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Red Wings Notes: Abdelkader, Sheahan, Green

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WDIV’s Dave Bartkowiak lists five Red Wings who need to dramatically improve this season in order for Detroit to return to the playoffs. Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser, Dylan Larkin, Gustav Nyquist, and Riley Sheahan are the players he points to as needing to raise their games in 2017-18. Of the four forwards, Bartkowiak is insistent that the defensive aspect of Larkin and Sheahan’s game must improve. He adds that Sheahan shouldn’t have ice time “dished out” to him with such a poor shooting percentage and his inability to find the net. Such a fact was a consistent gripe all season, as Sheahan continued to log minutes on the power play despite not scoring a single goal until the final game of the season. Abdelkader, who Bartkowiak calls a leader on the team, believes Abdelkader is a 20-goal scorer if healthy. A look at the trend of Abdelkader’s stats, however, point to a player who benefitted from having Pavel Datsyuk on his line in 2014-15. A glance at his entire career where he played 40 or more games, Abdelkader produced more than 30 points only twice. Out of those eight seasons, he recorded just one twenty-goal season, though he had 19 in 2015-16. Regardless, asking for another 20-goal season may be a bit much based on past performance.

  • Mike Green was recently profiled by NHL.com’s Dana Wakaji who writes that the defenseman has been the offensive presence on the blue line that Detroit envisioned when they signed him two offseasons ago. The 32-year-old probably won’t hit the 70+ point campaigns he’s had in the past, but Wakaji adds that he’s a valuable offensive asset for a team starving for goals from its defensive pairings. Heading into the final year of his contract, Green could also be a prime trade chip should the Red Wings not be in the playoff hunt for a second consecutive season.

Central Notes: Fletcher, Avalanche

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NBC Sports’ James O’Brien wonders if Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher could be feeling the heat this season if the Wild don’t get over the hump and see more playoff success. Fletcher has a five season playoff streak to his name, but a long list of playoff frustrations go along with that streak. O’Brien writes that the Bruce Boudreau edition of the Wild “pushed for something bigger” but ultimately fell short. Indeed, the Wild still led the Central Division up until March, when they sputtered and yielded the division crown to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former coach Mike Yeo led the Wild to two consecutive second round appearances but both resulted in losses to the Blackhawks.  Fletcher won the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter sweepstakes during the summer of 2012, but the team hasn’t cashed in on a Stanley Cup, or at the least, a conference final appearance. Under Boudreau, their scoring and performance increased but it still resulted in a disappointing five game, first round exit to the St. Louis Blues.

O’Brien bets that if there’s ever a time that the heat is turned up on Fletcher, it’s this season. Returning a similar but slightly weaker team in 2017-18, the Wild are expected again to be in the playoffs. But another lackluster playoff showing–or worse–and the Wild might be looking for their third general manager in team history.

  • So where did it all go wrong for the Colorado Avalanche and their working relationship with Will Butcher? The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers answered this question and a whole host of Avs-related inquiries this afternoon. Chamber says that between the team not wanting to sign him while Patrick Roy was still on board to the Avs’ notoriously bad 2016-17 season, no one can blame Butcher for looking elsewhere. Chambers also predicts that the Avs will see a lot of empty seats this season due to an ineffective offseason and that it may be a long, painful process before the Avalanche return to respectability.

A Recent History Of Late-Summer RFA Signings

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The hockey world has been swirling around David Pastrnak for the past few days, as negotiations with the Boston Bruins drag on late into the summer. Fans of the team are beginning to get nervous that there might be something standing in the way of a long-term deal, even while the Bruins’ front office assures everyone that they won’t be moving on from their young star. It’s not just Pastrnak though, as this summer seems to have a disproportional amount of high-level restricted free agents still unsigned into the middle of August. Leon Draisaitl, Alexander Wennberg, Bo Horvat, Connor Brown, Damon Severson and Andreas Athanasiou and many more are waiting for their next contracts and inching closer and closer to missing some of training camp.

Naturally, anyone’s instinct is to think that the longer the negotiation goes on, the more animosity can be built between the two sides. This is simply not true, and it’s been shown time and again that some RFAs—especially those who are coming off exceptional seasons—are in for long negotiations. It’s hard to remember how many players make it late in the summer without contracts once the season begins, so here is some of the history of some high profile late-summer RFA signings the last few years:

2016

Sean Monahan signs on August 19th. Seven years, $44.6MM.

Cody Ceci signs on August 23rd. Two years, $5.6MM.

Ryan Strome signs on September 20th. Two years, $5.0MM.

Johnny Gaudreau signs on October 10th. Six years, $40.5MM.

Nikita Kucherov signs on October 11th. Three years, $14.3MM.

Rasmus Ristolainen signs on October 11th. Six years, $32.4MM.

2015

Jonathan Bernier signs on August 2nd. Two years, $8.3MM.

Brock Nelson signs on September 16th. Three years, $7.5MM.

2014

P.K. Subban signs on August 2nd. Eight years, $72MM.

Tyson Barrie signs on September 7th. Two years, $5.2MM.

Danny DeKeyser signs on September 20th. Two years, $4.4MM.

Nino Niederreiter signs on September 20th. Three years, $8MM.

Ryan Ellis signs on October 5th. Five years, $12.5MM.

Jaden Schwartz signs on October 5th. Two years, $4.7MM.

Ryan Johansen signs on October 6th. Three years, $12MM.

2013

Adam Henrique signs on August 27th. Six years, $24MM.

Mikkel Boedker signs on September 7th. Two years, $5.1MM.

Marcus Johansson signs on September 8th. Two years, $4MM.

Nazem Kadri signs on September 10th. Two years, $5.8MM.

Alex Pietrangelo signs on September 14th. Seven years, $45.5MM.

Derek Stepan signs on September 26th. Two years, $6.2MM.

Poll: Who Will Have The Best Chance At The 2018 #1 Pick?

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The Edmonton Oilers have an interesting relationship with the first-overall pick. In 2016 they traded away two former top selections in Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains in trade speculation as the team looks towards a troubling future salary structure. None of those three became the franchise-leading players they had hoped for, with Yakupov not even turning into a reliable regular. Still, Connor McDavid came through a few years later and almost immediately rejuvenated a franchise and brought them back from being one of the laughing stocks of the league. The first-overall pick is no guarantee, but it can surely change an organization if you pick the right one.

Toronto and Pittsburgh can relate. The latter was near-bankrupt before Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby came along in the span of a couple of years (with a #2 Evgeni Malkin jammed in between) and have risen to the level of the NHL’s elite, while the former was the butt of almost every joke going back almost 50 years. Auston Matthews changed that for the Maple Leafs, though he and his other young stars have still yet to even win a single playoff series.

New Jersey hopes that Nico Hischier more like Matthews and less like Yakupov, though there’s no guarantee on his performance at the next level. The young Swiss forward has all the potential in the world, but will have to prove that he can keep taking steps forward in his development. If he makes the Devils out of camp perhaps Hall can help him deal with the pressures a #1 pick faces each and every night.

That brings us to this year, where some teams will fight for a Stanley Cup and others will pray for a few lottery balls. Teams that miss the playoffs all have a chance at selecting first, like the Devils, Flyers and Stars did this year. The Devils had the best chance of the three, but weren’t even in the top 3 league wide. 15 teams will miss this season after the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights, and one team will be given the greatest chance to have their choice of Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin or whoever else pushes their way into the first-overall conversation.

We ask you, who will finish last in the league this season and have the best shot at the #1 pick?

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Snapshots: Desjardins, Iginla, Dahlstrom, Blue Jackets

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Willie Desjardins won’t be in the NHL this year, but he’ll still be one of the more talked-about coached in hockey. He’ll be leading Team Canada on their journey to the Olympics, this time without the benefit of NHL-level players. Speaking with Rick Dhaliwal today of News 1130 in Vancouver, Desjardins spoke about several players including Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla.

Confirming that the pair are still looking for NHL contracts, Desjardins also said that it would be tough for them to jump into the Olympic speed if they weren’t playing anywhere come February. That might be the case for one or both of them though, as there doesn’t seem to be much interest around the league for the aging stars. Iginla had some redeeming qualities at the trade deadline and picked up his play for the Los Angeles Kings down the stretch, but both are now 40-years old and would need a team to really go out on a limb to give them an NHL deal.

  • Scott Powers of The Athletic goes in depth on Chicago Blackhawks prospect John Dahlstrom, who you can no longer call Mr. Irrelevant in the NHL. The very last pick of the 2015 draft, Dahlstrom will return to Sweden instead of playing in the USHL this season, and try to earn an entry-level contract next year. The 20-year old forward recorded 30 goals and 59 points for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL this year, and has legitimate prospect status despite his draft pedigree.
  • Aaron Portzline made his much-anticipated debut for The Athletic’s Cleveland chapter, bringing his usual insight into the Columbus Blue Jackets and explaining all the upcoming decisions for the team over the next month. He includes an interesting quote from GM Jarmo Kekalainen, saying that he’s willing to make a trade or do whatever is needed regardless of whether the season has started or not. This was in response to some questions about Matt Duchene, a deal that Portzline still sees as a perfect fit between the two clubs.

Will Butcher To Meet With Buffalo, New Jersey, Vegas

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Though he’s not able to actually sign a contract anywhere until tomorrow, Will Butcher has already set up some visits. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that the DU Pioneers’ captain will meet with the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils and Vegas Golden Knights among others tomorrow after becoming a free agent. Butcher has been previously linked—however tenuously—to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.

Butcher has said he won’t rule out Colorado in his free agency, but after being snubbed by the team (and specifically then head coach Patrick Roy) in 2015, still seems like a long shot to end up in Denver. Instead, two of his three teams are obvious choices if he wants to contribute right away. Buffalo and New Jersey both have their eyes set on the playoffs and need huge defensive upgrades if they’re going to get there, and Vegas is looking for core players to build their team around. The 22-year old Butcher will be signing a two-year entry-level deal wherever he signs, though bonus structures can vary.

He and he agent have been clear that immediate opportunity is not the only thing Butcher is looking for, and a winning organization will also be considered, but playing big minutes in your first two years is the only way to get a big raise after your entry-level deal expires. In New Jersey and Buffalo he’d be given that opportunity.

Even though Vegas is the new kid on the block and is probably after any premium free agent, there doesn’t seem to be a great fit there. The Golden Knights already have seven or eight NHL-level left-handed defensemen in their system, and if they can’t move any they’re already in for a roster crunch at the start of the year. Butcher will be waiver exempt when he enters the league and would be the easy choice for them to move to the minors.

Alexey Marchenko Heads To KHL, Wants NHL Return Eventually

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Yesterday Alexey Marchenko was placed on unconditional waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of a mutual contract termination, with many suspecting he’d return to the KHL for the upcoming season. That has been confirmed by his agent Dan Milstein, who also reports that Marchenko would like to return to the NHL at some point in the future. Milstein didn’t confirm which team Marchenko would play for, though it’s widely believed that CSKA Moscow will be his destination. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that it will be a three-year deal. The Maple Leafs will gain a contract slot and $1.45MM in cap space for this season, the same amount Marchenko was due in the final year of his contract.

Both the cap space and contract slot are huge assets for the Maple Leafs, who remain over the $75MM salary cap and now have 48/50 players under contract. That’s not including Connor Brown, who is a restricted free agent but expected to sign before the start of training camp. Brown and Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello have expressed no concern over negotiations, and likely wer waiting for transactions like this in order to free up some room.

The Maple Leafs could also now be players in NCAA free agency tomorrow, when Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot will headline a group of players that also includes former Toronto draft pick Dominic Toninato. Toninato has said that there wasn’t room for him in Toronto in the past, which could have just changed with the termination of Marchenko. Still, Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News listed the Maple Leafs as a possible destination for Butcher, though another left-handed defenseman seems unlikely for a team already loaded with them.

A final possibility is now free agency for the Maple Leafs, as they previously couldn’t have added another player without risking their not being room for Brown to sign. With several useful names still out there, the upstart Toronto team could add some more veteran presence to one of the youngest squads in the league.

Boston Bruins Are “Not Trading Pastrnak”

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The Twitter world was set alight yesterday when NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton tweeted that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Boston Bruins traded David Pastrnak, but GM Don Sweeney has put a swift end to the speculation. In a report by Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, Sweeney replies to the rumors with a short “not trading Pastrnak.” The idea of trading a 21-year old sniper coming off a 70-point season seemed improbable at best, even with the Bruins’ history of trading young stars.

Pastrnak is still negotiating his next contract, leading to tons of speculation about why the deal wasn’t done a long time ago. We’ve heard that the talks are in a “holding pattern” but also that Pastrnak is very happy in Boston and with the Bruins. His contract is an important one for the team, as they look to keep their salary structure under control even with some hefty cap hits for declining players. David Krejci, David Backes and Patrice Bergeron are already into their thirties with at least four years remaining on their contracts, while several more young players will need extensions in the next few years.

A long-term deal for Pastrnak would lock him up at a reasonable cap hit for his experience, but may be hard to fit in for the next few years. The Bruins currently have over $10MM to fit him in, but with several holes opening next season their cap room could quickly fizzle out. A short-term deal would keep Pastrnak’s hit lower, but also put him at risk of walking in free agency. Remember that even though he’s just 21, Pastrnak already has three full seasons under his belt in the NHL. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021 should the Bruins not get him under contract further than that.

NCAA Free Agent Rules

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Some of the most intricate rules in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement have to do with player draft rights. Depending both on where the player was when drafted, and the path he takes after being selected exclusive negotiating rights can be held for anywhere between two years and indefinitely. When it comes to players joining the NCAA ranks, it gets even trickier.

We saw one of the less often used tactics earlier this summer, when Cal Petersen declared he would not return to Notre Dame for his senior season. Since Petersen had been drafted four years ago, the Buffalo Sabres were given 30 days in which to sign him or lose his exclusive negotiating rights. The Sabres couldn’t get him under contract, and a month later the Los Angeles Kings scooped him up. Petersen could use this tactic because of the year he spent in the USHL after his draft, pushing his scheduled graduation to five years out from his draft year.

But this isn’t the method you want to hear about today. Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot lead a group of players who will see their draft rights expire today after completing their senior seasons, and will be allowed to sign with any team in the NHL tomorrow, August 16th. Though their free agency is being widely reported as starting today, teams actually retain their negotiating rights through the end of day.  From Section 8.6(c)(i) of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement:

If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and remains a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college class, his drafting Club shall retain the exclusive right of negotiation for his services through and including the August 15 following the graduation of his college class. The Club need not make a Bona Fide Offer to such Player to retain such rights.

Though it’s quite possible that teams are already talking to the upcoming free agents—probable even, despite not technically being allowed to do so—they won’t be signing with anyone until tomorrow. Since this version of the CBA was introduced only Robbie Russo signed right away, inking with the Detroit Red Wings on August 16th nearly immediately after becoming a free agent. Last year we saw John Gilmour lead the pack by signing with the New York Rangers on August 18th, before Thomas DiPauli and Jimmy Vesey followed on the 19th to Pittsburgh and New York respectively.

While Butcher and Kerfoot are exciting players, and should sign within a few days of becoming free agents we will have to wait for one more day before anything can be officially announced. For now, they’re still tied to the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils.

*Note: Kerfoot actually could have used the method described in Petersen’s case to become a free agent last summer, since he played an additional season in the BCHL after being selected by the Devils in 2012. For ease of reading we did not include all of the CBA provisions, but if you’d like to read more about why his rights are held through and including August 15th, check out Section 8.6(c)(iii). 

Early Notes: Chychrun, Lack, Zadorov

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Jakob Chychrun’s season was put at risk when he suffered a knee injury in his offseason training that required surgery earlier this month. He wasn’t given a timeline, and the team announced just that the young defender was “out indefinitely.” While new Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet still wouldn’t give a specific time frame, he did tell NHL Network that Chychrun will be back this season.

He’s just a beast. If this happened to somebody else, you might have a guy who’s out for the year.

Chychrun has long been known for his elite strength and conditioning, and it was part of what made him a first-round pick in the 2016 draft. A comeback will be an important part of any Coyotes season, as the team expects to compete this year for a playoff spot. After suiting up for 68 games in his rookie season, a big step forward was expected this year.

  • Eddie Lack knew he’d be sent out of town after the Carolina Hurricanes traded for and signed Scott Darling. Lack tells Hockeysverige in Sweden that Calgary was basically a dream scenario, reunited with Glen Gulutzan and paired with Mike Smith on a team expected to compete for the Stanley Cup. Lack has just one year left before becoming an unrestricted free agent, and if he can steal the starting job from Smith at some point he’ll be highly sought after on the open market.
  • Though there is still no announcement on a new Nikita Zadorov contract, Adrian Dater of BSN Denver isn’t worried. Reports have surfaced previously that Zadorov had already agreed to a two-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche, and Dater makes it clear that he won’t be heading back to the KHL.

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