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Archives for July 2019

Minnesota Signs Forwards Luke Johnson, Gabriel Dumont

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The Wild have added four forwards already today, announcing the depth additions of Luke Johnson and Gabriel Dumont. The duo sign matching two-year, two-way deals worth the minimum $700K at the NHL, although Dumont is set to make a higher AHL salary than Johnson.

The 24-year-old Johnson has showed some promise as he has continually improved in his three years in the AHL with the Chicago Blackhawks’ affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He finally broke out with an 18-goal season there in just 53 games and got some ice time with Chicago, playing in 15 games, but failed to score a goal and only registered a point, averaging just 10:49 of ATOI. He will compete for a fourth-line spot, but is more likely going to end up with the Iowa Wild for another season.

The 28-year-old Dumont bounced around Montreal, Tampa Bay and Ottawa as he struggled to crack an NHL lineup. Tampa Bay eventually claimed him back from the Senators in 2018 and he was immediately sent to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL where he played since then. Minnesota is likely expecting him to join Johnson with Iowa to provide some veteran depth for their younger players.

Florida Panthers Sign Sergei Bobrovsky

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The Florida Panthers have their new franchise goaltender. After seeing Roberto Luongo retire and trading James Reimer, the team will now bring in Sergei Bobrovsky on a seven-year, $70MM contract. Bobrovsky immediately becomes one of the highest-paid goaltenders in the league, and joins a team in Florida that has made sweeping changes this offseason. GM Dale Tallon had this to say about his new goaltender:

Sergei is an elite starting goaltender who has consistently proven to be one of the best in the NHL. Adding a world class goalie with Sergei’s abilities and experience will give us a solid foundation in net and the confidence to win every night as we look towards this next era of Panthers hockey in South Florida.

The deal also includes a no-movement clause in the first five seasons. Only Carey Price’s $10.5MM cap hit sits higher than this deal for Bobrovsky among goaltenders, meaning he has a lot of pressure on him to perform for the Panthers moving forward. It’s a good thing then that Bobrovsky has been so good over the last nine years, posting at least a .913 save percentage in every season that he was relatively healthy. A two-time Vezina Trophy winner, the 30-year old goaltender finally proved he could perform in the playoffs when he posted a .925 for the Blue Jackets in their two series’ this year.

Still, handing out a deal of this magnitude to a goaltender carries a fair amount of risk. After clearing a ton of cap space during the season, the Panthers are now sitting just about $4.8MM under the ceiling after spending heavily today. If Bobrovsky struggles at all the team won’t be able to afford to bring in much help for him, meaning the Panthers’ hopes will live or die with his performance.

Alex Chiasson Re-Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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After testing the market, forward Alex Chiasson has decided to stay put where he found so much success last season. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that Chiasson will return to the Edmonton Oilers on a two-year deal worth $2.15MM per season.

The 28-year-old has been in the NHL for six full seasons, but has already played for five teams as a bottom-six depth option who has some size at 6-foot-4. He was with the Washington Capitals when they won the Stanley Cup, but the Capitals opted not to re-sign him and he was forced to ink a one-year, minimum contract deal with Edmonton in hopes of finding his offense.

Chiasson did just that as he found some significant playing time with the Oilers who were desperate for top-six wing producers. Getting a career-high 16:58 of ATOI this past year, Chiasson turned that into a 22-goal, 38-point season, both career highs. Despite many who felt that Chiasson might be too expensive to bring back, the team got him back at a reasonable price and have retained a winger in hopes of bouncing back this season and making a playoff run.

Colin Wilson Re-Signs With Colorado Avalanche

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The Colorado Avalanche will bring back one of their own pending free agents, as Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic reports the team has re-signed Colin Wilson to a one-year, $2.6MM contract.

“We are excited to have Colin back for another season,” said Colorado general manager Joe Sakic. He played an important role on our second line and power-play unit last season and was one of our better players down the stretch, especially in the playoffs.”

Wilson took a pay cut to remain with the team as Wilson just finished out a four-year, $15.75MM deal worth $3.94MM per season that he originally signed with the Nashville Predators after putting up his first 20-goal season. However, after two years, the Predators sent Wilson to Colorado for a 2019 fourth-round pick in an attempt to clear out some cap room. However, despite the belief that Wilson would see more playing time with a struggling Avalanche squad, he saw even less time, averaging just over 13 minutes per game. He scored just six goals in his first year with the Avalanche, but followed that up with a more impressive 12 goals this past season.

The 29-year-old will likely stick to Colorado’s fourth line and join new veteran addition Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in forming a more impressive line.

Brett Ritchie To Sign With Boston Bruins

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The Bruins are set to add a depth piece up front, as TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that former Dallas Star forward Brett Ritchie will join the team. It is expected to be a one-year deal in the $1MM range for the 26-year-old winger.

Ritchie gives the team an fourth-line option as the 6-foot-4, 220-pound winger will add some size and grit to the team after the Bruins lost Noel Acciari to Florida earlier in the day. However, he will still have to prove himself as the Stars opted to not qualify Ritchie last week, allowing him to become a free agent.

The 26-year-old looked like a promising player for the Stars, who drafted him in the second round in 2011. He flashed some offense in his first full season in the 2016-17 season when he potted 16 goals and 24 points. However, those numbers dropped to seven goals and 14 points the following year before only scoring four goals last season in 53 games and saw himself bounced out of the lineup by the end of the season. A physical presence who has been known to throw down against other big players such as Colton Parayko and Tom Wilson, Ritchie will have to prove that he can outplay other depth players for Boston.

Gustav Nyquist Signs With Columbus Blue Jackets

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The Columbus Blue Jackets may have lost Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, but they’ve added one of the other top free agent forwards. Gustav Nyquist has signed a four-year deal with the Blue Jackets that will carry a $5.5MM average annual value according to Bob McKenzie of TSN.

The 29-year-old winger has been a solid producer over the years as he has two straight 20-goal seasons, although his best two years were much earlier in his career when he tallied 55 goals over two seasons with Detroit between 2013 and 2015. Knowing they weren’t likely going to bring the veteran back, the Red Wings traded him to San Jose for a 2019 second-round pick and Nyquist proved to be instrumental in assisting the Sharks throughout the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. In 19 regular season, he scored six goals and 11 points and while he scored just one goal in 20 playoff games, he did set up a number of his teammates as he wracked up 10 assists.

In Columbus, Nyquist should fill a key role in the team’s top-six that not just lost Duchene and Panarin, but also is expected to part ways with Ryan Dzingel, who many believed would stay with the Blue Jackets. His presence should fill that gap and also give Columbus a solid second-line winger, who could eventually slide back into a third-line role as he gets older and a number of the team’s young prospects are ready to step into greater roles.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Ivan Prosvetov

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While everyone else is taking part in the free agent frenzy, someone in the Arizona Coyotes is still focused on their prospect pipeline. The team has signed goaltender Ivan Prosvetov to a three-year entry-level contract, according to The Athletic’s Craig Morgan. The 20-year old was selected in the fourth round in 2018 and played last season with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. The entry-level deal will be for $700K with a $70K AHL salary and a $92.5K signing bonus for each year.

Besides the timing, another reason that the move is surprising is that it’s for the 114th pick in the draft, not a first-round or even a second-round pick. However, Morgan reports that Arizona is very high on the goaltender out of Russia.

Prosvetov has already played in North America for several years now and is already used to those rinks. He spent one year playing in the USHL for the Youngstown Phantoms, appearing in 36 games and posting a 2.90 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He then joined the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL last season and was 36-11-1 in 53 games. He finished with a 2.94 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

Predators Expected To Sign Matt Duchene

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Monday: TSN’s Darren Dreger has the breakdown of Duchene’s contract, which includes $28MM in signing bonuses. Colleague Pierre LeBrun adds that the deal also includes a modified No-Trade Clause in the final three years that allows Duchene to select seven teams he cannot be traded to.

Sunday: Matt Duchene was the top center on the free agent market and it appears he’s heading back to the Western Conference.  Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that Duchene is set to sign with the Predators on a contract with an $8MM AAV.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that it’s expected to be a seven-year deal, the maximum term for a free agent not re-signing with his own team.  That price tag will tie fellow pivot Ryan Johansen as the top cap hit on the team.

Duchene matched his career high offensively in 2018-19 with 70 points (31-39-70) in 73 games.  He started off the year in Ottawa but when he wasn’t able to come to terms on an extension prior to the trade deadline, he was flipped to the Blue Jackets as Columbus went all in.  He wasn’t as productive with them during the regular season (12 points in 23 contests) but he picked up his play in the postseason, picking up five goals and five assists in their ten games, ranking second on the team in playoff scoring.

While Columbus certainly would have wanted to keep Duchene, this news provides them with a small silver lining.  As part of the trade with the Senators, they would have had to part with their 2020 first-round pick if he re-signed with them.  As that’s not happening, that pick won’t change hands which closes the book on that swap.

In Duchene, Nashville is landing someone who they feel can solidify their depth down the middle.  They tried Kyle Turris as their second line pivot (interestingly enough, he was part of the trade that sent Duchene to Ottawa) but that hasn’t worked out.  Duchene’s offensive track record suggests that this move has a better chance of working.

The Preds signalled their intentions of making a splash in free agency back at the draft when they dealt defenseman P.K. Subban to New Jersey for a package that largely consisted of future assets to free up just over $7.5MM in cap room (after taking Steven Santini’s salary into consideration).  It turns out they’ll use all of that and then some to land Duchene but in the process, they’ve landed one of the top free agents on the market.  The 28-year-old ranked third in our Top 50 UFA Rankings.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Tyler Myers, Jordie Benn

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The Vancouver Canucks decided not to qualify both Derrick Pouliot and Ben Hutton last week, letting them become unrestricted free agents and able to sign elsewhere. In their place, the team is set to add three pieces with a little more experience. The team has signed Tyler Myers to a five-year, $30MM deal and Jordie Benn to a two-year, $4MM deal. They also added Oscar Fantenberg in another deal. Myers’ contract includes a huge amount in signing bonuses, including $6MM due this September 1. GM Jim Benning released a statement on his new highly-paid defender:

Tyler is a proven competitor and an important addition to our roster. His experience, character, and size are qualities that will help our team. We are excited to have Tyler and his family join our team.

Myers, 29, came into free agency as one of the very best defensemen available after five relatively successful seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. Last year saw him record 31 points in 80 games, though his role with the team started to decline given the emergence of Jacob Trouba. Trouba is gone now as well, leaving Winnipeg with a glaring hole on the right side of their defense, but Vancouver isn’t complaining. They’ll commit long term to the 6’8″ Myers, who will now become one of the highest-paid players on the entire team.

Benn meanwhile comes to the Canucks after a career-best 22 points in 2018-19, the only time he’s really been considered anything but a depth option. The 31-year old has now played 473 games in his NHL career but had previously been asked to handle a limited role in Dallas and Montreal. That might be where he’s headed again in Vancouver given their glut of defenders, with Alexander Edler and Quinn Hughes ahead of him on the left side.

With their eyes on the playoffs, the Canucks have now rebuilt their blue line with these three additions along with an expected full season from young phenom Hughes. That immediately begs the question of whether one of their other veterans could be on the move, with Chris Tanev becoming the most obvious possibility. Tanev is on the final year of his contract and has been in trade rumors for years. With Myers likely stepping into a large role on the right side, the team may need to move someone out of town.

Boston Bruins Add Maxime Lagace

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In need of an established third-string option in net, the Boston Bruins have opted to sign Maxime Lagace to fill the role. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports it is a one-year, two-way deal for the 26-year-old and worth the minimum $700K at the NHL level. The former Vegas Golden Knights keeper will spend next season with AHL Providence barring any injuries to top tandem Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak. 

Lagace wasn’t needed much as a third-sting option for Vegas this season as he only appeared in one game for the Golden Knights, but he saw quite a bit of action in the Golden Knights’ inaugural season when he became the starting goaltender for a stretch after the team lost both Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban to injury. He appeared in 16 games that year, but struggled with a 3.92 GAA and a. 867 save percentage. He split time with Oscar Dansk this year in with the Chicago Wolves, but took more of a backup role to him, especially in the Calder Cup playoffs as Lagace appeared in just three games of their Calder Cup Finals run. However, his numbers remained solid in the AHL, where he put up a 2.43 GAA and a.914 save percentage in 33 appearances.

Lagace will replace Zane McIntyre who the Bruins were going to lose in free agency. The team hopes that Lagace can help mentor 21-year-old Dan Vladar, who showed some flashes of success at the AHL level, but also proved to be quite inconsistent and wouldn’t be able to help much at the NHL level. Lagace should be able to fill that void.

 

 

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