The final week of arbitration led to several signings this past week although there were certainly some headlines made on the injury front as well. Here’s a rundown of the biggest news from the past seven days.
Pulock Avoids Arbitration: The good news for the Islanders is that they were able to avoid salary arbitration with defenseman Ryan Pulock. The bad news is that the two-year, $10MM deal they agreed upon only bought out his two remaining RFA years and takes him straight to UFA eligibility in 2022. The 26-year-old has very quietly become an impact defender and had 35 points in 68 games last season while logging over 22 minutes a night to lead the team in ice time and getting a top-pairing defender at that price tag is a bargain, even if it will just be a short-term one. The team will now focus on getting top center Mathew Barzal under contract although they will likely need to free up some money to do so first.
Nyquist Surgery: The Blue Jackets will be without one of their top forwards for a good chunk of next season after it was revealed that winger Gustav Nyquist underwent shoulder surgery that will cause him to miss the next five to six months. GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated that the 31-year-old has been dealing with nagging shoulder pain for the last several years which led to the decision to go under the knife. Nyquist finished second on the team in scoring last season with 42 points in 70 games, extending his streak of consecutive seasons with at least 40 points to seven (the only full years of his NHL career). However, that streak will almost certainly come to an end in 2020-21 as a result of this news.
Mantha Re-Signs: While there were 26 players who originally filed for arbitration last month, one of the notable players that didn’t despite being eligible was Red Wings winger Anthony Mantha. It turned out to be a wise move as the two sides agreed to a four-year, $22.8MM contract, one that buys out his final two years of RFA eligibility plus two UFA years. The 26-year-old produced like a top-line player last season with 16 goals and 22 assists in just 43 games but at the same time, it was also the second straight year that he missed considerable time due to injury; he dealt with both knee and lung issues in 2019-20. If Mantha can stay healthy and play at that level over a full season, this has the potential to be a bit of a bargain for Detroit.
Dallas Injuries: It had been known for a while that Stars center Tyler Seguin would miss some time for his pending hip surgery that wound up taking more than a month to occur but the team revealed that their top pivot will miss five months after undergoing the procedure. On top of that, they also indicated that goaltender Ben Bishop underwent meniscus surgery last month that also carries a five-month recovery period. Both are tough blows for the defending Western Conference champions who will now be down two of their top players for a sizable chunk of next season.
Strome Avoids Arbitration: One of the potentially more interesting arbitration cases was Rangers center Ryan Strome. The team reportedly had some hesitance in tendering him a qualifying offer in fear him of receiving too high of an award from an arbitrator and the possibility of the walkaway provision was there. Instead, the two sides settled on a two-year, $9MM agreement which buys New York an extra year of team control. The second line center spot has been a question mark for a while now but he showed good chemistry with newcomer Artemi Panarin next season. Interestingly enough, both Strome and top center Mika Zibanejad are both set to be UFAs in 2022 which gives them a bit more time to make plans for a long-term solution at that spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.