East Notes: Senators, Capitals, Johnson
While the Senators made a big splash yesterday with the acquisition of winger Alex DeBrincat, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter links) that there are still a pair of priorities for Ottawa – adding a defenseman and moving Matt Murray with talks intensifying on that front. He adds that winger Connor Brown and blueliner Nikita Zaitsev could be players on the move.
Brown isn’t likely to sign an extension after suggesting he’d like to test free agency when he’s eligible next summer and at $3.6MM, he’d carry some trade value after being a key two-way player. Zaitsev, meanwhile, has two years left at a $4.5MM AAV and might be used to match salaries in a move for a defender. Murray blocked a trade to Buffalo on Thursday but the Senators are still looking to get out from the two years at $6.25MM per season left on his deal but will almost certainly need to pay down a fair-sized portion of that to facilitate a move.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- The Capitals have interest in retaining pending unrestricted free agents Justin Schultz, Marcus Johansson, and Johan Larsson, notes Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription link). With Schultz, however, the 32-year-old blueliner would need to take a pay cut from the $4MM he made over each of the last two years for a deal to be done. Schultz is coming off a bit of a quiet year by his standards where he notched 23 points in 74 games. The other two forwards were trade deadline acquisitions and fit in well with El-Bashir highlighting that the possibility of Larsson returning could be tied to Carl Hagelin’s situation with his availability for next season up in the air.
- Sabres prospect defenseman Ryan Johnson will make his decision on whether or not to turn pro following their upcoming Development Camp, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 2019 first-round pick has one more year of college eligibility remaining and the team could interpret him staying at the University of Minnesota as an indication that he may be interested in testing free agency next summer. If that’s the case, Buffalo could look to move his rights in the coming weeks. If Johnson opts for free agency next August and his rights aren’t traded, the Sabres would receive the 64th pick in the 2024 draft as compensation.
Offseason Checklist: Edmonton Oilers
With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming weeks. Next up is a look at the Oilers.
This past season was a good one for the Oilers as they were able to make it to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006 before being taken out by the eventual Cup-winning Avalanche. Now, GM Ken Holland has some work to do to keep as much of the core intact while trying to add a piece or two to bolster their chances for next year.
New Deals For RFA Wingers
Let’s start with the free agent front. Thanks to their cap situation, they were forced to give low-cost bridge contracts to wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi. It worked in the sense that it allowed them to have enough flexibility to add some other pieces to their roster for 2021-22 and clearly, some of those additions helped propel them to the third round. But now, those young wingers are about to cost more.
Yamamoto will be owed a $1.175MM qualifying offer but should more than double that on his next contract. After a tough showing in 2020-21, the 23-year-old bounced back nicely, hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time while setting new career bests in assists (21) and points (41) as well. He didn’t produce at the same point-per-game rate that he did in his rookie campaign but he spent most of the year in Edmonton’s top six, logging nearly 17 minutes a game. Yamamoto is now arbitration-eligible and with the year he had, he’ll have a strong case to push for something in the high-$2MM range if it gets to a hearing. Another short-term contract is likely to keep the cost down but it will cost a fair bit more this time around.
As for Puljujarvi, the 24-year-old has had more success in his second stint in the NHL and is coming off a career year of his own with 36 points in 65 games with impressive possession stats as well. His playoff performance ended things on a sour note but with him being arbitration-eligible as well, he’s in line to earn considerably more than his $1.41MM qualifying offer. At this point, a trade appears to be likely but that was the expected outcome a few years ago when he first wanted out. If he sticks around, they’ll need to pay up to keep him. If he goes, they’ll need to find a pretty good player to replace him, one that won’t come all that cheap.
Add A Goalie
Now, onto the obvious one. Goaltending has been an issue for the Oilers for several years now and while Holland has tried to get in on the bidding for some of the notable free agents (such as Jacob Markstrom), he hasn’t been able to land an impact starter. Keeping Mike Smith around was supposed to give them some stability but the combination of him and Mikko Koskinen was highly volatile. Now, Koskinen is off to Switzerland while there has been plenty of speculation that Smith, who has one more year left on his contract, is expected to spend 2022-23 on LTIR after playing through several injuries during Edmonton’s playoff run. That leaves a pair of openings to fill.
One of those can be covered internally by Stuart Skinner who didn’t look out of place in a dozen starts this past season. He’s under contract for the league minimum for 2022-23 which will give Holland a little extra flexibility to work with. However, the 23-year-old isn’t ready to be an NHL starter yet and hasn’t played 50 regular season games in a full professional year. He’s someone that could be leaned on for 25-30 starts but anything more than that would be risky. Accordingly, the Oilers will need a true starter or at least someone that’s capable of playing the strong side of a platoon.
Looking into free agency, there aren’t a lot of those available with some of the more prominent names coming off the board over the last 48 hours. Darcy Kuemper will hit the open market with Colorado opting to go in a different direction and Jack Campbell remains unsigned. Those are the only two goalies that made more than 35 starts in 2021-22. Unless there’s a trade out there for an affordable goaltender to materialize, their options are limited and Edmonton will need to make sure one of those two is in their lineup on opening night.
Re-Sign Or Replace Kane
A few days ago, it looked like it would be quite difficult for Edmonton to have a chance at keeping Evander Kane in the fold. The power forward fit in quite well after joining the team midseason and is well-positioned to land a sizable contract. It probably won’t be as high as the one that San Jose terminated but he will land one of the bigger deals on the open market next week. But with them offloading Zack Kassian’s contract to Arizona and Duncan Keith set to retire, more than $8.5MM in cap room is opened up. Smith being LTIR-bound would give them another $2.2MM to work with although they’ll need that and more to fill the goalie vacancy.
All of a sudden, there’s at least a pathway towards Holland being able to take a legitimate run at keeping Kane around and ensuring a key part of their attack – he had 22 goals in just 43 games – sticks around. If not, they’ll need to put that money to good use to bring in another top-six forward to replace him. If they have to go the latter route, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Edmonton prefer a shorter-term option – someone like Claude Giroux – whose contract would expire by the time Draisaitl’s contract wraps up in 2025. Keith’s retirement has given Holland a chance to bring back or bring in another key piece and they’ll need to take advantage of it.
Add Defensive Depth
Keith’s retirement also opens up a spot on the back end to fill as the soon-to-be 39-year-old logged nearly 20 minutes a night on Edmonton’s blueline. While Evan Bouchard can conceivably cover a couple more than what he logged in 2021-22, the Oilers will need to find a replacement that’s at least capable of playing 16-18 minutes per contest.
On top of that, Brett Kulak and Kris Russell are pending unrestricted free agents, opening up a pair of slots at the end of their roster. While Kulak is a candidate to be brought back – more so following the Keith news – a depth defender or two would go a long way towards giving them a bit of stability on the third pairing. Philip Broberg has some upside but limited NHL experience so far while their current depth options like Slater Koekkoek and Dmitri Samorukov aren’t players they should be comfortable using on an every-game basis.
What they are or aren’t able to do here will largely be determined by what happens with their goalie situation and Kane but is something that Holland will be looking to address in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Five Key Stories: 6/27/22 – 7/3/22
With Colorado beating Tampa Bay to win the Stanley Cup, the offseason is officially underway. Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of news over the past seven days which is recapped in our top stories.
Boston Gets Their Guy: While it took a lot longer than anyone really expected, the Bruins agreed on a multi-year contract extension with GM Don Sweeney. Soon after, Sweeney found his next head coach as Boston hired Jim Montgomery as their new bench boss. It will be Montgomery’s second time running an NHL bench as he was in charge for parts of two years in Dallas before being let go due to “unprofessional conduct” which Montgomery himself revealed was a battle with alcohol abuse. The Bruins will be dealing with several key injuries to start next season including Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand so Montgomery will have his work cut out for him early on until those players return. Dallas did well with Montgomery at the helm with a .579 points percentage but expectations will be high after they let Bruce Cassidy (who had a .672 points percentage with the Bruins) go earlier this offseason.
Tampa Makes Early Moves: Just days after falling to the Avalanche, the Lightning were back in the news. First, they found a way to keep Nick Paul around, handing the forward a seven-year contract that carries an AAV of $3.15MM with some trade protection. The 27-year-old fit in quite well after being acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa, spending time on the second and third lines both down the stretch and in the playoffs. Knowing they needed to fit in that contract and their desire to keep winger Ondrej Palat, GM Julien BriseBois then convinced defenseman Ryan McDonagh to waive his no-trade clause and moved him to Nashville for blueliner Philippe Myers and AHL forward Grant Mismash. The move frees up $4.2MM in cap space as it stands but if Tampa Bay was to have a change of heart and buy out Myers, that could jump to $7.3MM as buying out the 25-year-old would actually give the Lightning a cap credit for next season. Nashville gets a solid veteran blueliner in McDonagh to bolster their top four and take on the remaining four years of his deal at a $6.75MM cap hit.
Fiala To Los Angeles: Minnesota’s salary cap situation is well-known. The increased dead cap charge stemming from the buyouts on Ryan Suter and Zach Parise was going to force their hand with Kevin Fiala. While they wanted to keep him, everyone knew they couldn’t afford to. That situation worked out well for the Kings as they acquired the 25-year-old in exchange for their first-round pick in next week’s draft (19th overall) along with the rights to prospect defenseman Brock Faber. Los Angeles wasted little time signing Fiala to a seven-year, $55.125MM extension that carries some form of trade protection in each year that he’s eligible for it. Fiala is coming off a career year that saw him pick up 85 points in 82 games and he immediately bolsters a Kings attack that was 20th in goals scored this past season. Minnesota, meanwhile, gets some quality future assets and the cap flexibility that should allow them to fill out the rest of their roster this summer.
Boeser Signs: Saturday was a quiet deadline for Vancouver to reach a new contract with pending RFA forward Brock Boeser as it was the first deadline for club-elected arbitration, one that would have allowed the Canucks to offer 85% of his $7.5MM qualifying offer. But that would have been a contentious process, one that both sides wanted to avoid. They were able to do just that as they agreed on a three-year, $19.95MM contract. The deal provides a small increase on his previous $5.85MM AAV, gives Vancouver a lower price tag than what his qualifier would have been, plus an extra two years of team control as Boeser had just one RFA year remaining. It’s a tidy piece of business for both sides with the Canucks needing all the cap space they can get to keep as much of their core intact as they can.
Coaching Carousel: For a while, it looked like the NHL’s annual coaching carousel was set to come to an end. Chicago officially hired Luke Richardson on a four-year contract while Detroit wasted little time following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final to make Derek Lalonde their new bench boss in another first-time hire. At that point, there was just one opening left but before it could be filled, another one opened up as the Sharks surprisingly parted ways with Bob Boughner to allow their eventual new GM to pick their next head coach. Not long after that, the other vacancy was filled as Winnipeg named former Dallas head coach Rick Bowness as their new head coach, giving him a two-year deal. San Jose’s vacancy is now the only one around the league.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues
With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Blues.
2021-22 was a decent season for St. Louis. While they finished in third in a very tight Central Division, they got past Minnesota in the first round and then took the eventual Cup-winning Avalanche to six games. GM Doug Armstrong can afford to keep most of the core together but there will still be a lot of work to do over the coming weeks.
Decide Tarasenko’s Future
Last summer, Vladimir Tarasenko wanted a trade but coming off another season that saw him miss extended time due to a shoulder issue and a $7.5MM cap hit, there were no takers. Seattle had an opportunity to take him in expansion and passed. The end result was somewhat of an awkward return to St. Louis.
It’s safe to say it worked out well for both sides. Tarasenko was able to show that he’s fully recovered from his shoulder surgeries, getting back to the 30-goal mark while eclipsing 80 points for the first time in his career. That was good enough for him to lead the Blues in scoring, giving them a much deeper offensive group in the process.
Now Armstrong has a decision to make. The trade request hasn’t been rescinded and there should be a much better trade market for Tarasenko’s services this time around although it’s worth noting that Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause which could come into play as well. The fact that the commitment is only for one year will help his value in a cap environment where it’s difficult to move pricey multi-year contracts. Moving him would almost certainly yield some cap savings which could come in handy this summer.
But trading Tarasenko away now would also create a big opening to fill on the Blues as teams rarely get better after trading their top scorer. While there’s definitely a risk in potentially losing him for nothing in free agency, that has to be weighed against their current situation where they’re a team with an eye on contending next season. The next couple of weeks is when trade activity is at its peak so if Armstrong is pondering a trade, it may need to happen sooner than later.
Re-Sign Or Replace Husso
Coming into the season, Jordan Binnington was expected to be the starter for the Blues with Ville Husso, who had a quiet rookie year, serving as the backup. That changed in the second half of the year when Binnington struggled and Husso stepped up with a .917 SV% from the beginning of January to the end of the season. Unfortunately for Husso and the Blues, the 27-year-old struggled in the playoffs when Binnington was injured so his season ended on a down note. However, Husso showed enough during the season to position himself as one of the top goalies heading into unrestricted free agency this month where he’ll also be one of the younger goalies to hit the open market.
That has him well-positioned to earn a significant raise after making the league minimum the last two years. While it’s unlikely he’ll be able to command true starter money – he has 64 career NHL appearances (including playoffs) after all – Husso could reasonably expect to get the type of top backup money that has been thrown around in recent years in free agency. Jonathan Bernier, a platoon goalie like Husso might be best suited to be, just received a two-year deal with a $4.125MM cap hit last summer from New Jersey. With the potential for more upside, it’s quite possible that Husso could receive more than that on the open market on a multi-year commitment.
Is that something the Blues can afford on their books with Binnington still on the books for another half-decade at $6MM per season? Is that a price they should want to pay even if they had the money to? If Armstrong feels that the answer to one of those questions is no, then St. Louis will be among the teams joining the annual goalie shuffle that will take place at the start of free agency on July 13th.
Extension Talks
In their summer spending planning, the Blues will need to keep in mind that three prominent forwards (beyond Tarasenko) will need new contracts a year from now so any spending this offseason could cut into what they have for contracts in 2023 (unless they sign players to one-year deals). Once July 13th hits, contract extensions can be worked out and Armstrong will be wanting to have those discussions somewhat quickly.
Ryan O’Reilly continues to be one of the more prominent two-way centers in the league. He consistently produces at a minimum of a 60-point pace (over a full 82-game season), kills penalties, and is one of the most prominent faceoff players in the league. He’s not a true number one center in terms of his scoring output but prior to this past season, he averaged more than 20 minutes a game for six straight years. With a $7.5MM cap hit currently, O’Reilly – who will be 32 when it starts – could conceivably command a similar price tag on a long-term deal, one that runs a little longer than preferred to keep the AAV down.
Then there are a pair of prominent younger forwards who will be coming off their $2.8MM bridge contracts in Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. Both players hit career highs across the board in 2021-22 while surpassing the point-per-game mark. A repeat performance on either side would only push the asking price higher than it might be this summer. At this point, barring a significant drop-off next season, both players should easily double their current price tag at a minimum. New long-term contracts for those two basically will offset any cap savings if one of Tarasenko or O’Reilly goes unsigned a year from now.
While he’s not at the level of the other three listed here, it’s also worth mentioning that center Ivan Barbashev will also be on an expiring deal next summer and is extension-eligible later this month. He’s currently on a $2.25MM and is coming off a 60-point season. The 27-year-old will be unrestricted in 2023 and is currently in a position to land a significant raise of his own. It’s less likely that he’ll be extended now since his performance was an outlier relative to his first few seasons but if Armstrong intends to keep him around, he’ll be budgeting some room for that as well.
Create Cap Flexibility
If you read through that and thought to yourself that the Blues could use some extra cap flexibility, you’re certainly not the only one who thinks that. Looking ahead to this summer’s spending, it should also be noted that on top of Husso being unrestricted later this month, so are winger David Perron and defenseman Nick Leddy, both quality veterans.
It’s well-known that there is a mutual desire for Perron to stick around which will cut into the $9MM of cap space they have to work with this summer and likely into 2022-23’s money as well unless they can convince the 34-year-old to take a one-year deal. Doing so would put Perron’s next contract into 35+ territory so that’s not an ideal scenario from his point of view. Between that and needing some money for Husso or his replacement, it’s unlikely that Leddy returns although St. Louis would undoubtedly love to try to bring in an upgrade there as well.
There’s one contract that stands out above the rest in terms of an overpayment that they’d likely want to get out of and that’s defenseman Marco Scandella. At $3.275MM for two more years, it’s not as if it’s a massive above-market contract but they can likely find someone capable of covering his 18 minutes a game for less money. After that, however, it’s important parts of their core that might have to be moved to create that extra wiggle room. In an ideal world, Armstrong is able to kick that decision down to next summer and delay the tough decisions for another year but they’ll need to move one notable salary off the books to have a chance at that happening.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Snapshots: Chychrun, DeAngelo, Sharks
After being at the forefront of trade speculation for most of last season, Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun hasn’t been mentioned in trade talk as much in recent weeks. At this point, it doesn’t seem as if he’ll be on the move as GM Bill Armstrong told Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports that there hasn’t been much movement on the trade front when it comes to the 24-year-old. Arizona’s asking price before the trade deadline was reported to be in the range of three first-round picks (or equivalent assets) or slightly more than that and evidently, no one came in with a big enough offer to get him. Chychrun, who has three years left on his deal with a team-friendly $4.6MM, is coming off a bit of a down year and while the Coyotes will certainly listen to offers at the draft, they may be better off seeing if he has a strong start in 2022-23 to try to bolster his value.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Ethan Bear isn’t the only pending Hurricanes RFA blueliner that is being allowed to speak to other teams in the league as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that defenseman Anthony DeAngelo has been granted permission to shop his services. The 26-year-old was one of the biggest bargains in the league in 2021-22, picking up 51 points in 64 games with just a $1MM AAV. DeAngelo is arbitration-eligible this summer and with Carolina having a lot of key players to re-sign, there may be a price point that’s too rich for them to agree to. Allowing DeAngelo to speak to other teams will give everyone a better understanding of what his market could be this summer.
- ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that former Montreal assistant GM Scott Mellanby no longer appears to be in the running for the GM position with the Sharks. Interim GM Joe Will indicated on Friday that the plan is for the team to hold three to five in-person interviews with the hope of making their choice soon after. Rangers’ Hockey Operations Coordinator Mike Grier and Ray Whitney (who currently works for the Department of Player Safety) are believed to still be in the mix for the position.
Winnipeg Jets Hire Rick Bowness
July 3: The Winnipeg Jets have made it official via a release and Twitter announcement, naming Rick Bowness the eighth coach in Winnipeg Jets history and third since the team relocated from Atlanta. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the contract is for two seasons at $2.5MM per season (link).
July 1: While one coaching vacancy was suddenly created today when San Jose parted ways with Bob Boughner, it appears another is about to close. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the Jets are in the process of finalizing an agreement with Rick Bowness to become their next head coach.
It will be a return to where it all began for the 67-year-old as his first NHL coaching job actually came with the original Jets franchise (now the Coyotes) all the way back in 1988-89 when he took over midseason. Since then, Bowness has a long track record of coaching, both as a head coach and an assistant and Dreger notes that his experience was a big factor in Winnipeg’s choice. Of course, they were previously linked to Barry Trotz, an experienced bench boss who ultimately declined their offer to take over so GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was clearly looking for someone that has run an NHL bench in the past.
Bowness most recently was head coach of Dallas where he spent parts of three seasons at the helm. This past season, the Stars posted a 46-30-6 record, good for a points percentage of .598, their best since the 2015-16 campaign. That was enough to get them into the playoffs as the top Wild Card seed in the Western Conference where they made it to the seventh game against Calgary in the opening round. Despite that, the team saw fit to make a change behind the bench, ultimately installing Peter DeBoer as their new head coach after Bowness and the team mutually agreed to part ways.
Over his career, Bowness has a 212-351-76 record as an NHL head coach with stints with the Jets, Bruins, Senators, Islanders, Coyotes, and Stars. It’s worth noting that his four seasons with the then-expansion Sens played a considerable role in making that mark as poor as it looks as Ottawa only won 39 of 235 games under his tutelage.
Assuming the contract does get finalized, Bowness will be taking over a Winnipeg team that was among the biggest underachievers in the league last season. There is a strong forward core in place but Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Pierre-Luc Dubois have all been in trade speculation in recent weeks with the expectation that Cheveldayoff is looking to shake up his core. Meanwhile, Connor Hellebuyck is coming off a tough year but is still only two years removed from winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. By going for an experienced head coach, it’s clear that there will be win-now expectations for Bowness and the Jets, no matter what winds up happening with their roster over the coming months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Matt Tennyson Clears Unconditional Waivers
July 3: Per TSN’s Chris Johnston, Tennyson has cleared unconditional waivers and will have his contract terminated.
July 2: The Predators will be parting ways with one of their defensive depth pieces as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve placed defenseman Matt Tennyson on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract.
The 32-year-old was set to enter the second and final season of a two-year, two-way contract that pays the NHL minimum of $750K in the NHL and $325K in the minors. Tennyson got into eight games with the Predators this past season, recording three assists while averaging nearly 13 minutes a night. He spent most of the year with AHL Milwaukee, recording 14 points in 53 games along with 44 penalty minutes.
PuckPedia clarifies (Twitter link) that Tennyson’s placement is for termination purposes, not a buyout. That certainly makes sense as going that route won’t result in any salary cap charges for next season whereas a buyout would have put $250K on Nashville’s salary cap for each of the next two seasons and cost more in salary dollars than the $325K he’d be owed in the minors. In the meantime, with Tennyson requesting a contract termination, it will be interesting to see what opportunity he has lined up elsewhere assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed on Sunday.
Minor Transactions: 7/2/22
As the signings around the NHL start to pick up with free agency fast approaching, there have been some other minor moves around the hockey world as well. Here is a rundown of some of the recent ones.
- Flames prospect Cole Huckins was traded from Acadie-Bathurst to Sherbrooke in exchange for a second-round pick as the QMJHL trade window opened up on Saturday. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick by Calgary last year (77th overall) and had a dozen goals and 14 assists in 41 games with the Titan this past season while adding four points in eight playoff contests. Huckins has yet to sign his entry-level deal and will need a big season with the Phoenix in 2022-23 to help secure his first contract.
- Pending Red Wings RFA goaltender Filip Larsson is staying in Sweden as Kristianstad of the second-tier Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed the netminder to a one-year deal. The 23-year-old spent the majority of his three-year, entry-level contract playing overseas as he wound up suiting up just seven times for Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids back in 2019-20. Larsson split this past season between Frederikshavn in Denmark and Almtuna in Sweden.
- Former NHL winger Luke Adam has decided to stay overseas as Straubing of the DEL in Germany announced they’ve signed the 32-year-old. Adam previously played in 90 NHL games over parts of five seasons and his journey in Germany will continue next year as Straubing will be his fifth different team in as many years.
West Notes: DeBrincat, Dickinson, Oilers
If the Blackhawks are going to move Alex DeBrincat this summer, it’s going to take a sizable haul to get him. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Chicago is believed to have recently turned down a package that would have yielded a high first-round pick in next week’s draft, another first-round selection, and a prospect for the 24-year-old but GM Kyle Davidson felt it wasn’t enough. DeBrincat is coming off a 41-goal, 78-point season and has one year left on his current deal with a $6.4MM AAV but will be owed a $9MM qualifying offer next summer which is something that acquiring teams will need to budget around. Meanwhile, with the Blackhawks squarely in a rebuild now, the time might be right to sell high on their star winger and they have justifiably set a high asking price for his services.
Elsewhere out West:
- The Canucks are unlikely to pursue a buyout with center Jason Dickinson this month, notes Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link). Vancouver acquired the 26-year-old last summer with the hope that he could be a quality third-line center, signing him to a three-year deal that carries a $2.65MM cap hit. However, Dickinson managed to put up just five goals and six assists in 62 games this past season, numbers that aren’t close to justifying that cap hit. But since a buyout cost wouldn’t yield considerably higher savings than waiving and demoting him, the Canucks may be better off keeping him around or flipping him for another player that’s similarly underachieving.
- The Oilers have extended the decision deadlines for defenseman Duncan Keith and goalie Mike Smith, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (subscription link). Originally, Edmonton was looking for clarity on their futures by July 1st but that has now been pushed to July 10th. At this point, Keith appears to be likely to return although there has been recent speculation that Smith, who played through multiple injuries this past season, could be placed on LTIR for the final year of his contract which would have the Oilers on the lookout for another goalie in the coming weeks.
Blue Jackets Re-Sign Carson Meyer
Columbus has been active in recent days as they look to re-sign their pending restricted free agents. Winger Carson Meyer is the next one to receive a new deal as the Blue Jackets announced that they’ve agreed on a one-year, two-way deal with the 24-year-old. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the contract pays $750K in the NHL, $125K in the AHL, and has a guarantee of $175K.
Meyer made his NHL debut this past season, getting into 13 games with Columbus in April as the team was playing out the stretch. He picked up a goal and two assists along with 27 hits in those appearances while averaging a little more than eight minutes a night on the fourth line. Prior to that, Meyer played in 57 games with AHL Cleveland, tallying 16 goals along with 11 assists.
While it’s possible that Meyer could try to push for a spot on the fourth line in training camp, the likelier scenario is that he returns to the Monsters as he is waiver-exempt through next season. But after a decent showing in the final month of the season, Meyer is someone that could be considered for an early-season recall when injuries arise in Columbus.
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic was the first to report that Meyer was close to re-signing.