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Last Day For Side-Dealing, Vegas Will Pick Roster Tomorrow

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Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee met with media today and spoke about how the process is going now that the NHL movement freeze is on and he’s under the gun to select his expansion team. McPhee announced that this is the last day he’ll be working on side deals with teams, and said he would pick the final expansion roster tomorrow. There have already been reports of as many as seven deals completed with Vegas, though as McPhee said today “nothing is final until it’s final.”

Though deals to protect certain players off their own roster have likely already been hashed out, with the release of the protection lists teams are likely calling to see if they can pull off a post-draft trade with Vegas in order to get a certain player from around the league. It will be interesting to see how many players Vegas flips after the draft in order to get more selections in the upcoming entry draft, or young assets they can use to build. A player like James Neal, who is of little use to the Golden Knights on a one-year deal would likely bring back at least a first-round pick now or at next year’s trade deadline.

All eyes are on McPhee and his staff as they try and build the best organization possible in the next few days. After already seeing some excellent players go unprotected, it is starting to look like a playoff push may be in the cards for Vegas within the first few years of their existence. With Marc-Andre Fleury likely the pick from Pittsburgh, they’ll have a chance to have at least some Stanley Cup experience in the room right away. The roster will be announced during the NHL Awards on Wednesday, June 21st.

Snapshots: Top-93, Healy, Vegas Deals

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TSN has released their final ranking for the 2017 Entry Draft, and Nico Hischier has finally overtaken Nolan Patrick at the very top. Bob McKenzie who compiles the list based on a survey of 10 working scouts, writes that Patrick now only received four votes for the top spot, with Cale Makar even getting a single #1 vote.

That’s a much different ranking than earlier in the season when Patrick was the unanimous selection, and shows the volatility this year’s draft board. Even at #1 there is no consensus, and there are dozens of players who could go in the top-10. With such different boards around the league, there may be quite a bit of movement in the first round as teams target who they want.

  • Former NHL goaltender Glenn Healy has been named Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association. Healy has worked with the NHLPA in the past and had been working as the interim Director for the NHLAA. He’ll lose the interim tag now and got a ringing endorsement from Wayne Gretzky himself, saying that Healy “is the right guy to lead us into the future.”
  • Scott Cullen of TSN believes there is at least seven side deals completed with Vegas in order to protect extra players or have a particular player selected. That would explain some of the interesting choices in yesterday’s protection list reveal, such as Minnesota and Anaheim leaving top flight defenders available. The Islanders, Penguins, Blackhawks, and Blue Jackets are also expected to have deals already in place, though nothing will be official until the expansion selections come out on Wednesday night.

Latest On Alexander Radulov’s Free Agency

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While the hockey world focuses on the expansion draft and upcoming entry draft, many fans in Montreal are turning their attention to next season and the possibility of an Alexander Radulov return to the Canadiens. The pending unrestricted free agent has been expected to re-sign with the Habs for some time, though things have gone silent in recent weeks as the team focused on other things. Today when speaking to TSN 690, Bob McKenzie explained that the two sides could still be pretty far away from each other in regards to contract length.

I’m sure that initially [Radulov] was looking for a home run; six, seven, eight years. Take your pick from one of those numbers, and I’m sure the Montreal Canadiens are saying ’not a chance in the world we’re going any longer–we’d like two but we know that’s not possible.’

Because Vegas is in a unique position, they’ve already got [Vadim] Shipachyov the 30-year old Russian center that they signed. They don’t have cap issues, they don’t have to worry as much about the dollars and cents…they’re in a unique position to maybe give Radulov more years and more money than the Montreal Canadiens could.

Signing Radulov would mean that Vegas forfeits their selection from the Montreal Canadiens, but after dealing away Nathan Beaulieu and protecting most of their core players, it could be an easy choice for the Golden Knights. McKenzie also points out that Montreal signing Radulov even for three years would hinge quite a bit on a potential Carey Price extension. Price hits the open market next summer, and could be looking at the biggest contract of all-time among goaltenders. After adding Jonathan Drouin on a six-year deal, money could get very tight for Montreal in a hurry.

It also will hinge on what happens with Alex Galchenyuk, who is up for a new contract but may have played his final game in Montreal. There has been much speculation about a possible trade for the young forward, especially after Drouin was acquired. Paying Galchenyuk a similar $5-6MM long-term deal would essentially eat up a third of the cap space Montreal has remaining, and they still need to make at least one addition to their defense corps. Radulov may fit for next season in that scenario, but going forward would be even tighter.

Kris Russell, Karl Alzner Among First Players Linked To Vegas Free Agent Window

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After yesterday’s release of the protection lists for each team, a 72-hour window opened for Vegas to make their expansion selections. With it, another window opened in which the team can speak with pending unrestricted free agents and unprotected restricted free agents. If signed before Wednesday’s deadline, Vegas would forfeit the selection from that player’s team.

As expected, the Golden Knights will be well connected to all the free agents and it has started with the mention of a pair of defenders. Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports that the Vegas front office has reached out to the Kris Russell camp, and Darren Dreger of TSN speculates that Karl Alzner will be another target. Though LeBrun is quick to point out that nothing is close with Russell, he is definitely one of the more interesting names given how clearly interested Edmonton has been in re-signing him.

The Oilers didn’t give the Golden Knights many interesting options in the draft, with most expecting a pick of Griffin Reinhart or Jujhar Khaira. Signing Russell, who in different circles has been considered both extremely effective and unbelievably overrated would give them a solid base of experience and leadership on what should be a fairly young team. The Oilers, hoping to re-sign Russell have other big names to get under contract this summer including Leon Draisaitl who will be a restricted free agent this summer.

As for Alzner, the defensive specialist from Washington has been the target of some of the same criticism as a weak possession player whose impact is more in terms of minutes played than effectiveness. Some see him as a rock that you can put on the ice for 20 minutes a night and not worry about, while others think his limited offensive upside has him projected as more of bottom-pairing player going forward. The Capitals, unable to re-sign him even if they wanted to due to cap restraints, would welcome his signing with the Golden Knights in order to protect some of their other young players.

Nate Schmidt, who showed off his elite skating ability and potential as a top-4 puck mover in the playoffs was left unprotected, while top-backup Philipp Grubauer has long been considered a potential Golden Knights’ pick. That’s not to even mention Kevin Shattenkirk, T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams, all of whom are also free agents and could be targeted by Vegas. While Alzner obviously has some ties to GM George McPhee from his days in Washington, it would seem backwards for the team to give up the chance at selecting one of the Capitals’ players just to bring him aboard.

Vegas Storming 1st Round Of Draft

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The Vegas Golden Knights are in an odd position, where they control a strong negotiating position over teams who don’t want to lose valuable roster players. Vegas is under no obligation to comply with any requests, and can essentially extort other teams for maximum return. If Anaheim wants to protect Josh Manson, for example, Vegas will play hardball. They will do so for two reasons: first, the better the player, the more important he will be to a future Knights team, and two, they have no incentive not to take that player for anything less than an optimal return. GM George McPhee is already looking to have a better competitive jump-start than any previous NHL expansion team by a significant margin. And it doesn’t look as though he will opt out of choosing the best available players for anything short of a ransom. Some teams might be desperate enough to do so.

Vegas is already assumed to have three picks, and could easily snag more. They have their own pick at #6, and are believed to have side-deals with Columbus and the New York Islanders in order to acquire the #24 and #15 picks, respectively. Anaheim is definitely in discussions to keep Manson and possibly even Sami Vatanen, who they desperately tried to trade for value before Saturday’s roster freeze. It’s quite conceivable that picks are in play there, but Anaheim no longer has its 2017 first after trading it to Dallas for Patrick Eaves.

Other teams who will be desperate to keep players include Nashville, who would lose James Neal, Chicago, who have exposed Trevor van Riemsdyk, and San Jose, who could lose one of Paul Martin or David Schlemko. If those teams, or any other organization, really want to hang onto particular players, there’s a very real possibility they will need to surrender a top pick.

For historical reference, only one team has ever drafted with 5 first-round picks – the 1974 Montreal Canadiens. The last team who had 4 first-round picks was the 1999 New York Islanders, when they selected Tim Connolly at #5. If Vegas could amass yet another first round pick, or even two, it would put them in an incredibly enviable position headed into the Entry Draft. The importance of flash and showmanship is rarely overlooked in the City of Lights, and the team looks to continue that philosophy by embracing the saga that the expansion draft has become.

Mrazek Exposed Due To “Attitude”

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In one of the more surprising exposures of an action-packed Sunday, Petr Mrazek was left un-shielded by the Red Wings in favor of his senior backup Jimmy Howard. The reason why is even more surprising.

Howard ($5.292 MM) earns more than Mrazek (4.0 MM), and has an extra year on his contract. More shocking is the difference in age – Howard is 33 whereas Mrazek is only 25, still young for a goaltender in development. Howard has started far fewer games the last two seasons, only 24 in 2016-17. He did perform statistically well and rebounded with a .927 save percentage, whilst Mrazek posted a .908. Still, when Mrazek was on the list of those exposed, many assumed Detroit GM Ken Holland had negotiated a side-deal with Vegas to protect the tender. Not the case, apparently.

According to Holland, “I’m not spending any future assets to hang onto players”, which is as cut-and-dry a response as we’ve seen. Ansar Khan of Michigan Live states that the Wings passed on Mrazek in their expansion list due to a combination of “performance and attitude”. He even went so far as to claim that Mrazek is believed by some in the organization to be “too cocky for his own good”. The article even mentions Mrazek’s alleged unhappiness with the inability of Holland to trade Howard after the 2015-16 season.

Mrazek certainly had a better season in 2015-16, and contract negotiations did drag on for quite some time before the parties settled on a two-year deal. Mrazek was one of the most surprising goalies in that year, helping sneak the team in for their 25th consecutive playoff berth behind a mediocre defense. At the age of 23, it looked certain that the era of Howard in Hockeytown was nearing a close. After his pitfalls through 50 starts last season, management obviously decided that risking Mrazek would not hurt the team in a sizable way. If any trades were attempted to deal Mrazek, they were apparently quite unsuccessful.

Regardless of how toxic the relationship between the parties is, these sentiments might scare Vegas off of placing a claim. They certainly have a plethora of other options available around the league to tend net or flip for picks. Detroit certainly won’t be hurting for goaltending now that Jared Coreau has led the Grand Rapids Griffins to an AHL championship and is ready for prime-time. But if off-ice issues truly are a concern, and Vegas doesn’t select Mrazek, Detroit could have a very tense situation on their hands next season.

Atlantic Division Offers Scoring, Depth Players

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The Atlantic Division was arguably the weakest in the league, but Vegas should be happy to know that they can claim two previous 30-goal scorers from the group. Some teams offer very little, such as Buffalo, because of their lack of depth, and Toronto, because of good planning. But others, such as Montreal and Detroit, will provide interesting options at multiple positions.

The Boston Bruins have one of the weakest lists of the lot, but there are still a few names which could help the Golden Knights organization. Vegas could opt for the overpaid but serviceable Matt Beleskey in hopes of his return to form as a solid 3rd-line piece. They might instead select a defenseman, either the puck possession defender in Colin Miller or physical presence in Adam McQuaid – but there may be better defenseman available elsewhere. A very probable scenario is that they opt for a project player in defenseman Joe Morrow or goalie Malcolm Subban. The Toronto Maple Leafs probably released one of the best lists today. Veteran Brooks Laich is an option, but McPhee may opt for 25 year-old Martin Marincin in hopes that he can build upon his last two seasons. Neither loss would impact the team’s ascendance in the slightest. Something to keep an eye out for is the perennially injured Joffrey Lupul – it’s certainly possible GM Lou Lamoriello will use Vegas to take his contract off the books. It wouldn’t take much of a sweetener.

The Montreal Canadiens left veteran defenseman Alexei Emelin exposed, which some predicted – but it could still set their defense back in the short-term. GM Marc Bergevin did well to utilize that final forward protection spot, trading for Jonathan Drouin and locking him up long-term. A potential player to watch is Alexander Radulov and whether Vegas will pursue the unrestricted free agent in the next few days. They do have a head-start, and he would be a potent addition. The Detroit Red Wings made what I consider to be a very surprising move in exposing goalie Petr Mrazek over Jimmy Howard. It could pay dividends if Vegas opts to go in a different goaltending direction, but it seems quite likely they will go the best player available route. Xavier Ouellet is also left exposed, which could decimate their defensive hopes. Unfortunately for Wings fans, Ken Holland very well will pay extortion-level prices for not being more aggressive in the trade market when he had the opportunity.

The Ottawa Senators will contribute one of the top three players to Vegas, regardless of his very hefty $7 MM contract. Bobby Ryan is bound for Nevada unless something unforeseen happens – he’s a former 30 goal scorer, is coming off a hot playoff, and an overpaid contract won’t break this team off the start. They could opt to speak with Mike Condon or go the less expensive route and take the veteran Marc Methot, but neither seems likely. Losing Ryan might hurt the Senators’ depth in the short term but is a solid cap-centric decision. The Buffalo Sabres will not lose much at all. Vegas could take a chance on the surprisingly available young forward William Carrier, or claim an average defenseman in Josh Gorges or Zach Bogosian. Vegas fans who were banking on a Tyler Ennis jersey will have to re-think their potential first purchase.

The Florida teams took completely different approaches to their expansion lists, and its clear that Tampa took the wiser route. Although they lost Jonathan Drouin, they re-couped a solid defenseman and made certain they didn’t lose an asset for nothing. Instead of losing Vladislav Namestnikov, they will instead look to probably surrender one of Cedric Paquette or J.T. Brown. There are a lot of mid-tier options available for Vegas, and I wouldn’t count out Cory Conacher as a darkhorse UFA signing considering his dominant performance in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Florida Panthers produced an inexcusably bad list. They will almost certainly lose their top scorer by not protecting the undersized Jonathan Marchessault. He had a breakout season with 30 goals in 75 games and his loss up front could really sting next season. Also of note is the decision to leave Roberto Luongo unprotected, although nothing likely will come of it.

Ultimately, the Atlantic division has a few players that will provide offensive punch to the Golden Knights, and a couple interesting decisions. McPhee could opt for safer veteran options, or take some gambles – only time will tell.

 

The original article had mistakenly replaced Collin Miller’s name on the protection list with Kevan Miller.

NHL Announces Expansion Protection Rosters

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The NHL has announced the protected rosters for the Las Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft. Teams had to submit their protection rosters yesterday and the team now has 72 hours to decide who they will take. While there may be some names on the list that stand out, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Las Vegas will take those players. The Golden Knights have multiple side deals with multiple teams in which they are receiving draft pick compensation for not taking certain players. Just yesterday, general manager George McPhee reiterated that he is willing to work out a deal with all 30 teams if those teams are willing to make side deals to protect players they don’t want to lose. Here is the list:Read more

Anaheim Ducks Re-Sign Nic Kerdiles

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Lost in the shuffle of the Expansion Roster Freeze Deadline earlier today, the Anaheim Ducks announced that they agreed to an extension with restricted free agent forward Nicolas Kerdiles prior to the afternoon deadline. The new deal for the young winger is for one year at $650K, the league minimum, and is a two-way contract. The 23-year-old will again be a restricted free agent next summer.

Kerdiles, a 2012 second-round pick from the U.S. National Development Team, finally made his NHL debut in 2016-17 after two years of college hockey at the University of Wisconsin and two full seasons in the AHL. While Kerdiles skated in just one regular season game for the Ducks, he was given the much bigger role of suiting up for four playoff games as well. Kerdiles recorded his first NHL point in the Ducks’ final game of the season, a Game Six loss to the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Finals. Kerdiles likely would have played in more NHL games if it wasn’t for his injury struggles, which also limited him to just 27 regular season games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. However, Kerdiles was back at full strength in the AHL playoffs and was a point-per-game performer in his eight contests.

While Ducks fans are likely happy to see the news regarding Kerdiles, a popular local player, it is important to remember that nothing is set in stone until the expansion process has run its course. The timing of Kerdiles extension, much like those of Edmonton’s Jujhar Khaira, Montreal’s Charles Hudon, and Vancouver’s Erik Gudbranson in recent days, is certainly suspicious. It would be one thing if these players were all guaranteed to be protected by their teams, but instead they are all very much fringe players when it comes to putting together protection lists. If these players are exposed, new contracts will only increase their odds of being selected, taking pressure off of the Vegas Golden Knights, who must hit a quota of 20 players with contract term in the draft. Could these signings, particularly that of Kerdiles, whose team is known to be negotiating a side deal with the Knights, be part of a bigger strategy? It certainly seems like a strong possibility. There will be a better idea in the morning when protection lists are announced at 9:00 AM CT and of course we will know for sure when the Expansion Draft arrives on Wednesday. Until then, Anaheim fans can celebrate another year of Kerdiles (they hope).

Early Expansion Protection News: Capitals, Kings, Flames, Predators, And More

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The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft is an exciting process. If you’re too riled up to wait until the lists are officially submitted in the morning, you’re in luck. As could be expected, information leaks are flooding in on who was and wasn’t protected by their teams ahead of the deadline this afternoon. This list will be updated all night long as more news comes in:

  • One not so obvious choice has been made in Nashville. Adam Vingan of The Tennessean answered a question on the minds of many, reporting that the Predators did in fact protect forward Calle Jarnkrok. With the rest of the eight-skater list all but set in stone with goalie Pekka Rinne, defensemen Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm, and star forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson, the final forward spot came down to Jarnkrok, signed long-term, or James Neal, an elite scorer with just one year remaining on his contract. It seems that Neal will be open for selection, alongside names like Colton Sissons, Colin Wilson, and Craig Smith. Vignan adds that no deal has been struck between Vegas and the Predators to protect any of those players, with Nashville especially liking to retain Neal and Sissons.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that, interestingly enough, young Detroit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet was not protected by his team. This is the first real surprise of the expansion process and the first protection news that doesn’t match up with PHR’s Expansion Primer projections. The 23-year-old skated in 66 games this season for Detroit, third most among defenseman, and his 12 points tied that of top-pair man Danny DeKeyser. Yet, Ouellett will not join DeKeyser and Mike Green in protection, instead beaten out by another teammate. GM Ken Holland, who has gotten the reputation of perhaps being too loyal, possibly chose aging veteran Niklas Kronwall over Ouellet. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to bite the rebuilding Red Wings.
  • Another name confirmed to be unprotected is young Vancouver Canucks center Brendan Gaunce. Vancouver sports anchor Rick Dhaliwal was told that that Gaunce, a 2012 first-round pick, did not make the protection list for the Canucks, expected to be a 7/3 format, meaning that the team saw him as outside the top seven forwards on the team. The 23-year-old two-way specialist has upside, but after registering just five points in 57 games last season, no one will blame Vancouver for that choice.

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