Central Notes: Wiercioch, Fleischmann, Jets Goalies
The biggest hockey headline out of Colorado this summer was the unexpected departure of head coach and VP of operations Patrick Roy. Mike Chambers of The Denver Post told PHR in an earlier interview that his belief was that Roy insisted on acquiring a top defenseman this summer, perhaps at the cost of one of their top young forwards, but that GM Joe Sakic and his “support staff” wanted to stick with the core. In fact, the only blue line addition of note was the signing of free agent Patrick Wiercioch, who wore out his welcome in Ottawa and was not qualified as a RFA. But as Chambers writes, Weircioch may come to Colorado with little fanfare but his skill set is exactly what the Avalanche needs.
Wiercioch is a big defenseman – listed at 6-foot-5, 202 pounds – who can move the puck and contribute on the power play. Chambers also notes that the five-year veteran is a quality stick-handler and passer, which will hopefully help the team’s transition game. According to Chambers, Wiercioch was looking for a fresh start after five mostly disappointing seasons in Ottawa, and is looking forward to again playing in Colorado, where he played his college hockey for the University of Denver.
“Even before the trade deadline we were talking about what our avenues were. We both kind of decided if nothing were to happen, it’s not the end of the world because I have a wife and kid and it’s a tough transition to pick up and move for eight weeks.”
“But going into the summer I think we were both ready for the next chapter — for their organization and my career as well. It ended up being Colorado. When we looked at the options and the offers with more money, this was the franchise I really wanted to come play for. I really wanted to be excited about the opportunity here.”
Colorado agree to a one-year deal with Wiercioch worth $800K after which he will again become a RFA, thus giving the Avalanche additional contractual control. Wiercioch may not be the big name Roy wanted but he’ll have a tremendous opportunity to play a significant role for the Avalanche and could end up being a nice free agent bargain.
Other notes from the NHL’s Central Division:
- As we noted yesterday, Tomas Fleischmann, who had agreed to a PTO with Minnesota, failed his physical. Mike Russo of the Star Tribune provides a further update saying the Czech-born forward will not be attending camp with the Wild, according to GM Chuck Fletcher. Neither head coach Bruce Boudreau nor Fletcher specified what issue caused the failed physical though Russo speculated it might be a recurrence of blood clots that Fleischmann had been diagnosed with in the past. Fletcher said about the veteran winger: “He’s such a good person, it’s unfortunate. So I hope he catches on somewhere else. It’s just a disappointment. I like him enough that I want to see him succeed somewhere.” Russo inferred from these comments that whatever the issue, it doesn’t seem as if it would necessarily keep Fleischmann from playing elsewhere, if another opportunity presents itself.
- Ondrej Pavelec and young Connor Hellebuyck are expected to compete for the starters job between the pipes for the Jets this season. Both goalies participated in the World Cup of Hockey – Pavelec for the Czech Republic and Hellebuyck as part of Team North America – and say that experience has helped them as they prepare to battle for the #1 job, writes Mitchell Clinton for the Jets team site on NHL.com. Pavelec, who finished with a disappointing 90.4% save percentage in 33 games – 31 of which were starts – and would appear to be behind Hellebuyck entering camp. The rookie, who was a two-year starter at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, made 26 starts for the Jets and recorded a save percentage of 91.8%. Michael Hutchinson, who has started 68 contests over the last two seasons, is under contract with Winnipeg for two more years and is a solid backup should the Jets choose Hellebuyck as the starter and find a way to move Pavelec’s contract.
Players Changing Positions Up Front In 2016-17
Often, players around the league will be thrust into new situations and responsibilities because of injury or ineffectiveness on the part of someone else. Sometimes they thrive in this new role, and sometimes they just can’t quite make it work. Here are a few players who will be changing roles this season:
Dylan Larkin – Moving to C – As Ansar Khan of Mlive writes in his latest column, the Red Wings are looking for an answer down the middle after the departure of Pavel Datsyuk to the KHL. Larkin, originally drafted as a centerman out of the US development program, will be moved back to the position for the upcoming year.
In his own words, he’s “going to have to work on faceoffs and little details that are going make me a better player all around and better in the defensive zone.” Indeed, if the Red Wings want to replace Datsyuk’s excellent two-way game, Larkin will need to concentrate on the defensive end a little bit more. He clearly has all the talent to make it work offensively.
William Nylander – Moving to W – In a case of the opposite transition, Nylander of the Maple Leafs is preparing to play much of this season on the wing of Auston Matthews, a pair that head coach Mike Babcock wants to keep together for a while to see if he can create some chemistry. While Babcock admits that Nylander may still take some draws on the right side, he won’t have to be as responsible for the defensive side of the centering a line – something that he struggled with last season.
Another possible Maple Leafs candidate for the transition is Mitch Marner, the uber-prospect who some think is too small to play center in the NHL. If he makes the squad, he’d be hard pressed to knock one of Matthews, Nazem Kadri or Tyler Bozak out of that role, leading to a potential pairing with one of them to start his young career.
Tomas Hertl – Moving to C – While this one actually happened midway through last season, it’s important to note that Hertl will be coming into this camp as a center, and will be pushed to develop and stay at the spot. He’s spent much of his career thus far on Joe Thornton‘s wing, but will now be a big piece of the Sharks down the middle. Even on the third line, Hertl can provide impact with his blazing speed and nifty offensive hands; if he’s to become a future first line centerman though, he’ll have to develop the defensive game just like Larkin.
Mikael Granlund – Moving to W – Another player who made the switch late last year, Granlund excelled on the wing and impressed GM Chuck Fletcher so much that he’ll be moved there again this year. The Wild’s signing of Eric Staal makes sure of that, as they now have a handful of centers that could suit up on the top two lines. Granlund will be allowed to focus on his offense, something that the Wild think will do him wonders. The 24-year old has provided strong play-making ability in his short career, racking up 101 assists in 240 games; from the wing, perhaps he’ll be able to build on his career-high goal total of 13 last season.
Snapshots: Canes, Hertl, Fleischmann, Gagne
The Carolina Hurricanes have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2008-09 season but hope to change that this year. As Chip Alexander of The News & Observer reports, the team’s chances of breaking their seven year playoff drought will rely heavily on a talented, albeit young, group of players. Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and Ryan Murphy are set to see a lot of ice for the Canes and none are over the age of 24.
One of the squad’s few experienced players, Lee Stempniak, a veteran of 11 NHL seasons, says he has never been part of a team with so many youngsters expected to fill important roles:
“Not really, not with young guys playing this prominent of a role, especially the defensemen. It’s young. I think it’s a team with a lot of potential. I think a lot of the success for our team is going to be harnessing our potential. Guys need to take the next step individually and the new guys coming in need to fit in and complement the players who are here and find a role.”
If anyone would know, it would be Stempniak, who has suited up for 10 different clubs during his career, including four over the last two campaigns. He hopes his stay in Carolina is a bit longer after singing a two-year deal worth $5MM this summer.
Of course young teams are inherently inexperienced and some might feel that factor could derail Carolina’s chances of a successful campaign. Not so, says another of the team’s elders, defenseman Ron Hainsey, who at 35 will is 11 years the senior of the second oldest regular blue liner, Justin Faulk:
“This is a young man’s league. I don’t think it’s a danger. Speed, skill is the name of the game.”
Despite the talent and skill, Carolina’s path to a playoff berth will not be an easy one. The Metro Division fielded five postseason qualifiers in 2015-16 while the Hurricanes finished 10 points behind the eighth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers.
Another factor which may work against the Canes is their goaltending. Carolina ranked 29th among 30 teams in save percentage but did nothing this offseason to upgrade the position. In fact, the team elected to re-sign longtime netminder Cam Ward to a new, two-year contract; a deal many pundits thought was curious.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Positive news in San Jose where Tomas Hertl skated today at the Sharks first training camp workout and showed no lingering ill effects from the MCL injury he suffered during the Stanley Cup Finals, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Hertl finished fifth on the club in scoring with 46 points during the regular season and contributed another 11 in the postseason. According to Pashelka, Hertl is preparing to play either center or wing though today he skated as the pivot between Joel Ward and Nikolay Goldobin. Hertl skipped the World Cup, electing not to represent the Czech Republic in the tournament in order to further rehab his knee injury. It appears the extra rest may have helped as Hertl looks to be on track to open the season at 100%.
- Tomas Fleischmann, who was set to appear at camp with the Minnesota Wild, has apparently failed his physical, according to Mike Russo via Twitter. Russo is unsure if that would be the end of Fleischmann’s brief time with Minnesota or not. Fleischmann was again attempting to catch on with a club after being forced to accept a PTO offer rather than a guaranteed contract. Last year he earned a one-year deal with Montreal in training camp and would record 10 goals and 20 points in 57 games with the Canadiens. He was dealt to Chicago at the trade deadline with Dale Weise and would tally another four goals and five points for the Blackhawks.
- The Ottawa Senators announced via their team Twitter account that they have signed forward Gabriel Gagne to an ELC. Gagne was the Sens second-round pick in 2015, going 36th overall. He split last season between Victoria and Shawinigan of the QMJHL and combined to register 36 points in 42 regular season contests. Gagne was even better in the postseason, tallying 22 points in 21 games.
Snapshots: Franson, Conacher, Cleary, Bradford
Cody Franson is hoping that a number change might bring him better luck in his second (and final) season with the Buffalo Sabres. Last summer’s Kris Russell, the negotiation war for Franson lasted until mid-September, when he finally signed a two-year, $6.65MM pact with Buffalo. Expected to be a big piece of their back end, Franson was instead a huge disappointment, playing in just 59 games and scoring a career-low 17 points. Franson stated earlier today that his first season with the Sabres, wearing #46, was the “worst” of his career. Now switching over to #6, Franson looks to get back on track with a number that he “likes”.
More probable than the luck of a jersey number is that Franson’s struggles in 2015-16 were medical. Sabres beat writer Bill Hoppe reports that the big defenseman was in fact having visual processing problems on the ice, with his right eye tracking faster than his left. This makes sense given Franson’s specific issues on the ice last season, as a normally-skilled possession defenseman had a hard time moving the puck and making and receiving passes. With the medical problem now fixed, Franson seems likely to have a comeback season in a contract year.
Elsewhere around the league:
- As training camp begins for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Cory Conacher acknowledges that this may be his ” last chance” at the NHL. The former “future star” is happy to be back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where his NHL career got off to a hot start with 24 points in his first 35 games in 2012-13, before he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Ben Bishop in one of the more lopsided deals in recent history. After struggling to find success with several different teams over the past few years, Conacher is back where it all began, looking to carve out a role for himself in the Tampa system the fit him so well.
- Dan Cleary is also getting another chance to extend his playing career, as he has signed a one-year deal with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced. Clearly had previously been invited to Detroit Red Wings camp, but after signing with their affiliate, he is guaranteed a contract for the coming year, while keeping his hopes alive of returning to the NHL. A veteran of almost 1,000 NHL games, Cleary played for Detroit for a decade, from 2005 to 2015, before being relegated down to the AHL level last season. While the numbers have certainly tailed off for the old two-way forward, he still brings leadership, a great hockey sense, and a genuine love of the game to the ice. While it seems unlikely that Cleary will make it back to the big leagues, fans should root for one of hockey’s great guys as he keeps living the dream.
- One athlete who never got his chance to play pro hockey, but has found success (and plenty of money) elsewhere is new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford. In a story by Chris Tomasson of Pioneer Press, he outlines how Bradford is “right at home in the State of Hockey”. As a great young hockey player, Bradford had NHL aspirations that some believed were actually reasonable. However, the struggles of making hockey fit into the life of a multi-sport student-athlete in Oklahoma were too much. Travel and time constraints eventually led to Bradford committing to football. A Heisman Trophy, number one overall selection, NFL Rookie of the Year Award, and more money already than most NHLers make in their whole career seem to prove that he made the right call, but Bradford’s love for hockey is still alive. While the Minnesota Wild likely won’t need his services this season, if he can lead the Vikings to success this season while supporting and frequently showing up at Wild games, he’ll soon make people forget all about Teddy Bridgewater.
Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament Round-Up
The 18th annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan took place this weekend, with games kicking off on Friday afternoon and finishing up tonight. The tourney featured eight teams, split into two divisions of four teams each playing in a round robin, followed by a series of games today between corresponding finishers in each division.
The field included the Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, and host Detroit Red Wings in the “Gordie Howe Division” and the Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and New York Rangers in the “Ted Lindsay Division”. Each team came in locked and loaded with their top prospects, as teams got the opportunity to evaluate their young talent and the players looked to impress and make a push for a shot at an NHL role.
Playing in the 7th-place game this afternoon were the Wild and Blackhawks. Minnesota went 0-3 in divisional play, while Chicago was able to pick up one win en route to a 1-2 record. However, when the teams met head-to-head, the Wild were able to finally get a “W” with a 2-1 result. The 5th-place game featured the Blues and Stars, with Dallas taking it by a convincing 5-3 score. The Stars just missed out on finishing second in their division, losing earlier in the tournament in overtime to the Rangers to fall to 1-1-1. They proved to be too much for the 1-2 St. Louis squad though and can be satisfied with a 5th-place finish.
The 3rd-place game that ended earlier tonight was between the top prospects for the Rangers and Blue Jackets, two teams who played well in the divisional round with 2-0-1 and 2-1 records respectively. The Jackets came out on top in the end, with a 6-4 win, continuing a strong offensive performance in the tournament. However, they did see their two-year championship run in Traverse City come to an end. While the Rangers couldn’t find victory, they have to be happy with the strong play of free agent phenomenon Jimmy Vesey. Finally, the tournament finale came down to the hometown Red Wings and a stacked Hurricanes team. Carolina had dominated their opponents all weekend and came into the 1st-place game undefeated and nearly unstoppable, and their luck did not change. Led by 2016 1st-rounders Julien Gauthier and Jake Bean, the Hurricanes took the title by a score of 6-4 over the 2-1 Detroit team and the best efforts of Tyler Bertuzzi.
The teams will all now head home and re-group, as they get ready for training camp and a handful of the tournament’s best players prepare for their first taste of NHL action.
Snapshots: Russell, Sproul, Fleischmann, Team USA
TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie appeared on TSN 1260 on Monday morning, and commented on Kris Russell as an option for Edmonton’s “hole on defense”. On the weekend, TSN 1260 host Dustin Nielson tweeted that the Oilers had reached out to Russell and that he expected the two sides to exchange numbers sometime this week.
McKenzie believes Russell would “probably” be a “decent fit” for the Oilers, especially if it’s on a short-term contract. He brought up the abundance of “third-pairing guys” the Oilers have, and wondered who would play with Andrej Sekera on the second pair.
McKenzie also suggested he could see why Russell would have interest in a short-term contract with Edmonton, with an opportunity to possibly play some top-four minutes before becoming a free agent next summer after team’s lose defensemen to Las Vegas in the expansion draft.
However, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal opined that he doesn’t see Russell as being better than any of the Oilers current top four of Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Sekera, or Brandon Davidson. While McKenzie labelled the latter as a “third-pairing” defender, Davidson did impress last season, working his way into the Oilers’ top four. Staples said he’s “not sure of Russell, but I’m sure those four can all play the game.”
McKenzie said Russell is still talking with as many as eight teams, including the Oilers’ provincial rivals the Calgary Flames. Russell spent three seasons in Calgary before being traded at last year’s trade deadline. McKenzie expects Russell to sign a one-year contract in the neighborhood of $4-5MM.
- Meanwhile, Ansar Khan tweeted a photo of Red Wings RFA defenseman Ryan Sproul skating with teammates at Joe Louis Arena. Khan noted that he expects Sproul to sign a one-year deal this week. Sproul is coming off his entry-level contract, where he went pointless in one NHL game and put up 93 points in 213 AHL games.
- Michael Russo, of the Minnesota Star Tribune, confirmed Elliotte Friedman’s speculation regarding UFA Tomas Fleischmann with Wild GM Chuck Fletcher. Fleischmann will be attending camp in Minnesota on a PTO. He has previously played for Wild coach Bruce Boudreau when the pair were in Washington.
- TSN’s Frank Seravalli was among those questioning Team USA’s new lines, asking if coach John Tortorella was “trolling the media” with the line of Justin Abdelkader, Derek Stepan, and Patrick Kane. The States face a must-win game versus northern rivals Canada tomorrow night.
PHR Originals: 9/12/16 – 9/18/16
Here is a look at the original content and analysis from the Pro Hockey Rumors staff over the past week:
- Gavin Lee and Glenn Miller both looked at compelling restricted free agents in 2017. Gavin focused on Artemi Panarin among others while Glenn wrote about Bo Horvat and three other future RFA’s.
- PHR started previewing the Central Division for the upcoming season:
- Brett Barrett analyzed the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets.
- Zach Leach investigated the Dallas Stars.
- Brian La Rose wrote about the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild.
- I took a look at the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.
- After hearing Bob McKenzie speak about the Habs on TSN 690, Brett wonders how short the leash is in Montreal. Make sure to join in on the conversation as it was heavily commented on by many of our readers.
- Finally, Mike Furlano outlined the reasoning for new goalie equipment rules after Bill Daly appeared on Sirius XM. Similar to the changes put in place following the strike, Mike details the changes that are coming to goalie pants regulations.
Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Panarin, Faksa, Niederreiter
Jacob Trouba, Johnny Gaudreau and Nikita Kucherov highlight a strong and deep group of restricted free agents that remain unsigned at the moment. While they will each ultimately cash in and receive substantial contracts for the 2016-17 campaign and likely beyond, their status as restricted free agents has certainly complicated their respective negotiation processes.
Next summer, another quality group of players are set to hit restricted free agency, unless they can agree to terms on a new deal prior to the 2017-18 league year. In a series of posts, Pro Hockey Rumors will profile the top pending 2017 RFAs and examine what kind of contract they could elicit assuming they put up a strong performance during their platform year. We move on to the Central Division.
Artemi Panarin (Chicago) – The 2015-16 Calder Trophy recipient can set himself up for a monster payday with another 30-goal, 70-point campaign in 2016-17. Panarin surprised many by quickly acclimating to North America and putting up huge offensive numbers right away. He kicked off the season with a goal in game one against the Rangers and remained consistent throughout the campaign finishing just one month – February – with fewer than 10 points.
The first name that comes to mind as a potential comparable is Vladimir Tarasenko, who netted 37 goals and totaled 73 points before receiving an eight-year extension from St. Louis with an AAV of $7.5MM. Another possibility would be Filip Forsberg, who averaged 30 goals and nearly 64 points in each of the two full seasons prior to inking his new $6MM-a-year deal.
As they do every summer, seemingly, Chicago will be confronted with a cap crunch and will be looking to try to save as much money as possible on Panarin’s next contract. A trade is always a possibility, as they did with Brandon Saad, but it’s hard to imagine the Hawks dealing away two dynamic young talents just two years apart. Best guess is Chicago pushes for something closer to $6MM per on a long term deal and Panarin’s camp asking for something closer to $7MM.
Radek Faksa (Dallas) – Ordinarily, a five-goal, 12-point rookie debut wouldn’t generate much interest but with another season to go before reaching restricted free agency, and all of the offensive firepower the Stars have accumulated, it’s possible the big and skilled Faksa enjoys a real breakout campaign in 2016-17. Faksa is 22, set to turn 23 in January. He’s at an age where players tend to hit their stride and with well over 100 professional games on his resume, Faksa now has invaluable experience to go along with his skill.
The other factor that will make this a potentially interesting negotiation is the Stars cap situation. The team should have around $25MM in available space but with only 11 players signed for 2017-18, the Stars will have to be judicious with their spending. A big sophomore campaign for Faksa will complicate matters for the Stars and their ability to replace other veteran players likely to depart after the season.
At this point, the best guess is likely a bridge deal for Faksa. Even presuming a productive 2016-17 season, he won’t have much of a track record to bank on. Depending on the quality of Faksa’s 2016-17 campaign, a contract comparable to the one-year deals inked by Zemgus Girgensons or Mikhail Grigorenko – for $1.15MM and $1.3MM respectively – could be a fair compromise. Girgensons had a solid 2014-15 season, scoring 15 goals and 30 points before struggling to an 18-point year in 2015-16. Grigorenko posted a scoring line of 6-21=27 for Colorado this past season as a 22-year-old.
If Faksa enjoys a better platform year, then perhaps the two-year, $5.5MM pact J.T. Miller and the Rangers settled on this summer is something the Czech center can shoot for. Miller bested his previous career highs in goals by 12 and points by 20 during the 2015-16 campaign and earned roughly a 300% bump in pay as a result. Faksa has the talent and may get the opportunity in Dallas to post that same type of breakout performance for the Stars.
Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota) – Niederreiter has quietly put together consecutive 20-goal campaigns and established a career best with 43 points in 2015-16 for the Minnesota Wild. He is entering the final season of a two-year, bridge contract that comes with an AAV of $2.67MM.
Niederreiter’s previous two seasons compare favorably to those of New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider. Kreider has tallied back-to-back 21-goal campaigns and combined for 89 points over that span. The big Swiss winger, on the other hand, has totaled 44 goals and 80 points over the last two years. Kreider finished his two-year bridge deal – AAV of $2.475 – and signed a four-year contract worth $18.5MM. That might represent a solid blue print for Niederreiter’s next pact.
2016-17 Season Preview: Minnesota Wild
As the NHL season is now less than a month away, we continue our look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Minnesota Wild.
Last Season: 38-33-11 record (87 points), 5th in the Central Division. Lost 4-2 to Dallas in Round 1.
Remaining Cap Space: $2.1MM as per Cap Friendly
Key Newcomers: D Victor Bartley (free agency, Montreal), Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, W Chris Stewart (free agency, Anaheim), C Eric Staal (free agency, NY Rangers)
Key Departures: RW Justin Fontaine (PTO, Florida), RW David Jones (free agency, unsigned), C Chris Porter (PTO, St. Louis), C Jarret Stoll (PTO, Columbus), Head Coach John Torchetti (was the interim coach last season), RW Thomas Vanek (buyout, Detroit)
[Related: Wild Depth Chart from Roster Resource]
Player to Watch: C Mikael Granlund: Over the last three seasons, Granlund has been a quality secondary player but has yet to take that next big step forward into a true core piece for the franchise. On the international stage, he is routinely one of Finland’s go-to players but he hasn’t been consistent enough to be one regularly in Minnesota.
With a new coach and system (more on that momentarily), the chance is there for Granlund to take those next steps and become a core player up front. If he needs any more motivation, he’s heading into the second and final year of a bridge deal that carries a salary of $3.2MM and a cap hit of $3MM. This is his big chance to prove that he’s worthy of a long-term, big money contract, not to mention a bigger role on the team.
He may have to spend some time on the wing this season (with Mikko Koivu and newcomer Eric Staal also at center) but if he does, he should at least still be in a top six role on a regular basis. The opportunity is there for Granlund; can he take advantage of it?
Key Storyline: The Wild have historically been known as a defense-first team dating back to the days of Jacques Lemaire as head coach. Even in recent years with different coaches behind the bench, that still has been the case as the team has finished in the top half in NHL scoring just once since Lemaire left following the 2008-09 campaign.
Expect things to be different with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench. His teams have a penchant for being in the top-10 in goals scored and he preaches more of an up-tempo system, something Minnesota hasn’t utilized much in recent years. Will that style of play help get veteran players like Staal, Zach Parise, and Jason Pominville back to the numbers they have shown themselves to be capable of producing? If that happens without hurting the team too much at the defensive end while youngsters like Granlund and Nino Niederreiter continue to improve, this is a team capable of surprising in the West.
Analyzing Chances Of Blues Tryouts To Make Team
Last year, both Scottie Upshall and Scott Gomez earned jobs with St. Louis after coming to camp on a tryout basis. While Gomez didn’t make it through the year with the club, Upshall performed well enough to earn a second one-year deal with the Blues. St. Louis appears to be going back to that well again by inviting six players to camp on PTO agreements. Those in search of a job with the Blues are Yan Stastny, Chris Porter, T.J Galiardi, Eric Nystrom, Scooter Vaughan and Mike Weber.
Writing for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Jeremy Rutherford provides a closer look at each of the six players invited to camp. Included in the post are comments from Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock. Those comments provide unique insight into the odds faced by each of the players attempting to make the 2016-17 Blues.
The Blues lost team captain David Backes and veteran power forward Troy Brouwer as free agents this summer. But the team acted quickly by signing David Perron to fill a hole on the wing. St. Louis also expects Vladimir Sobotka to return this season from the KHL and play a regular role with the Blues. That would seem to limit the opportunities for a forward to earn a job.
The team’s blue line is also stocked with enough quality players to fill all six regular slots, as the team’s depth chart on Roster Resource shows. Robert Bortuzzo is listed currently as the team’s seventh option on defense and he’s a decent fit for that role. Additionally, the team has their 2012 first-round pick, Jordan Schmaltz, waiting in the wings. The North Dakota product made his pro debut in 2015-16 with Chicago of the AHL and tallied 36 points in 71 games for the Wolves.