St. Louis Blues, Jordan Kyrou Working On Extension
Earlier this offseason, the St. Louis Blues locked up part of their future when they signed Robert Thomas to an eight-year, $65MM contract. The 23-year-old center exploded with 77 points in 2021-22, establishing himself as one of the best young pivots in the league. His teammate, Jordan Kyrou, may soon be getting the same treatment. Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest tweets that the Blues have begun extension talks with Kyrou.
Now 24, Kyrou had his own breakout season in 2021-22, reaching 27 goals and 75 points in 74 games. He was a horse in the playoffs as well, adding seven goals in 12 games. Last year at this time, the Blues decided to go with identical two-year bridge deals for Thomas and Kyrou, contracts that carry an average annual value of just $2.8MM. It was an incredible bargain in year one and likely will give even more surplus value in 2022-23.
It will be interesting to see if another matching deal is coming, given the positional differences. While Thomas is a full-time center, Kyrou is a pure winger, something that isn’t usually quite as lucrative when it comes to long-term deals.
Importantly, the Blues have some other contracts to think about in any negotiation. Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko are both set to become unrestricted free agents next summer. General manager Doug Armstrong has been more than willing in the past to move out key pieces early if they have indicated they aren’t going to re-sign, but losing O’Reilly in particular right now seems like it would set the team back significantly. If he’s to be extended, the 31-year-old will likely be looking for a deal at least as lucrative as the $7.5MM cap hit he currently carries.
For now, if contract talks with Kyrou are going “very good,” as Strickland says, the futures of O’Reilly and Tarasenko might have to wait.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Cayden Primeau
The Montreal Canadiens have finished their RFA work for the summer, signing Cayden Primeau to a new three-year contract. Interestingly enough it is a one-way contract for all three years, paying him an average annual value of $890K. Primeau will earn $770K in 2022-23, $800K in 2023-24, and $1.1MM in 2024-25.
As CapFriendly points out, the young netminder is waiver-exempt for one more season (or 56 games, should he assume full-time duties for some reason). This will give them the chance to run a tandem of Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault this season, with the former becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer (though Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest tweets that extension talks between Allen and the Canadiens have begun).
Even when Primeau does become eligible for waivers, a contract like this could potentially help him slip through. It is not as if he has proven himself at the NHL level to this point. The 23-year-old netminder has an .874 save percentage in 18 appearances with the Canadiens, and despite considerable hype, has had mixed results even at the AHL level.
This is a bet on his potential and the incremental growth he is expected to experience over the next few years. At some point, the Canadiens are hoping that he takes over one of the NHL jobs and even if he doesn’t, the deal isn’t so lucrative as to negatively affect their cap situation. The entire hit can be buried in the minor leagues if necessary, and Primeau is still young enough to be a restricted free agent at its expiry.
Minor Transactions 09/07/22
We are less than three weeks away from preseason action around the league and just over a month away from the 2022-23 regular season. NHL teams have a few things left to do before getting started and minor league clubs a few more still. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor transactions from around the hockey world.
- Veteran SHL defenseman Anton Myllari has chosen to swap leagues. Per a team announcement, Myllari signed a contract with the Lahden Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga. Myllari, 31, spent last season with Brynas of the SHL, getting into 51 games. Myllari has nearly 200 games of SHL experience under his belt and has also manned the blueline for teams in Denmark and Austria. He heads to a Pelicans team eager to improve after a mediocre 29-win 2021-22 campaign.
- ECHL teams have been making some last-minute additions in advance of next season, and one of those teams is the Cincinnati Cyclones. The team announced today that they’ve signed 21-year-old forward Dakota Betts to a one-year contract. The deal is Betts’ first professional contract, and the 21-year-old is coming off of a solid final season in the OHL In 61 games the now-21-year-old Betts registered 33 points, which ranked fourth on a poor Niagara IceDogs team.
- The Reading Royals announced that they’ve signed forward Kamerin Nault to a one-year contract. Nault, 27, has 99 games of ECHL experience on his resume and got into three AHL games in 2020-21 with the Manitoba Moose. Nault’s best ECHL season came in 2019-20 when he scored 16 goals and 32 points in 40 games for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
- Former Belleville Senator Andrew Sturtz has signed a one-year deal with the Orlando Solar Bears, per a team announcement. Sturtz, 27. did not play during the 2021-22 season but had a solid 2020-21 campaign with the Rapid City Rush, scoring 28 points in 33 games. Sturtz was a top scorer for the Penn State Nittany Lions in his collegiate career and will look to help the Solar Bears improve upon a 2021-22 campaign where they just missed out on a playoff berth.
Tye Felhaber Signs In ECHL
In the spring of 2019, as Tye Felhaber was wrapping up an incredible final season with the Ottawa 67s, that saw him score 76 goals in 86 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Dallas Stars signed the undrafted forward to a three-year entry-level contract. It was a lottery ticket that cost nothing more than a contract slot, and gave another outstanding young hockey player a chance to test himself at the professional level.
Felhaber ended up playing 41 games for the Texas Stars the following season but was held to just two goals, as his offensive touch didn’t follow him to the AHL. Earlier this year, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning who have a history of working with talented junior scorers, but even they couldn’t turn things around. By the summer, Felhaber was left unqualified by the Lightning, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Now, he’ll try to work his way back up the ladder by first signing with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. He (along with Logan Barlage and Scott Allan) was introduced by the team today as new bodies for the minor league club.
Given that he is 24, it is likely too late for Felhaber to make it as an impact NHL player. But given his early ECHL performance – 12 goals in 20 games – the Komets may have a star on their hands. Felbhaber’s rights are no longer owned by the Lightning.
ESPN Announces Broadcast Schedule For 2022-23 Season
The details are out for the second year of ESPN’s NHL coverage, with more than 100 exclusive games across their affiliated networks and more than 1,000 available online through ESPN+. The broadcast season begins on Tuesday, October 11 with a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals when the Tampa Bay Lightning travel to take on the New York Rangers, before a Pacific Division battle between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings.
The 2023 All-Star weekend will be taken by ESPN and ABC this season, while the Stadium Series between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium will follow in February. You can find the entire broadcast schedule here.
At the same time, the NHL announced a huge number of start time updates from their previously released schedule. Most of these changes are no more than one hour difference, though a game on November 5 between the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, one on February 25 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues, one on March 4 between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, and one on April 8 between the Vegas Golden Knights and Stars have all been pulled forward to the afternoon. The full schedule changes can be found here.
With broadcast schedules coming out, it’s time to get excited about the 2022-23 season – the NHL is almost back!
Tim Stutzle Agrees To Eight-Year Extension
As the Ottawa Senators head into a season filled with excitement and high expectations, general manager Pierre Dorion had some more fun for fans at today’s media availability. The team has agreed to an eight-year extension with Tim Stutzle, avoiding any restricted free agency with the young forward. The deal is for a total of $66.8MM and will carry an average annual value of $8.35MM. Stutzle is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and was scheduled to be an RFA next summer. The full details are as follows:
- 2023-24: $5.0MM
- 2024-25: $6.5MM
- 2025-26: $9.0MM
- 2026-27: $9.0MM
- 2027-28: $10.0MM + 10-team NTC
- 2028-29: $10.0MM + 10-team NTC
- 2029-30: $9.9MM + 10-team NTC
- 2030-31: $7.4MM + 10-team NTC
It is an eye-popping amount for the 20-year-old, who has played just 132 games at the NHL level, but Stutzle showed last season that he is on track to be a dynamic offensive player for a long time. With 22 goals and 58 points in 79 games, he trailed only Brady Tkachuk for the team lead while making the transition to center. The Senators are betting that his meteoric rise will only continue in the future, making this contract look like a bargain down the road.
That bet, while a decent one to make on a player this young and talented, also comes with a fair amount of risk. The Senators do not have unlimited funds to throw around, and with Tkachuk, Joshua Norris, and Thomas Chabot all signed for big-money deals, things may get tight down the road if any of them take a step backward. Remember, the Senators are also going to face a tough negotiation with Alex DeBrincat at some point, who has just one year left of RFA status after this season and will likely be looking for a massive contract.
Still, for a team that has had trouble retaining their stars in the past, the idea of having this core locked up through essentially their entire prime is great news for Senators fans. The drafted-and-developed talent will be sticking around, at least until the team decides it is the right time to move on.
Stutzle, the third overall pick from 2020, is penciled in as the team’s second-line center for next season and could find himself between elite talent like DeBrincat and Drake Batherson, making quite the trio. For a team that has been near the bottom of the league for the last several years, the Senators top-six (and perhaps top-nine) looks quite formidable.
This contract will certainly be held up by other restricted free agents as well, given how much it relies on projection over actual results. Stutzle has just 34 goals to his name at the NHL level, fewer than Norris scored last season alone. He will nevertheless be paid more than his older teammate, who will start his own eight-year deal this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Oilers, Senators, Lokomotiv
While it has been a while since they had any sustained success, the Edmonton Oilers have one of the richest histories of winning in the NHL. To honor that history, the team has decided to establish the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame, which will include all ten members that currently have their banners in the rafters of Rogers Place and two new inductees to be announced later this month.
The first ten members are Al Hamilton, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Glen Sather, and Rod Phillips. The 2022 inductees will be announced on September 20 and were selected by a committee that includes Wayne Gretzky, Ron Low, Louie DeBrusk, Chris Joseph, and Bruce MacGregor, along with media members Jim Matheson, Terry Jones, Bob Stauffer, and Jason Gregor, and community members Chief Wilton Littlechild and Shannon Szabados. Players nominated for the honor must be retired for at least five seasons.
- While there is plenty of positive momentum for a new arena closer to downtown Ottawa, Senators executive Anthony LeBlanc told media members including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia today that there is still 18 months of due diligence to be done. The excitement around the team is building, however, with season tickets increasing as much as 60 percent already, according to LeBlanc. The Senators had an impressive offseason, which included the additions of Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, and Cam Talbot to a young squad.
- Eleven years ago today, a plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team crashed, killing 43. Members from different generations of hockey were lost that day. Among them was 18-year-old Maxim Shuvalov, just starting his professional career, and 52-year-old Brad McCrimmon, a Stanley Cup champion and new head coach. More than a decade later, their absence is still felt in the hockey world.
Carey Price To Be Moved To Long-Term Injured Reserve
If you were wondering how exactly the Montreal Canadiens were able to fit Kirby Dach‘s contract under the salary cap today, you weren’t alone. The deal seemingly put them over the 10% offseason cushion, with a team cap hit of more than $92.7MM. Arpon Basu of The Athletic has the answer – Carey Price is going on long-term injured reserve early.
Contrary to widespread belief, LTIR can actually be used in the offseason. The Toronto Maple Leafs did so in the summer of 2017 when signing Patrick Marleau, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did it with Nikita Kucherov in late 2020 when signing Mikhail Sergachev to his bridge deal.
CapFriendly notes that to use LTIR, a team must “provide doctors proof that the player in question will continue to be injured at the beginning of the regular season for 10 NHL games and 24 calendar days.” Price may not play at all this season, with general manager Kent Hughes explaining that there did not appear to be a path for him without undergoing another surgery.
Essentially, giving Price the injury designation now will increase the Canadiens’ upper limit by more than $10MM, allowing them to officially file the Dach contract without breaching the 10% cushion. It should be noted that the release this morning indicated that the two sides had agreed to terms on a contract but Dach does not yet appear on the official roster, meaning the order of operations has not been completed.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Kirby Dach
After reports had surfaced in recent days that the two sides were close, the Montreal Canadiens and Kirby Dach now officially have an agreement in place. The team has announced a four-year contract worth a total of $13.45MM, giving Dach a cap hit of $3.3625MM through the 2025-26 season. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweets the full breakdown:
- 2022-23: $2.5MM
- 2023-24: $4.1MM
- 2024-25: $2.85MM
- 2025-26: $4.1MM
A contract like this could be seen as a disappointment relative to his draft position but is also something of a surprising total for a player that has scored just 19 goals as a professional. Dach, 21, was the third overall pick in 2019 but has struggled to stay healthy and productive, reaching just 152 games played and 59 points so far. Those disappointing totals led to his jettison from the Chicago Blackhawks this summer, despite being young enough to potentially be part of their rebuild.
Notably, Dach is signing away four years of RFA status but will not be an unrestricted free agent at the deal’s expiry. He will be an arbitration-eligible player coming off a solid contract, meaning if he doesn’t progress over the next four years, there’s a chance the Canadiens could have to leave him unqualified, not wanting to risk an arbitration award.
Montreal is clearly betting that won’t be the case, signing up Dach to a relatively long-term deal in the hopes that he can unlock some of the potential that put him at the top of the draft. Kaapo Kakko, for instance, was selected just ahead of Dach and has nearly the same production, and settled for a two-year deal this summer with a cap hit of just $2.1MM. The New York Rangers took on much less risk with their 2019 draft pick, though they are in a very different place in terms of a competitive window.
Dach has all the things that make scouts drool but hasn’t been able to put it all together. His size, skating ability, puck skills, and positional versatility all should make him a perfect player for the Canadiens to build around – but to this point he has been so inconsistent it is not clear what they are even getting. In 70 games last year he generated just 116 shots on net, despite averaging more than 18 minutes a night. He lost nearly 70% of his 500+ faceoffs, took 19 minor penalties, and scored just nine goals, even while having Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane as two of his three most common linemates (Philipp Kurashev falls between the two).
Frankly, it wasn’t a strong year for the former Saskatoon Blades star. With this new deal, the Canadiens are betting that they can turn around his floundering career by putting him in a better situation. Since the club is not expected to compete right away, they can afford to take risks like this on high-potential players. But at some point, the Canadiens will have to turn the corner on their rebuild; Dach will need to improve by then, or risk being left behind by the rest of the talented young players in the system.
NHL Modifies Major Penalty Review For 2022-23
There appears to be only one change to the NHL Rulebook for 2022-23, but it’s one that addresses some significant controversies from the past few seasons. According to a report from Scouting The Refs, referees will now be able to nullify a major penalty after a video review.
The updated rule, listed as Rule 20.6, is as follows:
The Referee shall have the following options after video review of his own call: (i) confirming his original Major Penalty call; (ii) reducing his original Major Penalty call to a lesser penalty; or (iii) rescinding the original Major Penalty altogether.
Prior to this change, a referee only had the option to reduce a major penalty to a two-minute penalty of the same infraction. It’s important to note that this change does not apply to match penalties.
This modification draws on a rule originally instituted for the 2019-20 season, which allowed referees to perform a video review of any major penalty as called on the ice. While obviously never stated as such, the rule was introduced in response to the controversial major penalty called against Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin for cross-checking then San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski. The call, which occurred in the third period of Game 7 in a 2019 First Round series between the two rivals, directly changed the outcome of the game. The Sharks, who were down 3-0, scored four unanswered goals on the five-minute power-play. San Jose proceeded to win the game in overtime, 5-4.
It was widely viewed after the call that the incident was accidental and not deserving of a major penalty. The fallout even led to the league apologizing to the Golden Knights organization privately after the fact.