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Latest On Taylor Hall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Predators Loan Egor Afanasyev To CSKA Moscow

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One of the Nashville Predators’ top prospects is headed to one of the best teams in Europe. Egor Afanasyev, the Predators’ second-round pick in 2019, has been loaned to CSKA Moscow of the KHL, Nashville announced. The club did not specify whether the loan is for the entire 2020-21 season or merely until NHL training camp begins.

Afanasyev was born in Russia, but this will be his first time playing at a competitive level in his native country. Afanasyev moved to the United States earlier in his life and came up through the USHL before jumping to the OHL this past season. However, this move to the KHL – short or long term – could be a major benefit to Afanasyev’s development. The 6’4″, 200-lb. winger recorded 31 goals and 67 points in 62 games in his first OHL season and looked like he had already outgrown the junior ranks. Playing against older competition, and some of the best outside of North America, in the KHL will only help prepare Afanasyev to make the jump to Nashville sooner rather than later.

CSKA Moscow is not a bad place to start your pro career either. The 2019-20 regular season champs and 2018-19 Gagarin Cup champs are an elite squad. Afanasyev will be joining a roster that is flush with NHL experience and has made an effort to get younger. While he may not get significant ice time, Afansysev will be able to compete for opportunities and to learn from a number of player who know what it takes to break into the NHL.

Senators Acquire Austin Watson

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The Senators have added some muscle on the wings, announcing the acquisition of winger Austin Watson from Nashville.  In return, the Predators acquire Colorado’s fourth-round pick in 2021 (previously acquired by Ottawa).  GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement on the deal:

Austin Watson is a big, strong winger who will bring a significant presence to our forward group. He was among Nashville’s forward leaders in blocked shots last season, was the team’s leader in hits and is someone who is especially physical on the forecheck. We also expect him to be a valuable asset on our penalty kill.

The 28-year-old is coming off a fairly quiet season offensively after putting up six goals and eight assists in 53 games in 2019-20, his lowest point total since his rookie year in 2015-16.  However, as Dorion alluded to, he has been one of Nashville’s more physical players over the years and will bring that dimension to the Senators.  He has two years remaining on his contract with a $1.5MM AAV and that same salary each season.

As for Nashville, Watson’s spot is effectively being filled by Nick Cousins who signed a two-year deal yesterday with the same $1.5MM AAV.  The Preds now have over $14MM in cap room to work with, per CapFriendly but have several forwards to sign to fill out their roster.  Moving Watson out gives them a bit more flexibility as they look to reshape their forward group following the departures of Nick Bonino, Craig Smith, Kyle Turris, and Mikael Granlund.

Nick Cousins To Sign With Nashville Predators

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The Nashville Predators have added to their bottom-six, signing Nick Cousins to a two-year, $3MM contract according to Frank Seravalli of TSN. Cousins did not receive a qualifying offer from the Vegas Golden Knights and became an unrestricted free agent.

Now 27, Cousins has actually turned himself into quite an effective bottom-six forward over the last few seasons. Reliable for 10-12 goals and 20-25 points, he is also an excellent defender and can play center when needed. In Nashville, he amy be asked to play down the middle after the team moved on from both Nick Bonino and Kyle Turris in recent days, but will certainly get a nice opportunity to compete for the playoffs again. Before this season when he played in 17 games for the Golden Knights, Cousins had suited up for just six postseason matches in his career. He is still looking for that elusive first playoff goal.

For Nashville, they’ve now made several depth additons with Cousins, Mark Borowiecki and Matt Benning joing the team today, but still hacven’t made the big splash that was expected when they cleared so much cap room. With nearly a full roster and only Luke Kunin to sign among restricted free agents, the team still has more than $13MM in cap space to use.

Mark Borowiecki, Matt Benning Sign With Nashville Predators

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kyle Turris, Alan Quine Sign With Edmonton Oilers

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The Edmonton Oilers have signed Kyle Turris to a two-year contract, bringing him in just a few days after the Nashville Predators bought him out of the last four years of his previous deal. Turris, who is already earning $2MM from the Predators in each of the next eight years, will get another $1.65MM average annual value from the Oilers.

The Oilers have also signed Alan Quine according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Quine will earn $750K on a one-year deal. Though it won’t turn as many heads, PuckPedia reports that Seth Griffith is also headed to Edmonton on a two-year, two-way contract that carries a $725K cap hit at the NHL level. Not to be confused with a much-needed upgrade on the NHL roster, the club has also added some minor league depth in net with the addition of Anton Forsberg on a one-year contract. All of these deals have been confirmed by the Oilers.

Turris, 31, was what the Predators received in that infamous three-way Matt Duchene deal, but he never was able to live up to the huge contract extension they immediately handed him. Now bought out he can afford to take a much cheaper deal to play in Edmonton, where he can slot in as the team’s third-line center behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

That’s a pretty good place to get your career back on track and Turris could be a perfect fit for the Oilers. The veteran forward has shown an ability to score in bunches, even reaching a career-high of 27 goals a few years ago.

Nashville Predators To Buy Out Kyle Turris, Steven Santini

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After trading away Nick Bonino, the Nashville Predators are clearing even more space down the middle. The team has placed Kyle Turris on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout. With four years remaining on his contract, the Predators will incur a cap charge of $2MM for the next eight seasons.

The team has also placed Steven Santini on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout. Since Santini is still just 25, the Predators will only have to pay one-third of his remaining salary. That will result in a cap charge of just $41,667 in 2020-21 and $275K in 2021-22.

The big news here is Turris, who signed a massive six-year, $36MM contract with the Predators in 2017 after coming over from the Ottawa Senators in that infamous three-way Matt Duchene deal with the Colorado Avalanche. Remember, the Predators gave up Sam Girard, Vladislav Kamenev and a second-round pick to be involved in that trade, a brutal price to pay when looking back with the benefit of hindsight.

Not only did Turris not pan out, but the team will now have a $2MM cap charge for nearly a decade just to make sure he doesn’t play for them anymore. Getting out from under his contract was important, but this is a hefty penalty to deal with in a flat cap environment.

Amazingly though, Turris now becomes an interesting option on the open market, given his experience at center and previous success. This is a player who scored at least 24 goals in three different seasons for the Senators and could now be available for a very low price. You can bet that someone will take a chance on the 31-year-old when he becomes a free agent.

Nashville, Minnesota Complete Nick Bonino Trade

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Trade winds are blowing strong today. After Matt Murray was moved just before the start of the draft, the Minnesota Wild have acquired Nick Bonino from the Nashville Predators. The Wild will also receive picks 37 and 70 in today’s draft, in exchange for Luke Kunin and pick 101.

Wild GM Bill Guerin was with the Pittsburgh Penguins when Bonino won consecutive Stanley Cups and now he brings him into a new team that is desperate for reliable play down the middle. After trading Eric Staal and letting Mikko Koivu leave in free agency, the Wild have made several moves to address the middle of the ice. Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Johansson have both already been acquired through trade, meaning Minnesota will have a brand new look up front next season.

Kunin is the latest to be moved out, but he’s certainly not in the same decline phase as Koivu and Staal. Instead, the 22-year-old forward was one of Minnesota’s younger players and is coming off his first full season in the NHL. Kunin recorded 15 goals and 31 points in 63 games for the team, but still has some warts in his game at the defensive end.

Bonino is certainly more well-rounded, but he also comes with a price tag of $4.1MM. The Predators were clearly ready to move money out of the middle—they followed the Bonino trade with a buyout of Kyle Turris—and are now set up to be spenders in free agency once again. For the Wild, Bonino only has one year remaining on his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. While the team certainly could re-sign him, the veteran center is now 32 and hasn’t scored 20 goals in a season since 2013-14.

Morning Notes: Johnson, Murray, Predators

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Jim Rutherford may be a bigger fan than most of Jack Johnson, but that doesn’t mean the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman will be in the lineup on opening night. Rutherford, the Penguins GM, spoke with Josh Yohe of The Athletic yesterday and explained that after acquiring Mike Matheson from the Florida Panthers there may not be any room on the left side for Johnson next season.

[Brian] Dumoulin and [Marcus] Petterson are still young and aren’t going anywhere. And obviously we like Matheson a great deal. He’ll play on the left side. So, that’s our left side. Those three. That’s it.

Rutherford suggested that Johnson could play the right side or is maybe “just going to be a depth guy” for 2020-21, but it certainly wasn’t the same vote of confidence he gave when the season ended. There is still lots of offseason left and the Penguins priority may be moving a goaltender, but make no mistake that there may still be changes coming on the blue line.

  • Michael Murray has been hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant to the general manager, coming over from his post with the AHL. Murray was named vice president of hockey operations for the minor league in 2011 and was considered the second in command behind commissioner Dave Andrews. As Michael Russo of The Athletic points out on Twitter, Murray happens to be the son of Minnesota GM Bill Guerin’s former agent. The team explained that Murray will help oversee the day-to-day of the hockey operations department and assist with contract negotiations, player development, and scouting.
  • The Nashville Predators are considering moving one of their centers according to Frank Seravalli of TSN, who lists Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, and Nick Bonino on his latest Trade Bait board and mentions Kyle Turris as well. Nashville has an incredible $26.1MM in cap space locked up in those four, with only Bonino’s deal (the cheapest of the bunch) expiring anytime soon. There wasn’t a 45-point player in the bunch of them this season, with Duchene (42) coming closest.

Nashville Predators Will Not Re-Sign Mikael Granlund, Craig Smith

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The forward corps of the Nashville Predators will look a bit different next season. Not only is Nashville believed to be in the market for a top-six addition, but they also won’t be bringing back two of their top-nine forwards from this past season. Craig Smith, a career Predator, and Mikael Granlund, a big 2019 trade addition, will test the free agent market. GM David Poile tells Paul Skrbina of the Nashville Tennesean that the team will not re-sign either veteran forward.

In a relatively thin free agent market, Granlund and Smith will be two of the more sought-after names among available forwards. Granlund’s time in Nashville, spent recording just 35 points in 79 total games, did not go as expected for either side. However, Granlund was a premiere forward during his days with the Minnesota Wild, possessing 70-point upside and the versatility to play any position up front. At just 27 years old, a team looking to land a true top-six forward will likely be happy to take a shot on Granlund and hope the fit is better than it was in Nashville. In Smith, interested teams could land an aggressive, goal-scoring right wing. While Smith has shown 50+ point ability in the past, he is probably more of a 30-point player as he heads into his thirties. A strong possession player with great work ethic, Smith will be an excellent third-line option for a contender barring a negative effect of leaving the Predators system.

With the cap space saved by not extending Smith or Granlund, the Predators will have some flexibility to add another piece. However, Poile also stated that he is looking for some promotion from within. One option is another impending free agent, Colin Blackwell, who scored at an impressive clip in limited showings in the NHL and AHL this season. Poile confirmed to Skrbina that the team is currently negotiating with Blackwell and could reach a new deal. Frederick Gaudreau is another UFA-to-be who has solid AHL production and NHL experience. However, Blackwell and Gaudreau are both 27 and the team could look to go younger with their open roster spots. Poile mentions 23-year-old Rem Pitlick and 21-year-old Eeli Tolvanen as names likely to be given a long look at a regular role next season.

 

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