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Ottawa Senators Sign Chris Driedger To One-Year Deal

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While the league reels from the whopping Connor McDavid extension, that will see the reigning MVP earn a league-high $12.5MM per season, other teams have made some much more minor moves to improve their team. Here are some smaller transactions that took place today:

  • The Washington Capitals have avoided arbitration with one of their restricted free agents, signing Travis Boyd to a one-year two-way contract that will pay him $650K in the NHL. Boyd scored 63 points at the AHL level and could have a chance to make his NHL debut this season. That leaves the Capitals with just Philipp Grubauer as an arbitration eligible RFA.
  • The New York Islanders have signed Sebastian Aho—no not that Sebastian Aho—to a three-year entry-level contract. This 21-year old defenseman was selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft after being passed over several times. Aho broke out in Sweden last season, and will compete for a job at the AHL level this season.
  • Ottawa has signed Chris Driedger to a one-year two-way deal that will pay him $735K in the NHL. Driedger was a restricted free agent, and with the departure of Matt O’Connor (who signed with the Nashville Predators after not receiving a qualifying offer) will likely be joined by Andrew Hammond in the AHL next season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have hired Davis Payne as an associate coach, coming aboard to join Phil Housley on a revamped staff. Payne is the former head coach of the St. Louis Blues and most recently an assistant with the LA Kings. He was let go along with Darryl Sutter and the rest of the Kings’ coaching staff, but will join Housley in trying to turn around the Sabres next season.

Daniel Alfredsson To “Step Away From The Game”

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Daniel Alfredsson, Senior Advisor of Operations for the Ottawa Senators, announced today that he is stepping away from the game of hockey to “evaluate his next professional challenge.” More from the release:

“I want to thank the Senators for the opportunity; it has enabled me to understand the type of commitments required to work in hockey should I determine that to be my future path. Our first order of business is getting established in our new home in Ottawa and returning to Gothenburg, with my family, to visit Swedish family and friends for the summer. We look forward to sharing the details of what’s next for the Alfredsson family in the future.”

The all-time leading scorer in Ottawa’s history with 1108 points and 426 goals, Alfredsson joined the Sens’ front office months after retiring from the game as a player. There is no speculation as to why the Senators legend left the organization.

 

Predators Sign Goaltenders Anders Lindback And Matt O’Connor

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In two separate team announcements, the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators revealed that they have added some depth in net behind Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros in the wake of parting ways with Marek Mazanec. A familiar name is returning in Anders Lindback, a 2008 draft selection and Rinne’s backup from 2010 to 2012, who has since been an NHL journeyman and spent this past season in the Swedish Hockey League. Lindback signed a two-way deal worth the minimum $650K at the NHL level. Matt O’Connor, the former Boston University star who has spent the past few years in the Ottawa Senators organization, signed a similar deal. The 24-year-old will also play on a two-way contract worth $650K in the NHL and only slightly less than Lindback in the AHL.

2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker

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Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.

Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.

July 1st:

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Nate Thompson To Sign With Ottawa Senators

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Two-way center Nate Thompson will soon be reunited with former Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher. TSN’s Aaron Ward reports the Boucher’s new team, the Ottawa Senators, are set to sign the character forward. It is expected to be a two-year deal worth $1.65MM per.

Thompson is a great fit for the Senators, filling an important role of centering the checking line. Ottawa had previously cut ties with 2016-17 energy liners Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, and Tommy Wingels, but can essentially replace the output of all three with Thompson. The 212-lb. forward enjoyed the best offensive seasons of his career in Boucher’s system in Tampa, and while took on a far greater role defensively in Anaheim in 2014-15, injuries and lack of productions have resulted in little ice time over the past two seasons. The Senators hope that, back under the tutelage of Boucher, Thompson may be capable of reaching his career-high 25 points from his Tampa days while also bringing back his 200+ hits with the Ducks.

The Senators are also working to re-sign 2016 trade deadline acquistion Viktor Stalberg, but nothing official has been reported as of yet.

Offseason Keys: Ottawa Senators

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While expansion was the early headline in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators made a big impression in their first season with head coach Guy Boucher and GM Pierre Dorion at the helm.  Although they didn’t win the Atlantic, they took care of business in the first two rounds before falling to the Cup-champion Penguins in the Eastern Final.  With a lot of players in need of new deals, Dorion will have a lot to accomplish this offseason.  Here are some of the key highlights.

Decide Phaneuf’s Future

While it was understandable that defenseman Dion Phaneuf was believed to be on the block prior to the Expansion Draft, it’s a bit more intriguing that his name has still been out there.  Defenders are in high demand and with it being a shallow free agent market, there are teams still showing interest.

The catch here, of course, is Phaneuf’s contract which isn’t exactly a bargain.  He has four years remaining with a $7MM cap hit and the expectation is that the Sens would have to either retain some salary or take a sizable contract or two in return.  Regardless of what the interest level in the 32 year old is, Ottawa’s willingness (or lack thereof) to retain or match money will go a long way towards determining whether a trade gets done.  Phaneuf also carries some say as he has a 12-team no-trade list.

While Ottawa has some youngsters that are close to making it, it would still be a bit surprising to see the team lose both Phaneuf as well as Marc Methot in the same offseason.  Accordingly, it’s realistic to expect that if they do decide to deal the veteran blueliner (and as things stand, the thought is he’s more likely to stay though that could change depending how the UFA market plays now), they’re going to be looking for a left shot defender in any potential trade return.

Extension Talks For Turris

Oct 28, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Ottawa Senators center Kyle Turris (7) skates during the warmup period against Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY SportsCenter Kyle Turris has been one of the better bargains league-wide in recent years.  He has been Ottawa’s top pivot while only carrying a cap charge of $3.5MM.  Unfortunately for the Senators, that bargain will soon be coming to an end as he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer and will be eligible to sign an extension as of July 1st.

Having hit the 55 point plateau in three of the last four seasons, Turris is going to be in line for a substantial raise.  As a team that typically spends well below the cap ceiling, finding room within their budget will become the biggest question here.

Dorion has done well to build up some depth down the middle with Derick Brassard, Zack Smith, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau but there’s no doubt that if Turris were to depart in 2018, that group would be a weakened unit.  This one may not be on the top of the bucket list at this stage of the summer but it’s something that the Sens will likely want to address sooner rather than later.

New Deal For Pageau

After re-signing Mike Condon earlier today, Pageau is the most notable of their remaining free agents, restricted or unrestricted.  While he didn’t produce as much during the season as he did in 2015-16 (33 points compared to 43 the year before), he still filled an important middle six role while being well above average at the faceoff dot, checking in at 54.8%.

And then there was his postseason run where Pageau scored eight times in just 19 games, further bolstering his reputation as a player with a knack of scoring some key, timely goals.  That playoff performance makes his RFA case a lot more intriguing and he does have arbitration eligibility as well.

Pageau sits two years away from unrestricted free agency status and is coming off his bridge deal now, one that carries a qualifying offer of $1.1MM.  He should easily surpass that on this contract regardless of whether it’s a long-term or a short-term one.  Smith inked a four year, $13MM extension midseason and while those were all UFA years, that should be in the range of a new deal for Pageau.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Viktor Stalberg Receiving Interest From Swiss Clubs

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Dion Phaneuf Expected To Stay In Ottawa

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After rumors of his availability have been passed around ever since the end of the season, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Dion Phaneuf should now be expected to stay with the Ottawa Senators. The 32-year old has a partial no-trade clause and clearly doesn’t want to leave Ottawa for just anywhere, as implicated by his refusal to waive his no-movement clause prior to the expansion draft. While nothing is ever off the table entirely, Phaneuf should be suiting up for the Senators on opening night in 2017-18.

The former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the target of some ire in Ottawa, mostly due to his contract that will see him cause a cap hit of $7MM for the next four seasons. Though the actual salary drops incrementally to $5.5MM by the last season—an important thing to note for a budget team like Ottawa—Phaneuf’s deal is extremely difficult to trade. His play, though not completely unacceptable, isn’t close to the high-flying offensive defensemen of his youth and not nearly impactful enough to justify his salary. His skating has deteriorated over the years, but he’s still a 30+ point defender capable of logging big minutes in every situation.

Ottawa still definitely has some use for him, especially after Marc Methot was selected and flipped by the Vegas Golden Knights, but a transition to the younger options will need to be done at some point. As players like Thomas Chabot, Ben Harpur and Fredrik Claesson become more and more reliable in the NHL they will draw minutes away from the big defender. Though he may be staying put for now, that doesn’t mean he won’t be on the move in the future.

For now, the Senators and their defensive, trapping coach Guy Boucher will likely employ Phaneuf and Cody Ceci as a sort of shutdown unit once again, freeing up Erik Karlsson and whoever his new partner is (assuming it’s not Phaneuf himself) to contribute more offensively against weaker opposition. It will be interesting to see if Chabot, should he make the team out of camp, is given any powerplay time right off the bat. Phaneuf was a big part of their second unit, but could give way if the younger, more dynamic player is to make an impact.

Ottawa Senators Sign Mike Condon To Three-Year Deal

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The Ottawa Senators have locked up Mike Condon to a three-year deal which will pay him an average of $2.4MM per season. Condon was ranked 28th on our free agent list, predicting that he’d get a two-year deal worth $5MM. Mike Condon

Interestingly, Ottawa now has three different goaltenders on one-way contracts for next season, including starter Craig Anderson and depth goaltender Andrew Hammond. The total of all three will be close to $8MM, a big number for a club who works from an internal budget.

Condon found a home in Ottawa this year after first being selected off waivers by Pittsburgh from Montreal, and then traded to the Senators just a week later. His unstable start to the season relinquished, and he fit in well with Anderson in a sort of pseudo-tandem. Anderson missed large chunks of the season at random to be with his wife Nicholle as she dealt with an illness, and in those times Condon was relied upon as the starting goaltender. While Nicholle and the Anderson family seems to be on the road to recovery, Condon can work as a backup for a year and take over when the 36-year old sees his contract expire next summer.

Getting a three-year deal for Condon is a big deal after the uncertainty of going through waivers at the beginning of the year. The Montreal Canadiens, Condon’s first NHL team, turned to Al Montoya as their backup instead and saw him post a similarly strong season. Montoya earned an extension of his own earlier this year, and will earn just over $1MM per season for the next two years.

Ottawa now has around $11MM in cap space remaining for next year, but has rarely pushed up to the ceiling since the cap was introduced. With a long playoff run and extra revenue in their pockets perhaps they’re willing to invest in the team, but with Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau still due new contracts there won’t be a ton of room left under the cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ottawa Senators Sign Max McCormick To Two-Year Deal

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Another minor league contract came down today, this time from the Ottawa Senators. The team has signed Max McCormick to a two-year contract that will be two-way in the first season, and transition to a one-way deal in 2018-19. Both seasons will pay McCormick $650K at the NHL level. McCormick was set to become a Group VI free agent on July 1st.

A sixth-round pick of the Senators in the 2011 draft, McCormick has developed into a solid AHL scoring threat capable of 20+ goals every year. That scoring ability hasn’t translated to the NHL yet though, as he’s registered just two goals in 27 career games. The forward loves to get his hands dirty, and could provide some depth for the Senators bottom-six this season. If anything he could likely fill a similar role to Chris Neil, a much-beloved Senator for many years. With a little bit of skill, and the willingness to protect his teammates McCormick should have a long professional career, even if most of it comes in the minor leagues.

Ottawa has a large group of free agents to still make decisions on, including Tommy Wingels, Viktor Stalberg and Chris Kelly. While it seems unlikely that most of them will return, there is a chance that one or two could re-up with the team for another run at a Stanley Cup.

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