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What Happened To The Antoine Vermette Market?

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Approaching July 1st this year, one name had been given a somewhat surprising amount of attention. Veteran center Antoine Vermette, who was coming off the least productive season of his long career, was nevertheless reported to be a target of several teams by several different sources. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie went so far as to say that with a high demand for centermen, there was “significant interest” across the league in Vermette. Yet, three weeks later, he remains a free agent with little to no discussion of any potential landing spots.

What could have caused Vermette’s market to fall apart? It could be that many teams taking a look at the two-way pivot were able to land superior options, while others found comparable players at a cheaper price. Vermette hasn’t made under $1MM in a season since 2006 and at 36 years old he may not have been willing to return to that price point to extend his career. However, several other unrestricted free agent centers with similar (and superior) 2017-18 production have signed at cap hit between the $650K minimum and Vermette’s previous $1.75MM salary. They include Matt Cullen and Derek Grant to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Brodziak to the Edmonton Oilers, and Vermette’s Anaheim teammate Chris Wagner to the Boston Bruins, as well as Connor Brickley to the Nashville Predators, Paul Carey to the Ottawa Senators, and Michael Sgarbossa to the Washington Capitals. That’s at least six teams who likely kicked the tires on Vermette but may have found a better fit at an more comfortable price in who they decided to sign.

The other possibility is that the market was overblown in the first place. It did seem as though Vermette was slowing down substantially last season. The 14-year veteran recorded eight goals and eight assists for 16 points with the Ducks last season; each of those marks is Vermette’s lowest since his rookie year in 2003-04. His physicality tailed off and he was not as successful with his trademark defensive play, lagging in turnovers and zone exits and posting career-low possession numbers. Vermette was still dominant at the face-off dot, but teams may have been overplaying that one trait and Vermette’s years of experience, when other options with higher potential for offense and defense were waiting for them on the open market.

It could be that Vermette’s name value alone lands him a job this summer. It may be that he was overpricing himself early on to teams or that the market simply never developed, but it seems unlikely that if the well-respected and well-traveled center wanted to play next season, that he couldn’t find a shot somewhere. However, the demand is not what it once was in the past and not what it was made out to be earlier this month. Perhaps Vermette’s time to hang up the skate has come.

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.

Josh Currie Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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If you’ve been a fan of the Bakersfield Condors for the last few seasons, today is the day you’ve expected for a while. Josh Currie, who was playing for the Condors on an AHL contract, has signed his first NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Because Currie is already 25 he was not held to the entry-level system, and has instead signed a two-year deal with the team.

Undrafted, Currie is an incredible example of the ECHL development system as he worked his way up through the lower minor leagues. The former QMJHL star scored 104 points in his final year of junior but had to wait five more years to get an NHL deal. He’ll almost assuredly play in the minors this season, but has now created the possibility of an NHL call-up should the Oilers experience injury trouble.

The two-year deal will take him to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020, but should give him quite the raise on his previous minor league deals.

Oilers Decision To Sign Mikko Koskinen Early Could Have Consequences

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While Edmonton moved quickly to shore up their goaltending position with the addition of Mikko Koskinen on a one-year, $2.5MM deal, Postmedia’s David Staples argues that the Oilers would have been better off waiting and doing something in the regular free agency period instead.  More prominent and proven players such as Carter Hutton and Jaroslav Halak signed for similar amounts ($2.75MM each) while others like Petr Mrazek and Robin Lehner came in a fair bit cheaper ($1.5MM apiece) and have logged big workloads as well.

While it’s certainly possible that Koskinen has some legitimate upside, it’s fair to suggest that they could have benefitted from a more proven option like Halak or Hutton.  They wouldn’t have taken one-year deals like Koskinen but having that extra insurance with starter Cam Talbot being a pending UFA wouldn’t have hurt.  Had the Oilers gone with a cheaper option, it would have freed up some more cap flexibility which could have come in play with RFA defenseman Darnell Nurse instead of forcing them into a bridge deal.  We’ll soon see how Koskinen fares but in early hindsight, they may have been better off waiting instead of acting quite quickly to lock him up in May.

Evan Bouchard Signs Entry-Level Contract With Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have inked their first-round selection, signing defenseman Evan Bouchard to a three-year entry-level contract. Bouchard could potentially see that contract slide forward if he fails to play in 10 games for the Oilers this season.

Rated as one of the very best prospects available in the draft, Bouchard took an unexpected tumble down to 10th-overall where the Oilers eventually selected him. While some believed he would be the second defenseman off the board after first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin, he instead watched as Quinn Hughes and Adam Boqvist were picked by Vancouver and Chicago respectively at picks seven and eight. The Oilers, who desperately wanted to pick a defenseman this season, happily snapped up Bouchard and could potentially insert him into their lineup without much wait.

Playing for the London Knights of the OHL the last three seasons, Bouchard has developed into an elite two-way defensive prospect who recorded 87 points in his most recent season. On the ice for incredible amounts of time each night, Bouchard was involved in nearly everything the Knights did in 2017-18 and led the team in scoring by more than 30 points. The fact that he is 6’2″, right-handed and can skate well enough to keep up with the NHL pace only adds to the package that Bouchard brings, and makes him an almost perfect fit for the Oilers going forward.

Still, it’s not guaranteed that he will join the club for the entire season. Last year the Oilers kept first-round pick Kailer Yamamoto with them until early November before sending him back to the junior ranks, and a similar path could be followed with Bouchard. Since Yamamoto played just nine games in the NHL his entry-level contract will slide forward a season, giving the team another inexpensive year for one of their top prospects. Cheap seasons for productive NHL players are incredibly valuable in today’s NHL, especially for the Oilers who have to continually worry about the salary cap due to their huge commitments to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. If they don’t believe that Bouchard is ready to make a real impact for the entire year, putting him back in London would allow them to push that contract back a year.

The argument against that obviously is whether Bouchard has anything left to learn at the OHL level. As one of the best players in the league already last season there are some who believe going back would only stagnate his development, especially given he was already probably at the limit of what a player can handle in terms of ice time. There aren’t more minutes to be had for Bouchard, though there could potentially be a new partner to work with. Boqvist, the previously mentioned Blackhawks prospect, is expected to join the Knights for the 2018-19 season and is an elite offensive defenseman in his own right. Though both are right-handed, there could still be plenty of opportunities to use the two together. Perhaps playing excellent minutes with another top talent would be beneficial to Bouchard, and with both on the blue line the team would surely compete for the OHL championship and perhaps even a Memorial Cup.

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.

Oilers Only Working On A Short-Term Deal With Darnell Nurse

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The Oilers are focusing on strictly a short-term contract with restricted free agent defenseman Darnell Nurse, his agent Anton Thun told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson.  Thun acknowledged that an offer has been made but their salary cap situation will restrict their options on this deal:

“They’ve sent us a proposal and we’ll see where that goes.  I don’t see with their cap space being what it is that they can entice us with much term.”

Presently, the Oilers have just shy of $5MM in cap room, per CapFriendly with a total of 21 players under contract on their projected NHL roster.  They may want to add another depth option and keep some money freed up for injury recalls or in-season trading so unless they want to move someone out to open up extra cap space, they’re restricted to a bridge contract.

The 23-year-old is coming off of his best NHL season which certainly helps his case.  Nurse led all Edmonton defensemen in points last season with 26 (more than his previous two years combined) while seeing his playing time jump by more than five minutes a night compared to 2016-17.

At this point, the discussion is basically whether to sign him for one year or two.  If they go with a one-year pact, he will be in this same situation again next summer but will have arbitration eligibility, something that isn’t the case now.  On the flip side, with having Andrej Sekera, Adam Larsson, and Oscar Klefbom all back to full health to start the season, there’s a decent chance his playing time will dip which could offset the potential gain from having the ability to file for arbitration. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides work out a two-year agreement in the weeks to come with an eye on a much longer-term pact two summers from now.

Poll: Who Will Be The Centerpiece Of The Next Big Trade?

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Given the players remaining on the free agent market, any further fireworks this summer will likely come via a blockbuster trade. It certainly seems possible too, with more than a few major names being floated around. Who will be the first to go?

The biggest fish available for a lucky team to catch is obviously all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson. With one year remaining on his contract and on a sinking ship in Ottawa, the Senators have little choice but to trade the Norris Trophy winner. However, finding the right deal to get a fair return on a player of Karlsson’s caliber is proving difficult and talks between Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion and both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars have reportedly broken down. The noise surrounding a potential Karlsson trade has died down significantly over the past few days.

Another trade target whose apparent availability is being downplayed in Edmonton Oilers winger Milan Lucic. Early in the off-season, there was rampant speculation that a Lucic trade was inevitable. Some said that the team wanted to move on from the remaining five years and $30MM of the underachieving forward’s contract, while others said that it was Lucic who was unhappy in Edmonton and was seeking a trade. Both sides have denied claims that they are seeking a separation, but as most trade rumors go – where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

There’s also Max Pacioretty, who was close to being traded during draft weekend but ended up remaining with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs captain is coming off of a down year and is in the final year of his contract, making his trade value the lowest that it has been in years. Yet, it has continually been reported that the Canadiens are listening on offers. Those reports have grown quiet over the last week or so and it could be that Montreal has simply opted to retain one of the faces of their franchise, but don’t rule out the possibility of a deal just yet.

As potential Karlsson, Lucic, and Pacioretty deals have lost some steam, Columbus Blue Jackets’ star Artemi Panarin has emerged as a popular trade target. Panarin, to his credit, was honest with the organization that he remains unsure if he will be willing to sign a long-term extension to stay in Columbus before his contract expires after next season. As a result, GM Jarmo Kekalainen and company have begun to explore any possible trade scenarios should they choose to mitigate the risk of losing Panarin for nothing as a free agent by dealing him away. However, Panarin is still a young and highly productive player who hasn’t flat out said he won’t resign with the Blue Jackets and the team may be understandably cautious in making a decision on what to do with him.

Another situation playing out between a team who would rather hold on to their asset is the Minnesota Wild and winger Jason Zucker. Zucker filed for salary arbitration this off-season and, after a career season, is due a major bump on his previous $2MM salary. However, the Wild have a surplus of NHL-caliber forwards and a likely shortage of cap space needed to sign both Zucker and young defenseman Matt Dumba. Dumba and the blue line are the priority, potentially making Zucker expendable. Minnesota will do what they can to keep him, but may not have a choice but to get what they can for the 26-year-old scorer.

Finally, there are the Carolina Hurricanes. Last month, there was not hotter name on the rumor mill than forward Jeff Skinner. Approaching the NHL Draft, several insider went so far as to guarantee that he would be traded in the coming days. More than two weeks later, Skinner remains a Hurricane. There is surely a market for Skinner, but the team and new GM Don Waddell have stated that they simply haven’t received an offer yet that they were comfortable with. Carolina clearly values what Skinner brings offensive and the Hurricanes need to be better at scoring next season. Where they have strength and depth is the blue line, yet they have managed to add both Dougie Hamilton and Calvin de Haan this off-season. The team is now overloaded with talented defensemen, especially on the right side, and there is an expectation that veteran leader Justin Faulk is likely going to be odd man out and interest is high in the All-Star.

There are many trade possibilities available, including deals that include more than one of these players, but assuming otherwise: Who is most likely to be the next big name traded this off-season?

Poll: Who Will Be The Centerpiece Of The Next Big Trade?
Erik Karlsson 41.30% (871 votes)
Artemi Panarin 16.12% (340 votes)
Max Pacioretty 14.56% (307 votes)
Justin Faulk 13.80% (291 votes)
Jeff Skinner 8.11% (171 votes)
Jason Zucker 3.75% (79 votes)
Milan Lucic 2.37% (50 votes)
Total Votes: 2,109

Mobile users, click here to vote.

St. Louis Blues Expected To Sign Patrick Maroon

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Monday: Despite a source telling Rutherford that Maroon would sign in St. Louis, several teams remain in the mix for the power winger. His agent, Ben Hankinson, told Rutherford last night that the Blues are a “strong option” while Andy Strickland of Fox Sports reports that the Arizona Coyotes and New Jersey Devils had shown interest. Lou Korac of NHL.com though has heard that a one-year deal worth $1.7MM with the Blues has been agreed to, and the two sides will negotiate an extension in January.

Sunday: Just two days ago, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reported that the St. Louis Blues were interested in local product and one of the top unsigned free agents, Patrick Maroon. Now, Rutherford has confirmed his speculation, writing that the big winger will indeed return home to St. Louis and sign with the Blues. Rutherford hears from a source that this is a done deal that could be announced as early as this afternoon, but no details on the salary or term agreed upon have been revealed as of yet.

Maroon, 30, is coming off a career year in which he recorded a career-high 43 points in 74 games split between the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils. In 2016-17, he also recorded a career-high 27 goals and was one of the team’s top scorers in the postseason. If Rick Nash is indeed set on retirement, or at least taking time off from hockey, Maroon was the top available player on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list at No. 12.

Despite rumors that Maroon was interested in a return to either Edmonton or New Jersey, the St. Louis native emerged early as a target of the Blues. However, St. Louis has been busy this off-season, signing David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Chad Johnson, not to mention several of their own restricted free agents, and then trading for Ryan O’Reilly. Accounting for their official moves to date, the Blues have little more than $5MM in cap space and still need to sign RFA defensemen Joel Edmundson and Jordan Schmaltz to new contracts. As such, many felt that the pairing of Maroon and St. Louis was no longer feasible. Yet, Rutherford reports that the Blues put the “full-court press” on Maroon in recent days, including meeting with him in person and having several members of the team call and convince him to join. It seems that GM Doug Armstrong and the Blues’ front office have a plan for working around St. Louis’ cap crunch.

Maroon is currently rehabbing from off-season back surgery, but is expected to be at full strength for the start of the season. A healthy Maroon is a major boost for St. Louis, even after adding several other impact pieces up front. The 6’3″, 225-lb. forward plays a physical game and is strong on the puck, something that the Blues lacked at times last year. He also adds significantly to their depth at left wing and has a finishing ability that should pair well with many play-makers on the Blues’ offense. While the salary terms will further clarify just how good of a signing this is, it stands to reason that Maroon – who made only $2MM per year on his last contract – is not earning so much as to make the Blues’ salary cap situation irreparable, meaning that he could be a great value for the team moving forward.

Pacific Notes: Lucic, Valamaki, Steel

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After a disappointing season a year ago, Edmonton Oilers’ fans have taken their anger on high-priced winger Milan Lucic. After all, the 6-foot-3, 234-pound bruising winger was signed not only to protect their elite players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but also to produce goals on the wing. That’s why the team signed him to a seven-year, $42MM deal back in 2016.

While Lucic showed the deal was a promising one after the first season when he tallied 23 goals and 50 points, he made the contract look like a disaster after last season when he managed just 10 goals and 34 points. Suddenly with five years remaining at $6MM AAV, and Lucic looking slower than he ever has, rumors have been flying about how Edmonton must get out of the deal which is suddenly weighing down the Oilers team and salary cap.

However, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal confirms rumors that Edmonton Oilers have no intention of moving him this offseason. The key problem is that no trade would be likely as few teams would be willing to take on that contract and if they did, it might cost Edmonton even more to dump it. However, Staples adds that what the Oilers need to do is have him settle into a lesser role with lesser expectations and allow him to produce a 35 to 40-point season and along with his defensive abilities as well as his physicality, teams will eventually call on him.

  • With the Calgary Flames having their development camp this weekend, Darren Haynes of the Canadian Press reports that the standout prospect so far has been 2017 first-round pick Jusso Valimaki. The 16th overall pick has been a force around the other prospects and Haynes speculates the 6-foot-2, 204-pound defenseman might make things interesting in September for the Flames. Valamaki posted 14 goals and 45 points in 44 games last year for Tri-City of the WHL, but showed his mettle in the playoffs when he put up four goals and 17 points in just 12 games.
  • Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) writes a profile on the Anaheim Ducks prospect Sam Steel, who has a legitimate chance to crack the Ducks’ opening day lineup this year, especially with recent question marks surrounding the availability of veteran Ryan Kesler. Steel, who won the WHL Player of the Year award after the 2016-17 season when he scored 50 goals and 131 points, failed to duplicate his success last year when he returned to the Regina Pats last season. Regardless, the 20-year-old has been focusing this summer on getting more explosion on his first step. Steel, whose junior career is now over, will either be with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL or he will be a rookie in the NHL.

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