Looking At Landing Spots For Montreal’s Goalie Surplus
While the Canadiens don’t have long-time franchise netminder Carey Price available to them as he’ll remain on LTIR for the upcoming season (or the next two) and they have been searching for a replacement in recent years. While they haven’t found their next true starter, they have amassed some extra depth at the position with four netminders vying for two spots in training camp next month.
The tandem from the past two seasons remains in place with veteran Jake Allen being joined by Samuel Montembeault who is coming off his best NHL campaign. Casey DeSmith is now in the mix as well after being brought in as part of the Erik Karlsson trade over the weekend while prospect Cayden Primeau, viewed not long ago as a possible part of Montreal’s future goalie plans, now needs waivers to get back to AHL Laval.
While it’s possible that they could carry three netminders to start next season (though hardly an ideal scenario), four certainly isn’t happening. Assuming Montembeault and Allen remain the tandem, there’s no guarantee that DeSmith and/or Primeau would make it through waivers unclaimed and as a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see GM Kent Hughes call around to see if there’s a possible trade to be made for one of his extra goaltenders. There are a few teams where it appears a swap for another netminder could be palatable.
Buffalo: At the moment, it looks like the Sabres intend to run with a young tandem of Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with Eric Comrie likely bound for waivers. If they feel that DeSmith is enough of an upgrade on Comrie to serve as a short-term NHL option, they could then let Levi get some time in with AHL Rochester.
Chicago: Arvid Soderblom appears to be the current backup option but only has 71 AHL appearances under his belt and is waiver-exempt. They’re more of a training camp possibility if Soderblom struggles in the preseason but DeSmith as a short-term rental or Primeau as a longer-term swing both could fit.
New Jersey: Akira Schmid took over the number one job down the stretch and into the playoffs but is still relatively inexperienced and is waiver-exempt. Meanwhile, the team hasn’t ruled out the idea of bringing in another goaltender. Primeau doesn’t make much sense here but DeSmith, a player who is capable of making 30-plus appearances, might appeal to them more than current options on the open market.
Tampa Bay: Somewhat surprisingly, the Lightning added Jonas Johansson at the beginning of free agency, giving him a two-year deal at the league minimum. But he has struggled in very limited NHL duty and could certainly be upgraded on. DeSmith would definitely be an upgrade but would require Montreal to do the maximum 50% retention on his $1.8MM AAV or they’d need to send matching money back.
Vancouver: Spencer Martin was the backup goaltender for the opening part of last season but struggled mightily. He currently stands as the likely second-stringer once again which is risky as the Canucks look to get back to the playoffs. Cap space is an issue here (especially if Tanner Pearson is indeed able to return after finishing last season on LTIR) but someone like DeSmith would certainly be an upgrade.
On top of those teams, there could also be ones that have injuries in training camp that could force their hand closer to the start of the regular season if Montreal’s logjam still exists.
In the free agent market, the best remaining options available are veterans Martin Jones, Jaroslav Halak, and Brian Elliott. If none of those goalies appeal to one of these teams and they want to make a move to add some goaltending depth, the Canadiens are a team they’ll be getting in touch with – if Montreal isn’t calling them first. Between that and them now having an extra defenseman in the fold in veteran Jeff Petry, the Canadiens could be a team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
Blackhawks Forward Luke Philp Undergoes Achilles Surgery
It hasn’t been a great offseason for players when it comes to Achilles injuries. Buffalo’s Jack Quinn tore his and will miss a big chunk of next season. So, too, did Anaheim’s Isac Lundestrom. Now, another forward has suffered the same injury as Chicago’s AHL team in Rockford announced that Luke Philp underwent Achilles surgery over the weekend and will miss approximately the next six months.
The 27-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into three games with the Blackhawks down the stretch where he picked up his first career assist at the top level. Philp spent most of the season in the minors with the IceHogs and was quite productive, notching 29 goals and 24 assists in 60 games, good for fourth on the team in scoring.
That performance helped Philp land a one-year extension back in March, one that carries a $775K cap hit at the NHL level and a $375K salary in the minors. However, he won’t get much of an opportunity to play on that new deal since he’ll be out until likely sometime in February.
Philp will start the season on season-opening injured reserve and since he was up with Chicago for six days in 2022-23, the Blackhawks will carry a small cap charge on the books until he’s cleared to return. The calculation is his number of NHL days divided by the number of days in the upcoming season (192) multiplied by his NHL cap hit ($775K). In this case, the prorated cap charge will be just over $24K.
Five Key Stories: 7/31/23 – 8/6/23
The first week of August isn’t typically the busiest on the NHL calendar but there was quite a bit of news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Goalie Deals: Minnesota was able to avoid salary arbitration with goaltender Filip Gustavsson, instead signing him to a three-year contract that carries a cap hit of $3.75MM. The 25-year-old had a breakout showing last season, posting a 2.10 GAA along with a .931 SV%, the second-best mark in the league, in 39 games. However, he still has just 66 appearances at the top level under his belt which helped keep the price tag in this range. The deal buys the Wild two more years of team control.
Meanwhile, the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman weren’t able to come to terms before the hearing. Instead, he was awarded a one-year, $3.475MM contract, a deal that came in just above the midpoint of the filings (Boston: $2.4MM, Swayman: $4.8MM). The 24-year-old was a key part of Boston’s high-end tandem between the pipes with Linus Ullmark, putting up a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SV% (fourth in the league) in 37 games. Swayman will once again be a restricted free agent next summer with arbitration rights.
Oilers Hire Jackson: Agents have slowly started to get more opportunities in an NHL front office and the Oilers are the latest team to go that route as they hired Wasserman’s Jeff Jackson as their new CEO. Jackson takes the place of longtime executive Bob Nicholson who will remain in a lesser capacity. Jackson’s most prominent client before being hired happens to be Edmonton center Connor McDavid and that existing relationship could be critical with the Hart and Pearson winner two years away from being eligible to work on a contract extension. Speculatively, with GM Ken Holland being 67 and entering the final year of his deal, Jackson could be a candidate to take over in the relatively near future.
The Big Domino Falls: For the past few weeks, the market has largely been held up by Erik Karlsson. Would the Sharks move him and who would get him? In the end, it was indeed the Penguins who landed him, picking him up as part of a 12-piece three-team trade that also involved Montreal. Pittsburgh picked up Karlsson (with 13% retention), wingers Rem Pitlick and Dillon Hamaliuk along with a 2026 third-round pick from San Jose. The Sharks acquired wingers Mikael Granlund and Mike Hoffman, defenseman Jan Rutta, and Pittsburgh’s 2024 first-round selection (top-ten protected). Meanwhile, the Canadiens brought back defenseman Jeff Petry (with 25% retention), goalie Casey DeSmith, winger Nathan Legare, and Pittsburgh’s 2025 second-rounder. Karlsson is coming off a career year, becoming the first blueliner since Brian Leetch in 1991-92 to surpass the 100-point mark, helping him earn the Norris Trophy. He immediately makes Pittsburgh’s offense more dangerous while San Jose adds a first-round selection and potentially some later picks if they flip some of the players they got down the road, a strategy that Montreal may be looking to take as well.
With Karlsson off the board, it didn’t take long for Mathew Dumba, the top defenseman left on the market, to find his next home as he agreed to terms with Arizona on a one-year, $3.9MM contract. It’s an underwhelming contract relative to what he likely was expecting to get but if nothing else, the 29-year-old will have a chance to be an all-situations player with the Coyotes, potentially giving him an opportunity to boost his stock heading into next year’s free agent market.
Seven And Seven: While Anaheim and winger Troy Terry got as far as filing arbitration submissions, it didn’t get that far in the end. Instead, the two sides worked out a seven-year, $49MM contract to keep him with the Ducks for the long haul. Terry had two RFA years remaining so the contract gives Anaheim five extra years of control; those years will see the 25-year-old submit a ten-team no-trade list. Terry had a breakout showing in 2021-22, putting up 37 goals and 30 assists and followed that up with a 23-goal, 38-assist performance last season, cementing himself as a go-to top-line option in the process. Anaheim’s center depth is in great shape with Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, and second-overall pick Leo Carlsson and now their top winger will be playing with one of those three youngsters for years to come.
Sticking Around: The Capitals will have Tom Wilson around for the foreseeable future as the two sides agreed to a seven-year, $45.5MM extension. The deal, which begins in the 2024-25 campaign, carries partial no-trade protection in all seven seasons. The 29-year-old already has ten years in Washington under his belt and if he plays out this full deal with the Caps, he’ll become one of the longest-tenured players in franchise history. Wilson is coming off an injury-shortened year but still had 13 goals and 97 hits in 33 games in 2022-23. A legitimate top-six power forward, how well (or poorly) this deal plays out will largely be determined by Wilson’s ability to stay healthy, a challenge for many power forwards in the back half of their careers.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Power, Spooner, Oilers
The Sabres are trying to work on a long-term extension for defenseman Owen Power, relays Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The top pick in 2021 is already into the final year of his entry-level contract despite having just 87 career professional appearances under his belt. 79 of those came with Buffalo last season where he did well, collecting 35 points while averaging nearly 24 minutes per game which helped him finish third in Calder Trophy voting as the NHL’s top rookie. With barely one full season of experience, a long-term agreement could be difficult to come to, one that would likely surpass the $8MM mark. One alternative the two sides could take is to do what they did with their other first-overall blueliner (Rasmus Dahlin) and work on a bridge agreement. However, that type of move might be better off being made next summer instead of this one.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Long-time NHL forward is on the move in the KHL as Avangard Omsk announced they’ve added the 31-year-old on a one-year contract. Spooner recorded 167 points in 315 games across seven NHL seasons with four different organizations but has played overseas since the 2019-20 campaign. Last season, he had 19 goals and 28 assists during the regular season for Dinamo Minsk, good for a tie for 21st in league scoring.
- Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins suggests that the Oilers should be a team to keep an eye on when it comes to tryout offers closer to the start of training camp. Depending on what happens with the eventual new contract for RFA defenseman Evan Bouchard, Edmonton is likely going to need to have several players on the roster at the league minimum salary. They added a couple of those early in free agency (Lane Pederson and Drake Caggiula) but as the asking price comes down for free agents still unsigned, it could be an opportunity for the Oilers to bring in a low-cost upgrade.
Free Agent Profile: Noah Gregor
We’re at the point of free agency where the word bargain starts to come into play a little more. The top-dollar deals aren’t there now but low-cost depth pieces are still available. Playoff-bound teams will have their eye on veterans to fill specific roles. But what about teams that are rebuilding? Is there much left for them on the open market?
Noah Gregor is the type of player that could catch the eye of some of those teams. Just 25, the winger has shown some physicality early in his career that would play well in the bottom six with enough offense to potentially make him an intriguing addition for someone.
Gregor is coming off his only full NHL season, one that saw him set a career-high in goals with ten despite missing 25 games. The year before that, he had 23 points despite clearing waivers and spending seven weeks on an AHL assignment. San Jose opted to try someone else in that role back in June, declining to tender him a qualifying offer of just under $1MM that would have also given him salary arbitration rights.
The consistency hasn’t always been there but he’s young enough that there is still room for improvement. If that improvement happens, Gregor could be a quality under-the-radar pickup for someone in the coming weeks. With two years of club control through restricted free agency, it could be more than a one-year pickup for whoever lands him.
Stats
2022-23: 57 GP, 10-7-17, -9 rating, 32 PIMS, 119 shots, 97 hits, 44.2% CF, 12:58 ATOI
Career: 178 GP, 25-26-51, -51 rating, 71 PIMS, 368 shots, 312 hits, 44.6% CF, 13:00 ATOI
Potential Suitors
From an NHL perspective, the teams that make the most sense for Gregor are ones that are rebuilding or are lacking some depth on the wing. But if a team is eyeing Gregor as someone to try to sneak through waivers, just about anyone is a viable option. For the purpose of this exercise, we’ll focus on the potential NHL openings.
In the East, Buffalo has a short-term roster opening with Jack Quinn out for the first few months due to a torn Achilles tendon. They could fill that spot internally with someone like Lukas Rousek or they could turn to a player like Gregor that might be a better fit style-wise in a lower role on the depth chart. Montreal moved out two wingers today in their portion of the Erik Karlsson trade and could view Gregor as a possible replacement for one of them to replenish some of that forward depth. Washington has a short-term opening with Max Pacioretty likely out to start next season and Gregor could be a better fit for them over Joe Snively who wasn’t quite as impactful in his NHL duty last season compared to 2021-22.
Out West, Isac Lundestrom’s Achilles injury has opened up a spot up front with Gregor being a young enough fit to potentially be around beyond a single season. Nashville’s current depth chart has some forwards that are relatively safe bets to get through waivers so adding Gregor could give them a small boost on the fourth line and bolster their depth. If Minnesota is able to afford an extra forward (they need to re-sign Calen Addison first), Gregor would fit in a bottom six group that plays with a bit of an edge.
Projected Contract
Gregor is almost certain to be looking at a contract that is going to carry an NHL salary of $775K, the league minimum. Depending on how long it takes for him to sign, there might even be a relatively pricey two-way portion. But in terms of what’s still out there, there aren’t many players left with potentially a little more upside while being controllable for a couple more years. That makes Gregor one of the more intriguing under-the-radar options left on the open market.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Flyers Sign Samuel Ersson To Two-Year Extension
6:42 pm: CapFriendly has learned the details of Ersson’s two-year extension. The young netminder will earn $1MM in base salary plus a $300K signing bonus in 2024-25, while he’ll get $1.6MM in base salary with no bonuses in 2025-26.
9:37 am: The Flyers have locked up one of their goalies of the future, announcing that they’ve signed Samuel Ersson to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2025-26 season. The extension will carry a cap hit of $1.45MM.
The 23-year-old made his NHL debut in 2022-23, getting into a dozen games with Philadelphia where he certainly held his own, posting a 3.07 GAA along with a .899 SV%. He became just the second goalie in franchise history to win his first six decisions. Ersson spent most of the year at the AHL level with Lehigh Valley where he put up a 2.84 GAA and a .900 SV% in 42 appearances, finishing sixth league-wide in minutes played (2,511) and victories (24).
A fifth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2018 (143rd overall), Ersson still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract, a deal that carries an AAV of $925K.
With the Flyers acquiring Cal Petersen and still having Felix Sandstrom in the fold (plus the ongoing Ivan Fedotov saga as the team tries to get the IIHF to recognize his tolled contract), it seemed like Ersson, who is still waiver-exempt, was a strong candidate to go back to the Phantoms next season. That way, he’d have an opportunity to play the bulk of the games once again.
On the surface, this contract implies otherwise. For the Flyers to commit two years at $1.45MM on a one-way deal to Ersson a year early, it’s reasonable to infer that they expect him to see a reasonable amount of NHL action next season. If not, it probably wouldn’t have cost them this much to sign Ersson a year from now. As a result, he might not just be a goalie of the future for Philadelphia but one of their goalies of the present as well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Transactions: 08/05/23
While there hasn’t been much activity on the transactions front around the NHL in recent days, there continues to be activity at other levels. Here’s a rundown of some of the recent activity around the hockey world:
- Defenseman Tommy Cross announced his retirement, his AHL team in Springfield announced (Twitter link). The 33-year-old was limited to just 18 games last season due to injury. Cross, a former Boston prospect, hangs up his skates with nearly 600 appearances in the AHL while also getting into a total of four NHL contests, including one playoff game.
- Former NHL center Roman Cervenka has inked a one-year extension with Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland, per a team release. The 37-year-old had 17 points in 39 games with Calgary a decade ago but opted to return to playing overseas the following season. Cervenka led the NL in scoring in 2022-23, notching 16 goals and 43 assists in just 43 contests.
- Former Coyotes prospect Alexander Ruuttu is on the move as Krefeld in Germany announced that they’ve signed the forward to a one-year contract. Ruuttu was a second-round pick by Arizona back in 2011 (51st overall) but never signed an NHL deal. Instead, he has spent the majority of his career in Finland and had six goals and two assists with Assat in the top division last season.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Kraken, Oilers
Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson has made it known he’d like to move to a team that has an eye on winning now. But with four years left on his contract at a cap hit of $11.5MM, a trade is proving to be difficult to do. In his latest piece for NBC Sports Bay Area, Sheng Peng examines another possibility for both sides, a mutual contract termination. He’d be walking away from the remaining $39MM in salary but coming off a Norris Trophy-winning season, it stands to reason he could get a big chunk of that back over the next several seasons with a team that’s more of his choosing. On the flip side, the Sharks wouldn’t get anything in return but would save a significant amount of cash that they’d otherwise be retaining to help facilitate a move. It’s not the likeliest of options at this point but if a viable trade fails to materialize, perhaps it’s an option that is considered at some point.
More from the Pacific:
- Seattle is one of the teams where the backup goalie is not yet set in stone for next season with veteran Chris Driedger set to battle the recently re-signed Joey Daccord for the spot. Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times suggests that the Kraken would be better off with Daccord in the second-string position from an organizational depth perspective since there’s much less of a risk of Driedger and his $3.5MM AAV being claimed than it is for Daccord and his $1.2MM price tag. Daccord was the better of the two goalies with AHL Coachella Valley last season but Driedger’s NHL career numbers (2.45 GAA, .917 SV% in 65 games) are certainly better than Daccord’s (3.64 GAA, .884 SV% in 19 appearances).
- Even with the salary cap expected to rise faster starting in 2024-25, it will certainly be difficult for the Oilers to keep both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the fold. Postmedia’s David Staples posits that both middlemen – who could conceivably command the maximum 20% of the cap on their next contracts if they looked to get top dollar – might have to settle for something in the 14% range which, depending on how much the cap moves, could put their contracts both in the $12.5MM territory which is what McDavid is currently making. Can a team with two deals at that price point still have enough depth to seriously contend? That’s a question Edmonton certainly hopes they’ll have a chance to answer. Draisaitl is signed for two more years while McDavid is under contract for three more seasons.
Coyotes Nearing Extension With Andre Tourigny
There has been mutual interest between the Coyotes and head coach Andre Tourigny about a possible contract extension. It appears that the deal is basically in place as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (video link) that both the term and money of an extension have been agreed upon. At this point, the delay in announcing is tied to Tourigny’s desire to get his assistant coaches new deals as well.
Those assistants would be John Madden and Mario Duhamel along with goalie coach Corey Schwab. Blaine Forsythe is also a part of Tourigny’s staff for the upcoming season but he was hired less than a month ago so his contract has already been taken care of.
The 49-year-old has been the bench boss for Arizona for the past two years and while his 53-90-21 record isn’t particularly exciting on the surface, the Coyotes are certainly in the middle of a rebuild. To their credit, they’ve been a fairly competitive squad most nights in spite of the fact they haven’t iced the more talented team in many of them. Tourigny has received plenty of praise for how his team has performed while establishing a positive team culture which helped entice veterans Nick Bjugstad and Troy Stecher to return after being moved as rental players at the trade deadline.
Tourigny is already under contract for the upcoming season so there is no immediate rush to get something done. However, Morgan suggests that everything should be in place before the Coyotes travel to Australia to take on Los Angeles in a pair of exhibition games later this month.
Best Of The Rest: What’s Left In Unrestricted Free Agency
After the usual flurry of early-July activity, things have settled down on the transaction front as it often does at this time of year. That presents an opportunity to take a closer look at who’s left on the unrestricted free agent market.
There are just six players that remain unsigned from our original Top 50 list back in June. That number dips to five when you consider that David Krejci is one of the six and he’s expected to retire in the near future. However, there have been some newcomers to the open market in the form of non-tenders while several long-time veterans remain unsigned as well.
Below is our Top 20 Best Of The Rest. Rankings are based on our original Top 50 voting results with some non-tendered players who were still with their old teams at the time of our vote back in June being slotted in based on their respective situations.
1) Patrick Kane – Originally ranked second on our Top 50 list, his presence here shouldn’t be considered a surprise. After undergoing hip surgery following the playoffs, he won’t be ready to start the season and his camp has indicated that he’ll wait until he’s ready to return before signing, giving the 34-year-old a chance to assess who the early contenders will be. One team will be getting an intriguing addition to add to their playoff push – likely on a one-year deal – but we’ll be waiting a while to find out who it will be.
2) Mathew Dumba – Our 18th-ranked player before free agency opened up, the 29-year-old hasn’t had much luck on a couple of fronts. The pricey long-term deals have been few and far between this summer and it feels like his situation is on hold until Erik Karlsson’s situation gets resolved. A contender for Karlsson that doesn’t land him could turn around and make a push for Dumba while the blueliner has been linked to Arizona with some speculation about San Jose as a possible one-year pillow deal candidate.
Signed with Arizona, one year, $3.9MM
3) Tomas Tatar – The veteran winger originally came in 22nd on our rankings after putting up his seventh career 20-goal season. Now 32, Tatar showed he can still produce at a top-six level with New Jersey last season but from the outside, it seems like his playoff struggles could be scaring teams off. He has just 13 career playoff points in 52 games and was healthy-scratched frequently back in 2021 with Montreal. Having said that, Tatar had to wait a little while for his market to come around two years ago and he did fine for himself with a two-year, $9MM contract. At this point, it would be surprising if Tatar lands that price tag or term on his next agreement but he’d fit on a lot of rosters as a secondary scorer as he has averaged more than half a point per game in four of the last five seasons.
4) Jonathan Toews – After Chicago elected not to bring back their long-time captain, we put him 28th on our listing with his ranking being dropped somewhat due to the uncertainty about his playing future. Nothing is set in stone yet but all indications appear to be that the 35-year-old seems to be leaning toward hanging up his skates. Perhaps his mind changes closer to training camp and if it does, he’ll be likely signing for a limited role with a presumed playoff contender, one that would put his price tag pretty close to the league minimum.
5) Zach Parise – Somewhat quietly, the 39-year-old put up a 21-goal season with the Islanders last season. However, his own uncertainty about his playing future resulted in him slipping to 48th in our initial rankings. Parise has played on one-year deals with the Islanders since being bought out by Minnesota two years ago and on the surface, a reunion with New York on another one-year agreement might be the probable scenario should he decide to play a 19th NHL season although the Isles would need to open up cap and roster space for that to happen.
6) Ethan Bear – The most prominent non-tender to still be on the open market, Bear’s situation is complicated by his injury. Even though he might be slightly ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery, the 26-year-old isn’t expected to be back until sometime in December which is hindering his market. Bear had a decent showing last season back in Vancouver but was told that the Canucks would need to clear cap space before entertaining the possibility of a reunion. If a team has an opening on their third pairing and enough cap flexibility to carry him on IR for a couple of months, Bear could be a nice pickup.
7) Phil Kessel – It wasn’t his best hockey by any stretch but the 35-year-old still managed to put up a respectable 36 points while once again playing in all 82 games to extend his record-breaking consecutive games played streak. However, when it mattered the most in the playoffs, Kessel was in the press box for most of the playoffs for the Stanley Cup champs. If Kessel wants to continue to extend that streak, his best bet might be signing with a non-playoff team that wants to give a prospect more time to develop in the minors. But if he wants a shot at a fourth title, he might have to settle for a depth role. Either way, at this point, it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to land the $1.5MM he made last season.
8) Caleb Jones – It was a career year for the 26-year-old last season as Jones set new personal benchmarks in games played (73) and points (16) while logging over 19 minutes a night for the first time since seeing spot duty in his rookie year. However, despite his play, Chicago opted to not tender a $1.35MM qualifying offer that also carried arbitration rights back in June. His performance last season was worthy of that type of money but in this marketplace, that will be harder to come by as will an opportunity to see the number of minutes he had last season.
9) Pius Suter – While Suter’s numbers dipped last season, he still managed to put up 14 goals for the third straight year, his only three at the top level. At 27, he’s one of the younger options left in free agency and can play down the middle which is something that can’t be said for most players on this list. It’s notable that two teams have effectively walked away from Suter already but as far as finding a third-line option that could move up in a pinch when injuries arise, he is one of the better options out there but will be hard-pressed to match the $2.5MM AAV on his last contract.
10) Max Comtois – Back in 2020-21, it looked like Comtois had arrived as a productive power forward after putting up 16 goals and 17 assists in the pandemic-shortened campaign. However, Comtois managed just 15 tallies in the previous two seasons combined, leading to a non-tender that the 24-year-old classified as mutual. One of the youngest unrestricted free agents still out there, Comtois still has two more years of RFA eligibility remaining which means even as a possible short-term signing, he could wind up being a longer-term pickup for someone.
11) Josh Bailey – For the majority of his 15-year NHL career, Bailey has been a capable secondary producer. However, after having one of his best offensive outputs in 2021-22, the 35-year-old struggled last season with his lowest point-per-game average since his rookie year. That resulted in the Islanders paying the Blackhawks a 2026 second-round pick to buy him out. Bailey shouldn’t be viewed as a full-time top-six option at this point of his career but in a depth role, he could still be a capable contributor for some teams.
12) Derick Brassard – Last season ended on a sour note for the 35-year-old as he fractured his fibula in early April. Still, Brassard had a pretty successful season in a depth role, notching 13 goals in 62 games, giving the Sens a bit of scoring in their bottom six. He went into Ottawa’s camp on a PTO last fall and earned a contract from there. Given the injury, there’s a good chance that Brassard will have to go that route again but it wouldn’t be wise to bet against him earning himself another opportunity.
13) Paul Stastny – After putting up a 21-goal season in 2021-22, it was surprising to see Stastny not have the best of markets last summer where he settled for a one-year, $1.5MM deal. Now, in this market, it’d be surprising to see him get that much now. Last season, the 37-year-old was used in a much more limited role, averaging just 11:52, a career low. However, Stastny still is well above average at the faceoff dot and isn’t too far removed from being a top-six player. There should be a role for him on several playoff-bound teams.
14) Eric Staal – That Staal is on this list at all is impressive. He didn’t play at all in 2021-22 and didn’t start last season with an NHL contract; Florida converted his PTO into a full deal early in the season. From there, the 38-year-old went and put up 29 points in 72 games while adapting better than many expected to in seeing plenty of action on the penalty kill. His lack of speed doesn’t help but Staal showed that he can still be a capable contributor in spite of that. If he wants to play a 19th NHL season, he should at least have some tryout offers on the table.
15) Martin Jones – Last season was an interesting one for Jones. He had his lowest GAA (2.99) and most games played (48) since 2018-19. On the other hand, the 33-year-old had the lowest SV% of his career (.886) by ten points and in the playoffs, he was back to being the second-string option. Jones hasn’t had a save percentage above .900 in the last five seasons, a track record that likely hasn’t helped his cause. But if a team is looking to bring in some injury insurance or wants to keep a youngster developing in the minors, Jones could get some calls closer to training camp.
16) Jaroslav Halak – Another veteran netminder that’s still on the market, Halak is more of a true backup at this stage of his career; the 25 games he played last season was his highest workload over the past three years. Now 38, he isn’t the type of backup that can log starters minutes if injuries arise but he was basically a league-average second-stringer last season which, statistically speaking, elevates him above the other netminders that are still unsigned. There aren’t many spots available right now around the league but Halak should be a candidate to fill at least some of the ones out there and there are a couple of teams at least that represent a plausible fit for his services if a team wants to keep a younger netminder in the AHL.
17) Danton Heinen – The winger hasn’t been able to replicate his 47-point rookie campaign in 2017-18 and has bounced around a bit in recent years, seeing action with three organizations over the past four campaigns. The 28-year-old had an 18-goal showing with Pittsburgh in 2021-22 but last season saw him struggle to stay in the lineup at times and when he was in the lineup, he often was on the fourth line, a role that doesn’t fit for him. Heinen could provide some depth scoring in the right situation where he isn’t miscast in more of an energy or checking role although there might not be too many of those openings at the moment.
18) Nick Ritchie – Power forwards often get plenty of opportunities and Ritchie is one of those players. Still just 27, he’s coming off his third straight season of double-digit goals while he averaged just shy of three hits per game in the regular season. Is he the top-six cornerstone Anaheim hoped he would be when they drafted him tenth overall in 2014? No, but in a bottom-six role where he’s asked to play with some energy and chip in with some production here and there, someone is bound to pick Ritchie up in the coming weeks.
19) Adam Erne – Erne is another player along the lines of Ritchie, a power forward that can contribute a bit of offense from lower in the lineup. He cleared waivers in Detroit last season due to his contract but still chipped in 18 points in 61 games. After playing on a $2.1MM AAV the last two years, the 28-year-old is likely heading for one closer to half that price tag but teams looking to add some grit to their fourth line might look in Erne’s direction.
20) Zach Aston-Reese – We finish with another player in that physical fourth-liner profile. The 28-year-old had a career-high ten goals for Toronto last season and averaged 2.7 hits per game over the last two seasons combined. He needed a PTO before landing a contract last season so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him go that route again. But it would be surprising if he’s not with a team for training camp six weeks from now.
For the most part, the players still out there aren’t game-breakers by any stretch. However, there are certainly some serviceable veterans that remain on the open market that can provide some important depth for teams. As we reach the part of free agency that technically yields some good bargain signings, there are going to be some valuable depth additions in the coming weeks.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.