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Central Notes: Blackhawks, Blues, Stars, Wild

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The Chicago Blackhawks welcomed Brian Campbell back into the fold with a one-year, $2MM deal on Friday. Hawks beat writer Chris Kuc writes that not only does the decision strengthen the Blackhawks top four defensemen, but that it brings back a player who always wanted to return. The signing was lauded by Blackhawk superstars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and was a move that general manager Stan Bowman made for a defenseman he feels has an “underrated” game. In 2015-16, Campbell was a +31 and registered 31 points (6-25).

  • The St. Louis Blues are grappling with the loss of two major leaders in their locker room writes Jeremy Rutherford. When David Backes signed with Boston and Troy Brouwer headed to Calgary, Rutherford reports that the roster is a far cry from the one that propelled the Blues to a Western Conference Final trip in 2016. The Blues will also have to name a new captain for the first time since 2011, and general manager Doug Armstrong said that the term Backes was looking for served as a pause for his re-signing. On Brouwer, Rutherford writes that Armstrong countered with what he thought was a strong deal, but at the end of the day, the winger decided on Calgary’s offer instead.
  • Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski writes that Dallas’ signing of defenseman Dan Hamhuis was “genius.” Wyshynski notes that the term and amount (two-year, $3.75MM) is a bargain for a defenseman the Stars wanted to acquire at the trade deadline.  Mike Heika reports that the Stars got the man that is the best fit for their team, and also at a price and term that is very flexible. Heika sees Hamhuis as a natural pairing with Stars youngster John Klingberg for bench boss Lindy Ruff.
  • The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo reports on what the Wild could look like on the ice next season. Russo pencils newly acquired Eric Staal in the middle with Zach Parise at left wing and also indicates that the Wild are talking with free agent Matt Cullen, who is fresh off a Stanley Cup win with the Penguins. Russo adds that Cullen’s intrigue with the Wild would be that close friend Staal signed yesterday.

Dan Hamhuis Signs With Dallas

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After Dallas Stars’ defensemen Jason Demers and Kris Russell both decided to test out free agency, the Stars have replaced their outgoing performance by inking Dan Hamhuis to a two-year, $7.5MM contract, as reported by Bob McKenzie.

Hamhuis has spent the last six seasons in Vancouver where he has slowly seen his role and offensive performance decline as he heads into his mid-thirties. The former Predator and Norris trophy nominee will now join a blueline that has been torn apart over the last few weeks.  In addition to Demers and Russell both heading to free agency, Dallas traded Alex Goligoski to the Coyotes just weeks before he also would have become an unrestricted free agent.

Now Hamhuis will join Johnny Oduya as the veterans in a group headlined by John Klingberg, the last bastion of the Stars’ young group from last season. For a team who is looking to contend this season, before many of their talented forwards reach free agency (including superstar captain Jamie Benn and sniper Patrick Sharp) Hamhuis is just the first step in rebuilding their back end.

New Jersey Devils Ink Vernon Fiddler

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Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the New Jersey Devils have signed free agent forward Vernon Fiddler to a one-year deal, worth $1.25MM. Fiddler had spent the last five seasons with Dallas, earning the same amount the last two as he will in his first with New Jersey.

After trading for Taylor Hall on Wednesday, Fiddler is another piece to an improving Devils squad. He’ll slot in behind Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac to become the third or fourth line center, depending on what New Jersey does with youngster Pavel Zacha.

Fiddler, never an imposing offensive figure, scored 12 goals and 22 points last season but contributed most on the Stars penalty kill. Always regarded as an above average face-off man, New Jersey will be able to use him in defensive zone situations to shield the young Zacha as he continues to develop.

Steven Stamkos Stays With Tampa Bay

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According to Bob McKenzie, Steven Stamkos has decided to stay in Tampa Bay and re-sign with his current club.  McKenzie reports that the deal is an eight-year contract, with an average annual value (and thus cap-hit) of $8.5MM.

After all the speculation about whether or not Stamkos would return to his hometown (kind of) in Toronto, or perhaps take big money to go to Detroit and replace Pavel Datsyuk it ends up being a little anti-climactic for the 26-year old superstar.

During a time in which Edmonton and Montreal were shipping their own stars out of town, the Lightning have managed to hang on to theirs.  If the team had waited until Friday, they would no longer have been able to offer the eighth year, a clear advantage over the rest of the league.

For Stamkos, he may have left some money on the table to go back to the only club he’s ever played for, but he’ll still be earning a hefty salary for almost a decade. $8.5MM puts him into the top-10 in the league right between Corey Perry and Claude Giroux.  His age, production and ability to play center ice probably would have gotten upwards of $9MM on the open market, but the Lightning must have made a pretty convincing case that they were still building towards a championship; their back-to-back deep playoff runs might have something to do with it.

The deal will also include a full no-movement clause, according to Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, giving Stamkos the stability he needs to build a life in Tampa Bay and with the Lightning for the next eight years.

We had Stamkos as the #1 UFA available for this offseason, and predicted he would stay with the Lightning for an eight-year, $72MM deal.  We were just $4MM off, as his deal will come in at $68MM.

Edmonton Trades Taylor Hall To New Jersey

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First reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils have completed a deal that will see winger Taylor Hall change teams. In return, the Devils will send Adam Larsson the other way.  It is a one-for-one deal, only including the two young stars.

The Oilers have been long rumored to be chasing a long-term defensive piece, and Elliotte Friedman adds that there was talk of a Hall for Larsson deal at the draft last weekend. Of course, when Jesse Puljujarvi fell to the Oilers with the fourth selection, they couldn’t convince themselves to draft a defenseman.

With the glut of young forwards that Edmonton now has they would be wise to deal one of them, however Hall looks like perhaps the best one not named McDavid. His 65 point 2015-16 season was excellent, and he’s now put up 328 points in 381 games.

In Larsson, the Oilers get an excellent young blueliner that is still locked up long-term. The 23-year old is signed through the 2020-21 season at a reasonable $4.17MM rate. While he’s not quite the shutdown number one guy many people thought that Hall would command, he is a young top-pairing defenseman who the Oilers so desperately needed.  This may lend more credence to the idea that Milan Lucic has already agreed to a contract, as the Oilers completed this deal quickly after his Monday visit.

For the Devils, they get another young powerhouse talent to add to their forward group alongside Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha. With a young corps of defensemen still under contract, Larsson was deemed expendable in order to get this kind of talent. First impressions are an absolute robbery by the Devils, who have more than enough room to add a top talent on a $6MM/year deal.

Full List of Players Who Did Not Receive a Qualifying Offer

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The deadline to make a qualifying offer to a restrict free agent ended at 5pm today. Below is a list of players who did not receive an offer and sorted by team for easy reference. Any player that did not receive a qualifying offer is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

(as of writing the Toronto Maple Leafs were the only team not to confirm which players received QOs)

Anaheim Ducks

F Matt Bailey, F Brandon Pirri, F Charles Sarault, D Kevin Gagne, and D Martin Gernat.

Arizona Coyotes

F Sergei Plotnikov, , D Philip Samuelsson, F Christian Thomas, D Kevin Connauton, D Jarred Tinordi, D Klas Dahlbeck, and G Niklas Treutle

Boston Bruins

F Landon Ferraro and F Brett Connolly.

Buffalo Sabres

F Alex Guptill, F Colin Jacobs, F Jack Nevins, and Nathan Lieuwen.

Calgary Flames

F Kenny Agostino, F Bill Arnold, F Joe Colborne, F Turner Elson, F Josh Jooris, F Drew Shore, F Bryce Van Brabant, G Joni Ortio, and Kevin Poulin.

Carolina Hurricanes

F Zach Boychuk, F Anthony Camara, F Dane Fox, F Carter Sandlak, F Justin Shugg, D Danny Biega, D Michal Jordan, D Rasmus Rissanen, and G Rasmus Tirronen.

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Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks

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When the Vancouver Canucks entered the 2015-16 season, they were coming off a 101-point season and felt as though they had another strong shot at the playoffs, with Daniel and Henrik Sedin still in the mix and up-and-coming center Bo Horvat showing he was ready for a larger NHL role.  What they got instead, was a disastrous season filled with injury and ineffectiveness, leading to a 31-38-13 record and finished ahead of only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers in league standings. This summer they’ve already started their re-tool, trading 20-year old Jared McCann to Florida for former third overall pick Erik Gudbranson. Here’s a look at what else they have to do this summer:

Key Restricted Free Agent: W Emerson Etem – After a deal that saw Etem move across the continent (for the second time), the former Ranger got into 39 games down the stretch for the Canucks.  A prolific scorer in junior – who tallied 143 goals in three seasons for the Medicine Hat Tigers, including a 61 goal effort in 2011-12 – Etem hasn’t been able to find much consistency in the NHL.

Now six years removed from being draft in the first round (29th overall), Etem has to show that he can be the offensive force he was once seen as.  Perhaps it will help that Canucks’ coach Willie Dejardins was Etem’s coach in Medicine Hat for two seasons before being hired on with the Dallas Stars.

He’s coming off a one-year deal worth $850,500 and shouldn’t cost much more than $1MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility.  With the other young forwards Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen, Etem could be a long-term piece for the Canucks if he can ever reclaim that scoring touch.

Other RFAs: F Linden Vey, F Michael Zalewski, D Andrey Pedan

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: RW Radim Vrbata – While the Canucks struggle through the last few years of their now 35-year old franchise twins, another veteran is hitting the open market after a terrible season.  Vrbata seemed to have found the fountain of youth in 2014-15 after signing a two-year pact with the Canucks; he put up a career-high 63 points and broke the 30 goal mark for the second time.

This season, he lit the lamp only 13 times and collected just 27 points – his lowest mark since 2008 when he played just 18 games before heading back to his native Czech Republic to be with his pregnant wife. He’ll hit the open market as a 35-year old coming off his worst year and will probably have to settle for a one-year deal somewhere; it almost surely won’t be in Vancouver.  Vrbata was ranked 27 on our list of the top 50 free agents available this year.

D Dan Hamhuis – After another injury shortened season (this time from a gruesome slapshot to the face), Hamhuis is hitting free agency as somewhat of a risk, given his age and durability issues. While those issues may be somewhat overblown, Hamhuis isn’t going to get the big money deal he did a few years ago.

Even so, he is a strong shutdown defender when healthy and there are many teams who would love to have him in their top-4. If Hamhuis decides to take his talents elsewhere, he’ll try to catch on with a team with deep playoff aspirations as the 33-year old has only progressed past the first round once in his twelve year career.

Other UFAs: LW Ronalds Kenins, D Yannick Weber, D Matt Bartkowski

Projected Cap Room: $9.2MM, 21 players under contract.

The Canucks will continue their tear-down as they wait out the last few Sedin seasons, and look for progression from their young players. If they do sign any free agents, it would have to either be young players or cheap veterans that they’d look to deal closer to the next deadline.

We predicted them to sign both Lee Stempniak and Matt Martin, but look at other players like Sam Gagner or John-Michael Liles that fit in one of those two categories. It should be another long season for Canuck fans.

Kings Acquire G Jack Campbell From Stars for D Nick Ebert

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The LA Kings acquired G Jack Campbell from the Dallas Stars for D Nick Ebert. Campbell was once a heralded goalie prospect for the Stars, leading the 2010 US U20 Junior team to a championship over Team Canada. More recently, however, he has been relegated from the Stars’ AHL team to its ECHL affiliate Idaho Steelheads.

Campbell looks for a fresh start in LA. The Kings have had significant success developing goalies of late, with both Martin Jones and Jonathan Bernier emerging from the Kings goaltending pipeline.

American defenseman Nick Ebert—Campbell’s former teammate with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires—is a heavy-hitting defensive prospect.

2016 NHL Draft Results

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Pro Hockey Rumors will be following and updating every selection of the 2016 NHL Draft. Below are the results of the first round.

Round 1

1. Toronto Maple Leafs: C Auston Matthews (Zurich Lions – SUI)

2. Winnipeg Jets: RW Patrik Laine (Tappara – SM-liiga)

3. Columbus Blue Jackets: LW Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton – QMJHL)

4. Edmonton Oilers: RW Jesse Puljujarvi (Karpat – SM-liiga)

5. Vancouver Canucks: D Olli Juolevi (London – OHL)

6. Calgary Flames: LW Matthew Tkachuk (London – OHL)

7. Arizona Coyotes: C Clayton Keller (USA NTDP – USHL)

8. Buffalo Sabres: F Alexander Nylander (Mississauga Steelheads – OHL)

9. Montreal Canadiens: D Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor – OHL)

10. Colorado Avalanche: C Tyson Jost (Penticton – BCHL)

11. Ottawa Senators (from New Jersey): C Logan Brown (Windsor – OHL)

12. New Jersey Devils (from Ottawa): C Michael McLeod (Mississauga Steelheads – OHL)

13. Carolina Hurricanes: D Jake Bean (Calgary – WHL)

14. Boston Bruins: D Charlie McAvoy (Boston University – NCAA)

15. Minnesota Wild: C Luke Kunin (Wisconsin – NCAA)

16. Arizona Coyotes (From Detroit): D Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia – OHL)

17. Nashville Predators: D Dante Fabbro (Penticton – BCHL)

18. Winnipeg Jets (From Philadelphia): D Logan Stanley (Windsor – OHL)

19. New York Islanders: LW Kieffer Bellows (US NTDP)

20. Detroit Red Wings (from Arizona via New York Rangers): D Dennis Cholowski (Chilliwack (BCHL)

21. Carolina Hurricanes (from LA Kings): RW Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or Foreurs – QMJHL

22. Philadelphia Flyers (From Winnipeg via Chicago): C German Rubtsov (Team Russia U-18)

23. Florida Panthers: C Henrik Borgstrom (HIFK – SM-liiga Jr)

24. Anaheim Ducks: LW Max Jones (London – OHL)

25. Dallas Stars: LW Riley Tufte (Blaine – USHSW)

26. St. Louis Blues (From Washington): C Tage Thompson (Connecticut – NCAA)

27. Tampa Bay Lightning: C Brett Howden (Moose Jaw – WHL)

28. Washington Capitals (From St. Louis): D Lucas Johansen (Kelowna – WHL)

29. Boston Bruins (from San Jose): C Trent Frederic (USA U-18 NTDP)

30. Anaheim Ducks (from Pittsburgh via Toronto): C Sam Steel (Regina – WHL)

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Stars Re-Sign Jordie Benn

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The Dallas Stars have re-signed D Jordie Benn to a three year contract, the team announced Friday.  ESPN/TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports the deal will carry a cap hit of $1.1MM.

Last season, he suited up in 64 games for the Stars, scoring three times and added nine assists while averaging 15:39 per game in ice time.  He also got into one of their 13 postseason contests.  Benn has spent his entire five year career with Dallas after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2011, playing in 244 games, scoring nine goals and 47 assists.

Jordie is the older brother of Jamie Benn, one of the NHL’s top scorers in recent years.  It’s likely that he will reprise his role as the 6th or 7th defenseman for the Stars next season.  PHR had him rated 48th on our top 50 list of unrestricted free agents.

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