John Tavares Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs
After a long, and incredibly difficult negotiation with the New York Islanders, John Tavares has decided to leave the only NHL franchise he’s ever known. The 27-year old superstar has signed a seven-year, $77MM contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his childhood and offseason home. Tavares confirmed his decision on Twitter:
I’ve been so fortunate to be an Islander not only because of the love and support of the fan base, but because of how lucky I was to be around so many great people. From ownership through management, staff and of course all my teammates, they helped me mature and grow into who I am today. I will always be thankful for how they molded and guided me to be a better person and hockey player. Memories and friendships that I will forever hold close to my heart.
Thank you everyone for your impact on me, I will always be grateful. My words will never be able to fully show the impact my time on the Island had on me.
These past six days have been nothing I could have ever expected. Making the toughest decision of my life: to stay where I have been my entire career or take a calculated leap of faith into an opportunity that I believe will be special to me and my family. The Island has been home, It’s what I know, it’s part of me–it always will be. I can’t thank you all enough for the dedication you have all shown. I’m sorry if this decision pains you, as you can tell it wasn’t easy, but have trust in the future because it is bright. The Islanders are in great hands. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be an Islander for as long as I did. The Island, the fans, the organization, my teammates will always be special to me and my family but it’s time to live my childhood dream here in Toronto.
The Maple Leafs were one of six teams, including the Islanders, that were granted an in-person meeting with Tavares last week. The team was rumored to be presenting some “creative” contract options, and now Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports on what that may have referred to. The contract is nearly entirely made up of signing bonuses, meaning the deal is lockout-proof, and will give him the maximum amount available the first two seasons. It also includes full a no-movement/no-trade clause. The breakdown is as follows:
- 2018-19: $650K salary + $15.25MM signing bonus
- 2019-20: $650K salary + $15.25MM signing bonus
- 2020-21: $910K salary + $11.09MM signing bonus
- 2021-22: $910K salary + $8.44MM signing bonus
- 2022-23: $910K salary + $7.04MM signing bonus
- 2023-24: $910K salary + $7.04MM signing bonus
- 2024-25: $910K salary + $7.04MM signing bonus
Tavares was the belle of the ball in this year’s free agency, and is arguably the best player to ever reach the open market in the salary cap era. At 27 he is still well within what is considered a player’s prime, and has been a Hart Trophy finalist twice already. In his most recent season, Tavares recorded 37 goals and 84 points while still being a reliable defensive center and good faceoff option. His biggest flaw coming into the league, skating, has been addressed throughout the years to the point where it no longer is an issue, and will now be put on the ice with some of the best linemates of his career. The early suspicion is that Tavares will play with fellow Greater Toronto Area-born forward and former London Knight Mitch Marner, while Auston Matthews will remain alongside William Nylander. That gives Toronto two of the best pairs in the Atlantic Division, and a real threat to compete for the division title.
It’s that division that is the focus today, as the Boston Bruins miss out on Tavares and the Buffalo Sabres continue to be rumored in trade talks for Ryan O’Reilly. Toronto now has a good claim to the best 1-2-3 punch down the middle in the Atlantic, with Nazem Kadri—coming off consecutive 32-goal seasons—penciled into the third line. It’s going to make the Maple Leafs increasingly difficult to match up against, as they spread their skill across all four lines.
How they’ll be able to retain all that skill is a different question altogether. With Tavares now taking up a huge chunk of the salary cap as one of the highest-paid players in the league, the Maple Leafs will have some tough decisions on their hands going forward. William Nylander is a restricted free agent this summer and needs a new contract that could push above $6MM per season depending on the term, while Matthews and Marner are both a year away from being in a similar situation. The team also has Jake Gardiner entering the last season of his current deal, while the rest of the defense still needs an upgrade.
It’s on defense that many were expecting the Maple Leafs to make their next move, but instead they’ll try to load up at the center ice position. Tavares, Matthews and Kadri could easily be taking up more than $25MM in cap space a year from now, almost a third of the available salary for the whole team. They’re not complaining today, but it certainly isn’t an easy situation going forward.
Still, for young GM Kyle Dubas this is a win. Less than two months into his career as the Maple Leafs boss he went head-to-head with his former mentor in Lou Lamoriello and ended up securing one of the best players in the league. The team will have to decide how to pay everyone going forward and could end up losing a young player due to cap contraints, but that’s a chance that Dubas had to take to bring in a player who very well could be the next Toronto captain. Tavares tweeted out pictures of himself covered in Maple Leafs attire as a youth, while the team sent out a picture of a 14-year old Tavares in Marlies garb at the introductory press conference for the AHL team. The team is currently without a captain, and though there was much speculation that Matthews would eventually wear the “C” nothing is certain now.
What is clear, is that the Maple Leafs have taken a big step forward towards Stanley Cup contention today. Just two years after finishing dead last in the NHL, the team is working on back-to-back playoff appearances and now features some of the very best forwards in the entire league. Though no success is guaranteed in the NHL, Dubas and the team continue to work towards ending a championship drought that has now lasted more than a half-century.
Anton Khudobin Not Expected To Remain In Boston
While the Bruins had expressed an interest in keeping him, it doesn’t appear that goaltender Anton Khudobin will be sticking around in Boston. GM Don Sweeney told reporters, including Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (Twitter link), that he’s not optimistic about their chances of keeping the 32-year-old around.
Khudobin is coming off one of the best seasons of his career where he posted a 2.56 GAA with a .913 SV% in 31 appearances for the Bruins. The fact he played as well as he did also allowed the team to keep Tuukka Rask fresher and Boston’s starter responded with his best save percentage in three years.
Internally, the Bruins have Zane McIntyre at AHL Providence but he’s likely not ready to step in and make 20-25 starts at the NHL level. As a result, they will likely be active in the free agent goalie market once it opens up on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Khudobin will enter a goaltending market that appears to feature more supply than demand. However, considering he has established himself as someone that can play more than a typical workload for a backup, he should still garner some interest on the open market. He’s coming off a $1.2MM contract and in our Top 50 Free Agent rankings (where he sits 26th), we project a small raise to a $1.75MM AAV for the next two years.
Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Jean-Sebastien Dea
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been busy locking up depth players the last few days, and today is no different. Jean-Sebastien Dea has signed a one-year, two-way contract that will carry a $650K cap hit at the NHL level. It wasn’t clear if Dea had received a qualifying offer on Monday—Jonathan Bombulie of the Tribune-Review tweets he did, while CapFriendly believes he didn’t—but it doesn’t matter now that he’s under contract. He’ll be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agent status next summer if he doesn’t play in at least 74 games with the Penguins this season.
Dea, 24, scored his first NHL goal this season during his five-game stint with Pittsburgh, and was a dominant offensive player for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL. He recorded 50 points for the minor league club which trailed only Daniel Sprong, a player expected to graduate to the NHL next season. That leaves Dea as one of the prime weapons for the baby Penguins, should he fail to make the big club out of camp once again.
Signed out of the QMJHL as an undrafted free agent in 2013, Dea is an undersized forward who nevertheless can score from in tight. While he hasn’t been given much of an opportunity at the NHL level, his contribution to the organization shouldn’t be overlooked. The Penguins believe in creating a winning atmosphere for all of their affiliates, and make it clear by re-signing talented veteran players to buoy some of the more less experienced members of the organization. While development is key for minor league players, Pittsburgh believes winning is a big part of that. Dea will be asked to be a leader on the ice for the AHL Penguins, and wait for any opportunity that presents itself at the next level.
Metropolitan Notes: Tavares, Hamilton, Rask, Rangers
In a follow-up story about New York Islanders and John Tavares upcoming free agency, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple (subscription required) writes that the Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello left the draft to fly to Los Angeles to be nearby while Tavares meets with the teams that he and his representatives have invited to speak with him. Lamoriello will meet with Tavares last in hopes of keeping the superstar in the fold.
As reported earlier, it is believed that he will meet with the Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars and possibly the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens, although that isn’t too clear so far. However, Staples writes that an earlier rumor today that the Islanders made an eight-year, $88MM deal may not be accurate. He believes in the end, whether offered by the Islanders or another team, that Tavares will be making $12MM per year, which Lamoriello has said that ownership has said that money is no object.
- Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported that the Carolina Hurricanes intend to keep defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who the team acquired in the five-player trade earlier today. The scribe said the team had no intention of flipping the blueliner for more assets. Hamilton should provide the team with a No. 1 defenseman to go with their core of young blueliners. The six-year veteran is only just 25 years old and put up 17 goals and 44 points last season.
- Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Carolina Hurricanes were supposedly close on sending winger Victor Rask to the Montreal Canadiens, but the asking price of two second-round picks in this draft (including the No. 35 pick) was too much for the Canadiens. The 25-year-old winger still has four years at $4MM AAV and seems to have regressed somewhat since a 21 goal season back in 2015-16.
- The New York Rangers had three first-round picks in this latest draft with much speculation wondering if general manager Jeff Gorton would use those picks as assets to either acquire a pro-ready player or even to move up in the draft. Instead, the Rangers used all three picks (albeit, they traded up late in the first-round). NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports that Gorton said he was never close to making a deal this weekend. Gorton said he was ready to change his draft strategy if he got a trade offer he liked, but never got one. “I would say there was probably less conversations than I anticipated,” Gorton said.
2018 Draft Results By Team
The 2018 NHL Entry Draft is now complete. Check out how each team did with accruing talent and filling needs with each of their selections this weekend:
Anaheim Ducks
1-23. F Isac Lundestrom, Lulea (SHL)
2-54. F Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3-79. F Blake McLaughlin, Chicago Steel (USHL)
3-84. G Lukas Dostal, HC Kometa Brno (Czech Republic-Jr.)
4-116. F Jack Perbix, Elk River HS (USHS)
5-147. G Roman Durny, Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
6-178. D Hunter Drew, Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
Arizona Coyotes
1-5. F Barrett Hayton, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2-55. D Kevin Bahl, Ottawa 67’s (OHL)
3-65. F Jan Jenik, HC Benatky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic-2)
3-73. D Ty Emberson, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
4-114. G Ivan Prosvetov, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
5-142. D Mitchell Callahan, Central Illinois Flying Aces (USHL)
5-145. D Dennis Busby, Flint Firebirds (OHL)
6-158. G David Tendeck, Vancouver Giants (WHL)
7-189. F Liam Kirk, Sheffield Steelers (England)
Boston Bruins
2-57. D Axel Andersson, Djurgardens IF (SuperElit)
3-77. F Jakub Lauko, Pirati Chomutov (Czech Republic)
4-119. F Curtis Hall, Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
6-181. D Dustyn McFaul, Pickering Panthers (OJHL)
7-212. F Pavel Shen, Mamonty Yugry (MHL)
Buffalo Sabres
1-1. D Rasmus Dahlin, Frolunda HC (SHL)
2-32. D Mattias Samuelsson, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
4-94. F Matej Pekar, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
4-117. D Linus Lindstrand Kronholm, Malmo Redhawks (SuperElit)
5-125. D Miska Kuukonen, Ilves (Jr.-Liiga)
7-187. D William Worge Kreu, Linkoping (SuperElit)
Calgary Flames
3-105. F Martin Pospisil, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
3-108. F Demetrios Koumontzis, Edina HS (USHS)
4-122. F Milos Roman, Vancouver Giants (WHL)
6-167. F Mathias Emilio Pettersen, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
7-198. F Dmitri Zavgorodny, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
Carolina Hurricanes
1-2. F Andrei Svechnikov, Barrie Colts (OHL)
2-42. F Jack Drury, Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
4-96. F Luke Henman, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
4-104. F Lenni Killinen, Espoo Blues (Jr.-Liiga)
6-166. D Jesper Sellgren, MODO (Allsveskan)
7-197. G Jake Kucharski, Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
Chicago Blackhawks
1-8. D Adam Boqvist, Brynas IF Gavle (SHL)
1-27. D Nicolas Beaudin, Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
3-69. F Jake Wise, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
3-74. F Niklas Nordgren, HIFK Helsinki (Jr.-Liiga)
4-120. F Philipp Kurashev, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5-139. F Mikael Hakkarainen, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
6-162. G Alexis Gravel, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
7-193. F Josiah Slavin, Lincoln Stars (USHL)
Colorado Avalanche
1-16. F Martin Kaut, Dynamo Pardubice (Czech Republic)
3-64. G Justus Annunen, Karpat (Jr.-Liiga)
3-78. F Sampo Ranta, Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
4-109. F Tyler Weiss, U.S. National Development Program (USHL)
5-140. F Brandon Saigeon, Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
5-146. D Danila Zhuravlyov, Irbis Kazan (MHL)
6-171. F Nikolai Kovalenko, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (MHL)
7-202. G Shamil Shmakov, Sibirskie Snaipery Novosibirsk (MHL)Read more
Nichushkin Reaches Two-Year Deal With Dallas Stars
June 22: GM Jim Nill has confirmed that he will sign Nichushkin to a two-year deal on July 1st, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that it will be worth around $2.95MM per season.
June 9: While the rumor of his return has been out there for a while, the Dallas Stars and Valeri Nichushkin have agreed to a new two-year contract, according to R-Sport, a Russian news outlet (translation required). The deal cannot become official until July 1 and there is no word on the specifics of the contract.
Nichushkin, the team’s 10th overall pick back in 2013, played three years in Dallas after he was drafted and put up a solid rookie season of 14 goals and 34 points. However, after suffering a hip injury in 2014-15 that cost him all but eight games that season, he had trouble returning to form and wasn’t happy with the lack of playing time the following year when he averaged just 13:56 of ATOI. He tallied just nine goals and 20 assists in 2015-16.
He returned to Russia as a restricted free agent to continue his development with CSKA Moscow, playing two years in the KHL. He tallied 27 goals and 24 assists in those two years, including a 16-goal season this past year. The winger was expected to play for Russia during the Olympics, but was one of five players banned by the IOC and was forced to watch the games instead. Nichushkin, whose contract with CSKA Moscow expired on April 30, had always intended to return to Dallas and continue his NHL career.
At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, the 23-year-old should be able to step right into Dallas’ lineup to add both scoring and physicality to the team and should give the Stars another talented young player to build around. He will be given every chance to claim a spot on the team’s second line in training camp. The Stars have finished sixth in the Central Division three of the last four years and have made the playoffs just once in that span.
Coyotes And Sharks Strike Minor Trade
Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka is feeling lucky today. The Coyotes have announced their second trade of the evening, acquiring forward Adam Helewka from the division rival San Jose Sharks. In return, the Sharks land defenseman Kyle Wood from the ‘Yotes. Arizona announced the deal with a team release.
While this is a minor trade, it is not inconsequential. Helewka, 22, was a fourth-round pick of the Sharks in 2015. Like Hudson Fasching, who the Coyotes acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the day, Helewka’s offensive totals as a younger player exceed what he has been able to produce so far as a pro. However, he too seems to be trending in the right direction with an AHL career-high 38 points this year and a strong albeit brief playoff showing. In one day, Chayka has added a lot of offensive upside to the Tuscon Roadrunners and may find that both of his acquisitions could be good depth pieces up front for the Coyotes.
As for the Sharks, they add impressive potential of their own in Wood. The 22-year-old blue liner was one of the top scoring defensemen and an All-Star in the AHL in 2016-17 with 43 points in 68 games. He was pegged as one of the favorites to fill the roster spot of Jakob Chychrun early this season while he was sidelined, but Wood too ran into injury issues which lost him an NHL chance and also cost him some games and production in the AHL. However, at full health he is a dangerous minor league asset. Although the Sharks are set for their seven starting defensemen going into next season, Wood is yet another strong young option for the San Jose Barracuda and it would be no surprise see him make his NHL debut next year. Wood is an impending restricted free agent though, and the Sharks GM Doug Wilson will first have to sign the young rearguard to a new deal.
Jeff Daniels Hired As Carolina Hurricanes Assistant Coach
The Carolina Hurricanes are getting the band back together. The team announced today that Jeff Daniels has been hired as an assistant coach and will join Rod Brind’Amour behind the bench for the 2018-19 season. Daniels will be well known to Hurricanes fans that remember him from the coaching staff that won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 while Brind’Amour served as captain. GM Don Waddell included a statement in the announcement:
Jeff has served as a head coach in the American Hockey League, and of course won the ultimate prize as an assistant on the NHL level. Rod has played with and under Jeff, so he has a great understanding for the experience and knowledge that he brings to the table.
Daniels finished his playing career with the Hurricanes in 2003 and quickly transitioned to a coaching role, serving as an assistant for parts of four seasons. He was then given a head coaching job in the AHL where he spent the next seven seasons, guiding the Albany/Charlotte team to three playoff appearances. Known as a very knowledgeable offensive mind, he’ll join Brind’Amour and Steve Smith in trying to get the Hurricanes over the hump and back to the postseason.
Now that the coaching staff is filled out, all eyes in Carolina are fixated on Waddell and what he’ll do next with the roster. Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifin and many others have been rumored to be available for the right price, and the team still needs a solution in goal. With the draft less than two weeks away and Carolina holding the second-overall pick, things could get interesting very quickly.
Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers
Free agency opens exactly three weeks from today and teams are well on their way to evaluating both their own impending free agents and those likely to reach the open market. There are quite a few prominent players expected to be available as unrestricted free agents, while many key restricted free agents will be looking to sign new contracts with their current squads. Here is a breakdown of the Florida Panthers’ free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agents: C Jared McCann – At age 22 and heading into his fourth NHL season, McCann is still a very raw talent. The 2014 first-round pick often thinks the game faster than he plays it and is prone to mistakes. He plays little special teams role for the Panthers and struggles with many of the defensive aspects of the game at the pro level. McCann is also well below average at the face-off dot. With all that said, his offensive upside is still tremendous. McCann set a career-high with 28 points in 68 games this year and for the first time was a plus player in the league. He has great vision, a strong skating game, and a good shot. When he is on his game he can be dominant; when he is off of it, it’s easy to see why the Vancouver Canucks didn’t hesitate to trade him late into his rookie year. McCann needs to find some consistency and pace to his game and he will flourish, but that still may take some time.
So how should Florida handle that contractually? McCann will understandably want a considerable raise from his entry-level contract, but he also has a fair amount of developmental concerns that he continues to deal with. McCann very well could turn out to be a long-term star for the Panthers, but this situation seems far more likely to warrant a short-term bridge deal for “show me” money. McCann needs to display far more of his impressive offensive ability and far fewer mental lapses and disappearing acts if he wants to command greater salary and term.
LW Frank Vatrano – It’s never an easy situation to sort out when a restricted free agent is acquired mid-season. Florida could not have asked for a better start from Vatrano, who came over from the Bruins at the trade deadline after falling out of favor in Boston. After putting up just two points in 25 games with the Bruins, Vatrano posted eight points in the final 16 games with the Panthers and seemed to fit in well in the team’s top six. Vatrano showed in his first pro season that he has a ton of scoring talent: the undrafted UMass product was the goal-scoring champ of the AHL with 36 goals in 36 games, put up another eight goals in 39 games in Boston, and even recorded eight points in ten games with Team USA at the World Championships. However, Vatrano lacks much depth to his game outside of having a knack for finding the back of the net. Injury and inconsistency over the past two years with the Bruins limited his scoring chances and exposed his lack of an all-around game. When playing with Florida’s finest, his scoring ability came back and those flaws faded into the background. However, Florida is now being asked to evaluate him on just those 16 games.
Like McCann, Vatrano has not earned a long-term deal. The Panthers hope that they get the player they saw down the stretch and gave up a third-round pick to acquire, but there is also the risk he will revert to the mistake-prone, one-track-mind player he was in Boston in recent seasons. Vatrano could be an important piece for Florida moving forward but he could also have a ceiling as an elite AHLer and nothing more. Only time will tell, but because of that risk, expect Vatrano to earn a relatively cheap, one-year deal (even if it has to come through arbitration).
Other RFAs: D Alex Petrovic, D MacKenzie Weegar, D Ed Wittchow, F Curtis Valk, F Gregory Chase, D Linus Hultsrom
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: None. Congratulations to Florida on entering free agency with literally nothing to lose. The team has five impending free agents and one, veteran winger Radim Vrbata, has already announced his retirement. The other four played little role in the successes or failures of the Panthers in 2017-18 and would be unlikely to make much of an impact if they were to be re-signed. Connor Brickley is the most notable name, as he recorded 12 points in 44 games on the team’s fourth line. However, Brickley spent no additional time in the AHL, simply watching from the press box for the much of the season. The 26-year-old forward was a 2010 second-round pick, but seems to have developed into a checking winger with limited offensive upside, the exact type of player that is easy to replace. The loss of fellow 26-year-old forwards Chase Balisy (8 games) and Alexandre Grenier (0 games) would mean even less. Third-string goalie Harri Sateri, 28, returned from Europe to play for the Panthers this year and performed well enough in nine appearances, but with two high-end veteran goalies in the mix, Florida hardly needs to stress over their AHL starter. Young Sam Montembeault will likely be just fine if Sateri is not re-signed.
UFAs: Connor Brickley, Chase Balisy, Alexandre Grenier, Harri Sateri
Projected Cap Space: The trade-off of having no unrestricted free agents to worry about is that you don’t have much salary coming off the books either. When you have your top five forwards, your top four defenseman, and two starting-caliber goalies locked up long-term, things can get expensive. The Florida Panthers got off to a slow start last season and narrowly missed the playoffs, but don’t be fooled: this is a solid team without a ton of holes and their cap situation reflects that. The cap ceiling is expected to rise this off-season to somewhere between $78-$82MM. At the midpoint of $80MM, the Cats will have around $14MM in space to work with. While that is a decent amount, it still puts the team in the bottom third of the league in terms of flexibility.
Assume that McCann gets a substantial pay increase and Vatrano and potentially one or both of Petrovic and Weegar get a fair amount in their new contracts, and the Panthers will likely be operating the free agency market with around $8-$9MM or so in space. Is that enough to add the top-six forward that they desperately want and need? Probably, but they would strapped for cap space after that. Expect Florida to be players on the trade market this summer as a result.
Montreal Canadiens Agree To Terms With Rinat Valiev
Fans worried that Rinat Valiev would be heading overseas in 2018-19 have nothing to worry about anymore. The 22-year old defenseman has agreed to terms with the Montreal Canadiens on a one-year two-way contract that will pay him $650K at the NHL level. Valiev had been involved in KHL rumors for the last few weeks, but agent Dan Milstein even tweets that his client was never considering heading to Russia.
Valiev was acquired by the Canadiens earlier this season when they sent Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun to Toronto at the trade deadline. Though the deal was mostly about getting a second-round pick for a few months of Plekanec—the veteran center has been clear about his desire to return to Montreal this summer—Valiev and fellow prospect Kerby Rychel both could see time in Montreal next season.
The 23-year old defenseman was a third-round selection of the Maple Leafs back in 2014, but was given just 10 games in the NHL while with the Toronto organization. After being dealt to Montreal, Valiev suited up for two games at the end of the season and could be in line for a more prominent role next year. The Canadiens are desperately looking for help on their blue line, and a player like Valiev is handy depth to have sitting in the minor leagues. Should the team experience injuries or ineffectiveness like in this past season, they won’t hesitate to call-up their latest signing.
That said, Valiev is no long waiver-exempt and won’t be able to pop up and down like in previous years. It’s unlikely Montreal will want to expose him very often, meaning there is a chance he could break camp with the team as a sixth or seventh option. We’ll have to wait to see how it all shakes out, but currently there doesn’t seem to be room for him on the NHL roster.