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2019 Rosters Announced For CPHL

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Last summer saw the launch of the Chicago Pro Hockey League (CPHL), a charitable offseason league meant to give fans a chance to see some of their favorite players for a reasonable price and give professionals a real game environment to hone their skills. Players like Vinnie Hinostroza and Ryan Hartman will return to the league this time around, though several other interesting names will be taking part. Perhaps most notable is Kendall Coyne-Schofield, who will be playing in the Pro Division after impressing at the All-Star festivities earlier this year. Coyne-Schofield has a long history of domination in women’s hockey, including seven World Championship medals, two Olympic medals and an Isobel Cup as NWHL champion this past season. She was also part of the recent boycott, which indicated that she and more than 200 other top women’s players will not play in the NWHL this year.

The full rosters:

Centric Wealth Management:

F Sean Dhooghe
F Anthony Louis
F T.J. Tynan
F Terry Broadhurst
F Chad Kolarik
F Vinnie Hinostroza
F Austin Wagner
F Bailey Conger
F Anders Bjork

D Robbie Russo
D Vas Kolias
D Bobby Nardella
D Graham Lillibridge
D Louie Belpedio

Chem Station/Delaney:

F Ryan Hartman
F Dan DeSalvo
F Owen Lindmark
F Cole Coskey
F Joe Widmar
F Nick Lappin
F James Sanchez
F Luke Sandler
F Matt Ustaski
F Michael Mersch

D Alex Vlasic
D Chris Joyaux
D Joey Keane
D Vincent LoVerde
D Jake McCabe
D Conor Allen

G Cam Rowe

Jack Phelan Auto Group:

F Sam Povorozniouk
F Thomas Di Pauli
F Sam Herr
F Christian Dvorak
F Michael Floodstrand
F Kendall Coyne-Schofield
F Jack Drury

D Alex Green
D Ivan Chukarov
D Connor Murphy
D Jake McLaughlin
D Connor Carrick

G Cody Karpinski

Warrior Hockey:

F Nick Schilkey
F Seamus Malone
F Scott Pooley
F Josh Nelson
F Brandon Bollig
F Jeff Kubiak
F Brandon Pirri
F Luke Toporowski
F Dave Gust

D Brennan Kapcheck
D Peter Tischke
D Vince Pedrie
D Colin Swoyer

G Alex Sakellaropoulos

Games will be played on Wednesday nights starting in July and proceeds will go to various charities including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Special Olympics Chicago.

Latest On Matt Duchene, Nashville Predators

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The Nashville Predators cleared a whole ton of cap space over the weekend, sending star defenseman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils without taking any notable salaries back. That sets them up to be players in free agency once again, and most expect them to focus on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Matt Duchene. Duchene has long been a target of Predators GM David Poile, and Chris Johnston of Sportsnet has faith that the team will eventually get a deal done. Speaking on the 31 Thoughts podcast, Johnston nearly guaranteed that Duchene will go to Nashville in free agency:

100%. I will admit that I’m putting myself out there a bit because it would be foolish to say that he might not hear something in free agency that could change his mind, that someone might call him or his agents at CAA and offer an amount of money that obviously I don’t think Nashville is willing to give him. But this has been such a long dance between him and the Predators. No secret of his love of country music, of that city itself where he owns a home I believe. The Preds have had their eye on him and were involved in the trade discussions with Colorado going back a couple of years when he ended up in Ottawa. To me, I really don’t see this playing out any other way–but there is the occasional surprise in our business.

Duchene, 28, can now speak with any team during the unrestricted free agent interview period and assess his market for this summer. The veteran center is coming off a career-high 31 goals and 70 points in 2018-19 despite splitting that time between the Ottawa Senators and Blue Jackets. His performance in the playoffs for Columbus was exceptional, laying to rest some of the doubt that has followed him throughout his career. Despite playing in 727 regular season games over ten seasons, Duchene has now suited up just 18 times in the NHL playoffs.

With Kevin Hayes setting the UFA market at center with a seven-year, $50MM earlier this month, Duchene can look forward to a huge payday wherever he signs. Though he is almost a year older, Duchene represents such a huge upgrade on the offensive side of the puck that he very well could be looking at a deal worth millions more per season. That kind of deal was impossible for the Predators before moving Subban, and still may require them to move out another contract or two at some point down the road. Kyle Turris is the obvious candidate to go, especially if the team is bringing in Duchene to take over that second-line center role.

Robert Thomas Undergoes Wrist Surgery

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that young forward Robert Thomas underwent a successful surgery to repair a tendon in his left wrist. While not giving a clear timeline, the team explained that Thomas will rehab through the summer before another evaluation ahead of training camp in September.

The injury was sustained during game six of the Western Conference Final, but Thomas did suit up for two more games in the playoffs against the Boston Bruins.

Thomas, 19, came on quicker than many expected when he was selected 20th overall in 2017. The former London Knights forward ended up playing in 70 games for the Blues this season, recording 33 points and proving he can hang at the NHL level already. That’s an impressive accomplishment and one that will have Blues fans expecting even more of the young Thomas next season as they try to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Even in the NHL though, the team can give Thomas time to develop at his own pace. The team has veteran centers like Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Brayden Schenn ahead of him that can take on the bulk of the defensive responsibility along with experienced wingers to help him along. That’s an enviable position to be in, and one that could quickly result in Thomas reaching his full potential. That is of course unless this injury sets him back, which we won’t know until closer to camp.

Travis Sanheim Re-Signs With Philadelphia Flyers

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The Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed young defenseman Travis Sanheim to a two-year contract, avoiding restricted free agency. Sanheim will carry a $3.25MM cap hit over the two years and will still be an RFA when the deal expires in 2021. GM Chuck Fletcher released a statement:

We are very pleased with the progress Travis has made in his young career. He is a skilled, two-way defenseman with excellent size and mobility. He is a big part of our present and our future.

It’s hard to find a player on the Flyers that benefited more when the team decided to fire Dave Hakstol and install minor league head coach Scott Gordon last December. At that point, Sanheim had been playing sparingly for the Flyers, averaging just over 16 minutes of ice time and regularly seeing nothing in close games in the third period. Gordon, familiar with the young defenseman from his time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, immediately promoted him and gave him more than 21 minutes in his first game. Sanheim would average nearly 22 for the rest of the season, and record 25 points in those 51 games.

That kind of production is exactly what the team now expects out of their young defenseman, who only turned 23 in March. Selected 17th overall in 2014, he will now have to impress another new coach, this time experienced bench boss Alain Vigneault. The Flyers will certainly give him that opportunity, but this time it may very well be alongside a veteran like Matt Niskanen or Justin Braun, both brought in this offseason to help stabilize the young Flyers’ defense.

This deal leaves the Flyers with several restricted free agents remaining unsigned, including Ryan Hartman, Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov.

Minnesota Wild Sign Brad Hunt To Extension

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Monday: The Wild have officially announced the two-year $1.4MM contract.

Sunday: The Minnesota Wild have come to terms with one of their own, signing defenseman Brad Hunt to a multi-year agreement, according to The Athletic’s Mike Russo. Terms haven’t been disclosed, but Russo believes the deal is a two-year, one-way pact, likely worth $1.4MM ($700K AAV).

The 30-year-old Hunt came over to Minnesota from Vegas in a January trade and a swap of late draft picks. While having trouble finding consistent playing time with the Golden Knights over his season and a half with them, he immediately found himself with a more permanent role as a bottom-line defenseman with the Wild, especially with defenseman Mathew Dumba injured. An offensive-first defenseman and locker-room leader, Hunt tallied three goals and five points in 29 games in his short stint with Minnesota.

Hunt was to be an unrestricted free-agent on July 1, but the team decided it wanted to keep the veteran around as a sixth/seventh defenseman. With a blueline expected to be healthy this season, Hunt will have to fight for playing time with players like Nick Seeler and Greg Pateryn. The team still has a number of their own unrestricted free agents they could focus on before free agency kicks off on July 1, including Eric Fehr, Anthony Bitetto, Matt Read, Nate Prosser and Andrew Hammond, if they are interested in bringing any of them back.

 

Joe Pavelski To Meet With Several Teams

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The San Jose Sharks have already done some heavy lifting this offseason, re-signing Erik Karlsson to a huge contract and dealing Justin Braun to the Philadelphia Flyers. Several more deals took place on the second day of the draft to get San Jose the picks and prospects they were after, but there is plenty more work to be done in the coming days. Timo Meier’s next contract may be the most important, but Joe Pavelski will be the focus for many fans that don’t want to see their captain walk out the door after an incredible playoff performance.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that Pavelski and agent Dan Plante have several visits set up with potential teams this week in the unrestricted free agent interview period. While none of those teams are confirmed, LeBrun suggests that the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning may bring Pavelski in for a meeting, while the Buffalo Sabres called but do not have a visit scheduled. Craig Morgan of The Athletic also indicated the Arizona Coyotes’ interest in his latest piece.

It’s not hard to understand why teams would be calling on the veteran forward. Even at 34 Pavelski was a dominant player once again for the Sharks, recording 38 goals and 64 points in 75 games before a playoffs that saw him return from several major injuries. The heart and soul forward is one of the most well respected leaders in the league and now has 100 points in 134 career playoff games including 12 game-winning goals. While he doesn’t have any individual trophies, Pavelski has long been a Selke candidate as one of the best defensive forwards in the game and is one of the best net-front players in the league.

Obviously the Stars, Lightning, Sabres and Coyotes won’t be the only teams interested, but a return to San Jose is still possible. GM Doug Wilson watched career-Shark Patrick Marleau chase a third year two summers ago, and will have a similar tough decision to make on Pavelski, who will surely draw multi-year offers even at his age. The team doesn’t have a ton of cap space to throw around given the need to re-sign Meier and Kevin Labanc, not to mention Joe Thornton and Gustav Nyquist who are also unrestricted free agents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Christian Dvorak Drawing Interest

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The Arizona Coyotes are hoping to jump into the free agent market this summer, using their remaining cap space to improve the team for the 2019-20 season. They also however are exploring ways to open up roster spots as Craig Morgan of The Athletic (subscription required) examines in his latest article. Morgan notes that final decisions have not been made on whether the Coyotes will extend qualifying offers to Lawson Crouse, Nick Cousins and Josh Archibald while the team is also expected to move on from Kevin Connauton to fix their log jam on defense. One name that has also drawn plenty of interest according to Morgan is Christian Dvorak, including from the Minnesota Wild.

The Coyotes “aren’t shopping” Dvorak, but his name coming up in trade talks is certainly interesting. The 23-year old center is about to start a six-year extension that carries a $4.45MM cap hit and is coming off an injury-riddled season that saw him play just 20 games. Even before the disappointing 2018-19, Dvorak’s contract was a curious one given that he hadn’t scored more than 15 goals or 37 points in each of his first two seasons in the league. While he was certainly a piece that the Coyotes wanted to keep in the fold moving forward, the six-year term was a surprising one for a player that hadn’t shown a huge offensive upside to that point.

While Morgan notes that the offers have not yet been strong enough to pry Dvorak out of Arizona, it is interesting that the Wild would be involved given their recent shopping of Jason Zucker. Minnesota’s search for youth brought about deals that sent Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund packing, something that Dvorak would also represent for GM Paul Fenton. It is not clear if the Coyotes have any interest in Zucker at this point, or if the Wild are still set on trading him. Fenton recently told reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic that he would only move the speedy forward if “the right thing” came along.

Even if the Wild don’t circle back on Dvorak, it will be interesting to see if the Coyotes entertain offers on a player who was once considered part of the core.

Five Key Stories: 6/17/19 – 6/23/19

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The activity has started to pick up as the offseason is in full swing.  With the NHL Entry Draft now complete, the focus will soon turn to free agency as teams now know the salary cap for next season.  However, this past week had several notable trades mixed in among some key re-signings.

Subban Traded To Devils: The Predators have had a big four on the back end for a while now but as those players needed new deals and Roman Josi’s next contract on the horizon, eventually something had to give.  That came to fruition as Nashville dealt P.K. Subban to New Jersey in a cost clearing move, receiving depth defender Steven Santini, prospect Jeremy Davies, plus two second-round picks in return.  The Devils also take on the remainder of Subban’s contract which carries an AAV of $9MM for three more years.  Nashville now has some money to spend up front in free agency and some more money for Josi a year from now while New Jersey adds an impact defender at what amounts to a pretty low acquisition cost as they put their cap space to good use.

Flyers Sign Hayes: Philadelphia didn’t exactly hide their intentions when they flipped a fifth-round draft pick to Winnipeg for the negotiating rights to Kevin Hayes.  They targeted him as their number two center and were rewarded for the efforts when the two sides agreed to a seven-year, $50MM contract.  Hayes is coming off of a career season split between the Rangers and Jets but it was his only campaign where he had at least 50 points.  At this price point, that’s going to be the minimum expectation for him now.

Karlsson Re-Signs: The top defenseman is off the market before he even got there.  The Sharks re-signed defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92MM contract.  The deal is the richest for a defenseman in NHL history and also contains considerable bonuses, lockout protection, and a full no-move clause.  While the 29-year-old dealt with injury issues down the stretch, he’s still one of the more dynamic defensemen in the league.  The contract also ensures that San Jose will have two of the most prolific offensive threats from the back end in the fold for a long time to come as Brent Burns is signed for six more years.  San Jose will now turn their focus up front with veterans Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton as well as impressive young winger Timo Meier are among those still in need of new deals.

Rangers Acquire Trouba: With Karlsson off the market, the Rangers wasted little time with their backup plan as they acquired defenseman Jacob Trouba from Winnipeg in exchange for the Jets’ previously-acquired first-round pick (20th overall) and blueliner Neal Pionk.  Trouba should immediately slot in as New York’s top defenseman and assuming they can get a long-term deal done, that will be another building block in place as they look to emerge from their rebuilding process.  Meanwhile, the Jets probably aren’t done trimming down the roster just yet as they look to free up enough money to re-sign RFA wingers Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor as well as take a run at bringing back pending UFA defenseman Tyler Myers.

More Draft Trades: While the first round saw nothing in terms of player movement, the second day saw more activity as Subban’s swap wasn’t the only trade of note.  Toronto paid a conditional 2020 first-round pick (top-ten protected) to get Carolina to take on the final year (and $6.25MM cap hit) of Patrick Marleau’s contract.  The Hurricanes are expected to eventually buy out that contract but as a 35+ deal, they will assume the full AAV on their 2019-20 salary cap.  Meanwhile, the host Canucks got into the fun as well, shipping first and third-round picks to Tampa Bay for J.T. Miller.  The first-rounder is lottery-protected for two years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars

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Free agency is now less than two weeks away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Dallas has a few pricey contracts coming off their books and only a few RFAs needing new deals.  Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Jason Dickinson – After being up and down in 2017-18, the 23-year-old locked down a regular role in their bottom six and held his own while chipping in with 22 points in the regular season and five more in the playoffs.  Dickinson is owed a qualifying offer of just under $920K and it shouldn’t take much more than that to get him under contract even though he is eligible for salary arbitration.

D Julius Honka – It wasn’t that long ago that he was viewed as an important building block for their back end.  However, Honka hasn’t lived up to his potential.  He was in the doghouse for most of the season and when he did get into the lineup, he didn’t see a lot of playing time and didn’t make much of it.  At 23, there is still the hope that there’s some upside and that should be enough to secure him a qualifying offer of just over $874K.  Even with that though, that may come primarily to give them the option to trade him down the road.

Other RFAs: D Gavin Bayreuther, G Landon Bow, G Phillipe Desrosiers, D Niklas Hansson, D Dillon Heatherington, D Chris Martenet, F Brett Ritchie

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Mats Zuccarello – He didn’t get much of a chance to make an impression in the regular season as he was injured in his first game with Dallas after being acquired.  However, he returned for the playoffs and tied for the team lead in scoring.  Zuccarello will be 32 at the start of next season so he should have a few good years left in him and should draw considerable interest on the open market as one of the more consistent wingers available.  Unfortunately for Dallas, if they wind up re-signing him, they will have to part with a first-round pick (instead of a third rounder) as part of the trade to bring him in from the Rangers.  Zuccarello has indicated that he wants to see what his options are so we’ll see over the next week if he decides to circle back or not.

F Jason Spezza – While Spezza was once a key cog for the Stars, he has seen his production tail off considerably the last two seasons as his career starts to wind up.  At 36, he’s now subject to 35+ contract rules so he will likely be going year-to-year moving forward.  A team thinking that a change of scenery could lead to a short-term resurgence will give him a look but he’ll have to take a significant pay cut from the $7.5MM he has made in each of the last four years.

D Ben Lovejoy – The veteran blueliner was added to give the Stars some stability on the back end for the postseason and there will undoubtedly be teams that will be looking to free agency to try to get him to do that for them.  His best days are behind him but he can still help a third pairing for another year or two but will also probably be looking at a dip in pay from his previous $2.67MM AAV.

Other UFAs: F Erik Condra, D Taylor Fedun, D Marc Methot, D Reese Scarlett

Projected Cap Space: The Stars have a little less than $10MM in cap room under the $81.5MM Upper Limit, per CapFriendly.  Their RFAs won’t cost too much to keep around so GM Jim Nill will have some room to go shopping on the open market.  Whether that money is spent on Zuccarello or another player remains to be seen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Colorado Avalanche

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With the postseason now finished, the activity is about to pick up with free agency now just days away.  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 Colorado Avalanche.

Despite making the postseason a year earlier and holding their own against Nashville, Colorado was a popular pick to take a step back in 2018-19.  While their point total in the regular season dipped slightly, they still made it to the playoffs and did some damage while they were there as they made short work of Calgary before pushing San Jose to seven games in the second round.  They have a strong young nucleus to build around and GM Joe Sakic has ample salary cap room to work with to try to bring in a few more pieces.  Here’s what the Avalanche need to accomplish this offseason.

New Deal For Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen followed up his breakout 2017-18 season with an even better showing this past season as he set new career highs across the board.  In doing so, he also took away any questions about whether his sophomore year was an aberration or a sign of things to come.  Clearly, it’s the latter as he was a key part of Colorado’s top line that also featured Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog.

The good news for the Avs is that both of those other players are signed for at least two more years at below-market rates.  Rantanen isn’t in that situation as he’s a restricted free agent when his contract expires next month.  Unlike Landeskog and MacKinnon, his deal won’t be coming in below market value.

Rantanen is one of the top restricted free agents in this elite class of RFAs that don’t have salary arbitration eligibility.  By all accounts, none of their agents want to set the market and go first so it wouldn’t be particularly shocking to see this drag out for a little while.  From a budgetary perspective, Sakic would be wise to allocate roughly $10MM per year towards this contract as he plans his other offseason activity.

Decide Barrie’s Future

Tyson Barrie has been no stranger to the rumor mill in recent years.  He has seemingly almost always been in play to some extent though never with Colorado really actively listening to offers.  But they’ve been content to listen and haven’t done anything to try to quell the notion that they’re willing to deal him.  As Barrie enters the final year of his contract next season, the decision on his future becomes much more pressing.

Not surprisingly, he was in trade speculation in the days leading up to the draft and those will likely continue in the coming days.  The free agent market isn’t particularly deep so teams on the lookout for help on the right side defensively will be calling, especially if they have a need for more offense from their back end.  If Sakic decides that the time is right to move him, Barrie’s value is as high as it’s going to be right now and the trade options are more plentiful than they’ll be midseason when more teams are capped out.

On the flip side, the team could decide that it’s worth pursuing an extension for the 27-year-old.  Yes, they have Erik Johnson signed long-term and top prospect Cale Makar under team control for six more years plus promising prospect Conor Timmins in the system as well.  However, it’s rarely a bad thing to have a surplus of quality defenders.  Getting Barrie to commit to a long-term deal would be pricey though as he’ll undoubtedly be looking for a nice boost on his current $5.5MM AAV.

Add Top-Six Winger

Sakic has already stated that he intends to be aggressive this offseason.  Part of that aggression needs to be focused on adding some secondary scoring.  Their top three forwards combined for 106 goals which is great but it also accounted for a little more than 40% of their total offense.  They’ve shown that they can have success with that but adding some help on the second line would go a long way towards bolstering their attack.

With Carl Soderberg having a resurgent season plus Alexander Kerfoot and Tyson Jost on the team already, they’re not in bad shape down the middle behind MacKinnon.  Adding Alex Newhook in the draft gives them a good center for the future as well.  That means that they can focus on adding support on the wing which is where the depth of this free agent class lies.

While Artemi Panarin may be out of their price range as a team that has had a budgeted payroll well below the Upper Limit in the past, players like Anders Lee, Mats Zuccarello, Micheal Ferland, and Gustav Nyquist would all give their second line a boost and a bit more lineup flexibility if they want to split up their big three from time to time.  With a team that’s viewed as on the rise and lots of cap room to work with this summer, Sakic will be able to present these players with a compelling case to join them which would be a good way to start their summer spending.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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