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PHR Mailbag: Rangers, Free Agency, Wild, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Young Defensemen, Draft

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the offseason for the Rangers, the upcoming UFA market, Minnesota’s big contracts, Toronto’s defense corps, Detroit’s contract situation, young blueliners that could be primed to make an NHL impact, and the upcoming draft class.

This is the second half of the mailbag from questions submitted earlier this month.  The first half of the mailbag can be found here.

met man: How active do you think the Rangers will be in free agency? Will they buy out any contracts?

pitmanrich: How do you see the Rangers defense pairings next season; they carried eight this year but with the additions of Fox and Hajek and possibly Lindgren ready to suit up some will have to go. All the other teams will know this and it will weaken any trade attempts.

acarneglia: Will Lundqvist waive his NTC? If so where’s a likely destination? Florida? Edmonton? Carolina?

There were several New York questions in our most recent call for questions so let’s tackle them together.

I expect the Rangers will be active on the open market but not just in terms of top players like defenseman Erik Karlsson who they’ve already been linked to.  Yes, they have the cap room to make some big moves but I think they’ll also be going after players that I like to call buffer guys.  These are players that will take a short-term contract and basically hold down a spot until a younger player is ready to come up on a full-time basis.  At that time, the veteran gets traded.  If they sign a couple of those players, they’ll allow some of their prospects to develop in the minors some more and give themselves some trade chips at the same time.

On the buyout front, there are players that are candidates (Brendan Smith comes to mind) but it’s not like they’re hurting for cap room.  Unless they have several big signings planned, they’d be better off riding out the bad contracts they have instead of taking some short-term savings knowing that they’ll be adding to their costs down the road when they’re coming out of the rebuild and some of their younger players will need new deals.

Looking at their current back end, I think Brady Skjei and Kevin Shattenkirk reprise their pairing from the end of the season (unless Shattenkirk is traded).  Marc Staal is still probably going to be in a top-four role and I think Neal Pionk will slot in alongside him.  Then it gets interesting.  Adam Fox is probably going to be on the roster as is Anthony DeAngelo.  Both are right-shot players so they probably won’t make up a pairing; instead, one will serve as the seventh defender.  I’m not sure Yegor Rykov is ready for that role just yet and I think Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek need more development time as well.  I think that third pairing left spot will be filled in free agency by one of those buffer players.

As for Lundqvist, I know his comments earlier in the summer about not necessarily finishing up in New York are out there but he has kiboshed a trade already.  Knowing that they’re closer to getting back into contention in the next couple of years, I don’t think he has the desire to change his stance on that.

pawtucket: There are a lot of good FA goalies (Varlamov, Bobrovsky, Lehner, Mrazek, Talbot). Where do they all end up?

I don’t think we’re going to see the musical chairs for goalies that we’ve seen in recent years.  In particular, I think Robin Lehner will be inclined to stay with the Islanders and Petr Mrazek should get a new deal from the Hurricanes.

Sergei Bobrovsky is by far the best goalie available but there aren’t a ton of teams looking for a number one, especially at the price point he’ll be seeking.  Florida has been a speculative suitor for a while now and they’re probably the best fit for him so let’s put him there.  I know Columbus is open to going with an unproven duo between the pipes for next season but someone like Semyon Varlamov on a short-term deal makes a lot of sense for them.  They get some short-term security, he gets a chance to prove that he can still be a starter.

I really liked the Cam Talbot acquisition for the Flyers and figured he’d be a great fit with Carter Hart.  Then he barely played down the stretch which makes me question how much he’ll want to stay there.  Assuming Mike Smith doesn’t re-sign in Calgary, I could see the Flames looking for someone that can play more than typical backup minutes and Talbot would fit that bill.  Lots will change in the next month but those would be my current predictions.

sovietcanuckistanian: What/whom do you think will be the biggest overpay in terms of AAV/length of free agent contract and where might they be going?

My money is on Duchene. While not a terrible player he is not anyone’s idea of a team’s alpha dog, but might actually get paid like one.

Matt Duchene will certainly be a candidate in terms of AAV, at the very least.  He’s not a true franchise forward but he’s coming off of a strong postseason and plays a premium position.  He’s going to get a pricey contract but he’ll be capped at a seven-year term unless he re-signs in Columbus before July 1st.  He’s only 28 so that term shouldn’t be crippling.

My choice is Winnipeg defenseman Tyler Myers.  The market for right-shot defensemen is basically Karlsson and then him.  Anyone who strikes out on Karlsson will probably be looking at Myers, who has played big minutes in the past.  However, his effectiveness has waned in recent years and he’s someone that probably ideally slots in as a fourth or fifth defender.  He’s going to get a lot more money than someone in that role should get.  I could see the Flyers and Devils as landing spots – they have the cap space to pay up and fairly thin depth on the right side.

Bdd1967: How hard would it be salary cap wise for Minnesota to dump Parise and Suter or work out deals to get them off the roster? Those two suck up so much cash it makes it impossible to surround them with enough talent to win. It’s getting really, really old…mediocrity is the standard with this club.

There’s a significant difference in market value between the two.  If GM Paul Fenton was to say that Ryan Suter is available, he’d have five phone calls before he has time to get a coffee.  Suter’s deal is expensive for sure but he’s still a legitimate top pairing defender.  Very few of those are typically available in any offseason and those that are will get long-term deals at a higher price tag than Suter.  He’s also quite durable having only missed nine regular season games over seven years with the franchise.  Yes, the fact that he’s 34 and has six years left is concerning but he still has several above average years left in him which would be enough to make teams pay a significant price to get him.

The same case probably can’t be made for Zach Parise.  His injury history is a concern and even though he had a nice bounce-back season in 2018-19, there are going to be questions about his potential level of productivity moving forward.  He produced like a top liner this season but before that, he was more of a second-liner.  A $7.5MM price tag for one of those (for six years) doesn’t have a ton of value.  Still, I think Fenton could get out of the deal without needing much of a sweetener – he’d just have to take a big (but shorter-term) contract in return.  If they have eyes on trying to get back to the postseason next year though, a move like that wouldn’t help.

ThePriceWasRight: With another failed playoff, do you see the Leafs finally sacrificing some of their young forwards for defensive depth? Everyone loves the kids coming up but no way they are comfortable come playoff time with two, maybe three rookies on that back end.

If there was ever a time to do that, this would be it.  It’s unlikely Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey will be back while Travis Dermott won’t be ready to start the season.  As a result, they’ll be starting the season with Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Nikita Zaitsev, and three mediocre and/or unproven options.  There are some prospects on the horizon but a buffer player or two would help.

Toronto has several prospect forwards that they could deal from but I could see them moving one of Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson to fill that void rather than a prospect who would likely only yield a prospect in return.  Given their cap situation, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to retain both wingers and with the way both performed, they could fetch a pretty good young (cost-effective) defender.  With some of the youngsters on the horizon (adding a seemingly NHL-ready Ilya Mikheyev certainly helps), they can promote from within to fill the gap.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Maple Leafs look for a veteran free agent in the $1MM range.  While they wouldn’t land a top-four player for that price, there are usually some reasonable third pairing players that will slip through the cracks and take a bargain deal.  If they can do that and flip Kapanen or Johnsson for another rearguard, they’ll be in reasonable shape in terms of depth to start the season.  Give their youngsters like Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren a bit more development time in the minors and their depth for next postseason should be pretty good as well.

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Offseason Keys: Florida Panthers

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With the postseason down to just three teams, many squads are well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Florida Panthers.

While Florida missed the playoffs last season, they were a popular pick to take a step forward in 2018-19.  Not only were they coming off a strong finish the year before, they also added some help offensively in Mike Hoffman over the summer in one of the stranger moves of the offseason that saw him get dealt twice in mere hours.  Between that and another year of development of a promising young core, things were supposed to be looking up.  It didn’t quite work that way.  While Florida had minimal issues scoring, keeping the puck out of the net proved to be too insurmountable of a challenge and the end result was a 10-point drop in the standings and a quick coaching change at the end of the season to bring in Joel Quenneville.  With that move taken care of, here are the on-ice keys to Florida’s offseason.

Add A Core Defenseman

Between Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, and Mike Matheson, the Panthers have some serviceable pieces on their back end.  While Ekblad may not become the true number one that his draft billing would suggest, he’s a capable two-way player.  Yandle remains one of the better offensive threats on the blueline while Matheson has shown flashes of potential as well.

Beyond that, the depth gets thin quite quickly.  Mark Pysyk is miscast in a top-four role while youngsters Mackenzie Weeger, Josh Brown, and Ian McCoshen are all depth players.  That will need to change if they want to turn things around.

They have been linked to Artemi Panarin given his history with Quenneville but they would be better off finding another legitimate top-four blueliner.  Unfortunately, there aren’t many of those available in free agency so they may have to go the trade route to get one.  If Florida wants to get back into the playoffs, they’ll need more from their back end than their top three can provide.

Find A Starting Goalie

Everyone knew that this moment was coming eventually.  At the age of 40, Roberto Luongo has shown signs of breaking down and isn’t a legitimate starting goalie anymore.  James Reimer was brought in to provide some stability as someone that could play a lot more than a typical starter.  However, he too has had injury issues and when he has played, he was no better than Luongo.

Both goalies are signed for multiple years still.  Luongo has three years at $4.533MM (with Vancouver paying another $800K) and Reimer checks in at $3.4MM for two more seasons.  That’s a fair bit of money tied into their goalies.

However, they don’t have a choice anymore.  A new number one goalie is a must-get this summer, even if it means they wind up spending more on that position than any other team.  There isn’t much hope in the system – Sam Montembeault could be a future backup but not a starter – so they can’t afford to wait it out.  The Panthers are clearly not rebuilding and are in win-now mode and a tandem of Luongo and Reimer won’t get them there.

Sergei Bobrovsky is by far the best goalie in free agency and given Florida’s cap space, he could very well be the perfect fit for them.  If that doesn’t happen though, they’ll need a Plan B in place.  Is that Semyon Varlamov or another lower-tier starter?  Or do they try to trade for a young goalie in the hopes that he’ll develop quickly?  There will be plenty of questions over the next six weeks until July 1st comes around and they find out who their next starter will be.

Extension Talks

Hoffman wound up being a great addition.  He fit in quite well with Florida’s high-end attack and responded with a career year, posting 36 goals and 34 assists.  He will be entering the final year of his contract in 2019-20 and will be looking for a sizable raise on his current $5.1875MM AAV.  The same can be said for winger Evgenii Dadonov.  His three-year, $12MM deal was viewed as a big gamble given how he fared in his first NHL stint but he has more than lived up to his contract and put up a 70-point campaign of his own this past season.

The good news for Florida is that their other core forwards are all locked up through at least 2021-22 so there aren’t some other big-ticket contracts coming due in the next little while.  Depending on how much they opt to spend in free agency (they have plenty of cap room but have been a budget team the last couple of years), they should be able to keep at least one of them around if not both.  If they can get new deals done for these two and shore up the goaltending situation at the very least, it could be a very quick turnaround for the Panthers heading into 2019-20.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eastern Notes: Williams, Canadiens Trade Options, Pettersson

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With the Carolina Hurricanes season over a little quicker than they would have hoped for after a quick four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference champ, there are now a bunch of questions surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes, with one question about what to do with soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Justin Williams.

The veteran captain will turn 38 years old early on in the season next year, but he was a key piece for Carolina’s success, posting 23 goals and 53 points last season as well as four goals and seven points in 15 playoff games. The News & Observer’s Chip Alexander writes that after signing a two-year deal at $4.5MM turned out great for Carolina two years ago and believes that Williams would be willing to come back on a one-year deal at roughly the same price.

“I know how much he’s put into this and I know there’s only so much gas in the tank, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I’m going to make sure he takes a couple of months before he makes a decision.”

  • Eric Engels of Sportsnet writes that with the top two free agent defensemen that Montreal Canadiens’ Marc Bergevin can add this offseason in Jake Gardiner and Alexander Edler (both of whom may not be worth the money it would take to sign them), the Canadiens might have to solve their need for a top-four defensemen via trade. The scribe suggests the team might have to move some of their top young prospects to improve its blueline and might have to consider moving either Nick Suzuki, Ryan Poehling, Cayden Primeau, Jesse Ylonen or Alex Romanov for help. One idea would be to try to pry Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere away with one of those top prospects as the 26-year-old could be moved to add more long-term help. Gostisbehere might immediately upgrade a defense which still needs help on their top-four. The scribe adds that Florida’s Mike Matheson could also be a candidate if the Panthers need to move out some salary to sign top free agents, which is expected.
  • TribLive’s Jonathan Bombulie writes that with Jake Guentzel’s new contract kicking in this season as his salary goes from $925K to $6MM next season, the team must be real careful in their negotiations with their five restricted free agents. The team expects that defenseman Marcus Pettersson should walk away with the biggest raise, as the team projects that Pettersson’s salary should increase from $794K to somewhere under $2MM per season. The 23-year-old defenseman established himself in Pittsburgh’s crowded defense after the Penguins acquired him in December for forward Daniel Sprong. Pettersson had two goals and 19 points in 57 games in Pittsburgh and had a plus-13 ratio on the ice.

Pacific Notes: Boeser, Brodie, Schmaltz

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While the names of Mitch Marner, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point and William Karlsson are popular names brought up amongst the multitude of upcoming restricted free agents this summer, one name that often gets missed is Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser. The 22-year-old has been a key figure with the Canucks the past two years as he’s combined for 51 goals and 111 points in the last two seasons, making him quite an interesting figure, considering Vancouver needs to lock him up.

The Athletic’s Harman Dayal (subscription required) analyzes what it might take for the Canucks to sign Boeser this summer. While the Canucks have the cap space to be generous to their young forward, the scribe writes they need to be cautious as both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will be watching as they will also be looking for new record-breaking deals in the next two years, but when noting that it took Boeser a couple of years to break into the league before his entry-level deal kicked in, the best comparisons are Filip Forsberg and Jordan Eberle. With those numbers in mind, the scribe says that a rough estimate puts Boeser at approximately $7.25MM with Boeser likely asking for $8MM, while the Canucks hoping to keep it as close to $7MM as possible.

However, with no eligibility for arbitration or a potential offer sheet to use as leverage, Boeser isn’t exactly in the prime situation to force the Canucks to pay $8MM unless he wants to hold out.

  • While there has been talk that the Calgary Flames might be ready to move on from defenseman T.J. Brodie with their influx of talented blueliners ready to take bigger roles in the near future, The Athletic’s Kent Wilson (subscription required) does an in-depth look at Mark Giordano as well as his impact on Brodie. The scribe notes that Brodie, who looked to be on the decline a year ago, had an improved year when paired with Giordano, but when he wasn’t playing with the star defenseman, Brodie’s numbers were extremely mediocre, even more suggesting that Calgary might be best served in moving Brodie now before his value slips even more. The 28-year-old will be in a contract-year at $4.65MM, which might make him even more valuable to other NHL teams.
  • Craig Morgan of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Arizona Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz, who the team acquired last November but only appeared in 17 games before going down with a season-ending meniscus injury, is changing his diet in hopes of being in the best shape of his career. With a history of eating burgers and cheese curds, the team has asked him to start eating healthier this summer. “I have never really cooked in my life,” he said. “It was always easier to go out or order something, but learning how to cook healthy food is a big step, and you can really focus on that in the summer.”

Morning Notes: Bruins’ Long Wait, Kapanen, Kakko, Svechnikov

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During his press conference on Saturday, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said the team would go outside the organization for advice on how utilize their time correctly considering they don’t play again until May 27, which is still eight days away. The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required) adds that Sweeney was talking about consulting the New England Patriots of the NFL, a team that has spent quite a bit of time playing in Super Bowl games.

In fact, Boston’s four major franchises have combined for 12 titles this century, but with six Super Bowl Championships, the Patriots may know how to stay sharp more than anyone. The team hopes to take some of Bill Belichick’s tips to heart. “Hopefully they’ll be able to share some information with us,” Sweeney said.

There was initially some talk of an intra-squad game, but there is no real way to simulate a Stanley Cup Finals game, nor is the team thrilled about opening up their players to possible injury. In the end, rest might be the best course of action.

In the short term, it’s really beneficial for our group. We’ve been pedal to the metal here, mentally and physically, for a while. I do believe in the short term it will help us a lot. Then it’s incumbent upon us to simulate the best we can with what’s going to be required going forward.

  • TVA Sports (translation required) suggests that while there are plenty of rumors surrounding the Montreal Canadiens being interested in putting together an offer sheet to pry Mitch Marner away from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the writer suggests instead the team should use an offer sheet instead to get Kasperi Kapanen, which would have a much higher chance of success. If the Canadiens offer Kapanen a deal anywhere from $4.23MM to $6.63MM for at least three years, the compensation would only be a first and a third-round pick, which would likely be worth the acquisition.
  • The New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski reports 2019 draft prospect Kaapo Kakko said that his goal is to become the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft to the New Jersey Devils. Kakko is currently expected to be the second-overall pick in the draft, slated to go to the New York Rangers with prospect Jack Hughes expected to end up in New Jersey. However, an impressive showing so far at the World Championships for Finland might be enough to push him one notch higher. “This is a big thing for me for the draft,” Kakko told NHL.com through a translator. “I think I can be the first [pick]. “I’ve played well. I haven’t paid much attention to Jack Hughes and his game, but I’m confident I’ve been able to let everyone see my skills and the level of my game. It’s not going to be an easy choice for the teams.”
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press looks back at the Detroit Red Wings’ 2015 NHL draft, analyzing its success. The team drafted Evgeny Svechnikov that year, who lost some valuable development time last season when he was forced to undergo ACL surgery in September. While the team still has a few pending prospects from that draft, the key to the draft will be Svechnikov, who so far has just two goals in 16 games and needs a bounce-back season if they don’t want to look at that draft as a failure.

Snapshots: Boston Black Aces, Bellemare, Luostarinen

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With a long layoff coming until their next matchup, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney revealed the team’s Black Aces during a press conference earlier today, according to Boston Globe’s Matt Porter. The 12 players are expected to help the NHL team practice and likely to get some practice games in before the Stanley Cup begins on May 27.

The Black Aces will include forwards Anton Blidh, Paul Carey, Peter Cehlarik, Trent Frederic, Zachary Senyshyn, Jack Studnicka and Jordan Szwarz; defensemen Jeremy Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril; and goaltenders Kyle Keyser and Zane McIntyre.

  • Golden Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be seeking a multi-year contract on the open market, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 34-year-old was an important part of the bottom six group in Vegas over the past two seasons; his faceoff prowess and ability to kill penalties should help him garner some interest for teams looking to upgrade their fourth line.  However, with several pricey extensions kicking in for next season, it’s unlikely that Vegas will be able to afford to retain him unless he’s willing to take a pay cut on the $1.45MM he received in each of the last two seasons.
  • Hurricanes prospect Eetu Luostarinen will miss the remainder of the World Championships due to a knee injury, the IIHF announced. The 20-year-old was held off the scoresheet in four appearances.  Luostarinen has one more left on his current contract with KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish SM-liiga and will likely make the jump to North America following the 2019-20 season.

Western Notes: Dunn, Kampf, Stralman, Brown

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The St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Vince Dunn on Sunday for the ever-important Game 5 as Blues head coach Craig Berube said the 22-year-old won’t travel with the team to San Jose after taking a puck to the face during Game 3 on Wednesday, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann.

Berube added that Dunn will be day-to-day with an upper-body injury and he is believed to be dealing with concussion issues. He was well enough to attend Friday’s Game 4’s 2-1 victory, however.

“It’s great,” Berube said after the game. “Dunner’s back here and he’s around his teammates. … It’s awesome to see him. It’s a day-to-day thing right now. I’m not sure exactly when he’s gonna be available to play. So we’ll have to see how that goes, but it’s good to see him around for sure.”

The team did have some good news as winger Sammy Blais is expected to play in Game 5 despite having to leave Game 4 Friday after taking a Brent Burns’ shot off his foot.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiating with restricted free agent center David Kampf. The 24-year-old was signed to a two-year entry-level contract out of the Czech Republic League and has been a success in Chicago, but after making $925K the past two years, he’s in line for a slight raise. While Kampf’s eight goals and 30 points in 109 NHL games isn’t impressive, the forward has been one of Chicago’s best defensive forwards and is expected to be the team’s third or fourth-line center next season. He is eligible for arbitration if the two sides can’t agree to terms.
  • The Province’s Patrick Johnson writes that although Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman will be one of the more interesting defensemen on the free agency market this summer, he doubts that the 33-year-old defenseman would be a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks. Even with a full season of star prospect Quinn Hughes, the team desperately needs to upgrade its defense. However, Johnson writes with the team trying to re-sign Alexander Edler and trying to get one more year out of veteran Chris Tanev, the team likely won’t want to add another veteran defenseman to their lineup.
  • The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Edmonton Oilers should consider helping the Toronto Maple Leafs with their salary cap issues by taking forward Connor Brown off their hands. The scribe believes that the 25-year-old Brown, who has seen his offensive numbers drop in each of the last years, might be the perfect addition for a team that is loaded at the center position, but could use plenty of talent at the wing position. Brown was a former junior teammate of Connor McDavid, suggesting he might make the perfect winger for the star center. Brown scored 20 goals in his first full season with the Maple Leafs back in the 2016-17 season, with many believing he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer. However, that number dropped by six in each of the next two years, to 14 in 2017-18 and then to just eight goals this season. Brown will make $2.1MM next season before becoming a restricted free agent, but the scribe believes that if teamed with McDavid, Brown could easily go back to his 20-goal scoring ways and give the Oilers another offensive weapon that they desperately need. Of course, everything depends on what Toronto would be asking for Brown.

Draft Notes: Blackhawks, Avalanche, Golden Knights

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While the first two picks of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft are considered simple enough for the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers who have to claim the top two players in the draft in Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, the real draft gets started at No. 3 where the Chicago Blackhawks must wade through a bevy of prospects and decide who is the best of the rest.

Many scouts have suggested the next obvious player to be taken could be defenseman Bowen Byram, who Chicago head scout Mark Kelley compared to Paul Coffey. However, would the Blackhawks take a defenseman in the first round after selecting Adam Boqvist and Nicolas Beaudin in the first round last year and Henri Jokiharju in the first round in 2017 (plus taking Ian Mitchell in the second round that year as well).

Even if Chicago is willing to take the plunge to draft another defenseman in the first round, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus (subscription required) writes that the team is banking on success as quickly as possible while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are on top of their game, leaving little time to sit around and develop their first-rounders. Lazerus writes that the team needs the most NHL-ready player to take over and defenseman rarely fit that bill as forwards develop much quicker and produce more quickly than defensemen.

  • Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Colorado Avalanche will find themselves watching what the Blackhawks will do at the draft. The Avalanche, who own the No. 4 pick in the draft, also would be interested in drafting Byram, but could have more pressing needs as well. The team has a number of top defensemen in Tyson Barrie, Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Connor Timmins, which would make Byram a luxury, especially considering they could have a bigger need on offense. While the team has a number of young NHL players in Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot that could fill the team’s second line, none of them have taken that next step in their development. All have done well, but none look like top-six players yet. That could still happen, but the team also has interest in Alex Turcotte, who could help the team out quickly as well.
  • With a need to bring in a future franchise goaltender and the top goaltending prospect, Spencer Knight, likely to be available when the Vegas Golden Knights pick at No. 17, it would look to be a great fit. Even his last name fits perfectly in Vegas. However, Sinbin.vegas’ Ken Boehlke writes that while Marc-Andre Fleury was a major success when he was drafted in the first round back in 2003, there have been 18 goaltenders selected in the first round and few of those have been successful as only five of them have made more than 10 starts in the NHL with only two of them having become franchise goalies for the teams that drafted them in Carey Price and Andrei Vasilevskiy, suggesting the team would be better off going after a skater than taking a major risk with their first-round pick.

Eastern Notes: Canadiens, Armia, Capitals’ Defense, Kadri

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After a couple of down years, the Montreal Canadiens had a much more respectable season last year and with things looking up, general manager Marc Bergevin is going to want to add to his team. With close to $10MM to spend this year, the team could consider going after big-name free agents.

However, Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes that a second option would be for the Canadiens to go after Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner. While offer sheets in the NHL are quite rare, that could change this offseason with so many intriguing restricted free agents out there. The team could conceivably sign Marner to an offer sheet and if the Canadiens offer a deal between $8.54MM to $10.56MM, and successfully pry him away from Toronto, the compensation would be reasonable in two first-round picks, a second-rounder and a third-rounder.

Even if Toronto matches any offer sheet, the Canadiens will have still accomplished quite a bit as the rival franchise is currently struggling with salary cap issues and a big offer would only hamper general manager Kyle Dubas’ long-term plans.

  • Sticking with the Canadiens, while one of the main reasons that the Montreal Canadiens took Joel Armia in the Steve Mason deal was that Armia was from the same hometown in Finland as last year’s top pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Armia has been significant in helping Kotkaniemi to transition to North America. However, while Armia’s numbers have been solid when playing next to Kotkaniemi on the ice, his numbers when playing without him haven’t been that good. The Athletic’s Marc Dupont (subscription required) writes the team needs to be cautious about signing Armia, who hits restricted free agency this summer, to a long-term contract. Armia, who tallied 13 goals as a third-liner, and probably should be signed to a short-term deal to assess for now.
  • The Washington Capitals didn’t get back to the Stanley Cup Finals liked they hoped and with continuous salary cap issues to deal with, there is a good chance the Capitals’ blueline will have to be reconstructed, according to the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. The scribe writes that the team might be ready to move on from veteran defenseman Matt Niskanen, after the team acquired Nick Jensen at the trade deadline. Jensen is four years younger than Niskanen and has the same skillset. The team is also expected to move on from Brooks Orpik, giving more opportunity to the team’s young defensive prospects it has been amassing over the last couple of years, including Jonas Siegenthaler, Lucas Johansen, Alex Alexeyev, Connor Hobbs, Colby Williams and Tyler Lewington.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that the Philadelphia Flyers are going to want to make some type of splash to add a big-name player either through free agency or via trade. While throwing out names like Matt Duchene and Kevin Hayes are one option, the scribe suggests that the Flyers should consider trading for Toronto Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri, who is coming off a career-low 16 goals. With Toronto management down on him somewhat, the Flyers could get a steal of a deal as the center has three years on his deal at a reasonable $4.5MM AAV. Kadri would make an excellent second-line center, who could slide back to the third line once Nolan Patrick is ready to move up.

Bruins’ Wagner, Miller Could Miss Stanley Cup Final

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Even with a 10-day rest, the Boston Bruins injury situation doesn’t look to be changing any time soon. While reports about veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara seem good, the news about Chris Wagner and Kevan Miller weren’t nearly as impressive. According to Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, both players will not be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals and could miss the entire series:

We’ve got some time to evaluate where guys will be. I don’t expect [Miller] to be ready to play. I’ll be really surprised if [Wagner] will be ready to play, but we’ll see where that goes.

Miller, who hasn’t played a game in the playoffs yet and hasn’t appeared in any game since Apr. 4 with a knee injury, suffered a setback while trying to get back. The team had been hoping to bring him back for the Stanley Cup Finals against either the St. Louis Blues or the San Jose Sharks. While Miller has been with the team the entire way, trying to get back on the ice, Wagner’s situation is even worse. The forward suffered an injury to his right arm after blocking a shot from Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Faulk’s in Game 3 of their series and was immediately transported back to Boston. Sweeney added he’d be surprised if Wagner returns for the finals. The team will likely have to lean more on each of their replacements as both Connor Clifton and Noel Acciari have played well in their absence.

The news, however, for Chara was better as Sweeney said he expects Chara to be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the team intends to monitor his progress over the layoff.

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