Snapshots: Flames Negotiations, Wright, Brossoit
The Flames’ season may be over, but the work for their front office is only just beginning. Not only is the beating heart of their franchise, Johnny Gaudreau, a pending unrestricted free agent, but they also have potential future captain Matthew Tkachuk as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who is inching closer to his own unrestricted free agency. The next month is set to be one full of crucial negotiations for the Flames, and according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team would like to begin those as soon as possible.
Friedman reports that the Flames will move “aggressively” to extend those two players, in order to have a quick understanding of “what the landscape is” in terms of their futures. The Flames can hardly be blamed for their urgency, given the importance of both Gaudreau and Tkachuk to everything they have been building. Flames GM Brad Treliving has previously said that he would “move heaven and earth” to retain Gaudreau, and one has to assume he will carry that same attitude towards retaining Tkachuk. But as is the case with most contract negotiations in the NHL, Treliving’s “heaven and earth” will likely take a backseat to the most important factor: dollars and cents.
Now, for some other bits of news from across the NHL:
- Before free agency can begin, there is another major event on the NHL’s calendar that will need to be completed: the entry draft. We previously covered how it’s not a guarantee that Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright will go first overall to the Montreal Canadiens, and there is now another development regarding that connection. Friedman reported yesterday that the Canadiens’ brass led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes will meet face-to-face with Wright at the NHL combine. Just as making the first overall selection comes with a lot of opportunity so comes a lot of responsibility, and the interactions between the Canadiens and Wright could go a long way towards making the team feel more comfortable in his projection if he does end up the number-one pick.
- Injuries proved fatal for the Golden Knights this past season, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history. One of the Golden Knights still dealing with an injury is goaltender Laurent Brossoit. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Brossoit had hip surgery and that the team is “hoping” that he will be available for the start of next season. With starter Robin Lehner already recovering from his own surgery and the late-season breakout of Logan Thompson in mind, it’s clear that Vegas’ future in net is anything but settled.
Update On Barry Trotz
Barry Trotz, a coach widely regarded to be among the best in hockey, is currently on the open market and entertaining offers for his next job. He has a multitude of suitors, and fans of the teams actively courting him could not be blamed for being nervous about his upcoming decision. His choice could be the sort of one that can reverse the fortunes of a franchise, and his hire likely set the tone of the offseason for whatever team he joins. But according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, we may have to wait a bit for that choice to actually come.
Friedman reports that the coaching cycle has “ground to a bit of a halt” as a result of teams awaiting Trotz’s decision. Friedman relays that Trotz has “let it be known” to teams interested in his services that he’s “not in a hurry to make his choice” and that won’t make his decision until he’s absolutely certain that it’s the right one for himself and his family.
While that is obviously a very reasonable stance for Trotz to take towards his decision, his patience does have wider implications for the league as a whole. There are numerous coaching vacancies across the NHL, and as Friedman notes, many teams are waiting for Trotz to make a decision before truly ramping up their pursuits of other candidates.
Fans of teams with a coaching vacancy may want to see movement from their team on that front sooner rather than later, but the state of the coaching market is such that these searches could drag on through the playoffs and potentially beyond their conclusion. That potentially long wait on Trotz’s choice could have the effect of raising the stakes of his decision as well. For the teams that are fully invested in securing his services but end up ultimately missing out, they could potentially see their second-choice candidate be snapped up by another team less involved in the Trotz sweepstakes.
Regardless of where Trotz ends up coaching next season, it’s clear that his decision will likely have a ripple effect that alters the offseasons of quite a few teams.
Latest On Andrew Copp
Last night, the New York Rangers won a crucial game against the Carolina Hurricanes, keeping their season alive. Andrew Copp, who the Rangers acquired from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline, has been a major reason for the team’s success in these playoffs. Given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent, it’s natural to believe that Copp has earned himself some money on his next deal with how he’s performed in New York. On the 32 Thoughts segment of last night’s Sportsnet broadcast of the Rangers/Hurricanes game, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek supported that line of thinking, reporting that it “sounds as if” Copp’s market is going to land between the deals signed by two recent comparable unrestricted free agents: Phillip Danault and Zach Hyman.
Danault signed his contract after leading the way on a Canadiens team that to the 2021 Stanley Cup final, inking a six-year, $33MM deal with the Los Angeles Kings. Hyman signed a seven-year, $38.5MM deal with the Oilers after a season where he scored at a 63-point pace. While Copp’s defensive game may not be quite at the level of Danault’s (who is a consistent down-ballot Selke candidate) and his offense may be slightly below where Hyman’s was in his platform year, Copp has proven to be an incredible fit with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome and is now producing better than he ever has as a professional.
As a Ranger, including the playoffs, Copp has 28 points in 29 games, showing that in the right fit, he can be a very strong offensive producer to go along with his defensive game. The Rangers also have Strome as a pending unrestricted free agent and could find themselves forced to choose only one of the two to retain after this season, given the constraints of the salary cap. Strome may have a longer and more proven track record of chemistry with Panarin than Copp does, but Copp has outproduced him in these playoffs and offers more versatility, as well as a more well-regarded defensive game. The Rangers’ attempts to retain both or their choice between the two will be one of the Rangers’ top storylines this offseason, and recent reporting indicates that they will be aggressive in their pursuit of Copp.
Copp’s performance also still holds significance for his former team. As part of their trade with the Rangers, the second-round pick the Jets received for Copp was actually conditional, and is upgraded from a 2022 second-rounder to a 2022 first-rounder if the Rangers make it to the Eastern Conference Final (to be decided Monday) and Copp plays in at least 50% of the team’s playoff games. So while two fanbases will see their teams battle to remain alive in the chase for the Stanley Cup, there will be a third fanbase also likely to be deeply invested in the fate of Monday’s high-stakes seventh game.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions 5/26/22
With the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs now in full gear and one team already through to the Conference Finals, most AHL teams’ seasons are over and some have already begun chipping away at their offseason work. We’ll keep track of that AHL news here.
- The Grand Rapids Griffins, the affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, announced today that they re-signed forward Dominik Shine to a two-year AHL contract. Shine, an undrafted player and Detroit native, has played in six seasons for the Griffins. After a successful career at Northern Michigan University, Shine turned pro and got into eight regular-season games for the Griffins in 2017-18, the year the team went on to win the Calder Cup. From that point, Shine became a regular in Grand Rapids and produced modestly. This past season Shine had his best offensive output, posting 17 goals and 32 points in 71 games, to go along with a career-high 141 penalty minutes.
- The Hershey Bears announced two signings today, the first being of forward Bear Hughes on an AHL deal for the 2022-23 season. Hughes, 20, was the Capitals’ fifth-round choice at the 2020 draft. Hughes is coming off a productive season for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL, where he posted 67 points in 64 games, which led his team. The Post Falls, Idaho native will continue his development in Hershey hoping that his WHL production will translate to professional success and eventually an NHL contract.
- The other signing the Bears announced today was of defenseman Benton Maass, also to an AHL deal covering 2022-23. Maass, 23, was a Washington Capitals sixth-rounder at the 2017 draft and has spent the past five seasons in the NCAA. He spent four years manning the blueline of the University of New Hampshire before spending a final season at Minnesota State University, where he played with Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay and forward Nathan Smith, who now plays for the Arizona Coyotes.
Philadelphia Flyers Extend Linus Sandin
The Philadelphia Flyers are in hot pursuit of one of the NHL’s biggest-name coaches, but that hasn’t stopped them from getting some offseason work done as well. The Flyers announced today that they have re-signed forward Linus Sandin to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750,000.
Sandin, 26, is an undrafted player who has spent the past two seasons in the Flyers’ organization. He is the brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin. He is a veteran of four SHL seasons, having played for two clubs: HV71 and Rogle BK. After a first season in the SHL where he struggled to score, Sandin began to figure things out and scored 35 goals over the next two seasons. He had 10 points in 20 games in 2020-21 before coming over to the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and posting a healthy 10 points in 26 games. This season he had 20 points in 36 games and made his NHL debut. For Sandin, this extension and his choice to remain in North America indicate that he is committed to building off of this past season in order to keep his chances of getting back into an NHL lineup alive.
Sandin is hardly a prospect at 26 years old, but he still has only 63 games of experience on North American ice and is an established, quality player at the SHL level. So his ultimate place within the Flyers organization is hardly a settled matter. As the Flyers embark on an offseason where there could be major changes, bringing Sandin back into the fold gives the club a low-cost player who has the chance to become something if he plays well.
Latest On Frederik Andersen
The Carolina Hurricanes are two wins away from the Eastern Conference Final, and they have gotten there in large part thanks to the heroics of backup goaltender Antti Raanta. Raanta took the starter’s crease in Carolina after regular starter Frederik Andersen suffered a major injury, and hasn’t looked back. In these playoffs, Raanta has a .939 save percentage and a 1.86 goals-against-average, two elite marks. But now a month removed from the initial injury to Andersen, it seems that the Hurricanes’ goaltending situation is about to become uncertain once again, albeit for different reasons.
The Hurricanes’ goaltending uncertainty was once driven by a lack of options. They had Raanta, who had a decent 28-game stretch in the regular season, but his name wouldn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of the Eastern Conference’s top contenders. But now, as the Hurricanes inch closer to the Conference Finals, their goaltending situation looks increasingly uncertain once again, but this time for the opposite reason: an overabundance of options. Today, Andersen returned to the ice, practicing with his teammates as they prepared for tomorrow’s game against the New York Rangers.
Per the practice report from Walt Ruff of NHL.com, this was Andersen’s first time skating since his April 16th injury, and he worked for 20 minutes. Forward Sebastian Aho spoke glowingly about his performance, saying “I don’t think I scored on him once today, so he’s still a great goalie.” But coach Rod Brind’Amour was more reserved about Andersen’s situation, opting to keep his cards closer to his chest. Brind’Amour told the media: “I’ll tell you when he’s an option, how about that.”
The Athletic’s Sara Civian reported that Andersen “was taking shots and saving them normally” and “walked off the ice normally.” While this development does indicate that a return for Andersen could be right around the corner, his participation in only half of practice does communicate that the Hurricanes could prefer to offer him as much time as possible to get to full health. Raanta’s play has given them the option to do so, and choosing patience with regard to Andersen’s health does have the added benefit of stalling the eventual need to choose between a red-hot Raanta and Andersen, who was in the conversation for the Vezina trophy at times during this season.
Regardless of what happens going forward with the Hurricanes and Andersen, it’s likely that any choice Brind’Amour makes will be highly scrutinized. That being said, though, there are definitely worse situations to be in than having to choose between two in-form goaltenders who have each played extremely well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
East Notes: Giordano, Rust, Hextall
Yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano signed a two-year extension to remain in Toronto, an extension that was immediately characterized as being highly team-friendly in nature. It seems that the team-friendly nature of the extension was by design and by the request of Giordano himself. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the original deal between Giordano and Toronto was “around” $1MM AAV, but Giordano preferred to sign at around $200K lower than that offer in order to allow the Maple Leafs “go out and do something else to help [them] win.”
While $200,000 may seem like a relatively small amount within the grand scale of the NHL’s salary structure, one has to remember that it is a significant amount of money for any person. For Giordano to reportedly forgo that amount of money, a sum that he has rightfully earned with his play in Toronto, in order for his team to have a little extra wiggle room to add players is an incredibly generous gesture. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said as much, referencing a “tremendous sacrifice” in Giordano’s contract negotiation process. The Maple Leafs have serious designs on competing for a Stanley Cup in the near future, and it now is evident that at least one of their players has quite literally bought into that vision.
Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Eastern Conference teams:
- The Penguins recently extended forward Bryan Rust on a six-year deal worth just over $5MM per year. Today, Penguins GM Ron Hextall had some other news regarding Rust, stating that the forward had undergone a “clean-up” surgery. Hextall downplayed the importance of the operation, stating that it was only a minor procedure and that Rust will be ready for the start of next season. Given the amount the team has now invested in Rust and his health, it’s important for Rust to be on the right health footing at the start of next season so the Penguins can hit the ground running on their next chance to win a Stanley Cup.
- With the pending unrestricted free agencies of Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin looming, some believe that next season could be a transitional one for the Penguins, where they perhaps take a small step back from true contention in order to re-tool and extend their overall competitive window. Today, Hextall spoke on that idea and clarified the direction of the Penguins franchise. He stated, as relayed by Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the team is going to “continue on trying to win the Stanley Cup,” and that their new owners, Fenway Sports Group, are “totally on board” with this all-in approach. Despite the contract uncertainty of Malkin and Letang, two players Hextall deemed “generational,” it looks as though the Penguins will not be embarking on the re-tool some fans believe they need and instead will be doubling down on their chance to win a Stanley Cup with their current core.
Calgary Flames To Relocate AHL Affiliate
While the headlines surrounding the Calgary Flames are all about their Battle of Alberta playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, the organization does have some major unrelated news as well. The American Hockey League announced today that its Board of Governors has approved the relocation of the Flames’ affiliate, the Stockton Heat, from Stockton, California to Calgary. The league’s official announcement read as follows:
American Hockey League President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Howson announced that the AHL Board of Governors, convening last week for its Spring Meeting, has approved the relocation of the franchise owned by the Calgary Flames from Stockton, Calif., to Calgary, Alta., beginning with the 2022-23 season.
Details relating to the transfer are in progress and the AHL and the Flames will provide more information when finalized. Division alignment for the 2022-23 AHL season, which will begin October 14, will also be finalized at a later date.
There is no word on yet on where the Flames’ affiliate will be playing in Calgary, but this move comes as part of a larger trend towards moving AHL affiliates closer to their NHL parent clubs. The Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks are all teams that have moved their AHL affiliates closer to their home markets in the past.
The Canucks example is particularly relevant for the Flames because of the success of their move from an established AHL market in Utica, New York to Abbotsford, British Columbia. Patrick Williams of TheAHL.com notes that the success of the Canucks’ move to Abbotsford gives confidence that the Flames’ move will prove a success. Because optimizing for easier travel and smaller travel costs is so important for the health of minor league sports, the fact that the success of the Canucks and their move can serve as a blueprint for the Flames’ move is no small factor. At the very least, this relocation will make it so the logistical challenge of the Flames calling up AHL-ers on short notice will be significantly reduced.
Snapshots: Trotz, Devils Draft, Senators Draft
Barry Trotz is the hottest name on the coaching market right now. The Winnipeg Jets have already interviewed him, and we previously covered that the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers have interest in Trotz as well. Along with those teams, you can add two more organizations into the mix. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Trotz’s list of suitors is “expected to include” the Vegas Golden Knights and Detroit Red Wings.
Both Vegas and Detroit recently fired their coaches, though that’s about where the similarities end between the two franchises. The Golden Knights are an organization with sky-high aspirations and a roster equipped for long playoff runs. The Red Wings, on the other hand, are just beginning to emerge from a rebuild and have a roster with some young stars such as Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond but also enough flaws to keep them from being widely seen as a true contender. With these two teams now in the chase for Trotz, it seems that he will have the pick of the litter when it comes to where he will work next. As one of the most widely respected individuals in hockey, Trotz’s choice will likely say a lot about the direction of the franchise he chooses and be a reason for optimism for that team’s fanbase.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
- We previously covered when Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald publicly communicated a willingness to deal his team’s top draft pick for an impact player, but many have wondered if that willingness still exists since the Devils won the second pick in the draft. According to Friedman, the Devils “will still consider” the possibility of moving the pick. Friedman reports that the Devils are in the process of “firming up a list of players they would consider moving the pick for.” One player who many have speculated will be on that list is Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala. Fiala will be 26 at the start of next season and fits the Devils’ competitive timeline. He also is coming off an extremely productive 85-point season, and the Wild are going to be hard-pressed to find the cap space to keep him. It’s a natural fit for each side, and it seems from Friedman’s reporting that it’s the kind of situation the Devils will ponder as the calendar turns to June.
- Another GM has also communicated a willingness to move a top-ten pick for an impact player: the Ottawa Senators. Per Friedman, the Senators, who pick seventh-overall, are also curious about the possibility of using that pick to acquire a player more immediately able to help their team win. Friedman reports that the Senators “want someone with term,” and speculates that there should be a “wider range” of possibilities at the seventh pick compared to the second. The Senators have a strong prospect pool but finished 26th in the standings, so GM Pierre Dorion’s interest in exchanging his premium draft pick for more proven assets is definitely reasonable.
Red Wings Sign Steven Kampfer
The Detroit Red Wings have gotten a head start on the offseason, making a free agent signing while other teams are still in the midst of playoff action. The Red Wings announced today that they have signed free agent defenseman Steven Kampfer to a one-year contract.
Kampfer, 33, is a veteran of 231 NHL games and last played in the NHL in 2020-21, getting into 20 games for the Boston Bruins. He played this season for Kazan Ak-Bars of the KHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points, which ranked third on the team. Kampfer also represented the United States at the Beijing Olympics, scoring four points in four games. That level of offense hasn’t shown up at the top level in North America, though, as Kampfer only has 39 points in those 231 career NHL games.
But, even with that said, Kampfer is fresh off of his most productive season as a professional player. His play in the KHL and at the Olympics was legitimately impressive, so the Red Wings are making this signing as a bet that the Ann Arbor, Michigan native has made the necessary changes to his game to allow him to be a more productive defenseman in North America than he was in his past AHL/NHL seasons.