Archives for January 2020

St. Louis Blues Agree To Terms With Ville Husso, Niko Mikkola

January 30, 2020 at 1:12 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

The St. Louis Blues have agreed to terms on two-year contract extensions with both Ville Husso and Niko Mikkola. The contracts are one-way, and will carry average annual values of $750K and $787.5K respectively. Both players were scheduled for restricted free agency, though Husso likely would have been eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency given he has still not made his NHL debut.

Though it simply may be a reward for his hard work at the AHL level, a deal like this for Husso also has expansion draft implications. The Blues previously had just one goaltender signed for the 2021-22 season, prospect Joel Hofer, and he is ineligible for the draft. Given that at least one goaltender needs to be exposed, Husso’s deal makes a lot of sense. Jordan Binnington and Jake Allen both become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2021, and if the former is re-signed the Blues would want to protect him from the draft.

For Mikkola, it’s a little different story. The 23-year old made his NHL debut this season after being originally selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft, and looks to be at least a capable injured replacement for the Blues. If the 6’4″ defenseman can continue on his solid development path he could even become a regular for a team that is going to need inexpensive options.

The Blues have committed $12MM to Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk next season (and beyond) but are also going to be tasked with re-signing captain Alex Pietrangelo. That deal could push close to, or even past, $10MM per season, meaning the bottom end of the roster will have to be as cheap as possible. That is of course if they do get a deal done with Pietrangelo, but having some depth options is never a bad thing.

Both players’ cap hits will not be counted against the Blues if they are in the minor leagues.

David Backes Will Not Play With Providence Bruins

January 30, 2020 at 10:42 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 15 Comments

The Boston Bruins waived veteran forward David Backes earlier this month and assigned him to the minor leagues in order to bury part of his $6MM cap hit. He was given time to consider his future and whether he would report to the Providence Bruins of the AHL, but today it was announced that he will not play for them. Boston GM Don Sweeney released a short statement explaining the situation (in part):

After speaking with David, we have agreed that it is in the best interest of David and the Bruins for him not to play in Providence at this time. David is fit and able to play, but in order to preserve all potential options for both David and the Bruins moving forward, we have decided this is the best course of action.

Long-time NHL analyst John Shannon weighed in on Twitter, suggesting that the Bruins are trying to “manufacture a trade” for Backes before the deadline. That would seem to be a difficult task, given how expensive he is. The 35-year old forward has another season on his contract with that $6MM cap hit, though his actual salary is just $4MM.

By keeping him in the minor leagues, the Bruins save $1.075MM in full-season cap hit, but retirement or a mutual termination would be much better options for the club. That would wipe Backes’ entire contract off the books, though he would have to be willing to give up the money remaining on it.

Another option for the Bruins would be to buy him out in the summer. A buyout for Backes in June would mean the Bruins save $2MM against the cap for 2020-21, but would incur a $1MM penalty in 2021-22.

No matter what the eventual outcome, it’s a tough way for the former St. Louis Blues captain to go out. Once a reliable power forward that could contribute at both ends of the rink, Backes hasn’t been able to generate any offense since 2018. He has just three points in 16 NHL games this season.

Minor Transactions: 01/30/20

January 30, 2020 at 10:27 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The hockey world got what it was waiting for last night when Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk finally dropped the gloves in what was a fiery edition of the battle of Alberta. While many gave the decision to the bigger Edmonton Oilers forward, the same can’t be said for the outcome of the game. The Oilers were defeated in a shootout by the Calgary Flames and are now two points behind their provincial rivals in the standings. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves around the league today as teams prepare for their own battles this evening:

The Boston Bruins have recalled Karson Kuhlman and Jeremy Lauzon from the AHL, as they prepare to return to action after ten days off. The Bruins are on a two-game road trip that will stop in Winnipeg and Minnesota on back-to-back nights, and need all the healthy bodies they can get.
The Jets made a pair of moves themselves as they prepare for Boston tomorrow night, recalling Cameron Schilling and Logan Shaw. The 31-year old Schilling still hasn’t played in an NHL game this season, but does have 20 points in 42 games for the Manitoba Moose.
The Florida Panthers have recalled both Riley Stillman and Sam Montembeault, as they get ready for an afternoon tilt on Saturday. Florida can potentially put a fork in division-rival Montreal with a win, putting them 12 points up in the standings.
Givani Smith, Filip Zadina and Dennis Cholowski have all been recalled as the youth movement continues for the Detroit Red Wings. All three players figure to be core pieces for the squad moving forward and will get a chance down the stretch to really establish themselves.
Connor Bunnaman and Alex Lyon have been recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers, who are still waiting on Carter Hart’s return from injury. The team will use Brian Elliott for the time being, but need their young star goaltender back as soon as possible.
After being taken along on the road with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tyler Gaudet is on his way back to the AHL. Toronto gave Gaudet a chance to come with them when they visited Nashville, the organization that had him for parts of the last two seasons. He isn’t expected to see any NHL action for the Maple Leafs.
Chase De Leo is on the way back the San Diego Gulls, assigned today to the AHL. The 24-year old has played just a single game this season with the Anaheim Ducks, and just four in his career.
With Marc-Andre Fleury forced to miss a game after pulling out of the All-Star festivities, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Oskar Dansk. Nicolas Roy is coming with him with William Karlsson and Cody Glass still injured.

Poll: What Should Chicago Do At The Trade Deadline?

January 29, 2020 at 8:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

By now, most teams have a good idea as to what their plans are for next month’s trade deadline. One of the teams whose short-term future is still up in the air though is Chicago. They sit just three points out of a Wild Card spot and there are justifiable cases for them to buy, sell, or stand pat.

Case To Buy

With Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan both out for the season, the Blackhawks now have plenty of short-term cap space to work with via LTIR. While they’re limited to the rental market, it’s mostly players with expiring contracts that move at this time of year anyway. And with Alex DeBrincat’s cap hit going from $778K this season to $6.4MM next year, they probably wouldn’t want to add money for next year regardless of their LTIR situation.

DeBrincat isn’t the only bargain contract that’s expiring though. Rookie winger Dominik Kubalik already has 21 goals and will be looking for a big raise on his current deal worth $925K before bonuses. As he’s already 24, he also has salary arbitration eligibility.

Chicago also has a strong goaltending situation, one that’s unlikely to be the case next season. Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford are a quality tandem but both have stated that they see themselves as number ones. As a result, it’s almost a certainty that their goalie duo next year will be weaker so if you’re going to make a run, now would seem to be the time.

They’re only three points out despite the injuries on the back end. Adding an impact blueliner alone could be enough to close the gap. When you’re that close, it’s hard not to go for it.

Case To Sell

The goalie situation around the league has been a bit of an odd one this season with several veterans that were expected to lead the way struggling. As a result, the potential is there to have a rental goalie (Lehner or Crawford) go for a better return than what rental netminders have gone for in recent years as the market should be stronger. If they know which one they intend to keep already, GM Stan Bowman could get the contract extension done now and flip the other for a reasonable price. (It’s worth noting that Crawford has a ten-team no-trade clause that could come into play at some point.)

It’s also unlikely that they’ll be able to afford defenseman Erik Gustafsson over the offseason. While his numbers are down this season (not unexpected considering he came out of nowhere with a 60-point season in 2018-19), he’s still one of the better rental blueliners that could move over the next month. That should have Chicago well-positioned to cash in and would allow them to get a longer look at Slater Koekkoek and Dennis Gilbert to see if one of them is ready to seize a full-time role for next season and beyond.

As is always the case with bubble teams, there’s also the matter of how far they’re going to go if they make it. While upsets are certainly possible (look no further than one of their division rivals last season), they’re not probable. If the likely end result is a quick postseason exit, is that really better than adding a few more draft picks and prospects to the cupboard?

Case To Stand Pat

Just look at the standings. They’re three points behind Vegas with a game in hand so the gap could be as low as one. If Bowman wants to send the message that he believes in this group, just maintaining the status quo could be the way to go. The platooning of Lehner and Crawford should pay dividends down the stretch as they’ll be more rested than most of their counterparts at the other end of the ice. If the goalie market isn’t as strong as I think it could be, the more prudent move may be to keep both netminders over selling one for a mid-to-late-round pick.

It’s also possible that Andrew Shaw returns from his concussion at some point between now and the end of the year. While he wasn’t as productive as he was last season with Montreal before sustaining the injury, his physical style of play should come in handy as the pressure picks up down the stretch. Depending on when he returns, he could be worth a point or two in the standings and that could be enough to leapfrog whoever the fifth-place team in the Pacific Division is at the end of the year.

While Chicago has a reputation of being an older team, that isn’t the case this year. They have seven players on entry-level contracts at the moment (including the currently-injured Dylan Strome). Playing meaningful games down the stretch can certainly help from a player development standpoint. However, with guys like DeBrincat and Kubalik looking at raises for next season, the prospect of a potential bonus overage penalty lingers so the safest play may just be to stay the course and hope that the current roster is good enough to stay in the race.

Which direction do you think the Blackhawks should go? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

(Mobile users, click here to vote.)

West Notes: Ellis, Sissons, Hayton, Hintz

January 29, 2020 at 7:39 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The Predators have slipped to the bottom of the Central Division, a place that hardly anyone would have seen them being in at the start of the season. However, some help could be on the horizon as Adam Vingan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Ryan Ellis skated today for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury back on January 1st at the Winter Classic. Ellis is second on the team in ice time at over 23 minutes a night while his 0.72 points per game average is the second-highest of his career.

Meanwhile, Vingan adds in a separate tweet that while center Colton Sissons won’t play tonight, he could return as soon as Thursday against New Jersey or Saturday against Vegas. He has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury. The Predators have an open roster spot so they won’t need to send anyone down in order to activate Sissons off injured reserve.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Zack Kassian

January 29, 2020 at 5:49 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Before Zack Kassian takes the ice to confront Matthew Tkachuk and the Calgary Flames later tonight, he’ll be the subject of some other news. The Edmonton Oilers forward has signed a four-year contract extension according to Bob McKenzie of TSN, which will carry an average annual value of $3.2MM. Kassian was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. McKenzie adds that the deal does not contain any trade protection and that the breakdown of the contract is as follows:

2020-21: $2.5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2021-22: $2.5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $3.5MM salary
2023-24: $2.3MM salary

Kassian, 29, signed a three-year, $5.85MM deal with the Oilers back in 2017, meaning he’s getting quite the raise after logging some tough minutes with the club. A reclamation project by the time he ended up in Edmonton, Kassian has steadily developed into a real contributor for the team and has 13 goals and 28 points while often skating beside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

While some will argue that his offensive production is entirely dependent on those superstars, other players have struggled when given those minutes. Kassian’s above-average skating ability isn’t common in a player who plays such a physical game, and even before he came to Edmonton he had shown some goal-scoring promise around the net.

Still, at four years, the length of the deal comes with some significant risk. The Oilers aren’t exactly in a situation where they can throw around $3.2MM, given they have so much committed to McDavid and Draisaitl. The team is getting out from under some other bad contracts over the next few seasons, but that doesn’t mean they can afford to sign new ones. While Kassian certainly isn’t guaranteed to decline over the length of the deal, he also doesn’t offer a ton of upside as a top-six option.

Edmonton does have a huge number of decisions to make on their forward group for next season however. Even after signing Kassian they still have six forwards on the roster that will become unrestricted free agents at the end of this season. At the very least they know that the power forward can slot somewhere into the NHL lineup next year.

From Kassian’s point of view, it’s easy to understand why he would want to sign long-term in Edmonton. Originally drafted 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2009, he has been open about his battle with addiction and alcohol abuse in the early years of his professional career. Not only has he found a place among some of the best forwards in the world, but sobriety and a new chapter in his hockey playing story. Now he’ll get to spend the next several years trying to show why he was picked so high in the first place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 01/29/20

January 29, 2020 at 5:24 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Six games are on tap in the NHL this evening, including Jason Spezza’s return to Dallas after leaving the Stars for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will have the latest battle of Alberta as well, with all eyes on Matthew Tkachuk and Zack Kassian after their altercation the last two times these teams played.

Edmonton will have a familiar face back in the lineup tonight for the battle as Matt Benning has been activated from long-term injured reserve. Benning hasn’t played in nearly two months, after suffering multiple head injuries.
The Los Angeles Kings have also activated a defensemen, bringing back Joakim Ryan for their game tonight. Ryan has missed ten straight games for the Kings with a lower-body injury.
With all eyes on the New York Rangers’ goaltending situation, they’ve recalled Igor Shesterkin again after the break. The team will have three goalies on the roster until they decide what to do with Alexandar Georgiev.
Dennis Gilbert is on his way back to the NHL after being recalled by the Chicago Blackhawks, where he has spent half the season. The third-round pick from 2015 looks like he might be a full-time member of the squad at some point in the future, but so far has split his year between the Blackhawks and Rockford IceHogs.
After the St. Louis Blues placed Oskar Sundqvist on injured reserve earlier today, they have recalled the recently waived Troy Brouwer. The veteran forward hadn’t even reported to the AHL yet and was still deciding whether to continue his career.

Trade Deadline Primer: Boston Bruins

January 29, 2020 at 4:20 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

With the trade deadline now less than a month away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Boston Bruins.

Another year, another postseason appearance for the Boston Bruins. The highly decorated franchise has finished with an Atlantic Division spot for each of the last three seasons and out of the playoffs entirely just seven times since 1967. This year the team has a great chance of finishing in first place in their division and could load up with deadline talent to help push them over the top.

Record

29-10-12, first in the Atlantic Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$4.62MM in a full-season cap hit (using LTIR), 1/3 used salary cap retention slots, 47/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2020: BOS 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 3rd, BOS 5th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th
2021: BOS 1st, BOS 2nd, BOS 3rd, BOS 4th, BOS 5th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th

Trade Chips

When the 2019 trade deadline rolled around, Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney decided to add two players to his forward group in Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson, while removing a younger option in Ryan Donato. That’s the same kind of move the team could make this season given their group of talented-but-unpolished youngsters that haven’t been able to consistently provide a secondary scoring punch.

Once again the Bruins find themselves with just a handful of forwards providing regular offense, with Coyle’s versatility perhaps still doing enough to be added to that top group. Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork have been extremely inconsistent, and now total just 36 points combined in 73 games. The former is signed for another season, while the latter will become an arbitration eligible restricted free agent in the offseason. If there was a big upgrade to be made, perhaps an acquiring team would be asking about them.

It is the minor leagues that may hold more interesting options however. Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka are both high draft picks that have had success for AHL Providence, and even suited up a couple of times in the NHL. Both still have enough upside to be extremely enticing to a rebuilding squad, though Boston would seem to be loath to give them away.

There likely aren’t many rentals available that would deserve a return of that magnitude anyway, meaning unless the Bruins go after a player with term like Coyle, they could be dealing out of their draft pick cupboard instead. That’s what they did last season to land Johansson, who played very well for them on their path to the Stanley Cup Final.

Five Players To Watch For: F Danton Heinen, D John Moore, F Anders Bjork, F Oskar Steen, F Jeremy Lauzon

Team Needs

1) Second Line RW/C: Given the flexibility of Coyle, who can play both right wing and center, the Bruins can cast a little wider net on the trade market. Still, the perfect fit would be another right-handed option, given David Pastrnak is the only true right winger in the top-nine. Chris Kreider, the top rental on the market is a lefty, but Tyler Toffoli—a name often speculated about with regards to the Bruins—plays on the right.

2) Secondary Scoring: Really though, the team just needs to add some more punch up front. If it’s on the left side, there are enough good players on the Boston roster that the team could make it work. Defensive depth has also been bandied about as a potential spot to add, but the team already has several players waiting in the minor leagues for their next chance.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Dumba, Nesterov, Blues

January 29, 2020 at 2:14 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been looking for defensive upgrades and it was just a matter of time before they were linked directly to Mathew Dumba of the Minnesota Wild. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports today in his latest 31 Thoughts column that the Maple Leafs have looked into Dumba, who has been involved in trade rumors since a report emerged that the Wild were “open for business.”

Dumba checks all the speculative boxes for the Maple Leafs; he’s right-handed, has term on his deal, plays a physical game and can contribute offensively. While it is not clear if a deal for Dumba or anyone else will actually happen, another executive told Friedman that Toronto is “investigating every good defenseman on the market.” That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise after allowing 167 goals through their first 50 games.

Friedman also notes that there has been interest in former NHL defenseman Nikita Nesterov, but that the 26-year old is expected to sign a long-term deal in the KHL. Nesterov has been excellent for CSKA Moscow over the last three seasons, after suiting up 132 times in the NHL.
The St. Louis Blues have some interest in a top-six forward, as GM Doug Armstrong revealed on a recent podcast for The Athletic. Today, Jeremy Rutherford examined a list of potential targets (subscription required) for the Blues to add to their group at the deadline. Any move that St. Louis makes will be determined by the health of Vladimir Tarasenko, but he’s not the only forward on the sideline right now. Oskar Sundqvist was placed on injured reserve today after missing last night’s game.

Chris Drury Named GM Of 2020 U.S. National Team

January 29, 2020 at 1:17 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

USA Hockey has announced that Chris Drury will be back in his role as general manager of the 2020 National Team. Drury served as GM last year, while also holding down duties as assistant GM for the New York Rangers and GM of the Hartford Wolf Pack. He’ll be joined by an advisory group made up of John Vanbiesbrouck, David Poile, Don Waddell, Dale Tallon, Stan Bowman, Jeff Gorton and Bill Guerin.

Drury will be in charge of creating the team for the IIHF World Championship, this year held in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland between May 8-24. The team finished seventh last year.

Vanbiesbrouck, who is the assistant executive director of USA Hockey, released a short statement on Drury’s hiring:

Chris had an exceptional playing career and is an emerging star as a manager. We’re really pleased to have him back as the general manager of our men’s national team, and coupled with our Men’s National Team Advisory Group, we’re fortunate to have what is truly an all-star group engaged in helping us assemble a team that can compete for a gold medal.

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