The Kraken announced Monday that Finnish forward Jani Nyman and his rocket of a shot will stay home to play for Ilves Tampere in Finland’s top SM-Liiga again this season. It makes sense over moving him to this side of the pond to play in the American Hockey League, considering he doesn’t turn 19-years-of-age until next week.
The 6-foot-3, 212-pound lefty who plays his off-wing was a 2nd-round pick of the Kraken at the 2022 NHL Draft. Nyman had 14 points in 29 games in Tampere last season, including ten goals.
“Oh, he can rip it,” Kraken Director of Player Development Jeff Tambellini said of Nyman’s shot at the end of Development Camp earlier this month.
No Arb’ For Kraken
Four Pacific Division teams had players slated for arbitration hearings with the Kraken leading the way with three, all defensemen. All signed in advance of their scheduled dates: Will Borgen, Cale Fleury and Vince Dunn.
The Vegas Golden Knights, who host the Kraken in the regular season opener at “the Fortress” on October 10th, signed 25-year-old forward Brett Howden in advance of arbitration for two seasons at $1.9-million per.
That leaves two potential hearings involving Pacific Division players and one of them is a biggee. Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks is looking for a new deal and he’s due a significant raise. The skilled 25-year-old right winger has turned it up a notch since inking a three-year bridge deal in 2020 that paid him a humble $1.45-million per season.
The slow bloomer out of the University of Denver was the star shoot-out specialist when Team USA won World Junior Championship Gold back in 2017. That was two years after the Ducks drafted Terry in the 5th-round.
He’s blossomed to the tune of 60 goals and 128 points over the course of the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, Trevor Zegras, Terry’s fellow American and partner-in-crime on the Ducks youthful top line, also needs a new contract, but the 22-year-old center doesn’t have arbitration rights. He, his agent Pat Brisson at CAA, and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek have no choice but to figure it out on their own. The 9th-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Zegras has 126 points over the last two seasons.
The fourth and final Pacific player facing a hearing is Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan McLeod, scheduled for August 4th. The 23-year-old had 23 points in 57 games for the Oil last season.
NHL Deals
— Tony DeAngelo, a still youthful but well travelled defenseman, signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, returning to the team he played for in 2021-’22. He had 41 points in 64 games that season.
“Tony is an elite offensive defenseman who had a great season with us in 2021-22,” Carolina general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “We wanted to re-sign him last summer, and now we’re thrilled to bring him back to Raleigh.”
This after DeAngelo was bought out by the Philadelphia Flyers after one season. The 27-year-old righty, a 2014 1st-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team he never played for, has skated for four different NHL clubs.
— Our pal Jim Nill, who won the Jim Gregory NHL General Manager of the Year Award this past season, earned another reward. The Dallas Stars added two more years to his contract on Monday.
“Jim has proven himself to be one of the best general managers in the NHL,” Stars owner Tom Gaglardi stated. “He has meticulously built a team through free agency, trades and the NHL Draft that’s among the best in the League, while also ensuring that the Stars are championship contenders for years to come.
Nill’s teams have gone 403-280-98 over his ten seasons running things in Texas.
Chocolate World
Just for giggles, and if you’d like to learn some fun puck history, we’ve attached the 20th anniversary edition of a hockey TV program called Maple Leaf America, in an episode that features the Hershey Bears, the team that beat the Kraken’s farm club in Coachella Valley for the AHL Calder Cup title.
Maybe a tough pill to swallow for Firebirds fans, but we’re told this is a pretty fun and informative edition. Enjoy if you’d like, and for sure if you love chocolate !!
Recent Kraken:
— Kraken Column: Vince Dunn’s Deal Is Nearly Perfect
