Jordie Benn To Test Free Agency
Jordie Benn set career highs in nearly every category this season, but it won’t be enough to earn him another contract with the Montreal Canadiens. The veteran defenseman will test unrestricted free agency, Canadiens’ GM Marc Bergevin told reporters including Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Bergevin also confirmed to Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Michael McCarron was qualified, and that he hasn’t made a final decision on whether he’ll use a buyout.
Benn, 31, played in 81 games for the first time in his career and recorded five goals and 22 points for the Canadiens. The versatile defender led the team in blocked shots and logged the most short-handed time—Shea Weber averaged just two seconds more per game on the penalty kill, but suited up just 58 times. In 473 career games, Benn now has 110 points could actually be considered one of the more attractive options on the open market this season. Since Erik Karlsson, Alexander Edler and others have re-signed, the blue line free agent depth is looking extremely thin. Benn’s 22 points puts him behind only Tyler Myers, Jake Gardiner, Niklas Kronwall and Ron Hainsey among UFA defensemen.
The left-handed defenseman is coming off a three-year deal signed in 2016 that paid him just $1.1MM per season, something he will likely be able to significantly eclipse on the open market this summer. Probably his best chance for a real career-defining contract, it will be interesting to see who goes after Benn and whether or not the Dallas Stars show any desire to reunite him with his brother Jamie Benn.
New York Rangers Involved In Multiple Trade Discussions
“This may mean we lose some familiar faces, guys we all care about and respect.”
That’s what the New York Rangers front office stated in a letter dated February 8, 2018 as they began their deconstruction of a roster that had brought such immense regular season success. That day they waived Brendan Smith less than a year after signing him to a four-year extension, and two weeks later started the process of selling off all the aging or expiring assets. First out the door was Nick Holden, then Michael Grabner and Rick Nash. That could have been a shocking trade deadline it its own right, but GM Jeff Gorton had an even bigger deal up his sleeve, sending captain Ryan McDonagh and power forward J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning. A year later Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes were shipped off as well.
Now, even after starting to turn the corner from tear down to rebuild with acquisitions like Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba, the Rangers still might have a few items for sale. Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the Rangers are “involved in multiple discussions to improve their club” at the moment, and lists Chris Kreider, Jimmy Vesey, Vladislav Namestnikov, Kevin Shattenkirk and Pavel Buchnevich as potential trade options. Indeed Vesey even rose to the eighth spot on his Trade Bait board, noting that the Rangers have “a lot on the go.”
That TSN report comes at nearly the same time as Larry Brooks’ latest column for the New York Post, which suggests that this is likely the end for Kreider in New York. Brooks reports that the Rangers and Kreider’s agent Matt Keator of Olympic Sports Management haven’t yet held a “substantive conversation” about what a contract extension would look like. The 28-year old forward has just one year remaining on his current deal, and would likely fetch the biggest return out of the group listed above.
The questions will now become what the Rangers are after. Do they move Kreider for more draft picks and continue to collect young talent, or do they try and bring in more established players like Trouba to start the turnaround right away. With just two players on the entire roster signed for more than two years—Mika Zibanejad and Brady Skjei—the team has more flexibility than almost any in the league. Free agency will be a tempting pool to jump into this season, especially with the expected interest of Artemi Panarin and others in playing for a New York-area team.
First though the team must navigate the next few days and decide whether or not they will be losing some more familiar faces—even ones that they care about and respect.
Montreal Canadiens To Host 2020 NHL Entry Draft
The NHL Entry Draft is staying in Canada, as the league announced today that the 2020 draft will be held in Montreal on June 26-27. It was last held there in 2009, but Montreal has a long history with the draft including hosting the first 22 iterations from 1963 to 1984.
Not only will it be a great chance for the Canadiens to host the NHL, but potential first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere should feel right at home. The talented forward is from close by St-Eustache. Lafreniere recorded 128 points in 74 games this season for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, despite being just 17 years old. He’ll hope to follow in the footsteps of the last man picked first in Montreal—John Tavares.
Montreal Not Expected To Qualify Shinkaruk, Audette
The Montreal Canadiens are starting to make decisions on their group of restricted free agents. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports is reporting that the team will not issue qualifying offers to both Hunter Shinkaruk and Daniel Audette, making both of them unrestricted free agents this summer. Meanwhile the team has offered Charles Hudon a qualifying offer, according to several reports including Chantal Machabee of RDS. Hudon is said to have turned down the offer, meaning he can either file for salary arbitration or continue to negotiate a new contract with the Canadiens.
Shinkaruk, 24, ended up in the Montreal organization after a trade last summer with the Calgary Flames. It was the second time in his young career he’d been flipped, thanks to a relatively uninspiring performance so far at the professional level. Originally selected by the Vancouver Canucks 24th overall in 2013, Shinkaruk has played just 15 games at the NHL level and has just four points to show for it. Even with the Laval Rocket in the AHL last season he was disappointing, recording ten points in 54 games. He’ll likely get a chance for a fresh start somewhere else, hopefully resulting in his full offensive potential coming out.
Audette, 23, is a different story entirely. Selected in the fifth round five years ago, the undersized forward has actually been relatively effective at the AHL level. He finished third on the Rocket in scoring last season with 39 points, but apparently hasn’t done enough to warrant an NHL contract. The Canadiens already have 40 on the books for next season, meaning they have to be very careful with who they issue qualifying offers to this summer. It will be interesting to see if Montreal circles back and tries to get Audette to stay on an AHL deal.
Meanwhile, Hudon has been a frustratingly inconsistent player at the NHL level. The 24-year old forward was dynamite at the AHL level for several years, and even recorded 30 points in his first full season in Montreal. That was followed by an extremely disappointing five points in 2018-19, and though that came in just 32 games played it is not clear if he can be a long-term contributor.
Minor Notes: O’Brien, Sholl, Lacouvee
Minor league forward Jim O’Brien will be taking his talents overseas, as the 30-year old has signed with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers of Germany’s DEL. It’s been a tough road back for the veteran forward, after severing a tendon in his right leg during a game in late September last year. O’Brien finished with just three points in 11 games for the Belleville Senators and will see his contract with Ottawa expire in a few weeks.
Originally selected in the first round by the Senators back in 2007, it never has quite worked out at the NHL level for O’Brien. The two-way center was a star in the WHL but got off to a rocky start in his professional career, and rarely got an opportunity at the highest level. In 77 NHL games he has just 13 points, a number he’ll obviously try to eclipse this season with Nuremberg.
- The Texas Stars have signed Tomas Sholl to an AHL contract for 2019-20, keeping the former Bowling Green State goaltender in the organization for another year. Sholl has played the majority of the last two seasons in the ECHL where he has been one of the league’s best goaltenders, posting a .928 save percentage in 2018-19. He very well could return to that league this season, unless the Stars believe he’s ready for more advanced competition in the AHL.
- Speaking of minor league goaltenders, the Laval Rocket have re-signed Connor Lacouvee for another season. The 25-year old will be on an AHL contract and hope to get a bigger opportunity this season. Bouncing around between the ECHL and AHL, Lacouvee ended up playing 37 games in total but was a surprisingly effective option for the Rocket. With the Montreal Canadiens likely graduating Charlie Lindgren to the NHL they have just two other goaltenders in the organization. Lacouvee, while technically not under contract with Montreal, will be able to help out their minor league system while trying to show he’s ready for even more responsibility.
Free Agent Focus: New York Rangers
Free agency is now less than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Rangers have a lot of options when it comes to the upcoming free agency period, but don’t have as much to concern themselves with when it comes to their own free agents. New York does have a few restricted free agents they must worry about, but few players to concern themselves among unrestricted free agents.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Pavel Buchnevich — The Rangers must be thrilled with the continued improvements of their 24-year-old forward, who has continually taken his game up a notch in all three years, scoring eight goals as a rookie, 14 goals last season and moving into a permanent top-six role in 2018-19 with a 21-goal campaign. That number was more impressive considering he only played 64 games due to a broken thumb and some issues with head coach David Quinn, although he eventually developed a solid relationship with the coach. His 15:10 ATOI was lower than a number of lesser forwards as he ranked ninth in that area among forwards, but should increase significantly next season. Now that his entry-level deal is up, New York must pay him significantly more than the $925K he was previously making. However, with his development, it’s more likely the team will seek a bridge deal in hopes that his progress continues to improve.
F Brendan Lemieux — The Rangers didn’t get a lot of time to evaluate Lemieux, who the team acquired at the trade deadline as part of the Kevin Hayes trade. While not a key piece to the deal, New York hoped that the 23-year-old would give them a key bottom-six winger for a number of years as he had proved to be an agitator in his 53 games played in Winnipeg. Lemieux started his tenure in New York off well as he provided that grit the team needed, but after averaging 7:25 of ATOI with the Jets, his minutes jumped to 12:50 with the Rangers, and he quickly wore down, suggesting he lacked conditioning. In 19 games, he accumulated six points, 64 penalty minutes and two misconducts, which is a lot of penalties. Regardless, it’s likely the Rangers will seek a short-term deal so that Lemieux can prove himself.
D Neal Pionk — After showing off impressive skills in a trial during the 2017-18 season, the 23-year-old blueliner didn’t fare as well in his first full season with the Rangers. Pionk finished the season with six goals and 26 points but also saw his plus/minus drop to minus-16, but found himself in Quinn’s doghouse quite often in the second half of the season and was often a healthy scratch as he tallied just one point and seven points in his final 37 games. With a number of young defenseman close to ready for a regular NHL role, general manager Jeff Gorton will have to decide whether Pionk should stay with the defense or whether the team should move on from him. Expect him to get a short-term or even more likely a one-year deal on a “prove it” contract.
Other RFAs: D Julius Bergman, D Chris Bigras, D Fredrik Claesson, D Anthony DeAngelo, G Brandon Halverson, F Vinni Lettieri, G Chris Nell
Key Unrestricted Free Agents: D John Gilmour — Yes, Gilmour, who played a total of five games for the Rangers this past year, is the team’s top unrestricted free agent. The Group 6 free agent played 28 games during the 2017-18 season, but found himself playing a full season for the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL where he dominated, scoring 20 goals and 54 points and was named to the AHL All-Star team. However, he has been passed over on the prospect chart by Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek and doesn’t seem to be a major part of the team’s long-range plans although he could be a cheap 6/7th defensive option for the Rangers if they want a low-cost option.
Other UFAs: F Connor Brickley, D Rob O’Gara, G Dustin Tokarski
Projected Cap Space: With a little less than $64MM in commitments for next season (per CapFriendly), the team has room to make changes, but it’s unlikely the team will make any long-term commitments in house this offseason. The team is far more likely to go with multiple short-term deals and focus on fast-tracking their rebuilding efforts as they will likely attempt to bring in a top free agent to supplement its young players.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Montreal Canadiens Agree To Terms With Gustav Olofsson
The Montreal Canadiens have agreed to terms with pending restricted free agent Gustav Olofsson on a one-year two-way deal. The contract will pay Olofsson $700K in the NHL level, and guarantee him at least $300K. The 24-year old defenseman will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the deal if he fails to play in 24 NHL games this season.
Olofsson was acquired by the Canadiens last October, but ended up playing in just two AHL games all season thanks to a shoulder injury. That meant he wasn’t able to help Montreal as they dealt with injuries on the NHL club, and sent him into this offseason in uncertain territory. Apparently he did enough to impress the front office and will try to show he can be an asset to the organization in 2019-20.
Montreal now has just three more defensemen to make a decision on, as Jordie Benn (UFA), Mike Reilly (RFA) and Brett Lernout (RFA) are the only free agents remaining. Even before any big moves this summer the team has a good amount of depth on the blue line, though it could probably use an upgrade at the NHL level if the Canadiens want to return to the playoffs. Olofsson isn’t that just yet, but don’t be surprised if he gets an opportunity to show he belongs at the highest level.
New York Rangers Won’t Rule Out Buyouts
The New York Rangers are on their way to a quick rebuild, armed with a huge number of young talented players that should make an NHL impact as soon as this season. That’s why they’ve been connected to several top free agents, who could potentially propel them back into the playoffs right away. The question of whether they can afford said free agents has also been asked however, given some of the bad contracts still on the books for another few seasons. GM Jeff Gorton spoke about that with Larry Brooks of the New York Post about the team’s offseason, and admitted that they haven’t ruled out buying someone out this summer.
Brooks suggests two candidates for the process, Brendan Smith and Kevin Shattenkirk, who combined would save the Rangers more than $8MM in cap space this season if bought out. The first buyout window opens on Saturday, but another one will also open later in the summer as long as multiple restricted free agents file for arbitration (the Rangers currently have six players in the organization eligible to file). The scribe also notes that the team has found no interest on the trade market for either player, even offering to retain 50% of their remaining salary.
Smith, 27, has performed poorly since signing his four-year $17.4MM contract with the Rangers in 2017. He ended up clearing waivers and being sent to the minor leagues in 2017-18, and even suited up at forward several times this season just to get him into some game action. In 63 games during the 2018-19 season he recorded just 13 points.
Shattenkirk meanwhile was the prize of free agency in 2017, but ended up signing just a four-year $26.6MM deal in order to play for New York. That relatively short term looks like a brilliant decision by the Rangers now, given how far his game has fallen since the deal was inked. Once a premiere offensive defenseman that logged at least 40 points in five consecutive (full-length) seasons, Shattenkirk has seen his point production fall off and his playing time with it. He recorded just 28 points in 73 games this season and was a healthy scratch at times. While he still provides excellent possession numbers, it’s clear that head coach David Quinn can’t trust him enough in the defensive zone to give him the 22+ minutes a night he was once earning in St. Louis.
Even if they don’t go down the buyout road, the Rangers are in pretty good health financially when it comes to the salary cap. Only two players on the entire roster are signed for more than two seasons, and both—Brady Skjei and Mika Zibanejad—are young enough that a decline should not be expected during those deals. Nearly the entire forward core is on their last season under contract, meaning the team can structure their salary situation however they please over the next 12 months. If that includes going after a big name in free agency so be it, but it also could revolve around new deals for players like Chris Kreider, who will enter next season as a pending unrestricted free agent and top trade bait if the year starts without an extension.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Buyout Watch: Most Likely Candidates As Buyout Window Nears
At this time next week, there could already be a few notable additions to the impending unrestricted free agent class. The NHL’s buyout window is set to open on Saturday, June 15th, after which teams will have 15 days to buy out unwanted contracts before the month ends and free agency begins on July 1st. This year in particular, there seem to be a surplus of teams upset with their current salary cap position and itching to remove a contract from their books that has not yielded the expected results. Yet, at a cost of two-thirds of the remaining salary and double the remaining term (in most cases), as well as the side effects of pay and bonus structure, it may not always be the best route. The following are some of the top names that could be bought out later this month and the cost to do so:
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Contract Remaining: Two years, $8.625MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $2.625MM/$6.625MM/$2MM/$2MM
The most recent name to hit the buyout rumor mill, Perry’s contract is undoubtedly an albatross and it is difficult to see him getting back to the pace and production that initially warranted his high cap hit. A buyout would give the Ducks immediate relief this year and $2MM in years three and four is not bad. However, the 2020-21 cost is not ideal. However, it’s hard to see anyone trading for Perry’s contract with so many unknowns about his game, so this could be the only choice for Anaheim.
Dion Phaneuf, Los Angeles Kings
Contract Remaining: Two years, $7MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $2.917MM/$5.417MM/$1.417MM/$1.417MM
The Kings want to get younger and faster and want some cap space to improve. Moving Phaneuf accomplishes all of that, and L.A. has good blue line depth to fall back on in the short-term. Like Perry, this buyout hurts in year two, but is otherwise tolerable. The Kings will try to trade Phaneuf and may succeed, otherwise this is a likely buyout scenario.
Scott Darling, Carolina Hurricanes
Contract Remaining: Two years, $4.15MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $1.233MM/$2.333MM/$1.183MM/$1.183MM
One of the earliest reported buyout rumors was that of Darling, and for good reason. The former star backup has not panned out as a starter for Carolina, a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final with a tandem of a UFA flier and a veteran waiver claim. The Hurricanes may not have any experienced goalies under contract for next season yet besides Darling, but that won’t stop them from moving on and going back to the free agent market or their talented pipeline for answers, especially with this very palatable buyout and few cap concerns.
Ryan Callahan, Tampa Bay Lightning
Contract Remaining: One year, $5.8MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $2.667MM/$1.567MM
Callahan won’t be in Tampa one way or another next season. The team is facing a difficult cap crunch and there’s no room for the veteran, who has played little role in recent years. A buyout doesn’t give the Bolts the full savings they’d hope for this upcoming season and a trade likely remains preferable, but Callahan’s stock is not high and a buyout remains the more likely resolution.
Valeri Nichushkin, Dallas Stars
Contract Remaining: One year, $2.95MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $700K/$450K
Nichushkin’s age makes his buyout fall under the second category of buyout wherein only one-third of the remaining salary is accounted for. As such, his buyout would mean almost nothing for Dallas’ cap calculations. The young winger failed to score a goal last season as a regular player and both sides would seemingly benefit from a split. It’s not certain that the Stars will move on, but should they choose to, a buyout is a painless option.
Brendan Smith, New York Rangers
Contract Remaining: Two years, $4.35MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $971K/$3.146MM/$1.146MM/$1.146MM
Smith has been a disaster in New York and certainly not the player that the Rangers saw perform well in the postseason as a deadline addition in 2016-17. It’s hard to see a fit for Smith moving forward, even more so than other unfriendly defense contracts like Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk. It’s even more difficult to see him having any trade value, so the team would have to go the buyout route. It’s not a terrible option, but as frequently happens, the year one savings come back to bite with a hefty year two increase.
Karl Alzner, Montreal Canadiens
Contract Remaining: Three years, $4.625MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $1.069MM/$4.194MM/$2.194MM/$1.069MM/$1.069MM/$1.069MM
Alzner had one point in nine games with Montreal last season, which is enough to say he’s not in the Canadiens’ long-term plans. He could be on their books for a long time to come with a potential six-year buyout structure, but at a relatively low cost most years. Alzner needs a fresh start and it’s fair to assume that Montreal will give him one.
Milan Lucic, Edmonton Oilers
Contract Remaining: Four years, $6MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $3.625MM/$5.625MM/$4.125MM/$5.625MM/$625K/$625K/$625K/$625K
Loui Eriksson, Vancouver Canucks
Contract Remaining: Three years, $6MM cap hit
Buyout Cost (each year): $5.556MM/$5.556MM/$3.556MM/$556K/$556K/$556K
Lucic and Eriksson have been tied together by rumors all off-season and one more thing they share: poor buyout possibilities. As bad as Lucic’s contract is, based on his drop-off in performance, his buyout is still very expensive for four more years and then extends another four years beyond that. The Oilers would be better off continuing to search for some way to trade him, no matter how slim the chances. As for Eriksson, his front-loaded contract makes a buyout pointless. The Canucks would pay almost the same amount in each of the next two years as if he was still on the team, then would have the cap penalty for another four years after that. Vancouver and Edmonton are likely stuck with these players, unless of course they swap them for each other.
Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Oilers, Canucks
After two years of heavy turnover and maneuvering to get their franchise off to a hot start, it looks like the Vegas Golden Knights will be taking a back seat when free agency opens on July 1. While most people weren’t expecting Vegas to be active this offseason, with their cap room already used up, Ken Boehlke of SinBin.vegas writes that President of Hockey Operations George McPhee admitted the team will be inactive:
Well we’re in pretty good shape with our core group. We have basically everyone signed up and we are close on some other things. So I don’t imagine we’re going to be out looking at free agents this summer. We like the team the way it is and we like the young guys that we have coming along.
What McPhee meant when he said the team was close on some other things could be very interesting, although it could range anywhere from a potential long-term deal with restricted free agent William Karlsson, to potential deals for fellow RFA’s Nikita Gusev, Tomas Nosek, Jimmy Schuldt or veteran UFA Deryk Engelland, or even a trade to free up cap space to sign any of them.
- The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis (subscription required) looks at the potential compatibility between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets, wondering if the two teams might be a perfect match for solving each of their problems. The scribe suggests the Jets could use Edmonton to help unload some of their less-significant contracts, such as Mathieu Perreault or Dmitry Kulikov, or if the Jets are more motivated, they could consider sending winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who is coming off a disappointing season, to Edmonton for a package that could include a defenseman such as Darnell Nurse or Andrej Sekera and some of Edmonton’s youth that could help bolster the team’s depth.
- Allan Mitchell of the Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Oilers are in need of an inexpensive third-line center option, one that can kill penalties, suggesting the team look via the trade market to find that player. He writes that the Oilers should consider trying to pry Montreal Canadiens’ center Phillip Danault, as well as look at Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry, Ottawa’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Detroit’s Luke Glendening, or Dallas’ Radek Faksa. The scribe adds that the most likely candidate that Edmonton would be able to steal away could be Pageau.
- The Vancouver Sun’s Patrick Johnston writes that the Vancouver Canucks should seriously consider trying to convince Toronto Maple Leafs unrestricted free agent Jake Gardiner to sign with them this offseason. While there have been rumors that Toronto wants to unload other contracts in hopes of keeping Gardiner in the fold, Johnston writes that Gardiner would be the perfect puck-carrying defenseman that the team hasn’t had since Alexander Edler was in his prime. However, he wonders whether the U.S.-born blue liner might prefer to avoid playing in Canada after a taking a lot of heat from Toronto fans over the years.