Colorado Avalanche Re-Sign Kiefer Sherwood
The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed restricted free agent forward Kiefer Sherwood to a one-year contract. PuckPedia reports that the two-way deal is worth $750K in the NHL and $335K in the AHL, with a minor league guarantee of $365K. Sherwood was eligible for salary arbitration.
Now 26, Sherwood has played 76 NHL games over the past three seasons, including 16 with the Avalanche this year. He’s not a dominant piece at that level, but he is in the minor leagues, as he showed with ten goals and 16 points in ten games for the Colorado Eagles. Sherwood is a valuable depth piece, able to come into the lineup in a pinch and contribute, but he won’t be smashing down any doors for a full-time roster spot.
That is to say, as long as there is a better option in Colorado ahead of him. The team has just a handful of forwards under contract for next year, with Gabriel Landeskog, Brandon Saad, Liam O’Brien and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare all scheduled for unrestricted free agency. Joonas Donskoi was nabbed by the Seattle Kraken and Tyson Jost is an RFA, leaving just six other forwards under one-way contracts.
With the kind of cap crunch the Avalanche face from potential extensions for Landeskog and goaltender Philipp Grubauer, perhaps Sherwood’s league-minimum deal will actually be pretty appealing on the fourth line next season. At any rate, he’ll now be able to compete for playing time and earn a pretty healthy minor league salary even if he misses out on the NHL roster.
San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Rudolfs Balcers, Joachim Blichfeld
The San Jose Sharks are taking care of some offseason work, re-signing restricted free agent Rudolfs Balcers to a two-year contract. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1.55MM. Sharks GM Doug Wilson released a short statement on the deal:
We were excited to bring Rudolfs back to our organization last season and he became an important part of our lineup in what was his first full NHL season. He showed that he is a versatile forward who can provide offense for our club as a Top-9 forward. We are happy to have him.
Balcers, 24, was part of the 2018 trade that brought Erik Karlsson to the Sharks, but never found his groove with the Ottawa Senators. In 51 games there, he scored six goals and 17 points, failing to secure a spot even in a rebuilding roster. When he landed on waivers at the beginning of this year, the Sharks happily brought him back to the organization that drafted him in 2015.
In San Jose, he finally was given an opportunity to play significant minutes, and rewarded the team with 17 points in 41 games. By the end of the season, Balcers was playing more than some of the team’s more prominent forwards, mostly because of his responsible defensive nature. There is offensive potential still there to unlock, but Balcers could also be a valuable bottom-six piece because of his two-way ability.
A reliable bottom-six isn’t really something the Sharks have had in recent years, and something that will be key to any sort of plan that GM Doug Wilson has. The team has so much cap space tied up in aging players that they will need a breakout from someone like Balcers to really get them back into contention. He doesn’t need to score 100 points, but he must provide some excess value on the $1.55MM hit he now carries. That’s a risk, but a calculated one on a player that they’ve known for some time and obviously believe in.
The team has also re-signed Joachim Blichfeld to a one-year contract. Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News tweets that the two-way contract is worth $750K at the NHL level. Wilson provided a statement on that deal as well:
Joachim was a top player in the American Hockey League last season, leading the Barracuda in goals and points. He has shown over his career that he is a goal-scorer at each level, and with the experience, he has gained in his short time at the NHL level, we feel that he is ready to compete for a spot in our lineup next season.
Blichfeld, unlike Balcers, still spent the majority of this season in the minor leagues. The 23-year-old forward suited up just five times for the Sharks, scoring a single goal but earning himself a suspension along the way. He’s another late-round pick, selected 210th overall in 2016, but has shown glimpses of a huge offensive ceiling. In 79 career AHL games, Blichfeld has scored 28 goals and 54 points. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given his success in the WHL, where he posted 114 points in 68 games during the 2018-19 season.
Like Balcers, he’ll be given an opportunity to play in the bottom-six next year, but it certainly isn’t a guarantee that he stays there all season. He could show that his offensive upside is good enough to warrant some powerplay time or even skate next to more skilled linemates further up, or could end up back in the minor leagues. Blichfeld is still waiver-exempt for another season, meaning he could face a turbulent season bouncing up and down between levels.
Tyler Pitlick Traded To Calgary Flames
The Seattle Kraken have completed the first trade in franchise history, sending Tyler Pitlick to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick. Pitlick was Seattle’s selection from the Arizona Coyotes last night, but he’ll end up just a footnote in the expansion saga, never playing for the team.
The 29-year-old forward scored 11 points in 38 games last season for the Coyotes but brings a ton of physicality and versatility to the table. Known more as a bottom-six option, he has moved up at times throughout his career and even has powerplay experience. Pitlick scored a career-high 14 goals and 27 points in the 2017-18 season with the Dallas Stars, and averaged more short-handed ice time than any other Arizona forward this year.
That versatility will be helpful in Calgary, though where Pitlick fits in is still to be determined. The Flames are going through a transition period after losing captain Mark Giordano last night and could be involved in several other transactions this summer. Adding Pitlick’s $1.75MM cap hit shouldn’t change much, but it does give the team a potential replacement for some of the other bottom-six options that are set to hit free agency. Derek Ryan, Josh Leivo, and Buddy Robinson are all pending UFAs.
For the Kraken, this is the first of what could be several moves to add draft capital after last night’s event. Like Vegas a few years ago, many of the names picked through expansion will never play for Seattle, instead quickly packing their bags and heading to another North American city to continue their career.
New York Rangers Sign Barclay Goodrow
July 22: The wait is over, and Goodrow is officially a New York Ranger. The six-year term was correct, and PuckPedia provides the full breakdown:
- 2021-22: $750K salary + $1.75MM signing bonus
- 2022-23: $2.5MM salary + $500K signing bonus
- 2023-24: $5.1MM salary
- 2024-25: $5.0MM salary
- 2025-26: $3.75MM salary
- 2026-27: $1.25MM salary + $1.25MM signing bonus
The deal will carry an average annual value of $3.64MM and includes a 15-team no-trade clause.
July 19: The New York Rangers traded a seventh-round pick for the opportunity to negotiate with Barclay Goodrow ahead of free agency, and it looks like it may result in a long-term contract. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that there has been significant progress between the two sides on a six-year contract that will carry an average annual value of around $3.6MM. Even if agreed to, the contract would have to wait until July 22 when the transaction freeze is lifted.
Goodrow, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, has never scored more than eight goals in a single season and reached a career-high of 26 points in the 2019-20 campaign. Despite that lack of offensive success, the 28-year-old forward is still a valuable, versatile, bottom-six piece that the Rangers obviously believe can help them take the next step. Able to play center and the wing, Goodrow brings size, physicality and a penchant for showing up at the most important moments.
In 2019, before he even joined the Lightning, Goodrow finished one of the most remarkable comebacks in NHL history when he scored an overtime goal for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks had been down 3-0 partway through the third period of game seven against the Vegas Golden Knights, but scored four times on a single powerplay to take the lead. After Jonathan Marchessault scored to send it to overtime in the dying seconds, it was Goodrow that would slice through the Vegas defense and end the game in overtime. He scored another game-winning tally this year against the Carolina Hurricanes, but it was a shot block late in the deciding 1-0 game five against the Montreal Canadiens that will be remembered most from this postseason run. Goodrow threw his body in front of a Shea Weber blast in the final minute of the game, leading to his coach Jon Cooper pointing to the play as one that “sums up the character” of the Lightning.
Many will rightfully question whether that kind of contribution is worth $3.6MM or a six-year contract. Long-term deals for bottom-six players have very rarely worked out in favor of the team that signs them, and this would certainly qualify as one of the more risky examples. Goodrow’s six goals and 20 points look fine as a depth option making $925K in Tampa Bay, but it’s hard to see how he’ll bring much excess value to New York.
The Rangers changed their entire front office and coaching staff this year, with some reports at the time indicating that it was a few embarrassing losses to the New York Islanders that confirmed the decision for owner James Dolan. If that’s true, then perhaps the team is attempting to follow the Islanders’ model of quality depth throughout the entire lineup—a philosophy indicated once again by the team’s protection of Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck this week. The Rangers also protected Kevin Rooney, himself a fourth-line option that brings size, versatility, and physicality to the bottom-six.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Arizona Coyotes Acquire Shayne Gostisbehere
The Arizona Coyotes have acquired Shayne Gostisbehere from the Philadelphia Flyers. The offensive defenseman has been in the rumor mill for years, but will finally find his way out of Philadelphia. The Coyotes will also receive a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 seventh-round pick, the Flyers will not receive anything. Philadelphia GM Chuck Fletcher released a short statement on the move:
This was a difficult decision but one we thought was necessary given the reality of the salary cap. Shayne has been a quality player for this organization since the moment he arrived in Philadelphia and has been a part of many special moments in his seven seasons as a Flyer.
After landing Ryan Ellis just before the trade freeze went into effect, it was clear the Flyers would need to clear some money before the season started. Moving Gostisbehere accomplishes that, as his $4.5MM cap hit will be going to the Coyotes in full.
Ever since he signed a six-year, $27MM contract extension in 2017, there has been speculation about Gostisbehere’s future in Philadelphia. He had burst onto the NHL scene in 2015-16 with 46 points as a rookie, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting, and followed it up with an up-and-down sophomore campaign. At first, the new deal seemed like a steal, as Gostisbehere racked up 65 points in 78 games during the 2017-18 season. But then things started to unravel, to the point where he was made a healthy scratch several times over the last two seasons.
This year, he had 20 points in 41 games, still playing a high-risk style that drove offense but sacrificed defense. There’s no question that he can be a valuable piece to a team looking for someone to contribute from the back end, but with the other options already in the Flyers system, he had become redundant.
For Arizona though, Gostisbehere not only represents a player that can still contribute, but also a way to recoup some of the assets the organization has lost over the last few years. The team was forced to forfeit two high draft picks after scouting violations and then renounced another after selecting a player that had been convicted of assault. By accepting Gostisbehere’s full cap hit, they’ve added two picks to the system that they can use to build it back up.
The Coyotes, under the leadership of new GM Bill Armstrong, now have seven second-round picks over the next two drafts. Though the 11th pick this year, which originally belonged to them, will still be forfeited, they at least will be able to pump prospects into the organization that have a chance to help them find success in the future. Twice now, along with accepting Andrew Ladd‘s deal, the team has used cap space as a weapon. It will be interesting to see if Gostisbehere actually plays out his deal in Arizona, or is actually flipped at some point to a contender at a lesser cost.
This story originally referenced a tweet from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that indicated the picks were going to Philadelphia.
Detroit Red Wings Acquire Alex Nedeljkovic
The Detroit Red Wings have found a goaltender. The Red Wings have acquired Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will receive Jonathan Bernier and a third-round pick in return. Bernier is a pending unrestricted free agent and has not signed with Carolina at this point.
Nedeljkovic, 25, burst onto the scene in Carolina this season, taking over the net when given the opportunity. After Petr Mrazek went out with injury, Nedeljkovic stepped in and posted a .932 save percentage in 23 games. He continued to play in the postseason for the Hurricanes, registering a .920 in nine appearances, but losing five of the games he played in. Nedeljkovic finished third in Calder Trophy voting as one of the league’s best rookies.
After that breakout performance, Nedeljkovic was set up for a huge raise in restricted free agency. The young goaltender was arbitration-eligible and could have landed a substantial award, something the Hurricanes did not feel comfortable paying. In Detroit, he quickly signed a two-year contract that will carry a cap hit of $3.0MM, which takes him to UFA status following the 2022-23 season. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the deal will pay Nedeljkovic $2.5MM in 2021-22 and $3.5MM in 2022-23.
The Hurricanes now have three goaltenders, Bernier, Mrazek and James Reimer, who have all been starters in the past and will become unrestricted free agents on July 28. They do not have any real NHL options in the system, meaning there will be contracts to come at some point.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was first to report the news on Twitter.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Michael Rasmussen
The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed one of their restricted free agents, inking Michael Rasmussen to a three-year contract. PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $1.46MM. Rasmussen will earn $1MM in 2021-22, $1.48MM in 2022-23 and $1.9MM in 2023-24.
After spending the entire 2019-20 season in the minor leagues, Rasmussen was back up with the Red Wings this year and played in 40 of the team’s 56 games. He recorded just three goals and 12 points those games, but obviously did enough to earn a new deal from the team. There’s something to be said for a 22-year-old center that stands 6’6″ and can handle himself defensively, but Rasmussen’s offensive production is still a concern.
Selected ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen has now generated just 11 goals and 30 points in 102 NHL games. His offense was the big question mark even in junior, and if he’s to ever live up to his top-10 billing it will need to improve. Still, at a $1.46MM cap hit, the Red Wings can afford to be patient with the hulking center, allowing him to develop while occupying a spot lower in the lineup.
For Detroit GM Steve Yzerman, this is just the first of many moves coming this summer to fill out the roster. Rasmussen becomes just the fifth forward on the team under a one-way contract for 2021-22, and the only one signed for more than two years. In fact, he is now the only player in the entire organization signed to a one-way deal for 2023-24.
Mike Smith Re-Signs With Edmonton Oilers
July 22: PuckPedia reports that the Oilers have signed Smith to a two-year, $4.4MM contract. The deal will pay the veteran netminder $1.9MM in 2021-22 and $2.5MM in 2022-23. GM Ken Holland confirmed the deal in his press availability, though it has not yet been officially announced by the team.
July 21: The Edmonton Oilers may have lost their 28-year-old shutdown defenseman today, but they won’t be losing their 39-year-old goaltender. Patrick Johnston of the Province tweets that Mike Smith will return to the Oilers on a multi-year deal. As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds, teams can’t actually re-sign their own free agents until the transaction freeze lifts tomorrow, but there are “positive signs” between Smith and Edmonton. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the deal is expected to be for two years and carry an average annual value around $2MM.
Smith had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020-21, posting a .923 save percentage in 32 appearances for the Oilers and finishing seventh in Vezina Trophy voting. The veteran goaltender, who has now made 600 regular season starts over a 15-year career, hadn’t had that kind of performance since the 2011-12 season, when he led the Pheonix Coyotes to the Western Conference Finals. It’s hard to expect him to repeat that level of play on this new deal, but Smith at least represents a strong locker room presence and reliable option, even if he’s not at a Vezina-level in 2021-22.
Still, this will feel like a step backward for many Oilers fans, who are hoping for improvements this summer. The team re-signed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to an eight-year deal, but are about to lose Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken. A buyout of Mikko Koskinen would clear some cap room, as will Oscar Klefbom staying on long-term injured reserve. But it’s not like GM Ken Holland has a ton of space to work with if he wants to take the next step forward.
In fact, if the team does buy out Koskinen, it seems unlikely that the team will be able to really afford a counterpart for Smith, at least not one that carries a high cap hit. The team does already have Alex Stalock under contract at $750K, who could serve as a fine backup, but that would be putting a lot of pressure on Smith to carry the load. With the defensive depth lacking and an upgrade needed to help Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up front, things are getting tricky in Edmonton.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Canadiens Give Update On Price, Weber, Drouin
The reports of Carey Price‘s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin took to the podium today to speak with the media and indicated that the veteran goaltender will see doctors to examine some injuries, but the team isn’t expecting anything major. Bergevin gave an estimate of six-to-eight weeks recovery and noted there was a “small percentage” that it would be longer, once they determined the extent.
Price was left unprotected in the recent expansion draft, and rumors had been swirling that he might miss part of next season thanks to hip and knee injuries. That seems unlikely now, though at his age–Price will turn 34 in a few weeks–things can obviously change quickly.
Bergevin also spoke about Shea Weber, with much less confidence he will ever return to the Canadiens lineup. As Eric Engels of Sportsnet tweets, Weber is dealing with injuries to his ankle, foot, knee, and thumb and will not play next season. Bergevin even noted that he “probably won’t be back for his career.”
If it is indeed the end for Weber, it comes directly after the longest playoff run of his career, captaining the Canadiens all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. The 35-year-old defenseman has played in 1,038 regular season games, racking up 224 goals and 589 points. Weber sits 15th all-time in goals from a defenseman and could very well be headed for the Hall of Fame when he officially retires.
That likely won’t be for some time though, as there are still five years left on Weber’s contract. His injury status should give the team grounds to move him to long-term injured reserve for those years, allowing Weber to collect the $12MM still owed to him. It would also give the team some added cap flexibility, but obviously takes an important piece of their lineup out.
His will still be a story to follow closely, if only because of the cap recapture penalties that could be enforced on the Nashville Predators if Weber retires before his contract expires. Remember though, recapture penalties were changed in the last CBA, meaning that no single-year penalty can be greater than the contract’s cap hit. It means, instead of the $24.5MM penalty that Nashville potentially faced if Weber retired in 2025, they would instead incur penalties of $7.85MM for three years, and then $1MM in 2028-29. Not exactly ideal still, but at least not completely crippling.
After Price and Weber were discussed, Bergevin moved to Jonathan Drouin, who took a leave of absence from the team earlier this year. The Canadiens GM was happy to report that Drouin is ready to return for the 2021-22 season, and specifically noted the connection between the talented forward and head coach Dominique Ducharme, going back to their days in the QMJHL. Drouin has two years left on his contract with Montreal and carries a $5.5MM cap hit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Matt Calvert Announces Retirement
Take one more name off the unrestricted free agent list, as Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Calvert has decided to retire from professional hockey. Calvert has dealt with post-concussion symptoms over the last few seasons and played just 18 games for the Avalanche this year. According to the NHLPA, he is retiring due to a “career-ending injury,” though it does not specifically note the concussions.
In a statement, Calvert thanked those that have helped him along the way:
I’ve been lucky enough to play the game I love since I was five years old. I never played to make it to the NHL. I played to compete. I played for my teammates. I played for the fans. I played for my family. I played because I loved to battle, and I played to win. I dreamt of becoming an accountant when I was 18 years old and three years later, I was playing in the NHL…
Calvert will return to Brandon, Manitoba where he and his family live, and explains that he is still looking forward to skating on the outdoor rinks in retirement. The 31-year-old will end his career with 566 regular season games under his belt, all with with either the Columbus Blue Jackets or Colorado Avalanche. Calvert scored 95 goals and 203 points during those games, usually occupying a third or fourth-line spot and adding value on the penalty kill.
A fifth-round pick in 2008, the former Brandon Wheat Kings captain certainly carved out a long career in the NHL. From OHL star, scoring 99 points in his final year of junior, he successfully made the transition to depth player that so many fail to do. He would have likely been on many team’s radar if he was healthy and wanted to play next season, but instead he’ll hang up his skates.