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Minor Transactions: 11/03/20

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Today is a big day for news, what with the NFL trade deadline and the MLB’s announcement of the Gold Glove winners of course, but the hockey world has managed to slip a few notable minor moves in as well. The NHL free agent market has quieted down, but other leagues continue to make roster transactions. Take a look:

  • The AHL’s Stockton Heat have added a very talented collegiate player to their 2020-21 roster in former Bemidji State University captain Adam Brady. In an interview with the Smart Sports Podcast’s Darryl Smart, Brady announced that he had signed his first pro contract. While it would not have been a surprise to see Brady draw NHL interest, he states his excitement to be joining the Calgary Flames’ affiliate. A near point-per-game player in his senior season, Brady recorded a total of 81 points in 112 games over three seasons at Bemidji State. Although he is older than the typical NCAA free agent at 25, the skilled center should bring a pro-ready game that will make him an effective player immediately.
  • Vladimir Sobotka did not last very long in the NLA. After his contract with the Buffalo Sabres expired back on October 9, Sobotka signed a temporary contract with SC Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland. Since then, he played in four games and recorded two assists. However, he didn’t do enough to earn a full-time roster spot. The Lakers announced today that they have declined the option to extend Sobotka’s contract. The veteran NHLer, who also has experience in the KHL and in his native Czech Republic, will be back on the hunt for another landing spot.
  • In contrast, another former Boston Bruin has found employment overseas. Jordan Caron, who has bounced between Germany, Russia, and Switzerland over the past few years, has signed with Austria’s Villacher SV of the IceHL. The team announced the addition of the veteran forward, who will likely play a major role for the club. Caron has been a productive two-way forward in Europe as he was in the AHL, but could never translate that ability to the NHL in stops with Boston, Colorado, and St. Louis.

Free Agent Profile: Sami Vatanen

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Much like fellow countryman and unsigned free agents Mikael Granlund, Sami Vatanen is getting next to no attention on the open market so far this off-season. The 29-year-old defenseman, ranked No. 14 overall in PHR’s Top 50 UFA’s, is an established two-way defenseman with nearly 200 points in his eight-year NHL career, but seemingly can’t find a suitable offer in the stagnant, flat cap market.

Unfortunately for Vatanen, recency bias looms large in the free agent market. Teams are more willing to offer significant contracts to players who have impressed in their most recent outings rather than looking at their overall career. This has sunk Granlund so far and the same can be said for Vatanen on multiple fronts. First, Vatanen’s time with the Carolina Hurricanes was utterly forgettable. Traded at the deadline despite being injured, Vatanen did not see any regular season action with Carolina due to the suspension of the season. He was healthy enough to play once the postseason resumed, but played a limited role of just over 18 minutes per night in seven games (missing the final playoff game due to undisclosed reasons). Second, his past two seasons overall have not been stellar. Following four straight seasons of 67+ games played with the Anaheim Ducks, Vatanen’s health diminished over the past two years with the New Jersey Devils. He played in just 97 games total across the two campaigns and while his per-game stats both offensively and defensively held steady with his career average, his totals suffered.

Of course, the full picture of Vatanen’s career clearly displays why he ranked so high among PHR’s top free agents. He may be a couple of years removed from a relatively full season, but a healthy Vatanen in Anaheim was a perennial 30+ point player who also logged 100+ blocks and nearly 100 hits each year. Vatanen’s plus/minus was also superior before joining the struggling Devils. Even as part of what used to be a loaded Ducks defense corps, Vatanen earned his minutes and performed at a high level.

At full strength and given the opportunity, Vatanen can be a difference-maker for any team. A player who has logged 21 minutes or more per game in each of his six full NHL seasons , Vatanen knows how to carry the load of major minutes and special teams roles. He is also versatile, comfortable playing on his natural right side or on his off side. Over 82 games, Vatanen has 40-point upside and can be a disruptive force defensively as well. He has his demons as well; Vatanen is undersized, turnover prone, and can be a liability positionally in his own end. However, the total package is one of a bona fide top-four defenseman. Yet, at this point in the off-season he may not be paid as such.

Potential Suitors

Cap space aside, there are few teams in the NHL who couldn’t use a defenseman that can play both sides and contribute at both ends. Vatanen should cast a wide net of suitors, which makes the silence surrounding his name on the rumor mill all the more strange.

Taking into account the teams with ample salary cap space and need, there are a number of rebuilding clubs who could very likely be eyeing Vatanen. The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings have shown no hesitation to add free agents this off-season and could use a player like Vatanen, while the Los Angeles Kings have been very quiet but could greatly benefit from adding a player of Vatanen’s caliber to their young, inexperienced blue line. The Kings have a number of right-shot defenders, but Vatanen could still be very useful on the left side.

Of course, the problem with any of these teams is that Vatanen just escaped a rebuild in New Jersey and may want to look for a more competitive landing spot. While 2019-20 was a major disappointment for the San Jose Sharks, the team has the pieces to return to relevance this season. However, they could really use one more established veteran on the back end and Vatanen would fit the bill. There is a gap on the right side as well behind Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns, but Vatanen might be the most dangerous playing on his off side with either of those stars.

Two other teams in need of defense but who might not be an obvious fit due to shot side are the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Both clubs are set on the right side; Boston has Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and a now-healthy Kevan Miller as well as NHL prospect depth and the Rangers have Jacob Trouba, Anthony DeAngelo, and Adam Fox. However, both teams have somewhat failed to address holes on the left side this off-season. Even on his off side, Vatanen would be a major upgrade to Brendan Smith and depth additions Jack Johnson and Anthony Bitetto in New York and to Matt Grzelcyk and John Moore in Boston. Both teams have considerable prospect depth on the left side, but as Stanley Cup contenders may not want to miss a chance at a player like Vatanen on a bargain deal.

Projected Contract

PHR originally expected Vatanen to sign a deal in the neighborhood of four years and $19.5MM. At this point, if Vatanen was going to land a long-term deal it would have happened by now. It seems teams want to make sure that he can stay healthy and play at his best for a full season before thinking about multiple years. Vatanen may not be restricted to just a one-year deal, as the impending Expansion Draft and its exposure requirements may make a two-year offer attractive to some, but anything beyond a two-year term seems unlikely.

As for the money, the posited $4.875MM AAV seems highly unlikely. That valuation was based on a long-term deal. Whether one year or two, Vatanen is now unfortunately facing a “show me” contract. With so many possible landing spots at or close to the salary cap ceiling, there isn’t much money to go around. If he wants to end up with a competitive club, Vatanen will be looking at a $3MM AAV or lower. If he chases the money, it still seems like the market is pointing toward a $3.5MM cap hit at best.

While Vatanen is a more well-rounded defenseman than Erik Gustafsson, the one-year, $3MM deal he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers feels like a decent expectation. If Vatanen lands a second year, perhaps he gets a total of $7MM. Either way, Vatanen is being paid for his floor when, if healthy, his ceiling is much higher. If whoever eventually signs Vatanen is lucky enough to get a healthy season (or two) out of him, he could be one of the better bargains of this free agent market.

Bruins’ Kevan Miller Expected To Start 2020-21 Healthy

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It has been a rough couple of years for Kevan Miller. The Boston Bruins defenseman missed the entire 2019-20 season with a fractured kneecap, an injury that incurred setback after setback. The season prior, 2018-19, was when the kneecap injury initially occurred, causing Miller to miss the team’s regular season finale and all 24 postseason games as they reached Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final. It was his fourth different injury of the season, as he was able to play in just 39 games. In that limited action, Miller’s play reflected someone who was never quite at 100% and paled in comparison to his previous seasons.

Miller can only hope that 2020-21 will be different and that obviously starts with his health. He tells Ty Anderson of The Sports Hub that things are trending in the right direction:

I’m doing really well. Knee is feeling great, body is feeling great. Obviously, had a lot of time to get things in order. I’m making really good progress. I’ve been skating two to three times a week. I’ve been training. I’m really, super excited to have the opportunity to play again. If we were playing right now, I wouldn’t be cleared. But come puck-drop, I definitely will be. I have no doubt in my mind I will be 100 percent by then.

If there is any reason to believe Miller’s hopeful statement, it’s because the Bruins did. Boston rushed to re-sign Miller on the first day of unrestricted free agency, despite not having seen him play since April 2019. They also didn’t just hand him a minimum-salary “show me” deal, either. Miller signed a one-year deal with incentives, yes, but it includes a $1MM base salary and a $250K roster bonus for spending just one day on the active roster. That’s essentially $1.25MM guaranteed with a maximum of $2MM with bonuses.

Boston’s other moves this off-season also reflect some faith in Miller’s comeback. Even after losing Torey Krug, the Bruins have refrained from adding to their defense corps. To this point, they have not even re-signed Zdeno Chara. On paper, this leaves the Bruins very thin on the blue line. Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk are returning regulars who will play top-four roles, but the other starting jobs appeared to be up for grabs between another oft-injured veteran in John Moore and promising but unproven prospects Jeremy Lauzon, Connor Clifton, and Jakub Zboril. The team also has veteran Steven Kampfer, first-round prospect Urho Vaakanainen, and high profile college signing Jack Ahcan slated for AHL Providence. The group has some depth, but isn’t exactly loaded with the talent and experience that one would expect from a contender.

A healthy Miller would help with that. Although he has played almost exclusively in the NHL since 2013-14, Miller has just two seasons with 68+ games played, the most recent in 2017-18. Yet, in each of those seasons he averaged over 19 minutes of ice time per game, recorded nearly 20 points, logged over 150 hits and 100 blocked shots, played a key role on the penalty kill, and produced strong plus/minus and possession numbers. Granted, it has been a while since Miller has played a complete season, but his career numbers indicate that at full health he has the ceiling of a top-four shutdown defenseman, a possible Chara replacement even.

However, the caveat to any Miller excitement is that health is never guaranteed, even if he does begin the season at full strength. Miller’s resume reads like a list of all possible hockey injuries, and then some. He’s lost an even 200 regular season games to injury in his career, with ailments including the standard upper-body and lower-body injuries, concussions, and sickness but also multiple injuries to his shoulders and hands as well as a bruised larynx. Miller’s kneecap will be of most concern in the coming season, but the aggressive defenseman has shown a propensity for injury and cannot be trusted for a season-long role even if the knee holds up. A healthy Miller to begin the season is good news for the Bruins, but his presence and peak performance cannot be relied upon.

Prospect Notes: Wiesblatt, Neighbours, Groshev, Stillman

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The St. Louis Blues’ and San Jose Sharks’ recent first round picks are on the move, at least for the time being. Jake Neighbours and Ozzy Wiesblatt have been loaned by their WHL teams, Edmonton and Prince Albert respectively, to the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits, the team announced. The loans carry a pre-determined end date of December 20, allowing Neighbours and Wiesblatt to get a head start on the coming season. The WHL announced in October that they had postponed the start of the 2020-21 season to January 8, while the AJHL is set to kick off their season on November 13. Neighbours and Wiesblatt will have more than a month of game action with the Bandits before heading to training camp with the Oil Kings and Raiders. The top prospects, who have both already signed their entry-level contracts, have landed in one of the best possible spots when it comes to being loaned to an inferior league. Brooks is a powerhouse program, whose current roster includes a 2021 first round hopeful in Corson Ceulemans and a number of NCAA commitments. The team just got much more dangerous with the addition of these two elite young forwards, at least for the next month.

  • Another recent draft selection has also been moved, but in a more permanent fashion. Tampa Bay Lightning third-rounder Maxim Groshev has been traded in the KHL, though “sold” is the more accurate verb. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk has dealt their homegrown product to SKA St. Petersburg, per a team release. The return is merely “monetary compensation” but it is believed the young forward cost 40 million rubles. A big winger who was deemed ready for KHL last season at 17, Groshev recorded seven points in 36 games last year and has two points in 17 games thus far in 2020-21. SKA is an elite KHL team and not exactly known to spend time developing young players when they can attract prime talent, so the team must see considerable potential in Groshev as well as feel he has several years left in the KHL before taking his talents to North America.
  • The OHL’s postponement of their 2020-21 start to February, as well as questions about the quality of the competition once play resumes, is going to result in considerable player movement, which has already begun. In the latest notable move, potential 2021 first-round pick Chase Stillman has been loaned to Demark by his club, the Sudbury Wolves, until the OHL season begins. The Sudbury Star’s Ben Leeson reports that Stillman has already departed, and is set to join the Esbjerg Engery. Stillman, the son of former NHLer Cory Stillman, should find Denmark to be an interesting developmental adventure; it is his first pro experience but also not considered a top tier pro league by any means. If Stillman dominates in Denmark, he may have to make a difficult decision about returning for a shortened OHL season that may not include checking versus seeing his pro season through. For a highly regarded draft-eligible prospect, it’s a call that could impact his draft stock.

 

Dallas Stars Sign Julius Honka

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Nov 2: While he waits for the season to start in North America, Honka will now return to play in Finland. The Stars have loaned Honka to the Lahti Pelicans, where he will spend the next few months preparing for NHL training camp.

Oct 30: After a season-long hiatus, defenseman Julius Honka is back with the Dallas Stars. The team has announced a new one-year, two-way contract for Honka, who they were unable to sign last off-season. CapFriendly reports that Honka will make the minimum $700K in the NHL and $90K in the AHL.

Honka, 24, returns to Dallas after spending the 2019-20 season with JYP of Finland’s Liiga, his hometown team. The Stars and Honka could not agree to terms on a new contract last off-season, but by extending the restricted free agent a qualifying offer, the club retained his exclusive negotiating rights. The two sides returned to talks this off-season in hopes of a reunion.

Unlike fellow Finn Jesse Puljujarvi of the Edmonton Oilers, who also spent this past season in the Liiga instead of with his NHL team, Honka did little to help boost his bargaining power with his play this year. The streaky, one-dimensional defenseman put up just modest numbers with JYP, recording 15 points in 46 games. This was good enough for only fourth among club defensemen in scoring. In fact, his younger brother, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Anttoni Honka, was JYP’s best offensive defenseman at just 20 year old.

It is still unclear whether Honka truly has the talent to stick at the NHL level. Although he was a first-round pick in 2014 and has put up big offensive totals in juniors and in the AHL, he has struggled to find consistency in Dallas. He again showed with JYP that playing against mature, physical opponents at top pro levels may be too much for an undersized and defensively deficient player. Dallas seems willing to gamble on his offensive ability with a low-risk one-year, two-way deal, but that doesn’t mean Honka will be handed a regular role with the club right away. He will have to earn that with his performance or he could find himself separated from the Stars once again.

Seattle Kraken Will Wait To Name Head Coach

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Although the Seattle Kraken are set to take the ice as the NHL’s 32nd franchise in less than a year, the team is in no rush to name their inaugural head coach. The team did not hesitate to get a jump on hiring a GM, landing Ron Francis in July of 2019, but now Francis tells The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that the team is willing to wait on their next major personnel decision.

We don’t know yet the kind of team we may be able to draft, so we’re comfortable kind of sitting back and waiting right now and watching what happens here. There’s still, hopefully, a 2020-21 season getting up and running and playing. Are there guys that end up losing their jobs or looking for other things elsewhere? I just think we have time on this. We’re not in a race to make that decision at this point.

The sentiment makes sense and actually should not come as much of a surprise; the Vegas Golden Knights did not name Gerard Gallant (who is currently available) as their head coach until April of 2017, just two months ahead of the 2017 Expansion Draft. With the high likelihood of another NHL season that could run later into the calendar year than usual, given the delayed start, Seattle would still have many months left before making a coaching decision in order to keep to Vegas’ timeline.

However, Francis does mention that Seattle can begin making roster transactions prior to the Expansion Draft, stating that they will officially become a member of the league with player movement abilities once their final expansion payment in made to the league early next year. That of course raises a chicken-and-egg debate: do they hire a coach and base their early signings and trades on his style or do they make moves and then find a coach who might best fit those players and their 2021 Expansion Draft targets?

With that in mind, LeBrun asks Francis whether he has interviewed any candidates yet for head coach. Francis refused to answer, so make of that what you will. He did hint that the team is starting to get a better idea of who might be available in the expansion draft next off-season and how that could drive the team’s philosophy and whether that pairs with any available head coaches, so a coaching move could be on the horizon.

I think we’re getting closer to having an idea now that we’ve gotten through a little bit of the free agency. There could still be moves before the NHL hopefully gets up and running. Things become a little bit clearer as far as what you think may or may not be available, and then you start having those discussions with teams and try to get an indication on what may or may not be available. So I think once you get more into that process a little bit more, we’ll have a better indication (of their roster approach/philosophy). You always want to win now, but we’ll have to judge the landscape and see where things are and make the decisions that are right both short term and long term.

Korbinian Holzer Signs With Automobilist Yekaterinburg

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Defenseman Korbinian Holzer is done with waiting for the NHL free agent market to heat back up. In an in-depth interview with Eishockey News in his native Germany, Holzer reveals that he has signed a contract for the remainder of the 2020-21 season with Automobilist Yekaterunburg of the KHL. He also discusses training in Germany and what it would take to get him back to North America.

Holzer, 32, is a big, physical defenseman who has made a career in the NHL of being a reliable depth option. In fact, he actually set a career high in games played this past season, combining for 49 games between the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators. His previous high was just 34 games, but he has played in at least 16 NHL games in seven of the past eight seasons. He has always been an effective plug-and-play option who can be relied on for decent minutes, a penalty kill role, and a lot of  hits.

However, in the flat cap market, a career depth player has no guarantees. Holzer states that there has been some interest from NHL teams, but nothing concrete. He says that teams are “very cautious” of using up cap space. Rather than wait and hope, Holzer has decided to move on. After a career high in NHL games, as well as over 16 minutes per game for a second straight season, Holzer’s priority at this point in his career is to have a core role and guaranteed ice time. It sounds as though he will require an NHL offer with those parameters in order to make a return.

Automobilist seems to have met those demands. The KHL club, who currently sits in fourth overall in the league standings and fourth in the Eastern Conference, is billed as a “top team” by Holzer. His soon-to-be teammates include former NHL great Pavel Datsyuk, former Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Peter Holland, and fellow countryman Brooks Macek. The team is also coached by an established NHL mind in Bill Peters. One thing that Yekaterinburg lacks is a top defenseman, with only former NHLer Nikita Tryamkin standing out. Holzer should indeed step into a major role with the club and could find himself as a top defenseman in Europe for several years if he chooses to stick with that path to continue his career.

Holzer is set to join Automobilist on November 12. In the meantime, he will finish fulfilling his obligations to Tolzer Lowen, his hometown team who plays in Germany’s tier two league, the DEL2. Holzer has been skating with the team and participating in exhibition games, but will now join the club officially for an upcoming preseason tournament. After that, he will make the trip to Yekaterinburg to begin the next stage of his career.

OHL Will Not Allow Body Checking In 2020-21

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Oct 31: Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, tweeted this evening that the provincial government is “engaging” with the OHL to create a safe return to play plan, and specifically notes that he would like to see the league return with body checking. “To date no decisions have been made,” says the Premier.

Oct 30: The Ontario Hockey League had already made a major change to their season in response to the continued spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, delaying the start of the 2020-21 campaign until February and announcing a shortened 40-game schedule. Yet, due to another decision influenced by COVID-19, the league will look very different when it does return in a few months. Sportsnet reports that Ontario’s minister of sport, Lisa MacLeod, has announced that body checking will not be permitted in OHL games this season.

Of course, this is not as straightforward as it may seem. While MacLeod stated that she arrived at this decision based on the spread of COVID-19 in the QMJHL and that she felt “removing purposeful physical contact from the game was a necessary step to preventing the spread.” However, many in the media have already asked if this opinion was really backed up by any evidence or the opinion of any experts in the field. The use of the word “purposeful” also suggests that incidental contact will still be allowed. Or will it? Where will the league draw the line and what will the punishment be? There’s also the major issue of jurisdiction in this case. The OHL includes three American teams – two in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania – who do not have to abide by the health ordinances of Ontario. There is still a question as to whether the border will be open at that time to accommodate those clubs, but if they do participate this year, will body checking be allowed in their home games?

With so many questions still to be answered, it is no surprise that TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the decision is not quite official with so many factor still needing to be discussed. Similarly, the OHL’s stance right now is more or less “no comment”, stating “Until such time as we arrive at an agreed upon Return to Play protocol with the Government of Ontario, the League will have no further comment on the matter of body contact.”

If body checking is completely removed from OHL competition this year, it will make the jobs of NHL Draft hopefuls and NHL scouts even more difficult. Without a 2020 postseason and given the shortened 2020-21 regular season, players will have less opportunity to display their talents for scouts ahead of the 2021 Draft. Now, the Ontario government is asking those players to play a completely different style of hockey in what will already be a small sample size. Without intentional contact, it will be immensely difficult to not only evaluate defensive ability, but also to get a frame of reference for offensive ability. Play will be much faster and much more offensive than normal, with defenseman and forecheckers limited in their ability, goalies exposed by a much more open game, and scoring forwards unable to show that they can produce even with opposing contact. The players hurt the most will be those who haven’t already been identified as elite, surefire first-rounders in next year’s draft. Those lucky few have already been seen by scouts, but the dozens of other OHLers who needed the season to prove they have NHL potential have just had their season length slashed and now their game fundamentally changed.

Buffalo Sabres Loan Jonas Johansson To Germany

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After making his NHL debut this past season and putting up stellar numbers in the AHL, young Buffalo Sabres goaltender Jonas Johansson is hoping to take the next step this coming season. Given the struggles that veteran Carter Hutton experienced this year, Johansson should have the opportunity to challenge for an NHL role from the get-go. Being fully prepared for a training camp battle will be a major factor in Johnasson’s odds in the position battle, so the net minder is getting an early start to his season. The Krefeld Pinguine of Germany’s DEL have announced that they have acquired Johansson on loan from the Sabres.

The DEL has postponed its regular season start until mid-December, but the league has put together a preseason tournament for eight of their 14 teams, called the Magenta Sport Cup. Johansson’s loan covers the extent of the tournament, which begins on November 11. After that point, it is unclear if he will stay with the Krefeld or will return to Buffalo in anticipation of NHL training camp opening.

By landing Johansson, Krefeld gets a goalie who recorded a .921 save percentage and 2.28 GAA in the AHL last season, both of which were top-ten marks. While he was limited to just five AHL appearances in 2018-19, his performance was even better. Johansson, 25, stands 6’5″ and 214 lbs. and is a great positional goaltender. He will be a major asset for Krefeld, as he hopes to be in the backup role for Buffalo.

RFA Notes: Hintz, Dunn, Lagesson

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With new contracts done for fellow restricted free agent forwards Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov, the Dallas Stars have just one more name to check off the list. Roope Hintz is the lone remaining RFA for the Stars and after two straight solid seasons to begin his NHL career, the young forward is due a sizeable raise from his entry-level contract. However, Dallas is running low on salary cap space. CapFriendly currently projects the club to have just $3.4MM in space for a 22-man roster. While that currently includes nine defenseman, which is not realistic, swapping a blue liner for another forward from the AHL roster will essentially cancel out. This means the Stars have approximately $3.4MM to offer Hintz in terms of AAV, and that is if they don’t plan to make any other additions to a forward corps that lost Mattias Janmark and has not re-signed Corey Perry. However, GM Jim Nill is not worried. He tells The Dallas News’ Matthew DeFranks that the team expects to get Hintz under contract “in the next week or two.” Nill claims that the two sides have had “great discussions” and are close to an extension. If Hintz signs a short-term deal similar to the two-year, $5.1MM pact signed by Gurianov, the Stars will remain under the cap ceiling and may even have room for another addition. If the two sides instead decide that a long-term deal is the better route, the AAV could climb above that of Faksa’s $3.25MM on his five-year deal, which would put Dallas right up against or over the cap. Nill seems confident that a deal will be made one way or another and that the team can sort out the rest.

  • One team that would have to go over the salary cap to sign a key RFA are the St. Louis Blues. In fact, the Blues are already over the cap’s upper limit and are more accurately dealing with the off-season limit on spending over the cap. Yet, defenseman Vince Dunn needs a new contract and right now that seems like an impossibility for St. Louis. However, GM Doug Armstrong believes that it will all work out. Speaking with Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Armstrong stated that two sides are content to wait until closer to the start of the season to finalize and extension. The team may even need to wait until after the season officially starts, when they can place Vladimir Tarasenko and/or Alex Steen on Long-Term Injured Reserve. Once those players’ cap hits are removed from the calculation, St. Louis will have plenty of room to re-sign Dunn and more. The young rearguard has developed into a reliable top-four option for the Blues and will be due a major pay increase, but that will pale in comparison to the potential $13.25MM vacancy created by Tarasenko and Steen hitting LTIR.
  • There may not be much in the hockey news cycle right now, but the Edmonton Oilers made an odd choice to fill the gap by pumping the tires of a player they have yet to re-sign. The Oilers recently released a piece touting the overseas accomplishments of defenseman William Lagesson, who is still seeking a new contract for next season. Lagesson has seven points through nine games with HC Vita Hasten of Sweden’s Allsvenskan and is already looking forward to competing for a regular NHL role this season. Lagesson played in eight games with Edmonton last year, but failed to record a point. He still has a history of solid two-way play in the NCAA and AHL and if Edmonton is agreeing that he is NHL-ready, that could come in handy in contract negotiations. Of course, “NHL-ready” and NHL opportunity are not the same and Lagesson has an uphill battle to crack the Oilers’ roster that already includes five one-way defensemen (not including the injured Oscar Klefbom), a more established RFA in Ethan Bear in need of a new deal, and younger, more elite prospects like Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg clamoring for a chance.

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