Archives for October 2018

Nate Schmidt Signs Six-Year Extension With Vegas Golden Knights

October 25, 2018 at 8:20 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Now we know why Nate Schmidt had returned early from Europe. The Vegas Golden Knights announced late last night that Schmidt has signed a six-year extension with the team, a deal which carries an average annual value of $5.95MM through the 2024-25 season. Schmidt was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer, but has spoken about his love for the Golden Knights in the past. The deal also includes a 10-team no-trade clause, and is front loaded:

2019-20: $6.8MM salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
2020-21: $6.1MM salary
2021-22: $6.0MM salary
2022-23: $5.0MM salary
2023-24: $4.95MM salary
2024-25: $4.85MM salary

Schmidt, 27, is still dealing with a 20-game suspension for a positive banned substance test in the offseason, and will not be eligible to return to game action for the Golden Knights until November 18th against the Edmonton Oilers. Though the defenseman vehemently denies taking any sort of performance enhancing drug, he’s serving his suspension and had been practicing in Austria with a professional team. Staying game-ready is important at this point, as the Golden Knights will likely put a ton on Schmidt’s plate as soon as he’s eligible to return.

After being picked from the Washington Capitals in the expansion draft, Schmidt immediately saw a huge increase in responsibility and turned in a career-best performance in 2017-18. Logging more than 22 minutes a night in the regular season, the smooth-skating defenseman recorded 36 points in 76 games and then was pushed even further in the playoffs to help Vegas climb all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. One of the most important players on the team, his absence has been felt in the early going of this season.

The Golden Knights are off to a shaky start in 2018-19, posting a 4-4-1 record through their first nine games including a loss last night to the Vancouver Canucks in overtime. For the team that shocked the hockey world on a nightly basis a year ago, things haven’t gone quite as smoothly in their sophomore effort. Getting Schmidt back will certainly help that, and locking him up going forward allows them to build around him in the coming years.

Those years though don’t come without substantial risk. While Schmidt has been good for the team so far, he still does have just 276 NHL games under his belt and will turn 28 before the extension kicks in. An undrafted free agent from the University of Minnesota, he’ll need to provide even more offense for the Golden Knights to really warrant a deal of this magnitude. Schmidt would have been highly sought after on the unrestricted market, but the direct comparables to this deal don’t paint a very pretty picture. Jeff Petry, Andrew MacDonald, Marc Staal, Jonathan Ericsson and Andrej Sekera are the five closest contracts according to CapFriendly, a group that inspires very little confidence at this point. Still, the Golden Knights believe they have a player who can be a key contributor for them as they attempt to get back to the Stanley Cup right away.

The attempt to compete right away was likely caused by the unprecedented success Vegas experienced last season as an expansion team, but also could be misguided at this point in team history. While last season was an outstanding performance from all involved, signing contracts like this has quickly taken away any long-term advantage the Golden Knights had with their empty balance sheet. The team at one point had oodles of cap space available to use as leverage in trade talks, taking on bad contracts in order to beef up their prospect cupboards, but have used up almost all of it on their key contributors from last season and a few new faces.

Jon Marchessault, Alex Tuch, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Shea Theodore, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Marc-Andre Fleury and now Schmidt have all signed contracts or extensions of at least three years in length, and now make up the do-or-die core of the team. That group of nine players will be owed nearly $48MM next season and beyond, while the team also has a long-term commitment still with Reilly Smith and will likely sign one with William Karlsson before long. There’s obviously nothing wrong with building around a group like that, but the Golden Knights no longer have that unprecedented advantage of having an empty salary structure.

Still, that’s obviously a decision they’re willing to make to sign players like Schmidt long-term. The team has built a strong fan base in Vegas and around the league, and have ensured that they’ll be at least competitive with this group for years to come. Whether it’s good enough to really contend for the Stanley Cup down the line is yet to be seen, but it’ll at least be a fun ride while we find out.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported the contract breakdown.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Hayes, Vilardi, Hamhuis

October 24, 2018 at 8:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Rangers are going to have a difficult decision to make in the somewhat near future regarding center Kevin Hayes, writes Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The team is off to a better than expected start to their season but they are still in rebuilding mode from a long-term perspective. At the age of 26, Hayes is young enough to be part of their core for the long haul but at the same time, the pending unrestricted free agent is one of their top trade assets that could be used to acquire more youth and potentially fill a void on their back end. For his part, Hayes acknowledged that his preference would be to remain in New York:

“I’m watching this develop, and it would be cool to be here for this rebuild. I want to be part of the future. I’m going to stay out of it, my agent will do the talking, and nothing can happen until Jan. 1 anyway, but I would love for them to talk starting that day and get a deal done.”

Hayes is currently making $5.175MM and it will take more than that for him to put pen to paper on a new deal with the Rangers. If GM Jeff Gorton decides that he wants his center to be part of the future, then he’ll be looking to get extension talks going as soon as possible. If, however, he’s viewed as expendable, then Gorton may want to make him available in a trade sooner than later given the consistent demand for impact help down the middle.

Elsewhere around the league:

Kings center Gabriel Vilardi will be re-evaluated next week as he continues to work his way back from a back injury, notes Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. The 2017 first-round pick is currently on non-roster injured reserve but GM Rob Blake is hopeful that the 19-year-old can be integrated into practice with the team in the near future. Once he gets the green light to play, Vilardi can play in up to nine games without burning the first year of his entry-level contract. If the team decides to cut him, he has to be sent back to Kingston of the OHL as he’s not eligible to play in the AHL.
The Predators have placed defenseman Dan Hamhuis on injured reserve, reports Adam Vingan of The Athletic (Twitter link). He left Tuesday’s game in the second period with the undisclosed issue. There’s no timetable for when the veteran will return.

Decisions Looming For Players Eligible For Entry-Level Slides

October 24, 2018 at 7:29 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

With the ten-game mark of the season fast approaching, many teams are facing decisions about whether or not to officially burn the first year of the entry-level contracts for many of their teenaged players. Some decisions appear to be fairly obvious while others aren’t as much of a guarantee. Here’s a look at the situations for the players whose contracts could potentially slide a year.

(F Maxime Comtois of the Ducks has already played in ten games to officially start his entry-level deal.)

Nine Games Played

F Filip Chytil (NYR)
D Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)
D Henri Jokiharju (CHI)
F Andrei Svechnikov (CAR)
D Juuso Valimaki (CGY)

Out of this group, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that each will play in one more game. Calgary’s depth on the back end could make Valimaki a candidate to be cut but he has acquitted himself relatively well so far, establishing himself as a legitimate regular so it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be sent down.

Eight Games Played

D Miro Heiskanen (DAL)
F Jesperi Kotkaniemi (MTL)
F Isac Lundestrom (ANA)
F Michael Rasmussen (DET)

Heiskanen is averaging more than 20 minutes a night already so it’s safe to say he’ll be sticking around. Canadiens head coach Claude Julien acknowledged that he hasn’t even discussed the possibility of sending Kotkaniemi down so he’s a safe bet to stay as well. Injuries have forced Anaheim’s hand with Lundestrom and with several regulars still out indefinitely, there’s a reasonable chance he’ll stick around as well. Rasmussen’s case isn’t quite as certain. He hasn’t had much of an impact yet and has spent a fair bit of time in the bottom six already. While he’d be forced to go back to junior, that may make the most sense from an organizational standpoint. This season is already going off the rails for Detroit so they may take the longer-term view here.

Seven Games Played

F Martin Necas (CAR)
F Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)

Carolina has already sent Necas to the AHL for now so they’ll take some more time to evaluate his future. As for Yamamoto, he has logged over 14 minutes a night which is rather respectable but his production hasn’t been there. He’s a player that needs to be in an offensive role to thrive so if he isn’t scoring, they may deem that it’s better to send him to the AHL for now and then decide what to do later in the year.

Six Games Played

D Evan Bouchard (EDM)

Edmonton’s back end isn’t in the best of shape and the tenth pick back in June has had an up-and-down start to his year. He has looked good in the attacking end but has struggled at times in his own zone. The Oilers have sat him already and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them do so a few more times in the weeks ahead to give them more time to decide on his future.

Five Games Played

F Alex Formenton (OTT)
F Robert Thomas (STL)
F Kristian Vesalainen (WPG)

Formenton’s speed has been a real weapon for Ottawa but it hasn’t translated to much in the way of production just yet. He isn’t able to go to the AHL yet so he’d be heading back to OHL London if he’s cut. His case is one of the closest to being a pure toss-up at the moment so it wouldn’t be surprising if he sits a game or two to buy more time to make the decision. Thomas has played a limited role for the Blues and with Robby Fabbri and Nikita Soshnikov now on conditioning stints, he may soon be forced back to junior even though he doesn’t have much left to prove at that level. Vesalainen is currently in the AHL so Winnipeg’s decision on what to do with him won’t come until later on.

(Jaret Anderson-Dolan of the Kings has played five games but was recently sent back to junior meaning that he can only be brought back in an emergency recall situation.)

Four Games Played

F Brady Tkachuk (OTT)

Tkachuk was off to a very strong start (3-3-6 in four games) before tearing a ligament in his leg that will keep him out for several more weeks. Assuming he can maintain a spot in their top-six upon his return, he’ll be a safe bet to stick around past the ten-game mark.

Two Games Played

D Urho Vaakanainen (BOS)

The Finnish blueliner suffered a concussion on Tuesday night in his second game on emergency recall. As he can be shuttled back and forth with AHL Providence, this case will likely take a while for the Bruins to decide on as he’ll likely be headed back to the minors when he gets the green light to return.

For some teams, this particular threshold may not be the one they’re most concerned with. Lately, more teams have set the 40-games on the active roster mark (not necessarily games played) as the critical threshold. That one determines whether or not a player accrues a season towards unrestricted free agency. For most players, that threshold is 27 years old but players younger than that can reach that mark with seven years of service time.

Accordingly, even if many of these players make it to game number ten, their NHL fates may be far from sealed just yet. For those whose likelihood to make it to that mark is less certain, the next couple of weeks are going to be crucial in determining their short-term playing futures.

Pacific Notes: Edler, Martinez, Chychrun

October 24, 2018 at 5:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Canucks defenseman Alex Edler has been part of trade speculation for several years now but nothing has come of it. Now, the Swedish blueliner is in the final year of his contract and accordingly, he has been scouted quite frequently in the early going this season, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). While Vancouver is off to a good start this season, the expectation is that they’ll eventually become sellers and Edler would likely be at the forefront of those efforts. He’s off to a solid start with five points through nine games while leading the team in playing time at 24:28 per contest and would be a top-four upgrade for many contending teams. However, the 32-year-old has a full no-trade clause so he would have the ability to control where he ultimately winds up.

Mark Borowiecki Suspended One Game

October 24, 2018 at 4:20 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 13 Comments

The verdict is in, and Mark Borowiecki will be forced to sit one game for his elbow to the head of Urho Vaakanainen last night. The Department of Player Safety announced the suspension today, and included an explanation:

While we accept Borowiecki’s argument that he was not aiming for Vaakanainen’s head and only trying to defend his crease, Borowiecki is still responsible for the fact that he recklessly delivered a blow to the head of his opponent with sufficient force to cause an injury.

The Ottawa Senators defenseman has been suspended previously, as he was given a two-game ban for boarding Tyler Toffoli in 2016. Though the league mentions this prior suspension, it notes that it was several seasons ago and for a different type of incident. It would have been taken into account, but clearly the DoPS believed they should not hand out a more severe punishment this time around.

Unfortunately for the Boston Bruins, Vaakanainen is likely going to be out longer than the player who injured him. The young defenseman was in just his second career game, but suffered a concussion and was almost immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game. The team will have to take it slow with their prized prospect, given his importance to the team’s long term plans on the blue line. The Bruins are back in action tomorrow, and it would be extremely surprising to see the young defenseman available for the game.

That leaves the Bruins in a tough spot given that Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy and Kevan Miller are all still out of the lineup. Head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated to Eric Russo of NHL.com that the team will have to look at the Providence Bruins for help to get through these injuries, mentioning Cody Goloubef among other candidates.

Ottawa meanwhile will have Cody Ceci back in the lineup on Friday while Borowiecki sits out, giving them at least another experienced option to soak up minutes on the blue line. After that, the suspended defenseman will be able to rejoin the club and finish out their Western Conference road trip through Vegas and Arizona. He’ll have to stay on his best behavior for a while, or else face increased scrutiny from the league for his physical altercations.

Alex Tuch Activated Off Injured Reserve

October 24, 2018 at 3:50 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Fresh off inking his seven-year, $33.25MM contract extension, Alex Tuch is ready to make an impact for the Vegas Golden Knights. The team has activated him off injured reserve, and expects him to make his season debut tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. Tuch is an important piece of the Golden Knights offense, and with Paul Stastny still out the second line could use a boost. Deryk Engelland has been placed on IR to make room on the roster, as the big defenseman hasn’t played since suffering an injury on October 13th.

Tuch, 22, was given such a large contract recently despite his lack of experience because of his importance to the Golden Knights. His size and physicality is extremely useful in the offensive zone, and his puck skills are quite excellent for a player of his stature. The 6’4″, 222-lbs winger was picked 18th overall in 2014 by the Minnesota Wild, and came into his own with the Golden Knights last season, scoring 15 goals and 37 points in the regular season before adding another 10 points in the playoffs. Without players like Tuch and Stastny in the lineup to replace some of the outgoing offensive talent from last season like David Perron and James Neal, the Golden Knights have been relatively muted in the opponent’s end. The team has scored just 18 goals through their first eight games, and even in their wins have been relatively contained at even strength.

The team is on a three-game winning streak now however, and with three games left in their current homestand could jump right back into contention for the Central Division title. While it’s obviously incredibly early, falling behind the likes of San Jose in the first few weeks can make the entire season a struggle to catch up. Tuch’s first test will be to get on the ice and make it through a game without re-injury, before hopefully taking the next step in his development as a premiere power forward in the league.

Brian Boyle Announces His Cancer Is In Remission

October 24, 2018 at 1:52 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 7 Comments

There are few pieces of news around the NHL that are universally celebrated, but today we were given one of them. Brian Boyle today told Mike Morreale of NHL.com that his cancer—chronic myeloid leukemia—is now in “full molecular remission.” Boyle was diagnosed just over a year ago with the disease, but returned to game action on November 1st, 2017 and played 69 games with the New Jersey Devils.

Boyle, 33, is one of the most well liked players in the entire league and had the full support of the Devils and his teammates as he battled the diagnosis. He became an ambassador for the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, and eventually won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy given to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship. Boyle is not a huge offensive presence (despite his 6’6″ stature) but has been a key bottom-six forward for several teams throughout his career, and has played in 111 career playoff games.

This season, the big center is off to a great start with three goals and four points in his first six games, giving the Devils great depth down the middle and a force on the penalty kill. He’ll still need to take medication and work with doctors to make sure his cancer does not resurface down the road, but is on the way to a full recovery. Everyone here at PHR wishes Boyle and his family the best and congratulates them on the news.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 10/24/18

October 24, 2018 at 1:10 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Just four games on the schedule for this Wednesday evening, but there are some prime matchups as Auston Matthews takes on Patrik Laine in Winnipeg and the hottest line in hockey welcomes the Tampa Bay Lightning to Colorado. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves of the day right here.

The Ottawa Senators have sent Paul Carey back to the minor leagues, a common refrain for the team this season. It looks like Ottawa will send everyone they can to the minors in the time between games, as they’re now sitting at just 21 players on the active roster. Cody Ceci is expected to return on Friday, but Mark Borowiecki could be facing suspension in the meantime. They’ll likely recall someone in the next day or so to help them on their upcoming road trip.

Fabbri, Neuvirth Sent To AHL For Conditioning Stints

October 24, 2018 at 11:09 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers will be getting a pair of players back soon, as the teams announced conditioning stints for Robby Fabbri and Michal Neuvirth respectively. Fabbri will go to the San Antonio Rampage to try and finally make it back into game action, his first since the second half of 2016-17, while Neuvirth is headed for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before retaking his place beside Brian Elliott in the NHL net.

There’s low expectations at this point for Fabbri, but that wasn’t so just a few seasons ago. The 22-year old forward was a blossoming star in St. Louis after being selected 21st overall in 2014 and scoring 18 goals and 37 points in his rookie season. The versatile forward was dangerous on offense and could play both center and the wing, proving his talents in the postseason with 15 points in 20 games to lead the team in 2016. That excellent play continued early into the next season before Fabbri would suffer a knee injury that sent him to the shelf. As he tried to come back, he re-injured the knee and would miss the entire 2017-18 season.

Now, with just a $925K salary and an uncertain place in the lineup, Fabbri is a wild card for the Blues. The team has built a solid group of forwards that includes several even younger options, and could be dangerous even if Fabbri can’t get back to the level he once showed. There’s a long time for him to still be an impact forward at the NHL level, but he’ll have to prove he can stay healthy and put the knee injury behind him before anyone puts any responsibility on his shoulders.

Neuvirth though is in a very different situation, as he tries to hold on to his role with the Flyers. Philadelphia has several young goaltenders pushing for NHL playing time, and even picked up Calvin Pickard while Neuvirth dealt with his injury. The 30-year old goaltender did record a .915 save percentage last season, but it was only in 22 games and it still only resulted in a 9-7-3 record. In the final season of his current contract, he’ll have to show more than he did last year to stick around and keep the seat warm for top prospect Carter Hart. He’ll need to stay healthy to even do that.

Mark Borowiecki To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

October 24, 2018 at 9:06 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

The Ottawa Senators could be without a key defenseman for a few games, after the league announced today that Mark Borowiecki will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety to determine a potential suspension. Borowiecki elbowed Boston Bruins defenseman Urho Vaakanainen in the face last night during an altercation in front of the net, but wasn’t penalized on the play. Vaakanainen suffered a concussion on the play.

Borowiecki is familiar with the DoPS from his two-game suspension in 2016 for boarding Tyler Toffoli of the Los Angeles Kings. That previous suspension will be taken into account, and given Vaakanainen suffered an injury another ban seems likely. The league is trying hard to take head shots out of the game, and though this incident wasn’t a full body check to the head, Borowiecki obviously targeted the young Bruins defenseman’s face as he came in to try and find a loose puck. While that decision was made in an instant, the league will take its time in determining any supplementary discipline.

The Senators play again on Friday and Sunday evenings, as they start a Western Conference road trip that takes them to Colorado, Vegas and Arizona. Luckily for the team, Cody Ceci is expected to be back in the lineup by the team’s next game, giving them back the player they depend on the most on defense.

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