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Morning Notes: Zetterberg, Chelios, Kearns

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The Detroit Red Wings are committed to playing some of their younger forwards in bigger situations this season, but some have wondered how exactly they’ll find room to do that when so many veterans remain on the roster. One opportunity for top-six minutes might arise if Henrik Zetterberg can’t play, something that has been rumored but not confirmed for the past while. Head coach Jeff Blashill was non-committal when asked about Zetterberg by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, saying that he still wasn’t sure whether he’d have his captain in the lineup.

At this point, I haven’t heard anything from Henrik to say that he is or is not playing. The biggest thing with Henrik is, how healthy is Henrik? I know he spent the whole second half of last season not practicing because of his back. He ground it out because he is the ultimate warrior, one of the best I have ever been around, and was able to still be a real good player. But that continues to take a wear and tear on your body. So I think he is in the process of deliberating to see where is his back at? And only Henrik can answer that and it will be answered I am sure come camp time. 

Zetterberg played in all 82 games in 2017-18 for the third consecutive season, and posted a solid 56-point campaign. Turning 38 in October he has three years remaining on his current contract that carries a $6.08MM cap hit, but is owed just $5.35MM in total actual salary. If Zetterberg isn’t able to play, the team would need to find takers for the nearly 20 minutes a night he averaged last season, easily leading all Detroit forwards in even-strength time.

  • Chris Chelios has landed on his feet back in Chicago, where he announced he would return after many years in the Detroit organization. Chelios was named an ambassador for the Blackhawks organization today, re-joining an organization that he spent nine seasons with during his long playing career. The 56-year old Hall of Fame defenseman left the Detroit area to be closer to his family, but will remain in the hockey world in this new position.
  • If you’re a fan of the AHL you likely recognize the name Bracken Kearns, one of the league’s most consistent players over the past decade. With just 35 NHL games to his name, Kearns has spent parts of 12 seasons in the AHL scoring at a consistently excellent pace and being part of the leadership group everywhere he landed. Kearns will now continue to write his hockey story in Europe, where he’s signed on with Linz in the Austrian EBEL. The 37-year old forward previously played a year in Finland during the 2014-15 season, and will likely find great success in his new league.

Atlantic Notes: Panarin, Donato, Red Wings, Canadiens

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With so many of their rivals attempting to take that next step to guarantee the top spot in the Atlantic Division, the Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that the Boston Bruins should definitely do everything they can to acquire the services of Columbus Blue Jackets’ star forward Artemi Panarin. With an impressive city for a young, talented forward to establish himself in, the scribe writes that Boston would be the perfect landing place for the star, except for the fact that the team has no Russians on it.

Regardless Panarin, who will be a unrestricted free agent after next season, could be the team’s next Brad Marchand and provide the team with two of the best left wingers in the league. Panarin’s addition to the team’s second line would also be a huge boost for veteran center David Krejci who might be the perfect complement for him. Dupont suggests the team could make a deal that centers around Jake Debrusk and defenseman Brandon Carlo, two big hits to the team, but a deal that could prove to be worth it down the road.

  • After an impressive performance with the Bruins at the end of the season, Ryan Donato has been working hard this summer to ensure there will be a place for him in the Bruins lineup, according to The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required). The 22-year-old arrived after wrapping up his third year at Harvard University and posted five goals and nine points in 12 games, but saw little playoff time as Bruins’ coach Bruce Cassidy opted to play veterans over him instead. Now, Donato has been training with Edge Performance System along with other NHL players in hopes of locking up a spot on Boston’s third line alongside veteran David Backes and he is open to either playing on the left wing or fighting for the center position.
  • In a mailbag segment, the Detroit Free-Press’ Helene St. James writes that while she believes that propsects Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski all should be on the Red Wings roster at some point during the 2018-19 seasons, However, she believes that only Rasmussen and Hronek are likely to make the team out of training camp with Zadina and Cholowski expected to see more time with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL. Zadina, at his size and age, might need more time getting experience playing against older competition in the AHL before joining up with Detroit, while Cholowski has played just two games at the AHL level in his career, suggesting he might need a little more time.
  • Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette writes about the Montreal Canadiens’ Geoff Moulson and Marc Bergevin who have been talking for weeks about their plan to turn around the franchise. He writes that the team’s plan was a two-word plan, called John Tavares, which was a longshot at best, which made it look even worse when they missed out on veteran Paul Stastny as well. He believes the team is rebuilding now because they have no choice as he examines the team’s offseason moves and where the team stands.

Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings Progressing Towards Contract

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The Detroit Red Wings already reached new contracts this summer with players like Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, but have one key restricted free agent still remaining. That’s Dylan Larkin, who may be the most talented player on the Red Wings roster an a core piece of what the team wants to do going forward. Without arbitration rights there isn’t much of a rush to get a Larkin deal done, but Craig Custance of The Athletic reports that there is little doubt on the player’s side that something will get done in the next few weeks. Larkin told Custance that he doesn’t think negotiations will continue into September, though obviously nothing is guaranteed at this point.

Custance opines that the deal will be around five or six years, meaning Larkin would be giving up some of his scheduled unrestricted free agent seasons. Despite Larkin still only being 21 years old, he is on track to hit UFA status four years from now when he’s 25. Any years included in a deal past that would start to dramatically increase the contract’s cap hit, something the Red Wings have to be careful with at this point. The team has around $2.8MM in cap space remaining this summer, and though they can move Johan Franzen to long-term injured reserve to get a little more flexibility are likely going to have to trade another contract once Larkin’s deal comes through.

The speedy forward scored 63 points last season and could be demanding quite a substantial raise on his entry-level contract, meaning the Red Wings might need some short-term salary relief to fit everyone in. Next summer a huge amount of money comes off the books due to the expiring contracts of players like Gustav Nyqust, Niklas Kronwall and Jimmy Howard, but there will need to be players signed to replace them as well. Though Detroit had an incredible draft, adding a handful of blue chip prospects to a pool that had been extremely shallow the last few years, you can’t expect all of them to step in next season and make an impact.

A Larkin deal is unavoidable and important, but the Red Wings will have more work to do this summer even after he puts pen to paper. How long that contract extends into his free agent years will have a real impact on how GM Ken Holland and the rest of the Detroit front office navigate the rest of the offseason, and even the early part of the 2018-19 campaign.

Detroit Would Like To Sign Dylan Larkin To A Five-Year Deal

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The Red Wings are focusing on a long-term contract for restricted free agent forward Dylan Larkin, reports Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  She notes that Detroit’s preference is to sign him to a five-year deal but that they could have to go to six to get a deal done.  A five-year term would buy out the remainder of Larkin’s RFA-eligible years but only get rid of one UFA-eligible season which isn’t something teams often try to do.  On the other hand, doing that would be a way to get some longer-term stability while keeping the salary cap hit slightly lower which could be quite useful for a team that is once again pegged to be right up against the cap in 2018-19.

  • Still with Detroit, they are looking at adding someone from outside the franchise to their front office, notes Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News. The Red Wings have lost several executives in recent years, including Steve Yzerman, Jim Nill, plus scouts Mark Leach and David Kolb which has left them lacking in certain areas.  With former players Jiri Fischer, Dan Cleary, Shawn Horcoff, and Tyler Wright now in key positions, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to add someone with some experience.

Morning Notes: Chelios, Pacioretty, Forbes

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Chris Chelios has left the Detroit Red Wings organization almost two decades, deciding to move back to Chicago and be closer to his family. Chelios has served in several different roles for the club since retiring from his playing career, but will now take a step back from the NHL life. He released a long statement, including this thank you to Red Wings fans:

To the fans in Detroit – I want to say thank you. You embraced me from day one. My experience in Detroit was a lot of fun and we definitely had some unforgettable times together. Just know that I won’t be a stranger. I plan on visiting the area whenever I can, especially now that my son, Jake, is playing in the Wings organization.

Jake Chelios was signed by the team earlier this offseason to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins, meaning there will still be a thread of the Hall of Fame defenseman in the organization. Though Jake isn’t expected to make a huge impact for the Red Wings, he’ll try to follow his father’s footsteps and bring a title to the organization—even if it’s a Calder Cup.

  • Max Pacioretty has been in the rumor mill for quite some time, and in his latest mailbag for NHL.com Dan Rosen explains why he thinks the Montreal Canadiens’ captain will be traded before the season. An extension continues to be the sticking point when it comes to Pacioretty, as the Canadiens or any acquiring team wants him locked up long-term. That may not be in the best interest of the player though, who is just a year away from unrestricted free agency and coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. Waiting to see if he can bounce back and become the 30-goal man he was consistently in the past would certainly improve his market next summer.
  • A grand total of zero NHL franchises made it onto Forbes’ top-50 most valuable organizations this year, with the Dallas Cowboys coming out on top with a $4.8B value. The Cleveland Browns bring up the rear at #50 with a $1.95B value, ahead of the New York Rangers’ $1.5B valuation late last year. While this doesn’t necessarily indicate any troubles for the NHL, it does show just how far behind the league is still compared with some of the other sports leagues in the world. The NFL, NBA and MLB all have teams in the top-10, while several soccer clubs from around the world find themselves near the top.

Minor Transactions: 7/18/18

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The past few days have been a busy stretch for fringe NHL free agents deciding whether to hold out for a big league deal or look elsewhere. Significant names such as Torrey Mitchell and Teemu Pulkkinen have signed overseas, while other players have settled for minor league employment. Similar deals have continued throughout the day:

  • Count Michael Latta as a player making the jump across the Atlantic. Or would it be the Pacific? Latta has signed with the Kunlun Red Star, the sole Chinese member of the KHL. He announced the deal himself today, while European insider Aivis Kalnins adds that it is a one-year contract. Latta, who is most well known for his days as a serviceable bottom-six regular with the Washington Capitals, has actually not played in an NHL game since 2015-16 in D.C. Latta has landed NHL contracts in each of the past two off-seasons with the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes respectively and has even been a sought-after trade acquisition in both years, but nevertheless has played only in the AHL. Latta’s numbers in the minors are not all that impressive either, so perhaps his move to the KHL presents an opportunity for his two-way game to be better appreciated.
  • Veteran forward Mike Blunden is making a similar move but to a lesser-known team and league. The long-time depth forward has made an NHL appearance in all but one season since turning pro in 2006, including multiple seasons where more than half of his time was spent at the top level, but saw only three games with the Ottawa Senators over the course of his recently-expired two-year contract. A proven scorer in the AHL, Blunden is likely in pursuit of a new opportunity and higher compensation outside of North America. Per a team release, Blunden has signed a contract with HC Bolzano of the Austria-based EBEL. However, the “Foxes” are actually located in Italy and are the premiere pro team of the country. Bolzano is the reigning EBEL champion and has been loading up this off-season to defend their title, adding Blunden and fellow AHLers Leland Irving, Brett Findlay, and Matt MacKenzie. Blunden could turn out to be a top scorer for the team this season.
  • Experienced goaltender Tom McCollum is not quite ready to leave North America or even the Great Lakes region. The Buffalo-area native has spent all but one season of his nine-year pro career in the Detroit Red Wings system, appearing in over 250 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. However, without an offer from the Red Wings or presumably an AHL offer from the Griffins this summer, McCollum has decided to take his talents to their arch rival. The Milwaukee Admirals have announced that they have signed the veteran netminder to a one-year minor league deal. The team’s release calls McCollum a “proverbial thorn in the Admirals’ side” for years, but he has now joined them in their pursuit of a Calder Cup. Milwaukee’s parent club, the Nashville Predators, could also come calling if injuries strike; the team has just three goalies signed who have pro experience in North America.
  • Forward Tyler Randell is sticking around in the AHL as well. The 27-year-old enforcer has been unable to land a two-way NHL contract, but will settle for a minor league deal. The Rochester Americans have announced that they have signed Randell to a one-year AHL contract. Randell, a 2009 sixth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins, is an impressive physical force and a smart defensive player. He even earned himself 27 NHL games with the Bruins in 2015-16 and a nice $700K free agent contract from the Ottawa Senators last summer. However, his offensive game is severely limited at all levels and it’s no surprise that his NHL market was lacking this off-season after an eight-point campaign with the Belleville Senators last season. Randell brings energy and grit to Rochester, but if his scoring doesn’t improve in consistency and frequency, he’s unlikely to end up back in the NHL.

Atlantic Notes: Larkin, Lightning, Moore

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The Detroit Red Wings have two options in regards to signing restricted free agent Dylan Larkin this summer. The team could go short-term or long-term. With a solid, but hardly spectacular season, the Red Wings might want to wait and see how the 21-year-old develops over the next year or two and hand out short contracts to see if he’s worth the money. That makes sense considering the team is capped out with so many long-term deals having been handed out to veterans over the past few years.

However, NBC Sports’ James O’Brien writes that the team needs to look at the long-term option instead and lock up Larkin as quick as possible as he compares Larkin’s situation to that of Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who signed an eight-year, $68MM deal a year ago, which is starting to look like a bargain after the many signings since then.

Larkin, who has shown that he’s one of the few answers in Detroit still hasn’t broken out with the Red Wings. While his rookie campaign showed plenty of promise with 23 goals, he’s failed to duplicate that number since. However, while he did just tally 16 goals a season ago, his 47 assists was a career-high along with his 63 points, suggesting he might be due for a breakout season. Signing Larkin to a long-term deal now while his value isn’t through the roof might be better than waiting another two years when they will be forced to shell out top dollar in the future with the cap constantly increasing.

  • While it’s already been reported that the eight-year, $76MM extension that Nikita Kucherov signed will not take the Tampa Bay Lightning out of a potential Erik Karlsson trade, the team will have to make some moves if it does pull the trigger on a trade as the team has less than $3MM in cap space for this coming year. Brandon Schlager of the Sporting News writes that the most obvious candidates that would have to be moved would be forwards Ryan Callahan ($5.8MM AAV for two more years), Tyler Johnson ($5MM for six more years), Alex Killorn ($4.45MM for five more years) and defenseman Braydon Coburn ($3.7MM for one year).
  • Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe attempts to break down what the Boston Bruins defense will look like next season as well as what the team should expect out of their top free agent target, John Moore. The scribe writes that general manager Don Sweeney hasn’t struck gold yet with his long-term free agent deals, pointing to the contracts handed out to Matt Beleskey and David Backes. Beleskey was an outright failure, while Backes has been average, at best. Moore is just 27 years old and will be playing already for his fifth team, which isn’t a good sign. What the team’s plans are for his usage is also unknown as if the team intends to put him on the team’s second-line defensive pairings, then the team would force either Torey Krug or Brandon Carlo to the third-line pairing, which doesn’t make sense either unless the team intends to move Krug. However, there is still no proof that Moore is good enough to be a top-four player.

Anthony Mantha Re-Signs With Detroit Red Wings

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The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed a key part of their future, inking Anthony Mantha to a two-year contract. Mantha was a restricted free agent this summer but was ineligible for salary arbitration. Ansar Khan of MLive reports that the deal will carry a $3.3MM cap hit.

The 23-year old Mantha will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the contract, making this an affordable bridge deal for the Red Wings as they try to turn around their salary structure. The team has put themselves in a bad financial situation with long-term contracts to underwhelming players like Justin Abdelkader and Danny DeKeyser, and are in a situation where they likely have to move out another deal or once again use the cap space created by designating Johan Franzen as a long-term injured reserve player. With Dylan Larkin still to sign, the Red Wings have just under $3MM in cap space—though again, Franzen can help clear that up and the team is allowed to go up to 10% over the cap ceiling during the offseason.

A long-term deal for Mantha seems inevitable down the road. The 2013 first-round pick showed off his offensive chops last season with a 24-goal, 48-point campaign, and is just brushing the surface of how dominant he can be as a power forward in the NHL. His game still doesn’t consistently use his size and reach to its full potential, but there are more and more nights that he has shown that level is coming. If it does emerge in the next two seasons the Red Wings will need to pay a hefty premium for his services on the next contract, but that’s something they’re willing to risk to avoid the predicament they would be in by signing him long-term right now.

For Mantha, this is the best of both worlds. A $3.3MM cap hit represents a huge raise from his entry-level salary, and sets him up for a big negotiation next summer. After July 1st 2019, the Red Wings will be able to work out a long-term extension and buy out several free agent years. Seeing as Mantha will likely get prime powerplay time and hit the ice with Detroit’s best players for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to imagine him failing to put up respectable numbers. He’ll be able to demand a big contract, especially given the huge amount of cap space the Red Wings will have in 2020 when contracts like Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley come off the books.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Andreas Athanasiou's New Contract Could Help His Trade Value

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  • Although the Red Wings were able to get a deal done fairly quickly with Andreas Athanasiou, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press believes there is still a chance the team could trade the winger. The 23-year-old has shown flashes of becoming a dominant player but at the same time, has struggled considerably with his focus in his own end which has drawn the ire of the coaching staff.  At $3MM for two years, St. James suggests that teams may view his new deal as an asset which could help facilitate a move if Detroit is inclined to part ways with Athanasiou.

Snapshots: Hossa, Zadina, Brassard

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been quieter than usual this offseason and one reason that has been the case is that while it has some cap room to work with, the team didn’t have enough to make a major splash in free agency. The team had been linked at one time or another to players such as James van Riemsdyk, James Neal and David Perron, but were unable to work out a deal and a lot of that has to do with cap space. With its minor moves made after free agency began when the team inked Chris Kunitz, Cam Ward and Brandon Manning, the team only has just over $2MM to work with.

That’s where the contract of Marian Hossa comes in. His contract of $5.275MM is still stuck on the books for yet another offseason until the team can put it on LTIR to free up the money at the start of the NHL season. That’s what Chicago did last season, using that money to sign defenseman Cody Franson and using it on shuttling AHL talent back and forth all season. However, that didn’t work, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers.

The general belief was the team wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice and would attempt to deal the bloated contract to a team that needs the contract to get them to the cap floor. However, there haven’t been any takers as teams want an asset in return for them to take on the 39-year-old’s contract, which the Blackhawks don’t want to do. They were burned back in 2016 when they threw in Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina to get the Hurricanes to take Bryan Bickell’s final year of his contract off their books. Teravainen put up 64 points this season.

One way or another, especially if the team still has plans to make a big offseason move, is to find a way to get Hossa and his contract permanently off their books, even if they have to give up a prospect.

  • With questions surrounding where prized 2018 first-rounder Filip Zadina may end up if he doesn’t make the Detroit Red Wings NHL lineup next season has been up for debate as there are rumors that the sixth-overall pick does not have to return to his junior team next season and could be eligible to jump right to the AHL. However, regardless on how the NHL decides that case, NBC Sports James O’Brien writes that it shouldn’t even matter. He writes that the team shouldn’t want Zadina to make the team next season as the team’s main focus should be to garner another high-end lottery pick next season to complete their rebuild. A 25-goal season by the flashy winger, who many had pegged as the No. 3 pick in the draft, could vault the team to that unenviable position of not being good enough to make the playoffs, but not being bad enough to get an elite prospect either. O’Brien hopes that the addition of free agent Thomas Vanek might help force Zadina to get much needed development time in the minors, no matter where he ends up.
  • Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that while he envisions the Pittsburgh Penguins keeping Phil Kessel, who has been rumored to be moved out for much of the offseason, he could see the team move on from trade deadline acquisition Derick Brassard. The team suddenly has five centers and of them all Brassard is the most expendable. He has one year remaining on his deal at $3MM, but struggled to produce once he got to Pittsburgh, especially in the playoffs, posting just four points in 12 playoff games.

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