Snapshots: Schmidt, Versteeg, Wolski
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt is still weeks away from making his season debut, but he’s taking his first step toward returning to normality. Schmidt, who was suspended 20 games for testing positive for a banned substance in violation of the NHL’s PED policy, opted to spend the early season in Europe. Schmidt has been practicing with the Vienna Capitals of Austria’s EBEL this month, but is now wrapping up his time with the team. Sports Illustrated’s Alex Prewitt reports that Schmidt plans to return to North America in the next week as the month of October comes to an end. With close to a month still remaining before his 20 games are up and he can return to game action with Vegas, Schmidt will not go right back to his current squad. Instead, Prewitt adds that he will join his former team at the University of Minnesota as a practice participant for a short period of time. However, Prewitt notes that the CBA allows Schmidt to join the Golden Knights in a limited capacity beginning on November 8th. At that time, he can join in team meetings and practices. November 18th, a road game against the Edmonton Oilers, will mark Schmidt’s official return to the team. While the defense has held up in Schmidt’s absence, the defending Western Conference champs are only a .500 team through eight games and the third-worst offense in the league. Schmidt, who was second among defensemen and ninth overall in points for Vegas last year, will be a welcome addition to a team that needs a spark early this season.
- Kris Versteeg‘s season overseas was short-lived. The veteran winger was unable to find NHL employment this off-season and ended up signing with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk in early September. However, NHL.com’s European insider Igor Eronko reports that Versteeg is leaving the team to return to North America. Eronko did not have any more information on the reasoning behind Versteeg’s early exit, but this isn’t the first time that the 32-year-old forward has backed out of an opportunity abroad. Versteeg signed in Switzerland back in the summer of 2016, only to terminate his contract before ever playing with the club, the NLA’s SC Bern, allegedly due to medical insurance issues. He soon after committed to a PTO with the Edmonton Oilers that turned into a contract with the Calgary Flames. Perhaps Versteeg again senses an opportunity back in the NHL and has found a way out of his KHL obligations. For his part, TSN’s Darren Dreger states that Versteeg has been sick with shingles and proffers this could be the primary reason for the departure. One way or another, Versteeg’s time with Avangard is over after just 11 games and we will soon know about about his immediate plans.
- One player not returning to the NHL, despite some speculation, is forward Wojtek Wolski. Wolski recently terminated his contract with KHL club Mettalurg Magnitogorsk and was seeking a new place to play. That appears to be limited to either remaining in the KHL or moving to the NLA in Switzerland, rather than a return to North America, per a report from a Swiss news source. A return to the NHL for the 32-year-old Wolski, now six years separated from his last action at the highest level, was always a stretch, but many fans would not have minded seeing the Polish-Canadian star try his hand at a comeback.
Alex Biega, Marko Dano Placed On Waivers
Two players were placed on waivers Sunday as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Vancouver’s Alex Biega and Winnipeg’s Marko Dano have been placed on the waiver wire.
Dano could be an interesting player for teams looking for a winger. The 23-year-old has been unable to grab a full-time role with the Jets over the last few years and now the 2013 first-rounder will be exposed to waivers and could be a legitimate candidate for a team to grab, albeit one who has struggled adjusting to the NHL. However, a new opportunity could change everything. Dano has played 130 NHL games over the course of his career, but just played in 23 last season, putting up two goals and an assist. In 82 games with the Jets, he’s posted 10 goals and 12 assists.
Dano may have been made expendable as Nic Petan is ready to return from the non-roster list, but that hasn’t happened yet. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun speculates that Winnipeg attempted to trade Dano, but failed to find any takers. The team opted to put Dano on waivers rather than send Brendan Lemieux to the minors.
Biega wasn’t much of a surprise as the team announced those intentions Saturday, but couldn’t put him on waivers until this morning. The team had to make room for forward Antoine Roussel and were forced to make a move, but used provision 16.12b in the CBA to make Biega a non-roster player until he could be waived. The 30-year-old defenseman has played the role of an emergency defenseman for Vancouver for a number of years as he’s appeared sporadically over the past three seasons, totaling 131 games in three seasons, while playing just 15 with the Utica Comets.
Canucks Activate Roussel, Will Carry 24 Players Until Sunday
Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning announced the team will activate forward Antoine Roussel off of injured reserve today and will designate defenseman Alex Biega for assignment, but won’t put him on waivers until Sunday morning, meaning that the Canucks will have 24 players on their roster today.
Due to clause 16.12b of the CBA, according to the Province’s Patrick Johnson, a team that is activating a player off IR, is allowed to declare a player already on the roster, as a “non-roster” player, which is what Vancouver has done with Biega.
Roussel will get a chance to make his Canucks’ debut after the team signed him to a four-year, $12MM deal to add some grit to their bottom-six lines. The 28-year-old has been in injured reserve since the season started with concussion symptoms that he suffered during offseason training. While offense isn’t his primary role (five goals last year in Dallas), he provides the team a spark with his physical play as he racked up 126 penalty minutes a year ago and has accumulated 806 penalty minutes over his career.
The 30-year-old Biega will likely be returned to the Utica Comets of the AHL if he clears waivers. He played 44 games with the Canucks last season and but has been used as a healthy scratch so far this season.
NHL Grants Suspended Tom Wilson “Non-Roster Player” Status
The Washington Capitals activated defenseman Michal Kempny from the injured reserve today, but it’s what they didn’t do that’s making headlines. The Capitals made no corresponding move after adding Kempny to the roster, presumably leaving them with more than the CBA-allotted 23 roster players. How this was possible sent reporters scrambling for information. What they found was both surprising and potentially dangerous.
It turns out that the Capitals had not exceeded the roster limit, as suspended forward Tom Wilson had been granted “non-roster player” status. CapFriendly relays the information from the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan, while adding some context to what that label means. A “non-roster player” does not count against the roster, allowing the Capitals to activate Kempny by discounting Wilson. The CBA states that “non-roster player” status must be specifically granted by the Commissioner and it is reserved for special instances of non-injury absence. Among the examples given are the birth of a child or bereavement. Notably not present is suspension and there is little precedent for suspended players being placed on this list. Granted, a suspension is a non-injury absence, but use of the “non-roster” exemption begs the question of whether teams should share in the punishment of a suspension.
Wilson’s 20-game suspension for yet another illegal check, this time to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in the preseason, is obviously a blow to Capitals. They won’t have their menacing power forward for the first quarter of the season, perhaps when they need him most as the defending Stanley Cup champs who everyone wants to play hard against. Yet, shouldn’t Washington also bear the weight of one of their regular players being worthy of such as suspension? Why should the team that employs a frequent offender be given a roster exemption and added flexibility while he remains out? The San Jose Sharks were given this same treatment when Raffi Torres was suspended for half of the 2015-16 season, CapFriendly reports, so the league is seemingly comfortable with using the “non-roster player” exemption for suspensions, but there are certainly reasons that they shouldn’t be.
The next question is where do they draw the line? It seems that the NHL is heading down a slippery slope by using this exemption for suspensions and could be setting a dangerous precedent. Case in point: the Capitals are enjoying Wilson’s “non-roster” status through 20 games for a dirty hit, whereas the Vegas Golden Knights have seemingly not been afforded the same luxury for defenseman Nate Schmidt‘s 20-game suspension for a failed drug test on little more than a technicality. Why are the two treated differently? Why aren’t all suspended players exempt from the roster limit? The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler opines that the NHL has gone “down the rabbit hole” with this decision and now nothing is stopping every team from requesting a “non-roster player” exemption for each and every suspension. The league simply can’t go case-by-case and assign “non-roster” status behind the scenes. A can of worms has been opened and a blanket policy on the “non-roster player” status of suspended players seems to be the only solution.
Erik Karlsson: “They Probably Would Have Traded Me Anyway”
In a spectacular interview with Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson, San Jose Sharks defenseman opens up about his exit from the Ottawa Senators and what exactly went on between him and management over the last few months. Karlsson confirms that a deal was extremely close at the trade deadline—though doesn’t give any hint on who would have acquired him—and discusses the contract offer that the Senators did make when he became eligible for an extension.
Yeah they did [make an offer]. They did.
I don’t think it ever got to the point where I had an option to sign anything, it never even got close to that. And even if I would have signed, they probably would have traded me anyway and I would have been somewhere else.
The Senators traded Karlsson, who was their captain at the time, on September 13th just as training camp was set to open and claimed that it was necessary for the rebuild that they are beginning. The team received a large package of assets including Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo, while the Sharks were happy to add Karlsson to a defense corps that already included Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Karlsson also spoke a little bit on the off-ice drama between his family and that of former teammate Mike Hoffman, explaining that no one else in the dressing room knew about the problems between them. Senators GM Pierre Dorion had claimed that the dressing room was “broken” at times last season, something that also needed to be addressed this summer.
Though the trade took quite a long time to actually be finalized, it seems as though—from Karlsson’s point of view at least—the Senators had made the decision to move on from their franchise defenseman months ago. A two-time Norris Trophy winner and one of the most dynamic players to ever play for Ottawa, he is still set to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason and could be out of the Senators’ price range altogether. Karlsson has been rumored to be after a Drew Doughty-like extension for his next deal, a contract that is worth $88MM over eight seasons. The Sharks can’t actually sign him to an eight-year deal until after this trade deadline given the current CBA, though they can certainly discuss it with him or ink a seven-year pact.
Trade Protection Around The NHL
As we approach training camp for the 2018-19 season, the rumor mill has started to turn again and speculation has begun about potential trade deadline targets. When players like Tyler Seguin, Max Pacioretty, Erik Karlsson and Wayne Simmonds are all without much progress in extension negotiations, fans and media alike start to wonder whether they will be flipped at some point to a contender before reaching free agency. Unfortunately for many teams around the league, trades aren’t possible for certain players without their blessing. No-trade and no-movement clauses are still prevalent throughout the league, with veterans sometimes coveting them in free agency almost as much as contract term.
Remember that these clauses cannot be included in a contract until the player’s unrestricted free agent years, meaning a deal like Connor McDavid‘s eight-year, $100MM pact couldn’t include any trade protection until year five despite it carrying the highest cap hit in the league. Below is the full list of clauses around the NHL for the 2018-19 season, per CapFriendly:
For ease of reading, clauses have been converted to no-trade lists based on the current 31-team NHL.
Anaheim Ducks:
Corey Perry – 30-team NTC, NMC
Ryan Getzlaf – 30-team NTC, NMC
Ryan Kesler – 30-team NTC, NMC
Cam Fowler – 26-team NTC
Ryan Miller – 24-team NTC
Patrick Eaves – 8-team NTC
Andrew Cogliano – 6-team NTC
Arizona Coyotes:
Alex Goligoski – 30-team NTC, NMC
Marian Hossa – 30-team NTC, NMC
Brad Richardson – 30-team NTC, NMC
Derek Stepan – 30-team NTC
Niklas Hjalmarsson – 20-team NTC, NMC
Dave Bolland – 20-team NTC
Jason Demers – 8-team NTC
Michael Grabner – 8-team NTC
Boston Bruins:
David Krejci – 30-team NTC, NMC
Patrice Bergeron – 30-team NTC, NMC
Brad Marchand – 30-team NTC, NMC
David Backes – 30-team NTC, NMC
Zdeno Chara – 30-team NTC, NMC
Tuukka Rask – 22-team NTC
Torey Krug – 8-team NTC
Retained Salary For 2018-19
Among the ways teams can increase the value of potential trade candidates is by retaining a portion of their salary. These moves are often used on star players who may have declined slightly and are no longer deemed worthy of their big cap hits, or at the deadline in order to fit in as many contracts as possible for the playoff stretch. Any team can retain up to 50% of a player’s salary for the remainder of the contract, though a single player can only be involved in two of these transactions per contract.
Teams meanwhile are limited to three retained salary transactions on the books at any one time, and they cannot in aggregate equal more than 15% of the cap ceiling. That means, for this season a team can retain up to $11,925,000 in salary given the $79.5MM cap ceiling. Some teams have already started in on that number given the previous retained salary transactions that they are still paying off. Below is a list of all the active contracts involved in transactions like this:
Arizona Coyotes
Mike Smith – Retained $1,416,667 per season through 2018-19
Boston Bruins
Matt Beleskey – Retained $1,900,000 per season through 2019-20
Carolina Hurricanes
Marcus Kruger – Retained $308,333 per season through 2018-19
Florida Panthers
Jason Demers – Retained $562,500 per season through 2020-21
Ottawa Senators
Dion Phaneuf – Retained $1,750,000 per season through 2020-21
Toronto Maple Leafs
Phil Kessel – Retained $1,200,000 per season through 2021-22
Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo – Retained $800,000 per season through 2021-22
Vegas Golden Knights
Derick Brassard – Retained $2,000,000 per season through 2018-19
While these transactions are hardly crippling the above teams, they are something to remember when the trade deadline rolls around and clubs are trying to swap contracts. Teams like Toronto and Vancouver who have retained salary for another four years might not want to get into a similar situation and lock up two of their three possible options for the future.
The other question surrounding retained salary transactions will be how they affect the upcoming CBA negotiations, after teams like Vegas have acted as a sort of middle man. Brassard was never really part of the Golden Knights, only coming there on his way from Ottawa to Pittsburgh in order to reduce his salary for the Penguins. Though Vegas received compensation, it is not how the rule was intended to be used.
Arizona Coyotes Lack Flexibility Due To Roster Limits
One of the CBA rules that rarely gets the spotlight of media attention, yet affects NHL organizations every year is that of the Standard Player Contract (SPC) limit. Each team is only allowed to have 50 NHL contracts on the books at any one time, including two-way contracts and players on injured or long-term injured reserve. The Arizona Coyotes currently find themselves at that limit, with 50 players already signed. That’s why the recent Marian Hossa trade included Andrew Campbell and Jordan Maletta going back to the Blackhawks, despite neither really being very valuable to an NHL team. The Coyotes couldn’t take on all three of the contracts for Hossa, Vinnie Hinostroza and Jordan Oesterle without matching with the same outgoing number.
The Coyotes do have a pair of players who likely will not count towards the 50-contract limit this season, as Barrett Hayton and Pierre-Olivier Joseph are both young enough—18 or 19 years old—to be removed from the SPC list when they are sent back to junior hockey. That of course assumes that they won’t make the Coyotes out of camp, something that isn’t necessarily guaranteed but should be expected. Even with those two added slots, the Coyotes will have to be wary of their contract totals all season long. Staying right at the limit is dangerous given that you may run into injury trouble and want to sign a veteran out of free agency or promote a player on an AHL contract. It also limits what you can do in terms of signing players out of the college ranks.
Today a list of sixteen players became unrestricted free agents after failing to reach an entry-level contract with the team that drafted them. One of those players, Jared Fiegl, couldn’t have been signed because of the Coyotes current situation even if they had wanted to. While Fiegl was just a seventh-round pick and likely wouldn’t have earned an NHL contract anyway—he has since signed with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL—there are always players who deserve contracts at the end of the college season, both drafted and undrafted.
In Arizona’s system for instance, there are Ty Emberson and Cameron Crotty who will both be playing in the NCAA this season. Each a third-round pick, there is always a chance of a breakout season and the desire to turn pro in early spring. If there are no contract slots available, the Coyotes won’t be able to bring them into their system on an entry-level deal right away and run the risk of them returning to school for another season. The undrafted players pose an even bigger risk, as a team without a contract slot would be at a severe disadvantage in free agent negotiations.
Though the Coyotes are currently the only team right at the limit, there are several others who are flirting with it. The Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights are already at 48 contracts and each have a restricted free agent left to sign in Nick Ritchie and Shea Theodore respectively. The Ottawa Senators are also at 48, and two players that could potentially come off the list in Brady Tkachuk and Alex Formenton both might not be playing in junior this season. Tkachuk could potentially go to the AHL to work with the Binghamton Senators if he doesn’t make the NHL, while Formenton already has an NHL game under his belt and might jump right to Ottawa this season.
Living on the edge doesn’t cripple a team, but it does reduce their flexibility when working out trades or negotiating with free agents. Teams like the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs dealt with that issue at times last year, and many others could this time around. Though it rarely gets much attention it is definitely something to keep an eye on as training camp comes around next month, and injuries start to pile up.
Over The Cap: Detroit Red Wings
Although the St. Louis Blues are dangerously close to the salary cap ceiling and the defending Stanley Cup champs of the past three years, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, are within an uncomfortable distance, the Detroit Red Wings are the only team who have surpassed the NHL’s $79.5MM limit at this point in time. When the team re-signed franchise center Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM contract last week, his $6.1MM salary boosted Detroit’s payroll for the coming season to $82.772MM for just 21 players. The Red Wings currently sit more than $3.2MM over the salary cap with a roster that contains just six defenseman. While the NHL CBA allows teams to surpass the cap by 10% in the off-season – up to $87.45MM – the Red Wings must clear enough space to begin the season under the cap.
Once the season is underway, the salary cap is unlikely to be much of an issue. Johan Franzen, who last played in October of 2015, has been sidelined with post-concussion symptoms for the past three seasons and is almost surely not going to return to the Detroit lineup. His $3.955MM contract on the long-term injured reserve will wipe out all of the Red Wings’ cap overages. Additionally, it remains a very real possibility that captain Henrik Zetterberg may also be on the shelf this year and possibly done with his hockey career altogether, with a nagging back injury reportedly making his availability over the final two years of his contract an “unknown”. If Zetterberg doesn’t play, his $6MM cap hit added to Franzen’s on LTIR would give the Wings more than enough space.
However, injured reserve transactions cannot be made until after the official start of the NHL season. This has previously caused teams to trade away players unlikely to ever play again due to health, with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa as the latest example, even though their cap hits can be absorbed. A team tight against the cap, like Detroit, may struggle to manipulate their roster enough to fit those injured players under the cap on day one. As such, the easiest way that the team could get under the cap prior to the start of the season would be to find a taker for Franzen’s contract. The Wings would have to part with a pick or prospect, but may be able to unload the deal to a team far from the cap ceiling. If Detroit is certain that Zetterberg is also done, they could do the same with his contract, although a higher cap hit means parting with greater trade capital.
Barring an injured player salary dump, the Red Wings are likely left with the reality that they must trade a roster player in the next two months. The team may be able to sneak players like Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski through waivers before the season begins, but it would not result in enough savings to make a difference. Detroit would be unlikely to expose anyone else to waivers simply to clear space briefly. As such, it appears as if someone must go. While Red Wings fans and leadership alike might like the idea of shipping an aging defenseman like Niklas Kronwall or Jonathan Ericsson away or trying to sweet talk some team into taking on the behemoth contract of Frans Nielsen or Justin Abdelkader, it would be a surprise to see any team with interest in that foursome. The likes of Danny DeKeyser and Trevor Daley may also be immovable for a team rife with poor contracts. Instead, impending free agent Gustav Nyquist or two-way center Darren Helm are the most likely candidates, while a player like Luke Glendening heading elsewhere paired with some clever waiver action could do the trick. There is also a chance that, if he proves to be healthy, some team might be interested in Zetterberg.
It’s never a great situation for a team to be forced into trading away assets simply to become cap compliant for one day, but trading away an older player would nevertheless be a step in the right direction for a team that has never truly embraced a rebuild. Opening up salary with a trade, as well as an LTIR placement for Franzen, would allow the Red Wings some flexibility to test out some young players this season while building around their established young core, headlined by Larkin. The salary cap crunch could prove to be their ally long-term, but in the short-term the team is left with little option but to make a move and hope for the best.
Morning Notes: Gretzky, Tarasenko, Hall
Wayne Gretzky has been named global ambassador for Kunlun Red Star of the KHL, lending his name to the development of hockey in China. The team will open a Gretzky-named hockey school for children aimed to give the next wave of Chinese hockey players added coaching and opportunity. As the NHL continues to grow its brand around the world, the “Great One” will be a big part of that movement.
This comes before the 2022 Winter Olympics are held in Beijing, a tournament that may or may not have NHL involvement. The league held its players out of the most recent Olympics, but could return to the format if a financial agreement can be worked out. Attending the Olympics is likely going to be a topic in the next CBA negotiations, which could come soon as both the NHL and NHLPA have opt-out clauses next year that could bring a work stoppage in 2020.
- Vladimir Tarasenko was back in action yesterday, giving hope to the idea that he’ll be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season. Tarasenko injured his shoulder at the end of last season and needed reconstructive surgery, but has been cleared to skate and can even take some contact. The 26-year old sniper will be re-evaluated in September, at which point the St. Louis Blues will know if they’ll have him for opening night. The Blues have brought in several offensive players this offseason, but will still rely on Tarasenko to drive their attack.
- Chris Ryan of NJ Advance Media spoke to New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris about upcoming extension negotiations with Taylor Hall, who explained that it was the team’s highest priority. Hall has two years remaining on his current contract meaning an extension can be signed on July 1, 2019 at which point he could become one of the highest-paid forwards in the league. The 26-year old Hall carries just a $6MM cap hit at the moment, is coming off a Hart Trophy-winning season, and has a good shot at leading the Devils back to the playoffs again in 2018-19. The fact that an owner is willing to comment on the situation should give hope to Devils fans that the team will do everything in their power to keep Hall around for many years.