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.
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.
What will the Penguins do? Make your prediction by voting below.
Will The Penguins Utilize A Buyout This Weekend?
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Yes 59% (275)
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No 41% (189)
Total votes: 464
App users, click here to vote.
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.