Five Key Stories: 4/26/21 – 5/2/21
The calendar has flipped from April to May with last month ending on a high note with the rest of their TV deal finalized and while this month started on a concerning one following some allegations regarding Vancouver’s Jake Virtanen. Meanwhile, there was some other notable news around the league which are covered in our key stories.
Seattle Joins The League: While we’ve been talking about Seattle becoming the 32nd team for the better part of two years now, their entry to the league was contingent on the full payment of their $650MM expansion fee. The final instalment has been received and they have now officially become the 32nd NHL franchise. While that means that they’ll be able to take part in the draft lottery and expansion draft, in the nearer term, it also allows them to begin signing free agents right away. While NHL players won’t hit the open market until closer to the end of July, college and international free agents are still available and can sign which would help the Kraken built up their prospect pool.
Drouin Takes Leave: After missing the previous three games with what had been listed as an illness, the Canadiens transferred winger Jonathan Drouin to LTIR while granting an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. It has been a tough season for the 26-year-old who has scored just twice in 44 games and some time away from the rink will hopefully help his situation. With the placement being retroactive to his last game played, Drouin technically is eligible to return late in the regular season but obviously there is plenty of uncertainty with his situation with the team asking everyone to respect his privacy at this time.
Miller To Retire: Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller has decided to call it a career, announcing that he will retire at the end of the season. The 40-year-old has spent parts of 18 seasons in the NHL, predominantly with Buffalo and has been Anaheim’s backup for the last four seasons. His expected final NHL start came on Saturday and it was a good one as he allowed just two goals on 25 shots in a 6-2 victory over the Kings. Assuming that he doesn’t see any more game action, he’ll hang up his skates with 391 career victories, the most of any American-born player in NHL history while posting a .914 SV% along with 44 shutouts over 795 appearances.
Roy Wants To Return: Patrick Roy has been out of the NHL since his abrupt resignation from Colorado as their head coach back in 2016 but it appears he is interested in trying his hand at the top level once again. Roy has signed with Neal Glasberg of PBI Sports & Entertainment with an intention of returning to the NHL as either a coach or GM. While he has no front office experience in the NHL, he has been the GM of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL for 13 years over two separate stints (while serving as their head coach for most of those). With what happened with the Avalanche though, it will be interesting to see if that winds up affecting potential interest in him as vacancies open up over the next few weeks.
Shaw Ends Playing Career: Blackhawks winger Andrew Shaw has battled frequent concussions in recent years and decided that it’s time to hang up his skates as he announced the end of his playing career. Technically, while he has effectively retired, he still has another year left on his contract so he will land on LTIR again next season alongside Brent Seabrook. Shaw finishes up his playing days with 247 points (116 goals and 131 assists) in 544 career NHL games between Chicago and Montreal and a pair of Stanley Cup rings with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Toews, Hurricanes, Hall, Avalanche, Selke Candidates, Devils, Projections
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the latest on Chicago’s captain, Carolina’s quiet trade deadline, Taylor Hall’s next destination, Colorado’s goaltending situation for expansion, potential Selke Trophy candidates, targets for New Jersey in free agency, and many projections. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s mailbag.
realsox: What is the current status of Jonathan Toews?
Toews has missed the entire season due to an illness and with it being a sensitive health matter, it’s nice to see that there hasn’t been a lot of ill-founded speculation on his situation. The original announcement was that he was experiencing symptoms that left him feeling drained and lethargic and quite frankly, that can be quite a few things and there’s no point guessing on what it could be. He hasn’t skated lately and isn’t coming back this season, even if Chicago makes a miracle run to get to the playoffs.
The good news is that last month, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Toews’ health is improving and that as things stand, he’s expected to be available for next season which is great news. That means that the Blackhawks won’t be able to put his $10.5MM on LTIR for next year but with Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw’s playing days done, they’ll still have a lot of money on there and if all goes well, they’ll have their captain back which would give them a huge boost at center, a position that has been a problem spot all season.
mikedickinson: Is Waddell’s lack of a move at the deadline going to hurt the Canes? With Jesper Fast out last night they dressed seven defensemen and the third and fourth lines weren’t anything great.
I know GM Don Waddell had suggested that they weren’t going to be anywhere near as active at the trade deadline as they were a year ago but I was expecting more from them than swapping out sixth defenders (Haydn Fleury for Jani Hakanpaa and a sixth-rounder). I thought they’d have moved out a goalie but that market didn’t materialize as much as some thought it would (and with Petr Mrazek banged up again, that may wind up working out for them in the end).
I would have liked to see them add some more forward depth, especially since they had the cap space to add where a lot of other contenders didn’t but there may have been a budgetary element to that as well. Having said that, a depth winger shouldn’t make or break their chances in the playoffs. Carolina’s top six is what will make the difference and that has been bolstered with Teuvo Teravainen’s long-awaited return. Teams often go as far as their top players will take them when it comes down to crunch time, so to speak and as long as those guys stay healthy, they should be in good shape regardless of their third and fourth lines.
M34: Where does Taylor Hall fail next season?
At this point, I don’t see a reason to think why it won’t be Boston. Following the trade, Hall confirmed that he used his no-move clause to push a deal to the Bruins and that he had interest in joining them last fall but the money couldn’t come together. Unless things go really poorly, it’s hard to see him opting to go elsewhere.
What works for Hall is that he’s now in a role that’s better suited for him. At this point of his career, he’s not a 20-minute player that’s going to be counted on to get the key goal at the crucial moment. He wasn’t that at the end of his time in New Jersey, he wasn’t that in Arizona, and he certainly wasn’t that in Buffalo this season. If he decides to hit the open market this summer in a search for a role where he can be that number one guy, he will probably struggle once again. But he doesn’t need to be that in Boston where he’s clearly behind Brad Marchand in the pecking order and Marchand isn’t giving up that role anytime soon. He can get the secondary defensive matchups playing alongside David Krejci and take advantage of those which he has so far.
Also working in Boston’s favor is their cap situation moving forward. Krejci’s $7.25MM comes off the books this summer and while there’s a very good chance he re-signs, it’ll be at a lower rate than what he’s getting now. Some of those savings can go towards Hall – who is on Boston’s books at $4MM with Buffalo retaining the rest – while not drastically hurting their financial flexibility with moves still to make in terms of solidifying the defense and retaining or replacing Tuukka Rask. Lots can change over the next few months but if I’m picking where he signs right now, it’s Boston.
coachdit: If you were in Joe Sakic’s shoes, what would you do with goalie regarding the expansion draft? Dubnyk and Gruby are UFA after the season, Johansson and Francouz are in their second season and I believe that means they are exempt.
Let’s look at the eligibility situation first. This is Jonas Johansson’s fourth season on an NHL contract so he is eligible to be taken (but he’s a pending UFA at no risk of being picked). It’s technically Pavel Francouz’s third year but he hasn’t played this season. Unless he comes back, he won’t accrue a year of service time which makes him exempt. Hunter Miska is also eligible for selection.
I don’t think there’s much of a decision to make here. If they can re-sign Philipp Grubauer by then, he gets protected. If they think there’s a chance to re-sign him after expansion, he gets protected. If he goes to them and says he’s testing the open market, I’d still probably protect him as there’s no risk of Miska getting picked even with him on an AAV that’s below the league minimum salary for 2021-22; the Avs will have better players left unprotected to pick from than him.
The only way I don’t see Grubauer being protected is if his demands are so high that Colorado goes out and trades for a goalie. In that case, whoever they get becomes protected. Otherwise, signed or not, they may as well just protect Grubauer.
KAR 120C: Who are the Selke trophy candidates? I ask as Draisaitl is looking good, but wonder about all of the variables in play. It feels like there are always the incumbents.
Honestly, I don’t think Leon Draisaitl is in the conversation. Regardless of how good someone’s defensive game is, if you’re battling for a scoring title, you’re probably getting overlooked for a defensive award. He may get some fourth and fifth place votes but I doubt he sees more than that.
Yes, there are the usual suspects that are in it regularly. Patrice Bergeron is always going to be in the mix. So too is Ryan O’Reilly. Last year’s winner (Sean Couturier) would have been in the mix had it not been for injuries. Mark Stone dropped to fifth last year after finishing second three years in a row and has to be given strong consideration as well.
If you’re looking for a darkhorse candidate, I’ll toss out Aleksander Barkov. He has been thought of as underrated for so long that he really isn’t underrated anymore so he’s on the radar for voters. He logs heavy minutes including late-game defensive situations and takes a regular turn on the penalty kill. He’s well above average at the faceoff dot. If you look at possession and expected goals for stats (which some voters do), he stands out there as well. And with the award seemingly gravitating towards the best two-way forward in the league instead of the best defensive one, Barkov certainly has the offensive numbers to stand out too. You can never count out the regulars for this award but this may be the year for Barkov.
SpeakOfTheDevil: You mentioned in prior mailbags that the Devils lack an identity (which I sort of agree with you about). That being said, name three free agents the Devs should go after this offseason to complement the pieces that we do have and that start acquiring that identity.
With the cap space New Jersey has entering a market that has few teams with big money to spend, I’m going to dream big here with a couple of these. I don’t see them landing three big fish but here is who I’d target if I was GM Tom Fitzgerald.
Dougie Hamilton – With Ty Smith and Damon Severson already on the roster plus P.K. Subban, there’s a puck-rushing component to build off of. Hamilton can add to that. With the young group of forwards they have, Lindy Ruff is trying to get a team that plays more up-tempo. Hamilton fits that playing style. And with Subban being a year away from unrestricted free agency, there’s a pending hole to be filled and what better way to fill it than the best UFA blueliner out there that already fits the direction they seem to want to go?
Gabriel Landeskog – There is a lot of finesse in New Jersey’s young core but not a lot of high-end sandpaper. Landeskog plays with enough of a physical edge to make him stand out among New Jersey’s options and is talented enough offensively to fit alongside Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier and really bring another dimension to that line while also providing some much-needed scoring on the wing. He’d be a huge boost on their top line.
Zach Hyman – Is he a big fish compared to these two? Not really but he’d be a nice consolation prize nonetheless. He has shown in Toronto that he is a perfect complementary piece for skill players and fits in an up-tempo environment. That’s what New Jersey has and is hoping to build upon. If the plan is to build around Hughes and Hischier anchoring the top two lines, they need someone that’s willing to do the dirty work around the boards and more specifically, someone that’s good at it. Hyman checks those boxes. With his price point coming in lower than some of the top free agents out there, he’s going to have plenty of interest but the Devils have the ability to outbid them all.
Zach Werenski Changes Agents
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has decided to make a change in representation as he nears the window to begin working on a contract extension. According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link), he is no longer being represented by CAA’s Pat Brisson and will soon sign with Judd Moldaver of the Wassermann and Orr Hockey Group.
The 23-year-old will enter the third and final year of his current contract this summer meaning that when the 2021-22 calendar officially begins in July with free agency, he will become eligible to sign a new deal. His current pact carries a $5MM AAV which is certainly below market value but his salary jumps to $7MM next year which means that will serve as his qualifying offer in 2022, one that Columbus will certainly make.
At that point, he will be eligible for salary arbitration and a year away from unrestricted free agency so if talks don’t go well, he can simply elect to go to a hearing, get what he gets, and try his luck on the open market. That makes this news more interesting as it suggests that Werenski’s intention is to try to work on a deal this summer; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a need to make the agent switch now.
Werenski has become a legitimate top-pairing defenseman, recording at least 37 points in each of his first four seasons while logging over 22 minutes per game in all but his rookie year. This season has been a bit tough due to injuries as a hernia and two lower-body injuries have limited him to just 35 games although he has averaged a career-high 24:22 per game which means this deal should be high on the priority list.
Having said that, it may have to wait a little bit as fellow blueliner Seth Jones – who happens to still be represented by Brisson, no less – is also entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for an extension. Unlike Werenski, however, Jones would be unrestricted next summer if he remained unsigned while Werenski has that RFA year remaining so GM Jarmo Kekalainen may have to put Jones’ file at the top of his to-do list.
The current salary cap climate certainly doesn’t work in Werenski’s favor but Columbus is a team that has plenty of flexibility and has had some difficulty retaining some of their top players. Expect Kekalainen to try to avoid history repeating itself by working on a new deal for Werenski sometime this summer except it will now be handled by Moldaver and his agency.
Central Notes: Zadorov, Predators, Laine, Tyutyayev
The flat salary cap is going to make for a nervous time for many restricted free agents with arbitration this summer in the days leading up to the qualifying offer deadline with some notable names likely to be non-tendered to avoid the risk of being awarded too high of a contract. Blackhawks defenseman Nikita Zadorov is certainly in that group as the 26-year-old is owed a $3.2MM qualifier in his final RFA season. However, he told reporters today including Scott Powers of The Athletic (Twitter link) that he’s hoping to re-sign and that he doesn’t see the cap situation affecting his contract talks. Zadorov has logged nearly 19 minutes a game in his first season with Chicago but unless they’re able to agree on a deal before the deadline, it’s hard to see them being willing to take the risk of him being awarded a bigger contract from an arbitrator that they’re comfortable paying.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- The Predators are getting some players back in the lineup to aid in their push to secure the final playoff spot in the Central. Adam Vingan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that winger Filip Forsberg, center Brad Richardson, and defenseman Alexandre Carrier have all been activated off IR. Forsberg has missed more than a month and still sits only two points off the team lead, making him a big addition up front. Meanwhile, Richardson has been above average at the faceoff dot and should give them another option on the penalty kill while Carrier is fourth among Nashville defenders in ATOI at just over 20 minutes a night.
- The Blue Jackets will be without winger Patrik Laine tonight against Carolina, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). It has been a tough first year in Columbus for the 23-year-old who has just ten goals and eight assists in 41 games, hardly the type of output they were expecting when they acquired him from Winnipeg back in January.
- Detroit’s farm team in Grand Rapids has announced the signing of winger Kirill Tyutyayev to a one-year, AHL deal for next season. The 20-year-old was a seventh-round pick (190th overall) of the Red Wings back in 2019 and spent this season with Yunost Minsk in Belarus where he picked up 11 goals and 21 assists in 43 regular season games while chipping in with 10 points in 13 playoff contests. Drafted out of Russia, there is no designated time that Detroit has to sign him by; accordingly, this deal gives them an opportunity to give him a look in North America on a short-term commitment compared to an entry-level deal while reserving the ability to retain his NHL rights if he opts to go back overseas for 2022-23.
Senators Notes: Tkachuk, World Championships, Stutzle
Senators winger Brady Tkachuk is by far Ottawa’s most prominent restricted free agent heading into the summer. He leads the team in scoring with 34 points in 50 games and is second in the league in hits with 215, making him a core piece of their puzzle as they expected when they selected him fourth overall in 2018. Postmedia’s Ken Warren examines some of the comparable contracts around the league in terms of impact RFAs coming off of their entry-level deals and notes that the deal his brother Matthew signed with Calgary (three years, $21MM) may be one of the more interesting comparisons out there both in terms of their style of play and comparable production (after factoring in extrapolations for the last two shortened seasons). Ottawa has shown that they’re willing to give a max-term deal as they did for defenseman Thomas Chabot but the cap climate has changed since then. Regardless of which way they go, Tkachuk is in for a significant increase on his $925K base salary (which includes his signing bonus for the season).
More from Ottawa:
- Center Josh Norris has been in talks with Team USA about joining their entry for the upcoming World Championships, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The rookie has had a nice season, picking up 32 points in 50 games and certainly appeared to be a part of their burgeoning young core. The official invite hasn’t come yet with the Sens still technically mathematically alive in the playoff picture although that could change as soon as tonight when they take on Montreal. Meanwhile, Garrioch notes that Tkachuk’s RFA status will likely keep him away from participating.
- With Norris and Shane Pinto both showing promise down the middle, Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan suggests that Ottawa is unlikely to shift Tim Stuetzle back to center to finish this year or to start next season. While the 19-year-old would be more valuable as a middleman, he’s also one of the youngest players in the league and staying on the wing where the responsibilities are a little lighter makes a lot of sense at this point of his career.
Canucks Place Jake Virtanen On Leave Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations
The Canucks have placed winger Jake Virtanen on a leave of absence following allegations of sexual misconduct. The team released the following statement:
We have become aware of the concerning allegations made about Jake Virtanen. Our organization does not accept sexual misconduct of any kind and the claims as reported are being treated very seriously by us. We have engaged external expertise to assist in an independent investigation and we have placed the player on leave as we await more information.
Glacier Media provides some background about the alleged incident which occurred back in September of 2017. Virtanen has declined to comment while NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the league is aware of the allegations but wouldn’t comment further than that.
We are aware of this issue and have been in contact with the club regarding appropriate response. We don’t have any further comment at this time.
Tampa Bay Signs Hugo Alnefelt
Tampa Bay put pen to paper with one of their more promising goalie prospects, announcing the signing of Hugo Alnefelt to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal – which starts next season – were not disclosed.
The 19-year-old was a third-round pick (71st overall) of the Lightning back in 2019 and has certainly boosted his stock since then. Alnefelt has between Sweden’s starting goalie in the last two World Juniors, posting a 2.20 GAA with a .917 SV% over those tournaments while spending most of the last two years in the SHL, Sweden’s top professional league. He was the backup goaltender with HV71 this season and had a .904 SV% in 22 games, a higher save percentage than their starter.
There should be an opportunity for Alnefelt to get more playing time starting next season. Of the five goalies that Tampa Bay has on an NHL contract this season, all but Andrei Vasilevskiy are set to become unrestricted free agents next summer. While no one should expect Alnefelt to step into the backup role right away, he should be in line for a lot of action with AHL Syracuse in 2021-22. The original team release had him playing on a tryout deal with the Crunch to finish the season but the team tweeted later in the day that this will now not be the case.
East Notes: Reinhart, Capitals, Carlo, Gostisbehere
As a result of the Sabres losing Jack Eichel to injury plus Eric Staal and Curtis Lazar to trades, the Sabres were forced to put Sam Reinhart back at center, a position he hasn’t played at much over the last few seasons. As Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald points out, that position change has sparked the 25-year-old as he has 10 goals and five assists in 16 games since the move heading into tonight’s game against Boston. Reinhart is a restricted free agent for the final time this summer after avoiding arbitration last fall with a one-year, $5.2MM deal. That number represents his qualifying offer and if the team believes he can be a regular down the middle moving forward, he’d enter those contract discussions with a bit more leverage.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Capitals defenseman John Carlson was a late scratch for tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He’s listed as day-to-day. Carlson is currently tied for second on Washington in scoring with 10 goals and 32 assists in 49 games. The Caps did get some good news on the back end though as Justin Schultz returned after missing three straight with a lower-body injury of his own.
- Boston blueliner Brandon Carlo is hoping to return next week, relays Eric Russo of the Bruins’ team website. It has been a rough couple of months for him; after returning from a concussion suffered on a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson, he then suffered an upper-body injury in his second game back in April 1st and hasn’t played since. Carlo is averaging 18:29 per game this season in 23 contests.
- Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is expected to return to practice on Friday and could be available to return as soon as Saturday, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. He has missed two straight games (including tonight’s contest) with a sprained knee. After a rough first half of the season, he quietly has 11 points in his last 21 games.
West Notes: Martinez, Hrenak, Lizotte, Sharks, Tarasenko
Alec Martinez is wrapping up his first ‘full’ season with Vegas and the pending unrestricted free agent told reporters, including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that he’s hoping this won’t be his last season with the Golden Knights. However, his agent Alec Schall told Schoen that no offers have been received from the team just yet. The 33-year-old has been an integral part of their back end this season, logging over 22 minutes a game while chipping in with 27 points in 47 games, the best point per game average of his career. He’s certainly in line to land a raise on his current $4MM AAV which could make it tough for the Golden Knights to re-sign him as they only have about $6MM in cap room for next year, per CapFriendly, with several players needing to be signed to fill out the roster. GM Kelly McCrimmon declined to comment other than saying talks will happen “when appropriate”.
More from the West:
- The Kings have been in discussions with unsigned prospect David Hrenak, reports John Hoven in a piece for LA Kings Insider. The 22-year-old goalie wrapped up his college career with St. Cloud State this season, posting a 2.66 GAA with a .904 SV% in 27 starts and is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in mid-August if he doesn’t sign. Los Angeles Director of Player Personnel Nelson Emerson noted that they have two other youngsters in need of playing time (Matt Villalta and Jacob Ingham); with only two minor league affiliates, finding ample time for all three youngsters to play if Hrenak could be tricky.
- Still with the Kings, center Blake Lizotte is unlikely to play this weekend due to an upper-body injury, notes Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. His second full NHL season has been a struggle as the 23-year-old has managed just three goals and seven assists in 41 games which is hardly an ideal stat line for someone that is in need of a new contract for next season.
- It could be a trying offseason for the Sharks when it comes to freeing up salary cap space, suggests Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription link). High-priced veterans that have underachieved like Erik Karlsson, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Martin Jones will be tough to deal but some of their younger higher-paid players like Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc are in the midst of down seasons as well. They have over $69MM in commitments for next season already, per CapFriendly, and by the time they round out the roster, that won’t leave them with much flexibility unless they can clear out a contract.
- Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko missed tonight’s game against Minnesota due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). It has been a tough season for the veteran who, after coming back from shoulder surgery, has only managed four goals in 23 games although he has chipped in 10 assists.
Rangers Sign Lauri Pajuniemi
The Rangers have agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level deal with prospect winger Lauri Pajuniemi, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The contract begins next season and carries an AAV of $925K.
The 21-year-old is coming off of his second straight strong offensive showing with TPS Turko of the Finnish SM-liiga. This season, he was second on the team in goals with 22 and third in points with 38. Those numbers were actually slightly lower than a year ago when Pajuniemi picked up 26 tallies along with 14 helpers in 49 games, finishing tied for third in the league in goals along the way. Clearly, he has outperformed his fifth-round selection (132 overall in 2018) already.
With the winger depth that New York currently has, it’s hard to see Pajuniemi contending for a spot out of training camp in the fall despite playing at the professional level back home for each of the past three years. However, with the scoring touch that he has had thus far in his career, he’s someone that seemingly could play his way into a recall relatively quickly.