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Josh Ho-Sang Contemplating Retirement

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According to a report in Sport Express, former New York Islanders forward Josh Ho-Sang is reportedly considering retirement and has informed his KHL club, Ufa Salavat Yulaev, that he is still talking to his family about a decision. Ho-Sang was a first-round pick of the Islanders in 2014 and was never able to establish himself as an NHL regular despite possessing a ton of offensive talent.

Ho-Sang signed in the KHL last year with Ufa and in his first game against SKA in September he had an assist. Unfortunately, in that same game, he was injured and missed the remainder of the regular season. He underwent surgery and returned to play in four playoff games, where he went scoreless.

The injury itself isn’t the issue holding up Ho-Sang’s return as according to David Alter of The Hockey News it is possible that Ho-Sang could return to the KHL, but if he were to do this, he would need to become a Russian citizen. While he hasn’t ruled this out, the Thornhill, Ontario native hasn’t said that he has an interest in doing this, which is likely the issue being discussed with his family at the moment.

According to Alter, Ufa Salavat Yulaev has prepared the paperwork for Ho-Sang to become a citizen, should he decide to return to the team this season.

Ho-Sang lasted played in North America with the Toronto Marlies in 2021-22. During his time in the AHL with Toronto, he posted 16 goals and 19 assists in 47 games.

Examining Maple Leafs Bargain Bin Free Agent Targets

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Joshua Kloke of The Athletic wrote an article today highlighting seven bargain bin free agent targets that could help the Toronto Maple Leafs next season. The Maple Leafs currently sit about $2MM over the salary cap despite putting Jake Muzzin and Matt Murray on LTIR for next year, making it difficult to imagine Toronto doing much shopping in free agency unless they sign two-way deals or move out a contract. The names on the list were interesting, and certainly, they reflect the Maple Leafs’ salary cap predicament.

The most interesting name on Kloke’s list was three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews. Much speculation has been made this off-season about the future of Toews as he has battled health issues the past few seasons and may be leaning towards retirement. Toews was effective last year, albeit in limited action as he dressed in just 53 games and put up 15 goals and 16 assists. The former captain of the Chicago Blackhawks doesn’t have much to play for at this point, but if he were to choose the Maple Leafs as a destination, he could slide into a similar role that Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton had when they arrived in Toronto a few years ago. Toews could be a very effective fourth-line center for Toronto even at this point in his career, but one must wonder if wants to.

Zach Aston-Reese was another name on the list and is coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 10 goals with Toronto. By all accounts, Aston-Reese was well-liked in Toronto and was effective for them in a fourth-line role. We profiled the Staten Island, New York native just days ago in our Free Agent Profile series and highlighted that the 28-year-old has some of the best defensive analytics in the league but offers very little offensively.

Another name on the list was a young reclamation project and that is 25-year-old Jesse Puljujarvi. The right-winger is coming off a very disappointing season in which he scored just five goals and was dumped by the Edmonton Oilers in a cap-cutting move last year. Puljujarvi has been a disappointment in his young career after getting drafted fourth overall in 2016. He has just 51 goals and 63 assists in 334 NHL games but is just a year removed from a 36-point season in 2021-22. The Maple Leafs would probably be a good landing spot for Puljujarvi as he could play in more of a sheltered role in Toronto and wouldn’t be relied upon to provide much offence. On the flip side of that, he struggled to play with skilled players like Connor McDavid, which leads to speculation about whether he’d be able to play with any of Toronto’s skilled forwards.

The most realistic target for the Maple Leafs on the list was center Derick Brassard. Brassard entered last season on a professional tryout with the Ottawa Senators and put up decent numbers in limited playing time. The 35-year-old had 13 goals and 10 assists in 62 games while averaging just 12 minutes of ice time per game. It’s possible that Brassard might also elect to retire, but he did express a desire to keep playing at the end of last year. He also enjoyed playing closer to home having grown up in Hull, Quebec, which is just across the river from Ottawa. Should Brassard want to stay close to family, Toronto would make sense. From the Maple Leafs’ perspective, there is no harm in bringing in a veteran like Brassard on a one-year deal for the league minimum. He would give them a scoring option in the bottom six who can fill in at center, and they could bury his contract in the minors without penalty should things not work out.

The other names on Kloke’s list were defensemen Ethan Bear and Scott Harrington, as well as forward Sam Gagner. Harrington is a former Maple Leaf and could offer some depth on the backend, while Bear is expected to miss a significant chunk of the year and would be a mid-season addition. Gagner could offer the Leafs some depth scoring on the fourth line and is close with John Taveres from their days playing in London. Perhaps a return home could be possible for the 33-year-old Gagner.

Free Agent Profile: Caleb Jones

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It’s hard to believe it, but the NHL season starts in just over two months. For some NHLers they will soon be making plans to return to their respective cities to begin the upcoming season, for others like defenseman Caleb Jones, his plan is to try to find an NHL job in the next nine weeks.

It was surprising to see Jones go unqualified, as the Chicago Blackhawks elected to let him become a free agent rather than offer him a qualifying offer. Chicago needed to tender the 26-year-old at $1.35MM, but he was made a free agent when Chicago didn’t make the offer. Now, almost a month into free agency Jones remains unsigned, a somewhat surprising development for a player who has shown promise in his young career.

Jones, the younger brother of Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones, was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the fourth round back in 2015 and played 93 games over parts of three seasons with the club before he was traded to Chicago in July 2021 as part of the Duncan Keith trade. Jones then dressed in 124 games over the past two years with the Blackhawks, putting up 9 goals and 22 assists.

Last year was a career year for Jones, as he had four goals and 12 assists in 73 games while playing over 19 minutes a night. Jones was tasked with playing second-pairing minutes on a very bad Chicago team and faired well despite not contributing much offensively. Jones led the defense core in many analytical categories and did a decent job controlling the play when he was on the ice.

Jones has typically demonstrated a good ability to move the puck well, utilizing his skating to push the puck up the ice and can keep himself mobile in the defensive zone to be a disruptive force on both the penalty kill and at even strength. However, he is not his older brother and doesn’t possess nearly the offensive acumen that Seth has displayed throughout his career.

The issue that Jones may face when trying to lock down an NHL job is that there is a bit of a surplus of left-shot depth defensemen in the NHL. Pittsburgh has Ty Smith and Pierre-Olivier Joseph competing for one spot on their third pairing, as do the Calgary Flames, with Oliver Kylington now returning after a one-year absence. The Ottawa Senators have several solid left-shot options throughout their NHL lineup, as do many other teams. For Jones, he could offer a solid third-pairing option, but there are very few teams who need that right now.

Stats

2022-23: 73 GP, 4-14-16, -19 rating, 40 PIMS, 86 shots, 48.9% CF, 19:13 ATOI
Career: 217 GP, 14-36-50, -39 rating, 80 PIMS, 225 shots, 48.1% CF, 16:49 ATOI

Potential Suitors

Jones would have teams lining up for his services if he was a right-shot defenseman, but he shoots left and typically plays the left side. While his market will be small, there are sure to be teams that could find a role for the younger Jones brother.

In the East, the Buffalo Sabres have Ilya Lyubushkin slated to play as a third bottom-pair left-side defenseman, and while he offers a physical element and does a good job suppressing scoring chances, he is not a good puck mover and isn’t particularly adept at much else. Jones could push Lyubushkin and create healthy competition for playing time in the Sabres defense core. The one barrier for Jones to Buffalo could be that the Sabres have already brought in Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton in free agency, and management may feel that they’ve already brought in enough competition on their back end.

In the West, The Anaheim Ducks have brought in a few NHL veterans to try and give guidance to their young stars. While Radko Gudas will bring some leadership and physicality on the back end, the Ducks could use a few more veterans who can teach their young players to become good pros. Jones could be a solid fit for the role as he has already played on a young, bad, rebuilding team and knows the challenges and tribulations that come with the growing pains of a rebuild.

Sticking with the West, another rebuilding club that could use some help on the backend is the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks aren’t pushing to make the playoffs this year, but that doesn’t mean they should stop looking for improvements. At the moment, the Sharks have 30-year-old journeyman Jacob MacDonald penciled in as their third pairing left side defenseman and Marc-Édouard Vlasic on their second pair. Vlasic was a terrific shutdown defender for a long time, but he has seen notable declines in his game for the past five years or so. Jones would likely offer an upgrade on both men while not costing San Jose much in the way of assets.

Projected Contract

Unfortunately for Jones, he is most likely going to be taking a pay cut from the $1.35MM he made last season. There should be a small market for his services as the season nears, but the native of Arlington, Texas, might have to sign a professional try-out to get teams interested in his services. Matt Dumba and Ethan Bear are both still unrestricted and might attract more interest as they are right-shot defensemen and have better track records. Jones should ultimately be able to find an NHL deal, but when he does, it will likely come in around the league minimum or a tick above it. There were many NHL defensemen who found deals late in the summer last year, and it seems that could happen again this summer with Jones.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Philadelphia Flyers Submit Ivan Fedotov’s Contract Should Be Tolled

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TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger is reporting that the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL have submitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation that goaltender Ivan Fedotov’s contract with the Flyers should be tolled since he missed this past season to complete military service in Russia. The Flyers along with the league are arguing that because he missed the entire season, the original one-year contract he signed in May 2022 should not be considered expired until next July, since he never fulfilled the agreement. The IIHF is presently considering the submission. The word tolled is a legal term written into many sports contracts that allows for the pausing or delaying of the running of the period of time set forth by a contract.

It’s been quite the saga for the 26-year-old netminder that began over a year ago. Fedotov was arrested in Russia two months after signing his contract with the Flyers. He served a year of military service and on June 14th of this year, the Flyers announced that the one-year deal would be applied this upcoming season and they would retain his NHL rights. Shortly after that in early July, the KHL announced a two-year deal for the netminder with CSKA that was recognized by the league because they believed that Fedotov did not have a valid and binding contract with an NHL club for next year.

While Fedotov is stuck between two leagues wondering what his future will be, CAA Sports’ JP Barry issued a statement today saying that he had spoken with Fedotov and that the young netminder would abide by the IIHF’s ruling that will decide which of the two contracts is valid. It’s an unusual and difficult situation for a player that has said that he just wants to get back to playing hockey. Fedotov has stated publicly that he was able to play hockey twice a week during his military service, but that the hockey in the army wasn’t very good. Fedotov has also defended his decision to sign was CSKA saying that they are a top club and would give him an opportunity to return to form before fulfilling his dream of playing in the NHL.

From the Flyers’ perspective, they would obviously welcome the addition of Fedotov to their goaltending depth chart. The club made Fedotov their seventh-round pick back in 2015, and while it has been almost a decade since they drafted him, they’d seen enough from him to warrant an entry-level contract last year. Now, the Flyers and the league are in a battle that could set a precedent going forward since the KHL and NHL don’t currently have any kind of Memorandum of Understanding. The two leagues did have such an agreement up until last year which kept teams from poaching signed players out of the other league, however, the NHL suspended the agreement.

Arbitration Breakdown: Jeremy Swayman

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Today, The Boston Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman filed their arbitration numbers, and according to Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Boston has filed at $2MM for one year, while Swayman has asked for $4.8MM. The 24-year-old netminder and the Bruins have until Sunday to work out a deal before they will go to arbitration.

Swayman’s number is sure to shock some people, but that is typically how this process works. The team files a lowball number, and the player files high. The arbitrator’s decision typically falls somewhere in the middle, as was the case with the Toronto Maple Leafs and netminder Ilya Samsonov.

Swayman is coming off the best season of his career and does have considerable leverage in these negotiations. The Anchorage, Alaska native posted a 24-6-4 record this past year with a .920 save percentage and a 2.27 goals-against average. His save percentage was good enough for fourth in the league trailing only Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, and Swayman’s partner Linus Ullmark. Speaking of Ullmark, his presence complicates the situation with Swayman because he is coming off a career year as well, one in which he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. Ullmark also has two years left on his contract and is unlikely to be moved this late in the summer.

The Bruins do have a bit of cap space to sign Swayman, however, they will want to keep the cap hit as low as possible since they have other pressing needs throughout their lineup from free agency departures and the retirement of Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins have a hair under $5.5MM in cap space and could be presented with some major challenges if the arbitrator rules a salary that is close to Swayman’s filing.

For Swayman, he will be looking to cash in on what has been a terrific career thus far. He just completed the three-year-contract entry-level contract that paid him $925K this past season, and while his filing is on the high side, he will likely triple or quadruple his salary this upcoming season.

A lot of teams will take a player to arbitration in the hopes of laying the groundwork for future salary cap management. However, in this case, Boston is just trying to stay cap compliant and keep as much of their team intact as they can.

Filings

Team: $2MM (one-year)
Player: $4.8MM (one-year)
Midpoint: $3.4MM

(via Friedman)

The Numbers

As mentioned above, 2022-23 saw Swayman have a career year, and while he was phenomenal when he did play, his sample size is still quite small. Swayman has never played in more than 41 games and hasn’t had to carry the workload in Boston since he’s always had the benefit of playing behind a bonafide number-one goaltender. There is a good argument to be made that it isn’t any fault of Swayman’s, and he can only play the games he plays. However, he is asking for starting goaltender money, and up to this point, he hasn’t been a starter. You can look to other teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had star backups in Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, but both of those netminders struggled with injuries and inconsistency once they were appointed as starters.

For Swayman, this season wasn’t all that far off from last season. His save percentage was slightly better, and he lost fewer games. However, he also played behind a far superior team than he did in previous seasons. That is also something that critics will point to, Swayman plays behind one of the best teams in the league, and again, that isn’t his fault. But it could be a knock the Bruins use in the ugly process that is arbitration.

From Swayman’s perspective, despite being mostly a backup, he can point to the fact that he’s taken over the net in consecutive postseasons from Ullmark. While that isn’t proof of anything, it does give his arbitration case credibility and showcase that the Bruins view the youngster as an NHL starter.

Swayman is also not a one-year wonder and can point to a few seasons of sustained success at the NHL level. Since he made his NHL debut in 2020-21, he has posted an impressive nine shutouts in 82 starts and is second in the NHL in goals-against average with a 2.40, and he also ranks fifth in save percentage with a .920 career save percentage. Some people might point to those numbers and say Swayman is the benefactor or a good team in front of him, and that is fair. However, if you take a deep dive into his numbers, you will find that over the course of his career, he has posted a ridiculous 33.8 goals saved above expected.

It will be interesting to see how the Bruins value Swayman. Do they see him as a long-term starting netminder, or is their view that he is a strong backup? You have to wonder if the Bruins had more cap space this summer if they wouldn’t try and lock him into a long-term deal at a reasonable cap hit. But that isn’t the world Boston is living in, and unfortunately for them, they are up against the cap and up against a player who has been terrific for them for quite some time.

This is a tough case to pin down due to the volatility of the goaltending position. However, given that the Maple Leafs and Samsonov just went through this process, it seems likely that the arbitrator will rule somewhere close to the middle of the two sides’ filings.

2022-23 Stats: 37GP 24W 6L 4T/O .920SV% 2.27GAA 4SO

Career Stats: 88GP 54W 23L 7T/0 .920SV% 2.24GAA 9SO

Potential Comparables

Comparable contracts are restricted to those signed within restricted free agency, which means UFA deals and entry-level pacts are ineligible to be used. The contracts below fit within those parameters. Player salaries also fall within the parameters of the submitted numbers by both sides of this negotiation. 

Ilya Samsonov (Maple Leafs) – Samsonov was just awarded a one-year deal for $3.55MM and is the obvious comparison for Swayman. However, it may serve as a “low-end” comparable for what his awarded contract could look like. Swayman is two years younger than Samsonov, and although he has a shorter track record, Swayman’s career numbers are vastly superior. However, if you look at just this past season in a vacuum, their numbers are quite similar. They sport an almost identical save percentage with a .01 difference, Swayman’s goals-against was .06 percent better and Samsonov dressed in five more games. A key point is the perception of the two goaltenders at the end of the year is different, despite coming to similar finales. Samsonov is widely viewed as Toronto’s starter heading into next year, while Swayman is firmly viewed as the Bruins’ backup. This perception could be a difference-maker in the eyes of an arbitrator. But, if they look strictly at the numbers, one will think that Swayman could be staring down a higher salary next year.

Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins) – This comparison is a bit older, but it still applies to Swayman’s situation, given the flat-cap world we are living in. Jarry signed a three-year, $3.5MM AAV pact with the Penguins after his 2020-21 season, a year where he went 20-12-1 while posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average while being named to the all-star game. Unlike Swayman, Jarry ended that campaign firmly viewed as the Penguins goaltender of the future after Matt Murray faltered in the playoffs once again. Pittsburgh knew that Jarry was their goaltender of the future and locked him up to a bridge deal. To that point in his career, Jarry had played just 62 games and had gone 34-20-4. Despite the lack of playing time, the then 26-year-old was viewed as a bonafide starter, something that Swayman might have to wait to be labeled.

Projection

Swayman has been terrific thus far in his career, however, his numbers are not strong enough to justify his $4.8MM AAV ask. However, he’s aiming high, and he has an excellent case to top Samsonov’s $3.55MM contract and Jarry’s $3.5AAV from 2020. I would have to guess that Swayman will be awarded something in the $3.55MM – $3.75MM range.

If Swayman can post numbers similar to what he has done thus far in his career, one would have to think that Boston will push to trade Ullmark next season and finally anoint Swayman as their number-one goalie. Swayman has probably earned a bridge deal at this point but given that he plays on a team as good as the Bruins, there is only so much money to go around. He will have to wait to get his security, but for now, he should get a nice pay bump next season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Buffalo Sabres Sign Zach Benson To ELC

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The Buffalo Sabres announced today that they’ve signed their 2023 first-round pick Zach Benson to an entry-level three-year contract. Benson was the Sabres’ top selection at 13th overall in last month’s NHL Entry Draft and was seen by some scouts as one of the top playmakers in the entire draft. Benson’s ELC will pay him an NHL salary of $855K to go along with a $95K signing bonus. He will carry an annual cap hit of $950K at the NHL level, and should he play in the minors, he would receive a salary of $82,500.

The 18-year-old forward dressed in 60 games this past season with the Winnipeg ICE of the WHL posting 36 goals and 62 assists while finishing the season +68. The native of Chilliwack, British Columbia, set career highs in every offensive category and finished third in scoring with 98 points. Benson had incredible chemistry with another Sabres prospect, Matt Savoie, who was drafted by Buffalo with the number nine pick just one year ago. Savoie and Benson led the ICE this past season, posting a combined 193 points while leading both the power-play and penalty-kill units.

Benson turned a lot of heads at the Sabres development camp just three weeks ago, and in an article from The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn, he wondered if Benson was already the Sabres’ top prospect. There were some scouts who were surprised to see him slip to the 13th pick, and Fairburn wondered if he is a star in the making for Buffalo.

While scouts were always impressed with Benson’s puck skills, there was always the underlying concern about his size. Benson stands just 5-foot-10 and weighs around 170 pounds, so it is possible that his puck skills might be impeded when he eventually plays against bigger and stronger players. However, Benson has plenty of time to fill out his frame and should be able to develop more strength on the puck over time.

Benson’s entry-level deal was always something that was going to happen, and now his attention will turn to cracking the Sabres NHL lineup. It’s something that could happen sooner than later if he continues to develop the way he has recently.

Free Agent Profile: Zach Aston-Reese

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Outside of the Sebastian Aho signing yesterday, there has been a steady decline in hockey signings for the last week or two. Many management groups are getting ready for vacations before they report back for training camps in September.  While most of these people are gearing up for another season, there are still quite a few remaining free agents who don’t know what uniform they will don come October. Today we will look at one of those free agents, Zach Aston-Reese.

Aston-Reese is not unfamiliar with being unsigned through the summer. Last year he was forced to accept a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he ultimately signed a one-year in October for $840K. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is one of the players that is really feeling the squeeze of a flat cap world. In many previous summers, a player with his defensive capabilities would have easily found work by the midway point of the summer. But with revenues down during the pandemic, Aston-Reese and his fourth-line peers have been the ones who have been damaged the most by a salary cap squeeze.

Aston-Reese is one of the most unique players to dress in the NHL the past few seasons. His defensive metrics are among the best in the NHL, he is elite in the defensive zone. On offense, he possesses precious little in terms of puck-handling ability or offensive output.

Back in 2016-17, Aston-Reese left Northeastern University and was pursued as a free agent by nearly half of the NHL. He eventually landed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and as a rookie in the 2017-18 season, he dressed in 16 games and put up five goals and two assists. This output gave him a long look in the playoffs as he dressed in nine games and put up a single assist before a questionable hit from Tom Wilson ended his playoffs early. The following season, he dressed in 43 games and posted eight goals and nine assists for a career-high 17 points.

Since his career high of 17 points in 2018-19, Aston-Reese has never topped 15 points in any one season and up until this past year with the Maple Leafs, he’d never dressed in more than 69 games (this past year, he played 77). His offensive capabilities were also limited, but with the Penguins, he had a home on their defensive-minded fourth line along with Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev. However, during the 2021-22 season, Aston-Reese was a pending free agent and was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a package to acquire Rickard Rakell. While he was part of the deal, the main purpose of including Aston-Reese was as a salary dump so Pittsburgh could make the money work. Anaheim let the Staten Island, New York native’s contract expire a short time later, and he didn’t sign another deal until his PTO last summer with the Maple Leafs.

Despite the disappointment of possibly going another summer being unsigned, I do think that Aston-Reese will sign an NHL contract for next season. He did score a career-high 10 goals last season, and as mentioned earlier, he is an elite defensive forward. The biggest issue for Aston-Reese outside of his offensive inability is that while his defensive analytics are great, the eye test doesn’t really demonstrate the little things he does in the defensive zone. The old guard of the NHL may not recognize what it is that Aston-Reese can bring to a lineup and may look elsewhere for help on their fourth line.

Stats

2022-23: 77 GP, 10-4-14, -6 rating, 25 PIMS, 89 shots, 50.0% faceoffs, 46.1% CF, 10:56 ATOI
Career: 307 GP, 42-38-80, +33 rating, 124 PIMS, 440 shots, 39.1% faceoffs, 48.3% CF, 13:00 ATOI

Potential Suitors

Aston-Reese doesn’t have many options at this point, so he is unlikely to be picky. He is from the New York area, which means he would likely prefer to play in the East, but his destination will ultimately be decided by whatever team shows interest in him.

In the East, the last general manager to sign Aston-Reese to a contract is now in Pittsburgh. This is the team that originally signed ZAR out of college back in 2017, and a team that has shown they aren’t afraid to acquire quality depth forwards to fill out their bottom six and AHL roster. Historically. Dubas has liked to sign NHL-caliber forwards to one-way contracts and then stash them in the AHL in case of injuries. It could be something he chooses to do with Aston-Reese as there is familiarity with the player and the team. Head coach Mike Sullivan utilized Aston-Reese an awful lot when he coached him a few years ago and may appreciate having an elite defensive forward to rely on. Especially given the Penguins struggles defensively last season.

Sticking with the East, as mentioned before, the Ottawa Senators could really use some good forward depth. Their bottom six isn’t particularly good, and they are going into the upcoming season expecting a lot of growth from some of their younger forwards. At the very least, Aston-Reese could offer Ottawa a decent 13th forward at league minimum who could also help their penalty kill.

Out West, the Seattle Kraken seems like a team that would fit Aston-Reese perfectly. The Kraken are largely made up of players who have been viewed as castoffs at some point in their careers, not unlike Aston-Reese. There is also a familiarity that Aston-Reese could have with current Kraken fourth-liner Brandon Tanev, who played with him in Pittsburgh. The Kraken has also been a team that has relied on accountability and team defense, something that would gel well with what Aston-Reese brings to the table. The one holdup would be that Seattle already has 12 capable forwards, meaning that Aston-Reese would be on the outside looking in should he sign there.

Projected Contract

Unfortunately for Aston-Reese, he is likely going to have to take another PTO if he would like to continue his NHL career. It is still possible that he gets a one-year contract for around the league minimum from a team that is looking for a strong defensive presence on their fourth line, but a PTO is the likelier scenario. ZAR can still provide a lot to a team for very little cost, but he shouldn’t be counted on or expected to offer up much in the way of offense. His best bet is to use a PTO as an opportunity to demonstrate his skill set and fit with a team as he did last fall with the Maple Leafs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brandon Davidson Signs In Sweden

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Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League announced today that they have come to terms with former NHL defenseman Brandon Davidson. The 31-year-old spent parts of seven seasons in the NHL totalling 180 games while wearing seven different uniforms.

Generally regarded as a defensive defenseman, Davidson began his career with the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 and during his second season in the NHL, he looked as though he could be a big part of the Oilers blueline moving forward. Davidson dressed in 51 games that year posting four goals and seven assists while logging over 19 minutes of ice time a night.

Unfortunately for Davidson, he fell out of favor in the 2016-17 season and was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for David Desharnais in what seemed to be a change of scenery swap for both players. From there, Davidson never regained his footing and bounced around to six other NHL stops before eventually spending the past two seasons in the AHL with the Rochester Americans and Cleveland Monsters. This past spring Davidson signed a deal in the SHL with Färjestad BK where he played seven games and tallied a goal and an assist.

A lot of fringe NHLers have been feeling the squeeze in recent seasons due to the revenue shortages the NHL felt during the pandemic-shortened seasons. However, that is likely not the case with Davidson as he had bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL prior to 2020.

If this is the end of his NHL career Davidson would finish with nine career goals and 14 assists in 180 NHL games.

Maple Leafs To Place Matt Murray On LTIR

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they will be placing goaltender Matt Murray on the LTIR prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. No details on Murray’s injury were provided in the release, which will surely lead to a lot of speculation in the coming days. With Murray joining Jake Muzzin on LTIR, the Maple Leafs will remain $2.1MM over the salary cap, meaning that they will need to do some cap gymnastics in the coming weeks to try and get under the $83.5MM salary cap by October.

Murray’s first season in Toronto was a difficult one for the former two-time Stanley Cup champion as he battled inconsistency and injuries once again. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native hasn’t been able to steady his game or remain in the net since his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Murray was dealt by the Penguins to the Ottawa Senators in October 2020 and quickly signed a four-year extension worth $24MM. The deal was heavily criticized at the time as being too rich and too long for a goaltender that had struggled to stay healthy and consistent.

The Senators were then forced into a cap dump last summer as they traded Murray to the Maple Leafs along with two draft picks for future considerations. Trading for Murray was a good idea in theory from former general manager Kyle Dubas, however, in reality, the deal never worked out for Toronto as Murray was unable to bounce back or stay healthy. Murray dressed in just 26 games going 14-8-2 with a 3.01 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.

The move will effectively end any talks of a buyout, which is ultimately the best outcome for the player and team. Matt Murray will retain his entire $8MM salary for the upcoming season and the Leafs will be able to use the entire $4.7MM of the cap space that would have been allocated to Murray.

It is quite the fall from grace for a netminder who looked like a budding superstar just six years ago. Murray won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a rookie and looked like he was the future of the Penguins when the team moved on from franchise icon Marc-Andre Fleury. However, Murray’s career began to derail a short time later due to multiple injuries and inconsistent play and since then he has been unable to right the ship.

Evening Notes: Gustavsson, Crammarossa, Iowa

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Joe Smith of The Athletic writes that it appears the Minnesota Wild and goaltender Filip Gustavsson will decide their contract dispute in arbitration. Smith writes that the deal will get done but will most likely be done through an arbitrator as the sides appear unlikely to reach an agreement without the intervention. The Wild and Gustavsson are set to go to arbitration on August 4th, and with Ilya Samsonov’s ruling now official and Jeremy Swayman’s case set to be heard later this week, both sides should have a clearer picture of what would be a fair contract from the club and the 25-year-old goaltender.

Gustavsson excelled in his first year in Minnesota after coming over in an off-season trade from the Ottawa Senators. It was expected that the native of Skelleftea, Sweden would backup Marc-Andre Fleury, however by the time the playoffs rolled around Gustavsson owned the Minnesota net having gone 22-9-7 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.

The Wild are dealing with a very precarious cap situation as they deal with the blowback from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts that are eating up about $15MM of Minnesota’s cap space. However, they do still have around $5MM in cap space remaining to re-sign the young netminder.

In other evening notes:

  • Joseph Cramarossa has officially signed a contract with the Löwen Frankfurt of the DEL league. Cramarossa played in the NHL as recently as the past season as he played four games for the Minnesota Wild, scoring just a single goal. He also posted four goals and five assists in 18 games with the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Back in January of this year, Cramarossa had his contract terminated by the Wild and at that time he went overseas to play for Adlern Mannheim of the DEK. While in Germany Cramarossa posted two goals and six assists in 15 games.
  • Lastly, the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL have announced that they’ve come to terms with defensemen Robbie Stucker and Ben Brinkman on contracts for the 2023-24 season. The club also announced that forward Jake Durflinger has agreed to a deal as well. Brinkman and Stucker were formerly teammates at the University of Minnesota from 2018-21 while Durflinger will enter his second season with the Heartlanders having played 50 games last season posting 10 goals and 10 assists. The 25-year-old finished the season strong scoring seven of his ten goals between March 18th and April 7th.

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