Multiple Teams Showing Interest in Nils Hoglander
It wasn’t long ago that Canucks winger Nils Hoglander looked like an important part of Vancouver’s long-term plans. But things haven’t gone as well this year for him and it appears that teams are starting to kick the tires to see if he’s available. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the Capitals, Penguins, and Blue Jackets are among the teams who have explored the possibility of acquiring Hoglander.
Hoglander made an early impact with Vancouver, picking up 13 goals and 14 assists in 56 games in the shortened 2020-21 season. However, his output dipped in the next two seasons, capped off by him spending the bulk of the 2022-23 campaign in the minors with AHL Abbotsford.
However, Hoglander took a big step forward last season. The 23-year-old set new career highs in goals (24) and points (36) despite playing almost exclusively in the bottom six, averaging just 12:06 per game. Still, he was a regular throughout the season and the playoffs, restoring some value along the way.
That was enough for the Canucks to hand him a three-year, $9MM contract extension that will begin next season. While it walks Hoglander right to UFA eligibility at 27 in the 2028 offseason, it looked as if he was going to be a capable bottom-six option for them for a while.
But things haven’t gone anywhere near as well this season. He has been limited to just two goals and three assists in 21 appearances so far despite basically having the same role. Along the way, his shooting percentage has dropped from 20%, a mark that’s hard to maintain, down to 8.7% which is a little below league average.
While Hoglander’s price tag will be $3MM next season, it’s a much more manageable $1.1MM this season as he wraps up his bridge deal. That’s especially important for Washington, a team that is effectively capped out and well into LTIR. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has ample cap space after moving Lars Eller to the Caps earlier this month while Columbus is at the bottom of the league in spending this season. All three teams make some sense for Hoglander’s services as a player to potentially help their bottom six group while being young enough to still be in the plans if those teams wind up having to pivot to a rebuild down the road.
Despite his slow start, there still should be a fairly strong market for his services beyond those three Eastern Conference teams should GM Patrik Allvin decide to make him available which could make his trade value higher than it might seem. If the Canucks decide to try to shake things up, Hoglander is a potentially viable candidate to move.
Injury Updates: Stanley, Arvidsson, Kochetkov, Kylington, Chinakhov
The Jets welcomed back Logan Stanley to their lineup tonight with the team announcing (Twitter link) that the blueliner has been activated off injured reserve. The 26-year-old has been banged up this season, missing time with a knee issue and most recently a mid-body injury that kept him out for the last eight games. Between those, Stanley has three points, 17 blocks, and 12 hits in 11 games while averaging 15:13 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career. With his activation, Winnipeg now has a full 23-player roster.
Other injury updates from around the NHL:
- Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link) that winger Viktor Arvidsson won’t suit up on their current road trip, meaning he’ll miss the next three games. The 31-year-old has missed the last six games due to an undisclosed injury and is currently on injured reserve. Arvidsson is in his first season with Edmonton after signing a two-year, $8MM contract over the summer. However, he’s off to a quiet start with just two goals and three assists in 16 games.
- Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game against Florida, team reporter Walt Ruff reports (Twitter link). Kochetkov remains in concussion protocol but head coach Rod Brind’Amour wants to get him in a practice before getting him back into a game. Kochetkov has a 2.42 GAA and a .909 SV% in 13 games so far this season. With him and Frederik Andersen out, Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets are Carolina’s tandem between the pipes for the time being.
- The injuries continue to pile up for the Avalanche. Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Oliver Kylington is dealing with an injury and isn’t with the team in Dallas. The 27-year-old has had a quiet start to the season for Colorado, missing time due to illness and being healthy scratched at times. Overall, Kylington has suited up in eight games so far, picking up a goal and an assist but his playing time is just 12:10 per night, more than five minutes below his ATOI with Calgary last season.
- Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov was scratched in today’s victory over Calgary due to an upper-body injury, notes team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link). After a breakout performance last season that saw him record 16 goals and 13 assists in 53 games, the 23-year-old is on pace to beat those numbers as he has seven goals and seven helpers in 21 appearances so far, good for fourth on Columbus in scoring. Cole Sillinger returned from his upper-body injury to take Chinakhov’s spot in the lineup.
Golden Knights Recall Victor Olofsson From Conditioning Loan, Assign Two To AHL
The Golden Knights have made a trio of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Winnipeg. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Victor Olofsson has been recalled from AHL Henderson with his conditioning loan now complete. Meanwhile, winger Mason Morelli and blueliner Robert Hagg have been re-assigned to the Silver Knights.
Olofsson signed with Vegas in free agency over the summer, inking a one-year, $1.075MM deal in the hopes of rebuilding his value after a tough final couple of years in Buffalo. The 29-year-old got off to an impressive start with two goals in the season opener while adding another tally in his fourth outing. However, that was his last appearance with them thanks to a lower-body injury that landed him on LTIR.
Olofsson was sent down on November 18th but didn’t see any game action with Henderson. That trend will continue for the time being as he’s not expected to suit up against the Jets.
Morelli, meanwhile, has been recalled three times recently but it hasn’t resulted in much playing time as he has just one appearance with Vegas this season, one that saw him play just 7:31. He has been productive with the Silver Knights though, notching five goals and four assists in 13 games thus far.
As for Hagg, he also has been shuffled back and forth quite frequently over the last week and a half. The veteran has suited up twice for the Golden Knights this season, making it nine straight years with appearances at the top level. However, he’s averaging just over 11 minutes per game while also recording 11 hits in those outings. He has gotten off to a nice start offensively in the minors, however, picking up eight points in 14 games with Henderson.
With the moves, Vegas has once again exited LTIR and is back to banking a small amount of cap room. Ben Hutton is presently on LTIR so if the Golden Knights need to bring anyone up later on, they will have the flexibility to do so by using Hutton’s $975K buffer.
Flames Place Ilya Nikolaev On Unconditional Waivers
Nov. 29: The Flames announced Friday that Nikolaev has been released from his contract, confirming that he cleared unconditional waivers. They now have five open contract slots.
Nov. 28: It appears that the Flames will be parting ways with one of their prospects. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the team has placed forward Ilya Nikolaev on unconditional waivers, a move that is generally made to pave the way to terminate a player’s contract.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by Calgary back in 2019, going 88th overall. Nikolaev spent the next two seasons in Russia before coming to North America for the 2021-22 campaign where he joined USHL Tri-City. A strong showing there that saw him record 23 goals and 49 assists in 58 regular season games helped earn him an entry-level deal soon after.
However, things haven’t gone well for Nikolaev since then. He spent his first two professional seasons split between AHL Calgary and ECHL Rapid City. In 2022-23, he played the bulk of his outings with the latter while last season, it was the other way around. The hope was that he’d at least be able to move up to the AHL level full-time this year but that didn’t happen. Nikolaev got into a pair of games with the Rush plus nine more with the Wranglers where he had four assists but clearly, he hadn’t cemented a full-time spot with them yet.
Nikolaev is in the final season of his entry-level contract and with how things had been going to this point, he was likely heading for a non-tender in June. Assuming that he clears waivers on Friday, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent and will likely look for another opportunity overseas. Once the deal is terminated, he’ll come off Calgary’s contract list which will bring them down to 45 out of the maximum of 50.
Oilers Recall Drake Caggiula
As expected, Drake Caggiula’s stint in the minors was short-lived. The team announced today (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the veteran forward from AHL Bakersfield.
Edmonton re-assigned the 30-year-old back to the minors on Monday alongside defenseman Josh Brown (who notably wasn’t brought back up this time around). With the Oilers off until Friday, the demotions allowed them to exit LTIR for a few days and bank a bit of cap space. While Caggiula is on a contract for the league minimum of $775K, his remaining money is still more than the $382K they can afford per PuckPedia which means they’ll be back into using LTIR once the recall officially hits their books on Friday.
Caggiula has played in four games with Edmonton so far this season, all within the last four weeks. He has one assist in those outings while averaging a little over eight minutes a night of playing time while also spending time in a reserve role. He’s likely to still have a limited role on this stint with the Oilers as well. While he was held off the scoresheet on Wednesday, Caggiula has been much more productive with the Condors, recording five goals and four helpers so far.
With the recall, Edmonton’s roster now stands at 22 players, one below the limit. With them now back in LTIR, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that spot get filled in the near future.
Senators Hoping To Have First-Round Pick Forfeiture Reduced
Last November, the NHL ruled that the Senators must forfeit one of their first-round selections in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 drafts due to their failure to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause when they traded him to Vegas in 2021. The issue came to light less than a year later when the Golden Knights tried to flip him to Anaheim at the 2022 trade deadline, a team that was on that no-trade list. (He eventually was moved to Montreal later that summer.) Management in Vegas was understandably displeased about the matter and asked the league to investigate, eventually leading to the penalty to Ottawa.
The last time the NHL took this step was with New Jersey and their initial 17-year contract to Ilya Kovalchuk, a deal that was later reworked to a 15-year agreement. The Devils were fined $3MM and stripped of a first-round pick between 2011 and 2014. They elected not to forfeit in the first three years and in 2014, after Kovalchuk left the team, New Jersey successfully lobbied the league for a lesser penalty; half the funds were returned and instead of losing the first-rounder outright, it was moved to the back of the first round.
It appears that Senators owner Michael Andlauer is hoping that history will repeat itself with his franchise. In an appearance on Amazon’s Monday Night Hockey earlier this week (video link), he lobbied for similar relief when it comes to Ottawa’s penalty:
It is what is it, we move forward, it was before my time. I accept a lot of deliberation went through. I just hope that being good citizens we can get the same type of relief New Jersey did some years ago with a similar situation.
The team elected not to forfeit the pick in this year’s draft, instead selecting defenseman Carter Yakemchuk seventh overall in June. The Sens currently sit 25th in the overall standings and if they wind up finishing the season somewhere around there, it stands to reason that they’ll keep their 2025 selection, push the penalty to 2026, and hope for relief from the league at that time.
However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch earlier this month that he has no inclination to lessen the penalty on the Senators. Of course, things can change between now and then but it certainly doesn’t appear to be trending in that direction for now.
It’s worth noting that the pick that Ottawa has to forfeit must be their own selection and not one acquired from another team. That means that if they trade one of their 2025 or 2026 picks, it would lock in them forfeiting the other one as things stand. That will likely play an impact in trade talks as they look to acquire help on their back end as those selections are trade chips that are probably off the table in discussions.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: San Jose Sharks
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Sharks.
San Jose Sharks
Current Cap Hit: $81,214,232 (below the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
G Yaroslav Askarov (one year, $925K)
F Macklin Celebrini (three years, $975K)
F William Eklund (two years, $863K)
F William Smith (three years, $950K)
D Jack Thompson (one year, $828K)
Potential Bonuses
Askarov: $850K
Celebrini: $3.5MM
Eklund: $850K
Smith: $850K
Total: $6.05MM
Celebrini is off to a good start to his career though injuries have cost him playing time already. While that won’t hurt in the long run, it could make a Calder Trophy push a little harder which is one of the potential ‘A’ bonuses, of which he has four of. While it’s still extremely early, the Sharks are hoping that he’s their top center of the future and we’ve seen the price tag for those players hover around $8MM per season, an amount that will probably need to go higher by the time this deal is up.
Smith has stayed healthy early on but has struggled in his first taste of the pros. While they’re probably unconcerned long-term and still view him as the second option behind Celebrini, this start likely takes him out of reaching most, if not all of his ‘A’ bonuses. If he lives up to his potential, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Smith in that $8MM range on his next deal. Eklund had an impressive first full NHL season last year and is on a higher pace this year. They’re hoping he has top-line potential which could get him in the $8MM range long-term as well although the fact he’s primarily being deployed on the wing could shave a little off his price tag.
Thompson was seeing regular action for the Sharks after an early-season recall before today’s demotion, albeit primarily on the third pairing. If he can reclaim that roster spot before too long, he could land in the $1.3MM range on a bridge contract in the summer.
Askarov has already signed his second contract and we’ll get to that later on. For this section, let’s focus on the bonuses. Given that he was just recalled this week and that they’re running a three-goalie rotation, it’s hard to see him playing enough to reach any of his four ‘A’ bonuses. He needs to get to 1,800 minutes (or 25 appearances with at least 30 minutes of playing time) to have a shot at qualifying for them.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
G Mackenzie Blackwood ($2.35MM, UFA)
D Cody Ceci ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Mikael Granlund ($5MM, UFA)
F Klim Kostin ($2MM, RFA)
F Luke Kunin ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Jan Rutta ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Givani Smith ($800K, UFA)
F Nico Sturm ($2MM, UFA)
G Vitek Vanecek ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Fabian Zetterlund ($1.45MM, RFA)
Granlund opted to sign with the Sharks in 2023 on what amounted to a pillow deal to try to rebuild some value. He might have done just that. With an expanded role, he reached the 60-point mark last season and is producing more than a point per game in the first quarter of this season. As far as straight value goes, the Sharks have done pretty well with this deal. How things go on his next contract remains in some question, however. While Granlund is playing well in a top-line role, he’s not a top-line center on most teams and he has struggled with lesser roles at times in the past. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if his market wasn’t as strong as his numbers might indicate although another deal around this price point should be doable.
Kunin was a speculative non-tender candidate after a down showing last year but the two sides settled on this deal. He’s capable of being a versatile utility forward but hasn’t been able to produce with enough consistency thus far. Still, someone who can play all three forward positions, kill penalties, and play with an edge will be of interest on the open market and a contract around this price point on a multi-year agreement could happen. On the flip side, Kostin has not played well in either season of this contract and is more of a depth forward than a regular one. His 2021-22 efforts appear to be the outlier at this point and as a result, most of his offers in the summer are likely to be at the league minimum or very close to it.
Sturm was primarily a depth player before joining San Jose but became a capable middle-six option over his first two seasons which had him on track for a decent raise next summer. However, his early-season usage has him back in his old spot on the fourth line which won’t help his market. That said, given the demand for middlemen, he could still get a small increase on his next deal. Zetterlund wound up with a bridge deal after struggling upon being acquired in the Timo Meier deal. His first full season with the Sharks was a strong one with 24 goals and 20 assists and he’s on pace to eclipse those numbers this year. With arbitration rights, he’s on pace to triple this deal at a minimum if he can keep it up. Smith, meanwhile, has been more of a depth player over the years and is likely to stay around the league minimum again on his next deal.
Ceci was acquired from Edmonton in a cap-clearing move mid-offseason. He’s getting an opportunity to play a bigger role but most teams know his best role is in more of a fourth or fifth role. As someone who is a right-hand shot and can log 20-plus minutes a night, another deal in this range for a few years is a likely outcome. Rutta’s first season with San Jose last year wasn’t bad in a third-pairing role but he has struggled this season. If things stay as is, he probably won’t be able to land this much in the summer if he winds up playing a role on a team going deep into the playoffs, that could boost his value back up to around this price point.
Vanecek was brought in at the trade deadline last season to give them another veteran to try to help stabilize things to a point. He hasn’t fared too poorly all things considered but coming off a rocky year in New Jersey, his value has taken a hit. He could be a candidate for a one-year pillow deal but a two-year agreement at a price tag starting with a two is more likely. Considering how poorly San Jose’s back end has been at times, Blackwood has fared relatively well since joining the Sharks last summer. However, his overall numbers won’t be high enough to land him any sort of sizable raise. Something around this price tag should be doable though.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Ty Dellandrea ($1.3MM, RFA)
D Mario Ferraro ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Carl Grundstrom ($1.8MM, UFA)
D Timothy Liljegren ($3MM, UFA)
D Henry Thrun ($1MM, RFA)
D Jake Walman ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Alexander Wennberg ($5MM, UFA)
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($7MM, UFA)
Wennberg was a beneficiary of the Sharks wanting some veteran center depth and the demand for middlemen on the open market, yielding an above-market contract for a player who hasn’t eclipsed the 40-point mark since 2016-17. If he stays in the 30-plus-point range as he has since then, a more realistic price tag would be closer to $4MM in 2026.
Grundstrom was acquired over the summer after it looked like he might be non-tendered by Los Angeles. While he has shown a bit of a scoring touch in the past, he hasn’t been able to do so with enough consistency, resulting in him playing a lot on the fourth line. This price tag is on the high side for someone in that role; he’ll need to find a way to produce more if he wants any sort of notable raise. Dellandrea was acquired from Dallas in the hopes that a change of scenery would get him going. That hasn’t happened yet and he finds himself in the same limited role he had with the Stars. If that continues, a non-tender could be on the table.
Vlasic has been a long-time core defender for the Sharks over his 18-year career, earning himself some Norris Trophy votes in the prime of his career. However, that prime was a long time ago. At his best, Vlasic was a key shutdown defender who could play on the top pairing and he signed this contract while being in that role. But for the most part since then, he has been more of a depth piece, either on the third pairing or as a healthy scratch. This season, he has yet to play due to a back injury but even when he returns, it’s likely to be in a limited role. He’s a buyout candidate next summer if San Jose decides to open up some cap space and if he was to hit the open market and consider going elsewhere, it’d be a minimum-salary agreement.
Walman was another cap casualty over the offseason, this time coming from Detroit. After being more of a fourth option with the Red Wings, he’s often on the top pairing and is doing well in that role. If that keeps up, he could make a case to push past the $5MM per season mark in 2026. Ferraro has been a speculative trade candidate for a while given his reasonable cap charge and his shutdown role. Limited offense will limit his earnings upside on the open market but we’ve seen players like that land around $4.5MM recently and that could be a reasonable price point for his next deal.
Liljegren was brought in from Toronto in yet another cap-clearing move (though this one came just recently). There was some risk had he made it to arbitration last summer, resulting in the two sides settling on this deal. Now, Liljegren needs to prove he can be a top-four player if he wants to beat this deal in his first trip through the open market. Thrun, meanwhile, is still looking to establish himself as a must-play top-six blueliner. Offensively, he can hold his own but he has scuffled in the defensive zone, resulting in him being more of a third-pairing player this season after being a top-four piece last year. He’s a safe bet to be qualified as things stand but he’ll need to show some improvement if he wants to get past the $2MM mark on his next deal when he’ll have arbitration rights.
Snapshots: Hurricanes, Boeser, Drouin, Perron, Paul, Romanov
Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets. To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market. Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain. The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause. In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
- Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay. Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
- Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery. It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
- Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
- Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day. Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.
Minor Transactions: 11/25/24
There have been quite a few paper transactions made across the NHL today as teams continue to try to save every little bit of cap room they can. Here’s a rundown of today’s moves, per the AHL’s transactions log.
- The Oilers have reassigned defenseman Josh Brown and forward Drake Caggiula to AHL Bakersfield. Brown has been shuffled back and forth in recent days while Caggiula was recalled back on Thursday. Edmonton is off until Friday and the moves allow them to dip out of using LTIR and bank a small amount of cap space for the next few days. At least one of them, if not both, will likely be recalled later in the week.
- A day after being papered down, the Bruins have recalled forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from AHL Providence. McLaughlin hasn’t played for Boston yet this season while Oesterle suited up three times earlier this month.
- The Hurricanes have recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from their latest paper loan to AHL Chicago. Both players have been shuffled back and forth routinely in cap-saving moves.
- A day after the Devils loaned wingers Shane Bowers and Nolan Foote along with defenseman Nick DeSimone to AHL Utica, the trio was recalled today. Sunday’s demotions allowed them to clear LTIR for the day but they are back to using it for the time being now.
- After being papered down on Sunday, the Golden Knights have recalled wingers Mason Morelli and Callahan Burke, who scored his first NHL goal on Saturday in a win over Montreal. They also brought back blueliner Robert Hagg who was both recalled (on an emergency basis) and sent down on Saturday. Hagg’s recall moves Vegas back into using LTIR for now.
Ducks Assign Jansen Harkins To AHL
The Ducks have made a roster move on their off day. Per the AHL’s transactions log, Anaheim has re-assigned forward Jansen Harkins to AHL San Diego.
Harkins is in his first season with Anaheim after signing a two-year, one-way contract with the Ducks on the second day of free agency back in July. His $787.5K cap hit will come off the books following the demotion.
Harkins was brought up a week and a half ago and played a regular role on the fourth line during that time. Overall, the 27-year-old has played in six games with Anaheim so far this season, picking up an assist along with 15 hits in 10:40 of playing time per night. However, Harkins has been quite productive with the Gulls. So far, he has tallied five goals and 12 assists in 11 games; his 1.55 points-per-game average is second-best among AHL players with five or more appearances.
With Anaheim being off until Monday, it’s possible that this is just a paper move, one that allows them to stall Harkins’ waiver clock for a couple of days. However, it also could be a sign that one of Mason McTavish (upper body) or Brock McGinn (lower body) are on the verge of returning from their respective injuries in which case they wouldn’t need to bring Harkins back right away.