Andy Greene Signs One-Day Contract With New Jersey Devils, Retires
The New Jersey Devils have brought back a long-time captain for one more day. Andy Greene has signed a one-day contract with the team to retire as a member of the Devils, after a 16-year NHL career.
Tom Fitzgerald, general manager of the Devils, explained exactly what the veteran defenseman meant to the organization:
Andy was a bedrock for New Jersey during his 14 years and developed into an exceptional leader and what it meant to be a Devil. He was a consummate professional when times were hard and a representation to his teammates in the locker room. It’s only right that he announces his retirement from the National Hockey League as a member of the Devils and we thank him for all that he’s done on and off the ice for the organization.
Greene, 39, was an undrafted free agent signing out of Miami University (Ohio), and managed to play 1,057 games in an impressive career. More than 900 of those came with the Devils, where he developed into a defensive force, and leader in the locker room. From 2015 to 2020, he served as captain of the team, and even his last moments were positive for the organization.
He netted the team a second-round pick from the New York Islanders, where he would reunite with Lou Lamoriello, a pick that would then be used to land the team Ryan Graves.
So it is curtains for the veteran, and an impressive career to look back on. In his 1,000-plus games, he registered 52 goals and 264 points. He had three long playoff runs, reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2012 with the Devils and the Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons with New York.
Buffalo Sabres Extend Mattias Samuelsson
The Buffalo Sabres are having a busy morning. After announcing an extension for head coach Don Granto, the team has also released details of a seven-year extension for one of his prized pupils. Mattias Samuelsson has signed a $30MM extension that will kick in for the 2023-24 season, avoiding restricted free agency and giving him a $4.29MM cap hit.
CapFriendly has the full breakdown:
- 2023-24: $2,286,716 salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
- 2024-25: $4,285,716 salary
- 2026-27: $4,285,716 salary
- 2027-28: $4,285,716 salary
- 2028-29: $4,285,716 salary
- 2029-30: $4,285,716 salary
- 2030-31: $4,285,716 salary
This is a full bet on potential, as the 22-year-old Samuelsson has just 54 games of NHL experience under his belt to this point. It was the end of last year, when he paired so perfectly with Rasmus Dahlin, that really made a deal like this possible. Over his final 22 games, Samuelsson averaged more than 21 minutes a night, recording eight points and a positive +/-.
If he continues his natural progression into a top-pairing, shutdown option, a cap hit like this will quickly look like a bargain, especially if the salary cap takes a sharp rise in the coming seasons.
The risk here is that he plateaus as a middle-pairing guy who doesn’t provide much offense, and the Sabres have effectively limited any surplus value they could have gotten out of his RFA years. With just 12 points in 54 games (zero goals), it isn’t like Samuelsson was setting himself up for a big arbitration case, and he’s still several years away from unrestricted free agency.
Of course, there is also the fact that the Sabres already have a good amount of cap space and this is more about locking in a player that they like than worrying about dollars and cents. The team currently projects to have more than $32MM in space for next season even after factoring in extensions for Samuelsson and Tage Thompson. That number only increases from there, meaning it’s hard to see a situation where they are truly regretting this deal.
Unless Samuelsson falls off a cliff – which certainly doesn’t appear likely after another outstanding training camp – this is more about rewarding a player they believe in than squeezing out every ounce of surplus value. Now it’s up to him to reward them for that faith with a strong full season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Columbus Blue Jackets Loan Kent Johnson To AHL
In a move that they certainly didn’t want to have to do, the Columbus Blue Jackets have loaned star prospect Kent Johnson to the minor leagues. The reason? Jet Greaves has been recalled under emergency conditions as Elvis Merzlikins is out with an illness. Greaves will serve as backup for Daniil Tarasov as the team opens the season.
While losing Merzlikins is noteworthy, the headline here will be Johnson’s demotion. It had been trending this way already during the preseason, as he appeared to be on the outside looking in as the final roster cuts approached. But then when things were finalized, Johnson was staying with the Blue Jackets after all. Head coach Brad Larsen told reporters that “Kent is here because he deserves to be here, period” and that even if he is a scratch for the first few games he was “not gonna sit on the shelf long.”
Now, with this emergency recall of Greaves, it shows how precarious Johnson’s position on the roster really was. As a waiver-exempt player due to his young age (Johnson will turn 20 in a few days), he can be bounced back and forth without issue. That yo-yo-ing isn’t usually a good strategy for a player of his skill level, but perhaps it will only happen for a few days as they get Merzlikins healthy enough to return to action.
Either way, how Columbus develops Johnson will have a huge effect on their future, as his offensive ceiling is as high as any other prospect in the league. Selected fifth overall in 2021, his time will come soon.
New Jersey Devils Send Simon Nemec To AHL
Second-overall pick Simon Nemec appeared to make the New Jersey Devils roster out of camp, but the way he had been talking about it, there seemed to be something more to his stay. Today, the team has sent Nemec down to the AHL and recalled Kevin Bahl, confirming it was just a salary cap maneuver to maximize the long-term injury relief pool created by moving Jonathan Bernier‘s contract there.
Nemec, 18, is still extremely raw as a prospect, despite playing the last few seasons in a men’s league in Slovakia. A tendency to rove all over the ice and sometimes forget about his defensive responsibilities is what makes him special, but also something he’ll have to polish up before making a real impact at the NHL level.
He’ll be able to do that in the AHL, where he should get huge minutes with the Utica Comets for the time being. Nemec even admitted as such when speaking with Mike Morreale of NHL.com yesterday. He explained that “Utica is fine for me because I need to play a lot of minutes,” and said he is perfectly fine with the demotion. In fact, that’s what Nemec has maintained since the moment they drafted him. He wants to play in North America this season, regardless of whether that meant the NHL or AHL.
Not only does Nemec need work, but Bahl has also played his way onto the roster with a strong preseason performance. The pressure from being the return for Taylor Hall seems to have waned a bit and now expectations for the 22-year-old defenseman have leveled off. While Bahl may never be a true top-pairing option, his 6’6″ frame and good mobility suggest he’ll be able to handle himself just fine at the higher level. In 17 games last season with the Devils he showed flashes of that potential and this season might be able to shake free of any doubts.
Nemec will be back, in time, but for now he’ll be focused on his development in the minor leagues. Fans of the Comets certainly won’t complain, as they get to see the youngster up close.
Buffalo Sabres Extend Don Granato
The Buffalo Sabres have looked like an entirely different team under head coach Don Granato, even if the postseason results have been the same. The team seems energized and is developing an impressive core of young players to go along with some veterans that have rediscovered their game. Because of that success, the Sabres have decided to sign Granato to a multi-year contract extension. General manager Kevyn Adams explained:
Don’s passion for the game and leadership skills have been on display since the moment we met. He is someone who the players have a tremendous amount of respect for, and he dedicates himself to bettering each individual on the team.
Don’s mentality of ‘earning it’ resonates throughout the team – it is more than just a mindset, it is a driving force for our players and staff. I appreciate his thoughtfulness when it comes to developing our players and the open communication we are able to have about the team. I am happy to extend Don’s contract, keeping him in Western New York for many years to come.
Granato’s contract already extended through the 2023-24 season, meaning he’ll be around for quite a while with this new deal in hand. Entering his second full season with the team, he’ll be looking to take another step forward and take the record over .500. Last season, the Sabres went 32-39-11 in the tough Atlantic Division, missing the playoffs by quite a bit.
But it was the growth of players like Tage Thompson, who broke out for 38 goals, and the resurgence of highly-paid Jeff Skinner, who had 33, that was so impressive. With a defense corps that now boasts two first-overall picks in Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin, a forward group that has breakout candidates like Dylan Cozzens and Peyton Krebs, and improved goaltending in place, the Sabres may at least put a scare in some of the Eastern Conference powerhouses, even if the playoffs don’t happen right away.
Anton Stralman Signs With Boston Bruins
Oct 12: The contract has been officially filed and announced by the Bruins, confirming the $1MM salary.
Oct 11: Defenseman Anton Stralman has converted on his PTO with the Boston Bruins, signing a one-year, $1MM contract, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
Stralman brings 930 games of NHL experience to a Bruins blueline that’s battered with injuries, missing two of their three best defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. While he’s no longer the player he was at his peak with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid-2010s, he’s still a capable right-shot man who can log bottom-pairing minutes comfortably. He’ll be supporting Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton, and Jakub Zboril on the team’s right side with McAvoy remaining out until around Thanksgiving.
Playing last season with the Arizona Coyotes, Stralman notched eight goals, 15 assists, and 23 points in 74 games, his best offensive totals in six years. He won’t be asked to play the 21-plus minutes per game he did in Arizona last season, either, and with a bit more support around him, expect him to play comfortably on the Bruins blue line.
Stralman could easily form a shutdown third pairing alongside Derek Forbort to begin the season, or he could also be a defensive anchor on the team’s second pairing alongside a more offensively-minded Mike Reilly.
Snapshots: Kravtsov, Pastrnak, Flames
The New York Rangers and winger Vitali Kravtsov were both hoping that the former top prospect could finally make an NHL impact this season in a top-six role. Unfortunately for Kravtsov, his season has gotten off to a rough start. After taking a hit early in the first period of tonight’s season opener from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, the Rangers said that Kravtsov would not return to the game with an upper-body injury.
The ninth overall pick in 2018 returned to North America this season after spending last year with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, recording 13 points in 19 games. He made his season debut tonight skating on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Kravtsov played just 1:28 before leaving the game.
- Talks remain amicable between the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak on an extension. Still, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported today that the Bruins have yet to make a specific offer to Pastrnak’s camp. It makes sense, all things considered, as Pastrnak has publically said multiple times since he was eligible for an extension that his main focus is on starting the season strong. The team will need to rely on him heavily, of course, with Brad Marchand out of the lineup. Dreger cited Jonathan Huberdeau‘s recent eight-year, $84MM extension as a reasonable comparison.
- Speaking of the Calgary Flames, head coach Darryl Sutter said today that the team has “no need” to name a captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Flames have not had a captain since the 2021 offseason when Mark Giordano was claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. New acquisition Huberdeau was a commonly discussed candidate for the role, as well as longtime Flame, Mikael Backlund.
New York Rangers Agree To Terms With Talyn Boyko
6:37 pm: CapFriendly reports Boyko’s contract carries an $851K cap hit. The full salary breakdown is as follows:
Year 1: $750K base + $82.5K signing bonus
Year 2: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
Year 3: $775K base + $85K signing bonus
5:19 pm: The New York Rangers have made a big signing – literally, not figuratively. General manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has agreed to terms with goaltender prospect Talyn Boyko on a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Boyko is one of the largest (if not the largest) goalie prospects in the league, standing at 6′ 8″ and 201 pounds. The soon-to-be 20-year-old netminder was drafted by the Rangers with the 112th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
After a rough start to the 2021-22 campaign in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans, Boyko was traded after just eight games to the Kelowna Rockets where he regained form en route to a second All-Star team nod for the WHL’s BC Division. He posted two shutouts, a .913 save percentage, and a 28-12-4 record in 46 games with Kelowna.
Boyko, who attended Rangers training camp this year, will likely play the 2022-23 campaign with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen due to the goalie logjam with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. As he’s just barely aged out of juniors, the ECHL is probably the best place for Boyko’s development regardless. His gigantic frame makes him a tantalizing prospect, but as with most goalies, it’ll be a few seasons at least before we see Boyko poised for NHL time.
Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone
6:34 pm: CapFriendly reports the AHL salary for Stone’s two-way deal is $400K. He’s set to receive $450K guaranteed.
1:26 pm: As suggested by their placement of Nicolas Meloche on waivers today, the Calgary Flames have signed veteran defenseman Michael Stone to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay him $750K in the NHL.
This is Stone’s fourth consecutive one-year deal with the Flames at the league minimum, following a buyout of his previous three-year contract with the club. He will continue a relationship with the organization that started in 2017 and become the latest player to convert his PTO.
It’s not like Stone has been a regular during that time. He has played just 79 regular season games over the last four seasons combined but during last year’s playoffs he showed exactly why it is so important to have capable veterans available. In nine postseason games, as the Flames dealt with injuries on the back end, Stone registered five points including two goals.
Adding him as the extra body makes sense, especially if he is fully healthy. The 32-year-old does have more than 500 games of NHL experience and a familiarity with the coaching staff, meaning he’ll be a useful piece to put in and out of the lineup as necessary.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Jordan Martinook
After clearing waivers a few days ago, beloved forward Jordan Martinook is back up on an NHL roster with the Carolina Hurricanes. Evidently, the team has made the salary cap moves necessary to accommodate him on the active roster.
In a corresponding move, the team assigned forward Jamieson Rees and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Waiving Martinook and temporarily assigning him to the AHL allowed Carolina to optimize their cap space as much as possible prior to placing defenseman Jake Gardiner on long-term injured reserve to start the season. With Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit now on LTIR, the team now had the flexibility to recall Martinook.
He’ll likely reprise his role as the team’s fourth-line left wing, with AHL superstar Stefan Noesen serving as the team’s 13th forward for the time being. He’ll likely flank Derek Stepan and Ondrej Kase, making for a dynamic fourth line.