Kings Prospect Jack Hughes Transfers To Boston University
Kings prospect Jack Hughes has decided that a change of scenery was needed. Boston University announced on their Instagram page that the 19-year-old has transferred to them for the upcoming season.
Hughes, the son of Montreal GM Kent Hughes, was a second-round pick back in 2022 (51st overall) following a strong freshman year at Northeastern that saw him put up seven goals and nine assists in 39 games. However, he wasn’t able to take a sizable step forward last season, notching five goals and 11 helpers in 32 contests, finishing eighth on the team in scoring.
The Terriers have eight NHL-drafted forwards on the team now along with four blueliners, headlined by Lane Hutson, a presumptive early Hobey Baker candidate. Hughes is hoping that the move will help give him some more opportunities offensively which would go a long way toward helping him earn an entry-level contract. The Kings have until August 15, 2025 to give him that deal.
Coyotes Place Jean-Sebastien Dea On Unconditional Waivers
The Coyotes are parting ways with one of their minor league veterans as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have placed center Jean-Sebastien Dea on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating the final year of his contract. He is the only player on waivers today.
The 29-year-old has been a productive player in the AHL throughout his career. Last season, he finished third in scoring with AHL Tucson, notching 23 goals and 27 assists in 67 games. That helped earn him four appearances with Arizona, the most single-season games he had played at the top level since 2020-21.
For his career, Dea has played in 517 career AHL games spanning 11 seasons, recording 153 goals and 188 assists. However, his NHL time has been limited as he has just 37 appearances with four different organizations where production has been much harder to come by as he has just five goals and two helpers to his name.
Dea had one year left on his contract which paid $775K in the NHL and had a guaranteed salary of $300K in the minors that he will be walking away from; Arizona will have no lingering cap charge. TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie adds (Twitter link) that Dea requested his release to pursue an opportunity in Europe. Once Dea clears waivers on Sunday, the Coyotes will be free to terminate his deal, making him a free agent and lowering their number of contracts to 47 out of the limit of 50.
Poll: Will The Penguins Utilize Their Second Buyout Window?
As a result of the pre-arbitration settlement with Drew O’Connor earlier this week, the Penguins now have a 48-hour window that began today to buy a player out. Unlike the regular buyout window, however, there are some additional restrictions on who can be bought out during this stretch. The player must have a cap hit of at least $4MM and must have been on the roster at the trade deadline.
There is one obvious candidate to go this route in forward Mikael Granlund, who was a speculative buyout option back in June. The 31-year-old was acquired from Nashville at the trade deadline in somewhat of a surprising move and he struggled with his new team, notching just one goal in 21 games following the swap. That’s not the type of return they were expecting on someone that has a $5MM cap charge for two more seasons.
It’s not that Granlund is a bad player by any stretch – he’s coming off a 44-point year and had 64 points in 2021-22 but this is not a marketplace for a team to trade a player on an expensive contract and get fair value. If GM Kyle Dubas doesn’t want to pay future assets to get a team to take on Granlund’s deal and has an eye on completing an Erik Karlsson trade with San Jose, a buyout would be one way to create cap space.
Next season, Granlund’s cap hit would go down to just $833K, yielding more than $4MM in short-term savings. That amount jumps to $1.833MM for the following three seasons, however. But if making that move helps acquire Karlsson, it’s an option to consider.
There is also one other speculative candidate for a buyout and that’s Jeff Petry. The defenseman is widely expected to be traded as part of any potential Karlsson swap but he also holds a 15-team no-trade clause which certainly is a complicating factor. If none of the teams that aren’t on his no-trade list are interested in picking him up, Pittsburgh might be forced to buy Petry out and then use Granlund as the offsetting salary ballast in a swap.
That route doesn’t yield as much in the way of savings, however, with the veteran having signing bonus money in both remaining years of his deal, one that carries a $6.25MM AAV. That cap charge would drop to $3MM next season with a buyout before increasing to $4.5MM in 2024-25 so the savings aren’t as significant. (The Penguins would then carry a $1.25MM charge for 2025-26 and 2026-27.)
It’s worth noting that Pittsburgh will have some short-term flexibility at the start of next season thanks to Jake Guentzel’s ankle surgery that will keep him out for the next three months, making him LTIR-eligible. But in order to activate him midseason, they’ll need to be cap-compliant. Accordingly, they can’t really use any of his money to offset Karlsson’s cost, whatever portion of the $11.5MM they’d be taking on.
Dubas has been hesitant to go the buyout route in the past but this is a bit of a different situation now. The team has 48 hours to make a decision and if going this way helps to facilitate the acquisition of Karlsson, it’s one they’ll strongly have to consider if the trade options either aren’t there or are too punitive in terms of what it would cost to get a team to take on the deal.
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Snapshots: Silfverberg, Carlsson, Jones, Seattle
Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg missed the final 23 games of the 2021-22 season due to a blood clot and had to deal with one once again this summer. Gefle Dagblad’s Daniel Sandstrom reports that the 32-year-old sustained one while suiting up for his native Sweden at the Worlds back in May. Fortunately, he is expected to be ready for the start of next season. Silfverberg is coming off a 26-point season while playing over 80 games for the first time since 2015-16 and is entering the final year of his contract which carries a cap hit of $5.25MM.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Still with Anaheim, while there is an expectation that Ducks prospect Leo Carlsson will make the jump to the NHL next season, GM Pat Verbeek told NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika that no determination has been made just yet on their plans for him. Carlsson was the second overall pick back in June and had a productive year with SHL Orebro, recording 10 goals and 15 assists in 44 games. If Carlsson doesn’t make the team, Verbeek indicated that he’d be assigned to AHL San Diego next, not back to the Swedish league. If he does make the team at his natural center position, Verbeek feels that Trevor Zegras who would move to the wing to make room for him.
- At the moment, the defensive depth chart for the Rangers suggests that defenseman Zac Jones – now waiver-eligible – could be in line to land the seventh spot on the back end. However, in that scenario, Arthur Staple of The Athletic believes (subscription link) that the likelier outcome would be New York trading the 22-year-old over risking having his value stagnate as a frequent healthy scratch. Jones seemed likely to crack the top six before the Rangers brought in veteran Erik Gustafsson (who played for new head coach Peter Laviolette last season in Washington) which should give him a leg up in the competition for a regular spot on the third pairing.
- Seattle will be entering a bid to host the 2026 World Juniors, reports NHL Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). If their proposal is accepted, Climate Pledge Arena – the home of the Kraken – would be one of the host facilities which means the Kraken would be eyeing a long road trip during the event. A decision on the host city for the event is expected later this year.
Latest On Ethan Bear
It has been an interesting few months for unrestricted free agent defenseman Ethan Bear. After finishing out his season with Vancouver, he agreed to play for Canada at the Worlds despite not having a deal in place for 2023-24, a move that carried some risk. While at that tournament, he re-aggravated an existing shoulder injury, resulting in him undergoing surgery. That caused the Canucks to lower their offer to him and when a deal wasn’t agreed upon, they non-tendered him after the draft.
Since then, things have been quiet on his front with Bear not being linked to any teams through the first month of free agency. Although he acknowledged to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston that recovery is going well (perhaps even slightly ahead of schedule), the 26-year-old still isn’t going to be ready to play until sometime in December. That certainly seems to have presented some challenges for him when it comes to finding a team to sign with.
With so many teams capped out, that will stand to limit the potential suitors Bear has right now. While he’d be LTIR-eligible to start the season, if a signing team doesn’t have the cap room to carry him on the active roster now, they’d be in a tough spot where they’d need to open up room midseason to activate Bear. The odd team has a willingness to do a move like this where they deal with the potential ramifications later but the role he’s likely to fill isn’t one where such a move could be justifiable.
Meanwhile, by the time he’s ready to return, there’s no guarantee that the teams that might have a spot for him now will still have one in December. Others could be created by injuries but generally speaking, players unsigned that late into the year are settling for league minimum contracts (although Patrick Kane will almost certainly buck that trend at some point in 2023-24).
Bear indicated that a few teams have made inquiries thus far but clearly, an offer to his liking has yet to materialize. He specifically stated a preference to return to Vancouver but was told by GM Patrik Allvin that they would need to clear up cap space for that to happen, a scenario that they are hardly alone in. He fared relatively well with the Canucks after being acquired early last season, picking up 16 points in 61 games while averaging 18:32 per contest.
When healthy, Bear has shown over his five-year career that he is certainly an NHL-caliber defenseman, and as a right-shot player, he should be in more demand than it appears he has been thus far. But his injury situation adds a wrinkle to those discussions and as a result, it looks like he’ll be on the open market for at least a little while longer even though his recovery might even be ahead of schedule.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Notes: Bichsel, Kiiskinen, Stapley
While Stars prospect Lian Bichsel has his sights set on trying to crack the NHL roster in training camp after signing his entry-level contract back in May, it appears he’ll have a new team to play for if he goes back to Sweden. Hans Abrahamsson and Tomas Ros of Aftonbladet report that the blueliner wouldn’t return to Leksands of the SHL; instead, he’d suit up in Rogle if loaned back overseas. The 19-year-old was the 18th overall pick in 2022 and played a regular role with Leksands last season, collecting six points in 42 games while also suiting up for his native Switzerland at the World Juniors. Dallas also has the right to send Bichsel to the AHL if they so desire which would give them an opportunity to have more influence on his playing time.
More from the Central:
- Predators prospect Jesse Kiiskinen sustained a jaw injury on Monday and was held out of Finland’s final contest on Wednesday as well at the World Junior Summer Showcase. However, NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman notes that the injury isn’t believed to be serious but given that this is a summer event, they’re opting for caution with the 17-year-old. Kiiskinen was a third-round pick by Nashville back in June (68th overall) and will be looking to land a full-time spot with Pelicans in Finland’s top level next season after getting seven Liiga games under his belt in 2022-23.
- Colorado’s AHL affiliate announced the signing of forward Brett Stapley to a one-year, two-way AHL deal. The 24-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Montreal back in 2018 (190th overall) but didn’t receive an NHL contract from them. He did, however, spend last season in their farm system, suiting up in 52 games with ECHL Trois-Rivieres, recording 52 points to lead the team in scoring. Stapley will have some familiarity with the area having played his four-year college career with Denver.
Free Agent Profile: Nick Ritchie
There is a reason that power forwards often receive plenty of opportunities. Players with size, skill, and physicality are hard to come by and if you can get one that can become a key contributor, you’ll have a core piece pretty quickly. Typically, if you have a chance to get one, it’s worth the chance even if it hasn’t worked out with multiple organizations in the past.
This belief has played a big role in free agent winger Nick Ritchie’s career. It helped make him the tenth overall pick back in 2014 by Anaheim. It played a role in Boston trading for him in 2020. It played a role in Toronto giving Ritchie a 25% raise on what his qualifying offer would have been after the Bruins non-tendered him. Some player types are ones that teams are more willing to take a flyer on and Ritchie is one of those.
That makes it a little interesting that the 27-year-old remains unsigned as we’ve reached the four-week mark of free agency. While his game-to-game performances can be inconsistent, he’s a safe bet to reach the double-digit mark for goals and assists (as long as he stays healthy) while he’s averaging over 2.8 hits per game over the last two seasons. He has only surpassed 30 points once and his benchmark for goals is 15 so the ceiling is fairly low but the floor is still decent. Generally speaking, those players have some value despite Ritchie having a career profile that has been a bit underwhelming relative to his draft stock.
Sure, he might not be the prototypical fourth line grinder despite what a passing glance at the numbers might suggest but Ritchie nevertheless remains one of the more intriguing forwards still available on the open market.
Stats
2022-23: 74 GP, 13-13-26, -21 rating, 53 PIMS, 120 shots, 218 hits, 47.1% CF, 13:33 ATOI
Career: 481 GP, 84-102-186, -29 rating, 483 PIMS, 834 shots, 1,259 hits, 50.3% CF, 13:38 ATOI
Potential Suitors
There are two types of teams that stand out as possible fits for Ritchie. The first is a rebuilding team that wants to add a bit of grit to their bottom six and perhaps have a late-season trade asset on their hands. The other is a playoff-bound squad that would rather get a full season out of Ritchie over flipping a draft pick or prospect to get him as a rental at the deadline.
In the East, Detroit still has ample cap space to work with and they have made several changes up front already. If they want some of their prospects to have more development time in Grand Rapids, Ritchie could fit on their fourth line. Buffalo has a short-term opening with Jack Quinn set to miss the first couple of months at least and GM Kevyn Adams’ moves in recent months have been made with an eye on making the team bigger and more physical. Philadelphia added some grit already this summer in Garnet Hathaway and could look to bring in Ritchie as a younger, cheaper version while also allowing for a prospect to spend a bit more time in the minors.
Out West, Edmonton will be looking for some upgraded depth on the fourth line but Ritchie would only fit if he’s open to signing for the league minimum as the Oilers don’t project to have much, if any, cap space at their disposal once they re-sign their restricted free agents. San Jose fits from the standpoint of being a fit for Ritchie to play a bigger role than perhaps just a fourth line one which could give him a bit of value closer to the deadline when playoff teams are looking to add some grit. Colorado has reshaped its bottom six group this summer after it struggled last season but Ritchie would be a further upgrade while they still have some LTIR room from Gabriel Landeskog at their disposal.
Projected Contract
If Ritchie is looking to land with a playoff-caliber team, most of those are limited to contracts that are basically at or around the league minimum. But if he’s open to being in a similar situation as he was last season with Arizona, there are a few teams out there that could give him a deal in the $1MM range with an eye on flipping him (perhaps with retention) at the deadline. It’s a matter of when, not if, Ritchie signs somewhere but regardless of where he goes, he’ll be facing a significant pay cut.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Senators, Jake Sanderson To Discuss Extension Later This Summer
The Senators took care of one important piece of business earlier this week with the signing of Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year contract to help fill the void created by the departure of Alex DeBrincat to Detroit. While they’re pretty much capped out, GM Pierre Dorion is hoping to have another big contract in the works as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Sens and defenseman Jake Sanderson are set to sit down for extension discussions later this summer.
The 21-year-old had an impressive rookie season in 2022-23, collecting 32 points for Ottawa in 77 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night of ice time. The fifth-overall pick in 2020, Sanderson is projected to be a cornerstone piece for the Sens on their back end so it’s not surprising that the team wants to sit down and talk about a new deal early.
But it will be tricky to find a number that both sides are happy with considering that Sanderson’s NHL experience is limited to just those 77 games; that’s not a large sample size to work with. There will be a lot of projecting with a long-term contract which makes it more difficult to lock down a year before it expires.
If the two sides look at a long-term agreement, they have a reasonable in-house comparable in Thomas Chabot, a player who makes the type of impact now that they believe Sanderson can down the road. His eight-year deal carries an AAV of $8MM; from a cap percentage standpoint, that agreement is worth $8.2MM per season today. Miro Heiskanen’s $8.45MM AAV in Dallas would likely be the high point of any discussions.
Notably, Sanderson will have five years of club control remaining next summer; while he burned the first year of his entry-level deal in 2021-22, that doesn’t count as a year of service time toward UFA eligibility. Assuming that they’d want to add at least a couple of years of control on a long-term deal, that basically takes a five-year or six-year agreement off the table.
While Ottawa has had the reputation of not being a high-spending team, that isn’t really the case anymore. Per CapFriendly, they already have $65.77MM in commitments for 2024-25 to just 13 players and while there is an expectation of a bigger cap increase next summer than the $1MM it has been lately, they’re still looking at needing to sign seven to ten players with around $20MM in room to work with. A big-ticket long-term deal with Sanderson will start to put the squeeze on.
To that end, perhaps the two sides might ultimately be inclined to look toward a bridge deal that buys the two sides more evaluation time and the Sens a bit more short-term flexibility. But if that’s the direction one or both sides are leaning, it’s unlikely that an agreement will be reached this summer. In that case, one extra year of results would be quite useful for both Ottawa and Sanderson.
With Tarasenko in the fold, Dorion can check off one more item from his to-do list. Sooner than later it seems, he’ll start working on the next item to see if an early agreement can be reached with one of his top blueliners.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Veleno, Chiasson
In a recent appearance on Sportsnet 590 (audio link), Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk indicated that he is almost back to normal as he works his way back from a fractured sternum sustained during the playoffs. At this point, he’s expected to be fully ready for training camp. Tkachuk had a dominant first season in Florida, collecting 40 goals and 69 assists in 79 games, good for seventh in NHL scoring. He followed that up with 24 points in 20 playoff contests, leading all Eastern Conference players in that department.
More from the Atlantic:
- One of the items still on Detroit’s to-do list this summer is re-signing center Joe Veleno. Max Bultman of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that Ducks middleman Isac Lundestrom, a fellow 2018 first-rounder might be a good comparable. Last summer, Lundestrom inked a two-year, $3.6MM deal coming off a similar platform year and fairly close career numbers. Veleno is coming off a nine-goal, 20-point campaign so $1.8MM might be a bit on the high side but a bridge deal in that range would make sense for both sides.
- Still with Detroit, MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that the Red Wings expressed interest in re-signing Alex Chiasson at the beginning of free agency but were only offering a two-way deal at that time. The 32-year-old spent a good portion of last season on a tryout deal with AHL Grand Rapids and was productive, notching 20 points in 29 games. That got his contract converted to an NHL agreement down the stretch where he picked up six goals and three assists in 20 contests. Chiasson, a veteran of 651 NHL games, is no stranger to tryout routes and he may have to go that away again in the fall if he wants a shot at securing a one-way NHL agreement.
Finding A Match For A John Gibson Trade
There has been trade speculation around Ducks goaltender John Gibson for several years now with that only intensifying following a trade request that was reported back in early June. His agency denied a report earlier this month which suggested he had informed the club he wouldn’t play for them again but it’s still believed he wouldn’t mind a change of scenery. However, most of the annual goalie shuffle is now complete and the veteran remains with Anaheim, at least for the time being.
The 29-year-old had posted a 3.99 GAA last season, leading the league in goals allowed (200) and losses (31) while putting up a .899 SV%. Over the last four seasons, Gibson’s best save percentage has been .904 after putting up four straight campaigns of .917 or better so it’s not as if this was a one-time dip. Of course, that also coincides with Anaheim entering a rebuild so at least some of the decline in performance could be attributed to that. It’s possible that in a better situation, he could rebound.
That said, it won’t be a cheap gamble to make. Gibson has four years left on his contract with a $6.4MM AAV. That will be difficult for most teams to fit in now; fewer than ten teams in the league have that much cap space and several of those are of the rebuilding variety. On top of that, the Ducks aren’t going to give their starter away either; there will be a fairly sizable price to pay in terms of assets to get his services. What teams might those be? Let’s look at some possible options, some admittedly more speculative than others.
New Jersey
The Devils have a tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid which, on the surface, isn’t all that bad. Vanecek had a career-low 2.45 GAA with a career-high .911 SV% last season in 52 games, perfectly reasonable numbers for a starter. Schmid, meanwhile, was even better in limited duty and even took over as the starter at one point in the playoffs.
That last point is why they’re on this list though. When it mattered most, Vanecek struggled and with a core group that’s clearly built to win now, a possible upgrade between the pipes could be the missing piece to the puzzle. A package that includes Vanecek would offset Gibson’s net added cost to no more than $3MM which would be affordable within their cap space, assuming they fill out their roster with low-salaried options. More importantly, he’d cost less moving forward on the cap than Connor Hellebuyck based on his asking price.
Winnipeg
While the Jets have moved out Pierre-Luc Dubois and bought out Blake Wheeler, that shouldn’t be construed as them heading for a rebuild. Look no further than the return they received for Dubois – one that had multiple roster pieces as they look to stay in the playoff mix. Moving Hellebuyck would open up a big hole to fill in goal and Gibson would be a logical one to turn to, assuming either Winnipeg isn’t on his 10-team no-trade list or he’d be willing to waive to go there.
One thing the Jets don’t have in this scenario is another netminder of some significance to flip the other way so their return would likely have to be more futures-based. Considering where Anaheim is in their rebuild cycle, that might even be preferable on their end. The Hellebuyck domino has to fall first for this to be an option though.
Buffalo
The Sabres have been speculatively linked to a veteran goaltender for a few months now. Craig Anderson has called it a career and Eric Comrie isn’t the solution as the starter either. Meanwhile, the team has high hopes for Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen but the pair have 54 career NHL appearances between them. There seems to be an expectation of Buffalo making a real playoff push in 2023-24 after really making it interesting in April before just coming up short so while there is an element of upside if Levi and Luukkonen do well, there is certainly some risk as well if they struggle.
Gibson could be a way of hedging that risk, giving Levi a veteran partner to work with and allow him to try to ease his way into a longer-term starting role. Luukkonen, meanwhile, could be an intriguing part of a swap for Anaheim to start a young tandem of their own alongside Lukas Dostal. Buffalo has enough cap space to take on Gibson’s contract outright but with pricey extensions a year off for Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, either seeking some retention or sending some sort of salary offset would be beneficial.
Edmonton
After signing Jack Campbell last summer with the hopes of finally finding themselves a legitimate starting goaltender, they find themselves in a familiar spot – still looking for that goalie. Campbell had his moments last season as did Stuart Skinner but neither are in a spot where they can be counted on as a sure-fire starter when it matters most. For a franchise that has two of the top players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, their contention window is now. They improved the defense at the deadline so finally landing that reliable starter could be the final piece of the puzzle.
Cap space is at a premium for Edmonton, however, with most of their remaining cap room heading to RFAs Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard. To make a move work, they’d need to match money. That would mean Campbell and his $5MM AAV would almost certainly need to be part of the swap. The Oilers could ask Anaheim to retain enough on Gibson’s deal to get him down to that same $5MM price point although that will only increase the acquisition price. Fit-wise, Gibson would certainly be an intriguing addition but it would take some creativity to make it work.
Los Angeles
If you look at the Kings’ roster right now, there is one big question mark and that’s between the pipes. Pheonix Copley has been more of a third-stringer than a legitimate NHL option for most of his career and veteran Cam Talbot is coming off an injury-plagued campaign that saw him struggle when he was in the lineup. David Rittich is also in the mix but his track record isn’t the greatest either. Going cheap at that position has certainly given Los Angeles the flexibility to bolster their lineup but it’s not without its risks either.
To get Gibson (assuming he’s open to going to a long-term division rival), they’d be in a situation where they’d need to match money like Edmonton. A veteran on an expiring contract like Viktor Arvidsson or Matt Roy could help on that front while someone like Copley would need to be involved as well. But none of those players will be of much interest to the Ducks so they would need to find a futures-based package to add to those players to include to make it worth Anaheim’s while.
Columbus
This one is admittedly a bit off the board but things did not go well in goal for the Blue Jackets last season as Elvis Merzlikins certainly struggled which played a big role in Columbus plummeting down the standings. Their offseason activity so far has been geared toward shoring up the back end in the hopes that upgrades there will also help in goal and Mike Babcock is certainly not a rebuilding type of coach. There’s an internal expectation for big improvement so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them at least kick the tires.
Merzlikins is signed for four more years like Gibson is at $1MM less so if Anaheim was open to taking him back in a swap, the Blue Jackets can fit Gibson onto the books. They have a strong prospect pool that they could deal from, giving them an edge over some other teams who don’t have as deep of a group to work with when it comes to building a futures-based package.
Of course, it’s still quite possible that Gibson remains with the Ducks at the start of 2023-24 and they revisit the possibility of a trade in-season or next summer when teams will have more cap flexibility at their disposal. But if there is still mutual motivation to find a deal that works for both sides, there are at least a few teams that could be an option for the veteran netminder.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.