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Five Key Stories: 7/15/24 – 7/21/24

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While activity around the NHL has largely slowed down with the offseason in full swing, there was still some notable news across the league.  Here’s a rundown of the top stories from the past seven days.

Sprong To Vancouver: With Joe Pavelski making his previously-reported retirement official, Daniel Sprong was the highest-scoring free agent remaining after a whirlwind first few days of free agency.  It took a while but an agreement finally came together as he signed a one-year, $975K contract with the Canucks.  The 27-year-old recorded his second straight season of 40-plus points in 2023-24, picking up 18 goals and 25 assists in 43 games with Detroit but wound up having to settle for less than half of his previous $2MM contract.  Sprong will likely be used in a familiar role with Vancouver, one that sees him playing in their bottom six as he should slot in behind Brock Boeser and Conor Garland on the right side.

Done For The Year Already? The Blues could be without veteran defenseman Torey Krug for the entire 2024-25 season.  The team announced that they detected pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle stemming from a fractured ankle earlier in his career.  The 33-year-old will spend the next couple of months undergoing physical therapy that will focus on pain relief, strengthening, and range-of-motion exercises to see if the joints in his ankle can stabilize enough to return to the ice.  Krug had 39 points in 77 games for St. Louis last season and has three years remaining on his contract with a $6.5MM AAV.

Five For Byfield: Instead of working out a long-term agreement or a bridge contract, the Kings and forward Quinton Byfield split the difference; the two sides worked out a five-year, $31.25MM contract.  The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause in 2028-29, the only year he was eligible for one.  The 21-year-old had a breakout effort last season, recording 20 goals and 35 assists in 80 games while becoming a full-time top-six forward.  With the signing, Los Angeles gains one extra year of club control on Byfield who will be UFA-eligible when the contract expires in 2029 and if he picks up from where he left off, this could be a team-friendly pact fairly quickly.

Kuznetsov Leaves Carolina: The Hurricanes now have one less forward on their roster after center Evgeny Kuznetsov requested to terminate the final year of his contract.  He subsequently cleared unconditional waivers and was released.  Kuznetsov was limited to just 24 points between Washington and Carolina last season while also spending time in the Player Assistance Program.  He walks away from what would have been a $6MM base salary and it’s widely expected he’ll sign in the KHL.  Carolina, meanwhile, did keep a different forward around as they reached a two-year, $3.45MM agreement with forward Jack Drury, avoiding salary arbitration.

Trouba Staying Put: After plenty of trade speculation around the draft, it appears that defenseman Jacob Trouba will be staying with the Rangers after all.  Following a report of a possible trade to Detroit, Arthur Staple of The Athletic relayed that the deal wasn’t as close as suggested and that GM Chris Drury has reached out to Trouba to do some fence-mending following the speculation.  Trouba has made it known that he does not want to leave New York but his no-movement clause shifted to a 15-team no-trade clause on July 1st.  He has two years left on his contract with an $8MM cap charge.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

PHR Mailbag: Stamkos, Flyers, Konecny, Stars, Blackhawks, Utah, Rangers

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include possible contract comparables for Flyers winger Travis Konecny, Chicago’s active offseason, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s mailbag.

GBear: The assumption is that Stamkos will play on the wing in Nashville because he’s played in that position recently with Tampa, but is there any good reason why he couldn’t switch back to center, which is where the need is on the 2nd line?

It all comes down to trying to deploy Stamkos best.  He has split his time between the wing and center in recent years and as he ages, it stands to reason that they’re going to want him on the wing where there are fewer responsibilities while being a triggerman is better as a winger than a center.  Bringing in a high-priced player and then not putting him in the best situation to succeed is a little counterproductive.

Having said that, I don’t see why Nashville couldn’t use him down the middle next season; I think he can handle that (it’s the later years I’m more skeptical about).  He’s pretty effective on the draw and if it pushes Thomas Novak onto the third line to be more of a secondary scorer (the role that’s best for him), that would be ideal.

But it’s a short-term solution.  Stamkos should be a winger before too long while Novak and Cody Glass (a potential trade candidate in the coming weeks given their cap situation) aren’t great fits in that second center role.  I don’t think Juuso Parssinen will get to that level and their best center prospects aren’t on the verge of being NHL-ready either.  GM Barry Trotz filled a lot of holes this summer but a better fit at the 2C position is something that should be on next year’s shopping list.

wiyasm: Will the Flyers bring in a true top center to pair with Michkov? Are they putting their trust in either Couts or Frost? Or are they going to make a trade to find someone?

I like Morgan Frost as a secondary option but I’d be surprised if he becomes a bona fide number one option.  While they used a lottery pick on Jett Luchanko taking him 13th overall, I’m not sure he’s a top liner down the road either.  And while they’re paying Sean Couturier like a top-liner, he’s not that type of player anymore.  One day, they’re going to have to do something about that.

But one day is not today.  The Flyers are still very much in the building phase of their rebuild; they’re not expecting to go and push for a playoff spot next season.  If they were, we’d see them using their LTIR pool, which should surpass the $10MM mark.  Accordingly, there’s no immediate need to go find a top center to play with Matvei Michkov.

For next season, I think they’re going to have him playing with Couturier and Frost at times.  Couturier would be able to take some of the defensive pressure off of him while still allowing them to evaluate Michkov against top opposition.  Assuming that goes good and bad (the transition to a key role is rarely seamless), there should be times when Michkov is dropped to play with Frost to allow him to face some lesser checking and try to get more balance on the top two lines.  What they have now is good enough for that type of evaluation.

Eventually, I think Philadelphia will make some sort of move to bring in an impactful center.  A trade is going to be hard as those types of players rarely become available.  But if one becomes available in free agency, they have enough flexibility to make a very competitive offer.  I think that’s their Plan A with Plan B signing a second-line center and hoping that player has chemistry with Michkov.

Emoney123: As Travis Konecny enters the final year of his contract, what are the comparable contracts if the Flyers try to re-sign him or what might be a reasonable return if a trade is a better option for the rebuild?

How important is Developmental Camp and scrimmages?

Early indications are that Konecny’s camp is hoping for a double-digit AAV, with the expectation that there should be another fair-sized jump in the salary cap for 2025-26 when his new deal kicks in.  I think the Flyers would prefer that it falls within the $8MM range.  As is often the case with these things, I suspect an eventual agreement would fall around the middle, probably starting with a nine.

For recent comparables, the best ones I could find were centers.  I went looking for players who were UFAs at the expiration of their current contracts (which took Timo Meier, an oft-cited comparable, off the table) but still in their late 20s.  For simplicity, let’s assume a $4MM jump in the cap for 2025-26, bringing it to $92MM so we can come up with potential amounts based on cap hit percentage (CH%).

Bo Horvat (NYI), $8.5MM x eight years
Career PPG: 0.69
Platform year: 70 points
CH%: 10.18%
2025-26 AAV based on CH%: $9.3656MM

Mathew Barzal (NYI), $8.5MM x eight years
Career PPG: 0.88
Platform year: 51 points (in 58 games due to injury)
CH%: 10.96%
2025-26 AAV based on CH%: $10.0832MM

Dylan Larkin (DET), $8.5MM x eight years
Career PPG: 0.78
Platform year: 79 points
CH%: 10.42%
2025-26 AAV based on CH%: $9.5864MM

Konecny, meanwhile, has a career PPG of 0.71 and is coming off a platform year of 61 points but in 60 games.  That tends to push me more towards Larkin’s comparable so an AAV around $9.5MM seems like a reasonable price tag.

I think their best chance to trade him has already gone out the window.  With most teams having built their rosters for next season, there probably isn’t a good landing spot for him now.  So then you’re probably looking at an in-season move and as we all know, top-end rentals with salary retention tend to yield a first-round pick, a quality prospect, and sometimes another lesser piece.  If Konecny has another point per game season heading into the trade deadline sometime in March, they might be able to do a bit better than that depending what’s on the market.

As for development camps and scrimmages, as a fan, I don’t put much stock into them.  It’s more for teams to establish or update baselines for physical testing and get a feel for how their summer training is progressing with a chance to make some tweaks if needed.  Personally, rookie camp showings are more important as that runs into training camp; a good showing there could give them a leg up heading into the preseason.  Meanwhile, a June or July summer camp isn’t necessarily indicative of what’s to come for rookie camp.

bottlesup: If the Stars by our choice or not start casting off veterans, do we still have enough young talent to stay competitive for the Cup?

Before getting to the multi-year element of this question, Dallas did a pretty good job of not casting off veterans this summer.  Yes, they lost Chris Tanev but that was widely expected given their cap situation.  Their back end remains a bit shaky but on the whole, I think they’re one of the true Cup contenders heading into the upcoming season.

I’m not sure there’s going to be a big casting off of veterans next summer.  They have over $23MM in expiring UFA contracts in 2025, giving them ample savings to keep the core players they want (Jake Oettinger and Wyatt Johnston, for example, are RFAs needing new deals) and some of the existing veterans while having enough left to replace some others while giving players like Mavrik Bourque a full-time look if he isn’t in that role next season already.  They’ll be alright for that summer.

In 2026, they don’t have quite as much coming off the books ($11.5MM in UFA contracts for three players) but that plus another expected cap increase should be enough for a new deal for RFA Jason Robertson while again allowing them to retain or replace some of the veterans at least.  And then the following summer, Tyler Seguin is off the books, opening up nearly $10MM alone in extra flexibility.

Long story short, I don’t think there’s a big veteran exodus coming in Dallas because of how their expiring contracts are largely staggered.  That, coupled with a decent prospect pool, should be enough to keep them as a legitimate threat for a while yet.

Unclemike1526: I thought Kyle Davidson did a great job in Free Agency even if most of the so-called ”Hockey Experts” don’t seem to agree with me. That is up until the T.J. Brodie signing. One I didn’t understand the signing because he wasn’t very good last year and two, I didn’t get the two years. Was there that big a market for him that they had to add a second year to get him? I mean the money isn’t a problem because the Hawks have tons of it but it just seemed a curious signing to me. And what did you think of the Hawks Draft and FA overall? Thoughts? Thanks as always.

The success or lack thereof in Chicago’s offseason is contingent on whether you agree with the direction they took that will see several of their younger players sent to the minors.  If you’re of the mindset that you want your top youngsters getting big minutes in the NHL, you’re not going to like what they’ve done.  But if you like the idea of having fewer youngsters up but playing with a better group while the rest are playing big minutes in what should be a winning environment in AHL Rockford, you’re going to like what they did.  I’m in the latter camp.

While it might seem like they went a bit overboard, they have several expiring contracts up front while Alec Martinez is on a one-year pact.  They can easily move some of their younger players into the NHL for 2025-26 where they’ll be a bit more ready for the challenge.  So I was a fan of the strategy they took although another cap-clearinghouse move wouldn’t have hurt had one been available.

As for Brodie, the second year doesn’t shock me.  As part of our planning for the Top 50 UFA list we do each year, we include a contract projection.  Mine was two years at $3.5MM per season so two at $3.75MM is close enough.  (Having said that, I didn’t have Chicago on my shortlist of landing spots.)  Did he struggle in Toronto?  Yes.  But he was playing nearly 22 minutes a night.  That context gets missed a lot.  So he’s not a top-pairing player anymore.  That’s not a big deal.  Chicago isn’t paying him to be a top-pairing player, they’re paying him to be an 18-20-minute piece, one who can play on both sides of the ice.  I think there was enough demand for that type of player that someone was giving him the second year.

Draft-wise, I was fine with Artyom Levshunov with the second pick.  Ivan Demidov would have been my pick but I understand the value of a high-end right-shot defenseman; those are hard to come by.  Given their young center depth, I was a bit surprised with the Sacha Boisvert pick when Cole Eiserman was still on the board but value-wise, he was ranked in that range so it’s not a bad pick.  I didn’t have Marek Vanacker as a late first-round pick but once you get to that point, there’s not much of a difference between a late first and an early second so I won’t quibble much there.  Out of their other picks, John Mustard and A.J. Spellacy were good value for where they were taken.  If I had to quibble, I’d have liked to have seen a second defender come before their final pick but otherwise, I think they did fine.

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West Notes: Perfetti, Montour, Jones, Oilers GM Search

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Last season had its ups and downs for Jets forward Cole Perfetti.  The 22-year-old was briefly tested down the middle before moving back to the wing while he put together a career year offensively with 19 goals and 19 assists in 71 games.  However, he also spent time as a healthy scratch late in the year, not exactly the type of ending he wanted for his platform year heading into restricted free agency for the first time.

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press examined Winnipeg’s history with former first-round picks as restricted free agents under GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, noting that six out of the ten wound up signing bridge deals.  He feels Perfetti is likely to follow the trend, suggesting that a two-year bridge pact around $3MM per season might be the right price point for him and the Jets.

More from out West:

  • New Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour acknowledged in an interview on TSN 1050 (audio link) that he had talks with the Maple Leafs before eventually signing with Seattle. Toronto made multiple changes on the back end this summer with the additions of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson while Jani Hakanpaa’s deal still has not been registered.  Montour landed a seven-year, $50MM deal with the Kraken, good for the second-highest AAV on the team behind blueliner Vince Dunn.
  • Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News wonders if a reunion between the Sharks and Martin Jones could make sense. GM Mike Grier acknowledged earlier this month that he still wants to add a third-string netminder, presumably one that has some NHL experience.  Jones had that role in Toronto last season where he started in the minors but wound up getting into 22 games with the big club, posting a 2.87 GAA with a .902 SV%.  While San Jose is still paying Jones for three more years from a 2021 buyout, that won’t preclude them from signing him if they want to.
  • As the Oilers continue their GM search, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal proposes Brian Lawton as a possible dark horse candidate for the position. Lawton hasn’t worked in the NHL since 2009-10 when he was the GM of Tampa Bay but he also has several years of experience as an agent.  Both perspectives certainly could be appealing to CEO Jeff Jackson, a former agent himself, who is currently serving as Edmonton’s interim GM.  Jackson noted earlier this week that he’d like to have a new GM in place within the next couple of weeks.

Alexander Barabanov Receiving KHL Interest

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Winger Alexander Barabanov has yet to find a new NHL team nearly three weeks into free agency.  As a result, it appears as if he’s at least considering other options.  His Russian agent Yuri Nikolaev told Championat’s Pavel Panyshev that there is interest in his client’s services from several KHL teams although it’s too early to comment on the state of any talks with those franchises.

In 2021-22, Barabanov had a breakout year with San Jose.  In his first full year with the Sharks after being acquired from Toronto, he notched 10 goals and 29 assists in 70 games.  That helped earn him a two-year, $5MM deal, a pretty good contract for someone who entered that season with just eight points in 22 NHL contests.

The 30-year-old then followed up that performance with an even better one in 2022-23, one that saw him record 15 goals and 32 assists in 67 games while logging over 18 minutes of ice time per night.  That performance made Barabanov a speculative trade candidate last summer with the Sharks intending to bottom out in the standings.

Of course, a trade never materialized and like just about every forward on San Jose, Barabanov struggled mightily last season.  He missed time with two lower-body injuries, a finger issue, and a brief illness so he wound up being limited to just 46 appearances.  Offensively, he was only able to put up four goals and nine assists while averaging just under 16 minutes a night, numbers that certainly haven’t helped his case on the open market.

At this point, it seems highly unlikely that Barabanov would be able to land a contract comparable to the one that just expired.  Given the sharp drop in his point total last season, it stands to reason that NHL teams might be viewing him as more of a PTO candidate than one to receive a guaranteed contract.

With that in mind, it makes sense for him to be considering options back home as well.  Barabanov played in parts of seven KHL seasons before coming to North America with SKA St. Petersburg with his best showing coming in 2018-19 when he had 46 points in 59 games.  Barabanov would undoubtedly have a chance to play a prominent role if he returned to Russia and the promise of a guaranteed deal over there should be more appealing the longer he remains unsigned in North America.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Canucks Sign Daniel Sprong

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A day after it was reported that the Canucks had interest in free agent winger Daniel Sprong, they have indeed agreed to terms with him. The team announced that the two sides have agreed to a one-year contract.  PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the deal will pay $975K.  GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement on the signing:

Bringing in another solid winger will be a boost for our club this season. Daniel has matured a lot as a player and has shown he can contribute offensively when called upon. His addition up front will give us better depth and should help with more balanced scoring throughout our forward group.

The 27-year-old has bounced around throughout his eight-year NHL career, having played for five teams already with Vancouver set to be his sixth.

After putting up limited numbers in his first three stops spanning six seasons, Sprong had a breakout year in his second year with Seattle in 2022-23, one that saw him record 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games despite averaging just 11:25 of playing time per game.  However, their concern about his arbitration eligibility led to him being non-tendered where he quickly signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit on the opening day of free agency.

While Sprong didn’t quite produce at the same rate last season, he came relatively close, coming up three goals short of his 2022-23 performance while matching his assist totals.  And again, he didn’t play in the top six while surpassing 30 even-strength points for the second year in a row.  But that wasn’t enough to earn an extension with the Red Wings who opted to shake up their roster a bit, nor did it help him get a deal early in free agency.

With two good offensive years under his belt, Sprong landed 35th on our Top 50 UFA list last month.  With that came a projection of him earning a raise and a multi-year agreement but clearly, that didn’t come to fruition as instead of a raise, his salary has been cut by more than half.

Instead, Sprong is taking a very team-friendly deal to land in what should be a favorable environment in Vancouver.  The Canucks finished seventh in the NHL in scoring last season and while they lost Elias Lindholm in free agency and moved out Ilya Mikheyev in a cap-clearing move, they were able to bring in Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen from Boston while retaining Dakota Joshua after his breakout showing.  With Vancouver, Sprong should have the same type of role that he has become accustomed to, one that should see him playing in the bottom six at five-on-five with some secondary power play time.

With the move, the Canucks are effectively capped out.  Per PuckPedia, they now have less than $16K in cap room at their disposal with a full-sized roster.  Notably, that does not include Tucker Poolman being on LTIR so if they want to put him back on there, they will have some more flexibility to work with.  However, it would put them in a position of being unable to bank in-season cap space.  Alternatively, they could opt to not carry a full-sized roster to start the season, allowing them to have closer to $800K in room (with Poolman only on regular IR), giving them a shot to bank some space heading into the trade deadline.

If Sprong can have the same type of success with the Canucks in that role that he had with Seattle and Detroit, this contract has the potential to be one of the best bargains of the summer.  And if that happens, perhaps next summer will be when Sprong can land a bit of job security that he has been seeking for several years now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston was the first to report that an agreement between the two sides was in place.

Karson Kuhlman Signs In Finland

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A year ago, unrestricted free agent Karson Kuhlman was coming his second straight campaign where he was a full-timer on an NHL roster.  However, his time in North America is now over, at least for the time being as Lukko in Finland announced that they’ve signed the winger to a one-year contract.

The 28-year-old signed with Boston out of college back in 2018, spending parts of five years in their system.  In three of those seasons, he split time between them and AHL Providence before becoming a full-time NHL player in 2021-22.

That season, Kuhlman broke camp with the Bruins and got into 19 games with them before being waived in mid-January where he was claimed by Seattle.  He remained with the Kraken for the rest of that season and the beginning of 2022-23 before being waived in December, being claimed by Winnipeg.

Despite being a full-timer on the roster for two straight years, Kuhlman didn’t generate strong interest in free agency last summer, instead settling for a two-way deal with the Islanders.  While the hope was that he could push for a depth spot or at least position himself as one of the first recall options, that didn’t materialize.  Instead, he spent the entire year with AHL Bridgeport, recording 12 goals and 10 assists.

Kuhlman leaves North America with 147 career NHL games under his belt between Boston, Seattle, and Winnipeg, totaling 30 points.  He also has played in 146 AHL contests over that stretch, tallying 61 points.  Now, he’ll look to establish himself as more of an offensive threat in the Liiga and a good showing there could get him back on the North American radar next summer.

Hurricanes Increasingly Likely To Retain Martin Necas

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For the past several months, there has been an expectation that the Hurricanes would move restricted free agent forward Martin Necas among the belief that Necas would like a bigger role and a contract more significant than Carolina would like to offer.  However, while there was plenty of trade speculation in recent weeks, nothing came to fruition.  Now, GM Eric Tulsky told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that while they’re still talking to teams, a trade seems less likely at this point:

It is a lot easier to make trades before July 1 when teams have flexibility to go pivot and sign other players to replace whatever they gave up than it is after July 1 when their roster is mostly built. We are continuing to talk to teams and we don’t want to miss an opportunity to make the team better, but teams have less flexibility now than they had in June, so it’s harder to find a deal now than it was then.

A natural center, Necas has spent the bulk of his NHL career playing on the wing, a role he held for the majority of last season.  The 25-year-old had a breakout showing in 2022-23, collecting 28 goals and 43 assists in 82 games but he wasn’t able to match those numbers last season.  Still, he potted 24 goals and 29 helpers in 77 contests, the second-best output of his career.  That has him well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $3MM AAV and $3.5MM salary he had in 2023-24.

Necas was one of 14 players to file for salary arbitration earlier this month, taking the possibility of him signing an offer sheet off the table.  In doing so, he guaranteed himself a contract by early August.  Talks between the two sides remain ongoing with Tulsky acknowledging that they’ve discussed everything between a one-year agreement to a max-term eight-year pact.  Necas is two years away from UFA eligibility so a one-year deal would allow them to kick the question of his long-term future with the club down the road.

This has been a busy offseason for Carolina so far, one that has seen them lose Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Stefan Noesen.  While they’ve brought in replacements for most players, they’ve largely been more role players with the exception of blueliners Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere.

As a result of the turnover, the Hurricanes find themselves with ample cap space, checking in with a little over $13.85MM in room, per PuckPedia.  With that much flexibility, Tulsky has a chance to sign both Necas and RFA winger Seth Jarvis to long-term agreements and still be under the $88MM Upper Limit come October.  With Necas having the closer deadline to sign as arbitration hearings end in early August, expect his case to be Carolina’s focus in the near term.  But now, after it looked like a foregone conclusion that he’d be moved, there’s a very real possibility that he’s in the lineup for the Hurricanes on opening night.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kings Sign Liam Greentree

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11:58 AM: The Kings have officially confirmed Greentree’s signing and the $975K AAV.

8:55 AM: The Kings have agreed to terms with their top selection in last month’s draft as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed Liam Greentree to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal pays $877.5K per year in salary with a $97.5K signing bonus for each season for a $975K cap hit.

[Related: 2024 NHL Draft Signing Tracker]

The winger was selected by Los Angeles with the 26th pick after the Kings opted to trade down five spots earlier in the day.  Greentree had a very strong sophomore year with OHL Windsor, doubling his output from his rookie season.  All told, he finished up with 36 goals and 54 assists in 64 games before collecting four more points at the World Under-18s.  That resulted in many of his draft rankings slotting between the middle of the first round and the end of it.

While Greentree will likely get at least a brief look at training camp in the fall, it’s highly likely that he’ll return to the Spitfires next season.  Assuming that happens and that he doesn’t get into ten or more NHL games before that time, Greentree’s contract will slide a year and still have three years left on it next summer.

Austin Czarnik Signs In Swiss League

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After splitting time between the NHL and the AHL in recent seasons, center Austin Czarnik has decided it’s time to try something different.  SC Bern of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed the veteran to a one-year contract.

The 31-year-old spent extended time with both Detroit and Grand Rapids last season.  With the Red Wings, he got into 34 games, his highest total since the 2018-19 campaign.  However, Czarnik wasn’t able to muster up much offensively, recording just one assist while winning 49% of his faceoffs in just 8:26 per game, a career low.

However, he was once again a key producer in the minors with the Griffins.  In 38 regular season games with them, Czarnik potted 10 goals and 18 assists before adding four goals and four assists in nine postseason contests.

That follows a recent trend for Czarnik.  In the minors, he has been a top point-getter, notching 290 points in 308 career games at that level.  But it hasn’t translated to much offensive success in the NHL as he has just 51 points in 205 career appearances.  Most of that came early in his career as Czarnik has just 16 points in 92 games over the last five years.

It seems reasonable to infer that Czarnik would have had two-way offers on the table if he wanted to continue in the role he has had in recent seasons.  But now, he’ll have a chance to play an impactful role for a full season overseas, giving him some stability in the process.  Depending on how things go in Switzerland, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Czarnik back in the NHL two-way mix next summer.

Predators, Spencer Stastney Exchange Arbitration Figures

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With the schedule for arbitration hearings not being made public this year, it’s generally unknown when hearings are going to be held.  However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link), the Predators and defenseman Spencer Stastney have exchanged figures, meaning his hearing is slated for Monday.

Stastney’s request was a one-year deal worth $950K.  With the blueliner initiating the filing, it’s Nashville that gets to determine if it’s a one-year or a two-year award should it actually go through the process.  They opted for the latter, filing a two-way offer for both seasons, worth $775K and $125K in the minors for 2024-25 and $775K and $175K for 2025-26.

The 24-year-old is coming off his entry-level deal, one which saw him carry a $925K cap hit between his base salary and signing bonuses.  Nashville’s offer actually comes in below the qualifying offer they tendered late last month but those offers have since lapsed meaning that they can go as low as they want with an offer.

Last season, Stastney split the year between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee.  In the minors, he suited up in 44 games, notching five goals and 15 assists, improving on his rookie point total by seven.  He got into 20 regular season games with the Preds, picking up two goals and two helpers while logging just under 16 minutes a night.  Stastney also played in three games in their opening-round playoff loss to Vancouver.

The two sides now have just under 48 hours to come to an agreement.  If they can’t come to one and the hearing starts, it will go the distance and have a contract awarded by the arbitrator.  If a contract is awarded, Stastney will once again be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer.

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