UFA Notes: Rangers, Panthers, Oilers
Late July and early August have traditionally meant bargain bin shopping for NHL teams as unrestricted free agency drags on, and this season is no different – especially with a tight salary cap situation for most clubs. With roughly $2.25MM in projected cap space to spare and a new contract still needed for winger Alexis Lafreniere, Larry Brooks of the New York Post wonders about the Rangers dipping into the professional tryout market as training camps draw closer to round out the bottom of their lineup. With the team’s fourth line (and projected scratches) made up mainly of defensive specialists, Brooks surmises the likes of Max Comtois or Colin White as being fit for a tryout or a league-minimum deal. If the team is still looking to add grit and replace the fourth-line presence of Ryan Reaves, Zack Kassian is still on the market after getting bought out by the Arizona Coyotes, as well as former Ottawa Senator Austin Watson.
Some other potential offseason moves bandied about this morning:
- Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards thinks the Florida Panthers may not be done after a busy free agency period and believes they could be in the conversation for top UFA winger Vladimir Tarasenko if he’s willing to take a short-term deal in the $4MM range. It’s been a disappointing offseason for the 31-year-old, who failed to secure a long-term commitment when free agency opened on July 1 and changed his representation less than a week later. Per CapFriendly, the Panthers still have nearly $10MM of LTIR relief from Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour to dip into. However, they’ll need to figure out how to maintain cap compliance once the pair of defenders get healthy throughout next season.
- Another cap-strapped team looking to add depth is the Edmonton Oilers, and The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell thinks Tomas Tatar or Paul Stastny could be potential fits at the bottom of their forward lineup. Adding to the roster will be incredibly tough for the Oilers, though, who will likely dry up their remaining $6MM in cap space on new deals for forward Ryan McLeod and defenseman Evan Bouchard and will only be able to carry one (or potentially zero) healthy scratch(es) when the season starts. Stastny, 37, would be the likelier option out of the two to take a sub-$1MM deal after taking a $1.5MM contract with the Carolina Hurricanes last season and recording 22 points in 73 games.
Mitchell Miller No Longer Under Contract With Bruins
After a highly controversial and illustriously short stint with the Boston Bruins organization early last season, defenseman Mitchell Miller is no longer under contract with the team. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports the Bruins attempted to terminate Miller’s entry-level deal when they announced they’d parted ways with the 21-year-old just two days after signing him. He was not placed on unconditional waivers to execute the move, however, and the NHLPA filed a grievance. Brooks says Miller, the Bruins, and the NHLPA settled in February 2023 under the condition of confidentiality, granting Miller a one-time unknown payment and unrestricted free agent status. Miller’s contract was still active on Boston’s CapFriendly page until this weekend, though the site now shows his contract was officially terminated on April 30, 2023.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney signed Miller in November 2022 despite public knowledge that he’d been convicted of assault in 2016 for bullying and abusing Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, a Black classmate with developmental disabilities. Boston was not the first team to acquire Miller’s NHL rights, however – the Arizona Coyotes selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft but renounced his rights after the assault conviction became public despite knowing of his conviction at the time of the draft. Miller’s assault of his classmate, detailed by The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline after the Coyotes dropped him from their reserve list, included allegations of racial slurs toward Meyer-Crothers and multiple forms of physical and verbal bullying.
The Bruins moved on from Miller within hours of acquiring him, though, with team president Cam Neely apologizing that “this decision has overshadowed the incredible work the members of our organization do to support diversity and inclusion efforts.” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman also said Miller was not eligible to play in the NHL and would need to have his status reviewed before being granted permission to play.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reported in November that a settlement similar to the one eventually reached was one of three possibilities for Boston to contractually separate from Miller. After not playing at all in 2022-23, Brooks says Miller’s likiest option to continue a pro hockey career will be in Europe.
Former Senator Antoine Bibeau To Sign In Sweden
After spending last season under contract with the Ottawa Senators, goaltender Antoine Bibeau is heading overseas to continue his career with HockeyAllsvenskan’s AIK, per a report from Expressen’s Johan Svensson. Bibeau heads to the second tier of Swedish pro hockey after nine seasons of bouncing between the NHL, AHL and ECHL while under contract with six different NHL teams. The 29-year-old netminder will replace former St. Louis Blues prospect Niklas Lundstrom as the team’s starter as they try and gain promotion to the SHL for the first time since 2013-14.
Bibeau joined the Senators as minor-league depth last season, signing a one-year, two-way deal with the team in free agency. He would go on to post rather uninspiring numbers behind a poor AHL Belleville team, however, recording a 3.51 goals-against average, .894 save percentage and 9-10-2 record in 23 appearances. Injuries kept him in and out of the B-Sens’ lineup down the stretch and prevented him from getting a call-up to Ottawa when injuries took down their tandem of Anton Forsberg and Cam Talbot at the end of 2022-23.
The 6-foot-3, 216-pound goalie began his NHL journey in 2013, drafted 172nd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs. After a final season in juniors split between the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders and Val-d’Or Foreurs and two full seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Bibeau made his NHL debut with the Leafs in 2016-17, stopping 51 of 55 shots in two games. However, his numbers with the Marlies dipped in that third season, and Toronto cut him loose by not issuing him a qualifying offer upon the expiration of his entry-level contract.
Before landing with the Senators last year, Bibeau spent time in the San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes, and Seattle Kraken organizations. His only other NHL action came in 2019-20 with the Avalanche, recording a 3.27 goals-against average and .881 save percentage in two games.
He now gets a chance to gain some stability overseas, especially if he can help turn around the performance of an AIK club that has finished under the .500 mark in four consecutive Allsvenskan campaigns. He’ll be backed up by 21-year-old Norwegian Tobias Normann, who joins AIK after two exceptional seasons in Norway’s top league.
Kraken Unable To Buy Out Chris Driedger In Post-Arbitration Window
One of the oft-overlooked benefits of heading to arbitration with a player is some potential additional salary cap flexibility in the form of a second buyout. It’s a window granted to teams for a 48-hour period beginning three days after they settle their last arbitration case. The Seattle Kraken did so with defenseman Vince Dunn today, inking him to a rather significant four-year, $29.4MM pact.
A rather obvious candidate for a buyout on the Kraken is netminder Chris Driedger, who the team was aggressively trying to shop earlier this summer. He missed most of the season with injury and couldn’t work his way back into the Kraken lineup when healthy, instead playing 14 games for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds and slipping to fourth on the team’s goalie depth chart. He didn’t see a single second of action in the Firebirds’ run to Game 7 of the Calder Cup Final in their first season.
He’s third now with the departure of Martin Jones in free agency, but his $3.5MM cap hit is incredibly steep for a third-string netminder. However, Seattle will not be able to use a buyout on Driedger – players bought out during the conditional second window must have a cap hit of at least $4MM (and have been on the team’s reserve list at the prior season’s trade deadline).
It leaves Seattle with no other likely buyout options in the second window, so don’t expect them to take advantage of that early next week. The Kraken are now within $2MM of the salary cap’s $83.5MM Upper Limit after signing Dunn, a testament to the team’s quick rise to relevance with a payroll that reflects it.
The team will likely continue its attempts to move Driedger as the season draws nigh, as even getting rid of him at 50% salary retention is preferable to burying him in the minors, which would only bring his cap hit down to $2.35MM.
Philadelphia is the only team to utilize its post-arbitration buyout window this offseason, parting ways with defenseman Tony DeAngelo and the final season of a two-year, $10MM contract last week.
Blues Sign Jeremie Biakabutuka To Entry-Level Contract
After attending prospect/development camp for both the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues over the past two summers, undrafted defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka has finally landed an NHL contract. The 21-year-old received a three-year, entry-level contract from the Blues today, as announced by the team.
Passed over in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 NHL Drafts, Biakabutuka has steadily developed his offensive game throughout his junior career in the QMJHL, adding to an already formidable 6-foot-4, 203-pound frame. He played his fifth and final season of major-junior hockey with the Charlottetown Islanders last year, leading their defensemen and finishing third on the team in scoring with 42 points in 56 games. His 0.75 points per game also tied him for 13th among QMJHL defenders last year alongside San Jose Sharks prospect Jake Furlong.
The son of former NFL running back Tim Biakabutuka plays a rather all-around game and is a stronger skater and more offensively-inclined decision-maker than you’d expect for a defenseman of his size. It’s a blend of smarts and size that’s led to multiple invites from NHL teams, and with his junior career concluded, the Blues took notice of his strong finish.
His junior career was quite eventful, bouncing around between the Val-d’Or Foreurs and Rimouski Océanic before landing in Charlottetown via trade in 2022. He finished out the 2022-23 campaign on a tryout with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in the Red Wings organization, skating in three games.
Biakabutuka is destined for assignment to the minors next season, where he joins a crowded defense group in AHL Springfield that will likely include rising prospect Matthew Kessel and minor-league mainstays like Joshua Jacobs and Wyatt Kalynuk. St. Louis does not have a dedicated ECHL affiliate, so it’s unclear to which team they would loan Biakabutuka if he can’t crack the AHL roster in Springfield. He’ll be a restricted free agent when his ELC expires in 2026.
Ottawa Senators Officially Part Ways With AGM Trent Mann
In an expected move reported by Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch over a week ago, the Ottawa Senators have officially announced their decision to part ways with assistant general manager Trent Mann. The 50-year-old has been affiliated with the Senators since joining as an amateur scout in 2011 and joined as a full-time member in the fall of 2016.
Last season was Mann’s sole campaign holding the role of assistant GM. The New Brunswick native had been the team’s director of amateur scouting for the previous five seasons before the organization promoted him to a more wide-ranging role alongside GM Pierre Dorion.
Mann has been the principal talent evaluator and most considerable organizational influence in the team’s past six draft classes. While they’ve yielded some gems, such as a trio of top-five picks in Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, and Jake Sanderson, a fair amount of Ottawa’s other recent selections in recent years have come under intense scrutiny, perhaps none more than the decision to select forward Tyler Boucher with the tenth overall pick in 2021. It was viewed as quite a reach at the time, and it hasn’t looked great post-draft either – the 20-year-old has bounced around the college and junior ranks and failed to produce at a rate consistent with a top-ten forward selection.
Dorion release a notably short statement on Mann’s departure, simply saying, “We’re thankful for Trent’s contributions to the Senators and wish him the best going forward.”
His son, Matteo Mann, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the seventh round of this year’s draft. His departure leaves Ottawa with just one assistant GM – Ryan Bowness, whose chief role is serving as the general manager of their AHL affiliate in Belleville.
Arbitration Breakdown: Ilya Samsonov
While many players who elected salary arbitration have already settled with their teams, several players are still headed toward hearings, which start tomorrow with the Chicago Blackhawks and forward Philipp Kurashev. Slated for Friday, though, is one of the more intriguing cases still unresolved: Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Ilya Samsonov.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last night that the two sides are still actively working on a short-term deal, which could get done over the next 48 hours and avoid going to arbitration. Arbitration is usually something teams look to avoid, given they’ll have to agree to any deal awarded under the $4.5MM mark per season. But in Toronto’s case, it’s a good thing – the team is already over the salary cap even with defenseman Jake Muzzin stashed on long-term injured reserve, meaning certainty around Samsonov’s cap hit next season is crucial for them to know exactly how much space to clear in follow-up moves. They’ll have financial assurance with Samsonov one way or another within the next four days.
Filings
Team: $2.4MM
Player: $4.9MM
Midpoint: $3.65MM
(via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman)
The Numbers
Last season was, far and away, Samsonov’s best performance to date. A Washington Capitals first-round selection in 2015, Samsonov had shown flashes of strong play during his time in the nation’s capital, especially during his rookie season in 2019-20 when he recorded a 16-6-2 record, .913 save percentage and finished 12th in Calder Trophy voting. After that, things went progressively downhill for the Russian netminder, though, seeing his numbers dip far below league average as injuries limited his playing time. After posting a relatively poor .896 save percentage with the Capitals in 2021-22, he was surprisingly cut loose from the team entirely, hitting the UFA market at age 25 after Washington didn’t issue him a qualifying offer.
Toronto extended him a one-year, $1.8MM prove-it deal to complete their tandem with Matt Murray, and Samsonov soon took over the de facto starting role for himself after a series of injuries kept Murray out of the crease for much of the season. While depth netminders Erik Kallgren and Joseph Woll also found their way into action, Samsonov started a career-high 40 games last year and put together the highest level of play from him in the NHL, even if he was inconsistent at times.
He may not be in the upper echelon of starting netminders, especially with only one top-flight-level season under his belt. Still, he outdueled countryman Andrei Vasilevskiy just a few months ago and was perhaps the most significant reason Toronto won their first playoff series in nearly two decades. An injury early in the Second Round kept him out of the last few games of playoff action, though.
With Toronto in a tight financial situation and Samsonov not having a proven track record, it makes sense why the Maple Leafs want to go short-term with their current starter. They do have Woll in the pipeline, who’s expected to be the full-time backup next season and could potentially be ready for the starting job in a few years. That said, Toronto would surely like to settle with Samsonov on a two- or three-year deal to solidify consistency in their crease.
Because Samsonov would be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2024, he can only sign a one-year deal via arbitration – not two. If the two sides want a longer-term deal, they must settle before the hearing.
2022-23 Stats: 42 GP, 27-10-5, 4 SO, 2,476 mins, 2.33 GAA, .919 SV%
Career Stats: 131 GP, 79-32-13, 10 SO, 7,341 mins, 2.65 GAA, .908 SV%
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.
Vitek Vanecek (Devils) – If you’re looking for the framework of a potential deal, look no further than Samsonov’s former tandem partner in Washington. After two average seasons as a tandem netminder in D.C., Vanecek’s RFA rights were traded to New Jersey last offseason before he signed a three-year, $3.4MM AAV contract with the club. Coming off seasons of 37 and 42 games played and .908 save percentages in both seasons, Vanecek might have had consistency on his side more so than Samsonov, but he hadn’t reached the level Samsonov has at times throughout his young career. The latter is a bit of a unicorn in recent RFA goalie signings, and it makes sense why he’d want more than his ex-teammate, but Vanecek’s deal falls near the midpoint of the two filings.
Alexandar Georgiev (Avalanche) – Just a few days before Vanecek signed a deal with his new team in 2022, Georgiev signed the same contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Georgiev had more experience and was perhaps a more highly-touted solution as a starter than Vanecek, but he was coming off a rough year with the New York Rangers that saw his save percentage dip below the .900 mark. Samsonov’s performance last season was much better than either Vanecek’s or Georgiev’s before they signed their deals, though, something he’ll likely leverage in his hearing to make his case for an AAV in the $3.5-$4.5MM range.
Projection
This is the first arbitration case of the summer where the filing values have been publically exchanged, so it’s a bit more challenging to project a first-of-the-offseason deal, especially when there’s a lack of solid comparables in 2023 from which to compare Samsonov’s situation.
On a one-year deal with the potential to cash in for big money on the UFA market in 2024, though, it seems unlikely the arbitrator would rule significantly in Samsonov’s favor. The filings seem pretty reasonable based on past cases, and they’re positioned to grant Samsonov a deal right around the midpoint of the filings, potentially a bit higher. Expect something in the $3.75MM range on a one-year pact for Samsonov if the two sides don’t settle before Friday’s hearing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Mikael Backlund Still Unsure About Extension With Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames center Mikael Backlund has expressed uncertainty regarding a contract extension with the team, joining several current and former teammates who have expiring contracts after the 2023-24 season. In a recent interview with Swedish outlet SportExpressen, Backlund said he’s focused on playing out the upcoming season and will consider an extension based on how things unfold.
The 34-year-old Swedish two-way dynamo expressed his openness to signing an extension if the season goes well, but he also acknowledged that the future remains uncertain if things don’t go as planned. A translated quote from the interview reads, “I’m ready to come back and play the season, and if it goes great, I might want to extend after the season. If it doesn’t go well, we’ll see what happens.”
Backlund’s situation adds to the list of pending unrestricted free agents for the Flames in 2024, which includes names such as Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov. The Flames have already dealt away one player who didn’t have an extension past next season in place, trading winger Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils for a 2023 third-round pick and forward Yegor Sharangovich.
If he does opt to test the free agent market next season, Calgary won’t want to lose him for nothing. Once a potential candidate for their captaincy, which has been vacant since the Seattle Kraken claimed Mark Giordano in the 2021 Expansion Draft, Backlund will almost certainly be dealt by the trade deadline in 2024 if the Flames aren’t in the playoff picture.
Departing Calgary would mean leaving the only NHL home Backlund’s ever known. The 2007 first-round pick has played in parts of 15 seasons for the Flames, skating in 908 games and recording 492 points while earning Selke Trophy votes on multiple occasions, especially later in his career.
In the interim, new general manager Craig Conroy has quite a lot of work to do in monitoring the situations of Calgary’s other pending UFAs. Priority number one is likely trading Hanifin, who’s been more explicit about his intentions not to re-sign. His opinion on staying in Alberta is less influenced by their performance next year than Backlund’s or Lindholm’s.
NHL Not Pursuing In-Season Tournament
The NHL has clarified that it has no plans to introduce an in-season tournament akin to the NBA’s upcoming European cup-style competition. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the league’s stance to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski today, stating they are not seeking to follow the NBA’s lead.
The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver recently unveiled plans for an in-season tournament in November and December of next season, leading to speculation about NHL crossover considering the two leagues have long operated similarly in season length, conference alignment, and playoff format. These tournament games will count towards the teams’ regular-season standings, culminating in a championship game that will not affect their season record. Players on the winning team are also in line to earn significant financial incentives.
It would have been a wild step out of bounds for the NHL, whose season format has largely remained unchanged over the past few decades, save for season-shortening factors like lockouts and COVID or the addition of events such as outdoor games in recent years.
Daly emphasized that the NHL is not considering implementing a similar tournament structure. Responding to an inquiry from Wyshynski, he stated via email that “no consideration [is] being given to in-season tournaments.”
Marty Walsh, the newly-minted executive director of the NHLPA, also spoke to Wyshynski. While acknowledging that no formal discussions have taken place among the players, Walsh expressed openness toward exploring the concept of an in-season tournament:
I think it’s worth looking at anything that’s out there. I tell players all the time, even if you have an idea that you think is kind of off the wall a little bit, just run it by me. You never know what turns into a brilliant idea.
However, Walsh relayed that NHL players’ focus on changes to the season structure would revolve around international play, not additional league events. Since assuming the role of NHLPA head in February, Walsh said to Wyshynski that players encourage discussions surrounding the potential revival of the World Cup of Hockey in 2025 and the return of NHL participation in the Winter Olympics, next slated for Milan, Italy, in 2026. The NHL hasn’t sent its players to the Olympics in nearly a decade, last permitting them to attend the event in 2014.
It’s worth noting that an in-season tournament does exist in pro hockey, albeit on the other side of the Atlantic. The Champions Hockey League is an in-season tournament including 26 teams from top-level leagues in 13 European countries, with the number of berths per league divvied up based on how well teams from that league performed in the previous CHL season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Hire Derek Clancey
The Toronto Maple Leafs have filled out their front office, hiring former Vancouver Canucks executive Derek Clancey as assistant general manager with a player personnel specialty today, according to a team release.
Vancouver announced Clancey’s departure just minutes before Toronto picked him up. In Toronto, the 54-year-old executive reunites with general manager Brad Treliving, with whom he served as a pro scout in 2021-22 while both were members of the Calgary Flames.
Toronto is now Clancey’s third team in as many seasons, but don’t take that as a poor reflection on his career resume. Joining the NHL ranks in 2007, he was a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins front office for all four of their Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2008, 2019, 2015, and 2016, first as a pro scout before transitioning to their director of professional scouting.
Clancey is the third major addition/replacement in Toronto’s front office this season, joining Treliving and special assistant to the GM Shane Doan as the new faces among Maple Leafs’ executives. His focus with Toronto will undoubtedly be on pro talent evaluation, and his input will be highly sought after when discussing potential trades, waiver claims, or free agent signings.
Canucks general manager Jim Rutherford later released a statement, confirming Vancouver would not pursue a replacement for Clancey and will collectively replace his role among the other assistant general managers.