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Archives for April 2019

Brock Boeser “Open To Anything” In Contract Negotiations

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When you look at the Vancouver Canucks salary cap situation for next season, there is one big question that needs answering. No, not whether Nikolay Goldobin will have a place on the team or what kind of deals Josh Teves and Brogan Rafferty will earn after signing out of college. The biggest and most pressing question of the Canucks offseason is what happens to Brock Boeser? The 22-year old sniper is coming off his entry-level contract and should be in line for a huge raise. Vancouver though will need to decide whether they want to lock him in long-term right away, or sign a shorter deal that keeps him under their control as it expires. Boeser, for his part, is apparently “open to anything” according to his agent Ben Hankinson who was on Sportsnet radio this morning (via Rick Dhaliwal):

We will figure it out, whether it’s a one-year deal or eight-year deal, something is going to happen in between now and six months from now. I don’t know if there is a big rush, I would like to get it done with Jim [Benning], that could happen in the next week or later on. We are both open to discussing all options. Overall Brock is open to anything.

Boeser has been one of the most productive goal scorers in the league since joining the Canucks less than 24 hours after his University of North Dakota team was eliminated from the 2017 NCAA tournament. He scored in that first game as part of the Vancouver organization and hasn’t slowed down, tallying 59 goals in 140 games. Injuries have been the only thing that stopped Boeser from reaching the 30-goal plateau in each of his first two seasons, but they could also put a cap on how much he’s able to earn on a long-term deal signed this summer.

Instead, Boeser and the Canucks may want to look at something shorter to prove he can stay healthy and productive for a whole season. The team has plenty of cap space, but does need to keep one eye on the future after the impressive debuts from some of their other young players. Elias Pettersson looks like he’ll demand a huge contract in a few years, and Quinn Hughes could do the same if he builds off his outstanding first impression. Those shouldn’t decide what kind of deal is offered this summer to Boeser, but a good team is always looking towards the future and trying to stay out of cap trouble.

Still, there may be some real value in locking up Boeser right away. Shock waves were sent through NHL front offices when the Toronto Maple Leafs recently committed such a huge cap number to Auston Matthews while only getting five years of term, a deal that will make the star center an unrestricted free agent at age 26 but is also paying him nearly $16MM next season. While Boeser obviously won’t be pulling in that kind of dough, the idea of expensive five-year deals for players coming off their ELC is not one that teams will want to emulate given how it walks them right into UFA status at a young age.

Today is all about the draft lottery and where the Canucks will select in June, but before long they’ll be sitting down and hammering out a deal with Boeser. His agent has already suggested it will be a painless negotiation, meaning the team will get back to preparing for a 2019-20 season which could see them get back to the playoffs. If they do, Boeser will be a big part of it.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Morrissey, Tanev, Juolevi, Grundstrom

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The Jets will have a key part of their back end available when their playoff series gets underway as NHL.com’s Scott Billeck reports that defenseman Josh Morrissey has been cleared to return after missing the last 20 games of the regular season with an upper-body injury.  He’s expected to immediately rejoin Winnipeg’s top pairing where he logged over 22 minutes a night before the injury.

However, the injury news isn’t all good.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including TSN’s Sara Orlesky (Twitter link), that Brandon Tanev will not suit up on Wednesday due to a finger injury that cost him the final two games of the season.  The physical winger led the Jets and finished third overall in hits with 278 while chipping in with 29 points in 80 games.

More from the West:

  • Canucks defense prospect Olli Juolevi is progressing well from his knee surgery back in December, agent Markus Lehto stated on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). The fifth pick back in 2016 was in the minors at the time and had gotten off to a strong start to his first AHL season.  Lehto indicated that Juolevi should be ready to participate in training camp in September.
  • Kings winger Carl Grundstrom is dealing with concussion-like symptoms, notes Curtis Zupke of the LA Times (Twitter link).  The injury occurred in their final game on Saturday.  Grundstrom made a strong first impression with Los Angeles after being acquired from Toronto as part of the return for defenseman Jake Muzzin, collecting five goals and an assist in just 15 games while averaging just shy of 15 minutes a night of playing time.

Senators Not Likely To Retain Magnus Paajarvi And Oscar Lindberg

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The Senators are likely to not bring back winger Magnus Paajarvi and center Oscar Lindberg for next season, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  However, Ottawa appears to be inclined to issue a qualifying offer to winger Anthony Duclair and may attempt to keep winger Brian Gibbons who made a significant impact after being acquired late in the season.

Paajarvi never quite lived up to his draft billing as a tenth overall pick of the Oilers back in 2009.  While he had a regular role this season, he wasn’t overly productive as he posted just 19 points in 80 games.  With several younger forwards looking to make a push for a roster spot next season, it appears Paajarvi will be yielding his spot to one of them.

As for Lindberg, the trade deadline deal that saw him join the Senators didn’t do much to bolster his offensive game despite a boost in playing time.  Between Ottawa and Vegas, he had 20 points in 55 games and as a 27-year-old old pivot, he’ll garner some interest on the open market in July.

Duclair came over from Columbus as part of the Ryan Dzingel deal just before the trade deadline.  He signed with the Blue Jackets in a hope to revive his career but it didn’t happen.  However, he showed some promising signs after the trade, collecting 14 points in 21 games, giving him 33 points on the season, the second-most of his career.  That should be worth a $715K qualifying offer although he is eligible for salary arbitration.

Gibbons, meanwhile, was brought in for minor league defender Patrick Sieloff to fill a roster spot for the stretch run to allow the younger players to remain at AHL Belleville.  After being invisible with Anaheim after putting up just five points in 44 games, he picked up 14 in 20 contests following the trade.  Clearly, he showed he fits in with Ottawa so depending on the contract he’s looking for – he made $1MM this season – he could be a fit to stick around in a depth role.

Blackhawks Expect To Be Active In Free Agency

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Last summer, the Blackhawks were fairly quiet on the free agent market with their July 1st signings consisting of goalie Cam Ward, defenseman Brandon Manning, and winger Chris Kunitz.  As a cap-strapped team with several holes to fill, they had no choice but to look at bringing in depth players.

That should change this summer, at least if GM Stan Bowman has his way.  Speaking with reporters, including NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis, Bowman indicated that he expects that the team will be a lot more active on the open market than they have been in recent years.

The expected departures of Ward, Kunitz, and center Marcus Kruger give Chicago $6.775MM to play with while they’re also not weighed down by Marian Hossa’s long-term cap hit ($5.275MM through 2020-21) either.  While Hossa’s career is over, that amount is on the books in the summer which restricted the flexibility that the Blackhawks had at the time.

As things stand, Chicago has a little under $61MM tied up in 15 players for next season, per CapFriendly.  With the Upper Limit expected to push past the $80MM mark, that leaves them with lots of room to work with.

Having said that, they would be wise not to spend right to the cap ceiling with multi-year deals.  Winger Alex DeBrincat is a restricted free agent next summer and his next contract is going to be a hefty one after he put up 41 goals this season so they’ll need to keep some money aside for that deal.  They may also want to keep a bit freed up for next summer knowing that starting goalie Corey Crawford is going to be an unrestricted free agent and they will likely need to commit big money to a starter, whether that’s Crawford or someone else.

Even with that in mind, however, they should have enough to make a splash on the free agent market in July.  They’ve been speculatively linked to Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin given his success with Chicago in the past but they may also want to look into upgrading their back end as well.  Whichever way they go, Bowman will have some financial flexibility to work with and it has been a while since he had that.

Minnesota Wild Start Front Office Changes

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If you though the changes in Minnesota were over following the big trades they made this season, you were wrong. Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the team have fired former assistant general managers Andrew Brunette and Shep Harder along with lead hockey researcher Andrew C. Thomas. Russo adds that Chris O’Hearn could potentially be brought in as a replacement AGM, and Bruce Boudreau is expected to return as head coach.

All three of the people the Wild let go would’ve seen their contracts come to an end this summer, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were looking for a shakeup in the front office. After years of making the playoffs but failing to progress, the team brought in GM Paul Fenton to enact drastic change on the organization. The roster looks much different after veterans like Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle were all sent packing, and now the front office will have several new voices as well.

Brunette especially was a well known member of the Wild, going back to his playing days with the team. The veteran of 1,110 NHL games spent several seasons in Minnesota over two stints with the team, and re-joined the organization after retirement in 2012. Harder too had been with the team for more than a decade, starting as an intern.

The Wild missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 2012, but made a commitment to get younger by acquiring pieces like Victor Rask, Ryan Donato and Kevin Fiala. The team also signed top college free agent Nico Sturm, and will have a chance tomorrow at winning the draft lottery to move up in the first round. Still, there are big decisions to be made on what direction the team takes this summer. Veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be entering the final year of his current contract and is eligible for an extension on July 1st. So too is Mikko Koivu, though his future depends much more on how his 36-year old body responds to a major knee injury.

There’s also plenty of work to be done, as Sturm, Donato, Fiala, Joel Eriksson Ek, Pontus Aberg are all restricted free agents that need new contracts. If all five of those players are back with full-time roles, there may not be enough room for the rest of the veteran group including Jason Zucker, who was close to being traded to the Calgary Flames at the deadline and could be a candidate to be moved this summer.

Minor Transactions: 04/08/19

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Though we won’t get many transactions this late in the year, teams will take the opportunity over the next few days to send some of their younger players back down to the minor leagues. The AHL season still has another few games to go, and players who are playoff-eligible in the minor leagues will not be quite done with their season even if they’ve already cleared out their NHL locker. We’ll keep track of all these minor moves right here:

  • The Anaheim Ducks have sent Sam Steel, Max Jones, Jacob Larsson and Jaycob Megna down to the San Diego Gulls, giving the AHL squad a boost as they try to lock up a playoff spot. The Gulls are currently in third place in the Pacific Division but haven’t yet clinched a spot thanks to a hard charging Tucson Roadrunners team.
  • Bobby Nardella has signed an amateur tryout with the Hershey Bears, joining the club after recently agreeing to an entry-level deal with the Washington Capitals. Nardella will be joining a Hershey team that has already locked up a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and who have their eyes set on a Calder Cup run.
  • As if Carter Hart wasn’t enough for the Philadelphia Flyers, another young goaltender has joined the organization. Felix Sandstrom has been assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after his season in the SHL came to an end. The 22-year old goaltender signed his entry-level deal with the Flyers in 2018, and was originally selected by them in the third round of the 2015 draft.
  • With Louis Domingue returning from his minor injury, Eddie Pasquale is on his way back to the Syracuse Crunch. That’s a big deal for a team that is one of the favorites to win a Calder Cup this season. The Crunch have the second best record in the entire NHL, and have been relying on Pasquale all season. The 28-year old goaltender has a 25-12-3 record with a .916 save percentage this year.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have sent Alexander Nylander, Lawrence Pilut and Victor Olofsson back to the Rochester Americans for their playoff run, as all three are eligible to compete in the AHL postseason. The Americans have already clinched a spot and could very well make a run at the Calder Cup this season, especially with this trio of talented players back in the fold.

Ray Shero Signed To Multi-Year Extension

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The New Jersey Devils did not experience much success this season, but that won’t be laid entirely at the feet of GM Ray Shero. In fact, the team has rewarded him with a multi-year extension.

Shero, 56, was brought in to replace legendary front office executive Lou Lamoriello in 2015 and set about a slow rebuild for a once great franchise. The Devils had gone to the playoffs in 24 of 27 seasons between 1987-88 and 2011-12, winning three of the five Stanley Cup Finals appearances during that time. After missing for three consecutive seasons following the 2012 finals appearance, changes were made including the firing of head coach Peter DeBoer and hiring of Shero after the rival Pittsburgh Penguins had let him go.

Though he hasn’t brought about a ton of success, the Devils did shock the NHL by making the playoffs last season with a 44-29-9 record. The team was filled with young players like 2017 first-overall pick Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Will Butcher, while Taylor Hall finally broke out and won the Hart Trophy after scoring 39 goals and 93 points in just 76 games. This season saw the Devils revert to their previous struggles as Hall and others missed huge chunks of the season due to injury. The club finished closer to last place in the NHL than the playoffs at 31-41-10.

Still, there is reason to believe that Shero is building a winner. Hischier took another step forward as a legitimate first line option, and the team has six picks in the first three rounds at this June’s draft. That includes a first-round pick that could very well be first overall if they find some luck tomorrow night at the draft lottery. He’ll get the chance to see his plan through to the end, though there will certainly be higher stakes moving forward. The Devils have to try and find a way to convince Hall to re-sign before it is too late, as the star winger is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next year. If they can find some success in 2019-20 it would certainly help the process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Todd McLellan Linked To Buffalo Sabres

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Though there had been plenty of chatter surrounding the Los Angeles Kings and former Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, the two may not be getting together after all. Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic tweets that McLellan is “closing in” on a deal with the Buffalo Sabres to become the team’s next head coach, which could be announced as soon as tomorrow. The Sabres have not officially commented one way or the other.

The Kings did ask for permission to speak with McLellan, who is still technically under contract with the Oilers despite having been relieved of his coaching duties. Some believed they were even closing in on a deal, though there is nothing confirmed from the Kings or the Sabres at this point. At the very least we know that McLellan will be behind the bench somewhere next season, returning to a career that brought him plenty of NHL success before his stint in Edmonton.

McLellan took over as head coach of the San Jose Sharks in 2008 and led the team to seven straight winning seasons. The club posted a 311-163-66 record under his watch and missed the playoffs only in his final year. Unfortunately the Sharks weren’t able to ever make a Stanley Cup Finals appearance with McLellan behind the bench, something they did in Peter DeBoer’s first year.

In Edmonton, things didn’t go nearly as well. McLellan was brought in to stabilize the franchise and guide it back to glory in 2015 just before they selected Connor McDavid first overall. Unfortunately even McDavid hasn’t been able to help right the ship, as in McLellan’s four years the team only went to the playoffs a single time. He finished his Oilers career with a 123-119-24 record, certainly not good enough when icing one of the best players in the world every night.

Bob McKenzie of TSN notes on Twitter that nothing seems to be completed between the Sabres and McLellan, though the coach was already scheduled to be in the area for the NCAA Frozen Four. We’ll have to wait to see if the Sabres can lock him up, or if the Kings come back with a better offer to sway things back in their favor.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Hitchcock, Skinner

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The NHL has released their three stars of last week, and in the lead is a player who has had quite a roller coaster season. Vladimir Tarasenko had seven points in four games to help secure a Central Division playoff spot for the St. Louis Blues, just months after being one of the players rumored to be drawing interest in trade negotiations. The Blues went from a team considering blowing up its core to one that very well could contend for the Stanley Cup, and Tarasenko’s turnaround is one of the reasons why. The 27-year old sniper scored 46 points in his final 39 games and was a +23 during that time, finishing the year with his fifth consecutive season of 33 or more goals.

It’s not just the Blues who have hot players heading into the playoffs though, as Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators and Alexander Radulov of the Dallas Stars take home the other two stars this week. Rinne is proving once again that he is one of the most reliable goaltenders in the entire league and enters the playoffs as Nashville’s presumptive starter despite a strong push by backup Juuse Saros. Radulov meanwhile finished his season strong and crossed the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his career, ending with 72 in 70 games played.

  • The Edmonton Oilers will let their next GM decide what to do with the coaching position, as CEO Bob Nicholson told reporters today that Ken Hitchcock’s time behind the bench has come to an end for the time being. The legendary coach was only meant to be in that position for the rest of this season, and though Nicholson wouldn’t rule out the idea of him returning, said the new GM will be able to hire who he wants. Hitchcock will stay in the Oilers organization as an advisor, something the incoming front office will need as they try to turn things around for the organization.
  • After a disastrous season in Buffalo the Sabres fired their coach and held frustrated media availability today, but the focus will now turn to pending unrestricted free agent Jeff Skinner. The team has been in contact with Skinner’s representatives for some time, and the talented forward once again reiterated that he loves the city and organization and has “had a great time.” Skinner scored 40 goals for the first time in his career and could potentially be one of the very best forwards available this summer. The clock is ticking for the Sabres, as every day that passes makes the chance at free agency that much harder to resist.

Jay Bouwmeester Signs One-Year Extension

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After being left for dead by fans in the early part of the season, Jay Bouwmeester has experienced a career revival in the second half and will be a key part of the St. Louis Blues playoff hopes. Today he was rewarded for that rebound season with a one-year extension worth $3.25MM taking him through the 2019-20 season.

Bouwmeester was set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but will now be back in St. Louis under an age-35+ contract. The left-handed defenseman will turn 36 in September, but was still able to suit up for 78 games this season and record 17 points. Once a premier minute-munching two-way defenseman, Bouwmeester has watched his ice time decline in recent seasons. Still, he finished the year averaging nearly 21 a night on a blue line that is relatively right-heavy. Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo were the only two who logged more minutes at even strength.

He’ll be asked to do much of the same in the playoffs, where he actually doesn’t have a ton of experience. Though Bouwmeester has suited up 1,184 times in the regular season, he has just 49 playoff games under his belt, all of them coming since joining St. Louis in 2013. He has never scored a playoff goal and has just six point in those 49 postseason contests, a number that he’ll try to increase this time around.

The Blues have two other veteran defensemen coming off the books this season as Michael Del Zotto and Carl Gunnarsson approach free agency, meaning they’ll still have room for some younger players to take bigger roles. Bouwmeester is taking quite a pay cut to stay with the team—he carried a $5.4MM cap hit this season—meaning he very well could be fine with a reduced role as well. All of that will be decided in a few weeks though, as all the focus is now on the Winnipeg Jets and the first round of the postseason.

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