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Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Taylor Hall

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The Boston Bruins needed to clear some cap space and found a willing participant in the Chicago Blackhawks. The two have agreed on a four-player trade that includes Taylor Hall. The full deal is as follows:

The Bruins will not retain any salary in the deal.

Hall, 31, signed a four-year $24MM contract with the Bruins in 2021 but will last just two seasons before joining the sixth NHL team of his career. The deal does include a 16-team no-trade clause (that drops to 10 teams in a few days) but Chris Johnston of North Star Bets reports that Chicago was not one of the blocked destinations, meaning Boston did not need his approval.

Hall’s $6MM cap hit is not a huge overpayment, as he is still a fine middle-six winger, but the Bruins found themselves in a precarious situation with just a few days before free agency opens. They are interested in bringing back trade deadline acquisition Tyler Bertuzzi, but needed to clear cap before working out any deal. It will be interesting to see if they can close the gap and keep Bertuzzi in the fold once Hall is officially off the books.

After being a part of the best regular season team in history, moving to Chicago is a significant downgrade for Hall. He isn’t joining an organization completely bereft of talent, though—he may even get to play with Connor Bedard, depending on how things shake out.

There is, of course, the possibility that the Blackhawks flip the 2018 Hart Trophy winner as they continue their rebuild. Two years of Hall isn’t going to do a ton for their Stanley Cup chances, and perhaps retaining some salary could mean even more assets for the Bedard-led club a few years from now.

Foligno’s inclusion is interesting, given he is a pending unrestricted free agent. Perhaps he will join the Blackhawks on a new deal to help lend some veteran leadership to the young group. The veteran forward is set to turn 36 in October but had a bounce-back season this year with 26 points in 60 games.

In terms of return for the Bruins, it’s really about the cap space. Mitchell and Regula are both fringe NHLers, who may have missed their window of real potential. Perhaps the Bruins see enough in one or both of them to make them a roster regular next season, but the young defensemen may again be destined for the minor leagues.

Mitchell, 24, played 35 games for the Blackhawks this season, registering one goal and eight points. The 2017 second-round pick has just 82 NHL games under his belt to this point, and is arbitration eligible as an RFA this summer. Interestingly, he does have a connection to Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, who recruited and coached Mitchell at the University of Denver for one season.

Meanwhile, Regula is still just 22 but barely has any NHL experience. He saw just four games with the Blackhawks this season and has suited up 22 times in his career, registering a single point. Selected in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Detroit Red Wings, he is not yet eligible for arbitration.

At the very worst, the defenders could stretch out the depth chart for the Bruins, giving them valuable options to turn to in case of injury or poor performance next season.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet first broke the news that Hall was headed to the Blackhawks. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported the full deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Dubois, Lucic, Galchenyuk

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The Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets appeared close to a Pierre-Luc Dubois trade over the weekend, but things haven’t progressed as quickly as expected. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there is “still work to be done” and that the Jets haven’t even given Los Angeles permission to discuss an extension with the center.

Arpon Basu of The Athletic, meanwhile, tweets that the Montreal Canadiens are still open to finding a way to make it work, if the Kings aren’t able to close the deal. Darren Dreger of TSN adds that the Canadiens have re-engaged, making it unclear where Dubois will actually end up.

  • One landing spot has been ruled out for Milan Lucic, as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV reports that the Vancouver Canucks are no longer in the mix. The Canucks had reportedly expressed interest in the pending free agent forward, who will be leaving the Calgary Flames after three seasons. Now 35, there is no longer much offensive upside in the veteran forward, but he can still be an imposing physical presence on the ice.
  • Alex Galchenyuk, the player acquired by the Nashville Predators in yesterday’s Ryan Johansen deal, will not be re-signed by the team according to LeBrun. His inclusion was simply to clear a contract slot off the books for the Colorado Avalanche. The 29-year-old Galchenyuk played just 11 games in the NHL this season, failing to record a single point.

Nashville Predators Hire Pekka Rinne

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The Nashville Predators aren’t really the Predators without Pekka Rinne in the mix. The team’s legendary goaltender is back in the organization, named a European Development Coach and Scout today. Rinne will work out of Finland, but collaborate with goaltending coach Ben Vanderklok to help develop the club’s goalie prospects. He’ll also be back in Nashville to help with development camps this summer.

Arguably the greatest Predator of all time, and the only one to have his number retired by the club, Rinne retired after the 2020-21 season. In his 15-year career, which was spent entirely with Nashville, he posted a 369-213-75 record in 666 starts. Rinne won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2018, and was a finalist on three other occasions. In 2011, after posting a .930 save percentage in 64 games, he finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting.

Rinne is 17th all-time in NHL save percentage and tied with Tom Barrasso for 20th on the all-time win list. He’s now starting the next chapter in his hockey life, serving as a goaltending coach for Team Finland at the recent World Juniors and joining Nashville to see what the other side of the sport is like.

Even the press release indicates that part of this appointment is to “learn and observe,” suggesting there may be more responsibility coming his way at some point if he desires it. Regardless of role, Nashville fans will happily welcome back their franchise goalie.

Henderson Silver Knights Hire Ryan Craig

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The Henderson Silver Knights are getting some Stanley Cup experience. Vegas Golden Knights assistant Ryan Craig, fresh off a championship, will transfer to a new role in the organization, moving to head coach of the Silver Knights for the 2022-23 season.

Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon released the following:

I have tremendous respect for Ryan Craig as both a person and a professional and believe we have an ideal coach to lead our team in Henderson. He is a proven leader who has learned from some of the game’s best coaches. He understands the importance of the AHL level both in terms of developing our NHL prospects and creating a winning environment.

While serving as an assistant in the NHL is a great start to any coaching resume, for Craig to take the next step, he likely needs some head coaching experience. He’ll get that opportunity after six years on the Vegas bench.

An eighth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2002 (after a successful junior career under McCrimmon with the Brandon Wheat Kings), Craig carved out a long professional career, bouncing between the AHL and NHL. In 198 games at the highest level, he scored 32 goals and 63 points.

Now, he’ll be in charge of developing the next wave of Golden Knights prospects while getting that much-needed headed coaching experience. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Craig’s name floated around as a potential NHL head coach in a few years, should the AHL experience go well.

Henrik Borgstrom Signs In Sweden

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June 26: Finally official, Borgstrom has signed a two-year deal with HV71, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent by the time any NHL team has another shot at him.

May 3: After seeing action in just one NHL game this season, it seemed like there was a good chance that Capitals center Henrik Borgstrom would be looking to go elsewhere for 2023-24.  Rather than wait to see if he’d be tendered by Washington, it appears that Borgstrom has found his next team as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that the middleman is expected to play for HV71 in Sweden next season.

The 25-year-old returned to North America in 2021-22, signing a two-year deal with Chicago.  However, after struggling in 52 contests with them, the Blackhawks opted to buy out the final year of that deal, making him an unrestricted free agent.  Borgstrom quickly signed with the Capitals, hoping to push for a spot at the bottom of their roster.

That didn’t exactly happen.  Instead, Borgstrom cleared waivers before the start of the season and spent almost the entire year with AHL Hershey.  He wasn’t overly productive with them either, picking up eight goals and 13 assists in 55 games, hardly the type of impact he was hoping to have.  That resulted in him getting just a single recall at the end of the season, playing in Washington’s penultimate contest where he was limited to just over eight minutes of playing time.

Borgstrom, who has 111 career NHL appearances under his belt, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer and Washington could have his rights for two more years if they qualify him.  At this point, the term of the agreement will likely dictate what the Capitals do.  If it’s a multi-year pact, he’ll be an NHL free agent by the time it expires, meaning there’s little point in qualifying him.  But if it’s a one-year agreement, it would make some sense to tender that offer just in case he has a breakout year that would get him back on the NHL radar.

St. Louis Blues Hire Alexander Steen

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The St. Louis Blues are bringing back a familiar face, hiring Alexander Steen as a European Player Development Consultant. He will normally work overseas but will be back in town to help with the upcoming prospect camp.

Steen, 39, retired from the NHL in 2020 after 1,018 regular season games, 765 of which came with the Blues. Never a star player, he was one of the most consistent, versatile members of the St. Louis roster for a decade, setting a career-high with 33 goals in 2013-14. He played in all 26 games of the club’s 2019 Stanley Cup run, providing his usual strong defensive play even in a limited role.

Selected 24th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2002, Steen knows how the process goes for exciting European prospects. It took him three full seasons in Sweden before he was ready to come to North America, but that development time was well worth it.

He scored 18 goals and 45 points as a rookie and would never look back. Steen never played a single game in the minor leagues—the epitome of NHL-ready.

He’ll now try to help get the Blues’ new prospects to that point, assisting European players in developing the habits they need to succeed in North America.

Syracuse Crunch Hire Joel Bouchard

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have found their new AHL bench boss, hiring Joel Bouchard to be the next head coach of the Syracuse Crunch. The team has also brought in Daniel Jacob as assistant coach.

General manager Julien BriseBois released the following statement:

The head coach position for our AHL affiliate is one of paramount importance with regards to our player development program. Joel brings a contagious enthusiasm to everything he undertakes. He is a strong leader with a proven track record in helping players and teams reach their full potential.

With him overseeing the pipeline of future Lightning players on a day-to-day basis, we expect Joel to be an important contributor to the overall mission of the Tampa Bay Lightning for years to come.

Bouchard replaces the outgoing Benoit Groulx, though his time with the organization does not appear to be up. The announcement explains that Groulx will be offered another coaching position within the Lightning, though there are no further details. Former assistants Gilles Bouchard and Eric Veilleux will not return.

The Tampa Bay development model is one to emulate, with huge emphasis put on their minor league programs. The Crunch have been one of the most consistent teams in the AHL for years now, churning out NHL-ready talents like Yanni Gourde (undrafted), Carter Verhaeghe (3rd round), Mathieu Joseph (4th round), Anthony Cirelli (3rd round), Ross Colton (4th round), and many others during Groulx’s tenure.

Bouchard will now be tasked with continuing that development and continuing to grow talent to backfill the Tampa Bay roster.

Latest On Tony DeAngelo

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Two days later and no trade in sight. The Philadelphia Flyers were closing in on a deal that would send Tony DeAngelo back to the Carolina Hurricanes over the weekend, but things have hit a snag.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that it is likely because of some hesitation from the NHL, over potential cap circumvention. DeAngelo was meant to go to Carolina with the Flyers retaining some salary, but since he was traded from the Hurricanes less than a year ago, it raised some red flags.

As LeBrun explains, this isn’t exactly a regular situation. The Hurricanes traded him as an RFA, meaning they didn’t sign this contract, and Daniel Briere, the Flyers’ GM, wasn’t in place yet when Philadelphia inked this deal. There’s no real circumvention here, just a player that has worn out his welcome and a team looking to create cap space.

The league is expected to meet with both teams in Nashville this week for the draft, where they will have to decide. Either sign off on it early, or force the teams to wait until July 9, when the calendar year since last summer’s trade would be up.

It does still seem like things are headed in that direction, though a two-week delay can change things considerably at this time of year.

Five Key Stories: 6/19/23 – 6/25/23

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With the draft and free agency almost upon us, activity around the league has started to pick up with an expectation of plenty more to come, including resolutions to trades that are reportedly in the works.  Here’s a rundown of the top stories from the past seven days.

Middlemen Off The Market: This isn’t the greatest free agent crop for centers and the crop got considerably thinner over the past week with four players coming off the market.  First, Montreal re-signed Sean Monahan to a one-year contract that’s worth $2MM if he meets his games played bonus, giving the veteran a chance to prove he has recovered from his injuries this past season.  Then it was Buffalo’s turn as they inked long-time Sabre Zemgus Girgensons to a one-year, $2.5MM deal to keep him as a fixture in their bottom six.  Erik Haula made it known that he wanted to remain with New Jersey and he got his wish, signing a three-year contract that carries a $3.15MM AAV.  Then, following reports that contract talks were stalling out, Carolina and Jordan Staal were able to reach a new four-year contract, one that carries an AAV of $2.9MM and has a full no-move clause for the first three seasons.

Coyotes Make Moves: In recent years, the Coyotes have willingly taken on unwanted contracts in exchange for future assets with those players either staying on the roster or landing on injured reserve.  Now, the team is changing course as they’ve parted ways with a pair of those unwanted deals, buying out defenseman Patrik Nemeth and winger Zack Kassian.  The moves result in $1.833MM in dead cap for next season and $1.983MM in 2024-25.  Then, Arizona opted to trade away one of their surplus selections, sending Montreal’s 2024 second-round pick to Los Angeles to acquire defenseman Sean Durzi.  The 24-year-old had 38 points in his sophomore year for the Kings and could be part of the back end for the Coyotes for several years.  After that, they re-upped goaltender Connor Ingram to a new three-year deal with a cap hit of $1.95MM.  In 17 appearances in 2023, the 26-year-old put up a .922 SV% and if he can stay even close to that level, it could wind up being a club-friendly deal.

Johansen To Colorado: The Avalanche decided to get a head start on their center shopping as they acquired Ryan Johansen from Nashville in exchange for the rights to pending UFA forward Alex Galchenyuk.  As part of the move, the Predators are retaining half of Johansen’s $8MM for the final two seasons of his contract.  The 30-year-old is coming off a down season that saw him put up just 28 points in 55 games before missing the last couple of months after undergoing emergency leg surgery.  However, he’s just a year removed from a 63-point campaign so Colorado is hoping that a change of scenery could give him a spark.  In a move that basically amounts to acquiring him for future considerations, it’s certainly a worthwhile chance to take for them while Nashville settles for simply clearing half of his contract off their books.

Hall Of Famers: Away from the rink, the next group of Hockey Hall of Famers was announced.  A total of seven people will enter the Hall next season, including builders Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix (posthumously), goaltenders Mike Vernon, Tom Barrasso, and Henrik Lundqvist, plus forwards Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette.  Of the seven inductees, only Lundqvist was named in his first year of eligibility.  Meanwhile, it’s the second Hall of Fame honor of the year for Ouellette who was also named to the IIHF Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Departures In Calgary? Last week, there was a belief that defenseman Noah Hanifin would be on the way out in Calgary.  He might not be the only one.  First, reports emerged that center Elias Lindholm hasn’t accepted a long-term extension offer from the Flames while fellow middleman Mikael Backlund may also be leaning toward leaving the team.  Then, another report suggested that Tyler Toffoli isn’t likely to re-sign either.  All four players are eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer but if they’re not willing to stick around, GM Craig Conroy could be busy in the coming days and weeks by sending those players to teams that they might be willing to ink new deals with.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Checklist: Florida Panthers

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The offseason is now fully underway after Vegas took home the Stanley Cup which means that it’s time to examine what each team will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Florida.

What an interesting year it was for the Panthers.  After winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the team moved two core pieces in Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar to Calgary for Matthew Tkachuk, a swap that many felt would see them take a small step back to take a bigger step forward a little later on.  It played out that way early as they were out of the playoffs for long portions of the season.  However, they got into the final Wild Card spot and beat Boston, Toronto, and Carolina to come out of the East.  Now, GM Bill Zito has more cap flexibility than he had last summer to try to add to his roster but there are some question marks on how much he’ll be able to use which factors into in their checklist below.

Add Defensive Help

When fully healthy, Florida’s defense corps wasn’t the deepest to begin with.  Now, they’re set to possibly lose Radko Gudas and Marc Staal to free agency while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, their top two blueliners, played through serious injuries in the playoffs and might not be ready to start next season.  They already could have used a top-four blueliner.  Now, it’s more or less a necessity.

It’s also worth noting that the blueliner with the longest contract on their current roster is Ekblad.  His deal has just two years remaining.  Other than Josh Mahura, a depth defender, all of their current blueliners will be UFA-eligible when their existing contracts expire.  That’s a lot of potential turnover in a short period of time.

With that in mind, while some have wondered if Zito might be interested in short-term options due to the injuries, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least look to the higher end of the free agent market where the top options will get longer-term contracts.  Yes, those deals tend to be too long and a little too expensive but this is a franchise that doesn’t exactly have a lot of tradeable assets right now after going all-in in 2021-22.  A move like that would give them a short-term lift and ensure they’ll have at least one capable veteran in the fold for the long haul.

As things stand, Florida has roughly $10MM in cap room at their disposal, per CapFriendly.  They have to sign at least two blueliners (probably three) and a couple of forwards with that money but if the depth options are closer to the minimum, there’s enough room for an impact addition.  Yes, there could be LTIR money available in the short term but that money can’t really be spent externally as the Panthers would have to be cap-compliant once the injured players are ready to return.  Instead, any ‘savings’ there would go toward carrying a full roster at the start of the season.

Extension Talks

July 1st is the day that players entering the final year of their respective contracts are eligible to sign contract extensions.  Florida has several key regulars in that situation.  On the back end, Montour and Gustav Forsling are both set to hit the final year of their very team-friendly deals.  Up front, Sam Reinhart and Anthony Duclair are in the same spot.

Montour’s case is going to be a particularly fascinating one to follow.  For years, he had shown promise at times but hadn’t been able to consistently produce and as a result, he remained in more of a limited role.  This past season, that all changed.  Montour’s production exploded, going from a decent 37 points a year ago to a whopping 73.  He barely cracked the top 40 for scoring by a defenseman in 2021-22 and was fifth in 2022-23.  He’s on a bargain contract at $3.5MM and if they want to extend him now, it might take twice as much if not more to lock up the 29-year-old.  The shoulder injury could give Zito some pause but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to get something done this summer.

As for Forsling, he has certainly been one of the best waiver claims in recent memory, going from a Carolina castaway to a 23-minute per-game defender.  The 27-year-old had a breakout year in 2021-22 and put up very similar numbers this past season, showing that it wasn’t just a fluke.  He is now logging heavy minutes shorthanded, making him an all-around defender.  With his age and recent production, he, too, could more than double his current AAV of just under $2.7MM.

Up front, Reinhart’s second bridge contract has worked out well for both sides.  He has taken his production to a new level in Florida, even after taking a bit of a step back this season.  The 27-year-old has also shown that he can play down the middle which makes him much more valuable around the league with top-six centers being difficult to come by.  His current AAV is $6.5MM and it would likely take at least a couple million more than that (putting him a little below Matthew Tkachuk on the salary scale) to get him to commit to an early extension.

Then there’s Duclair.  The 27-year-old missed most of this past season as he worked his way back from a torn Achilles’ tendon and, unsurprisingly, he was a bit quiet when he returned before putting together a decent playoff showing with 11 points in 20 games.  He’s only a year removed from a breakout 31-goal campaign which should factor into negotiations as well.  Duclair intends to represent himself again in those discussions and with the long layoff, it’s reasonable to think they might agree to defer talks until later in the season to see how he fares after a full summer of recovery.

Not all of these players are going to sign extensions over the summer but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zito get one or two of these locked up over the coming months.

Get Help For The Penalty Kill

The Panthers were one of the top teams at five-on-five this past season which is typically a good sign of how strong a team is.  However, the fact that they barely picked up the final Wild Card spot is in large part due to the fact that their penalty kill struggled considerably with a success rate of just under 76%, a few points below the league average.  In the playoffs, that number dipped even further to just 70.4%.  That’s an area that could certainly stand to be improved.

If Florida goes and gets an impact defenseman, that should help but adding some defensive acumen to their final couple of forwards would also help.  Eric Staal (a pending UFA) logged heavy minutes on the penalty kill this past season, a role he hadn’t typically played in his prime.  Eetu Luostarinen isn’t a premier defensive forward either; those two led all Florida forwards in shorthanded ATOI.  Filling out the depth chart with some shutdown options might take away a bit offensively but if it helps them kill enough penalties to balance out, it’ll be worth doing.

Depth Decisions

Alex Lyon more than served his purpose as a capable third-string goaltender who stepped in when Spencer Knight departed for the Player Assistance Program and even took over as the starter with Sergei Bobrovsky struggling at the time.  He may have done well enough to get a shot as a backup somewhere so this is a spot that will need to be filled.  A veteran depth goalie isn’t usually an important offseason add but with Bobrovsky’s inconsistency and Knight’s relative inexperience, determining and landing the top option on that market takes a higher level of importance.

Meanwhile, a decision needs to be made soon on the fate of center Colin White.  The 26-year-old had an okay year in a very limited role but still provided some value on a contract that was just $100K above the league minimum after being bought out by Ottawa.  Still not old enough to reach unrestricted free agency, Florida could tender him a qualifying offer to keep his rights.  However, doing so would give him arbitration eligibility and bring his previous production (including a 41-point year in 2018-19) into the picture.  That’s not ideal for the Panthers so they need to decide if they want to try to re-sign him before Friday’s tender deadline or if they want to cut bait and perhaps add a more defensive-oriented depth player into the mix.

These are two roles that can be filled quickly in free agency within the first couple of hours so Zito will need to have his plan in place to make sure he lands his targets (or gets White on another bargain contract).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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