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Trade Block Notes: Demers, Duchene, Methot

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After leaving him unprotected in the expansion draft, Jason Demers is apparently available in trade from the Florida Panthers. That from Pierre LeBrun of TSN, who notes it would have to be for the “right price.” Demers was given a five-year, $22.5MM deal last summer but, like Reilly Smith who was already moved out, it didn’t come from new-old GM Dale Tallon.

The newly turned 29-year old Demers put up 28 points this season, another solid showing offensively from a defenseman who has turned into one of the more consistent point producers around the league. While he’s never going to compete with the likes of Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, Demers is a solid right-handed defenseman capable of 25-30 points every year, something that is in high demand around the league.

  • Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Nashville Predators have shown interest in Matt Duchene, something that goes back to before the Seth Jones–Ryan Johansen deal according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. While Duchene would be a huge add for the Predators, they would be remiss to move any of their top-4 defensemen for him and past that it’s hard to see a fit between the two clubs. Perhaps Dante Fabbro, the Predators first-round pick from last summer could be involved, but it would take more than that to outbid the rest of the league on Duchene.
  • Marc Methot continues to be the root of speculation surrounding the Dallas Stars, but as Bob McKenzie of TSN points out he would rather stay in Vegas than alter his current no-trade clause to facilitate a trade from his new club. Methot was selected in the expansion draft, and is expected to be flipped right away for assets. It’s unclear whether the Stars are on his current NTC, which allows him to block deals to ten different clubs.

Dallas Stars Hire Rick Wilson, Stu Barnes As Assistant Coaches

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The Dallas Stars have decided who will join Ken Hitchcock behind the bench next season, hiring assistant coaches Rick Wilson and Stu Barnes. Curt Fraser will be a holdover from the previous staff. Hitchcock, hired after Lindy Ruff was let go at the end of the season will try and turn around what was an extremely disappointing club last year.

Wilson, 66, was around with Hitchcock during his first stint as head coach of the Stars, and is a life-long assistant in the NHL. He was first hired into the league in 1988 by the New York Islanders, and has been behind benches coaching defensemen ever since. His familiarity with Hitchcock and his systems will come in handy as the team looks to revamp the Stars play style.

Barnes on the other hand is still fairly green in terms of NHL coaching experience, only spending two years behind the bench under Marc Crawford during his Dallas stint. Barnes is a co-owner of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL (along with Olaf Kolzig) and has coached US prep academies. Just 46, Barnes is ten years removed from a playing career that took him all over the NHL. Suiting up for 1,136 games and registering 597 points, he made the transition from highly-touted young scoring threat to grizzled checking center quite smoothly.

Post-Draft Trades Will Be Announced Tomorrow

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The Vegas Golden Knights were busy on the trade front tonight, completing ten different deals with teams to steer their expansion draft picks. While all of the trades can be seen here, there are several more that are due to come early Thursday morning. The trade freeze ends tomorrow morning at 7am CDT, making for quite an interesting morning after. Trevor van Riemsdyk

Vegas GM George McPhee had already told us that his team would need to flip some defensemen after the draft, and it seems as though the deals will come right away. The Golden Knights selected 13 defensemen (and acquired even more in trade), most of whom will never see the ice in T-Mobile Arena.

Bob McKenzie of TSN reported during the event that former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk could be flipped to Carolina tomorrow, and interesting move for a team who already has several young defensemen fighting for ice time. If TvR does make it to Raleigh, it likely would signal another move is coming for a forward down the line for Carolina.

On the note of van Riemsdyk, it had been widely reported that his exposure was tied to a trade that would bring Marcus Kruger to Vegas as a cap-dump for the Chicago Blackhawks. That didn’t happen tonight, and as we wrote earlier could be because of the Marian Hossa long-term injury situation that broke this morning. Kruger still could be moved, but it isn’t directly tied to the van Riemsdyk expansion selection.

Marc MethotMcKenzie also tells us that the Dallas Stars are interested in Marc Methot, selected by the Golden Knights from the Ottawa Senators. The Stars have been looking for a left-handed defenseman that is capable of logging big minutes, and with Methot’s successful history alongside Erik Karlsson could be the perfect fit for John Klingberg in Texas. Methot has two years left on his contract and does hold a limited no-trade clause that allows him to block deals to ten teams.

The Minnesota Wild have already made a trade with the Golden Knights that sent Alex Tuch to Vegas to help protect Mathew Dumba and others, but there is more coming in the next few days. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune spoke with Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, who told him the team could “absolutely” trade a defenseman by the weekend. Marco Scandella remains the most likely option, but now that the draft is in the past everyone is likely being discussed.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections

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The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.

Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN

Arizona Coyotes: 

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Carolina Hurricanes:

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Colorado Avalanche:

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet

Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN

Vancouver Canucks:

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Winnipeg Jets:

Vegas Golden Knights Expected To Select Cody Eakin In Expansion Draft

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The rumblings over who will be selected in tonight’s expansion draft are coming fast and furious, and though many are highly speculative Jim Toth of TSN 1290 is reporting that Cody Eakin will be the selection from the Dallas Stars. While it’s not clear who Toth’s sources are, Eakin would make sense as the Dallas selection. Not only did he show that he’s capable of putting up 35-40 points before this season but he’s only 26-years old and was drafted by new Vegas GM George McPhee back in Washington.

We projected Eakin as the selection out of Dallas in our mock expansion draft, mostly because of the lack of exciting options available among their exposed players. Eakin is coming off a disastrous season in which he scored just 12 points despite spending substantial time with the Stars’ big guns up front. His faceoffs improved and he could still be a valuable piece, but there is no guarantee he’ll ever get back to the highs earlier in his career.

Entry Draft Notes: Avalanche, Stars, Flyers

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The Colorado Avalanche seem to be at least entertaining the possibility of moving down in the draft. According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, the team is split internally over whether to select the best player available or to draft a dynamic defenseman, which is their biggest organizational need at the moment. Finding the proper balance between these two philosophies is always difficult, and ultimately, the scouts are the ones who need to believe in a particular player. It is interesting to note that Chambers doesn’t see defender Cale Makar being taken that early in the draft, and that the Avalanche might be “stuck” selecting another forward. Makar actually got votes for the top pick from one of TSN’s analysts, and there are many who believe he will hop into the top-5. Bob McKenzie actually had him slotted in at that #4 spot, so it’s a bit difficult to determine what the Avalanche are thinking here.

If the organization did decide to trade to a lower pick, as director of amateur scouting Alan Hepple says is “a scenario…that they’re ready for”, it would likely include a piece that will provide more immediate help for the team. After a 48 point season, that could mean plugging a hole at practically any position. It’s a lot to consider, especially in light of the Matt Duchene trade rumors which haven’t stopped swirling since they began halfway through the season. This article will only keep more eyes peeled on the team from Denver headed into Friday’s draft.

  • The Flyers don’t seem to have the blinders on regarding their #2 selection, according to Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  They are spending most of their time and energy focusing on the later rounds. This makes sense for any team with a top selection, but especially for Philadelphia who will almost certainly draft whichever of Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier remains. The team is heavily invested in looking to load up on offensive talent, and with 11 picks in this year’s draft, they’ve set themselves up very well. One of the major criticisms for the team in recent drafting has been the over-emphasis on physicality and intangibles, while ignoring more dynamic offensive players. We’ll see if they can avoid that pitfall this weekend.
  • The Stars look to be leaning away from the big Windsor forward Gabriel Vilardi, according to Sean Shapiro of NHL.com. He also speculates that Dallas is particularly high on the aforementioned Makar and HIFK’s shifty Miro Heiskanen. They look to be focusing on defense for another draft, and with their top-end offense it’s no wonder why. They just exposed Cody Eakin to Vegas because of their glut of center-men, and even though Vilardi is an exceptional, versatile forward – he’s not a need. Both Makar and Heiskanen were ranked in the top-5 final rankings by McKenzie, so it’s difficult to see Dallas moving from their #3 position.

Matej Stransky Signs In KHL

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After being rumored to be close to a deal with Severstal Cherepovets recently, the team announced that they had acquired Matej Stransky from CSKA Moscow and signed him to a two-year contract. The Dallas Stars prospect was a restricted free agent this summer.

Stransky has played four seasons with the Texas Stars of the AHL, developing into a powerful scoring threat for the minor league squad. With 27 goals this season, the 23-year old easily paced the Stars and he looked like he could have a chance in the NHL before long. His play has matured since being selected in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, coming out of the WHL where he had dominated for the Saskatoon Blades.

The Czech-born forward is actually a pretty substantial loss for Texas, who already struggled this season and missed the playoffs for only the second time in their history. Dallas too will now have to watch his development from abroad and hope that in two seasons they can coax him back to North America. The team will likely qualify him to retain his rights, and try to bring him back as a 25-year old.

Central Division Offers Veteran Scoring, Risky Prospects

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The Central Division has quite a bit to offer the Las Vegas Golden Knights from prospects to veteran scorers as they sift through the recently exposed rosters of every NHL team. Several team offer quite a bit of challenging option that the inaugural team can either take, trade off or just work out a deal for some picks. Once again, while some of these players may be available, trades may have already been worked out to persuade Las Vegas to look the other way on a few of them. So don’t be surprised if they don’t take them.

The Minnesota Wild have offered the most intriguing options in the draft after having exposed several interesting players. Due to their defensive depth, the team left several defensemen exposed, including 22-year-old Mathew Dumba, a promising defenseman who has already been in the NHL for three years since being the seventh-overall pick in 2012. Dumba’s 11 goals make him a key defenseman to build their franchise around, assuming the team doesn’t have a side deal set up or the Golden Knights are considering flipping him to another desperate team needing defense. Veteran forward Eric Staal was also left unprotected, leaving Las Vegas with even a tougher decisions to make. The 32-year-old veteran had one of his better season with the Wild this past year, putting up 28 goals. His price tag is even reasonable at $3.5MM for the next two years. Defenseman Marco Scandella is an afterthought here, but on any other team, would be an intriguing option for the Golden Knights.

The Nashville Predators have one obvious candidate in veteran scorer James Neal, who helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals. Neal finished the season with 23 regular season goals and the 29-year-old has tallied 80 goals in the last three seasons combined. Whether the Predators have worked out a package in order to keep Neal for their run next year is unknown as of yet. If that’s the case, another interesting name could be 23-year-old winger Pontus Aberg, who has showed a lot of promise in the AHL, including a 31-goal season this past year. He still played 15 games for the Predators, but managed just one goal and had a tough time cracking their rotation. Perhaps the least surprising options go to the Chicago Blackhawks. Long-standing rumors that Chicago has exposed 25-year-old defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk with the supposed agreement they would also take on the contract of Marcus Kruger and his 3.083MM for the next two years for additional costs suggest that Las Vegas already knows what they’re getting.

The Dallas Stars might hope that the Golden Knights take 26-year-old center Cody Eakin. The veteran had an off year after putting up three goals in 60 games, but had tallied 51 goals in the three years before that. The problem with Eakin is the three years he has left at $3.85MM per season. He was originally drafted by McPhee, so maybe the GM would be willing to take his chances with him. Dan Hamhuis could be a solid option as well if the Golden Knights are looking for a 34-year-old veteran defensive-minded blueliner. The Winnipeg Jets did expose 32-year-old Toby Enstrom after he waived his no-movement clause. The veteran could be the perfect person to lead a group of young Golden Knight defenders. Enstrom, despite starting to slow down, is still considered a solid defenseman. However, Winnipeg also left 22-year-old center Marko Dano available to Las Vegas. The former first-round pick in 2013 hasn’t been able to put together a full season, but is still young enough to put it all together. He put up four goals and seven assists last season in 38 games, but missed time due to a lower body injury and never regained his playing time after that.

While the St. Louis Blues exposed Jori Lehtera with the hopes they can package the veteran along with some picks to remove his contract off their books, which still has two years at $4.7MM per season, Las Vegas might be more enamored with 23-year-old Nail Yakupov, who is the former first-overall pick in the 2012 draft. While his career hasn’t exactly gone as planned, he has still shown some glimpses of potential and Las Vegas might be willing to take a chance on him. The Colorado Avalanche surprised a few by exposing goaltender Calvin Pickard. The 25-year-old didn’t have the greatest season last year, evidenced by his 3.02 GAA, but it was behind a weak defense. However, considering the amount of goaltending depth offered from the Eastern Conference, the team might ultimately pass on him considering there are other key goalies available ranging from Petr Mrazek to Marc-Andre Fleury to Philipp Grubauer to name just a few. They may have exposed Pickard to keep 29-year-old Semyon Varlamov away from McPhee, who also drafted the goaltender in Washington back in 2006. Besides that, Colorado left little else exposed.

 

Snapshots: Enstrom, Bystrom, Zettler, Despres

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Winnipeg blueliner Toby Enstrom has decided to waive his no-move clause for the purposes of the looming Expansion Draft, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link).  That should allow the Jets to turn around and use the 7/3/1 protection scheme, allowing them to keep several extra forwards away from the Golden Knights.

Enstrom has spent his entire 10 year career with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise and has indicated that he doesn’t want to leave.   However, he’s coming off a down season where he had just a single goal and 13 assists in 60 games and carries a $5.75MM cap hit for one more year.  That’s not likely a contract that Vegas would willingly take on so he’s not at too great of a risk of being selected even though he’ll be exposed.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Stars put pen to paper with one of their defensive prospects on Saturday, announcing the re-signing of Ludvig Bystrom to a one year, two-way deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.  Bystrom was a second round pick of the Stars back in 2012 but has yet to play at the NHL level.  He spent the season with their AHL affiliate in Texas, recording 16 points (2-14-16) in 55 games.
  • The Sharks are leaning towards hiring long-time assistant Rob Zettler to replace Bob Boughner, who left the team to take the head coaching job in Florida, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). Zettler is no stranger to the organization having served as an assistant for them from 2002-03 to 2007-08 while also playing for them from 1991-92 through 1993-94.  His last coaching duty was with AHL Syracuse from 2012-13 through 2015-16, primarily as their head coach.
  • As expected defenseman Simon Despres cleared release waivers and is now eligible to be bought out, CapFriendly notes on Twitter. Although he missed all but one game due to concussion trouble, Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register confirmed with the NHL and NHLPA that there is a “conceptual agreement on treatment” per Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly that will allow Despres’ deal to be bought out.  It’s worth noting that the blueliner was activated off injured reserve during the postseason although he didn’t get into game action.

Snapshots: Tanev, Cullen, Williams, Trotz

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The Dallas Stars have expressed interest in acquiring Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli.  There’s no word on how far those talks progressed but reports from earlier this week suggested that Vancouver would need to be blown away by an offer if they were to consider trading the 27 year old blueliner away.

Tanev has three years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $4.45MM and is viewed league-wide as a strong shutdown defender.  With the Stars adding a defensive-oriented coach in Ken Hitchcock this offseason, it’s no surprise that they would be targeting a defensively-sound player like Tanev.  Seravalli notes that Tanev’s modified no-trade clause kicks in on July 1st which allows him to block a trade to eight different teams.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • While Penguins center Matt Cullen has said he won’t make a decision on his playing future until sometime in the offseason, he acknowledged to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune that “It’s pretty likely that this will be the end” of his career. The 19 year veteran continues to play an important bottom six role in Pittsburgh, logging over 14 minutes a game in the postseason while chipping in nine points through 24 games.  He has been one of the better bargains since joining the Pens and had a cap hit of just $1MM this past season.
  • Winger Justin Williams has met with Capitals GM Brian MacLellan to discuss a new contract, notes CSN Mid-Atlantic’s JJ Regan (Twitter links). While no agreement has been reached, another meeting has already been scheduled.  The 35 year old is coming off his second straight strong season with Washington, collecting 24 goals and 24 assists in 80 regular season games while adding nine points in 13 postseason contests.  He carried a cap hit of $3.25MM and given the lack of top six scoring on the open market, Williams could find himself in line for a raise if he makes it to free agency.
  • Still with the Capitals, MacLellan doesn’t anticipate the fact that head coach Barry Trotz is heading into the final year of his contract will be any sort of distraction, notes Matthew Paras of the Washington Times. The GM added that they’ll discuss an extension once there is evidence of improvement from the team which suggests that Trotz is likely to at least start the season without any more job security.  Paras adds that Washington goalie coach Mitch Korn is contemplating retirement.  He has been coaching for the past 26 years, the last three of which were with the Capitals.

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