Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Offseason Keys 2019

Offseason Keys: Toronto Maple Leafs

at CDT | by 8 Comments

With the postseason down to just two teams, most squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Last summer was certainly a big one for Toronto as they landed the biggest prize on the UFA market in center John Tavares.  That gave them plenty of optimism heading into 2018-19.  However, things didn’t go as well on the ice.  They finished third in the Atlantic Division (tied for fifth in the conference) which had them on the road against Boston in the first round where history repeated itself for the Maple Leafs with an early elimination.  Now, GM Kyle Dubas has some tricky waters to navigate this summer to keep as much of the team intact as possible with some salary cap challenges ahead and still remain in contention.  Here are the keys to their summer that could allow that to happen.

Deal With Trade Requests

It’s rare that a pair of trade requests get made public but that’s the case in Toronto, albeit for completely different reasons.  Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev cited personal reasons for his request but he also has voiced some frustration over the criticism he received over the past couple of seasons.   Meanwhile, veteran winger Patrick Marleau is also looking to get back to the Western Conference to get closer to his family.

Zaitsev still has five years remaining on his contract with a $4.5MM AAV.  While that price tag is reasonable for a top-four defender, the term left will likely scare some potential suitors off while his penchant for tough mistakes may also hurt his value.  However, with the relatively weak state of the UFA market among right-shot defenders beyond Erik Karlsson and Tyler Myers, Dubas should still be able to get reasonable value for the 27-year-old.  He doesn’t have any trade protection in his contract until July 1st (he can block a move to 10 teams after that point).  However, teams may want Toronto to pay the $3MM signing bonus he’s owed on that day which could complicate things.

The same can’t be said for Marleau, however.  While he could still help some teams, his $6.25MM AAV is on the expensive side for someone who shouldn’t be in a top-six role anymore.  What helps the cause a little bit is that part of his $3MM signing bonus is paid on July 1st, lowering his $4.25MM salary for the season.  The other instalment is due in December.  For teams that aren’t near the Upper Limit and are more budget-conscious, that could make acquiring him more palatable.  That said, it’s still likely to take a significant inducement on Toronto’s end to get a team to relieve them of the final year of Marleau’s deal and Marleau, who has a full no-move clause, still has to sign off on the swap.

Re-Sign Marner

Dubas has already called re-signing winger Mitch Marner his top priority this summer.  That’s certainly understandable considering how important he has been to the Maple Leafs already through the first three seasons of his career.  He led the team in scoring the past two seasons and had a career year in 2018-19 while finishing fourth in the league in assists (68) and 11th in points (94).  Even though he doesn’t have salary arbitration eligibility, he’s in line for a massive pay increase.

It’s that reason that Dubas would like to get something done so fast.  Not only would that eliminate any possible threat of an offer sheet (unlikely as it may be), it would also allow them to have a much clearer picture of their cap situation.  Tavares ($11MM) and Auston Matthews ($11.634MM) are at the high end in terms of AAV and while those two play the more premium position as centers, Marner’s agent Darren Ferris will undoubtedly be trying to use the fact that Marner out-produced both as justification for a comparable price tag.

It appears that Marner’s camp is intent on making it to the RFA interview period on June 26th.  While some will suggest that doing so could make him a target for an offer sheet, doing so may simply be his due diligence to get a better feel for what other teams believe his market value is.  Between that and the belief that the top restricted free agents this summer may not want to be the first to sign and set the benchmark for the others, Dubas will have his work cut out for him if he still hopes to get Marner signed as soon as possible.

Add Help On Defense

Jake Muzzin was a nice addition to Toronto’s back end in advance of the trade deadline and remains under contract for one more year.  However, there are some other holes that need to be filled this offseason to get the state of their blueline back to what it was last season, let alone improving it.

Jake Gardiner is one of the top UFA defensemen on the market this summer and will undoubtedly get larger offers elsewhere than what Toronto can afford.  Veteran Ron Hainsey may not be back either.  Travis Dermott will miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery while Igor Ozhiganov, who was a regular through the first half of 2018-19, has returned to the KHL.  In other words, the only two returnees that were on the roster this past season are Morgan Rielly and Justin Holl, who was a healthy scratch for the majority of the year.

Some of those spots will be filled internally.  Calle Rosen had a strong year in the AHL and should be ready for a full-time spot now.  Andreas Borgman should be in the mix as well, especially if they want their better defense prospects to get more development time in the AHL.  Newcomer Teemu Kivihalme will also get a look.

Even with that, there still will need to be some additions made.  At the very least, expect Toronto to be in on a veteran depth player or two that are willing to sign for affordable one-year deals.  Beyond that, Dubas will need to be shopping for NHL-ready talent as he navigates his way through the trade market in the weeks to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Winnipeg Jets

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the postseason down to just two teams, most squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Winnipeg Jets.

Expectations were high for Winnipeg after making it to the Western Conference Final in 2018.  Most of the team was returning and then GM Kevin Cheveldayoff added Kevin Hayes at the trade deadline with the hopes that he’d have an impact like Paul Stastny did the year before.  Unfortunately for the Jets, they didn’t fare as well in the postseason this time around as they were ousted by St. Louis in the opening round.  While last summer was relatively quiet for Cheveldayoff, he’ll have plenty of heavy lifting to do this time around.  Here are the key parts of his to-do list for this summer.

Re-Sign Key RFA Forwards

Heading into the season, Patrik Laine looked like he was in line for a massive payday.  He was coming off a 44-goal campaign and had 80 through his first two seasons, establishing himself as one of the premier goal scorers in the league already.  He looked like he was heading in that direction once again with a fantastic month of November where he scored 18 times.  However, Laine struggled the rest of the season and wound up with only 50 points (30-20-50) on the entire season.

Accordingly, there are now questions about what type of contract he’ll ultimately wind up with.  The chances of him getting top dollar among the high-end group of RFAs is virtually nil now as his value has taken a hit.  If that’s the case, could a bridge contract wind up being the better way for Laine to go with the hopes of landing a bigger deal a year or two from now?

On top of getting a new deal done for Laine, they also have another key winger to re-sign in Kyle Connor, who very quietly out-produced his fellow RFA in 2018-19.  He’s a little different than some of the other top players of this class as he really only has two full NHL seasons under his belt after spending the bulk of his rookie year at the minor league level.  Even so, there’s a case to be made that his next deal should be comparable to the face value of William Nylander’s pact in Toronto – six years and $45MM.

Determine Trouba’s Future

On top of their two wingers, Winnipeg has one other key restricted free agent in defenseman Jacob Trouba.  But while new deals for Laine and Connor are basically a formality at this point, Trouba’s case is nowhere near as certain.

For starters, he’s only one year away from unrestricted free agency.  He already demonstrated that he’s okay with going through the salary arbitration process as he went that route last year, being awarded a $5.5MM salary which now stands as his qualifying offer.  If he wants to get to UFA status as soon as possible, it’s quite likely that he’ll merely file for arbitration early next month and go through the process once again.

On top of that, Trouba is coming off a career season.  He more than doubled his point output from 2017-18 and was a big factor on the power play for the first time.  That is certainly going to bolster his negotiating leverage and he’s well-positioned to land another sizable raise this summer.

There have been questions about Trouba’s willingness to sign long-term in Winnipeg, even after he rescinded his trade request back in 2016.  If the 25-year-old doesn’t show much of an inclination to consider a long-term extension, Cheveldayoff will need to seriously consider trading him.  The two weeks leading up to free agency have been the time where impact defenders have been swapped in the past before teams more or less finalize their roster with their moves on the open market.  As a result, Trouba’s case is something that will very likely be settled one way or the other over the next month or so.

Free Up Cap Room

Last summer, Winnipeg was forced to part with Joel Armia to offload the final year and $4MM of Steve Mason’s contract to Montreal.  There’s a good chance they’ll need to do something like that again in the coming weeks.

The Jets currently have roughly $56.7MM in cap commitments for next season, per CapFriendly.  New contracts for Laine, Connor, and Trouba will eat up most of that while they still have several depth players to re-sign or replace while Tyler Myers is a pending unrestricted free agent whose future with the team could ultimately be tied to what happens with Trouba.  They’re going to be hard-pressed to get everyone re-signed while staying under the Upper Limit, even if it gets a boost as expected.

Mathieu Perreault is someone that has been speculated as a potential cap casualty dating back to last summer.  He’s a capable secondary scorer that can play all three forward positions but at a $4.125MM AAV for two more years, that will be a tricky sell considering that his point-per-game rate was the lowest of his career in 2018-19.  (To be fair, his ice time dipped considerably as well.)  Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov ($4.33MM) has an expiring contract but doesn’t have the potential to make as much of an impact as Perreault does.  While Kulikov was once a top-four defender, he has been used in more of a depth role the last couple of years and the Jets would need to provide a fair bit of incentive if they want to offload that contract.  A buyout could be an option with him as well.

Whether it’s with Perreault, Kulikov, or someone else, Cheveldayoff will undoubtedly be calling around the league to see what opportunities will present themselves to alleviate some of their cap challenges.  With the buyout window closing at the end of June, it’s likely that any moves they make to clear up cap room will be done by then.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Nashville Predators

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the postseason down to just two teams, most squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Nashville Predators.

Despite a disappointing loss to Winnipeg in the postseason a year ago, optimism was high in Nashville.  They opted to keep the team from a season earlier largely intact and added some help around the trade deadline in Mikael Granlund, Wayne Simmonds, and Brian Boyle.  But instead of taking that next step forward in the playoffs, they took a step back and lost to Dallas in the opening round.  After not making many changes last summer, it’s expected that GM David Poile will be looking to shake things up this offseason.  What will he need to accomplish?

Add Scoring Help

Scoring goals hasn’t been a huge concern for Nashville in recent years but they did take a step back in that regard in 2018-19 as they slipped to 19th in the league during the regular season.  They struggled even more in the playoffs, averaging just two goals per game against the Stars which didn’t leave them with much margin for error.

Ryan Johansen, their highest-paid forward, had just 14 goals.  Kyle Turris, who is tied for the second-highest cap hit among Nashville forwards, had an abysmal season that saw him score just seven times in 55 games and he was even scratched briefly.  That’s not a lot of goal production for $14MM although to be fair, Johansen did at least lead them in assists.

Their late-season acquisitions didn’t help much offensively either.  Granlund scored just once in 16 regular season games while Simmonds matched that output in 17 contests.  Boyle was a little better with five tallies in 26 outings but failed to record a single assist.

Beyond Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, there aren’t a lot of particularly dangerous scoring threats on the Predators.  If they’re going to get back into contention in the Central Division, that’s something that they will need to address this summer.

Josi Extension

Last summer, getting Ryan Ellis re-signed was Poile’s top priority.  It took a little bit of time but a new deal was ultimately done as Ellis inked an eight-year, $50MM contract extension that was viewed as a bargain by many.  This offseason, Poile will once again be looking to lock up a blueliner to a long-term extension.  This time, it’s Roman Josi that’s in need of a new deal.

The 29-year-old has been the top offensive threat from Nashville’s back end for several years now and has shown no signs of slowing down.  He has consistently logged heavy minutes, averaging over 25 minutes per game over the past six seasons.  Josi has been a top pairing defender for quite some time but he hasn’t been close to being paid like one as his current contract which runs through 2019-20 carries just a $4MM AAV.

That’s going to change on this next contract which could very well double his current cap hit, even if he takes the hometown discount as many expect.  We’ve seen the price of elite defenders jump considerably in recent years and it’s Josi’s time to cash in on that.  The Preds are eligible to get a new deal done on July 1st and given Poile’s ability to re-sign his core players early, it’s certainly reasonable to think that the two sides will reach an agreement fairly quickly.

Utilize Defensive Depth On The Trade Market

Defense has been the strength of Nashville for a long time.  Their group of defenders are not only strong in their own end but they have also been among the most productive units offensively for several years.  However, the time may now be right to break up their big four.

For starters, their back end is starting to get expensive.  Per CapFriendly, the cost of their blueline is set to exceed $26MM for next season.  Assuming Josi signs a new deal, that price tag could approach (or even exceed) $30MM a year later.  Spending that much on defense will make it difficult to fill their vacancies up front.

Of their top four, veteran P.K. Subban seems to be the speculative favorite to be dealt (with Ellis’ new deal just beginning, Josi likely to sign a new contract, and Mattias Ekholm being on a team-friendly contract).  His $9MM AAV is pricey and would be the impetus for moving him but many teams are on the lookout for impact blueliners, especially those that play the right side.  It also helps that Dante Fabbro has top-four upside and while he may be hard-pressed to step into that role right away, he could take on a larger role than he had down the stretch and in the postseason.

Impact defensive depth is great to have and Nashville’s back end is the envy of many teams in the league.  But at some point, teams have had success turning that depth into help up front.  Poile did it by turning Seth Jones into Johansen several years ago.  The time may be right for him to try a move like that again.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Calgary Flames

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Calgary Flames.

Things were looking up, for the most part, this past season for Calgary.  They made a great trade at the draft to add Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.  They were the second best offensive team in the league. They had one of the better defense corps in the league.  They finished first in the West, tying Boston for the most points in the league for any team not named Tampa Bay.  And after all that, they still went down in five games in the opening round.  GM Brad Treliving made some bold moves last summer; will he need to do so again?  Here are the keys to their offseason.

Sort Out The Goaltending

Despite not having the best of goalie tandems on paper, veteran Mike Smith and youngster David Rittich had a decent year all things considered.  Both had their good moments with some bad ones but on the whole, they deserve some credit for the Flames being among the top ten teams in terms of goals allowed.

Both netminders happen to be in need of new contracts as well.  Rittich is a restricted free agent with salary arbitration eligibility and will be looking at a big raise from his $800K salary in 2018-19.  Smith, meanwhile, is an unrestricted free agent and his next deal will undoubtedly check in lower than his previous $5.67MM AAV.  It’s not entirely crazy to think that the tandem could wind up around the $6.5MM mark combined for next season with the distribution between the two a lot more even.

Is that the right way to go though?  Rittich is still relatively unproven and there are still question marks as to whether or not he can be a number one goalie.  Smith is nearing the end of his career and is a stopgap measure at best.  Treliving may be better off looking to spend a little more and bring in someone that is better served to be the 1A option of a platoon to give them a bit more security at that position.  However, they’ll likely need to free up some wiggle room under the salary cap to take that approach.

Tkachuk Contract

Treliving has stated that getting winger Matthew Tkachuk signed this summer is his top priority.  That should come as no surprise after the season that he just had.  After not really progressing much in his second season, he made up for that and then some in 2018-19.  He blew past his career highs in goals, assists, and points and in doing so, established himself as a legitimate top line power forward.  There aren’t many of those types of players in the league.

Tkachuk is among the class of high-end restricted free agents that is going to be fascinating to follow.  Their agents have suggested that they don’t want their clients to be the first to sign and set the market and would rather someone else do that for them.  If Tkachuk and agent Craig Oster are also of that mindset, this could wind up being a bit of a waiting game.

Presently, the top end of Calgary’s salary scale is set by winger Johnny Gaudreau and defenseman Mark Giordano at $6.75MM apiece.  It’s safe to say that Tkachuk will jump past them and that the question is by how much.  With one high-end season under his belt, his earning power will be somewhat limited compared to the top RFAs available but he’s still going to be breaking the bank.

Deal Defensive Depth

As the old adage goes, you can never have enough defensemen.  Calgary may very well be putting that theory to the test.  They have a very strong group of established veterans.  They also have a strong collection of emerging young talent highlighted by Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson.  Those players have made a case for more ice time but, quite frankly, they’re blocked by the veterans.

The solution here isn’t to trade the youngsters but perhaps it’s time for them to cash in on some of that veteran depth, especially with the free agent market being thin in terms of impact options.  Clearing out the final year of Michael Stone’s contract ($3.5MM) would help but after missing most of the season with a blood clot, that will be tricky.

One veteran that they shouldn’t have any difficulty moving if they wanted to is T.J. Brodie.  With an expiring contract, he has been a speculative trade candidate already and as a mobile blueliner that’s capable of logging over 20 minutes a night and putting up points (he has reached 30 points in six straight seasons), there would be no shortage of suitors for his services.  Travis Hamonic, also a pending UFA, would attract a lot of interest as a reliable defensive rearguard.

With all of those players being a year away from free agency and the youth in the pipeline, they’re not all going to be around for the 2020-21 season.  If Treliving wants to make a splash this summer, expect it to come from dealing away some depth on the back end.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Pittsburgh Penguins

at CDT | by 3 Comments

With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After an exit in the second round in 2018, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford opted to keep the core largely intact, believing that they still had another long playoff run left in them.  It was certainly a reasonable belief to have considering the talent that Pittsburgh has on their roster.  Rutherford wasn’t rewarded for his faith, however, as they were swept at the hands of the Islanders in the first round.  Clearly, changes are coming to the status quo which are among the key items on their to-do list this offseason.

Murray Extension Talks

Last month, Rutherford indicated that his top priority was signing goalie Matt Murray to a long-term contract extension.  He’s entering the final year of his bridge contract, one that carries a $3.75MM cap hit and will be in line for a raise on his next deal.

The big question will be how much of a raise he should get.  While Murray is the undisputed number one following the departure of Marc-Andre Fleury to Vegas two seasons ago, he hasn’t been without his struggles since then.  He also has only reached the 50-game mark just once in his career and while there is certainly a trend towards lowering the workload for a starter, that number is still on the low side.

Accordingly, Murray is going to have a tough time commanding anywhere close to top dollar for a starting goalie.  But he’ll still need to get enough of a raise to justify foregoing an opportunity to test the open market; he’ll only be one year away from being eligible to do so next summer.  Finding the magic number to fit in with Pittsburgh’s tight salary cap structure and still be enough to keep Murray happy on a long-term pact will be a tricky negotiation to navigate.

End The Kessel Speculation

It came out last season that the Penguins had engaged in trade talks regarding Phil Kessel but Rutherford tried to pour cold water on it at the time.  Fast forward to just one week ago when word leaked that a deal that would have seen him go to Minnesota was nixed when the winger invoked his partial no-trade clause.  Considering this and how things went for him in 2018-19, it’s getting harder to envision him remaining with Pittsburgh.  It appears the time has come for a trade.

For as much flak as Kessel receives for his all-around game, there’s no denying that he can be a significant difference maker offensively.  He reached the point-per-game mark for the second straight year and over the past three seasons, only ten players around the league have more points than the 244 he has picked up.  With Toronto paying 15% of his contract, his remaining $6.8MM AAV is certainly fair value for a top-line forward, if not a small bargain.

The challenge here though is not only going to be finding fair value for Kessel but also a place he’s willing to go to.  His trade protection is fairly substantial as he only has to submit an eight-team list that he’s open to being dealt to.  Assuming that not all of those teams will have interest (for varying reasons), that’s a pretty small list for Rutherford to work off of.  Even with that, it looks like the two sides will be parting ways in the next little while.

Open Up Cap Flexibility

It’s hard to talk about the Penguins without mentioning the salary cap and the annual tap dancing the team has to do to stay under it.  2019-20 figures to be no exception.  The team presently has just under $79.MM committed to 18 players for next season, per CapFriendly.   The minimum salary increases to $700K for next season so basically, they have enough to pay a few players the minimum and that’s it.  That’s not a lot of wiggle room to accomplish much of anything.

Things aren’t much better for the year after that.  Their spending dips to $68.5MM but with only 14 players signed and Murray’s new deal won’t be a cheap one.  They’ll also have to re-sign or replace a top-four defenseman in Justin Schultz at that time.  By the time they do that, they’ll basically be down to league minimum signings again.

That’s part of the reason that Rutherford has more of a willingness to shake things up.  He basically has no other choice.  It’s hard to be a sustainable contender but it’s even trickier when you’re forced to merely add around the margins or match salaries in any trade you make.  As those changes to the core get made this summer, finding a way to get NHL-ready talent back will certainly be important but so too will be ensuring that those players are cheaper.  Rutherford has shown he can do a good job with minimal cap room to work with but more flexibility and options can only beneficial to them as they look to retool and get back into contending in the Metropolitan Division.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Tampa Bay Lightning

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even with the surprise resignation by Steve Yzerman as GM for Tampa Bay before training camp, things pretty much went the way of the Lightning during the regular season.  They were the class of the league and it wasn’t even close.  They were a popular pick to contend for the Stanley Cup and then within a week, it was all over as they were swept at the hands of the Blue Jackets.  Now, GM Julien BriseBois must figure out what went wrong and make some tweaks to a roster that didn’t appear to have a whole lot of holes heading into the playoffs.  Here’s what they need to accomplish this offseason.

New Deal For Point

Back in 2017-18, Brayden Point cemented himself as a key part of the team after posting 66 points.  He was a big part of their secondary scoring and it looked he’d anchor the second line.  No one’s thinking that now.  He exploded with a 92-point campaign that put him tied for 12th in scoring league-wide.  Instead of thinking he could be a secondary producer for the Lightning, he’s now a bona fide front liner.

Tampa Bay has benefited considerably from him being on his entry-level deal, one that made him arguably the best bargain in the entire league in 2018-19.  That’s about to change.  He is among the class of high-end restricted free agents this offseason and is about to get a massive raise.

Given Tampa Bay’s salary cap situation (more on that shortly), he has been a speculative offer sheet target.  While that probably won’t happen, his case will still be interesting to follow.  While most – if not all – of the other major RFAs will sign long-term deals, Point could be forced to settle for a bridge contract.  It’s not like there isn’t precedent for doing so with a top player either as Nikita Kucherov just wrapped up his three-year bridge deal this past season.  A long-term pact will be desirable for both sides but it will take some roster manoeuvering from BriseBois to give them a shot at making that happen.

Clear Cap Room

Speaking of that roster movement, that’s almost assuredly going to involve Ryan Callahan.  The veteran winger is entering the final year of his contract with a $5.8MM cap hit.  He spent time as a healthy scratch in 2018-19 and didn’t make much of an impact when he was in the lineup.  They badly need to clear out his contract and will be faced with figuring out the lesser of two evils – do they trade him with an incentive (assuming he waives his partial no-trade clause) or buy him out and carry two more years of him being on the books at a reduced cap hit ($2.567MM in 2019-20 and $1.567MM in 2020-21)?

Doing that may not even be enough.  As things stand, Tampa Bay has over $74MM tied up in 17 players for next season, per CapFriendly.  They have some work to do on their back end and Point’s new deal will be pricey, even if it’s a short-term pact.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them shop one of their other mid-tier veterans.  J.T. Miller ($5.25MM for four more years), Tyler Johnson ($5MM for five more seasons), and Alex Killorn ($4.45MM for four more years) all hit the 40-point mark in 2018-19 and would be good secondary scorers on a lot of teams.  They do that already in Tampa Bay.  But a younger player like Anthony Cirelli or Mathieu Joseph is ready to step into a larger role for a fraction of the price.  Moving one of those veterans out would free up a spot for one them to take on that extra responsibility and would give them a lot more wiggle room on the cap in the process.

Add Defensive Help

Tampa Bay’s back end is going to look a whole lot different next season.  Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, and Dan Girardi are all unrestricted free agents and aren’t likely to return.  That’s basically half a blueline corps that needs replacing.

Some of that will come from within.  Jan Rutta, a midseason acquisition for depth purposes, was already re-signed after he agreed to a $950K pay cut.  After being in and out of the lineup upon being recalled, he’ll likely play a regular role next season.  So too will Erik Cernak, who started out as the number seven and consistently worked his way up the lineup.

Even with those two joining incumbents Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, and Mikhail Sergachev, some additions are going to need to be made.  None of their minor leaguers are ready to make the jump on a full-time basis just yet so they’ll likely have to look to either get a cheap rearguard as part of their cap dump(s) or look for bargains on the free agent market.  On top of that, it’s likely that they’ll look to add a veteran or two on two-way deals with an eye on having some recallable injury depth, similar to what pending UFA Cameron Gaunce was brought in for last summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Montreal Canadiens

at CDT | by 3 Comments

With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Montreal Canadiens.

At this point last year, Montreal was looking like they were heading into a rebuild.  They had just finished with the fourth-worst record in the league (moving up to third in the Draft Lottery) and there were all kinds of questions surrounding their roster.  They then dealt their top two goal-scoring threats in separate trades that brought back players that had underachieved considerably the year before (and in the case of Max Pacioretty, added prospect Nick Suzuki as well).  Instead, the Canadiens turned things around rather quickly and were in the thick of the playoff race until the final two days of the regular season.  Now, instead of selling off assets for younger players, GM Marc Bergevin will be looking to add pieces to help them get back into the postseason.  Here’s what they need to accomplish this summer.

Add Left Side Defensive Help

With Shea Weber and Jeff Petry in the fold plus prospect Noah Juulsen being nearly NHL ready and veteran Christian Folin under contract as well, the right side of Montreal’s defense is in pretty good shape.  Not a whole lot of work, if any, is going to be done there.

However, the same can’t be said for their left side.  Over there, their depth consists of largely unproven players, fringe players looking to hold onto a roster spot, and Karl Alzner, whose contract was buried in the minors early in the season and still has three years remaining.  The recently re-signed Brett Kulak and Victor Mete are Montreal’s best left-shooting options and both of them are better served as complementary players, not big-minute impact ones.

Accordingly, Bergevin will certainly be on the lookout to add a top-four, left-shot rearguard to the fold.  However, there aren’t many of those in free agency; the list basically starts and ends with Jake Gardiner and Alex Edler with many expecting the latter to remain in Vancouver.  As a result, this is a void that will probably need to be filled via the trade market.  Bergevin has shown he’s willing to make big moves leading up to the draft over the last couple of years and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this be his top priority in the weeks to come.

Backup Goalie Decision

The decision to add Antti Niemi back in 2017-18 actually worked out relatively well for Montreal.  The choice to give him another contract based on how he performed down the stretch that season didn’t have the same outcome.  His continued struggles forced Montreal to almost exclusively call upon Carey Price down the stretch and with teams realizing the benefits of not playing a goaltender over 60 games per season, asking him to play in 66 contests is far from ideal.  The team announced after the season that Niemi will not be retained so they will have to find a new backup for Price moving forward.

They have an internal option in Charlie Lindgren but his stock has taken a hit over the past couple of seasons.  He has posted save percentages of .886 and .884 over the last two seasons with AHL Laval, results that don’t exactly scream ‘NHL ready’.  On the other hand, he has had some success with Montreal when called upon in the past over his 18 NHL appearances.  He’s signed for two more years with an AAV that’s just above the league minimum ($750K) which is important considering Price and his $10.5MM price tag is the richest deal in league history among goaltenders.  Since they’re paying that much for Price, picking a cheap option in Lindgren to back him up would certainly be justifiable although it would carry some risk.

Considering that they have considerable cap room (more on that momentarily), Bergevin could also turn to the free agent market.  There are several veteran backups that will be available that would provide some extra stability behind Price.  However, he will have to decide whether that extra security is worth paying two to three times more for that netminder than what it would cost to promote from within with Lindgren.

Utilize Their Cap Space

It wasn’t that long ago that the Canadiens were a team that routinely spent to the Upper Limit but they have come up well short of that mark over the past two seasons.  They currently have just over $71MM tied up in a full 23-man roster for next season, per CapFriendly so they have the ability to spend this summer.  They’ll probably use some of that on the back end and they could certainly stand to add some more offense up front as well.  If they strike out on one of those though, they’re going to be right where they were the last two seasons with lots of room and not much to spend it on.

Bergevin tried to get creative last season by taking on and buying out Steve Mason’s contract and picked up winger Joel Armia plus a pair of draft picks.  With several teams looking to be in tough when it comes to the cap, Montreal could try to get involved in that market to use some of their room.  However, with several core players in need of new contracts following the 2020-21 campaign, they’ll be looking to only take on short-term money.  Given that they wound up just missing the playoffs this past season, it will be tough to justify being well under the cap for the third straight year so if they can’t spend to add core pieces, Bergevin will have to get creative once again.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Arizona Coyotes

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the postseason down to just two teams, many squads are now well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Arizona Coyotes.

Arizona was a popular sleeper pick in the Western Conference heading into the season.  Now that the team was healthy, things were looking up for the Coyotes.  However, the injuries returned and some core players missed considerable time as a result, headlined by starting goalie Antti Raanta.  To their credit, Arizona hung around the playoff mix for quite a while which will probably once again result in them being a popular sleeper pick for 2019-20.  Here’s what they need to accomplish over the offseason.

Add Scoring Wingers

Scoring goals was a huge problem for the Coyotes in 2018-19.  They failed to have a single player hit the 20-goal mark and center Brad Richardson tied for the team lead in that department with 19 (as many tallies as he had the previous three seasons combined).  Not surprisingly, they sat in the bottom five in the league in that category and it was their ultimate downfall in their postseason chase.

They’re in decent shape down the middle offensively.  Full seasons from Nick Schmaltz and Christian Dvorak should help while Derek Stepan is a capable playmaker.  With those three ahead of Richardson, that’s not a bad group to build from.

The situation isn’t as strong on the wing.  Clayton Keller took a step back offensively while Alex Galchenyuk (the co-leader in goals) didn’t have a breakthrough year like they were hoping after acquiring him in the offseason.  Beyond those two, the depth goes away in a hurry.

Accordingly, adding offensive help – particularly on the wing – needs to be a top priority for GM John Chayka this season.  While adding some top-line players would certainly help, so too would adding some second liners which may be more in their price range on the open market.  Sure, moves like that wouldn’t make them a top team in terms of production but with their back end and goaltending, they don’t need to be among the top scoring teams.  Merely being average in that department, something they haven’t been since they were still called Phoenix, should be more than enough.

Extension Talks

While both Keller and Galchenyuk are coming off of down seasons, they’re both entering the final year of their respective contracts and will be in line for raises.  Arizona has quietly picked up their spending and will want to have an idea of what it’s going to cost to keep these two around long-term to help them decide how much they have to spend on multi-year deals this summer.

A year ago, Keller looked like he could have a shot at flirting with the point-per-game mark in 2018-19 but ultimately came up well short of that.  As a result, there are questions as to whether or not he’s someone that can drive the attack on a line or if he’s better suited to be more of a complementary piece moving forward.  That makes his case difficult to call – Keller’s side will be pushing for a contract closer to his 65-point campaign over his 47-point one to justify signing a year early.  While that would be a bit of a leap of faith, Chayka has been more than willing to take that plunge with several of his younger players over the last year so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see it also happen here.

Galchenyuk’s case is certainly an intriguing one.  The deal he’s on now basically amounted to a second bridge deal from Montreal who clearly had some questions about his long-term upside.  Those questions are still there after a year with the Coyotes.  He has shown himself to be a capable top-six forward at times but consistency has been an issue throughout his career.  Though he’s going to be entering his eighth NHL season, it’s also worth noting that he’s only 25.  With that in mind, he’s likely to command a long-term contract.  Their trade for him suggests that Chayka believes that Galchenyuk is part of the plans beyond his current contract.  If that’s the case, it’s likely that the team will want to get a deal done quickly with him over risking him hitting the open market in the prime of his career.

Utilize Defensive Depth

There’s no denying that Arizona has a very strong back end.  They certainly should considering that they’re set to spend $30MM on their defense corps for 2019-20.  However, given their offensive issues, it’s also fair to wonder if they should turn around and use some of that depth to help up front.

Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson isn’t going anywhere as his new deal kicks in.  The same can be said for Jakob Chychrun while veteran Niklas Hjalmarsson’s new contract will probably keep him in Arizona for a bit longer, especially if they want to keep him and Ekman-Larsson together at times.

However, a pair of veterans in Alex Goligoski ($5.5475MM) and Jason Demers ($3.9375MM) are players that could hold some value on the trade market.  Both have two years left on their deals and play the right side, a position of need for quite a few teams and one that is not particularly well-stocked in free agency this summer.  Kyle Capobianco is getting close to being NHL ready and while he’s a lefty, he’s going to push for a roster spot sooner than later.  This offseason seems like a good opportunity for the Coyotes to take advantage of their defensive depth and a soft free agent market and turn one of those veterans into another player that can help them up front and perhaps save a few bucks on the salary cap in the process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Florida Panthers

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the postseason down to just three teams, many squads are well into their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Florida Panthers.

While Florida missed the playoffs last season, they were a popular pick to take a step forward in 2018-19.  Not only were they coming off a strong finish the year before, they also added some help offensively in Mike Hoffman over the summer in one of the stranger moves of the offseason that saw him get dealt twice in mere hours.  Between that and another year of development of a promising young core, things were supposed to be looking up.  It didn’t quite work that way.  While Florida had minimal issues scoring, keeping the puck out of the net proved to be too insurmountable of a challenge and the end result was a 10-point drop in the standings and a quick coaching change at the end of the season to bring in Joel Quenneville.  With that move taken care of, here are the on-ice keys to Florida’s offseason.

Add A Core Defenseman

Between Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, and Mike Matheson, the Panthers have some serviceable pieces on their back end.  While Ekblad may not become the true number one that his draft billing would suggest, he’s a capable two-way player.  Yandle remains one of the better offensive threats on the blueline while Matheson has shown flashes of potential as well.

Beyond that, the depth gets thin quite quickly.  Mark Pysyk is miscast in a top-four role while youngsters Mackenzie Weeger, Josh Brown, and Ian McCoshen are all depth players.  That will need to change if they want to turn things around.

They have been linked to Artemi Panarin given his history with Quenneville but they would be better off finding another legitimate top-four blueliner.  Unfortunately, there aren’t many of those available in free agency so they may have to go the trade route to get one.  If Florida wants to get back into the playoffs, they’ll need more from their back end than their top three can provide.

Find A Starting Goalie

Everyone knew that this moment was coming eventually.  At the age of 40, Roberto Luongo has shown signs of breaking down and isn’t a legitimate starting goalie anymore.  James Reimer was brought in to provide some stability as someone that could play a lot more than a typical starter.  However, he too has had injury issues and when he has played, he was no better than Luongo.

Both goalies are signed for multiple years still.  Luongo has three years at $4.533MM (with Vancouver paying another $800K) and Reimer checks in at $3.4MM for two more seasons.  That’s a fair bit of money tied into their goalies.

However, they don’t have a choice anymore.  A new number one goalie is a must-get this summer, even if it means they wind up spending more on that position than any other team.  There isn’t much hope in the system – Sam Montembeault could be a future backup but not a starter – so they can’t afford to wait it out.  The Panthers are clearly not rebuilding and are in win-now mode and a tandem of Luongo and Reimer won’t get them there.

Sergei Bobrovsky is by far the best goalie in free agency and given Florida’s cap space, he could very well be the perfect fit for them.  If that doesn’t happen though, they’ll need a Plan B in place.  Is that Semyon Varlamov or another lower-tier starter?  Or do they try to trade for a young goalie in the hopes that he’ll develop quickly?  There will be plenty of questions over the next six weeks until July 1st comes around and they find out who their next starter will be.

Extension Talks

Hoffman wound up being a great addition.  He fit in quite well with Florida’s high-end attack and responded with a career year, posting 36 goals and 34 assists.  He will be entering the final year of his contract in 2019-20 and will be looking for a sizable raise on his current $5.1875MM AAV.  The same can be said for winger Evgenii Dadonov.  His three-year, $12MM deal was viewed as a big gamble given how he fared in his first NHL stint but he has more than lived up to his contract and put up a 70-point campaign of his own this past season.

The good news for Florida is that their other core forwards are all locked up through at least 2021-22 so there aren’t some other big-ticket contracts coming due in the next little while.  Depending on how much they opt to spend in free agency (they have plenty of cap room but have been a budget team the last couple of years), they should be able to keep at least one of them around if not both.  If they can get new deals done for these two and shore up the goaltending situation at the very least, it could be a very quick turnaround for the Panthers heading into 2019-20.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Chicago Blackhawks

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While the playoffs are well underway, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Chicago Blackhawks.

There were certainly some positives in Chicago in 2018-19.  Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews had career years, Dylan Strome made an immediate impact after being acquired midseason, and Alex DeBrincat has quickly emerged as one of the top young scorers in the league.  Despite all that, they still missed the postseason while only besting their 2017-18 performance by eight points.  GM Stan Bowman has started to change the roster around over the past year but more work is in store.  Here’s what that work will entail.

Decide On The Third Pick

Regardless of which order they go in, Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are going to be the first two picks in the draft.  As a result, the intrigue of the draft truly starts with Chicago after they won in the Draft Lottery to move up from tenth overall to third.

One player that has been frequently projected to go at number three is defenseman Bowen Byram.  However, the last three first-round picks for the Blackhawks have all been defenders and while the current back end needs some work, help will soon be on the way from that group of prospects.  While teams always claim they’ll draft the best player available, organizational depth can potentially skew who a team believes the best player is.

There are also some intriguing forwards on the board that they could lean towards given their defensive depth in the pipeline.  Alex Turcotte, Kirby Dach, Dylan Cozens, and Vasili Podkolzin have all been ranked in the number three slot by various publications throughout the year.

Basically, no one has really separated themselves from the pack just yet.  Finding the best of the bunch would go a long way towards getting Chicago back on the right path after missing the playoffs for two straight years.

Extension Talks

Alex DeBrincat’s rookie season in 2017-18 was quite impressive before even considering the fact that he was a second-round pick.  28 goals and 52 points aren’t too shabby for a rookie.  Not only did he beat those numbers this past season, he obliterated them, putting up 41 goals and 76 points.

Having completed the first two years of his entry-level deal, DeBrincat is now a year away from restricted free agency.  He has given himself plenty of negotiating leverage through the first two seasons of his career and it’s fair to say that he will be looking for similar money as some of the other top players that are entering restricted free agency this summer.

If talks haven’t started already (he can’t sign until July 1st but they can always talk before then), they should soon.  However, this is a case where both sides may opt to wait to see how things play out with the other RFAs first to see what the precedent winds up being.  If it’s too rich for Chicago’s liking, they could opt to sit back and wait until next summer.  However, if DeBrincat has another season like this one, that price tag is only going to go up.  Plus, it may be beneficial to know what the cost is going to be to help them plan accordingly for free agency this summer.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see them inquire about what goalie Corey Crawford’s plans are beyond next season.  He’s a year away from unrestricted free agency and the team doesn’t have a future starter in the system.  Of course, his lengthy injury history is a red flag but at the very least, expect the team to get an idea of what it may cost to keep him around or how much they need to hold off on spending this summer to ensure they have enough to replace him next season.

Make Their Big Splash

Mentioning Chicago and cap space in the same sentence is something that hasn’t been seen in a while unless there was a qualifier about how they had very little of it.  That’s no longer the case.  GM Stan Bowman was able to shed the rest of Marian Hossa’s contract and didn’t add any long-term deals over the course of the season.  Between that and an expected uptick in the Upper Limit, the Blackhawks can now take a run at the higher end of the free agent market if they so desire.

They’ve been speculatively linked to Artemi Panarin given his prior ties to the franchise and if they decide to put all of their eggs in one basket so to speak, they could very well be able to afford him.  They have an opportunity to add an impact piece and really add another dimension either to their attack or back end.  Given their desire to take another run with their existing core, expect them to try to make a big splash, even if it does carry some risk knowing that DeBrincat’s expensive new contract is only a year away.  In particular, with Kane and Toews having resurgent seasons, there’s a good chance they’ll look to add another forward to hedge against possible regression and give them two strong scoring lines.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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

scroll to top