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Tomas Kundratek Eyeing Return To NHL

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After playing in the KHL for the last two seasons, former Washington Capitals defenseman Tomas Kundratek is currently exploring options for a return to the NHL, according to KHL insider Aivis Kalnins.  The Czech blueliner came over to North America after being drafted in 2008 by the New York Rangers, and would play for the Medicine Hat Tigers and a handful of AHL teams before making his NHL debut in 2011-12 with the Capitals.

According to the original tweet after being traded last season, Kundratek agreed to an extension through the 2016-17 season, meaning he’d need to be released from that deal or have a built in opt-out clause.  Still just 26-years old, Kundratek would be an unrestricted free agent should he be able to come back across the pond, and could be an interesting option for a team willing to take a chance.

In 30 NHL games Kundratek had just seven points, but he showed he was a capable point producer at the AHL level, putting up 94 across 247 games. A right-handed shot, Kundratek split last season between Riga Dynamo and Bratislava Slovan, scoring 24 points in 56 games.

Are Offer Sheets A Thing Of The Past?

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This summer’s restricted free agent (RFA) list is quite impressive, with nine 20-goal scorers and 13 players who scored more than 40 points last season. Forwards Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Nikita Kucherov, Marcus Johansson, and Mike Hoffman headline the forwards; while Hampus Lindholm, Tyson Barrie, Rasmus Ristolainen, Danny DeKeyser, and Jacob Trouba are the top defensemen. Detroit’s Petr Mrazek is the only big-name RFA goalie remaining.  Most of the above players are eligible for offer sheets.

According to Elliotte Friedman, compensation for offer sheets is as follows:

  • Less than $1.239MM (average annual value of contract) – Nothing;
  • $1.239-$1.878MM – Third-round pick;
  • $1.878-$3.755MM – Second-round pick;
  • $3.755-$5.633MM – First and third-round picks;
  • $5.633-$7.510MM – First, second and third-round picks;
  • $7.510-$9.388MM – Two first, a second and third-round picks;
  • Over $9.388MM – Four first-round picks.

With this in mind, teams could target rival teams top young players, with both outcomes having their benefits to the aggressive team: either they acquire a good young player for only picks, or they mess up a rival’s salary cap by inflating the player’s salary.

The threat of an offer sheet was evident last summer, with the Blackhawks trading Brandon Saad to the Blue Jackets and the Bruins trading Dougie Hamilton to the Flames. Both players were pending RFAs and in line for a big raise before being shipped out to prevent their teams from being subjected to an offer sheet. However, this summer has been the complete opposite, with teams taking their time to sign the above-mentioned stars, apparently not overly worried about offer sheets.

Why could that be?

The last time an NHL team successfully acquired a player via an offer sheet was in 2007. Then-Oilers-GM Kevin Lowe signed Anaheim Ducks LW Dustin Penner to a 4-year, $21.5MM contract. The Ducks did not match, and the Oilers forked over their first three rounds of draft picks in 2008. Penner enjoyed varying degrees of success in three-and-a-half seasons in Edmonton before being traded to Los Angeles where he won a Stanley Cup. The Penner offer sheet is most fondly remembered by then-Ducks-GM Brian Burke and Lowe’s escalating war of words which nearly lead to a fist-fight in a rented barn in Lake Placid. Commissioner Gary Bettman was forced to have a conference call with the two GMs to get them to stop.

It’s perhaps this sort of reaction that prevents GMs from making offer sheets. Earlier this summer, ESPN and TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun quoted an unnamed GM as threatening opposing GMs with an offer sheet per year for the next ten years as retribution for a potential offer sheet. There appears to be an unspoken agreement between GMs to leave RFAs alone. There hasn’t been an offer sheet tendered since 2013 when Colorado matched Calgary’s contract with Ryan O’Reilly, saving the Flames from an embarrassing and costly mistake.

So despite several fan bases calling for offer sheets, it seems unlikely that any players will be switching sweaters this summer because of one.

Development Camp Notes: Matthews, Bertuzzi, Pokka

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After two crazy weeks in the NHL that saw blockbuster trades and nearly a billion dollars spent on the free agent market, teams now hold development camps for their young prospects, evaluating what they have and allowing the recent draftees to get their first taste of an NHL organization.

In Maple Leaf camp, much of the speculation has been around Auston Matthews and his yet-to-be-signed contract. With GM Lou Lamoriello being staunchly against performance bonuses, it’s been opined many times that this is the sticking point.  Lamoriello tried to put and end to that today, speaking with Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun:  “We’re certainly talking to his representative. I don’t think this is something that’s going to take long. I have total confidence that he’ll be under contract. He’s an elite player and will be (in the NHL). No one’s going to be rushed here.”

As we outlined this past week, Matthews could earn upwards of $3MM if he were to max out all the usual bonuses given to top draft picks.  Here’s more from around the league’s development camps:

  • Tyler Bertuzzi, nephew of former Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi is absent from camp today due to overall soreness, reports Brendan Savage of MLive. The former second-round pick is the elder statesman at Detroit’s camp as he tries to work his way into a bottom-six role in the NHL. After putting up 98 points in his last year of junior, Bertuzzi made an impact at the AHL level last season, scoring 12 goals and 30 points in 71 games.
  • In Chicago, the Blackhawks are holding camp without one of their top prospects in Ville Pokka, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic. The Finnish defenseman was injured during the World Hockey Championship (in which Finland earned a silver medal), after spending last season with the Rockford Icehogs of the AHL. With 75 points in 144 games at that level, Pokka has turned into the puck-moving defenseman the Islanders hoped for when they made him their second-round pick in 2012.  He joined the Chicago organization after being the centerpiece of a deal for Nick Leddy in 2014.

Snapshots: Stamkos And Subban

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The Steven Stamkos bidding war was ended very quickly by the player re-signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos was pitched by just three teams (Montreal, Buffalo, Toronto) before ending the process. That may be because of the Maple Leafs’ pitch, according to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun.

While teams bringing in big names to woo players isn’t uncommon (Oilers legends Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky were famously involved in the Oilers acquiring Justin Schultz), the Maple Leafs may have gone overboard. Back in June, Simmons reported team president Brendan Shanahan, GM Lou Lamoriello, Toronto mayor John Tory, and Canadian Tire CEO Michael B. Medine all met with Stamkos to sell the Maple Leafs, Toronto, and potential endorsement opportunities. Simmons reported Sunday that after the meeting, Stamkos told his agent that he didn’t want any more meetings and he wanted to speak with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman. He was officially re-signed two days after his meeting in Toronto.

Other notes from around the league:

  • It was reported shortly after the P.K. Subban/ Shea Weber trade on June 29 that Nashville Predators would not honor Subban’s no-trade clause (NTC). Vice Sports columnist Sean McIndoe explored the bizarre rule that allowed the Predators to nix the clause one day before it was supposed to come into effect. Essentially, the CBA rules state that those clauses are binding to the acquiring team, unless the clause hasn’t come into effect yet. An NTC is often a hard-fought-for part of a contract, with players sometimes taking concessions on salary or term in order to get it. However, its doubtful that Subban made any concessions to get one, considering he will make $9MM per year until 2022. And while its also unlikely that the Predators will trade their new superstar, Subban would have no say if they decided to move him out before the end of his contract. Our Mike Furlano has previously explained no-trade and no-move clauses in more depth.
  • Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin told NHL.com that he has stayed away from reading media reports about the Subban trade, saying fans and media are guessing at what goes on behind the scenes. The Canadiens GM says he wants to “unplug” after a tough season. Bergevin also spoke about comparisons between the Patrick Roy trade and the Subban one, saying Roy won “two Stanley Cups … I’ve always believed that winning a Stanley Cup changes everything”.

Free Agent Profile: Kyle Quincey

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One of the best remaining defensive options available on the open market, Kyle Quincey is somewhat of a tragic tale.  After being selected in the fourth round by Detroit, he slowly crawled towards the NHL but could never establish himself on the Red Wings’ blueline. It took a waiver claim by Los Angeles – then a bottom-feeder of the NHL – to give him his chance, and he ran with it.

Playing in 72 games for the Kings that year, Quincey put up what would turn out to be a career-high 38 points, including a whopping 25 assists on the powerplay. Though he wasn’t considered an excellent offensive defenseman, the Kings just didn’t have many other options then – a 19-year old Drew Doughty was still learning the game, and Jack Johnson was injured for much of the season.

In July of that year, still rehabbing a herniated disc that cut short his season, Quincey was the centerpiece in a deal with the Avalanche for Ryan Smyth, a key member in the turnaround the Kings experienced a year later. In joining Colorado, Quincey – still just 24 – was on his third team already in his young career.

Colorado wouldn’t keep him around very long either, as they dealt the young blueliner back to his original Detroit Red Wings mid-season in 2011-12 (via Tampa Bay, who received a first-round pick in the transaction).  He was back with the team who wouldn’t give him a chance in the first place, and immediately saw his numbers plummet again.  He’d see the ice 36 times in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, but only logged three points all season.

Still, the Red Wings thought of him enough to hand him a two-year, $8.5MM deal on July 1st of 2014, even though he qualified as an unrestricted free agent and could have chosen anywhere else (that would have him).

Now, with that deal expired, the Red Wings have shown no interest in keeping Quincey around, and have moved on to other options.  He now represents one of the best options left available, if you believe his early career success can be replicated in any way.

Potential Suitors

Before free agency started, we had Quincey on our Top 50 UFA list going to the Minnesota Wild, and it still seems to be a fit, though there has been no discussion about the 30-year old thus far in the media. Having given deals to both Eric Staal and Chris Stewart as they try to rebuild there value, it’s clear the team is willing to try and re-energize former stars on short-term deals.

Another possibility would be that of the Edmonton Oilers, despite already bringing in Adam Larsson and Mark Fraser. Though they look to have too many (luke-warm) bodies already, expect a few of them to be shipped out by the start of the season. If the team is committed to rebuilding a blueline that was horrible last year, Quincey could be a nice option on a bottom pairing to help some of the youngsters (Darnell Nurse, Jordan Oesterle or Brandon Davidson) develop into legitimate NHL defensemen.

Expected Contract

Needing to rebuild his value, Quincey will probably take a fairly low number on a short-term deal to prove that he’s still an effective NHL blueliner.  With advanced metrics disliking his play the last few seasons, he looks to be in the same boat as fellow unsigned free agent Kris Russell, in that teams are moving towards possession-based metrics, especially for their defense.

The thing that Quincey has going for him, is that he was once regarded positively in this manner, and with a change of scenery and correct role he could be again.  Only 30 years old, he’ll try to secure as much as Roman Polak did for the Leafs (one year, $2.25MM), but – amazingly – might not even get that.

Kings Sign Derek Forbort To Two-Year Deal

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According to General Fanager, the Los Angeles Kings have signed restricted free agent Derek Forbort to a two-year, two-way deal that will see him earn $650K per season in the NHL.  Forbort was coming off his entry-level contract after being selected fifteenth overall in the 2010 draft.

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Forbort went to the University of North Dakota after being drafted before making his professional debut in 2013, getting into six games with the Manchester Monarchs. In the three seasons following, Forbort has been a mainstay on the AHL blueline (which this season moved to Ontario, California) and got his first taste of the NHL when he finally made his debut this past year.

After being called up but never dressed in 2014-15, Forbort was the last player from the first round of the 2010 draft to make his NHL debut, a full 1939 days later. In the 14 games that he played this season for Los Angeles, the 6’4″ defenseman scored just two points in barely over eleven minutes a night.

He’ll try now to prove that he deserves another shot in the NHL, but has to go through a deep, proven group on the Kings’ back end. Even so, the guaranteed $550K over the two seasons isn’t a bad check for an AHL player.

Evgeny Medvedev Heading Back To Russia

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After being lured out of the KHL for just a single season, Evgeny Medvedev is headed back, reports Brennan Klak of The Hockey Writers.  The 33-year old Medvedev was signed last summer to a one-year, $3MM deal with the Philadelphia Flyers after spending his entire career up to then with Kazan of the KHL.

Medvedev played in 45 games last season for the Flyers, missing time as a healthy scratch and with a concussion early in the season. His play suffered upon returning, and he never got back to the form he showed early on, limiting his contribution to just 13 points on the season.

He’ll be returning to his homeland, but it’ll be in an unfamiliar locker room, as Klak reports that he’ll sign on with Avangard Omsk this time around, the same team that signed former NHL forward Derek Roy earlier today. The team went 33-14 last season, but lost in the second round of the playoffs. Medvedev will join Roy and Martin Erat as veterans with NHL experience as they try to make it back to the KHL playoffs next season.

Free Agent Profile: Kris Versteeg

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While he has bounced around a lot in recent years, Kris Versteeg has been a productive forward wherever he has been.  Despite that, he hasn’t received a whole lot of attention in free agency so far.  Here is a closer look at his situation.

Versteeg has been a hockey nomad lately, having played for six different teams since 2010.  Part of the reason for that has been his contract; he’s coming off a deal that paid him an average of $4.4MM per season, which, at the time the deal was signed, was higher end second line money.  Also Versteeg has long been viewed as an extra complementary piece and not part of a core that a team can build around.  Those players tend to bounce from team to team over the years.

Despite being on a different squad almost annually, Versteeg has been pretty steady when it comes to production.  Injuries and the lockout cost him most of 2012-13 but aside from that, he has put up at least 34 points every year since 2008-09.  Last season, he played in 77 games split between Carolina and Los Angeles, collecting 15 goals and 23 assists while averaging 15:23 per game.  Basically, lower end second line production.

So why hasn’t the 30 year old garnered much interest so far?  At just 5’11, he’s on the smaller side which can scare off teams and has slowed down a bit in recent years.  He’s also only a year removed from being scratched for nearly half of Chicago’s Stanley Cup run.  The fact he’s coming off a pricey contract doesn’t help either; while a pay cut was to be expected (he made $4.7MM in salary in 2015-16), how much of one was he willing to take in the early going?  Evidently, not enough to pique the interest of GM’s.

Potential Suitors

So far, there hasn’t been much in the way of publicized interest.  There are Swiss League teams that would like to sign him (HC Biel in particular has been linked to him) but Versteeg is prioritizing an NHL deal.  We predicted he would sign with Nashville and they remain a potential fit in a higher end third line role.  Boston and Anaheim still have openings up front as do the Hurricanes, where Versteeg spent most of last season.  Chicago has a bit of cap space to potentially play with if he wants to return there although he’d have to take a below-market deal like Brian Campbell did for that to happen.

Projected Contract

Versteeg ranked 34th on our Top 50 UFA list and had a projected contract of two years and $6.4MM before free agency opened up.  While that would still represent a sizable pay cut, it seems likely at this point that he will need to take more of one to get something done.  A one year contract that would allow him to take another run at the market next season may be the best way to go and a deal like that should come in closer to the $2MM – $2.5MM range.

Pacific Notes: Bernier, Gaudreau, Yakupov

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Goaltender Jonathan Bernier was surprised to learn he had been traded but was quite pleased to learn of the deal, he told reporters on a conference call on Friday.  As Eric Stephens of the OC Register writes, the fact that the Ducks decided to pass on many of the other backup goalies that went elsewhere in free agency is a sign that they think Bernier is a class above them.

Bernier has played in at least 38 games in each of the last three seasons which would be of particular interest to them given that their starting netminder, John Gibson, has a career high of just 40 games in a single NHL campaign.  The fact that Bernier can handle closer to a starters workload would certainly have been appealing to Ducks GM Bob Murray.

With Anaheim, Bernier will be reunited with his first head coach with the Leafs, Randy Carlyle.  Interestingly enough, the 27 year old played his best hockey with Toronto under Carlyle, posting a 2.70 GAA and a .922 SV% in 55 games in 2013-14.  The Ducks undoubtedly are hoping the change of scenery and former bench boss will help Bernier reignite his game.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Flames RFA winger Johnny Gaudreau provided a brief update on his contract talks in an interview with SportsRadio 914WIP on Friday, transcribed by Darren Haynes on his From 80 Feet Above blog. Gaudreau classified talks as “inching along” and noted that Calgary’s GM Brad Treliving had been busy with the World Championships, the draft, and free agency.  He anticipates that talks should pick up as the summer progresses.  There is no real rush or risk for either side here as Gaudreau is ineligible for arbitration, nor can he receive an offer sheet as he doesn’t have the required amount of pro years of experience to be eligible for one.  In 2015-16, Gaudreau posted 30 goals and 48 assists in 79 games, good for a tie for sixth overall in league scoring.
  • While many anticipate Edmonton winger Nail Yakupov will eventually be moved this offseason, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal argues that the former first overall pick should receive one more chance before the Oilers move him. Yakupov’s practice habits were called into question last season which is partly to blame for his career low 23 points in 60 games last season but he also spent a third of his ice time alongside Mark Letestu, who is more of a fourth liner than a third liner at this stage of his career.  Staples suggests that the spurts of strong offensive production could become more common if he can find the right centre to play with and that the Oilers may as well try to make it work with him since they haven’t found a taker for him yet.

Latest On The Devils And Patrik Elias

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While New Jersey GM Ray Shero noted earlier this week that they may not be too active in free agency the rest of the offseason in order to keep some spots open for their youngsters, one potential exception to that is long-time Devil Patrik Elias.  Shero told Chris Ryan of NJ.com that the team is still in contact with his agent Allan Walsh as recently as a couple of days ago to check in on how Elias’ recovery from offseason knee surgery on May 11th is going.

Whether a deal or not gets done is dependent on how his rehab goes over the next couple of months.  Elias has indicated to the Devils that he would like to return for one final season and also that he only wants to play with New Jersey.

Elias missed all but 16 games last season due to knee problems.  He was still fairly productive in those games, picking up a pair of goals with six assists while logging just 15:26 per game.  Elias was still a key member of the Devils throughout the year as they kept him around for team meetings and to mentor their younger players, a role he would likely reprise if he is brought back for next season.

The 40 year old Elias has played parts of 20 NHL seasons, all with the Devils after being drafted in the second round (51st overall) in the 1994 draft.  He has a total of 408 goals and 617 assists in 1,240 games in that span and is New Jersey’s all-time franchise leader in goals, assists, points, and shots on goal.

Elias earned $5.5MM last season and would undoubtedly need to take a sizable pay cut to return to the team.  We ranked him 49th on our Top 50 UFA list with him taking a salary of just $2MM with potential bonuses of $2MM (that would depend on games played and production).

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