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Dallas Stars Sign Mason Marchment

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1:07 pm: The Dallas Stars have swooped in under the wire, inking Marchment to a four-year contract worth roughly $4.5MM per season, per a team announcement. Marchment is fresh off of a breakout season for the Florida Panthers, where he scored 47 points in 54 games on the Panthers’ high-powered attack.

Marchment, 27, is a risky investment for the Stars but one with significant upside potential. Marchment was brilliant in 2021-22, scoring at nearly a point-per-game rate and making his impact felt on both ends of the ice. Marchment got his 47 points with very little power play time, making his offensive numbers even more impressive. The biggest risk with Marchment is simply the fact that before this season, it was unthinkable that Marchment could make $4.5MM on a multi-year deal. The production is the production, and the Stars are absolutely not simply basing this deal off of Marchment’s numbers alone, but one has to wonder if he’ll be able to replicate the performance away from the Panthers’ offensive machine.

If he can, this deal will age very, very well. If he can’t, well, it won’t. There is obviously a middle ground here where Marchment settles into a middle-six role, and that is definitely a realistic possibility. But it’s also a possibility that Marchment can’t replicate the success he found in Florida. For a team that wants to continue competing in a difficult Central Division, it’s not a bad risk to take.

12:17 pm: The Carolina Hurricanes have lost a handful of forwards to free agency and trade but they are working to add someone new. The team is closing in on a four-year deal with Mason Marchment according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first on the news.

Edmonton Oilers Update Smith Status; Sign Pickard

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The Edmonton Oilers have their starting goaltender in Jack Campbell, and now they have a third-string option as well. The Oilers are bringing in Calvin Pickard to play behind Campbell and Stuart Skinner on a two-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $762.5K

That leaves Mike Smith on the outside, and general manager Ken Holland updated the veteran’s status today. “I’m not expecting Smitty to play this year,” Holland told reporters including Jason Gregor of TSN, explaining why they needed someone like Pickard to come into the organization.

Smith, 40, is expected to move to long-term injured reserve as he deals with “several” chronic injuries. That will give the Oilers some additional cap flexibility, and potentially end Smith’s career after 670 regular season appearances. His overall record with Edmonton during that time was 56-27-10 with a .913 save percentage, helping the club all the way to the Western Conference Finals this year.

If it is the end, he finishes 36th all-time in games played by a goaltender, 40th all-time in wins. Not a Hall of Fame candidate, but a good goaltender for a very long time in the league.

Pickard, meanwhile, spent most of this season in the minor leagues, posting a .918 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 30-year-old has bounced around the league for the last decade, appearing in 116 NHL contests.

While he represents a solid minor league option, if he’s playing regularly for the Oilers this season they will be in trouble.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Charles Hudon, Andreas Englund

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The Colorado Eagles will be happy today, as their NHL affiliate has provided a top forward. Charles Hudon has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Colorado Avalanche according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The deal carries an NHL salary of $750K, an AHL salary of $400K, and a minor league guarantee of $450K. The team also announced a one-year deal for defenseman Andreas Englund.

Hudon, 28, is an accomplished AHL scorer and is getting a hefty $450K guarantee as proof of that. Hudon had 30 goals and 57 points in 66 games last season for the Syracuse Crunch and 35 points in 46 games in his last AHL season before that. In 2020-21, Hudon proved he could be productive at other levels of hockey outside of North America, scoring 32 points in 33 games for Lausanne in Switzerland. Hudon joins the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, a team that has lost a few key contributors already today, such as top defenseman Jordan Gross.

One AHL-er who won’t be leaving the Colorado Eagles is Englund. The 26-year-old Stockholm native has re-upped with Colorado on a one-year deal. Englund was a bottom-pairing defenseman for the Eagles playing a very specific style. He’s a big, bruising defenseman who spent 106 minutes in the penalty box last year. The 2014 second-round pick has 33 games of NHL experience and should occupy a similar AHL role in 2022-23 to the one he occupied last season.

Brendan Lemieux Re-Signs With Los Angeles Kings

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Despite not receiving a qualifying offer, Brendan Lemieux is staying in Los Angeles. The bottom-six forward has signed a one-year contract worth $1.35MM for the 2022-23 season, a slight discount over what his QO would have guaranteed.

Lemieux, 26, came to Los Angeles via a 2021 trade from the New York Rangers. Lemieux is a bit of a player, not for his on-ice talent but for his on-ice behavior. In terms of talent level, there isn’t much up for debate. Lemieux is your prototypical “pest” player. Physical, high-energy, and never quiet would all be ways to describe Lemieux’s game. His no-holds-barred game can endear himself to fans just as much as it can frustrate them.

A $1.3MM price tag certainly isn’t unreasonable for a player like Lemieux. There are NHL teams who value the sort of role he plays, and the Kings are one of them. This is an important season in Los Angeles, with the team making aggressive additions in order to secure a return to the playoffs.

Even with his disciplinary issues in mind, this signing illustrates that Lemieux’s hard game is valuable to the group Los Angeles is building and he should be fully capable of continuing his level of play for them for another year.

Edmonton Oilers Re-Sign Brett Kulak

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After seeing what’s out there, Brett Kulak has decided to go back to the Edmonton Oilers after all. The depth defenseman has re-signed with the Oilers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports it will be a four-year deal worth $2.75MM per season.

It’s been a fast rise for Kulak, who came to Edmonton in a mid-season trade. There are some who questioned Oilers GM Ken Holland’s choice to part with a second-round pick in order to acquire Kulak, but he answered those questions with his play as an Oiler. Kulak, an analytics darling, was a reliable two-way defenseman for the Oilers during their run to the Western Conference Final, showing that he could be just as comfortable carrying the puck in transition as he was battling a forward for position in front of the net. Kulak’s versatile, all-situations game endeared him to both coach Jay Woodcroft and Edmonton fans and is likely what earned him this deal.

This deal is largely a positive one, but not without at least some risk. During his time in Montreal, Kulak would have stretches where he looked like a fit in the team’s top-four, and then have stretches where he didn’t even look like he belonged on the ice. The talent was there, but the consistency was missing. The success of Kulak’s tenure in Edmonton so far brings up the question: has Kulak become the consistently reliable defenseman he’s shown he’s talented enough to be? Or is this just another one of his “good” stretches, just one that he’s timed really well?

That’s the question Kulak will need to answer, but based on his play in Edmonton so far it’s hard to be anything but optimistic.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Frank Vatrano

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The Anaheim Ducks have added some proven goal-scoring, signing Frank Vatrano to a three-year contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The deal will carry an average annual value of $3.65MM. Vatrano comes to Anaheim fresh off a successful (and brief) tenure with the New York Rangers.

After being acquired from the Florida Panthers in a mid-season trade, Vatrano had a combined 26 points in 42 games as a Ranger, including 13 goals. That’s a 25-goal, 51-point pace, and Vatrano’s $3.65MM AAV is likely an indication of how his strong finish to the season heightened his leaguewide profile. Before he came to New York, Vatrano was only valuable enough to net the Panthers a fourth-round pick in a trade.

In Anaheim, Vatrano will bring speed, tenacity, and goal-scoring ability. Vatrano can fly and is the sort of player who benefits from the increased emphasis placed on speed in today’s NHL game. If Vatrano can provide 20 goals, 15 assists, and the type of shift-to-shift energy he’s provided throughout his NHL career, this will be a solid market-price signing for the Ducks and GM Pat Verbeek.

Andrew Copp Signs With Detroit Red Wings

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12:07 pm: The Detroit Red Wings have officially announced the contract, bringing him to Hockeytown through 2027.

11:34 am: TSN’s Darren Dreger reports a five-year deal worth $5.625MM per season in Detroit for Copp.

07:33 am: The trend this year is going home, and Andrew Copp might be the latest to do so. Multiple reports including from Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie of TSN suggest that Copp will sign with the Detroit Red Wings when things open up, bringing him back to the place where all of his NHL dreams began.

Born in Ann Arbor, Copp would eventually don the maize and blue by heading to the University of Michigan for three seasons, where he developed into one of the most versatile players in college hockey and quickly outpaced his projections as a fourth-round pick in the NHL. By the time he was ready to exit college, the Winnipeg Jets were ready to put him directly into the lineup and Copp skipped the minor leagues entirely (he would play eight games for Manitoba, but not until after his rookie season).

After more than 450 games with the Jets, Copp found himself on the brink of free agency and because of that, traded to the New York Rangers. He excelled with his new team, showing that he could be a perfect complementary piece near the top of a lineup, and racked up 18 points in 16 games down the stretch. Another 14 in 20 playoff games, along with full-time minutes as a center, and Copp was ready for the open market.

A player who can kill penalties, contribute to the powerplay and line up at any of the three forward spots, his value to the Red Wings would likely fall in the middle of the ice. It just so happens that one of his teammates with Michigan was Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, who is also on the verge of a contract extension to lock him into the Detroit future. Should Copp sign, he’ll be surrounded by a glut of talented wingers and the Red Wings’ forward group will quickly start to take shape.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Ben Chiarot

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The Detroit Red Wings are going to add some size to their defense corps, as the team announced the signing of free agent defenseman Ben Chiarot. The deal will be for four years and will carry a whopping $4.75MM cap hit.

This deal will undoubtedly be controversial, as Chiarot the free agent signing is likely to split fan opinion just as Chiarot the trade asset did in the weeks leading up to the 2022 deadline did. But this signing is more than anything else an indication of how differently NHL front offices view Chiarot compared to public opinion. The Florida Panthers surrendered a coveted 2023 first-round pick and a prospect in Ty Smilanic to acquire Chiarot at the deadline, and now the Red Wings, led by GM Steve Yzerman, are giving Chiarot a $4.75MM AAV deal with a four-year term. Those two moves show that Chiarot’s public perception hasn’t quite caught up to his perception among NHL decision-makers.

Members of the public see Chiarot and see a player who is emblematic of the flaws in old-school hockey thinking. Chiarot is a big, mean, extremely physical defenseman who is perhaps best known for taking liberties with the rules against cross-checking in order to clear the blue paint. Chiarot’s reputation was massively enhanced by his play during the Montreal Canadiens’ 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final, as he paired with Shea Weber and formed a partnership that embodied the “hard to play against” identity so many teams strive to create. But does that reputation keep in line with the on-ice results?

That’s where things get complicated and where the public’s down opinion on Chiarot really comes from. By most public analytics models, Chiarot is an ineffective defensive defenseman whose teams often perform worse when he’s on the ice than when he’s off of it. The work by The Athletic’s Dom Luczyszyn assign’s Chiarot a per-season value of $700K, a far cry from the $4.75MM cap hit he’s earned today.

But Yzerman is an extremely accomplished GM. He laid the groundwork for the back-to-back Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cups, and is among the most widely respected executives in hockey. Clearly, there’s something this public perception is missing, or else Chiarot’s services wouldn’t be so in demand. Firstly, one has to assume that the private analytics Yzerman’s front office is working with are more kind to Chiarot than the public models. Secondly, there is a minority opinion on Chiarot that sees his game quite positively. They view his physical, crease-clearing play as extremely valuable, his locker room contributions to be important, and his abilities in transition and on offense to be underrated.

Whichever side on Chiarot is closer to the truth isn’t really relevant at this point. His contract is signed and finalized. He’ll be a Red Wing for the foreseeable future, and Red Wings fans simply have to have faith that Yzerman’s moves will work out as well for them as they did for fans in Tampa Bay.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the deal.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Ilya Lyubushkin, Eric Comrie

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The Buffalo Sabres have brought a defenseman down from Toronto, signing free agent Ilya Lyubushkin to a two-year deal according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75MM.

The Sabres aren’t finished there, as they have also signed goaltender Eric Comrie to a two-year deal worth $1.8MM per season according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The first signing, Lyubushkin, is relatively straightforward. The Sabres had an extremely encouraging finish to their 2021-22 season, and the team is in a more positive place than it has been in years. GM Kevyn Adams and coach Don Granato have done a brilliant job so far in turning the downtrodden Sabres around, and they look towards next season with the hope of at least being in the conversation for a playoff spot next spring.

Lyubushkin will help them get there, as he’s the sort of proven, NHL-caliber defenseman that any team could see themselves adding. Lyubushkin, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, is a big, physical, crease-clearing defenseman. He featured sporadically on the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill, averaging 55 seconds per game there, and should see time on the Sabres’ penalty kill next season. This deal will take Lyubushkin until he’s thirty, meaning there’s no significant regression risk, and the cap hit, while a bit pricey at $2.75MM, isn’t really an issue given the wealth of cap space the Sabres have had.

While some might not like the cost, this is a sensible, entirely reasonable addition for the Sabres to make as they attempt to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought.

In Comrie, the Sabres add a 27-year-old goalie who had an extremely successful limited run of NHL action last year. In 19 games Comrie posted a .920 save percentage, going 10-5-1 on a largely dysfunctional Sabres team. Prior to this year, Comrie had proven himself as a capable AHL starter, and should now see the first regular NHL gig in his career.

The Sabres have an uncertain future in the net, with 41-year-old Craig Anderson currently slated to be their starter. With Comrie in the mix, the Sabres have added a goalie who has a shot to make their $1.8MM per year investment look really, really good.

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