Confirmed with Link: Afanasyev signed to one year deal

[LadyStanley]

 

[Sendhelplease]

I had assumed that he was going to be a KHL lifer. Pleasantly surprised to see that he is coming back to the states. Hopefully both he and Wiesblatt develop into NHLers as unlikely as it seems right now.

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[one2gamble]

he must think he can make the nhl team

 

[StanleyCup2035]

Reads like a $800K one-way deal?

 

[702SHARK]

Isn't he best buds with Asky? and played in Milwaukee together? they both must be hyped for camp.

 

[The Nemesis]

Cool. When I researched everything for the prospect thread I thought he would be an intriguing option on the wing as a 3rd liner/middle 6 type. He's a big body who maybe doesn't play a crash/bang style but uses his size to hold off opponents and he supposedly skates well for a man of his size. He was also a ppg guy in the AHL in his last season there (as a 22-23 year old), which isn't a surefire marker of upward mobility, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

His KHL stats aren't great, but he was one of the younger guys on the team, I believe I've heard that CSKA leans heavily towards giving favorable assignments and ice time to veterans, and only 1 or 2 of the guys that outscored him are younger than he is and with probably more upside.

a 1-year deal doesn't give him a lot of runway but it should mean he has every opportunity to make the Sharks and prove he's got an NHL future before he makes a decision about whether or not to head back to Russia.

 

[coooldude]

Reads like a $800K one-way deal?

I would be surprised if it was one way.

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[Hodge]

Afanasyev-Wennberg-Graf 3rd line?

 

[gaucholoco3]

Afanasyev-Wennberg-Graf 3rd line?

He can switch places with Kovalenko who will probably end up in the KHL.

 

[mogambomoroo]

I like that they will give him a chance. I always felt little disappointed he went the KHL route, I can't even really point out why. Hope he can make it.

 

[ChompChomp]

I like that they will give him a chance. I always felt little disappointed he went the KHL route, I can't even really point out why. Hope he can make it.

I think we can speculate why he did what he did, especially in combination with pushing for, and getting, a one-way contract now:

He doesn't want to play in the AHL at all anymore. Yes a one way contract means he could end up in the AHL, but at NHL salary. He's also not exempt from waivers, so if the Sharks tried to send him down, he might get claimed by another team.

I have a feeling if that if he doesn't make the team, gets waived, and clears, at some point during the season the contract will be mutually terminated. Like a Leon Gawanke situation, but I doubt Afanasyev would ever end up playing 38 games for the Cuda. Maybe even a chance that he nevers play a single game for the Cuda (rehab assignments notwithstanding).

 

[Jargon]

Kostin replacement as he’s likely gone. Kovalenko too. Don’t hate giving him a chance and he’s terrible you send him through waivers.

 

[coooldude]

Kostin replacement as he’s likely gone. Kovalenko too. Don’t hate giving him a chance and he’s terrible you send him through waivers.

Color me surprised. But it does likely mean he is the Kostin replacement. I think Kovalenko will be given one more shot, but I also don't have high confidence in that.

 

[Cas]

I would be surprised if it was one way.

We can bury the whole thing if necessary, this just means he is guaranteed $800,000 no matter what.

 

[coooldude]

We can bury the whole thing if necessary, this just means he is guaranteed $800,000 no matter what.

It's more a surprise because it doesn't guarantee he stays up with the big club, but it means it's far more likely and that sending him down carries risk. It's why Thrun has been with the big club while others have gone up and down. One way contracts tend to indicate a commitment to the player to try to keep them up.

 

[Cas]

It's more a surprise because it doesn't guarantee he stays up with the big club, but it means it's far more likely and that sending him down carries risk. It's why Thrun has been with the big club while others have gone up and down. One way contracts tend to indicate a commitment to the player to try to keep them up.

I don't see that there's any additional risk, simply additional cost and frankly not that much. He has to clear waivers to be sent down, no matter what his contract situation is. If he sucks enough that we have enough better players, we waive him and either he goes to the AHL, gets claimed (whatever), or leaves to go back to Russia (again, whatever).

Thrun hasn't been sent down because we really didn't have anyone who is clearly better and ready, and he's still young (though it seems clear now that Thrun simply does not have the tools to be an NHL-quality starting defenseman and I suspect the experiment will end next year). It has nothing to do with his contract and everything to do with what was left of his potential and this team's depth chart. I don't foresee any relation to Afanasyev's future.

 

[coooldude]

I don't see that there's any additional risk, simply additional cost and frankly not that much. He has to clear waivers to be sent down, no matter what his contract situation is. If he sucks enough that we have enough better players, we waive him and either he goes to the AHL, gets claimed (whatever), or leaves to go back to Russia (again, whatever).

Thrun hasn't been sent down because we really didn't have anyone who is clearly better and ready, and he's still young (though it seems clear now that Thrun simply does not have the tools to be an NHL-quality starting defenseman and I suspect the experiment will end next year). It has nothing to do with his contract and everything to do with what was left of his potential and this team's depth chart. I don't foresee any relation to Afanasyev's future.

What? You don't have to clear waivers on a two way contract. You do on a one way contract. This calculus seriously impacts who makes the team out of camp and who gets called up and sent down. Surely you're aware of this...

 

[Jargon]

It's more a surprise because it doesn't guarantee he stays up with the big club, but it means it's far more likely and that sending him down carries risk. It's why Thrun has been with the big club while others have gone up and down. One way contracts tend to indicate a commitment to the player to try to keep them up.

I imagine they watched him in the KHL this year and liked what they saw - enough to take the risk that he’ll likely be good enough to make it next year.

Betting our third line is him, Wennberg and Graf next year.

 

[weastern bias]

What? You don't have to clear waivers on a two way contract. You do on a one way contract. This calculus seriously impacts who makes the team out of camp and who gets called up and sent down. Surely you're aware of this...

One-way VS two-way has no effect on waiver eligibility, it only effects a players take-home salary when assigned to the AHL, waiver eligibility is strictly based on games played criteria

 

[gaucholoco3]

What? You don't have to clear waivers on a two way contract. You do on a one way contract. This calculus seriously impacts who makes the team out of camp and who gets called up and sent down. Surely you're aware of this...

No. The only thing two-way contract means is that there are two different salaries for NHL and AHL.

 

[Cas]

What? You don't have to clear waivers on a two way contract. You do on a one way contract. This calculus seriously impacts who makes the team out of camp and who gets called up and sent down. Surely you're aware of this...

You have to clear waivers on a two-way contract if you have played enough seasons/played enough NHL games for the age at which you signed your ELC.

Afanasyev was 18 when he signed his ELC to start in 19-20, and thus had five potential years of exemption from waivers, which ended after 23-24. Had he played 160 NHL games prior to that, his waiver exemption would have gone away much sooner.

A two-way contract only means a player gets paid at different rates when they are on the NHL roster than when they are not. It has nothing whatsoever to do with waiver eligibility, it's simply that all ELCs are two-way contracts and relatively few players become waiver-eligible on their ELC, and sometimes even on their first standard contract (which is often two-way, such as with Coe). Players can also be waiver-exempt on a one-way contract, but that's simply very, very rare because of the typical term of ELCs and the matrix of waiver exemption years.

 

[coooldude]

My bad, everyone, I was misinformed. Nonetheless surprised it's one-way as it still indicates that he's likely to be kept up with the big club since we'd be paying him the same either way.

 

[The Nemesis]

Friendly reminder that one-way/two-way contracts ONLY influence whether or not a player has a different AHL salary. There are NO differences in waiver rules or exceptions for players on one-way deals vs two-way ones.