Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for September 2017

Carolina Lacking Roster Flexibility In 2017-18

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the start of the 2017-18 season just a month away, teams are starting to entertain some options to fill out their rosters. PTO season is in full swing, several teams have made recent free agent signings with more surely to come, and even trade whispers have picked up someone. One team not expected to join the late off-season excitement are the Carolina Hurricanes. With a cap hit of $57.8MM, more than $17MM below the salary cap, the Hurricanes have more than enough space to work with. In fact, Carolina has the third lowest payroll in the league. The ’Canes have plenty of cap flexibility, but what they lack is roster flexibility.

The NHL imposes limits on each and every roster. Of course, the active roster is held to just 23 players, but the issue facing the Hurricanes is instead the 50-contract limit. Each squad is only allowed to have 50 players at a time signed to one-way and two-way NHL contracts; it’s a mark that few teams approach. Yet, Carolina is already committed to a league-high 49 players for next season. The team has added Scott Darling, Justin Williams, Marcus Kruger, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Josh Jooris, and Brenden Kichton to the mix this summer, without losing any notable names. With those new additions, the Hurricanes hope to build upon their surprising success in 2016-17 and use their impressive depth and youthful energy to reach the postseason this season. With those aspirations, GM Ron Francis and company will surely want to leave some space for a possible trade acquisition if the team is in position for a playoff run. While trades, especially in-season, more often than not include players going both ways, all other teams are held to the same limits as Carolina and won’t be willing to take on a handful of contracts just to accommodate the ’Canes roster restraints. The team has to be careful not to back themselves into a corner.

For that reason, Carolina will likely march toward the season without making any further moves. That won’t stop the rumors of their interest in Colorado’s Matt Duchene to stop, particularly with Duchene pushing for a resolution in prior to puck drop, but it seems more likely that the Hurricanes stand pat in the coming weeks. With little flexibility as is, adding another player by any means could put Carolina in a hard-to-manage roster spot that could be even harder to get out of.

Uncertainty Surrounding Nate Schmidt Injury

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Few players have received as much attention this off-season as new Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt. The up-and-coming blue liner was selected by the NHL’s newest club in the Expansion Draft after a pair of strong seasons with the Washington Capitals. Then, before even playing a game with the Knights, the restricted free agent and his new team went to salary arbitration, where Schmidt was the only player this off-season to actually receive a reward from the arbitrator after a hearing. Vegas signed Schmidt to the two-year, $4.45MM deal that had been awarded and it appeared the two sides were all set for the 2017-18 season, with Schmidt prepared to play a major role on defense.

However, things have changed in an unexpected way. Back in mid-August, it was announced that Schmidt was unable to attend a fan event in Montana due to an injury. It was later revealed that Schmidt suffered an ankle injury while training, but no other details were offered. Weeks later, there has been no update on Schmidt’s condition with training camp just around the corner. Sin Bin inquired about the status of Schmidt’s injury today and, again, received no feedback. A team representative simply stated that “there is no update”.

At this point, some worry by fans has become warranted. Although the Knights still roster ten other NHL-caliber defenseman, Schmidt was slated to battle for a top pairing role and his absence would make the start of Vegas’ inaugural season much more difficult. While there’s just as little evidence to support any thought that he might miss time as there is about the injury itself, the lack of information coming from the team is cause for concern. Keep an eye out for updates on the Knights’ promising young rearguard as the season quickly approaches.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Minnesota Wild

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Minnesota Wild

Current Cap Hit: $72,858,591 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Joel Eriksson Ek (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Luke Kunin (Three years remaining, $925K)

Eriksson Ek made the team out of training camp last season but was sent back before he triggered the first year of his entry-level deal.  However, the team decided to go ahead and burn that first season later on and brought him back for the end of the year and playoffs.  He likely slides in as a third line center to start the season.  Kunin is only a year from being drafted 15th overall but the fact that Minnesota had him turn pro already would suggest that they plan to use him with the big club before too long.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Matt Cullen ($1MM, UFA)
D Mathew Dumba ($2.55MM, RFA)
F Mikko Koivu ($6.75MM, UFA)
D Kyle Quincey ($1.25MM, UFA)
F Chris Stewart ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Jason Zucker ($2MM, RFA)

Nov 10, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Minnesota Wild center Mikko Koivu (9) on the ice before playing the Pittsburgh Penguins at the PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsKoivu is the most notable name of the group.  He has been with the team since they drafted him back in 2001 and has been the captain for the past six seasons.  He also has collected at least 48 points in each of the last four seasons and has provided them with some consistency at that end while being a responsible two-way player.  However, he’ll be 35 when his next contract kicks in and given that he hasn’t reached the 20 goal mark since 2009-10, it stands to reason that he’ll be looking at a lower cap hit next season whether that’s with Minnesota or elsewhere.

Zucker took a bridge deal last summer and responded with almost as many points as the previous two seasons combined.  He has set himself up to easily double that on his next contract if he hovers around the 45 point plateau once again.  Stewart fit in well in a fourth line role last season but won’t likely command a big raise on the open market next summer.  Cullen returns for another stint with the Wild and while he’ll likely play on the fourth line, his bonuses aren’t tied to points but rather playoff series.

Dumba has made steady progress since being drafted and has established himself as a top-four defenseman.  Considering he’ll have arbitration rights in the offseason, he is positioned to earn a notable pay increase on his next deal.  Quincey adds some depth with the trade of Marco Scandella to Buffalo but considering how he has bounced around in recent years, he probably won’t be able to command a much bigger contract a year from now.

Potential Bonuses

Cullen: $700K
Eriksson Ek: $213K
Kunin: $400K

Total: $1.313MM

Read more

Snapshots: Rasmussen, Avalanche, Werbik

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Detroit’s decision to select Michael Rasmussen with the ninth overall selection back in June over Gabriel Vilardi raised some eyebrows.  However, a big part of the decision to do so stemmed from the fact that Rasmussen spent most of last year at center (a position they were targeting) while Vilardi was primarily a winger, Red Wings Assistant to the GM Kris Draper told Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required).  Vilardi wound up going two spots later to the Kings.

While many teams will say they’ll simply look for the best player available, there’s a good case to make that the Red Wings needed a center back at the draft.  Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou have both played the position in the past but have had more success in the NHL on the wing which has resulted in them not having a lot of prospect depth down the middle.  Although he has pro size already, Rasmussen is likely still a couple of years away from seeing action in Detroit but should complement a good group of young wingers when he does make it.

More notes from around the game:

  • After mostly ignoring the college ranks, the Avalanche have been a lot more active in the NCAA over the past couple of years, BSN Denver’s Cole Hamilton details. Over the past two drafts, they’ve picked college-bound players four times in the first two rounds including Tyson Jost and Cale Makar as well as signing a pair of college free agents last month.  Going this route often requires more patience though as many of those players often wait longer to turn pro than their counterparts in junior (although Jost is an exception).  Accordingly, if that continues in the years to come, Colorado’s rebuilding timeline may wind up being extended a bit longer.
  • The Rangers have invited Czech prospect center Nicolas Werbik to their upcoming rookie camp, his former Czech team in Zlin announced. Werbik spent last season with Youngstown of the USHL, collecting 39 points (18-21-39) in 54 games after spending the previous year with Rimouski of the QMJHL.  Werbik and New York first rounder Filip Chytil both played in the Zlin U-18 program back in 2014-15.

David Pastrnak: To Bridge Or Not To Bridge?

at CDT | by 4 Comments

By all accounts, it seems like David Pastrnak’s talks with the Bruins haven’t gone as well as either side has hoped so far.  While there is mutual interest in a long-term contract, there seems to be a big difference regarding what the cap hit on the deal should be.

Late last month, it was reported that the Bruins had made a $6MM per year offer for either six or seven years with Pastrnak getting to choose the term.  That would allow them to keep his cap hit below winger Brad Marchand, something that they’re believed to be keen on doing.  However, it sounds like that’s not a deal that Pastrnak is willing to sign considering nothing like that has been signed yet.

What complicates things a bit here is that the 21-year-old is coming off of quite the career season.  After recording just 27 and 26 points in his first two seasons, Pastrnak had a breakout year, tallying 34 goals along with 36 assists.  That really helps his bargaining position but the question becomes is this a sign of things to come or was 2016-17 a year where everything went perfectly and he’s going to be more of a 50-60 point player down the road?

Given his first two seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising if GM Don Sweeney isn’t at least trying to hedge against Pastrnak seeing his point total drop next season.  If that is the case, it would stand to reason that this is a factor in the delay in getting a contract done.

When there is a difference in opinion as to what a player could realistically produce in the years to come, a short-term deal becomes that much more legitimate of an option.  While it hasn’t been discussed too much in this particular case, that could change somewhat soon if the stalemate is still ongoing closer to training camp.

A two-year contract would potentially serve as a compromise where Pastrnak would still get a significant raise from his entry-level salary while the Bruins would get more certainty over the next couple of seasons as to whether or not Pastrnak can continue to produce at a high-end level.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to this – the Bruins would be giving up the chance to have four RFA (cheaper) years as part of a long-term deal that would help keep the AAV lower while if Pastrnak doesn’t produce as much over that span, he could wind up with potentially less money in the long run.  These types of risks aren’t unique to this circumstance though, that’s just the nature of the beast on short-term contracts at this stage of a career.

With there still being the better part of two weeks left before training camp, both sides can rightfully continue to focus on hammering out a long-term pact.  But if those talks aren’t fruitful, a bridge deal may be the way to go even if it’s not what either side prefers to do.

PHR Mailbag: Tavares, Kings, Coaching Hot Seats, Letang

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Over the last few days, we’ve taken your mailbag questions on Twitter using the hashtag #PHRMailbag and on the site via the comments feature. Here are the inquiries for this edition of the mailbag:

mcase7187: Could the Bruins put a package together of Pastrnak, Carlo and few others for Tavares?

Short of John Tavares calling a press conference and announcing that there’s no way he’s re-signing with the Islanders, he’s not going to be moved at this time.  (Even if that did happen, I could still see them waiting in the hopes that he changes his mind.)

While I wouldn’t go as far as saying Boston wouldn’t have much of a need for Tavares, they’d need him a lot less than other teams.  They have Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and David Backes (a natural center) all signed for at least the next four seasons at a little over $20MM combined.  They’re all older players but it would be a challenge on the cap to add an even bigger contract to that group without moving one of them in a deal for Tavares or some other trade.

As for the offer itself, that’s pretty good value.  David Pastrnak has emerged as a quality top line winger while Brandon Carlo has a long future ahead of him on the back end.  Having those players as part of a trade for Tavares would certainly yield a quality return for the Islanders.  I just don’t think Boston would be one of the many teams that would be highly interested in his services if Tavares were to ever be made available, at least to the extent of making the top offer to get him.

@dodgerskingsfan: Who do you think will make the Kings roster?

Right now, Los Angeles is tied for the most players attending camp on tryouts with Florida. Forwards Brandon Prust and Andrei Loktionov are there while Chris Lee will get a look on the back end.

I have a hard time envisioning Prust or Loktionov making the team.  Prust struggled to keep up a couple of years ago and isn’t exactly coming off of a great performance in the German League.  Maybe they ask to keep him around as a 13th forward but that’s about it.  Loktionov didn’t fare well in his last NHL stint either and hasn’t lit it up in the KHL since then.  I think they’d rather give players like Adrian Kempe and Jonny Brodzinski longer looks as things stand although I wouldn’t be shocked if they add a more prominent forward to their list of invitees in the next couple of weeks.

As for Lee, I think he has a good chance to make it.  He’ll be battling the likes of Christian Folin, Kevin Gravel, and Paul Ladue for the last couple of spots on the roster and none of those players have really established themselves yet as full-time NHL players.  Gravel and Ladue are waiver exempt so if Lee even plays at a comparable level in training camp, they could sign him and opt to have one of their youngsters start in the minors as depth.  Not only would it be a great story (a player finally making it to the NHL at 37) but Lee could give them an offensive boost that the others probably aren’t able to provide.  Unless they bring someone else in over the next month, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lee breaks camp with the Kings.

acarneglia: Which Eastern Conference coach would be most likely to be fired for failing to make the playoffs or not making a deep run?

Barry Trotz in Washington immediately springs to mind here.  The Capitals have underachieved in the postseason under his watch and although they’ve kept the core intact, the Metropolitan Division is still going to be a gauntlet to get through.  It’s also worth noting that he’s entering the final year of his contract this season and it certainly doesn’t sound like any extension is on the horizon.  Back in June, GM Brian MacLellan told reporters, including Matthew Paras of The Washington Times, that extension talks won’t occur until there is evidence of improvement.  Considering they’ve won the last two Presidents’ Trophies, the improvement he’s seeking is in the playoffs so if they don’t go far, I could see Trotz being let go (and getting scooped up pretty quickly after).

On the other side (missing the playoffs), Bill Peters in Carolina has failed to lead them to the postseason for three straight years so if that happens again, a change could be made.  That said, that division is going to be tough for them to crack the top three so a Wild Card berth is probably the best they can do realistically.  I could also see Jeff Blashill in Detroit at least being on the hot seat if they miss out; while on the outside it looks like they’re in need of some sort of rebuild (or at least a retooling), the fact that they haven’t done so suggests that they think they can get back into the playoffs this season.  If they miss, they’ll have failed to win a playoff round in three years with Blashill at the helm which might be enough to change things up there.

@EcFoss1214: If Kris Letang can’t stay healthy this season do the Pens finally try to find a deal for him?

Dec 10, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at Amalie Arena. Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsThis one is a bit of a double-edged sword.  While it could certainly make them more open to moving Letang, it would also make him that much less desirable to other teams considering his lengthy injury past (which includes a neck injury, a heart ailment, a groin issue, plus multiple other upper and lower body injuries over just the past three seasons).

There’s no denying that when Letang is healthy, he’s among the elite offensive defensemen in the NHL.  But if he misses a bunch of time due to injuries again in 2017-18, it will become fair to question whether he’s damaged goods at that point.  Considering he’ll still have four years with a $7.25MM cap hit left after this season, other teams won’t be offering up much value to take on that much risk even with the upside (his production when healthy) being as high as it is.  In all honesty, another season with injury issues probably solidifies his spot with Pittsburgh more than it would make him a more likely trade candidate.

AshevilleCanesFan: When calculating power play and penalty stats, are all penalties considered, or only when they are the full 2 minutes? For example, if team A gets a power play, but 20 seconds later gets called for a penalty, would they be 0 for 1 on the power play if they failed to score in those first 20 seconds of power play time? And would the 20 seconds that team B would have (after killing the initial penalty) count toward the stats?

Anything that actually results in a man advantage, whether it’s for two minutes or two seconds, counts towards calculated power play and penalty kill percentages which isn’t exactly the most accurate way to assess their real success rate.  So yes, in your scenario, both teams would be 0-for-1 on the power play despite not getting much real time to work with.

A few years ago, the odd broadcast would show a different power play stat that was more of a ratio, one goal for every x amount of time spent with the man advantage but that hasn’t picked up steam with some of the newer statistics.  I wouldn’t mind seeing that change as while the percentages may be easier to interpret, the ratio is a more accurate way of seeing what the actual success rate of a team is.  It’s also something that could be adapted to more properly assess the true numbers of a penalty kill as well.  There’s a big push out there for more accurate metrics and this is one that certainly hasn’t received a lot of attention over the years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Horvat, Auvitu, Stars

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Canucks are hopeful to get a contract in place for Bo Horvat within the next week, GM Jim Benning told Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver (audio link).  He classified recent discussions as “going well” and that progress was made on a deal last week.

Horvat is one of the most prominent remaining restricted free agents after a season that saw him record 52 points (20-32-52) in 81 games to lead the team in scoring.  With the Sedin twins nearing the end of their careers, the 22-year-old is set to lead Vancouver’s forward group for years to come so it’s likely that a long-term deal is still being targeted.  There were suggestions late last week that a bridge deal was all but done but Canucks team president Trevor Linden denied that a short-term pact was in place.  Cap space shouldn’t be a factor as the team still has more than $5MM in room to work with per CapFriendly (an amount that will go up as their roster size shrinks closer to 23).

More from the West:

  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal takes a closer look at Edmonton offseason acquisition Yohann Auvitu who is expected to push for a roster spot at camp, especially with Andrej Sekera still out for a few more months. Auvitu split last season between New Jersey and their AHL affiliate and while his defensive game wasn’t the greatest, his mobility and puck moving ability could fit in well with an Oilers team that is filled with skill and a lot of up-tempo players.
  • Although the Stars have added a more defensive-minded coach in Ken Hitchcock as well as Marc Methot in a trade with the Golden Knights, Puck Daddy’s Ryan Lambert opines that Dallas could still be a bit too thin defensively, at least when it comes to impact players. Depth at the back of the depth chart shouldn’t be an issue with players like Jamie Oleksiak and Greg Pateryn in the fold but another impact blueliner would certainly be helpful.  However, they’re capped out so they will hope that a youngster like Stephen Johns and Julius Honka can take on bigger roles while veteran Dan Hamhuis will be counted on to rebound from a quiet season.

The PTO Market: Defensemen

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With training camps now less than two weeks away, the tryout market is about to really get active.  With that in mind, here are some names to watch for and a few teams that will likely be looking to add a PTO or two on the back end in the days to come.

Players

Cody Franson – Franson is coming off of a down year with Buffalo and after overpricing himself in free agency two years ago, it’s fair to wonder if that has happened again.  If he has to go the PTO route, it’s likely he’ll look for a team that can give him the most playing time.  Chicago has been reported in the past as a team that would have interest in bringing him to camp.

John-Michael Liles – His time with Boston didn’t go as well as either side hoped for but Liles is still someone who can help with the man advantage.  He may be best suited as a 6/7 that’s in and out of the lineup which is exactly the type of player that a lot of teams sign to PTO deals at this time.

Roman Polak – The former Maple Leaf is recovering well from leg surgery and has started to skate again.  He can still play regular minutes on a third pairing and penalty kill which should have a few teams kicking the tires.

Fedor Tyutin – He didn’t have a great year with Colorado but to be fair, that can be said for a lot of Avalanche players last season.  He’s not that far removed from being a second pairing player but in the right system, he should still be able to play on a bottom pairing and contribute.

Dennis Wideman – While he’s not likely to put up 56 points again like he did two years ago, Wideman could still be a contributor on the power play while being capable of eating more minutes than others on this list.

Teams

Arizona

With Jakob Chychrun out of the lineup indefinitely (he hasn’t resumed skating yet), there’s a hole on the back end for the Coyotes.  Their top internal candidates are Joel Hanley and Andrew Campbell, players who have seen NHL action in the past but haven’t fared all that well when given the opportunity.  Alternatively, they could look to try to sign someone to a two-way contract with the hopes of sending that player to the minors when Chychrun is ready to return.

Chicago

There are likely to be a couple of spots up for grabs at training camp with prospects Gustav Forsling, Ville Pokka, and international free agent signing Jan Rutta the likely candidates vying for those positions at the moment.  As a team that has brought in veterans to try to fill out their defensive corps in recent years, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them bring someone in to compete with the youngsters and give them a bit more depth at the position.

Colorado

This one is pretty obvious.  As things stand, they have all of three regular blueliners under contract and one of those, Mark Barberio, cleared waivers at the beginning of last season (the Avs plucked him off waivers midseason).  If they can reach a deal with Nikita Zadorov, that will certainly help and youngsters like Andrei Mironov and Chris Bigras will push for spots but there is certainly room for a tryout or two…or three.

Los Angeles

The Kings have already added one PTO blueliner in Chris Lee so far but they have some unproven players that are projected to fill out their bottom couple of spots.  If they want a prospect like Paul Ladue to spend more time in the minors, they’d be a team that would want to bring a veteran in to compete for a spot.

Washington

The Capitals have lost three notable blueliners this summer in Karl Alzner, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk and haven’t replaced them with any experienced players.  As things stand, they have only five rearguards with any sort of notable NHL playing time under their belts with prospects such as Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos, among others likely to push for a roster spot.  It would make sense for Washington to hedge against their prospects not being quite ready by bringing in a veteran or two.  However, there would need to be some sort of agreement in place that they’d play for close to the league minimum of $650K considering their current cap situation.

2017-18 Primer: Winnipeg Jets

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come.  Today, we focus on the Winnipeg Jets.

Last Season: 40-35-7 record (87 points), fifth in Central Division (missed the playoffs)

Remaining Cap Space: $7.39MM per CapFriendly

Key Newcomers: F Matt Hendricks (free agency, Edmonton), D Dmitry Kulikov (free agency, Buffalo), G Steve Mason (free agency, Philadelphia)

Key Departures: G Ondrej Pavelec (free agency, NY Rangers), D Paul Postma (free agency, Boston) D Mark Stuart (buyout, unsigned), F Chris Thorburn (expansion)

[Related: Jets Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Player To Watch: F Bryan Little – Little has been with the Jets/Thrashers organization for his entire 10-year career and, when healthy, has continued to be a productive center.  However, staying healthy has proven to be a challenge lately as he has missed 23, 25, and 12 games over the past three seasons.

Nov 29, 2016; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets center Bryan Little (18) makes his first appearance after a lengthy injury prior to the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY SportsLittle is also entering the final year of his contract.  Centers are in extremely high demand right now which will give him plenty of leverage in extension talks as he’s likely to get a raise from his $4.7MM cap hit (and $5MM salary) this season.  With Mark Scheifele entrenched as the top option down the middle, his $6.125MM cap hit is the likely ceiling for how high the team would be willing to pay to keep Little around.

The team also has several prominent young restricted free agents to re-sign in defensemen Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey as well as forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Joel Armia.  While they have lots of cap space next year to work with, Winnipeg isn’t typically a cap-spending team.  As a result, Little could potentially be the one to feel the squeeze.

If Winnipeg doesn’t get off to a strong start and finds themselves out of the playoff race near the trade deadline, Little is going to be someone that a lot of teams will be trying to add as a rental player in February while teams will be lining up for him in July if he makes it to the open market.

Key Storyline: To put it lightly, goaltending was not a strength for the Jets last season.  Winnipeg’s netminders compiled just a .900 SV% last season which isn’t going to cut it on a team that has any sort of playoff aspirations.

To that end, the team brought in Mason from the Flyers who isn’t exactly coming off of a stellar season himself where he posted a 2.68 GAA and a .908 SV%.  Will he be able to play up to the level of a legitimate starting goalie in 2017-18?

Although Connor Hellebuyck had a rough year, the team will be expecting him to rebound as well and considering he’s on a one-year ‘bridge’ deal, he will be plenty motivated to do so.  Michael Hutchinson is still around as well so the team will need to decide whether to keep three goalies around or try to waive or trade him during training camp.

Goaltending was a big factor in their lack of success in 2016-17 and that position is certainly shaping up to make or break their fortunes this coming season as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Morning Notes: Duclair, Stafford, Doan

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While they ultimately agreed on a one-year deal, the Coyotes and winger Anthony Duclair did discuss multi-year agreements, reports Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic.  However, given Duclair’s struggles last season that saw him record just five goals in 58 games, this contract made a lot of sense and GM John Chayka likes the message that it sends.

“I think that’s a good lesson for all players coming off their entry-level deal.  If they want term and dollar, that’s available to them but they have to perform. And if they don’t perform, then they’re going to have to earn it. That’s how we’re going to operate moving forward.”

McLellan also reports the team has extended a couple of PTO offers although none have been accepted just yet.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see them add a blueliner for training camp with Jakob Chychrun still not being able to skate for a while yet.

Other news from around the hockey world:

  • While it had been speculated that the Bruins would show some interest in bringing back winger Drew Stafford, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe notes that Boston never engaged in serious talks to re-sign him. Stafford settled for a one-year, $800K contract with the Devils late last month.
  • Although he announced his retirement last week, former Coyote Shane Doan is still on the radar for Team Canada for the upcoming Olympics, head coach Willie Desjardins told CBC’s Devin Heroux. Doan does have experience playing at that level as he was part of the Canadian entry back in 2006.  However, it stands to reason that he would have to be playing somewhere for him to really garner serious consideration for a roster spot and at age 40, it’s far from a given that he’d go overseas to play for a few months primarily to keep him in the mix for the Olympics.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top