Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Chris Wideman
Defenseman Chris Wideman is on the move for the third time this season. The impending free agent has been traded by the Florida Panthers to the Pittsburgh Penguins, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that forward Jean-Sebastien Dea heads the other way to Florida.
Wideman began the season with the Ottawa Senators, but was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in November for a sixth-round pick. After he wasn’t a fit in Edmonton, Wideman was sent to the Florida Panthers as part of the package for Alexander Petrovic. He now joins his fourth team of the season in Pittsburgh, but it may be his best opportunity yet at play time. Having played just six games combined since leaving Ottawa, Wideman now joins a team that is currently without Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, and Olli Maatta and will ask he and another new acquisition, Erik Gudbranson, to help make up for their absences. For now, Wideman will report to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but will likely be recalled if Letang and Dumoulin remain sidelined.
Meanwhile, Dea has also been on the move frequently this year. The 25-year-old forward played 20 games with the New Jersey Devils after being claimed on waivers earlier this season, but returned to Pittsburgh via waivers afterward. Dea has spent the majority of the season in the AHL, only playing three games for the Penguins. He now heads to Florida where he will try to prove he is worthy of regular play time. Dea is currently a candidate for Group 6 free agency at the end of the season, so his time with the Panthers could be short-lived.
Boston Bruins Add Marcus Johansson
The Boston Bruins have been in search of a top-six winger even after acquiring Charlie Coyle and have found their man in Marcus Johansson. The Athletic’s Joe McDonald was the first to report that the team had acquired Johansson from the New Jersey Devils. TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that the return is a 2019 second-round pick and 2020 fourth-round pick. The Devils will also retain 40% of the impending UFA’s salary – approximately $1.833MM – so as to allow the Bruins room to allow room for bonuses in their year-end cap accounting.
The Bruins had been linked to nearly every major rental forward available at the deadline, but seemingly balked at the high prices. While Johansson isn’t exactly the right-shot goal-scoring forward that would have been the ideal fit, he will certainly help with the team’s lack of secondary scoring. While injury issues have limited Johansson’s offensive totals in New Jersey, his per-game production has been back at his regular career levels this season. His shooting percentage is also down, but could improve on a superior team. A creative offensive player, Johansson should add to Boston’s potent power play and could slot in on a line with David Krejci or the newly-acquired Coyle. Bruins GM Don Sweeney opted for the safe play at the deadline, but Johansson has the upside to fit in well in Boston (so long as he can put his past with Brad Marchand behind him).
Meanwhile, New Jersey GM Ray Shero deserves credit for the haul he has been able to bring in at the deadline for Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy, Keith Kinkaid, and now Johansson. The Devils picked up two seconds, a third, a fourth, and a fifth, as well as young defenseman Connor Carrick in exchange for expiring pieces that haven’t exactly been world-beaters this season. It’s been a nice deadline for New Jersey in an otherwise disappointing season.
Adam McQuaid Traded To Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets have already pushed quite a few chips to the middle of the table, and now will throw a tip to the dealer. Adam McQuaid is the latest player to be acquired by the Blue Jackets according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, while Darren Dreger of TSN adds that the New York Rangers will receive a 2019 fourth-round pick and a 2019 seventh-round pick. The Rangers’ confirmation of the deal adds that minor league defenseman Julius Bergman was also included in the return.
With this trade, the Rangers recoup the same picks they traded to the Boston Bruins to get McQuaid this off-season, essentially renting the physical blue liner for five months at the cost of depth defender Steven Kampfer. The asking price for McQuaid was rumored to be at least a third-round pick. Following the Dallas Stars’ acquisition of a similar veteran defenseman in Ben Lovejoy from the New Jersey Devils yesterday for a third-rounder and young defenseman Connor Carrick, that price was expected to go up. However, it seems the market never really developed for McQuaid despite the lack of quality rental defenders on the trade block.
The Blue Jackets made their two big trades before deadline day, adding former Ottawa Senators forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, but continue to address their depth in other areas with a second value addition today. After adding former New Jersey Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid as a solid third-string option in net for just a future fifth-round pick, they add a nice complementary piece on the blue line in McQuaid. Solidifying their defensive depth has been a need for the Blue Jackets and McQuaid fits the bill. The 6’4″, 210-lb. defender is an experienced pro with a Stanley Cup title to his name – the only Blue Jacket with that claim – and brings a strong, physical presence to the right side. McQuaid is likely to slot in as an everyday bottom-pair defenseman for Columbus down the stretch and in the postseason.
Columbus is likely done for the day and for good reason. Although they have addressed many needs and have found good value in several trades, the McQuaid acquisition leaves the Blue Jackets with just their own third-round pick and the Calgary Flames’ seventh-round pick to represent their entire 2019 draft class. GM Jarmo Kekalainen has undoubtedly decided to go all in this season to get Columbus deep into the postseason for the first time in franchise history, but has done so at the cost of the pipeline. The question now is whether it was all worth it.
New Jersey Devils Place Eric Gryba On Waivers
Monday: Gryba has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues. The other four players, Chris Driedger, Jeremy Smith, Adam Wilcox and Lee Stempniak also all cleared after signing NHL contracts.
Sunday: While the waiver wire features mostly recently-signed players today, one current player did slip into the mix. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that New Jersey Devils defenseman Eric Gryba has been placed on waivers. The veteran defenseman has cleared waivers previously this season, but could be a more interesting target with the deadline approaching and an underwhelming market for rental defensemen.
Gryba, 30, has had an up-and-down year. Bought out by the Edmonton Oilers this past summer, Gryba signed a one-year deal with the Devils in hopes of continuing his NHL career. Waived initially in late October, Gryba has played in just ten games with New Jersey versus 32 games with AHL Binghamton. Interestingly, Gryba has performed better in the NHL than in the AHL, at least defensively. Gryba is very much a stay-at-home defender with little to no offensive role, but has looked like a reliable depth option during appearances with New Jersey. Meanwhile, his -10 rating in Binghamton is worst among defensemen.
Gryba appears to be a player best suited for a No. 7 or 8 role in the NHL at this point in his career. He’s still solid defensively most of the time and can step in and be a capable presence in his own end, but lacks the offensive contribution or skating ability to play regular minutes, even in the AHL. Fortunately, at this time of year many teams are looking for that dependable deep depth piece. With the defense rental market highlighted by uninspiring names like Adam McQuaid, Michael Del Zotto, Bogdan Kiselevich, and Alex Petrovic, a team might prefer claiming Gryba for the stretch run rather than overpaying for a mediocre addition.
Deadline Primer: New Jersey Devils
With the trade deadline now just hours away, we wrap up our team-by-team breakdown with an assessment of the New Jersey Devils.
After a surprise run to the playoffs last season, expectations were reasonably high for the Devils coming into the season. However, things have not gone well. Taylor Hall has missed considerable time due to injury while their goaltending has been a major concern. As a result, they will find themselves on the outside looking in at the postseason and will be looking to add some future assets over the coming hours.
Record
24-30-8, eighth in the Metropolitan Division
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$66.264MM in a full-season cap hit, 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2019: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NSH 2nd, ANA 3rd, DAL 3rd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th
2020: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NJ 3rd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th
Trade Chips
Winger Marcus Johansson is another player that has dealt with injury troubles this season but he has been healthy (and quite productive) as of late. Over the past month, he has six goals and six assists in 13 games and accordingly, reports have indicated that there is considerable interest in the 28-year-old. Johansson, a pending unrestricted free agent, carries a cap hit of just under $4.6MM so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Devils have to retain on his contract in order to maximize their return. He isn’t among the top names available today but as a secondary scorer, he could make an important impact on a contender. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the asking price is a second-round pick.
Pavel Zacha is still just 21 but has yet to live up to his draft billing and even spent some time in the AHL earlier in the year before his waiver exemption ran out. Accordingly, the pending RFA is a potential candidate to move in a swap of players that could benefit from a change of scenery. Veteran winger Drew Stafford is a pending free agent and if there’s any interest in him, he’ll likely be on the move. Winger Stefan Noesen has struggled to stay healthy this season and looks like a potential non-tender candidate with a $1.725MM qualifying offer due in June so it could be a case of moving him for something over potentially losing him for nothing in June.
Five Players To Watch For: F Marcus Johansson, F Stefan Noesen, F Drew Stafford, D Egor Yakovlev, F Pavel Zacha
Team Needs
1) Defense: While the Devils have made moves to upgrade their back end in recent years (such as adding Sami Vatanen and Will Butcher), it’s an area that still needs improvement both in terms of their current roster as well as their future depth. If New Jersey looks to add already-drafted prospects instead of draft picks in their dealings today, expect them to prioritize adding blueline help.
2) Winger Depth: Beyond Hall, Kyle Palmieri, and to a lesser extent Jesper Bratt, there isn’t much firepower on the wing. This is an area that could typically be addressed via free agency but New Jersey hasn’t had a lot of luck in that regard as of late. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see them try to address that via the trade route. That may be more of an offseason move but if a buy-low candidate presents itself, it wouldn’t be surprising to see GM Ray Shero look to add here.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Blue Jackets Acquire Keith Kinkaid
The Blue Jackets have pulled off another trade and this time, it’s not with Ottawa. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays a Nick Kypreos report (via Twitter) that Columbus has acquired goalie Keith Kinkaid from New Jersey. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports adds (Twitter link) that New Jersey acquires a fifth-round pick in return while Craig Custance of The Athletic clarifies (via Twitter) that the pick is a 2022 selection.
Last season, Kinkaid was instrumental to New Jersey’s postseason push. However, his numbers this year are the worst of his career and with Cory Schneider now healthy and MacKenzie Blackwood waiting in the wings, the pending UFA was actively being shopped. In 41 games this season, he has a 3.36 GAA with a .891 SV%, numbers that are considerably worse than current Columbus netminders Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo. Despite that, GM Jarmo Kekalainen provided the rationale for the move in their team release on the trade:
While we believe goaltending is a position of strength for our club with Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo, we thought it was important to add depth to the position. Keith Kinkaid is an experienced National Hockey League goaltender who will provide that depth as we move through the final month of the regular season and into the spring.
The 29-year-old is in the final season of a two-year, $2.5MM contract and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. If he remains as the number three down the stretch for Columbus, that likely won’t be boosting his prospects in free agency.
New Jersey Devils Sign Evan Cormier To Three-Year Deal
The New Jersey Devils have signed goaltender Evan Cormier to a three-year, two-way deal that includes the 2018-19 season, according to TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. As it’s too early for teams to sign contracts that begin next year, the first year of this contract will be burned this season.
Back in June, the Devils opted to relinquish the rights to goaltender Evan Cormier, who they drafted in the fourth round (105th overall) back on 2016. That saw him start the year with the University of Guelph, playing 13 games there, posting a 2.27 GAA and a .926 save percentage there. However, injuries to Cory Schneider and Eddie Lack left them with limited depth so they convinced Cormier to leave the school and since a amateur tryout deal, one that he parlayed into an AHL contract to finish out the season after posting a 2.02 GAA and a .934 save percentage in seven games.
He hasn’t fared as well with the ECHLs Adirondack Thunder though as he has a 3.87 GAA and a .875 save percentage in six games with them so far this season. However, the Devils have seen enough from his thus far to officially bring him back into the organization.
Latest On Mark Stone Trade Talks
Trade chatter continues to increase surrounding the Ottawa Senators and Mark Stone, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie writes that while it may be a longshot, the Senators haven’t ruled out attempting to sign Stone to an extension. Of course, it would require Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk to make a bigger offer to Stone and it would require the 26-year-old to actually agree to stay in Ottawa, both which seem unlikely at this point.
Regardless, while the team is still hoping for a positive outcome, McKenzie adds that general manager Pierre Dorion remains focused on trading Stone and reports that the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins remain the most interested teams, although Ottawa is talking to other teams as well.
The Jets have been mentioned for quite a while and have discussed moving their first-rounder as well as forward Jack Roslovic for starters, but will likely need to offer another significant prospects as well to net him, while Nashville has made it clear they will not be moving prospect Eeli Tolvanen in a rental situation, but are open to moving out some of their other prospects and have quite a bit of young depth ready who could immediately step into Ottawa’s lineup.
Other teams have made it clear they would want to know whether Stone would be willing to sign a long-term deal with them. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun writes that he believes the Calgary Flames would only be interested in acquiring Stone if they believe he will sign an extension with them. The problem is that Calgary would need to send Ottawa some salary back as part of any trade as the team only has $5.77MM in cap room to make a deal, well short of the $7.35MM that Stone makes.
The cost for Stone is currently considered to be very high, suggesting that a Stone trade may go down to the wire as teams will wait for the price to go down. Regardless, McKenzie writes that a potential long-drawn out process shouldn’t slow down other trades as many teams, who feel that they’ve been priced out will likely refocus their sights on New York Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello or New Jersey Devils’ Marcus Johansson.
Devils Would Like To Trade Keith Kinkaid
- The Devils would like to move goaltender Keith Kinkaid by Monday’s trade deadline, reports Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland (Twitter link). However, he adds that the goalie trade market is pretty weak at the moment. With Cory Schneider locked up long-term plus promising youngster Mackenzie Blackwood waiting in the wings, there isn’t room for the pending unrestricted free agent beyond this season. Kinkaid carries just a $1.25MM cap hit but has struggled this season, posting a 3.36 GAA with a .891 SV% in 41 games.
Trade Rumors: Hart, Elliott, Tolvanen, Rangers, Senators
Some bad news on one player could turn out to be a blessing in disguise in regards to another. The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that rookie sensation Carter Hart will be out at least ten days with a lower-body injury. Hart has been playing phenomenally this season and his absence could end what little hope the Flyers had of reaching the postseason this year. However, it will force the team to start Brian Elliott tonight in their Stadium Series game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philly’s final game before the deadline. Recent acquisition Cam Talbot is still new to the team and unable to jump in net just yet. However, Talbot’s presence makes Elliott expendable and the Flyers are known to be shopping him. The team tried to move Elliott to the Edmonton Oilers as part of the Talbot return, but ended up trading away the younger Anthony Stolarz. However, with playoff-bound teams like the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights in need of reinforcements in net, Elliott is very much still in play. A strong performance on a grand stage tonight could be enough to convince those kicking the tires to take a shot on Elliott. Moreso, the injury news on Hart could be the final straw for new GM Chuck Fletcher, as he is still allegedly unsure of whether to sell or not at the deadline. With Elliott, Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl, and several others drawing interest, Fletcher should be more encouraged to part with those pieces now that his stud goaltender is out for what could be weeks.
- The New York Rangers are one of the most talked-about teams as the deadline approaches, as rentals Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, and Adam McQuaid and even term players like Chris Kreider and Vladislav Namestnikov are drawing considerable interest. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that the Nashville Predators are one of the teams in talks with the Rangers, but it appears that one of their best assets may be off the table. Brooks reports that the Predators will not trade 2017 first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen for a rental this season. Nashville does not have interest in Hayes, but has looked into Zuccarello, however they won’t offer up Tolvanen to land him. Brooks believes Tolvanen would only be available to the Rangers in a deal for Kreider. The talented Finnish forward has only seen limited NHL action thus far, but is still coveted by sellers – not only the Rangers – for his potential. In this scenario, it’s the sellers who may have to ante up with a signed player to get the prized prospect. As for the Rangers, they may have better luck getting a top return for Zuccarello elsewhere. Brooks states that the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins are among the teams pursuing the veteran winger, while a report yesterday stated some contenders are willing to pay the price to package Zucarello and Hayes together.
- Meanwhile, the price for McQuaid has gone up significantly today following the trade of Ben Lovejoy to the Dallas Stars. McQuaid is arguably the top rental defenseman left on the market, currently ranked No. 21 overall on TSN’s Trade Bait List. With the trade statuses of Alex Edler, Niklas Kronwall, Cody Ceci, and others still unclear, McQuaid looks like the top target for defense-needy teams versus the likes of Michael Del Zotto and Bogdan Kiselevich. McQuaid is by no means a star or season-changing acquisition, but he is likely the best available defenseman even as just a physical, stay-at-home defender. If the New Jersey Devils can draw a third-round pick and young roster player for Lovejoy, the Rangers are suddenly looking at second-round territory with McQuaid. To protect their top trade assets, New York will not play McQuaid, Zuccarello, or Hayes today, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
- Many have felt that the allure of the free agent market for Matt Duchene and Mark Stone and the caliber of return the Ottawa Senators could get for trading them left Ryan Dzingel as the most likely of the trio to re-sign with the team. That certainly isn’t going to be the case. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Dzingel recently turned down a five-year extension offer worth more than $20MM, a significant pay raise over his current $1.8MM cap hit. After that, the team made the definitive decision to trade him before the deadline. Garrioch adds that Stone also rejected the Senators’ last offer, and eight-year pact of unknown value, but the team has not yet completely closed the door on a new deal. They continue to take offers on the star winger though, as Garrioch writes that the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins, and Tampa Bay Lightning are the team’s most involved in Stone talks. He believes the Bruins are also interested in Dzingel. It remains to be seen who ends up with Stone or Dzingel and how the returns compare to that of Duchene, but one way or another the Senators are walking away from the deadline with a complete lack of star power on the roster, but a massive influx of picks and prospects to show for it.