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Five Key Stories: 8/5/24 – 8/11/24

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With training camps a little more than a month away, activity around the hockey world has slowed down considerably in recent weeks.  Nevertheless, there was some news of note over the past seven days which is recapped in our key stories.

Helenius To Play In North America: On draft day, Konsta Helenius slipped to the Sabres at 14th overall despite being ranked as a top-ten prospect by several publications.  Often, a European player picked in the middle of the first round will stay overseas for a couple of years but that’s not the case for Helenius as his club team in Tappara revealed that the youngster is expected to play in North America this coming season.  Since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, Helenius is eligible to play with AHL Rochester in 2024-25 but after an impressive season in the Finnish Liiga that saw him record 36 points in 51 games, it’s possible that he makes a case to spend at least a few games in Buffalo as well.

Klefbom Confirms Retirement: Any hope of a late-career comeback for Oscar Klefbom has come to an end as the blueliner confirmed that he has retired.  The 31-year-old was a key part of Edmonton’s back end for most of his career, averaging more than 21 minutes a night over his last six seasons.  However, a shoulder injury that he played through eventually proved to be too much as he last played in the 2019-20 campaign, spending the final three years of his contract on LTIR before becoming a free agent last summer.  Klefbom has indicated that he’d like to stay involved in some capacity but it remains to be seen if that will be with an NHL team or in his native Sweden.

Avs Add Another Blueliner: Colorado has been active in adding depth defenders this summer, bringing in Erik Brannstrom and Calvin de Haan early in free agency.  They added another rearguard this past week, signing Oliver Kylington to a one-year, $1.05MM deal.  The 27-year-old returned to Calgary in January after missing a year and a half for mental health reasons.  While his numbers in the second half weren’t overly impressive (eight points in 33 games), his last full season in 2021-22 was a breakout showing for Kylington when he put up 31 points in 73 appearances while logging over 18 minutes a night.  If he can come even close to those numbers with the Avalanche, they’ll get strong value on this contract.

Coaching Changes In Columbus: In an offseason that has seen the Blue Jackets take their time with off-ice moves, they rounded out their coaching staff under new bench boss Dean Evason.  The team parted ways with assistant coach Mark Recchi and development coach Derek Dorsett (who could eventually return in another capacity); assistant Josef Boumedienne had previously been let go as well.  Taking their place on the coaching staff will be new assistant coaches Scott Ford and Mike Haviland.  This will be Ford’s first coaching job at the AHL level after spending the last eight seasons with AHL Milwaukee.  Haviland, meanwhile, has four years of NHL experience as an assistant with Chicago and spent the last two years as an associate coach with their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.

Sillinger Nearing A Contract: Still with the Blue Jackets, they only have one remaining restricted free agent to re-sign, forward Cole Sillinger.  It appears he won’t be unsigned for much longer as the two sides are believed to be close to getting an agreement on a new deal in place.  It’s expected that the contract, when finalized, will be for two years.  The 21-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Columbus in 2021 and turned pro right after, spending the bulk of his entry-level deal at the NHL level where he has 74 points in 220 games.  With the limited production, a long-term agreement doesn’t make sense for either side so it appears he’ll get a couple of years to try to boost his value before gaining arbitration eligibility next time out.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

PHR Mailbag: Stars, Askarov, Swayman, Bruins, Blues, Pacioretty

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Topics in this edition of the mailbag include Jeremy Swayman’s situation in Boston, if Torey Krug’s injury will make St. Louis look for another defenseman, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s column.

bottlesup: It looks like Dallas’s roster is set, do you see Jim making possibly another trade some point in the season or any other moves?

The answer to this question is going to depend on what happens with Thomas Harley, their lone remaining restricted free agent.  They have a little over $6.2MM in cap space at the moment, per PuckPedia, but that’s with a 20-player roster.  Assuming they want to carry an extra forward at least (Harley’s eventual contract would give them seven defenders), they’re closer to $5.4MM to play with.

How much of that will Harley take up?  If the two sides work out a long-term agreement that covers his remaining RFA years and buys some extra years of team control, it’s going to be at a number that’s actually higher than their current cap space.  In that scenario, instead of adding to their roster, they’d have to subtract from it to get back into compliance.  From there, they’d probably wind up tight to the cap, limiting their in-season flexibility.

But if it’s a bridge deal, things change.  Using K’Andre Miller and Evan Bouchard as some recent comparables, a two-year bridge for Harley should check in around the $4MM per season mark.  If they did that and carried a 13th forward, they’d be around $1.4MM or so (depending on the exact cost of Harley’s deal and the cost of the 13th forward), giving them some flexibility to hedge against injuries.  I could see them maybe using a bit of that to top up from a minimum-salaried extra forward to more of an impactful one around the $1MM mark which would then put them closer to $1MM in wiggle room.

At that point, the question of any in-season activity would be dependent on injuries and how aggressively they paper Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque to the minors on off days to bank extra cap space.  If there’s enough room left at the deadline, I could see them making a move to shore up their back end as they did with Chris Tanev back in March.

I’ll also mention the possibility of a three-year bridge, one that probably pushes the cost closer to $4.5MM.  At that point, they’d have to fill the 13th forward spot with a minimum-salary contract and hold on to their minimal flexibility after that.  In that case, they could look to a UFA or have a 13th forward come up from AHL Texas; after that, any movement would again be linked to their ability to bank cap space in-season depending on injuries.  Again, I think there’s a move to make on the back end but it’ll be closer to March than October.

FeeltheThunder: There have been some reports and chatter that Tampa should go after Nashville’s young goalie Yaroslav Askarov to backup Andrei Vasilevskiy. Many feel Vasy would be more open to not taking on so many games if he had a backup goalie that he felt comfortable sharing with.  Not that he doesn’t like Johansson or anything but the reality is Johansson is just an average goaltender at best. Furthermore, it wouldn’t hurt if that backup goaltender had the same cultural background either as Vasy.

What would Tampa have to give up to get Askarov from Nashville? One would assume the 2026 1st round pick would be the starting point. I’m sure a potential prospect would be added but I don’t think Tampa would give up Conor Geekie, Isaac Howard, or even Ethan Gauthier in the trade. Maybe they just bundle some draft picks.

First, while there has been chatter about Nashville dealing Askarov for more than a year now, I don’t recall seeing anything credible linking him to Tampa Bay specifically.  While he’d be an upgrade on Jonas Johansson, there’s not a path to prime playing time until Vasilevskiy’s deal ends in 2028.  If Askarov had a chance to pick his landing spot (he wouldn’t, I’m just making the point), I’d have to think the Lightning would be pretty low on his list.  Going and being a multi-year backup or platoon partner isn’t a path to a big-money contract.

As for what the cost would be, you’re really constraining them by taking Geekie, Howard, and Gauthier off the table.  If Nashville isn’t getting a high-end prospect in this trade, what’s their motivation to do it?  A future first-round pick (which might land in the 20s) isn’t exactly the ideal centerpiece of a swap; I have to think they turned down better than that at the last two drafts.  That pick with some lesser picks or lesser prospects is a package that I suspect quite a few teams would easily beat.

The hope is that Askarov is a future franchise goalie.  The cost has to be somewhat commensurate with that; a quantity over quality approach to a trade isn’t it.  I could see Nashville’s preference being a prospect-prospect swap where they’re getting an NHL-ready (or near-ready) impact player (top-six forward or a top-four defenseman) back for the netminder.  I don’t see Tampa Bay being the team to give that to them.

SkidRowe: Two Bruins topics:

1) What’s going on with Swayman? How far apart do you think they are? Could Swayman’s camp be asking for more than the Bruins have remaining under the cap ($8.6m)? What’s he gonna do, sit out?

2) Apparently, the Bruins are counting on middle-six minutes and secondary scoring from a couple of youngsters; Poitras (20 yo, former 2nd-round pick, 15 points in 33 NHL games) and Lysell (21yo, former 1st-round pick, zero NHL games). If either of those guys fail, they can turn to Merkulov (23yo, former college free agent, zero points in four NHL games) or elevate Brazeau (26yo, undrafted junior player, seven points in 19 NHL games) from the 4th line. Is this strategy going to pay off?

1) With no arbitration option this time around (both sides passed on filing), there is no real pressure point on either side for a while yet so this probably will drag out for a while longer.  It’s hard to guess how far they’re apart as part of the issue here I suspect is that they’re still working on deals of varying lengths, meaning the gap will be different for each one.  My guess is that they’re not overly close and until we get closer to training camp where one side might move a little, I don’t expect to see much news on that front.

I don’t see Swayman’s camp asking for more than $8.6MM per season.  His career high in games played in a single NHL season is 44 so as of today, he’s not even truly proven as an undisputed number one.  He’s heading in that direction but hasn’t played enough to get there yet.  I think the end result on a long-term deal starts with a seven, maybe eight times eight at most.  If they wind up on more of a medium-term agreement, the cost probably begins with a six.

2) At this point, what other option do the Bruins have?  They couldn’t afford to make a commitment to a more impactful forward earlier in free agency as they need to get Swayman signed first to see what they have left to spend.  If they went and added a top-six piece, then they’re forcing themselves into probably taking Swayman to arbitration, getting a one-year settlement in the $5MM range, and going through the same thing next year.  The patient approach will limit their options to add short-term depth but should allow them to get their franchise goalie signed.

At some point, the Bruins need to start getting some contributions from their prospect pool.  Matthew Poitras was starting to slow down before his injury but he’s earned a chance to break camp and see if he can hold down a spot.  Fabian Lysell is one of their top prospects and flirted with a point per game in the minors last year so yes, he’s probably worth a look.  Frankly, those two have more pure upside than what’s left in free agency and they don’t have a lot of trade chips to use.  Having said that, I do see Boston being active on the PTO front to see if they can get a decent veteran or two in as a hedge against the youngsters struggling or Swayman signing a shorter-term deal (opening up more cap flexibility).

vincent k. mcmahon: If Krug’s playing career is hypothetically over (although it’s still up in the air on if he can or can’t resume playing) does this put pressure on the Blues of adding another d-man outside of the additions of Suter and Joseph?

It depends on what their intentions are for this season.  If they think they’re a playoff team, then yes, they need to go add another blueliner (although there’s not much left on the open market).  But looking at the Central Division and St. Louis’ roster in general, I don’t see the Blues being a playoff team this season.

If that’s the case, my thought is that they’d be better off not filling that spot, instead using it to learn more about their younger options.  They have four rearguards either 24 or 25, Matthew Kessel, Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, and the recently-signed Pierre-Olivier Joseph.  How many of those are future building blocks?  At some point, they need to figure that out.  Using this season to do just that might be the better play in the long run.

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Snapshots: Jarry, Gagner, PHPA

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The Penguins weren’t believed to be opposed to moving on from Tristan Jarry back at the draft, suggests Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Last season was a rough one for the 29-year-old as he posted a 2.91 GAA and a .903 SV% in 51 games, the worst full-season numbers of his career.  In the process, he lost the starting job down the stretch to Alex Nedeljkovic, who Pittsburgh wound up re-signing.  Jarry still has four years remaining on his contract with a $5.375MM cap charge, a price tag that is certainly on the high side for the type of performance he had last season.  While there was some speculation that we could see some underachieving starters trade places this summer, most of those moves didn’t materialize so Jarry will go into Pittsburgh’s camp next month looking to reclaim the starting job.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Unrestricted free agent forward Sam Gagner has yet to sign somewhere for the upcoming season but it isn’t from a lack of interest in continuing on. Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins relays that the 35-year-old is hoping to suit up somewhere in 2024-25.  Gagner had to go the PTO route last season with Edmonton, eventually landing a two-way deal that saw him spend 15 games with AHL Bakersfield and 28 more with the Oilers.  He did record ten points with the big club despite barely averaging ten minutes a night.  At this point, a guaranteed deal seems unlikely but another PTO could come his way in the coming weeks.
  • The PHPA recently announced the hiring of Brian Ramsey as its new Executive Director. He replaces Larry Landon who retired from the role last month.  Ramsey spent the previous nine years as the Executive Director of the Canadian Football League Players’ Association.  He will be busy in the coming months as the CBA for the ECHL expires on June 30th while the CBA for the AHL ends two months later on August 31st, 2025.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Intends To Play In 2024-25

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Last season was a particularly quiet one for UFA center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with his usage being by far the lowest of his ten-year NHL career.  Despite that, the 39-year-old told Norran’s Mille Dybro that he intends to play in the NHL for at least one more year.

Bellemare took a long time to come to North America, not making his NHL debut until his age-29 season.  Before that, he spent time in both France and Sweden with a strong showing at the 2014 World Championship helping to secure him a contract with Philadelphia.

Since then, Bellemare has played in 700 games at the top level between five organizations, almost exclusively being deployed in a fourth-line checking role.  He has 64 goals and 74 assists to his name while winning 51.5% of his faceoffs over that time.  Just seven of those points came in 2023-24, however, as he was limited to just 40 games, missing time with a leg injury while also being a somewhat frequent healthy scratch.

Accordingly, it’s not a big surprise that Bellemare remains unsigned at this point in free agency.  A player in his situation is likelier to have to go the PTO route in September over landing a guaranteed contract in August.  Fortunately for him, his type of profile is one that quite a few teams will often look at PTOs to potentially fill so he shouldn’t have much difficulty securing one.

Bellemare is expected to play in the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the end of the month so it wouldn’t be surprising for any sort of contractual agreement to come until after that point in time; if he signed early, his new team might prefer he not play.

Alternatively, if he isn’t able to get an NHL contract in the fall, Bellemare indicated that he wouldn’t rule out a return to SHL Skelleftea.  He is currently training there and spent his last five international seasons with them before coming to the NHL.  Returning to finish his playing career there would be somewhat of a full-circle moment for Bellemare but for now, landing another deal at the top level is the priority.

Islanders Unlikely To Bring Back Matt Martin Or Cal Clutterbuck

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A pair of long-time Islanders remain unsigned more than five weeks into free agency with wingers Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck still on the open market.  That has led some to wonder if New York might be able to find a way to bring them back into the fold at a lower price tag.

Speaking with Ethan Sears of the New York Post, GM Lou Lamoriello tried to pour cold water on that idea.  While he didn’t entirely rule the idea out, he indicated that it’s something he’s not considering at this time:

We’ll probably be moving on. That isn’t saying things can’t change. We’re talking about two veterans, two quality individuals. Two team leaders and two real good hockey players, so we’ll have to see how things come about.

Martin is a veteran of 15 NHL seasons, all but two of which have come with the Isles.  The 35-year-old has yet to reach 20 points in a single season but in his prime, he was a key cog of a strong and physical fourth line group that could play bigger minutes than a fourth line generally does.  Last season, Martin was limited to just 57 games between injuries and a few healthy scratches, collecting four goals and four assists along with 151 hits.

Clutterbuck, meanwhile, has a 17-year NHL career with the last 11 of those seasons being played in New York.  While his peak offensive years were better than Martin’s, a lot of his per-season numbers wound up being pretty close as another member of that vaunted fourth line.  Last season, Clutterbuck managed to stay healthy, playing the first 82-game campaign of his career where he picked up seven goals, 12 assists, and 273 hits.

Lamoriello elected to bring in a pair of more offensive-minded forwards to take their spots on the roster this summer.  Anthony Duclair was brought in on a four-year, $14MM contract while they beat out many suitors to land Russian winger Maxim Tsyplakov on a one-year, entry-level pact.  With the Isles failing to crack the top 20 in goals scored for the past three seasons, looking for more firepower and speed certainly made sense although it comes at the expense of a pair of fan favorites who will have to look elsewhere if they want to continue their respective careers.

West Notes: Ehlers, Portillo, Lerby

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With Olympic Qualifying Tournaments beginning at the end of the month, several teams will have decisions to make about allowing their players to participate in the event just before training camps get underway.  Jets head coach Scott Arniel told Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun that Nikolaj Ehlers will indeed suit up for Denmark in their tournament, noting their hope is that this will serve as a jumpstart heading into camp.  Ehlers has been frequently speculated as a possible trade candidate in recent months and he’s coming into the final season of his seven-year, $42MM contract signed back in 2017.  After putting up the second-highest point total of his career last season with 61, Ehlers will be looking for another big performance to bolster his value ahead of his first crack at unrestricted free agency.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The Kings have two remaining restricted free agents in winger Arthur Kaliyev and goaltender Erik Portillo. Kaliyev is believed to be available on the trade market which could affect the timing of his next deal but Portillo is still in Los Angeles’ plans.  John Hoven of Mayors Manor recently examined some comparable netminders, suggesting that Portillo will likely ink a two-year deal around a $1MM AAV with the second season of that being a one-way agreement, similar to recent contracts given to Dustin Wolf (Calgary), Nico Daws (New Jersey), and Jet Greaves (Columbus) earlier this summer.  David Rittich and Pheonix Copley are on one-year deals so a good showing from Portillo with AHL Ontario in 2024-25 could put him in a good position to be Darcy Kuemper’s backup in 2025-26.
  • Flames RFA defenseman Carl-Johan Lerby is on the move in Sweden as Kalmar of the second-tier Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year contract. The 27-year-old signed with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in 2019 but he spent limited time in North America, suiting up just 22 times with AHL Stockton before heading back overseas in 2021.  The Flames retained his rights by tendering a qualifying offer at that time.  Lerby split last season between the Finnish Liiga and the Allsvenskan, compiling 15 points in 45 regular season games between the two levels.

Hurricanes Expect To Have Alexander Nikishin Play For Them Late In 2024-25

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Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin has widely been viewed as one of the top blueliners outside the NHL for a couple of years now.  While he still has one year left on his KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg, Carolina expects to have the youngster available to them at some point late in the season.

Speaking earlier this week with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Eric Tulsky indicated that they plan to sign him as soon as his deal in Russia expires and put him into their lineup right away.  KHL playoffs run through April and SKA is generally one of the better teams in that league so it’s quite possible that Nikishin won’t be able to make his Carolina debut until the end of April (if he’s let out of his contract early once the KHL playoffs end) or early May, meaning they’d have to have some playoff success of their own for this to happen.

The 22-year-old was the 69th selection back in 2020 and has squarely outperformed where he was picked.  He became a full-time player at the KHL level the following season with Spartak before being acquired by SKA in 2022 where things took off.

In his first season with them, Nikishin picked up 55 points in 65 regular season games which made him the highest-scoring KHL blueliner while also logging nearly 23 minutes a game.  Last season, he produced at basically the same clip, notching 17 goals and 39 assists in 67 contests, once again leading all rearguards in points while logging over 24 minutes a night.  While Carolina is surely intrigued by Nikishin’s offensive upside, Gulitti notes that they view him as a potential all-around fit.

With Nikishin turning 23 in October, his entry-level deal will have to be a two-year agreement, the first of which will be burned this coming season if he’s able to sign with and suit up for Carolina.  That would put him on pace for what many expect will be a pricey second contract in the 2026 offseason.

Carolina has had some turnover on the back end this summer with Brady Skjei (Nashville), Brett Pesce (New Jersey), and Tony DeAngelo (unsigned) all leaving via free agency.  Their replacements haven’t been as notable on paper with Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere signing on with the other spot going unfilled.  It appears they could be eyeing Nikishin for that position which could give their back end a boost in the playoffs, as long as they’re still playing when their top prospect becomes available to be signed.

Free Agent Profile: Tyson Barrie

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It wasn’t too long ago that free agent defenseman Tyson Barrie was one of the better power play threats from the back end in the NHL and while his defensive game was a weak spot, he still was counted on to play a notable role.  However, after a rough showing last season, the veteran still finds himself unsigned more than a month into unrestricted free agency.

Back in his prime with Colorado, Barrie was one of the top-end offensive blueliners but with them wanting a second center, they moved him to Toronto, the first stop where he struggled.  Expected to anchor a top power play, he instead struggled; while he still managed to put up 37 points, that was one of his lower full-season totals.

The Maple Leafs opted not to retain him the following year and Barrie found his way to Edmonton as a free agent where, once again, he was expected to anchor a top power play.  This time, he was more successful in that role for nearly three years before being salary-matching ballast in a move that brought the Oilers Mattias Ekholm, a much better fit for them with Evan Bouchard ready to take on the top offensive minutes.

While Barrie finished up the 2022-23 season relatively well after joining the Predators at that trade deadline, things went off the rails entirely last year.  The team gave him permission to talk to other teams in early December to try to facilitate a move but one never materialized.  At that point, Nashville simply decided to make him their seventh defender and once the calendar flipped to 2024, he played in just 12 games the rest of the way, including playoffs, meaning he hit the open market at the age of 33 coming off the worst season of his career.

Stats

2023-24: 41 GP, 1 G, 14 A, 15 PTS, -10, 16 PIMS, 65 shots, 18:19 ATOI, 46.0 CF%
Career: 809 GP, 109 G, 396 A, 505 PTS, -75, 259 PIMS, 1,755 shots, 21:07 ATOI, 49.6 CF%

Potential Suitors

At this point, there aren’t going to be too many options on the table for Barrie.  If he wants a top-six spot, he might have to go into camp on a PTO with a weaker team but if he’s open to having a similar role as he did last year as a seventh option, he could be an intriguing pickup for a team looking for a secondary power play threat.

In the East, the Rangers lost one of their power play threats when Erik Gustafsson went to Detroit in free agency.  Barrie would likely be in a battle for the sixth spot so while he wouldn’t be a regular, he’d give Peter Laviolette another option for games he’d be in the lineup for.  The Bruins can’t do much roster-wise at the moment until Jeremy Swayman signs but if they have room to add an extra rearguard, they don’t have a lot of natural power play fits on the back end so Barrie could fit in a limited role.  The Senators and Blue Jackets also feel like longer-shot landing spots depending on what happens between now and training camp.

Out West, if the Blues opt to look outside the organization for a Torey Krug replacement, Barrie fits that spot well as an offense-first player.  Meanwhile, the Wild don’t have many offensive threats on their back end beyond Brock Faber so adding Barrie would give them some more options on that front, though they would need to massage the salary cap to fit him in.

Projected Contract

Going into the start of free agency, it looked like Barrie could have a case for a deal around $1.5MM.  That still would have been a big drop-off from the $4.5MM he made in each of the last three seasons but it still would have been an improvement on what he’s likely to get now which is a contract around the minimum salary.  Depending on where he lands, he might have to go the PTO route to get a deal as well.  That’s quite the fall from grace for a player who is in the top ten among points by a defenseman over the past decade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nicolas Meloche Signs Two-Year KHL Deal

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After not getting much traction on a contract in North America last season, defenseman Nicolas Meloche opted to try his hand overseas in the KHL.  Things went well enough over there that he has elected to sign a two-year deal with Dinamo Minsk, per an announcement on their Telegram page.

The 27-year-old was somewhat of a late bloomer, not becoming an NHL regular until 24 with San Jose.  He did well enough that year to land a one-way agreement with Calgary in the 2022 offseason but after a tough showing in training camp, he wound up spending the entire year in the minors before heading to Russia.

Last season, Meloche played in 40 games with Salavat Yulaev where he was relatively productive, collecting five goals and 13 assists before chipping in with two assists in six playoff contests.  Salavat traded Meloche’s rights to Minsk last week, paving the way for this contract.

With 57 career NHL games and 257 AHL appearances under his belt, it’s certainly possible that Meloche could look to return to North America when this contract is up.  After being more of a limited point producer before going overseas, a continued good showing on that front could certainly get him back on the radar in 2026.

Free Agent Profile: Kailer Yamamoto

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It has been a rather steep fall from grace in recent years for unrestricted free agent winger Kailer Yamamoto.  Thought of as a key piece of Edmonton’s core just a few years ago, he now finds himself looking for a new deal more than a month into free agency.

Yamamoto first made a big impact late in the 2019-20 season, turning a midseason recall into a permanent stay with 26 points in 27 games, suggesting that he could be an important top-six piece for the Oilers in the process.  After his output dropped the following season, Yamamoto rebounded well in 2021-22, notching 20 goals and 21 assists in 81 contests while adding seven points in 14 playoff contests.

Unable to afford a long-term agreement, the two sides worked out a two-year, $6.2MM deal, effectively a second bridge contract which was a reasonable move for both sides.  But it didn’t work out as planned.  His production dipped to 25 points in 58 games, resulting in Edmonton moving him to Detroit in a cap-dumping move before free agency last summer.

But as it turns out, the Red Wings didn’t want him; they took him on to get the negotiating rights to Klim Kostin as part of that swap.  They weren’t able to flip Yamamoto so they ultimately bought him out, paying only one-third of the deal to do so since he was only 24 at the time.

Yamamoto quickly caught on with Seattle, inking a one-year, $1.5MM deal, a fair price tag for a player looking to rebuild some value.  But that didn’t happen.  He struggled offensively with the Kraken, collecting just eight goals and eight assists in 59 games.  Rather than qualify him at $1.5MM and give him arbitration eligibility (where his prior production with Edmonton) would have positioned him for a fair-sized raise, Seattle elected to non-tender him and clearly, his second trip through unrestricted free agency hasn’t gone as well as he was hoping for.

Stats

2023-24: 59 GP, 8 G, 8 A, 16 PTS, -9, 18 PIMS, 11:59 ATOI, 53.3 CF%
Career: 303 GP, 58 G, 76 A, 134 PTS, +20, 124 PIMS, 15:33 ATOI, 51.5 CF%

Potential Suitors

There are a couple of types of potential fits for the 25-year-old.  Teams that are looking for offensive depth in their bottom six might have him on their list of options.  Meanwhile, rebuilding teams looking for someone who might be able to help for the medium term (he still is controllable through arbitration through 2025-26) could be inclined to give him a shot.

In the East, Montreal has at least a short-term opening up front with the recent injury to Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Yamamoto would give them a bit of offensive punch and speed in a bottom-six group that is veteran-heavy.  The fact that he had success playing with Leon Draisaitl could appeal to a team like Pittsburgh who has been looking for consistent wingers to play with Sidney Crosby.  They’ve tried several players in that role with varying degrees of success; perhaps Yamamoto could be worth a look there.  Ottawa, meanwhile, has lost some winger depth between trades dating back to last season and free agency and could benefit from another offensive option to shore up their depth.

Out West, Colorado had a lot of success on a low-cost one-year deal for Jonathan Drouin last summer.  Yamamoto fits that type of bounce-back profile that could be a mutual fit.  He’d have to take a fair-sized pay cut to make it work, however, with Valeri Nichushkin expected back early in the season, putting his cap hit back on their books.  If Yamamoto is willing to take a low-cost contract, Dallas would also be a fit as they’ve had success integrating offensive players in their bottom six.  With Evgenii Dadonov a year out from free agency, Yamamoto could plausibly slide into that spot in 2025-26, potentially making him a multi-year fit.  Winnipeg was a mid-pack team offensively last year and hasn’t added much on that front so he could be a fit there depending on how long (and expensive) Cole Perfetti’s next contract winds up being.

Projected Contract

Being a late non-tender, Yamamoto wasn’t eligible to land on our Top 50 UFA list but might have made it towards the back end had he been eligible.  But players who make it to this point unsigned generally don’t fare well in terms of their next contract.  Most of the best fits are teams that will be looking for a bargain so if he’s looking to go to a playoff-bound team, he’s likely going to have to come in at $1MM or lower.  If a lower-end team wants to take a flyer on him, the price tag could land a bit above that but at this point, it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to match the $1.5MM he made last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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