As we quickly approach the one-quarter mark of the season, activity around the league has started to pick up. A pair of trades highlight our top stories of the week.
Penguins, Kings Swap Wingers: Fresh off a three-year contract extension, Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford made a trade, dealing Carl Hagelin to Los Angeles in exchange for Tanner Pearson. Pearson has averaged 40 points per year over the last three seasons but was off to a disastrous start this season with just a single assist in 17 games leading up to the trade. He has two years left on his contract with a $3.75MM cap hit and the Penguins are clearly banking on him turning it around. Meanwhile, Hagelin has also been quiet offensively with just three points in 17 games before the deal but as an expiring contract, the Kings will get some much-needed salary cap flexibility for next season. He carries a $4MM cap hit this season and Pittsburgh will pay $250K to make the deal cap-neutral for 2018-19.
Wilson Suspension Reduced: Tom Wilson’s final appeal to independent arbitrator Shyam Das proved to be a successful one as his 20-game suspension for a hit on Blues center Oskar Sundqvist was reduced to 14 games. While he had already sat for 16 games by the time the announcement was made, it enabled Wilson to recover nearly $400K in forfeited salary. Meanwhile, he has made an immediate impact since returning to the lineup, collecting a goal and two assists while averaging over 19 minutes per night in his first three games back.
Chychrun Extension: The Coyotes have locked up another part of their long-term core, inking defenseman Jakob Chychrun to a six-year, $26.7MM contract extension. When healthy, the 20-year-old has been a dependable player on Arizona’s back end since they drafted him 16th overall in 2016. They timed the announcement to be on the same day that he made his season debut after coming back from knee surgery. However, he sustained an upper-body injury in that game and as a result, he finds himself back on injured reserve. It’s safe to say that the Coyotes will be hoping that Chychrun will be able to stay in the lineup a lot more often when this new deal kicks in for the 2019-20 season.
Concussion Lawsuit Settled: The league announced that they have reached a tentative settlement with nearly 150 former players in the lawsuit filed over the NHL’s treatment of players with concussions. Notably, the league does not formally acknowledge any liability and the total of the settlement will approach $19MM, working out to roughly $22K per player. Each player has 75 days to decide whether or not to opt into the settlement and the league has the option to terminate the agreement if they so desire if any players back out. (Daniel Carcillo has already stated his intention to do so.)
Rangers, Oilers Swap: Ryan Strome and Ryan Spooner have both gotten off to rough starts this season with just a goal and an assist apiece. The Rangers and Oilers decided to give those players a change of scenery as New York sent Spooner and cash to Edmonton. Spooner is just one year removed from tallying 41 points in just 59 games and Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is familiar with him from his days in Boston. Meanwhile, Strome returns to the Metropolitan Division where he had some success with the Islanders including a 50-point season in 2014-15. Spooner has a $4MM cap hit while Strome checks in at $3.1MM; the Rangers will cover $900K each year to make it cap-neutral. Both players are signed through next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
22k per player for permanent brain damage? Is the NHL making a joke or what? You gotta be kidding me.