Blue Jackets Agree To Contract With Seth Jones
With rumors swirling last night about a possible Jacob Trouba offer sheet, the Columbus Blue Jackets have reportedly taken that option off the table with Seth Jones, their own high-prized RFA defenceman, says Darren Dreger of TSN and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that it’s worth $5.4MM per season, for six seasons. Cap Friendly also tells us that the deal includes a limited no-trade clause in years five and six. Jones will submit a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to.
Last week we speculated on the possibility of Jones receiving an offer-sheet because of the tight cap situation that the Blue Jackets are in, combined with his elite potential as a top-pairing shutdown defender. While GM Jarmo Kekalainen came out to say that they would match any offer sheet submitted, it would have been extremely difficult for the team to do so without having plans to move some contracts out.
If they truly have come to an agreement, it must mean that the Jackets have figured out at least a plan for what they’re to do this offseason. Currently less than $6MM from the cap (before the Jones hit), they have been trying to move out bad contracts desperately and had conversations with Edmonton on the draft floor. David Clarkson, Scott Hartnell and Fedor Tyutin all have big money left on their contracts and have performed terribly in recent years.
For Jones, this represents the first big money deal of his career after going fourth overall in the 2013 draft. While he was hidden down an outstanding depth chart in Nashville, a mid-season trade brought him to Columbus where he is expected to take over on the top pairing with either Ryan Murray or Jack Johnson. Suddenly, the Blue Jacket blueline looks mighty intimidating with David Savard and Dalton Prout rounding out the group.
RFA Notes: Leafs, Colborne, Jones
As the deadline to submit qualifying offers for pending restricted free agents came and went yesterday, information on the Maple Leafs was nowhere to be found. The notoriously tight-lipped Lou Lamoirello still hasn’t given an official update on his RFAs, but reports have started to trickle out. According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Maple Leafs have qualified Connor Carrick, Garret Sparks, Peter Holland, Josh Leivo, Martin Marincin and Frank Corrado while not qualifying Stuart Percy, Sam Carrick and Colin Smith.
- According to Darren Dreger of TSN, via Chris Nichols, the Calgary Flames are still confident they’ll sign recently non-qualified center Joe Colborne. After notching 19 goals and 44 points last season, Colborne had a great case for arbitration and was surprising to see among Calgary’s list yesterday. Dreger adds that the new contract will probably fall somewhere between $3.5 and $4MM per season. Colborne has 100 points in 217 games as a Flame since coming over from the Maple Leafs in 2013.
- Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen tells us that there were no trade offers for Patrick Wiercioch, another non-qualified name coming out of Ottawa yesterday. Wiercioch had played at least 50 games for the Senators for the past three seasons, but saw his point total drop to a career low last season with just five assists. The 25-year old will now look for a job elsewhere as a left-handed, bottom pairing defenceman.
- Dreger also gives us a note on pending RFA and offer sheet candidate Seth Jones and his current negotiation with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Though the team is in dire need of cap relief, the team sees him as a top priority going into the summer. Ian Mendes, also of TSN adds an interesting quote from GM Jarmo Kekalainen: “If someone wants to be silly and make it cost more money, we’ll match it.”
Full List of Players Who Did Not Receive a Qualifying Offer
The deadline to make a qualifying offer to a restrict free agent ended at 5pm today. Below is a list of players who did not receive an offer and sorted by team for easy reference. Any player that did not receive a qualifying offer is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.
(as of writing the Toronto Maple Leafs were the only team not to confirm which players received QOs)
Anaheim Ducks
F Matt Bailey, F Brandon Pirri, F Charles Sarault, D Kevin Gagne, and D Martin Gernat.
Arizona Coyotes
F Sergei Plotnikov, , D Philip Samuelsson, F Christian Thomas, D Kevin Connauton, D Jarred Tinordi, D Klas Dahlbeck, and G Niklas Treutle
Boston Bruins
F Landon Ferraro and F Brett Connolly.
Buffalo Sabres
F Alex Guptill, F Colin Jacobs, F Jack Nevins, and Nathan Lieuwen.
Calgary Flames
F Kenny Agostino, F Bill Arnold, F Joe Colborne, F Turner Elson, F Josh Jooris, F Drew Shore, F Bryce Van Brabant, G Joni Ortio, and Kevin Poulin.
Carolina Hurricanes
F Zach Boychuk, F Anthony Camara, F Dane Fox, F Carter Sandlak, F Justin Shugg, D Danny Biega, D Michal Jordan, D Rasmus Rissanen, and G Rasmus Tirronen.
Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets
Widely picked as a sleeper team for 2015-16, the Columbus Blue Jackets wound up at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings instead. Now, GM Jarmo Kekalainen must find a way to shuffle up the roster despite most of the team already being under contract for next season.
Key Restricted Free Agent: D Seth Jones – One of the biggest trades of last year involved Jones joining the Blue Jackets in exchange for C Ryan Johansen. Jones immediately became their top defenseman, logging 24:27 a night and picked up 20 points in just 41 games with the team.
At this point, the Jackets appear to be focused on securing a long-term contract with the former 4th overall pick, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. That’s going to be a very pricey proposition as a 6-8 year deal should come in between $6MM – $7MM per season.
While a bridge deal is also a possibility, the odds of that are tempered with the threat of an offer sheet. Given his stature and Columbus’ cap situation (more on that shortly), Jones may be the prime target for one. If he signs (or comes close to signing) an offer sheet, it will most likely be a long-term pact.
Other RFA’s: C Michael Chaput, D Scott Harrington, D Michael Paliotta
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: LW Rene Bourque gets the nod by default as he’s the only full time NHL player that’s unrestricted for the Jackets. He’s coming off another disappointing campaign where he scored just 3 goals and 5 assists in 49 games while being a frequent healthy scratch. The 34 year old may be hard pressed to find a deal early on in free agency and is a likely candidate for a training camp tryout.
Other UFA: D Justin Falk
Cap Situation: The Blue Jackets already have 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goalies under contract for next season and have a little under $5.5 MM in cap space to work with according to Cap Friendly. Jones’ contract will likely cost more than that on top of potentially adding another player or two to the roster. Several players from their Calder Cup winning AHL affiliate in Lake Erie are close to being ready and the team would like to make room for some of them to play next season.
Kekalainen will have to try to move a fair bit of salary this offseason, either through buyouts (D Fedor Tyutin or RW Jared Boll are possibilities) or through trade; LW Scott Hartnell has come up in talks this offseason. That will be their primary offseason focus instead of the free agent market.
Offer Sheet Candidates: Jones, Trouba, Lindholm
Offer sheets are an interesting wrinkle in the NHL’s free agency period; a rarely used but powerful tool to try and steal away young talent from rival clubs. Though we may not see any this season – the last one to be signed was by Ryan O’Reilly in 2013 – there are a few interesting names out there that could possibly draw interest from other teams. Let’s take a quick look at some of the offer sheet rules for this season:
- Teams can submit offer sheets to restricted free agents as of July 1st at 11:00 am central time. Players can choose to sign them at any point after that.
- If a player signs an offer sheet, his original team has seven days in which to match the deal or else accept the compensation. During this time they cannot be traded.
- Compensation is as follows (according to Elliotte Friedman):
Less than $1.239MM (average annual value of contract) – Nothing;
$1.239-$1.878MM – Third-round pick;
$1.878-$3.755MM – Second-round pick;
$3.755-$5.633MM – First and third-round picks;
$5.633-$7.510MM – First, second and third-round picks;
$7.510-$9.388MM – Two first, a second and third-round picks;
Over $9.388MM – Four first-round picks. - Teams must have the picks available before signing the player, or else the offer sheet will be considered null and void.
Some hefty prices to pay if a team goes after a big name to be sure, but sometimes deemed worth it; the Flyers would have faced stiff compensation penalties had Nashville not decided to match their 14-year, $110MM offer to Shea Weber in 2012 (one that would no longer be allowed under the seven-year contract limit). Here are some names that might just be worth the risk:
D Seth Jones – The Columbus Blue Jackets have huge cap issues at the moment and are desperately trying to rid themselves of some of their bad deals. After trading young star Ryan Johansen for Jones mid-season, they now need to find a way to re-sign the former fourth overall pick.
Jones is just 21, and has performed admirably in his first three seasons in the league, racking up 83 points in 240 games. If someone were to sign Jones to a long-term deal, the Blue Jackets would have a very difficult time matching it without finding a taker for some of their cap-hits. The team is already just $5MM under the cap, with close to $20MM committed to their blueline.
Whether Jones actually recieves any offers, or it’s just used as a negotiating tactic in order to pry some value out of the Blue Jackets in future trades, his name will surely come up in many talks this summer.
D Jacob Trouba – Another top-10 pick who is part of a deep defensive corps Trouba is considered available this summer on the trade market, and should be considered an offer sheet risk as well. While the Jets have much more cap room available, they already have three defencemen signed for over $5MM per season and might not be able to commit to a fourth.
Trouba has put up 72 points in 211 career games, and is considered a potential top-pairing blueliner in the future. Many teams could add him to their back end and thrust him into the spotlight in his fourth season. A long-term deal could be had, buying out free agent years and pushing that AAV up into un-matchable territory.
The Jets also have to worry about next year’s expansion draft, where they’ll be in danger of losing one of their young defencemen. Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom both have no-movement clauses that ensure their protection, leaving just one protection slot for both of Tyler Myers and Trouba (unless they choose the 8 skater option and risk some young forwards instead).
D Hampus Lindholm – The best player listed here, Lindholm has turned into an excellent defender for the Anaheim Ducks over the last few years. His case is one of worry for them as he could easily be offered a seven-year deal from teams around the league.
After signing Sami Vatanen last week, the Ducks now have five blueliners under contract for more than $3MM per season and adding a big deal that pushes $50MM could prove too pricey. If a team believes that Lindholm is the number 1 defenceman that he seems, they could decide to give up the picks in order to pry him away.
The Ducks have already dealt Frederik Andersen to save cap room and avoid losing him in the expansion draft, and they still have work to do before next summer. With Cam Fowler said to be on the market, perhaps he’ll be the victim of a looming Lindholm offer sheet.
Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Kerby Rychel From Blue Jackets
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Columbus Blue Jackets have dealt forward Kerby Rychel to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for defenceman Scott Harrington and a conditional fifth round pick. If Harrington is put on, then claimed off waivers, the Maple Leafs will surrender the 2017 pick.
The 21-year old Rychel, who was drafted in the first round of the 2013 draft, played 32 games for the Blue Jackets last season and tallied just nine points. He has shown his scoring ability in the AHL however, racking up 60 points over the past two seasons (88 games). His pedigree and youth will fit in nicely for the Maple Leafs as they continue their full re-build.
For Harrington, this is the second time he’s been included in a trade despite only having played 25 NHL games. The left-handed blueliner was included in the Phil Kessel trade from last summer and saw limited time this season on the last-place Maple Leafs. He’ll head to Columbus where he is expected to be sent to the Calder Cup winning Lake Erie Monsters and will have to pass waivers to do so.
The Leafs did well turning Harrington into Rychel, if only because of the log-jam they have on their back end for next season. The team currently has between eight to ten young defensemen fighting for NHL playing time, including recent signee Nikita Zaitsev and last year’s second round pick Travis Dermott.
2016 NHL Draft Results
Pro Hockey Rumors will be following and updating every selection of the 2016 NHL Draft. Below are the results of the first round.
Round 1
1. Toronto Maple Leafs: C Auston Matthews (Zurich Lions – SUI)
2. Winnipeg Jets: RW Patrik Laine (Tappara – SM-liiga)
3. Columbus Blue Jackets: LW Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton – QMJHL)
4. Edmonton Oilers: RW Jesse Puljujarvi (Karpat – SM-liiga)
5. Vancouver Canucks: D Olli Juolevi (London – OHL)
6. Calgary Flames: LW Matthew Tkachuk (London – OHL)
7. Arizona Coyotes: C Clayton Keller (USA NTDP – USHL)
8. Buffalo Sabres: F Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads – OHL)
9. Montreal Canadiens: D Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor – OHL)
10. Colorado Avalanche: C Tyson Jost (Penticton – BCHL)
11. Ottawa Senators (from New Jersey): C Logan Brown (Windsor – OHL)
12. New Jersey Devils (from Ottawa): C Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads – OHL)
13. Carolina Hurricanes: D Jake Bean (Calgary – WHL)
14. Boston Bruins: D Charlie McAvoy (Boston University – NCAA)
15. Minnesota Wild: C Luke Kunin (Wisconsin – NCAA)
16. Arizona Coyotes (From Detroit): D Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia – OHL)
17. Nashville Predators: D Dante Fabbro (Penticton – BCHL)
18. Winnipeg Jets (From Philadelphia): D Logan Stanley (Windsor – OHL)
19. New York Islanders: LW Kieffer Bellows (US NTDP)
20. Detroit Red Wings (from Arizona via New York Rangers): D Dennis Cholowski (Chilliwack (BCHL)
21. Carolina Hurricanes (from LA Kings): RW Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or Foreurs – QMJHL
22. Philadelphia Flyers (From Winnipeg via Chicago): C German Rubtsov (Team Russia U-18)
23. Florida Panthers: C Henrik Borgstrom (HIFK – SM-liiga Jr)
24. Anaheim Ducks: LW Max Jones (London – OHL)
25. Dallas Stars: LW Riley Tufte (Blaine – USHSW)
26. St. Louis Blues (From Washington): C Tage Thompson (Connecticut – NCAA)
27. Tampa Bay Lightning: C Brett Howden (Moose Jaw – WHL)
28. Washington Capitals (From St. Louis): D Lucas Johansen (Kelowna – WHL)
29. Boston Bruins (from San Jose): C Trent Frederic (USA U-18 NTDP)
30. Anaheim Ducks (from Pittsburgh via Toronto): C Sam Steel (Regina – WHL)
Snapshots: Shattenkirk, Nugent-Hopkins, Bobrovsky
As we inch closer to the 2016 NHL Draft, trade speculation continues. Here’s a quick look at what’s being said around the league.
- Michael Russo tweets that the Wild and Oilers might pair up on a deal. Russo speculates that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the likely target for the Wild. David Staples writes that he’s not the biggest fan of this move. While it would yield Mathew Dumba or Jonas Brodin (or possibly both), Staples doesn’t believe it benefits the Oilers in terms of obtaining the puck moving defenseman they need.
- Jimmy Murphy tweets that Kevin Shattenkirk remains a very high priority for several teams. Murphy indicated that the Bruins first round selection (14th overall) might just do the trick. Murphy includes the Red Wings, Rangers, Canadiens, and Coyotes as other possibilities. Joe Haggerty believes the Bruins will ultimately end up with Shattenkirk.
- Kevin Allen writes more about Cam Fowler moving to another team. Allen lists the Red Wings, Canadiens, Bruins, and Sabres as possible landing points. Allen also reports that the Blue Jackets will listen to offers for their 3rd overall pick. Kevin McGran tweeted this as well, adding that Columbus is looking for a proven center.
- Aaron Portzline reports that the Blue Jackets may want to look at offloading goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The $7.425MM cap hit would be tough to unload on another team without either a weaker return or a willingness to take on some of the salary. Portzline also listed the four goalies who are being shopped: Bobrovsky, Jimmy Howard, Ben Bishop, and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Draft Day Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Predators, Wild, Jets
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft gets underway tonight and one of the top picks appears to be in play. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch spoke with Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen who noted that the team has received at least ten offers for the third overall pick.
Kekalainen is telling teams that he is willing to move the pick but would not slide out of the top ten in any trade. He also has informed them that no trade would be made until they’re on the draft floor after the top two selections are made.
Other draft day rumblings:
- The Nashville Predators could be targeting a defenseman with their first pick in the draft (17th overall), writes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. While the team does have several strong blueliners already, they did move Seth Jones to Columbus midseason and they have only picked one defender with a first round pick in the last five years. In the same piece, GM David Poile acknowledged that he doesn’t have much interest in moving up or down from pick 17.
- Minnesota holds just two picks in the first six rounds which could make it difficult for the Wild to move up, writes The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo. GM Chuck Fletcher wouldn’t be opposed to trading down from their 15th overall selection to acquire more picks but only if there are a number of players left on their draft board at that time.
- The Winnipeg Jets have put the 22nd overall pick in play, ESPN’s Craig Custance reports. The Jets acquired the selection prior to the trade deadline as part of the Andrew Ladd to Chicago deal. Winnipeg is believed to be seeking a left shot defenseman and a top nine forward.
Blue Jackets Re-Sign William Karlsson
Per Rob Mixer, the Blue Jackets have re-signed center William Karlsson to a 2-year, deal. The cap hit will be $1MM per season according to Cap Friendly.
Karlsson played in 81 games for Columbus during the 2015-16 season, his first full season after joining the team in 2014-15 upon being traded by Anaheim. He had 20 points (9-11) and was a -9. His offensive numbers represented career highs across the board.
Karlsson was originally a second round pick (53rd overall) of the Ducks back in 2011. He will likely battle for a spot on in the Jackets’ bottom six forward group once again for 2016-17.