The first week of July is usually a busy one around the NHL but despite free agency not opening up late in the month, there was still plenty of activity around the league. The biggest news is highlighted in our key stories.
Coaching Carousel Ends: The final two head coaching vacancies have been filled. One of them saw no change at all made as the Sabres removed the interim tag from Don Granato, signing him to a three-year deal as their head coach. Granato took over during the season when Ralph Krueger was let go and led Buffalo to a 9-16-3 record but the team did make some improvements down the stretch. Meanwhile, Arizona found their new bench boss with the hiring of Andre Tourigny who also received a three-year deal. This will be Tourigny’s first time as an NHL head coach although he has NHL experience as an assistant with Colorado and Ottawa. This season, he was supposed to be the head coach for OHL Ottawa but that league never played. He did, however, coach Canada at the World Juniors and served as an assistant at the World Championships in the spring.
One Veteran Set To Return, Another Set To Leave? The Blackhawks got some good news when team captain Jonathan Toews announced that he has resumed skating in preparation for returning next season. The center missed all of 2020-21 with what he revealed to be Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and assuming he is able to return, he will give Chicago a huge boost down the middle. However, while it appears he’ll be back, one of his long-time teammates will be on the move as it was revealed that the Blackhawks and Duncan Keith are working together on a trade that would see the veteran go to either Western Canada or the Pacific Northwest to allow him to be closer to his son. Keith has been a fixture in Chicago’s lineup for 16 seasons, helping lead the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups along the way.
Nugent-Hopkins Sticks Around: One of the top forwards in the upcoming UFA class is off the market before he had an opportunity to even get there as the Oilers and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins agreed to an eight-year, $41MM contract. The contract actually represents a small decrease in his cost as his previous AAV was $6MM but in return for that dip, he gets a max-term contract and a no-move clause. The 28-year-old was the first overall pick back in 2011 and has been a fixture in Edmonton’s lineup ever since, notching 478 points in 656 games. He sits 381 games behind Kevin Lowe for the franchise lead in that department and if he stays with the team for the duration of the deal, he should be able to set the new record. Nugent-Hopkins has been a center for most of his career although he has primarily played on the wing in recent years in an effort to give him a bigger offensive role and load up their top six. That positional flexibility is certain to come in handy over the next eight years.
Kings Add A Veteran: After the season ended, some of the Kings’ veteran core called for some win-now additions to try to get them back into playoff contention while taking advantage of some of their good youngsters being on team-friendly contracts. GM Rob Blake did just that with the acquisition of winger Viktor Arvidsson from Nashville in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and a 2022 third-round selection. The 28-year-old is coming off a pair of down seasons offensively but before that, he had three straight years with 29 or more goals and should give Los Angeles a much-needed boost in their top six. Meanwhile, Nashville adds some salary cap flexibility and gets something for a player who GM David Poile acknowledged would have been left unprotected in expansion had they not found a taker for Arvidsson.
One Down, Two To Go: Minnesota took care of one of their prominent restricted free agents with the signing of center Joel Eriksson Ek to an eight-year, $42MM contract. The 24-year-old had a career year offensively this season with 19 goals and 30 points in 56 games while playing his usual sound defensive game as well. The $5.25MM AAV may seem a little high but the deal buys out six years of UFA eligibility and guarantees that the Wild have an impact center for the foreseeable future. Now, GM Bill Guerin will turn his focus to wingers Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala, a pair of players that are also in line for notable raises.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I love Nuge…he’s underrated in my opinion…as a first overall maybe didn’t meet expectations but he’s so good defensively and can allow for Drai to play on McD’s wing. Or he can play wing. Very versatile. And great cap hit. I’m happy nuge sticks around I hope he retires an oiler.