The month of August is in the books which means training camps are getting a lot closer now. It was a relatively quiet week around the hockey world which isn’t uncommon for this time of year but there was still some news of note which is recapped in our key stories.
Calling It A Career: Veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie has hung his skates, announcing his retirement at the age of 34. When asked why now by NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy (Twitter link), Barrie jokingly said it was a decision made in tandem with all 32 teams, suggesting his desire was to keep playing but no offers were coming. He was once a premier offensive defenseman but had struggled in recent years, only getting into 13 games with Calgary last season. Barrie ends his career with 508 points in 822 games over 14 NHL seasons, including four 50-point campaigns, a very solid career for a player drafted in the third round by Colorado back in 2009.
A Case Of When, Not If: Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been in trade speculation for a while but there remains the possibility of a contract extension as well. Some cold water was poured on that by team captain Mikael Backlund who indicated that after talking to the blueliner, he’s going to get traded with Andersson hoping that his situation won’t become a distraction. The 28-year-old has been a top-pairing defender for Calgary for several years now while averaging 42 points over the last four seasons. That has him in position for a significant increase on his $4.55MM AAV and it appears that contract will be coming from somewhere else.
Still Lots Of Work To Do: Devils defenseman Luke Hughes is one of the top remaining restricted free agents. Usually, there’s a lot of haggling still to do with money in these situations. However, on top of that, it appears as if the sides are far apart on term as well. New Jersey’s preference appears to be either a short-term bridge deal or a long-term one while Hughes would prefer a five-year pact that takes him to free agency at the same time as his brother Jack Hughes. Notably, he has five RFA-eligible years remaining, meaning such a move wouldn’t gain the Devils any extra years of control which is the exact situation they want to avoid. Clearly, there’s a long way to go before the two sides reach an agreement.
Carolina Tryouts: The end of August and early September is often colloquially known as PTO season in the NHL. With guaranteed deals less likely, players will start settling for tryouts with the hopes of landing a full-season contract from there. The Hurricanes are the latest team to go that route, reaching PTO deals with defenseman Oliver Kylington and winger Givani Smith. Between injuries and a personal leave, Kylington hasn’t played much in recent years and only got into 19 games between Colorado and Anaheim last season where he had five points in a little over 12 minutes a night of ice time. He could find himself battling for a reserve spot on the back end. As for Smith, he got into just 13 NHL games last season, logging barely six minutes a night in those outings while being in the minors the rest of the way. Speculatively, he’ll be vying for a two-way deal that would have him likely starting in the AHL and hoping for a recall.
Off To Switzerland: One player who looked like he’d be involved in PTO season was veteran blueliner Jan Rutta. However, instead of going that way, he has decided to play in Switzerland, inking a two-year contract with Geneve-Servette. He didn’t make his NHL debut until his age-27 back in 2017-18 with Chicago and leaves with 417 outings over parts of eight seasons. Rutta had 98 points and 479 blocked shots in those outings along with a pair of Stanley Cup victories from his time with Tampa Bay.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
How can anyone get past a -38 and trade for Andersson?