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Oilers Interested In Konecny, Laughton

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Most of the top free agents have already been grabbed off the market so far this offseason, yet there are a couple of big names that remain. One of them, Jonathan Toews, had one of the more murkier futures than most. After the Chicago Blackhawks announced they would not be re-signing their captain, much of the speculation pointed Toews to two options: the Edmonton Oilers or retirement.

Mark Spector of Sportsnet was asked to answer a question about Toews in his regular Oilers mailbag, and he painted a much clearer image of what Toews’ future will hold. Apparently, when Toews’ agency gave out their annual list of pending free agents to interested parties, “we are told his name was not even on the list”.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • One of the main focal points of the Oilers’ offseason is to sign restricted free agent defenseman Evan Bouchard to a contract extension, but it appears the Oilers are also looking to add to their forward depth. Michael DeRosa of The Hockey News reports that Edmonton has significant interest in Philadelphia Flyers’ forwards Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton. Both players would be a positive addition to the team’s forward core, but with only $5.6MM available in cap space, it is hard to envision the Oilers being able to absorb the $5.5MM owed to Konecny, or the $3MM owed to Laughton.

Bridge Deal For Bouchard Could Cost Between $3.5MM And $4MM

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The Oilers are expected to have to sign Evan Bouchard to a short-term bridge contract to fit him within their cap structure.  On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that the deal might fall within the $3.5MM to $4MM range.  For comparison, Colorado’s Bowen Byram inked a two-year bridge deal with a $3.85MM AAV and Bouchard has more than twice as many games played as points as Byram.  The 23-year-old is coming off his second straight regular season of at least 40 points and led all NHL blueliners in playoff scoring with 17 points in just 12 contests.

Oilers Re-Sign Olivier Rodrigue

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The Oilers have taken care of one of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing the re-signing of goaltender Oliver Rodrigue to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay the NHL minimum salary of $775K at the top level; the team did not disclose the two-way element.

The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by Edmonton back in 2018 (62nd overall) and he just wrapped up his entry-level contract.  Last season, Rodrigue played in 29 games with AHL Bakersfield, posting a 2.77 GAA along with a .912 SV%.  He has played in 53 career AHL contests, putting up a 2.89 GAA with a .903 SV%.  He has yet to see any action at the NHL level but served on their taxi squad in both 2020-21 and 2021-22 while being part of their group of playoff reserves this past season.

Rodrigue is likely to split playing time with veteran Calvin Pickard with the Condors next season with prospect Ryan Fanti also waiting in the wings after spending most of his first professional season at the ECHL level with Fort Wayne.  Should an injury arise in Edmonton to either Jack Campbell or Stuart Skinner, it’s likely Pickard would get the short-term promotion to serve as the backup so Rodrigue might have to bide his time a little longer for his first NHL opportunity.

Minor League Signings 07/01/2023

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On day one of the free agent market opening up, the league saw a grand total of 166 signings, with a whopping $646.4MM handed out over the course of 291 total contract years. This class of free agents was expected to be one of the weaker in recent memory, but the excitement still remained as quite a few players switched cities. In all the chaos, there were some minor contracts that were inked yesterday that may have slipped under the radar for most:

  • The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Keeper spent last season playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He only managed to play for about half of the Canucks games, scoring one goal and five assists in 35 games. In the playoffs, although eliminated in the first round, Keeper scored one goal in two games for Abbotsford (CapFriendly).
  • Defenseman Ryan Shea has inked a one-year, $775K, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shea was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2015, but never actually signed with the team, joining the Dallas Stars on an entry-level contract in 2020. The Northeastern University product played a combined 162 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, scoring 10 goals and 56 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The Washington Capitals signed forward, Pierrick Dube, to a two-year, $1.9MM, entry-level contract yesterday. An undrafted free agent last year, Dube joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Dube played very well for the Rocket, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 44 games down the stretch. Still only 22 years old, Dube could factor into one of the top lines on the Hershey Bears next season, potentially even finding minutes with the Capitals in the near future (CapFriendly).
  • Another depth signing for the Penguins, the team has added forward Joona Koppanen to a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract. Koppanen was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, playing the majority of his career up to this point with the Providence Bruins. Last season, Koppanen did get his first change in the NHL, playing five games for the Bruins in January, tallying only one assist while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time a game (CapFriendly).
  • The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract yesterday. The defenseman was acquired in 2021 from the Blackhawks in an early-April trade. Although playing in 40 games during 2021-22 for Florida, Carlsson spent the majority of last season with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In the minor leagues, Carlsson was one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, scoring 20 goals and 34 assists in 61 games (CapFriendly).
  • Securing his first contract in professional hockey, the Edmonton Oilers have added defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer to a one-year, $845K, entry-level contract. A former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, Hoefenmayer never played in the Coyotes system, eventually playing on minor-league contracts with the Toronto Marlies after finishing his junior career with the Ottawa 67’s. Hoefenmayer played quite well for the Marlies, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season (CapFriendly).
  • Returning back to North American hockey after spending the last two seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Philippe Maillet to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Already 30 years old, Maillet has spent parts of his career with the Capitals and Los Angeles Kings organizations before finally making the jump overseas in 2021-22. In 66 games played for Metallurg last season, Maillet scored 22 goals and 31 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy from the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, Hunter Shepard, has signed a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract to remain with the Capitals organization. Shepard was sensational en route to the Hershey Bears winning the 2023 Calder Cup, managing a 14-6-0 record throughout the playoffs, carrying a 2.27 GAA and a .914 SV% (CapFriendly).

 

Edmonton Oilers Sign Connor Brown, Two Others

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Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Edmonton Oilers have finalized a one-year contract with forward Connor Brown. The deal will have a $775K cap hit but includes an additional $3.25MM in potential performance bonuses, coming off an ACL injury that cost him most of the 2022-23 season.

They’ve also added winger Drake Caggiula back to their organization on a two-year, two-way contract with a $775k AAV, according to The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. Caggiula is an impact AHL scorer who also has experience as an NHL bottom-six winger. He spent three seasons with the Oilers from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

The Oilers have also made one more depth signing, inking blueliner Ben Gleason to a two-year $775k AAV contract, per PuckPedia. The deal is a two-way pact for the first year and a one-way deal in the second, carrying a $425k AHL salary in year one.

The Brown signing is a savvy move for both Brown and the Oilers for a variety of reasons. For Brown, this deal gives him the best chance of a quality, productive season to allow him to cash in on next year’s free agent market. A former teammate of Connor McDavid in the OHL, Brown has a very strong chance of ending up on either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl’s wing.

Seeing as those players are routinely two of the NHL’s top scorers (with McDavid expected to lead the NHL in scoring and win the Hart Trophy pretty much every season) Brown is in line to fly past his career-highs in production, similar to what another former Maple Leafs winger, Zach Hyman, has done in Edmonton.

For Edmonton, this move lands them a quality two-way second-line player at a league-minimum cap hit, as most of the deal’s financial value is tied up in bonuses. Given how Edmonton figures to press right up against the salary cap this season, the structure of this contract allows them to potentially push the bulk of Brown’s cap hit to next season.

There likely wasn’t going to be a path for Edmonton to acquire a better player than Brown on the free-agent market. Understanding the team’s needs and limitations under the cap, it’s hard to argue with this free-agent addition.

Edmonton Oilers To Sign Lane Pederson

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The Edmonton Oilers are signing forward Lane Pederson to a two-year, one-way deal worth $775K per season, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.

The 25-year-old Saskatoon native is an accomplished AHL scorer who has scored around a point-per-game rate in the American League in recent seasons without much success in the NHL. He played for two NHL clubs last year and scored a combined six points in 27 games.

He has the versatility to play both center and wing and has been an alternate captain in earlier locations during his career, so his signing will be a major benefit to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, should he fail to make the team out of training camp and clear waivers.

While he was claimed off of waivers this past season that may not be as much of an issue at the start-of-season waiver period since significant injury issues down the middle were a significant motivator to Columbus placing their claim.

Teams are unlikely to be in similarly dire positions at the start of the season, meaning Pederson has a solid chance of starting the season in Bakersfield, where he’d instantly be among their most important players as well as a priority call-up option should the Oilers themselves run into some injury trouble.

Matt Nieto Expected To Sign With Pittsburgh Penguins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting a head start on free agency, reportedly getting a veteran addition to their bottom six. Winger Matt Nieto is expected to sign a two-year deal worth $900K to join the Penguins, says TSN’s Darren Dreger, who previously reported Nieto was heading to Edmonton.

Nieto, 30, is a respected bottom-six player who split last season between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Nieto has averaged just over 14 minutes of ice time per night in his career, though he saw his ice time drop dramatically after his mid-season trade to the Avalanche. He was averaging over 15 minutes per night in San Jose, and went to under 11 minutes with the Avalanche.

A capable penalty-killer and defensive presence, Nieto chipped in 12 goals and 24 points in 81 games last season. While Nieto doesn’t offer the size or overwhelming physicality that some teams would like to see out of their bottom-six forwards, there are far worse options for a team to run in their bottom-six.

Nieto has been on a few playoff runs of significance, and that’s exactly what Pittsburgh hopes to be doing next season. An offseason priority for the Penguins has been upgrading the lower-end of their lineup, and adding Nieto will help them do just that.

Mattias Janmark Signs Extension With Edmonton Oilers

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2:02 pm: Per a release on Twitter from the team, the agreement between Janmark and the Oilers on a one-year extension is now official.

1:05 pm: Per reports from Edmonton Oilers insider Jason Gregor and TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, the Edmonton Oilers are extending winger Mattias Janmark on a one-year deal worth $1MM.

Janmark had a rocky start to 2022-23 after signing a one-year, $1.25MM deal with Edmonton in last year’s free-agent period. The 30-year-old veteran of 486 NHL games unexpectedly failed to make the team out of camp and cleared waivers at the beginning of the season, recording four points in four games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors over the first month of the season. Injuries forced Edmonton to recall Janmark under emergency conditions early in November, though, and he was able to stick around on the NHL roster for the remainder of the season.

After the November recall, Janmark provided some solid depth scoring for a team that sorely needed bottom-six production, scoring 10 goals and adding 15 assists in 66 games, posting good defensive impacts in the process. It’s the level of production we’ve come to expect from the Swedish winger, who’s recorded between 21 and 25 points in each of the last five seasons.

No one will complain about retaining a defensively responsible winger who can likely provide a double-digit goal total for just $225K over the league minimum. With prospect Dylan Holloway gunning for a top-nine spot next season, though, Janmark could see his minutes decrease if he drops to a fourth-line role, although he should still see some time on the penalty kill.

Edmonton Oilers Qualify Five Players

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The Edmonton Oilers have decided to negotiate with all five of their pending restricted free agents, issuing qualifying offers to Ryan McLeod, Raphael Lavoie, Noah Philp, Evan Bouchard, and Olivier Rodrigue.

According to CapFriendly’s qualifying offer calculator, that means each received the following:

  • Evan Bouchard: One-way, $874,125
  • Raphael Lavoie: Two-way, $874,125
  • Ryan McLeod: One-way, $837,900
  • Noah Philp: Two-way, $787,500
  • Olivier Rodrigue: Two-way, $787,500

For Bouchard and McLeod, in particular, this comes as no surprise. Each has become an important part of the Oilers’ lineup, giving them the depth needed to advance further in the playoffs.

Bouchard, 23, registered his second straight 40+ point season in 2022-23, effectively making Tyson Barrie redundant enough to trade at the deadline. The 10th overall pick from 2018 has grown into one of the most effective puck-movers in the league and showed off some incredible vision in this year’s postseason, racking up four goals and 17 points in just 12 games.

McLeod, meanwhile, grew into a valuable depth center option this season, scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 57 games. His elite skating ability and tenacity make him a nice fit on a third line, and his offensive number are trending upward. He was held goalless in the playoffs but still contributed five points, playing mostly in a defensive role.

Despite the Oilers’ release indicating otherwise, it is actually McLeod—not Bouchard—that is eligible for arbitration this summer, according to CapFriendly. The young forward is a candidate for a bridge deal, given the tight nature of the Edmonton cap situation.

The other three, Lavoie, Philp, and Rodrigue, have yet to make their NHL debuts are will likely be retained on short-term two-way deals to maintain organizational depth.

Detroit Red Wings Acquire Kailer Yamamoto And Klim Kostin

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The Detroit Red Wings have pillaged two players from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations: forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin.

The move adds two wingers of varying promise to the Red Wings in exchange for just cap space, as no assets were surrendered by Detroit to complete this trade. The Oilers were likely motivated to move off of Yamamoto’s cap hit as he’s making $3.1MM for the next season. While Yamamoto managed 20 goals and 41 points in 2021-22, the 2017 first-round pick struggled this past year and lost his spot in Edmonton’s long-term plans.

Yamamoto scored just 10 goals and 25 points this season, playing just 58 games. While that 35-point pace isn’t actually a huge decline from the 41 points he scored the year before, his lack of availability combined with his frustrating inconsistency is likely what led Edmonton to deal him in order to create some cap space to bring in new players.

As for Kostin, he was set to hit restricted free agency at the start of the new league year, and it’s likely that Edmonton wasn’t prepared to give him the type of contract he may be hoping to receive. Kostin was acquired by the Oilers in exchange for defenseman Dmitri Samorukov, and the 24-year-old 2017 first-rounder scored 11 goals and 21 points in 55 games in Edmonton, both easily career-highs.

Now, the six-foot-three forward will join the Red Wings, who have added two NHL-ready contributors in this deal. Their forward corps is already well-stocked with NHL talent, but Yamamoto can now compete with Filip Zadina and Jonatan Berggren for a role in coach Derek Lalonde’s top nine, while Kostin is likely to end up on their fourth line. At no asset cost, this is a savvy deal for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings, especially if Yamamoto can repeat his form from 2021-22.

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