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Archives for June 2017

Offseason Keys: New York Rangers

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While tomorrow’s expansion draft is currently headlining 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 New York Rangers.

The Rangers were one of the top scoring teams in the league in 2016-17 and made it to the second round of the playoffs before being ousted by the Ottawa Senators.  GM Jeff Gorton already made one move of significance this offseason with the buyout of Dan Girardi but there is still work to be done.  Here’s what else will likely be on the to-do list for New York this summer.

Add A Right Side Top Pairing Defender

Of the six defensemen the Rangers have under contract for next season, only one is a right hand shot.  That one player is Steven Kampfer who is signed on a two year, two-way league minimum contract and is a depth player at this stage of his career.  In other words, New York is on the hunt for someone to play the right side in a top role.

New York has been linked to pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk pretty much all season long with the speculation being that the blueliner would like to play there as well.  His defensive shortcomings don’t make him a prototypical top pairing player but he’s the best available on the open market and would still represent a significant upgrade on that side.

Finding the right fit financially for Shattenkirk or someone via a trade may be a bit of a tight squeeze though unless they’re swapping out a big contract in return.  As things stand, the team has $61.6MM committed to 18 players per CapFriendly but have a few of their own free agents to re-sign including one particularly prominent one (more on him shortly).  However, the Girardi buyout saved them nearly $2.9MM for this season and it’s expected that they’ll reinvest that money and more into landing a much-needed defensive upgrade.

New Deal For Zibanejad

After being New York’s top acquisition last summer, Mika Zibanejad had a solid first season in the Big Apple with 37 points (14-23-37) in 56 for the highest points-per-game average of his career.  He did, however, miss 25 games with a broken fibula.  Despite that, he should be in line for a nice raise this summer.

The Rangers owe Zibanejad a qualifying offer of $3.25MM (his 2016-17 salary) and however long his next contract is, it should surpass that without any issue.  He’s arbitration eligible and is two years away from unrestricted free agency which suggests that a short-term contract isn’t something New York will want to pursue at this time.

Given his status as a top six center and the fact that any real long-term deal will buy out more UFA years than RFA ones, Zibanejad’s next contract will likely cross the $5MM range.  That will take a big bite out of their remaining cap space but getting this deal done will no doubt be one of Gorton’s top priorities with an eye on getting pen to paper sooner rather than later.

Determine Stepan’s Future

Center Derek Stepan has been one of the more consistent point producers for the Rangers over the years and is in the middle of a six year, $39MM contract.  Part of that pact calls for a full no-trade clause to kick in as of July 1st.  Accordingly, if Gorton has any intentions of moving him (or at least sizing up the market for Stepan), it will be much easier to get a deal done before the calendar flips to next month.  Early indications are that the GM is looking at what might be out there at the very least.

Mar 25, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) moves the puck against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period at Staples Center. The Rangers won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY SportsAlthough Stepan carries a hefty cap hit at $6.5MM, there’s bound to be plenty of interest in him.  He has hit more than 50 points in five of the last six seasons and the one he didn’t was the lockout-shortened 48 game campaign (where he tallied 44 points).  In a market where available top six centers are extremely difficult to find, he rises up the list in a hurry.

Gorton could also potentially dangle Stepan for defensive help if they want to trade for a high priced defender instead of trying to land a free agent.  Of course, they could also keep him and once again run with him and Zibanejad as their one-two punch which would still represent one of the younger top six duos in the league.

With his no-trade clause kicking in less than two weeks from now though, a decision will need to be made on Stepan’s future with the team in the not-too-distant future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Wild Notes: Expansion Dealing, Koivu, Olofsson

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While the Golden Knights already have at least six trades in place following the Expansion Draft and roster freeze, they may not be done their dealing just yet.  TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that speculation is growing that the Wild either have or will soon have a deal in place that would see them exchange a prospect to Vegas in exchange for them staying away from unprotected defensemen Mathew Dumba and Marco Scandella.

Minnesota was only able to protect three of their blueliners in part due to the fact that three forwards carry no-move clauses.  Undoubtedly, Golden Knights GM George McPhee has received plenty of interest from other teams for one of those two rearguards in a draft-and-trade proposal so for him to entertain a deal to not pick one of those two, the Wild will have to give up something of note.  If they do reach an agreement on a deal to stay away, that would push center Eric Staal, who had a resurgent season with in 2016-17, to the forefront of who Vegas could select.  In a separate tweet, McKenzie suggests forward Erik Haula, a pending RFA, could get a contract from the Golden Knights and be their selection as well.

Other notes from Minnesota:

  • If the team isn’t able to come to an agreement with center Mikko Koivu on an extension this summer, there won’t be any in-season negotiations, the captain told Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune: “I don’t think I would do anything during the season. I don’t think it would help my game at all. If not now, it’s going to be at the end of the year.”  Koivu is entering the final season of a seven year, $47.25MM contract, one that will pay the 34 year old $9.18MM in 2017-18.  He’s coming off his highest point total since 2010-11 as he recorded 58 points (18-40-58) in 2016-17.
  • Also from Russo, he notes that defenseman Gustav Olofsson is someone that intrigues the Golden Knights. The former second round pick got into 13 games of NHL action this past season while adding 24 points in 59 games at the minor league level with Iowa.  Olofsson is coming off his entry-level contract and is slated to become a restricted free agent in July.

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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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 Calgary’s free agent situation.

Apr 17, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett (93) skates with the puck against the Anaheim Ducks during the second period in game three of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsKey Restricted Free Agents: F Sam Bennett – Even though he just completed his second full season in the NHL, Bennett’s entry-level deal expired since the first year was burned in Calgary’s playoff run in 2014-15.  The fourth overall pick back in 2014 was unable to build off a solid rookie season and wound up taking a step back this past season.  There are questions as to whether or not he’s still a part of their long-term future but at the age of just 21 (as of next week), it’s still early to make that call.  Accordingly, Bennett becomes a strong candidate for a short-term bridge contract to show whether or not he can become that top six center they were envisioning.  His qualifying offer checks in at just under $875K and despite a quiet season, he should get a nice bump on that in this next deal.

F Micheal Ferland – After playing a predominantly physical role, the Flames asked Ferland to step into more of an offensive role at times this year and the winger responded with a career season offensively with 15 goals and 25 points.  Power forwards with a bit of an offensive touch are hard to come by and that’s certainly going to be a point argued in contract discussions.  Ferland is arbitration eligible and should receive a decent jump in pay from the $900K he earned in 2016-17.

Other RFAs: F Alex Chiasson, G Jon Gillies, F Garnet Hathaway, F Curtis Lazar, D Kenney Morrison, G David Rittich, F Linden Vey

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: G Brian Elliott – Elliott didn’t pan out as the starter after being acquired in a trade last summer from St. Louis.  With their prospects not ready for full-time NHL duty yet, GM Brad Treliving decided over the weekend to bring in another veteran stopgap in Mike Smith from the Coyotes.  That seals Elliott’s fate that he won’t be back and he’ll be off to hit the open market.  Given the lack of starting jobs out there, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take a short-term deal in the hopes of securing a bigger pay day next time around.

D Michael Stone – This was far from a good season for someone in his walk year.  The start was delayed by a torn ACL from 2015-16 and then he was back on the shelf barely a week after making his season debut with an upper body injury.  Stone never really recovered from that with Arizona and was moved to Calgary near the trade deadline where he fared much better in a secondary role.  That said, he was still far removed from the 36 points he put up in his last full season with the Coyotes, one that earned him a $4MM deal.  Though he’s just 27 and in a weak free agent market, he may be hard pressed to get the big ticket contract that looked much more likely just a year ago.

W Kris Versteeg – After a strange summer that had him signing in Switzerland before the contract was voided and then joining the Oilers on a tryout before landing in Calgary late in the preseason, Versteeg should have a better case this time around and not need as long to find his next home.  He picked up 30+ points for the fourth straight season and secondary scoring isn’t in high abundance on the open market.  The Flames should have interest in keeping him as a middle six winger but this time around, it should take more than $950K he earned this season to get him to put pen to paper on a contract.

Other UFAs: F Brandon Bollig, D Deryk Engelland, D Mike Kostka, D Dennis Wideman

Projected Cap Space: Calgary has a lot of space to work with currently as they have just $55.5MM committed per CapFriendly.  That said, only 14 players are signed for the big club so there are lots of spots still to be filled.  However, by the time they deal with all their RFAs, they should still have enough to go after a bigger fish in the free agent market or via trade if they so desire.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Pokka, Wichita, Kostin

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The Chicago Blackhawks are in negotiations with Ville Pokka on a new contract, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. The young defenseman has still yet to make his NHL debut, but with the Blackhawks facing cap problems once again and Trevor van Riemsdyk likely headed for the Vegas Golden Knights, it might be time for Pokka to make an impact this season.

The 23-year old was selected 34th overall in the 2012 draft by the New York Islanders and is a restricted free agent this summer. It’s not often you see high draft picks make it all the way through their entry-level contract without a sniff of the NHL, but because of it Pokka should be relatively inexpensive on his next deal. That said, he’s a candidate for Group VI free agency should the Blackhawks not get him into 80 games by the summer after his 25th birthday, meaning he’s probably unwilling to sign anything longer than two years without any guarantees at playing time. After three up-and-down seasons in the AHL that showed both his potential and deficiencies, it will be tough to put him right into the NHL to start next year.

  • The Edmonton Oilers have announced their partnership with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL as a new minor-league affiliate. The Bakersfield Condors, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate will work closely with the Thunder to develop their prospects. Though Bakersfield and Wichita are still quite a distance from each other, the Oilers had been affiliated with the Norfolk Admirals last season on the east coast. That team is now working with the Nashville Predators while the Thunder will indeed be much closer geographically.
  • Klim Kostin is clear that he wants to play in North America next season, and he will likely get a mutual termination with his KHL club in order to do so. In a recent translated article with Sovsport, Kostin—a top prospect for the 2017 entry draft, expected to go sometime in the first round—says that even though he has two years remaining on his current deal, their is a good chance the team will “understand me and let me go.” Kostin has previously said he doesn’t want to play in the WHL where the Kootenay Ice hold his junior rights. He instead could go directly to the NHL or AHL if he were to sign an entry-level contract right away.

USA, Canada Release World Junior Camp Rosters

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As national hockey programs start their development programs for this year’s World Junior Championships, rosters were revealed today for the reigning finalists. Team Canada released its development camp roster, while Team USA announced the roster for the Summer Showcase.

These are both U20 rosters, and include many players already selected by NHL teams. They also include top prospects for the upcoming entry draft, as well as some for 2018. They’ll be paired down considerably before the tournament, but even being part of the selection process is a help to a young player’s development. The teams will face off at the Showcase in a series of 12 games, also meeting squads from Finland and Sweden. The full rosters are below:

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Toronto Maple Leafs Discussing Trade With Vegas

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As teased in our earlier article about George McPhee’s confirmation that he and the Vegas Golden Knights already have at least six trades completed, is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are also still in discussions with the club. As Frank Seravalli of TSN notes in his latest piece, Toronto GM Lou Lamoriello was affected by travel issues and was given more time from McPhee to negotiate a deal with Vegas.

Though the Maple Leafs aren’t likely to need to dump salary or protect extra players—Joffery Lupul or Nathan Horton’s contracts could be moved for more cap space this summer, but it’s not imperative that the team do so—they could be on the prowl for one of the extra defensemen that Vegas will pick tomorrow. Seravalli notes Mathew Dumba, Colin Miller, Sami Vatanen and Marc Methot in his column but there are obviously many more.  Trevor van Riemsdyk

In our mock expansion draft, we had the Golden Knights picking ten defensemen from around the league and while it’s still unclear how the already completed trades could affect these names, it’s a list that would draw wide interest from the Maple Leafs. While Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt are both left-handed and would likely have to slot in behind Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, they are both young enough to fit into the Leafs’ competitive window and would offer upgrades on Matt Hunwick and Martin Marincin, the duo most often deployed in that third pairing LHD spot last season.

The most interesting name though may be Trevor van Riemsdyk, young brother of Maple Leafs’ forward James van Riemsdyk and expected expansion casualty from the Chicago Blackhawks. The younger van Riemsdyk is only 25, right-handed and has begun to show a capability beyond his beginnings as an NCAA free agent.

In any case, there should be many names available to the Maple Leafs if the Golden Knights are looking to flip contracts after the draft. With several exciting prospects still in the Leafs system and a glut of young players already fighting for jobs at the NHL level, they could afford to move out a couple in any deal. It will be interesting to see what kind of dealing they have planned with the expansion franchise, if any at all.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Darren Raddysh Signs AHL Deal With Rockford

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Amazingly, the reigning Defenseman of the Year from the OHL has settled on an AHL deal with the Rockford IceHogs, minor league affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. Darren Raddysh was reported to have many suitors around the league after an outstanding season with the Erie Otters, but either decided the chance to join teammate Alex DeBrincat in the Blackhawks system was too good to pass up, or wasn’t offered an entry-level contract by anyone around the league.

We profiled Raddysh earlier this month when there was apparently league-wide interest in him, examining his status as an over-aged junior free agent. His evolution from “brother of Taylor Raddysh” (a top Tampa Bay Lightning prospect) to league-best defender was an incredible one, seeing his point total jump all the way to 81 this season. The Otters won an OHL Championship but couldn’t finish off the Memorial Cup as they lost to the hometown Windsor Spitfires.

There is no guarantee he’ll find success at the next level but there isn’t a glaring weakness in his offensive game, and he’s not dramatically undersized like other undrafted or overlooked players. Should he be able to take any of his scoring dominance to the AHL level, the Hawks could have another young prospect right in front of them for virtually nothing.

Sabres Notes: Mueller, Coaching, Expansion

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Mirco Mueller was dealt from the San Jose Sharks to the New Jersey Devils just before the expansion protection lists were submitted, but they weren’t the only team interested in him. Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports that the Buffalo Sabres were also in talks with the Sharks before they made the move for Nathan Beaulieu instead. It’s clear that the Sabres are looking for every opportunity to improve their defense after finding little consistency from the back end a year ago.

So far, the Sabres project to have some combination of Beaulieu, Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Jake McCabe and Viktor Antipin in their regular group, with Justin Falk, Brendan Guhle and others fighting for the last few spots. That’s a group that could seriously use another upgrade, as various levels of inexperience and inconsistency flow throughout. With Vegas announcing that they’d have defensemen for sale after the expansion draft, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear Buffalo had picked up the phone to try and acquire one.

  • That is of course if Buffalo doesn’t lose a defenseman of their own in the draft. Though we expect the Golden Knights to go after Linus Ullmark (with William Carrier a close second), there is always the chance that Bogosian could be selected. After all, even though he’s been disappointing for the Sabres since coming from Winnipeg in the Tyler Myers trade, he is still just 26 and has the pedigree of a third-overall pick. His contract still has three years left at a $5.14MM cap hit (and actually costs more from a salary perspective) but if Vegas believes he can put his injury woes behind him and become the top-pairing two-way defender he was drafted as they could potentially take him off Buffalo’s hands.
  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News passes on a report that Phil Housley will hire an all-new assistant coaching staff for next season, with Terry Murray, Bob Woods and Tom Ward all not expected to be retained. New GM Jason Botterill is attempting to change the entire culture in the Buffalo organization, and that likely means wiping the coaching slate clean. Interestingly, Murray is the uncle of former Buffalo GM Tim Murray and is a career NHL coach who has held the head position in Florida, Philadelphia, Washington and Los Angeles.

George McPhee Confirms Vegas Has Completed At Least Six Trades

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In meeting with the media today, GM George McPhee of the Vegas Golden Knights was excited about the prospects of his new expansion team. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet sent out a series of tweets quoting McPhee, as he talked about the pre-draft trades he’s completed. The GM announced that there are at least six deals but that he’s lost track of exactly how many. He also said that the team would claim several extra defenders that he would need to trade after the expansion process is complete, and was surprised at how much scoring talent the team has been able to acquire. Even though he had set a deadline last night, several GMs had travel issues in getting to Vegas and McPhee is still talking with them. The Toronto Maple Leafs are one such team, reports Johnston.

The Lightning, Blue Jackets, Islanders, Ducks, and Blackhawks have all been heavily rumored to have deals in place with the Golden Knights, either to eat a bad contract or protect extra players from expansion. Other teams, like the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild have tried to get something done without much reported success though obviously that can change in a moment.

One of the most interesting parts of the week will be how many of the expansion selections will be traded immediately, as available players like James Neal have little use to the expansion franchise but could hold big trade value on the open market. Mathew Dumba, Sami Vatanen, Josh Manson, Jason Demers, Calvin de Haan and others are available on defense, and would command healthy returns if they were actually made available. McPhee made it clear that he’s willing to go that route, telling Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports that some expansion picks will be traded the very next day. The Golden Knights are in an incredible position of leverage as the minutes tick down. They must submit their expansion selections and any free agent contracts tomorrow morning, before everything is announced at the NHL Awards show tomorrow night.

It should prove to be one of the most interesting nights in recent hockey history, with transactions flying all around the league. Remember that there is a still a moratorium on any movement that doesn’t include the expansion team until early Thursday morning, meaning teams will have to wait and watch the expansion frenzy while sitting on their proverbial hands.

Tampa Bay Expected To Have Side Deal With Vegas

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Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning have a side deal with the Vegas Golden Knights to protect their young defensemen, and Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 in Toronto confirming that he’s heard for a while that Steve Yzerman has had a deal in place. With Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek both left unprotected, it seemed as though there must be something coming from the Lightning to steer the Vegas pick. Jason Garrison

The Lightning instead decided to protect Braydon Coburn, which was a huge surprise to everyone. In our mock draft, Dotchin garnered an easy majority as the Tampa Bay pick with his upside and late play for the team showing he’s ready for an NHL role next season. James Mirtle of The Athletic notes that the Lightning may be looking to move salary out, which seems to point directly at Jason Garrison. The 32-year old has one year left on his contract for $4.6MM and has a full no-trade clause. Having the Golden Knights choose him in the expansion draft is an easy way around that clause, with some sort of asset going back the other way in return.

If first-round picks are the going currency to dump your problems on the Golden Knights, the Lightning would be giving up the 14th-overall selection. That’s a hefty price to pay, and Smith speculates a deal may be centered around a forward prospect or the team’s two second-round picks instead. It also could be that the team simply wanted to keep Coburn as well, and will give up an asset without any salary heading the other way. With Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat leading a large group of RFAs for the team this summer, clearing more salary room out would allow them to be players in free agency. Before trading Jonathan Drouin it wasn’t even clear they’d be able to sign all of their forwards, but within a matter of days cap space could turn into an asset for the Lightning instead of a burden.

While the Golden Knights apparently don’t have a deal in place with Ottawa, it could have as many as nine other trades in place with teams around the league. Their position as the only expansion team in the new salary cap NHL has given them a lot of leverage in trade talks. While it may not be five first-round picks this year, it’s clear that George McPhee and the Golden Knights will collect a strong stable of assets this offseason.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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