The wait is almost over as training camps are set to kick off this week. Before looking ahead to those camps getting underway, let’s take a look back at some of the notable stories over the past week.
Ellis Out Long-Term: Nashville’s decision to acquire Alexei Emelin from Vegas raised a few eyebrows with the Predators already having a high-end defense corps. As it turns out, they will be without one of their ‘big four’ for a while as Ryan Ellis is expected to be out four-to-six months after undergoing knee surgery earlier this summer. That places him out until early January at the earliest which is a big blow to their back end. Ellis is coming off of a career year offensively with 38 points while he also logged just shy of 24 minutes a night, more than three minutes per game higher than his previous career best.
Van Riemsdyk Seeking Sizable Raise: While Toronto will undoubtedly be prepared to pay big money to keep their young trio of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander around over the next couple of years, they also have some notable veterans that are close to free agency. One of those is winger James van Riemsdyk, who is reportedly seeking around $6MM per season on a long-term deal. The 28-year-old is earning $5MM (with a $4.25MM cap hit) as he enters the final year of his contract. Assuming he stays healthy this season and produces close to the 62 points he got last season, he should have a good chance of landing that money, whether it’s from the Maple Leafs or elsewhere.
Horvat Gets Six Years: While there had been some speculation that he could wind up with a short-term bridge deal, the Canucks and center Bo Horvat were able to agree on a six-year, $33MM contract. With the Sedin twins nearing retirement, the 22-year-old is quickly entrenching himself as their next core forward to build around. He already has taken on a big part of the offensive workload as he led Vancouver in scoring with 52 points while he was the only Canuck to reach the 20-goal mark in 2016-17.
Bridge Deals: While Horvat and Vancouver avoided a bridge contract, there were a couple handed out over the past week. Arizona and winger Anthony Duclair agreed to a one-year, $1.2MM deal after a season where he struggled considerably at the offensive end with only five goals in 58 NHL games (and just one in 16 AHL contests). Meanwhile, the Flames and center Sam Bennett put pen to paper on a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1.95MM. The former fourth overall pick saw his production drop in his sophomore campaign but he still figures to be part of their plans for the long haul.
Tougher Offside Challenge Penalties: After an influx of questionable offside challenges that delayed quite a few games last season, the league took a step towards trying to curtail that. Instead of just losing their timeout if their challenge fails, that team will also now be assessed a minor penalty for delay of game. It will be interesting to see if the rule change works as intended and that coaches will be more hesitant before initiating some of the more frivolous challenges that were used at times last year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.