Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL
After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.
A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.
His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.
Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.
Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.
Arizona Coyotes Give Conor Geekie Entry-Level Contract
2022 NHL Draft picks are continuing to fly off the “unsigned” board. Today, the Arizona Coyotes signed 11th overall pick Conor Geekie to his three-year entry-level contract, per general manager Bill Armstrong. Presumably, the contract will carry a max entry-level cap hit of $950K.
Geekie was ranked all over the map in the first round by public scouts, and although he wasn’t a consensus top-ten pick at the end of the season like he was at the beginning, Arizona still snatched him up just outside of that range. Playing second fiddle on the WHL’s Winnipeg ICE to ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie, Geekie notched 70 points in 63 games.
He’s still a few years out from being an NHL impact player, in all likelihood. But Arizona is still getting a high-end prospect that mainly excels as a two-way center that’s tough to play against both at even strength and on the penalty kill. He’s got size teams and scouts dream of at 6′ 4″ and 200+ pounds, and he still boasts decent offensive upside (although maybe not as much as teams hoped pre-season).
Montreal Canadiens Sign Sam Montembeault
Today, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced that the team has agreed to terms on a two-year, one-way contract with goalie Sam Montembeault. The contract will take him to his first eligible year of unrestricted free agency in 2024. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports the deal is worth $1MM per season.
Montembeault found his way to Montreal at the beginning of 2021-22 when the team claimed him off waivers from the Florida Panthers. With Carey Price‘s nagging knee injury keeping him out for the vast majority of 2021-22, Montembeault played in 38 games for Montreal this year, more than doubling his previous total of 25 with Florida. Serving as the backup to Jake Allen and the starter for brief periods when Allen was injured, Montembeault had a season to forget with an 8-18-6 record, .891 save percentage, and 3.77 goals against average along with one shutout.
The 2015 third-round pick is still relatively young in goalie years at 25, though, and there may be a small bit of untapped potential in the Quebec native. He’s yet to show it at the NHL level, though, as his save percentage hasn’t hit .900 in any of the three seasons he’s appeared in.
Montembeault’s role this season will once again depend entirely on the health of Price, barring a trade in the Montreal crease. If Price is able to battle back from what’s become an increasingly serious knee ailment to start the 2022-23 season on time, Montembeault and his seven-figure price tag would almost certainly pass through waivers unclaimed.
Andrew Brunette Joins Devils As Associate Coach
July 15: The Devils have officially announced Brunette as the team’s new associate coach, mentioning how he was a teammate of general manager Tom Fitzgerald with the Nashville Predators in 1998-99.
July 13: It’s not just players making news today. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports the New Jersey Devils have reached a three-year agreement with Andrew Brunette on an associate coaching role. TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report that things were tracking toward an agreement between Brunette and the New Jersey Devils, but also listed the Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vancouver Canucks as teams with interest in the 2022 Jack Adams Award finalist.
Not often do you see a coach of the year contender immediately hit the open market, let alone do you see them settle for an associate coaching role. But with just five years of coaching experience in the NHL in total, and the Panthers opting to hire the more experienced Paul Maurice, Brunette hits the open market as a high-end support man for teams’ benches. In New Jersey, he’d serve behind an extremely experienced bench boss in Lindy Ruff, allowing him to gain just a little more time in the league before undoubtedly returning to a head coaching role down the road.
And after those three seasons, that’s undoubtedly what he’ll do. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him take over for Ruff in three years’ time, or even sooner if New Jersey decides to part with Ruff before that. It’s a good backup plan in case things go wrong with Ruff at the helm.
Ottawa Senators Sign Tomas Hamara To Entry-Level Contract
Just the second pick outside of the first round from the 2022 NHL Draft has now signed the entry-level contract. Per CapFriendly, the Ottawa Senators did so today with Czech defenseman Tomas Hamara, who they selected in the third round (87th overall). His entry-level deal carries a cap hit of $852K with the following breakdown:
2022-23: $750K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $15K performance bonus, $80K minors salary
2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $80K minors salary
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $80K minors salary
Most public scouts would agree Hamara was a bit of a steal in that range, with most pegging him to go in the mid-to-late second round. Hamara played in a lot of different leagues and tournaments this past year, but he spent most of his time with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga, split between their main team and their junior team. He had a strong performance in juniors with 25 points in 32 games, and played in 24 games in the Liiga as well. He also saw some time in the Champions League tournament with Tappara, playing in four games.
In all likelihood, Ottawa will loan Hamara back to Tappara for the next two seasons, as he’s under contract there until 2024. He’s also a more raw prospect, and he likely needs some more conditioning before he’s even ready for AHL ice. Yet, he projects as a well-rounded two-way defenseman who should add nicely to Ottawa’s defensive depth on the left side with players like Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Lukas Klok
You’ve heard of Ronald Knot, get ready for Lukas Klok. The Arizona Coyotes have picked up their second 27-year-old Czech defenseman of the offseason, bringing in Klok from Nizhnekamsk in the KHL on a one-year, two-way entry-level deal, per CapFriendly. It has a cap hit of $845K, which includes an NHL salary of $750K, $105K in performance bonuses, $95K in signing bonuses, and a minors salary of $82.5K.
Klok is actually a solid under-the-radar candidate to make the Coyotes this fall. He had a strong season in the KHL, notching 31 points in 44 games. He also had three points in four games for Czechia at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Both Klok and Knot, a previous Arizona signing this offseason, played for the same team in Russia and were both on the Czech Olympic squad.
Klok was never drafted, but he does have 29 games of experience in North America. He played 29 games with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms back in 2013-14, registering three points.
New York Rangers Sign Turner Elson
The New York Rangers have signed some AHL depth, inking forward Turner Elson to a two-year, two-way deal with a $762.5K cap hit, per CapFriendly. He’ll make $750K NHL salary in 2022-23 and $775K in 2023-24, while earning a minor salary of $225K in both seasons. He’s also guaranteed $250K in both years.
The 29-year-old Elson saw his first NHL action this year since he got his first NHL game all the way back in 2015-16. He’d spent the last five years in the Detroit Red Wings organization, serving as an alternate captain with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. His leadership there has obviously helped the Wings as the prospects they developed begin to hit NHL ice.
He’ll try and keep the same role in the Rangers organization, this time with the Hartford Wolf Pack. A dependable bottom-six AHL option, Elson should only see ice time with the Rangers if an extreme number of injuries occur.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Christian Wolanin
Per CapFriendly, the Vancouver Canucks have signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Christian Wolanin to a one-year, two-way deal paying him $750K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL.
Wolanin, 27, has 70 games of NHL experience between Ottawa, Buffalo, and Los Angeles. While it looked like Wolanin had legitimate NHL upside a few seasons ago with a 12-point year in 2018-19 in just 30 games at 23 years old, those days are behind him. A good option for a seventh defenseman, Wolanin adds to the pool of defensive depth Vancouver has built.
He’ll be competing with players like Kyle Burroughs, young Jack Rathbone, Noah Juulsen, and Wyatt Kalynuk to make the Canucks come training camp in September. If he doesn’t make the squad, he’s a risk to get claimed on waivers if the injury bug strikes other teams on defense.
Toronto Maple Leafs Expected To Sign Victor Mete, Jordie Benn
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue on their crusade of swooping up unqualified RFAs, adding some defensive depth in the process. According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, the team is bringing in defenseman Victor Mete. They’ve also signed gritty veteran Jordie Benn on a one-year deal for $750K, which is the price of both deals.
Mete heads to his third Canadian team after spending five NHL seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. A decent depth defenseman, most would say Mete was rushed into NHL minutes at age 19 despite being the 100th overall pick just one year prior to his debut in 2017-18. He’d posted really solid defensive play during his time in Montreal, but after the Senators claimed him on waivers in April of 2021, he didn’t have the same success. He played just 37 of 82 games in 2021-22, averaging only 14:37 per game and notching seven assists. It was a year to forget for Mete, but he’ll now head to Toronto to rediscover his defensive game.
Benn, 34, joins the Leafs after an eight-point, 39-game season with the Minnesota Wild last year. Jamie Benn‘s older brother hasn’t been terribly effective for years now aside from providing a gritty, physical presence at the bottom of the lineup, and he’ll provide the same thing for Toronto. He’ll likely get most of his action when the team opts to ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Washington Capitals Sign Dylan Strome
5:46 pm: The Washington Capitals have made the deal official, bringing Strome to the United States’ capital on a one-year, $3.5MM deal.
4:35 pm: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Washington Capitals are expected to sign top unqualified RFA Dylan Strome to a one-year contract worth $3.5MM.
For Washington, this is an important signing to give them a legitimate second-line center in the absence of Nicklas Backstrom. While the team is more optimistic Backstrom will be able to return during the season after a serious hip surgery that could threaten his career, Strome is a strong option with top-six experience to replace him.
Despite going unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks (and some puzzling early-season scratches by former head coach Jeremy Colliton), the 25-year-old had a strong year on a weak Chicago team with a career-high 22 goals and 26 assists for 48 points in 69 games. With the chance to play with names like Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, Anthony Mantha, T.J. Oshie, Connor Brown, and others, Strome could finally hit the offensive potential he had when he was drafted third overall in 2015.
It’s a strong signing for Washington, who’s had a quietly great offseason by adding defensive depth and signing veteran netminder Darcy Kuemper.