Mason Raymond On Waivers
Oct. 18: Raymond has cleared waivers. Eric Stephens notes via Twitter that remains with the big club for the time being.
Oct. 17: The Anaheim Ducks have place veteran winger Mason Raymond on waivers, according to TVA Sports reporter Renaud Lavoie.
Raymond was brought in to Anaheim on a one-year, two-way contract worth $675K. He made the team out of training camp, but was held pointless in three games with a -2 rating. The Ducks are 0-2-1 so far this season.
The speedy Raymond played six seasons with the Vancouver Canucks before signing with Toronto in 2013. He had a successful 45-point season with the Maple Leafs, which earned him a three-year, $9.45MM contract from the Calgary Flames in 2014. He’s scored 28 points in 89 games since then.
Raymond was bought out of the final year of his contract by the Flames in June.
Speaking of the Flames, newly-signed depth goaltender Tom McCollum has cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Stockton Heat of the AHL.
Snapshots: Rask, Yakupov, Despres
Veteran goalie Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins didn’t enjoy his best season in 2015-16, finishing with a 91.5% Save % and a GAA of 2.56. Both those rates constituted the worst of Rask’s career to date but as Joe Haggerty writes, the Finnish goalie is using that experience as a learning tool to prepare for the ups-and-downs likely to come in 2016-17.
With the Bruins in the midst of a transition, Rask is likely going to face more adversity this season but he feels the experiences of a year ago have made him “mentally tougher,” and less likely to let a soft or fluke goal affect his game. Rask has already demonstrated this new approach in the Bruins first regular season contest. As Haggerty notes, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored the game’s first goal, a floater from just inside the blue line, and would tally again later in the opening period, but Rask rebounded by stopping 21 of the final 22 shots he faced to earn the victory. Last season the outcome might have been different, but the work Rask put in on the mental aspect of the game paid off for one night at least.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- While things didn’t end well in Edmonton for Nail Yakupov, the talented winger is off to a great start with St. Louis and he’s impressing his new head coach and teammates, according to Norm Sanders of the Belleville News-Democrat. Following a two-point performance in the Blues’ 3 – 2 win over Minnesota, Ken Hitchcock had this to say about his newest player: “Much better defensively than I thought. He’s got great outside speed. What I liked more than anything was his conscience. His conscience was there. We’re not trying to overwhelm him by having him do a bunch of things. We’re just going to keep it five on five for the first week to 10 days and see how much he can absorb there.” Veteran scoring forward Alex Steen has been impressed with Yakupov’s decision-making in the early going: “Smart decisions with the puck (and) he’s obviously individually very skilled and makes plays in tight areas. We’re happy to have him.” Yakupov has a ways to go to alter the negative reputation he earned as a member of the Oilers but so far he has done everything the Blues have asked for and may finally be on his way to fulfilling his vast potential.
- The Ducks, already without blue line stalwart Hampus Lindholm, who remains unsigned as a RFA, could be without fellow defenseman Simon Despres as well. Despres left Thursday’s game against the Stars with what is being called an “upper-body-injury,” and his status is unclear, as noted by Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register. Ducks GM Bob Murray said this about Despres: “He was not feeling good last night. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with him. … Something’s wrong here and we’re going to get to bottom of it here.” Stephens relays that Murray also referenced Despres’ past issues with head injuries, which seems to hint that the Ducks are concerned this may in fact be another concussion.
Snapshots: Russell, Lucic, Ducks, Pardy, Rangers
Following yet another disappointing campaign for Edmonton in 2015-16, GM Peter Chiarelli orchestrated several changes to his team’s roster this offseason in an effort to build a playoff contender. Chiarelli dealt away two former first overall draft picks, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov (receiving Adam Larsson, a marginal prospect and a conditional draft choice in return), while signing free agents Milan Lucic and Kris Russell in free agency. Many in the hockey community at large weren’t particularly fond of Chiarelli’s moves and while it’s far too early to make any definitive judgement, through two games Lucic and Russell have done exactly what the Oilers and Chiarelli hoped for, as David Staples of the Edmonton Journal writes.
Staples has been tracking scoring chances for and against for every Oilers skater through two games. His research shows that Connor McDavid, who has simply been phenomenal already with six points on the young season, has been Edmonton’s best player by far, helping to generate better than six more scoring chances for than against, per 15 minutes of ice time. Lucic is second in that category with a differential of 4.82. Russell leads the defense corps with a 2.34 differential per 15 minutes of ice time. Incredibly, Russell has yet to make a single error leading to an opposition scoring chance through two games, based on Staples’ tracking.
Again, it’s too early to conclude anything for certain but the early returns on Lucic and Russell have to be encouraging for Chiarelli and Co. Obviously this team will only go as far as their superstar captain McDavid will lead, but should his two prized free agent acquisitions continue to perform at this level, Edmonton might yet prove the pundits wrong and compete for a playoff spot in 2016-17.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Could the Anaheim Ducks soon find themselves at a crossroads with a roster core too old to compete for a Stanley Cup? Eric Stepens, who covers the team, asks that question in a post that appears in the Los Angeles Daily News. Stephens notes that the team’s three best forwards, Ryan Getzlaf (31), Corey Perry (31) and Ryan Kesler (32) are all on the wrong side of 30. At the same time, many of the league’s top stars – Johnny Gaudreau (23), McDavid (19), Auston Matthews (19) – are in their early-20’s or even younger. Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler also account for $23.75MM, or nearly one-third of this year’s salary cap, now that Kesler’s massive extension kicked in. These commitments leaves less space for the Ducks to flesh out the rest of their roster with quality talent as evidenced by their struggles to reach agreements with restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm.
- After being released from his PTO with Florida, Adam Pardy has agreed to sign an AHL deal with the Panthers organization, tweets Harvey Fialkov. Pardy will report to Springfield and provide an experienced blue line depth option for Florida. He has appeared in 338 NHL games over parts of eight seasons. Pardy previously has seen action in the league with Calgary, Buffalo, Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg.
- New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault was quite specific in how he put his forward lines together to start the 2016-17 campaign. By design, the team would ice three lines capable of scoring while the fourth line was to be comprised of “penalty killers and defensive specialists.” But after introducing rookies Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey to the lineup, a couple of skilled veterans slid down the depth chart and onto the team’s fourth line. As Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes, the presence of Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner at the bottom of the Rangers lineup has already paid dividends for the Blue Shirts. Grabner, a once tallied 34 goals as a member of the Islanders, netted the first marker of the season for the Rangers. Pirri, meanwhile, assisted on Grabner’s goal and potted his first as a New York Ranger on the power play. As long as the duo remain defensively-responsible, their ability to put the puck in the net will be welcome on the teams fourth line.
Ducks Sign Rickard Rakell To A Six Year Deal
The Ducks have come to terms with one of their two remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they have re-signed center Rickard Rakell to a six year deal. TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that the deal will carry a cap hit of $3.8MM (Twitter link).
Rakell had been named to Sweden’s roster for the World Cup of Hockey but had to withdraw due to complications arising from an appendectomy he had back in March. While he was able to play in pre-tournament action last month, he was hospitalized shortly thereafter. He has since received the green light to resume training.
Last season was Rakell’s second full NHL campaign and he improved on his freshman numbers. In 72 games last year, he potted 20 goals and added 23 assists while averaging 16:04 in ice time. He also played in all seven postseason games, picking up another goal and an assist.
Once Rakell is able to return to the lineup (which will be at least a couple of weeks away, Eric Stephens of the OC Register reports via Twitter), it’s likely that he will play as the Ducks’ second line center behind Ryan Getzlaf.
[Related: Ducks Depth Chart]
Anaheim still has one remaining RFA to deal with in defenseman Hampus Lindholm. Cap space is at a premium for the team, as they have less than $400K in room to work with per Cap Friendly (though that amount will increase slightly when they remove someone from the roster to open up a spot for Rakell). Still, it seems likely that they will need to make a trade when they do come to terms with their young blueliner.
Successful Waiver Wire Pickups
As teams frantically worked to trim their rosters to the league-mandated, 23-man limit this week, several interesting players were exposed to waivers, eligible to be picked up by new teams for nothing more than assuming the remaining term of the player’s contract. Occasionally the claiming team lands a talented young player who simply didn’t have an opportunity to crack the lineup of his former employer due to the presence of experienced veterans. Other times it doesn’t work out, but it’s still a worthwhile gamble for clubs that may not have better options already on their roster.
In the last few days, Emerson Etem (Vancouver to Anaheim), P.A. Parenteau (New York Islanders to New Jersey), Teemu Pulkkinen (Detroit to Minnesota) and Martin Frk (Detroit to Carolina) changed clubs via waivers. All, with the exception of Parenteau, are younger players still looking to establish themselves as regular NHL contributors. Obviously, their new teams are hoping their faith in these players will be rewarded. Here are a few examples of younger players who have changed teams via waivers and have gone on to carve solid NHL careers for themselves.
Chris Kunitz – Originally signed in 2003 as an undrafted free agent by Anaheim, Kunitz would appear in 21 games with the Mighty Ducks, as they were known then, during the 2003-04 campaign. Following the lockout which wiped out the entire 2004-05 schedule and just before the 2005-06 season began, Kunitz was picked up by the then Atlanta Thrashers on waivers. He would last just two weeks in Atlanta, seeing action in two games before being placed on waivers again and being claimed by Anaheim.
Kunitz would go on to tally 192 points in 313 regular season games over parts of the next four seasons with the Might Ducks/Ducks as he firmly established himself as a quality middle-six winger. He was later dealt to Pittsburgh where he really blossomed as a top-six scorer. Kunitz has potted 20+plus goals in four of his seven full seasons with the Penguins and has netted 359 points in 498 games during that time.
I once had occasion to speak with a high-ranking member of the Ducks front office who told me that of all the acquisitions he personally had a hand in, both the original signing of Kunitz and bringing him back via waivers qualified as two of his proudest achievements.
Kyle Quincey – Quincey was Detroit’s fourth-round selection in the 2003 draft and would suit up for 13 contests over parts of three seasons. He would be placed on waivers in October of 2008 and was claimed by the L.A. Kings. In his first season in Southern California, Quincey scored 38 points which is still the 11-year veteran’s career best total. In 495 career NHL games, Quincey has tallied 30 goals and 140 points, while averaging better than 20 minutes of ice time.
David Schlemko – While not a household name and maybe not young by today’s standards, Schlemko has proven himself to be at least a quality third-pair defender since the start of the 2015-16 season. An undrafted free agent signing by the Arizona/Phoenix franchise back in 2007, Schlemko would spend parts of seven seasons with the Coyotes before being placed on waivers during the 2014-15 season. The Stars would grab Schlemko and he would spend five games in Dallas before hitting the waiver wire again, with the Calgary Flames winning the claim. He would finish without a point in 19 games with Calgary and became an unrestricted free agent following the season, ultimately joining the Devils on a one-year deal. Schlemko would finish with career-highs in games played, goals, assists and points with the Devils and would parlay that steady play into a four-year deal with San Jose this past summer.
Andrej Nestrasil – Nestrasil was chosen by Detroit in the third-round of the 2009 draft and spent most of his time in the organization playing in the minors with Grand Rapids in the AHL and Toledo in the ECHL. His best minor league campaign came in 2013-14 with Grand Rapids, scoring 36 points in 70 games. He debuted in the NHL with Detroit during the 2014-15 campaign but was placed on waivers after appearing in 13 games and claimed by Carolina. Finally given a regular role, Nestrasil has responded for the Hurricanes, totaling 41 points in 96 games for Carolina. He’s also been an excellent puck possession driver, recording a 55.0% Corsi For % since joining the Hurricanes.
Of course with the possible exception of Kunitz, none of the above mentioned players can be considered stars, either today or at any point in their respective careers. But they’ve each developed into quality NHL players who can fill a regular role and that has value in today’s NHL. Any of the teams who claimed a player this week would be happy if their new acquisition developed into a quality regular.
Ducks Claim Emerson Etem Off Waivers
The Anaheim Ducks have claimed winger Emerson Etem off waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The speedy forward will now rejoin the organization that first drafted him (29th overall in 2010).
Last season, Etem started the year with the Rangers after being acquired in the offseason as part of a package for Carl Hagelin (who the Ducks later dealt to Pittsburgh). He spent 19 games on Broadway, picking up just three assists while logging a little more than 11 minutes per game in ice time before being dealt to Vancouver in exchange for Nicklas Jensen and a sixth round pick.
Etem played more of a regular role with the Canucks, suiting up in 39 contests while scoring seven goals and five assists. His ice time also jumped to 14:10 per game, a career high. However, he was beat out for the final spot on Vancouver’s roster to start the season which resulted in him being waived on Wednesday.
In his career, the 24 year old has played in 170 games between the Ducks, Rangers, and Canucks, scoring 22 goals while adding 24 assists. He’ll likely battle for a spot in Anaheim’s bottom six as he looks to make good on his second go-round in California.
[Related: Ducks Depth Chart]
Snapshots: Gaudreau, Staal, Ritchie, Fedotenko
It went almost right down to the wire but eventually, the Calgary Flames and RW Johnny Gaudreau found common ground on a long-term arrangement. Given that the team was adamant Gaudreau’s new deal not exceed that recently signed by top defenseman Mark Giordano – $6.75MM annually – and the player’s insistence for a more lucrative pact, the two sides were able to bridge a sizable gap in relatively short order. According to Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun, it wasn’t until Gaudreau himself became active in the negotiations and realized the Flames offer was more than fair given the circumstances, that the deal was struck.
Because he only had two years of NHL experience, Gaudreau was not eligible for arbitration nor could he sign an offer sheet with another organization. Without these rights, Gaudreau’s leverage was severely limited. Gaudreau’s pact surpasses that recently reached with Sean Monahan and matches Giordano’s.
While Gaudreau may have backed off his salary demands somewhat, the Flames had to give in other areas as well to get the deal done. Gaudreau received a partial no-trade clause in the final year of the arrangement and the contract buys out only one year of unrestricted free agency. It was thought Calgary was pushing for a max contract of eight years but that would have bought out three seasons of free agency and likely would have justified a higher average annual salary demand.
As Francis notes, at the end of the day the Flames get one of the league’s best young talents and a cornerstone of their franchise under long-term contract for a price that shouldn’t hinder their salary cap flexibility. On the other hand Gaudreau gets a nice raise for a player with only two years of NHL experience and he will be eligible to test unrestricted free agency when he is 29-years-old.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Despite a disappointing 2015-16 campaign split between Carolina and the New York Rangers, Eric Staal was still expected to land a lucrative deal as one of the few free agents with a track record of top line offensive production. Surprisingly, Staal agreed to terms with the Minnesota Wild on a three-year deal worth $3.5MM annually; an AAV notably less than what he may have received elsewhere. But, as Mike Russo of the Star Tribune writes, it was more important for Staal to find the right fit than it was about landing a big contract. Staal: “I know I can be a very good player. So my focus July 1 [in free agency] was finding a fit where I’m going to be counted on, and get a chance and be on a team that’s going to win. This team is good enough to win and good enough to win now. I feel like this is almost the second part of my career, the start of the second half.” While the general consensus is that the soon-to-be-32-year-old Staal has slowed down, Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau doesn’t see it that way: “He can skate as fast as he ever did. Everybody told me he slowed down, yet every drill we do skating-wise, he’s led. His shot is the same, the way he handles the puck is the same, the way he practices has been tremendous. He’s a very smart person. Just a real pro.” Staal is expected to assume the top center slot with the Wild and will be counted on to help lead the way offensively.
- The Anaheim Ducks boast a tremendous one-two punch in center Ryan Getzlaf and right wing Corey Perry. Over the years the Ducks have played the two stars together on the same line and while the duo has provided excellent production, the team has failed in numerous attempts to find the right skater to make the duo a trio. Patrick Maroon, Carl Hagelin and David Perron are just a few of the players the Ducks have employed on the left side of Getzlaf, but none managed to stick for long. But perhaps the team has finally found a long-term solution and as Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register writes, the young and talented Nick Ritchie views the opportunity to play on the same line as Getzlaf and Perry as a “privilege.” Ritchie, just 20, has tremendous size at 6-foot-2 and 232 pounds and enough skill to eventually develop into one of the league’s top power forwards. He debuted in the NHL in 2015-16, netting just two goals and four points in 33 games but if he can first earn, then keep his spot on the top line, he’s likely to have a more successful sophomore campaign.
- Veteran winger Ruslan Fedotenko announced his official retirement following a 12-year NHL career, per a release on the NHLPA website. Fedetenko bounced around the league, spending time with five different organizations and winning two Stanley Cups. In 863 career contests, Fedotenko potted 173 goals and tallied 366 points to go along with 472 penalty minutes. While he hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since 2012-13, Fedetenko attempted a comeback this past season, signing with the Minnesota Wild. He would play in 29 games for the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa, scoring three goals and seven points. Fedotenko may be best remembered for scoring both goals in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2 – 1 Stanley Cup-clinching game seven win in 2004 over Calgary.
Sabres Agree To Terms With Ristolainen
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray has confirmed earlier reports that the team has signed Rasmus Ristolainen to a new contract, as John Vogl of The Buffalo News tweets. Terms of the new arrangement are unknown at this point.
Ristolainen developed into the team’s top blue liner in 2015-16, scoring nine goals with 32 helpers. The three-year veteran has tallied 19 goals and 65 points in 194 games during his career.
Bob McKenzie adds that the deal is for six years and worth an average of $5.4MM annually. He notes the contract is identical to the one recently agreed to between fellow right-handed defenseman Seth Jones and Columbus.
The signing leaves the Sabres with just a shade less than $2MM of cap space with 23 players under contract – 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies – as Cap Friendly notes.
With Ristolainen under contract, only three prominent RFAs remain unsigned: Hampus Lindholm, Rickard Rakell and Jacob Trouba. Mckenzie speculates that the Ristolainen contract represents the absolute floor for Lindholm. It will be interesting to see whether this agreement helps push the negotiations between Lindholm and the Ducks any closer to a resolution.
Ducks Expected To Make Trade Once Rakell, Lindholm Sign
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Anaheim Ducks are going to have to make a deal after completing contracts with their currently pending restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm. As discussed on this site yesterday, Rakell isn’t any closer to a deal with the Ducks, however McKenzie does hear that the two sides are close on money and term and that it’s something else holding up the deal.
Either way, when Rakell and Lindholm come in for something around $9MM combined, the Ducks will be way over the cap and need to shed some salary. McKenzie says as much in a tweet today, in which he suggests that Cam Fowler will be the odd man out in Anaheim and be on the move while the ink is still drying.
If it is Fowler, one would imagine many teams would be after the 24-year old. The former first-round pick will have over 450 games in the NHL before his 25th birthday, bringing a mixture of youth and experience to whichever team lands him. Fowler is owed $8MM over the next two seasons, a fine number for a player who many would consider a top-4 defenseman. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent following the 2017-18 season, and be looking for a long-term deal.
The Ducks seemingly have painted themselves into a corner this summer, with the addition of Jonathan Bernier‘s deal. If Frederik Andersen being shipped to Toronto was a cost-saving measure, it has been completely undone by taking the former Leafs goaltender back. The Ducks are expected to start John Gibson for the majority of their games this season, despite making almost $2MM less than Bernier.
There is also the impending expansion draft, in which one of the Ducks young defenders is sure to be at risk, as the picture stands currently. If the team was to start moving pieces like Fowler out however, perhaps they’ll be able to keep their whole pipeline intact.
Rickard Rakell, Ducks Remain Far Away From Deal
While anything can change in an instant, it appears as though Rickard Rakell is no closer to a deal with the Anaheim Ducks. Julie Stewart-Binks of FOX Sports caught up with Rakell’s agent, who told her the two sides are still “not looking at things the same way”. This comes just days after a report that said no progress had been made in negotiations, despite both sides wanting a long-term deal done before the season starts.
Rakell, as discussed at length on this site, is one of the remaining restricted free agents without a contract for the upcoming season. While Johnny Gaudreau signed with the Flames today, and Nikita Kucherov seems poised to do the same with the Lightning when he arrives in North America, both Rakell and fellow RFA Hampus Lindholm remain unsigned by the Ducks.
While the team has almost $8.5MM in cap space at the moment, that probably isn’t enough for long-term deals for both players. Likely, the negotiations for the two players are linked, with the Ducks trying their best to get both under contract for as many years as possible without committing more dollars than they have at the moment. Since the team needs to be cap-compliant tomorrow, the two deals would need to come in under that $8.5MM to have them ready for the start of the regular season.
Rakell, 23, put up 43 points last season in what some would consider a mini-breakout. His goal scoring raised from nine in 2014-15 to twenty last year, and he took over as the number two center on the team, a role likely being held open for him until he comes to an agreement. With the Ducks poised for another deep run due to their strong defense corps and veteran first line, it would be a real shame to see the two players hold out for any length of time. After assuming all of Jonathan Bernier’s $4.15MM contract from the Maple Leafs in a trade earlier this summer, the team looks to have handcuffed itself when it comes to two of their most important pieces.