Arizona Coyotes Sign Ness, Miele, Bennett
The Arizona Coyotes already made their big splash this off-season, acquiring Phil Kessel, so it comes as little surprise that the team made one unassuming announcement about three players signed to two-way contracts. Defenseman Aaron Ness has signed a two-year deal, as has forward Andy Miele, while forward Beau Bennett has signed a one-year deal. No financial terms have been disclosed.
Ness, 29, is the only one of the trio who spent last season in North America. A depth piece for the Washington Capitals, and before that the New York Islanders, Ness has played in 47 career NHL games and can be a useful minor league piece in case of emergency. The Coyotes have great depth on the blue line, but the team will be happy to let Ness, who scored a career-high 55 points last year with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, play a key role with the Tuscon Roadrunners while acting as deep option should injuries strike at the top level.
Miele, 31, begins his second stint with the Coyotes organization after spending the past two seasons abroad. A player with incredibly impressive numbers in the AHL, Miele branched out to the European ranks in search of a greater role. He enjoyed back-to-back strong seasons, first in the Swedish Hockey League and last year in the KHL, but appears ready to try his hand in the NHL again. Miele has only 15 NHL games to his credit, but he and the ‘Yotes hope that his time overseas has further developed his game to the point that he can contribute in Arizona.
Bennett, 27, was limited to just five games with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk last season, his first outside North America, but that didn’t stop the Coyotes from taking a chance on him. Now in his fourth NHL stop, Bennett is looking to get back to being a regular in the league, as he was in his first five pro seasons. The 2010 first-round pick has skated in 200 NHL games, recording 64 points, and enjoyed the best season of his career just a few years ago in 2016-17 with the New Jersey Devils. If GM John Chayka and company see the residual upside in Bennett, he could be an intriguing option for the Coyotes this seaosn.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Calvin Pickard
The Red Wings have made official their expected signing of goaltender Calvin Pickard, who will battle last summer’s free agency addition, Jonathan Bernier, for the right to backup Jimmy Howard. Pickard joins Detroit on a two-year, $1.5MM contract, a substantially more affordable deal than Bernier’s which could give him a leg up in the competition.
Pickard, 27, had a dreadful 2018-19 season, starting with a waiver placement at the beginning of the year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Claimed by the Philadelphia Flyers, he would play just 11 games for them before being waived again, only to be picked up by the Arizona Coyotes. While Arizona may have seemed like a great opportunity given the goaltending injuries they were facing, Pickard went weeks between appearances and ended up on a conditioning stint in the minor leagues for a time. He only played in six games with the Coyotes, a tough way for any goaltender to find a rhythm.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman must have remembered he liked Pickard in a previous year, as he rewarded that forgettable season with a two-year one-way contract. Even if he doesn’t win a job in training camp he at least has some financial stability and the two-year deal very well could scare teams off of a waiver claim.
Lightning Sign McElhinney, Will Look To Trade Domingue
The Tampa Bay Lightning emerged this morning as the surprise favorite to land veteran backup goalie Curtis McElhinney and a deal is now done. The team has announced a two-year contract with a $1.3MM AAV for the 35-year-old, strengthening their depth behind young starter Andrei Vasilevskiy.
However, the team was not expected to be in the running for a goalie, as Louis Domingue performed well last season and looked comfortable as the backup. While it’s possible that the team sees Domingue, signed through next season at $1.15MM, as better suited for a third-string role, The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that Tampa will also work on trading the understudy.
In McElhinney, the Bolts add a backup who is an upgrade both statistically and in terms of experience. McElhinney appeared in 33 games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season and made several more appearances in the postseason while posting strong numbers. Should injury befall Vasilevskiy, McElhinney would be ready to take over the starter role temporarily and Tampa Bay obviously felt more comfortable paying slightly more to have McElhinney in case of emergency rather than Domingue.
Toronto Maple Leafs Add Kevin Gravel
The Maple Leafs are in the market for affordable and effective depth additions and have already made several today. Add another to the list in veteran defenseman Kevin Gravel. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Gravel will sign a one-year, one-way $700K contract with Toronto, where he could fight for a starting role on a unit going through a major overhaul.
The Maple Leafs blue line will look almost completely different next season, with only Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Travis Dermott returning from the regular group. Even Dermott likely won’t be healthy enough to contribute for the first month of the season, leaving plenty of room to compete for playing time. With newcomers Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci likely locked into spots on the right side, the bottom pairing is up for grabs at the moment in a competition between Gravel, Ben Harpur, Martin Marincin and Justin Holl, none of whom should be considered completely out of the fight.
The 27-year old Gravel played 36 games for the Edmonton Oilers last season, but recorded just three points in a limited role. In 106 NHL games, mostly with the Los Angeles Kings, Gravel has been a very low-impact player, quietly soaking up between 12-15 minutes a night with very little happening. That might be exactly what the Leafs are after from a 6-7 defenseman, though there certainly isn’t a lot of upside to be found.
Cam Talbot Signs With Calgary Flames
As has been rumored for some time, the Calgary Flames have pegged former rival goaltender Cam Talbot as the newest addition to their goalie tandem. The team has announced a one-year deal worth $2.75MM for the former starter, who should compete for the same role in Calgary. With Mike Smith headed to the Edmonton Oilers, it only seems fitting that Talbot land with the Flames to share the net with David Rittich.
Talbot, 31, isn’t necessarily coming in to steal the starting role for the Flames, but GM Brad Treliving has tried to have competition in the net for the last several years. Rittich will almost surely get the first crack at the job, though given he only has 58 NHL starts under his belt the team needed to bring in a little more experience just in case. Talbot will be that experience but he too has something to prove coming off a dreadful season with the Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers. In 35 appearances he recorded a .892 save percentage, easily the worst number of his career.
Even if Rittich is the starter heading into the season, the Flames would obviously love to see Talbot rediscover his game and become the goaltender that finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting in 2017. That season he went 42-22-8 for the Oilers and posted a .919 save percentage, starting an incredible 73 games. With a reduced load and better defensive unit, perhaps he can get back to that level again and help the Flames as contenders in the West.
Senators Sign Forward Jordan Szwarz
The Ottawa Senators continue to bring in talent from their division rivals, signing former Providence Bruins captain Jordan Szwarz per a team release. It is a one-year, two-way contract for Szwarz worth $800K in the NHL. Szwarz, 28, has skated in 47 NHL games with the Bruins and Coyotes in his career.
Szwarz, 28, has been an excellent minor league player for nearly a decade, and is coming off his third consecutive 20 goal season for the Providence Bruins. That kind of offensive consistency at the AHL level is exactly what the Belleville Senators were looking for, after their team was led almost entirely by young prospects that will likely be graduating to the NHL in the upcoming years.
Nathan Beaulieu Extended By Winnipeg Jets
Nathan Beaulieu made enough of an impression in Winnipeg as a minor trade deadline acquisition to earn a longer look. The Jets have announced that they have re-signed the defenseman to a one-year deal worth $1MM. Given the departure of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and the unknown status of Ben Chiarot, Beaulieu could be asked to play a starting role in Winnipeg this year.
Winnipeg acquired Beaulieu for a small price at the deadline, only having to send a 2019 sixth-round pick to Buffalo for the 26-year-old. He immediately took a significant role for the Jets, playing 16:51 of ice time in his 18 games, putting up five assists. While he didn’t make the lineup during the playoffs, the team feels that he was worth bringing back.
The team, now without Trouba and Myers, must begin to rebuild their defense around Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien and Neal Pionk (barring a trade) and will have a number of young players battling for playing time, including Beaulieu, Sami Niku and Tucker Poolman.
Riley Barber Signs With Montreal Canadiens
Young forward Riley Barber will try his luck in Montreal next season. The Canadiens have announced a one-year, two-way deal with the 25-year-old that pays him the minimum $700K at the NHL level with $400K guaranteed. The former college standout at Miami University has played in just three NHL games with the Washington Capitals over four seasons in the organization and will look for more of an opportunity next year.
After signing with Washington out of Miami University (Ohio) after three years, he immediately put up big numbers for the Hershey Bears of the AHL, but opportunities with a loaded Capitals squad were few and far between as he only got a three-game stint with the team in the 2016-17 season. However, while his name was often brought up in the last two years as a potential fourth-line option, the 25-year-old Barber has never been able win a spot with the team, despite showing his offensive skills. He tallied 31 goals and 60 points for Hershey this season.
He should get a solid chance to prove himself although he will have to prove compete with players like Matthew Peca, Nate Thompson and Jordan Weal if he wants to establish himself in the NHL.
Golden Knights Sign Patrick Brown
The Vegas Golden Knights are adding some depth up front, inking Patrick Brown to a two-year contract, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. The deal holds a minimum $700K NHL salary in both seasons, but is a two-way deal in year one and a one-way deal in year two. Brown is set to join recently acquired Nicolas Roy as members of the defending champion Charlotte Checkers of the AHL now pushing for play time in Las Vegas.
The 27-year-old Brown will be able to replace a lot of the lost talent that the Calder Cup finalist Chicago Wolves lost. Coincidentally, it was Brown’s team that helped Carolina to winning the Calder Cup title, defeating Chicago in the finals. However, the Wolves will be without several key players including AHL MVP Daniel Carr as well as Tomas Hyka and Brooks Macek, who are both expected to return to Europe.
Brown posted a career-high 19 goals for the Charlotte Checkers and while he didn’t get into a regular season game this year for the Hurricanes, he did find himself on the playoff roster, playing in all eight games, although he didn’t tally a point. However, he provided some physical needs to help some of the injured Carolina players.
Minnesota Signs Forwards Luke Johnson, Gabriel Dumont
The Wild have added four forwards already today, announcing the depth additions of Luke Johnson and Gabriel Dumont. The duo sign matching two-year, two-way deals worth the minimum $700K at the NHL, although Dumont is set to make a higher AHL salary than Johnson.
The 24-year-old Johnson has showed some promise as he has continually improved in his three years in the AHL with the Chicago Blackhawks’ affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. He finally broke out with an 18-goal season there in just 53 games and got some ice time with Chicago, playing in 15 games, but failed to score a goal and only registered a point, averaging just 10:49 of ATOI. He will compete for a fourth-line spot, but is more likely going to end up with the Iowa Wild for another season.
The 28-year-old Dumont bounced around Montreal, Tampa Bay and Ottawa as he struggled to crack an NHL lineup. Tampa Bay eventually claimed him back from the Senators in 2018 and he was immediately sent to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL where he played since then. Minnesota is likely expecting him to join Johnson with Iowa to provide some veteran depth for their younger players.