Snapshots: Larsson, Zborovskiy, Davidge
The Oilers prized new defenseman Adam Larsson was in his new home city for the first time on Monday, meeting teammates and taking part in a charity golf tournament. Larsson said he’s excited about his new city and teammates, specifically fellow Swede and potential defensive partner Oscar Klefbom, saying “it’s going to be fun playing with him”.
When asked about filling the departed Taylor Hall‘s shoes, Larsson said it’s different because he’s a defenseman while Hall is a winger, but that New Jersey got a “really good player”.
The Oilers also announced Larsson will wear number six.
Here are some other items from around the hockey world:
- The New York Rangers have signed 2015 third-round pick Sergey Zborovskiy to his entry-level contract, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Zborovskiy will make $633K per season, and will pocket a $278K signing bonus. He was the 79th pick in last year’s draft. He posted 44 points in 135 games over two seasons with the WHL’s Regina Pats.
- Bill Davidge, the Columbus Blue Jackets color analyst for Fox Sports, took to Twitter to announce he is cancer free. Davidge was diagnosed with myeloma in 2014. He joined the Blue Jackets as a scout in 1999 before joining the broadcast crew for their inaugural season in 2000-01.
More On The Blackhawks, Jimmy Vesey
Kristi Loucks of Today’s Slapshot writes today on the emerging speculation surrounding Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Jimmy Vesey, who can become an unrestricted free agent on August 15th, when his draft rights expire, and the Chicago Blackhawks. We’ve discussed before the talk surrounding Vesey and the Blackhawks, and the news that Stan Bowman has been going to Foxboro, Massachusetts to watch Vesey play summer games.
Loucks mentions the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs as other teams that will be in the running for Vesey’s services. In season-long speculation involving Vesey, his ties to Sabres’ forward Jack Eichel are often brought up, as are his having been raised in Boston, and the fact that his father Jim is a scout for the Leafs, and his brother Nolan is a Leafs prospect himself.
Loucks discusses the benefits available in Chicago for Vesey. Obviously they’re a legitimate contender, having won the Stanley Cup three times this decade, but they’re unique for a contender in that they offer a large amount of playing time immediately for a young player. The Blackhawks aren’t particularly deep at left wing, and assuming Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin stays on the second line with Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane, Vesey could find the opportunity to play top minutes with future Hall of Fame linemates in Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
Snapshots: KHL, Burrows, Oilers, Blues, Moore
Former Blue Jackets’ forward Alexandre Picard and former Hurricanes’ defenseman Brett Bellemore, have signed today to play for Red Star Kalunin, the new KHL expansion team in China, according to KHL reporter Alvis Kalnins. Picard, 30, was taken eighth overall by the Blue Jackets in the 2004 entry draft, and last played in the NHL in 2010. Bellemore, 28, has played 121 NHL games, all with the Hurricanes, the last of which came in 2015.
Here are some more links from throughout the day.
- Canucks forward Alex Burrows is hopeful for a bounce back season in 2017, writes Dhiren Mahiben of The Hockey News. Burrows had just nine goals, 22 points last year, in what has to be considered one of the worst states of his career. As a 35 year old on the last year of his contract, he may be staring at the end of his NHL career, but Burrows tells Mahiben that he has been assured by management that there remains a spot for him in the lineup.
- Also from The Hockey News, Mike Brophy went over some of his scattered off-season thoughts. Among other subjects, Brophy speculates that Connor McDavid may be soon in line for the Oilers’ captaincy, and questions how long teams will continue to take chances on Buffalo Sabres’ forward Evander Kane. There were reports of the Sabres shopping Kane earlier this summer. Kane was recently charged with harassment after allegedly attacking two women in a bar.
- Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy writes today on the St. Louis Blues, and how they intend to move forward with their young core after losing veteran Brian Elliott, David Backes, and Troy Brouwer. As Wyshnyski discussed, the Blues will rely more heavily this year on their under-25 core, including Robby Fabbri, Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz, and Vladimir Tarasenko, as well as 26-year old defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
- Luke Fox of Sportsnet writes today about the future of former New York Rangers’ center Dominic Moore. Fox writes that the Rangers appear to have moved on, but that Moore, 35, has multiple offers on the table as he considers his future. Moore’s production has declined in recent years, but data suggests he’s been playing some of the tougher minutes in the NHL as of late.
Speculative Suitors For Kris Russell
Yesterday we talked about the market for former Stars’ defenseman Kris Russell as reported by Andy Strickland, a Blues reporter for Fox Sports Midwest. On the 23rd day of free agency, Russell remains unsigned. This is surprising to an extent, since most assumed he’d be one of the few to sign a big money contract right away. Still, similar situations have happened before, including with defenseman Cody Franson last summer. Below are some teams that may have some interest in Russell, and who may be able to pay for him, given the right circumstances.
- Ottawa Senators: The Ottawa Senators currently have just six defensemen under contract for next year, and while that doesn’t count restricted free agent Cody Ceci, it does count Chris Wideman, Mike Kostka, and Mark Borowiecki, who are far from locks for serious NHL ice time. The team also lacks particularly strong defensemen, outside of Erik Karlsson, and while Russell has his detractors in the analytics community, a team that took on Dion Phaneuf without any retained salary seems like a likely one to use their own evaluation methods.
- Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres, similarly to the Senators, have six defensemen under contract, and one in Rasmus Ristolainen who is currently an unsigned restricted free agent, and one in Justin Falk, who’s yet to play serious minutes in the NHL, at 27 years old. One advantage the Sabres have in this situation is that with Franson, Ristolainen, and Zach Bogosian all being right handed, they can accomodate a left handed shot better than most teams. As mentioned earlier, Franson was an unsigned free agent far later into last summer than anyone anticipated, after talk of an expensive long term asking price, and ended up with the Sabres on a lower money, two year deal.
- Detroit Red Wings: Detroit has five defensemen under contract, in addition to the unsigned Danny DeKeyser. Once DeKeyser’s re-signed, there isn’t an obvious candidate to sit as the number seven defenseman in case of injuries, and they’re already mildly unbalanced in terms of handedness, carrying four left handers, and two right handers. Still, there’s been talk of the Wings improving their defense for a while now, and should they be able to clear out someone like Jonathan Ericsson or Jimmy Howard, which they’ll likely have to do to re-sign DeKeyser and goalie Petr Mrazek anyway, they could concievably be a fit for Russell, if GM Ken Holland values him more than one of his current defensemen, and should Ericsson be the one moved out, Russell would be a natural replacement.
- Edmonton Oilers: This is another scenario that really depends on how much the team values its current defenders. Andrew Ference was still injured during the buyout period, and so still on the roster, but between the injuries, his heavy decline, and his expiring contract, it’s hard to see him getting much ice time. The real questions are about what the Oilers want to do with Mark Fayne, who was waived and demoted this past season, and Jordan Oesterle, who has impressed in Bakersfield, and just turned 24, but who has just 23 NHL games to his credit, and is on a two way contract. We know the Oilers want to get better, and physical players are favored by GM Peter Chiarelli, but Ference was also once a physical, undersized, veteran free agent signing.
- Winnipeg Jets: The Jets have a large defense core as it is, but they also have tops of cap room, and a lot of their defensemen are cheaper veterans like Paul Postma and Brian Strait, who’d be easily stashed in the minors. It’s not a pressing need, but you can see why a team might make a less than necessary upgrade to their defense later in the summer if it’s possible, and the price tag is lower than originally imagined. Still, the Jets have a history of caution in the free agent market.
Minor Transactions: Leivo, Leafs, Sabres, Red Wings
On this date 20 years ago, The Great One signed a free agent contract with the New York Rangers, rejoining his former Edmonton Oilers running mate, Mark Messier. While it’s highly unlikely will see a signing of that magnitude today, we’ll still bring you news of today’s transactions, even the minor ones.
- The Buffalo Sabres have announced, via the team’s website, the signing of free agent defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer to a one-year, two-way contract. Burgdoerfer played for the Hershey Bears last season, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The 27-year-old native of East Setauket, NY recorded 20 points along with 59 penalty minutes in 74 games for the Bears.
- According to James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail (via Twitter) the Toronto Maple Leafs have re-signed forward Josh Leivo to a two-year deal. Cap Friendly reports the breakdown of the contract, including that it comes with a cap charge of $612.5K annually. Leivo tallied five goals in 12 NHL games and has seven in 28 career contests in the league. A third-round pick of the Leafs in 2011, Leivo had a nice year for Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Marlies, scoring 17 goals and 48 points in just 51 games in 2015-16. At this point Leivo projects to be a depth player, again likely to see most of his action in the minors.
- Mitch Callahan has re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings, according to the team’s website. The right wing, who has appeared in just one NHL contest during his career, recorded 19 goals and 32 points in 62 games for Grand Rapids in 2015-16. Callahan, who inked a two-way contract, will earn $600K at the NHL level and $175K while playing in the AHL, as reported by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
- Winnipeg has agreed to re-sign RFA left wing Brandon Tanev to a one-year, two-way deal, as reported on the team’s website. Brandon, the younger brother of Vancouver defenseman Chris Tanev, will earn a little more than $874K while on the NHL roster, which is the value of his qualifying offer. Tanev skated in three NHL contests upon signing as an undrafted free agent in March after wrapping up his four-year college career at Providence College.
Edmonton Parts Ways With Analytics Guru Tyler Dellow
Mark Spector of Sportsnet has confirmed the Edmonton Oilers will not renew the contract of statistical consultant Tyler Dellow. He becomes the second such consultant removed from his position in the last week, joining Matt Pfeffer, who was dismissed by Montreal. Ironically, both Edmonton and Montreal executed trades this summer that have been widely panned by statistical analyst types in the media.
Some may view this as a movement away from the use of advanced stats in the sport after seeing several clubs hire analysts in recent years. But I don’t see that as the case. It’s more likely that Dellow’s departure has as much to do with Peter Chiarelli not being the GM who hired him than an abandonment of advanced stats.
Pfeffer’s dismissal gained particular notoriety after a THN interview in which the former consultant seemed to suggest his vocal argument against the Weber-for-Subban deal might have led to his ouster. He also appeared to describe Weber as an “average” defenseman, a comment he would later explain via twitter was actually a description of Weber’s recent play based on one limited statistic.
Dellow was hired two summers ago, primarily at the behest of then head coach Dallas Eakins and assistant general manager Scott Howson. With Eakins long gone and Chiarelli now running the hockey operations in Edmonton, it’s probably not a surprise the club chose not to renew Dellow’s contract.
2016 Draftees Who May Play Immediately
It’s incredibly hard for a teenager to play in the NHL, and never more than a handful of them do. That said, the 2016 entry draft has several candidates to do so this year. Here we’ll take a look at the chances that a few of the league’s top prospects make their debuts sooner, rather than later.
- Auston Matthews – Matthews may be in the middle of a dispute with Leafs’ management over rookie bonuses, but a long-term holdout, which is rare for recently drafted players, is just about the only way he isn’t playing in the NHL next year. Matthews has the size to play in the league already, and has a year of playing with grown men in Switzerland under his belt. He also will be 19 when the season starts, rather than 18, because he was born right after the age cutoff. The last player to be selected first overall and not play in the NHL the next season was Erik Johnson, selected by the Blues in 2006. As a defenseman, Johnson was assumed to need longer to develop, and had already committed to playing college hockey.
- Patrick Laine – Laine is expected to be one of the better goal scorers in the NHL pretty quickly, and given that, similarly to Matthews, he played in a men’s pro league last year, and succeeded at the IIHF World Championships for Finland, it would be hard to say he isn’t ready. Laine should fit in well with a strong offensive group in Winnipeg that’s getting younger and better at the same time.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois – Dubois has a few advantages going for him. While his numbers don’t scream the type of player who hits the big leagues immediately, he’s already 6’3″ and over 200 lbs. He was also drafted by a Blue Jackets team that’s weak enough all over to provide very little competition, by a GM in Jarmo Kekalainen, who risked a lot of his reputation to select him over Jesse Puljujarvi and Matthew Tkachuk. Considering the speed with which he was signed, it’s easy to imagine him suiting up immediately.
- Jesse Puljujarvi – Puljujarvi was one of the big three going into the draft, and the fact that he fell to the Oilers at four made some wonder if they’d just won the lottery again. Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli told reporters that, if he can play, Puljujarvi gives them “more flexibility” in their search for a defenseman. Considering another winger, Taylor Hall, was traded for defenseman Adam Larsson three days later, it’s likely Chiarelli thinks he can play.
- Olli Juolevi – Generally, defensemen are given less opportunity to play in the NHL right away, or at least significant minutes. There’s good reason for this, since we have examples of highly drafted defensemen like Luke Schenn playing immediately, and being too overwhelmed too early to learn any more as a player. Juolevi’s opportunity mostly stems from the weakness on the Canucks back end. Since they are one of a number of teams to openly pursue balance between the left and right sides though, that means he’ll have to compete with Ben Hutton, coming off a solid rookie year, 2014 draft pick Nikita Tryamkin, and Luca Sbisa, whose contract may just be too big to put in the press box.
- Matthew Tkachuk – Another player that will be determined by circumstances. The Flames don’t have a lot of depth up front, but they also don’t have an absolutely glaring hole. They’ve got two players who are pretty much sure things, in Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, and then Sam Bennett looks to be on the brink. After that, there are some plugs, and there’s some guess work. Tkachuk is big enough to play right away, but he’ll likely only get a shot if he can force himself into a top six role.
- Mikhail Sergachev – Another defenseman whose team will certainly treat cautiously. Sergachev mostly makes the list because some have called him NHL ready, and he shares that same physical maturity with the other players list here. That said, he turned 18 the day after the draft, and he’d be fighting for the last defense spot with Mark Barberio and Greg Pateryn, meaning he won’t waltz onto the team. Sergachev had some short term misfortune being drafted highly by a team that was probably too good to be doing so, but long term, this is probably better for his development.
Free Agent Profile: Dan Boyle
Free agent defenseman Dan Boyle, who spent last year with the New York Rangers, is still searching for a contract. Boyle, 40, was ranked #42 on our list of the top 50 NHL unrestricted free agents this year. It seems unlikely he’ll return to the New York Rangers next year, despite the cap space they’ve cleared, given that they already have eight defensemen under contract, and four of them are right hand shots.
Still, Boyle has been a useful contributor his entire career, and remains so, despite going undrafted. Last year he put up 10 goal, and added 14 assists. His possession numbers were strong relative to a brutal possession team. Boyle won an Olympic gold medal playing for Canada in 2o10, and a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He’s on the smaller side, especially for defensemen, at 5’11”, but he’s always moved the puck well.
Potential Suitors
The Edmonton Oilers have been searching for help on the right side of their defense all summer, with just Mark Fayne and Adam Larsson there currently. The Toronto Maple Leafs bid for his services when he was last a free agent in 2014, and also look to need depth on defense, but the return of Roman Polak on the right side probably rules then out. His hometown Ottawa Senators could use right-side depth after Erik Karlsson, but it’s worth noting that they’ll likely give Cody Ceci every opportunity to fill the second pairing role. None of these teams seem especially appealing to Boyle, given their recent struggles. At his age, he’s likely to want to play for a serious contender.
That said, the Dallas Stars, winners of the Central division title, only have John Klingberg among right handed defensemen with significant NHL experience, though Stephen Johns, with 14 games played in the NHL, is under contract. The Philadelphia Flyers, who’ve been carrying many puck moving defensemen of late, may have a use for him. They have seven defensemen under contract, with Brandon Manning still to sign, but none outside of Radko Gudas play right handed, and several don’t appear to be locks for playing time.
Projected Contract
Boyle should be looking at a one-year contract at around $2MM, given that he’s still productive, but comes with a certain amount of risk as a 40 year-old defenseman. Still, he’s got enough rare qualities, his ability to carry the puck, his ability from the right hand side, that teams looking to balance their defense should seriously consider picking him up a a stop-gap option.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Pedan, Grenier
According to a team release, the Vancouver Canucks have re-signed restricted free agents Andrey Pedan and Alexandre Grenier to one-year, two-way contracts. Neither player was eligible for arbitration this summer. Grenier will receive $575K ($125K in AHL) plus a $25K signing bonus, per Renaud Lavoie. Pedan will receive $700K ($100K in AHL).
Pedan, 23, made his NHL debut this season, suiting up 13 times for Vancouver. His physical style has never lent itself to much offensive production, and it proved true in the NHL as the blueliner was held pointless in his first taste of the big leagues.
A former third-round pick by the Islanders in 2011, Pedan will be battling for a bottom-pairing spot on the Canucks this season, using his size to effectively remove attackers from the puck in his own end.
For Grenier, 2015-16 also represented his first shot in the NHL as he was called up on two different occasions during the season. He got into six total games, and didn’t contribute a point in just over eleven minutes a night.
Grenier was another third-round pick in 2011, this time by the Canucks themselves. He faired well in the minors and tallied 130 points in 208 career AHL games. Last season, he led the Utica Comets in points with 48, and contributed 16 goals. Still probably a year away from getting a real shot with the Canucks, he’ll look to lead the Comets to another successful season.
With the contracts, the Canucks have signed all of their restricted free agents, and will now turn to any tweaks they might have for the roster going forward. With under $3MM left in cap-space, they can’t take on much more as of this moment.
Oilers Sign Jesse Puljujarvi To Entry Level Deal
The Edmonton Oilers have signed their 2016 fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi to an entry level deal reports David Staples. It is a three-year deal.
Staples wrote a glowing piece that highlights why Puljujarvi will be a significant boon to the Oilers forward lines. He does caution patience, however, as rushing a prospect who could become another cornerstone could do more damage than good. Staples suggests time with AHL affiliate Bakersfield, but fully expects him in Edmonton by the beginning of 2017.
Puljujarvi was projected to be a top three pick but fell to the Oil. He will eventually be one of many young players counted on to power an offense without Taylor Hall, who was dealt to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. Though the Oilers needed help at the blue line (which they eventually received in the Hall-Larsson trade), TSN reported that general manager Peter Chiarelli couldn’t pass up the chance to get the top scoring winger. Puljujarvi dazzled at the World Junior Championships last December, and had 28 points (13-15) in the Finnish Elite League.
Cap Friendly reports that Puljujarvi will receive the maximum base salary of $925,000 (which includes a 10% signing bonus) each season as well the maximum potential ‘A’ bonuses of $850,000 per year. He also will be eligible for $1.65MM in Schedule ‘B’ bonuses in each of the three seasons.