Columbus Blue Jackets Re-Sign Gabriel Carlsson
The Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed Gabriel Carlsson to a two-year contract, bringing back the restricted free agent. Carlsson will be on a two-way deal in 2020-21 and a one-way contract in 2021-22, and Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports it will carry a $725K average annual value. The 23-year-old defenseman was not eligible for arbitration.
Carlsson, the team’s second first-round pick in 2015 (after Zach Werenski), hasn’t established himself at the NHL level just yet. Over parts of four seasons in the organization he has just 23 games with the Blue Jackets, instead spending most of his time in North America with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. While that’s not a huge issue, the 6’5″ defenseman still hasn’t developed much of an offensive game even at the minor league level, something he’ll still need to improve if he ever wants to reach the top-four in Columbus.
When this contract expires Carlsson could potentially be eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency, should he fail to reach the 80-game mark in the NHL. That’s certainly no guarantee at this point, though the team has moved out some of the depth that was blocking his path when they traded Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara. If he does hit that threshold, he’ll still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal.
Minor Transactions: 10/14/20
As the NHL off-season rolls on, the minor league and European transactions get more interesting as NHL opportunities begin to dry up and notable names look elsewhere. Here are some of the more “major” minor transactions from today:
- After taking a year off to deal with the repercussions of a history of concussions, Rourke Chartier is back. The 24-year-old forward has signed a one-year AHL deal with the Toronto Marlies, the team announced. Chartier played in 13 games with the San Jose Sharks in 2018-19 and another 26 with the AHL Barracuda. However, after he failed to show consistent results over the course of his entry-level contract, the Sharks opted not to extend a qualifying offer. It turned out that Chartier needed the time off anyhow to continue recovering from his numerous concussions. Now feeling healthier, perhaps Chartier can return to the form he showed in the 2017-18 AHL season – playing at nearly a point-per-game pace in an injury-shortened season – but instead stay off the injury list for a time.
- With brother Dylan Sikura traded away by the Chicago Blackhawks, Tyler Sikura has decided to leave the organization as well. A former Blackhawk himself (contractually), Sikura played this past season on an AHL deal with the affiliated Rockford Ice Hogs, where he skated alongside his brother for much of the year. Now that Dylan is in Las Vegas, Tyler has taken his talents to Cleveland. The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced that they have signed Sikura to a one-year contract. Sikura is a productive minor league forward, with two 30+ point seasons out of the past three, and plays a responsible two-way game as well. He should be a regular contributor for the Monsters this season.
- The Ice Hogs have made an addition of their own, albeit still unconfirmed, in goaltender Cale Morris. The Notre Dame product announced himself that he has signed his first pro contract with Rockford, though no details have been disclosed. Morris started three seasons for the Fighting Irish and if his senior year had gone like his sophomore and junior, this would likely be an NHL contract that he’s signing. Morris was stellar in his first season as the Notre Dame starter in 2018-19. He posted a .944 save percentage and 1.94 GAA in 37 appearances, which was good enough to win him the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s top goalie and to make him a top-ten finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. In hindsight, he likely should have capitalized on his sophomore success and turned pro. As a junior, his numbers slipped slightly, but Morris was still one of the NCAA’s best. This past season was more noticeable drop-off; he recorded a .916 save percentage and 2.44 GAA – good numbers by most standards but not among the NCAA’s best and a far cry from his first two seasons. With Rockford, Morris will look to prove that he is still an elite goalie prospect by returning to the form he showed earlier in college. If he succeeds, the Blackhawks may already have a sneaky contender in the organization to fill the currently vacant role of goalie of the future.
Blue Jackets Among The Teams Interested In Mike Hoffman
Seravalli notes that at that price point and term, the Bruins, Blue Jackets, and the Predators are among the teams showing the most interest in Hoffman’s services. He added that the Canucks are looking for help on the wing and also have shown some interest in the veteran but that they would have to clear some cap space first to do so; he also pegs the Canadiens as a team in that situation but after their addition of Tyler Toffoli yesterday, the fit with them may not be as strong as it previously was.
Winnipeg Jets Looking To Trade Jack Roslovic
The Winnipeg Jets have been shopping restricted free agent forward Jack Roslovic with more intensity today with the hope of moving him for a top-four defender, according to the Winnipeg News’ Mike McIntyre. Several teams have expressed interest in the young center with the Vegas Golden Knights being at the top of that list, although the Columbus Blue Jackets are also interested in the Columbus native.
The scribe writes that there has been talk of dealing Roslovic, who has expressed an interest in a change of scenery. The 23-year-old Roslovic has steadily improved in his three years in the league with the Jets. He posted career highs in goals (12) and assists (17) and has been starting to show the potential to be a No. 2 center on the team, a role he has not been able to seize up until now. However, after making $1.1MM last season, Roslovic could get a considerable raise, something that other teams will have to take into account.
While the Golden Knights are just one candidate to acquire the young center, several names have already been mentioned by McIntyre, including Nate Schmidt and Alec Martinez. Winnipeg, who is looking for a left-handed defenseman, has already completed one trade with the Golden Knights recently when it acquired Paul Stastny just before free agency opened on Friday.
The Golden Knights are rumored to be close to signing No. 1 free agent, Alex Pietrangelo to a long-term deal, but still would need to move out some salary to make the deal work. With little known progress on moving goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, it would make sense to move on from one of their top-four defenders, likely Schmidt or Martinez. Both offer different advantages to Winnipeg if they choose to take one. Schmidt is locked up for another five years at $5.95MM with a 10-team no-trade list, which would give the Jets some security at that position. Martinez, on the other hand, will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 season, but comes in a little cheaper at just $4MM.
Latest On Taylor Hall
3:46 PM — NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty reports that Boston has offered a short-term contract to bring in Hall. However, that could be a problem financially with the team still needing to sign Debrusk, Grzelcyk as well as bringing back Zdeno Chara.
3:08 PM — There are plenty of unrestricted free agent forwards parked, waiting for Taylor Hall to make a decision on where he intends to play next season. Hall, the top free agent forward on the market is considering short-term offers with contending teams and is hoping to take that and bet on himself to cash in on a bigger contract after the pandemic settles down.
While many were expecting that the Colorado Avalanche would be high-stakes players in landing Hall, that isn’t expected to happen now, according to Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow, who writes that with the acquisition of Brandon Saad from Chicago Saturday, it’s extremely unlikely the team will spend even more money on another high-priced forward, even on a short-term deal.
Saad’s acquisition likely fills the team’s need for forwards and it’s likely that if the team does go after another free agent, it’s going to be on defense. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline also adds that the Columbus Blue Jackets are not likely a candidate to sign Hall despite the available cap room that the team has.
Dater writes that the two leading candidates to sign Hall are the Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins.
Nashville makes sense as the team has traded away or bought out several players, including Nick Bonino, Kyle Turris and Austin Watson, while also allowing Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith to depart via free agency. The moves opens up a potential fit for the Predators. On top of that, Hall is believed to be close to both Ryan Ellis. The two played junior hockey together for three years and won a Memorial Cup together. He also has spent time playing alongside center Matt Duchene, who he played in the Ivan Hlinka and in U-18’s with.
Boston already signed Smith to a three-year deal, but the addition of Taylor Hall would be a big boost to the Bruins’ second line and for a big run with the veteran players they already have on board. The team does still have $11MM in cap space to work with, although they do have a number of restricted free agents to sign, including Jake Debrusk and Matt Grzelcyk.
Blue Jackets Sign Mikko Koivu
2:25PM: The Blue Jackets have made the deal official, announcing a one-year deal at the previously-reported $1.5MM price tag. GM Jarmo Kekalainen released the following statement:
Mikko Koivu has been a very consistent, productive two-way player in the National Hockey League for many years. He is a great leader, has impeccable character and will be a valuable addition to our young team. We are very excited that he has chosen to continue his career as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
1:16 PM: Columbus has changed up their center depth this offseason already with the acquisition of Max Domi from Montreal and the signing of Mikhail Grigorenko. Their changes down the middle may not be done yet, however, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets are in discussions with UFA center Mikko Koivu. John Matisz of The Score adds (via Twitter) that a one-year, $1.5MM deal is expected.
The 37-year-old is on the lookout for a new team after Minnesota informed their now-former captain that they wouldn’t be retaining him after Koivu spent the last 15 years with the Wild. He’s coming off of a quiet season offensively with just four goals and 17 assists in 55 games; his 21 points matched his previous career-low set back in his rookie season in 2005-06. But the Blue Jackets (or any suitor) wouldn’t be looking for offense from Koivu at this stage of his career. Instead, he’d be deployed in more of a defense-first role while he’s still above average at the faceoff dot.
If Koivu does sign with Columbus, it could allow them to shift Boone Jenner back to the wing which is a position he’s quite familiar with having spent several seasons on the left side in the past. That would then presumably allow Koivu to slide into a third-line role which is a better fit for him. Of course, that’s why he had to take a sizable cut in pay from the $5MM salary he received last season for a deal to make sense for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus has a little more than $14MM in cap space to work with after clearing out Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara just before free agency. However, most of that money will be earmarked for top center Pierre-Luc Dubois and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov but that leaves enough for them to get a deal done with Koivu without really affecting their plans to re-sign their youngsters.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Gavin Bayreuther
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed a defenseman, just not the one that some are hoping for. Gavin Bayreuther has inked a one-year two-way contract with the team, coming over from the Dallas Stars organization after qualifying as a Group VI unrestricted free agent.
Bayreuther, 26, was a free agent signing by the Stars in 2017 and ever since he has been a strong performer at the minor league level. The AHL defenseman scored 29 points in 59 games this season and will be a great addition to the Cleveland Monsters if that’s where he ends up.
Dallas did give him an opportunity in the 2018-19 season to play 19 games at the NHL level, and actually held his own. Perhaps he’ll get a chance this season in Columbus as well, given their recent departures. Over the last few days the team has traded Ryan Murray and Markus Nutivaara, two full-time members of the NHL blue line.
Florida Panthers Sign Alexander Wennberg
New Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito continues to collect players from his previous team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. After trading for Markus Nutivaara yesterday, the Panthers have now signed Alexander Wennberg, who was bought out by the Blue Jackets. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that it is a one-year deal worth $2.25MM.
Wennberg, 26, is signing a “show me” deal in an effort to rehabilitate his value on a one-year deal in hopes of cashing in next off-season. Wennberg never lived up to the six-year, $29.4MM deal he signed in Columbus following a breakout 59-point season in 2016-17. He has recorded declining point totals in each of the past three seasons and looked more like a 20-30 point player rather than a 60+ point player. With the Blue Jackets looking to make major improvement to their roster, they opted to buyout the remaining three years of Wennberg’s contract rather than continuing to pay him to under-produce.
No one outside of Columbus knows Wennberg’s true potential better than Zito, who appears happy to give the young forward a second chance. Florida could lose free agents Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov and will need to find offense elsewhere. A change of scenery and an increased role could be all it takes to get Wennberg to display his star power once again.
The Panthers have also signed minor league forward Ryan Lomberg to a two-year, two-way deal. The salary terms have not yet been disclosed.
Blue Jackets Trying To Move Final Year Of Brandon Dubinsky's Deal
- After clearing out Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Murray, and Markus Nutivaara yesterday, the Blue Jackets may not be done moving players yet as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Columbus is also trying to move Brandon Dubinsky’s contract. The center isn’t expected to play again due to wrist issues but they’re hoping a team that’s set to go into LTIR anyway could be interested in adding the contract to stack their LTIR space, similar to what Toronto did last season by acquiring David Clarkson. Dubinsky has one year left on his deal with a $5.85MM AAV.
New Jersey Devils Acquire Ryan Murray
The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to shed salary from their defense corps. After trading Markus Nutivaara earlier today, the team has now traded away former top prospect Ryan Murray. The Blue Jackets have announced that Murray has been dealt to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick.
Murray, 27, is a productive two-way defenseman… when healthy. The 2012 No. 2 overall pick has not been able to live up to expectations due to his inability to stay on the ice. Murray played in just 27 games for Columbus this season and has played in just 187 of a possible 316 games over the past four years combined.
Murray’s career per-game scoring rate projects 30+ point upside over a full season, even if he’s never hit that mark. However, his $4.6MM AAV implies an expectation that he will reach that point total every year. New Jersey has now taken on the financial risk for the final year of Murray’s final deal in hopes that he finally lives up to the deal. If he does, the Devils will have landed the talented blue liner at a rock bottom price.
The Blue Jackets did not trade Murray because he has fallen short of expectations though. By moving Murray and Nutivaara, as well as buying out Alexander Wennberg and knowing that they have a Brandon Dubinsky LTIR placement in their back pocket, Columbus now has roughly $20MM in salary cap space. They suddenly look like one of the top players on the free agent market and with a defense group that is still solid despite shipping out two starters and a great duo in net, the Blue Jackets can devote those funds to making major additions up front. A team whose 2019-20 season was defined by the elite talent they lost to free agency could begin next year with the opposite label, with names like Taylor Hall, Mike Hoffman, or Tyler Toffoli possibly joining the roster.