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Avalanche Notes: Hayes, No. 4 Pick, Knight

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The Colorado Avalanche made history on this day in 1996, winning the Stanley Cup in their inaugural season after moving to Denver. The eight-seed Avs came surprisingly close to getting back the Cup Final this year, upsetting the Calgary Flames in the first round and taking the San Jose Sharks to Game Seven in the second round. Colorado is closer to being a legitimate contender than some may have thought and are hoping to add some veteran pieces this off-season to improve their odds. GM Joe Sakic, a member of that ’96 team, is planning to be aggressive this summer, but his plan took an unexpected early hit when the Philadelphia Flyers acquired the negotiating rights of Kevin Hayes, expected to be one of Colorado’s top targets.

However, it’s already been a week since that trade was made and the Flyers and Hayes have not come to terms on a new contract. Talks are still reportedly progressing, but there’s less certainty that Hayes will end up signing with the team. In fact, BSN Denver’s AJ Haefele states that talks may not be going as well as Philadelphia would like fans to think, after surrendering a draft pick for the right to negotiate with Hayes. Haefele says that “things with Hayes and Philly haven’t really gone great so far”, adding that there’s still optimism but the clock is ticking toward the opening of free agency. If Hayes doesn’t come to terms with the Flyers and hits the open market, the Avalanche would have to be considered the favorite to land the two-way center given the many sources that have linked the two sides.

  • Haefele had another intriguing note for Avs fans tonight regarding the first of the team’s two first round picks, the No. 4 overall selection. Haefele believes, based on discussions with several sources, that Colorado will be targeting a forward with the pick, and that’s regardless of whether or not Bowen Byram is available. Byram, the top defenseman in the draft by a wide margin, is considered by many to perhaps be the third-best prospect overall. However, given the considerable draft capital that the Chicago Blackhawks have used on defensemen in recent years, they may pass on Byram at No. 3. It seems the Avalanche would do the same, opting to focus on their need for secondary scoring rather than adding a top young defenseman, with Cale Makar and Conor Timmins already in the fold. This should come as good new for the Los Angeles Kings, who could desperately use a blue chip defensive prospect. As for the Avs, Dylan Cozens, Trevor Zegras, and Kirby Dach are among the top forward prospects who could be available in this scenario.
  • There were clues to Colorado’s focus on a forward with their first pick before Haefele’s report, too. The team was curiously one of the few not to interview a number of projected late first-round forwards at the NHL Scouting Combine, leading many to assume that they would target a forward early and look elsewhere with their second pick, No. 16. The other explanation is that the Avalanche have already zeroed in one one specific player for that slot: top goaltender Spencer Knight. Although many are in agreement that Knight is a first-round caliber goalie, it’s easier for a team to stomach selecting a keeper that early if they have two picks in the round. Colorado is just one of five teams to pick twice in the first round this year, but they are the first team to use their second pick. Barring an unforeseen selection by a lottery team, the Avs could get ahead of the rest of the pack by selecting Knight at No. 16 and adding their goalie of the future. This is far from a guarantee, but certainly an idea that carries some merit.

Calgary Flames, Matthew Tkachuk Taking Time To Get Deal Done

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The Calgary Flames have many offseason tasks they must deal with this summer, but the No. 1 priority of the team is locking up their top restricted free agent, Matthew Tkachuk. However, with a number of big-name restricted free agents cashing in on mega contracts in the last couple of years, the negotiations are expected to take a while. In fact, The Fourth Period reports that the two sides are in no rush to get a deal done quickly.

Both Calgary and Tkachuk have already had initial discussions, but negotiations aren’t expected to pick up again until later this month, most likely after the NHL Entry Draft. Much of the initial discussions likely dealt with the type of deal that Tkachuk is looking for as he could either sign a short-term bridge deal or a long-term deal. If the team isn’t ready to shell out an expensive long-term deal, they could offer a three-year bridge deal in hopes of seeing whether Tkachuk is worthy of such a deal that would take him to his final year of restricted free agency.

Several restricted free agents have cashed in recently, especially in Toronto as Auston Matthews signed a five-year, $58.2MM contract ($11.63MM AAV) in February, while William Nylander signed a six-year, $45MM deal ($6.96MM AAV) in December after holding out. There are quite a few key restricted free agents this offseason and Tkachuk might want to wait some of them out to see what the market sets at, including Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, San Jose’s Timo Meier and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor amongst others.

Tkachuk is coming off a breakout season in the final year of his entry-level deal as he potted 35 goals and picked up 77 points this season, something they were hoping for after they drafted him sixth overall in 2016. A physical, menace-type player, Tkachuk is critical to the team’s long-term plans, but with plenty of cap concerns approaching, the team could opt to give him a little less money if he accepts a shorter-term deal. However, a long-term deal might be the preferred outcome in case Tkachuk continues to take steps forward in his development, which is quite possible considering he’s still only 21 years old.

The Flames are projected to have more than $14MM in cap space this offseason, giving them the room to lock up Tkachuk to a long-term deal, although the team still has other key restricted free agents in Sam Bennett, Andrew Mangiapane and goaltender David Rittich to sign. The team also must decide on whether to bring back unrestricted free agent Mike Smith in net to pair with Rittich. If not, the team will have to find a goaltender on the free agent market to replace him. That could take up a significant amount of cap room, although there have been rumors the team could move one of their veteran defenseman, either T.J. Brodie or Travis Hamonic, to open up some more cap space and free up a defensive roster spot for some of their upcoming defensive prospects. General manager Brad Treliving might also attempt to trade forward James Neal and his bloated $5.75MM AAV contract, although finding a taker might prove to be a challenge considering he has four more years remaining on his contract.

UFA Notes: Duchene, Smith, Simmonds, Vanek

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Speaking about the impending unrestricted free agent class on Sportsnet’s “31 Thoughts Podcast“, Elliott Friedman updated the statuses of several prominent UFA’s-to-be. Of course, few names will draw as much attention (and money) as Matt Duchene. Following a 70-point season and point-per-game postseason, there is little doubt the Duchene is the best available center and will soon cash in on a contract worth upwards of $60-70MM. What remains is simply who has the means and the interest to make that offer to Duchene. Although they would have to move out salary, Friedman echoes the sentiment that the Nashville Predators should not be counted out of the Duchene sweepstakes until a deal is done. The mutual interest between the two sides is well-documented, but the hurdles of clearing the necessary space remain. As such, Friedman also mentions that the Montreal Candiens are expected to be one of the front-runners for Duchene. The Habs have approximately $11.7MM in projected cap space with almost their entire 2018-19 roster locked up and are simply looking to add pieces to help them get into the playoffs after narrowly missing out this season. Duchene is the top center they need and fortunately can afford and Friedman hears that there is interest.

  • Friedman believes that the goalie market will be more active than many realize. With the growing trend of having a 1A-1B tandem or at least a well-rested starter, the value of backup goalies is going up and Friedman feels a veteran player like Mike Smith could be a beneficiary. Smith, 37, endured one of the worst seasons of his career in 2018-19, but played much better in the postseason despite the Calgary Flames’ early exit. There is still a chance that Smith could stay in Calgary and continue his tandem with David Rittich. However, the Flames are reportedly considering an upgrade. Yet, Smith could be of value to many other teams looking for an established veteran to be their backup. Smith is no longer a 50-game or maybe even 40-game goaltender, but Friedman feels he still has the pedigree to land a significant deal. Of course, if the goalie market is active, that means others like Semyon Varlamov, Brian Elliott, Cam Talbot, or Curtis McElhinney will be in the running for those priority backup jobs as well.
  • Another player whose market may be greater than once expected is power forward Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds had a dreadful year, recording just 30 points on the season, his lowest total since his rookie campaign. Just three of those points came after he was traded to the Nashville Predators and then Simmonds missed a chance at redemption as injury kept him out of all but two of the Predators’ postseason games. With his stock at its lowest, many were reasonably expecting Simmonds to draw considerably less interest this off-season than he may have just one year ago. However, Friedman warns that the performance of a player like the St. Louis Blues’ Pat Maroon may change that. Maroon has shown that hard-nosed, physical forwards still have a place in the game, particularly in the playoffs. Friedman feels Maroon – who is also a UFA – has reinvigorated the market for similar players, such as Simmonds or an experienced two-way forward like Derick Brassard, who himself had a down year. Simmonds is still unlikely to get the kind of contract he would have just a year or two ago, but he won’t be unemployed for very long despite his poor season.
  • Friedman wonders what the market will be like for veteran forward Thomas Vanek. After back-to-back seasons of being a valuable trade deadline commodity, Vanek finally stayed put this year with the Detroit Red Wings after requesting not to be dealt. Yet, Vanek finds himself on the move again as a free agent. The 35-year-old saw a major drop-off in production this year and is unlikely to be a fit back in Detroit. In fact, Friedman doesn’t see an obvious fit anywhere for Vanek, who has played for eight different teams in his long and successful NHL career. A veteran “hired gun” who also isn’t keen on moving is a tough player to fit and Friedman says there’s a chance that Vanek is done.

Flames Looking To Trade A Defenseman

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Last June, the Flames moved out one of their key defensemen in Dougie Hamilton as part of a swap with Carolina at the draft.  It appears that they will be looking to move out a key blueliner once again this offseason.  In his latest edition of the Bobcast (audio link), TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that GM Brad Treliving is looking to move one of T.J. Brodie or Travis Hamonic.

The reason for wanting to do this is two-fold.  Calgary has youngsters Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson that appear to be ready to take on a bigger role for next season.  They also have a very expensive pending contract with restricted free agent winger Matthew Tkachuk that will eat up a lot of their remaining cap space.

Brodie is in the final year of his contract with a $4.6504MM cap hit and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2020.  While he’s a left-shot player, he has spent quite a bit of time playing on his off-side which would certainly bolster his trade value.  He has also been a fairly consistent point producer, surpassing the 30-point mark in six straight seasons and his skating is certainly an asset as teams are asking their defense corps to be more mobile.

Hamonic, a draft day acquisition back in 2017, is a much different style of player.  He’s more of a shut-down defender and has been quite an effective one over the years going back to his time with the Islanders.  However, staying healthy for an entire season has been an issue for him throughout his career.  He’s also in the final year of his contract with a cap hit that’s just over $3.857MM and will be UFA-eligible in 2020.

With the free agent class not being particularly deep in terms of capable top-four defenders, the Flames should garner plenty of interest in the blueliners in the weeks to come.  Considering Treliving’s recent history of being active on the trade front at the draft, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see a deal happen when that gets underway on June 21st.

Offseason Keys: Calgary Flames

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With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Calgary Flames.

Things were looking up, for the most part, this past season for Calgary.  They made a great trade at the draft to add Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.  They were the second best offensive team in the league. They had one of the better defense corps in the league.  They finished first in the West, tying Boston for the most points in the league for any team not named Tampa Bay.  And after all that, they still went down in five games in the opening round.  GM Brad Treliving made some bold moves last summer; will he need to do so again?  Here are the keys to their offseason.

Sort Out The Goaltending

Despite not having the best of goalie tandems on paper, veteran Mike Smith and youngster David Rittich had a decent year all things considered.  Both had their good moments with some bad ones but on the whole, they deserve some credit for the Flames being among the top ten teams in terms of goals allowed.

Both netminders happen to be in need of new contracts as well.  Rittich is a restricted free agent with salary arbitration eligibility and will be looking at a big raise from his $800K salary in 2018-19.  Smith, meanwhile, is an unrestricted free agent and his next deal will undoubtedly check in lower than his previous $5.67MM AAV.  It’s not entirely crazy to think that the tandem could wind up around the $6.5MM mark combined for next season with the distribution between the two a lot more even.

Is that the right way to go though?  Rittich is still relatively unproven and there are still question marks as to whether or not he can be a number one goalie.  Smith is nearing the end of his career and is a stopgap measure at best.  Treliving may be better off looking to spend a little more and bring in someone that is better served to be the 1A option of a platoon to give them a bit more security at that position.  However, they’ll likely need to free up some wiggle room under the salary cap to take that approach.

Tkachuk Contract

Treliving has stated that getting winger Matthew Tkachuk signed this summer is his top priority.  That should come as no surprise after the season that he just had.  After not really progressing much in his second season, he made up for that and then some in 2018-19.  He blew past his career highs in goals, assists, and points and in doing so, established himself as a legitimate top line power forward.  There aren’t many of those types of players in the league.

Tkachuk is among the class of high-end restricted free agents that is going to be fascinating to follow.  Their agents have suggested that they don’t want their clients to be the first to sign and set the market and would rather someone else do that for them.  If Tkachuk and agent Craig Oster are also of that mindset, this could wind up being a bit of a waiting game.

Presently, the top end of Calgary’s salary scale is set by winger Johnny Gaudreau and defenseman Mark Giordano at $6.75MM apiece.  It’s safe to say that Tkachuk will jump past them and that the question is by how much.  With one high-end season under his belt, his earning power will be somewhat limited compared to the top RFAs available but he’s still going to be breaking the bank.

Deal Defensive Depth

As the old adage goes, you can never have enough defensemen.  Calgary may very well be putting that theory to the test.  They have a very strong group of established veterans.  They also have a strong collection of emerging young talent highlighted by Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson.  Those players have made a case for more ice time but, quite frankly, they’re blocked by the veterans.

The solution here isn’t to trade the youngsters but perhaps it’s time for them to cash in on some of that veteran depth, especially with the free agent market being thin in terms of impact options.  Clearing out the final year of Michael Stone’s contract ($3.5MM) would help but after missing most of the season with a blood clot, that will be tricky.

One veteran that they shouldn’t have any difficulty moving if they wanted to is T.J. Brodie.  With an expiring contract, he has been a speculative trade candidate already and as a mobile blueliner that’s capable of logging over 20 minutes a night and putting up points (he has reached 30 points in six straight seasons), there would be no shortage of suitors for his services.  Travis Hamonic, also a pending UFA, would attract a lot of interest as a reliable defensive rearguard.

With all of those players being a year away from free agency and the youth in the pipeline, they’re not all going to be around for the 2020-21 season.  If Treliving wants to make a splash this summer, expect it to come from dealing away some depth on the back end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AHL Notes: Milner, Whitney, Ollas Mattsson

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Goaltender Parker Milner provided the Washington Capitals with some depth in net this season, but the organization is content to move forward with him on an AHL contract instead of continuing his short-term NHL pact. Milner, 28, signed his first NHL contract back in February to close out the 2018-19, simply to serve as emergency depth as Washington pushed toward the playoffs. Milner has mostly played in the ECHL in his pro career after coming out of Boston College as a well-regarded prospect, but has settled in with the Capitals organization, splitting the past three seasons between the AHL’s Hershey Bears and and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. The Bears announced today that they have re-signed Milner to a one-year contract, bringing him back for yet another year. Between potential future starter Ilya Samsonov and another promising young keeper in Vitek Vanecek, Milner is not guaranteed starts in Hershey again next season, but has shown that he is more than willing to spend time in the ECHL if asked.

  • The Bears have also signed forward Steven Whitney to a one-year extension. Whitney is a long-time teammate of Milner’s, as the 28-year-old also played at Boston College and has spent the past two years with South Carolina and Hershey, respectively. Whitney stands just 5’7″, but like brother and former NHLer Joe Whitney, he doesn’t let his size (or lack thereof) prevent him from being a difference maker. Despite heading toward the latter part of his career, Whitney had arguably his best pro season in the AHL last year and will continue to be a valued forward for Hershey.
  • As expected, Adam Ollas Mattsson is headed back home to Sweden. The SHL’s Malmo Redhawks have announced a two-year contract with the promising 22-year-old. Ollas Mattsson was a sixth-round pick by the Calgary Flames back in 2014 and, while it took some time, he broke out this year, skating in 65 games on an AHL contract with the Stockton Heat, recording 18 points and +22 rating. Yet, the depth on the blue line in Calgary made it unlikely that Ollas Mattson would be in the NHL ice time conversation any time soon. Rather than even wait to see if he was offered an NHL contract, Ollas Mattson is set to depart, as was reported earlier in the month. The former junior star in Sweden will switch teams, jumping from Djurgardens to Malmo, who are very excited to add the big defender.

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While Calgary doesn’t have a lot of notable UFAs, they have several important RFAs to get under contract.  Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Matthew Tkachuk – Tkachuk is among the class of high-end restricted free agents that will be coming off their entry-level contracts in July.  After not progressing a whole lot in his sophomore year, he had a breakout campaign in 2018-19, recording 34 goals and 43 assists in 80 games while establishing himself as a legitimate top line power forward.  Those players tend to get paid the big bucks and as a result, he will almost assuredly surpass the $6.75MM AAV mark that Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano have (the highest on the team).  Tkachuk is not eligible for salary arbitration.

G David Rittich – Rittich was one of the more pleasant surprises for the Flames in 2018-19.  He didn’t fare too well the year before in his first extended look in the NHL and to no one’s surprise, he inked a one-year, prove it deal.  He certainly proved that he can play at the NHL level, posting a respectable 2.61 GAA with a .911 SV% over 45 regular season appearances and went from the surefire backup to actually leading Calgary in goalie games.  While there are still questions as to whether or not he can be a legitimate starting netminder, Rittich’s 2018-19 performance should still have him in line for a considerable raise over the $800K he made, especially with him being eligible for arbitration.

F Sam Bennett – Two years ago, Bennett signed a bridge contract as there were some question marks as to whether or not he could become a legitimate top-six forward to justify his fourth overall selection in 2014.  Fast forward to today and there are still plenty of question marks.  He has been quite consistent offensively over the past three seasons, picking up 26 or 27 points in each campaign.  However, he was also their best performer in the postseason and seems to be finding his niche as more of a physical player than a scorer.  There’s still some value in that and with the flashes of upside he has shown over parts of his career, it’s likely that Calgary would like to give the arbitration-eligible winger another chance.

Other RFAs: F Spencer Foo, D Josh Healey, F Curtis Lazar, F Ryan Lomberg, F Andrew Mangiapane, G Mason McDonald, F Brett Pollock, F Alan Quine, F Kerby Rychel, D Rinat Valiev

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: G Mike Smith – The other half of Calgary’s goalie tandem, Smith was rather inconsistent in 2018-19.  He lost the starting role to Rittich for a while but recovered it in time for the postseason and bore the brunt of their defensive struggles against Colorado.  Now 37, Smith will be hard-pressed to land a starting role for next season but for teams looking for a veteran that can handle a larger workload that a typical backup, he’ll certainly be considered.  A return to the Flames in that role shouldn’t be ruled out.

F Garnet Hathaway – After being more of a depth player in 2017-18 (and a minor league recall before that), Hathaway established himself as a regular on the fourth line and provided a reasonable scoring touch in that role, picking up a career-best 11 goals in 76 games while leading the team in hits by a significant margin as well.  That type of combination will garner him some interest on the open market if the Flames can’t strike a deal to keep him around before then.

Other UFAs: D Oscar Fantenberg, F Tyler Graovac, F Anthony Peluso, D Dalton Prout, D Matt Taormina

Projected Cap Space: As things stand, the team has roughly $68.5MM committed to 19 players for next season, per CapFriendly.  Depending on what the increase to the Upper Limit is, they’re going to have roughly $13MM to $15MM to work with.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that re-signing their own restricted free agents will eat up most of that before even looking towards adding another goalie.  As a result, GM Brad Treliving is going to need to make a trade or two to try to free up a bit of cap space over the next month or so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Perry, Bennett, Smith, Clarkson

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One major decision that the Anaheim Ducks must make is decide what to do with longtime star Corey Perry, who has struggled with injury and a decline in play recently. The former superstar scorer saw his totals drop to 19 goals in 2016-17; 17 goals in 2017-18; and just six goals, albeit in 31 games last season. With two years remaining at $8.625MM, the team must decide whether to keep him around or buy him out.

Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required), in a mailbag piece, writes that the team might be better off challenging the 34-year-old to attempt a comeback rather than a buyout. If the team attempts to buy him out, it would save quite a bit of money this season, but still leave them with a $6.625MM cap hit for next season, all for paying him not to play for them. The team has to hope that Perry can bounce back with a 20-goal campaign and make his contract look acceptable. Unfortunately, Perry’s six goals and 10 points over 31 games last year only would have translated to 16 goals and 23 points over a full season. Probably not the return, the would like.

  • Sportsnet’s Eric Francis writes the Calgary Flames should be worried about losing forward Sam Bennett to an offer sheet. The scribe writes that Bennett, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, is the type of player who wouldn’t cost too much in compensation for other teams as a contract between $1.82MM and $3.65MM would only cost a team a second-round pick. Considering the salary cap issues that the Flames are in with the need to re-sign Matthew Tkachuk, several other restricted free agents and two starting goaltenders, the team might not be willing to spend $3.65MM to retain the 22-year-old Bennett, who scored 13 goals and 27 points last season. Francis writes that the Vancouver Canucks could be the perfect team to attempt to sign Bennett to an offer sheet.
  • In a separate piece, Francis writes the Flames must also make a decision on whether to bring back goaltender Mike Smith, who struggled for much of the season until the end when he played much stronger for the Flames in the stretch run of the season. Smith, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, has indicated a willingness to return next season, but would there be better options? While Robin Lehner, Sergei Bobrovsky and Petr Mrazek would all likely be out of Calgary’s price range, the team could consider trading for a goalie such as Jake Allen or attempt to sign Semyon Varlamov, who at 31, might come at a reasonable price.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, in his 31 Thoughts column, writes that the Vegas Golden Knights are likely to explore trading away the contract of David Clarkson. If the Golden Knights can find a team that would be willing to take on his $5.25MM cap hit, it could seriously ease some of Vegas’ salary cap concerns as the team is already projected to be above the salary cap for next season with just 19 players under contract so far. One benefit is that Clarkson is due only $3.25MM in cash, which could make him easier to trade to a team with extra cap room along with either a prospect and/or pick.

Calgary Flames Will Likely Have To Move Out A Veteran

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In the next few months, the Calgary Flames and their general manager Brad Treliving will have quite a few decisions to make as they must sign restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Andrew Mangiapane as well as sign two goaltenders for their NHL roster, all with just $14.5MM to work with.

The challenge will come with Treliving’s most important challenge as Tkachuk’s next contract could take up more than half of that money. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis writes that the 21-year-old power forward could net himself a contact that could compare with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl’s eight-year, $68MM contract that he signed in 2017 at $8.5MM AAV. And that number could even be higher as Tkachuk’s numbers are even better than Draisaitl’s was as Tkachuk has 21 more goals and 37 more points after three seasons.

At that cost, Francis writes, the team will undoubtedly have to move either Michael Frolik and/or defenseman T.J. Brodie to free up enough cap room to accomplish the other tasks on their offseason to-do list. Frolik would be an obvious choice as he was a candidate to be traded earlier this year at the trade deadline as the 31-year-old forward hasn’t been happy with his lack of playing time under head coach Bill Peters. While his numbers, 16 goals and 34 points, weren’t that off his usual totals, his ATOI dropped to his lowest levels in years at 13:22. He also was a healthy scratch at several points during the season, prompting both he and his agent to request a trade. Frolik is entering his final year, but at $4.3MM next season, the team might find it challenging to unload a bottom-six player at that cost without taking back a similar contract.

Another candidate for a trade could be Brodie. Despite playing his entire career in Calgary and often working on the team’s top pairing alongside Mark Giordano, the team suddenly has a surplus of both veteran defensemen as well as three intriguing young players who are going to push for playing time in Rasmus Andersson, Juuso Valimaki and Oliver Kylington. That could make Brodie, the Flames’ most intriguing asset on the team as he enters the final year of his contract at $4.65MM, a reasonable cost for a team looking for a top-four defenseman.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Joakim Nygard

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Back in March, a report surfaced from Darren Dreger of TSN that several teams around the NHL were pursuing SHL forward Joakim Nygard. At the time, the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators were listed as two of the potential destinations for the speedy winger. Now that the SHL season is over, Nygard is free to sign with whoever he chooses and both of those teams are out of the running. The free agent has signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Edmonton Oilers instead.

Nygard, 26, put up another excellent season with Farjestads in the SHL, posting 21 goals and 35 points. In fact, those 21 goals were good enough for second in the entire league behind only Columbus Blue Jackets top prospect Emil Bemstrom’s 23. That kind of offensive production is nothing new for Nygard, who has posted at least 29 points—a solid total in the 52-game SHL season—in three consecutive years.

If there is one thing that stands out in Nygard’s game, it is his incredible skating ability. Easily one of, if not the, best skaters in the SHL, he has drawn countless comparisons to Washington Capitals forward Carl Hagelin. While Hagelin is also scheduled to become a UFA this summer and is available to the whole league, he’s also going to turn 31 this summer and will likely come at a relatively higher price tag. Nygard however may be able to jump right into an NHL lineup on a cheap contract and provide some forward depth next season.

While Calgary was involved the whole way with Nygard, there is an obvious fit with the Oilers. Edmonton has been trying desperately to increase their team speed in order to keep up with Connor McDavid, and have a distinct lack of scoring options on the wing. Perhaps a chance to play with a back-to-back (and potential three-peat) Ted Lindsay Award winner was enough to turn the scales in Edmonton’s favor.

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