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Archives for June 2019

Los Angeles Kings Sign Johan Sodergran

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The Los Angeles Kings have signed Johan Sodergran to a three-year entry-level contract. The 19-year old played last season in the SHL, suiting up for Linkopings HC. Sodergran is expected to attend the team’s development camp later this month.

Sodergran, 19, was a sixth-round pick of the Kings in 2018 but impressed mightily in his first development camp last year. The 6’3″ forward is an excellent skater and finished with 13 points in 42 games this season in the SHL, while also suiting up for Sweden at the World Juniors. He’s expected to return to Linkopings for the 2019-20 season, though an NHL contract was well deserved.

The Kings are attempting to rebuild their club with a new wave of talent, and players like Sodergran have an opportunity to really push it along quickly. While first-round picks like Gabe Vilardi and Rasmus Kupari are important, late-round selections can really turn a team’s fortunes around. If Sodergran can take another positive step this season it wouldn’t be surprising to see him join the Ontario Reign for a few games down the stretch, and jump right into the North American circuit in 2020-21.

Ottawa Senators Sign Nick Ebert

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Monday: The Senators have officially announced the contract, signing Ebert to a one-year two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level and guarantees him at least $350K.

Saturday: After a pair of seasons overseas, Nick Ebert is heading back to North America.  Orebro, his team in the SHL, announced that the defenseman is leaving for the NHL.  Murray Pam of the Sporting News and Alexander Appleyard of The Athletic report (Twitter links) that the Senators are expected to sign Ebert.

The 25-year-old had a very strong first season in the OHL with Windsor back in 2010-11 (under new head coach D.J. Smith) which had him touted as a high draft pick.  However, he stagnated after that and ultimately dropped to the very bottom of the 2012 draft as the final pick of the Kings (211th overall).  He signed his entry-level deal with Los Angeles and spent two years in their system before being dealt to Dallas for goalie Jack Campbell.  Ebert didn’t fare much better with the Stars and after spending another year in the minors, he was non-tendered by Dallas in 2017.

Ebert spent most of 2017-18 in the KHL before joining Orebro late in the season.  He made an impact for them in 2018-19, recording 11 goals and 22 assists in 49 games while logging over 21 minutes a night in ice time and clearly, that performance got him back on the NHL radar.

Ottawa is an interesting fit for Ebert as they are lacking in terms of depth on their back end.  There should be an opening or two on the blueline as their roster currently stands so he should get a long look at a roster spot at training camp in September.

Flyers, Hayes “Moving Forward” With Preliminary Conversations

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The Philadelphia Flyers jumped into the unrestricted free agent market a little early this season, trading a fifth-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a chance to speak with Kevin Hayes before his contract expires in a few weeks. The hope is that the team can convince Hayes to forego free agency entirely and sign an extension in Philadelphia, giving them another solid option down the middle without having to fight off other bidding teams. Today GM Chuck Fletcher met with the media and gave an update on the Hayes negotiations:

Nothing to announce at this point. We’ve had good preliminary conversations with Kevin and his camp. We anticipate moving forward with those conversations this week…Obviously, we have strong interest in him.

It’s now less than two weeks until the interview process opens and pending free agents are allowed to start speaking with potential teams, meaning the Flyers are running out of time to get something worked out with Hayes. Even the very best available free agents are starting to wait until the interview period to speak with teams, making sure they aren’t missing out on any interesting opportunities. If Hayes does sign with the Flyers, it would remove one of the top options at center this summer and potentially increase the market of other names like Matt Duchene.

The Flyers meanwhile are trying to lock up another core forward to add to their group of veterans. Hayes would give the team a fifth player up front signed for at least $4.3MM per season, joining Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier as a more than capable top-six group. That doesn’t even include young burgeoning stars like Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny who look ready to really come into their own as difference makers in the NHL. Fletcher explained exactly why he is after Hayes’ services:

He plays a full 200-foot game. He kills penalties, which is an area we need to improve at. He understands the game and has great hockey sense.

Philadelphia has plenty of cap space for next season, currently sitting at a projection of more than $33.4MM under the expected $83MM cap ceiling. That isn’t even including any potential buyout savings from the likes of Andrew MacDonald, who currently carries a $5MM cap hit for next season but recorded just nine points in 47 games last season and has seen his play rapidly decline in recent years. Even a long-term deal for the 27-year old Hayes would be easy enough to fit into their salary structure at this point.

Daniil Tarasov To Play In Finland

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When the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Veini Vehvilainen earlier this spring, it made for quite a crowded goaltending position within the organization. Even with Sergei Bobrovsky and Keith Kinkaid scheduled to leave in free agency, the team had four goaltenders under contract for next season with another—Joonas Korpisalo—expecting a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. Out of those five, there isn’t a ton of NHL experience, making it unclear how the minor league playing time would be sorted out. Today an answer has been revealed, with Daniil Tarasov being loaned to Porin Ässät of Finland’s Liiga.

Tarasov, 20, only signed his own entry-level contract in May, ending his career in Russia after debuting in the KHL this season. Originally selected in the third round two years ago, the young netminder has plenty of development left before he can make a real impact on the Blue Jackets organization despite his impressive year. With so many minor league goaltenders in the system, Tarasov may have been forced to sit and watch more often than not, meaning a placement in Finland will get him much more playing time.

The Finnish team has announced it will be just a one-year deal, meaning the Blue Jackets will once again face this problem next spring. At least at that point they’ll have a better grasp on their goaltending situation, as there is no guarantee they even have their 2019-20 starter in the organization right now.

Five Key Stories: 6/3/19 – 6/9/19

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With the Stanley Cup Final nearing its end, activity on the transaction front has started to pick up around the hockey world.  Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

Crawford To Chicago: The Blackhawks brought some experience to their coaching staff as they hired Marc Crawford as an assistant coach.  The 58-year-old has plenty of experience as he has over 1,100 games in the NHL as a head coach, most recently with Ottawa on an interim basis after Guy Boucher was let go shortly after the trade deadline.  Crawford will be reunited with his son who works as an assistant video coach in Chicago.  Meanwhile, with Crawford not returning to his previous role in Ottawa as an associate coach, the Senators have brought in Jack Capuano, who was let go as Joel Quenneville overhauled the coaching staff in Florida.

Flyers Acquire Hayes: Philadelphia GM Chuck Fletcher has decided to try to get a head start on his offseason shopping, acquiring the negotiating rights to pending UFA center Kevin Hayes from Winnipeg in exchange for their fifth-round pick.  Hayes is coming off of a career season split between the Jets and Rangers and is one of the top centers that’s set to be available this summer.  Winnipeg knew that they wouldn’t be able to afford to keep him so they get something instead of nothing while if Fletcher can get Hayes signed, he’ll have filled one of their biggest needs, finding a second-line center to sandwich between Sean Couturier and Nolan Patrick.

Skinner Re-Signs: Talks between the Sabres and Jeff Skinner had been going on for months but they finally reached an agreement on a new contract, one that will pay the winger $72MM over eight seasons with a full no-move clause.  The 27-year-old reached the 40-goal mark for the first time but on the flip side, he was a lot more productive in the first half of the season compared to the second.  Nonetheless, he has averaged 30 goals per year over the past six seasons and not too many forwards can say that.  The deal ensures that Buffalo has another part of their front line locked up long-term and takes what would have been one of the top free agents off the market before he even got a chance to test it.

Stars Re-Sign A Pair: Dallas decided to get some of their re-signings out of the way early.  First, they re-signed pending UFA defenseman Roman Polak to a one-year, $1.75MM contract, a $450K raise on his previous deal.  Polak logged over 19 minutes a night for the Stars and he’ll give them a veteran presence on the third pairing for at least one more season.  Hours later, they re-upped winger Mattias Janmark to a one-year, $2.3MM deal, matching his 2018-19 salary.  The 26-year-old set a new career high in assists but struggled overall, posting just six goals on the season.  This contract will take him to UFA eligibility next summer.

Ducks To Part Ways With Perry: Corey Perry has been a fixture in Anaheim’s lineup since 2005, back in the days when they were known as the Mighty Ducks.  However, it appears his tenure with the team has come to an end as the team is planning to move on from him this offseason.  Injuries limited the winger to just 31 games this past season and he struggled offensively, collecting just six goals and four assists.  He has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $8.625MM and a full no-move clause.  The Ducks will try to trade him first (likely with significant retention – they can hold back up to half of his contract in a swap) but if that doesn’t come to fruition, a buyout appears to be the likely outcome by the end of the month.  Doing so would yield a cap hit of $2.625MM next season, $6.625MM in 2020-21, and $2MM in each of the following two seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Johansson, Granlund, Sabres

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While Marcus Johansson has certainly played well since joining the Bruins at the deadline, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe opines that they won’t be able to afford to keep the winger around.  Defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo should take up the bulk of their cap space over the summer as they get new contracts in restricted free agency and while the idea of buying out David Backes’ final two years makes some sense in theory given his struggles, the structure of the signing bonuses makes that an unlikely option to save cap space either.  Johansson has made $4.75MM over each of the last three seasons and his next deal should be around that price tag as well.

More from around the league:

  • The Canucks have yet to decide whether or not they’ll tender forward Markus Granlund a qualifying offer, agent Todd Diamond acknowledged to Sportsnet 650’s Rick Dhaliwal (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is owed a qualifier of $1.475MM and has the ability to play all three forward positions.  However, his production has dipped over the last couple of seasons relative to his 2016-17 performance and Vancouver has plenty of forward depth already.  Non-tendering Granlund would free up another roster spot to utilize some of that depth while giving Vancouver a little bit more cap room to work with.
  • While it has been nearly a month since the Sabres hired Ralph Krueger as their new head coach, they’ve yet to finalize the rest of their coaching staff. Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald reports that Buffalo hopes to have their assistants in place by the end of the month and those that worked under former bench boss Phil Housley are under consideration as are external candidates.  Postmedia’s Jim Matheson notes that former Iserlohn assistant Rob Daum is someone that may be seeking a position on Krueger’s staff.

Offseason Keys: Washington Capitals

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With the postseason down to just two teams, most squads are now 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 Washington Capitals.

After Washington won the Stanley Cup last season, they opted to keep the core of the team intact heading into 2018-19.  The decision certainly made plenty of sense and the Caps wound up winning the Metropolitan Division.  However, they were then upset at the hands of the upstart Hurricanes in the first round so there could be some changes to the roster this time around.  Here’s what’s on GM Brian MacLellan’s to-do list this offseason.

Extension Talks

If it seems like so long ago that center Nicklas Backstrom was coming to the end of his contract, it’s because it has been.  His current ten-year contract (one that is no longer permissible in the CBA) was signed back in 2010 and since then, he has been a bargain considering how much time he has spent on Washington’s top line.

However, he’s now entering the final year of his contract and will be eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st.  Backstrom has already indicated a willingness to sign a new deal but it’s also fair to say that he’s going to be looking for a decent-sized raise on his current $6.7MM AAV.  Considering Washington is perpetually up against the Upper Limit, there is a limit to what MacLellan will be willing to pay but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a deal worked out fairly quickly.

The same can’t be said for their other core player entering the final year of his deal.  Goaltender Braden Holtby is coming off his second straight season with a GAA and a SV% below the league average.  While he’s still viewed as a starter for now, has he started to decline or were the last two seasons just an aberration and he’ll get back to being one of the better netminders in the league?  That type of uncertainty will complicate things.

So too will the looming Seattle expansion.  Top prospect Ilya Samsonov will need to be protected for that draft.  If he re-signs, so will Holtby.  There’s also a chance that Holtby will have enough leverage to yield a no-move clause which would guarantee him protection.  Long story short, this could be a Pittsburgh situation all over again.  With that in mind, it may be more prudent to see how the start of next season goes before deciding what to do but there should at least be cursory discussions that occur this summer.

Vrana Contract

Washington doesn’t have a long list of notable free agents to re-sign but winger Jakub Vrana’s case will be an interesting one to follow.  He spent a fair amount of time in the top six and upped his production accordingly, beating his point total from 2017-18 by 20 while jumping to a respectable 23 goals.  Unfortunately for both him and the Capitals, Vrana struggled in the postseason which will likely affect his value.

MacLellan stated previously that he’s open to signing the 23-year-old to a long-term deal but last month, it was noted that the focus is a shorter-term bridge contract or one that is only slightly longer.  Considering their cap situation, going with a bridge pact would give them a bit more flexibility this summer but it will result in a higher AAV a couple of years down the road.

In recent years, MacLellan has been able to lock up his core players to long-term pacts when he wants to but this may wind up being one of the exceptions.  Getting Vrana to forego potential UFA years will take the team being willing to pay him top-six money when he has yet to establish himself as a regular in that role.  Given how few dollars they have to work with this summer, that may just be too much risk for their liking.

Reshape The Bottom Six

The majority of players that spent time in Washington’s bottom six up front are slated to become free agents (either restricted or unrestricted) this summer.  Not many are likely to be back for financial reasons as wingers like Brett Connolly (UFA), Carl Hagelin (UFA), and Andre Burakovsky (RFA with a qualifying offer of $3.25MM) are all likely to be out of their price range unless one is willing to take a below-market deal to remain with the team.

Internally, there aren’t many options that are ready to step up.  Players like Shane Gersich and Liam O’Brien could be fourth line fits.  Nathan Walker, a Group VI free agent, is open to re-signing but he’s only a depth option as well.  They’ll likely have to look outside the organization to find a player or two that can step onto their third line.

Burakovsky could be dangled to yield one of those pieces, as long as there’s a team willing to tender him a qualifying offer.  Beyond that though, watch for Washington to be active on the UFA market to find role players willing to take a short-term bargain deal as they change the makeup of their bottom six group.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Edmonton Oilers Would Have To Add “Sweetener” In Lucic-Eriksson Swap

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Although there has been talk of a potential trade between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks about swapping the bad contracts of Milan Lucic and Loui Eriksson for several weeks, a new report by TSN’s Darren Dreger suggests on TSN’s Insider Trading that the deal could be a good fit for both teams, but if Edmonton wants to make the deal, they would have to add a “sweetener.”

The belief is that because Lucic has four years remaining on his deal at $6MM AAV, the Oilers would have to give up something as Eriksson’s deal has only three years remaining at $6MM himself. According to Edmonton Journal’s David Staples, both players could be amenable to a potential trade considering that Lucic holds a no-movement clause, while Eriksson has a no-trade clause. However, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that nothing has been presented to either player and while the discussion of this trade has been discussed in the media for weeks, trade talks are quite premature.

Lucic is from Vancouver and played his junior years there but there is no guarantee he would waive his no-movement clause. Eriksson, on the other hand, is easier to project as he knows Oilers’ new coach, Dave Tippett, who he played for in Dallas for three years and had success under him. And considering that Eriksson has had issues with Vancouver coach Travis Green, his no-trade clause likely wouldn’t be an issue.

However, Staples disagrees that Edmonton should have to add a sweetner, pointing out that Lucic still has value as a fourth-line option who is a tough guy that can fight and score a little. He’s only 31 and still has value in the league. Throw in the fact that Vancouver is loaded with young talent and few threatening players who can protect those players like Elias Pettersson, who took a number of cheap shots over the course of the season would be quite valuable to the Canucks.

Eriksson, on the other hand, is already 34 years old and isn’t an option as a fourth-line player as he lacks toughness and hasn’t produced much offense over the past three years (32 goals total). There has to be questions whether Eriksson can truly help Edmonton at all, making the trade questionable at best. Staples adds that at best, he might be a below-average third-line winger who can kill penalties, but is that really helping Edmonton? Regardless, unless one of those players can find a way to find their old selves, it’s unlikely either can truly help either franchise.

 

Metropolitan Notes: Faulk, Werenski, Harrington, Devils

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After an impressive playoff run that has Carolina looking like an improved franchise, the Hurricanes don’t want it to be a fluke season. The team, which based much of its success on an impressive blueline, wants to commit to it long term. Therefore despite being mentioned as a trade candidate for more than a full season, it looks like Carolina wants to commit long-term to Justin Faulk. The defenseman has one year remaining on his contract, but The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) reports that the team has reached out to Faulk and his agent in hopes of signing an extension when he’s eligible on July 1.

LeBrun adds that Faulk, who has played his entire eight-year career in Carolina, is amenable to an extension, although it’s likely he would demand a no-trade clause this time around. That would give Carolina three right-handed top-four defensemen in Faulk, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce, but he says that the Hurricanes are OK with having that right depth on the right side and are comfortable keeping all three.

However, the Fourth Period reports that Carolina is looking to acquire a top-six winger to boost their offense this year and that the team is willing to trade one of their top defenseman to make that happen. The report suggests that Carolina is one of the teams that has inquired on Minnesota’s Jason Zucker and has spoken to Toronto about both William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri in the past.

  • The Athletic’s Allison Lukan (subscription required) reports that while the Columbus Blue Jackets have several options on how they want to sign restricted free agent Zach Werenski, it’s almost a lock that Columbus will attempt to sign him to a long-term deal. The 21-year-old blueliner just finished up his entry-level deal and is in line for a big payday after posting 38 goals and 128 points over three years, but with plenty of cap room and multiple free agents walking away from Columbus, locking him up to a long-term deal, which could exceed $6MM, is likely going to be the team’s goal.
  • Sticking with the Blue Jackets, the team has another restricted free agent who is expected to get a raise this summer. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch writes that defenseman Scott Harrington, who has had trouble catching on to an NHL team early in his career after playing just 79 NHL games over the past four seasons with three different teams, has found a home in Columbus. The 26-year-old played his first full season, playing 73 games, mostly as a bottom-six defenseman, but was instrumental to the Blue Jackets as a character leader in the locker room. After making just $675K last season, Harrington could potentially double his salary for next season.
  • The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) lays out the possibilities on what the New Jersey Devils can do with their second-round pick (No. 34). With three second-round picks, the 34th pick is a valuable asset that could allow the team to trade into the first round or use to trade for a significant impact player to bolster its team. The scribe looks at past teams in similar positions, including a 2013 trade in which the Buffalo Sabres traded several players and the No. 31 pick for Ryan O’Reilly.

Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets

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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. Columbus does have a few important restricted free agents, but it’s the unrestricted free agents that have dominated the press over the last year.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Zach Werenski – The defenseman wraps up his entry-level deal and now is expected to get quite a pay raise after making $1.775MM last season. The top pairing defenseman may not have the accolades and numbers that partner Seth Jones carries, but with the way the market has been rising, the 21-year-old blueliner could seriously cash in this summer and could conceivably make even more than Jones’ current $5.4MM per year deal. Regardless, Werenski had a solid season for the Blue Jackets, posting 11 goals and 44 points and has scored 38 goals over three seasons, an impressive feat for a young defenseman. Werenski also added a goal and six points in 10 games during Columbus’ playoff run this season.

D – Ryan Murray – Other than playing 82 games back in 2015-16, Murray’s biggest problem has been staying healthy. Other than that one season, the most games the 25-year-old has played was 66 and that was back in his rookie campaign. The talented blueliner played in 56 games this past season, but was hampered with a back injury for quite some time as well. This is Murray’s last year as a restricted free agency as he could become an unrestricted free agent in 2020-21 and could opt to depart. Although Murray has shown talent, Columbus might have a problem handing the former second-overall pick in 2012 a long-term deal if he can’t stay healthy. That’s why Murray could be a solid trade candidate, most recently to Chicago.

Other RFAs: D Adam Clendening, F Markus Hannikainen, D Scott Harrington, G Joonas Korpisalo, F Ryan MacInnis, F Sonny Milano, F Eric Robinson, F Justin Scott, F Lukas Sedlak, D Doyle Somerby, F Sam Vigneault

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Artemi Panarin – The 27-year-old has been everything that Columbus had hoped for when the Blue Jackets traded for him two years ago. Panarin scored 55 goals and 114 points over those two seasons, but it became apparently clear that he had little interest in signing any sort of extension and wished to move on when he hit unrestricted free agency. Rather than trade him away, the team chose instead to hold onto him and bulk up for the playoffs, which did allow Columbus to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time ever. Unfortunately, the team has no chance to sign him as he has quickly become the most sought-after free agent, most likely to sign a deal with either Florida or the New York Rangers.

G Sergei Bobrovsky – Unfortunately for Bobrovsky, the team is in the exact same pickle that they are with Panarin. The long-time goaltender has been one of the faces of the franchise for years in Columbus and while many initially thought he just was holding out for a Carey Price-like contract, it has been quite clear that he too intends to leave the Blue Jackets and sign elsewhere with many people believing that he might choose to sign with Florida as well. Regardless, Bobrovsky becomes the most highly-touted goalie on the free-agent market. While his regular season numbers took a minor dip with a 2.58 GAA and a .913 save percentage, the 30-year-old netminder finally showed some skill in the playoffs with a 2.41 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 10 appearances.

F – Matt Duchene – If there is one big-name free agent that Columbus might be able to retain, it will be Duchene, who is at least considering staying with the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, there are also a large number of teams that are interested in signing him as well, which could make a signing tough. Acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa for several prospects and their 2019 first-round pick, Duchene added a second-line center presence that helped solidify the team’s top six and between the two teams combined for 31 goals and 70 points. The down side of signing him is the team would lose their 2020 first-rounder as well, making it even more of a challenging decisions for the franchise.

Other UFAs: G Jean-Francois Berube, D Tommy Cross, F Ryan Dzingel, G Keith Kinkaid, F Mark Letestu, D Adam McQuaid

Projected Cap Space: Cap space is definitely not an issue in Columbus as the team is projected to have more than $32MM in cap room. The problem is the team is likely to lose all four of their top unrestricted free agents and must find a way to attract other free agents without having to overpay them. However, that will be a challenge for general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who has done an excellent job in recent years to compete in a small market. Regardless, the team must find a way to add a top talent and hope that its prospect depth can keep the team above water for the next couple of years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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