Jacob Trouba Not Happy With Winnipeg’s Defense Jam
Jacob Trouba‘s agent Kurt Overhardt spoke to TSN 1290 Winnipeg’s Hustler and Lawless today to expand on his client’s trade request. Among the clarifications offered the by the agent, the most significant was that Trouba does not feel that he can progress as a right-handed shot in the Jets’ lineup.
Overhardt told the radio hosts that his client was dissatisfied with the current roster situation and cited the fact that Trouba does not want to play on the left side just to garner adequate playing time. The agent states that Trouba cannot realize his potential in this system because he cannot play his natural position. The Jets have two significant right-handed defenseman in Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers, and Trouba thinks that those two are stifling his playing time on the right side.
More telling, however, is that the agent referenced a move to bring in a skilled defenseman last year that created the problem. That move is most likely the Evander Kane trade with Buffalo that brought back Tyler Myers. Trouba was likely asked to change sides to accomodate Myers, and that may have hampered his production. Overhardt then alluded that Trouba’s exit interviews last season exacerbated the situation—most likely by refusing to move Myers to the left side.
Some defenseman can play both sides, but most have a definite preference. Trouba’s production noticeably suffered since Myers’s arrival. The defenseman scored only 6P in 24 games in 2014-15 after Myers arrived on March 12, and then scored 8 less points in 16 more games than in his rookie season. It is possible that Trouba is just not developing as anticipated, but the player thinks the club and its roster situation is hampering his production, and that is why he is asking for a trade.
Theo Peckham Signs With ECHL Rapid City Rush
Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Theo Peckham signed an ECHL deal with the Rapid City Rush. Rapid City is the ECHL affiliate for the Arizona Coyotes and AHL Tuscon Roadrunners. Peckham last played in the NHL in 2012-13 for the Edmonton Oilers.
Peckham started out as the 75th selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, but could not hold a roster position in Edmonton. He bounced between the NHL club and its AHL affiliate the Springfield Falcons before finally playing a full season in Edmonton in 2010-11. There he scored 3G and 10A in 71 games, and racked up an impressive 198 PIM.
Since then, the hard-nosed defenseman has played in the AHL, ECHL, Slovakia, and Denmark before returning to the ECHL Wichita Thunder last season. The season did not go as expected as Peckham did not register a point in 16 games.
Snapshots: Schwartz, Ottawa Affiliates, Burns, Rangers
Although he returned to the lineup for the playoffs last season, St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz was far from 100% healthy when he came back, he told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With a full offseason to heal up, Schwartz feels he has much more mobility in his previously injured ankle now:
“It was pretty locked up, so you’ve got to get a lot of soft-tissue work and get a little bit more movement and strength and there’s things that you do for that to try to get it back as close as you can to what it was before. It helps skating and all around it feels better.”
Schwartz played in just 33 regular season games last season, scoring eight goals and 14 assists. Despite playing at less than 100%, he fared a bit better in the playoffs, recording four goals and 10 helpers in 20 contests while logging nearly a minute per game more than his regular season average.
With the departure of David Backes and the continued uncertainty surrounding Vladimir Sobotka, head coach Ken Hitchcock noted that the Blues are likely to test out Schwartz at center (along with youngster Robby Fabbri) during the preseason.
Other news from around the hockey world:
- The Ottawa Senators will be moving their AHL affiliate to Belleville, Ontario for the 2017-18 season. At a press conference today, owner Eugene Melnyk confirmed that the Sens have purchased the ownership for their farm team in Binghamton, NY and have signed an eight year agreement. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun notes that the move still requires approval from the AHL’s Board of Governors but that there shouldn’t be any issues there. This will mark the second pending move by a Canadian team already for next season as the Montreal Canadiens announced earlier this summer that their farm team will move to Laval to begin play in 2017-18.
- While the San Jose Sharks and Brent Burns’ agent (Ron Salcer) are in discussions regarding a contract extension, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that talks are not close to being at an advanced stage at this time and that there is no indication that they are nearing a deal. Burns is currently pegged to be the top unrestricted free agent next offseason if the two sides can’t lock down an extension. Last week, we took a closer look at what it might cost to keep Burns in San Jose on a long-term deal.
- Rangers GM Jeff Gorton considered making significant changes to their roster this offseason, writes Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. Instead, he opted to make only one notable trade involving the core, dealing away Derick Brassard to the Senators in exchange for Mika Zibanejad. Gorton noted that the team has had a fair amount of playoff success in recent years and believes that some in the organization have more faith with the current team than those outside the team do.
Lightning Re-Sign Nikita Nesterov
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Nikita Nesterov to a one year, $725K contract. The deal actually represents a small pay cut for Nesterov, who made just under $800K last year although he was previously on a two-way deal while this is a one-way pact.
Last season, Nesterov played in 57 games with Tampa Bay, recording three goals and six assists while averaging 14:53 of ice time per game. He also got into nine postseason contests, picking up a single assist but saw his ice time drop nearly three minutes down to 11:59 per night.
[Related: Lightning Depth Chart]
Nesterov was the Lightning’s fifth round pick (148th overall) back in 2011. In 84 career NHL games, all with the Bolts, he has five goals and 11 assists.
The 23 year old was named to Team Russia at the World Cup of Hockey and got into Russia’s semi-final game against Canada, recording a single shot on goal in 6:47 of ice time as their seventh defenseman.
With the signing, the Lightning have just over $5.5MM in remaining cap space according to Cap Friendly. Of course, the team still needs to re-sign fellow RFA and leading scorer Nikita Kucherov, who remains one of 11 remaining restricted free agents.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
Now we move forward to the sixth pick, which was held by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Blue Jackets selected Vancouver Giants center Gilbert Brule. Suffice it to say, that pick did not work out well. He spent three seasons with Columbus before being dealt to the Oilers for rugged winger Raffi Torres. After a couple of years there, it was off to Phoenix for a cup of coffee with the Coyotes. He is currently playing in this third straight KHL season after collecting just 95 points in 299 NHL games.
With the sixth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Columbus Blue Jackets select? Cast your vote below!
For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.
Devils Notes: Hynes, Palmieri, Schneider, Elias
In his second season behind the bench for the New Jersey Devils, head coach John Hynes is looking to pick up the pace, writes Fire and Ice’s Andrew Gross. Hynes noted to Gross that the trend around the league is moving towards playing with speed and tempo and that the Devils will need to follow suit:
“We’d like to play a faster game, more of a territorial game this year where there’s more emphasis on spending more time in the offensive zone and playing a fast game, getting out of our zone quick and getting up ice and being able to be an attacking and aggressive team. We feel our team is trending that way with some speed and we believe our core main players can play that way so we’re trying to influx that into how we want to play and be more of an aggressive, attacking team over the course of a 60-minute game. “
The Devils were somewhat busy this offseason, highlighted by the trade of defenseman Adam Larsson to Edmonton in exchange for Taylor Hall to give them a legitimate top line winger. They also added forwards Beau Bennett and Vernon Fiddler as well as defenseman Ben Lovejoy, giving them several new faces in their lineup heading into the season.
[Related: Devils Depth Chart]
Other notes from New Jersey:
- In the same article, Hynes mentioned to Gross that right winger Kyle Palmieri and goaltender Cory Schneider, who represented Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey, are expected to return to practice either Wednesday or Thursday after receiving some time off to rest following the tournament.
- There is still no timetable for unrestricted free agent left winger Patrik Elias to decide whether he will return to the Devils this season but as Gross notes in a separate piece, the 40 year old is with the team and is taking part in team meetings. Elias is skating on his own as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery. He is their all-time leading scorer with 1,025 points in 1,240 games and has only played for New Jersey in his career.
Marian Gaborik Suffers Injury, Out Eight Weeks
Kings left winger Marian Gaborik suffered a leg injury in Sunday’s Team Europe victory over Sweden at the World Cup of Hockey and left practice today on crutches, head coach Ralph Krueger told reporters, including Postmedia’s Michael Traikos. GM Dean Lombardi told Helene Elliott of the LA Times that Gaborik is expected to miss eight weeks as a result of the injury.
Gaborik has a pair of goals in four games so far at the tournament, ranking him fourth on Europe’s team in scoring. He is no stranger to the injury bug, missing considerable time over the years with various ailments and has only completed a full 82-game season once in his 15 year career.
Last season, the 34 year old played in 54 games with Los Angeles, scoring 12 goals while adding 10 assists; his 22 points were a career low as was his average ice time which came in at 14:57 per game. He missed 28 games due to a knee injury at the end of the year, one that also caused him to miss the beginning of the playoffs.
[Related: Kings Depth Chart]
Gaborik has five years remaining on his current contract with a cap hit of $4.875MM and is expected to be a top six forward for the Kings when he’s able to return to their lineup.
Islanders Sign Steve Bernier To Tryout Deal
The New York Islanders have signed unrestricted free agent right winger Steve Bernier to a PTO contract, reports Newsday’s Arthur Staple (via Twitter). The team also signed forward Connor Jones and defenseman Patrick Cullity to tryout deals; both players played in New York’s minor league system last season and are already signed to minor league deals for 2016-17.
Bernier played a sparing role with the Islanders last season, playing in just 24 games, notching a goal and five assists after making the team off a PTO last year. He also suited up in six playoff contests, being held off the scoresheet. However, he’s only one year removed from a 16 goal, 32 point campaign with the Devils.
Bernier has bounced around in his career, spending time in six different organizations since being a first rounder of San Jose back in 2003. He has 633 NHL games under his belt, scoring 105 goals while adding 125 assists.
If he were to crack the roster once again, it’s likely that he would reprise his role as an injury fill-in/depth forward. He earned $750K last year with New York and would likely earn a similar amount if he can secure a contract.
[Related: Islanders Depth Chart]
Bernier isn’t the only veteran forward in camp looking for a spot as Stephen Gionta inked a PTO last month. Coincidentally, the two were teammates in the past with New Jersey.
Many players have signed tryout deals as they look to earn an NHL roster spot. Keep track of who has signed where with our Invite Tracker.
World Cup Snapshots: USA National Team, Getzlaf, Krueger
Coming off a tremendously disappointing World Cup appearance, the USA National Team appears to be on the precipice of making some changes. Craig Custance broke down the World Cup roster’s chances of returning, should the NHL participate in the 2018 Olympics (ESPN Insiders link).
The obvious returning players, according to Custance, are Patrick Kane, Ryan Suter, Ryan McDonagh, John Carlson, and goalie Cory Schneider.
The “bubble” players are Joe Pavelski, Blake Wheeler, Ryan Kesler, Dustin Byfuglien, T.J. Oshie, and Ben Bishop. These guys will be in the conversation to appear in the red, white, and blue in two years.
Jonathan Quick headlines the “thank you for your service” category. Quick’s play sunk the Americans at the World Cup, with an 0.836 SV% and a 3.56 GAA in two games. The other notable players who Custance believes have played their last game for the USA at the national level are Zach Parise and Max Pacioretty, among the rest of the roster. Parise and Pacioretty have not performed well in best-on-best tournaments recently, and will need big efforts to survive the coming youth movement.
- Ahead of the first game of the World Cup Final on Tuesday night, Team Canada forward Ryan Getlzaf is taking a maintenance day. Claude Giroux is taking his place alongside John Tavares and Steven Stamkos on the Canadian “third line”. He’s not expected to miss any of the final. Other than Getzlaf, the Canadians have not made any lineup changes.
- Before the World Cup began, Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger said any team who wants to beat Canada will need a “magical day” and a “world-class goaltending performance”. TSN’s Frank Seravalli believes Krueger is the secret weapon that Europe will need to utilize to defeat Canada, citing Krueger’s defeat of Canada in the 2006 Olympics prior to joining the Canadian front office for Sochi. Canada GM Doug Armstrong said Europe is a big story, and “shame on [Canada] if we don’t take them seriously for what they’ve done to this point.”
Bruins Sign Brad Marchand To Long-Term Extension
It’s been a great week for Brad Marchand.
He’s playing on Canada’s top line at the World Cup, and now the Boston Bruins forward has some contract security.
According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Marchand has signed an 8-year, $49MM extension. That works out to $6.125MM per season, a notable increase from Marchand’s current AAV of $4.5MM.
ESPN’s Craig Custance reports Marchand will have a full no-move for the first five seasons on the deal, before changing to a limited no-trade clause. As well, $24MM of the contract is paid via signing bonuses, according to CapFriendly.
Contract-wise, recent comparable players include Mark Scheifele, Sean Monahan, Nathan MacKinnon, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, and Kyle Okposo. Marchand is entering the prime of his career, and looks to live up to his new deal.
Marchand scored 37 goals and 61 points in 77 games last season, playing on the Bruins top line with Patrice Bergeron and now former-Bruin Loui Eriksson.