- Kevin Ebbs, the agent for Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, told David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period that his client is disappointed with the status of contract negotiations so far. The 26-year-old is coming off a career year offensively with 18 points in 45 games while averaging over 20 minutes a night for the first time as well. That has him well-positioned to land a raise on the $1.6MM he made last season in his final year of RFA eligibility. Weegar is one of three players that are scheduled for an arbitration hearing on November 8th so there is still a fair bit of time to reach an agreement beforehand.
Panthers Rumors
Florida Panthers Re-Sign Philippe Desrosiers
The Florida Panthers are bringing back a depth option in net. The team has announced that Philippe Desrosiers has signed a one-year contract extension. It is a two-way contract, and while no financial terms were disclosed, it is expected to be the same minimum $700K NHL salary as the deal he initially signed last summer.
Desrosiers, 25, has yet to make his NHL debut despite being selected in the second round back in 2013. The former QMJHL star and top Dallas Stars prospect never quite found his footing in the AHL early on, struggling to play well enough to avoid a demotion to the ECHL. That changed when he joined the Panthers last season, sticking in the AHL for a full season for the first time. Despite a 3.05 goals against average, 2019-20 was arguably also his best pro season, as he recorded a career-high .916 save percentage and 29 appearances and won 16 games.
Entering a new year, the situation is status quo for Florida in goal. Sergei Bobrovsky is the bell cow starter for the Panthers in the NHL and Chris Driedger and RFA Samuel Montembeault again seem destined to compete for the backup job with the loser taking over the starting role in the AHL. Ryan Bednard spent most of his first pro season in the ECHL and could do so again. Barring another addition – and a solid backup for Bobrovsky in a condensed season might be a smart move – Desrosiers should likely return to his backup job in the AHL, so long as he can hold off Bednard, and could be an injury away from challenging Driedger or Montembeault himself for an NHL opportunity.
Snapshots: QMJHL, Foley, Weegar
The QMJHL has postponed all East and West division teams will have their games up until October 28 postponed. The league was forced to shut things down given the increased COVID-19 situations all across the province, but will reassess in two weeks.
The games in the Maritimes will continue, though the Moncton Wildcats have shut their program down indefinitely as they deal with the outbreak there. Many prospects from the QMJHL climbed draft boards after a few early 2020-21 viewings that took place before last week’s draft, but they’ll have to wait for things to calm down again before resuming play.
- Speaking of resuming play, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley was on Vegas Hockey Hotline today and let a few things slip about the potential 2020-21 season structure. Foley referenced a “Canadian division,” an idea that has been thrown around for some time, and noted that the league may be forced to go with a shortened season given the Olympics, a problem that the league was facing this year too until the Games were postponed.
- Back to trade talks, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet gave some clarity on who could be interested in Florida Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, whose name has been in the rumor mill the last few weeks. According to Friedman, the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets are all “among those who have checked in.” He also mentions Travis Dermott, Andreas Johnsson (since traded to the New Jersey Devils), Tyson Jost and Jack Roslovic as potential names that were discussed with Florida.
Vegas Working On Nate Schmidt Trade
7:35PM: Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes that the Panthers have not completed a deal for Schmidt. Considering their cap situation, a trade of someone making a sizable salary will need to happen before they can finalize any contract with Pietrangelo.
5:59 PM: While the talk the last hour or so has been with the Vegas Golden Knights looking to deal one of their defenseman to the Winnipeg Jets to make room for an Alex Pietrangelo signing, now Fox Sports Andy Strickland reports that Vegas is expected to send defenseman Nate Schmidt and his contract of five years at $5.95MM, is heading to the Florida Panthers. No word yet on the return.
Schmidt has been a big component for the Golden Knights since their inception. The blueliner was one of the Golden Knights selections in the expansion draft and has been one of their top minutes eaters since joining the team. While likely being surpassed as the team’s top defenseman last season by the improved play of defenseman Shea Theodore, Schmidt has been a key face for the Golden Knights franchise and a major locker room presence, going back to the Golden Misfit days. Last year, the 29-year-old blueliner averaged 21:41 of ice time, while posting seven goals and 31 points last year, while providing solid defense for the Golden Knights.
In Florida, Schmidt should immediately fill a significant role for the Panthers that was hurting on the defensive end. Last year, Florida spent significant money on free agent goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who struggled out of the gate, much due to the fact that the Panthers defense was subpar, even under first-year head coach Joel Quenneville. This offseason, Florida has re-tooled their defense, moving multiple players out. The speedy Schmidt should fit in well besides Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Anton Stralman and newly acquired Radko Gudas and Markus Nutivaara.
Teams are only able to go more than 10% above the Upper Limit during the offseason which is $89.65MM. Accordingly, this deal will seemingly need to be finalized before Pietrangelo’s contract can be made official.
Vinnie Hinostroza Signs With Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have signed Vinnie Hinostroza to a contract after the young forward was not issued a qualifying offer by the Arizona Coyotes, according to team reporter Jameson Olive. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports the deal is just one-year in length and worth $1MM.
It’s somewhat shocking that Hinostroza could be had for such a low figure, given his history of success in the NHL and relative youth on the open market. The 26-year-old forward has scored 100 points in 246 games across four seasons, including a 16-goal campaign in 2018-19. Though that number dropped dramatically this year, Hinostroza also shot at an unsustainably-low 3.8%. If that number was at his previous career average of 9.1%, he would have had 12 goals in 68 games despite playing just over 13 minutes a night.
Since he still recorded 22 points in those 68 games, it’s hard to even understand why the Coyotes weren’t able to work out a deal. His qualifying offer would have been $1.5MM and he could have potentially secured more than that through arbitration, but seeing him sign in Florida for just $1MM must sting. That’s especially true with the Coyotes having such trouble scoring and when they instead went out and spent $2.5MM on Tyler Pitlick and John Hayden, both players that are arguably less effective than Hinostroza.
For Florida meanwhile, the signing continues a trend of acquiring players after their previous organizations cut them loose. The team also signed Alexander Wennberg and Radko Gudas today and traded for Markus Nutivaara earlier this week. At such low costs, each of these players represents a chance for some excess value this season in Florida. In Hinostroza’s case, it also reunites him with his former head coach Joel Quenneville, whom he played under in Chicago.
Florida Panthers Sign Alexander Wennberg
New Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito continues to collect players from his previous team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. After trading for Markus Nutivaara yesterday, the Panthers have now signed Alexander Wennberg, who was bought out by the Blue Jackets. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that it is a one-year deal worth $2.25MM.
Wennberg, 26, is signing a “show me” deal in an effort to rehabilitate his value on a one-year deal in hopes of cashing in next off-season. Wennberg never lived up to the six-year, $29.4MM deal he signed in Columbus following a breakout 59-point season in 2016-17. He has recorded declining point totals in each of the past three seasons and looked more like a 20-30 point player rather than a 60+ point player. With the Blue Jackets looking to make major improvement to their roster, they opted to buyout the remaining three years of Wennberg’s contract rather than continuing to pay him to under-produce.
No one outside of Columbus knows Wennberg’s true potential better than Zito, who appears happy to give the young forward a second chance. Florida could lose free agents Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov and will need to find offense elsewhere. A change of scenery and an increased role could be all it takes to get Wennberg to display his star power once again.
The Panthers have also signed minor league forward Ryan Lomberg to a two-year, two-way deal. The salary terms have not yet been disclosed.
MacKenzie Weegar Receiving Trade Interest
Panthers pending RFA defenseman MacKenzie Weegar isn’t the most well-known player but he is coming off of a career season and is one year away from UFA eligibility. As Florida looks to overhaul its back end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests (Twitter link) that teams are starting to show an interest in trading for the 26-year-old. Weegar had seven goals and 11 assists in just 45 games last season while seeing his ATOI jump up by more than three minutes per game over his career average as he logged 20:07 per game. He was tendered a qualifying offer of $1.6MM but stands to make a fair bit more than that on his next contract as he is arbitration-eligible.
Florida Panthers Acquire Markus Nutivaara
Bill Zito has grabbed one of his old players, making a trade with his former boss. The Florida Panthers have acquired Markus Nutivaara from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Cliff Pu. No other pieces are included in the deal.
In their second cap-clearing measure since acquiring and signing Max Domi, the Blue Jackets will walk away from the $2.7MM charge that Nutivaara carries over the next two seasons in what is essentially a salary dump. While Pu was once considered a top prospect, he is now 22 and played in just 14 games last season, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. In fact, it was the second season in a row that Pu spent time in the ECHL, despite his selection in the third round back in 2016. While his career isn’t over, he’ll have to make substantial strides in the final year of his entry-level contract to even warrant a qualifying offer next offseason.
No, this is more about clearing room for the Blue Jackets, who lose a perfectly capable player in Nutivaara in order to shore up their financial situation. The 26-year-old defenseman has played in 244 games over the last four years for the Blue Jackets, recording 60 points and averaging just under 16 minutes a night. While he won’t be stepping into Florida’s top pair, Nutivaara will certainly play games for them next season. Zito knows exactly what he has here from his time with the Blue Jackets, and obviously knew he could get him for cheap as Columbus reshapes their roster.
In Florida, it certainly feels like even more changes are coming on defense after a dreadful season in their own end. Mike Matheson and Joshua Brown have already been shipped out of town in other trades, but there is still work to be done if things are to look drastically different when the 2020-21 season begins. Keith Yandle and Anton Stralman are now both 34 and on expensive deals, while the team only actually has five four defensemen on one-way contracts. With plenty of cap space to work with, Zito will be able to put his stamp on this team quickly.
Florida’s Henrik Borgstrom Signs With Liiga’s HIFK For Rest Of Season
There have been a number of questions surrounding what will happen with Florida Panthers restricted free agent Henrik Borgstrom next season and some of those questions were answered when a report from Lassi Seppa of Jatkoaika (translation required) reported that Borgstrom has signed with the Liiga’s HIFK team for the rest of the season. There is, however, an out-clause if he chooses to return to North America.
Borgstrom, who falls under the 10.2(c) CBA clause for restricted free agents, is a restricted free agent, but because he hasn’t accrued three years of experience, he isn’t eligible for an offer sheet and has little to no power other than holding out. This may be the next best option for Borgstrom who has seen his status as one of the Panthers’ top prospects slip in the last couple of years. The 23-year-old and 2016 first-round pick by the Panthers came out of the University of Denver with quite a bit of fanfare and many expected him to immediately step into a major role with the club. He got a chance like that in 2018-19 in which he appeared in 50 games, but saw mostly third-line minutes and picked up just eight goals and 18 points. Last year was even more disappointing for the winger, who made four appearances with the Panthers, spending most of his season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. He didn’t fare much better there as he managed just 11 goals and 23 points in 49 games and rumors leaked out that he was considering returning to Europe due to his unhappiness with his development in the Panthers’ system.
That opportunity lies in front of Borgstrom now as he joins HIFK. The forward has some experience with the franchise as he played with the HIFK junior squads from 2013 to 2016, including a season with the HIFK U20 team in which he tallied 29 goals and 55 points before being drafted 23rd overall by Florida later that year. He could remain with the Liiga team or use that leverage to hold out for a better role with the Panthers next season.
Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers
With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Panthers barely have half of their roster under contract for next season so new GM Bill Zito certainly has his work cut out for him over the coming weeks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Lucas Wallmark – One of the parts coming back in the Vincent Trocheck deal at the trade deadline, Wallmark didn’t get much of an opportunity to make his mark before the pandemic hit as he played in just seven games and only played twice in the postseason. The 25-year-old is eligible for salary arbitration but considering he has only played in two full NHL seasons thus far, an award likely wouldn’t be too high if he makes it to a hearing. After making the league-minimum $700K in salary this past season, his qualifying offer is only $735K.
D MacKenzie Weegar – Injuries limited the 26-year-old to just 45 games in 2019-20 but he still managed to set career highs in goals (seven) and points (18). Even more importantly, head coach Joel Quenneville trusted him enough to play him more than 20 minutes a game which is a figure that will play a prominent role if he makes it to arbitration. After making $1.6MM last season, Weegar should be in line for another million or so in his final trip through restricted free agency although it wouldn’t be surprising to see Zito try to buy out a UFA year or two which would push the price tag closer to the $3MM mark.
Other RFAs: G Phillipe Desrosiers, D Emil Djuse, F Dryden Hunt, F Mason Marchment, F Sam Montembeault, F Aleksi Saarela, D Thomas Schemitsch, F Dominic Toninato
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Mike Hoffman – Goal scorers are always a highly sought after commodity on the open market and Hoffman has been one of the more consistent in that department in recent years. In five of past six seasons, he has scored between 22 and 29 goals with the outlier being a 36-goal campaign in his first season with the Panthers in 2018-19. He is particularly adept at scoring with the man advantage and Florida took full advantage of that as 28 of his 65 tallies in his two seasons with them came on the power play. Hoffman may not quite be a prototypical front-line winger but he is certainly one of the top offensive threats that will be hitting free agency and he should have considerable interest.
F Evgenii Dadonov – Hoffman isn’t the only winger of note that’s about to hit free agency. Dadonov has spent a lot of his last three seasons with Florida on their top line, picking up 182 points in 225 games along the way. While his production dipped this season to only 49 points, he is still one of the top wingers available on the market and his ability to play both wings will certainly bolster his case. Three years ago, there was certainly some trepidation from teams about signing Dadonov given that he was coming back from the KHL and that he didn’t play particularly well in his first stint with the Panthers earlier in his career. With three productive seasons under his belt, his market should be more robust this time around.
F Erik Haula – In a market that is very weak down the middle, Haula could very well be the best of those available. While he hasn’t come close to replicating the 55-point season he had in Vegas in 2017-18, he has quietly played at a 40-point pace in each of the last two years when he has been in the lineup. The problem is that the 29-year-old has been hit hard with injuries over that time and has played just 63 times combined in the past two seasons which may be a cause for concern for some teams. Haula is capable of holding his own as a second-line center in the right situation and may be able to get that opportunity in free agency.
D/W Mark Pysyk – After being a defenseman for most of his career, Pysyk was asked to play on the wing more regularly this past season and held his own all things considered, chipping in with nine goals and nine assists. Not all of that time was spent on the fourth line either. Not many players in the league can shift between the two roles which would give the 28-year-old a chance to stand out in a marketplace full of role players. He almost certainly won’t command the $3.5MM salary he made in 2019-20 but his success on the wing will boost his value compared to had he just played on the third defense pairing.
Other UFAs: F Brian Boyle, F Ryan Haggerty, F Joel Lowry, F Danick Martel, F Jack Rodewald, F Paul Thompson
Projected Cap Space
Cap room is an issue for many teams this offseason but that’s not the case for Florida as they have more than $21MM in space, per CapFriendly. However, that’s only with a dozen players signed so there are a lot of spots that need to be filled. Depending on what their internal budget for 2020-21 is going to be set at, the Panthers could potentially be a team to watch for in the coming days in terms of seeking a prominent free agent or leveraging their cap room to add players via trade.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.