Free Agency

Curtis Lazar Signs With Buffalo Sabres

September 24, 2020 at 3:48 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Buffalo Sabres have decided that Curtis Lazar played well enough to keep around, signing him to a new two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $800K and allow Lazar to avoid restricted free agency this offseason.

Now 25, Lazar is on his third NHL organization since being the 17th overall pick in 2013. Never developing into the dominant power forward that some expected, he did seem to find a home in the Sabres bottom-six this season. Scoring 10 points in 38 games was obviously enough to show he deserved a new deal, one that will keep him an inexpensive option for head coach Ralph Krueger.

Amazingly, Lazar becomes just the fifth Sabres forward under contract for the 2020-21 season. While prospects like Dylan Cozens are expected to take a roster spot, it’s rare that you see an NHL team with so many pending free agents in one year. Wayne Simmonds, Vladimir Sobotka, Jimmy Vesey, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and Michael Frolik are all scheduled for unrestricted free agency, while Dominik Kahun, Tage Thompson, Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart are all restricted free agents.

That will situation will offer a ton of flexibility for new GM Kevyn Adams as he looks to right the ship and fix a culture that has resulted in only losses over the last decade. The last time the Sabres went to the playoffs was 2011, something they’ll try to change quickly.

Condensed Season Puts More Pressure On Goaltending

September 24, 2020 at 12:30 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

One of the things most talked about in the hockey world as we approach the draft and free agency is the game of musical chairs that awaits many of the league’s goaltenders. Braden Holtby, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Anton Khudobin, Cam Talbot, the list of goalies headed to unrestricted free agency is almost endless. Trade rumors about many more have surfaced, with Frederik Andersen, Matt Murray, James Reimer, and Marc-Andre Fleury all potentially on the market.

In Fleury’s case specifically, the veteran goaltender has expressed a desire to remain with the Vegas Golden Knights even if Lehner is re-signed. Speaking to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Fleury made it clear that he is not asking for a trade, even if he has seemingly lost the starting role. Vegas means a lot to him and Fleury has meant a lot to the Golden Knights in their first three years of existence. It’s just that his salary makes him an exceedingly expensive option as a backup goaltender.

Fleury’s $7MM cap hit may be too rich for the Golden Knights to keep around as a backup, but make no mistake there will be an increased emphasis on the goaltending position this offseason. Even those teams with outstanding starters will be looking for legitimate backup options as we head towards the condensed 2020-21 season. It may not even end up needing the “2020” part, given the regular season is now not expected to start until January.

If that’s the case and the league continues to remain steadfast on playing the full 82-game schedule, next season will be extremely difficult on starting goaltenders. Back-to-back situations will come up much more frequently, with three-in-four-nights often also becoming the norm. Even the league’s most durable goaltenders won’t be able to play the same number of games that they’re used to, meaning a capable backup will be more valuable than ever.

That’s exactly the reasoning behind Montreal’s recent acquisition of Jake Allen from the St. Louis Blues. The Canadiens are now spending more than any other team on goaltending for the upcoming season, but have a backup they can rely on to keep Carey Price fresh even in a condensed season. If Allen is asked to start 30 or even 35 games, Price will be even fresher for a potential playoff run.

Sure, the Tampa Bay Lightning rely heavily on Andrei Vasilevskiy to carry their goaltending load, but other teams are definitely looking at what Khudobin has done for the Dallas Stars and wondering if they need to improve their own backup situation. With that in mind, the opportunity for some of those free agent netminders may not be as limited as once believed.

Take a team like the Washington Capitals, for instance. While they have obviously made the decision to move on from Holtby and hand the reins to young netminder Ilya Samsonov, what kind of guarantee do they have that he can handle the job by himself? Samsonov’s heaviest workload as a professional came in 2018-19 when he appeared in 37 games for the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Is Pheonix Copley or Vitek Vanecek the answer behind him in a condensed schedule?

What about the Winnipeg Jets, where Connor Hellebuyck led all goaltenders in appearances this season en route to the Vezina Trophy. There’s no doubt that he’ll be taking a heavy load again next season, but it’ll be hard to pick out 65 games and not include several back-to-back situations. That team spent just $1.225MM on Laurent Brossoit last season, but perhaps they’ll be another landing spot for one of these veteran options that come with a bit bigger price tag.

For those looking to predict who sits where when the music stops, a condensed 2020-21 schedule is among the most important considerations. You might be surprised by how many teams are looking to shore up the position, even if they already have a star in net.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Focus: Colorado Avalanche

September 23, 2020 at 4:51 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

With free agency now just a few weeks away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. While their top performers may still be locked up, Colorado has a ton of work to do on their depth pieces.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Valeri Nichushkin – After a season that saw him score exactly zero goals in 57 games following several years in the KHL, it looked like Nichushkin’s NHL career might be over after the 2018-19 campaign ended. He was bought out by the Dallas Stars in June and could have easily decided to go back to Russia and continue his career there. Not so fast, said the Avalanche, who signed Nichushkin to a one-year, $850K deal that gave him another chance in the NHL. After scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 65 games while being one of the best defensive wingers in the entire league—he finished eighth in Selke Trophy voting—the 25-year-old Russian has probably earned himself a multi-year extension with Colorado.

F Andre Burakovsky – Quick, after Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who was the leading scorer on the Avalanche this season? Gabriel Landeskog? Mikko Rantanen? Nazem Kadri? No, it was Burakovsky, whose 45 points were a career-high despite the shortened season. In just 58 games he scored 20 goals for the first time in his career, finally getting the opportunity to play big minutes and rewarding the Avalanche by fulfilling the huge potential he had shown as a young player. Importantly, Burakovsky has already played six full seasons in the NHL despite being just 25, meaning he could become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Waiting for a one-year arbitration award would get him there, meaning the Avalanche will have to try and work out a multi-year deal in the coming weeks if they want to lock him up.

D Nikita Zadorov – For all the frustration at the fact that Zadorov still hasn’t grown into that minute-munching two-way star that fans have been dreaming off since he came into the league as a teenager, he has already logged nearly 400 games in his NHL career and only turned 25 a few months ago. He’ll never be the leader of the Colorado blueline, but he still represents a valuable asset that they’ll have to make a decision on this summer. Like Burakovsky, Zadorov already has six NHL seasons under his belt and could use an arbitration award to get to unrestricted free agency at 26 next offseason. Unlike Burakovsky, the Avalanche might be okay with that outcome given the pipeline of defensemen they’ve created over the last few years.

Other RFAs: F Tyson Jost, F Vladislav Kamenev, D Ryan Graves, F A.J. Greer, F Sheldon Dries, G Hunter Miska

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Colin Wilson – When the 2018-19 season came to an end, the Avalanche decided that Wilson was worthy of a $2.6MM contract. They waited until July 1 to do it, but they obviously felt it was acceptable after his 12-goal, 27-point campaign. He was an option on the powerplay and a depth piece for a team that looked like they were gearing up for a real Stanley Cup run. Unfortunately, that $2.6MM resulted in just four points and nine games. Wilson suffered a (somewhat mysterious) injury in October and never returned, opening the door for other players to take his opportunities. If he’s healthy, perhaps the Avalanche bring him back. But with so much firepower ahead of him on the depth chart, it might be wise for Wilson to go somewhere else to build his value back up.

F Vladislav Namestnikov – If a trade deadline pickup ends up playing just nine regular season games for your team, it usually means the transaction was a mistake. Not so with Namestnikov, who scored four goals for the Avalanche before the shutdown and then added another four in their 12-game postseason. You can bet the team is wondering what kind of a resurgence they could milk out of the 27-year-old Russian forward, given he has shown an ability to score in bunches, but there simply might not be enough to go around. If the team is set on bringing back all of their restricted free agents, Namestnikov may be better served looking for a free agent landing spot.

F Matt Nieto – What can you say about Nieto? A few years ago he was lining up beside some of the very best players on the Colorado roster, but even after being dropped out of that group has still performed relatively well. 21 points in 70 games are nothing to sneeze at, especially when it comes in just over 11 minutes of even-strength ice time a night. Nieto was Colorado’s top penalty-killing forward this season and will be missed if the team is forced to let him reach free agency. There’s not always enough money to go around, especially if Nieto’s versatility and consistency end up drawing a crowd when the market opens.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Connauton, G Michael Hutchinson, F Jayson Megna, D Mark Alt, G Antoine Bibeau

Projected Cap Space

The $22.4MM in cap space Colorado has this offseason is a testament to the way GM Joe Sakic has built his squad, but it doesn’t mean they can take endless shots at high-priced free agents. The team has to consider their own core first, with Makar and Landeskog both heading into their final season under contract. MacKinnon will be up two years after that, with Kadri due for a new deal in the middle. No, they’re not in cap trouble, but they could be if they lean in and spend all of their room this offseason trying to chase a Stanley Cup right away.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest On Vancouver’s Pending Free Agents

September 22, 2020 at 3:21 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks have one of the more precarious salary cap situations in the league as they enter the offseason. While they project to have close to $14.3MM in space for next season, things are going to get a lot different in a year. That’s when Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko will all hit restricted free agency at the same time, potentially eating up a huge chunk of the salary cap as the team’s young core.

With that expensive offseason right around the corner, Canucks GM Jim Benning will have to play his cards quite carefully next month to make sure he doesn’t back himself into a corner. That includes UFA negotiations with Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli, and perhaps most importantly, starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Rick Dhaliwal was on TSN radio today talking about the Canucks pending free agents, even expressing awe that the team has still not worked something out with Markstrom:

This has not been an easy negotiation. We’re 15 months into this and now he’s 17 days away from walking and leaving. The two-time MVP of this team, he’s 17 days away from walking away from this team. They’ve been negotiating for 15 months–think about that for a second–and they’re not closer. There is still tons of work to do before they get a deal done.

Dhaliwal suggested again that the goaltender is looking for a deal with a cap hit of around $6MM, but stressed how challenging the negotiation has been so far. Markstrom, 30, is coming off his second straight year receiving Vezina Trophy votes, actually finishing fourth this season after putting up a .918 save percentage in 43 appearances. His market will be strong should he reach unrestricted free agency, something that Benning explained he was trying to avoid at his end of season press conference:

We’re going to try and figure out a way that makes sense for us and makes Jacob and his agent happy. Try and figure out a deal to get him signed. We want him back. We’re going to start working on that this week.

The question still comes back to that future cap situation though, especially given what Demko did in the playoffs with Vancouver. Though he’s not nearly as proven—Demko has just 37 regular season appearances under his belt—the Canucks could potentially hand the starter role to him next seaosn and take their chances with him on a full-time basis. They could also go after another free agent netminder instead, with Dhaliwal bringing up the names of Braden Holtby, Thomas Greiss and Cam Talbot as potential options.

In terms of Tanev, Dhaliwal explains that while Markstrom and Toffoli are the focus for Vancouver, the veteran defenseman hasn’t even received a contract offer from the Canucks at this point. Tanev, who will turn 31 in December, was the focus of a report today from Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe of The Athletic, which indicated that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be after him should he hit the open market. Tanev is the older brother of Penguins forward Brandon Tanev, who was given a long-term deal by Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford last summer.

Even though he is not an effective offensive weapon, Tanev has logged big minutes whenever healthy over the last decade in Vancouver. He registered 20 points in 69 games this season while still logging more than three minutes of short-handed ice time every night.

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

September 21, 2020 at 3:24 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 6 Comments

With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Carolina Hurricanes already traded away the rights to one pending free agent but still have some tough decisions to make.