Free Agent Profile: Frans Nielsen
When you talk about free agents from Long Island this offseason, the conversation immediately goes to Kyle Okposo, the 28-year old winger who tied Steven Stamkos in points last season, or to Matt Martin, the bang-and-crash bottom six guy who everyone seems to want to add. Mostly forgotten, there is another UFA coming out of New York who should be commanding some attention.
Frans Nielsen has always been overlooked, perhaps because of his slender frame, or his Danish heritage – Denmark isn’t known for a flood of NHL players, though there have been some excellent ones – starting on draft day when he was selected deep into the third round. Nielsen has never earned more than $2.75MM in a single season, choosing to re-sign with the team who drafted him well before he became an unrestricted free agent in 2012.
He shouldn’t be overlooked any longer, as the 32-year old has put together an excellent career and comes into this offseason as a top-5 free agent, now that Stamkos and Yandle have both signed.
Potential Suitors
With, perhaps fittingly, almost no news coming out about Nielsen speaking with teams other than the Islanders, it’s a bit of a mystery where the Dane will finally end up. There are however a few teams who seem to fit with his ability and position perfectly.
In our UFA piece we had Nielsen going to the Red Wings, and after Stamkos re-signed this afternoon that seems even more a possibility. The club already has a young, up and coming center in Dylan Larkin who may be ready for the top line as soon as next season, so may not want to commit to the long-term deal that the other top option, David Backes, is surely to command.
While the Minnesota Wild have a young group of forwards who have shown the ability to play in the top six, they’ve also experimented with both Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund on the wing. If they think they’re more suited there, Nielsen makes a good choice as a steady veteran to put between them on the second line.
Expected Contract
Nielsen will be overlooked no more, as he hits this summer looking for one last big deal to finish his career on. If Backes goes early and the rest of the league views him as the next best option down the middle (which they should), he’ll look for a four or five year deal somewhere between $4.5 and $5MM per season. If he settles for a shorter term, he might be able to push just above that $5MM mark, but it would be very surprising to see him get close to $6MM.
Shattenkirk Open To Western Conference Trade
The Kevin Shattenkirk trade sweepstakes might just be bigger than previously thought. Despite the widespread belief that Shattenkirk would only sign long-term in the Eastern Conference, the offensive defenceman remains open to extend with some Western Conference teams, Jeremy Rutherford reports.
Rutherford tweeted that the door is not completely closed, but Shattenkirk is only open to some teams, presumably only contenders. That means, despite having the pieces to make a trade for Shattenkirk, the Edmonton Oilers do not appear to be in the running for the defender.
The St. Louis Blues writer for NHL.com Lou Korac believes the Blues asking price was Taylor Hall or Jordan Eberle. The high cost of acquiring Shattenkirk, plus the risk of him walking after this coming season could put a damper on some teams’ interest. However, the Bruins, Red Wings, Sabres, and Flyers have all inquired about trading for Shattenkirk. According to Joey Alfieri of NBC Sports, the asking price was David Pastrnak and both of the Bruins first round picks from Boston, or Dylan Larkin from the Red Wings.
Jordan Neumann, Shattenkirk’s agent, told ESPN’s Craig Custance that based on their conversations with St. Louis, they expected Shattenkirk to be dealt over the draft weekend.
Shattenkirk has one year left on his contract, with $4.25MM cap hit. According to CapFriendly, Shattenkirk will make $5.2MM in real dollars.
Pacific Notes: Canucks, Ducks, Coyotes
Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning found out talk isn’t so cheap after all. The NHL fined Benning $50,000 for his comments regarding Steven Stamkos and P.K. Subban reports Navin Vaswani. According to the report, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said that Benning violated By-Law 15 for speaking about his interest in other teams’ players. Sports Illustrated’s Allan Muir writes that while the comments may seem harmless, it’s the willingness to express signing desires for “public consumption” that landed Benning a fine.
Other Pacific Division Notes:
- The Ducks have indeed been talking with the Red Wings about Cam Fowler writes Mike Halford. The news was also reported by The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The Ducks would be a perfect trade partner for the Red Wings as they recently re-signed Sami Vatanen and could move Fowler’s reasonable contract that has a $4MM cap hit. After the Wings balked at the apparent price for Kevin Shattenkirk, which included Dylan Larkin. Fowler has also been linked with Buffalo.
- Sarah McLellan writes that new Coyotes general manager John Chayka says that the Pavel Datsyuk contract poses no issues for the organization. Chayka indicates that he wouldn’t have made the move had it hindered the ‘Yotes financially. But because Datysuk retired from the NHL, there is no payment attached to the contract. Instead, the Coyotes absorb the $7.5MM cap hit. McLellan also writes that the possibility of gaining a defenseman of Jakob Chychrun’s caliber was too good to pass up. As a result, they agreed to take on the contract. McLellan also spoke to Chayka about acquiring defenseman Anthony DeAngelo from Tampa Bay, an Arizona target for quite some time.
Free Agent Profile: Milan Lucic
When it was announced last week that talks between Milan Lucic and the Los Angeles Kings broke down, many teams around the NHL looking for size up front and scoring cackled with glee.
Listed as the #2 free agent available by the USA Today’s Kevin Allen, Lucic is a hard nosed forward known for his scoring prowess, and ability to irritate on the ice. Traded to the Kings prior to the 2015-16 season, Lucic had 55 points (20-35) in a 81 games, an improvement from the 44 points (18-26) he had a season’s prior in Boston. Lucic has been a 20+ goal scorer four times in his career. Last season, Lucic averaged .68 points/game
Potential Suitors
Lucic’s landing spot is anyone’s guess, though most pundits believe he’ll be tempted to go back to his hometown Vancouver where he saw tremendous success in junior hockey. The National Post reports that if Lucic were to take a discount, he would still be in Los Angeles, so the Canucks should be expected to pay a higher price for Lucic to come home. Canucks GM Jim Benning also indicated to the Vancouver Sun that he would be making a run at Lucic. The Bruins have expressed their desire to make calls on significant free agents–which would include Lucic. Lucic had a number of great seasons with the B’s, and there is certainly more than enough cap room to get a deal done. However as CBS Boston’s Matt Kalman writes, the Bruins dealt Lucic away because of salary cap concerns, inconsistency, and a style of play that breaks the body down sooner. Though Lucic wasn’t specifically named as someone spoken with, Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland had conversations Monday with several prominent free agent targets writes Helene St. James. Lucic would be a rugged, scoring option who could help the Red Wings scoring woes. Darren Dreger tweeted that Lucic was on the Red Wings “want” list.
Finally, Scott Burnside listed the Edmonton Oilers as another potential team because of Lucic’s relationship with current Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, who oversaw the Bruins during Lucic’s tenure with the team. Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Lucic was scheduled to meet with Edmonton officials today and wrote more about the possibility of Edmonton snagging the winger.
Expected Contract
PHR has Lucic as the #3 free agent available, fetching a 5 year/$28.75MM deal by someone in the marketplace. PHR had him re-signing with Los Angeles, but talks broke down last week. Jim Matheson recently tweeted that the Oilers could offer upwards to $6MM/year and that it would force a trade of another forward currently on the roster. Ryan Rishaug agrees, thinking that a Lucic deal shuttles a forward to another team, possibly Taylor Hall.
If Edmonton is looking at a long term deal around $6MM, it will be interesting to see if other teams are willing to offer the same amount. Expect a deal somewhere between that $5.5MM-$6MM range.
Full List of Players Who Did Not Receive a Qualifying Offer
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.
Red Wings Re-Sign Drew Miller To One-Year Deal
Ansar Khan of MLive reports that the Detroit Red Wings have re-signed forward Drew Miller to a one-year contract extension at $1.025MM. The Red Wings also announced the deal.
Miller was an unrestricted free agent. Injuries limited Miller to just 28 games last season where he had 2 points (1-1). The move is a curious one only in that the Wings are still waiting to hear from speedy center Darren Helm, and expected to make a serious run at Steven Stamkos, as well as other marquee free agents should Stamkos be retained by Tampa Bay or sign elsewhere. Additionally, it seemed that the Wings were more willing to embrace the youth movement they’ve been hinting at for several seasons. Miller would conceivably take ice time away from the younger players Detroit intends on giving greater opportunities–specifically Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Jurco, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Anthony Mantha. The re-signing of Miller could very well be a depth move and nothing more. However, the Wings insistence on playing veterans–despite many of them being past their best years–says otherwise.
Miller is known for his penalty killing capabilities, but brings little else to the table in terms of goal scoring or other production as his numbers have fallen since his career high of 25 points (14-11) in 2011-12. The financial deal is slightly below the $1.35MM Miller earned in his last contract, which was a three-year deal signed before the 2013-14 season.
Free Agent Notes: Stamkos, Okposo, Lucic
With the completion of the NHL Entry Draft, the negotiating window with upcoming unrestricted free agents has now opened. From now until July 1st, teams are allowed to contact, but not sign, the pending UFAs. This is a key period when teams decide on strategy for the summer before the free agent frenzy begins, and also the last chance for teams looking to re-sign their own players to eight year contracts. Once the player becomes unrestricted next Friday, teams may only offer seven year pacts. Here is some information already coming out about some of the top names:
- Steven Stamkos is the most important example of a team who would lose their advantage after July 1st, with the superstar center surely demanding a maximum length deal. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the Buffalo Sabres may be joining the hunt for the 26-year old, quoting GM Tim Murray: “We’re going to chase the big fish.” The Sabres do have over $20MM in cap space for the upcoming season, and could fit a Stamkos-like contract into their current structure.
- After opening, the window for Kyle Okposo must have been pretty stuffed as Arthur Staple of Newsday reports there was plenty of interest in the 28-year old. Among the teams that came calling were the Jets, Blues, Kings, Wild and Red Wings. Okposo put up 64 points last season and landed at #2 on our list of the top 50 UFAs.
- ESPN’s Joe McDonald passes along a report that Boston Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney has considered a reunion with Milan Lucic, and that the team will at least inquire about Stamkos. Boston isn’t finding much luck trying to re-sign their own star forward, as Loui Eriksson looks poised to hit the open market next week.
2016 NHL Draft Results
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)
Red Wings Trade 1st Round Pick, Datysuk’s Contract To Arizona
The Red Wings finally rid themselves of Pavel Datsyuk‘s contract, packaging it with their 16th overall pick to Arizona for the Coyotes’ 20th overall pick, 53rd overall pick and forward Joe Vitale. With the trade, the Red Wings shed $6.38MM from the salary cap according to CapFriendly.
Datysuk’s contract was a point of contention for the Red Wings heading into the draft. The 37-year-old forward recently retired from the NHL and will be playing in Russia next season. But general manager Ken Holland pulled off what many believe to be an astoundingly fortuitous deal by only moving down four picks in draft to #20, grabbing the 53rd pick overall, and Vitale.
Speculation persists that Detroit will make a serious run at Steven Stamkos should he become a free agent. The Red Wings were also rumored to trade goalie Jimmy Howard‘s contract away, but one of their best chances was with Calgary, who made an earlier deal for St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott.
Snapshots: Shattenkirk, Nugent-Hopkins, Bobrovsky
As we inch closer to the 2016 NHL Draft, trade speculation continues. Here’s a quick look at what’s being said around the league.
- Michael Russo tweets that the Wild and Oilers might pair up on a deal. Russo speculates that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is the likely target for the Wild. David Staples writes that he’s not the biggest fan of this move. While it would yield Mathew Dumba or Jonas Brodin (or possibly both), Staples doesn’t believe it benefits the Oilers in terms of obtaining the puck moving defenseman they need.
- Jimmy Murphy tweets that Kevin Shattenkirk remains a very high priority for several teams. Murphy indicated that the Bruins first round selection (14th overall) might just do the trick. Murphy includes the Red Wings, Rangers, Canadiens, and Coyotes as other possibilities. Joe Haggerty believes the Bruins will ultimately end up with Shattenkirk.
- Kevin Allen writes more about Cam Fowler moving to another team. Allen lists the Red Wings, Canadiens, Bruins, and Sabres as possible landing points. Allen also reports that the Blue Jackets will listen to offers for their 3rd overall pick. Kevin McGran tweeted this as well, adding that Columbus is looking for a proven center.
- Aaron Portzline reports that the Blue Jackets may want to look at offloading goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The $7.425MM cap hit would be tough to unload on another team without either a weaker return or a willingness to take on some of the salary. Portzline also listed the four goalies who are being shopped: Bobrovsky, Jimmy Howard, Ben Bishop, and Marc-Andre Fleury.