Gavin Lee

Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes Complete Minor Trade

July 18, 2018 at 4:02 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent Jacob Graves and a conditional 2019 sixth-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for 22-year old forward Ryan MacInnis. If MacInnis plays 20 NHL games this season, the Coyotes would receive a 2020 fifth-round pick instead. Graves and MacInnis are both on the final years of their entry-level contracts and will be restricted free agents next summer.

Columbus has been notoriously thin down the middle for the last few seasons while having a surplus of young defenders, making this deal just a move to secure some depth for the organization. MacInnis was originally selected in the second round by the Coyotes in 2014, but hasn’t been able to find any of the scoring touch he showed in junior and had slipped down the depth chart in the minor leagues. The son of legendary NHL defenseman Al MacInnis will try to find new heights after getting a fresh start with the Blue Jackets organization.

Graves—who bears no relation to NHL All-Star Adam Graves—has been in the Columbus organization since signing his entry-level deal in 2016 fresh off winning a Memorial Cup with the London Knights. The defensive defenseman has split his minor league seasons between the ECHL and AHL and is unlikely to ever make an impact at the NHL level, but had to be included for the Blue Jackets to keep some contract slots open for other signings. The Coyotes are in a tougher boat when it comes to that, as they are currently at the 50-contract limit with Marek Langhamer still to sign. They will be able to create some room by sending players back to junior, but are still in a complicated roster position.

Philadelphia Flyers Officially Re-Sign Anthony Stolarz

July 18, 2018 at 3:30 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Though it had been reported a few days ago by John Hoven, the Philadelphia Flyers have now officially announced that Anthony Stolarz has re-signed with the team. The deal will be a one-year two-way contract worth just over $761K at the NHL level.

Stolarz, 24, was once an up-and-coming goaltending prospect in the Flyers system with his sights set on the NHL. The huge 6’6″ netminder even played seven games for Philadelphia during the 2016-17 season, but since then has dealt with multiple knee surgeries and played just four minor league games last year. His role in the organization isn’t clear any longer, as the Flyers have Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth at the NHL level, Alex Lyon penciled in for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Carter Hart banging down the door to jump into the professional ranks. That’s not even including Felix Sandstrom who, while expected to play in Sweden this year, looks ready to contribute in North America in short order.

Hart could technically stay in the WHL for another season, but there’s little chance of that after he has posted one of the greatest CHL goaltending careers in history. Hart has been named the best goaltender in the WHL for three consecutive seasons, while also taking home CHL Goalie of the Year honors twice during that time. He has little left to accomplish in junior, and should make an impact at the minor league level immediately. Where that leaves Stolarz’ future is unclear.

The Flyers will see both Elliott and Neuvirth reach unrestricted free agency next summer, at which point they could turn over the reins to one of their young goaltending prospects and work with them through any inconsistencies or struggles they may endure. They also could bring back one of their veterans or sign someone else, but either way it looks to be a tough road to the NHL for Stolarz with the Flyers. If he can get healthy again and show he is still a legitimate NHL prospect perhaps the team would retain him, otherwise he’s looking at Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer and a chance to start fresh with a new organization.

Josh Currie Signs With Edmonton Oilers

July 18, 2018 at 2:30 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

If you’ve been a fan of the Bakersfield Condors for the last few seasons, today is the day you’ve expected for a while. Josh Currie, who was playing for the Condors on an AHL contract, has signed his first NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Because Currie is already 25 he was not held to the entry-level system, and has instead signed a two-year deal with the team.

Undrafted, Currie is an incredible example of the ECHL development system as he worked his way up through the lower minor leagues. The former QMJHL star scored 104 points in his final year of junior but had to wait five more years to get an NHL deal. He’ll almost assuredly play in the minors this season, but has now created the possibility of an NHL call-up should the Oilers experience injury trouble.

The two-year deal will take him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020, but should give him quite the raise on his previous minor league deals.

San Jose Sharks Sign Ryan Merkley, Alex True

July 18, 2018 at 1:12 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks have made quick work of their negotiations with first-round pick Ryan Merkley, today signing him to a three-year entry-level contract. Not to be outdone, undrafted forward Alex True who spent last season with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, has also signed his three-year entry-level deal.

Merkley is one of the most interesting prospects from the most recent draft, as reports had surfaced that he was on some teams’ “do not draft” lists but still went 21st-overall to the Sharks. The dynamic defenseman has been labelled with attitude problems and a lack of effort for the past few seasons but remained one of the most talented players available. The San Jose front office felt differently after meeting him in person during the scouting combine, and GM Doug Wilson had this to say about him in today’s press release:

Ryan was one of the most talented players at his position in this year’s draft and we were very excited to add him to our organization. We were impressed with the way he handled himself as the youngest player at our summer development camp and feel that he has a whole new level he has yet to tap into. Ryan has the potential to be a difference maker at the NHL level and we are looking forward to watching his development this season.

There’s no doubt that Merkley should make an impact at the professional level. His offensive instincts are arguably the best out of any defense prospect in the 2018 draft, and he possesses an elite playmaking ability. He can take advantage of almost any situation while on the powerplay, and should only continue to improve in his own end if he’s willing to put in the work. That was the question many had with him as the draft approached, and now San Jose is starting to find out the answer after getting him into the hands of their coaching and development staff. If everything breaks right for the 17-year old, he could have a long NHL career ahead of him. For now he’ll return to the OHL where he has a chance to lead all defensemen in scoring.

For True, it is almost the opposite story. A 6’5″ center out of Denmark, the 21-year old True went undrafted despite his stint in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds and experience on the international stage. He appeared three times for his country at the World Juniors, including captaining the squad in 2017. In 68 games for the Barracuda last season while playing on a minor league contract, True recorded 15 goals—good for second on the team—and 28 points. His hard work has finally earned him an NHL contract, and could eventually get him to the next level. He’ll be expected to suit up for the Barracuda again next season, but the Sharks have a real prospect in True if he can continue to develop as a power forward in the minor leagues and take another step forward offensively.

New York Islanders Add John Gruden To Coaching Staff

July 18, 2018 at 1:07 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The New York Islanders have hired John Gruden—no, not that Jon Gruden—as an assistant coach, joining Barry Trotz’ coaching staff for next season. Gruden was most recently the head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL, leading them to a league title and Memorial Cup berth last season. He’s also the father of Ottawa Senators draft pick Johnathan Gruden, taken 95th-overall in the most recent draft.

New York is looking to reestablish themselves as a contender in the Metropolitan division and have undergone quite the face lift to do so. Lou Lamoriello is in as GM, Trotz will be behind the bench, and Mathew Barzal will take over as the star forward around which the team is built. Gruden will join Lane Lambert who was brought over with Trotz from the Washington Capitals and Scott Gomez, who served as an assistant coach last season under Doug Weight, as assistants.

Gruden had a 92-game NHL career during his playing days, and actually would have been well known to Trotz from his days in the AHL. When Trotz was coaching the Portland Pirates two decades ago, Gruden was a star defenseman for the division-rival Providence Bruins, even scoring 18 goals and 45 points in the 1996-97 season. It’s not clear exactly what his responsibilities will be, though it seems likely that he’ll take over a similar role to the one Todd Reirden had in Washington under Trotz working directly with the defensemen.

Teemu Pulkkinen Signs In KHL

July 18, 2018 at 11:38 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights won’t have Teemu Pulkkinen in the lineup this season, as the restricted free agent has decided to sign in the KHL. Pulkkinen today signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Minsk, explaining why he didn’t file for arbitration earlier this offseason. Pulkkinen never did play for the Golden Knights, instead spending the year with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

The 26-year old forward has been an elite minor league scoring threat for many years, registering seasons of 59, 61 and 65 points through his professional career. In 241 AHL regular season contests he’s produced 222 points, but hasn’t ever really been able to crack an NHL lineup one a full-time basis. Selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, he played 70 games for the club across three seasons, recording 20 points but never being able to find consistent minutes. That’s mostly because of a perceived lack of footspeed and defensive awareness, something that he can get away with at the lower levels.

In the KHL, Pulkkinen’s offensive skills are bound to shine through. It will be interesting to see if he considers a return to North America after his one year is up, or whether he’ll be content to play out the rest of his career overseas. One would think that Jokerit would want him back at some point if possible, after he found a ton of success with the team before joining the Red Wings organization.

Winnipeg Jets, Jacob Trouba Submit Arbitration Figures

July 18, 2018 at 9:12 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

After Chris Tierney re-signed with the San Jose Sharks, the only arbitration hearing on the books for Friday July 20th is now Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the two sides have submitted quite different salary figures, with the Jets filing for $4MM and Trouba’s camp asking for $7MM. If an agreement isn’t reached before the hearing, the two sides will actually have a bit more time before the arbitrator rewards a contract. Several players in the past have settled after the hearing, but before a decision was reached. Unlike MLB arbitration, an awarded salary does not need to be one figure or the other and can land somewhere in the middle.

The discrepancy between the two figures is large, but also not unexpected for a player of Trouba’s skill. The 24-year old defenseman already has five NHL seasons under his belt, including a shortened 2016-17 due to a holdout that lasted into November of that year. The two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on his contract at that point, and Trouba had reportedly asked for a trade given his role on the team. Winnipeg already has two excellent right-handed defensemen in Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers, and Trouba felt as though he could handle a bigger role even as a young player.

He got his wish that season as Myers dealt with injury and Trouba would end up logging nearly 25 minutes a night playing in all situations. That number dropped back down in 2017-18, but it’s not like Trouba isn’t utilized. He still averaged the second-most minutes on the team behind Byfuglien and scored at a good pace while healthy. That health was a concern though, as the young defenseman only suited up for 55 games and has now failed to play all 82 in any of his five seasons. In fact, he’s averaging just 65 games per season thanks to previous injuries and his contract issues, which certainly won’t help his arbitration case.

Still, Trouba is obviously an extremely talented player and deserves to be paid well. If an arbitration settlement is need he’ll likely come in somewhere between the two figures, but it will almost certainly be a one-year contract. Because Trouba filed for player-elected arbitration, the Jets get to make the decision on whether the awarded contract will be for one or two seasons. If they pick two, it would carry him to unrestricted free agency in 2020 and allow him to test the market. A one-year deal would give them another chance to sign him to a long-term deal and buy out some of those UFA seasons.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Chris Tierney Re-Signs With San Jose Sharks

July 18, 2018 at 9:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The San Jose Sharks were just 48 hours away from going to an arbitration hearing with Chris Tierney, but have found some common ground and a new contract. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the two sides have settled on a two-year contract that carries an average annual value of $2,937,500.

Tierney, 24, is coming off his best season as a professional after scoring 17 goals and 40 points with the Sharks last season. Originally selected in the second round six years ago, he’s developed into an effective all-situations center for San Jose and saw his ice time increase to 16 minutes a night this season. With Joe Thornton coming back on a one-year deal, Tierney will likely be asked once again to center the third line for the Sharks and continue to give them excellent penalty killing and secondary scoring.

Interestingly, the two-year contract will leave Tierney as a restricted free agent at its conclusion in the summer of 2020. That leaves the Sharks with some time to decide whether he’s a long-term fit for the club, and gives him a chance to prove that he’s more than just a bottom-six player. If Tierney continues to trend upwards offensively, his next contract could be quite lucrative as it would be buying out almost exclusively unrestricted free agent years. Even if he sits at around 40 points for the next two seasons, that will be enough to land him an impressive contract given his position and relative youth.

For now, his sub-$3MM deal will fit nicely in for a team that missed out on some of the summer’s big names. After failing to convince John Tavares to come to the west coast, the team brought back Thornton on a $5MM deal and signed Logan Couture to a long-term extension. With Tierney—their final restricted free agent—now signed, the team still has almost $4.4MM in cap space to make an addition through trade if they choose. Whether that comes this summer or during the season isn’t clear, but the team has set themselves up to be players in almost any trade talks that may arise.

New York Islanders Agree To Terms With Ryan Pulock

July 17, 2018 at 5:37 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

5:37 PM: CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal will carry a $2MM AAV with Pulock receiving $1.35MM in 2018-19 and $2.65MM in 2019-20. The significant difference between the two years is particularly noteworthy since the $2.65MM figure and not the AAV will represent his qualifying offer in June of 2020.

8:31 AM: The New York Islanders have come to terms with one of their remaining restricted free agents, signing Ryan Pulock to a two-year contract. Pulock finally broke out and became a full-time NHL player last season, but was not eligible for salary arbitration. He will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal. No financial details have been released yet.

Pulock, 23, was originally selected 15th overall in 2013 but struggled to find much NHL playing time before the 2017-18 season. He’d shown off his goal scoring ability from the blue line in the minor leagues, but was stuck behind a veteran group in New York that included right-handed options like Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic. When Hamonic was sent to the Calgary Flames last offseason though, an opportunity presented itself for Pulock to show what he could do at the NHL level. In 68 games Pulock scored 32 points and was arguably the Islanders best two-way defenseman, contributing offensively while quickly and effectively getting the puck out of his own end. For such a young and inexperienced player he wasn’t sheltered by head coach Doug Weight, and logged more average ice time than veteran Thomas Hickey, who was also re-signed this offseason.

Under new coach Barry Trotz, Pulock should experience even more growth and responsibility this season and try to follow the development path set by others before him. John Carlson for example was a young offensively minded defenseman with a career-high of 37 points when Trotz came to Washington in 2014. He immediately posted a 55-point season and became one of the Capitals’ stars on the blue line. In his final year under Trotz this season, Carlson set new career-highs with 15 goals and 68 points. Though some of that production also has to do with then-assistant coach Todd Reirden, Pulock will try to be the next right-handed weapon to put up career numbers under Trotz.

While that comparison may seem unfair, Pulock does have some incredible offensive tools that look ready to be unleashed if he’s given a regular spot with New York. The team will have to find new ways of creating scoring chances now that John Tavares has left town, and the new wave of talent led by Mathew Barzal and Pulock will be the driving force behind them. After a solid rookie season, we could see a huge step forward in 2018-19 if Pulock is given the chance.

Remaining 2018 Arbitration Dates

July 17, 2018 at 4:45 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

As usual, arbitration hearings scheduled for later this month have been getting cancelled every day as teams lock up their restricted free agents. Hearings are scheduled each year between July 20th and August 4th, but we’ve already seen 18 players that filed for player-elected salary arbitration reach a settlement with their respective teams. Those players are listed below, with their contract details:

Elias Lindholm (CGY) – 6 years, $4.85MM AAV
Trevor van Riemsdyk (CAR) – 2 years, $2.3MM AAV
Matthew Nieto (COL) – 2 years, $1.98MM AAV
Devin Shore (DAL) – 2 years, $2.3MM AAV
Joel Armia (MTL) – 1 year, $1.85MM AAV
Phillip Danault (MTL) – 3 years, $3.08MM AAV
Blake Coleman (NJD) – 3 years, $1.8MM AAV
Stefan Noesen (NJD) – 1 year, $1.73MM AAV
Jimmy Vesey (NYR) – 2 years, $2.28MM AAV
Taylor Leier (PHI) – 1 year, $720K AAV
Alex Lyon (PHI) – 2 years, $750K AAV
Jamie Oleksiak (PIT) – 3 years, $2.14MM AAV
Dmitrij Jaskin (STL) – 1 year, $1.1MM AAV
Oskar Sundqvist (STL) – 1 year, $700K AAV
Colin Miller (VGK) – 4 years, $3.88MM AAV
Liam O’Brien (WSH) – 1 year, $650K AAV
Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) – 6 years, $6.17MM AAV
Tomas Nosek (VGK) – 1 year, $962.5K AAV