Offseason Checklist: Ottawa Senators
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league finished up after missing the playoffs. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Ottawa.
Expectations were low for the Senators heading into this season. They were still not quite ready to come out of their rebuild and not many had them as a playoff contender. That’s how it played out in the first half as they struggled mightily at times but as the year progressed, they became a lot harder to beat as they won 10 games over their final month. Even so, they’re unlikely to deviate much from their current course of letting their top prospects play their way into bigger roles so the to-do list isn’t overly long for GM Pierre Dorion this summer; the heavy lifting to put the final pieces in place will come a little later.
Add New Bridge Veterans
The acquisition of Derek Stepan right before training camp raised some eyebrows, especially with Ottawa paying a second-round pick to get him. The logic felt like they’d be able to recover that pick (with retention) at the trade deadline and the team would benefit from having someone like that to work with their young forwards. It was the same type of idea for Erik Gudbranson, only that the acquisition cost was a lot lower. It didn’t work out quite as planned with Stepan’s torn labrum that ended his season prematurely while Gudbranson (and Braydon Coburn) fetched next to nothing at the trade deadline.
Stepan, along with Artem Anisimov and Ryan Dzingel, are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer which means their elder statesmen are Evgenii Dadonov who, at 32, has more KHL seasons than NHL seasons under his belt and Nikita Zaitsev. These are capable veterans but when young teams talk about ‘veteran presence’ to work with the youngsters, these two aren’t the types of players that come to mind. Both have multiple years left as well (Dadonov two years, Zaitsev three) so they would appear unlikely to be flipped at the deadline if 2021-22 is similar to this season.
With that in mind, Dorion will likely want to add this year’s versions of Stepan and Gudbranson, veterans on expiring contracts that can play a certain limited role, work with Ottawa’s young players, and then be pushed out once some of their players with AHL Belleville are ready to jump up. The good news for the Sens is that with so many teams looking to shed money this summer, they should be able to add some useful bridge pieces for a low cost and then flip them with retention at the deadline for more than they paid to get them.
Re-Sign Tkachuk
This is the big one for them as Brady Tkachuk is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. It’s not as if he’s a dominant offensive player – his point-per-game averages per season range from 0.62 on the low end to 0.64 on the high end which is a roughly 50-point pace over an 82-game campaign. That alone doesn’t make him a core piece. It’s the physicality that he brings as well. Tkachuk has become one of the top power forwards in the game quite quickly (he’s only 21) and those are incredibly difficult to come by. It certainly stands to reason that Dorion will want to start discussions on a max-term deal with the winger soon if he hasn’t already done so.
However, the flat-cap environment doesn’t necessarily make an eight-year contract particularly appealing to Tkachuk. If he believes that he can take a step forward offensively over the next couple of seasons, a bridge contract looks more desirable. Look no further than his brother Matthew Tkachuk in Calgary who is playing on a three-year, $21MM pact but remains RFA-eligible at the end of it. For the first two years, their offensive numbers were similar and while Matthew had a much better platform campaign offensively, that can be offset somewhat by Brady’s physicality and how unique of a player he is. If that’s the rough ballpark for a short-term deal, that would seem more desirable on the surface than committing to a long-term pact. It’s still a significant raise but gets him arbitration eligibility at the end of it and potentially a more favorable cap environment as league revenues start to stabilize.
Cap space isn’t an issue for the Senators as they’re well below the $81.5MM Upper Limit for next season so that won’t impact these talks. Even so, with Ottawa’s likely preference being a max-term contract and it appearing to make more sense for Tkachuk to go with a bridge, it’s going to make for a very interesting negotiation in the weeks and months to come.
Bring In Defensive Upgrades
While there is help on the back end on the horizon (Jacob Bernard-Docker, Jake Sanderson, and Lassi Thomson), none of them are ready to step into Ottawa’s lineup next season. Bernard-Docker will need some time with Belleville, Sanderson will remain in college, and Thomson’s first AHL season wasn’t particularly strong so more time there will be needed.
That means the defense corps that was in place for most of the season remains intact and while there is one strong piece (Thomas Chabot is definitely a legitimate top-pairing player), it’s a group that’s light on high-end options and even depth. Erik Brannstrom hasn’t progressed as they hoped when he was the centerpiece of the Mark Stone trade with Vegas and Victor Mete (a pending RFA himself) was a late-season waiver claim. Both are young enough to still have some upside but as far as in-house improvements go, that’s about all they can count on.
Again, a serviceable veteran or two that could be flipped at the deadline when Bernard-Docker and maybe Thomson are more ready to play would work. But even with that, a controllable top-four pickup should also be high on Dorion’s wish list. Not all prospects pan out so one more quality addition to go along with Chabot, Zaitsev, and Artem Zub would at least bolster their core group and allow ample development time for their prospects. The flat cap could force some quality players to be on the move and Ottawa should be willing to deal some of their future capital to make sure they get a more significant addition and if they wind up with a surplus of quality defenders down the road, that’s quite a nice ‘problem’ to have.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Red Wings Loan Filip Larsson To Sweden
Filip Larsson’s international hockey journey will continue for another year. HV71 of Sweden’s Allsvenskan announced that they’ve added the goaltender on loan from the Red Wings for the 2021-22 season and have signed him to a one-year contract.
This season, the 22-year-old started on a loan to Almtuna in Sweden’s second-tier league before transferring to Frederikshavn in Denmark in January. His numbers in both leagues weren’t particularly strong as he managed just a .883 SV% in Sweden and a .889 mark in Denmark, numbers that don’t inspire much confidence in his NHL potential.
Larsson was a sixth-round pick of Detroit back in 2016 (167th overall) out of Djurgarden’s junior system in Sweden. He came to North America in 2017, spending one year in the USHL before moving to the NCAA level with Denver the following season. Somewhat surprisingly, he left the school after just his freshman year to sign with the Red Wings, a decision that looks like a mistake in hindsight. He struggled in his lone season in their system in 2019-20 which was split between the AHL and ECHL, helping to prompt the loans for this year.
Larsson is entering the final year of his entry-level contract in 2021-22 and the fact that he has been loaned back home already coupled with his recent struggles suggests that it’s quite unlikely that Detroit will be tendering him a qualifying offer in 2022.
2020-21 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Finalists Announced
The NHL continues its daily revealing of award finalists and today’s is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”. The finalists for the award are Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, and Wild blueliner Jared Spurgeon.
Matthews led the league in goals this season with 41, picking up his first career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy along the way. He logged plenty of ice time, finishing fifth among NHL forwards in ATOI at 21:33 per game and despite that, he only collected ten penalty minutes over his 50 games this season. Among the top 25 scorers in the league, only Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had fewer penalty minutes (six) although he also played in eight fewer games. It’s the second straight season that Matthews is a finalist for the award after finishing second in balloting last year.
Slavin, meanwhile, has been quite disciplined in terms of staying out of the box throughout his six-year NHL career but took that to a whole new level this season. In 52 games this season, he logged 22:59 per game and had a grand total of one minor penalty. That infraction was for delay of game. Through his 429-game career, Slavin has a total of 60 penalty minutes. It’s his first time being a finalist for this award (he was fourth in voting in 2020) but at the rate he’s going, it won’t be his last.
As for Spurgeon, he has recorded no more than 20 penalty minutes in a single season in his 11-year career and was only called for three minor penalties in 2020-21 despite averaging over 22 minutes a game; the only player to play that much and spend less time in the sin bin was Slavin. This is also Spurgeon’s first time as a finalist for the award although he has received a vote in each of the previous six years.
The award winners will be revealed throughout the final two rounds of the playoffs with the dates and order of announcements still to be determined.
North Notes: Canucks, Rielly, Robertson, DeMelo
The Canucks stayed pat with the ninth selection in next month’s draft but it appears that they’re at least open to listening to offers for the pick. While GM Jim Benning acknowledged that the likeliest outcome is that they make the selection, he told reporters including Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province that he will explore his options:
We’re going to look at everything. We’re going to call other teams and I know we’re going to get a real good player at No. 9. We’re going to have to get a young player who we feel is worth trading the pick. We’re going to keep all our options open.
Last season, the Canucks didn’t have a pick in either the first or second round so their prospect pool could definitely benefit from the boost that a top-ten selection would provide. However, with their stated intention of trying to win with this core, adding another proven player to the roster could also be a palatable option, especially if the flat cap makes some higher-quality players available.
More from the North:
- Still with Vancouver, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic suggested on the latest Donnie and Dhali show (Twitter link) that the Canucks have Kirk Muller on their radar as a potential addition to their coaching staff as an assistant coach. Muller was with Montreal to start the season before being let go at the same time that Claude Julien was fired in late February.
- While the Maple Leafs have some calls to make on their pending unrestricted free agents, Sportsnet’s Luke Fox posits that an even more important one that needs to be made now is on defenseman Morgan Rielly. The blueliner is set to become a UFA next summer and will undoubtedly be seeking a raise on his current $5MM AAV. If they’re able to get him locked up – no talks on an extension have occurred yet – that will greatly impact what else they can do this offseason knowing that they will have another expensive deal on the books in 2022.
- Still with Toronto, one somewhat notable absentee from their first-round loss to Montreal was winger Nicholas Robertson. The 20-year-old saw action in the bubble last summer but as it turns out, he was unavailable due to a concussion sustained in the minors late in the season, relays Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). He was on the verge of being cleared had the Maple Leafs advanced to the second round.
- Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo missed Friday’s second game against Montreal and it appears he’ll miss at least a couple more. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Postmedia’s Ted Wyman, that the blueliner is dealing with a soft tissue injury and will be out for at least a week. Jordie Benn replaced DeMelo in the lineup last night although youngster Ville Heinola could get a look at some point as well.
Minor Transactions: 06/04/21
There are just eight teams left alive in the NHL postseason and by this time next week that number could be down to four. The off-season has arrived for most, with all other major hockey leagues long since wrapped up. While many will wait for the NHL off-season to officially begin before making a decision on their future, other are willing to make a decision right away. Here are some notable moves from the latter group:
- As previously suggested, Joakim Nordstrom has indeed signed with the KHL’s CSKA Moscow. The club officially announced a one-year contract with the NHL veteran on Friday. While Nordstrom has never been a scoring threat in the NHL, his early commitment overseas is at least slightly suprising. The two-way forward clearly provides value, as evidenced by six straight seasons of starting at least two-thirds of his teams’ games across stops in Carolina, Boston, and Calgary. A solid checker and shot blocker, Nordstrom is a good defensive presence as a bottom-six forward, but does not provide much upside. Perhaps in Russia he will be able to do more offensively and play a more balanced game. He will be surrounded by plenty of talent with CSKA, a KHL juggernaut.
- Another forward heading to Europe is Tanner MacMaster. The former Quinnipiac University standout has played well in the AHL over the past three years, including playing a top-six role with 30 points for a loaded Toronto Marlies team last season, but has not earned an entry-level contract. He will look to Sweden for a bigger role and more substantial contract after spending this season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. MODO of the Swedish second-tier Allsvenskan has announced a one-year deal with MacMaster, who they label as a top-six center for the club.
- After a year off in 2020-21, former NHL enforcer Luke Gazdic has decided to make the change permanent. The veteran of 11 pro seasons has announced his retirement from the game. Gazdic will be remembered most for his three seasons as a fixture on the Edmonton Oilers’ checking line, though he developed into a leader in the AHL as well, spending his final two seasons with the San Diego Gulls.
- Also calling it quits after a long pro career is longtime Cleveland Monsters goaltender Brad Thiessen. Thiessen, 35, has announced his retirement after twelve years at the pro level. Thiessen initially left Northeastern University early in 2009, signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a highly sought-after free agent. Thiessen played three seasons with the Penguins, including seeing action in five NHL games, and another with the Calgary Flames, but since 2015-16 has been with AHL Cleveland. Thiessen helped to develop Columbus Blue Jackets netminders Joonas Korpisalo and Matiss Kivlenieks while continually providing reliable play and even leading the club to a Calder Cup.
Evgeni Malkin Undergoes Knee Surgery, Expected To Miss Time
As Evgeni Malkin prepares for the final year of his current contract in 2021-22 and tries to broker a possible extension this off-season, he now faces a potential hurdle to finding success at both. The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Malkin has undergone surgery on his right knee and a lengthy rehab is expected. The team does not anticipate that Malkin will be available for training camp in September and will not re-evaluate Malkin’s recovery until that time, which could lead to a further absence.
Malkin suffered the knee injury all the way back in mid-March and missed the final six weeks of the regular season and the first two games of the Penguins’ first round series against the New York Islanders. To his credit, Malkin did return for the final four games of that series, playing on what was clearly a severely damaged knee. For a player that has a reputation of being more on the fragile side, it is refreshing for Penguins fans to see that their star was able to fight through the pain in an effort to keep the team’s season alive. While he nevertheless failed in that pursuit, it could be to the benefit of next season and beyond. If Pittsburgh had advanced and Malkin continued to play, the surgery would have been delayed and the injury could have worsened in the meantime, likely leading to a much longer absence next season.
Malkin’s future is still somewhat of a question mark though. Despite a recent vote of confidence from new GM Ron Hextall, Malkin will be 35 years old next season and coming off of a poor year by his standards and has played more than 70 games once in the past nine seasons. Now he has undergone major surgery and faces a long recovery period and then will attempt to get up to game speed without any training camp and possibly preseason. The Penguins could be hesitant to give him a pricey, multi-year extension this summer until they see how he responds to this medical setback. Even then, this injury could mean that Malkin’s next deal is not as long as he may have hoped. The long-time star needs to come back strong next season, both in production and durability, in order to prove he can still be a difference-maker for Pittsburgh.
Still No Decision On Border Exception For NHL Postseason
The Montreal Canadiens head into Game Two of the North Division Finals on Friday with a chance to go up 2-0 in the series on the Winnipeg Jets. In fact, the series could be over as early as early as Monday if the Habs continue to win. There might be just one business day left between now and Montreal advancing to the NHL’s postseason final four. Yet, they still have no idea whether or not they will be playing any home games beyond that point.
Reporting for Sportsnet late last night, David Morassutti relays word from Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly that the league and the Canadian government still do not have any agreement on an exception to current border policies. With Canada behind the United States in Coronavirus vaccinations, the country and each of the provinces still have strict border restrictions and tight health regulations. Those are not going away any time soon, so if the NHL wants Montreal or Winnipeg to be able to host home games in the next round or two, they need to negotiate an exception to the rules. Daly notes that conversations with Canadian officials are ongoing and “increasing in frequency” and there is an understanding that the NHL needs a decision as soon as possible. However, Canada is already late on a ruling; the NHL had previously announced that they hoped to have the border exception hammered out by the end of the first round.
Morassutti reports that what is being discussed is a “national interest exemption” that would allow both NHL and MLB teams – with the Toronto Blue Jays currently calling the U.S. home – to cross the border without facing quarantine time. However, a new set of policies would need to be put in place to safeguard against COVID transmission from these visitors and public health officials would need to approve. Daly feels confident that a solution can be reached soon, but phrases like “rigorous due diligence” from the Canadian side cast some doubt on just how quickly this can be done. With the next round arriving no later than June 13, will “soon” be soon enough for the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
If no deal is reached, meaning American clubs cannot cross the border and the Canadian champ cannot return once they cross into the U.S. either, the alternative would be that the North Division winner would have to adopt a home south of the border for their remaining games. In all likelihood, these plans have already been made in the event that a border exception is not reached in time. However, there has been no indication by the NHL of what this Plan B might be. The closest American cities to Montreal that could host NHL postseason play include Portland, ME, Manchester, NH, and Rochester or Syracuse, NY, all current or former AHL homes. Boston is the closest NHL city, but seems unlikely due to the Bruins’ potential inclusion in the next round. Buffalo would likely be the next-best choice. As for Winnipeg, options are few and far between. The club is located very close to Grand Forks, ND, home of the University of North Dakota and a location that was considered as hub city for the 2020 postseason. However, it likely isn’t an ideal spot for the NHL. Minneapolis is the only NHL city even remotely close for the Jets, though Seattle has also been mentioned as possibility.
There is still a lot of unknowns about this situation and time is running out. Hopefully the Canadian government can work with the NHL to come to a quick solution on an amended border policy. If not, the North Division champ will face the disadvantage of playing in a strange city as their reward for advancing on in the postseason.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 06/04/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in the COVID-19 Protocol. Here is today’s list:
Colorado – Jayson Megna
Vegas – Brayden McNabb
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: None
Still no McNabb for the Golden Knights, who will try to climb back into their second-round series against the Avalanche tonight. Vegas could be on the brink of elimination before the veteran defenseman returns, and given how long he’s been out it’s hard to imagine him making a difference anytime soon.
Kasimir Kaskisuo, Justin Kloos Sign In Sweden
Two more veteran minor league players have decided to take their talents to Sweden, as Kasimir Kaskisuo and Justin Kloos have signed with Leksands IF of the SHL. Both players have signed two-year contracts through the 2022-23 season.
Kaskisuo, 27, went undrafted out of the Finnish junior level and only signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs after two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs during the 2019-20 season, he was completely left out to dry by his teammates, who had seemingly given up on playing for their head coach. Mike Babcock was fired four days after Kaskisuo lost 6-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, not a great memory for the young goaltender. He got into a game this season for the Nashville Predators as well, stopping all three shots he faced in relief of Pekka Rinne, but those two appearances are the entirety of his NHL career thus far.
Two NHL games and a contract overseas is the same story for Kloos, who suited up once for the Minnesota Wild and once for the Anaheim Ducks before heading to the KHL last season. The 27-year-old was once a superstar in the Minnesota high school hockey scene, scoring 103 points in 31 games for Lakeville in 2011-12. That success continued at the University of Minnesota, where he captained the Golden Gophers and recorded 150 points in 155 games. Unfortunately, even with some legitimate minor league success, the 5’9″ forward failed to receive many opportunities at the NHL level and is likely going to finish his career with just those two games. In 48 KHL games last season he recorded 20 points.
Helge Grans Signs Entry-Level Contract
It wasn’t just Quinton Byfield that the Los Angeles Kings added in the 2020 draft. The team also had two second-round picks, the first of which they used to select Helge Grans at 35th overall. Today, the team has signed Grans to a three-year entry-level contract. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports the deal carries an average annual value of $925K.
Grans, 19, spent the season with the Malmo Redhawks of the SHL, recording 12 points in 43 games. Though simply playing a regular shift at his age is impressive enough, Grans’ 12 points actually put him third among defensemen on the team. Still, there were certainly rough patches for the young defenseman, as evidenced by his team-worst -21 rating, but those inconsistencies are certainly not going to derail the Kings’ belief in him as a future NHL option.
The 6’3″ defenseman has strong skating and can shut down rushes quickly when his gap is consistent, but still takes a few too many risks with the puck. At their draft in October, Corey Pronman of The Athletic wrote that he believes Grans has a solid chance to play NHL games down the line and subsequently ranked him the organization’s 12th-best prospect.
Because he is under contract with Malmo, is under 22, and is not a first-round pick, he will likely spend the 2021-22 season in Sweden. That is of course unless he makes the Kings out of camp, something that would be very surprising. If he does return to the SHL, he will not burn the first year of his entry-level deal.