West Notes: Lindholm, Schenn, Kings, Harrington
There has been some optimism about the Flames and pending UFA center Elias Lindholm working out an extension after the veteran indicated a desire to get a deal done. However, the two sides aren’t close to an agreement, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment (video link). Calgary could point to the extension that Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele just signed, a seven-year deal that carries a cap hit of $8.5MM as a possible comparable, if not a bit lower given that Lindholm’s career numbers aren’t as high as Scheifele’s. However, if the Flames want to get a deal done early, their offer might have to get closer to the $9MM range on a max-term agreement or close to it.
More from the Western Conference:
- Predators defenseman Luke Schenn was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Seattle with what the team is calling (Twitter link) a lower-body injury. The 33-year-old logged a little more than 15 minutes in his first game with Nashville after inking a three-year, $8.25MM contract with them this past summer.
- Earlier this month, the Kings wrapped up a one-year extension with head coach Todd McLellan. He won’t be the only member of the coaching staff on an expiring deal next season as GM Rob Blake told reporters including LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley that all of their coaches are now under contract through the 2024-25 campaign.
- Scott Harrington is still looking to land a full contract for this season. After failing to secure a deal with the Ducks in training camp, he’ll remain with the organization for now on another tryout agreement, this time of the AHL variety as their affiliate in San Diego announced they’ve inked him to a PTO deal. The 30-year-old has primarily been in the NHL over the last six years but he’ll have to work his way back up this season. In the minors, a PTO can last for 25 games and a player can sign two of them in a playing year.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Toronto Maple Leafs
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Current Cap Hit: $93,989,461 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Matthew Knies (two years, $925K)
F Fraser Minten (three years, $845K)
Knies made an immediate impression late last season, eventually playing his way into Toronto’s playoff lineup. He should be counted on to play a regular role this year but if he spends a lot of time on the third line as he’s starting on, it’ll be hard to make a case for an early extension. If he progresses as planned, a bridge deal could push around the $2.5MM mark. Minten somewhat surprisingly made the team after a strong training camp. It’s possible his stint is a short-term one so it’s a bit premature to forecast what his next deal might cost. Neither deal has performance bonuses (no player in the organization has any) so they’re not as risk of carryover charges on that front.
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Tyler Bertuzzi ($5.5MM, UFA)
D T.J. Brodie ($5MM, UFA)
F Max Domi ($3MM, UFA)
D Mark Giordano ($800K, UFA)
F Noah Gregor ($775K, RFA)
D John Klingberg ($4.15MM, UFA)
D Timothy Liljegren ($1.4MM, RFA)
G Matt Murray ($4.6875MM, UFA)*
D Jake Muzzin ($5.625MM, UFA)
F William Nylander ($6.962MM, UFA)
G Ilya Samsonov ($3.55MM, UFA)
*-Ottawa is retaining another $1.5625MM on Murray’s deal.
Nylander is shaping up to be one of the more interesting pending unrestricted free agents. He has certainly outproduced his contract, becoming a legitimate top-line threat. Now, the team has dabbled with him playing down the middle (which could resume if/when Minten is returned to junior) and even killing penalties. If he does well in those situations, his value will only go up. It’s believed his asking price is at least $10MM on a max-term agreement, a price tag Toronto isn’t willing to pay at the moment. Negotiations were hard-fought last time around with a deal coming down to mere minutes before the deadline that would have made him ineligible. It won’t come quite to that point next summer though as he’ll have enough suitors to get a deal done quickly if he makes it to the open market.
Bertuzzi’s market didn’t materialize to his liking this past summer. Seeking a long-term deal and bigger money, he landed neither of those, quickly pivoting instead to a pillow contract. He’s a good fit inside their top six and if things go as planned (while staying healthy), he should line himself up for at least a small raise and a multi-year deal next summer. The same can’t be said for Domi, a player who has bounced around the last few years. His two UFA contracts have been at this price point and unless he drastically improves (or regresses), it’s reasonable to think the next one should check in close to this as well. Gregor was able to convert a PTO into a full deal after being non-tendered by San Jose. Arbitration eligibility could work against him next summer as this is a roster spot the Maple Leafs will need to keep at the league minimum while he could make a case for a bit more than that if he holds down a spot on the fourth line.
Brodie is capable of logging big minutes but, in recent years, his offensive production hasn’t been the most consistent. If he’s putting up 30 points as he was in Calgary, this price tag is one he can justify. When that’s not the case, it becomes an above-market deal and considering he’ll be 34 next summer, he might be hard-pressed to command this much at that time. Klingberg, for the second year in a row, had to settle for a pillow deal with the hopes of bolstering his market for the following summer. On a more offensive-minded squad, he might have a better chance of succeeding this time around. A big raise might not be likely but a multi-year agreement might be in reach.
Liljegren has been eased into the league with last season being his heaviest workload even though it was still in a limited role. On a thinner back end depth-wise, that should change as in-season injuries come into play. If he does well, he should be in a position to push for $1MM more than his $1.5MM qualifying offer. But if he remains in a depth role, Toronto will be trying to keep his price closer to where it is now. Giordano left a lot of money on the table to stay with his hometown team. Yes, he’s now the oldest player in the league but he can provide a lot of surplus value on this agreement. If he plays another season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it around this price tag as he aims for one last push for a Stanley Cup.
Muzzin and Murray are both done for the season already and have been placed on LTIR. Muzzin, who was recently named as a scout for the Maple Leafs, is likely done for his career while Murray’s situation isn’t quite as certain. The two sides opted to wait several months for surgery, allowing him to stay on LTIR for the whole season but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to catch on somewhere. However, with his injury history, it’ll be on a contract that’s close to the minimum.
Samsonov wound up going to a hearing to get this contract, one that felt a bit lower than some expected. However, he still doesn’t have the track record of being a successful long-term starter. One more good, healthy year with Toronto might get him there and if that’s the case, he could push toward the $5MM or more range on a multi-year agreement next summer.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Mitch Marner ($10.903MM, UFA)
D Jake McCabe ($2MM, UFA)*
F John Tavares ($11MM, UFA)
D Conor Timmins ($1.1MM, RFA)
G Joseph Woll ($767K, RFA)
*-Chicago is retaining another $2MM on McCabe’s contract.
Tavares has had a good run with Toronto, averaging nearly a point per game since signing with them in 2018. Of course, at that price tag, they were expecting a bit more production from him while the stagnation in the salary cap has made this contract sting more as well. He’ll be 35 when his next contract starts and it’s fair to say he’ll be heading for a fairly significant dip in pay. The same can’t be said for Marner who will still be in his prime (28) when this deal is up. Assuming his next two seasons are similar to the last two, he’ll be in a position to take aim at the priciest deal for a winger in NHL history; he’s about $740K below that now.
McCabe fared a bit better in Chicago compared to his time with Buffalo, resulting in the Maple Leafs parting with a first-round pick to get him near the trade deadline. He won’t light up the scoresheet but can play in the top four and log some tough minutes. Those players aren’t getting huge deals on the open market now but McCabe should be able to land a small raise (on his full deal, not just Toronto’s portion) and another multi-year agreement. Timmins has shown some flashes of offensive upside in his limited NHL action but first, he’ll need to establish himself as a third-pairing regular before his value will start to go up. If he can eventually work his way onto the second power play pairing, he’ll have a chance to double his current AAV in a couple of years. Otherwise, his arbitration eligibility could work against him.
This is Woll’s first season as a full-fledged NHL backup which means he doesn’t have much of a track record to build on yet. If he has success in the number two role over the next couple of years, an AAV in the $2MM range is achievable. If he forces his way into more playing time though, then he could push his way toward Samsonov’s deal.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1MM, UFA)
F Ryan Reaves ($1.35MM, UFA)
Jarnkrok opted for a longer-term deal than many expected last summer, a deal that worked out pretty well for Toronto in year one as he put up 20 goals for the first time in his career. History suggests he might not get back to that point but even if he drops a few from that total, they’ll still get good value here. Reaves also signed for longer than many expected as 36-year-old fourth liners typically don’t command three years. However, while enforcers aren’t as plentiful as they were before, there’s a reason that Reaves always seems to be coveted by teams. Speculatively, it’s hard to see him getting another contract in three years but stranger things have happened.
Lightning Recall Alex Barre-Boulet, Place Tyler Motte On IR
Alex Barre-Boulet’s stint in the minors was short-lived as the Lightning announced that they’ve recalled the winger from AHL Syracuse. To make room for him on the roster, winger Tyler Motte was placed on injured reserve, a move that will keep him out of the lineup for the next week.
Barre-Boulet cleared waivers just yesterday after starting the year on Tampa Bay’s roster for cap-related purposes, allowing the Lightning to maximize their LTIR pool. The 26-year-old is coming off a career year in the minors, notching 84 points in 69 games with the Crunch last season, good for second in the league in points while he led the league in assists with 60.
As for Motte, he suffered a hand injury in Tuesday’s season opener against Nashville. The 28-year-old was a late signee with the Lightning, only getting a one-year, $800K contract after Josh Archibald decided against playing this season. Austin Watson will likely take Motte’s place in the lineup on the fourth line after his PTO was converted to a one-year contract earlier this week.
Pacific Notes: Carlsson, McGinn, Oilers Hire
Although 2023 third overall pick Adam Fantilli is making his NHL debut tonight for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Anaheim Ducks fans may have to wait a little while to see 2023 second overall pick Leo Carlsson suit up. The Sporting Tribune’s Derek Lee relayed word from Ducks head coach Greg Cronin that Carlsson is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. As a result, he is likely to miss the team’s opening-night contest against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Lee does note that Carlsson is on the injured non-roster list, meaning he could be activated at any time once healthy. As a result, it may not end up too long of a wait before Carlsson is ready to make his NHL debut. Widely considered one of the best center prospects in the hockey world, Carlsson spent last season with Örebro HK of the SHL, scoring 34 points in 57 combined regular-season and playoff games.
Other notes from the Pacific Division:
- Another Ducks forward currently out with a lower-body injury on a day-to-day timeline is winger Brock McGinn. The 29-year-old veteran forward played in 75 games last season, scoring 12 goals and 19 points. Playing on a $2.75MM AAV cap hit, McGinn has been expected to play a regular role in Cronin’s bottom six, but that will have to wait as he works his way back to full health. Recent waiver claim Ross Johnston may slide into the opening-night lineup as a result of McGinn’s absence.
- The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Dani Rylan Kearney has been hired to the team’s hockey operations department as a regional scout. The former Northeastern Huskies captain is best known as the founder and commissioner of the NWHL, the professional women’s hockey league that became the PHF before ceasing operations this past summer. The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman reported that the Oilers had been “interested” in adding Rylan Kearney to the organization “for several months” and now the team has done so officially.
Minor Transactions: 10/12/23
It’s another busy day on the NHL schedule, with quite a few teams set to make their season debuts tonight. Top prospect Adam Fantilli is set to debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight, while Red Wings fans will get their first regular-season look at Alex DeBrincat wearing the winged wheel.
Regular season hockey is back just about everywhere (save for the AHL which begins tomorrow) and as a result player movement remains active across the hockey world. As always, we’ll keep track of those transactions here.
- Former Toronto Marlies star forward Jeremy Bracco and his club, the KHL’s Barys Astana, have mutually agreed to terminate the player’s contract. Bracco, 26, joined the KHL’s Kazakh club in July 2022 and had a solid first season there, scoring 14 goals and 40 points in 59 games. This season, though, Bracco has struggled and has only managed one point in six games. He’ll now look elsewhere to continue his pro career, whether it be in North America (where he is a former AHL First-Team All-Star and Calder Cup champion) or in Europe (such as Germany, where he played in 2021-22.)
- The AHL’s San Jose Barracuda have signed two forwards to one-year AHL contracts: former NHLer Justin Bailey and former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Tanner Kaspick. Bailey, 28, has been on the NHL/AHL bubble for much of his pro career, skating in NHL games for three separate teams. He’s long been a quality top-six forward at the AHL level, and scored 19 goals and 32 points in 58 games for the Bakersfield Condors last season. Kaspick, 25, hasn’t yet made his NHL debut but has been a regular AHLer for most of his professional career. He scored six points in 43 games for the Iowa Wild last season playing in a checking role.
- Undrafted forward Samuel Asselin, an undersized forward who once led the QMJHL in goals, may not have earned an NHL contract from the New York Islanders off the back of his PTO. What he earned instead was an AHL deal with the Bridgeport Islanders, something the team announced today. After his stellar final season of Major Junior hockey, Asselin spent his first year as a professional in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators, scoring at a near-point-per-game rate. Since that season Asselin has been a full-time AHLer, and he set a career high in 2021-22 with eight goals and 30 points. He’ll now take his services to Bridgeport, likely with the hope of making a push for consideration for an NHL deal in the future.
- Former Vegas Golden Knights prospect Peter DiLiberatore has signed a one-year ECHL contract with the South Carolina Stingrays, according to a team announcement. DiLiberatore endured a difficult 2022-23 campaign, one in which he suited up for four different teams across the AHL and ECHL. He finished the season playing in West Virginia with the Wheeling Nailers, scoring one assist in five games. Now in South Carolina, perhaps the stability potentially offered by this signing will help DiLiberatore translate some of the production he showed in college at Quinnipiac University to the professional level.
- Last week, Jáchym Kondelík was placed on unconditional waivers by the Nashville Predators for the purpose of contract termination. Now a free agent, Kondelík has decided to sign in Czechia with Extraliga club Motor České Budějovice. Kondelík, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Predators at the 2018 draft, selected out of the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. He went on to have a quality career playing NCAA hockey with the University of Connecticut, captaining the team as a senior. He turned pro near the end of 2021-22 and played 2022-23 with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, making it the first full season of his pro career. He scored just 11 points in 38 games, though, and now appears to prefer continuing his career closer to home.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
Snapshots: Studnicka, Formenton, Lundell
The Vancouver Canucks have used an emergency recall on forward Jack Studnicka. The team played down a forward in their season opener against the Edmonton Oilers, making them eligible to bring up Studnicka without a cap hit. Studnicka will be exempt from waivers if he plays in fewer than 10 games, or is on the roster for fewer than 30 days.
Studnicka appeared in 47 games with Vancouver last season after the team acquired him via trade, sending Michael DiPietro and Jonathan Myrenberg to the Boston Bruins. Studnicka recorded a mere eight points in those 47 games – setting career highs in both categories. The 24-year-old forward was a second-round draft pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and has yet to find consistent NHL playing time, spending most of his early career in either the AHL or an NHL press box. He did have a serviceable 35 points in 41 AHL games during the 2021-22 season, speaking hope to his scoring upside. He’s likely to slot into a Canucks lineup that is still missing Ilya Mikheyev, who is continuing to rehab an ACL injury suffered last season.
Other notes from around the league:
- Former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton has signed a contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the National League (NL), the top league in Switzerland. This deal carries through the end of the calendar year, with the option to extend it to last the whole season.
- Anton Lundell will be a game-time decision for the Florida Panthers’ season opener against the Minnesota Wild. Lundell missed one practice this week but made it back to the team’s Thursday skate. Head coach Paul Maurice also shared that Sam Bennett didn’t travel with the team for their three-game road trip, although Maurice shared it wouldn’t be long until he returns.
Minnesota Wild Recall Dakota Mermis
The Minnesota Wild have recalled defenseman Dakota Mermis from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Head coach Dean Evason hinted that the team would need to recall a player to serve as insurance for any injury or illness that comes up as Minnesota embarks on a two-game road trip this weekend. Bringing up a defender like Mermis makes sense, as the Wild are still grappling with captain Jared Spurgeon‘s injury.
Mermis has strung together 27 NHL games since making his debut in the 2017-18 season, though he’s failed to appear in more than 10 NHL games in one single season. The bulk of his career has instead been played in the AHL, where he’s amassed 426 career games. This includes 63 games with the Iowa Wild last season, where Mermis recorded a career-high 26 points. He also tallied 73 penalty minutes – an exciting succession to the 86 penalty minutes he recorded in 59 games during the 2021-22 season. Mermis currently has the cheapest cap hit of any defender in the Wild organization, signed to a league-minimum $775K salary through the end of this season. He’s also one of the older blue-liners in the system, with only five defenders
While Mermis has been recalled for the road trip, it doesn’t seem there is currently a plan for him to start. He’ll instead serve as the team’s seventh defender, as young players like Calen Addison and Brock Faber slot into the lineup ahead of him. If Mermis finds his way into the lineup on this road trip and how Minnesota utilizes the price-controlled defender throughout the season will be worth monitoring, as Mermis looks to fight his way into a consistent NHL role.
Snapshots: Demko, Haula, Hintz
Thatcher Demko was mysteriously pulled from the team’s season opener after just over 48 minutes of play. After the game, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet shared that Demko was battling the flu before the game and tried to play through it but was pulled after getting sick. Despite the bug, Demko recorded 21 saves on 22 shots – a big piece of the staggering 8-1 win Vancouver would go on to notch. Recent trade acquisition Casey DeSmith relieved Demko and saved all five shots that he faced.
Vancouver hasn’t shared that they’re expecting Demko to miss any more time with this flu. They visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, October 14 to kick off a five-game road trip. The gap between games will likely be plenty for Demko, although his status will be one to monitor over the coming days. While DeSmith was suitable in relief, the Canucks will certainly still want as much of Demko as they can get this season. The 27-year-old goalie played in 64 games during the 2021-22 season, recording a .915 save percentage, but was held to only 32 games and a .901 save percentage last year as he battled with a groin injury.
Other notes from around the league:
- Erik Haula is looking good to go for New Jersey’s home opener against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. He’s been dealing with an undisclosed, “nagging” injury for part of training camp and was recently considered day-to-day.
- Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz has officially been ruled out for the team’s season opener against the St. Louis Blues. Hintz has been dealing with an upper-body injury and was recently announced as a game-time decision for the team’s first tilt. But head coach Pete DeBoer shared that playing Hintz wasn’t worth the risk, as the team has five days off after their Thursday night game against St. Louis.
New York Islanders Recall Simon Holmstrom
The New York Islanders have recalled forward Simon Holmstrom from the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, a team release states Thursday.
New York assigned Holmstrom, 22, to the minors on Monday in order to submit a cap-compliant opening night roster. While most expected he would make the team, he does not need waivers to head to AHL Bridgeport and sending him down was the easiest course of action until the Islanders could make corresponding moves to free up space.
That corresponding move was waiving veteran enforcer Ross Johnston, who was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. Johnston, 29, was signed for three more seasons at a $1.1MM cap hit and had registered 283 penalty minutes in 134 NHL contests with the Islanders since joining the team in 2015.
With Johnston off the books, the Islanders now have enough cap space to recall Holmstrom, the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Last season was his first in the NHL, and it wasn’t what anyone hoped. He registered just nine points in 50 contests, and his production also took a major hit in the AHL, notching just five points in 16 games for Bridgeport.
After a strong showing in camp, however, the Islanders are expecting bigger things out of the Swedish winger this season. The team doesn’t kick off their 2023-24 schedule until Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, but Holmstrom is expected to slot in on the team’s top line alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat. It’s quite the opportunity for Holmstrom, who averaged just 11:05 per game last season under head coach Lane Lambert.
Holmstrom is beginning the final season of his entry-level contract, which carries a $863.3K cap hit. He will not have arbitration rights if he reaches restricted free agency next summer.
Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall Out Week-To-Week
Oct. 12: 7:57 a.m.: Hall is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, head coach Luke Richardson told reporters postgame. After splitting their first two games of the season, Hall’s absence likely means one of Mackenzie Entwistle or Reese Johnson will make their season debut Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Oct. 11, 9:02 p.m.: The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that veteran forward Taylor Hall left tonight’s game with an apparent injury he suffered in the first period of their matchup with the Boston Bruins. Little is known about Hall’s status as he did return in the second period of the game to take a shift on the powerplay but then left the ice and went straight up the tunnel immediately after.
The injury likely occurred when Hall took a hit in the neutral zone from former Bruins teammate Brandon Carlo. He stayed on the ice for some time before returning to the bench and making his way to the dressing room. The Hawks then ruled Hall out at the start of the third period leading to speculation about the severity of the 31-year-old’s injury.
Hall was expected to be a big part of the Blackhawks’ offense this season as they traded for him to be rookie Connor Bedard’s winger. With Hall out of action, veteran Andreas Athanasiou filled in along with Bedard and Ryan Donato. The Blackhawks don’t exactly have the depth to manage a long-term injury to a top 6 winger, and while they hardly view themselves as contenders this season, they likely want to give Bedard every opportunity to thrive with offensively capable linemates.
Hall didn’t have a very good season last year in Boston and was looking for a bounce-back campaign in Chicago. The former Hart Trophy winner posted just 16 goals and 20 assists last season in 61 games and was traded by the Bruins in a summer move that was basically a cap dump. Hall is now five years removed from his MVP season; however, he still is an impact player that could do a lot of damage with Bedard this season.
If Hall is out any length of time, it could make things more difficult for the Blackhawks to insulate Bedard, as they would have very few offensive weapons to line up alongside the rookie phenom. Chicago has plenty of capable NHLers, but there aren’t many of them who should be playing top 6 minutes in the NHL, and even fewer who should be playing on a team’s top line.