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Boston Bruins Are “Not Trading Pastrnak”

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The Twitter world was set alight yesterday when NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton tweeted that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Boston Bruins traded David Pastrnak, but GM Don Sweeney has put a swift end to the speculation. In a report by Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, Sweeney replies to the rumors with a short “not trading Pastrnak.” The idea of trading a 21-year old sniper coming off a 70-point season seemed improbable at best, even with the Bruins’ history of trading young stars.

Pastrnak is still negotiating his next contract, leading to tons of speculation about why the deal wasn’t done a long time ago. We’ve heard that the talks are in a “holding pattern” but also that Pastrnak is very happy in Boston and with the Bruins. His contract is an important one for the team, as they look to keep their salary structure under control even with some hefty cap hits for declining players. David Krejci, David Backes and Patrice Bergeron are already into their thirties with at least four years remaining on their contracts, while several more young players will need extensions in the next few years.

A long-term deal for Pastrnak would lock him up at a reasonable cap hit for his experience, but may be hard to fit in for the next few years. The Bruins currently have over $10MM to fit him in, but with several holes opening next season their cap room could quickly fizzle out. A short-term deal would keep Pastrnak’s hit lower, but also put him at risk of walking in free agency. Remember that even though he’s just 21, Pastrnak already has three full seasons under his belt in the NHL. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2021 should the Bruins not get him under contract further than that.

NCAA Free Agent Rules

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Some of the most intricate rules in the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement have to do with player draft rights. Depending both on where the player was when drafted, and the path he takes after being selected exclusive negotiating rights can be held for anywhere between two years and indefinitely. When it comes to players joining the NCAA ranks, it gets even trickier.

We saw one of the less often used tactics earlier this summer, when Cal Petersen declared he would not return to Notre Dame for his senior season. Since Petersen had been drafted four years ago, the Buffalo Sabres were given 30 days in which to sign him or lose his exclusive negotiating rights. The Sabres couldn’t get him under contract, and a month later the Los Angeles Kings scooped him up. Petersen could use this tactic because of the year he spent in the USHL after his draft, pushing his scheduled graduation to five years out from his draft year.

But this isn’t the method you want to hear about today. Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot lead a group of players who will see their draft rights expire today after completing their senior seasons, and will be allowed to sign with any team in the NHL tomorrow, August 16th. Though their free agency is being widely reported as starting today, teams actually retain their negotiating rights through the end of day.  From Section 8.6(c)(i) of the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement:

If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and remains a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college class, his drafting Club shall retain the exclusive right of negotiation for his services through and including the August 15 following the graduation of his college class. The Club need not make a Bona Fide Offer to such Player to retain such rights.

Though it’s quite possible that teams are already talking to the upcoming free agents—probable even, despite not technically being allowed to do so—they won’t be signing with anyone until tomorrow. Since this version of the CBA was introduced only Robbie Russo signed right away, inking with the Detroit Red Wings on August 16th nearly immediately after becoming a free agent. Last year we saw John Gilmour lead the pack by signing with the New York Rangers on August 18th, before Thomas DiPauli and Jimmy Vesey followed on the 19th to Pittsburgh and New York respectively.

While Butcher and Kerfoot are exciting players, and should sign within a few days of becoming free agents we will have to wait for one more day before anything can be officially announced. For now, they’re still tied to the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils.

*Note: Kerfoot actually could have used the method described in Petersen’s case to become a free agent last summer, since he played an additional season in the BCHL after being selected by the Devils in 2012. For ease of reading we did not include all of the CBA provisions, but if you’d like to read more about why his rights are held through and including August 15th, check out Section 8.6(c)(iii). 

Early Notes: Chychrun, Lack, Zadorov

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Jakob Chychrun’s season was put at risk when he suffered a knee injury in his offseason training that required surgery earlier this month. He wasn’t given a timeline, and the team announced just that the young defender was “out indefinitely.” While new Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet still wouldn’t give a specific time frame, he did tell NHL Network that Chychrun will be back this season.

He’s just a beast. If this happened to somebody else, you might have a guy who’s out for the year.

Chychrun has long been known for his elite strength and conditioning, and it was part of what made him a first-round pick in the 2016 draft. A comeback will be an important part of any Coyotes season, as the team expects to compete this year for a playoff spot. After suiting up for 68 games in his rookie season, a big step forward was expected this year.

  • Eddie Lack knew he’d be sent out of town after the Carolina Hurricanes traded for and signed Scott Darling. Lack tells Hockeysverige in Sweden that Calgary was basically a dream scenario, reunited with Glen Gulutzan and paired with Mike Smith on a team expected to compete for the Stanley Cup. Lack has just one year left before becoming an unrestricted free agent, and if he can steal the starting job from Smith at some point he’ll be highly sought after on the open market.
  • Though there is still no announcement on a new Nikita Zadorov contract, Adrian Dater of BSN Denver isn’t worried. Reports have surfaced previously that Zadorov had already agreed to a two-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche, and Dater makes it clear that he won’t be heading back to the KHL.

Czech Republic Could Have Olympic Edge With Unsigned Players

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The NHL’s decision to not allow their players to attend the Olympics (even those playing in the minors) has changed the playing field for many countries heading into the 2018 Games. While normally Canada and the United States are powerful teams, loaded with superstar NHL talent they’ll now be looking for former NHL players and college-aged stars to try and put together a roster that can compete. Russia, Sweden and Finland will all lose many NHL stars but have their own professional leagues filled with experienced international players that should make them medal favorites.

One nation that is often overlooked is the Czech Republic, who’ve won just a single bronze medal since Dominik Hasek and company beat the US, Canada and Russia in three straight matches to take home the gold, allowing just two goals in the process. This year could see a potential return to glory should they use the opportunity now apparent in NHL free agency.

Jaromir JagrNow heading into the middle of August, many experience NHL veterans remain unsigned. While all of the national teams will likely be contacting their aging stars for help, the Czechs have an excellent group to go after. Jaromir Jagr leads it, as he’s shown that he can still play at the very highest level in the world. He’d likely be one of the best players in the tournament should he start the season playing for his own Czech team. But it goes beyond the second all-time scoring leader in NHL history.

Milan Michalek, a former 30-goal man is now a free agent after being buried in the minors by the Maple Leafs and dealing with injury last season. Michalek never did fit in Toronto after being part of the Dion Phaneuf trade from the Ottawa Senators, but has experience at two Olympic Games and plenty of other international tournaments. At just 32, he likely still has enough left in the tank to be an effective option.

Even Milan’s older brother Zbynek Michalek could be an option after playing last season almost entirely in the AHL. The 34-year old defenseman has seen his career deteriorate quickly due to concussions, but has plenty of international experience including two World Championship medals.

Jiri HudlerJakub Kindl has never lived up to his billing as a first-round pick, but has been a positive possession defender for most of his career, and spent 39 games with the Florida Panthers last season. If he can’t find a role somewhere as a depth option around the league, the 30-year old will surely be on the short list for the Czechs.

Jiri Hudler doesn’t have a job yet, even though he’s just two seasons removed from a 76-point effort with the Calgary Flames. The 33-year old forward has 428 NHL points and has always been a fine two-way player capable of moving up and down a lineup. Though he dealt with both illness and injury this season, it’s still clear he has some fuel left in the tank and could help the Czech team. He scored 11 points in 32 games for the Dallas Stars this year, but logged fewer than 12 minutes a night.

Last, Roman Polak is still working his way back from a horrendous injury suffered in the playoffs last season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but could potentially be ready to play again by the February tournament. Should he remain unsigned, he could even showcase his gritty physical play style in the Olympics for a future role. He’s coming off a reasonably successful season with the Maple Leafs, in which he was a key to their penalty kill and played 75 games.

While there are many free agents still unsigned, the Czech Republic may have the most talent among any nation still on the open market. Should these players find themselves still without a job come September, signing a one-year deal in a European league may be more enticing, seeing as it may come with another chance to represent their country in the Winter Games.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Shane Prince Out Four To Six Months Following Surgery

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Shane Prince has undergone ankle surgery and will be out for four to six months, meaning much of his season is in jeopardy. The New York Islanders forward suffered a high ankle sprain last season and originally tried to rehab without surgery. Six months would have Prince returning in the middle of February.

In an offseason went out and acquired Jordan Eberle to try and increase their offense and return to the playoffs, losing Prince is a disappointing outcome. Though he scored just 18 points last season, it came in 50 games and he’s shown elite offensive ability at the AHL level. He was expected to play a full-time role as a secondary scoring option, but instead those minutes will have to go to someone else.

The Islanders did already have a glut of NHL-ready forwards heading to camp, with Josh Ho-Sang expected to be given a full-time role and the duo of Mathew Barzal and Michael Dal Colle pressing for playing time. The recently signed Stephen Gionta could also play a part in a bottom-six role, if the team feels the younger players aren’t quite ready.

Snapshots: Krueger, Cholowski, Datsyuk

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Over the past year, Ralph Krueger has been the subject of speculation surrounding just about every head coaching vacancy in the league. Offered at least two jobs, Krueger has turned down every opportunity to return to hockey and instead kept his position as Chairman of the Southampton soccer club in England. The Premiership offers Kruger a chance to be part of one of the biggest sporting leagues in the world, and he’s seemed very content with his position there.

Today, eighty percent of the Southampton organization was sold off for more than $270MM to businessman Jisheng Gao and his family. While a letter from former majority owner Katharina Liebherr states that she and Gao still have complete confidence in Krueger’s leadership, some like Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED in Edmonton believe it could inch him closer to an NHL return. If the new ownership wants to install their own chairman, Krueger could be on the top of many team’s lists in the hockey world.

  • Detroit Red Wings’ prospect Dennis Cholowski has officially signed a CHL contract with the Prince George Cougars, where he’ll likely spend this season. After playing one year at St. Cloud State in the NCAA, Cholowski signed his entry-level contract in the spring and spent some time with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 19-year old first-round pick will head to the WHL where he should dominate after already putting up impressive performances against much older players in the US college ranks. He could still be sent to the AHL or even make the NHL squad in training camp, but this signing lends more credence to the idea he’ll spend 2017-18 in the junior ranks. The left-handed defenseman has some of the best upside in the Red Wings’ organization, and won’t be rushed to the NHL for a team that is not expected to compete. Cholowski has a very good chance of representing Canada on the international stage at the World Juniors this year, after taking part in the Summer Showcase earlier this offseason.
  • After suffering an injury that forced him to watch as his team won the KHL’s Gagarin Cup, Pavel Datsyuk is healthy and back in the lineup for SKA St. Petersburg’s preseason game tonight. Datsyuk was an All-Star in his first year back in the KHL, and even at 39-years old should be a lock for the Russian Olympic team. The former Detroit Red Wings’ forward scored 42 points in 51 total games last year for St. Petersberg, and will try to take a depleted team back to the playoffs again. Both Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeni Dadonov left the team for the NHL this offseason, but they did add young defender and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Vladislav Gavrikov to the defense group.

Matt Greene Joins Los Angeles Scouting Staff

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After being bought out in June by the Los Angeles Kings, it wasn’t clear if Matt Greene had a future in the NHL. He was 34, two years removed from his last full healthy season, and the Kings were clearly trying to bring in a younger more mobile group for next season. Now the team has announced that he will retire and join them as a professional scout, working the AHL Pacific region for the time being.

Greene, a second-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2002, played 615 games at the NHL level over 12 seasons. He was part of the Oilers team that took Carolina to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, and took the trophy home twice during his time with the Kings. His legacy there will be that of a tough, in your face defenseman who was hard to play against and would put his body on the line every night. He was never an offensive force and didn’t ever log more than 20 minutes a night, but still served as an alternate captain for eight years.

He’ll join a front office that’s seen quite the change in the past few months, as Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille have taken full control and started to change the direction of the team.

Alexey Marchenko Placed On Waivers

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12:20pm: James Mirtle of The Athletic confirms that Marchenko is on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a mutual termination.

11:05am: According to his agent Dan Milstein, Toronto Maple Leafs defender Alexey Marchenko has been placed on waivers. Milstein says that there will be a statement made tomorrow, which leads one to believe that it may be a mutual termination of the contract. Marchenko is owed $1.45MM this season, but has been pursued by teams in the KHL all summer and could potentially make more and have a bigger role there next year.

Selected off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings mid-season, Marchenko played 41 games between the two teams but was generally ineffective. The 25-year old has some upside to his game, as a big-bodied defender who can skate and make an above-average first pass, but has had trouble using his size to his advantage in his short NHL career. In 121 career games he has just 21 points, but could very well be in line for an Olympic position with Russia should he return to the KHL.

Marchenko played for CSKA Moscow when he was just 17, and the team has made it clear that they want him back. Following other NHL defenders like Andrei Markov, Nikita Tryamkin and Nikita Nesterov, Russia will have a wider base to select their Olympic roster from. That’s all dependent on whether a mutual termination is actually achieved, which is not clear at this point. The Maple Leafs could be placing him on waivers just to try and tease out a buyer and rid themselves of his contract.

Dwight King Signs Two-Year Deal In KHL

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It had been rumored since last month, but Dwight King is now officially a member of Avtomobilist in the KHL. The former Los Angeles Kings forward has signed a two-year deal with the club. King actually ranked 49th in our list of the top free agents this summer, even after a dreadful finish to the season with Montreal. Acquired at the deadline, King recorded just one point through 23 games for the Canadiens (17 regular season and 6 playoff).

King had previously been a solid bottom-six contributor for the Kings, winning two Stanley Cups with the club. At 28, he’ll now try to revitalize his career in a foreign league, quite a distance from his hometown of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. The big-bodied forward could return in a few years should he find that secondary scoring touch again, but this departure could also provide another opportunity.

With Team Canada scouring the world for potential Olympic players, King’s experience and NHL pedigree may put him in consideration. He wouldn’t be an exciting add, but when players like Rob Klinkhammer are getting similar looks, he may just be one of the best options available.

Morning Notes: Wingers, Dzierkals, NCAA

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NHL.com caused quite a stir among hockey fans by releasing their ranking of the top wingers in the game right now, listing Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov and Brad Marchand in the top three. It’s nearly impossible to defiinitively rank players in this fashion, as each bring very different skill sets to the game.

Still, it goes to show how good some of the young players in the league are. Patrik Laine was ranked #8 and David Pastrnak #15 despite being just 19 and 21 respectively. Each were revelations for their teams this season, scoring more than 30 goals and proving that they’re ready to take the next step to the absolute elite around the league. Leave your take on the list in the comments below, and explain who you think was snubbed.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs are close to the NHL contract limit, so they’ve inked prospect Martins Dzierkals to an AHL deal. The 20-year old Dzierkals was a third-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2015, and is ready to take the next step from the QMJHL. Born in Latvia, Dzierkals was drafted out of Europe and was under exclusive Maple Leafs control for another two seasons, but had made it clear he did not want to return to the CHL as an overage player. Instead, he’ll join a Marlies team that should be flush with young talent like Adam Brooks and Jeremy Bracco and try to prove he’s worth an entry-level deal when space becomes available.
  • Tomorrow marks the final day that teams can negotiate with their NCAA draft picks, after which the players will become unrestricted free agents and allowed to sign anywhere in the league. Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot lead a group of players who are now less than 48 hours away from controlling their own destiny in terms of where their hockey career will continue.

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