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Atlantic Division Snapshots: Pastrnak, Brassard, Red Wings

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Despite a first round elimination at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the 2016-17 campaign has to be considered a success for the Boston Bruins organization. The team returned to the postseason after back-to-back non-playoff seasons and showed tremendous resilience during their six-game series loss, nearly overcoming injuries to key regulars Brandon Carlo, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid to push Ottawa to OT in game six. Perhaps the silver lining to the season was the development of young Czech winger David Pastnak, who in his third year saw a marked increase across the board in terms of offensive production, setting career-highs in goals (34) assists (36) and points (70). Pastrnak stuggled some in the postseason, finishing with just five shots on goal and regularly turning the puck over, but as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes, the 20-year-old will be a better player long term in part because of the playoff experience.

Pastrnak also wrapped up his ELC, making him a RFA this summer. Boston will have a decision to make; do they try to lock up the talented offensive right wing to a long term deal or employ a short term bridge contract to keep the AAV down? Should the team choose the latter, Haggerty speculates a deal similar to that given by Chicago to Artemi Panarin (two years, $12MM) could work for both sides. If Boston chooses the former, they might have to approach the value of the accord signed by Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau last summer, in Haggerty’s estimation. According to Cap Friendly, the Bruins are projected to have around just $10MM in cap space available with Drew Stafford set to hit unrestricted free agency and Ryan Spooner joining Pastrnak as a RFA. The team should have room as it stands to accommodate a new Pastrnak contract regardless of whether it’s a lucrative long term pact or a shorter term bridge deal. Still, what Boston does will likely have a great impact on what other moves the team can make this summer to fill holes on the roster.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • One of the second round’s more interesting subplots involves Ottawa center Derick Brassard facing his old team, the New York Rangers, and the player for whom he was acquired just last July, fellow pivot Mika Zibanejad. Expecting to contend for the playoffs in 2016-17, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion wanted to add the more experienced and established Brassard to his lineup. It also didn’t hurt that the skilled center from Hull, Quebec is a proven playoff performer known in some circles as “Big Game Brass.” For their part, the Rangers needed to get bigger and younger and did so by adding the talented Zibanejad to the team. Neither player had the regular season they hoped – Brassard finished with just 14 goals and 39 points while Zibanejad missed time with a broken leg and scored 37 points in 56 contests. With scoring expected to be at a premium in the series between Ottawa and New York, it was widely felt whoever performed better between the two would give their team a significant edge. Well, after one game, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the two players even, though the Senators are up in the series. As Brennan noted, neither player registered a point and both finished with roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Brassard was credited with five shots on goal, Zibanejad with four. While it would be unfair to paint the winner of the series as also the winner of last summer’s trade, it’s evident the two players will be heavily relied upon to help their respective team advance to the Eastern Conference Final and at this point in the season that’s really all that matters.
  • With their 25-season playoff streak broken, the Detroit Red Wings enter the offseason with a lot of work to do to reshape their roster into a contender, and without the resources (i.e. cap space) to easily tackle the challenge. In all probability, the team will be forced seek roster improvement via the trade market and with limited chips the team can afford to move, it’s likely Detroit will have to deal one of their starting-caliber goalies, if for no other reason than to open up much-needed cap space. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press expressed the same belief in a recent mailbag feature. As the scribe notes, the Wings are currently projected to have less than $6MM in cap space with key forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scheduled to be RFA’s. The offseason goalie market is expected to be full of starting options, with Pittsburgh likely to entertain a trade of Marc-Andre Fleury rather than risk losing Matt Murray in the expansion draft. Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier and Ryan Miller headline the UFA crop of netminders and could represent viable starting options for any team looking for a #1. Those factors will hamstring the Red Wings in their attempt to move either Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek in return for fair value. In all likelihood, the team will have to be satisfied primarily with cap relief as opposed to acquiring young assets to further their retooling effort. Although St. James does offer up one intriguing possibility, noting that current Stars GM Jim Nill, formerly an assistant GM in Detroit, knows Mrazek and Howard well from his time with the Wings and could pursue one in an effort to upgrade his options between the pipes.

Iginla Eyeing A Return To Bruins?

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File this one under extreme speculation if you like, but future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, at the very least, is moving to Boston. Whether or not he’s playing for the Bruins in 2017-18 is another matter altogether, but the 39-year-old icon will be spending time in Boston one way or another, as he just purchased a $4.5MM home in the city. The six-bedroom house is located in Chestnut Hill, the home of the Boston College Eagles.

Now, this could simply mean that Iginla, an unrestricted free agent, enjoyed his time in Boston during the 2013-14 season and, facing a very real possibility that his career may be over, is investing a new place to spend his retirement years. Iginla did really like playing with the Bruins and would have liked to re-sign in Boston in 2014, but the Bruins did not have the cap space to meet his salary demands, due in part to the bonus overages from his incentive-laden $1.8MM contract from the year before.

However, it does seem strange that the Canadian winger, an Edmonton native who spent much of his career in his home province of Alberta with the Calgary Flames and the past three years in Colorado, would suddenly decide he wants to invest in real estate on the east coast. Could Iginla and the Bruins have a handshake agreement on giving the veteran scorer another shot at the Stanley Cup? It would seem to be a strange fit. After re-signing restricted free agents David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner this off-season, the Bruins will already have eight “top nine” forward under contract: Pastrnak, Spooner, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, David Backes, Frank Vatrano, and Matt Beleskey. That’s not even including many forwards who made their NHL debuts in 2016-17 and will be looking for regular roles next season, including Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Peter Cehlarik, Austin Czarnik, Danton Heinen, and Sean Kuraly, up-and-coming prospects Jake DeBrusk, Zach Senyshyn, Jesse Gabrielle, Ryan Fitzgerald, and (potentially) Anders Bjork, or fourth-line contributors with some top-nine upside in Riley Nash and Noel Acciari. Do they really need another forward, especially another big, slow body who fills a similar role to Backes and Beleskey? Probably not, but if Iginla is at the point in his career where he is willing to play for the veteran minimum just on the off chance that he can finally win that elusive Cup, the Bruins are a team that values veteran leadership and would be happy to help Iginla out.

Iginla scored just 14 goals this season and ended the year with only 27 points. However, just three years ago Iginla was a 30-goal scorer in Boston on his way to a 61-point campaign. Iginla and Krejci enjoyed playing together, as Krejci too had an excellent season with 69 points and a league-best +39 rating. The two would not necessarily play together again next season, but the possibility should not be ruled out. Iginla going back to Boston would be strange, and assuming it is happening based on a property transaction is certainly a reach, but stranger things have happened. Everyone in hockey wants Iginla to win a Cup. Why not return to the team he most recently found success with and city he really enjoyed playing in?

Hurricanes Acquire Scott Darling From Blackhawks

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Scott Darling was expected to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career this summer, but that may not be happening after all. The Carolina Hurricanes announced this evening that they have acquired the goalie from the Chicago Blackhawks. In exchange, the Blackhawks will receive the Ottawa Senator’s 2017 third-round pick, originally acquired by the ’Canes at the Trade Deadline for forward Viktor Stalberg. 

Following this trade, Carolina now holds the exclusive right to sign Darling prior to the beginning of free agency on July 1st. The Vegas Golden Knights will have a 48-hour window to speak with Darling prior to the Expansion Draft on June 21st, but may only sign Darling if they then select him in the Expansion Draft. However, giving up a third-round pick for two months of exclusive talks with Darling seems to indicate that the Hurricanes are intent on signing the 28-year-old. That could mean that they sign Darling prior to June 21st and protect him in the draft or they could instead agree orally on a deal and use their one slot to protect another goalie, either longtime starter Cam Ward or 2015 off-season trade addition Eddie Lack. Darling greatly outperformed both as the backup in Chicago this season and the Hurricanes may not care if either is selected; they could simply protect Darling regardless of having a deal in place.

In a career-high 32 appearances in 2016-17, Darling was 18-5-5 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.38 goals against average. That performance was good enough for the sixth-best save percentage and the eleventh-best goals against average in the entire NHL. Although he is 28 years old, Darling has little wear on the tires and, if he continues to play this well with a greater workload, could be the Hurricanes starting goalie for quite a few years.

Anthony Stolarz And The Expansion Draft

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The Philadelphia Flyers may not be desperate for a goalie, but they’re not in the best of shape either. Heading into the off-season, the Flyers will likely say goodbye to impending free agent starter Steve Mason, but re-signed Michal Neuvirth to a two-year, $5MM extension earlier this season. Behind Neuvirth, Philly has Anthony Stolarz, a 2012 second-round pick who looked great in seven appearances in his rookie season. The Flyers also have promising prospects Carter Hart and Felix Sandstrom in the system, but it seems unlikely that either is ready for NHL action just yet.

So it’ll be Neuvirth and Stolarz next season? That’s not too bad. However, this is the 2017 off-season approaching and nothing is that simple. Both Neuvirth and Stolarz are eligible for the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and both should be attractive to GM George McPhee and the Vegas Golden Knights. Stolarz is young and under team control as a restricted free agent and could be valuable to Vegas as either an investment or a potential trade chip. Neuvirth is relatively cheap at $2.5MM per year through 2018-19 and was drafted by McPhee when he was with the Washington Capitals. He would immediately provide some veteran presence to a goalie group that is expected to skew very young.

The question then becomes: if Vegas has interest in both, who should Philadelphia protect? At first, the obvious answer seemed to be Stolarz. Not only is he much younger than Neuvirth, but he simply outplayed him when given the chance in 2016-17. Stolarz has just as good a chance to be the goalie of the future in Philly as any of the other Flyers’ keeper prospects. However, there was a wrinkle added to than plan recently when Stolarz was injured in an AHL game, suffering a serious knee injury that required surgery. Now, Stolarz is expected to be sidelined all summer and likely not ready for game action into next season. What that means for the Flyers is, if they stay the course and protect Stolarz, an expansion selection of Neuvirth leaves the Flyers with no goalies to start the 2017-18 campaign.

Is that threat enough for them to potentially lose a top-end young goalie? It might be. The Flyers already have about $60MM committed to just 16 players for their cap payroll next season, and while many of their reinforcements will come from the minor leagues, you can expect GM Ron Hextall to be on the lookout for some veteran assistance as well. That very well may include a goalie, even if they do retain Neuvirth and Stolarz. However, the Flyers may not have the cap flexibility to deal with a potential loss of Neuvirth on top of a Stolarz injury. Such a predicament may force Philly to look at top-end free agents like Ben Bishop or Ryan Miller or may cause them to have to add two mid-level options like Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier, or Darcy Kuemper or even a return to Mason. Either of those strategies would severely limit the team’s ability to add anyone else in free agency.

So that’s the situation: will the Flyers’ protect the future (Stolarz) at the possible expense of the present? Or will they play it safe (Neuvirth) and almost surely lose a talented young goalie? McPhee and the Knights would love to have Stolarz, but they may have their eye on Neuvirth as well. Either way, it’s your move Hextall.

Detroit Red Wings In Pursuit Of Victor Ejdsell

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According to Ansar Khan of MLive, the Detroit Red Wings and several other teams are trying to sign Victor Ejdsell from the Swedish second league. Chicago and Nashville are two of the other teams, with Ejdsell expected to sign soon. The 21-year old even visited Detroit, among other potential cities this week to see if there was a fit for him next year.

Ejdsell broke out this year playing in the Allsvenskan scoring 57 points in 50 games, the most in the entire league. His development into a “strong two-way center” was noted by Red Wings’ AGM Ryan Martin, who told Khan that his move this year to the middle helped his defensive game. The 6’5″ center is now listed at 220-lbs according to Khan, meaning he’s grown tremendously in the last year which might have something to do with his relative dominance this season. He definitely has the size to handle professional hockey, but it still remains to be seen whether he can contribute offensively at the next level.

The Hawks have been linked to basically every European free agent this spring as they try to refill their ranks with young players, while Nashville has a strong Swedish contingent that could help try to sway him. On that note, the Minnesota Wild actually have two players—Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin—from the same city as Ejdsell, one of whom played with him last season. It will be interesting to see who finally nabs him, if indeed he’s set to sign with an NHL club this summer.

Latest On Swedish Defenseman Calle Rosen

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Johan Svensson of Expressen in Sweden is reporting that free agent defender Calle Rosen has made his decision and will sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs after the World Championships. The 23-year old played this season for the Vaxjo Lakers, scoring 19 points in 41 games. There is no guarantee that he’ll make the Swedish roster at Worlds, though he is there practicing with them. The tournament begins on May 5th.

If the new report is accurate, Rosen would represent another free agent addition for the Maple Leafs from abroad, after they signed Nikita Zaitsev and immediately pushed him into their lineup this season. While Rosen doesn’t have the sort of experience or expected potential Zaitsev possessed, he does represent an NHL level talent that had been overlooked by the rest of the league in the past.

Earlier updates:

  • On Wednesday, David Alter and Scott Powers of The Athletic teamed up to bring us the report that Chicago and Toronto were the front-runners for Rosen’s services. The pair spoke to a former coach in Klas Oten, who told them “He’s had great development the last two seasons. He’s a good skater, likes to join the rush. He has a great shot. He’s an explosive player. He’s tall and thin and needs to improve his defense and get stronger. He’s also a great person.” If the Hawks—or any other team for that matter—are still in the running, they likely hope that Rosen could step into a third-pairing role right away and contribute. For Chicago in particular, both Johnny Oduya and Brian Campbell are set to hit the open market, giving them a clear need on the back end.

Carl Grundstrom Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs

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Friday: The Maple Leafs have announced the deal, inking Grundstrom to a three-year deal.

Thursday: After originally being reported in early March that the Toronto Maple Leafs and second-round pick Carl Grundstrom had reached an agreement, Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the two will announce a three-year entry-level contract shortly.

The Maple Leafs selected Grundstrom 57th-overall last summer and he made an immediate impact on his new Swedish team, moving from MODO to Frolunda this year. Registering 14 goals, Grundstrom scored the most by any player under 20 in the entire league. He also suited up for Sweden at the World Juniors, scoring seven points in seven games. Despite all the goal scoring, Grundstrom isn’t thought of as an elite offensive prospect. His play style is more of a physical grinding game, and can be an asset at both ends of the rink.

Grundstrom will only be 19 at the beginning of next season, but could still make his way over to the AHL if the Maple Leafs see fit. Because of his experience in professional leagues for the past three seasons, he could likely make an impact at the minor league level right away. Should the team decide to leave him in Europe for another season, he would have a good chance at another championship. Frolunda won it all in 2016, and was eliminated from the playoffs in the semi-finals this season. Brynas will take on HV71 tonight in game 6 of the final series.

Playoff Notes: Stephenson, Bieksa, Predators

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The Washington Capitals have sent Chandler Stephenson back down to the AHL ahead of the Hershey Bears back-t0-back games this weekend. The Bears will take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Saturday and Sunday needed to win just one game to go through to the second round. Stephenson wasn’t playing for the Capitals anyway, and will likely be back after the AHL series is decided one way or another.

For the Capitals, they won’t mess with their lineup heading into game 2 with the Penguins despite dropping the first game 3-2. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post talked to Braden Holtby, who admitted some of the blame was on him for the loss. Much of that came when Sidney Crosby scored twice in just 52 seconds to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. The two teams will face off again tomorrow night.

  • Kevin Bieksa won’t play for the Anaheim Ducks tonight after suffering a lower-body injury. The veteran defender will likely be replaced by Sami Vatanen, who has played just a single game in the playoffs this year. Vatanen took the morning skate again today and according to Eric Stephens of the OC Register, sounded like he’s ready to re-enter the lineup. Head coach Randy Carlyle told media that Bieksa would likely be ready for later in the series, though who would come out in that situation would be interesting. If Vatanen is indeed ready to come back, his role is likely without question in the lineup after another big-minute season. Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore have also both showed exceptional play in the postseason, and Josh Manson provides a big physical presence against the heavy Oilers team.
  • Adam Vingan of the Tennessean tweets that Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok should both be considered game-time decisions tonight, after taking the morning skate with the team. The pair missed game 1 of their series, but will be relied upon to fill in some of the lost offense after Kevin Fiala broke his femur on Wednesday night. While Smith had a down season offensively this year, he’s shown in the past that he can be an effective scoring winger with three straight seasons of 20+ goals. Jarnkrok on the other hand would likely be used back in the middle where he’s played for most of the season. His presence at center would let the Predators reduce some of the stress on Colton Sissons, who played almost 17 minutes in game 1—a mark he broke just once during the regular season.

Snapshots: Futa, Fiala, Vesalainen

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The Buffalo Sabres have a confirmed interest in Mike Futa of the Los Angeles Kings as a candidate for their next GM, and were granted permission to talk to him about the position. John Vogl of the Buffalo News clarifies the situation, reporting that they have not asked for any discussion with Dean Lombardi. Futa was just promoted to assistant GM a few weeks ago after working as the team’s director of player personnel under Lombardi. He also was a finalist for the Buffalo job that eventually went to Murray back in 2014, along with Jason Botterill who was also confirmed in the running this time around.

Futa has been rumored to be in the mix for GM openings around the league for the past few years, but had been previously unsuccessful and deemed too important in Los Angeles. While the new regime—Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille—clearly value his position in the front office, they likely wouldn’t stop him from taking the step up to be “the man” in Buffalo.

  • Kevin Fiala is on his way home from the hospital according to Cassie Campbell of Hockey Night in Canada. The Predators forward is actually walking already on the advice of doctors, and will now face a four to six month recovery time after fracturing his left femur. That injury is extremely dangerous, and Fiala was rushed into surgery immediately after sustaining it on Wednesday. He’ll be lucky to be ready for the start of training camp, but the Predators will have him back in the lineup next year.
  • Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News reports that Kristian Vesalainen, a top prospect in the upcoming entry draft, has signed a one-year contract with HPK of the Finnish Liiga. The last few seasons Vesalainen had been playing in Sweden for Frolunda, but spent some time with HPK on loan near the end of the year. The Finnish winger recently was awarded MVP honors at the U18 Worlds, scoring 13 points in 7 games and leading Finland to a silver medal. He was ranked seventh among European skaters in the latest list from NHL Central Scouting, but may rise as high as the top-10 by draft day. He’ll stay in Finland next season before discussing with whichever team drafts him where he should continue his development.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Antoine Waked To Three-Year Deal

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The Montreal Canadiens have dipped into their own backyard, signing Antoine Waked out of the QMJHL to a three-year entry-level. The 20-year old winger went undrafted, and has just completed his fourth year for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The deal will begin next season when Waked will likely be assigned to the new Laval-based AHL affiliate that will begin play in 2017-18.

Waked is from Saint Bruno de Montarville, a Montreal suburb that is perhaps best known for being the home of former Canadiens great and NHL hall of fame player Serge Savard. He’ll have big skates to fill behind Savard, but experienced a breakout this season for the Huskies, scoring 39 goals and 80 points in 67 games. Unfortunately, he was held out of all but one of the Huskies’ playoff games with an arm injury and had to watch them fall to Chicoutimi in overtime of game 7 in the second round. He had already experienced winning though as part of the Rouyn-Noranda team that won the Q championship last season.

While he’s still far away from any possible NHL action, Waked did take his final opportunity in the CHL to make his presence known and perhaps open a few eyes to the potential he could hold. It’s mostly due to the fact that he was overaged in the league, but perhaps he can continue to work hard enough to take that success to the next level. The Canadiens think so, giving him a precious contract spot—he’ll be the 34th out of 50 already signed for next season, with at least a dozen RFAs needing decisions as well as other unsigned prospects.

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