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Archives for July 2021

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Teddy Blueger

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The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t waiting around for restricted free agency. The team has re-signed Teddy Blueger to a two-year contract that carries him through the 2022-23 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of $2.2MM, locking the centerman in at a reasonable price. GM Ron Hextall released a short statement on the deal:

Teddy has proven to be a versatile, two-way center, as well as a fixture on the penalty kill. He is a valuable player for our team.

Blueger, 26, was a year away from unrestricted free agency, meaning the Penguins have bought out one of his open market years with this contract. Originally a second-round pick way back in 2012, he finally made his NHL debut during the 2018-19 season and has been a fixture in the Penguins lineup ever since. During the 2019-20 season he even received Selke Trophy votes as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, but it was really this season when he added 22 points in just 43 games that his true value as a two-way option came out.

There are few forwards in the league that receive tougher deployment than Blueger, who starts nearly three times as many shifts in the defensive zone as the offensive. The idea is that if he can be a positive with such defensive responsibility, the other centers on the Penguins—of which they have some good ones—will be free to contribute more at the offensive end of the rink. While some of his possession statistics are punished heavily because of that deployment, the Penguins still generally come out on the winning end of the goals scored battle with him on the ice.

With this new contract, his role in Pittsburgh likely won’t change, with heavy penalty killing and defensive minutes baked right into his role. Of course, with a Penguins team facing some real decisions in terms of who to protect at the expansion draft, Blueger may actually end up exposed to the Seattle Kraken. If he does, a $2.2MM contract might actually be pretty enticing to a team that could give him a bigger offensive opportunity. It’s not like Blueger doesn’t have the ability to contribute at that end, as he showed in college and the minor leagues. While there will be other interesting options available, this is exactly the kind of player that an expansion team may target now that he’s on a reasonable two-year deal.

NHL Announces Official Order For 2021 Entry Draft

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The NHL has announced the official order of selection for the upcoming 2021 Entry Draft, which will be held virtually starting on July 23. The first round will be held that night, with rounds 2-7 going on July 24. The Buffalo Sabres hold the first overall pick, while the expansion Seattle Kraken will make their first draft choice in franchise history second overall.

The full order:

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Maple Leafs Notes: Hyman, Andersen, Bogosian

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a few key free agents scheduled to hit the open market later this month, with no one more important than Zach Hyman. The Toronto native has turned himself from a fifth-round afterthought into a legitimate top-six option, able to play both wings and score at a high rate. Hyman had 15 goals and 33 points in 43 games this season while also being a key member of the team’s top penalty-killing unit. That success should lead to a big raise this summer, but it appears as though the Maple Leafs and Hyman’s camp aren’t close on a number that works for both sides.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that there is a “sizeable gap in positions,” suggesting that Hyman will indeed hit the open market on July 28. The 29-year-old will likely be one of the top options for many teams looking for forward help because of his versatility, but that will also leave a pretty sizable hole in the Maple Leafs lineup. Of course, as with any of the free agents Toronto is dealing with, any contract before the expansion draft would put the team in a tough situation protection-wise.

  • LeBrun also tweets out that there have been talks between the Maple Leafs and free agent netminder Frederik Andersen, but no contract offer to this point. Obviously, Toronto wouldn’t want to sign Andersen before the expansion draft, but it does appear as though he will at least test the market even though there is mutual interest for a reunion. The Maple Leafs frankly just don’t have the cap space to commit much money to Andersen if Jack Campbell is penciled in as the team’s starter, meaning he very well could be looking at a much more lucrative offer on the open market.
  • While Hyman and Andersen represent core pieces that have been in Toronto for a while, there are many other unrestricted free agents on the Toronto roster who could be brought back as depth pieces. One of those is Zach Bogosian, who brought some stability to the third pairing for the Maple Leafs last season and is now a free agent once again at the age of 30. Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reports that though there have been talks between the two sides, it seems likely that Bogosian will test the open market as well, which makes a lot of sense for a player that earned just $1MM on his one-year deal in Toronto. Bogosian is still young enough to earn a multi-year deal, is coming off a Stanley Cup with the Lightning and a strong campaign with the Maple Leafs, and is that always-enticing mix of physical and right-handed. For a Maple Leafs team that can’t overspend on the margins, he may be priced out of their reach.

Boston Bruins Sign Brandon Carlo To Six-Year Extension

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The Boston Bruins have locked up one of their key players, signing Brandon Carlo to a six-year extension. The contract will carry an average annual value of $4.1MM, meaning Carlo will earn $24.6MM over the six seasons. Bruins GM Don Sweeney released a short statement on the deal:

The Bruins are very pleased to have extended Brandon on a long-term deal. Brandon is a player who has grown into a foundational defenseman with our team while also emerging as an important leader on and off the ice.

Carlo, 24, is one of the most important players on the Bruins roster, soaking up tough defensive minutes behind Charlie McAvoy. The 6’5″ defenseman burst onto the scene in 2016-17 and averaged nearly 21 minutes a night as a rookie, scoring six goals and 16 points. That goal total is actually still his career-high, but it’s not about offensive production when valuing Carlo’s contribution to the team. The coaching staff in Boston has absolutely pummelled him with defensive zone starts since he entered the league, and put him on the ice for nearly three minutes of short-handed time every night this season. His results in those tough minutes have been rather strong, suggesting that he will continue to be a good shutdown option for the next while.

On a six-year contract that buys out four years of unrestricted free agency, getting Carlo at $4.1MM is a big win for the Bruins. The team is likely looking at a much more expensive extension for McAvoy when he reaches restricted free agency in a year, but having the anchor of their second pair locked in at a reasonable price will make that negotiation much easier. It also takes a big name off the offseason to-do list, meaning Sweeney and company can get focused on some of the other pending RFAs or the UFA market.

This extension could also serve as a comparable for some of the other names around the league, even if it does include a pair of RFA years. Adam Larsson, who plays a similar role for the Edmonton Oilers, is a pending UFA, while 25-year-old Travis Sanheim needs a new contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Neither situation is exactly comparable to the one the Bruins and Carlo were in, but his deal will now go up on the board as a point of negotiation in many of the talks this summer.

Of course, there is always some risk when inking a deal of this length. Carlo did deal with injuries for much of this season, playing just 27 regular season games. In the playoffs, he left a game against the New York Islanders after a big hit from Cal Clutterbuck and didn’t return in the series. The young defenseman has suffered several concussions in his short career, which always casts some doubt over his future health and production. The Bruins obviously still believe in him and have rewarded him with a long-term contract, but you can see why a player in Carlo’s situation would be happy to sign a long-term deal at this point in his career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Gabriel Landeskog’s Pending Free Agency

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The Colorado Avalanche are getting closer and closer to unrestricted free agency without any resolution to their two biggest UFA negotiations. While most assumed captain Gabriel Landeskog would be re-signed without issue, things haven’t progressed as quickly as the veteran forward was hoping. In fact, Landeskog expressed some frustration when speaking with Peter Baugh of The Athletic:

I can’t help but be honest with you that I’m a little bit disappointed that it’s gotten this far and it’s had to come to this point.

We’ll see what happens. I’m still hopeful that we can agree on something and come to terms, but if it was up to me, I would have liked it to be done eight months ago, 10 months ago.

It’s difficult to imagine Landeskog in any sweater other than Colorado’s, given he has been a fixture there for so long. Selected second overall in 2011, the Swedish forward immediately jumped into the NHL to win the Calder Trophy with 52 points in 82 games. By the start of year two, he was made the then-youngest captain in NHL history. It’s been his team ever since, even as other supremely talented players have come and gone, even as Nathan MacKinnon assumed the mantle as the best player on the team; it was still Landeskog who wore the “C”.

Last night, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Landeskog and the Avalanche are “not even close” in their negotiations, which raises some eyebrows given how close free agency is. In just two weeks teams will be able to call up Landeskog and offer him a huge long-term contract. The market for his services will be large, as it’s not often a player that combines first-line offensive production with physicality and leadership hits the market at the age of 28.  With 52 points in 54 games this season, he recorded his eighth season of at least 20 goals.

There is still time for the Avalanche to work things out with their captain, but given the fact that they also need to sign Vezina finalist Philipp Grubauer and restricted free agent Cale Makar, there might not be enough money to go around. The team currently has more than $25MM in cap space, but that will shrink considerably after a deal is completed with Makar and the Avalanche still have MacKinnon’s free agency to think about. The 25-year-old center will hit the open market after the 2022-23 season, likely deserving to be paid among the highest earners in the entire NHL. Signing Landeskog and Grubauer to long-term deals would certainly complicate things going forward, but watching your captain walk out the door in the prime of his career is certainly not an optimal scenario.

Carolina Hurricanes Acquire Dylan Wells

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The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired goaltender Dylan Wells from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations. This move is designed to help the Hurricanes expansion situation, as Wells can fill the exposure requirement if tendered a qualifying offer this week. Wells is a pending RFA coming off a season as a taxi squad netminder.

Wells, 23, didn’t play a single game at any level during the 2020-21 season, and suited up only seven times for the Oilers AHL affiliate in 2019-20. Most of his professional career to this point has been in the ECHL, but perhaps he will get a bigger chance in the Carolina organization. The 6’2″ netminder was selected 123rd overall in 2016 but has struggled in his AHL chances, posting an 0-4-1 record in 2019-20 with a .878 save percentage.

Future considerations, in this case, are likely either nothing or a minor league trade that will be completed in tandem. Players on AHL contracts cannot be included in NHL deals, and the Oilers just recently did something similar in the Duncan Keith deal. A second AHL trade was completed the same night, sending a minor league forward to the IceHogs to replace Tim Soderlund.

The Hurricanes are set to protect Alex Nedeljkovic in the upcoming expansion draft and could have used Jeremy Helvig for the exposure requirements if they intend on extending him a qualifying offer. If not, Wells can now slide into that role as expansion draft fodder, without any real risk of being selected by the Kraken.

New Jersey Devils Sign Colton White

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The New Jersey Devils have signed Colton White to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2021-22 season. The deal will pay White $750K at the NHL level and $130K at the AHL level.

White, 24, was scheduled for restricted free agency this summer after spending most of the season in the AHL. The minor league defenseman wore an “A” as an alternate captain for the Binghamton Devils and could very well be ticketed to have a leadership role on the new Utica team in 2021-22. Originally selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft, he has managed just 11 games at the NHL level to this point. He has become a core piece at the AHL though, and certainly had enough upside to bring back.

Because he will turn 25 next season, White will be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency a year from now, unless he plays most of the season with New Jersey. That seems very unlikely, meaning he’ll get a chance to hit the open market after this one-year deal expires. For now, he’s headed back to the Devils to compete for playing time on a league-minimum deal.

Montreal Canadiens Extend Luke Richardson

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A day after signing head coach Dominique Ducharme to an extension, the Montreal Canadiens are at it again. This time it’s top assistant Luke Richardson who gets the three-year deal, keeping him in the organization through the 2023-24 season.

Richardson, 52, took over for Ducharme in the playoffs after the head coach tested positive for COVID and impressed many around the league with his calm demeanor. There was some speculation that the former NHL defenseman would be given an opportunity to lead another team, but since all of the vacancies have been filled up, it made a lot of sense for him to return to Montreal, if he wasn’t already planning on doing so.

The Canadiens were lauded this postseason for the physical play of their defense corps, using their size to quickly shut down rush opportunities and punish attackers whenever they got close to Carey Price. One might compare it to the way that the 6’3″ Richardson played throughout his 1,417 game NHL career, which came with more than 2,000 penalty minutes.

Those 1,400+ games put him among the all-time leaders in the spot, sitting just one spot ahead of Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis. While Richardson certainly never had a chance at the Hall—his career-high of 21 points saw to that—the sheer number of games played will command respect in any room. With four years of head coaching experience in the AHL and now even a taste of it at the NHL level, you can be sure that Richardson’s name will come up over the next few seasons as a top candidate for any vacant jobs.

Kevan Miller Announces Retirement

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After countless major injuries, Kevan Miller has decided to call it quits. The Boston Bruins defenseman announced on Instagram that he will be retiring from professional hockey. His explanation:

Although my spirit for the game is there, unfortunately my body isn’t. My overall health and my family are now the priority. This was not an easy decision to make but it’s time to hang up my skates. 

Miller, 33, played in 28 games for the Bruins this season and was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. A warrior for Boston through the early part of his career, he earned a four-year, $10MM contract from the team in 2016 as a core piece of their defense. Unfortunately, he would never manage to play more than 68 games in a single season again. Since 2018-19 he has played in just 67 regular season contests, missing the entire 2019-20 season due to injury. Though he worked desperately to return, the toll his body has taken over the years was obviously too much.

The Bruins will now have to look elsewhere for a replacement, though it seemed unlikely that they would commit any substantial resources to him for next season anyway. The team has five defensemen under contract already and has a contract negotiation with Brandon Carlo coming up. The team transitioned to a younger group this season after letting names like Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug go, so Miller was really the last vestige of the previous defense corps.

In 352 career regular season games, Miller recorded 13 goals and 71 points. He also suited up 33 times in the postseason for the Bruins, averaging more than 20 minutes a night and scoring seven points.

Jeff Skinner Waives No-Movement Clause For Expansion Draft

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The Buffalo Sabres will get an extra protection slot at this month’s expansion draft after Jeff Skinner agreed to waive his no-movement clause according to John Vogl of The Athletic. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams requested it on Tuesday morning and Skinner agreed, allowing the team to protect an extra forward.

Skinner, 29, is an unlikely target for the Seattle Kraken, given his high price and poor production the last two seasons. Since signing an eight-year, $72MM contract in 2019, the winger has scored just 21 goals and 37 points in 112 games. He had just 14 points this past season, spending much of it on the fourth line. His no-movement clause would have forced the Sabres to protect him over a player like Rasmus Asplund, who is a more likely target for expansion.

This is a pretty big gesture of good faith from Skinner, who certainly didn’t need to waive a clause that the Sabres knowingly gave him just two years ago. The move does not waive the clause for the purpose of a trade, only to stop the automatic protection in the draft. But still, selfishly, it may have benefitted Skinner to see the Sabres lose a younger player like Asplund or Anders Bjork who could be battling for the same top-six ice time next season.

The Sabres already had plenty of options to fill the exposure requirements at forward, but Skinner will now be added to that group. It is interesting to wonder about the connection between the forward and Kraken GM Ron Francis from their time together in Carolina, but it still seems unlikely that the expansion club would want to take on his $9MM cap hit. That deal has proven to be one of the worst in the entire NHL, though there is obviously production still in there if the team finds a way to unlock it.

Sure, Skinner was given this contract after a career year where he scored 40 goals, but it’s not like he hadn’t come close to those numbers before. He reached the 30-goal mark on three other occasions and even scored 37 in the 2016-17 season. A brilliant skater and talented finisher, if the Sabres can find a way to mitigate his weaknesses while promoting his strengths, there is still time to get some value back.

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