With training camps now just a month away, the pressure will start to pick up slightly to get new contracts done. We saw a few of those deals inked this past week which highlight the top stories.
Three Years For Kase: Ducks winger Ondrej Kase was one of their more pleasant surprises in 2017-18. After being largely a role player in his rookie campaign, he emerged as a quality secondary scorer as he scored 20 goals, tied for the second most on the team. Anaheim rewarded him for his efforts, signing the 22-year-old to a three-year, $7.8MM contract. The deal pays an even $2.6MM in each of the three seasons which means that figure will also represent his qualifying offer when it expires. The Ducks still have some work to do in restricted free agency as winger Nick Ritchie is also in need of a new deal.
Sekera Out Indefinitely: After missing a big chunk of last season due to his recovery from a torn ACL, the Oilers were counting on a big year in 2018-19 from defenseman Andrej Sekera. Unfortunately for them, that won’t be the case as he sustained a torn Achilles tendon during offseason training and has undergone surgery. While the team is listing him simply as out indefinitely at this point, this will cost him a significant portion of the upcoming season. As Edmonton’s top-paid blueliner, he will be tough to replace while this also places a bit more pressure on getting a deal done with restricted free agent defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Ellis Locked Up: Earlier this summer, Predators GM David Poile called locking up defenseman Ryan Ellis to a long-term extension their top priority. They were able to get that accomplished on Tuesday as the two sides agreed to an eight-year, $50MM extension that will kick in for the 2019-20 season. Notably, the deal does not contain any no-trade protection. While he missed nearly half of last year due to knee surgery, he still managed to put up 32 points in just 44 games; his 0.73 points per game average was a career-best. With the signing, Nashville’s big four on the back end are all locked up through 2019-20 while three of them are signed through 2021-22 meaning that their defense corps will continue to be the backbone of their team for a while yet.
Boeser, Canucks To Discuss Extension: Although he has just one full NHL season under his belt, Canucks winger Brock Boeser is entering the final year of his entry-level deal and is eligible to sign an extension at any time. The two sides had preliminary talks last month and will meet again next week to see if they can make some progress on a new deal. Some notable players have signed in the $6MM range coming off their entry-level contracts and it’s reasonable to expect that Boeser should check in somewhere around that area as well even though he has less of a track record than most players coming off of the second year of their rookie pact.
Laine In No Rush To Sign Extension: While the Canucks will be talking to their top youngster about a new deal, that may not be the case for the Jets and winger Patrik Laine. In an interview, the 20-year-old acknowledged that he’s in no rush to get a deal done and that he’s open to signing this summer or waiting until next offseason. He did, however, indicate that his preference is to get a long-term pact done with Winnipeg. Laine has scored 80 goals in his first two rookie seasons (the second most in the league) and he should have a case that he’s worth the eight-year, $80MM extension that Buffalo handed center Jack Eichel (the second overall pick in 2015) last summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.