Jets Acquire Nate Schmidt
While it was believed that Nate Schmidt wasn’t keen on being traded to the Jets, he had a change of heart as on Tuesday, he waived his no-trade clause to be traded to Winnipeg with the Canucks receiving the Jets’ third-round pick in 2022 in return. Both teams have announced the trade.
Schmidt was acquired from Vegas last fall early in free agency with the Golden Knights needing to free up cap space to facilitate the signing of Alex Pietrangelo. The return in that deal was a 2022 third-round selection which means Vancouver was basically able to get a free year out of Schmidt when the two moves are combined.
Unfortunately, that free season wasn’t a great one for the 30-year-old. While he fit in quite well in Vegas, that wasn’t the case in Vancouver as Schmidt struggled for most of the year. His offensive production was cut in half from the previous year from 31 to 15 points despite playing in nearly the same number of games and that was hardly the return they were expecting from someone that carries a $5.95MM cap hit. Those struggles likely played a role in Vancouver swinging a deal for Oliver Ekman-Larsson over the weekend, a move that sealed Schmidt’s fate as being someone that was about to be on the move again.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg makes their second notable defensive addition in as many days after acquiring Brenden Dillon from Washington on Monday. The Jets were hit hard two years ago with several blueliners leaving for no return in Ben Chiarot and Tyler Myers (free agency), the injury and subsequent retirement of Dustin Byfuglien, while Jacob Trouba was traded to the Rangers in a deal that netted Neal Pionk, a move that has worked out well for them thus far. Even so, the only defensive addition of note prior to these two moves was Dylan DeMelo so there was work that needed to be done.
This addition, coupled with Dillon’s pickup, gives Winnipeg much more depth on the back end as the two could possibly form their second pairing behind Pionk and Josh Morrissey for next season while pushing DeMelo down to the third pairing. All of a sudden, a position that was their biggest weakness looks a lot stronger.
With these moves – Winnipeg is picking up the full contract for Schmidt per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link) – that should be it for additions on their back end. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will have a little over $7MM in cap room remaining (excluding Bryan Little‘s LTIR-bound contract which carries a $5.291MM AAV) with Pionk, Logan Stanley, and Andrew Copp needing new contracts. They’ll need to dip into that LTIR pool to get those deals done.
Meanwhile, Vancouver has freed up $9.75MM in cap room today with this swap and the Braden Holtby buyout. The Canucks still have Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes among those in need of new contracts but they’ll have roughly $25MM in cap room, giving them enough flexibility to try to make another big splash over the coming days.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report that Schmidt had agreed to the trade. PuckPedia was the first to report that Winnipeg’s pick, not their other selection from Columbus (previously acquired) was going to Vancouver.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Cap and contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Bruins Agree To Terms With Mike Reilly
The Bruins added Mike Reilly at the trade deadline to try to shore up their back end and evidently, they liked what they saw from him. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the defenseman has agreed to a three-year contract with a $3MM AAV.
The 28-year-old has bounced around in the early going of his career, spending his first few years with Minnesota, Montreal, and Ottawa. However, after having a limited role for most of that time, everything seemed to click for Reilly last season. He picked up 19 assists in 40 games with the Sens which bolstered his trade market and Ottawa was able to flip him to Boston at the deadline for a third-rounder, a two-round upgrade on the pick they sent to the Canadiens to acquire him the year before.
With the Bruins, Reilly was asked to take on a bigger role than he was accustomed to with Boston’s back end being banged up. He responded quite well, picking up eight more assists in 15 games while logging over 21 minutes a night. That continued in the playoffs as he chipped in with four assists in 11 postseason contests while again averaging more than 21 minutes per game.
That had Reilly well-positioned for a strong market in free agency but instead, he’ll stick around with the Bruins, doubling his previous contract in the process. Meanwhile, Boston now has at least one more veteran in place on the left side of their defense corps but it wouldn’t be surprising to see GM Don Sweeney try to add another one over the coming days to help make up for last summer’s departures of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara.
Five Key Stories: 7/19/21 – 7/25/21
Usually, by this point in July, activity around the NHL has cooled off considerably. But this isn’t a normal offseason and the festivities kicked off over the past seven days including a pair of drafts. Those are among the items covered in the key stories of the week.
Drafts: There were plenty of notable names available for Seattle in expansion. Some were expected, others not so much. However, GM Ron Francis avoided any possible temptation for taking on pricey deals, instead prioritizing salary cap flexibility. They signed a trio of unrestricted free agents in goaltender Chris Driedger plus defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson. Up front, Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde were their richest acquisitions while blueliner Mark Giordano was their most expensive player taken; the full results can be found here. Only one player selected was flipped in Tyler Pitlick. Seattle will now enter free agency with enough room to make a splash or two if they so desire.
Meanwhile, the Entry Draft was also held on Friday and Saturday. As expected, Owen Power went first overall to Buffalo while Matthew Beniers went second to Seattle. In fact, four of the top five selections either played at Michigan or have a college commitment there for next season. A total of 223 players were selected with Carolina making the most picks with 13. The full draft results are here.
Vancouver Makes A Splash: The Canucks finished last in the North Division in 2020-21 but they believe they can win with that core and doubled down on that belief with the acquisition of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland from Arizona. Heading the other way were forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel as cap-clearing pieces plus a trio of draft picks including the ninth-overall pick (Dylan Guenther). Ekman-Larsson has six years remaining on his contract and even with the Coyotes paying down $990K per year, he’ll still be on their books for $7.26MM while Garland, who should help their top six, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. It’s a big win-now move for a team that struggled this past season but there’s enough talent on Vancouver to turn things around quickly.
Jones To Chicago: When Seth Jones informed the Blue Jackets that he wasn’t interested in signing a contract extension with them, it forced their hand into trying to find a suitable trade fairly quickly. Columbus was able to do that, moving Jones along with the 32nd pick (Nolan Allan) and a 2022 sixth-rounder to Chicago for defenseman Adam Boqvist, the 12th pick (Cole Sillinger), the 44th pick (Aleksi Heimosalmi), and a 2022 first-round pick (top-two protected). As part of the move, the Blackhawks have agreed to an eight-year, $76MM contract extension although that can’t be officially announced until Wednesday when the calendar flips to the 2021-22 season. Jones gives Chicago a prominent blueliner to build around while with these young pieces going the other way, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has added to the foundation of their ongoing rebuild.
Flyers Dealings: The Flyers were busy on the defensive front. In a cap-clearing move, they sent Shayne Gostisbehere along with second and seventh-round picks in 2022 to Arizona for no return. Those savings were then applied to Rasmus Ristolainen who was acquired from Buffalo before the draft in exchange for the 14th pick in the draft (Isac Rosen), a 2023 second-rounder, and blueliner Robert Hagg. Factoring in their big splash a week ago with the acquisition of Ryan Ellis, their back end will look a lot different next season. GM Chuck Fletcher wasn’t done there, however, as he flipped Jakub Voracek to the Blue Jackets on the second day of the draft in exchange for Cam Atkinson in a swap that freed up nearly $2.4MM in cap room.
Re-Signings: On top of the big trades, there were also some notable re-signings. Taylor Hall didn’t hide his desire to make his stay in Boston a longer one and that wish came to fruition as he agreed to a four-year, $24MM contract. After scoring just twice with Buffalo, he scored eight times for the Bruins who brought him in at the trade deadline and he should help bolster their scoring beyond the top line. Meanwhile, Miro Heiskanen’s record of having the highest AAV for a defenseman coming off his entry-level contract lasted all of a week. The new mark has been set by Cale Makar of the Avalanche as the rearguard inked a six-year, $54MM contract. The 22-year-old has 94 points in 101 career games and was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy this past season. Even at that $9MM price tag, if his production continues to improve, this could wind up being a team-friendly deal by its conclusion.
Reinhart To Florida: A week like this deserves an extra move to recap as the Panthers made a big move of their own, acquiring Sam Reinhart from Buffalo in exchange for their 2022 first-round pick plus goaltending prospect Devon Levi. Reinhart had expressed a hesitance in committing to Buffalo long term so they secure an extra first-rounder already plus an intriguing young netminder in Levi. Meanwhile, Florida adds an impact forward as they look to take another step forward after an impressive 2020-21 campaign. Worth noting, captain Aleksander Barkov is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer so assuming they can get a long-term deal done with Reinhart (a pending RFA), he’ll represent some insurance if they can’t get Barkov extended. In the meantime, a long playoff run should help their chances of extending Barkov and the addition of Reinhart will certainly give them a better chance to get beyond the first round.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Offseason Checklist: New York Islanders
The offseason is in full flight with the draft now complete and free agency fast approaching. We continue our series which examines what each team needs to accomplish over the coming weeks and months. Next up is a look at the Islanders.
For the third straight season, the Isles made it to the third round of the playoffs. Also for the third straight season, they lost to the eventual Cup champion in Tampa Bay. With cap constraints fast approaching, GM Lou Lamoriello has freed up some cap space with the trade of Nick Leddy to Detroit and losing Jordan Eberle to Seattle in expansion. Now that he has some room to work with, his offseason checklist revolves around the reshaping of his roster.
Secure Defensive Certainty
There are several teams with multiple long-term commitments on the back end where their core is locked up. The Islanders are not one of those teams. Instead, they have just one blueliner signed beyond next season and that’s Scott Mayfield while Noah Dobson will be an RFA for the first time. Maybe Sebastian Aho is a regular by then as well but otherwise, there aren’t many players guaranteed to be on the roster this time a year from now.
Ryan Pulock is entering the second and final year of his contract and looks to be one of the more prominent blueliners in the 2022 UFA class. He has quietly emerged as a capable defender that can log big minutes on a top pairing, be reliable defensively, and contribute offensively with three straight seasons over 30 points before 2020-21. He’s looking at a raise from his $5MM AAV if he gets to the open market but Lamoriello would be wise to have some discussions about an extension before then.
Then there’s Adam Pelech. He’s set to hit restricted free agency for the final time this summer as he will also be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2022 if he doesn’t sign a multi-year agreement in the coming months. That gives him a bit of extra leverage heading into negotiations although his next deal shouldn’t be a highly expensive one. Getting a multi-year deal in place would certainly by ideal for the Isles.
Otherwise, it’s possible that they enter next summer with $1.45MM in commitments on the back end. While that’s plenty of spending flexibility at that position (that low of committed money on defense is basically unheard of), it would also put them under a lot of pressure a year from now. Whether it’s getting Pulock and Pelech on multi-year deals, adding a veteran on a multi-year contract, or both, having some more certainty on the blueline is something Lamoriello needs to be working on.
Re-Sign Palmieri
The decision to protect two veteran fourth liners while leaving Eberle and Josh Bailey unprotected was largely for financial reasons. New York clearly wanted to free up some cap space with an eye on retaining Kyle Palmieri and Eberle’s selection did just that, opening up $5.5MM in the process.
Now that they’ve freed up the money to keep Palmieri, they need to sign him. The 30-year-old was acquired at the trade deadline from New Jersey (although with veteran Travis Zajac, another pending UFA) in exchange for a first-round pick (used on Chase Stillman). He’s coming off a quiet year with just 10 goals in 51 games between two teams but before this past season, he had five straight seasons of 24 goals or more.
Chances are that Palmieri’s new deal will be close to what Eberle was making but assuming an agreement can be reached, it will basically be a trade, Eberle for Palmieri. Now they just need to make sure both don’t leave for nothing but cap flexibility in return.
Add Scoring Help
There’s a reason that the Islanders are known as a defense-first team. They play a stifling defensive system that they certainly get the most out of but part of that is by necessity as they are not a particularly talented team offensively. The last time they finished higher than 20th in goals scored was 2017-18 back when Doug Weight was coaching and the team played a whole lot different than they do now.
Now consider that Eberle is gone; he tied for third in team scoring this past season. Yes, Palmieri will effectively replace him assuming he re-signs but they’re basically only breaking even with that ‘trade’. Leddy had more points than any other Islander blueliner so there’s another hole that needs to be filled.
The hope is that there is room for some internal improvements. Dobson should be able to produce more and expectations will be high on RFA winger Anthony Beauvillier for him to step up into a bigger role and score with more consistency. That will certainly help but they will still a below-average team at the offensive end. Bringing in another top-six forward and even a blueliner that can help offensively would be a huge boost for them.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. New York has about $17MM in cap room (that can be extended by up to $6MM with Johnny Boychuk on LTIR with their cap situation at the time of placement determining how much extra room is opened up) but a lot of free agents to contend with. We’ve covered Palmieri, Pelech, and Beauvillier already but goaltender Ilya Sorokin (RFA) and center Casey Cizikas (UFA) also need new deals. By the time all of those are done, they won’t have a whole lot of room left. Accordingly, Lamoriello may still need to free up even more cap space over the coming days if he wants to add some scoring punch to his roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Metropolitan Notes: Zibanejad, Mrazek, Samsonov, Carlson
The Rangers have started preliminary discussions on an extension with center Mika Zibanejad, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. 2020-21 was a down season for the 28-year-old as he was slowed early on by a bout with COVID-19 although he managed to still post 24 goals and 26 assists in 50 games. Brooks notes that the expectation is that Zibanejad’s camp will be seeking a new deal in the $10MM per year range, an AAV that only six centers around the league have hit. Zibanejad has one more year left on his existing contract with a $5.35MM cap hit and will need to have a year similar to 2019-20 when he had 41 goals and 34 assists in 57 games if he wants a shot at becoming the seventh center to have a double-digit AAV.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek is expected to test the free agent market on Wednesday over signing a new deal with Carolina before then, relays Pierre LeBrun in his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link). He entered 2020-21 as their expected starter but injuries limited him to just a dozen starts. With Alex Nedeljkovic being moved to Detroit, the Hurricanes now have three pending UFAs between the pipes although GM Don Waddell expressed optimism that they can get one of them signed. At this point, it doesn’t seem as if Mrazek will be the one to put pen to paper on a new deal.
- Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov is expected to sign a short-term bridge contract, GM Brian MacLellan told Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. The 24-year-old has shown some promising flashes but was inconsistent this past season, notching just a .902 SV% in 19 appearances. Now locked in as their starter going forward, a strong couple of years on a short-term agreement could have Samsonov well-positioned for a much bigger contract in his next time through restricted free agency when he’ll have salary arbitration rights.
- Also from Pell’s column, Capitals defenseman John Carlson has undergone minor knee surgery but is expected to be fully recovered for the start of training camp. The veteran played through the issue in the playoffs but still logged nearly 26 minutes a game in their opening-round loss to Boston.
Blues Re-Sign Nolan Stevens
July 23: St. Louis has officially announced the contract, confirming the details reported by CapFriendly yesterday.
July 22: The Blues have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve re-signed winger Nolan Stevens to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $750K in the NHL and $100K in the minors.
The 25-year-old has spent the past three seasons in the minors after being a fifth-round pick of St. Louis back in 2016. This past season, he was loaned to Vancouver’s AHL affiliate as Springfield (the new affiliate of the Blues) was one of three teams to decide not to play. The change of scenery seemed to work well for Stevens as he picked up 18 points in 27 games with the Comets, finishing tied for third in team scoring as a result.
It’s likely that Stevens will once again be AHL-bound next season but if he can build off that performance and start out strong for the Thunderbirds, he could play his way into a recall at some point. He’ll need to play a regular role in St. Louis for 2021-22 for them to retain his RFA rights as if that doesn’t happen, he’ll be eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency next summer.
Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights
The offseason is in full flight with the draft and free agency fast approaching. We continue our series which examines what each team needs to accomplish over the coming weeks and months. Next up is a look at Vegas.
It was another deep playoff run for the Golden Knights as they made their way to the third round before falling to Montreal. With most of the core already under contract, GM Kelly McCrimmon will have some work to do if he wants to shake up his group and add some missing pieces.
Free Up Cap Space
With over $76MM in commitments for next season already and a prominent unrestricted free agent (who will be addressed later), there isn’t much in the way of financial wiggle room for Vegas. It’s not necessarily a situation where they have to exactly match money but if they want to add a significant piece, they probably will need to send a notable contract the other way. Even if they don’t make any big moves, keeping some wiggle room so that they don’t have to dress less than 18 skaters for multiple games would be worthwhile.
Add Impact Center
Vegas has done well putting together a capable group of centers despite not really adding one in their expansion draft or in free agency. It’s not the best group in the league by any stretch but it has been effective so far. William Karlsson hasn’t quite been able to repeat his numbers from his first season with the Golden Knights but at the very least, he’s a capable second option. Chandler Stephenson has gone from a role player with Washington to a strong two-way presence with Vegas. Again, he’s not a top option but he’s a solid piece. That’s a decent core.
But is decent good enough? A legitimate number one center would put those two in more optimal spots and really deepen the lineup. That’s a tough ask considering there really is only one available in Jack Eichel and bringing in someone with a $10MM cap hit would be difficult to fit in. But another second liner would certainly bolster their fortunes. With Cody Glass not working out on the third line, the production from that trio suffered. If they effectively had three second line centers, they’d be closer to where they were when Paul Stastny was on the team. That would be a more realistic goal for McCrimmon to aim for.
Vegas made a pair of moves before the transaction freeze to add a pair of players who they hope could become useful pieces in Nolan Patrick and Brett Howden. Both have draft pick pedigree having been first-round picks (Patrick 2nd, Howden 26th) but haven’t panned out yet. In a perfect world, Patrick becomes that impact pivot but the way the last two years have gone, it’s hard to see that happening. Howden could help in a limited role but it’s doubtful he’ll be an impact scorer. Those pieces could help from a depth perspective but McCrimmon would be wise to add someone with a better track record offensively.
Re-Sign Or Replace Martinez
With their limited cap room, it’s going to be hard for Vegas to keep pending UFA defenseman Alec Martinez but they’re certainly going to try to keep him in the fold. Earlier today, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported (Twitter link) that the 33-year-old is mulling over an offer from the Golden Knights although he’d likely be leaving some money on the table to stick around compared to what he’d be able to get on the open market.
The decision to bring Martinez in back before the 2020 trade deadline proved to be a good one as he made an immediate impact before the shutdown for the pandemic and played quite well for them in the bubble. That carried over to 2020-21 where he logged over 22 minutes per game while picking up 32 points in 53 games, the best point per game average over his career. His production tapered off a bit in the playoffs but to be fair, he was also playing with a broken foot. With how he has performed the last few years, there will be no shortage of interest if he gets to the open market.
If Vegas can’t agree on a contract with Martinez, they’ll need to find a way to replace him. Nic Hague played well this season but is he ready to step into a top-four spot on the left side? That would be a big jump for someone that has been limited to 16 minutes a night in his first two years and was healthy scratched at times in the playoffs. He may be able to get there eventually but for now, finding a short-term stopgap option to hold down that role for a year or two would be a wise course of action. It’ll be tough to do with their cap structure but with them having an offer out to Martinez, it would appear they have a plan to try to free up some money to make it happen.
Goaltending Decision
That money-saving plan may very well have to come between the pipes. Having both Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner was a nice luxury for Vegas this past season but given their cap-related adventures during the year, that luxury helped create some of their problems when they were forced to go with a short roster. While having starter-level goaltending each night would be great to have, can they afford to have both of them on the roster again?
If the answer is no, which one goes? Fleury’s market is certainly better than it was in the fall when teams were seeking retention plus an incentive to take on his contract. Now, he only has one year left (though still at $7MM) and is coming off a Vezina Trophy. As for Lehner, his track record with the Islanders and Blackhawks earned him a reasonable $5MM AAV and while he didn’t play much in 2020-21 due to injuries and Fleury’s success, he played quite well most nights.
Fleury turns 37 in November so he doesn’t have many years left in him while Lehner turns 30 this weekend so he’d be the safer long-term play but also probably has the better trade value.
Two decisions need to be made here – can they afford to keep both goalies and if not, which one goes? The Olympic break has led to a compression of games that’s similar to what this year was so having a top tandem would give them a big leg up. But with everything else Vegas has and needs, this may not be a luxury they can afford anymore.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Oilers Unlikely To Qualify Dominik Kahun And Jujhar Khaira
Oilers GM Ken Holland spoke with the media today to discuss the upcoming offseason; the full transcript is available on their team website. Among the topics that he addressed were his upcoming free agents where he indicated that he is unlikely to be tendering qualifying offers to forwards Dominik Kahun and Jujhar Khaira.
Kahun came to Edmonton back in the fall after being somewhat of a surprising non-tender by Buffalo considering he had two seasons of more than 30 points under his belt. Instead, they opted to avoid the risk of an arbitration award that was too high for their liking. The Oilers added the 26-year-old for just under a million dollars with the hopes that he’d rediscover some chemistry with countryman Leon Draisaitl but that didn’t happen. Instead, he wasn’t able to hold down a spot in the top six for an extended period of time and wound up notching just 15 points in 48 games. His qualifying offer checks in at an even million dollars but his previous production could be used in arbitration which would push the award higher than what Edmonton wanted to pay.
As for Khaira, he has been a regular in their lineup for most of the last four seasons, giving them some physicality and penalty killing from the fourth line. However, the 26-year-old hasn’t been able to do much offensively, scoring just 24 goals in 258 career games with the Oilers. With spending on role players expected to drop again this summer in an effort to cut costs, his $1.3MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights was clearly too much for them to commit to.
Having said that, it’s quite possible that Edmonton looks into trying to bring them back at lower rates that better fit their salary structure for next season though at this point, both players will likely want to see what’s out there on the open market. They won’t have to wait too long to get there with free agency opening up on Wednesday.
East Notes: Laine, Dahlin, Ullmark, Kravtsov
Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine has received his $7.5MM qualifying offer from the team and is giving strong consideration to simply accepting it, suggests Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. The 23-year-old disappointed after being acquired from Winnipeg, notching just 21 points in 45 games. While he’s eligible for salary arbitration, Laine would be hard-pressed to land considerably more than that in a hearing even factoring in his previous success with the Jets. If Laine does indeed accept the offer, he will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights again next summer and will be owed a $7.5MM qualifier once again. Notably, he’d also be a year away from unrestricted free agency at that time.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- The Sabres have started contract discussions with pending RFA defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The number one pick in 2018 took a considerable step back offensively in 2020-21, notching just 23 points in 56 games after putting up 40 in 59 contests in his sophomore season. As a result, it seems unlikely that Dahlin and Buffalo will be able to work out a long-term agreement that satisfies both sides so instead, a shorter-term pact that leaves the blueliner as a restricted free agent at the end of it is a more realistic outcome.
- Still with Buffalo, the Sabres are continuing discussions with goaltender Linus Ullmark who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, relays John Vogl of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 27-year-old was one of three pending UFAs protected from Seattle in expansion but that was more of a case of Buffalo not having another one worth protecting than a sign that talks were progressing. They opted not to trade him back at the trade deadline in the hopes that they’d be able to Ullmark under contract and they now have less than a week to do so before the free agent market opens up.
- Rangers winger Vitali Kravtsov has changed agents, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). He’s now represented by Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein, an agent that represents several Russian-born players. Kravtsov is eligible to sign a contract extension this summer and will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Rangers Showing Interest In Mark Giordano
Defenseman Mark Giordano will soon officially be joining the Kraken but his stay there may not be very long. Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports that the Rangers appear to be zeroing in on trying to acquire the blueliner from Seattle.
The 37-year-old had been a part of Calgary’s organization for his entire career spanning parts of 15 NHL seasons before his reported selection today and was a mainstay on their top pairing for a large amount of that time. Back in 2018-19, he had a dominant season offensively which helped lead him to the Norris Trophy but his production has tapered off since then; this past season, he had just 26 points in 56 games which was his lowest output since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. However, he still logged nearly 23 minutes of ice time while being a steadying defensive presence for the Flames.
It’s that element that likely endears him to Rangers GM Chris Drury. While Jacob Trouba is a strong part of their back end, he’s about the only impact veteran they have with several of their blueliners being 23 or younger. Giordano is someone that would fit in quite well with either Trouba or Norris winner Adam Fox as the steadying veteran that allows his partner to jump into the attack.
The other element that is appealing is his contract; Giordano has one year left on his deal with a $6.75MM price tag and Walker suggests that Seattle would be willing to retain on it to facilitate a trade. With New York having several players up for new deals next summer (including Fox, Vitali Kravtsov, and Kaapo Kakko as RFAs plus Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome as UFAs), having someone on an expiring contract would certainly help in terms of keeping some spending flexibility.
As for what Seattle might want for their blueliner, Walker reports that Strome may very well be a target for the Kraken. Their reported roster doesn’t exactly feature much in the way of impact talent down the middle and Strome would be able to step in and play an impact role right away. He would certainly be able to bolster their attack while potentially setting himself up nicely for his first trip to the open market a year from now. After having a lot of success with Artemi Panarin with the Rangers, Strome showing that he can still produce away from Panarin would also bolster his case for a big contract in free agency.
If the two sides aren’t able to make a move right away, expect Giordano to garner considerable interest around the league as there are plenty of teams that could benefit from a veteran blueliner of his caliber for next season. Now that he’s heading for an expansion team, it’s likely there will be lots of trade speculation until he finds himself on the move again.