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More On The Blackhawks, Jimmy Vesey

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Kristi Loucks of Today’s Slapshot writes today on the emerging speculation surrounding Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Jimmy Vesey, who can become an unrestricted free agent on August 15th, when his draft rights expire, and the Chicago Blackhawks. We’ve discussed before the talk surrounding Vesey and the Blackhawks, and the news that Stan Bowman has been going to Foxboro, Massachusetts to watch Vesey play summer games.

Loucks mentions the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs as other teams that will be in the running for Vesey’s services. In season-long speculation involving Vesey, his ties to Sabres’ forward Jack Eichel are often brought up, as are his having been raised in Boston, and the fact that his father Jim is a scout for the Leafs, and his brother Nolan is a Leafs prospect himself.

Loucks discusses the benefits available in Chicago for Vesey. Obviously they’re a legitimate contender, having won the Stanley Cup three times this decade, but they’re unique for a contender in that they offer a large amount of playing time immediately for a young player. The Blackhawks aren’t particularly deep at left wing, and assuming Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin stays on the second line with Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane, Vesey could find the opportunity to play top minutes with future Hall of Fame linemates in Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.

Unresolved Off-Season Stories

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Most of the focus of the off-season is on the top unrestricted free agents. Most of them are off the board by now, but there are still plenty of pressing plotlines left to be explored. Whether it’s extension talks, possible trades, or area of needs for a particular team, there’s still plenty left to do. Here are some of the biggest issues that are yet to be resolved.

  • Kevin Shattenkirk: The Blues’ defenseman has been subject to trade rumors all summer, and for much of his career, with various sources linking him to the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. Several sources reported that the Oilers could have had him in exchange for Taylor Hall, and balked because he remained unsigned, had no intention of re-signing, and prefers to play on the east coast. Shattenkirk grew up in Westchester, and given their tendency to sign big name free agents, one may wonder if “east coast” mostly means the New York Rangers. This late into the summer, the Blues may have decided to hold onto him, given how close they were to last year’s finals.
  • Rangers’ Cap: The Rangers managed to clear some space trading Derick Brassard to the Ottawa Senators for fellow center Mika Zibanejad. The Rangers have a lot of work to do, after falling off from a hot start, being unceremoniously dumped out of the first round of the playoffs by the eventual champion Pittburgh Penguins, and once again relying heavily on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who turned 34 in March. The Rangers also had several expensive players disappoint last year, including Marc Staal (signed until 2021), Dan Girardi (2020), and Rick Nash (2018). If they are to make a move for Shattenkirk, or make many improvements at all, they’ll have to clear cap space. Their second buyout window may tempt them into cutting their losses with Girardi, and there’s been trade speculation surround Nash for a while now.
  • Stars’ Goaltending: No playoff team allowed more goals than the Dallas Stars this year, and in the entire league, only the Calgary Flames had a lower team save percentage. Two of the top available goaltenders, former Blue Brian Elliott, now of the Flames, and former Duck Frederik Andersen, now of the Maple Leafs, are off the market. There’s been a lot of talk about Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, given his pending free agent status, the Lightning’s cap situation, and the percieved promise of backup Andrei Vasilevskiy, who turns 22 on Monday. Still, a Stanley Cup contender in Tampa Bay may not be keen on moving an established star in Bishop, the runner up for this year’s Vezina trophy, to run with someone unproven. There aren’t a lot of other option out there, though there’s been trade talk surrounding the Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury, and they may end up having to wait until mid-season to get a goaltender. Incumbents Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen are under contract at $10.4MM combined per year in the mean time.
  • Ducks’ Budget: The Ducks don’t really have a lot of work to do this offseason. They never did, having won their division, and clearly deciding that coaching was the problem, rather than their core of players. Still, they’re a budget team, with just under $65MM in budgetary commitments, though some of that will be eased by the Maple Leafs, having already paid half of the newly acquired Jonathan Bernier’s salary in his July signing bonus. But they still have to sign restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm, and the betting was on the Ducks moving one of their young defensemen this off-season. The Ducks would probably do just about anything possible to keep Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, or Josh Manson, but they’ve displayed a willingness to move Cam Fowler for the right price. It’s difficult to say what exactly they’ll do now, given that the market clearly isn’t paying the Ducks’ asking price for Fowler, but it’s more likely they’ll lower their price for him than let someone like Lindholm go.

Speculative Suitors For Kris Russell

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Yesterday we talked about the market for former Stars’ defenseman Kris Russell as reported by Andy Strickland, a Blues reporter for Fox Sports Midwest. On the 23rd day of free agency, Russell remains unsigned. This is surprising to an extent, since most assumed he’d be one of the few to sign a big money contract right away. Still, similar situations have happened before, including with defenseman Cody Franson last summer. Below are some teams that may have some interest in Russell, and who may be able to pay for him, given the right circumstances.

  • Ottawa Senators: The Ottawa Senators currently have just six defensemen under contract for next year, and while that doesn’t count restricted free agent Cody Ceci, it does count Chris Wideman, Mike Kostka, and Mark Borowiecki, who are far from locks for serious NHL ice time. The team also lacks particularly strong defensemen, outside of Erik Karlsson, and while Russell has his detractors in the analytics community, a team that took on Dion Phaneuf without any retained salary seems like a likely one to use their own evaluation methods.
  • Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres, similarly to the Senators, have six defensemen under contract, and one in Rasmus Ristolainen who is currently an unsigned restricted free agent, and one in Justin Falk, who’s yet to play serious minutes in the NHL, at 27 years old. One advantage the Sabres have in this situation is that with Franson, Ristolainen, and Zach Bogosian all being right handed, they can accomodate a left handed shot better than most teams. As mentioned earlier, Franson was an unsigned free agent far later into last summer than anyone anticipated, after talk of an expensive long term asking price, and ended up with the Sabres on a lower money, two year deal.
  • Detroit Red Wings: Detroit has five defensemen under contract, in addition to the unsigned Danny DeKeyser. Once DeKeyser’s re-signed, there isn’t an obvious candidate to sit as the number seven defenseman in case of injuries, and they’re already mildly unbalanced in terms of handedness, carrying four left handers, and two right handers. Still, there’s been talk of the Wings improving their defense for a while now, and should they be able to clear out someone like Jonathan Ericsson or Jimmy Howard, which they’ll likely have to do to re-sign DeKeyser and goalie Petr Mrazek anyway, they could concievably be a fit for Russell, if GM Ken Holland values him more than one of his current defensemen, and should Ericsson be the one moved out, Russell would be a natural replacement.
  • Edmonton Oilers: This is another scenario that really depends on how much the team values its current defenders. Andrew Ference was still injured during the buyout period, and so still on the roster, but between the injuries, his heavy decline, and his expiring contract, it’s hard to see him getting much ice time. The real questions are about what the Oilers want to do with Mark Fayne, who was waived and demoted this past season, and Jordan Oesterle, who has impressed in Bakersfield, and just turned 24, but who has just 23 NHL games to his credit, and is on a two way contract. We know the Oilers want to get better, and physical players are favored by GM Peter Chiarelli, but Ference was also once a physical, undersized, veteran free agent signing.
  • Winnipeg Jets: The Jets have a large defense core as it is, but they also have tops of cap room, and a lot of their defensemen are cheaper veterans like Paul Postma and Brian Strait, who’d be easily stashed in the minors. It’s not a pressing need, but you can see why a team might make a less than necessary upgrade to their defense later in the summer if it’s possible, and the price tag is lower than originally imagined. Still, the Jets have a history of caution in the free agent market.

Latest On Kris Russell’s Free Agency

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After being the topic of much speculation in the first few days of free agency, Kris Russell has been left out of rumors for the past few weeks. Today, we got the first bit of news in a while on him when Andy Strickland tweeted that “a few teams continue to eye Kris Russell” but need to move money in order to fit him in. Strickland doesn’t list any particular teams, but one can assume at least a handful would still have interest in the 29-year old.

It must seem like a long offseason so far for the former Dallas Stars’ blueliner as he continues to wait on a contract – early reports had him seeking at least $5MM a season, but it’s hard to see any team offering up that much at this point.

Russell looks like he might be the first real casualty of an league-wide turn towards analytics, as his best attribute – blocking shots – is being downplayed more and more as possession metrics come to the forefront of NHL analysis. Russell was once thought of as a promising young defender, but has fallen far out of that conversation.

Now, with teams moving to more mobile, positional back-ends, Russell finds himself one of the last men standing in free agency.  The team that finally signs him might end up getting a deal at this point, since even if he’s not a top-four guy like many once thought he was, he is still a capable NHL defender who is young enough to contribute for the next few seasons.

Brad Richards Retires

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According the NHLPA website, veteran pivot Brad Richards has retired from the NHL following a distinguished 15-year career.

Richards, who spent the 2015-16 season with the Detroit Red Wings, ends his career with 932 points in 1,126 regular season games. He’s also been part of two Stanley Cup championship squads, winning a Conn Smythe award as playoff MVP in 2003-04 while a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Drafted originally in the third-round (64th overall) of the 1998 entry draft (the same draft that saw Vincent Lecavalier go #1 overall to Tampa), Richards formed a deadly tandem down the middle with Lecavalier, and helped to elevate the team into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. He would spend the first six-plus campaigns of his career with the Lightning before being shipped to Dallas at the 2008 trade deadline. With Lecavalier in the midst of an 11-year, $85MM deal and Richards under contract at $7.8MM annually, the Lightning decided they could no longer afford both centers and executed the trade with Dallas.

Richards spent parts of four seasons with Dallas, averaging better than a point-per-game and helping the Stars to a berth in the 2007-08 Western Conference Finals, where the club lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit in six games. Unfortunately that would be the highlight for Richards during his tenure with the team as the Stars failed to again make the postseason.

Richards would leave the Lone Star State following the 2010-11 season and as one of the marquee free agents that summer, would go on to sign a lucrative, nine-year contract worth $60MM with the New York Rangers. As was typical with big money free agent contracts of the day, Richards’ deal was heavily back-loaded in an effort to drive down the AAV and subsequently the salary cap hit. Richards was to collect $57MM of the money in the first six seasons, with each of the final three years coming with salaries of just $1M each.

While perhaps not quite living up to that price tag with the Rangers, Richards did help the club make it to the Eastern Conference Finals his first year with the team. He was also part of the squad that lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Finals.

After three years with the club and in desperate need of cap space as they continued their pursuit of a championship, the Rangers exercised a compliance buyout on Richards following the 2014-15 season. Under terms of the new CBA, the Blueshirts would have faced stiff cap recapture penalties had they not gone that route and Richards retired prior to the end of his contract.

Richards would move on as a free agent, signing with Chicago and winning another Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks. But the writing may have already been on the wall as Richards tallied just 37 points that season, the lowest full-season total of his career to that point.

Following his one year in Chicago, Richards signed with Detroit where his offensive production continued to wane. In 68 contests with the Red Wings, Richards scored just 10 goals and 28 points.

The announcement comes just weeks after former Lightning teammate Vincent Lecavalier also stepped away from the game.  It’s also quite possible Dan Boyle joins in to make it a trio of former Lightning players walking away from the NHL this summer. One year ago, Martin St. Louis, who played with Richards, Boyle and Lecavalier in Tampa and again with Richards and Boyle as members of the Rangers, announced his retirement.

Richards was a free agent, profiled recently on Pro Hockey Rumors here, but after apparently not finding the right fit, has elected to hang up his skates and move on to the next phase of his life. Those of us here at Pro Hockey Rumors would like to congratulate Richards on his wonderful career and wish him the best in his future.

Free Agent Profile: Dan Boyle

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Free agent defenseman Dan Boyle, who spent last year with the New York Rangers, is still searching for a contract. Boyle, 40, was ranked #42 on our list of the top 50 NHL unrestricted free agents this year. It seems unlikely he’ll return to the New York Rangers next year, despite the cap space they’ve cleared, given that they already have eight defensemen under contract, and four of them are right hand shots.

Still, Boyle has been a useful contributor his entire career, and remains so, despite going undrafted. Last year he put up 10 goal, and added 14 assists. His possession numbers were strong relative to a brutal possession team. Boyle won an Olympic gold medal playing for Canada in 2o10, and a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He’s on the smaller side, especially for defensemen, at 5’11”, but he’s always moved the puck well.

Potential Suitors

The Edmonton Oilers have been searching for help on the right side of their defense all summer, with just Mark Fayne and Adam Larsson there currently. The Toronto Maple Leafs bid for his services when he was last a free agent in 2014, and also look to need depth on defense, but the return of Roman Polak on the right side probably rules then out. His hometown Ottawa Senators could use right-side depth after Erik Karlsson, but it’s worth noting that they’ll likely give Cody Ceci every opportunity to fill the second pairing role. None of these teams seem especially appealing to Boyle, given their recent struggles. At his age, he’s likely to want to play for a serious contender.

That said, the Dallas Stars, winners of the Central division title, only have John Klingberg among right handed defensemen with significant NHL experience, though Stephen Johns, with 14 games played in the NHL, is under contract. The Philadelphia Flyers, who’ve been carrying many puck moving defensemen of late, may have a use for him. They have seven defensemen under contract, with Brandon Manning still to sign, but none outside of Radko Gudas play right handed, and several don’t appear to be locks for playing time.

Projected Contract

Boyle should be looking at a one-year contract at around $2MM, given that he’s still productive, but comes with a certain amount of risk as a 40 year-old defenseman. Still, he’s got enough rare qualities, his ability to carry the puck, his ability from the right hand side, that teams looking to balance their defense should seriously consider picking him up a a stop-gap option.

Snapshots: Bernier, Weber, Benn, Tavares, Patrick

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Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that the Maple Leafs compensation for trading netminder Jonathan Bernier is contingent on a number of scenarios. According to Johnston, the only way the Leafs receive a draft pick is if the Ducks advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Johnston writes that there were four conditions placed on the trade.

The conditions, word for word from Johnston,  are the following:

  • If Bernier starts half of Anaheim’s playoff games next spring and the Ducks lose in the Stanley Cup Final, Toronto receives the Ducks’ 2017 third-round pick. (If Anaheim doesn’t still own that selection, it will transfer its next available third-rounder from a future year.)
  • Should Anaheim trade Bernier to a team that starts him in half of its playoff games next spring and wins the Stanley Cup, Toronto receives the Ducks’ second-round pick.
  • Should Anaheim trade Bernier to a team that starts him in half of its playoff games next spring and loses in the Stanley Cup Final, Toronto receives the Ducks’ third-round pick.

Failure to meet any of these conditions means Toronto misses out on a draft pick.

In other news around the league:

  • The Shea Weber–P.K. Subban trade is still being talked about weeks after the trigger was pulled.  The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell reports that fired analytics guru Matt Pfeffer called Weber “average,” but added that average players are “worth a heck of a lot.”  Pfeffer, according to numerous reports, provided Canadiens management with a detailed report on the potential trade of Weber for Subban. His contract was not renewed. Campbell writes that Pfeffer believes the “eye test” still rules in NHL scouting circles, and that analytics have not been fully embraced throughout the league. Pfeffer also indicates that he holds no ill-will toward the Canadiens because they “gave him a shot.” Pfeffer knows that the maturation of analytics will take time, and that NHL teams use a number of different resources to make the final call on trades.
  • Puck Daddy’s Ryan Lambert writes that Jamie Benn’s rich new deal with the Stars can only mean good things for Islanders captain John Tavares. Lambert reports that Tavares has been the bargain of a lifetime for the Isles in terms of price, and knowing that he does similar, if not better work than Benn, a handsome payday should be in store. Lambert shows that without Tavares, the Isles depth chart gets pretty thin, and that the captain is also two years younger than Benn, only increasing his value. Tavares, he says, would have gotten paid no matter what. But he now has a better bargaining chip after Benn’s $9.5AAV deal.
  • As many eyes turn to the 2017 NHL Draft, projected #1 pick Nolan Patrick is expected to play in training camp despite a sports hernia injury that will keep him out of Canada’s National Junior Development camp. The report from NHL.com says that Patrick should be ready for the Brandon Wheat Kings training camp which is slated for late August. Patrick paced the Wheat Kings to a WHL title, and was named the top playoff performer.

Matej Stransky Re-Signs, Simon Stransky Still A Mystery

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The Dallas Stars have re-signed restricted free agent Matej Stransky to a one-year, two-way deal, as reported by General Fanager. While his may not be a name that many are familiar with yet, it soon could be. The 23-year-old Czech winger was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, after his first season with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, and then scored 166 points in 142 games over his next two seasons with the team. Stransky turned pro in 2013-14, playing for Dallas’ AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, and has gotten better each year. In 2015-16, his 23 goals were second on the team, as Stransky helped to lead the Stars to a playoff berth.

In 2016-17, Stransky could finally have the chance to crack the NHL lineup, and the Stars would have a bargain on their hands with his $575K dollar contract. Roster Resource shows that there is definitely room for Stransky to find a spot on the Dallas roster over the course of the season, as right wing is not particularly deep in the organization. Behind Patrick Sharp (who can play either wing), there is only Ales Hemsky as a surefire top nine right wing. Stransky would have to compete with another young forward in Brett Ritchie and grinder veterans Patrick Eaves and newly signed Adam Cracknell. Stransky is not a checking line guy by any means, but if a spot opens up on the right side of  the Stars’ top three lines, he has the skating ability and offensive skill to fit in well with a dynamic Dallas offense.

Many expected that the Stransky name would be more well known this year, even if Matej doesn’t make the jump to the NHL level. His younger brother, Simon Stransky, was expected to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft this past June. In fact, many hockey pundits believed that he was a top 100 player and would be a mid-round selection. However, 211 names were called and none of them were Simon Stransky. He was considered the biggest surprise of the Draft as far as undrafted players. Stransky, who was a first round pick by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2014 CHL Import Draft, was a point-per-game player this past season in the WHL, and also played for the Czech Republic World Junior team and was invited to the CHL Top Prospects game. He is considered an elite play maker and offensive threat. While his defensive game is far from complete, in an NHL where speed and possession dominate, he seems to fit the mold. Not only was Stransky not drafted, but as of now he has also not been invited to any NHL team’s development camp, unlike fellow surprise passed-up prospect Zach Sawchenko who impressed at Nashville Predators camp. Clearly something is holding NHL teams back from committing to the younger Stransky, but with his brother Matej likely on his way to an NHL role, maybe Simon will garner some more attention and find a pro home sooner or later.

Central Notes: Nichushkin, Wild, Redden

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Dallas GM Jim Nill met with the media on Friday following the Jamie Benn extension.  While most of the talk naturally was focused on the new contract, Nill was also asked about current restricted free agent Valeri Nichushkin and the status of their contract talks.  Nill didn’t provide much of an update other than to say both sides are going through the process but had this to say when asked if he was concerned that Nichushkin could look for a deal in the KHL instead; quote courtesy of Mike Heika of the Dallas News:

“No, I don’t think so. Val’s over here training and I don’t think there’s that issue. Val wants to be in the NHL and he wants to have a good year this year, so I don’t think that’s possible.”

Nichushkin struggled in his second full NHL season after missing most of 2014-15 with a hip injury.  The 2013 first round pick had nine goals and 20 assists with the Stars last season while averaging 13:56 per game.  He was less of a factor in the postseason, collecting just a single assist in ten games.  He received a qualifying offer of $874K last month but that offer expired on Friday.

Other news and notes from the Central Division:

  • Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher spoke with Mike Russo of the Star-Tribune and provided a small update on their free agent situation as well as several top prospects at their development camp. On the free agent side, Fletcher noted that assistant GM Brent Flahr is handling talks with RFA defenseman Mathew Dumba and that he doesn’t anticipate any problems getting a deal done.  Fletcher also acknowledged that the team is still talking with some of the free agents left on the market but that they’re in no hurry to add anyone right now.  Russo notes that Matt Cullen has some interest in signing with the Wild.  The 39 year old spent three seasons with Minnesota from 2010-11 to 2012-13.
  • Former NHL defenseman Wade Redden is beginning his post-hockey career as the assistant director of player development for Nashville. As Jonas Siegel of the Canadian Press writes, there’s already a connection to his playing days in one of the players he’s mentoring.  Rem Pitlick was a third round pick of the Predators in last month’s draft and is the son of former NHL’er Lance Pitlick, Redden’s roommate and blueline partner in the mid-to-late 1990’s.

Stars Re-Sign Jamie Benn To Eight-Year Deal

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As reported by the team, the Dallas Stars have re-signed Jamie Benn to an eight-year deal worth approximately $9.5MM AAV. Mark Stepneski confirmed the dollar amount via Twitter. Stephen Whyno tweets that the total amount of the deal is $76MM. This was confirmed in the Stars’ press release.

The Stars captain will be paid handsomely after posting back to back 30+goal seasons. In 2014-15, Benn registered 87 points (35-52) and then followed it up in 2015-16 with an 89 point season (41-48). In 13 playoff games, Benn had 15 points (5-10).

The 26-year-old winger will get a $4.25MM raise from the $5.25MM he was making per season through 2015-16. This also makes him the highest paid player on the team, and one of the highest in the league. Only four other players make more per season–Patrick Kane ($10.4MM), Jonathan Toews ($10.4MM) Anze Kopitar ($10MM) and Alex Ovechkin ($9.54MM). Evgeni Malkin also makes $9.5MM AAV.

Earlier today, it was reported that Benn would miss six weeks to repair an injured core muscle.

Dallas Stars Depth Chart

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