Free agent winger Arthur Kaliyev is landing with the Senators, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Contract terms have yet to be revealed.
Kaliyev spent time with the Kings and Rangers last season but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from New York on Monday, making him an unrestricted free agent. He only appeared in game action for the Rangers after being claimed off waivers in January following a clavicle fracture, limited to three goals and one assist in 14 games while averaging 11:13 of ice time.
It’s fair to say the Blueshirts didn’t get a fair look at Kaliyev, who also spent the last month of the season on injured reserve with an upper-body issue. The 2019 second-round pick is a skilled shooter and was previously an effective depth scorer for L.A. in bottom six minutes, although his individual defensive weaknesses resulted in long stretches in the press box. Over his 202-game NHL career, Kaliyev averages 15 goals and 30 points per 82 games despite seeing just north of 12 minutes per game of ice time.
That makes him an intriguing buy-low candidate for the Senators, who didn’t do much to augment their forward group yesterday outside of a one-year deal for veteran bottom-six center Lars Eller. They hope he can have a similar impact to Adam Gaudette, who broke out for 19 goals last season in a fourth-line role on a league-minimum deal. He departed for the warmer waters of San Jose on a two-year, $4MM deal yesterday.
Kid has a nasty shot. I want to see him get some mid six minutes and time on the power play to see what he can really do.
Kings gave up on him too soon!
Not qualified by NYR… Come to grips guys, he’s not that good.