Five Key Stories: 04/05/21 – 04/11/21
The days leading up to the trade deadline have, as usual, produced some notable trades. As those were the biggest stories around the league over the past seven days, let’s take a look back at the biggest swaps over that span.
Islanders Strike First: With Anders Lee’s injury being a season-ending one, he was able to be placed on LTIR to give the Islanders a chance to spend to add a replacement. They did just that as GM Lou Lamoriello once again turned to his former team in New Jersey, acquiring Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from the Devils in exchange for a 2021 first-round pick, a conditional 2022 fourth-rounder, plus two minor leaguers to match contracts. New Jersey retained half of Palmieri and Zajac’s contracts to facilitate the move. Palmieri gives New York a top-six winger to take Lee’s spot while Zajac will give them some more skill in the bottom six and waived his no-move clause to join the Isles after declining to do so a year ago.
Colorado Gets A Goalie: For the second time this season, Avalanche GM Joe Sakic felt it was necessary to trade for a goalie. This time, he brought in Devan Dubnyk from San Jose in exchange for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth-round pick. There was no retention in this swap but Pateryn’s presence in the deal effectively offset the salary side of the ledger. Dubnyk is having a tough season but still represents an upgrade on Jonas Johansson and Hunter Miska who were filling in for Pavel Francouz who has missed the entire season due to a lower-body injury and has been ruled out through the end of the regular season.
Foligno To Toronto: Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas didn’t hide that his desire was to add a key rental forward and he did just that, acquiring Nick Foligno from Columbus (plus Stefan Noesen from San Jose) in a three-team swap. The Sharks were involved in the deal to retain extra money; with them retaining 25% and the Blue Jackets 50%, Toronto was able to add the veteran winger without sending anyone out though it cost them a first rounder and a pair of fourths to do so. Thanks to the addition of Riley Nash to create an expanded LTIR pool, they were able to get enough flexibility to do this move and still be able to activate Frederik Andersen off LTIR when he’s ready to come back and get a strong complementary piece in Foligno.
Montour To Florida: The Panthers were on the lookout for a defenseman to try to fill some of the void from Aaron Ekblad’s season-ending injury and picked up an intriguing rearguard in Brandon Montour. Montour didn’t fit in well with Buffalo but now will have an opportunity to join a surprising contender to rebuild some value heading into free agency. With Florida not needing the Sabres to retain salary, they only had to part with a 2021 third-round pick to get him. Considering they already had cap room and cleared out Brett Connolly’s contract to Chicago earlier in the week, they have plenty of cap space to try to add another piece or two by Monday’s deadline.
Savard To Tampa Bay: The Lightning weren’t expected to do much of anything by the deadline but instead, they managed to land one of the top rentals on the market in Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard. The deal involved double retention again with Columbus holding 50% and Detroit another 25% which made the price tag – picks in the first, third, and fourth round – a bit higher but Tampa Bay now adds a capable top-four defender to an already strong group. Considering they’re expected to get Nikita Kucherov back for the playoffs as well, they have to be viewed as a strong contender to try to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trade Deadline Primer: Winnipeg Jets
The 2021 NHL Trade Deadline is just hours away so it’s time to wrap up our look around the league with the Winnipeg Jets and where they stand and should be trying to do.
The Jets came into this season as a bit of a wild card team. Connor Hellebuyck gives them high-level goaltending while they bolstered one of the better top-six forward groups in the league. There were questions surrounding the rest of the team but they’ve answered them nicely so far and are battling for home ice in the first round with a shot still at tracking down Toronto for first in the North. With that in mind, Kevin Cheveldayoff should be looking to try to add over the next few hours.
Record
25-13-3, 2nd in West Division
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$0 in regular cap space, $2.43MM in LTIR room, 1/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2021: WPG 1st, WPG 2nd, WPG 3rd, WPG 5th, WPG 6th
2022: WPG 1st, WPG 2nd, CBJ 3rd, WPG 3rd, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th
Trade Chips
Cheap defensemen are always in high demand at the trade deadline and Winnipeg has one of those in Sami Niku. For years now, he has been on the cusp of making it as a regular but has yet to do and has dropped a couple of spots on the depth chart with Logan Stanley holding his own and Ville Heinola waiting in the wings. He’s someone that they can easily hold on to for expansion purposes as he is already signed for next season at just a $725K cap hit but at 24, there are likely rebuilding teams that would like to get a closer look at him. Instead of flipping a mid-round pick for a rental, Niku could be substituted, a move that would also give Winnipeg a little more cap flexibility.
Kristian Vesalainen is a name that many are familiar with going back to his days in the SHL before he was drafted. However, the offensive potential that was believed to be there hasn’t really materialized since Winnipeg picked him 24th overall back in 2017. In his limited NHL action this season, he has been limited to duty on the fourth line and that’s not a great fit for his particular style of play. The Jets would certainly be selling low but his value is likely only going to continue to dip the further he gets into his entry-level deal which has another year left on it. If there’s a team that still really believes in Vesalainen’s upside, this may be the right time to move him.
Mathieu Perreault’s name has come up many times over the years as a speculative trade or even buyout candidate but now as an expiring contract, this is his last chance to be moved and this may be his likeliest chance of moving compared to those other times. If Cheveldayoff wants to go after a higher-priced player, Perreault’s $4.125MM AAV could quite plausibly be thrown into the deal as a salary offset over asking a team to retain, especially with some of the sellers likely to use their three allowable retention slots. He’s a versatile player that certainly has a role on the roster but if they need to take away a sizable contract to add another one, Perreault is the obvious candidate to be thrown in.
Others to Watch For: F David Gustafsson ($817.5K through 2021-22), F Skyler McKenzie ($742K, RFA)
Team Needs
1) Top-Four Defenseman: One team that was almost certainly disappointed by David Savard heading to Tampa Bay was Winnipeg as they’ve had a need for a blueliner that can log 20 minutes or more pretty much all season. Actually, you could go back to last year for that particular need. There aren’t many other rentals that could fit that bill – New Jersey’s Ryan Murray may be one of the exceptions – but Cheveldayoff needs to find a way to get one despite the limited LTIR room he has to work with.
2) Upgrade Fourth Line Depth – Winnipeg has not used their fourth line much this season with Perreault being the only one averaging more than ten minutes a night. There isn’t anything wrong with targeting defensive specialists to help in those situations but adding a piece or two that Paul Maurice would be comfortable using for more than nine minutes a game would help keep their top players a bit more rested down the stretch and give them some extra insurance in case more injuries arise.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Hall, Zadorov, Kulikov, Blueger, Tanev
Taylor Hall has been sitting for just over a week now while waiting to see where he’ll be traded to. It appears his new team may soon be known as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter links) that the Sabres have made progress on the trade front today and there are believed to just be three teams left in the mix for his services. Buffalo will undoubtedly need to retain a sizable chunk of his $8MM cap hit (they can hold up to half) and as we’ve seen with recent notable moves, a third-party facilitator could also be in play. While the 29-year-old is having quite a rough season with just two goals in 37 games, he could be an intriguing wild card for whoever gets him down the stretch.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Blackhawks and Nikita Zadorov have held talks on a new deal, report Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (subscription link). Chicago is interested in keeping the defenseman in the fold but with Zadorov holding arbitration rights, there is some risk to tendering him a $3.2MM qualifying offer. Chicago’s initial offer is believed to be around $3.5MM while Zadorov’s camp is looking for something starting with a four so there is a bit of ground to be made up. As Zadorov’s not a pending UFA, this isn’t a situation that necessarily has to be resolved by tomorrow’s trade deadline.
- Devils defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was held out of tonight’s lineup as a precaution heading into the trade deadline, Corey Masisak of The Athletic was among those to note (Twitter link). The 30-year-old has two assists in 38 games this season while logging 19:33 per night. With a $1.15MM cap hit, Kulikov is an affordable depth option that is quite likely to move by Monday.
- The Penguins welcomed back Teddy Blueger to the lineup against New Jersey as the team announced that he was activated off injured reserve. The 26-year-old has been quietly effective this season with 15 points in 28 games. Meanwhile, the Pens also transferred winger Brandon Tanev to LTIR retroactive to April 3rd. For the time being, that gives them another $3.5MM in cap room to work with and if they believe that he’ll miss the rest of the season, that could give them some more flexibility to try to make a splash at the deadline.
Penguins’ Colton Sceviour And Juuso Riikola Clear Waivers
Sunday: Both Sceviour and Riikola have cleared, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Saturday: The Penguins are trying to give themselves a bit of roster flexibility heading into Monday’s trade deadline as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Juuso Riikola have been placed on waivers.
Sceviour was acquired from Florida back in September as part of the Mike Matheson-Patric Hornqvist deal but while he had been a capable secondary scorer during his time with the Panthers and Stars, that hasn’t materialized with the Pens. Instead, the 31-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 9:30 per night of playing time. This led to him clearing waivers back in early March and he has played in 14 games since then, requiring him to pass through waivers before he can be loaned back to the taxi squad. Sceviour is in the final year of his contract which carries a $1.2MM AAV, meaning all but $125K can be buried on the taxi squad. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Riikola, the defenseman has had a limited role with Pittsburgh since signing with them back in 2018. While he played in at least 36 NHL games in each of his first two seasons in North America, he has been limited to just two this season. Part of that is due to an upper-body injury that cost him 22 games but as a result of the moves the Penguins made to add defensive depth when they were hit hard with injuries, he has yet to play since being cleared to return. The 27-year-old has another year left on his deal after this one with a $1.15MM AAV and if a team is willing to absorb a low seven-figure cost next season to add some free defensive depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed. If not, all but $75K of his cap hit can be wiped out by a taxi squad assignment.
PHR Mailbag: Schwartz, Maple Leafs, Laine, Predictions, Rangers, Hughes, Fired Personnel, Bruins
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Jaden Schwartz’s future in St. Louis, what’s next for Toronto, Patrik Laine’s struggles in Columbus, some player predictions for next season, the next step for the Rangers’ rebuild, Quinn Hughes’ defensive struggles in Vancouver, what happens to NHL staff who are fired before the end of their deal, and what Boston could be up to in the coming days. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back for it in last weekend’s mailbag.
vincent k. mcmahon: Considering Jaden Schwartz is going to be a UFA this offseason, do the Blues hold on to him and try for an extension or try and trade him at the deadline?
It has been an odd few days for St. Louis who have gone from a potential seller to one that may be looking to buy by Monday’s trade deadline. But even having said that, I don’t think they’ll look to move Schwartz even if they opt to sell. Instead, I expect their plans are going to be to keep him regardless and it’s worth noting that he can block a trade to half the league.
That doesn’t mean that an extension will happen by Monday. I’d be surprised if it did. There’s a comfort level between the two sides and what appears to be a mutual desire to get a deal done. They have cap space opening up this summer with Tyler Bozak and Mike Hoffman off the books; between those and Schwartz’s $5.35MM expiring deal, there’s plenty of financial wiggle room to get a deal done. I expect they will eventually get an extension worked out although it may need to come in a bit cheaper than his current rate for it to happen.
@nelson_fran_: Who do the Leafs pick up? Winger or d-man?
Even after adding Riley Nash yesterday – a tidy piece of business for GM Kyle Dubas – to give them a capable center for the playoffs, I expect Toronto to keep their sights focused on adding forward depth.
They’ve been linked to Alex Iafallo for a while now and that’s who I think they’ll ultimately end up with as long as he doesn’t sign a last-minute extension with Los Angeles. He’d fit nicely into their top six alongside John Tavares and William Nylander and if the Kings retain half the money as Toronto would likely require them to, he’d only cost just over $1.2MM into their LTIR room which they should be able to afford even when Frederik Andersen returns.
It’s also worth noting that Dubas and Kings GM Rob Blake have a clear history of making moves with the Jake Muzzin and Jack Campbell trades in recent years. That type of trust and familiarity certainly comes in handy and in such a strange season, that could be even more important as player agent Allan Walsh suggested on Twitter last night. They’ve combined on a move the last two years and I think they’ll do it again.
MoneyBallJustWorks: Is Laine the problem or did CBJ just try and fit a square peg into a round hole and it backfired?
It’s some of each. Let’s look at the second half first and talk about Columbus. When Laine was successful in Winnipeg, he had other quality offensive players on his line that were above average at playmaking. The Blue Jackets don’t really have that, especially down the middle. John Tortorella’s rapid line change frequency also makes it hard to develop any sort of chemistry. Laine was moved around a bit with the Jets but nowhere near as frequently as he has with Columbus. That’s not the best type of environment for him to succeed in.
As for Laine, the same criticisms that existed during his time with Winnipeg are showing here. He can score but when he’s not doing that, he’s not bringing much else to the table. He has been rightly criticized for a lack of engagement at times and an infrequent willingness to try to play in the defensive zone. No one is saying he needs to become an elite two-way presence or anything but a scorer that isn’t scoring isn’t worth playing much. A scorer that can do some other things earns a much longer leash and better opportunities to play his way out of a slump. That’s what he needs to realize.
When this deal was made, it felt like Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen was effectively kicking the can down the road, so to speak. He received good short-term value on paper for Pierre-Luc Dubois (Jack Roslovic has impressed since joining the Blue Jackets as well) but Laine didn’t feel like the best fit in terms of helping them win now. Accordingly, the fact that it hasn’t worked out all that well so far isn’t all that surprisingly.
The Duke: Crystal Ball visions for Seth Jarvis vs Alex Newhook (goals/assists only); Top-2 D-men in 2021 draft, scoring-wise; short- and long-term futures of Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit (chosen by Seattle?); and does Laine get it straightened out, either in Columbus or elsewhere?
Jarvis/Newhook: Jarvis looks like the better goal scorer of the two and Carolina has to be extremely encouraged with what he was able to do in limited action in the AHL this season before returning to the WHL where he has lit it up again. Newhook has been more of a playmaker throughout his career and should beat Jarvis in that regard in the NHL. Both profile as good second-liners; give me a 25 goal, 20 assist average for Jarvis and a 20 goal, 25 assist one for Newhook. Those would be nice returns for players selected in the middle of the first round.
2021 Defensemen: Picking the top two is tricky as there are three that are really ahead of the rest of the group. Owen Power is one of the contenders to go first overall so let’s put him in there. That puts it between Brandt Clarke and Luke Hughes, brother of Jack and Quinn. I can see family bloodlines giving Hughes a boost that could make him the second one off the board although I believe Clarke will have the better career of the two as more of a two-way player but still contributes enough offensively to possibly fit on a top pairing.
Goalies: I don’t see Hill being particularly attractive to Seattle unless they want him as the third-string goalie. There will be more proven netminders available to give the Kraken a quality one-two punch and I don’t think Hill’s viewed favorably enough around the league to draft him and then flip him elsewhere. Brossoit is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and again, isn’t at the level of some of the veterans that are going to be made available. I don’t think he’d be good enough to be their backup and he’d be too expensive to serve as their third goalie.
Laine: I touched on him in the last question but while I do believe he’ll get things turned around, I don’t believe his long-term future is with Columbus. He needs to be in a situation where he’s playing with a dynamic playmaker to set up his shot and the Blue Jackets aren’t that team. I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a quiet trade request this offseason but even if not, I don’t think either side wants to do a long-term contract. That means probably a one-year pact before a final call has to be made by the 2022 summer.
pitmanrich: As the season has provided more questions than answers what realistically do the Rangers need to do to take the next step in their rebuild? Trade for a top centre like Eichel if available? Change coach? And what do they do with Strome who continues to put points up, trade him or keep him?
For them to take the next step forward, they need that elite center. Mika Zibanejad can be a number one but him behind a better one would greatly bolster their fortunes. They have considerable depth on the wing that they can consolidate to try to make a move and with several of them being recent first-round picks – Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Vitali Kravtsov – they will carry considerable value. If Jack Eichel is available, of course he’d fit the bill although making the money work in terms of trying to keep Zibanejad after may be a bit tricky.
Failing that, they need to upgrade on Strome. I know he’s arguably having a better season than 2019-20 when he had a career year. He fits with Artemi Panarin but the problem is that he hasn’t fit particularly well with anyone else on the Rangers for any extended period of time. Having a top-six pivot that’s reliant on a certain winger to have success is far from ideal. The challenge GM Jeff Gorton has is that every other team knows that too which makes getting fair value in a trade tricky. As a result, he’s either salary ballast in a trade for an upgrade down the middle or he sticks around for the final year of his deal.
I am not a big proponent of changing coaches in general as more often than not, the warts of the roster will come back to bite whoever is behind the bench. We’ve seen it with the changes made in Montreal and Calgary, in particular, as their records are no better than what they were before the moves.
David Quinn was brought in to bring the team through the rebuild and I’m not sure they’re there yet. I think expectations were too high, too quick coming into the year which doesn’t help things. But at the same time, Kakko and Lafreniere have underachieved in the early going. If I’m Gorton, the question I’m asking myself is does Kris Knoblauch or someone else bring out more from those two? If yes, make the change but if not, stick with Quinn.
bigguccisosa300: What do you think about Quinn Hughes going forward? He puts up points and is great on the power play but his plus/minus is kinda disturbing. Also, do you think Travis Green and/or Benning will be back next year?
I think he has basically been as advertised. Coming out of college, the book on him was that he can certainly drive the play offensively and he has certainly done that. However, he was also not viewed as a strong player in his own end and that has also come true, contributing to the -17 mark you referenced. I think Vancouver was comfortable with the style of player they were getting when they picked him but I’m sure they’d like him to be a bit more conscientious in his own end.
I don’t see them having any reservations about committing to him on a long-term basis; someone that is capable of driving the offense as much as he can is going to get paid and there’s no denying that he is a key part of their future plans.
As for who will sign them to that contract, I wrote a couple of months back in a previous mailbag that Benning’s future will basically be tied to whether or not he gets permission to work on extensions for Hughes and Elias Pettersson. If ownership has concerns about Benning’s performance, he wouldn’t be allowed to work on deals for his two key cogs. The fact that he’s discussing those deals tells me he’s safe for next season and in that case, Green should be back as well.
North Notes: Senators, Canucks Contract Talks, Amirov
While rental players typically generate most of the trade interest at this time of year, it appears a pair of Senators signed beyond this season are garnering some attention. Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan notes that teams have been calling about forwards Nick Paul and Connor Brown although he adds that the expectation is that neither will move. Paul is logging over 16 minutes a night, a career high while his $1.35MM price tag for this season and next is the type of lower-cost acquisition that many teams will be restricted to targeting. As for Brown, his offensive numbers have dipped a bit this year but he has still chipped in with a dozen goals and ten assists in 41 games while playing in both special teams roles as well. He has two more years left after this at $3.6MM after avoiding arbitration this offseason and any interested team would likely be looking to move a contract the other way as part of any offer for him.
More from the North Division:
- While the Canucks have started contract discussions with pending restricted free agents Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, GM Jim Benning indicated to reporters, including NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley, that those talks have been centered around term and not money so far. Vancouver has over $64MM in commitments to just 12 players for next season per CapFriendly which would make it difficult to sign both to long-term deals. If one is amenable to a bridge deal, that could give Benning a bit more cap flexibility to work with this offseason. Discussions are expected to pick up over the next few weeks.
- Contract talks between the Maple Leafs and prospect winger Rodion Amirov are expected to start next week, reports Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was the 15th pick back in October and while his offensive numbers were limited this season (nine goals and four assists in 39 games), the fact that he was able to hold down basically a full-time spot in the KHL this season with Spartak was certainly impressive. Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has indicated a willingness to move one of his top prospects to try to add by the deadline and teams will undoubtedly be inquiring about Amirov in those talks.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 04/10/21
There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:
Central Division
- The Blue Jackets have shuffled up their taxi squad, per a team release. Scott Harrington, Kole Sherwood, and Zac Dalpe have all been recalled to the active roster while Columbus has promoted Gavin Bayreuther and Andrew Peeke to the taxi squad.
- The Hurricanes have recalled Spencer Smallman to the taxi squad from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old has played in three AHL games this season plus eight more with ECHL Fort Wayne.
- The Panthers made a few moves before their game against Dallas this afternoon. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now reports that Kevin Connauton was recalled to Florida’s active roster with Brady Keeper and Spencer Knight being sent to the taxi squad.
North Division
- As expected, Alex Formenton is back up with Ottawa as the Senators announced that they’ve recalled him from the taxi squad. The winger has two goals in seven games since being recalled in late March.
- The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Lukas Vejdemo to the taxi squad, per the AHL’s transactions log. Vejdemo is currently injured but his recall was needed to keep the taxi squad at the minimum of four players with Cayden Primeau, Jake Evans, and Otto Leskinen expected to be recalled for their game against Winnipeg.
- The Maple Leafs have recalled Michael Hutchinson from the taxi squad and Martin Marincin from AHL Toronto, per CapFriendly. Hutchinson will continue to serve as the backup goalie with Frederik Andersen retroactively placed on LTIR while Marincin gives them an extra blueliner to carry on the active roster. With the team in LTIR, they can afford to carry reserves instead of a minimum-sized group.
East Division
- The Sabres announced that they have recalled Jean-Sebastien Dea to the taxi squad from AHL Rochester while assigning Steven Fogarty to the Americans. Dea has played just once so far with Buffalo while Fogarty has suited up in eight games, notching a goal and two assists.
- The Devils have shuffled up their taxi squad, sending Ben Street to AHL Binghamton while promoting Marian Studenic, per the AHL’s transactions log. Studenic has seven points in 19 minor league games so far this season.
West Division
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Lightning And Blue Jackets Working On David Savard Trade
The Lightning have been cap-strapped all season long but have been looking to add to their back end. It appears they’re making some progress on that front as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they are discussing a David Savard trade with the Blue Jackets. TSN’s Frank Seravalli tweets that Savard has been notified of the trade although the exact return is not yet known.
Savard has been a reliable stay-at-home defenseman for the better part of the last decade, averaging more than 20 minutes per game in 597 career NHL contests, all with Columbus. That had him positioned to be potentially the top blueliner to move between now and the trade deadline despite what has been a particularly quiet season by his standards. He has just a goal and five assists in 40 games with a team-worst -19 rating and a career-low possession rate with a 43.1% Corsi mark. However, given how much the Blue Jackets have struggled this season, he’s certainly a prime candidate to rebound and GM Jarmo Kekalainen knows that with the asking price in recent days for the pending unrestricted free agent involving a first-round pick. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that Columbus may indeed get that as part of the return and as we saw last year with the pickups of Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois isn’t against moving first-rounders at this time of year.
With a $4.25MM cap hit, Columbus will almost certainly need to retain a sizable part of Savard’s contract to facilitate a move; they can retain as much as 50%. Even so, with Tampa Bay having just $370K in LTIR room per CapFriendly, other moves will need to be made to make this happen. If Jan Rutta is going to be out for the rest of the regular season, he could be shifted there which would add another $1.3MM to their already high LTIR pool which would help but not completely open up the space to do this deal.
If Tampa Bay is able to get this done, Savard would represent a big addition to their back end, a group that is already pretty strong at the top with Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak. However, they’ve struggled to put a reliable third pairing together with none of their options playing more than Rutta’s 16:02 per night; Luke Schenn and Callan Foote have both seen somewhat regular minutes but are logging less than 13 minutes a game. Adding Savard, someone who is capable of handling more than 20 minutes a game, certainly would bolster their depth and allow them to take a bit of pressure off their top-four down the stretch and give them some crucial injury insurance heading into the playoffs.
Avalanche Acquire Devan Dubnyk From Sharks
Colorado has been in need of a veteran backup goalie for most of the season and they have found one as they have acquired Devan Dubnyk from San Jose in exchange for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth-round pick. Both teams have confirmed the deal. Sharks GM Doug Wilson released the following statement on the move:
Devan brought the element of consummate professionalism and class to our dressing room, in what has been an extremely unique and challenging season. He fit seamlessly within our group and helped mentor many of our younger players. We thank him for his contributions to our club on and off the ice this season and wish him the best in Colorado.
The 34-year-old netminder was in his first season with the Sharks following an offseason trade from Minnesota that San Jose was hoping would help him rediscover his form from a few years ago. However, that didn’t happen as Dubnyk has posted a 3.18 GAA with a save percentage of just .898, numbers that weren’t much better than his final year with the Wild.
Nevertheless, the move to bring Dubnyk in makes sense from the perspective of the Avs. Pavel Francouz has been injured all season long, forcing Philipp Grubuaer to play the overwhelming majority of the games so far and while he has played great, there is the risk of burning him out if that was to continue down the stretch. Jonas Johansson was brought in last month to try to help and while he’s coming off a shutout last night, he clearly wasn’t the solution for the rest of the season. Dubnyk should be able to play a bit more often over the final month to help keep Grubauer fresh with the cost of adding that insurance being relatively low.
Pateryn is on the move for the second time this season after being acquired early in the year for Ian Cole in a move designed to give them a bit of cap flexibility and a spot for Bowen Byram. His inclusion is primarily for cap-matching purposes as his $2.25MM AAV is slightly higher than Dubnyk’s $2.167MM price tag (Minnesota is paying the other half of that from the offseason trade). As a result, Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that there is no salary retention in the deal. Pateryn has split the season between the NHL, AHL, and taxi squad and will likely have a similar role as a depth blueliner or taxi squad piece for San Jose.
The move frees up a roster spot for either Alexei Melnichuk or Josef Korenar to join San Jose’s roster for the stretch run. Both youngsters could be part of the plan as soon as next season so the chance to evaluate one or both of them in NHL action will be beneficial. Meanwhile, Colorado GM Joe Sakic has now added veteran depth for the second time in as many days following yesterday’s acquisition of Patrik Nemeth from Detroit to supplement their roster for what they hope is a long playoff run.
Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network was the first to report that Dubnyk was going to Colorado while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first noted the fifth-round pick going to San Jose.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Panthers Acquire Brandon Montour
The Panthers have had a big hole on their back end since Aaron Ekblad suffered a season-ending leg injury last month. They’ve taken a step towards shoring up their depth and have taken one of the more notable rentals off the board with the acquisition of Brandon Montour from Buffalo in exchange for a third-round pick in 2021. Both teams have confirmed the trade. Florida GM Bill Zito released the following statement about his new rearguard:
Brandon is a capable and talented right-shot defenseman who will have an immediate impact on our club. His two-way acumen and ability to play important minutes make him an exciting addition to the Panthers.
The 26-year-old is only a few years removed from being someone viewed as a long-term top-four piece going back to his time with Anaheim. Buffalo was convinced that he’d be that for them and flipped a first-round pick along with Brendan Guhle, a fairly well-regarded prospect at the time, to acquire Montour just two years ago. However, things haven’t gone anywhere near as well as expected with the Sabres.
His offensive output has dipped since putting up two straight seasons of over 30 points in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Last season, he managed just five goals and 13 assists in 54 games while seeing his ATOI dip below the 2o-minute mark. As a result, Montour profiled as a possible non-tender candidate last offseason although the two sides were able to agree to a one-year, $3.85MM contract just before the free agent market opened up. The results have only been mildly better from an offensive standpoint as he’s up to 14 points (5-9-14) in 38 games so far this season but he, like many other Sabres, have struggled considerably at times in the defensive zone.
At 26, Montour still is young enough to turn things around and a change of scenery will certainly be beneficial to him as he looks to restore some value before hitting the UFA market for the first time in July. From Florida’s perspective, the fact that Montour can log 20-plus minutes a night – something most of the blueliners that will be moved in the next two days can’t do – is a big benefit as it allows him to slide into their top four if needed or give a big boost to their third pairing. Considering the state of the right side of their back end with Ekblad out, it’s probable that he begins in a more prominent role, sliding in behind MacKenzie Weegar to bolster their second pair.
Unlike many playoff contenders, cap space isn’t an issue for Florida, especially after they cleared the rest of Brett Connolly‘s contract to Chicago earlier this week. They entered today with more than $14MM in cap room, per CapFriendly, so it was something they didn’t require in order for this move to happen; TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there was no salary retention on Buffalo’s end, leaving them with two remaining retention slots.
Former NHL defenseman Shane O’Brien was the first to report that Montour was going to Florida while Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network first reported the third-round pick going to Buffalo.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.