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New York Islanders Agree To Terms With Thomas Hickey

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The New York Islanders looked like they would be supplying the market with two of the top free agent defensemen, but now one has decided to stay home. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the team has an agreement with Thomas Hickey on a four-year contract worth $10MM.

With Calvin de Haan and Hickey as two of the top blueliners on the free agent market and the Islanders being considered to have one of the weakest defenses in the league, re-signing at least one of their defenseman was crucial. Hickey posted five goals and 25 points in 69 games last season for the Islanders and was relied on more than in previous years as he averaged 18:04 of ATOI. The six-year veteran has played for the Islanders his entire career.

The defensive specialist, who can be prone to making mistakes, will re-join veteran Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, who many think will be given a much bigger role with the Islanders next season.

 

Eastern Notes: Tavares, O’Reilly, Ryan, Pickard

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With the John Tavares watch about to hit the 11th hour before free agency hits, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reminds people that the superstar center doesn’t have to make a decision today. He can wait to make a decision later. However, the longer he waits, the more telling his decision will be.

If he opts not to agree to a contract tonight, then the New York Islanders are almost guaranteed to be out of the running for Tavares as even the Islanders can’t offer an eighth year after tonight. If all New York can offer is seven years, then it’s highly unlikely he’ll return to New York.

The other implication to not choosing a team today is that many teams are waiting for Tavares to make a decision as well as players. The dominos will begin to fall after Tavares signs, so the longer Tavares waits, the more the market will be held up. For example, Toronto, who has dubbed center Derek Ryan as their consolation prize if the can’t sign Tavares, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required), must force the highly-coveted Ryan to wait. That’s also the case with trade candidates such as Jeff Skinner and likely Ryan O’Reilly as their value is likely to shoot up once Tavares is off the board.

  • It looks the O’Reilly sweepstakes are even more muddled than ever as many felt that if the Buffalo Sabres were to trade away their star center, it would be before the Sabres would have to fork over his $7.5MM signing bonus which is due at midnight tonight. If no deal is made within the next few hours, then the situation can go two different ways, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. The most likely scenario would suggest that if they pay him the $7.5MM themselves, the plan would be to keep O’Reilly and hope that he wants to stay with the team. However, Harrington also adds that perhaps Buffalo is willing to eat the $7.5MM to get a greater package in return from a team with the possibility that a trade has already been worked out and they are both waiting for July 1. The scribe adds that the two teams who have most coveted O’Reilly are the Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues. However, the Blues are not offering their top prospect, Robert Thomas, as part of any trade.
  • While many teams believe that the holdup of a potential Erik Karlsson trade is being held up because of the $2MM bonus due to forward Bobby Ryan on July 1, that is not correct, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The scribe writes that Ryan and the four years and $29MM remaining on his contract, which are expected to be included in any Karlsson deal, already received his $2MM bonus on May 15, which means he will only cost a team $5.5MM next season.
  • Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that many teams are looking for cheap backup goalie options and suggests that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Calvin Pickard could quickly find himself in high demand. Pickard, who was a solid backup for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2016-17 season, found himself in an odd position after being taken in last year’s expansion draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and then traded off to Toronto to share AHL goaltending duties with Garret Sparks. Together they helped clinch the Calder Cup Trophy as he finished with a 2.31 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Backing up Sparks during the AHL playoffs, Pickard got into three games, putting up a 1.00 GAA and a .956 save percentage.

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Roussel, Calvert, Hickey, Rieder, Perron, And More

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The Vancouver Canucks are closing in on an agreement with one of their top free agent targets. After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Canucks were talking to two-way winger Antoine Roussel, colleague Rick Dhaliwal did some digging and discovered that the two sides were close on a long-term deal. Dhaliwal expects Roussel to sign a four-year deal worth more than $3MM per year with Vancouver. The former Dallas Stars brings grit and energy to the Canucks and has previously teased 30+ point potential. If the 28-year-old Frenchman can reach those levels of production while maintaining his notorious physical game, this could be a great signing by GM Jim Benning. However, it is well above what many would have expected Roussel to sign in both term and salary and could just as well be a disaster for Vancouver. Roussel is ranked 38th on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list with an estimated contract of two years and just over $2MM AAV.

[RELATED: PHR’s 2018 Top 50 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents]

  • Friedman has also linked the Colorado Avalanche and forward Matt Calvert. TSN’s Darren Dreger is among a few sources who have also heard about that pairing. Calvert, 28, has played his entire career for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Dreger seems convinced that he is definitely on the move. The versatile, two-way winger would be a nice fit as a bottom-six regular who can fill gaps in the top-six, much like the role that Blake Comeau played for the team.
  • Dreger also reports that interest is high in defenseman Thomas Hickey. A shallow defense market is likely boosting the value of the serviceable defenseman, who is a tough defensive match-up and a dangerous off-the-puck play-maker, but prone to mistake when moving play. Many speculated that the Islanders would turn their attention to re-signing Hickey once the John Tavares situation had sorted itself out, but with Tavares dragging his feet and Hickey in talks with numerous teams, New York may not get that chance. We predicted that Hickey would land with the Montreal Canadiens on a multi-year deal in PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • Another player getting a lot of attention is winger Tobias Rieder and the status of his suitors is changing quickly as the price rises. Just earlier today, the Vancouver Canucks were the first team confirmed to be in on Rieder and by now that list has increased dramatically. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators are also in the running and that the price has gotten so high as to drive the Edmonton Oilers out of the bidding. The Athletic’s Craig Custance confirms the interest from the Canucks, Flames, and Habs and adds the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers to the list of interested parties. All this for a player that the Los Angeles Kings deemed unworthy of a qualifying offer.
  • As expected, David Perron is also one of the hottest names on the free agent market and his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, are seemingly out of the running. Friedman calls it “very unlikely” that Perron returns to Las Vegas, where he set a career high with 66 points this season. For an idea on the price for Perron, he landed at #5 on the PHR Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected six-year, $32MM contract, which could be a conservative guess.
  • One team that is somewhat surprisingly in talks with Perron is Arizona. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports details the off-season so far from the Coyotes and lists Perron, James van Riemsdyk, and Michael Grabner as Arizona’s top targets. Morgan also says that the team has not ruled out bringing back veteran forward Brad Richardson as well.
  • The Boston Bruins are moving on from Anton Khudobin and reportedly working fast to find his replacement. Beat writer Matt Kalman and The Boston Globe’s Kevin-Paul Dupont both hear that the team is very interested in Kari Lehtonen as the new backup to Tuukka Rask. With many talented goalies on the market, Lehtonen has flown under the radar somewhat despite incredibly comparable numbers to Khudobin in more starts and superior numbers to the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward, Robin Lehner and others. Lehtonen also had the highest Quality Start rate of any of that group in 2017-18. Even here at PHR we may have underestimated Lehtonen, making him our sixth-best goalie among the Top 50 free agents.
  • Unsurprisingly, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that the Washington Capitals have checked in with defenseman Brooks Orpik. A veteran leader and key contributor to their Stanley Cup run, the Capitals faced little choice but to trade Orpik away earlier this off-season in order to clear cap space to maintain their championship roster. Now that he has subsequently been bought out by the Colorado Avalanche, Orpik is fair game and could return to D.C. at a much more affordable rate. However, LeBrun warns that other teams are also in the running and Orpik may not take a discount rate in Washington over more legitimate offers.

 

Islanders Re-Sign Defenseman Seth Helgeson

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The New York Islanders are certainly keeping busy as they wait for a decision from John Tavares. In the team’s second deal in under an hour, they have signed defenseman Seth Helgeson to a contract extension. According to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, the deal nearly mirrors the one given to goaltender Christopher Gibson earlier today. It is a two-year, two-way contract that pays Helgeson the $650K minimum at the NHL level next season and $700K in the NHL in 2019-20, with a$250K salary in the AHL over both years.

Helgeson, 27, is coming off of his first season with the Islanders organization after signing as an unrestricted free agent last summer. Helgeson previously spent four seasons with the rival New Jersey Devils. A fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2009 and a four-year starter at the University of Minnesota, Helgeson entered the pros with high expectations of being a solid stay-at-home defenseman with room to grow. While his defensive game has always been steady, he has been underwhelming at the other aspects of the game. In both the AHL and NHL, Helgeson has struggled to produce points or move the puck and has gotten into frequent penalty trouble. In 50 NHL games – all with the Devils – Helgeson has just four points and a Corsi rating of 43.7%.

Last season, Helgeson failed to make an appearance with the Islanders and recorded one goal and eleven assists in 76 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He also recorded 137 penalty minutes, sixth-most in the league. At his best, the 6’4″, 220-lb. Helgeson is a big, heavy defensive presence who intimidates the opposition and plays a safe stay-at-home style. Often that can be the perfect type of stopgap emergency call-up player for NHL teams to stash in the minors. However, Helgeson’s play leaves a lot of upside to be desired and he will likely serve much of this two-year extension in Bridgeport.

Islanders Extend Goaltender Christopher Gibson

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The New York Islanders are hoping for good news on a much larger extension in the next 24 hours, but in the meantime they have come to terms on a new contract with minor league goaltender Christopher Gibson. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that it is a two-year, two-way extension for Gibson. The contract will pay him $650K at the NHL level and $225K at the AHL level in the coming season and $700K in the NHL and $250K in the AHL in 2019-20.

Gibson, 25, was set to be an unrestricted free agent this off-season, but the Finnish keeper was unlikely to draw much attention. The 2011 second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings was once a highly-touted prospect. However, after a strong start to his junior career with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL that boosted his draft stock, Gibson stalled in his development over the next two seasons. The Kings chose not to sign him and he became a free agent acquisition of the Toronto Maple Leafs. After finding some success in the AHL with Toronto, Gibson was dealt along with four other prospects to the Islanders in a 2015 trade for Michael Grabner. Since arriving in New York, Gibson has been unable to get back to that same level in the AHL and has struggled greatly in his few call-ups. In twelve NHL appearances, Gibson has three wins, a .902 save percentage, and a 3.58 goals against average.

As it stands, Gibson is second on the depth chart for the Islanders behind Thomas Greiss. However, it is extremely unlikely that Lou Lamoriello and company wish to head into the regular season with either of those goaltenders in their current spots. Gibson has not yet proved that he is anything other than an average AHL goalie and until he does, he is likely to remain just an emergency option in Bridgeport. The two-way nature and minimum salary of his contract reflect this role. Yet, it alleviates any concerns that New York may have had about having to add multiple new goalies on the free agent market this off-season.

Islanders Have Discussed Craig Anderson With The Senators

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  • The Islanders are among the teams that have kicked the tires on Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (video link). The 37-year-old requested a trade earlier this month but with free agency being so close, it’s hard to imagine teams will want to give up anything of significance when they can simply sign a similar goalie for free on the open market.  Anderson is set to start his new two-year contract on Sunday, one that carries a $4.75MM cap hit but a $5.5MM salary.

Toronto Maple Leafs Make Changes To Scouting, Development Staff

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The Toronto Maple Leafs were bound to go through a transition after turning over the keys to Kyle Dubas as General Manager, and today we got some clarity over all the moves. According to James Mirtle of The Athletic, the Maple Leafs have let Jacques Lemaire, Jacques Caron, Nikolai Ladygin, Evgeny Namestnikov and Tommy Albelin go from their respective positions, while the team has announced promotions for several others. Dave Morrison is now the team’s Director of Player Personnel, Troy Bodie is the Director of Pro Scouting, and Wes Clark is an Assistant Director of Player Personnel.

Clark may be the most interesting name on the list at the moment, as he had been working for the Florida Panthers since leaving the Maple Leafs in 2016 but is known to have a close relationship with John Tavares, among other players. He also has a very good relationship with Dubas from their days together with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and was one of the young GM’s first hires when he was brought in as an Assistant General Manager a few years ago.

Lemaire and Caron are obviously big names as well, but both were special coaching consultants with deep ties to Lou Lamoriello. Whether they’ll move on to the New York Islanders is unclear, but it isn’t surprising that they won’t be with the Maple Leafs going forward.

Final Group Of Six Will Wait For Decision From John Tavares

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The free agent interview period is supposed to drum up intrigue around dozens of names that will undoubtedly change teams on July 1st, but all eyes this year have been on pitch meetings taking place at the CAA headquarters in Los Angeles. Those meetings are meant to woo John Tavares, who would arguably be the best free agent to ever hit the market in the salary cap era. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tavares’ current team the New York Islanders presented on Monday, with the Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks meeting with the superstar center and his representatives on Tuesday. Wednesday is blocked off for the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, after which, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, Tavares will shut down all communication with other teams. There were previous reports that some teams, namely the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators, were in the running through phone conversations, but that doesn’t appear to be the case any longer.

So six teams—New York, Toronto, Boston, San Jose, Dallas and Tampa Bay—will wait patiently tonight after Tavares hears the final pitches, and await word of whether he’ll be leaving for a new address this summer. The Islanders of course are the only team that can offer Tavares an eight-year deal, and the other teams are not currently allowed to discuss contract details, only express interest. If Tavares reaches Sunday without a contract, the Islanders lose their advantage and become like any other team able to sign him to seven years. Should that happen, it seems unlikely that he’d be heading back to the Islanders, meaning the countdown is on for New York.

Of course there are different strengths and weaknesses from each market, and TSN has released a calculator to show off the differences surrounding state (or provincial) taxes. The Lightning and Stars have a huge advantage in this way, though it is obviously not the only determining factor. Even with a no-movement clause, there is no guarantee that a player spends his whole career in a certain state, meaning there likely won’t be any discounts for the teams which have the best tax rates.

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Maroon, Grabner, De Haan, Rieder

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Teams are free to speak with impending free agents prior to the official opening of free agency on Sunday, July 1st. As usual, that has produced a flurry of rumors regarding which teams and how many teams are talking to each of the biggest names. Here is an update on some of those rumors:

  • Unsurprisingly, winger Patrick Maroon has been linked to his hometown St. Louis Blues. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports and Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch confirms that the Blues have reached out to Maroon’s camp in hopes of bringing him back to where his hockey aspirations first began. Maroon is coming off a career-high 43-point season and especially looked strong after a Trade Deadline deal from the Edmonton Oilers to the New Jersey Devils. Blues beat reporter Andy Strickland adds that Maroon has not closed the door on a return to either Edmonton or New Jersey, but that the Blues are one of at least six other teams who are pursuing the power forward.
  • The Boston Bruins were busy making their pitch to John Tavares today, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t also thinking a few steps ahead. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal says that the Bruins have “checked in” on two-way speedster Michael Grabner, another Devils deadline acquisition. Not only do the Bruins need another veteran right-shot forward and want to continue to add quickness to the roster, but it also might not be a coincidence that Grabner spent years playing alongside Tavares with the New York Islanders.
  • In a shallow class of top-four defenseman, Calvin de Haan is drawing a lot of interest despite missing most of the season with the New York Islanders due to injury. The 27-year-old former first-round pick is one of the more reliable and younger options among defenders on the market and is set to cash in as a result. Kings beat writer Dennis Bernstein reports that Los Angeles is the latest team to show interest in de Haan, bringing the speculated total number of teams interested in the blue liner into the double-digits.
  • When the Kings declined to offer Tobias Rieder a qualifying offer yesterday, it was only a matter of time before teams came calling on the new UFA. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal states that the Vancouver Canucks are one of those interested teams, but that four or five other suitors have already emerged. The two-way winger is one of the youngest and most versatile options available on the market.

List Of Potential Destinations For Carter Hutton Cut To Six

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Among this year’s free agent goaltending crop, Carter Hutton stands out as a name that could potentially take over a starting role. The 32-year old is coming off an incredible season with the St. Louis Blues, and had been reportedly in talks with as many as eight teams on the first day of the free agent negotiating period. Now, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that group is down to just six teams.

LeBrun adds that even those six are broken into two tiers, depending on whether or not they’ll give Hutton a chance to fight for the starting role. The teams he’s sure of are the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. All four are unsurprising contenders, as they all are dealing with uncertain goaltending situations as they head into next season. Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) also links the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings to Hutton, and adds that the Blues expressed interest in retaining him at the end of the year.

Hutton registered a .931 save percentage this season in 32 appearances, and continued to show why he’s considered one of the best backups in the league. His career save percentage is now up to .915, and he carries a 63-39-17 record. It’s hard to imagine a team giving him a big money, long-term contract, but it’s clear that he deserves more than the $1.125MM he’s averaged over the last two seasons.

In Buffalo, Carolina and New York he’d likely be given a chance to be a starting goaltender, as Linus Ullmark, Scott Darling and Thomas Greiss haven’t yet proven they can handle the full load. In Chicago, where Corey Crawford’s health is still up in the air, they need to find an option they can rely on. Any interest from Boston and Detroit would likely be as a backup for Tuukka Rask or Jimmy Howard, though each have shown some inconsistency in the past. Howard is also on the final year of his current contract, meaning Detroit will need someone to step in should he head to another team next summer.

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