Stars Re-Sign Landon Bow
The Stars have retained some goaltending depth, announcing the re-signing of Landon Bow to a one-year, two-way contract. CapFriendly reports that the contract will be worth $700K at the NHL and contains $110K in guaranteed money.
Bow spent last season as the third-string netminder in Dallas and that’s as high on the depth chart as he’ll be able to get next year with Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin both returning. He played in 46 games with AHL Texas, posting a 2.89 GAA with a .893 SV%. The 23-year-old also made his NHL debut, getting into a pair of games with the Stars.
Bow could very well serve in a lesser role for 2019-20. 2017 first-round pick Jake Oettinger turned pro at the end of last season and got into six games with Texas soon after. It’s likely that Dallas will want to give him the bulk of the starts to aid in his development which could force Bow into a reserve role. Even so, it’s possible that he could be the first one recalled in the event that Bishop or Khudobin get injured rather than have Oettinger come up and sit on the bench most nights.
Dallas Stars Sign Corey Perry
It appears as if Joe Pavelski won’t be the only veteran heading to Dallas. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that winger Corey Perry will sign a one-year deal with the Stars. The deal will carry a $1.5MM base salary and will also contain up to $1.75MM in potential performance bonuses.
The 34-year-old is coming off the toughest season of his lengthy NHL career. A knee injury cost him 51 games and when he was in Anaheim’s lineup, he struggled considerably. He wound up with just six goals and four assists in 31 games with the Ducks and was having difficulties keeping up at times. As a result, they decided to buy out the final two years of his contract earlier this month.
The one bright side to the injuries is that it enabled Dallas to put incentives in his contract. Normally, that’s restricted until a player turns 35 but because Perry spent at least 100 days on IR and has more than 400 career games under his belt, that made him eligible as long as he signed a one-year deal.
While Perry is coming off of a tough season, it’s certainly a reasonable gamble for the Stars to make. Secondary scoring was an issue for them in 2018-19 and at a $1.5MM base salary, they don’t need him to be a huge producer to justify that price tag. If he can settle in and play somewhere in their middle six, he should be able to provide decent value on this contract as long as he can stay healthy.
Dallas Stars Buy Out Valeri Nichushkin
Sunday: The buyout is official, and Nichushkin is now an unrestricted free agent.
Saturday: Last summer, winger Valeri Nichushkin was a key part of the offseason additions for the Stars. Now, he’s on his way out the door. Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports (Twitter link) that Dallas will be placing him on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract.
Nichushkin had a rough year in 2018-19 to put it lightly. He failed to score a single goal in 57 regular season games and went from seeing a bit of time in the top six to a depth role to basically out of the lineup altogether. In their postseason run, he suited up just once in 13 games. Needless to say, he didn’t come close to living up to the expectations of his two-year, $5.9MM contract.
As he is just 25, the cost of buying out Nichushkin is considerably cheaper than the standard cost. Instead of Dallas needing to pay two-thirds of the contract over two times the remaining term, they only have to pay one-third over that same term. As a result, the payout will be as follows:
2019-20: $700K
2020-21: $450K
As a result of this move, Dallas will save $2.25MM on the salary cap for next season which will up their payroll room to a little under $12.5MM. With only a pair of depth restricted free agents to re-sign in defenseman Julius Honka and center Jason Dickinson, the Stars are poised to be an impact team in free agency next week.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Nichushkin. He now enters the open market as one of the younger free agents available and while his 2018-19 campaign was one to forget, he has had some success in the past with Dallas in his first stint with the team before he went back to the KHL. There should be a fair bit of interest in his services from teams thinking that a change of scenery can rejuvenate him but at the same time, there should be a lot of interest from the KHL as well. Either way, he’s an intriguing late addition to this free agent class.
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Dallas Stars Re-Sign Taylor Fedun
The Dallas Stars have decided to bring back one of their depth defensemen, today signing Taylor Fedun to a two-year, two-way contract. Fedun was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but will stick around with the Dallas organization through 2020-21. The deal carries a $737.5K annual average value in the NHL.
Fedun, 31, has been a professional for many years but only received his first extended opportunity at the NHL level with Dallas last season. Suiting up for 54 games—more than he had in his previous six pro seasons combined—he finished with 11 points and found himself in a depth role where he averaged just under 14 minutes a night. All of that came after a November trade from the Buffalo Sabres which cost the Stars just a 2020 seventh-round pick, a small price to pay for an NHL regular. That pick though is still higher than Fedun was ever drafted.
Playing in the Albert Junior Hockey league instead of the CHL, Fedun was undrafted and went to Princeton to play hockey and get a mechanical engineering degree. It turns out he wouldn’t need it yet as he has instead carved himself out a nice playing career including some excellent seasons in the minor leagues. While the deal is still a two-way contract that means he earns a different salary at the NHL and AHL level, he secured a $350K minimum in year one and $400K minimum in year two.
Pavelski, Duchene Visit Potential Landing Spots
The UFA interview period has been open for several days, and though not every free agent wants to jet around the continent meeting with potential teams some want to see what they would be getting themselves into first hand. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) gives some updates on a pair of top names today, reporting that Matt Duchene met with the Montreal Canadiens yesterday and the Nashville Predators today, while Joe Pavelski spent Wednesday meeting with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. Pavelski was again spotted by reddit user Boltsfan91 at the team’s development camp alongside head coach Jon Cooper.
While obviously visits don’t necessarily mean a player will end up in that city when the dust settles on July 1, it does at least indicate some level of interest from the hosting club. Tampa Bay is especially interesting because of their own financial issues related to restricted free agent Brayden Point, who should be eating up a substantial amount of their $10.6MM in cap space. The Lightning do have some flexibility after Ryan Callahan was ruled out with degenerative disc disease allowing them to place his $5.8MM on long-term injured reserve, but signing a player like Pavelski would be difficult without moving another contract out.
Duchene has been linked to the Predators for years, but LeBrun notes that he grew up a Canadiens fan thanks to his family’s support of the team and GM Marc Bergevin did inquire on his price at the trade deadline before he eventually landed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. There are still several days before free agency officially opens on July 1, and anything could still happen with these top names.
Market Materializing For Corey Perry
The Anaheim Ducks said farewell to a franchise icon earlier this month when they bought out the remaining years of Corey Perry‘s contract, making him an unrestricted free agent headed for the open market. The veteran forward is determined to return to a competitive level after failing to record 20 goals in each of the last three seasons, and it appears as though he’ll have more than enough opportunity. There was already reporting that linked Perry to the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks, but now Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet indicates that the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars are among those on his radar.
The Stars have also been linked to another veteran from the Pacific Division in Joe Pavelski, and as Friedman puts it they are “determined to add scorers.” That would certainly describe Perry, as the 34-year old has 372 goals including six seasons of at least 30. The question is can Perry still be that kind of player, dangerous on the powerplay and effective at even-strength. Dallas already watched the rapid decline of a former star over the last few years as Jason Spezza‘s career wound down.
Montreal meanwhile seems to be poking around most free agent, though they won’t be able to bring in everyone. The team has almost $9MM in cap space right now but needs to sign a few restricted free agents and think about the extensions that Max Domi and Victor Mete will be after next summer. If they plan on bringing in some help on the blue line a deal for Perry would have to be relatively inexpensive.
That’s exactly what might happen with the former Duck, as Perry is actually eligible for a performance bonus-laden deal if he settles for a one-year contract. Despite not being 35 yet he qualifies because of the number of days he spent on injured reserve last season. That could be the perfect answer for teams like Montreal or Pittsburgh who may not want to sacrifice much cap space to the former Hart trophy winner.
Snapshots: Qualifying Offers, Haas, Doan
The quality of players hitting the open market today after not receiving qualifying offers is much higher than in recent years past, as teams facing frightening salary cap crunches do not want to issue expensive offers or risk possible arbitration decisions. However, many of these top names officially becoming unrestricted free agents may not be done with their current team’s just yet. The poster boy of this idea is Ryan Hartman, acquired by the Dallas Stars yesterday only to not receive a qualifying offer today. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the team was unable to negotiate with Hartman in the short time after he was acquired and did not want to risk the potential award that he could land in arbitration. Dallas obviously made the deal knowing this was a possibility and LeBrun notes that they plan to use the waning days of early negotiating rights to their advantage in hopes of signing him. The same story rings true for the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Ben Hutton. The team did not want to pay Hutton his $2.8MM qualifying offer, nevertheless what he might make in arbitration, especially as they pursue another top defenseman in Tyler Myers, so the team tried to find another solution. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwhal reports that they tried first to trade Hutton, but to no avail. The only other possibility was to let him reach UFA status, negating his arbitration rights, and try negotiating a deal with a lower salary. It seems like a stretch for Vancouver, but so long as they have rights to Hutton, they’ll try their hardest to work out a deal. One last name that may not be headed elsewhere after all is young forward Curtis Lazar. The Calgary Flames did not feel Lazar was worthy of a near-$1MM qualifying offer or potential arbitration battle, but they also have not closed the door on re-signing him, writes beat reported Kristen Anderson. The Flames are continuing negotiations with Lazar’s camp in hopes that he may return at a lower number. However, after Lazar was given just one NHL appearance this season, one would think that he will look for a better opportunity elsewhere next season.
- Swiss hockey site He Shoots He Scores reports that a deal is imminent between NLA star Gaetan Haas and the Edmonton Oilers. The site relays the news directly from Haas’ agent, who claims an offer has been submitted and will be signed. The 27-year-old forward is coming off back-to-back dominant seasons, recording 30 goals and 79 points in 97 games overall for SC Bern. A two-way center who plays a complete game, this will be Haas’ first venture out of Switzerland, other than international competition, and the Oilers will hope his game can translate. This would be Edmonton’s second import of the off-season already, along with Swedish forward Joakim Nygard, as the team continues to seek affordable scoring help.
- Arizona State University continues to benefit from being the lone NCAA on the west coast by sweeping up the sons of former nearby NHLers. The Sun Devils received another notable commitment recently from none other than the son of Arizona’s most beloved hockey player, Shane Doan. Josh Doan, 17, announced that he will stay close to home by playing for the program, beginning in 2021-22. Doan was drafted by the USHL’s Chicago Steel last year and will likely spend a season or two with the team before arriving at Arizona State. Doan now joins Carson Briere and Jackson Niedermayer as sons of famous hockey fathers all committed to ASU. Add in recent New Jersey Devils draft pick, goaltender Cole Brady, and the future is looking bright for the upstart Sun Devils program.
Philadelphia Flyers Trade Ryan Hartman
The Philadelphia Flyers have decided to move on from Ryan Hartman just a few months after acquiring him. The young forward is on his way to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Tyler Pitlick. Hartman is a restricted free agent this offseason, and was part of the deal that saw Wayne Simmonds head to the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline.
Hartman, 24, has now been part of four NHL organizations since being selected 30th overall in 2013. Reaching a career-high 19 goals and 31 points with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016-17, he hasn’t been able to replicate that kind of production in Nashville or Philadelphia. In fact, Hartman recorded just 26 points total in his most recent season and didn’t find a great fit offensively with the Flyers. Still, his physical style still brings some potential to slide into the Stars’ top-nine and provide something that the team covets.
The fact that he is a restricted free agent shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle, but does likely mean that the Stars are taking on some salary in the deal. Pitlick was in the final season of a three-year deal that carries a $1MM cap hit, making him an affordable depth forward for the Flyers. Pitlick played 47 games for the Stars last season, recording 12 points but still providing a physical edge. The 27-year old has never been much of an offensive threat, recording a career-high 27 points in 2017-18.
While Hartman hasn’t lived up to his potential so far, this is quite a drop in value over the last few years. The Predators originally acquired him from the Blackhawks in 2018 in exchange for a package including Victor Ejdsell and a first-round pick, while he then landed them coveted deadline acquisition Simmonds a year later. While Pitlick will surely play for the Flyers, he doesn’t represent the kind of upside many believed Hartman to have just a few seasons ago.
Joe Pavelski To Meet With Several Teams
The San Jose Sharks have already done some heavy lifting this offseason, re-signing Erik Karlsson to a huge contract and dealing Justin Braun to the Philadelphia Flyers. Several more deals took place on the second day of the draft to get San Jose the picks and prospects they were after, but there is plenty more work to be done in the coming days. Timo Meier‘s next contract may be the most important, but Joe Pavelski will be the focus for many fans that don’t want to see their captain walk out the door after an incredible playoff performance.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that Pavelski and agent Dan Plante have several visits set up with potential teams this week in the unrestricted free agent interview period. While none of those teams are confirmed, LeBrun suggests that the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning may bring Pavelski in for a meeting, while the Buffalo Sabres called but do not have a visit scheduled. Craig Morgan of The Athletic also indicated the Arizona Coyotes’ interest in his latest piece.
It’s not hard to understand why teams would be calling on the veteran forward. Even at 34 Pavelski was a dominant player once again for the Sharks, recording 38 goals and 64 points in 75 games before a playoffs that saw him return from several major injuries. The heart and soul forward is one of the most well respected leaders in the league and now has 100 points in 134 career playoff games including 12 game-winning goals. While he doesn’t have any individual trophies, Pavelski has long been a Selke candidate as one of the best defensive forwards in the game and is one of the best net-front players in the league.
Obviously the Stars, Lightning, Sabres and Coyotes won’t be the only teams interested, but a return to San Jose is still possible. GM Doug Wilson watched career-Shark Patrick Marleau chase a third year two summers ago, and will have a similar tough decision to make on Pavelski, who will surely draw multi-year offers even at his age. The team doesn’t have a ton of cap space to throw around given the need to re-sign Meier and Kevin Labanc, not to mention Joe Thornton and Gustav Nyquist who are also unrestricted free agents.
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Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars
Free agency is now less than two weeks 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. Dallas has a few pricey contracts coming off their books and only a few RFAs needing new deals. Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Jason Dickinson – After being up and down in 2017-18, the 23-year-old locked down a regular role in their bottom six and held his own while chipping in with 22 points in the regular season and five more in the playoffs. Dickinson is owed a qualifying offer of just under $920K and it shouldn’t take much more than that to get him under contract even though he is eligible for salary arbitration.
D Julius Honka – It wasn’t that long ago that he was viewed as an important building block for their back end. However, Honka hasn’t lived up to his potential. He was in the doghouse for most of the season and when he did get into the lineup, he didn’t see a lot of playing time and didn’t make much of it. At 23, there is still the hope that there’s some upside and that should be enough to secure him a qualifying offer of just over $874K. Even with that though, that may come primarily to give them the option to trade him down the road.
Other RFAs: D Gavin Bayreuther, G Landon Bow, G Phillipe Desrosiers, D Niklas Hansson, D Dillon Heatherington, D Chris Martenet, F Brett Ritchie
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Mats Zuccarello – He didn’t get much of a chance to make an impression in the regular season as he was injured in his first game with Dallas after being acquired. However, he returned for the playoffs and tied for the team lead in scoring. Zuccarello will be 32 at the start of next season so he should have a few good years left in him and should draw considerable interest on the open market as one of the more consistent wingers available. Unfortunately for Dallas, if they wind up re-signing him, they will have to part with a first-round pick (instead of a third rounder) as part of the trade to bring him in from the Rangers. Zuccarello has indicated that he wants to see what his options are so we’ll see over the next week if he decides to circle back or not.
F Jason Spezza – While Spezza was once a key cog for the Stars, he has seen his production tail off considerably the last two seasons as his career starts to wind up. At 36, he’s now subject to 35+ contract rules so he will likely be going year-to-year moving forward. A team thinking that a change of scenery could lead to a short-term resurgence will give him a look but he’ll have to take a significant pay cut from the $7.5MM he has made in each of the last four years.
D Ben Lovejoy – The veteran blueliner was added to give the Stars some stability on the back end for the postseason and there will undoubtedly be teams that will be looking to free agency to try to get him to do that for them. His best days are behind him but he can still help a third pairing for another year or two but will also probably be looking at a dip in pay from his previous $2.67MM AAV.
Other UFAs: F Erik Condra, D Taylor Fedun, D Marc Methot, D Reese Scarlett
Projected Cap Space: The Stars have a little less than $10MM in cap room under the $81.5MM Upper Limit, per CapFriendly. Their RFAs won’t cost too much to keep around so GM Jim Nill will have some room to go shopping on the open market. Whether that money is spent on Zuccarello or another player remains to be seen.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.