Tomas Nosek To Miss At Least Four Weeks
The Bruins will be without a key depth veteran for the next little while as the team announced that center Tomas Nosek suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left foot on Thursday night. He will miss at least the next four weeks due to the injury and will be re-evaluated at that time.
The 30-year-old is in his second season with Boston after signing a two-year, $3.5MM deal with them last summer. Nosek is one of their most-used penalty killers, ranking second to only Charlie Coyle in shorthanded ice time among forwards while he has won over 58% of his faceoffs, good for second on the team behind Patrice Bergeron. Offensively, he has chipped in with three goals and five assists in 42 games but his biggest contributions certainly come at the defensive end.
Notably, this injury dropped the Bruins down to 11 healthy forwards on their active roster so a recall from AHL Providence was expected. While not announced by the team yet, they have recalled forward Joona Koppanen, per the AHL’s transactions log. While they have next to no cap space, they do have plenty of flexibility in LTIR with Jake DeBrusk and his $4MM AAV on there while Nosek is eligible to be moved to LTIR as well considering how long he is set to miss and Koppanen’s recall will trim that space.
Islanders Recall Aatu Raty, Cal Clutterbuck Out Indefinitely
Islanders winger Cal Clutterbuck suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday against Buffalo that will keep him out indefinitely. The team has decided who will take his place on the roster, announcing (Twitter link) that center Aatu Raty has been recalled from AHL Bridgeport.
Raty is in his first full season in North America and has spent the bulk of the year so far in the minors, notching seven goals and eight assists in 27 games. The 20-year-old has gotten into seven games with New York as well, collecting a pair of goals while averaging 8:25 per game.
Notably, Raty was still 19 as of September 15th which means the nine-game threshold for junior-aged players still applies. Once he plays in his tenth NHL game this season, he will officially burn the first year of his entry-level contract. If he plays in fewer than that, he’ll still have three years left on his contract after this season. That’s something the team will certainly be keeping in mind with this move.
If Raty sticks around for a while on this recall and pushes past that threshold, the next one for them to consider would be 40 games on the active roster which would accrue him a season of eligibility for unrestricted free agency. However, they’re a long way from that point at the moment.
As for Clutterbuck, it has been a tough season for the 35-year-old who has battled an upper-body injury a couple of times already. He has suited up in 34 games for the Isles, picking up four goals and four assists while chipping in with 130 hits.
Nashville Predators Reassign Roland McKeown
Jan 18: McKeown has now been sent back to the AHL.
Jan 14: After opening up a roster spot yesterday when they returned Yaroslav Askarov to the minors, the Predators have filled that vacancy, announcing that they’ve recalled defenseman Roland McKeown from AHL Milwaukee.
It’s the fourth recall of the season for McKeown and the third in the last two weeks as he has been shuffled back and forth a bit more than usual lately, including to create the roster spot when Askarov had to be brought up a few days ago. The 26-year-old has gotten into five games with Nashville this season, logging 13:32 per night on the back end in his first NHL action since the 2017-18 season. In his career, he has three assists in 15 appearances at the top level.
McKeown has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, getting into 25 games with the Admirals where he has eight points. He’s in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal and is likely to return to his previous role of being Nashville’s spare defender as they were only carrying the minimum of six prior to this roster move.
Pacific Notes: Kane, Hayden, Harrington, Martinez
While Oilers winger Evander Kane was believed to be well ahead of schedule, it was still expected that he’d be out a little while longer. However, as team reporter Jamie Umbach relays, the veteran was a full participant in practice today and is hoping to be cleared to return to the lineup on Tuesday against Seattle. Kane has missed the last 31 games after having his wrist sliced by a skate and would be a huge addition to their top six forward group.
However, the Oilers will have to make several roster moves in order to get cap-compliant to be able to activate Kane and his $5.125MM AAV from LTIR including the demotion of several players and the expected transfer of defenseman Ryan Murray to LTIR. Postmedia’s David Staples examines the list of possible candidates to be waived in order to help free up that money and suggests that veteran center Derek Ryan might be the likeliest to hit the waiver wire, a move that would free up $1.125MM on the cap.
More from the Western Conference:
- Late Sunday, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) the recall of forward John Hayden from AHL Coachella Valley. The 27-year-old has impressed in his first taste of minor league action since 2017-18, collecting 13 goals and 12 assists in 34 games for the Firebirds. With Jaden Schwartz listed as day-to-day, Hayden appears to be the insurance policy to ensure that there’s an extra forward available if needed.
- Sharks defenseman Scott Harrington left Wednesday’s game early with an upper-body injury but it appears it won’t keep him out for long. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News notes (Twitter link) that the veteran was back at practice on Sunday. Harrington has a goal and five assists in 16 games this season with San Jose, a decent showing after attending training camp on a PTO. He wasn’t in the lineup today against New Jersey but he should be nearing a return to game action.
- The Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Alec Martinez suffered an undisclosed injury during tonight’s game against Dallas and did not return. Head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have an update on the veteran following the contest. Martinez has six assists in 40 games so far this season while chipping in with 141 blocked shots.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Ottawa Senators
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2022-23 season and beyond. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Ottawa Senators
Current Cap Hit: $79,572,602 (under the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Mark Kastelic (one year, $821.7K)*
F Shane Pinto (one year, $925K)
D Jake Sanderson (two years, $925K)
F Tim Stutzle (one year, $925K)*
*-Have already signed a second contract
Potential Bonuses
Pinto: $600K
Sanderson: $925K
Stutzle: $2.5MM
Total: $4.75MM
Pinto is healthy after missing almost all of last season due to a shoulder injury and he’s off to a decent start with ten goals already. That also has him on track to hit one of his ‘A’ bonuses worth $150K each but a small uptick in production could add to that total. With a limited track record (he had just 17 games in his first two seasons), he might be tricky to lock up long-term; a bridge deal in the high-$2MM/low $3MM range depending on the term is where he could wind up. We’ll look at Stutzle and Kastelic’s new deals later on but it’s worth mentioning that Stutzle is on pace to hit all four of his ‘A’ bonuses which are worth a total of $850K. Ottawa will need to budget room for that to hit the books after the season if they look to add a piece to help them get back into the playoff picture that pushes them closer to the cap.
Sanderson’s first professional season has gone quite well as he has very quickly become one of their most trusted blueliners. He’s someone that they’re likely going to want to sign to a long-term second contract as well and optimistically, if he follows the same path as Thomas Chabot, a deal around his $8MM might be possible. He’s tracking towards reaching all four of his ‘A’ bonuses as well.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
D Erik Brannstrom ($900K, RFA)
F Derick Brassard ($750K, UFA)
F Alex DeBrincat ($6.4MM, RFA)
F Dylan Gambrell ($950K, RFA)
D Travis Hamonic ($3MM, UFA)
D Nick Holden ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Tyler Motte ($1.35MM, UFA)
G Cam Talbot ($3.667MM, UFA)
F Austin Watson ($1.5MM, UFA)
DeBrincat was Ottawa’s first big splash this past offseason as they picked him up from Chicago on draft day. He is a bargain from a cap perspective relative to his output with the Blackhawks but that’s about to change. He’s subject to the old qualifying offer rules which means his $9MM salary this season also represents his qualifying offer. At that point, he’ll also have salary arbitration eligibility for the first time and be a year away from UFA eligibility. GM Pierre Dorion made the move with the hope that he’d be able to get the 24-year-old to commit to a long-term extension. Such a move is going to cost somewhere around that qualifier on a max-term agreement which would make him the highest-paid player on the team.
Watson hasn’t been able to get back to the goal totals he had with Nashville but he has been a regular on Ottawa’s fourth line for the past two-plus seasons while providing them with plenty of grit. He’s near the ceiling of what a player in that role can typically get on the open market but another contract around this price range is doable. Motte didn’t get the contract offers he was looking for early in free agency and had to eventually settle for this one-year deal. His production has been limited early on so instead of perhaps looking more favorably on the type of offer he turned down in July next summer, his next deal might also check in around this price point.
Gambrell is a serviceable fourth liner but he hasn’t brought much more to the table beyond the ability to cover eight to ten minutes per game. This isn’t overly pricey for someone in that role but his arbitration eligibility could work against him next summer as it’s unlikely they’ll want to give him that option. Accordingly, an early contract around this price tag like they did last offseason could happen once again. Otherwise, he’s a non-tender candidate. Brassard had to settle for a PTO, one that he got converted into a full contract. He’s giving the Senators a pretty good return on that early on but at this point of his career, he’s likely to be in the six-figure or PTO range on any future contracts.
Hamonic is no longer the core stay-at-home defender he was with the Islanders but he’s a reliable veteran in his own end that can still be effective on the third pairing and penalty kill. There’s still a role for those types of players but he’ll be hard-pressed to make this much on the open market next summer. Holden has had a much more limited role this season which is closer to the role he has had for long stretches of his career – more of a prototypical sixth defender. At 35, it’s hard to envision a multi-year agreement coming his way and teams feel that he is starting to slow down, he might have to accept a bit less than his current price tag. Brannstrom wanted a multi-year deal in the summer but it failed to materialize. It seems unlikely that they’ll get one done in 2023 as well as his playing time has been considerably more limited. With arbitration rights, he should be able to get a bit more than his $945K qualifying offer but it should be another short-term agreement since he still hasn’t been able to establish himself as a productive option on Ottawa’s back end.
Talbot was acquired from Minnesota to try to shore up the goaltending and while he got off to a bit of a tough start with injuries not helping things, he has settled in nicely as their starter. However, he’ll turn 36 just after free agency opens up and a long-earned reputation as more of a platoon player is going to still exist. There’s still some room for a small increase – a two-year deal around the $4MM range is certainly possible – but a long-term deal that makes him a concrete starter isn’t likely to happen.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Parker Kelly ($762.5K, RFA)
D Nikita Zaitsev ($4.5MM, UFA)
Kelly has become a capable fourth liner that kills penalties and plays with a physical edge and even while he doesn’t produce much offensively, he still provides a fair bit of value as someone that’s on a minimum contract. Assuming he stays in that role through next season, Kelly should be able to jump past the $1MM mark with arbitration rights but his limited production will certainly limit his earnings upside.
Zaitsev is a contract the Sens are very much interested in moving. He cleared waivers already this season and it’s likely he’ll be back on there at some point. He can still fill a limited role if need be but players like that are typically closer to the $1MM mark, not four times that amount.
Signed Through 2024-25
G Anton Forsberg ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Claude Giroux ($6.5MM, UFA)
F Mark Kastelic ($821K in 2022-23, $835K in 2023-24 and 2024-25, RFA)
Giroux opted to head home in free agency on what amounts to a bit of a team-friendly deal for someone that’s still capable of playing on the top line when needed. He has fit in nicely in a secondary scoring role and is giving them a good return so far. However, he’ll be 37 when this contract is up so his next one, if there is a next one, is quite likely to check in considerably cheaper than this one. Kastelic has become a serviceable fourth liner and having one of those that doesn’t make much more than the league minimum is always good. If he sticks in that role throughout the contract, he’ll position himself to get past the $1MM mark with arbitration rights in 2025.
Forsberg had a strong showing in 2021-22 and really gave Ottawa some stability between the pipes. He was rewarded for his efforts with this deal, one that will hold up well as long as he’s able to play in a platoon and put up reasonable numbers. Those numbers aren’t as good so far this season but relative to the rest of the league, he has been close to average which, for this price tag, isn’t a bad return. He didn’t have a long track record when he signed this contract but that should change after this one. If Forsberg does well in this role, he could add another million or more even as a platoon goalie on the open market.
Central Notes: Toews, Coyotes, Robertsson, Alexandrov
Ever since the Blackhawks started their rebuild, there has been plenty of trade speculation surrounding their two long-term veterans including captain Jonathan Toews. He acknowledged to NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis that he hasn’t sat down with GM Kyle Davidson to discuss if he’ll be willing to waive his trade protection and leave the only franchise he has played for over a 15-year NHL career. He indicated that as of yet, he hasn’t decided what’s next for him:
“… There’s a part of myself that still doesn’t really want to admit the situation and also wants to continue being a Blackhawk and finish my career here. But at the same time, there’s a part of me that sees the writing on the wall and sees that this team, this organization is trying to hit the reset button and that maybe a change for everybody is not such a bad thing, and that goes for myself as well.”
While Toews isn’t the top center he once was, he’s having a decent season with 12 goals and 12 assists in 40 games while winning nearly 64% of his faceoffs. Assuming that the Blackhawks will cover the maximum 50% of his contract ($5.25MM of a $10.5MM AAV), they’ll undoubtedly have several interested teams should Toews decide to make himself available to be traded by March 3rd’s trade deadline.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- The future of the Coyotes’ arena deal will be better known in May with a special election being held on the 16th. Sam Kmack of the Arizona Republic breaks down each of the three ballot items that will require a majority of yes votes to move forward. Tempe is the desired location for Arizona’s new arena and this is one of the hurdles that will need to be cleared for that project to continue. Even if it does pass, it will still be several years before it’s up and running so the team will continue to play out of their college arena for the foreseeable future.
- Blues prospect Simon Robertsson has had a decent season in the SHL but his time at Sweden’s top level has come to an end for the time being as Skelleftea announced that they’ve loaned the winger to Vasteras of the Allsvenskan (their second-tier league) for the remainder of the season. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick by St. Louis (71st overall) in 2021 and had five goals and two assists with Skelleftea in 16 games this season, matching his goal output from last year in a third of the games.
- Still with St. Louis, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Nikita Alexandrov was a late scratch from tonight’s game due to an upper-body injury. The 22-year-old has played in 16 games for the Blues this season, picking up two goals and two assists while averaging just under nine minutes a night on the fourth line. Nathan Walker will suit up in Alexandrov’s place.
Five Key Stories: 1/9/23 – 1/15/23
While we’re still a little while away from the trade market picking up, there was still quite a bit of notable news around the hockey world which is recapped here in our key stories.
Pearson Done For The Year: Canucks winger Tanner Pearson was supposed to be back by now after suffering a hand injury in early November. Instead of returning, however, he’s now out for the season after undergoing another surgery. On top of that, there are now investigations by both the team and the NHLPA over how Vancouver handled the situation following reports that multiple other surgeries will be needed that now has Pearson’s availability for next season in question. His season comes to a premature end with just 14 games played and he will now sit on LTIR through the end of the campaign. Pearson has one year remaining on his contract with a $3.25MM AAV and it’s worth noting that injured players can’t be bought out.
Ekman-Larsson Scratched: Pearson’s situation wasn’t the only notable item out of Vancouver. On top of more speculation about an eventual coaching change, the Canucks decided to scratch their key offseason acquisition from 2021 in Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The blueliner has struggled offensively this season and has just a single goal in 41 games while his defensive play has also lagged as well. Originally acquired from Arizona in a move that was designed to help the Canucks win in the short term, Ekman-Larsson hasn’t been able to help accomplish that objective while he is signed through 2026-27 with a $7.26MM AAV on Vancouver’s books (Arizona is covering another $990K per year).
Four For Zacha: The Bruins have a long list of pending unrestricted free agents for next summer including several core players. That list has shrunk by one as the team announced that they’ve signed Pavel Zacha to a four-year contract extension that begins next season and contains partial trade protection in each year. The deal will carry a $4.75MM AAV, a nice raise for the 25-year-old who is on a $3.5MM deal for 2022-23. This is Zacha’s first year in Boston where he has fit in well, collecting 25 points in 42 games and is just four assists shy of matching his career high. While he has mostly played on the wing this season, Zacha is a natural center so keeping him around will give Boston a bit of certainty down the middle with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci also having their contracts set to expire this summer.
More Injuries: Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy last season but things haven’t gone as well for the Panthers this year as they find themselves five points out of a playoff spot entering Sunday’s action. They’ll now try to close that gap without their promising young goaltender as the team placed Spencer Knight on IR with an undisclosed injury. Knight has taken some playing time away from veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and has a save percentage that is ten points higher than Bobrovsky so missing Knight will certainly make their battle a little tougher. Meanwhile, not long after returning to Montreal’s lineup from a lower-body injury, winger Brendan Gallagher will now miss at least six weeks with a lower-body issue. The 30-year-old has just four goals and five assists in 25 games this season, hardly the return the Canadiens were hoping for on a $6.5MM cap hit that runs through the 2026-27 campaign.
Midterm Rankings: The 2023 draft class is being hyped as one of the stronger ones in recent memory and the midterm rankings from NHL Central Scouting have been released. Unsurprisingly, center Connor Bedard leads the way for North American skaters with middlemen Adam Fantilli and Will Smith behind him. On the European skater side, there is a new number one as center Leo Carlsson is in the top spot with winger Matvei Michkov second and defender Axel Sandin Pellikka third. Between the pipes, Carson Bjarnason and Alexander Hellnemo are the top-rated goalies in North America and Europe respectively.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Golden Knights Recall Jonas Rondbjerg
With William Carrier being out with an upper-body injury, the Golden Knights needed to bring up a replacement. As Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports (Twitter link), that replacement is winger Jonas Rondbjerg who has been recalled from Henderson of the AHL on an emergency basis.
It’s the fifth recall in less than six weeks for the 23-year-old who hasn’t yet been able to establish himself as a regular in the lineup for Vegas. Rondbjerg has played in nine games with the Golden Knights this season and has been held off the scoresheet while averaging just over ten minutes per night. He cleared waivers back in training camp which is notable here as once he plays in that tenth game, he’ll require waivers to go back down.
However, that hasn’t been the case with the Silver Knights. Rondbjerg has ten goals and nine assists in 29 games at the minor league level, sitting second on Henderson in goals. He put up similar numbers last season with 14 goals and 13 helpers in 39 contests so it’s just a matter of finding a way to bring that to the NHL.
Vegas now has a full 23-man roster. However, if they need to free up a spot, they can do so by shifting Mark Stone to injured reserve with the veteran set to be out on a week-to-week basis.
Panthers Waive Zac Dalpe
Jan 15, 1:14 pm: Dalpe cleared waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Florida is clear to assign the minor-league veteran to AHL Charlotte.
Jan 14, 1:06 pm: The Panthers have made a roster move in advance of their game tonight against Vancouver as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve placed center Zac Dalpe on waivers.
The 33-year-old has been up with Florida since December 6th and has gotten into 11 games with the Panthers, putting up respectable numbers in a limited role as he has two goals and two assists in that stretch despite averaging just 9:31 per night of ice time on the fourth line. However, he has been a healthy scratch in seven of their last eight games. He has seen NHL action in 12 of the last 13 seasons although he has just 165 career appearances under his belt.
While Dalpe has already cleared waivers this season, the fact he has been up for more than a month and gotten into more than ten games means that he will need to pass through them again to make it back to the AHL.
That shouldn’t be too much of a risk for Florida as Dalpe has cleared waivers seven times throughout his career while only being claimed once (by Columbus back in 2017). He has been a strong scorer in the minors for several seasons now and was off to a good start with AHL Charlotte prior to the recall, notching ten goals and five assists in 19 games with the Checkers. Teams will have until 1 PM CT on Sunday to place a claim on Dalpe, who’s in the second and final season of a two-year, two-way deal that carries a $750K cap hit.
Canucks Linked To Rick Tocchet
01/15/23: On Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast last night, Friedman issued another update on the situation with the Canucks and Tocchet. He said “I do believe it will be Rick Tocchet” when or if the Canucks do decide to make a coaching change.
While still not a definite confirmation on the Canucks’ plans behind the bench, this report is a more firm indication that the Canucks are targeting the current TNT analyst to be their next head coach.
01/14/23: Bruce Boudreau has basically been on the hot seat since before the season started. When the Canucks opted not to extend his contract last summer, it created a situation where he was entering his ‘lame duck’ year. With a management team in place that inherited the veteran bench boss instead of hiring him, it felt it was going to be a year of uncertainty for the 68-year-old.
That’s exactly how things have played out. Vancouver’s first half of the season was largely underwhelming with the team collecting just 37 points in their first 41 games and are well outside the playoff picture as things stand. Between that and a perceived desire for management to hire their own coach, there has been an expectation of change basically all season long.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in a recent appearance on The Jeff Marek Show (audio link) that the team had discussions with several coaches earlier in the season including Rick Tocchet but obviously, nothing materialized. Friedman adds that the Canucks have since circled back and have re-engaged with Tocchet. However, he cautioned that even with this report, a change isn’t likely imminent.
There’s certainly familiarity between Vancouver’s management group – led by GM Patrik Allvin and president Jim Rutherford – dating back to Tocchet’s time with Pittsburgh when he served as an assistant coach for three seasons, two of which saw the Penguins take home the Stanley Cup.
Tocchet also has parts of six seasons head coaching experience between Tampa Bay and Arizona, sporting a .475 points percentage. That’s well below Boudreau’s career mark of .628 and even his points percentage with Vancouver which checks in at .566. However, whether it’s Tocchet or someone else, it sure seems like a coaching change is going to be on the horizon at some point; it’s not a matter of if but rather when and who it will be. Tocchet, currently an analyst for TNT, certainly appears to be garnering serious consideration for that spot whenever it’s made available.