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Free Agent Notes: Holden, Ellis, Namestnikov, Wilson

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The Vegas Golden Knights already surprised a few when they reached out and stole Paul Stastny away from Western Conference rival Winnipeg. However, the Golden Knights are apparently not done as The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Vegas is the front-runner for unrestricted free agent defenseman Nick Holden.

Holden, who spent time with both the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins last season, would be a solid depth defenseman that could add to Vegas’ core. he averaged 19:00 ATOI between both clubs, but only posted four goals and 17 points on the year. However, the 31-year-old may be starting to show a decline in skills as he was a 34-point player in 2016-17 with the Rangers.

Incidentally, Holden is being pursued by two teams as the Boston Bruins are also vying for the blueliner’s services, according to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. The Bruins, after all, gave up a third-round pick and low-end prospect Rob O’Gara at the deadline.

  • LeBrun also mentions that while Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis, who will be a unrestricted free agent in one year, can sign an extension as of today. However, the scribe writes that Nashville isn’t there yet. They intend to reignite talks with Ellis and his representatives within the next one to two weeks. Nashville wants to keep Ellis in the fold at all costs as the team has put major emphasis on having a dominant four defense. The team already has P.K. Subban ($9MM AAV) and Mattias Ekholm ($3.75MM AAV) locked up for four years, while Roman Josi ($4MM AAV) is signed for another two years.
  • The New York Rangers can breathe easier after the agent for restricted free agent Vladislav Namestnikov, Dan Milstein, refuted rumors that the forward was leaving for the KHL. Namestnikov, who was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, but saw his playing time drop once he arrived in New York. After averaging 17:30 of ATOI as a Lightning, his playing time dropped to 15:43, along with his offensive production. After potting 20 goals with Tampa Bay, he managed just four points in 19 games with the Rangers. However, Milstein insists the rumors are not true and that Namestnikov believes playing in the NHL is a privilege and honor and an extension is in the works with the New York Rangers.
  • Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News reports the Buffalo Sabres are currently working on re-signing winger Scott Wilson. The 26-year-old was picked up in a December trade this last season from the Detroit Red Wings and played a regular role as a bottom-six forward. After not scoring a point in 17 games with Detroit, he tallied six goals and 14 points in 49 games in Buffalo.

Snapshots: Van Riemsdyk, Komorov, Lehner, Mrazek, Brodziak

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While the free agent market is escalating fast as the window opens tomorrow, the bidding war that surrounds unrestricted free agent center James van Riemsdyk has increased in the last few hours. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger, who tallied a career-high 36 goals last year, is being heavily courted by several teams. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Tweet link) that nothing is close yet and the free agent is still deliberating and hasn’t narrowed down his list beyond a handful of teams.

Regardless, optimism is abound as Arizona Sports 98.7 Sports host John Gambadoro (Tweet link) writes that the Arizona Coyotes are aggressively in the mix for van Riemsdyk and could get an answer as soon as tonight as to where the free agent will sign. AZ Sports Craig Morgan (Tweet link) adds that there is optimism that the Coyotes are a serious contender. The Athletic’s James Mirtle writes (Tweet link) that the Buffalo Sabres are also pushing hard for van Riemsdyk and it looks like the veteran sniper could break the bank with his deal.

  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (Tweet link) writes the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers are both interested in unrestricted free agent Leo Komarov. The former Toronto Maple Leafs’ center had a down year as the 31-year-old scored just seven goals and 19 points in 74 games. The veteran instigator is coming off a four-year, $11.8MM deal that he signed back in 2014.
  • With the goaltending market already spinning at high speeds, the Carolina Hurricanes must sort out their goaltending situation quickly, according to Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. With backup Cam Ward expected to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and the struggles that surrounded starter Scott Darling last year, the team must find someone who can share duties with Darling, especially if he struggles for a second-straight year. Alexander writes the team has shown interest in former starters Robin Lehner and Petr Mrazek, both goalies who were not given qualifying offers earlier this week.
  • Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that while there are reports that Blues’ unrestricted free agent Kyle Brodziak is close to signing a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, the Blues are still in the mix to re-sign their veteran center. The 34-year-old center played three years in St. Louis and posted his best numbers yet, tallying 10 goals and 33 points.

 

Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay Lightning

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Free agency is now less than a day from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Tampa Bay’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Cedric Paquette — Nine points hardly seems like a lot of points for key restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old Paquette isn’t about offense. The defense-first forward has been a key part of the team’s bottom-six line, which included Ryan Callahan and Kunitz line that was constantly put against opponents’ top lines. Now that he’s been qualified, Paquette, who scored just five goals during the regular season (and one in the playoffs) might be more needed than ever with Kunitz likely headed elsehere. Regardless, he could be in line for a significant raise after making $812K last year on his two-year bridge deal. Now with arbitration rights, he could walk away with quite a bit more.

D Slater Koekkoek — The 24-year-old blueliner has worked hard to try and break into the deep defensive core of Tampa Bay and did manage to get into 34 games last season and avoid a trip down to the Syracuse Crunch, but Koekkoek’s usefulness came to an end after Tampa Bay acquired Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. From that point on, he appeared in just three regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs. While the team intends to bring him back, recent rumors that the team might consider trading the youngster are also a possibility. He made $800K last year on a one-year deal.

Other RFA’s: F Adam Erne.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Andrej Sustr — The 27-year-old depth defender could easily find himself on a new team with the amount of defenders under contract in Tampa Bay. The blueliner had been a regular on the Lightning’s defense over the past three years, but he found himself often a healthy scratch with the addition of players like Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin, Koekkoek as well as McDonagh. After making $1.95MM last season in the last of his restricted free agent years, the team must decide if they want to bring back the undrafted free agent they signed back in 2013.

Chris Kunitz — The 38-year-old winger was a big part of the Lightning’s shutdown line along with Callahan and Paquette in his one year with Tampa Bay, but there is little indication that Kunitz is expected return. Despite a productive season in which he tallied 13 goals and 29 points last season, rumors suggest he’s interested in a possible return to Pittsburgh.

Other UFA’s: D Mat Bodie, F Erik Condra, F Alex Gallant, D Jamie McBain, F Matthew Peca.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning don’t have much cap space to work with this offseason as the team has just $5.3MM. On top of that, Tampa Bay has quite a few free agents they must deal with next year including Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh and Yanni Gourde to name a few, so they need to have as much cap room to maneuver with as possible. Despite their interest in John Tavares, don’t expect the team to dip heavily in the free agent market this year and more likely depend on their AHL depth to carry them through.

Western Notes: Winnipeg Goalies, Seguin, Lehtonen, Fehr, Beagle

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With the trade of goaltender Steve Mason this morning to open up some cap space, the Winnipeg Jets find themselves with a sudden hole in their lineup as the team no longer has a viable backup goaltender behind starter Connor Hellybuyck. Their top goalie out of the AHL, Michael Hutchinson, is already an unrestricted free agent and likely to move on, while the next in line is Eric Comrie, who has a total of four NHL games to his name.

That will force the cap-saving Jets to find a cheap solution on the free agent market. A few days behind in the recruiting market, many of those backup options are already off the board, such as Carter Hutton (Buffalo), Jonathan Bernier (Detroit) and Cam Ward (Chicago).

The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe writes there are options out there, suggesting the team look at some under-the-radar goaltenders who struggled a year ago. Tops on his list is former Buffalo Sabres netminder Chad Johnson, who struggled last year in Buffalo with a 3.55 and a .891 save percentage. However, the 32-year-old was behind one of the worst defenses in the league, while the Jets’ offense could easily protect Johnson better.

  • Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that extension talks between the Dallas Stars and Tyler Seguin can’t even start until after John Tavares signs a contract and sets the market. Whatever Tavares gets will be the starting point for negotiations between the two parties. Seguin, who is eligible to sign an extension starting tomorrow, put up a career-high 40 goals for the Stars. However, the 26-year-old can also opt to become a free agency next year in a similar fashion to what Tavares is doing now. Dallas has made it clear they want to lock the center up long-term.
  • Former Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and current unrestricted free agent could be an interesting watch, according to Fox Sports Andy Strickland. The 34-year-old backup was interested in joining the Boston Bruins as a backup to Tuuka Rask, but now doesn’t seem likely. While there has been some interest from some Western Conference teams, he could choose to retire if the right opportunity doesn’t present itself. Lehtonen finished last season with a pedestrian 2.56 GAA and a .912 save percentage as a backup for the Stars.
  • The Athletic’s Michael Russo writes the Minnesota Wild have had conversations with free agent center Eric Fehr. The 32-year-old veteran had trouble cracking the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup this year and was eventually traded to the San Jose Sharks for a 2020 seventh-round pick, but made an impression centering the team’s fourth line. He put up three goals in 14 games and played in 10 playoff games. The scribe also writes that he doubts Fehr ends up in Minnesota.
  • Despite rumors that the Vancouver Canucks were closing in on an agreement with unrestricted free agent center Jay Beagle yesterday, Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet reports that the market for Beagle is increasing and driving up his pricetag. Vancouver remains quite interested in signing the veteran and are very, very much in the race to acquire him.

Eastern Notes: Tavares, O’Reilly, Ryan, Pickard

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With the John Tavares watch about to hit the 11th hour before free agency hits, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reminds people that the superstar center doesn’t have to make a decision today. He can wait to make a decision later. However, the longer he waits, the more telling his decision will be.

If he opts not to agree to a contract tonight, then the New York Islanders are almost guaranteed to be out of the running for Tavares as even the Islanders can’t offer an eighth year after tonight. If all New York can offer is seven years, then it’s highly unlikely he’ll return to New York.

The other implication to not choosing a team today is that many teams are waiting for Tavares to make a decision as well as players. The dominos will begin to fall after Tavares signs, so the longer Tavares waits, the more the market will be held up. For example, Toronto, who has dubbed center Derek Ryan as their consolation prize if the can’t sign Tavares, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required), must force the highly-coveted Ryan to wait. That’s also the case with trade candidates such as Jeff Skinner and likely Ryan O’Reilly as their value is likely to shoot up once Tavares is off the board.

  • It looks the O’Reilly sweepstakes are even more muddled than ever as many felt that if the Buffalo Sabres were to trade away their star center, it would be before the Sabres would have to fork over his $7.5MM signing bonus which is due at midnight tonight. If no deal is made within the next few hours, then the situation can go two different ways, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. The most likely scenario would suggest that if they pay him the $7.5MM themselves, the plan would be to keep O’Reilly and hope that he wants to stay with the team. However, Harrington also adds that perhaps Buffalo is willing to eat the $7.5MM to get a greater package in return from a team with the possibility that a trade has already been worked out and they are both waiting for July 1. The scribe adds that the two teams who have most coveted O’Reilly are the Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues. However, the Blues are not offering their top prospect, Robert Thomas, as part of any trade.
  • While many teams believe that the holdup of a potential Erik Karlsson trade is being held up because of the $2MM bonus due to forward Bobby Ryan on July 1, that is not correct, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The scribe writes that Ryan and the four years and $29MM remaining on his contract, which are expected to be included in any Karlsson deal, already received his $2MM bonus on May 15, which means he will only cost a team $5.5MM next season.
  • Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that many teams are looking for cheap backup goalie options and suggests that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Calvin Pickard could quickly find himself in high demand. Pickard, who was a solid backup for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2016-17 season, found himself in an odd position after being taken in last year’s expansion draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and then traded off to Toronto to share AHL goaltending duties with Garret Sparks. Together they helped clinch the Calder Cup Trophy as he finished with a 2.31 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Backing up Sparks during the AHL playoffs, Pickard got into three games, putting up a 1.00 GAA and a .956 save percentage.

Golden Knights Sign Brandon Pirri To 1-Year Extension

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After agreeing to a two-year deal with Ryan Reaves, the Vegas Golden Knights have agreed to a deal with one of their restricted free agents as they have signed Brandon Pirri to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650K, according to TVA Sports Renaud Lavoie.

The 27-year-old was one of their most productive players with the AHL Chicago Wolves, posting 29 goals and 52 points in 57 games and even showed some goal scoring ability for the Golden Knights late in the season during a two-game promotion in which he netted three goals. In total, he has 228 games and scored 60 NHL goals so far in his career. The forward is well known to Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant as he coached Pirri with the Florida Panthers the year that Pirri put up a 22-goal campaign.

Pirri is the first to sign of eight Golden Knight restricted free agents, including William Karlsson, Colin Miller, Shea Theodore, Tomas Nosek, William Carrier, Teemu Pulkkinen, Oscar Dansk and Philip Holm. All received qualifying offers earlier this week.

Calgary Flames Sign Dalton Prout To One-Year Extension

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The Calgary Flames added some defensive depth when they signed Dalton Prout to one-year, $800K extension. The 28-year-old Prout was acquired in late December from New Jersey for veteran goaltender Eddie Lack, but never played a game for the Flames last year, as he ended up being outrighted to the Stockton Heat of the AHL instead.

Prout adds much needed depth to the team’s blueline as the team only has four defensemen under contract at the moment in Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic and Michael Stone. The team also has two restricted free agents in Noah Hanifin and Brett Kulak to round out the top six. However, while the team has a number of talented defensive prospects that could be ready to play for Calgary this year such as Rasmus Andersson and 2017 first-rounder Juuso Valimaki, Oliver Kylington and Josh Healey, the addition of a veteran, who could be the team’s seventh-defenseman is a great insurance policy if a youngster doesn’t impress in training camp.

Prout, who was placed on waivers almost immediately after being acquired from the Devils, played 34 games for the Stockton Heat, posting two goals, nine points and 44 penalty minutes. He only played four games for the Devils last season. He hasn’t played a regular defensive role in the NHL since the 2015-16 season when he played 64 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks Swap AHL Forwards

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The Winnipeg Jets and Anaheim Ducks swapped a pair of minor-league forwards as the Jets traded Chase De Leo to the Ducks for Nicolas Kerdiles, according to the Ducks. The even swap should give both forwards a fresh start for next season as both are restricted free agents and each were given qualifying offers earlier this week.

For Anaheim, the acquisition of De Leo, is another sign of bringing in a hometown player to the franchise. Born in La Mirada, Calif., the 22-year-old fourth-round pick in 2014 has struggled to improve in the last three years. After posting solid junior numbers, he scored 19 goals as a rookie with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL in the 2015-16 season which included a two-game promotion to the Jets. However, De Leo then wasn’t able to improve on that. His goal output then decreased from 14 the following year and then to 12 this year. Lost in the shuffle of all the young talent in Winnipeg, a move to Anaheim might be exactly what the forward needs. De Leo just finished out his entry-level deal where he made $875K last year.

Kerdiles will provide Winnipeg with a bigger player for their AHL team next year. The 6-foot-2 Kerdiles posted 15 goals last season and had a career-high 34 points last season, but seems to but hasn’t made major improvements in the last few years and he also has a history of being injury-prone as he’s never played a full season of professional hockey. However, after four years in the AHL and just two games in the NHL, a new home might be the answer. The 24-year-old made $650K on a one-year deal last season.

Zac Rinaldo To Sign A Two-Way Deal With Nashville

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The Nashville Predators continue to add depth to their team as Fox Sports Andy Strickland reports that unrestricted forward Zac Rinaldo will sign a two-way deal with the Predators. Terms of a deal have not been announced.

With the team’s significant depth at forward at the NHL level, the two-way deal is significant as the team can have him play with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals and can then be called up to supplement the team’s depth if needed without having to pass the forward through waivers. The physical forward, who played for the Arizona Coyotes last year, re-joins Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette when both were with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rinaldo started with Philadelphia and played five season there before being traded to Boston in 2015.

The 28-year-old forward played in just 53 games with the Coyotes last season, posting five goals and seven points on the season along with 44 penalty minutes, playing the entire season at the NHL level. He is well know for controversial hits, including one last December in which he was suspended six games for punching Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard. He has been suspended five times by the Department of Player Safety over his career.

 

 

Free Agent Focus: Nashville Predators

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Free agency is now just days from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Nashville’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: G Juuse Saros — The goaltender of the future just burned his final year of his entry-level deal and now goes into restricted free agency. Still blocked by Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne, the 23-year-old netminder has transitioned nicely into the team’s backup who can give the 35-year-old Rinne a breather once in a while. In a career-high 26 NHL games last year, Saros put up a 2.45 GAA and more importantly a .925 save percentage.

With Rinne on the last year of his current seven-year, $49MM deal he signed back in 2011, Saros time as the starting goaltender of the future could come soon, who even managed to make four appearances in the team’s abbreviated playoff run. With an AAV of $925K last season, Saros should get a nice bump up in pay next season.

F Ryan Hartman — The gritty forward was picked up at the trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks for their playoff run and projects as a solid and versatile bottom-six option for a deep Nashville roster. The 23-year-old posted a 31-point season between the two teams last year, including three goals and six points in 21 games with the Predators, while averaging 13:46 of ATOI. He added another two goals in nine playoff games for Nashville. After a season in which he made just $863K last season, he should get a raise, but with no arbitration rights, probably won’t cost the team too much.

Other RFA’s: F Miikka Salomaki.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Alexei Emelin — The team traded for Emelin last offseason as a means to bring in a potential top-four defenseman to fill in for the injured Ryan Ellis for the first half of the season. The 32-year-old posted almost the exact same numbers last year, but once Ellis returned in January, Emelin’s minutes dropped and in the end averaged a career-low in minutes with just 16:53 ATOI. He will take a major paycut after receiving $4.1MM last year in a deal he signed with Montreal back in 2013. However, with seven defensemen with NHL experience already locked up on the Predators roster, it doesn’t look like Emelin will return to Nashville next season.

F Scott Hartnell — While the 36-year-old had respectable numbers in his return to Nashville, the 17-year veteran is not expected to return to Nashville with the amount of young talent that is trying to break into the Predators lineup. Regardless, the veteran has already stated that he intends to play for another season, but almost assuredly will be looking for a new home.

Other UFA’s: F Cody Bass, F Brandon Bollig, G Anders Lindback, F Mark McNeill, G Matt O’Connor, D John Ramage, F Trevor Smith, F Harry Zolnierczyk.

Projected Cap Space: The Predators are projected to have $12MM in available cap space going into free agency and while the team does have to lock up a couple restricted free agents like Saros and Hartman, the team has money to play with. Regardless, the Predators haven’t been in on many free agent rumors so far suggesting the team might hold back and add specialty players to team that intends to challenge for a Stanley Cup this year. The team also must be ready to have the eventual cap space to lock up Ellis, who will be a free agent in the 2019-20 season.

 

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