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Derek Grant Expected To Sign With Anaheim Ducks

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It’s 2020, remember that when you read the next sentence. Derek Grant will sign a contract with the Anaheim Ducks according to Rick Dhaliwal of TSN. This will be the third stint for Grant in Anaheim after signing one-year contracts in 2017 and 2019. This time, Dhaliwal tweets that Grant will get a three-year pact with an average annual value of $1.5MM.

146 of Grant’s 264 career NHL games have been spent in Anaheim, though he seemingly finds himself on the move every year. In 2019-20 he ended up on the Philadelphia Flyers by the end of the season and actually fit in quite well, showing his versatility and adding a little bit of scoring punch to the bottom-six.

A $1.5MM salary doesn’t mean he has to provide more than he has in the past, but Grant has secured a three-year contract for the first time since 2011. That stability will hopefully let him play a full season for one team, though obvious Anaheim hasn’t had a problem trading him in the past.

Anaheim Ducks To Extend Chase De Leo

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The Anaheim Ducks have reportedly come to terms on a new contract with forward Chase De Leo. CapFriendly reports that De Leo will sign a one-year, two-way deal with the Ducks at the minimum $700K AV. De Leo is expected to make $140K at the AHL level. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights, De Leo returns to the Ducks for another year without issue.

De Leo, 24, does not look like a threat to take an NHL roster spot at this point in his career. For the second straight season, De Leo played in just one game with the Ducks and failed to record a point. After appearing in two scoreless games with the Winnipeg Jets in his first pro season, De Leo has yet to record his first NHL point in four games.

At the AHL level, De Leo saw a significant drop-off in production this past season. After recording 20 goals and 55 points in 66 games in the minors in 2018-19, De Leo sunk to just ten goals and 25 points this year. Fortunately for him, the Ducks see something in De Leo to keep him around for another season.

Ottawa Senators Acquire Erik Gudbranson

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The Ottawa Senators have found one of their cap-floor targets, acquiring Erik Gudbranson from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick. The veteran defenseman comes with a $4MM cap hit, though is only actually owed $3MM in salary this season, the last on his current contract. Senators GM Pierre Dorion has released a statement on his newest defenseman:

Erik Gudbranson provides another sizable presence to our defence corps. He’s a reliable veteran who plays an intimidating style of game and someone who will add a combination of grit, energy and, most importantly, leadership to our lineup.

The Senators have obviously made a decision that they want to get more physical on defense this season as they continue to push young players into the lineup. After losing Mark Borowiecki to free agency, the team has now added Josh Brown and Gudbranson in the span of a week, giving them two behemoths on the back end. With the team not expected to compete for the playoffs this season, instead using it as a development year for their young core, bringing in an experienced leader like Gudbranson (who also happens to be very willing to stand up for his teammates) makes sense.

It also helps Ottawa get towards the salary cap floor without taking on any long-term money. Gudbranson will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and would likely not even cost much to retain at that point. Once one of the most hyped defensive prospects in the world, Gudbranson was picked third behind Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin in the 2010 draft. He was a monstrous player in junior who could skate well and was expected to take a step forward offensively, but never did once he reached the NHL. Now 28, Gudbranson has just 73 career points in 518 games.

Still, this is a nice moment for Gudbranson, who is from Ottawa and will get a chance to embrace his hometown team for the first time in his career. In a year where the scoreboard outcomes don’t matter as much as the on-ice development, he’ll be an easy player for Senators fans to cheer for with his rough style. If he can somehow find the level of play that he flashed during a short period with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019, he could even become a core piece.

For Anaheim, they get out from a bad contract and free up some space to play with in free agency. The team has no restricted free agents left to sign and had previously been right up against the cap. Now, with $4MM out the door, they could potentially get in on someone they believe can make a difference.

Anaheim Ducks Not Expected To Buy Out David Backes

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On Friday, the first buyout period for the NHL will open and teams will be able to reduce the cap hit of some unwanted contracts (while paying a chunk of the remaining salary owed.) With the salary cap ceiling flat for next season (and likely several more afterward) this tool may be important to several teams around the league looking to shed payroll. It’s not the magic wand that compliance buyouts were in 2014, but it could still be useful in the right situation.

One player that has drawn some buyout speculation is David Backes of the Anaheim Ducks, who has just one year remaining on his current contract. The Ducks, who are set to cover just $4.5MM of his $6MM cap hit already thanks to the salary that the Boston Bruins retained in trade last year, would receive an additional $1.5MM in cap savings for 2020-21 should they exercise a buyout of the veteran forward. That would be offset by a $750K cap penalty in 2021-22, while the Bruins would also get a small amount of relief next season ($500K, with a $250K cap penalty in 2020-21).

That doesn’t appear to be the plan, however, as Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest reports the Ducks told Backes they intend to keep him for the upcoming season. Backes himself is preparing for the upcoming season already, working with a skating coach twice a week after scoring just a single goal in 22 games.

Though his play has fallen off a cliff, Backes could still represent a valuable veteran presence on a team that is just starting a rebuild. Youth will be dotted all over the Ducks roster next season, and though they appear quite close to the salary cap ceiling, it’s important to remember the flexibility that will be provided by Ryan Kesler’s contract. Kesler is not expected to play hockey again, meaning his $6.875MM cap hit will be moved to long-term injured reserve.

The Ducks also don’t have any real pressing free agents after already completing deals with Sonny Milano, Troy Terry and Jacob Larsson this summer. Unless they want to pursue high-end unrestricted free agents on the market, they aren’t in desperate need of the $1.5MM in cap savings a Backes buyout would provide.

Ducks Undecided About Bringing Ryan Miller Back

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  • The Ducks aren’t sure yet about bringing backup goaltender Ryan Miller back for next season, GM Bob Murray told Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription link). The 40-year-old has spent the last three seasons in Anaheim and has been working out with an eye on playing in 2020-21 if it’s the right situation.  Miller had a base salary of $1.125MM this season with another $1.2MM in performance bonuses and posted a 3.10 GAA with a .907 SV% in 23 games.  Anaheim is quite tight to the Upper Limit already for next season (although Ryan Kesler will probably be on LTIR again to give them some flexibility) so if the veteran does return, another incentive-laden deal would make sense.

Snapshots: Boeser, Miller, Caufield, Langlois

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With plenty of trade speculation that has surrounded Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser over the last few months, there are quite a few people who have connected the dots of the Canucks sending their promising 23-year-old forward to Minnesota, Boeser’s hometown, to beef up their defense. With a new contract in the hands of Jonas Brodin, general manager Bill Guerin needs to trade Matt Dumba and a swap of the two players make sense, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

However, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said recently that he isn’t trying to trade Boeser, who has scored 71 goals in the past three seasons.

“Lots of GMs call us about our players,” Benning said. “I listen and sometimes we have a conversation. That’s my job as a GM. If I’m not listening to other GMs, then I’m not doing my job. But we’re not trying to trade Brock Boeser. I have not had a conversation with Minnesota about him.”

Another reason for the trade speculation is that Vancouver has three key unrestricted free agents it would like to re-sign and don’t have the cap space at the moment to do it. Boeser has a $5.88MM contract for two more years and while not an albatross of a contract, the team could save some cap space if they were willing to move one of their forwards to bring in defensive help. Dumba makes $6MM, so the contracts would even out, but then could allow the team to try to focus on re-signing Tyler Toffoli to replace Boeser in the lineup if the Canucks could make that swap.

  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens writes (subscription required) that the Anaheim Ducks still are waiting for backup goaltender Ryan Miller to make up his mind on coming back for a 18th season. Miller told Stephens that he has been on the ice approximately seven times now and is just trying to see if his body can adjust to sitting for as long as he has. Regardless, the 40-year-old has yet to make a decision, but the long layoff (he last played on March 10) has definitely made him think twice about returning. “You have things that you’re used to doing and when they stop, it’s shocking to the system,” said Miller. “I tried to install a little bit of normalcy so I can kind of get my sense of direction … I just thought that it was best not making any decisions either way if you’re sitting on the couch.”
  • After a report from SportExpressen Saturday that Edmonton Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie was cut from Rogle of the SHL after the Oilers loaned him to the top SHL team, a new report this morning suggests that they have set their sights on Lavoie’s replacement. HockeyNews.se reports that Rogle is now in negotiations to recruiting Montreal Canadiens star prospect Cole Caufield to join the team. ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Caufield has been looking for a place to play with his college season at the University of Wisconsin delayed, although the rumor last week was that he was headed to Switzerland. Rogle has declined comment on the situation. Caufield, the Canadiens top pick in 2019, scored 19 goals in his freshman year at Wisconsin.
  • The Montreal Canadiens announced the passing of three-time Stanley Cup winning defenseman Albert “Junior” Langlois, who died at age 85 on Saturday. He helped the Canadiens win Stanley Cups in 1958, 1959 and 1960, the last three of their historic five-straight Cup titles. He also played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins. The stay-at-home defenseman played 497 games in his NHL career with 21 goals and 112 points. PHR offers our condolences to his family.

Free Agent Focus: Anaheim Ducks

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While the official start date of free agency remains in flux depending on when the playoffs end (the later of October 9th or a week after the completion of the Stanley Cup Final), many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Anaheim doesn’t have a ton of pressing contract negotiations but could use the period to add some more talent to the roster.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Kiefer Sherwood – You’d be right if you don’t think Sherwood is a key for the Ducks moving forward, but his appearance here shows just how much work they’ve already done to lock up their young restricted free agents. The 25-year old forward doesn’t qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency after just two years under a professional contract, meaning his future will be one of the decisions the Ducks have to make this summer.

Sherwood ended up playing in 50 games as a rookie in 2018-19 after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Miami University (Ohio), but was limited to mostly minor-league duty this season. A capable scorer and bottom-six option for the team, he could be brought back on an inexpensive deal to fill out the depth chart.

Other RFAs: F Alex Dostie, F Deven Sideroff, F Chase De Leo, D Joel Persson

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

G Ryan Miller – Now 40, it’s not clear exactly what the future holds for Miller, one of the league’s best goaltenders over almost two decades now. In May, when the season was still paused, he explained that he had hoped to catch another Buffalo legend, Dominik Hasek, on the all-time wins list. Miller currently sits just two wins behind, meaning one last NHL season would likely get him there. He’s coming off a $1.125MM deal and could likely be brought back for close to the league minimum if he decides he wants to continue the chase.

D Michael Del Zotto – Remember when Del Zotto was a Norris Trophy nominee in 2012 after scoring 41 points in 77 games with the New York Rangers? That seems like a completely different player than the one who has suited up for three different teams the past two seasons. Del Zotto played in 49 games for the Ducks this season and is still only 30, but hasn’t been able to recapture that early-career magic in years. If he shot right, he might have a bigger market, but it’s hard to see him earning much more than the one-year, $750K deal he played on this year.

Other UFAs: D Matt Irwin, F Blake Pietila, F Andrew Poturalski, F Kyle Criscuolo, F Justin Kloos, F Chris Mueller, D Chris Wideman, G Kevin Boyle

*Patrick Eaves is also scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after his three-year, $9.45MM deal expires, but is expected to officially retire due to health concerns.

Projected Cap Space

Amazingly, even though they were one of the league’s worst teams, the Ducks aren’t exactly flush with cap space as they head into next season. The team has over $78.5MM committed to next season for 18 players per CapFriendly, though that does include the $6.875MM hit of Ryan Kesler. Kesler is not expected to play again, meaning that number will be transferred to long-term injured reserve giving Anaheim a little more flexibility. With no huge names on expiring deals they won’t be forced to shed salary, but moving out some of their underperforming-but-aging names could give them an opportunity to add in free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Dubnyk, Ritchie, Wagner, Rakell

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The Minnesota Wild have an interesting offseason approaching with little cap room and little roster space. While general manager Bill Guerin is expected to make changes to the roster, there is the question of whether the team will consider buying out a player or two.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that one player who is a candidate for a buyout is goaltender Devan Dubnyk. The scribe adds that if Minnesota opts to buyout Dubnyk, it likely would be to open up a roster space as opposed to saving on cap space. Dubnyk was the starting goaltender at the beginning of the year, but struggled immensely this season in 30 appearances with an 3.35 GAA and a .890 save percentage. Granted, the veteran still has one more year at $4.3MM. However, more importantly, the team may want to move on from Dubnyk with Alex Stalock taking over the starting role. They also have AHL Goaltender of the Year in Kaapo Kahkonen ready as well as the potential to go out and get a goaltender such as Braden Holtby or trade for Matt Murray.

  • The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that the Department of Player Safety took a look at the hit from Boston Bruins forward Nick Ritchie on Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde during Game 3 Saturday. There will be no suspension as the hit was timed at .6 seconds from the time the puck was released. Gourde was clearing a puck during the second period when he was hit from behind by Ritchie in a shoulder-to-back hit, sending Gourde flying forward into the boards where he hit his head. However, the league rarely suspends players for hits at .6 seconds, especially ones that don’t include head contact.
  • The Bruins won’t have it easy as they face elimination on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, down 3-1. The Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno reports that fourth-line forward Chris Wagner won’t be available for Game 5 due to an undisclosed injury. Wagner missed Sunday’s practice along with Ritchie, while Sean Kuraly did skate with the team after missing two games. Both Ritchie and Kuraly are day-to-day, but Wagner is definitely out, according to Bruins’ coach Bruce Cassidy. Wagner played quite well in the round-robin series scoring two goals, but has not tallied a point in the Tampa Bay series and boasts a minus-five plus-minus.
  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) took a look at players destined to stay with the Anaheim Ducks and those who could find themselves elsewhere next year. One interesting observation is the inclusion of 27-year-old forward Rickard Rakell, a two-time 30-goal scorer. Of course, Rakell’s last two seasons have been quite disappointing with just 33 goals in his last 134 games and he could find himself being the scapegoat for the past two years of losing. On top of that, Rakell would be quite an attractive trade chip for playoff teams that could offer him more talent up front to work with.

Anaheim Ducks Loan Roman Durny To Slovakia

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HC Slovan Bratislava is no stranger to having talented payers on their roster, especially since the club previously played in the KHL before returning to the Tipsport Liga, the top league in Slovakia, this past season. Nevertheless, the team was excited to announce that they will begin the 2020-21 season with promising NHL prospect Roman Durny on the roster. The Anaheim Ducks have agreed to loan the young goaltender to Bratislava until at least the start of NHL training camp.

Durny, 22, was a fifth-round pick by the Ducks in 2018 as an over-ager after a standout season in the USHL in his first season in North America. Durny starred for the Des Moines Buccaneers for two years before turning pro this season. Unfortunately, the shift to the pros and to a limited share of the net – just 13 ECHL appearances for the year – were not kind to Durny. While there is still a lot to like about his game, Durny faces stiff competition in 2018 third-rounder Lukas Dostal and 2017 fifth-rounder Olle Eriksson Ek to top the goalie depth chart in the Ducks’ pipeline.

On the other hand, Anaheim has veteran Ryan Miller and reliable minor leaguer Kevin Boyle entering unrestricted free agency this summer, which could thin the depth chart significantly allowing for a young goalie to take on a regular role in the AHL next season. Seeing as how Dostal is the youngest of the prospect trio and has no North American experience, it will likely be between Durny and Eriksson Ek for that AHL slot.

A strong start to his season in Slovakia could go a long way for Durny. Behind a strong roster, led by former NHLer Andrej Meszaros, that finished second in the league last year and has already added another NHL prospect on loan in New Jersey forward Marian Studenic, Durny should be well-protected. The team also lost backup Vladislav Habal this off-season, who played in 27 of 55 games last season, so starts should be available to Durny. This could all add up to a strong start in Slovakia for Durny, potentially followed by a breakout season in the minors for the Ducks.

Kings’ Samuel Fagemo Expected To Be Loaned To Allsvenskan

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The Los Angeles Kings look to have found a place for one of their young prospects to develop before NHL training camp gets underway as Henrik Sjoborg of Hockey News SE (translation required) writes that forward Samuel Fagemo is expected to play for Sodertalje in the Allsvenskan in Sweden next season. The 20-year-old, a 2019 second-round pick, would be expected to report to Kings’ training camp and stay in L.A. if he makes the team.

Fagemo signed his entry-level deal in July of 2019 and was loaned to Frolunda, his SHL team last season. He tallied 13 goals and 22 points last season and was likely headed to the AHL this season. However, with the delay in the NHL and AHL seasons for 2020-21, Fagemo could find himself playing in the Allsvenskan instead. He actually played three games with Sodertalje back in 2017/18 when he was loaned from Frolunda before being drafted.

The report also notes that Sodertalje is negotiating with Anaheim Ducks prospect Axel Andersson to also sign with them for the upcoming season. The 20-year-old was a second-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2018, but was traded to the Ducks in February as part of the Ondrej Kase deal. Andersson played his 18-year-old season with Sodertalje in 2018-19 and then spent one season in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats, posting three goals and 24 points in 43 games.

 

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