Philadelphia Flyers’ Matt Niskanen Retires
In a stunning turn of events, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen has decided to retire from the NHL. Niskanen has one year remaining on his current contract and was due $5.75MM this season. That number will be removed entirely from the Flyers books, meaning they have some extra cap space to spend this offseason.
Friedman adds that the Flyers are working on re-signing Justin Braun, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. Niskanen’s retirement would move his cap hit off the books entirely, giving the team more room to maneuver this offseason.
The 33-year-old Niskanen was still a very effective player for the Flyers this season, pairing often with young star Ivan Provorov and logging big minutes for the team. In 68 games, Niskanen actually recorded 33 points, the fourth-highest total of his career and most in one season since 2016-17. Not only was he signed for another year, but he also appeared to have plenty of hockey left in him.
Taking $5.75MM off the books does have its benefits though, as the Flyers attempt to tweak a roster that came within a game of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. There is plenty of young talent on the defensive side of the puck, but the team could use some more scoring punch upfront. That’s likely exactly why the Flyers recently spoke with the Winnipeg Jets about Patrik Laine, a discussion that LeBrun believes both teams will circle back to at some point. With a chunk of cap space now freed up, perhaps that conversation takes place once again.
For Niskanen, it has been a very successful career including a Stanley Cup championship in 2018 with the Washington Capitals. The physical, two-way defender skated in a total of 949 regular season games and registered 356 points. He also racked up more than 1,500 hits and 1,100 blocked shots, laying his body on the line every night. If he’s hanging them up, it’s been a good run.
Overseas Notes: Texier, Sandstrom, Brannstrom
The Columbus Blue Jackets have transferred the loan of Alexandre Texier from KalPa in Finland’s Liiga to Grenoble in the French professional league, where the young forward will continue playing for the time being. As Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports, Texier will remain in France with his family as someone close to him is dealing with an undisclosed illness.
Texier, 21, actually spent one season with Grenoble in 2016-17 before heading to Finland to continue his development. The young forward took quite an interesting path to the NHL, where he spent all of this season. Texier is still expected back in North America when the 2020-21 season begins.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned Felix Sandstrom to Vasterviks IK of the Swedish second league, where he will presumably play until things start again in North America. Sandstrom, 23, is another top goaltending prospect in the Flyers system that was the 70th overall pick in 2015. In 2019-20 he posted just an .885 save percentage in the ECHL, but there is still lots of upside in the 6’2″ netminder. Perhaps he can get things back on track in his native Sweden, where he already found success at the highest level before coming to North America in 2019.
- Though the official announcement still hasn’t come out, Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion confirmed to reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia that Erik Brannstrom will be loaned to Switzerland until the next NHL season begins. Brannstrom is expected to play for the SCL Tigers in the Swiss NLA. Though he split time this season, the 21-year-old defenseman is expected to receive a full-time NHL role in 2020-21.
Minnesota, San Jose Complete Ryan Donato Trade
11:20am: The deal has been officially announced. Donato will head to San Jose in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick.
10:09am: The Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks have been working on several trades over the last week and are closing in on at least one of them. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the two sides will soon announce a trade that will see Ryan Donato head to the Sharks in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick. Devan Dubnyk, who the two sides have also discussed, will be in a separate trade if they can complete it.
Donato, 24, will be heading to the third NHL organization of his young career after previously being traded from the Boston Bruins in 2019. The 2014 second-round pick made one of the most electrifying debuts of the last few years after starring at Harvard and on the Olympic stage, but hasn’t been able to reproduce that magic on a regular basis. In 130 NHL games he has just 57 points and found himself on the fourth line or in the press box on several occasions this season.
That certainly doesn’t mean he won’t take his game to another level in San Jose, but the Wild have clearly made a decision to change the makeup of their forward group. Minnesota GM Bill Guerin has already traded Eric Staal and let Mikko Koivu depart through free agency, acquiring Marcus Johansson and Nick Bjugstad in the process. Donato and his $1.9MM cap hit will head to San Jose for a draft pick, opening up another roster spot for one of the team’s other young forwards.
San Jose of course is looking for ways to rebound after a brutal 2019-20 campaign that saw them score just 180 goals in 70 games. Timo Meier led the club with 49 points and Evander Kane was the only player who could score consistently on the powerplay. Donato will likely have an opportunity to play up in the lineup for the Sharks, who have their own youth movement happening upfront after watching Joe Pavelski leave last offseason. Melker Karlsson and Joe Thornton—two of the team’s three remaining 30-plus forwards—are both unrestricted free agents that could be looking for new homes come Friday.
Frederik Andersen Expected To Start For Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been rumored to be one of the teams considering a change in net this offseason, but when GM Kyle Dubas took the (virtual) podium today to speak with reporters he didn’t seem interested in changing his starter. As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweets, Dubas explained that he expects Frederik Andersen to be the team’s starting goaltender when the next season opens and has addressed the speculation directly with his netminder.
Just because Dubas says he expects Andersen to be in net, doesn’t necessarily mean that the team didn’t have talks with other teams. Specifically, discussions with the Carolina Hurricanes were widely reported to have included Andersen’s name.
In a year where there are at least a dozen strong options available, it’s hard to imagine there would be a huge market for Andersen, who has just one year remaining on his current contract. The Maple Leafs would also have needed a replacement unless they decided to give the starting role to Jack Campbell, something that seemed unlikely given his experience and the team’s desire to compete for a Stanley Cup.
That contract of Andersen’s is something to keep an eye on though as Toronto will need to make plans for the 2021-22 season at some point. Their top two goaltending prospects, Ian Scott and Joseph Woll are not ready for the NHL yet while an extension for Andersen would be pricey and risky given his age and inconsistency in the past. If the Maple Leafs have shut the door on a move this offseason, a window might have to be opened in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Penguins Announce Qualifying Offer Decisions
While a buyout of Jack Johnson will steal the headlines, the Pittsburgh Penguins have also announced which restricted free agents have received qualifying offers. Pontus Aberg, Anthony Angello, Sam Lafferty, Sam Miletic and Matt Murray have all received offers and will be restricted free agents.
Graham Knott, John Nyberg and most notably, Dominik Simon, have not been given qualifying offers and will become unrestricted free agents on Friday.
Though there was some speculation that the team could leave Murray unqualified, it never did seem very likely. The goaltender’s qualifying offer was for $3.75MM, a big number for a team looking to free up cap space and retool their roster. The Penguins seem determined to make Tristan Jarry the starter next season, with Murray being all but traded already by GM Jim Rutherford. Even at $3.75MM he could still draw plenty of trade interest given his history of success—two Stanley Cup championships before your rookie status runs out will do that.
Simon though will come as a surprise to some (though his situation was reported on over the weekend by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) as he hits free agency despite what would have been an inexpensive qualifying offer. The reason the Penguins couldn’t afford to give him one is the risk of arbitration, where Simon likely would have received a cap hit the team deemed too high.
Simon does have 50 points over the last two seasons, even though at least some of that production can be linked directly to minutes played with Sidney Crosby. He’s much more suited to a depth role, but should attract some interest on the open market.
Pittsburgh Penguins To Buy Out Jack Johnson
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Jack Johnson on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout. Johnson has three years remaining on his contract, meaning a buyout will carry through the 2025-26 season. The full cap hits will be as follows:
- 2020-21: $1,166,667
- 2021-22: $1,166,667
- 2022-23: $1,916,667
- 2023-24: $916,667
- 2024-25: $916,667
- 2025-26: $916,667
Quite frankly, this contract was a disaster from the very first day it was signed. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford signed Johnson to a five-year contract on July 1, 2018 despite the veteran defenseman’s recent struggles with the Columbus Blue Jackets. When it was pointed out that Johnson had even been made a healthy scratch by the Blue Jackets, Rutherford told reporters:
I don’t think he had a bad year. He was a healthy scratch at the end of the season. I know the reason why. It wasn’t because of how he was playing.
That comment got an explosive response from Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, who said Rutherford must be a “(expletive) magician” for having insight into the team’s decision making from “three hours away.” Unfortunately, it appears as though the Penguins have come to the same conclusion the Blue Jackets did.
Johnson, 33, recorded some of the worst possession metrics in the NHL during his time in Pittsburgh, struggling at both ends of the rink. In 149 games with the Penguins he recorded 24 points while averaging more than 19 minutes a night, adding zero in the seven postseason games he was included in. A third-overall pick in 2005, when Johnson’s offensive output declined his effectiveness went with it, to the point where it will be interesting to see if he even receives a new NHL contract.
Of course, he’ll be making money even if he doesn’t sign a new deal thanks to this buyout. The Penguins do save a little more than $2MM in cap space for each of the next two seasons (and about $1.3MM in 2022-23) but will have to carry a penalty for three extra seasons thanks to the unfortunate contract.
Nico Sturm Re-Signs With Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild have locked up one of their restricted free agents, signing Nico Sturm to a new two-year contract. The deal will carry a $725K cap hit at the NHL level and keeps Sturm from reaching restricted free agency.
Sturm, 25, was a highly sought after undrafted free agent in the spring of 2019 after he dominated for Clarkson University. The German-born forward ended up signing with the Minnesota organization and played his first two professional games down the stretch. This season he spent almost the entire year in the minor leagues, putting up 32 points in 55 games for the Iowa Wild. He did get into six more regular season matches for Minnesota and happened to score his first NHL goal in one of the two postseason appearances he made this summer.
The big-bodied forward was never expected to step into the lineup and be a star for the Wild, but when signed he did look like he would be a full-time NHL option for the team. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case so far, though he’ll get a chance to secure a roster spot on the new-look team. Minnesota GM Bill Guerin has made sweeping changes to the forward group already and has been clear about his desire to get younger upfront.
The Wild still have two important RFA forwards to sign in Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin, along with several minor league free agents including Kaapo Kahkonen.
Josh Brown Signs With Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators have signed the newly acquired Josh Brown to a two-year contract, inking the defenseman to a deal that extends through the 2021-22 season. Brown will earn $1MM in 2020-21 and $1.4MM in 2021-22, meaning the contract carries an average annual value of $1.2MM. Brown was recently traded from the Florida Panthers and was scheduled for restricted free agency.
Brown, 26, is expected to basically be a replacement in Ottawa for the outgoing Mark Borowiecki, bringing the same physicality to a group of defensemen that already has plenty of skill. The former Panther has scored just ten points in 96 career games, but stands 6’5″ and is a strong shot-blocker. Ottawa already has players like Thomas Chabot and Erik Brannstrom to carry the offensive burden on defense, though Brown could very well be asked to play more than the 13 minutes he usually received in Florida.
He also will serve as a leader under head coach D.J. Smith, who was with Brown at the junior level when they won the Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals. Brown was the captain of that team, tasked with shutting down Connor McDavid in the OHL Championship. Though he may not get those kind of assignments in this case, there’s little doubt that the Senators feel he can play a regular role on the team.
Arizona Coyotes Shopping Taylor Hall’s Negotiating Rights
With just a few days remaining before Taylor Hall becomes an unrestricted free agent, the Arizona Coyotes are trying to recoup some of the value they spent to acquire the star forward. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Coyotes are shopping Hall’s negotiating rights, which would give a team the chance to try and sign him before he even reaches the open market.
Just recently, reports surfaced that Hall would consider signing a short-term deal with a contender instead of trying to land the biggest deal possible in free agency. After a frustrating season that resulted in another early playoff exit, Hall has now played in just 14 postseason games over his ten-year career.
Earlier this summer we saw the Montreal Canadiens trade a fifth-round pick for the negotiating rights of defenseman Joel Edmundson, before eventually signing him to a four-year, $14MM deal. Given Hall’s status as the 2018 Hart Trophy winner and a top offensive winger, one would imagine the trade cost would be higher than that of a depth defenseman.
Still, it’s hard to know if acquiring him early would even be beneficial for a team interested in his services. Sitting just a few days away from the free agent market opening, Hall could easily just wait to see what kind of offers come from around the league. Negotiating with just one team would limit his options unless of course, he has a destination in mind that has already expressed interest to the Coyotes.
Hall, 28, scored 52 points in 65 games this season split between the New Jersey Devils and Coyotes. After reaching the 93-mark in 2018 and carrying the Devils to the playoffs, it’s been another few disappointing seasons. The first-overall pick in 2010, Hall has scored 563 points in 627 games but has played playoff matches in only two seasons.
Toronto Maple Leafs Re-Sign Jason Spezza
The Toronto Maple Leafs will bring back one of their veteran depth forwards for another season, re-signing Jason Spezza. The new one-year deal will pay Spezza the league minimum of $700K, keeping him in his hometown of Toronto as he continues to try and win the Stanley Cup before his playing career comes to an end.
Spezza, 37, was in the middle of controversy before he ever actually hit the ice for the Maple Leafs after signing with them last summer. Former head coach Mike Babcock decided to make the veteran forward a healthy scratch in the team’s season-opening game against the Ottawa Senators, a team that Spezza happened to have played the majority of his career for. That made Maple Leafs fans, media members, and former players irate, ultimately being one of the mistakes some pointed at when Babcock was fired just over a month later.
With that behind him, Spezza actually did fare quite well in his first season in Toronto. Though he ended with just nine goals and 25 points, that came in 580 games while seeing fewer than 11 minutes of ice time per game. For a fourth-line player earning the league-minimum, an 82-game pace of 35 points was more than reasonable.
Now Spezza will enter the 2020-21 season in competition for minutes once again, but the Maple Leafs need players on inexpensive contracts to fill out their depth chart if they hope to add anyone of significance this offseason. Spezza’s versatility is a big part of his value to the team, as the veteran can line up at center or right wing and contributes on the powerplay.