Rangers Assign Zac Jones To AHL, Recall Jonny Brodzinski And Ben Harpur
December 4: Just a day after they recalled him, the Rangers announced they’ve re-assigned Brodzinski to the Hartford Wolf Pack, their AHL affiliate. While the Rangers did play last night, hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, Brodzinski did not play in the game.
December 3: The Rangers have decided to make a few roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Chicago as the team announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned defenseman Zac Jones to Hartford of the AHL while recalling winger Jonny Brodzinski and defenseman Ben Harpur from the Wolf Pack.
Jones has been regarded as one of New York’s better defensive prospects and has played somewhat of a regular role this season, suiting up in 16 games with the Rangers. He has just a goal and an assist in those contests while logging 15:37 per game, good for fifth on the team among their blueliners. This move will give him a chance to play a much bigger role with Hartford which they’re hoping will be better for his development in the long run.
Replacing him on the depth chart in New York is Harpur, a veteran who is no stranger to being an extra on an NHL roster. The 27-year-old had his AHL deal converted to an NHL contract back in late October and has five points and 24 penalty minutes in 17 games with the Wolf Pack this season. Harpur has played in 53 games with Nashville over the past two seasons in a role that’s similar to the one that Jones has held this year.
As for Brodzinski, his recall is to cover for an undisclosed forward whose presence is uncertain for tonight’s game, relays Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 29-year-old played in 22 games for the Rangers last season and has seen NHL action in each of the last six years. He has played exclusively with Hartford so far in 2022-23, picking up nine points in 17 contests.
Sharks Notes: Meier, Injuries, Riedell
One of the more interesting restricted free agents this summer will be Timo Meier. While he has an AAV of $6MM, his contract isn’t subject to the new qualifying rules that came into effect in the CBA (which is the lowest of 120% of the AAV or the same salary from the final year). That means that he will be owed a $10MM qualifying offer this summer, one that would also give Meier salary arbitration and a path to accept a one-year deal that walks him to unrestricted free agency. Accordingly, many expect the Sharks to look into what an early extension might cost them. However, his agent Claude Lemieux told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that they’re open-minded to discussing such a deal and are waiting for an offer to come.
The 26-year-old had a career year last season with 35 goals and 41 assists in 77 games and is producing at a slightly lesser pace this year with 12 tallies and 11 helpers in 26 contests. That type of production isn’t quite worth $10MM in this market so GM Mike Grier will need to decide over the next couple of months if Meier is someone that they want to try to keep long-term and work on a deal now or if they should be looking into moving him before the March 3rd trade deadline.
More from San Jose:
- While they were hoping to have goaltender James Reimer back this weekend, that won’t be the case as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now relays that Reimer, center Nico Sturm, and defenseman Mario Ferraro have all been ruled out of the next two games. Sturm was also believed to be nearing a return from his suspected concussion but the Sharks will hold him out for a couple more days at least. Ferraro skated yesterday for the first time as he begins to work his way back from a foot injury.
- The Sharks have made a move at the AHL level as their farm team announced the signing of defenseman Will Riedell. The 26-year-old wrapped his college career last season with Ohio State where he had 10 points in 33 games before joining Philadelphia’s farm team for the stretch run. So far this season, Riedell has four assists in 15 games with ECHL Savannah.
Lightning Assign Cole Koepke To AHL
With Anthony Cirelli close to returning, the Lightning need to open up both salary cap and roster space to bring him back onto the active roster. They made one of those moves this morning as they announced that they’ve sent winger Cole Koepke to AHL Syracuse.
The 24-year-old didn’t have any NHL experience heading into this season but made the roster out of training camp and has played close to a full-time role to this point. Koepke has suited up in 17 games for Tampa Bay this season, logging a little over nine minutes a game on the fourth line while chipping in with a goal and 22 hits.
Last season, Koepke was a productive forward with the Crunch, notching 20 goals and 19 helpers in 69 contests and at this stage of his development, a chance to play a much more prominent role in the minors will likely be beneficial.
Tampa Bay will have to wait to find out the fate of defenseman Philippe Myers for a few more hours. He was placed on waivers yesterday and his potential demotion coupled with Koepke’s return will give the Lightning just enough cap space to be able to activate Cirelli.
Snapshots: Kuzmenko, Anisimov, Monahan, Haight
Andrei Kuzmenko’s first season in North America has been a successful one as the winger enters play tonight sitting fourth on the Canucks in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists in 22 games. He’s also set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer for the second straight year except this time, he won’t be capped on entry-level restrictions. While the two sides are eligible to work out an extension as early as January, it doesn’t appear that will be the case. Appearing on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (video link), Kuzmenko’s agent Dan Milstein indicated that there are no contract talks planned for the near future:
We are not going to be talking about an extension of any kind until probably the end of the season or close to that time.
While that’s the plan for now, it stands to reason that Vancouver will look to start discussions before the end of the year as if they can’t reach an agreement on a contract for next season, Kuzmenko could be a trade candidate leading up to the March 3rd trade deadline.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Veteran center Artem Anisimov is off to a decent start with AHL Lehigh Valley with three points in his first five games with Philadelphia’s affiliate. In his latest 32 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that the Flyers would like to convert Anisimov’s contract to an NHL deal to add him to the roster. However, they’re currently unable to do so as they’re at the maximum 50 contracts so they’ll have to make a trade to open up a spot first unless someone claims Kieffer Bellows on waivers on Friday. Anisimov is a veteran of 771 career NHL contests and would give them someone else to try on the fourth line if they can open up a spot for him first.
- When the Canadiens acquired Sean Monahan this offseason, he seemed like a near-lock to be traded by the deadline with Montreal entrenched in a rebuild. However, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays that the team is now having internal discussions about the idea of trying to sign the 28-year-old to an extension instead of flipping him as an expiring deal at the deadline. Monahan has 14 points in 22 games this season while averaging over 17 minutes a night and appears to have recovered quite nicely from the hip surgeries he had in each of the past two years.
- Wild prospect Hunter Haight is on the move in the OHL as Barrie announced that they traded him to Saginaw in exchange for five draft picks. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick by Minnesota this past summer after putting up 22 goals and 41 points last season with the Colts. However, things haven’t gone as well this year as he managed just three goals and six helpers in 20 contests prior to the move. Minnesota has until June 1, 2024 to sign the center to an NHL contract.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Florida Panthers
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.
Florida Panthers
Current Cap Hit: $85,265,406 (over the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
G Spencer Knight (one year, $925K)
F Anton Lundell (two years, $925K)
Potential Bonuses
Knight: $1.85MM
Lundell: $850K
Total: $2.7MM
Lundell had a very nice rookie season, establishing himself as a key two-way center in a hurry. He has been a bit quieter offensively to start this year but he still looks to be on track to be a part of their top six before too long. At that point, the price tag is going to get expensive quickly. A bridge deal could fall in the $4MM range as things stand and it will be difficult for them to work out a long-term agreement with their cap situation. At the moment, he’s on track to hit two of his ‘A’ bonuses ($425K in total).
We’ll dig into Knight’s next contract later but it’s worth highlighting here that $850K of his bonuses are ‘A’ ones and he’s on pace to hit four of those to max out. There’s a good chance at least some of those will have to roll over and be charged against the cap next season.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
D Radko Gudas ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Patric Hornqvist ($5.3MM, UFA)
D Josh Mahura ($750K, RFA)
F Eric Staal ($750K, UFA)
D Marc Staal ($750K, UFA)
F Colin White ($1.2MM, RFA)
Hornqvist came over in 2020 from Pittsburgh in a trade that hasn’t aged well. The veteran had a good first season but has slowed down considerably to the point where he’s basically a fourth liner now. If he gets another deal after this, it’s likely to be closer to the $1MM mark with perhaps some potential bonuses as well. White was bought out by Ottawa and wanted to find a team that could give him a real role. So far, it looks like he made the right pick as he has been quite productive in the bottom six. If that continues, he’ll be well-positioned to more than double his price tag in arbitration. However, that could be a risk they don’t want to take. The oldest of the Staal brothers, Eric didn’t play at all last season and was only able to secure a PTO deal, one that lasted a couple of weeks into the year. If he gets another contract, it’ll be at the minimum as well.
Gudas is best known for the physicality he brings but he also can log top-four minutes while contributing positive possession numbers as well. As a right-shot defender, his market might be stronger than some expect next summer which should allow him to add at least a million to his current AAV on another multi-year agreement. Mahura was a waiver claim from Anaheim and has secured a spot on Florida’s third pairing. He’s not dominating but the fact he’s in there regularly gives him a chance to push for something closer to the $1MM mark with arbitration rights next summer. As for the defender among the Staal brothers, Marc likely left some money on the table to join Florida as he can still play on the third pairing and kill penalties. If he’s chasing a Cup, he’ll keep playing around this price tag. If not, he could creep past the $1MM mark next summer as well.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Nick Cousins ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Anthony Duclair ($3MM, UFA)
D Gustav Forsling ($2.667MM, UFA)
F Eetu Luostarinen ($1.5MM, RFA)
D Brandon Montour ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Sam Reinhart ($6.5MM, UFA)
Reinhart’s first season with the Panthers was a very successful one as he set new career highs across the board while producing more like a top-line center. However, he has struggled this season with numbers more in line with his first couple of years with Buffalo. If he can get back to the point-per-game mark, he can easily add a couple million per year on a max-term agreement if not a bit more than that. But if he goes back to producing more like he did with the Sabres, he might have a hard time commanding much more than what he’s getting now.
Duclair had a career year last season, really emerging as a consistent impact top-six winger for the first time. But lots of players had those performances last season with Florida and have stepped back a bit. In Duclair’s case, he has yet to play due to a torn Achilles and it’s an injury that will take a lot of time for him to get back up to speed once he does come back, forcing Florida’s hand from a salary cap perspective in the process. Realistically, it’s not going to be a good season when it comes to assessing what his next deal will be. Instead, the pressure will be on in 2023-24 when he’ll be at full strength to start the year that will allow him to show if his 58 points last year were the outlier or a sign of things to come.
Luostarinen established himself as a full-time regular for the first time last season which earned him this bridge deal. So far, he has improved upon his performance from last year and if he can become a 35-point player that moves up and down the lineup, doubling his current price tag could be doable. Cousins has bounced around a lot in recent years and his value on the open market is pretty much established at this point. He might have left a bit of money on the table to get a two-year commitment but what he’s making now should be close to his market value in 2024 as well.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Sam Bennett ($4.425MM, UFA)
D Aaron Ekblad ($7.5MM, UFA)
F Carter Verhaeghe ($4.167MM, UFA)
The Panthers took a gamble that Bennett had more to provide offensively as they acquired him back in 2021. He took off quickly with Florida and quickly inked this contract. For a power forward that can also play down the middle in a pinch, it would be a bargain as long as he stayed in the top six. That has certainly been the case so far as he set career highs across the board last year and is on pace for similar production this season. With the going rate being so high for impact power forwards, Bennett’s certainly on a below-market deal by a couple million at least.
Florida had Verhaeghe on a very below-market deal until this season. Even now, it’s still a very team-friendly contract. He has broken out offensively since joining Florida, becoming one of their most consistent scoring threats while seeing time on the top line. He’s getting paid well below what someone in that role with that type of production typically gets. It’s not as big of a bargain as it was before but it’s still a very good one. The price tag for this type of production might put him past $7MM when this deal is up.
Ekblad’s contract was at one point the richest given to a defenseman coming off an entry-level contract in NHL history; that has since been surpassed multiple times. When healthy, he is a legitimate all-situations top defender and with the market rate for that type of player jumping up as much as it has, he’s a good bargain for them as well. But staying healthy has been a challenge as he has missed significant time in each of the last three seasons (including this one). There’s still plenty of time for that to change and if he stays healthy the last couple of years, his AAV could jump past the $10MM mark next time around.
Pacific Notes: Wright, Ducks, Reimer
Going into the season, Kraken GM Ron Francis had indicated that the plan was for rookie Shane Wright to spend the full year with Seattle. However, some early struggles resulted in several healthy scratches, enough in a row to the point where it allowed him to go to AHL Coachella Valley on a conditioning stint. In an appearance on the Got Yer’ Back podcast (video link), Francis indicated that the original plan might be changing. Wright will play two more games with the Firebirds and then will be recalled and put into the Kraken’s lineup with a decision on what’s next for him to be made after evaluating his performance post-recall. However, he can only play in two more games before officially burning the first year of his entry-level deal so that evaluation and decision will have to be made fairly quickly.
More from the Pacific:
- While things haven’t gone well for the Ducks this season (they enter play tonight dead last in points), don’t expect a coaching change anytime soon. In his latest podcast (audio link), GM Pat Verbeek indicated that his intention is to evaluate the coaching staff only at the end of the season. With the team clearly still in a rebuild, there’s no immediate need to make a change but if Dallas Eakins is hoping to stick with Anaheim beyond this season, they’ll need to play at least a little better than they have so far.
- The Sharks could get James Reimer back this weekend, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The veteran is currently on IR with a lower-body injury, his second one from November but he’s eligible to be activated as early as Saturday. San Jose plays both Saturday and Sunday so there’s a good chance he’ll be able to suit up for one of those. Reimer has a 3.00 GAA and a .903 SV% in 15 starts so far this season.
Five Key Stories: 11/21/22 – 11/27/22
American Thanksgiving is often viewed as a key point in the NHL season. By now, teams have an idea of what their needs are and will start to try to fill some of those in the coming weeks. We saw a couple of those moves made this past week which are highlighted in our key stories.
Extension Talks Start For Bratt: Jesper Bratt’s last two contract negotiations haven’t gone as well as either side would have hoped. His bridge deal was signed just days before the 2020-21 season started and they opted to settle for a one-year, $5.45MM agreement to avoid an arbitration hearing over the summer. Now, they’re going to take another run at a long-term contract as extension discussions have now started. Bratt is off to a strong start to his season with 25 points in 22 games, putting him on pace to set new career highs across the board. If a new deal isn’t reached, he’ll enter restricted free agency this summer with the ability to file for arbitration and take a one-year contract that walks him to the open market in 2024 so it’s safe to say that working something out is going to be a high priority for GM Tom Fitzgerald.
More Toronto Injuries: Already missing Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie, the back end for the Maple Leafs got thinned out even more when they placed Morgan Rielly on LTIR with what is believed to be an MCL injury that will keep him out at least a month. That’s a big blow to their offensive upside from their blueliners as the veteran has 16 assists in 20 games this season while he’s logging 23 minutes a night. On top of that, veteran Jordie Benn was placed on IR later in the week and is listed as out week to week with an upper-body injury. Due to the injuries, Toronto GM Kyle Dubas opted to make a small move to add a bit of extra depth, acquiring Conor Timmins from Arizona for AHL center Curtis Douglas. Timmins was once a highly-regarded prospect following a very productive junior career but has battled concussion trouble and has played in just 14 games between the NHL and AHL dating back to last season.
Four For Kochetkov: Counting the playoffs, Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has made a total of 13 NHL appearances. However, he is believed to be their goalie of the future and the team certainly signaled that, inking the 23-year-old to a four-year, $8MM contract extension that begins next season. The deal gives Carolina half of their goalie tandem at what’s likely to be a below-market rate for the foreseeable future and locks up at least one netminder with both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer. In the meantime, Kochetkov will continue to split time with Raanta with Andersen being on IR before likely returning to AHL Chicago later in the season.
Reaves To Minnesota: After being scratched for several games, Ryan Reaves had requested a trade from the Rangers and his request was granted as New York dealt him to Minnesota in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick. The 35-year-old is best known for his physicality and it’s clear that the Wild were looking to shake up their depth a bit as this move came on the heels of losing Tyson Jost to Buffalo on waivers last weekend. Reaves’ full $1.75MM cap hit is absorbed by Minnesota which allows the Rangers to bank some extra cap space which is notable as they’re a team that many expect to try to make a splash on the trade front closer to the trade deadline.
Salming Passes Away: Just days after being honored in Toronto, Hall of Fame defenseman Borje Salming passed away at the age of 71. He had been diagnosed with ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease) back in August. Salming was a six-time All-Star that finished in the top five of Norris Trophy voting for the first seven years of his career and is Toronto’s all-time leader for points by defensemen with 768 amassed over 16 seasons with the team. He was also one of the first European players to ever play in the NHL and is widely considered a trailblazer to help the game become the truly international one it is today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Oilers Believed To Be Looking To Add Grit Up Front
While the long-term injury to Evander Kane dealt a big blow to Edmonton’s offense, it also took away a big part of their physical play up front with the veteran averaging over 3.6 hits per game. While his LTIR placement allowed them to bring up some extra players to round out their roster, none of those players are particularly gritty.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in a recent 32 Thoughts segment (video link) that the Oilers could be looking around the league for affordable grit up front.
The key word is affordable. As Kane is set to return before the end of the season, Edmonton has to get back to cap compliance to be able to activate him. Accordingly, they will need to be targeting a player who either replaces someone at the bottom of their roster or whose cap hit is low enough that it can come off the books entirely with an AHL assignment; the threshold for that is $1.125MM.
With someone in that particular price range, they’ll almost certainly be looking for someone that would play on the fourth line. Right now, Derek Ryan is a fixture on that fourth trio despite struggling mightily offensively this season and veteran farmhand Brad Malone is getting a look on that group as well in the hopes that he can make a difference on the physical side of things. Accordingly, there certainly are spots that could be up for grabs if they find a way to add another depth forward or two.
With cap space at a premium for most teams, Edmonton included, the trade market is still likely a little while away from truly picking up with the exception of affordable depth players. It appears the Oilers will be keeping an eye on that portion of the market over the coming weeks to see if they can make their fourth line a little tougher to play against.
Ducks Activate Derek Grant Off Injured Reserve, Place Max Comtois On IR
The Ducks will have a bit of extra help up front as they get set to take on Seattle tonight. Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link) that center Derek Grant has been activated off injured reserve and will suit up against the Kraken. He’ll take the place of rookie winger Pavol Regenda.
The 32-year-old has been out for a little over three weeks due to an upper-body injury. Prior to sustaining it, Grant had played in 11 games, picking up a goal and an assist while logging heavy minutes shorthanded; his 2:39 of ice time per game in that situation is second among Anaheim forwards behind only Jakob Silfverberg.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Grant is the type of depth forward that tends to be moved closer to the trade deadline as someone that can kill penalties, play both down the middle and on the wing, and is affordable on the cap (he carries a $1.5MM AAV). With the Ducks appearing to be well on the path towards selling over the next few months, Grant figures to be on the move at some point but he’ll give Anaheim a boost in the bottom six in the meantime now that he’s healthy.
It’s not all good news on the injury front for the Ducks, however, as Dillman also notes that blueliner John Klingberg will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. It has been a tough start to the season for the veteran who was looking to rebuild some value after not getting the type of contract he was seeking in free agency last summer. Instead, he has just one goal in 20 games and will be out of the lineup a little longer.
Meanwhile, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Comtois has been placed on injured reserve. He has been out for the last two weeks due to a lower-body injury which allows Anaheim to backdate the placement. Accordingly, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s healthy. Comtois has four goals in 15 games so far this season.
Snapshots: Mayfield, Rodrigues, Barkov
Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield has been one of the better bargains in the league in recent seasons. A bit of a late bloomer, he opted to take a five-year deal with a cap hit of just $1.45MM, giving him some much-desired stability in the process. Since then, the 30-year-old has become an important part of their top four, logging nearly 20 minutes a night in a shutdown role. A pending UFA, Mayfield is now well-positioned to potentially more than double that price tag on his next deal and he made it clear to Newsday’s Andrew Gross that his desire is to remain with New York. The Isles already have over $73MM in commitments for next season per CapFriendly with a handful of roster spots to fill so they should have enough cap room to keep him in the fold unless GM Lou Lamoriello decides to shake things up next summer.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues is officially listed as week to week but is expected to miss two to four weeks due to the lower-body injury sustained on Wednesday against Vancouver, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The timeline won’t allow Colorado to transfer him onto LTIR to add to their pool unless the team learns that he will be out for the longer end of that timeline. Rodrigues has been a useful addition this season as he has notched six goals and three assists through his first 18 games while spending some time both on the wing and down the middle.
- Panthers center Aleksander Barkov is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s game against St. Louis due to an illness, notes Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now (Twitter link). Florida remains in a situation where they can only afford to carry the minimum number of players on their roster so if the captain isn’t able to play, they will once again have to dress only 17 skaters tonight.