Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Aleksander Barkov Wins 2021 Selke Trophy

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The NHL has announced another regular season award winner, this time naming Aleksander Barkov the recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the 2020-21 season, his first time winning the award. The Selke Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and is awarded to the forward deemed to “best excel in the defensive aspects of the game.” Patrice Bergeron came in second and Mark Stone was third.

Barkov, 25, has received Selke votes in each of the previous six seasons, but never finished higher than fourth in the final tally. This year he tops a titan in Bergeron, who is tied for the most career wins with four and Stone, who has now been a finalist twice in the past three seasons even without playing the center ice position. He received 62 of the 100 first-place votes and was listed on 92 ballots, which rank five players. 78 writers had him listed first or second, showing just how well respected his defensive capabilities are around the league.

There’s no question that Barkov is one of the most effective two-way players in the NHL, and his 58-point performance only helped him cement his status as a superstar. That was only his second season scoring at a better than point-per-game rate, but when combined with his defensive prowess it makes for an incredibly valuable player. He also becomes just the fifth player in NHL history that has won both the Selke and the Lady Byng, joining Pavel Datsyuk, Ron Francis, Anze Kopitar, and Ryan O’Reilly.

There were 28 other players that received votes for the Selke trophy. The top-five was rounded out by Joel Eriksson Ek and O’Reilly, the 2019 winner. Philip Danault (6th), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (16th) and Anthony Cirelli (20th) are the other players who received votes and are still alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Latest On Kirill Kaprizov’s Contract Talks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There’s a long list of things to do this offseason for Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin, but more important than anything is getting Kirill Kaprizov signed. The odds-on favorite for the Calder Trophy had an outstanding first season in the NHL, breathing life back into a franchise that was desperate for excitement. Because he took so long to come to North America after being drafted in 2015 and burned the first year of his entry-level contract in 2019-20 without actually playing, the 24-year-old forward is a restricted free agent this summer.

It has already been reported that the Wild have offered Kaprizov an eight-year contract, trying to lock him up for as long as possible right now. Michael Russo of The Athletic wrote a week ago that he didn’t think that would actually be signed, given the hesitation from the player to commit that much of his playing career to the organization. Russo explained that Kaprizov’s camp wants a “clear plan to upgrade the middle of the ice” in Minnesota and noted that it is a “big risk” if the team doesn’t significantly upgrade at the center position.

Now, Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network tweets that talks between the two sides have cooled. In fact, according to Weekes Kaprizov is currently in Moscow and that CSKA of the KHL is still trying to sign him. Of course, just traveling back to Russia doesn’t necessarily mean anything in regards to contract negotiations (in fact, Russo tweets that Kaprizov is there to attend a friend’s wedding and his agent informed the Wild of it ahead of time).

One thing to keep in mind with Kaprizov though is that now that he has played in North America, the Wild do not indefinitely hold his rights. When they selected him in 2015, they could wait as long as it took for him to try his hand at the NHL. The lack of a transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL meant that Kaprizov’s draft rights would never expire; if he wanted to play in the NHL, it had to be with Minnesota unless they traded him. But now that he has played out his entry-level contract and reached restricted free agency, that’s no longer the case. He would become an unrestricted free agent in three years when he turns 27, whether he plays in North America or not.

That makes this summer an absolutely crucial time for the Wild if they want to retain the services of the dynamic forward. Kaprizov scored 51 points in 55 games this season, 11 more than the team’s second-place scorer Kevin Fiala. Joel Eriksson Ek was the team’s highest-scoring center with just 30 points, though 19 of those were goals. The team does have an elite center prospect in Marco Rossi coming up the pipe, but after he missed the entire season with COVID-19 health complications, there’s no telling exactly how long it will take for him to break into the NHL. Matthew Boldy is also in the system but failed to make an NHL appearance after signing his entry-level deal in April.

There’s absolutely nothing more important for Guerin this offseason than keeping Kaprizov in the organization, and Wild fans shouldn’t panic just yet. The threat of a return to the KHL has been used many times in the past during contract negotiations but is rarely actually followed through on. It’s not clear which side this specific case will come down on, but it’s certainly a situation to keep an eye on this offseason.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

at CDT | by 27 Comments

We’re now down to just four teams involved in the Stanley Cup chase, meaning the offseason has started for the vast majority of the NHL. Things are heating up with Dougie Hamilton allowed to speak to other teams, Seth Jones telling the Blue Jackets he won’t re-sign right now, and Jack Eichel still seeming likely to split with the Buffalo Sabres.

With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two pieces. In the first part, Brian La Rose gave his thoughts on the Department of Player Safety, the future of Phil Kessel, and the aggressiveness of the Philadelphia front office. In the second, he gave us a Stanley Cup prediction, shared his thoughts on the Eichel situation, and projected the first few picks of the upcoming draft.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below.

Dominique Ducharme Tests Positive For COVID-19

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The league has made the official announcement concerning Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme, who has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in isolation. The press release indicates that all tests done on players have returned negative, meaning there will not be any other unforeseen absences in tonight’s game.

The full statement:

This morning, we became aware that a test administered yesterday in Las Vegas on Montreal Canadiens Head Coach Dominique Ducharme indicated a presumptive positive result for the COVID-19 virus that was confirmed on further testing today. Coach Ducharme has been partially vaccinated with his second shot administered less than two weeks ago, on June 9. Per NHL COVID Protocols, Coach Ducharme was immediately isolated from the team. All tests administered to the Players, other coaches and hockey staff from both yesterday and today have returned uniformly negative results. The Canadiens organization has, and will continue to follow, all guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, the Canadian Federal Government, the Quebec Provincial Government, and national and provincial health agencies.

While it is obviously a good thing that the Canadiens will have their full complement of players, losing their coach at this important juncture is not ideal. Ducharme will now miss the rest of the series, which is scheduled to go through June 26 if taken to seven games.

This is Ducharme’s first time as an NHL head coach in the playoffs, after taking over from Claude Julien earlier in the year. The team will turn to Luke Richardson to run the bench tonight, assisted by Alexandre Burrows and Sean Burke, according to GM Marc Bergevin. He also indicated that Ducharme is feeling well and will still be involved in preparing the game plan.

Expansion Primer: Pittsburgh Penguins

at CDT | by 9 Comments

Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.

The last time the Penguins faced an expansion draft, they ended up making what in hindsight looks like one of the biggest mistakes in Jim Rutherford’s time as general manager. The team decided to keep young Matt Murray over the more expensive veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, sending a 2020 second-round pick to Vegas just to make sure their franchise goaltender ended up a Golden Knight. All that Fleury has done since is put up a .917 save percentage and win 28 postseason games, while the Penguins quickly moved on from Murray after some injuries and inconsistencies.

Now helmed by Ron Hextall, the Penguins are in another tough expansion draft situation and look poised to lose a good player once again. Perhaps this time they won’t send a high draft pick along for the ride.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:

Evgeni Malkin (NMC), Sidney Crosby (NMC), Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, Brandon Tanev, Bryan Rust, Kasperi Kapanen, Jared McCann, Jeff Carter, Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello, Zach Aston-Reese, Mark Jankowski, Teddy Blueger, Pontus Aberg, Sam Miletic

Defense:

Kris Letang (NMC), Mike Matheson, Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Mark Friedman, Jesper Lindgren

Goalies:

Tristan Jarry, Casey DeSmith

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents

Frederick Gaudreau, Colton Sceviour, Evan Rodrigues, Cody Ceci

Notable Exemptions

Drew O’Connor, Radim Zohorna, Samuel Poulin, John Marino, Pierre-Olivier Joseph

Key Decisions

Just looking at the number of key players the Penguins need to protect it’s obvious that they are not in a great situation when it comes to the expansion draft. That’s what happens when almost none of your impact roster spots are filled by young talent which would be exempt. Of the 22 players (goaltenders included) that appeared in at least 20 games for the Penguins this season, just one–Marino–was under the age of 24. Even he crossed that threshold a month ago but is saved by the fact that he did his developing in the NCAA ranks instead of the minors.

There are huge decisions to be made at each position for the Penguins. At forward, Malkin, Crosby, Kapanen, and Guentzel are easy choices, but even past that it becomes a little hazier. Rust is an important part of the team but has just one year left before unrestricted free agency, which the Penguins may not be able to afford. McCann is also due for a new contract after next season, though he will be through arbitration-eligible restricted free agency and is a strong candidate for protection. That’s six names already with Zucker, Tanev, Carter, and Blueger still to go.

The final spot, if the Penguins decide to protect those first six (which is certainly not a guarantee), could be debated for hours. Carter played extremely well after a trade from Los Angeles and has a long history with Hextall. The idea that he may retire if sent somewhere he doesn’t want to play has been floated out there so many times that the Kraken may be wary of selecting him anyway. Blueger has turned into a valuable checking center for the team and could likely be signed to a reasonable contract, but is also just a year away from unrestricted free agency. Tanev is a beloved bottom-six wrecking ball, but wasn’t signed to that six-year $21MM deal by the new management group and provides very little offensive production. Zucker, for all his skill, is coming off a brutal season and costs $5.5MM against the cap. In a tight financial situation, the Kraken taking him off the Penguins’ hands wouldn’t be the worst outcome.

On defense, there are just more question marks. Letang and Dumoulin are obvious choices for protection, with the former’s no-movement clause taking the decision out of Hextall’s hands anyway. The third spot though is up for debate, with several players potentially grabbing it. Matheson rediscovered his game in Pittsburgh this season, but is on a hefty contract that runs through the 2026-27 season. Pettersson took a step back in 2020-21, but has shown an ability to contribute in the top-four in the past. Even Friedman, who goes back quite a way with Hextall, could be seen as someone to keep in the fold as a relatively young depth option. The 25-year-old actually carries a cap hit less than the league minimum for next season.

In net, the enigma that is Jarry should be the one getting protected, but after an embarrassing playoff performance, there’s no guarantee he does. In fact, DeSmith’s $1.25MM cap hit next season actually looks like a better value contract, especially if the Penguins’ brass is looking to find a new starting goaltender anyway. Exposing Jarry may actually also draw some attention away from the forward group, given his previous status as a top up-and-coming netminder. One thing that might factor in here is DeSmith’s recent core muscle surgery, which the Penguins would obviously know more about than anyone else in the league.

Projected Protection List

F Evgeni Malkin
F Sidney Crosby
F Jake Guentzel
F Brandon Tanev
F Bryan Rust
F Kasperi Kapanen
F Jared McCann

D Kris Letang
D Brian Dumoulin
D Mike Matheson

G Tristan Jarry

Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist

When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined.  Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined.  In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.

Forwards (3): Jason Zucker, Jeff Carter, Sam Lafferty
Defensemen (2): Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel

The Penguins have more than enough forwards that meet the requirements, even if they decided to protect the likes of Zucker and Carter instead of someone else. There shouldn’t be a problem here unless they start trading people out before the draft. The same can be said about the defense, where Ruhwedel will be available basically no matter what happens with the protection decisions.

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

Dominique Ducharme Sent Home With COVID Testing “Irregularities”

at CDT | by 7 Comments

2:40pm: Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that it is believed Ducharme has indeed tested positive for COVID-19 and will be kept away from the team for at least ten days. There has not yet been official confirmation from the team, but it appears as though Montreal will have to try and get through the Golden Knights without their head coach.

9:40am: The Montreal Canadiens were without their head coach at morning skate today, as Dominique Ducharme was sent home after COVID testing “irregularities.” This is the same situation that happened to Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar during their second-round series. Bednar was eventually allowed to coach that evening after further testing came back negative.

As Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com points out, Ducharme is fully vaccinated. That doesn’t necessarily discard the possibility of a positive test result, as there have been breakthrough infections previously. The coach is currently isolating at home, waiting for further testing results.

Montreal will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in game three tonight after tying the series on Wednesday. They obviously would rather do it with their head coach behind the bench, but the game will go on with or without him. At this point, there does not seem to be any irregularities with the player testing.

Snapshots: Eichel, Schmidt, Warsofsky

at CDT | by 10 Comments

Things haven’t really changed in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes, other than to say that talks are progressing with teams around the league. Darren Dreger of TSN was on WGR 550 in Buffalo today, explaining the current situation:

What we know is that the discussions on Jack Eichel have increased over the last week. To a point where I’m pretty comfortable in saying that Jack will be traded. What we don’t know is where. There are a number of suitors, a number of teams that would love to have a healthy Jack Eichel–put an asterisk beside that because we don’t know yet what direction that part of the scenario is headed. But any team that needs a center, I think of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim to some degree. 

Dreger reiterates that the Sabres aren’t just dumping Eichel and will still demand a high price in return. He’s not the first NHL insider to imply that a deal is inevitable in Buffalo, with Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet recently saying that the Sabres want to move on and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic writing that talks were getting “more intense and serious.” It looks like a resolution to the saga is coming and coming fast.

  • It wasn’t great news for Boston University today as 2021 draft prospect Roman Schmidt decided to sign with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. That ends his NCAA eligibility and means the 6’6″ defenseman will not be attending BU as expected in 2021-22. Schmidt, who played minor hockey in the Toronto area before joining the U.S. National Team Development Program, was ranked 58th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
  • David Warsofsky, who spent the 2020-21 season with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, has signed with ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL. The 31-year-old has 55 career NHL games but is a strong minor league defenseman, recording 19 points in 22 games for the Wolves this year.

Liam Kirk Signs Entry-Level Contract

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes have signed Liam Kirk to a three-year entry-level contract, according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. It appeared recently as though Kirk was ticketed for a sign-and-trade situation, but Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider has confirmed that there is no trade in place. PuckPedia tweets that the deal will carry an average annual value of $813K, but cannot actually become official until July 28 when the transfer window opens again.

Instead, it appears as though Kirk will get his chance with the Coyotes organization after his outstanding World Championship performance. The first born-and-trained player from England ever to be selected in the NHL entry draft, Kirk was picked 189th overall by Arizona in 2018. He played two seasons with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, recording 97 points in 110 games, before going back overseas last year.

Developed by the Sheffield Steelers organization, a member of the EIHL, he returned there this season and showed just how much he had grown in the last few years. In 2017-18, Kirk put up 16 points in 52 games while playing against men sometimes more than ten years older than him. In 2020-21, he scored ten goals and 20 points in 14 games for the Steelers, dominating the competition on a regular basis.

When he suited up for Great Britain at the recent World Championship, Kirk was able to really open some eyes in the NHL. Playing against high-level competition, he managed to score seven goals, tied for the tournament lead, in just seven games. That performance led directly to this entry-level deal, which now allows the 21-year-old to test himself at the professional level in North America.

Offseason Checklist: New York Rangers

at CDT | by 18 Comments

The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league missing the playoffs and several more having since been eliminated.  It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Rangers.

A year ago, it looked as if the rebuild for the Rangers was basically over or had at least been expedited.  Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba were added and a strong performance down the stretch provided optimism for the future before Carolina swept them in the Qualifying Round in the bubble.  Even so, there was plenty of optimism heading into the season but the results weren’t there.  The result was a house cleaning with Chris Drury taking over as GM and Gerard Gallant recently being named head coach.  While those are big items off their checklist, there is still some work to be done.

Round Out Coaching Staff

While they have Gallant in the fold, the coaching staff still needs some work.  Goalie coach Benoit Allaire was retained and, well, that’s it for the current staff.  David Oliver, Jacques Martin, and Greg Brown were also all let go when David Quinn was fired last month and will need to be replaced.  Kris Knoblauch could be a candidate to join the staff on a full-time basis; the AHL Hartford bench boss filled in for six games for Quinn this season while he was in COVID-19 protocols.

Center Decisions

New York appears to be set between the pipes for the foreseeable future.  They have several young blueliners in the pipeline, headlined by K’Andre Miller who had a strong rookie season.  They’re well-set on the wings with Panarin plus recent high first-round picks in Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko; Chris Kreider is also signed long-term.

The pipeline isn’t anywhere near as well-stocked when it comes to the center position, however.  Filip Chytil showed some progression this season but at this point, he looks more like a third-line option than a top-six piece of the future.  Brett Howden was a first-rounder back in 2016 but is going to be more of a role player than a core one.  Morgan Barron certainly has some upside but they’re certainly not ready to proclaim him as a top-six center of the future either.  It’s an area that needs to be addressed and it’s a big one.

It’s not something that necessarily has to be addressed this year but the clock is ticking.  Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome, their current top pivots, are both a year away from unrestricted free agency with Zibanejad looking like a candidate to land a considerable raise on his current $5.35MM AAV.  Strome, meanwhile, has 108 points in 126 games over the last two seasons.  While he has an earned reputation of being inconsistent, that’s still an impressive recent track record and if he has another year like that, he will also be looking at a raise on his $4.5MM price tag.

It seems likely that Drury will at least investigate the cost of signing Zibanejad to a long-term extension while Strome’s file may be left a little longer to see how next year starts out.  However, if they wind up landing a top-line pivot, that player is going to be expensive.  As their youngsters move past their entry-level deals, can they afford to pay Zibanejad market value to play on their second line?  It’d be a great luxury to have but in this cap environment, it might be one that they can’t afford.

In the meantime, expect the Rangers to be speculatively linked to every impact center that happens to become available (such as Buffalo’s Jack Eichel).  The supporting cast is in place and this is the one key piece they need to take another step forward.  With their group of young roster players, they will also be in a position where they could move one or two of those in a move and still be in good shape.  Of course, that’s the easy part of the equation.  Finding the impact center is the much more challenging one with that task now falling to Drury.

Re-Sign Key RFAs

There are several restricted free agents that Drury will need to re-sign but two stand out among the pack for very different reasons.

The first is goaltender Igor Shesterkin.  His entry-level contract has come to an end and he has quickly established himself as New York’s starter.  Having said that, he has all of 47 career NHL games under his belt which is less than a single season’s worth for most number ones.  That’s not a particularly large sample size and his standout KHL numbers don’t mean a whole lot in terms of impacting contract talks.

On top of that, he’s 25 and has salary arbitration eligibility.  With Shesterkin only being two years away from UFA eligibility, it’s not an ideal spot for a bridge contract; while most players coming off their first contracts have four years of team control remaining, New York has half of that.  Meanwhile, if early talks don’t go well, Shesterkin could simply file for arbitration, return as the starter, and then be a year away from being unrestricted next summer where he’ll have even more leverage in talks.  A long-term deal is almost certainly New York’s goal but it may be tricky to come by.

The other RFA of note is Pavel Buchnevich.  Over his first few years in the league, he showed some offensive flashes but struggled at times as well.  However, in 2019-20, the combination of him, Zibanejad, and Kreider broke out and Buchnevich responded with a career year with 46 points in 68 games.  He then did even better this season with 48 points in just 54 contests.  That’s top line production which is certain to be mentioned in contract talks as the 26-year-old goes through restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility for the final time.  He will undoubtedly get more than his $3.5MM qualifying offer but at the same time, are the Rangers prepared to commit to him long term or could he be deemed expendable knowing that Lafreniere and Kakko are in the wings?  The contract is one thing while who gives it to him could very well be another question altogether.

Part Ways With DeAngelo

While he was dismissed from the team early in the season, New York had to carry Anthony DeAngelo on the salary cap for the rest of the season (minus the pro-rated $1.075MM in savings after he cleared waivers and was sent to the taxi squad).  He has one year left on his contract, one that carries a $4.8MM AAV along with a $5.3MM salary.  Drury may first try to find a taker in a trade first in a swap of expiring contracts but with how cheap his buyout would be, they shouldn’t look too closely at that option.  Since DeAngelo is 25, the buyout ratio is one-third instead of two-thirds.  Accordingly, the cap charge would only be $383K next season and $883K after that.  DeAngelo turned down a contract termination at the trade deadline but it’s all but a lock that he’ll be released this summer when the buyout window opens up after the Stanley Cup Final.

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

Sharks Forward Fredrik Handemark Signs In The KHL

at CDT | by 4 Comments

It will be a one and done term in North America for Sharks winger Fredrik Handemark.  The pending unrestricted free agent has decided to not try his hand in NHL free agency and will head back overseas.  He won’t be returning to the SHL, however, as SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL announced that they’ve signed Handemark to a two-year deal.

The 27-year-old joined San Jose a little over a year ago, inking a one-year, entry-level contract in May 2020.  It took a while for him to get his first taste of North American hockey though due to the delayed start to the pandemic.  Handemark made the most of that time, returning to Malmo on loan and recorded 15 points in 25 games before being recalled.

Handemark made frequent appearances in our Taxi Squad Shuffle posts this season as he was involved in 25 separate transactions over the span of four months.  Despite that, he still got into 14 AHL games where he had four goals and four assists plus eight NHL contests with the Sharks where he collected a goal while averaging 9:27 per night of ice time.

That’s not the type of production that would allow him to command a one-way deal on the open market so instead of seeking out a two-way pact, Handemark will now join one of the top KHL franchises.  If he plays a big role there, perhaps he will be able to get another NHL opportunity when his deal is up in 2023.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top