Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Newsstand

Ryan Ellis Signs Eight-Year Extension With Nashville Predators

at CDT | by 5 Comments

One of the biggest extensions expected this summer has finally dropped, as the Nashville Predators today announced an eight-year, $50MM ($6.25MM AAV) contract extension for Ryan Ellis. The deal will kick in for the 2019-20 season, and keep Ellis in Nashville through the 2026-27 season. Ellis is currently carrying just a $2.5MM cap hit on the final year of his contract. The deal does not include any trade protection, meaning Pekka Rinne remains the only Predators player with a contract that includes a no-move or no-trade clause. GM David Poile released a statement explaining the contract:

Ryan is a huge part of our team on and off the ice and we are happy to have his leadership remain in our locker room for the foreseeable future. We have talked about wanting to keep the core of our team together, and this is another opportunity to help us do so while continuing to compete for a Stanley Cup. Ryan is entering his prime and is one of the reasons why we feel this team has a chance to win every time we step on the ice.

Ellis, 27, was scheduled to be one of the biggest unrestricted free agents on the market next offseason, though there was little doubt something would be worked out with Nashville at some point. The two sides had been open with their mutual interest, and this deal gives both what they were after. For Ellis, it potentially gives him the opportunity to play his entire career in Nashville after the team took a chance on him with the 11th-overall selection in 2009. At the time, undersized defensemen were not as accepted as they are today and it was obvious by some of the names taken ahead of him. Luke Schenn and Jared Cowen both ended up as top-10 picks, mostly for their size and defensive capabilities. Even Victor Hedman (2nd overall) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (6th overall) are big enough to fulfill the height restrictions, though the offensive upside of both made them such attractive commodities. Ellis, who stands just 5’10”, was seen as a risk even despite his obvious offensive gifts and defensive potential.

That potential has paid off, and though Ellis is still regarded as an excellent offensive player it is his all-around ability that makes him so valuable. Equally capable on the powerplay and penalty kill, the former Windsor Spitfire recorded 32 points in just 44 games in 2017-18 after returning from injury and logged huge minutes for the Predators in the playoffs once again. Though he won’t begin the extension until well after his 28th birthday, he secures the Predators’ blue line as one of the best in the league for years to come.

There was more money to be made, at least on a per-year basis on the open market to be sure. A similarly aged John Carlson just received an eight-year $64MM contract from the Washington Capitals given his proximity to unrestricted free agency, and some would argue that Ellis is an even more effective player. At the very worst he’s in the same range and could have demanded at least $7MM per season, but decided to stick with the Predators long-term and keep contending for the Stanley Cup. Ryan McDonagh too recently received an extension that carries a higher cap hit, in fact according to CapFriendly the closest comparables to the Ellis contract are Cam Fowler, Erik Johnson and Johnny Boychuk. While all three are effective players, Nashville will be happy to keep one of their leaders in the room for a respectable number.

The fact that there is no trade protection shouldn’t come as a surprise, and it also shouldn’t signal that the Predators will look to move Ellis down the road. Poile is staunchly against including no-movement clauses, and has avoided giving them out in other huge extensions for players like Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris. Ellis will earn a $7MM signing bonus on July 1st, 2019, giving him a good portion of money up front.

The Predators now have their elite four defensemen locked up for the next two years at least, with Roman Josi next on the block for an extension. His contract expires in the summer of 2020, at which point he’ll be 30 years old. Amazingly, Nashville is set up to have more than enough room to give him a heft raise from the $4MM he currently earns, meaning this group could stay together for some time. Mattias Ekholm, now the extremely underpaid member of the group, carries a $3.75MM hit for four more seasons.

This deal does carry some risk, as Ellis could deteriorate or decline in the latter portion of the contract. By then though the salary cap will have inflated and the Predators will likely have already received plenty of excess value. If he struggles to maintain his current play this season though, handing out an extension at this point could look like a huge mistake. There is pressure on the 27-year old defenseman to perform, but he’s never seemed to back away from the spotlight in the past.

Dylan Larkin Re-Signs With Detroit Red Wings

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings have locked up the final piece of their team, signing Dylan Larkin to a five-year contract. Larkin had been clear recently that a contract was close to being completed, and that he was looking forward to his next chapter in Detroit. According to Craig Custance of The Athletic, the deal will carry an average annual value of $6.1MM, putting the Red Wings over the $79.5MM cap for this season. The team can go up to 10% ($7.95MM) over the ceiling during the offseason. Custance also provides us with the full salary breakdown:

  • 2018-19: $5.75MM salary + $1MM signing bonus
  • 2019-20: $7MM salary
  • 2020-21: $4.75MM salary
  • 2021-22: $6.75MM salary
  • 2022-23: $5.25MM salary

The contract also includes a full no-trade clause in the final season, as Larkin was not eligible for any trade protection prior to that. Though it certainly doesn’t have much of an impact on his deal right now, that could be a huge factor given that the forward is now scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency at the age of 26. Larkin celebrated his 22nd birthday just a few days ago, and has the potential to be the absolute top option on the UFA market down the line. The no-trade clause will limit the Red Wings if they can’t work out an extension, though that isn’t something they’ll have to worry about for some time.

Instead, the Red Wings brass will be celebrating as they lock up the new face of their franchise for at least another five seasons. Larkin led the team in scoring with 63 points this season and started to fully realize his immense potential. One of the best skaters in the entire league, Larkin’s transition to center full-time this season came with a different offensive style as he couldn’t rely on his blazing speed to get around defenders on every rush. Instead he became a top notch distributor and trailed only Connor McDavid, Mathew Barzal, Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos and Artemi Panarin in even-strength assists. Though his speed can still give defenders trouble in a one-on-one situation, Larkin will hopefully continue to grow his offensive arsenal over the next few years.

Unfortunately for Detroit, his breakout meant that they had to pay up in this deal to keep him around. The team now projects to be more than $3MM over the cap ceiling for the upcoming season, and even with the flexibility that can be created by placing Johan Franzen on long-term injured reserve, will need to make an additional move before the offseason concludes. As we discussed in our live chat yesterday, some of the obvious candidates for trade are Gustav Nyquist, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening, though it’s not clear what the market would be for any of them. It is interesting to look at the deals handed out this summer to Thomas Vanek ($3MM AAV), Mike Green ($5.375MM AAV) and Jonathan Bernier ($3MM AAV) now that the team is in a bind financially. Though all three should help the team on the ice, Vanek and Green both received no-trade clauses and Bernier is the only goaltender signed past the upcoming season.

Detroit isn’t exactly set up to compete for the Stanley Cup in 2018-19, but they certainly shouldn’t be among the very worst in the league. Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou headline a nice young core up front, while Bernier and Jimmy Howard should be an above-average goaltending tandem. There isn’t much upside on defense at the moment, but with more youth coming in players like Dennis Cholowski, Jared McIsaac and Gustav Lindstrom it could change quickly. There is also the wildcard of Filip Zadina, who could make the club out of camp and step right into a big offensive role. The team does have to remember that he can earn up to $850K in performance bonuses though, which would be carried over to next season if the team does not have cap space.

Today is about Larkin though, who will now be expected to take another step forward and become the player Detroit builds around. As Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall drift off into the sunset and the last remnants of the last golden age of Detroit hockey fades away, Larkin will be the one tasked with ushering in the next competitive team.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Christian Dvorak To Six-Year Extension

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Arizona Coyotes have made it clear that Christian Dvorak is going to be a part of their plans for a long time, signing him today to a six-year contract extension. The deal kicks in for the 2019-20 season and will carry Dvorak to unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2025. The 22-year old forward is entering the final year of his entry-level contract, and was eligible to sign an extension on July 1st. CapFriendly reports that the deal will carry a $4.45MM cap hit, meaning the total extension is worth $26.7MM. Arizona GM John Chayka included a statement:

We are very pleased to sign Christian to a long-term contract. Christian is a highly skilled, reliable, two-way center who continues to improve each season. He will be a key player for us in the future and we are thrilled to have him with us for the next seven seasons.

Dvorak was originally selected 58th overall by the Coyotes in 2014, but returned to the OHL for two more seasons to round out his game at the junior level. In those years, paired mostly with Mitch Marner (and often either Max Domi or Matthew Tkachuk) Dvorak became a dominant offense player and recorded 230 points in just 125 regular season games. He added 35 points en route to an OHL Championship and Memorial Cup in 2015-16 as team captain, before jumping straight to the NHL the following season. While some doubted that Dvorak could produce goals and points away from Marner and the other talented players on the London Knights roster, he scored 15 goals and 33 points as a rookie on a bad Arizona team and performed better admirably in the role that he was given.

Unfortunately Dvorak failed to take another step forward offensively in 2017-18, scoring just 15 goals again and recording 37 points despite increased ice time. While he took substantial strides in his defensive and faceoff work, his upside in the offense zone was capped and his powerplay production was underwhelming even with ample opportunity. No longer a rookie, there were higher expectations of the young forward that he didn’t quite reach in the eyes of many. Apparently not in those of the front office though, as the team has signed him long before it was necessary in an attempt to get him under contract before a potential breakout. There’s little chance he could have demanded a contract of this value next summer given that he would not have been arbitration eligible, though it does buy out two of his unrestricted free agent years down the road for a reasonable price. The breakdown of the deal, provided by Craig Morgan of AZ Sports, indicates that he also has an eight team no-trade clause in those UFA seasons. The full salary breakdown is as follows:

  • 2019-20: $2.95MM salary + $300K signing bonus
  • 2020-21: $3.45MM salary
  • 2021-22: $5.075MM salary
  • 2022-23: $3.45MM salary
  • 2023-24: $5.725MM salary
  • 2024-25: $5.75MM salary

Those are big numbers for a player that still has yet to really have an offensive breakout, though they could look like a bargain down the road if he does. With the salary cap expected to continue to grow (though perhaps not at the same rate), a $4.45MM cap hit might become more than reasonable for a two-way center with Dvorak’s ability. Unfortunately right now it will be compared to some of his contemporaries who have produced at a much higher rate in recent years. CapFriendly’s tool indicates that Victor Rask and Rickard Rakell are the closes matches for the deal, given they each signed six-year extensions in 2016 at the age of 23 (the same age Dvorak will be when the deal kicks in). Rask and Rakell were each coming off 20+ goal and 40+ point seasons, thresholds that Dvorak has still yet to eclipse in his short career, and both come in at substantially lower cap hits ($4.0MM and $3.8MM respectively). Rakell has thrived after being moved to the wing with 67 goals over the first two years of the deal, and while Rask has actually taken steps backwards offensively in consecutive years his point production still sat right around where Dvorak was in 2017-18.

The interesting part of a deal like this for Arizona though, is that the team normally doesn’t really have to worry about cap problems. Even after assuming dead cap hits like Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa, the team still finds itself with more than $10MM in space and one of the lowest salary totals in the league. Giving Dvorak a little bit extra in order to keep him in the desert long-term may have been necessary, and something that the team was obviously willing to do. Other teams around the league will likely feel the effects worse than Arizona when it comes to re-signing their own restricted free agents.

Ducks Sign John Gibson To An Eight-Year Extension

at CDT | by 12 Comments

John Gibson will be manning the pipes in Anaheim for a long time to come.  The team announced that they’ve signed the goaltender to an eight-year contract extension through the 2026-27 season.  Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.  Eric Stephens of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an AAV of $6.4MM.  Gibson is already signed for next season with a $2.3MM cap hit with a $3.3MM salary so this new deal won’t kick in until July of 2019.

Per CapFriendly, there are no signing bonuses in the deal and there is no variation in the year-to-year salary.  He also receives a ten-team no-trade list beginning in 2021-22 when he is eligible to have no-trade protection in his contract.

GM Bob Murray released the following statement on the move:

“I believe in John Gibson, as does everyone in the organization. This is obviously a major commitment by the club, but one we feel strongly about. John is equally committed to being a Duck. He is only now entering the prime of his career, and we are all confident his best is yet to come.”

Gibson was drafted in the second round (39th overall) with a pick they acquired from the Maple Leafs at the 2011 draft in exchange for trading down to allow Toronto to select winger Tyler Biggs.  He has quickly emerged as one of the better young goalies in the game and the Ducks are clearly pleased with his progress given their commitment here.

Last season, the 25-year-old played in a career-high 60 games, posting a 2.43 GAA and a .926 SV% along with four shutouts.  However, he did struggle in a postseason sweep at the hands of the Sharks which ended his year on a bit of a sour note.

In his career, Gibson has put up a .923 SV% and a 2.29 GAA in 178 games, numbers that put him among the better starters league-wide.  The deal will make him the fifth highest paid goalie in the NHL in terms of cap hit for 2019-20 although it should be noted that veterans like Pekka Rinne and Sergei Bobrovsky are slated to become free agents next summer and should eclipse that mark on their next contracts.

With the signing, the Ducks quietly have a lot of money committed for 2019-20.  Per CapFriendly, they now have 13 players locked up for that season at a combined cap hit of just over $66.5MM.  Murray acknowledged last month that they would also like to lock up winger Jakob Silfverberg long-term but they may need to deal with restricted free agent wingers Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie first to see if they will still have enough room to do so.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators Avoid Arbitration

at CDT | by 2 Comments

With neither side really wanting to go through the arbitration process today in Toronto, Mark Stone and the Ottawa Senators have settled on a one-year contract. The deal will pay Stone $7.35MM this season, and carry him through to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019. The two sides cannot sign an extension until January. Our Brian La Rose projected this exact contract yesterday when he broke down the Stone arbitration case.

The 26-year old played just 58 games for the Senators last season, but was easily the team’s best forward registering 20 goals and 62 points. That point-per-game pace pushed Stone from a very good player to one of the league’s best, especially when combined with his trademark takeaway ability and solid defensive presence. Even with the limited number of games, he still earned Selke votes for the fourth consecutive year and led all Senators in takeaways.

For all the positive things Stone brings, a one-year contract will lead to immediate speculation about his future in Ottawa. The team is heading for a rebuild, and now all three of their best players are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next summer. Stone, Erik Karlsson and Matt Duchene all have just one year remaining on their deals, making them prime trade candidates over the next few months. Even if things go better than expected during the first half of the 2018-19 season, the team still has to consider moving these big assets for whatever they can get, depending on whether they’re willing to sign a long-term extension. Though it’s unclear if Stone would even re-enter negotiations, the fact that the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement this summer only puts creates more pressure down the road.

The Senators will have a two-month window to sign Stone at the beginning of 2019 before facing the trade deadline. If he remains unsigned, you can bet there will be dozens of teams clamoring to get a piece of him as a playoff rental with a chance to re-sign him to a long-term deal. Evander Kane, Paul Stastny and others set the market this season, but Stone is a more effective offensive piece than either of them and could bring back a bigger package should his contributions on the ice continue this season. As one of only a few top-end options in Ottawa, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him receive more than 20 minutes a night once again.

Those first line minutes shouldn’t come as a surprise now that Stone carries such a huge salary. His new contract makes him the 24th-highest paid forward in the league for 2018-19, putting pressure on him to perform as the best player up front for Ottawa. It also means that a long-term extension would be incredibly pricey, something that the Senators may just not have the money for. Remember this was a restricted free agent year still, which usually comes in at a lower price than the player would be demanding on the UFA market. If Stone wanted an even bigger cap hit for seven or eight years, Ottawa might have to back out of negotiations purely from a financial standpoint.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Sabres Acquire Jeff Skinner

at CDT | by 32 Comments

The Sabres have added to their forward group, announcing that they have acquired winger Jeff Skinner from Carolina.  In return, the Hurricanes receive prospect winger Cliff Pu, a 2019 second-round pick, a 2020 third-round pick, and a 2020 sixth-rounder.

Skinner spent his entire eight-year career with Carolina and had been one of their more consistent scoring threats during that time.  He had scored at least 20 goals in six of those seasons (and one of the years he didn’t was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign).

He is, however, coming off of bit a quieter year by his standards.  Last season, he played in all 82 games, tallying 24 goals and 25 assists which ranked him fourth in team scoring.  That production was down considerably from 2016-17 when he posted a career-best 63 points.

It was a bit surprising how much the Hurricanes seemed to be interested in moving Skinner but with Don Waddell now at the helm of the franchise instead of former GM Ron Francis who was much more methodical, Carolina has been trying to shake up their roster this summer.  This is the second significant move they’ve made this offseason with the other seeing defenseman Noah Hanifin and forward Elias Lindholm shipped to Calgary for a package highlighted by blueliner Dougie Hamilton.

The Sabres likely will envision their new acquisition playing alongside Jack Eichel on a new-look top line.  Eichel hasn’t had someone like Skinner to play with thus far in his career and the same can be said for Skinner not quite having someone like Eichel as his center.  That combination should have Buffalo fans more enthusiastic heading into the season and if the two click, Skinner should be in line for quite the season as free agency approaches.

Buffalo is taking on Skinner’s full $5.725MM cap hit (with a $6MM salary).  The winger also waived his no-move clause to facilitate a deal, something that Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer reported earlier this week was complicating their efforts to move him.

As for Pu, Carolina is bringing in a quality prospect who has been a productive OHL scorer since being drafted in the third round (69th overall) two years ago.  He split last season between London and Kingston, combining to score 29 goals and 55 assists in 65 games.  Pu is now signed to his entry-level deal and will likely start next season with Charlotte of the AHL.

It will be interesting to see if the Hurricanes look to replace Skinner outside of the organization now that they have some payroll freed up.  Alternatively, they could look to second-overall pick Andrei Svechnikov to step in and play a top-six role right away.  Either way, Carolina is going to look quite different when the puck drops on the new season in October.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Capitals Sign Tom Wilson To Six-Year Extension

at CDT | by 30 Comments

Saturday: CapFriendly has a breakdown of Wilson’s six-year, $31MM contract. Wilson will also have a modified NTC, which includes a 10-team no trade list for 2020-21 and 2021-22, followed by a seven-team no-trade list f0r 2022-23 and 2023-24.

2018-19: $1.1M Base + $5M SB
2019-20: $1.5M Base + $3M SB
2020-21: $2.1M Base + $2M SB
2021-22: $3.1M Base + $3M SB
2022-23: $2.1M Base + $2M SB
2023-24: $5.1M Base + $1M SB

Friday: The defending Stanley Cup champions have their muscle in place for the next several years. The Washington Capitals announced this evening that they have re-signed restricted free agent forward Tom Wilson to a six-year, $31MM contract extension. Wilson’s annual cap hit will be $5.17MM through 2023-24. CapFriendly reports that $15MM of the contract is in base salary and the other $16MM is in signing bonuses, while adding that the final three years of the contract carry a Modified No-Trade Clause. Wilson himself tweeted out his excitement to be remaining in D.C. for the foreseeable future.

At first glance, the first impression of this contract is that it might be an over-payment by the Capitals. This salary over this amount of time puts Wilson in a similar bracket with recent signings like Jonathan Marchessault, Josh Bailey, Alexander Wennberg, and Mikael Backlund – all players relied on as primary offensive contributors for their teams. Wilson is not that type of player for Washington, rather a two-way forward known more for his aggressive defensive play and checking ability. In fact, it is hard to think of any forward with Wilson’s career production to date ever landing a contract worth more than $5MM per year. However, the Capitals have always been clear about how highly they regard the young power forward. GM Brian MacLellan reiterated those feelings in the team’s release, stating:

“Tom is an invaluable member of our team and we are pleased that he will play a great part in our foreseeable future. Tom is a unique player in this League. At 24 years of age, he has an impressive amount of experience and we believe that he will only continue to grow and improve as a player. With his ability to play in virtually any game situation, teams need players like Tom in order to succeed in the NHL.”

Wilson certainly helped himself in negotiations with his postseason performance. His five goals and ten assists made him a crucial piece to Washington’s cap run. His playoff heroics were also cited by the team in the release and that clutch factor is yet another reason that the Capitals feel so strongly about Wilson moving forward. Add that to career-high’s across the board and it makes some sense why the team may see Wilson’s value on the rise.

With Wilson’s contract complete, the Capitals have signed all of their restricted free agents and CapFriendly currently projects that they will enter the season with the third-highest payroll and only $1.1MM in cap space. Interestingly, the money used to afford Wilson this season is just about $300K of what Washington would have been paying defenseman Brooks Orpik before he was traded to and subsequently bought out by the Colorado Avalanche. Orpik has since resigned with the Caps for $1MM and Wilson gets the money he wanted. Everything has worked out nicely for the Stanley Cup champs this off-season. With most of their roster returning and most of their core signed long-term, Wilson and the Capitals may have another Cup run in them over the course of this contract.

Rangers Re-Sign Brady Skjei To A Six-Year Contract

at CDT | by 3 Comments

7:04 p.m.: CapFriendly released a breakdown of Skjei’s new six-year, $31.5MM contract, which will have a $28.5MM base salary as well as $3MM in signing bonus money. Here is the breakdown:

2018-19: $4.7M Base + $1M SB
2019-20: $4.4M Base + $1M SB
2020-21: $4.2M Base
2021-22: $4.4M Base + $1M SB
2022-23: $5.4M Base
2023-24: $5.4M Base

11:33 a.m.: The Rangers have locked up a key part of their back end, announcing that they have re-signed defenseman Brady Skjei to a six-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries a $5.25MM cap hit.

The 24-year-old was the only Ranger to play in all 82 games last season.  While his production dipped from 39 points to 25 (4-21-25), he took on a lot larger of a role on New York’s back end, jumping from 17:28 of playing time per game to 21:02.  Skjei was also only one of eight NHL players to record at least 150 shots, 125 hits, and 115 blocks.

With Ryan McDonagh now in Tampa Bay, it’s likely that the Rangers will be relying on Skjei even more next season and beyond.  New York still has Kevin Shattenkirk and Marc Staal as veterans on their blueline but with their stated goal of rebuilding around their younger nucleus, there’s a good chance that Skjei could be tasked with the number one role in 2018-19 and for several years after that.

The signing now gives the Rangers just two remaining restricted free agents to re-sign in centers Kevin Hayes and Ryan Spooner.  Both are slated for arbitration hearings next week with Hayes scheduled for August 2nd and Spooner for August 4th.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jason Zucker Agrees To Terms On Five-Year Contract With Minnesota Wild

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Minnesota Wild and Jason Zucker have finally found some common ground, agreeing to terms on a five-year contract worth $27.5MM. Zucker was scheduled for arbitration on July 28th, but instead will be locked up at a $5.5MM cap hit for the next five seasons. The year-by-year breakdown is as follows:

  • 2018-19: $5.0MM
  • 2019-20: $6.25MM
  • 2020-21: $4.8MM
  • 2021-22: $6.25MM
  • 2022-23: $5.2MM

Zucker, 26, experienced a breakout season at exactly the right time in his career to maximize his earning potential. After three strong but not outstanding campaigns, Zucker exploded for 33 goals and 64 points in 2017-18 while playing in all 82 games for the Minnesota Wild. Though some of that had to do with the success he found on the powerplay, Zucker still scored 25 goals at even-strength which tied him for 14th in the entire league alongside players like Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall and Claude Giroux. With just one year remaining as a restricted free agent, the Wild needed to pay up to keep Zucker around or face a one-year arbitration decision and potentially losing him next summer to unrestricted free agency.

What they’ve accomplished by keeping Zucker’s cap hit to $5.5MM is potentially quite a bargain for the Wild, who could have one of the better even-strength producers in the league for a discounted price should he continue to play as well as he did last year. The five years at $5.5MM per season compares well with contracts like the ones given to Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and even teammate Nino Niederreiter, none of whom have cracked 30 goals or 60 points in any season of their careers. While obviously each brings other talents to the table, Zucker should be able to easily produce enough to make the contract palatable as long as he doesn’t take a huge step backwards in the next few seasons.

That’s unlikely to really happen at any point in the contract given that the Wild have mostly locked up his late-twenties instead of early-thirties, giving them a chance to get out of the contract when a decline should be expected to start. Though they have other examples right in front of them like the continued brilliance of Eric Staal, the Wild haven’t taken on a ton of risk in this contract for Zucker, other than the fact they’re handing it out after a career season.

Still, there are some who might struggle to accept the offseason as a whole for Minnesota. After bringing in a new front office and GM with Paul Fenton, the team was expected to make some big changes to the core in order to try and go further in the playoffs and finally really compete for the Stanley Cup. Instead, they’ve handed out long-term contracts to Zucker and Mathew Dumba while failing to sign any real impact free agents outside of Greg Pateryn. With two big, long contracts still on the books with Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, the Wild will need some exceptional performances from some of their younger players while relying on repeat performances from Zucker and others.

Full 2018 Arbitration Hearing Schedule

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Almost four dozen players decided to file for salary arbitration this summer, and while some of them have already been signed to contracts many others now know when their hearing will take place. The NHLPA released the full schedule of hearings, spread out from July 20th to August 4th.  Remember that players can sign up until an arbitrator awards a contract, including in the short window after the hearing.

July 20

Jacob Trouba – Team filing: $4.0MM, Player filing: $7.0MM. Awarded one-year, $5.5MM contract.

July 23

Brett Kulak – Team filing: $650K, two-way contract, Player filing: $1.15MM, one-way contract. Awarded one-year, $850K contract.

July 24

Brandon Montour – Team filing: $1.5MM, Player filing: $4.5MM Settled before hearing, two years $6.775MM

July 30

Garnet Hathaway – Team filing: $650K, Player filing: $975K Settled before hearing, one-year $850K

August 1

Cody Ceci – Team filing: $3.35MM, Player filing $6.0MM. Awarded one-year, $4.3MM contract.
Gemel Smith – Team filing: two-way contract, Player filing: $900K. Awarded one-year one-way, $720K contract.

August 3

Mark Stone – Team filing: $5.0MM, Player filing $9.0MM Settled before hearing, one-year, $7.35MM

August 4

William Karlsson – Team filing: $3.5MM, Player filing $6.5MM

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top