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San Jose Sharks Flip Mike Hoffman To Florida Panthers

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The San Jose experience didn’t last long for Mike Hoffman, as the Sharks have flipped their newest forward to the Florida Panthers in exchange for 2019 second, 2018 fourth and 2018 fifth round picks. The Sharks will include a 2018 seventh along with Hoffman, who moves from Ottawa to San Jose to Florida in a matter of hours. There is no retained salary in the trade.

Senators’ GM Pierre Dorion is notoriously stingy with trades in-division, which may have led to this opportunity for the Sharks. San Jose finishes the transaction with $4MM more in cap space, and a few extra draft picks to fill out the cupboards. Giving up Boedker would weaken their on-ice performance if his cap space wasn’t used for something else, but the team is expected to take a long run at some top names in free agency this summer. They do have contracts to work out with Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo, along with unrestricted free agent Joe Thornton, but should have plenty of space to go after someone like John Tavares or Ilya Kovalchuk to give them some added offensive punch.

That offense was what Hoffman was supposed to bring, something that he’ll now take to Florida instead. The 28-year old winger will move south in the Atlantic Division, and join a relatively young team that already has some outstanding forward talents in players like Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers will add a four-time 20-goal scorer to their group, despite his recent off-ice situations. Because of those troubles between Hoffman and Senators captain Erik Karlsson, Florida has acquired him for an extremely low price. GM Dale Tallon released a statement regarding his newest player:

Mike is a skilled, consistent and hard-working player who has proven himself to be a talented goal scorer in the NHL. His speed, experience and offensive abilities will bolster our top-six group.

Taking a top scoring threat away from a division rival for a handful of picks after the first round is a steal for the Panthers, who are looking to take a run at the playoffs right away. As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet relays, Tallon had spoken with the Senators about Hoffman but thought the asking price was too high. Last night he received a call from the Sharks, and could find a price that worked. The Senators apparently wanted roster players from the Panthers, instead of the draft pick package that the Sharks were after.

The fireworks seem to just be starting in Ottawa, but both San Jose and Florida seem to be in a better position than they started this morning. This deal is a great one for both teams, as long as Hoffman’s off-ice situations are resolved. Draft week has been kicked off with a bang, and there will be plenty of intrigue as we approach Friday’s event.

Minor Transactions: 6/18/18

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Former Dallas Stars defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk won’t wait until July 1st to decide on his future in free agency. The 29-year-old veteran will make his first foray into international play, as EHC Munchen of the German DEL have announced that he is set to join the team. Bodnarchuk has played in 42 games in the NHL over his career, but has largely played a regular role in the AHL with more than 600 games to his credit. Most recently, he spent the entirety of his two-year contract with Dallas as the alternate captain and defensive leader of the Texas Stars, who fought all the way to Game Seven of the Calder Cup Final this year. Bodnarchuk will now take that same leadership and ability on the back end to Munich, where he will join a talented team that already employs several former AHLers like Keith Aulie, Ryan Button, and Derek Joslin on the blue line.

  • Also heading overseas is former top prospect Patrice Cormier. The 28-year-old forward and captain of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose has signed with Barys Astana, per a report from the local Kazakhstan sports news source Shaiba. Cormier is a major addition for Astana, a team that has struggled in recent years and recently watched top scorers Nigel Dawes and Linden Vey depart in free agency. Cormier, a second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2008 and the star prospect in the return for Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010, has never quite reached his lofty expectations. However, in 49 NHL games and another 400+ AHL game, all with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets organization, Cormier has proven to be a capable player in all three zones who can show finesse around the net as well as physicality along the boards. Cormier seems like a player primed to break out in the KHL.
  • Cormier may also be joined by another impressive AHL forward in Curtis Valk. The Florida Panthers restricted free agent is also expected to sign with Barys Astana according to sources at Shaiba. Valk, 25, led the Springfield Thunderbirds with 62 points in 73 games this season and finished among the top ten in the AHL in scoring. Nevertheless, the undersized forward was only given one game at the NHL level to show himself. Perhaps upset with his lack of opportunity despite solid minor league results in his four-year pro career, Valk is eyeing a move of his own and could become a dynamic one-two punch with Cormier up front for Barys.
  • The Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies already lost captain Ben Smith to Europe and aren’t keen to lose any of the other contributors to their title any time soon. The team announced today that they have re-signed veteran forward Colin Greening to a one-year, AHL contract. Greening, 32, was previously acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the return from the Ottawa Senators for defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Even on a relatively pricey NHL contract, Greening served almost exclusively in the AHL with the Marlies over the past three years. Although some speculated he could challenge for at least a two-way contract this summer, it is expected that on his new deal with Toronto that Greening could be named the new captain of the Marlies and is likely content to remain in Toronto for as long as he can to close out his career.
  • On the other end of the spectrum, the Marlies announced the first AHL contracts for several college players who had joined the team on amateur tryout deals during the stretch run and postseason: Robert Morris’ Brady Ferguson, Holy Cross’ Scott Pooley, Alabama-Huntsville’s Josh Kestner, and Niagara’s Derian Plouffe. They also inked Matt Bradley, an unsigned free agent from the WHL’s Regina Pats, to a one-year AHL deal as well.

Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers

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Free agency opens exactly three weeks from today and teams are well on their way to evaluating both their own impending free agents and those likely to reach the open market. There are quite a few prominent players expected to be available as unrestricted free agents, while many key restricted free agents will be looking to sign new contracts with their current squads.  Here is a breakdown of the Florida Panthers’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: C Jared McCann – At age 22 and heading into his fourth NHL season, McCann is still a very raw talent. The 2014 first-round pick often thinks the game faster than he plays it and is prone to mistakes. He plays little special teams role for the Panthers and struggles with many of the defensive aspects of the game at the pro level. McCann is also well below average at the face-off dot. With all that said, his offensive upside is still tremendous. McCann set a career-high with 28 points in 68 games this year and for the first time was a plus player in the league. He has great vision, a strong skating game, and a good shot. When he is on his game he can be dominant; when he is off of it, it’s easy to see why the Vancouver Canucks didn’t hesitate to trade him late into his rookie year. McCann needs to find some consistency and pace to his game and he will flourish, but that still may take some time.

So how should Florida handle that contractually? McCann will understandably want a considerable raise from his entry-level contract, but he also has a fair amount of developmental concerns that he continues to deal with. McCann very well could turn out to be a long-term star for the Panthers, but this situation seems far more likely to warrant a short-term bridge deal for “show me” money. McCann needs to display far more of his impressive offensive ability and far fewer mental lapses and disappearing acts if he wants to command greater salary and term.

LW Frank Vatrano – It’s never an easy situation to sort out when a restricted free agent is acquired mid-season. Florida could not have asked for a better start from Vatrano, who came over from the Bruins at the trade deadline after falling out of favor in Boston. After putting up just two points in 25 games with the Bruins, Vatrano posted eight points in the final 16 games with the Panthers and seemed to fit in well in the team’s top six. Vatrano showed in his first pro season that he has a ton of scoring talent: the undrafted UMass product was the goal-scoring champ of the AHL with 36 goals in 36 games, put up another eight goals in 39 games in Boston, and even recorded eight points in ten games with Team USA at the World Championships. However, Vatrano lacks much depth to his game outside of having a knack for finding the back of the net. Injury and inconsistency over the past two years with the Bruins limited his scoring chances and exposed his lack of an all-around game. When playing with Florida’s finest, his scoring ability came back and those flaws faded into the background. However, Florida is now being asked to evaluate him on just those 16 games.

Like McCann, Vatrano has not earned a long-term deal. The Panthers hope that they get the player they saw down the stretch and gave up a third-round pick to acquire, but there is also the risk he will revert to the mistake-prone, one-track-mind player he was in Boston in recent seasons. Vatrano could be an important piece for Florida moving forward but he could also have a ceiling as an elite AHLer and nothing more. Only time will tell, but because of that risk, expect Vatrano to earn a relatively cheap, one-year deal (even if it has to come through arbitration).

Other RFAs: D Alex Petrovic, D MacKenzie Weegar, D Ed Wittchow, F Curtis Valk, F Gregory Chase, D Linus Hultsrom 

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: None. Congratulations to Florida on entering free agency with literally nothing to lose. The team has five impending free agents and one, veteran winger Radim Vrbata, has already announced his retirement. The other four played little role in the successes or failures of the Panthers in 2017-18 and would be unlikely to make much of an impact if they were to be re-signed. Connor Brickley is the most notable name, as he recorded 12 points in 44 games on the team’s fourth line. However, Brickley spent no additional time in the AHL, simply watching from the press box for the much of the season. The 26-year-old forward was a 2010 second-round pick, but seems to have developed into a checking winger with limited offensive upside, the exact type of player that is easy to replace. The loss of fellow 26-year-old forwards Chase Balisy (8 games) and Alexandre Grenier (0 games) would mean even less. Third-string goalie Harri Sateri, 28, returned from Europe to play for the Panthers this year and performed well enough in nine appearances, but with two high-end veteran goalies in the mix, Florida hardly needs to stress over their AHL starter. Young Sam Montembeault will likely be just fine if Sateri is not re-signed.

UFAs: Connor Brickley, Chase Balisy, Alexandre Grenier, Harri Sateri

Projected Cap Space: The trade-off of having no unrestricted free agents to worry about is that you don’t have much salary coming off the books either. When you have your top five forwards, your top four defenseman, and two starting-caliber goalies locked up long-term, things can get expensive. The Florida Panthers got off to a slow start last season and narrowly missed the playoffs, but don’t be fooled: this is a solid team without a ton of holes and their cap situation reflects that. The cap ceiling is expected to rise this off-season to somewhere between $78-$82MM. At the midpoint of $80MM, the Cats will have around $14MM in space to work with. While that is a decent amount, it still puts the team in the bottom third of the league in terms of flexibility.

Assume that McCann gets a substantial pay increase and Vatrano and potentially one or both of Petrovic and Weegar get a fair amount in their new contracts, and the Panthers will likely be operating the free agency market with around $8-$9MM or so in space. Is that enough to add the top-six forward that they desperately want and need? Probably, but they would strapped for cap space after that. Expect Florida to be players on the trade market this summer as a result.

Draft Day Trade Rumors: O’Reilly, Hoffman, Coyotes, Maple Leafs

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Given the last-place finish of the Buffalo Sabres and the comments made by veteran leader Ryan O’Reilly at the end of the season, it would come as no surprise if the team was to trade away their best player not named Jack Eichel in an effort to build around Eichel and his fellow promising young players. Earlier today, TSN’s Darren Dreger spoke on the extensive demands that Buffalo GM Jason Botterill has for any return in an O’Reilly deal and, while he admitted that a deal is beginning to seem more likely, felt that it would take a lot of work for any team to make a fair offer in Botterill’s eyes. Dreger’s TSN colleague and The Athletic reporter Pierre LeBrun seems slightly more optimistic about the likelihood of a deal. LeBrun admits that O’Reilly likely wouldn’t mind returning to Buffalo, what with Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin likely in the fold next year and beyond, and the Sabres may not mind keeping him. However, LeBrun opines that if John Tavares re-signs with the New York Islanders prior to the NHL Draft, the top center on the free agent market will be Paul Stastny and many teams would prefer to search the trade market instead, where O’Reilly appears to be the top prize down the middle. Given the Sabres’ desire to add young pieces – picks and prospects – to develop alongside their new, young core, the draft would be the ideal time to strike on an O’Reilly trade. LeBrun goes so far as to say that the Montreal Canadiens have already discussed such a deal.

  • Another player who LeBrun feels is primed to be dealt during or around the upcoming draft is Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman. Hoffman was a frequent member of the rumor mill through the most recent NHL Trade Deadline, but remained in Ottawa, at least for the time being. LeBrun says that those rumors are back in full swing and that he feels Hoffman will be traded at the draft. The Senators are not trending in the right direction and could benefit from both the multi-piece return that Hoffman would command and a reprieve from his $5.18MM salary over the next two seasons. LeBrun notes that the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames were the top suitors for Hoffman at the deadline, but the St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers were also among a plethora of teams pursuing a player who has flirted with 30 goals and 60 points for three years in a row.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks have already been rumored to be listening on offers for their top ten picks in the upcoming draft; add the Arizona Coyotes to that list as well. LeBrun states that the team has contemplated offers and would consider moving up or down on draft day, depending on how the picks fall. LeBrun believes that GM John Chayka has already spoken with the Montreal Canadiens about a swap involving picks #3 and #5, in case the Habs feel they can get the top center in the draft, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, later on and if the ’Yotes have a preferred choice between potential second overall picks Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina. He also feels that there is a strong chance that they could trade down, given the depth of defensemen in the first round versus the desire of other teams to move up for top forwards. Look for Arizona to be busy on the draft floor later this month.
  • Another team that could be making moves on draft day are the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a mailbag for The Athletic, Jame Mirtle says to expect new GM Kyle Dubas to trade down, perhaps even multiple times, during the draft. When Dubas ran the draft for the Leafs in 2015 he employed this strategy, seen far more often in the NFL than NHL. Dubas traded down twice in order to collect multiple picks in later rounds. In a draft that many feel has a significant drop-off in talent after the first 20-odd picks to a tier that encompasses the next 60 or so picks, if Toronto feels that they don’t have a surefire option at 25th overall, they could swap with a team who has a specific player in mind and potentially grab multiple player of similar caliber later on.

Details On Bogdan Kiselevich's Contract

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  • Last week, the Panthers added Russian defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich on a one-year contract. CapFriendly provides the details of that deal, which is worth the league minimum salary of $650K in the NHL and $275K in the minors.  The 28-year-old has yet to play in North America but at this price, the deal carries little risk to Florida if he isn’t able to land a roster spot in training camp.

Exclusive Negotiating Rights Of 33 Draft Picks Expire

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The deadline for signing draft picks has come and gone, and unless more deals come in after the fact, 33 players—the same total as last year—will see their exclusive negotiating rights expire. With it they will either re-enter the 2018 draft for the final time or become free agents, depending on their age. Adam Mascherin is the highest picked player among those who will be headed back into the draft, selected 38th overall by the Florida Panthers two years ago. Below is the full list of players:

Anaheim Ducks:

F Tyler Soy (7th round, 2016)

Arizona Coyotes:

F Anton Karlsson (3rd round, 2014)
D David Westlund (6th round, 2014)

Buffalo Sabres:

D Vojtech Budik (5th round, 2016)
F Brandon Hagel (6th round, 2016)
D Austin Osmanski (7th round, 2016)

Calgary Flames:

D Adam Ollas Mattsson (6th round, 2014)

Carolina Hurricanes: 

C Hudson Elynuik (3rd round, 2016)
D Noah Carroll (6th round, 2016)

Chicago Blackhawks:

D Andreas Soderberg (5th round, 2014)

Colorado Avalanche:

G Maximilian Pajpach (6th round, 2014)

Dallas Stars:

D Miro Karjalainen (5th round, 2014)

Detroit Red Wings:

D Jordan Sambrook (5th round, 2016)
F Julius Vahatalo (6th round, 2014)

Florida Panthers:

G Hugo Fagerblom (7th round, 2014)
C Adam Mascherin (2nd round, 2016)

Los Angeles Kings:

D Jacob Friend (7th round, 2016)

Minnesota Wild:

D Pontus Sjalin (6th round, 2014)
D Brayden Chizen (7th round, 2016)

New Jersey Devils:

G Evan Cormier (4th round, 2016)

Philadelphia Flyers:

C Anthony Salinitri (6th round, 2016)

Pittsburgh Penguins:

D Connor Hall (3rd round, 2016)

San Jose Sharks:

D Mark Shoemaker (6th round, 2016)

Tampa Bay Lightning:

C Christopher Paquette (5th round, 2016)

Toronto Maple Leafs:

D Keaton Middleton (4th rond, 2016)
F J.J. Piccinich (4th round, 2014)
D Nicolas Mattinen (6th round, 2016)

Vancouver Canucks:

D Cole Candella (5th round, 2016)
F Jakob Stukel (6th round, 2016)
C Brett McKenzie (7th round, 2016)

Washington Capitals:

F Kevin Elgestal (7th round, 2014)
D Dmitri Zaitsev (7th round, 2016)

Winnipeg Jets:

C Jordan Stallard (5th round, 2016)

Bogdan Kiselevich Signs With Florida Panthers

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The Florida Panthers have signed another high profile Russian player, inking Bogdan Kiselevich to a one-year contract. This comes just a year after the team brought back Evgeni Dadonov, who ended up with 65 points for them this season. Financial details on Kiselevich’s contract have not yet been released, but GM Dale Tallon released a statement on his new defenseman:

Bogdan is a solid, shutdown defenseman who adds depth to our blue line and possesses a strong work ethic. He’s proven himself to be a reliable defensive presence on the international stage and in the KHL and has the ability to be a steadying influence on the back end for our young defensemen.

Kiselevich, 28, has been on the radar of NHL teams for some time, making his KHL debut nearly a decade ago. The defensive defenseman is a well-known shutdown option in Russia, and was recently used in that role at the Olympics. The Russians obviously won gold, though couldn’t repeat the feat at the recent IIHF World Championship.

If this experiment is as successful as Dadonov’s, the Panthers will be adding another impact player for a run next season. The Florida blue line already looked pretty crowded, but Kiselevich has experience playing both sides and should be versatile enough to play with nearly any type of partner. Though not known for his offense, he has had solid production in recent years playing a simple game and joining the rush when the opportunity presents itself.

Kiselevich will be an unrestricted free agent again next summer, but after waiting so long to come to North America one has to believe that the Panthers have the inside track on any future deals. Something convinced him to come to the NHL finally, and if he finds success in Florida it wouldn’t surprise to see them re-sign him at some point. Remember, any extension can’t be signed until the new year since he’s on a one-year contract.

As Panthers’ reporter Harvey Fialkov opines, this could mean trouble for Alex Petrovic, who plays a similar game and is a restricted free agent this summer. Petrovic saw his ice time reduced dramatically this season, and could be a potential trade chip for the Panthers this summer.

Either way, this signing only strengthens a Panthers team that looked ready to compete for the playoffs in the second half of last season.

Bruins Notes: Free Agents, Czarnik, Injuries, Draft

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Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney spoke with the media today from the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo and was very up front about the team’s plans this off-season. The Bruins exceeded expectations this season with a young team that finished with one of the best records in the NHL. Sweeney has previously stated that he would like to return many of the team’s impending unrestricted free agents – Anton Khudobin, Riley Nash, Rick Nash, Tommy Wingels, Tim Schaller, Nick Holden, and Austin Czarnik – but due to salary cap restraints and a promising prospect crop in the AHL in need of opportunity, he did not expect that all would be back. Today, Sweeney went in a different direction, confirming that the team would not offer new contracts to several other free agents: Brian Gionta, Kenny Agostino, and Paul Postma. The announcement should come as no surprise, as the trio all underwhelmed in Boston this season. A late addition to the team for the stretch run and postseason, Gionta looked as if he would have been better off retiring after the Olympics. The veteran forward contributed only seven points in 20 regular season games and played in just one playoff game, in which he was a liability against the fast-paced Tampa Bay Lightning. Gionta is likely to call it quits for good this off-season. Agostino, the 2017 AHL MVP, not only made little difference in Boston with just one point in five games, but finished the minor league season in Providence with 30 points less than his MVP campaign in only one less game. Agostino will need to search for a new home for the third straight summer. Postma, while not necessarily a disappointment in Boston, ended up being of little use to the team. The relative health of the Bruins’ four right-handed defenseman and the emergence of rookie Matt Grzelcyk on the left side made Postma the #8 option for much of the year. He was unable to even retain that role after the Bruins acquired Holden at the trade deadline. Overall, Postma played in 14 games in Boston, recording just one point, before clearing waivers and being assigned to the AHL, where he played another 17 games with Providence in the regular season and postseason. The long-time Winnipeg Jets defender will be on the hunt for a more regular NHL role next year, if he can find one.

  • Sweeney briefly touched on the situation with Czarnik, which has put the Bruins in somewhat of a pickle. Czarnik, 25, played in 49 games as a rookie with Boston in 2016-17, but lost out on a roster spot this year to the likes of fellow youngsters Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Anders Bjork, and Sean Kuraly. Czarnik managed to play in ten games for the Bruins, and looked good doing so with four points, but roster restrictions forced him back to the AHL each time. In the minors, Czarnik was unstoppable with 69 points in 64 games – good enough for third in the AHL scoring race. It was an impressive performance, but still not good enough to vault Czarnik back to the top of a Bruins’ prospect pipeline that is very deep, especially at center. Ideally, the Bruins would have liked to deal Czarnik as a restricted free agent with his value at its highest. However, as a 25-year-old with three pro seasons under his belt but less than 80 NHL games played, Czarnik instead qualifies for Group 6 unrestricted free agency per the NHL CBA and is free to sign with any team. Sweeney expressed that both the team and Czarnik have not closed the door on an extension, but that he feels Czarnik is “intrigued by what may exist elsewhere”. There will surely be a market for the swift, play-making forward and a return to Boston seems unlikely.
  • Sweeney also updated the injury status of his team, revealing that banged-up checkers Schaller and Noel Acciari both underwent surgery following the season. The Bruins’ fourth line, while not much of an offensive threat, was one of the best defensively this season. However, their play began to tail off in the postseason and the major injuries for Schaller and Acciari certainly lend some explanation to that trend. The duo were just two of myriad injuries for Boston, but join only Brandon Carlo in going under the knife. Sweeney stated that the rest of the injured – Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Backes, DeBrusk, Nash, and Nash –  will all avoid surgery for now.
  • Finally, Sweeney responded to a question about whether or not he would try to trade back into the first round of the NHL Draft next month. The Bruins sent their first-rounder to the New York Rangers in the Rick Nash deal and do not own any other team’s pick. Sweeney seemed hesitant to promise anything, saying that it is “hard” to trade back in, but did add that “you never know what some team may want to do”. In a draft class that many feels runs out of elite prospects after the first  15 or so selections, Boston may not be scrambling to trade current or future assets for a first-round pick anyway. With a late second and an early third from the Florida Panthers, the Bruins should be able to add two players with similar career projections to some late first-round picks. Even if they don’t get a future star, the Boston system is one of the best in the league with more than enough talent pushing for play time in the NHL as it is.

Aleksi Heponiemi Signs Two-Year Contract In Finland

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When the Florida Panthers selected Aleksi Heponiemi in the second round last summer, he had just finished his first in the WHL where he scored 86 points in 72 games and was named Rookie of the Year. The undersized but extremely skilled center was picked 40th overall, and sent back to the Swift Current Broncos for another year in the CHL. This time around, Heponiemi led the league in assists and registered a staggering 118 points in 57 games. With another 30 points in 26 playoff contests, he was a huge reason why the Broncos won the WHL Championship and attended the recent Memorial Cup.

Now, instead of playing for the Panthers or their AHL affiliate next season, Heponiemi is headed home. The 19-year old forward has signed a two-year contract with Karpat in Finland, meaning Florida will have to wait to sign their prized prospect. Though he was drafted out of the CHL, his return to Europe will extend the Panthers’ draft rights through June 1st, 2021. The team will have to sign him before that point or risk losing him to another team. While that’s not an issue at the moment, the new contract with Karpat does likely mean we won’t see Heponiemi back in North America for at least two years.

Heponiemi is an elite playmaker, able to find teammates and get them the puck through the smallest of windows. His vision and passing ability are among the best in the CHL, and he projects to be an excellent NHL player down the road. Still, he’ll have to prove that he can create space for himself at the next level when players are even bigger and faster, though he’s never had trouble up to this point. Florida will wait patiently, and hope they can bring him over in a few seasons. They may get another good look at him on the international circuit, as Heponiemi won’t turn 20 until January 8th next year, meaning he is still eligible for the World Junior Championship.

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