Calgary Flames Re-Sign David Rittich
After a hot start to salary arbitration season with three hearings, things have cooled off of late with a slew of contract resolutions. Add another to the list, as the Calgary Flames and goaltender David Rittich have come to terms on an extension. The team announced that the 26-year-old net minder has signed on for two years at an AAV of $2.75MM. Rittich will be an unrestricted free agent when the deal expires after the 2020-21 season.
The Flames now have their 1A goalie back under contract, as Rittich outplayed veteran Mike Smith last season, earning 42 starts to Smith’s 40. Rittich posted career-high numbers in his second season as a Calgary regular, recording a .911 save percentage and 2.61 GAA. Not only were these numbers a personal best and substantially better than Smith’s, they were also top-20 marks among goalies with appearances in at least half of their team’s games, showing that Rittich could hold his own as the Flames’ top option. Given his age and level of play, albeit in limited appearances, it still seems like Calgary got a good value on this $5.5MM pact.
Still just 26 and without a lot of tread on the tires as timeshare goalie in the Czech pro ranks for many years, Rittich has the potential to continue improving as well. He will certainly be pushed in the upcoming season, as Smith has been replaced by the younger and arguably more talented Cam Talbot. Talbot signed a one-year deal this off-season with a $2.75 AAV that matches Rittich’s. The salaries would suggest an even split in net, but the incumbent Rittich has the advantage in familiarity and longer-term investment and should get the preference early on. If he can again prove that he is the superior option to a respected veteran, Rittich could see even more appearances in 2019-20 than he did last year, and perhaps another career performance as well.
The Rittich deal, although more than fair, does add more pressure to the Flames’ salary cap conundrum. CapFriendly currently projects the team to have $4.67MM in cap space. With Matthew Tkachuk still unsigned, as well as Andrew Mangiapane, that simply won’t be enough. Since Rittich had filed for arbitration, the Flames’ second case after their recent resolution with Sam Bennett, the team will be afforded a second buyout window, a 48-hour opportunity to rid themselves of a large contract that could help them sort out their financials. However, there is no obvious candidate for such a move and the team could instead continue shopping defensemen Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie and forward Michael Frolik in hopes of opening up more space.
Calgary Flames Sign Sam Bennett
The Calgary Flames have avoided arbitration with Sam Bennett, inking the young forward to a two-year deal. The contract will carry an average annual value of $2.55MM. Bennett had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Saturday. He will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal.
Already four full seasons into his NHL career, the 23-year old Bennett still hasn’t become quite the offensive player the Flames had hoped for when they selected him fourth overall. That doesn’t mean he’s not a valuable part of the organization though as a two-way player with a physical edge. He has routinely been one of the team’s best players in the postseason, including a point-per-game performance in 2019. It also doesn’t mean he won’t find a breakout season at some point down the road still, given his youth and raw tools.
Even without that breakout though, a $2.55MM contract is more than reasonable for the role Bennett plays. It represents just a $600K increase over his last deal and could have even more positive ramifications for the Flames. The team was in a tough financial situation this summer with several restricted free agents to sign. The most important of those names is obviously Matthew Tkachuk, who could be looking for a huge contract after his 77-point breakout season. If Bennett had reached arbitration it’s very possible he could have secured a bigger deal, further tightening the salary situation for the team.
As it stands, the team has locked up a key part of their forward group for the next two seasons at a good price and can now turn their attention to opening enough room for Tkachuk. They have another arbitration hearing set for July 29 with David Rittich, after which will come a short buyout window that they could potentially take advantage of. There is still work to do in Calgary, but getting Bennett signed is a nice step in the right direction.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Calgary Flames Reach Tentative Agreement On New Arena
July 22nd: While it remains a tentative deal, the Flames, the annual Calgary Stampede festival, and the city of Calgary have agreed to terms on a new “public sports and entertainment event center”, the team has announced. The estimated $550MM complex will be split evenly between the team and the city with additional support from the Stampede. It will also serve as the home to the WHL’s Hitmen and the Roughnecks box lacrosse team, and will serve to attract a variety of other concerts and shows. The new complex will be owned entirely by the city of Calgary and the Flames will bear all operating costs. However, the team will take what they can get when it comes to a much-needed new arena at only 50% of the construction costs. This agreement is subject to a week-long public comment period before it is again brought before city council for a final vote on July 29th.
July 19th: Though there is still a lot of work to be done, the Calgary Flames and the city of Calgary have reached a tentative deal for a new arena according to Meghan Potkins of Postmedia. The deal will be brought to city council on Monday.
The Flames have long been fighting for a new arena in Calgary as the Scotiabank Saddledome is now more than 35 years old making it one of the oldest rinks in the NHL. In September 2017 after a charged battle with mayor Naheed Nenshi, Flames president Ken King announced that the team was “no longer pursuing a new facility” complicating the future of the team. It was clear the team couldn’t continue to play indefinitely in the Saddledome, but it looked like any arena talks were dead for a long time.
In May 2018 the city voted to open the discussion again and now it seems as though they have taken another step in the right direction. More information will obviously come next week, but Potkins reports that the new arena is projected to cost between $550MM and $600MM. Getting a new arena is crucial to the Flames moving forward and staying in Calgary, something that the NHL is obviously supportive of.
Pacific Notes: Coyotes Defense, Carter, Flames, Lucic
The Arizona Coyotes have one of the highest payrolls among defensemen, the second highest in the league at $29.54MM. Yet despite their success defensively, the blueline’s offensive production just isn’t there. The Coyotes defensemen had the seventh-worst goal production in the league and were fourth-worst in points.
The Coyotes hope that much of the defense’s struggles can be accounted by the massive amount of injuries the team suffered throughout the year and while many of those injuries came from the forwards, the changes in personnel definitely had a part to play in the team’s struggles to score goals. The team also were without defenseman Jason Demers for all but 35 games last season and lost Jakob Chychrun for 29 games as well, according to The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required).
“We played defensive and there were so many injuries that we were forced to, but for the most part during the season, we directed the pace of the game and the scoring chances,” said Demers. “It’s just that once you get behind the eight ball and it has been 20, 30 games of not scoring, you tense up a little bit and you might force things you wouldn’t normally force or look for the perfect play when the perfect play is just getting it to the net.”
The team hopes that new assistant coach Phil Housley can help out and get the defense to start producing some offense, his forte when he was a player. The hope is that with a healthy blueline, the team should be able to take that next step.
- The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta appeared on NHL Tonight recently and stated that the Los Angeles Kings have tried to be active on the trade market, reporting that the Kings were talking to the Arizona Coyotes before the draft about potentially sending Jeff Carter there. Of course that was before Arizona turned around and traded for Pittsburgh’s Phil Kessel instead. However, trading off Carter may have been more of a challenge as the 34-year-old who scored just 13 goals and 33 points last season still has three years at $5.27MM AAV and obviously was no where near as productive as Kessel who finished last season with 82 points.
- NBC Sports’ James O’Brien writes that despite moving James Neal Friday, the team’s salary cap situation hasn’t improved much at all. In fact, the Flames saved just $500K after they traded Neal for Milan Lucic, which will require Calgary to make more moves this summer. The team has just $9.97MM in cap space and still have to sign several restricted free agents, including Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, David Rittich and Andrew Mangiapane.
- Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson writes that another victory in the Edmonton Oilers of Lucic to the Calgary Flames for Neal is that Neal doesn’t have a no-trade clause and will not have to be protected in two years for the Seattle expansion draft. However, the Calgary Flames do have to worry about the fact that Lucic has a no-movement clause and will have to be protected, which could be a major issue in two years unless they can convince him to waive that clause for the expansion draft.
Pacific Notes: Lucic, Russell, Turcotte, Eaves
The Calgary Flames had already lost one potential trade acquisition a couple weeks ago when they were had completed a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs for Nazem Kadri only to see the veteran center refuse to waive his no-trade clause and reject the trade. That option could have been in front of Calgary a second time Friday as Milan Lucic seriously considered refusing to waive his no-movement clause, but a conversation with an old friend, Jarome Iginla, changed his mind.
“I had a really good talk with Jarome,” Lucic told the Flames website (via NHL.com). “He told me what a great hockey town Calgary is, how much the people are behind the Flames. It’s a fan base that loves seeing effort. They obviously want to win, but regardless, they love the heart-and-soul guys, the guys who give their all, who don’t compromise, which I like to think speaks to the way I play.”
Lucic and Iginla played together for one season with the Boston Bruins back in the 2013-14 season and spent a lot of time together that years as linemates. After the discussion with Iginla, Lucic agreed to the waive his no-movement clause and the deal commenced in which the Oilers swapped James Neal and a conditional third-rounder to round out the deal.
- Now that the Edmonton Oilers have successfully rid themselves of Milan Lucic’s contract, many fans have focused their attention on the team’s defense, with the belief that general manager Ken Holland must target the contract of Kris Russell, who has two years remaining at $4MM AAV and has proven he’s not a top-four defenseman. However, Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that the team might be better off holding onto Russell, unless they can add a top-six forward in a deal for him, which seems unlikely. Russell has proven to a be a defensively sound blueliner and at least should provide solid play on the third line, who might be able to hold his own if an injury occurs.
- In a mailbag piece, The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman (subscription required) writes that anyone hoping that Los Angeles Kings 2019 draft pick Alex Turcotte (the fifth overall pick) might break training camp with the team, will be disappointed. The team has a plan already in place in which Turcotte, who many had positioned as the best player in the draft after Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, will play one season for Tony Granato and the University of Wisconsin and will not even be at training camp in September.
- Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Anaheim Ducks future looks better next season as the team should have just a few of their own free agents to deal with and even fewer contracts of significance. They will have a handful of restricted free agents, including Brendan Guhle and Troy Terry, but unless either has a breakout season, there is little for the team to worry about. The team’s biggest free agent will be veteran Patrick Eaves, who has played just nine games over two seasons as he has dealt with health problems since being acquired. The scribe writes the team would be extremely unlikely to bring the 35-year-old back and that free space should give the team about $19-20MM in available cap space next summer.
Flames Were Close To Signing Ryan Reaves Last Summer
- The Flames added some grit in yesterday’s acquisition of winger Milan Lucic but they’ve been on the lookout for a physical presence for a while now. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reports that Calgary believed they had a deal in place with winger Ryan Reaves last summer before he changed his mind and opted to re-sign with Vegas instead. Considering the Golden Knights still need to shed some salary, it’s likely that they would have spoken with the Flames about Reaves although with Lucic now in the fold, that’s probably doubtful to happen at this point.
Lucic-Neal Notes: Conditions, Buyouts, Vancouver
The Flames and Oilers may have become pioneers in the ways of NHL trades today, completing the Milan Lucic–James Neal trade with an extraordinary condition on the draft pick included by Edmonton. In addition to sending Lucic to Calgary, the Oilers also retained part of his salary and added a conditional 2020 third-round pick to the deal. It took some time, even after the formal announcement, to reveal what those conditions were. The first, which is very specific but not unheard of, is that Neal must score 21 goals next season. The second is somewhat more convoluted: Neal must also score 10+ more goals than Lucic next season as well. By all accounts, a conditional pick transfer based on two players’ performances relative to one another has never before been attempted in the NHL. Yet, it has immediately turned some heads and has many asking whether this is the future of trading. Will we begin to see other general mangers hedging their bets by sending conditional picks based on whether or not the trade works out as expected? If both teams agree to the deal, wagering on whether one player will outperform the other, then there does not seem to be a problem. It can be added insurance for the team adding the player who would be expected to be better on paper, while being a nice scenario for the other, who either get a draft pick or an unexpectedly strong performance out of their new acquisition. It seems to be a classic win-win-win, wherein both teams win and we the viewers win by having another story line to follow throughout the year. The Flames and Oilers may have opened the door to a new line of through when it comes to conditional draft picks.
- Now that Lucic and Neal are on new teams, the question becomes how long will they stay in these new locales if their play does not improve. Many thought the Oilers would never be able to trade Lucic’s contract, so it’s hard to imagine that the Flames would be able to if his struggles continue next season. However, a buyout remains an unsavory idea next off-season as well. The move would cost Calgary $4.8MM/$3.5MM/$4.8MM in the first three years, which is hardly a savings from his now-adjusted $5.25MM cap hit. Neal is another matter on both both points though. Even if Neal has another bad season, one would imagine that his trade value would not be totally gone give the astonishing consistency he played with for most of his career until landing with the Flames. An Oilers team that could very well miss the playoffs again next season may not be a fair metric either as to whether or not Neal is truly done. However, if a trade market does not develop, a Neal buyout is somewhat palatable for Edmonton. Next summer, a buyout would cost $1.92MM each year for six years. It’s not an ideal scenario, but for a cap-strapped team looking to open their championship window, a penalty of less than $2MM for six years may not hurt as badly as $5.75MM for three years.
- Now that this trade is final, the rumors of a Lucic-Loui Eriksson swap can finally be put to rest. One of the most popular rumors this off-season, the disgruntled Eriksson wanted out of Vancouver and Lucic was open to the idea of a return to his hometown, prompting many to suggest the former Boston Bruins stars could be exchanged for one another. Yet, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal asked Lucic today if at any point he had been approached about waiving his No-Movement Clause for a move to the Canucks. His response: “No never. There was never a trade to Vancouver as far as I’m concerned.” It seems that a deal, including Eriksson or anyone else, never actually came together to bring the native power forward home. Lucic is in Calgary now, but Eriksson and the Canucks are both still hoping to find a new home for the veteran forward before next season.
Edmonton Oilers Trade Milan Lucic To Calgary Flames
7:45pm: Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that there are two conditions on the third-round draft pick sent to Calgary and, in a move not before seen in the NHL, one has to do with the traded players’ production relative to one another. The first condition is that Neal must score 21 goals in 2019-20. The second condition is that those 21+ goals must also be 10 goal or more above Lucic’s goal total on the year. According to Spector, the conditions do not cause a shift in the round of the pick; instead, if those conditions are not met, the Oilers do not owe the Flames any pick at all.
7:00pm: The deal is now official, including the additional pieces and salary retention on Edmonton’s side. In addition to Lucic, the Flames announced that they have also acquired a conditional 2020 third-round pick as well, though terms of the condition were not disclosed. Additionally, the Oilers will retain 12.5%, or $750K, of Lucic’s $6MM cap hit. In other words, Calgary will pay Lucic $5.25MM against the cap for the next four years, while Edmonton will pay a total of $6.5MM against the cap for Neal and Lucic’s retained salary, also for four more years.
2:30pm: The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have decided to swap a pair of underperforming forwards. According to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet the Oilers will send Milan Lucic to their provincial rivals in exchange for James Neal after Lucic decided to waive his no-movement clause. Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED and Gene Principe of Sportsnet have heard the same, though neither team has confirmed it at this point. Jason Gregor of TSN reported earlier that Lucic would be willing to waive the clause to go to Calgary. Eric Francis of Sportsnet expects the Oilers to include a conditional draft pick and retain part of Lucic’s salary.
Lucic, 31, has been considered one of the worst contracts in the league since the day he signed it on July 1, 2016. Agreeing to a seven-year, $42MM deal in unrestricted free agency, he was supposed to add some physicality, experience and scoring prowess to an up-and-coming Oilers team led by two young superstars. In the first year of the deal Lucic disappointed but still scored 23 goals and 50 points, helping the Oilers to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. There were red flags even then however, as Lucic was noticeably slowing down and scored more than half his goals on the powerplay. His even-strength production of 25 points was underwhelming and only a signal of things to come.
In 2017-18, things completely fell apart. Lucic recorded just seven even-strength tallies and scored just a single goal in his final 46 games. Last season was even worse, and at this point the former Boston Bruins star is a fourth-liner with a $6MM cap hit. That wasn’t going to cut it in Edmonton where new GM Ken Holland and the Oilers are trying desperately to reshape their roster even without much cap flexibility.
Neal meanwhile hasn’t been much better since signing his own lucrative free agent contract. Signing a five-year, $28.75MM deal on July 2, 2018, Neal was supposed to be the consistent goal scoring threat to line up alongside young forwards like Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. He had just completed his tenth consecutive 20+ goal season and been to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with the Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights. His offense was rarely contingent on powerplay time and the 30-year old had played with some of the best players in the world during a long career. Unfortunately, that Neal never arrived in Calgary.
Instead, the veteran ended up posting just seven goals and 19 points in 63 games for the Flames. A healthy scratch at times, his role on the team was immediately limited as he never seemed to find a real comfortable fit in the forward group. Basically every metric fell off a cliff for Neal, and Calgary regretted his contract tremendously. Luckily it did not include any trade protection—a notable difference from Lucic, who will require protection in the expansion draft thanks to his no-movement clause.
The question will be whether either player can recover some of their past glory in their new homes. Lucic has been a shell of his former self offensively for more than two years now, but at least still does provide that physical presence that the Flames have been looking for. The 6’3″ winger has recorded at least 200 hits in each of the last six seasons including 259 in 2018-19. If that’s the role Calgary is expecting of him, he should fulfill those expectations just fine.
Neal however probably has bigger shoes to fill. The Oilers have been desperate for any sort of goal production from the wing—partly due to Lucic’s decline—and may still have big expectations for Neal, especially if they are retaining salary and giving up an additional asset. He’s only a year away from a 25-goal campaign with Vegas, but he’ll have to prove his worth to head coach Dave Tippett before he is strapped to McDavid’s wing.
In all, this is a crap shoot for both teams hoping to find some production in their misspent money. If Lucic can give the Flames some bite and contribute a bit on the fourth line he’ll be more useful to them than Neal was. If Neal can play the powerplay and log some time beside their best forwards he’ll have more value to Edmonton. Neither scenario is guaranteed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Poll: How Many Unresolved Arbitration Cases Will Require An Award?
In the NHL, the salary arbitration process is more often used as a negotiating tool – an incentive to get a deal done before the uncomfortable setting of a hearing and the unknown of an arbitrator’s decision – than it is for its actual purpose. A vast majority of players who file for arbitration end up settling before their hearing or even at the last moment before an award is handed down. Last year, 44 players filed for arbitration and 40 settled prior to their hearing. The year before, all 30 cases were resolved before an arbitration award could be made.
So what about this year? There were initially 40 cases of player-elected arbitration and one case of team-elected arbitration (the St. Louis Blues and goalie Ville Husso), but that number is now down to 25 open cases. That’s a substantial drop-off, but time is running out for some RFA’s and their teams to come to terms, as the first scheduled hearing is set to take place on Saturday, July 20th. Listed below are all of the remaining cases:
July 20: Brock McGinn, Carolina Hurricanes
July 21: Andrew Copp, Winnipeg Jets
July 22: MacKenzie Weegar, Florida Panthers; Zach Aston-Reese, Pittsburgh Penguins; Ville Husso, St. Louis Blues; Christian Djoos, Washington Capitals
July 23: Evan Rodrigues, Buffalo Sabres
July 24: Oskar Sundqvist, St. Louis Blues; Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets
July 25: Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers
July 26: Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators
July 27: Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames
July 28: Mirco Mueller, New Jersey Devils
July 29: David Rittich, Calgary Flames; Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers
August 1: Remi Elie, Buffalo Sabres; Chandler Stephenson, Washington Capitals
August 2: Linus Ullmark, Buffalo Sabres; Charles Hudon, Montreal Canadiens; Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
August 4: Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres; Anton Forsberg, Carolina Hurricanes; Sheldon Dries, Colorado Avalanche; Rocco Grimaldi, Nashville Predators; Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues
Given the time constraints and the complexity of each of these cases, how many will feel forced to go to hearing? Will Trouba be one of that select group, as he was last year? Will the Sabres struggle to settle four cases before their scheduled hearing dates? Will the Blues see through their team-elected case with Husso? Will other goalies prove to be difficult negotiations? And will polarizing players like Bennett and Buchnevich fail to find common ground with their teams? Or will it be under-the-radar players like Gemel Smith and Brett Kulak last year who go through the full process?
There are many questions left about this group of restricted free agents and time is running out before we know the answers. So the choice is yours: will we see an unprecedented class of arbitration awards or will all or most cases reach a resolution in the coming weeks?
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Calgary Flames Avoid Arbitration With Rinat Valiev, Ryan Lomberg
The Calgary Flames have re-signed Rinat Valiev inking the minor league defenseman to a one-year deal, meaning he will not need the arbitration hearing scheduled for early August. The same can be said about Ryan Lomberg, who has also signed a one-year two-way contract. Both deals will carry $700K salaries in the NHL.
Valiev, 24, has bounced around the minor leagues the last few years, suiting up for the Toronto Marlies, Laval Rocket and Stockton Heat. The third-round pick from 2014 has just 12 games in the NHL and likely won’t see much more with Calgary this year. He will however be asked to be a leader on the Heat as one of the more experienced defensemen and a bridge for Artyom Zagidulin and Alexander Yelesin, both coming over from Russia for their first years in North America. Valiev will qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer unless he somehow finds his way into 68 games at the NHL level.
Lomberg, 24, is much of the same story. Undrafted he joined the Flames organization a few years ago after a couple of years in the NCAA and USHL, but hasn’t made a huge impact at the NHL level. Playing in 11 games for Calgary he has been used almost exclusively as a physical presence, recording 32 penalty minutes and just a single point. Lomberg is however a real contributor when playing for the Heat, and he’ll likely return there to continue his role in the minor leagues.