Pacific Notes: Kraken, Foegele, Canucks
After acquiring winger Oliver Bjorkstrand from Columbus on Friday, the heavy lifting for Seattle’s offseason appears to be done. However, GM Ron Francis told reporters, including Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, that he’s still open to adding another depth defenseman and another depth forward. The team has roughly $3.6MM in cap space per CapFriendly with Morgan Geekie still needing a new contract that will cut into that cap space. Ryan Donato was an intriguing non-tender earlier this month likely due to his arbitration eligibility despite recording 16 goals and 15 assists (good for sixth in team scoring) and Francis indicated that the door is still open to his return as well at the right price.
More from the Pacific Division:
- With the Oilers being among the teams that are still looking to clear out some money this summer, Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal posits that the cleanest option for Edmonton might be to move winger Warren Foegele. Acquired in a trade from Carolina last summer, the 26-year-old signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal that has two seasons remaining. Foegele had 26 points in 82 games last season but posted 127 hits (a new career-high) which could be of interest to teams looking for some grit in the bottom six. Edmonton still has to re-sign forwards Jesse Puljujarvi, Ryan McLeod, and Kailer Yamamoto and are basically down to the LTIR space from Oscar Klefbom and Mike Smith ($6.367MM combined). It will be difficult to sign those three with that money so finding a spot for Foegele would certainly help their cause.
- Winger Ty Ronning expressed an interest in signing with Vancouver this summer to play with AHL Abbotsford, notes Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province. However, the team indicated that their preference was to focus on the development of their prospects which would have limited Ronning’s playing time and resulted in him signing with Minnesota’s farm team instead. The 24-year-old spent five years with WHL Vancouver so joining the Canucks would have been a homecoming of sorts.
Notes From The Calgary-Florida Trade
Friday’s trade that saw the Flames send winger Matthew Tkachuk to Florida along with a 2025 conditional fourth-round pick for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick certainly was a blockbuster one that dramatically shakes things up for both teams. Here are some additional news and notes from the swap.
- The swap was completed as a sign-and-trade which meant Tkachuk re-signed with Calgary before being traded to Florida. That means that Florida doesn’t get the second buyout window that they would have received had Tkachuk signed with the Panthers. That said, had Florida signed him, they’d have been limited to a seven-year term because he wasn’t on their reserve list at the trade deadline. Calgary will still get their second buyout window once RFAs Matthew Phillips, Andrew Mangiapane, and Oliver Kylington re-sign.
- Per CapFriendly (Twitter link), the condition on the fourth-round pick that Florida is receiving is tied to the lottery protections on the 2025 first-round selection. If the Panthers’ pick in 2025 is in the lottery and thus doesn’t convey until 2026, the fourth-round pick will also be moved to 2026.
- According to TSN’s StatsCentre (Twitter link), this swap is only the second one in NHL history that sees a pair of 100-point players from the previous season being traded for each other. The other was the move that saw Wayne Gretzky go to Los Angeles back in 1988 with Jimmy Carson going to Edmonton as part of the swap.
- Prior to the trade, the Panthers had held extension talks with Huberdeau, reports George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. There had been an expectation he’d sign a long-term agreement close to the $10MM that Aleksander Barkov is receiving next season as his new deal kicks in but clearly, GM Bill Zito preferred to allocate that money to Tkachuk instead.
Kings Re-Sign Gabriel Vilardi And Jaret Anderson-Dolan
The Kings have agreed to terms with a pair of their remaining restricted free agents as the team announced that they’ve signed forwards Gabriel Vilardi and Jaret Anderson-Dolan to one-year contracts. Vilardi receives a one-year, one-way deal worth $825K while Anderson-Dolan receives a two-way pact that’s worth $750K at the NHL level.
Vilardi was a first-round pick of Los Angeles back in 2017 (11th overall) but dealt with back trouble soon after. The 22-year-old actually played less with the Kings last season (25 games) than he did in the pandemic-shortened campaign (54 contests) with the team being a little deeper up front plus their desire to give him big minutes in the minors. In his NHL appearances, Vilardi picked five goals and two assists while averaging 13:31 per night but was much more productive with AHL Ontario, notching 15 goals and 23 helpers in just 39 contests. In his career, he has played in a total of 89 NHL contests, collecting 18 goals and 19 assists.
While Vilardi was owed a qualifying offer of just over $874K, that only had to be a two-way offer. By taking a little less than that, he was able to secure that as his guaranteed salary no matter where he plays (although he’s now waiver-eligible so it’s unlikely that he’d made it back to the Reign) while giving Los Angeles a bit of cap flexibility.
As for Anderson-Dolan, the 22-year-old is also coming off his entry-level deal. The 2017 second-rounder (41st overall) also saw less NHL action than in the pandemic-shortened season, going from 34 NHL appearances in 2020-21 to just seven in 2021-22 (where he was held off the scoresheet). He played quite well in the minors though, finishing third on the Reign in scoring with 24 goals and 23 assists in 54 games.
Anderson-Dolan also took less than his NHL qualifying offer which will result in him receiving a higher AHL salary than he would have received had he taken his qualifier. However, he’s also waiver-eligible next season and as a young center with 50 career NHL games under his belt, putting him on waivers to try to send him back to Ontario would be a little risky. Instead, he would be a candidate to break camp as an extra which wouldn’t be great for his development but would ensure he’d remain with the organization.
The Kings still have some work to do on the RFA front with defensemen Michael Anderson and Sean Durzi in need of new contracts. With limited cap space, they will likely need to pursue short-term agreements with both players in the coming days.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report that both players had re-signed.
Blue Jackets Re-Sign Trey Fix-Wolansky
A day after getting their top restricted free agent re-signed, the Blue Jackets went back to locking up some of their depth pieces, announcing the signing of winger Trey Fix-Wolansky to a one-year, two-way contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal will pay $750K in the NHL and $80K in the minors.
The 23-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into six games with Columbus where he picked up a goal and an assist despite averaging just 6:17 per contest. His goal came in his NHL debut against Washington, becoming the sixth player in Blue Jackets history to score in his NHL debut. Fix-Wolansky spent the bulk of last season in the minors and picked up career highs in goals (15) and assists (18) in 53 games with AHL Cleveland.
Fix-Wolansky will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season and will need to pass through unclaimed in order to make it back to the Monsters. With a limited track record so far him being a smaller player at 5’8, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t be picked up off the wire. However, after holding his own in his first taste of NHL action last season, Fix-Wolansky should get another opportunity at some point with the Blue Jackets in 2022-23 when injuries arise.
Columbus now has one remaining restricted free agent to re-sign this summer in winger Emil Bemstrom who wasn’t eligible to file for salary arbitration earlier this month.
Bruins Re-Sign Jack Studnicka
The Bruins didn’t reach an agreement with Jack Studnicka by the time that qualifying offers lapsed on Friday but they didn’t need much time after that to sign him as the team announced that they’ve signed the forward to a two-year contract. The deal carries an AAV of $762.5K and is a two-way agreement for 2022-23 and a one-year pact for 2023-24.
The 23-year-old was a second-round pick of the Bruins back in 2017 (53rd overall) and has seen some NHL action in each of his first three professional campaigns. Last season, Studnicka played in 15 games with Boston, picking up three assists while averaging 12:35 per game. He was, however, more productive in the minors with AHL Providence, notching 10 goals and 25 assists in 41 contests, the best points-per-game rate of his three professional seasons.
Studnicka will have to pass through waivers next season to make it back to Providence and while he hasn’t had a lot of NHL success just yet with just a goal and six assists in 37 career contests, the fact he’s a young center with some experience would make him a candidate to be claimed off waivers if they tried to send him back down. Instead, it seems likely that Studnicka will be able to collect his NHL salary for both years – $750K next season and $775K in 2023-24 – by hanging on to a spot at the back of Boston’s roster while hoping to land a full-time spot in their lineup.
John Matisz of The Score was the first to report the contract.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
It has been an eventful few weeks around the NHL, to say the least. The draft has come and gone with several surprises, free agency has resulted in many players finding new homes, and there have been some significant trades along the way as well. With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag.
Last time, the mailbag was broken up into three parts. Topics in the first included the recent increase of creative usage of LTIR and Matt Murray being linked to Toronto, the second was a Red Wings-specific column, and the third included discussion about the Bruins’ offseason and possible trade targets for the Coyotes.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
Andrew Mangiapane Interested In Long-Term Deal With Calgary
While there are questions about whether or not Matthew Tkachuk wants to stick around with the Flames on a long-term basis, the same can’t be said for fellow winger Andrew Mangiapane. Ritch Winter, the agent for the 26-year-old, told Sportsnet 960 (audio link) that his client is interested in a long-term deal to stay in Calgary:
I don’t want to get into the negotiations – I share Brad (Treliving’s) view that it’s never really healthy for the process – but I think ultimately to admit that Andrew has submitted a proposal on a multi-year deal tells you he’s quite interested in staying here despite the uncertainty that surrounds Matthew Tkachuk.
Certainly, Andrew feels very comfortable with the coaching staff, he likes the management team here, he likes the city, he’s had a good experience. He said to them he’s quite willing to stay on a longer-term deal.
Mangiapane is coming off a career season that saw him score 35 goals in 82 games while also adding 20 assists, career-highs across the board. Impressively, that came with a dip in ice time as he averaged just 15:44 per game and was the only player in the top-30 in goals league-wide to average below 17:40 per contest. Mangiapane also chipped in with three goals and three assists in a dozen postseason contests.
Those numbers certainly bolster his value in his final year of RFA eligibility while Mangiapane was one of 24 players to file for arbitration over the weekend. He received a qualifying offer of $2.45MM last week although, with the year he had, his next contract could wind up being closer to double that amount.
It stands to reason that what happens with Tkachuk could ultimately play a role in what type of deal Mangiapane lands. While they have ample cap room to re-sign their RFAs (a group that also includes defenseman Oliver Kylington, another of the 24 players to file for a hearing), if Tkachuk ultimately moves on, GM Brad Treliving may very well have to change course in which case Mangiapane could go from a secondary scorer to a top-liner with the asking price changing accordingly. Arbitration hearings will start to be scheduled as of July 27th and run for a couple of weeks so there is still some time to work out a new deal and see what happens with Tkachuk but it appears that regardless of what happens with him, Mangiapane is hoping to stick around in Calgary for the long haul.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jets Sign Saku Maenalanen
The Jets have decided to give Saku Maenalanen another opportunity in North America as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the center to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay $750K in the NHL and $225K in the minors.
This will be the 28-year-old’s second stint in North America after spending the 2018-19 campaign with Carolina. He split that season between the NHL and AHL, picking up eight points in 34 games with the Hurricanes (while also getting into nine postseason contests) and added 14 points in 31 appearances in the minors. However, while Carolina tendered him a qualifying offer in 2019, he opted to go back overseas instead.
Since then, Maenalanen has played in Finland, spending two years with Jokerit in the KHL before joining Karpat of the SM-liiga last season. He was quite productive in 2021-22, leading the team in scoring with 41 points in 47 games while also making appearances for Finland at the Olympics and World Championships. That was enough to convince Winnipeg to offer Maenalanen another NHL opportunity while the center walks away from the two remaining years on his Finnish contract to do so.
Winnipeg has several roster spots up front to fill next season so as things stand, there will be some openings in training camp in the fall. With him doing reasonably well in a limited role with Carolina in the past, Maenalanen could have an inside track on one of those openings with the Jets likely opting once again to turn to low-cost depth to round out their roster for 2022-23.
Central Notes: Stars, Blues, Slaggert
While Dallas has roughly $11MM in cap space per CapFriendly and still has to re-sign RFA winger Jason Robertson and RFA goaltender Jake Oettinger, assistant GM Scott White told Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that the Stars don’t believe they’re in a position where they have to shed money to keep those two around. They have enough cap space left to sign one of the two to a long-term contract while the other would need to be on a short-term bridge deal but doing that would allow them to keep Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov in the fold. To get both RFAs signed to long-term contracts, one of those two forwards and likely goalie Anton Khudobin would need to be moved out to open up extra cap flexibility. As a result, their summer shopping is likely done until Robertson and Oettinger put pen to paper on their new contracts.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- In an interview on ESPN 101 (audio link), winger David Perron indicated he didn’t receive a formal contract offer from the Blues before eventually signing a two-year, $9.5MM deal with Detroit. Perron and St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong both expressed mutual interest in a new contract getting reached, especially after the 34-year-old put up 57 points in 67 games last season. However, as Armstrong noted to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, his priority was shoring up the defense and Nick Leddy’s willingness to sign a four-year, $16MM contract basically took any chance of them keeping Perron in the fold off the table.
- Blackhawks prospect Landon Slaggert gave no consideration to turning pro after his sophomore season at Notre Dame, relays Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). The 20-year-old forward had 26 points in 40 games last season and was named to the United States’ roster for the postponed World Juniors. Powers adds that it would be surprising if the 2020 third-rounder doesn’t turn pro after the college season comes to an end, however, potentially creating a situation where Chicago could burn the first year of his entry-level deal right away and give him a taste of NHL action.
Canadiens Sign Rem Pitlick
After non-tendering him earlier in the week, the Canadiens have decided to bring back Rem Pitlick, announcing that they’ve re-signed the forward to a two-year contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an AAV of $1.1MM.
The 25-year-old bounced around a bit last season. He spent the preseason with Nashville before being waived and claimed by Minnesota. Pitlick was relatively productive with the Wild as he had 11 points in 20 games but found himself back on the wire back in January. Montreal was dealing with several injuries and missing quite a few players due to a COVID outbreak so they scooped him up.
With the Canadiens, Pitlick had an opportunity to play a much bigger role and made the most of it, picking up nine goals and 17 assists in 46 games while averaging over 17 minutes per game. However, GM Kent Hughes acknowledged during his press conference (Twitter link) that they didn’t want to risk an arbitration hearing with Pitlick which resulted in his non-tender on Monday. Even with that, he gets a small raise on the $917K he made last season and a bit of job security with the two-year term.
Following today’s earlier swap that saw Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling go to Pittsburgh, the move freed up a roster spot up front and enough cap space to bring Pitlick back. Now, following Pitlick’s addition, the team has a little over $1.2MM in cap space remaining, per CapFriendly. That won’t be enough to sign the recently-acquired Kirby Dach so it appears that Montreal may need to make another move to trim money at some point this summer.