Archives for March 2022

Trade Deadline Primer: San Jose Sharks

March 7, 2022 at 6:32 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu Leave a Comment

As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks are a team in transition. From 2015-16 through the 2018-19 season, the Sharks made the playoffs each year, winning six playoff series in the process. But a Stanley Cup championship eluded them, and since falling to the Blues in the 2018-19 Western Conference Final the Sharks have not been back to the playoffs, finishing in the league’s basement in each of the past two seasons. Longtime GM Doug Wilson has stepped away from the team on indefinite medical leave, and assistant GM Joe Will has a host of decisions to make in his boss’ absence as the trade deadline nears. The Sharks are unlikely to make the playoffs this season, and as a result, it is up to Will to navigate the Sharks’ decision-making process with several players of note hitting unrestricted free agency. They are probably going to be sellers, but how far will they go?

Record

24-25-7, 7th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$16MM today, $21.7MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 0/3 retention slots used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2022: SJS 1st, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, BUF 5th, SJS 6th, SJS 7th, ARZ 7th, MIN 7th

2023: SJS 1st, SJS 2nd, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, SJS 5th, SJS 6th, SJS 7th

Trade Chips

The discussion surrounding the Sharks’ trade deadline approach has rightfully revolved around center Tomas Hertl. Hertl is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he has spent his entire career with the Sharks since being drafted by the team in the first round of the 2012 draft. Hertl is a top-six center, occupying the sweet spot in between being a low-end first-line center and being an elite second-line option. Hertl had an offensive breakout in 2018-19, when he scored 35 goals and 74 points in 77 games, and he has been hovering just under the point-per-game mark for the past two seasons. He has 22 goals and 42 points in 52 games so far this year, and 30 goals and about 65 to 70 points is a reasonable expectation for Hertl, who is right in his prime as a 28-year-old player. Hertl isn’t a suffocating defensive presence but he also isn’t a slouch in that area either, and he drives play well enough to handle being the centerpiece of his own line. He’s a truly valuable player, the kind of player numerous NHL clubs would like to add. But Hertl’s virtues complicate his status as a trade chip, as the Sharks are “taking a run” at keeping Hertl, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Sharks have good reason to want to extend Hertl, he’s a fantastic player for all the reasons previously mentioned, but should the two camps not be able to arrive at a deal before the trade deadline, expect Hertl to return a significant bounty of assets to the Sharks from whatever team acquires him.

After Hertl, the Sharks don’t have any additional players who profile as true difference-makers set to be available at the deadline. That’s not to say they don’t have some attractive assets, though. One of those assets is Alexander Barabanov. Like his frequent linemate Hertl, Barabanov is also a pending unrestricted free agent. After a long career in the KHL, Barabanov first made his way into the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but struggled there and was traded to the Sharks. With the Sharks, Barabanov found immediate success, posting 7 points in 9 games for the big club in 2020-2021, and this season he has found chemistry with the Sharks’ scorers to the tune of eight goals and 27 points in 48 games. He’s enough of a skilled offensive player to be able to fit on one of a team’s scoring lines and has been productive this year. He should be able to provide a team with some solid secondary scoring and the ability to play higher in the lineup should a more accomplished skill player have trouble with injuries. His cap hit is only $1MM, which makes him an ideal candidate for teams tight up against the upper limit of the salary cap. If a team needs some scoring depth at a cheap price, (both on the cap sheet and in terms of acquisition cost) Barabanov is a solid option.

One more winger the Sharks could shop to other teams is veteran Andrew Cogliano. Cogliano has an expiring $1MM cap hit, like Barabanov, but his play style could not be more different. Cogliano is now 34 years old, and whereas he once could reliably provide thirty-plus points of offense he now has seen that production mostly dry up. He has only four goals and 14 points on the season, but at this point he wouldn’t be acquired for his offense. It’s his penalty killing, reliability, and veteran leadership that gets him paid these days, and those three things that he brings to the table are coveted by many general managers across the league. Cogliano probably won’t return much for the Sharks, but for a team looking to add some reliable reinforcements to their special teams and their bottom-six, Cogliano is a proven, respected player to target.

Others to Watch For: G James Reimer, F Ryan Dzingel, D Jaycob Megna

Team Needs

1) Draft Picks

The Sharks, like many teams struggling on the fringes of the NHL’s playoff races, need more talent. Due to management’s uncompromising chase of a Stanley Cup this past decade, the Sharks have seen their pipeline of young talent erode. They have had some quality players emerge from their system, like Mario Ferraro, but in total young players like him have been few and far between. The Sharks now have an improved prospect system, ranked 14th leaguewide by the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler (subscription required) but they still could use more should some of their prospects not pan out as hoped. When approaching this season’s trade deadline, a priority should be adding to the team’s stable of draft picks, a collection that is currently missing the additional valuable picks that many other rebuilding clubs can boast.

2) Investment in Young Goalies

A goalie, perhaps more than any other player on the ice, can change a team’s fortunes in any given game. With the decline and then eventual departure of Martin Jones, the Sharks lost the player they once believed would be their long-term answer in net. This past offseason, the team traded a 2nd round pick for the Coyotes’ Adin Hill, but he has not had an ideal season for the Sharks. He has played in 24 games and has a .901 save percentage, which is not a confidence-inspiring number. To put it simply, the Sharks need more options to decide who will be their goalie long-term. The Sharks do not have a blue-chip goaltending prospect in their system, and since the 2016 draft, they have only selected two netminders. One has to wonder if developing goalies has been an organizational priority in the past, but from the perspective of the deadline, that isn’t relevant. What matters is that the Sharks need to make finding a long-term goalie a priority, and they can start at this trade deadline.

Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Trade Deadline Notes: Domi, Kubalik, Canadiens Injuries

March 7, 2022 at 5:18 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 17 Comments

As the trade deadline nears, the player on the Columbus Blue Jackets perhaps drawing the most attention is forward Max Domi. In a conversation with Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne of Sportsnet, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen addressed the situation with Domi, a pending unrestricted free agent. He spoke on the fact that although Columbus internally expected to be in the mix for a playoff spot, that did not mean that they would be focused on being a “buyer” at the deadline. He referred to his approach to the trade deadline as one with “the big picture in mind,” and when asked about Domi specifically Kekalainen said that Domi had an “inconsistent” season and that the team would “see where [they’re] at in two weeks.”

Given Kekalainen’s firm stance on the team taking a “big picture” approach to the trade deadline, it would be fair to characterize Domi as a likely trade candidate given his contract situation. It is unclear whether Domi fits into the Blue Jackets’ long-term plans, and Kekalainen’s non-committal answer when asked about Domi’s future in Columbus can be viewed as an indication that the player’s days with the organization are numbered. Domi has always been a talented offensive player, his 72 point season for Montreal in 2018-19 is an indication of that, but he has not fit in Columbus. He has 18 goals and 50 points in his 100 games as a Blue Jacket. That’s a 41 point pace, decent enough, but a far cry from the 72-point form he flashed with the Canadiens and likely not enough to warrant receiving a similarly-priced extension on the $5.3MM against the cap he currently costs. Those factors combined with Kekalainen’s recent comments reinforce the idea that we are fast approaching the end of Domi’s time as a Blue Jacket.

Like the Blue Jackets, the Chicago Blackhawks also have to consider the long-term fits of certain players on their roster. As the deadline approaches, one name being discussed is Dominik Kubalik. In a piece detailing the Blackhawks’ overall trade deadline situation, Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers of The Athletic add some more detail to the team’s situation with Kubalik. (subscription required) They assign Kubalik an “80%” likelihood of being traded, and report that a source indicated the Blackhawks’ asking price for the Czech Winger to be a second-round pick. Kubalik is an interesting trade candidate because of his scoring pedigree and relative youth. He scored 30 goals as a rookie and 17 goals and 38 points in 56 games last season, which is a 25-goal, 55-point pace. That’s strong production for a player who had not played North American professional hockey before arriving in Chicago. But Kubalik has been a bit less productive this season, with only 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games, and he is due a qualifying offer of around $4MM if a team wants to retain his rights as a restricted free agent. The Blackhawks’ new GM Kyle Davidson indicated that he would be embarking on a long-term rebuild of the team, so perhaps Kubalik becomes one of his first major moves to add draft capital to support that endeavor.
Despite their recent run of success, the Montreal Canadiens are going to be sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Their team has been ravaged by injuries this season, and it has impacted the team’s approach to making trades at that deadline. Veteran players such as Jonathan Drouin, Christian Dvorak, Joel Edmundson, or Jake Allen could very well be in the wider deadline conversation as trade season heats up, but each has been dealing with their own injuries that have kept them out of the lineup and out of that spotlight. But that could change soon. The team announced that a host of players, including the names listed above, were able to practice under a non-contact designation. The list of players is as follows: Jake Evans, Jeff Petry, Paul Byron, Edmundson, Drouin, Dvorak, and Allen. If this group of players manages to find their way back into coach Martin St. Louis’ lineup before the trade deadline, that could change the team’s approach to the deadline drastically. GM Kent Hughes would have more healthy players to be able to potentially shop, and teams eyeing the Canadiens’ roster for potential upgrades would have a set of additional options whose health situations would be far less murky. So, regardless of the team’s appetite to trade any of these players, this progression in their health situations puts the team closer to having more options as the March 21st deadline approaches.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Billy Sweezey

March 7, 2022 at 2:18 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

All the hard work for Billy Sweezey has finally resulted in an NHL contract. The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed the undrafted defenseman to a two-year, two-way contract that will kick in for the 2022-23 season. Sweezey is currently playing for the Cleveland Monsters on an AHL contract.

In 2015-16, the 6’2″ Sweezey was an overage player for the USHL’s Chicago Steel, where he racked up 131 penalty minutes in 55 games, mostly there for his size and toughness. He took his talents to Yale after that and played four years, never scoring more than one goal in a single season. He’d leave college in 2020 with just three goals and 29 points in 127 games. Last season he played with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where he once again was just a depth player scratching and clawing for playing time.

This year with Cleveland, that’s changed, at least somewhat. Sweezey, now 26, has four goals and ten points in 45 games to go along with 68 penalty minutes as one of the toughest defenders in the league. Playing regular minutes, his size, strength, and physicality have now made him a legitimate call-up option for the Blue Jackets, though he won’t be eligible until next season.

A deal like this certainly isn’t a franchise-altering move, but it does reinforce that players can work their way up the Blue Jackets depth chart if they work hard enough. That helps encourage other undrafted talents to join the organization and meanwhile, provides some extra defensive depth for the NHL club.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Six, Chychrun

March 7, 2022 at 12:34 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The NHL has released its Three Stars for last week, with Dallas Stars phenom Jason Robertson taking the top spot following his back-to-back hat trick efforts. Robertson had seven goals in three games for the week and now has 46 goals and 100 points in his first 100 NHL contests. While he’s shooting an incredible 20.4 percent this season, the 22-year-old is proving he’s no fluke and should be among the league’s most dynamic offensive weapons for years to come.

The second and third spots went to Nick Schmaltz and Igor Shesterkin respectively, with outstanding weeks of their own. The Arizona Coyotes forward had an incredible seven-point night against the Ottawa Senators and has been playing huge minutes over the last few weeks, really stepping back into the offensive role he carried earlier in his career. Shesterkin meanwhile continued his historic season with three more wins and actually raised his save percentage to .942 on the year. Shesterkin leads in almost every goaltending category so far and has a 28-6-3 record to go with it.

The Toronto Six, a PHF franchise that came into existence in 2020, has been sold to a new ownership group that includes former NHL player Anthony Stewart, Hockey Hall of Fame member Angela James and former NHL coach Ted Nolan. The Six are currently in first place in the PHF with a 13-2-1 record on the year and are next in action on March 12.
The Coyotes still prefer to not trade Jakob Chychrun, according to general manager Bill Armstrong who spoke with The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco, but they won’t be turning down any calls. Armstrong admitted that “if someone were to offer the right assets” they would be interested in moving Chychrun, even if the “preference” is to not. Earlier this season, reports emerged suggesting that the asking price was quite high, an ask that obviously hasn’t been met to this point.

Tyson Barrie Placed On Injured Reserve; Stuart Skinner Recalled

March 7, 2022 at 10:57 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Edmonton Oilers have officially recalled Stuart Skinner from the AHL, as Mike Smith continues to deal with an illness. To make room, Tyson Barrie has been placed on injured reserve.

Barrie, 30, was injured in a game earlier this month against the Chicago Blackhawks and was recently listed as “day-to-day” by head coach Jay Woodcroft. Given that his placement on IR is retroactive to March 5 and he has to miss at least seven days, he’ll miss at least the next few games while he recovers.

Skinner meanwhile is set to serve as the backup tonight behind Mikko Koskinen, though many believe he should be getting a chance to play for the Oilers given their goaltending issues. The 23-year-old goaltender has a .913 save percentage in 13 appearances this season, including a 20-save shutout in his most recent game–almost a month ago against the San Jose Sharks.

Since then, he’s been playing in the minor leagues where he continues to find success. In his most recent game with the Bakersfield Condors, Skinner stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn an overtime victory against the Stockton Heat. Overall, he has a .919 save percentage in the AHL this season.

AHL Shuffle: 03/07/22

March 7, 2022 at 10:16 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Five games grace the NHL schedule this evening, as we get closer and closer to the March 21 trade deadline. Sam Reinhart will return to Buffalo to take on his old team as a member of the Florida Panthers and in the midst of a career year. With 18 goals and 52 points in 52 games, he’s on the verge of recording his first point-per-game campaign, while helping the Panthers become one of the most feared offensive juggernauts in the NHL. As they and other teams prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the day’s minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Joe Veleno, with the team back in action tomorrow night. The 22-year-old rookie has five goals and ten points in 40 appearances for Detroit this season, but still isn’t quite living up to the hype that made him the 30th overall pick in 2018. To make room, the team has moved Carter Rowney to injured reserve.

Metropolitan Division

The New York Islanders have recalled Otto Koivula from the AHL, his third transaction in just a few days. The 23-year-old forward has played four games for New York this season but is still looking for his first NHL goal.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Jean-Francois Berube to the minor leagues, meaning their goaltending situation is likely clearing up in the NHL. Berube, hadn’t played since the 2017-18 season before his recent stint with Columbus, making his 3-1 record and .924 save percentage even more remarkable.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated Louis Domingue from injured reserve, but he’s headed back to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The third-string goaltender has played in just one game for Pittsburgh this season, stopping 40 of 41 shots for a win against the San Jose Sharks partway through January.
The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned Alex Lyon to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Lyon, 29, has played in 23 games for the Wolves this season and has a .911 save percentage. He has also appeared in 2 games for the Hurricanes and owns a .908 save percentage with the team.

Central Division

The St. Louis Blues have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern and Alexey Toropchenko from the AHL, while reassigning Dakota Joshua and Klim Kostin. The Blues have lost three in a row–two of those against teams well out of the playoff race–and obviously are looking for a change upfront. MacEachern, 27, has yet to play at the NHL level this season but does have over 100 games of experience with the Blues.
The Minnesota Wild have activated Jordan Greenway off of injured reserve, and reassigned Mason Shaw to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in a corresponding move, Michael Russo of the Athletic reported. Greenway had been suffering from an upper-body injury, and has 14 points in 41 games this season. Mason Shaw, a 2017 4th round pick, has 33 points in 41 AHL games this season and has played in 3 NHL games for the Wild.

Pacific Division

The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Sheldon Rempal from the AHL, loaning Phil Di Giuseppe down in his place. Di Giuseppe was recalled last month but didn’t actually get into a game at the NHL level, meaning he still has yet to make his Canucks debut. In the AHL though, the 28-year-old has 32 points in 35 games, the best offensive season of his career.
Lukas Dostal has been returned to the AHL, this time without seeing any action with the Anaheim Ducks. The young netminder has appeared three times this season, posting a .929 save percentage and securing his first NHL win.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Latest On P.K. Subban

March 7, 2022 at 9:03 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 17 Comments

While the New Jersey Devils aren’t exactly true sellers, as we outlined in our Trade Deadline Primer last month, there is one name that appears to be on his way out. P.K. Subban met with Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald over the weekend according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, and was told that the team wouldn’t be extending him. That means as Fitzgerald put it, “if the move makes sense for the New Jersey Devils…I have to do what’s best for the organization.”

Subban of course comes with a huge $9MM cap hit, meaning that it would need to be a perfect fit and would likely require the Devils to retain 50 percent. But with the number of depth options that are moved at the deadline each year that don’t possess anywhere near Subban’s upside, it does seem like some teams will at least inquire about the veteran defenseman.

There’s no doubt that a 32-year-old Subban is a shadow of the player that won the Norris Trophy in 2013 and was a finalist two other times, most recently in 2018. He is averaging fewer than 20 minutes a night for the first time in his entire career and still provides risky, inconsistent play in his own end. He does have 18 points in 53 games though–none of which have come on the powerplay–and can contribute offensively when put in the right situations.

Not to be overlooked is the simple fact that Subban is right-handed, a trait that seems to be in higher demand at the NHL trade deadline than at any other time in history. There are simply not very many NHL-level right-handed defensemen available at any given time, and contenders are always looking to add an extra one for a potential long playoff run.

For his own part, Subban does have a long successful history in the NHL postseason. He’s suited up in 96 playoff games during his career and has 18 goals and 62 points in those contests. That includes a run to the finals with the Nashville Predators in 2017 and several other lengthy runs, usually logging more than 25 minutes a night. That’s not the role he would play on any acquiring team, but the experience is still valuable as the games get tighter.

An unrestricted free agent in the summer, it’s unclear what the future holds for Subban. It won’t be in New Jersey though, something that seemed obvious when the team went out and signed Dougie Hamilton to a massive seven-year, $63MM contract last offseason. With Damon Severson still in place on the right side for at least one more year (unless he too is dealt at some point) and more youth coming through the pipeline, Subban will have to find somewhere else to play next season; he’ll potentially get a sneak peek at a new market in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images`

Five Key Stories: 2/28/22 – 3/6/22

March 6, 2022 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The weeks leading up to the trade deadline can often be quiet and with so many teams this season being tight to the salary cap, this past week was no exception. Nevertheless, there was some notable news around the hockey world over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Cancer For Top Draft Prospect: Winger Ivan Miroshnichenko has been viewed as one of the top prospects heading into the upcoming draft. Unfortunately, he has a big fight to overcome before he can think about hockey again as it was revealed that the 18-year-old has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and could miss the entire 2022-23 campaign as a result. The good news is that it’s believed to be the most common form and is curable but even with that, it’s likely to affect his draft stock in July.

Extensions: There should be an uptick in contract extensions over the next couple of weeks and that started over the weekend. First, Arizona handed center Travis Boyd a two-year, $3.5MM extension with the 28-year-old in the midst of a career year. Boyd’s previous high in salary in a single season was $800K and now he’ll average more than double that much over the next two seasons. Meanwhile, Ben Hutton went from having to start the season on a minor league tryout to securing a new two-year, $1.7MM deal from the Golden Knights. The 28-year-old has logged nearly 15 minutes a night on the back end for Vegas this season and as a result, earned a small raise on his league minimum salary this season.

Interim Tag Lifted: Chicago’s search for their next general manager is over and it turns out they had the right fit all along as the team removed the interim tag from Kyle Davidson, elevating him to the full-time role. The 33-year-old has been with the organization since 2010 when he started as an intern and has now worked his way up to the top role and had been in the interim role following the departure of Stan Bowman. Bowman has committed to a rebuilding process for the Blackhawks and has already started to rebuild the front office, parting ways with long-time executives Mark Kelley (VP of Amateur Scouting) and Ryan Stewart (assistant GM).

Del Zotto Drawing Interest: Generally speaking, players that clear waivers with multi-year contracts that wind up in the minors don’t typically garner much interest at the trade deadline. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Senators blueliner Michael Del Zotto following a report that teams are calling about the 31-year-old. Del Zotto is signed through next season with a $2MM AAV, a contract that Ottawa will either need to pay down or take a similarly-priced player back. The veteran has been quite productive with AHL Belleville, averaging over a point per game since joining them and would provide some teams with a bit of extra firepower from the back end.

Stalock To Sharks: With James Reimer out week-to-week and Adin Hill already on IR, the Sharks decided to swing a move to bring back a familiar netminder, acquiring Alex Stalock from Edmonton in exchange for future considerations. San Jose actually drafted the 34-year-old back in 2005 but that’s not what makes this notable. Stalock was originally expected to be out for the season due to myocarditis but worked his way back to full health and got into five games with AHL Bakersfield before the swap and now he’s back in the NHL. Even if he doesn’t play much, that’s still a nice accomplishment considering his situation just a few months ago.

East Notes: Penguins, Tuch, Rangers, Murray

March 6, 2022 at 7:55 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith has turned his season around over the past six weeks, posting a 2.18 GAA along with a .933 SV% in six appearances. In doing so, Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that the netminder has done enough for the team to focus on other upgrades at the trade deadline, especially with the list of affordable veteran upgrades being relatively short. Pittsburgh is currently well into LTIR with winger Jason Zucker set to be back before the end of the season – he resumed skating today, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – so they’re not really able to use his freed-up space at the deadline. With limited resources, GM Ron Hextall may be better off trying to upgrade a regular depth spot in the lineup over DeSmith, a player who shouldn’t see much (if any) playing time when the playoffs roll around.

Snapshots: McBain, Oilers Goaltending, Kotkaniemi

March 6, 2022 at 5:18 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 9 Comments

When a team makes a draft pick to select a player who is NCAA-bound, they make the pick with the understanding that there is a potential risk of that player graduating from college and then being free to sign with another team. On that front, the Minnesota Wild have a dilemma that centers around Jack McBain, the player the team drafted 63rd overall in 2018. McBain is currently a star player for Boston College, where he has 18 goals and 29 points in 22 games this season. He is clearly a quality prospect, but the issue for the Wild is the situation surrounding their control over the rights to sign him. McBain is nearing the end of his tenure at Boston College, and is therefore very close to being able to decide for himself where he wants to sign, similar to Jimmy Vesey, who is an example of this happening in the past.

Why is this complicated for the Wild? Because McBain is a Toronto, Ontario native without much natural connection to the Wild other than being drafted by them. As Jeff Marek of Sportsnet states on Hockey Night in Canada, McBain could very well “chart his own course” and test free agency. The issue for the Wild, then, is what to do with the rights to McBain they still hold. Do they keep him with the intent on signing him, risking the potential of him leaving for nothing? Or do they explore the possibility, as Marek states they might, of trading his rights in a deadline deal to mine as much guaranteed value from their dwindling team control as possible. It’s most definitely something to keep an eye on as the deadline inches closer.

As mentioned in the team’s Trade Deadline Primer, the Oilers’ goaltending situation should be their key priority when approaching the trade deadline. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman examined that situation in more detail. (subscription required) The Oilers are in dire need of improvement in the crease, and the team could look to add outside help at the deadline. Nugent-Bowman floats four names as potential trade targets: Semyon Varlamov, Ville Husso, Braden Holtby, and James Reimer. He notes that Oilers’ GM Ken Holland “won’t send away top assets for rentals,” but also highlights the importance of the Oilers improving their play in net. Varlamov, Husso, Holtby, and Reimer would all be definite improvements over Koskinen and Smith, but the responsibility is on Holland to strike a deal if that improvement is to be secured.
The Carolina Hurricanes caused a firestorm this offseason when they acquired center Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens via an offer sheet, a means of player acquisition rarely used by NHL front offices. But in order to do so successfully, they had to pay Kotkaniemi $6.1MM over one year, making it so if the Hurricanes want to retain Kotkaniemi’s rights this offseason, they must issue him a similarly-expensive qualifying offer. Kotkaniemi has had an up-and-down season, and has 11 goals and 22 points in 52 games, a 17-goal, 35-point pace over 82 games played, production that is not typically deemed to be worthy of a cap hit north of $6MM. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the Hurricanes and Kotkaniemi have had “productive talks” on the framework of a long-term contract extension, a deal that Seravalli speculates could be worth between $4MM and $4.5MM over a six or seven year term. If those talks end up in a contract with that term and cap number, it would be indicative of a significant vote of confidence in the 21-year-old Kotkaniemi, who has so far had a bit of a rocky NHL career.

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