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Colorado Avalanche Sign Jonathan Drouin

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The Colorado Avalanche have re-united franchise face Nathan MacKinnon with his QMJHL partner in crime. According to TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, the Avalanche have signed 2013 third-overall pick Jonathan Drouin. Peter Baugh of The Athletic is reporting that the contract will be a one-year, $825K deal.

This signing is a major opportunity for Drouin, who could potentially end up once again on a line with MacKinnon. Wrist surgeries have done significant damage to Drouin’s ability to be a goal-scoring threat, as reflected by his mark of two goals in 58 games this past season.

But Drouin clearly has some gas left in the tank as a playmaker, as he finished the season with a 41-point scoring pace despite that extremely low goal total.

He’s still a capable playmaker, and in the right situation, one wonders how much more he could produce. He’s always had tantalizing offensive potential, and is in the thick of his prime at 28 years old. At a $825k cap hit, this could be Drouin’s perfect station for a career renaissance.

If he doesn’t manage that, though, and ends up in-and-out of the lineup due to injuries as he’s done over the past several seasons, it’ll be a disappointing outcome but not a catastrophe given the affordable cap hit he’ll occupy.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Three Players

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The Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are signing big Mason Geertsen to a one-year, two-way contract with a $775k cap hit, $400k AHL salary, and a two-year term according to PuckPedia.  Later in the day, the team announced the signings of Gage Quinney and Mason Morelli on two-year, two-way contracts.

With experience playing both along the wings and as a defenseman, the most consistent thing Geertsen brings to the table is his physicality. He’s six-foot-four and weighs nearly 230 pounds, and is more than happy to make opposing players more than familiar with how hard he can hit.

He had nearly 100 more penalty minutes than the next-highest Utica Comet last season with 136, and helped Utica reach the AHL playoffs.

He won’t provide Vegas’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, with more than his physicality, but clearly the Golden Knights have made beefing up their AHL affiliate a priority, and signing Geertsen will accomplish exactly that.

As for Quinney, he’s a 27-year-old center who re-signs in Nevada, where he’s spent the last three seasons. Quinney was Henderson’s leading scorer this past season with 25 goals and 64 points in 66 games.

The former WHL champion worked his way up to this point from the ECHL and is now being rewarded with an extension to remain among Henderson’s most important players. Continuity is a rare thing in the AHL, so securing more seasons in Henderson is a nice reward for Quinney’s recent success.

As for Morelli, he recently won the Calder Cup and now departs the Hershey Bears after two full seasons there. It was in Hershey where the 27-year-old advanced from being an AHL/ECHL tweener to a true AHL contributor. He scored 41 points in 72 regular-season games and 13 in 20 playoff games, and will now look to help Henderson go on their own long playoff run while also making a push for an NHL call-up.

Minnesota Wild Sign Vinni Lettieri, Jake Lucchini

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The Minnesota Wild have announced the signing of two forwards: Vinni Lettieri and Jake Lucchini. Each player signed a two-way deal with a $775k NHL cap hit. Lettieri’s deal is of a two-year term with a $500k AHL salary, while Lucchini’s is a one-year pact with a $300k AHL salary.

This is a significant investment by the Wild in their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. Iowa had a middling season in 2022-23, losing in the AHL’s qualifying round. That led the Wild to part ways with their AHL head coach, Tim Army, and now has led to them signing two accomplished AHL scorers.

Lettieri, 28, is a local Minnesota product who was a four-year regular as a Minnesota Golden Gopher. He’s been a quality AHLer since his first full season in the league, and scored 49 points in 48 games for the Providence Bruins last season. He’ll likely be expected to be among Iowa’s top scorers, especially if top prospect Marco Rossi finally graduates and establishes himself as a full-time NHLer.

Lucchini, 28, is like Lettieri an established AHL top-six forward. He’s scored 104 points over the last two AHL campaigns and this past season earned 11 NHL games with the Ottawa Senators. They’ll each be among Iowa’s top scorers at the end of the season, most likely, and will also provide solid competition for depth lineup spots at Wild training camp.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Ryan Graves, Alex Nedeljkovic; Extend Tristan Jarry

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have made likely their biggest moves of the day. They’ve signed hulking defenseman Ryan Graves from the New Jersey Devils, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Per a team release, the contract will be a six-year, $27MM contract, earning an AAV of $4.5MM. They’ve also announced a five-year extension with netminder Tristan Jarry, carrying a $5.375MM AAV. Furthermore, Friedman also reports that the team has brought in goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic as well, signing the young netminder to a one-year, $1.5MM contract.

These are two moves of major significance for the Penguins, especially the Jarry signing. By signing him to this extension, the Penguins have effectively committed to Jarry as the starting goalie for the rest of the careers of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

As the goal for Pittsburgh for the rest of their careers is to win the trio one last Stanley Cup, the franchise is effectively betting on Jarry to be a goalie capable of winning the Stanley Cup.

There are reasons to believe Jarry, 28, is up to the task. First and foremost, his 2021-22 season was exceptional (.919 save percentage in 58 games played), as was his 2019-20.

But Jarry has alternated each brilliant campaign with more sluggish ones, and while he still manages above-average numbers in those years they aren’t quite up to the quality expected from a goalie occupying a cap hit higher than $5MM.

For Pittsburgh to truly feel good about this signing, not only will Jarry have to have more consistency on a year-to-year basis, he’ll also need to prove that some of the playoff mistakes that cost the Penguins a playoff series against the New York Islanders in 2020-21 won’t resurface.

As for Graves, his addition gives Pittsburgh an upgrade over the departed Brian Dumoulin both offensively and defensively, as well as in the age department. The 28-year-old left-shot blueliner skates well for his size (six-foot-five, 220 pounds) and plays a respectable two-way game. He averaged around 20 minutes of ice time per night for the New Jersey Devils and was a regular penalty-kill contributor.

Graves will likely pair with either Letang or Jeff Petry, and perhaps Graves’ most promising fit is with Petry.

While the Penguins have reportedly been trying to trade Petry this offseason, his $6.25MM cap hit has proven to be a barrier to getting a deal across the line.

The best way to spur a bounce-back season from Petry could be to replicate the environment that saw him achieve so much success with the Montreal Canadiens.

Petry was at his best when partnered with Joel Edmundson, a steady defender whose abilities defensively afforded Petry the freedom to take risks and play more aggressively offensively.

Petry scored at a 63-point pace in 2020-21, largely stapled next to Edmundson, and many would argue that Graves is a better defenseman than Edmundson. So while Graves has definite value on his own, what he might be able to do to rehabilitate Petry’s on-ice effectiveness is a major bonus.

As for Nedeljkovic, the 27-year-old was sent to the Detroit Red Wings after a stellar rookie season for the Carolina Hurricanes. He posted a .932 save percentage in 23 games, leading many to believe Carolina had found their “goalie of the future.” Carolina wasn’t confident Nedeljkovic’s numbers were repeatable in a heavier workload, and Detroit found that out for themselves when they installed him as their number-one and he struggled mightily.

Nedeljkovic posted a .901 save percentage in 59 games played in 2021-22 and a .895 save percentage this past season, losing Detroit’s backup job to Magnus Hellberg. The hope likely is with this signing that Nedeljkovic can join with incumbent backup Casey DeSmith to form a strong support structure for Jarry, and with a lesser workload potentially get back to somewhere close to the way he played in Carolina.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New Jersey Devils Sign Three Players

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The New Jersey Devils have signed three players to two-way contracts: forwards Kyle Criscuolo and Justin Dowling, as well as netminder Erik Kallgren. Each deal has an NHL cap hit of $775k.

Dowling received a two-year deal with a $500k AHL salary, while Criscuolo and Kallgren each received two-year deals with $340k and $450k AHL salaries, respectively.

Criscuolo, 31, is a former Calder Cup champion with 367 games of experience in the AHL. He scored 29 points in 60 games last season split between the Grand Rapids Griffins and San Jose Barracuda, and has 16 games of NHL experience on his resume. He’ll be expected to be a top-nine forward for the Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

Dowling, 32, is also a former Calder Cup champion who has captained an AHL side before as well. Dowling was a longtime top-six force for the AHL’s Texas Stars and spent most of last season with the Abbotsford Canucks, where he scored 46 points in 56 games. He could be counted on as one of Utica’s top scorers if a player like Graeme Clarke spends significant time in the NHL.

Kallgren, 26, has been with the Toronto Marlies for the past two seasons and has seen some NHL time thanks to untimely injuries to Maple Leafs netminders. Kallgren doesn’t have an extensive track record in the AHL but will likely pair with Nico Daws to take up the bulk of Utica’s available starts.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Noel Acciari

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After acquiring him for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins hockey operations boss Kyle Dubas has acquired forward Noel Acciari for his new team. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, he’s signed the veteran to a three-year, $2MM AAV contract.

Acciari was acquired by Dubas at the 2023 trade deadline as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, and he was a decent bottom-sixer for Toronto acquitting himself well defensively while helping them eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Acciari has nearly 400 games of NHL experience and has been on some long playoff runs, such as the Boston Bruins’ run to the 2019 Stanley Cup final.

Acciari does have a 20-goal season on his resume but that’s not a major part of his game. He’s a steady, reliable penalty-killing bottom-sixer who provides versatility to the third or fourth lines in a lineup. He’ll likely become a favorite of head coach Mike Sullivan, who could quickly deploy him in high-leverage defensive situations.

A $2MM price tag with a three-year term might be a bit expensive for a 31-year-old with this kind of skillset, but it’s nothing unreasonable. He’ll improve Pittsburgh’s bottom-six from where it was last year, especially when combined with some of the team’s other signings from today, such as for Lars Eller or Matt Nieto.

Florida Panthers Sign Dmitry Kulikov

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The Florida Panthers have signed yet another defenseman, bringing back familiar face Dmitry Kulikov, according to TSN’s Chris Johnston. The deal has been officially announced, with the Panthers specifying that it’s a one-year pact. Per CapFriendly, it’s a $1MM AAV deal.

Florida brought Kulikov into the NHL with the 14th overall pick in 2009, and he went on to play 460 games for them over seven seasons before departing the organization in 2016. He overcame some long-term injuries in the middle of his career to rebound as a rather effective shutdown defender in the past few seasons, but he got stuck on one of the worst defensive teams in recent memory last season with the Anaheim Ducks.

He’ll try and show he’s still got what it takes to be an everyday NHLer this season in Florida, although he’s a candidate to slip out of a lineup spot upon the returns of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour from injury. Still Kulikov’s defensive upside is worth the gamble at $1MM and can be buried in the minors if need be without penalty.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Alex Killorn

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The Anaheim Ducks are working on signing forward Alex Killorn, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the deal carries a four-year, $6.25MM AAV. Anaheim would soon make the deal official.  The contract carries a full no-trade clause in the first two seasons before dipping to a 15-team NTC in the final two.

Tampa Bay expressed a desire to keep the 11-year veteran in the fold but their salary cap situation made such a move extremely difficult to accomplish.  In the end, Killorn opted to take the biggest contract given to a forward thus far in free agency.

The pricey contract is one that’s well-earned for the 33-year-old who has found a new gear offensively in recent seasons.  After putting up a surprising 25-goal, 59-point showing in 2021-22, Killorn improved on those numbers last year, picking up 27 goals and 37 assists, both career highs.  He followed that up with a productive playoff performance, collecting five points in their first-round exit to Toronto, good for a tie for third in team scoring.  In doing so, he basically priced himself out of being able to stay with the Lightning.

Instead, Killorn joins an Anaheim team at the other end of the competitive spectrum.  The Ducks have amassed one of the strongest prospect pools in the NHL and have several impact young forwards on their roster, including middlemen Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish.  GM Pat Verbeek will be counting on Killorn to provide some leadership and stability on one of their wings to help in their development.  While it’s unlikely that Killorn will be able to put up the same level of production he had in Tampa Bay, they can afford to carry an above-market contract on their books for the time being as they still have nearly $29MM in cap room, per CapFriendly, with Zegras, Troy Terry, and Jamie Drysdale in need of new contracts as restricted free agents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Nick Bjugstad, Three Others

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The Arizona Coyotes have signed forward Nick Bjugstad to a two-year, $2.1MM deal, per PHNX’s Craig Morgan. Bjugstad spent most of last season in Arizona before a mid-season trade sent him to the Edmonton Oilers. They’re also signing former Coyote Alex Galchenyuk to a one-year, two-way contract with a $775k cap hit $225k AHL salary, and $325k total guarantee according to PuckPedia.

They’ve also added forward Travis Barron to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775k cap hit and $100k AHL salary, per PuckPedia. Arizona also officially announced the signing of goaltender Matt Villalta to a one-year, two-way deal.

Bjugstad returns to the Coyotes after he returned to a top-six role there for the first time in a long time in 2022-23, recording a respectable 23 points in 59 games and showed flashes of the skill he displayed early in his career before injuries limited his long-term ceiling. He could very well find himself in the same role, competing for ice time down the middle with Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain, and Travis Boyd.

The Coyotes have also brought back Galchenyuk, who spent the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign in a Coyotes jersey, recording 21 points in 60 games. He did well when relegated to a minor-league role with the Avalanche last season, though, putting up a point per game, and could certainly find his way back into an NHL role alongside players like Michael Carcone and Liam O’Brien.

Barron and Villalta will spend the entirety of the season in AHL Tucson.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Laurent Brossoit, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jeffrey Viel

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The Winnipeg Jets have brought back two familiar faces. They’ve signed goaltender Laurent Brossoit back from the Vegas Golden Knights on a one-year $1.75MM deal, per TSN’s Chris Johnston. They’ve also signed forward Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year, $2MM AAV deal per TSN’s Darren Dreger.  Dreger reports they’ve also added former San Jose Sharks forward Jeffrey Viel to a one-year, one-way $775k deal.

Brossoit returns to Winnipeg after a two-year stint with Vegas.  He originally signed with the Golden Knights to be their backup goalie and while he held that role in 2021-22, that wasn’t the case in 2022-23.  He underwent hip surgery last summer which kept him out of the lineup at the start of the year.  Upon returning, Brossoit cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL Henderson.  He played in 23 games with the Silver Knights, compiling a 2.72 GAA with a .909 SV% before being recalled in February when injuries struck.

Brossoit himself couldn’t avoid the injury bug the rest of the way as he spent a month on IR soon after but he still made ten starts for Vegas, posting a 2.17 GAA with a .927 SV%; the Golden Knights picked up at least a point in each of those starts.  That, coupled with injuries to Adin Hill and Logan Thompson, resulted in Brossoit being the starter for Vegas in their first-round victory over the Jets.  Unfortunately, Brossoit was injured partway through the second round against Edmonton, paving the way for Hill to run with the starting job from there.  Nevertheless, Brossoit did well enough to earn himself a second chance with the Jets.

As for Namestnikov, he was brought in from San Jose at the trade deadline, a day after the Sharks picked him up from Tampa Bay.  The 30-year-old provided Winnipeg with some much-needed secondary scoring down the stretch, picking up 10 points in 20 games with his new team while seeing his playing time jump up by more than three minutes a night to just under 15 minutes per game.

To say that Namestnikov has bounced around in recent years would be putting it lightly.  Since the 2019-20 season, the veteran has played for seven different teams (which doesn’t include his brief stint as a Shark).  It’s likely that putting a second year on the table helped to secure the commitment from Namestnikov who now has a chance to get a bit of stability while remaining an important part of Winnipeg’s secondary offensive group.

Viel, meanwhile, comes to Winnipeg after a five-year stint in San Jose.  The 26-year-old spent most of last season with the AHL Barracuda, picking up 15 goals and 16 assists along with 150 penalty minutes, good for third in the AHL in that department.  Viel is best known for being a physical presence on the fourth line in his previous NHL duty, collecting 112 hits and 139 penalty minutes (to go along with five points) in 49 career appearances with the Sharks.  As things stand, he’s a candidate to break camp with the Jets on either the fourth line or in a reserve role.

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