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Ben Bishop Agrees To Waive No-Movement Clause For Expansion

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The Dallas Stars may not have to expose Anton Khudobin to the Seattle Kraken after all. Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News reports that Ben Bishop has agreed to waive his no-movement clause for the expansion draft, meaning the Stars will not be forced to protect him. Bishop’s agent, Allain Roy, explained why his client made the decision:

I thought that was a good move for him and the team. In the big picture, the goal is to win the Stanley Cup, so I think he felt that was the right move for the team to be the best team possible next year. Makes sense.

The 34-year-old Bishop missed the entire 2020-21 season due to injury, but remains an enticing option for the Stars if he can get back to full health. Since arriving in the NHL, the 6’7″ netminder has been one of the league’s best, posting a .921 save percentage over 413 appearances. That number has Bishop sitting fifth in NHL history, with Tuukka Rask the only active netminder ahead of him (Dominik Hasek, Johnny Bower, and Ken Dryden are the other three). A three-time Vezina Trophy finalist, he was outstanding in his first three years in Dallas, posting a .923 in 143 games.

Of course, that success would also make him a very attractive choice for Seattle, if only they knew he would be healthy enough to play. That uncertainty and the $4.92MM cap hit likely keeps him off the Kraken’s radar, but waiving the no-movement still helps out the club. Jake Oettinger, the team’s presumed “goaltender of the future” is still exempt from selection, meaning the team can protect Khudobin and keep their depth intact.

Uncertainty Surrounding Shea Weber For Next Season

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Following a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, it would seem hard to believe at first that Montreal wouldn’t consider protecting their captain from Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.  However, it appears that this will be the case.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that the Canadiens won’t protect defenseman Shea Weber after recent medical evaluations revealed that he could miss all of next season and potentially longer due to injury.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays that the issue is a left foot or ankle problem that has been lingering for several years.  He had surgery to repair a tendon in that area in 2018 and also missed time with that same issue two years later.  The injury isn’t going away and the team, the league, and the NHLPA are now doing due diligence to determine next steps for the 35-year-old.

On the ice, Weber’s absence would be a significant loss for the Canadiens.  While he had been slowing down in recent years, he still logged heavy minutes for Montreal and averaged 22:42 per game this season (second-most to Jeff Petry by two seconds) while recording 19 points in 48 games.  His ice time increased significantly in the playoffs despite playing through a thumb injury, logging more than 25 minutes a night while still chipping in with six points in 22 games.

On the expansion front, this situation creates some clarity as the team would simply protect Petry, Ben Chiarot, and Joel Edmundson with Brett Kulak serving as the notable rearguard left unprotected.

However, it creates a big hole on Montreal’s back end as well with no real certainty on what they’ll be able to do.  While he will be eligible to be placed on LTIR, the Canadiens may not be able to do much to replace him unless they can determine that he will miss all of next season.  In that situation, they’d be permitted to spend up to his $7.857MM over the Upper Limit of the salary cap but if they feel he could come back at some point, they’d be more restricted in what they could do and might only be able to fill his spot with a low-cost internal replacement.

Still on the contract front, Weber’s deal still has five years remaining on it but only $12MM in cash payments due to the front-loaded nature of the contract, one that is now illegal and subject to recapture.  PuckPedia has a Twitter thread about the short-term salary cap recapture potential for both teams if Weber was to retire.  (Montreal’s cap recapture potential ends after the 2022-23 season while Nashville’s will last the duration of the contract.)  However, the likeliest scenario at this point is that Weber doesn’t retire, collects his salary which sits at $6MM next season, and no recapture penalties would apply to either team.

The Canadiens were already eyeing down a busy offseason with several notable players in need of new contracts.  This development with their captain and one of their top blueliners could very well make it that much busier for GM Marc Bergevin.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tampa Bay Lightning Reveal Playoff Injuries

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The Tampa Bay Lightning, like any victorious team in the NHL, had to battle through most countless injuries in the postseason. Today at his end-of-season press availability, Julien BriseBois gave some updates on the health of his players. First and foremost was Victor Hedman, who tore his meniscus on March 30 and will get surgery to repair it today. The Norris finalist is expected to be out just two to four weeks, meaning he is not in danger of missing next season.

As Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports, BriseBois also revealed that both Ryan McDonagh and Barclay Goodrow broke their hands in the playoffs, while Nikita Kucherov had a non-displaced rib fracture that required an injection before each game. These injuries are in addition to the broken fibula that Alex Killorn had previously revealed, which kept him out of all but one game in the Finals, and various other ailments (Blake Coleman was seen with his arm in a sling) that were not mentioned by BriseBois.

It has almost become a ritual at this point, as teams finish their postseason runs, to reveal countless major injuries that the roster was battling through. Tampa Bay is no different than every other team in this regard, but it is still impressive to hear how the players continued to perform through injury. Hedman, for instance, averaged nearly 25 minutes a night in the series against Montreal, eclipsing 26 in each of the final two games.

All of the injured players, whether they are getting surgery or not, are expected to be ready for training camp according to BriseBois.

Oscar Klefbom Unlikely To Play In 2021-22

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During his media availability after today’s Duncan Keith trade, Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland mentioned that the chances of Oscar Klefbom playing hockey during the 2021-22 season are ’very slim.’ The news comes after Klefbom missed the entire 2020-21 season with a shoulder injury, meaning that Klefbom could very well miss two full seasons of NHL hockey.

It’s been a rough road in recent years for the Swedish defenseman. After electing to have surgery during the 2020-21 campaign to repair an injured shoulder that hadn’t healed properly, Klefbom’s last NHL game was August 7th, 2020 against the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a huge blow to the Oilers, as Klefbom had averaged over 25 minutes a night in 2019-20 and was blossoming into his prime.

It’s even more unfortunate news for Klefbom, who’s been a long but rewarding project over the course of his career. He’s been fairly productive offensively with 156 points in 378 career games, but he’s also been one of the most reliable Oilers defenders in his own end. Knowing this news may have fairly well pushed the Oilers into the Keith acquisition, knowing that they needed a body that could reliably serve on their second pairing with Klefbom out.

The future now looks rocky at best for Klefbom’s career as a whole. Missing two full seasons without game action in any league is extremely hard to recover from, especially without knowing whether Klefbom’s shoulder will ever actually reach 100%. At this point, Edmonton and Klefbom both can only hope for the best.

Charlie Coyle Undergoes Two Knee Surgeries

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Bruins center Charlie Coyle had a quiet 2020-21 campaign but it appears he was playing through a knee issue for at least a portion of the season as Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic relays (subscription link) that the 29-year-old recently underwent a pair of knee surgeries to repair an avulsion fracture and a torn patellar tendon.

Coyle notched just 16 points in 51 games which is hardly the return he or the team were expecting in the first year of a six-year, $31.5MM contract.  Things weren’t much better in the playoffs either as he managed just two goals and a single helper in 11 games.  While it’s known exactly when the knee issues were sustained, it’s clear that it was hindering him for a significant chunk of the season.

The good news for Boston is that Coyle is expected to be ready for training camp in September.  With David Krejci’s future with the team uncertain – he becomes an unrestricted free agent later this month with no decision yet made on his playing future – Coyle could be called upon to take a bigger role and could slide into the second center slot behind Patrice Bergeron.  If Krejci returns, Coyle will remain their third-line pivot but will undoubtedly be counted on for a bounce-back season offensively in 2021-22.

Snapshots: Kane, Glass, Lee

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While the trade bait board released by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli earlier this week contained mostly the usual suspects, a surprise at No. 5 was San Jose Sharks top scorer Evander Kane. While a departure was a possibility this season – the Sharks did tell a U.S. bankruptcy court that Kane’s contract could be terminated – this is the first that trade rumors have popped up. It does not seem as though Kane’s ongoing financial issues and legal proceedings are the root cause either. Instead, Seravalli suggests that a number of Kane’s teammates are unhappy with him in the locker room and have voiced their frustration to San Jose management. This would not be the first time that Kane’s personality has pushed him out of town; he previously had issues in both prior career stops with the Thrashers/Jets and Sabres. Whether the Sharks follow suit and trade Kane is another matter. A top scorer and physical presence, Kane is one of the best players on the team. Even if GM Doug Wilson was inclined to trade Kane, his bankruptcy case and the new leaked details of another upset locker room would make it very difficult for him to get fair value back for what Kane actually contributes on the ice. It’s a difficult situation and one that was not expected to be an issue for the Sharks this summer. It is one thing for Kane’s legal status to force their hand and another to have to instead make the proactive choice to trade an elite player.

  • Another player who may unexpectedly be available this summer is young Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Glass. As relayed by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer made some comments in his closing media availability on Saturday that were not-so-subtly directed at Glass. A young guy can’t say he never got an opportunity,” DeBoer said. “I think we stuck young guys in all year and tried to put them in situations where they had an opportunity to succeed… Some have seized the moment, some haven’t. Some just aren’t ready yet.” As the Knight’s most high-profile prospect, Glass is certainly one of if not the biggest target of these remarks. Vegas’ first ever draft pick at No. 6 overall back in 2017, Glass has been given ample opportunity so far in his career. He skated in 39 games with the Golden Knights as a first-year pro in 2019-20, recording 12 points, and was expected to take a step forward this year. Instead, he played in only 27 games and recorded 10 points, failing to make an impact at even strength. His lack of reliability kept him out of all but one of Vegas’ playoff games this spring. A prospect with Glass’ draft pedigree is expected to be doing more at this point in his career, especially as the team’s other 2017 first-rounder, Nick Suzuki, is currently first or second in goals, assists, points, and time on ice this postseason among Montreal Canadiens forwards – the team that just knocked out the Knights. With just one year left of waiver exemption, Glass must show this season that he can be an everyday NHL contributor. If DeBoer and the club have doubts, they may decide to trade him now before his stock slips any further.
  • Some good news in exit interviews came from the New York Islanders. Captain Anders Lee, whose season was ended by an ACL injury in March, sounded optimistic about his recovery. “I am on track,” Lee stated. “I was able to do a lot of really good things in the past 13-14 weeks since surgery. Looking forward to continuing on that path and getting ready for camp.” ACL injuries can be a difficult and timely recovery, so Lee’s early progress is encouraging. If he is indeed back to full strength in time for training camp, that is an ideal result for the Islanders. Before his injury, Lee was scoring at a pace that closely resembled his career highs in per-game goals and points and was well on his way to a career-best plus/minus, even in the shortened season. New York needs him at that level next year, as their lack of salary cap space will likely prevent them from making any meaningful improvements to the roster this summer.

Snapshots: Coyotes’ Coach Search, Nylander, Ak Bars

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With head coaches flying off the market and one of the top available names being the guy they just let go, the Arizona Coyotes’ hunt for a head coach is in an interesting spot. From the get-go, the word was that the ’Yotes and GM Bill Armstrong could be looking for a fresh voice, perhaps even a first-time NHL coach, so they may be unfazed by the recent run on big names. Yet, insider Craig Morgan reports that one of their top candidates is in fact a seasoned veteran. Morgan writes that Dallas Stars assistant Todd Nelson is scheduled to have his third interview for the vacancy, by all accounts the most of any candidate. Nelson has been in the NHL (or AHL) since 2006, including a brief stint as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has found great success in the minors, winning two Calder Cups, and never really got a fair shake as the bench boss in Edmonton, so in a way he would be somewhat of a first-time NHL head coach. He has picked up experience in Dallas over the past three years under Jim Montgomery and Rick Bowness and could be ready for another shot at the top job.

Morgan considers Nelson’s greatest competition to be Andre Tourigny, the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and most recently an assistant for Canada’s gold medal World Championship entry. Tourigny briefly coached in the NHL as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators over three years, but has mostly coached at the major junior level and has been the bench boss of Canada’s World Junior team the past two years. Tourigny has found immense success working with young players; he has been named OHL Coach of the Year (twice), QMJHL Coach of the Year, and the overall CHL Coach of the Year, not to mention medals at four World Juniors. Can he translate that ability to the pros and lead a Coyotes team that needs to take a step forward rather than continuing to tread water? That is the question that Armstrong must answer. According to Morgan, he has already decided that St. Louis Blues assistant Mike Van Ryn and AHL Providence head coach Jay Leach are not the men for the job.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks just gained some Expansion Draft flexibility. The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that Alexander Nylander has been declared exempt from the impending selection process. In order to be eligible for the draft, a player must have three pro service years. Nylander, who has been playing professionally in North America for five seasons, may seem like an impossibility to avoid that label, but somehow he does. Despite playing in 116 AHL games between 2016-17 and 2017-18, he played in only seven combined NHL games and his rookie contract underwent the entry-level slide each season, meaning service time did not accrue. He then played countable NHL season in each of the past two years. However, this season – in what was meant to be his third year of service – Nylander missed the entire campaign due to injury. This means that, again, his service time will not clock. After five years in and out of the NHL, Nylander will be considered a second-year pro and untouchable for the Seattle Kraken. As Powers notes, Nylander was expected to be protected by the Blackhawks next month. Now off the board, it will allow the team to protected another forward that they may not have expected. He suggests deadline addition Adam Gaudette or reliable fourth-liner David Kampf could be the pick, while young, high-upside assets Brandon Hagel and Henrik Borgstrom should now be locks.
  • The KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan has succeeded in keeping a pair of drafted prospects away from their NHL teams for a while longer. The team announced that they have re-signed Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov and Anaheim’s Artyom Galimov to multi-year extensions. At their age, this is not an NHL career death sentence for either player, but it is likely disheartening to their teams who would like to get them on North American ice as soon as possible. 20-year-old Voronkov, a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Blue Jackets, has signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars after setting career highs across the board in the KHL this season. The impressive youngster has already played two full seasons in the KHL and has been dominant for Russia on the World Junior stage as well. Voronkov’s name carries weight as a prospect and the Jackets undoubtedly hope that he will follow WJC teammate Yegor Chinakhov to Columbus as soon as his new contract expires. There is a bit more cause for pause when it comes to Galimov. The 21-year-old was an overage pick by the Ducks just last year and despite his age has signed a three-year extension with Ak Bars. Galimov is a grassroots product of Kazan and has loyalty to the club, as they do to him after two successful seasons to begin his KHL career. Galimov has actually outpaced Voronkov to this point, showing that he too is a serious NHL prospect. However, Galimov will be 25 years old before he could ever step onto Anaheim ice and will have that much more attachment to Ak Bars. His ability should keep him interested in the NHL and the Ducks in him, but it is not a guarantee.

18 Players Exempt From Expansion Draft Due To Injury

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One of the clauses in the expansion draft rules states that players still under contract but not expected to play again due to long-term or chronic injury will be exempt from the draft. In some cases, that allows a team that would normally need to protect them because of a no-movement clause to use that slot on someone else, or at least to avoid going through the paperwork to have them waive it. CapFriendly reports that this year, 18 players have been deemed exempt from the draft:

Ryan Kesler, Anaheim Ducks
Marian Hossa, Arizona Coyotes
Brandon Dubinsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks
Andrew Shaw, Chicago Blackhawks
Stephen Johns, Dallas Stars
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Corey Crawford, New Jersey Devils
Luca Sbisa, Nashville Predators
Johnny Boychuk, New York Islanders
Matt Niskanen, Philadelphia Flyers
Zach Trotman, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Steen, St. Louis Blues
Marian Gaborik, Tampa Bay Lightning
Anders Nilsson, Tampa Bay Lightning
Micheal Ferland, Vancouver Canucks
Bryan Little, Winnipeg Jets
Henrik Lundqvist, Washington Capitals

Note that some of these players will be unrestricted free agents anyway, but their contracts for 2020-21 do not technically expire until after the expansion draft occurs.

The biggest takeaway here is in Chicago, where Seabrook holds a no-movement clause. The veteran defenseman is not expected to ever play again thanks to debilitating injuries, but he now also won’t need to officially waive his clause for the Blackhawks to protect someone else. Seabrook’s contract still has three more years on it and will cause a few complications for Chicago in regards to long-term injured reserve, but for all intents and purposes, he is retired.

Sbisa is also an interesting name to see among the list, given he played a game against Dallas in late January. The 31-year-old unfortunately suffered a concussion and as Adam Vingan of The Athletic tweets, has still not been cleared. He is an unrestricted free agent and is now ineligible for the expansion draft.

Snapshots: Larsson, McIsaac, Bergman

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While the Edmonton Oilers have much bigger free-agent fish to fry, there seems to be some life in their contract negotiations with defender Adam Larsson. The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta reports that the Oilers and Larsson’s agent are to resume talks this week.

Larsson, of ’the trade is one-for-one’ fame, was an understated piece of the Oilers’ defense this season. After being plagued by injury in 2019-20, Larsson stepped up in a big way to help offset Edmonton’s loss of Oscar Klefbom. His 128 blocks this year were the same amount he had in a full 82-game season in 2018-19, while he ramped up his offensive production to four goals and 10 points. Talks about his extension first surfaced in May, where Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported a four-year deal was a likely outcome. It goes without saying that Edmonton would love to retain the 28-year-old Swede.

  • The Detroit Red Wings organization received some good news today, as defense prospect Jared McIsaac has a clean bill of health, per the team’s website. McIsaac, as the piece by Josh Berenter mentions, has been on the wrong end of three shoulder injuries in the past two calendar years. Drafted 36th overall by Detroit in 2018, he’s part of a prospect stable on defense that includes SHL standout Moritz Seider and Gustav Lindstrom. Before encountering his injury troubles, McIsaac had 62 points in just 53 games with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads in 2018-19. If he’s able to regain that form, a healthy McIsaac could prove to be a solid piece of Detroit’s rebuild.
  • Per a news release from the team’s website, SHL club Brynäs IF has signed former NHL prospect Julius Bergman. A 2014 second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks, Bergman was dealt three times over the course of his entry-level contract despite never playing an NHL game. Originally sent to the Ottawa Senators in the Mike Hoffman trade, he was then sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets along with Matt Duchene in February of 2019. He was dealt just three days later to the New York Rangers in exchange for Adam McQuaid. With Bergman’s offensive production declining sharply after his 30-point campaign with the San Jose Barracuda in 2016-17, it’s unlikely he sees NHL ice at any point during his career.

Snapshots: Hanley, Marlies, Kirk

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In April, the Dallas Stars decided to hand depth defenseman Joel Hanley a two-year contract extension. At the time, it was clear that the deal had at least some level of expansion draft motivation, given he needed just three more games to fill the exposure requirements for Dallas. He did end up playing those games, finishing with 35 contests on the season, but will now face a long rehab. Hanley underwent successful surgery to repair a core muscle injury today. He is expected to be recovered in time for the 2021-22 season, though these surgeries are notorious for keeping players at less than full strength for some time after they are cleared to return.

Even though that extension was at least partially due to the expansion draft, it’s not like Hanley didn’t deserve it. The 30-year-old has been a perfect extra defenseman for the Stars the last few seasons, coming in and out of the lineup when necessary to provide bottom-pairing minutes. He even played in 12 games during last year’s bubble playoffs, scoring his first NHL goal to open the scoring in game one of the Stanley Cup finals.

  • The Toronto Marlies have signed a pair of forwards, inking Antti Suomela and Ryan Chyzowski to AHL contracts today. Suomela, 27, has played in 51 NHL games, all with the San Jose Sharks and was acquired by the Maple Leafs in a deal for Alexander Barabanov at the deadline. Chyzowski perhaps is the more interesting of the pair, if only because of his age. The 21-year-old undrafted forward has spent the last five seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers and scored 11 goals and 29 points in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Chyzowski is on a two-year minor league deal, while Suomela signed for just one.
  • When Liam Kirk was selected by the Arizona Coyotes 189th overall in 2018, he became the first player born and trained in England to be drafted. The Sheffield Steelers product then spent two seasons in the OHL, before heading overseas once again in 2020-21. Just recently, Kirk put the NHL on notice when he scored seven times to tie for the lead at the World Championship, despite his Great Britain team only 13 goals in the whole tournament. Now, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, Kirk has been given permission to speak to other teams around the league despite still being under the control of Arizona. His draft rights will expire next June, so a trade would actually have to happen before he could sign an entry-level contract.

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