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Las Vegas Says It’s Willing To Discuss Deals With Any Team

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The Las Vegas Golden Knights have to wait until tomorrow morning to see the unprotected lists that each team submitted today, but the team released a statement, suggesting that they are willing to listen to deals with any NHL team that wants to keep their rosters intact.

“The Golden Knights organization is very pleased with how the expansion draft process has gone so far, through the NHL trade freeze which took effect Saturday, June 17 at 12 noon PT. Now, General Manager George McPhee and his staff will continue to have discussions with the other 30 NHL clubs. Vegas has indicated that they will all 30 clubs every opportunity to keep their rosters intact if they would like it. This means that before the Golden Knights claim a player off a team’s unprotected list, McPhee and his staff are willing to negotiate deals so the other clubs do not have to lose a player they would otherwise like to keep.”

While it is believed that Las Vegas has multiple side deals already completed, it suggests the Golden Knights are interested in acquiring more picks and are open to making side deals with as many teams as possible. The team now can negotiate with all teams over 72 hours over who they can or will select after the unprotected rosters are released.

Las Vegas Has Several Free Agent Options As Well

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Not that the Las Vegas Golden Knights don’t have enough to do over the next few days, from going through the protection rosters, to making side deals, to participate in the NHL draft and then announce their team by June 21, but the team also needs to start thinking about free agents as well. The team has an exclusive window to negotiate with any unrestricted free agents. While the team has already inked KHL center Vadim Shipachyov to a free agent contract, more signings are sure to come. But who are their best options?

The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton has several suggestions of players the Golden Knights should consider to bolster their team for their initial season, including Arizona’s Radim Vrbata, Calgary’s Michael Stone, Washington’s Karl Alzner, Philadelphia’s Michael Del Zotto as well as San Jose’s Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

The scribe argues that Vrbata might be an easy choice. Although contents of the protection rosters won’t be known until tomorrow morning, Arizona is expected to provide very little in terms of available players on their roster. So going after one of the Coyotes free agents may have more meaning than a fringe prospect. Enter Vrbata. The 36 winger could be the perfect linemate for Shipachyov as he put up a 20-goal season for Arizona last season and is two years removed from a 31-goal season. And at age 36, Vrbata might come at a shorter deal than some other free agent options.

Both Thornton and Marleau are options as well. While both are expected to look for their best chance to chase a Stanley Cup, it’s conceivably possible that Las Vegas could convince one of them to be the face of the franchise. Thornton is coming off a 50-point season at age 37, but put up 82 points just the year before that. Marleau, on the other hand, had 27 goals last year and could also be a nice fit alongside Shipachyov. Also at age 37, Marleau hasn’t slowed down yet.

The rest of the suggestions that Clinton gives are blueliners, which may not be that important to the Golden Knights considering that many feel that the expansion draft will be loaded with defensive talent, but few quality forward options. Alzner was originally drafted by Las Vegas general manager George McPhee when he was with the Capitals and he could be the leader of the defense for a number of years. The 28-year-old Alzner is one of the top two free agent defensemen available (next to teammate Kevin Shattenkirk) and his defensive style might be a perfect fit in Las Vegas. The downside to Alzner is the team would lose the ability to use an expansion pick on a top prospect such as goaltender Philipp Grubauer or defenseman Nate Schmidt if they sign Alzner, so that option is not as likely.

Stone could be a good addition to the roster if they opt not to go after Alzner. Stone has been a solid top-4 defenseman for both Calgary this year and Arizona before that. Stone is more of a two-way player and might be able to provide some much-needed offense. He had just three goals and 12 assists in 64 games this year between the two teams, but had six goals and 39 points one year ago. Del Zotto is more than capable of providing offense for the Golden Knights. While not a defensive player, he’s had several good seasons, but injuries have often curtailed his career.

 

NHL Snapshots: Carolina/Pittsburgh Goaltending Coaches, Kesler, Johnson

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The Carolina Hurricanes felt they solved their goaltending problems in April when they traded for and later signed (4-year, $4.15MM cap hit) Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender Scott Darling. The 28-year-old goalie proved to be an outstanding backup for three seasons and many believed he would find a starting job when he became an unrestricted free agent. Darling finished this past season with a 2.38 GAA and a .924 save percentage in 32 games.

However, the Hurricanes are going to make sure that they do everything they can to ensure Darlings’ success as a full-time starter. Carolina has signed away Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending coach Mike Bales to be their goaltending coach, tweets AP’s Stephen Whyno. Bales, who has been with the Penguins for the past four years, including their back-to-back title runs is considered to be one of the top goalie coaches and should be able to aid Darling to a big season as a full-time starter.

The Penguins quickly responded to the loss by promoting developmental goaltending coach Mike Buckley to the Penguins coaching staff. Buckley has worked with Penguins starter Matt Murray with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in previous years and now gets to work with him again. Buckley, has helped the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltenders to the lowest goals-against in three of the last four seasons, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

  • The Anaheim Ducks’ Ryan Kesler will be out 12 weeks following hip surgery, tweets Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens. Kessler had bone fragments removed from his hip. The 32-year-old center finished the year with 22 goals and 36 assists for Anaheim, but only scored one goal in 17 playoff games. That timetable would likely still have him ready for training camp.
  • Calgary Sun/Herald reporter Eric Francis tweets to not be shocked if the Flames turn around and sign back goaltender Chad Johnson, whose rights were traded to Arizona today, to be newly acquired goaltender Mike Smith’s goalie-mate. The 31-year-old Johnson, who is coming off a disappointing season with a 2.59 GAA and .910 save percentage in 36 contests, did have a solid year in 2015-16 when he had a 2.36 and a .920 save percentage in 45 games with the Buffalo Sabres.

Western Notes: Wild Stand Pat, Sharks Re-sign Three

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One team that has received a lot of attention the last few days is the Minnesota Wild, who were a hotbed of trade chatter coming up to the trade deadline, which just passed due to their possession of multiple defensemen who they would likely have to expose if they couldn’t make a deal. However, the Wild stood pat and did not make any last minute trades and as of now, the team had no side deals going with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

Many teams had been looking to make big deals with Minnesota, who had too many defensemen on their roster and had to lighten their load. Going with a 7-3-1 protection scheme, the Wild were already expected to protect blueliners Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon and then would have to choose between Mathew Dumba, Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella for the final protection spot. That would expose two of those three to the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

According to Russo, the team had been working on several deals before the deadline, including a possible trade to acquire Jonathan Drouin from Tampa Bay or Alex Galchenyuk from Montreal. There were no details on how close Minnesota came to making a deal with the Canadiens, but Montreal wanted a package that included Scandella. The main issue, however, for general manager Chuck Fletcher was that if he traded away one of those three defensemen, he didn’t want to lose another to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft, therefore losing two defensemen. Standing pat ensures that one of those blueliners will be staying with the club.

  • San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson announced that pending unrestricted free agent winger Ryan Carpenter has been signed to a two-year contract today, according to the Sharks website on NHL.com. The 26-year-old Carpenter played in just 11 games this past season, scoring two goals and two assists. He did score 14 goals for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in 54 contests. The team also signed Joakim Ryan and Tim Heed, as well, each to two-year contracts, tweeted by NBC Sports’ Kevin Kurz. Ryan, a 24-year-old defenseman scored 10 goals and 39 assists in 65 games for the Barracudas. Heed, also a defenseman, is coming off an even better year, putting up 14 goals and 42 assists in 55 games for the Barracudas. Heed only played one game for the Sharks this year, while Ryan has not made his NHL debut yet. All three have a legitimate chance to crack the Sharks rotation out of training camp depending on the team’s offseason moves.

Snapshots: Enstrom, Bystrom, Zettler, Despres

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Winnipeg blueliner Toby Enstrom has decided to waive his no-move clause for the purposes of the looming Expansion Draft, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link).  That should allow the Jets to turn around and use the 7/3/1 protection scheme, allowing them to keep several extra forwards away from the Golden Knights.

Enstrom has spent his entire 10 year career with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise and has indicated that he doesn’t want to leave.   However, he’s coming off a down season where he had just a single goal and 13 assists in 60 games and carries a $5.75MM cap hit for one more year.  That’s not likely a contract that Vegas would willingly take on so he’s not at too great of a risk of being selected even though he’ll be exposed.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Stars put pen to paper with one of their defensive prospects on Saturday, announcing the re-signing of Ludvig Bystrom to a one year, two-way deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.  Bystrom was a second round pick of the Stars back in 2012 but has yet to play at the NHL level.  He spent the season with their AHL affiliate in Texas, recording 16 points (2-14-16) in 55 games.
  • The Sharks are leaning towards hiring long-time assistant Rob Zettler to replace Bob Boughner, who left the team to take the head coaching job in Florida, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). Zettler is no stranger to the organization having served as an assistant for them from 2002-03 to 2007-08 while also playing for them from 1991-92 through 1993-94.  His last coaching duty was with AHL Syracuse from 2012-13 through 2015-16, primarily as their head coach.
  • As expected defenseman Simon Despres cleared release waivers and is now eligible to be bought out, CapFriendly notes on Twitter. Although he missed all but one game due to concussion trouble, Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register confirmed with the NHL and NHLPA that there is a “conceptual agreement on treatment” per Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly that will allow Despres’ deal to be bought out.  It’s worth noting that the blueliner was activated off injured reserve during the postseason although he didn’t get into game action.

Devils Acquire Mirco Mueller From Sharks

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The Devils have added a young defender to the fold, announcing the acquisition of defenseman Mirco Mueller from San Jose.  New Jersey also acquires San Jose’s fifth-round selection (143rd overall) in next week’s draft while the Sharks acquire the 49th and 123rd overall picks in the 2017 draft.

Mueller was San Jose’s first round pick (18th overall) back in 2013 but has yet to make much of an impact at the NHL level.  He spent the bulk of 2016-17 at the minor league level, recording two goals and 18 assists in 62 games in the AHL.  He got into four games with the big club (but was recalled many more times than that in a near-daily shuffle back and forth at times), picking up a goal and an assist while playing 9:36 per game.  In his career, he has played in 54 NHL games (all with San Jose), scoring two goals and four assists.

The 22 year old completed his entry-level contract this past season and is due a qualifying offer of just over $874K towards the end of the month, something the Devils will surely give him.  Mueller is eligible for selection in the upcoming Expansion Draft as well.  He’s no longer waiver exempt so from Sam Jose’s perspective, this may be a case of simply getting something for Mueller now than potentially risk losing him for nothing if he would have failed to make the Sharks’ roster at the end of training camp.

The Devils already have six defensemen signed for next season, including college free agent signing Michael Kapla and also have Damon Severson to re-sign as a restricted free agent.  Mueller will likely battle with Kapla for a spot towards the bottom of the depth chart in training camp.

West Trade Talk: Brodin, Stepan, Gaborik, Predators

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One team to watch for in advance of today’s roster freeze is Minnesota who have more quality blueliners than protection slots available.  Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune reports that several teams, including Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Toronto have all shown interest in blueliner Jonas Brodin.

The 23 year old has four years left at a cap hit of $4.17MM, a solid rate for a player who has averaged more than 22 minutes of playing time per game in his career.  He’s also coming off a career year offensively with 25 points in 68 games.

Brodin isn’t the only blueliner that the Canadiens have shown interest in as Russo notes that Marco Scandella’s name has come up in trade discussion as well as part of talks regarding forward Alex Galchenyuk.  However, given their situation when it comes to protecting forwards in expansion, making a deal work where the Wild take a forward back that requires protection may be a bit too challenging in these final hours before the freeze.

Other trade rumblings from the West:

  • The Coyotes are showing “serious interest” in Rangers center Derek Stepan, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link). The deadline to watch for here is more July 1st than today as the turn of the calendar marks the beginning of Stepan’s no-trade clause.  The soon-to-be 27 year old had 55 points (17-38-55) in 81 games this past season and has four years left on his contract with a $6.5MM cap hit.
  • The Kings held discussions with the Golden Knights about potentially taking on winger Marian Gaborik’s contract, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes (Twitter links). However, talks didn’t progress as the asking price to do so was too high for their liking.  The 35 year old Gaborik has four years left on his deal with a $4.875MM cap charge but has seen a significant drop in his production in recent years.  In 2016-17, he had just 10 goals and 11 assists for a career low 21 points in 56 games while also spending time as a healthy scratch.
  • Nashville is continuing to try to reach a side agreement with Vegas on a deal for them to avoid a prominent unprotected player but talks are not progressing, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports via Twitter. It’s expected that the Predators will utilize the 8/1 strategy in order to protect their top four defensemen.  However, that means that one of wingers Calle Jarnkrok or James Neal would be exposed and would certainly interest the Golden Knights.

Flames Acquire Mike Smith From Coyotes

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The Flames and Coyotes have agreed on a trade that sends goaltender Mike Smith to Calgary in exchange for defensive prospect Brandon Hickey, a conditional 2018 third round pick, and the negotiating rights to Chad Johnson.  The pick will become a second rounder if the Flames make the postseason in 2017-18.  Both teams have announced the deal.

Feb 13, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (41) guards his net against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsSmith has spent the last six seasons in the desert but is coming off a down season where he recorded a 2.92 GAA and a .914 SV% in 55 games.  He carries a cap hit of $5.67MM for the next two seasons and at the age of 35, he’s not a great long-term fit for an Arizona team that is clearly in a rebuilding process.  He also has a partial no-trade clause and can block a trade to eight teams.  Arizona will retain 25% of the contract in the trade.

Calgary brought in a brand new goaltending tandem last summer in Brian Elliott (trade with St. Louis) and Johnson Chad Johnson (free agency) but neither player really got the job done, posting identical .910 save percentages.  Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents in two weeks time.  The Flames’ 2018 3rd rounder had been included as a conditional pick in the Elliott trade last June (contingent on him re-signing) and the fact it has again been dealt here is pretty much a guarantee that Elliott won’t be back.

Flames GM Brad Treliving is certainly familiar with Smith as he was the assistant GM with the Coyotes when the netminder was signed to his current contract.  With two years left on Smith’s deal, the length of the contract is ideal as the team is hopeful that some of their youngsters such as Jon Gillies or David Rittich will be ready to make the NHL jump within the next year or so while the team also has youngsters Tyler Parsons and Mason McDonald in their system.

Johnson has bounced around in recent years and hasn’t spent more than one year in an organization since his time with the Rangers from 2009-10 to 2011-12.  He played in 36 games with Calgary, compiling a 2.59 GAA along with that .910 SV%.  Johnson has also spent time with the Bruins, Islanders, Sabres, and the Coyotes (four games back in 2012-13).

Hickey was a third round pick of the Flames (64th overall) back in 2014.  He recently completed his third season at Boston University, recording four goals and 11 assists in 35 games.  He was also part of Team Canada’s World Junior entry back in 2016.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the two teams were working on a trade. TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first to report the draft pick and Hickey’s inclusion with TSN’s Aaron Ward added Johnson’s inclusion.  Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic was the first to add the conditional pick details.

Buffalo Acquires Nathan Beaulieu From Canadiens

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The Buffalo Sabres have added some depth to their blueline, announcing that they’ve acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from Montreal in exchange for a third round pick (68th overall) pick in next week’s draft.

Apr 7, 2017; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu (28) makes a pass against Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY SportsBeaulieu, the 17th overall pick back in 2011, has spent his entire NHL career with the Canadiens.  This past season, he played in 74 games, scoring four goals and added 24 assists for a career high 28 points.  He also logged a career high 19:39 per game in ice time.

However, his role diminished as the season progressed after opening up the year alongside Shea Weber.  He wound up being a healthy scratch in Montreal’s final postseason game which suggested a trade was likely.

The 24 year old is coming off a two year, $2MM bridge contract and is slated for restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility in July.  Despite how his time in Montreal ended, he should be in line for a considerable raise.  The Sabres are slated to lose Dmitry Kulikov next month as an unrestricted free agent and it’s likely that Beaulieu will slot in as his replacement.

From Montreal’s perspective, it had been speculated that the team wasn’t considering protecting him in the upcoming expansion draft so the deal allows them to get something for a player they were potentially going to lose for nothing.  That means that the final protection slot will go to one of Jordie Benn, Brandon Davidson, or Alexei Emelin.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: St. Louis Blues

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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 St. Louis Blues.

2016-17 was an odd year for St. Louis.  Their preseason announcement that Mike Yeo would take over for Ken Hitchcock as head coach starting in 2017-18 drew some raised eyebrows.  They didn’t get off to the best of starts and instead upped the timeframe for the change, installing Yeo midseason as the bench boss.  That gave the Blues a spark as they finished the regular season on a high note and made it to the second round of the playoffs.  Here are some of the keys to a successful offseason for GM Doug Armstrong.

Add A Top Six Center

Unfortunately for St. Louis, this is a need that almost every team has but finding one would do wonders for them.  They have decent depth down the middle in Paul Stastny, Patrik Berglund, Jori Lehtera, and Vladimir Sobotka but none of them are true number ones.  Stastny is being paid like a top player but didn’t produce like one this season with 40 points (18-22-40) in 66 games.  He can handle the minutes but he’s more of a second liner at this stage of his career.

Finding a number one in free agency is basically impossible as there really aren’t any available; even San Jose’s Joe Thornton is better suited with a lesser workload at this stage of his career.  Accordingly, the trade route is going to be the way to go if Armstrong can find a deal for a top pivot.  There are some intriguing youngsters highlighted by Robby Fabbri that could potentially be part of a package if the right fit were to become available.  With a strong core intact, this is the one piece that could take them to that next level for next season.

New Deal For Parayko

In his rookie season, defenseman Colton Parayko made a strong first impression but he still slipped under the radar for the most part.  That’s far from the case now after a solid sophomore campaign.  The hulking blueliner didn’t have a big jump in the points department (33 to 35) but shouldered a bigger workload after the trade of Kevin Shattenkirk and has solidified himself as a core piece of the future.

Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) handles the puck against the Nashville Predators during the first period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY SportsParayko is at the end of his entry-level contract and will be hitting restricted free agency for the first time in July.  He’s due a qualifying offer of $925K but will receive considerably more than that regardless of how long this next contract will be.

What may make things a bit challenging for Armstrong when it comes to getting this done is their salary cap situation.  The team has around $68MM in committed contracts for next season and the cap ceiling isn’t expected to rise by a significant amount.  Even though there aren’t many other notable free agents to deal with, that doesn’t leave a lot of financial wiggle room if the two sides want to hammer out a long-term pact.  Accordingly, a shorter-term bridge deal may be the way they ultimately go, especially if they do intend to make a push for a center upgrade as well.

Determine Shared AHL Affiliation Arrangements

It has been a while since an NHL team did not have an AHL affiliate to themselves but that’s the case that St. Louis finds themselves in.  Their AHL team from this past season (the Chicago Wolves0 is now the primary affiliate of the Golden Knights and the Blues won’t have a replacement team joining the AHL next year.

While Vegas will allow the Blues to send a few prospects to the Wolves for next season as a secondary affiliate, that alone won’t be enough for their player development.  It’s unlikely that any other NHL team will allow St. Louis to send half a team worth of players down – something that was more common in the early 2000s – so Armstrong will not only be negotiating with other GMs this summer on potential trade agreements but also in the hopes of determining some more secondary affiliation agreements to get through 2017-18.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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