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New York Rangers Extend Jimmy Vesey

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Jimmy Vesey has picked the New York Rangers once again, this time signing an extension with the team. The two-year deal will keep him in New York through the 2024-25 season and according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, will cost the Rangers just $800K each year.

Vesey, 29, said no to both the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres before signing with the Rangers back in 2016, after his outstanding college career at Harvard University made him a hot commodity. Things went okay through those first few years in New York but were never the same after leaving the Rangers. After setting a career-high 17 goals and 35 points in 2018-19, Vesey bounced around the league, playing for Buffalo, Toronto, Vancouver, and New Jersey, struggling at each stop.

Last summer, he decided to go back to the beginning, signing a one-year, $750K deal with the Rangers to try and get his career back on track. It has worked out pretty well so far, with Vesey gaining the trust of the coaching staff and adding a bit of depth scoring to a talented lineup. Through 38 games he has six goals and 12 points while averaging more than 13 minutes a night. He has been more physical than ever before, is committed to the defensive side of the puck, and has shown versatility when asked to move up and down the lineup.

For $800K against the cap, he can be a valuable depth piece for the Rangers to work with. Vesey likely won’t ever reach the hype that followed him out of school, but he’ll at least get a chance for some stability and consistency with a new contract extension.

Snapshots: Armia, Lafreniere, Nemec

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The Montreal Canadiens will make Joel Armia a healthy scratch tonight, sitting him along with Johnathan Kovacevic in favor of Anthony Richard and David Savard. Armia is in the second season of a four-year, $13.6MM contract he signed in 2021 after the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, the five goals he scored during that run are exactly five more than he has this season. Armia hasn’t scored yet in 26 games and has just three assists, following a six-goal, 14-point 2021-22 campaign.

It’s understandable for him to be out of the lineup with that kind of production, but it will cause some speculation about his future in Montreal. The 29-year-old Finn was once an incredibly valuable, versatile player that could move up and down the lineup. Now it looks like his NHL career might be coming to an abrupt end.

  • Alexis Lafreniere entered the rumor mill when the New York Rangers decided to make him a healthy scratch recently, but The Athletic’s staff writes that the team has no intention of trading him at this point. The 21-year-old first-overall pick has struggled to find any level of consistency in the NHL, though his supporters will point to an even-strength scoring rate that is encouraging. One thing is clear: if he doesn’t miraculously find another level in the second half, he won’t be getting the massive second contract that many top picks earn. Lafreniere is scheduled to become a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, meaning he could be forced to accept a qualifying offer under $900K for next season, should the Rangers play hardball.
  • After Slovakia was eliminated from the World Juniors by a Connor Bedard overtime goal, captain Simon Nemec has been assigned back to the Utica Comets of the AHL where he’ll continue to play this season. The young defenseman logged huge minutes for his country at the tournament, racking up five points in five games while barely missing out on a chance to play for a medal. When Nemec was drafted, he committed immediately to playing in North America if the New Jersey Devils wanted him to, even if that meant spending the whole year in the minors. For Utica he has looked right at home, recording 11 points in 24 games so far.

Nashville Predators’ Mattias Ekholm “Available”

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There is a brand new name to throw out onto the 2023 trade deadline hot stove, and it’s a big one. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff writes that Nashville Predators general manager David Poile “is ready to consider moving” Mattias Ekholm, and lists him as “available” in his first Trade Targets board.

Ekholm, 32, signed a four-year $25MM extension with the Predators in 2021 that just kicked in this season, but like many others in Nashville over the years, was not able to secure any trade protection. Poile has only given no-trade or no-movement clauses out to Pekka Rinne, Roman Josi, and most recently Filip Forsberg, opting instead to maintain all control if he needed to part with a key player.

That would certainly describe Ekholm, who has been a rock on the Nashville blueline for more than a decade. The veteran defenseman has played 697 regular season games for the franchise, averaging nearly 22 minutes a night. He even received some Norris Trophy attention in 2018-19 when he set a career-high with 44 points, though his responsible defensive game gets much more attention than his offensive ability.

Ekholm’s name has come up a few times in the past when the Predators are facing a cap crunch thanks to underperforming veteran contracts. That’s the case this season, with Nashville dropping to 15-14-6 after some recent struggles. They are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league (only the Anaheim Ducks have scored fewer goals so far) and yet have three forwards making at least $8MM per season.

Ryan Johansen’s encouraging 2021-22 campaign looks like a mirage, as his offense (and playing time) is back down, while Mikael Granlund is on pace for fewer than ten goals in the second season of a four-year, $20MM contract. If Poile and the Predators start to sell, there aren’t a ton of attractive assets to move.

Even Ekholm, who carries a $6.25MM cap hit, may not bring back what he could have a few years ago. He’ll turn 33 in May, has a lot of miles on his body (including 886 blocked shots), and doesn’t have the same offensive impact he once did. Signed through 2025-26, it would require a significant investment from the acquiring team.

Seravalli also lists Ryan McDonagh as a possibility, though suggests the Stanley Cup champion’s no-trade clause (which was given to him by the Tampa Bay Lightning) could make that more difficult. With seven 30+ players on the roster making at least $4MM per season – and none of them on expiring contracts – the Predators could be in for some tough times if things don’t turn around.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Michael Bunting

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Because of the path he took to NHL success, it’s easy to overlook Michael Bunting when considering the 2023 free agent class. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger didn’t play regular minutes until he was almost 26, and still hasn’t hit 150 games in his career.

But overlooking him is probably a mistake. Since coming up to the NHL with the Arizona Coyotes in March 2021, Bunting has scored 44 goals and 102 points in 137 games. That’s an 82-game pace of 26 and 63, all for the low, low price of $950K per season. Does a lot of that have to do with the fact he rides shotgun with Auston Matthews (and one of Mitch Marner or William Nylander) for nearly every minute of ice time? Of course. But as many teams have found out in the past, it’s not always easy to find players who can keep up with superstars.

Bunting, now 27, is heading into an interesting negotiation spot. He agreed to the extremely cheap, two-year deal with the Maple Leafs because of the opportunity they offered him, and the fact that he’s a Toronto native. He now has an opportunity to build even more goodwill in his hometown by signing a discount deal, but is also in a position to cash in on his numbers. There’s a good chance that the Maple Leafs wouldn’t be able to match what he could land on the open market, given the state of their cap and the upcoming negotiations with Matthews and Nylander.

With that in mind, it might be beneficial to get a contract done as soon as possible. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the Maple Leafs have “touched base” with the Bunting camp this week to have a preliminary talk about his future. LeBrun notes that it is unclear which way things will go at this point.

He’s not a superstar by any means, but Bunting does sit 73rd among NHL forwards in scoring since the start of last season. That’s tied with players like Taylor Hall, who signed a four-year, $24MM contract in 2021, and Andre Burakovsky, who inked a five-year, $27.5MM deal last summer. You can argue that the history of those players demands bigger paychecks, but the raw production doesn’t.

With 16 points in his last 16 games, including two goals against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, it doesn’t appear like that production is stopping anytime soon. The Maple Leafs do have several contracts coming off the books – Alexander Kerfoot, Pierre Engvall, David Kampf, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Aston-Reese, and Justin Holl are all pending UFAs – but shifting a big chunk of that money to Bunting would take a huge hit out of their depth. Unless he’s willing to take a sweetheart deal for his hometown club or the Maple Leafs are able to keep the cap hit down by going long (long) term, it’s hard to see how it moves past preliminary talks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jansen Harkins Clears Waivers

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Jan 3: Harkins has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Jan 2: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Winnipeg Jets have placed Jansen Harkins on waivers, as Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti close in on a return to the lineup. Harkins already cleared at the beginning of the season but has played far too many games to be assigned to the minor leagues without going through the process again.

The 25-year-old forward has played more than 150 games for the Jets over the last four years, after developing into a dominant presence in the minor leagues. Last season he set career highs with 77 games played, seven goals, and 13 points, while averaging fewer than ten minutes a game. This year the ice time has gone up, but the production has remained limited, with just two goals and five points for Harkins so far.

Ehlers has been out for nearly the entire season and Perfetti since before Christmas. The pair are expected to slot right back into top-six roles upon their return, moving everyone down a peg and pushing fourth-line players like Harkins out of the lineup. With a two-year, one-way contract on the books that carries a cap hit of $850K it is unlikely that any other team will claim him.

Still, it’s not impossible, and that shows how recent waiver claim Karson Kuhlman has played his way up the depth chart in Winnipeg. The 27-year-old is averaging more than 15 minutes a night since arriving and was practicing on Mark Scheifele’s wing again today. When Ehlers and Perfetti return, Kuhlman can move down and into the role vacated by Harkins, should he be assigned to the minor leagues or claimed tomorrow.

Injury Notes: Oshie, Fabbri, Jets

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The Washington Capitals are expected to get T.J. Oshie back in the lineup tonight, though he has been officially listed as a game-time decision. The veteran forward hasn’t played since December 17 and has just 22 appearances under his belt this season. Those have been relatively unsuccessful appearances, too, with Oshie registering just two points in the 11 games prior to the injury. He has just five goals and 11 points on the year.

Still, with Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson all returning relatively soon, the Capitals have several key veterans getting back for the second-half run. Whether that can result in legitimate Stanley Cup contention remains to be seen, but they’ve been doing just fine so far. Washington is 8-1-1 in their last ten and have closed the gap to just two points between them and the tail-spinning New Jersey Devils for second in the Metropolitan Division.

  • The Detroit Red Wings are expected to place someone on waivers today, given the imminent return of Robby Fabbri. Team reporter Daniella Bruce reports that Fabbri will be back in the lineup playing with Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist tomorrow when the Red Wings take on the Devils. The 26-year-old is coming off another ACL injury and will be making his season debut after scoring 17 goals and 30 points in 2021-22.
  • If it were the playoffs, Nate Schmidt, Cole Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers would all be in the Winnipeg Jets lineup, according to head coach Rick Bowness, who spoke with reporters including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun today. None of them will play, against the Calgary Flames but are on the verge of returning to the lineup. For Ehlers, a return would be his third appearance of the season and first game since October 17. Josh Morrissey, who has also missed practice recently, is expected to play.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Dustin Tokarski

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After Tristan Jarry left yesterday’s Winter Classic with an injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Dustin Tokarski from the minor leagues. The team has not moved Jarry to injured reserve to make room for the transaction; instead, Kris Letang has been designated non-roster while he is with family following the death of his father.

Tokarski, 33, has spent the entire season at the AHL level but has been excellent for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. With a .926 save percentage in 18 appearances, it’s one of his best performances to date in what has been a long successful career. The veteran netminder should be able to contribute if called upon, though Casey DeSmith will likely carry most of the load if Jarry is out for a little while.

DeSmith has a .911 save percentage in 13 appearances, though incredibly, nine of those have been losses. The 31-year-old has a career .915 and has been one of the most consistent backups in the league since debuting in 2017-18.

Still, losing Jarry is obviously a big blow. The 27-year-old netminder has been strong this year, winning 15 of his 25 appearances and posting a .918 save percentage. Not only does he have the Penguins to perform for, but he’ll also be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning he’s playing for a contract. Time on the shelf will obviously hurt those negotiations, though it is a good sign that he wasn’t placed on injured reserve.

There is no timeline for Letang’s return at this point.

Philadelphia Flyers Activate, Loan Bobby Brink

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One of the many disappointing moments for the Philadelphia Flyers this season was the early injury of Bobby Brink, who underwent hip surgery in July. Now, months later, the young forward is ready to return to action.

Brink has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, along with Olle Lycksell, who is on his way back after a recent call-up.

Selected 34th overall in 2019, Brink turned into a superstar at the University of Denver, scoring 57 points in his junior season to lead the nation and taking home an NCAA championship. In his ten-game stint with the Flyers at the end of last season, he flashed top-end skill and recorded four assists.

Still looking for his first NHL goal, Brink might have to wait a little while. Coming off major surgery and joining an organization that is struggling to stay competitive, it might be better off for him to spend the rest of this season in the minor leagues.

Even if he proves too good for that level, the Flyers would be giving him the opportunity to play big minutes and touch the puck a ton, something that he may struggle with in the NHL given the team’s inconsistent play.

No matter where he plays, Flyers fans should be excited about Brink’s future. The idea of him lining up alongside Cutter Gauthier, for instance, is an interesting one, given their respective strengths. Given his long layoff, it may take him some time to get back up to speed. But for Philadelphia fans searching for something to cheer about, this is it.

Ryan Merkley Requests Trade From San Jose Sharks

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The San Jose Sharks have made former top prospect Ryan Merkley available, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, after the young defenseman recently requested a trade.

Merkley, 22, is in the final season of his entry-level contract, is still waiver-exempt, and will be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.

Selected 21st overall in 2018, the OHL star had a brilliant offensive profile but several question marks surrounding his defensive ability and commitment. There were some who believed that Merkley wasn’t willing to “play the right way” in his own end, a problem that has followed him to the professional level.

Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group points out that Merkley was benched for a part of the San Jose Barracuda game on December 27. The AHL club is where he has spent this entire season, scoring 14 points in 30 games so far.

That follows a 2021-22 campaign that saw Merkley make his NHL debut and play 39 games for the Sharks, averaging a little more than 15 minutes a night. He scored six points, and that’s where his career total sits as he now looks for a fresh start somewhere else.

Make no mistake, Merkley still has some elite playmaking ability from the offensive blueline. The right-shot forward can find passing seams that few others even consider. Unfortunately, many of those lanes are also risky at the professional level, and his play away from the puck still leaves a lot to be desired.

Any acquiring team would need a plan for how to best develop Merkley into an NHL asset, because currently, he is just a fringe player with serious holes in his game. Seravalli does not suggest a price tag for the disgruntled defenseman, but one would have to figure that his value is at an all-time low.

Florida Panthers Recall Givani Smith

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The Florida Panthers have brought Givani Smith back to the NHL, after sending him down just before Christmas. The move comes ahead of their game against the Arizona Coyotes this evening.

Smith, 24, has played just one game since arriving in Florida but managed to rack up seven penalty minutes in it. The big physical forward will give the team a little more bite after two straight losses against Metropolitan Division clubs.

After tonight, the Panthers will hit the road for a four-game trip that takes them through Detroit, Dallas, Colorado, and Vegas – a tough part of the schedule that includes time zone changes and an afternoon game against some top teams.

Whether he goes right into the lineup remains to be seen, but the Panthers have had trouble getting much consistency from the bottom part of the lineup this season, and could perhaps use a rotation on the road. Smith does have 86 games of NHL experience under his belt, with 145 penalty minutes to show for it. The second-round pick has scored seven goals and 14 points in his career.

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