Stars Sign Tyler Pitlick To Three-Year Deal
The Dallas Stars added some more forward depth, inking Tyler Pitlick to a three-year, $3MM deal. Pitlick spent last season with the Edmonton Oilers, notching 11 points (8-3).
Pitlick comes at a relatively low cost and is still only 25 years of age. It’s a depth move for the Stars, who are looking to rebound from an injury-ravaged 2016-17 season. The Stars released their own announcement on the signing, with general manager Jim Nill saying:
“Tyler is a young player who will add speed and size to our lineup,. He offers versatility to our forward group and we look forward to him being a Dallas Star for many years.”
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Goalie Antti Niemi
Antti Niemi will look to turn his career around as the recently bough-out goalie will move from expensive split starter, making $4.5MM with the Dallas Stars, to cheap veteran backup, making just $700K for the reigning Stanley Cup champs, according to a team release. The Penguins lacked an experienced substitute for Marc-Andre Fleury, which the desperately need for the talented, but oft-injured Matt Murray, and they hope Niemi can fit the bill and improve upon his ghastly .892 save percentage in 2016-17.
Niemi is an interesting story, as an undrafted goaltender who took the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup as a rookie, only to go to San Jose and struggle to get his team deep in the playoffs. Now, bought out by the Stars he’ll try to get back to the Finals with the team whose won the last two.
For the Penguins, watching Fleury go was hard not just because of his strong ties to the team and community, but also because of the stellar goaltending he’s given them for so long. Niemi is coming off a year in which he registered an .892 save percentage, and though some of that might be due to the weak team in Dallas, it’ll have to bounce back or he’ll find himself out of the league. That number isn’t acceptable by any NHL goaltender, much less one on a team hoping to compete.
2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker
Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.
Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.
July 1st:
- Anaheim re-signs Cam Fowler (8 years/$52MM)
- Anaheim signs Ryan Miller (2 years/$4MM)
- Arizona signs Adam Clendening (1 year/$650K)
- Boston signs Paul Postma (1 year/$725K)
- Buffalo signs Benoit Pouliot (1 year/$1.15MM)
- Buffalo signs Chad Johnson (1 year/$2.5MM)
- Carolina signs Justin Williams (2 years/$9MM)
- Chicago signs Patrick Sharp (1 year/$1MM)
- Chicago signs J-F Berube (2 years/$3MM)
- Chicago signs Jordan Oesterle (2 years/$1.3MM)
- Colorado signs Jonathan Bernier (1 year/$2.75MM)
- Dallas signs Martin Hanzal (3 years/$14.25MM)
- Dallas signs Tyler Pitlick (3 years/$3MM)
- Detroit signs Trevor Daley (3 years/$9.534MM)
- Florida signs Radim Vrbata (1 year/$2.5MM)
- Los Angeles signs Mike Cammalleri (1 year)
- Los Angeles signs Cal Petersen ( 2 year ELC)
- Los Angeles signs Christian Folin (1 year/$850K)
- Minnesota signs Ryan Murphy (1 year/$700k)
- Minnesota signs Landon Ferraro (2 years/$1.4MM)
- Minnesota signs Kyle Quincey (1 year/$1.25MM)
- Minnesota signs Cal O’Reilly (2 years/$1.4MM)
- Montreal signs Kyle Alzner (5 years/$22.5MM)
- Montreal signs Byron Froese
- Montreal signs Peter Holland
- Nashville signs Nick Bonino (4 years)
- Nashville signs Scott Hartnell (1 year/$1MM)
- Nashville signs Anders Lindback (1 year/$650K)
- Nashville signs Matt O’Connor (1 year/$650K)
- New Jersey signs Brian Boyle (2 years/$5.1MM)
- NY Rangers sign Ondrej Pavelec (1 year/$1.3MM)
- NY Rangers sign Kevin Shattenkirk (4 year/$26.6MM)
- Ottawa signs Nate Thompson (2 years/$3.3MM)
- Philadelphia re-signs Mike Vecchione (2 years/$1.88MM)
- Pittsburgh signs Antti Niemi (1 year/$700K)
- Pittsburgh signs Matt Hunwick (3 years/$6.75MM
- San Jose re-signs Martin Jones (6 years/$34.5MM)
- San Jose re-signs Marc-Edouard Vlasic (8 years/$56MM)
- San Jose re-signs Joe Thornton
- St. Louis signs Beau Bennett (1 year/$650K)
- St. Louis signs Chris Thorburn (2 years/$1.88MM)
- St. Louis re-signs Oskar Sundqvist (1 year/$650K)
- Tampa Bay signs Dan Girardi (2 years/$6MM)
- Toronto signs Ron Hainsey (2 years/$3.25MM)
- Toronto signs Curtis McElhinney (1 year/$850K)
- Toronto signs Dominic Moore (1 year/$1MM)
- Toronto signs Garret Sparks
- Winnipeg signs Dmitri Kulikov (3 years/$13MM)
- Winnipeg signs Steve Mason (2 years/$8.2MM)
- Vancouver signs Sam Gagner (3 years/$9.45MM)
- Vancouver signs Michael Del Zotto (2 years/$6MM)
- Vancouver signs Anders Nilsson (2 years/$5MM)
Dallas Stars Sign Martin Hanzal To Three-Year Deal
The Dallas Stars have inked one of the top centers on the market, signing Martin Hanzal to a three-year, $14.25MM deal according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. Hanzal was ranked #4 on our free agent list, where we predicted he would get a fourth year, but agree to a slightly smaller salary.
Instead, the 30-year old Hanzal will go down to Dallas to join Ken Hitchcock and the rest of their group, trying to get the Stars back to the playoffs after an extremely disappointing season. The Stars, losing Cody Eakin to the Vegas Golden Knights needed some help at center behind Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza, and bringing Hanzal in makes them very deep down the middle.
He can now play that third-line center role and contribute on both the powerplay and penalty kill. Though he saw more than 18 minutes a night in Arizona last year, his role in Dallas is more likely to be closer to the 15:31 he averaged for Minnesota. While $4.75MM might seem like a lot to pay that spot, Dallas had the room to do it and needed to land at least one of the bigger free agent forwards this year. Though linked to Justin Williams, he ended up signing in Carolina with his old team.
Chicago Blackhawks Bring Back Patrick Sharp
As indicated by reports this morning, the Chicago Blackhawks have indeed signed Patrick Sharp. After a two-year hiatus with the Dallas Stars, the three-time Stanley Cup winner is back home in Chicago to the tune of just $1MM. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the deal is for one year and carries an $800K base salary with $200K in bonuses for games played.
This could be quite the steal for the Blackhawks, given that Sharp scored 78 points in his last fully healthy season in Chicago. While Sharp struggled with injuries and inconsistency last season in Dallas, he posted 55 points in his first season with the team the year before and another 43 in just 68 games in his final season in Chicago. Armed with a top-end shot, Sharp was always the beneficiary of great offensive linemates on the Blackhawks and there is no reason to think he won’t excel again, even if he has lost a step.
Sharp becomes the second player this week to re-join the Blackhawks after the team re-acquired Brandon Saad from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a deal that saw Artemi Panarin shipped out of town. While neither Sharp nor Saad could single-handedly make up for the loss of offense from Panarin’s departure, together the two may be able to get the job done if they can re-ignite the old chemistry they had with the likes of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Nashville To Sign Nick Bonino For Four Years
TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Nashville Predators are signing Nick Bonino to a four-year deal.
The former Pittsburgh Penguin had 37 points (18-19) in 80 games and added 7 points (4-3) in the playoffs. PHR had Bonino listed as the 11th best free agent out there, and correctly predicted a four-year deal.
Bonino will give the Preds some more depth up front, while playing a solid two-way game. What remains to be seen is how he does without having superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby facing other team’s top talent every night. Regardless, Bonino is a solid pickup which adds another piece for the defending Western Conference Champion.
Free Agency Rumor Round-Up
Free agency is set to open in mere hours, but there are already plenty of rumors out there about deals that will become official at noon ET. Here are all of the deals expected to be made official this afternoon with the link to the original PHR article or recent report:
Anaheim Ducks expected to sign G Ryan Miller (per TSN’s Bob McKenzie)
Boston Bruins expected to sign LW Kenny Agostino
Buffalo Sabres expected to sign G Chad Johnson
Chicago Blackhawks expected to sign RW Patrick Sharp
Colorado Avalanche expected to sign G Jonathan Bernier
Dallas Stars expected to sign C Martin Hanzal (per TSN’s Bob McKenzie)
Detroit Red Wings expected to sign D Trevor Daley
Florida Panthers expected to sign RW Evgeni Dadonov
Florida Panthers expected to sign C Micheal Haley
Montreal Canadiens expected to sign D Karl Alzner
New York Rangers expected to sign G Ondrej Pavelec
Philadelphia Flyers expected to sign G Brian Elliott
Tampa Bay Lightning expected to sign D Dan Girardi
Vancouver Canucks expected to sign D Michael Del Zotto
Vancouver Canucks expected to sign G Anders Nilsson
Vancouver Canucks expected to sign C Sam Gagner (per TSN’s Bob McKenzie)
Winnipeg Jets expected to sign G Steve Mason (per TSN’s Bob McKenzie)
Marc Methot Turned Down Teams On No-Trade List
New Dallas Stars defenseman Marc Methot spoke to the media today, and talked about the tough last few weeks as he was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights and then flipped yesterday. According to Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, the former Ottawa Senator confirmed he said no when teams on his no-trade list tried to inquire about him.
Methot holds a 10-team no-trade list, and it is reported to have every Canadian team (save for Ottawa, of course) on it. Whether it was those, or some of the remaining four that had interest in him is unclear. Methot has the right to exercise it, and clearly valued steering his future somewhat.
Ending up in Dallas, Methot is in a nice scenario for success going forward and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet points out a much lower tax bracket. Methot saves quite a bit of money (almost $700K) and is likely to play with John Klingberg, a player who does have some similarities to Erik Karlsson. Not a bad situation even if you do have to be shipped across the continent.
Vegas Golden Knights Trade Marc Methot To The Dallas Stars
The Vegas Golden Knights have traded defenseman Marc Methot to the Dallas Stars for a 2020 2nd round draft pick and goaltender Dylan Ferguson, drafted in the seventh round at 194th overall this summer. The deal was first reported by Dallas Stars Senior Digital Correspondent Scott Burnside, and then subsequently confirmed with terms by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The Golden Knights initially selected Marc Methot from the Ottawa Senators in this summer’s NHL Expansion Draft.
Methot was an integral part of the Senators’ defense last year, averaging just under 20 minutes a night in the regular season, and over 22 minutes a night in the playoffs. He scored 0G and 12A in 68 games, and an additional 2G and 2A in 18 playoff games. Methot is in the third year of a four-year deal worth $4.9MM a year.
Dylan Ferguson was drafted by the Stars in the 7th round (pick 194) of this year’s NHL Entry Draft. He posted a 2.74 GAA and a .922 SV% for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL this season.
The 2020 pick is the Knights’ third 2020 pick so far. It now has its own, the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ from the Marc-Andre Fleury selection, and now Dallas’s. It looks like Vegas is trying to space out its prospect pool so that all of its contracts do not expire at the same time.
The Golden Knights were expected to trade defensemen. Before this deal, the team had 12 defensemen on its roster. With this trade, however, the team has no NHL-calibre defensemen signed past this year. Losing Methot also rids the team of arguably its best defenseman. And now that Vegas has set the market for its defensemen, it will probably receive even less for the rest.
Summarizing Today’s Signings
Today brought a flurry of teams re-signing players before July 1st. In total, 12 players have signed NHL contracts—and one signing in the KHL—and this is just day one. Below are all of today’s signings in one place for your convenience: