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Chicago Trades Marcus Kruger to Las Vegas

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Chicago Blackhawks’ Marcus Kruger has been traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. The trade will be for future considerations.

The long-expected trade was expected several weeks ago when the Blackhawks worked out a side deal with the Golden Knights and allowed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk to be exposed in the expansion draft. Vegas took the young defenseman and flipped him to the Carolina Hurricanes with a seventh-round pick in 2018 for a 2017 second-round pick. The Golden Knights used that pick on Jake Leschyshyn. The original agreement had the Golden Knights taking on Kruger’s contract of $3.08MM for the next two seasons. Evidently, Chicago waited until after they paid him his $2MM signing bonus yesterday before completing the transaction.

In Kruger, Vegas gets a 27-year-old center who played in 70 games last year for the Blackhawks, scoring five goals and adding 12 assists. He is a defensive forward, who was always trusted to close out games when the team was leading. He is known as a depth player that makes good teams great. How he will fit into the Golden Knights plans is unknown unless their plan is to attempt to flip him.

 

Montreal Signs Carey Price To 8-Year Extension

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have signed goaltender Carey Price to an eight-year, $84MM extension with a $10.5MM AAV, according to Elliotte Friedman. The deal won’t kick in until the 2018-19 season and will make the 29-year-old goalie the highest paid player in Montreal Canadiens history, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engles. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweets that $70MM of the $84MM will come though a signing bonus, which are in place in case there is a lockout, according to Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington. It also means that’s more money for Price down the road if they choose to buy him out, according to NHL Network’s E.J. Hradek.

For Price, his $10.5MM AAV will briefly be tied for the highest in the NHL, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. He is currently tied with Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. However, that will only last until Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid signs his expected $13.25MM extension shortly.

Price will be locked up now until the 2025-2026 season with this deal.  Considered by many to be the best goaltender in hockey, the goaltender has a 270-185-55 record. He boasts an goals against career average of 2.40 and has been even better in the past few years, finishing this year with a  2.23 in 62 games with a .923 save percentage. His best season was the 2014-15 year when he won both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Vezina Trophy after a season in which he finished with a 1.96 GAA and a .933 save percentage in 66 games.

While Price wasn’t set to be a free agent until next year, locking up their franchise goaltender long-term is one less thing to worry about. While the new contract will not come into play for another year, the team will new cap concerns starting a year from now. Montreal currently has $53MM tied up in just 14 players next year.

Marleau Deciding Between San Jose, Toronto

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Patrick Marleau’s name has appeared everywhere as one of the top free agents that remain after the first day of free agency. The 37-year-old wing, who will turn 38 before the season gets underway, has played 19 years in San Jose and hasn’t slowed down one bit. His 27 goals are his best since the 2013-14 season and the veteran has always been consistent and healthy. So, what’s taking so long?

NBC Sports’ Kevin Kurz says that while the Sharks offered him a two-year deal on Friday, Marleau is considering other offers, despite the fact that linemate and friend Joe Thornton has already agreed to a one-year deal with the Sharks. It seems that Marleau has received multiple offers that trump San Jose’s offer and Kurz writes that the Toronto Maple Leafs offer is quite a bit better. While it would have to be a tough decision to leave a place after 19 years, it might make sense. Even with Thornton returning, the Sharks failed to get out of the first round last year, suffering a loss to a young and emerging Edmonton team, and the Sharks seem to be developing into a franchise that may have to reverse course soon and begin a youth movement. Heading to Toronto and an up-and-coming team (along with the better offer) might be a better way to go. Playing with the young core of players like Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner could be enticing to the veteran. According to Kurz, no one has any idea of what Marleau will decide and there is genuine concern among Sharks’ management that he may leave.

On another note, while Thornton has agreed to a one-year deal that TSN’s Bob McKenzie writes will be a $6.5MM deal, it still hasn’t become official. Kurz said that there is nothing to worry about. He believes that Thornton is waiting for Marleau to make his decision so they can be announced together, like he did in 2014. Thornton agreed to a one year deal, although Kurz says he was offered a two-year deal, like Marleau, on Friday. It’s likely that the one-year deal offered more.

Girardi Signing May Delay Tampa Bay’s Blueline Prospects

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There are many worried Tampa Bay Lightning fans that the recent signing of veteran defender Dan Girardi, to a two-year, $6MM contract, will only get in the way of the team’s blueline youth movement. Once considered a major weakness on their team, the Lightning have rebuilt the defense over the last few years. They have even protected several of those young defensemen like Slater Koekkoek and Jake Dotchin by giving up a top offensive prospect in Nikita Gusev and several draft picks to Vegas to convince them to take veteran defender Jason Garrison off their hands, not only to free up cap space, but also to open up more playing time on the blueline.

The team also has a new core of young defensive prospects in the pipeline as well, including newly acquired Mikhail Sergachev, who they received from Montreal for Jonathan Drouin. They have focused their drafts on defense as well. They drafted the WHL’s Cal Foote with the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft. Before that, they spent a slew of second-rounders on defense, drafting Libor Hajek with their second round pick last year, Matt Spencer in the second round in 2015 as well, and Dominik Masin in the second round in 2014. They even added 2015 second-rounder Erik Cernak when they sent Ben Bishop to Los Angeles in February. The team even inked their sixth-round pick from 2016 yesterday in Oleg Susanov, at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds at age 19.

With all this talent though, the Lightning still invested $3MM per year to Girardi, which means the team isn’t likely to have the veteran mentor the youth. It’s more likely that the team is doing everything it can to bolster its roster for a playoff run and will force players like Koekkoek, Dotchin, and Sergachev to battle it out for a roster spot or be sent back to the AHL. Koekkoek, a former tenth-overall pick in 2012, only managed to get into 29 games last year, playing the majority of the season with the Syracuse Crunch. Dotchin split his time evenly between the two, having played 35 games for each squad.

Sergachev might be ready for Tampa Bay soon as well, but a Girardi deal could benefit the team as well. The former ninth-overall pick in 2016 had conditions linked to his trade with the Canadiens that would allow the Lightning to acquire a 2018 second-round pick if Sergachev doesn’t play more than 40 games for the NHL squad during the regular season and the playoffs. Otherwise, Tampa Bay would get no extra pick. Perhaps that may be an extra incentive to keep him in the minors for a little while longer.

 

Eastern Notes: Rangers Re-tooling Defense, Repo

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The New York Rangers, unsatisfied with the way their 2016-17 season ended, decided to retool their roster this offseason and yesterday’s signing of top-two defender Kevin Shattenkirk and the re-signing of trade deadline addition Brendan Smith should prove to be a key investment to building up their strength on their blueline.

So far, the Rangers have traded away their top center in 27-year-old Derek Stepan and his $6.5MM salary as well as their talented backup goaltender Antti Raanta. In exchange, they have upgraded their defense through free agency, adding Shattenkirk at $6.65MM per year (almost the same salary as Stepan) and re-signing Brendan Smith to a $4.35MM a year deal. Don’t forget the Rangers parted ways with veteran defenseman Dan Girardi in a buyout, but Girardi’s deal was at originally at $5.5MM, so all they have done so far is relocated already spent money. Add Ryan McDonough and veteran Marc Staal and the team has a high-quality defensive top-four. In fact, if you add in veteran Nick Holden, former first-rounder Brady Skjei and new acquisition Anthony Deangelo, a 21-year-old 2014 first-rounder, the team is suddenly overloaded in defensemen.

They have signed backup goaltender Ondrej Pavelek to replace Raanta. The only problem now is the team has holes in the middle as the team only has two centers under contract in Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller and little money remaining to make another major splash. They currently have $8.35MM, according to Cap Friendly, of money to spend, not including the expected retirement of defenseman Kevin Klein or the fact that the Rangers still have two restricted free agents they need to lock up in Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad. Perhaps a one-year deal with a remaining veteran center would be a possibility.

  • The Florida Panthers tweeted that they have locked up Finnish forward Sebastian Repo to a three-year entry-level deal worth $925,000 per year. The right-winger was a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft and impressed the organization at their recent development camp.

Matt Duchene Rumors Continue to Swirl

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While there was plenty of action yesterday on the first day of free agency, one name that surfaced over and over again was that of the availability of Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene. The trade rumors refuse to die down, yet nothing has happened. According to The Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline, there are several teams trying to pry the 26-year-old former third-overall pick in the 2009 draft, including the Blue Jackets.

Quite obviously, Colorado general manager Joe Sakic is looking for a very young defender as key to any package to get Duchene. The scribe cites that the team has asked the Blue Jackets for 20-year-old blueliner Gabriel Carlsson as a primary piece of a potential deal. The former first-round pick in 2015 has shown quite a bit of promise, signing late this season and joining the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters for three games and then finished his 2016-17 season in Columbus for the final two games, picking up an assist on the way. Portzline says there has also been quite a bit of talk that the team is also interested in the Blue Jacket’s Ryan Murray, the former second-overall pick in 2012. The defenseman has played four seasons, finishing this year with two goals and nine assists in 60 games. No one knows whether Sakic is interested in one or both as part of the package for Duchene.

Portzline also tweets that the Boston Bruins are also discussing a trade with Colorado over Duchene and that deal would likely center around Bruins defender Brandon Carlo, who just wrapped up his rookie campaign with the Bruins. The 20-year-old former second round pick in 2015 finished the season with six goals, 10 assists and 59 penalty minutes.

Up till now, Sakic has refused to comment on any trade rumors only creating further speculation that a trade may be coming soon. We will see if there is any trade movement today as there is quite a bit of anticipation to see a move made.

Best Of What’s Left – Part 2

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As we close in on the end of an only moderately crazy July 1st, there are quite a few names that remain from our Top-50 Free Agents list. Here are some of the best of what remains in the back half of our Top 50:

Johnny Oduya (#32) – A reunion with Chicago was not overly successful after he was traded to the Blackhawks in February. So far, there is little noise about where the 35-year-old defenseman will go. It’s still possible that Chicago plans to add him to their roster, but after a disappointing campaign, perhaps he will have to wait till someone comes calling. Of course, Stanley Cups and playoff experience are quite valuable, so his name should surface soon.

Jarome Iginla (#33) – Los Angeles has already told Iginla that they don’t want him back, so where does that put the 40-year-old winger who scored 14 goals between the Avalanche and the Kings? It seems the veteran forwards are getting the least attention by NHL teams. Could returning home to Calgary for one final run be in the cards for him?

Daniel Winnik (#36) – Winnik has played for seven teams so far in his career and is looking for a chance to stick with one team. The 32-year-old center has quietly put together one of his best seasons with a career-best 12 goals with the Capitals. However, he hasn’t received much interest on the first day of free agency. Could Washington get him on the cheap?

Shane Doan (#38) – Four teams have shown interest in Doan, according to arizonasports.com’s Craig Morgan. While he doesn’t mention any of the four teams, he adds that Doan will take some time to think about it, so we may not hear much from the 40-year-old forward for another few days. His experiences in Arizona should prove an enormous amount of leadership towards almost any team.

Brian Gionta (#39) – All signs point to Gionta not returning to Buffalo. It looks as if the new brass there might want to move on and hand their captaincy to some younger players. So where does that leave the 38-year-old, yet still productive center? Waiting.

Jiri Hudler (#40) – At 33, Hudler is quite young, but injuries have mounted for the veteran and there has been little call after the first day for the veteran center. However, despite missing more than half the season, the veteran still scored 47 goals in the two years previous. While no one has stepped forward, there should be teams ready to take a chance that he will return to form this year.

P.A. Parenteau (#41) – The 34-year-old has bounced around a lot over the last few years and might have to find a new team once again. While a reunion with Nashville is certainly possible, Parenteau only played 13 games (playoffs included) for Nashville for a total of one assist.

David Desharnais (#42) – Once thought of as a legitimate candidate to be taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, Desharnais is also looking for work and may have to look to other teams for his chance, although their quite a few ahead of him on this list.

Matt Cullen (#43) – You would think that the trend of veteran forwards would continue here, but the rumor is that Cullen is considering retirement and, if not, would likely be brought back by Pittsburgh. Despite 31 points last year for the Stanley Cup champions, Cullen might be done at age 40.

Ales Hemsky (#44) – It’s still early, but there are indications that Hemsky might be given the opportunity to return to Dallas. The veteran dealt with injuries and missed all but 15 games. If proven healthy and the Stars still have openings after all their moves in the last week, Hemsky could come back on a one-year deal.

Viktor Stalberg (#45) – Rumors persist that Ottawa wants to bring the speedy wing back, but it would have to be short-term after playing 18 regular season and 17 playoff games and finishing with just two goals and four assists combined.

 

 

 

Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers

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The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Edmonton Oilers’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Leon Draisaitl. At 21 years old and coming off a 29-goal season (along with 77 total points), Draisaitl would likely be the most important restricted free agent in the entire NHL. The Oilers have already come out and stated they will match any offer, no matter how high to retain one of the franchise’s cornerstone pieces on their team and it will prove costly. The third overall pick in the 2014 draft has been unstoppable in just three short years and he’s nowhere close to his prime. Extending the young German forward is critical for the team and a big reason the team just traded Jordan Eberle to the Islanders to free as much cap space as it can to lock up Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who they hope to extend this year as well.

Other RFA’s: F Zack Kassian, D Joey Laleggia, D David Musil, F Zachary Pochiro, F Henrik Samuelsson, D Dillon Simpson.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Tyler Pitlick. A few days ago, veteran defender Kris Russell would have been in this spot, but the defender signed a four-year, $4MM per year deal to stay with the Oilers. That leaves very little to worry about on the unrestricted free agent front. However, if you really look, Pitlick still has a lot of potential. The only problem is the 25-year-old center is quite injury prone. In the last three years, he has not played in more than 37 games a season due to various injuries with the most recent being a torn ACL back in December. Although, he was having a strong season before that, scoring eight goals in those first 31 games. However, considering the Oilers may be looking for cheap players with potential, they might consider giving Pitlick one more chance.

Other UFA’s: F David Desharnais, F Justin Fontaine, D Mark Fraser, F Matt Hendricks, D Eric Gryba, D Jordan Oesterle.

Projected Cap Space: With the Eberle contract now off the books and Russell signed long-term, that allows Edmonton almost $20MM in cap space to work with and they will likely need a lot of that to give extensions to Draisaitl and McDavid. While McDavid is not a restricted free agent until next year, the team can lock him up starting this summer and would be smart to do so. With what’s left, the team may look to add a few veterans to fill out the lineup and help guide this young team even further next year.

 

 

Metropolitan Snapshots: Grubauer, Kovalchuk, Ryan

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Not that there are a lot of starting goaltending options available, but the Washington Capitals may have to move their backup Philipp Grubauer after all. With the impending defensive losses of free agents Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner, who the team likely cannot afford after the team locked up T.J. Oshie to an eight-year deal, and the loss of 25-year-old top-four defender Nate Schmidt to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, the team must find a way to replace their blueliners.

With cap room almost entirely used up and with several restricted free agents still to lock up, the Capitals have only two places to look to fill those holes – either from within or via trade, according to J.J. Regan of CSN Mid-Atlantic. The team still retains several key defensemen, including restricted free agent Dmitry Orlov, veterans Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen as well as John Carlson. From within, the team has 22-year-old Madison Bowey on hand, who might be ready to make the jump to the NHL. He was out with an ankle injury and missed a lot of the AHL season a year ago, but still had 14 points in 34 games. Still, he may not be the player you count on to jump onto a playoff team’s defensive line.

Therefore, the lack of depth on defense could easily force the team to move Grubauer, who was often talked about as an expansion candidate for the Golden Knights. However, since Grubauer has little chance to grab a starting gig in Washington and isn’t even the future of the franchise as that role likely belongs to 2015 first-round pick Ilya Samsonov. There are still several teams who need a quality, young goaltender and they may be able to offer an inexpensive blueliner to fill Washington’s needs.

  • While there have been dozens of teams linked to Ilya Kovalchuk over the past two months since he announced he’d like to return to the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets are one team that have shown interest in the 34-year-old Russian winger. However, while that interest still exists, Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline tweets that the team, as of today, are not in full pursuit of Kovalchuk, and are currently searching for a Top-6 center to fill in the gap.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes are closing in to signing Derek Ryan to one-year deal, tweets Edmonton Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer. Ryan, was a Masterson Trophy finalist this past year, which goes to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey. At age 30, the center finally broke through into the NHL after years of playing in Europe and the AHL, finishing the season with 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points and being credited for helping change the culture of the Hurricanes locker room. He is coming off a one-year, $600,000 contract and looks to be getting a solid raise.

Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars

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The free agent period is now less than a week away from opening up.  Several prominent players are set to hit the open market and many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Dallas Stars’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Esa Lindell. The 23-year-old has only played one full year in the NHL, but has quickly established himself as a top-four blueliner and now already needs to get paid. While Dallas is looking into acquiring a top defenseman such as Washington’s Karl Alzner, Lindell is already inked into the lineup and the young defender should only get better with experience. His six goals and 12 assists may just be the beginning. His AAV of $925,000 should go up quite a bit.

F Radek Faksa. With the disappearance of several key veterans like Cody Eakin and Patrick Eaves, among others, there are numerous holes in the Stars’ lineup and locking up Faksa should be a top priority for the franchise. Faksa, the team’s first-round pick in 2012, completed his first full season with the Stars this year, finishing with 12 goals and 21 assists, while playing on the team’s third line. Making $1.34MM last year, Faksa should get a solid raise.

Other RFA’s: D Mattias Backman, D Nick Ebert, G Henri Kiviaho, G Maxime Lagace, F Mark McNeill, D Patrik Nemeth, D Jamie Oleksiak, F Brett Ritchie, F Gemel Smith.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Patrick Sharp. The veteran winger is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he missed time due to a concussion and then had season-ending hip surgery in March. Because of that, Sharp, a four-time 30-goal scorer finished with eight goals and 10 assists in 48 games. While at 35 years old, no one is expecting a 30-goal season, Sharp could still be good for 15-20 goals. The Stars, needing to fill holes at the forward position, have shown interest in bringing him back. While it’s highly doubtful, he’d be able to get the $5.9MM contract he had last year, he still could receive a solid offer from a team needing a veteran scorer.

Ales Hemsky: The 33-year-old veteran is also coming off multiple injuries in which he missed more than four months of play due to hip and groin injuries. The veteran center only managed to get into 15 games for seven points. However, he had 13 goals and 39 points one year ago and could be worthy of bringing back on a short-term deal to fill a bottom line slot. While Hemsky made $4MM last year, he may need to take a low-level “prove it” offer.

Other UFA’s: F Jiri Hudler, G Justin Peters, D Dustin Stevenson.

Projected Cap Space: The Stars have $52.5MM invested in 15 players, so they will have to fill in multiple holes with the remaining $22.5MM in available cap space, although they have several restricted free agents they need to re-sign. However, assuming Dallas buys out goaltender Antti Niemi, the team should have even more room to work with. The Stars have high hopes to sign a top free agent such as Alzner to their defense. However, the team may also add some veterans on shorter-term deals to plug the holes for another year.

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