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Blues Sign One-Year Contract With Nikita Soshnikov

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Sunday: Milstein has announced that his client signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Blues, keeping him in St. Louis for the upcoming season.

Friday: While some had speculated that Blues winger Nikita Soshnikov was likely going to sign in the KHL this summer, that doesn’t appear to be the case.  His agent, Dan Milstein, told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link) that the sides are in the process of finalizing a one-year contract to keep him in St. Louis.  He is owed a qualifying offer of just over $742K by Monday.

The 24-year-old started last season with Toronto in the minor leagues before getting recalled.  After playing in three games with the Maple Leafs, he became waiver-eligible which left him in limbo for a little while.  After sitting on injured reserve for a couple of months, he was then flipped to the Blues in exchange for their 2019 fourth-round draft pick.

Soshnikov played a sparing role for St. Louis down the stretch as he got into a dozen games, posting a goal and an assist while logging 11:10 per night in ice time.  Assuming the contract does get finalized, he will likely contend for a fourth line role once again in 2018-19.

Snapshots: Bowness, Kulikov, Rierden, Nash

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The Stars are finalizing a deal with Rick Bowness to make him one of their new assistant coaches, reports Sportsnet’s John Shannon (Twitter link).  The veteran coach has received plenty of interest since being let go by Tampa Bay following their playoff elimination with Shannon noted that at least three teams made offers to him.  He will join a new-look Dallas staff including first-time head coach Jim Montgomery and assistant Todd Nelson.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Jets defenseman Dmitry Kulikov underwent back surgery following Winnipeg’s exit in the third round of the playoffs, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He’s expected to be fully recovered in time for training camp.  Kulikov’s first season with Winnipeg did not go particularly well as he missed time due to a back issue as well as a concussion and played a limited role when he was in the lineup, averaging just 17:04 per game, the lowest of his career.
  • The Capitals will interview associate coach Todd Reirden for their now-vacant head coaching position, GM Brian MacLellan told reporters, including NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. He has long been expected to be the successor for Barry Trotz (who now is with the Islanders) and it’s clear the team views him the same way as no other interviews are scheduled at this time.
  • While the Bruins have prioritizing signing UFA winger Ilya Kovalchuk, they remain in contact with winger Rick Nash about possibly extending his stay in Boston should they not land the Russian, GM Don Sweeney told Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston. However, Sweeney acknowledged that they won’t be able to sign both players.  Nash should have plenty of interest if he makes it to the open market but he will have to take a significant pay cut on the $7.8MM he made in 2017-18.

Sharks To Buy Out Paul Martin

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The Sharks announced that they have placed defenseman Paul Martin on waivers for the purposes of buying out the remainder of his contract.  GM Doug Wilson issued the following statement regarding the move:

“Paul Martin has been the utmost professional on and off the ice during his three years in San Jose. His leadership, character and on-ice contributions have been essential to our success and in reaching the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. The impact he has had on our organization, his teammates and many of our younger players will be felt for many years to come.”

The 37-year-old has spent the past three seasons in San Jose and played an important role in their trip to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2015-16.  However, his effectiveness and role were reduced in recent years to the point where he cleared waivers this past season and played in more games in the minors (18) during the regular season than he did in the NHL (14).  Martin was brought back up late in the season and while he played a sparing role on the third pairing, he did get into seven postseason contests but even with that, being bought out was still the expected outcome.

Martin had one year left on his deal with a $4.85MM cap hit and a $4.25MM salary.  Assuming he clears waivers on Saturday, the Sharks will instead carry a $2.017MM cap charge in 2018-19 and a $1.417MM hit in 2019-20.  The roughly $2.8MM in savings will give San Jose nearly $19MM in cap room to play with this summer which will make them a team to watch for in free agency which kicks off next Sunday.

Blues, Penguins Interested In Jeff Skinner

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The Penguins and Blues are among the teams that are interested in acquiring Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link).  Skinner has been frequently speculated as a trade candidate in recent months as he gets set to enter the final year of his contract, one that carries a salary cap hit of $5.725MM and also a full no-move clause.

St. Louis has been looking for help in their top six dating back to last season and Skinner would certainly give them some more scoring punch as he has averaged 28 goals over the last five years.  The Blues also have a deep group of prospects up front including winger Klim Kostin and Jordan Kyrou as well as center Robert Thomas that Carolina will certainly be asking about as a possible return.

The fit in Pittsburgh is a little more curious.  There’s no doubt that Skinner would fit in nicely alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin inside their top six but they lack the cap space to add Skinner in; while they have just over $9MM in room per CapFriendly, they still have as many as six players to sign for their NHL roster.  While they could presumably deal a winger or two the other way to help offset the money, Carolina will be looking for a more significant return and the Pens also don’t have their first-round pick having dealt it for center Derick Brassard back before the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, LeBrun notes that the Kings, who have been interested in Skinner for a while, have turned their focus to UFA winger Ilya Kovalchuk.  They are one of the teams that are known to have already made a contract offer and they lack the cap space to add both him and Skinner.  Kovalchuk isn’t allowed to sign until July 1st but could make a verbal commitment before then.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Red Wings Name Dan Bylsma Assistant Coach

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The Red Wings have brought in a veteran behind their bench, announcing that they have named Dan Bylsma as an assistant coach.  He replaces John Torchetti who was let go at the end of the season.

Head coach Jeff Blashill had the following to say about his newest assistant:

“I know that Dan will make a great impact on our team, and we’re excited to add him to the bench.  His resume speaks for itself, including the Stanley Cup championship and Jack Adams Award. I also had the unique opportunity to work with Dan at this year’s World Championship, and that experience leaves no doubt that Dan will bring innovative ideas and tremendous attention to detail to our coaching staff.”

Bylsma has predominantly worked as a head coach in recent years.  He spent parts of six seasons in that role with the Penguins, making the playoffs each time while winning the Stanley Cup back in his first year with the team in 2009.  He also served as the bench boss in Buffalo in 2015-16 and 2016-17 but his teams posted a sub-.500 record in both years which resulted in him being let go along with GM Tim Murray last spring.

Worth noting is that Blashill is entering the final year of his contract.  If the team struggles out of the gate, Detroit now has a veteran replacement on their bench that could step into the role at any time.

Senators Shopping Craig Anderson

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The Ottawa Senators are looking to move goaltender Craig Anderson, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link).  Chris Stevenson of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the netminder has requested to be dealt.  However, no trade is believed to be imminent.

Anderson is coming off of a tough season that saw him post a .898 SV% and a 3.32 GAA, his worst numbers since the 2005-06 campaign when he was with Chicago.  However, he is just one year removed from putting up a .926 SV% and a 2.28 GAA so the Sens are certainly hoping that his 2017-18 performance isn’t necessarily an indicator of things to come.  Over the past several years, Anderson has alternated good years with not-so-good ones.

Back in September, Ottawa inked the 37-year-old to a two-year, $9.5MM contract extension that is set to kick in next month.  The deal is front-loaded with a $5.5MM salary for next season and $4MM for 2019-20.  It also contains a ten team no-trade list.

GM Pierre Dorion may have some difficulties finding a deal in the short-term.  Teams that are focused on longer-term starting help are focused on Washington RFA Philipp Grubauer while those that are looking for a short-term upgrade may prefer to wait until next weekend where they can try to sign one of Carter Hutton, Jaroslav Halak, Jonathan Bernier, Kari Lehtonen, and Anton Khudobin who are all set to become unrestricted free agents.  Former Senator Robin Lehner is also set to hit the open market as he is not expected to receive a qualifying offer next week.  With all of those players being available without having to give up anything for their rights, Ottawa may have to wait to see if there are any teams left standing after the free agent shuffle to see if there is a potential taker for Anderson.

Wild Notes: Ennis, First-Round Pick, Brodin, Dumba

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Minnesota is asking teams that have shown interest in wingers Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, and Nino Niederreiter to take on the final year of center Tyler Ennis’ contract as well, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.  Ennis struggled considerably in his first year with the Wild and as a result, he is a strong candidate to be bought out of the final year of his contract which carries a $4.6MM cap hit.  The deadline for players to be bought out is next Saturday so they will have to move fairly quickly if they want to include Ennis in a deal.

More from Minnesota:

  • While some teams are willing to move their first-round selections, Minnesota is not one of those teams, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required). The team has received interest in their 24th overall selection – including from the Canadiens in a proposal involving winger Max Pacioretty – but GM Paul Fenton said they are “absolutely” against dealing it.
  • Also from Russo’s piece, the team is hesitant to move defenseman Jonas Brodin given the uncertainty surrounding Ryan Suter’s ankle injury. Brodin has been coveted around the league for a while as a stable top-four defender and with Mathew Dumba in line for a significant new deal this summer, some wondered if Brodin and his $4.17MM cap hit could be dealt to free up some cap room.  Representatives from the team met with Dumba’s agent on Thursday, presumably to talk about his next contract.
  • Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests that it’s likely that the Wild are more active on the trade front this summer than in free agency. They may look to shake up the roster with some player-for-player deals and then use their cap room to shore up their depth and on the back end.

East Notes: Aaltonen, Pacioretty, Tolchinsky, Lightning

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Maple Leafs pending RFA center Miro Aaltonen will return to the KHL, his agent Todd Diamond told TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link).  Aaltonen joined Toronto last offseason but spent all of 2017-18 at the AHL level where he posted 20 goals and 23 assists in 64 regular season games while adding 13 points in Toronto’s run to the Calder Cup.  With both Tomas Plekanec and Dominic Moore set to depart via unrestricted free agency this offseason, some believed that the 25-year-old Aaltonen would have had a shot at a fourth line role with the big club but instead, he will head back overseas.

More from the East:

  • Canadiens winger Max Pacioretty is seeking a six- to eight-year term if he is going to sign an early extension with the team, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli. However, Montreal does not appear to be willing to give him that long of a deal which is why his name has come up in trade speculation as of late.  Seravalli links the Kings as a possible suitor as they look to add a top-six winger while the Sabres have been linked to him recently as well.
  • Hurricanes pending RFA winger Sergey Tolchinsky has signed a tryout contract with CSKA Moscow, the KHL team announced (link in Russian). The 23-year-old spent all of this past year with Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte where he collected 26 points in 43 games.  With him eyeing a return home, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team decide to give him a qualifying offer so that they can retain his NHL rights if he decides he wants to come back in the next few years.  The deadline to do so is Monday at 4 PM CST.
  • Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois provided an update regarding several of their pending free agents to Lindsay Kramer of the Post-Standard. The team will not tender a qualifying offer to winger Alex Gallant while they also will not try to re-sign unrestricted free agent defenseman Mat Bodie and Jamie McBain, nor will they pursue winger Erik Condra.  However, they do intend to try to bring back center Matthew Peca, who will hit the open market as a Group VI free agent next month.

Free Agent Focus: Toronto Maple Leafs

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Free agency is now less than two weeks away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Toronto’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F William Nylander – While he hasn’t received as much of the spotlight as his young teammates have, Nylander has quietly become a very productive player already as he collected 61 points for the second straight season.  Yes, his ice time was down a little bit in their first round loss to Boston but that’s not going to have any sort of real impact on contract talks.

Typically, with a youngster putting up these types of numbers early on, a long-term contract would be a near no-brainer.  However, with new contracts on the horizon for center Auston Matthews and winger Mitch Marner, Toronto may at the very least have to look into a shorter-term bridge deal since the other two could approach $20MM on their next deals.  A long-term pact for the 22-year-old could check in around $6MM or more per season based on comparables around the league while a short-term pact would cost a bit less and give Toronto more flexibility for 2019-20 but would also cost them more when Nylander’s third contract kicks in.  At this stage, a long-term pact still is the likeliest outcome.

Other RFAs: F Miro Aaltonen, F Frederik Gauthier, F Andreas Johnsson, D Justin Holl, D Martin Marincin

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F James van Riemsdyk – Although van Riemsdyk’s ice time was somewhat limited in 2017-18 (14:54 per game, his lowest since his sophomore year), it didn’t slow down his goal production as he collected a career-best 36 tallies.  That ties him with Islanders center John Tavares for the most goals among unrestricted free agents.  He’s also one of the younger top players in this UFA class at just 29 years of age.  He’s going to be one of the most sought-after players on the open market next month and should be able to garner a max-term deal of seven years (assuming he doesn’t re-sign with Toronto).

F Tyler Bozak – It isn’t a great market for centers this summer and Bozak is poised to benefit from that.  Although he dropped to just 11 goals this past season (his lowest in any full year), he was still reliable defensively and his usual strong self at the faceoff dot.  The 32-year-old also saw his playing dropped to 15:39 per game; it’s certainly quite plausible to think that there will be teams that think he can get back to 15 goals and 50 points in a second-line role.  A five or six-year contract isn’t out of the question and he’s set to get a nice raise of the $4.2MM cap hit he has played on for the last five seasons.

Other UFAs: F Kyle Baun, F Leo Komarov, F Dominic Moore, F Tomas Plekanec, D Roman Polak

Projected Cap Space: With the re-signing of defenseman Connor Carrick earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs now have just under $55MM committed for next season per CapFriendly, an amount that includes $5.3MM for the injured Nathan Horton who will once again be LTIR-eligible.  With the salary cap set at $79.5MM, that gives Toronto a little more than $24MM to work with.  Nylander will take up a sizable chunk of that but they should still have plenty to spend.  However, new GM Kyle Dubas will need to tread carefully knowing that new contracts are on the horizon for Matthews and Marner so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Toronto pursue some short-term deals either via trade or the UFA market in the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Blackhawks, Karlsson, Canucks

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The Blackhawks have expressed an interest in moving up from the eighth spot in Friday’s NHL Entry Draft, reports Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.  However, GM Stan Bowman admitted that given the uncertainty of who will be picked starting at the number three selection, teams thus far have been hesitant to move down.  He also acknowledged that the team is “looking at our options” when it comes to possibly trading the contract of winger Marian Hossa.  While his career is over, he isn’t filing his retirement papers yet so he remains on the salary cap.  While Chicago can just put him back on LTIR for next season (and beyond), a team looking to stay at the cap floor while spending less in actual dollars may have some interest, similar to what Arizona did a couple of years ago with the additions of Pavel Datsyuk and Dave Bolland.

Elsewhere out West:

  • The Golden Knights have not yet started contract discussions with pending RFA center William Karlsson, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Lady Byng winner is coming off of a career year where he tallied 43 goals and 35 assists; for perspective, his previous career-best in points was 25.  Accordingly, he figures to be one of the more fascinating RFA cases in recent memory.  Karlsson stated that his preference is to get a long-term deal done this summer.
  • If the Canucks decide to move the seventh selection tomorrow night (something they are open to doing), they’re expected to covet a 20-23-year-old player in return, notes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province. That player wouldn’t necessarily need to already be established in the NHL but it seems to be clear that they’re targeting that particular age bracket to line up with their younger core.  If they decide to keep the pick, GM Jim Benning admitted that he’s leaning towards picking a defenseman.

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