Assessing Ottawa’s Cap-Cutting Options
The signing of Vladimir Tarasenko earlier this week certainly is a boost to an Ottawa attack that had taken a step backward following the trade of Alex DeBrincat earlier this month. But the move also puts them very close to the salary cap with the team still needing to re-sign Shane Pinto and leave themselves some wiggle room for in-season movement. They have less than $1MM to do so, per CapFriendly, with Pinto’s contract almost certain to cost more than the space they have coming off a 20-goal season.
As a result, GM Pierre Dorion is now faced with trying to clear up money in a market where cap space is hard to come by and there aren’t many teams that appear to be willing to take money on at this point.
Further complicating things is that Ottawa doesn’t exactly have a long list of contracts to realistically move. It’s highly unlikely that they would move any of their core pieces after moving Tarasenko and they already have five other projected roster players that are making under $1MM that really aren’t going to move the needle in terms of creating cap room when you consider that they’ll need to add someone else on the roster to fill their spot.
As a result, they only have a handful of players that stand out as potential trade candidates. They all project to be regulars but it’s plausible that their role could be filled either internally by someone cheaper or by pursuing someone still in the free agent market. Here is an overview of those potential trade options:
Erik Brannstrom – Originally acquired as the headline piece of the Mark Stone trade, the 23-year-old hasn’t exactly been able to live up to the hype. However, Brannstrom has shown slow but steady improvement and is coming off an 18-point season despite seeing his playing time dip by over four minutes per night. The two sides were able to reach a one-year, $2MM deal early in July that basically works as a second bridge contract and buys a little more time.
However, with Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun in the fold, there isn’t really much of an opportunity for the blueliner to move up the depth chart on the left side. Where he sits now – as a clear third-pairing option – is more or less his ceiling in Ottawa for the foreseeable future. Brannstrom is young enough that he could be appealing to even a rebuilding team and the Sens could look to back-fill his spot with someone like Tyler Kleven who held his own down the stretch last season. They also may want to open a roster spot for 2019 first-round Lassi Thomson who, although he is a right-shot option, is now waiver-eligible.
Anton Forsberg – With Ottawa adding Joonas Korpisalo on a five-year contract at the beginning of the month, it’s clear that the Sens envision him as the starter of both the present and the foreseeable future. Forsberg, who had a shot at securing that role for himself, is coming off a down season, one that saw him tear his MCLs in both knees which now has him squarely in the number two role.
With a cap hit of $2.75MM, the 30-year-old is right in that mid-tier second-string territory. It’s not that his contract is well above market value or anything but it’s conceivable that Dorion could look to move Forsberg and bring in a one-year veteran (Jaroslav Halak and Martin Jones are among the remaining unsigned UFAs) at a cheaper rate, using the savings on Pinto in the process. However, it’s an idea that makes sense in theory but is going to be harder to execute as at this point, there aren’t many teams left with an opening between the pipes.
Mathieu Joseph – After being acquired in 2022, Joseph lit up the scoresheet, notching four goals and eight assists in 11 games, helping him earn a four-year deal for his troubles. Unfortunately for both sides, Joseph had fewer goals last season (three) despite suiting up 56 times. That’s not good bang for their buck on a deal that carries a $2.95MM cap hit. On the surface, he’s the most logical player to try to move.
That being said, in this marketplace, that’s not going to be a contract that will be easy to move with both the AAV and the term being a concern relative to others still available on the open market. One possible outcome could be the Sens waiving Joseph and if he clears, they’d free up $1.15MM in cap room. They’d need another player to take his place on the roster, however, so the net savings would be $375K or less. Still, that would give them a little more wiggle room to work with.
Dominik Kubalik – Kubalik was part of the DeBrincat trade earlier this month but with Tarasenko now on the roster, the 27-year-old may find himself in a bottom-six role, one he might not be the best suited for. He’s coming off a nice bounce-back year with Detroit, notching 20 goals and 25 assists in 81 games although he was quiet after the bye week, picking up just 11 points in 33 contests.
Kubalik has one year left on his contract at $2.5MM which might be movable in this cap environment based on the season he had and the short-term commitment. Again, some of the savings here would have to be offset by a replacement player on the roster but they could net enough room to re-sign Pinto and carry a 12th forward.
Each of these players has some value but it has been difficult for teams this summer to both move money and extract fair market value for a player. It’s likely that Dorion will run into the same situation here with these players. With more than two months before next season gets underway, he’ll have some time to try to find the right trade but if he hasn’t started calling teams about clearing money already, he’ll almost certainly be doing so soon.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
West Notes: Pettersson, Nill, Jets
One player that was likely intrigued by the eight-year, $78MM extension that Sebastian Aho signed yesterday was Canucks center Elias Pettersson. Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma suggests that Aho’s deal should only bolster Pettersson’s asking price when discussions about a new deal get underway. Pettersson had a much better platform season, picking up 39 goals and 63 assists while Aho had 36 tallies and 31 helpers. Pettersson is also averaging just shy of a point per game for his career while Aho checks in at 0.9. However, Aho has nearly 200 more NHL appearances under his belt and all eight years of his contract are UFA seasons while Pettersson will have one RFA-eligible year on his next deal. Despite that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pettersson’s camp aiming higher than Aho’s contract when he and the team sit down to discuss a potential extension.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference:
- In an interview with Sean Shapiro of D Magazine, Stars GM Jim Nill acknowledged that he has had discussions with owner Tom Gaglardi about eventually moving into a new role and allowing someone else to take over as GM. Nill signed a two-year extension earlier this week that keeps him under contract through 2025-26 and has been on the job in Dallas since 2013. But at 65, there has been a belief for a few years now that he’s in the back half of being in that role but since it appears that he’s open to holding a more senior front office position down the road, he could still have a big impact in Dallas beyond his newly-extended contract.
- While the Jets are likely facing a logjam on the back end next season, Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun doesn’t expect the team to be moving away one of their veterans to open up a spot for a younger player. As things stand, Winnipeg has their top six intact from last season, leaving youngsters Logan Stanley, Ville Heinola, Kyle Capobianco, and waiver-eligible Declan Chisholm on the outside looking in. Currently, the more probable scenario is Capobianco being waived and Heinola, who is waiver-exempt, being sent down, leaving Stanley and Chisholm as projected scratches. That’s not ideal for a team that could benefit from developing some of their younger options but with the Jets looking to stay competitive in the short-term, them moving a veteran would go against that intent.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, DeBrusk, Montour
For a while now, there has been plenty of speculation that Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews intends to set a new benchmark for the highest AAV when he signs his next contract. In a recent appearance on Sportsnet 590 (audio link), Nick Kypreos suggested that the two sides are believed to be in agreement on a cap hit at or around $13.5MM which would come in well above Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM price tag. At this point, the discussions between the two sides are focused on term. Matthews took a five-year deal off his entry-level contract instead of a max-term agreement and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take a shorter-term pact again with an eye on landing one more significant contract down the road.
More from the Atlantic:
- While the Bruins are right now focusing on the pending arbitration hearings for Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald opines that Boston also needs to get a sense of what Jake DeBrusk’s next contract is going to cost. Now extension-eligible as he’s in the final year of his deal, the winger could theoretically be used in a trade for a center if they decide to try to make a move to replace Patrice Bergeron if they find themselves too far apart in discussions. The 26-year-old has a $4MM AAV for next season and stands to be in line for a raise on that next summer after recording 27 goals and 23 assists in 64 games in 2022-23.
- In an appearance on the Cam and Strick podcast (video link), Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour provided an update on his recovery from shoulder surgery. He was recently able to remove the sling but anticipates he’s still at least a month away from being able to lift weights and he doesn’t expect to be able to hit the ice until sometime in September. Recovery from labrum surgeries typically carry a four-to-six-month recovery time so while it’s possible that Montour could be back early next season, his return could also be pushed back as far as into December.
Senators Sign Vladimir Tarasenko
The Senators have brought in some help up front, announcing the signing of winger Vladimir Tarasenko. The veteran receives a one-year, $5MM contract. Tarasenko also receives a full no-trade clause. GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement about the signing:
Vladimir’s a natural goal scorer. He’s a dynamic player who can score from anywhere in the offensive zone, as well as an underrated playmaker who’s made a career out of driving offence for he and his linemates. An established performer in the regular season and in the playoffs, we’re thrilled to add a player of his calibre to our lineup.
The 31-year-old was the top free agent forward left on the open market despite coming off what would be considered a down year by his standards. Tarasenko started the season with St. Louis, picking up 10 goals and 19 assists in 38 games before the Blues moved him to the Rangers a little before the trade deadline. He wasn’t able to maintain that level of production, however, notching eight goals with 13 helpers in 31 regular season contests while adding three goals and an assist in their first-round loss to New Jersey.
However, despite the quieter year, Tarasenko is still viewed as a strong scoring threat as Dorion alluded to. He has surpassed the 30-goal mark six times since 2013-14 while dealing with considerable injury trouble in two of the years that he didn’t get to that level. That helped slot him in third in our annual Top 50 UFA list.
While Tarasenko might not be a full-time top-liner anymore, the Senators don’t necessarily need him to fill that role as they’ll count on Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Josh Norris to carry the bulk of the scoring load. Instead, they’ll be turning to him to help replace Alex DeBrincat, who was moved to Detroit earlier this month. Tarasenko and veteran Claude Giroux will likely fill in some of the gaps in the top six, giving the Sens a group that looks relatively deep on paper as they look to get to the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.
However, it’s also a group that is fairly expensive on paper as this basically puts Ottawa at the $83.5MM Upper Limit of the salary cap based on CapFriendly’s projections. That’s particularly notable as the team still needs to re-sign center Shane Pinto this summer. It also seems likely that they’d prefer to carry 13 forwards on the active roster so they’ll need to create some cap room in the coming weeks to do so while their preference now might be to do a one-year deal to help keep his cap hit as low as possible. While Toronto will be able to get cap relief from placing Matt Murray on LTIR when the season begins, the Senators will not receive any cap relief for the portion of Murray’s contract that they’re carrying on their books from trading him last summer.
Meanwhile, it’s an interesting end to a contract saga that has been a bit odd for Tarasenko. He had strong interest early in free agency but wasn’t able to come to terms on a new deal and less than a week into the open market, he dismissed Paul Theofanous, hiring Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry instead. At the time, the speculation was that he had multiple multi-year deals worth a little more than he ultimately wound up signing for. That’s good news for Ottawa as they’ve now landed a capable scoring threat who will be motivated for a big year with the hopes of cashing in on what’s projected to be a more favorable free agent market next summer, making it a possible win-win contract for both sides.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
West Notes: McLeod, Addison, Dunn
The Oilers don’t have a lot of financial flexibility right now. Per CapFriendly, they have around $5.6MM in room at the moment but with defenseman Evan Bouchard and center Ryan McLeod both needing new deals, that might not be enough. To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggested (audio link) that Edmonton might have been the biggest losers from the Philipp Kurashev arbitration award, one that saw the Chicago forward get $2.25MM per season. Seravalli believes that the Oilers were likely hoping to get McLeod’s deal done for a little less than $2MM but that might be hard to do now. McLeod (11 goals, 12 assists in 57 games) is coming off a better platform year than Kurashev (nine goals, 16 assists in 70 contests) so if his case gets to a hearing, it’s safe to say they’ll be using the Kurashev contract as a comparable.
More from the West:
- The Wild are hoping to get defenseman Calen Addison signed for just above the league minimum, Joe Smith and Shayna Goldman of The Athletic note (subscription link). Minnesota tendered him a qualifying offer of $787,500 and it would appear that they’re holding firm to that offer for now. They have around $5.93MM of cap room per CapFriendly with the bulk of that earmarked for goaltender Filip Gustavsson whose arbitration hearing is scheduled next Friday. By pushing for Addison to take a one-year agreement, GM Bill Guerin is hoping to have enough cap space left over after Gustavsson gets his new deal to allow them to have a reasonable-sized cushion for in-season movement.
- Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn met with the media today including Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times following his four-year, $29.4MM contract from last week. The medium-term agreement raised some eyebrows and Dunn acknowledged that a factor was the possibility to try to land another sizable deal when he’s 30 in what should be a bigger salary cap environment. Dunn did make it clear that he has no desire to leave Seattle when his contract expires in the 2027 offseason.
Examining Toronto’s Further Cap-Cutting Options
While today’s news that the Maple Leafs would be placing goaltender Matt Murray on LTIR to start the season helps to alleviate Toronto’s salary cap situation, they still have some work to do. Using CapFriendly’s numbers, they still sit a little more than $2MM above the Upper Limit of the salary cap (even with Jake Muzzin being LTIR-bound himself) which means they have some paring down to do.
The recent arbitration award to Ilya Samsonov has opened up a second buyout window that they can utilize within the next 48 hours. However, there are specific rules in place as to who can be bought out in this second window. The player must make at least $4MM and have been on the roster last season. Most of the other Toronto players that meet the criteria (and there aren’t many) have a zero percent chance of being bought out.
One possible exception is defenseman T.J. Brodie. While they certainly wouldn’t want to part with the 33-year-old, the back-loaded structure of his contract would actually see the Maple Leafs clear the full $5MM AAV off the books for next season, clearing that gap and actually giving them some flexibility to add. On the flip side, it would add $2.5MM onto the books for 2024-25 which certainly isn’t ideal with Auston Matthews and William Nylander needing pricey new deals next summer. Speculatively, if they were open to parting with Brodie, a trade with 50% retention would free up $2.5MM in cap room and could yield a positive-value return, even in a market that doesn’t have a lot of financial wiggle room.
Assuming that’s not a route Toronto wants to take, let’s move on to some of the smaller cost-cutting options, sticking with the defense first. Conor Timmins has a two-year deal that begins next season, one that carries a $1.1MM AAV. While it’s generally viewed as bad form to trade a player that soon after signing an extension, Treliving wasn’t the one that gave him that deal. Even if a trade option isn’t available, the contract can be fully buried in the minors without a lingering cap charge. That might be their best option, actually, allowing them to keep Timmins in the organization a little longer and if another LTIR-eligible injury arises, he could then be brought up.
However, if head coach Sheldon Keefe wants to hold onto Timmins in the NHL, then Timothy Liljegren could become a cost-cutting candidate. Signed for a reasonable $1.4MM next season, the 24-year-old has shown enough that they could get a solid return for his services although it would take another perceived part of their long-term plans out of the system, joining Rasmus Sandin who was moved at the deadline last season.
If Toronto parts with Brodie, it becomes much less likely that they’ll do something with Timmins or Liljegren as they’ll need them in the lineup on a regular basis.
Up front, there are presently 14 forwards on their projected roster. They only need 12 so some savings can come from here. Nicholas Robertson is coming off another shoulder injury and is waiver-exempt so his $797K is an easy one to pare down.
The other one isn’t as easy. Sam Lafferty ($1.15MM) could be a luxury they could no longer afford and his contract could be fully buried in the minors if he was to clear waivers. With the year he had, there could be a taker in training camp but with several capable role players still unsigned, his trade value right now would be limited. Dylan Gambrell ($750K) is someone who might pass through unclaimed but he’d yield the fewest cap savings. Pontus Holmberg ($800K) and Matthew Knies ($925K) are waiver-exempt and would save a bit more money than Gambrell but in a perfect world, they’re both in the opening lineup.
The other possible cap casualty could be winger Calle Jarnkrok. At $2.1MM, his cap hit is hardly above market value but it might be a value that they can’t afford anymore while moving him outright would get them back into compliance. However, the trade market for him might not be the best right now with other bottom-six players available in free agency and not necessarily needing the three years that Jarnkrok has left on his deal.
As you can see, there are certainly multiple paths that the Maple Leafs can take to get compliant. But one way or the other, they will need to either part with some serviceable veterans or carry a minimum-sized roster to get there. Treliving has added some pieces this summer including veterans John Klingberg, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi but some subtraction should now be coming.
Snapshots: Comtois, Johnson, Hockey Canada
Max Comtois remains unsigned nearly four weeks into free agency after being non-tendered by Anaheim who opted not to give him a $2.445MM qualifying offer. Speaking with TVA Sports’ Louis Butcher, the 24-year-old called the parting of ways a mutual decision. Back in 2021-22, Comtois looked to have a breakout year, picking up 16 goals and 17 assists in 55 games but has struggled offensively since then, tallying just 15 goals and 20 helpers in 116 contests over the last two years.
Despite the struggles, Comtois revealed that a handful of teams have shown interest in him thus far, giving him confidence that he’ll have a place to play when training camps open up in mid-September. While he wouldn’t reveal which ones have shown interest, he did indicate that his hometown Canadiens are not among the teams that have reached out to his camp to express any interest in signing him.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Free agent winger Luke Johnson has decided to try his hand overseas as Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL announced they’ve signed the 28-year-old to a one-year deal. Johnson, a veteran of 32 NHL games dating back to 2018-19, has spent most of his professional career in the minors, suiting up in 333 AHL contests. That plus his NHL time now qualifies him for veteran status in the AHL – teams are capped with how many veteran-status players they can dress per game – so it’s not entirely surprising to see Johnson look elsewhere. Last season, he had 18 points in 67 games with San Jose’s farm team.
- Hockey Canada didn’t hold an in-person summer evaluation camp as they often do but they revealed the list of players that took part in their virtual meetings. The majority of the 45 players on the list have already been drafted while 2024 top prospect Macklin Celebrini is also on there. Canada’s roster in the December World Juniors will likely be comprised of many players on this list.
Avalanche Sign, Loan Nikolai Kovalenko
Jul 26: After officially signing him to a two-year entry-level contract worth $896,250 per season yesterday, CapFriendly confirms Colorado has loaned Kovalenko back to Torpedo for next season.
Jul 22: It appears that Colorado will soon be signing one of their prospects. Torpedo of the KHL announced on their Twitter account that the Avalanche will be signing winger Nikolai Kovalenko to an entry-level contract but will loan him back to Torpedo for the upcoming season.
The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick of the Avs back in 2018 (171st overall) and has certainly outperformed his draft stock since then. Last season, he had a breakout year in his first season with Torpedo, notching 21 goals and 33 assists in 56 games. For context, his previous career best in points in the KHL was 21. That performance put him third in the league in points per game.
That performance appears to have landed Kovalenko on the NHL radar. His contract will be a two-year agreement, meaning he’ll be able to suit up full time in North America in 2024-25 or when his KHL playoffs come to an end this season. The KHL regular season ends in late February so it’s quite possible that Kovalenko will be available to Colorado late in the 2023-24 campaign.
If he’s able to have a repeat of his 2022-23 performance next year, Kovalenko could be an interesting addition to the Avs down the stretch this coming year, giving them a low-cost addition to their forward group where he’d likely start in their bottom six. Regardless of whether he suits up for the Avalanche next season, his contract will count against their limit of 50.
Five Key Stories: 7/17/23 – 7/23/23
While activity across the NHL has certainly slowed down compared to a few weeks ago, there was still some notable news around the league over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.
Four For Colton: Avalanche forward Ross Colton currently has just under $3MM in career earnings, per CapFriendly. That will be going up in a hurry as the two sides agreed to a four-year contract to avoid salary arbitration with the deal carrying a cap hit of $4MM per season. The 26-year-old was acquired from Tampa Bay before the draft for a second-round pick that was part of the package they picked up when they moved Alex Newhook to Montreal. Colton saw his numbers dip slightly last season but he still managed 16 goals and 16 assists in 81 games during the regular season despite averaging just over 12 minutes a night while recording 188 hits and winning over 56% of his faceoffs. Colorado has shaken up their bottom six group with Colton being the centerpiece acquisition on that front and he should get a bigger opportunity to produce than he did with the Lightning.
Hakstol Extended: Last season was a successful one for the Kraken as they locked down their first-ever playoff berth in their sophomore year. On top of that, they knocked out the defending Cup champs in the first round before falling to Dallas in seven in a hard-fought second round. That performance certainly reflected well on head coach Dave Hakstol who was rewarded for his efforts with a two-year contract extension that gets him under contract through the 2025-26 campaign; financial terms were not disclosed. Hakstol will be entering his seventh year as an NHL head coach next season (he also spent four years in Philadelphia) and is now one of ten coaches known to be signed through 2026.
Four For Dunn: The biggest settlement of the arbitration process thus far was done by Seattle and defenseman Vince Dunn. The two sides worked out a four-year, $29.4MM front-loaded contract, buying out his final year of arbitration eligibility while giving the Kraken three extra years of club control. The deal, which makes Dunn their highest-paid player, also carries some form of trade protection in the final three seasons. The 26-year-old had a breakout showing last season, notching 14 goals and 50 assists in 81 games while logging nearly 24 minutes a night. That performance put him tenth in the NHL in scoring by a blueliner while helping him finish 11th in Norris Trophy voting.
Arbitration Awards: While most players that filed for arbitration so far have settled, two made it to a hearing. First, Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev was awarded a two-year, $4.5MM contract with Chicago electing for a two-year award instead of the one-year agreement Kurashev requested. The 23-year-old set new benchmarks last season, notching nine goals along with 16 assists and should have a chance to improve on those numbers in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov received a one-year, $3.55MM award, nearly doubling his salary from 2022-23. The 26-year-old had by far his best NHL season, posting a 2.33 GAA with a .919 SV% in 42 games but was only eligible for a one-year award since it was his final season of UFA eligibility. Toronto now has nearly $96MM in commitments on the books per CapFriendly against an $83.5MM salary and will be deep into LTIR with Jake Muzzin for next season while some have suggested that buyout candidate Matt Murray could also land on there. Even with those two on there, some roster trimming would still need to occur.
More Settlements: There were two other contracts of some note that were done to avoid salary arbitration. The Golden Knights settled with forward Brett Howden on a two-year, $3.8MM contract after the 25-year-old took a step back offensively last season, recording just six goals and seven assists in 54 regular season games. Notably, the deal will walk Howden straight to UFA eligibility in 2025. Winnipeg also got in on the settlement fun, reaching a two-year, $6.875MM agreement with forward Gabriel Vilardi. Arguably the centerpiece of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, the 23-year-old had his best showing in 2022-23, collecting 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games with the Kings last season. Vilardi will still have one more RFA year remaining in 2025.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Flames, Jets, Arenas, Canadiens, Smith, Trade Options, Atlantic Division
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include what’s next for Calgary and Winnipeg, Ty Smith’s situation in Pittsburgh, Atlantic Division predictions, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in our last two mailbag pieces.
Grocery Stick: What can we expect from the Flames and the Jets? Both teams have players who want out but apart from Dubois to the Kings, we haven’t seen anything so far.
Calgary hasn’t given up on re-signing Elias Lindholm yet and by all accounts, it doesn’t appear he’s 100% sure he wants to leave. Until he says a final no to the Flames, I think he stays put. I’m a bit surprised that Noah Hanifin is still around as it sounds like his desire to leave is a little more concrete. However, the acquiring teams are going to want to try to extend him as well, adding another wrinkle to discussions. I think there’s a decent shot he goes this summer but it might need to wait until Erik Karlsson’s situation is sorted out first.
Mikael Backlund is the other player of some note and he, too, has balked at an extension thus far. However, he recently raised the possibility of an in-season signing depending on how things are going. That gives GM Craig Conroy some runway to work with. I expect his situation to go unresolved heading into the season and they’ll re-assess closer to the trade deadline. I suspect they’re still open to moving Daniel Vladar although there aren’t many viable trade options for him left. Calgary has a path to a cap-compliant roster with what they have now so they don’t have to necessarily do anything else before the season starts.
For Winnipeg, unless Connor Hellebuyck’s reported contract ask comes down from the $9MM range, I don’t think his trade market is going to be good enough for the Jets to get enough of a return to justify moving him. They’re not giving up on chasing a playoff spot and hanging in the mix is a lot easier with Hellebuyck than without. Starting the season with him and looking to move him closer to the deadline has its risks (an injury or buyers not needing a starting goalie) but I think it’s a very realistic option that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is considering.
As for Mark Scheifele, I’ve flip-flopped on this answer all summer. Going back to the point about Winnipeg wanting to push for a playoff spot, I could see them keeping him to start and hoping that a hot start might convince him to extend. I don’t think there are a lot of viable landing spots for him in terms of getting him to fit into someone else’s cap picture. Midseason, it’s generally easier to move money and the Jets might be willing to retain at that time, something that would be tougher for them to do now. As of this moment, I think he stays to start the season. By the time we run another mailbag, I might have flip-flopped again on this one.
jason830: Best and worst stadiums to see a hockey game?
I watch a lot of hockey but very seldom do I actually go to a game in person. I’ve been to a grand total of one NHL game live and that was more than a decade ago. I’m not the right one to answer this so let me turn this over to some of our other writers.
Josh Erickson: For the best, Vegas would get my vote by a mile. Incredible atmosphere, great sightlines, great fans, and reasonably priced food (at the time, it was during their inaugural season). For the worst, my vote would easily go to the old Gila River Arena in Glendale.
Josh Cybulski: Best: The atmosphere is insane and with over 21K fans in the building, you feel right on top of the players and your view of the ice is really something. It also helps that the pre and post-game spots are fantastic. Worst: Ottawa – It is a run-down building without many frills that is surrounded by car dealerships and an outlet mall 30 minutes from downtown. To top it all off, getting in and out of the building is a nightmare, even on nights when only 12K fans show up. The wind whips across the wide-open field, meaning that when you leave the building after the game you have a half-mile walk in a blizzard to get to your frozen car. Not fun.
Ethan Hetu: I would add Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia to the best list. I had the chance to go there earlier this summer and see Latvia win some big games at the Worlds, and I’ll say there aren’t many places in hockey where I’ve witnessed fans as devoted and passionate as Latvians for their national team. It was packed full of people and even the outside area was filled with people who didn’t have tickets but still wanted to be in close proximity to the action, watching on big screens right outside. It felt as though an entire country was at a standstill, entirely focused on being there to help Latvia win.
The arena itself is pretty no-frills and not really up to the standard of what NHL teams play in (sort of to be expected) but in terms of atmosphere, you really can’t beat what goes on in Riga, they really do love hockey there.
Jasen: I think Max Lajoie would thrive in Montréal and be a nice supplement to Anderson as another big power forward. I’d love for my beloved Habitants to go get Lafreniere from the Rangers. Thoughts on the cost? Also, I think Ethan Bear would be a nice addition to our defense. Thoughts?
For the first question, I assume you’re asking about Max Comtois as Maxime Lajoie is a defenseman who now is in Toronto’s system. In theory, he could be that player for the Canadiens but he wasn’t that player the last two seasons in Anaheim. On top of that, Montreal already has a bit of a logjam up front. Depending on how certain things shake out, he could make sense on a one-year flyer but as things stand, I don’t think there’s a roster fit for Comtois even though they could use a bit more size in an Atlantic Division that has bulked up over the summer.
As for Alexis Lafreniere, this came up before the draft. I didn’t see a good fit then and frankly, there’s even less of one now. The Rangers are in win-now mode but Montreal doesn’t really have a good low-cost veteran (the AAV is a big factor for New York which takes some of the pricier players off the table) to move. Their best offer is a futures-based one which doesn’t do the Rangers any good right now. I don’t think the Canadiens should be moving their unprotected 2024 first-round pick which takes the idea of an offer sheet in the $4.29MM to $6.435MM range off the table; they can’t do one for less as they don’t have their own second-rounder. Lafreniere fits with what Montreal is trying to do in the sense of getting a young core of first-round talents up front and hoping for internal growth. But unless New York can flip a futures-based package from the Canadiens elsewhere for a win-now piece, I don’t see a plausible trade scenario between the two sides.
As for Bear, he’s going to miss the start of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery so I don’t anticipate him signing anytime soon. A 26-year-old right-shot defender should have some value to a team like the Canadiens but where does he fit in on their roster? David Savard isn’t going anywhere next season (2024-25 might be a different story though). They need to see where Justin Barron fits in long term so sending him to AHL Laval to make room for Bear is a step back development-wise. They really like Johnathan Kovacevic on the third pairing so I don’t think he’s going either. Chris Wideman is the probable seventh defender as things stand (at this point, I expect Arber Xhekaj to start in Laval where he can at least play over being the seventh defender) but signing someone like Bear to provide an upgrade on a healthy scratch doesn’t really move the needle. And if they were to play Bear on his off-side, I don’t think he displaces any of their top three options there either. If injuries strike early, then sure, Bear fits as a plug-and-play option on the third pairing once he’s healthy. But right now, I don’t see where he fits in to justify signing him now.
WilfPaiement: I’m wondering why Ty Smith seems to be buried in the minors, and when he gets called up he does quite well.
Last season was certainly an odd one for Smith who went from being a regular with New Jersey to being a key part of the trade return for John Marino to spending most of the season with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Not all of this was due to factors within his control, however.
The Penguins were right up against the salary cap last season to the point where finding cap space for recalls was getting challenging. Accordingly, someone making closer to the minimum became more appealing. That worked in the favor of a veteran like Mark Friedman who made close to $100K less than Smith, who had the added ‘benefit’ of being waiver-exempt. When you’re trying to bank cap space, cheaper recalls are more preferable so having Friedman come up allowed them to save money and keep Smith playing big minutes in the AHL.
This wasn’t the only reason, however. After two full NHL campaigns, Smith was sent down to dominate and he didn’t quite do that. He was above-average on the farm, no doubt, but he also didn’t become the go-to number one I think they were hoping he would. And in his limited action with Pittsburgh, you’re right, he didn’t fare all that poorly although he benefitted from some sheltered matchups when he was in there.
The good news for Smith is that he’s now waiver-eligible. It stands to reason that the Penguins aren’t going to risk waiving him to send him back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton so his days of being buried in the minors should be over. Now, it’s going to be a matter of cracking their regular lineup, something that should completely be in his hands.