Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blues Not Planning To Use A Buyout This Offseason

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Like many teams this summer, cap space is at a premium for St. Louis this summer, leading to suggestions that they’ll try to move out a veteran player to free up some wiggle room.  If they wind up doing so, it won’t be via the buyout route as GM Doug Armstrong told reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he doesn’t see the Blues taking that approach with any of their players when the window opens up later this month.

As things stand, the Blues have around $7.5MM in cap room for next season, per CapFriendly, assuming that the Upper Limit only moves up by $1MM.  With that money, they have a few forwards to sign and possibly a backup goalie if they feel they’re better off with Joel Hofer getting one more season of starter minutes in the minors before moving up to the NHL full-time.  They have enough money to do those things but that won’t leave much left for roster improvements.  While Armstrong indicated that he will be looking to be active this summer, he understands the team isn’t a player or two away from getting back in the playoffs.

“I think there’s a little bit of you see the team that got in on the last couple of days go to the finals, it’s like let’s get there really quick again. We want to make sure that we’re doing things that are long-term success. I don’t see us being, as I said, very active. We’re going to be active, but we’re going to be smart active, we’re not just one player away from being a favorite to win.”

Some wondered if defenseman Marco Scandella could be a buyout candidate this summer with one year left on his deal that carries a $3.275MM cap charge.  He has struggled in recent seasons and dealt with injury woes in 2022-23 but he was able to return late in the year, making him buyout-eligible.  Such a move would have freed up $2MM in cap savings for next season but added $1MM in dead money for 2024-25.  Armstrong’s comments would appear to take that idea off the table although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the veteran shopped on the trade market in the coming weeks.

It has been quite a while since St. Louis went the route of a contract buyout as the team has done it only twice with the most recent coming back in 2009 when they opted to buy out the final season of Jay McKee’s contract.  It doesn’t appear as if they’ll be ending that streak this summer.

East Notes: Killorn, Orlov, Rangers

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Lightning are believed to have made a long-term, low AAV offer to pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Killorn, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts column.  The 33-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games and has the most points of any player set to hit the open market.  After playing on a $4.45MM AAV deal that has been team-friendly the last couple of seasons, Killorn will have a chance at a sizable increase in free agency.  Tampa Bay would undoubtedly love to keep him in the fold but with minimal cap space to work with this summer, they can’t afford to pay market value.  Accordingly, their most realistic chance to keep him is a long-term agreement that would almost certainly be an overpayment by the time it expires but a low enough AAV that they can squeak him in under the Upper Limit.  Even so, that will be a tough sell.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • While the Bruins would likely want to keep defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the fold if they could free up enough cap space to do so, the veteran told Sport-Express’ Alexey Shevchenko that he’s looking forward to seeing what’s available in free agency. The 31-year-old is coming off another strong season, notching 36 points in 66 games between Washington and Boston while logging 22:33 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career.  Orlov, who also indicated that he’s not planning to sign in the KHL, is coming off a contract that carries a $5.1MM AAV and is likely to get a fair bit more than that on the open market with a long-term agreement.
  • The Rangers have not yet interviewed Patrick Roy for their coaching vacancy, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. However, it’s worth noting that Roy is still coaching with his QMJHL team, Quebec, set to play the final game of the Memorial Cup on Sunday so perhaps at that time, GM Chris Drury might reach out to his former teammate.  Roy has some NHL experience under his belt having spent three seasons behind the bench in Colorado before abruptly resigning in 2016.  Among coaches still available New York has already interviewed Peter Laviolette and Jay Leach and the team is set to do so soon with John Hynes if they haven’t already done so.

Offseason Checklist: Minnesota Wild

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams that still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup.  It’s time to examine what those eliminated squads will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Minnesota.

Despite leading the NHL in dead cap space by a significant margin, the Wild were in the thick of the playoff race at the trade deadline, resulting in GM Bill Guerin opting to add several pieces to aid in what they hoped would be a long playoff run.  Instead, it was an early exit at the hands of Dallas.  The in-season flexibility they had is no more but Minnesota’s checklist this offseason involves trying to add proven (and thus, more expensive) players at multiple positions to their roster.

Look For Center Upgrade

This has been a long-standing issue for the Wild going back for years.  They have always had some strong pieces on their roster but finding consistent impact middlemen has been a challenge.  Joel Eriksson Ek is coming along nicely and has become a quality two-way top-six center but isn’t a top option.  Frederick Gaudreau has fared better than they could have hoped when they signed him in 2021 but he’s not an ideal top-six threat.  Ryan Hartman can play down the middle but is a better fit on the wing while Sam Steel isn’t the solution either.

In an ideal world, the Wild find a way to land a top center, filling a long-standing need and giving Kirill Kaprizov a true running mate on the top line.  But realistically, is that achievable?  There aren’t any true number one options in free agency and while Winnipeg might have an impact center available on the trade front, would they really move him within the division?  That doesn’t seem too likely.

Taking a step down, adding another second-line center, while still a difficult task in this market, would still be a big help.  That would at least allow them to mix and match the newcomer with Eriksson Ek which helps in matchups.  It would also give them a boost offensively after finishing 22nd in the NHL in goals scored.  However, it must be said that they only have about $9MM in cap space per CapFriendly with anywhere from six to eight players needing to fit into that money.  Finding a way to add some proven help down the middle would result in them subtracting from somewhere else on their roster.

Minnesota still likely has high hopes for Marco Rossi, the ninth-overall pick back in 2020.  A natural center, he could eventually fill a spot in the top six.  But that time won’t be coming next season after a tough showing that saw him record just one assist in 19 NHL games although he picked up 51 points in 53 games with AHL Iowa.  Down the road, Rossi could be an option but they shouldn’t be counting on him for too much in 2023-24.

Re-Sign Gustavsson

Last offseason, Guerin freed up some cap room by moving Cam Talbot to Ottawa for Filip Gustavsson, a move that opened up nearly $2.9MM in flexibility.  The swap certainly carried some risk to it as they went from a proven NHL netminder to one that had all of 27 games of experience with numbers that weren’t overly confidence-inspiring.  However, those concerns were unfounded as the 24-year-old had a simply dominant 2022-23 campaign, recording a 2.10 GAA and a .931 SV% in 39 games, ranking him second to only Boston’s Linus Ullmark in both categories.

The timing was great for such a showing as Gustavsson is set to become a restricted free agent this summer with salary arbitration rights for the first time.  He’s well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $787.5K AAV he had the last two seasons although, with now just 66 regular season appearances under his belt, it’s fair to say that he doesn’t have enough of a track record to land true starter money (nor can they afford to give him that).

One question that Guerin will need to answer is how long he wants the deal to be.  Gustavsson is two years away from UFA eligibility while they also have top prospect Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings.  A long-term contract is out of the question but is the better play to do a medium-term agreement or a one-year pact that buys both sides more time to assess if his performance was a one-off or a sign of things to come?

The one-year deal would be cheaper (likely somewhere in the $3MM area) but it would also give him a quick ticket to file for arbitration in 2024 and go straight to unrestricted free agency the following year if he wanted.  On the slip side, a contract that buys out a year or two of UFA eligibility would likely push past the $4MM mark but give them a bit of certainty in the NHL with Marc-Andre Fleury’s deal up next summer and Wallstedt still a few years away from being ready to push for the starting job.  But can they afford that and accomplish everything else they want or need to this summer?  That could be tricky and ultimately dictate what direction they go with their young netminder.

Zuccarello Extension Talks

While his tenure with Minnesota got off to a bit of a slow start in 2019-20 in the first of his five-year deal, veteran winger Mats Zuccarello has been one of the key producers for the Wild since then.  The 35-year-old has frequently been on a line with Kaprizov and the results were certainly there this season as Zuccarello surpassed the 20-goal mark for the second time while picking up 67 points, the second-most of his career.  His two most productive years have been the last two seasons.  That’s certainly a strong selling point heading into extension talks this summer; Zuccarello is eligible for a new deal as of July 1st.

Zuccarello’s next deal will be a 35-plus agreement as he’ll be starting his age-37 season in 2024-25 but even so, there’s a good chance he’ll get a multi-year contract.  However, that age is likely to be a mitigating factor when it comes to the cost.  At a $6MM price tag currently, his recent level of production would typically move that AAV higher but it might not in this case.

Some teams have shown a willingness to add on an extra year than they might prefer in return for a lower cap hit and it wouldn’t be too shocking to see Minnesota do so here.  They still have two seasons of significant dead cap space from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts before those costs dip by more than $13MM.  That would make it easier for them to carry Zuccarello a little longer on their books long-term while his accepting a similar (if not slightly lesser) cap charge now will help their short-term challenges for 2024-25.  This one doesn’t have to get done now but as the offseason progresses, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides get the ball rolling on discussions.

Add Defensive Help

Minnesota’s back end is going to look a bit different on opening night in October compared to the unit that they iced at the end of the first round against Dallas.  Long-time Wild blueliner Mathew Dumba seems all but a lock to move on now following a tough year.  Trade deadline addition John Klingberg was a straight rental and isn’t expected to be back either.  On top of that, veteran Alex Goligoski clearly doesn’t seem to be a part of their plans moving forward after being scratched more than 30 times during the regular season and the entire first round.  He still has another year left at $2MM and it’s likely they wouldn’t mind finding a new home for him, assuming Goligoski waives his trade protection.

Additionally, there are questions about Calen Addison’s future with the team after he, too, sat in the playoffs.  The 23-year-old had a productive year with 29 points in 62 games and is set to become a restricted free agent for the first time this summer.  He should have some trade value if they decide to move him but that’s also going to open up another spot on the back end to fill.

Brock Faber will be around for his first full professional campaign after signing late in the season but there is definitely at least one opening to fill, even if Addison sticks around.  In a perfect world, a top-four blueliner to round out the top three of Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Jacob Middleton but again, that will be tricky given their current salary cap situation.  Guerin is going to have to get creative to address this in the coming weeks as a result.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 6/3/23

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Free agency is now less than a month away and activity on the transaction front is starting to pick up around the hockey world.  With that in mind, we’ll keep track of some of the minor moves of some interest here.

  • Russian winger Konstantin Okulov has again opted not to pursue an NHL contract, instead signing a two-year extension with CSKA Moscow, the KHL team announced. The 28-year-old has drawn NHL interest on several occasions and likely would have had a fairly strong market again this year after notching 54 points in 60 games this season, putting him tied for tenth in league scoring.  If he continues to play at that level over the next two years, there could still be some NHL interest for him in 2025.
  • While Carl Lindbom signed his entry-level deal with Vegas back on Thursday, he won’t be debuting in North America next season. Instead, Farjestad of the SHL announced that Vegas has loaned the 20-year-old to them for the 2023-24 campaign.  Lindbom had strong numbers in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan this season, posting a 1.86 GAA with a .930 SV% in 36 games and will now get a chance to try his hand at Sweden’s top level.
  • Former Canadiens center Lukas Vejdemo has signed a four-year deal with SHL Leksand, per a team release. The 27-year-old missed most of last season after suffering a hamstring injury late in the 2021-22 campaign but caught on late with Djurgarden of the second-tier Allsvenskan late in the season.  The term of this deal makes it unlikely that Vejdemo – who has two goals in 13 career NHL games – will get another opportunity in North America.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Mike Babcock Expected To Be Named Blue Jackets Head Coach

at CDT | by 20 Comments

It was expected by now that the Blue Jackets would officially have their head coach in place by now.  However, earlier today, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported (Twitter link) that the delay isn’t tied to their own deliberations but rather that something and/or someone was holding up the process.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the someone in question is Mike Babcock and the something pertains to his old contract in Toronto.  Dreger reports that Babcock is expected to become the new bench boss in Columbus but the hold-up in making the move official is due to his former deal with the Maple Leafs which doesn’t expire until the end of June.  Speculatively, based on this, it would seem like the Blue Jackets are waiting for the final month of his eight-year, $50MM contract from back in 2015 to end so that they won’t have to be responsible for paying for part of that.  (Babcock will receive that money no matter what, either all from Toronto or partially from Columbus with the Maple Leafs covering the difference.)

Babcock last coached in the NHL back in the 2019-20 campaign before being let go by Toronto after a sluggish 9-10-4 start to their season.  His tenure in Toronto wasn’t the greatest overall but it came on the heels of a successful ten-year run behind the bench in Detroit, anchored by a Stanley Cup title in 2008.  Overall, the 60-year-old has a 700-418-183 record over parts of 17 seasons between Anaheim, Detroit, and Toronto but word surfaced following his departure from the Maple Leafs about a toxic playing environment with both the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.  Internationally, he is the only member of the ’Triple Gold’ club among coaches (Olympics, World Championships, and a Stanley Cup).

Babcock was briefly behind the bench again in 2021-22, working with the University of Saskatchewan on a volunteer basis, receiving a two-year deal.  However, he stepped aside last summer, indicating at the time that he was retiring from coaching although he could change his mind if the right situation came up.  It appears that he feels the Blue Jackets are the right situation.

Columbus was active last summer, making a big splash on the free agent market in Johnny Gaudreau while working out a multi-year deal with Patrik Laine to give their attack a strong one-two punch.  However, it didn’t materialize in the form of victories as the Blue Jackets finished dead last in the Eastern Conference with just 59 points, a sizable drop from the 81 they had the year before.  That resulted in Brad Larsen being let go at the end of the season.

Babcock will now be tasked with trying to turn things around in Columbus, a team that has some quality youngsters in the organization already while they’re set to add another with the third-overall pick later this month, a selection that could yield the future top center they’ve long been seeking.  It’s a surprising turn of events for someone who hadn’t really been considered much in recent years for NHL coaching opportunities but if he’s able to get the Blue Jackets back into the playoff mix relatively quickly, he’ll have a chance at finishing his coaching career on a better note than it would have ended otherwise.

Assuming this hire is made official – though it might take a few more weeks – there are now three remaining head coaching vacancies in the NHL – the Ducks, Flames, and Rangers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Anaheim’s Coaching Search, McLeod, Hellebuyck

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Ducks have managed to keep things quiet for the most part about their head coaching search in terms of who is under consideration.  Eric Stephens of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that former Vancouver head coach Travis Green could be a possible fit for the role and knows the market well having played for the team twice while living in the Orange County area full-time.  Green spent parts of five seasons behind the bench in Vancouver with the team posting a 133-147-34 record and was considered for Anaheim’s coaching job back in 2016, a job that wound up going to Randy Carlyle.

Stephens also notes that there are three former head coaches that aren’t believed to be a part of GM Pat Verbeek’s wide net of options: Bruce Boudreau, Jeff Blashill, and Kevin Dineen.  He also speculates that AHL Colorado bench boss Greg Cronin could be under consideration for the position.  Cronin interviewed for Boston’s job last summer that ultimately went to Jim Montgomery.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal pegs Ryan McLeod’s next contract as a potentially tricky negotiation for the Oilers. The 23-year-old had a decent showing in Edmonton’s bottom six this season, setting new career highs in goals (11) and points (23) despite only playing in 57 games.  McLeod is now arbitration-eligible this summer and with 138 career NHL regular season appearances under his belt, has enough of a track record to land a decent-sized raise on the $798K he made in 2022-23.  Cap space is once again limited for the Oilers this summer so it might take some time for both sides to find the sweet spot on what’s likely to be another short-term agreement.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun examines some possible trade options for Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, calling him their biggest bargaining chip this summer. The veteran is about to enter the final year of his contract and has made it known that his desire is to win.  If Winnipeg doesn’t think they can extend him in the coming weeks, they could look to move him in the days leading up to the draft later this month.  Hellebuyck, who had a 2.49 GAA with a .920 SV% this season, has a $6.166MM AAV in the final year of his contract and is likely to command several million more on his next deal.  Billeck highlights Los Angeles, Buffalo, and Ottawa as some potential landing spots for the 30-year-old.

John Gibson Hoping For Trade From Ducks

at CDT | by 13 Comments

Goaltender John Gibson has been a fixture between the pipes in Anaheim for the better part of a decade now and is one of their longest-tenured players.  However, it appears that he’s hoping his time with the team has come to an end as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the veteran has told the team that he is ready for a change of scenery.  Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register adds that the request was made last month.

In his end-of-season presser back in April, Gibson made it clear that he wants to win.  He hasn’t been doing much of that lately as the Ducks have missed the playoffs in each of the last five years.  Although they’ve made some good progress in their rebuild by adding several key youngsters to the puzzle (including another with the second-overall pick later this month), they’re still not at the point yet where they’re ready to emerge as a consistent playoff contender.

With the team in front of him struggling, Gibson has seen his performance drop steadily as well.  He posted a 3.99 GAA this season, leading the league in goals allowed (200) and losses (31) although he still managed a .899 SV% which is right around the league average.  His highest save percentage over the last four seasons is .904 after putting up four straight seasons of .917 or better so it’s not as if this was a one-time dip.

It’s Gibson’s previous performance back when Anaheim was a playoff-caliber team that is likely to have teams interested in him this summer.  How much of his weakened performance was due to the struggles of the team in front of him, particularly their back end which has gotten considerably weaker over the years?  Is he still an above-average goalie with a better team in front of him?  If teams believe so, he’ll shoot to either the top of the list or close to it for desired acquisitions this summer in a goalie market that doesn’t have a lot of number one options.

However, the 29-year-old does have a bit of a pricey contract, one that has four years remaining at a $6.4MM AAV.  While plenty of teams could use a goaltending upgrade, not many of them can necessarily afford to take on the full freight of that deal.  Anaheim hasn’t used any of their three salary retention slots for 2023-24 and beyond although it should be noted that they have two retentions on the books (defensemen John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov) until July 1st.  Would they be willing to carry some dead cap space for four seasons to help facilitate a trade?  Alternatively, taking a high-priced contract back as an offset might be more palatable for GM Pat Verbeek.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Anaheim look to get a goaltender back as part of a return if they move Gibson.  Veteran Anthony Stolarz battled injury issues this season and is set to his unrestricted free agency and while Lukas Dostal might be ready to move up full-time to the NHL, he’s far from ready to take over as the starter.  If not, they’ll have to turn to free agency for a replacement but Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry is the only true number one on the market, assuming he doesn’t re-sign in the coming weeks.

Seravalli noted that Gibson was available last summer but the asking price was quite high.  While their asking price is still likely on the high side, if they’re more motivated to move him now as a result of Gibson’s ask, there’s a good chance that he’ll be suiting up somewhere else next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

June 2023 Critical Dates Calendar

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There are a maximum of seven games left in the 2022-23 playoffs with the Golden Knights and Panthers kicking off the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday and the offseason activity is soon to begin.  When it does, it will come quickly as June is a particularly busy month on the calendar.  CapFriendly recently provided (Twitter link) an overview of the key dates ahead.  Here’s a rundown of those dates and their importance.

June 1:

4 PM CT: Deadline to sign certain draft picks.  If these players don’t sign by this time, the team who drafted or acquired the player will lose the rights.  If they remain draft-eligible, they’ll go back into the draft.  Otherwise, they’ll become unrestricted free agents.

4 PM CT: Deadline to tender a Bona Fide offer to 2022 draftees.  This one falls under the radar but teams actually have to extend an offer to each player they picked in order to retain their rights.  It only has to be a minimum salary agreement and can be done as a formality quickly after the draft.  Periodically, teams opt not to tender an offer and if that happens, they lose the rights to the player.

June 15:

4 PM CT: Deadline for teams to sign international players under contract for next season.  For example, a team has a European prospect that is signed through 2023-24.  In order to register a valid NHL contract for next season through the transfer agreement, the player must be signed by this time.  This also applies to players that are presently free agents in the NHL.

Later of June 15 or 48 hours after Stanley Cup Final ends:

Opening of the first buyout window.  This could come as late as June 21st if the Cup Final goes the distance.  Teams can execute regular buyouts, paying two-thirds of the remaining salary of the player over two times the remaining length of the contract.  That rate drops to one-third if the player is younger than 26 at the time of the buyout.

Deadline for first club-elected arbitration.  Teams can elect to take a player to arbitration instead of waiting to see if that player opts to file later in the summer.  It would be a way to ensure that a contract is in place instead of running the risk of a holdout.  Players can only be taken to arbitration once in their career and must be arbitration-eligible to do so; they can’t do so with unrestricted free agents.  It’s rare that a team goes this route and even rarer that it’s done at this point.  There is a second window that briefly opens in early July and that’s when the odd club-elected arbitration is announced.

June 28/29

NHL Entry Draft

June 30

4 PM CT – Closure of regular buyout window.  Teams could have a second window open up later in July if they have arbitration filings.

4 PM CT – Qualifying offer deadline.  Any player who doesn’t receive one will become an unrestricted free agent the next day.

6 PM CT – RFA Contact Period.  Players who have been tendered a qualifying offer are eligible to discuss offer sheets with other teams.  No formal offer can be made until free agency officially opens on July 1st at 11 AM CT.

If you’re wondering about a UFA Contact Period, there isn’t one of those anymore.  Officially, teams aren’t allowed to speak to unrestricted free agents until July 1st at 11 AM CT.  Unofficially, we know that rule isn’t exactly being enforced based on the high number of contracts officially announced mere minutes after the market officially opens up.

With more than 200 players joining teams in the draft, quite a few players being non-tendered, and, as things stand at least, more than 300 players set to hit the open market barring them re-signing, the final few days of June and the beginning of July figure to be quite the frenzy.  Between those and the usual increase in trade activity around that time, we’ll be in for a very busy stretch of transactions in the not-too-distant future.

West Notes: Domi, Savard, Weegar, Masters, Puistola

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Stars center Max Domi profiles as one of the top options on what is a thin UFA market for middlemen this summer but he told reporters including Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News that he’s hoping to remain with the team.  Acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, the 28-year-old didn’t make too much of an immediate impact with only seven of his 56 points coming with Dallas but he was more productive in the playoffs, notching 13 points in their 19 contests.

Since his entry-level deal expired back in 2018, Domi hasn’t signed a contract longer than two years but indicated that getting some more stability would be something he’d like to do.  Meanwhile, with the Stars having a little over $7MM in projected cap space per CapFriendly and several forwards needing to be signed with that money, finding a financial fit could be tricky as Domi will certainly be looking for a raise on the $3MM he made this season.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Add Marc Savard’s name to the long list of head coaching candidates in Calgary as TSN’s Darren Dreger reported in a recent Insider Trading segment that the long-time NHL center is also under consideration. Savard has spent the last two seasons coaching with OHL Windsor and also has a single season behind an NHL bench, serving as an assistant in St. Louis in 2019-20.  The Flames are seeking a new bench boss after letting Darryl Sutter go at the beginning of the month.
  • Still with the Flames, MacKenzie Weegar has a new agent as Nick Riopel of Propulsion Sports Agency announced (Twitter link) that they are now representing the blueliner. He had previously been with Mazerolle & Lemay.  Weegar will begin his new contract next season, an eight-year deal that carries an AAV of $6.25MM, making him Calgary’s highest-paid defenseman.
  • Wild prospect Kyle Masters was quickly ruled out for the rest of the Memorial Cup after suffering an injury in Kamloops’ second game but he’ll be out for a while longer as Michael Russo of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the lower-body injury will keep the blueliner sidelined for three months. While that means he should be ready for the start of training camp, it will certainly affect his summer training, hardly ideal as he looks to make the jump to playing with AHL Iowa next season.  Masters had 65 points in 66 games with the Blazers this season.
  • The Oilers are not expected to sign prospect Patrik Puistola in advance of tomorrow’s deadline, reports Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal (Twitter link). The 22-year-old was acquired as part of the Jesse Puljujarvi deal back in February and had a strong season with Jukurit in Finland’s top division, notching 40 points in 60 games.  However, Puistola is already under contract overseas through next season meaning Edmonton would have had to wait even longer to get him in North America.

Offseason Checklist: New York Islanders

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The offseason has arrived for all but the three teams that still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup.  It’s time to examine what those eliminated squads will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at the Islanders.

New York has made several bold moves over the last 12 months, first moving a first-round pick to add defenseman Alexander Romanov from Montreal before moving another first-rounder along with Anthony Beauvillier and Aatu Raty to acquire center Bo Horvat from Vancouver.  They wasted little time extending Horvat to a new deal with a cap hit of $8.5MM just months after extending Mathew Barzal on a max-term agreement worth $9.15MM per season.  Despite the aggressiveness from GM Lou Lamoriello, the end result was a quick exit from the playoffs.  While this summer shouldn’t feature much in the way of bold activity, the Isles still have some things to accomplish.

Sign A Backup Goalie

For the past four seasons, Semyon Varlamov has been an important netminder for the Islanders.  He has been quite consistent as well with his save percentage in three of those seasons ranging from .911 to .914; the outlier was his career-best performance in 2020-21 (.929) which saw him crack the top five in Vezina voting.  In the last two years, he has ceded playing time to Ilya Sorokin which made his $5MM AAV a bit on the high side but New York was able to play an above-average netminder in every game this season.  Not too many teams could say that.

However, the 35-year-old is set to hit the open market in July and with Sorokin entrenched as the starter, it’s reasonable to think that Varlamov will look to head elsewhere in the hopes of a bigger role although regardless of where he lands, it’s quite likely that he’ll be facing a cut in pay as well.  Lamoriello will need to find a replacement.  It would be surprising to see that replacement coming from inside the organization as veteran Cory Schneider is also set to hit the open market while AHL starter Jakub Skarek has yet to see NHL action.

With a projection of around $5.3MM in cap space per CapFriendly with other spots to fill (more on those later) and the fact that Sorokin is one of the better starters in the NHL, it would seem that this is a spot that Lamoriello can try to shop closer to the lower end of the market and target a second-stringer closer to the $1.5MM range.  Of course, there’s a risk in doing so if Sorokin gets hurt but many teams with a top goalie adopt this approach to allow them to spend more on other spots so it would be quite reasonable for New York to follow suit.

Clear Bailey’s Contract

Josh Bailey has been with the Islanders for quite a long time.  Very quietly, he ranks third in franchise history in games played, just three behind Denis Potvin for second.  He’s seventh in Islanders history in points and a decent showing next season could get him into the top five.  The 33-year-old has been with the team for 15 seasons now after making the jump to the NHL just months after being drafted in the first round back in 2008.  All things considered, he has been a pretty good ninth-overall selection.

And yet, in spite of all of this, one of the biggest keys to their offseason is the Islanders finding a way to offload the final year of Bailey’s contract, one that carries a $5MM AAV.  After more than 1,000 games played, he has started to slow down and his point production (25) this season was the second-lowest of his career.  The only time it was lower was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign.  Bailey is being paid like a top-six forward but it’s fair to wonder if he can be that type of player anymore.

Let’s look back at their cap figure from earlier, around $5.3MM in cap space.  If they can find a way to move Bailey elsewhere, that comes close to doubling and all of a sudden, Lamoriello has some options to try to add to his roster.  If he’s unable to move him though, then they are going to be very limited in what they can do.

Of course, moving Bailey’s contract outright is going to be a challenge.  Yes, there are some teams who will be able to take on a bad deal for a season but they’re not going to do so without being properly incentivized.  With several teams needing to offload salary, the price to do it is going to be steep.  New York’s prospect pool has taken a hit lately and again, they don’t have a first-rounder in the upcoming draft.  If it costs a first-rounder to move that contract, are they going to be willing to do it?  Yes, they have all their upcoming second-round selections but two of those might not be enough if there are a high number of motivated teams that want or need to clear money.

There is another option to consider, the buyout.  It would save some money this season – $2.333MM – but when you factor in that another player (making at least $775K) has to fill his spot, the net savings aren’t enough to really give them many more spending options this summer.  Add that to the fact he’d carry a dead cap charge of $1.167MM in 2024-25 and it’s not a route they’re going to want to pursue.

For a decade and a half, Bailey has basically been a fixture in the lineup for the Islanders.  It’s a tough way to leave but expect them to be quite active in trying to prevent him from suiting up for a 16th season with the franchise.

Re-Sign Or Replace Mayfield

One of the things that Lamoriello needs more cap space to do this summer is to re-sign defenseman Scott Mayfield.  When former GM Garth Snow signed Mayfield to a five-year contract when he barely had 100 career NHL games under his belt, eyebrows were raised.  However, the AAV of that agreement – $1.45MM – was low enough to mitigate the risk while giving the blueliner a guaranteed payday after spending a lot of time in the minors.

Let’s just say that the contract worked out splendidly for the Isles.  Mayfield has been a steady regular throughout the life of the agreement, averaging just shy of 20 minutes a night over those five seasons.  Basically, he has been a top-four defenseman at a cost that is less than what a lot of teams pay their sixth option.

Now that Mayfield is set to hit the open market for the first time, he won’t be a bargain any longer.  The 30-year-old has a chance to triple that AAV (or at least come close to doing so), taking him closer to the $4MM mark, a number that would take up the majority of their limited cap room.  A right-shot defender, Mayfield will be one of the top options on that side of the ice in free agency.

Mayfield has made it clear that his desire is to remain with the Islanders but if his market price gets too high, New York will need to pivot elsewhere; one way or another, they’ll need to spend on a defender in the coming weeks.  But if they can create some extra cap flexibility sooner than later, there’s a good chance that Mayfield will get his wish and stay with the team that drafted him in the second round back in 2011.

Add Scoring Help

While the Islanders added Horvat midseason to try to help their offense, his production dipped upon being acquired as he had just seven goals in 30 regular season games after the swap while only tallying once in six playoff games.  The team finished 23rd in scoring despite Brock Nelson having a career year while Anders Lee matched his 28-goal showing from 2021-22; Zach Parise passed the 20-goal mark as well.

The problem is that those were the only players to have at least 20 goals on the season.  If the threshold is lowered to 15, only Kyle Palmieri clears that plateau and only sparingly.  Yes, injuries to him and Barzal didn’t help but full seasons from those two wouldn’t have moved them into being an above-average team offensively.

This is where freeing up Bailey’s salary could go a long way, assuming the space they have now is earmarked for the back end.  If they could use that on a more productive forward (one that would score more than the eight goals that Bailey potted), that would give them at least a small boost.  They wouldn’t be able to add a top liner for that money but any upgrade would help.  Oliver Wahlstrom – who also battled injury trouble this season – is young enough to still improve and him becoming a 20-goal player would also help.

There are enough pieces here to at least get to becoming a mid-pack team offensively; doing so would likely get them a few more wins which could be enough to push for a top-three seed in the division if all goes well next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top