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Cole Caufield Out For The Season With A Shoulder Injury

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Jan 27: Caufield will undergo surgery on February 1 in Colorado, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet.

Jan 21: The Canadiens have struggled offensively this season and scoring goals just got a lot harder as the team announced that winger Cole Caufield suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and will undergo surgery in the near future.  There is no timeline for how long the recovery period will take with an update being expected after the medical procedures are completed.

Caufield played in Thursday’s loss to Florida and was a full participant in practice on Friday so the announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie notes (Twitter link) that the injury isn’t something that just happened but has instead been lingering for the past several weeks.  The 22-year-old is tied for 11th in the league in goals this season with 26 while TSN noted earlier this week that he’s tied for eighth in the league in goals since Martin St. Louis took over behind the bench a little less than a year ago.  Caufield has over 21% of Montreal’s goals this season with the team ranking 28th in the league in goals scored heading into Saturday’s action.

Caufield is set to become a restricted free agent this summer without salary arbitration eligibility.  His case is one of some intrigue given how productive he has become under St. Louis while GM Kent Hughes indicated earlier this week that preliminary discussions are underway with a desire to lock him up on a long-term contract.  However, with his first season being a short one having burned his first entry-level year after his college campaign, Caufield only has 123 career regular season contests under his belt which is considerably less than what most players that sign a long-term, big-money agreement after their first contract have.

In a corresponding roster move, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that forward Alex Belzile has been recalled from AHL Laval.  The 31-year-old has 13 career games of NHL experience with Montreal over the last two seasons and has 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 games with the Rocket this season.  Even with this recall, Montreal only has 11 healthy forwards on their active roster and they are expected to dress seven defensemen tonight against Toronto.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vancouver Canucks Extend Andrei Kuzmenko

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The Vancouver Canucks have worked through some negotiations quite quickly, reaching an agreement with pending free agent Andrei Kuzmenko. The two-year contract extension will carry an average annual value of $5.5MM, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Friedman adds that there will be a 12-team no-trade clause included in the deal, which starts next season.

There are two ways to look at a deal like this. It brings back a player who has found incredible success in his first year, scoring 21 goals and 43 points in 47 games. The $5.5MM cap hit is a reasonable amount for the player that Kuzmenko has been this year, and keeps him from walking in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

The Canucks can now staple him to the wing of Elias Pettersson and have the makings of a legitimate top line through 2024-25.

On the other hand, the rest of the Vancouver roster doesn’t appear to be ready to compete during that span. Even with the “major surgery” that president Jim Rutherford suggested, which looks more and more like the exit of captain Bo Horvat, it’s hard to see the Canucks contending next season or the year after.

The pipeline isn’t filled with elite talent, the bad contracts aren’t coming off the books, and right now, they have a club good enough for 27th in the league.

Trading Kuzmenko at the deadline, then, appeared to be a better option. Given his bargain-basement salary thanks to a one-year entry-level contract, Kuzmenko could have been a target for any contender in the league. The return would have helped the prospect pool and potentially sped up a rebuild that seems inevitable, even if the front office won’t admit it.

That said, a two-year deal doesn’t necessarily mean Kuzmenko won’t be traded. It just means he won’t be traded right now. He’ll only be 29 when the deal is set to expire and if the Canucks are still not good, will still likely fetch a strong return on the trade market.

Given Rutherford’s belief that the team can be competitive again in under three years, this deal makes a lot of sense. It gives them another shot with a new head coach, and if it still doesn’t work, they can move on without much issue.

Perhaps the surprise is that Kuzmenko would agree to a two-year deal at all. After all, his performance this season would likely warrant a longer commitment if he wanted it. But this way, he can cash in for the next two years and potentially hit the market as an under-30 winger when the salary cap goes up. If he can keep producing, it might end up a savvy move for the undrafted Russian, who will be set up for a massive deal down the road.

Vancouver Canucks Hire Rick Tocchet

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The Vancouver Canucks have made the worst-kept secret in hockey official. Rick Tocchet has been hired as head coach to replace the outgoing Bruce Boudreau, per a team release Sunday. Former NHL defensemen Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar have also been added to the coaching staff, replacing assistant Trent Cull.

Foote directly replaces Cull as an assistant coach, and he’ll complement assistants Jason King and Mike Yeo and goalie coach Ian Clark on Tocchet’s staff. Gonchar was brought in as a “defensive development coach,” and it’s unclear whether he’ll be behind the bench for regular game action.

Tocchet replaces Boudreau, one of the most well-respected coaches in NHL history. Boudreau coached just 103 games with the Canucks, however, and finished with a 50-40-13 record. After finishing the 2021-22 season in Vancouver with a great pace of 32-15-10, the Canucks have just a .424 points percentage in 2022-23 and sit well out of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Boudreau’s departure from the Canucks organization is viewed as one of the ugliest in recent history by many, with many details of the veteran coach’s impending firing being leaked to the media throughout the decision-making process. The 68-year-old was visibly emotional as he coached his last games with the Canucks this week and received an outpouring of support from Canucks fans in the process.

Tocchet is now brought into a highly complex situation in Vancouver, where he serves as the 21st head coach in franchise history. In 438 games as an NHL head coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-2010) and Arizona Coyotes (2017-2021), he has a record of 178-200-60 and just one playoff appearance with Arizona in 2020.

General manager Patrik Allvin had the following statement on Tocchet’s hiring:

Rick Tocchet brings a wealth of knowledge to this team from both a coach and player perspective. He has had more than two decades of coaching experience, guiding teams of various styles. As a player, he displayed a high level of character, grit and intensity, while recording impressive offensive numbers.

Foote and Gonchar are some of the best defensemen in NHL history. They are obviously very targeted hirings by the Canucks organization to plug the defensive holes that have existed on their roster for the past number of years. However, their coaching experience is somewhat limited.

Foote coached midget hockey for a time in the 2010s but most recently served as the head coach of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets for two seasons from 2018 to 2020. His only NHL front office experience consists of four seasons as a development consultant for the Colorado Avalanche, from 2013 to 2017.

Gonchar, 48, did spend five years as a coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a defensive development coach there as well from 2015 to 2017, during the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. He was then on staff as an assistant coach for three years from 2017 to 2020. He’s since served in various coaching capacities with the Russian national team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minnesota Wild Extend Matt Boldy

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The Minnesota Wild have some good news for fans on a Monday morning. Matt Boldy has signed a seven-year extension, keeping him locked up through the 2029-30 season. The $49MM deal will carry an average annual value of $7MM and avoids any restricted free agency with the young forward. It does not include any signing bonuses. PuckPedia has the full breakdown:

  • 2023-24: $8.0MM
  • 2024-25: $9.7MM
  • 2025-26: $7.7MM
  • 2026-27: $6.0MM
  • 2027-28: $5.96MM
  • 2028-29: $5.82MM + 10-team NTC
  • 2029-30: $5.82MM + 10-team NTC

It’s hard to find a more worthwhile young player to extend around the league, as Boldy has been excellent for Minnesota since the moment he entered the lineup. Last season as a rookie, skating mostly beside Kevin Fiala, Boldy managed 39 points in 47 games. He was credited as a huge reason why his linemate finally reached a consistent performance, and it helped Fiala land a massive contract of his own.

This time around, he hasn’t had quite the same level of offensive teammates, most often hitting the ice with 29-year-old undrafted center Frederick Gaudreau. Still, Boldy has 12 goals and 29 points in 42 games, good enough for fourth on the Wild.

While those numbers are down a bit from last year, there’s no one that doubts Boldy anymore. The 12th overall pick from 2019 is a good bet to be a core piece of Minnesota’s attack for the next decade, and they got an early jump on extending him in order to save some money down the line.

Of course, given his youth, it will seem like quite a hefty expenditure. Boldy, 21, becomes the fourth-highest-paid 23-and-under player in the league, only trailing Tim Stutzle, Jack Hughes, and Andrei Svechnikov. Those are big names to follow, but there’s plenty of optimism that he’ll quickly outpace a $7MM price tag.

Notably, despite the excitement, the Wild are going to have some tough decisions to make now. The team now has more than $74MM committed to just 14 players for next season, with several RFAs still to go. Calen Addison, for instance, will be in line for a hefty raise after his breakout season, while Filip Gustavsson, Sam Steel, Brandon Duhaime, and Mason Shaw also need new deals.

With the buyout penalties for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter actually increasing for the next two years, the team is going to need to cut money elsewhere.

Still, Boldy represents a big part of the future of the Wild, and is now locked in at a reasonable rate. If the salary cap does take a substantial jump in a few years, and he continues to develop, it could even look like a bargain.

Boston Bruins Extend Pavel Zacha

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As soon as they put the finishing touches on a statement win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins announced a contract extension for Pavel Zacha. The four-year deal will carry a cap hit of $4.75MM and keeps Zacha under contract through 2026-27.

Zacha, 25, was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in an offseason trade last summer and agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM deal as an RFA. That would have walked him right to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, and after a great performance so far, earned a serious extension.

The defensive forward has fit in nicely for the stingy Bruins, adding 25 points in 41 games. That has him on pace to set a new career-high (his previous is just 36), though only five of them are goals.

His scoring talents have become secondary over the years though, as Zacha refined his defensive game more and more. He can now be deployed on any line, at any point in the game, and help tilt the ice in the Bruins favor.

While it is certainly no guarantee that continues, the Boston front office must believe he can be a core piece moving forward. The Bruins have a massive contract negotiation still pending with David Pastrnak, which will eat up a ton of cap space moving forward.

Luckily, there’s plenty of money coming off the books even with Zacha signed. Nick Foligno, Craig Smith, Tomas Nosek, Chris Wagner, Anton Stralman, and Connor Clifton are all pending UFAs, not to mention Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci who are going year-to-year at this point.

With Zacha in place, the team still has more than $20MM to work with as they try to rebuild the roster for next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Dallas Stars Extend Joe Pavelski

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The Dallas Stars have signed veteran forward Joe Pavelski to a one-year extension with a base salary of $3.5MM, as originally reported by team reporter Mike Heika. EP Rinkside’s Sean Shapiro adds that Pavelski’s deal has up to $2MM in performance bonuses with CapFriendly clarifying that he’ll receive $1MM at 10 games played and $1MM at 20 games played.

Taken all the way back in the legendary 2003 NHL Draft with the 205th overall pick, Pavelski has evolved into perhaps one of the most consistent players in league history. In his 17th NHL season at age 38, Pavelski is still rolling along with 37 points in 38 games while playing top-line minutes.

He had a somewhat disappointing first season in Dallas after signing there as a free agent in 2019. However, he’s been nothing short of spectacular ever since, alongside the team’s developing stars, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. Pavelski’s 54 assists and 81 points last season were both career highs.

Still, a Stanley Cup has eluded him throughout his time in Dallas and with the San Jose Sharks. He’s reached the Final twice, with San Jose in 2016 and Dallas in 2020, but has come up short both times. With the Stars flying high in a wide-open Western Conference this season, though, he should remain optimistic about his chances of getting back there a third time.

Pavelski’s 35+ contract eligibility allows Dallas to keep his cap hit lower (at the $3.5MM mark) while barely decreasing his total potential compensation. His potential performance bonuses of $2MM are up from $500,000 on his current one-year deal, meaning his actual pay cut is much lower than the decrease in cap hit suggests.

It’s an important contract for Dallas to get on the books for next year, and they made it clear they feel the same way by signing an extension on the first possible day. The team does have a sizable chunk of cash (~$75MM) committed to next year’s roster now, but the team can expect to rely on younger players like Wyatt Johnston, Ty Dellandrea, and potentially Logan Stankoven to play considerable roles in 2023-24 and ease cap constraints.

Pavelski had the following comments on his time in the Lone Star State:

I am grateful for the opportunity to continue being a member of the Stars organization. Sarah, Nate and I have loved being part of this team and Dallas/Fort Worth community for the past four years. We have an incredible group of players in this locker room, and I am excited to continue to work with my teammates toward our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.

For “Captain America”, the extension allows him to build on an illustrious career that has him as one of the best American-born players to lace up the skates. His 433 career goals are eighth all-time, just three behind Patrick Kane.

Main photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ottawa Senators Extend Artem Zub

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The Ottawa Senators have handed a nice Christmas gift to defenseman Artem Zub, signing him to a four-year extension. The deal is worth a total of $18.4MM ($4.6MM AAV) and will keep him in the organization through the 2026-27 season. Zub will hold a 10-team no-trade clause, and make the following:

  • 2023-24: $4.0MM
  • 2024-25: $4.8MM
  • 2025-26: $4.8MM
  • 2026-27: $4.8MM

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion released a statement on the deal:

Artem’s transition to North American hockey has been remarkable. He has worked hard to establish himself as an excellent NHL player and a strong defender. He consistently helps make us a better defensive team while he’s on the ice. We’re pleased to reach agreement with him on an extension of this length.

Zub, 27, came to the Senators in 2020, and has been arguably the most important defender on the team since the moment he arrived. While Thomas Chabot controls play and logs the biggest minutes, it is Zub that seems to make everything work. With him in the lineup, the team is so much better defensively, and he has chipped in a little bit of offense at the same time.

Last season he set a high-water mark of 22 points in 81 games, and was one of only three regulars to post a positive +/-. This year has been marred by two different injury issues, limiting him to just 14 games so far. In those, he is averaging more than 22 minutes and has four points.

It won’t get the headlines that some other extensions do, but locking up Zub is a very important step for the Senators. Given they are in the process of a sale, adding contracts to the books can sometimes be a tricky thing to pull off. Keeping Zub away from unrestricted free agency should only help the team as they attempt to turn the corner on their rebuild.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Jason Demers

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The Edmonton Oilers announced that they have signed defenseman Jason Demers to a one-year, two-way contract. After signing Demers, the Oilers have placed him on waivers for the purposes of loaning him to the Bakersfield Condors, their AHL affiliate. The contract is worth $750,000 at the NHL level, which is the league minimum. The move comes one day before the NHL’s temporary roster freeze takes effect.

For Demers, the contract should give him a much clearer path to an NHL job this season after not playing in the league since 2020-21. Unless he’s claimed on waivers, the signing, waiving, and loan to Bakersfield will more or less be a formality for the veteran, who has been playing with the Condors this season, tallying nine points and 32 penalty minutes in 24 games. Demers had actually been in training camp with Edmonton this preseason and impressed in that time, but salary cap constraints prevented the organization from giving him an NHL deal until now.

In the case of the Oilers, signing the 34-year-old should, if he clears, give them more reliable depth on the backend and a player they know they can trust if and when he gets into the lineup. Although their jobs certainly are in no danger, the Oilers have had some glaring issues defensively this week, headlined by Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard. For now, nothing will change on the ice for Edmonton or Bakersfield, but the team will be able to recall Demers at a moment’s notice when they feel the timing is right.

Los Angeles Kings Place Cal Petersen On Waivers

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After allowing four goals on 16 shots last night in what ended up a 9-8 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Cal Petersen has been placed on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Los Angeles Kings netminder has been brutal this year, posting an .868 save percentage through his first ten appearances. He is in the first season of a three-year, $15MM contract extension signed in the fall of 2021.

The Petersen story is an interesting one. Selected 129th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2013, he would go back to the USHL for a year after his draft, before heading to Notre Dame. Starring for the Irish for three years, he decided to leave school early and pursue a professional career. Petersen would ultimately decide not to sign with the Sabres and became a free agent, able to choose his destination.

Los Angeles is where he landed, which at the time seemed a bit of an odd choice. The team already had Jonathan Quick installed as the full-time starter and Jack Campbell was starting to come into his own as the backup. It appeared as though Petersen would be blocked from the NHL net for a while.

Because of injuries and poor play, however, it wouldn’t be long before Petersen was making his debut. In his second pro season, he played 11 games for the Kings and posted a .924, showing that they could have found their future starter. A trade of Campbell the next season, and more struggles from Quick meant Petersen was getting a chance, and he ran with it, posting a .916 save percentage in 54 games over his first three years.

Heading into last season, he was expected to split the work with Quick and the team awarded him with a shiny new three-year extension, despite his previous deal still having a year left. The Kings probably should have waited, as Petersen’s play deteriorated, with him posting an .895 save percentage over 37 appearances. When Los Angeles reached the playoffs, there was no doubt who would be starting for them, and it wasn’t Petersen.

Now, with an even worse performance through the early part of the year and higher expectations for the Kings, the team can’t wait around any more. They’ve now offered him up to anyone who wants to take on the whole contract and could send him to the minor leagues to get back on track if he clears.

It seems unlikely that any team in the league would bite, especially due to the back-loaded nature of the deal. Petersen is owed a $4MM signing bonus next season and then has a $6MM salary in year three, meaning any claiming team would be taking on a lot of financial risk for a goaltender who has struggled.

Dallas Stars Extend Roope Hintz

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The Dallas Stars have locked up another piece of their core, signing Roope Hintz to an eight-year extension. The deal keeps him under contract through 2030-31 and includes an average annual value of $8.45MM. Hintz was scheduled for restricted free agency next summer when his current three-year, $9.45MM ($3.15MM AAV) contract expired. PuckPedia reports the full breakdown:

  • 2023-24: $7.5MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus
  • 2024-25: $8.25MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus
  • 2025-26: $7.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus
  • 2026-27: $5.25MM salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
  • 2027-28: $6.9MM salary
  • 2028-29: $6.9MM salary
  • 2029-30: $6.9MM salary
  • 2030-31: $6.9MM salary

Hintz, 26, will now match Miro Heiskanen in terms of cap hit, coming in just ahead of the four-year deal that Jason Robertson signed this fall and behind the two big-ticket veterans in Tyler Seguin ($9.85MM) and Jamie Benn ($9.5MM).

If you haven’t been paying attention to the Stars, you might have missed the development of Hintz into one of the league’s premier two-way players. Last season he scored 37 goals and 72 points as the anchor between Robertson and Joe Pavelski, earning Selke Trophy votes along the way as one of the league’s best defensive forwards. This year things have gone even better, with eight goals and 24 points in 22 games.

Even with Robertson’s dynamic offense and Heiskanen’s brilliant defending, there have been some that argue Hintz is actually the team’s best – or at least most valuable – player, because of all the things he does through the middle of the ice. You can practically hear the excitement in general manager Jim Nill’s statement about the deal:

Roope is a dynamic two-way centerman who has proven to be one of the best at his position in the NHL. He’s developed into one of our most versatile players, making an impact on special teams and at even strength, and can be counted on by our coaching staff in every situation. We are fortunate to have him in Victory Green for an additional eight years and look forward to his continued growth as a player.

Big, versatile centers are one of the most difficult things in the league to come by, and the Stars have avoided what could have been a tricky negotiation in a few months. While an $8.45MM cap hit is certainly not a small number, there’s reason to believe he could have demanded more, had he been coming off another near-40-goal season. Because of his age, this deal is only buying out a single RFA year, meaning Dallas is locking up basically all of Hintz’ productive UFA seasons in one shot.

There is certainly some risk here though, given the breakout that happened once Robertson and Pavelski were put in place. Hintz was good but not great in his first two seasons, and a return to that level would mean another underperforming big contract on the books. Dallas is willing to make that bet, though, and it appears like a good one given how consistent Hintz has been for more than two years now.

It also simplifies the Stars’ offseason considerably, leaving only Denis Gurianov and Ty Dellandrea as RFAs among the regular group. Pavelski’s future is unclear, given his UFA status and age (he’ll turn 39 just after free agency kicks off next summer), but the team now has some understanding of what they have to work with.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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