Vesey Not Expected To Make Decision Before Friday
After all the waiting, speculating and trades that have been part of the Jimmy Vesey saga up until now, it seems as though it will stretch at least a few more days. The Associated Press (via TSN) is reporting that Peter Fish, Vesey’s agent, has told them he doesn’t intend to make a decision until Friday at the earliest. Fish expects a handful of teams to make contact once the midnight deadline passes, making Vesey an unrestricted free agent.
On Buffalo, the current owner of his negotiating rights, Fish told AP that he has a “clear understanding” of the Sabres position, and that his camp is “pleased” with the things team officials have done and said since trading for him earlier this summer.
The Maple Leafs, for their part, are expected to send a group of players to Boston this week to try and woo Vesey, according to Mike Grinnell of Channel 7 News in Boston. The team also employs his father, and drafted his brother into their system in 2014.
While the decision may not come down until Friday, there are sure to be many rumors throughout the week as teams meet with Vesey. The Hobey Baker award winner still has much to prove once the season begins, as he’ll enter the league at an advanced prospect age and without any professional experience.
Snapshots: Alzner, Vermette, Girgensons
After undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia in June, Karl Alzner reports (via Tarik El-Bashir of NBC) that everything is going according to plan and he should be ready when training camp opens. Because the hernia came alongside a groin injury, Alzner is not quite ready to write himself a clean bill of health:
I was working out after the first week [following the procedure], which was fast. The hernia is going to be fine. The only thing is the groin; I’m still waiting for that to be 100-percent.
Alzner is currently the active NHL leader in consecutive regular season games played, with 458 (also a Captials’ record) after only missing playoff games last season. He’ll look to continue that streak as a big part of the Captials defense.
- The Anaheim Ducks added a veteran forward today when they signed Antoine Vermette to a two-year contract, bringing in the recently bought-out center for $1.75MM per season. The Ducks released some of his thoughts on the matter today in a series of tweets, with Vermette discussing their rough play-style: “You play the Ducks, you know you’re in for a tough game. They’re skilled and big. I’m glad to be on their side.” Another tweet from Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register had Vermette saying that he didn’t expect the buyout, and that “at no point” did Arizona bring it up with him.
- It seems as though almost half the teams in the NHL have now been linked to Jimmy Vesey prior to him becoming a free agent at midnight tonight. While once again reporting that Buffalo is still in the hunt, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News gives us an interesting tidbit at the end of his latest column. Harrington thinks it’s possible that the team would move Zemgus Girgensons if they were to be able to sign Vesey. Girgensons is currently a restricted free agent, and is coming off a down year in which he only scored 18 points. The former 14th-overall pick had a much better year in 2014-15 though, when he scored 15 goals and 30 points in just 61 games, leading some to believe he could be a key piece going forward for any rebuilding club.
Calgary Flames Sign Tyler Wotherspoon
While Calgary Flames fans wait with bated breath for word on their star restricted free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, they’ve come to an agreement with a lesser known player. Tyler Wotherspoon has been signed by the club to a one-year, two-way deal. General Fanager reports that the deal is worth $625K at the NHL level.
Wotherspoon, 23, was the Flames’ second-round pick in the 2011 draft, 57th overall. While spending most of the past three seasons in the AHL with the ever-changing Flames affiliate (Abbotsford, Adirondack and now Stockton), Wotherspoon has been called up to the NHL on multiple occasions, suiting up in 26 career games.
Not expected to be much more than a seventh defenseman this season, Wotherspoon is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning that he won’t be able to be shuffled up and down without clearing waivers each time. While he’s not a huge risk to be stolen, it’s probably something the Flames would still rather avoid.
[Related: Calgary Flames Depth Chart]
After re-starting their hearts (“Flames sign” is a good way to get attention at the moment), Calgary fans will now continue to wait for the inevitable contracts given to Gaudreau and Monahan. Both have expressed the desire to remain in Calgary long-term, but with each passing day the fanbase becomes more frantic. With just under $15MM in current cap space, the team should be able to fit both players in without making any subsequent moves.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Hall, Trocheck, Radulov, Gibson
New Jersey left winger Taylor Hall met with local media for the first time since being acquired from the Oilers in June for blueliner Adam Larsson. NHL.com’s Cristina Ledra had a chance to sit down for a one-on-one with the 24 year old. Despite there being speculation dating back several years that one of Edmonton’s top young forwards would need to be moved, Hall didn’t expect it would be him that would get dealt away:
“There were definitely rumors, but you don’t actually think it’ll happen. You get attached to a team and to a city, and I’m sure the same thing will happen here, I’ll have the same connection to this team in a matter of months, but it was just shocking to hear those words and to be traded, but once you get over that and once you start looking at the team and the city and the situation, you get pretty excited, and that’s where I’m at now.”
Hall is expected to be the centerpiece of New Jersey’s attack in 2016-17 after putting up a 26 goal and 65 point campaign with the Oilers last season. He will likely form a line with junior teammate Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri to start next year, a trio that each had at least 50 points in 2015-16.
More from the East:
- Panthers center Vincent Trocheck has accepted an invite to be an alternate forward for Team North America at next month’s World Cup of Hockey, reports Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel. The North American squad is comprised of Canadian and American players aged 23 and under. Trocheck will only be able to play if one of the current members of the team gets injured before the beginning of the tournament.
- Canadiens right winger Alexander Radulov sat down with Alexey Shevchenko of Sport-Express to discuss his offseason (link in Russian). Among the highlights, courtesy of Igor Eronko of Sport-Express (all Twitter links), Radulov turned down more money to stay with CSKA Moscow of the KHL to take an NHL contract. He also noted that Detroit and Florida were other realistic options he considered while he also spoke with the Devils. Radulov was seeking a long-term deal but teams weren’t willing to take a risk on that at this time.
- The Islanders announced the re-signing of goaltender Christopher Gibson to a one year, two-way contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Gibson made his NHL debut last year, getting into four games with the Isles, posting a 1-1-1 record with a 3.40 GAA and a .882 SV%. He also played in 42 games with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, going 19-11-6 with a 2.70 GAA, a .909 SV%, and two shutouts.
Jets Ink J.C. Lipon To A One Year Contract
The Jets have locked up one of their remaining restricted free agents as they announced the re-signing of right winger J.C. Lipon to a one year, two-way contract. The deal will pay Lipon $650K at the NHL level while his AHL pay has not yet been disclosed.
Lipon made his NHL debut with the Jets last season after spending the previous two full years in the AHL. He suited up in nine games with Winnipeg, collecting an assist while averaging just shy of seven minutes of ice time per contest. The 23 year old also got into 45 AHL contests with AHL Manitoba, picking up 13 goals and 17 assists to go along with 80 penalty minutes.
As a waiver-eligible player for the first time beginning next season, Lipon is likely to get a close look with the Jets in training camp, either as a fourth liner or even potentially a reserve player if they fear he could be claimed off of waivers if they try to send him back to the minor leagues.
[Related: Jets’ Depth Chart]
GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s work still isn’t done this offseason as the team still has defenseman Jacob Trouba to re-sign. Trouba is one of 20 remaining restricted free agents throughout the league. Winnipeg has plenty of cap space to work with to get a deal done with the blueliner as they have a little over $9.3MM in room according to Cap Friendly.
Anaheim Signs Antoine Vermette
The Anaheim Ducks have added some depth to their bottom six, announcing that they have inked Antoine Vermette to a two year contract. TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports the deal carries a cap hit of $1.75MM.
Vermette was bought out of the final year of his contract by Arizona earlier this month despite collecting 17 goals and 21 assists to go along with a 55.9% success rate at the faceoff dot in 76 games with the Coyotes last season. As a result of doing so, Vermette will also collect $1.25MM from his former team for each of the next two years. That means instead of being guaranteed $3.75MM for 2015-16 and being unrestricted afterwards (his original contract), he is now guaranteed $6MM over the next two seasons so being bought out certainly worked out in his favor.
This will mark Vermette’s fifth team in his career as he has also suited up with Ottawa, Columbus, and Chicago. Overall, he has played in 910 career NHL contests, scoring 211 goals while adding 260 assists. He also has been a strong player on faceoffs throughout his career as he has won over 56% of the greater than 12,000 draws he has taken.
Vermette should likely slot in as the third or fourth center for the Ducks and also has played the left wing at times throughout his career, giving Anaheim some much needed flexibility inside their bottom six. He joins Mason Raymond and Jared Boll as new acquisitions up front for Anaheim this summer.
[Related: Updated Ducks’ Depth Chart]
The Ducks now have a little over $6.65MM in cap space to work with this offseason according to Cap Friendly. They have two of the 20 remaining restricted free agents in defenseman Hampus Lindholm and center Rickard Rakell.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Coyotes Nearing A One Year Deal With Radim Vrbata
11:45am: ESPN’s Craig Custance reports that the deal will carry a base salary of $1MM while Morgan adds that bonuses for games played, goals, points, and playoff incentives could make the contract worth as much as $3MM.
August 14: According to Craig Morgan of AZ Central, Arizona is nearing a one year contract with unrestricted free agent right winger Radim Vrbata. Morgan notes that the deal could be announced Monday.
The deal would mark a return to a familiar team for the 35 year old as he has two prior stints with the Coyotes. He spent the 2007-08 season there and then rejoined them two years later, spending another five seasons with the team. Overall, he has played in 428 games for that franchise, scoring 137 goals and 151 assists, posting his highest goals per game and points per game rate compared to his time with other teams.
Vrbata is coming off his worst season in over a decade. Last year with the Canucks, he recorded just 27 points (13-14-27) in 63 games while posting an awful -30 plus/minus rating. His struggles came as quite the surprise as the year before that, he had a career year with Vancouver, collecting 31 goals and 32 assists in 79 games.
Vrbata would provide another veteran presence up front for Arizona, a team that is expected to have several young forwards in its core next season. It would also provide them with some insurance in case they are unable to come to terms with RFA Tobias Rieder, who reportedly is at least mulling over the idea of playing in the KHL next season.
[Related: Coyotes’ Depth Chart]
We ranked Vrbata 27th in our Top 50 UFA list back in June. We had him pegged for a one year, $3.7MM deal at that time but this contract appears to have come in well below that.
West Notes: Blues, Blackhawks, Baertschi
With the departures of David Backes (to Boston) and Troy Brouwer (to Calgary), veterans Alex Steen and Paul Stastny are likely to be moved onto the top line for the Blues alongside Vladimir Tarasenko, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Rutherford spoke with St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock in advance of what will be his final season as Hitchcock announced this summer that he plans to retire and turn the coaching reins over to Mike Yeo who was hired as an associate coach back in June. As a result of the roster turnover and pending coaching transition, Hitchcock noted that the Blues’ style of play is going to change in 2016-17:
“This is the first time in five years that there’s going to be a significant change in a part of the system that we play. We’re able to cherry-pick what Minny did. Their team was built the same way that our team is going to be built this year, not really big on size, but a bunch of puck-hunters.”
The team projects to be much younger next year with four players aged 30 or older leaving via free agency or trade but the team as whole is quite experienced as the average number of NHL games per player on the roster is nearly 355, or the equivalent of over four full NHL seasons for each.
[Related: Blues’ Depth Chart]
More from the Western Conference:
- At least one NHL executive thinks that pending UFA college left winger Jimmy Vesey is ‘Chicago’s to lose’, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. The Blackhawks have a top six vacancy that could potentially be filled by the 23 year old and head coach Joel Quenneville hasn’t hesitated to play young players in key roles in recent seasons. With three Stanley Cups since 2010 plus eight straight postseason appearances, the Blackhawks can easily sell themselves as an annual contender, something they’ve successfully done in recent years on the college UFA market with players like Trevor van Riemsdyk, Tanner Kero, and Kyle Baun, to name a few.
- Vancouver left winger Sven Baertschi has no lingering effects from the knee injury he sustained late last season, he noted to Jeff Paterson of The Province. Baertschi played his first full season with the Canucks in 2015-16, recording 15 goals and 13 assists in 69 games. He’s expected to contend for a top six roster spot next year but the Swiss forward recognizes he will need to be more consistent than he was last year if he wants to stay in that role.
Week In Review: 8/8/16 – 8/14/16
The second week of August yielded a shocker in the hockey world as Patrick Roy stepped down as head coach of Colorado. As a result, the team will now have to react quickly to hire a new head coach with training camps set to begin a little more than a month from now. We took a closer look at some of the potential coaching options that GM Joe Sakic will be considering for his next hire.
Elsewhere, it was largely quiet but there were still a few newsworthy items around the league:
Reported Agreement
Radim Vrbata – Reportedly close to a one year deal with Arizona
Training Camp Tryout
James Wisniewski – Will attend Tampa Bay’s training camp
Re-Signings
Reid Boucher (Devils) – One year, $715K
Brian Ferlin (Bruins) – One year, $725K
There are 21 remaining restricted free agents this offseason.
Overseas Signings
Nick Spaling (Sharks UFA) – Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA, one year plus an option
Drew Shore (Flames UFA) – HC Kloten of the NLA, one year contract
Pending Retirement
Shawn Thornton (Panthers) – After 2016-17
Top Pending College Free Agents
On Tuesday, another group of collegiate prospects will become unrestricted free agents. These are players that have played out their NCAA eligibility (or at least have gone four years since being drafted) but have not signed an NHL contract. Those teams hold their exclusive rights up to and including August 15th.
For more details about the criteria to qualify to become an August 16th UFA, take a look at our Capology 101 series.
By now, pretty much everyone knows the biggest name on this list, former Nashville 2012 third round draft pick (66th overall) Jimmy Vesey, whose negotiation rights were dealt to Buffalo in June. There are a handful of other notables among what is a very small group of players who will become unrestricted on Monday. Here is a closer look at the top five available August 16th free agents.
(This list excludes players who have inked a minor league contract with their drafting team such as Tony Cameranesi with Toronto.)
1) LW Jimmy Vesey (Buffalo) – He’s far and away the best player available as he’s expected to be able to step into a middle six role right away with whoever signs him. Vesey collected 104 points in 70 games over the last two seasons with Harvard and earned the Hobey Baker Award for the top NCAA player in 2016. He also acquitted himself well at the World Championships last May for Team USA, picking up three assists in nine games.
Unlike most August 15th free agents, Vesey is here because he chose to decline offers up to this point, not because he wasn’t tendered one which is the more common reason. It’s expected that pretty much every team will express an interest although his agent noted they have already come up with a short list of six teams to talk to. On Sunday, we took a closer look at who may be on that list. Wherever he signs, he’s expected to receive a maximum entry level contract.
2) C Thomas Di Pauli (Washington) – The Capitals fourth rounder in 2012 (100th overall) made big strides in his play over his last two seasons at Notre Dame, capping off his collegiate career with 32 points in 37 games last season. Despite the uptick in his production, he profiles as more of a bottom six forward at the NHL level and unlike Vesey, he won’t be able to step in and play right away. We took a closer look at Di Pauli last month.
One thing he has in common with Vesey is that he too spurned an offer from Washington to get to free agency although he hasn’t ruled out signing with the Caps either. He’s not going to garner anywhere near the hype or interest that Vesey will but he is still expected to have several suitors.
3) D John Gilmour (Calgary) – Gilmour has long been thought of as a blueliner with some offensive punch but before last season, hadn’t really shown it. That changed in 2016-17 as the Flames’ seventh rounder in 2013 (198th overall) had a career year with Providence, picking up 23 points in 34 games. At 5’11, he’s a bit undersized for his position which will scare some teams off but the league is trending towards more mobility and puck movement on the back end and Gilmour is strong in those areas.
4) C Quentin Shore (Ottawa) – The 2013 sixth round pick (168th overall) of the Sens has put up consistent numbers in each of the last three seasons. While at first glance that sounds nice, it also raises some concerns about his development potentially stagnating, at least at the offensive end. Shore, the younger brother of Los Angeles forward Nick Shore, likely doesn’t have the offensive skills to stick as a top six forward at the professional level but will need to work on his defensive game if he wants to make the jump to the NHL.
5) D Brian Cooper (Anaheim) – Cooper, a fifth rounder in 2012 (127th overall), didn’t have the greatest of senior seasons with Nebraska-Omaha but the Ducks saw enough in him to sign him to a tryout deal to finish last year at the AHL level. He got into five regular season games as well as eight of nine postseason contests and held his own on a third pairing role but it wasn’t enough to warrant a contract with Anaheim though. Cooper profiles as an undersized two-way bottom pairing defenseman but may have to take a minor league deal first and hope for a strong first full pro season to help him earn an NHL deal next summer.