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Archives for July 2024

Red Wings Sign Cam Talbot, William Lagesson

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Darren Dreger of TSN reports the Detroit Red Wings have signed goaltender Cam Talbot to a two-year, $5MM contract. Additionally, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff the Red Wings have also signed defenseman William Lagesson to a one-year contract paying him the league minimum of $775K.

Throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, the Red Wings used four different goaltenders as the team posted a .897 save percentage and a 3.33 GA/G. Hoping to rectify some of the inconsistency in the net, Detroit landed Talbot on a two-year deal after an impressive season with the Los Angeles Kings.

Playing on another one-year contract, Talbot posted a 27-20-6 record in 52 starts and a solid .913 save percentage behind a solid Kings’ defense. With one of the main criticisms behind the Red Wings’ poor goals-against being their defense, it will be interesting to see how Talbot can perform behind a less capable defensive structure. Additionally, if netminder Ville Husso can remain healthy for the 2024-25 season, head coach Derek Lalonde will get crafty in his decision-making to spread out the available starts.

Lagesson comes to the Motor City after a disappointing season split between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks. Likely destined for AHL Grand Rapids, the former fourth-round pick is coming off a season in which he scored only four assists in 40 games while averaging almost 15 minutes of ice time per game. Lagesson has value as a physical defenseman but shouldn’t factor in too much at the NHL level in a crowded Detroit blue line.

Canucks Sign Jake DeBrusk, Four Others

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The Canucks have signed forward Jake DeBrusk to a seven-year deal with a $5.5MM cap hit, the team announced. They’re also bringing in depth winger Kiefer Sherwood on a two-year deal worth $1.5MM annually. Continuing to add to their forward core, the team also announced a two-year, $4.5MM contract for Danton Heinen. Switching over the blue line, the team has announced a one-year, $1.5MM contract with defenseman Derek Forbort. They later brought in center Nathan Smith on a one-year deal, per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal.

DeBrusk has a no-move clause for the first three years of his contract, per TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. It converts to a 15-team no-trade clause for the remainder of the deal. The full breakdown of the deal can be found via PuckPedia.

DeBrusk is finally moving on from the Boston Bruins, after spending much of the last three seasons surrounded by trade rumors. He’s found his scoring groove in that stretch, kicked off by a strong 25 goals and 42 points in 2021-22. DeBrusk followed that up with a career-high 50 points, while tying his high of 27 goals, and then posted 40 points this year. The performances have left a strong hint of upside left untouched in DeBrusk, who should be poised for a prime position in Vancouver’s top-nine after Elias Lindholm’s signing in Boston. It will be DeBrusk’s first NHL experience outside of Boston, having recorded all 266 points and 465 games of his career with the Bruins.

He’ll be flanked by a trio of depth forwards in Heinen, Sherwood, and Smith. Of the bunch, it’s Heinen who’s earned the most recent acclaim, having posted 17 goals and 36 points with the Bruins this season. It was a standout year after Heinen managed just 22 points last season – painting him as an inconsistent but serviceable third-line winger. That’s exactly the role he’ll be asked to fill, in place of Ilya Mikheyev, who was moved to the Chicago Blackhawks. Sherwood should also earn a role in the wake of that trade, with a breakout 10 goals and 27 points this year putting him in a good position to fill Sam Lafferty’s role on Vancouver’s bottom line. He’ll face competition from a long list of Canucks prospects, as well as from Smith – who spent last year posting 31 points in 60 games with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners.

Finally, Forbort will provide the stout veteran presence on the blue-line left by Ian Cole. Forbort, also moving over from Boston, has signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with the Canucks – following a meager four assists in 35 games this season. He faced injuries for much of the year, though, and still found a way to make serviceable defensive impacts when he stepped into the lineup. He’ll be exactly what the doctor ordered for a Canucks team in need of firm defensive depth.

Kings Sign Joel Edmundson To Four-Year Contract

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Los Angeles Kings are close to signing free agent defenseman Joel Edmundson to a four-year, $15.2MM contract. The deal has been made official, per CapFriendly, moving Edmundson to the West Coast and completing the feat of playing in all four divisions.

Edmundson was a popular defender at the 2024 Trade Deadline, with his rights ultimately being moved from the Washington Capitals to the Toronto Maple Leafs, though Edmundson would play in just nine regular season games with the Leafs while nursing an undisclosed injury. He also appeared in seven postseason games, recording one assist – his lone point in 16 games with Toronto.

Amidst a turnover of their defense, and perhaps anticipating their big additions in free agency, Toronto opted to leave Edmundson unsigned, putting him back in a market excited about his hefty frame and long reach. The Kings were one of many teams tied to the defender, alongside Boston, Utah, and his original club of St. Louis, shares TSN’s Darren Dreger.

That competition may have sparked a July 1st bidding war, as Edmundson will walk away from free agency with a $350K raise from his last contract, despite posting just 32 points in 193 games over the course of the contract. He’ll look to support Los Angeles in the loss of Matt Roy, who’s held down a confident top-line role for the last three years. Top-pair minutes will likely go to Vladislav Gavrikov or Michael Anderson before they go to Edmundson, though the 31-year-old defender could be primed for a boost in ice time after middling through third-pairings over the last three seasons.

Capitals Sign Brandon Duhaime

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Washington Capitals have signed forward Brandon Duhaime to a two-year, $3.7MM contract.

Duhaime, 27, joins his third team in the past few months. The fourth-line energy winger first broke into the league with the Wild in 2021-22, unexpectedly playing in 80 of 82 games while providing solid value with 17 points, 122 PIMs and 201 hits while averaging 10:13 per game.

He hasn’t quite rediscovered that level of play, though, and injuries hampered his effectiveness over the next few seasons in Minnesota. The Wild dealt him to the Avalanche at the trade deadline, where he finished the season with five points and 53 hits in 18 games. In playoff action with Colorado, he mustered a goal and a -2 rating in 11 games but averaged fewer than eight minutes a night.

He’ll look to reprise a fourth-line role in Washington as he helps ease the loss of Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, key parts of their bottom six last year that both found their way to the Sabres via trade and free agency.

Blue Jackets, Sean Monahan Agree To Terms On Five-Year Deal

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The Blue Jackets are signing center Sean Monahan to a five-year deal worth $5.5MM per season, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports. The team later made the deal official.

Monahan, 29, gets a solid chunk of stability after persevering through a multitude of injury-plagued campaigns and re-solidifying himself as a top-six center this season. After recording just 40 points in 90 games across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Monahan rebounded for 26 goals and 59 points in 83 games last year split between the Canadiens and Jets.

He was a great fit in Winnipeg after they picked him up from Montreal via trade, anchoring their second line behind Mark Scheifele and providing important secondary scoring with 13 goals in 34 games. Most believed there was a good chance of him sticking around with the Jets, but after he was limited to one assist in five playoff games in their first-round loss to the Avalanche, he’s moving east to the Blue Jackets.

In Columbus, Monahan has the chance to reunite with longtime Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau on his wing in a top-six role. Monahan’s career-defining season came with Gaudreau on his wing in Calgary in 2018-19, helping him to a career-high 34 goals and 82 points.

Expecting Monahan to rediscover that kind of scoring is unlikely, especially with Gaudreau undergoing a difficult run since signing with the Jackets (just 12 goals and 60 points in 81 games last year). But giving him potential first-line minutes should give GM Don Waddell a solid return on his investment, even if five years of term is a tad steep for a player with a significant recent injury history.

Monahan should give some insulation and flexibility to Columbus’ developing core of young forwards, namely allowing Adam Fantilli to occupy a more comfortable secondary role in 2024-25 after missing a solid chunk of his rookie year due to a calf laceration.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Sabres Sign Jason Zucker

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a one-year, $5MM contract with free agent forward Jason Zucker.

Zucker, 32, projects to be a cheaper veteran replacement for Jeff Skinner, who had the final three seasons of his $9MM AAV contract bought out on Saturday. Unfortunately, he’s also a lower-ceiling option. Zucker had just 14 goals in 69 games split between the Coyotes and Predators last season, his lowest offensive output in a healthy season since 2015-16.

He’s still a viable depth scoring option, just likely not in a top-six role for a team intent on making the playoffs. Buffalo likely believes there’s some rebound potential they can unlock by sticking him with some faster, younger linemates – potentially in the top six alongside Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. However, Zucker is seven years removed from his career-best 33-goal, 64-point season in Minnesota – is it fair to expect him to sniff rediscovering that?

Zucker does play a physical game for his smallish frame (5’11”, 192 lbs), though, an area Skinner’s game notably lacked. It’s a facet of Buffalo’s team game they’re likely looking to improve under head coach Lindy Ruff next season. Unlike Skinner, Zucker also has a strong history of recent possession numbers and plays a much more well-rounded game. Still, for a $5MM price tag, they’re likely hoping for at least 20 goals and 45 points out of him this year.

Oilers To Sign Viktor Arvidsson

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the Edmonton Oilers have agreed on a contract with forward Viktor Arvidsson. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, it will be a two-year, $8MM agreement between Arvidsson and the Oilers.

It’s a nice value signing for acting GM Jeff Jackson, who gets a more experienced and dependable linemate for Leon Draisaitl. The 31-year-old Arvidsson didn’t have a ton of market value this summer after being limited to just 18 games with injuries last season, but he still managed six goals and nine assists for 15 points for the Kings when in the lineup. He scored at least 20 goals in each of his two seasons in L.A. and had 59 points, the second-highest tally of his career, in 2022-23.

Now, Arvidsson jumps to the other side of a burgeoning Edmonton-Los Angeles rivalry after losing to the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for three years in a row. He’s scored 30 goals twice in his career, although they both came during his time with the Predators in the 2010s.

If he stays healthy, he should easily outperform his $4MM cap hit in an advantageous situation alongside either Draisaitl or Connor McDavid, but likely the former. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2026.

Bruins Sign Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov

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The Bruins have made two gigantic free-agent splashes. They’re bringing in center Elias Lindholm on a seven-year contract worth $7.75MM per season, Chris Johnston of The Athletic reports. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov is also signing with Boston, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. He adds it’s a six-year, $5MM AAV deal for Zadorov.

For Lindholm, it appears he didn’t lose too much market value after a difficult season offensively. The 2022 Selke Trophy finalist was likely in line for an eight-year extension valued in the $8MM-$9MM range annually had he signed while with the Flames at the beginning of last season, but with Calgary not headed in the direction of contention, he opted not to stick around long-term.

He then embarked on a difficult regular season split between Calgary and Vancouver thanks to a mid-season blockbuster deal, limited to 15 goals and 44 points in 75 games with a -14 rating. It was his worst showing on the scoresheet since 2017-18 when he was still a 23-year-old developing center with the Hurricanes.

Lindholm did well to rebuild his value in postseason action with the Canucks, though. They took the eventual Western Conference champion Oilers to seven games in Round Two, and Lindholm’s production was a big part of that. Serving in a middle-six center role behind J.T. Miller, Lindholm found his game offensively and scored five goals and five assists in 13 games.

A strong faceoff taker, Lindholm projects to slot into the Bruins’ first-line center spot and be a stylistic replacement for the retired Patrice Bergeron, although he doesn’t have the same skill level at either end compared to the future Hall-of-Fame pivot. $7.75MM per season is a steep price to pay for someone who only offered middle-six production last season, but they’re hoping it’s just a blip. Now 29, Lindholm has averaged 20 minutes per game multiple times in his career and has a lengthy recent history of anchoring strong two-way top lines.

Zadorov is also a bit of a gamble at his price tag. The 6’6″, 250-lb defender had a strong market, though, and few should be surprised at what he landed in the end. The brutish blue liner had a career-high 120 PIMs in 2023-24, coupled with 20 points and an even rating in 74 games while logging 17:26 per contest. Like Lindholm, he split the campaign between the Flames and Canucks, although they each found their way to Vancouver in separate trades.

It’s a significant chunk of change for a player who’s never spent time in a top-four role consistently, but his price tag suggests he’ll be doing that in Boston for the next half-decade. The 29-year-old could very well start next season on Boston’s top pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy as the replacement for Matt Grzelcyk, who departed for the Penguins in free agency today.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Utah Signs Ian Cole, Kevin Stenlund, Kevin Connauton

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The Utah Hockey Club continues to add on defense. They’re bringing in veteran Ian Cole on a one-year, $3.1MM contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Later, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Utah is adding center Kevin Stenlund on a two-year deal worth $2MM per season. Dreger adds they’re signing defenseman Kevin Connauton to a two-year, two-way deal worth $775K.

Utah marks Cole’s sixth team in the last five years. The 35-year-old defenseman spent last season on a one-year pact with the Canucks, where he served as a serviceable bottom-four shutdown blue-liner. In 78 regular-season appearances, he had 11 points and a +10 rating while averaging 18:41 per game. While his possession metrics were strong for his difficult defensive usage, he had some difficult moments in the postseason and was viewed as a more unlikely candidate to re-sign in Vancouver than names like Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers.

In Utah’s first year, Cole projects to slide into a bottom-pairing role on the left side behind Mikhail Sergachev and Juuso Välimäki, although he can play the right side if necessary. He’ll be relied on heavily to swallow penalty kill minutes and help absorb the loss of top PKers Travis Dermott and J.J. Moser, who aren’t returning after spending last season with the Coyotes.

Stenlund, meanwhile, earns the biggest payday of his life after centering the Panthers’ fourth line in their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup. After spending a few seasons bouncing between the NHL and AHL, he cemented a full-time roster spot in Florida this season and missed just one regular-season game, recording a career-high 11 goals and 15 points in the process. Like Cole, he won’t have much of an impact offensively but should work alongside existing forwards Nick Bjugstad, Lawson Crouse and Alexander Kerfoot as Utah’s top-used forwards shorthanded.

Connauton, meanwhile, is slated for minor-league minutes with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. The 6’2″, 205-lb defender spent last season with the Ontario Reign while under contract with the Kings, serving as an alternate captain and logging 18 points and a +18 rating in 61 games. He previously played a pair of games for Tucson while a member of the Coyotes organization in the 2016-17 campaign, posting a goal and two assists. The 34-year-old brings 360 games of NHL experience across 10 seasons should his services be needed in Salt Lake.

Senators Sign David Perron, Michael Amadio, Three Others

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The Senators have picked up forward Noah Gregor on a one-year deal worth $850K, per Sports 1440’s Jason Gregor. He became a UFA after being non-tendered by the Maple Leafs yesterday. Additionally, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch announces the Senators are nearing an agreement with David Perron that will likely check in around $4MM a season. Furthermore, the Senators continue to round out their forward core as Darren Dreger of TSN reports the team has also agreed to terms with Michael Amadio on a three-year, $7.8MM contract.

Attacking the middle and bottom six of their forward core, the Senators made several improvements without having to dish out much capital. As the most sizeable addition regarding salary figures, Perron brings a good work ethic and leadership capabilities to a young Ottawa roster.

Over the last two years spent with the Detroit Red Wings organization, Perron scored 41 goals and 103 points in 158 games, with 39 of those points coming on Detroit’s powerplay. The veteran forward also elevated his physical play as he amassed 218 total body checks in a top-six role. In Ottawa, the Senators can move Perron up and down the lineup depending on team needs and matchups as he enters the twilight years of his career.

Amadio and Gregor will both improve Ottawa’s bottom six this upcoming season. As one of the more underrated bottom six players in the league over the last few seasons, Amadio scored 41 goals and 72 points over 193 games for the Vegas Golden Knights while averaging 11:25 minutes of ice time per night. Gregor has shown flashes of 20-point campaigns in the past but only managed to score six goals and 12 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.

The team also announced they’ve inked minor league forward Garrett Pilon to a two-year, two-way contract with a $775K cap hit. Lastly, there’s another minor-league signing in the form of defenseman Jeremy Davies, who joins on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K NHL/$350K AHL.

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