Minor Transactions: 7/10/24
As the NHL transaction activity dries up, we’re seeing an uptick in their farm teams making moves to add to their roster for the upcoming season. Here’s a rundown of today’s movement.
- After spending last season with AHL Charlotte on an NHL contract with Florida, goaltender Mack Guzda is returning to the Checkers but this time on a minor league deal as the team announced they’ve signed him to a one-year contract. The 23-year-old was limited to just two games last season due to injury but made 29 appearances in 2022-23 where he had a 2.88 GAA with a .897 SV%. Guzda was non-tendered by Florida last month, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- Former Calgary farmhand Riley Damiani is off to Germany as Augsberger of the DEL has signed him to a one-year deal per a team release. The 24-year-old split last season between Dallas and Calgary after being part of the Chris Tanev deal before the trade deadline. Damiani had 11 goals and 13 assists in 67 games between the two teams which wasn’t enough to yield him a qualifying offer in June.
- Boston’s farm team in Providence announced a pair of additions in forward Evan Vierling and defenseman Mason Millman on one-year deals. Vierling played his first professional campaign last season and the 22-year-old was productive in limited AHL duty, notching seven points in eight games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while adding 25 points in 34 ECHL contests. As for Millman, the 22-year-old picked up four assists in 15 games with AHL Lehigh Valley last season while adding 26 more in 44 ECHL appearances.
- Veteran defenseman Robbie Russo is heading for a second stint in Tucson, per a team release. The 31-year-old spent two seasons with the Roadrunners before moving on in 2020. Last season, Russo recorded 30 points in 69 games with Utica. He has 19 career NHL appearances under his belt, all with Detroit back in the 2016-17 campaign.
- Winger Marcel Marcel will remain in Rockford as the IceHogs announced that they’ve re-signed him to a one-year deal. Rather than return to major junior for a final season, the 20-year-old opted to turn pro and got into 26 games with Rockford where he had five assists. With Chicago adding considerable depth over the summer, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Marcel spend more time with ECHL Indy next season.
Capitals Sign Leon Muggli To Entry-Level Deal
7/11: Washington has confirmed the signing according to a team announcement.
7/10: The Capitals have been active in recent days when it comes to signing their prospects. The latest to receive a contract is Leon Muggli as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the defenseman to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $941K and an AAV of $975K; the difference being $102.5K of games-played bonuses in the agreement’s first year.
The 18-year-old was a second-round pick by Washington last month, going 54th overall. Muggli spent most of the season with EV Zug in Switzerland’s top division where he had three goals and nine assists in 42 games; his 12 points were the most ever by a defenseman aged 17 or younger in league history. Muggli also suited up for the Swiss internationally at the World Under-18 Championship as well as the World Juniors.
It’s worth noting that Muggli still has two years left on his deal in Switzerland. At this point, it makes the most sense for him to remain with Zug for those seasons, allowing him to play a regular role while staying at home. Assuming that happens, Muggli’s contract is eligible to slide twice and still have three years remaining on it heading into the 2026-27 campaign as long as he doesn’t play in ten or more NHL contests in either season.
Islanders Sign Liam Foudy, Re-Sign Tyce Thompson
The Islanders have made a pair of moves up front as PuckPedia reports (Twitter links) that they’ve signed winger Liam Foudy to a one-year, two-way deal and re-signed winger Tyce Thompson to a one-year, two-way agreement. Foudy will make $775K in the NHL and $225K in the minors while the agreement has a guaranteed salary of $275K. Thompson, meanwhile, will receive $775K at the NHL level, $175K in the minors, with a total guarantee of $200K.
Foudy was a first-round pick back in 2018, going 18th overall to Columbus. However, he has had a limited role at the top level so far. After playing in 62 games with the Blue Jackets in 2022-23, the thought was that he’d turned the corner and had at least secured a full-time roster spot heading into last season.
However, that wasn’t the case as the 24-year-old was waived early in the season and was claimed by Nashville. The Predators kept him around for a dozen games before waiving Foudy again in December. He cleared that time and was sent to AHL Milwaukee where he remained for the rest of the season. He was productive at that level with 10 goals and six assists in 28 games but was non-tendered by the Preds last month. While New York adds Foudy via unrestricted free agency, he’s still under club control through the 2026-27 season.
As for Thompson, he started last season in New Jersey’s system before being flipped to the Isles in late November. Between their two farm teams, the 24-year-old played in 66 games, notching three goals and 16 assists but still landed a qualifying offer. Thompson has 11 career NHL appearances under his belt but will need to play in 69 games next season to avoid becoming a Group Six unrestricted free agent next summer.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
As expected, the draft and free agency brought about plenty of activity across the NHL with over 200 prospects being drafted and nearly that many contracts handed out over the past two weeks. With that in mind, it’s a good time to open up the mailbag.
Our last mailbag came before the draft and was broken into three segments. The first looked at the likelihood of a Linus Ullmark trade (which came to fruition soon after), Jacob Trouba’s future with the Rangers, and a look back at the Matthew Tkachuk trade, among other topics. Included in the second were several draft questions along with trying to find a possible landing spot for Trevor Zegras should the Ducks move him. Meanwhile, the third included some discussion about Colorado’s potential offseason, Philadelphia’s prospect pool, and the NHL-CHL player transfer agreement.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
Blues Sign Ryan Suter
Veteran Ryan Suter will play his 20th NHL season in the fall as the Blues announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year contract. The deal carries a base salary of $775K and contains an additional $2.225MM in performance bonuses. The team did not reveal the breakdown of the bonus structure but Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports (Twitter link) that it’s as follows:
10 GP: $225K
30 GP: $400K
40 GP: $500K
60 GP: $600K
60 GP and qualifies for the playoffs: $500K
Suter spent the last three seasons in Dallas but saw his minutes drop in 2023-24, dipping to 18:56 per night, the lowest since his rookie year back in 2005-06 when he was with Nashville. The 39-year-old’s point total also dropped to the lowest it had been since then as he managed just two goals and 15 assists although he played in all 82 games for the third straight year. Suter added four points in 19 postseason contests but his ice time was a bit lower, checking in at 17:50 per contest.
As a result of the dip in performance and playing time, the Stars opted to buy out the final year and $3.65MM remaining on his contract. Considering he’s also still being paid by Minnesota on his buyout with them back in 2021, he will be paid by three Central Division teams next season. He’s the second player in NHL history to be bought out twice, joining fellow rearguard Tony DeAngelo.
A veteran of 1,444 career NHL appearances, Suter sits fifth all-time among U.S.-born players. Assuming he stays healthy and plays a regular role for St. Louis, he could climb up to second on that list; he sits 72 games behind Matt Cullen for that slot. He has 681 points in those appearances with an average TOI of more than 24 minutes a night.
Of course, those numbers don’t reflect where Suter is in his career. At this point, he’s more of a depth player than one who will be expected to anchor a back end but with the Blues, he can be more of a depth piece as he’ll slot in behind Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy, and Torey Krug. With them in place, Suter will be battling with Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, and newcomer Pierre-Olivier Joseph for playing time on the third pairing.
The fact the contract is structured this way is interesting as St. Louis has more than ample cap space to cover the full amount should his bonuses be reached; they still have more than $7.3MM in room, per PuckPedia with RFA Nikita Alexandrov still in need of a new deal. However, by making the base salary the league minimum, that will be a lower daily charge on the cap which could make him an intriguing option for buyers near the trade deadline if the Blues find themselves out of a playoff spot. If he remains in St. Louis, they should be able to cover any of those bonuses on the 2024-25 cap instead of rolling those charges over to the following season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Blue Jackets Notes: Coaching Search, Laine, Dumais, Matteau
The Blue Jackets continue to have the lone head coaching vacancy in the NHL following last month’s dismissal of Pascal Vincent. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that a decision on a new bench boss is expected this week with Todd McLellan, Jay Woodcroft, and Dean Evason believed to be among the remaining finalists. Last month, McLellan was suggested to be the front-runner for the position. There has been a lot of turnover behind the bench in Columbus in recent years. Since John Tortorella was let go in 2021, they’ve gone through three head coaches since, Brad Larsen (two years), Mike Babcock (who resigned before coaching a single game), and Vincent, who only had one season before being let go.
More from Columbus:
- Also from Portzline’s piece, winger Patrik Laine has not yet been cleared from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program. While Columbus can trade him while he’s in the program, GM Don Waddell previously indicated that teams want to speak to Laine before considering putting an offer in for his services. Those conversations can’t happen until he’s cleared. The 26-year-old was limited to just nine points in 18 games last season and has two years left on his contract with an $8.7MM cap hit along with a 10-team no-trade list.
- Prospect Jordan Dumais might not be cleared to fully participate in training camp in September, relays Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch. The 20-year-old was a dominant scorer in the QMJHL, putting up 140 points in 64 games in 2022-23 and had 47 in 21 games last season before being shut down midseason to undergo hip surgery. Dumais will be AHL-eligible for the first time in 2024-25 and stands to play a big role with AHL Cleveland next season when he’s fully cleared to play.
- Speaking of Cleveland, they announced the re-signing of winger Stefan Matteau to a one-year deal. The 30-year-old previously spent two years with them back in 2019-20 and 2020-21 before going to Colorado but returned on a minor league deal last season where he had six points in 15 regular season games before adding seven more in 14 playoff contests. Matteau, a 2012 first-round pick, has 92 career NHL appearances under his belt with a total of 11 points.
Wild Re-Sign Adam Raska
Minnesota has taken care of one of its restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve re-signed winger Adam Raska to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $775K in the NHL and $95K in the minors, meaning he took less than his qualifying offer to secure a $15K boost in guaranteed money.
The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick by San Jose back in 2020, going 201st overall. Raska started last season in the Sharks’ system but was traded early in the year to the Wild as part of the return for defenseman Calen Addison. Raska spent most of the season in the minors, playing in 56 AHL contests where he had seven points and 98 penalty minutes.
He has also seen NHL action in each of his first three professional campaigns, including five games with the Wild last season where he had a dozen hits despite averaging less than seven minutes a night. Over his three years, Raska has 13 total appearances at the top level but is still looking for his first NHL point.
Raska will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season so Minnesota will have to get him through waivers successfully to return him to AHL Iowa. Assuming that happens, he’ll play in a depth role for them but could get a look with the big club if they’re looking for some grit on the fourth line.
Agent For Leon Draisaitl: Ball Is In Oilers’ Court For Extension Talks
With the bulk of the heavy lifting already done in the 2024 class of unrestricted free agents, many have started looking ahead to a 2025 group that is currently star-studded. Among the headliners is Oilers center Leon Draisaitl who, despite making $8.5MM per season, has been one of the better bargains in the NHL in recent years. That should soon change as the 28-year-old will undoubtedly become one of the NHL’s highest-paid players on his next contract.
How soon that next deal comes is still under question. Edmonton is currently without a GM following the departure of Ken Holland with team president Jeff Jackson serving in the interim role; Jackson has previously indicated that he doesn’t want to take on the full-time managerial position. To that end, the search for a full-time replacement for Holland is ongoing and it makes sense for that hire to be in place before any substantive discussions get underway.
However, it appears that Draisaitl’s European-based agent feels there’s a deadline to get this done. Speaking with Eishockey News’ Michael Bauer, Jiri Poner indicated that the end of the summer might be the deadline to get a deal in place:
There’s no rush yet, but either it happens quickly, i.e. by the end of August, or it doesn’t work out at all. It will also become clear whether Edmonton really wants him or not. Leon holds all the trump cards.
Technically, Edmonton can negotiate with Draisaitl right up to free agency next July so this stance from Poner suggests that Draisaitl’s preference might be to set a hard line of not negotiating during the season. If that’s the case, whoever takes over as GM won’t have much time to work out an agreement to keep him in the fold.
Draisaitl has passed the 100-point mark in five of the last six seasons and over that stretch, he has the second-most points in the NHL. His teammate, Connor McDavid, is the only one ahead of him. With McDavid’s current contract coming back in 2017, his $12.5MM AAV doesn’t stand as a great comparable. However, the recent $13.25MM AAV that Auston Matthews received from Toronto last year could very well be in play, especially if he makes it to the open market next summer.
Can Edmonton afford to pay Draisaitl market value for 2025-26 knowing that McDavid’s deal will be up a year later and cost considerably more? That’s a question the new GM will have to answer relatively quickly given Poner’s comments regarding a possible deadline for talks. Having said that, Poner did add that he’s very confident that the two sides will be able to hammer out a deal to keep Draisaitl in an Oilers uniform for years to come.
Capitals Sign Ilya Protas
3:15 PM: The Capitals have officially announced the contract.
12:35 PM: A day after signing their first-round pick, the Capitals have signed another one of their 2024 draft picks. Dan Milstein, the agent for Ilya Protas, announced (Twitter link) that Washington has signed the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries a cap hit of $889K and an AAV of $975K if he reaches his games played bonuses each season.
The 17-year-old was the 75th pick last month, going in the third round. Protas spent 2022-23 in the Belarusian junior system before coming to North America last season, suiting up with USHL Des Moines. He had a solid first season with them, collecting 14 goals and 37 assists in 61 games which helped get him on the draft radar.
Protas is the younger brother of Capitals center Aliaksei Protas, who is coming off his best season, one that earned him a five-year deal along the way. However, it will be a while before the two have a chance to play together.
By signing his entry-level contract, Protas will no longer be able to go the NCAA route. Accordingly, his two most likely options for next season are to remain with Des Moines or to go to the CHL. In this week’s Import Draft, Protas was the first player to be picked by an OHL team, going third overall to Windsor. By picking him that early, the Spitfires are likely quite confident that they’ll be able to get Protas onto their roster for next season.
As long as Protas doesn’t play in more than nine NHL games next season (a likely scenario at this point), his contract will eventually slide and will still have three years remaining on it heading into the 2025-26 campaign.
Capitals Notes: Chychrun, Oshie, Saulnier
The Capitals made a big addition on their back end earlier this month with the acquisition of Jakob Chychrun from Ottawa in exchange for Nick Jensen and a third-round pick. With Chychrun in the final year of his contract, he’s now extension-eligible. However, GM Brian MacLellan indicated earlier this week (video link) that they won’t be rushing to get a new contract in place. Instead, they’ll wait to evaluate his fit with the team before beginning those discussions. The 26-year-old matched his career high in points last season with 41 and carries an AAV of $4.6MM, suggesting that he’ll be in line for a considerable raise starting in the 2025-26 campaign whenever negotiations on a new contract begin.
More from Washington:
- In a recent appearance on the NHL Network (video link), winger T.J. Oshie provided an update on his injured back. The veteran has been reaching out to different specialists to try to find a long-term solution to his ongoing back issues but they’re running out of new options to try. The 37-year-old battled the injury throughout last season, putting up a career-low 25 points in 52 games. However, Oshie indicated he doesn’t want to go through the same struggles to play next season which has led to some speculation that he could wind up on LTIR. Considering the Caps are more than $13MM above the Upper Limit, per CapFriendly, Washington’s offseason spending suggests that they believe Oshie will ultimately land on LTIR which, coupled with Nicklas Backstrom staying there, would get them cap-compliant for next season.
- Their farm team in Hershey announced the signing of winger Brennan Saulnier to a one-year deal. The 30-year-old played in 36 games with AHL Belleville last season, recording three goals, four assists, and 94 penalty minutes playing primarily on the fourth line. Saulnier is likely to have a similar role for the reigning Calder Cup champions.