Penguins Hoping To Trade Jake Guentzel By Wednesday Night
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the Pittsburgh Penguins are hoping to have a trade in place for forward Jake Guentzel by Wednesday evening. The news is significant as it confirms that the Penguins are committed to moving out Guentzel to bring younger pieces into the organization.
In the report, Dreger indicates that the Penguins are looking for a first-round pick, a young NHL-caliber player, as well as prospects. TSN’s Chris Johnston is also reporting that the teams looking to acquire Guentzel are not interested in pursuing a contract extension and are purely viewing him as a rental.
The news comes only a day after reporting indicated the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights were two primary suitors for Guentzel’s services. Without a doubt, Vancouver can create the best trade package between the two in terms of prospects they would be able to send to Pittsburgh, but the Golden Knights still have a 2024 first-round pick to send to the Penguins, with Vancouver not having a draft pick until the third round of this year’s upcoming draft.
Albeit a rare scenario in the NHL, the Penguins are putting themselves in a position to trade two months of Guentzel for much-needed prospect and draft capital and re-sign him to a lengthy contract in the offseason. It has become clear throughout Guentzel’s eight-year career in Pittsburgh that both he and franchise icon Sidney Crosby are very close both off and on the ice.
Now 10 points back of a playoff position in both the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference wild card race, the logic behind trading Guentzel is clear. However, given that Guentzel is so close to Crosby, the ramifications of a trade may be heavy on the team and General Manager Kyle Dubas.
Nevertheless, whichever team ultimately acquires Guentzel, will undoubtedly be favoring his impressive track record during the Stanley Cup playoffs. In 58 career playoff games, Guentzel has scored 34 goals and 58 points overall, including a Stanley Cup championship against the Nashville Predators in 2017.
Sitting 11th, 12th, and 14th in the league in GF/G, respectively, the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Golden Knights all have a need for Guentzel’s offensive prowess come playoff time. Ultimately, there are likely several teams still involved in the mix, allowing Dubas to take the best deal on the table.
New Jersey Devils Fire Lindy Ruff, Promote Travis Green As Interim Head Coach
The New Jersey Devils have fired head coach Lindy Ruff, per Mike Morreale of NHL.com. Travis Green will step up as interim head coach. Green has served as an Associate Coach in New Jersey this season – his first coaching gig since being relieved from a five-year stint as the Vancouver Canucks head coach in 2021-22.
Ruff has been with the Devils since the 2020-21 season, relieving Alain Nasreddine from his 43-game stint following John Hynes’ departure. He led the Devils to their highest point total in club history last season, earning 112 points and New Jersey’s second playoff berth of the last decade. But the Devils didn’t make much come from the historic season, getting booted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. They’ve struggled to get their prowess back this year, falling to a 30-27-4 record largely thanks to their long list of injuries – including Dougie Hamilton, whose season was cut short by a torn pectoral in November and stars Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, who have played in just 45 and 50 games respectively.
Their circumstance would be challenging for any team to handle, though Ruff’s lineup choices have been called into question many times. His use of young forward Alexander Holtz has been particularly divisive, with Holtz averaging just over 11-and-a-half minutes and minimal power-play time despite scoring 13 goals and 24 points. Holtz has expressed frustrations with his role, telling NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky, “I don’t know, it’s hard to say… Some games I don’t play that much. I’m just trying to focus to get better every day and show them I’m able to play more.”
Holtz will now be commanded by Green, who had plenty of experience bringing up young players in Vancouver – serving as the head coach for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes in their rookie seasons. Green totaled a measly .462 win percentage across his five years in Vancouver, though he did lead the team to the second round of the playoffs in the 2019-20 season. The Canucks were Green’s first NHL coaching role, coming after he served four years as head coach for the AHL’s Utica Comets. He now steps into a new role with experience in hand, and may even have a chance to secure the job with the Devils on the cusp of the playoff race.
Canucks, Golden Knights Among “Legit Suitors” For Jake Guentzel
The Canucks and Golden Knights are among the teams making serious offers for star Penguins winger Jake Guentzel ahead of the trade deadline, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports Monday. The two Pacific Division squads are among at least six “legit suitors” for his services.
Pittsburgh was viewed as a team with uncertain status heading into deadline season a few weeks ago, but three straight losses now have them 10 points out of a playoff spot and hurtling toward seller status. As such, the likelihood of them parting ways with Guentzel this week has skyrocketed, with the team reportedly preferring high-end prospects in return rather than first-round draft picks.
If that’s the case, Vancouver has the much stronger arsenal to deal from. The team recalled 2019 top-10 pick Vasily Podkolzin from AHL Abbotsford over the weekend, and he made his season debut yesterday against the Ducks, speculatively as a showcase for a trade. Offers centered around him, such as 2022 first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimäki or 2023 first-round pick Tom Willander, are likely to draw the attention of Penguins GM Kyle Dubas.
In comparison, Vegas’ potential offer could center around 2020 late first-round pick Brendan Brisson or 2023 selection David Edstrom, the last pick of the first round, who grades out as a potential high-end third-line center.
Importantly, neither team has the long-term flexibility to ink the pending UFA to an extension. The Golden Knights are averaging less than a $1MM cap hit in space for every open roster spot next season, while the Canucks need to allocate a significant chunk of next season’s spending to their defense – only Quinn Hughes and Noah Juulsen are signed through next season or longer. Guentzel’s $6MM cap hit would also pose an insurmountable salary cap hurdle for Vancouver and Vegas, so the team must retain half of his salary in any potential deal.
Both teams could use the top-line help, however. Canucks star center Elias Pettersson is currently flanked by Nils Höglander and Pius Suter, both of whom are better suited for middle-six roles. Vegas, meanwhile, is still looking to shoulder the loss of captain Mark Stone for the rest of the regular season, and potentially the playoffs, due to a lacerated spleen.
While also injured, Guentzel is nearing a return from an upper-body injury that’s kept him out since mid-February and should be ready to return shortly after the deadline. He has 22 goals and 52 points in 50 games this season, set to eclipse the point-per-game mark for the fourth time in the last five years.
Predators Sign Tommy Novak To Extension
12:25 p.m.: Nashville has made the deal official, confirming the length and value.
12:10 p.m.: The Predators are signing center Tommy Novak to a three-year contract extension, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Per Friedman, the deal carries an AAV of $3.5MM, working out to $10.5MM in total value.
As such, one of the top value center options available at the trade deadline is likely off the market. Novak, 26, has been one of the best per-minute producers in the league since last season, accumulating 30 goals and 77 points in 102 games while averaging only 14:31 per contest.
It’s a considerable raise for Novak, who inked a dirt-cheap one-year, $800K extension to remain a Predator in February 2023. The Minnesota native was a third-round pick of the squad in 2015, although he played a full four seasons of college puck with the University of Minnesota and another two years of AHL and ECHL hockey before making his major-league debut in 2021-22.
Now solidified as a full-time NHLer, Novak will continue to take advantage of some lesser competition while shouldering third-line minutes at even strength. An unexpected offensive breakout from shutdown center Colton Sissons has allowed him to occupy a second-line center role behind Ryan O’Reilly, taking difficult defensive matchups off Novak’s hands.
In 51 contests this year, Novak has 13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points, and a -7 rating while averaging 14:22 per game. Perhaps his most significant deficiency is his skill in the dot — he’s won just 44.2% of his draws — but he’s made up for it by dominating his matchups possession-wise with a 55.8 CF% at even strength. That’s because he’s among the league leaders in even-strength offensive zone time at 45.3%, sitting in the 95th percentile among NHL forwards this season, per NHL EDGE.
Nashville GM Barry Trotz has his best bottom-six threat locked in through 2027, at which point he’ll be a UFA. The Predators now have $22.4MM in projected cap space in 2024-25 with a roster size of 13, which could be a tight squeeze to fill 10 roster spots. However, the Predators don’t have many high-caliber pending free agents, so Trotz should have some flexibility to continue retooling Nashville’s roster as they attempt to ascend from playoff hopeful to championship contender.
Dylan Larkin Out 2 Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin will miss approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, head coach Derek Lalonde said Monday.
Larkin sustained the injury in Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Panthers, although it’s unclear which play caused it. He did not play the final 10 minutes of the third period and was replaced by Joe Veleno on his line with Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond for their final two shifts.
With their captain out for a crucial stretch of games as they try and maintain their grip on a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, Detroit’s recent record becomes all the more critical. They’ve gone 7-4-0 since the All-Star break, giving themselves a six-point cushion on a playoff spot with one more game played than the ninth-place Islanders. While they’ve posted a +6 goal differential in that time, their shot differential was -23, highlighting some concern. They were outshot 64-46 over their past two games, both losses against the Isles and Panthers.
Larkin remains the focal point of the Red Wings’ offense, leading the team with 26 goals and 54 points in 55 games. His 19:52 average time on ice is the highest among Detroit forwards, as is his 54.7 FO%. He has a team-high 51.4 CF% at even strength, although that hasn’t translated into dominating shot quality. His expected -3.6 rating places him in the middle of the pack among Red Wings skaters.
The 24-year-old Veleno will occupy Larkin’s top-line role for now, per multiple reports. He will center Kane and Alex DeBrincat as the Red Wings embark on a four-game road trip that concludes with a pivotal matchup against the Sabres for both teams next week.
Veleno, the 30th overall pick in 2018, has been elevated in the lineup multiple times this year but hasn’t quite done enough to solidify a top-six role. A 100-point scorer at the major junior level, COVID partially derailed his development, but he’s still settled into a top-nine role with decent long-term certainty. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 59 games this year while averaging 14:32, all career highs. However, his possession impacts are markedly worse than Larkin’s, recording a 45.6 CF% at even strength and a -5.9 expected rating. His performance in a top-line role is something to monitor for a Detroit team that’s already struggled to dominate the shot counter as of late.
Larkin can be placed on IR to free up roster space, but the expected length of his absence doesn’t make him eligible for LTIR to free up salary cap space ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Lalonde said Monday that he doesn’t anticipate making any initial recalls to replace Larkin, so he may remain on the active roster unless another forward sustains an injury.
Capitals’ Evgeny Kuznetsov Clears Waivers, Loaned To AHL
3/3: Kuznetsov has officially cleared waivers and been loaned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, who shares that Kuznetsov is one of the league’s highest-salaried players of all time.
3/2: Earlier today, Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov was cleared to resume practicing with the team and has entered the follow-up phase of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, per a league announcement. However, he won’t be getting that opportunity as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Washington has placed the veteran on waivers.
Notably, Kuznetsov has not been cleared to return to game action through the program yet which makes the timing of this placement a little surprising. The 31-year-old entered the Player Assistance Program last month and hadn’t been counting against Washington’s books since then; that will be changing and his $7.8MM AAV will soon be back on their books.
In his prime, Kuznetsov was a legitimate top-line center and even just two years ago, he was hanging around the point-per-game mark. However, his production dipped from 78 points to 55 points last season and this year, the drop-off has been even sharper. Despite seeing his average ice time go up from a year ago, Kuznetsov has been limited to just six goals and 11 assists in 43 games with Washington while logging a little under 19 minutes a night. Those numbers won’t be going up anytime soon as a result of this placement.
Kuznetsov has one year left on his contract after this one at that $7.8MM price tag so it’s hard to envision a scenario where he gets claimed. Assuming he clears waivers on Sunday at 1 PM CT, he can be assigned to AHL Hershey, a move that would free up a pro-rated $1.15MM in salary cap space.
Speaking with reporters following the placement including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press (Twitter link), GM Brian MacLellan indicated that this move is about getting Kuznetsov a fresh start. With a waiver claim being unlikely, that fresh start will either have to come through a trade or buyout.
Washington could look to move Kuznetsov where they could retain up to 50% of his cap hit and salary, a move that might get them some takers as a low-risk flyer. If that doesn’t happen, buying Kuznetsov out would cost $3.8MM against the cap next season and $2MM in 2025-26. With the buyout charge and cost at 50% retention being pretty much the same for 2024-25, it wouldn’t be surprising to see MacLellan push to get something done on the trade front with the buyout being a last resort. Either way, it looks like Kuznetsov’s time with the Capitals is about to be over.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
New York Rangers Sign Jonathan Quick To Extension
Mar. 4: Quick’s deal includes an additional $25K performance bonus, per CapFriendly. He’ll earn the bonus if he makes at least 20 starts in 2024-25 and ends the season with a save percentage of .915 or above.
Mar. 3: The New York Rangers announced they have signed goaltender Jonathan Quick to a one-year contract extension. Signing a one-year deal with his hometown team this past offseason, Quick became eligible to sign an extension with the Rangers on January 1st of this year. Arthur Staple of The Athletic is reporting that New York will give Quick a slight increase on his current $825K salary, now paying the goaltender $1.275MM for the 2024-25 NHL season. CapFriendly adds that Quick will receive a $775K base salary with a $500K signing bonus along with a 20-team no-trade clause.
Spending 15 and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Kings organization, Quick went on to become one of the top United States-born goaltenders in league history. Aside from Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014, Quick would win two William M. Jennings Trophies, earn three top-five finishes in Vezina Trophy voting, and one Conn Smythe Trophy.
In the last season of a 10-year, $58MM contract extension signed with the Kings on July 1st, 2012, Quick was soon made expendable by the only franchise he had ever known. Amid a poor season, Los Angeles sent Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets as a part of a deal that brought Joonas Korpisalo and Vladislav Gavrikov to California.
Without having much to compete for last season, the Blue Jackets were adamant about sending Quick to a playoff contender. Before even having the opportunity to suit up for Columbus, the organization sent Quick to the Vegas Golden Knights only one day later.
Quick performed mildly better for the Golden Knights, producing a 5-2-2 record in 10 games down the stretch, earning a .901 SV% and a 3.13 GAA. Even without having played a game for the team throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Quick had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup for a third time after Vegas hoisted the trophy for the first time in franchise history.
Becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, the Milford, Connecticut native quickly signed with the Rangers on the first day of free agency. Carrying low expectations after a disappointing season last year, Quick has rebounded exceptionally well in the Big Apple.
Serving in the backup role behind Igor Shesterkin, Quick has arguably been the Rangers’ best goaltender this season. In 21 games played, Quick has accrued a 13-5-2 record, maintaining a .916 SV% and 2.45 GAA in the process.
With no serious contenders for the backup role making their way up the organizational depth chart, the strong play of Quick throughout this season led to today’s contract extension. Not only will Quick continue to play for his favorite team growing up, but earned himself a raise to boot.
Kevin Weekes of ESPN was the first to report that Quick had signed an extension in New York.
Florida Panthers Making Push For Noah Hanifin
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes is reporting that the Florida Panthers are making a solid push to acquire defenseman Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames. It is important to note that the Panthers do not have a first-round pick to offer in either the 2024 NHL Draft or the 2025 NHL Draft.
Even with the Panthers now involving themselves in the fray; the Arizona Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs have all had reported interest in Hanifin’s services. Already carrying an impressive defensive unit, Florida may be trying to drive up the price for their rival in the Lightning.
If Hanifin does make his way to Sunrise by March 8th, it would immediately create a very good problem to have for the Panthers. By acquiring Hanifin, the organization would now have four top-four defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency including Brandon Montour, Gustav Forsling, and the resurgent Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
The team would create some long-term flexibility on their back end, especially if one of Montour or Forsling left for greener pastures this summer. However, as all of them will no longer be a part of the Panthers organization on July 1st, 2024, there is no guarantee that any of them will decide to re-up in Florida.
The inclusion of the Panthers in the race for Hanifin is very reminiscent of the Boston Bruins’ acquisition of Dmitry Orlov last spring from the Washington Capitals. Now on pace to win the President’s Trophy with their current defensive core, Florida may be looking to put themselves over the top in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs after falling three games short last year.
In now his sixth season with the Flames organization, Hanifin is once again putting together a solid year, making him the most popular trade deadline rental option this season. In 59 games so far, Hanifin has scored 11 goals and 34 points overall, averaging 23:44 minutes of ice time per night.
The looming question surrounding any acquisition of Hanifin is how receptive he will be in discussing a contract extension with the acquiring organization. Earlier in the year, Calgary reportedly offered an eight-year, $60MM extension to Hanfin and his camp, but that was evidently not enough to convince Hanifin to stay in Alberta long-term.
Canucks Sign Elias Pettersson To Eight-Year Extension
There was a recent push on extension talks between the Canucks and center Elias Pettersson and it appears that push helped get a deal over the finish line. The team announced that they’ve inked Pettersson to an eight-year contract extension.
GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement on the signing:
This is a very important signing for the Vancouver Canucks. Elias is one of the top players in the National Hockey League and is a key member of our leadership group. We know his best days are ahead of him and with his high end skill and desire to be the best, we look forward to seeing Elias succeed and grow. This signing is another example of our ownerships’ unwavering commitment to do what ever it takes to help us be a successful organization.
Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed by the team but Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that the deal is worth $92.8MM in total for an AAV of $11.6MM. Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that $47MM of the payout is in the form of signing bonuses while the contract carries a full no-move clause once he’s eligible for the 2025-26 season. CapFriendly has the full breakdown which is as follows:
2024-25: $2.5MM salary, $12MM signing bonus
2025-26: $4.5MM salary, $10MM signing bonus
2026-27: $11.0MM salary
2027-28: $9.45MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2028-29: $7.25MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2029-30: $3.7MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2030-31: $3.7MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2031-32: $3.7MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
Vancouver drafted the 25-year-old in the first round (fifth overall) back in 2017 and since then, he has gone from being a key core piece to a legitimate franchise player. Pettersson won the Calder Trophy in his rookie campaign in 2018-19 where he had 66 points and followed that up with 66 more the following season. However, an injury-riddled 2020-21 season ultimately resulted in the two sides settling on a three-year bridge deal, one that was set to expire this summer where he would have been a restricted free agent with salary arbitration eligibility and a year away from unrestricted free agency.
Pettersson made a big jump on the offensive side of things last season, setting new career highs across the board with 39 goals and 63 assists, finishing tenth in NHL scoring. That fuelled speculation that the two sides would work out a long-term agreement last summer and put any speculation to rest. However, Pettersson and his camp had repeatedly indicated that his preference was to wait until the offseason before making a determination on his next contract.
This season, Pettersson’s per-game averages are down just slightly as he’s on pace for 38 goals and 61 assists, numbers that are still upper-tier league-wide while he is an all-situations player. That had only helped spur on speculation about his willingness to sign long-term with the Canucks since he was still wanting to wait until the offseason to put pen to paper on his next contract. That speculation got to the point where Vancouver and Carolina reportedly entered into serious discussions about a potential trade before both Vancouver and Pettersson took a step back and opted to take a real run at hammering out a new deal, talks which clearly proved fruitful.
The contract is by far the richest in franchise history, an outcome that shouldn’t come as much surprise considering Pettersson’s recent performance and the high demand for top-end centers. The deal will make him the fifth-highest-paid player AAV-wise in the NHL next season behind only Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Artemi Panarin.
Vancouver now has a little over $60MM in spending on the books for next season per CapFriendly to just a dozen players with Filip Hronek headlining their crop of restricted free agents. Of note, only two full-time regular defensemen are under contract for 2024-25 so Allvin will need to allocate a lot of their remaining money to filling out the back end. Meanwhile, Pettersson is now one of just three Canucks under contract past the 2026-27 campaign, joining center J.T. Miller and blueliner Quinn Hughes.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mark Stone Questionable To Return During Playoffs
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is expected to miss the balance of the regular season and is questionable to return during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Thursday’s episode of “Insider Trading.” Stone has missed four games with an upper-body injury, which, per multiple reports, is a lacerated spleen.
Vegas placed the 31-year-old on standard injured reserve last week, meaning they aren’t receiving the potential long-term injured reserve relief provided by his $9.5MM cap hit. That will change before the March 8 trade deadline, though, and they’ll be able to use that space as they please to make deadline acquisitions for the second straight season.
Unlike Stone, first-line center Jack Eichel and his $10MM cap hit is on LTIR. However, as indicated by wearing a full-contact sweater in practice Thursday, Eichel will return to the lineup in the coming days.
The Golden Knights, who have also been using the LTIR relief provided by goaltender Robin Lehner‘s $5MM cap hit to stay compliant throughout the season, will likely place Stone on LTIR along with activating Eichel in corresponding transactions when the latter is ready to return. The latter has missed 18 games after undergoing knee surgery in January.
Lost in the cap space shuffle is the significance of Stone’s absence. No player that GM Kelly McCrimmon could acquire over the next week will be an upgrade on their captain, who remains in a very elite class of two-way wingers. He finishes his season with 16 goals, 37 assists, 53 points, and a +1 rating in 56 games.
That works out to 0.95 points per game, his highest rate since his 61-in-55 campaign in 2020-21, which placed him ninth in Hart Trophy voting and third in Selke Trophy voting. Serious long-term and, frankly, random injuries continue to plague the Winnipeg-born star, who’s played more than 60 games in a season just once since arriving in Nevada.
Stone’s absence will mean an extended opportunity for many down the stretch, namely 2020 first-round pick Brendan Brisson. While his production with AHL Henderson this season has been disappointing, he has a goal and four assists in 11 showings with Vegas. He was promoted to the top line alongside original Knights William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault for last night’s 5-4 loss against the Bruins.
It also means that McCrimmon can be more aggressive in pursuing help at the deadline than his division rival and likely first-round playoff opponent, the Oilers. Dreger said McCrimmon “will utilize [Stone’s] cap space” to add another top-six forward, much like their pickup of Ivan Barbashev from the Blues at last year’s deadline.
Vegas and Edmonton will be in the hunt for many of the same targets, which Dreger says could include the Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich, the Kraken’s Jordan Eberle, and, if extension talks fall through, the Devils’ Tyler Toffoli. A third Pacific Division team, the Kings, has also been linked to Toffoli.
After swapping Eichel and Stone on LTIR (and activating defenseman Tobias Björnfot, currently on an LTI conditioning loan to Henderson), the Golden Knights will have approximately $5.6MM of cap space available. That’s nearly twice as much as the Oilers’ $2.4MM projected deadline availability, which is already artificially high given their slim 21-player roster.
For Vegas’ purposes, Buchnevich would be the closest stylistic replacement for Stone. He would also carry a higher acquisition cost and likely a minimal amount of salary retention by the Blues, as, unlike Eberle and Toffoli, he’s signed through next season at a cap hit of $5.8MM, slightly above the Golden Knights’ projected deadline availability.
Buchnevich, 28, leads the Blues in goals with 24 and is second on the team in scoring with 48 points in 57 games. He’s not producing at the point-per-game-plus pace we’ve seen from him over the past two years, but his possession impacts are the strongest of his eight-year career: an incredible 11% relative Corsi share at even strength to pair with a strong +6.9 expected rating. He wouldn’t replace the massive hole Stone’s leadership leaves in the chemistry of Vegas’ forward group, but his on-ice results go a long way toward softening the blow.