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New York Rangers Extend Julien Gauthier

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It’s certainly not the free agent news fans were hoping for in New York, but the Rangers have finished at least one negotiation. Julien Gauthier has signed a new one-year contract extension for the 2022-23 season, avoiding restricted free agency this summer. CapFriendly reported earlier that the deal is worth $800K.

Gauthier, 24, still hasn’t achieved much at the NHL level but did play in 49 games for the Rangers this season. The 2016 first-round pick has just 18 points in 96 career games, not quite what the Carolina Hurricanes had in mind when he was selected 21st overall or what the Rangers believed they were getting in a 2020 trade.

A mix of size and speed that is difficult to find, Gauthier possesses many of the attributes needed to have success at the NHL level. It just hasn’t been put together to this point, though he might get a regular chance to change that this season. With so many Rangers forwards scheduled for unrestricted free agency–Andrew Copp, Greg McKegg, Tyler Motte, Kevin Rooney, Ryan Strome, and Frank Vatrano are all without contracts–there could very well be room for Gauthier in the bottom six.

Even if the team moves to try and extend some of those names, they’ll need inexpensive options at the bottom of the roster. There’s also a notable difference in Gauthier’s status this year: he is no longer waiver-exempt. That means if the team wants to send him to the minor leagues, all 31 other teams would have a chance to claim him and keep him in the NHL.

Latest on Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk

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There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.

Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.

While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.

Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.

With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.

Evening Notes: Sharks GM, Fleury, Paliafito

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When Doug Wilson stepped away from his post as GM of the San Jose Sharks nearly three months ago, many assumed the organization would take its time in finding a new GM, but may not have expected the process to take three months. One reason the team may be waiting would be to find a candidate similar to Wilson, one who the organization was able to rely on for nearly 20 years, icing a competitive team almost every season of his tenure. Another would be their trust in interim GM Joe Will, an experienced executive who could guide the front office as it prepares for the upcoming offseason.

But, the decision may not have to wait much longer, writes The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. According to LeBrun, an announcement on the new GM is expected to come as soon as tomorrow, and the belief is that the Sharks will name Mike Grier as the club’s next General Manager, though LeBrun adds that this has not been confirmed by anyone in the Sharks organization. Grier was among the many people thought to be interviewing for the coveted position and like Wilson is also a former Sharks player. After hanging up his skates, Grier has been rising up the ranks behind the scenes, with a GM position seemingly a fit at some point.

  • LeBrun also wrote earlier on the weekend’s offseason rumblings, including the status of star goaltender and soon to be free agent Marc-Andre Fleury. The veteran and his wife were to meet with agent Allan Walsh today in Montreal to discuss the plan with regards to his upcoming free agency, with Fleury’s current team, the Minnesota Wild, in the mix. In addition to the Wild, LeBrun speculates that the Toronto Maple Leafs could be suitors for Fleury, pointing to the goaltender’s willingness to head to Toronto at the trade deadline this year before the supposed trade fell apart. LeBrun adds that Fleury will be able to be as picky as he wishes, and could look at a number of contenders, listing the Colorado Avalanche as an intriguing possibility as well, though he adds Colorado would like to keep incumbent goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that scout Jim Paliafito, formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was hired by the New York Islanders. Paliafito, Friedman writes, is known for his expertise with the European free agent market. One of the most notable free agents Paliafito helped the Maple Leafs recruit was undrafted forward Ilya Mikheyev, who scored 21 goals in just 53 games for Toronto this season.

Latest On Claude Giroux

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It’s hard to make a bigger impact as a trade deadline addition than Claude Giroux did for the Florida Panthers, registering 23 points in 18 games down the stretch and adding another eight in ten playoff matches. The veteran forward has proven he can still hang with elite offensive players even as he enters his mid-thirties, and should he reach free agency, there might be a few new ones trying to convince him to come north.

The Edmonton Oilers, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, are “lurking” and hope to have a chance to sign the veteran forward if he fails to reach an extension with Florida. It also likely would only be possible if the Oilers can’t re-sign Evander Kane, though, with his uncertain future tied to a grievance hearing that is still unscheduled, Edmonton may be forced to make a tough decision on that front.

Giroux, 34, recorded 900 points over a 1,000-game career with the Philadelphia Flyers before heading to Sunrise this year and has long been an elite play-driving forward. With the versatility to play both center and wing, the idea of pairing him with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl (or both) will certainly be exciting for Oilers fans.

Still, a multi-year contract for a player of his age comes with plenty of risks, even if he did play well this season. The Oilers can’t afford to hand out deals that end up backfiring, as they look to capitalize on the elite play of McDavid and Draisaitl over the next few years. A player like Giroux might help them get closer to contention but if his game takes a step back, it could prove costly.

Mikhail Sergachev Changes Agents

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The Tampa Bay Lightning cleared out cap space moving forward by selling off Ryan McDonagh, and now one of the biggest options on their to-do list is signing Mikhail Sergachev to a long-term extension. Heading into the final year of his current deal, the 24-year-old will be eligible to sign an extension this summer and will now be doing it with new representation.

Sergachev has joined Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Colleague Chris Johnston notes that the young defenseman is likely to sign an extension in the coming weeks.

While an agent change can sometimes bring a worry to a front office, the Lightning group is quite familiar with Milstein. He also represents Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy, two players that Tampa Bay had no trouble locking up. In fact, some might say that both Russian superstars gave the Lightning a discount of sorts–something that is a bit offset by the lack of state income tax–when they signed their current contracts, both for $9.5MM per season.

Kucherov signed an eight-year, $76MM contract just a few days after he became eligible in 2018, and Vasilevskiy took just a few weeks before signing an identical one (at least in years and total dollars) the following summer.

With McDonagh now in Nashville, there will be even more responsibility heaped on Sergachev (and fellow extension candidate Erik Cernak) in the coming years. Coming off a three-year bridge deal that carried a cap hit of $4.8MM, the young defenseman has a huge amount of leverage in any negotiation, and should see a monster number on his next deal. Not only does he sit 27th in scoring among all defensemen since he entered the league–ahead of names like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Darnell Nurse–but his current contract is set to pay out $7.2MM this season. That means a matching qualifying offer would be necessary just to keep him in 2023-24, a season which would also be his last before unrestricted free agency.

It would be difficult to create better conditions for a massive long-term extension, another reason why the team needed to clear money off the back end this summer.

Latest On Ilya Mikheyev

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The Toronto Maple Leafs made it clear to teams last week that they would be willing to trade Ilya Mikheyev’s rights before the start of free agency, as it seemed unlikely that he would be re-signing with the team. That is because of the contract demands of the pending free agent winger. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that Mikheyev and agent Dan Milstein will be looking for a multi-year contract with a cap hit somewhere between $4.75MM and $5.5MM, a hefty price and one that the Maple Leafs likely cannot pay.

Mikheyev, 27, did have a strong season, scoring 21 goals in 53 games including four short-handed tallies. That’s an 82-game pace of 32 goals and it was done without a ton of powerplay time or extended play in the top-six. Often used as a more defensive weapon, Mikheyev started a higher percentage of his shifts in his own end than almost any other Maple Leafs forward. His penalty-killing stats jump off the page, and his speed is something that can change a game at any moment.

Still, this is a player that has just 146 NHL games under his belt and has scored just 36 goals so far. A strong 82-game pace is one thing but at this point, the 2021-22 season could just as easily be an outlier, and Mikheyev’s production is closer to the 15 goals he scored across years one and two. A severe wrist injury during that time did affect his ability to shoot the puck but given how much of his offense has come from counter-attacking with speed and not controlling the play–he had just 11 assists this season–there is some risk that in a new system, those chances disappear.

At this point, with so much money tied up in their other big-name forwards, spending $5MM on Mikheyev doesn’t make much sense for the Maple Leafs. The team will have to look for cheaper options to replace his production or promote an internal option.

Snapshots: Gaudreau, Sharks, Russia

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With just under two weeks now to go until the start of free agency, extensions are beginning to come in left and right as teams try to lock down players and get a better idea of their salary cap situation. One of the most highly-touted forwards on the market, if not the most highly-touted, is still without a contract, though: Calgary Flames left wing, Johnny Gaudreau. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Flames have offered him an eight-year extension worth a total of $76MM, or $9.5MM per season, and it’s still on the table.

If Gaudreau accepts the offer, it would certainly be a “win-now” discount as the Flames enter a tricky cap situation. After a 115-point season, the 28-year-old winger is in prime earning territory and could likely fetch eight figures on the open market with that kind of production. It seems unlikely he’d accept the offer, but only time will tell.

  • San Jose Sharks interim general manager Joe Will confirmed today that forward prospects William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau have permission from the team to head to the 2022 World Junior Championship in August. Eklund is very likely the best player Sweden has to offer at the tournament, and he finished the abbreviated tournament in January with three assists in two games. Bordeleau will also join Team USA in all likelihood for his first WJC under an NHL contract.
  • Michael Russo and Dan Robson of The Athletic highlight the challenges that Russian NHLers may face returning to North America this offseason. The piece comes as Philadelphia Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov was detained earlier today when trying to leave the country. With the potential of visa laws and exceptions on the United States’ side changing prior to the season, it could pose additional complications for Russian players to enter and play inside the United States, adding to league general managers’ growing concern that Russian players might not be available for next season. While Russo and Robson note that it’s still an extremely unlikely scenario, it’s one worth keeping an eye on as the offseason chugs along.

Toronto Willing To Trade Ilya Mikheyev’s Rights

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It never did look like the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to be able to afford Ilya Mikheyev this summer and now they’ve basically made it clear that an extension is off the table. Both Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic are reporting that the Maple Leafs’ front office has made it clear to teams around the league that Mikheyev’s rights are available for trade if they want to try and sign him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 13.

The 27-year-old winger had a strong season for Toronto, scoring 21 goals in just 53 games including four short-handed tallies. The 6’3″ Mikheyev has blinding speed and a long reach, making him a perfect penalty-killing option that is dangerous on the counterattack. His offensive skill sometimes leaves something to be desired, as Maple Leafs fans will tell you he can’t always finish on his chances but there is still a valuable player to be had this summer.

In fact, a recent report suggested that Mikheyev is looking for somewhere between $4-5MM per season, something that the cap-strapped Maple Leafs just wouldn’t be able to afford. If they can get back an asset–any asset–before he hits the open market in two weeks, it would seem a win for Toronto.

Alternatively, getting Mikheyev before he gets a chance to talk to the whole league might also save a team some cap space, especially if it comes with a long-term deal. The undrafted winger carried a cap hit of just $1.645MM in each of the last two seasons and will be looking to cash in on his strong season.

There has been the suggestion that the Maple Leafs could do the same thing with Jack Campbell, given a similar contractual impasse. The netminder will likely be too expensive for Toronto to retain, meaning getting an asset for him by trading him before free agency might be the best option they have at the moment.

Offseason Notes: Kadri, Flyers, Fleury

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Earlier today, Stanley Cup champion and pending UFA Nazem Kadri joined hosts Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne on the “Real Kyper and Bourne” podcast on Sportsnet, where he was asked about his upcoming free agency and his desire to stay with the Colorado Avalanche. When asked if Colorado was his number one choice, Kadri responded, “How could it not be? The Kroenke’s have been great supporters of mine and made it clear to me that they’d like me to stay also, but we understand that there’s a business aspect involved. We’re going to try to work together.” As Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now points out, having the Kroenke’s, Avalanche ownership, express the desire to have Kadri stay is a good sign that it could happen, but that doesn’t mean it will be cheap.

Kadri is coming off of a career-year where he scored 87 points in 71 games, adding an additional 15 points in 16 playoff games en route to a Stanley Cup championship. Colorado projects to have just under $25.7MM in salary cap space this offseason, however the team does have pending UFAs in Andre Burakovsky, Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson, and Darcy Kuemper, amongst others, to contend with, on top of a large raise to Nathan MacKinnon next offseason. Though it of course won’t be cheap, Kadri showing this level of interest in remaining with Colorado could give the organization some leverage to work out a contract that is not only fair to Kadri, but would play into their needs as well. This wouldn’t necessarily have to be a hometown discount, but could be a small concession in salary or term, perhaps even in exchange for more of the other, depending on what makes the most sense for both sides.

  • Speaking to the media today, including Philly Hockey Now’s Sam Carchidi, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said that it was more likely the team would move down in the draft than move up. Fletcher added that he had been discussing the pick with other teams to gauge its value and would only move it for a player that could help the team win now and in the future. Assistant GM Brent Flahr, who also runs the team’s draft board, added that the team could simply move down in the draft depending on what happens, if they believe they can get the player they want later on. Philadelphia is in an interesting position with its pick, the fifth overall selection being a rather valuable pick that almost always fetches a highly-regarded prospect, but this year’s draft appears to have a fairly uniform top-three players in Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Logan Cooley, with the pool opening up a bit after.
  • The Minnesota Wild kicked off the offseason blockbusters with a trade of Kevin Fiala earlier today, but that didn’t stop GM Bill Guerin from receiving questions on another of the offseason’s prime targets: goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. As The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports, when asked about Fleury, Guerin told the media that he doesn’t have an answer yet on the goaltender, but does hope to re-sign him. Re-signing Fleury will be a challenge for the Wild due in part to the cap issues that necessitated the trade of Fiala, but also given Fleury’s preferences. When reflecting on his future after being traded from the Vegas Golden Knights to the Chicago Blackhawks last summer, then as a trade chip at this year’s trade deadline, Fleury made it clear if he was going to continue to play, he wanted to be in a competitive situation. Today’s events don’t necessarily mean that the Wild aren’t going to compete next year, but it does appear to be a step in the opposite direction of what Fleury is looking for, and at a time when every other team as well as retirement could compete for him.

Snapshots: Forsberg, Ellis, Jets

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Nashville Predators’ general manager recently publically announced that he had offered Filip Forsberg an eight-year deal to stay in town and avoid free agency, and now Forsberg’s agent has done the same. JP Barry told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that they are talking about an eight-year deal and though he noted they are not yet in agreement on salary, the two sides are grinding away at it.

The Predators are the only team that is allowed to offer Forsberg an eight-year deal at the moment, and even that right will expire in two weeks when free agency begins. The 40-goal winger will turn 28 in August, meaning a contract of that length would take him well into his mid-thirties and potentially represent the final big payday of his career.

  • Ryan Ellis has played in just four games for the Philadelphia Flyers since they acquired him in the summer of 2021 and that total may not increase for a while. When speaking with media including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic, general manager Chuck Fletcher explained that there is still plenty of work to do in Ellis’ rehab and would not confirm that the veteran defenseman will be ready for the start of the season. Ellis, who was acquired for Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick, has five years remaining on his contract and carries a cap hit of $6.25MM.
  • The Winnipeg Jets had an option as part of the Andrew Copp trade to take either the St. Louis Blues 2022 second-round pick or the New York Rangers 2023 second. They’ve chosen the former, relays Murat Ates of The Athletic, which will be the 55th overall selection this year. While the 2023 draft is generally considered deeper, the Jets obviously feel as though it is more beneficial to get a player into their system right away.

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