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Metropolitan Notes: Fleury, Tavares, Josefson, Merrill

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While the Penguins will be missing Matt Murray for the next 3-6 weeks, they are expected to give Marc-Andre Fleury the bulk of the preseason starts instead of their other prospects that could conceivably start the season as the interim backup, writes Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  Pittsburgh has a quality prospect in Tristan Jarry but they may prefer to give him regular action in the AHL to start the season rather than start on the bench behind Fleury in the NHL.

If that is the case, the team may look to bring in a short-term replacement, likely off the waiver wire.  Pittsburgh has just four goaltenders signed on an NHL contract and have some flexibility on the 50 contract limit so they have some room to bring another goaltender in.  Alternatively, the team has Leland Irving, who played in the AHL last season and has a handful of NHL games under his belt, on a tryout in camp.  If they don’t want to add someone from another organization, they could give him a two-way deal and have him start the season behind Fleury until Murray is ready to return.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • In a mailbag with readers, Newsday’s Arthur Staple expects John Tavares to seek an eight year deal worth between $9.5MM and $10MM per season from the Islanders when his contract expires following 2017-18. Tavares is currently making $6MM in salary for each of the next two years with a cap hit of $5.5MM.  The captain is coming off his second straight season with at least 30 goals and 70 points and led the Isles is both regular season and postseason scoring last year.
  • The Devils are experimenting with position changes for center Jacob Josefson and defenseman Jon Merrill (trying him on his off-side), notes Fire & Ice’s Andrew Gross. Merrill, a natural lefty, has played both sides on the back end over his career while Josefson, who is being tried out as a right winger, isn’t as used to his new position, having exclusively been deployed as a center since joining the Devils.  New Jersey has numerous options on the left side of their blueline including newcomer Kyle Quincey, who just joined the team yesterday so if Merrill can show he can play the right side, that will give the team much more flexibility moving forward.

Predators RFA Stefan Elliott Signs In The KHL

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Predators restricted free agent defenseman Stefan Elliott has signed a one year deal with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL, the Russian team announced (link in Russian).  Elliott joined Nashville midway through last season as part of a three way trade also involving Arizona and Montreal.

Between the Coyotes and Predators, Elliott played in 21 NHL games last season, picking up two goals and four assists while logging an average of 14:10 per game.  He also suited up in 35 AHL games for Nashville’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, where he added eight goals and 11 assists.

Prior to last year, Elliott had spent parts of four seasons in the NHL with Colorado, who drafted him in the second round (49th overall) back in 2009.  For his career, he has eight goals and 16 assists in 84 NHL contests.

Having issued Elliott a qualifying offer back in June, Nashville will retain Elliott’s NHL rights throughout the season.  He will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

There are now just ten remaining restricted free agents, seven full-time NHL players plus a trio of minor league players.

2016-17 Season Preview: Ottawa Senators

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As the NHL season quickly approaches, PHR is taking an in-depth look at each team. Today: the Ottawa Senators.

Last Season: 38-35-9 (85 points), 5th place in the Atlantic Division. Did not qualify for the playoffs.

Cap Space Remaining: $5.98MM  via CapFriendly.

Key Newcomers: Derick Brassard (C) – trade (New York Rangers); Chris Kelly (C) – free agency (Boston)

Key Departures: Mika Zibenajad (C) – trade (New York Rangers); Alex Chiasson (RW) – trade (Calgary); Patrick Wiercioch (D) – free agency (Colorado); Chris Phillips (D) – retired

Player to Watch: Erik Karlsson – the superstar posted an astounding 82 points last season, becoming the first defenseman to crack the NHL’s top-5 scorers since Paul Coffey finished third with 138 points in 1985-86. Karlsson has been the Senators most consistent player for the last few seasons and they can’t afford to waste another season of Karlsson’s prime. Not to mention, one of the final three seasons of Karlsson’s relative bargain contract at $6.5MM. The Senators indicated that they’re going for it this year with the Zibenajad-Brassard trade. Trading a 23-year-old center for a 29-year-old one shows the Senators believe their window to win is opening now.

Key Storylines: Can the club take a big step forward under new head coach Guy Boucher? They’ll need more offence from young Curtis Lazar  and the recently-injured Clarke MacArthur, though that may be unlikely after this most recent concussion. Last season’s major acquisition Dion Phaneuf and Cody Ceci will form a solid second pair in front of veteran starter Craig Anderson.

Which version of the Senators will we see? The 2014-15 miraculous stretch-run team or the inconsistent 2015-16 edition?

Senators’ Depth Chart

Rieder’s Agent Wants Client Traded

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The Arizona Coyotes have played hardball with their restricted free agent (RFA) Tobias Rieder all off-season, and now it appears that the two sides won’t be coming to an agreement.

In an email to Craig Morgan of ArizonaSports.com, Rieder’s agent Darren Ferris said the young winger is “really disappointed” with the team, adding he thinks “it would be best for both parties if they just traded him.”

As Pro Hockey Rumors reported earlier today, Rieder is looking for a two-year, $5MM contract, while the Coyotes won’t budge from their two-year, $4.4MM offer. Ferris called the team’s lack of negotiation “unfortunate.”

Coyotes GM John Chayka said the team was originally interested in signing Rieder long-term, but the two sides couldn’t establish any common ground so they moved on to a bridge deal. Chayka told Morgan there isn’t a lot of “wiggle-room or creativity involved” when limited to comparables. The new GM insists Rieder will not be traded. If that’s the case and the two sides cannot come to terms, then the KHL is likely Rieder’s next option. Ferris said they have received a couple of offers from clubs in the KHL, which he will turn his attention to in the coming week.

Rieder is currently in Toronto, where he’s suiting up for Team Europe in the World Cup of Hockey Finals versus Canada. Coyotes head coach and executive VP of hockey operations Dave Tippett was also taking part as an assistant coach for Team North America. Morgan reports the two men had dinner together earlier in the tournament, but could not make any progress on a deal.

The 23-year-old Rieder scored 14 goals and 37 points in 82 games last season.

Flyers Notes: Schultz, Gudas, Cuts

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Training camp can be dangerous. According to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, Nick Schultz will be out 4-7 days with a ’lower body injury’ after crashing into the boards last night. Schultz is coming off back to back seasons in which he played at least 80 games, and isn’t in danger of missing any time at the beginning of the season.

Penciled into the bottom pairing for the Flyers, Schultz provides a dependable presence on the back end, but won’t provide much in terms of offense. In his entire 14-year career, his highest point total came in at 20.

  • Another defenseman on the mend, Radko Gudas is set to return to game action very soon according to Jordan Hall of CSNPhilly. Gudas say’s he’s pretty close to 100 percent and has already begun shooting pucks with his ailing hand. Gudas, like Schultz, isn’t one of the marquee defenders on this team but does see almost 20 minutes a night in a shutdown role. He’ll continue to get a lot of defensive zone starts, while Michael Del Zotto and Shayne Gostisbehere provide all the offense from the back end.
  • Issac also tells us that another round of cuts is coming tomorrow, after the ones earlier today. Philadelphia trimmed the roster to 49 today, and is expected to take about 15 off that number tomorrow. Eventually, the team will have some tough decisions to make about their last defense spot. Will it go to the big contract of Andrew MacDonald, or does Brandon Manning deserve a real chance? The Flyers open the season October 14th in Los Angeles.

Dennis Seidenberg Signs With New York Islanders

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5:40pm:  The Islanders have officially announced the deal.


12:03pm: TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting Team Europe defenseman Dennis Seidenberg will join the New York Islanders on a one-year contract after the conclusion of the World Cup. The deal, expected to come in at exactly $1MM, is a far cry from the four-year, $16MM deal he was just bought out of in June.  Boston deemed him expendable after multiple sub-par seasons, and instead re-signed John-Michael Liles and Joe Morrow to fill out their blueline. Dennis Seidenberg

Dreger believes there were seven teams, including the Ottawa Senators, interested in the German defenseman, however they wanted to wait until the conclusion of the World Cup to sign him. They’ve missed their chance now, as the Islanders are set to snatch him up and try to regain some of his early-career play.

Now 35, Seidenberg was once considered an excellent shutdown defender capable of contributing 20-25 points per season. A veteran of 758 career games, he’ll be joining his sixth NHL club and look to make it back to the playoffs with the Isles. After a wild series with the Florida Panthers which featured less than steller defensive play, perhaps Seidenberg can add some consistency to a back-end led by high-flying Nick Leddy.

For $1MM Seidenberg is worth the gamble – just like fellow veteran defenseman Kyle Quincey signed today. The Islanders can now surround their young back-end with a once dependable veteran who has a ton of playoff experience.

Latest On Rickard Rakell

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In a series of tweets Wednesday evening, Bob McKenzie shed some light on the status of restricted free agent Rickard Rakell.  Still unsigned, Rakell has been rehabbing from appendectomy surgery performed in September, and is still unable to skate or work out, though he’s expected to get back on the ice in another week.

While the young forward is rehabbing, McKenzie reports that there is an ongoing dialogue between his camp and the Ducks; a promising sign to be sure. From the player side, a contract like the one Victor Rask of Carolina received, $4MM per season for six years, is a starting point though Anaheim does not want to commit that much money to a player who has only 165 games under his belt.

Last season was a breakout for the Swedish centerman, as he increased his goal total from nine to twenty, and estabilished himself as a legitimate top-six player.  While Anaheim doesn’t have any interest in a bridge deal, McKenzie speculates that a six-year deal paying Rakell under $4MM per season is what it will ultimately come down to.

If Anaheim can get him for that much, it would be quite beneficial to both sides.  The Ducks would have their young second-line center locked up long term for a reasonable hit, and would be ecstatic if he developed into the 60+ point player his potential shows. Rakell, on the other hand, would guarantee himself a big paycheck even if 2015-16 was a career high in goals.

Rakell was never the biggest scorer in junior (though he did have very solid numbers), and he was thought of coming into the draft as a respectable player at all facets.  At 23, if he can solidify himself as a perennial 20-25 goal man, he’d hit the open market at 29 with the chance for another big contract.

Snapshots: Cowen, Werenski, Heatherington

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The long and contentious Jared Cowen saga seems to finally have an end date put in place, as the arbitration hearing has been set to determine whether the Toronto Maple Leafs were actually able to buy out the defenseman. Toronto successfully bought Cowen out earlier this summer, but the NHLPA has filed a grievance and contends that they were not allowed to do so, due to Cowen’s continuing injured status.

On October 19th, according to Bob McKenzie, an arbitrator will decide whether to uphold or reverse the buyout. If Cowen wins, he would be due his $4.5MM salary, where as if the buyout was upheld, he’d earn just $750K this season and next.

For the Maple Leafs, that $3.75MM in savings would help the rebuild even further, as they’ve used their financial power to gain assets (or, usually, rid themselves of burdens) over the past few seasons. Cowen underwent hip surgery this summer and won’t be ready for any kind of hockey until February at the earliest.

  • For the Blue Jackets, this season holds a lot of promise. One of the biggest stories will be the debut of Zach Werenski, the team’s top prospect (outside of perhaps Pierre-Luc Dubois). As Werenski gets ready to make his preseason debut on Thursday, he wrote a piece for NHL.com describing the journey he’s taken so far. “I’m trying to make the NHL. It’s a little nerve-wracking, I won’t lie, but I feel confident that I can make it happen,” he writes, being honest with himself and the reader instead of spouting bravado. Werenski certainly seems ready; he joined the Lake Erie Monsters late last season, and led them with 14 points in the playoffs en route to a Calder Cup victory.
  • Still with Columbus, Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch reports that Dillon Heatherington has suffered a fractured wrist and will be out 6-8 weeks. A second-round pick in 2013, he was set to continue his development at the AHL level this season.  Aaron Portzline, also of the Dispatch, adds that fellow prospect Keegan Kolesar has undergone hernia surgery and will be out at least six weeks. Kolesar scored 61 points in 64 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL last season, and will head back for one more year.

Nashville Predators Sign Samuel Girard To ELC

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According to Adam Vingan of the Tennessean, the Nashville Predators have signed their 2016 second-round pick Samuel Girard to a three-year, entry level contract.

Girard, 18, has played the past two seasons for Shawinigan of the QMJHL, turning in one of the finest offensive seasons from a blueliner in recent history last year.  With 74 points in 67 games, Girard led all defensemen in the league and was 15 points ahead of the second highest scoring d-man.

Also adding a whopping 22 points in the playoffs, Girard is an elite puck-moving defender who is undersized and needs to work on his positioning in the defensive end. Weighing in at only 160 pounds last season, the left-handed shooter needs to bulk up considerably before making a push for the NHL.

His offense however, could lend itself to early professional success, as we’ve seen other undersized players flourish at the AHL level. If Girard can continue to put up points 5 on 5, the new analytical approach that is dominating front offices around the game might see him as a net-win, even at the highest level.

Injury Notes: Ekblad, Backlund, Meier

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After sustaining a head and neck injury during the World Cup, Aaron Ekblad has been skating in Florida for a few days now, and has officially been cleared by doctors to return to full activity. Panthers fans everywhere can now release a huge sigh of relief as arguably their best player won’t miss the start of the season.

Ekblad, still just 20-years old, signed a huge eight year, $60MM extension this summer that will kick in after the 2016-17 season. The number one pick from 2014 has already made a huge impact at the NHL level, stepping in as an 18-year old and becoming the Panthers top defender.  Now joined by all-star Keith Yandle and steady-as-she-goes Jason Demers, the Florida blueline looks impressive going into the season.

If there is any downside to the World Cup and seeing the best on best right before the season, it’s this. Ekblad could have easily suffered a concussion and put his season if not his career at risk for the tournament. When coupled with the news that Matt Murray and Marian Gaborik will both miss extensive amounts of time, owners around the league may be slightly more wary of sending their players during the next World Cup.

  • For the Flames, it’s been two straight days of good news, as after Sean Monahan took the ice yesterday before practice, Mikael Backlund was back at it today according to Ryan Leslie of NHL.com. While he didn’t work with the team, he will re-join practice tomorrow wearing a non-contact jersey. The Swedish forward is working his way back from a concussion suffered during the World Cup (one of a list of injured players at the tournament) that apparently wasn’t as severe as originally thought. A return before the season opens would be huge for Backlund, who played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career. 47 points was also a career high, something that Backlund will try and build off of this year.
  • Timo Meier, the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, is still ill and will miss Friday’s game against Arizona according to Curtis Pashelka of Mercury News. While he hasn’t been ruled out of the Sunday contest in Vancouver, the team will take it slow as he nurses himself back to health.  Meier had a tremendous year in junior last season, scoring 87 points in 52 games despite being traded mid season. The Swiss forward has dominated the QMJHL since he came over, including some amazing playoff performances.

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