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Jack Eichel “Pretty Adamant” On Staying With Buffalo Sabres

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As Buffalo Sabres fans continue to pull their hair out waiting for a Jack Eichel extension, the man himself wants to calm the fan base down. From Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat, Eichel was clear about his intentions to stay with the Sabres.

I have no problem playing the year out…I’m pretty adamant on staying a Sabre and staying in Buffalo.

I want to bring some excitement to this town and the contract thing will take care of itself.

That meshes with the latest reports that an extension might not be reached before training camp begins, but instead of panic over his future with the club fans should feel confident their superstar is committed long-term. Eichel is on the final year of his entry-level contract and was eligible for an extension on July 1st, but might want to wait for his own breakout season before signing anything.

Injured for much of last year, Eichel doesn’t have the eye-popping numbers that many expected when he was taken second-overall behind Connor McDavid in 2015. While he’s still scored 113 points in 142 games, he’s seemingly been passed over in many minds by Auston Matthews as the second-best young player in the league. When he has been healthy though, Eichel has shown that he could be a devastatingly effective offensive player, easily capable of scoring at a point-per-game rate over the next few years. It’s unlikely that playing the year out would do anything to hurt his long-term value, but he could prove that he deserves an extension approaching $10MM per season if he put together a healthy productive year.

It’s clear that the Sabres are on the same page, with GM Jason Botterill recently saying they wanted to lock up Eichel for eight seasons. He’s the face of the franchise going forward, and it would be incredibly unlikely for a new contract to not be finished at some point before the start of the 2018-19 season. It might just have to wait until next year.

Washington Capitals Sign Jyrki Jokipakka To PTO

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The Washington Capitals have jumped into the professional tryout market, by signing Jyrki Jokipakka to a PTO. Jokipakka played 41 NHL games last season split between the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators, and will try to earn his way onto another roster with a good camp.

Unlike some of the other PTOs around the league that have little chance of earning an NHL contract, Jokipakka enters a situation in Washington with some roster spots available. The Capitals lost Nate Schmidt, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk this summer to free agency and the Vegas Golden Knights, and didn’t have the cap room to replace them with established NHL talent. Instead, it looked like they were going to have to make a decision between some minor league veterans in Aaron Ness and Taylor Chorney, or younger unproven players in Christian Djoos and Kristofers Bindulis.

The Capitals are pressed right up against the cap after re-signing Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie this summer, and already had to deal Marcus Johansson to clear some room. Players like Jokipakka are opportunities to get NHL talent on minimum contracts, even if he’s not a game-changing talent. The team will have to rely even more on Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson unless someone steps up in camp and makes an impression.

Morning Notes: Allaire, Rangers, Pastrnak

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While the average hockey fan may not know the name of many goaltending coaches around the league, Francois Allaire could be the exception. Beginning 32 years ago with the Montreal Canadiens and Patrick Roy, he revolutionized the position as one of the first notable “butterfly” coaches. Allaire would mentor Roy from the minor leagues all the way to the Stanley Cup, before moving on to other stops around the league.

Now, after more than three decades in the game Allaire has decided to retire according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The Colorado Avalanche, his last stop, hired Semyon Varlamov’s personal goaltending coach this summer to replace him. The goaltending position (and because of it, the game in general) looks much different in 2017, and much of that has to do with Allaire and his disciples changing it from one of reflex to one of positioning. While he leaves the game, his legacy does not.

  • The New York Rangers have named former players Brian Leetch and Brad Richards Hockey Operations Advisors, joining a front office they once played for. Both will work with prospects in the organization to try and unlock their full potential. Leetch is a Hall of Fame defenseman who is one of the greatest Rangers of all-time, playing 17 years for the club before ending his career with short stops in Toronto and Boston. Richards on the other hand spent just three seasons with New York near the end of his career, but is a two-time Stanley Cup winner and was a dominant two-way center for many years.
  • Still with the Rangers, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that Filip Chytil’s injury is not as serious as originally thought, and though the first-round pick will miss the rookie tournament, could be available for the team’s training camp. Chytil suffered a groin injury in the Four Nations Tournament this summer, but is an exciting young prospect for the Rangers to get a look at this fall.
  • Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the David Pastrnak camp continues to point towards Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $68MM contract as a comparable in negotiations with the Boston Bruins. Draisaitl and Pastrnak are similar ages and both experienced a breakout this season, though the latter’s was relatively unexpected. Draisaitl’s deal comes after a 77-point season playing mostly alongside Connor McDavid, while Pastrnak jumped from 26 points in 2015-16 to 70 this season. The Bruins’ winger is a restricted free agent, and would be giving up four UFA years should he sign an eight-year contract.

“Sizable Gap” In Sam Bennett Contract Negotiations

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Minutes after informing us that Andreas Athanasiou is still considering a move to the KHL, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Calgary Flames’ forward Sam Bennett could consider a similar move until he can reach a contract with the team. Bennett and the Flames still have a “sizable gap” in terms of his next contract, after an up-and-down first few years in the NHL. Again, this could be an agent—notably Darren Ferris, who also represents Athanasiou—creating leverage for his client, but those reports usually come out earlier in the summer. Now there is just over a week until training camps begin, and the two should be relatively close on contract terms.

Bennett is coming off a season in which he registered only 26 points, and has still yet to breakthrough in the NHL. Though he’s clearly good enough to stay in the checking center role that Calgary has deployed him in, his fourth-overall draft position means the team should expect much more. Many fans were hoping for a breakout this season if given the opportunity, but it could be delayed if he’s not able to reach an agreement.

While starting the year in Europe would technically make him available for the Olympics, it would mean giving up his entire season. Restricted free agents must sign by December 1st in order to be eligible to play for the rest of the season, which is obviously too early for the Olympic team. It seems doubtful that Bennett would miss much time, as Calgary is poised to be a Stanley Cup contender this season and need the center depth that Bennett provides. While there may be a sizable gap now, it’s unlikely negotiations would last deep into the season.

Andreas Athanasiou Still Talking To KHL Teams

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The Detroit Red Wings have yet to sign their young restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou, and they could be about to lose him overseas. We’ve previously reported that Athanasiou had received a contract offer from the KHL, and now Darren Dreger of TSN reports that he’s “in ongoing discussions” with Russian teams. Dreger states that unless there is a change in negotiations with Detroit, the speedy forward will likely sign in the KHL for 2017-18.

It was assumed by many that the KHL offer was just a leverage tactic of agent Darren Ferris, brought up to force the Red Wings to increase their offer after Athanasiou’s breakout campaign. It still could be, but the closer we get to training camp the more real the threat becomes. The KHL deal is expected to be much higher than Ken Holland and the Red Wings are offering.

Athanasiou scored 18 goals last season but has been criticized in the past for an apparent lack of effort and passive play in his own end. While he possesses game-breaking speed that can create offense on a moment’s notice, there have been too many times it disappeared entirely from games. He faced discipline in the form of healthy scratches at times this year, but is still an important piece to the Detroit puzzle going forward. For a team that is dangling somewhere between a bubble playoff team and a full rebuild, losing offense and youth in one swing would be painful. Though, as we’ve mentioned before in our live chats it would give the team a bit of financial relief, while still holding Athanasiou’s rights.

Carolina Lacking Roster Flexibility In 2017-18

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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

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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

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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

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Snapshots: Rasmussen, Avalanche, Werbik

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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?

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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.

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