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Archives for July 2017

Winnipeg Jets Sign Mason Appleton To ELC

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The Winnipeg Jets have convinced Michigan State standout Mason Appleton to turn pro, signing him to a three-year entry-level contract worth an average of $758K in the NHL.

Appleton was a sixth-round selection of the Jets in 2015, and just completed his sophomore year at Michigan State. Leading the team in scoring, he registered 31 points in 35 games and showed that given the responsibility he could perform at a high level offensively. The 6’2″, 193-lbs forward will now try to ply his trade at the professional level, and see if he can turn in a similar performance.

The Jets, stacked in the NHL with solid forward talent are also building quite the stable of prospects that will be pushing the limit of the AHL before long. Kyle Connor, Jack Roslovic and Chase De Leo will be joined by Appleton and others this year to make a solid pipeline of talent. Though they’re not at the point of Stanley Cup contention just yet, there are bright days ahead for the Jets.

Lias Andersson Signs Entry-Level Contract

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The New York Rangers have inked their newest prize, seventh-overall pick Lias Andersson, to a three-year entry-level contract. The Rangers drafted Andersson with the selection acquired in the Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta trade with the Arizona Coyotes. That was the Rangers’ first first-round pick in many years, and they’re very excited to get him into their system as soon as possible.

In fact, Alain Vigneault told Larry Brooks of the New York Post just a few days ago that Andersson was impressing him and would get “every opportunity” to make the club right away. While that still seems like a long shot, Andersson did play all of last season in the Swedish Hockey League against professionals, and held his own. With 19 points in 42 games, he helped HV71 to an SHL championship and put up the second highest +/- (+21) among forwards on the team. Whatever you think of that statistic, it backs up what is plain to see when watching Andersson; he’ll be an effective two-way player at any level.

Though he wasn’t the most dynamic offensive talent in the draft, he may be one of the surest bets to make an impact at the NHL level. At 6’0″ 200-lbs he’s not physically imposing, but can already hold his own against grown men and is willing to go to all areas of the ice to retrieve pucks and pressure defenders. A natural center, he will hopefully be able to fill that role for the Rangers down the road. After trading Stepan, they’re much weaker down the middle and will be relying on Mika Zibanejad to log big minutes for them in all situations.

Morning Notes: Burkle, Gionta, Brown

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the most successful sports franchises in the world the last decade, at least in terms of on-ice performance. Much of that has to do with bringing in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but some credit has to go to silent owner Ron Burkle, the financial rock behind Mario Lemieux’s ownership group. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sat down with Burkle for an incredibly fascinating—and incredibly rare—piece, one that stretches from Beverly Hills to Mar-a-Lago (with stops at the White House and a few Pittsburgh parades) and provides some insight into how the organization works. It’s a must-read for any hockey fan, but Penguins’ fanatics should click right away to learn more about their out-of-the-spotlight investor.

  • The Buffalo Sabres likely won’t bring back Brian Gionta next season, at least according to the man himself. Gionta told Luke Fox of Sportsnet that the door is almost shut, and even went so far as listing some potential captains. Gionta has held that role since coming to Buffalo in 2014, and actually had a fairly successful season last year with 15 goals and 35 points. That said, he’s now 38 and with a new direction for the club under GM Jason Botterill, it doesn’t seem like there is much of a fit. It will be interesting to see where Gionta, who hopes to play again next year, lands this summer. He still provides some value to a lineup as a secondary scoring threat and veteran presence that has led everywhere he’s been.
  • James Mirtle of The Athletic joined TSN 1150 this morning, and was asked about a potential Connor Brown contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brown is the Leafs last remaining free agent, and is in line for a substantial raise after a 20-goal rookie season. Brown isn’t arbitration eligible, but Mirtle points to Tanner Pearson’s four-year $15MM contract as a possible comparable. With big contracts due for Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner in the next two years, along with a potential extension for Jake Gardiner, the Maple Leafs have to be careful with how much money they dole out for the other role players on the team.

East Notes: Dumoulin, Sheary, Stafford, Patrick

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The Penguins have made no progress in discussions with restricted free agents Brian Dumoulin and Conor Sheary, GM Jim Rutherford told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  He added that he expects both to “probably” go through the arbitration process.  Both players are coming off contracts that paid them below $1MM and will likely at least triple their previous contracts when they sign their next deal.  Pittsburgh has money to work with still as they have a little more than $10MM in cap space per CapFriendly at the moment.

Other notes from around the East:

  • While the expectation is that the Bruins are waiting to re-sign RFA David Pastrnak before seeking a deal with unrestricted free agent Drew Stafford, CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty suggests that the fact that there hasn’t much talk about a new contract suggests that Boston isn’t all that interested in keeping him. Haggerty thinks they won’t offer him much more than a PTO deal given their prospects that are on the cusp of making the big club and what is a perceived lack of interest elsewhere around the league.  The 31-year-old slotted 21st in our free agent rankings last month with a projected two-year, $4.5MM deal.
  • Nolan Patrick will not be participating in the upcoming World Junior Summer Showcase (which opens up on July 28th), the Flyers confirmed to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman (Twitter link). The second overall pick from last month is once again dealing with a sports hernia, the same injury that cost him a big chunk of the season, but he is expected to be fully ready in time for training camp in September.

RFA Notes: Palat, Copp, McEneny

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Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times that he is hopeful that he can reach an agreement with RFA winger Ondrej Palat in advance of his July 25th arbitration hearing.  Tampa Bay locked up their other key restricted free agent on Monday with the re-signing of Tyler Johnson to a seven-year, $35MM contract.

There’s a good chance that Palat’s agent will be using that exact deal as a comparable in negotiations.  The two are coming off statistically similar seasons (Palat averaged 0.69 points per game and Johnson 0.68) while their career numbers are virtually identical (Palat is at 0.71 PPG while Johnson checks in at 0.69).  They also happen to be coming off the same three-year, $10MM deals as well.  Cap space shouldn’t be an issue on this deal as the Lightning have just over $8.5MM in cap space at the moment per CapFriendly with Palat being the lone NHL restricted free agent still to re-sign.

  • The Jets have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with restricted free agent forward Andrew Copp, TSN’s Aaron Ward reports (Twitter link). CapFriendly tweets that the deal will pay him $900K in 2017-18 and $1.11MM in 2018-19.  Copp spent the majority of 2016-17 with Winnipeg, collecting 17 points (9-8-7) while averaging 12:21 per night.  He also added five assists in eight games with their AHL affiliate in Manitoba.
  • The Canucks announced the re-signing of defenseman Evan McEneny to a two-year, two-way contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.  McEneny made his NHL debut with Vancouver this past season but primarily suited up with their AHL affiliate in Utica where he scored eight goals and 15 assists in 63 games.

Offseason Keys: Vegas Golden Knights

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While expansion and the beginning of free agency were the early headlines in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what still lies ahead for the Vegas Golden Knights.

It has already been a very busy offseason for Vegas who have swung 17 trades already as well as building their team via the expansion draft.  Despite that, GM George McPhee still has some work to do before the puck drops on their inaugural season.  Here are some remaining keys to their offseason.

Finish Shaping The Defense

While McPhee has trimmed down the number of blueliners since the draft down to 10 (they drafted 13), that’s still too many to work with given that the maximum roster size is 23.  At least one if not two still need to be moved out before the season gets underway.

Luca SbisaThe player that many expected to be moved is Luca Sbisa.  He was a bit of a surprise pick from Vancouver given that he carries a cap hit of $3.6MM for one more year and doesn’t appear to be in their long-term plans.  On the surface, it would appear that he was picked with the idea of flipping him but the post-expansion trade market for blueliners hasn’t exactly been robust as teams appear to be waiting McPhee out.

It’s only mid-July so there’s still plenty of time but it will be interesting to see if other teams are able to outwait McPhee and pick up someone at a bargain or if the market will pick up as more free agents come off the open market.

Build Minor League Depth

Although the Golden Knights will employ a shared minor league affiliate (with St. Louis), they’re still the primary feeder for AHL Chicago.  As things stand, they have around 15 players that are likely earmarked for the Wolves.  Even with the Blues sending some players there, that’s still not enough, especially when you consider the expectation of injuries not to mention the anticipated trades in-season for the nine pending unrestricted free agents that they currently have.

Though many of the top two-way free agents off the market now, there are still enough of them out there for McPhee to add a few more to the fold.  Alternatively, they could pick those players up via trades for some of the blueliners they’re likely going to be trading over the next couple of months.  It’s not a pressing need but they would be wise to set themselves up with more depth before the season gets underway.

Rent Their Space

As a result of dealing away players like Marc Methot and Alexei Emelin after the Expansion Draft plus the acquisition of LTIR-eligible David Clarkson and Mikhail Grabovski, Vegas will have plenty of wiggle room when it comes to the salary cap – about $8.6MM per CapFriendly as things currently stand.  The big names are pretty much gone in free agency but there are certainly teams that are still looking to free up cap space and the Golden Knights could conceivably swing another move or two to add some assets that way.  It wouldn’t be to the extreme of getting a top prospect or a first rounder but given that they’re not expected to contend right away, it would still be worth doing.

The other space they have is contract room.  Teams are permitted a maximum of 50 contracts and as a result of not having a full complement of minor league players, the Golden Knights sit well under the limit at 37 (although that will jump to 40 when their RFAs sign).  No team is at the maximum already but quite a few project to be within two or three of that limit when the season gets underway.  Some of those teams will want the flexibility to make in-season additions (or even sign college UFAs late in the year) which would give Vegas a chance to build some depth and add perhaps a pick or two if they use their contract slots that way.  They’re still at a spot where they will want to add as many assets as possible and this is another method that they can do so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Penguins Re-Sign Derrick Pouliot And Josh Archibald

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The Penguins put pen to paper with a pair of their restricted free agents on Wednesday as they announced the re-signings of defenseman Derrick Pouliot and forward Josh Archibald.  Pouliot receives a one-year contract worth $800K while Archibald inks a two-year pact with a cap hit of $675K.  Both players received one-way deals.

Pouliot spent the bulk of this past season with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, playing in a career-high 46 games with the Baby Pens.  He collected 23 points in that span, matching his output from 2015-16 but he only needed 37 games to reach that mark that season.  The 23-year-old battled a lower-body injury that cost him 21 games in the NHL and as a result, he saw action in just 11 contests with the Penguins, all in the regular season.  In 67 career NHL games spanning three seasons (all with Pittsburgh), Pouliot has two goals and 12 assists.

Archibald collected a career-best 29 points in 61 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season while picking up his first ever NHL points, tallying a trio of goals in 10 games with Pittsburgh in the regular season.  He also saw action in four playoff contests and is a candidate to lock down a more permanent roster spot in 2017-18.

Pittsburgh has three remaining restricted free agents this offseason, forwards Jean-Sebastien Dea and Conor Sheary as well as defenseman Brian Dumoulin.

Reactions To Jaccob Slavin’s Seven-Year Extension

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If you want to get a look into how poorly the Carolina Hurricanes rank in terms of national exposure, read some of the reactions from fans around the league after Jaccob Slavin signed a seven-year, $37.1MM extension with the team this morning. The question of “who?” popped up quite a few times despite Slavin’s growing reputation as one of the top young defensemen in the league. Playing in relative obscurity, he’s developed into a true top-pairing player who is now being paid ahead of similarly aged players like Morgan Rielly and Hampus Lindholm.

Writers and analysts were less confused by the deal, immediately marking it as a potential steal for the Hurricanes going forward. If Slavin’s development continues at the same rate he’ll be criminally underpaid by the time he hits the free agent years he gave away today. Here are some reactions from around the league.

  • Gord Miller of TSN calls Slavin one of the best young players in the game, noting that he’s still one of the least talked about. E.J. Hradek of the NHL Network agrees, saying he’s a “core D man” and that it’ll likely turn out to be a bargain contract.
  • Mike Kelly points out Slavin’s excellent first pass ability, saying that he’s among the league leaders in terms of successfully sending it out of his own end. Slavin’s ability to exit the zone with possession, either on his own stick or a teammate’s is one of the best parts of his game.
  • Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy calls him a “diamond in the rough” and agrees with Fansided’s Cardiac Canes blog reaction to the deal, comparing him to Aaron Ekblad without the reputation.
  • Chip Alexander of the News & Observer passes along a quote from GM Ron Francis, who called his own defensive group “one of the best young defense corps in the game, if not the best” and saying Slavin still has “tremendous upside.” If he still has more to give, he’ll certainly be a bargain for the Hurricanes in a few seasons.
  • Finally, Ken Campbell of the Hockey News puts it all together into a simple idea: Slavin is a steal. He finishes his piece with the same idea many are thinking about with regards to the Hurricanes roster going forward. Francis is giving the fan base every excuse to believe that their team can get back to the winning ways they saw more than ten years ago, when a surprisingly good team took home the Stanley Cup in 2006. As Campbell puts it “Nothing will bring the fans back in Carolina like winning will and the way GM Ron Francis is operating these days, the Hurricanes are giving themselves every chance to do just that.”

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Timothy Liljegren

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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect development camp ended today, and before sending him on his way the team inked top 2017 draft pick Timothy Liljegren to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal is worth $925K per season, with a possible $400K in Schedule A performance bonuses. Earlier today GM Lou Lamoriello said that Liljegren would either play in the AHL or back in Sweden next season, despite being selected in the OHL import draft by Niagara. Signing his contract now allows the team to play him with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL right away.

The most telling fact of the signing is that Toronto already had 48 of their 50 contract spots filled for next season, with a deal still needed for Connor Brown. That deal and this one would put them right at the limit, a move that seems unnecessary if Liljegren was going to be loaned back to the SHL next year. If Liljegren does play in the AHL next season he would likely be the youngest player on the team, a role filled by fellow Swede Carl Grundstrom when he came over at the end of the year.

Liljegren of course was at one point expected to go as high as second overall, but a bout of mononucleosis and questions about his decision making saw him fall all the way to the Maple Leafs at #17. Many said right away that it was a steal, but those decision making questions still remain. Making the jump to North America would give him an early chance to work in the Maple Leafs’ system and attempt to start minimizing those mistakes, while also giving him an opportunity to showcase his elite skating ability in front of the hometown crowd.

Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star reported the financial breakdown of the deal.

Arizona Coyotes Make Front Office Changes

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The Arizona Coyotes have named Steve Patterson as the team’s newest President and CEO, while adding President of Hockey Operations to GM John Chayka’s title. Patterson replaces the outgoing Anthony LeBlanc that moved on after selling his share of the team to the now sole-owner Andrew Barroway along with all of the other minority owners. Barroway released a statement along with the announcement:

We are very pleased to name Steve as our new President and CEO. Steve has a wealth of experience and has served as an innovative and successful executive in the NFL, NBA, professional hockey, professional baseball and college athletics for over 30 years. He’s built championship teams and organizations and has managed stadiums, ballparks and arenas across the United States. Most importantly, he previously worked in our market and has the necessary corporate and political relationships to help us secure a long-term home for the Coyotes in the Valley. We’re thrilled to have him join us.

Patterson has worked with the Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, University of Texas, Arizona State University and other professional and amateur sports franchises. His experience in finding new stadiums and arenas is paramount to the Coyotes franchise, as they look for a new home and a real solid foundation to keep them in Arizona into the future. That search has been ongoing for years, and is clearly not working in their current situation of playing in Glendale.

Earlier this year, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in a letter that the team “cannot and will not” remain in Glendale much longer, and since then there has been plenty of speculation about a potential relocation. Now with a sole owner and an extremely experienced and competent Patterson on board, the Coyotes seem to be positioned better than they have been in quite some time. That doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to stay in the desert, as it’s still an extremely difficult market to succeed in, but with a clear directive to compete this season—trades for Niklas Hjalmarsson, Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta signal an end of any tear down or tank—and new leadership they will try to force themselves into the market in a way rarely seen since their move from Winnipeg.

That focus on winning will come with a new head coach after the hiring of Rick Tocchet to lead the team, and a clear voice at the top of hockey operations in the 28-year old Chayka. After moving Dave Tippett out, Chayka will continue to try and build a winner through a blend of analytics and heavy scouting presence. With young players like Max Domi, Christian Dvorak and Dylan Strome expected to take another step forward the Coyotes could find themselves crawling out of the basement as soon as this season to compete for a playoff spot.

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