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Archives for June 2019

Metropolitan Notes: Available Draft Picks, Hayes, Orpik, Burakovsky

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With the NHL Entry Draft fast approaching later this week, there are plenty of teams looking to make trades or even better, looking to move up in the draft, especially in the first round. The trick is finding a team who would be willing to move their first-round selection.

The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) looks at the entire first round and identifies team that might be open to trading their first-round pick and it doesn’t take long to notice that there are plenty of Metropolitan Division teams on his list of teams. The New York Rangers, already picking at the No. 2 position, also have the 20th pick in the draft, acquired from Winnipeg for Kevin Hayes, and might be willing to move that to further hasten their rebuild. In fact, it’s already been rumored to be sent back to Winnipeg as part of a package to acquire Jacob Trouba. The Philadelphia Flyers could be a team that might be willing to move the 11th overall pick as they are also looking to make changes to get them back into the playoff discussion.

Custance adds that you can’t count out either Pittsburgh (#21) or Carolina (#28) as well. The Penguins might be more open to moving the pick as they want to get one more chance at the title before the Sidney Crosby era ends, while Carolina wants to continue with the success they had last year and wants to continually build its core.

  • NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer writes that the Philadelphia Flyers are still working on a new contract for Hayes, according to general manager Chuck Fletcher. The team traded a fifth-round pick to acquire Hayes’ rights recently in hopes they could begin negotiating early and convince him to sign before other teams could be allowed to speak to him. “We’ve had some very good, constructive dialogue with Kevin. We’re continuing to work with his representation. We’ll see how things play out, but so far it’s been a positive process,” Fletcher said.
  • NBC Sports’ J.J. Regan writes that when the Washington Capitals acquired Radko Gudas from Philadelphia for Matt Niskanen, it likely ended the team’s relationship with veteran Brooks Orpik as well. The Capitals already had six defensemen under contract and restricted free agent Christian Djoos would make seven once they re-sign him. That would make Orpik the team’s eighth defenseman and with plenty of cap issues, it would be highly unlikely the team would consider bringing him back. Orpik said he would decide later this offseason whether he would retire or come back for one more year, but if he does want to come back, it’s likely going to be with another team.
  • NBC Sports’ James O’Brien also adds that with the signing of Carl Hagelin to a new four-year extension, that leaves little money left for the rest of their roster. The team already has committed $72.26MM committed to 17 players, leaving them with approximately $10.7MM in cap space to fill out their roster, assuming the salary cap will be set at $83MM this year, which is not a certainty. The team still has a number of key unsigned players, included unrestricted free agent Brett Connolly and restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. O’Brien wonders whether the Hagelin deal could mean the team considers moving Burakovsky’s rights. The Capitals and Burakovsky have had issues with each other at times, but the 24-year-old might be worth something as he still has quite a bit of talent left in him.

Atlantic Notes: Zaitsev, Johansson, Condon, Luongo

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The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have to, but if the team wants to move on from defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, it might be beneficial to trade him before July 1 when his 10-team no-trade clause kicks in. While Zaitsev has requested a trade as well, making it easier for Toronto to unload the five years remaining on his contract at $4.5MM, there are likely to be several teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old.

In fact, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) looks into what teams would be the most likely to acquire the blueliner and the Edmonton Oilers find themselves at the top of the list. Zaitsev could be paired with one of Toronto’s forwards, either Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson to acquire either Matt Benning or even Adam Larsson in the right deal.

The Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks round out the top three teams who would make the best bets, but there are quiet a few other candidates as well.

  • Boston Globe’s Nick Kelly writes that Boston Bruins forward Marcus Johansson was non-committal Friday when asked about whether he wanted to return to Boston next season. An unrestricted free agent and a key contributor throughout the playoffs (four goals and 11 points in 22 games), the 28-year-old may have priced his way out of Boston. However, Johansson said he did enjoy his time with the Bruins and will speak to them first before looking at his other options.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that even though the Ottawa Sentators locked up backup goaltender Anders Nilsson to a tw0-year, $5.2MM extension which many thought would be the end for Mike Condon. The 29-year-old, who lost the backup job early last season, still has one year remaining on his contract at $2.4MM and seemed like a prime buyout candidate. However, general manager Pierre Dorion said the team will not buy him out and intend to bring him in to camp in the fall before determining what to do with him. Condon made just two appearances, allowing eight goals and had a .800 save percentage. He was sent to Belleville of the AHL for one game before he opted to sit out the rest of the year with hip inflammation. He hopes to be healthy for training camp.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that he spoke recently to Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, who told him that he expects goaltender Roberto Luongo to make a decision about his future soon, in fact, before the draft next Friday. The team needs an idea on whether Luongo intends to come back next year. Florida is expected to sign one of the top goaltenders on the market with Sergei Bobrovsky on the top of their list. However, if Luongo opt to return (he still has three years remaining at $4.53MM AAV), the team will have to find a way to move out James Reimer.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Carl Hagelin To Four-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their top unrestricted free agents as the team announced that it has inked forward Carl Hagelin to a four-year, $11MM extension. The deal will give him a $2.75MM AAV.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the contract is as follows:

2019-20: $2.5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2020-21: $2.7MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2021-22: $2MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $1.8MM salary

“We are pleased to have signed Carl to a new four year contract,” said Washington general manager Brian MacLellan. “Carl is a versatile player who can play on any line and is an excellent penalty killer. He is a proven winner and provides great leadership to our team.” Hagelin came over to Washington at the trade deadline when the team acquired the speedy forward in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick to give the team some added depth for a playoff run. While they were eventually eliminated in the first round of the playoffs to the Carolina Hurricanes, the team was real happy with his production as he scored three goals and 11 points in 20 regular season games and proved to be a good fit in the team’s middle-six as the veteran is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The trade to Washington seemed to renewed the 30-year-old forward as he struggled with Pittsburgh to start the season, then was traded to Los Angeles in November for Tanner Pearson, but did little to impress them. He finished the season with a combined five goals and 19 points between the three teams. However, in Washington, he fared much better and also played a big role on the Capitals’ penalty kill, averaging 2:21 per game on that unit, first on the team.

One issue was whether the Capitals would have the cap space available to sign Hagelin as the team was very tight against the cap. However, after Saturday’s trade that sent defenseman Matt Niskanen to Philadelphia for Radko Gudas, Washington freed up $3.4MM in cap space, which allowed the team to lock up Hagelin. That won’t be it for changes with Washington as the Capitals still must find some money to lock up restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. It also suggests the team is likely to allow forward Brett Connolly, who is an unrestricted free agent, to walk away.

NHL Players Most Worried About Escrow In Upcoming CBA Talks

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The NHL and NHLPA both have an opportunity to opt out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement at different dates in September, which could begin the clock towards another work stoppage. There are many issues that the players are concerned about when looking at re-negotiating a new CBA, but according to the Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno, the players biggest bargaining issue is some of their money being taken away from them and being placed in escrow.

Under terms of the CBA, the owners and the players divide hockey-related revenue 50/50, but if player salaries exceed that split, then a certain percentage is placed into escrow and the league gets some of that money to keep the revenue even. However, Whyno reports that the players have lost almost 10 percent of their salary to escrow over the past seven years and the players would like to see that change. In fact, the Associated Press surveyed 25 of 31 player representatives, who said that escrow is the biggest worry among players. Chicago Blackhawks representative Jonathan Toews, when asked the two biggest issues in labor talks, said “A. escrow and B. escrow.”

There are a number of other secondary issues the players would like to tackle in negotiations, including Olympic participation, what the definition of hockey-related revenue is, post-career health care, and the concern that young players are squeezing out older players due to cap constraints. However, the loss of salary concerns players the most, according to NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr:

Obviously it’s an irritant to players and from time to time it can be a big one. But the question is how you do it. I mean, you can fix escrow by cutting salaries. I don’t think players are interested in doing that. So it has to become something that you address in a manner which makes sense for the players and addresses their concerns.

Fehr added that escrow has been discussed with NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and more talks are expected, but there is no easy way to fix the problem without making major changes to the sports’ economics.

 

Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers

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Free agency is now less than a month 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.  The Flyers have a number of both restricted and unrestricted and will likely have to use quite a bit of their cap space to lock up all of them in the coming weeks.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Ivan Provorov — Only a year ago, Provorov’s name was being bandied about as one of the top young defensemen in the league and while that hasn’t necessarily changed, Provorov struggled in his third season. After tallying 17 goals in 2017-18, the 22-year-old saw those numbers drop to just seven goals this season and pick up a career-low 26 points and saw his defense take a step back. The team expects Provorov to have a bounce-back season, but have already gone out and added Matt Niskanen, who is expected to be paired with Provorov next season to give him a veteran partner in hopes of developing him into the franchise defenseman they believe he is. The one thing that has been consistent is how much the Flyers have been using him as he played a career-high 25:07 in ATOI. Provorov should get a significant raise from the $1.74MM he made last year.

F Travis Konecny — After scoring 48 goals over the past two seasons, Konecny is expected to score a big raise. The 22-year-old put up almost the exact same number two years ago and has proven to be a valuable piece in the team’s top-six. On top of that, Konecny has shown himself to be an agitator on the ice (despite his smaller frame) which became even more apparent after the team traded away Wayne Simmonds at the trade deadline. Considering how young he is, the team may want to sign him to a long-term deal now in hopes that he continues to improve and get better as all signs suggest he could become a top-line scorer for the franchise. He made $1.1MM last season, but should get quite a bit more.

D Travis Sanheim — After a solid rookie season, Sanheim took his game up a notch in his first full year as he played all 82 games, averaging 19:34 minutes on the ice and nine goals and 35 points, suggesting that the first-round pick from 2014 is finally developing into the top-four blueliner that the team had hoped. You could make the case that he was the most improved player on the team last year. After making $1.26MM last season, however, the 23-year-old should get a significant raise as well.

Other RFAs: F Nicolas Aube-Kubel, F Justin Bailey, D Jacob Graves, F Ryan Hartman, F Scott Laughton

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Kevin Hayes — Hayes hasn’t played a game for Philadelphia ever, but he might be the most significant of their free agents. The team sent Winnipeg a fifth-round pick to acquire Hayes’ rights, a rare move by teams, with the hope that they could begin negotiating with Hayes now and convince him to sign a deal before other teams can begin communicating with him. The 27-year-old has been a solid centerman for two seasons now with the New York Rangers. However, when the Rangers decided he wasn’t a part of the team’s long-term plans, they traded him to Winnipeg. Hayes didn’t have the effect on the Jets’ second line that they had hoped and were happy to get something for Hayes’ rights. Regardless, the Flyers need a second-line center to take over for the next couple of years until Nolan Patrick is ready to move into that role. However, with rumors that Hayes could be asking for $7MM or more, that’s a steep price and so far the Flyers haven’t had much luck in getting Hayes to sign early.

G Cam Talbot — There are a number of goaltenders on the team hitting unrestricted free agency, but what the team is looking for is a veteran goaltender that can help mentor young star Carter Hart. Talbot could be that top candidate as the 31-year-old was acquired at the trade deadline in hopes he could be that guy. Unfortunately he struggled in four appearances, but he remains a candidate to be brought back, especially at a heavily discounted price, although the team could just as easily find another player to fill those shoes.

Other UFAs: F Cole Bardreau, F Greg Carey, G Brian Elliott, F Byron Froese, F Tyrell Goulbourne, G Mike McKenna, G Michal Neuvirth, F Phil Varone, F Mike Vecchione

Projected Cap Space: With a little more than $49MM in commitments for next season (per CapFriendly), the team has plenty of money to make changes and moves. With a cupboard of top prospects fast approaching and a number of tradeable players, the Flyers are likely to look quite differently. However, much of the team’s success this summer will be in trying to find a second-line center. The team still hopes it can be Hayes, but if not, the Flyers will have to find another candidate either through free agency or trade. Regardless, some of that $33.8MM in projected cap space will have to go to their young restricted free agents and hopefully, they can lock all of them up to long-term deals now, but there are lots of possibilities in Philadelphia this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Flyers Place Andrew MacDonald On Unconditional Waivers

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Sunday: MacDonald has officially cleared waivers and will officially be bought out, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Saturday: Today is the first day teams can begin the process of buying out players and the first casualty is Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have placed the blueliner on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract.

The move doesn’t come as too much surprise as his contract has been on the high side for quite a few years as he failed to make the type of impact the team had hoped for after they signed him to a six-year, $30MM deal back in 2014.  With that contract having just one year remaining on it, the buyout route is much more palatable now and they are wasting little time going down that path.

The cost of the buyout on Philadelphia’s salary cap is as follows:

2019-20: $1.117MM
2020-21: $1.917MM

Considering he had a $5MM AAV, the buyout will save the Flyers roughly $3.833MM for next season which certainly isn’t an insignificant amount given that they are trying to sign recently-acquired Kevin Hayes as well as RFAs Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, and Travis Konecny, among others.

After playing a mostly regular role in Philadelphia’s lineup over the past couple of seasons, that changed in 2018-19.  While he missed six games due to a lower-body injury, he was also scratched 29 times and didn’t make much of an impact when he was in the lineup, averaging a career-low 16:24 of ice time per game.

The 32-year-old was once a capable stay-at-home defenseman but as the league has transitioned to more mobile and offensive-minded defenders, his value has diminished.  Nonetheless, with the UFA market not being particularly deep, MacDonald could still garner a look from a few teams in free agency in a depth role but it will have to come at a significant pay cut from what he made during his time with the Flyers.

Pacific Notes: Donskoi, Eakins, Phaneuf, McDavid

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The San Jose Sharks and general manager Doug Wilson have a lot on their plate this offseason as they have a number of key free agents they must deal with, including Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. One name that is often forgotten is free agent forward Joonas Donskoi, who has been a solid contributor as a middle-six forward the last few years.

The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that it looks like Donskoi is leaning towards going onto the open market to see what offers he might receive and could wait to see if a team comes calling when the interview period opens on June 23. Donskoi could receive quite a bit of attention as he has scored 14 goals in each of his last two seasons and had 37 points this year. While that’s hardly amazing numbers, the speedy wing is a good defender and could provide value for a lesser price tag, considering he only made $1.9MM last year.

  • While it looks like the Anaheim Ducks are moving rather slowly in naming their head coach, it looks like there are only two candidates remaining in the race in Dallas Eakins and University of Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Eakins remains the favorite, but the team is doing quite a bit of research on him, including interviewing some of the veterans on his AHL squad.
  • Jordan Samuels-Thomas of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that with Dion Phaneuf being bought out, the most likely destination for the veteran blueliner would be a young team that’s several years away from truly competing. The scribe writes that the decline in the 34-year-old’s play would likely have playoff teams looking elsewhere for veteran depth, but Phaneuf’s leadership and his ability to mentor young players would make him more valuable to a lottery team. On top of that Phaneuf could help team’s penalty killing and can provide a physical presence a young team might lack.
  • At a gathering for 500 season ticket holders, Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said he has already met with star center Connor McDavid twice in the last 10 days, including visiting him as he was working out, according to Terry Jones of the Edmonton Journal. He reports that McDavid is doing well and is expected to ready for the start of training camp. The 22-year-old suffered a small PCL tear in his knee on the final game of the regular season, but the injury didn’t require surgery.

Latest On Erik Karlsson’s Pending Free Agency

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When Erik Karlsson’s postseason came to an end and he posted a thank you note on Twitter to the entire Bay Area, hockey fans immediately tried to determine what it meant in regards to his pending free agency. Was Karlsson saying goodbye to the San Jose Sharks after just one season? When rumors surfaced about the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, it seemed like the star defenseman might be heading back to the Eastern Conference. Not if Sharks GM Doug Wilson has anything to say about it. Both Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet have reported in recent days that the Sharks are working hard to re-sign the right-handed defenseman, with a contract similar to Drew Doughty’s eight-year, $88MM deal on the table.

Friedman notes that the team will need a decision soon as they prepare for the rest of their summer, but Karlsson is now just a few days away from the free agent interview period. Even if he does want to hear out other teams however, a contract of that magnitude may be too hard to turn down. Karlsson’s recent injury history may have reduced the number of teams willing to offer him such a lucrative contract, and San Jose is the only team that can give him that elusive eighth year.

Karlsson recently underwent groin surgery but is expected to recover fully by the start of the 2019-20 season, an announcement that was made by the Sharks earlier this month. San Jose will obviously have the best medical insight of any team, and if they are willing to hand over that kind of salary they must truly believe he can get back to full strength.

Even if he can get close to it, the team would have a game-changing talent on their hands. Though his injury history and dramatic fallout in Ottawa have clouded his career recently, it’s important to remember just how dominant Karlsson has been throughout his career. A four-time Norris Trophy finalist—twice won—he has routinely cracked the 70-point mark and was on that kind of a pace in his shortened 2018-19 season. Even while playing injured during the postseason he recorded 16 points in 19 games for the Sharks, lifting his career playoff totals to 53 in 67 games. It’s almost impossible to find that kind of offensive contribution from the blue line, but amazingly the Sharks already have Brent Burns capable of the same thing.

Still, a contract like that would have ramifications on the Sharks’ lineup. It would mean committing somewhere around $26MM to three defensemen, two of which are already well into their thirties but still under contract for at least another six years. It would mean a huge part of the ~$25MM in cap space the team currently has would be eaten up, a number that also needs to accommodate new contracts for Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier and Joakim Ryan while also leaving room to re-sign Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski if the team chooses.

If the Sharks aren’t able to make a deal, it will be interesting to see what kind of market develops for Karlsson and whether or not it costs him in the long run to wait and listen. The free agent interview period will start on June 23rd.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Central Notes: Binnington, Zuccarello, Avalanche

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The St. Louis Blues have spent the afternoon celebrating at their downtown parade, but soon will have to deal with eight unrestricted free agents and another 12 restricted free agents. While there are few major deals the team must negotiate, there is one unique case in Jordan Binnington, who will be a restricted free agent this summer.

In fact, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) writes that it’s quite a unique case. The 25-year-old walked onto the scene midway through the season and immediately became a sensation, putting up 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 32 regular season games and then led the Blues to the Stanley Cup with a 2.46 GAA and a .914 save percentage. All this while making $650K last season, while his backup, Jake Allen, makes $4.35MM.

However, with a half-year of experience, how much does he deserve to get? He has only two years before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, so term is critical as a short-term deal could cause even more problems. However, if he can’t repeat his amazing season, the team could be stuck with him if they sign him to an expensive long-term deal.

  • On his 31 Thoughts article, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that there is mutual interest between the Dallas Stars and winger Mats Zuccarello to get a deal done. Dallas acquired Zuccarello at the trade deadline for a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 conditional third-round pick, which would turn into a first-round pick if Dallas signs the 31-year-old to a new deal. Zuccarello only played two regular-season games after suffering an arm injury after one game, but was an integral piece to the team’s playoff run, when he tallied four goals and 11 points in 13 games. Friedman writes that the negotiations are taking its time, but there is a good chance that Dallas ends up keeping Zuccarello who made quite a difference to the team’s second line.
  • The Colorado Avalanche aren’t expected to retain unrestricted goaltender Semyon Varlamov this offseason as the team intends to annoit Philipp Grubauer as the team’s No. 1 starter next season. However, the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers writes the team might choose to sign a veteran backup, even though they have AHL all-star, Pavel Francouz, signed to a one-year, $950K guaranteed deal. Due to his lack of NHL experience (two games), Chambers writes it wouldn’t be surprising if the team goes after veteran Curtis McElhinney or former No. 2 Calvin Pickard for next year.
  • Sticking with the Avalanche, A.J. Haefele of BSN Denver reports that the Avalanche will not be buying out anyone this week. That’s not a big surprise, considering the team has few long-term deals with few veteran players making too much money. The team also has $37MM in cap room to work with even though they have to sign several key restricted free agents, including forward Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot.

Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Olli Maatta To Chicago

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded defenseman Olli Maatta to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Dominik Kahun and a 2019 fifth-round pick, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

With a surplus of defensemen on their roster, the Penguins were going to have to make a move and unload one of their defensemen as the team already had Kris Letang, Justin Schultz, Brian Dumoulin, Erik Gudbranson, Jack Johnson, Chad Ruhwedel and Marcus Pettersson on the NHL roster. Maatta was a prime candidate to be moved after a so-so season in which the 24-year-old went from a seven-goal, 29-point season in 2017-18 to a one-goal, 14-point season this past year. Injuries have also plagued Maatta as he missed six weeks with an upper-body injury late in the season.

It looks like Pittsburgh got good value in return for Maatta, however, as they team picks up Kahun, who had an impressive rookie season for Chicago. The 23-year-old signed a two-year entry-level deal out of Germany and immediately proved his worth by making the Blackhawks’ squad out of training camp and showed off his versatility by being able to play any forward position. He contributed 13 goals and 37 points, but with the number of NHL forwards that Chicago has on its roster, the team had the luxury of trading one away to bolster its defensive core. Kahun should bolster the team’s middle-six, providing offense on whatever line the team needs. Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford spoke highly of the new addition:

He is a speedy, versatile player capable of playing all three forward positions. He also saw time on Chicago’s power-play and penalty killing units. We are very excited for him to join our team.

While adding Kahun, perhaps the biggest plus to the trade was freeing up some cap space. By moving his three years and $4.08MM contract and acquiring the cheaper Kahun ($925K), the Penguins have added $3.16MM in cap space this season. The Penguins also add a coveted draft pick for this year, even if it’s in the fifth round. Pittsburgh had already traded away its second, third, fourth and sixth-round picks for this draft, so adding a second fifth-rounder helps make up for those lost picks.

For Chicago, with $19MM in projected cap space this offseason, adding Maatta’s contract wasn’t a problem and the team still is expected to have more than $17MM in cap space to make more moves this offseason. The team needed to add some experienced depth to its team and it likely was going to do it via trade. The fact that Maatta is left-handed, however, will have him battling with a group of left-handers for playing time, including Duncan Keith, Erik Gustafsson, Slater Koekkoek and Carl Dahlstrom.

 

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