Arbitration Hearing Opens For Tyson Barrie
The Denver Post’s Terry Frei reports that Tyson Barrie’s arbitration meeting opened this morning in Toronto. After failing to agree on terms with the Colorado Avalanche, arbitrator Elizabeth Neumeier was presented the arguments for both sides.
Barrie’s camp argues that the defenseman is due a one-year, $6MM deal while the Avalanche counter that the 25-year-old be paid $4MM in 2016-17, and $4.25MM in 2017-18.
Frei writes that Neumeier will make her decision within the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, James Mirtle tweets that the hearing could get “ugly,” though there are still some who believe a deal could get done. The Avs d-man should receive a hefty raise regardless of term.
PHR provided an arbitration preview for Barrie earlier in the week.
Colorado Avalanche Depth Chart
Snapshots: Tampa Bay; Las Vegas; St. Louis
News and notes from around the NHL:
- Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is confident that the team will come to terms with RFA Nikita Kucherov eventually, reports Tamp Bay Times writer Joe Smith. The 23 year-old winger potted 30G and 36A last year while making only $700K on an entry-level contract. Kucherov was a large part of Tampa’s success last year, including leading the team in scoring in both the regular season and the playoffs. Yzerman offered no timetable for contract negotiations, but the Lightning GM has an excellent history of managing contractual issues—including re-signing Steven Stamkos and addressing the Jonathan Drouin holdout.
- The St. Louis Blues signed second round draft pick Jordan Kyrou (35th overall) to an entry level deal worth approximately $803K a year. The Blues also agreed to additional games played bonuses of $182,000 a year for the first two years. Kyrou will make $742K base salary for the first two years before getting a raise to $925K. The young forward excelled in Juniors last year, scoring 17G and 34A in 65 games for the Sarnia Sting. Kyrou is 6’0 and only 170lbs, so expect him to remain in Juniors for another year while he grows and develops.
- Las Vegas GM George McPhee is rumored to be considering Kelly McCrimmon for the Assistant GM position, reports Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show. McCrimmon is the current coach, GM, and owner of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. The Wheat Kings won the WHL Championship last season before falling in the Memorial Cup. Intriguingly, McCrimmon’s Championship Wheat Kings featured the projected 2017 No. 1 draft pick Nolan Patrick. Kelly is also the younger brother of Brad McCrimmon, an 18 year NHL veteran who perished as head coach of the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in its tragic air crash.
Jaedon Descheneau: David Desharnais 2.0?
The Bakersfield Condors, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, announced today that they have signed free agent forward Jaedon Descheneau. While he may not be a household name just yet, Descheneau is certainly a player for hockey fans to keep an eye on and could soon turn his AHL contract into an NHL gig in Edmonton.
Descheneau was originally a fifth round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2014, selected after his second season for the Kootenay Ice of the WHL in which he scored a career-best 44 goals and had 98 points in just 77 games. The following season he had 81 points to bring his three-year total to 257 points in 209 games. However, he missed all but two games of the 2015-16 campaign after suffering a shoulder injury that required season-ending surgery. At just 5’9″, Desheneau has received a lot of criticism and doubt due to his stature. Adding into the mix a serious injury, the Blues made the decision not to extend the young scorer an entry-level contract, making him a free agent.
The Condors have now capitalized on his unexpected availability and have added a proven sniper to their roster. In his junior days, Descheneau showed a consistent scoring punch, finishing second only to super-prospect Sam Reinhardt in team scoring in 2013-14 and finished sixth in the entire WHL in scoring in 2014-15. He has also shown that he is capable of a two-way game, always finishing on the plus side in his three full seasons in Kootenay and not letting his size hinder his play in the physical WHL.
If Descheneau can get healthy and add some size and strength to a short, slim frame, the Condors (and by association the Oilers) may have found a diamond in the rough in a young player with offensive instincts and scoring talent. An undersized prospect getting his start with an AHL contract and then developing into a reliable NHL contributor is not unheard of; just ask David Desharnais. A dynamic player in the QMJHL, Desharnais was ultimately still written off because of his 5’7″ stature and went undrafted. After proving himself with the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, he joined the big league club and the rest is history. That scenario does not seem far off for Descheneau and the Oilers. Don’t let his humble beginnings fool you; Jaedon Descheneau has all of the makings of a dark horse NHL star.
Wild Re-Sign Matt Dumba
The Minnesota Wild announced today that they have re-upped restricted free agent defenseman Matt Dumba to a two-year, $5.1MM contract. The young blue liner, who just turned 22 a few days ago, is already entering his fourth year in the NHL and had a career high 26 points last season.
The two-year extension, which pays Dumba $2.35MM is 2016-17 and $2.75MM in 2017-18 for a cap hit of $2.55, for all intents and purposes is a textbook bridge deal. Rather than agreeing to a long-term, expensive extension, which has become the norm around the league, the sides have agreed to a further evaluation period at a reasonable salary. If Dumba continues to develop into the top-pairing defenseman he has been projected as, then he will cash in big after this new contract expires. However, the Wild mitigate some risk giving Dumba a short-term deal that will still leave him as a restricted free agent at its conclusion, rather than committing to a long-term deal at a much higher price for an asset that they are still evaluating.
The signing of Dumba signals the likely end of any further off-season moves for Minnesota. While Dumba’s name, as well as the names of fellow defenseman Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella, have been tossed around as rumored trade candidates, the Wild seem to be set going into the season with a full roster that is under the salary cap and has the makings of a playoff team.
The contract could also set the bar for many other unsigned restricted free agents whose teams would prefer bridge deals over long-term commitments. Examples include Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba, Ottawa’s Cody Ceci, and Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm. With Dumba now extended and off of the market, the trade stock of those players will also increase. Keep an eye on that trio as the regular season continues to get closer and closer.
Snapshots: Kane, Elliott, Mrazek, Hrivik, Gormley
Evander Kane‘s most recent legal woes has led to speculation Buffalo could look to move the talented yet troubled forward. One potential suitor might be the Vancouver Canucks, who are thought to be interested in adding a scoring line winger. Kane of course is a B.C. native and played his junior hockey as a member of the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. Along those lines, Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Sun makes the case the Canucks need a player of Kane’s ilk and should pursue a trade. Meanwhile, Jason Botchford, writing for The Province, takes the opposite position and lists five reasons the club should avoid Kane.
It’s hard to imagine Buffalo being able to find a trade partner at this point, at least until Kane’s legal issues are resolved. For one, the NHL is monitoring the situation and while they say they aren’t considering punishment for Kane, the possibility of such can’t be dismissed pending the results of the criminal proceedings. Second, at this point in the summer most clubs are capped out, making a move to acquire Kane and his $5.25MM cap charge difficult to complete.
More notes emanating around the NHL…..
- After finishing dead last in the league in both save percentage and goals against average, the Calgary Flames completely turned over their goaltending position, dealing for Brian Elliott at the Entry Draft and signing Chad Johnson as a free agent. The duo replaces the combination of Karri Ramo, Joni Ortio, Niklas Backstrom and Jonas Hiller between the pipes for the Flames. Elliott, the presumptive starter, was introduced to the Calgary media Wednesday and wasted little time endearing himself to the followers of his new team.
- The recent signing of RFA Petr Mrazek has pushed the Red Wings to a figure almost $5MM over the 2016-17 salary cap ceiling. As my colleague, Nate Brown, wrote earlier this morning, the concern is that GM Ken Holland has invested too much of his resources in role players and/or rewarding his own to exorbitant contract extensions. While the concern may be warranted, the Red Wings immediate issue is becoming cap compliant ahead of the start of the upcoming campaign. But as MLive’s Brendan Savage writes, the Wings will likely place veteran forwards Johan Franzen ($3.95MM cap hit) and Joe Vitale ($1.12MM cap charge) on LTIR, thus freeing up just more than $5MM in space and bringing the Red Wings into compliance.
- The New York Rangers have come to terms with their lone remaining RFA, agreeing to a new contract with F Marek Hrivik, per the club’s website. According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Hrivik received a two-way deal which will pay him $600K at the NHL level. Hrivik will go to camp and have an opportunity to compete for one of the final forward spots for the Rangers, though it’s likely he will again spend most of the year in the minors. Last season Hrivik saw action in five NHL games, picking up his first career point. In 68 AHL contests with Hartford, Hrivik netted a career-high 41 points and 29 assists.
- Former first-round pick Brandon Gormley has agreed to join the New Jersey Devils on a one-year contract worth $650K at the NHL level. Gormley, selected 13th overall in 2010 by Arizona, spent last season as a member of the Colorado Avalanche organization following a September trade. In 26 NHL games this past season, Gormley notched a single assist and recorded eight PIMs. Gormley looked to have a bright professional future after an accomplished junior career. He played for a QMJHL championship club with Moncton in 2010 and won a Memorial Cup as a member of Shawinigan in 2012. He has yet to translate his amateur success into a regular role in the NHL and looks to be earmarked for depth duty in the Devils organization.
Arizona Stays Busy, Lock Up Stone To One-Year Deal
Immediately on the heels of the Connor Murphy signing, the Arizona Coyotes have inked fellow blue liner Michael Stone to a one-year, $4MM contract, according to AZSports’ Craig Morgan. Stone and the Coyotes had been scheduled to go to arbitration on August 4th but the two parties obviously found common ground and thus avoided a hearing.
Stone blossomed in his fourth full season in the desert, averaging nearly 22:30 of ice time per game. He ranked second among Arizona defensemen behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson, tallying 36 points in 2015-16. The Coyotes drafted the 26-year-old in the third-round (69th overall) of the 2008 draft.
After accounting for Stone’s deal, Arizona is left with more than $6MM in cap space and only RFA Tobias Rieder left unsigned. That figure is a bit surprising given how busy the Coyotes have been this summer upgrading their roster. In addition to locking up their own RFA’s, Arizona has re-upped with Shane Doan (one-year, $3.88MM), signed UFA winger Jamie McGinn to a multi-year deal worth $10MM over three seasons, and acquired pending free agent Alex Goligoski via trade before extending his contract for five years with an AAV of nearly $5.5MM. That doesn’t even include Pavel Datsyuk‘s $7.5MM cap hit which Arizona absorbed as part of a deal to move up four slots in the first round of the recent draft. To still be $6MM under the cap ceiling is an impressive bit of work from John Chayka.
Given the offseason work and the young talent already on the roster, it’s conceivable the Coyotes could force their way into a playoff spot in 2016-17. That’s especially true if goaltender Mike Smith, who missed three months of action last season due to a core muscle injury, returns to form as a quality netminder.
Coyotes, Connor Murphy Agree To Six-Year Pact
The Arizona Coyotes and first-year GM John Chayka continue to put the finishing touches on what has been a busy offseason in the desert. Today the club has agreed to a six-year deal with RFA defenseman Connor Murphy that comes with an AAV of $3.85MM. It appears the deal covers Murphy’s remaining RFA seasons along with at least one unrestricted year.
The player’s agent, Brian Bartlett, first indicated that the two sides were nearing an agreement yesterday.
Murphy, who turned 23 in March, finished third among Coyotes blue liners in points (17) and tied for 2nd in goals with six. Arizona is clearly buying into Murphy’s upside as despite his relatively modest offensive contributions to date, his new contract places him in the company of some more accomplished defenseman. Comparable contracts, according to General Fanager, include: Roman Josi ($4MM AAV), Travis Hamonic ($3.857MM AAV), Jake Muzzin ($4MM AAV) and Mattias Ekholm ($3.75MM AAV). Each of those players posted superior offensive numbers in their platform years.
Chayka recently explained the organization’s defensive philosophy in an interview with Dan Rosen of NHL.com when discussing the acquisitions of Luke Schenn and Alex Goligoski, stating: “Defense isn’t about defending, it’s about getting the puck in the forwards’ hands and getting the puck moving into the offensive zone. It’s about transitioning. That’s the philosophy and that’s been the theme behind the moves that we’re making, let’s get players who can get pucks back and get pucks up to forwards in an efficient and effective manner.”
It would seem then given the length commitment that Chayka and his staff view Murphy as an up-and-comer and someone who can help in the transition game both now and well into the future.
The six-foot-four, 212-pound Murphy was the Coyotes first-round selection (20th overall) in the 2011 Entry Draft. He’s appeared in 181 NHL regular season contests, tallying 11 goals and 32 points while also accumulating 100 minutes in penalties.
Chayka now can cross off another item on his to-do list but still has work to do before calling it a summer. The Coyotes are still working on new deals with RFA’s Michael Stone and Tobias Reider. The Reider negotiations could drag on through the summer as the two sides are evidently not close to agreeing on the forward’s market value.
Red Wings Notes: Holland’s Signings, DeKeyser
While the Red Wings are a good $4MM over the salary cap before the season begins, general manager Ken Holland doesn’t seem too concerned about getting cap compliant by the beginning of the season. Although many writers (mostly local) have remained neutral about Holland’s work this summer, there are a few who have registered their concern with what Holland has done.
Puck Daddy’s Ryan Lambert warns that the Red Wings burned a lot of money on players who were overpayed to either re-sign or sign on to the team. Lambert remembers a day where the Wings only had to wonder how much stalwarts like Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk would want for compensation. Instead, Holland scorched nearly $17MM in salary cap room with the likes of Darren Helm ($3.85MM), Frans Nielsen ($5.25MM), Luke Glendening ($1.8MM), Drew Miller ($1.03MM) Thomas Vanek ($2.6MM), Steve Ott ($800K), Danny DeKeyser ($5MM), and now Petr Mrazek ($4MM). Several of those deals were lampooned by fans, Helm and Glendening especially, for being severe overpayments. Worse, it’s the re-signing of marginal forwards, namely Miller and Glendening, that have caused many to wonder if Holland is slipping.
The Windsor Star’s Bob Duff goes further, revealing that Holland’s excessive loyalty to homegrown players could cripple the Red Wings for seasons to come. Duff writes (via Hockeybuzz) that Holland has locked in an astounding $28.3MM to bottom six forwards. Compare that with top heavy teams like Chicago ($20.8MM invested in generational talents Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane), or Pittsburgh ($25MM invested between Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel). Such an excessive amount promised to players like Helm, Glendening, Miller, and Ott, who combined registered only 51 points, spells doom during a grueling regular season.
Such is the problem in Detroit–as Justin Abdelkader, Jonathan Ericsson, Niklas Kronwall (though he once played up to his value), and Jimmy Howard seemed to have been “rewarded” for being Red Wings. While this strategy worked well before the salary cap, this has compromised the Wings for the future. Not only does it strangle the Red Wings financially, but it also blocks the chance for young forwards Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Martin Frk, and to a lesser extent, Tyler Bertuzzi, from reaching the big club.
Ken Holland, as Duff writes, has painted himself into a corner. Lambert goes further, wondering if the Wings excessive payments will lead to a disappointing season result–especially without an aging, but still very good Pavel Datsyuk. With Datsyuk, the Wings were much better. Without him, well, the results weren’t as positive. Should the Red Wings flounder this season, many have to wonder if Holland will be held accountable. After all, outside of building Stanley Cup teams in 2002 and 2008 (1998 was still technically a core built by Jimmy Devellano and Scotty Bowman), Holland’s work over the past half decade has yielded three second round exits and four first round exits, including the last three seasons.
Unless Holland can pull something out of his hat to acquire a top pairing defenseman, the playoff run might be in serious jeopardy.
- Specific criticisms have also rolled in about Holland’s deal with Danny DeKeyser. TSN’s Travis Yost writes that DeKeyser shouldn’t have gotten the deal he did. Using analytics, and “the eye test”, Yost points out that while DeKeyser is an NHL caliber defenseman, he hasn’t truly grown into the top pairing blue liner that was expected–or warranted by a deal of this magnitude. Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski agrees, wondering if it’s yet another example of Holland “overcompensating” his own player.
Snapshots: Marchand, Kreider, Monahan, Gaudreau
Joe Haggerty reports that the Bruins and forward Brad Marchand are inching closer to a deal and that all signs point to something getting done sooner rather than later. While on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub with Toucher and Rich, Haggerty indicated that while the asking price is hefty, Marchand and the Bruins have a strong mutual interest in one another. He points to Marchand’s recruitment of David Backes, as a paramount reason Marchand is in no hurry to leave Boston. Further, Haggerty writes that the Bruins wouldn’t want to let go of a player who plays in any situation on the ice and is still in his late 20’s. He also points out his knack for goal scoring as 37 of his 61 points last season ended up in the back of the net. While he won’t come cheap, Haggerty expects the B’s to pony up.
In other news around the league:
- Larry Brooks reports that Chris Kreider is approaching the 2016-17 season with a new mindset–one that will get him more on the scoresheet and less into his own head. Brooks writes that Kreider says he “knows the type of player he wants to be.” Brooks recalls a NY Post article last season where Kreider lamented his inability to play well on a given night, revealing a bruised psyche.
Too often, Brooks reports, Kreider was not on the scoresheet and failed to play with “authority,” on the ice. Brooks points to the crease crash with Carey Price during game one of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals as a possible turning point in Kreider’s net presence. Kreider injured Price on the play when he slammed into the goaltender after being tripped on a breakaway. Brooks wonders, as he puts on his amateur psychologist hat, if that moment scared Kreider away from driving harder to the net.
Despite the psychological concerns, Kreider didn’t fall off in goal production (21) and only slightly fell below his 2014-15 numbers, where he had 46 points (21-25) compared to his 43 points (21-22) in 2015-16. Perhaps the four-year, $18.5MM investment the Rangers made with him could serve as another buoy to Kreider’s confidence. - The Calgary Flames are still trying to put deals together for restricted free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan writes NBC’s Joey Alfieri. Calgary general manager Brad Treliving says that there is “no real update there” and that the Flames will keep plugging away to get a deal done. Both forwards are considered the foundation of the Flames offense and will not come at a cheap price, though Monahan did indicate he would take a discount from the fair market price. What should excite Flames fans is that both Monahan and Gaudreau are seeking long term deals–guaranteeing a pairing of high scoring forwards in the Calgary fold for years to come.
Latest On Connor Murphy
While news has started trickling out about the Coyotes’ inability to sign RFA Tobias Rieder, Arizona may be closing in on one of their other remaining unsigned players. Craig Morgan of AZSports reports that Brian Bartlett, the agent for restricted free agent Connor Murphy expects to have a deal done by the end of the week.
Murphy, 23, saw his role with the Coyotes improve drastically last season especially following the trade of Keith Yandle. After the trade, he logged over 22:30 per night (up from 19:50 pre-trade) and held his own against tougher opponents. The bone-crushing hitter isn’t an offensive or possession dynamo, though he did contribute 17 points last season, and saw some limited powerplay action.
Even with the addition of Luke Schenn, Murphy will probably slot in beside another newcomer in Alex Goligoski on the second pairing next season, with fellow unsigned RFA Michael Stone skating alongside superstar Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Obviously, these pairings will be settled in camp, but Murphy will try to continue his strong development from first-round pick (20th overall in 2011) to top-four defenseman.