CHL Notes: End-Of-Season Awards, Post-Moratorium Trades
Prior to the conclusion of the Memorial Cup, the CHL announced their end-of-season award winners with several NHL prospects taking home hardware. Those include Stars forward Logan Stankoven who was named Player of the Year after putting up 45 goals and 59 assists in just 59 games with WHL Kamloops. The 47th pick from the 2021 draft also averaged a goal per game in 17 playoff contests. Still just 19, Stankoven won’t be eligible to play in the AHL next season. Meanwhile, Rangers prospect Dylan Garand was named as Goalie of the Year following a strong showing with Kamloops that saw him post a 32-9-3 record in 45 games with a 2.16 GAA and a .925 SV%. The 20-year-old will turn pro next season.
Meanwhile, with the Memorial Cup now completed, a very narrow trade window opened up on Thursday. A few moves of note were made before the window closes later today following the annual Import Draft. Here’s a rundown of those transactions:
- Coyotes goaltender prospect Anson Thornton was traded from OHL Sarnia to Barrie. Arizona signed the 19-year-old as an undrafted free agent in October following a strong showing in rookie camp but he struggled, posting a 4.06 GAA along with an .883 SV% in 26 games with the Sting. Thornton is a year away from being eligible to play in the AHL and his three-year, entry-level contract will slide again next season.
- Blues goalie prospect Will Cranley was dealt from OHL Ottawa to Flint. The 20-year-old had a tough season, his first as a starter, as he had a 3.81 GAA along with an .873 SV% in 41 games with the 67s. Cranley is eligible to turn pro next season and is already signed. He can be returned to junior to play for the Firebirds but will still burn the first year of his contract in that scenario.
- One player that isn’t an NHL prospect just yet (but will be next week) was also on the move as the CHL rights to Brad Lambert were moved from WHL Saskatoon to Seattle. The projected first-round pick isn’t under contract in Finland next season and the fact the Thunderbirds moved four draft picks (only two conditional) to secure his rights suggests that they think they can get him to North America next season. He’d likely secure a significant role there compared to playing in Finland which could be appealing to teams considering drafting him.
Blue Jackets Re-Sign Josh Dunne
The Blue Jackets have taken care of another pending free agent, announcing the signing of center Josh Dunne to a one-year, two-way contract. Financial terms of the deal were not officially disclosed but Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Dunne’s NHL salary would be $874,125, suggesting he has accepted the terms of what would have been his qualifying offer. Dunne was set to become a restricted free agent later this month.
The 23-year-old signed with Columbus as an undrafted college free agent out of Clarkson back in 2021, making his NHL debut soon after. Dunne got into six NHL games that season with the Blue Jackets, recording seven shots on goal while averaging just over ten minutes a night of ice time. However, aside from a brief stint on the taxi squad in late December, Dunne didn’t see any time with Columbus this past season. Instead, he got into 29 games with AHL Cleveland, picking up six goals and five assists.
Dunne has one year of waiver exemption remaining so it’s all but certain he’ll return to the Monsters next season with the hopes of a bigger role and a chance to prove himself to be worthy of a recall. GM Jarmo Kekalainen still has plenty of pending restricted free agents to deal with this summer as eight remain, highlighted by winger Patrik Laine and defenseman Adam Boqvist.
Lightning Agree To Seven-Year Extension With Nick Paul
Nick Paul made a very good impression on the Lightning after being acquired from Ottawa at the trade deadline. He did well enough, in fact, to earn a long-term contract as the team announced that they’ve signed the forward to a seven-year contract with an AAV of $3.15MM. CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:
2022-23: $750K base salary, $3.4MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2023-24: $2.15MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2024-25: $3.25MM base salary, full no-trade clause
2025-26: $3MM base salary, full no-trade clause
2026-27: $1.5MM base salary, $1MM signing bonus, 16-team no-trade clause
2027-28: $1.5MM base salary, $1MM signing bonus, 16-team no-trade clause
2028-29: $1.5MM base salary, $1MM signing bonus, 16-team no-trade clause
The 27-year-old had a career year in 2021-22, picking up 16 goals and 16 assists in 80 games between the Senators and Lightning but his production in Tampa Bay was certainly noteworthy as he collected 14 points in 21 contests despite seeing his average ice time drop by more than three minutes per game to 14:06. Most of that time was spent on the wing but that changed in the playoffs as he mostly played down the middle. His production dropped to just five goals and four helpers in their 23 postseason matches but he took 382 draws in what was largely a checking role while his playing time jumped to over 18 minutes a night in the process.
Paul had been believed to be seeking a multi-year deal with an AAV around the $3MM mark while with Ottawa, a price they clearly didn’t want to pay which resulted in him being sent to Tampa Bay for Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 fourth-round pick. His showing down the stretch and in the playoffs certainly bolstered his market and he was able to surpass the $3MM threshold while getting close to a max-term agreement in the process.
Of course, this contract further tightens Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation. They now have more than $87.6MM in commitments for next season, per CapFriendly, with a projected minimum-sized roster. They’ll have some relief with Brent Seabrook’s $6.875MM remaining on LTIR but that doesn’t give them much room to work with as they look to find a way to keep winger Ondrej Palat and defenseman Jan Rutta in the fold; both players are pending unrestricted free agents. On Thursday, it was reported that the Lightning were working with blueliner Ryan McDonagh to see if there’s a suitable trade he’d be open to which would give them some flexibility with the veteran carrying a $6.75MM cap charge for the next four years. GM Julien BriseBois can check off one key item of his summer to-do list but there is still some work to be done.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the two sides were closing in on an agreement while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the seven-year term.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Sharks Fire Bob Boughner
There is a late entrant to the coaching shuffle around the NHL as the Sharks have announced that head coach Bob Boughner along with assistant coaches John Madden and John MacLean plus video coach Dan Darrow have all been relieved of their duties. Interim GM Joe Will released the following statement:
As we progress through our search for the next general manager of the Sharks following 19 seasons under Doug Wilson’s leadership, it has become apparent that the organization is in the process of an evolution. The bottom line is we have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons, which isn’t acceptable to our owner, our organization, or to our fans. As part of this evolution and evaluation, we felt it was in the best interest of the club to allow the next Sharks general manager to have full autonomy related to the make-up of the on-ice coaching staff moving ahead.
Boughner took over as San Jose’s head coach back in December of 2019 on an interim basis when he took over for Peter DeBoer with the team removing the interim tag at the end of the season, handing him a three-year deal in the process. That contract, worth $1.5MM per season, had one year remaining, and with so few head coaching openings out there, it’s unlikely he’ll be running an NHL bench when training camp comes around.
As Will noted in his statement, the Sharks missed the playoffs in each of the three seasons that Boughner was behind the bench with the team ultimately compiling a 67-85-23 record during his tenure. Their points percentage improved in each of the last two seasons but San Jose finished sixth in the Pacific Division this past season with a points percentage of just .470. For his head coaching career which included a two-year stint in Florida, Boughner’s record is 147-147-35.
What’s particularly noteworthy here is that the Sharks haven’t completed their search for a new general manager yet, at least officially. Will is the one that wound up making the change but there is an expectation that a new GM will be in place soon. TSN’s Darren Dreger notes (Twitter link) that former Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby is a name that has surfaced this week as one to watch on that front while ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski suggests Mike Grier and Ray Whitney are in the mix as well. With the draft now less than a week away and free agency beginning less than a week later, their new GM was already going to have plenty on his plate in terms of roster building to try to get this team back into the postseason and draft planning. Now, there will be a coaching search to complete as well.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Boughner had been let go. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic was the first to add that Madden, MacLean, and Darrow were also out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Five Key Stories: 6/20/22 – 6/26/22
With the offseason frenzy nearly upon us, activity around the league is starting to pick up. Here’s a rundown of the biggest news from the past seven days.
DeBoer To Dallas: The Stars have found their new head coach as they hired Peter DeBoer, signing him to a four-year deal worth roughly $4.25MM per season. It took a little while for him to enter the coaching market with Vegas taking their time to make a decision on his future before ultimately letting him go. DeBoer has bounced around as this will be his fifth NHL team behind the bench but his best years came with the Golden Knights as he helped lead the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 regular season games plus a 22-17 record in the playoffs. He’ll take over for Rick Bowness who agreed to step away after the Stars were eliminated in the opening round of the postseason.
Smith To Return: While the deal isn’t expected to be announced for a little while due to salary cap and tagging reasons, the Golden Knights have reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with winger Reilly Smith to keep him around. The agreement is believed to carry an AAV of around $5MM which also happens to be the AAV he has had for the last five years. The 31-year-old has been a key piece for Vegas through their first five years of existence and actually sits third in scoring in their brief franchise history. Smith is coming off a bit of a bounce-back season after a tough showing in 2020-21 as he collected 38 points in 56 games. If he can stay healthy and put up close to 50 points (he played at a 56-point pace this year), he’ll provide the Golden Knights with a decent return on this deal but GM Kelly McCrimmon still has a lot of work to do this summer to get this team cap-compliant.
Maurice To Florida: Andrew Brunette did well taking over from Joel Quenneville early in the season, helping to lead the Panthers to a 51-18-6 record while Florida took home the Presidents’ Trophy. That helped earn him a Jack Adams Award nomination but it didn’t help him keep his job as the team announced that they’ve hired Paul Maurice as their new head coach, signing him to a three-year deal worth just under $4MM per year. Maurice stepped away from the Jets midseason but his time away from the game was rather short. He has 24 years of NHL head coaching experience under his belt and will now be tasked with trying to get the team over the playoff hump after they were swept in the second round by Tampa Bay. As for Brunette, it remains to be seen if he’ll go back to being an assistant as he was at the beginning of the season or if he’ll look to join another organization.
News From Winnipeg: Early on in their coaching search, it was clear that Winnipeg’s preference for their next head coach was Barry Trotz, a Manitoba native. Trotz gave the job offer serious consideration but decided to decline it and will not be behind the bench to start next season. Meanwhile, there could be changes coming to their forward group as well. The team is believed to be exploring the trade market for captain Blake Wheeler. The 35-year-old overcame a slow start to pick up 60 points in 65 games but with two years left on his deal with a cap hit of $8.25MM. Between that and a trade-to list of just five teams, however, the market for him might not be too strong. Then there’s center Pierre-Luc Dubois. The pending restricted free agent has informed the team that his intention is to test unrestricted free agency when he’s eligible in 2024. Dubois, who was acquired for another player whose willingness to sign long-term was in question (Patrik Laine), had 60 points of his own this season with a new career-high in goals with 28. His hesitancy to sign a long-term agreement could ultimately dictate their plans for Mark Schiefele as it’s unlikely they’d part with both of their top centers in the same summer.
Richardson To Chicago: While an agreement hasn’t been made official yet, the Blackhawks have found their next head coach as they will be hiring Luke Richardson away from Montreal, where he had served as an assistant coach for the last four years. The 53-year-old played more than 1,400 games in the NHL as a defenseman and has been a coach basically ever since then; he kicked off his coaching NHL career in the same season that he played his final two games. Chicago is about to embark on a sizable rebuild so it’s not surprising they went with a first-time head coach with a reputation for being player-friendly. The contract is expected to be finalized sometime this coming week.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars
With the offseason in full swing aside from the two teams in the Stanley Cup Final, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Stars.
The Stars were able to secure the top Wild Card spot in the West this season, allowing them to avoid Colorado in the opening round. They were close to pulling off the upset against Calgary but came up just short, resulting in a significant move behind the bench with Peter DeBoer taking over for Rick Bowness; the rest of the staff will need to be filled out. In terms of their on-ice personnel, GM Jim Nill has some work to do this summer.
Re-Sign Or Replace Klingberg
John Klingberg‘s contract situation is something that loomed over the club all season long. While both sides have expressed a desire for him to stick around, they didn’t appear to be close during the regular season which led to what ranged from either a full trade request to Klingberg being extremely upset about the state of negotiations, depending on various reports. At one point, his camp was given permission to speak to other teams which resulted in plenty of trade speculation leading up to the trade deadline although a trade obviously didn’t happen.
Now, the contractual situation jumps back to the forefront. Klingberg was believed to be seeking a max-term eight-year deal with reports putting the AAV around the $8MM mark which would be nearly double the $4.25MM he had been getting for the past seven seasons. The 29-year-old certainly has a strong case for the big jump as well. He’s coming off a year where he collected 47 points in 74 games while only seven blueliners have more points than him over his eight-year NHL career. He’s going to be one of the top players to get to the open market this summer.
Accordingly, Nill has a big decision to make. Does he move close enough to Klingberg’s asking price at the eight-year term (which may not be too enticing since he turns 30 in August) or does he make other plans to replace him? With some other big contracts on the horizon (more on those shortly), can they afford another pricey long-term commitment or would they be better off trying to sign or acquire a cheaper, shorter-term replacement? Nill only has a couple more weeks to ponder that decision.
New Deal For Robertson
After spending most of his first professional season in the minors, Jason Robertson has quickly emerged as a legitimate top winger and in his first full year in the NHL, he provided Dallas with 41 goals (including a league-high 11 game-winners) and 79 points. With the 22-year-old hitting restricted free agency for the first time this summer, he’s in line for a significant raise compared to his rookie deal.
Nill undoubtedly would like to sign Robertson to a long-term contract that buys out a few UFA-eligible seasons but that will be a tough task even with nearly $20MM in cap space simply because of who else needs to sign. A long-term contract could jump into the $9MM range based on recent comparables including Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov (five years, $45MM) which would eat up about half of their cap space with that one and could prohibit them from keeping Klingberg in the fold or finding a similar replacement. On top of that, Nill acknowledged earlier this month that the anticipated jump in the Upper Limit of the cap a couple of years from now could push prominent RFAs like Robertson into preferring a short-term deal.
With that in mind, a bridge contract, one that could free up enough cap room to try to take care of another pending free agent, seems like the probable outcome. But even that will carry a high price tag. Recent comparable players would put a deal for him in the $7MM range so the net savings compared to a long-term deal would be in the $2MM range. With those deals, teams can get creative with the salary structure to yield a higher qualifying offer at its expiration which is something Robertson’s camp would likely push for if they go this route. Worth noting, Robertson does not have arbitration eligibility and we’ve seen several in his situation wait until closer to training camp to put pen to paper on a contract.
Sign A Goalie Tandem
Another prominent restricted free agent this summer is goaltender Jake Oettinger. He actually started this season in the minors but did so well after being recalled that he never went back. The 23-year-old wound up posting a 2.53 GAA along with a .914 SV% in 48 games during the regular season and then was stellar in seven playoff contests, nearly helping them to get past Calgary despite facing an average of just over 40 shots per game.
This negotiation has the potential to be a bit of a longer one. Part of that will be due to a lack of experience at the NHL level as Oettinger has just 77 regular season games under his belt. Not a lot of goalies get pricey long-term deals with that limited experience. Even if they do want to work out something on a longer-term basis, their hands will largely be tied with what happens with Klingberg’s new deal or replacement as well as Robertson’s new deals. If both receive long-term expensive pacts, it’s going to force their hand into a short-term bridge agreement. As Robertson’s case could take a while, that could drag Oettinger’s discussions out accordingly.
There’s also the matter of figuring out their backup goalie. Braden Holtby had a nice bounce-back year with his best numbers since 2016-17 and while he’s not going to be considered as a top starter this summer, he could command a decent raise on the $2MM he made this season on a multi-year agreement. Dallas might not be able to afford that. Scott Wedgewood bounced around with three different teams this season but did well enough to be in the mix for a team that’s looking to save some money on their backup. A one-way deal around the $1MM mark should be doable for him, giving him some rare job security in the process.
The Stars do still have Anton Khudobin under contract but after a year filled with injuries and struggles, they’ll undoubtedly be looking to get out of the final year and $3.33MM of his deal so he probably won’t be in their plans so they’ll need to sign both ends of their tandem for next season.
Hintz Extension Talks
While the first three parts of this are the biggest priority for Nill, he’s also expected to look into what a contract extension would cost for forward Roope Hintz. Very quietly over the last couple of years, the 25-year-old has emerged as a viable top center and with a cap hit on his bridge deal of $3.25MM, Hintz has become one of the biggest bargains in the NHL.
That will change in the near future. Hintz will enter the final season of his contract once the new league year begins on July 13th which means he’ll be eligible to sign an extension at that time. Hintz had 37 goals and 35 assists this past season, good for career-highs in both categories but with DeBoer expected to play a more attack-oriented style, it’s reasonable to expect that Hintz could set new benchmarks in 2022-23. If that happens, the price tag will only go up.
Hintz will only have one RFA-eligible year remaining when his current deal expires so, unlike Robertson or Oettinger, there isn’t an option to do a short-term contract to massage their cap situation. If they can’t agree on a long-term deal, it’s possible that Hintz files for arbitration and takes a one-year award that takes him to the open market. A long-term contract should eclipse the $7MM mark and their ability to offer such a deal may very well be determinant on what contracts Robertson and Oettinger wind up with. When it comes to their summer spending and planning, everything is intertwined and this file, even though it doesn’t technically come up for another year, is no exception.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
PHR Mailbag: Wild, Bruins, Devils’ Draft Pick, DeBrincat, Predators, Hockey Trades, Rangers, Coyotes, Forsberg
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Boston’s offseason, discussing which route is the best to take for Nashville, candidates for ‘hockey’ trades, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in either last weekend’s mailbag or Saturday’s Detroit-specific column.
Zakis: Who will be the Wild’s primary goalie for the ’22-’23 season?
I’m going to say Cam Talbot. While their Plan A is to re-sign Marc-Andre Fleury, with everything else they have to navigate this summer, I’m leery that they’ll be able to do so unless Fleury takes below his market value to stay there. I expect Minnesota will have to be a bit more frugal while looking for their second netminder. While they’re probably not going to wind up with a low-end, cheap second-stringer, I have a hard time thinking that second goalie will play more than Talbot, barring injury.
Assuming that happens, Talbot should check in around 50-55 starts, a mark he’d have reached this season had it not been for Fleury’s acquisition back at the trade deadline. Getting that many starts will be important for him as well since the 34-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason and playing a number one workload would certainly help his cause next summer on the open market.
Nha Trang: I’d ask “What the hell were the Bruins thinking?” except that everyone in hockey knows the answer.
MoneyBallJustWorks: Thoughts on Sweeney being canned and ending up in Vegas?
BOSsports21: Piggybacking off a couple B’s questions already – the Bruins need a teardown and rebuild. It’s not something B’s fans want to hear, but they have only a couple of good prospects and no cap room. They weren’t really a Cup contender this past year and now they want to bring in a younger coach. If you’re the GM, do you sell off as much as you can to obtain assets? I feel Pastrnak and Marchand will not be the same without Bergeron if he retires. Even if he comes back, it’ll probably only be for a year. Might as well get good value for Pastrnak and Marchand to re-stock the bare cupboard. Thoughts?
Let’s put some Boston questions together. GM Don Sweeney’s decision to part ways with Bruce Cassidy certainly raised some eyebrows and the fact that several teams immediately pursued him indicates that his perception around the league is much more positive than it was in Boston’s front office. Obviously, they felt the playoff underperformance was cause for concern and there has been plenty of speculation about other factors but that’s simply speculation.
There’s a good chance that whoever Sweeney hires will be his last hire as Boston’s head coach. He’s one of the longer-tenured general managers in the league but most are only able to make a couple of coaching changes before they’re heading out the door. As for joining Vegas when that happens, never say never, even with what I suspect was a sarcastic question. Vegas isn’t exactly known for patience in the early going and if they struggle over the next year or two, there could be front office changes following soon after.
Boston has operated as a team that isn’t likely to rebuild, especially with the moves they’ve made in the last few years. They don’t give Taylor Hall a four-year deal and then acquire and extend Hampus Lindholm with an eye on rebuilding. With the injuries they’ll be dealing with to start next season, a short-term step back was at least justifiable. But with Patrice Bergeron now expected to return, that idea goes out the window; he’s not coming back to help ease the team through a short-term teardown. That takes the idea of potentially trading Pastrnak and Marchand (the latter of which was probably unlikely to happen anyway) off the table.
W H Twittle: If so, could a trade be built on the basis of Pastrnak for NJ’s 2022 #2 draft pick? Obviously, NJ would need to add a couple of A pieces… that may include their 2023 1st round pick and an A prospect?
Let’s get another Boston one in here. No, I don’t believe David Pastrnak for that second selection is a viable option for either side. But as I just noted, the Bruins aren’t bringing Bergeron back to then turn around and start selling off key players. If that was the route they were taking, Bergeron would be hanging up his skates. If things don’t go well during the season, that could very well change closer to the trade deadline but this type of trade certainly won’t be on the table at that time.
Moving that second pick (and potentially other assets) for Pastrnak makes little sense for the Devils either. If they’re going to move a premium draft pick, it will be for someone in the prime of their career that has several years of team control left (either through being under contract or club control). They’re not moving that pick for a rental player that still probably doesn’t get them into the playoffs next season. And if I’m Pastrnak, with all due respect to New Jersey, I’m not passing up a chance at testing the market to sign a long-term contract with them.
I think people are getting a little too hyped up about the idea of New Jersey moving this draft pick. They’re not shopping the it, they’re simply listening to offers and coming up with a list of players that could make sense to trade for that fit their parameters. Those parameters would involve club control and long-term salary cap planning, among other elements. I don’t think there would be more than four or five players league-wide on that list. Of those, how many will actually be available to move? Maybe two? If GM Tom Fitzgerald doesn’t get the perfect (and I mean perfect, not a ‘close enough’ scenario) offer, they’ll happily keep that pick. There are more ways to get an impact player than by trading a high lottery selection.
Johnny Z: Some have the Flyers being interested in acquiring DeBrincat, what would that look like?
While I, like many, expect Philadelphia to shake things up in terms of their core forwards, I don’t think it’d be for Alex DeBrincat. He’s under the old rule for qualifying offers so he’ll be owed a minimum of $9MM for his qualifier in 2023 although if he has another year like this one, he’ll be getting more than that. That’s going to be tough to fit into their salary structure.
Then there’s the acquisition cost. Chicago would undoubtedly want the fifth-overall pick and with the situation the Flyers are in, moving that pick wouldn’t be wise. That’s their chance to get an impact, cost-controllable player to work into the lineup a couple of years from now to help offset some of their more bloated veteran deals. I know they’re in win-now mode, but moving that pick isn’t a good idea.
There needs to be a cap element to the deal to help offset DeBrincat’s current $6.4MM AAV. That could be James van Riemsdyk but if the Blackhawks don’t want to take that contract back, Oskar Lindblom’s $3MM deal could be an option. Another first-round pick (their own in 2023) would need to be in there. I could see Chicago asking about someone like Morgan Frost or Owen Tippett, former first-rounders that haven’t lit it up just yet. There would probably be another prospect in there as well. That’s a big package for a non-playoff team to pay, especially since DeBrincat alone probably doesn’t get them back to the playoffs.
If I’m GM Chuck Fletcher, I’d rather pay a quality pick or prospect to offload van Riemsdyk’s deal without taking money back and then take a serious run at Johnny Gaudreau in free agency. If they did that and Gaudreau agreed to sign, they’d get a top-line winger without giving up a lot of their cost-controllable future. But if I was Fletcher, I wouldn’t have made the Rasmus Ristolainen trade last summer either so even if I don’t think it’s a good idea, he might be thinking differently.
GBear: It’s July and Gbear has won the lottery and bought the Preds and fired David Poile. I’m bringing in Brian La Rose to interview for the vacant GM position. What moves would you make this offseason and who are you taking with the #17 pick of the draft? :)
Congrats on the big lottery win that allows you to swoop in and outbid Bill Haslam for the team. Before I can answer though, my question to you is what’s my mandate? Do I have the ability to do what I think is best or do you want some playoff revenue? The two options aren’t the same.
Assuming you give me the ability to tear it down, that’s what I’d be looking to do. I don’t think adding a piece or two to this core is going to vault them into contender status. The Predators can keep treading water or they can take a step back and try to reload. I’d look to leverage Matt Duchene’s season as a way to get out of his contract and take a cheaper one back. That scenario was far-fetched last summer but a 43-goal season changes things. Someone’s going to be desperate for a center later in the offseason and there’s an opportunity to strike. I don’t see that being feasible for Ryan Johansen though.
I wouldn’t re-sign Filip Forsberg in that scenario and instead would use the cap space to take on a player from somewhere else, adding picks or prospects for doing so as Arizona has done recently. Ideally, said player then would be flipped with retention at the deadline for another pick or prospect. I’d make Mattias Ekholm available and try to leverage the lack of impact left-shot defenders available in free agency into a significant futures-based return. With teams looking for a starting goalie, Juuse Saros could be had for a significant return; I’d be comfortable with some veteran buffers for a couple of years until Yaroslav Askarov is NHL-ready. I’d aim for a two-year or three-year retooling so Roman Josi would stick around. I’d want to see more minutes for Tanner Jeannot, Philip Tomasino, Eeli Tolvanen, and Alexandre Carrier to see if they’re part of the long-term plans so any cap dumps I’d pick up would be for lower roles on the roster. Philippe Myers gets flipped for whatever the best offer is with the acquiring team getting a cap credit (a move that should be made in both win-now and sell-now scenarios). Since this answer can’t go on forever, that’s a very quick overview of what my plan would be.
Now, if you’re telling me you want early playoff revenues, then it’s a much different approach. Filip Forsberg gets his eight years around $8MM. I’d target Vegas to try to add Nicolas Roy, giving the Preds a third center with some upside. He’s a strong offer sheet target with their cap situation so this could be a chance to add to the position without the return being super high. Andre Burakovsky would be a target to add on the wing to provide a two-way element while still boosting the scoring potential of the second line, shifting some of those younger players onto the third line to really balance out the attack.
On defense, I’d like someone like Josh Manson to shore up the back end but so would a lot of other teams. I’d go into the upper $4MM range for his services which might not be enough to get it done. Ideally, a physical shutdown defender that can take some pressure off the younger players and deepen the back end is the target.
The only reason there’s enough cap space to do all of this is the goaltending. I’d use Connor Ingram as the backup for Saros over. I think he has legitimate NHL upside and sneaking him through waivers isn’t going to happen. His $758K cap hit provides some extra cap flexibility to upgrade an extra spot on the roster and I’d rather put money towards an every-game player over someone who probably is only going to play 20-25 times since there isn’t a big difference between Ingram and a $2MM to $3MM backup. Those additions should be enough to keep the Preds in the playoff hunt for the next couple of years and perhaps even win a round and from there, you never know what can happen.
It’s hard to forecast who’s going to be available with the 17th pick but someone like Denton Mateychuk fits as someone in that range. He’s a bit undersized but is a good offensive defenseman and adding someone to take some pressure off Josi when he slows down would help. A center would be preferable though given the state of their prospect pool so Marco Kasper would also be high on my list. He hasn’t looked out of place in the SHL and there’s a good defensive floor to work with. I think there’s second-line upside with the offensive and a two-way top-six center would be a nice addition in the middle of the first round.
Snapshots: Ovechkin, Schmiemann, Puljujarvi
In the past, there has been an expectation that Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin would finish up his career with Dynamo Moscow in Russia. On Friday, the veteran did indeed sign a contract with them, just not the Dynamo Moscow you might be thinking of. Instead, Dynamo’s soccer team announced the signing of the 36-year-old to a one-game contract, naming him the captain for the match as well. That game was played on Saturday with Ovechkin actually scoring the game-winner against Amkal in a 5-0 victory. Fittingly, given how many of his goals have been scored in the NHL, it came on a one-timer from the left side, the clip of which can be seen here.
More from around the hockey world:
- The Canucks have added some defensive depth at the AHL level as their farm team in Abbotsford announced the signing of Quinn Schmiemann to a two-year deal. The 20-year-old was actually a sixth-round pick of Tampa Bay back in 2019 but wound up not signing and remained in the WHL this season where he picked up 14 goals and 40 assists in 58 games during the regular season while finishing third in scoring for the Blazers in the playoffs with 18 points in 17 contests.
- Sportsnet’s Mark Spector posits that an arbitrator could award pending RFA winger Jesse Puljujarvi a contract in the $3.5MM to $4MM range this summer. That would certainly be a big blow to the Oilers who simply couldn’t afford to carry that type of contract on their books. The 24-year-old has been more impactful since coming back to North America at the start of last season but despite some impressive underlying numbers, he still managed just 14 goals and 22 assists in 2021-22. If that is indeed in the range of where Puljujarvi’s camp sees him landing in an arbitration hearing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see GM Ken Holland shopping him over the coming weeks.
Offseason Checklist: Pittsburgh Penguins
With the offseason in full swing aside from the two teams in the Stanley Cup Final, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Penguins.
Despite some key injuries in the playoffs, the Penguins nearly got past the Rangers in the opening round which gave GM Ron Hextall a tough choice to either run it back with this same core with Sidney Crosby still a high-end center or to start a rebuilding phase. Considering their stated intention is to keep their win-now window open, their summer checklist reflects that.
Get Goaltending Stability
Tristan Jarry was once viewed as Pittsburgh’s goalie of the future following a stellar junior career. When Matt Murray was traded to Ottawa two drafts ago, he became their goalie of the present. However, it’s now fair to wonder whether or not he’s their goalie of the future beyond next season. The 27-year-old is coming off a strong regular season that saw him post a GAA of 2.49 and a.919 SV% but 159 games into his NHL career, there are still some questions about whether or not he should be their long-term starter. If management is sold on Jarry, then working out a long-term extension with an AAV starting with a five would be worthwhile and that move can be made as of July 13th.
But what if they don’t feel that way or want to see what 2022-23 brings before making that type of commitment? That’s when things start to get a bit dicey. There is no Jarry-like prospect in the minors that’s a year or two away from being NHL-ready. There isn’t even an NHL-caliber backup under contract with Casey DeSmith set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and journeyman Louis Domingue (their starter for most of the playoffs) also hitting the open market. In an ideal world, they would add a quality backup on a multi-year deal and give themselves a short-term upgrade at that second spot and a bit of longer-term stability.
Of course, an ideal world implies that they have the cap space to do this and accomplish their other summer objectives. As we’ll get to shortly, the only way something like this could happen is if things don’t go well on those other fronts. A short-term low-cost deal might be all they can afford and if they head into next season with Jarry on an expiring deal and a short-term backup, that’s not an ideal situation to have for a very important position.
Keep Or Replace Veteran Stars
Now, let’s get to the obvious. Right now, Pittsburgh has over $23MM in cap space which sounds wonderful without context. That context is that two of their long-time veteran stars, center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, will become unrestricted free agents next month. Accordingly, most (if not all) of their offseason planning will revolve around this duo in terms of trying to keep them or finding a way to replace them.
When healthy, Malkin remains a high-end NHL center and has averaged less than a point per game just once in the last decade. However, there’s one other key thing that has happened just once in the last decade and that’s the 36-year-old playing at least 70 games in a season. Malkin has had long run-ins with injury trouble and this past season was no exception which really complicates things from a valuation standpoint. When Malkin is in the lineup and producing at a point-per-game rate, his market value isn’t that far off from the $9.5MM AAV of his soon-to-expire contract. But since he can’t stay in the lineup consistently, it’s also a huge risk to give him that type of money. The only way the Penguins can make part of his pay based on staying healthy is with a one-year deal and Malkin has no reason to accept that as he can likely land a three-year or four-year commitment next month. While a pay cut is likely, it probably won’t be a substantial one.
Then there’s Letang. Over the last four seasons, only three blueliners have more points than the 35-year-old. The low-end in terms of AAV for those three players is $7.875MM (Victor Hedman who left money on the table to stay in Tampa Bay) and the high end is $9.059MM (Nashville’s Roman Josi). You can be sure that Letang’s representatives will be pointing that out in negotiations. Letang isn’t a stalwart defensive defender but he has killed penalties for the Penguins and while he has had injury issues of his own in the past, he has been healthier in recent years. While Pittsburgh would love to try to get Letang for less than his expiring $7.25MM cap hit, he could very easily get more if he gets to the open market. The length of the contract is a priority though so if the Penguins are willing to go with a longer deal than they might prefer, it should yield a lower AAV than he’d get otherwise.
Both players have been franchise stalwarts for the last 16 years but with everything else that Hextall needs to go this summer, it will be difficult to keep (or replace) both at market value and still have money left to fill their other needs. But with how important those two are, they’re certainly going to try to find a way to make it work.
Create Cap Flexibility
If Hextall is going to be able to keep both of his veteran stars, keep some of the other notable pending UFAs (including wingers Rickard Rakell and Evan Rodrigues), find a quality backup goalie, and leave some wiggle room for in-season movement, something has to give. Some tough decisions are going to need to be made on some impact players.
One of those is winger Kasperi Kapanen. The team has twice used a first-round pick on him, first to draft him and then another to re-acquire him back in 2020 but the return on their reinvestment wasn’t great in 2021-22. After an impressive shortened campaign, the 25-year-old struggled this past season, notching just 11 goals and 21 assists in 32 games while chipping in with three assists in their seven-game loss to the Rangers. That’s not a terrible return on a $3.2MM cap hit but it’s safe to say they were hoping for more. If they tender him a qualifying offer this summer (technically speaking, that offer is only worth $840K based on the structure of his expiring deal), Kapanen will be arbitration-eligible where his prior years could push his value closer to $4MM which is below the walkaway threshold. His trade value won’t be overly high because of this situation so a non-tender is a definite possibility. While that would create some extra flexibility, it’d also create another impact roster spot to be filled.
Then there’s Jason Zucker, another winger. Former Penguins GM Jim Rutherford paid a sizable price to bring him in as well but he hasn’t been able to play at the level he did with Minnesota. When he has been healthy (and that has been a struggle the last couple of seasons), he has been more of a secondary producer which isn’t great for someone with a $5.5MM price tag. A buyout would give them a little less than $3.5MM in cap space for next season while adding $1.733MM to 2023-24’s cap but also would create another spot to fill. Alternatively, a trade with some retention that yields less relief next season but carries no penalty for the following year is an option while they could also add a draft pick or prospect to try to get a team to take the contract in full. None of these are desirable but carrying him on the books next season could cost them the ability to retain a more impactful player.
There are also some candidates to move on the back end. Marcus Pettersson hasn’t lived up to his inflated contract, one that carries an AAV of just over $4MM for three more years. Flipping him for someone that makes less money is something that can be considered. John Marino ($4.4MM for five more years) has been in trade speculation going back to during the season and a similar idea could be done with him, especially if they’re able to bring Letang back. It’s unlikely they can clear the full contracts but moving one of them could give them a little more financial flexibility. Even with $23MM in cap room for the time being, the Penguins certainly are going to need all the financial flexibility they can get.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Central Notes: Burakovsky, Raffl, Blackhawks
Colorado could get some help for Sunday’s sixth game against the Lightning. Speaking with reporters today including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that winger Andre Burakovsky will accompany the Avalanche to Tampa Bay and is a possibility to play in that contest. The 27-year-old suffered what is believed to be a hand injury in the second game of the series, taking away one of their key secondary scorers. After recording 61 points in the regular season, Burakovsky has eight in a dozen playoff contests so far. Officially, he remains listed as day-to-day.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Stars GM Jim Nill recently told reporters, including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News, that they tendered a contract offer to pending UFA winger Michael Raffl although it clearly hasn’t been accepted. The 33-year-old managed just 16 points in 76 games this season despite averaging 14:32 per game of ice time so it’s likely that offer came in below the $1.1MM he made in 2021-22. As a depth player, it’s possible he could have an eye on returning overseas to finish off his playing career.
- While some have speculated about the possibility of the Blackhawks moving one or both of franchise stalwarts Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews this summer, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that the veterans aren’t being shopped and if they do wind up going elsewhere, it will be at their request. The idea of discussing extensions with them hasn’t been ruled out either although that isn’t expected to happen this summer as all sides want to see how things go in what’s expected to be a rebuilding year in Chicago. Kane and Toews are each under contract through next season at a $10.5MM cap hit.