Offseason Keys: Arizona Coyotes
While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Arizona Coyotes.
2016-17 was expected to be full of rough patches for the Coyotes and that’s exactly what happened. The team integrated a plethora of young players into the lineup and while most showed considerable promise, they also showed that they’re not ready to all be counted on as core contributors right away. Arizona appears fully committed to their current direction which would seem to suggest a fairly quiet upcoming summer but there are still a few things to keep an eye on this offseason.
Arena Certainty
Unfortunately for GM John Chayka, this one is completely out of his control but it will very likely play a big role in his offseason shopping. An agreement that would have seen them move to the East Valley fell through when Arizona State University backed out and ownership is once again looking for alternatives as they are unhappy in their current location in Glendale.
Unsurprisingly, this has once again revived possible talk of relocation and that simply cannot bode well for the Coyotes’ recruitment efforts. It can’t be easy to try to get a player to sign when they can’t say with certainly how much longer they’ll be at their current arena and how much longer they may be in Arizona altogether.
While team officials are (at least publicly) optimistic that a resolution will eventually be found, Chayka and his management team have to hope that some traction is made in the weeks ahead. If not, they’ll be dealing with another hurdle when it comes to free agency in July.
Cap Creativity
Last offseason, Chayka was very creative with his cap space, adding the retired contract of Pavel Datsyuk as well as injured center Dave Bolland in an effort to add quality young talent to the organization. That also resulted in them using long-term injury reserve to stay in cap compliance despite the fact that they had one of the lowest actual payrolls in the NHL.
Datsyuk’s contract now comes off the books, as does that of Chris Pronger, who last saw NHL action in 2011-12. As a result, the Coyotes have some more space to work with that Chayka could potentially use in a similar way this offseason. The salary cap is not expected to go up by a substantial amount this summer (pending the NHLPA’s usage of their 5% inflator) which is going to create that much more of a cap crunch that Arizona could potentially capitalize on once again.
If they do opt to go that route, they would be wise to only bring in short-term contracts. While the team has plenty of room to work with now due to so many players being on entry-level deals, that won’t be the case for too long so they won’t want to potentially burden themselves down the road. That said, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Chayka make at least one similar move this summer as he looks to flood the organization with as big of a young core as possible.
Decisions On Veterans
Shane Doan’s situation drew a lot of attention during the season as there were rumblings that he might be open to being traded at the deadline and leave the only organization he’s ever known. He wound up staying put and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July. There has yet to be a decision as to whether or not he wants to play another year and if the organization wants to bring him back, at least in an on-ice capacity.
Goaltender Mike Smith is another interesting case. He has two years left on his deal with a $5.67MM cap hit and has underachieved the past few years. Normally, given those two elements, he’d be perceived as tough to deal but it’s shaping up to be an offseason that could be full of goalies changing places. Several of those are change of scenery candidates and a case can certainly be made that Smith could be in a similar spot. It’s worth noting that Smith has a full no-trade clause that he would need to waive in order to be dealt.
Given that the Coyotes have a grand total of two skaters under contract that are over the age of 30 (forward Brad Richardson and defenseman Alex Goligoski), it’s likely that Chayka will look to add a couple of veteran voices either via trade or free agency as well. They’re more content than other rebuilding teams to put their key youngsters in big minute situations right away but it’s likely that they’ll still want some more experiences players in the room to act as a supporting cast on and off the ice.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Oleksiak, Crosby, Sheary, Stephenson, Shipachyov
The Stars are facing an interesting decision when it comes to their back end and the upcoming expansion draft. John Klingberg and Esa Lindell are expected to be protected which leaves one opening for several blueliners who are at risk of being exposed. One of those is Jamie Oleksiak and Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News opines that the hulking rearguard should not be protected over youngster Stephen Johns even though the early thought seems to be that they may be leaning towards doing so.
GM Jim Nill has been extremely patient with Oleksiak, their first round pick back in 2011. Big defenders often have a longer learning curve and that seems to be their thinking with him, who has played a limited role the last two years. Heika argues that the team would be better off trying to deal him and protect Johns but it stands to reason that Oleksiak’s limited playing time over the past two seasons (just 60 games combined) could potentially make dealing him a bit more of a challenge.
Other notes from around the league:
- Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary both passed their baseline tests and are listed as game-time decisions for tonight against Washington, NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika was among many to note (all Twitter links). Crosby didn’t take part in the morning skate but head coach Mike Sullivan advised that doing so is normal for him. Both players were diagnosed with a concussion following Game Three on Monday night.
- The Capitals announced that they’ve re-assigned center Chandler Stephenson back to Hershey of the AHL in advance of their second round series getting underway against Providence today. Stephenson was recalled to the big club back on May 1st but didn’t see any action with Washington in this stint. He did, however, get into four games with the team in the regular season, being held off the scoresheet while averaging just shy of nine minutes of playing time per game.
- Vadim Shipachyov’s decision to join the expansion Golden Knights came as a surprise to some but Elliotte Friedman suggested to Sportsnet 590 in Toronto (audio link) that a big factor was their willingness to give him a second guaranteed year, something that other teams weren’t willing to do. The 30 year old has yet to play outside of Russia and while his KHL numbers this year were quite strong (26-50-76 in 50 games), it appears most teams around the league weren’t completely convinced that they’d be able to translate to NHL success.
Atlantic Notes: Karlsson, Detroit Goaltending, Nelson
Despite leaving Thursday’s game against the Rangers with his nagging foot injury, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is expected to suit up this afternoon in a pivotal Game Five matchup, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The scribe adds that Ottawa’s captain is having his foot frozen before every game in an effort to try to dull some of the pain but that he appears to be walking okay.
Karlsson revealed after the opening round of the playoffs that he has been playing with two hairline fractures in his foot and while he was optimistic that it would be fully healed in time for their series against New York, that hardly seems to be the case now. As Ottawa’s top defender and one that has been logging a ton of ice time so far (28:45 per game, the highest among any player still active in the postseason), they will be leaning on him heavily even if he is still not quite 100%.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Despite coming off a strong season, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that the Red Wings will likely still have a hard time trying to move goaltender Jimmy Howard this offseason. With two years left on his deal with a cap charge of $5.3MM, he may be deemed a bit too pricey for teams looking for new starters, especially with it being a deep class in free agency. As for Petr Mrazek, Khan expects that the asking price will remain high and given the season he had (a 3.04 GAA and a .901 SV% in 50 games), it’s unlikely that another team will be willing to make the type of offer that GM Ken Holland would need to be willing to part with him.
- Sabres blueliner Casey Nelson dealt with a lingering neck issue that had him in and out of the lineup on several occasions this year, notes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. Despite making the opening roster, the 24 year old spent the bulk of the season at the minor league level, getting into 58 games with AHL Rochester. Nelson will be returning to school this summer as he looks to finish his degree at Minnesota State Mankato after signing with the Sabres following his junior year back in 2016.
Injury Updates: Murray, Steen, Bozak, Sekera
While Marc-Andre Fleury is off to a strong start this postseason, the Penguins could soon have a decision to make between the pipes as starter Matt Murray skated for over an hour on Friday and appears to be getting closer to being able to return to the lineup, notes Alex Iniguez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 22 year old suffered a lower body injury in the warmup of Pittsburgh’s postseason opener and hasn’t played since.
It’s the exact opposite situation compared to last season where Fleury was hurt when the playoffs started and Murray took over the starting role. Presumably, even if Murray is able to return, it’s hard to imagine that they’d look away from Fleury who has a strong .935 save percentage this postseason.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- St. Louis left winger Alex Steen missed his first game of the playoffs on Friday night with a lower body injury. Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Steen has been in a walking boot since being injured in their postseason opener against the Wild and that he was on crutches on Friday, hardly a good sign for his potential availability in another elimination game on Sunday afternoon.
- Toronto center Tyler Bozak was playing with a lingering back issue down the stretch and into the playoffs, reports Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Bozak noted that it caused him to miss several practices and game day skates although he was able to stay in the lineup for the most part, skating in 78 regular season games as well as all six playoff contests.
- Edmonton blueliner Andrej Sekera left Friday’s game against Anaheim with what’s believed to be a lower body injury sustained on a hit from Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf. Ryan Frankson of the Oilers’ team website notes that there was no update on his condition following the game nor is there a timetable for his return. With Sekera going down in the first period, fellow Adam Larsson had to pick up a big chunk of the slack, logging just shy of 45 minutes in their 4-3 double overtime defeat.
Offseason Keys: Vancouver Canucks
While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Vancouver Canucks.
2016-17 was a year to forget for Vancouver. Their season was mired with several slumps and what seemed like a ticking time bomb with their head coaching situation. The inevitable happened early in the offseason with Willie Desjardins being let go with AHL coach Travis Green getting tasked to right the ship but there is still much work to be done. Here are some of the things that GM Jim Benning will likely be looking to address this offseason.
New Deal For Horvat
There haven’t been a lot of bright spots for the Canucks lately but Bo Horvat’s continued progression would certainly be towards the top of the list. He has taken on a bigger role in each season and has made solid strides at both ends of the rink.
Now, the 22 year old is set to enter restricted free agency for the first time (but does not have arbitration eligibility). Benning has noted recently that they would like to focus on a long-term pact and skip the bridge deal with Horvat. The team does have some financial flexibility to work with when it comes to the salary cap so there at least shouldn’t be concerns on that end.
As Horvat is widely viewed as the closest to being a cornerstone piece of the franchise in the years to come, it will be interesting to see if the team looks to make his new deal the benchmark contract in that no signings down the road can be for more money than this deal. Given all this, negotiations may take a while with Benning even suggesting that it could be a discussion that goes on for most of the summer.
New Goaltender
With Ryan Miller heading for unrestricted free agency, Vancouver will have a decision to make. They also have Jacob Markstrom’s three year, $11MM contract kicking in and as a result, they’ll likely look to give him more starts which could push Miller out the door.
There are a handful of second tier options slated to be available on the open market in July while the upcoming expansion draft may also have a few other players changing places. It’s a year where supply will likely outweigh demand which should have Benning working with the upper hand.
A big decision the GM will need to make here is what type of term to give out. Thatcher Demko is still quite likely to be the goalie of the future and although he just finished his first pro campaign, the expectation has been that he’ll be ready fairly quickly. Accordingly, whoever they do bring in to split duties with Markstrom is probably going to wind up receiving a short-term contract.
Scoring Help
Aside from the Avalanche (the one team who finished behind Vancouver in the standings), the Canucks were at the bottom of the league in goal production. The Sedin twins are on the downswing of their respective careers (and have suggested in the past that they don’t want to leave Vancouver despite their current situation) and the team doesn’t have any players who are poised to jump into top roles next season.
That isn’t to say that there isn’t help coming as the late season addition of Nikolay Goldobin was certainly a promising one and 2015 draft pick Brock Boeser, who joined the team out of college, can also help. While they’re likely to receive lots of ice time, the team will likely want to shield them somewhat from taking on too much too quickly.
As a result, it won’t be surprising to see Vancouver go after some scoring help in free agency even though on the surface it would seem to go against the idea of rebuilding. That would ease the pressure off the young core and allow them to transition into the post-Sedin era, which may just be one year away. Of course, with a lot of teams looking for scoring help in a light free agent market, this is something that’s much easier said than done for Benning to try to accomplish this offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Reactions From Around The League To Darling’s Deal
After signing Scott Darling to a four-year/$16.6MM deal, analysts and writers responded and while opinions were still trickling out, there were still quite a number of takes on Carolina signing their goalie.
- The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Hine writes that Darling “cashed in” after a successful stint as a backup in Chicago. He adds that the Hurricanes wanted him to be their starter badly and did what was necessary financially to make sure it became a reality.
- Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski adds that the Hurricanes signed him to “save” them in net. He writes that it’s a much deserved raise for the 28-year-old, who had “quite the journey” getting to where he is now in the league.
- Cap Friendly tweets that the deal places Darling as the 23rd highest cap hit for a goalie. He’s right behind Cam Talbot, who Darling has drawn comparisons to in the past.
- The Score’s Navin Vaswani reports that the Hurricanes traded for their goalie of the future last week and now signed him today. Vaswani adds that while Cam Ward certainly deserves kudos for his longevity with the team and backstopping the team to its only Stanley Cup in 2006, it was long overdue to get a stronger option between the pipes.
- Finally, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweets that in addition to the signing being a “great job by Carolina,” Darling’s deal includes a limited no-trade clause.
Carolina Signs Scott Darling to Four-Year/$16.6MM Deal
Per the Carolina Hurricanes website, the team has agreed to terms with goaltender Scott Darling, who was recently acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks for a third round pick. Darling inked a four-year, $16.6MM deal which averages out to about $4.15MM per the release. General manager Ron Francis was quoted as saying:
“Obviously Scott could have waited until July 1, to see what other options he might have as an unrestricted free agent. But he believes in what we are trying to do here and we are thrilled that he is committing to the Hurricanes and to Raleigh.”
The deal gives Carolina a boost between the pipes while providing Darling the starting job he coveted. In Chicago, Darling proved more than a serviceable backup and even proved steady during the Blackhawks’ 2015 Stanley Cup run when called on.
Darling’s departure from Chicago was hardly shocking, as the Hawks were strapped by the Cap and Corey Crawford was the number one goalie with a hefty contract that would be more challenging to move. Darling, though he expressed a desire to stay in the Windy City, now gets a chance to prove what he can do. In a down season for the Hawks defensively, Darling’s numbers were sparkling, posting a .924 save percentage and 28 wins. His quality save percentage clocked in at .630 and he appeared in a career high 32 games.
NBC Sports James O’Brien writes that Chicago could have boosted Darling’s standing in terms of ability. While that remains to be seen, the Hawks were not nearly as strong as defensively as in years past. Now, Darling goes to a team with a young defensive corps that is on the rise and boasts depth from years of smart drafting. Jaccob Slavin, Justin Faulk, and Noah Hanifin are all under 25, and prime to be a core that can make the Hurricanes a force for years to come. Add in a goaltender of Darling’s caliber, and now Carolina looks extremely strong in their own zone.
Though they still owe Eddie Lack and Cam Ward $2.75MM and $3.3MM respectively for another season, the Hurricanes have the cap room to absorb three goalies making just over $10MM combined. Additionally, Lack and Ward’s deal run out after the 2017-18 season. If anything, it’s just another element of depth for the ‘Canes.
Snapshots: Bruins, World Championships, Oilers – Ducks
CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty cautions the Boston Bruins brass to stay away from free agency this offseason. He reports that Cam Neely doesn’t plan to make any signings, as he indicates that he doesn’t foresee the Bruins making any significant splashes in free agency. Haggerty sees this as a good thing, recalling the signings of both David Backes and Matt Beleskey, who he writes have struggled to live up to the pricey expectations. Though Neely defends both signings, he admits that both players have not played as the Bruins envisioned they would. Backes, according to Neely, struggled to acclimate at first in Boston while Beleskey has struggled to stay healthy. Both signings, Haggerty reports, should be reminders to approach the offseason with caution.
- It was a rough day for the American squad in the World Championship as they dropped their opener 2-1 to Germany. USA Today’s Kevin Allen writes that Thomas Greiss bacstopped the German victory, and only Connor Murphy managed to get a puck past him. Head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t seem too concerned, believing that a lack of familiarity with one another also played a role in the Americans’ struggles.
- TSN’s Frank Seravalli previews the Oilers-Ducks matchup tonight, reporting that Oilers forward Milan Lucic believes that it’s about “taking the play” to the Ducks. After dropping the first two games at home, Anaheim rallied back from a 2-0 series deficit to force the series into a best of three. Seravalli writes that Ryan Getzlaf has been the series’ most dominant “force,” notching 13 points in eight playoff games, including four points in the Ducks’ series tying victory on Wednesday. Also playing a role in the shift in series momentum? The Ducks’ smooth, puck moving defensemen. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan had this to say: I don’t think there’s a team that throws six skaters out there like that. It’s as good as there is in the [NHL] in my opinion. It’s not like you’re running up against somebody that’s a little slow in the retrieval or doesn’t have the ability to maneuver. All six do. Our work is cut out for us.
Mike Futa Unlikely To Take Buffalo Sabres GM Job
According to Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider, Mike Futa was in the running for the Buffalo Sabres GM job, but will be “no longer under heavy consideration”. Futa always seemed like a long-shot because of the recent promotion he’d received from the Kings to the position of assistant general manager. Rosen reports that he’s “excited” to continue with the Kings.
So, with one more out of the way for Buffalo the search narrows even further. Jason Botterill, Penguins’ associate general manager still appears to be the favorite, though the team is obviously weighing its options very carefully. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported this morning that the team had asked at least one candidate if they were comfortable being hired before a President of Hockey Operations was brought in, making it sound like they’ll take even more time to make that decision, should they go that direction.
Futa would have been an excellent choice, though he hasn’t been in charge of a team since his days with the Oshawa Generals. Botterill comes with almost as little time in the GM chair, only serving on an interim basis between Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford in Pittsburgh. Should the Sabres go with an assistant GM, it would be interesting to see if they bring in a more experienced manager in a senior role.
Poll: Where Will Evgeni Dadonov End Up?
Now that Vadim Shipachyov has signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, all eyes turn to Evgeni Dadonov for the next big name to come out of the KHL (sorry Ilya). Dadonov may not have the elite-level skill that some Russian snipers have had in the past, but make no mistake that he can be an effective offensive winger at the NHL level.
The team the most often linked to Dadonov are those same Golden Knights, as they try to find ways to make their team competitive right from the start. Even today George McPhee admitted that he has had discussions with the 28-year old, but isn’t sure where he’ll land.
Outside of Vegas, there has been considerable interest around the league but no concrete discussions between a team and Dadonov’s camp. The Maple Leafs have been rumored to have interest, while he has been tenuously linked to the Canadiens, Rangers and Hurricanes. He could always return to the team that drafted him in Florida, though that seems like a dark horse given their history.
So we ask you, the PHR public where you think Dadonov will end up. Make sure you leave a comment to explain why, and take a guess at the contract details.
Where Will Dadonov Sign?
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Vegas Golden Knights 41% (213)
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Montreal Canadiens 11% (59)
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Toronto Maple Leafs 11% (55)
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Stays in KHL 9% (48)
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New York Rangers 9% (46)
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Chicago Blackhawks 7% (38)
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Other (explain in comments) 7% (36)
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St. Louis Blues 2% (12)
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Florida Panthers 2% (11)
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Carolina Hurricanes 1% (4)
Total votes: 522
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