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Minor Transactions: 07/18/19

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As July marches on and we get closer to arbitration hearings and contract holdouts, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the league:

  • The Toronto Marlies continue to add more depth, signing Ryan Johnston and Michael Kapla to AHL contracts. Kapla spent last season with the Binghamton Devils and Iowa Wild, recording 24 points in 66 games. The defenseman is a former Umass-Lowell captain that played five games in the NHL during the 2016-17 season. Johnston meanwhile spent the last two seasons in the SHL, but also has ten games of NHL experience under his belt.
  • The Hershey Bears have signed Tariq Hammond to an AHL deal, bringing in another former Binghamton defenseman. The 25-year old played 43 games for the AHL Devils last season, recording three points. Hammond was part of the 2017 NCAA champion University of Denver squad alongside other NHL players like Troy Terry, Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell and Will Butcher, and took over as captain the following season.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack have signed Ryan Dmowski to another AHL deal, keeping him in the organization after he joined them earlier this spring out of college. The 22-year old left winger had four points in ten games down the stretch for the Wolf Pack, and will likely be asked to play a bigger role in his first full professional season.
  • Carolina has brought in some AHL depth, announcing the signings of wingers Hunter Shinkaruk and Colin Markison plus defenseman Derek Sheppard to AHL deals.  Shinkaruk, a first-round pick of Vancouver back in 2013, had a disastrous season with Montreal’s farm team and was non-tendered last month.  Meanwhile, Markison has posted back-to-back 27-point seasons with Texas of the AHL while Sheppard was quite productive at the ECHL last season with 40 points in 57 games.

Brock McGinn, Carolina Hurricanes Exchange Arbitration Figures

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Brock McGinn’s arbitration hearing is first on the books this year, scheduled for Saturday in Toronto. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has received word on the figures exchanged from both sides, tweeting that McGinn’s camp is looking for $2.7MM while Carolina is hoping for $1.75MM. It is important to remember that not only can the two sides still negotiate a different deal in the time remaining (and even for a short period after the hearing), the arbitration decision also does not need to be one figure or the other. The award can (and usually does) fall somewhere in the middle of the submitted salaries.

McGinn, 25, is coming off a two-year, $1.775MM contract so regardless of where the decision lands he is about to get a healthy raise. The second round pick has developed into a useful bottom-six winger that can chip in offensively from time to time and bring a strong level of physicality every night. Though he had just ten goals in 2018-19 he had 16 the year prior, and is the team’s leading penalty killing forward. That’s a useful piece for a team trying to return to the playoffs and contend for the Stanley Cup, especially when he has shown he can play up in the lineup when asked to, at least for short periods of time.

The Hurricanes have a few other restricted free agents to sign but are working with a healthy amount of cap space even after signing Sebastian Aho to a big extension and bringing in some help up front. With additions like Ryan Dzingel and Erik Haula the team should have a deeper group of forwards who can score, letting others like McGinn feast on even easier matchups.

Remember that the team is allowed to select whether the award is for one or two years, a decision that may not be quite so simple. While a one-year term would leave McGinn a restricted free agent again next summer, a two-year award would lock him in at a reasonable number while the team works to build the rest of the roster. Cost controlled players are valuable, and there would still be the option to extend him at some point before he reached unrestricted free agency in 2021. None of that will matter if the two sides can work out a deal in the coming days however, which is still definitely a possibility.

Poll: How Many Unresolved Arbitration Cases Will Require An Award?

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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]

Seattle Expected To Name Ron Francis As GM

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9:00pm: The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker relays word from multiple sources that Francis will be hired and an announcement is expected this week. Baker adds that Francis will be given a multi-year contract “described as midrange in terms of other NHL GMs.” He also believes that Francis will be given full say on the hiring of the coaching staff and front office staff and may even have input on the team’s naming decision.

8:30pm: Many expected the Seattle expansion group to name their general manager this summer, with less than two years to go before the 2021 Expansion Draft. A large assortment of names have been in consideration for the position over the past year or so. In fact, the job seemed destined to go to now-Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett at one point. The new leading candidate? Former Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that Seattle is closing in on selecting Francis as their inaugural GM and feels that an announcement could becoming within days. The team has not confirmed the rumor at this time.

Francis, of course, was a Hall of Fame player who won two Stanley Cups and was a four-time All-Star in 23 NHL seasons with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. Francis, an elite defensive forward and skilled play-maker, averaged better than a point-per-game on average over a whopping 1731 career games, including three 100+ point seasons. After retiring in 2004, Francis transitioned into a front office role with the Hurricanes in 2006 and eventually worked his way up to GM in 2014, a role he served in until he was fired last summer.

During his tenure in Carolina, Francis was criticized for making too few impact trades, bringing in hardly any impact players due to what many perceived to be a an over-hesitation to take a risk. Francis also showed similar hesitation on the free agent market and failed to improve his team externally, as the Hurricanes did not make the playoffs during his time as GM. However, the team is now reaping the benefits of his ability to draft and develop, as evidenced by a largely young and homegrown group making a run to the Eastern Conference Final this season. If the Seattle group is focused on Francis, it is likely that they value his ability to find value in the draft and to build a strong pipeline, a key factor for any upstart expansion franchise. Francis may also fare differently in adding talent, via expansion draft, trade, or free agency, with a clean slate, comfortable funding, and substantial leverage over his competitors, many of whom will look to swing deals to protect their assets in the expansion draft process.

Francis’ understanding of the game from his stellar playing career and his experience in the GM role make him a strong candidate for the Seattle position. How it all works out though, should he be the final selection, will be determined by how he handles the tricky situation of the expansion draft, and relevant trades, and his first entry draft and free agency in 2021.

Haydn Fleury, Gustav Forsling Re-Sign With Carolina Hurricanes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have reached an agreement with Haydn Fleury, signing the young defenseman to a one-year contract. Fleury will earn $850K in 2019-20. GM Don Waddell released a short statement:

Haydn has taken strides during each of his three professional seasons in our organization. We’ve been encouraged by his development and our hope is that he becomes a fixture in our lineup.

Fleury, 23, may finally get an opportunity to see some more ice time in Carolina, after spending much of last season shuffling between the NHL and AHL. Selected seventh overall in 2014, Fleury played just 20 games for the Hurricanes last season and averaged just 12:32 in those contests. With Noah Hanifin and Calvin de Haan traded to the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks respectively though, there may finally be an opening on the left side of the team’s top-four.

There’s no doubt that Jaccob Slavin will take on the bulk of the minutes on that side, and there is always the possibility that one of the team’s talented right-handed options moves over. Still, this may be Fleury’s best chance to really establish himself as a core piece of the Carolina blue line as they attempt to get back to the playoffs and compete for the Stanley Cup. Gustav Forsling came over from the Blackhawks in the de Haan trade, and Jake Bean is pushing hard to be considered an NHL option, but Fleury should have the inside track at training camp thanks to his familiarity with the team.

It’s important to note that Fleury did suit up nine times in the Hurricanes’ recent playoff run and then returned to the Charlotte Checkers to help them win a Calder Cup. The young defenseman has all the tools to be an effective NHL player and now just needs the opportunity. For the low cost of $850K, both sides are hoping he can take that next step. He will be a restricted free agent still next summer.

Forsling meanwhile has also signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Hurricanes at his qualifying offer salary of $874,125 in the NHL. The 23-year old has actually now played 122 games in the NHL, all with the Blackhawks over the last three seasons. He has 27 points during those games and showed himself to be at very least a bottom-pairing option in the NHL moving forward. Whether he gets those minutes right away in Carolina is still to be seen, but he gives the team another young player to build their blue line around.

Clark Bishop Re-Signs With Carolina Hurricanes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed Clark Bishop to a one-year, two-way contract. The restricted free agent forward was not eligible for salary arbitration and will earn $700K in the NHL next season.

Bishop, 23, may be one of the players that suffer from the Hurricanes strong offseason. The team brought in Erik Haula, Ryan Dzingel and Brian Gibbons to lengthen out their forward group, leaving Bishop likely fighting for one of the last spots on the roster against other top young prospects. The fifth round pick made his NHL debut last year playing in 20 games but was used extremely sparingly and just as injury insurance. He actually struggled to produce offensively even at the minor league level, recording just nine points in a combined 58 NHL and AHL games.

Still, with some NHL experience and a recent Calder Cup victory under his belt, Brown will try to force his way onto the Carolina roster as a fourth-line option that can play center. He is no longer waiver-exempt, meaning he would have to clear in order to be sent to the AHL this fall—an advantage he has over players like Martin Necas and Janne Kuokkanen, who can both be sent down without risk.

Bishop will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract.

Metropolitan Notes: Williams, Voracek, Kreider

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It’s been a busy offseason for the Carolina Hurricanes as the team has worked hard to improve their roster in hopes of keeping themselves relevant after a impressive playoff run last season. The team has already signed restricted free agent Sebastian Aho after matching the offer sheet he signed with the Montreal Canadiens. The team traded for Erik Haula and signed Ryan Dzingel to a reasonable deal as well. They also brought back goaltender Petr Mrazek to bolster their goaltending.

However, there is one thing still missing from their offseason so far and that’s a decision from veteran forward Justin Williams. News & Observer’s Luke DeCock writes that while Williams is still trying to decide whether he will return for a 19th season. The 37-year-old was still quite productive last season, putting up 23 goals and 53 points. However, he wants time before committing for another season.

DeCock writes that the expectation among the team is that Williams will return, but at the same time, no one really knows what he will do. However, Williams return could make a huge difference to their fortunes next season. While the team likely doesn’t need him to be a top-six scorer anymore, the team needs his leadership and abilities as he would get a simpler role as a bottom-six option.

  • The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required) analyzes the recent play of Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, who has seen his role as a top-line forward change. The 29-year-old has moved to the second line and is starting to see a change in his long-time role, according to O’Connor, who writes that the veteran is no longer a play-driver like he has been in previous years. Since signing his eight-year, $66MM deal back in 2015, he’s hasn’t put up peak numbers with the exception of his 2017-18 season in which he put up 20 goals and 85 points. While he once was a player who could lead a pair of rookies on his line, the belief is that he is no longer that player. While still a solid middle-six option, it looks like Voracek is entering a new phase in his career even though he has five more years at $8.25MM AAV.
  •  The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required) writes the New York Rangers must make a decision on what they want to do with Chris Kreider. The 28-year-old forward is in the final year of his contract and should acquire a significant raise from his $4.63MM AAV this season. Goldman writes that while the team technically could wait to make a decision on whether they want to re-sign Kreider until the trade deadline next year, waiting that long could have its own problems. With Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Kappo Kaako and Vitali Kravtsov expected to join their lineup this season, the team could challenge for a playoff spot, which might make it difficult for the Rangers to trade off Kreider and then the team could conceivably lose him for nothing if they don’t intend to bring him back. With rumors that it might cost New York seven years at $7.3MM per season, the team has to make a big decision soon.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Ryan Dzingel

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Another one of the top remaining free agents is off the board, as the Carolina Hurricanes have swooped in and signed Ryan Dzingel. The former Columbus Blue Jackets forward will get just a two-year deal worth a total of $6.75MM. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell released a statement:

Ryan has proven that he can be an impact player offensively, putting up bigger numbers over each of his three full-time NHL seasons. His speed, skill and vision make him an excellent fit for our forward group and our style of play. At 27, he’s just entering his prime and certainly had options coming off a 26-goal season, so we’re happy he’s chosen to be a part of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Dzingel was the highest ranked forward left on our Top 50 UFA list, coming in at number 12. Like many others, we expected him to a get a much longer deal on the open market but it appears as though a poor playoff performance may have reduced his market considerably. Dzingel never fit in well with the Blue Jackets after a trade from the Ottawa Senators, and ended up watching from the press box for one of their playoff games.

Despite the lack of fit in Columbus, Dzingel still produced his best offensive season in 2018-19 by racking up 26 goals and 56 points. His second straight 20+ goal season in the books, it looked like he would still find a team desperate for offense that could offer him a long-term deal. Instead, he’ll go to Carolina for just two seasons at a more than reasonable $3.375MM cap hit and could be one of the biggest bargains of the offseason. Even after watching Micheal Ferland head west, the Hurricanes have now given their secondary scoring a boost with the additions of Dzingel and Erik Haula and could be a more dangerous team next season.

The 27-year old Dzingel has always been able to put the puck in the net. Though he was just a seventh-round pick in 2011, he quickly became a star at Ohio State University where he scored 22 goals and 46 points in his 37-game junior season. Upon joining the professional ranks with the Senators’ AHL team he continued to score, putting up 31 goals in 119 games before jumping to the NHL. Of Dzingel’s 66 career NHL goals just ten of them have come on the powerplay, meaning he should give the team a more balanced attack at even-strength and allow head coach Rod Brind’Amour to mix and match the lines however he chooses. Though he has played center in the past, Dzingel is exclusively a winger at the NHL level.

Early Notes: Hurricanes, Eriksson, Contracts

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The Carolina Hurricanes have made some changes in their scouting department, promoting Robert Kron and Mike Dawson while hiring Cody Nickolet, Eric Fink and Oleg Smirnov. Kron will now serve as Director of European Scouting, while Dawson is now the Head North American Scout.

While adding top names from the WHL in Nickolet and Fink is important, Smirnov may actually be the most interesting hiring after working as an agent and for the players’ union in Russia for the past decade. The Hurricanes have just a single Russian on the NHL roster in Andrei Svechnikov, and he was selected second-overall after playing two years in North America. Perhaps adding another scout there will help the Hurricanes find even more hidden talent in the later rounds.

  • After signing Micheal Ferland to a long-term deal yesterday, immediate speculation erupted about how the Vancouver Canucks were going to find playing time and cap space for their glut of forwards. The idea that came to everyone’s mind was a potential Loui Eriksson trade, a possibility that his agent admitted to on TSN radio. J.P. Barry explained that it “has gone past any kind of request” at this point and said that everyone—meaning Eriksson’s camp and GM Jim Benning—is looking for a solution. David Alter reported yesterday that Eriksson’s $4MM signing bonus is actually due on July 15th, meaning he becomes much less expensive ($9MM remaining over three years) after that date.
  • Something to keep in mind over the next few weeks as the remaining unrestricted free agents wait for their next opportunity is that teams are only allowed to have 50 players under contract at anytime. Some teams are already quite close to that limit, including the Edmonton Oilers (48) and Dallas Stars (47). There is a little flexibility here because several young prospects will be heading back to their junior organizations and come off the books—Philip Broberg and Olivier Rodrigue in particular for Edmonton—but it is still a necessary consideration when speculating on where players will end up. Being too close to the limit could force a team to miss an opportunity at the end of training camp when teams place talented players on waivers.

Bruins Announce Six AHL Signings

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The Boston Bruins have made only a minor impact on the free agent market thus far, but the AHL’s Providence Bruins have gained plenty. Since May, Boston has re-signed AHL leaders Paul Carey, Anton Blidh, and Ryan Fitzgerald, signed promising prospect Oskar Steen, signed goaltender Maxime Lagace and forward Brendan Gaunce with earmarks for the minors, and signed or extended Brett Ritchie, Par Lindholm, and Peter Cehlarik, all of whom could be candidates to spend time in Providence. Meanwhile, the P-Bruins also added valued stay-at-home defender Josiah Didier on an AHL contract on June 1st. The pipeline continues to pile up, as today the Bruins announced six more AHL signings.

Of these six new additions, two have previously been reported: QMJHL star Samuel Asselin and Providence mainstay Chris Breen. The other four signings had not yet been leaked.

Joining Asselin on a two-year AHL deal is former Carolina Hurricanes prospect Brendan Woods. Woods was a fifth-round pick in 2012 and looked to have the size and scoring ability to make it big, but it hasn’t panned out that way. The big winger has seven NHL games to his credit but has almost exclusively played in the AHL in his six-year pro career. Woods brings some physicality and experience as well as some modest production to Providence, but at 27 he’s no longer the top prospect he used to be.

The team is bringing back defenseman Joel Messner on a one-way deal. Messner split last season between Providence and the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, but did manage to contribute seven points in 32 AHL games. The University of Nebraska-Omaha product is a work in progress even at 25, but clearly did enough last season to prove to the Bruins’ brass that he was worth bringing back.

The other two one-year signings belong to defenseman Alexey Solovyev and winger Robert Lantosi. Solovyev, 24, hails from Russia but spent the past four years at nearby Bentley University. With good size and mobility, Solovyev flew under the radar at a small program but could be a surprise at the pro level. Lantosi, 23, is an import from Slovakia making his North American debut. A product of the Swedish junior ranks, Lantosi has been playing professionally in Slovakia the past two years and dominated in 2018-19 with 58 points in 56 games to finish in the top five of the league. He too has more upside than it may seem on a minor league contract.

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