Minor Transactions: 08/03/22
It’s been a busy start to the month of August, with the Calgary Flames and New Jersey Devils both getting some of the biggest RFAs left on the board signed within the past 48 hours. It’s busy elsewhere in the hockey world, too, and former (or possibly future) NHLers are making their way around the minor leagues in North America and professional leagues in Europe. We’ll keep track of those moves today right here.
- After splitting last season between the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Chicago Wolves, former Colorado Avalanche defense prospect Chris Bigras will try his hand in Europe for the first time. Per the team, the KHL’s only Kazakhstani club, Barys Nur-Sultan, has signed him to a one-year deal for the 2022-23 season. Bigras hasn’t suited up for an NHL game since he appeared in 15 with Colorado during the 2017-18 season.
- Defenseman Cole Hults is heading to the Italian club HC Bolzano in the ICEHL after just two seasons in the AHL, per a team release. Hults played in 54 games last season with the Tucson Roadrunners while under contract with the Arizona Coyotes, registering 17 points. He’ll join his older brother Mitch on the team.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Snapshots: Blackhawks, Barberio, Lappin
With the Chicago Blackhawks announcing their preseason schedule today, NHL hockey will officially be coming to Milwaukee in a couple of months. The Blackhawks’ third and final preseason “home” game will see them host the Minnesota Wild at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, home of the NBA’s Bucks, on October 2.
Milwaukee has been thrown around in many circles in recent years as a potential destination for an NHL team, usually via relocation. The story was first reported by Milwaukee local news reporter Dario Melendez back in May, where he noted that it will be the first NHL action in Milwaukee since the early 1990s. The timing of the game is beneficial to getting fans in seats and generating interest in the game, as teams tend to dress rosters closer to their opening night lines later in the preseason.
- Lausanne HC of the Swiss National League has mutually terminated the contract of defenseman Mark Barberio, an NHL veteran of eight seasons and 272 games. Barberio left for the Swiss league after hitting unrestricted free agency in 2020, where he had a successful first season but a tough second year. Serving as Lausanne’s captain for a season and a half, Barberio played just 14 games with them this year before they loaned him to Ak Bars Kazan (KHL) for six games. Barberio then played five games for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics, his last hockey of the season.
- After signing with Italian club HC Bolzano in the ICEHL, former New Jersey Devils forward Nick Lappin‘s career may be in jeopardy. The team posted on Facebook today that Lappin suffered a severe back injury while training this offseason, forcing him out indefinitely. They note that the severity of the injury has Lappin, unfortunately, considering retirement, ending his first season overseas before it began. Lappin, who joined the Devils as an undrafted free agent from Brown University, played 60 NHL games for them between 2016 and 2019, registering eight points.
New Jersey Devils Sign Jesper Bratt
The New Jersey Devils announced Wednesday morning that the team has signed right winger Jesper Bratt to a one-year deal worth $5.45MM prior to reaching arbitration. He will again be a restricted free agent next offseason.
The deal comes in right under the wire, as Bratt’s arbitration hearing was scheduled for this morning. Per CapFriendly, he will still have arbitration rights next offseason.
Fresh off his 24th birthday, Bratt has already transformed into likely the biggest steal of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Taken in the sixth round by New Jersey that year, Bratt played his rookie season just one year later in 2017-18. He had registered between 30 and 35 points in each of his first four NHL seasons. With six seasons having passed since that draft, Bratt already ranks seventh in scoring among his draft peers despite being selected 162nd overall.
But 2021-22 was a breakthrough campaign for Bratt, showcasing his potential as a bonafide first-line winger. In 76 games, Bratt tied for the team lead with 26 goals and led the team outright with 47 assists and 73 points. All of those marks were personal career highs. It didn’t seem like a huge shooting bender boosting his numbers, either, as his 13.2% shooting percentage wasn’t even the highest mark of his career.
Bratt’s new cap hit comes in just above what a “split the difference” decision would’ve been in arbitration, as The Athletic’s Arpon Basu notes that the halfway point between the two arbitration filings was $5.325MM.
With Bratt signing today and Tyce Thompson signing yesterday, the Devils have just two RFAs remaining — left wing Miles Wood and center Fabian Zetterlund. Wood, who played just three games in 2021-22 due to injury, has an arbitration hearing set for August 6. Zetterlund, who’s a candidate to crack the opening night lineup after eight points in 14 NHL games last year (and 52 points in 58 AHL games), is not eligible for arbitration.
With just Wood left to sign to hit a full 23-man roster, CapFriendly lists the Devils as having roughly $3.25MM in cap space.
New Jersey Devils Sign Tyce Thompson
The Devils and restricted free agent forward Tyce Thompson have struck a deal to avoid arbitration. The team announced today that they’ve signed Thompson to a two-year deal. The financial structure of the deal is as follows:
2022-23: $750K NHL salary, $175K AHL salary (two-way)
2023-24: $775,000 NHL salary (one-way)
Thompson, 23, is the brother of Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson and the son of former NHLer Brent Thompson. A 2019 fourth-round pick, Thompson made his professional debut in 2020-21 after a three-year stint at Providence College in the NCAA.
Thompson was a highly productive college forward, scoring 94 points in 101 career games, with time served as team captain in his senior season. Thompson’s time as a pro has been less successful than his collegiate career, although that’s largely for reasons out of his control. Thompson spent most of last season recovering from shoulder surgery, and as a result, only got into 18 games. (two with the Devils, 16 with the AHL’s Utica Comets)
In Utica, Thompson began to show why he was such a strong NCAA scorer. He had six goals and 15 points in 16 games, proving that his collegiate production could translate to the professional game. The Calgary, Alberta native will likely spend the first year of his new deal in the AHL, hoping to repeat his performance from last season in a larger sample size and continue to show Devils management that he’s worthy of NHL opportunities.
If all goes according to plan, 2023-2024 will be the year he becomes a regular NHL-er, as evidenced by the structure of the deal. Thompson was given a one-way contract for that year, meaning he cannot be sent to the minors without clearing waivers, and will not be subject to a significantly reduced minors salary. The Devils clearly believe in Thompson, and should he find his way to the NHL he will join a promising team in New Jersey that could be overflowing with talented youngsters in just a few years.
Arbitration Breakdown: Jesper Bratt
While most of the players who had early arbitration dates have settled in recent days, that hasn’t been the case yet for the Devils and Jesper Bratt. They have until the start of the hearing on Wednesday to reach an agreement; once the hearing starts, they will have to go through the process and wait for the award.
We previously covered how these negotiations have reportedly been “very difficult,” but it seems both sides may be attempting to avoid the arbitration process. Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com reports that the Devils are “trying to find a reasonable middle ground for both parties,” indicating that there could be an intensification of contract talks before the process begins.
Filings
Team: $4.15MM
Player: $6.5M
Midpoint: $5.325MM
(via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman)
The Numbers
Jesper Bratt had flashed incredible skill and offensive talent before. Ever since he made the NHL as a fast-rising sixth-round pick, many in New Jersey believed in big things to come for the diminutive Swedish winger. In 2021-22, those big things finally came. Bratt led the Devils in scoring, potting 26 goals and 73 points in 76 games. He showed that he had strong chemistry with the Devils’ crop of budding stars, including the team’s franchise player, Jack Hughes.
Bratt’s style is electrifying. Despite his size, he’s a play-driving winger who can single-handedly create offense for his linemates. He’s a pass-first playmaker who has the scoring touch to score 20+ goals consistently. He’s not a defensive player by any means, but he’s also not one to ignore his defensive responsibilities and actively hurt his team in his own end. Finding a player like Bratt is extraordinarily difficult, making it extremely important that the Devils find a way to retain Bratt long-term as they attempt to return to contention after a prolonged rebuilding phase.
It wouldn’t be fair to assess Bratt’s case without conceding that there is a bit of risk to investing in him, as with any breakout player. From a pure numbers perspective, Bratt’s 2021-22 season was his first as a true top-of-the-lineup difference-maker. Bratt’s next-most productive season was his rookie year, when he scored 35 points. If the Devils don’t believe Bratt’s breakout season is repeatable, then caution on their part is advisable.
But Bratt’s play last season gave little indication that his numbers were unsustainable. In fact, Bratt’s play indicated that there could still be some unreached upside in his game. Most followers of the Devils are eagerly hoping for the announcement of a long-term pact with Bratt, and it’s easy to see why.
2021-22 Stats: 76 GP, 26G 47A 73pts, 16 PIMS, 197 shots, 17:26 ATOI
Career Stats: 307 GP, 70G 133A 203pts, 54 PIMS, 590 shots, 15:39 ATOI
Potential Comparables
Comparable contracts are restricted to those signed within restricted free agency which means UFA deals and entry-level pacts are ineligible to be used. The contracts below fit within those parameters. Player salaries also fall within the parameters of the submitted numbers by both sides of this negotiation.
Drake Batherson (Senators) – Batherson represents the lower end of the Bratt comparables. Coming off of a season where he scored 34 points in 56 games, Batherson inked a six-year, $4.975MM AAV contract extension with Ottawa. As a still-developing former top prospect, Batherson’s deal was all about projection. The Senators believed that Batherson would quickly emerge as a top-of-the-lineup scoring threat, as evidenced by the backloaded structure of the deal. They were right, and Batherson exploded for 44 points in 46 games in an injury-shortened 2021-22 campaign. Since Batherson was able to justify a long-term extension at $4.975MM AAV based on a 50-point pace, Bratt, as a near point-per-game player, should naturally see that cap hit as an absolute floor for his next deal, and only on a one or two-year term.
Jake Guentzel (Penguins) – Another contract that was made with projection in mind, Guentzel signed a six-year, $6MM AAV deal in the winter of 2018. He did so as a Stanley Cup champion, with a near point-per-game shortened rookie season and an incredible playoff run under his belt, a run where he posted 13 goals and 21 points in 25 games. One could certainly make the argument that Guentzel’s case at the time was stronger than Bratt’s is now, thanks largely to his playoff production, but one must remember that Guentzel did not have nearly as much NHL experience as Bratt does now and, perhaps more importantly, Guentzel had the privilege of sharing the ice with Sidney Crosby, which some could have argued had inflated his production. That proved not to be the case, but nonetheless, Bratt has been tasked with driving play as a lead contributor more than Guentzel had to that point in his career. With Guentzel as a comparable, Bratt could reasonably argue for an AAV at or above the $6MM mark.
Projection
This is an arbitration case that is a bit simpler to project than the one for, say, Yakov Trenin. Bratt is an indisputably talented player who has the points and box score numbers to back up that talent. The Devils’ filing for a number in the $4MM range is not an authentic representation of what they believe Bratt is worth, it’s simply a negotiation tactic to give them an upper hand with the arbitrator.
With just how well Bratt played last season, his filing for $6.5MM is not entirely unreasonable. He is playing in a league that pays second-line players such as Kevin Hayes north of $7MM on their own long-term contracts, after all. But like most arbitration cases, Bratt’s final award is likely to be in between his ask and the Devils’ “lowball” number.
One aspect of this battle to keep in mind is the effect the arbitration process can have on the relationship between the team and the involved player. The unique difficulty of Bratt’s negotiations with the Devils has been widely reported, and it’s definitely possible that missteps in the process could light ablaze and cause a reportedly shaky bridge between the Devils organization and Bratt to burn.
Ultimately, even in the unlikely event that Bratt is awarded the totality of his $6.5MM filing, that’s not going to be the biggest risk the Devils take in this process. It’s their failure to complete a long-term deal with Bratt before the arbitration process that could truly cost them, as they are set to enter an arbitration trial, the sort of battle that has catalyzed the exit of many talented NHLers in the past. Hopefully for the Devils’ sake, though, it won’t get to that point, and the Devils and Bratt agree to a mutually acceptable contract extension.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Latest On Jesper Bratt
One of the best players currently still without a contract is New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt. With an arbitration date set for August 3rd, which is fast approaching, Devils fans could not be blamed for being a bit nervous about Bratt’s contract status. An arbitration case and a failure to secure a long-term deal this summer could damage Bratt’s relationship with the Devils, and lower his chances of remaining in New Jersey long-term. According to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, an arbitration case looks like where things are headed. Per Novozinsky, contract talks between Bratt and the Devils have “been pretty silent” for weeks, and that the whole situation looks like “another tough negotiation.”
Based on Bratt’s performance last season, it looks like it’s clearly in the Devils’ best interest to get a deal done with their talented winger. Bratt led the Devils with 73 points in 76 games last season, showing great chemistry with face of the franchise Jack Hughes and better goal-scoring touch than he’d shown ever before as a professional. Bratt’s breakout season has left him on strong ground when it comes to negotiations for a new deal, which is likely partially responsible for this stalemate. The Devils have been aggressive in upgrading their team in recent summers, signing players like Dougie Hamilton, Ondrej Palat, and Tomas Tatar to help return them to the playoffs. If the Devils want to solidify their offense for years to come, finding a way to get Bratt’s signature on a long-term deal is in their best interest.
New Jersey Devils Hire Ryan McGill
We’re at the point of the offseason when teams are starting to round out their coaching staffs for next season, and the New Jersey Devils are the latest to make an addition. Ryan McGill will join Lindy Ruff‘s staff for 2022-23.
McGill, 53, had been with the Vegas Golden Knights since their inception, serving as an assistant coach for the last five years in the desert. Credited with helping along the development of several young defensemen including Shea Theodore, Nicolas Hague, and Zach Whitecloud, he’ll now join a New Jersey team that is ready to take the next step.
A former NHL defenseman himself, he will have quite the group of proteges to work with over the coming years. Not only do the Devils have established names like Dougie Hamilton and John Marino locked in long-term but also an emerging talent in Jonas Siegenthaler and some of the best defensive prospects in the league, with Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes. The development of those two, in particular, make this an important hire to get right, and McGill is certainly not coming in with a lack of experience.
Before joining Vegas, he had spent a few years coaching in junior with the Kootenay Ice and Owen Sound Attack, but there was also a seven-year period where McGill served as a head coach in the AHL.
New Jersey Devils Extend Jonas Siegenthaler
Betting that he’ll continue his impressive development, the New Jersey Devils have signed Jonas Siegenthaler to a five-year contract extension, which kicks in for the 2023-24 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of $3.4MM and will carry the following payments:
- 2023-24: $4.25MM
- 2024-25: $4.0MM
- 2025-26: $3.2MM
- 2026-27: $3.0MM
- 2027-28: $2.55MM
It cost the Devils just a third-round pick to land the young defenseman last year, when the Washington Capitals were running into a roster crunch and couldn’t keep everyone around. Almost from the moment he arrived in New Jersey, Siegenthaler seemed like a perfect fit and immediately started producing improved results in bigger minutes.
Now 25, the Swiss defender was a second-round pick of the Capitals in 2015 and had played just 97 NHL games before the trade. This year, he suited up 70 times for the Devils and averaged more than 20 minutes a night, becoming arguably the team’s most reliable defensive option. While it’s unlikely Siegenthaler will ever put up the kind of point totals that Damon Severson or Dougie Hamilton are known for, locking in a top-four defenseman for $3.4MM through his entire prime is tidy work from general manager Tom Fitzgerald.
After acquiring John Marino earlier this summer, it now gives the team three defenders locked into long-term contracts through at least 2026-27, plus plenty of young talent coming through the system. Simon Nemec, Luke Hughes, and Shakir Mukhamadullin make up a trio of defensive prospects that is difficult to match and could give the Devils a huge advantage in the years to come.
In fact, Siegenthaler seems like a perfect match for Nemec moving forward, balancing out the Slovak’s tendency to rove around the ice with a more stable defensive presence. Hughes, meanwhile could be paired with Hamilton or Marino when he gets to New Jersey, giving the team an impressive blueline within just a few seasons.
The question now will be what happens to Severson and Ryan Graves, who are both heading into the last year of their respective contracts and scheduled for unrestricted free agency next summer.
Devils Showed Strong Interest In Matthew Tkachuk Before His Trade To Florida
- The Devils were among the teams aggressively pursuing Matthew Tkachuk before he was eventually traded to Florida late Friday, notes TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). New Jersey was expected to once again make a big splash this summer a year after handing out the biggest UFA contract to Dougie Hamilton but instead, they’ve largely opted to go with trades to add to their roster, making a trio of deals so far while Ondrej Palat received a five-year contract in free agency.
New Jersey Devils Sign Jesper Boqvist
The New Jersey Devils don’t have to worry about a negotiation with Jesper Boqvist, as the young forward has accepted his qualifying offer and signed a one-year, two-way contract for 2022-23. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $874,125 and an AHL salary of $70K.
While some players would give up a little on the NHL salary to secure a better minor league guarantee, Boqvist is obviously confident that he will spend most of the year in the NHL again this season. The 23-year-old played 56 games with the Devils in 2021-22, scoring ten goals and 23 points in the process.
Selected 36th overall in 2017, it’s been an interesting road for the Swedish forward. It looked as though he was going to make the jump directly from the SHL to the NHL in 2019, when broke camp with the club and played 34 games through the first part of the season. But he ended up sent back to the minor leagues in January, and would make just one more NHL appearance before the league was shut down early.
While we waited for things to start back up in 2020-21, the Devils decided to loan the young forward back to Sweden. On his return, he once again wasn’t able to fully establish himself in the NHL, splitting time between New Jersey and Binghamton. Even this past season, he spent seven games with the Utica Comets.
One would think the minor leagues are behind him now, given the fact that he is no longer waiver-exempt. If the Devils wanted to send him to the AHL, he would need to be offered to all of the other teams first. With his upside and performance, there’s little chance he would make it through at this point.
Still, it’s not like there is a ton of room in the New Jersey lineup. After adding Erik Haula in the Pavel Zacha trade and signing Ondrej Palat, the team has nine forwards on one-way contracts plus Miles Wood to sign as a restricted free agent. With Dawson Mercer securing a spot while on his entry-level contract and Alexander Holtz likely doing the same, there isn’t going to be a ton of playing time to go around. If Boqvist wants to be a key contributor, he’ll have to earn is with consistent play.
The young forward will still be a restricted free agent next summer.