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Canadiens Notes: Montembeault, Hart, Monahan, Galipeau

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A year ago, Samuel Montembeault was just getting through his first full NHL season, one that didn’t go all that well with the Canadiens finishing dead last.  As a result, he didn’t have much leverage in contract talks, ultimately signing a two-year, $2MM deal, one that takes him straight to UFA eligibility in 2024.  Now, following an improved campaign and a strong showing at the World Championship last month, his trajectory is on the upswing.  The 26-year-old is eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st and speaking with reporters earlier this week (video link), GM Kent Hughes indicated that he’s open to trying to work out a new deal quickly with his netminder.  Montembeault posted a 3.42 GAA with a .901 SV% in 40 games this season so his next contract shouldn’t break the bank but he has positioned himself to at least double his $1MM AAV whenever he signs his next deal.

More from Montreal:

  • Among the ongoing Carter Hart trade speculation, there have been suggestions that the Canadiens could be interested in acquiring the 24-year-old but Marc-Antoine Godin and Arpon Basu of The Athletic report (subscription link) that this is not the case. Instead, it appears they’ll retain their tandem from this season with veteran Jake Allen joining Montembeault while prospect Cayden Primeau will also jockey for playing time as he is now waiver-eligible.
  • In his latest podcast (video link), Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets and TSN notes that there have been discussions about the possibility of Montreal bringing back center Sean Monahan next season. The Canadiens picked up a future first-round pick to take on his contract from Calgary back in August and the 28-year-old did fairly well early in the season, picking up 17 points in 25 games before a variety of injuries ended his season.  Monahan is eligible to sign a contract with performance bonuses this summer as long as it’s a one-year agreement and if he’s willing to do so, he could garner some interest from cap-strapped teams looking for short-term help as well.
  • Olivier Galipeau will remain with Montreal’s farm team next season as their affiliate in Laval announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year, one-way AHL contract. The 26-year-old started the season in the ECHL and was quite productive with 15 points in 19 games before being recalled for the rest of the year to Laval where he put up nine points in 45 contests.

Devils To Begin Contract Talks With Timo Meier This Week

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When the Devils picked up winger Timo Meier from San Jose prior to the trade deadline, GM Tom Fitzgerald noted that they didn’t want to get into extension talks right away, instead preferring him to get fully integrated with the team.  However, Fitzgerald told NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger that those discussions will now begin this week.

Back in 2019, the 26-year-old signed a four-year, $24MM deal that was heavily backloaded.  Doing so gave the Sharks some cap flexibility while on the back end, it set up a $10MM qualifying offer.  That sparked some similar contracts being signed around the league and eventually, a change to the rules when the CBA was extended back in 2020 was made to eliminate the ballooning qualifying offer.  Now, instead of the qualifier being set at what the salary in the preceding season was, it’s the lower of that number or 120% of the AAV of the previous contract.

However, that rule change only applied to contracts signed after that stretch.  As a result, Meier is still subject to the old rule, meaning that New Jersey will have to tender him a $10MM qualifying offer later this month if they can’t agree on a new contract by then.

Meier notched a career-high 40 goals this season between the Sharks and Devils although he was a bit quieter than expected in the playoffs, scoring just twice in 11 contests.  He has yet to reach the point-per-game mark in his career but he came close to doing so back in 2021-22.  Accordingly, while Meier is an accomplished scorer, it’s fair to question if he’s worth a $10MM contract for next season.

The Devils do have one way to bring that amount down, although it comes with some risk.  If they opt for club-elected arbitration, they can come in with an offer that’s 85% of the required tender, or $8.5MM.  However, in return, Meier could simply go through the hearing, play for whatever is awarded, and then head straight to unrestricted free agency in 2024.  That’s certainly not the outcome Fitzgerald would want after moving a first-round pick and another recent first-rounder (Shakir Mukhamadullin) plus a conditional pick that could become a first as part of the return to get Meier.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising to see Fitzgerald planning to engage Meier’s agent Claude Lemieux in discussions now with the hopes of getting something done before the calendar flips to July and the qualifying offer comes into play.  That contract, if finalized, is likely to come in lower than the $10MM qualifier but not necessarily by much, especially with the expectation that the salary cap will start to go up quicker starting in 2024.

Fitzgerald made it clear to Zeisberger that his goal is getting the winger locked up on a long-term agreement; we’ll find out over the next few weeks if he’s able to succeed on that front.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Gavrikov, Predators, Bouchard

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Today’s cap-shedding trade by the Kings has sparked speculation that the move was made to make room for an agreement with defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.  That deal isn’t in place and if it does get done, it might be a shorter-term deal than expected.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Gavrikov’s camp has told Los Angeles that they’re looking for a two-year contract.  Considering that Gavrikov is 27 and in his prime, it feels like this is the right time to look for a long-term agreement.  However, the blueliner is coming off a bit of a quiet year and the salary cap is expected to start going up more after next season so Gavrikov could be positioning himself to have a shot at a bigger payday in a couple of years compared to what he could get this summer.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The Predators announced that they have reached an affiliation agreement with ECHL Atlanta for next season. It will be the fourth straight season that the Gladiators have a new affiliate after having Boston, Ottawa, and Arizona over the last three years.  Nashville, meanwhile, was one of four NHL teams this season that did not have a direct ECHL affiliation.
  • Gary Bettman’s recent confirmation that the Upper Limit of the salary cap is only set to go up by $1MM isn’t ideal for most teams but Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal argues that it at least gives the Oilers some certainty as it pertains to defenseman Evan Bouchard. The 23-year-old is coming off his second straight season of at least 40 points and was quite productive in the playoffs, notching 17 points in 12 games; he still leads all playoff blueliners in scoring despite being ousted in the second round.  With Edmonton’s cap situation, they’re basically stuck doing a bridge contract with Bouchard, an outcome that’s basically cemented with the recent cap confirmation.

Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings

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

The Kings bolstered their offense with the acquisition of Kevin Fiala last summer and he helped improve their attack from the 20th-best team in 2021-22 to ninth in the league in scoring this season which also helped them surpass the 100-point mark for the first time since 2015-16.  However, they were once again by Edmonton in the first round.  Slow and steady improvement is rarely a bad way to go and their checklist for this summer is based on the idea of them staying on their current trajectory.

Kopitar Extension Talks

Anze Kopitar has been a fixture in the lineup for the Kings since 2006, a year after being the 11th overall pick.  He sits third in franchise history in points and should be able to move into second place about a month or so into the season.  The two-time Selke winner has one year left on his contract and accordingly, he is eligible for a contract extension as of July 1st.  Kopitar’s current deal carries a $10MM AAV, one that seemed a bit steep at the time but he has certainly lived up to it.  However, he’s also 35 and by the time his next contract starts in October 2024, he’ll be 37.

With the center depth that Los Angeles amassed in recent years – including top-five selections in Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte – it looked as if their plan was that they would be able to replace Kopitar by the time his deal was up.  That doesn’t seem likely to happen though; Byfield spent time on the wing this season while Turcotte has struggled in the minors at times and isn’t ready for NHL duty.  Phillip Danault was a nice addition in free agency in 2021 but he isn’t a prototypical top center either.

Accordingly, it seems likely that GM Rob Blake will look to sign his captain to an extension.  It’s almost certainly going to be a short-term deal (somewhere between two and four seasons) where the longer the term, the lower the AAV.  Kopitar won’t be eyeing a $10MM price tag again on that next agreement but he’s coming off a 74-point effort, his highest since 2017-18.  As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an extension check in somewhere around the $7.5MM mark, allowing him to remain with the only NHL franchise he has ever known while keeping some stability down the middle while they hope for their prospects to eventually move into a more critical spot in the lineup.

Re-Sign The Columbus Rentals

At the trade deadline, the Kings did their shopping in one move, picking up goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov from the Blue Jackets.  Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and with how they performed with their new team, the Kings would certainly like to keep them around.

Korpisalo signed a one-year deal with Columbus last summer coming off surgery in the hopes that he could show he was healthy and rebuild some value.  Mission accomplished on that front.  He did well with the Blue Jackets and then after the trade, the 29-year-old took over the starting role quickly with a 2.13 GAA and a .921 SV% in 11 starts.  Because of his more volatile track record, Korpisalo won’t be able to command top dollar on the free agent market which works in the Kings’ favor but he is still in line for a significant raise on the $1.4MM he made this season.  It shouldn’t need to get to Calvin Petersen-type money but getting Korpisalo signed should give them some upside at the goaltending position for next season.

As for Gavrikov, the 27-year-old took a step back from his 2021-22 performance with Columbus but found another gear following the trade, notching nine points in 20 games following the swap.  He’s a legitimate top-four defenseman in a UFA market that doesn’t have a lot of them.  While Gavrikov’s AAV over the last three seasons was $2.8MM, his salary this season was $4.2MM, a figure that’s likely to stand as a reasonable starting point for extension talks.  It’s worth noting that a report last month had the two sides making progress on a new deal although clearly, that hasn’t gotten across the finish line yet.

New Deal For Vilardi

Staying healthy was a challenge for forward Gabriel Vilardi early in his career with lingering back troubles being problematic.  Even this season, while his back wasn’t an issue, he had multiple injuries that caused him to miss 19 games in the regular season plus the first game of the Edmonton series.  However, when he was in the lineup, he made an impact.  After notching just 18 goals on his entry-level deal, the 23-year-old bested that total in 2022-23, picking up 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games, giving them a pretty nice return on a one-year, $825K contract.

That deal is now up this summer and Vilardi will once again be a restricted free agent.  The big difference this time around is now he’ll be arbitration-eligible and obviously has a much better platform year to work from.  Given their desire to re-sign Korpisalo and Gavrikov, it’s reasonable to think another bridge contract will be coming Vilardi’s way if they’re able to ink those two.  A shorter-term agreement should see the AAV fall somewhere in the mid-$2.5MM range but if they work out a pact that buys some extra years of club control, it could creep closer to the $4MM mark.

Trade From Defensive Depth

There are going to be a lot of teams looking for defensive depth this summer.  That’s great news for Los Angeles as they project to have a blueliner available.  Assuming Gavrikov re-signs, that would give them a top-three of him, Drew Doughty, and Michael Anderson that are signed for multiple seasons.  Top prospect Brandt Clarke could be ready for full-time NHL duty as soon as next season.  That’s a nice top-four to work with.

Meanwhile, they have Matt Roy and Sean Durzi who will be entering the final year of their respective contracts next season.  They also have prospect Tobias Bjornfot who was shuffled to and from the AHL frequently this year but is now waiver-eligible.  Additionally, prospect Jordan Spence has lit it up with AHL Ontario the last two seasons and is probably ready for a long look with the big club as well.  Kevin Connauton and Jacob Moverare are pegged to be in the minors but also have NHL experience.  All things considered, their depth is pretty strong.

There’s nothing wrong with having extra depth but there’s a case to be made to move one of them even after trading Sean Walker earlier today.  Durzi’s just 24 with three years of club control remaining and should bring back a nice return and a bit more cap room (he has a $1.7MM AAV) while making room for one of Spence or Clarke.  They could try to move Spence and cash in on his rising value.  There’s still room to move one more defender and with demand for blueliners being high, that should work in Blake’s favor should he opt to make another move.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Islanders Notes: Bailey, Coaching Staff, Free Agents, Injury Updates

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Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello met with the media today (video link) and provided updates on several things while also confirming that he is under contract, though he declined to state for how long.  Here are some of the updates from his presser.

  • Speaking about veteran winger Josh Bailey, Lamoriello indicated that “In Josh’s case, it looks like, maybe it’s near the end here.” The 33-year-old had a rough showing this season, notching just eight goals and 17 assists in 64 games, resulting in him being a healthy scratch at times.  Bailey still has one year left on his contract with a $5MM AAV, one that would require New York to provide an incentive for another team to take on.  A buyout, meanwhile, would save around $2.33MM on the cap for next season while adding $1.167MM in dead space for 2024-25.
  • Lamoriello also confirmed that head coach Lane Lambert would be back for his second season behind the bench. The team was eliminated in the first round by Carolina and didn’t take as big of a step forward offensively as expected; the team scored just 12 more goals than they did under the defensive-minded Barry Trotz.  However, Lamoriello wouldn’t confirm that the full coaching staff would be back for next year, stating “that’s not something that I can assert to at this point”.  John MacLean and Doug Houda were the lead assistants this season for the Isles.
  • Lamoriello indicated that he’d like to re-sign pending UFA defenseman Scott Mayfield, goaltender Semyon Varlamov, and forward Pierre Engvall. Mayfield has become a steady top-four blueliner and should more than double the $1.45MM AAV from his expiring deal.  Varlamov played in just 23 games this season, his fewest games played total since getting a brief stint in his rookie year in 2008-09.  He’s coming off a $5MM contract and will be facing a likely cut in pay, especially if he wants to remain in New York.  Engvall, meanwhile, came over at the trade deadline from Toronto and picked up nine points in 18 games following the swap.  He’s coming off a $2.25MM contract and should be in line for more than that on the open market.  With the Islanders having a little over $5MM in cap space per CapFriendly, they have some work to do if they want to bring those three back.
  • As for Zach Parise, another pending UFA, Lamoriello mentioned he’d also like to bring him back but the veteran first needs to decide if he’s going to play again next season. The 38-year-old had a productive year with 21 goals but after 18 NHL seasons, it’s certainly possible that he decides to call it a career.
  • Lamoriello also noted that winger Oliver Wahlstrom has resumed skating as he works his way back from an ACL injury back in late December. He, along with Alexander Romanov (shoulder surgery), are both set to be ready in time for training camp.

Five Key Stories: 5/29/23 – 6/4/23

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As expected, the turn of the calendar has resulted in an uptick of activity around the NHL, the bulk of it coming away from the ice, including an early extension for Seattle GM Ron Francis and surgery for pending UFA Patrick Kane.  We recap the most notable news in our key stories.

Treliving To Toronto: After parting ways with Kyle Dubas a couple of weeks ago, the Maple Leafs have found their new GM, hiring Brad Treliving for the role.  The 53-year-old had been in the same role with Calgary for the last nine seasons before stepping aside at the end of the regular season.  Treliving is no stranger to roster shakeups after making several changes of note for the Flames last year and will be tasked with determining if a core move needs to be made plus the future of head coach Sheldon Keefe.  While Treliving is in charge now, it’s worth noting that he will not be permitted to be at the draft table later this month, a stipulation they agreed to before receiving permission to interview Treliving, whose deal with Calgary ran until the end of June.

Dubas To Pittsburgh: It didn’t take long for Dubas to find his next team as he has joined Pittsburgh as their President Of Hockey Operations.  The term of the deal wasn’t officially released but Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that it’s a seven-year agreement.  Dubas had been GM in Toronto for the past five seasons, building a team that has been quite strong during the regular season but has struggled in the playoffs with just a single series victory.  He’ll be asked to try to get the Penguins’ core back in the playoff picture after the team came up just short this season, resulting in the departures of Ron Hextall and Brian Burke.  Dubas will hold GM duties as well for the time being but is expected to hire one later this summer.

Changes In Nashville: After a long review and search of the coaching options available, incoming Predators GM Barry Trotz opted to make a change behind the bench, firing John Hynes while hiring Andrew Brunette as their next head coach.  Hynes spent a little over three seasons with the Preds, compiling a 134-95-18 record during the regular season but the team won just three of 14 playoff contests.  The 48-year-old has just over 600 games under his belt including his time in New Jersey and if he doesn’t land a job this summer, his name will likely come up in midseason openings.  As for Brunette, this will be his second time running an NHL bench after he coached Florida for the bulk of the 2021-22 campaign.  Brunette was passed over for the full-time spot with the Panthers that summer, sending him to New Jersey as an associate coach.  Trotz indicated that he’s hoping that Brunette can bring more of an offensive focus to the team, a stark contrast to his own philosophies when he was behind the bench.

More Coaching Moves: The Capitals were actually the first team to bring in their new bench boss, bringing in Spencer Carbery on a four-year contract.  It’s the second stint with Washington for the 41-year-old who was the head coach for their AHL affiliate in Hershey for three years before leaving to serve as an assistant with Toronto for the last two seasons.  He is the fourth first-time hire out of Washington’s last six head coaches.  Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets appear to have their next coach as veteran Mike Babcock is set to return behind an NHL bench for the first time since 2019-20.  The 60-year-old has a 700-418-183 record over parts of 17 seasons and will be tasked with turning around a Columbus franchise that improved on paper last summer but dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.  The hire is expected to be made official next month once his contract with Toronto expires.

Gibson Hoping For A Trade: The goaltending market this summer just got a bit more interesting following a report that Ducks netminder John Gibson indicated to the team last month that he’d like a change of scenery.  The 29-year-old was one of the top goalies in the league a few years ago but as Anaheim has struggled, so has he as he posted a 3.99 GAA with a .899 SV% this season while leading the league in goals allowed and losses.  However, on a more competitive win-now franchise, there’s reason to hope that he could turn things around.  Gibson has four years left on his contract at a $6.4MM cap charge so the Ducks may have to retain salary or take a contract back to help facilitate a move.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Checklist: Tampa Bay Lightning

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

After three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances, the Lightning weren’t able to make it four straight this season.  Instead, the third seed in the Atlantic Division fell in six to Toronto.  GM Julien BriseBois is all in on trying to keep as much of this core as possible so accordingly, their checklist this summer revolves around that desire.

Sign A Backup Goalie

Let’s start with a relatively simple one for Tampa Bay to hit on.  Brian Elliott has been the backup for the Lightning for the last two seasons.  The first one went well – better than expected, even – but 2022-23 was nowhere near that level.  His goals-against-average was up by nearly a full goal (2.43 to 3.40) while his save percentage dipped 21 points (.912 to .891).  He basically went from an above-average second-stringer to a below-average one.  Of course, the 38-year-old still provided some value for the team thanks to his $900K cap hit, just $150K below the league minimum.

With a little over $7MM in cap room per CapFriendly (which includes Brent Seabrook’s LTIR space), the cost of Andrei Vasilevskiy’s backup next season is almost as important as how they perform.  Is there a goalie on the open market that will be willing to take close to the minimum salary to play 20-25 games next season for the Lightning?  Probably.  Will that netminder be better than another season of Elliott?  That’s a decision that will need to be made once the free agent market opens up next month.

Try To Keep Killorn

Alex Killorn picked a pretty good time for a career year.  More specifically, another career year.  After setting new personal benchmarks in 2021-22 in assists (34) and points (59) as a 32-year-old, he went and did it again this season with 27 goals, 37 assists, and 64 points.  Impressively, he was able to do so despite seeing his ice time cut by nearly a minute and a half per game with a lot of that drop coming from the power play.  Heading into an opportunity to test the open market for the first time in his career, things went pretty well this year for Killorn.

His seven-year, $31.5MM started out on the pricey side relative to his point totals but has turned into a team-friendly deal the last couple of years.  Now, the 33-year-old will enter the market as the highest-scoring UFA, putting him in a spot to cash in with one last long-term agreement.

Tampa Bay would love for Killorn’s tenure to continue with them.  Making that happen, however, will certainly be challenging.  There’s no way they can afford to pay market value to bring the winger back as they need to spread that $7MM in cap room across at least five roster spots.  Even if the other four were at the minimum salary, the maximum they could offer Killorn would still represent a small cut from what he was making before.

Basically, their only hope to keep him around as things stand might be to work out a max-term contract or very close to it.  In exchange for being paid into his early 40s, Killorn would likely accept a price tag below what he made on his now-expiring contract and well below market value.  Frankly, even that feels like a stretch, not to mention the pressure points it would put on their other free agents (more on them momentarily).  Their other option to try to keep Killorn would be to move another player out to create some extra cap room.  Nick Paul ($3.15MM) is one candidate that stands out but he’s signed through 2028-29, a term that might be too long for most other teams to willingly take on.

It certainly doesn’t feel like Killorn will be back with the Lightning next season unless he’s willing to leave a lot of money on the table to stay with the only NHL organization he has ever been with since they drafted him back in 2007.  However, given his importance to the team, expect BriseBois to exhaust every possible way to try to make it happen over the next few weeks.

Deal With Pending RFAs

Now let’s get to those pending restricted free agents.  Tampa Bay has two of note to deal with this summer, wingers Tanner Jeannot and Ross Colton.  Notably, both players are arbitration-eligible and have one year of club control left before they can become unrestricted free agents as soon as 2024.  That option does give them some leverage in upcoming negotiations.

Jeannot was the Lightning’s key acquisition at the trade deadline when they parted with five draft picks over the next three seasons (one in each of the first five rounds of the draft) along with young defenseman Cal Foote to bring in the rugged winger.  In 2021-22, he had a breakout year with Nashville, notching 24 goals and 17 assists along with 130 penalty minutes and 318 hits, putting him in the top ten in Calder Trophy voting.

However, he wasn’t able to repeat the offensive production this season, notching just six goals with a dozen assists with 107 penalty minutes and 290 hits.  That said, considering how much they paid to get him, it stands to reason that BriseBois will be looking to sign Jeannot to a multi-year deal and make him a big part of their bottom six moving forward.  A contract like that will push past the $2MM mark at a minimum, likely closer to $3MM if it’s a long-term pact.

As for Colton, he has worked his way into a capable secondary scorer the last two seasons after scoring the Cup-clinching goal in 2021.  He had 16 goals and 16 assists this season, a year after putting up 22 tallies and 17 helpers.  Colton can play down the middle which also boosts his value.  Basically, his value has gone up to a point where it’s quite unlikely that they’ll be able to afford to keep him; a multi-year deal likely pushes the $3MM mark.

The good news for Tampa Bay is that Colton should have some value on the trade market.  Even with a lot of teams being tight to the cap, a capable middleman with a decent playoff track record is sure to generate some interest.  Draft picks and prospects would certainly help but it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Lightning try to acquire a controllable depth piece or two to help offset the potential losses of Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, important role players that are set to hit the open market this summer.  Tampa has had to move quality pieces in recent years and there’s a good chance that Colton finds himself in that situation this summer.

Stamkos Extension Talks

Over the last couple of years, BriseBois has actively sought to sign players to extensions as soon as they become eligible.  Last summer, Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Anthony Cirelli all signed on July 1st.  The year before, it was Brayden Point getting his new deal in place on July 28th, the first day of the new league year.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see history repeat itself, this time with captain Steven Stamkos.

The 33-year-old hasn’t been able to get back to the 50-goal mark that he did in two of his first four seasons but he remains a consistent impact scorer.  A year after putting up a career-high 106 points, Stamkos took a small step back this season but still scored 34 goals along with 50 assists in 81 games to finish third on the team in scoring.  While it’s fair to believe that he will start slowing down at some point, he should have several more strong seasons in him before that point.

Given his age, Stamkos’ next contract should come in below his current $8.5MM AAV.  It’s possible that they look to do what they’ve tried to with Killorn by offering a longer-term agreement in exchange for a more favorable cap charge but if they opt for more of a medium-term contract, it should check in closer to the $7.5MM to $8MM range.  This is something that isn’t a rush for the Lightning – Stamkos’ last negotiation came much closer to the wire – but knowing the affinity BriseBois has for his core, expect him to take a run at getting this done early in the summer, possibly as soon as July 1st, the first day a new deal can be finalized.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Teams Calling About Damon Severson’s Negotiating Rights

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The Devils have a long list of free agents to contend with this summer.  Highlighting the restricted ones are wingers Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier while among the UFAs, center Erik Haula plus defensemen Ryan Graves and Damon Severson stand out.  New Jersey isn’t in a spot where they’ll be able to keep all of them around.

Other teams around the NHL are clearly aware of this and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (video link), New Jersey is receiving calls with inquiries about Severson’s negotiating rights.  At this point, the Devils are still believed to be trying to re-sign him but if those talks fall through, there might be enough interest to at least secure a late-round pick over losing him for nothing entirely.

Severson projects to be one of the top defensemen available on the open market next month.  The 28-year-old had a career year in 2021-22 with 11 goals and 35 assists in 80 games and while he wasn’t able to repeat those numbers this season, he still managed 33 points in 81 contests despite having his playing time cut by nearly four minutes per night.

Severson had averaged at least 22 minutes per game in each of the last four seasons before this one which will certainly bolster his value in a market that doesn’t have a lot of players capable of playing top-pairing minutes.  He’s also a right-shot player, the side that is always in high demand.  As there continues to be a greater emphasis placed on mobility and puck movement from the back end, Severson fits in well with those requirements.

Of course, New Jersey would like to keep Severson around although it’s fair to question if they should.  That isn’t an indictment on his abilities by any stretch but rather a question of how they’re allocating their money.  Their other two right-shot defenders are Dougie Hamilton and John Marino who are each signed through the 2026-27 season with a combined cap hit of $13.4MM.  As a player likely to be in high demand, Severson should be expecting a sizable raise from the $4.166MM on his previous deal; something in the $6MM range could be achievable.  Is it, then, wise for them to spend upward of $20MM on the right side of their back end when you factor in the other players they need to re-sign?  Based on the calls other teams are making about his negotiating rights, they’re doing the same math as well.

It’s important to note that a trade couldn’t be arranged with a conditional draft pick contingent on Severson signing with the acquiring team.  Those used to be legal but that’s no longer the case.  Instead, should a trade happen, it will be an unconditional pick going the other way.  In recent years, there haven’t been many of those but one possible comparable would be Carolina moving Joel Edmundson’s rights to Montreal for a fifth-rounder in 2020.  Severson’s market for his negotiating rights is likely to come in somewhere around there as well.

Typically, there are at least a few days between the end of the draft and the start of free agency, allowing a team on draft day to flip the pick and have a bit of time to try to hammer out a new deal.  That isn’t really the case this year as the draft will be ending less than 48 hours before free agency opens up.  Accordingly, if New Jersey can’t get a contract done with Severson in the next few weeks, they may have to move those rights before the draft if they want a shot at getting some sort of value in return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blues Not Planning To Use A Buyout This Offseason

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

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

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

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

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

East Notes: Killorn, Orlov, Rangers

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

Elsewhere in the East:

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

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