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Bettman Presser Notes: World Cup, Senators, Relocation, Nichushkin, Front Office

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Before the start of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and Deputy Commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly, gave their annual version of hockey’s “State of the Union” address to the media. The two spoke at length about a plethora of topics, and one of the more intriguing tidbits was that the NHL is looking into bringing back the World Cup of Hockey (Tweet Link).

In 1996, what was formerly known as the Canada Cup, the World Cup of Hockey was born, and it took place at the then-new Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and also the then-new Bell Centre in Montreal. The United States was the eventual champion, beating Canada in three games.

The tournament took a short break, continuing again in 2004, where Canada became the eventual winner against Finland. The last time the tournament was held was back in 2016 when Canada beat the European team in two games.

In the 2016 rendition, the World Cup of Hockey featured new teams such as Europe and North America. The European team featured countries that were not represented by their own national teams, including players from countries such as Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, etc. The North American, which ended up being one of the most fun teams to watch during the tournament, featured players from Canada and the United States that were under the age of 23.

Other notes:

  • As the Ottawa Senators look to find a new owner, Bettman states that the process could still take a couple more weeks (Tweet Link). The last time the Senators went through a sale was back in 2003 when the late Eugene Melnyk purchased the team for a reported sum of $92MM. Melnyk oversaw the Senators team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017. Having passed in the spring of 2022, the team residing in Canada’s capital should have a new owner by the end of the month.
  • After the announcement that the city of Tempe would not be housing the Arizona Coyotes, rumors immediately sprung about a possible relocation. In the press conference, Bettman reported that Ryan Smith, the current owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has expressed interest in relocating the Coyotes to Salt Lake City (Tweet Link). Although this is considerable news, especially coming from the Commissioner, Bettman did express a strong desire for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona and says that the NHL is helping the franchise find locations in Phoenix.
  • Early in the 2023 NHL Playoffs, it was reported that forward Valeri Nichushkin of the Colorado Avalanche would be sent home for the remainder of the playoffs. Asked about this during their press conference, especially in light of the police body came footage being released, Daly reports that Nichushkin is not under investigation, and is free to play during the 2023-24 NHL season (Tweet Link). Although it was never reported otherwise, it is positive news for Colorado, after recently receiving news that captain Gabriel Landeskog would miss the entirety of next season.
  • As eliminated teams are looking to fill both General Manager and head coach vacancies, it appears that two names could be officially coming to the market. Bettman reports that longtime NHL head coach, Joel Quenneville, and former General Manager, Stan Bowman, have both requested interviews to be reinstated in the league (Tweet Link). Both have been prohibited from working in the NHL ever since the sexual assault exposure from former player, Kyle Beach, came out during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.

 

PHR Playoff Primer: Florida Panthers vs Vegas Golden Knights

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With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs now underway, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? Our Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage concludes with the Stanley Cup Finals matchup between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.

Before the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals get underway, we know that one franchise will win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The last time this was true was back in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, as the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.

For the Golden Knights, this will be their second Cup Final in six years, already becoming one of the most successful expansion franchises in the history of the league. Going on a Cinderella run for seemingly the entire year of their inception, the current iteration of the team has much more star talent than their last Finals appearance.

The Florida Panthers, a year removed from winning the President’s Trophy as the top regular season team, have mirrored the Golden Knights’ Cinderella run from six years ago. The last team to find a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers knocked off this year’s President’s Trophy winner, the Boston Bruins, followed up by knocking off the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.

Regular Season Performance

Vegas: 51-22-9, 111 points, +43 goal differential
Florida: 42-32-8, 92 points, +17 goal differential

Head-To-Head

January 12, 2023: Vegas 4, Florida 2
March 7, 2023: Florida 2, Vegas 1

Season series tied 1-1-0

Team Storylines

In terms of offense, there are names that stick out immediately for both teams: Matthew Tkachuk for the Panthers, and Jack Eichel for Vegas. In 16 games for Tkachuk, the new pride of Florida has scored nine goals and 12 assists, including a whopping four game-winners. Already having four years of playoff experience under his belt with the Calgary Flames, this has been far and above Tkachuk’s best performance after the regular season.

Unlike Tkachuk, getting his first taste of NHL playoff action after many years spent with the rebuilding Buffalo Sabres, Eichel has shown exactly why he would have been a first-overall selection in any draft not featuring Connor McDavid. In 17 games played this postseason, Eichel has scored six goals and 12 assists, showing incredible prowess on Vegas’ powerplay.

Aside from their primary offensive weapon in Tkachuk, Florida has four other players that have scored over 10 points in this year’s playoffs, including Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett. Vegas, on the other hand, has a total of six players that have scored over 10 points, including Jonathan Marchessault, Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, Chandler Stephenson, and Reilly Smith.

On defense, Florida’s primary defenseman in this year’s playoffs, and throughout much of the year has been Brandon Montour. Having a complete breakout year in the regular season, scoring 73 points in 80 games, Montour has kept up his excellent play throughout the playoffs. In 16 games, he’s scored six goals and three assists while averaging almost 28 minutes a night for the Panthers. If having a defenseman of Montour’s status wasn’t good enough, Florida also has the first-overall selection of the 2014 NHL Draft, Aaron Ekblad, in the midst, also carrying the ability to make big plays and eat steady minutes on the back end.

Clearly the best defenseman in Vegas, and arguably the top defenseman in this year’s playoffs, is Alex Pietrangelo. Although receiving a one-game suspension after slashing Edmonton Oilers’ all-star Leon Draisaitl, Pietrangelo has scored nine points in 16 games, averaging around 24 minutes a night for the Golden Knights. Carrying a rating of +8 up to this point, Pietrangelo has also been a fantastic powerplay quarterback for Vegas.

In net, as much as fans might think there is a larger separation between the two in terms of name recognition, both Sergei Bobrovsky and Adin Hill are playing some of the best goaltending of their individual careers. In 14 games for Bobrovsky, he has managed an 11-2-0 record, carrying a .935 SV% and a 2.21 GAA. Surprisingly, posting slightly better numbers than Bobrovsky, Hill has a 7-3-0 record in 11 games played, posting a .937 SV% and a 2.07 GAA.

Prediction

An often-used trope is especially good when it’s true, and in terms of this series, it could go either way. Both team’s are leaning on their star players for scoring, but are also receiving plenty of depth scoring as well. Both teams have minute-munching defensemen that can lead on both sides of the puck, and both teams have goaltenders that are playing superbly between the pipes.

Although it’s difficult to find any separation between these two teams, the one big distinction would be the goal differential, where Vegas holds a +10 advantage over the Panthers in that category. However, goal differential or not, the Panthers also hold a very slight advantage in winning percentage. Vegas was able to shut down McDavid, Draisaitl, and Roope Hintz, while Florida was table to silence Sebastian Aho, Mitch Marner, and David Pastrnak.

In the end, much like we’ve seen in past Stanley Cup Finals, the hockey gods will always have their way, and the more they win, the more it seems fate is on the side of the Panthers this year. Tkachuk has held the weight of his performance, and as the emotional leader above his shoulders for Florida throughout the playoffs, and look for him to replace that weight with 34.5 pounds of silver and nickel when all is said and done.

Prediction: Panthers win in seven games.

Blues Not Planning To Use A Buyout This Offseason

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Like many teams this summer, cap space is at a premium for St. Louis this summer, leading to suggestions that they’ll try to move out a veteran player to free up some wiggle room.  If they wind up doing so, it won’t be via the buyout route as GM Doug Armstrong told reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doesn’t see the Blues taking that approach with any of their players when the window opens up later this month.

As things stand, the Blues have around $7.5MM in cap room for next season, per CapFriendly, assuming that the Upper Limit only moves up by $1MM.  With that money, they have a few forwards to sign and possibly a backup goalie if they feel they’re better off with Joel Hofer getting one more season of starter minutes in the minors before moving up to the NHL full-time.  They have enough money to do those things but that won’t leave much left for roster improvements.  While Armstrong indicated that he will be looking to be active this summer, he understands the team isn’t a player or two away from getting back in the playoffs.

“I think there’s a little bit of you see the team that got in on the last couple of days go to the finals, it’s like let’s get there really quick again. We want to make sure that we’re doing things that are long-term success. I don’t see us being, as I said, very active. We’re going to be active, but we’re going to be smart active, we’re not just one player away from being a favorite to win.”

Some wondered if defenseman Marco Scandella could be a buyout candidate this summer with one year left on his deal that carries a $3.275MM cap charge.  He has struggled in recent seasons and dealt with injury woes in 2022-23 but he was able to return late in the year, making him buyout-eligible.  Such a move would have freed up $2MM in cap savings for next season but added $1MM in dead money for 2024-25.  Armstrong’s comments would appear to take that idea off the table although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the veteran shopped on the trade market in the coming weeks.

It has been quite a while since St. Louis went the route of a contract buyout as the team has done it only twice with the most recent coming back in 2009 when they opted to buy out the final season of Jay McKee’s contract.  It doesn’t appear as if they’ll be ending that streak this summer.

East Notes: Killorn, Orlov, Rangers

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The Lightning are believed to have made a long-term, low AAV offer to pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Killorn, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts column.  The 33-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games and has the most points of any player set to hit the open market.  After playing on a $4.45MM AAV deal that has been team-friendly the last couple of seasons, Killorn will have a chance at a sizable increase in free agency.  Tampa Bay would undoubtedly love to keep him in the fold but with minimal cap space to work with this summer, they can’t afford to pay market value.  Accordingly, their most realistic chance to keep him is a long-term agreement that would almost certainly be an overpayment by the time it expires but a low enough AAV that they can squeak him in under the Upper Limit.  Even so, that will be a tough sell.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • While the Bruins would likely want to keep defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the fold if they could free up enough cap space to do so, the veteran told Sport-Express’ Alexey Shevchenko that he’s looking forward to seeing what’s available in free agency. The 31-year-old is coming off another strong season, notching 36 points in 66 games between Washington and Boston while logging 22:33 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career.  Orlov, who also indicated that he’s not planning to sign in the KHL, is coming off a contract that carries a $5.1MM AAV and is likely to get a fair bit more than that on the open market with a long-term agreement.
  • The Rangers have not yet interviewed Patrick Roy for their coaching vacancy, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. However, it’s worth noting that Roy is still coaching with his QMJHL team, Quebec, set to play the final game of the Memorial Cup on Sunday so perhaps at that time, GM Chris Drury might reach out to his former teammate.  Roy has some NHL experience under his belt having spent three seasons behind the bench in Colorado before abruptly resigning in 2016.  Among coaches still available New York has already interviewed Peter Laviolette and Jay Leach and the team is set to do so soon with John Hynes if they haven’t already done so.

Offseason Checklist: Minnesota Wild

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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 Minnesota.

Despite leading the NHL in dead cap space by a significant margin, the Wild were in the thick of the playoff race at the trade deadline, resulting in GM Bill Guerin opting to add several pieces to aid in what they hoped would be a long playoff run.  Instead, it was an early exit at the hands of Dallas.  The in-season flexibility they had is no more but Minnesota’s checklist this offseason involves trying to add proven (and thus, more expensive) players at multiple positions to their roster.

Look For Center Upgrade

This has been a long-standing issue for the Wild going back for years.  They have always had some strong pieces on their roster but finding consistent impact middlemen has been a challenge.  Joel Eriksson Ek is coming along nicely and has become a quality two-way top-six center but isn’t a top option.  Frederick Gaudreau has fared better than they could have hoped when they signed him in 2021 but he’s not an ideal top-six threat.  Ryan Hartman can play down the middle but is a better fit on the wing while Sam Steel isn’t the solution either.

In an ideal world, the Wild find a way to land a top center, filling a long-standing need and giving Kirill Kaprizov a true running mate on the top line.  But realistically, is that achievable?  There aren’t any true number one options in free agency and while Winnipeg might have an impact center available on the trade front, would they really move him within the division?  That doesn’t seem too likely.

Taking a step down, adding another second-line center, while still a difficult task in this market, would still be a big help.  That would at least allow them to mix and match the newcomer with Eriksson Ek which helps in matchups.  It would also give them a boost offensively after finishing 22nd in the NHL in goals scored.  However, it must be said that they only have about $9MM in cap space per CapFriendly with anywhere from six to eight players needing to fit into that money.  Finding a way to add some proven help down the middle would result in them subtracting from somewhere else on their roster.

Minnesota still likely has high hopes for Marco Rossi, the ninth-overall pick back in 2020.  A natural center, he could eventually fill a spot in the top six.  But that time won’t be coming next season after a tough showing that saw him record just one assist in 19 NHL games although he picked up 51 points in 53 games with AHL Iowa.  Down the road, Rossi could be an option but they shouldn’t be counting on him for too much in 2023-24.

Re-Sign Gustavsson

Last offseason, Guerin freed up some cap room by moving Cam Talbot to Ottawa for Filip Gustavsson, a move that opened up nearly $2.9MM in flexibility.  The swap certainly carried some risk to it as they went from a proven NHL netminder to one that had all of 27 games of experience with numbers that weren’t overly confidence-inspiring.  However, those concerns were unfounded as the 24-year-old had a simply dominant 2022-23 campaign, recording a 2.10 GAA and a .931 SV% in 39 games, ranking him second to only Boston’s Linus Ullmark in both categories.

The timing was great for such a showing as Gustavsson is set to become a restricted free agent this summer with salary arbitration rights for the first time.  He’s well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $787.5K AAV he had the last two seasons although, with now just 66 regular season appearances under his belt, it’s fair to say that he doesn’t have enough of a track record to land true starter money (nor can they afford to give him that).

One question that Guerin will need to answer is how long he wants the deal to be.  Gustavsson is two years away from UFA eligibility while they also have top prospect Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings.  A long-term contract is out of the question but is the better play to do a medium-term agreement or a one-year pact that buys both sides more time to assess if his performance was a one-off or a sign of things to come?

The one-year deal would be cheaper (likely somewhere in the $3MM area) but it would also give him a quick ticket to file for arbitration in 2024 and go straight to unrestricted free agency the following year if he wanted.  On the slip side, a contract that buys out a year or two of UFA eligibility would likely push past the $4MM mark but give them a bit of certainty in the NHL with Marc-Andre Fleury’s deal up next summer and Wallstedt still a few years away from being ready to push for the starting job.  But can they afford that and accomplish everything else they want or need to this summer?  That could be tricky and ultimately dictate what direction they go with their young netminder.

Zuccarello Extension Talks

While his tenure with Minnesota got off to a bit of a slow start in 2019-20 in the first of his five-year deal, veteran winger Mats Zuccarello has been one of the key producers for the Wild since then.  The 35-year-old has frequently been on a line with Kaprizov and the results were certainly there this season as Zuccarello surpassed the 20-goal mark for the second time while picking up 67 points, the second-most of his career.  His two most productive years have been the last two seasons.  That’s certainly a strong selling point heading into extension talks this summer; Zuccarello is eligible for a new deal as of July 1st.

Zuccarello’s next deal will be a 35-plus agreement as he’ll be starting his age-37 season in 2024-25 but even so, there’s a good chance he’ll get a multi-year contract.  However, that age is likely to be a mitigating factor when it comes to the cost.  At a $6MM price tag currently, his recent level of production would typically move that AAV higher but it might not in this case.

Some teams have shown a willingness to add on an extra year than they might prefer in return for a lower cap hit and it wouldn’t be too shocking to see Minnesota do so here.  They still have two seasons of significant dead cap space from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts before those costs dip by more than $13MM.  That would make it easier for them to carry Zuccarello a little longer on their books long-term while his accepting a similar (if not slightly lesser) cap charge now will help their short-term challenges for 2024-25.  This one doesn’t have to get done now but as the offseason progresses, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides get the ball rolling on discussions.

Add Defensive Help

Minnesota’s back end is going to look a bit different on opening night in October compared to the unit that they iced at the end of the first round against Dallas.  Long-time Wild blueliner Mathew Dumba seems all but a lock to move on now following a tough year.  Trade deadline addition John Klingberg was a straight rental and isn’t expected to be back either.  On top of that, veteran Alex Goligoski clearly doesn’t seem to be a part of their plans moving forward after being scratched more than 30 times during the regular season and the entire first round.  He still has another year left at $2MM and it’s likely they wouldn’t mind finding a new home for him, assuming Goligoski waives his trade protection.

Additionally, there are questions about Calen Addison’s future with the team after he, too, sat in the playoffs.  The 23-year-old had a productive year with 29 points in 62 games and is set to become a restricted free agent for the first time this summer.  He should have some trade value if they decide to move him but that’s also going to open up another spot on the back end to fill.

Brock Faber will be around for his first full professional campaign after signing late in the season but there is definitely at least one opening to fill, even if Addison sticks around.  In a perfect world, a top-four blueliner to round out the top three of Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Jacob Middleton but again, that will be tricky given their current salary cap situation.  Guerin is going to have to get creative to address this in the coming weeks as a result.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 6/3/23

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Free agency is now less than a month away and activity on the transaction front is starting to pick up around the hockey world.  With that in mind, we’ll keep track of some of the minor moves of some interest here.

  • Russian winger Konstantin Okulov has again opted not to pursue an NHL contract, instead signing a two-year extension with CSKA Moscow, the KHL team announced. The 28-year-old has drawn NHL interest on several occasions and likely would have had a fairly strong market again this year after notching 54 points in 60 games this season, putting him tied for tenth in league scoring.  If he continues to play at that level over the next two years, there could still be some NHL interest for him in 2025.
  • While Carl Lindbom signed his entry-level deal with Vegas back on Thursday, he won’t be debuting in North America next season. Instead, Farjestad of the SHL announced that Vegas has loaned the 20-year-old to them for the 2023-24 campaign.  Lindbom had strong numbers in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan this season, posting a 1.86 GAA with a .930 SV% in 36 games and will now get a chance to try his hand at Sweden’s top level.
  • Former Canadiens center Lukas Vejdemo has signed a four-year deal with SHL Leksand, per a team release. The 27-year-old missed most of last season after suffering a hamstring injury late in the 2021-22 campaign but caught on late with Djurgarden of the second-tier Allsvenskan late in the season.  The term of this deal makes it unlikely that Vejdemo – who has two goals in 13 career NHL games – will get another opportunity in North America.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Mike Babcock Expected To Be Named Blue Jackets Head Coach

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It was expected by now that the Blue Jackets would officially have their head coach in place by now.  However, earlier today, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported (Twitter link) that the delay isn’t tied to their own deliberations but rather that something and/or someone was holding up the process.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the someone in question is Mike Babcock and the something pertains to his old contract in Toronto.  Dreger reports that Babcock is expected to become the new bench boss in Columbus but the hold-up in making the move official is due to his former deal with the Maple Leafs which doesn’t expire until the end of June.  Speculatively, based on this, it would seem like the Blue Jackets are waiting for the final month of his eight-year, $50MM contract from back in 2015 to end so that they won’t have to be responsible for paying for part of that.  (Babcock will receive that money no matter what, either all from Toronto or partially from Columbus with the Maple Leafs covering the difference.)

Babcock last coached in the NHL back in the 2019-20 campaign before being let go by Toronto after a sluggish 9-10-4 start to their season.  His tenure in Toronto wasn’t the greatest overall but it came on the heels of a successful ten-year run behind the bench in Detroit, anchored by a Stanley Cup title in 2008.  Overall, the 60-year-old has a 700-418-183 record over parts of 17 seasons between Anaheim, Detroit, and Toronto but word surfaced following his departure from the Maple Leafs about a toxic playing environment with both the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.  Internationally, he is the only member of the ’Triple Gold’ club among coaches (Olympics, World Championships, and a Stanley Cup).

Babcock was briefly behind the bench again in 2021-22, working with the University of Saskatchewan on a volunteer basis, receiving a two-year deal.  However, he stepped aside last summer, indicating at the time that he was retiring from coaching although he could change his mind if the right situation came up.  It appears that he feels the Blue Jackets are the right situation.

Columbus was active last summer, making a big splash on the free agent market in Johnny Gaudreau while working out a multi-year deal with Patrik Laine to give their attack a strong one-two punch.  However, it didn’t materialize in the form of victories as the Blue Jackets finished dead last in the Eastern Conference with just 59 points, a sizable drop from the 81 they had the year before.  That resulted in Brad Larsen being let go at the end of the season.

Babcock will now be tasked with trying to turn things around in Columbus, a team that has some quality youngsters in the organization already while they’re set to add another with the third-overall pick later this month, a selection that could yield the future top center they’ve long been seeking.  It’s a surprising turn of events for someone who hadn’t really been considered much in recent years for NHL coaching opportunities but if he’s able to get the Blue Jackets back into the playoff mix relatively quickly, he’ll have a chance at finishing his coaching career on a better note than it would have ended otherwise.

Assuming this hire is made official – though it might take a few more weeks – there are now three remaining head coaching vacancies in the NHL – the Ducks, Flames, and Rangers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Anaheim’s Coaching Search, McLeod, Hellebuyck

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The Ducks have managed to keep things quiet for the most part about their head coaching search in terms of who is under consideration.  Eric Stephens of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that former Vancouver head coach Travis Green could be a possible fit for the role and knows the market well having played for the team twice while living in the Orange County area full-time.  Green spent parts of five seasons behind the bench in Vancouver with the team posting a 133-147-34 record and was considered for Anaheim’s coaching job back in 2016, a job that wound up going to Randy Carlyle.

Stephens also notes that there are three former head coaches that aren’t believed to be a part of GM Pat Verbeek’s wide net of options: Bruce Boudreau, Jeff Blashill, and Kevin Dineen.  He also speculates that AHL Colorado bench boss Greg Cronin could be under consideration for the position.  Cronin interviewed for Boston’s job last summer that ultimately went to Jim Montgomery.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal pegs Ryan McLeod’s next contract as a potentially tricky negotiation for the Oilers. The 23-year-old had a decent showing in Edmonton’s bottom six this season, setting new career highs in goals (11) and points (23) despite only playing in 57 games.  McLeod is now arbitration-eligible this summer and with 138 career NHL regular season appearances under his belt, has enough of a track record to land a decent-sized raise on the $798K he made in 2022-23.  Cap space is once again limited for the Oilers this summer so it might take some time for both sides to find the sweet spot on what’s likely to be another short-term agreement.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun examines some possible trade options for Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, calling him their biggest bargaining chip this summer. The veteran is about to enter the final year of his contract and has made it known that his desire is to win.  If Winnipeg doesn’t think they can extend him in the coming weeks, they could look to move him in the days leading up to the draft later this month.  Hellebuyck, who had a 2.49 GAA with a .920 SV% this season, has a $6.166MM AAV in the final year of his contract and is likely to command several million more on his next deal.  Billeck highlights Los Angeles, Buffalo, and Ottawa as some potential landing spots for the 30-year-old.

John Gibson Hoping For Trade From Ducks

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Goaltender John Gibson has been a fixture between the pipes in Anaheim for the better part of a decade now and is one of their longest-tenured players.  However, it appears that he’s hoping his time with the team has come to an end as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the veteran has told the team that he is ready for a change of scenery.  Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register adds that the request was made last month.

In his end-of-season presser back in April, Gibson made it clear that he wants to win.  He hasn’t been doing much of that lately as the Ducks have missed the playoffs in each of the last five years.  Although they’ve made some good progress in their rebuild by adding several key youngsters to the puzzle (including another with the second-overall pick later this month), they’re still not at the point yet where they’re ready to emerge as a consistent playoff contender.

With the team in front of him struggling, Gibson has seen his performance drop steadily as well.  He posted a 3.99 GAA this season, leading the league in goals allowed (200) and losses (31) although he still managed a .899 SV% which is right around the league average.  His highest save percentage over the last four seasons is .904 after putting up four straight seasons of .917 or better so it’s not as if this was a one-time dip.

It’s Gibson’s previous performance back when Anaheim was a playoff-caliber team that is likely to have teams interested in him this summer.  How much of his weakened performance was due to the struggles of the team in front of him, particularly their back end which has gotten considerably weaker over the years?  Is he still an above-average goalie with a better team in front of him?  If teams believe so, he’ll shoot to either the top of the list or close to it for desired acquisitions this summer in a goalie market that doesn’t have a lot of number one options.

However, the 29-year-old does have a bit of a pricey contract, one that has four years remaining at a $6.4MM AAV.  While plenty of teams could use a goaltending upgrade, not many of them can necessarily afford to take on the full freight of that deal.  Anaheim hasn’t used any of their three salary retention slots for 2023-24 and beyond although it should be noted that they have two retentions on the books (defensemen John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov) until July 1st.  Would they be willing to carry some dead cap space for four seasons to help facilitate a trade?  Alternatively, taking a high-priced contract back as an offset might be more palatable for GM Pat Verbeek.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Anaheim look to get a goaltender back as part of a return if they move Gibson.  Veteran Anthony Stolarz battled injury issues this season and is set to his unrestricted free agency and while Lukas Dostal might be ready to move up full-time to the NHL, he’s far from ready to take over as the starter.  If not, they’ll have to turn to free agency for a replacement but Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry is the only true number one on the market, assuming he doesn’t re-sign in the coming weeks.

Seravalli noted that Gibson was available last summer but the asking price was quite high.  While their asking price is still likely on the high side, if they’re more motivated to move him now as a result of Gibson’s ask, there’s a good chance that he’ll be suiting up somewhere else next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest on Anthony Mantha

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Although there was a subtle expectation that he would eventually be put on the trading block, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that Washington Capitals’ forward Anthony Mantha has officially been put on the trade block. Mantha will be entering the final year of a 4-year, $22.8MM contract extension that he signed with the Detroit Red Wings after the start of the 2020-21 NHL season.

In Mantha’s case, it will be particularly hard to gauge the potential trade value he might bring to the market this offseason. On one end, he has shown flashes in the past of being a potential 30-goal scorer at the professional level but has also shown flashes of being a pure salary dump.

This season, playing on a struggling Washington team, Mantha played in 67 games, scoring 11 goals and 16 assists. It was a far cry from the 49-goal and 96-point pace he carried in Detroit between 2017-19.

Simply to hypothesize, there are actually a few teams that may benefit from the style of game that Mantha would ultimately bring to a team. Although not maximizing his full offensive potential up to this point, Mantha has excelled throughout his career in terms of possession. His career average of 57.0 is by no means at the top of the NHL but would generally be regarded as a solid number for most players.

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