Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for July 2019

Morning Notes: Dzingel, Hall, Kadri

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Ryan Dzingel is arguably the top remaining unrestricted free agent, ranked No. 12 overall by PHR and the leading scorer this past season among all available names. Yet, there’s been surprisingly little noise surrounding Dzingel, a 27-year-old coming off of a career high’s across the board. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that some teams are skeptical about Dzingel’s potential for production, not based on his year overall but rather his late-season stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After being moved at the NHL Trade Deadline by the Ottawa Senators, Dzingel recorded just 12 points in 21 games with Columbus and eventually lost the trust of the coaching staff in the postseason, with one point in nine games earning him a healthy scratch. Brooks remarks that the Blue Jackets’ lack of interest in retaining Dzingel, a former star at nearby Ohio State University, is one of several “red flags” for the young winger this off-season.

It’s likely that price is playing a role in Dzingel’s market as well. After a 56-point campaign, Dzingel’s camp was though to be seeking a $5MM AAV over a long-term contract. In a vacuum, that would seem to be a fair offer, but in a market where many teams are closer to the salary cap limit than expected, a player who is coming off a disappointing final few months of the season may need to lower his expectations. That rings especially true if he wants to land with one of his reported top destinations and a team known to have interest, the Chicago Blackhawks. Dzingel is an Illinois native and his skill set would seem to fit in perfectly with his hometown Blackhawks, who could still use another top-six winger. However, The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope writes that the team would have to move out a player, likely Artem Anisimov or Connor Murphy, to accommodate Dzingel’s salary demands. Until that happens, Pope cites GM Stan Bowman, who recently said his roster is “pretty full” and currently only in need of “housekeeping”. That doesn’t mean that Chicago, whose off-season moves have pointed toward a deep desire to return to contender status, will not continue to pursue Dzingel, but it may prove too difficult at his current asking price. If the scoring winger wants to ensure he has a long-term fit in a place that he’d like to be, Dzingel could consider taking a lesser deal to join the Blackhawks.

  • Another team looking to return to the playoffs are the New Jersey Devils and GM Ray Shero and company have certainly done their part in that pursuit this summer, drafting Jack Hughes, trading for P.K. Subban, and signing Wayne Simmonds. While the ultimate goal is to become a contender as soon as possible, the more pressing need – also with that goal in mind – is to convince superstar forward Taylor Hall that New Jersey is a team worth staying with to win a Stanley Cup. Hall is an impending free agent next summer and could be in line for a record-breaking contract, whether he tests the open market or not. The Devils have the cap space to meet his salary demands, but needed to focus this off-season on improving the talent around him after a season in which the team finished well outside the playoff picture. On paper, New Jersey should return to relevance next season and early indications are that Hall is happy with the transformation. In an interview with TSN, the 2018 Hart Trophy winner said that seeing the summer used to improve the talent level of the team and inject new blood after a disappointing campaign is exactly what you want to see. He added that Shero asked his opinion of the Subban trade before it was made and that he was totally on board and excited to play with his fellow star. All signs point to Hall being in favor of these off-season changes and eager to get started with the new season. If the Devils perform to the level they should on paper, Hall will have much more reason to consider a long-term extension to stay in New Jersey.
  • New Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri could have gone elsewhere if he wanted. The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons reports that Kadri flexed his No-Trade Clause to block a trade to the Calgary Flames. Even after taking calls from Flames GM Brad Treliving and head coach Bill Peters, Kadri nixed a deal that would have seen he and Connor Brown, now an Ottawa Senator, go to Calgary in exchange for T.J. Brodie and Mark Jankowski. Simmons did not explain why Kadri was anti-Calgary, but did note that the fit in Colorado is better. As for the end result for the Leafs, Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot are a better package, but cost the the team young defenseman Calle Rosen, who Simmons states they did not wish to move, as well as a third-round pick. Also, Brodie would have been a more affordable defenseman to re-sign compare to Barrie, who could very well price himself out of Toronto after one year. It’s a toss up on which deal would have been better had Kadri not put his foot down.

Evening Notes: Sharks Lineup, Gaudette, Johansson

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The San Jose Sharks had to cast off a number of forwards this offseason after they inked star defenseman Erik Karlsson to an eight-year, $92MM contract three weeks ago. The team let Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi off and there continue to be rumors that they may have to trade off Melker Karlsson later on this summer to free up more cap room.

Of course, San Jose is expected to re-sign Joe Thornton and are likely to also bring back Patrick Marleau. Yet, despite those signings, there are likely going to be some holes in their lineup. In fact, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that there could be a major change in the top-six. The scribe writes that San Jose might look to its prospect depth to fill one of the wing positions on the second line this season as Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekovich could be the beneficiaries of that job.

Chmelevski, a sixth-round gem found in the 2017 draft, has scored 70 goals and 151 points in the past two seasons with the Ottawa 67s of the OHL. Chekovich, a seventh-round stud picked up in the 2017 draft as well, scored 43 goals and 105 points last season in the QMJHL, but also gotten some time in the AHL with three goals and seven points in nine AHL games. Kurz writes that the only way they would make the team is if one of them played on the second line. A spot on the bottom-six would make less sense, however, as they could get valuable minutes with the San Jose Barracuda instead.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have been quite active this offseason and have added quite a bit of depth to their team. However, Patrick Johnson of the Vancouver Sun writes that the team will have a significant roster jam at the forward position this fall. The team currently has 13 healthy forwards under NHL deals and still have to sign Nikolay Goldobin and Brock Boeser to deals. Throw in the injured Antoine Roussel, the team has a lot of forwards with only 12 spots. That could put the spot of Adam Gaudette, who many people feel deserves a spot as the team’s third-line center, in jeopardy as the 22-year-old is the only player on the team (minus Elias Pettersson and Boeser) who can be sent down without having to pass through waivers. Unless Gaudette can have a dominant camp and beat out some of the others like Brandon Sutter, he could find himself starting the year off in Utica of the AHL.
  • The two-year deal that winger Marcus Johansson signed Saturday with the Buffalo Sabres includes a modified no-trade clause, according to CapFriendly. Johansson has the ability to provide Buffalo with a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to during both his seasons. That’s an improvement on his previous deal where for the past two years he could submit five teams he couldn’t be traded to.

Central Notes: Kulikov, Jets Defense, Rask, Timmins

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Winnipeg Jets have already lost quite a bit of their talent on their blueline as the team has already lost Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba and Ben Chiarot this offseason with little in return other than Neal Pionk. However, because Pionk filed for arbitration (along with Andrew Copp) on Friday, the Jets could lose another defenseman off their roster.

The Athletic’s Murat Ates (subscription required) points out that Pionk and Copp filing for arbitration opens up a second buyout window for Winnipeg in three weeks, which might suggest that the Jets could consider buying out defenseman Dmitry Kulikov when that happens. The 28-year-old defenseman, who has one year remaining on his deal at $4.33MM, has not worked out like the team had hoped and there are questions whether he could fulfill the role of a top-four defenseman now that the team has holes to fill.

Kulikov has played just 119 games over two seasons, often sitting as a healthy scratch and has just three goals and 17 points in those two seasons. The team may want to consider letting Kulikov, which would save the team $2.89MM in cap savings for this year, something that could be used towards acquiring another defenseman. Of course, the Jets could just as easily decide that he can play in their top four and keep him, but it’s a legitimate option Winnipeg can consider over the next three weeks.

  • Staying with the Jets, the Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen writes that the losses Brandon Tanev (to Pittsburgh) and Chiarot (to Montreal) are more critical losses than people think. Those two players were ranked first and second, respectively on the Jets’ squad last year in hits. Tanev led the team with 278 hits, while Chiarot finished with 171. That’s a significant amount of physicality the team lost. Blocked shots aren’t any better as the team’s top two leaders in that category were lost as well, including Trouba (to New York Rangers) who had 171 blocks, while Chiarot was second on the team with 139. That could be a bad sign for the team’s overall defense.
  • The Athletic’s Tony Abbott (subscription required) projects the Minnesota Wild’s early depth chart after the Wild went out and signed forwards Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman. The team possesses quite a bit of depth and the one player that could find himself without a job is Victor Rask. The 26-year-old forward, who was acquired in the unpopular trade involving Nino Niederreiter with Carolina, could find himself outside the team’s top 12 next season and he will be making $4MM next season. Rask struggled mightily when he got to Minnesota, posting just two goals and three points in 23 games.
  • The Colorado Avalanche had high expectations for prospect Connor Timmins at the start of the season. Unfortunately, the team lost him to a concussion for the entire season. While he’s shown some signs of practicing with the team during the playoffs in a non-contact jersey, The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark (subscription required) reports that Timmins was a full participant at the team’s development camp recently and was, in fact, was one of the standouts there. The next step is to see how he performs in the preseason. Timmins, the team’s 2017 second-round pick, will likely play a full season in with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL next season.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils Moves, Flyers Roster, Backstrom

at CDT | by 4 Comments

There still remains a number of intriguing free agents available on the open market, including Jake Gardiner, Ryan Dzingel and Micheal Ferland. However, despite having $20.77MM in projected cap space remaining on their roster, it’s unlikely the New Jersey Devils will be adding one of them unless their asking price drops significantly, according to The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required).

That cap number is somewhat deceiving as New Jersey has several restricted free agents they must deal with, including Pavel Zacha, Will Butcher, Mirco Mueller and Connor Carrick, amongst others. No player should walk away with too significant a deal, meaning the Devils would have the cap space to sign one of those free agents, but that still seems unlikely. The team already made their major moves earlier, trading for P.K. Subban and signing winger Wayne Simmonds in free agency. That, however, doesn’t mean they are done making moves.

“I made some calls,” Shero. “This week will be the same thing, and we certainly would want to see what’s out there, if there’s a chance as we go into the summertime and the rest of the summer into training camp.”

  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com comes up with an early projection of the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup with one interesting hole on the team’s third line. The scribe pencils in Nolan Patrick centering Oskar Lindblom, but lists the other wing position to a mystery man, likely to be battled during training camp. He notes that there are two logical candidates to win the role including veteran Scott Laughton as well as youngsters Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. The 20-year-old Frost, a 2017 first-rounder, wrapped up his junior career last season and combined for 79 goals and 221 points over his last two years for the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. The 19-year-old Farabee, a 2018 first-rounder, signed with the Flyers after one season with Boston University in which he scored 17 goals and 36 points in 37 games.
  • While the discussions of whether the Washington Capitals will be able to retain goaltender Braden Holtby after next season has been discussed, the Washington Capitals have another significant free agent as well next offseason in Niklas Backstrom. The Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga suggests that the Capitals are almost certainly going to find a way to bring the veteran center back. Backstrom will be 32 by then, but has been such an integral piece to the first line next to Alexander Ovechkin, that it seems inconceivable the team will allow the veteran to walk away, especially without a young center waiting in the wings, which Washington does not have. Backstrom is still putting up solid numbers as he scored 22 goals and 74 points last season.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres 2020 Offseason, Heinen, Chiarot

at CDT | by 3 Comments

While the Florida Panthers received all the attention before free agency opened on July 1 due to their excessive amount of cap space and they fact that they were attracting several of the top free agents on the market, next year’s offseason will look quite a bit different. In fact, it could be the Buffalo Sabres that could be poised to take a similar role next year before free agency opens and could find themselves the team that could lock up some of the top free agents for the 2020-21 season.

The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) writes that while a lot can change in a year, Buffalo has only nine key players under contract for the 2020-21 season along with six restricted free agents. The team is expected to be free of a number of contracts, including Zach Bogosian ($5.14MM), Marco Scandella ($4MM), Vladimir Sobotka ($3.5MM), Conor Sheary ($3MM), Jimmy Vesey ($2.28MM), Matt Hunwick ($2.25MM), Scott Wilson ($1.05MM) and Casey Nelson ($812K). Assuming the salary cap rises by approximately $2MM, the Sabres should have about $29.5MM of projected salary cap, and assuming general manager Jason Botterill can properly persuade them, could add a couple of top free agents.

Who could be available, assuming that some of them don’t re-sign with their teams in the next season? Taylor Hall, Nicklas Backstrom, Brayden Schenn, Chris Kreider, Mike Hoffman, Alex Galchenyuk, Torey Krug, Jake Muzzin, Tyson Barrie, Roman Josi, and Braden Holtby.

  • While it’s been assumed for some time that Marcus Johansson would not return to Boston, (he signed with Buffalo earlier today), The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) looked at who might replace the veteran forward this season as the third-line left wing. The problem for Boston is that the team is loaded with a number of right-shot options in Zachary Senyshyn, Karson Kuhlman or Brett Ritchie. However, general manager Don Sweeney suggested it might be best to take the third-line right wing, Danton Heinen, and move him to the left side as he possesses more versatility than the others, which could allow one of the others to move in on the right side. “I think Heinen, depending on what side you play him on,” said Sweeney when asked who could replace Johansson. “Whether it’s Karson or Senyshyn or Brett Ritchie, guys that are right shots, we could play lefty-righty and move Danton over. I think he fits into the same mold of player creative-wise.”
  • The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required) analyzes the video of the Montreal Canadiens newly signed blueliner Ben Chiarot and looks at where he might fit in their lineup. Chiarot, who told reporters that he has discussed with the coaching staff about playing on the second pairing alongside Jeff Petry. However, Dumont suggests that would be a mistake as Chiarot struggles with retrieving pucks in a timely manner, which would not work well with Petry and suggests that Brett Kulak should continue in that role like he did last season. It might be best to play him on the Canadiens’ third pairing, but that seems a waste considering his $3.5MM price tag.

 

Penguins May Have To Make Another Cap-Clearing Trade

at CDT | by 7 Comments

The Penguins have already made a pair of trades this offseason to free up some cap space.  Defenseman Olli Maatta was sent to Chicago for winger Dominik Kahun to free up more than $3MM in room while winger Phil Kessel was shipped to Arizona for forward Alex Galchenyuk and defense prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph which freed up roughly $2MM more.  Despite that, GM Jim Rutherford may still have to make another cost-cutting trade in the weeks to come.

Right now, Pittsburgh has just under $1.6MM in cap room on a projected 21-man roster for next season, per CapFriendly.  They have a handful of restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  That list is highlighted by defenseman Marcus Pettersson who made a sizable impact after being acquired early in the season, averaging nearly 18 minutes a night with the Penguins while putting up 19 points in 57 games.  Even though he isn’t arbitration-eligible, the 23-year-old should be able to command the rest of Pittsburgh’s cap space on his own.

Up front, there are pair of forwards that need new deals in center Zach Aston-Reese (who filed for arbitration) and winger Teddy Bleuger (who didn’t).  Aston-Reese has done enough to earn a small raise on the $925K he made last season after putting up 17 points In just 43 games with Pittsburgh so his new deal will take up a big portion of their remaining cap room.  Blueger, meanwhile, had 10 points in 28 games but the fact he spent so much time in the minors will likely keep his AAV closer to the league minimum of $700K.

Even if the Penguins carry a roster that’s smaller than the maximum of 23 players (which will be tricky considering none of the players projected to make the team are waiver-exempt), they will have some difficulty getting Pettersson and Aston-Reese signed while staying below the Upper Limit of $81.5MM.  Accordingly, expect Rutherford to be looking to make a small move to give the team some extra flexibility to re-sign their remaining free agents and leave some wiggle room for in-season movement and recalls.  There has been some change already in Pittsburgh and there may still be a bit more to come.

Snapshots: Marner, Hanzal, Soderstrom

at CDT | by 26 Comments

With one team having already gone the offer sheet route, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding whether or not another one will be tendered to one of the remaining prominent restricted free agents this summer.  It appears that teams are at least sniffing around on Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner.  In an appearance on 630 CHED (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted that a team wanted to sign him to an offer sheet but they were looking for a max-term contract (seven years), something Marner’s camp is unwilling to do at this time.  Instead, he’s believed to be seeking a shorter-term pact to get him to unrestricted free agency quicker and allow him to sign a longer-term deal when the salary cap is even higher.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Back issues caused Stars center Martin Hanzal to miss all but seven games last season. Those may be the last games he winds up playing in Dallas as Mike Heika notes on the Stars’ team website that Hanzal, who is now in the final year of his contract, is unlikely to play at all in 2019-20 and that he’ll spend the entire year on injured reserve.  That means that the 32-year-old could be placed on LTIR to free up some extra wiggle room on the cap for next season.  However, there will be a risk to doing so with Miro Heiskanen, Corey Perry, and Andrej Sekera having achievable bonuses in their contracts.  Using LTIR would save cap space in the short term but create an overage for 2020-21 if anyone meets those incentives.
  • The Coyotes are hoping to sign first-round pick Victor Soderstrom in the coming days, reports Expressen’s Johan Svensson. While the defenseman is under contract with Brynas of the SHL for another season, Arizona can sign him and gain control over where to assign him to because he was picked in the first round.  While they could still loan him back to the SHL, signing him would give them the ability to also loan him to their AHL affiliate in Tucson to help him start adapting to the smaller North American ice surface right away.

Poll: Where Will Jake Gardiner Sign?

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Usually, within the first few days of free agency, the majority of the top players are off the market.  It’s rare that one of the top players at a particular position is still available but that’s the case when it comes to defenseman Jake Gardiner.

The 29-year-old was slotted sixth in our Top 50 UFA Rankings with a projection to have the highest AAV of any blueliner to actually make it to the open market.  That could certainly still happen but so far, there haven’t been many teams linked to him.

There are likely a couple of reasons for that.  For starters, the back injury that caused him to miss some time is something that teams will be leery about when considering whether or not to commit a long-term deal to him.  On top of that, he’s also coming off a quieter year offensively as he scored just three goals in 62 games while his 0.48 point per game average was his lowest in three years.

Nonetheless, he remains the only defenseman still out there that is basically a lock to play in a top-four role next season.  There are quite a few teams that still have a vacancy to fill in that slot as well but at this point, it’s reasonable to infer that his market isn’t quite as bullish as it was thought to be just a few days ago.  It has been suggested previously that he’d like to return to Toronto but given their movement so far this offseason and what’s still to come, that doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome even if his asking price comes down.

There are now two important questions when it comes to Gardiner.  How much has his stock dropped and where will he wind up signing?  Have your say on the latter of the two by choosing where you think he will sign by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

West Notes: Zucker, Canucks, Karlsson, Jets

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Jason Zucker’s name has been in trade speculation for several months with word leaking out twice about trades falling through.  It may be time to put that to rest for the time being, however.  Wild GM Paul Fenton told Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press that after bringing in wingers Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman in free agency, he’s likely done making moves this summer.  He believes that the additions plus the return to health of blueliner Mathew Dumba should be enough to vault Minnesota back into postseason contention.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Vancouver’s amateur scouting department is undergoing some changes for next season. Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston notes that the Canucks have parted ways with a trio of scouts.  One of those, Chris MacDonald, has left for a post with another team but has yet to officially be announced.  GM Jim Benning indicated that there will be some further restructuring to the scouting staff in the weeks to come as some of their scouts are shifted into different positions.
  • With the Sharks still needing to re-sign restricted free agent winger Kevin Labanc, unrestricted free agent center Joe Thornton, and fill out the rest of their roster, San Jose may still need to trim some payroll. Chelena Goldman of NBC Sports Bay Area suggests that center Melker Karlsson could be a trade candidate as a result.  With one year and $2MM left on his deal, his spot on the fourth line could be filled by someone cheaper (such as RFA Dylan Gambrell) which would free up some much-needed funds to use elsewhere.
  • The Jets offered defensemen Ben Chiarot a four-year contract with an AAV of just under $3MM per season, reports Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe. However, the blueliner declined the offer and inked a three-year, $10.5MM deal with Montreal instead.  The fact that Winnipeg felt that they had the resources to offer Chiarot that type of deal suggests that they could still get involved in the free agent market in the days to come.

Sabres Sign Marcus Johansson

at CDT | by 3 Comments

One of the notable wingers remaining in free agency is now off the market.  The Sabres announced that they have signed Marcus Johansson to a two-year, $9MM contract.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Johansson will have a ten-team no-trade list.  The deal actually represents a small pay cut as his $4.5MM AAV checks in just below the $4.583MM he had on his previous contract.

The 28-year-old split the season between the Devils and Bruins and once again had difficulties staying healthy as an upper-body injury with New Jersey and a lung contusion with Boston limited him to just 58 games.  He was relatively productive in those contests, collecting 13 goals and 17 assists.  Johansson was also a useful secondary scorer in the postseason as he picked up four goals and added seven helpers in 22 games as Boston made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.  That helped him secure the 13th slot in our Top 50 UFA Rankings.

Buffalo will be hoping that he can be a key secondary scorer for them now.  Johansson will likely slot in on their second or third line while his flexibility to be able to play on both wings is certainly an asset as well.  The Sabres have been active when it comes to wingers this summer as they’ve already locked up Jeff Skinner long-term while adding Jimmy Vesey from the Rangers via trade earlier this month.

This will probably be it for free agent signings for the Sabres, who now have a little over $6.6MM in remaining salary cap space.  However, they still have several restricted free agents in need of new deals, a list highlighted by goalie Linus Ullmark and defenseman Jake McCabe and new contracts for them will take up the rest of their cap room.  However, there has been plenty of trade speculation surrounding blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen in recent weeks and if GM Jason Botterill wants to shake up the roster some more, it’s going to have to come from the trade market.

Sportsnet’s David Amber was the first to report the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top