Latest On Shane Pinto’s Contract Talks
With the Senators not being able to afford even a two-year bridge deal for Shane Pinto, some had wondered if they might try a lower-cost one-year offer for the unsigned middleman. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Ottawa did attempt to go that route this week and it was not received well by Pinto’s camp with the offer coming in the $1MM range.
Even that offer would be difficult for them to afford as they currently have a little over $120K in cap space, per CapFriendly with a projected 21-player roster. That doesn’t leave them much in the way of wiggle room to re-sign Pinto or to try to sign veteran Josh Bailey who is in camp on a PTO agreement.
Pinto doesn’t have much in the way of leverage here as he is ineligible to sign an offer sheet as he doesn’t have enough service time for one having not met the games played criteria in each of his first two seasons. That basically means his options are to hold out until he gets a contract he wants or ask for a trade, an option that he doesn’t have any interest in pursuing at this time, Friedman reports.
The 22-year-old’s first full NHL season was a strong one as he netted 20 goals along with 15 assists while averaging just shy of 16 minutes a night. He also won a little over 52% of his faceoffs. That has the Sens rightly viewing Pinto as an important part of their future.
On the surface, there are three mid-tier contracts that would appear to be candidates to be dealt to open up cap space. Winger Mathieu Joseph has been the one most speculated about but with three years left on his deal at $2.95MM and the fact he’s coming off a season that saw him score just three goals in 56 games, the price for teams to take on the contract would be high.
Meanwhile, winger Dominik Kubalik is in the final year of his contract with a $2.5MM cap charge that might be easier to offload. He’s also coming off a career season that saw him put up 20 goals and 25 assists with Detroit so there could be some positive trade value although subtracting him from their offense would certainly hurt.
The other contract in that range is defenseman Erik Brannstrom who is on a $2MM deal and will be arbitration-eligible again next summer. When he was first acquired, he was viewed as an important part of their then-rebuild and while he has become a regular player, he hasn’t had the impact they were hoping for. He’s likely earmarked for the third pairing which could make him expendable. But with Pinto’s likely contract to come in the $2.5MM range, moving Brannstrom alone wouldn’t create enough cap space to re-sign Pinto.
With the regular season starting in ten days, pressure is starting to pick up on GM Pierre Dorion to find a solution to this situation. But with only a few teams having cap space, finding a suitable trade to open up cap flexibility to get Pinto signed is going to be easier said than done. For now, the waiting game continues.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Alex Killorn Suffers Fractured Finger
Alex Killorn’s regular season start to his time in Anaheim is going to be delayed as the team announced today (Twitter link) that the winger suffered a fractured finger on Wednesday night against San Jose. He is expected to miss the next four to six weeks.
The 34-year-old was one of the top forwards available in free agency and ultimately landed the richest deal when the Ducks gave him a four-year, $25MM agreement. He’s coming off another career year with Tampa Bay, one that saw him record 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games while adding five points in six playoff contests against Toronto.
While Anaheim isn’t expected to be a playoff contender for a little while as they navigate through their rebuilding process, GM Pat Verbeek saw fit to add some veterans to his roster to help work with their young core. Killorn was expected to be a big part of that and likely would have lined up on the top line on opening night but now, he’ll miss at least the first month of the season.
Killorn will be LTIR-eligible but Anaheim isn’t anywhere close to needing to rely on that. With Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale still unsigned, the Ducks currently have over $16MM in cap space, per CapFriendly. Even when those two sign, they’ll be far enough below the $83.5MM cap to not need to dip into LTIR.
There was some good news on the injury front for the Ducks today, however, as John Gibson was a full participant in practice. He had left Friday’s contest at the midway mark due to an upper-body injury but it appears that the issue was a minor one.
Waivers: 9/30/23
With the start of the NHL season now just ten days away, daily waiver activity will be continuing league-wide. Here is a listing of the players that are on the wire today per various team announcements and TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).
Buffalo Sabres
G Devin Cooley
F Justin Richards
G Dustin Tokarski
Edmonton Oilers
F Drake Caggiula
F Greg McKegg
Montreal Canadiens
D Nicolas Beaudin
F Lucas Condotta
D Brady Keeper
F Mitchell Stephens
Nashville Predators
F Anthony Angello
D Kevin Gravel
G Troy Grosenick
D Jordan Gross
New York Rangers
Ottawa Senators
F Josh Currie
D Dillon Heatherington
F Garrett Pilon
D Lassi Thomson
While Ottawa’s players were announced as being waived on Friday, it was after the 1 PM CT cut-off which means their waiver clock starts today.
Vegas Golden Knights
F Byron Froese
D/F Mason Geertsen
D Dysin Mayo
F Gage Quinney
F Sheldon Rempal
F Jonas Rondbjerg
Most of the forwards on this list have cleared waivers in the past with Condotta being the lone exception as this is his first time eligible for waivers. He spent most of last season in the minors but scored in his lone NHL appearance. Quinney and Rempal were productive in the minors last season, averaging just shy of a point per game while Caggiula had over 50 points as well.
Among the defensemen, Thomson could be one to keep an eye on for a potential claim. The 23-year-old was the 19th overall pick in 2019 and is still on his entry-level contract. He hasn’t had much success at the NHL level so far but as a young right-shot defender, a rebuilding team or two might be inclined to take a flyer on him.
Mayo logged nearly 21 minutes a night on the back end for Arizona back in 2021-22 but cleared waivers last season and was eventually traded to Vegas in exchange for Shea Weber’s LTIR-eligible contract. He has two years left on a one-way deal worth $950K per season which could scare teams off. Beaudin is a former first-rounder himself back in 2018 (27th overall) but has just 22 NHL games under his belt, none of which came last season between Montreal and Chicago.
Grosenick and Tokarski are no strangers to the waiver wire. Tokarski has cleared all five times while Grosenick has cleared six out of eight times he has been waived over the years. This will be Cooley’s first time on waivers but while he had a decent season in Nashville’s system last season (posting a .909 SV% with AHL Milwaukee), it would be surprising to see him picked up.
Each player will be available to teams until 1 PM CT on Sunday.
Sharks Claim Ty Emberson Off Waivers From Rangers
There was one player claimed from Friday’s batch of waivers as Chris Johnston of TSN reports (Twitter link) that the Sharks have claimed blueliner Ty Emberson off waivers from the Rangers.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick by Arizona back in 2018 (73rd overall) out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. He was the player who came to New York when they dealt two draft picks to the Coyotes to take on the remainder of Patrik Nemeth‘s contract (which has since been bought out). The change of scenery seemed to work quite well for Emberson as he went from 11 points in his final season with Tucson to 27 points last season with AHL Hartford although it didn’t land him an NHL look.
That helped secure Emberson a qualifying offer from the Rangers although he ultimately accepted less than that in exchange for a higher AHL pay. He’s on a one-year deal that pays $775K in the minors and $85K at the minor league level. He’ll be a restricted free agent once again next summer.
San Jose is an interesting landing spot for Emberson since they already have seven blueliners on one-way deals plus Jacob MacDonald who is on a two-way deal but played in 58 NHL games last season. However, the Sharks are a team that’s squarely in the middle of a rebuild so from that standpoint, it makes sense that they would want to take a look at a young right-shot defender.
Atlantic Notes: Primeau, Zboril, Heinen
Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau has struggled at the NHL level so far with a 4.11 GAA and a .871 SV% in 21 games but has shown enough in the AHL that he’s still viewed as a possible goalie of the future. He now requires waivers to get back to the minors but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (video link) that the team believes he won’t make it through unclaimed. Accordingly, they’re giving serious consideration to carrying three goalies to start the season with Primeau joining holdovers Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen. Primeau has two years left on his one-way contract which carries a cap hit of $890K but with the price of third-string goalies going up a lot this summer, even the one-way element might not dissuade a potentially interested team from taking a flyer on him.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Bruins defenseman Jakub Zboril returned to practice yesterday for the first time since being injured in Boston’s preseason opener, relays Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (Twitter link). The blueliner was in a non-contact sweater but it was still a step in the right direction. This is an important camp for the 26-year-old who is entering the final year of his contract, one that carries an AAV of $1.1375MM. Boston could opt to waive Zboril, giving them some much-needed cap flexibility so he’ll be looking to get into some games to try to lock down his spot.
- Still with Boston, Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston argues that the Bruins should keep winger Danton Heinen who is in with the group on a PTO. While he’s not a prototypical fourth-line player, he would give them a bit more offensive punch. With the firepower they lost over the summer, they could stand to benefit from carrying a bit more of an offensive-minded depth player. Speculatively, Heinen would wind up with a deal at or close to the league minimum of $775K if he got a contract offer but they would need to open up some room before they could even offer that.
Penguins Hire Trent Mann
It didn’t take too long for Trent Mann to find his next organization. The Penguins announced today that they’ve named Mann as a Player Development and Scouting Advisor.
Mann had been with Ottawa since 2011 in a few different roles including their Director of Amateur Scouting for the past six seasons. The Sens certainly had some strong draft picks during that stretch including Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, and Shane Pinto although it hasn’t been a perfect stretch with Tyler Boucher‘s stock dropping lately while Lassi Thomson, a former first-rounder himself, is going on waivers later today. Mann, who also served as assistant GM for the Sens last season, was relieved of his duties in mid-July.
Now, he joins a Pittsburgh front office that has undergone some significant restructuring under Kyle Dubas. While he’ll hold an advisory role for the time being, with a dozen seasons under his belt in the scouting ranks, it stands to reason that he should assume a bigger role with the club before too long.
The hire also adds a small new wrinkle to the cross-state rivalry between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as Mann’s son, defenseman Matteo Mann, was drafted by the Flyers in the seventh round back in June.
Examining Tampa Bay’s Goaltending Options
One hallmark of Tampa Bay’s success in recent years has been strong goaltending from veteran Andrei Vasilevskiy. The team has had so much confidence in their starter that they’ve gone quite cheap with their backups over the last few seasons. The risk to that approach, of course, is Vasilevskiy getting injured, a reality they’re now facing for at least the next two months after he underwent back surgery.
At the moment, the Lightning have Jonas Johansson as their projected starter, a netminder who has seen action with Buffalo, Colorado, and Florida but has a save percentage of just .886 in 35 career appearances. Sure, that should improve behind a strong Tampa back end but his track record shouldn’t be particularly confidence-inspiring for management. An upgrade would certainly be helpful.
Of course, an upgrade is quite difficult for them to be able to afford. While Vasilevskiy will be LTIR-eligible, the fact he’ll return means that Tampa Bay is basically limited to replacing him with a low-cost netminder that can be waived and sent down upon Vasilevskiy’s return. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the low-cost options that are out there.
Waiver Candidates
Magnus Hellberg (PIT): Hellberg is no stranger to being in this situation as he was plucked off waivers twice last season by teams in this very situation, looking for a bit of short-term veteran depth. His NHL track record is limited and his numbers are no better than Johansson’s but he’d at least give them a bit more of an experienced option.
Martin Jones (TOR): Jones was a late signee in free agency, eventually accepting a cheap one-way deal with an eye on being Toronto’s AHL starter. He played in 48 games with Seattle last season and while he had a save percentage of just .886, his career numbers are a bit better. If they want someone that can still handle a short-term starters’ workload, he’ll garner some consideration.
Alex Lyon (DET): The veteran impressed down the stretch last season with Florida and actually went into the playoffs as their starter before Sergei Bobrovsky got on his run partway through the first round. His NHL numbers last year (2.89 GAA, .912 SV%) came in less than a three-month span which is around how long Vasilevskiy will be out. Could those numbers be repeatable (or close to it) in Tampa Bay?
Cayden Primeau (MTL): This one would be a bit more of a gamble considering his very limited NHL experience. However, he has been a multi-year starter in the minors now and at 24, it’s possible there’s still some upside. Could he be this year’s Connor Ingram where a change of scenery helps him to unlock his potential? If Tampa Bay thinks so, he could be an under-the-radar option if Montreal doesn’t opt to carry three goalies instead.
Alex Stalock (ANA): If Anaheim decides to start Lukas Dostal in the minors, this one won’t be an option for Tampa. However, if he is on waivers, he could be an intriguing option after putting up a .908 SV% in 27 games with Chicago last season, his first extended NHL action since 2019-20 after dealing with myocarditis.
Anthony Stolarz (FLA): Stolarz is coming off an injury-riddled season but he’s only a year removed from posting a .917 SV% on an Anaheim team that had struggled considerably. His cap hit would make it quite difficult for them to potentially keep him after Vasilevskiy returns but he is one of the more proven goalies likely to hit the waiver wire in the coming days.
All of these players are on contracts that can be fully buried in the minors without any salary cap penalty.
Trade Options
Eric Comrie (BUF): With Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the fold, it’s quite possible that the Sabres decide to go with the young duo which would leave Comrie as the odd one out. With a $1.8MM AAV, Tampa Bay would need the Sabres to retain a decent chunk of that (if not the 50% maximum) so it’d be understandable if Buffalo asked for a draft pick in return. Given that there will be other goalies available for free (and Comrie himself could be waived, too), this might not be their preferred route at this time.
Dan Vladar (CGY): This has been a popular speculative option but it’s not necessarily the most viable for Tampa Bay since he has a two-year deal and a $2.2MM cap hit which is something they can’t afford when Vasilevskiy returns. Tampa Bay would need to come close to matching money in a trade as a result, meaning they’d have to part with a regular on their roster although he’d give them a higher-upside second-string option.
Free Agent Options
Brian Elliott: Elliott is no stranger to the team as he served as the backup over the past two seasons. Things went quite well in 2021-22 but that certainly wasn’t the case last season with numbers that were among the worst in his career. If familiarity with the organization and systems is important to the Lightning, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them at least consider the possibility of a reunion.
Jaroslav Halak: Last month, Halak indicated that he wants to keep playing but doesn’t want to be in a third-string/reserve role. This short-term vacancy would seemingly fit him well. He’d be guaranteed some consistent playing time and if he can outplay Johansson, it’s possible that he could push for a season-long opportunity. He had a .903 SV% in 25 games with the Rangers last season, a better mark than many others on this list.
Internal Options
Tampa Bay has two other goalies on NHL deals, neither of which have made an NHL start. Hugo Alnefelt is viewed as a possible goalie of the future but didn’t have a great year with AHL Syracuse. Ideally, he needs frequent playing time and that’s easier to get with the Crunch. Matt Tomkins is the other goalie in the system. He exercised an opt-out in Sweden to sign with the Lightning back in May. The 25-year-old hasn’t been more than an AHL backup in North America and it would be tough to rely on him in the NHL for any sort of extended stretch.
With Vasilevskiy’s surgery occurring now instead of in-season, Tampa Bay will have considerably more options over the next couple of weeks if they decide to add someone from outside the organization. At this point, their best bet might be via the waiver wire where the list above certainly isn’t exhaustive; there will be plenty of netminders for them to choose from to give them a bit more stability in the short term. They just might have to wait a week or two for the better options to become available.
Metropolitan Notes: Toffoli, Blue Jackets, York
The Devils have already held preliminary discussions about an extension for pending UFA winger Tyler Toffoli, notes Ryan Novozinsky of the Newark Star-Ledger. The 31-year-old was acquired from Calgary earlier this summer and is coming off by far his best season, one that saw him put up 34 goals and 39 assists in 2022-23. Toffoli currently carries a $4.25MM AAV and with the year he just had, it’s fair to say he’ll be looking for a decent-sized raise to put pen to paper on an early extension. If he winds up playing alongside Jack Hughes as he has at times in the preseason, he could be in for another big year which would certainly bolster his value on the open market next summer.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch highlights some of the Blue Jackets who were regulars last season but could find themselves on the bubble now after Columbus added some extra depth over the summer. The headliner on the list is Cole Sillinger, a player who made the team at 18 and had a nice rookie year in 2021-22 but struggled considerably last season, scoring just three times in 61 games. An opportunity to play big minutes with AHL Cleveland might just be the best thing development-wise for him for now.
- Flyers defenseman Cam York took part in practice with the team today, suggesting he has been cleared to return, relays Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old had missed the last few days of practice with an undisclosed injury. He’s entering the first season of a two-year bridge deal which should also be his first full NHL campaign. York had 20 points in 52 games with the Flyers last season while adding 13 more in 20 games with AHL Lehigh Valley.
Atlantic Notes: Pinto, Senators, Brown
Speaking at Steve Staios’ introductory press conference today (video link), Senators GM Pierre Dorion indicated that the most recent discussions with unsigned center Shane Pinto occurred yesterday so at least there is no stalemate in discussions yet. Ottawa’s situation is well-known at this point; they need to free up cap space before they can re-sign the 22-year-old who is expected to receive a two-year bridge deal around the $2.5MM range when everything is finalized. Mathieu Joseph is the speculative cap casualty although the asking price from other teams is high to take on the remaining three years of his deal. Dominik Kubalik, who came over as part of the return for Alex DeBrincat, might be a bit easier to move as an expiring deal. Both wingers are off to good starts to their preseasons with two goals and an assist each in their first two outings.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Still with the Senators, the team is expected to make a significant number of cuts this week, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports. At the moment, Ottawa is carrying 51 players on its training camp roster but they are expected to trim that to between 32 and 36 before they head to Eastern Canada for a pair of games on Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, Garrioch adds that captain Brady Tkachuk skated today after taking a stick to the eye on Wednesday and could suit up in one of those upcoming contests.
- Lightning center Logan Brown is dealing with an injury that will keep him out for the start of the season, relays Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The 25-year-old inked a one-year, two-way deal with Tampa Bay at the beginning of free agency after being non-tendered. He played in 30 games last season with St. Louis and was expected to push for a spot at the end of the roster in training camp, an outcome that now won’t be happening. Encina adds that blueline prospect Roman Schmidt will also miss the start of the season due to injury.
Avalanche Notes: Toews, Makar, Holland
Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews is one of the top names headlining the 2024 unrestricted free agent class. The 29-year-old has emerged as a legitimate top-pairing player since being acquired in 2020 and has seen his production take off the last couple of years as he reached the 50-point mark. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the industry thought is that Colorado doesn’t want to give Toews more than five years. If he gets to the open market, it stands to reason that seven-year max-term offers would be on the table while the Avalanche could go as high as eight. A long-term structure like that might allow for the AAV to be a bit lower than a medium-term agreement would be but would also carry some risk in the later years between his workload and age.
More from Colorado:
- Cale Makar skated with the main group at practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Peter Baugh of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, the defenseman stated that while the injury hasn’t gotten any worse, it “hasn’t really gotten much better” With the regular season still two weeks away, it stands to reason that the Avs will take their time with their star blueliner.
- Peter Holland’s tryout appears to have been a somewhat successful one as the team confirmed to Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal (Twitter link) that they have made the forward a contract offer, one that also includes a reassignment to the AHL level. Whether the offer is a two-way deal with the Avalanche or a one-way AHL proposal remains to be seen. Holland didn’t play anywhere last season and last played at the minor league level back in 2018-19 where he was quite productive with 65 points in 73 games. Colorado shuffled through depth players frequently last season looking for the right fit so even though Holland won’t be making the roster now, he could get an opportunity down the road.