The first full week of free agency didn’t yield as many surprises and headlines as July 1st did but there was still plenty of news around the league. Here are the top stories from the past seven days.
San Jose Extensions: After not being able to sign John Tavares, the Sharks quickly turned their focus towards bringing back one of their own unrestricted free agents in Joe Thornton as they signed him to a one-year, $5MM contract. The 39-year-old last played in January before suffering a knee injury that required surgery but when he played last season, he was fairly productive with 36 points in 47 games. Meanwhile, winger Tomas Hertl agreed to a four-year, $22.5MM deal to stick around. The 24-year-old set a new career high in goals last season with 22 while tying his best point output with 46.
Karlsson Saga: As expected, the Senators offered defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract extension as soon as they were eligible. Not surprisingly, the offer was rejected and the team has now turned their focus towards trading him. Early on, Dallas emerged as a potential frontrunner but later in the week, Tampa Bay became the leading candidate for his services. However, given their salary cap situation, they need a third team to help facilitate a deal. While there was some early speculation that the Rangers and even the Devils could be candidates to do so, talks appear to have stalled for the time being. Given everything that has transpired over the past week though, this isn’t going to be the last we hear of trade talk involving Karlsson this summer.
Arbitration Filings: Thursday marked the deadline for player-elected salary arbitration and there were quite a few more takers than usual. After 30 filed last year, 44 filed this time around. (No teams opted to take their players to arbitration during the window that expired on Friday.) Headliners on that list include Golden Knights center William Karlsson, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck plus defenseman Jacob Trouba, as well as Senators winger Mark Stone. Of the 44, five have already agreed to new deals and many more will so in advance of the hearings which are scheduled to run from July 20th through August 4th.
Weber Out Long-Term: It hasn’t been a great summer for Montreal in terms of bolstering their NHL team and they got some more bad news when it comes to top defenseman Shea Weber. A scheduled cleanup of his knee wound up resulting in surgery to repair his torn meniscus, one that carries a five-to-six month recovery timeline. That means that their back end, which struggled mightily without him last season, will be asked to shoulder the load for the first couple of months next season. Weber joins wingers Andrew Shaw (knee) and Paul Byron (shoulder) as regulars that are not expected to be available when the regular season kicks off in October.
Hurricanes Add Defense: Carolina’s back end has been a strength for them in recent years but it’s undergoing a notable transformation. After adding Dougie Hamilton at the draft as part of a deal that saw Noah Hanifin go to Calgary, they then added UFA Calvin de Haan on a four-year, $18.2MM contract. He should slide in well on their second pairing and take Hanifin’s old role. There’s a decent chance that the transformation isn’t complete either as Justin Faulk continues to be involved in trade speculation. With Brett Pesce and Hamilton both ahead of him on the depth chart, Faulk and his $4.83MM cap hit may be deemed too pricey for the third pairing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I feel like Karlsson isn’t going to go anywhere until the Sens stop including Bobby Ryan in the trade discussions.