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Snapshots: Matthews, Butcher, Mast

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In a rather lengthy interview with Mike Zeisberger of the NHL, franchise icon for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews, expresses his unwavering desire to stay in Toronto and is more than excited an extension was completed between the two sides. More than a year before he was originally set to become an unrestricted free agent, rumors were rampant suggesting Matthews may leave the Maple Leafs to sign with his hometown Arizona Coyotes or find an organization with less media pressure.

During the interview, when he was asked specifically about the rumors circulating about the next contract he would sign, Matthews said, “It was my mindset to come back all along. I felt I’ve been pretty clear about that. I really enjoy playing here, and I love the core guys I’ve been playing with going back to my early days here. And the way the staff treats us is amazing. I’ve kind of repeated these things, they’re all true, and it means a lot to me to be here. So, when I see stuff like some of the speculation this summer, I get a pretty good chuckle out of it because it’s just nonsense, to be honest with you“.

As many are well aware at this point, Matthews would sign a four-year, $53MM contract with the Maple Leafs, making him the highest-paid player in the NHL as soon as it starts. Although there was very little doubt that Toronto would regret re-investing in Matthews, he rewarded them early this season, scoring back-to-back hat tricks in the team’s first two games.

Other snapshots:

  • A little over a week before the start of training camp this autumn, new depth defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Will Butcher, sustained an injury that would keep him out of all on-ice activities for over a month. Today, Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Butcher is back to practice in a non-contact jersey, and will likely be sent to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins very soon. Spending all of last season for the Texas Stars in the AHL, Butcher would score six goals and 37 assists in 65 games.
  • In smaller news, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal is reporting that the Providence Bruins, AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins, have sent defenseman Ryan Mast to their ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. Mast is a recent sixth-round pick of the Bruins back in the 2021 NHL Draft, and recently wrapped up a career with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, scoring eight goals and 22 assists in 50 games during his last season.

Summer Synopsis: Winnipeg Jets

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After qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, the Winnipeg Jets entered more of a transitionary period this offseason than many expected. The team ended its contractual obligations to then-captain Blake Wheeler, as well as dealing Pierre-Luc Dubois to an up-and-coming Western Conference rival.

Nevertheless, after even more speculation of a full-on teardown, the Jets managed to extend both Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, committing to a significant part of their core. In a tough Central Division, Winnipeg will again have another uphill battle to make it to the postseason.

Draft

1-18: F Colby Barlow, Owen (OHL)
3-82: F Zach Nehring, Shattuck (18U Prep)
5-146: F Jacob Julien, London (OHL)
5-151: G Thomas Milic, Seattle (WHL)
7-210: F Connor Levis, Kamloops (WHL)

Without much available in draft capital, the Jets were able to select Barlow in the back half of the first round, one of the better goal scorers out of the Ontario Hockey League last season. In 59 games played, Barlow would score 46 goals and 33 assists, finishing top-five in the league in goal-scoring. If his goal-scoring ability doesn’t dissipate, and he can bring it to professional hockey, Barlow should fit nicely into the future of Winnipeg’s top-six forward unit.

Aside from Barlow, the Jets primarily selected fringe players, as well as Milic in the fifth round. He was a standout player in the WHL last season, posting a 27-3-1 record for Seattle, garnering a .928 SV% as well as a 2.08 GAA. Aside from his time spent in the state of Washington, Milic helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal finish in the World Junior Championships, managing zero losses, with a .932 SV% and a 1.76 GAA.

Trade Acquisitions

F Alex Iafallo (trade with Los Angeles)
D Artemi Kniazev (trade with San Jose)
F Rasmus Kupari (trade with Los Angeles)
F Gabriel Vilardi (trade with Los Angeles)

Unable to acquire a first-round pick in the deal that sent Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings, the Jets were still able to acquire two players with upside potential. Kupari has yet to break out in any real way, but given the relevant proximity to his draft year, he should be able to become a long-term fixture in the Winnipeg lineup with more playing time.

Since the beginning of his career with the Kings, Iafallo has always proven to be a solid option in the middle-six of any organization, but the real prize for Winnipeg lies in Vilardi. Although dealing with injuries, after seeing an approximate two-minute average increase in playing time last season, Vilardi was able to score 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games for Los Angeles. Now with the ability to play on the first line of a competitive team, Vilardi could see his production increase considerably.

UFA Signings

G Laurent Brossoit (one year, $1.75MM)
G Collin Delia (one year, $775K)
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (two year, $1.55MM)*
F Vladislav Namestnikov (two year, $4MM)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year, $775K)

*denotes two-way contract

After a back-and-forth season last year, Winnipeg was able to bring Brossoit back into the fold this offseason. Posting incredible regular season stats in a very limited set of games, Brossoit would entertain a 7-0-3 record, garnishing a .927 SV% and a 2.17 GAA. Finally returning to the Golden Knights for their playoff run, after posting very mild numbers, and succumbing to yet another injury, Brossoit would fully relinquish the net to Adin Hill, who would lead Vegas to its first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.

Aside from Brossoit, the Jets mostly nibbled around the edges of the free agency pool, most notably bringing back trade deadline acquisition Namestnikov to a two-year contract. In 20 games after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks, Namestnikov would score two goals and eight assists in 20 games, chipping in two assists in five playoff games.

RFA Re-Signings

F Morgan Barron (two year, $2.7MM)
D Declan Chisholm (one year, $775K)*
F Rasmus Kupari (two year, $2MM)
D Dylan Samberg (two year, $2.8MM)
D Logan Stanley (one year, $1MM)
F Gabriel Vilardi (two year, $6.875MM)

The Jets were able to sign both Vilardi and Kupari relatively quickly once acquired from Los Angeles, and proceeded to re-sign other important factors, using up most of their available cap space. However, one of the most surprising RFA signings of the offseason came out of Winnipeg in the retention of Stanley on defense.

In March, Stanley publicly requested a trade away from the Jets but instead chose to re-sign with the team in mid-August (albeit with limited negotiation power). Coming off of a relatively down season in 2022-23, even for his standards, Stanley was granted the chance to rebuild his value in the hopes of moving on from Winnipeg.

Departures

F Pierre-Luc Dubois (traded to Los Angeles)
F Loen Gawanke (traded to San Jose)
F Karson Kuhlman (NY Islanders, one year, $775K)
F Alex Limoges (Washington, one year, $775K)
F Kevin Stenlund (Florida, one year, $1MM)
F Blake Wheeler (NY Rangers, one year, $1.1MM)

In the middle of two career-high seasons for Wheeler between 2018-20, Winnipeg would sign him to a five-year, $41.25MM contract extension. Unfortunately, as the captain of the franchise, Wheeler would only see four of those years, before finally being bought out by the Jets this offseason. Losing him as a leader in the locker room is going to be a tough pill to swallow, but factoring in his production over the last couple of seasons, the Jets should be able to replace Wheeler on the ice adequately.

Receiving a solid return package for Dubois in the trade that sent him to the Kings, the Jets are left a little bit thin at the center position. For now, they will rely on top prospect, Cole Perfetti, to slide into Dubois’ formal role on the Jets’ second line. Given his skill set, Winnipeg should have every reason to believe that Perfetti can fit that role, but given his injury history, may not be the best short-term option if the team wishes to compete.

Salary Cap Outlook

If the Jets are indeed looking to compete for a Western Conference playoff spot this season, they will have ample cap space at the deadline to acquire any additional assets they may require. With $2.3MM in cap space heading into the season, as well as gaining an additional $16+ this offseason without much in the way of retention.

The team will have to ink a new deal with Perfetti, but given how he performs this season, should be able to fit it in comfortably given their cap situation. If the team is in a relatively competitive spot this season, look for the Jets as a potential suitor for the services of Elias Lindholm if he is unable to sign a new extension with the Calgary Flames by the trade deadline.

Key Questions

What Is Left To Add? For most clubs, the Jets are still in an envious position given their contract structure. They have their franchise center, defenseman, and goaltender signed to long-term contracts, but still feel as if they are missing an important cog in their organization. For the most part, the team could benefit greatly from adding an additional offensive weapon to their lineup, as it appears to be the only weak link. Depending on the performance of Vilardi, Kupari, and Iafallo, the Jets could be a surprise buyer at next year’s trade deadline.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Injury Notes: Puljujarvi, Couture, Wahlstrom

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A few days ago, an insider for TSN, Chris Johnston, spoke tepidly about the possible return of former fourth-overall selection of the 2016 NHL Draft, Jesse Puljujarvi. After an apathetic transition to the Carolina Hurricanes at least year’s trade deadline, Puljujarvi went through double hip surgery only a couple of months ago, and will likely be seeing his third NHL opportunity.

Given his career trajectory up to this point, if Puljujarvi is able to work his way back adequately from surgery, he will almost assuredly be playing on a two-way deal, destined for the majority of the season in the AHL. In the most successful year of his career back during the 2021-22 NHL season, Puljujarvi was only able to procure 14 goals and 22 assists, hardly satisfying numbers from a top-five overall pick, especially entering into the prime age of his career.

If not already maxed out his potential as a hockey player, Puljujarvi is incredibly close to the cutoff line. When the return comes, there may be an opportunity on a rebuilding team such as the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, or San Jose Sharks; however, even their interest may be mild.

Other injury notes:

  • The captain of the San Jose Sharks, Logan Couture, has already missed the team’s opening night game against the Vegas Golden Knights and is expected to miss tonight’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. Couture has been out with a lower-body injury since September 21st, but tonight’s game may be the last he misses. According to Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group, Couture is close to skating again and should join the team back on the ice soon.
  • Even though he was cleared to play earlier in the summer, forward for the New York Islanders, Oliver Wahlstrom, is still regaining strength in his knee according to Andrew Gross of Newsday. Last season, after the knee injury would sideline him for the rest of the season at the end of December, Wahlstrom played in 35 games, scoring seven goals and nine assists.

Update On Steven Stamkos Contract Negotiations

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Back in mid-September, Sportsnet aired a brief interview segment with the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steven Stamkos, expressing his disappointment in the lack of extension conversations the Lightning have been willing to have over the course of the summer. A few days later, Elliotte Friedman, also of Sportsnet, reported that the going notion at the moment is that Tampa Bay ’wouldn’t be crushed’ to see Stamkos leave next summer.

In a minor update to the drama surrounding a potential contract extension for the Lightning’s captain, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports that the General Manager of Tampa Bay, Julien Brisebois, had already indicated to Stamkos that they would be waiting until the end of next season to address the future between the two parties, but would ultimately like to see Stamkos retire as a member of the Lightning.

Although it is generally unsurprising for most teams to want to wait until after the season to negotiate a new contract, this instance is more peculiar for the Lightning specifically. Throughout the last two offseasons, Tampa Bay has quickly given out sizeable extensions to all of Nick Paul, Erik Cernak, Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Brandon Hagel. All of these players have been important pieces to the juggernaut the Lightning have become over the last several years, but they certainly do not have the pedigree of Stamkos in that organization.

At 33 years of age, and with over 1000 games played in a Lightning uniform, Stamkos is potentially staring down his last contract as a professional hockey player. Over the course of his career, having spent the last decade as the captain of the organization, Stamkos has been a part of four Tampa Bay teams to reach the Stanley Cup Final, winning two of them.

Latest On Shane Pinto

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Failing to clear the adequate cap space throughout the offseason, the Ottawa Senators are still unable to sign restricted free agent forward Shane Pinto. Throughout the last several weeks, Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95MM cap hit have popped up in the rumor mill, listed as a viable cap-clearing candidate for the Senators to afford Pinto’s new deal. Even recently, former first-round pick, Erik Brannstrom has also seen his name appear in trade negotiations.

Nevertheless, without an apparent end in sight to the contract negotiations, and simply too much attention on the entire ordeal, both Darren Dreger and Bruce Garrioch of TSN are reporting that Pinto has left Ottawa for the time being, and has returned home to the United States to continue his training. With only a handful of teams being able to comfortably fit in either contract of Joseph or Brannstrom at this point of the season, the unfortunate stalemate between the Senators and Pinto may continue for the next couple of weeks, if not longer.

If Ottawa is expecting to compete for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, they may need to pull the trigger on a trade sooner, rather than later. In Pinto’s absence, and with Joshua Norris still working his way back from a shoulder injury, the Senators now have to deploy Rourke Chartier as one of their centermen, a 27-year-old veteran of only 20 NHL games.

Last season for the Senators, in a rather explosive breakout season for the organization, Pinto would play in all 82 games, scoring 20 goals and 15 assists. Even down the middle of the ice specifically, he did well with a 52.1% faceoff percentage, although 56.9% of those opportunities were in the team’s offensive zone. In the meantime, Pinto will continue training at home in an effort to be game-ready once there is a resolution on a new contract.

West Notes: Hintz, Mikheyev, Winnipeg

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Before their opening night matchup tomorrow night, Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News gives some clarification on the status of Dallas Stars’ forward Roope Hintz, sharing that he will be a game-time decision. Since September 27th, during training camp, Hintz has been out of the Stars’ lineup due to an upper-body injury, and Dallas does not seem keen to rush him back for the start of the regular season.

Starting off the first year of an eight-year, $67.6MM extension signed last season, Hintz will surely be a key missing part of the Stars’ lineup if he is unable to play. Dallas will be able to survive for the time being with him out of the lineup but would have a hard time replacing a player of his caliber in the lineup if it is more long-term.

At the very least, with the addition of Matt Duchene this summer and an incredibly affordable one-year, $3MM deal, the Stars appear to have added appropriate depth in case something such as this transpired. Not only do the Stars appear headed for a war with the Colorado Avalanche for the Central Division, but they are also looking to compete as the top team in the Western Conference, and potentially the entire league.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • One player who is confirmed to not be playing opening night is Ilya Mikheyev of the Vancouver Canucks. Relaying on the news from the head coach of the Canucks, Rick Tocchet, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet announces Mikheyev will indeed miss the season opener. Mikheyev is still rehabbing from an ACL injury sustained last season in January, an injury that would prematurely end his season.
  • Murat Ates of The Athletic shares that the Winnipeg Jets have sent Simon Kubicek, Mark Liwiski, and Thomas Milic to their ECHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. Last year, Kubicek also played in the AHL for the Manitoba Moose, while Liwiski spent his entire season in the ECHL for the Wichita Thunder. Milic, on the other hand, was the 151st overall selection for the Jets in the 2023 NHL Draft, coming out of the Seattle Thunderbirds organization of the WHL.

Montreal Canadiens To Assign Joel Armia To AHL, Recall Arber Xhekaj

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Although an official team announcement is pending at this time, CapFriendly reports that the Montreal Canadiens will send down forward Joel Armia to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, as well as recall defenseman Arber Xhekaj in a corresponding move.

In this move, it will be the first time since the 2015-16 season, then under contract with the Winnipeg Jets organization, that Armia will spend some time in the American Hockey League. Acquired from the Canadiens in 2018, Armia was actually included as a sweetener in a deal that would see Montreal absorb the contract of goaltender Steve Mason. After a couple of solid seasons in Montreal, mostly due to injuries, Armia’s production has continued to slip, losing him a spot on the roster for the foreseeable future.

On the positive side of the coin to this deal, the Canadiens will see the return of one of their more imposing defenseman from last season. Due to a shoulder injury in February that would derail the remainder of his season, Xhekaj would play in 51 total games, scoring five goals and eight assists. More importantly, given his style of play on the blue line, Xhekaj would throw a total of 159 hits during his rookie campaign, as well as nine fights.

With cap space being a bit of an afterthought this season in their rebuilding efforts, the Canadiens will accrue a $2.25MM buried penalty for sending Armia to the AHL. The new-look cast in Montreal will start their season off this evening against their long-time rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sharks Notes: Simek, MacDonald, Okhotiuk, Couture, Bailey, Kaspick

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Before their opening night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow night, Curtis Pashelka of Bay Area News relayed some injury information from the San Jose Sharks. Pashelka notes that defensemen Radim Simek, Jacob MacDonald, and Nikita Okhotiuk are all returning from injury.

There wasn’t any further information regarding their status for tomorrow night. Still, the fact that they are now all back skating gives some optimism that San Jose could see the return of several important blueliners in the coming days. For the time being, Simek and MacDonald are currently on injured reserve, while Okhotiuk finds himself on the season-opening injured reserve.

Throughout this year, the Sharks will give Simek plenty of opportunity and ice time, as he would be a prime trade deadline candidate on a contending team to shore up the bottom six of a defensive core. Okhotiuk on the other hand, a former second-round selection of the New Jersey Devils back in 2019, is a potential building block on defense in San Jose, after being acquired at last season’s trade deadline.

Other Sharks notes:

  • In a bit more negative injury information, Pashelka also relays on that Sharks’ captain, Logan Couture, did not skate today, and has had some sort of setback in his lower-body injury. Being placed on injured reserve on September 21st during training camp, the going notion was that Couture would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Given that tomorrow will mark three weeks on injured reserve for the veteran forward, there may be some pessimism surrounding Couture’s availability tomorrow night.
  • Still coming from Pashelka, and moving away from injuries, he announces that the AHL affiliate of the Sharks, the San Jose Barracuda, are planning on signing forwards Justin Bailey and Tanner Kaspick to AHL contracts for the upcoming season. Of the two, Bailey is the only one with NHL experience, playing a total of 82 games over seven years, scoring five goals and four assists.

Injury Notes: Stars, Avalanche, Martinez, Savoie

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Saad Yousuf of The Athletic relayed several injury updates from the Head Coach of the Dallas Stars, Peter DeBoer this morning. All of the injury reports being on the milder side, the Stars could reasonably expect most of the players to be ready for opening night next week.

Being two of the more high-profile players on the list forwards Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston are both working their way back from injuries. Hintz has returned to skating following an upper-body injury, while Johnston had a non-surgical procedure performed, and is expected back skating this weekend.

Following those two, Yousuf reports that Radek Faksa has received stitches, but is not in concussion protocol after receiving a solid check in Tuesday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. Not playing in Tuesday night’s game, DeBoer also mentions that defenseman Jani Hakanpaa is out with an undisclosed injury, and is currently being evaluated by the team’s medical staff.

It goes without saying that injury news of any kind is negative news, but luckily for Dallas, a team that could very well win the NHL’s Central Division this season, all should be back in due time.

Other injury notes:

  • Staying in the Central Division, Corey Masisak of the Denver Post similarly relayed injury news from the Head Coach of the Avalanche, Jared Bednar. Bednar expects both Mikko Rantanen and Josh Manson to be ready for opening night but is unsure in regards to the status of Andrew Cogliano. For the entirety of this year’s preseason, Rantanen and Manson have each only suited up in one game, while Cogliano is still working his way back from a fractured neck in last year’s opening-round playoff matchup against the Seattle Kraken.
  • Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that three-time Cup champion defenseman, Alec Martinez, will not participate in any team activities for the next few days due to a lower-body injury. Losing a step since his time with the Los Angeles Kings, the Vegas Golden Knights will surely use the next few days to make sure Martinez is ready for opening night, as he was a part of the defensive core that was fundamental in the Knights winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history last season.
  • With his eligibility still up in the air for the AHL this season, Buffalo Sabres’ prospect, Matthew Savoie is progressing nicely in recovery of an upper-body injury, and will likely be rejoining the team tomorrow morning. Having the talent to crack Buffalo’s roster out of the gates this upcoming season, Savoie’s play to finish up training camp may resolve any questions the Sabres had regarding his eligibility.

Anaheim Ducks Re-Sign Jamie Drysdale

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they have agreed to a three-year, $6.9MM contract with defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Projected to be one of the team’s top two defensemen headed into the 2023-24 NHL season, Drysdale would only play eight games last year, before shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum would keep him out of the lineup the rest of the season.

Rated as the third-best North American skater prior to the 2020 NHL Draft, Drysdale would be the second defenseman off the board, going sixth overall to the Ducks. Capping off an impressive two-year run with the Erie Otters of the OHL, Drysdale would finish off with a nine-goal, 38-assist performance in 49 games heading into his draft year.

Turning pro immediately, Drysdale would split his time during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 NHL season between Anaheim, and their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Showing some signs of growing pains at the NHL level, Drysdale would score three goals and five assists in 24 games for the Ducks in 2020-21.

Earning more playing time in his first full NHL season, Drysdale’s numbers dramatically improved during the 2021-22 season, scoring four goals and 28 assists in 81 games. Acquiring minutes on Anaheim’s powerplay unit as well, Drysdale would produce a total of 12 assists with the man advantage.

Throughout much of his career in the OHL, as well as a modest amount of NHL experience, there is no doubt that Drysdale has the capabilities to be a solid offensive contributor from the blue line. However, the Ducks will certainly be looking for Drysdale to grow his defensive attributes over the life of this contract, to become a more complete defenseman.

Over his 113 games at the NHL level, Drysdale has a commendable 101 blocked shots but also carries a 25/71 ratio in terms of takeaways/giveaways, as well as a career CF% of 49.1% and a oiSV% of 89.7%. Much of this could be attributed to the lack of talent surrounding Drysdale on Anaheim’s roster, but he will need to improve on this production nonetheless to become the defenseman the Ducks are hoping he can be.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report Anaheim had signed Drysdale.

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