Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jackets Rumors

Morning Notes: Werenski, Versteeg, Boycott

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets are confident they will get a deal done with restricted free agent Zach Werenski before training camp, and so are his representatives. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch quotes agent Pat Brisson who says it is their “intention” to have a deal in place before camp opens next month, something that will come as a sigh of relief to Blue Jackets fans.

Werenski has been one of the most productive defensemen in the league through his first three seasons in the NHL, recording 128 points in 237 games. He is also part of one of the very best pairings around when lining up beside Seth Jones, creating a dynamic young duo for the team to build around. Like most other restricted free agents, the 22-year old Werenski is likely looking for a substantial raise but might not have to wait for players like Mitch Marner and Brayden Point to set the market given he plays a different position. In fact, Charlie McAvoy and Ivan Provorov are the only other real star defensemen that remain unsigned to this point. That trio will be interesting to compare when everything is settled.

  • Kris Versteeg signed a one-year AHL contract a few months ago to rejoin the Chicago Blackhawks organization, but may have his sights set on the NHL again down the line. The 33-year old forward told Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago that he isn’t playing hockey for the money anymore but still feels as though he can contribute at a high level. If Versteeg were to impress in the AHL and the Blackhawks wanted to add him to the roster he would have to sign an NHL deal in-season. He played last season in the KHL and Sweden, recording 22 points in 30 games across the two leagues.
  • The fight for more equitable conditions and resources in women’s hockey continues overseas, as the Swedish women’s national team has announced their own boycott. The top 43 women will not participate in the upcoming Five Nations tournament, citing the lack of financial compensation for the players when they take time off from their non-hockey jobs according to Expressen. There was a previous deal that would help players cover the costs of the training camps and time away from their other employment, but it expired at the end of April and has not been renegotiated. The national team was relegated in World Cup competition recently after the Swedish Olympic Committee pulled funding following the 2018 Games. This comes at a time when women’s hockey is in a state of upheaval in North America as well, with the top players sitting out this season as they try to fight for increased resources.

Minnesota Not Given Permission To Interview Bill Zito

at CDT | by 2 Comments

In June, the Columbus Blue Jackets promoted Bill Zito to senior vice president of hockey operations and associate general manager. It sounds like they don’t want to lose him from that position, as Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the Minnesota Wild asked for permission to speak with Zito for their vacant GM position and were not granted it. Russo had previously reported the same regarding New York Rangers assistant GM Chris Drury.

Interestingly though, the Wild interviewed Zito for the job last summer before eventually going with Paul Fenton. Now that Fenton has been relieved of his duties just 14 months into his tenure, it seems as though they have missed their chance to hire the Columbus executive. Zito has been on the short list for several positions around the league over the last few years, including the Philadelphia Flyers job that eventually went to former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher and with the Seattle expansion team who eventually hired Ron Francis.

There’s good reason for the interest, as Zito has deep ties to the hockey world. Once one of the more powerful player agents in the league, Zito has experience negotiating contracts from both sides of the table. He has now been with the Blue Jackets since 2013, and took over as general manager of their AHL affiliate in 2015. In his first season running the Lake Erie (now Cleveland) Monsters the team won a Calder Cup. He also served as GM of Team USA at the 2018 World Championship, bringing home a bronze medal.

Don Waddell also obviously won’t be taking the Minnesota position after inking an extension with the Carolina Hurricanes today. Ron Hextall, Bill Guerin and Tom Fitzgerald are among the candidates previously linked to the Wild.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Marko Dano

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets have brought back a former top prospect, signing Marko Dano to a one-year two-way contract. Dano was originally selected 27th overall by the Blue Jackets in 2013, but has bounced around the league since. The 24-year old did not receive a qualifying offer from the Winnipeg Jets this summer and became an unrestricted free agent. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal carries an $800K salary at the NHL level.

Dano came into the NHL with the Blue Jackets in 2014-15 with all the hype of a first-round selection and actually performed up to the expectations for a little while. In that first season he recorded 21 points in 35 games and looked like he was going to grow into a legitimate option for their top-six. That summer however the Blue Jackets were given an opportunity to acquire Brandon Saad from the Chicago Blackhawks—who had just put up 52 points in the regular season and been a dominant playoff force on the Stanley Cup winner—so off went Dano along with Artem Anisimov to the champions. His time in Chicago was brief and less than a year later he ended up in another trade to Winnipeg in order for the Blackhawks to reacquire Andrew Ladd.

The last several years in Winnipeg (and a short stint with the Colorado Avalanche between waiver claims) have not gone well, leaving Dano somewhere between prospect and player, looking for a fresh start. He won’t turn 25 until the end of November, but there is a long way to go for the Austrian forward before he becomes an impact NHL player. His 30 points in 51 AHL games last season was a good start—at least in terms of consistent playing time—but he’ll need to show more than that to turn his career around.

The Blue Jackets of course are looking for help up front following an offseason that saw Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel all depart in unrestricted free agency. The team brought Gustav Nyquist in to replace some of that offense, but will certainly have opportunity for players like Dano to take advantage of. He’ll need to clear waivers again in order to be sent to the minor leagues.

Columbus GM “Confident” Zach Werenski Contract Is Coming

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Columbus Blue Jackets are just like a dozen other teams at this point in the offseason: waiting for something to happen in the restricted free agent market. The Blue Jackets have yet to sign star defenseman Zach Werenski for the upcoming season but as GM Jarmo Kekalainen puts it to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) the high profile RFAs are “waiting for somebody else to go first.” That doesn’t mean things haven’t progressed with Werenski though, as Kekalainen explained that the team is still confident things will get done before the start of training camp.

Werenski, 22, was the eighth overall selection in 2015 out of the University of Michigan and after returning for his sophomore season in the NCAA became an immediate success in the NHL. Recording 47 points as a rookie in 2016-17 he finished behind only Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine in Calder Trophy voting and even earned himself a handful of Norris Trophy votes. In the two years following he has only increased his role on the team, averaging close to 23 minutes a night for the Blue Jackets in 2018-19.

Unlike Charlie McAvoy who is another restricted free agent defenseman waiting on a contract, Werenski has completed three full seasons in the NHL and is eligible for an offer sheet. That is obviously very unlikely at this point, but it puts his negotiation in a slightly different category. Werenski is four years away from unrestricted free agency meaning any contract longer than that will push the average annual value substantially higher. Portzline reports the two sides have discussed several different scenarios including three and five-year deals.

The Blue Jackets may look very different next season without Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in the lineup, but still aren’t a team to completely give up on in the Metropolitan Division. That’s in large part due to the stud duo of Werenski and Seth Jones on defense, who are both still young enough to experience even further development.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Calgary Has Options On Where To Move Michael Frolik

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • The Calgary Flames may have $7.76MM in projected cap room still, but with Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane still unsigned, the team will be forced to offload a contract to bring both forwards, especially Tkachuk under contract. While there has been plenty of talk of Calgary trading away a defenseman such as T.J. Brodie or Travis Hamonic, The Athletic’s Kent Wilson (subscription required) writes that another option would be Michael Frolik. The middle-six forward is still just 31 and is coming off a 16-goal season, which might make him more palatable than many of the veteran free-agent options remaining on the market. Frolik has one year remaining at $4.3MM. Wilson suggests that Ottawa might make a good fit. The Senators are way under the cap, but Frolik will actually be paid just $3MM in salary despite his cap hit number, something that the budget-focused Senators love to acquire. The scribe adds the New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers as alternative options for Calgary.

Metropolitan Notes: Jones & Werenski, Capitals Goalies, Shattenkirk

at CDT | by 2 Comments

After years of being paired together, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski saw some time apart. Over a three year period, Jones and Werenski spent 75 percent of their 5-on-5 time together and were almost inseparable. The two star defenseman stayed together on the top pairing line. However, that changed a bit last year. Jones and Werenski were split up sometimes as the two ended up spending just 57.7 percent of the time as Werenski, who was working on his defensive game, was often paired with Ryan Murray or David Savard.

The Athletic’s Alison Lukan (subscription required) analyzes whether the pair should be kept together or the split should finally be made and have each one of them on separate defensive lines. She writes that while they were more successful when they were together, the Jones and Murray combination and the Werenski and Savard combinations were among the top three combinations in terms of getting good chances and converting. While the split up likely affected Jones and Werenski’s goal-scoring last season, it created a deeper defense overall.

However, Lukan does note that Werenski’s defensive numbers actually dropped last season when not playing alongside Jones and considering that’s his weakness, Columbus might have be better off keeping the pair together. The Blue Jackets overall defense is improving and the combination of Murray and Markus Nutivaara actually put up solid numbers together as well and might serve the team even better as the second pairing. Of course, no one really knows what head coach John Tortorella is thinking.

  • In his most recent mailbag series, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) comments on the goaltending depth in the Washington Capitals’ system. The team has a number of young goaltenders, including Ilya Samsonov, who they hope is the goaltender of the future. The team also houses Pheonix Copley and AHL All-Star Vitek Vanecek. However, El-Bashir points out that trading away some of their goaltending depth is extremely unlikely considering the team doesn’t know what will happen with current starter Braden Holtby, who will be an unrestricted free agent next season. With starting goaltender salaries beginning to skyrocket, it seems unlikely the team would be able to retain him, but if the Capitals win another Stanley Cup title this year, then things might change. Of course if Holtby does leave, then is Samsonov ready? If not, then the team might have to turn to Copley or Vanecek or even look elsewhere.
  • Chris Ryan of NJ.com writes that it’s highly unlikely that the New Jersey Devils consider signing defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who became a free agent after the New York Rangers bought him out last week. The Devils courted back in 2017 when Shattenkirk was the top defensive free agent and might be inclined to add him once again. However, considering the changes in the last two years, there is little need to bring Shattenkirk in. In those two years, the team has brought in P.K. Subban, Sami Vatanen, and Will Butcher as well as drafted Ty Smith and seen the emergence of Damon Severson.

Free Agent Profile: Cam Ward

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Since the unrestricted free agency rush of July 1st subsided, just two NHL goaltenders have been signed off the open market: Anthony Stolarz with the Anaheim Ducks and Jared Coreau with the New York Islanders. That’s two goalie signings in 33 days, making it easily the quietest position of this off-season, despite a major re-shuffling of UFA starters early on and several RFA extensions as well.

Unsurprisingly, several notable names remain available – Scott Darling, Chad Johnson, Mike McKenna, Al Montoya – while Michal Neuvirth has already accepted a PTO. However, one name sticks out above the rest for both his career accomplishments and his meaningful role in 2018-19.

Cam Ward, 35, ventured outside of Carolina last season for the first time in his 14-year NHL career. Ward signed a one-year, $3MM contract with the Chicago Blackhawks last summer and proceeded to play a major tole for the team this past season. Dealing with ongoing issues with starter Corey Crawford, Ward ended up playing in 33 games to Crawford’s 39 and Collin Delia’s 16. Although Ward’s .897 save percentage and 3.67 GAA were the worst among the trio, it was only a marginal gap. The Blackhawks struggled defensively and no goalie was safe, as all three finished with a save percentage below .910 and GAA above 2.90.

Still, Ward cannot have been happy with his results last year. A Stanley Cup winner and former All-Star, Ward was rock solid for the Hurricanes for several years. He thrived early on as a workhorse, including a 2010-11 campaign in which he posted a career-high .923 save percentage in a league-best 74 appearances. He then settled nicely into a timeshare role, posting back-to-back seasons with a 2.40 GAA while playing in around 50 games each year from 2014 to 2016. Even as he continued to age and his numbers slipped slightly, no one could have predicted his pedestrian performance last season. It was a sharp decline from his career numbers that could have been an outlier or could be signaling the end of his career.

One thing that is certainly working against Ward finding work this off-season is the now well-established narrative that he does not play well as a backup. Over his career, Ward has played in four seasons, including last year in Chicago, in which he did not make at least half of his team’s starts. In those three seasons combined, Ward is 49-38-13, with a a save percentage of .895 and a GAA of 3.37. In all of his other seasons combined, Ward has a record of 285-218-75, with a save percentage of .911 and a GAA of 2.63. It is extremely clear that Ward does his best work with regular appearances and any team looking to make the most of signing him will want to offer that opportunity. But does such a landing spot exist?

Potential Suitors

The honest answer is that the team likely to sign Ward, if any, isn’t aware of the need just yet. Ward could very well be a veteran option that a team turns to in case of injury or poor performance that can be a temporary starter. While it’s impossible to project injuries, the New York Rangers have a starter who is even older than Ward and have very little depth behind him. A Henrik Lundqvist injury could certainly turn the Blueshirts on to Ward as an option to step in at starter during a season that brings high expectations to New York. The same could be said for the Vegas Golden Knights, whose 34-year-old starter Marc-Andre Fleury has dealt with injury issues before. Vegas is in better shape with their depth in net and could handle a short absence from Fleury, but without a proven NHL goalie elsewhere on the depth chart, a long-term injury could send them on the hunt for a solution. Despite having both John Gibson and Ryan Miller, the Anaheim Ducks are far from safe when it comes to injury risk and could be an option for Ward if disaster strikes. The Philadelphia Flyers shuffled through goalies like no other team in NHL history last year, so another issue with Brian Elliott could easily have the Flyers intrigued in Ward.

As for teams who risk needing a starter due to poor play, no team jumps out more than the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s perhaps even fair to call them the most likely landing spot for Ward, as they are sure to go through some bumpy times with their young tandem of former backup Joonas Korpisalo and unproven import Elvis Merzlikins. The team only has more untested foreign talent in the minors as well. The Blue Jackets have ample cap space, so if there was a bidding war for Ward at any point, Columbus would be the favorite to beat out any other team in need of an emergency starter.

If Ward is intent on signing before the season begins though, rather than wait for a need-based market to develop in-season, there are a couple of teams who could still be looking for a backup. Again, that isn’t the ideal role for Ward, but it is one that the respected veteran would likely be willing to try his hand at again. The Florida Panthers spent big on Sergei Bobrovsky this summer, but 22-year-old Samuel Montembeault is slated to be the primary backup heading into next year. He is waiver-exempt still and could head to the AHL without issue if the team opted to look at a veteran backup. However, this doesn’t seem extremely likely, considering their investment in Bobrovsky, who they likely expect to make 65 starts. In Colorado, the Avalanche seemed hesitant to give last year’s third-string, Pavel Francouz, an extended look despite strong numbers in the NHL and AHL. He is now the likely backup to Philipp Grubauer, who himself is still finding his footing as a true starter. The Avs have almost no depth in net and could look to add another name to the mix in Ward.

Projected Contract

Ward has made at least $3MM in each of the past four seasons and more than $6MM on the contract prior to that. Those days are now over. Regardless of the impact that his role or the team’s defense had on his 2018-19 performance in Chicago, Ward has lost his leverage to command a sizable salary after such a poor season. If he is settling in to a backup role before the season, he will almost certainly land somewhere between $1MM and the league minimum of $700K. If he is signing mid-season to take over as a starter or at least in a timeshare, that number could go up, but not much higher. If Ward feels like he has several years left, he will be looking at this season as an investment in future earnings; he will accept a cheap deal to go to the right place where there is the potential to succeed, so as to hit the market next summer with some more bargaining power. The only question is whether that right fit exists, now or down the road after the season begins. Ward could call it a career if no such opportunities arise by the end of the calendar year.

Metropolitan Notes: Namestnikov, Brown, Werenski, Siegenthaler, Malkin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While a buyout of one of the New York Rangers defensemen seems like a popular option to fix the fact that the team is currently projected to be over the salary cap after New York paid out $19.65MM AAV for both Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba, there are still other options that might make even more sense.

With plenty of rumors that New York could choose to buyout Kevin Shattenkirk, Brendan Smith or Marc Staal when their buyout window opens on Monday, The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello (subscription required) writes that the team might be better off saving their future cap room from carrying extra dead weight. One way to do that is move forward Vladislav Namestnikov, who carries a $4MM cap hit this year before becoming a unrestricted free agent. While teams might have shown little interest in the 26-year-old who scored just 11 goals last season, one better option would be to retain some of his salary, which could easily make him a more attractive trade option and wouldn’t cost the team future cap costs. Namestnikov is only one year removed from a 22-goal, 48-point season.

  • Sticking with the Rangers, the team announced the passing of former great Arnie Brown Saturday. The defenseman died at the age of 77, but played a total of 12 seasons for five different teams, but made his mark with New York after playing seven seasons (from 1964-1971) for the franchise and is listed among the top 100 players in Rangers history. Brown played 681 games over the course of his career, posting 44 goals and 185 points. Everyone at PHR wishes the best for the family and friends of Brown at this time.
  • The Columbus Dispatch’s Michael Arace writes that little progress has been made between the Columbus Blue Jackets and restricted free agent Zach Werenski. While the team hopes that it can lock up the 22-year-old to a long-term deal, there is always the possibility that Werenski could be a training camp holdout if the two sides can’t find an equitable arrangement. Blue Jackets fans have already seen that as several players, including Josh Anderson and Ryan Johansen have done that in past seasons. Werenski has proven to be a top pairing defenseman, having tallied 38 goals and 128 points over the course of three seasons. With key losses this offseason of Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Duchene, the team could benefit if they can convince Werenski to sign long-term.
  • After signing defenseman Christian Djoos and forward Chandler Stephenson to one-year deals last week, the Washington Capitals once again find themselves over the salary cap by $1.3MM. While one option to reduce their cap hit would be to send Jonas Siegenthaler to the AHL like the team did last year, NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan writes that won’t be possible. While Siegenthaler is still waiver exempt, the team only has seven NHL defensemen under contract and even if they felt that Tyler Lewington could be the team’s seventh defenseman, he wouldn’t save the team a significant amount of money to make the move worth it. Unfortunately for general manager Brian MacLellan, the team will have to make a different move this year to get under the cap.
  • The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) looks at candidates who could bounce back from disappointing seasons and marks Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin as a player who should return to his 90-point ways. The 32-year-old went from a 42-goal season in 2017-18 to half that total last year (21 goals) and went from 98 points to 72. Burnside writes that the team will need more goal scoring after losing Phil Kessel and Malkin will be looked to even more to fill that gap.

Overseas Notes: Rychel, Enstrom, KHL

at CDT | by 12 Comments

After years of trying to find his place in the NHL, former top prospect turned journeyman Kerby Rychel has decided to take his talents to Sweden. Orebro HK of the SHL announced today that Rychel has signed a one-year contract with the club. Rychel brings with him nearly 300 games worth of AHL experience, as well as 43 NHL games. The 19th overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, Rychel entered the pro level with high expectations as both the son of respected former player and OHL executive Warren Rychel and as a player who had done serious damage on the score sheet at the junior level. Rychel looked to be on his way to becoming an established NHL player when he suited up for 32 games with Columbus in his second pro season, but a trade to Toronto – in exchange for current Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington – altered his trajectory. Rychel never played a single game for the Maple Leafs, spending close to two full seasons with the AHL’s Marlies. He was then traded to the Montreal Canadiens at the tail end of the 2017-18 season as part of the package for rental Tomas Plekanec. Despite performing well in a brief showing with the Habs, Rychel was traded again last summer to the Calgary Flames for Hunter Shinkaruk. Even as he was enjoying the best per-game production of his AHL career with the Stockton Heat, Rychel earned just two appearances with the Flames and the team did not make him a qualifying offer earlier this summer. Putting a tumultuous NHL career behind him, Rychel will now try his hand at the SHL. Orebro struggled last season, finishing tenth out of 14 teams and will be glad to add an experienced talent like Rychel. Between he, fellow new addition Ryan Stoa, and returning top liner Shane Harper, Orebro should pack some more offensive punch next season.

  • Given the lackluster NHL free agent market this summer, it’s no surprise that few veterans who had previously made the jump to Europe have been able to find a fit back in North America. Count defenseman Tobias Enstrom among that group. The 34-year-old has re-signed with his hometown team, MODO of the Swedish minor league Allsvenkan, the club announced. It is a new one-year deal for the captain, who returned to Sweden last off-season. A career member of the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise, Enstrom found himself without a home for the first time in 11 years last summer as a free agent without a market. He held out hope, waiting for an offer until late August, before opting to head home. In returning to MODO, the team he grew up playing for – albeit in the SHL at that time – Enstrom took on a leadership and also saw a spike in his production. MODO hopes that the strong play continues from their veteran ace, as the team looks to contend for promotion back to the SHL in the upcoming season.
  • The quiet NHL free agent market has had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the European leagues, as few players left their respective clubs while talent continues to come over from North America. While Sweden has had a strong off-season in the import business, the winner thus far in terms of NHL additions is unsurprisingly the KHL, considered to be the best of the European leagues. Among the players who have signed in the KHL this off-season are forwards Sven Andrighetto, Ty Rattie, Nikita Soshnikov, Jori Lehtera, Peter Holland, and Lukas Sedlak, defensemen Andrej Sustr, Igor Ozhiganov, Bogdan Kiselevich, and Jakub Jerabek, and goaltender Harri Sateri. It’s a valuable influx of talent for a league that is seeking better competitive balance.

Bobrovsky Told Blue Jackets In 2018 Offseason That He Had No Intention Of Staying

at CDT | by 4 Comments

  • New Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky opened up to Sport 24’s Daria Tubolseva regarding his departure from Columbus. He mentioned that he informed management following their postseason exit in 2018 that he had no intentions of staying with the Blue Jackets but management decided to try to re-sign him anyway at various points throughout the season.  Bobrovsky called Florida his top option when he was assessing teams to sign with and he wasted little time joining them, inking a seven-year, $70MM contract shortly after the signing period opened up on July 1st.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top