Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Mathieu Olivier
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today they’ve secured the services of right wing Mathieu Olivier for the next two seasons. The team revealed that the deal is worth $2.2MM in total and will keep the 26-year-old in Columbus until the end of the 2024-25 season at a $1.1MM cap hit.
Olivier was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights after completing a two-year, $1.5MM contract signed with the Nashville Predators in 2021. Columbus acquired him for a 2022 fourth-round pick nearly one year ago, and the gritty winger responded by recording career highs across the board with five goals and 15 points in 65 games. He’s got a bit more skill to his game than a typical enforcer, although he doesn’t have much upward mobility in the lineup.
It’s a fine deal for a player of his role, although with the team now carrying less than $5MM in projected cap space (CapFriendly) before July’s even started, seven figures per season may have been a bit of a reach. The team’s fourth line of Olivier, Eric Robinson, and Sean Kuraly was their most consistently used in 2022-23, amassing nearly 400 minutes of play together.
The 6-foot-2 product of Mississippi will be an unrestricted free agent in two years.
Blue Jackets Notes: Third Overall Pick, Coaching Staff, Voronkov
With phenom Connor Bedard effectively a lock to go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks and Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli widely expected to be pick number two, many believe that the first pick with major intrigue at the draft later this month is the third pick, held by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus has long sought after a star number-one center, and with this third pick they have an excellent opportunity to draft a player who can fill that role.
According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Portzline writes: “We know this much: the Blue Jackets will spend the No. 3 pick on a center.” (subscription link) While there is always room for a surprise, the two players widely expected to be available for the team to select are Orebro HK’s Leo Carlsson and Boston College commit Will Smith. It seems likely that Columbus will end up with one of those two players, and it’s difficult to go wrong picking either one. Carlsson was extremely impressive playing largely at left wing for Orebro, scoring 25 points in 44 regular-season games and nine in 13 playoff games. He also showed well at the IIHF Men’s World Championships, serving as Sweden’s first-line center. Their other expected option, Smith, is an extremely intelligent player who plays the style of a deceptive and creative playmaking center. Operating in between two other top prospects (Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perrault) Smith had one of the most productive seasons in U.S. National Team Development Program history. So while we may not know exactly who Columbus will draft in 10 days, we do know they’re going to get an impactful center prospect.
Some other notes about the Blue Jackets:
- Portzline also reported today that the Blue Jackets are expected to retain the assistant coaches they had under former coach Brad Larsen to fill the staff of reported new head coach Mike Babcock. Those assistants are Pascal Vincent, who was a candidate for the team’s head coaching job in their past two searches, Steve McCarthy, Kenny McCudden, and Jared Boll. They each have one year remaining on their contracts with Columbus, according to Portzline.
- One last bit of information from Portzline’s piece today regards center Dmitri Voronkov, who the team signed to an entry-level deal in May. Per Portzline, Voronkov’s contract contains a stipulation that would allow him to “return to Russia if he’s not on the Blue Jackets roster by the end of December.” The hope is, of course, that the 22-year-old Voronkov can seize an NHL job in training camp and make an instant impact in Columbus. He had an impressive final season in the KHL with 26 goals and 43 points in 78 combined regular season and playoff games. But if he can’t manage to hold down a spot in Babcock’s lineup and ends up playing with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters by the end of 2023, we now know he’ll have the option to head back to Russia.
Kevin Hayes Acquisition Appearing Less Likely
- On today’s episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dumped some cold water on the rumors of a Kevin Hayes trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. After the two teams were involved in a three-way deal that saw Ivan Provorov head from the Flyers to the Jackets, reports said the move didn’t eliminate the possibility of the long-rumored Hayes deal coming to fruition. However, the Blue Jackets now have under $6MM in projected cap space for 2023-24 (CapFriendly) after getting defender Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade, which would force the Flyers to retain a high amount of Hayes’ $7.14MM cap hit through 2025-26. While Columbus remains in desperate need of centers, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen now has seven defensemen on the roster that cost more than $2MM against the cap, including a combined $6.75MM wrapped up in Erik Gudbranson and Andrew Peeke, who both had very disappointing campaigns last season.
Blue Jackets Re-Sign Joshua Dunne
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
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
- 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
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
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
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
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.