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Archives for April 2024

Bob Cole Passes Away

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Iconic Canadian play-by-play voice Bob Cole passed away Wednesday night at age 90, his daughter Megan told CBC News today.

Cole was regarded as one of the most legendary voices in hockey broadcasting history on both sides of the border, even if all his work was done for Canadian networks. He had a remarkable 50-year career calling games for both CBC and Rogers on television and a few seasons on radio in his early years starting in 1969. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 and rightly received the Hall’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for broadcasting excellence that year, also receiving the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.

The Newfoundland and Labrador native was the voice of multiple Canadian generations, working as the lead play-by-play announcer for CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada” from 1980 to 2008, as well as their coverage of the Stanley Cup Final, until Jim Hughson was named his successor. He returned to coverage for Sportsnet in 2014, shortly after Rogers acquired the exclusive national rights for the NHL in Canada, where he remained until he called his last game in February 2019, a regular-season match between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

Perhaps even more consequential in the fabric of Canadian society were his calls for seminal moments internationally. He was on the air for Canada’s victory over the United States in the gold medal game of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (video link), as well as the final game of the 1972 Summit Series between the Soviet Union’s national team and an NHL All-Star contingent that was the most-watched sporting event in Canada for decades.

All of us on the PHR team send our deepest condolences to Cole’s family and friends and to all those who benefited from his decades of service to the sport and the broadcasting field.

Predators Recall Juuso Parssinen

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The Predators have recalled center Juuso Pärssinen from AHL Milwaukee ahead of tomorrow’s Game 3 of their first-round series against the Canucks, per a team announcement.

Pärssinen, 23, began the season on the Nashville roster but was assigned to Milwaukee in late January. He’s remained in the minors since, not appearing in an NHL game since a 3-2 loss to the Coyotes on Jan. 20. Before being sent down, the 2019 seventh-round pick had eight goals and 12 points in 44 games.

The quickly-rising Finn unexpectedly logged top-nine minutes for the Preds much of last season, posting six goals and 25 points in 45 appearances. It was his first full season in North America after two very productive campaigns with TPS in the top-level Finnish Liiga, where he scored the most points by a junior-aged player in 2020-21 and helped TPS advance to the championship series in back-to-back years, although they lost both times.

That showing earned him a deserved opening-night job this year, but his production and overall effectiveness took a step back despite receiving roughly the same amount of ice time (14:20 last year, 14:36 this year). His points per game rate dropped by over half, and he became nearly unusable in the faceoff dot, winning 37.5% of draws after being over 50% in 2022-23. Pärssinen’s possession metrics took a tumble, too, posting a 46.4 CF% at even strength compared to 47.2% last year despite Nashville being a much-improved team at controlling shot attempts.

He responded well to his demotion, though, racking up seven goals and 25 points in 39 games and a +12 rating in Milwaukee to end the season. including five points in his final three games. With Milwaukee finishing first in the Central Division and earning a First Round bye, their Calder Cup Playoff schedule won’t start until next week, so they’re not taking Pärssinen out of important action for their AHL club with today’s recall. He’ll be available for tomorrow’s Game 3 after Nashville tied the series with a Game 2 win Tuesday, but it’s unclear if he’ll draw into the lineup.

Blackhawks Sign Alex Vlasic To Six-Year Extension

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11:10 a.m.: Per PuckPedia, Vlasic has a 10-team no-trade list in 2028-29 and 2029-30, the two seasons of the deal he’d otherwise be eligible for unrestricted free agency. The full breakdown of the contract is as follows:

2024-25: $1.5MM base salary + $4.5MM signing bonus
2025-26: $1.8MM base salary + $4MM signing bonus
2026-27: $4.3MM base salary
2027-28: $1.3MM base salary + $3MM signing bonus
2028-29: $1.6MM base salary + $2MM signing bonus
2029-30: $1.6MM base salary + $2MM signing bonus

10:04 a.m.: The Blackhawks have signed promising defenseman Alex Vlasic to a six-year extension with a $4.6MM cap hit, The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports Thursday. The deal, which will pay Vlasic $27.6MM in total, walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2030. The team later confirmed the terms of the deal as initially reported.

Vlasic, 23 in June, was the Blackhawks’ second-round pick in 2019 after they took Kirby Dach third overall. That year, he was the top shutdown defender for the USNTDP’s U-18 squad and was viewed as a consensus late first/early second-round choice. However, he fell a bit to Chicago at 43rd overall. He then embarked on a three-year stint at Boston University, where the 6’6″ blue-liner quietly continued to improve his shutdown game while managing four goals and 20 points in 82 games. His career +1 rating there wasn’t all that impressive, but BU was a rather middling program during his time there and never finished higher than fifth in the Hockey East conference.

The Chicago native turned pro with his hometown club after his junior season, inking a three-year entry-level contract in March 2022 that kicked in immediately. He played 15 games for the Hawks down the stretch, recording his first two NHL points (one goal, one assist) with a -2 rating while averaging 14:19 per game. His possession metrics were decent on a rebuilding club that won just twice in regulation in 20 games after he signed, posting a 44.0 CF% and 54.9 xGF% at even strength, per Hockey Reference. It wasn’t enough to earn him a full-time spot on their 2022-23 roster, playing in only six games last year, but he did post a +12 rating to lead all AHL Rockford defensemen, along with 19 points in 56 games.

He landed an opening night roster spot this season and never looked back. Vlasic operated in a number-one capacity for stretches of the season when Seth Jones was sidelined with injury, finishing second behind Jones in average time on ice (21:29). He put up two goals and 16 points in 76 games in his first full NHL season, adding on a very respectable -4 rating, 44.9 CF%, and 47.7 xGF% while playing shutdown matchups for one of the weakest rosters in the league. When he wasn’t controlling possession himself, he was competent at keeping the puck out of dangerous areas, leading the team with 148 blocks.

Vlasic will never be a point producer, but his linear development and strong showing this season in difficult minutes are exemplary hints that he can be a high-end, top-four complementary shutdown defender for years to come. There haven’t been any major road bumps in his development since his draft day. He navigated the obstacles of the COVID-19 pandemic quite well and hit his likely ceiling earlier than most defenders.

In getting Vlasic signed long-term early on, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson continues the recent trend of early long-term commitments to developing defenders. The Sabres’ Owen Power and the Senators’ Jake Sanderson both signed long-term deals after their first full NHL seasons in 2022-23, although they both had one year remaining on their entry-level deals at the time. Vlasic was headed for restricted free agency this summer. It’s an extremely comparable extension to another young Buffalo defender, 24-year-old shutdown man Mattias Samuelsson, who inked a seven-year, $30MM ($4.29MM AAV) agreement in October 2022.

Vlasic joins Jones as the only Blackhawks skaters signed past 2026. Their deals will expire simultaneously after the 2029-30 campaign. Before today’s news, Jones and veteran Connor Murphy were the only Chicago defenders signed to one-way contracts for next season. Vlasic and Jones are expected to reprise their role as Chicago’s top defense pairing in 2024-25.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Denis Gurianov Linked To KHL’s CSKA Moscow

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2015 first-round pick Denis Gurianov has lacked stability in recent years, suiting up for five NHL and AHL teams over the last two seasons. He headed from Nashville to Philadelphia at this year’s trade deadline in a swap of fringe NHLers, but his stay in the City of Brotherly Love will likely come to an end this summer. Speaking with reporters last week, GM Daniel Brière said he was unlikely to extend the pending UFA (via PHLY Sports’ Charlie O’Connor).

Now, we know where the 26-year-old might end up. According to a report from allhockey.ru (source translated from Russian), he’ll be returning home to Russia and is expected to sign with CSKA Moscow. He’s the second NHL player linked to the military-affiliated club this summer, joining Avalanche netminder Ivan Prosvetov.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Gurianov looked like a budding top-nine sniper with the Stars. At 12th overall, Gurianov was selected over other future stars in the 2015 class, like Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho and Jets sniper Kyle Connor. He came over from Russia and signed his entry-level deal in 2016 but spent three seasons primarily with AHL Texas before breaking into the NHL lineup full-time in 2019-20. Despite averaging just 12:59 per game, he led the offensively challenged club in goals with 20 in 64 contests but ranked eighth in points (29) with only nine assists.

When the NHL reconvened for the bubble playoffs in late summer 2020 after COVID-19 ended the regular season prematurely, Gurianov didn’t miss a beat. He was among the Stars’ best playoff performers, recording nine goals and 17 points in 27 games – including an overtime goal against the Golden Knights that sent the Stars to their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years.

His limited usage, sky-high 15.2 shooting percentage and middling possession metrics didn’t help his case in contract negotiations the following offseason. Stars GM Jim Nill inked him to a two-year bridge deal worth $5.1MM, which turned out to be a smart decision. Gurianov wasn’t awful over the life of the deal – he had 23 goals and 61 points in 128 games over the life of the deal and was a regular in a top-nine role – but didn’t repeat the goal-scoring value he provided during his rookie season. As expected, his shooting percentage regressed heavily to below 10% each year, and his -10.1 expected rating in 2021-22 was second-worst on the team behind shutdown center Radek Faksa (-12.9).

It was enough to convince the Stars to keep him around as a secondary point-producer, but it was becoming apparent he didn’t have a future as a top-six winger in the NHL. Nill gave him another mid-tier deal, inking him to a one-year, $2.9MM extension a few weeks before he would have reached restricted free agency in 2022. But under new head coach Peter DeBoer, Gurianov flamed out quickly in Dallas, managing only two goals and nine points through 43 games before the team decided to part ways. Nill found a taker on the trade market in the Canadiens, who picked him up in exchange for veteran winger Evgenii Dadonov at 50% salary retention, who had similarly disappointed in Montreal that year.

Nill is widely regarded as one of the best GMs in the league, and that trade is one of many reasons why. Gurianov didn’t turn things around all that much with the Habs, recording five goals and eight points in 23 games down the stretch despite being thrust into top-six minutes to try and reinject confidence into his game. He wasn’t extended a qualifying offer at the end of the season and became a UFA. Dadonov, meanwhile, remains in Dallas and had 10 points in 16 playoff games last season as the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Final.

It didn’t take Gurianov more than a couple of weeks to get another chance in the NHL, though, inking a one-year, one-way deal with the Predators worth $850K in mid-July 2023. A low-risk, low-investment signing for Nashville, it still didn’t pan out. Gurianov played sparingly, managing two points in 14 games, and saw extended time in the minors for the first time in five years. He did quite well with AHL Milwaukee, and his 12 goals and 30 points in 27 games made him one of two point-per-game players on the team alongside veteran Mark Jankowski.

His minor-league showing was strong enough to convince the Flyers to see if he could stick in an NHL role down the stretch, and they picked him up in exchange for depth forward Wade Allison on deadline day. To the masses, it seemed Gurianov’s rather one-dimensional game wouldn’t mesh with head coach John Tortorella’s style. The masses were right. Gurianov spent most of his time in Philly in the press box, only making four appearances for the Flyers and averaging less than 11 minutes per game. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, managed four shots on the goal and registered only one hit.

He’s eligible for unrestricted free agency outright this summer, as his June birthday means he’ll turn 27 before the market opens on July 1. His only previous KHL experience came with Lada Togliatti as a teenager in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, posting four goals and two assists in 55 games in a limited role. With CSKA, however, he’ll likely receive top-six minutes and would likely be one of their leading scorers next year. Gurianov joins a CSKA offense dotted with a few other former NHLers: reserve list players Vitaly Abramov (Senators) and Vladislav Kamenev (Avalanche) are both under contract for 2024-25, as are former Panthers winger Maxim Mamin and ex-Oilers forward Anton Slepyshev.

If this is it for Gurianov in the NHL, he finishes his career with 52 goals, 61 assists, 113 points and a -2 rating in 298 appearances over seven seasons.

Golden Knights Add Nine Players To Playoff Roster

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Now up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Stars, the Golden Knights have recalled nine players from AHL Henderson to serve as Black Aces for the remainder of their playoff run, per CapFriendly’s transaction log. Forwards Brendan Brisson, Grigori Denisenko, Byron Froese and Mason Morelli; defensemen Kaedan Korczak, Dysin Mayo and Christoffer Sedoff; and goaltenders Isaiah Saville and Jesper Vikman are now all immediately available to Vegas if injuries force them to reach deep into their pool of depth players.

There was no postseason action in store for any of these players in the minors. Henderson failed to qualify for the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs after going 28-36-3-5 in the regular season, missing out for the second year in a row.

Many of these players, including all of the forwards mentioned and Korczak on the blue line, played in NHL games with the Knights this season. Mayo had 82 NHL games of experience across 2021-22 and 2022-23 with the Coyotes but didn’t suit up for Vegas in 2023-24. Saville, Sedoff and Vikman have yet to make their NHL debuts.

Brisson, 22, is the most likely of these recalls to see game action in the playoffs. The 2020 first-round pick did well in his first NHL season, recording two goals and six assists for eight points in 15 games across a spattering of late-season recalls. Averaging 12:20 per game, he played a handful of different units but spent most of his time on the wing with William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. The trio controlled 65.2% of expected goals in 43 minutes together, per MoneyPuck. The former University of Michigan standout also had 19 goals and 38 points in 52 contests with Henderson, his second full season in the pros.

Denisenko, 23, was picked up in the first round by the Panthers two years before Brisson. After failing to crack Florida’s opening night roster, he was nabbed off the waiver wire by Vegas in October. He was assigned to Henderson after there were no takers for him on waivers a second time – including his former team. The 5’11” winger still doesn’t have an NHL goal to his name in 32 appearances, six of which came in a Golden Knights sweater this season. However, he did have a breakthrough campaign in the minors, recording career-highs across the board with 20 goals, 36 assists and 56 points in 65 games. That led the club in assists and points, and only veteran Sheldon Rempal had more goals (27).

Froese, 33, recorded an assist in 16 appearances for Vegas this year, marking his first time playing in back-to-back NHL seasons since playing in three straight from 2015-16 to 2017-18. The longtime farmhand has suited up 141 times in parts of six seasons for the Canadiens, Flames, Golden Knights, Maple Leafs and Lightning. An alternate captain with Henderson, Froese finished fifth on the club in scoring with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 53 games.

Morelli, 28, earned his first NHL contract with the Golden Knights last July after spending three years on minor-league deals with the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate. Fresh off a Calder Cup win in 2023, Morelli made his NHL debut in February while injuries decimated the Knights’ forward group. He put up a goal and an assist on his first try against the Sharks and finished his callup with four points in nine games. The North Dakota native also had a career-high 13 goals in 56 games with Henderson, adding 16 assists for 29 points on the year.

On the blue line, Korczak will be head coach Bruce Cassidy’s first choice to insert into the lineup if Vegas needs to reach past the two extra defenders they entered the postseason with. The 23-year-old was a second-round pick in 2019 and played a career-high 26 games for the Golden Knights this year, posting nine points and a +12 rating while averaging 16:30 per game. He mirrored those stats in Henderson with a goal and eight assists in 26 games there and still carries significant NHL upside as a smooth-skating, 6’4″ right-shot defender. His entry-level contract is up this summer, but his next deal shouldn’t cost more than $1MM just yet and will be a cheap, reliable call-up option with an outside chance to crack next year’s opening night roster.

Mayo, 27, was picked up by the Knights in a February 2023 trade with Arizona that sent a fifth-round pick and the contract of defenseman Shea Weber, who won’t play again due to various injuries, to the Yotes. An adept shutdown defender with depth NHL upside, Mayo had a career-high 25 points in 67 games with the Silver Knights this season with a -6 rating and 79 PIMs, his most in a single season since his junior hockey days.

Sedoff, 22, was an undrafted free-agent signing by Vegas from the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels last year. The Finnish blue-liner managed to stick in the AHL the whole season, avoiding a demotion to the ECHL, but didn’t score in 46 appearances. He tallied 10 assists for his first-ever professional points and posted a -1 rating, the second-highest on the team behind Brisson among qualified skaters.

Saville and Vikman split backup duties for Henderson behind the more experienced Jiří Patera, although neither won the job outright. The 23-year-old Saville had slightly better numbers, going 7-12-1 with a .893 SV%, 3.27 GAA and one shutout in 22 appearances. The Alaska native was a Vegas fifth-round pick in 2019. Vikman, 22, was a fifth-round pick a year after Saville. The 6’3″ Swede split the year between Henderson and ECHL Savannah, failing to cross the .900 SV% plateau at either level.

11 Teams Face Cap Overage Penalties Next Season

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With the salary cap largely being flat the last few years, more teams have had to dip into LTIR when injuries have come up.  Accordingly, the number of teams facing bonus overage penalties has also risen.  This year is no exception as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports in collaboration with CapFriendly that 11 teams are currently facing cap overage penalties for 2024-25 as a result of bonuses achieved this season.

When a team finishes up the season using LTIR to stay cap-compliant, they don’t have any regular cap space to which bonuses can be applied against.  Accordingly, that results in LTIR teams that have incentives that are met finishing over the cap, yielding overage penalties.  Whatever amount they finished 2023-24 over by is then deducted off the Upper Limit for next season.

The teams that are confirmed to have bonus overage penalties are as follows:

Edmonton Oilers: $3.45MM*
Dallas Stars: $2,595,407
Washington Capitals: $2.2525MM
Los Angeles Kings: $1.85MM
New Jersey Devils: $1,538,897
Montreal Canadiens: $1.0225MM
Ottawa Senators: $850K
New York Rangers: $512.5K*
Minnesota Wild: $425K*
Philadelphia Flyers: $245K
Boston Bruins $50K*

Teams denoted with an asterisk could see their bonus overage increase if the following happens:

Edmonton: Corey Perry’s contract calls for $50K if the Oilers make the Western Conference Final and another $50K if they reach the Stanley Cup Final.

New York: Theirs would increase by $25K if they win the Stanley Cup, a bonus in Jonathan Quick’s deal.

Minnesota: Marco Rossi can make $212.5K if he makes the All-Rookie Team which would then be added to the Wild’s carryover penalty.

Boston: Milan Lucic will receive $200K if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup as part of his contract.

In addition to the above, Carolina and Florida also have the potential for an overage contingent on the playoffs.  The Hurricanes would have a $50.45K penalty if Jackson Blake plays in 20 games between the regular season and playoffs.  Meanwhile, the Panthers would take a $500K hit if they win the Stanley Cup to cover that bonus in Kyle Okposo’s contract.

Team-by-team details with specifics on how each one got to the point of an overage were covered separately by PuckPedia.

It’s the first time that multiple teams will carry overage penalties of more than $2MM into the following season.  With the cap expected to go up by closer to $4MM this summer, that could in theory take some pressure off from the bonus overage perspective but only if teams leave themselves a bit more wiggle room to work with.  There’s a good chance that won’t happen so we’re quite likely to see these penalties again next season though with perhaps fewer teams getting the hit next time around.

Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  First up is a look at San Jose.

Following a summer where the Sharks moved their best player in Erik Karlsson, expectations were quite low heading into the season.  That said, some might argue that they still underachieved as they were run out of the rink a lot of nights while not many of their younger players wound up in prominent roles.  GM Mike Grier won’t be looking to make this group a playoff team for 2024-25 but they will be looking to add some pieces while deciding the future of a franchise fixture as well.  Here’s what should be on their checklist in the coming months.

Hire A Head Coach: When meeting with reporters at locker clean-out day recently, Grier expressed an intention to evaluate his head coach David Quinn.  That evaluation came to a head earlier today with the decision to fire the bench boss, adding themselves to the list of teams looking for someone else to lead the team.

While some teams have some appeal in terms of where they are from a competitive standpoint, that will quite likely be a tougher sell for Grier.  Quinn led the Sharks to a 41-98-25 record over two years and it could be argued that they didn’t underachieve all that much.  With San Jose embracing a full-scale long-term rebuild, the team has been stripped of the majority of its veteran core in recent years and no immediate impact replacements are on the horizon as the focus is on player development.  In other words, things aren’t exactly looking up from a short-term competitive standpoint.

Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if a first-time NHL bench boss is brought in, one with a history of working with younger players and having some success.  Several teams have tried that in recent years with Anaheim’s Greg Cronin, Chicago’s Luke Richardson, and Montreal’s Martin St. Louis among them.  Someone along those lines who can help key youngsters continue to develop while also developing as a coach would make a lot of sense for the Sharks at the moment.

Determine Vlasic’s Future: It’s a moment that has been coming for a couple of years now but the Sharks might now be at the proverbial crossroads with long-time blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  When he signed his current eight-year, $56MM extension back in 2017, there was an expectation that the final couple of seasons could be rough but if San Jose was a contender for the first half of the deal or longer, it might still work out somewhat well in the end.  Instead, the Sharks have struggled for most of this contract, missing the playoffs in five straight years.  Meanwhile, Vlasic’s usefulness dropped sharply only a couple of years into the contract and has been a highly-paid sixth defender the last few seasons.

This past season, the Sharks made Vlasic a healthy scratch on numerous occasions and while they could simply opt to do so for two more years, that’s not necessarily the way they want to treat someone who was a pillar on their back end for so long.  But that is one option that Grier can consider.

The other is a buyout.  Such a move wouldn’t necessarily save them much cap space or money but would open up a roster spot and a contract slot while giving Vlasic a chance to try to catch on elsewhere if he wants to.  Instead of a $7MM cap charge for the next two years, a buyout would cost $3.833MM next season, $4.833MM in 2025-26, and $1.333MM in 2026-27 and 2027-28.

In theory, there’s always the possibility of a trade but unless they’re taking another high-priced underachieving contract back, that seems quite unlikely to happen.  The same can be said about waiving him and sending him to AHL San Jose; that doesn’t seem like something they’d want to do to Vlasic.

Can the Sharks keep doing what they’ve been doing with Vlasic for the last couple of years, using him in a very limited role?  Or do they give him a chance to move on?  Grier will have a couple of months to decide as the first buyout window doesn’t close until close to the start of the new league year which starts July 1st.

Cash In On Granlund: As part of the Karlsson trade, the Sharks had to take back Mikael Granlund to help make the money work.  At the time, the center’s value was at arguably an all-time low; a late-season trade to Pittsburgh at the deadline in 2023 was ill-fated as Granlund managed just one goal and four assists in 21 games.  That type of production for $5MM for two more seasons wasn’t of particular value to any team last summer.

But a strange thing happened this season.  At a time when pretty much every Sharks player had a rough year offensively, Granlund somehow had one of his best.  He led the team in scoring, notching 12 goals and 48 assists (a career-high) in 69 games.  He had a hand in 33% of San Jose’s goals on the season.  That’s solid production for anyone let alone someone who was thrown into a trade as a salary cap dump.

This summer, teams will take a run at signing some impact free agents but those who come up short will have to look for a fallback option.  Now on an expiring contract and coming off a 60-point year, Granlund should have some positive value for a team looking for a short-term upgrade up front.  That should give Grier a chance to get some extra future value, a scenario that didn’t seem likely back in the fall.

Granted, one challenge Grier will face is that he can’t pay down any of Granlund’s deal as his three retention slots are already all used up for next season.  However, if he’s willing to take another pricey contract back, they should be able to make something happen.  Speaking of which…

Leverage Cap Space: One thing that the Sharks have an abundance of is cap space, a by-product of selling off most of their core and having four of their five highest-paid forwards on expiring contracts.  Three of those four are UFAs and the fourth – Luke Kunin – could be as he’s owed a $3MM qualifying offer and is coming off an 18-point campaign so he’s not a guarantee to be tendered in June.  Suffice it to say, San Jose will have to add to their roster one way or the other.

They could elect to be aggressive in free agency but from a longer-term standpoint, they might be better off being one of the clearinghouses for unwanted contracts this summer.  Utilizing some of that cap space to take on a pricey deal or two would also net the Sharks some extra draft picks or prospects for their troubles.  That’s not an option when they sign free agents, unless it’s a one-year agreement with the possibility of flipping him in-season.

They’re at the point where a good chunk of their roster is either untradeable due to being part of the rebuild plans or not having enough value to bring back a return of significance.  They have a few exceptions – Granlund among them as noted earlier – but there aren’t a lot of true trade chips remaining.  As a result, there may not be many opportunities to add those future assets in-season or at the trade deadline.  With that in mind, taking on those bad deals now could be their best bet to add pieces.  Considering how many teams will be looking to open up flexibility this summer, Grier and the Sharks could be quite popular in the weeks to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kraken Sign Caden Price

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While Seattle’s season is over, they’ve been keeping busy on the transactions front in recent days with some of their prospects.  That continued today as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed defenseman Caden Price to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal will carry an AAV of $908K.

The 18-year-old was a third-round pick by the Kraken last June, going 84th overall after a productive year with WHL Kelowna that saw him collect 40 points.  Price built on those numbers this year, tallying 13 goals and 42 assists in 62 regular season games with the Rockets, plus a goal and ten helpers in 11 playoff contests.  That was good enough to earn him a spot on the All-WHL Second Team after the season.

With Kelowna being eliminated in the WHL playoffs, Price is eligible to join AHL Coachella Valley for their playoff run.  However, he will not be eligible to play for the Firebirds next season; his options will be to play with Seattle or go back to junior with the Rockets.  The latter is the likeliest scenario and as long as Price doesn’t play in ten or more NHL games next season, his contract will slide and still have three years left on it heading into 2025-26.

Penguins Notes: Pettersson, Nedeljkovic, Smith, Rakell, Bemstrom

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While Sidney Crosby’s potential for a contract extension will certainly dominate the offseason speculation in Pittsburgh, he’s not the only Penguins player of note who is eligible for a new deal.  Blueliner Marcus Pettersson will be entering the final year of his contract next season, making him eligible to sign an extension as of July 1st.

While many expect Crosby will sign quickly, Rob Rossi of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the team is optimistic that Pettersson will also put pen to paper on a new deal quickly this summer.  The 27-year-old is coming off his best season, one that saw him post career-highs offensively with four goals and 26 assists while also logging 22:40 per night, another benchmark that also put him third on the team in that regard.  Producing like and playing the minutes of a second-pairing defender should have Pettersson in line for a fairly sizable raise on his current $4.025MM price tag.

More from Pittsburgh:

  • Alex Nedeljkovic certainly played well down the stretch, playing a big role in their late push for a playoff spot. That performance may push him out of Pittsburgh altogether though as Rossi notes that the team is operating with the belief that the 28-year-old will get better offers in free agency than what the team can afford to offer.  That means that Tristan Jarry would return as the starter next season with prospect Joel Blomqvist potentially moving up from the minors to serve as the backup.  Nedeljkovic finished with 2.97 GAA and a .902 SV% in 38 games, positioning himself for a raise on the $1.5MM he received this season.
  • Still from Rossi, winger Reilly Smith wasn’t moved at the trade deadline with his market being thin due to having another year at a $5MM price point but the team believes there will be more interest this summer now that he’ll be a rental. The 33-year-old took a step back offensively in his first season with the Pens, going from 26 goals and 30 assists to 13 and 27 respectively, good for seventh in team scoring.  A capable two-way forward with over 100 playoff games under his belt, Smith should definitely have some suitors this summer but GM Kyle Dubas may need to retain salary to maximize the return for him.
  • One winger who struggled this year was Rickard Rakell who was limited to 15 goals and 22 assists in 70 games. If you take out the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, this was Rakell’s lowest output since his first full NHL season back in 2014-15.  Speaking with SportExpressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom, the 30-year-old indicated that he had been playing through a shoulder injury going back to his return to the lineup back in December (when he missed a dozen games due to that issue) which certainly could have played a role in his decline in production.  Because of the injury, Rakell has declined an invitation to play at the Worlds next month.

Snapshots: Hague, Lomberg, Sharks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Golden Knights will be without defenseman Nicolas Hague as they attempt to take a 2-0 series lead over the Stars tonight. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said the 25-year-old is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Hague hasn’t been ruled out past tonight’s game. He logged 15:41 in the Game 1 win, leaving the game midway through the third period after a brief tangle with Stars winger Evgenii Dadonov along the half-wall (video link). The 2017 second-round pick remains a mainstay on the Vegas blue line, making 73 regular-season appearances with two goals and 12 points in 2023-24. Averaging 18:33 per game, he posted a career-worst -5 rating and 46.7 CF% at even strength.

Missing Hague is far from the end of the world for Vegas, who had three-time Stanley Cup champion Alec Martinez sitting as a healthy scratch for Game 1. He’ll enter in place of Hague on a third pairing alongside Zach Whitecloud after posting 17 points in 55 games in the regular season.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Sticking with postseason action, the Panthers may get enforcer Ryan Lomberg back for Game 3 against the Lightning tomorrow, head coach Paul Maurice said. He sat out Game 2’s overtime win with an illness after logging 6:32 of ice time in Game 1. Steven Lorentz entered the lineup in his place, recording two shots on goal and four hits in similarly minimal usage. If Lomberg cannot go, Kyle Okposo will draw in for his first postseason game since 2016, with Sam Bennett already ruled out. Lomberg averaged only 9:32 per game during 75 regular-season appearances, scoring five goals and seven points with a -1 rating and 80 PIMs. The 5’9″ pot-stirrer will be a UFA this summer after completing a two-year deal worth $1.6MM.
  • While the Sharks fired head coach David Quinn earlier today with one year left on his contract, they didn’t move on from any of his assistants. They’re staying with the team pending a new hire, but GM Mike Grier told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng that they’ve been granted permission to pursue other opportunities while the search for Quinn’s replacement progresses. One assistant, Ryan Warsofsky, has drawn considerable interest for head coaching roles in the past and could be an outside candidate to land one of the many other vacancies on the coaching market this summer.

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