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Trade Block Notes: Demers, Duchene, Methot

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After leaving him unprotected in the expansion draft, Jason Demers is apparently available in trade from the Florida Panthers. That from Pierre LeBrun of TSN, who notes it would have to be for the “right price.” Demers was given a five-year, $22.5MM deal last summer but, like Reilly Smith who was already moved out, it didn’t come from new-old GM Dale Tallon.

The newly turned 29-year old Demers put up 28 points this season, another solid showing offensively from a defenseman who has turned into one of the more consistent point producers around the league. While he’s never going to compete with the likes of Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, Demers is a solid right-handed defenseman capable of 25-30 points every year, something that is in high demand around the league.

  • Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Nashville Predators have shown interest in Matt Duchene, something that goes back to before the Seth Jones–Ryan Johansen deal according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. While Duchene would be a huge add for the Predators, they would be remiss to move any of their top-4 defensemen for him and past that it’s hard to see a fit between the two clubs. Perhaps Dante Fabbro, the Predators first-round pick from last summer could be involved, but it would take more than that to outbid the rest of the league on Duchene.
  • Marc Methot continues to be the root of speculation surrounding the Dallas Stars, but as Bob McKenzie of TSN points out he would rather stay in Vegas than alter his current no-trade clause to facilitate a trade from his new club. Methot was selected in the expansion draft, and is expected to be flipped right away for assets. It’s unclear whether the Stars are on his current NTC, which allows him to block deals to ten different clubs.

Florida Panthers Will Be Aggressive On July 1st

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The Florida Panthers shocked everyone yesterday when they dealt Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights and allowed Jon Marchessault to be selected. That’s left a hole in their forward group, one GM Dale Tallon might be shopping in free agency to fill. In a conference call with the media today including George Richards of the Miami Herald, Tallon said that the Panthers would be aggressive on July 1st and has the full support of ownership to spend on free agents.

If this was his plan all along, moving smith was integral. The Panthers now have around $20MM to spend under the cap, and more importantly the actual money to do so. While new deals are needed for both Alex Petrovic and Mark Pysyk (as well as Jaromir Jagr if the team brings him back) they should have enough to be big players on the open market.

The question then becomes if that’s the right way to go. Unrestricted free agency this season looks like one of the weakest groups in recent years, with 37-year olds (Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau) virtually leading the way. There are the trio of UFAs from Washington—T.J. Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner—to consider, but each has their own drawbacks and should command hefty salaries on the open market.

The team could bring back Thomas Vanek, but he won’t replace the 45 goals and 88 points they lost on expansion day by himself. Sam Gagner could be a sneaky good option after a bounce-back year and could help the scoring both at 5-on-5 and on the powerplay. But that question still remains; is there anything worth being “aggressive” on? Fans disappointed with losing Smith and more importantly Marchessault will be frustrated to hear that the money might be put back into older players on July 1st, but perhaps there is something else up Tallon’s sleeve. For now, we’ll have to wait to see if he’s involved in any other trades over the next few days.

Early Notes: Galchenyuk, Arizona, Pronger

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Ah the morning after. The Vegas Golden Knights finally selected their expansion roster last night, and with it came a barrage of trades. Teams lined up to offer draft picks for protection slots, but one team conspicuously silent were the Montreal Canadiens. After making two major moves before the draft—acquiring Jonathan Drouin and shipping off Nathan Beaulieu—the team watched as Alexei Emelin was selected to be part of the expansion franchise. That leaves the team with just five NHL defensemen, and that’s including Jakub Jerabek who will try to prove he’s ready right away.

Enter Alex Galchenyuk, who again dominated the headlines this morning. Bob McKenzie of TSN noted as much, saying that he still believes the talented forward would be moved at some point and counts Minnesota as a team with assets that would interest the Canadiens. Interestingly, he also doesn’t think the Wild are very high on Galchenyuk, making it a tough fit for any potential deal. Eric Engels of Sportsnet still believes they’re the most likely destination and that it’s still more likely that he moves somewhere.

  • The Arizona Coyotes are an interesting team in the next few days as they begin to turn the corner from rebuild to contention. While the team shouldn’t be expected to compete for the Stanley Cup just yet, they’d like their days of finishing last in the league to be behind them. Darren Dreger of TSN notes that they’re in the market for a goaltender, centers and defensemen, making them a possibility on most names floated recently. McKenzie thinks they might re-open negotiations with the New York Rangers, a team they’d had conversations with last week. For a squad who has said goodbye to two long-time veterans in recent times, young GM John Chayka looks determined to turn over a new page in Coyotes history and build around the young core of forwards he’s acquired.
  • Chris Pronger has taken a position as senior adviser to the President of Hockey Operations Dale Tallon in Florida for one year, according to Dan Murphy of Sportsnet. Pronger hasn’t been shy about his goal of becoming an NHL GM one day, even reaching out to former rival Steve Yzerman for advice. Yzerman of course also took a lesser role in Detroit after retiring, in order to learn the trade from Ken Holland and company. In the next few years, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Pronger given the reins of a team.

Vegas Golden Knights Trade Breakdown

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The Vegas Golden Knights have already completed ten trades this offseason, wheeling and dealing around the expansion draft with a third of the NHL. While more deals will undoubtedly drop tomorrow and in the next few days, these first ten transactions have set the team up for success. We’ll take a moment to break down why each trade happened, though there may be more dominoes to fall regarding some of them.

Buffalo sends their 2017 sixth-round pick to Vegas

In the first trade of the night, Vegas acquires a late round pick in order to not select G Linus Ullmark from the Sabres. Golden Knights GM George McPhee explained on the Awards broadcast that they were down to two players, Ullmark and William Carrier and the Sabres made their decision for them with a pick. For what it’s worth, our mock draft had the same split decision over the two players with Ullmark eventually ending up as the selection.

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Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections

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The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.

Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN

Arizona Coyotes: 

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Carolina Hurricanes:

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Colorado Avalanche:

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet

Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN

Vancouver Canucks:

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Winnipeg Jets:

Golden Knights To Acquire Reilly Smith From Panthers

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According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Florida Panthers will not stop at just losing one top-nine forward in expansion. While it has been confirmed that Jonathan Marchessault was the Expansion Draft pick by the Vegas Golden Knights, Reilly Smith has also been informed that he will be Las Vegas-bound.

While the details of the deal have not yet been announced, there are two possibilities for this side deal with Vegas. The first is that Smith was thrown in alongside the Marchessault pick to keep the Knights from selecting another exposed player, likely defenseman Jason Demers. Many were surprised when Florida protected four defenseman, leaving many forwards open for the taking, including Marchessault and Smith, but the move would make more sense if that was what was required for Vegas to ignore Demers. The other potential deal could be independent from expansion, as it has been reported that the Panthers may not have wanted to re-sign Marchessault anyway and thus their protection scheme was logical. In this scenario, Smith may be going to Vegas alongside a yet-to-be-named draft pick or prospect. Although Smith is a two-time 20-goal scorer and just 26 years old, he is due to begin a five-year, $25MM contract next season after scoring a career-low 37 points in 2016-17.

Vegas will be the fourth NHL team for Smith, who was originally dealt to the Boston Bruins as part of the Tyler Seguin deal. The Bruins encountered the same pattern with Smith as Florida did: after a great first season, the production fell off in year two and he was traded before beginning an expensive extension. Perhaps head coach Gerard Gallant, who enjoyed coaching Smith in Florida before he was fired earlier this season, sees something that others don’t and can make the most of his $25MM deal. However, hold your opinions for two years from now, because history shows that he’ll likely have a strong first campaign in Las Vegas before the real test begins in 2018-19.

Snapshots: Methot, Karlsson, Marchessault

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The Ottawa Senators were put in a rough predicament when Dion Phaneuf turned down the team’s request to waive his no-trade clause. The organization is very high on Cody Ceci, and considering the depth of forwards they needed to protect, they were forced to expose Marc Methot. Many mock drafts have the veteran defender headed to Vegas, including our own. Some have even contemplated whether Methot could find himself in a captaincy position in Nevada. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun explains how difficult a decision that was for Pierre Dorion and his staff, and how they tried to trade Phaneuf up until the last minute. Ottawa could theoretically try to bribe Vegas with the #28 pick, but considering that the team only has 4 picks overall, that seems unlikely. The more probable scenario is that Ottawa merely takes the blow and moves on.

  • The Blue Jackets truly want to hang onto their youngest talents, according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. They are supposedly surrendering their 1st round selection to Vegas in order to keep Josh Anderson and Joonas Korpisalo. What makes nearly no sense is the apparent fact that this deal also warns the Knights off of veteran defenseman Jack Johnson. Johnson is an average defender, and with the rise of Zach Werenski and others he doesn’t seem to be a pivotal piece any longer. Vegas will probably choose William Karlsson or Ryan Murray as low-risk claims and run away happy from this deal. The valuation of a first-rounder is probably the lowest in ages, and the anxiety surrounding the protection lists has seemingly reduced their value even further.
  • Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel has Jonathan Marchessault headed to Vegas, based on the reports he’s been hearing. Defenders Jason Demers and young forward Reilly Smith are also available as high-value options for the Knights. According to Marchessault himself in an interview on TVA Sports, Tallon wasn’t able to negotiate a protection deal with Vegas. He was certainly being shopped in the lead up to Sunday. The entire Florida protection list was confusing, but Marchessault’s exposure was a truly unforced error by GM Dale Tallon. The 30-goal scorer will almost certainly find a home in Vegas’ top six, and the loss of this quality of player for absolutely nothing is perplexing the entire league. It’s certainly possible Marchessault has a down year after a career one, but asset management was completely blown in this case, and Vegas looks to reap that reward.

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.

Jonathan Marchessault Potentially Available

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With the deadline to submit protected lists fast approaching, one team feeling the crunch appears to be the Florida Panthers.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that forward Jonathan Marchessault could be available.

The 26 year is coming off a career season with the Panthers, scoring 30 goals and 21 assists in 75 games; his goal total led all Florida players.  For perspective, he had just eight goals and 11 helpers in 49 games prior to this year.

He also has a very affordable contract as 2017-18 represents the final season of a two year, $1.5MM deal signed last offseason.  While many teams will be tight to the cap, a $750K cap hit can be worked into any team.

The fact that Marchessault’s name is out there suggests that Florida is considering protecting eight skaters which would allow them to lock in four of their defenders including Keith Yandle and his no-move clause.    Moving Marchessault would also allow them to cash in while his value is at its peak but would undoubtedly open up a hole that would need to be filled either via free agency or a trade after the Expansion Draft.

Expansion Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

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We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Steve Yzerman fired the first shot in the pre-expansion draft trade market by acquiring  Mikhail Sergachev from Montreal for Jonathan Drouin, a move that gave the Lightning flexibility both with the cap and their expansion protection list. It also filled a need with the Bolts on defense. With that in mind, it makes Yzerman and the Lightning’s decisions slightly easier as to who to protect and who to expose. But there are still some tough choices to make.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards: Steven Stamkos (NMC), Ryan Callahan (NMC), Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, J.T. Brown, Erik Condra, Cedric Paquette, Ondrej Palat (RFA), Tyler Johnson 

Defensemen: Victor Hedman (NMC), Jason Garrison, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Sustr (RFA), Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin

Goaltender: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Kristers Gudlevskis (RFA)

Notable Exemptions

Mikhail Sergachev, Brett Howden

Key Decisions

Unloading Drouin certainly helped from a financial and expansion list aspect.  This makes it somewhat easier for forwards to put on the protected list.

Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn are both choices that benefitted from Drouin being moved. Killorn netted 19 goals while Palat will continue to get better. Stamkos and Callahan both have NMCs. Despite fighting injury and not matching his production from 2014-15, Johnson is too good of a talent to leave exposed.

It’s on defense where tougher decisions need to be made, and it will come down to three players. Hedman and Stralman will both be protected, Hedman because he has a no-movement clause and Stralman is key to the Lightning blueline. Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn are both carrying heavier hits for the cap and will most likely be left alone when they’re exposed. Garrison could hypothetically be taken with his deal ending at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, but the $4.6MM hit would probably scare Vegas away.

May 24, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center <a rel=That leaves three choices to protect: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, and Slater Koekkoek. Sustr is a restricted free agent and won’t be able to command much in the way of money after having a down year. That doesn’t make him exempt from being exposed. If anything, seeing his numbers drop with a number of other options pounding on the door for the big club could make him the odd man out. However, he’s still an economical option and any leverage he had took a hit with the acquisition of Sergachev, who if scouting is correct, should find time on the Tampa blueline next season. But the problem with protecting Sustr is that Tampa would risk losing two young, and talented defensemen for nothing. In the same breath, would the Bolts want to possibly lose a steady defenseman who is only 26?

That leads to Dotchin and Koekkoek. Dotchin just turned 23, and registered 11 points in 35 games this season. The problem is, as Lightning blog Raw Charge pointed out, his sample size was limited compared to Koekkoek while being paired with Hedman. The 23-year-old Koekkoek logged 41 games over the past two seasons,  but played strong for AHL affiliate Syracuse during the Calder Cup playoffs. Picking between them is essentially splitting hairs. Koekkoek  appears to have the higher ceiling, and plays a cleaner game than Dotchin. Though they play different games, Yzerman might prefer a more disciplined, puck moving defenseman when choosing who to protect. At the same time, Dotchin plays a physical game, and can move the puck as well. He’s not afraid to muck it up, and provides a presence that protects his teammates on the ice–while still contributing on the score sheet. As Tampa Bay Times beat writer Joe Smith wrote, Dotchin has stood out to management, especially in the NHL and AHL during Syracuse’s Calder Cup Final run.

With two younger defensive prospects and after having a less than stellar season, predict Sustr to be exposed and Koekkoek protected. Don’t be surprised, as many others have written, if Yzerman pulls something off to keep all of his young defensemen so Dotchin remains in the fold.

Projected Protection List

F – Steven Stamkos (NMC)
F – Ryan Callahan (NMC)
F – Tyler Johnson (RFA)
F – Nikita Kucherov
F – Vladislav Namestnikov
F – Alex Killorn
F – Ondrej Palat (RFA)

D – Victor Hedman (NMC)
D – Anton Stralman
D –Slater Koekkoek (RFA)

G – Andrei Vasilevskiy

Vasilevskiy is truly the only option to protect as 24-year-old netminder Kristers Gudlevskis is unlikely to be taken with other options presumably available from other teams. Of the decisions, it seems to be the least of Tampa’s worries.

The Lightning, despite missing the playoffs and sustaining injuries to one key player after another, still have a strong lineup that will absolutely compete next season. Peddling Drouin off certainly helped matters, but the third player to protect defensively is a tough decision to make. At the end of the day, though, Yzerman has shown skills deft enough to take a challenging situation and somehow make it work out. Don’t be surprised if he finds a way to do it again.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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