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New York Islanders Sign Eetu Liukas

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The New York Islanders have signed forward Eetu Liukas to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced today. PuckPedia reports his contract carries a cap hit of $867,500 with the following breakdown in all three seasons: $775,000 base salary, $92,500 signing bonus, $57,500 games played bonus, and a minors salary of $80,000.

One of the few power forward prospects in the league, Liukas never shies away from physical play and, at age 20, already stands at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. The Islanders selected him in the fifth round, 157th overall, of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Last season was Liukas’ second full pro season, spent with Liiga club HPK after many years with the TPS organization. He recorded the first double-digit goal total of his pro career, scoring 14 goals and 23 points in 58 games while also leading the league in penalty minutes with 104.

Internationally, Liukas suited up for Finland at the 2022 Men’s World Juniors, logging two assists in six appearances.

In 2021, Elite Prospects described Liukas as playing a “physical north-south game, and [he] takes to his role with a great deal of enthusiasm. He’s never seen an opportunity to play the body that was too good to pass up. He’s got a pretty heavy shot, too; his one-timer, in particular, does serious damage.”

Liukas was under contract with HPK for next season. It’s unclear whether the Islanders will bring him over to play with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport in 2023-24 or loan him back to Finland.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Vladislav Gavrikov

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The Los Angeles Kings and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension, as per Gavrikov’s agent, Dan Milstein. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the deal carries a $5.875MM cap hit, and will make him an unrestricted free agent in 2025. PuckPedia reports the breakdown of the contract as follows:

2023-24: $775,000 salary, $5.725MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause
2024-25: $775,000 salary, $4.475MM signing bonus, full no-movement clause

By signing Gavrikov, the Kings take one of the top pending UFA defenders off the board. They were able to make the transaction work by clearing goalie Cal Petersen’s buried cap hit off the books, dealing him to the Philadelphia Flyers in a complex swap yesterday.

Los Angeles acquired Gavrikov, along with netminder Joonas Korpisalo, from the Columbus Blue Jackets in March in exchange for a first- and second-round pick, as well as goalie Jonathan Quick who was moved in the deal for salary cap purposes. Gavrikov fit right in with the Kings down the stretch, notching nine points in 20 games, averaging over 21 minutes a night, and posting some of the best advanced defensive metrics among Kings defenders post-deadline (and, especially, in their playoff loss against the Edmonton Oilers).

Columbus selected Gavrikov in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft after he was passed over the year prior. It took another four years for Gavrikov to head to North America, signing his entry-level deal near the end of the 2018-19 campaign and making his NHL debut in the playoffs.

It’s been a strong run for Gavrikov since, who developed into Columbus’ top shutdown defender in a short time while developing solid offensive play too. The latter half of that statement was a bit of a surprise – his 33 points in 80 games with Columbus in 2021-22 was his highest total in any documented league dating back to his junior days.

But his two-way acumen was on full display in a Kings uniform, taking on more than just a defensive specialist’s role. If he can keep up his post-March play for the duration of this contract, it’s a solid bit of business by the Kings.

It is a bit of interesting business, given the short-term nature of the deal. Two-year extensions aren’t all that common for high-caliber pending UFAs, to the point where CapFriendly notes not a single highly comparable contract to Gavrikov’s has been signed dating back to 2013.

The deal also allows the Kings to make room on their blueline for their large group of young prospects, many of whom should be ready for larger roles upon Gavrikov’s expiration in 2025.

Snapshots: Panthers Injuries, Johansson, Dadonov

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It appears the Florida Panthers won’t be without Radko Gudas in their lineup for too long. After leaving Game 2 (which he was already doubtful for with a separate injury) of the Stanley Cup Final after a hard hit from Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice expects Gudas to be ready for Game 3 tomorrow night.

Both Gudas and winger Eetu Luostarinen, who hasn’t played at all in this series, were absent from Panthers practice this morning. Luostarinen isn’t expected to return for Game 3 but remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Box stats say Gudas has only played a marginal role in Florida’s storybook run, playing just 17 minutes a game and registering three assists, but his physical style and game-changing hits have propelled the Panthers to some key moments in this postseason. That’s not to discount his actual defensive play — which has been, along with his partner Josh Mahura, the best of Florida’s three usual pairings.

More from around the NHL today:

  • Earlier in the offseason, SHL club Färjestad BK announced they had signed pending Colorado Avalanche UFA netminder Jonas Johansson, bringing him back to his home country. Less than a month later, however, they’ve already terminated the deal, citing Johansson’s belief he could get another NHL opportunity before 2023-24 begins. While the road has been rocky for the 27-year-old Swede, Johansson had his best pro season to date in 2022-23, playing a career-high 26 AHL games after bouncing up and down between leagues and recording a .920 save percentage.
  • The Anaheim Ducks attempted to acquire Evgenii Dadonov from the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2022 trade deadline but failed due to Vegas not properly handling Dadonov’s no-trade clause — which listed Anaheim as a team he could not be dealt to. The deal was nullified by the league as a result, and now the Ducks are requesting a compensatory draft pick from the league, as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. He says the league is considering granting the Ducks’ request, which could likely see them gain an additional pick in this year’s draft, bringing their total number of picks to 10.

Vegas Golden Knights Have Had Extension Talks With Adin Hill

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No one in or around the Vegas Golden Knights organization is thinking about anything other than tomorrow’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. A strong road performance could give the team a 3-0 stranglehold on the series and send them well on their way to fulfilling owner Bill Foley’s original “Cup in six years” proclamation.

It’s never too early to start talking about the future, however, and Vegas does have some notable storylines that will dot their offseason, which begins later this month regardless of the Final’s result. One of them is their goaltending situation – breakout netminder Adin Hill is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

Today, The Athletic’s Joe Smith released an extensive profile piece on the 27-year-old, in which he noted Vegas made an extension offer to Hill in March after he sustained a lower-body injury that kept him out for the rest of the regular season. Smith says it was a “nice” raise above his current $2.175MM cap hit, but Hill didn’t want to begin negotiations until Vegas’ season concluded.

Hill has done more than enough to earn the commitment, rocketing himself to Vegas’ likely Conn Smythe winner despite not even seeing the ice in the first round against the Winnipeg Jets. But Vegas’ goaltending situation is one of the murkier ones in the league heading into 2023-24, and a Hill extension would likely cause a cascading effect.

37-year-old Jonathan Quick likely won’t be brought back after coming over from Los Angeles (via Columbus) at the deadline. He played well in a few appearances for Vegas down the stretch, but the pending UFA is more than likely destined for retirement.

One player who likely deserves an extension but won’t get one is 30-year-old Laurent Brossoit, who played well above his pay grade in the playoffs before getting injured in the second round against Edmonton. That’s because Vegas still has early-season Calder candidate Logan Thompson waiting in the wings after missing the past few months with a lower-body injury, and veteran Robin Lehner (who missed the entire regular season and playoffs) could be ready to go next year as well.

With a 20-player roster, CapFriendly projects Vegas with under $3.5MM in cap space for 2023-24 including a healthy Lehner.

Minor Transactions: 6/7/23

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The transitional period between the postseason and the offseason continues, with the latter starting to heat up after a significant three-team deal yesterday. With the AHL’s playoffs all but wrapped up as well, transaction news will now flood in from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean as non-NHL leagues continue in their busiest signing periods of the year. As always, we’re keeping tabs on any and all notable transactions from outside the NHL right here.

  • 24-year-old defender Markus Phillips will spend next year in Hungary, signing with Fehérvár AV19 of the primarily Austrian ICEHL. Phillips, a former Los Angeles Kings (and briefly Winnipeg Jets) prospect, never did make it to the NHL after a promising draft year in 2016-17, when his 43 points and +41 rating in 63 OHL games earned him the 118th overall selection in that year’s draft. Since then, he struggled to find his footing professionally in the AHL and ECHL and spent the 2022-23 overseas with Finnish club Ässät.
  • The AHL’s Providence Bruins today signed forward Justin Brazeau to a one-year contract extension, per Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. The massive 6-foot-5, 220-pound winger has developed into a top-flight AHL winger in the past two seasons with Toronto and Providence and recorded a career-high 45 points in 67 games last season. The former captain of the OHL’s North Bay Battalion will look to build on that total and hopefully earn an NHL deal as he enters his mid/late-20s.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Jake Virtanen Re-Signs In DEL

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Don’t expect former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen to be back in the NHL anytime soon. Today, the 26-year-old signed a one-year contract to remain with the DEL’s Fischtown Penguins in 2023-24.

Virtanen, 26, recorded just two goals and two assists in 16 combined regular season and playoff games with Fischtown last year after a late-season transfer. He spent the majority of 2022-23 playing for Swiss side EHC Visp, a member of the country’s second-tier SL league.

Near the end of the 2020-21 season, Virtanen’s last in the NHL, the Canucks placed Virtanen on leave after court documents showing sexual assault allegations against him surfaced. Vancouver bought him out of the final season of his contract two months later.

Virtanen would continue his career overseas while his legal matters were pending, playing the 2021-22 campaign with the KHL’s Spartak Moscow. He was officially charged with sexual assault in January 2022 before a jury cleared him in late July.

A professional tryout with the Edmonton Oilers before the 2022-23 season proved unsuccessful. Given the winger’s inconsistent production overseas, that may have been his last time donning an NHL uniform.

Before getting bought out, Virtanen recorded just five goals (and no assists) in 38 games with Vancouver in 2020-21. He’ll try to help Fischtown, who finished eighth last season, avoid slipping to the bottom of the DEL and being relegated to the DEL2 for the first time since 2016.

Devils To Begin Contract Talks With Timo Meier This Week

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When the Devils picked up winger Timo Meier from San Jose prior to the trade deadline, GM Tom Fitzgerald noted that they didn’t want to get into extension talks right away, instead preferring him to get fully integrated with the team.  However, Fitzgerald told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger that those discussions will now begin this week.

Back in 2019, the 26-year-old signed a four-year, $24MM deal that was heavily backloaded.  Doing so gave the Sharks some cap flexibility while on the back end, it set up a $10MM qualifying offer.  That sparked some similar contracts being signed around the league and eventually, a change to the rules when the CBA was extended back in 2020 was made to eliminate the ballooning qualifying offer.  Now, instead of the qualifier being set at what the salary in the preceding season was, it’s the lower of that number or 120% of the AAV of the previous contract.

However, that rule change only applied to contracts signed after that stretch.  As a result, Meier is still subject to the old rule, meaning that New Jersey will have to tender him a $10MM qualifying offer later this month if they can’t agree on a new contract by then.

Meier notched a career-high 40 goals this season between the Sharks and Devils although he was a bit quieter than expected in the playoffs, scoring just twice in 11 contests.  He has yet to reach the point-per-game mark in his career but he came close to doing so back in 2021-22.  Accordingly, while Meier is an accomplished scorer, it’s fair to question if he’s worth a $10MM contract for next season.

The Devils do have one way to bring that amount down, although it comes with some risk.  If they opt for club-elected arbitration, they can come in with an offer that’s 85% of the required tender, or $8.5MM.  However, in return, Meier could simply go through the hearing, play for whatever is awarded, and then head straight to unrestricted free agency in 2024.  That’s certainly not the outcome Fitzgerald would want after moving a first-round pick and another recent first-rounder (Shakir Mukhamadullin) plus a conditional pick that could become a first as part of the return to get Meier.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see Fitzgerald planning to engage Meier’s agent Claude Lemieux in discussions now with the hopes of getting something done before the calendar flips to July and the qualifying offer comes into play.  That contract, if finalized, is likely to come in lower than the $10MM qualifier but not necessarily by much, especially with the expectation that the salary cap will start to go up quicker starting in 2024.

Fitzgerald made it clear to Zeisberger that his goal is getting the winger locked up on a long-term agreement; we’ll find out over the next few weeks if he’s able to succeed on that front.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Gavrikov, Predators, Bouchard

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Today’s cap-shedding trade by the Kings has sparked speculation that the move was made to make room for an agreement with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.  That deal isn’t in place and if it does get done, it might be a shorter-term deal than expected.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Gavrikov’s camp has told Los Angeles that they’re looking for a two-year contract.  Considering that Gavrikov is 27 and in his prime, it feels like this is the right time to look for a long-term agreement.  However, the blueliner is coming off a bit of a quiet year and the salary cap is expected to start going up more after next season so Gavrikov could be positioning himself to have a shot at a bigger payday in a couple of years compared to what he could get this summer.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The Predators announced that they have reached an affiliation agreement with ECHL Atlanta for next season. It will be the fourth straight season that the Gladiators have a new affiliate after having Boston, Ottawa, and Arizona over the last three years.  Nashville, meanwhile, was one of four NHL teams this season that did not have a direct ECHL affiliation.
  • Gary Bettman’s recent confirmation that the Upper Limit of the salary cap is only set to go up by $1MM isn’t ideal for most teams but Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal argues that it at least gives the Oilers some certainty as it pertains to defenseman Evan Bouchard. The 23-year-old is coming off his second straight season of at least 40 points and was quite productive in the playoffs, notching 17 points in 12 games; he still leads all playoff blueliners in scoring despite being ousted in the second round.  With Edmonton’s cap situation, they’re basically stuck doing a bridge contract with Bouchard, an outcome that’s basically cemented with the recent cap confirmation.

Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams that still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup.  It’s time to examine what those eliminated squads will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Los Angeles.

The Kings bolstered their offense with the acquisition of Kevin Fiala last summer and he helped improve their attack from the 20th-best team in 2021-22 to ninth in the league in scoring this season which also helped them surpass the 100-point mark for the first time since 2015-16.  However, they were once again by Edmonton in the first round.  Slow and steady improvement is rarely a bad way to go and their checklist for this summer is based on the idea of them staying on their current trajectory.

Kopitar Extension Talks

Anze Kopitar has been a fixture in the lineup for the Kings since 2006, a year after being the 11th overall pick.  He sits third in franchise history in points and should be able to move into second place about a month or so into the season.  The two-time Selke winner has one year left on his contract and accordingly, he is eligible for a contract extension as of July 1st.  Kopitar’s current deal carries a $10MM AAV, one that seemed a bit steep at the time but he has certainly lived up to it.  However, he’s also 35 and by the time his next contract starts in October 2024, he’ll be 37.

With the center depth that Los Angeles amassed in recent years – including top-five selections in Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte – it looked as if their plan was that they would be able to replace Kopitar by the time his deal was up.  That doesn’t seem likely to happen though; Byfield spent time on the wing this season while Turcotte has struggled in the minors at times and isn’t ready for NHL duty.  Phillip Danault was a nice addition in free agency in 2021 but he isn’t a prototypical top center either.

Accordingly, it seems likely that GM Rob Blake will look to sign his captain to an extension.  It’s almost certainly going to be a short-term deal (somewhere between two and four seasons) where the longer the term, the lower the AAV.  Kopitar won’t be eyeing a $10MM price tag again on that next agreement but he’s coming off a 74-point effort, his highest since 2017-18.  As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an extension check in somewhere around the $7.5MM mark, allowing him to remain with the only NHL franchise he has ever known while keeping some stability down the middle while they hope for their prospects to eventually move into a more critical spot in the lineup.

Re-Sign The Columbus Rentals

At the trade deadline, the Kings did their shopping in one move, picking up goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov from the Blue Jackets.  Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and with how they performed with their new team, the Kings would certainly like to keep them around.

Korpisalo signed a one-year deal with Columbus last summer coming off surgery in the hopes that he could show he was healthy and rebuild some value.  Mission accomplished on that front.  He did well with the Blue Jackets and then after the trade, the 29-year-old took over the starting role quickly with a 2.13 GAA and a .921 SV% in 11 starts.  Because of his more volatile track record, Korpisalo won’t be able to command top dollar on the free agent market which works in the Kings’ favor but he is still in line for a significant raise on the $1.4MM he made this season.  It shouldn’t need to get to Calvin Petersen-type money but getting Korpisalo signed should give them some upside at the goaltending position for next season.

As for Gavrikov, the 27-year-old took a step back from his 2021-22 performance with Columbus but found another gear following the trade, notching nine points in 20 games following the swap.  He’s a legitimate top-four defenseman in a UFA market that doesn’t have a lot of them.  While Gavrikov’s AAV over the last three seasons was $2.8MM, his salary this season was $4.2MM, a figure that’s likely to stand as a reasonable starting point for extension talks.  It’s worth noting that a report last month had the two sides making progress on a new deal although clearly, that hasn’t gotten across the finish line yet.

New Deal For Vilardi

Staying healthy was a challenge for forward Gabriel Vilardi early in his career with lingering back troubles being problematic.  Even this season, while his back wasn’t an issue, he had multiple injuries that caused him to miss 19 games in the regular season plus the first game of the Edmonton series.  However, when he was in the lineup, he made an impact.  After notching just 18 goals on his entry-level deal, the 23-year-old bested that total in 2022-23, picking up 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games, giving them a pretty nice return on a one-year, $825K contract.

That deal is now up this summer and Vilardi will once again be a restricted free agent.  The big difference this time around is now he’ll be arbitration-eligible and obviously has a much better platform year to work from.  Given their desire to re-sign Korpisalo and Gavrikov, it’s reasonable to think another bridge contract will be coming Vilardi’s way if they’re able to ink those two.  A shorter-term agreement should see the AAV fall somewhere in the mid-$2.5MM range but if they work out a pact that buys some extra years of club control, it could creep closer to the $4MM mark.

Trade From Defensive Depth

There are going to be a lot of teams looking for defensive depth this summer.  That’s great news for Los Angeles as they project to have a blueliner available.  Assuming Gavrikov re-signs, that would give them a top-three of him, Drew Doughty, and Michael Anderson that are signed for multiple seasons.  Top prospect Brandt Clarke could be ready for full-time NHL duty as soon as next season.  That’s a nice top-four to work with.

Meanwhile, they have Matt Roy and Sean Durzi who will be entering the final year of their respective contracts next season.  They also have prospect Tobias Bjornfot who was shuffled to and from the AHL frequently this year but is now waiver-eligible.  Additionally, prospect Jordan Spence has lit it up with AHL Ontario the last two seasons and is probably ready for a long look with the big club as well.  Kevin Connauton and Jacob Moverare are pegged to be in the minors but also have NHL experience.  All things considered, their depth is pretty strong.

There’s nothing wrong with having extra depth but there’s a case to be made to move one of them even after trading Sean Walker earlier today.  Durzi’s just 24 with three years of club control remaining and should bring back a nice return and a bit more cap room (he has a $1.7MM AAV) while making room for one of Spence or Clarke.  They could try to move Spence and cash in on his rising value.  There’s still room to move one more defender and with demand for blueliners being high, that should work in Blake’s favor should he opt to make another move.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Islanders Notes: Bailey, Coaching Staff, Free Agents, Injury Updates

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Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello met with the media today (video link) and provided updates on several things while also confirming that he is under contract, though he declined to state for how long.  Here are some of the updates from his presser.

  • Speaking about veteran winger Josh Bailey, Lamoriello indicated that “In Josh’s case, it looks like, maybe it’s near the end here.” The 33-year-old had a rough showing this season, notching just eight goals and 17 assists in 64 games, resulting in him being a healthy scratch at times.  Bailey still has one year left on his contract with a $5MM AAV, one that would require New York to provide an incentive for another team to take on.  A buyout, meanwhile, would save around $2.33MM on the cap for next season while adding $1.167MM in dead space for 2024-25.
  • Lamoriello also confirmed that head coach Lane Lambert would be back for his second season behind the bench. The team was eliminated in the first round by Carolina and didn’t take as big of a step forward offensively as expected; the team scored just 12 more goals than they did under the defensive-minded Barry Trotz.  However, Lamoriello wouldn’t confirm that the full coaching staff would be back for next year, stating “that’s not something that I can assert to at this point”.  John MacLean and Doug Houda were the lead assistants this season for the Isles.
  • Lamoriello indicated that he’d like to re-sign pending UFA defenseman Scott Mayfield, goaltender Semyon Varlamov, and forward Pierre Engvall. Mayfield has become a steady top-four blueliner and should more than double the $1.45MM AAV from his expiring deal.  Varlamov played in just 23 games this season, his fewest games played total since getting a brief stint in his rookie year in 2008-09.  He’s coming off a $5MM contract and will be facing a likely cut in pay, especially if he wants to remain in New York.  Engvall, meanwhile, came over at the trade deadline from Toronto and picked up nine points in 18 games following the swap.  He’s coming off a $2.25MM contract and should be in line for more than that on the open market.  With the Islanders having a little over $5MM in cap space per CapFriendly, they have some work to do if they want to bring those three back.
  • As for Zach Parise, another pending UFA, Lamoriello mentioned he’d also like to bring him back but the veteran first needs to decide if he’s going to play again next season. The 38-year-old had a productive year with 21 goals but after 18 NHL seasons, it’s certainly possible that he decides to call it a career.
  • Lamoriello also noted that winger Oliver Wahlstrom has resumed skating as he works his way back from an ACL injury back in late December. He, along with Alexander Romanov (shoulder surgery), are both set to be ready in time for training camp.

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