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Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Phil Kessel To Arizona Coyotes

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have traded forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, finally ending a long saga in which Pittsburgh has been trying to unload the unhappy veteran. The Penguins will send Kessel, prospect Dane Birks and a 2021 fourth-round pick to Arizona for forward Alex Galchenyuk and prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Phil Kessel for his contributions to the Penguins. He was a key component to our success in winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. We couldn’t have done it without him, and for that, we are grateful,” said Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. “With that being said, we are excited to welcome a young, skilled player in Alex, and add depth to our defense with first-round draft pick Pierre-Olivier Joseph.”

Kessel’s name has been in the news all offseason as the team is interested in moving the veteran forward and the three years remaining on his deal at $6.8MM and with some bad blood between Kessel and the Penguins, general manager Jim Rutherford was looking to move him. Rutherford said that Kessel requested to be traded several times during last season and then changed his mind, although Kessel denies that, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. The Penguins attempted to trade Kessel to Minnesota in May in a package that included Jason Zucker, but Kessel, who has a modified no-trade clause where he can pick eight teams that he can be traded to, rejected the deal as he had no interest in going to Minnesota. However, Kessel would be interested in going to Arizona as he has a great relationship with their coach, Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant coach in Pittsburgh before he took the Coyotes’ job. Tocchet was, in fact, known in Pittsburgh as the “Phil Kessel Whisperer,” and is considered the one coach who can get the most out of the veteran.

The 31-year-old Kessel is coming off a solid season in which he scored 27 goals and 82 points, which would have been tops on Arizona’s squad by 35 points as the team’s points leader was Clayton Keller, who put up 14 goals and 47 points. Kessel provides the Coyotes with a proven veteran scorer, something that was desperately needed as no one in Arizona got to 20 goals last season. In fact, Kessel has scored 291 goals in the last 10 seasons, which is only behind a handful of top players in the league, including Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski. Kessel’s contract will be the second-biggest on the team behind defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Kessel also should provide some stability in the lineup as Arizona was ravaged by injuries last year. Kessel has gone nine straight seasons without having missed a regular-season game. While Kessel isn’t known for his defensive play, it evens out as Galchenyuk is considered to be just as weak defensively.

In Galchenyuk, the Penguins would still get a solid top-six forward, but at both a cheaper price tag and with less term. Galchenyuk has just one year remaining on his deal at $4.9MM, which gives the Penguins some much-needed cap room to attempt to add to a team that got swept in the first-round of the playoffs last year and have a limited time to make a Stanley Cup run as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren’t getting any younger. The 25-year-old Galchenyuk put up 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games last season, his first in Arizona after being acquired last offseason via trade from Montreal and should become a solid winger on one of Pittsburgh’s top two lines.

The Penguins also added some young defensive depth as Joseph was Arizona’s first-round pick in 2017 and is ready to turn pro, although he will likely need at least one year in the AHL. The 19-year-old posted nine goals and 42 points for two junior squads last year. Birks is likely to even out the trade as the 23-year-old spent all of last season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the trade. 

Latest On Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins

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Saturday: While he can’t get confirmation from either team, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Penguins and the Arizona Coyotes are are currently working on a Kessel deal. No word on what the deal might consist of, but Arizona is one team that Kessel would be interested in playing for as he is close to Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant coach for the Penguins before taking the Arizona job.

Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins had a trade worked out earlier this month that would have seen Phil Kessel head to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Jason Zucker. It didn’t happen because of a no-trade clause that Kessel refused to waive, something he had negotiated into his contract years ago when he first signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Exercising his clause to block a trade was well within his right, and it seemed to quiet things down for a while in regards to the Penguins. GM Jim Rutherford admitted that a Kessel trade this offseason was now unlikely, but that hasn’t stopped reports surfacing on consecutive days that the team is still trying to unload their enigmatic star.

Yesterday, Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) reported that trade talks for the Penguins were “heating up” though it wasn’t clear exactly what Rutherford was trying to accomplish, other than dealing Kessel while making the team younger and faster. Today, another detailed piece was released by Rob Rossi of The Athletic that examines exactly what has gone wrong in Pittsburgh between Kessel and the organization and how the star player is currently holding the rest of their offseason “hostage.” Rossi quotes multiple sources that feel a Kessel trade was priority number one this offseason, in order to accomplish a sort of culture reset in Pittsburgh.

The 31-year old Kessel has three years remaining on his current contract and carries a $6.8MM cap hit thanks to a portion being retained by the Maple Leafs from an earlier trade. The deal owes him even less in actual salary, and Kessel is coming off another outstanding offensive season with 82 points in 82 games. He’s also currently on an iron man streak that hasn’t seen him miss a game since the 2009-10 season. Point-per-game wingers don’t get traded very often, but a deal this summer would be the third time Kessel is traded in his career.

Still, there is the problem of a no-trade clause that lists just eight teams that the Penguins can send Kessel to without his permission. Players in that situation usually list teams that would have little interest or that would hesitate to deal in-division. Teams like Philadelphia, Washington, Toronto and Boston all seem unlikely to get into real discussions for one reason or another, meaning his list could basically be limited to just a handful of potential destinations. With Rutherford after a “hockey trade” that brings back a player (or players) that can help the Penguins immediately, a deal might be extremely hard to find.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Buffalo Sabres Expected To Sign Curtis Lazar To One-Year Deal

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The Buffalo Sabres are close to agreeing with unrestricted free agent Curtis Lazar to a one-year deal when the free-agency period opens on Monday, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Lazar did not receive a qualifying offer from Calgary earlier this week, which allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent.

While hardly a blockbuster of a deal, the Sabres hope they can develop the play of Lazar who has struggled to succeed at the professional level. Lazar has always been considered a top prospect since his junior days and was a first-round pick in 2013 by the Ottawa Senators. He was known for his scoring as he tallied 99 goals over his final three seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. While he immediately joined the Senators when he went pro, he put up just six goals in each of his first two seasons, finally being sent down to the AHL the following year before Ottawa traded him to Calgary at the trade deadline in 2017. However, Lazar struggled even more after that, scoring three goals over the next season and a half. He played all, but one game, with the Stockton Heat last season.

The Sabres are hoping he can develop into a bottom-line depth option for a cheap price. Considered to be a great locker-room guy, he does possess leadership skills. During the 2015 World Junior Championships, he was captain of Canada’s gold-medal team with Connor McDavid and Sam Reinhart.

Toronto’s Nikita Zaitsev Likely Heading To Ottawa

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been trying to find a way to unload the contract of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who still has five years remaining at $4.5MM. It looks like the Maple Leafs have found a trade partner as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Toronto is working with the Ottawa Senators on a trade, while Sportnet’s Chris Johnston adds that it likely will involve a swap of defensemen as Cody Ceci could find himself heading back to Toronto.

The deal may take a couple of days as it’s likely Ottawa is waiting until July 1 so that Toronto is forced to pay Zaitsev his $3MM signing bonus before pulling the trigger on the trade. Ceci will be a restricted free agent and could become an unrestricted free agent in one year. Ceci and the Senators have been trying to work out a long-term deal, but haven’t been able to come to terms, and in fact haven’t even been close, with recent rumors suggesting that Ottawa has been considering shopping him now instead.

A trade with Ottawa could be interesting as TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Zaitsev has Ottawa on his 10-team modified no-trade list. However, the 27-year-old does have a relationship with new Senators head coach D.J. Smith, who has been an assistant coach in Toronto. That could be enough for Zaitsev to waive his no-trade clause and head to Ottawa. He has already requested a trade in the first place in hopes of getting a new opportunity somewhere else after struggling the past two years after an impressive rookie campaign. In Ottawa, he would likely take a significant role, especially if Ceci is headed the other way. The Senators do have Thomas Chabot as a top-four option and they have veteran Mark Borowiecki, but little else that is established yet, which should give Zaitsev the opportunity he is looking for.

Ceci, could be the defenseman they are looking for. The team has been looking to upgrade its defense without having to pay out any substantial money since they are up against the cap with a number of key free-agents to sign. Ceci should give Toronto that top-four defensive presence the team is looking for at a similar cost to that of Zaitsev, although it would give the team another restricted free agent that it would have to deal with this summer. Ceci finished last year with seven goals and 26 points. The team must decide whether it would want to sign Ceci to a long-term deal or allow him to go to arbitration with the possibility of losing him next season, although the team would have accomplished their goal of shedding the contract of Zaitsev, which may be the priority for Toronto at this point.

There is also the possibility that Toronto is taking on the contract with the idea of letting Ceci go to arbitration and then possibly walking away from Ceci without signing the contract, making him a free agent to free up the cap room. The team could also attempt to flip Ceci to another team as well.

Free Agent Focus: Boston Bruins

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Free agency is now just a few days away 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 Boston Bruins have a several important restricted free agents they will have to focus on as they will have to lock up some of their top young defenders, while they also have a couple useful unrestricted free agents. The question will be whether they are willing to pay up to keep them.

Key Restricted Free Agent: D Charlie McAvoy – With all the talk around the league of high-priced expectations for many of the top restricted free agent forwards around the league, arguably the best restricted free agent defenseman in McAvoy has seemingly flown under the radar. McAvoy has been amazing and has quickly taken over as the future of the Bruins defense, posting 14 goals and 60 points over the past two years with Boston. The 21-year-old has been the perfect offensive addition on the blueline since arriving after two years at Boston University. If there was something that could be holding McAvoy back, it would be his inability to stay healthy as he played just 63 games in his rookie year and then played even less last year in 54 games total. Despite that, the RFA should pick up a big pay raise over the $1.26MM he made last season.

D – Brandon Carlo – In many ways, Carlo is the opposite of McAvoy. The 22-year-old is not known for his offense, but is a defensive player who has needed time to develop and only more recently has he developed into a shutdown defender that Boston had envisioned when they drafted the 6-foot-5 blueliner in the second round back in 2015. While he isn’t likely to come anywhere close to the money that McAvoy should receive, Carlo has become a key player on the team’s top-four and should only continue to get better.

F – Danton Heinen – One thing the Boston Bruins need are top-six wingers to continue posting the offense they are used to. The question is whether Heinen is that guy for them. After putting up 16 goals and 47 points in his rookie season, many people suspected that Heinen would continue to thrive in that role. Instead, he struggled putting the puck into the net and eventually found himself put on the team’s third line as he failed to produce, finishing the season with just 11 goals and 34 points. The question is which player is he? The team must decide that, likely ending up with a short-term deal so that Heinen can prove that he deserves to be paid.

Other RFAs: F Peter Cehlarik, F Ryan Fitzgerald, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Marcus Johansson – The team fared quite well at the trade deadline, acquiring players who truly helped the franchise reach the Stanley Cup this season. One of the key players was Johansson, who had struggled in two seasons with New Jersey, but proved to be a big contributor in the playoffs, putting up four goals and 11 points in 22 playoff games. Unfortunately, his success could have priced himself out of Boston’s salary cap plans, but there is hope that both teams could still work out a deal. However, the team may be forced to look elsewhere if the 28-year-old can net himself an impressive offer from another team later this week.

F – Noel Acciari – Six goals and 14 points may not sound like much, but the 27-year-old has become a fixture on Boston’s fourth line. While the team could survive without him, Acciari is well known for his hard-hitting style of play and his willingness to sacrifice his body to help the team. In fact, the fourth-liner suffered a broken sternum, yet still played through it throughout the playoffs, something that any team might appreciate. Regardless, the team has made an offer and Acciari opted not to accept it, so the team could end up losing him, although a deal remains possible.

Other UFAs: G Zane McIntyre; F Mark McNeill; F Gemel Smith; F Lee Stempniak; F Jordan Szwarz

Projected Cap Space: The Bruins currently sit a little more than $12MM under the cap ceiling, according to CapFriendly, but still must add McAvoy, which could end up being pricey, while also having to sign Carlo and Heinen. That should take a chunk of that cap space, but the team should still have the ability to sign one of their unrestricted free agents or even find a couple of cheaper options on the unrestricted free agent market on Monday.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Flames Re-Sign Alan Quine

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The Flames have agreed to terms with center Alan Quine, announcing that they have re-signed the restricted free agent to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Quine split last season between Calgary and their AHL affiliate in Stockton.  At the minor league level, he was among the league leaders in points per game as he picked up 52 points in just 41 games.  While he wasn’t as prolific of a scorer with the Flames, he chipped in relatively well in the NHL with three goals and two helpers in 13 contests.

Between Calgary and the Islanders (who non-tendered him back in 2018), the 26-year-old has 97 games of NHL experience under his belt with nine goals and 18 assists.  He’s likely to be in a similar role next season as he was in 2018-19 where he’s initially ticketed to start in the minors but should serve as one of the first recalls if someone is injured up front.  Quine will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next offseason.

UFA Notes: Carpenter, Connolly, McElhinney, Johansson

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Ryan Carpenter is an unrestricted free agent that hasn’t generated a lot of attention so far but the center is on the radar of a few teams at least.  Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports (subscription required) that the 28-year-old center is on the radar of the Blackhawks, Bruins, and Avalanche and is likely deciding which of those three teams to sign with.  Carpenter joined Vegas back in 2017-18 on waivers and wound up playing a regular role for them down the stretch.  He followed that up with a career year offensively this past season, recording 18 points in 68 games while winning 52.6% of his faceoffs.  Teams are always looking to upgrade down the middle and Carpenter could certainly slot in as a fourth line piece on each of those teams.

More news from the open market which is less than 48 hours away from officially opening up:

  • While Washington created a little bit more salary cap flexibility with yesterday’s trade of Andre Burakovsky to Colorado, don’t expect them to re-sign winger Brett Connolly. Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com (Twitter link) that he expects Connolly’s price to be too high for them to be able to afford to re-sign him.  Connolly enters the open market coming off of a career year that saw him score 46 points, 44 of which came at even strength.  MacLellan indicated that they plan to try to fill Burakovsky’s roster spot through a UFA signing.
  • Hurricanes GM Don Waddell provided an update to reporters, including Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, regarding their goaltending situation. The team remains in frequent discussions with Petr Mrazek but Waddell indicated that Curtis McElhinney will be “going somewhere else”.  If Carolina can’t re-sign Mrazek, they’ll go shopping for a new starter in free agency with one of Alex Nejdelkovic or the recently-acquired Anton Forsberg pushing for the backup role.
  • More than ten teams have checked in on Bruins UFA Marcus Johansson, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). Sportsnet 650’s Rick Dhaliwal adds (via Twitter) that the Canucks are among those teams.  While he had a quieter year offensively during the regular season with just 30 points in 58 games between New Jersey and Boston, he had a strong showing in the playoffs in a supporting role which appears to have caught the attention of a lot of teams.  He made $4.583MM on his last contract and should be well-positioned to surpass that on the open market.

PHR Mailbag: MacKinnon, Blues, Offer Sheets, Rangers, Panarin

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Nathan MacKinnon’s contract, free agent targets for St. Louis, offer sheets, the Rangers, Artemi Panarin’s next contract, Boston and Buffalo’s summer plans, what Will Butcher’s next deal may cost, Darcy Kuemper’s trade value, and Ottawa’s potential for taking on a bad contract via trade.

M34: I can’t fathom MacKinnon playing out his entire contract at its current number. What happens first, a restructure or a holdout? And when?

While MacKinnon is on a very team-friendly deal, he has no available recourse here unlike if he was in the NFL or MLB.  Section 11.10 of the CBA states that contracts cannot be renegotiated.  As for holding out, while it’s technically possible, Colorado’s response would simply be to toll the contract for failure to report which would wind up extending the contract.  That’s what the Islanders did with Evgeni Nabokov years ago after he failed to report to them upon being claimed off entry waivers from Detroit.

MacKinnon’s only real option is to play out the contract and get to unrestricted free agency in 2023 where he can try to make up for missing out on bigger money as a restricted free agent.  In the meantime, his deal (and Mark Scheifele’s in Winnipeg) will be at the forefront of the minds of those in this RFA class as it will serve as a reminder of the downside of taking a long-term deal over getting to UFA eligibility quicker.

haubrick4: With the Blues so close to the cap, who do you see them targeting in Free Agency to fill out the roster?

Not a whole lot, to be honest.  I don’t think they’re in particularly rough shape when it comes to the Upper Limit; they’ll be able to get the rest of their restricted free agents signed without much difficulty.  However, they won’t have a lot of room left to supplement their roster with players on the open market when all is said and done.

I could see them trying to bring Patrick Maroon back.  Failing that, a similar player (someone like Wayne Simmonds) comes to mind.  Beyond that though, their roster will pretty much be filled out once they re-sign their own free agents.  I wouldn’t be surprised if their focus on Monday will actually be signing defensemen that will be ticketed for the minors as their depth is a little thin there.

ThePriceWasRight: With the Sens being under the floor, rumours of Ceci and Boedker being shopped and tons of draft pick capital in 2020, are the Sens not a prime contender to dole out an offer sheet to an RFA?

While it’s true that Ottawa has plenty of cap space and all of their own top draft picks available to them (the ones that would be needed for an offer sheet), I think they’re anything but a prime contender for an offer sheet.

Yes, they have the cap room to make an above-market offer to try to lure a top RFA like Matthew Tkachuk or Mitch Marner but it’s pretty clear that they don’t have the budget room.  Ottawa is likely to look to add a cheap veteran or two to get above the Lower Limit of the cap but with where they are in terms of their rebuild, that’s about all the spending that would really be justified.

There’s no denying that adding a top RFA to their roster would improve them, but would doing so vault them into a playoff spot?  Probably not.  An offer sheet for a Tkachuk or a Marner would cost multiple first-round picks.  All of a sudden, they’re in another situation where they don’t have an unprotected lottery pick.  There’s always a risk to offer sheeting a prime player but for a team like Ottawa, the risk would be even higher.  They’ll stay away from one for now.

met man: Who will be the “backup “goalie on the Rangers next season?

I don’t think it will be the same player all season.  Both Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin are waiver exempt which gives New York some options.  Georgiev certainly has done enough to earn a spot while Shesterkin’s upside is certainly intriguing.  One of them has to go down though as carrying three goalies isn’t a viable option and Henrik Lundqvist isn’t going anywhere.

Let’s get back to the waiver exemption.  My prediction on what will happen is that the goalies will go back and forth throughout the season.  That will give them some time with the Rangers (and perhaps lighten Lundqvist’s workload) while still giving them some extra ice time in the minors.  I’m not a fan of having a young netminder playing just 20 or 25 games while they can be in the AHL so this scenario is the next best option – they get some NHL time but also get to play in Hartford and see their workload get closer to 40 games apiece.

CoachWall: Do the Rangers have enough assets to make a run at a top-six forward? How seriously do they go after Panarin?

In terms of trade currency, they certainly do.  GM Jeff Gorton has done a nice job of restocking their prospect pool to the point where they could deal a prospect or two away and get a top-six piece with some team control in return.  That said, I’d question if that’s the right move for them.

The Jacob Trouba acquisition really didn’t cost them much – just a few months of a player they weren’t going to re-sign anyway in Kevin Hayes plus Neal Pionk, a capable player but not one with top-pairing ability or potential.  That didn’t really jeopardize their future so why not make that move?  But moving out some prospects carries some more risk, one they don’t necessarily have to take.

I like the free agent market for top-six help on the wings.  Panarin is certainly at the top of the list but there are some other options out there such as Anders Lee, Mats Zuccarello, and Gustav Nyquist, among others.  If they’ve decided that the rebuild is finished, going that route would be preferable to giving up pieces of your future.

Speaking of Panarin…

Dylan: Has the Karlsson signing possibly paved the way for Panarin to become the highest paid player in the league?

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down and mapped out my rankings and contract projections for free agents and in there, I initially had Erik Karlsson getting the biggest AAV so I’ll stick with that call here.  I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if Panarin eclipses an $11.5MM cap hit but he has some factors working against him, including the fact that he doesn’t play a premier position (center or defense).

I would be more than shocked if he gets more than Connor McDavid ($12.5MM).  He’s one of the best players in the league (if not the best), plays a premium position, is still young enough that there’s room for improvement, and he has outscored Panarin in each of the last three seasons.  If Paul Theofanous can somehow get Panarin more than McDavid despite all of that, give him the Agent of the Year award right then and there (as soon as someone actually creates that award).  He’ll probably be the highest-paid winger when all is said and done but not the highest-paid player.

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Ducks Re-Sign Sam Carrick

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Saturday: Anaheim has officially announced the contract.

Thursday: The Ducks have kept some of their center depth intact.  CapFriendly reports that they’ve re-signed Sam Carrick to a one-year contract.  The one-way deal pays him $700K, the league minimum salary for 2018-19.

The 27-year-old recently wrapped up his second season in Anaheim’s organization and was rather productive with their AHL affiliate in San Diego.  Carrick recorded 32 goals and 29 assists in 61 regular seasons with the Gulls, setting career highs across the board in the process.  He also chipped in with 14 points in 16 postseason contests.  That was enough to earn him a one-way deal for the first time in his career.

Carrick also got into six games with Anaheim, his first NHL action since 2015-16 with Toronto.  He held his own in that small sample, logging a little over ten minutes a night on their fourth line.  He will likely get a chance in training camp to lock down that role on a more permanent basis.

Blue Jackets Re-Sign Doyle Somerby

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Doyle Somerby had an improved sophomore season in the minors and it was enough to get him another season with the Blue Jackets, who announced that they’ve re-signed the defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract.  Brian Hedger of the Columbus Post-Dispatch reports (Twitter link) that the deal will pay the league minimum $700K in the NHL and $80K in the minors.

The 24-year-old joined Columbus two years ago after opting to not sign with the Islanders who originally drafted him back in the fifth round (125th overall) back in 2012.  In 2018-19, he played in 66 games with AHL Cleveland, recording 20 points while being held off the scoresheet in seven postseason contests.

It’s likely that Somerby will be earmarked for the minor leagues once again.  The Blue Jackets already have five blueliners under contract for next season with Scott Harrington, Ryan Murray, and Zach Werenski all in need of new deals as well.  That doesn’t leave much (if any) room on their back end to start but a good showing with the Monsters could have him in the mix for a midseason recall.

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