Washington Capitals Acquire Joel Edmundson
The Washington Capitals are close to solidifying their defense corps. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, they’re working on a deal to acquire left-shot Joel Edmundson from the Montreal Canadiens. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger, Montreal is receiving draft picks in return. Those picks are a 2024 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-rounder. The Canadiens are retaining 50% of Edmundson’s $3.5MM cap hit as part of the deal.
This is a trade that’s easy to like from both sides of the equation. For Washington, they get to add an accomplished veteran defenseman who is both a respected stay-at-home blueliner as well as a valued locker-room leader. While he’s had injury issues crop up more recently during his tenure in Montreal, Edmundson is a Stanley Cup champion with significant playoff experience.
He’s provided the Canadiens with steady play and at times a ferocious net-front presence. He’s likely a better fit on a bottom-pairing with penalty-killing time than he is as a bona fide top-four player.
Thankfully in Washington they have the type of defensive depth that will allow new head coach Spencer Carbery to utilize Edmundson how he prefers.
With Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary already penciled into slots on Washington’s left side, Edmundson is likely to pair with Trevor Van Riemsdyk, giving Washington a bulletproof third-pairing that Carbery can deploy in high-leverage defensive situations. With 50% retention, it’s hard to argue at the draft pick cost for the Capitals.
As for Montreal’s side of the equation, it undoubtedly hurts to lose Edmundson’s locker room leadership for their young team. But Montreal has a crop of young blueliners that’ll need ice time to develop, and with Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj, and Kaiden Guhle all left-handers, not to mention veteran Mike Matheson, there simply wasn’t room for Edmundson if the priority in Montreal is player development.
By retaining salary, Montreal gets the best possible draft compensation to further their rebuild, while also clearing space for their growing group of promising young blueliners.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Antti Raanta
Netminder Antti Raanta is sticking around with the Carolina Hurricanes. TSN’s Darren Dreger says he’s signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract minutes before he would have hit unrestricted free agency.
Raanta, 34, has spent the last two seasons as a backup goalie with the Hurricanes. He’s played 55 games in that span and posted a .911 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against-average. Performance has never been the issue for Raanta, who has an impressive .918 career save percentage. Instead, it’s been availability that’s been his major issue.
Raanta has consistently struggled with injuries throughout his NHL career, Carolina included. As a result, Carolina has more recently preferred to carry three NHL-caliber goalies in order to insulate themselves from any Raanta injuries.
At a $1.5MM price tag with no extra term attached, the Hurricanes have taken one step towards rebuilding their three-goalie tandem, and while they certainly could opt to run with just Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov as their goalie tandem, it’s unlikely this deal locks them out of making any other goalie moves.
Matt Nieto Expected To Sign With Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting a head start on free agency, reportedly getting a veteran addition to their bottom six. Winger Matt Nieto is expected to sign a two-year deal worth $900K to join the Penguins, says TSN’s Darren Dreger, who previously reported Nieto was heading to Edmonton.
Nieto, 30, is a respected bottom-six player who split last season between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Nieto has averaged just over 14 minutes of ice time per night in his career, though he saw his ice time drop dramatically after his mid-season trade to the Avalanche. He was averaging over 15 minutes per night in San Jose, and went to under 11 minutes with the Avalanche.
A capable penalty-killer and defensive presence, Nieto chipped in 12 goals and 24 points in 81 games last season. While Nieto doesn’t offer the size or overwhelming physicality that some teams would like to see out of their bottom-six forwards, there are far worse options for a team to run in their bottom-six.
Nieto has been on a few playoff runs of significance, and that’s exactly what Pittsburgh hopes to be doing next season. An offseason priority for the Penguins has been upgrading the lower-end of their lineup, and adding Nieto will help them do just that.
Florida Panthers To Sign Anthony Stolarz
The Florida Panthers are making moves to strengthen their goaltending depth, reportedly agreeing to terms with Anthony Stolarz on a one-year contract. According to The Hockey News’ David Dwork, the deal is expected to be in the $1MM range.
Stolarz’s addition to the Panthers’ roster is an interesting move that could provide valuable insurance in net. While Sergei Bobrovsky remains the team’s undisputed starter, Stolarz is a high-end secondary option in case backup Spencer Knight remains unavailable to the team to start 2023-24. The goaltender is expected to return to the team after spending the last few months of the season in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, but it’s not confirmed.
The 27-year-old netminder has had limited opportunities at the NHL level for quite a while but has emerged as a legitimate backup option in the last two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks. Over four seasons in total with the Ducks organization, Stolarz posted a solid .913 save percentage in 56 games (43 starts). He has also spent time with the Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers in his career.
Getting a third goalie in the mix is a priority for the Panthers moving forward, as outside of his stunning playoff run in these past playoffs Bobrovsky has been massively inconsistent in Florida. The Panthers needed some heroics from third-string goalie Alex Lyon to even sneak into the postseason, so with this signing, they’ve shored up their goaltending depth in case another situation like that arises.
Atlantic Notes: Andersen, Kerfoot, Panthers UFAs
Goaltender Frederik Andersen‘s future with the Carolina Hurricanes remains uncertain, as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic suggests the Danish netminder is likely to test the UFA market today. While the door isn’t entirely closed on a return to the Hurricanes, speculations have surfaced about potential landing spots for the experienced netminder, including the Ottawa Senators, who Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch says will be calling when the market opens at 11 am CT.
As Garrioch notes, Andersen played under Senators head coach D.J. Smith when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where Smith was an assistant for part of Andersen’s tenure. The team is looking for a veteran to supplement Anton Forsberg in the crease after deciding not to re-sign Cam Talbot, as well as providing insurance for young third-string netminder Mads Sogaard – another Dane to whom Andersen would provide invaluable mentorship.
Per LeBrun, the Pittsburgh Penguins could also attempt to sign Andersen if re-signing Tristan Jarry falls through. The Senators, on the other hand, are also still holding discussions with Travis Hamonic, but Garrioch says it’s unclear in which direction negotiations are headed.
More from the Atlantic Division this morning:
- After a four-season stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs, forward Alexander Kerfoot is set to hit the open market, per Postmedia’s Lance Hornby. While there is a possibility of a potential return to Toronto, it hinges on the financial demands that Kerfoot’s new contract may entail – they’re not willing to overpay on market value to retain him and would rather keep their salary cap flexibility open to get some new names on the UFA market. After being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 Nazem Kadri trade, Kerfoot totaled 40 goals, 94 assists, and 134 points in 285 games for Toronto in a middle-six role.
- The Florida Panthers are gearing up for free agency, with their main focus on strengthening their defense corps, which is set to be hit with significant injuries to start 2023-24 in Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. While the team aims to secure players on shorter-term contracts, two of their UFAs, Radko Gudas and Lucas Carlsson, could still receive offers to return to the Panthers, general manager Bill Zito told reporters, including The Hockey News’ David Dwork. Gudas has been an invaluable shutdown defender since joining the Panthers in 2020, also compiling over 200 penalty minutes during his time in Florida whilst in a bottom-pairing role. Carlsson, on the other hand, is likely to receive a lot of NHL interest after an impressive season with the Charlotte Checkers, leading all AHL defensemen in goals. He could vie for an everyday role out of camp, with injuries opening up roster spots.
Florida Panthers Expected To Sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is landing on his feet after getting bought out by the Vancouver Canucks earlier this month. Per TSN’s Darren Dreger and CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, he’s expected to sign a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers worth $2.25MM.
Ekman-Larsson hadn’t at all lived up to expectations in Vancouver, but the decision to buy him out with four years left on his deal surprised many. It is the largest non-compliance buyout in NHL history, and the Swede will now earn an additional $2.25MM this season on top of the $2.13MM he’s slated to receive in real cash from Vancouver and $290K from Arizona. It’s still less money than the $10.5MM base salary he was owed from his previous contract in 2023-24.
For the Panthers, this signing represents a low-risk, medium-reward move. Ekman-Larsson is a former All-Star and Olympic medalist, but he’s been wildly inconsistent in the past few seasons and has played long stretches of being a defensive liability in both Vancouver and Arizona, where he was a captain for three seasons between 2018 and 2021.
Now 31, Ekman-Larsson could slot into Florida’s top four to start the season and maybe longer. For now, he serves as a direct replacement on the left side for veteran Marc Staal, who’s on the UFA market. He does find himself with the best opportunity to win in quite a while, joining a Panthers team fresh off a miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.
From a financial standpoint, the one-year, $2.25MM deal is a decent bit of work for the Panthers. It provides them with a cost-effective option to bolster their defensive depth without committing to a long-term contract – something they’d reportedly prioritized achieving.
Last season, Ekman-Larsson logged two goals and 22 points in 54 games with the Canucks, averaging just over 20 minutes per game. He’ll likely see a reduction in those minutes as the season progresses for Florida and they return to full health on the blueline.
Ottawa Senators Re-Sign Jacob Bernard-Docker
The Ottawa Senators have made a second defenseman signing today after extending Erik Brannstrom just minutes ago. They’ve locked in Jacob Bernard-Docker to a two-year, $1.61MM contract carrying an average annual value of $850K. Per the team, the 23-year-old will earn a $785K salary in 2023-24 and a $825K salary in 2024-25.
Bernard-Docker just wrapped up his three-year entry-level contract, which saw him make NHL appearances in every season of the deal. Now with 32 NHL games under his belt, the 2018 first-round has struggled to make an impact offensively at both the NHL and AHL levels but looks to be developing into a solid defensive player. He didn’t look entirely out of place in 19 NHL appearances this season, holding his own defensively in a limited role.
He does have just two points to his name in his NHL career, though, and he had just six points in 41 AHL contests with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23. While still providing some bottom-four upside at this point, you’d like to see a little more production from a first-round pick who had no issue getting on the scoresheet in college.
He could get more of a chance next season, as the contract is a one-way deal. He would also require waivers to be sent to the minors next season, which the Sens likely aren’t willing to expose him to.
PHR 2023 Free Agent Frenzy Live Chat
The best day of the year for hockey fans is here, and PHR is gearing up for all-day coverage of the first day of the 2023-24 league season. Click here to read the transcript of this morning’s live chat with PHR’s Josh Erickson.
Looking At Five 2023 Non-Qualified UFA Targets
The 2023 unrestricted free agent class may be disappointing, especially with some high-profile names like Stanley Cup champions Ivan Barbashev and Adin Hill coming off the board in recent days. However, the market did get a bit of a boost in the last 24 hours thanks to a slew of buyouts and the qualifying offer deadline, which saw over 100 restricted free agents get released by their teams to unrestricted status tomorrow. With that being said, it’s time to take a look at some of the more intriguing targets now available for teams to sign.
Each player’s former team is listed in parentheses. You can find the full list of RFAs that went unqualified here.
D Ethan Bear (VAN)
The summer will likely end with Bear re-signing in Vancouver, but there’s nothing stopping him from heading elsewhere if a team comes calling. He could last a bit into the summer as he recovers from a shoulder injury sustained while playing at the IIHF Men’s World Championship, though.
After not really finding a role in the Carolina Hurricanes lineup, Bear had a very solid season with the Canucks, posting 16 points in 61 games and providing high-end two-way play for a team that desperately needed it. Add in the fact he’s a right shot and still only 26 years old, and he makes for a rather appealing target that would have landed on our top 50 unrestricted free agents list for 2023.
He’s likely to earn a two-to-three-year deal, probably slightly under his $2.2MM qualifying offer. If so, all signs point to it being one of the better value signings of a summer poised to see some overpayments out of need in a weak UFA class.
F Denis Gurianov (MTL)
Things have been downhill for the 2015 12th overall pick since he logged 20 goals in his rookie season, a feat he hasn’t matched since. After sliding back out of a consistent top-nine role with the Dallas Stars, he was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens at the deadline in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov, a move that may have paid dividends for both sides. Gurianov did show a bit of a resurgence with the Habs, scoring five goals and eight points in 23 games, looking more engaged than he did with the Stars. The Habs will likely attempt to get a deal done here, but he wasn’t worth the $2.9MM qualifying offer he was due.
This is not a case of analytics suggesting a breakout, though, in fact, it’s the opposite. There are red flags nearly everywhere in his profile, suggesting he’s a liability in isolation. There is still some obvious raw skill with Gurianov, though, and for a cheap cost, he could put up some higher point totals with picture-perfect chemistry. It remains to be seen whether he’ll ever find that.
D Caleb Jones (CHI)
The counting stats here aren’t the prettiest, but advanced metrics have long tabbed Jones as an effective player for his role. Last season, Jones’ -19 rating may not have been pretty, but he also logged nearly 20 minutes a night on a lottery team. In fact, Jones logged a career-high relative Corsi for percentage at even strength of 4.8%, and his 16 points in 73 games were a career-high.
He’ll never break the bank offensively from the blue line, nor should you expect him to, but he’s got an underrated ability to drive play and proved this season he can take on more serious minutes against tougher competition. Add in the fact he can play both the left and right side, and he should be quite a good value signing for a team looking to bolster their third pair (or potentially second).
At 26, though, Jones was nearing retirement age on a very youthful Chicago blueline, and they decided to cut ties to make room for more of their future talent. He shouldn’t cost much more than $2MM on a one-year offer.
F Daniel Sprong (SEA)
Sprong easily jumps out as the most tantalizing target here. Quickly overtaking Dale Weise for the “Dutch Gretzky” title (sorry, Canadiens fans), Sprong has grown into one of the most efficient per-minute scorers in the league. He’s notched at least 13 goals in four of the last five seasons, never averaging more than 13 minutes per game – in fact, he scored 21 goals (and 46 points) in just 66 games with the Kraken this year despite staying squarely in a fourth-line role, averaging 11:25 per game. He was 17th in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes this season among skaters with at least 25 games.
With that, he’s set himself up for more ice time and more money. He was eligible for arbitration and likely would’ve garnered a rich reward for his production – a number Seattle didn’t want to pay. That doesn’t mean another team won’t, although an underwhelming playoff performance may scare some teams off. For a fringe team looking to add a high-octane option to its top nine, though, look no further than the 26-year-old Sprong.
He could very well command above the $3MM mark on a short-term but multi-year deal, especially from a team slated toward the bottom of the league standings. He jumps out as an attractive option for teams like the Arizona Coyotes, who could bank on Sprong’s production maintaining (or even increasing) with a slight bump in minutes, parlaying it into a valuable trade at next year’s deadline. Signing him to a two- or three-year deal with cost certainty as the salary cap rises would only add to his trade value.
F Sam Steel (MIN)
Steel is the only unqualified RFA who can say they were a number-one center last year. However, it was by necessity – with the Minnesota Wild needing Joel Eriksson Ek to round out their top-six on their second line, it was an in-and-out swap all year between Steel and Ryan Hartman between their pair of star wings in Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. Steel did have a career-high 10 goals and 28 points in 65 games, but you’d expect more for someone who spent over 350 minutes with Kaprizov and Zuccarello this season – especially from a former first-round pick.
That being said, you could do worse for a third-line center. Steel isn’t a liability defensively, and while he may not be able to translate his offensive acumen to the scoresheet in the NHL, he won’t take points away from those around him and can survive as a complementary player.
Still, with uninspiring production in Minnesota, he wasn’t a candidate to stick around, as the team needs every dollar available to them to stay in playoff contention. He’s flashed the least upside at the NHL level of any of the five players listed, although he does carry some certainty in terms of his defensive impacts and offensive production that others here don’t offer.
Other targets to watch: F Nathan Bastian (NJD), G Mackenzie Blackwood (SJS), F Max Comtois (ANA), F Morgan Geekie (SEA), F Tyson Jost (BUF), F Klim Kostin (DET), F Denis Malgin (COL), F Michael McLeod (NJD), F Jesse Puljujarvi (CAR)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
East Notes: Wheeler, Holl, Jost, Devils RFAs
Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler is one of the more intriguing late additions to the unrestricted free agent market after getting bought out today. While most analytics suggest the 36-year-old is over the hill, he did still notch 55 points in 72 games last season and should still be capable in a third-line role at worst, and could likely earn upwards of $3MM on a one-year deal.
Today, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the Florida Panthers have an interest in adding the veteran winger when he hits the open market tomorrow, although he won’t be their first priority. The team remains focused on shoring up their defense, with both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour set to miss the start of the season. Still, the team is projected to have $10.2MM in cap space (CapFriendly) without taking any LTIR relief into account, and they should easily be able to accommodate a forward of Wheeler’s likely price. Dreger also listed a former team of Wheeler’s, the Boston Bruins, as a potential fit, although their cap situation currently makes any external additions a tough ask.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Toronto Maple Leafs fans may not be the biggest Justin Holl supporters, but the blueliner could still end up returning to the team after the market opens tomorrow, says ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark. Clark notes there’s significant market interest in Holl, as multiple teams have inquired ahead of tomorrow, while The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel called it less than a 50% chance Holl would end up back in Toronto. Overall, the 31-year-old is a fine fit in most teams’ top fours but is prone to some extremely visible mistakes.
- While they didn’t qualify him today, it may not be the end of Tyson Jost‘s time in Buffalo. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports the Sabres are continuing to negotiate with his camp in hopes of working out a deal for the forward, who the team claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild earlier in the season. His presence at the beginning of the 2023-24 season was made more valuable by the news of Jack Quinn‘s Achilles injury, which will keep him out for at least the first few weeks of the campaign. He could slip to a press box role, however, upon Quinn’s return – especially if the team adds another forward on the free agent market (which they have ample cap space to do).
- The New Jersey Devils are also still negotiating with former RFA forwards Jesper Boqvist, Michael McLeod, and Nathan Bastian, none of whom were given qualifying offers today, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. New Jersey opted not to qualify any of these players, who likely won’t play any higher than a fourth-line role, out of fear that a potential arbitration award would be too rich for their blood.