Flyers Notes: Van Riemsdyk, Couturier, Hayes, Injuries
Winger James van Riemsdyk is one of the more prominent names left on the board heading into the trade deadline. However, with a cap hit of $7MM, not many teams can get involved in the bidding, at least without the possibility of double retention. To that end, Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets and TSN reports (Twitter link) that the current asking price for the 33-year-old is a third-round pick.
Johnston adds that the Golden Knights, Jets, and Kraken are among the teams that have inquired about van Riemsdyk so far. Notably, none of those teams have enough cap space to take on his contract outright while Vegas would need either a third team to get involved to be able to add him. The veteran has nine goals and 14 assists in 41 games this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
More from Philadelphia:
- Center Sean Couturier skated before practice today as he works his way back from his back injury, relays Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The veteran has yet to play this season but GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged last month that there was a possibility Couturier could return before the end of the season. At this point, the goal of a return would simply be to try to remove any questions about the possibility of the injury lingering into 2023-24.
- The Flyers are open to offers for center Kevin Hayes, reports Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now. The veteran is having a nice season with 17 goals and 32 assists in 61 games which would be appealing to many buyers. However, his cap hit of $7.143MM through 2025-26 will make the 30-year-old difficult to move without considerable salary retention. A trade involving Hayes is likely easier to make in the summer when other teams will be more willing to move a roster player back to help match salary.
- Philadelphia has activated wingers Zack MacEwen and Tanner Laczynski from IR, notes Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link). MacEwen has missed more than a month after undergoing surgery on his fractured jaw while Laczynski has missed the last three months with a lower-body injury. If the Flyers wind up moving out some forwards today, MacEwen and Laczynski should be their replacements in the lineup, meaning no recalls would be needed from AHL Lehigh Valley.
West Notes: Miller, Athanasiou, Gregor
While there has been some speculation that the Canucks might move forward J.T. Miller before today’s deadline, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggests that’s unlikely to happen. A lot of teams would be needing some sort of salary retention to facilitate a move now but doing so would also require them to retain a similar percentage on his seven-year, $56MM extension that kicks in next season. That’s something Vancouver won’t want to do so there’s a good chance that the 29-year-old will be staying put today, even though he’s having a productive season with 20 goals and 34 assists in 60 games. It’s also worth noting that he’s listed as out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
More from the Western Conference:
- When Andreas Athanasiou was signed to a one-year, $3MM deal by the Blackhawks in free agency, it seemed likely that he’d be getting moved by the trade deadline. However, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period indicates (Twitter link) that at the moment, the sense is that the winger will be sticking around. Athanasiou has 14 goals and eight assists in 60 games this season and it would likely take salary retention to get a deal done. Chicago does have one retained salary slot remaining.
- Sharks winger Noah Gregor told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng that he has not requested a trade, denying a report from earlier this week. The 24-year-old has been a frequent scratch this season in San Jose, suiting up in 37 games where he has just four goals and two assists. Last season, Gregor had 23 points in 63 contests which earned him a one-year, $950K deal for 2022-23. He’s set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility this summer.
Metropolitan Notes: Fletcher, Konecny, Engvall, Barzal, Domi
Speaking with reporters today (video link), Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher discussed his plans for the upcoming trade deadline. Unsurprisingly, the team plans to sell and he acknowledged that the bulk of the discussions so far have been regarding players on expiring contracts, particularly winger James van Riemsdyk. However, he made a point to say that he doesn’t intend for the team to go into a scorched-earth rebuild which suggests that Philadelphia’s deadline activity could be somewhat limited if they primarily deal with moving players on expiring contracts. Fletcher also mentioned that they don’t plan to add too many players from Lehigh Valley to allow them to continue to battle for a spot in the AHL playoffs.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Also from Fletcher’s press conference, he indicated that winger Travis Konecny is going to miss at least a few more weeks due to his upper-body injury. With the Flyers not heading for the playoffs, the GM indicated that it’s possible that there isn’t enough time for him to return this season. The 25-year-old is seven points shy of matching his career-high of 61 but at this point, it doesn’t seem likely that Konecny will be able to get there.
- While the Islanders quickly signed Bo Horvat to a contract extension after acquiring him, don’t expect that to be the case for their latest acquisition in Pierre Engvall. GM Lou Lamoriello told Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link) that they’ll “take one thing at a time” with the winger but acknowledged that he’s someone that he’d like to keep beyond this season. Engvall, who carries a $2.25MM AAV, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and has 21 points in 58 games so far.
- In a separate tweet, Gross relays that center Jean-Gabriel Pageau has resumed skating as he works his way back from an upper-body injury that has kept him out for the last two and a half weeks. Pageau has 29 points in 58 games this season and plays more minutes than any Islanders forward on the penalty kill, a unit that’s one of the strongest in the league; getting him back would certainly be a boost to a New York squad that’s trying to hold onto a Wild Card spot.
- A year ago, the Hurricanes acquired Max Domi as a rental player just before the trade deadline. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that Domi is once again on Carolina’s radar heading into this week’s deadline. The 27-year-old had seven points in 19 games with the Hurricanes last season and has been quite productive with the Blackhawks this year, notching 49 points in 59 games. Accordingly, the price that it will take to get him this time around should be considerably higher than the mid-round prospect and a minor leaguer that it cost them in 2022.
Capitals Sign Nick Jensen To A Three-Year Extension
While the Capitals have been selling some of their pending free agents, they won’t be doing so with Nick Jensen. Instead, the team announced that they’ve signed the blueliner to a three-year contract extension that carries an AAV of $4.05MM. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal does not include any trade protection and breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $3MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2024-25: $2.15MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2025-26: $1MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
When Washington acquired the 32-year-old back in 2019, he quickly inked a four-year, $10MM extension. However, the contract didn’t look like it would age well as Jensen had somewhat of a limited role early on with the Caps. That changed last season when he had a career year offensively with 21 points while logging over 19 minutes a night, pushing himself into a top-four spot on their depth chart in the process.
Jensen has continued that progression this season, picking up 24 points in 62 games, good for second among Washington blueliners behind John Carlson. On top of that, he’s averaging close to 21 minutes a night while playing heavy minutes on their penalty kill. Those characteristics would have made him a very intriguing rental option for several contenders but instead, he has decided to stay put with an organization that has seen him go from being a depth piece to a core player while GM Brian MacLellan felt that this route was better than taking a futures-based return.
Washington entered the day with just one defender signed for next season – Carlson, who makes $8MM. However, they now have three under contract with this deal plus the earlier acquisition of Rasmus Sandin from Toronto. Those three, plus pending restricted free agent Martin Fehervary, appear to be the new top four for the Capitals as things stand. It has been suggested that the Capitals don’t plan to undertake a sizable rebuild so it wouldn’t be surprising to see MacLellan continue to remodel his back end between now and the start of next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pacific Notes: Kings, Kraken, Reimer
The Kings have been shopping around for help on the back end and could stand to add some goaltending depth for the playoff run. It could be a one-stop shop for Los Angeles as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they’re showing interest in a package deal with Columbus that would see them add blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, both pending unrestricted free agents. Gavrikov is logging a career-high 22:20 per night this season for the Blue Jackets and would fit in nicely into their top four while Korpisalo, who was also scratched tonight for trade-related purposes, has put up a .911 SV% on a rebuilding Columbus squad. The two carry a combined cap hit of $4.1MM which is more than Los Angeles can currently afford although it’s worth noting that the Blue Jackets have two remaining retained salary slots remaining.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Seattle’s second season has gone quite well as the Kraken find themselves holding down the second and final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference heading into tonight’s action. However, in an appearance on 93.3KJR today (audio link), GM Ron Francis indicated that he isn’t planning any major changes and that if anything happens, it would probably be “tweaking around the edges”. Seattle is projected to have the ability to add someone making nearly $4MM on deadline day, per CapFriendly, so it’s possible that they look to add a rental or two to give themselves some more depth for the stretch run without making any changes to their core.
- It’s quite possible that the Sharks moving pending UFA goaltender James Reimer before Friday’s trade deadline. If that happens, the veteran told Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group that he would “seriously consider” returning for what would be a third stint with the organization. Reimer has a 3.25 GAA with a .895 SV% in 30 starts this season and with a cap hit of $2.25MM, he could be viewed as capable veteran insurance for a playoff-bound squad.
Coyotes Scratch Nick Bjugstad, Recall Laurent Dauphin
The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they’ve scratched center Nick Bjugstad tonight for trade-related reasons, joining defenseman Jakob Chychrun on that front. Taking Bjugstad’s place on the roster will be center Laurent Dauphin who has been recalled from AHL Tucson.
Bjugstad opted to sign a one-year, $900K contract with Arizona last summer in the hopes of playing a regular role and rebuilding some value after three straight quiet, injury-riddled seasons. The move has turned out to be a good one for the 30-year-old who has posted 13 goals and 10 assists so far in 59 games while winning just over 47% of his faceoffs. He also is averaging two hits per game. With a low price tag, Bjugstad is the type of fourth liner that teams will certainly be looking to add to shore up their depth between now and Friday’s trade deadline and the Coyotes are making sure he’ll be available to be traded over risking him getting injured in tonight’s game against Chicago.
That decision gives Dauphin his third opportunity with the Coyotes this season. The 27-year-old signed a one-year, two-way deal with Arizona in the summer but has only gotten into three NHL contests so far after suiting up in 38 with Montreal in 2021-22. However, Dauphin has been productive in the minors with the Roadrunners, tallying 16 goals along with 25 assists in 48 games so far.
Devils Recall Graeme Clarke
Graeme Clarke has played his way into becoming one of New Jersey’s more intriguing prospects and he was rewarded for his efforts as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from Utica of the AHL.
The 21-year-old was a third-round pick by the Devils back in 2019 (80th overall) but has outperformed his draft stock since then. He’s actually in his third season of professional hockey already – a rarity for a major junior-drafted player – and has shown steady improvement. After putting up 24 points in 52 games last season, Clarke has been considerably more productive this year with 20 goals and 24 assists in 51 contests; his 44 points place him first on the Comets in scoring.
This will be Clarke’s first opportunity at the NHL level and it’s possible that it will be a short-lived one. Recently acquired winger Timo Meier isn’t yet ready to play as he continues to battle an upper-body injury and Clarke may simply be up until Meier is ready to make his debut. New Jersey had an open spot on their roster thanks to them losing Scott Harrington on waivers to Anaheim earlier today so no further moves needed to be made to bring Clarke up.
Five Key Stories: 2/20/23 – 2/26/23
The trade deadline isn’t until Friday but the activity around the league has picked up in a big way over the past few days with many of the key stories of the week coming on the trade front.
Meier To New Jersey: The Devils have added a significant piece for this season and beyond, acquiring winger Timo Meier from the Sharks as part of a nine-player trade that also included four draft picks. The highlight of the return to San Jose is prospect defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (a 2020 first-round pick), New Jersey’s 2023 first-round pick, and a conditional 2024 second-rounder that becomes a first if New Jersey makes the Eastern Conference Final in 2023 or 2024. Meier is a power forward in his prime, a legitimate top-line winger that will remain under team control this summer as a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility. However, he’ll be owed a qualifying offer of $10MM if they can’t reach a long-term agreement beforehand. He’ll be a big addition to what has become quite the arms race in the Eastern Conference while San Jose picks up some pieces for the future.
Injury News: The Islanders are in a battle for a Wild Card spot in the East but that task is going to be harder now with New York losing Mathew Barzal on a week-to-week basis due to a lower-body injury. While they expect him back before the end of the regular season, losing their second-leading scorer for an extended stretch at this time of year is certainly going to hurt. Meanwhile, the Predators will be without Ryan Johansen for the rest of the season after he underwent surgery to repair a leg injury. Officially, the timeline for recovery is 12 months but with Nashville selling, they won’t be needing him in the playoffs. Lastly, the Golden Knights transferred winger Mark Stone to LTIR, allowing them to spend up to an additional $9.5MM in cap space, some of which was used to acquire Ivan Barbashev from St. Louis. The captain is out indefinitely due to another back injury.
Bruins Make A Splash: The Bruins opted to make their big splash early, acquiring defenseman Dmitry Orlov and winger Garnet Hathaway from Washington. In return, Boston sent the Capitals a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 third-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder, and Craig Smith while getting 50% of Orlov’s contract retained. The Bruins also flipped a 2023 fifth-rounder to Minnesota to get them to retain an additional 25% on Orlov’s deal. Orlov is a pending unrestricted free agent but is undoubtedly a big acquisition for their back end as a veteran that can log big minutes and play in all situations while Hathaway gives them some extra grit in their bottom six. The Caps, meanwhile, get some future assets although they seem unlikely to go through a full-scale rebuild. Speculatively, some of those picks could be in play for a non-rental player at some point.
Trotz Back To Nashville: Barry Trotz is on his way back to the Predators, just not in the role you might have been thinking. Instead of going back behind the bench, he instead will be taking over as their new general manager effective July 1st as long-time GM David Poile is stepping into an advisory role. Trotz has been a head coach for 23 years and is third all-time in wins but opted not to coach this season to spend time with his family. This will be his first foray into management. Meanwhile, Poile has been the only GM the franchise has ever known, taking over the team back in 1997 before they even began play in the league. While one franchise icon is leaving, another will be returning with Trotz having coached in Nashville before for 15 seasons.
Niederreiter To Winnipeg: The Jets made a move to shore up their forward group, acquiring Nino Niederreiter from Nashville in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick. The 30-year-old has been a consistent secondary scorer for most of his career and that is the case again this season as he has 18 goals in 56 games so far. He’ll help fill the vacancy created by Cole Perfetti who is out for at least eight weeks due to an upper-body injury. While a lot of deals at this time of year are for rentals, this isn’t the case here as Winnipeg will have Niederreiter under contract through next season at a $4MM AAV. Meanwhile, the Predators appear to be selling and pick up a useful draft pick for the future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Penguins, Avalanche, Wild, Bad Contracts, Sandstrom, Deadline Struggle
With the trade deadline now less than a week away, the focus of the mailbag this weekend will be questions pertaining to trades and the upcoming deadline. With so many deadline questions submitted, we’ve split this weekend’s mailbag in two so be sure to check back in yesterday’s column if you don’t see yours submitted here. Next week, the focus will primarily be on the non-deadline queries (with a couple of trade ones in there as well).
One More JAGR: Do the Pens finally realize they aren’t gonna crack the playoffs this year with how competitive the Metro is, how uncompetitive the Pens are, and how they have pretty much no cap to address any of the multiple issues plaguing the team? Do they instead look towards the offseason and will the plan be to let the UFA’s walk and try to trade some cap out in hopes that the closing window on the big three can be better next season? Also is it finally Sully’s time to be out and try to go get Trotz?
I think it’s too early to say the Penguins aren’t going to make it. A divisional seed isn’t happening but they can catch and pass the Islanders in the Wild Card race if they win their games in hand. Granted, their recent performances aren’t exactly inspiring much hope that they can win those games, tonight being a notable exception.
I touched on this earlier this month but there is no good option here. They can’t truly rebuild with their veteran core locked up long-term. They can’t fall far enough down to really tank for a high draft pick. But they’re not good enough to contend either. I still think that if there’s a low-risk upgrade they can make (clearing Kasperi Kapanen’s cap hit off the books gives them some flexibility), they’ll do it over the next few days even though there’s a case to make that doing so defies logic.
Among their pending UFAs, I suspect that they want to re-sign Tristan Jarry. Brian Dumoulin’s value isn’t great at this point so they wouldn’t get much for him. There might be some interest in Jason Zucker but it’s not going to be a top return. And their other expirings are depth guys where the interest is going to be limited at best. There’s not enough to really restock the cupboard.
As for the coaching situation, I think we can rule out Trotz taking over behind the bench in Pittsburgh with him poised to become the next GM in Nashville. (Obviously, this question came well before the Trotz news broke.)
@iwtfwc: WHAT are @Avalanche going 2 do? Many “LINKED” players off the board & still injured, also Landeskog’s return timeline unsure, your thoughts? And, at this point in time, thoughts on this list?
M.Domi
N. Bjugstad
J. Puljujarvi
J. McCabe
L. Schenn
Chris MacFarland’s hands are tied right now until he has a better understanding of when (or if) Gabriel Landeskog and Erik Johnson can return. If both can’t come back, they’ll have a ton of cap space to work with and can shop at the high end of the market. If one can’t come back, they’ll still be able to add a smaller piece or two. If both are likely to be back though, then they’re looking at more or less having to match money. Right now, they’re going to wait as a few more days might give them the clarity they need to know which way they’re going to proceed. I expect them to try to be a buyer either way, it’s just a matter of knowing which part of the market they’ll be shopping in.
As for your list, I’d take off Jake McCabe. With two years left and Chicago wanting a first-round pick if they’re going to retain money, that one doesn’t work. I’m not sure Jesse Puljujarvi is worth getting either unless it’s a deal right before the buzzer sounds and they have extra room to burn. Luke Schenn makes a lot of sense on paper but without a second-rounder or a third-rounder in the next two seasons, will they be able to be the top bidder? Would they move a 2025 second-rounder to get him? If other teams are offering thirds this season or next, they’ll have to go up a round to cover the longer wait.
I like Max Domi as a secondary option. He can play center and the wing and while I’m not sure he’d be able to produce at a similar rate as he is with Chicago (46 points in 57 games), he’d give them some more options in their middle six. But again, without seconds and thirds in the next two years, that move might be tricky to make as I assume their first-rounder isn’t in play. Nick Bjugstad could help in the bottom six and if Arizona is okay with a 2024 fourth-round pick for him, sure, that would make sense. I think they might get more than that though with his contract and the year he’s having.
If they do have LTIR money to spend, I could see them being interested in a player like Gustav Nyquist who’s out for the season but should be back for the playoffs. Sean Monahan, if he’s in that situation, would be another option on that front. Lars Eller is another possible target with Washington now selling. If Johnson is going to be out for a while, Nick Jensen might be a target for a replacement on the right side of the back end as well.
Zakis: With the Wild in NHL purgatory and having a solid set of prospects, would it be better to sell or buy at the trade deadline? What direction do you see them going?
Follow-up question: what would Hartman get in a trade?
I’ve flip-flopped on this one a few times in recent weeks. Considering they’re in a playoff spot at the moment, it’s hard to make a case to sell, especially as their dead cap costs go up next year from the increases to the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts. This might be their best shot for a little bit. On the other hand, they’re pretty much certain that they won’t be able to re-sign Matt Dumba and the idea of losing him for nothing isn’t ideal.
I keep coming back to them doing a bit of both. In a perfect world, they find a spot for Dumba and then turn around and get a capable replacement, perhaps using part of the return for Dumba with the net gain being an upgraded draft pick or something like that. His performance this season makes that a challenge though so admittedly, I don’t expect that to happen; I think he stays put. I think they’d like to open up money for next season so if there’s a move to be made to do that, it’d be hard not to but that also potentially qualifies as a seller move.
However, with them having plenty of cap space, they can absorb some pricey expiring contracts and add to their depth. I could see them sniffing around in the final hour before the deadline looking to simply relieve some teams of a player for a late-round pick or equivalent return that ultimately sees them upgrade a depth spot or two without really giving up much value. Doing both is a tough needle to thread though but I think it’s what they should do if they can. I don’t think they’re good enough to truly contend but when you’re a handful of points out of the division lead, it’s hard to only subtract from your roster.
Moving Ryan Hartman is an interesting idea. His value isn’t as high as it was last year when he had a career season but he’s still a pretty good bargain at $1.7MM through next season. I could see that being worth a first-round pick but in doing so, they’d be taking a key piece off their roster, one that would be pretty difficult to replace, even with more financial flexibility than other teams have. Unless they’re a straight seller, I don’t expect them to consider that.
Pawtucket: Who is the worst player on an expiring deal on a playoff team? And then who should they trade him to for what return?
My immediate thought was Milan Lucic but Calgary isn’t in the postseason. Let’s call them playoff-adjacent so they’re out. My second thought was Jonathan Quick of the Kings. $5.8MM for a save percentage of .879 isn’t good value at all. Clearing that contract would give them plenty of flexibility. It’d also open up a hole between the pipes and I’m not sure the optics are great for trading a 16-year King who seems like a candidate to retire at the year. He’s probably out as well as a result.
My next (and last) thought was to look to the minors for the negative-value deals there. That would be Anton Khudobin, a player that legitimately is an NHLer but his contract was easy to bury. I don’t think he’s likely to be dealt with an incentive (which is what I assume you were expecting to see) but would rather be a throw-in in a deal like Craig Smith was to match money.
I will say this, however. If you’re looking for teams that a buyer might need to dump money onto, I’d go with Minnesota, Anaheim, and Chicago. The Wild could do a move like that to add a depth piece, The Ducks have indicated before that they’re open to such a move, and the Blackhawks have done it enough times already that there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t again.
Flyers Receiving Interest In James Van Riemsdyk
As more trade targets come off the board, others now are shifting to the forefront. That appears to be the case for Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there are now several teams showing interest in the veteran. Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Wild are among those teams.
The 33-year-old has been a quality scorer throughout his career, averaging 26.5 goals per 82 games. Notably, van Riemsdyk has been a strong producer on the power play, potting 21 goals with the man advantage since the 2020-21 campaign. This would certainly be appealing to playoff-bound teams who could use him in a middle-six role at even strength while deploying him in a more prominent spot on the power play.
Despite his track record, van Riemsdyk is in the middle of a bit of a down season as he has just nine goals and 14 assists in 40 games while also missing 20 contests due to a hand injury. He also carries a sizable price tag with a $7MM AAV in the final season of a five-year, $35MM pact signed back in 2018. Notably, that deal does not carry any form of trade protection.
Philadelphia has all three of its salary retention slots remaining so it seems quite likely that they’ll retain up to the maximum of 50% ($3.5MM) to help facilitate a move and help secure a better return. It’s unlikely that van Riemsdyk will command a first-round pick in return even with a strong market but the Flyers will have a chance to add at least a decent piece for the future by flipping him elsewhere in the coming days.