- The Rangers are close to rounding out their coaching staff with AHL Hartford. After hiring Kris Knoblauch as head coach and Gord Murphy as an assistant, New York is set to turn to David Cunniff to serve as the other assistant with the Wolf Pack, reports Rick Carpinello of The Athletic (subscription required). Cunniff is a veteran coach at the minor league level, spending the last 17 years as an assistant or associate coach in the AHL. He most recently has been with Minnesota’s affiliate in Iowa where he spent two years as an assistant and the last two seasons as their associate bench boss.
Rangers Rumors
Rob O’Gara Signs With AHL San Antonio
Once a highly-touted prospect, it looks as though defenseman Rob O’Gara will need to work his way back into the NHL. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reports that O’Gara has signed with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. The 26-year-old was a Group 6 unrestricted free agent this summer after failing to play in 80+ NHL games through his first three pro seasons. Yet, 2018-19 was his first campaign without any NHL action.
A late-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2011, O’Gara played four seasons at Yale University and grew into one of the most effective two-way defenders in the NCAA during that time. He signed with Boston in 2016 and immediately became a key player at the AHL level and also made three NHL appearances. He played in eight more NHL games for the Bruins the following season, but was traded to his hometown New York Rangers in exchange for Nick Holden. O’Gara finished the season with the Rangers, playing in 22 games down the stretch and looking like a candidate for a regular role moving forward.
Unfortunately, that’s not how things played out this past season. O’Gara was cut from training camp and never re-emerged as a top recall option, even as the Rangers struggled. O’Gara was a solid defensive presence for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, but didn’t take advantage of a full year in the minors with an improved offensive contribution. As such, the local product did not earn a new deal with New York and seemingly was unable to find a two-way role with any other NHL team. In San Antonio, he will have to reassert himself as a legitimate NHL option with a consistent, well-rounded game if he hopes to one day make it back to the top level.
New York Rangers Expect Chris Kreider In Camp
Since the New York Rangers used their second buyout window to say goodbye to Kevin Shattenkirk, the question on every fan’s lips has been “what will happen with Chris Kreider?” The team now has some cap flexibility after ridding themselves of the Shattenkirk contract, but with Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux still to sign that flexibility could disappear in an instant. Among the names most commonly thrown around in trade speculation is Kreider and Vladislav Namestnikov who are both heading into their final seasons before unrestricted free agency and each carry cap hits of at least $4MM.
Trading Kreider has seemed inevitable at points this offseason, especially when the Rangers decided to sign Artemi Panarin to a seven-year, $81.5MM deal. Not only do the two players play the same wing, but Panarin’s contract (along with Jacob Trouba’s) really put New York on a different path financially. Re-signing Kreider would be difficult now, though not impossible. Dan Rosen of NHL.com caught up with Rangers president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton recently, who both expect the big left winger to be in training camp. They wouldn’t however go into detail on any possible extension, with Gorton even stating that they’ll “figure it out” after Kreider starts the season.
With the Rangers suddenly armed with a glut of young talent there are obvious reasons to move on from Kreider, one of the last remaining veterans from their previous core. Opening up playing time in the top-six for some of their younger players is one thing, but his value on the trade market may be the bigger draw. There’s little doubt that Kreider would draw interest as a trade deadline acquisition, adding speed and physicality to any lineup. He matched a career-high with 28 goals last season and has been a possession monster for his entire career.
Still, if New York starts the season on a hot streak and Kreider is a real part of that, they’re going to have to consider an extension. One of the biggest issues with that is Shattenkirk, ironically. While the buyout opened enough room this season to potentially keep the winger, the Rangers will deal with a $6.08MM cap hit from Shattenkirk next season, a huge number for any team to carry in dead money.
For now, it seems as though there is nothing imminent on the Kreider front. There will be a couple of other pressure points when DeAngelo and Lemieux sign however, meaning there is still opportunity for the Rangers front office to change their minds and another team to make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Minnesota Wild Not Given Permission To Interview Chris Drury
The Minnesota Wild GM search continues and though Michael Russo of The Athletic believes a decision won’t come until later in the month, more information about potential candidates has emerged. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the Wild asked for permission from the New York Rangers to interview assistant GM Chris Drury, but were turned down. Friedman notes that the Rangers have now declined requests from two different teams on Drury, the other being the Buffalo Sabres.
Drury has been with the Rangers for the last several years and was given control of the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2017. He was also the choice as GM of Team USA at the most recent World Championship, a team that actually underperformed despite an excellent roster. Despite that unfortunate result Drury is a very well-respected young executive who has been on the radar of several teams over the last few seasons and is an important part of the Rangers rebuild.
The Wolf Pack have actually failed to make the playoffs in both of the years under Drury’s leadership, but at the same time have continued to develop some of the important young talents for New York. Minnesota would have been a much different task, trying to get a team back to the playoffs quickly without much appetite for a full rebuild. Wild owner Craig Leipold was clear he didn’t want a rebuild earlier this year when he sent a video to season ticket holders.
Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, Pittsburgh Penguins AGM Bill Guerin and former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall have already interviewed for the position, among others. It is not clear when the request to speak with Drury was made.
2019 Arbitration Figures And Results
August 6th: All arbitration cases have now been completed. In total, six cases were decided by an arbitrator’s award this year. That number, though seemingly not many, actually presents a 50% increase over last summer and more than the past two off-seasons combined. Of those six decisions, the teams and players received the favorable decision an even three times apiece, and each award landed within $150K of the midpoint. All things considered, there were few surprises in arbitration, even though there were more awards than expected. Now the question is where the relationships between those teams and players go from here.
Originally published on July 19th: Friday marked the start of the arbitration season in the NHL, with Brock McGinn first scheduled for his hearing with the Carolina Hurricanes. The appointments will come fast and furious after that, with 23 cases left on the books. When we asked our readers how many would actually get to the hearing stage more than 36% of voters thought 3-4 was reasonable, the same number that reached last year.
We know now that at least one will, as Andrew Copp’s agent Kurt Overhardt told Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press that their camp will “look forward to” the hearing scheduled for Sunday. Copp and the Jets exchanged figures earlier today. It is important to remember that the two sides can actually work out a deal in the short period after the hearing and before the actual decision is submitted by the arbitrator. For every case except Ville Husso, who the St. Louis Blues took to arbitration, the team involved will be allowed to choose the duration of the contract awarded. They can choose either one or two years, unless the player is only one year away from unrestricted free agency, at which point only a one-year deal is available.
Here we’ll keep track of all the hearings still on the books and the figures submitted. This page will be updated as the numbers come in:
July 20:
Brock McGinn, Carolina Hurricanes – Team: $1.75MM AAV, Player: $2.7MM AAV
Settled: Two years, $2.1MM AAV
July 21:
Andrew Copp, Winnipeg Jets – Team: $1.5MM AAV, Player: $2.9MM AAV
Awarded: Two years, $2.28MM AAV
July 22:
MacKenzie Weegar, Florida Panthers
Settled: One year, $1.6MM AAV
Zach Aston-Reese, Pittsburgh Penguins
Settled: Two years, $1.0MM AAV
Ville Husso, St. Louis Blues (team-elected)
Settled: One year, two-way, $700K AAV
Christian Djoos, Washington Capitals – Team: $800K, Player: $1.9MM
Awarded: One year, $1.25MM AAV
July 23:
Evan Rodrigues, Buffalo Sabres – Team: $1.5MM, Player: $2.65MM
Awarded: One year, $2.0MM AAV
July 24:
Oskar Sundqvist, St. Louis Blues
Settled: Four years, $2.75MM AAV
Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets
Settled: Two years, $3.0MM AAV
July 26:
Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators
Settled: Seven years, $2.86MM AAV
July 27:
Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames
Settled: Two years, $2.55MM AAV
July 28:
Mirco Mueller, New Jersey Devils
Settled: One year, $1.4MM AAV
July 29:
David Rittich, Calgary Flames
Settled: Two years, $2.75MM AAV
Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers
Settled: Two years, $3.25MM AAV
August 1:
Remi Elie, Buffalo Sabres
Settled: One year, two-way $700K AAV
Chandler Stephenson, Washington Capitals
Settled: One year, $1.05MM
August 2:
Linus Ullmark, Buffalo Sabres – Team: $800K, Player: $2.65MM
Settled: One year, $1.33MM
Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
Settled: Three years, $3.73MM AAV
August 4:
Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres – Team: 1.95MM, Player: $4.3MM
Settled: Two years, $2.85MM AAV
Anton Forsberg, Carolina Hurricanes – Team: $700K/$70K, Player: $833K
Awarded: One year, $775K AAV
Sheldon Dries, Colorado Avalanche
Settled: One year, two-way $735K AAV
Rocco Grimaldi, Nashville Predators – Team: $700K/$70K, Player $1.275MM
Awarded: One year, $1MM
Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues – Team: $2.3MM, Player $4.2MM
Awarded: One year, $3.1MM
Minor Transactions: 08/06/19
As August begins and we get closer to the end of arbitration and contract holdouts, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the league. We’ll keep updating as more come in:
- Former NHL forward Quinton Howden was traded in the KHL and will now play for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in 2019-20. The 25th overall pick from 2010 ended up in the KHL starting in 2017 after several seasons bouncing between North American leagues. Howden played a total of 97 games in the NHL and scored 17 points, but got to suit up for Canada at the Olympics last year after leaving the league behind. Younger brother Brett Howden is just beginning his own pro career, playing in his rookie campaign with the New York Rangers this past season.
- Former Edmonton Oilers prospect Greg Chase has signed with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, the team announced. Chase was a seventh-round pick of the Oilers back in 2013 and enjoyed a strong junior career in the WHL. However, after turning pro in 2015, Chase largely spent his first three seasons on his entry-level contract in the ECHL, struggling to make a difference in the AHL and getting nowhere close to the NHL. He was not re-signed by the Oilers last summer and spent most of the season with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. A point-per-game player for the Mariners, Chase earned a brief loan to the Wolf Pack and clearly did enough to earn a contract. The Chase family has some history in Hartford, as uncle Kelly Chase played several seasons with the Hartford Whalers, as well as the St. Louis Blues.
- After leaving Colorado College mid-way through the 2018-19 season, forward Ty Pochipinski has selected a new college program. The Air Force Academy has announced that Pochipinski has committed to their team and is set to enroll this fall. Pochipinski recorded one point in four games with Colorado College last season before leaving to join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. He’s likely seeking more opportunity by jumping to the Air Force Falcons. Father Trevor Pochipinski was a four-year starter for the Colorado College Tigers and was actually drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the seventh round of the 1986 NHL Draft, although he never played for the team.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Kevin Shattenkirk
The Tampa Bay Lightning have added another former New York Rangers player to the mix, signing recently bought out Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year contract. The deal carries a $1.75MM salary and a full no-trade clause.
Shattenkirk, 30, saw his performance and role with the Rangers decline over his two years in New York and when it came time for them to clear salary to accommodate Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba, he was one of the first to go. As we wrote when he was bought out last week it took him very little time to find a landing spot given his history of success and the lack of available depth at the positions. The defense market has been all but picked clean (except perhaps for Jake Gardiner who remains unsigned) meaning Shattenkirk immediately became a desirable asset despite his recent play.
For $1.75MM, the Lightning are betting he’ll be able to rediscover some of the magic he had with the St. Louis Blues. During parts of six seasons in St. Louis Shattenkirk was one of the most productive offensive defensemen in the league, recording 258 points in 425 games. A powerplay dynamo who also logged big minutes at even-strength, Shattenkirk even received Norris Trophy votes on three different occasions. Even in New York he was still able to record 51 points in 119 games, though his all-around performance declined and he was sheltered heavily away from tough defensive matchups.
Tampa Bay already has two elite defensemen in Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh along with an impressive group that also includes Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak and Braydon Coburn. Shattenkirk will essentially be replacing outgoing veterans (and former Rangers) Dan Girardi and Anton Stralman, though he obviously plays a bit different role than either one.
The signing is obviously a bargain for a player that was once one of the most dynamic defensemen in the league, but it also does tighten the purse strings a little bit further in Tampa Bay. The team still has Brayden Point and Adam Erne sitting as unsigned restricted free agents with now just over $9.3MM in cap space. Though there are ways to add a bit to that total—Anthony Cirelli, Mathieu Joseph and Cernak are all still waiver-exempt, for instance—it still doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room to fit in a long-term deal with Point that could approach $10MM per season depending on term. If the team decides to do a bridge deal like they have with several other high profile RFAs however, there shouldn’t be a cap issue in Tampa Bay this year.
Free Agent Profile: Cam Ward
Since the unrestricted free agency rush of July 1st subsided, just two NHL goaltenders have been signed off the open market: Anthony Stolarz with the Anaheim Ducks and Jared Coreau with the New York Islanders. That’s two goalie signings in 33 days, making it easily the quietest position of this off-season, despite a major re-shuffling of UFA starters early on and several RFA extensions as well.
Unsurprisingly, several notable names remain available – Scott Darling, Chad Johnson, Mike McKenna, Al Montoya – while Michal Neuvirth has already accepted a PTO. However, one name sticks out above the rest for both his career accomplishments and his meaningful role in 2018-19.
Cam Ward, 35, ventured outside of Carolina last season for the first time in his 14-year NHL career. Ward signed a one-year, $3MM contract with the Chicago Blackhawks last summer and proceeded to play a major tole for the team this past season. Dealing with ongoing issues with starter Corey Crawford, Ward ended up playing in 33 games to Crawford’s 39 and Collin Delia’s 16. Although Ward’s .897 save percentage and 3.67 GAA were the worst among the trio, it was only a marginal gap. The Blackhawks struggled defensively and no goalie was safe, as all three finished with a save percentage below .910 and GAA above 2.90.
Still, Ward cannot have been happy with his results last year. A Stanley Cup winner and former All-Star, Ward was rock solid for the Hurricanes for several years. He thrived early on as a workhorse, including a 2010-11 campaign in which he posted a career-high .923 save percentage in a league-best 74 appearances. He then settled nicely into a timeshare role, posting back-to-back seasons with a 2.40 GAA while playing in around 50 games each year from 2014 to 2016. Even as he continued to age and his numbers slipped slightly, no one could have predicted his pedestrian performance last season. It was a sharp decline from his career numbers that could have been an outlier or could be signaling the end of his career.
One thing that is certainly working against Ward finding work this off-season is the now well-established narrative that he does not play well as a backup. Over his career, Ward has played in four seasons, including last year in Chicago, in which he did not make at least half of his team’s starts. In those three seasons combined, Ward is 49-38-13, with a a save percentage of .895 and a GAA of 3.37. In all of his other seasons combined, Ward has a record of 285-218-75, with a save percentage of .911 and a GAA of 2.63. It is extremely clear that Ward does his best work with regular appearances and any team looking to make the most of signing him will want to offer that opportunity. But does such a landing spot exist?
Potential Suitors
The honest answer is that the team likely to sign Ward, if any, isn’t aware of the need just yet. Ward could very well be a veteran option that a team turns to in case of injury or poor performance that can be a temporary starter. While it’s impossible to project injuries, the New York Rangers have a starter who is even older than Ward and have very little depth behind him. A Henrik Lundqvist injury could certainly turn the Blueshirts on to Ward as an option to step in at starter during a season that brings high expectations to New York. The same could be said for the Vegas Golden Knights, whose 34-year-old starter Marc-Andre Fleury has dealt with injury issues before. Vegas is in better shape with their depth in net and could handle a short absence from Fleury, but without a proven NHL goalie elsewhere on the depth chart, a long-term injury could send them on the hunt for a solution. Despite having both John Gibson and Ryan Miller, the Anaheim Ducks are far from safe when it comes to injury risk and could be an option for Ward if disaster strikes. The Philadelphia Flyers shuffled through goalies like no other team in NHL history last year, so another issue with Brian Elliott could easily have the Flyers intrigued in Ward.
As for teams who risk needing a starter due to poor play, no team jumps out more than the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s perhaps even fair to call them the most likely landing spot for Ward, as they are sure to go through some bumpy times with their young tandem of former backup Joonas Korpisalo and unproven import Elvis Merzlikins. The team only has more untested foreign talent in the minors as well. The Blue Jackets have ample cap space, so if there was a bidding war for Ward at any point, Columbus would be the favorite to beat out any other team in need of an emergency starter.
If Ward is intent on signing before the season begins though, rather than wait for a need-based market to develop in-season, there are a couple of teams who could still be looking for a backup. Again, that isn’t the ideal role for Ward, but it is one that the respected veteran would likely be willing to try his hand at again. The Florida Panthers spent big on Sergei Bobrovsky this summer, but 22-year-old Samuel Montembeault is slated to be the primary backup heading into next year. He is waiver-exempt still and could head to the AHL without issue if the team opted to look at a veteran backup. However, this doesn’t seem extremely likely, considering their investment in Bobrovsky, who they likely expect to make 65 starts. In Colorado, the Avalanche seemed hesitant to give last year’s third-string, Pavel Francouz, an extended look despite strong numbers in the NHL and AHL. He is now the likely backup to Philipp Grubauer, who himself is still finding his footing as a true starter. The Avs have almost no depth in net and could look to add another name to the mix in Ward.
Projected Contract
Ward has made at least $3MM in each of the past four seasons and more than $6MM on the contract prior to that. Those days are now over. Regardless of the impact that his role or the team’s defense had on his 2018-19 performance in Chicago, Ward has lost his leverage to command a sizable salary after such a poor season. If he is settling in to a backup role before the season, he will almost certainly land somewhere between $1MM and the league minimum of $700K. If he is signing mid-season to take over as a starter or at least in a timeshare, that number could go up, but not much higher. If Ward feels like he has several years left, he will be looking at this season as an investment in future earnings; he will accept a cheap deal to go to the right place where there is the potential to succeed, so as to hit the market next summer with some more bargaining power. The only question is whether that right fit exists, now or down the road after the season begins. Ward could call it a career if no such opportunities arise by the end of the calendar year.
Snapshots: Marner, Murphy, Canucks
The market for restricted free agents is still being held up by Mitch Marner and today James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required) examined the situation between the young star and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mirtle believes that the Maple Leafs have been “aggressive” trying to get the contract done and are willing to get into basically unprecedented territory for a three-year bridge deal if it comes to that.
Obviously there is still a lot of mystery and negotiating through the media in the Marner situation, but as we get closer and closer to training camp things around the league have to start to resolve eventually. Mirtle writes that everyone is waiting for Marner to set the ceiling on what everyone else can earn, meaning there could be an avalanche coming whenever things are resolved in Toronto.
- The New York Rangers have hired Gord Murphy as an associate coach for their AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack. Murphy spent the last five years with the Philadelphia Flyers and has been in the NHL for nearly two decades as an assistant coach. In fact, he worked alongside new Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch in Philadelphia, meaning the two will have no trouble getting on the same page this year.
- There are lots of questions surrounding how Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green will deploy his lineup this season, so Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet sat down with him to try and get some answers. Green is excited about getting players like J.T. Miller and Micheal Ferland into their group this season as they can play both checking and scoring roles. Quite simply, when asked about having enough talent to surround Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat on the top two lines Green responded “I do.” Green also admitted that he still hasn’t spoken to Loui Eriksson about the comments about how the two didn’t get along 100 per cent, though he is planning to when they next see each other.
New York Rangers Buy Out Kevin Shattenkirk
Thursday: The Rangers have made the buyout official. Shattenkirk is now an unrestricted free agent.
Wednesday: The New York Rangers earned a second buyout window after settling all of their arbitration cases and will use it to open up some cap room. Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post reports that the Rangers intend to buy out veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. He will not require unconditional waivers as he currently holds a no-movement clause. Shattenkirk had two years left on his deal which carried a $6.65MM cap hit. He will now become an unrestricted free agent while the Rangers will carry the following cap hits:
- 2019-20: $1,483,333
- 2020-21: $6,083,333
- 2021-22: $1,433,333
- 2022-23: $1,433,333
Shattenkirk, 30, signed a four-year deal with the Rangers in the summer of 2017 as one of the very best available unrestricted free agents. He was supposed to come in and provide the team with an offensive presence from the blue line, but struggled mightily in his own end and saw his production drop significantly. In 119 games with the Rangers over two seasons Shattenkirk recorded 51 points and was a -29. The right-handed defenseman also didn’t fit in to the timeline the team had put together with their new young core, though his performance and lack of trust from head coach David Quinn likely made that a moot point.
For the Rangers, cap relief is the name of the game right now. After signing Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba to long-term contracts worth nearly $20MM per season, the team suddenly found themselves above the $81.5MM ceiling. A trade or buyout was necessary to get them back under that number and this will accomplish that. With Chris Kreider, Vladislav Namestnikov and others coming off the books after this season the team will be able to absorb the inflated cap hit of Shattenkirk in 2020-21, though it means they won’t be able to do a ton of shopping next offseason.
Even though he’s being cut loose by the Rangers, don’t expect Shattenkirk to be unemployed for very long. The defense market didn’t have a ton of talent in it this summer and while names like Jake Gardiner and Ben Hutton still remain unsigned, Shattenkirk immediately becomes the best right-handed option on the market. Even if he is no longer the play-driving force he was in St. Louis, there’s still more than enough reason to believe that the 30-year old can still contribute in the right situation. Where that will be is unclear, as the Rangers tried and failed to trade him over the last several weeks (and perhaps months) without any luck.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images