Panthers Claim Josh Mahura Off Waivers
Florida has added some extra depth on the back end as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed defenseman Josh Mahura off waivers from Anaheim.
The 24-year-old spent all of last season with the Ducks, his first full year at the NHL level. However, his role was somewhat limited as he suited up in just 38 games (while only missing 13 due to injury). He had three goals and four assists in those games while logging a little over 14 minutes per night. Over parts of a four-year NHL career (all in Anaheim), Mahura has six goals and 14 helpers in 79 contests while averaging more than a hit and block per game.
Mahura is in the final season of a two-year deal that’s worth the league minimum of $750K so he’s a low-cost flyer for the Panthers. With Lucas Carlsson and Michael Del Zotto both clearing waivers today, they’ll be sent down to make room on the roster for Mahura while team reporter Jameson Olive relays (Twitter link) that fellow blueliner Matt Kiersted is listed as day-to-day.
Coyotes Claim Connor Ingram
For the second time this preseason, the Coyotes have added to their goaltending depth as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed Connor Ingram off waivers from Nashville.
The 25-year-old saw his first NHL action last season, getting into three games during the regular season with the Predators, posting a 3.71 GAA along with a .879 SV%. However, after David Rittich struggled in the opening game of the playoffs (with Juuse Saros out of the lineup), Nashville turned to Ingram for the rest of their series against Colorado and he held his own with a .913 SV% in the three games he suited up in.
Ingram has a much better track record of success in the minors which is likely what prompted the Coyotes to put in a claim. He has a save percentage of .919 over parts of six seasons in the AHL, spanning 149 games. He’s in the final season of a three-year minimum contract that carries a $733K AAV so he’s certainly a low-cost option for them to try.
Karel Vejmelka is set to enter the season as the starter while Ingram will be battling fellow waiver claim Jonas Johansson for the second-string role. Meanwhile, Jon Gillies, who entered camp as the potential backup, cleared waivers today and will be on his way to Tucson of the AHL.
Minor Transactions: 10/10/22
After the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators kicked the NHL regular season off in Europe this weekend, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning will kick things off in North America tomorrow night, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings. Before that can happen though, teams must submit cap-compliant opening night rosters to the NHL by 5:00 pm ET today. Roster shuffling will presumably dominate the NHL news cycle today, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some other notable news from the minor leagues and around the globe, and we’ll keep track of that here:
- The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits announced that they have signed former NHL goaltender Michael McNiven to a one-year deal. After a terrific three-year stint with the the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, the undrafted McNiven joined the Canadiens organization, spending parts of the next five seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. McNiven also made his NHL debut last season, getting into one game with the Canadiens on January 24th of this year against the Wild.
- The AHL’s Laval Rocket announced the signing of John Parker-Jones to a one-year deal. The 22-year-old has spent time both on the wing and on defense and spent last season with Windsor in the Canadian college ranks where he had two goals and five assists in 17 games. He participated in Montreal’s rookie camp back in September.
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.
Snapshots: Canadiens Injuries, Pastrnak, Rangers Leadership Group, Blais
After heading all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020-21, only to finish dead last in the NHL standings in 2021-22, it’s unclear exactly what is to be expected from the Montreal Canadiens this year. Injuries were a large part of what plagued the team last season, and heading into this season, they’re still a part of the headline. Of course, legendary goaltender Carey Price will be on LTIR and is unlikely to play this season, and it’s unclear if he’ll ever return. Still, there are some shorter-term updates available out of Montreal today.
For one, veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson, who is recovering from a back injury, was able to skate this morning and though his rehab is progressing, the team is still unable to provide a timetable for his return. Forwards Joel Armia and Emil Heineman will both be out with injury, Armia out one to two weeks with an upper-body injury and Heineman six weeks with a thumb injury. Defenseman Mike Matheson, who the team acquired in the Jeff Petry deal, is continuing to rehab a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Finally, forwards and expected key contributors Nick Suzuki, Mike Hoffman, and Christian Dvorak, who had all been dealing with separate ailments, were back at practice this morning.
- Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney spoke to the media this morning, including Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, where he discussed a number of Bruins-related topics. Most notably, he touched on extension talks between the team and pending UFA forward David Pastrnak. While many teams and players, in hockey as well as other sports, generally put off contract talks once the season starts, that doesn’t appear to be the case here. Sweeney says the Bruins and Pastrnak have been talking almost every day and are comfortable talking into the regular season. While a deal isn’t done yet of course, the continued dialogue is clearly a good sign for the Bruins and their fans, showing Pastrnak presumably has interest in staying with the team.
- Earlier this summer, the New York Rangers announced defenseman Jacob Trouba would be their next captain, remarkably their first since previous captain Ryan McDonagh was dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018. In the interim, the team has relied on a group of alternate captains to fill their leadership group until they found the perfect fit for the vacant captaincy. Having now chosen Trouba as their man, the Rangers still have their contingent of alternates to go along with him, formally announcing them today. This season, the team will run with veterans Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad as alternates.
- Tough news for Rangers forward Sammy Blais, who had been out with injury since last November, as he’s still dealing with the aftermath of an upper-body injury suffered after taking a hit from New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov in their Saturday evening preseason contest. According to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, the Rangers have said the forward will not practice today and is doubtful for tomorrow’s season opener against the, Tampa Bay Lightning.
Ottawa Senators Sign Derick Brassard
After being invited to their camp on a PTO, something he had been hoping for this offseason, veteran forward Derick Brassard has indeed signed with the Ottawa Senators on a one-year deal, the team announced. This will officially mark Brassard’s second stint as a member of the Senators after playing for seven different teams since Ottawa dealt the forward during the 2017-18 season. According to Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff, the deal is worth $750,000.
The veteran Brassard finds himself on a growing list of players on PTO’s signing NHL contracts, following yesterday’s announcement of Zach Aston-Reese and Jimmy Vesey signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers, respectively. Ottawa had perhaps the loudest offseason of any team around the league, acquiring Alex DeBrincat and Cam Talbot, signing Claude Giroux, and extending Tim Stutzle and Joshua Norris, so Brassard’s signing might fly under the radar. Still, the team should be able to count on the 35-year-old to fill a key veteran role in their bottom-six.
This new role might be far removed from the one he previously occupied when the team acquired him from the Rangers in 2016, but that still doesn’t mean he will be without value. As Brassard said himself last week, he hopes he can play a similar role to the one Jason Spezza had been playing for the Maple Leafs, used in different spots in the lineup for different purposes night in and night out. It’s no doubt Spezza’s contributions were much appreciated in Toronto, and if Brassard can do something similar, it could be a quiet, yet valuable element to the continued development of this young Senators core.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/10/22
A very happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers who are celebrating! Today marks the deadline for NHL clubs to become cap compliant and submit their opening night rosters. More specifically, the 5:00 pm ET deadline is now less than six hours away. With that in mind, we expect to see plenty of players sent to the minor leagues, returned to juniors, or released from their PTOs today, and we’ll keep track of them here.
Arizona Coyotes (via team tweet)
D Cam Dineen (to Tucson, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Tucson, AHL)
F Laurent Dauphin (to Tucson, AHL)
F Bokondji Imama (to Tucson, AHL)
Buffalo Sabres (via team tweet)
D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (to Rochester, AHL)
F Olivier Nadeau (to Gatineau, QMJHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via team release)
F Jack Drury (to Chicago, AHL)
F Jordan Martinook (to Chicago, AHL)
Colorado Avalanche (via team tweet)
D Wyatt Aamodt (to Colorado, AHL)
F Mikhail Maltsev (to Colorado, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)
F Emil Bemstrom (to Cleveland, AHL)
D David Jiricek (to Cleveland, AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (per team release)
D Jeremie Biakabutuka (released from ATO)
F Kyle Criscuolo (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Taro Hirose (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Jussi Olkinuora (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Givani Smith (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
Edmonton Oilers (via team tweet)
D Jason Demers (released from PTO)
F James Hamblin (to Bakersfield, AHL)
F Devin Shore (to Bakersfield, AHL)
Los Angeles Kings (per team release)
G Pheonix Copley (to Ontario, AHL)
F Rasmus Kupari (to Ontario, AHL)
F Andre Lee (to Ontario, AHL)
D Jacob Moverare (to Ontario, AHL)
Montreal Canadiens (via two team tweets)
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (to Laval, AHL)
F Jesse Ylonen (to Laval, AHL)
D Justin Barron (to Laval, AHL)
D Otto Leskinen (to Laval, AHL)
G Cayden Primeau (to Laval, AHL)
D Arber Xhekaj (to Laval, AHL)
Nashville Predators (via team release)
F Jimmy Huntington (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Mark Jankowski (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Philip Tomasino (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Kevin Gravel (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Jordan Gross (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Milwaukee, AHL)
New York Rangers (via team release)
D Matt Bartkowski (released from PTO)
F Julien Gauthier (to Hartford, AHL)
Ottawa Senators (via team tweet)
F Ridly Greig (to Belleville, AHL)
Philadelphia Flyers (per Olivia Reiner, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
F Jackson Cates (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
Seattle Kraken (via team tweet)
F John Hayden (to Coachella Valley, AHL)
D Michal Kempny (to Coachella Valley, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release)
F Josh Leivo (to Springfield, AHL)
F Jake Neighbours (to Springfield, AHL)
Toronto Maple Leafs (via team tweet)
F Kyle Clifford (to Toronto, AHL)
F Adam Gaudette (to Toronto, AHL)
F Pontus Holmberg (to Toronto, AHL)
D Filip Kral (to Toronto, AHL)
D Victor Mete (to Toronto, AHL)
F Nick Robertson (to Toronto, AHL)
F Wayne Simmonds (to Toronto, AHL)
D William Villeneuve (to Toronto, AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (via team tweet)
F Linus Karlsson (to Abbotsford, AHL)
Vegas Golden Knights (via team release)
F Pavel Dorofeyev (to Henderson, AHL)
F Sakari Manninen (to Henderson, AHL)
F Jonas Rondbjerg (to Henderson, AHL)
D Jake Bischoff (to Henderson, AHL)
D Kaedan Korczak (to Henderson, AHL)
G Michael Hutchinson (to Henderson, AHL)
Washington Capitals (via team tweet)
F Henrik Borgstrom (to Hershey, AHL)
D Lucas Johansen (to Hershey, AHL)
Winnipeg Jets (via team tweet)
D Ville Heinola (to Manitoba, AHL)
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.
Sabres Notes: Young Players, Okposo, Injuries
On what is expected to be a busy Monday around the NHL with the deadline to submit rosters approaching at 5:00 pm ET today, Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams met with the media this morning to discuss, primarily, his new leadership group that features the club’s 20th captain, Kyle Okposo. Adams praised Okposo’s leadership and his relationship with teammates and echoed much of the same sentiment towards alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons. The GM also lauded defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, now a full-time alternate captain, for his development not only on the ice, but as a person in the locker room and his drive to get better.
Beyond the new leadership group, Adams touched on several other news and notes, including the status of several of the team’s young players like John-Jason Peterka, Jack Quinn, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. As to Peterka and Quinn, Adams seemed to indicate that both would be on the team’s opening night roster, saying the body of work the pair had put in with the AHL’s Rochester Americans last year shows that they are “ready to take the next step.” Adams continued, referring to the team’s entire young core, including names like Peyton Krebs and Mattias Samuelsson as well, that they will ultimately need to get more and more reps in to continue to develop at this level. On Luukkonen, Adams was impressed with his offseason and training camp efforts, but appeared to confirm the expected, that the goaltender would begin the season in Rochester with veterans Eric Comrie and Craig Anderson on the NHL roster. Seeing Luukkonen spend another year in the minors may not necessarily be exciting news for Sabres fans, however giving him regular starts should make a strong contribution to his overall development.
- Also from Adams’ availability, when discussing his new leadership group, he touched on the contractual future of captain Kyle Okposo, who is in the last year of a seven-year, $42MM deal, saying the team had yet to discuss an extension with their veteran. That news, combined with some of the objective disappointment on both sides over the life of the contract, might seem to point to a parting of ways at the end of this year, however given the fact that the team named him their captain with just one year left on his contract, with other cornerstone options available, indicates that there is a chance the winger could be back. Any extension with Okposo surely won’t match his current deal, but if he can repeat on his impressive 21 goal, 45 point 2021-22 season, he should find his way to a relatively strong payday.
- On the injury front, goaltender Malcolm Subban, who left last night’s Rochester preseason game with an injury, could be out for some time, Adams said. The team is still awaiting a further update on Subban. Forward Riley Sheahan will begin the season on injured-reserve as well, the only player expected to be there on the opening night roster, says Adams.
Five Key Stories: 10/3/22 – 10/9/22
The regular season is underway for two teams while the rest of the league gets started in the coming days. Accordingly, activity has picked up over the coming days and the upcoming week will likely be a busy one. Before that, let’s take a look back at the key stories from the week that was.
Under The Knife Again: The long-term injury to Marco Scandella was supposed to present an opportunity for Scott Perunovich to earn a regular spot in the lineup. Unfortunately for him and the Blues, that’s not going to happen as he’ll miss at least the next six months and will need shoulder surgery. It’s the second major shoulder injury of his career although it’s not the same issue as the torn labrum that cost him the 2020-21 campaign. Perunovich was a productive defenseman in college and averaged more than a point per game in 17 contests with AHL Springfield last season but he’ll be waiting a while now to have a chance at making a consistent impact in St. Louis.
Extending In Calgary: MacKenzie Weegar’s camp was hoping to get an extension worked out before the season and they got their wish, inking a max-term eight-year deal that carries a $6.25MM AAV. The defenseman was the other key roster player that came as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade this summer. (The other roster piece, Jonathan Huberdeau, inked a max-term extension himself not long ago.) Weegar has blossomed from being a late-round pick in his second year of eligibility to an all-around impact defender and will help anchor Calgary’s back end for years to come. Meanwhile, the team will continue to be led behind the bench by Darryl Sutter, who agreed to a two-year extension of his own. The reigning Jack Adams Award winner was entering the final year of his deal and at 64, a short-term agreement was expected. He’ll be leading a new-look Flames squad that also lost Johnny Gaudreau this summer while they also picked up Nazem Kadri.
Staying With The Islanders: Recently, Mathew Barzal had indicated a desire to get a long-term deal done with the Islanders and they were able to do just that as the center signed a max-term eight-year, $73.2MM ($9.15MM AAV) contract extension that begins next season. The pact will give him a 22-team no-trade clause when he becomes eligible for one in 2024-25. Barzal burst onto the NHL scene in 2017-18, leading the team in points with 85 while winning the Calder Trophy. However, he has failed to come close to that output since then, topping out at 62 over the last four years. With that in mind, the price tag might seem a little steep but this deal ensures that New York will have their top center locked up for quite a while as they hope that the coaching change to Lane Lambert will help Barzal regain some of his lost production.
Creating Cap Room: There are some teams that need to free up cap space and not a lot of teams are willing to take on extra money. Vancouver was a team wanting some flexibility while Chicago had made it known they’d be open to doing so at the right price. That right price evidently was a 2024 second-round pick as the Blackhawks acquired one along with center Jason Dickinson from the Canucks in exchange for defenseman Riley Stillman. Dickinson struggled mightily in his only season with Vancouver (after they moved a third-rounder to get him) with just 11 points in 62 games, hardly a good return on a $2.65MM investment that runs through 2023-24. Stillman, meanwhile, makes $1.35MM in each of the next two seasons, giving Vancouver $1.3MM in cap room while filling a short-term void on the back end with both Tyler Myers and Travis Dermott out of the lineup right now.
Finding Middle Ground: The belief was that the Stars were going to work out either a short-term bridge deal or a long-term pact with RFA winger Jason Robertson. In the end, they settled on something in between, agreeing to a four-year deal that carries a $7.75MM AAV. Notably, this does not walk the 23-year-old to unrestricted free agency as he’ll still have one year of RFA eligibility remaining where he’ll have arbitration rights and be owed a $9.3MM qualifying offer. Robertson is coming off a breakout year that saw him finish second on Dallas in scoring for the second straight year while posting 41 goals and 38 assists in 74 games, becoming an integral part of their forward group in the process. This deal ensures he’ll be in the lineup on opening night while guaranteeing him an even bigger payday in 2026.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Hague, Donskoi, Romanov
With the start of the season fast approaching for the 30 teams that didn’t play overseas, Golden Knights defenseman Nic Hague remains one of two remaining restricted free agents. Jesse Granger of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner is believed to be seeking an AAV a little under $2MM on a two-year contract or under $3MM on a three-year agreement. On the surface, those asks are certainly reasonable as Hague had 14 points in 52 games last season while averaging 18:40 per night; that cost for a fifth defender isn’t particularly high. However, as is quite often the case with Vegas, their cap situation is quite tight which probably isn’t helping things here.
Speculatively, they might prefer a one-year deal that could be closer to the $1MM mark, one that hands him arbitration rights next summer but gives them more flexibility this season. Either way, the pressure will be on both Hague and the Golden Knights to get something done sooner than later.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Kraken have placed winger Joonas Donskoi on injured reserve, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been battling an upper-body injury for the last couple of weeks and while his official designation has been day-to-day up to this point, clearly, he’ll be out a little longer. He’s coming off a tough first season with the team after scoring just twice in 75 games and this certainly isn’t the start to the year he was hoping for. His absence should allow Daniel Sprong – whose tryout was recently converted to a full contract – to break camp with Seattle.
- The Department of Player Safety announced that Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov has been fined $5,000 for charging, the maximum allowed under the CBA. The incident occurred early in the third period on Rangers center Vincent Trocheck with a minor penalty being assessed on the play. Romanov was the Islanders’ big acquisition this summer, being acquired back at the draft along with a fourth-round pick from Montreal in exchange for the 13th selection.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals
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 heading into the 2022-23 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.
Washington Capitals
Current Cap Hit: $88,821,666 (over the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Martin Fehervary (one year, $791K)
F Connor McMichael ($two years, $863K)
McMichael had a relatively quiet rookie campaign with the Capitals easing him into the thick of things. If he gets put into a more prominent role this season due to injuries, his offensive production could jump to a point where Washington wants to do something longer-term but at this point, a bridge deal is likely heading his way two years from now.
Fehervary’s rookie campaign was more impressive. He ranked third among Washington’s defensemen in ATOI while chipping in with plenty of physicality and some decent secondary production. This is the type of profile that some teams will look to try to do a long-term deal now to try to get him at a lower rate than market value at the end of the deal (think six years and an AAV over $3MM) but Fehervary would be better off waiting until next summer as a repeat performance could push a bridge deal towards the $2.5MM mark.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
F Connor Brown ($3.6MM, UFA)
F Lars Eller ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Erik Gustafsson ($800K, UFA)
F Carl Hagelin ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Garnet Hathaway ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Matt Irwin ($750K, UFA)
D Nick Jensen ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Marcus Johansson ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Dmitry Orlov ($5.1MM, UFA)
F Conor Sheary ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Dylan Strome ($3.5MM, RFA)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk ($950K, UFA)
Brown was Washington’s big addition up front this summer, coming over in a trade from Ottawa. With the Sens, he became a crucial two-way winger that can log heavy minutes but he likely won’t need to play 20 minutes a night with the Capitals which won’t help Brown’s market next summer. Right now, his next AAV should be in the $4.5MM range but if he’s able to show more offensively, he could surpass the $5MM threshold. Eller has been a solid third center for a long time in Washington for the last six years but is getting toward the point where there should be an expectation of diminishing returns. A return is definitely possible but after being at this AAV for nine years (including this one), he’s likely looking at a small dip a year from now.
How Strome fares will also play a role in Eller’s future. Non-tendered by Chicago, he signed with Washington where he’ll have a legitimate shot at a consistent top-six role. If he thrives, they’re likely to want to keep him over Eller moving forward. He had a strong market this summer in free agency and even a decent season in the 40-point range should nudge him towards at least a small raise next summer where he will once again be arbitration-eligible. Hagelin’s short-term future is in question as he tries to work his way back from an eye injury. He has been skating but didn’t suit up in the preseason. At this point, if he gets another deal, it’ll be a one-year agreement at a substantially lower rate (closer to the minimum) while he’s heading for LTIR to start the season.
Sheary is coming off one of the best seasons of his career and should be in line for a similar spot on the depth chart this year. That said, his profile (small and skilled) is the one we’ve seen have weaker markets than expected in free agency lately. Another 40-point season wouldn’t hurt his value but he might be someone that lands closer to $2MM on the open market than $3MM even with that production. Hathaway had a career year last season with 14 goals which chipping in with his usual physicality. Depth players often don’t have big markets in free agency but if he produces near that level again, power forwards are the exception which could push his AAV over the $2MM mark. Johansson decided to stick around after being brought back at the deadline and after two straight low-price, one-year deals, it’s safe to say that this is his market moving forward unless he has a surprisingly strong offensive season.
Onto the defense where all but one player is on an expiring deal this season. Orlov is the most prominent of the group and is also coming off a career season offensively. A few years ago, he was logging upwards of 23 minutes a night but over the last two years, that has dipped to the point where his usage is more of a second-pairing player which is notable. He’ll be 32 next season and while the offensive boost helps, that should more or less offset the reduced role. Orlov will still get a long-term deal but if he prioritizes getting as long of a deal as possible, there’s a chance that the AAV could come in slightly below his current rate. Otherwise, a medium-term agreement should cost somewhere in the $5.5MM to $6MM range.
Jensen also had the best year of his career and provided some value on what previously looked like a deal that was well above market value. Even so, his long-term track record is that of a third-pairing player and that will be hard to shake. The fact he’s right-handed certainly helps (the side that’s typically in higher demand) but it’s hard to forecast a raise at this point. A similar season to 2021-22 could help him land a similar AAV next summer though. Gustafsson, van Riemsdyk, and Irwin are all veteran depth players who aren’t going to command sizable raises at this point of their careers. It’s possible that van Riemsdyk will eclipse the $1MM mark but he shouldn’t get much more than that while the other two are likely to be close to the minimum moving forward.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Anthony Mantha ($5.7MM, UFA)
F Tom Wilson ($5.167MM, UFA)
The Capitals paid a high price to acquire Mantha and they haven’t been rewarded for it thus far as the veteran has missed most of the last two seasons due to injuries. When he has played, he hasn’t produced at the level of someone at his current AAV either. Some of that again is injury-related but it’s safe to say that they haven’t got what they bargained for from Mantha so far. The same can’t be said for Wilson. His contract seemed like a considerable overpayment at the time to many but that isn’t the case now. Despite the penalty and suspension trouble he gets into, he produces at a high enough rate to make him a true top-six power forward which is something that is very hard to find and is always in high demand. At this point, he should surpass the $6MM mark on his next deal.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Nicklas Backstrom ($9.2MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7.8MM, UFA)
G Charlie Lindgren ($1.1MM, UFA)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM, UFA)
Backstrom picked the right time to sign this contract as it came just before the pandemic shutdown that has since flattened the cap; had he waited, the AAV almost certainly would have been lower. His hip injury situation has been well-documented and he’ll begin the year on LTIR. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was there for the entire year which would give Washington some extra space to work with this season. Kuznetsov has had some ups and downs which makes the value he provides each year range from poor to solid. He’s coming off a year that saw him produce at nearly a point per game and if he stays near that mark, they’ll get good value moving forward. With Backstrom out long-term, there’s extra pressure on Kuznetsov now.
Oshie saw his output dip sharply last season on a points-per-game basis which wasn’t entirely unexpected as he’s now 35. He’s in the back half of the long-term deal he signed which provided Washington with some cap-friendly years and now they’re entering the years that won’t be so team-friendly. Dowd is being paid as a fourth-line center but his usage has been closer to that of a third liner the last couple of seasons and as someone that can kill penalties, win draws, and can score at a decent depth rate, the Capitals are doing quite well with this deal. He’ll be 35 when this deal is up though so chances are that he won’t be able to command much more than this on his next contract.
Lindgren has spent the majority of his career in the minors but is coming off a strong season in the minors that was good enough to land him a three-year guarantee. Notably, the full amount can be buried in the AHL without cap penalty if he struggles but if he can give them 20-25 serviceable starts, Washington will be pleased with the contract and he’ll be boosting his value for his next trip through free agency.