Offseason Checklist: Columbus Blue Jackets
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those who were eliminated over the first couple of rounds. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Columbus.
This season was a bit of a mixed bag for the Blue Jackets. They weren’t expected to contend as their rebuild continued but managed to have their highest-scoring season in franchise history despite the exodus of veteran talent and they integrated several promising youngsters into their lineup. However, despite that, they still missed the playoffs by 19 points. At this point, it seems unlikely that they’ll make some big swings to try to get into the thick of the Wild Card race but instead, they’re more likely to stay the course which is to slowly build up; their checklist has that in mind.
Add Grit
Jakub Voracek has been around the league for a long time (14 years) so he should know a thing or two about roster composition. Following the season, he told reporters including Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets’ team site that the team has struggled when it comes to physicality and it’s something he’d like to see addressed so let’s start with that on their checklist.
Generally speaking, a team that has as young of a core as the Blue Jackets do (they had the lowest average age in the NHL going into the season and only got younger as the year went on) should want to insulate those players with a bit of toughness. That doesn’t necessarily mean a throwback enforcer but a power forward or two that can play in the bottom six and still be a contributor. Those players aren’t in as short supply as impact power forwards so they should be able to find some. That won’t necessarily drastically improve their chances of winning in the short term but if it gives their younger players a little more confidence, there could be some benefits from those additions.
Re-Sign Laine
Last offseason, re-signing Patrik Laine was a priority and since he simply accepted his one-year qualifying offer, it’s back at the top of their list this time around as well. While the value of the qualifier remains unchanged at $7.5MM, the 24-year-old has more leverage this time around. He’s now one year away from unrestricted free agency and could simply accept his qualifier again (or file for salary arbitration) and ensure that he’d have a chance at hitting the open market in the prime of his career.
As a result, GM Jarmo Kekalainen will soon be engaging in serious discussions with Laine’s camp on a new deal if he hasn’t done so already. If the winger wants to keep his options open instead of committing to a long-term deal, then the team will have to give serious consideration to trading him this summer; doing so by the draft would be preferable as some picks would almost certainly be part of any package.
Even if Laine is willing to sign a long-term contract, finding a number that works for both sides will be tricky. This season was Laine’s first point-per-game campaign but he missed 26 games due to injury. If we look at his career average on a per-82 extrapolation, Laine checks in at 35 goals and 31 assists. Those are certainly good numbers but the market value for a player with that type of production isn’t far off the $7.5MM he made this season. For him to forego testing the market, the Blue Jackets will need to come in above that but at what point does that become too much of an overpayment to justify (even with their current cap flexibility)?
Right now, for Columbus, Laine’s contract should be their top priority. While there’s no firm deadline to get something done, if they want to know where things stand by the draft, that’s now less than six weeks away while free agency opens up a week after that.
Add Defensive Help
The good news for the Blue Jackets this season was that they set a franchise record for goals scored. The bad news for them is that they also set a franchise record for the most goals allowed. With several young forwards with room to continue developing, there’s some hope to maintain or even improve upon their offensive production.
However, there isn’t a lot of room for optimism to significantly improve that defensive number as things stand. Their goaltending tandem remains intact with Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo with neither netminder coming off a particularly strong season. Both are capable of being better but with the back end Columbus currently has, that improvement might not be too big.
Accordingly, this is an area that needs to be addressed. They have a decent core of younger players which is fine for a rebuilding team but as they look to emerge from that, some veterans that are capable of playing an impact role should be added. It probably won’t all come in one summer – this process will likely be gradual – but an emphasis on bringing in someone capable of playing the penalty kill and in key defensive situations would certainly help to stabilize things in the short term.
Gavrikov Extension Talks
Over his three years with the Blue Jackets, Vladislav Gavrikov has worked his way into a prominent role on the back end. But because he waited until the age of 23 to come to North America, he’s already just a year away from unrestricted free agency after Kekalainen curiously signed him to a bridge contract that walked him straight to UFA eligibility.
With Seth Jones, David Savard, and even Ryan Murray departing in recent years, Columbus has seen some important defenders leave. They did well to get good assets back for Jones and Savard in trades but the talent coming in hasn’t been close to the talent that left. To lose Gavrikov next summer or even at the trade deadline would deal them another blow.
As a result, trying to work out an extension will be fairly high on Kekalainen’s to-do list, especially as the offseason progresses. He’s going to be in line for a nice raise on his $2.8MM AAV especially coming off the year he had (33 points in 82 games while averaging over 22 minutes a night) but his salary for next season – $4.2MM – serves as a reasonable starting point for talks. A multi-year offer a little above that rate (in the $4.5MM to $4.75MM range) might be enough to get it done and ensure that a key piece of their defensive squad is a pair of the post-rebuild future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Atlantic Notes: Cassidy, Soderblom, Campbell
After being eliminated last month, Bruins president Cam Neely indicated he hoped to have a new contract in place for GM Don Sweeney within the coming days who would then decide the fate of head coach Bruce Cassidy. More than two weeks have passed and there has been no word on either front yet. Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe opines that Neely and Sweeney – the talent suppliers – are the ones to blame for their recent early exits while he suggests firing Cassidy wouldn’t make sense based on how the team has performed during the regular season in recent years even without the playoff success they were hoping for. That said, a change for the sake of change to bring a new voice in the room – which is a lot like what happened when Cassidy took over for Claude Julien – could certainly happen but a determination on his future won’t come until Sweeney and Neely can work out a new deal.
More from the Atlantic:
- The Red Wings are hoping to work out an entry-level contract this offseason with prospect Elmer Soderblom, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan. The hulking winger stands 6’8 and weighs 249 pounds and is coming off a good season in the SHL that saw him put up 21 goals in 52 games with Frolunda of the SHL. His deal in Sweden is now up so assuming the 2019 sixth-rounder does sign, he’ll almost certainly play in North America next season instead of being loaned back overseas like Detroit did with prospect blueliner Albert Johansson this season.
- At this point, it appears as if Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell will test unrestricted free agency next month, TSN’s Chris Johnston suggested in a recent appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link). Toronto knows what Campbell’s asking price has been for quite some time dating back to contract talks in the fall and they haven’t been willing to meet that just yet. Campbell, who was named to the All-Star Game this season, had an up and down year, posting a 2.64 GAA along with a .914 SV% in 49 games. He’s set to be one of the better goalies to hit the open market and could push for three times the AAV he had on his expiring deal which checked in at $1.65MM.
Snapshots: Backlund, Hagel, Draisaitl
With the Flames facing a big summer of spending ahead of them with Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Andrew Mangiapane among those in need of new contracts, there’s an expectation that they will need to free up some money to keep the rest of the core intact. To that end, Hailey Salvian of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that center Mikael Backlund could be a candidate to be moved this summer. The 33-year-old has seen his production tail off slightly in recent years but he still put up 39 points in 82 regular season games before having a strong showing in the playoffs with eight points in a dozen contests. Backlund has two years remaining at a $5.35MM AAV and with the center market not being particularly deep this summer, there could be some interest in him at some point as a fallback plan as long as they’re not on his partial no-trade list.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Although he has missed three straight practices, Lightning winger Brandon Hagel is expected to play in Wednesday’s Conference Final opener, relays NHL.com’s Corey Long. The 23-year-old has been battling a foot injury since blocking a shot back in the second game of the series against Florida although he has been able to play through it so far. Hagel has been relatively quiet in the playoffs so far with just a goal and three assists in 11 games but he had 25 tallies between Chicago and Tampa Bay this season so as long as he’s able to keep playing through the injury, he’s an offensive threat in their bottom six.
- Oilers center Leon Draisaitl participated in practice today for the first time since sustaining an ankle injury late in the first round, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The injury didn’t slow the 26-year-old down (he had 17 points in five games against Calgary last round) but he hadn’t been taking part in practices in an effort to help the injury heal. The fact he returned to the ice today has to be considered a positive sign for Edmonton as they get set to open their series against Colorado on Tuesday.
Offseason Checklist: San Jose Sharks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those who were eliminated early in the postseason. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at San Jose.
After being a consistent playoff threat including 14 appearances in a 15-year stretch, things haven’t gone as well for the Sharks in recent years as they’ve missed in three straight seasons. With a veteran-laden roster and minimal flexibility from a salary cap perspective, it’s a big checklist for them to navigate through this summer.
Hire A GM
Before even getting into what needs to be done, the Sharks need to determine who is going to do the work. Interim GM Joe Will clearly has the green light to make moves as evidenced by the contract extensions for Alexander Barabanov and Jaycob Megna earlier this month. Ownership has expressed an openness to having Will take the team through the draft and potentially into free agency as well. While that’s a nice short-term vote of confidence, it doesn’t seem as if Will is considered a strong candidate for the full-time position.
But it isn’t just a matter of who the next GM will be, it’s when that person takes over. If Will has control going into free agency, it’s possible he makes decisions that his successor won’t like. That makes that scenario a tough one to play out. As a result, determining who the full-time GM will be and getting that person under contract as soon as possible needs to be at the top of their priority list.
Move A Goalie
Most of the time, a three-goalie system isn’t tenable for a full season. San Jose was able to make it work after the trade deadline with Adin Hill missing time but he’ll be fully recovered for training camp. James Reimer is still on the roster while Kaapo Kahkonen was brought in at the deadline in the Jacob Middleton trade. At first glance, it sure seems like one of them needs to be moved.
Kahkonen is the youngest of the three at 25 and is a restricted free agent this summer. To move a quality young blueliner for him only to trade Kahkonen away later doesn’t seem likely to happen. Instead, a multi-year contract that buys out some UFA years is probably their preferred outcome if they can afford it on the cap.
That leaves Hill and Reimer battling for one spot. Both players have one year left on their contracts and will be UFA-eligible in 2023. The cap hits are nearly identical ($2.25MM for Reimer, $2.175MM for Hill). But when it comes to age and experience, there’s a big difference as the 34-year-old Reimer has 433 career NHL appearances while the 26-year-old Hill sits at 74. If the Sharks are prioritizing the longer-term, Hill has the most upside but it’s also possible that it comes down to if one is willing to sign an extension this summer. Neither netminder is likely to carry much trade value but it would be tough for the Sharks to carry all three on the roster in October.
Meier Extension Talks
Back in 2019, the Sharks signed winger Timo Meier to a four-year, $24MM contract as a restricted free agent. On its own, the AAV was reasonable and it allowed him to still be RFA-eligible at the end of the deal. But his contract was the most extreme of the backloaded contracts done that summer as his salary for next season is $10MM. Since that deal was signed before the new CBA, he’s not subjected to the new rule where the qualifier is the lower of the previous salary or 120% of the AAV. In other words, they have to qualify him at $10MM next summer if he’s not on a new contract by then.
A few years ago when the salary cap was steadily on the rise, the number would have been a little inflated but potentially manageable. Now, with the Upper Limit barely moving for the time being, offering Meier $10MM isn’t manageable, at least with the state of the rest of their roster.
While Meier is signed for next season already, there is a pressure point of sorts this summer. In an ideal world, San Jose doesn’t want him to enter 2022-23 without a new deal in place. Getting to next summer where Meier either has to be let go or qualified at an above-market rate isn’t palatable for the team. As a result, finding a suitable extension now has to be a priority. Meier is worth a raise on his current AAV and is coming off a career year that saw him pick up 35 goals and 41 assists but it shouldn’t be up to $10MM per season. Whoever is named as the permanent GM is going to have a big negotiation this summer as a result.
Free Up Cap Space
The Sharks have some big contracts on the books, especially on the back end where they have over $31MM in commitments and that doesn’t include RFA Mario Ferraro who is coming off a season where he logged 23 minutes a game. Even without arbitration eligibility, he’s in a good position to command a sizable raise of his own off his entry-level salary.
Right now, San Jose could get through the summer okay. They could try to sign Ferraro and Kahkonen for one year, sign their other RFAs to one-year deals, trade a goalie, and manage to narrowly stay cap-compliant by carrying a roster close to the minimum size. But will they be any better than they’ve been the last few seasons? Probably not. Looking ahead to the 2023 summer, they’ll have 11 players signed at just over $57.5MM which doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for improvement in the future either, especially considering Meier needs a new deal that summer.
As a result, if they want to add an impact player or even have the flexibility to shake up their roster, they need to move a big contract. Brent Burns ($8MM through 2024-25), Erik Karlsson ($11.5MM through 2026-27), and Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($7MM through 2025-26) are the oft-discussed possibilities although they each have at least some form of trade protection and not a particularly robust trade market because of their contracts. No one said it would be easy but for the Sharks to have a chance to shake things up, they will need to find a way to move out one of those rearguards.
Resolve Kane Grievance
There is one other factor at play when it comes to San Jose’s summer and that’s the Evander Kane situation. The expectation is that it will be resolved by the start of free agency but there is still plenty of uncertainty surrounding whether or not his deal will be put back on their books, the termination will be upheld, or, most likely, a settlement is reached which is what happened with the Kings and Mike Richards when things went down that path back in 2015. The details of any potential settlement will go a long way towards determining what space they have to work with this summer and how much extra emphasis will have to be placed on clearing out one of their existing contracts. The sooner they find out the end result of this, the better.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Calle Rosen Sent To AHL
Monday: After clearing waivers yesterday, Rosen has now officially been sent back to the Thunderbirds. Springfield will start the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday against the Laval Rocket.
Saturday: It’s rare at this time of year to see someone on regular waivers but that is indeed the case today as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Blues have placed defenseman Calle Rosen on the wire. The move is being made with the intention of sending him back to Springfield of the AHL to assist in the playoff run for the Thunderbirds.
The 28-year-old spent most of the season in the minors but he was recalled due to injuries in late March and stayed up the rest of the play and was in the lineup for St. Louis more often than not. Rosen wound up playing in a career-best 18 regular season games for the Blues this season, collecting seven points while averaging a little over 14 minutes a night. In the playoffs, he played in all but three of their twelve games, once again logging over 14 minutes per contest. He was productive in his stints with Springfield as well with 28 points in 40 AHL contests.
If someone was to claim Rosen, he’d be ineligible to play the rest of the season, even if he was picked up by a team that’s still playing. As he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer, the likely only rationale for a team to claim him would be one of the other teams still participating in the AHL playoffs wanting to prevent Springfield from getting a key player back. That seldom happens so there’s a good chance Rosen will clear on Sunday and will join Charlie Lindgren (who returned to the minors earlier today) as those going back to help the Blues’ affiliate make a push for the Calder Cup.
Five Key Stories: 5/23/22 – 5/29/22
As the playoffs continue on, there was plenty of notable news away from the ice which gets the spotlight in our key stories.
Agent Change: Generally speaking, a player changing agents isn’t big news. But when it’s a prominent player making the switch just before extension talks are set to begin as Red Wings center Dylan Larkin did, it’s newsworthy. His former agency at KO Sports indicated in a statement that extensive work had already been done on preparations to begin extension talks so Detroit fans should be pleased that there appears to be a willingness on his end to extend his stay with his hometown team. Larkin will now be represented by CAA and agents Matt Williams and Pat Brisson. He will have a $6.1MM AAV next season and is well-positioned for a nice raise on that for his next contract.
Marchand To Miss Extended Time: The Bruins will be without a star winger when the puck drops on the 2022-23 season as Brad Marchand underwent successful hip arthroscopy and labral repair on both of his hips. The procedure carries a recovery time of roughly six months which means he is likely to miss at least the first month of next season. His absence will certainly be a significant blow for Boston as the 34-year-old has been a consistent high-end scoring threat, averaging over a point per game in six straight seasons, including notching 80 points in 70 contests this season. Impressively, he picked up 11 points in seven playoff contests as well while trying to play through the injury.
Wilson Out Too: The Capitals will also be missing a key winger to start next season as winger Tom Wilson had surgery to repair a torn ACL. The expected recovery timeline is six to eight months so the 28-year-old will miss the first month at an absolute minimum and could be out until close to midseason if it takes the full time to recover. While Wilson is best known for his physicality and run-ins with the Department of Player Safety, he has also become a key offensive threat for them and is coming off a career year with 24 goals and 28 assists in 78 games. With Nicklas Backstrom’s hip issues not getting any better, Washington is facing a situation where they are likely to be without a pair of top-six forwards when the puck drops on the 2022-23 season.
Calling It A Career: After spending the last three seasons with Toronto on minimum-salary contracts, veteran Jason Spezza has hung up his skates, announcing his retirement at the age of 38. Spezza had made it clear that he wouldn’t go elsewhere this summer and presumably, the Maple Leafs had decided not to bring him back, at least in an on-ice capacity; Spezza has joined their front office as a special assistant to the GM. His playing days end with 1,248 games played between Ottawa, Dallas, and Toronto while he winds up just five points shy of becoming the 94th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Flyers Interview Tortorella: The Flyers are casting a wide net as they continue their search for their next head coach. It was revealed that they interviewed ESPN analyst John Tortorella for their vacancy. The 63-year-old has coached 1,383 career regular season contests and sits 14th all-time in victories. He has plenty of familiarity with the division having coached with the Rangers and Blue Jackets and would fit Philadelphia’s desire to find a coach that can help them win now. Others that have already been interviewed or are believed to be in the mix include Barry Trotz, Jim Montgomery, Kirk Muller, and Mike Vellucci.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Senators, Dumba, Rangers, Underrated Players, Kraken, Bruins, Kings, Penguins Coaching Staff
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Mathew Dumba and Minnesota’s cap crunch, the Rangers’ center situation beyond this season, Seattle’s underwhelming year, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back for it in last weekend’s mailbag.
MoneyBallJustWorks: What is the next step for the Sens. The team has stockpiled a good core of youth (especially on the blue line) but what do they have to do this offseason to take the next step?
The young nucleus for the Senators is pretty strong between Brady Tkachuk, Joshua Norris, Tim Stutzle, and Drake Batherson up front plus Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson on the back end. Now, they need to upgrade the supporting cast, so to speak.
Defensively, they need a top-four, all situations type of player. Players like Nick Holden, Nikita Zaitsev, and even trade deadline acquisition Travis Hamonic are serviceable veterans that can raise the floor of their defense corps. While that’s useful, now GM Pierre Dorion needs to raise the ceiling for this group to take a step forward. Chabot and Sanderson plus Artem Zub and Erik Brannstrom have some room to grow but with the right veterans, they’ll get there faster.
Up front, the top line is pretty much set with Tkachuk, Norris, and Batherson. But Stutzle’s linemates aren’t as consistent or anywhere near as good. Connor Brown is a good veteran but he’s not a big scorer while Alex Formenton’s speed is high-end but his scoring isn’t. Upgrading one (or if you want to aim big, both) of those spots would really deepen the offense.
On top of that, a goalie upgrade would help them take a step forward. Anton Forsberg isn’t a true starter, Matt Murray has underachieved, and Filip Gustavsson may not be ready for a full-time NHL roster spot (although waiver eligibility will probably keep him up).
That’s a huge wish list but adding any of those elements will help them get back to at least realistically battling for a playoff spot next season. That would be a good next step for Ottawa who isn’t really in a position to go from a bottom-feeder to a contender overnight unless Dorion manages to have the offseason of a lifetime and hit on all of these areas.
DarkSide830: With his name in past rumors and MIN needing to make a move, I wonder, can PHI make a move for Dumba? They need to get better on the back end and he could be available for 80 cents on the dollar with MIN’s crunch. I presume they need to move out a JVR then. Can they move enough of JVR’s cap without having to give someone a pick with it so they can reasonably fit Dumba in?
While I agree that Minnesota has a cap crunch, I disagree that they will make someone like Dumba available for 80 cents on the dollar. Yes, everyone knows they need to clear money but whoever goes – Dumba or Kevin Fiala (who’d fit one of those holes in Ottawa we just went over) – there will be enough demand that they’ll be able to get full value. Let’s say it’s Dumba. The UFA market for impact defensemen isn’t the deepest and Dumba’s cap hit is lower than what players like Kris Letang and John Klingberg are going to get. That bodes well for maximizing trade value, even with their hand being forced.
As for James van Riemsdyk, they’re not going to get much cap relief in a trade unless they send a pick with him. If I was an acquiring team, I’m pointing at the Patrick Marleau to Carolina trade as a benchmark; that move cost Toronto a first-rounder. Is it possible that they flip him for another underachieving veteran that makes a little less? Sure. That is definitely a plausible option. But will they save enough to fit Dumba’s $6MM in? Nope. Frankly, I’m not sure they’d save more on the cap next season than if they bought him out ($4.33MM cap charge) with a trade.
And if I’m Philadelphia GM Chuck Fletcher, notwithstanding the van Riemsdyk thing, do I really want to part with the first-round pick and/or a top young asset that it will probably take to get into the bidding to acquire Dumba? That’s not a smart strategy for a non-playoff team, even if it’s a core he thinks is better than it has shown. Once you do factor in the likely cost to offload van Riemsdyk’s contract for cap relief on top of the acquisition cost, the price for Dumba is one they shouldn’t be willing to pay.
Bill Blueshirt: The NYR need a 2C next year while being in a cap squeeze. Strome seems unaffordable. Do they a) sign Copp, b) go with Chytil and backfill at 3C, c) trade some of their many prospects for a C (and who would that be), or d) ???
I’m not convinced the bidding for Ryan Strome is going to be super high this summer. Yes, he has put up impressive numbers the last couple of seasons but he was doing that with Artemi Panarin on the wing a good chunk of the time. But his history before getting to New York was spotty at best and I’m confident there are general managers out there who will be hesitant to commit a big contract to him this summer.
I’m not saying there won’t be a good market for him but I wouldn’t be shocked if his AAV winds up being close to where Andrew Copp’s lands. If that’s the case, I don’t think Strome re-signing can easily be ruled out.
Do they need to free up some money? Probably. I wonder if they try to find a taker for Patrik Nemeth and take a cheaper player back to give them some wiggle room. But if they go with some cheap end-of-roster options and make a small cap-clearing move or two (Alexandar Georgiev being another one), I think they can cobble enough together to make an intermediate type of offer that could be enough to keep one of Copp or Strome in the fold. So, to answer your question, I’ll pick either a or d.
FearTheWilson: In your opinion who are the most underrated players in the league?
This is always a hard question to answer as underrated can be interpreted in a few different contexts. I could rhyme off some names that some of you may not be familiar with that are actually important players and that would qualify as underrated. But I suspect you’re looking for more prominent names so I’ll go with those.
Quick, think of an impact center on the Blues. No, not Ryan O’Reilly. Not Brayden Schenn either who, for many, would be the second one that comes to mind with his contract. Meanwhile, all Robert Thomas did this season was lead their centers in scoring while logging nearly 19 minutes a night. He was an impact offensive player in junior and while it has taken a few years for him to truly become an impact player in the NHL, he’s there, even if he doesn’t immediately come to mind when St. Louis centers are being discussed.
Roope Hintz is a player that many are familiar with. If you were thinking to yourself that he’s a good secondary scorer, it’d certainly be understandable. When digging into this question, that’s where I was leaning. But he averaged over a point per game last year and followed that up with 37 goals and 35 assists this season, finishing tied for 20th in the league in goals. That’s not a good secondary scorer, that’s a higher-end primary player who, by the way, spends a lot of time at center after coming up as a winger a few years ago. He definitely fits the bill of being underrated.
As for a defenseman, the first one that came to mind was Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson. He showed flashes of offensive upside over his first few NHL seasons but found another gear this season as he very quickly reached the 50-point mark. But he isn’t just a slick-skating, offensive defender. He takes a regular turn on the penalty kill and is trusted in all situations while leading the Flames in ice time. Despite all of that, if I ran a poll of what type of blueliner he is, I think a ‘good number four’ would probably win out. He’s much more than that; Andersson is quietly pushing for lower-end number one territory.
I’ll add a goalie to the list as well in Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin. His delayed arrival in North America has resulted in limited exposure; he has played in just 74 career NHL games. On top of that, New York had a season to forget as they were out of contention early. But Sorokin very quietly was second in the league in save percentage this season (.925) and fourth in goals against average (2.40), impressive numbers for a non-playoff team. If he puts up similar numbers next season and the Isles rebound in the standings, Sorokin will be in the discussion for the Vezina Trophy. But when it comes to thinking of top NHL goaltenders, his name often doesn’t come up.
trak2k: If the Kraken do not “do anything” in free agency and or struggle at the beginning of next season do they fire the GM?
I don’t think there’s any chance of a GM change in Seattle within the next year. When the Kraken chose their roster in expansion, it became more than evident that they were planning a longer-scale build. In other words, they were going to have the development curve of a traditional expansion team. That results in losing seasons early on.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Ron Francis did a particularly good job in assembling his roster in expansion and even their coaching choice was underwhelming. But he got the green light to build this way. To turn around and go back on that this early doesn’t seem like a likely outcome.
If I was Francis, I wouldn’t be overly active in free agency this summer. With so many teams in cap trouble, they’re ripe for the picking in terms of adding extra picks and prospects in exchange for taking on an unwanted contract or two, improving their future, and probably helping the current team in the process. Basically, do what they didn’t do a year ago.
Offseason Checklist: Anaheim Ducks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those who were eliminated early in the postseason. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Anaheim.
The Ducks got off to a good start this season which had them in the thick of the playoff race for most of the year before slowing down late in the year which helped lead to a significant sale at the trade deadline. GM Pat Verbeek now has a largely clean slate to work with as he enters his first summer at the helm but has some work to do.
Leverage Cap Space
At the moment, Anaheim has over $39MM in cap space with their most prominent restricted free agents being forwards Sonny Milano, Isac Lundestrom, and Sam Steel. They’re all capable young players but none of them are going to break the bank and significantly cut into that spending room. If Verbeek has the green light to go to the $82.5MM Upper Limit, he could be a big player in the summer spending around the league.
The big question is what is the best way to spend that money? They could try to go for the quick fix and look to add several impact veterans which would help replace the exodus of veterans at the trade deadline. At a time when many teams will have to show restraint in free agency, the Ducks could splurge. That said, with what’s coming down the pipeline a year from now (more on that shortly), is that the best route for them to take? And is the rebuild ready to be over or does more work need to be done? If the answer is the latter, spending big now makes less sense.
If they’re not ready to spend big just yet, then leveraging that cap space in trade talks might be the better way for Anaheim to go. They should be able to get some future assets in exchange for acquiring an above-market contract with the approach that Arizona has taken recently. Those contracts will often be shorter in length compared to what they’d be handing out to free agents in July which would preserve their flexibility when their young core is closer to being ready to try to contend. Retaining salary in a trade (or being a third-party facilitator) to add extra assets is another option as well. One way or the other, Verbeek will need to take advantage of the opportunity he has with the scarcity of cap space around the league.
Determine Gibson’s Future
Few players have been with the Ducks as long as John Gibson has. Along the way, the 28-year-old has seen his fair share of ups and downs, both in terms of Anaheim’s performance and his own. Back at training camp, however, he voiced his frustration with the team shifting towards a rebuild, indicating he was tired of losing. That has resulted in plenty of speculation about his future with the team.
This isn’t a situation where Gibson is on an expiring contract and a decision of either extend or trade needs to happen. With five years left on his deal, they’re not going to be in that situation anytime soon. But with Gibson’s discontentment about where Anaheim has been from a competitive standpoint, they will have to consider whether or not to move him, especially if Verbeek intends to extend the rebuild for another year or two. Keeping a player who is clearly going to be frustrated with that situation isn’t ideal.
That said, it’s not as if his trade market is particularly strong. His .904 SV% was below the NHL average this season while a 3.19 GAA isn’t overly impressive either. Part of that is playing behind a team that had a lot of inexperienced players but that’s only part of it; Gibson wasn’t particularly sharp as well. For perspective, his save percentage has hovered around that mark for the last three seasons. A netminder with those numbers that has another half of a decade left on his contract at a $6.4MM AAV isn’t going to carry a lot of trade value. In general, starting goalies don’t carry great value in the first place but certainly, ones that have underachieved as Gibson has aren’t going to have a lot of suitors.
Are they better selling low and taking a run at a replacement goalie in free agency to partner with Anthony Stolarz next season or do they hold onto one of their longest-tenured players even with him being unhappy about rebuilding? Neither scenario is great but it’s something that will need to be looked at this summer.
Extension Talks
Right now, cap space is plentiful but that is going to change next summer when three of their top young players are all in need of new contracts.
Troy Terry had a breakout year, leading the Ducks in scoring with 37 goals and 30 assists in 75 games after putting up just 48 points in his first 129 career contests. The low output led to a bridge contract which he has clearly outperformed already. Since he’s on his second contract already, the 24-year-old will be arbitration-eligible next summer where he’ll be two years away from UFA eligibility and anything close to a repeat season would push his asking price into the $7MM or more range on a long-term deal while giving him a strong arbitration case if got that far. If Verbeek is convinced that Terry’s production wasn’t a one-off but rather a sign of things to come, it would make sense for him to try to work out an extension now.
Meanwhile, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale will be in the final year of their entry-level deals next season and are also extension-eligible in mid-July. Both players will have five years of team control left next summer and won’t be able to file for arbitration. Zegras didn’t look out of place as their top center last season and with Ryan Getzlaf gone, he will be carrying a bigger workload as well which could result in a jump from the 61 points he had this season. Drysdale, meanwhile, averaged nearly 20 minutes per game in his first NHL campaign while chipping in with 32 points, numbers that should only go up in 2022-23. Many teams often try to work out an early extension over running the risk of an extended negotiation the following summer and Verbeek will certainly want to do that here.
Getting these extensions worked out early would give the Ducks a much better overview of what their salary cap picture will look like in 2023 and beyond. Three long-term contracts will take a big chunk out of their spending room but if the two sides are too far apart in negotiations to the point where a shorter-term deal makes sense (more for Drysdale and Zegras than Terry), that would then open up some extra spending room for a couple of years. The sooner they know what they have to work with, the better.
Coaching Decisions
Verbeek opted to pick up the team option on Dallas Eakins’ deal, ensuring he’ll return for his fourth season behind Anaheim’s bench. But teams often don’t like their head coaches heading into ‘lame-duck’ situations so this might not be desirable for the team. In those instances, a one-year or two-year extension could be on the table, one that takes away any short-term uncertainty but also doesn’t carry a significant commitment if things go sideways and Verbeek decides he wants to make a change.
There is also some work to do at the AHL level as a full coaching staff is required for the second straight summer. Joel Bouchard along with assistants Daniel Jacob and Max Talbot were somewhat surprisingly let go after their first season following San Diego being eliminated in the play-in round for the playoffs. AHL coaching staffs don’t have to be in place at the start of free agency but if they want to try to go after some free agents that are ticketed for the Gulls, it would be useful for them to have their staff in place by then to avoid any uncertainty as those free agents will likely want to know who is coaching before they sign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Pacific Notes: Megna, Chiasson, Tanev
Prior to their semi-final game against Finland today, the United States found themselves down another defenseman as it was revealed by Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters (Twitter link) that Sharks defenseman Jaycob Megna had left the team to tend to a family emergency. That left the Americans with just four healthy defensemen for the game while the team is out of available roster slots which meant they weren’t able to add Montreal blueliner Jordan Harris – who has skated with the team as an extra all tournament – to the roster. Sam Lafferty and Riley Barber, both forwards, comprised the third pairing and will likely do so again on Sunday when they battle Czechia for the bronze while Finland and Canada go for gold.
More from the Pacific:
- Earlier this week, a report surfaced that Canucks winger Alex Chiasson would be heading to Switzerland for next season. However, his agent Pat Morris told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link) that the pending UFA has no intention of signing in Switzerland and intends to pursue an NHL contract this season with his first choice being to re-sign with Vancouver. Chiasson will have to wait a while for that option to present itself as team president Jim Rutherford recently indicated that they won’t decide on whether or not to keep the 31-year-old until after free agency. Chiasson had 13 goals and nine assists in 67 games this season.
- On Friday, the extent of the injuries for Flames defenseman Chris Tanev was revealed – including a torn labrum and a dislocated shoulder. Today, the veteran told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link) that the recovery time for the labrum surgery he’ll be undergoing next week carries a recovery time of four to six months. If things go well, the 32-year-old would be ready around the start of training camp but if the recovery time is towards the back end of that range, he could miss more than a month of the regular season.
Offseason Checklist: Buffalo Sabres
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus those that were eliminated early in the postseason. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Buffalo.
It wasn’t a great year in the standings but things are looking up for the Sabres. The team was much more competitive in Don Granato’s first season behind the bench and several of their young players made promising strides to show that brighter days could soon be on the horizon. With that in mind, Buffalo’s checklist looks a bit different than it has in recent years as they should now begin the process of trying to add talent and emerge from their rebuild.
Sign A Veteran Goalie
At the moment, Buffalo has six goaltenders under contract. Once the calendar flips to the new league year in July, that number drops to zero. GM Kevyn Adams will be busy on that front, to say the least, both in terms of NHL and AHL signings. Let’s look at the NHL situation here.
It’s widely expected that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be promoted from the minors to fill one of the two spots with Buffalo as he continues his development and the team continues to evaluate whether or not he’ll be the goalie of the future for them. But the most games he has played in any of his professional seasons is 44. Between that and the fact he has just 13 NHL appearances under his belt, it’s safe to say that he’s not yet ready to assume the true starting role.
As a result, Adams will be looking for a veteran that is capable of playing more than a typical backup role. A short-term starter would make some sense or failing that, a platoon netminder to split time with Luukkonen would also work. Craig Anderson is among Buffalo’s pending unrestricted free agents and it seems like re-signing the 41-year-old would be their preference as he fit in quite well in his first season with Buffalo. It’s questionable if he can hold up under a higher workload than the 31 games he played in 2021-22 so if he is their choice, a veteran third-stringer to stash at AHL Rochester certainly would make some sense.
Decide Olofsson’s Future
Victor Olofsson has had an up-and-down tenure with Buffalo so far. After a surprise showing in his rookie season that saw him put up 20 goals and 22 assists in just 54 games, the two sides settled on a bridge contract, a reasonable course of action. The first year didn’t go well and for the majority of this season, things weren’t much better. At the end of February, he had just seven goals in 44 games and looked like he could be heading for non-tender territory.
But once March hit, the 26-year-old suddenly rediscovered his scoring touch, potting 13 goals along with 12 assists in the final 28 games. While the usual caveat about reading too much into production when a team is well out of playoff contention certainly applies, Olofsson may have shown enough to warrant another contract.
If that’s the case, what is the right deal? This is Olofsson’s final year of RFA eligibility so it’s not as if they can work out a short-term pact and then re-assess before he’s UFA-eligible. With him being unrestricted no matter what, a one-year contract isn’t ideal from Buffalo’s perspective while finding common ground on a long-term deal could be tricky given the year-to-year variability in his performance.
Olofsson is owed a $3.25MM qualifying offer and has arbitration eligibility this summer. With a little over six weeks until qualifiers are due, Adams will need to make a decision on this front sooner than later.
Add Defensive Help
At the moment, Buffalo has just three defensemen signed for next season that are locks to make the opening roster. They’re all aged 22 or younger in Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, and Owen Power. That’s a solid cluster of young impact blueliners that are going to be around for a little while but they need some veteran support.
This is something that the Sabres haven’t really tried to address in recent years which is understandable with the team clearly more interested in being at the bottom of the standings than the top over that stretch. Doing so allowed Dahlin and Jokiharju to log heavy minutes and play through some mistakes.
However, assuming their plan is to start to push forward with trying to get back to the playoffs after missing the postseason for an 11th straight year, they need some veterans capable of logging heavy minutes to work with these three. In an ideal world, they find three of them, one to partner with each youngster which would allow someone like Mattias Samuelsson to see more AHL action.
That said, adding three impact blueliners would be a tall task for any team, especially since there aren’t a lot of them available in free agency this summer. With more than ample cap space though, this seems like an area where Adams should have the green light to bid aggressively. Three would be perfect, two would be nice, but one is simply a necessity if they want to help their goalies and more importantly, help their young rearguards find another level in their development.
Thompson Extension Talks
The first season of Tage Thompson’s bridge contract didn’t go well as he put up just 14 points in 38 games in 2020-21. Heading into this season, expectations were quite low as a result. If he could lock down a full-time spot and play with some consistency, it likely would have been viewed as a success.
But what the 24-year-old did in 2021-22 was far beyond realistic expectations, likely beyond even the most optimistic projections for Thompson as he put up 38 goals and 30 assists. That goal total put him 19th in the entire league while he also made the transition to playing down the middle. While it took several years, Thompson certainly showed the offensive promise that made him a first-round pick back in 2016.
Thompson’s timing for his offensive outburst was pretty optimal as well as he’s eligible to sign a contract extension once free agency opens up in mid-July and he officially enters the final year of his deal. If Adams and the Sabres believe that Thompson’s performance is a sign of things to come, they will almost certainly try to work out an extension this summer as anything close to a repeat performance in 2022-23 will only drive the asking price higher. Meanwhile, after being a depth player for the first few years of his career, the prospect of a big money, long-term extension might appeal to Thompson. This is something that doesn’t have to happen but it wouldn’t be surprising to see both sides take a run at an extension in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.