PHR Mailbag: Bruins, Kings, Center Market, Wild, Red Wings, Islanders Transactions
Topics in this edition of the mailbag include fixing Boston’s cap situation, the future center market, when the Islanders might announce a move this summer, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s mailbag.
case7187: What do you think the Bruins will do to get cap space?
Right now, probably nothing of consequence. They have time to work with as they can get through the first two months of the season simply using LTIR. A lot can change from a roster perspective in that time; does someone else get injured that could extend that LTIR safety net?
The reality is that moving out a contract is quite difficult right now and while it wouldn’t cost a first-round pick to offload the final year of Craig Smith’s deal or Nick Foligno’s, parting with future assets at a time when they might not be far from a rebuild of some degree is going to sting. They might be able to take a smaller contract back and save a bit of money that way but there’s a better approach than that and it’s the one that I think Boston (and a whole lot of teams) are going to use.
Rather than part with an asset to move Smith and take a smaller contract back, why not just waive Smith? Or Foligno? Or, when healthy, Mike Reilly, who’s another potential casualty? If you lose one of them for nothing, it’s still a better outcome than trading a future asset away to accomplish the same thing. If they clear, they’d free up $1.125MM in cap space each time. Do that two or three times and voila, problem solved. If they get to the playoffs, those players return to the roster when there’s no salary cap so there’s no need to go for a rental depth piece or two at the deadline.
To be clear, I’m not singling those players out as not being worthy of being claimed. Instead, I think there are going to be plenty of players in that price range ($3MM or so) that are dumped on waivers because teams know there’s little chance they’ll be claimed. Think back to a couple of years ago when we saw some veterans waived to bounce back and forth from the taxi squads in an effort to bank any sort of cap room. I expect that will be much more prevalent this coming season.
If there’s a reasonable opportunity to move a player out that doesn’t cost an asset of some significance, that’s obviously Plan A. But if it doesn’t happen, I think they play things out, see how far they can get with LTIR, and then waive their way into cap compliance with two or three players being waived, clearing, and getting sent down to Providence.
rpoabr: Do the Kings get both Anderson and Durzi signed or do they make a trade to alleviate the logjam?
I think there’s enough money for both to sign without a trade needing to be made. Let’s break down the current projection from CapFriendly that has the Kings only have around $1.5MM to spend on both players.
There are 15 forwards on that roster. At most, they’re carrying 14 and in all likelihood, probably 13. At a minimum, that frees up $750K with the likelier outcome being closer to $1.6MM in extra space. Now they’re at $3MM or so to spend which is a lot better.
Defensively, there are seven signed players on there once you factor in the ones showing as injured. Again, at least one has to go and the easiest solution is probably Jordan Spence even though it’s not the fairest solution. It could be Jacob Moverare but Spence is waiver-exempt and Moverare isn’t. Those things matter at the beginning of the season. At a minimum, that’s another $762.5K off the roster, bringing the actual cap space closer to $3.8MM.
That should be more than enough to get both players signed on short-term bridge deals. It’s doubtful either one gets more than two years so it’s not a long-term fix but it’s enough to get contracts done without compromising any of their depth. Players in these situations don’t have any leverage outside of holding out and hoping for a better offer so even with that cap space in mind, it might take a few more weeks at least for one or both of them to sign.
baji kimran: Do you seen any real good (maybe even elite) centers coming available in the next year or two?
On the trade front, the first one that comes to mind is Winnipeg’s Pierre-Luc Dubois. It sure seems like he has no intention of signing with the Jets on a long-term basis which will either have him traded in the next year or so to a team where he will sign or take another one-year deal next summer to hit the open market in 2024. He’s not elite but as a fairly young player that can play on the second line, I’d say that would qualify.
Looking ahead to next summer’s free agent class, it’s actually pretty good as things stand. Nathan MacKinnon would command a king’s ransom if he was to somehow make it there and definitely is in the elite category. Dylan Larkin and Bo Horvat are also up at that time and are very good fits for plenty of teams. Ryan O’Reilly is a capable veteran and Jonathan Toews will be up as well. In 2024, the list currently consists of Auston Matthews, Sam Reinhart, Sebastian Aho, Elias Lindholm, Mark Scheifele, and Anze Kopitar, among others. That’s a pretty good group as well.
Obviously, not all of those players are going to actually become available. Most probably won’t. But with a flat salary cap, some of them are probably going to make it there or at least become available in a sign-and-trade proposition. For teams hoping to add an impact middleman over the next couple of years, there’s a bit of cause for optimism as a result.
Zakis: What free agent forward will the Wild sign? Or will they try and trade from the D depth to acquire a more impactful F?
I’m going to tackle these out of order. I don’t see Minnesota moving their defensive depth to acquire a more impactful forward simply because there isn’t one that they’d be willing to move that would bring in a forward of significance. I think they’d move Dmitry Kulikov but there aren’t teams lining up to trade a good forward for him. Jon Merrill’s value has been limited in the past as well so he wouldn’t bring back a big return either.
When I first saw this question, Phil Kessel was the player that came to mind in free agency. He’s someone that would probably play on the third line at five-on-five but he’d help the power play and in a more offensive environment, he’d probably give them a good return on a $2MM or so investment, which would ensure that they have ample cap space for midseason activity as well. I think Paul Stastny would be a good fit as well with their center depth not being the strongest and Sonny Milano in that system would be intriguing from an upside standpoint. If they sign a free agent, I could see it being one of those three.
There’s another option in between these and that’s taking on a contract with another asset for future considerations. There are several teams that need to make a cost-cutting move and several more that might not have to but want to. That might be a more desirable approach for them to take to add a middle-six forward plus a draft pick or prospect. GM Bill Guerin would have plenty of options to ponder if he was open to going that route and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the path he ultimately takes.
Johnny Z: When does Stevie pull the trigger on that blockbuster trade? He has two big guns in Larkin and Bert that have not been extended as of yet, an under-performing Zadina, and some depth D to bargain with.
I’ve had similar questions in recent mailbags so I won’t go through the whole answer again but I keep coming back to the fact that teams rarely go from also-rans to contenders right away. How will their core perform under the pressure of important games night after night in the playoff hunt and the playoffs themselves? The problem with answering that is another question in itself; when was the last time Detroit’s core played in a bunch of meaningful games? It has been so long that GM Steve Yzerman simply doesn’t know how that’s going to go.
When you bring up that blockbuster trade, I think of that move being the one that will vault them into contention. They know what that missing piece is and they go and get it. But I’d argue that they don’t know what that missing piece is yet. They can hope that everyone will perform to expectations but that’s all it is, hope. They need to see this group go through some legitimate pressure points which will tell them when the time is right to make that move. It’s not this coming season and I’m not convinced it’s the year after either as what happens with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi (both 2023 UFAs) could impact their contention timeline.
Teams should be making that blockbuster move to bring in that missing piece of the puzzle. Detroit isn’t particularly close to that point and making it too early could present more problems down the road.
Minor Transactions: 08/20/22
Weekends in August don’t typically yield too much activity on the transaction front, at least in the NHL. However, with international seasons starting up soon, there continues to be regular player movement overseas. Here’s a rundown of some recent moves there.
- Canadiens prospect Dmitri Kostenko has been loaned out for the upcoming season as Spartak of Russia’s MHL announced that they’ve loaned the 19-year-old to Kunlun of the KHL. Kostenko was a third-round pick of Montreal in 2021 (87th overall) and spent most of last season in Russia’s second-tier league, the VHL, picking up 14 points in 40 games. Kostenko also suited up in seven games with Spartak at the junior level, recording nine assists.
- Josh Dickinson, the younger brother of Canucks forward Jason Dickinson, has decided to try his hand at playing overseas as MoDo of the Swedish Allsvenskan announced they’ve signed the 24-year-old to a one-year deal. Dickinson spent three years in Colorado’s system on an entry-level deal before joining Detroit on a minor league pact last season where he had 13 points in 48 AHL games plus 28 more in 21 games at the ECHL level.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Central Notes: Stastny, Lambert, Khudobin
With Nazem Kadri now off the market, Paul Stastny is the top center of note that’s still available. Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe reports that while a reunion with the Jets hasn’t been ruled out yet, it’s unlikely he returns to Winnipeg next season. The 36-year-old is coming off a bit of a bounce-back year in 2021-22 where he scored 21 goals along with recording 24 assists in 71 games while winning over 56% of his faceoffs. The Jets certainly have the cap space to bring him back but Wiebe believes he’ll ultimately take less than his market value with an eye on going to a contender in the hopes of competing for a Stanley Cup title. Speculatively, he fits as a short-term replacement for Kadri in Colorado, a team where Stastny spent the first eight years of his career so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him linked to them over the coming days.
More from the Central:
- Still with the Jets, prospect Brad Lambert’s absence from Friday’s World Junior semifinal against Sweden raised some eyebrows. Head coach Antti Pennanen confirmed to reporters including Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (Twitter link) postgame that the 18-year-old first-rounder isn’t injured but was rather a healthy scratch. Lambert, the 31st pick last month, has been a bit of a polarizing prospect over the last year and has somewhat surprisingly had a limited role in this tournament so far, averaging only 12:24 per game.
- After undergoing hip surgery back in March, goaltender Anton Khudobin is expected to be ready to participate in training camp, Mike Heika notes on the Stars’ team website. Last year was a tough one for the 36-year-old as he posted a 3.63 GAA and a .879 SV% in nine appearances with Dallas, eventually resulting in him clearing waivers. He has one year left on his contract at $3.33MM and while they would prefer to move that deal out, he’ll also serve as insurance with the team still needing to re-sign RFA goaltender Jake Oettinger.
Penguins Sign Jack St. Ivany
After being linked to him earlier this week, the Penguins have indeed added to their prospect pool, announcing the signing of defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $950K in the NHL.
The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2018 (112th overall) but didn’t sign with Philadelphia by Monday’s deadline, paving the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent. Pittsburgh GM Ron Hextall was in charge of the Flyers back in 2018 so he certainly had some familiarity with his newest prospect which undoubtedly played a role in their decision to pursue St. Ivany.
St. Ivany split his college career between two schools. He spent the first two years with Yale before transferring to Boston College during the pandemic where he struggled in his junior year. However, last season, he fared much better, recording four goals and 20 assists with the Eagles, setting new career-bests in both goals and points.
With Pittsburgh already having a fair bit of defensive depth, it’s safe to say that St. Ivany will be heading to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season where he’ll hope to work his way up their depth chart and perhaps into an injury recall situation at some point over the next two seasons.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Anaheim Ducks
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 heading into the 2022-23 season. 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.
Anaheim Ducks
Current Cap Hit: $63,657,667 (under the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Jamie Drysdale (one year, $925K)
F Mason McTavish (three years, $894K)
F Trevor Zegras (one year, $925K)
Potential Bonuses:
Drysdale: $850K
McTavish: $2.5MM
Zegras: $850K
Total: $4.2MM
Simply put, these three are the centerpieces of Anaheim’s rebuild. Zegras played his first full NHL season in 2021-22 and finished second on the team in scoring, establishing himself as their top center in the process. An early extension is always possible but with only 99 career games under his belt, GM Pat Verbeek might want to wait on that. His next contract seems likely to check in around the $8MM range on a long-term deal, similar to the ones that Nick Suzuki and Josh Norris have signed recently. Worth noting, he will still have five years of team control after next season. As for McTavish, he didn’t look out of place in his limited NHL stint last year and his showing at the World Juniors shows that he’s ready for a full-time role in 2022-23. It’s obviously too early to forecast his next deal but they’re hoping he does well enough to be in that $8MM range as well.
Drysdale had some struggles in his own end last season but that’s hardly uncommon for a 19-year-old and overall, he had a solid first full NHL campaign. While it might seem that he should get a bigger role this season, that’s far from a guarantee with the veterans that will be ahead of him. That makes his next contract a bit tricky. Anaheim will certainly want to extend him on a max-term deal but it might be in Drysdale’s best interest to look for a two or three-year bridge deal; he also will have five years of team control remaining. He’d get more of a chance to play top minutes in 2023-24 so locking in long-term before getting that opportunity would carry some risk from an earnings standpoint.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
D Simon Benoit ($750K, RFA)
F Max Comtois ($2.037MM, RFA)
F Derek Grant ($1.5MM, UFA)
D John Klingberg ($7MM, UFA)
D Josh Mahura ($750K, RFA)
D John Moore ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Kevin Shattenkirk ($3.9MM, UFA)
G Anthony Stolarz ($950K, UFA)
F Troy Terry ($1.45MM, RFA)
Bridge contracts are often overlooked as they’re often by-products of a salary cap situation. That isn’t the case in Anaheim as the ones they signed were simply decisions to see how a player continues to perform before needing a big commitment. They’ll certainly be needing that big commitment for Terry as he had a breakout showing in 2021-22, scoring 37 goals and 67 points. For context, he had 15 goals in 128 contests heading into the season. A repeat performance would push Terry well past the $6MM mark on a long-term deal which is basically four times what his qualifying offer would be next summer. Anaheim will enjoy another season at a bargain price tag and will be paying up soon after.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Comtois. He received a bridge deal even after leading the Ducks in scoring in 2020-21 and the first year of it didn’t go well. He struggled with his production and consistency which resulted in him dropping down the depth chart and even being scratched at times. Still just 23, they’re certainly not giving up on him but his contract is back-loaded which results in a $2.55MM qualifier next summer. A repeat showing next season will make the decision regarding his future a little trickier. As for Grant, he’s coming off a career year with 29 points and played like a capable third center. That’s a good return for that price point and if Anaheim is out of the playoff picture in February, he’ll be a strong candidate to move as a rental at the trade deadline.
The addition of Klingberg this summer certainly raised some eyebrows. His presence on the roster will make it a little harder for Drysdale to play an elevated role in the lineup but at the same time, the veteran is in a good spot to be productive and show that he’s worthy of the long-term commitment he was seeking this summer. Even so, that long-term contract will likely check in at a lower price tag than this one unless he really has a standout performance. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see him move at the trade deadline either. The same can be said for Shattenkirk who has re-established himself as a top-three defender with the Ducks but might be in tough to put up the type of offensive numbers that he’s accustomed to with Klingberg now in the fold which could hurt his market in free agency next summer. Moore was a cap casualty they had to take on in the Hampus Lindholm trade last season and he’ll be looking at a deal at or near the minimum next season while Benoit and Mahura will need to become full-time regulars if they want to make more than the minimum in 2023-24 as well.
Stolarz did well in his first full NHL season as a backup, posting an impressive .917 SV% in 28 appearances. With the way that backups have seen their price tags go up in recent years, if he’s able to play at a similar level next season, he could push for upwards of three times his current deal. Even if he takes a step back, double his current price could still be doable.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Sam Carrick ($850K, UFA)
F Adam Henrique ($5.825MM, UFA)
F Max Jones ($1.295MM, RFA)
F Isac Lundestrom ($1.8MM, RFA)
F Jakob Silfverberg ($5.25MM, UFA)
D Urho Vaakanainen ($850K, RFA)
Henrique had a rough 2020-21 season to the point where he cleared waivers but he was much better last season with 42 points in 58 games while winning over 55% of his faceoffs. That’s not a great return on his price tag but those are second-line numbers which is a better outcome than seemed possible just a season ago. He won’t be able to command that type of money two years from now though. The same can be said for Silfverberg, who’s coming off an injury-riddled year that saw him score just five times in 53 games. While he was a top-six winger at the time his deal was signed, he isn’t now. Carrick very quietly put up decent numbers in a depth role last season with 11 goals in 69 games after having just four in parts of five seasons before that. His contract is cheap enough to give Anaheim good value if he’s on the fourth line while if young players push their way into his spot, it can be buried in the minors.
As for the younger forwards in this group, Lundestrom did well in his first full NHL season, picking up 29 points and playing a big role shorthanded. Still just 22, he’s more of an unheralded part of their future plans and should be more of a bottom-six player moving forward but this was still a promising season. The bridge deal makes sense and if he can produce at a similar rate these next two years, his AAV could jump into the $3MM range. It’s safe to call the first year of Jones’ bridge contract a write-off as a pectoral injury limited him to just two appearances last season. If he can return as a capable bottom-six winger, there’s room for his price tag to go up a couple of years from now.
Vaakanainen was part of the Lindholm trade as well and while he hasn’t played up to the level of a first-round pick as he was in 2017, he showed some signs of progressing into a regular NHL defender. This contract has a chance to be a bit of a bargain as a result but with limited offensive upside, he’s not going to be someone to command big money down the road. Doubling his current AAV could be achievable if he can hold down a regular spot.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Frank Vatrano ($3.65MM, UFA)
Vatrano has largely gone under the radar but he very quietly has scored at least 16 goals in each of the last four seasons and is coming off his second straight 18-goal campaign which wasn’t bad considering he played just over 13 minutes a night. That type of money for someone whose role is that limited is a bit on the high side but he has been able to produce with some consistency with less ice time than players that hover around 20 goals typically get. That made for a pretty strong market for him last month which yielded this contract.
Canucks Have Shown Interest In Evan Rodrigues
With training camps now less than a month away, teams will be calling around to the remaining unrestricted free agents to see if their asking price has dropped. It appears that the Canucks are doing that with Evan Rodrigues as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reported in an appearance on Sekeres and Price (audio link) that Vancouver is “poking around” on the forward.
The 29-year-old is coming off a career season with Pittsburgh that saw him put up 19 goals and 24 assists while playing in all 82 games for the first time. His ice time jumped up to nearly 16 minutes per game and he played down the middle and on the wing. That type of versatility is always appealing to teams.
So, why hasn’t his market materialized this summer? Rodrigues’ splits from last season are likely playing a role in that. Of the 43 points he had, 30 came in the first half of the year and only 13 in the second half. The latter is more in line with his career numbers where he has been more of a depth forward so it’s not surprising that teams aren’t coming in overly high with offers, especially with flexibility at a premium.
Rodrigues ranked 24th on our Top 50 UFA list earlier this summer with a projected contract of three years at $3MM per season. At this point, it’s quite unlikely he’ll command that type of money or term so a one-year deal in an optimal situation with the hopes of generating a stronger market next summer might be the next best thing.
However, is Vancouver the most optimal spot for Rodrigues? They’ve added some depth on the wings this summer with Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko and while Rodrigues could plausibly slide in down the middle when injuries strike, it’s not a position he has played full-time since the 2018-19 campaign. He could fit on the third line if they were comfortable deploying him as a center; otherwise, Rodrigues would likely be in a depth role with Vancouver which is what he should be trying to avoid. There’s still time for Rodrigues to be selective as he looks to find a home for next season but if nothing else, Vancouver would represent a fallback plan if the more desirable situations don’t present themselves.
Snapshots: Oilers, Edvinsson, Merilainen, Fitzgerald
It appears as if the Oilers will have two of their star performers available for training camp as head coach Jay Woodcroft told 630 CHED (audio link) that both defenseman Darnell Nurse and center Leon Draisaitl are expected to be ready when team activities open up next month. Nurse played through the playoffs with a torn hip flexor and while it was speculated at the time that he would need surgery, that wound up not being the case. As for Draisaitl, he suffered what appeared to be a leg injury in the final game of the first round but still managed to go on a tear offensively in their last two rounds, putting up 23 points in just nine games.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- After missing Monday’s preliminary round game at the World Juniors, Sweden head coach Tomas Monten told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link) that blueliner Simon Edvinsson is expected to play in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Latvia. The Red Wings prospect didn’t suit up last game due to an illness. Edvinsson has a goal and an assist in three games so far while averaging a team-high 22:13 per contest.
- Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen has decided to play in Finland this season over returning to Kingston of the OHL, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 20-year-old was a third-round pick in 2020 and played in 53 games with the Frontenacs last season, posting a 3.29 GAA and a .891 SV%. However, he’s expected to get an opportunity to compete for the starting job with Karpat in Finland’s top division and Ottawa is in agreement that the opportunity to battle for that spot is what’s best for his development.
- After spending the last two seasons with Philadelphia on an NHL two-way deal, the Flyers have brought back forward Ryan Fitzgerald on a minor league contract, per a team release from their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. The 27-year-old was limited to just four games last season after undergoing surgery on both hips back in September. The year before, he picked up 21 points in 28 games and a return to that level of performance could help secure him another NHL deal next summer.
Penguins Have Shown Interest In Jack St. Ivany
One of the unsigned college prospects to hit the open market earlier this week was defenseman Jack St. Ivany after Philadelphia opted not to sign him to a contract but it appears he’ll get one before too long. Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now reports that the Penguins are among the teams that are interested in signing him to an entry-level deal.
The 23-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2018 (112th overall) back when Ron Hextall was in charge. Hextall, of course, is now the GM in Pittsburgh so he has a fair bit of familiarity with St. Ivany’s game already.
St. Ivany split his college career between Yale and Boston College, spending two seasons with each school. Last season, he picked up four goals and 20 assists with the Eagles, setting new benchmarks in goals and points. While he was eligible to play a bonus season, St. Ivany instead decided to turn pro and while he didn’t get a contract from the team that drafted one, it appears as if one will be coming his way soon enough.
Flyers Re-Sign Jackson Cates
Aug 15: Philadelphia has made it official, announcing Cates one-year, two-way contract.
Aug 14: The Flyers have agreed to terms with one of their remaining unsigned players as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Jackson Cates to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay $775K in the NHL and $120K in the minors.
The 24-year-old played his first full professional season in 2021-22, splitting time between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley of the AHL. He played in 37 games with the Phantoms, picking up two goals and eight assists but was able to collect his first career NHL goal in 11 contests with the Flyers.
As Cates burned the first year of his entry-level deal in 2020-21 when he signed after his junior season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he technically wasn’t a restricted free agent. Instead, he was classified as a 10.2(c) player (referencing the section of the CBA his contractual situation refers to); those players don’t have any salary arbitration rights nor are they eligible to negotiate or receive an offer sheet. That didn’t give him much leverage in contract discussions although he’ll receive an extra $40K at the minor league level compared to his entry-level deal.
Cates has one year of waiver exemption remaining and it’s likely that he’ll start next season with Lehigh Valley once again where he’ll have an opportunity to play his way into a recall as the year progresses.
GM Chuck Fletcher still has some work to do this summer as wingers Hayden Hodgson and Wade Allison as well as defenseman Linus Hogberg are all restricted free agents. All three saw brief NHL action with the Flyers last season and should agree to new deals over the coming days.
Five Key Stories: 8/8/22 – 8/14/22
While there were some big signings over the past seven days, there were also some notable injuries that are also featured in our key stories.
Signing Middlemen: In the span of a few hours, the Bruins shored up their center situation for next season. They first signed Patrice Bergeron for what will be his 19th season with the team, giving him a one-year, $2.5MM deal with an additional $2.5MM in bonuses that will be earned once he plays in ten games. Next up was a reunion with David Krejci after a season overseas as he received a one-year pact worth $1MM in base salary and $2MM in bonuses, three-quarters of which will be earned once he gets to 20 games. Lastly, they inked Pavel Zacha to a one-year, $3.5MM deal to avoid salary arbitration. Boston now has strong depth down the middle but while all three are on one-year pacts, they’ll likely be paying a good chunk of that money in 2023-24 through a bonus overage penalty. That deferral will allow them to take one more run at contention with their veteran core.
Big Money For Crouse: The Coyotes have talked about winger Lawson Crouse being a big part of their future plans. They demonstrated their faith in the 25-year-old as they signed him to a five-year deal that carries a $4.3MM AAV. Crouse is coming off of his first 20-goal season while he has led the Coyotes in hits for four straight years. Power forwards are hard to come by and often command pricey deals and that was the case here as Arizona bought out the final two years of Crouse’s RFA eligibility plus his first three UFA-eligible campaigns, ensuring they’ll have him for the prime of his career.
Lehner Out For The Year: The Golden Knights will be without their starting goalie for the entirety of the 2022-23 season after it was announced that Robin Lehner will need hip surgery. This comes on the heels of the shoulder surgery he had back in May on an injury that ended his season prematurely. Vegas will now add his $5MM to their LTIR pool which will also feature Shea Weber ($7.857MM) and perhaps Nolan Patrick ($1.2MM). That gives Vegas some flexibility to try to add a replacement netminder and re-sign defenseman Nicolas Hague. With the availability of backup Laurent Brossoit for the start of the season also in question after his hip surgery, youngster Logan Thompson is currently set to be their opening night starter.
Five For Roy: This past week wasn’t just bad news for Vegas as they agreed to a five-year, $15MM deal with center Nicolas Roy. The 25-year-old established himself as a capable third-line center last season, notching 15 goals and 24 assists in 78 games while logging over 16 minutes a night. For context, he had just 25 points in 85 games heading into the season. It’s a bit of a risky agreement given Roy’s lack of a proven track record but there is also plenty of upside with this deal as if he’s able to play even at a similar level over the next few years, this should become a bargain contract for the Golden Knights. On a veteran-laden team that doesn’t have many below-market value deals, Roy’s should be one of the exceptions before too long.
Achilles Injuries: A pair of players suffered torn Achilles tendons during offseason training and have undergone surgery. The first was Hurricanes winger Max Pacioretty, one of their key summer acquisitions. Instead of him helping to offset the losses of Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter, they’ll now have to wait until closer to the trade deadline for him to make his Carolina debut. They won’t have any short-term cap issues with his $7MM AAV becoming eligible for LTIR but that’s not much consolation. Meanwhile, after missing all of last season with a core muscle injury, Sharks blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov also sustained the injury and will be out for six months. The 24-year-old was a regular for San Jose back in 2020-21 but it will be quite a while again before he’ll have a shot at reclaiming his spot on their back end.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.