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Pacific Notes: Kadri, Wright, Lindholm, Doughty

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Before the Colorado Avalanche acquired Nazem Kadri from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a big deal involving Tyson Barrie, the Calgary Flames were close to acquiring the veteran center. However, Kadri refused to waive his 10-team no-trade clause that would have sent him in a deal that would have included defenseman T.J. Brodie.

The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson writes that Kadri did admit that he rejected the deal to Calgary in hopes of convincing the Maple Leafs that he wanted to stay with the team.

“What happened is they had a deal in place and they wanted me to move my no-trade clause,” Kadri explained. “Obviously, for me, it was no disrespect to Calgary or the Flames organization — I love their team and I love the direction they’re headed. I just figured that had I declined, I would have had a better opportunity of being a Maple Leaf next year, and that’s really what it came down to. “I wanted to play for the Leafs next year. I wanted to be a part of that. In declining that trade, I had aspirations of being a Leaf, and we know clearly that didn’t happen.”

Instead he did get traded to Colorado and now will take over as the team’s second-line center in hopes of developing a powerful secondary scoring line after their top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog.

  • The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman (subscription required) delves into the drafting success of the Edmonton Oilers’ new director of amateur scouting, Tyler Wright, noting that while the long-time executive with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings has had lukewarm success drafting in the first round, he has been successful in the later rounds of drafts, having nabbed several key players late in the draft, including Josh Anderson, Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Filip Hronek and could provide value for Edmonton who hasn’t had as much luck later in the draft.
  • In a mailbag piece, The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) writes that while defenseman Hampus Lindholm is a solid top-pairing defenseman, his offense still hasn’t come around and at age 25, time is running out. The blueliner posted 34 points in his second season back in the 2014-15 season and hasn’t reached that target since then. However, Stephens writes that Lindholm was never a big fan of Randy Carlyle’s system and could thrive under new head coach Dallas Eakins and show off some more offense, potentially becoming a regular at 40 points.
  • Looking back at the recent history of signings by the Los Angeles Kings, The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman (subscription required) looks at the best and worst deals handed out since 2009. Unfortunately for the Kings, the top bad contract is only kicking in this year as the eight-year, $88MM contract that star defenseman Drew Doughty signed a year ago is about to kick in at age 29. After a down season last year, the 29-year-old blueliner will be getting paid $11MM until he turns 37 years old. Not a good sign if people think that before he’s even started getting paid.

Minor Transactions: 7/13/19

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While there are still a few notable unrestricted free agents left on the open market, some of the lesser-known ones continue to find new homes.  We’ll keep tabs on those minor moves here.

  • Coyotes UFA goaltender Hunter Miska has signed a one year contract with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Avalanche announced. The 24-year-old had a 3.08 GAA with a .895 SV% in 25 appearances with Arizona’s AHL team last season while also making his NHL debut.  However, they opted not to tender him a qualifying offer last month.
  • Blackhawks goaltending prospect Ivan Nalimov has been dealt in the KHL as SKA St. Petersburg announced that they’ve acquired him from HK Sochi in exchange for the rights to Arizona goalie prospect Ivan Prosvetov. Chicago has expressed an interest in signing Nalimov in the past but the opportunity to play for a top team at home may be difficult for him to pass up.  Meanwhile, Prosvetov has already signed his entry-level deal but with several other goalies under contract already, the Coyotes could opt to loan him to Sochi for next season.
  • A report from the Russian website, hawk.ru (translation required), KHL’s Avangard Omsk has acquired the rights to defenseman Gustav Forsling from Sochi, whose rights are currently owned by the Carolina Hurricanes. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the Calvin de Haan trade last month. The blueliner is a restricted free agent. Forsling has played 84 games in two seasons with the Blackhawks but might have a hard time cracking the Hurricanes’ defensive corps this season.

St. Louis Blues Sign Jordan Binnington To Two-Year Deal

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The St. Louis Blues continue to lock up their players. A day after signing Robby Fabbri and Mitch Reinke Friday, St. Louis has come to terms with one of the stars of their Stanley Cup run as the Blues announced they have signed goaltender Jordan Binnington to a two-year deal with a $4.4MM AAV, avoiding arbitration with him. That deal gives him a slightly higher AAV than backup Jake Allen, who has a 4.35MM AAV.

“We are pleased to have Jordan signed for two more years,” added Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong. “His play was outstanding and we look forward to seeing him continue to be a major contributor for our team.”

Binnington may have been the difference for a team that was in 31st place on Jan. 2 and then finished one of the most remarkable runs in NHL history by winning the Stanley Cup. The team recalled Binnington from the AHL on Jan. 7 and the then-25-year-old posted an immediate shutout in his first start. The rookie then went 24-5-1 over the remainder of the season, putting up a 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage, seizing the No. 1 goalie job from Allen. Binnington continued that success throughout the playoffs, putting up a 16-10 playoff record, including a 2.46 GAA and a .914 save percentage, including one shutout.

While he’s been with the Blues organization for years, up until this year, he has been sitting in the AHL with no clear-cut shot at a job with the Blues. In fact, St. Louis didn’t have an AHL affiliate last year after the Vegas Golden Knights took their affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, and the Blues were forced to loan out their prospects to a pair of different affiliates. St. Louis actually loaned Binnington out to the Providence Bruins as they couldn’t find a place to put him. Regardless, he put up good numbers that year and was dominant in the first half of the season this year with their new affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, putting up a .927 save percentage in 16 starts.

Considering that he had made one NHL appearanIce in his career until now, many wondered what kind of contract that Binnington would receive as many people felt that he would have to prove he could repeat that string of success before he could earn a long-term contract. That proved to be true as Binnington will be betting on himself this year. The two years will take him to unrestricted free agency, which likely means that if Binnington can produce similar success next season, the Blues would likely want to sign the goaltender to an extension on July 1 next season so that Binnington wouldn’t end up on the open market in 2021.

With the signing, the Blues now have $7.12MM in projected cap space with a roster of 22 players. The team still has a number of restricted free agents, including Ivan Barbashev, Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Edmundson and Ville Husso.

 

 

Central Notes: Wild Physicality, Heinola, Boqvist

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Paul Fenton and the Minnesota Wild have made a lot of moves since the trade deadline last year and the general manager has started to put his mark on the franchise after taking over more than a year ago. However, one thing that many have noted is that the Wild have gotten much smaller over the last year with many wondering if that could affect the team’s success down the road.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) was asked that exact question in his most recent mailbag as the scribe notes that the Wild have traded off Charlie Coyle (6-foot-3) and Nino Niederreiter (6-foot-2), while getting back smaller, more finesse players in Kevin Fiala and Ryan Donato as the team seems to be without that physical edge that most teams feel they need to survive a 82-game season, something that the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues had an abundance of this past year.

Russo admits it’s a concern, but the team does have a number of smaller players, who are physical, including newly acquired Ryan Hartman, Luke Kunin and the team’s hopes that Jordan Greenway will begin to use his size to be more physical.

  • While the Winnipeg Jets’ trade of Jacob Trouba has been panned by almost everyone, the Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre writes that one aspect of the trade that many haven’t thought of is the value of the 2019 first-round pick they got along with unheralded defenseman Neal Pionk. The team selected defenseman Ville Heinola with the 20th pick in the draft as part of the deal. The blueliner almost immediately moves to the top of Winnipeg’s prospect list and could develop into a top-four option for years, although it could take a year or two until he arrives. Regardless, if Heinola does become a top-four regular and Pionk becomes a reliable option on defense as well, the deal doesn’t look that bad after all.
  • With the trade of Henri Jokiharju, the Chicago Blackhawks could find themselves with the potential need of a young player to step up for the team this season. NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis writes that  Adam Boqvist is expected to turn pro this year and is expected to play for the Rockford Ice Hogs in the AHL if he doesn’t make the Blackhawks’ team out of training camp. That’s good news for Chicago as Boqvist could have returned to the OHL for another year. The team’s first-round pick in 2018 (eighth-overall) scored 20 goals and 60 points in 54 games for the London Knights in his only season there.

Metropolitan Notes: Williams, Voracek, Kreider

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It’s been a busy offseason for the Carolina Hurricanes as the team has worked hard to improve their roster in hopes of keeping themselves relevant after a impressive playoff run last season. The team has already signed restricted free agent Sebastian Aho after matching the offer sheet he signed with the Montreal Canadiens. The team traded for Erik Haula and signed Ryan Dzingel to a reasonable deal as well. They also brought back goaltender Petr Mrazek to bolster their goaltending.

However, there is one thing still missing from their offseason so far and that’s a decision from veteran forward Justin Williams. News & Observer’s Luke DeCock writes that while Williams is still trying to decide whether he will return for a 19th season. The 37-year-old was still quite productive last season, putting up 23 goals and 53 points. However, he wants time before committing for another season.

DeCock writes that the expectation among the team is that Williams will return, but at the same time, no one really knows what he will do. However, Williams return could make a huge difference to their fortunes next season. While the team likely doesn’t need him to be a top-six scorer anymore, the team needs his leadership and abilities as he would get a simpler role as a bottom-six option.

  • The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required) analyzes the recent play of Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, who has seen his role as a top-line forward change. The 29-year-old has moved to the second line and is starting to see a change in his long-time role, according to O’Connor, who writes that the veteran is no longer a play-driver like he has been in previous years. Since signing his eight-year, $66MM deal back in 2015, he’s hasn’t put up peak numbers with the exception of his 2017-18 season in which he put up 20 goals and 85 points. While he once was a player who could lead a pair of rookies on his line, the belief is that he is no longer that player. While still a solid middle-six option, it looks like Voracek is entering a new phase in his career even though he has five more years at $8.25MM AAV.
  •  The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required) writes the New York Rangers must make a decision on what they want to do with Chris Kreider. The 28-year-old forward is in the final year of his contract and should acquire a significant raise from his $4.63MM AAV this season. Goldman writes that while the team technically could wait to make a decision on whether they want to re-sign Kreider until the trade deadline next year, waiting that long could have its own problems. With Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Kappo Kaako and Vitali Kravtsov expected to join their lineup this season, the team could challenge for a playoff spot, which might make it difficult for the Rangers to trade off Kreider and then the team could conceivably lose him for nothing if they don’t intend to bring him back. With rumors that it might cost New York seven years at $7.3MM per season, the team has to make a big decision soon.

Atlantic Notes: Divisional Upgrades?, McAvoy, Barre-Boulet

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Despite quite a bit of movement this offseason, it doesn’t look like much has changed in the Atlantic Division. With three teams that have dominated the division for the past few seasons, several teams were hoping to vault themselves into contention for the top of the Atlantic. However, The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) analyzes each line of each divisional team and comes to the conclusion that little has changed.

The Boston Bruins are in the top half of the division on almost every line from forwards to defensemen and especially show off their defensive depth to still be ranked at the top. The Toronto Maple Leafs have also improved their team with a number of defensive additions and have quite a bit of forward depth as always, but their third-pairing depth is expected to be at the bottom of the division. Tampa Bay continues to be one of the strongest teams with a number of top lines throughout the division.

While many feel that Florida has taken that next step after the team signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and added a pair of depth forwards in Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari, the Panthers find themselves in the middle of the pack for most of their lines. Even Bobrovsky doesnt’ give Florida that big of an advantage considering that he’s now in a division with Frederik Andersen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tuukka Rask and Carey Price.

  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that after the Boston Bruins inked forward Danton Heinen to a two-year deal at $2.8MM AAV, the Bruins will now focus their attention on their two most challenging restricted free agents in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. The negotiations should prove challenging as the team hopes to keep their combined total to under $10MM per season. The team should be able to handle that. However, if they combine for closer to $11-12MM, the team will have to make some roster moves to free up some cap space. McAvoy, who has scored 14 goals and 60 points over two seasons and has proven the ability to be the team’s lead defenseman should get the most of that money, but Carlo’s development seems to have increased his value during the playoffs and he should get quite a raise as well.
  • With some openings at the bottom of their offensive depth chart, NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes in his recent mailbag piece that there are a number of AHL players that are ready to challenge for these openings, including Alex Barre-Boulet, Carter Verhaeghe at the top of the list. Barre-Boulet, who the team signed out of the QMJHL after he went undrafted, dominated in his first season in the AHL last season, while Verhaeghe finally posted a dominant season with the Syracuse Crunch after toiling in the ECHL for several years. Tampa Bay, which has proven to be proficient in developing their players for NHL duty, also have a number of other prospects close to ready as well, including Alexander Volkov, Mitchell Stephens and Cory Conacher.

PHR Mailbag: New York, Gardiner, Offer Sheets, Ristolainen, Dzingel, Gusev, Kronwall, Calgary

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include what’s next for New York’s teams, finding a fit for Jake Gardiner, offer sheets, Rasmus Ristolainen’s future in Buffalo, Ryan Dzingel, Nikita Gusev’s trade market, Niklas Kronwall’s future, and the latest on Calgary’s arena situation.  As we’ve done over the past several mailbags, we’ll run another edition next weekend so if your question doesn’t appear here, look for it then.

acarneglia: Do the Rangers trade someone, like Kreider or Shattenkirk, or buy someone out, like Smith or Shattenkirk, to get more cap room to sign their RFAs?

@DAN35NY: Will the Rangers make more moves and what do you see who can be moved?

If extension talks with Chris Kreider go nowhere, then he’d become a logical trade candidate.  While some may want to wait until closer to the deadline to deal an impact rental player, I still like the idea of moving him now.  They’d get a sizable return and alleviate some salary cap concerns.  Of course, an extension is still preferable but a Kreider trade isn’t a bad Plan B.

Other trade candidates would be winger Vladislav Namestnikov and center Ryan Strome.  Namestnikov ($4MM) hasn’t produced like he did with Tampa Bay and with their young incoming wingers in Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov, the odds of him getting more of a chance to produce.  They’d be selling low but his value may only go lower if his role is lessened when the season starts.  Strome ($3.1MM) was decent last season but if they want more playing time for their young centers, he could be expendable.  However, given what his trade value was last season, they shouldn’t be expecting too much in return.

I think they’d like to go this route over a buyout to save the salary cap implications down the road.  If they do have to that way though, it’s basically a coin flip.  Buying out Brendan Smith is the lesser of two evils (particularly from a PR perspective) but he can go to the minors after clearing waivers whereas Kevin Shattenkirk (NMC) can’t.  If GM Jeff Gorton covets greater in-season flexibility, then maybe it’s Shattenkirk who goes knowing that Smith can go to Hartford to free up a spot later on if needed.  That’s a last-ditch resort though.  Pavel Buchnevich’s arbitration hearing is near the end of the month so they still have a couple of weeks to work with.

Pawtucket: Where does Gardiner best fit?

In terms of pure fit (money aside), Montreal and Winnipeg stand out as good options.  The Canadiens lack a legitimate top-four option on their left side, especially one that provides a punch offensively.  Winnipeg’s left side features Josh Morrissey and not a whole lot else.

However, neither of those teams realistically have the type of money that Gardiner is believed to still be seeking.  To be honest, not a lot of teams do which is part of the reason that he’s still sitting out there nearly two weeks into free agency.

In terms of teams that have a vacancy and cap space, the Kings stand out as their left-side depth is shaky but they’re not really in a position to be adding veteran help at the moment as they’re in a soft rebuild.  The Devils don’t really have an opening this season on their left side but with Andy Greene and Sami Vatanen a year away from UFA status, Gardiner would represent a nice hedge against them leaving town.  I thought if the Flyers were to trade Shayne Gostisbehere that Gardiner would make some sense as a replacement but it doesn’t appear as if they’re moving their young defender which takes them out of the equation.

At this point, Gardiner may want to consider a one-year pillow contract in the hopes that staying healthy will alleviate some concerns about his back.  That would also expand his market a bit more.  But right now, there really isn’t a great fit for him.  I like Winnipeg the most here but they’d need to clear out another contract first (or sign Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine to cheaper than expected deals).  This has already dragged out longer than expected and it may take a while yet for something to get done.

nk: If the Isles do not offer sheet Marner or Laine, what move(s) do you expect them to make this summer?

@billagave: What is next move for NYI?

I don’t expect a big offer sheet coming from them.  To be honest, I think they’re pretty much finished beyond re-signing their RFAs, headlined by Anthony Beauvillier.  That will leave them with a fair bit of in-season flexibility, even if they opt to give Beauvillier a longer-term deal.

If they do want to tweak a bit more, I believe they’ll look at upgrading their center depth.  Someone like Derick Brassard makes some sense on a short-term deal.  There’s a middle-six role available for him and it would be a pretty low-risk proposition overall.  Brian Boyle anchoring the fourth line would make some sense as well and GM Lou Lamoriello has already traded for him once before.

Depending on how the UFA market shakes out on the back end, there could be an opportunity to cash in on some of their surplus defensive depth.  That market is certainly developing slower than expected though so anything like that may come later in the summer or even closer to training camp.

thefenwayfaithful: Why aren’t we seeing more offer sheets this year? I understand everyone wants to “play nice” but with so many teams up against the cap and unlikely to match, it’s bizarre that no one but Montreal has tried to take advantage. If you have the opportunity to put out an offer sheet on a guy you want, the worst case scenario is you’re forcing a team to tie up cap space giving you a deadline advantage when they run into more cap challenges. Slims down the competition. Maybe I’m too cutthroat…

Offer sheets rarely actually yield the player a team is coveting so for some teams, they just decide that there isn’t much point to trying.  You can decide for yourself how much credence you lend to the notion that there is an agreement between some GMs to not engage in those either.

I think part of the challenge this year is figuring out a threshold where a team is comfortable paying the picks and getting the player at that price.  Look at what Montreal did.  The offer sheet for Sebastian Aho was clearly crafted to minimize the compensation as it was clear that they didn’t want to go into that next tier.  They were largely ridiculed for that despite it being the third-largest offer sheet in league history and the highest ever in terms of AAV.  If someone wasn’t willing to go higher for Aho (if they were, he’d have signed with that team instead of the Canadiens), how many are going to jump into that next tier for any of the remaining free agents?

On top of that, how many can afford to?  The list of teams with cap space at or greater than $10MM is pretty small when you factor in players that still need to be re-signed.  Not all of them have the draft pick capital to present a substantial offer sheet either.  The stars just don’t seem to align here.  If there’s going to be another offer sheet, I think it’s going to be at the lower tier (someone like Brendan Lemieux of the Rangers or Marcus Pettersson of the Penguins, players on cap-strapped teams that won’t command expensive deals in terms of draft pick compensation), not a top-end player.

sabres3277: The Sabres: Is it still possible that Ristolainen could be traded for a forward? I like the moves so far but I think they need to add some grit up front or acquiring a player in a trade. What do you think?

While their offseason additions (Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju) make it more of a possibility that Ristolainen could be on the move, I still wouldn’t classify it as a likely outcome.  For starters, Jokiharju is waiver-exempt and could start in the minors next year.  Miller and Brandon Montour (their other longer-term right-shot option) still have some upside but neither have really been asked to play top minutes so far.  While Ristolainen may be better suited for the second pairing, trading him for a forward takes away a significant security blanket.

It’s believed that they were asking prospective coaches during their interview stage how they’d get Ristolainen back at the top of his game.  I know there are reports saying he’s available but I think it’s more of a case of they’re listening to offers and not actively trying to deal him.

You had initially mentioned Micheal Ferland as part of your question but as we now know, he’s off to Vancouver.  He’d have made some sense as a physical player that can score with the latter element being the more important.  Of the pickups that the Sabres have made, it’s still fair to question whether or not they’ll be able to score enough.  If they can find a way to free up enough room to sign another free agent (they still have a few restricted free agents to re-sign that will eat up most of their cap room), adding scoring depth would be my priority over grit.

M34: What’s with the hate for Ryan Dzingel? The biggest knock on the guy is that his production dipped when his ice time and exposure to top line guys went down. Seems that would be the case for anyone, doesn’t it? One could make the case that even the leagues’ biggest stars would suffer a decline in production if they were relegated to third line minutes with third line talents around them.

What I’m getting at is, as an Avs fan, Sakic’s moves tell me that he thinks Burakovsky and Donskoi are ready to step up productivity with larger roles; why not go get Dzingel who has already proven he can do that? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Dzingel’s track record of success isn’t the deepest so I’m not sure how proven he really was in the eyes of general managers.  He basically has two seasons of above-average production under his belt and in one of those, he wound up being a healthy scratch at one point in the playoffs.  It’s safe to infer that those struggles played a role in his market being pretty soft.

Just because he produced like a top line player with the Senators doesn’t mean that he is one.  Someone had to play big minutes for them and he got the opportunity (and, to his credit, made the most of it).  However, that role wasn’t available in Colorado or elsewhere.  In terms of having success in a secondary role, there are arguably as many question marks as there are with Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi.  His output in that situation is still somewhat spotty.

Personally, I’d have signed Dzingel over trading two pretty good draft picks for Burakovsky, even if Dzingel’s $3.375MM AAV with Carolina winds up being a bit higher than what Burakovsky ultimately gets.  He wouldn’t have been a bad fit in Colorado to give them some extra depth but I suspect their focus is to get Mikko Rantanen and some of their other RFAs under contract first to see how much budget room they ultimately have before pursuing other free agents.

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Latest On Brock Boeser’s Contract Talks

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It appears that the Canucks and Brock Boeser are still a sizable distance apart in contract discussions.  Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston reports that Vancouver has tabled a six-year, $36MM offer to the winger while Boeser’s camp is looking for a shorter-term around $7MM per year.

Unlike most of the prominent restricted free agents out there, Boeser isn’t eligible for an offer sheet nor was he eligible for salary arbitration so he doesn’t have a lot of leverage at his disposal.  He also doesn’t have as lengthy of a track record as some of the others in this RFA class with only 140 career games under his belt.

Nonetheless, the 22-year-old has established himself as being a capable top line player already.  Those players tend to get paid more than $6MM per year in this market so Vancouver’s offer seems a little low on the surface but again, Boeser has even less leverage than most RFAs coming off their entry-level deals so that’s likely part of the equation.

Earlier this offseason, Boeser indicated that he’s open to all types of offers, ranging from a one-year deal to a max-term eight-year pact.  However, with a notable shift towards eschewing long-term contracts in an effort to get to unrestricted free agency sooner, it’s not surprising that Boeser appears to prefer a shorter deal at this time.

Vancouver also has to be mindful of their salary cap situation.  As a result of their offseason additions, they will likely have to clear out some payroll room to sign Boeser to the deal they offered let alone what the winger’s asking price is.  Earlier this week, GM Jim Benning indicated that they’re comfortable using LTIR to start the season and then they’d make room when winger Antoine Roussel is ready to return but freeing up space now would be an easier route to take.  Accordingly, they may look to try to accomplish that before finalizing a new contract with Boeser which means it could be a while before this deal gets done.

East Notes: Backes, Hall, Capitals

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Although the Bruins would certainly not want to part with an asset to get out of the remainder of David Backes’ contract, Pro Hockey Talk’s James O’Brien argues that doing so may be a necessary evil this offseason.  Boston has a pair of young defensemen to re-sign in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo and with about $8MM in cap space to work with per CapFriendly, that probably won’t be enough to get both signed.  While parting with a pick and/or prospect to move Backes and his $6MM price tag, freeing that up would safely allow them to re-sign both defenders plus take a run at an extension for blueliner Torey Krug who is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.  As Backes no longer has a no-move clause in his contract (though he still has considerable no-trade protection), he’s someone that could be waived and sent to the minors next season but doing so would only open up $1.075MM in extra cap room.

Elsewhere out East:

  • Devils winger Taylor Hall will be entering the final year of his contract in 2019-20 and there haven’t been significant discussions about a contract extension just yet. GM Ray Shero told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale that he doesn’t expect Hall’s pending free agency to be a distraction next season.  The 27-year-old projects to be one of the top players in the 2020 UFA class and with Artemi Panarin setting a new benchmark for wingers in free agency, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Hall’s current asking price is in that $11MM range.
  • While some teams have shied away from handing out extra years on contracts in an effort to lower the cap hit in recent years, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan acknowledged to J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington that he was comfortable offering extra term to his class of free agent signings to get them at a cheaper price tag. Wingers Richard Panik, Carl Hagelin, and Garnet Hathaway all received four-year deals from Washington, a term that not many expected.  However, the trio has a combined $7MM cap hit, a reasonable price tag for three upgrades to their depth.

RFA Defense Market Slowing Down Contract Talks For Ivan Provorov

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With Scott Laughton now re-signed, the Flyers can turn their focus towards re-signing their two key restricted free agents coming off of their entry-level deals in defenseman Ivan Provorov and winger Travis Konecny.  When asked by NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman to characterize the discussions for Provorov, GM Chuck Fletcher suggested that it could take a little while for a deal to get done:

“I wouldn’t know how to characterize it; certainly amicable. Everything’s cordial and amicable, but I think until the market settles out a bit it may be difficult to move forward on Provorov.”

There are several other notable blueliners looking for new deals this summer including Charlie McAvoy (Bruins), Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets), and Jacob Trouba (Rangers) and those are likely some of the players that Fletcher is hoping to see sign new deals before proceeding with Provorov.  Of that group, only Trouba’s is likely to be dealt with in the near future as his arbitration hearing is set for July 25th so a deal will be finalized one way or the other by the end of the month.

Provorov’s case is a bit of a tricky one.  The 22-year-old had a breakout 2017-18 season that saw him collect 17 goals and 24 assists and it looked as if he was quickly establishing himself as an upcoming star.  However, despite an uptick in ice time to over 25 minutes a night, his production took a sizable step back as he dipped to a career-low 26 points.

As a result, it’s far from a guarantee that a long-term deal is worked out.  If Provorov and his camp believe that this was just a one-year dip, they’d be wise to push for a short-term bridge deal.  Meanwhile, Fletcher and the Flyers would certainly love to get Provorov locked up long-term.  Regardless of what happens with the rest of the RFA defence market, this is a case that could take a while to reach an agreement on.

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