Latest On Jake Gardiner
It’s been a little over a year now since the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jake Gardiner to a four-year, $16.2MM contract. It seemed the ink had only barely dried by the time speculation started swirling about his tenure in Carolina, with the team potentially looking to move on just a few months into the deal. At the trade deadline, the Hurricanes added Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen, with the former signed through 2023-24.
Now in free agency, though Vatanen remains unsigned and the team moved on from Joel Edmundson, there is still a log jam of defenders in Carolina. Joakim Ryan has been brought in as an inexpensive depth option, while Jake Bean continues to wait patiently for his NHL opportunity. Gardiner meanwhile is in the news again, with Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writing Carolina “continue to examine its trade options” for the veteran defenseman.
Gardiner, 30, was an incredibly polarizing player during his years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both one of their consistent options on the blue line and the author of the most ill-timed giveaways, he had fervent supporters and detractors over a 551-game tenure. In 2019-20 with the Hurricanes, the same frustrations were evident. Gardiner did record 24 points in 68 games, but was also limited to fewer than 17 minutes a night and was a team-leading -24 (the next closest player was Trevor van Riemsdyk‘s -7 rating).
Unfortunately perhaps for the Hurricanes, Gardiner does hold a seven-team no-trade clause and is under a contract that is actually back-loaded. Though his cap hit may only be $4.05MM per season, the actual money owed reaches $12.55MM. That’s not a huge difference, but still could be one that makes a trade harder in the current financial landscape.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Boston Bruins Announce Three Contracts
The Boston Bruins have announced three contracts today, signing Jakub Zboril, Greg McKegg and Callum Booth. Zboril has signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $725K, while McKegg and Booth have both inked one-year, two-way deals worth $700K at the NHL level.
The fact that Zboril has signed a one-way contract only strengthens the idea that he will get a chance to grab a spot on the Bruins blue line. With Torey Krug gone to St. Louis, Zdeno Chara unsigned and Matt Grzelcyk awaiting his arbitration hearing, John Moore is the only other left-handed defenseman currently signed to a one-way deal.
It’s been a long wait for Zboril (and Bruins fans) since he was selected 13th overall in 2015. The Czech defenseman was one of the infamous three consecutive first-round selections by the Bruins, along with Jake DeBrusk and Zachary Senyshyn. While DeBrusk has become a full-time NHL option, the other two have combined for just eight games. That pain was only increased when Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor and Thomas Chabot, the next three picks in the draft, all became stars.
There is still time for Zboril to become a valuable member of the Bruins, but it’s hard to really imagine he’ll ever be a top option. The 23-year-old has played two games for Brno Kometa in the Czech league this fall.
McKegg meanwhile joins the organization on a two-way deal after establishing himself as an NHL player. The 28-year-old forward played in 41 games for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2018-19 and then 53 for the New York Rangers in 2019-20, also suiting up in the postseason for both clubs. It will be interesting to see what the Bruins plan to do with the depth center, as he would need to clear waivers to be sent to the minor leagues.
Booth, 23, comes to the Bruins as a depth goaltending option that has spent the majority of his career in the ECHL. He’s likely just expected to serve as organizational filler at this point, with much more exciting prospects in the system ahead of him.
Jake Allen Signs Extension With Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens may have an expensive tandem for this season, but it will get a little cheaper down the line. The team has announced a two-year extension with new backup Jake Allen, keeping him in Montreal through the 2022-23 season. The deal will carry an average annual value of just $2.875MM, much lower than the $4.35MM cap hit he carries this year.
Still, a new deal for Allen will certainly raise some eyebrows around the league. The veteran goaltender was brought in to serve as an experienced option behind Carey Price in a condensed season, but his presence for multiple years also means that young Cayden Primeau will have to wait a little longer. Primeau is exempt from the upcoming expansion draft, but was expected to challenge for the Montreal backup role in the next few years.
He’ll have to wait and watch for now, as Price and Allen make up the most expensive tandem in the entire league. They also could make up one of the best, given Price’s all-world ability and the resurgence of Allen’s game. The 30-year-old Allen posted a .927 save percentage in 24 appearances for the St. Louis Blues in 2019-20, his best statistical season, though obviously in fewer starts.
If reducing his load produces those results, he can be a real difference-maker for the Canadiens as they turn the corner and start to try and contend for the Stanley Cup. The team has dished out huge contracts this offseason to newcomers Joel Edmundson, Josh Anderson, and Tyler Toffoli, while also locking up Jeff Petry to a long-term deal. After spending under the cap for several years, GM Marc Bergevin has decided it is time to push his chips to the middle.
Joe Thornton Linked To Toronto Maple Leafs
Oct 14: Not that Johnston and Mirtle needed backup, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have both now reported interest between the Maple Leafs and Thornton. Friedman notes that several core players for Toronto have pitched the veteran forward, while LeBrun tweets that both head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas have spoken with him.
Oct 13: Once again, smoke is building around Joe Thornton and the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the veteran forward was linked to the team in the 2017 offseason (when teammate Patrick Marleau signed a three-year deal with Toronto), there has been a lingering notion that he could consider a return to Ontario at some point.
On a recent Steve Dangle Podcast, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston implied that the two sides have had mutual interest, and now James Mirtle of The Athletic has written something similar:
These talks are in the beginning stages. It sounds like there’s some mutual interest. The Leafs, as they did during free agency in 2017, have let Thornton know he’s wanted. And Thornton is listening, from his offseason home in Switzerland, where he’s been training with a top-league club.
For a while, there has been a belief that Thornton would take his time with any decision on his NHL future. The 2020-21 season is still completely shrouded in uncertainty, with no concrete date for the start of training camp or the regular season. But if the 41-year-old center does want to come back, it’s no longer a slam dunk that he will be returning to the San Jose Sharks.
While the Sharks did just bring back Marleau to chase Gordie Howe‘s games played record and are obviously still a contender should Thornton return, the situation feels different this summer. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweeted as much earlier this month, saying that though it felt inevitable that Thornton would return to the Sharks when he became a free agent in 2019, he has “gotten no indications that he’s a sure thing to return” this time around.
The Maple Leafs have already made sweeping changes to their bottom-six forward group for next season, moving out Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Frederik Gauthier while bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey, Joey Anderson, and Travis Boyd. They currently still have Alexander Kerfoot penciled into the third-line center role, but the team is barely under the cap and could need to make additional moves if they are looking at any other free agent upgrades.
Thornton, meanwhile, is coming off his worst season in two decades. The Sharks legend scored just seven goals and 31 points in 2019-20, his lowest total since that 1997-98 rookie campaign. He was frustrated when the Sharks didn’t move him to a contender at the deadline, telling reporters that “it would have been nice to at least have a chance” at the Stanley Cup, a prize that has eluded him over a 22-year career.
Mirtle and Johnston both were clear to point out that things are very preliminary between the Maple Leafs and Thornton, to the point where it may be just an expressed interest, not even negotiations. But the two sides have certainly flirted before.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Shane Gersich
The Washington Capitals are down to just one restricted free agent remaining after re-signing Shane Gersich to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. Gersich and Jonas Siegenthaler were the last two RFAs to get under contract, neither of whom have arbitration rights.
The 24-year-old Gersich has played just three games at the NHL level, all of which came at the end of the 2017-18 season after signing out of the University of North Dakota. The two following seasons have been spent entirely at the minor league level, where Gersich has 42 points in 120 regular season games.
A fifth-round pick in 2014, he shouldn’t be expected to become the next impact player for the Capitals but is a worthwhile minor league depth player to keep around. He’ll still be a restricted free agent next offseason, barely missing the age threshold for Group VI unrestricted free agency.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Tyson Foerster
The Philadelphia Flyers have done some quick paperwork with their top draft selection, inking Tyson Foerster to a three-year entry-level contract. Foerster was selected 23rd overall in last week’s draft and received some effusive praise from his general manager Chuck Fletcher:
Tyson obviously has a lot of offensive gifts. He can shoot the puck tremendously well. Goal scorer. Playmaker. Great hockey sense. Really good size. He’s got a lot of attributes. I think the good thing about Tyson was very good with self-awareness, of his strengths and the areas that he needs to improve. He’s worked very hard on those areas during the pause. We expect he’ll continue to develop into a pretty good player.
Foerster, 18, is a big, talented winger from the OHL that scored 36 goals in his second year of junior and earned himself a chance to join what has become a strong prospect group in Philadelphia. He’ll be headed back to the Barrie Colts should the OHL ever get their season off the ground, but is now officially part of the Flyers organization.
The three-year contract will not kick in this season unless Foerster somehow makes the NHL team out of camp, and even then he would have to play in ten games before losing his slide eligibility. That’s very unlikely at this point, meaning this deal won’t actually expire in 2023, but rather 2024 or even 2025.
Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Ashton Sautner
The Vancouver Canucks have reached an agreement with Ashton Sautner, signing the defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract. Sautner had qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency and could have signed with any team, but will be returning to the only professional organization he has played for.
An undrafted free agent signing out of the WHL, Sautner worked his way up the Vancouver depth chart and has played in 23 games for the Canucks over the last three seasons. While he will certainly spend the majority of 2020-21 in the minor leagues, he serves as valuable depth for a team that has their eyes on the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The 26-year-old defenseman scored 12 points in 51 games for the Utica Comets this season but is still looking for his first goal at the NHL level. The contract details were not released, but the deal is likely for the league minimum of $700K at the NHL level.
David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand Underwent Offseason Surgeries
The Boston Bruins have announced that three of their most important players have undergone offseason surgery. Brad Marchand underwent a sports hernia repair on September 14 and has been given a four-month recovery timeline, while David Pastrnak underwent a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on September 16 and will be out five months. Charlie McAvoy, who underwent a right knee arthroscopy on September 8, has already been cleared to resume normal offseason activities.
Both Pastrnak and Marchand are now questionable for the start of the 2020-21 season, given their proposed timelines (to be clear, these are from the date of surgery). That could change based on when the NHL decides to start things off, but the current target date is still January 1, 2021.
Losing either or both would have a dramatic effect on the Bruins attack, though obviously, it’s a good thing that they had surgery so quickly after elimination from the bubble. Both should be back without missing a huge chunk of the season, hopefully at full strength.
Snapshots: Gallagher, Champions League, NWHL
The Montreal Canadiens have broken off talks with Brendan Gallagher for the time being, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The two sides had been working on an extension for the 28-year-old forward, but as LeBrun puts it, “talks have obviously not gone great so far.”
With a year left on his contract, the level of concern for Canadiens fans should still remain pretty low, given Gallagher is the heart-and-soul of the team and brings exactly what GM Marc Bergevin has been after all offseason. Perhaps the additions Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli on long-term deals will complicate things, but with so much time left to get a deal done, it’s hard to see talks not resuming at some point.
- Champions Hockey League in Europe has decided to cancel their 2020-21 season, due to the impact of the COVID-19 situation. The league, which pits club teams from several different professional leagues against each other, has to deal with travel restrictions between 12 different countries that will make things impossible this year. They do plan on resuming in 2021-22.
- Dani Rylan Kearney is stepping down as commissioner of the National Women’s Hockey League, with Tyler Tumminia taking over on an interim basis. Tumminia was previously set to be the chairperson of the new Toronto Six franchise, but will leave that role according to Marisa Ingemi of The Ice Garden. The league is changing to an operation model of unincorporated association with a board of governors, similar to the structures found in other professional sports. Rylan Kearney will become the president of an independent NWHL ownership group.
Kasimir Kaskisuo, Tyler Lewington Sign With Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators have added some more goaltending depth, signing Kasimir Kaskisuo to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. Kaskisuo was a Group VI unrestricted free agent after spending the last several years in the Toronto Maple Leafs minor league system. The team has also signed Tyler Lewington to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level.
Kaskisuo, 27, has just a single NHL game under his belt but has been a strong contributor for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL since signing in 2016. A standout at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, he entered the system as an undrafted free agent and has a .909 save percentage in 95 AHL regular season games. Those numbers improve in the Calder Cup playoffs where he has a .913 in 22 appearances.
Lewington meanwhile comes over from the Washington Capitals system, where he has racked up over 600 penalty minutes in just over 300 games. The 6’2″ defenseman has 37 fights in the minor leagues and another two in the NHL (five, if you count preseason action).