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No Guarantee Nugent-Hopkins Is Traded To Free Up Cap Space

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While it has long been assumed that the Oilers would have to trade center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins following the long-term, big money contracts handed out to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl earlier this summer, GM Peter Chiarelli told TSN’s Bob McKenzie (video link) that this is far from a guarantee.

McDavid and Draisaitl will count for $21MM on Edmonton’s salary cap beginning in 2018-19 (McDavid remains on his entry-level contract this season).  Nugent-Hopkins enters 2017-18 with four years remaining on his deal at $6MM per and while the Oilers have plenty of cap room to fit him in this season, there’s bound to be a big squeeze next year, particularly with winger Milan Lucic signed through 2022-23 at $6MM as well.  Whether it’s Nugent-Hopkins or someone else, someone notable will have to be on the way out before the puck drops on 2018-19.

Afternoon Notes: McDavid, Draisaitl, Letang

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The Edmonton Oilers will continue to try to experiment with the lines and their two stars in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who have previously played together. However, many feel that the two young stars should be separated with the idea of eventually having two elite lines instead of the one. McDavid, who put up 100 points (including 70 assists) last year, should still be able to produce big numbers without Draisaitl, who has been playing wing up until now. Even as a wing, Draisaitl put up 48 assists of his own. But who could take the place of Draisaitl on that number one line? McDavid and Patrick Maroon have several options, according to The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell.

The scribe writes (subscription required) that there are a number of candidates that could fill that role and many questions will obviously be answered in training camp. Regardless, he lists Drake Caggiula as the top candidate for that first line. The 23-year-old forward is coming off his rookie year in which he played 60 games, scoring seven goals and 18 points on the season. However, Mitchell writes that Caggiula and McDavid had some chemistry in the time they played together and might be the best fit. He adds that Caggiula struggled through injuries early in his rookie year and the real player may not have been evident until late in the year. It’s true, he did put up three goals in 13 playoff games for Edmonton, so the former University of North Dakota star might surprise many this coming year if he gets the job.

While Mitchell lists eight candidates, it’s quite obvious that Edmonton is as clueless as anyone so far about what will happen. One of those eight candidates is Draisaitl himself, who Mitchell believes will be thrown back onto that first line the moment that McDavid’s line struggles. This may not be the year for Edmonton to make this change. One sleeper that should be considered is the team’s top pick in this year’s draft, Kailer Yamamoto. The 22nd overall pick in the draft is considered to be a high volume shooter, and his speed and talent may work perfectly with McDavid, but at 18 years of age, 5-foot-8 and 153 pounds, the youngster might need another year of development before leaping onto the Oilers’ number one line.

  • Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said that he did not ask defenseman Kris Letang to change to a more conservative style of hockey, writes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sullivan says that he asked him to use better judgement while playing. Letang has missed a lot of time over his career due to his often reckless play and managed to only play in 41 games last year when he needed surgery on his neck and missed the team’s championship run in the playoffs. “There might be an assumption that we’re trying to change the way “Tanger” plays the game. That’s not what the message has been to Kris,” Sullivan said. “It’s been more about making more calculated decisions on when there simply isn’t a play to be made.”

Chris Kelly To Attend Edmonton’s Training Camp On PTO

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The Oilers will be bringing in some more depth down the middle for their upcoming training camp as center Chris Kelly has accepted a tryout offer from the team, GM Peter Chiarelli told Sportsnet’s John Shannon (Twitter link).

[Related: 2017 PTO Tracker]

Chiarelli is no stranger to what Kelly can bring to the table as Kelly played for both of his former organizations while the GM was there in Ottawa and Boston.

After spending parts of the previous six seasons with the Bruins, Kelly returned to play for the Senators last season.  He played in all 82 regular season games with the team, recording five goals and seven assists while averaging just shy of 12 minutes per game.  However, he struggled considerably at the faceoff dot, winning just 44.5% of his draws, nearly 5% below his career average.

The 36-year-old has played in 883 career regular season games in his career split between the Senators and Bruins, scoring 123 goals while adding 166 assists.

While Edmonton is loaded with center depth, Kelly could potentially land a spot on their fourth line in a penalty killing role.  He has averaged at least 1:45 of shorthanded TOI per game in every year of his career and logged 2:05 per night in that situation with Ottawa last season.

Anton Slepyshev's Ankle Injury Not Believed To Be Serious

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  • While Oilers winger Anton Slepyshev is set to miss at least part of training camp after sustaining an ankle injury in offseason training, GM Peter Chiarelli noted to Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that the injury is not particularly serious. Slepyshev split the regular season between the NHL and AHL but was a regular for the Oilers in the playoffs so this shouldn’t represent too much of a setback for him in his quest to land a roster spot.

Will the Blues and Red Wings Keep Their GM After This Season?

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Pierre LeBrun, most recently of The Athletic, wrote yesterday about two potential veteran GMs in their final contract year: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong and Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland. LeBrun implied that it is unusual for GMs to play out the final year of their deal without an extension if they plan to stay with the team.

The two GMs might have to dust off their resumes, but for two very different reasons. Armstrong has officially helmed the Blues since 2013, but unofficially ran things since 2010. And while Armstrong has led the Blues to six straight playoff appearances, the team has yet to make the Stanley Cup Finals. Pressure is mounting within the franchise as it is now 47 years since the Blues made the Finals. If Armstrong’s contract is not renewed, it will be because the organization feels Armstrong fails to make the final push.

At the other end of the spectrum, Ken Holland is on the hot seat after recent disappoints mar his winning history. Ascending to GM before the 1997-98 season, Holland has led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup victories and four Finals appearances overall. More importantly, up until last season the Red Wings never failed to qualify for the playoffs. All that changed when the team went 33-36-13 and finished last in its division. To be fair, Holland will not lose his job for one disappointing season, but rather for failing to continually restock the organization after its core stars aged. It is not an easy task to replenish an organization when a team routinely drafts near the bottom, but the Red Wings may want new blood to kickstart a rebuild.

Both these GMs have impeccable pedigree, and neither will be without work for long—if at all. But both teams may want to move in a different direction after failing to accomplish short-terms goals in the past few seasons. Maybe both GMs sign extensions, but the Blues and Red Wings would have reason to move on if they do not.

Minor Transactions: 9/8/17

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The last 24 hours has been a busy one in hockey. There continue to be more and more PTO’s as well as a few traditional contract signings as well, both in the NHL, and the following minor league deals:

  • The New York Ranger’s AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, have signed 2016-17 AHL All-Star Joe Whitney to a one-year contract, the team announced. A Boston College alum and former captain of the Eagles, the 29-year-old Whitney has had a fine AHL career and has played an important leadership role for many teams, but has not lived up to the potential many saw in college. Whitney spent the first half of his pro career with the AHL’s Albany Devils, eventually earning an NHL contract with New Jersey and appearing in five games with the team between 2013 and 2015. More recently, he has been more of an AHL gun-for-hire, signing one-year deals with the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche to be a veteran mentor for their young minor leaguers. Whitney was traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Brendan Ranford at the trade deadline this past season to help support the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners down the stretch. However, the Coyotes and seemingly all other AHL teams weren’t interested in a two-way deal for Whitney’s services this season, leading to his AHL deal with the Wolf Pack. Whitney will still be a valuable research in Hartford, bringing leadership and guidance to a locker room with developing young scorers like Ryan Gropp and Adam Tambellini.
  •  Like Whitney, another former Boston College captain has found AHL employment in Chris Calnan. The big, two-way winger has signed with one of the AHL’s newest teams, the Binghamton Devils, the relocated affiliate of the New Jersey Devils. The announcement of the deal by Binghamton received excited recognition from both New Jersey and ECHL-affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. The whole chain of teams hope that Calnan can bring the same character, tenacity, and leadership that he showed at BC to his pro game, regardless of what level he plays at. Calnan, 23, was a 2012 third-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, but became a free agent in August after failing to reach terms on an entry-level deal with the team after four years in college. In Binghamton, Calnan will look to show that he has the intangibles to be a reliable bottom-six forward at the NHL level. He may not be his uncle, Jeremy Roenick, but Calnan looks like he may have pro chops.
  • Unlike Whitney, a pair of fellow former Coyotes have been unable to lock down even an AHL job this off-season. Branden Troock signed on with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits earlier today, while Henrik Samuelsson came to terms with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads yesterday. Samuelsson, 23, was a first-round pick of the Coyotes back in 2012, but never came close to reaching his potential, beginning with a scoreless three game stint with the ’Yotes in his first pro season in 2014-15 and only going downhill from there. The team ended up trading Samuelsson to the Edmonton Oilers last season for Mitch Moroz, who signed with none other than the Idaho Steelheads this summer. Samuelsson has just 55 points in his three-year AHL career and will have to work if he wants to add to that point total any time soon. Troock, on the other hand, is neither an Arizona draft pick nor an NHL veteran. The 23-year-old was a 5th-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2012 and was traded to the Coyotes this past February alongside the aforementioned and quickly flipped Brandon Ranford for veteran goalie Justin Peters. Arizona did not make any attempts to re-sign Troock, who was a -7 in 20 games with the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners to close out the season. Troock is more familiar with the ECHL than Samuelsson, having skated in 28 “AA” games over his three pro seasons.
  • A player with similar luck is former San Jose Sharks prospect Patrick McNally. A 2010 fourth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks and a standout at Harvard, the bruising defenseman just couldn’t find any production at the pro level, scoring 18 points in two seasons with the AHL Barracuda. McNally today signed with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers, who ironically play in the former home of the Barracuda, then the Worcester Sharks.
  • A pair with better fortunes today was Alex Wideman and Tyler Sikura. The ECHL forwards are now AHL forwards, after inking deals with the Rockford Ice Hogs today, as per a team announcement. Wideman, the younger brother of Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Wideman, is back in the AHL after two full seasons of ECHL playing following a quick stint with his brother on the Binghamton Senators in 2015. The 25-year-old scored 55 points in 70 games last season, the best offensive production of his entire career. Sikura is on an AHL contract for the first time, having only played in the American League on loan after signing with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye out of Dartmouth College in 2015. The former Big Green captain has yet to record an AHL point yet, which will surely be his “goal” when he first hits the ice with Rockford.
  • Journeyman goalie Mark Dekanich will be staying stateside this year. He has re-upped with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. The 31-year-old Dekanich is a ten-year pro; a 2006 draft pick of the Predators, he made one NHL start in Nashville and many more starts with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, then jumped overseas to the KHL before returning to minor league duty in North America. While Dekanich could end up playing much of the season down in the ECHL, as he has the past two seasons since returning from the KHL, Dekanic’s veteran presence could prove helpful for promising young Flyers goalie prospects Alex Lyon and Carter Hart, especially while Anthony Stolarz remains sidelined. However, between that trio of up-and-coming keepers, the veteran duo of Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth in Philly, and Leland Irving and John Muse also on AHL deals, there may be a few too many goalies in Lehigh Valley and Reading this season.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Dmitri Samorukov To ELC

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The Edmonton Oilers have signed another 2017 draft pick, after inking first-round pick Kailer Yamamoto earlier this summer. Dmitri Samorukov, the team’s third-round pick has signed his three-year entry-level contract. That brings Edmonton to 49 of their allotted 50 contracts, though several of those will fall off when sent back to junior. 18 and 19 year olds playing in junior or European leagues don’t count towards their team’s total.

Samorukov played last season for the Guelph Storm of the OHL, scoring 20 points in 67 games after coming over from Russia. He’s expected to play there again after attending the Oilers’ rookie camp. The 6’2″ defenseman has twice played for the Russian U18 World Junior team, and is a possibility to suit up for the U20 team this year. He won’t turn 19 until June of next year, but with his advanced size and play he could play the tournament at a young age.

Edmonton is desperately trying to develop defensemen in order to supply a Connor McDavid-led team with some depth on the back end, and Samorukov is one to watch this season. A former second-overall pick in the CHL import draft, his play at the end of last season showed there could be big upside hidden beneath a fairly raw product.

Early Notes: Parros, Jets, Red Wings

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George Parros will the new voice at the top of the Department of Player Safety according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, who reports that current head Stephane Quintal will be staying with the league but taking on different projects. Quintal will help Parros transition into the leadership role, which comes with its fair share of stressors.

Parros was known for his fists during his playing days, and continues what has been a trend for the DoPS; hiring those who played their career right on the edge of the rules. The Princeton grad will be the decision maker on many suspensions and fines next season, something that comes with incredible scrutiny. Friedman also mentions that newly retired Shane Doan has been considered as a replacement for Chris Pronger, who departed the DoPS for the Florida Panthers this offseason.

  • The Winnipeg Jets have indeed given extensions to both GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and coach Paul Maurice, both coming with multi-year terms. The pair will be in Winnipeg for the next several years, trying to take a franchise to the playoffs for just the third time in their history (Atlanta included). Cheveldayoff has done strong work in the draft room and getting players under contract, but he’ll have a huge offseason ahead of him next year. 19 players are restricted free agents including most of their forward group, and another five will be unrestricted. It could change the course of the franchise should he not be able to find a way to fit them all in.
  • Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) went all-in on the Detroit Red Wings and their ongoing negotiations with Andreas Athanasiou, explaining where each side is and how they’ve come to a point where the KHL is a legitimate option. He mentions how Sam Bennett’s recent contract could easily be a starting point for the Athanasiou camp, as the Detroit forward outscored his fellow Definitive Hockey client last season. The most interesting part of the whole piece is near the end, when Custance mentions that the Red Wings are in conversations on several trade fronts around the league. GM Ken Holland has admitted that if they’re to get through camp healthy, a move would likely be required to keep the Red Wings cap-compliant.

Cody Franson Narrows List Of Potential Teams

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Cody Franson has been waiting all summer to sign with a team, and Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 now reports that it is down to just the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks with a chance to sign the defenseman. Vancouver, a team close to Franson’s hometown and where Dhaliwal covers the NHL apparently did not show any interest. Franson is expected to sign a one-year deal, though there are cap complexities to him coming in for either club.

The Blackhawks, who currently project over the cap to start the season, will have some financial flexibility once Marian Hossa is placed on long-term injured reserve (if he hasn’t already), and would be able to fit Franson in on a low-paying contract. That said, if the contract is worth anything close to the $3.3MM per season that Franson has been paid on each of his last two contracts, the team would be precariously close to the cap even after Hossa’s placement. Pushing against it all season is a tough way to operate, especially with potential bonuses and other injury risks on their roster already.

Edmonton has a bit more cap room at the moment, but with Connor McDavid a near-lock for his full Schedule B bonuses, and Jesse Puljujarvi a possibility for the same, that cap room could vanish quickly. Signing many more players to push them closer to the cap is a risky game, as they can’t allow much of those bonuses to carry over to next year when McDavid’s $12.5MM salary kicks in. The team already has over $60MM committed to just 13 players for the 2018-19 season.

Agent: Athanasiou’s KHL And NHL Offers Very Different

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Ansar Khan of Mlive reports that still-unsigned RFA Andreas Athanasiou’s agent told Mlive that there is a “considerable difference in the amount of money” between offers from the Detroit Red Wings and KHL clubs. Athanasiou is coming off his ELC and looking for a significant raise.

Last season Athanasiou scored 18G and 11A in 64 games in just his second NHL season. The year before he potted 8G and 5A in 37 games, while splitting time with Detroit and its AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.

Previous reports indicate that Athanasiou is considering signing in the KHL if he cannot obtain a satisfactory contract in the NHL, but some think the KHL threats are mere posturing. Red Wings GM Ken Holland said that the team has made multiple offers based on who the organization felt were comparable player contracts. Detroit also faces a cap crunch that makes things even more difficult. Right now the Red Wings exceed the salary cap by approximately $3MM, though will gain around $3.9MM once the season starts and the team places injured Johan Franzen on LTIR.

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