, a three-goalie system isn’t tenable for a full season.  San Jose was able to make it work after the trade deadline with Adin Hill missing time but he’ll be fully recovered for training camp.  James Reimer is still on the roster while Kaapo Kahkonen was brought in at the deadline in the Jacob Middleton trade.  At first glance, it sure seems like one of them needs to be moved.

Kahkonen is the youngest of the three at 25 and is a restricted free agent this summer.  To move a quality young blueliner for him only to trade Kahkonen away later doesn’t seem likely to happen.  Instead, a multi-year contract that buys out some UFA years is probably their preferred outcome if they can afford it on the cap.

That leaves Hill and Reimer battling for one spot.  Both players have one year left on their contracts and will be UFA-eligible in 2023.  The cap hits are nearly identical ($2.25MM for Reimer, $2.175MM for Hill).  But when it comes to age and experience, there’s a big difference as the 34-year-old Reimer has 433 career NHL appearances while the 26-year-old Hill sits at 74.  If the Sharks are prioritizing the longer-term, Hill has the most upside but it’s also possible that it comes down to if one is willing to sign an extension this summer.  Neither netminder is likely to carry much trade value but it would be tough for the Sharks to carry all three on the roster in October.

Meier Extension Talks

Back in 2019, the Sharks signed winger Timo Meier to a four-year, $24MM contract as a restricted free agent.  On its own, the AAV was reasonable and it allowed him to still be RFA-eligible at the end of the deal.  But his contract was the most extreme of the backloaded contracts done that summer as his salary for next season is $10MM.  Since that deal was signed before the new CBA, he’s not subjected to the new rule where the qualifier is the lower of the previous salary or 120% of the AAV.  In other words, they have to qualify him at $10MM next summer if he’s not on a new contract by then.

A few years ago when the salary cap was steadily on the rise, the number would have been a little inflated but potentially manageable.  Now, with the Upper Limit barely moving for the time being, offering Meier $10MM isn’t manageable, at least with the state of the rest of their roster.

While Meier is signed for next season already, there is a pressure point of sorts this summer.  In an ideal world, San Jose doesn’t want him to enter 2022-23 without a new deal in place.  Getting to next summer where Meier either has to be let go or qualified at an above-market rate isn’t palatable for the team.  As a result, finding a suitable extension now has to be a priority.  Meier is worth a raise on his current AAV and is coming off a career year that saw him pick up 35 goals and 41 assists but it shouldn’t be up to $10MM per season.  Whoever is named as the permanent GM is going to have a big negotiation this summer as a result.

Free Up Cap Space

The Sharks have some big contracts on the books, especially on the back end where they have over $31MM in commitments and that doesn’t include RFA Mario Ferraro who is coming off a season where he logged 23 minutes a game.  Even without arbitration eligibility, he’s in a good position to command a sizable raise of his own off his entry-level salary.

Right now, San Jose could get through the summer okay.  They could try to sign Ferraro and Kahkonen for one year, sign their other RFAs to one-year deals, trade a goalie, and manage to narrowly stay cap-compliant by carrying a roster close to the minimum size.  But will they be any better than they’ve been the last few seasons?  Probably not.  Looking ahead to the 2023 summer, they’ll have 11 players signed at just over $57.5MM which doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for improvement in the future either, especially considering Meier needs a new deal that summer.

As a result, if they want to add an impact player or even have the flexibility to shake up their roster, they need to move a big contract.  Brent Burns ($8MM through 2024-25), Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM through 2026-27), and Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($7MM through 2025-26) are the oft-discussed possibilities although they each have at least some form of trade protection and not a particularly robust trade market because of their contracts.  No one said it would be easy but for the Sharks to have a chance to shake things up, they will need to find a way to move out one of those rearguards.

Resolve Kane Grievance

There is one other factor at play when it comes to San Jose’s summer and that’s the Evander Kane situation.  The expectation is that it will be resolved by the start of free agency but there is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding whether or not his deal will be put back on their books, the termination will be upheld, or, most likely, a settlement is reached which is what happened with the Kings and Mike Richards when things went down that path back in 2015.  The details of any potential settlement will go a long way towards determining what space they have to work with this summer and how much extra emphasis will have to be placed on clearing out one of their existing contracts.  The sooner they find out the end result of this, the better.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Jaycob Megna Leaves Worlds Due To A Family Emergency

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Prior to their semi-final game against Finland today, the United States found themselves down another defenseman as it was revealed by Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters (Twitter link) that Sharks defenseman Jaycob Megna had left the team to tend to a family emergency.  That left the Americans with just four healthy defensemen for the game while the team is out of available roster slots which meant they weren’t able to add Montreal blueliner Jordan Harris – who has skated with the team as an extra all tournament – to the roster.  Sam Lafferty and Riley Barber, both forwards, comprised the third pairing and will likely do so again on Sunday when they battle Czechia for the bronze while Finland and Canada go for gold.

San Jose Sharks Sign Mitchell Russell

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The San Jose Sharks have added another prospect, signing Mitchell Russell to a three-year, entry-level contract. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Sharks general manager Joe Will released a short statement on the free agent forward:

Mitchell is a character player and leader on the ice with good production that helps his team win. He has a strong pedigree as a skater who was selected in the first round of the OHL Draft.

Russell, 21, played his overage season with the OHL’s North Bay Battalion this year, and scored 41 goals and 88 points in 64 games. More impressive has been his playoff run, where he’s been basically unstoppable with 11 goals and 22 points in nine games, as the Battalion walked through Ottawa and Kingston without issue.

The interesting part about signing players like this is that Russell can move directly into the AHL next season and make an impact on the organization. Undrafted, his strong play is enough to land an entry-level contract, as the Sharks obviously saw something they like.

It will be a challenge for Russell to bring that production over to the professional ranks, but he’ll certainly have a coach that knows what it means to make an impact without big offensive totals. John McCarthy, named San Jose Barracuda head coach this week, was a seventh-round pick that had to find different ways to contribute in order to maintain his long playing career.

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