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Oilers Close To Signing Russell

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Update (8:52am): The Oilers, via their team Twitter account, announced the agreement with Russell late last night.

On the heels of trading former #1 overall draft choice Nail Yakupov to St. Louis, the Edmonton Oilers are said to be on the verge of inking veteran, shot-blocking defenseman Kris Russell to a one-year deal, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Friedman hears the pact will be worth $3.1MM for 2016-17 and believes an official announcement likely will be made tomorrow.

How Russell will fit in with the Oilers remains to be seen. While the team certainly can use additional blue line help, Russell is a left-handed defenseman who is poised to join a roster that already boasts Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse and Brandon Davidson, all of whom are left-handed as well. On the right side, the Oilers list Adam Larsson and Mark Fayne on their depth chart. Obviously, at least one port-side shooter will have to cross the ice and play his off side.

The lucrative, multi-year deal Russell and his representation expected this summer never materialized despite his reputation as a mobile blue liner willing to block shots. Of course his shot-blocking acumen is also one of the reasons some teams may have steered clear of Russell, as that quality has also been accompanied by poor puck possession metrics.

However, if the Oilers are simply interested in Russell as a capable, third-pair defender and someone who can chip in on the power play, they could do far worse than the 29-year-old former Flame, Blue Jacket, Blue and Star. Over the last three seasons, Russell has tallied seven goals and 43 points on the man advantage. Overall, Russell has recorded campaigns of 29, 34 and 19 points during the period from 2013-14 through 2015-16. In a somewhat sheltered role with limited responsibilities, Russell can certainly be a valuable addition for the Oilers.

Depending on how the 2016-17 season transpires for Edmonton, the club could always look to flip the nine-year veteran defender and hope for a package similar to that which Calgary received at this year’s trade deadline. The Flames sent Russell to Dallas and acquired a second-round pick and two prospects in exchange.

That this signing, presuming it in fact does become official, only came after the trade of Yakupov suggests the Oilers needed to move salary before adding Russell. Prior to the trade, Edmonton had plenty of available cap space – roughly $9.5MM – but it’s likely the team has its own internal budget and signing Russell may have meant exceeding that figure.

Barring a mid-season contract extension, Russell will hit the free agent market again next year in the hopes he can secure the multi-year deal he failed to find this summer.

Oilers Name McDavid Team Captain

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As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have announced that Connor McDavid will be the team’s captain for the 2016-17 season and likely well beyond. At just 19-years-old, McDavid becomes the youngest team captain in NHL history, as the team tweeted, edging out Vincent Lecavalier for the honor by about six weeks.

The top overall selection in the 2015 draft, McDavid has the potential to be a generational talent. McDavid was one of only five players last season to average better than a point-per-game, tallying 48 in 45 contests as a rookie. It’s likely had he not missed nearly half the season due to injury that he would have been an easy choice for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.

Despite his youth, McDavid appears perfectly suited for the role of captain. He served in the same capacity for both his junior club, the Erie Otters, and for Team North America at the World Cup.

In addition to giving McDavid the “C,” the Oilers also appointed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Milan Lucic as alternates.

While it’s a near-certainty McDavid will soon be one of, if not the best hockey player on the planet, it remains to be seen whether he can finally lead the long-suffering Oilers back to the postseason in 2016-17. The Oilers have long boasted tremendous talent and skill but have failed to reach the playoffs in a decade. After several high-profile offseason acquisitions and with their best player now leading the way, Edmonton looks poised to make a jump in the standings.

Metro Notes: Pirri, Leighton, Wilson

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The hardest skill to find on the open market is goal-scoring yet one of the NHL’s most prolific when it comes to finding the back of the net, Brandon Pirri, remained unsigned as a UFA late into the summer. Pirri is tied for 30th in goals scored for every 60 minutes of ice time he plays at even strength over the last two seasons. Eventually, the New York Rangers decided to roll the dice and invest in a one-year deal with Pirri and as Sean Hartnett of CBS New York writes, the Blue Shirts might have scored the steal of the summer.

Despite his offensive prowess, Pirri has bounced around the league quite a bit since breaking into the league with the Blackhawks during the 2010-11 season. He wouldn’t earn a regular role until dealt from Chicago to Florida during the 2012-13 campaign. Pirri would spend parts of three seasons with the Panthers before a trade deadline deal to Anaheim this past season. The Ducks chose not to qualify Pirri after the season, thus making the forward a free agent.

Recently, after a preseason loss to Philadelphia, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged the offensive abilities but also pointed out other areas Pirri needs to improve upon before earning the bench boss’ trust.

“There’s no doubt that he’s got the knack to find the net and score. Tonight, he scored a big goal for us. But there’s other areas where I need to be sure he’s going to be able to make the play, get the puck out, be strong on the wall. And tonight, in certain areas, he needed to make a better play. But there’s no doubt offensively that he’s got good hands and he can find the back of the net.”

Pirri is also locked in a tight battle for a roster spot. Even after placing Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen on waivers for the purpose of sending them down to the AHL, the Blue Shirts have four or five players competing for perhaps three spots. Additionally, Vigneault has previously said Pirri would be best served in a top-nine role and he might have a hard time beating out some of his competition despite a four goal, six point preseason. But as Hartnett notes, Pirri’s versatility could be key as he can play either wing and even fill in at center if needed. If Pirri can find enough playing time in New York and continues to put the puck in the net as he has done for much of his career, the minimal investment the Rangers made this summer could prove one of the wisest moves of the offseason.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • When goalie Michael Leighton inked a deal with Carolina in September, he knew in all likelihood he was destined to spend most of the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers. But as Chip Alexander of The News & Observer writes, the veteran of 106 regular season NHL contests is content being the #3 netminder in the organization and with his role mentoring the teams goalie prospects. “They’ve got two solid goalies up here, I knew that coming in. I just want to go down there and help the young guys, hopefully show them a little bit of leadership and kind of guide them toward what they should be doing in the future. And also play well. I want to win. If I go down to Charlotte I want to win games and hopefully win a championship.” Of course Leighton is aware he is just an injury away from NHL duty. Last season, while in the Chicago organization, Leighton got that call and would see action in a single NHL contest. Leighton is perhaps best known for back-stopping the 2009-10 Philadelphia Flyers to within two wins of an improbable Stanley Cup championship. He won eight of his 13 starts that spring and recorded three shutouts during the Eastern Conference Final against Montreal. Regardless of whether Leighton sees any NHL action this season or not, his experience should prove valuable to the Hurricanes organization.
  • LW Scott Wilson of the Pittsburgh Penguins is doing his best to land a plum job skating next to one of the elite centers in the game today. As Seth Rorabaugh of DKPittsburghSports.com writes (subscription required), Wilson has taken advantage of the absence of several high profile players due to their World Cup commitments and impressed the Penguins coaches with his play. He is being rewarded with an opportunity to skate along side Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist in tonight’s preseason tilt with Detroit. Whether the Penguins leave Wilson in the spot to open the season is open for debate. But assuming the Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel line that was dominant in the postseason remains intact, the Penguins will need to find four wingers to play with Sidney Crosby and Malkin. Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz and Conor Sheary figure to fill three of those vacancies but that does leave open the possibility Wilson could force his way into that last spot.

Devils Lose Merrill, Gazdic For Four Weeks

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The New Jersey Devils announced today that they will be without the services of defenseman Jon Merrill and forward Luke Gazdic for four weeks each due to injury. Merrill broke his index finger in Saturday’s preseason tilt against the New York Rangers, while Gazdic suffered a broken left foot on September 26th.

The loss of Merrill is a particularly tough one for the Devils as their top-six was already a bit thin. Merrill recorded a goal to go along with four assists in 47 games in 2015-16 but missed the final three weeks of the season due to a shoulder injury. He had surgery on that shoulder in May and was expected to miss four months but recovered quickly enough to participate in training camp.

The Devils could choose to roll with Seth Helgeson or perhaps Yohann Auvitu to pick up the slack on the back end until Merrill is healthy. Or the club could look to the waiver wire where a number of interesting players could be available. Jakub Kindl, cut by Florida, or Matt Bartkowski, released from his PTO with Ottawa, could represent solid, short-term fixes for the Devils.

While Kindl might have name recognition going for him, he would also represent a fairly sizable financial commitment should the Devils claim the 6-foot-3, 199-pound blue liner. He is in the final year of a contract that has an AAV of $2.4MM but with Detroit retaining $360K as part of last year’s deadline trade with Florida, any team claiming Kindl would be on the hook for just over $2MM.

On the other hand, Auvitu is an intriguing player. The French-born blue liner was named the top defenseman in the Finnish League in 2015-16 and attracted plenty of interest from teams in both the NHL and the KHL this summer before choosing to sign with the Devils. The 27-year-old Auvitu also speaks five different languages: English, Russian, German, Finnish and French.

Gazdic, a big LW, spent the last three seasons with Edmonton, seeing action in 129 games for the Oil and accumulating just five goals and eight points. He was expected to add some size and toughness to the organization in a depth role.

Snapshots: Trouba, Stoll, Bjugstad

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Recently it was learned that RFA defenseman Jacob Trouba and his representation formally requested a trade from the Winnipeg Jets. The young blue liner cited his wish for consistent playing time on the right side and dismissed the notion his request was based on either money or a desire to leave the city of Winnipeg. The Jets understandably are placing a high price on Trouba and it’s been said the team wants a left-shooting defender of comparable talent and age to the 22-year-old native of Michigan.

One team thought to have been on the hunt for a top-four blue liner this summer and linked in the past to Trouba is Boston. The Bruins essentially admitted that interest when team president Cam Neely appeared last month on CSN’s Great American Hockey Show:

“Basically from April to now everybody is talking about our back end, and not being able to land a top-four defenseman. We still have an opportunity as far as cap space goes if something shakes free, and I know Don [Sweeney] has been working hard trying to do something. But I feel like as a group we can do better than we did last year.”

While Boston, like many teams, might love to add a young talent the ilk of Trouba, Joe Haggerty of CSN New England believes the acquisition cost would simply be too high. Haggerty reasons that in order to meet the Jets supposed asking price, the Bruins would have to part with highly-skilled defenseman Torey Krug in exchange. Krug is a “leader-in-the-making,” who adds toughness and attitude to the lineup according to Haggerty.

At the end of the day, even while highlighting Krug’s strengths, Haggerty admits it’s unlikely that would be enough on its own to pry Trouba away from the Jets. Ultimately he believes the combination of a pricey new contract for Trouba and the cost in terms of players and/or other assets is simply more than the Bruins should be willing to pay.

More from around the NHL:

  • It’s unclear at this point whether or not Jarret Stoll makes the final roster of the Columbus Blue Jackets but what is clear is that the veteran pivot is not ready to call it a career, according to Tom Reed of The Columbus Dispatch. “I definitely think I have a lot left in the tank and my body feels good. I understand the game is getting younger – young, skilled and fast — but I feel like I can still contribute.” Reed goes on to write that Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella did not express “strong feelings either way” with regards to Stoll’s recent performance against Pittsburgh. Stoll, who is one of four players on PTOs remaining with the Blue Jackets, is an excellent faceoff guy and expereinced penalty-killer who has been part of two Stanley Cup championship teams while a member of the Kings. He left Los Angeles as a free agent and signed with the New York Rangers last summer. After 29 games with the Blue Shirts, Stoll was off to Minnesota after the Wild claimed him on waivers. He would finish the campaign with just nine points in 80 games in 2015-16. Perhaps most troubling is that he was among the worst drivers of puck possession in the league, finishing with a CF% of just 37.34%, a rate which was actually last in the NHL.
  • After winning the Atlantic Division in 2015-16, the Florida Panthers appear poised to take the next step following an active offseason. The team invested huge resources this summer to upgrade the blue line in an effort to support a talented and deep group of forwards. As Harvey Fialkov writes, while the team’s top two lines are essentially set in stone, the club is still searching for the right wingers to play with third-line pivot Nick Bjugstad. Fialkov believes Jared McCann, acquired in an offseason deal with Vancouver, Colton Sceviour and Jon Marchessault, who were both inked as free agents this summer, are the likeliest candidates to line up next to Bjugstad this season. McCann, a former first-round draft choice, was specifically targeted by the Panther front office to fill a top-nine role, as Fialkov writes. Sceviour is quick and has averaged 10 goals and 25 points playing the last two seasons for Dallas. Marchessault is undersized, 5-foot-9 and 174 pounds, but has plenty of skill. Bjugstad believes that finding chemistry with the right linemates is the most critical factor: “It’s more about learning the system and getting that effort. Everyone’s getting more and more comfortable with each other, especially the younger guys. We’re figuring out how guys work out on the ice and see which guys click with each other. I think there’s a lot of different options and that’s what’s good about this team. We have a lot of depth.’’ 

Pacific Division Notes: Raymond, Etem, Coyotes

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Mason Raymond is out to prove that lightning does indeed strike twice as he works to earn a roster spot with the Anaheim Ducks. Shortly after the final year of his contract was bought out by the Calgary Flames, Raymond inked a one-year, two-way deal with Anaheim that guarantees the nine-year vet $675K while on an NHL roster and $225K if he’s suiting up in the AHL. It’s fair to say Raymond has reached a proverbial crossroads in his career, though as the Orange County Register’s Eric Stepens writes, the former Canuck, Leaf and Flame has history to fall back on as he attempts to make the Ducks roster.

Just three seasons ago Raymond was in a similar boat. Unsigned well into the summer of 2013, Raymond would eventually accept a PTO from Toronto and made the Leafs roster out of training camp. Playing for head coach Randy Carlyle, now behind the bench in Anaheim, Raymond saw action in all 82 games for the second time in his career and responded with a 45-point campaign. His 19 goals that year represented the second-highest single-season total of his career. He would parley that strong performance into a three-year deal with Calgary prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.

Raymond is hoping for a similar outcome in Anaheim and for his former Leafs bench boss. For his part, Carlyle believes Raymond can still contribute to an NHL team.

“He’s a talented player and he can score. He doesn’t need a lot of chances to score goals. I always used to use the analogy where some guys need 10 chances to score a goal. With Mason Raymond – when looking at him and watching his number of chances, he gets three or four and he scores a goal. That’s what his history has been, for me.”

Raymond’s chances of making the team went up after the Ducks released both David Booth and David Jones from their PTO’s. Sean Bergenheim, also in camp on a PTO, is still fighting for a job but the Ducks would have room for both players should they choose to go that route. If he can crack the roster, Raymond would add plenty of speed and some offensive potential in a bottom-six role.

Elsewhere in the NHL’s Pacific Division:

  • The Arizona Coyotes find themselves in rarefied air these days as the club can fairly be called a “cap team.” Most seasons, the Coyotes payroll ranks among the lowest in the league but this year they have the third highest projected salary cap hit according to Cap Friendly. Of course a significant chunk of space is taken up by the contracts of Chris Pronger, Pavel Datsyuk and Dave Bolland; players not even expected to suit up for Arizona this season barring an unexpected development. As Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports writes, Coyotes GM John Chayka has an interesting perspective on the club’s sudden willingness to spend. He feels that Arizona’s commitment to spend to the cap ceiling this year is “good practice” as the team builds his roster into one capable of contention and the prices of players currently on ELCs begin to rise.  “As we grow this thing, there’s a day when we foresee ourselves being a cap team. It’s good practice.” 
  • Former first-round pick Emerson Etem may well be in jeopardy of losing his job in Vancouver opines The Province’s Ben Kuzma. Kuzma believes the top nine spots are locked up and that young forward Brendan Gaunce has done enough to make the team while Jake Virtanen should be on the roster come opening night. He goes on to note that Mikael Granlund has been better than Etem in the preseason and also suggests young Joseph LaBate has played well enough to garner consideration for one of the final roster spots up front. If Etem does in fact fail to make the team it would represent a low point in what has already been a disappointing career. Etem was selected by Anaheim with the 29th overall selection in the 2010 entry draft and would see action in 112 games with the Ducks before he was shipped off to the New York Rangers last summer as part of the package used to acquire Carl Hagelin. He failed to make an impact on Manhattan in 19 games and was shipped off mid-season to Vancouver in exchange for Nicklas Jensen. Etem would go on to net seven goals and 12 points in 39 games with the Canucks but now it looks as if his days in British Columbia may be numbered. The Canucks would have to expose the four-year veteran to waivers prior to sending him down to the AHL. It’s conceivable another club could take a flier on Etem’s talent should he hit the waiver wire.

 

Atlantic Division Notes: Sergachev, Redmond, McKenna, Condra

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With Shea Weber, Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov all absent due to their participation in the World Cup, the Montreal Canadiens have had a chance to get long looks at other blue liners during training camp. As the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey writes, several players have taken full advantage of the opportunity and impressed the team’s coaching staff.

Hickey specifically identified Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn as having “stood out” so far, while 2016 first-round pick Mikhail Sergachev and free agent signing Zach Redmond were both impressive in the team’s recent game against Ottawa.

Redmond has scored a goal in each of his preseason appearances and has shown a physical element. He was added in the offseason to provide depth and a solid camp might earn him a spot on the regular season roster.

Sergachev would have to really impress in order to stick. Montreal likely wishes to see the young Russian defender, who just turned 18 in June, get lots of quality ice time and the best chance for that would be if he was returned to junior.

Beaulieu and Pateryn are both already penciled into the club’s top-six and Montreal has to be pleased at their play so far. The Habs were recently said to be taking calls on the 23-year-old Beaulieu but if he’s been as impressive in camp as Hickey suggests it seems unlikely Montreal would be too keen on moving him. With a healthy Carey Price set to return from injury and an improved defense, it wouldn’t be hard to project a return to the playoffs for Montreal.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • When Florida went out and acquired Reto Berra and James Reimer – via trade and free agency respectively – this summer, Mike McKenna’s prospects of winning the Panthers backup goalie job dried up. But as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes, McKenna has been down this road before and knows all it takes is an injury to give the 33-year-old another opportunity between the pipes in South Florida. McKenna: “No matter what the situation looks like with contracts, you always want to put your best foot forward. You never know what will happen through the course of a season. I’m just trying to go in the right direction.” Last season, McKenna was called up from the AHL when Al Montoya went down with an injury, though he didn’t see any NHL action. As it stands, Roberto Luongo will be the starter with Reimer serving as his understudy. That would seem to put Berra in position to be the starter for the Panther’s AHL affiliate in Springfield but the 29-year-old veteran would have to clear waivers before being sent down and could conceivably be claimed by a team in need of an experienced backup. That would again elevate McKenna to third overall on the organization’s goaltending depth chart and would put him in line for promotion should Luongo or Reimer suffer an injury.
  • Tampa Bay is looking for depth scoring and one player who could help address that need is Erik Condra, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Condra had a disappointing first season with the Lightning, scoring just six goals and 11 points in 54 games after signing a three-year, $3.75MM deal with Tampa. Condra twice hit the 20-point plateau as a member of the Senators and the Lightning would likely be content with that level of production. Smith also lists Cedric Paquette and Cory Conacher as two more players who could also offer some scoring punch in the bottom-six. Conacher had by far his best NHL season during the 2012-13 campaign which he began with the Lightning. That season, Conacher tallied 29 points in 47 games – 24 in 35 with the Lightning. Conacher was dealt in-season to Ottawa in a deal that brought Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay in what has turned out to be quite the steal for the Bolts. Paquette saw his goal output decrease from 12 in 2014-15 to just six last season. Tampa would surely benefit from a return to double-figures in goals scored from the grinding Paquette.

Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Gostisbehere, Dumoulin

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Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated their respective negotiation processes.

Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency, unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. Today we continue in the Metro.

Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia): Gostisbehere exploded upon the scene in 2015-16, netting 17 goals and 46 points – in just 64 games – to lead all rookies in those categories. The former Union College defenseman quickly became one of the league’s most exciting blue liners and earned a spot on the Team North America entry in the World Cup.

The agents for this year’s top remaining unsigned RFA defenders – Hampus Lindholm and Rasmus Ristolainen – are pointing to the recently-signed and massive extension signed by Aaron Ekblad as the target. Ekblad of course inked an eight-year, $60MM deal with Florida and while Lindholm and Ristolainen are probably not at the level the Panthers blue liner is, they will still likely pocket something in the vicinity of $6MM annually when they finally sign.

Chances are Gostisbehere is also going to use the Ekblad deal as a comparable. Ekblad hasn’t produced offense at the same rate as Gostisbehere (0.72 PPG for “The Ghost” versus 0.47 PPG for Ekblad) but is a former #1 overall pick and projects as a perennial Norris Trophy candidate.

It’s likely the Lindholm and Ristolainen deals will actually serve as a better framework for a new contract for Gostisbehere. Assuming they each get something close to $6MM per, it’s fair to guess the Flyers young blue liner will also land in the same neighborhood.

Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh): Dumoulin tallied just 16 points in 79 contests and failed to net a single goal in 2015-16. Ordinarily those numbers wouldn’t be reflective of a guy who is going to cash in but Dumoulin showed in the postseason he has more to offer the Penguins. In 24 playoff games, Dumoulin scored two goals and eight points while averaging 21:31 of ice time per game. If he can carry over that level of play into the 2016-17 regular season, Dumoulin will surely be rewarded handsomely on his next contract.

A similar comparable could be Dmitry Orlov, who eventually signed a one-year deal with Washington worth $2.57MM. Orlov has clearly been a superior offensive producer, averaging 0.30 PPG during his career while Dumoulin has averaged just 0.19. But at 25, Dumoulin is just entering his prime and as we saw in the playoffs, he is capable of producing more offense in the right role. Currently he is listed opposite Kris Letang on the Penguins top blue line pair which could result in a higher point total for Dumoulin.

Even if Dumoulin doesn’t produce much offensively, there is still plenty of value in a steady and reliable performer on the back end. If both team and player elect for a one or two-year bridge deal, an AAV close to $2.5MM would seem fair. A long-term deal buying out free agent years could take the price up north of $3MM annually.

Central Division Notes: Trouba, Carle, Rozsival, Tuch

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Despite Jacob Trouba’s recently publicized trade request, the Jets should only move him if it’s on their terms because of the bad precedent it would set for future RFAs, opines Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun. As Wyman notes, the Jets are a draft-and-develop organization given their status as a small market team and the difficulties they face in competing for marketable free agents. Acquiescing to Trouba’s request would harm the club’s leverage when it comes to future negotiations with players like Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor and Patrick Laine when they reach restricted free agency. A small market club needs to be able to retain as much of their best young talent as possible and the Jets must be able to keep the salaries of their RFAs in line while those players are still under team control.

Wyman also believes that since Trouba has yet to live up to his full potential in his first three seasons on the league, he should be willing to accept a fair market contract and to play wherever his coach wants him to play. If he wants to move over to the right side, as he has indicated, he needs to beat out one of the incumbents – Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers.

As Wyman writes further, it’s likely Trouba’s insistence on playing on the right side is in fact a smoke screen and the reality is the young defenseman simply wants out of Winnipeg. Of course Trouba and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, have both insisted his request is based solely on his desire to be a right-side defenseman and has nothing to do with the city or the organization.

More from the NHL’s Central Division:

  • Four seasons ago, Matt Carle’s stock was such that the 27-year-old defender received the second-largest contract inked by any player during the summer of 2011. Last season, he fell out of favor in Tampa Bay and despite the Lightning often suiting up seven blue liners, Carle still couldn’t crack the lineup. It was no surprise, then, that the Lightning opted to buy out the remaining two years of his deal as the team looked to save as much money as possible in order to re-sign several important free agents. Carle would end up signing a one-year deal with Nashville worth just $700K, where the 11-year veteran will be reunited with head coach Peter Laviolette. Under Laviolette, Carle had some of his best yearss, statistically, while a member of the Flyers, tallying at least 35 points in each of his final three seasons with the team. Carle hopes that at age-32 and playing for a coach with whom he is both comfortable and familiar, that he can once again be an important player for a contending team. The Predators do boast one of the league’s most talented blue lines but there is room for a veteran to stabilize the unit, particularly after dealing away team captain Shea Weber this summer.
  • Veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival has carved out a solid 15-year NHL career and realizes his days in the league are numbered. Rozsival has spent the past four seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and was brought back by the club for what the 38-year-old defender hopes will be his fifth campaign in the windy city. But after the 2015-16 season, Rozsival wasn’t sure he would be back in Chicago and despite signing a one-year, $600K deal, he isn’t even sure what his role with the Hawks will be, as Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Right now, I still don’t know what my role is. It might be determined by the way I play. The last four years I’ve played 20 games, I’ve played 30 games and I’ve played 50 games. I’m ready for anything and for any kind of role. Obviously, I would love to be playing. I’m always trying to fight for my ice time.” It’s likely the Blackhawks value his experience and will find a spot for him on the roster, even if it is as the seventh or eighth defenseman.
  • Minnesota entered training camp with a few openings at forward and plenty of candidates to earn those jobs. Unfortunately for the Wild, none of those candidates have impressed head coach Bruce Boudreau to this point in the preseason, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. Veteran role players Zac Dalpe and Ryan Carter have failed to make a mark while youngsters Alex Tuch, Kurtis Gabriel, Joel Eriksson Ek and Tyler Graovac have yet to grab hold of a job. Whether this might prompt GM Chuck Fletcher to explore his alternatives or not is unclear but he may have to if the in-house options continue their collectively mediocre play.

 

New York Hockey Notes: Halak, Tavares, Rangers

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The New York Islanders face an interesting choice when deciding who will be between the pipes to start the 2016-17 season. They have three goalies on one-way contracts – Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube – though realistically when it comes to the starting job, the choice will be between Halak and Greiss.

Halak had a solid season in 2015-16, winning 18 of his 36 starts and stopping nearly 92% of the shots he faced. The advanced stats crowd holds Halak in particularly high regard due in large part to his ability to limit goals against on high danger shot attempts. Over the last two seasons, Halak has stopped 84.03% of shots against from high danger scoring areas in 5v5 situations. That figure is good for seventh overall in the NHL among goalies who have seen at least 1,500 minutes of 5v5 play. Halak ranks higher than bigger names like Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist.

Greiss was excellent in goal for the Islanders in the postseason with Halak unavailable due to injury. He also ranks among the best goaltenders in preventing goals in high danger situations. His 84.97 HDSv% at 5v5 is the fourth highest over the last two seasons. It’s his strong play last season and the presence of Berube that has led some to postulate the Islanders could look to trade Halak to address other needs.

This issue was addressed by Arthur Staple of Newsday in this reader mailbag. Staple points to Halak’s strong play in the World Cup as the starter for the surprising Europeans and indicates that the Islanders organization is intent on keeping him on board. That means Greiss is likely headed back to the #2 role while Berube is likely to have to wait his turn while suiting up for Bridgeport in the AHL.

Other points of interest in Staple’s mailbag and roster notes on the Islanders Big Apple rivals:

  • Staple takes an early stab at what it will ultimately cost the Islanders to extend captain and face-of-the-franchise John Tavares. He reasons that since Tavares is the “one true star” of the team – unlike in Chicago (Toews/Kane) and Pittsburgh (Crosby/Malkin), he will be able to command a larger piece of the Islander salary cap pie. Staple refers to it as a “blank check situation for him,” and a max length deal in the range of $9.5MM to $10MM annually is where the negotiation will end up. Tavares likely could push for more and certainly the Islanders would prefer a lower number but the team will undoubtedly do whatever necessary to ink their captain to a long-term deal.
  • Answering a query regarding the continued development of defenseman Nick Leddy, Staple feels the 25-year-old blue liner can take the next step and become an “elite” defender. Staple suggests the Islanders will limit Leddy’s ice time by cutting his penalty-killing duties in the hopes he will remain fresher and produce better numbers at five-on-five.
  • Steve Zipay of Newsday projects the Rangers opening night roster and notes the team will have a significant amount of cap space remaining for one of the few times in recent memory. The Blueshirts had just $200K in cap space to open the 2015-16 campaign but assuming Zipay’s projections are close to accurate, the team will have in excess of $3MM with which to play with. Of course having that flexibility would allow the Rangers to add salary at any point during the season, rather than waiting until the trade deadline, should they find a deal to their liking.

 

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