Free Agent Profile: Victor Rask
Considering their recent rise to relevancy, it seems like forever ago that the Minnesota Wild acquired center Victor Rask in a one-for-one deal with the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Nino Niederreiter. The since-lopsided trade finally met a sort of resolution this year when, after clearing waivers, Rask and the final year of his contract were dealt to the Seattle Kraken for future considerations.
It also seems like forever ago when Rask had a breakout season at the perfect time. In the last season of his entry-level contract, 2015-16, Rask had a 21-goal, 48-point season, setting career highs in both marks. It prompted then-general manager Ron Francis, who hilariously enough re-acquired Rask as the GM of the Kraken, to give the Swedish forward a six-year, $24MM contract. He maintained solid middle-six production until 2018-19 when Carolina traded him to Minnesota after amassing just a goal and six points in 26 games.
In Minnesota, Rask’s production never recovered. As the team got better (and more expensive), Rask was frequently healthy scratched, and then waived this season, reporting to the AHL’s Iowa Wild where he scored 10 points in 10 games. Seattle kept him in the NHL down the stretch, where he did just fine with eight points in 18 games.
Over the past two seasons, though, Rask has been solid defensively, though Minnesota’s system could carry the weight of that. He carried the bad reputation that comes with being overpaid into free agency, which certainly hasn’t worked in his favor, but the 29-year-old could still have the defensive acumen (and shot) to be an NHL forward. He’s had a shooting percentage of at least 13% over the past three seasons.
Stats
2021-22: 47 GP, 9-12-21, +4 rating, 2 PIMs, 58 shots, 53.3 CF%, 50.6 FO%, 12:12 ATOI
Career: 506 GP, 89-134-223, -22 rating, 86 PIMs, 848 shots, 51.4 CF%, 50.1 FO%, 14:58 ATOI
Potential Suitors
Rask is an ideal fourth-line center for teams looking to solidify their bottom sixes. He carries some scoring upside and serious defensive upside, and he can be used on the power play in a pinch. Teams without young players ready to take bottom-six spots, or teams looking for some utility help in a limited role, would be wise to make an offer to Rask to continue his NHL career.
Everyone seems to be waiting on the Winnipeg Jets to do at least something with their cap space, namely improving and adding depth to their bottom six filled with question marks and experience. Rask would be a solid upgrade over Dominic Toninato in the fourth-line center role, as Rask’s 21 points in just 47 games this year nearly match Toninato’s career total of 29 in 164 games. He’s got more special teams acumen than Toninato as well, making him a more attractive lineup option for coaches.
If Rask wants a bigger role, the obvious bottom two teams in the league next season still need NHL players. The Chicago Blackhawks especially don’t have many young forwards that can step in next season, and Rask could potentially find himself back in a top-nine role if he heads to the Windy City.
Projected Contract
Rask certainly won’t receive anything more than a $1MM, one-year contract, especially at this point in the offseason, but he could likely at least secure a one-way deal greater than the league minimum. The teams with a spot left for him likely wouldn’t have any trouble accommodating that.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Calgary Flames Prospect Mitchell Mattson To Become Free Agent
One of the Calgary Flames’ picks from an otherwise fruitful draft class for them will hit the open market. 2016 fifth-round pick Mitchell Mattson is no longer listed on the team’s reserve list in their media portal, per FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike, meaning the team didn’t sign him prior to today’s deadline for certain college players’ signing rights.
Mattson, a center, was a somewhat risky selection at the time, and unfortunately for Calgary, there was no reward involved either. In his draft year, Mattson had a strong high school showing with 46 points in 25 games but had just two points in 21 USHL games with the USHL’s Bloomington Thunder.
After joining Michigan State for the 2018-19 season, it took Mattson two entire seasons to score his first college goal. Over four years at Michigan State, Mattson scored just eight points in a combined 80 games.
With production like that, even an ECHL contract might be out of reach for Mattsson if he’s staying in North America. If he can get a chance somewhere, though, the 2022-23 season will be crucial for him to get a professional hockey career back on track.
Free Agent Profile: Danny DeKeyser
The lack of movement on the salary cap in recent seasons has caused specific contracts to look worse than they otherwise would have. That especially holds true for players who signed mid-tier, long-term deals in the mid-2010s who haven’t quite been able to hold up their previous standard of play.
Longtime Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser fits that bill perfectly, although we can’t discount the role injuries have played in his decline. An undrafted free agent signing out of Western Michigan University, DeKeyser was quietly an important part of Detroit’s post-Nicklas Lidstrom transformation on defense. During his first full NHL season in 2013-14, DeKeyser stayed in the NHL full-time, amassing 23 points in 65 games and averaging over 21 minutes per game, good enough for a handful of Calder Trophy votes.
After signing a six-year, $30MM contract following an arbitration filing in the summer of 2016, however, DeKeyser’s play (and contract value) began to diminish almost immediately. He did play a full 82 games during the first season of the contract, but after 2016-17, DeKeyser never played more than 65 games in a season. After injuries limited him to just eight games in 2019-20, DeKeyser’s ice time dipped to bottom-pairing minutes for the contract’s last two seasons.
Veteran defenseman will always carry value to NHL teams, though. While Detroit is looking to hand the keys over to a young defense core of Moritz Seider, Filip Hronek, and Simon Edvinsson, another team may still see a use for DeKeyser as an extra body or a bottom-pairing man. Injuries will always be a factor, though, and retirement remains on the table for the Detroit native.
Stats
2021-22: 59 GP, 0-11-11, -8 rating, 26 PIMs, 57 shots, 44.0 CF%, 102 blocks, 18:30 ATOI
Career: 547 GP, 33-113-146, +4 rating, 266 PIMs, 581 shots, 48.2 CF%, 910 blocks, 20:46 ATOI
Potential Suitors
At this point in the offseason, all the big fish have settled (especially on defense) and teams are mostly set for the upcoming season. Depth adds and AHL bodies can make or break a team’s season in some circumstances, though, and acquiring DeKeyser in that role at least gives teams a “we know what you are” option. The best balance for a team looking to acquire DeKeyser is likely as an insurance policy for a spot penciled for a younger, more inexperienced defenseman who has a high degree of uncertainty in their development.
If DeKeyser wants to stay in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers have an obvious need for this role. Their third-pairing spot at left defense is a battle between Libor Hajek and Zac Jones, both players who either have limited (or poor) NHL results so far. Signing DeKeyser doesn’t preclude either from playing NHL minutes if it’s what’s best for the team and their development, but it gives the Rangers an insurance policy that they currently don’t have. With Jarred Tinordi being the only other left defenseman under contract in the organization with NHL experience, DeKeyser fills a hole on the team’s depth chart.
Similarly, the Islanders are missing their resident old-man defender after letting both Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara go this offseason. While Robin Salo and (the other) Sebastian Aho do carry some promise for third-pairing roles this season alongside Scott Mayfield, DeKeyser gives that veteran insurance policy, something the Islanders undoubtedly value highly after last season’s catastrophes.
Projected Contract
With DeKeyser’s declining play and sky-high injury risk, anything above a league-minimum contract is likely unattainable. A professional tryout contract if he does opt to continue his playing career might be a more realistic option at this stage.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agent Profile: Tyler Ennis
It’s not often that we see someone bring their career almost entirely back from the dead, but that’s exactly what happened just a handful of seasons ago with Tyler Ennis. Now entering his potential 14th NHL season at age 33, though, Ennis remains without a contract for next season.
Ennis failed to record more than 10 goals or 25 points in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2018, largely due in part to injuries but also declining play. It led the Minnesota Wild to buy out the final season of a five-year, $4.6MM AAV contract (originally signed with Buffalo) after just one season with the team. A 12-goal campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018-19 despite virtually no ice time raised some eyebrows, and, in 2019-20, Ennis was back on the map with a 37-point campaign split between the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers.
2020-21 was a rough one for Ennis, though, as it looked like the resurgence had run out for the veteran forward. Opting to stay with Edmonton after the previous year’s trade, Ennis appeared in just 30 games and was limited to nine points, often being a healthy scratch. Returning to Ottawa for the 2021-22 campaign restored some of that production, though, looking much closer to being an everyday bottom-six player. For teams looking for a skill option on the wings, Ennis presents an inexpensive gamble with a 20-to-30 point upside.
Stats
2021-22: 57 GP, 8-16-24, -6 rating, 16 PIMs, 89 shots, 48.8% CF, 12:33 ATOI
Career: 700 GP, 144-202-346, -84 rating, 224 PIMs, 1446 shots, 46.3 CF%, 15:10 ATOI
Potential Suitors
If you ask Ennis, he’s almost surely looking for a chance to win after a 700-game NHL career has yielded no playoff success outside of the first round. But Ennis isn’t in the top tier of veteran free agents looking to land deals (think Paul Stastny, Phil Kessel, Evan Rodrigues). With so many teams uncomfortably close to or over the salary cap, Ennis might not have many offers from the best of the best.
Unless you’re talking about the defending Stanley Cup champions. If the Colorado Avalanche can’t manage to re-sign Nazem Kadri, they have ample cap space to add a couple of remaining free agents, especially at a league minimum cost. With a depleted bottom-six group, Ennis could be an improvement on expected fringe players like Mikhail Maltsev, Anton Blidh, and Jayson Megna.
And while they may not be the best of the best right now, a return to the State of Hockey could also be in the cards for Ennis. The Minnesota Wild are still looking for some extra roster depth, allowing youngsters like Adam Beckman to have a big role in the AHL rather than sitting around as a healthy scratch. Ennis likely provides more offensive upside than someone like Connor Dewar or Brandon Duhaime, and if things really don’t pan out, he’d be a valuable veteran addition to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
Projected Contract
You’d be hard-pressed to find a team willing to give Ennis much more than the league-minimum $750K on a one-way deal. He is coming off a one-year contract that paid him $900K, but as his offensive upside continues to get less likely with age, a raise for Ennis likely isn’t in the cards.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
San Jose Sharks Announce 2022-23 Coaching Staff
Today, the San Jose Sharks announced their full coaching staff for the 2022-23 season via a team release. In addition to the previously announced or reported hirings of David Quinn as head coach and Ryan Warsofsky as an assistant coach, the team has hired Scott Gordon as an assistant coach, Thomas Speer as their NHL goaltending coach, and Nick Gialdini as video coach.
Quinn spoke on the hires today:
I am thrilled to announce our coaching staff for the upcoming season. Scott brings an immeasurable amount of experience and knowledge of the game to our staff, and Ryan is a passionate individual who has proven himself as an up-and-coming head coach, winning the Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves this past season. Thomas has a great track record with each of the goalies he has worked with, and Nick has earned the opportunity at the NHL level after having been with the Sharks organization for the last several years. We are excited to have each of them with us.
Gordon, 59, is a former AHL Coach of the Year winner in 2008 with the Providence Bruins. After that, he served as the head coach for the New York Islanders from 2008-09 before being replaced midseason in 2010-11 by Jack Capuano. Most recently, Gordon was the head coach of the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms from 2015 to 2021, including a stint as interim head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018-19.
Speer, 35, is a decorated goalie coach in the North American minors. Speer won back-to-back Kelly Cup championships with the ECHL’s Allen Americans in 2016 and 2017, and won a silver medal at the 2018 U18 World Junior Championship with the United States. For the past three seasons, Speer has been the goalie coach for the AHL’s Stockton Heat. He replaces Sharks legend Evgeni Nabokov in that role, who the Sharks noted has been promoted to Director of Goaltending.
Gialdini gets his first NHL job after spending the last six seasons as the video coach for San Jose’s AHL affiliate, the Barracuda. He’d also served as the team manager since 2019.
Free Agent Profile: Sam Gagner
The 2007 NHL Draft ended up bringing many superstars into the league, most namely Patrick Kane, Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Ryan McDonagh, and others, but one forgotten name from that class is Sam Gagner. After a 15-year NHL career that’s included 967 games and 505 points, the journeyman forward finds himself without a team for the 2022-23 NHL season.
Gagner never quite reached his sixth-overall billing, hitting the 50-point mark only once, but he’s been nothing if not serviceable depth for a long time in this league. With a bit of a reduced role in Detroit last season, he actually produced his best offensive numbers since the mid-2010s. In a fourth-line role on a rebuilding team, Gagner still managed solid possession results all things considered, and there are certainly worse options to have in the faceoff circle in a pinch. It’s probably not a great bet to expect anything more than 10 goals and 25 points out of him, but on the league-minimum salary that he’ll undoubtedly cost, again, there are worse options.
33 years old now, Gagner presents a case for one of the more dependable, versatile options on the open market for low-risk veteran forwards. Whether anyone actually takes a swing on the former top-ten pick remains to be seen.
Stats
2021-22: 81 GP, 13 G, 18 A, 31 PTS, -4 rating, 32 PIMs, 132 shots, 13:37 ATOI
Career: 967 GP, 184 G, 321 A, 505 PTS, -133 rating, 427 PIMs, 1982 shots, 15:57 ATOI
Potential Suitors
The Winnipeg Jets jump out as a team with playoff aspirations that not only have ample cap space, but a clear roster need for depth forwards as well. While money won’t be a concern with accommodating Gagner, Winnipeg lacks forward depth with NHL experience at the bottom of the lineup. While Gagner may not be able to repeat last year’s production, he’s probably a safer bet to be an everyday NHL player than a player like Kristian Reichel or Morgan Barron.
Another Canadian team in a similar position, although maybe not with as much need, is the Ottawa Senators. Gagner could provide some competition at the bottom of the lineup for players like Parker Kelly, and he’d certainly provide more offensive upside than other veterans in the organization like Scott Sabourin and Jayce Hawryluk.
If Gagner does sign with a new team this offseason, it’ll be his seventh since entering the league.
Contract Projection
A player in Gagner’s position likely wouldn’t earn more than the $750K league minimum on a one-year deal. It’s also entirely possible that Gagner, similarly to players in years past like James Neal, has to settle for a professional tryout contract (PTO) to keep his NHL career (and dream of hitting 1,000 NHL games) alive.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Martin Necas
Per a team release, the Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed forward Martin Necas to a two-year contract worth $6MM, or $3MM per season. Necas will earn $2.5MM in 2022-23 and $3.5MM in 2023-24.
Speaking on the transaction, Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell called Necas a “dynamic young playmaker,” saying “he has an elite combination of speed and skill and we think he’ll only continue to improve.”
After a career-best season in 2020-21, Necas wasn’t able to maintain his level of production and consistency in 2021-22. Necas finished the year with 14 goals and 40 points in 78 games, while he had similar production in just 56 games the season prior. The concern with Necas, though, is what role he’ll actually have with the team next season. With the team acquiring Max Pacioretty and youngster Seth Jarvis earning a good deal of minutes last season, Necas may lose out on a top-six spot if he doesn’t outperform Jarvis in training camp.
$3MM is still somewhat of a discount for a player who’s received top-six minutes in each of the last two seasons and boasts 40+ point upside. It was a necessary one for Carolina, though, as CapFriendly now projects the Hurricanes as being roughly $1.1MM over the $82.5MM Upper Limit. With defenseman Jake Gardiner likely healthy for next season, Carolina will need to make a trade to clear cap space prior to next season.
When Necas’ contract expires in 2024, he’ll remain a restricted free agent (with arbitration rights) and will be due a $3.5MM qualifying offer, per PuckPedia. He will have two years of RFA eligibility remaining at that time.
Free Agent Profile: Paul Stastny
When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup this year, they did so without a player who many thought a decade ago would be a long-term franchise cornerstone. That player is Paul Stastny, who, now 36 years old, remains a free agent almost a month after the signing period opened this offseason. After falling to the second round in the 2005 NHL Draft, Stastny blew the doors off the Avalanche franchise with three out of four 70-point seasons to begin his NHL career in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
While he never replicated that offensive success, largely due to a variety of injuries, Stastny remained a capable top-six two-way center for years to come. Now a veteran of over 1,000 games, though, Stastny is coming off his second full season with the Winnipeg Jets and remains without a Stanley Cup. He may be somewhat of a forgotten name as his best seasons are behind him, but Stastny’s still managed 74 points in 127 games over the last two seasons while averaging over 17 minutes per game. It’s fair to say that while the end of the road for Stastny may be near, it’s not here yet.
Stastny’s 16-year resume with Winnipeg and Colorado in addition to time with the St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights still make him a valuable asset to teams looking to add cohesiveness in their locker room as they vie for a championship. He hasn’t been a name that’s popped up in many rumors, but he should certainly be on the radar of teams as the offseason slogs on.
Stats
2021-22: 71 GP, 21G, 24A, 45 pts, +14 rating, 14 PIMs, 141 shots, 17:47 ATOI
Career: 1072 GP, 284G, 516A, 800 pts, +50 rating, 484 PIMs, 2246 shots, 18:53 ATOI
Potential Suitors
Poetically enough, a reunion with the team that drafted him shouldn’t be out of the question. If the Avalanche can’t manage to re-sign Nazem Kadri this late in the game, they have more than enough cap space to accommodate a reasonable one-year deal for Stastny. Providing a little more offensive upside than J.T. Compher and more experience than Alex Newhook, Stastny could be a strong short-term solution to Colorado’s open spot at center on the second line.
Another team that could look to acquire Stastny to fill the same role to shelter a younger player is the Carolina Hurricanes. While Jesperi Kotkaniemi will get paid a decent chunk of change next year, he hasn’t really done much to earn that dollar value with his performance. With a team like Carolina that’s so close to winning, Stastny could be a desirable veteran backup to Sebastian Aho, and, with Carolina’s depth on the wing, he’d have a lot of offensive support. The team would likely need to shed cap to make room for him, however.
Projected Contract
Stastny is coming off a one-year $3.75MM contract with Winnipeg. With a decent performance last season, too, there will be a team out there able and willing to pay him more than the league minimum. While he likely won’t replicate that dollar value, a contract in the $1.75MM-$2.5MM range could be there for Stastny in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Nicolas Roy
As announced rather inconspicuously on their TikTok, the Vegas Golden Knights have signed restricted free agent forward Nicolas Roy to a five-year extension. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports the contract carries an average annual value of $3MM. PuckPedia reports the full contract breakdown is as follows:
2022-23: $3.5MM
2023-24: $3.5MM
2024-25: $3MM
2024-25: $2.5MM
2025-26: $2.5MM
The 25-year-old Roy had a career year in 2021-22, cementing his place as a full-time NHLer. Originally a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015, Roy played just seven games with the franchise before he was traded to the Golden Knights in 2019 in exchange for Erik Haula.
Roy’s career year saw him set career highs in games played (78), goals (15), assists (24), points (39), and average time on ice (16:15). He’s certainly stronger defensively on the penalty kill than he is at even strength, but Roy manages to create a lot of offense for him and his teammates when he’s on the ice. It seems like a fair deal for a player who could easily continue to develop more as he’s a season or two away from his prime.
With defenseman Nicolas Hague still in need of a new contract, the Golden Knights are pushing dangerously close to their salary cap limit, even with Shea Weber on long-term injured reserve. After Roy’s signing, CapFriendly projects Vegas with roughly -$5.8MM in cap space, roughly just $2MM away from the maximum potential relief of Weber’s contract.
Winnipeg Jets Sign Mason Appleton, Avoid Arbitration
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Winnipeg Jets have avoided an arbitration hearing with forward Mason Appleton. He’s signed a three-year deal with the Jets worth a cap hit of $2.167MM. He’ll be paid $2MM in 2022-23 and receive $2.25MM in the following two seasons.
The Jets already lost Appleton once, and they don’t seem intent on having it happen again. Left unprotected in the last offseason’s expansion draft, Appleton was an inaugural member of the Seattle Kraken before Winnipeg re-acquired him at the Trade Deadline. Across 68 games with Seattle and Winnipeg in 2021-22, Appleton scored eight goals, 13 assists (tying a career-high), and 21 points.
Appleton’s point production may not jump off the page, but he’s posted decent defensive analytics throughout his 206-game NHL career. 26 years old now, Appleton has produced a nice NHL career for a sixth-round pick. The native of Green Bay, Wisconsin will try to continue to prove his worth as a valuable bottom-six forward over the next three seasons in Manitoba.
For Winnipeg, their only remaining restricted free agent is 22-year-old David Gustafsson, who appeared in just two games for them last season.