Los Angeles Kings Sign Lias Andersson
Lias Andersson has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings at his qualifying offer value of $874,125K in the NHL. The young forward was a restricted free agent coming off his first season with the Kings organization.
Andersson, 22, was the seventh overall pick in 2017, a selection the New York Rangers received when they traded Antti Raanta and Derek Stepan to the Arizona Coyotes. Even at the time, the pick raised some eyebrows because scouts saw a relatively low ceiling on Andersson, but the young forward was expected to quickly compete for an NHL job thanks to his experience at the professional level in Sweden. In that first season with the Rangers, he ended up playing in seven games and suited up 42 in 2018-19.
Things quickly soured though as Andersson struggled in the NHL, and he returned to Sweden for part of the 2019-20 season. In October last year, with his future basically over with the Rangers, he was sent to the Kings for a second-round pick. Not exactly the return you want from a seventh-overall selection, but at least something for the Rangers to work with.
Motivated and getting a fresh start, Andersson split the 2020-21 season between Sweden, the AHL and the NHL, recording six points in 23 games for the Kings. His performance in the minor leagues was much better, and it looks as though he could have a role in the NHL this year. No longer waiver-exempt, his best chance at showing he can be an NHL player was to accept his qualifying offer and be a cheap, effective option for Los Angeles. Whether he’ll ever experience an offensive breakout at this level is unclear, but for now, he’ll get a chance to show he can be a regular contributor.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Tyson Jost
The Colorado Avalanche have checked off one of the final entries on their to-do list, signing Tyson Jost to a two-year contract. Jost was the team’s last restricted free agent at the NHL level. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $2MM. GM Joe Sakic released a statement:
Tyson took a big step last year and was a key contributor to our team. He has worked hard to improve his game and earn a spot in our lineup. Tyson is a guy with a lot of character who competes at a high level day in and day out. We are excited to have him under contract for another two seasons.
Jost, 23, was the tenth overall pick in 2016 and though he is still waiting on an offensive breakout, the Avalanche trust him as a full-time bottom-six option that can help them moving forward. In 2020-21, he scored seven goals and 17 points in 54 games playing mostly with Valeri Nichushkin and Joonas Donskoi, a trio that unfortunately won’t be able to return for Colorado next season. Donskoi was snatched up by the Seattle Kraken in expansion, and after losing Brandon Saad to free agency, the Avalanche lines should have a slightly different look in 2021-22.
The biggest question is whether Jost, whose career-high is 26 points, will ever be able to step into a top-six role and succeed offensively. He’s already good enough in his own end to hold down a checking role, but there simply needs to be more scoring if he’s to become the next core piece in Colorado.
An offensive breakout would also benefit the young forward, as he’ll be an arbitration-eligible free agent once again at the end of this contract. In fact, he’ll be just a year away from unrestricted free agency, something he’s on schedule to reach at the age of 26 thanks to his early start in the NHL. It means these next two seasons are crucial from a financial standpoint, as the Avalanche hope to squeeze some extra value out of a $2MM cap hit while Jost hopes to set himself up for a big extension.
Buffalo Sabres Sign Rasmus Asplund, Ryan MacInnis
The Buffalo Sabres have tidied up some restricted free agent business, signing Rasmus Asplund to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $825K. The team has also announced a one-year $750K contract for free agent forward Ryan MacInnis. The 25-year-old qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency this year.
Asplund, 23, was actually one of the forwards that the Sabres protected from the Seattle Kraken in the recent expansion draft despite having just 57 games under his belt at the NHL level. That number is likely to increase quite a bit this year as he competes for a full-time role, though it remains to be seen if the young forward can continue to produce at the highest level. Selected 33rd overall in 2016, he scored seven goals and 11 points in 28 games this season after spending time in Sweden at the start of the year.
While he may not have much experience yet, Asplund is obviously well-liked by the Sabres front office and a two-year deal gives them the potential of plenty of excess value. If he is given a full-time role and breaks out, they have him locked up at a low-cost next year instead of dealing with arbitration. Even if he struggles, the entire cap hit can be buried in the minor leagues (though he would have to clear waivers for that to happen).
For MacInnis, Buffalo represents a fresh start and a chance at NHL minutes. In 16 games this season for the Blue Jackets, he failed to register a point, and now is still looking for his first NHL goal after 26 games. Son of legendary defenseman Al MacInnis, 6’4″ forward has never lived up to his second-round draft pedigree, struggling to even make much of an impact at the minor league level. Still, his size and defensive polish have given him a handful of NHL contests and could result in even more time on a rebuilding Buffalo squad.
Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With Zac Dalpe
Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito is bringing in another player that he is very familiar with, signing Zac Dalpe to a two-year, two-way contract. The 31-year-old forward was an unrestricted free agent.
When Zito was with the Columbus Blue Jackets, severing as GM of the AHL affiliate, Dalpe was his star. The minor league forward recorded 55 points in 55 games during the 2018-19 season with Cleveland, earning a place at the AHL All-Star Game. The next season, he returned as captain of the team under Zito’s management and added another 11 points in 18 games.
This season, after Zito moved on to Florida, Dalpe was still captain of the Monsters, but bounced back and forth between the AHL, NHL and taxi squad all season. He ended up playing more for Columbus than Cleveland, suiting up 12 times in the NHL and recording three points. Joining the Panthers organization now, Dalpe will likely serve as that same injury replacement at the NHL level but help the Charlotte Checkers tremendously as a leader and veteran forward. The two-year deal gives him some career stability, something that minor league veterans rarely find.
St. Louis Blues Sign Calle Rosen
The St. Louis Blues have shored up their defensive depth a bit more, signing Calle Rosen to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal is expected to pay Rosen $750K in the NHL and $300K in the AHL.
Rosen, 27, came over from Sweden in 2017 as a highly-touted defenseman, but has struggled to find his way in the NHL. With just 20 games at that level to this point, a deal here for the Blues is more about minor league depth than anything else. In 2020-21, Rosen spent the entire season with the Toronto Marlies, scoring 13 points in 20 games.
He’s proven himself to be an excellent AHL option, even able to play the top-pair at times. While there may be a handful of NHL games in his future should the Blues experience several injuries, the depth chart is looking pretty long already. St. Louis has seven defensemen under one-way contracts, plus names like Steven Santini and Scott Perunovich waiting for an opportunity. Rosen is likely ticketed for the Springfield Thunderbirds after training camp, as long as he clears waivers.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Alex Barre-Boulet
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Alex Barre-Boulet to a three-year contract. The first year is a two-way deal that will carry a salary of $750K at the NHL level, the second year is one-way and comes with a salary of $750K and the third year is one-way with a salary of $775K. The contract’s average annual value at the NHL level will be $758,333. Barre-Boulet was a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract.
The 24-year-old forward is another one of Tampa’s undrafted development projects and appears ready to take on a full-time role in the NHL. After dominating the AHL with 124 points in his first two seasons, he made his debut with Tampa Bay this season, playing in 15 games. Though he had just three goals during that span, he was an excellent possession player and should be a fixture in the lineup this season.
Signing for three years at the league minimum is obviously a big win for the Lightning, even if he’s just a part-time player moving forward. Barre-Boulet obviously was willing to give up a bit of potential salary for the security of a multi-year contract and by doing so actually made it easier for the team to keep him in the NHL. Tampa Bay, who have lost several players this summer because of the salary cap, will need players on cheap contracts as they continue pay their more productive forwards at the top of the lineup. Just this week, Brayden Point signed a massive eight-year extension that will make him one of the highest-paid forwards in the league. That deal won’t kick in until next season, but Barre-Boulet is now locked in at a very reasonable price for that stage too.
Detroit Red Wings Acquire Mitchell Stephens
The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded away one of their young depth players, sending Mitchell Stephens to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round pick.
With the signing of Alex Barre-Boulet, the Lightning were inching closer to the 50-contract limit with a few more restricted free agents left to deal with. Given that Stephens wasn’t likely to get much playing time now that Barre-Boulet and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare are under contract, a trade to his old manager in Detroit makes sense. It was Yzerman controlling the Lightning when Stephens was selected 33rd overall in 2015.
Now 24, Stephens was a semi-regular presence in the Lightning lineup in 2019-20, playing 38 games during the regular season. He also suited up for seven postseason games, coming in and out of the lineup whenever necessary. He even played 24 minutes in the epic five-overtime game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a career-high that will likely go unbroken for a while.
The benefit here for Stephens is obvious. He goes from an organization that is loaded with players like him, fighting for ice time, to one that needs all the NHL talent it can get. The young forward will have a chance to really establish himself in Detroit as they slowly rebuild through the draft. A player like Stephens is worth that sixth-round pick for Yzerman, even if all he gets is a couple of seasons while the rebuild continues. The Red Wings have plenty of picks to spare, and Stephens already has several years of minor league development invested in him.
Pavel Gogolev Signs Entry-Level Contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Pavel Gogolev to a three-year, entry-level contract. Gogolev spent part of this season with the Toronto Marlies after going undrafted out of the OHL, but has now earned an NHL contract.
In 2019-20, Gogolev was one of only six players in the OHL to record at least 40 goals and 85 points, finishing with 45 and 96 in his final year with the Guelph Storm. Despite that, the Russian forward still wasn’t drafted, and started this season playing in the Swedish second tier. After 12 games there, he signed an AHL contract with the Marlies and showed just how good his offensive skills can be. In 13 minor league games he scored six goals and 12 points.
Now, under an entry-level contract, Gogolev doesn’t need to worry about the next step in his development or where he’ll play in 2021-22. If the Maple Leafs want to take advantage of the top-end puck skills that the young forward possesses, there needs to be a lot of work put into the defensive side of the game. That’s worth the gamble at the moment, but an ELC doesn’t mean that Gogolev will be given a chance at the NHL level. In fact, he likely won’t unless his game away from the puck improves dramatically.
After a busy day yesterday adding depth to the organization, the Maple Leafs are now at 43 of their allotted 50 NHL contracts. They felt secure enough to use one of those spots on the 21-year-old Gogolev, now he’ll need to show them it wasn’t a mistake.
Minnesota Wild Sign Jon Merrill
The Minnesota Wild have filled one of their last defensive spots, agreeing to terms with Jon Merrill on a one-year, $850K contract.
Merrill, 29, split this season between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, joining the latter at the deadline only to end up on a deep playoff run. The 6’3″ defenseman has played 405 regular season games in the NHL, but always seems to be at the bottom of a depth chart. His career-high of 15 points was set in 2018-19 with the Vegas Golden Knights, but he actually averaged more ice time this season at 18:15.
In Minnesota, he becomes the sixth defenseman on a one-way contract, sliding in behind newcomers Alex Goligoski and Dmitry Kulikov. Though it seemed likely that prospect Calen Addison would receive a chance to crack the NHL lineup, the team now at least has an option if the 21-year-old is not quite ready. The fact that Merrill and Goligoski have experience on both the left and right side will be a bonus for the Wild, who can mix and match the bottom pairing this season.
There’s a connection in the Wild front office for Merrill, as Ray Shero now acts as a senior advisor. Shero was the general manager in New Jersey in the early part of Merrill’s career and when the Golden Knights plucked him through the expansion draft. The two are together again, though now it’s GM Bill Guerin and head coach Dean Evason that Merrill will have to impress to keep his place in the everyday lineup.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Danton Heinen
Among the players who didn’t receive a qualifying offer this year, Danton Heinen raised a few eyebrows. Once an up-and-coming scoring threat with the Boston Bruins, his game has fallen off in recent years. The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to correct that path, signing Heinen to a one-year, $1.1MM contract today.
Now 26, this may be Heinen’s last chance to prove he can handle a scoring role in the NHL. The fourth-round pick scored 16 goals and 47 points as a rookie in Boston and looked like he was going to be the answer to the second-line scoring issues. He was even given a chance beside Patrice Bergeron for a time the next season, but failed to reach the same level of production.
Since then, it has been a steady downward slope in his career. At the trade deadline in 2019-20 he was flipped to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Ritchie (who also happened to go unqualified this summer) where he has struggled. In 43 games during the 2020-21 season, he recorded just seven goals and 14 points despite seeing the most time beside Jakob Silfverberg and Adam Henrique.
There’s talent there that’s easy to see, but Heinen has to find a way to become more consistent in the offensive zone. In Pittsburgh, there’s a real chance that at some point he’ll be given an opportunity beside either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. He can’t afford to waste it this time, or that explosive rookie season will be quickly forgotten.
For the Penguins, moves like this are nothing new. Crosby has been asked to boost inexpensive linemates for years, and reclamation projects have become regular occurrences. In this case it doesn’t pose much risk with a contract that could be almost entirely buried in the minor leagues if necessary, but Heinen doesn’t offer much in a bottom-six role except penalty-kill ability.