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Metropolitan Notes: Buyouts, Mahoney, Schenn

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After finalizing the deal with Kevin Hayes this afternoon, the New York Rangers have come to terms with each of the four players who filed for salary arbitration this summer (Hayes, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Dylan McIlrath) before any of them had a hearing. With it, comes an additional buyout window that will start on Monday and last for 48 hours.

In this window, the team may perform a buyout on a player who fulfills certain criteria. Many speculated during the last window that the team could buy out defenseman Dan Girardi, and as the Rangers move closer to the cap, this remains a possibility.  Girardi’s play has deteriorated over the past few seasons, and he carries a cap hit of $5.5MM for the next four years.

If the team were to buy out Girardi, they’d be paying him $10MM total, spread over eight years.  His cap hits would be as follows (via General Fanager):

2016-17 – $1.75MM
2017-18 – $2.75MM
2018-19 – $3.75MM
2019-20 – $3.75MM
2020-21 – $1.25MM
2021-22 – $1.25MM
2022-23 – $1.25MM
2023-24 – $1.25MM.

There has been no word from Rangers camp that Girardi is headed for a buyout, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds.  Here are some more notes from the Metropolitan division:

  • While there has been relatively little news out of Las Vegas since the city was granted an expansion franchise, Elliotte Friedman is hearing that the team is after Washington Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney, and has asked the club for it’s permission to interview him.  While there hasn’t been any response from the Capitals, Mahoney worked with new Las Vegas GM George McPhee for over a decade in Washington and may see it as a new opportunity.
  • The last thing we heard about Brayden Schenn is that there has been “no progress of any kind” on a new contract, and the young forward is getting closer and closer to his arbitration hearing.  Each player so far that has been scheduled before Schenn’s July 25th hearing has come to an agreement, but so far it doesn’t sound like there is any movement from either camp.  The Philadelphia centerman is coming off his best year as a pro, one that saw him score 26 goals and 59 points in 80 games. His continued development will be a discussion point in arbitration, as the former fifth-overall pick has increased his point total each season of his career.

Snapshots: White, KHL, Nugent-Hopkins

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The Arizona Coyotes have been a determined franchise since bringing in 27-year old GM John Chayka to captain the ship. The league’s youngest GM in history has already put his fingerprints all over the roster and, according to Sarah McLellan of AZCentral, seems to have targeted Ryan White in free agency due to an attribute many may have overlooked: versatility.

The 28-year old forward has never been much of a scoring threat in his career (though he is coming off a career-best 11 goals), but it’s that versatility that drew Chayka to him.  White can play both center and wing equally, and will provide a right-handed faceoff option in the defensive zone.  Here are some more notes from around the league:

  • The KHL has been aggressively pursuing expansion options across Europe and Asia, as seen from their recent move into China, and they may be headed towards the UK soon. In a couple of tweets this morning from separate sources, the league has reportedly reached some sort of an agreement to eventually put an expansion team in London.
  • The Sabres have hired Tom Ward and Adam Nightengale to join their coaching staff, as an assistant and video coach respectively. Ward was last seen coaching the Shattuck St. Mary’s Boys Prep team in Minnesota, where he won nine national championships. Nightengale was previously the director of hockey operations at Michigan State University.
  • Amid swirling trade rumors, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins admits that it sometimes gets into his head.  On Edmonton’s 630 CHED today (via Chris Nichols), he said “There’s just a lot of talk and really, it’s just guys kind of putting their own opinions out there. It kind of gets carried away, I think, a little bit. But yeah, it’s still in the back of your mind a little bit.”  The former first-overall pick hasn’t lived up to his high expectations (or contract) as of yet, scoring only 222 points in 313 career games, including just 34 last season (55 GP).

Western Conference Notes: Schmaltz, Subban, Larsson

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Evidently the new Las Vegas expansion team is wasting little time getting up and running. As we mentioned yesterday, the newest entry in the Western Conference was closing in on naming the first GM in franchise history. Today we learned a press conference has indeed been scheduled for tomorrow at 1 pm PST where club owner Bill Foley is expected to announce his choice. Speculation, and that’s all it is at this point, is that George McPhee, formerly the longtime GM of the Washington Capitals and currently serving as an adviser with the Islanders under Garth Snow, will be named Las Vegas’ inaugural GM.

More from the wild, wild West:

  • Chicago GM Stan Bowman deserves a lot of credit for maintaining the Hawks presence as a Stanley Cup contender despite annual salary dumps, including this summer’s trades of Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw. His ability to constantly juggle his roster while remaining cap compliant is due to the constant infusion of affordable young talent the organization continues to find and develop. Mark Lazarus of the Chicago Sun Times profiles several youngsters who aim to make the Hawks roster for the 2016-17 season.
  • Addressing questions from the reader mailbag, Adam Vingan of the Tennessean speculates how the Predators will employ shiny new toy, P.K. Subban. Like many, I thought the Predators got the better end of the Subban-for-Shea Weber trade. Subban is an electrifying talent still in his prime at 27 while Weber would seem to be on the downside as he approaches his 31st birthday. Plus with another decade remaining on Weber’s contract with a cap hit in excess of $7.8MM per, the Canadiens took on a healthy amount of risk on the back end of his deal.
  • From the same mailbag, Vingan also deals with the same tough choices every NHL GM will have to face between now and the expansion draft; namely which quality NHL player or players will they leave exposed. The league certainly went out of its way to ensure Las Vegas will be able to add legitimate talent and a lot of teams will be in the unenviable position of allowing a good player to leave for nothing.
  • The Subban deal wasn’t the only blockbuster trade completed this summer and it may not even by the one most panned by critics. Nearly every pundit thought the Devils pilfered LW Taylor Hall from Edmonton with Adam Larsson the return going to the Oilers. But it may not be as bad as it seems. Bottom line is GM Peter Chiarelli absolutely needed to upgrade his defense corps and likely didn’t have a lot of palatable options with which to do so. Plenty of young, RFA defensemen have been rumored to possibly be available via trade but exactly none have been moved to date despite the abundant need for quality blueliners around the league. Plus, unlike those RFA’s who would need new contracts with salaries inflating, Larsson comes at the beginning of a freshly inked deal that pays him a shade over $4.1MM on average for the next five seasons. That cost control has value. Fact is, Chiarelli might have made the best deal possible at the time, even if it ends up being a net negative in the long run.

Offer Sheet Candidates: Jones, Trouba, Lindholm

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Offer sheets are an interesting wrinkle in the NHL’s free agency period; a rarely used but powerful tool to try and steal away young talent from rival clubs. Though we may not see any this season – the last one to be signed was by Ryan O’Reilly in 2013 – there are a few interesting names out there that could possibly draw interest from other teams.  Let’s take a quick look at some of the offer sheet rules for this season:

  1. Teams can submit offer sheets to restricted free agents as of July 1st at 11:00 am central time. Players can choose to sign them at any point after that.
  2. If a player signs an offer sheet, his original team has seven days in which to match the deal or else accept the compensation.  During this time they cannot be traded.
  3. Compensation is as follows (according to Elliotte Friedman):
    Less than $1.239MM (average annual value of contract) – Nothing;
    $1.239-$1.878MM – Third-round pick;
    $1.878-$3.755MM – Second-round pick;
    $3.755-$5.633MM – First and third-round picks;
    $5.633-$7.510MM – First, second and third-round picks;
    $7.510-$9.388MM – Two first, a second and third-round picks;
    Over $9.388MM – Four first-round picks.
  4. Teams must have the picks available before signing the player, or else the offer sheet will be considered null and void.

Some hefty prices to pay if a team goes after a big name to be sure, but sometimes deemed worth it; the Flyers would have faced stiff compensation penalties had Nashville not decided to match their 14-year, $110MM offer to Shea Weber in 2012 (one that would no longer be allowed under the seven-year contract limit). Here are some names that might just be worth the risk:

D Seth Jones – The Columbus Blue Jackets have huge cap issues at the moment and are desperately trying to rid themselves of some of their bad deals.  After trading young star Ryan Johansen for Jones mid-season, they now need to find a way to re-sign the former fourth overall pick.

Jones is just 21, and has performed admirably in his first three seasons in the league, racking up 83 points in 240 games. If someone were to sign Jones to a long-term deal, the Blue Jackets would have a very difficult time matching it without finding a taker for some of their cap-hits. The team is already just $5MM under the cap, with close to $20MM committed to their blueline.

Whether Jones actually recieves any offers, or it’s just used as a negotiating tactic in order to pry some value out of the Blue Jackets in future trades, his name will surely come up in many talks this summer.

D Jacob Trouba – Another top-10 pick who is part of a deep defensive corps Trouba is considered available this summer on the trade market, and should be considered an offer sheet risk as well. While the Jets have much more cap room available, they already have three defencemen signed for over $5MM per season and might not be able to commit to a fourth.

Trouba has put up 72 points in 211 career games, and is considered a potential top-pairing blueliner in the future. Many teams could add him to their back end and thrust him into the spotlight in his fourth season. A long-term deal could be had, buying out free agent years and pushing that AAV up into un-matchable territory.

The Jets also have to worry about next year’s expansion draft, where they’ll be in danger of losing one of their young defencemen. Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom both have no-movement clauses that ensure their protection, leaving just one protection slot for both of Tyler Myers and Trouba (unless they choose the 8 skater option and risk some young forwards instead).

D Hampus Lindholm – The best player listed here, Lindholm has turned into an excellent defender for the Anaheim Ducks over the last few years. His case is one of worry for them as he could easily be offered a seven-year deal from teams around the league.

After signing Sami Vatanen last week, the Ducks now have five blueliners under contract for more than $3MM per season and adding a big deal that pushes $50MM could prove too pricey. If a team believes that Lindholm is the number 1 defenceman that he seems, they could decide to give up the picks in order to pry him away.

The Ducks have already dealt Frederik Andersen to save cap room and avoid losing him in the expansion draft, and they still have work to do before next summer. With Cam Fowler said to be on the market, perhaps he’ll be the victim of a looming Lindholm offer sheet.

 

Las Vegas Officially Awarded NHL Team

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Just hours before the NHL Awards held in Las Vegas, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that Las Vegas would indeed be the recipient of an NHL team for the start of the 2017-2018 season. Bettman indicated that the Board of Governors unanimously approved the league’s expansion. Bill Foley was named the principal owner of the new franchise. Foley indicated that the team has not settled on a nickname but speculation is that the Black Knights will be the chosen name.

Bettman confirmed many details as well. Namely, all teams will lose one player in the NHL Expansion Draft.  Las Vegas will be a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and this will give the conference 15 teams while the Eastern Conference boasts 16 teams. Yahoo Sports linked the official press release from the NHL while James Mirtle linked the NHL’s official rules regarding expansion teams.

The other interesting tidbit of information was the board deferring a decision on Quebec City and their chances at acquiring an NHL franchise. Pierre Dion, Quebecor President and CEO, spoke as well regarding the opportunity for future expansion. Dion, during the press conference, indicated that the priority is to bring the Nordiques back to Quebec City, and that the passion remains for hockey.

Snapshots: Las Vegas, Johansson, Ladd, Okposo

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The hockey world was abuzz with the confirmation that Las Vegas will in fact be the benefactor of expansion, making it the first of the big four sports in the city.  According to Associated Press writer Greg Beacham,  the fact that the team is bid out by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment lends credence to the thought that the nickname will in fact be the Black Knights. Beacham also points out that despite the financial woes seen in Arizona, the NHL is confident that hockey can flourish in the southwest.

Other news around hockey:

  • Marcus Johansson and the Washington Capitals appear ready to battle over money reports Chuck Gormley at CSN Mid Atlantic.  Johansson had another stellar season for the Capitals, registering 46 points in the regular season and adding 7 more in the playoffs. But Gormley writes that it might not be enough for Capitals GM Brian MacLellan, who believes a hometown discount won’t happen. Gormley also points out that Johansson is a valuable commodity, playing both wings and center for head coach Barry Trotz. Johansson isn’t the only one up for a contract, as defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and forwards Tom Wilson, and Michael Latta headline the restricted free agents the Capitals must re-sign.
  • ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun  penned that unrestricted free agent forward Andrew Ladd is most likely moving on from the Chicago Blackhawks. The 30-year-old winger was dealt to the Blackhawks in February but knew the Hawks had salary cap restrictions. While Ladd provided a spike in production, scoring 8 goals and 12 points in his return to Chicago, the Blackhawks were bounced by the Blues in 7 games in the first round of the playoffs. Ladd notched a goal and an assist in the seven games. LeBrun writes that Ladd is looking to join a contender, and is also considering his family’s wishes on where he goes next.
  • LeBrun also reported that New York Islanders forward Kyle Okposo is all but headed to free agency. The 28-year-old winger was a major contributor with 64 points (22-42) and will be a hot commodity once the window opens for free agents. LeBrun points out that Okposo’s age and scoring acumen are the main reasons teams will chase after him in July.

Las Vegas To Be Added As An Expansion Team

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The NHL is reportedly set to announce that Las Vegas will be added as an expansion team according to Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.  It’s expected that the decision will be made official following the NHL’s Board of Governors Meeting on June 22nd.

Las Vegas has long been thought of as a likely expansion candidate.  Prospective owner Bill Foley spearheaded a season ticket deposit campaign last year, collecting over 13,200 deposits in advance of submitted their expansion application in July.

Also aiding in their application was the recent completion of the T-Mobile Arena, a $350MM facility completed earlier this year.  Las Vegas is also the largest US market without a major professional sports franchise and it is believed that the NHL was intrigued by the idea of being the first league in that market.

The expected expansion fee is believed to be $500MM and the earliest a team would start would be the 2017-18 campaign.  More information on that will likely be available following the Board of Governors meeting next week.

Information has already leaked about the rules for the expansion draft.  Our Gavin Lee broke down the eligibility rules last weekend.

Quebec, the other prospective franchise that participated in the expansion application process, is not expected to be awarded a franchise at this time.  However, as they have an NHL-ready arena in the Videotron Centre, they will certainly come up in terms of future expansion or relocation discussion.

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