Rick Nash Officially Hired By Columbus Blue Jackets
Rick Nash has officially started his hockey management career. After spending the last few months shadowing Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, Nash was announced as special assistant to the GM today in a press release from the team. The Blue Jackets also announced that Bill Zito has been promoted to senior vice president of hockey operations, associate general manager and alternate governor. Basil McRae and Josh Flynn have been promoted to assistant general manager, and Chris Clark is now director of player personnel. Kekalainen released a statement on the slew of promotions:
Our club has made great strides in recent seasons thanks in part to the experienced and talented group of individuals within our hockey operations department. We believe it was important to recognize contributions and maintain consistency within our group in order for us to continue to improve and work towards our goal of winning a Stanley Cup.
Nash, 34, is a legendary franchise icon from his playing days with the Blue Jackets. Selected first overall in 2002, it didn’t take him long to become a superstar in the NHL. During his sophomore season, Nash would record his first 40+ goal season and take home the Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s top goal scorer. He would go on to score 298 total regular season goals for the Blue Jackets over his 674 games with the franchise, before eventually ending up with the New York Rangers. A trade deadline deal sent him to Boston in 2018, but after suffering another concussion he was forced to retire.
According to the release, Nash will help in several areas including player evaluations, prospect development and player recruitment. Kekalainen spoke highly of his new assistant:
Rick is the most decorated player in Blue Jackets history and was one of the game’s most respected players during a career that included multiple All-Star Games, Olympic and World Championship gold medals and a Stanley Cup Final appearance. He cares deeply about the Blue Jackets and the city of Columbus and will be a great addition to our organization.
Player recruitment is certainly something the organization will need after they watch three of their best players leave this offseason in free agency. Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Duchene are all expected to test the market this summer, leaving room for the Blue Jackets to make other additions to their group.
Kevin Hayes Visits With Philadelphia Flyers
Since acquiring the exclusive negotiating rights of Kevin Hayes earlier this month, the Philadelphia Flyers have had some preliminary conversations with the pending free agent on a potential contract. Yesterday, Hayes actually met with the Flyers in person and according to Frank Seravalli of TSN was impressed with his visit. Still, Seravalli reports that Philadelphia “isn’t No. 1″ on the veteran center’s list, and notes that the Columbus Blue Jackets and Arizona Coyotes might be of interest.
Hayes, 27, was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets for a fifth-round pick in order to give Philadelphia a head start on contract negotiations. It’s not the first time that Hayes might be intrigued by the idea of free agency however, as he decided not to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks out of college despite the team spending a first-round selection on him in 2010. The Boston College alum decided to sign with the New York Rangers instead, and played the first four and a half seasons of his pro career there before a mid-season trade took him to Winnipeg in February.
There are plenty of reasons why the Flyers would be interested, given that Hayes is coming off his best offensive season. The 6’5” center recorded 54 points in 71 games, though failed to crack the 20-goal mark once again. He has done so in just one of his NHL seasons, something of a red flag for a team expecting him to contribute big numbers at even strength. Still, his size and two-way ability make him a desirable asset for pretty much anyone looking for depth down the middle, something Philadelphia could use if Claude Giroux is going to stay on the wing.
As one of the younger players available this summer, there will be no shortage of suitors for Hayes. The Blue Jackets would make sense if Matt Duchene departs in free agency, while the Coyotes have been trying to find consistent production at the center position for years. Both teams also have former teammates of Hayes from New York involved in some way. Derek Stepan is a leader in the Arizona locker room, while Rick Nash has been working with Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen for the last while.
Daniil Tarasov To Play In Finland
When the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Veini Vehvilainen earlier this spring, it made for quite a crowded goaltending position within the organization. Even with Sergei Bobrovsky and Keith Kinkaid scheduled to leave in free agency, the team had four goaltenders under contract for next season with another—Joonas Korpisalo—expecting a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. Out of those five, there isn’t a ton of NHL experience, making it unclear how the minor league playing time would be sorted out. Today an answer has been revealed, with Daniil Tarasov being loaned to Porin Ässät of Finland’s Liiga.
Tarasov, 20, only signed his own entry-level contract in May, ending his career in Russia after debuting in the KHL this season. Originally selected in the third round two years ago, the young netminder has plenty of development left before he can make a real impact on the Blue Jackets organization despite his impressive year. With so many minor league goaltenders in the system, Tarasov may have been forced to sit and watch more often than not, meaning a placement in Finland will get him much more playing time.
The Finnish team has announced it will be just a one-year deal, meaning the Blue Jackets will once again face this problem next spring. At least at that point they’ll have a better grasp on their goaltending situation, as there is no guarantee they even have their 2019-20 starter in the organization right now.
Metropolitan Notes: Faulk, Werenski, Harrington, Devils
After an impressive playoff run that has Carolina looking like an improved franchise, the Hurricanes don’t want it to be a fluke season. The team, which based much of its success on an impressive blueline, wants to commit to it long term. Therefore despite being mentioned as a trade candidate for more than a full season, it looks like Carolina wants to commit long-term to Justin Faulk. The defenseman has one year remaining on his contract, but The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) reports that the team has reached out to Faulk and his agent in hopes of signing an extension when he’s eligible on July 1.
LeBrun adds that Faulk, who has played his entire eight-year career in Carolina, is amenable to an extension, although it’s likely he would demand a no-trade clause this time around. That would give Carolina three right-handed top-four defensemen in Faulk, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce, but he says that the Hurricanes are OK with having that right depth on the right side and are comfortable keeping all three.
However, the Fourth Period reports that Carolina is looking to acquire a top-six winger to boost their offense this year and that the team is willing to trade one of their top defenseman to make that happen. The report suggests that Carolina is one of the teams that has inquired on Minnesota’s Jason Zucker and has spoken to Toronto about both William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri in the past.
- The Athletic’s Allison Lukan (subscription required) reports that while the Columbus Blue Jackets have several options on how they want to sign restricted free agent Zach Werenski, it’s almost a lock that Columbus will attempt to sign him to a long-term deal. The 21-year-old blueliner just finished up his entry-level deal and is in line for a big payday after posting 38 goals and 128 points over three years, but with plenty of cap room and multiple free agents walking away from Columbus, locking him up to a long-term deal, which could exceed $6MM, is likely going to be the team’s goal.
- Sticking with the Blue Jackets, the team has another restricted free agent who is expected to get a raise this summer. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch writes that defenseman Scott Harrington, who has had trouble catching on to an NHL team early in his career after playing just 79 NHL games over the past four seasons with three different teams, has found a home in Columbus. The 26-year-old played his first full season, playing 73 games, mostly as a bottom-six defenseman, but was instrumental to the Blue Jackets as a character leader in the locker room. After making just $675K last season, Harrington could potentially double his salary for next season.
- The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) lays out the possibilities on what the New Jersey Devils can do with their second-round pick (No. 34). With three second-round picks, the 34th pick is a valuable asset that could allow the team to trade into the first round or use to trade for a significant impact player to bolster its team. The scribe looks at past teams in similar positions, including a 2013 trade in which the Buffalo Sabres traded several players and the No. 31 pick for Ryan O’Reilly.
Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets
Free agency is now less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Columbus does have a few important restricted free agents, but it’s the unrestricted free agents that have dominated the press over the last year.
Key Restricted Free Agents: D Zach Werenski – The defenseman wraps up his entry-level deal and now is expected to get quite a pay raise after making $1.775MM last season. The top pairing defenseman may not have the accolades and numbers that partner Seth Jones carries, but with the way the market has been rising, the 21-year-old blueliner could seriously cash in this summer and could conceivably make even more than Jones’ current $5.4MM per year deal. Regardless, Werenski had a solid season for the Blue Jackets, posting 11 goals and 44 points and has scored 38 goals over three seasons, an impressive feat for a young defenseman. Werenski also added a goal and six points in 10 games during Columbus’ playoff run this season.
D – Ryan Murray – Other than playing 82 games back in 2015-16, Murray’s biggest problem has been staying healthy. Other than that one season, the most games the 25-year-old has played was 66 and that was back in his rookie campaign. The talented blueliner played in 56 games this past season, but was hampered with a back injury for quite some time as well. This is Murray’s last year as a restricted free agency as he could become an unrestricted free agent in 2020-21 and could opt to depart. Although Murray has shown talent, Columbus might have a problem handing the former second-overall pick in 2012 a long-term deal if he can’t stay healthy. That’s why Murray could be a solid trade candidate, most recently to Chicago.
Other RFAs: D Adam Clendening, F Markus Hannikainen, D Scott Harrington, G Joonas Korpisalo, F Ryan MacInnis, F Sonny Milano, F Eric Robinson, F Justin Scott, F Lukas Sedlak, D Doyle Somerby, F Sam Vigneault
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Artemi Panarin – The 27-year-old has been everything that Columbus had hoped for when the Blue Jackets traded for him two years ago. Panarin scored 55 goals and 114 points over those two seasons, but it became apparently clear that he had little interest in signing any sort of extension and wished to move on when he hit unrestricted free agency. Rather than trade him away, the team chose instead to hold onto him and bulk up for the playoffs, which did allow Columbus to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time ever. Unfortunately, the team has no chance to sign him as he has quickly become the most sought-after free agent, most likely to sign a deal with either Florida or the New York Rangers.
G Sergei Bobrovsky – Unfortunately for Bobrovsky, the team is in the exact same pickle that they are with Panarin. The long-time goaltender has been one of the faces of the franchise for years in Columbus and while many initially thought he just was holding out for a Carey Price-like contract, it has been quite clear that he too intends to leave the Blue Jackets and sign elsewhere with many people believing that he might choose to sign with Florida as well. Regardless, Bobrovsky becomes the most highly-touted goalie on the free-agent market. While his regular season numbers took a minor dip with a 2.58 GAA and a .913 save percentage, the 30-year-old netminder finally showed some skill in the playoffs with a 2.41 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 10 appearances.
F – Matt Duchene – If there is one big-name free agent that Columbus might be able to retain, it will be Duchene, who is at least considering staying with the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, there are also a large number of teams that are interested in signing him as well, which could make a signing tough. Acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa for several prospects and their 2019 first-round pick, Duchene added a second-line center presence that helped solidify the team’s top six and between the two teams combined for 31 goals and 70 points. The down side of signing him is the team would lose their 2020 first-rounder as well, making it even more of a challenging decisions for the franchise.
Other UFAs: G Jean-Francois Berube, D Tommy Cross, F Ryan Dzingel, G Keith Kinkaid, F Mark Letestu, D Adam McQuaid
Projected Cap Space: Cap space is definitely not an issue in Columbus as the team is projected to have more than $32MM in cap room. The problem is the team is likely to lose all four of their top unrestricted free agents and must find a way to attract other free agents without having to overpay them. However, that will be a challenge for general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who has done an excellent job in recent years to compete in a small market. Regardless, the team must find a way to add a top talent and hope that its prospect depth can keep the team above water for the next couple of years.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Arizona, Columbus To Aggressively Pursue Matt Duchene
While the Matt Duchene rumors have been quite exciting already, they show no sign of slowing down. Despite whispers that the top free-agent center is interested in joining the Nashville Predators, more teams keep coming up. The most recent interest comes from the Arizona Coyotes. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) writes that the Coyotes, searching for another top-line center, intend to aggressively pursue Duchene, while the Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t given up on re-signing their deadline acquisition either.
The 28-year-old scored 31 goals and 70 points between Ottawa and Columbus last season, but a solid postseason in which he registered five goals and 10 points in 10 playoff games was enough to make him one of the most sought-after impending free agents, especially with teams in need at the center position.
Arizona used Derek Stepan as their top-line center this season, but the team would be better served moving Stepan to a second-line role and inserting a new name into the No. 1 spot, giving them two solid options down the middle and allowing Arizona to utilize other forwards like Nick Schmaltz and Alex Galchenyuk at the wing position. Arizona, which narrowly fell short of the playoffs this season, has made it clear that they want to upgrade their team and become playoff relevant after years sitting in the Pacific Division cellar.
As for Columbus, LeBrun writes that the franchise is still negotiating with Duchene’s agent, Pat Brisson, to bring the center back. One question that comes up is whether the team would be willing to offer eight years, and upwards of $80MM to Duchene, especially when they would also have to give Ottawa their 2020 first-round pick if they successfully re-sign him. While many have suggested that being aggressive at the trade deadline was good for Columbus, the team would look even better if it could retain at least one of Duchene, Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, or Ryan Dzingel this summer.
Veini Vehvilainen Named Top SM-Liiga Goalie For Second Straight Year
- Blue Jackets goalie prospect Veini Vehvilainen has won the Urpo Ylonen award for the top goalie in Finland for the second straight season, the sm-Liiga announced (Twitter link). The 22-year-old posted a 1.58 GAA with a .933 SV% in 38 games with Karpat and recently signed his entry-level deal with Columbus. With Sergei Bobrovsky’s future with them uncertain, Vehvilainen could find himself in the mix for an NHL spot fairly quickly.
Adam McQuaid Still Suffering From Concussion Symptoms
Blue Jackets defenseman Adam McQuaid is still dealing with concussion symptoms from a hit back in late March, agent Rick Curran told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. There is no timetable for when those symptoms may subside and accordingly, his plans for free agency are more or less on hold with Curran stating that the priority at this point is McQuaid simply returning to full health:
He’d like to keep playing, but to be frank, the priority from my standpoint on his behalf is just to get him healthy. He’s such a wonderful person. I just want to see him get healthy and we’ll address what the outlook is then, as far as playing hockey and when.
The Blue Jackets had added McQuaid at the trade deadline in an effort to shore up their defensive depth and improve their penalty killing but instead, they weren’t able to use him in the postseason and they fell in the second round to Boston. Overall, he wound up playing in just 14 games in Columbus after they dealt a pair of draft picks and minor league blueliner Julius Bergman for him.
As a pending UFA, McQuaid was likely going to draw a reasonable amount of interest as he has been a serviceable third pairing player for quite a few years now. This free agency class isn’t particularly deep on right-shot defenders and there are always teams that are looking to shore up their penalty kill. However, with this uncertainty surrounding him, some of those teams may be forced to turn to another option when the market officially opens up on July 1st.
Chicago, Columbus Discussed Ryan Murray Trade
The Chicago Blackhawks are on the hunt for a defensive upgrade, and Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) reports on at least one name they have inquired about. In a new column on all things Blackhawks, Powers notes that the team recently spoke with the Columbus Blue Jackets about Ryan Murray though it “doesn’t appear a deal is getting done.”
While they may not end up with Murray, the talks are just another indication that Chicago will be trying to find a solution to their blue line problems this summer. The team allowed the second most goals in the NHL last season with 291—only behind the Ottawa Senators’ 301—and failed to get a ton of offensive production from anyone other than Erik Gustafsson and Duncan Keith. While Gustafsson’s 60-point season was obviously a huge and welcome surprise, the team obviously needed an upgrade if they want to get back to playoff contention.
Some of that will come from within, but there also may be some effective defensemen on the market this summer. The team is finally in a position where they aren’t squeezed too tightly by the salary cap, and can add some skill on the back end to help take some pressure off the aging Keith and Brent Seabrook.
Murray, 25, might be exactly what the Blackhawks are after. Originally selected second overall in 2012, Murray has shown a strong ability at both ends of the rink but hasn’t been able to stay healthy the last several seasons. In 2018-19 he recorded 29 points in 56 games, which would have put him third on the Blackhawks blue line even with the shortened year. Powers suggests that draft picks and prospects might be enough to get a deal done with Columbus given their lack of future assets after going all-in this season, but nothing seems imminent at this point.
Snapshots: Capuano, Roslovic, Tryamkin
New Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith was given full control over hiring his staff, has yet to make any additions. However, a familiar name could be on the way. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that former New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano is in talks to join the team. Capuano spent seven years as the Isles’ head coach and was an assistant for the Florida Panthers over the past two years. However, he became a free agent when new Panthers’ hire Joel Quenneville decided not to retain his services. A former AHL head coach as well, Capuano brings experience, but also a familiarity with working with young players, of which the Senators have plenty. Garrioch adds that GM Pierre Dorion stated today that the team hopes to have some assistants in place before the upcoming NHL Draft, meaning Capuano’s official addition could be imminent.
- The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that Winnipeg Jets forward Jack Roslovic has fired long-time agent Ken Robinson. Roslovic was a first-round pick of the Jets in 2015, but has been buried on the team’s organization depth chart and unable to break out. Roslovic has reportedly requested a trade out of Winnipeg several times and he remains unhappy with his current role, despite finally playing a full NHL season last year. With a number of difficult decisions to make this off-season up against the salary cap, the Jets may not be eager to move an affordable piece like Roslovic. Unfortunately, the young forward’s move to a new agent likely implies he wants someone to put more pressure on them to make a move than his last agent did. If Roslovic hits the trade market, expect his hometown Columbus Blue Jackets to be interested.
- The Vancouver Canucks may have lost prospect defenseman Nikita Tryamkin to the KHL two years ago, but they remain interested in bringing him back. The Province’s Patrick Johnston reports that GM Jim Benning is keeping tabs on the big blue liner and looks forward to hopefully having him back with the team down the road. Tryamkin has one year remaining on his contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, so the reunion won’t be coming this off-season. However, talks have already begun with agent Todd Diamond about a future deal. Tryamkin initially left the team over frustration with role in the season-and-a-half he spent in North America. However, the 2014 third-round pick has improved his play in Russia and has also developed into a locker room leader for Avtomobilist. He would likely play a much larger role for the Canucks in his second time around.