New York Rangers Sign Blake Wheeler, Jonathan Quick
The New York Rangers have nabbed former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler on the free agent market, per the team. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports the 35+ contract has an $800K cap hit and carries $300K in potential bonuses. The team’s also made the long-reported Jonathan Quick signing official at an $825K cap hit plus bonuses, says The New York Post’s Mollie Walker.
They’ve also signed forward Alex Belzile to a two-year deal, says TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.
The Rangers’ offseason has been significantly impacted by their dearth of cap space, so adding a veteran scorer like Wheeler at such a cheap price is a major coup.
While he’s no longer the back-to-back 90-point man he was earlier in his time with the Winnipeg Jets, Wheeler remains a lethal weapon on the power play and a solid all-around offensive threat. He scored 55 points in 72 games last season and scored 60 points in 65 games the year before.
The Rangers’ biggest need heading into next season was talent along the right side of their forward corps, and Wheeler is just about the best possible option they could afford. He’ll now have a chance to play with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, or Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.
Assuming he stays healthy, he’s set himself up to have a monster season, especially if he can land a place on New York’s top power-play unit.
While he might not be able to set himself up for a long-term, pricey contract next summer as he’ll be set to turn 38 in August of next year, he’s put himself in a prime position on a Stanley Cup contender and under some of the brightest lights in the hockey world.
For Quick, this move allows him to back up one of the NHL’s best goalies, work with one of the NHL’s most highly-regarded goalie coaches in Benoit Allaire, as well as move closer to where he grew up. A legendary netminder whose earlier days with the Los Angeles Kings came to define that era of hockey, Quick’s form has declined sharply in recent seasons.
He posted a .876 save percentage in 31 games with the Kings last season and a .901 in 10 games with the Vegas Golden Knights. That might not be good enough to cut it in New York, but the hope is that with such a renowned coach in his corner, his numbers could rebound. In any case, he’ll now land with a potential Stanley Cup contender and be able to provide guidance to one of the league’s top goalies.
Now for Belzile, he’s reportedly getting a two-year contract which is a nice reward for a player who has worked his way up from the ECHL to the NHL. He became a top scorer for the Laval Rocket with the Montreal Canadiens and when the team faced significant injury issues he became a regular face in head coach Martin St. Louis’ lineup.
In 31 games at the NHL level Belzile scored a solid 14 points, showcasing the possibility for him to become a valuable bottom-sixer on a more regular basis. With the Rangers looking to fill depth lineup spots on the cheap and potentially also improve their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, Belzile could quickly prove to be a savvy signing by Rangers GM Chris Drury.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Semyon Varlamov Expected To Stay With New York Islanders
Per ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, netminder Semyon Varlamov is staying with the New York Islanders after briefly appearing on the free agent market this morning. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports it’s a two-year deal. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that the final contract will be a four-year, $11MM contract, paying Varlamov an AAV of $2.75MM per year.
The 35-year-old has spent the past four seasons with New York, originally serving as their starting goaltender before Ilya Sorokin took over the number one role. Now, he’ll serve as an above-average backup to his countryman who signed an eight-year, $66MM extension earlier today. Last season, Varlamov played in 23 games for the Isles, posting a 2.70 GAA with a .913 SV%, numbers that are right in line with his career averages of 2.65 and .916 respectively and are above average for the backup role.
That said, while New York should benefit from an above-average backup for a little while longer, the four-year term certainly raises some eyebrows. The exact structure of the deal is not yet known so it’s unknown if this is a deal that will carry the more punitive 35+ restrictions. And, by the time his contract ends, he’ll be one of the oldest netminders in the league so this is a bit of a leap of faith from the Islanders. However, it allows them to keep a strong tandem intact for the time being, one that they’ll need to lean on as they look to push for a top-three seed in the Metropolitan Division next season.
Florida Panthers To Sign Kevin Stenlund
The Florida Panthers are acquiring free agent forward Kevin Stenlund on a one-year deal worth $1MM, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Stenlund is a 26-year-old 2015 second-round pick who spent last season as a member of the Winnipeg Jets organization. He spent most of the year in the NHL with Winnipeg, scoring six goals and nine points in 54 games. At the AHL level he scored at a higher rate, posting 14 points in 19 games.
A big-bodied forward with the ability to play center or along the wings, Stenlund’s most valuable contributions to the Jets last season were on the penalty kill, where he was a regular face. He’ll be able to contribute there for the Panthers, which is an important point given how much time the Panthers spent on the penalty kill last season.
While there isn’t much offense in his game, adding a penalty-killing specialist at a $1MM cost is a move that makes a lot of sense for a team that needs to target improvements to their short-handed units with their depth signings.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Conor Sheary, Four Others
The Tampa Bay Lightning are signing forwards Conor Sheary and Luke Glendening to bolster their bottom six, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. The team announced a three-year, $2MM per season contract for Sheary. Glendening’s contract is two years at $800K per season, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina. They’ve also added netminder Jonas Johansson on a one-year, league-minimum deal.
They’ve also signed 2016 first-round pick Logan Brown to a one-year, two-way $775k contract, as well as forward Mitchell Chaffee to the same deal.
Heading into today’s free agency, and with the cap space situation at hand for the team, these are exactly the type of moves that Tampa was expected to make. Sheary and Glendening ultimately improve the bottom six lines, while Johansson gives the team a quality third-string backup option.
With Sheary, the Lightning should get tremendous value out of this signing. Over the last two seasons playing for the Washington Capitals, Sheary has scored 34 goals and 46 assists in just under 160 games. He became an exceptional middle-six option for the Capitals and should do the exact same in Tampa Bay.
In Glendening, the Lightning had a player that will undoubtedly help with the team’s possession numbers. Over the course of his 10-year career, Glendening has averaged a 55.7% faceoff percentage, while averaging a whopping 58.9% with the Dallas Stars alone. Already garnering a defensive unit that is one of the league’s best at moving the puck, the team will benefit greatly from having Glendening take important faceoffs.
Next, Johansson gives the team insurance if one of their regular goaltenders goes down with an injury. Spending last season primarily playing for the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, Johansson sported a .920 SV% and a 2.33 GAA, helping lead his team to the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs. The Lightning are still expected to sign a more stable backup behind Andrei Vasilevskiy for the 2023-24 NHL season.
Finally, Brown adds an intriguing former top prospect for the Lightning’s development team to get their hands on. Injuries have laid waste to Brown’s development path so far but he’s been a difference-maker at the AHL level and perhaps Tampa Bay thinks they can unlock some of his upside at the NHL level.
Boston Bruins Sign James Van Riemsdyk
The Boston Bruins are signing forward James van Riemsdyk to a one-year, $1MM deal, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
The Bruins are looking to add some talent to their forward corps at affordable prices, and securing Van Riemsdyk at a $1MM cost accomplishes exactly that. The 34-year-old is a seven-time 20-goal scorer who has hit 30 goals multiple times earlier in his career. He has notably slowed down in recent seasons, though, and only scored 12 goals and 29 points in 61 games.
That decline in production is what allows Boston to secure his services at such a cheap price, though, and in doing so they’re placing a bet that he can return to something closer to his 2021-22 production, when he scored 24 goals and 38 points. Van Riemsdyk has long been among the most talented net-front scorers in the NHL, and he’ll boost the Bruins’ efforts to crowd the front of the net and tip pucks in.
He might not bring the type of energy or scoring ability of younger talent like Tyler Bertuzzi, but he comes at a far cheaper price and brings a wealth of experience younger players can’t offer.
With Boston looking to have another strong regular season and go on a longer playoff run, this addition of van Riemsdyk is a solid bit of shopping by the Bruins front office, assuming the player can stay healthy and perform up to his career standard.
Michael McLeod Rejoining New Jersey Devils
Per The Fourth Period’s James Nichols, center Michael McLeod is heading back to the New Jersey Devils on a one-year contract worth $1.4MM.
As fellow Devils fourth-liner Nathan Bastian also re-signed today, meaning even if Miles Wood ends up departing to another club New Jersey will have most of their fan-favorite depth line locked in for next season.
McLeod secures a nice pay raise for himself over the $975k he earned last season, and that’s a solid reward after what was a strong season for the 25-year-old 2016 first-round pick. Not much of a goal scorer, McLeod only potted four during the regular season but did manage to score half that total in 12 playoff games.
He finished with 26 points in the regular-season, a career-high, though he showed the most value on the penalty-kill and in his defensive game. The Devils may have preferred to lock McLeod up for a longer term, but at the very least this deal returns their 4C to their club at an affordable cost.
McLeod was a key piece to a Devils crash-and-bang fourth-line that would spread chaos whenever it hit the ice, and if the team is interested in maintaining that type of line keeping McLeod at an affordable cost was crucial. With this deal, they’ve done exactly that, while McLeod has set himself up for an even bigger pay raise in a year’s time if he can manage to show a little bit more of an offensive game.
Nashville Predators To Sign Ryan O’Reilly
The Nashville Predators have made the biggest splash of the day so far, signing former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly to a four-year contract worth $4.5MM per season, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
While many expected the trade of Ryan Johansen to Colorado and yesterday’s Matt Duchene buyout to signal a rebuild-like direction for Nashville under new GM Barry Trotz, today’s signings of O’Reilly and defenseman Luke Schenn suggest otherwise.
At 32 years of age, adding a Conn Smythe winner in Ryan O’Reilly is firmly a win-now signing. O’Reilly is at his most valuable in the postseason, and is talents would be wasted on a club building for some distant future rather than an immediate playoff run.
O’Reilly has long been regarded as one of the top two-way centers in hockey, though his form in St. Louis earlier this season did raise some concerns about how his offense will age as he gets deeper into his thirties. O’Reilly scored 58 points in 2021-22 but just 19 in 40 games to start the year with the Blues.
He did fare much better after a mid-season deal to Toronto, so Nashville will undoubtedly be hoping that his Toronto form is more indicative of what they’ll be getting for the next four years.
If nothing else, the addition of O’Reilly will be a huge benefit to the Predators’ current crop of inexperienced young centers, such as Cody Glass, Juuso Parssinen, and Thomas Novak. If O’Reilly can help those pivots grow into quality NHLers while also playing up to the standard he’s established throughout his career, a $4.5MM price tag will feel like a bargain.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Edmonton Oilers To Sign Lane Pederson
The Edmonton Oilers are signing forward Lane Pederson to a two-year, one-way deal worth $775K per season, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
The 25-year-old Saskatoon native is an accomplished AHL scorer who has scored around a point-per-game rate in the American League in recent seasons without much success in the NHL. He played for two NHL clubs last year and scored a combined six points in 27 games.
He has the versatility to play both center and wing and has been an alternate captain in earlier locations during his career, so his signing will be a major benefit to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, should he fail to make the team out of training camp and clear waivers.
While he was claimed off of waivers this past season that may not be as much of an issue at the start-of-season waiver period since significant injury issues down the middle were a significant motivator to Columbus placing their claim.
Teams are unlikely to be in similarly dire positions at the start of the season, meaning Pederson has a solid chance of starting the season in Bakersfield, where he’d instantly be among their most important players as well as a priority call-up option should the Oilers themselves run into some injury trouble.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Mikhail Maltsev
Forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan is returning to the Los Angeles Kings despite not being issued a qualifying offer yesterday. Per the team, he’s been issued a one-year deal worth $775K. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports they’ve also signed forward Mikhail Maltsev to another one-year, $775K deal.
Anderson-Dolan has been with the Kings since he was drafted by them 41st overall at the 2017 draft. In 2021-22 Anderson-Dolan took a step forward in the AHL, scoring 24 goals and 47 points in 53 games. That earned him a long look at the NHL level, and he got into 46 regular-season games scoring seven goals and 12 points.
With this affordable contract extension, Anderson-Dolan is likely to once again be in place for a depth role in Los Angeles, though as he’s set to turn 24 he won’t be waiver-exempt as he was in earlier seasons.
Maltsev, 25, is a speedy winger who, like Anderson-Dolan, has been a quality scorer at the AHL level but hasn’t quite found his footing yet in the NHL. He’s got just nine points in 56 career NHL games but 91 points in 134 games at the AHL level.
While he’ll have to clear waivers to be sent to the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ affiliate, should he clear he’d boost their offensive attack while also serving as a call-up option should some injury issues hit the Kings’ lineup.
Luke Schenn To Sign With Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are signing veteran defenseman Luke Schenn to a three-year deal worth $2.75MM per season, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
This is a major coup for Schenn, who has secured a massive pay raise from the $850k he earned this past season. He’s now secured a quality annual paycheck for three seasons where he’ll be in his mid-thirties, a rarity for defensive defensemen like Schenn.
He’s certainly earned the raise, though, as he’s had a career renaissance over the past few seasons. In 2018-19 Schenn played in the AHL for the first time in his career, actually skating more games in the American League than the NHL. But after signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning Schenn re-emerged as an NHL depth defenseman, even playing a cameo role on two Stanley Cup-winning teams.
That earned him a more regular job on the Vancouver Canucks blueline, where he re-established himself as a physical, defensively competent defenseman. His ice time jumped up to over 17 minutes a night, and he was eventually dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for their playoff push.
In Nashville, Schenn will be a relied-upon defensive defenseman who should be a regular face on their penalty kill. While it’s certainly a risk for a team to hand this kind of term to a player like Schenn at Schenn’s age, Nashville has certainly upgraded its defense at least in the immediate term and did not pay an exorbitant cost to do so.