Kevin Klein Signs One-Year Deal In Switzerland
After announcing his retirement from the NHL last week, Kevin Klein has signed a one-year contract to play for the Zurich Lions of the Swiss NLA next season. Klein had one year remaining on his contract with the New York Rangers, but opted to retire and give up the $2.75MM instead of trying to work through his chronic injuries in the NHL.
He’ll do that instead in Switzerland, where he’ll join one of the top teams in the NLA for a year. Back in June, when it was first reported by Larry Brooks of the New York Post that Klein was considering retirement, continuing his career in Europe was mentioned. That didn’t seem like the plan last week when he announced his retirement, but at just 32 he likely has at least something left to give. The Lions are perhaps best known for their one-year housing of Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews while Marc Crawford was the head coach. While both of those men have moved on, the team remains a powerhouse in the league featuring former NHL players like David Rundblad and Robert Nilsson.
It’s interesting to see a player give up guaranteed money and a role in the NHL for the NLA, especially one like Klein who isn’t a fringe player. Playing 627 games in his career he has been a big part of the Rangers’ defensive group for several years, and before that a key cog for Nashville. The Rangers have made it clear they wanted to get younger this season, and perhaps they told Klein his role would be greatly diminished (or even buried in the minors) or maybe he just prefers the vistas of Europe over the metropolis of New York. He’s never been shy about his post-hockey plans—which include wood-working on his porch and opening a bed and breakfast with his wife—and this seems like just another outlet for those passions.
Lias Andersson Signs Entry-Level Contract
The New York Rangers have inked their newest prize, seventh-overall pick Lias Andersson, to a three-year entry-level contract. The Rangers drafted Andersson with the selection acquired in the Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta trade with the Arizona Coyotes. That was the Rangers’ first first-round pick in many years, and they’re very excited to get him into their system as soon as possible.
In fact, Alain Vigneault told Larry Brooks of the New York Post just a few days ago that Andersson was impressing him and would get “every opportunity” to make the club right away. While that still seems like a long shot, Andersson did play all of last season in the Swedish Hockey League against professionals, and held his own. With 19 points in 42 games, he helped HV71 to an SHL championship and put up the second highest +/- (+21) among forwards on the team. Whatever you think of that statistic, it backs up what is plain to see when watching Andersson; he’ll be an effective two-way player at any level.
Though he wasn’t the most dynamic offensive talent in the draft, he may be one of the surest bets to make an impact at the NHL level. At 6’0″ 200-lbs he’s not physically imposing, but can already hold his own against grown men and is willing to go to all areas of the ice to retrieve pucks and pressure defenders. A natural center, he will hopefully be able to fill that role for the Rangers down the road. After trading Stepan, they’re much weaker down the middle and will be relying on Mika Zibanejad to log big minutes for them in all situations.
Morning Notes: Jensen, Streit, Nolan
The New York Rangers won’t be signing Nicklas Jensen this summer, despite issuing him a qualifying offer a few weeks ago. The minor league forward has signed a one-year contract with Jokerit of the KHL, which also contains an option for the 2018-19 season.
Jensen was a first-round pick back in 2011, but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL on a full-time basis yet. That didn’t slow him down last year though, as he scored 32 goals in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack, easily a career high. Since the qualified him, the Rangers will retain his exclusive negotiating rights for the time being.
- There is buzz around the Montreal Canadiens and free agent defenseman Mark Streit this morning, after a report from Marc de Foy of Le Journal de Montreal said that the team had offered him a one-year deal worth $1.5MM. Though he couldn’t confirm that the team had offered it, Eric Engels of Sportsnet thinks that Streit would be silly not to take that deal if presented with it. Streit will turn 40 this season, but was still a fairly effective point producing defenseman last year with both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. His role is obviously diminished, but he can still move the puck and contribute on the powerplay.
- Ted Nolan will be heading back to the international coaching ranks, as he’s set to take over the Polish National team. Nolan previously coached the Latvian team, and has had stops as the head coach for both New York (Islanders) and Buffalo in the NHL. Nolan has had huge success coaching young players in the junior ranks, and will try to help Poland grow their team to compete on the world stage.
Viktor Stalberg Signs With Swiss Club EV Zug
Over the past few years, many NHL veterans have turned to the Swiss National League A when they could not find a home in the NHL. Mark Arcobello, Roman Cervenka, Drew Shore, and Dustin Jeffrey made up some of the NLA’s top players in 2016-17. Yet, thus far it has been a quiet off-season for the growing Swiss league. Only lesser-known North American pros such as Mason Raymond and Joel Vermin have made the jump overseas, instead of the regular influx of NHL veterans like in recent years.
That is, until now. EV Zug, fresh off an appearance in the NLA championship, announced this morning that they have signed NHL veteran Viktor Stalberg to a two-year deal. It has been rumored for some time that Stalberg, ranked 45th in PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents, was looking into NLA offers, but after playing well for the Ottawa Senators down the stretch and during their surprising playoff run this season, many thought he would eventually receive a suitable NHL offer instead. Perhaps that wasn’t the case, as the Swedish winger has signed on for two years in the NLA, signalling that he is taking a break from the NHL, at least for a while.
Stalberg, 31, has been committed to North American hockey for some time now and it is a bit strange to see him leave after his stock rose at the end of the 2016-17 season. Stalberg originally left home to play at the University of Vermont in 2006, the same year he had been drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stalberg went on to be a key forward for the Chicago Blackhawks for a few years, posting a 20-goal season and career-high 43 points with the team in 2011-12 and helping out the Stanley Cup-winning squad in 2012-13. Since leaving Chicago, Stalberg has become more of a journeyman mercenary; a role player for teams for short periods of time. In the past three years, he has played for the Nashville Predators and their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, the New York Rangers, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Senators. In those three seasons, Stalberg registered only 46 points combined, which may have lent itself to the seemingly low level of interest from other teams. Stalberg may have lost his NHL scoring touch, but he’s likely to rediscover it in the NLA. Stalberg is a great veteran addition for HV Zug, and with more than a few years of hockey left in him, Stalberg’s NHL days may not be completely over yet either.
PHR Originals: 7/3/17 – 7/9/17
Here’s a look back at some of the original content from PHR last week.
- Holger writes about how the Rangers may want to figure out how to pay Ryan McDonagh as he’s only a couple years away from free agency. Currently playing for the Rangers at a bargain, McDonagh may be off to another spot should the Blueshirts not have the cap room to pay him.
- What else could a back-to-back champion need in order to three-peat? Brian offers the Penguins scouts the Pens as to what they should be looking for to keep their dynasty running into a third consecutive season.
- Zach wonders if the San Jose Sharks need to make another move to bolster a roster now missing mainstay Patrick Marleau.
- Seth profiled Jaromir Jagr to see what a team would be getting with the 45-year-old who still appears to have a little bit left in the tank.
- Mike showed how many players are still being compensated by their former team who paid them to go away.
- In addition to hosting his weekly chat, Gavin asked our readers which available free agent was the best choice for teams seeking help.
- Finally, I looked to see if both the qualitative and quantitative data really show that the Chicago Blackhawks’ window is closing. Though some of the numbers are harsh, I think that things are not as grim as many want to believe.
RFA Arbitration Hearings Begin Soon
Although it’s likely that many of these restricted free-agents come to terms with their teams before the hearing dates, the list of set dates has been released. Last year, only one RFA actually made it to their date without a deal. We should see more players actually make it to the arbitration process this year, but how many is unclear. It could be zero, or it could be five.
That said, these arbitration hearings begin in only 11 days, so the crunch is on. Teams will hope to hammer out details with players they hope to lock in for longer than two years. PHR published a preview highlighting players most likely to see a massive pay-raise, but arbitration by its nature can be rather capricious.
According theScore’s Cody Wilkins, the set dates are as follows:
July 20 – Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay), Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Tomas Tatar (Detroit)
July 21 – Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa), Michael Chaput (Vancouver)
July 22 – Micheal Ferland (Calgary), Viktor Arvidsson (Nashville)
July 24 – Austin Watson (Nashville), Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh)
July 25 – Joey LaLeggia (Edmonton), Mika Zibanejad (NY Rangers), Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay)
July 26 – Jordan Martinook (Arizona), Ryan Spooner (Boston)
July 27 – Robin Lehner (Buffal0), Marek Mazanec (Nashville)
July 28 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Ottawa)
July 31 – Matt Nieto (Colorado)
August 1 – Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Reid Boucher (Vancouver)
August 2 – Calvin de Haan (NY Islanders), Kevin Gravel (Los Angeles)
August 3 – Nate Schmidt (Vegas), Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota)
August 4 – Mikael Granlund (Minnesota), Conor Sheary (Pittsburgh), Nathan Beaulieu (Buffalo)
Rangers Ready To Move Nick Holden For Help At Center
Don’t be surprised if the New York Rangers move out defenseman Nick Holden in the coming weeks. After signing Kevin Shattenkirk and re-signing Brendan Smith to long-term contracts last week, the Rangers now have five solid defensemen and rather than have Holden languish on one of the bottom-six defensive rotation spots, the team may be ready to use the veteran defender as a trade chip to acquire a center. According to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, the Rangers might be looking to use Holden to go after Toronto’s Tyler Bozak if the Maple Leafs make the 31-year-old center available now that they have signed Patrick Marleau to a three-year contract.
Toronto, which is currently over the cap by $3.9MM (via Cap Friendly) after the signing, must make a move to get them below the cap. Bozak would make sense as he is on the last year of his contract at $4.2MM and is not likely to be resigned with the Maple Leafs cap issues that will be greeting them in the future. Bozak had a productive season with Toronto last year, putting up 18 goals and 37 assists, while averaging 16:26 of time on the ice. The Rangers, who traded away center Derek Stepan to Arizona to free up some cap space to invest in their defense, must find help to fill that vacant center position as the team currently only has Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and recent free agent acquisition David Desharnais on its roster at that position. Bozak would provide that much needed depth and could even earn a spot as the team’s second center, according to Brooks.
The Rangers don’t need Holden as much on defense as they also have two young defenders who are ready to contribute on defense in 23-year-old Brady Skjei, who had a solid season for the Rangers last year, and 21-year-old Anthony DeAngelo, who they picked up in the Stepan deal. While the Leafs did just sign 36-year-old veteran Ron Hainsey from the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins to add to their defense, adding a quality veteran like Holden might be a good fit and offer defensive depth they currently do not have.
Rangers Must Begin To Worry About McDonagh
The New York Rangers have emphasized defense this offseason with the signing of top free agent Kevin Shattenkirk and the re-signing of trade deadline acquisition Brendan Smith. Between the two of them, the Rangers have exactly $11MM per year locked up until the 2020-21 season. Tie in the $5.7MM invested in veteran Marc Staal, who not that long ago was being discussed as a buyout candidate, and New York has $16.7MM invested in three veteran defensemen over the next four years. That’s all well and good (even if Staal proves to be worth that type of money). The Rangers wanted to beef up their defense and they have done that even if it’s at the cost of their offense. However, there is one key aspect missing in their defense. Ryan McDonagh.
Yes, the team captain – heart and soul of their defense. He’s only locked in at a very reasonable $4.7MM for the next two years and the New York Post’s Larry Brooks suggests that he is the third most underpaid player in the NHL, which may cause the Rangers some problems in two years when he becomes a unrestricted free agent in the 2019-2020 season. Listing just Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and the New York Islanders’ John Tavares as the most underpaid, the scribe writes that while Crosby’s career is cemented in Pittsburgh, that may not be the case for Tavares, who is currently making the Islanders sweat and possibly consider trading him before he leaves New York for nothing. That may be the same story for McDonough one year after that.
McDonough has two years to decide whether he wants to spend the rest of his career in New York. Brooks writes that he may be interested in returning home to Minnesota and joining a Wild team that should have the money to pay him handsomely in two years. Everything may come down to how he enjoys playing with offensively-gifted Kevin Shattenkirk compared to his previous long-time partner, defensively-gifted Dan Girardi. In the end, it may come down to money and whether the Rangers are willing to commit what is likely to be $7-8MM per year for possibly seven or eight years to keep their then-30-year-old captain when they are already overloaded with a large number of defensive contracts. The point is that McDonough will not make it to free agency as a Ranger. He will have enough power, like Tavares does with the Islanders now, to command whether he gets that long-term deal as a Ranger or force them into dealing him in a year.
Kevin Klein Retires From NHL
After a report surfaced last month that Kevin Klein was considering retirement, the New York Rangers have announced the defenseman will indeed hang up his skates and retire at the age of 32. Klein played just 60 games last year while battling through a back injury.
Klein began his career with the Nashville Predators and played for nearly a decade there before being traded to the Rangers for Michael Del Zotto. While Del Zotto spent just half a season with the Predators before heading to Philadelphia, Klein would remain in New York and turn into one of their most important defensive pieces. Scoring 52 points over two seasons from 2014-16, Klein was one of the most clutch performers for the team during that time with eight game winning goals including several in overtime.
He’ll finish his NHL career with 154 points in 627 games, while playing in 73 playoff contests without ever hoisting the Stanley Cup. His retirement may actually help the Rangers though, as his $2.9MM cap hit will come off the books immediately. With Mika Zibanejad still to sign, the Rangers were going to be very tight to the salary cap for the upcoming season. Klein is leaving with just one year remaining on his current contract.
Jesper Fast Signs Three-Year Deal With New York Rangers
The New York Rangers have locked up Jesper Fast for a few more years, signing him today to a three-year $5.55MM contract. Fast was eligible to file for arbitration before today’s deadline. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the contract’s conclusion. The $1.85MM average salary is a $900K raise over his last deal. 
Fast played 68 games for the Rangers last season, again cracking the 20-point mark despite a limited role. That role may increase slightly next season, as Fast continues to show that he can produce at both ends of the rink. If given the chance, 40 points doesn’t seem out of the question in his prime years though he also has excellent value in a checking role.
For a team that has lost Oscar Lindberg and Derek Stepan already this summer, getting Fast back under contract for a reasonable contract was imperative. It is interesting that they didn’t get him signed for longer, but with cap space dwindling and a new deal for Mika Zibanejad still needed, the Rangers likely couldn’t afford to buy out many free agent years.
Instead, Fast will be on the open market at 28 in the summer of 2020. If he can continue his performance for the next few seasons, and even show a little more offense he’ll be highly sought-after in free agency. Not bad for a sixth-round pick.
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