Edmonton Inks Milan Lucic
Long rumored to be headed to Edmonton, Milan Lucic is set to sign a contract with the Oilers today, according to John Shannon of Sportsnet. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports it’s a seven year deal worth $42MM.
While he didn’t covet quite as much attention as Steven Stamkos did prior to his re-signing, Lucic was the top power forward available in free agency (we had him ranked third in our Top 50 list). In 2015-16 with the Kings, he played in 81 games, scoring 20 goals while adding 35 assists. That marked the fourth time in the last five full seasons (excluding the lockout-shortened campaign) that he has hit the 20 goal mark.
Despite being one of the most physical wingers in the league, Lucic has been remarkably durable. Over the last five years, he has missed just seven games (and two of those were due to suspensions). Nonetheless, given the fact that power forwards tend to wear out quicker over time, there could be some concern for the Oilers towards the back of the contract. In the meantime though, Lucic will provide Edmonton with a legitimate top line left winger for at least the next several years sliding into the recently-traded Taylor Hall‘s spot.
Thursday Buyout Waivers: Boll, Korpikoski, Carle, Seidenberg, Greene, Jackman
Today is the last day to place players on waivers for the purposes of buying out their contract in advance of Friday’s free agency period. Here are the players that are on the waiver wire.
Jared Boll (Columbus) – The Blue Jackets announced that they will buy out the final year of his deal. The enforcer played in just 30 games last year, picking up a goal and two assists with 61 PIMS. The buyout will carry a cap charge of $567K in each of the next two seasons.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Lauri Korpikoski, Matt Carle, Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Greene, and Barret Jackman are also all on buyout waivers.
Korpikoski (Edmonton) played in 71 games with the Oilers last season – his first with the team – collecting 10 goals and 12 assists. The 29 year old has 181 career points in 540 NHL games, split between the Rangers, Coyotes, and Oilers. Edmonton will carry a cap hit of $500K in 2016-17 and $1MM in 2017-18 as a result of the buyout.
Carle (Tampa Bay) is by far the biggest of the buyouts. He collected just 9 points in 64 games last year despite collecting a $5.5MM salary. He has 45 goals and 237 assists in 724 career games between San Jose, Philadelphia, and Tampa. The Lightning will be charged with a cap hit of $1.833M for the next four years.
Seidenberg (Boston) has spent the last four years with the Bruins. In 2015-16, he played in 61 games, picking up a goal and 11 helpers. In 758 games split between the Flyers, Coyotes, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Bruins, he has 224 career points. Boston will carry a cap hit of $1.167M in 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2019-20 as well as a $2.167MM cap charge in 2017-18.
Greene (Los Angeles) played in just three games with the Kings and missed the rest of the year with shoulder problems. He has played in 589 career games with Edmonton and LA, picking up 78 points and 644 PIMS. The Kings will have a cap charge of $833K for each of the next 4 years.
Update: Pierre LeBrun of TSN/ESPN reports that Greene’s waiving may not result in a buyout after all.
Jackman (Nashville) played his first season with the Preds last year after spending parts of 13 seasons with St. Louis. Last year, he had a goal and four assists in 73 games while playing a smaller role as the season progressed. In his career, he has 186 points and 1,102 PIMS in 876 games. The Predators will be charged with a cap hit of $667K for each of the next two seasons.
Players that have a no-move clause in their contracts do not have to go through the waiver process to be bought out. The deadline for those moves to happen is 4:00 PM CST.
Montreal Asked For Draisaitl, 4th Overall, Plus for Subban
After today’s Taylor Hall and PK Subban trades, Oilers fans might be wondering why the Oilers couldn’t get a deal done for Subban. Well here’s why: TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported Wednesday night that the asking price for the stud defenceman was Leon Draisaitl, the 4th overall pick which ultimately became Jesse Puljujärvi, one of Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse, plus more.
Klefbom is the Oilers top defenceman next to Andrej Sekera and newly acquired Adam Larsson. Nurse is a highly promising former 7th overall pick who played most of last season in the NHL with mixed results but should develop hugely next season. The Oilers were likely not willing to part with such a big part of their future blue-line to improve it now.
Draisaitl showed massive improvement last season, cracking the 50-point barrier on a line with the now traded duo of Hall and Teddy Purcell. The big center can play both center and wing, and is expected to play a key role in the upcoming season in the Oilers top 6.
Those two pieces already represent a large trade value, before we get to the just-drafted Puljujärvi. The Finnish forward unexpectedly fell to 4th overall and is likely to play in the Oilers top 9 this season.
With those pieces plus the mystery of what “more” could mean, it’s understandable why the Oilers passed on Subban. However, it should be asked which group would help Edmonton turn the corner this season: Hall and Subban, or Drasaitl, Klefbom, Puljujärvi, and Larsson.
The answer to that debate can never be known. Edmonton passed on trading a massive haul for Subban to trade Hall for Larsson.
Edmonton Trades Taylor Hall To New Jersey
First reported by Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils have completed a deal that will see winger Taylor Hall change teams. In return, the Devils will send Adam Larsson the other way. It is a one-for-one deal, only including the two young stars.
The Oilers have been long rumored to be chasing a long-term defensive piece, and Elliotte Friedman adds that there was talk of a Hall for Larsson deal at the draft last weekend. Of course, when Jesse Puljujarvi fell to the Oilers with the fourth selection, they couldn’t convince themselves to draft a defenseman.
With the glut of young forwards that Edmonton now has they would be wise to deal one of them, however Hall looks like perhaps the best one not named McDavid. His 65 point 2015-16 season was excellent, and he’s now put up 328 points in 381 games.
In Larsson, the Oilers get an excellent young blueliner that is still locked up long-term. The 23-year old is signed through the 2020-21 season at a reasonable $4.17MM rate. While he’s not quite the shutdown number one guy many people thought that Hall would command, he is a young top-pairing defenseman who the Oilers so desperately needed. This may lend more credence to the idea that Milan Lucic has already agreed to a contract, as the Oilers completed this deal quickly after his Monday visit.
For the Devils, they get another young powerhouse talent to add to their forward group alongside Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha. With a young corps of defensemen still under contract, Larsson was deemed expendable in order to get this kind of talent. First impressions are an absolute robbery by the Devils, who have more than enough room to add a top talent on a $6MM/year deal.
Free Agent Notes: Ladd, Martin, Lucic
It’s that time of year again in the NHL, where rumors and speculation run rampant. Last night, after a report from Jimmy Murphy of VICE Sports indicated the Bruins were preparing an offer sheet for Jets’ defenceman Jacob Trouba, the Twitterverse went wild with speculation and conjecture. If the Bruins are indeed preparing a sheet, it would have to be for the maximum compensation, four first-round picks, as the team doesn’t own their second or third rounders for 2017. A tough pill to swallow to be sure, even if Trouba is the top pairing blueliner they think he is. More news about the upcoming free agent market:
- Darren Dreger wakes us this morning with a report that the Islanders, Canadiens, Lightning and Predators are all in the hunt for Andrew Ladd. As the Stamkos Extravaganza begins (and quite possibly ends) this Friday, the Ladd camp is moving slowly and assessing possible fits before really getting into any negotiations with teams.
- Matt Martin, another interesting name on the market is getting a lot of calls, writes Arthur Staple of Newsday. Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Los Angeles and Calgary have all reached out already, making the bottom-six winger one to watch over the next few days.
- Among the chatter yesterday was talk of Milan Lucic having agreed to a deal with the Edmonton Oilers, and while this seems like it’s a little ahead of itself, it’s at least something to keep an eye on. Gene Principe of Sportsnet, among others, reported that he’s heard Lucic is probably headed to Edmonton, but can’t guarantee it.
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.
Free Agent Focus: Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers were expected to be more competitive in 2015-16, thanks to phenom Connor McDavid, a new coach and GM, and off-season acquisitions Cam Talbot, Andrej Sekera, and Griffin Reinhart. Unfortunately, McDavid was hurt in early November, and by the time he returned in February, the Oilers were out of the playoff picture. Reinhart struggled early and spent the middle part of the season in the AHL. Top defender Oscar Klefbom spent more than half the year on IR after a broken knuckle and two successive staph infections. The Oilers struggled and finished 29th, mainly because of injuries and a porous defence. Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.
GM Peter Chiarelli has made several moves, with mixed results. Acquiring Talbot for picks has given the Oilers their starter for the next several seasons. Sekera is a solid second-pairing defenceman, but the Oilers are still missing two top 4 defensive options. The Reinhart trade is tough to call at this time, because of the Oilers depth of left-handed defensemen and Reinhart not being NHL-ready.
Adding Eric Gryba, Zack Kassian, and Patrick Maroon made the Oilers harder to play against, something that has sorely been missing in Oil Country. Big center Leon Draisaitl rebounded from a tough rookie season to put up 51 points despite spending a month in the AHL. Former 6th round pick in 2010 Brandon Davidson made the team as the 8th defenceman and played his way into a top 4 role, earning an extension and praise from around the league.
Chiarelli compared the team’s improvement to a “taller midget”.
Cap space: $10.3MM, 22 players under contract
Key RFAs: none
Other RFAs: W Iiro Pakarinen, D Jordan Oesterle, D Adam Clendening, LW Luke Gazdic, D David Musil
Clendening and Gazdic were not qualified and will become UFAs.
Key UFAs: none
Other UFAs: D Eric Gryba, RW Adam Cracknell, D Adam Pardy, D Niki Nikitin
Outlook: The Oilers don’t have any key players to re-sign, but need to drastically improve their back end through trades or free agency. Watch for Chiarelli to be involved in a few dealings around the draft.
High profile names like Travis Hamonic, PK Subban, Tyson Barrie, Jacob Trouba, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Seth Jones, Jason Demers, and Justin Faulk have all been linked to the Oilers at different points. While the ask for those players would be high, the Oilers have organizational depth in NHL forwards and prospect defensemen.
Besides defence, the Oilers need a right-handed centre with skill, more depth on right wing, and a backup goalie to allow Laurent Brossoit to develop further in the AHL. Big UFA winger Milan Lucic is a player of interest, as he would allow the Oilers to trade one of Jordan Eberle or Benoit Pouliot for defensive help.
Former first overall pick Nail Yakupov asked for a trade, and will likely be dealt on the draft floor. TSN 1260’s Jason Gregor reported the Ducks and Oilers were close to a trade involving Yakupov and Pouliot heading to Anaheim, but Pouliot’s season-ending injury ended those talks. In the end, Maroon was sent to Edmonton for project prospect Martin Gernat and a 4th round pick.
Former captain Andrew Ference will likely spend the year on LTIR, freeing up an additional $3.25MM under the cap. Ference underwent hip surgery in March.
Fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi will likely make the team, but could spend some time in Bakersfield to adjust to North America. In any case, don’t expect any other rookies to crack the opening night roster, but college free agent signing Drake Caggiula and AHLers Oesterle, Reinhart, Anton Slepyshev, Bogdan Yakimov, and Jujhar Khaira should see some NHL time during the season. Finnish winger Jere Sallinen was signed from the KHL and could be a dark horse to make the team as an extra forward.
Expansion draft wise, the Oilers are likely able to protect everyone they want to on their current roster with the exception of Brossoit, but he won’t be among the top 3 goaltenders available based on his struggles at the NHL level. Issues could come up after a summer of improving the roster, but Chiarelli won’t be too concerned about that yet.
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.
Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks
When the Vancouver Canucks entered the 2015-16 season, they were coming off a 101-point season and felt as though they had another strong shot at the playoffs, with Daniel and Henrik Sedin still in the mix and up-and-coming center Bo Horvat showing he was ready for a larger NHL role. What they got instead, was a disastrous season filled with injury and ineffectiveness, leading to a 31-38-13 record and finished ahead of only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers in league standings. This summer they’ve already started their re-tool, trading 20-year old Jared McCann to Florida for former third overall pick Erik Gudbranson. Here’s a look at what else they have to do this summer:
Key Restricted Free Agent: W Emerson Etem – After a deal that saw Etem move across the continent (for the second time), the former Ranger got into 39 games down the stretch for the Canucks. A prolific scorer in junior – who tallied 143 goals in three seasons for the Medicine Hat Tigers, including a 61 goal effort in 2011-12 – Etem hasn’t been able to find much consistency in the NHL.
Now six years removed from being draft in the first round (29th overall), Etem has to show that he can be the offensive force he was once seen as. Perhaps it will help that Canucks’ coach Willie Dejardins was Etem’s coach in Medicine Hat for two seasons before being hired on with the Dallas Stars.
He’s coming off a one-year deal worth $850,500 and shouldn’t cost much more than $1MM in his first season of arbitration eligibility. With the other young forwards Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen, Etem could be a long-term piece for the Canucks if he can ever reclaim that scoring touch.
Other RFAs: F Linden Vey, F Michael Zalewski, D Andrey Pedan
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: RW Radim Vrbata – While the Canucks struggle through the last few years of their now 35-year old franchise twins, another veteran is hitting the open market after a terrible season. Vrbata seemed to have found the fountain of youth in 2014-15 after signing a two-year pact with the Canucks; he put up a career-high 63 points and broke the 30 goal mark for the second time.
This season, he lit the lamp only 13 times and collected just 27 points – his lowest mark since 2008 when he played just 18 games before heading back to his native Czech Republic to be with his pregnant wife. He’ll hit the open market as a 35-year old coming off his worst year and will probably have to settle for a one-year deal somewhere; it almost surely won’t be in Vancouver. Vrbata was ranked 27 on our list of the top 50 free agents available this year.
D Dan Hamhuis – After another injury shortened season (this time from a gruesome slapshot to the face), Hamhuis is hitting free agency as somewhat of a risk, given his age and durability issues. While those issues may be somewhat overblown, Hamhuis isn’t going to get the big money deal he did a few years ago.
Even so, he is a strong shutdown defender when healthy and there are many teams who would love to have him in their top-4. If Hamhuis decides to take his talents elsewhere, he’ll try to catch on with a team with deep playoff aspirations as the 33-year old has only progressed past the first round once in his twelve year career.
Other UFAs: LW Ronalds Kenins, D Yannick Weber, D Matt Bartkowski
Projected Cap Room: $9.2MM, 21 players under contract.
The Canucks will continue their tear-down as they wait out the last few Sedin seasons, and look for progression from their young players. If they do sign any free agents, it would have to either be young players or cheap veterans that they’d look to deal closer to the next deadline.
We predicted them to sign both Lee Stempniak and Matt Martin, but look at other players like Sam Gagner or John-Michael Liles that fit in one of those two categories. It should be another long season for Canuck fans.