Free Agent Focus: Florida Panthers
Free agency is less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Florida Panthers.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Colin White – After a myriad of injuries plaguing his tenure with the Ottawa Senators, White, a former 21st overall selection of the Senators back in 2015, was not issued a qualifying offer by the team last summer. Towards mid-July, White signed on with the Panthers, inking a one-year, $1.2MM contract for the 2022-23 season.
Unfortunately, once again, White seems to be a strong candidate for a non-tender this offseason. A healthy scratch for several games, White accrued 68 games played this year, only scoring eight goals and seven assists. Failing to receive any additional time with special teams, the Panthers only give White a little under 10 minutes of ice time per night.
In White’s defense, he was dressed for 21 games during Florida’s recent run to the Stanley Cup Finals, helping the team out with two assists in the process. Using White every game in an impressive run may indicate that the Panthers do have intentions of keeping the forward around, however; most signs point to White and Florida heading in different directions this offseason.
Other RFAs: F Givani Smith, F Grigori Denisenko, F Aleksi Heponiemi, F Logan Hutsko, F Serron Noel, D Max Gildon, D John Ludvig
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Radko Gudas – To keep it plain, every team in the NHL knows what kind of player they’re getting in Gudas. An old-school stay-at-home defenseman, willing to sacrifice seemingly every part of his body for the betterment of his team. This year, Gudas kept to his ways, blocking 124 shots, and also throwing a whopping 312 hits in 72 games played.
During the Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, it was much of the same, as Gudas threw 91 hits in 21 playoff games for Florida. On the offensive side of his game, Gudas was able to produce a respectable two goals and 15 assists throughout the year.
As much value as Gudas may provide to every team across the league, it would be incredibly surprising if he was not still with the Panthers next season. Throughout the playoffs, it was clear that Gudas was a focal point in the Florida locker room, and had the respect of his teammates and coaching staff.
D Marc Staal – Signed last offseason to a one-year, $750K contract, the Panthers certainly got a positive return on investment with Staal this season. Playing in all 82 games, Staal scored three goals and 12 assists, averaging just over 18 minutes of ice time per night.
Similar to Gudas, but not to the same degree, Staal was stellar on the defensive side of the puck, blocking 122 shots and garnering 14 takeaways. Not only were the topical defensive statistics in his favor, but Staal also finished this season with a 3.1 Defensive Point Shares. He should have plenty of suitors as a stable sixth or seventh defenseman, especially if he is once again only seeking a minimum salary for next season.
G Alex Lyon – Although regular starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky backed the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final, Lyon is one of the primary reasons that Florida made it to the playoffs in the first place. After taking over the crease in late March, Lyon finished his last nine games with a 6-2-1 record, posting an incredible .930 SV%.
The playoffs were not as impressive for Lyon, as his only starts came in the Panthers’ first-round matchup against the President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins. In those three starts, Lyon held a record of 1-2-0, only accruing a .902 SV% before finally ceding the net to Bobrovsky.
After his playoff performance, Florida will almost certainly be starting with Bobrovsky in net as the 2023-24 season gets underway, but Lyon may still have a spot in this lineup. As Spencer Knight remains in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the Panthers may like to keep Lyon as an insurance option.
Other UFAs: F Eric Staal, D Lucas Carlsson, D Casey Fitzgerald, G Evan Fitzpatrick, F Patric Hornqvist, F Henry Bowlby, F Connor Bunnaman, F Gerald Mayhew, D Anthony Bitetto, G Jean-Francois Berube
Projected Cap Space
As the most recent Eastern Conference Champions, the Panthers’ cap situation isn’t as concerning as some might expect. With Hornqvist’s $5.3MM salary coming off the books, Florida will have around $10.3MM to spend this offseason.
The Panthers do have a high quantity of both UFA’s and RFA’s this summer, but the quality of the players should prohibit Florida from losing too much cap space if they do plan to retain a majority of them.
Already a team built to contend for the Stanley Cup, Florida could use much of its cap space to find players that are larger and more physically imposing, as this is what held them back during their first trip to the Cup Final since 1996. If they do plan to run back a similar team for the 2023-24 season, the Panthers will need to work out extensions for both forward Sam Reinhart and defenseman, Brandon Montour.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Philadelphia Flyers Announce Qualifying Offers
Weeks in advance of the June 30 deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers have become the first team to announce which of their pending restricted free agents are receiving qualifying offers. Forwards Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and Olle Lycksell, as well as defensemen Ronnie Attard and Cam York, all received qualifying offers from the team and their rights have been retained. Forwards Evan Barratt and Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Wyatte Wylie were left unqualified, and they’ll hit unrestricted free agency on July 1 if left unsigned.
The Flyers also confirmed that goalie prospect Ivan Fedotov, who missed the entire 2022-23 campaign due to military obligations in Russia after intending to leave for the United States, has had his contract tolled over to the 2023-24 season. It’s unclear what his status is and if he’s expected to join the team, but he will be under contract.
Philadelphia acquired Barratt, 24, in an October 2022 minor trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 2017 third-round pick spent nearly the entire season in the ECHL with the Flyers’ affiliate, the Reading Royals, where he did well with 50 points in 46 games. After managing to stick in the AHL full-time with Chicago the past two seasons, however, it was a disappointing development that he couldn’t hold the same role in the Flyers organization. He’ll spend next season overseas, where he’s already signed a contract with the DEL’s Nurnberg Ice Tigers.
Bellows was the 19th overall selection in the 2016 draft but ended up on waivers this season after the New York Islanders decided he couldn’t stick in the NHL. Philadelphia claimed him, but the 25-year-old scored just three goals in 27 NHL games and never got anything above a fourth-line role. His power-forward style has yet to truly translate to any sustained success at the NHL level, and he remains unsigned for 2023-24.
Wylie is the youngest of the Flyers to go unqualified, still just 23 years old. After a fifth-round selection in 2018, though, he’s failed to become an every-night AHL player and appeared in 45 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season. After a strong pair of seasons to finish out his junior career with the Everett Silvertips in 2019 and 2020, though, he should be able to find at least an AHL contract on the open market if the Flyers don’t retain him by the end of the month.
Snapshots: Blues, Gritsyuk, Watson
The St. Louis Blues have filled out the rest of next season’s coaching staff, hiring Mike Weber as an assistant coach and Michael Babcock as a skills coach today. Late last week, we covered how the Blues were looking to replace their two coaching vacancies soon, in which the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Matthew DeFranks hinted at the possibility of a skills coach hire.
Weber, 35, played 351 NHL games across an eight-season career with the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals. He’d since returned to the Sabres organization, spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Michael Babcock is the son of soon-to-be Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock, and despite being just 28 years old, this isn’t his first NHL job. He spent the 2022-23 campaign with the Ottawa Senators, doing work with pre-scouting and on-ice skill development, the Blues said.
The two incoming hires replace Mike Van Ryn and Craig MacTavish on the Blues bench, who the team let go of two months ago to the day.
- New Jersey Devils winger prospect Arseni Gritsyuk won’t be heading to North America until 2025, his agent told NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky. Selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft, Gritsyuk, now 22, broke out for 15 goals and 40 points in 66 KHL games this season with Avangard Omsk. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Russian’s speed is his defining factor, and the Devils certainly hope that production transfers over in two seasons when Gritsyuk joins the team.
- The Detroit Red Wings have named Dan Watson the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, the team said today. Watson had spent the past six years in the organization as the head coach of their ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, so he’ll have familiarity with a spattering of players already on the Griffins’ roster. Before that, he was an associate coach in Toledo alongside then-head coach Derek Lalonde, now behind Detroit’s NHL bench.
Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Sign Cole Koepke
The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed forward Cole Koepke to a one-year, two-way contract today, the team said in a media release.
Koepke, 25, was a surprise name on the Lightning’s opening night roster for the 2022-23 campaign. A sixth-round pick in 2018, Koepke registered just one goal in 17 games, however, and then was sent to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch for the rest of the season after Anthony Cirelli returned from offseason shoulder surgery. There, he took a significant step back offensively from his 2021-22 minor league totals, registering seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 52 games.
The Lightning did not release details of the contract.
Tampa Bay hopes 2022-23 was a temporary dip in Koepke’s production, although he’s likely just a year or two away from reaching the top of his development curve. With more seasoning in Syracuse next year, the Lightning would like to see production closer to his last two seasons at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he notched 56 points in 62 games across his sophomore and junior seasons before turning pro at the end of 2020-21.
Koepke was a pending restricted free agent and eligible for arbitration. Per CapFriendly, he was due a qualifying offer of $787,500 on a one-year deal if an agreement wasn’t reached before the June 30 deadline.
Theodor Lennstrom Linked To Florida Panthers
Undrafted free agent defenseman Theodor Lennstrom could land his second NHL contract this offseason in the form of a one-way deal with the Florida Panthers, Swedish outlet Hockey Sverige reports.
Lennstrom, 28, signed with the Edmonton Oilers for the 2020-21 campaign, but COVID limited him to just 23 combined regular-season and playoff games in the minors with the Bakersfield Condors, recording a combined two goals and 10 points. Since then, Lennstrom has posted high-end offensive numbers in the Swedish Hockey League and signed a two-year contract for 2023-24 and 2024-25 with Swiss side Geneve-Servette HC.
Now, it seems that deal could be terminated as an NHL opportunity has presented itself for Lennstrom. The Panthers, who are in desperate need of quality depth defensemen who can contribute more offensively than their current options like Marc Staal and Josh Mahura, present a solid fit for the European veteran.
Lennstrom scored 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 45 regular-season SHL games with Farjestad BK during the past two seasons. His 14 points in 19 games during the 2022 SHL playoffs guided Farjestad to a league championship.
Size isn’t a large weakness for Lennstrom, as Elite Prospects lists him at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. Where he excels is his speed game – he’s a quick and agile skater who can gain the zone quickly. Room for improvement in his positional play in his own zone, though, has kept him out of the NHL until this point.
If it is a one-way deal, as the report suggests, Florida likely envisions Lennstrom as a seventh defenseman and would bank on him making the team out of camp. The Panthers don’t have any left-shot defenders like Lennstrom at the minor league level ready to step in next season, although University of Denver grad Michael Benning could make a run for a spot on the right side.
Lennstrom suited up for Sweden at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, posting a -3 rating in five games without getting on the scoresheet.
Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Jason Spezza
The Pittsburgh Penguins named longtime NHLer and former Toronto Maple Leafs executive Jason Spezza an assistant general manager today, the team said in a release. Spezza joins former boss Kyle Dubas in the Pittsburgh front office.
Spezza served as a special assistant to Dubas for Toronto last season after retiring in 2022 but resigned from his post after Toronto announced they wouldn’t renew Dubas’ contract as general manager. Dubas then joined the Penguins as president of hockey operations earlier this month.
With Toronto, Spezza was involved with all aspects of hockey operations, including player personnel and development, minor league operations, and hockey research and development. Per the Penguins, his role there will be the same, reporting directly to Dubas and “[assisting] club management in all hockey operations departments.”
Dubas gave a statement on the hire of his colleague and friend:
After a decorated playing career, Jason fully immersed himself on the management side of the game learning all facets of hockey operations this past season while with Toronto. He showed tremendous work ethic, curiosity, and ability to build relationships throughout all departments at the team facility. His move from the roster to the front office staff also helped make the hockey operations department, coaching staff and playing roster a more cohesive and collaborative unit. We are thrilled to have Jason join the Pittsburgh Penguins today as he will add a great perspective to our Club, and we are excited to watch him reach his potential in management.
It’s worth noting Dubas isn’t Spezza’s only connection to the Penguins’ front office. He played one season each with player development staff member Matt Cullen in Ottawa and hockey operations advisor Trevor Daley in Dallas.
The Penguins are building their new front office in an unusual way, hiring associate members before solidifying a longer-term general manager. Dubas said during his initial media availability in Pittsburgh that he plans to serve as interim general manager through the offseason before making a permanent hire closer to the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
Based on the club’s verbiage, it seems that Spezza will still report directly to Dubas even after a GM hire is made.
Oilers Notes: Bouchard, Staios, Buyouts, RFAs
The Edmonton Oilers find themselves in a very similar position to last offseason: a marginal amount of salary cap space that will immediately be eaten up by re-signing their pending restricted free agents. The highest priority among them is 23-year-old Evan Bouchard, who led all playoff defensemen in scoring with 17 points in just 12 games.
In a sitdown piece with The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman, Oilers general manager Ken Holland said discussions have begun on a new deal for Bouchard, but the team will be “challenged” to get it done. Holland referenced last season’s one-year agreement with Ryan McLeod, and a similar one could make sense for Edmonton and Bouchard. By the time the salary cap returns to its normal year-to-year jump, Bouchard will still be under team control as a restricted free agent.
Holland also mentioned he doesn’t feel pressure to get a deal done with Bouchard by the time unrestricted free agency opens on July 1.
More from Holland on the state of the Oilers:
- As soon as Michael Andlauer entered into a purchase agreement for the Ottawa Senators yesterday, rumors began swirling about the Oilers’ current special assistant to the GM, Steve Staios, being brought in for a higher-ranking position in the Sens’ front office. Staios and Andlauer worked together for many years during their time with the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. Holland said he hasn’t thought about it yet, but said “it’s hard to hold them back” when rising front office stars get better opportunities elsewhere. Holland didn’t seem particularly interested in putting up a fight to keep Staios, saying he prefers to keep their current assistant GMs in place.
- Holland said he hopes to avoid a buyout this offseason when asked about the possibility but didn’t rule it out. The two most likely candidates would be wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele, who both have one year remaining on their contracts but carry slightly overpriced cap hits for the offense and consistency they provide. Per CapFriendly, buying out Yamamoto would save Edmonton $2.67MM next season and cost them $533,334 in 2024-25. A Foegele buyout doesn’t make as much sense, saving them less than Yamamoto in 2023-24 ($2.167MM) and costing them more in 2024-25 ($1.083MM). The NHL’s first buyout window commences tomorrow, 48 hours after the end of the Stanley Cup Final, and closes June 30 at 4 p.m. CT.
- Lastly, Holland confirmed he would qualify all of Edmonton’s remaining RFAs, save for one: Noah Philp, who Holland revealed has decided to retire after what was a tough year for him personally. Philp, 24, had his first full pro season last year, registering 37 points in 70 games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. The University of Alberta product expressed a desire to stay closer to home in Calgary and be with his family.
Florida Panthers Issue Injury Updates On Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad
Florida Panthers stars Matthew Tkachuk and Aaron Ekblad both played through significant injuries during the team’s playoff run, head coach Paul Maurice said after their season-ending 9-3 loss in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final last night.
It was obvious Tkachuk had sustained an injury in Game 3 after taking a hard open-ice hit from Vegas Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar during the first period, which Maurice said was a broken sternum. Tkachuk still managed to log 19 shifts, 16:40 of ice time, and 14 penalty minutes in Game 4.
Ekblad, on the other hand, had a much longer list of ailments that will need attention over the offseason. Per Maurice, the 27-year-old defender sustained a broken foot during the team’s first-round victory over the Boston Bruins and later suffered two separate shoulder dislocations and a torn oblique muscle.
Both Ekblad and Tkachuk missed just one game during the playoffs, of which the Panthers lost both. Ekblad missed Game 4 against Boston with what was at the time termed an undisclosed injury, although it seems likely the broken foot kept him out of action. Tkachuk couldn’t go for last night’s Game 5, with Maurice having this to say on their decision-making process:
[Tkachuk] didn’t dress himself for the game. Somebody helped him get his gear on, somebody tied his skates, somebody put his sweater on. But the next day when he came in, he was in significant pain. So it wasn’t really a question whether he’d be able to play [Game 5] or not. The idea would be to let it calm and we might be able to get him to get him to Game 7.
Maurice also said some Panthers players wouldn’t be healthy for the start of next season, although he didn’t name specifics. It’s a disappointing end to the season for Florida, but the immediate concern now lies with the long-term health of Tkachuk and Ekblad.
Tkachuk’s recovery from an injury he only played through for a game and a half should be rather straightforward. However, the Panthers now have to hope Ekblad’s lengthy injury history isn’t further exacerbated by any longer-term recovery complications from his foot or his oblique tear.
Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks
Free agency is less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Canucks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Ethan Bear – Bear was traded from Carolina to Vancouver and was one of the Canucks better defensemen last season. While he only played 61 games for the club, he showed that he was one of their few mobile defensemen. At 25-years of age Bear is due a qualifying offer of $2.2MM and could walk for nothing if the team decides not to qualify him. Bear put up three goals and 16 assists while showing dependability in a middle six pairing and although he will never turn into an offensive star, he can give you a solid 18 minutes a night and provide good support on a penalty kill.
Bear is just a year away from unrestricted free agency and after bouncing around a few teams he will likely be looking for some stability on his next contract. Vancouver may want to see more of Bear before they commit to him long-term, making a one year deal the likeliest outcome. Vancouver has Tyler Myers coming off the books next summer and could simply commit some of his money to Bear should the former fifth round pick show that he is a capable replacement.
D Travis Dermott – Dermott’s stay with the Canucks has been largely disrupted by concussions that have kept him out of the lineup for several extended periods of time. When he was able to get into the lineup, he clearly wasn’t 100% evidenced by his inability to get back to the level of played he showed when he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. Dermott saw several stints in the Leafs top-4 during his five seasons with the club but could never stay in Vancouver’s lineup long enough to earn that kind of promotion.
It’s a sad situation for the Newmarket native as at one point he did look like a capable two-way defender who could chip in 20-25 points on the back end. But in two seasons with Vancouver Dermott has only been able to put up two goals and a single assist in 28 games while playing sheltered minutes. Even more alarming was that Vancouver controlled just 40% of the scoring chances with Dermott on the ice despite him playing almost exclusively against bottom six competition.
At this point it seems likely that Vancouver will not qualify Dermott at his $1.75MM salary and he will become an unrestricted free agent. He should be able to get another crack at an NHL job, although it will likely come on a one-year deal for league minimum.
Other RFAs: F Carson Focht, D Akito Hirose, F Nils Hoglander, F Vitali Kravtsov
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Kyle Burroughs – Burroughs played a career high 48 games this past season for his hometown Canucks and put up two goals and three assists while averaging just over 17 minutes a night in ice time. He is best suited for a role as a seventh defenseman and can fill in on a third pairing in a pinch. The soon to be 28-year-old became a bit of a cult hero in Vancouver as his dependable defensive play and physicality made him a fan favourite. Burroughs fits in with the culture that head coach Rick Tocchet is trying to cultivate and likely wouldn’t cost more than league minimum on a two-year contract. It makes sense from both the players side and the Canucks side, however there could be a few obstacles to a deal getting done.
Cap issues could hinder any attempts to sign the depth defenseman and given that the Canucks already have several depth defensemen signed for next season they could view a Jack Rathbone or a Christian Wolanin as a similar option to Burroughs. Regardless of what happens Burroughs has likely earned himself a bit of short-term security either with Vancouver or another NHL team that values what he brings to the table.
G Collin Delia – Delia played a career high 20 games this past season for Vancouver, and while he set a new benchmark for games played, they weren’t particularly good ones. Delia posted a 10-6-2 record with a save percentage of .882 and a goals against of 3.28. The California native battled hard in the net for the Canucks, unfortunately his goals saved above expected was -4.3, putting him in the negative for the fifth straight year. While even the best goaltenders can have a stretch where they give up goals on saveable shots, a five year stretch likely shows the Delia is not an NHL caliber backup.
Vancouver has several options in their pipeline that are already signed to contracts, including Spencer Martin who also struggled in net for the Canucks last season. Martin probably isn’t a better option than Delia, but Vancouver could easily find a more suitable backup in free agency should they prioritize finding some dependable relief for starter Thatcher Demko.
Other UFAs: F Justin Dowling, D Noah Juulsen, D Brady Keeper, F John Stevens
Projected Cap Space
The Vancouver Canucks are currently the only team that is projected to be over the salary cap for the 2023-24 season with just 18 players signed. To put it bluntly, their salary cap is a mess. Much of it was inherited by the current management group but they have done little to alleviate any of the stress on their bottom line.
The good news for Vancouver is that they don’t have any expensive free agents to sign and should be able to free up cap space by putting Tanner Pearson and Tucker Poolman on LTIR when the season begins. If they do this it will allow them to fill out their roster and dress a full lineup on opening night. Although, this likely won’t be good enough for the current management group. Vancouver is caught in the middle; they don’t have enough talent to be a cup contender and they have too many overpriced contracts. They also likely can’t sell another rebuild to their fans as they are supposed to be currently enjoying the fruits of their last rebuild.
It should be a busy summer for the Canucks, they have a lot of pieces they would like to move, and a management group led by Jim Rutherford who is perhaps the most aggressive executive in the NHL today. The Canucks could look wildly different come training camp in September.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Matthew Tkachuk To Miss Game Five Of Stanley Cup Final
06/13/23: Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Tkachuk is out for tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that Tkachuk is dealing with a “serious upper-body injury,” meaning if the Panthers manage to extend the Stanley Cup Final to a sixth game, it’s possible Tkachuk misses that contest as well.
06/11/23: After a Game 4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Florida Panthers are regrouping and looking for answers as they try to be the first team to win a Stanley Cup Final after being down 3-1 since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. It appears the injury bug is finally taking a toll, as both Matthew Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair were clearly playing banged up in last night’s contest.
Head coach Paul Maurice provided no official update on Tkachuk and Duclair during media availability this morning, The Athletic’s Michael Russo said. However, he mentioned that both players would undergo rehabilitation and evaluation today while the rest of the team will travel back to Vegas.
It’s not a great sign – especially for Tkachuk, who was kept off the ice for an extended period last night after taking an open-ice hit from Golden Knights winger Keegan Kolesar in Game 3. It limited his ice time to just 16:40 in Game 4 despite the Panthers not holding a lead the entire game, his lowest of the Final aside from Game 2 when he received a 10-minute misconduct penalty during play.
Both players have multiple points in the Final but were held off the scoresheet in Game 4. Duclair did not come out for the start of the third period in Game 4 with an undisclosed injury but would later return.