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Archives for June 2018

Islanders Re-Sign Defenseman Seth Helgeson

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The New York Islanders are certainly keeping busy as they wait for a decision from John Tavares. In the team’s second deal in under an hour, they have signed defenseman Seth Helgeson to a contract extension. According to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, the deal nearly mirrors the one given to goaltender Christopher Gibson earlier today. It is a two-year, two-way contract that pays Helgeson the $650K minimum at the NHL level next season and $700K in the NHL in 2019-20, with a$250K salary in the AHL over both years.

Helgeson, 27, is coming off of his first season with the Islanders organization after signing as an unrestricted free agent last summer. Helgeson previously spent four seasons with the rival New Jersey Devils. A fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2009 and a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, Helgeson entered the pros with high expectations of being a solid stay-at-home defenseman with room to grow. While his defensive game has always been steady, he has been underwhelming at the other aspects of the game. In both the AHL and NHL, Helgeson has struggled to produce points or move the puck and has gotten into frequent penalty trouble. In 50 NHL games – all with the Devils – Helgeson has just four points and a Corsi rating of 43.7%.

Last season, Helgeson failed to make an appearance with the Islanders and recorded one goal and eleven assists in 76 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He also recorded 137 penalty minutes, sixth-most in the league. At his best, the 6’4″, 220-lb. Helgeson is a big, heavy defensive presence who intimidates the opposition and plays a safe stay-at-home style. Often that can be the perfect type of stopgap emergency call-up player for NHL teams to stash in the minors. However, Helgeson’s play leaves a lot of upside to be desired and he will likely serve much of this two-year extension in Bridgeport.

Islanders Extend Goaltender Christopher Gibson

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The New York Islanders are hoping for good news on a much larger extension in the next 24 hours, but in the meantime they have come to terms on a new contract with minor league goaltender Christopher Gibson. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that it is a two-year, two-way extension for Gibson. The contract will pay him $650K at the NHL level and $225K at the AHL level in the coming season and $700K in the NHL and $250K in the AHL in 2019-20.

Gibson, 25, was set to be an unrestricted free agent this off-season, but the Finnish keeper was unlikely to draw much attention. The 2011 second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings was once a highly-touted prospect. However, after a strong start to his junior career with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL that boosted his draft stock, Gibson stalled in his development over the next two seasons. The Kings chose not to sign him and he became a free agent acquisition of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After finding some success in the AHL with Toronto, Gibson was dealt along with four other prospects to the Islanders in a 2015 trade for Michael Grabner. Since arriving in New York, Gibson has been unable to get back to that same level in the AHL and has struggled greatly in his few call-ups. In twelve NHL appearances, Gibson has three wins, a .902 save percentage, and a 3.58 goals against average.

As it stands, Gibson is second on the depth chart for the Islanders behind Thomas Greiss. However, it is extremely unlikely that Lou Lamoriello and company wish to head into the regular season with either of those goaltenders in their current spots. Gibson has not yet proved that he is anything other than an average AHL goalie and until he does, he is likely to remain just an emergency option in Bridgeport. The two-way nature and minimum salary of his contract reflect this role. Yet, it alleviates any concerns that New York may have had about having to add multiple new goalies on the free agent market this off-season.

Anton Khudobin Not Expected To Remain In Boston

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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.

East Notes: Koekkoek, Grabner, Jarry, Anderson, Fletcher

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The Bruins have expressed an interest in Lightning pending RFA defenseman Slater Koekkoek, NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty reports (Twitter link).  The tenth overall pick in 2012 has yet to progress beyond the level of a depth defenseman and could be a candidate for a change of scenery.  However, Tampa Bay has been in contract talks with Koekkoek, per Joe Smith of The Athletic (via Twitter).  Given that the two teams are division rivals, both Haggerty and Smith think a trade is unlikely although Haggerty suggests that the Oilers could be a landing spot for the 24-year-old if he winds up being dealt.

More from the East:

  • Also from Haggerty, the Bruins have checked in on UFA winger Michael Grabner. Boston had shown interest in the speedster back at the trade deadline before they ultimately wound up acquiring Rick Nash.  Grabner scored 27 goals in 2017-18 (the third-most among all unrestricted free agents) and is believed to have interest from several teams already.
  • The Penguins are open to dealing RFA goaltender Tristan Jarry, TSN’s Darren Dreger noted in an appearance on TSN 690 (audio link). The 23-year-old is believed by some to have starter upside but with Matt Murray in the fold ahead of him, that opportunity isn’t likely to come in Pittsburgh.  This doesn’t appear to be a situation where the team is shopping him but if a team decides to ignore the veteran free agent options out there in the hopes of acquiring someone that could fit for the longer-term, Jarry would be one player to watch for.
  • The Islanders are among the teams that have kicked the tires on Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (video link). The 37-year-old requested a trade earlier this month but with free agency being so close, it’s hard to imagine teams will want to give up anything of significance when they can simply sign a similar goalie for free on the open market.  Anderson is set to start his new two-year contract on Sunday, one that carries a $4.75MM cap hit but a $5.5MM salary.
  • Former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher has joined the Devils as the team announced that he has been hired as a senior advisor to GM Ray Shero. This won’t be the first time the two work together as Fletcher was Shero’s assistant GM for three years with the Penguins from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

Canucks The Front Runner To Sign Jay Beagle

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While several teams have expressed an interest in Capitals soon-to-be unrestricted free agent center Jay Beagle, the Canucks have emerged as the front runner to sign him, reports TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link).  It’s expected that he will sign a multi-year contract; Sportsnet 650’s Rick Dhaliwal suggests (via Twitter) that the contract could check in at three years and $2.5MM per season which would represent a nice raise on the $1.75MM he made the last three years.

Beagle has been a fixture with Washington for quite a while now as he has played parts of ten seasons with the team.  He has consistently been above average at the faceoff dot and actually set a new career high in faceoff percentage this past season, winning 58.5% of his draws.  Offensively, the 32-year-old took a bit of a step back, posting just seven goals and 15 assists after putting up 30 points (13-17-30) the year before.

It’s that particular strength along with his ability to kill penalties that will endear him to Vancouver (and other teams).  The Canucks have a vacancy down the middle with the retirement of Henrik Sedin and have been believed to be seeking a ’niche’ center that can fill a role for a short period of time while their youngsters can develop with a little less pressure.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Valentin Zykov

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The Hurricanes have locked one of their prospects up for the next two years, announcing that they have re-signed winger Valentin Zykov to a two-year contract.  The deal is worth the league minimum in each season, $650K in 2018-19 and $700K in 2019-20 for an AAV of $675K.

Last season, the 23-year-old spent most of the season with Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte where he finished first on the team in goals (33) and second in points (54) in 63 games.  He also suited up in ten games with the big club and fared quite well, posting three goals and four assists while playing 13:47 per night.

The Hurricanes acquired Zykov back in February of 2016 as part of the return for winger Kris Versteeg and the 2013 second-rounder (37th overall) has since emerged as one of their more intriguing offensive prospects.  As he is no longer waiver-exempt, it’s expected that Zykov will push for a full-time spot with Carolina next season.

Panthers Re-Sign Frank Vatrano

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The Panthers have signed their trade deadline acquisition to a new deal, announcing that they’ve signed winger Frank Vatrano to a one-year, one-way contract.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the contract is worth $925K, a nice little bump over his qualifying offer which checked in at just over $787K.  He would have been eligible for salary arbitration.

The 24-year-old was acquired in exchange for a 2018 third-round pick and fit in quite nicely with his new team.  After putting up just two goals in 25 games with Boston, Vatrano picked up five goals and three assists in just 16 games with Florida.  In his career between the Bruins and Panthers, he has 25 goals and 14 assists in 124 games.

Vatrano played in a middle-six role in Florida down the stretch and should do so again in 2018-19 even with their earlier acquisition of Mike Hoffman.  As things stand, he likely slots in on their third line left wing.

With the signing, the Panthers now have three remaining restricted free agents from their NHL roster to re-sign in center Jared McCann as well as defenseman Alexander Petrovic and MacKenzie Weegar.

Capitals Name Todd Reirden As Their New Head Coach

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In a move that comes as little surprise, the Capitals have officially announced that they have named Todd Reirden their new head coach.  He takes the place of Barry Trotz who resigned earlier in the month and later became head coach of the Islanders.  GM Brian MacLellan released the following statement on the hiring:

“We feel that the time is right for Todd to lead our hockey club. Based on his coaching experience, communication abilities, his approach to the game and the respect he commands in our locker room, we feel that Todd has earned this opportunity. Todd has played an integral part in helping lead our team to the Stanley Cup championship and we feel his appointment as head coach will enable our organization to transition seamlessly into next season and beyond.”

Reirden was long viewed as Washington’s head coach in waiting as the team had denied him permission to pursue other opportunities going back to last summer.  MacLellan was certainly fixated on him being Trotz’s successor as ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski notes (Twitter link) that no other interviews for the position were conducted.

This will be Reirden’s first head coaching job at the NHL level but not his first time running a team as he was at the helm of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for parts of two seasons nearly a decade ago.  He’s certainly no stranger to the Capitals as he has been in the organization since 2014-15 serving as an assistant or associate coach.

After running the defense during that stretch, Reirden will now be tasked with attempting to guide Washington back to what they hope will be another Stanley Cup run.  The team has been quite busy this offseason keeping their players in the fold as they have already finalized new contracts with defensemen John Carlson and Michal Kempny as well as winger Devante Smith-Pelly.

With this hiring, all 31 head coaching vacancies around the NHL are now filled.

UFA Notes: Van Riemsdyk, Rieder, Chimera, Brodziak, Sbisa

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The Blue Jackets have reached out to representatives for winger James van Riemsdyk during this week’s interview period, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link).  However, it appears that they’re not going to be able to land the 29-year-old.  He’s coming off of a career year in goals with 36 despite playing less than 15 minutes per game and has scored at least 27 goals in four of the last five seasons.  (The one year he didn’t was one where he had injury troubles but scored at a 29-goal pace.)  Meanwhile, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that there are eight teams still in the mix for van Riemsdyk but that his previous team, Toronto, is not believed to be among them.

Other notes from unrestricted free agency:

  • The Canucks spoke with winger Tobias Rieder’s agent today, reports Sportsnet 650’s Rick Dhaliwal (via Twitter). The two sides are expected to speak later as well.  Rieder went unqualified by the Kings on Monday and he has interest from roughly half a dozen teams around the league.
  • There appears to be mutual interest between the Oilers and winger Jason Chimera, reports TSN’s Ryan Rishaug (Twitter link). The 39-year-old is from Edmonton and with the team having limited cap space this summer, they’re going to be shopping for bargain deals.  Chimera is coming off of a quiet year split between the Islanders and Ducks where he scored just three times but he put up 20 goals in each of the previous two seasons.
  • Center Kyle Brodziak is expected to narrow his list of teams he’s considering down to three later today, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector tweets. He adds the Oilers could very well be the favorite to land him which bring things full circle for the 34-year-old, who was drafted in the seventh round by Edmonton back in 2003.  Brodziak is coming off his best offensive performance (33 points) since 2011-12.
  • Vegas has yet to make defenseman Luca Sbisa an offer, his agent told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). He had an injury-riddled campaign that saw him play in just 30 regular season games although he still managed to put up 14 points, his highest total in six years.  He was a regular for the most part during the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final but it appears he will be playing elsewhere in 2018-19.

Rangers Interested In Ryan Reaves

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The Rangers are interested in signing rugged winger Ryan Reaves, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post.  New York is planning to run with a younger team, especially up front so it’s not surprising that they’d have interest in someone who could be tasked with helping to protect those players.

Reaves started this past season with Pittsburgh after they had acquired him from St. Louis back at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.  He didn’t fare particularly well with them as his playing time dipped to just 6:45 per game, his lowest since 2011-12.  He wound up being dealt to Vegas as part of the Derick Brassard swap where he received more playing time during the rest of the regular season at 9:45 per night.  On the year, he wound up with ten points, 94 penalty minutes, and 236 hits in 79 games.

The 31-year-old started the playoffs as a healthy scratch but as the rounds progressed, he started to make his way into the lineup and actually scored in back-to-back games including the game winner in the series-clinching game against the Jets.

Reaves is coming off of a contract that carried a $1.125MM cap hit and while the demand for enforcers is quite low at the moment, it’s still fair to project a raise.  Term will obviously also be a factor and Brooks notes that the Rangers are looking to cap their commitments at no more than two years.

New York isn’t the only team with some level of interest in Reaves.  Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Blues have been in contact with Reaves’ camp but noted that nothing came out of those discussions.

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