Maxime Lajoie Agrees To Terms With Carolina
The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to terms with defenseman Maxime Lajoie, signing him to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $750K at the NHL level, $75K at the AHL level and comes with a minor league guarantee of $100K.
Lajoie, 23, notably stepped into the Hurricanes lineup in the postseason, making his debut with the team against the Nashville Predators in the first round. The young defenseman had played just six NHL games since his breakout season in 2018-19, when he surprisingly made the Ottawa Senators roster out of camp and played in 56 games.
Though he has been limited to mostly minor league duty since, there’s still NHL upside in the young defenseman, as shown by the strong performance he had with the Chicago Wolves this year. In 27 AHL games, he posted 21 points, leading all Wolves defensemen.
There’s little chance that Lajoie finds his way into the NHL lineup this season unless massive injury troubles hit the Hurricanes—they added Ian Cole, Ethan Bear, Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Smith in the offseason—but he can keep developing in a strong AHL program and potentially push for a spot down the road.
Of course, there are waivers to consider, as Lajoie is not exempt and would need to clear in order to be sent to the minor leagues. That wasn’t a problem last season, when he cleared for the Ottawa Senators (only to be traded a day later), but there’s always a chance that someone decides he’s worth a claim this time around.
Winnipeg Jets, Andrew Copp Avoid Arbitration
The Winnipeg Jets have avoided arbitration with another restricted free agent, signing Andrew Copp to a one-year, $3.64MM contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Copp had a hearing scheduled for August 26, which will no longer be necessary.
Copp, 27, will be an unrestricted free agent when the deal expires, but there wasn’t much flexibility for the Jets to sign him to a longer deal. The team is pushed right up against the salary cap even with Bryan Little‘s $5.3MM deal moving to long-term injured reserve, meaning a multi-year deal with Copp (which would have carried a higher cap hit) would have required a subsequent move.
Instead, the team will move forward with the group they have now and revisit extension talks down the line. Copp will be eligible to sign a new contract with the team when the calendar turns to 2022. If he continues the play he showed this year, that next deal will certainly be coming with a substantial raise on $3.64MM.
Copp broke out offensively this season, scoring 15 goals and 39 points in just 55 games while playing a much bigger role for the Jets. Not only did he receive more regular powerplay time, but he also averaged 2:29 of short-handed ice time to lead all Winnipeg forwards. Overall he came in behind only Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Blake Wheeler in terms of average ice time, ahead of several more highly-paid teammates. It’s hard to overstate just how important he was to the Jets forward group, serving as a sort of fix-it player for any situation.
While he may not get much fanfare for his performance, other teams surely will have noticed the player that Copp has developed into. His free agent market will be significant if he makes it there, meaning this one-year deal is certainly a risk for the Jets in terms of retaining his services past 2021-22. The team is in a win-now mode though after a disappointing second-round exit, and clearly has decided that the expensive defensive additions were worth the cap squeeze they’re now experiencing.
With Copp signed, the Jets have essentially completed their offseason work, with only Johnny Kovacevic still to sign as a restricted free agent.
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Washington Capitals Loan Damien Riat To Lausanne HC
After just one season in North America, Damien Riat is headed back to Switzerland. The Washington Capitals have loaned the winger to Lausanne HC for the 2021-22 campaign after he spent this year with the Hershey Bears. The release does specify that he will be eligible to return to North America at the end of his National League season, though it’s unclear really where his future in the Capitals organization lies.
Riat, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Capitals back in 2016, but didn’t sign until 2020 when his draft rights were about to expire. The two-year entry-level contract he signed then covers the 2021-22 season, but Riat will be a restricted free agent next summer. The team can retain his rights with a qualifying offer, but one has to wonder if a permanent return to Switzerland is coming.
The young forward scored just three goals and nine points in 33 games for Hershey this year, joining them once the AHL got started. In the early part of the season he was playing for Geneve Servette in Switzerland, where he found much more success, tallying 18 points in 20 games. That National League success is nothing new for Riat, who has six seasons under his belt at the highest level back home.
We’ll have to wait and see if there is a path to the NHL for Riat and whether he returns at all after his overseas season is concluded, but he won’t be helping Hershey in the early part of the year.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Guillaume Brisebois
The Vancouver Canucks have signed Guillaume Brisebois to a one-year, two-way contract. The young defenseman was eligible for salary arbitration but chose not to file.
Brisebois, 24, played just one game for the Canucks this season, spending most of the year on the taxi squad or in the minor leagues. The 2015 third-round pick has just nine NHL appearances under his belt and has yet to record a single point.
He’ll be entering the 2021-22 season with a long list of defensemen ahead of him on the Canucks depth chart too, after the team made several additions this offseason. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tucker Poolman, Luke Schenn and Brad Hunt have all been brought aboard, while Travis Hamonic was re-signed. In all likelihood, Brisebois is ticketed for the AHL, where he’ll be part of the first season in Abbotsford.
The AHL Canucks are actually putting together quite a unit for their first season, bringing in several veteran minor league talents to make sure they’re competitive right away. Brisebois will only add to that level of talent, and wait for an injury or two to open up room on the NHL roster.
Edmonton Oilers Sign Slater Koekkoek
The Edmonton Oilers will be bringing back a familiar face. The team has signed Slater Koekkoek to a two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $925K. Koekkoek was an unrestricted free agent, but spent this past season with the Oilers. PuckPedia reports that the deal is worth $750K in 2021-22 and $1.1MM in 2022-23.
Koekkoek, 27, registered a single point in 18 games for the Oilers, but still was in the lineup when the team took on the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs (and were quickly swept). If things go according to plan he won’t be there this time around, as the Oilers have revamped their defensive group, but the team still obviously values him enough to bring him back on an inexpensive deal.
Selected 10th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012, Koekkoek was supposed to bring a mix of size and offensive ability. Insead, by the time he got to the NHL that offense had completely dried up, limiting him to a depth role. In 85 games for the Lightning spread over parts of five years, he registered 14 points. He actually eclipsed that mark by one in just 64 contests with the Chicago Blackhawks, but there was still never really any sign of a top-four player.
Now, even hitting the open market at a relatively young age, Koekkoek has taken the security of a two-year deal with the Oilers. He’ll slide into the depth chart somewhere around seven or eight, depending on the development of some of the younger options in Edmonton’s pipeline, but there’s little doubt Koekkoek will be playing games for them at some point this year.
Mark Spector of Sportsnet broke the deal on Twitter
New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Brennan Othmann
The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with their top draft pick and will sign Brennan Othmann to a three-year entry-level contract. The young forward was selected 16th overall last month and spent this year playing in Switzerland.
Othmann, 18, wasn’t in Switzerland at random. His father played more than a decade of pro hockey there and his uncle played 16 years, only retiring in 2016. The young Othmann went to ECH Olten alongside fellow top prospect and OHL forward Mason McTavish, who was actually born in Switzerland when his own father was playing there. The pair also suited up together for the U18 World Junior tournament, winning gold.
While McTavish went third overall to the Anaheim Ducks, Othmann would have to wait a few more picks before coming off the board. He eventually went to the Rangers, where he joins a deep group of forward prospects (especially wingers) that are trying to turn the New York fortunes around.
There’s little chance that he makes the NHL this season, meaning the first year of Othmann’s contract will not be burned. Instead, he’ll likely return to the OHL to play for the Flint Firebirds and continue his development as a top-line scoring threat. Othmann’s speed is his biggest weapon, something that will only serve him well at the next level.
Sam Reinhart Signs With Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have worked out a deal with newly acquired Sam Reinhart, inking the restricted free agent to a three-year contract. Reinhart was acquired last month from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick and prospect Devon Levi. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $6.5MM. GM Bill Zito released a statement on the deal:
Sam is a gifted and versatile talent that will play a key role for our team in the coming seasons. One of several players to commit to our organization with a multi-year contract this offseason, we are excited to see how these players come together and continue to build a foundation for success in South Florida.
The three-year deal buys out two seasons of unrestricted free agency for the 25-year-old Reinhart, who already has six full campaigns under his belt in the NHL. Selected second overall in the 2014 draft (right behind teammate Aaron Ekblad and two spots ahead of teammate Sam Bennett), he has been one of the most consistent players for the Sabres over the years even as the team failed to have any success.
In five of his six seasons, Reinhart has recorded at least 22 goals and matched his career-high with 25 even in this shortened 2020-21 campaign. That 25-goal, 40-point performance is even more spectacular given the fact that Jack Eichel missed most of the year, meaning Reinhart was able to create that kind of offense almost on his own in Buffalo. The next highest goal total on the Sabres was Victor Olofsson‘s 13, not offering a ton of opportunity for Reinhart to rack up assists.
That will certainly change in Florida, where he could very well line up beside Aleksander Barkov for parts of the year. That is of course unless they use him as a full-time center, something he never really did in Buffalo. Either way, the number of talented forwards that will surround Reinhart will be in stark contrast to what he had with the Sabres, which could very well lead to a career year.
He’s certainly getting paid for that upside though, as Reinhart is suddenly earning more than any other forward–including Barkov–on the Panthers. That would have likely been the case even if he went through the arbitration process though, as he was due a $5.2MM qualifying offer and had an outstanding case given his consistent offensive numbers. Even if it’s a bit weird for him to be the most expensive forward on the team, it likely will only be for one season. Barkov is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2022 and will need a huge extension, while Jonathan Huberdeau is also only signed for two years.
With all of their restricted free agents now signed, Florida is still nearly $2MM under the cap ceiling. The team could potentially even add more depth, or continue to accrue room to make a splash at the deadline.
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Free Agent Profile: Erik Gustafsson
Can you remember the 60-point season that Erik Gustafsson had just a few years ago? It seems like a decade has passed since that 2018-19 campaign, when he scored 17 goals and 60 points for the Chicago Blackhawks, trailing only Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Morgan Rielly, John Carlsson, and Keith Yandle in scoring among NHL defensemen. One would think the 29-year-old could call up any GM in the league and iron out a contract with that kind of upside, but now he sits on the open market without a deal two weeks into free agency.
It’s what Gustafsson has done in the interim that has people worried. He returned to Chicago the next season and had 26 points in 59 games, but was so suspect defensively that he generated just a third-round pick at the deadline for the Blackhawks. His play down the stretch and in the bubble with the Calgary Flames was good enough to land him a $3MM salary for 2020-21 with the Philadelphia Flyers, but still inconsistent enough to limit the term to just one year. Once again he was moved at the deadline, only this time it was for a seventh-round pick from the Montreal Canadiens, directly showing how much his lustre had faded.
Still, you can’t just ignore the fact that Gustafsson has the 25th most points from a defenseman over the last three seasons. He averaged nearly 21 minutes a night over that stretch, and played in 16 of Montreal’s playoff games during their recent Stanley Cup run. There’s still NHL value in the offensive defenseman, even if his deployment has to be carefully determined.
Stats
2020-21: 29 GP, 1-11-12, -1 rating, 0 PIM, 33 shots, 57.2 CF%, 16:43 ATOI
Career: 250 GP, 29-102-131, -4 rating, 71 PIM, 425 shots, 55.6 CF%, 19:35 ATOI
Potential Suitors
The question really is–like with any player left in free agency–whether or not Gustafsson is willing to play for a contract near the league minimum. There are contenders who could use a depth option like him to drive play in certain situations, as long as he’s willing to come aboard cheaply. The Vegas Golden Knights, for instance, still likely need to add a defenseman after trading away Nick Holden, but don’t really have any cap space to work with. The Toronto Maple Leafs also don’t have a very long depth chart on defense, even after adding players like Alex Biega and Carl Dahlstrom. Toronto’s powerplay struggled immensely last season, so perhaps a player like Gustafsson could be used in a part-time role until they trust Rasmus Sandin in that spot.
If he wants to maximize his earning potential though, Gustafsson may be better off pursuing an opportunity on a rebuilding club. The Buffalo Sabres have a motley crew of defensemen heading into the season, with none outside of Rasmus Dahlin really demanding offensive deployment now that Rasmus Ristolainen is gone. Even the Arizona Coyotes, despite bringing in Shayne Gostisbehere, Conor Timmins and Anton Stralman could potentially use another NHL defenseman. The Coyotes have Victor Soderstrom waiting for his chance, but is bringing him up right now the best move for his development?
The issue now is how many teams have already filled out their depth charts. There’s just literally no room on some rosters for the veteran defenseman, meaning it could potentially be a long wait for him this summer.
Projected Contract
Gustafsson actually ranked 44th on our Top 50 UFA list, but even there we projected a one-year, $1MM contract. Even reaching that number may be a challenge at this point in free agency, with teams already cap committed with so many other options. That 60-point season is a distant memory at this point, meaning a deal near the league minimum or even–shockingly–a professional tryout may be in store. The thing is, that actually may be a huge bargain for whoever gets him, as there is still a way to squeeze real value out of what he does well.
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Minor Transactions: 08/11/21
Arbitration hearings are being scratched off without any hearings as teams get their key restricted free agents under contract. The UFA market has dried up, with just a few names left that can make any real impact. Still, minor leagues are still filling out their rosters and we’ll keep track of all the notable moves right here.
- The Chicago Wolves have signed Dylan Wells to a one-year AHL contract, an interesting move given he received a qualifying offer from the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this offseason. He could have signed that two-way NHL contract, but instead will sign a minor league deal meaning he’s not call-up eligible. The team will still retain his rights and could sign him to an NHL contract during the year, but it’s a curious move for the 23-year-old goaltender.
- Jordan Subban has signed a one-year deal with the Hershey Bears, returning from a two-year absence from North American pro hockey. Subban played the 2019-20 season in Austria and didn’t play in 2020-21, meaning he’ll be trying to get things back on track with the Bears this year.
- After playing nine games with the Stockton Heat this season, Kris Bennett has signed a one-year AHL contract with the Iowa Wild for 2021-22. Bennett, who went undrafted out of the OHL, played three seasons at the University of New Brunswick before turning pro this year. His contract with Iowa is two-way, meaning he’ll earn a different amount depending on whether he’s playing in the AHL or ECHL.
- After a year away from the game during the pandemic, former NHL defenseman Jakub Kindl will be back on the ice this season. The 34-year-old has returned to his former club HC Plzen in his native Czech Republic on a one-year deal, the team announced. A first-round pick back in 2005 from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, Kindl played in 331 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers as a big, tough stay-at-home defender. He returned to Europe in 2017 and spend two years with Plzen and last played in 2019-20 with Kolner Haie in the German DEL.
Snapshots: Kane, Saros, Pettersson
With an investigation ongoing into allegations that he bet on NHL games, Evander Kane‘s future with the San Jose Sharks isn’t clear. But it was long before that things started to deteriorate between the $7MM forward and his team. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic published an explosive piece today examining the situation in San Jose, reporting that “several key players” told the Sharks management that if Kane remained with the team, they didn’t want to stay.
Kurz writes that the Sharks did explore trading Kane earlier this offseason, but that obviously didn’t come to pass. Now with this new allegation, the reports of locker room turmoil and a bankruptcy case continuing in the background, the 30-year-old forward is “virtually untradeable.” Kane is currently signed through the 2024-25 season and holds a modified no-trade clause that allows him to list just three clubs he could be traded to. He also is coming off arguably his best season as a professional, with 22 goals and 49 points in 56 games.
- The Nashville Predators are approaching an arbitration hearing with starting goaltender Juuse Saros, scheduled for August 18. Adam Vingan of The Athletic breaks down the case that both sides have, but notes that Saros’ camp is looking for a long-term deal, while the Predators are hoping for a three to four-year contract if things can be worked out before the hearing. Saros truly broke out this season, finishing sixth in the Vezina Trophy voting and even receiving some Hart Trophy recognition, after posting a 21-11-1 record with a .927 save percentage. The 26-year-old goaltender is just a year away from unrestricted free agency, meaning any multi-year contract would be buying out almost exclusively UFA seasons. An arbitration ruling on the other hand could only be one year in length, taking him right to the open market next year.
- Elias Pettersson is another restricted free agent without a contract, but he doesn’t seem too worried about it. The Vancouver Canucks forward spoke to Uffe Bodin of Hockeysverige and explained that though the two sides are not in agreement on a deal yet, he’s confident they will find a solution. Pettersson also clearly indicated that he wants to be on a winning team, meaning if they want to keep him long-term, the Canucks better start making the playoffs more often.