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Archives for September 2018

Training Camp Cuts: 9/29/18

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With the season-opening roster deadline fast approaching, many teams will be putting the final touches to their rosters this weekend so another busy day of cuts is expected.  We’ll keep tabs on the non-waiver roster cuts here and update this post throughout the day.

Boston Bruins (via CapFriendly)

G Zane McIntyre (to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (via team Tweet)

D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

D Michal Cajkovsky (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Janne Kuokkanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Saku Maenalanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Nicolas Roy (to Charlotte, AHL)

Dallas Stars (per Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge)

F Denis Gurianov (to Texas, AHL)

Detroit Red Wings (per team release)

D Jake Chelios (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Patrik Rybar (to Grand Rapids, AHL)

Edmonton Oilers (per CapFriendly)

G Al Montoya (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Anthony Greco (to Springfield, AHL)
G Michael Hutchinson (to Springfield, AHL)
D Julian Melchiori (to Springfield, AHL)

New York Rangers (per CapFriendly)

D Chris Bigras (to Hartford, AHL)
F Peter Holland (to Hartford, AHL)
G Marek Mazanec (to Hartford, AHL)
F Cole Schneider (to Hartford, AHL)
G Dustin Tokarski (to Hartford, AHL)

Vancouver Canucks (via CapFriendly)

F Brendan Gaunce (to Utica, AHL)

Washington Capitals (per team Twitter)

F Shane Gersich (to Hershey, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (via TSN’s Brian Munz)

F Dennis Everberg (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Seth Griffith (to Manitoba, AHL)
F J.C. Lipon (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Nicolas Kerdiles (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Cameron Schilling (to Manitoba, AHL)

Capitals Sign Riley Sutter To An Entry-Level Contract

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Washington has locked up another of their 2018 draft picks, announcing the signing of winger Riley Sutter to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal will carry a cap hit of $817.5K.

The Capitals selected Sutter in the third round (93rd overall) back in June out of Everett of the WHL.  While his regular season numbers weren’t particularly dominant (53 points in 68 games), he picked up his performance in the postseason, collecting nine goals and ten assists in 21 contests, good for fifth on the Silvertips in scoring.

The 18-year-old is part of the Sutter family that has plenty of NHL bloodlines.  His father, Ron, played in nearly 1,100 NHL games while his uncles (Brian, Brent, Darryl, Duane, and Rich) all have NHL connections as well.

Sutter has already been sent back to Everett for the 2018-19 campaign and has a pair of assists in three games so far.  As a result of his return to junior, his contract will slide a year and will still have three years remaining on it in 2019-20.  The deal will have a slightly different AAV at that time based on how much of a signing bonus Washington gave him.

Pacific Notes: Dvorak, Gibbons, Koskinen, Brodzinski

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While Coyotes center Christian Dvorak has been skating on his own as of late, there’s still no timetable for his return to Arizona’s lineup and it does not appear he’ll be ready for the season opener, notes Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic.  It appears that the lower-body injury he’s dealing with is related to the back injury that kept him out of the lineup for the last four games of 2017-18.  The Coyotes surprisingly inked Dvorak to a six-year extension this past summer and they’re not going to want this to linger.  Accordingly, they will likely be very cautious in terms of his return and won’t be rushing him.  Between this and the injury to Alex Galchenyuk, Arizona has quickly gone from a team with surplus depth down the middle to shifting a winger over in the interim to fill the vacancies.

More from the Pacific:

  • Ducks winger Brian Gibbons is dealing with a hand injury, bringing the number of injured players up to seven, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register. The team is waiting for the swelling to subside before they can determine the severity of the injury and how much time he might miss.  Gibbons is in his first season in Anaheim after inking a one-year, $1MM deal back in July.
  • Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen has a no-move clause, GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed to Jason Gregor of TSN 1260 (audio link). This comes as somewhat of a surprise considering he has just four games of NHL experience (all in 2010-11) but he was sought after by quite a few teams so it may have been required to get a deal done.  The 30-year-old won the backup job after Edmonton placed Al Montoya on waivers yesterday.
  • Kings winger Jonny Brodzinski has undergone shoulder surgery and is out indefinitely, notes Lisa Dillman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 25-year-old was expected to contend for a full-time spot on the roster after splitting last season between the NHL (35 games) and the AHL (29 games with 30 points).

2018-19 Season Primer: Edmonton Oilers

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With the NHL season now less than a week away, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Next up is a look at the Edmonton Oilers.

Last Season: 36-40-6 record (78 points), sixth in the Pacific Division (missed the playoffs)

Remaining Cap Space: $1.48MM per CapFriendly

Key Additions: F Kyle Brodziak (free agent, St. Louis), D Jakub Jerabek (free agent, Washington), G Mikko Koskinen (free agent, St. Petersburg, KHL), F Tobias Rieder (free agent, Los Angeles)

Key Subtractions: D/F Yohann Auvitu (free agent, Sochi, KHL), G Laurent Brossoit (free agent, Winnipeg), F Mike Cammalleri (free agent, unsigned), D Eric Gryba (buyout, New Jersey), F Iiro Pakarinen (free agent, Magnitogorsk, KHL)

[Related: Oilers Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Player To Watch: F Milan Lucic – To put it lightly, Lucic’s performance last season was well below expectations.  After a respectable 23-goal and 50-point campaign in his first year with the team, those dropped to 10 and 34, respectively.  That’s not the type of production they were expecting from someone that’s signed for $6MM for another half a decade.

This contract also played a significant role in limiting their ability to add to the lineup this offseason.  They didn’t want to pay to move the 30-year-old and considering the year he just had, they probably would have had to cough up a notable premium so giving him another chance certainly isn’t the worst idea in the world.

Early indications are that Lucic is in better shape and not as slow as he was last season which will come in handy given Edmonton’s up-tempo system.  They’re certainly hopeful that he will be able to rebound and considering how limited they were over the offseason, Edmonton is going to be counting on Lucic to be a lot more productive in 2018-19 to provide them with some important secondary scoring.  If he provides a repeat of last year though, questions about his future with the team are only going to intensify.

Key Storyline: Defense was an issue for the Oilers last season as they ranked 25th in goals allowed.  Largely due to their cap situation, GM Peter Chiarelli opted to keep their defense corps intact, hoping that full seasons from Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, and Andrej Sekera would make things better.  That strategy made sense but then Sekera tore his Achilles tendon in training in August, meaning that he’s once again out for the long haul.

With there being limited options left in free agency, Edmonton locked up Jerabek while giving Jason Garrison a tryout deal.  They also may consider starting off first-round pick Evan Bouchard in the NHL but none of these players will be able to log the type of minutes that Sekera can when healthy.

At some point, the Oilers are going to have to make a move.  With Sekera being eligible to start the year on LTIR, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them swing a trade early on.  If not, they’ll have to hope that they can outscore their in-zone struggles until either Sekera returns (which is in question) or when they can find a trade partner to shore up their defensive unit.  The belief is that missing the playoffs won’t be an option if Chiarelli wants to keep his job.  Accordingly, expect him to be aggressive trying to get help for their back end.

Overall Outlook: While Edmonton is returning basically the same roster as last year, there is cause for optimism.  Cam Talbot is expected to rebound from a down season while they should be able to get some more secondary scoring to help support Connor McDavid.  The postseason isn’t a guarantee given how tough the Pacific is shaping up to be but after being an afterthought last year, they’ll be right in the mix this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Marner, Murray, Broadhurst, Kotkaniemi

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While the Maple Leafs have been focusing on getting RFA winger William Nylander locked up, they have held recent extension talks for winger Mitch Marner, agent Darren Ferris acknowledged in an interview on TSN 1050 (audio link):

“We’ve had some very productive discussions so far and if nothing’s done by the start of the season, then we’ll wait until next summer and we’ll get back at it again.”

Ferris added that he hasn’t set a firm deadline of the start of the season to get a deal done but indicated that it would be their preference to wait.  Marner has been quite productive over his first two NHL seasons with 130 points in 159 regular games while playing at a point-per-game mark in the playoffs.  Ken Campbell of The Hockey News was the latest to suggest that a $10MM per year contract may be needed and it’s hard to imagine the Maple Leafs being prepared to commit to that type of deal over the next few days.

More from the East:

  • Columbus is already down one regular blueliner in Seth Jones and now they will be missing a second to start the season. Brian Hedger of the Blue Jackets’ team site notes that blueliner Ryan Murray is expected to miss the next couple of weeks due to a soft-tissue groin injury.  The 25-year-old has dealt with injury issues in four of his five NHL seasons and it could very well become five out of six.  Meanwhile, forward Alex Broadhurst is dealing with an undisclosed injury that is preventing him from being placed on waivers to be sent to Cleveland of the AHL.
  • The Canadiens have started internal discussions about what to do with top pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi to start the season, notes Postmedia’s Stu Cowan. The third-overall pick has played well in the preseason but spent most of last year on the left wing; the Canadiens view him as a center but it’s difficult to ask him to play that position in the NHL right away.  Julien has already indicated his preference is to have the 18-year-old break camp with the big club but management may prefer to start him at either the AHL level or back in Finland (he has a European Assignment Clause he can choose to trigger).  Kotkaniemi can play in nine games before officially burning the first year of his entry-level deal.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Fifteenth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Through the first dozen picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)
4th Overall: Brad Marchand (Washington Capitals)
5th Overall: Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins)
6th Overall: Jordan Staal (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)

Anisimov gets a nice boost from his initial selection of 54th overall and justifiably so as he has been a reliable middle-six center for the better part of a decade.  He would have made for a nice complement behind the recently-retired Henrik Sedin down the middle in Vancouver which would have given them a capable one-two punch.

Now we’ll move on to the fifteenth overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally held by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay identified that they wanted to strengthen their depth between the pipes so they turned to an up-and-coming goaltender out of the Finnish junior system in Riku Helenius.  Suffice it to say, they’d like a do-over on this pick.

After playing just two games in his post-draft year, Helenius came to North America where he joined Seattle of the WHL and played relatively well.  That convinced the Lightning to give him an entry-level deal and in the first year, things weren’t looking too bad as he posted a respectable 2.72 GAA with a .918 SV% in 25 AHL games while also making one NHL appearance.  It pretty much went downhill from there, however, as midway into the second year, his playing time was so limited that he was loaned to the Swedish league for the final year and a half of the contract.

Helenius went back home for the 2011-12 season and played quite well with JYP, earning himself Goalie of the Year honors and getting him back on the NHL radar.  Tampa Bay decided to give him another chance, inking him to a two-year deal in 2012.  Once again, his first season wasn’t too bad as he got into 32 AHL games but the second season saw him play just nine times between the AHL and ECHL levels, ending any hopes of him being a contributor at the NHL level.  Since then, he has bounced around Finland, playing in Jokerit, KalPa, and Ilves, with the latter city being his team for the 2018-19 season.  All in all, Helenius gave the Lightning seven minutes of NHL action which is anything but a good return on a first-rounder.

We’re going to give them the do-over that they desire.  Who should they have taken?  Have your say by making your pick for the fifteenth selection in the poll below:

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Minor Transactions: 9/28/18

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Beyond the lengthy list of training camp cuts and players on waivers, there have been some other minor transactions around the hockey world which are noted here.

  • Sabres UFA goaltender Jason Kasdorf has inked a tryout deal with Lehigh Valley of the AHL, notes team play-by-play voice Bob Rotruck (Twitter link). He spent the majority of the last two years at the ECHL level and suited up in 28 games with Cincinnati last season, posting a 3.03 GAA and a .903 SV%.  Buffalo declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June.
  • As part of their waiver announcement (Twitter link) for goaltender Al Montoya, the Oilers revealed that they have recalled goaltender Shane Starrett from Bakersfield of the AHL. He will serve as the emergency goaltender with Edmonton set to head overseas to Germany and Sweden to end their preseason and kick off their regular season.
  • The Blue Jackets have inked winger Nikita Korostelev to a one-year, minor league deal, his agent Dan Milstein announced on Twitter. The former Toronto prospect had a strong season with Peterborough of the OHL, posting 75 points in 64 games before signing with Montreal’s minor league team in Laval to finish up the year.
  • Still with Columbus, the team announced the recalls of goalie Jean-Francois Berube, defensemen Tommy Cross, Michael Prapavessis, Dillon Simpson, and Justin Wade, as well as forwards Zac Dalpe, Dan DeSalvo, Nathan Gerbe, Miles Koules, Ryan MacInnis, and Sam Vigneault from Cleveland of the AHL. All 11 players had already been cut from training camp but their returns will allow the Blue Jackets to rest most of their regulars in their preseason finale on Saturday in Chicago.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Nashville Predators

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Nashville Predators

Current Cap Hit: $69,880,000 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Kevin Fiala (one year, $863K)
F Eeli Tolvanen (three years, $894K)

Potential Bonuses:

Fiala: $500K
Tolvanen: $963K

Total: $1.463MM

Fiala’s first full NHL season was a strong one as he wound up finishing fourth on the team in goals despite averaging just over 15 minutes per game.  A repeat performance would bolster his potential for a long-term deal and the Preds certainly haven’t been hesitant to lock their players up quickly. Tolvanen came over from the KHL late in the year but didn’t see much action.  He’s starting in the minors but his European Assignment Clause could force a recall fairly quickly.  Worth noting is that his potential bonuses jump to the maximum of $2.85MM in each of the final two years of his deal.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Anthony Bitetto ($650K, UFA)
F Ryan Hartman ($875K, RFA)
F Colton Sissons ($625K, RFA)
G Pekka Rinne ($7MM, UFA)

The Predators paid a high price to acquire Hartman who proceeded to play a very limited role for them down the stretch and into the postseason.  That made this current bridge deal a bit of a no-brainer and if he’s buried inside their bottom six again in 2018-19, another one-year pact is a very realistic possibility.  Sissons went from a relative unknown to someone who has carved out a regular role and has been surprisingly productive in the postseason.  That will undoubtedly result in a nice raise, especially since he will have arbitration eligibility.  Bitetto has been a depth defender for the last few years and will continue to do so as long as he’s willing to sign for the league minimum (or close to it).

Rinne’s case is certainly going to be interesting to monitor.  He’s coming off of a very strong regular season with a .927 SV% which was near the top of the league among full-time starters.  However, he also struggled considerably in the postseason and the team has a promising young goalie playing behind him.  Rinne will also be 36 at the start of his next contract.  He’s still a capable starter but can’t be viewed as more than a short-term stopgap which will likely limit the number of suitors he’ll get if he makes it to the open market.  He could conceivably re-sign for a year or two as well but at either rate, there’s a good chance he’ll be looking at a pay cut on his next contract.

Two Years Remaining

D Dan Hamhuis ($1.25MM, UFA)
D Matt Irwin ($675K, UFA)
D Roman Josi ($4MM, UFA)
F Miikka Salomaki ($750K, UFA)
F Craig Smith ($4.25MM, UFA)
F Austin Watson ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Yannick Weber ($675K, UFA)

Smith is coming off of arguably his best season after having one of his worst in 2016-17.  He’s best utilized on the second line and is a capable secondary scorer, albeit an inconsistent one.  That will hurt his market two years from now but if he can stay around the 45-point mark, he still should be able to land a small raise in free agency.  Watson’s on-ice performance would warrant a small raise on his next deal but he is dealing with a lengthy suspension from a no contest plea to a domestic violence charge which won’t help his case.  Salomaki is more of a depth player and they will either look to bring him back at a similar cost or try someone else at a comparable price tag.

Josi is one of the most underpaid defensemen in the league today.  He’s a legitimate top pairing player that’s making the type of money that fourth defenders get.  That will change on his next deal where he could conceivably double his current AAV, especially if he was to go elsewhere to a team that doesn’t have the allure of no state income tax.  Hamhuis should give their third pairing some much-needed stability and his deal is one of the bargains of the summer.  Like Bitetto, Irwin and Weber represent cheap depth that will be in and out of the lineup for the duration of their deals and they will either re-sign at a similar rate two years from now or be replaced by someone willing to play at or near the minimum.

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David Schlemko Out Six Weeks With A Knee Injury

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Injuries were not kind to the Canadiens last season and it certainly appears that’s going to continue in 2018-19.  The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman David Schlemko suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s preseason game against Toronto and will miss up to six weeks.

This marks the second straight year that the 31-year-old won’t make it through training camp unscathed.  Last year, a hand injury sustained early in camp cost him the opening 25 games of the season which set him back considerably.  He wound up playing in 37 games overall, picking up a goal and four assists while averaging 18:04 of ice time per night.

The injury to Schlemko really simplifies Montreal’s remaining defensive battle at training camp.  This should help pave the way for offseason acquisition Xavier Ouellet to make the opening roster while tryout Simon Despres is still in the mix as well but has to be viewed as a longshot at this point.

Schlemko is the fourth Montreal regular that will be starting the season on injured reserve joining fellow blueliner Shea Weber (knee) plus wingers Andrew Shaw (knee) and Nicolas Deslauriers (facial fracture).  Combined, the group makes just shy of $15MM which means the Canadiens will likely be heading into the season icing a lineup that makes less than the Lower Limit of the salary cap.

Bruins Sign Jakub Lauko To An Entry-Level Contract

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The Bruins have locked up one of their most recent draft picks, announcing that they have signed forward Jakub Lauko to a three-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 18-year-old was Boston’s third-round pick (77th overall) back in June following a pair of seasons playing at the men’s level in the Czech Extraliga with Pirati Chomutov.  While he didn’t light up the scoresheet with just nine points (3-6-9) in 42 games, the fact that he was able to hold down a regular spot in their lineup as a draft-eligible player is impressive.  Lauko fared better against his own age level in international competition, tying for the team lead in scoring for the Czechs at the World Under-18 Championships while playing a regular role at the World Juniors as well.

Lauko got into a pair of games with the Bruins this preseason and fared well, scoring twice.  Instead of sending him back to the Czech Republic though, Boston has sent him to Rouyn-Noranda of the QMJHL, who selected him in the second round (107th overall) in the CHL Import Draft that was held in late June.  As a result, his contract will be eligible to slide which means he will still have three years left on his deal heading into next season.

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