With arbitration hearings kicking off this past week, there was an uptick in re-signings across the league. Several of those headline the top stories from the past seven days.
Lindholm Locked Up: The Flames inked one of the two players they acquired from Carolina back at the draft, signing forward Elias Lindholm to a six-year, $29.1MM contract. The 23-year-old has put up between 39 and 45 points in each of the last four seasons while largely playing down the middle with the Hurricanes. There is a chance that Lindholm starts next season on the right wing on the top line alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan which means he could be in line for a sizable boost in production.
Holding Pattern For Skinner, Pacioretty: Two of the more prominent wingers available on the trade market are Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and Montreal’s Max Pacioretty. However, while both have been available for a while, it doesn’t appear as if progress is being made in discussions involving either of them. With both being known to be on the block, other teams can wait things out in the hopes that one of the Hurricanes or Canadiens will eventually lower their asking price. It’s worth noting that Skinner has a no-move clause while Pacioretty doesn’t have any formal trade protection but there’s a good chance that a team interested in acquiring him will want him to agree to a long-term deal which gives him a bit of leverage as well.
Extension For Henrique: The Ducks clearly liked what they saw from center Adam Henrique after acquiring him midseason from New Jersey as they locked him up on a five-year, $29.125MM contract extension that will kick in for the 2019-20 season. The deal also contains a ten-team no-trade list and represents a small raise on the $5.5MM in salary he’s set to earn this coming season. He made an immediate impact with Anaheim as even though he didn’t suit up for them until December, he tied for second on the team in goals with 20 last season. With Ryan Kesler’s playing future in some question, it became that much more important for them to get Henrique locked up and give them some insurance at that position which they now have.
Panarin Sets Deadline: Although Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen met with winger Artemi Panarin and his representation earlier in the week, no progress on a new deal was made. That was then followed up by Panarin setting a deadline of September 13th for any ‘business matters’ which can certainly be interpreted to mean contract discussions. It has been suggested that Panarin is hesitant to sign a max-term contract to stay in Columbus which has only fueled speculation that could be on the move once again. This declaration from his camp could ultimately affect those discussions if whoever is interested in acquiring him also wants to try to work out a contract extension.
Deals For Defensemen: A pair of notable blueliners were set to go to arbitration but one settled in advance as Wild rearguard Mathew Dumba inked a five-year, $30MM contract. He was coming off of a career year and with him and Ryan Suter both locked up long-term, Minnesota has their top pairing intact for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Winnipeg and defender Jacob Trouba weren’t able to agree to terms and wound up going to a hearing with the arbitrator awarding a one-year, $5.5MM deal. He will be eligible for restricted free agency once again next summer.
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