Archives for June 2017

Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets

June 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The free agent period is now less than a week away from opening up. Several prominent players are set to hit the open market and many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: Alexander Wennberg. The team’s former first-round pick from 2014 looks like he’s paying dividends in his third full season in the league. The 22-year-old center stepped onto the team’s first line and had a breakout year, putting up 13 goals and 46 assists. While the Blue Jackets are not sure whether pass-first center is a first-line center, he is undoubtedly high in their plans for the future. At $1.4MM this past year, expect the young center to demand quite a pay raise.

F Josh Anderson. The 23-year-old winger is at the top of the list of restricted free agents that Columbus needs to lock up. The team went out of their way to make sure they didn’t lose the former fourth-round pick in 2012 to the Vegas Golden Knights and now must pay up to a player who had a breakout season with 17 goals and 12 assists last year, yet averaged just 12 minutes of ice time per game. Anderson made just $894,167 a year ago and should be in line for a modest raise.

Other RFA’s: G Oscar Dansk, F Jordan Schroeder, D Oleg Yevenko.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Sam Gagner. The 27-year-old forward signed with the Blue Jackets last year on a one-year “show me” contract and did just that, putting up one of his best seasons ever with 18 goals and 32 assists for 50 points. Now, if the Blue Jackets want to keep him, they will have to pay for him. The problem is that with such a mediocre group of free agents on the market this year, Gagner will find himself heavily in demand by other NHL teams and is in line for a big pay day.

Other UFA’s: D Marc-Andre Bergeron, F Brett Gallant, F Lauri Korpikoski, D Kyle Quincey, D Jaime Sifers, D Ryan Stanton, F T.J. Tynan.

Projected Cap Space: The team is in decent shape with just a $64.7MM cap hit that goes towards 21 players, giving them approximately $10.3MM to work with (per Cap Friendly) during the offseason, but that does not include locking up either Wennberg or Anderson, which will likely whittle away any significant space to sign a quality free agent.

Free Agent Contact Window Opens Today

June 25, 2017 at 10:27 am CDT | by Mike Furlano 1 Comment

Today marks the first day that teams may contact pending unrestricted free agents ahead of July 1st. The free agency window—established in the latest CBA—allows teams to talk to UFAs from June 25th to June 30th. An important caveat, however, is that teams and players cannot discuss specific contractual terms like contract length, salary, or no-movement clauses.

While nothing substantive is talked about officially, teams use this window to get a sense of what a player is looking for contractually, and to gauge a player’s interest in its team. Essentially, it allows teams to see if they are in the running, or whether they should focus their efforts elsewhere. Unofficially, however, teams and players find creative ways to skirt those limitations. Last year Milan Lucic’s deal to the Edmonton Oilers was all but signed prior to July 1st.

This year’s free agency class features less big names, but numerous solid middle-tier options. A trio of Washington Capitals headline this year’s class, including D Kevin Shattenkirk, D Karl Alzner, and F Justin Williams. A potential fourth, T.J. Oshie, just signed an eight-year, $46MM contract prior to the open window. Other big names garnering attention this year include Alexander Radulov, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Martin Hanzal.

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

June 25, 2017 at 9:02 am CDT | by Mike Furlano 4 Comments

The free agent period is now less than two weeks away from opening up. Several prominent players are set to hit the open market and many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of the Colorado Avalanche’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Mikhail Grigorenko. Grigorenko headlines a very weak RFA class for Colorado. His 10G and 13A in 75 games tops all Colorado RFAs, and he performed well relative to his $1.3MM one-year contract. The 23 year-old Russian is arbitration-eligible this offseason, but his limited production doesn’t foreshadow any prolonged negotiations. The former 12th overall pick is still young enough to turn things around, but the Avalanche will proceed with business as usual until they see something more from Grigorenko.

Other RFA’s: D Nikita Zadorov, F Sven Andrighetto, F Matt Nieto, D Patrick Wiercioch, F Rocco Grimaldi, D Eric Gelinas, F Turner Elson, F Samuel Henley, F Gabriel Bourque, D Duncan Siemens.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Fedor Tyutin. Tyutin came to Colorado after being bought out by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In his first season with the Avalanche Tyutin scored 1G and 12A in 69 games, and spent the majority of time on Colorado’s bottom defensive pairing. The Russian defenseman is firmly in veteran defense territory, and may be a useful piece for a playoff team looking for defensive depth. Tyutin may seek employment elsewhere while still collecting his buyout money from the Blue Jackets, who pay him $1.458MM a year until 2020.

Other UFA’s: F Rene Bourque, C John Mitchell, D Cody Goloubef, G Jeremy Smith, F Brendan Ranford, D Mat Clark, F Jim O’Brien, F Mike Sislo.

Projected Cap Space: The Avalanche will have approximately $21.5MM in cap space next season, and no big UFAs or RFAs to sign. Theoretically, this means that GM Joe Sakic could load up on premium UFAs to improve his basement-dwelling team. In reality, however, Sakic may trade in more skilled players for draft picks, prospects, and young players with potential. The Avalanche are not immediately ready to compete, so signing big name UFAs is not in the team’s best interest. They may sign a backup goaltender to replace Calvin Pickard, and could target UFAs for one-year contracts that the team can then flip at the deadline for picks.

Draft Notes: Vaakanainen, Scandela, Rasmussen

June 24, 2017 at 9:01 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 10 Comments

The Boston Bruins draft brings about multiple questions, the foremost of which is why did they draft another defenseman in the first round. The team, overloaded with defensive prospects and lacking in young playmakers used the #18 pick to take Finland’s Urho Vaakanainen, a defensive defenseman, which to many was a disappointing pick. While it will be years before anyone knows how good of a player Vaakanainen is, CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty suggests the team played it safe instead of going after dynamic forwards such as Kailer Yamamoto, who went to Edmonton at #22, and Kristian Vesalainen, who went to Winnipeg at #24. The Bruins have drafted defense with their first pick in four of the last five drafts.

Haggerty also says the team was looking to trade the number one pick on Friday with the hopes of acquiring a defenseman to replace the departed Colin Miller or a top-six left wing. However, trade negotiations with Minnesota for Marco Scandella didn’t come to fruition. That was disappointing, considering that #18 pick was likely their top trade chip.
The Detroit Red Wings received some questionable grades for their first-round pick at #9, center Michael Rasmussen out of the WHL. The 6-foot-5 center has little experience, only tallied 15 even strength goals last year and lacks the great speed that is so highly coveted in the NHL these days. The biggest complaint is the team passed on two other quick, speedy forwards in Owen Tippett, who went #10 to the Florida Panthers and Gabe Vilardi, who went #11 to the Los Angeles Kings.

Duchene Tops List Of Likely Trade Candidates

June 24, 2017 at 8:15 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Count Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene as the most likely player to be traded in the offseason. TSN released its Trade Bait list Saturday with Duchene, Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk and Ottawa defenseman Dion Phaneuf leading the list of players who are likely to find themselves a new home for the 2017-18 season. A Duchene trade has been rumored since before the regular season ended and been talked about by most NHL teams so far. The Avalanche, who finished the regular season with the worst record in the league, feel this might be the best time to move the 26-year-old center after a disappointing season. He scored 18 goals and had 23 assists last year, a far cry from his 2015-16 season in which he tallied 30 goals and 29 assists in a breakout season. Much of the belief is that he lacks quality line mates around him and would thrive on a different team. While the Avalanche failed to move him before the draft, it is considered inevitable that a trade happens.

Galchenyuk is considered expendable after the Montreal Canadiens acquired Jonathan Drouin on June 15. Just like Duchene, Galchenyuk scored 17 goals in 61 games, a far cry from his 30-goal output in 2015-16. However, the Canadiens are looking to bolster their defense and feel the 23-year-old might be the best path to do that. The Minnesota Wild are often suggested as a good match for the Canadiens, but many teams wouldn’t mind getting the third-overall pick in 2013. Phaneuf, who refused to waive his no-movement clause before the expansion draft, therefore forcing the Senators to expose and lose Marc Methot (coincidentally #4 on the list), is still expected to be moved. The 32-year-old had a solid season and his trade value might be at its highest. However, the franchise will have to convince teams to accept the remaining four years on his contract at $7MM a season.

Of the 15 players on the list, the Vegas Golden Knights have three players (all defensemen) on the list, including Methot, Luca Sbisa (#8), and Alexei Emelin (#12). The Avalanche have two players on the list with Duchene at the top as well as defenseman Tyson Barrie (#7). The Minnesota Wild are the only other team with multiple players on the list with Marco Scandella (#5) and Mathew Dumba (#10), although it is believed that the Wild will likely just trade one of its young defenseman and keep the other. Scandella is the more likely of the two to get traded.

For a full list, you can find it here.

Eastern Notes: Sexton, Brassard, Mason

June 24, 2017 at 7:12 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Now that the NHL draft is over, Pittsburgh will be losing another executive as TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Randy Sexton, the Penguins director of amateur scouting, will be heading to Buffalo to join new general manager Jason Botterill and will take the Sabres’ assistant general manager position. Sexton will also take over as the general manager of their AHL team, the Rochester Americans.

Many believe that Sexton has been on Botterill’s list since he took over as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres back in May. Sexton has had a hand in drafting a number of key players to Pittsburgh’s recent two-time Stanley Cup champion team including Matt Murray, Bryan Rust, Olli Maatta and Jake Guentzel. The Sabres have made a total overhaul of their front office since the season ended with another disappointing season as the team hired Botterill to make organizational changes. The team has not reached the playoffs since the 2010-11 season.

Ottawa Senators Derick Brassard is progressing nicely after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum to his right shoulder and should be ready at the beginning of the season, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch. The scribe says that head coach Guy Boucher says if Brassard is not ready to go in October, the team will find a replacement from within, rather than going out and signing an extra center. Despite playing in 81 games, the 29-year-old center had a down year despite the team’s success, scoring just 14 goals and 25 assists, his lowest numbers since the 2012-13 season.
While most teams have solved their goaltending issues already before the offseason has officially gotten underway, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said the team is considering re-signing Steve Mason to share the net with the team’s only netminder in Michal Neuvirth. According to CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio, Hextall claims he’s in no hurry, nor is worried since most teams have already found their goalies for the year. That leaves him with numerous options, but was quick to point out that Mason, “is still in the mix.” Mason, who just finished his fifth season with the Flyers, is an unrestricted free agent, but after a season in which he finished with a 2.66 GAA in 58 games, the 29-year-old may not have many options left to find a starting job in the NHL.

Offseason Keys: Edmonton Oilers

June 24, 2017 at 5:51 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

While expansion was the early headline in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Edmonton Oilers.

After years of continued struggles, everything came together rather nicely for the Oilers in 2016-17. Connor McDavid built on a strong rookie season with a Hart Trophy campaign while Cam Talbot provided the strong goaltending they had been seeking for a while. As a result, they made it to the second round, providing plenty of reason for optimism in Edmonton.

GM Peter Chiarelli has been busy already this offseason with the recent trade of winger Jordan Eberle to the Islanders for center Ryan Strome plus the re-signing of Kris Russell. Even with those off the board, there is still work to be done. Here are three remaining offseason keys for the Oilers.

McDavid Extension

There has been talk of McDavid’s second contract since the time he signed his first one. He has more than delivered in his first two seasons with Edmonton and Chiarelli has already indicated that this will be his top priority this summer.

There are two questions in play here – how much will it cost and how long will the contract be? Regardless of the term, it’s going to be among the highest cap hits in the league and I don’t think anyone on either side would expect otherwise.

The term presents the more intriguing question. He’s eligible to sign for as many as eight years and he sits four years away from unrestricted free agency eligibility. While many have expected he’ll take the eight years, it was suggested last month that a five year term would be more preferable to McDavid. While that would result in a lower pay day now, it would allow him to sign his next contract with all years being UFA ones and likely a higher salary cap at that time. Whichever way they go, there’s little reason to think this won’t get done around July 1st, the first day he’s eligible to sign.

New Deal For Draisaitl

Edmonton has the highest scoring restricted free agent this summer in center Leon Draisaitl. The German forward is coming off a breakout season where he tallied 29 goals and 48 assists and has shown himself to be a number one center.

Offer sheets are extremely rare now but given the massive contract McDavid will get on his next deal, some have wondered if Draisaitl could be targeted. Chiarelli has already stated he’ll match any offer but that might not stop a team from trying. If an opposing squad wanted to make life difficult for Edmonton cap-wise, they could offer as much $9.8MM for five years with the offer sheet compensation being two first rounders, a second, and a third.

The expectation is that the two sides should be able to work out a deal shortly after the McDavid one is finalized (and it’s that contract that will likely lay the foundation for this one) but if that isn’t the case, there may be a team that decides to try to roll the dice on an offer sheet (assuming Draisaitl is willing to sign it, of course). Assuming there is no offer sheet, a new deal for the 21 year old should come in around the $7MM per season range.

Add Defensive Depth

The Oilers will be without blueliner Andrej Sekera for a notable period to start next season. He suffered a torn ACL against the Ducks in the second round and will be out anywhere from six to nine months. On the shorter end, he’d miss roughly the first six weeks of the season but at the longer end of the scale, that could be half the season.

The team is in much better shape defensively than they were a couple of years ago with both Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning faring well as youngsters but behind them, there isn’t much that’s ready right away. Griffin Reinhart would have helped in that regard but he was picked by the Golden Knights in expansion.

Veteran Eric Gryba is set to become an unrestricted free agent and while bringing him back would help in terms of depth, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them set their heights a little higher in free agency. It’s not likely that they will go after the big names – especially with their big two forwards set to receive huge raises – but finding someone capable of playing a fourth or fifth defender role would help ease the pain of missing Sekera early on while giving them strong third pairing options when everyone is healthy.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Wild, Senators UFA Talks, Islanders Dangling Picks

June 24, 2017 at 4:39 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

While Minnesota has been heavily discussed in trade speculation dating back to the pre-expansion roster freeze, GM Chuck Fletcher told TSN’s Pierre LeBrun (Twitter link) that there is nothing imminent on the trade front.

Even with the Expansion Draft having passed, there have been plenty of suggestions that the Wild would still look to move one of their blueliners and that while Jonas Brodin is the most sought after, the one that would be more likely to go is Marco Scandella. Friday, Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune suggested via Twitter that the asking price for Scandella was a package that included a first round pick.

Fletcher also noted to LeBrun that he doesn’t foresee there being any cap issues with the roster they currently have. That alone is intriguing as the team already has $61.5MM committed for next season to 15 players per CapFriendly with Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter both in line to land big deals this summer.

Elsewhere around the league:

Senators GM Pierre Dorion plans to speak to the agents for pending unrestricted free agents Mike Condon, Tommy Wingels, Tom Pyatt, and Viktor Stalberg this weekend to see if they can reach a deal before the negotiation window opens up, notes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The scribe adds that progress had been made with several of the UFAs before talks were put on the backburner for the Expansion Draft. Dorion indicated to Garrioch that the team is comfortable with Andrew Hammond as their backup goaltender next season if they’re unable to come to terms with Condon on a new deal. On top of dealing with those free agents, Dorion is hopeful to get talks started with pending RFA Jean-Gabriel Pageau soon.
After adding several high draft picks in the trade of Travis Hamonic to Calgary, Islanders GM Garth Snow acknowledged to reporters, including Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski, that he is “100 percent” looking to move those picks for another established talent though he noted that he doesn’t expect anything to happen in the next coming days. Captain John Tavares is entering the final year of his contract in 2017-18 and is believed to be waiting to see what the team looks like for next season before deciding on whether or not to sign an extension. Snow has already added some scoring help on the wing with the acquisition of Jordan Eberle earlier this week and another big addition up front would give the Isles a much stronger attack.

Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks

June 24, 2017 at 3:20 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The free agent period is now less than two weeks away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Chicago’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: G Anton Forsberg – Although he wasn’t the headliner in the Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad swap, Forsberg is an intriguing young goalie who should settle in as the replacement for Scott Darling to play behind Corey Crawford. He hasn’t had much success yet at the NHL level which should keep the asking price low despite a stellar season at the AHL level in 2016-17. He’s due a qualifying offer of $715K and a one year deal for Forsberg should come in close to that.

D Ville Pokka – Pokka has yet to play at the NHL level after spending the last three years in Chicago’s farm system but that may very well change next season. His production took a notable dip with Rockford (from 45 to 30 points) but he’s still an intriguing two-way defender. Contract talks have already started and while he’s due a two-way qualifying offer just under $875K, he’s a candidate to take less than that in exchange for more guaranteed money, a move that may help his push for a roster spot in 2017-18.

Other RFA’s: D Erik Gustafsson, F Kenton Helgeson, F Michael Latta, F Tomas Jurco, F Dennis Rasmussen, D Nolan Valleau

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: D Brian Campbell – His second go-round in Chicago wasn’t anywhere near as successful as his first but that was to be expected given his age and the role he was brought to play. Campbell still did a decent job in a bottom half spot in the lineup where he averaged 18:26 per night, his lowest ice time in more than a decade. Now 38, Campbell has indicated that he would like to stay in Chicago but he may have to take another pay cut from the $2.25MM he earned (including bonuses) this past season in order to do so.

D Johnny Oduya – GM Stan Bowman brought Oduya back into the fold just before the trade deadline in order to bolster their back end but that was after that had squirreled away a bit of cap space with Dallas retaining half of his $3.75MM cap hit as well. That won’t be the case in free agency so unless he’s willing to sign a one year incentive-laden contract, he’s probably not an option to come back. He’s not an ideal top four on a contending team but he should still receive lots of interest as a dependable veteran third pairing player.

Other UFA’s: G Mac Carruth, F Andrew Desjardins, G Lars Johansson, F Pierre-Cedric Labrie, F Brandon Mashinter

Projected Cap Space: With Marian Hossa out for the season and expected to be headed for LTIR, Chicago may have a little bit more room to work with this summer. However, as things stand, they sit at $76.5MM in committed contracts to 21 players per CapFriendly which is already $1.5MM over the cap. Considering that they will want to be under before they can put Hossa on in-season LTIR (to give them some in-season payroll flexibility), there’s some more cutting that will need to be done before they can look towards adding in free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Washington Capitals

June 24, 2017 at 2:05 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

2016-17 was largely more of the same in Washington. They were the top team in the regular season but once again came up short in the played after being ousted by Pittsburgh in the second round. GM Brian MacLellan went all in with this group and now faces a summer where nearly half the team needs new contracts even after the re-signing of T.J. Oshie. That’s highlighted in multiple keys for their offseason.

Re-Sign The Russians

Washington has a pair of restricted free agents that have already been speculated as candidates to return home to Russia in center Evgeny Kuznetsov and defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Kuznetsov is the less likely of the two to go but he has suggested in the past that it’s something he would consider if contracts talks don’t go well at the start.

Orlov’s a more intriguing case, however. It took until late September for them to reach an agreement on a one year post-bridge contract worth $2.57MM. He responded with a career season and has arbitration rights. If he wants to secure an NHL deal, going that route seems like a logical outcome. If Orlov is considering playing in the KHL (and in the Olympics) though, this could be one that drags out for a while yet.

As for Kuznetsov, he’s also coming off his bridge deal and is lined up for a significantly larger payday than the $3.4MM salary he received in 2016-17. While his deployment was largely as a second liner thanks to Nicklas Backstrom being in front of him, he has produced like a front line player and will be looking to be paid like one; he too has arbitration rights. There’s a good chance his cap hit of $3MM from this past season will be doubled in this next deal which is something MacLellan will need to keep in mind as he plots out his other re-signings.

Decide On Remaining UFAs

Even after re-signing Oshie, the Capitals have one of the more prominent unrestricted free agents in defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Acquired as a rental player in advance of the trade deadline, it’s unlikely that he’ll be back.

However, beyond Shattenkirk, Washington has a couple of other veteran players who are bound to garner plenty of interest. Blueliner Karl Alzner is a top four stay-at-home player and his market will be one to watch given what happened to Kris Russell last summer. Winger Justin Williams has shown that he’s still a capable second line forward and should have several suitors as well. The Caps would undoubtedly like to keep both of them in the fold but they can’t afford to bring everyone back. MacLellan will need to have a few other plans in place depending on what the market dictates if everyone makes it to July 1st unsigned.

Add Left Side Defensive Help

Alzner has been a staple on Washington’s back end for the past seven seasons, giving them a dependable left side defender who can log top four minutes. Him leaving via free agency would create a big hole to fill. The team was hoping that Nate Schmidt would be able to step in to take that spot but he wound up being selected by the Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft so that option is off the table as well.

Presently, the Capitals have just two left shot defensemen under contract for next season in Brooks Orpik and Taylor Chorney and both of them aren’t ideal candidates for top four roles. Even if the team keeps one of their better right side players on the left, there’s still one vacancy that will need to be filled.

How MacLellan projects out the cap situation may dictate which route he goes to cover that spot. The cap hit will be pricier with a free agent signing and wouldn’t cost them any assets but would they prefer to go the trade route to get a cheaper fit even if the acquisition cost is higher? With so few players signed for next season presently, a lot is in flux with just a week to go until free agency opens up.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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