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Florida Panthers Re-Sign Anthony Duclair

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Busy day in Sunrise. The Florida Panthers have signed another one of their pending restricted free agents, inking Anthony Duclair to a three-year contract. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the deal will carry an average annual value of $3MM. The announcement included a statement from Panthers GM Bill Zito.

Anthony brought great speed and skill to our club this season. We look forward to seeing him continue to be a creative playmaker for us on the ice and a valuable member of our community. We are thrilled to have him as a part of the Panthers family for years to come.

Duclair, 25, has found a home in Florida, finally receiving some contract stability and financial security. The young forward had signed exclusively one-year contracts since his entry-level deal expired in 2017, and never made more than $1.7MM in a single season. Now, with a three-year, $9MM contract in hand, he can continue the strong offensive production he has shown the past few seasons. In 2020-21 for the Panthers, Duclair posted ten goals and 32 points, almost all of which came at even-strength. He had just two powerplay points the whole season, meaning there is potential for even more production if the Panthers ever decide to bump up his usage with the man advantage.

Even if that doesn’t come, the fact that Duclair has proven to be a valuable secondary scorer at 5v5 is an important asset for the Panthers moving forward. There is always a potential downside, and that is that Duclair’s role on the team did decrease significantly in the playoffs. He averaged just 12 minutes a night against the Tampa Bay lightning and registered zero points, something that would be unacceptable now that he’s carrying a $3MM cap hit.

Still, even though his career has been bumpy, betting on a player that has 72 points in his last 109 regular season games seems like a pretty safe gamble, especially given he’s still in his prime years. This move, like the one to sign Gustav Forsling earlier in the day, hints at the Panthers protection strategy for the upcoming expansion draft. Though there was some question to whether the team would leave Duclair exposed as an unsigned RFA, a new reasonably-priced deal should mean he is one of the forwards protected.

New Jersey Devils Sign Michael McLeod

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The New Jersey Devils have signed restricted free agent forward Michael McLeod to a two-year contract today, that will carry an average annual value of $975K. The deal pays McLeod $950K in 2021-22 and $1.0MM in 2022-23.

McLeod, 23, was the 12th overall pick in 2016, but only really established himself as a full-time NHL player earlier this year. In 52 games with the Devils, the speedy forward recorded nine goals and 15 points. Though those numbers obviously don’t pop off the page, it’s McLeod’s skating ability and versatility that should still excite fans.

He will likely never become a dominant offensive presence, but McLeod stepped into a bottom-six center role this season and looks like he will become a fixture there. Given the toughest deployment on the team and played regularly on the penalty kill, if he can continue to improve his defensive ability there’s an obvious fit for him behind the more offensive young centers in New Jersey. He’ll still have to provide some scoring depth, but given he’s earning just $975K, it doesn’t have to be much.

Interestingly, this contract actually likely increases the chance that Seattle would select McLeod if left unprotected in the upcoming expansion draft. The fact that the Devils got it done this early (and this cheaply), suggest that he will be one of the forwards protected.

Florida Panthers Re-Sign Gustav Forsling

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The Florida Panthers have bought out one defenseman and signed another. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the Panthers have signed Gustav Forsling to a three-year extension. The contract will carry an average annual value of $2.66MM and carries Forsling into unrestricted free agency. PuckPedia gives the full breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $1.5MM salary + $500K signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $2.5MM salary
  • 2023-24: $3.5MM salary

A move like this signals how the Panthers intend to approach the upcoming expansion draft, as the earlier buyout of Keith Yandle opens up a protection slot for another defenseman. Forsling will surely be that defenseman after passing some of the more veteran options on the depth chart this year. In 43 games, Forsling registered 17 points and averaged 20 minutes a night, more than Anton Stralman, Radko Gudas, Markus Nutivaara, or Yandle. He, Mackenzie Weegar and Aaron Ekblad were the three options that head coach Joel Quenneville leaned on the most, and Forsling is getting nicely rewarded for his strong play.

Throughout his career to this point, Forsling has only ever signed two-way contracts, earning less than $900K in the NHL. This deal is worth nearly three times that much, but does buy out one year of unrestricted free agent status. The question now becomes who will Forsling play with, as Brandon Montour is an unrestricted free agent and one of the other veteran options will likely be snagged in the expansion draft.

The Panthers have several other key free agents to sign, including RFAs Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair. Things will be busy for GM Bill Zito and his staff, who also have to navigate an expansion draft, an entry draft and unrestricted free agency in the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Montreal Canadiens Sign Alex Belzile

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The Montreal Canadiens will bring back a depth forward, signing Alex Belzile to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay him $750K in the NHL and $250K in the AHL, though also includes a $300K minor league guarantee.

Belzile, 29, will have one of the more interesting NHL debuts to recount years after he retires. Undrafted, he played eight full seasons in the minor leagues before suiting up for the Canadiens in the bubble playoffs a year ago. He played six games for the team then, and returned for two more during the season this year. Still, his place is as a minor league depth piece and injury replacement.

The Laval Rocket certainly won’t complain. Since arriving in Laval, Belzile has been a force, scoring 30 goals and 82 points in 111 games. Unless he really impresses in camp, that’s likely where he’s headed once again. At the end of the one-year deal, Belzile will once again be an unrestricted free agent.

Florida Panthers Buy Out Keith Yandle

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The Florida Panthers are cutting ties with a veteran defenseman, as the team has bought out Keith Yandle. Because Yandle has a no-movement clause, he will not require unconditional waivers, meaning the buyout process can move forward immediately. With two years left on his contract the Panthers will carry a cap penalty of the following:

  • 2021-22: $2,341,667
  • 2022-23: $5,391,667
  • 2023-24: $1,241,667
  • 2024-25: $1,241,667

In actual salary, Yandle will earn just over $1.24MM each year. The move gives the Panthers cap savings of just over $4MM this season as Yandle’s deal carried an average annual value of $6.35MM. That provides them with a good bit of room this year, but it’s a pretty hefty dead cap hit to deal with in 2022-23. GM Bill Zito released a statement:

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to Keith for all that he’s contributed to the Florida Panthers organization and to the South Florida community over the past five seasons. While a decision of this kind is never an easy one to make, we believe that this shift is necessary as we look towards the 2021-22 season and our club’s future.

Yandle, 34, was on the edge of the lineup for the Panthers even though he played in all 56 games this season. There was talk in training camp that he would be scratched to start the year, which would have ended his ironman streak of not missing a game in over a decade. With a buyout, Yandle should be able to continue the streak, which is now sitting at 922 games, the second-longest streak of all time (Doug Jarvis, 964).

If postseason games were counted in that streak, it would have already ended, as Yandle played just three of the Panthers games against the Tampa Bay Lightning this year. Despite still being an effective powerplay quarterback and offense play-driving defenseman, his consistency in the defensive end has obviously not pleased the coaching staff or the front office. They’ll cut ties with him now in order to save a little money this year, but will be paying nearly $5.4MM for Yandle to not play for them in 2022-23.

That’s another veteran defenseman hitting the market after a buyout, following the news out of Minnesota earlier this week. Even though the Panthers didn’t believe he could help them anymore, Yandle should immediately have a market from teams looking for a third-pairing/powerplay option. With 600 points in 1,032 NHL games, there’s certainly no lack of experience in the veteran defenseman.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the news on Twitter that Yandle would be bought out.

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Free agency is now just under a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Pittsburgh took care of one notable free agent today but they still have some regulars in need of new contracts.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Zach Aston-Reese – The 26-year-old was a highly sought-after college free agent back in 2017 and while he hasn’t emerged as a big scoring threat, Aston-Reese has become a valuable checker for the Penguins, holding down a regular spot on the roster for the last two seasons.  He had a career-high nine goals in 45 games this season while chipping in with a pair of points in six playoff games, numbers that aren’t going to command a sizable raise.  His qualifying offer is $1MM and even though he’s eligible for salary arbitration, the potential for a hearing isn’t too much of a risk.  Aston-Reese is in line for a small raise but it shouldn’t break the bank for a Penguins team that is already pretty tight to the cap.

F Mark Jankowski – After being non-tendered by Calgary back in the fall, Jankowski opted to take a league minimum contract in the hopes that a new environment in Pittsburgh would help to boost his value.  That didn’t exactly happen.  By the end of the year, he was a frequent healthy scratch and managed to post just 11 points.  While that was still an upgrade on his final season with the Flames, it was still well short of expectations.  Even though the 26-year-old is only owed a qualifying offer of the league minimum, it seems quite likely that the 21st pick from 2012 will be looking for a new home at the end of the month.

Other RFAs: F Kasper Bjorkqvist, G Emil Larmi, D Jesper Lindgren, F Sam Miletic, F Radim Zohorna

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Cody Ceci – Another player that looked to Pittsburgh to restore some value, Ceci was able to do just that as he quickly became an important piece on the third pairing.  He chipped in a bit offensively with 17 points in 53 games while logging over 18 minutes a night.  Those numbers don’t jump off the charts but after being miscast in a top-four role with Ottawa and Toronto, Ceci fared much better with a more limited role.  GM Ron Hextall indicated a desire to re-sign the veteran recently but acknowledged that they will need to trim payroll to do so.  After playing on a $1.25MM deal this past season, the 27-year-old has earned a small raise but barring the Penguins clearing out a pricey contract, it looks like Ceci will have to go elsewhere to get that pay increase.

F Evan Rodrigues – After Pittsburgh traded him to Toronto back in August, he wound up being non-tendered and went back for a second stint with the Penguins.  This one went a little better even though it got off to a rocky start when he landed on LTIR early in the season.  Overall, he saw considerable action on the third line and averaged just over 14 minutes per game while chipping in with seven goals and seven assists in 35 games.  He’s not looking at a significant raise from the $700K he made this season but another couple hundred thousand could be doable.

F Frederick Gaudreau – This one may seem like a surprise.  Gaudreau is 27 and had eight career NHL points heading into this season.  He only played in 19 games this season but very quietly put up ten points, earning himself a regular spot in the lineup in the playoffs.  Are there teams that will give him a shot at a full-time roster spot based on his strong two months?  If so, there should be a fair bit of interest in his services.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Czuczman, G Maxime Lagace, F Colton Sceviour

Projected Cap Space

Well, there really isn’t a lot.  Today’s deal with Teddy Blueger takes Pittsburgh within $1MM of the Upper Limit of the salary cap with at least one more forward to sign to fill out the roster.  That’s not even enough to re-sign Aston-Reese so some work will need to be done.  If Seattle takes a higher-priced player, Hextall would have some wiggle room to play with but otherwise, it could be a fairly quiet summer for the Penguins.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Islanders Shopping Nick Leddy

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With the expansion draft fast approaching, some teams are trying to find trade takers for some veteran players over running the risk of losing them for nothing to the Kraken.  One of those teams appears to be the Islanders as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they are shopping blueliner Nick Leddy for that very purpose; as things stand, it’s unlikely he’ll be protected when the lists are submitted on Saturday.

The 30-year-old isn’t the top pairing player he was when he first came to New York but he has logged steady minutes, averaging more than 21 minutes per game for each of the last six seasons.  He even had a bounce-back year offensively in 2020-21, notching 31 points in 56 games, his highest point per game average since 2016-17.  Of course, his play in his own end hasn’t always been the strongest but as a strong puck-mover, it would seem as if there should be some interest in him.

However, his contract could create some challenges.  Leddy, the highest-paid healthy blueliner on the Isles, is entering the final year of his deal but carries a $5.5MM AAV and a $7MM salary for next season.  That’s a high price tag to absorb in an offseason when many teams are looking to shed contracts even though the defense market in unrestricted free agency isn’t the strongest.  Accordingly, knowing there’s a firm deadline just three days away and a high price tag, New York may not be able to command much of a return.

However, any sort of return that doesn’t have a sizable contract attached to it would still be helpful for the Islanders.  They have over $77MM in cap commitments for next season (which does include LTIR-bound Johnny Boychuk and his $6MM deal) with defender Adam Pelech and winger Anthony Beauvillier as notable restricted free agents with winger Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas as notable pending unrestricted free agents.  As things stand, they can’t afford them all.

That wouldn’t change with Leddy off the books but it would sure give GM Lou Lamoriello some extra flexibility at his disposal even if it means an extra spot to be filled on the back end.  Depending on who they’d then lose to Seattle, the Islanders might be able to keep more of those free agents around.  That process appears to involve Leddy’s contract being moved and if they want to have a shot at getting something for him, they have less than 72 hours to do so before the trade freeze kicks in.

Uncertainty Surrounding Shea Weber For Next Season

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Following a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, it would seem hard to believe at first that Montreal wouldn’t consider protecting their captain from Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.  However, it appears that this will be the case.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that the Canadiens won’t protect defenseman Shea Weber after recent medical evaluations revealed that he could miss all of next season and potentially longer due to injury.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays that the issue is a left foot or ankle problem that has been lingering for several years.  He had surgery to repair a tendon in that area in 2018 and also missed time with that same issue two years later.  The injury isn’t going away and the team, the league, and the NHLPA are now doing due diligence to determine next steps for the 35-year-old.

On the ice, Weber’s absence would be a significant loss for the Canadiens.  While he had been slowing down in recent years, he still logged heavy minutes for Montreal and averaged 22:42 per game this season (second-most to Jeff Petry by two seconds) while recording 19 points in 48 games.  His ice time increased significantly in the playoffs despite playing through a thumb injury, logging more than 25 minutes a night while still chipping in with six points in 22 games.

On the expansion front, this situation creates some clarity as the team would simply protect Petry, Ben Chiarot, and Joel Edmundson with Brett Kulak serving as the notable rearguard left unprotected.

However, it creates a big hole on Montreal’s back end as well with no real certainty on what they’ll be able to do.  While he will be eligible to be placed on LTIR, the Canadiens may not be able to do much to replace him unless they can determine that he will miss all of next season.  In that situation, they’d be permitted to spend up to his $7.857MM over the Upper Limit of the salary cap but if they feel he could come back at some point, they’d be more restricted in what they could do and might only be able to fill his spot with a low-cost internal replacement.

Still on the contract front, Weber’s deal still has five years remaining on it but only $12MM in cash payments due to the front-loaded nature of the contract, one that is now illegal and subject to recapture.  PuckPedia has a Twitter thread about the short-term salary cap recapture potential for both teams if Weber was to retire.  (Montreal’s cap recapture potential ends after the 2022-23 season while Nashville’s will last the duration of the contract.)  However, the likeliest scenario at this point is that Weber doesn’t retire, collects his salary which sits at $6MM next season, and no recapture penalties would apply to either team.

The Canadiens were already eyeing down a busy offseason with several notable players in need of new contracts.  This development with their captain and one of their top blueliners could very well make it that much busier for GM Marc Bergevin.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Checklist: Boston Bruins

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The offseason is in full flight with the draft and free agency fast approaching.  We continue our series which examines what each team needs to accomplish over the coming weeks and months.  Next up is a look at Boston.

The Bruins underwent a few notable changes over the last year but the end result was the same as they were eliminated in the second round, this time by the eventual Cup winner in Tampa Bay.  GM Don Sweeney has more salary cap flexibility this summer than he’s accustomed to although he also has some other holes to fill this time around as well.  Here is an overview of what they should be looking to accomplish.

Goaltending Decisions

Tuukka Rask has been a fixture in Boston’s goaltending tandem for the past dozen years.  However, he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and hip surgery will cost him the first half of next season.  He has made it clear that he wants to return to the Bruins and that he’s not looking to go elsewhere but is the feeling mutual?  More specifically, can they afford to wait for him?

With Jaroslav Halak also set to become an unrestricted free agent, Jeremy Swayman currently stands as the only goalie in the mix for one of the two spots.  Swayman was quite impressive in his first taste of NHL action this season – a 1.50 GAA with a .945 SV% in 10 games (all starts) – but can they afford to enter 2021-22 with him as the starter and a placeholder as the backup while waiting for Rask to return?  If they believe Swayman is ready for a full-time NHL role, they could certainly go that route and adding Rask midseason or soon after would give them a nice boost for the stretch run.

But if the answer to that is no, that complicates things a little bit.  Daniel Vladar is the other goalie in the mix and has impressed in the minors but has just five career NHL games under his belt.  He’s eligible for waivers and could be a candidate to be claimed.  If they don’t want to run the risk of losing him, the Bruins could be faced with running two rookie goalies out to start the season.

If they opt to bring in a veteran goalie (which could simply be re-signing Halak) and re-sign Rask, that could create a situation where Swayman is the odd one out midseason by default once Rask returns.  Unlike Vladar, he’s waiver-exempt so there are no issues there but if he has a strong first half making it difficult to send him down, it could be a three-goalie situation down the stretch for the second year in a row.  It can work but it’s typically not an ideal spot for teams to be in.

With Rask’s injury, his specific fate doesn’t necessarily have to be decided at the beginning of free agency.  But if they want to go outside the organization for a goalie, whoever they want to work with Swayman will need to sign sooner than later knowing how fast the goalie market typically is in free agency.

Re-Sign Or Replace Hall

The Bruins weren’t able to get a deal done with Taylor Hall last fall but when Buffalo opted to move him at the trade deadline, the veteran was able to leverage his trade protection to force a deal to Boston.  At that time, both sides expressed an interest in a longer-term arrangement and reiterated the same following the playoffs.

It’s one thing to have mutual interest in getting something done and another to actually agreeing on a contract.  Hall opted for a pillow contract last fall with his one-year, $8MM agreement with the Sabres with the hopes that a rebound season would better position himself for a long-term deal this summer.  That didn’t happen; at least, it didn’t happen with Buffalo.  His time with them was nothing short of a disaster as he scored just twice in 37 games.  But things went much better following his trade as he tallied eight goals in just 16 contests and came up just shy of a point per game average.  That’s still not $8MM value but it was a whole lot better.  He was a bit quieter in the playoffs, however, with just five points in 11 games.

It’s safe to say he’s looking at a cut in pay but by how much?  The free agent market wasn’t particularly kind to wingers last fall and his marketability is probably a little lower now than it was in October.  Accordingly, landing something at his prior contract – a $6MM AAV – may even be difficult as his recent production would justify something a little lower than that.

At this point, Boston would appear to be the odds-on favorite to bring back the 29-year-old but if they don’t, Sweeney will need to move quickly to try to replace him.  A capable secondary scoring threat has been something they’ve been coveting for a while now and their offense was certainly boosted when Hall came in so bringing in someone else to fill that role if Hall leaves would certainly be helpful.

Add Defensive Upgrades

When Torey Krug (and to a lesser extent, Zdeno Chara) left as unrestricted free agents, there was an expectation that reinforcements were on the way.  That didn’t happen.  Then the season started and the hope became an early-season addition.  That didn’t happen either.  It took until the trade deadline for Sweeney to try to make a meaningful pickup and that came in the form of Mike Reilly, a player who had bounced around a bit but really found his footing with Ottawa before continuing that with the Bruins.  Even so, Reilly is no more than a second-pairing defender but made a huge impact on Boston’s back end.

Between Reilly’s impact and the injuries they dealt with in the playoffs, that should have sent a strong message to Sweeney about the need to supplement their back end.  Cap space certainly won’t be an issue as with the big-ticket deals coming off the books (Rask, Hall, and David Krejci), they have over $26MM at their disposal.  Yes, a good chunk of that will be spent on goalies and re-signing or replacing Hall but there is more than ample cap room for the Bruins to try to add an impact defender as well as upgrade their depth.

Find A Second Line Center

Speaking of Krejci’s expiring contract, this creates another void up front that needs to be addressed.  The 15-year Bruin has indicated he wants to return to Boston but is undecided on whether or not he’s going to play again in the NHL.  If he does come back, this is a pretty easy spot to fill – re-sign Krejci for less than the $7.25MM cap hit he had on his most recent contract and call it a day.

If that doesn’t happen, Sweeney will need to go shopping.  Charlie Coyle had a tough year in the third spot and recently underwent a pair of knee surgeries.  While he’s expected to be ready for training camp, counting on him to boost the second line when he struggled as much as he did would be risky.  Having said that, it’s once again not a great free agent class down the middle (Phillip Danault, Alexander Wennberg, Mikael Granlund, and Paul Stastny are the top options available) so if they can’t land one of those, the addition would need to come from outside the organization.  The short supply of free agents means that this market should develop fairly quickly so Sweeney would certainly prefer a firm commitment sooner than later from Krejci in the hopes of filling that spot before it really opens up.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Expansion Primer: Arizona Coyotes

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Over the last few weeks, we have been breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.

The last time the Coyotes faced an expansion draft, they ended up losing a player that they had no intention of even signing. Teemu Pulkkinen was an unsigned restricted free agent that had played just four games for the Coyotes at the end of the 2016-17 season. He was grabbed by Vegas and signed to a one-year deal, but spent the entire season in the minor leagues before going to the KHL. In retrospect, Brad Richardson likely should have been the Golden Knights pick, but even that certainly wouldn’t have pushed the needle very much for them. This time around they are in a similar situation, though there may be a couple of names more interesting to the Kraken than Pulkkinen ever was to Vegas.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards: 

Clayton Keller, Phil Kessel (NMC), Nick Schmaltz, Christian Dvorak, Tyler Pitlick, Lawson Crouse, Johan Larsson, Christian Fischer, Brayden Burke, Conor Garland, Tyler Steenbergen, John Hayden, Dryden Hunt, Blake Speers, Lane Pederson, Frederik Gauthier

Defense:

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jakob Chychrun, Ilya Lyubushkin, Kyle Capobianco, Cam Dineen, Dysin Mayo, Vili Saarijarvi

Goalies:

Darcy Kuemper, Adin Hill, Marek Langhamer

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents

F Derick Brassard, F Michael Bunting, D Alex Goligoski, D Niklas Hjalmarsson, D Jason Demers, D Jordan Oesterle, G Antti Raanta

Notable Exemptions

F Barrett Hayton, D Victor Soderstrom, G Ivan Prosvetov

Key Decisions

With so many unrestricted free agents coming off the books this summer, the Coyotes are actually in a position to add players over the next few days. The team could potentially nab an impact defenseman or an extra forward and protect them, something that not many teams can accommodate right now. If teams are out there in danger of losing a valuable asset for nothing, why not get at least a clearance price in the desert.

If that doesn’t happen though, there is a decision to make upfront. The team has to protect Kessel unless he waives his no-movement clause, but he was their leading scorer last season anyway. Garland is still an RFA and there have been rumors of trade talks, but he’s also one of the team’s most important assets. Keller, Schmaltz and Dvorak are basically all underperforming in terms of how much they’re being paid, but unless the team wants to attempt a drastic cap cut by letting them go to Seattle for free, they’ll be protected. Crouse is coming off a brutal year where he scored just four goals in 51 games, but is still young enough (24) and cheap enough ($1.53MM) to be worth hoping on a bounce-back season in 2021-22.

That leaves just a single protection slot for a group of forwards that includes Pitlick, Larsson, Fischer, Hunt and Hayden. None of those names jump out as a “must-protect” player, meaning the Coyotes could be exposing a handful of fringe forwards and letting the expansion team have their pick, just like a few years ago. Pitlick perhaps leads that group in terms of likelihood, but it’s not a slam dunk for any of them.

One interesting name to mention is Bunting, who is a Group VI unrestricted free agent but has gotten some offseason hype because of his late-season play and gold medal at the World Championship with Team Canada. The 25-year-old forward scored more goals (10) in 21 games for the Coyotes than Pitlick and Fischer combined, and could be an interesting target for the Kraken in their exclusive negotiating window. That is unless the Arizona front office signs him first, given they still have the capability to protect him.

On defense, there’s little worry about losing an impact player. The Coyotes will protect Ekman-Larsson because of his NMC and Chychrun because he’s the team’s best player. After that, there’s nothing really left to use the third spot on. Lyubushkin would be a nice piece to protect, but he is currently the only player (other than Ekman-Larsson and Chychrun) who meets the exposure requirements. If the team signed another one of the defensemen that have passed the games played threshold–say, Goligoski–then he would become the third player protected on the back end over Lyubushkin anyway.

In net is the biggest decision of them all for Arizona. Kuemper or Hill? The former is a much more established name and is a legitimate starting option, but the latter is six years younger and could still have a bright future. The face that Hill is signed for just $800K next season is likely appealing to both the Coyotes and the Kraken, but it would be too risky to leave Kuemper exposed with such few other intriguing options on the roster. A trade here seems prudent, though any acquiring team would need room to protect either one, certainly not an easy thing to find right now.

Projected Protection List

F Clayton Keller
F Phil Kessel
F Nick Schmaltz
F Christian Dvorak
F Lawson Crouse
F Conor Garland
F Tyler Pitlick

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
D Jakob Chychrun
D Kyle Capobianco

G Darcy Kuemper

Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist

When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined.  Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined.  In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.

Forwards (2): Johan Larsson, Christian Fischer
Defensemen (1): Ilya Lyubushkin

Meeting these requirements isn’t really an issue, unless the team desperately wants to protect Lyubushkin. That would require a new deal for someone else and then subsequently leaving them exposed, which doesn’t seem likely at this point. That said, it does actually pose a complication if the team ever wanted to trade one of Kuemper or Hill, since they would then need a different netminder to meet the exposure requirements. In all, it looks like the Coyotes might just take their chances losing whoever Seattle has their eye on and move forward like they did a few years ago.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

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