Archives for June 2017

Morning Notes: Doughty, Portland, Granato

June 15, 2017 at 11:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Start your engines Toronto Maple Leafs fans, because the speculative signings are about to get crazy. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was on TSN 1050 radio today and dropped a quote that will be shared all over the internet:

I think all of us Southern Ontario players, we secretly want to play for the Leafs, you know, we all have that kind of soft spot.

Doughty would go on to explain that he’s not sure how he would react to being that big of a “celebrity” in the city and said that’s the issue a lot of players have when deciding whether to sign with Toronto. Doughty of course plays in Los Angeles where he’s a small fish, but would become a megastar should he ever return to Ontario. The 27-year old defenseman has two years remaining on his current contract, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.

The people of Portland, Maine will be getting a professional hockey team soon enough, as the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers has purchased the defunct Alaska Aces of the ECHL and will move them to the northeastern city according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. The team is still unnamed and will hope to have an NHL affiliation before long.
Don Granato will indeed join the Chicago Blackhawks coaching staff for the upcoming season, working with Joel Quenneville and the also-announced Ulf Samuelsson among others. It was reported last week that Granato was in the running for an assistant coaching job, after working with the University of Wisconsin this season.
Shelley Anderson spoke to the Pittsburgh Penguins today as they cleaned out their lockers, and shared a ton of interesting information. Not the least of which was that Matt Murray’s injury sustained in the warm up of game 1 of the playoffs was a torn hamstring, making it impossible for him to play through it.
Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion is looking at all options when it comes to the draft, willing to move up or down in the first round according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Ottawa currently holds the 28th overall pick, but could potentially deal it for the right addition to their squad after going deep into the playoffs this season. With Erik Karlsson only under contract for another two seasons, they may feel pressure to go after a Cup run right now.

Latest On Dion Phaneuf

June 15, 2017 at 10:29 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

When it was reported earlier this week that Dion Phaneuf would not waive his no-movement clause in order for the Ottawa Senators to protect a different player from expansion, it cause quite the rift among fans. Some defended his decision, saying that he earned the clause and has the right to use it, while others called Phaneuf selfish for not wanting to help his team and hoped he would be shipped out of town. Well, the latter half may be getting their wish as Darren Dreger of TSN reported this morning that there is trade interest in Phaneuf around the league.

While Phaneuf has four years at a $7MM cap hit remaining on his contract, the actual salary drops to just $5.5MM by the final season. His modified no-trade clause has a list of twelve teams he can be dealt to, and as Pierre LeBrun of TSN confirmed today he has re-submitted it for this season. Who is on that list remains a mystery, but it still would likely leave at least a handful of options for the Senators should they really be interested in moving him.

The Senators of course wanted Phaneuf to waive the clause in order to protect three other defensemen, and are likely willing to at least listen on trade offers because of his refusal. Cody Ceci, Marc Methot, Chris Wideman, Mark Borowiecki and Fredrik Claesson all have various cases for protection, but only one of them will be if Phaneuf isn’t moved before the lists are submitted on Saturday.

Though he has fallen quite far from the lofty heights of his early career, when he was a high-flying offensive defenseman who would jump into rushes constantly and unleash a howitzer from the point on the powerplay, Phaneuf still could help teams in a more sheltered support role, as he did in Ottawa. His cap hit is that of a first pairing all-star, but if it were balanced out by taking a bad (but not as bad) cap hit back it would be palatable for many teams around the league.

Buffalo Did Not Interview Rick Tocchet; Will Decide On Coach By Monday

June 15, 2017 at 9:12 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

Though it was expected that the Buffalo Sabres were waiting for the Stanley Cup Finals to finish before jumping on the chance to interview the excellent group of assistant coaches on both teams, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that they actually did not reach out to Rick Tocchet in consideration for the head coaching vacancy. It is still expected that they will interview Phil Housley from the Nashville Predators, though Dreger also tells us that they’re close enough to expect a decision by Monday.

Tocchet is currently an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been since being fired from his first head coaching gig with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In a season and a half behind the bench in Tampa, Tocchet compiled a 53-69-26 record, but is expected to get another job at some point in the future. It won’t be in Buffalo, and that’s just fine with the Penguins as they’ll look to keep their excellent staff—Tocchet, Mike Sullivan and Jacques Martin—in tact for a run at a third straight cup next season.

Buffalo on the other hand will go with someone else, perhaps Housley or another name that has been linked in the past. Todd Reirden and Clark Donatelli are also still options, though Bob Boughner is now off the market after being hired by Florida for their open job. Whoever it is will be announced soon, as GM Jason Botterill has long said he wanted to have a coach in place by the entry draft.

Colorado Avalanche To Buy Out Francois Beauchemin

June 15, 2017 at 9:10 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

In an expected move, the Colorado Avalanche will buy out the final season of veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin’s contract. This is one of the first transactions that is completely caused by the upcoming expansion draft, as the Avalanche will get no added cap space with the move. Because Beauchemin signed his current contract at age 35, the entire $4.5MM hit will stay on the ledger. They will save $1.5MM in terms of actual salary, but the big improvement is in expansion.

Beauchemin had a no-movement clause and thus required protection in the draft. The Avalanche couldn’t allow that and watch a player like Nikita Zadorov left exposed so this was their only remaining option. We examined the ramifications of not buying out Beauchemin in the Colorado Expansion Primer, and while the team can now protect Zadorov is still vulnerable in net should they choose to protect Semyon Varlamov over Calvin Pickard.

For now though, the 37-year old Beauchemin will likely try to land somewhere else for one last kick at the can. The former Stanley Cup Champion is the epitome of a minute-munching defenseman, having logged at least 21 minutes per game in every season of his career. The third rock on the blueline for the 2006 champion Anaheim Ducks—behind hall of fame defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer—Beauchemin actually played over 30 minutes a night throughout the playoffs in a suffocating shutdown role.

There will be offers if he wants to continue playing, as he showed that even at his advanced age he can contribute to an NHL team. While he certainly has his detractors when it comes to the analytics community, his experience and fitness will give him a handful of third pairings to choose from around the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Teuvo Teravainen

June 15, 2017 at 8:40 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The Carolina Hurricanes have locked up an important piece, signing Teuvo Teravainen to a two-year contract. The deal will pay him $2.86MM annually. Teravainen was a restricted free agent for the first time, but this short-term deal will allow both sides to re-evaluate their position in a couple of years.

Acquired last summer in the annual Blackhakws salary dump, Carolina massaged Teravainen out of Chicago in exchange for a pair of draft picks and taking on Bryan Bickell’s contract. While Bickell would spend most of the season on long-term injured reserve after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Teravainen put up his best season as a pro scoring 15 goals and 42 points. Playing both wing and center at times, he ranked sixth on the team in scoring.

The 22-year old forward is part of an extremely young crop in Carolina who appear to be headed for great things. Along with Jeff Skinner, Sebastian Aho, Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask, the Hurricanes have one of the best 25-and-under groups in the NHL. Pair that with their good young defense corps and 10 picks in the upcoming entry draft and you can easily see this team is headed in the right direction.

Carolina isn’t a cap team, or more accurately not a cap-ceiling team, as they have an internal budget that they adhere to. Recently, due to the number of young players discussed above, the team has had trouble even reaching the cap floor. While there is a bit more money to spend when they need it, don’t think that the ~$25MM they still have in cap space for next season will be used on the open market this summer. That said, a two year deal with Teravainen takes him to 24 and will leave open the door to sign a longer term contract that buys out several free agent years. $2.86MM is plenty affordable for a 40-50 point player, and may believe he can eclipse that soon.

Teravainen was the Hurricanes’ only real pressing issue when it comes to restricted free agents this summer, with only Brock McGinn needing a deal among the rest of the NHL roster. What will be interesting to watch, is whether any extensions are handed out to the large group due to become RFAs next summer. They can officially announce any such extension on July 1st.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Mason, Number One Pick, Buchberger

June 14, 2017 at 8:58 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Last offseason, the Penguins didn’t make any substantial changes to their roster while the biggest departure was defenseman Ben Lovejoy to New Jersey. Speaking with Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, GM Jim Rutherford admitted that there will be a lot more changes this time around:

“If I could keep most of them together this year, I would do that. But the [salary] cap and the economics will dictate some decisions that we’re going to have to make that aren’t necessarily ones we would make if we didn’t have the cap.”

Pittsburgh currently has a little over $60MM committed to 16 players per CapFriendly. Restricted free agents Justin Schultz, Brian Dumoulin, and Conor Sheary are all in line to get raises from their current contracts while their list of unrestricted free agents is highlighted by veterans Trevor Daley, Nick Bonino, and Ron Hainsey. Even if they lose Marc-Andre Fleury’s $5.75MM, there’s still not going to be enough money to keep everyone around. Speaking of those pending UFAs, Rutherford noted that talks with some of those players will begin on Thursday.

Elsewhere in the Metropolitan:

The Flyers have not engaged in contract discussions regarding pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Steve Mason, agent Anton Thun told Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Accordingly, Thun expects Mason to hit the open market on July 1st and head elsewhere. The 29 year old is coming off a tough season in Philly, posting just a .908 save percentage in 58 games. Mason was critical of his usage at the end of the year, calling into question the effectiveness of the platoon system that saw him and Michal Neuvirth splitting starts at times.
New Jersey is not anticipating trading the first overall pick as things currently stand, GM Ray Shero noted to NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Shero acknowledged that he has received inquiries regarding their willingness to move down as well as some specific offers but has yet to find the right fit yet. If New Jersey retains the pick, they’re expected to choose between a pair of centers in Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier.
The Islanders are expected to wait until after next week’s Entry Draft before officially announcing the addition of Kelly Buchberger as an assistant coach, reports Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. He had been Edmonton’s Vice President of Player Development but has spent time behind the bench as well, spending six seasons as an assistant with the Oilers. Buchberger will soon join Luke Richardson and Scott Gomez on a newly-revamped coaching staff in New York.

Expansion Primer: New York Rangers

June 14, 2017 at 7:50 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Until today, the Expansion Draft plan for GM Jeff Gorton and the New York Rangers remained unclear. The time had come and gone to ask overpaid blueliners Marc Staal and Dan Girardi or the underachieving Rick Nash to waive their No-Movement clauses and the team declined. They were also cutting it close should they choose to extend one of their impending free agent forwards and make their expansion decisions easier, with protection lists due on Saturday. New York has one of the deepest groups of forwards in the NHL, even with rookies Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich draft-exempt, yet the team had not taken any steps to protect their core. At least not until this morning…

The Rangers announced two moves earlier today, the first being an extension for impending restricted free agent forward Matt Puempel. With term now on his contract, Puempel meets all the criteria to be one of two mandatory forwards exposed in the Expansion Draft, saving them from otherwise having to expose a core forward. The second announcement was the long-awaited end to the Girardi era, as the stated their plans to buy out the veteran tomorrow, opening up a slot on the blue line for them to protect the underrated Nick Holden.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Rick Nash (NMC), Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Daniel Catenacci, Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg, Nicklas Jensen, Brandon Pirri

Defense
Marc Staal (NMC), Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein, Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer, Michael Paliotta, Adam Clendening

Goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta, Mackenzie Skapski

Notable Exemptions

Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich, Cristoval Nieves

Key Decisions

With Rick Nash holding on to his No-Movement clause, the Rangers have just six spots left to protect a large group of impact forwards: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, and restricted free agent Mika Zibanejad. Despite a unexpected outburst of 40 points in his first season in New York, Grabner is the easy target to point at as not like the rest of the Rangers’ young and mostly homegrown talents. Many Ranger fans wouldn’t have minded holding on to Grabner, at $1.65MM next year, over Nash, who will make $7.8MM again in 2017-18 after recording less than 40 points in three of the past four seasons.

It’s hard to make a case for any of the other six being offered up instead of Grabner. Zuccarello is the oldest of the group, but he’s still only 29 and has led the team in scoring in three of the past four seasons. Zucarello is almost certainly safe. At just 23 years old, Miller has taken a bigger and bigger role for the Blueshirts with each year and is perhaps the franchise’s best building block. He too is a near guarantee. While both Stepan and Kreider have heard whispers of trade rumors in each of the past two seasons, with Stepan’s growing louder in recent days, both are far too good to give up for free and will likely be protected. After trading away Derick Brassard last off-season to acquire Zibanejad, it seems highly unlikely that the team would risk losing him already, even if his first season in New York was marred by injury. Finally, Hayes, who has done nothing but excel in any role the Rangers have given him since signing with the Rangers out of college three years ago, and it would be a major surprise to see them choose Grabner over him.

Thus, it seems Grabner will likely join Puempel as the Rangers’ unprotected forwards and with the decisions in net and on the blue line pretty clear-cut, the Rangers have gone from a confusing expansion scenario about 24 hours ago to one of the easiest teams to project.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Rick Nash (NMC)
Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller
Derek Stepan
Chris Kreider
Mika Zibanejad
Kevin Hayes

Defensemen

Marc Staal (NMC)
Ryan McDonagh
Nick Holden

Goalie

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers barely have any decisions to make in regards to their protection on defense and in net. All-world keeper Henrik Lundqvist is obviously safe, leaving skilled backup Antti Raanta as an intriguing target for the Golden Knights. Vegas GM George McPhee has stated that the team could select many promising goalies in the Expansion Draft and guage who to keep and who to trade away after the fact. Raanta could indeed be one of those picks.

On the blue line, the buy out of Dan Girardi will leave one more spot open to join go to the team’s best defender and captain, Ryan McDonagh, and Marc Staal, who was not asked to waive his No-Movement clause. The only real candidate to fill that spot is Nick Holden. Kevin Klein, who is reportedly mulling retirement, meets the 40/70 criteria to fill the one-defenseman exposure quota, but is not a viable target for Vegas. The only other defenseman under contract for the Rangers is journeyman Steven Kampfer, another player who would be a strange selection for the Golden Knights. Restricted free agent Adam Clendening, despite showing signs of upside in 2016-17, has already been informed that he will not receiving a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent, like several other Rangers blue liners, and again it is unlikely that the Knights will waste picks on UFA’s. For all intents and purposes, the Girardi buyout ensures that no further changes will be coming to the New York defense in the coming week.

If Vegas passes on Raanta, they will likely instead turn to offense and, more likely than not, Michael Grabner. After his best season since he nearly won the Calder Trophy in 2010-11, Grabner appears to be back at the top of his game and could be hard to pass up for a Vegas team that will have a hard time finding scoring in the Expansion Draft and this summer’s free agency class. The loss of Grabner would be far greater than that of Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg or any other possible player, though don’t rule out the possibility that the Knights simply take youth and upside over established skill.

The situation in New York has gained great clarity today and now they face one of the more predictable expansion situations in the NHL. However, that doesn’t mean that they will escape the draft unscathed. A deep, talented team like the Rangers seems destined to take a hit next week.

Capitals Acquire Tyler Graovac From Wild

June 14, 2017 at 7:02 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Washington Capitals announced the acquisition of center Tyler Graovac from the Wild. In exchange, Minnesota acquires Washington’s fifth round pick in 2018.

The 24 year old played in 52 games with the Wild last season, scoring seven goals and added two assists while averaging 9:50 of ice time per game. He fared better offensively with Iowa at the AHL level, collecting 10 goals and five assists in 26 games. The 191st overall pick in 2011 cleared waivers earlier in the season so the team is doing well to get an asset, albeit a late pick, for someone they could have lost for free just a few months ago.

From Washington’s perspective, this deal is primarily due to expansion. His acquisition provides them with a second signed forward to expose to meet the 40/70 requirement (Graovac hasn’t played in 70 career NHL games but the 52 this season qualify him). Graovac has one year left on his contract with a cap hit of $625K, $25K below the league minimum for next season. Assuming he’s not selected by the Golden Knights, he’ll push for a spot at the end of the roster in training camp.

Shane Doan Leaning Towards Playing Next Season

June 14, 2017 at 6:40 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Long-time Coyotes forward Shane Doan is leaning towards playing next season, reports Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. Doan’s agent Terry Bross provided the following update on the situation:

“He hasn’t made a final decision, but I think he’s leaning toward playing one more year; I think he’s going to play. His body feels good, he loves the game and he loves the players.”

It’s believed that Doan is looking to make a decision before the NHL Entry Draft which would allow GM John Chayka some time to work out how Doan will fit in on the roster for next season. He’s coming off of one of the more complicated contracts around the league, one that carries deferred payments of a $1.5MM signing bonus over the next five seasons as well as a $1MM games played bonus payable in 2018 and 2019.

The pending unrestricted free agent holds many franchise records, including goals (402), assists (570), points (972), and games played (1,540). However, his production dropped considerably this past season as Doan tallied just six goals and 21 assists in 74 games, his lowest full-season output since 1998-99.

If Doan is to return to the only NHL organization he has ever been a part of, it will assuredly be at a lower rate than the $4.84MM AAV he carried in 2016-17 (which includes the deferred payments). It’s likely that the 40 year old would fill a bottom six role for Arizona which would allow a youngster like Anthony Duclair, who like Doan spent some time on the right wing this year, to get some more consistent playing time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Toronto Maple Leafs

June 14, 2017 at 5:31 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

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 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Most teams that are eliminated in the first round would say their season was a disappointment. Although that was the end result for the Maple Leafs, there is plenty of optimism for next year and beyond as their core nucleus of youngsters made a very positive impression this season. The timetable has moved forward somewhat and GM Lou Lamoriello will be looking to add pieces to help the team take the next step. Here are some of Toronto’s keys for the summer.

Free Up More Summer Cap Space

While the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are all still on cheap rookie contracts, the majority of bonuses that they hit this past season will carry over and count against the cap in 2017-18. The early indication is that their overage charge will be a little more than $5MM.

On top of that, they will also have to deal with their long-term injured players coming back onto the cap for the summer. While Joffrey Lupul and Nathan Horton were on LTIR last year, that doesn’t exist in the summer and teams are limited to exceeding the salary cap by no more than 10% throughout the offseason.

Between their committed contracts and expected bonus overage, Toronto already has $67MM committed to 19 players for next season with the salary cap not expected to change much from the $73MM it was last season. (Note that Horton and Lupul are included in that calculation.) If the Leafs want to re-sign their free agents and make a splash on the open market, it’s going to be a tighter squeeze in July than it might appear at first glance. They’ll be in fine shape when next season gets underway and LTIR becomes an option once again but if Lamoriello can shed some money before July, they’ll be in much better shape for free agency.

Add Defensive Help

Scoring goals wasn’t an issue for the Leafs this year and it’s not likely to be much of one for the foreseeable future. Despite improved goalie play from Frederik Andersen this season, keeping pucks out of their own net was still a concern and projects to be one moving forward as well.

With Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, and Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto has a group of quality players to work with but none of them are a true shut-down defender. Finding one of those players that can handle a top four role would go a long way towards rounding out their back end. However, the free agent market is limited so the trade route may wind up being the way to go.

They also face a decision when it comes to their third pairing as both Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak are unrestricted free agents and aren’t likely to return. Are they content with the likes of Alexey Marchenko and Martin Marincin (plus their prospects) to manage the bottom three spots on the depth chart or will they try to seek upgrades there as well? If it’s the latter, they should be able to get that help via the free agent market.

Extension Decisions

A pair of key forwards are set to enter their walk years in Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk (plus Leo Komarov as well). Knowing that their ‘big three’ up front will be needing second contracts before too long (Nylander is now a year from restricted free agency), Lamoriello will need to decide whether he can afford to keep one or both of them long-term and whether the time is right to potentially pursue an extension.

Both players will likely be getting raises on their next deals. Bozak has a cap hit of $4.2MM while van Riemsdyk checks in at $4.25MM, solid value for players that recorded 55 and 62 points respectively this past season.

If Lamoriello decides not to try to keep them around, the next decision will be whether or not to trade them with the idea of getting something now instead of potentially losing them for nothing later. Going that route would have been easier had Toronto not made the playoffs and potentially accelerated the timetable this year. As the Leafs are now viewed as a playoff threat, it would be hard for them to take a step back by dealing one or both of the veterans without getting comparable talent in return. Even if they can’t agree on extension terms this summer, it’s hard to imagine both players not being back at least to start next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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