Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Andrew Peeke
The Columbus Blue Jackets have reached a contract with their final restricted free agent, signing Andrew Peeke to a two-year deal. The contract will be worth a total of $1.575MM. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that Peeke will earn $750K in 2021-22 and $825K in 2022-23. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen released a short statement:
Andrew is a smart, mobile defenseman, who has the ability to join the rush and make plays in all three zones. He is still a young player, but we are excited to see his continued growth within our organization as he continues to work and earn more playing time.
Peeke, 23, was the 34th overall pick in 2016 and quickly found success at Notre Dame. After three years in college, he decided to turn pro and actually played 22 games for the Blue Jackets in his first professional season. That number decreased to just 11 appearances this season, but he will be in the mix for regular ice time in 2021-22.
There will be a battle for spots in Columbus after the team moved on from Seth Jones, Ryan Murray and David Savard. Jake Bean and Adam Boqvist have both joined the fray through trade, while Mikko Lehtonen was brought back on a one-year deal. The fact that Peeke is still waiver-exempt will probably hurt him in this case, as he can go to the minor leagues at the start of the year, but that should also make him one of the first call-ups in the case of injury.
The two-year deal could potentially take Peeke to Group VI unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025 if he fails to secure a regular spot in the lineup. Otherwise, he will be a restricted free agent eligible for arbitration.
Jon Cooper Named Head Coach Of Team Canada
If the NHL goes to the Olympics next year, it will be Jon Cooper behind the bench as Team Canada’s head coach. Hockey Canada announced the full staff today, naming Cooper head coach along with Barry Trotz, Bruce Cassidy and Peter DeBoer serving as assistants. The Tampa Bay Lightning coach released a statement:
It is an honour to be entrusted with leading Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team next year in Beijing, and to be able to carry on the rich tradition of hockey excellence that is associated with Hockey Canada. The opportunity to work with an excellent management group and an elite-level coaching staff of Barry, Bruce and Peter is a great privilege. I have many fond memories of the Olympics, from watching games as a young kid to thrilling gold medal victories, and I look forward to helping create lasting memories for Canadians across the country while our team competes for a gold medal.
Cooper, has been a head coach of Canada just once previously, leading the 2017 World Championship team to a silver medal. He was never part of the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence, which not only helps develop players but coaches as well. In fact, back in 2008 he served as an assistant with the U.S. squad at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, as he was serving as the GM and head coach of the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL at the time. Cooper’s path to the NHL is certainly not the one taken by most Canadian head coaches, but it’s hard to argue with the results. He’s won the Stanley Cup two years in a row with the Tampa Bay Lightning and holds an all-time winning percentage of .647 in the regular season.
The staff Cooper will have is incredible and has its own Stanley Cup ring to boast. Trotz won it all in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, and has twice taken home the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year. Cassidy has his own Jack Adams, along with a .677 winning percentage since taking over the Bruins, and DeBoer has been absolutely dominant since joining the Vegas Golden Knights. All four coaches have at least made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and will now try to take Canada to Olympic gold.
It is important to note that this does not mean the league is going for certain. The hope is still that the NHL, IIHF and IOC can reach an agreement, but things are not official yet. If the NHL does not participate, the coaching staff will have to be reworked.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Carter Hart
The Philadelphia Flyers have locked up their young goaltender, signing Carter Hart to a three-year contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.979MM. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff provides the full breakdown:
- 2021-22: $3.2MM salary + $279K signing bonus
- 2022-23: $3.6MM salary + $379K signing bonus
- 2023-24: $4.479MM
Hart, 22, was absolutely brutal this season, recording an .877 save percentage in 27 appearances for the Flyers. That was a huge reason why Philadelphia fell out of contention early, though the rest of the roster also seemed to have down years. At any rate, the team obviously still believes in their young netminder, giving him one of the biggest second contracts ever for a goaltender his age.
There are lots of reasons to believe that Hart can turn things around. Not only was he one of the most successful netminders in CHL history, winning the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s Goaltender of the Year in three straight seasons, but his early NHL career was also outstanding. In his first two seasons, Hart posted a .915 save percentage in 74 appearances, going 40-26-4 for the Flyers. It was easy to crown him as one of the league’s best up-and-coming goaltenders, a calming presence in the Philadelphia net.
Now, as the team commits a rather hefty sum to the young netminder, Hart will need to get back to that previous performance. The team won’t be able to go anywhere without a return to form, especially given who they brought in as a backup this year. Martin Jones, who was once a strong starter in the league, has posted an .896 save percentage in each of the last three seasons. Unless he experiences a career turnaround, the team won’t be able to rely on him to carry the load should Hart struggle.
This deal also means that Hart will be left with an expensive qualifying offer in 2024. That $4.479MM offer will be a high price if he fails to return to previous form, especially as he will also be arbitration-eligible at that point. Because he started his career so early, Hart will actually be on track for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025, after he completes seven seasons in the NHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Edmonton Oilers Sign Stuart Skinner
The Edmonton Oilers have signed Stuart Skinner to a new two-year, two-way contract. The deal comes with a $750K average annual value at the NHL level. Skinner was a restricted free agent but did not qualify for salary arbitration.
For a team like the Oilers, who have several aging goalies at the NHL level, a prospect like Skinner is very important. The 22-year-old netminder had a strong season for the Bakersfield Condors in 2020-21, posting a 20-9-1 record with a .914 save percentage in 31 games. That minor league success is promising and hopefully points to a future with the Oilers down the road.
While that NHL future may not be this season, having a homegrown talent take over in net at some point would be a huge win for the Edmonton front office. Since the cap era started in 2005-06, the team has constantly cycled through veteran after veteran, while failing to really develop many of their own draft picks. Devan Dubnyk was the exception to that, but he’s been gone for years now and experienced his best years elsewhere.
With a group that includes Mike Smith, Mikko Koskinen and Alex Stalock signed for this season, there may not be much room for Skinner. But two of those goaltenders are unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2021-22 season, which could potentially open a spot for a young backup. The fact that Skinner is still waiver-exempt helps this year, but that designation will end after the upcoming season. A two-year contract opens up the chance that he could be a league-minimum option for them in 2022-23.
Minnesota Wild Sign Will Bitten
Aug 8: Bitten’s contract has been announced by the Wild, confirming the reported details.
Aug 7: The Minnesota Wild have signed Will Bitten to a one-year, two-way contract, according to CapFriendly. The restricted free agent forward accepted his qualifying offer, meaning he’ll earn $840K in the NHL and $75K in the AHL next season.
Bitten, 23, was the 70th overall pick in the 2016 draft, selected by the Montreal Canadiens. He never played a single game (outside of exhibitions) for that organization though, as he was flipped to the Wild in a 2018 trade for Gustav Olofsson. With his new club, he has spent three seasons in the AHL, scoring 69 points in 145 games. Though not a big player, Bitten is a ball of energy, willing to chase down defenders with a relentless forecheck. His offensive ability wasn’t what got him drafted, but he was a pretty strong contributor this season with 19 points in 31 games for Iowa, numbers that obviously earned him a qualifying offer.
The fact that he doesn’t rely on high-skill plays to contribute may actually help Bitten in his quest to reach the NHL, given his ability to slot in on a fourth line without a problem. Minnesota doesn’t actually have a ton of NHL locks at the forward position compared to some other clubs, meaning there may actually be some competition in camp for the last few spots. While his ceiling isn’t as high as some of the team’s other prospects, Bitten may get a chance to play some games as an injury replacement in the near future, even if it is limited minutes available at the bottom of the lineup.
Buyout-Proof: Darnell Nurse’s Extra Protection
The Edmonton Oilers made a huge commitment to Darnell Nurse yesterday, signing the 26-year-old defenseman to an eight-year contract extension. The $74MM contract doesn’t even kick in until the 2022-23 season, meaning it will keep him employed until 2030. The $9.25MM cap hit is currently the fifth-highest among NHL defensemen, but the average annual value isn’t the only thing to negotiate when it comes to career-defining contracts.
The contract also includes a full no-movement clause through the 2026-27 season, and a modified no-trade clause through the final three years. Nurse will be able to submit a list of ten teams he would accept a trade to during those final few years, but that’s actually not the only protection built into the deal. For that, the full salary breakdown is needed (via CapFriendly):
- 2022-23: $12.0MM salary
- 2023-24: $10.4MM salary
- 2024-25: $12.0MM salary
- 2025-26: $10.0MM salary
- 2026-27: $2.0MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
- 2027-28: $1.2MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
- 2028-29: $1.2MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
- 2029-30: $1.2MM salary + $6.0MM signing bonus
The combination of a contract being front-loaded and then filled with signing bonuses creates another sort of protection for Nurse. After the halfway point, it essentially can’t be bought out. The cap savings would be negligible at that point, meaning the defenseman will almost certainly see this new deal play out regardless of how he performs down the line.
For instance, if the team tried to buy the deal out in June 2026, they would still face cap hits of $7.72MM in 2026-27 and $8.52MM in each of the next three years. As it gets closer to the end of the term, the cap savings would be even less. That means if things go sour, Edmonton would need to pull the trigger early to get any real relief, like the Minnesota Wild recently did with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, but that would still result in some painful cap penalties without a player to show for it.
This isn’t the first time the league has seen contracts structured in a way to prevent buyouts. In the summer of 2016, just a few days after free agency opened, PHR published a piece examining how Loui Eriksson‘s deal (and several others signed that day) was essentially buyout-proof. As we enter the final season of that six-year, $36MM deal, Eriksson is still technically active but was scratched for basically the entire 2020-21 campaign. He played just seven games for the Vancouver Canucks this year and has just 14 points over the past two seasons. Despite his obvious struggles, there wasn’t a way to clear his contract off the books–at least not without trading him.
Edmonton could now face that same situation if Nurse’s play declines a few years from now. It’s a gamble, an especially risky one to take a year out from Nurse reaching unrestricted free agency. In 2022-23, the Oilers’ defenseman will be earning the same amount of money as Connor McDavid, whose eight-year, $100MM contract was only slightly front-loaded. The team is making a huge investment in the short term, hoping to find some success in the postseason.
Kraken Notes: Giordano, Barnes, Goaltending Coach
During the lead-up to this year’s expansion draft, the rumor mill was in high gear. Speculation surfaced that Mark Giordano, the Calgary Flames captain who would be selected by the Seattle Kraken, may not be on the expansion roster very long. When the Kraken brought him out to the stage during the event itself, it seemed to confirm that wouldn’t be the case. Now, speaking with TSN’s Salim Valji, Giordano explained that not only is he looking forward to playing for the Kraken, but intends on taking a leadership role in the team’s inaugural season:
Yeah, I think myself, obviously being the oldest guy on the team, you go in and you want to embrace those leadership qualities. You want to help out the young guys as much as you can, but with the NHL today, most of the superstars are anywhere from low- to mid-twenties, to be honest. So I’m looking forward to being around the young guys on our team and having good leaders, guys like Jordan Eberle are there, and a bunch of different guys I should mention but will leave it for later. I’m just looking forward to being around a good, solid, young core group who’s going to provide a lot of energy for me. I’m looking forward to that, just as much as hopefully guys are looking forward to playing with me.
Giordano, 37, will likely be looked at as the team’s de facto captain this season, even if he isn’t given the letter. It is also unclear how long the veteran defenseman will actually be there. His contract expires after the 2021-22 season and he will be 39 before the 2022-23 season starts, likely with more than 1,000 games played.
- The Kraken have said goodbye to one of their pro scouts, as Stu Barnes leaves the organization to take the head coaching role with the Tri-City Americans. Barnes is a co-owner of the WHL team and played there for two seasons before his long NHL career. In fact, Barnes holds the second and third-best offensive seasons in Tri-City history. A veteran of more than 1,100 NHL games, he served as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars for two different periods since his retirement and was hired by the Kraken last summer.
- Speaking of hirings, the Kraken are expected to make a decision on a goaltending coach within a week according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Baker assumed that Andrew Allen, currently working as a pro scout, would take that role given he held it with the Buffalo Sabres previously, but also notes there are few other prominent names like Mike Buckley—recently fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins–out there right now.
New York Rangers Sign Ty Ronning
The New York Rangers announced three contracts today, two of which had already been reported. The one-year deals for Tim Gettinger and Adam Huska are now official; joining them is Ty Ronning who has also agreed to terms on a one-year contract. Ronning was a restricted free agent and not eligible for arbitration. Ronning’s deal is worth the league-minimum $750,000 with $75,000 in minor-league pay, per CapFriendly.
Originally a seventh-round pick in 2016, likely more to do with his name–he’s the son of long-time NHL forward Cliff Ronning–than his play, the 23-year-old forward has developed into a legitimate scoring threat in the minor leagues. Ronning had 10 goals and 18 points in 18 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack this season, continuing what has been a pattern to this point. In the 2017-18 season he scored 61 goals for the Vancouver Giants, and then for two seasons was nearly a point-per-game player in the ECHL.
None of the three should be impact players on the Rangers this year, but do offer real value to the AHL club. The undersized Ronning has always found a way to contribute offensively and he should find no trouble in that task for Hartford.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Conor Timmins
After acquiring him last month in a deal for Darcy Kuemper, the Arizona Coyotes have signed Conor Timmins to a two-year contract. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the deal will carry an average annual value of $850K. CapFriendly reports that Timmins will make $750,000 in 2021-22 and $950,000 in 2022-23.
Timmins, 22, was the 32nd overall pick in 2017 and looked like he was on the fast track to the NHL after dominating the OHL and the World Juniors through the early part of the 2017-18 season. Unfortunately, he ran into concussion issues that kept him out the entire 2018-19 season, slowing his development in its tracks.
Healthy now and contributing, Timmins played in 31 games for the Colorado Avalanche this year, registering seven assists. He even suited up for 10 playoff games, showing he’d made the jump comfortably to the NHL level. The Avalanche were in desperate need of a goaltender after Philipp Grubauer surprisingly signed with the Seattle Kraken, and Timmins was a price they could reasonably pay given how many other young defensemen they have in the system.
For Arizona though, he represents a brand new kind of asset and a potential long-term partner for Jakob Chychrun. The team has been using veteran defensemen for years, failing to really develop any of their own other than Chychrun and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Timmins comes in at an early enough time in his career that he still represents huge amounts of excess value, if they can coax the best of him out in Arizona. When on his game, Timmins has an elite defensive stick and can move the puck quickly up to his forwards, contributing offensively at times.
At just $850K, he is the perfect mix for a team like Arizona–cheap and young. The team has slashed their payroll dramatically while taking on cap hits that bring them to the lower limit, and need players like Timmins to log big minutes in the rebuild. For the young defenseman, a two-year deal gives him some security while also likely providing him with a chance to play a lot for the Coyotes, setting up a potential payday in arbitration two years from now.
Oskar Olausson Signs Entry-Level Contract
Another first-round pick has signed, as Oskar Olausson inks his entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche. The young forward was selected 28th overall in this year’s draft. CapFriendly reports the deal carries $832,500 in base salary every season with a $92,500 signing bonus, meaning a cap hit and average annual value of $925,000
Olausson, 18, made his SHL debut this season, suiting up at the highest level in Sweden for 16 games. He recorded three goals and four points in those matches, but filled the scoresheet at the junior level, adding 14 goals and 27 points in 16 games for HV71’s U20 squad. A talented skater, the 6’2″ forward can drive wide with speed or cleanly enter the offensive zone under control, shifting gears quickly to shake defenders. His overall game still needs polish, but that can be said about almost any player selected in the back half of the first round.
As a first-round pick, the Avalanche could send Olausson to the minor leagues or return him to Sweden for more development but did not reveal their plans in the press release. No matter where he plays, he’ll be a top option for Sweden at the World Junior tournament, given he took part in it last year as well. His role on that team should increase, as should his playing time in the SHL if that’s where he spends this season.