Minor Transactions: 7/4/16
Here is where we’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions:
- The Toronto Marlies announced the signing of Marc-Andre Cliche to an AHL contract. A 2005 second round pick of the New York Rangers, Cliche has only played in 151 NHL games and totaled only 14 points. He did not make an NHL appearance during the 2015-2016 season after spending the prior two seasons as a full-time member of the Colorado Avalanche. The former Manchester Monarchs captain was back in the AHL last year, splitting the season between the San Antonio Rampage and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He’ll return to minors again this year, now playing for the Maple Leaf’s affiliate. In a separate move, the team also announced that they have brought back winger Rich Clune on a one year, AHL deal. The 29 year old put up 24 points in 49 games with the Marlies last season while adding four assists in 19 NHL contests.
- Jared Staal is set to join the Edinburgh Capitals of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom, the team announced today. The fourth Staal brother was a 2nd round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2008, but to date has played in only two NHL games, with his brothers’ Carolina Hurricanes. He has spent the majority of his pro career with the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, but spent all of last season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. This will be his first season playing in the EIHL, and he will likely be expected to help the Capitals of Edinburgh, Scotland take the next step, as they have finished in last place two of the past three years.
- The Vancouver Canucks have hired Doug Jarvis as an assistant coach. Jarvis spent the last six years with the Boston Bruins. He is now set to join the Canucks after being hired by former Bruins Assistant GM and current Vancouver General Manager Jim Benning. In addition to the Bruins and now Canucks, Jarvis has also spent time as an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and was also head coach of the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. He is a six-time Stanley Cup champion, with two as a coach and four as a player, as well as a past Selke and Masterton winner.
- Boston has signed D Alex Grant to a one year, two-way deal, according to General Fanager. Grant spent most of last season with Arizona’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, scoring 11 goals and 31 assists in 69 games. He also got into five games with the Coyotes, being held pointless. Grant will earn $600K at the NHL level and $225K in the AHL.
Hurricanes Sign Lee Stempniak
Veteran winger Lee Stempniak has agreed to terms on a two-year, $5MM deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, the team confirmed. Stempniak is joining his tenth team of his NHL career, and the fifth in just the last two years.
After trading long-time captain Eric Staal last season, the team needed some veteran consistency and leadership, both things that Stempniak can provide. Now 33 years old, the former fifth-round pick has proven he can be a legitimate scoring presence in any role, putting up double-digit goal totals in every year of his career save the lockout-shortened 2012-13 (in which he scored nine).
Last season saw a return to a level he hadn’t seen in years though, with Stempniak putting up 51 points for New Jersey and Boston. The Hurricanes will look to slot those points in alongside their young group up front that includes newly acquired Teuvo Teravainen. Stempniak has the skill and speed to play anywhere in the top-9 in today’s NHL, and has been a solid contributor on the penalty kill in the past.
Dan Hamhuis Signs With Dallas
After Dallas Stars’ defensemen Jason Demers and Kris Russell both decided to test out free agency, the Stars have replaced their outgoing performance by inking Dan Hamhuis to a two-year, $7.5MM contract, as reported by Bob McKenzie.
Hamhuis has spent the last six seasons in Vancouver where he has slowly seen his role and offensive performance decline as he heads into his mid-thirties. The former Predator and Norris trophy nominee will now join a blueline that has been torn apart over the last few weeks. In addition to Demers and Russell both heading to free agency, Dallas traded Alex Goligoski to the Coyotes just weeks before he also would have become an unrestricted free agent.
Now Hamhuis will join Johnny Oduya as the veterans in a group headlined by John Klingberg, the last bastion of the Stars’ young group from last season. For a team who is looking to contend this season, before many of their talented forwards reach free agency (including superstar captain Jamie Benn and sniper Patrick Sharp) Hamhuis is just the first step in rebuilding their back end.
Merrill, Smith-Pelly Re-Sign In New Jersey
1:04pm: The Devils have announced the re-signing of Beau Bennett to a one-year, $725K contract, completing the trifecta of not-tendered restricted free agent signings.
12:52pm: The New Jersey Devils have brought back defenseman John Merrill and winger Devante Smith-Pelly on two-year deals after neither restricted free agent was tendered by the team. Merrill’s deal is for a total of $2.275MM, as reported by Frank Servalli, while Smith-Pelly’s deal totals $2.6MM. Beau Bennett, recently acquired from Pittsburgh, is the third of the group of New Jersey RFA’s that were not tendered, but expected to re-sign.
Canadiens Sign Alexander Radulov
12:48pm: The Canadiens have confirmed the signing for one year. Pierre LeBrun reports it’s for $5.75MM.
9:46am: Montreal will reportedly sign Russian superstar Alexander Radulov, as first reported by TSN’s Travis Yost. The signing has not been confirmed by the team, and the terms of the deal have not been disclosed thus far.
Radulov has spent the majority of his career overseas, playing in his native Russia, home to the KHL. However, he was drafted into the NHL, going 15th overall to the Nashville Predators in 2004. In his first two years in the NHL, Radulov totaled 95 points in 145 games over the course of the ’06-’07 and ’07-’08 seasons. Despite having success at a young age in the NHL, the talented winger returned home to Russia following his second season. Radulov made a brief return to Nashville towards the tail end of the ’11-’12 season, scoring seven points in nine regular season games and six more points in eight playoff games, as the fourth-seeded Predators beat the Detroit Red Wings, but fell to the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round. Despite intrigue from around the league, Radulov again returned to KHL following the 2012 playoffs.
Often considered the best player not in the NHL, Radulov now makes his return to the world’s premiere hockey league and, for the first time, not as a member of the Nashville Predators. Despite early reports that NHL teams were balking at Redulov’s contract demands, the exit of Steven Stamkos from the free agent pool may have changed the perception. Early indications were that the Detroit Red Wings were considered the front-runners for Radulov’s talents, but Yost now reports that it is the Montreal Canadiens who have swooped in and signed the 29-year-old power forward . Radulov offers a high ceiling and a low floor, but his offensive talents are greatly needed in Montreal, making the signing worth the risk. Radulov will also join former Nashville teammate Shea Weber, who was just recently dealt to the Habs in exchange for P.K. Subban.
Canadiens Sign Goalie Al Montoya
After Carey Price struggled with injuries last year, which was a major part of Montreal’s collapse, the Canadiens have added some insurance in net, signing veteran journeyman goalie Al Montoya to a one-year, $950k contract, as reported by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie.
The 30-year-old played well in 25 appearances for the Florida Panthers last year, posting a 12-7-3 record with a 2.18 GAA and a .919 SV% playing behind Roberto Luongo.
The signing creates a bit of a logjam between the pipes for the Habs, as they are returning both goalies from last season in Price and Mike Condon. At this stage, it would appear that Montoya has the inside track at the backup spot for Price.
Montoya has played in parts of seven NHL seasons with the Coyotes, Islanders, Jets, and Panthers. In 136 games, he has posted a 55-40-18 record with a 2.59 GAA, a .909 SV%, and five shutouts.
Flyers Ink Weise To Four-Year Deal
TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Philadelphia Flyers have signed Dale Weise to a four-year, $9.4MM deal. The Broad Street Bullies bring in one of the league’s best grinders who is coming off his best offensive season.
Weise, 27, was traded last season from Montreal to Chicago, where he found himself struggle on the talented Blackhawks squad and only see about nine minutes of ice time a night. Scoring 14 goals and 27 points in Montreal, the winger added only a single regular season point in 15 games for the Hawks.
He’ll head to a Flyers team looking for some grit in their bottom six, as the team already has a ton of offensive skill up front. With Wiese, they’ll get a solid defensive player who will chip in offensively every now and again and can move up to the second line in a pinch.
Sharks Sign David Schlemko
The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman David Schlemko to a four-year deal worth $2.1MM per year, as first reported by Pierre LeBrun. It’s an affordable deal for a player coming off a breakout year in New Jersey.
Schlemko, 29, found himself almost out of the NHL in 2014-15 as he bounced through three teams. Last season he turned a $625K contract with the Devils into an excellent season, and has been rewarded with his $8.4MM deal today.
Schlemko put up 19 points while logging over 18 minutes a night on a bad Devils team, but will move to the Stanley Cup finalist Sharks and slot into the bottom pairing on a deep (but unheralded) defense corps. His $2.1MM cap hit actually is the lowest of the group, coming in over a million less than Brenden Dillon‘s $3.27MM.
Jamie McGinn Signs With Coyotes
Pierre LeBrun reports that the Arizona Coyotes have agreed to a three-year, $10MM deal with power forward Jamie McGinn. The signing provides some veteran toughness up front for a young Coyotes team. McGinn stays in the division, after having been dealt to the Anaheim Ducks at last season’s trade deadline.
McGinn, who was originally a second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks back in 2006, is coming off the best offensive season of his career in which he scored 22 goals and racked up 39 points. The 27-year old is a presence in the corners, using his large frame to remove defenders from pucks and develop a strong cycle.
For Arizona, McGinn will represent a veteran piece up front as they look to build around their young core of forwards. His $3.3MM cap hit instantly becomes the third highest of the forward group, behind Antoine Vermette and the recently retired Pavel Datsyuk.
Even if McGinn isn’t the offense powerhouse that his numbers may imply, he is a solid contributor that will add some consistency to the young Arizona lineup and comes at a reasonable cap number.
Devils Sign Ben Lovejoy
The New Jersey Devils have signed Stanley Cup champion Ben Lovejoy, reports Sportsnet’s John Shannon. GM Ray Shero, formerly of the Penguins, signs the former Pittsburgh defenseman to a three-year deal with a cap hit of $2.67MM. Lovejoy will be counted on to log some minutes to help replace the recently-traded Adam Larsson.
Lovejoy played a depth role with Pittsburgh last year, making it a bit surprising that he was able to land a three year deal at more than double the $1.2M salary he earned in 2015-16. He suited up in 66 games with the Penguins, scoring four goals and six assists while playing 18:52 per game. He also played in 24 playoff games for the Cup champions, adding two goals and four helpers while averaging 17:46 per night.
In his eight year career (with Anaheim and Pittsburgh), Lovejoy, 32, has played in 334 games, collecting 15 goals and 62 assists.