With the NHL regular season approaching quickly, many players will be put on waivers over the next several days. We’ll keep track of all of them right here:
Arizona Coyotes
F Michael Bunting
F Michael Chaput
F Hudson Fasching
D Aaron Ness
Calgary Flames
Dallas Stars
Vancouver Canucks
F Tyler Graovac
G Richard Bachman
Winnipeg Jets
The Colorado Avalanche have added some more goaltending depth, acquiring Antoine Bibeau from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for prospect Nicolas Meloche. Bibeau, who recently cleared waivers with the Sharks, will report to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.
A trade of Bibeau solves problems for both teams, as the Sharks already had two goaltenders ticketed for the AHL while the Avalanche had just three in the entire organization under NHL contracts. Colorado will still be going with Pavel Francouz as their backup to start the year, but Bibeau does give them another player to turn to if he struggles. The new goaltender has just two games of NHL experience under his belt but has been an AHL All-Star as recently as 2017-18.
Perhaps more interestingly though is the inclusion of Meloche, who is still just 22 and was a second-round pick in 2015. The young defenseman had a strong season for the Colorado Eagles last year putting up 21 points in 55 games, but just wasn’t going to get anywhere in the Avalanche system. Even if he took another step forward this year it would be hard to find room for him on a team that has Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, Conor Timmins and Bowen Byram all still 21-and-under and in line for huge minutes going forward.
In San Jose, Meloche will get a new chance and opportunity to show the coaching staff he has what it takes to get to the NHL level. On the final year of his entry-level deal, he’s a worthwhile lottery ticket for a team that will need cheap defenders to offset the $26.5MM that their top three are eating up every year.
We’re getting closer and closer to the start of the regular season and teams are making their final cuts. We’ll keep track of them right here. Keep checking back throughout the day as this page will be updated regularly.
Arizona Coyotes (per team release)
F Lane Pederson (to Tucson, AHL)
D Jordan Gross (to Tucson, AHL)
D Kyle Capobianco (to Tucson, AHL)
Dallas Stars (per team release)
F Nicholas Caamano (to Texas, AHL)
F Rhett Gardner (to Texas, AHL)
F Jason Robertson (to Texas, AHL)
D Thomas Harley (to Mississauga, OHL)
Detroit Red Wings (per team release)
G Kaden Fulcher (to Toledo, ECHL)
F Matthew Ford (released from PTO)
F Josh Kestner (released from PTO)
F Troy Loggins (released from ATO)
F Tyler Spezia (released from PTO)
D Marcus Crawford (released from PTO)
D Charle-Edouard D’Astous (released from ATO)
D Alec McCrea (released from ATO)
G Pat Nagle (released from PTO)
Los Angeles Kings (per team release)
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (to Ontario, AHL)
F Rasmus Kupari (to Ontario, AHL)
New Jersey Devils (per team release)
F Nathan Bastian (to Binghamton, AHL)
F Michael McLeod (to Binghamton, AHL)
New York Rangers (per team release)
F Steven Fogarty (to Hartford, AHL)
Minnesota Wild (per team release)
F Gerry Mayhew (to Iowa, AHL)
F Nico Sturm (to Iowa, AHL)
F Drew Stafford (released from PTO)
Vancouver Canucks (per team release)
F Zack MacEwen (to Utica, AHL)
D Jalen Chatfield (to Utica, AHL)
F Tyler Graovac (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
G Richard Bachman (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
Winnipeg Jets (per team release)
F Andrei Chibisov (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Michael Spacek (to Manitoba, AHL)
F Kristian Vesalainen (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Logan Stanley (to Manitoba, AHL)
D Cameron Schilling (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
After rumors swirled for weeks about where San Jose Sharks prospect Ryan Merkley would play hockey in 2019-20, we finally have an answer. The Peterborough Petes have traded Merkley to the London Knights in the OHL in exchange for a 2024 conditional second or third round pick, and a 2022 third round pick. This is the second time Merkley has been traded in junior hockey, while a reputation for being a tough player to coach has followed him everywhere.
Selected 21st overall in 2018, there are few defensive prospects in the world with as much playmaking skill as Merkley. His ability to create room for himself on the blueline and then find an open teammate through traffic is almost unmatched, and he can use his elusiveness to skate the puck out of trouble in his own end. That play in the defensive zone has been questioned because of a troubling work ethic, but there’s absolutely no doubt that Merkley has all the skill required to be an NHL defenseman.
That’s exactly what the Sharks saw in him and why they already signed Merkley to his entry-level contract last summer. Even with all of the frustration he may have caused coaching staffs over the years, he still has the talent to do almost anything he wants on the ice at the junior level. That’s why it is so surprising to see the incredibly small return that the Knights had to give up. NHL first-round picks don’t get traded for conditional mid-round picks, instead usually grabbing a huge package that would include several top selections.
Still, for Merkley the Knights may be the best place for him right now. The London organization is one of the most stable in the OHL and an NHL breeding ground that has dealt with their fair share of projects over the years. Hopefully the 19-year old will be able to right the ship and fulfill his promise as an elite offensive defenseman. After a solid showing in San Jose training camp, his contract will slide forward again as he plays his final year of junior.
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2019-20 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Current Cap Hit: $78,318,809 (under the $81.5MM Upper Limit)
D Cale Fleury (two years, $772K)
F Jesperi Kotkaniemi (two years, $925K)
F Victor Mete (one year, $748K)
F Ryan Poehling (two years, $925K)
F Nick Suzuki (three years, $863K)
Potential Bonuses
Fleury: $132.5K
Kotkaniemi: $2.5MM
Suzuki: $425K
Kotkaniemi surprised many by landing a full-time spot on Montreal’s roster last season where he acquitted himself rather well even if the offensive numbers didn’t jump off the page. If he continues his upward trajectory, he’s someone that the Canadiens will likely look to sign to a long-term extension next summer at a rate that would have to be comparable to some of the notable post-ELC players that have signed as of late in order to get him to sign. Poehling made quite the first impression in the final game of last season and is believed to largely be NHL-ready though Montreal’s depth up front means he may have to start in the minors. If that happens, an early extension next summer is probably off the table. Suzuki, a 2017 first-rounder, has played himself into the mix for a roster spot but it’s too early to forecast what his next deal might look like.
Mete has largely held his own defensively since surprisingly making it to the NHL at 19 and he has become an important part of their back end. However, his lack of offensive production will wind up limiting his earning potential on his second contract. Unless the Canadiens overpay with the hope that he will add that element to his game, his next deal could wind up being a bridge. Fleury wouldn’t have been mentioned had this been written a couple of weeks ago but head coach Claude Julien recently pegged him as pretty much NHL-ready so clearly, he’s in the mix for a roster spot as well. That said, his role would be minimal which wouldn’t lend itself towards a long-term deal two years from now.
F Nick Cousins ($1MM, RFA)
F Max Domi ($3.15MM, RFA)
D Christian Folin ($800K, UFA)
F Charles Hudon ($800K, RFA)
G Keith Kinkaid ($1.75MM, UFA)
F Matthew Peca ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Nate Thompson ($1MM, UFA)
F Dale Weise ($2.35MM, UFA)
Domi’s situation is one of the more interesting ones for Montreal. He’s coming off of a much-improved 2018-19 campaign that saw him post career highs across the board while doing so as a full-time center for the first time. Those will certainly help his negotiating leverage but at the same time, there are understandably questions about whether this level of performance can be sustained based on how he performed with Arizona. GM Marc Bergevin admitted that they had started talks regarding an extension but given the sizable difference in performance over the last two years, the more prudent move is to wait. A repeat performance from last season could vault him past the $7MM mark pretty quickly though.
Weise was part of a midseason trade last year where the principal pieces were players on bad contracts with the hopes a change of scenery would do them some good. That didn’t really happen as he’s now on waivers, he’s likely to be in the minors which means that more than half his cap hit will still remain on the books. Peca had a lot of interest two summers ago which helped land him this deal but he’s also on waivers and unless he’s claimed and succeeds elsewhere, he’ll be looking at a reduced price tag next offseason. Thompson took a pay cut to remain with Montreal in a depth role and as a faceoff specialist, he could land another deal like this one a year from now. Cousins is coming off of a decent season in Arizona but was non-tendered which was likely because of his arbitration eligibility. A similar showing from him could yield a similar fate but either way, he should be able to get a bit more than this next time around. Hudon went from being a regular two years ago to a frequent scratch and this deal represents somewhat of a last chance opportunity. A rebound could give him some leverage (especially with arbitration eligibility) but if he falters, a non-tender is likely.
Folin was also brought in along with Weise last season to serve in a depth role and he’ll potentially be in that capacity again this season. He has been signing these types of contracts for a few years now and unless he becomes a full-timer on Montreal’s back end, that’s likely to continue.
Two years ago, Kinkaid looked like one of the top backups in the league that could be a candidate for a starting role somewhere. Last season, he struggled mightily and then spent the last two months as a permanent healthy scratch which resulted in a smaller market this past summer. A rebound from him would make him one of the better backups available at a time where quality backups are getting a fair bit more than his current deal.
F Joel Armia ($2.6MM, UFA)
F Phillip Danault ($3.083MM, UFA)
F Brendan Gallagher ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Artturi Lehkonen ($2.4MM, RFA)
D Jeff Petry ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Mike Reilly ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Tomas Tatar ($4.8MM, UFA*)
F Jordan Weal ($1.4MM, UFA)
* – Vegas is retaining an additional $500K of Tatar’s salary
Tatar’s contract seemed reasonable in Detroit but after he went to Vegas, it looked like an overpayment. That’s why the Golden Knights had to retain to move him and now after setting a career-high in points last season, it seems reasonable again. If he can stay around the 50-point mark, he should be able to land a contract around what he’s currently getting. The same can’t be said for Gallagher. After two straight 30-goal campaigns, he’s now on one of the better value contracts in the league and will be looking at a big raise two years from now. Danault is coming off of a career season that saw him garner a bit of Selke support as well. Knowing the market for centers is often a high-demand and low-supply one, he looks poised to cash in.
Armia battled injuries last season which ultimately resulted in another short-term deal that takes him to free agency. He has shown some flashes of his offensive upside going back to his time with Winnipeg but hasn’t put it together enough to land some long-term security. Lehkonen has had several stretches where his offense has dried up which resulted in a bridge contract. He’ll need to produce more consistently to reach that next tier in terms of money. Weal struggled with Arizona and Philadelphia but made an immediate impact with Montreal which earned him a two-year deal shortly after the season ended, albeit at a pay cut. Even if he doesn’t lock down a top-six role, producing with more consistency could have him in line for a raise in 2021.
Petry was asked to take on a bigger workload last season and he held his own. While he’ll be 33 two summers from now, it’s quite possible that he can garner a bit of a raise and another fairly long-term contract. Reilly lost his spot in the lineup down the stretch but still landed a decent pay bump in the summer. To get anything more than that though, he’ll need to lock down a full-time spot on the back end.
D Karl Alzner ($4.625MM, UFA)
D Ben Chiarot ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Brett Kulak ($1.85MM, UFA)
Alzner’s contract has not worked out well at all. He spent most of last season in the minors and is back on waivers now where he appears to be destined to be back in the minors. If Montreal runs into a situation where they need to free up cap room in the summer, he has to be considered as a buyout candidate. Chiarot was brought in on what seems like a pricey deal on the surface but he’s coming off the best year of his career in Winnipeg. He’ll need to hold down a top-four role to justify that price tag or to position himself for a similar one on his next deal. Kulak cleared waivers early last year when with Calgary but quickly worked himself into a regular role in Montreal which earned him some security for the first time.
F Paul Byron ($3.4MM through 2022-23)
F Jonathan Drouin ($5.5MM through 2022-23)
G Carey Price ($10.5MM through 2025-26)
D Shea Weber ($7.857MM through 2025-26)
Drouin has come up in recent trade speculation following a rough finish to last season and a sluggish start in the postseason. He has played like a quality top-six forward at times but has also struggled mightily at others. The Canadiens would be selling low if they moved him now though. Byron has been one of the better waiver claims around the league in recent years as he has established himself as a quality secondary scorer. Maintaining his speed will go a long way towards ensuring he provides some sort of value over the length of his deal.
Weber’s contract is one of the back-diving ones that is now outlawed in the CBA and subject to cap recapture though that could be affecting Nashville down the road and not the Canadiens. Weber is still logging number one minutes which makes the price tag reasonable but as he ages, the final few seasons could certainly be more troublesome.
Price’s contract remains the richest in league history after Sergei Bobrovsky checked in a little below that this summer. He’s no doubt a franchise netminder but he has had injury issues in two of the last four seasons and at 32 already, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to handle a top workload throughout the life of the deal.
G Steve Mason ($1.367MM in 2019-20)
None
None
Best Value: Gallagher
Worst Value: Alzner
The Canadiens are well-positioned when it comes to the cap for the next couple of seasons after failing to land an impact player in free agency over the summer. In the short term, that will make them a team to watch for if teams need to move out salary at some point during the season.
Montreal appears to be positioning themselves for a big roster shakeup in the 2021 summer. Kotkaniemi’s next deal will be sizable while several of their pending UFAs will be in line for raises as well and they’ll be hard-pressed to keep them all. Clearly, they’re banking on some of their prospects emerging by that time but it certainly appears as if they’ll look a fair bit different two years from now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
On the surface, Matthew Tkachuk’s $7MM AAV on his bridge deal with the Flames appears to put Calgary in a situation where they will need to clear out some salary. However, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that the contract should allow the team to avoid having to do what he calls a “distressed transaction”, a move that would have forced a player out for salary cap reasons or made Calgary add an incentive to move a player. CapFriendly currently projects them at being more than $650K over the cap at the moment. LTIR for Juuso Valimaki (torn ACL) would get them back into compliance while carrying less than the maximum 23 players would also free up some space although it wouldn’t leave much wiggle room for in-season movement or injury replacements. It’s doable but it’s safe to say that the Flames will be tight to the Upper Limit all season long.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
The hockey world held its breath when news broke that Guy Lafleur was heading in for quadruple bypass heart surgery. The Montreal Canadiens were proud to report however that the procedure was a success and Lafleur is expected to make a full recovery. We here at PHR wish the entire Lafleur family the best as they work through the recovery period, and are glad everything went smoothly. The 68-year old is one of the most well-known and successful players in NHL history, scoring 1,353 points in 1,1127 games over his long career.
Here are some more notes from around the league:
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s (short) live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
The Philadelphia Flyers released some bad news today, announcing that young forward Nolan Patrick will not be ready for the start of the season. Patrick has been diagnosed with a migraine disorder and will not travel with the team to Europe. Officially listed as week-to-week, this is a disappointing start to Patrick’s year.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride since the summer of 2016, when Patrick was crowned as the top draft eligible prospect in the world. He had just completed an incredible second season of junior hockey with the Brandon Wheat Kings, scoring 41 goals and 102 points in the regular season while leading the entire WHL playoffs in scoring with 30 points in 21 games. He looked like the sure-fire first overall pick, but hernia surgery before the 2017-18 campaign changed everything. Patrick was limited to just 33 games for the Wheat Kings and missed the entire WHL playoffs with a leg injury suffered on the last day of the regular season. Nico Hischier ended up leapfrogging Patrick for the top spot in the 2017 draft, and his injury trouble never really stopped.
Though Patrick has played in 145 games across the first two seasons of his career, neither one was injury-free and his production has been limited because of it. With 13 goals in each season and 61 total points, some have already started to question whether he was worth the second overall pick. By any measure, that critique is unfair at this point. Patrick only turned 21 a week ago and could still develop into the first-line center that many projected him to be back in 2016. That development is contingent on getting healthy though, and starting an important season with a migraine diagnosis certainly doesn’t inspire confidence.
Hopefully the young forward will be able to deal with this issue and get back into the Flyers lineup—he still skated today, but has already been ruled out to start the year—before too long.
When the waiver list came out today, an interesting name was listed under the Boston Bruins section. That name was Alexander Petrovic, who had been in Bruins’ training camp on a professional tryout. Being placed on waivers indicated that the Bruins had signed the defenseman, and indeed CapFriendly has confirmed the one-year, two-way contract. Petrovic will carry a $700K cap hit in the NHL, though he is ticketed for the Providence Bruins after waivers process tomorrow.
Petrovic, 27, played just 35 games last season split between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, recording two points. Originally a second-round pick by the Panthers in 2010, his game has deteriorated in recent years after previously being a full-time option for the team. In 263 regular season games he has just 50 points, but will still provide plenty of experience and depth for the Bruins should they run into injury trouble.
You can bet that the Bruins wouldn’t want him in the lineup on a nightly basis, but adding a player with that much NHL experience for a minimum salary basically comes with zero risk. It does however take them another slot closer to the 50-contract limit, as they now sit at 48.