Ducks Sign Korbinian Holzer
The Anaheim Ducks have signed Korbinian Holzer to a one-year deal worth $700K, reports TVASports Renaud Lavouie.
The German defenseman scored 0G and 3A in 29 games for Anaheim last year. Holzer was traded to the Ducks from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 for Defenseman Eric Brewer and a 2016 fifth round draft pick. The deal represents a slight pay cut from Holzer’s previous contract—down from $750K.
This move is most likely meant to stock the Ducks’ AHL affiliate San Diego Gulls as the NHL team doesn’t seem to have a spot open on defense come training camp—especially if they sign RFA Hampus Lindholm. Holzer could be used as a call-up for injury purposes, and has enough of a gritty game to eat minutes without posing too much of a liability. He averaged over 17 minutes a night with the Maple Leafs before being traded.
Are Offer Sheets A Thing Of The Past?
This summer’s restricted free agent (RFA) list is quite impressive, with nine 20-goal scorers and 13 players who scored more than 40 points last season. Forwards Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Nikita Kucherov, Marcus Johansson, and Mike Hoffman headline the forwards; while Hampus Lindholm, Tyson Barrie, Rasmus Ristolainen, Danny DeKeyser, and Jacob Trouba are the top defensemen. Detroit’s Petr Mrazek is the only big-name RFA goalie remaining. Most of the above players are eligible for offer sheets.
According to Elliotte Friedman, compensation for offer sheets is as follows:
- Less than $1.239MM (average annual value of contract) – Nothing;
- $1.239-$1.878MM – Third-round pick;
- $1.878-$3.755MM – Second-round pick;
- $3.755-$5.633MM – First and third-round picks;
- $5.633-$7.510MM – First, second and third-round picks;
- $7.510-$9.388MM – Two first, a second and third-round picks;
- Over $9.388MM – Four first-round picks.
With this in mind, teams could target rival teams top young players, with both outcomes having their benefits to the aggressive team: either they acquire a good young player for only picks, or they mess up a rival’s salary cap by inflating the player’s salary.
The threat of an offer sheet was evident last summer, with the Blackhawks trading Brandon Saad to the Blue Jackets and the Bruins trading Dougie Hamilton to the Flames. Both players were pending RFAs and in line for a big raise before being shipped out to prevent their teams from being subjected to an offer sheet. However, this summer has been the complete opposite, with teams taking their time to sign the above-mentioned stars, apparently not overly worried about offer sheets.
Why could that be?
The last time an NHL team successfully acquired a player via an offer sheet was in 2007. Then-Oilers-GM Kevin Lowe signed Anaheim Ducks LW Dustin Penner to a 4-year, $21.5MM contract. The Ducks did not match, and the Oilers forked over their first three rounds of draft picks in 2008. Penner enjoyed varying degrees of success in three-and-a-half seasons in Edmonton before being traded to Los Angeles where he won a Stanley Cup. The Penner offer sheet is most fondly remembered by then-Ducks-GM Brian Burke and Lowe’s escalating war of words which nearly lead to a fist-fight in a rented barn in Lake Placid. Commissioner Gary Bettman was forced to have a conference call with the two GMs to get them to stop.
It’s perhaps this sort of reaction that prevents GMs from making offer sheets. Earlier this summer, ESPN and TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun quoted an unnamed GM as threatening opposing GMs with an offer sheet per year for the next ten years as retribution for a potential offer sheet. There appears to be an unspoken agreement between GMs to leave RFAs alone. There hasn’t been an offer sheet tendered since 2013 when Colorado matched Calgary’s contract with Ryan O’Reilly, saving the Flames from an embarrassing and costly mistake.
So despite several fan bases calling for offer sheets, it seems unlikely that any players will be switching sweaters this summer because of one.
Ducks Acquire Bernier From Maple Leafs
Reported by several sources, the Toronto Maple Leafs have dealt goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional 2017 draft pick.
The Maple Leafs and Ducks both announced the trade on their respective websites. The 27-year-old netminder was the odd man out once the Leafs acquired Frederik Andersen from the Ducks in June due to his cap hit. In Toronto last season, Bernier recorded 12 wins and posted a .908 save percentage. Helene Elliott tweets that the cap hit for Bernier is $4.1MM, while $2.1MM is the base salary due to signing bonuses that were paid by the Leafs last Friday.
CapFriendly reports that the Leafs now have just over $5.2MM in cap space after dealing Bernier. The Ducks have $9.1MM of cap space after adding Bernier.
Now in Anaheim, Bernier is reunited with former coach Randy Carlyle and will presumably back up John Gibson.
Free Agent Profile: James Wisniewski
Perhaps no 2016 NHL free agent is as perplexing as James Wisniewski. “The Wiz” has had a roller coaster career; his strong offensive production and possession ability have often been overshadowed by his defensive deficiencies, an inability to stay on the ice, and a knack for being traded. The journeyman defenseman finds himself as an afterthought on the free agent market thus far, and was not even included on our Top 50 Free Agents list, despite being just 32 years old and only two years removed from the best season of his career. However, with the demand for right-handed defenseman being as high as it has ever been, Wisniewski won’t be unsigned for long. The only question is whether he is able to command a market-value multi-year contract or if instead some team will get him on a short, inexpensive deal.
When Wisniewski broke into the league during the ’05-’06 season, he was one of the most talked-about prospects in hockey. Despite being selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round of the 2002 NHL draft, the former Plymouth Whalers captain excelled in his later years in junior hockey. Following an ’03-’04 season in which he scored 70 points in only 50 games, Wisniewski was awarded the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the most outstanding defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League in 2004, and then also took home the title of CHL Defenseman of the Year and First Team All-Star.
After two seasons in the AHL, Wisniewski debuted with the Blackhawks in ’05-’06, but his season was cut short by a torn ACL. It would be the beginning of an injury-riddled career. Wisniewski played well in his early seasons with the Blackhawks, even playing with a toughness and grit (103 PIM in ’07-’08) that has been missing from his game in recent years, but it was not enough to keep him in Chicago. He was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline in 2009. Despite scoring 30 points in 69 games for the Ducks the following season, after just a year and a half in Anaheim, Wisniewski was traded again, this time to the New York Islanders. Only 32 games into the 2010 season, Wisniewski was traded for a third time, being sent to the Montreal Canadiens for the remainder of the year. Between New York and Montreal, he scored a career high 10 goals in the ’10-’11 season and totaled 51 points in 75 games. Wisniewski finally had the chance to choose his own destination that off-season, and cashed in on his success with a six-year, $33MM deal to play for the Columbus Blue Jackets. As a leader on the ice and in the locker room on a young Columbus team, Wisniewski finally had a long-term home with the Blue Jackets. In ’13-’14 he matched his career high with 51 points in 75 games, and then started hot again the next season, with 29 points through 56 games. He was playing so well, that Columbus decided to trade him at the deadline, and Wisniewski returned to Anaheim for a second stint with the Ducks.
Going into last season, things were looking good for James Wisniewski. He had put up strong numbers in back-to-back seasons and hadn’t been hampered by injuries the past few years either. He even had a new home, as the Ducks dealt him to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for goalie Anton Khudobin at the 2015 draft. However, on opening night, just 47 seconds into his first shift as a member of the Hurricanes, Wisniewski tore his ACL again and did not play a single for the rest of the season. Carolina made his absence permanent recently, buying out the final year of his contract and making him a free agent.
Wisniewski now finds himself as one of more polarizing players available to teams looking for defensive help. One view point is that he is a dominant offensive defenseman, who has averaged close to 40 points in every season that he has played over 50 games and who consistently has the possession numbers of a top pairing defenseman. The other viewpoint is that in ten NHL seasons, he has played on average in only 55 games per season and has done so on six different teams, indicating that not only does he have trouble staying on the ice, but perhaps teams don’t want him on the ice either. Wisniewski has little leverage, as he is coming off of a serious injury, and is likely to sign a short-term deal for much less money than he’s used to. However, if the former opinion proves to be true, then “the Wiz” could end up as the steal of the off-season as a short-term solution for a D-needy team like the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, or New Jersey Devils and then make his money next off-season. If the latter opinion proves to be true, then the team can always just trade him. He’s used to it by now.
Snapshots: Hedman, McRae, Predators
Even with the recent decision in the NBA of Kevin Durant heading to the Golden State Warriors to create a ‘super-team’, it’s still not very often that you see superstars take less money to stay in a place they feel comfortable. That’s what happened the past two weeks, as both Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman re-signed for eight years (and considerably less money than expected) with the Tampa Bay Lightning, in part because of their personal bond. When talking to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, Stamkos said just as much:
“Victor and I are extremely close friends. We came up in this organization as 18-year-old kids. To say that we’re going to be together for the long run, and on one team, that’s something special. A big reason why both of us stuck around is because of the relationship that we have as teammates and as friends as well.”
To see two superstars leave some money on the table and not even hit free agency is a rare one indeed in today’s sporting world, but we may be about to catch it again in Calgary. Pending RFAs Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan have expressed a similar sentiment, and hope to be together for ‘the next ten years’. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have brought in former London Knight general manager Basil McRae to become their director of player personnel, according to a team release. After capturing the 2016 Memorial Cup, McRae will return to the club he worked for in 2013-14 this time in a more advanced role. With the signing, the Blue Jackets have also announced two promotions, Ville Siren moves from pro scout to director of amateur scouting, and Josef Boumedienne moves from pro scout to director of European scouting.
- After being knocked out in the second round by the San Jose Sharks, the Nashville Predators came into the offseason with the plan to get faster on the back end. Buying out Barret Jackman after just his first year with the club was the first move towards that end, and bringing in Yannick Weber to replace him was the next. For what it’s worth, Weber seems to have turned down more money in Europe to stay in the NHL, according to Adam Vignan of the Tennessean. Weber took a minimum deal of $575K to secure an NHL job with Nashville.
- Flyers prospect Philippe Myers underwent hip surgery on Wednesday, and will not be participating in the Philadelphia development camp, according to GM Ron Hextall. Myers went undrafted out of Rouyn-Noranda in 2014-15, but exploded onto the scene last season with 45 points from the back end. He’ll now try and work his way back from surgery to return to the Flyers’ future plans.
Ducks Sign Jeff Schultz To Two-Way Deal
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, veteran defenseman Jeff Schultz will try to break back into the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks in 2016-17. The free agent has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the club.
From 2007-2012, Schultz was a mainstay on the Washington Capitals’ back-end, suiting up in 335 contests over the five seasons. In 2009-10 he even garnered some Norris votes as one of the leagues’ best defensemen after putting up a +50 rating and tallying what would be a career high 23 points.
His career has taken a sharp downturn in recent years however, as the former first round pick has only played in 36 NHL games over the past four seasons due to a combination of injury and ineffectiveness. The last year of his contract was bought out by Washington in 2013.
Once a solid contributor at both ends of the rink,Schultz has played well the last two seasons in the American Hockey League, but has only gotten a handful of opportunities in the NHL. This will be one of the 30-year old’s last chances, and he’ll have to fight through a deep, young defense corps to do it.
Jared Boll Signs Two-Year Deal With Anaheim
Jared Boll is off to the west coast, as according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch, the Anaheim Ducks are the free agent forward’s likely landing spot. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register confirmed the signing and gives us the financial details: Boll will receive a two-year deal that pays him $900K per season.
One of the league’s preeminent tough guys, Boll has 154 regular season NHL fights under his belt in during his nine year career. He has scored only 27 goals and 62 points across his 518 games.
After landing Boll, Anaheim will be even more dangerous with their fists; the team led the NHL in fighting majors last season with 42, and have brought back noted tough-guy coach Randy Carlyle to head the bench next season.
Boll would likely fill the same roll he always has, playing under eight minutes a night but providing some protection for the star players of his team. Anaheim seems like the perfect landing spot, as they continue to develop a young, mobile defense corps, and still have elite scoring talents up front.
Ducks To Sign Mason Raymond
The Anaheim Ducks have reportedly agreed to terms with Mason Raymond on a one year, two-way deal. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that Raymond will make $675K at the NHL level and $225K in the AHL. Dean Molberg of the FAN 960 was the first to report Raymond had signed in Anaheim.
Raymond spent the last two seasons with Calgary after signing a three year deal with the Flames in the 2014 offseason. Last year, he picked up four goals and an assist in 29 NHL games before being waived and sent to Stockton of the AHL. He was much better at that level, picking up six goals and nine helpers in 15 games.
The Flames opted to buy out the final year of Raymond’s contract at a cost and cap hit of $1.05MM for each of the next two seasons.
Raymond’s best season came with Toronto in 2013-14 where he played under Randy Carlyle, who was named Anaheim’s head coach last month.
The Ducks have several vacancies up front and Raymond could presumably fit in anywhere from the second to fourth lines. However, the fact that he received a two-way deal would suggest that GM Bob Murray intends to bring in several more players this offseason to fight for those roles and that Raymond’s spot on the roster is far from a guarantee.
Examining What’s Left Of The Goalie Market
What was already a thin goalie market to begin with has gotten even thinner just a few days into free agency. Only two goalies remain on our Top 50 UFA list, Karri Ramo and Jhonas Enroth.
While there aren’t many notable goalies still available, there aren’t many vacancies to fill either. Here is a closer look at each team’s goaltending situation:
Anaheim: John Gibson, Dustin Tokarski, Matt Hackett
Arizona: Mike Smith, Louis Domingue, Justin Peters
Boston: Tuukka Rask, Anton Khudobin, Malcolm Subban
Buffalo: Robin Lehner, Anders Nilsson, Linus Ullmark
Calgary: Brian Elliott, Chad Johnson, Jon Gillies
Carolina: Cam Ward, Eddie Lack, Daniel Altshuller
Chicago: Corey Crawford, Scott Darling, Lars Johansson
Colorado: Semyon Varlamov, Calvin Pickard (RFA), Jeremy Smith
Columbus: Sergei Bobrovsky, Curtis McElhinney, Joonas Korpisalo
Dallas: Kari Lehtonen, Antti Niemi, Maxime Lagace
Detroit: Petr Mrazek (RFA), Jimmy Howard, Jared Coreau (RFA)
Edmonton: Cam Talbot, Jonas Gustavsson, Laurent Brossoit
Florida: Roberto Luongo, James Reimer, Reto Berra
Los Angeles: Jonathan Quick, Jeff Zatkoff, Peter Budaj
Minnesota: Devan Dubnyk, Darcy Kuemper (RFA), Alex Stalock
Montreal: Carey Price, Al Montoya, Mike Condon
Nashville: Pekka Rinne, Marek Mazanec, Jusse Saros
New Jersey: Cory Schneider, Keith Kinkaid, Scott Wedgewood
NY Islanders: Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss, J-F Berube (RFA)
NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta, Magnus Hellberg
Ottawa: Craig Anderson, Andrew Hammond, Matt O’Connor
Philadelphia: Steve Mason, Michal Neuvirth, Anthony Stolarz
Pittsburgh: Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray, Tristan Jarry
San Jose: Martin Jones, Mantis Armalis, Aaron Dell
St. Louis: Jake Allen, Carter Hutton, Jordan Binnington (RFA)
Tampa Bay: Ben Bishop, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Kristers Gudlevskis
Toronto: Frederik Andersen, Jonathan Bernier, Garret Sparks
Vancouver: Ryan Miller, Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko
Washington: Braden Holtby, Philipp Grubauer, Joe Cannata
Winnipeg: Ondrej Pavelec, Michael Hutchinson, Connor Hellebuyck
In terms of starting goalie vacancies, there really aren’t any. It’s believed that Dallas would like to improve their starter but they already have over $10MM committed to their tandem so any goalie they acquire would have to see one of Lehtonen or Niemi sent the other way. That could be a problem for teams like Pittsburgh or Tampa Bay who could potentially part with their veterans (Fleury and Bishop respectively) but wouldn’t want someone else making #1 money coming back the other way.
As for backup openings, Anaheim and San Jose are in need of a new #2 after losing Andersen and Reimer respectively this offseason. While Ramo and Enroth are the best of who’s still available, there are a trio of other goalies on the UFA market that have some backup experience in Joni Ortio, Ben Scrivens, and Anders Lindback.
If those teams can’t come to terms with (or don’t want to sign) any of those players, there are a handful of teams with a surplus between the pipes. While the Jets re-signed Hutchinson earlier this offseason, Hellebuyck showed last year that he’s ready for full-time NHL duty which could make Hutchinson expendable. Condon was supposed to be a backup last year but due to injuries played in 55 games in 2015-16. However, his spot appears to have been filled with the addition of Montoya which could make Condon available. The Panthers have a trio of goalies with NHL experience and could potentially part with Berra although he is insurance for Luongo whose hip injury has his availability to start next season in question.
While there are still several strong forwards and defensemen available, the same can’t be said for goalies. Aside from the Ducks and Sharks adding a backup and some teams signing their restricted free agents, it’s shaping up to be a quiet few months in terms of news between the pipes.
RFAs Still Waiting On Contracts
After a busy few days watching free agent contracts be handed out like candy, and millions of dollars spent like pennies, there are still some key restricted free agents out there negotiating their next contracts. Vincent Trocheck, Filip Forsberg and Seth Jones have already received deals eclipsing $25MM, locking them in long before they even get a sniff of unrestricted free agency. Here are a few more names still waiting on deals:
- Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan of the Flames still are without deals, though reports indicate they are both open to signing long-term with Calgary and want to play with each other for “the next ten years”. The pair combined for 57 goals and 141 points last season, completed before either turned 23.
- The Ducks’ Hampus Lindholm is still without a contract, as discussed earlier today. The 22-year old is considered one of the best young defensemen in the league, and the team would like to lock him up to a similar term as partner Sami Vatanen, who received a four-year deal last month.
- After re-signing Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy to what seem like team-friendly deals, GM Steve Yzerman still has work to do in the form of Nikita Kucherov, the team’s young sniper. Reports are that the two sides are working on a deal, but Yzerman has to be careful as the team is inching closer and closer to the salary cap with Kucherov and three other players still to sign.
- After acquiring Taylor Hall in a blockbuster deal, the Devils still have another star winger to get under contract in the form of Kyle Palmieri. The 25-year old broke out last season with 30 goals, and will be looking to cash in on his sudden performance. The Devils have over $17MM in cap space even after bringing back Devante Smith-Pelly and signing Ben Lovejoy and Vernon Fiddler.
For the entire list of RFA players, and the projected depth charts for each team head to Roster Resource and check out their detailed info.