Five Key Stories: 6/26/23 – 7/2/23
With the NHL electing to cram as much offseason activity as possible into a few short days, it was quite a busy week around the NHL. We’ll recap the biggest stories here which are much too plentiful to summarize in just five headlines.
Draft Night: It was a draft that was supposed to feature plenty of intrigue, especially on the trade front. Instead, not a single swap materialized. However, there was a surprise at the beginning of the draft. While Chicago picked Connor Bedard first as expected, Anaheim opted to not go with the consensus second choice, instead selecting Leo Carlsson. That freed up Columbus to grab that consensus second choice, Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Fantilli. The full results of the draft can be found here.
Chicago Adds Veterans: Following the addition of Bedard, the Blackhawks decided that they needed to bring in some quality veterans to help take some pressure off him (and also to get to the cap floor). They did that by acquiring Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno from Boston in exchange for defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell. Hall has two years left on his deal with a $6MM AAV and will give Bedard a legitimate top-six winger to play with. Foligno, meanwhile, was a pending unrestricted free agent but quickly inked a one-year, $4MM deal to stick around; Chicago handed that same agreement to Corey Perry days later. Boston, meanwhile, used that freed-up cap space to sign several players to short-term contracts early in free agency.
Busy Buyout Market: The buyout market started with a splash when Vancouver bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It ended with one too as Winnipeg was unable to find a taker for Blake Wheeler, instead buying out the final year and $8.5MM on his contract, taking on $2.75MM in dead cap charges for the next two years. That wasn’t the priciest one of the week either as Nashville somewhat surprisingly bought out the final three years and $24MM of Matt Duchene’s contract, taking on more than $19MM in dead cap charges spread out over the next six seasons. Detroit (Kailer Yamamoto) and Boston (Mike Reilly) also executed buyouts on the final day.
Dubois Traded: After many months of speculation, Pierre-Luc Dubois is on the move. However, it wasn’t to Montreal where it was believed his preference would be to play. Instead, he was dealt to Los Angeles in exchange for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick; as part of the trade agreement, Dubois signed an eight-year, $68MM contract. Dubois will team up with Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault to form one of the deepest center groups in the NHL while serving as Kopitar’s eventual replacement when the captain calls it a career. As for Winnipeg, they get a pair of top-six forwards headlined by the 23-year-old Vilardi who put up 41 points in 63 games last season. They’re looking to stay in the playoff mix and while they don’t have a top-end talent in Dubois anymore, their forward group is certainly deeper now.
Eight For Meier: The Devils were in a situation where they skirted the $10MM qualifying offer owed to Timo Meier by filing for club arbitration but it put some pressure on them to get a long-term deal done before the hearings came around. They did just that, signing the winger to an eight-year deal that carries an $8.8MM AAV, making him the highest-paid forward on the team. Meier reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career last season with New Jersey making a big move to acquire him at the deadline. They have found a way to fit in max-term deals for both Meier and Jesper Bratt now while they also quietly picked up Tyler Toffoli from Calgary to give them more firepower for next season.
Free Agent Frenzy: Buoyed by the addition of more than 100 players to the open market after a busy non-tender deadline, July 1st represented a very busy day on the NHL calendar with more than $650MM in contract commitments to 166 players. The biggest signings by position in terms of AAV were the Hurricanes picking up Dmitry Orlov on a two-year deal with a $7.75MM price tag, a sizable overpayment in money to get a short-term agreement that better fits their pay structure. Up front, Alex Killorn wasn’t able to work a deal out with Tampa Bay, instead landing a four-year pact worth $6.25MM per season with Anaheim, a surprise day-one spender. Meanwhile, in goal, the biggest contract given to a UFA was Pittsburgh re-signing Tristan Jarry to a five-year agreement that carries a $5.375MM AAV, one of three contracts handed to goalies that saw NHL action last season.
Islander Spending Spree: The biggest contract of the first day of the new league year came from the Islanders who handed goaltender Ilya Sorokin an eight-year, $66MM extension that will begin in the 2024-25 season. The 27-year-old has been nothing short of stellar since coming to the NHL in 2020-21, posting a 2.34 GAA with a .924 SV% and 16 shutouts in his first three seasons. His deal ensures that the Islanders will have top-level goaltending for the long haul. They also brought back veteran Semyon Varlamov on a four-year, $11MM agreement to serve as Sorokin’s backup. The 35-year-old was one of the better options on the open market although few expected him to get four years. Few also expected GM Lou Lamoriello to hand out a pair of seven-year contracts to keep Pierre Engvall ($3MM AAV) and Scott Mayfield ($3.5MM AAV) in the fold. Both players are quality role pieces but it’s fair to say there’s some sticker shock on the length of those contracts. All told, nearly 19% of the $650MM in commitments from Saturday came from the Isles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Alex DeBrincat
With Senators winger Alex DeBrincat making it known that he does not intend to sign a long-term deal with Ottawa, there has been an expectation of a trade for several weeks. However, the draft came and went without any move and after yesterday’s flurry of signings, there aren’t many teams left that can cover the full cost of a long-term agreement.
Speaking with reporters yesterday including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, GM Pierre Dorion provided some updates on the status of trade talks. He noted that on multiple occasions, they seemed to be close on a trade but once his agent (Wasserman’s Jeff Jackson) received permission to speak to the acquiring team about working out a new contract, they weren’t able to come to terms, scuttling the swap.
On Saturday, Dorion provided Jackson with permission to speak to multiple teams about a new contract for DeBrincat but again, nothing to this point has materialized. The GM attempted to explain the reasoning:
There’s varying degrees of interest. Teams call, we get close to a deal, I give them permission, and sometimes they’re not ready to pay maybe the term that we’re ready to pay. He’s 25 years old, so he’s looking for something in particular, and I can talk about it because we own his rights, so I think the degrees (of interest) vary.
DeBrincat is coming off a quieter year by his standards but he still put up 27 goals and 39 assists last season in his first year with Ottawa. But with two 41-goal seasons under his belt from his time with Chicago, it would appear that Jackson is seeking a contract for his client that’s more commensurate with his historical production. Evidently, teams aren’t giving into that just yet.
The Senators filed for club-elected salary arbitration with DeBrincat in the first window last month, taking the $9MM qualifying offer off the table. Instead, that allows them to come in with an offer as low as $7.65MM. Arbitration hearings don’t start until late July and roll into early August so that represents the next hard pressure point, so to speak.
However, it’s still in Ottawa’s best interest to try to get a trade done before then as this situation is likely holding up some of their offseason spending plans. Until they know who they’re getting back for DeBrincat – it almost certainly won’t just be a futures-based return – they won’t know exactly how much more money they have left to work with. Right now, there are still several quality players available on the open market. By the time arbitration hearings being, that’s unlikely to be the case. But at this point, the hold-up appears to be on DeBrincat’s end in terms of his asking price on a contract, not Ottawa’s asking price in a trade.
Wild Acquire Pat Maroon And Max Cajkovic
The Wild have added a veteran to their forward mix as they have acquired winger Pat Maroon from Tampa Bay along with Max Cajkovic in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round pick. Both teams have announced the swap.
Maroon spent the last four years with the Lightning, winning a pair of Stanley Cups along the way. However, his production dropped considerably last season, going from 27 points to just 14. Of course, Maroon is more known for his physical play and he still provides that in spades, chipping in with 172 hits and recording a league-high 150 penalty minutes. He has one year left on his contract with a $1MM AAV. As part of the trade, Tampa Bay is paying 20% of that money.
The 35-year-old has played in 729 career NHL contests over parts of a dozen NHL seasons, recording 117 goals, 171 assists, and 930 playoff minutes. Maroon also has plenty of playoff experience, suiting up in 150 postseason contests where he has 51 points and 197 penalty minutes along with three Cup titles from 2019 through 2021. He’ll take the place of Ryan Reaves on Minnesota’s fourth line after Reaves inked a three-year contract with Toronto on Saturday.
As for Cajkovic, the 22-year-old spent most of last season at the ECHL level, recording 10 goals and 17 assists in 41 games with Orlando; he suited up in just two contests with AHL Syracuse. His placement in the trade appears to be more for opening up a contract slot for the Lightning rather than being a key component for Minnesota. Cajkovic has one year remaining on his entry-level deal and is almost certain to be back in the minors again next season.
With the swap, Tampa Bay frees up $800K in cap flexibility. It’s likely that they’ll put that money toward a new deal for RFA winger Tanner Jeannot. Per PuckPedia, they have a little under $3MM in cap room (including Brent Seabrook‘s LTIR savings) with the bulk of that likely being needed to lock up their key trade deadline acquisition from last season.
Coyotes Sign John Leonard
Jul 3, 2:52 p.m.: Arizona has made the acquisition official, but did not confirm the terms of the contract.
Jul 2, 6:10 p.m.: The Coyotes are set to add some more forward depth as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (Twitter link) that Arizona has agreed to terms with free agent winger John Leonard on a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $775K in the NHL and $80K in the minors while having a guaranteed salary of $150K.
The 24-year-old was a sixth-round pick by San Jose back in 2018 and spent two years in their system before being moved to Nashville as part of the Luke Kunin trade last summer. Last season, he spent the bulk of the year with the Preds’ affiliate in Milwaukee, putting up 17 goals and 27 assists in 67 regular season games while chipping in with an assist in six postseason contests. However, they opted to non-tender him on Friday, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Leonard has seen NHL action in each of his three professional campaigns, including six with the Predators last season, scoring once. All told, he has 64 career appearances at the top level, tallying five goals and 11 assists while logging an average of a little over 11 minutes per night.
Leonard is likely to start the season with Arizona’s AHL affiliate in Tucson but should be among the early candidates for a recall. If things go well for him in 2023-24, the Coyotes can retain his rights as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent through the 2025-26 campaign.
Flyers Sign Garnet Hathaway
The Flyers have added some more grit to their forward group, announcing the signing of winger Garnet Hathaway to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $2.375MM.
Hathaway’s garnered a well-deserved reputation as one of the more effective fourth-line players in the league, backing up being an annoyance on the ice with some offensive production and solid all-around play. The cap hit on this deal is perfectly fair, although it’s fair to wonder if the acquisition blocks a young player from making an impact in the Philadelphia lineup next year.
Nevertheless, he and Nicolas Deslauriers on the same line should help the latter become more effective too, actually providing a positive offensive impact via a heavy forecheck. After scoring 13 goals last year, Hathaway’s shown he can put the puck in the net with some frequency, and he’ll be an underrated offensive boost to the Flyers’ bottom six. They’ll likely be centered by Ryan Poehling, another UFA signing by the Flyers today.
Hathaway joins Cam Atkinson, Travis Konecny, and Calvin Petersen as notable members of the Flyers’ UFA class in 2025. He’ll be 33 years old at the end of the deal, and this was likely his best option to cash in on a $2MM-plus cap hit.
Andrew Cogliano Re-Signs With Avalanche
Andrew Cogliano‘s time in Colorado isn’t up just yet. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the Avalanche are bringing back the veteran on a one-year contract. In a follow-up tweet, he adds that the deal is worth $825K.
Cogliano will continue his NHL career after a tough end to the season, sustaining a neck injury on a hit from Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle during the team’s first-round playoff loss. Once one of the NHL’s longest-tenured ironmen, Cogliano remains a reliable bottom-six defensive presence with some shooting acumen left in his game.
Likely slated again for a fourth-line role as a left winger, Cogliano notched 10 goals and 19 points in 79 games last season, his most in a season since scoring 35 with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19.
This likely won’t be Colorado’s last forward signing. With captain Gabriel Landeskog‘s $7MM cap hit slated for LTIR next season, the team still has around $7.5MM in cap space to play with – nearly all of which will go toward adding to their forward corps. Expect an additional acquisition for the team’s middle-six (or two) and potentially a bottom-pairing defenseman.
Avalanche Signs Five Players To Two-Way Deals
Earlier today, Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland indicated that there were “a few depth deals in the hopper”. Those deals are now in place as the team announced the signings of defensemen Jack Ahcan and Corey Schueneman, forward Riley Tufte and Chris Wagner, and goaltender Arvid Holm to two-way contracts. Ahcan’s deal is a two-year agreement while the other four are one-year pacts. Financial deals for most of the deals aren’t yet known but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Schueneman’s deal is for $775K in the NHL, $400K in the minors, and has a guarantee of $450K. CapFriendly later reported Tufte’s deal is worth $775K in the NHL and $375K in the minors, with $425K guaranteed.
Speaking of Schueneman, he comes over to Colorado after spending the past three seasons in Montreal’s system. Last season, the 27-year-old spent the bulk of the year with AHL Laval, picking up 23 points in 62 games. He also got into seven games with the Canadiens, tallying an assist. Schueneman did play in 24 games with Montreal in 2021-22 while logging over 16 minutes per game. As a result, he’s likely to position himself to be one of the top recalls from the Eagles next season and could push for the seventh spot on the back end in training camp.
As for Ahcan, the 26-year-old picked up 36 points in 68 games with AHL Providence last season, good for second on their team among blueliners. He has nine career NHL appearances under his belt with Boston between 2020-21 and 2021-22. He also could push to be in the mix to be an early recall from the Eagles in 2023-24.
Up front, Tufte spent most of last year with AHL Texas, recording 19 goals and 16 assists in 63 games. The 25-year-old also got into three games with Dallas, logging just under eight minutes per game. Tufte has a total of 13 NHL appearances under his belt with one goal to his name. The 6’6 winger figures to be a recall option for a fourth line spot at some point next season.
As for Wagner, the 32-year-old has spent the last five seasons in Boston’s organization with a good chunk of that time coming at the NHL level. However, over the past two seasons, Wagner has mostly been relegated to time in the minors. Last season, he had 19 goals and 12 assists in 62 games with Providence. For his career, the veteran has 63 points and over 1,000 hits in 360 career NHL appearances. While he has spent most of the last two years in the minors, at least part of that was for cap reasons as he carried a $1.35MM AAV on his last deal. Now being at or close to the minimum, Wagner could push for a spot on the fourth line in training camp.
Holm, meanwhile, has yet to see any NHL action and has spent the past two seasons with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Manitoba. The 24-year-old had a successful season in 2022-23 with the Moose, recording a 2.67 GAA along with a .911 SV% in 35 games but was non-tendered yesterday by the Jets. He’ll likely serve as the backup to Justus Annunen with the Eagles next season.
Red Wings Sign Christian Fischer
July 2nd: Detroit has officially announced the signing, as it will be a one-year, $1.125MM deal for Fischer.
July 1st: The Red Wings have been active in filling out their roster today and they’re set to make another addition up front. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports (Twitter link) that Detroit is set to sign winger Christian Fischer to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Fischer was among the many players non-tendered yesterday to avoid the risk of a higher-than-desired salary arbitration award. The 26-year-old is coming off a bounce-back season offensively, picking up 13 goals and 14 assists in 80 games with Arizona last season. For context, he had just 30 points in the previous three seasons combined, spanning 161 contests.
Assuming a deal is eventually finalized, Fischer should add some grit to Detroit’s bottom six as he’s averaging just under 1.9 hits per game over his seven-year career, spanning 398 games. Fischer’s qualifying offer with Arizona was for just over $1.125MM and considering the fact that he’s coming off the second-best offensive season of his career, it stands to reason that he’ll be landing a nice raise on that amount.
Blue Jackets Sign Adam Fantilli
Today is the first day that teams can sign their newly-drafted players to NHL contracts. The Blue Jackets aren’t wasting any time with their top pick, as they’ve signed Adam Fantilli to a three-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an AAV of $4.15MM with bonuses, breaking down as follows:
2023-24: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary, $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses, $2.2MM in ‘B’ bonuses
2024-25: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary, $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses, $2.2MM in ‘B’ bonuses
2025-26: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary, $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses, $2.2MM in ‘B’ bonuses
Fantilli was widely expected to be off the board by the time Columbus picked with the third-overall selection. However, Anaheim, who picked second, opted to not take Fantilli and instead selected Leo Carlsson.
The 18-year-old had a dominant year with Michigan. He led the NCAA in scoring this season with 30 goals and 35 assists in 36 games, collecting at least a point in all but three of his appearances. That helped him be named National Rookie of the Year along with the Hobey Baker Award for the best player in college hockey.
Fantilli also had a good showing internationally last season. He picked up five points in seven contests at the World Juniors and also saw action at the World Championship as one of only five draft-eligible players participating; Fantilli had a goal and two assists in ten contests at that event.
Last month, Fantilli expressed an openness to remaining with the Wolverines for another season but after Columbus picked him, GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated that he’d like to see Fantilli turn pro. He’s clearly getting his wish.
While it will take some time for him to live up to his potential, the Blue Jackets believe that Fantilli has a chance to become the legitimate top-line center that they have been seeking for quite some time now. If that happens, Columbus will finally have that particular much-needed franchise pillar in place.
Devils Expected To Re-Sign Nathan Bastian
Yesterday, the Devils opted to non-tender several players, including winger Nathan Bastian, to avoid the risk of them filing for salary arbitration. It appears as least one of them will be sticking around as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that all signs point to Bastian remaining with New Jersey. PuckPedia reports he’s signed a two-year deal worth $1.35MM per season.
The 25-year-old dealt with a shoulder injury last season that limited him to just 43 games. However, Bastian still managed to have his second-best season offensively, notching six goals and nine assists. In the playoffs, he picked up a goal and an assist in 12 contests.
Of course, Bastian is more known for his physicality. After putting up nearly 200 hits in 2021-22, he managed 99 more last season despite missing nearly half the year. Between that and a serviceable offensive ability, Bastian has carved out a role for himself as a capable fourth liner in the NHL.
Bastian’s qualifying offer was just under $920K and it seems reasonable to expect that he will get more than that from New Jersey, assuming this deal becomes finalized. But with 163 games under his belt, he’d have been in line to potentially double that qualifier in arbitration, a price point that the Devils can’t really afford in their cap structure. We should soon see what middle ground they were able to find.