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League Notes: Salary Cap, Kane, Vaccine Status

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During the league’s media tour today, deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke with several outlets including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman to answer questions and discuss several topics related to the upcoming season. One that doesn’t have a direct impact on this year’s campaign however is the expected $1MM rise in the salary cap ceiling for 2022-23, which Daly confirmed today. Though it isn’t official until revenue figures come through, this is what Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported at the beginning of August when he examined the current revenue projections.

That increase shouldn’t come as a sign everything is back to normal though. Seravalli’s report indicated that the cap ceiling would not see a significant increase until 2026-27, given the huge escrow debt the players have to pay off. While a $1MM increase gives teams a little bit of wiggle room, they are still in a relatively flat cap situation for the next few years.

  • Daly also told Friedman that the investigation into allegations that Evander Kane gambled on NHL games is still expected to conclude before training camp opens later this month. Though he explains that a report will come out, it’s still unclear whether it will be entirely available to the public. The league opened an investigation into Kane after his estranged wife, Anna Kane, posted accusations on social media claiming that the San Jose Sharks forward bet on games he was involved in; he denied those claims.
  • Speaking with Seravalli, Daly explained that the league currently projects 98% of their players will be fully vaccinated by the start of the season. The deputy commissioner expects just 10-15 total players will be unvaccinated, though that obviously depends on final roster cuts. Those players will be subject to stricter protocols this season, and could face withheld pay for games missed due to COVID-19.

Snapshots: Bozak, Kesler, Reynolds

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There are a handful of experienced NHL veterans still out on the market, with one being 35-year-old Tyler Bozak. The 2019 Stanley Cup champion is still one of the best faceoff men in the league and is a legitimate option down the middle of the ice. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that clubs expect Bozak to make a final decision in the next few days, and wonders if the Pittsburgh Penguins may be one of them given the injuries to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Bozak actually ranked 35th on our list of the Top 50 Unrestricted free agents, but we still expected him to get just a one-year deal at his age. While he may not be the fleetest of foot, there are still valuable attributes that can help a team win if deployed properly.

  • Ryan Kesler, who is still technically an active NHL player given his contract with the Anaheim Ducks won’t expire until the end of 2021-22, has accepted a role with the U.S. National Team Development Program. The veteran forward will serve as a volunteer assistant coach with the U18 group and can share his experience of more than 1,000 games in the NHL. Kesler’s contract, which carries a $6.875MM cap hit, will once again be moved to long-term injured reserve if the Ducks end up needing cap space.
  • Prospect camps are opening across the league, and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic notes that Peter Reynolds, his highest-ranked undrafted player, will be in attendance with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wheeler had Reynolds ranked as his 71st best prospect in this year’s draft after a strong rookie season in the QMJHL, but he was passed over entirely. NHL Central Scouting had the undersized forward ranked 80th among North American skaters.

Toronto’s Ilya Mikheyev Asked For Trade Following 2020-21

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The Toronto Maple Leafs were forced to say goodbye to Zach Hyman this offseason when he signed a massive seven-year, $38.5MM deal. With Hyman being the team’s only legitimate top-six left-winger, you would guess that someone like Ilya Mikheyev would be excited about the opportunity that should be there in 2021-22. Perhaps not, as Mikheyev requested a trade at the end of this season according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

With Hyman’s departure though, and bargain bin replacements signed in the offseason, it makes sense why the Maple Leafs don’t want to grant Mikheyev’s request. According to Friedman, the organization has let him know they still consider him a big part of the team, even after a year that saw his average ice time drop to just 14:13. Just 12:28 of that was at even-strength, and Mikheyev ended up with 17 points in 54 games.

Heading into his final season before unrestricted free agency, it’s easy to see why Mikheyev might want a different opportunity. The 26-year-old was an undrafted free agent signing out of the KHL and unless he shows that he’s closer to the player that scored 23 points in 39 games as a rookie, it could be difficult to secure a deal worth more than the $2.19MM he’ll earn this season. The fact that fellow KHL signing Alexander Barabanov–who couldn’t even crack the Maple Leafs lineup on a regular basis–found such immediate success with the San Jose Sharks, could be a shining example of that greener grass.

Once again though, the Maple Leafs depth chart on the left side is not very imposing at the time being. The team signed Nick Ritchie and Michael Bunting, who both may get looks in the top-six, but neither are locks to establish themselves beside Auston Matthews and John Tavares. There could be a real opportunity for Mikheyev this season with Hyman (and Joe Thornton, who played a good chunk of the season on the first line) out of the picture, if he’s willing to take the organization at their word and buy-in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports images

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Christian Dvorak

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The Montreal Canadiens announced today that they’ve acquired center Christian Dvorak from the Arizona Coyotes. The return is a conditional 2022 first-round draft pick as well as a 2024 second-round selection.

The conditions listed on the 2022 first-round pick are complex, to say the least. Arizona will receive the better of the two first-round picks that Montreal owns, both their own and Carolina’s (received today as compensation for Jesperi Kotkaniemi). The first-round pick is also semi-top-10 protected, meaning that if one of Montreal’s first-round selections is in the top 10 of the 2022 draft, Arizona will receive the worse of the two picks.

For Montreal, it’s a quick answer to the questions raised by how they’d fill the departure of both Phillip Danault and Kotkaniemi this offseason. There’s a lot to like about this Dvorak acquisition, including his cost certainty. The 25-year-old center is under contract for four more seasons at a cap hit of $4.45MM, with a modified no-trade clause that kicks in for the last two seasons of his deal.

Dvorak, who likely slots as the second-line center behind Nick Suzuki, is a capable two-way player who’s faced tough competition during his time in Arizona. Likely to receive a slight reduction on his 18:24 average time on ice from last season, his offensive numbers could improve from his career-high 18 goals and 38 points with a little less responsibility. From a hockey standpoint, Dvorak’s proven game at the NHL level makes him an immediate upgrade over Kotkaniemi for less money.

The Coyotes are in full teardown mode and not ashamed to show it. The team has now just three forwards on the active roster signed through next season – Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Andrew Ladd. Only two of those players are expected to be contributors at the NHL level. The team is projected to have upwards of $47MM in space heading into next year’s offseason and their gutted roster lead many to believe they’ll be in the running for first overall in 2022. Now equipped with eight picks in the first two rounds of the draft, the full rebuild has begun in Arizona.

All salary cap figures courtesy of CapFriendly.com

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the deal.

NHL Agrees To Olympic Participation

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The NHL is going to the Olympics. The league sent out a memo to players today (via John Hoven of SiriusXM NHL) outlining their agreement with the IIHF and IOC to send NHL talent to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. There has been a break built into the schedule, allowing for players to depart North America on February 6. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, the league retains the right to withdraw participation if the COVID situation worsens or if their regular schedule has been disrupted by outbreaks, leaving no room to reschedule games.

The 2022 Games will be the first true best-on-best action since 2016, when the World Cup was held just prior to the start of the season. This will be the first time the NHL has participated in the Olympics since 2014, when Canada defeated Sweden for the gold medal. The tournament scoring leaders that year were Phil Kessel and Erik Karlsson, two players that would be hard-pressed to repeat that feat this time around.

Olympic participation was one of the sticking points in last summer’s CBA negotiation, though the league only agreed to work as hard as possible to find an agreement with the IIHF and did not guarantee the NHL would go. They have proven true to their word, securing insurance for the players at the cost of the IIHF. There is no COVID-related insurance, according to the memo, but the IIHF has created a $5MM fund to help cover lost NHL salaries for any athlete that contracts COVID at the event (provided they were following protocols at the time).

One note that may be of interest is the size of the rink. The Games will be played on regulation NHL-sized rinks and officiated by NHL referees and linesmen.

Ivan Chekhovich Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Sep 1: Chekhovich has cleared waivers and is no longer a part of the Sharks organization. He has signed a new deal with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL, meaning you can forget about him joining a different NHL organization for the time being.

Aug 30: The San Jose Sharks have placed Ivan Chekhovich on unconditional waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. This likely indicates a contract termination, allowing the young forward to pursue other opportunities this season.

Chekhovich, 22, was set to enter the final year of his entry-level contract signed in 2018. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21, playing four games for the Sharks, but recorded just a single point. He spent the early part of the season in the KHL, where he found a lot more success, before joining the San Jose Barracuda for a stretch run.

Originally selected 212th overall in 2017, it’s an impressive accomplishment that Chekhovich even made it to the NHL at such a young age. A termination will make him an unrestricted free agent able to sign anywhere, though a return to the KHL seems likely.

A huge scoring talent at the QMJHL level, Chekhovich recorded 105 points in 2018-19 with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The talented forward has struggled to bring that level of offense to the minor leagues, however, with just ten goals and 32 points in 70 AHL contests. Still young enough to develop, he’ll be a name to keep an eye on down the road.

Patrick Sharp To Join UVM Coaching Staff

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Another former NHL forward is joining the coaching staff of his amateur team, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Patrick Sharp is joining the University of Vermont program as a coaching advisor. Sharp played two seasons for UVM before turning pro in 2002.

Now 39, Sharp retired in 2018 after 939 regular season games in the NHL. A third-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2001, he is best known for his long tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, which saw him set career highs with 36 goals and 78 points while hoisting the Stanley Cup three times. His two-way ability led to four different seasons of 30+ goals and Selke Trophy votes in five consecutive seasons including a fourth-place finish in 2008.

For the last few years, Sharp has been with NBC as a studio analyst but now appears to be taking a different path in his hockey career. In his 65 games with Vermont as a player, he scored 25 goals and 53 points, earning ECAC All-Rookie honors in 2001. He’ll now try to help his alma mater develop the next wave of college prospects.

Jack Eichel Changes Agents

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The Jack Eichel saga has a new twist today, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the disgruntled Buffalo Sabres center will now be represented by Pat Brisson of CAA Sports. Eichel had previously been represented by Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli of Global Hockey Consultants.

The move comes less than a month after his previous representation released a statement to various media outlets, indicating that they expected Eichel to be traded prior to the start of NHL free agency. That didn’t seem to speed the process along at all, and as Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News wrote in a column earlier this month, it may well have made it more difficult for Sabres GM Kevyn Adams to complete a deal in the immediate aftermath.

Eichel is currently injured, and though both sides agree that surgery is required, the specific procedure is still a point of contention. It is not clear if there has been any movement on this front over the last few weeks, but a change in representation is significant nonetheless.

Brisson is not a small fish by any means, in fact, he is one of the leading power brokers among NHL agents. According to PuckPedia, he has negotiated more than $1 billion in active contracts and represents some of the most well-known stars in the game–Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Patrick Kane among them. Adding Eichel is obviously a win for the agency, but the player also now has even more power behind him.

Still, no matter how much juice his representation has, Eichel is still at the mercy of the Sabres at this point. Adams has been clear that the team will stay “in control of this process” and only trade their former franchise player when they receive an offer good enough. Fans of the team will be quite familiar with the concept of trading away disgruntled centers, and Adams is trying very hard not to have a repeat of the Ryan O’Reilly debacle of 2018.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy. It’s clear that while Eichel’s time in a Buffalo uniform is likely over, there is no simple resolution to be had.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nashville Predators, Juuse Saros Avoid Arbitration

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The Nashville Predators and starting goaltender Juuse Saros have reached a new agreement, signing a four-year, $20MM contract. The two sides had an arbitration hearing set for Wednesday, which will no longer be required. Adam Vingan of The Athletic provides the full breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $4.0MM
  • 2022-23: $5.0MM
  • 2023-24: $6.0MM
  • 2025-26: $5.0MM

The contract does not have any trade protection, despite buying out three years of unrestricted free agency for the 26-year-old goaltender. Saros experienced a real breakout this season, showing he could be the team’s full-time starter by appearing in 36 games and posting a .927 save percentage. He finished sixth in voting for the Vezina Trophy and even received some Hart Trophy consideration. Predators GM David Poile released a statement on the contract:

Juuse has proven himself as one of the best young goaltenders in the NHL, and we are very pleased to have him remain our No. 1 goaltender for years to come. While being mentored by Pekka Rinne, he has spent the last several seasons growing and taking steps physically and mentally to become a top goalie in this League, as evident by his spot on the NHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2017-18 to finishing near the top of Vezina Trophy voting this past season. Juuse gives our team a chance to win in every game he plays, and we feel confident that with him leading the tandem we’ve established with David Rittich, our goaltenders will be a large part of our success in 2021-22.

Even though this may have been the first year Saros was recognized on a national scale, Predators fans will know just how good he’s been since entering the league. As a 21-year-old rookie he posted a .923 in 21 games and has continued at a high level while playing backup to Nashville legend Pekka Rinne. Among goaltenders with at least 150 NHL appearances, he sits sixth all-time with a .920 save percentage.

With Rinne now retired and completely out of the picture, Saros will be asked to carry a heavy load. The team brought in David Rittich on a one-year, $1.25MM deal to serve as the primary backup, but there’s little doubt the newly extended Saros will get the bulk of the work.

The contract actually appears to be quite the bargain for the Predators, considering some of the other goalie deals that have been handed out recently. Linus Ullmark received the same four years and $20MM, for instance, but also negotiated a full no-movement clause in the first two seasons and a modified no-trade clause in the final two. While Ullmark was a UFA already, a year ahead of Saros, his numbers are also nowhere near as strong or as established.

Igor Shesterkin actually got a much higher contract, despite being two years away from UFA status and having just 47 games under his belt. While the Rangers netminder has been outstanding in the early going, his four-year, $22.67MM deal shows the haircut that Saros accepted on this new contract.

There are other extenuating circumstances to all of these negotiations, but this one seems like a win for the Predators, who have no shot of competing without high-level goaltending. The team has struggled to score for years now and has several bloated, underperforming, high-priced contracts on the books upfront. With Saros signed for $5MM, the team can allocate some extra money elsewhere to try and round out the roster.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the contract terms. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Colorado Avalanche, Dennis Gilbert Avoid Arbitration

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The Colorado Avalanche won’t be going to arbitration this season after settling their one case with Dennis Gilbert. The two sides have agreed to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The deal will come with an AHL salary of $160K and means the hearing scheduled for August 21 will no longer be needed.

Gilbert, 24, played just three games at the NHL level this season, spending more time with the Colorado Eagles than the Colorado Avalanche. Acquired as part of the Brandon Saad–Nikita Zadorov trade from last fall, Gilbert has just 25 NHL games under his belt to this point. A third-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015, it’s hard to really project him getting much time with the big club this season thanks to a long depth chart in Colorado.

Even in terms of an injury call-up, Gilbert could be behind names like Jacob MacDonald and Roland McKeown, meaning he’ll be playing a lot in the minor leagues this season. The deal they settled on comes with a nice AHL salary, likely something his camp was pushing for knowing that he may spend the year there. What a one-year contract also does is take Gilbert to Group VI unrestricted free agency next summer, unless he somehow works his way into a full-time lineup spot this season.

There are of course also waivers, which Gilbert will need to clear in order to play in the minor leagues. That wasn’t an issue last year as he bounced up and down untethered, moving from the taxi squad to the minor leagues without issue. There is certainly a chance someone takes a flier on him if he is exposed to waivers, though claims at the end of training camp are still relatively rare.

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