Minor Transactions: 6/27/16
Here is where we’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions:
- The Penguins announced the re-signing of D Tim Erixon to a one year, two-way contract that will pay him the league minimum $575,000 at the NHL level. Erixon spent all of last year with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after coming over as part of the Phil Kessel trade last offseason. He last suited up in the NHL with Toronto in 2014-15.
- Edmonton announced the re-signing of F Iiro Pakarinen to a one year contract. Oilers radio voice Bob Stauffer reports it’s a one-way pact worth $725,000. He played in 63 games with the Oilers last season, picking up 5 goals and 8 assists.
- Vancouver announced they have re-signed F Emerson Etem to a one year, one-way contract worth $775,000. Etem played in 39 games split between the Canucks and Rangers, scoring 7 goals and 5 assists.
- Anaheim re-signed F Corey Tropp to a two year contract and G Dustin Tokarski to a one year deal, according to the team’s Twitter page. Tropp will have an NHL cap hit of $625,000 and Tokarski a $600,000 cap hit, reports Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register.
- Calgary Flames prospect Pavel Karnaukhov will play in the KHL after spending two years with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. The Flames drafted Karnaukhov 136th overall in the 5th round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Last season he scored 12G and 31P in 49 games for the Hitmen.
Players Not Receiving Qualifying Offers
Several players will not be receiving qualifying offers by Monday afternoon’s deadline. Here’s a breakdown of those who will be let go that haven’t already been reported:
- The Kings will not issue qualifying offers to G Patrik Bartosak, D Alex Roach, or F Maxim Kitsyn, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider.
- Forwards James Wright and Justin Vaive will not be qualified by the Islanders, Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports. The 26 year old Wright has 146 games of NHL experience between Tampa Bay and Winnipeg.
- The Rangers will not tender qualifying offers to forwards Luke Adam, Chris McCarthy, Josh Nichols, and Michael St. Croix as well as defensemen Michael Kantor and Samuel Noreau according to Newsday’s Steve Zipay.
- Winnipeg has made qualifying offers to all of their restricted free agent with the exception of F Austen Brassard, reports TSN’s Gary Lawless.
- Dallas announced that they did not issue qualifying offers to forwards Emil Molin and Warren Peters as well as D Troy Vance.
- Tampa Bay issued a list of players who received a qualifying offer. Missing from that list is F David Broll which means he will become a UFA on Friday.
- The Canadiens issued qualifying offers to three players. Not getting one were defensemen Mac Bennett, Darren Dietz, and Morgan Ellis plus forwards Michael Bournival and Lucas Lessio.
- St. Louis issued their list of qualifying offers. Not receiving one are forwards Cody Beach, Zack Phillips, Ryan Tesink, and Yannick Veilleux plus defenseman Richard Nedomlel.
- Ottawa also issued their list of QO’s. Defensemen Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Troy Rutkowski, and Patrick Wiercioch, as well as forwards Travis Ewanyk and Michael Keranen did not receive offers. Wiercioch was due a $2.7MM qualifying offer and had just 5 assists in 52 games with the Sens last season.
- The Sharks have given offers to four players, reports CSN’s Kevin Kurz. Those not receiving offers are forwards Chris Crane, Petter Emanuelsson, Jeremy Langlois, and Jeremy Morin as well as G Joel Rumpel.
- The Capitals will not qualify F Michael Latta, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Mike Vogel of the Caps’ official website adds that D Ryan Stanton and F Caleb Herbert did not receive offers.
- Philadelphia will not issue qualifying offers to forwards Brandon Alderson and Derek Mathers, according to the Courier-Post’s Dave Issac.
- Boston will not qualify forwards Landon Ferraro and Brett Connolly, reports ESPN’s Joe MacDonald.
- Carolina announced that they did not make offers to forwards Zach Boychuk, Anthony Camara, Dane Fox, Carter Sandlak, and Justin Shugg, plus defensemen Danny Biega, Michal Jordan, and Rasmus Rissanen, plus goalie Rasmus Tirronen.
- Columbus did not qualify C Michael Chaput or D Michael Paliotta, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.
- Buffalo announced they made offers to 7 players and failed to tender an offer to G Nathan Lieuwen plus forwards Alex Guptill, Colin Jacobs, and Jack Nevins.
- New Jersey did not make offers to defensemen Raman Hrabarenka and Jon Merrill plus forwards Beau Bennett and Devante Smith-Pelly according to The Record’s Andrew Gross. As the Devils recently traded for Bennett, it’s likely they’ll come to terms on a new deal before July 1st at least than his required QO.
- Edmonton announced they didn’t tender an offer to D Adam Clendening, forwards Luke Gazdic and Kale Kelly, plus goalie Niklas Lundstrom.
- Nashville issued four qualifying offers, reports the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. Not getting offers were forwards Gabriel Bourque and Cody Hodgson.
- Calgary announced they did not tender offers to forwards Kenny Agostino, Bill Arnold, Joe Colborne, Turner Elson, Josh Jooris, Drew Shore, and Bryce Van Brabant plus goalies Joni Ortio and Kevin Poulin.
- The Panthers didn’t give qualifying offers to forwards Greg McKegg, Quinton Howden, and John McFarland plus defenseman Dylan Olsen, reports the Sun Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov.
- The Ducks announced their list of offers. Not receiving offers were forwards Matt Bailey, Brandon Pirri and Charles Sarault plus defensemen Kevin Gagne and Martin Gernat.
- Colorado cut ties with Sami Aittokallio, Gabriel Beaupre, Trevor Cheek, Dennis Everberg, Joey Hishon, Brandon Gormley, Garret Meurs, Borna Rendulic, and Roman Will, reports BSN Denver’s Cole Hamilton.
- Arizona declined to extend qualifying offers to Kevin Connauton, Jarred Tinordi, Klas Dahlbeck, Sergei Plotnikov, Niklas Treutle, Philip Samuelsson, and Christian Thomas, reports AZSports writer Craig Morgan.
- Canucks sent qualifying offers to all their RFAs except Linden Vey, reports Vancouver Providence’s Ben Kuzma
This will continue to be updated as more information comes in.
Colorado To Buy Out Brad Stuart
The Colorado Avalanche will buy out D Brad Stuart, reports Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The 36 year old has spent the last two seasons with the Avs.
Last season, Stuart only saw sparing time in Colorado’s lineup, dressing in only 6 games, being held pointless while averaging just 14:00 of ice time. In his career, he has suited up in 1,056 games between San Jose, Boston, Calgary, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Colorado.
The buyout will cost Colorado $2.4MM in salary. However, as he’s on a 35+ contract, the Avs must eat the entire cap hit of $3.6MM in 2016-17, with no subsequent penalty for 2017-18.
Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces 2016 Induction Class
The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced their list of inductees for 2016. Gaining entrance to the Hall this year will be:
Eric Lindros
Sergei Makarov
Rogie Vachon
Pat Quinn (Builder)
Lindros was a dominant power forward who played from 1992-93 to 2006-07 with the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Dallas Stars. His career was shortened by concussion trouble while he famously held out in 2000-01. He finished his playing days with 372 goals and 493 assists with 1,398 PIMS in 760 career regular season games.
Makarov spent most of his playing career in Russia but spent parts of 7 seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas, collecting 384 points in 424 games. He led the Soviet League in scoring for 9 years and won 8 World Championships and 2 Olympic Gold Medals while being part of the famous ‘KLM Line’ with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov. His first season with the Flames was so strong that the NHL was forced to institute the “Makarov Rule,” restricting those eligible to win Rookie of the Year to those aged 27 or younger.
Vachon spent 17 years between the pipes for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins before retiring in 1982. At the time of his retirement, he was fourth in all-time wins with 355. Today, that mark sits 18th on the all-time list. He won the Vezina Trophy in 1966-67 for the NHL’s best goaltender and won 3 Stanley Cup titles as well as a Canada Cup championship.
Quinn suited up in 606 NHL games over 9 seasons as a player but is being inducted posthumously as a builder. He was a long-time NHL coach with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, and Edmonton, earning two Jack Adams Awards (for the best coach) in 1979-80 and 1991-92. He had a total of 684 career head coaching victories in the NHL as well as a Gold Medal in the Olympics in 2002.
The formal induction ceremony will take place Monday, November 14th at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario.
Flames Acquire Alex Chiasson From Ottawa
The Senators announced a trade Monday as they have dealt W Alex Chiasson to Calgary in exchange for D Patrick Sieloff.
Chiasson spent the last two seasons with Ottawa after being acquired as part of the Jason Spezza trade in 2014. Last year, he played in 77 games with the Sens, recording a career low 8 goals and 6 assists. In 239 career NHL games, the 25 year old has 38 goals and 44 assists.
Sieloff was Calgary’s 2nd round pick (42nd overall) in 2012. He made his NHL debut this past season, scoring in his lone game. He also suited up in 52 games with their AHL affiliate in Stockton, picking up 2 goals and 9 assists.
Shortly after the deal was announced, the Flames announced that they have inked Chiasson to a one year contract. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports the deal is for $800,000, well below his qualifying offer of $1.2MM.
Coyotes Re-Sign Louis Domingue
The Coyotes announced that they have re-signed G Louis Domingue to a multi-year contract. It’s a two year, one-way deal paying him $1MM in 2016-17 and $1.1M in 2017-18 for a cap hit of $1.05MM according to Cap Friendly.
Last season, Domingue played in 39 games with the Coyotes after joining the team due to injuries, posting a 15-18-5 record with a 2.75 GAA a .911 SV%, and 2 shutouts. His 15 wins set a franchise record for most by a rookie goaltender while he was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month back in January.
For his career, Domingue has suited up in a total of 46 games with Arizona, posting a 16-20-6 mark with a 2.74 GAA and a .912 SV%.
The team is not expected to re-sign pending UFA Anders Lindback, paving the way for Domingue to make the full-time jump to the NHL. He will battle with incumbent starter Mike Smith for playing time.
Penguins Will Not Qualify Justin Schultz
The deadline for teams to issue qualifying offers is just a few hours away and it appears that one player who won’t be receiving one is Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz, the team announced.
The 25 year old earned $3.9MM last season which meant that his qualifying offer was to be for the same amount. That was too rich for the Penguins who already are a team that is largely cap-strapped heading into free agency.
Last season, Schultz suited up in 63 games split between the Penguins and Edmonton Oilers, picking up 4 goals and 14 assists. Those 18 points marked a career low as prior to 2015-16, he had put up a minimum of 27 points in each of his three previous seasons.
The Penguins will retain Schultz’s rights until July 1st and are still able to re-sign him at an amount lower than his qualifying offer if they so desire. If they can’t come to terms, Schultz would enter free agency on Friday as an offensive-minded blueliner in a market that isn’t exactly overflowing with players like him.
As for the rest of Pittsburgh’s pending RFA’s, only forward Dominik Uher will be qualified. Uher has already signed with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga for next season; qualifying him allows the Penguins to retain his rights in spite of his leaving.
Blues Re-Sign Kyle Brodziak
The Blues announced the re-signing of C Kyle Brodziak on Monday to a two year contract. Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the deal will carry a cap hit of $950,000 per year.
The deal represents a $50,000 raise from 2015-16, Brodziak’s first with St. Louis. Last season, he suited up in 76 regular season games for the Blues, picking up 7 goals and 4 assists while averaging 10:48 per game. He also played in 20 postseason contests, collecting a pair of goals.
Brodziak has played in 697 career NHL games with St. Louis, Minnesota, and Edmonton after being a seventh round pick of the Oilers back in 2003, collecting 239 points (105-134-239). He should once again battle for fourth line and penalty kill ice time with the Blues next season.
Red Wings Re-Sign Drew Miller To One-Year Deal
Ansar Khan of MLive reports that the Detroit Red Wings have re-signed forward Drew Miller to a one-year contract extension at $1.025MM. The Red Wings also announced the deal.
Miller was an unrestricted free agent. Injuries limited Miller to just 28 games last season where he had 2 points (1-1). The move is a curious one only in that the Wings are still waiting to hear from speedy center Darren Helm, and expected to make a serious run at Steven Stamkos, as well as other marquee free agents should Stamkos be retained by Tampa Bay or sign elsewhere. Additionally, it seemed that the Wings were more willing to embrace the youth movement they’ve been hinting at for several seasons. Miller would conceivably take ice time away from the younger players Detroit intends on giving greater opportunities–specifically Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Jurco, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Anthony Mantha. The re-signing of Miller could very well be a depth move and nothing more. However, the Wings insistence on playing veterans–despite many of them being past their best years–says otherwise.
Miller is known for his penalty killing capabilities, but brings little else to the table in terms of goal scoring or other production as his numbers have fallen since his career high of 25 points (14-11) in 2011-12. The financial deal is slightly below the $1.35MM Miller earned in his last contract, which was a three-year deal signed before the 2013-14 season.
Snapshots: Blackhawks, Lightning, Vanek, Higgins
The Blackhawks may no longer be in salary cap hell, but they are certainly thinner up front writes the Chicago Sun-Times Mark Lazerus. With Andrew Shaw being dealt to Montreal, both Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen off to Carolina, and Andrew Ladd hitting free agency, the Hawks have a number of open spots to shore up. While Chicago can now collectively breathe under the repressive Cap that has had them selling off parts since the summer of 2010, the casualties have come in the way of losing skill players. Lazerus has the Blackhawks possibly bringing back Brian Campbell, who could carry a $2MM/yr cap hit. Meanwhile, the bottom six forwards would look very different than the pedigree most Hawks fans are accustomed to. Lazerus lists Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann as potential candidates to return, while naming P.A. Parenteau or Sam Gagner as possible options to add in free agency.
In other league news:
- The Lightning have tendered qualifying offers to Yanni Gourde, Kristers Gudlevskis, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Tye McGinn, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov tweets Erik Eriendsson. In the meantime, general manager Steve Yzerman has a number of decisions to make as the free agency window opens on Friday. Steven Stamkos is still the top priority as teams are lining up to make their pitch. But the equally intriguing angle is what to do with goaltender Ben Bishop. Entering the final year of a contract with a $5.95MM cap hit, Bishop was reportedly working on contract specifics after the Flames were given permission to do so. That was scrapped as soon as the Flames acquired Brian Elliott from the Blues.
- Jason Brough reports that both the Canucks and Rangers may have interest in free agent Thomas Vanek. Though Vanek would be a backup plan to the higher tier free agents, namely Milan Lucic and Loui Eriksson, he could be a decent pickup at a reasonable price for both teams seeking scoring help. Vanek had 41 points (18-23) and will see a much lower offer than the three-year/$19.5MM offer he received from Minnesota, who bought him out last week.
- Elliotte Friedman tweets that Canucks winger Chris Higgins was placed on waivers for the purposes of being bought out. According to CapFriendly, the cap hit would be $833,333 through the 2017-18 season. CBS Sports listed Higgins as one of their buyout candidates, and the Vancouver Sun reported the Canucks actively shopping Higgins back in January. Higgins had 4 points (3-1) in 33 games last season.