Carolina Hurricanes Sign Patrick Brown, Jake Chelios
The Carolina Hurricanes have gotten things started on the next day of pre-free agency signing, inking Patrick Brown to a one-year, two-way contract that will see him earn $650K at the NHL level. Brown was set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent, which was explained yesterday by our own Mike Furlano. The team also signed restricted free agent Jake Chelios to a one-year two-way deal, worth $650K at the NHL level.
The 25-year old Brown split time between Charlotte and Carolina for the third straight season in 2016-17, but was held scoreless in 14 NHL games. He has just two points in 28 career games, but has been given very little chance during his call-ups. The former Boston College star signed with the Hurricanes out of school, but has still yet to make much of an impact even at the minor league level.
Brown will likely once again see time bouncing up and down, but this time he is no longer waiver exempt. That means he’ll have to pass through it every time and though he doesn’t seem like a strong candidate to be claimed, it does lessen his usefulness in that role.
Chelios on the other hand is a 26-year old defenseman and has yet to make his NHL debut. The former Michigan State grad has found pretty substantial success the last couple of years in the AHL, and could potentially be a depth call-up at some point. With 32 points in 76 games for Charlotte last season, he’ll return trying to help them get back to the playoffs and compete for a Calder Cup. Chelios is of course the son of former Montreal, Chicago and Detroit great Chris Chelios, who played 1,651 NHL contests in his Hall of Fame career.
Washington Capitals Re-sign Brett Connolly
The Washington Capitals re-signed forward Brett Connolly to a two-year deal worth $1.5MM a year, reports TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The 25-year old was a pending unrestricted free agent this summer after the Capitals did not appear to submit a qualifying offer.
Connolly had 15G and 8A in 68 games for the Capitals this season, but went pointless in seven playoff games. The new contract is a significant raise from the $850K he was making this year on a one-year deal. Connolly struggled to stay in the lineup during the playoffs, however, and was scratched for six games.
Connolly is your prototypical depth signing, but if Connolly matches is production next season, many teams would be very happy with a $1.5MM 15-goal scorer. Connolly showed promise in the AHL, scoring 63 points and 57 points in 2012-13 and 2013-14, respectively. The Capitals hope that he can find a way to translate that production to the NHL.
Vegas Golden Knights Trade Marc Methot To The Dallas Stars
The Vegas Golden Knights have traded defenseman Marc Methot to the Dallas Stars for a 2020 2nd round draft pick and goaltender Dylan Ferguson, drafted in the seventh round at 194th overall this summer. The deal was first reported by Dallas Stars Senior Digital Correspondent Scott Burnside, and then subsequently confirmed with terms by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The Golden Knights initially selected Marc Methot from the Ottawa Senators in this summer’s NHL Expansion Draft.
Methot was an integral part of the Senators’ defense last year, averaging just under 20 minutes a night in the regular season, and over 22 minutes a night in the playoffs. He scored 0G and 12A in 68 games, and an additional 2G and 2A in 18 playoff games. Methot is in the third year of a four-year deal worth $4.9MM a year.
Dylan Ferguson was drafted by the Stars in the 7th round (pick 194) of this year’s NHL Entry Draft. He posted a 2.74 GAA and a .922 SV% for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL this season.
The 2020 pick is the Knights’ third 2020 pick so far. It now has its own, the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ from the Marc-Andre Fleury selection, and now Dallas’s. It looks like Vegas is trying to space out its prospect pool so that all of its contracts do not expire at the same time.
The Golden Knights were expected to trade defensemen. Before this deal, the team had 12 defensemen on its roster. With this trade, however, the team has no NHL-calibre defensemen signed past this year. Losing Methot also rids the team of arguably its best defenseman. And now that Vegas has set the market for its defensemen, it will probably receive even less for the rest.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Mark Alt
The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Mark Alt to a one-year / two-way deal worth $650K in the NHL and $125K in the AHL, reports CapFriendly. Alt was a pending Group 6 Free Agent who has one career NHL game to his name so far. His expiring contract was another two-way deal, with Alt making $650K in the NHL and $100K in the AHL.
Alt has spent the last four seasons in the AHL. In 40 games this season he scored 1G and 10A, but went pointless in five playoff games. The former 2010 2nd round pick has yet to make a dent in a big league lineup, and at 25 years old (26 in October) his opportunities are waning.
If Alt did not sign this contract, he would have been an unrestricted Group 6 free agent. As a refresher, A player is eligible for Group 6 Free Agency if their SPC expires and:
- The player is 25 or older by June 30th of the year his SPC expires;
- The player has played in three or more professional seasons; and
- The player has played in less than 80 NHL games (20 games for goalies).
The clause allows players without significant NHL playing time to move freely to a team offering better opportunities.
Summarizing Today’s Signings
Today brought a flurry of teams re-signing players before July 1st. In total, 12 players have signed NHL contracts—and one signing in the KHL—and this is just day one. Below are all of today’s signings in one place for your convenience:
List Of Players Who Will Not Receive A Qualifying Offer
The deadline to issue a qualifying offer to pending restricted free agents comes down at 4pm today, making any player who has not received one eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Below are the players who will not be issued a qualifying offer. This page will continue to update as more teams release their lists:
Chicago Blackhawks Sign Anton Forsberg, Tomas Jurco
The Chicago Blackhawks have signed two of their pending restricted free agents, inking Anton Forsberg to a two-year contract and Tomas Jurco for one year. While no details have been released, getting the two restricted free agents under contract early is a nice bonus for the Blackhawks, who will be navigating a difficult salary cap all summer. While Jurco will still be an RFA at the end of the contract, Forsberg could potentially become a Group VI free agent should he play less than 19 games over the next two years.
Acquired last week from the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the Artemi Panarin deal, Forsberg is the likely backup for Corey Crawford next year. His short experience in the NHL has been very underwhelming, though he’s performed incredibly well in the AHL. He was a big reason the Lake Erie (now Cleveland) Monsters won the 2016 Calder Cup, recording a .949 save percentage after taking over from Joonas Korpisalo. He’ll have big shoes to fill, as Scott Darling has been one of the best backups in the league in recent years and earned himself a starting job with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jurco on the other hand was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline but recorded just one point down the stretch for Chicago. Hoping he could be the next Richard Panik, the Blackhawks will try to turn him around and get back to the offensive player he was in junior and the early parts of his professional career. Selected 35th-overall by Detroit in 2011, he’ll need to make an impact soon or will have a hard time finding a regular job around the league.
Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Gustav Olofsson
The Minnesota Wild have started re-signing their young players, reaching a two-year agreement with Gustav Olofsson worth a total of $1.45MM. The 22-year old was a restricted free agent, and will now play on a bridge deal to see if he is worth a long-term agreement.
Selected 46th-overall in the 2013 draft, Olofsson got into 13 games this season for the Wild and recorded three points. The team has big plans for the second-rounder, and now have some cost certainty for the next couple of seasons on the depth defenseman. With Minnesota entertaining trade offers for defensemen, and not qualifying Christian Folin today there could be a real chance that Olofsson gets a regular shift on the blueline next year. Though he doesn’t have much NHL experience, he’s performed admirably at the AHL level and is likely due for a prolonged look at the top level.
Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces 2017 Inductees
The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced their 2017 class, that includes both players and builders. Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Dave Andreychuk, Mark Recchi and Danielle Goyette form the player class, while Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs are heading in as builders.
Selanne was on the ballot for the first time, and was an absolute lock for induction. With 1,457 points in 1,451 games, Selanne ranks 15th all-time in scoring and is arguably the greatest Finnish-born player ever to play in the NHL. Right from the start, with his record-setting 76 goal rookie campaign the “Finnish Flash” was a dominant presence in the league able to out-skate and out-shoot almost anyone in the league. Even at age 36 he was a dominant player, scoring 48 goals and 94 points and leading the league in game-winning goals. One of only 19 men to score more than 600 goals in the NHL, Selanne lit the lamp 684 times and sits just outside the top-10. Always considered just as good of a person off the ice as he was a player on it, his impact along with Kariya on the Anaheim Ducks (of both the plain and Mighty variety) has been immeasurable. 
In a perfect touch, Kariya will go in alongside his long-time friend and teammate. The two put the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on the map in the 90s, and later signed to play together in Colorado. Though his career was affected by concussion issues and ended when he was 35, Kariya goes down as one of the most determined skaters of all-time. Blessed with incredible skill, Kariya never stopped working and would create chances out of nothing just with his tenacity. While he’s waited for some time to see his name in the Hall of Fame, it is well deserved. With 989 career points (in 989 games), he ranks 87th all-time but is one of a very select group to record a point-per-game (h/t James Mirtle of The Athletic) since he entered the league.
Andreychuk is another that has had to wait quite some time, but will ride his 640 career goals and 1,338 points right into the Hall. An incredible net presence, capable of finding pucks and immediately depositing them behind goalies, Andreychuk scored more than 40 goals four times in his career and ranks 14th all-time. A captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning to finish his career, Andreychuk would finally win the Stanley Cup at age 40. His legacy is remembered fondly in several different cities, but perhaps best in Buffalo where he formed one of the greatest lines in NHL history with Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny for a brief time.
Recchi has a similar story, lasting into his forties and logging some of the greatest offensive numbers of all-time. With 1,533 points, Recchi ranks 12th on the career list and won three Stanley Cups with three different teams. Though he did have some incredible years at the beginning of his career, Recchi is a testament to consistency and adaptability. Able to fill several different roles throughout his career, he was always among his team leaders in points and logged huge minutes in a two-way role. One of the greatest fourth-round picks of all time, Recchi had an impact in many different cities around the league including both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Two different stints in both cities are sure to create some arguments over which franchise he belongs two, while Montreal and Boston each have their own claims.
Goyette is the latest from the outstanding Canadian women’s group that was so dominant on the international stage for so long. The sniping winger took home three Olympic golds, an Olympic silver and eight World Championship golds during her illustrious career with Team Canada, and has been the head coach at the University of Calgary—where amazingly she coached former teammate Haley Wickenheiser—for the past decade. Her influence on Canadian women’s hockey is almost unmatched.
Tom Pyatt Signs Two-Year Deal With Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have joined in on the signing fun, inking Tom Pyatt to a two-year deal worth $2.2MM. Pyatt was set to become an unrestricted free agent but apparently thought enough of the Senators to not push his luck on the open market. His $1.1MM salary is a $300K raise over last season, and the deal is no longer two-way.
Pyatt played in all 82 games for the Senators this season, finding a home after two years spent playing in the Swiss professional league. Registering 23 points while contributing mostly in a defensive role, Pyatt is a veteran of Guy Boucher’s system going back to their days together in Tampa Bay. The 30-year old forward will return for a reasonable salary, which will help the Senators as they continue to operate under an internal cap.
The Senators have several other UFAs to make decisions on, including Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg. Chris Neil, long-time pest will not be retained by the club. With just around $13MM under the league cap, it’s unclear exactly how much more money the Senators have to spend. With restricted free agents like Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau needing qualifying offers by tonight, they’ll have to spend their remaining funds carefully this summer.