Hurricanes Buy Out James Wisniewski
The Hurricanes announced that they have bought out the remainder of D James Wisniewski‘s contract. As he had a full no-move clause, he did not have to go through the waiver process like six other players did earlier today.
Wisniewski played in just one game with the Hurricanes after being acquired last offseason for G Anton Khudobin. He tore his ACL in that contest (in his second shift, playing just 47 seconds) and missed the remainder of the season recovering from knee surgery. In order for him to be bought out, Wisniewski must have received a clean bill of health from team doctors.
He was due a salary of $3MM in 2016-17 with a cap hit of $5.5MM. Instead, the Hurricanes will pay Wisniewski $2MM in salary over the next two seasons and will incur a cap charge of $3.5MM in 2016-17 and $1MM in 2017-18.
Wisniewski has played in 552 career NHL games between the Blackhawks, Ducks, Islanders, Canadiens, Blue Jackets, and Hurricanes, collecting 53 goals and 221 assists. He could be an intriguing third pairing option for teams looking for blueline help in free agency.
Capitals Re-Sign Tom Wilson
Washington announced they have re-signed pending restricted free agent Tom Wilson to a two year, $4MM deal. TSN’s Bob McKenzie was first with the report. Wilson will make $1.75MM in 2016-17 and $2.25MM in 2017-18. That sets up his qualifying offer to be $2.25MM in the 2018 offseason.
Wilson was the Capitals’ 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Last season, he played in all 82 regular season games, collecting seven goals and 16 assists with a team-high 163 PIMS (more than three times the amount any of of his teammates had) while averaging 12:54 per game. He also finished tenth in the league in hits with a career high 253.
Wilson also added an assist in 12 postseason contests while logging 12:01 per night.
In his career, Wilson has played in 231 games, all with the Caps, scoring 14 goals and 36 assists with 486 PIMS. He should continue to play in Washington’s bottom six while providing plenty of physical play.
Minor Transactions: 6/30/16
Here is where we’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions:
- Long-time NHL veteran Steve Thomas has been hired by St. Louis as an Assistant Coach, the team announced. Thomas spent the last two seasons in a similar role with Tampa Bay.
- LW Matthias Plachta, who spent time in Arizona and Pittsburgh’s farm systems last season, has signed with Adler Mannheim of the DEL. The German League team announced the signing (link in German). Plachta was dealt to the Penguins at the trade deadline in exchange for LW Sergei Plotnikov.
- New York Rangers prospect LW Carl Klingberg has signed with EV Zug of the NLA, the Swiss team announced (link in German). Klingberg played in the KHL last season, picking up 17 points in 55 games. He last played in the NHL with Winnipeg in 2014-15 and has a total of 12 career games under his belt. The Rangers acquired Klingberg in March of 2015 in a trade for Lee Stempniak.
- The Stars re-signed G Maxime Lagace to a one year contract, the team announced. Lagace split last season between Dallas’ AHL and ECHL affiliates in Texas and Idaho, playing in a total of 47 games. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Washington announced the re-signing of C Zach Sill to a two year, two-way contract. He played in 10 games with Washington and another 63 with their AHL affiliate in Hershey last season. Sill has two goals and three assists in 93 career NHL contests.
Bruins Re-Sign Torey Krug
The Boston Bruins have agreed to terms with D Torey Krug on a four year, $21MM deal, the team announced Thursday. NHL analyst Aaron Ward was first with the report. The $5.25MM AAV represents a sizable increase on the $3.4MM he earned last season. Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt adds that the deal contains a no-trade clause that kicks in for the final two years of the contract.
The announcement comes mere hours after the team placed fellow blueliner Dennis Seidenberg on waivers for the purposes of a contract buyout.
Last year, Krug played in a career best 81 games with the Bruins, picking up four goals and 40 assists while averaging 21:36 of ice time per game. Those 44 points ranked him 9th in the NHL amongst all defenders. His goal total was a big drop from the past two years where he had 14 and 12 respectively but at the same time, he set a career high in assists.
Krug signed with Boston in 2012 as an undrafted free agent. In 241 career NHL games, he has 30 goals and 90 assists. With Zdeno Chara showing signs of slowing down in recent years, the Bruins are likely expecting Krug to take on more of the load and be a top pairing blueliner moving forward.
The Bruins now have just over $17.6MM in cap space remaining according to Cap Friendly. With just 16 players signed, they are expected to be active in the free agent market in the coming days.
Snapshots: Ladd, Blues, Brouwer, Lucic, Staal, Eriksson, Avalanche, Vanek
Thursday is the final day of the free agent interview period before the craziness begins on Friday. The Islanders have brought left winger Andrew Ladd in for a visit, reports Newsday’s Arthur Staple. Ladd picked up 25 goals last season split between Winnipeg and Chicago and will be one of the most sought after forwards to hit the market on Friday.
Other free agent news and notes:
- The Blues will likely look to add a couple of forwards and a backup goaltender in free agency, suggests Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. Louis has a pair of key forwards heading to market in David Backes and Troy Brouwer that will need to be replaced if they don’t re-sign. The team expects Vladimir Sobotka back, but he is more likely to be a bottom six piece while the other two are top six forwards.
- Speaking of Brouwer, he met with the Flames earlier this week and is building an offseason home there, reports ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. In that same piece Brouwer notes that he has also been in talks about returning to the Blues.
- Milan Lucic met with representatives from Dallas, including owner Tom Gaglardi, on Wednesday, reports TSN’s Frank Seravelli.
- Eric Staal has received interest from the Predators, writes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Vingan adds that Nashville has reached out to Ladd as well as Loui Eriksson.
- The odds of Eriksson and Boston getting a deal done by Friday unless things change drastically, writes WEEI’s D.J. Bean. Eight teams have reportedly shown interest in the 30 year old, including the Canadiens.
- James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail suggests Colorado “has something big brewing”. No further specifics are known at this time.
- Michael Russo of The Star Tribune reports that Los Angeles, Arizona, Chicago, and Vancouver are among the teams that have reached out to the recently bought out Thomas Vanek.
The Latest On Brian Campbell
Brian Campbell will be one of the top defensemen on the UFA market on Friday. He has already indicated to Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune that he is “totally fine” with signing a one year contract which, at 37 years of age, isn’t a big surprise.
Campbell told Kuc in a separate article that there are two key elements to his wish list: He’d like to go to a winning team and to a place where he wants to go. A combination of those two has Chicago at the top of his list. When asked about rejoining his former team, Campbell had the following to say:
“I’m hopeful. A lot of people know it’s my No. 1 place I’d like to play. So I’ll wait and see and hopefully it all works out.”
Finding the right fit financially with the Blackhawks may be a bit of a challenge though. Chicago has just over $5MM in cap space and only 19 players under contract. Campbell told Kuc he’s willing to take a discount to go to the Hawks but how much of one remains to be seen. There’s no doubt he’ll take a reduction from the more than $7.1MM he earned each of the last seven years but is there an amount that works for both sides?
Fortunately for Chicago, Campbell is eligible for a bonus-laden contract. That would potentially allow them to give him a smaller base salary with some reachable incentives that could be charged against the 2017-18 salary cap. While that would create challenges for next season’s salary cap situation, it would allow them to add Campbell now who would give them a legitimate top four blueliner to round out their back end.
Campbell ranks 14th on PHR’s Top 50 UFA list with a projected contract of a $3.5MM base salary and another $1.5MM in incentives. If Chicago wants to work Campbell under their cap this season, he may have to take a lot less of a base salary and more performance incentives.
Thursday Buyout Waivers: Boll, Korpikoski, Carle, Seidenberg, Greene, Jackman
Today is the last day to place players on waivers for the purposes of buying out their contract in advance of Friday’s free agency period. Here are the players that are on the waiver wire.
Jared Boll (Columbus) – The Blue Jackets announced that they will buy out the final year of his deal. The enforcer played in just 30 games last year, picking up a goal and two assists with 61 PIMS. The buyout will carry a cap charge of $567K in each of the next two seasons.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Lauri Korpikoski, Matt Carle, Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Greene, and Barret Jackman are also all on buyout waivers.
Korpikoski (Edmonton) played in 71 games with the Oilers last season – his first with the team – collecting 10 goals and 12 assists. The 29 year old has 181 career points in 540 NHL games, split between the Rangers, Coyotes, and Oilers. Edmonton will carry a cap hit of $500K in 2016-17 and $1MM in 2017-18 as a result of the buyout.
Carle (Tampa Bay) is by far the biggest of the buyouts. He collected just 9 points in 64 games last year despite collecting a $5.5MM salary. He has 45 goals and 237 assists in 724 career games between San Jose, Philadelphia, and Tampa. The Lightning will be charged with a cap hit of $1.833M for the next four years.
Seidenberg (Boston) has spent the last four years with the Bruins. In 2015-16, he played in 61 games, picking up a goal and 11 helpers. In 758 games split between the Flyers, Coyotes, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Bruins, he has 224 career points. Boston will carry a cap hit of $1.167M in 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2019-20 as well as a $2.167MM cap charge in 2017-18.
Greene (Los Angeles) played in just three games with the Kings and missed the rest of the year with shoulder problems. He has played in 589 career games with Edmonton and LA, picking up 78 points and 644 PIMS. The Kings will have a cap charge of $833K for each of the next 4 years.
Update: Pierre LeBrun of TSN/ESPN reports that Greene’s waiving may not result in a buyout after all.
Jackman (Nashville) played his first season with the Preds last year after spending parts of 13 seasons with St. Louis. Last year, he had a goal and four assists in 73 games while playing a smaller role as the season progressed. In his career, he has 186 points and 1,102 PIMS in 876 games. The Predators will be charged with a cap hit of $667K for each of the next two seasons.
Players that have a no-move clause in their contracts do not have to go through the waiver process to be bought out. The deadline for those moves to happen is 4:00 PM CST.
Chicago Re-Signs Michal Rozsival And Brandon Mashinter
The Blackhawks announced a pair of signings late Thursday morning. They’ve inked D Michal Rozsival and LW Brandon Mashinter to one year contracts. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN/TSN reports that Rozsival will earn $600K and Mashinter $575K. Both amounts are identical to what each player earned in 2015-16.
The 37 year old Rozsival played in 51 games with Chicago last season, picking up a goal and 12 assists in a #6/7 defenseman role, a spot he’ll likely hold on the depth chart again in 2016-17. The 15 year veteran has played in 941 career NHL games between the Penguins, Rangers, Coyotes, and Blackhawks, recording 67 goals and 239 assists. He averaged 16:09 per game in ice time last year.
Mashinter split last season between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate in Rockford. In 41 NHL games, he picked up four goals and an assist while playing 7:29 per game. He also added seven points (4-3-7) in 12 AHL contests. Prior to last season, Mashinter had been held pointless in his previous 20 NHL games. He will likely serve as a depth forward for the Blackhawks next year.
Montreal Asked For Draisaitl, 4th Overall, Plus for Subban
After today’s Taylor Hall and PK Subban trades, Oilers fans might be wondering why the Oilers couldn’t get a deal done for Subban. Well here’s why: TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported Wednesday night that the asking price for the stud defenceman was Leon Draisaitl, the 4th overall pick which ultimately became Jesse Puljujärvi, one of Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse, plus more.
Klefbom is the Oilers top defenceman next to Andrej Sekera and newly acquired Adam Larsson. Nurse is a highly promising former 7th overall pick who played most of last season in the NHL with mixed results but should develop hugely next season. The Oilers were likely not willing to part with such a big part of their future blue-line to improve it now.
Draisaitl showed massive improvement last season, cracking the 50-point barrier on a line with the now traded duo of Hall and Teddy Purcell. The big center can play both center and wing, and is expected to play a key role in the upcoming season in the Oilers top 6.
Those two pieces already represent a large trade value, before we get to the just-drafted Puljujärvi. The Finnish forward unexpectedly fell to 4th overall and is likely to play in the Oilers top 9 this season.
With those pieces plus the mystery of what “more” could mean, it’s understandable why the Oilers passed on Subban. However, it should be asked which group would help Edmonton turn the corner this season: Hall and Subban, or Drasaitl, Klefbom, Puljujärvi, and Larsson.
The answer to that debate can never be known. Edmonton passed on trading a massive haul for Subban to trade Hall for Larsson.
The Steven Stamkos Contract And Its Long Term Effects
Had it happened at any point over the last year, Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos re-signing with the Lightning would have been the top story of the day and dominated the conversation. However, on a day where big names were being traded left, right, and center, the Markham-native forgoing unrestricted free agency seemed like a side note.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the structure of Stamkos’ new contract being heavily bonus-laden: Stamkos will make a $1MM salary with the rest in bonuses. Friedman has the salary at five years of $9.5MM, followed by $7.5MM and two years of $6.5MM. That’s a total of $68MM over 8 years, for a cap hit of $8.5MM, which is only $1MM higher than his expiring contract.
It’s a similar structure to the contracts of David Clarkson and Ryan O’Reilly, with great benefits to the player in the event of a lockout or buyout: Stamkos will still get the signing bonus money if the NHL goes through another lockout in 2023 at the expiration of the current CBA. As well, should the Lightning ever want to buy him out (don’t laugh, they bough out Vincent Lecavalier), it would cost the team $2.83MM per season. That’s 283% of his actually salary. (Buyout calculation done on General Fanager).
The feel-good aspect of the signing is this: Stamkos took less money to stay than he could have gotten on the open market (not factoring taxes). He wants to retire a member of the Lightning. In the Lightning’s press release, Stamkos was quoted as saying “it’s not often that a player gets the chance to spend his career in one organization and I am hopeful that this agreement sets me on that path”.
However, the part that is going to make Lightning fans nervous is how it will affect the team around Stamkos. The team has $9.3MM in space for next season. However, leading scorer Nikita Kucherov still needs a new contract after being qualified earlier this week, as does two-way winger Alex Killorn. Those two contracts are doable; it’s next summer where it could get ugly. Top defenceman Victor Hedman, both starting goalie Ben Bishop and goalie-of-the-future Andrei Vasilevskiy, and forwards Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat will all see their contracts expire.
One of the goalies will likely be traded before then, but the rest of the group will cost serious money to keep together. Defenceman Matt Carle has two years left at $5.5MM and figures to be traded or bought out to save space for the upcoming group of free agents. This is also where gritty winger Ryan Callahan‘s contract is going to hurt. Callahan will make $5.8MM annually until 2020, but scored just 28 points in 73 games last season and is on the wrong side of 30.
Wily GM Steve Yzerman will have his hands full again this season, after masterfully handling the Drouin and Stamkos sagas last season. It’s going to be a very interesting year for the Lightning and their fans.