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West Notes: Zadorov, O’Connor, Jets

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Defenseman Nikita Zadorov is one of several notable pending unrestricted free agents in Vancouver.  It appears that they’re going to make one last push to try to sign him as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (Twitter link) the Canucks are preparing to tender the blueliner a final offer soon.  Vancouver acquired the 29-year-old back in November and while he didn’t light it up following the move (14 points in 54 games), Zadorov had a big showing in the playoffs that has certainly bolstered his value.  He picked up four goals and four assists in 13 games while averaging nearly four and a half hits per game in just over 20 minutes a night.  Dhaliwal adds that some think he could get six years at $6MM per season if he gets to the open market.  It would be surprising to see the Canucks go that high with who else needs to be signed but they’ll make one last attempt to try to bridge the gap.

More from the West:

  • While Mikko Rantanen is the most prominent member of the Avalanche who is eligible for a contract extension this summer, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now examines the other forward of note who can sign a new deal in July, winger Logan O’Connor. The 27-year-old was in the midst of a career year with 13 goals and 12 assists in 57 games before undergoing hip surgery just before the trade deadline.  Considering he is also a quality penalty killer, Rawal posits that O’Connor could push past the $4MM mark on the open market in 2025.  That would certainly be a substantial improvement on the $1.05MM cap charge he’s set to carry in the third and final year of his contract next season.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun suggests that Eric Comrie could be a good fit for Winnipeg’s backup goalie vacancy. He had some success with them before departing for Buffalo two years ago while goaltending coach Wade Flaherty, who worked with him previously, is still on the staff.  Perhaps more notably, a deal for Comrie should check in at or close to the $775K minimum salary, giving them more room to work with as they look to retain or replace some of their pending free agents.  Laurent Brossoit had a strong showing as Connor Hellebuyck’s backup in 2023-24 but is expected to be too expensive for the Jets to retain this summer.

Radim Simek Signs In Czech League

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It has been quite a fall lately for Radim Simek who wound up not seeing any NHL action this season.  Instead of testing the open market to see what might be out there for him, he has instead elected to return home as Liberec in the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve inked the defenseman to a three-year contract.

The 31-year-old had originally played in Liberec’s system before coming to North America for the 2018-19 campaign.  Simek established himself as a regular when healthy in his first couple of years in San Jose.  Then-GM Doug Wilson had seen enough to reward him with a four-year, $9MM deal with the hopes that he’d continue to improve and be able to play more regularly.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, neither of those things happened.  He failed to average even 15 minutes a game over the first three years of that deal while he battled more injury trouble and found himself a frequent healthy scratch at times.

That resulted in a change of plans for this past season.  San Jose elected to put him on waivers in training camp and assigned him to the AHL’s Barracuda.  He played in 40 games with them, recording 16 points before being moved to Detroit at the trade deadline as a salary offset in the Klim Kostin trade.  The Red Wings opted to keep Simek in the minors where he got into nine regular season games for the Griffins plus eight playoff contests, collecting three assists in that span.

Simek leaves North America with 209 career NHL games under his belt, all coming over parts of five seasons with San Jose.  In that span, he had seven goals and 22 assists along with 256 blocks and 419 hits.  Considering he’ll be 34 when this contract ends, there’s a good chance this is the end of the road at the NHL level for Simek but as an undrafted player, he still had a pretty good run.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Kakko, Blue Jackets

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It’s well-known that the Devils are looking to upgrade between the pipes this summer.  However, as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link), that’s hardly the only thing on their wish list.  In addition to searching for a starting goalie, Seravalli relays that New Jersey is also looking for a top-six forward, a bottom-six forward, a top-four defenseman, and a bottom-four blueliner.  That’s a particularly long wish list and is one that they’ll be hard-pressed to fit within their remaining cap room.  Per CapFriendly, they have a little under $20MM in space to work with but a fair-sized chunk of that will go to pending RFA Dawson Mercer.  Accordingly, while GM Tom Fitzgerald is hoping to add that many pieces this summer, he might have to settle for a bit less unless there’s a cost-cutting move coming somewhere.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the Rangers and Kaapo Kakko agreed to a one-year, $2.4MM deal on Thursday, that might not be enough to quell any trade speculation. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), it’s possible that this was done to provide more certainty to interested teams as to what his cap charge will be for next season without having to worry about salary arbitration.  Kakko is coming off a down year that saw him record just 13 goals and six assists in 61 games, hardly the type of production New York was hoping for from the second-overall pick in 2019.
  • New Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has some work to do to reshape Columbus this offseason. To that end, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he is telling teams that “for the right price, everything is in play”.  He has been fielding calls inquiring about the fourth overall selection in a couple of weeks although it would be surprising to see them most that pick.  Meanwhile, it certainly looks like Patrik Laine could be on the move in the coming weeks and other veterans could also go as Waddell puts his stamp on the team.  After another last-place finish in the Metropolitan, it could be another busy summer in Columbus.

Snapshots: Hronek, Henriksson, Silayev, Klippenstein

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Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek is one of the more prominent pending restricted free agent blueliners this summer.  The 26-year-old had a career year in 2023-24, recording 48 points in 81 games while logging over 23 minutes a night, numbers that would serve him well in an arbitration hearing.  However, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province reports that there has been little action on contract talks on a new deal for several months.  Vancouver has to issue a $5.28MM qualifying offer later this month, something they should have no concerns about doing.  However, with the arbitration filing deadline coming early in July, it stands to reason that they should start discussions with Hronek’s camp in the near future.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • It looks like pending Rangers RFA Karl Henriksson could be heading back overseas next season. Smalandsposten in Sweden reports that SHL Vaxjo is showing interest in signing the 23-year-old.  Henriksson has spent the last two seasons with AHL Hartford and had 11 goals and 13 assists in 64 games in 2023-24.  He already has a fair bit of experience in Sweden’s top level, playing in 94 games in parts of four seasons with Frolunda before coming to North America.  Even if he signs back home, New York can still retain Henriksson’s NHL rights with a qualifying offer later this month.
  • While some of the expected top picks in the upcoming draft could jump to the NHL right away, that won’t be the case for Anton Silayev. He’s already signed through the 2025-26 season in the KHL and there’s no transfer agreement in place between that league and the NHL that could allow him to come sooner.  However, as Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis relays, NHL teams feel the big blueliner doesn’t intend on signing another deal in Russia after this one and instead intends to come to North America in 2026.  Given some of the uncertainty surrounding Russian prospects, his reported intention to come over two years from now should help his draft stock.
  • The Avalanche will soon be looking for a new Director of Amateur Scouting. Notre Dame College announced (Twitter link) announced that they’ve hired Wade Klippenstein as their new Director of Hockey Development.  Klippenstein has been in Colorado’s scouting department since 2016, serving as their top amateur scout for the past three seasons but Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that Klippenstein was informed that his contract would not be renewed, leading to this move.  He won’t be with them at the draft later this month.

Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Vegas.

To say the Golden Knights took a big swing at the trade deadline would be an understatement.  However, it didn’t result in the immediate success they were hoping for; while they snuck into the playoffs and gave Dallas a real run for their money, they were eliminated in the first round.  Now, GM Kelly McCrimmon will look at making some tweaks while trying to keep as much of the core intact as possible.  Here’s what they will likely be looking to try to do this summer.

Create Cap Space

Before Vegas can do anything when it comes to adding to its roster or even trying to re-sign some pending free agents, they need to get some cap flexibility.  As things stand, they have barely $1MM in regular cap space, per CapFriendly.  Only one team (Philadelphia) has less.  Granted, Robin Lehner and his $5MM price tag is quite certain to remain on LTIR but unless the Golden Knights can make the perfect LTI placement in the fall, they probably won’t be able to utilize all of that amount.  They can get close but few teams are able to use it all.

Even if we suppose they get the perfect placement, that gives them a little over $6MM to work with.  That’s not much to work with when you’re hoping to re-sign some of Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, William Carrier, and Anthony Mantha up front.

Assuming they have designs on retaining several of those players, they’re going to have to free up some money.  It’s also reasonable to suggest they don’t want to move their higher-paid core pieces which limits their options.  On the back end, Zach Whitecloud feels like a possible trade candidate.  He was a regular for most of the year but spent time as a healthy scratch after Noah Hanifin was acquired.  For someone who is more of a third-pairing option, a $2.75MM price tag might be too much of a luxury for them to afford.  Replacing him with a cheaper player would open up a little more spending room.

Meanwhile, up front, Nicolas Roy would be a popular trade target for teams if Vegas elected to try to fill his spot with a lower-cost center as three years at $3MM per season is affordable for most…just not necessarily the Golden Knights.  A smaller move would be to move the final year and $1.9MM of Brett Howden’s contract, replacing him with someone making closer to half of that.  The trade return probably wouldn’t be the strongest but if that helped add enough extra space to re-sign a more prominent piece, it’d be worth doing.

McCrimmon won’t be able to open up enough cap space to keep everyone but he knew that before acquiring and extending Hanifin while adding Tomas Hertl and his long-term deal.  But if they can keep one of their top options and perhaps one of their bottom-six free agents, that would still be a good outcome for them.

Try To Re-Sign Marchessault

The most prominent of those pending unrestricted free agents is Marchessault.  One of the few remaining original members of the Golden Knights, the 33-year-old followed up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2023 by posting a career-high 42 goals in 2023-24.  Not a bad platform heading into free agency, that’s for sure.

Both sides have openly discussed a willingness to get a new deal done although talks were late getting started; it’s believed discussions only got underway in recent days.  Part of the hold-up could simply have been Vegas needing to get a better handle on what they have (or won’t have) to spend come July 1st before engaging but it still seems a little odd they waited this long.

Nonetheless, Marchessault is well-positioned for a nice raise on a multi-year agreement.  After making $5MM in each of the last six seasons, he could conceivably push for $7MM while getting three or four years if he makes it to the open market.  It’s possible that he could leave some money on the table to stay with the Golden Knights who likely can’t afford that type of contract given their salary structure but with this likely being his last big contract, that can’t automatically be assumed either.

Regardless of what happens, Marchessault’s later-career breakout has him on the upswing heading into free agency which will have him rated highly on our Top 50 UFA list to be released later this month.

Extension Talks

While McCrimmon will have some pressing matters to attend to when it comes to his group of pending unrestricted free agents, he’ll likely be looking ahead to 2025-26 as well.  A little over a year from now, three important players will be eligible to test the open market, making them eligible for contract extensions as of July 1st.

Shea Theodore is another one of the few remaining original members of the franchise and, when healthy, has been a key cog on their back end for the past seven seasons, logging over 20 minutes per game in each of them.  However, he has missed 62 games over the past two years which won’t help his cause when those talks begin.  Having said that, the 28-year-old will be viewed by numerous teams as a top-pairing player and the market for those players is quite significant.  At a minimum, it’s well above the $5.2MM AAV of his existing contract.  Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8MM) and Hanifin ($7.35MM) are on pricey contracts and Theodore should end up in that range whether it’s this summer or next.

Then there are the goaltenders.  Adin Hill went from being a depth addition between the pipes when he was first acquired to a player who was dominant in their run to the Stanley Cup in 2023.  That helped earn him what amounted to a second bridge deal, albeit with a sizable raise this time around.  That contract, one that carries a $4.9MM AAV, is set to expire next year and it will be interesting to see if he can beat that next time out.  Hill set a career-high in appearances in 2023-24 but still only played in 35 regular season games.  If he doesn’t see a number one workload, it will be difficult to justify giving him any sort of considerable raise.  That makes his situation a tough one to work through in terms of finding a number that works now for both sides.

That isn’t necessarily the case for Logan Thompson, however.  The 27-year-old has led Vegas in goalie games in his two full NHL campaigns and was the starter going into the playoffs.  If that holds true next season, that will be three seasons of at least closer to a starting workload which will help his case if he gets to the open market.  At this point in time, a contract for him likely starts above Hill’s current price tag and one thing is for sure, with the way their team is constructed, they won’t be able to keep both in the fold beyond next season.

Whether it’s Hill or Thompson, if they can determine which one to keep and get that deal worked out in the next couple of months, it’ll be one big item off of next year’s list.

Mine The Margins

Vegas has gotten quite accustomed to not being able to afford to carry a full-sized 23-man roster and next year should be no exception.  However, there are a couple of spots on the big club that could be up for grabs depending on what happens with their pending free agents that they may want to turn to the open market for.

However, they won’t be able to get involved in any sort of bidding war.  Instead, they’ll almost certainly be limited to offering minimum-salary deals ($775K) due to their cap situation.  Those contracts aren’t often signed on the opening day of free agency.  However, there are often bargains to be found with some patience so they may have to wait for the secondary free agent market to open up closer to training camp before filling those spots.

It would also be wise for them to get some NHL-capable pieces to be stashed at AHL Henderson.  The upside isn’t typically too high for two-way free agents but getting some players who have shown they can handle limited roles can’t hurt for when injuries arise.  These are the types of deals they can get aggressive on early as they’re likely to carry a $775K NHL cap charge with the only differences in offers from other teams being the minor league portion.  Landing some of the better players on that side of the market could prove fruitful as the year goes on but they’ll have to work through what’s set to be a very large list of players to find the best fits.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Cooper, Senators, Seger, O’Connell

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Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will have some extra duties coming his way in the near future.  In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that Tampa Bay’s bench boss is expected to be named as Canada’s head coach for the upcoming 4 Nations Cup as well as the 2026 Olympics.  LeBrun adds that Hockey Canada considered having a separate head coach for each event but, like the United States with Mike Sullivan, has ultimately settled on having the same one for both.  Cooper has coached internationally at three events in the past.  He was Canada’s head coach at the 2017 Worlds, coached Team North America at the World Cup that same year, and was an assistant for the U.S. at the 2007 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Speaking at a season ticket holder session, Senators Senior Vice President Dave Poulin indicated that they have fielded trade interest in the seventh-overall selection, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Ottawa underachieved considerably this season as instead of pushing for a playoff spot, they were well out of the mix early, resulting in changes both in the front office and behind the bench.  The Sens have to forfeit one of their first-round picks between now and 2026 as part of the punishment for failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause to Vegas in 2021, eventually resulting in a failed trade to Anaheim the following year.  However, with this pick being so early, they wisely decided not to make this the year they lost the selection.
  • The Red Wings’ farm team has added one of the more intriguing remaining college free agents as AHL Grand Rapids announced the signing of Gabriel Seger to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old had a breakout showing in his final collegiate campaign, leading Cornell in scoring with 14 goals and 30 assists in 44 games although it wasn’t enough to land him an NHL deal in recent weeks.
  • Arizona State University associate coach Albie O’Connell is expected to leave the program to pursue an NHL opportunity, relays PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). College Hockey News’ Mike McMahon adds (Twitter link) that O’Connell is expected to be hired by the Canadiens.  If that holds true, it will be his second stint with the organization after serving as a college scout for Montreal back in 2022-23 before returning behind an NCAA bench this past season.

Senators Re-Sign Angus Crookshank

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The Senators have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents with an early contract.  The team announced that they’ve re-signed forward Angus Crookshank to a one-year, two-way agreement.  The deal pays $775K in the NHL and $120K in the minors.  GM Steve Staios released the following statement on the signing:

Angus has established himself as a reliable point producer in Belleville. He’s a strong competitor and a proven goal scorer who doesn’t back down, especially when it comes to getting to the opponent’s net. We’re pleased with his progress and expect further improvement from him next season.

The 24-year-old played on the final year of his entry-level deal in 2023-24, spending most of it in the minors with AHL Belleville.  With them, as Staios alluded to, Crookshank was quite reliable offensively, posting 24 goals and 22 assists in just 50 games.  That performance helped earn him his first NHL opportunity as he got into 13 games with Ottawa where he picked up two goals and an assist while logging just over 10 minutes a night.

Crookshank still has a year of waiver exemption remaining, something that doesn’t happen too frequently for players exiting a three-year rookie deal.  That means he’s likely earmarked to start with Belleville once again in 2024-25 but if he can produce at a similar level next season, he should be one of Ottawa’s first recalls when injuries strike.

Five Key Stories: 6/3/24 – 6/9/24

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The Stanley Cup Final is now underway and although there typically isn’t a lot of activity around the NHL during the final series, there was still some notable news and notes from the past week which is recapped in our key stories.

Salary Cap Set: With the players’ share of the overage they received during the pandemic-shortened season now repaid, the salary cap is getting a nice boost heading into next season.  The league has set the Upper Limit of the cap at $88MM, an increase of $4.5MM from 2023-24’s number.  The cap had been going up by just $1MM per year while the escrow portion was paid off.  Meanwhile, the increase at the top end means that the minimum cap expenditure is also going up, from $61.7MM this season to $65MM in 2024-25.  Many teams have been cap-strapped in recent years and while this increase won’t solve all of that, it will provide at least a bit of flexibility moving forward.

Kekalainen Linked To Hurricanes: With Don Waddell leaving Carolina for Columbus, the Hurricanes now have a GM vacancy to fill.  It appears one of the contenders for the role is former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.  While Columbus didn’t fare well over the last few years of his tenure, Kekalainen would add some experience to an organization that’s planning to go with a by-committee approach when it comes to decision-making, a process that will also involve owner Tom Dundon.  In the meantime, one of the decisions the Hurricanes have to make is what to do with pending UFA winger Jake Guentzel who appears intent on testing free agency.  For the time being, it appears Carolina has made his negotiating rights available for a draft pick.

Pavelski Expected To Retire: While he stressed that this was not an official retirement announcement, Stars forward Joe Pavelski said that he believes that he has played his final NHL season.  The 39-year-old spent the first 13 years of his career in San Jose before moving to Dallas in 2019-20 after not being able to secure a multi-year agreement with the Sharks.  The change of scenery worked out quite well for both sides as Pavelski had his two best seasons with Dallas and even managed 67 points this season.  If this is indeed it for him, Pavelski finishes up with 476 goals and 592 assists in 1,332 regular season games while chipping in with 143 points in 201 playoff contests.  He reached the top-25 in all-time playoff appearances last round against Edmonton.

Lottery Picks Available: Teams looking to move up in the draft order could have some options in the coming weeks as reports suggest that the Devils and Sabres are open to moving their first-round selections, slotted at 10th and 11th respectively.  Both teams are looking to rebound from disappointing seasons and aren’t believed to be looking for a pick swap but rather are dangling the selection to make an impact addition that can help them win now.  We’ll find out over the coming weeks if they get an offer to their liking to part with a lottery selection.

Ehlers Not Interested In Extension: Nikolaj Ehlers has been a key part of Winnipeg’s forward group for the past nine years but it appears he would like his time with them to end sooner than later.  He is believed to have indicated that he is not interested in signing an extension with the Jets and would welcome a trade.  Ehlers has one year left on his contract at $6MM and will be UFA-eligible in 2025.  Coming off a 25-goal, 61-point campaign, he’s likely in line for a raise on that price tag and if Winnipeg is open to allowing extension talks to occur prior to a trade, they could get a better return for Ehlers over dealing him strictly as a rental player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Domi, Girgensons, Escrow, Draft

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Maple Leafs forward Max Domi told Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun that he knows his agent Judd Moldaver has been in discussions with GM Brad Treliving but declined to comment on the status of negotiations.  Domi signed a one-year, $3MM deal with Toronto last summer but saw his goal total drop from 20 a year ago to just nine this season.  However, his 38 assists were his best since the 2018-19 campaign.  That could still put him in line for a raise this summer on a multi-year agreement.  Toronto has a little less than $19MM in cap room per CapFriendly but they have multiple key pieces to try to sign into that space which could make fitting in a raise for Domi a little harder.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Sabres are interested in re-signing pending unrestricted free agent Zemgus Girgensons, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 30-year-old has spent the last ten seasons with Buffalo after they drafted him in the first round back in 2012.  However, Girgensons hasn’t reached the 20-point mark since his sophomore year and while he provides some value in a limited checking role, it could make sense for both sides for the forward to ultimately move on.
  • After years of losing money to escrow, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that players could receive the full 6% escrow payment back plus potentially a small top-up to their salary to balance the players’ share at 50% of Hockey Related Revenues. If that happens, it will be the first time the players receive a top-up since the 2011-12 campaign.  Any top-up would not affect salary cap calculations for the 2023-24 season.
  • In the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that some agents feel the draft needs to be shortened to as little as four rounds. Most of the players who ultimately don’t sign with the teams that drafted them come from the final few rounds so some believe they should have the opportunity to be free agents earlier compared to waiting for their rights to be relinquished.  The last time the draft was cut was back in 2005 when it went from nine rounds to the current seven.  This is a collectively bargained issue so no changes will be on the short-term horizon.

Offseason Checklist: Nashville Predators

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The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Nashville.

It looked like Nashville was pivoting to a rebuild with the moves they made last summer but instead, it wound up being more of the same even with some core pieces gone and other new core players in place.  The Preds went on a major hot streak in the second half of the season, recording at least a point in a franchise-record 18 straight games which helped secure them a Wild Card spot.  However, they weren’t able to muster up much offense in the playoffs, resulting in a first-round elimination.  Now, assuming they’re not looking to rebuild now, GM Barry Trotz will have several objectives to try to accomplish this summer.

Replace McDonagh

Trotz made one notable move this offseason, sending Ryan McDonagh back to Tampa Bay, fulfilling a request from the blueliner.  In doing so, he took one of their more notable defenders out of their lineup.  While they offloaded his full $6.75MM cap hit and got a second-rounder, they didn’t get anything back that could help the current roster while creating a big hole to fill.

This past season, McDonagh was second on the team in ice time behind only Roman Josi.  He was also second in points by a blueliner and blocked shots while leading all Nashville players in shorthanded ice time.  Suffice it to say, they need to find an impactful replacement.

Brandon Montour is the only pending unrestricted free agent who averaged more than McDonagh’s 21:47 per game in 2023-24.  Having said that, veterans like Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce can also fill that void.  Chris Tanev would be a shorter-term addition to cover some hard defensive minutes while Matt Roy could be more of an under-the-radar fit.  Alternatively, they could look to the trade market.

With Alexandre Carrier and Tyson Barrie also set to hit the open market next month, the Preds will also have some work to do in terms of adding some depth.  But on top of that, they’re going to need to find a top-three defender if they want to hang around the playoff picture.

Decide Saros’ Future

This time a year ago, there was speculation that the Predators were open to moving Yaroslav Askarov with an eye on making a splash either at the draft or to upgrade their roster.  Clearly, that never materialized and the young netminder had a strong season with AHL Milwaukee and remains their goaltender of the future.

How close the future is remains to be seen, however.  Veteran goaltender Juuse Saros is set to enter the final year of his contract next season, one that carries a below-market $5MM AAV.  The 29-year-old’s numbers for the year weren’t spectacular but he was much better in the second half of the year and had a strong showing in the playoffs.  That has him well-positioned to earn a considerable raise on his next deal.  On the surface, he could make a case for a contract similar to the seven-year, $59.5MM pact ($8.5MM AAV) that Connor Hellebuyck signed with Winnipeg last season.

With Askarov in the picture, is it advisable for them to commit that type of deal to Saros?  If they feel they should do that, then it’s possible that Askarov could be in play once again.  On the flip side, if Trotz feels that it’s not worth paying that type of contract, then the decision becomes about trading him now or keeping him into next season and re-assessing closer to the trade deadline.

If they look to move him in the coming weeks, it might be tough to elicit top value with Jacob Markstrom and Linus Ullmark (among others) believed to be available as well.  While that means there could be more demand for starting goalies, the higher supply could lower the offers coming Nashville’s way.  Generally speaking, teams typically get better returns if they move a goalie in the offseason but it’s certainly possible that this isn’t the case this year with the other netminders in play.

On the surface, this could be Nashville’s biggest decision of the summer.  Is it time to hand the reins to Askarov?  They’ll have to determine the answer to this question probably within the next few weeks.

Add Scoring Depth

Under Andrew Brunette, the Predators went from 27th in goals scored in 2022-23 to 10th this season, gaining 40 extra goals in the process.  However, they struggled considerably in that department in their opening-round loss to Vancouver, scoring just a dozen times in six games even with the Canucks playing most of that series without starting goaltender Thatcher Demko.

To that in, despite their improvement in the regular season, Trotz told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (subscription link) that he’s looking to add up front, particularly in their top nine so they’re not as reliant on the top line as they were at times.  Before looking at the external options, they will need to consider some internal ones, however.

Youngsters Juuso Parssinen, Philip Tomasino, and Egor Afanasyev all spent time in the minors this season (the latter almost the entire year) but are all now waiver-eligible moving forward.  Parssinen and Tomasino have had some success in Nashville at times but haven’t been the most consistent so far.  Trotz will need to identify which ones are in the plans for 2024-25 and if any aren’t, this might be the time to try to move them before running the risk of having to sneak them through waivers.  But one (or more) of them establishing themselves as regulars next season should help their offensive depth at a minimum.

As for free agent options, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them take a run at re-signing Jason Zucker who fit in pretty well after being acquired at the trade deadline.  Beyond that, since their focus seems to be on improving their depth, they’re probably not going to be targeting the top end of the UFA class.  But veterans like Tyler Toffoli and Vladimir Tarasenko could appeal as multi-year veteran options while Jake DeBrusk and Teuvo Teravainen could be longer-term fits.  With $26MM in cap space per CapFriendly, they will have room to add a forward or two even after addressing their defensive situation.

Improve Penalty Kill

During the regular season, Nashville’s penalty was a trouble spot.  Their success rate dropped to just 76.9%, good for 22nd in the league.  For comparison, they were at 82.6% in 2022-23, good for a three-way tie for fourth in the NHL in that regard.  The slippage shorthanded likely played a role in their decision to let assistant coach Dan Hinote go late last month as one of his responsibilities was running the penalty kill.

For starters, they’ll need to find a replacement for Hinote behind the bench who will likely take on his old role.  That’s something they’d probably like to have in place before free agency opens up next month.

It wouldn’t be surprising if penalty killing acumen will be among the priorities that Nashville uses to round out their back end to replace Carrier (assuming he doesn’t re-sign) and Barrie.  There are plenty of depth defensemen available on the open market, several of which can handle heavy penalty killing roles while the lower-end blueliners are typically easier to get on the trade market.  They should be able to address this in the coming weeks.

Things get a little harder when it comes to their forwards.  They already have ten returning forwards, not including the three now-waiver-eligible ones mentioned earlier.  If they bring Zucker back and/or add another offensive forward, that fills one hold but probably doesn’t address the penalty killing element unless they’re bringing in a notable two-way player.  It might require shaking up the fourth line that was quietly effective or moving out someone already there to open up a roster spot to bring in more of a penalty killing specialist to help get this unit back on track.  It’s not a must-fix priority but it’s one that Trotz will likely try to address nonetheless.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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