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Winnipeg Jets Looking To Trade Jack Roslovic

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The Winnipeg Jets have been shopping restricted free agent forward Jack Roslovic with more intensity today with the hope of moving him for a top-four defender, according to the Winnipeg News’ Mike McIntyre. Several teams have expressed interest in the young center with the Vegas Golden Knights being at the top of that list, although the Columbus Blue Jackets are also interested in the Columbus native.

The scribe writes that there has been talk of dealing Roslovic, who has expressed an interest in a change of scenery. The 23-year-old Roslovic has steadily improved in his three years in the league with the Jets. He posted career highs in goals (12) and assists (17) and has been starting to show the potential to be a No. 2 center on the team, a role he has not been able to seize up until now. However, after making $1.1MM last season, Roslovic could get a considerable raise, something that other teams will have to take into account.

While the Golden Knights are just one candidate to acquire the young center, several names have already been mentioned by McIntyre, including Nate Schmidt and Alec Martinez. Winnipeg, who is looking for a left-handed defenseman, has already completed one trade with the Golden Knights recently when it acquired Paul Stastny just before free agency opened on Friday.

The Golden Knights are rumored to be close to signing No. 1 free agent, Alex Pietrangelo to a long-term deal, but still would need to move out some salary to make the deal work. With little known progress on moving goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, it would make sense to move on from one of their top-four defenders, likely Schmidt or Martinez. Both offer different advantages to Winnipeg if they choose to take one. Schmidt is locked up for another five years at $5.95MM with a 10-team no-trade list, which would give the Jets some security at that position. Martinez, on the other hand, will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 season, but comes in a little cheaper at just $4MM.

Latest On Taylor Hall

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3:46 PM — NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty reports that Boston has offered a short-term contract to bring in Hall. However, that could be a problem financially with the team still needing to sign Debrusk, Grzelcyk as well as bringing back Zdeno Chara.

3:08 PM — There are plenty of unrestricted free agent forwards parked, waiting for Taylor Hall to make a decision on where he intends to play next season. Hall, the top free agent forward on the market is considering short-term offers with contending teams and is hoping to take that and bet on himself to cash in on a bigger contract after the pandemic settles down.

While many were expecting that the Colorado Avalanche would be high-stakes players in landing Hall, that isn’t expected to happen now, according to Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow, who writes that with the acquisition of Brandon Saad from Chicago Saturday, it’s extremely unlikely the team will spend even more money on another high-priced forward, even on a short-term deal.

Saad’s acquisition likely fills the team’s need for forwards and it’s likely that if the team does go after another free agent, it’s going to be on defense. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline also adds that the Columbus Blue Jackets are not likely a candidate to sign Hall despite the available cap room that the team has.

Dater writes that the two leading candidates to sign Hall are the Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins.

Nashville makes sense as the team has traded away or bought out several players, including Nick Bonino, Kyle Turris and Austin Watson, while also allowing Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith to depart via free agency. The moves opens up a potential fit for the Predators. On top of that, Hall is believed to be close to both Ryan Ellis. The two played junior hockey together for three years and won a Memorial Cup together. He also has spent time playing alongside center Matt Duchene, who he played in the Ivan Hlinka and in U-18’s with.

Boston already signed Smith to a three-year deal, but the addition of Taylor Hall would be a big boost to the Bruins’ second line and for a big run with the veteran players they already have on board. The team does still have $11MM in cap space to work with, although they do have a number of restricted free agents to sign, including Jake Debrusk and Matt Grzelcyk.

Free Agent Frenzy 2020: Day 1 Signings By Team

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Here are all of the signings of day one of the free agent frenzy, broken down by team, with a link to the individual stories:

Anaheim Ducks:

F Derek Grant – Three years, $4.5MM (link)
D Kevin Shattenkirk – Three years, $11.7MM (link)

Arizona Coyotes:

F John Hayden – One year, $750K (link)
F Tyler Pitlick – Two years, $3.5MM (link)

Boston Bruins: 

D Kevan Miller – One year, $1.25MM salary + $750K performance bonuses (link)

Buffalo Sabres:

F Tobias Rieder – One year, $700K (link)
D Matt Irwin – One year, $700K (link)
D Brandon Davidson – One year, $700K (link)

Calgary Flames:

F Zac Rinaldo – One year, $700K (link)
D Alexander Petrovic – One year, $700K (link)
F Byron Froese – Two years, $1.4MM (link)
F Buddy Robinson – One year, $700K (link)
G Jacob Markstrom – Six years, $36MM (link)

Carolina Hurricanes:

(none)

Chicago Blackhawks:

G Malcolm Subban – Two years, $1.7MM (link)
F Dominik Kubalik – Two years, $7.4MM (link)

Colorado Avalanche: 

F Miika Salomaki – One year, $700K (link)
F Michael Vecchione – One year, $700K (link)
F Kiefer Sherwood – One year, $750K (link)
F Sheldon Dries – One year, $772K (link)

Columbus Blue Jackets:

D Gavin Bayreuther – One year, $710K (link)

Dallas Stars: 

G Anton Khudobin – Three years, $10MM (link)

Detroit Red Wings:

F Kyle Criscuolo – One year, $700K (link)
G Kevin Boyle – One year, $700K (link)
F Riley Barber – Two years, $1.6MM (link)
D Jon Merrill – One year, $925K (link)
F Bobby Ryan – One year, $1MM (link)

Edmonton Oilers:

G Anton Forsberg – One year, $700K (link)
F Seth Griffith – Two years, $1.45MM (link)
F Alan Quine – One year, $750K (link)
F Tyler Ennis – One year, $1MM (link)
F Kyle Turris – Two years, $3.3MM (link)

Florida Panthers:

F Ryan Lomberg – Two years, $1.45MM (link)
F Vinnie Hinostroza – One year, $1.0MM (link)
F Carter Verhaeghe – Two years, $2.0MM (link)
F Alexander Wennberg – One year, $2.25MM (link)
D Radko Gudas – Three years, $7.5MM (link)

Los Angeles Kings:

(none)

Minnesota Wild: 

F Joseph Cramarossa – One year, $700K (link)
D Dakota Mermis – One year, $700K (link)
G Cam Talbot – Three years, $11.0MM (link)

Montreal Canadiens:

F Brandon Baddock – One year, $700K (link)
D Xavier Ouellet – Two years, $1.475MM (link)
D Victor Mete – One year, $735K (link)

Nashville Predators:

D Matt Benning – Two years, $2.0MM (link)
F Nick Cousins – Two years, $3.0MM (link)
D Mark Borowiecki – Two years, $4.0MM (link)

New Jersey Devils: 

(none)

New York Islanders:

(none)

New York Rangers:

D Brandon Crawley – One year, $700K (link)
F Jonny Brodzinski – One year, $700K (link)
F Colin Blackwell – Two years, $1.45MM (link)
F Anthony Greco – Two years, $1.475MM (link)
D Anthony Bitetto – Two years, $1.475MM (link)
F Kevin Rooney – Two years, $1.5MM (link)
G Keith Kinkaid – Two years, $1.65MM (link)
D Jack Johnson – One year, $1.15MM (link)

Ottawa Senators:

F Matthew Peca – One year, $700K (link)
F Logan Shaw – Two years, $1.45MM (link)
G Matt Murray – Four years, $25MM (link)

Philadelphia Flyers:

D Derrick Pouliot – One year, $700K (link)

Pittsburgh Penguins:

F Josh Currie – One year, $700K (link)
F Evan Rodrigues – One year, $700K (link)
F Mark Jankowski – One year, $700K (link)

San Jose Sharks: 

F Stefan Noesen – One year, $925K (link)

St. Louis Blues:

G Jon Gillies – One year, $700K (link)
D Torey Krug – Seven years, $45.5MM (link)

Tampa Bay Lightning:

D Andreas Borgman – One year, $700K (link)
G Christopher Gibson – One year, $700K (link)
D Luke Schenn – One year, $800K (link)
F Pat Maroon – Two years, $1.8MM (link)

Toronto Maple Leafs:

F Wayne Simmonds – One year, $1.5MM (link)
D T.J. Brodie – Four years, $20MM (link)

Vancouver Canucks:

F Tyler Motte – Two years, $2.45MM (link)
G Braden Holtby – Two years, $8.6MM (link)

Vegas Golden Knights:

F Tomas Nosek – One year, $1.25MM (link)

Washington Capitals: 

G Henrik Lundqvist – One year, $1.5MM (link)
D Justin Schultz – Two years, $8.0MM (link)

Winnipeg Jets:

D Luca Sbisa – One year, $800K (link)
F Mason Appleton – Two years, $1.8MM (link)
D Nathan Beaulieu – Two years, $2.5MM (link)

Indicates two-way contract

Buffalo Sabres Sign Matt Irwin, Brandon Davidson

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Buffalo Sabres fans are still waiting for a difference-maker on the first day of free agency, but the front office continues to add depth to the organization instead. After inking Tobias Rieder earlier today, the Sabres have now signed Matt Irwin to a one-year, $700K contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Irwin, 32, has bounced around the league for the better part of a decade now, starting with the San Jose Sharks back in 2012. Undrafted, he now has 359 games at the NHL level, suiting up for the Sharks, Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks.

With Lawrence Pilut playing in the KHL and Brandon Montour still unsigned, the Sabres had a need for some defensive depth. Irwin won’t be a difference-maker for the team, but he can provide stable third-pairing minutes or serve as a capable seventh defenseman.

A little later in the day, the Sabres also signed Brandon Davidson to a one-year, $700K contract, giving them another depth option on the back end. Davidson spent most of the 2019-20 season in the minor leagues with the Stockton Heat but does have 174 NHL games under his belt.

Mark Borowiecki, Matt Benning Sign With Nashville Predators

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The Nashville Predators have brought in a depth defenseman, signing Mark Borowiecki to a two-year contract. The deal is worth a total of $4MM, giving him a nice raise over the $1.2MM he made last season. GM David Poile released a statement:

One of our objectives at the start of free agency was to improve our depth at defense and Mark’s signing goes a long way toward accomplishing that. He adds an element of toughness that we were missing on the back end, as well as being a natural leader and strong penalty killer.

Not only will Borowiecki be manning the blue line for the Predators next season, but Matt Benning has also signed a deal with the team. Benning will get $2MM total over two years, giving the Predators another defenseman that can come in and out of the lineup.

The Predators still have the trio of Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm to eat up most of the ice time every night (along with Dante Fabbro), but have always used experienced pieces to round out their bottom-pairing. Last season it was Dan Hamhuis, Yannick Weber and Matt Irwin, but all three of those players are gone from the organization meaning they needed some new faces.

Borowiecki, a core member of the Ottawa Senators leadership group over the last several years, landed himself quite a nice little contract with the Predators. It always seemed like a perfect fit as a player who can provide leadership and physicality in limited minutes, but at $2MM he’ll have to play regularly.

After moving out money through the buyout of Kyle Turris and trade of Nick Bonino, the Predators still have several lineup spots to fill at forward and more than $11MM to do it.

Cam Talbot To Test The Market

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While goaltender Cam Talbot had expressed an interest in staying with Calgary, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards, at least for now.  Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reports (Twitter link) that the two sides held recent discussions but weren’t able to come to terms on a contract so the veteran will test the open market in a couple of hours.

The 33-year-old was the backup for the Flames to David Rittich during the regular season and posted strong numbers with a .919 SV% and a 2.63 GAA in 26 games (22 starts).  That helped earn him the starting job for the postseason as he made all 10 starts against Winnipeg and Dallas which should help his stock heading to the market.

Talbot has indicated that he wants to have the opportunity to start but there aren’t likely to be many of those opportunities out there.  However, a platoon situation certainly shouldn’t be out of the equation and he’ll have a fair bit of interest in free agency.  He’s coming off of a season that saw him make $2.75MM and even with a lot of other options out there and a flat salary cap, he should be able to get a deal that’s close to that from someone.

Ten Notable Non-Tenders

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Lost in the shuffle on the marathon second day of the draft is that Wednesday also represented the deadline for qualifying offers to be tendered.  The flattening of the salary cap increased the concerns about salary arbitration which has certainly affected the quality of players that are now set to hit the open market on Friday.  As these players will not be a part of our annual Top-50 UFA Rankings, here’s a rundown of ten notables to keep tabs on over the coming days, listed in alphabetical order.

Andreas Athanasiou (Edmonton)

Back at the trade deadline, the Oilers dealt a pair of second-round picks and Sam Gagner to secure the speedster, one that GM Ken Holland had plenty of familiarity with from his own days with Detroit.  While the winger was having a tough season, he’s only a year removed from a 30-goal campaign.  In a normal salary cap world, his $3MM qualifier would have been tough to swallow but still would have happened.  Instead, he hits the open market with Edmonton not getting much return for those two fairly high picks while becoming an intriguing bounce-back target for some teams.  He won’t get paid like a 30-goal scorer but as a third-liner with upside, he’ll land one of the bigger contracts out of this group of players if not the biggest.

Matt Benning (Edmonton)

There was a time that the Oilers hoped that Benning could step into a role on their second pairing but it didn’t come to fruition.  However, he has been a serviceable third-pairing player over the past few years but a cap-strapped Oilers team couldn’t justify qualifying him at $1.95MM.  Given that he’s a right-handed shot in a market that doesn’t have a lot of them, he should have interest from a few teams.

Nick Cousins (Vegas)

On the surface, a $1MM qualifying offer to a player who had 25 points in 65 games and got into 17 postseason contests doesn’t seem too pricey.  But this is a case where the potential for a higher award through arbitration is a risk that Vegas didn’t want to take with Cousins.  It’s the second-straight year that the 27-year-old was non-tendered for this reason after Arizona did the same thing a year ago.  A versatile depth player, he should be able to land somewhere for around the same contract as he played on this past season.

Anthony Duclair (Ottawa)

Despite finding an opportunity to play a bigger role than he had at any other point in his career, it seems as if Duclair may have overplayed his hand in contract talks.  After scoring 23 goals this season, he opted to represent himself in contract negotiations against the recommendation of GM Pierre Dorion who indicated that a sizable raise was offered before getting to this point.  Still just 25, Duclair becomes a very interesting addition to the open market but having bounced around the league already (he has played for five different teams in six NHL seasons), it’s hard to tell how strong his market may be.

Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona)

A year ago, it looked like the 26-year-old was set to be a useful part of Arizona’s long-term plans.  He was coming off of a career-best 16-23-39 stat line and was pushing for a spot in their top six.  Things went sideways this year though as he potted just five goals in 68 games which made a $1.5MM qualifier untenable.  Hinostroza could fit on a third line for some teams and should have a fair bit of interest.

Dominik Kahun (Buffalo)

This was one of the more surprising non-tenders of the group.  Although Kahun has just two years of NHL experience, he’s arbitration-eligible since he’s 25.  He followed up a 37-point rookie campaign with 31 points this pandemic-shortened season (including four in six games with Buffalo after being acquired in a deadline day deal from Pittsburgh) while he also missed time with a concussion and a knee injury.  With his point per game average, he played at a 45-point full-season pace.  Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has indicated they are interested in retaining the winger but if he makes it to the open market, he should be one of the most sought-after players from this list.

Mark Jankowski (Calgary)

While he had shown progress in his development over his first two full NHL seasons, things went off the rails in 2019-20.  Jankowski scored just five times in 56 games and while he wouldn’t have been able to get much more than his $1.75MM qualifier in arbitration, that was still too high of a price tag for Calgary’s liking.  Still just 26, Jankowski now heads to an open market that isn’t exactly loaded in available centers so while a pay cut is likely, he should have no issues finding a new team.

Dominik Simon (Pittsburgh)

A natural center, Simon has spent the majority of his time with Pittsburgh on the wing, playing on all four lines along the way.  While not a gifted point producer, he has surpassed 20 points in each of the last two seasons while posting above-average possession numbers.  Owed a qualifier of less than $800K, the fear of arbitration sealed Simon’s fate on a cap-strapped Penguins squad.

Troy Stecher (Vancouver)

In 2018-19, Stecher looked to be on the verge of securing a spot in Vancouver’s top four after averaging nearly 20 minutes a night and chipping in with 23 points.  But the return of a healthy Chris Tanev and the addition of Tyler Myers helped push the 26-year-old onto the third pairing and a much lower ATOI than usual.  A $2.325MM qualifier is a bit high for someone in that role but there should be a few teams that see him as a potential fourth or fifth option which makes him a notable addition to the UFA market.

Lucas Wallmark (Florida)

One of the notable parts of the Vincent Trocheck deal, Wallmark was coming off of a league-minimum salary which means this non-tender was solely arbitration related.  The 25-year-old only has two full NHL seasons under his belt, putting up 25 and 23 points in each while posting a faceoff percentage that’s a bit above the 50% mark each time.  There is still some upside with Wallmark and with a weak market down the middle, he’ll have no trouble generating interest.

While these players (among the others that were non-tendered) can become unrestricted free agents on Friday, some teams will still be negotiating with their players to try to get them at a lower salary than either their qualifying offer or their expected arbitration salary.  Usually, a handful wind up re-signing so at least for some of these players, their fates may not be completely sealed yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

List Of Players Not Receiving A 2020 Qualifying Offer

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The deadline to issue a qualifying offer to pending restricted free agents has come and gone, making any player who has not received one eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. It does not stop them from re-signing with the team for a different amount. Below are the players who will not be issued a qualifying offer:

(this list will be updated as reports continue to come in)

Anaheim Ducks

Arizona Coyotes

Vinnie Hinostroza, Dane Birks, Jalen Smereck

Boston Bruins

Brendan Gaunce, Brett Ritchie, Wiley Sherman

Buffalo Sabres

Dominik Kahun, Remi Elie, Matthew Spencer, Brandon Hickey

Calgary Flames

Mark Jankowski, Andrew Nielsen, Nick Schneider

Read more

Edmonton Oilers Not Expected To Qualify Andreas Athanasiou

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Wednesday: The Oilers have made it official, extending qualifying offers to only Ethan Bear and William Lagesson. That leaves Athanasiou, Benning, Logan Day, Cameron Hebig, Ryan Kuffner, Ryan Mantha, Angus Redmond and Nolan Vesey unqualified. All of them will become unrestricted free agents on Friday.

Tuesday: The deadline to submit qualifying offers to restricted free agents is tomorrow evening and the Edmonton Oilers have some interesting decisions to make. After making his first-round selection tonight, Oilers GM Ken Holland spoke to reporters including Ryan Rishaug of TSN and explained that he doesn’t think the team will qualify Andreas Athanasiou or Matt Benning.

This is a scenario we discussed in our recent Free Agent Focus piece and is a disaster for the Oilers. Edmonton used two second-round picks (and Sam Gagner) to land Athanasiou from the Detroit Red Wings at the deadline and will now let him walk into unrestricted free agency just a few months later. The speedy forward ended up playing just 13 total games for the organization, scoring a single goal and being held completely scoreless in the Oilers four postseason games.

After scoring 30 goals in 2018-19, Athanasiou was a risky player to qualify for the Oilers given the flat cap landscape in the NHL. He would have required a $3MM offer just to retain his rights, but then could have earned even more than that through arbitration. Edmonton has just under $8.8MM in cap space and need to both re-sign restricted free agents Ethan Bear and Jesse Puljujarvi while also upgrading their roster considerably in free agency. If Oscar Klefbom is out for the season his cap hit can be placed on long-term injured reserve for a little more flexibility, but unless they thought Athanasiou was going to routinely play in their top-six his arbitration award was going to be too expensive.

Still, losing those draft picks and only getting a handful of games out of him hurts. The Oilers have several strong prospects but could have used the picks for a different trade upgrade this offseason. Instead, Athanasiou will enter the free agent market as a young, talented forward that could be a difference-maker in the right situation.

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