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Archives for July 2017

Coyotes Ink Defenseman Adam Clendening

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The Arizona Coyotes have helped out their lacking right-side depth on the blue line by signing young defenseman Adam Clendening to a one-year deal. Sarah McLellan of AZCentral reports that Clendening will be on a one-way contract, but worth the minimum $650K in 2017-18. A surprise non-qualifier of the New York Rangers, the 24-year-old is fresh off what was easily the most impressive season of his young career and will look to further prove he can be an NHL regular with the ’Yotes next season.

The former 2011 second rounder played in 31 games this past season for the Rangers, scoring two goals and nine assists. He made $761,250 a year ago, so he had to take a pay cut in order to prove himself in Arizona. This will be the sixth team he has played for in his three-year NHL career.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Cal Petersen To ELC

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Saturday: The Kings have announced the signing, bringing Petersen aboard for a two-year entry-level deal.

Wednesday: Though his timer isn’t technically up for another few days, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider is reporting that the Los Angeles Kings have come to terms with pending free agent goaltender Cal Petersen from Notre Dame. Petersen left school after his junior year, giving the Buffalo Sabres 30 days to sign him before he became an unrestricted free agent. They won’t be able to announce the deal until July 1st when that clock expires.

Petersen is an excellent goaltending prospect, and one that likely had several suitors on the open market. His three years at Notre Dame were outstanding, registering .919, .927 and .926 save percentages. Though those numbers alone shouldn’t make anyone expect immediate NHL success, Petersen’s play style might. Not as tall as the prototypical goaltenders these days—though at 6’1″ he’s not tiny—Petersen instead relies upon his excellent anticipation and flexibility. Always seeming a half-step ahead of the play, he can provide highlight-reel saves from in close and is rarely out of position.

He does need to still work on reading pucks through traffic, and limiting rebound opportunities (especially on high shots, where he can get a little awkward) but has a legitimate chance at the NHL at some point. Turning 23 in October, Petersen is well into his development years and may end up debuting a little late, but with Jack Campbell likely graduating to the NHL to back up Jonathan Quick, he will have a good chance at the net in Ontario for the time being.

Minnesota Wild Add Murphy, Ferraro, O’Reilly, Grant

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The Minnesota Wild have gone depth shopping on the first day of free agency, adding four players on two-way deals. Alex Grant and Ryan Murphy, recently bought out by the Calgary Flames have signed one-year, two-way deals worth $700K, while Landon Ferraro and Cal O’Reilly have signed two-year, two-way deals worth $700K each season.

Grant, a 28-year-old defenseman, is coming off a one-year deal with the Boston Bruins, but never played for the NHL club. He did, however, have a solid season for the AHL’s Providence Bruins, scoring 17 goals and 32 assists and aiding the team on their deep playoff run to the third round. He has played a total of seven NHL games, five for the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16 and two games for the Anaheim Ducks in 2013-14, coincidentally scoring two goals in those two games.

Murphy, a 24-year-old defenseman, was the No. 12 pick in the 2011 NHL draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, who subsequently traded him to Calgary two days ago and then bought out. He has been switching between Carolina and the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for the past five seasons, having played in 27 games for the Hurricanes this year, finishing with just two assists on the season.

Ferraro, a 25-year-old center, is coming off a torn ACL injury which he sustained in the middle of the season after signing with the St. Louis Blues organization a year ago. He never played for St. Louis, however, playing only 22 games for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He had seven goals and eight assists. A former second-rounder in 2009, Ferraro has dealt with injury issues for the last few years, but put up 27 goals in 2014-15 in the AHL and had good numbers previous to that.

O’Reilly, the older brother of Buffalo Sabres’ center Ryan O’Reilly, played sparingly for the Sabres for the past two years. The 30-year-old center played 11 games this year for one assist, while three goals and four assists in 20 games in 2015-16.

 

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Goalie Antti Niemi

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Antti Niemi will look to turn his career around as the recently bough-out goalie will move from expensive split starter, making $4.5MM with the Dallas Stars, to cheap veteran backup, making just $700K for the reigning Stanley Cup champs, according to a team release. The Penguins lacked an experienced substitute for Marc-Andre Fleury, which the desperately need for the talented, but oft-injured Matt Murray, and they hope Niemi can fit the bill and improve upon his ghastly .892 save percentage in 2016-17.

Niemi is an interesting story, as an undrafted goaltender who took the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup as a rookie, only to go to San Jose and struggle to get his team deep in the playoffs. Now, bought out by the Stars he’ll try to get back to the Finals with the team whose won the last two.

For the Penguins, watching Fleury go was hard not just because of his strong ties to the team and community, but also because of the stellar goaltending he’s given them for so long. Niemi is coming off a year in which he registered an .892 save percentage, and though some of that might be due to the weak team in Dallas, it’ll have to bounce back or he’ll find himself out of the league. That number isn’t acceptable by any NHL goaltender, much less one on a team hoping to compete.

Boston Bruins Sign Paul Postma

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The Boston Bruins have finally entered the free agent frenzy, inking right-handed defenseman Paul Postma to a one-year deal. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that it is a one-way contract worth $725K for the 28-year-old two-way defenseman. The long-time Winnipeg Jet is coming off a career-high in games played (65) and points (14), but nonetheless will have to fight for a roster spot and could very well wind up with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. If he can make the roster, he should provide Boston with much-needed depth, especially with veteran John-Michael Liles not expected back this year.

New York Islanders Acquire Kristers Gudlevskis

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The New York Islanders have added some more goaltending depth, acquiring Kristers Gudlevskis from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for minor league forward Carter Verhaeghe.

Gudlevskis was a fifth-round pick by the Lightning in 2013, and has made three appearances at the NHL level, actually recording a .959 save percentage in those games. He’s not really a prospect anymore, but should at least add some professional depth for the Islanders.

Verhaeghe on the other hand was a third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but dealt along with several other prospects for Michael Grabner a few seasons ago. He’s never lived up to the billing of an offensive force with defensive chops, bouncing back and forth between the AHL and ECHL. He’s still only 21, which means he could still breakout and develop into the player the Maple Leafs had hoped for, but right now the NHL seems like a long shot.

St. Louis Blues Sign Bennett, Thorburn, Sundqvist

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The St. Louis Blues have signed a number of free agents, inking Beau Bennett to a one-year $650K contract, Chris Thorburn to a two-year, $1.8MM deal and restricted free agent Oskar Sundqvist to a one-year, $650K contract.

Bennett wasn’t issued a qualifying offer from the New Jersey Devils this week, making him a free agent at just 25 years old. The 20th-overall selection in 2010, Bennett has performed admirably as a bottom-six player and has some offensive upside to his game. He’ll fit in nicely as a big body to replace some of the outgoing size of Ryan Reaves for the Blues.

Thorburn, selected by the Vegas Golden Knights from the Winnipeg Jets at the expansion draft, is more of a 13th forward at this point in his career but locked up a two-year deal regardless. The 34-year old is willing to drop the gloves for a teammate, and has logged 750 games in his career as a fourth-line energy player.

Sundqvist was part of the deal that saw Reaves head to Pittsburgh, and will see if he can break through into the NHL in St. Louis. In 28 games so far in his career he has just four points, but found his scoring touch in the minor leagues. With 20 goals and 46 points, many believe he could develop into a legitimate power winger in the NHL one day, at least able to contribute double-digit goals.

It will be interesting to see where he plays this year, as the Blues are operating without a primary AHL affiliate. They will supply players to the Chicago Wolves who are now affiliated with Vegas, but also send certain players throughout the minor leagues. If Sundqvist is playing in Chicago, he’ll be under the tutelage of the Golden Knights’ coaching staff.

Cam Fowler Signs Eight-Year Extension With Anaheim Ducks

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The Anaheim Ducks have locked up a key defenseman for a long time, inking Cam Fowler to an eight-year extension worth $52MM ($6.5MM AAV). The deal will kick in for the 2018-19 season, after Fowler finishes the last year on his current contract.

Despite strong point totals every year since he broke into the league, many considered this year as a sort of breakout for the 25-year old defenseman. Instead of being sheltered in an offensive role, Fowler easily logged the most minutes on the team and was a rock in all situations. Not necessarily considered a possession darling, he took steps forward in basically every metric and was all over the ice for the Ducks.

Though the contract is a huge one, the fact that Fowler is still relatively young is a big factor. He’ll only be 34 when it ends and hopefully will have not fallen off a cliff production wise. Right now, the $6.5MM cap hit comes in 17th among defenders for the 2018-19 season, which obviously could be knocked down even further if other players re-sign between now and then. That means he’ll be expected to perform like a #1 defenseman, but not an elite one. If his game takes another step forward he could provide excellent value for the salary in the first half of the deal.

2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker

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Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.

Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.

July 1st:

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Montreal Canadiens Sign Byron Froese, Peter Holland

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After adding Karl Alzner on a huge contract, the Montreal Canadiens have added a couple of depth forwards. Both Byron Froese and Peter Holland will join the club on two-year contracts. Both players will be on two-way deals for 2017-18, but transition to one-way contracts come the 2018-19 season.

Holland was a first-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks back in 2009, but has found little success in three NHL stops. Given the biggest chance in Toronto, he scored 25 and 27 points in a depth role before being traded to the Coyotes last season. Not issued a qualifying offer by Arizona, he’ll now try to force his way onto the NHL roster in Montreal and show why he was so highly touted coming out of the OHL.

Froese was also traded by Toronto last season, this time as part of the deal that brought Brian Boyle to the Maple Leafs. The minor league forward is a near point-per-game player in the AHL, and will bring that scoring touch to the new Laval Rocket. Whether he makes it to the NHL is still unclear, as he’s never shown enough to warrant a full-time spot on a contender.

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