Bidding has been slow in free agency but some of the bigger names are starting to come off the market.
Helsinki and Bratislava, the two teams that were bounced out of the playoffs in their respective conference finals, shored up their defense with U.S. veterans who were among the top players available at that position.
Zach Bogosian, 32, who played the last 8 seasons in Stockholm, moves over a country to play in Finald after signing a 2-year deal worth $6.75 million annually. Bogosoian is a big hitter and he’s scored between 16 and 18 goals the last three seasons. He ranked 7th in the EURO League last year in hits with 256 and he was 13th in blocked shots. With the Jokerit, Bogosian could step onto the top pairing with Nerius Alisauskas.
Ryan McDonagh left a legendary defense corps in Minsk to join his former coach Lindy Ruff in Bratislava, where he will be paid $6.05 million for a year. McDonagh played 21 or more minutes per game as a Hussar since the league began. The 33-year-old has scored 11 or more goals in 6 seasons, including last year, when he tallied 14 times.In Bratislava, he will replace Tyler Myers on the top pairing. Who his partner will be is still unknown. It might be 29-year-old German Alexander Weiss.
Three teams were interested in signing Ryan Johansen to long-term deals and inserting him in the lineup as a centerman this season. One team even offered the 30-year-old an option year to extend the contract to a 4th year, if he wanted it. But the Canadian went with the highest dollar amount ($6.27 million) and is packing for Moscow to join the Maniacs. He will probably be the second-line center there with Ryan O’Reilly still entrenched on the top of the depth chart. Johansen is an interesting case. He toiled in the Madrid and Stockholm systems and never seemed able to match his potential and hype. Only once was he able to get over the 30-point mark and that was in Season 2 with the Royals. But in Season 10, something clicked and Johansen reeled off an 85-point season and to show it wasn’t a fluke, he scored 72 points last season with Brayden Schenn and Kyle Okposo on his wings.
The face of the Zurich franchise since Day 1, Patrice Bergeron, decided to stay with the team for two more seasons and Lions fans couldn’t be happier, even though Bergeron is 37 now and not at all the player he once was. He is still a superb penalty killer and leader in the dressing room. Last season, Bergeron scored 45 points for the second straight season.
On Thursday, Australian Thomas Powell signed with Munich Red Bull, where he could find himself on a line with Sean Monahan and Filip Forsberg this season. After being groomed in the Minsk system from Season 2 to Season 10, he left Belarus with two EURO Cup rings for a year with the Athens Gods. He scored a career-best 35 goals and a near-career-best 75 points. Now Powell is 31 and meaner than ever. His penalty minutes have gone up in each of the last 4 seasons, but he has also become a better defensive player with rising shot blocking and takeaway numbers. He was second on the Athens team and 19th in the league in PIMs last season with 108.
Other signings:
Forwards Beau Bennett, Jiri Sekac and goalie Aaron Dell all signed with Geneva today. Bennett, a 30-year-old right wing, was a regular with Gothenburg for years before going to Bern last year and getting into just 16 games. He’s a pretty good all-around player who has good hands and vision but needs to improve his skating. Sekac, a 28-year-old left wing was never given much of a chance to show what he’s got but he looks to be a very well balanced player. Look for him to impress this season. Dell’s lone experience in the league was 18 games for Moscow in Season 10 and at the moment, he is the number one guy in Geneva, although there is a long way to go before the start of the season.
The Generals weren’t done with those signings, as they added left wing Yasin Ehliz and Vladislav Gavrikov, an undrafted rookie defenseman. Both could play this season for the team. Ehliz, a Turk with German citizenship, was a member of the Belfast Giants for Seasons 8-10, so he knows success. He scored 28, 35 and 37 in his seasons as a Giant.
