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Blue Jackets Re-Sign Joshua Dunne

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The Blue Jackets have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents early as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve re-signed forward Joshua Dunne to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay $775K in the NHL and $125K in the minors with a total guarantee of $175K.

The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with Columbus as an undrafted college free agent back in 2021 and has seen NHL action in two of his three professional seasons including a career-high eight appearances with the Blue Jackets in 2022-23.  However, he’s still looking for his first point at the top level.  He did, however, have a strong season with AHL Cleveland, finishing second on the Monsters in goals with 20 and fourth in points with 37.

Dunne would have been owed a qualifying offer of nearly $918K this summer with an AHL salary of $80K.  Instead, he has opted to take less than that in the NHL in exchange for the higher guaranteed salary.  With Columbus trending toward being a team that spends close to the salary cap again next season, the lower cap charge should also help his chances of a recall.  Dunne will once again be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights next summer.

Columbus Blue Jackets Expected To Name Niklas Bäckström Goalie Coach

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After solidifying Mike Babcock as their head coaching hire, which won’t be official until later this summer, the Columbus Blue Jackets still had one vacancy left to fill on their bench. That will be filled soon, as multiple sources indicated to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that longtime Minnesota Wild netminder Niklas Bäckström will be named their new goaltending coach.

Bäckström will be taking over from Manny Legace, whose contract was not renewed after 2022-23.

The 45-year-old Finn last played in the NHL with the Calgary Flames in 2015-16 but played three more seasons professionally in Finland before calling it a career. Since retiring in 2019, he’s served on and off with Columbus as a scout and as a European goaltending development coach.

During his playing days, Bäckström amassed 413 games of NHL experience, 409 of which came with Minnesota. Known for his sound technical play, Bäckström was a Vezina Trophy nominee in 2008-09 after posting a .923 save percentage, 37-24-8 record, and eight shutouts in 71 starts.

Bäckström will now be in charge of working with Columbus’ NHL goalie tandem, which, as it stands, is made up of European starter Elvis Merzlikins and Russian backup Daniil Tarasov. Merzlikins struggled mightily last season after a strong stretch of play, and the pivot to Bäckström as goalie coach is made with his performance in mind especially.

Blue Jackets Unlikely To Re-Sign Gavin Bayreuther

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  • Another player set to change teams this summer is defenseman Gavin Bayreuther of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 29-year-old played in 94 games for Columbus over the past two seasons, seizing opportunities provided by the multitude of injuries that have hit the Blue Jackets’ defense in that span of time. But now that the team has added considerable talent to their blueline in recent days (through trades for Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson) they have quite the logjam on defense. Columbus has eight defensemen on one-way contracts at the moment and that doesn’t include David Jiricek, the 2022 sixth-overall pick who will likely play his way into NHL consideration quickly in the fall. As a result, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that “it seems a safe bet” that Bayreuther will hit the open market and move on from the club he’s been with for the past three seasons. (subscription link)

Snapshots: Pesce, Third Overall Pick, Florida Everblades

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The Carolina Hurricanes have been one of the NHL’s most consistently competitive franchises in recent years and a major reason for their success has been the fact that they’ve thus far avoided giving out the types of inefficient, expensive contracts that eat up too much salary cap space and have sunk other team’s competitive hopes. A byproduct of that tendency to stick to their own valuations of players and not let the market dictate their plans has been that they’ve seen some talented players leave, players other clubs might have found a way to retain. Players such as Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Trocheck are examples of this, and perhaps the next player to be added to that list could be defenseman Brett Pesce.

Per a report from The Athletic, “If Pesce’s demands aren’t realistic to what Carolina had in mind” for his next contract, the Hurricanes “may very well trade him this summer.” (subscription link) Pesce, 28, will see his $4.025MM AAV contract expire next summer and could be looking to secure a significant raise after seeing himself go underpaid due to that contract relative to the immense on-ice value he’s provided. Pesce set a new career high in points this past season and is widely respected as a top-of-the-line defenseman in his own end. He’d likely fetch a significant return if traded, so it seems the Hurricanes may consider trading Pesce this summer in order to recoup some value rather than risk retaining him through the expiry of his contract next summer, only to see him leave for another team with Carolina receiving no compensation in return.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • With the Blue Jackets aggressively pursuing upgrades to their roster that will help them win in the short-term, many have wondered if the Blue Jackets would consider trading the third overall pick in this year’s draft in order to get a quality, established player. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen spoke on the prospect of trading the pick, according to the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger. Kekalainen said it would take “an awful lot” in order to convince the team to trade that pick, and although they’ve received trade calls nothing yet has come close to being enough for the team to consider making that deal. The Blue Jackets have long sought after a true first-line center to build their forward corps around, and with promising pivots such as Leo Carlsson and Will Smith expected to be available for Columbus to draft, it seems Kekalainen would need to be truly wowed by an offer in order to move the third pick.
  • The ECHL’s Florida Everblades secured their second consecutive Kelly Cup championship last night, sweeping the league’s finals against the Idaho Steelheads, a team that went on a historic run during the regular season. The Steelheads went 58-11-3 and stormed to the Kelly Cup finals but couldn’t find an answer to former University of North Dakota netminder Cam Johnson and the Everblades. Former Merrimack College captain Tyler Irvine scored the championship-clinching goal midway through the third period of the contest, leading the Everblades to the third title in their franchise history.

Columbus Blue Jackets Had Interest In Colton Parayko

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In a somewhat stunning series of moves, the Columbus Blue Jackets went out and got two top-four caliber defenders on the trade market this week in Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. Considering how early in the offseason they made these moves, it’s clear that upgrading on defense has been a priority of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen’s for quite some time.

Late Friday night, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported the Blue Jackets had also set their sights on Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues, likely as a backup plan in case one of the two transactions they pulled off fell through.

The imposing 6-foot-6 defender is one of the big trade bait pieces on the board this offseason – along with many other of his Blues teammates on defense. It could be a tough transaction to make for St. Louis, though, as the injury-prone 30-year-old is still locked in at a $6.5MM cap hit for seven (yes, seven) more seasons and carries full trade protection.

It hasn’t dissuaded teams from calling, though, as Pagnotta said Columbus isn’t the only team to have demonstrated interest in Parayko’s services so far this offseason. The right-shot D-man’s prospective spot in the Columbus lineup surely disappeared after acquiring Severson this morning, as the team still needs space in the lineup to ice youngsters Adam Boqvist and David Jiricek on the right side.

If a team is to make a successful trade for Parayko, it would surely involve a third-party team to retain some salary. That’s where concerns surrounding his term come in, though – how many assets would the team trading for Parayko need to pay a broker like the Chicago Blackhawks to be on the hook for seven more seasons of Parayko’s deal, even at a marginal cap hit? Few teams would anticipate not spending close to the cap for that stretch of time.

Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Damon Severson In Sign-And-Trade

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to acquire pending UFA defenseman Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade deal, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Severson’s extension will come in at eight years with a $6.25MM cap hit. Columbus would later make the deal official.

Columbus will send a third-round pick in this year’s draft, 80th overall (originally owned by Calgary), to New Jersey for facilitating the deal, says Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. PuckPedia has the details of Severson’s max-term contract:

2023-24: $6MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2024-25: $6MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2025-26: $5.5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2026-27: $4.1MM salary, $2MM signing bonus, full no-trade clause
2027-28: $3.3MM salary, $1.8MM signing bonus, 20-team trade list
2028-29: $4.1MM salary, $1MM signing bonus, 12-team trade list
2029-30: $5.1MM salary, 12-team trade list
2030-31: $5.1MM salary, 12-team trade list

This is the second true sign-and-trade in NHL history. The Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames became the first to do it with last year’s Matthew Tkachuk blockbuster.

It’s also the Columbus Blue Jackets’ second major move on defense in the span of three days. After an injury-riddled season that saw Columbus boast the weakest ’D’ corps in the league on some nights, the team has now added a pair of top-four caliber players in Severson and Ivan Provorov to compliment youngsters like Adam Boqvist, Nick Blankenburg, David Jiricek, and Andrew Peeke.

Severson, 28, was the longest-tenured member of the Devils, drafted just weeks after their run to the Stanley Cup Final – and last playoff series win before this year – in 2012. The veteran of nearly 650 NHL games has always been a capable point producer, recording a pair of 11-goal seasons and multiple 30-point campaigns, but has also put up some strong defensive metrics, especially this season.

This season, his Corsi For percentage at even strength was 56.5%, although it came with a small reduction in his role from over 23 minutes per game in 2021-22 to just under 20 minutes in 2022-23. While he may not have the upside of his fellow new teammates, Provorov, he’s got a much more solidified track record of two-way success and can play anywhere incoming head coach Mike Babcock chooses.

To put it simply – Severson is a capable, well-rounded, minute-munching defender who plays the right side. While the last few years of the contract carry some significant risk, given he’ll be in his mid-30s, $6.25MM is a very fair price to pay for his services right now.

The move takes one of the top pending UFAs off the market, and along with Vladislav Gavrikov’s extension in Los Angeles this week, the market for defenders on July 1 is looking a lot thinner. Dmitry Orlov, Erik Gustafsson, Shayne Gostisbehere, John Klingberg, and Matt Dumba now make up the remainder of the top UFAs available at the position.

One thing is abundantly clear – Columbus isn’t willing to wait any longer for a return to postseason play. With the Severson extension in play, the team should have a little under $6MM in cap space remaining this offseason, per CapFriendly, assuming a $1MM increase is finalized. That will undoubtedly go to upgrading their group of forwards.

New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols reported earlier in the week that Columbus had an interest in Severson.

AHL Announces Inaugural Top Prospects Team

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Ahead of the 2023 Calder Cup Finals, which starts tonight between the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Hershey Bears, the AHL has released a new award that will intrigue hockey fans across the country. The AHL Top Prospects Team is a group of players that may not be in the minor leagues for much longer.

This year’s group includes:

Tyson Foerster, Lehigh Valley Phantoms

The 21-year-old Foerster was selected 23rd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2020 and is one of the OHL players forced into the AHL during the 2020-21 season. Even as a teenager, he showed great scoring ability and returned this year to put up 20 goals and 48 points in 66 games.

Foerster made his NHL debut as well, suiting up eight times with the Flyers and putting up seven points—a taste of what will come next for the young forward.

Jiri Kulich, Rochester Americans

The Rochester club has seen several talented forwards come through in recent years, and Kulich is just the latest after being selected 28th overall in 2022 by the Buffalo Sabres. Coming over from the Czech Republic at just 18, he proved he was ready for North American professional hockey by scoring 24 goals and 46 points in 62 games.

Kulich was even better postseason, where he potted seven goals in 12 games. Only turning 19 in April, he was among the league’s youngest players this season.

Lukas Reichel, Rockford IceHogs

Anyone who has watched Reichel this season can see his time in the minor leagues should be over. The 17th overall selection in 2020 made his NHL debut for the Chicago Blackhawks last season and looked overwhelmed. Not so a year later, when he scored seven goals and 15 points in 23 games in the NHL.

The 21-year-old forward has been a dynamic offensive threat since the moment he joined Rockford, with career totals of 108 points in 111 games to this point.

David Jiricek, Cleveland Monsters

If it were a more important season for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jiricek might not have played a full season in the minor leagues. The 19-year-old defenseman was a menace at the AHL level, scoring six goals and 38 points in 55 games.

Known more for his size and blistering shot during his draft year, the 2022 sixth-overall pick showed improved poise and vision, leading to some lofty expectations in Columbus. Before long, he’ll be a full-time anchor on the Blue Jackets’ blue line.

Simon Nemec, Utica Comets

The other top defenseman from the 2022 draft class was Nemec, who didn’t disappoint in his rookie season. Selected second overall by the New Jersey Devils, the 19-year-old defenseman put up 12 goals and 34 points in 65 games.

Nemec has a wildly entertaining style that sees him fly all over the ice, making unpredictable plays regularly. While he may still take some unreasonable risks, he has a higher ceiling than almost any defensive prospect in the league, and should add that excitement to the Devils group soon enough.

Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa Wild

It was a pretty solid North American debut for Wallstedt, who posted a .908 save percentage in 38 AHL games. The big Swede was the 20th overall pick in 2021 and could buck the trend of goaltenders taking years to develop.

There was obvious growth in Wallstedt’s game during his first season in the AHL, and despite being just 20, he should already be factoring into the Minnesota Wild’s decision-making in net. They already have a young starter in Filip Gustavsson but may not need a backup for long.

Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Provorov As Part Of Three-Team Trade

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With Mike Babcock expected to be named Columbus Blue Jackets head coach later this summer, the Blue Jackets have made a major push to improve their roster for his first season as head coach.

In a trade officially announced by all three involved teams, Columbus is acquiring defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers, but there are a lot of moving parts to the deal. Here are the full details as told by the team announcement:

Philadelphia trades Ivan Provorov and Hayden Hodgson to Los Angeles in exchange for Calvin Petersen, Sean Walker, Helge Grans and the Kings’ 2024 second-round pick. Columbus acquires Kevin Connauton from Philadelphia in exchange for a 2023 first-round pick (22nd overall) and conditional second-round pick in either the 2024 or 2025 NHL Draft. Columbus acquires Provorov from Los Angeles in exchange for Connauton.

The Kings are retaining 30% of Provorov’s deal, meaning he’ll cost $4.725MM against the cap for Columbus for the next two seasons.

Laid out plainly, here is what each team is acquiring as part of this deal:

Columbus gets: Provorov. Philadelphia gets: Petersen, Grans, Walker, 2023 1st (via CBJ via LA), 2024 2nd (via LA), conditional 2nd (via CBJ). Los Angeles gets: Hodgson, Connauton.

Columbus’ acquisition of Provorov should not come as a surprise, as it was reported months ago that the team had an interest in acquiring a defensive upgrade to fill the void left by their trade of Vladislav Gavrikov to Los Angeles. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen has found his upgrade in Provorov, 26.

Provorov was the seventh-overall pick at that 2015 draft and at times looked to be a potential top-of-the-lineup, all-situations force for Philadelphia. He averages over 24 minutes per night for his career, and has a career-high of 17 goals and 41 points.

But in recent seasons, as the Flyers themselves have descended from consistent playoff team to league basement-dweller, Provorov’s form has declined and this season he played a full minute less per game than his career average, earning 23:01 time on ice per contest.

As Provorov’s inconsistency became harder and harder to ignore and the Flyers organization began to pivot to more of a rebuild-like direction, it became clear that a change of scenery would likely be in the best interest of all parties.

Now Provorov gets his change of scenery with two seasons remaining on his contract. He’ll land in Columbus, where he’ll be slotted more appropriately as the team’s number-two left-shot defenseman behind franchise face Zach Werenski.

Assuming Werenski can return to form next season after an injury cost him most of his 2022-23, Provorov will be in a more comfortable position as a second-pairing anchor. It’s likely that the Blue Jackets believe he’ll be able to reach the heights he hit earlier in his career in that position sort of position, when he’s not being leaned on as his coach’s number-one option.

For the Kings, the motivations behind this deal seem relatively clear. First and foremost, creating cap space was an important priority, and is something the Kings have done by sending Petersen and his $5MM AAV deal to the Flyers.

Petersen once looked like a potential successor to Jonathan Quick for the Kings, posting a solid .911 save percentage in 35 games in 2020-21. Since that point, though, Petersen has declined sharply and this season spent most of the year in the AHL as he had a grisly .868 save percentage in his 10 NHL games. Now Petersen will get a fresh start in Philadelphia while the Kings clear his hefty cap hit off their books, save for any money they retain. (which will be revealed when the official trade details come in)

Cap space is of importance to the Kings as they are looking to sign an extension with Gavrikov, their mid-season trade acquisition. ESPN’s John Buccigross on Twitter cited a conversation with a Kings executive who pegged the cost of Gavrikov’s contract extension to be in the “$6-7 million” range, with the team preferring to keep the number as early in the $6MM range as possible. If the Kings do end up finalizing that sort of contract extension with the 27-year-old Russian rearguard, this trade of Petersen is an essential one.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that Gavrikov is “only interested in a two-year contract extension with the Kings,” which could contribute to the higher price tag Buccigross is reporting, as the conventional wisdom is that short-term contracts for coveted players who are in their prime would carry higher average annual values than the more traditional long-term commitments.

Meanwhile, the trade of Walker (reportedly to Philadelphia) is no surprise seeing as the Kings have been long expected to deal from their surplus of right-shot NHL-ready blueliners. With Sean Durzi a breakout talent and 22-year-old Jordan Spence clearly ready to take on the challenge of the NHL, it seems Walker was the odd man out in the team’s right-shot defensive picture.

Walker is a 28-year-old undrafted Bowling Green State University product who is making $2.65MM against the cap for one more season. He scored 13 points in 70 games this season and contributed to the team’s penalty kill, but his average ice time was cut from 18:22 per game last year to just 14:50 this season.

Perhaps he’ll be able to earn a larger role in Philadelphia, or the Flyers could even opt to flip him to another team to earn even more draft capital to further their rebuild process.

They’ll also get Connauton, a 33-year-old defender with 360 games of NHL experience on a $762.5k cap hit for next season. He scored 15 points in 63 games in 2022-23 for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, and it was his first season since 2013 spent without a single NHL game played. He’ll likely play with the Ontario Reign in the AHL and add to the Kings’ defensive depth.

Hodgson, 27, has just seven games of NHL experience but scored 19 goals and 31 points in 46 AHL games in 2021-22. His point total dropped to eight this past year, but perhaps the physical forward can return to AHL prominence in Ontario.

For Philadelphia, this deal is all about adding as much draft and prospect capital to further their rebuild under new GM Daniel Briere. Getting a first-rounder in a highly-regarded draft is a solid return for Provorov, and the additional two second-rounders are a great bonus. Grans has had an uneven time in the AHL with the Kings organization, but he’s still just 21 years old and was the 35th overall pick at the 2020 draft. He’s a talented prospect who could quickly put himself in the Flyers’ blueline mix.

This trade is Briere’s first move in what is likely to be a summer of major change for the Flyers. If they are indeed pursuing a complete rebuilding process, (perhaps including a trade of netminder Carter Hart, who has been the subject of “industry rumblings” about a potential trade) this is a strong first transaction to get that rebuild started.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the deal taking place. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, and ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski each first reported other elements of the deal.  

Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Jake Christiansen To Extension

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A busy day on the NHL signing wire continues, as the Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Jake Christiansen to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Columbus didn’t disclose the details of the deal.

Christiansen has amassed 32 games of NHL experience over the past two seasons, proving himself to be a callup option when injuries strike. The 23-year-old is still developing and will fight for NHL time with Columbus’ growing group of young defenders.

24 of those 32 appearances came last season as injuries decimated the team. He recorded four assists in those outings, strictly playing depth minutes.

With healthy seasons from Nick Blankenburg, Jake Bean, and Adam Boqvist next year, though, it seems unlikely Christiansen will build much on his NHL experience to date. The undrafted free agent signing has shown significant offensive upside in the minors, but he simply doesn’t have the NHL ceiling of other players in the Columbus system.

If he does make it to the NHL full-time someday, it would likely be as a bottom-pairing player with power-play time. He has an accurate finish from the back end and is smart with breakout passes, but he doesn’t have much to write home about in his defensive game.

Christiansen is entering his fourth campaign with the Blue Jackets organization after five seasons spent with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.

Mike Babcock Expected To Be Named Blue Jackets Head Coach

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It was expected by now that the Blue Jackets would officially have their head coach in place by now.  However, earlier today, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported (Twitter link) that the delay isn’t tied to their own deliberations but rather that something and/or someone was holding up the process.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the someone in question is Mike Babcock and the something pertains to his old contract in Toronto.  Dreger reports that Babcock is expected to become the new bench boss in Columbus but the hold-up in making the move official is due to his former deal with the Maple Leafs which doesn’t expire until the end of June.  Speculatively, based on this, it would seem like the Blue Jackets are waiting for the final month of his eight-year, $50MM contract from back in 2015 to end so that they won’t have to be responsible for paying for part of that.  (Babcock will receive that money no matter what, either all from Toronto or partially from Columbus with the Maple Leafs covering the difference.)

Babcock last coached in the NHL back in the 2019-20 campaign before being let go by Toronto after a sluggish 9-10-4 start to their season.  His tenure in Toronto wasn’t the greatest overall but it came on the heels of a successful ten-year run behind the bench in Detroit, anchored by a Stanley Cup title in 2008.  Overall, the 60-year-old has a 700-418-183 record over parts of 17 seasons between Anaheim, Detroit, and Toronto but word surfaced following his departure from the Maple Leafs about a toxic playing environment with both the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.  Internationally, he is the only member of the ’Triple Gold’ club among coaches (Olympics, World Championships, and a Stanley Cup).

Babcock was briefly behind the bench again in 2021-22, working with the University of Saskatchewan on a volunteer basis, receiving a two-year deal.  However, he stepped aside last summer, indicating at the time that he was retiring from coaching although he could change his mind if the right situation came up.  It appears that he feels the Blue Jackets are the right situation.

Columbus was active last summer, making a big splash on the free agent market in Johnny Gaudreau while working out a multi-year deal with Patrik Laine to give their attack a strong one-two punch.  However, it didn’t materialize in the form of victories as the Blue Jackets finished dead last in the Eastern Conference with just 59 points, a sizable drop from the 81 they had the year before.  That resulted in Brad Larsen being let go at the end of the season.

Babcock will now be tasked with trying to turn things around in Columbus, a team that has some quality youngsters in the organization already while they’re set to add another with the third-overall pick later this month, a selection that could yield the future top center they’ve long been seeking.  It’s a surprising turn of events for someone who hadn’t really been considered much in recent years for NHL coaching opportunities but if he’s able to get the Blue Jackets back into the playoff mix relatively quickly, he’ll have a chance at finishing his coaching career on a better note than it would have ended otherwise.

Assuming this hire is made official – though it might take a few more weeks – there are now three remaining head coaching vacancies in the NHL – the Ducks, Flames, and Rangers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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