Philadelphia Flyers To Sign Braun, Deslauriers, Marody
It’s time to come home for Justin Braun, who is signing a one-year, $1MM contract with the Philadelphia Flyers according to Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic. Because it will be a one-year, 35+ contract, Braun is eligible for performance bonuses, which can take the value of the deal to $1.75MM.
He’ll be joined by Nicolas Deslauriers, who is also heading to the Flyers on a four-year deal that will carry an average annual value of $1.75MM. In a lesser move, minor league star Cooper Marody will also be joining the Flyers on a two-year deal, according to his agency Bartlett Hockey.
Braun, 35, played parts of three seasons with the Flyers before ending up traded to the New York Rangers at this year’s deadline. A dependable defensive option, he doesn’t offer much offensive upside and will likely play an even smaller role this year as Philadelphia tries to contend for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
It’s Deslauriers that will get the headlines, given the four-year term that the physical forward landed in Philadelphia. Already 31, this is a contract that will take him deep into his thirties despite Deslauriers scoring just 44 goals and 85 points in 506 career games.
He offers a bunch of other things, including the ability to drop the gloves, but handing out that many years to a fourth-line player isn’t common in today’s NHL. Still, with a cap hit of just $1.75MM it doesn’t carry a ton of risk for the Flyers, who could bury most of that in the minor leagues if necessary.
Florida Panthers Sign Nick Cousins
According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, the Florida Panthers are closing in on a contract with depth forward Nick Cousins. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports it’s a two-year deal worth $1.1MM per season.
Cousins, 28, has been a bottom-six center for most of his NHL and has provided a similar set of skills to the variety of NHL teams he’s served. Cousins is a bottom-six forward who provides shift-to-shift energy and depth scoring. In 68 games with the Predators Cousins scored nine goals and 22 points, getting those numbers on only 12 minutes of ice time per night. Cousins sometimes was used on the Predators’ power play, but was not a featured option there.
Cousins doesn’t have the skill or separation ability to be an offensive difference-maker at the NHL level. But he has shown the ability to score once in a while taking on a limited role. That’s likely what he’ll be asked to do in Florida, though there’s always the possibility that he gets swept away in the tide that is the Florida Panthers’ offensive machine and has a career year.
Chicago Blackhawks Sign Colin Blackwell
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed Colin Blackwell to a two-year contract worth $1.2MM per season. This will be Blackwell’s fourth team in three seasons, as he spent parts of the past three years on the New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Blackwell, 29, is a safe, high-floor relatively low-ceiling move, the sort of roster decision that has been decidedly rare during GM Kyle Davidson’s tenure so far in Chicago. Blackwell, 29, bounced around a bit after graduating from Harvard in 2016. He spent his rookie professional season with the San Jose Barracuda before heading to Rochester and then Milwaukee. He made his NHL debut for the Nashville Predators before signing with the New York Rangers in the 2020 offseason.
In New York, Blackwell played well enough to earn the trust of coach David Quinn and sometimes even found himself sharing the ice with Artemi Panarin. As a result, he scored 12 goals and 22 points in 47 games, a performance that led him to be the Seattle Kraken’s choice from New York in the expansion draft. Blackwell struggled with injuries in Seattle but brought similar production, scoring eight goals and 17 points before being shipped to Toronto in the Mark Stone trade.
In Toronto, Blackwell scored just three points, although his smaller role on a deep Maple Leafs team likely had more to do with that than any decline in his talent level. The Blackhawks are signing Blackwell to this deal likely with the belief that he will continue to be the valuable do-it-all depth player he was in New York and Seattle. With all the departures they’ve seen in recent days, the Blackhawks need to add NHL-quality players. Blackwell is certainly that and he comes to Chicago at an affordable price.
Erik Gudbranson Expected To Sign With Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets are adding some size and physicality to the backend, as they work out a deal with Erik Gudbranson according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Per various outlets, the deal carries a ten-team no-trade clause for the duration of the contract.
Last September, Gudbranson signed a one-year deal worth $1.95MM. Now, he gets a sizeable raise from Columbus, a team that was looking to add physicality and veteran leadership to their back end. They were reportedly interested in acquiring Ryan McDonagh before he headed to Nashville, and he now gets his defenseman in Gudbranson.
The 30-year-old Ottawa native had a bit of a career renaissance in Calgary, fitting like a glove next to Nikita Zadorov on the Flames’ bottom-pairing, providing Darryl Sutter’s squad with imposing physical play. He averaged 18:07 per night and played nearly three minutes per game on the penalty kill. The Flames had the sixth-best penalty kill in the league, and it’s clear that GM Jarmo Kekalainen is crediting a decent amount of that success to Gudbranson’s efforts.
At a $4MM cap hit with four-year term, it’s fair to question whether this signing is the shrewdest on Columbus’ part. While his locker room contributions are certainly valuable, and the Blue Jackets obviously believe he can be an impact player on their penalty kill, there are enough question marks in Gudbranson’s game to make this deal a controversial one. For example, did Gudbranson really play that much better in 2021-22 that he earns a new contract worth twice as much per year as his last deal? Also, if the Blue Jackets are paying Gudbranson for his physicality and grit, why did they give Gudbranson a four-year term, when his physical style could eventually take its toll on his body and make him age worse?
NHL history is littered with leadership-first, physical defensemen getting long-term contracts, only for those deals to age terribly. The Karl Alzner deal in Montreal is a perfect example. Gudbranson had a good season in 2021-22, nothing can take away from that. But for a team that’s done so much right over the past year, it’s fair for fans to be a bit confused at this signing, although its far from a certainty that it’ll age as poorly as the comparables that were mentioned.
Arizona Coyotes Acquire Patrik Nemeth
The Arizona Coyotes have helped relieve a tight cap situation in New York. They’ve acquired defenseman Patrik Nemeth from the New York Rangers, along with a 2025 second-round pick and conditional 2026 second-round pick, in exchange for Ty Emberson.
From New York’s perspective, the motives behind this move are clear. With the signing of Vincent Trocheck at a $5.625MM cap hit, the Rangers desperately needed to clear cap space in order to have enough room to ink their two important restricted free agents: Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil. Nemeth’s $2.5MM cap hit was a major barrier to their ability to get those deals done, so they’ve decided to pay a pretty hefty price in order to clear his deal off their books. The Rangers have paid the Coyotes a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 second-rounder (that the Coyotes can choose to make a 2024 third-rounder) in exchange for defenseman Ty Emberson and the Coyotes taking on Nemeth’s deal.
Nemeth never quite worked out in New York, and quickly lost the trust of coach Gerard Gallant, who scratched him for the entirety of the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Final. Nemeth’s defense-first game was more ineffective than it had been in the past, and his envisioned role sheltering fellow Swede Nils Lundqvist never materialized as Lundqvist was quickly passed on the Rangers’ depth chart by Braden Schneider.
In Arizona, Nemeth will have a chance to play in a lower-pressure environment than in New York. As recently as 2021, Nemeth was viewed as valuable enough for a team to part with a mid-round pick to acquire him, so perhaps he can improve his play well enough in Arizona to become a tradeable asset once again, especially if Arizona is willing to retain half of his salary.
For the Coyotes, acquiring Nemeth gives them two valuable draft picks for cap space they were unlikely to use otherwise. GM Bill Armstrong has spoken about his desire to “build” drafts well in advance, adding picks not only for the next two seasons but the drafts in the future, where picks can typically be had for a discounted rate. He adds two second-rounders (or a second-rounder and a third-rounder) here, although he does have to surrender Emberson, who was a top-75 pick at the 2018 draft.
In Emberson, the Rangers are getting a defenseman who just played his first full professional season since signing out of the University of Wisconsin. Emberson played 58 games and scored 11 points. Emberson is a defense-first prospect who got time on both of the AHL Tucson Roadrunners’ special teams units, including a solid amount of time on their penalty kill. The Rangers will likely have Emberson in Hartford next season and will see if he can develop into an NHLer down the line.
Overall, it’s an expensive price for GM Chris Drury to pay for such a recent mistake, and losing two valuable future picks could end up biting the Rangers if they want to be as aggressive at the 2023, 2024, or 2025 trade deadlines as they were this past spring. That being said, even though it’s an expensive price to pay, it’s a move they really needed to make.
St. Louis Blues Sign Noel Acciari
The St. Louis Blues have added a quality bottom-six forward at a reasonable cost, signing Noel Acciari to a one-year, $1.25MM contract. Acciari arrives in St. Louis having spent the last three seasons as a Florida Panther.
You can never have enough affordable bottom-six forwards, and that’s the attitude GM Doug Armstrong is taking with the signing of Acciari. At a $1.25MM price tag, Acciari is a market-price investment for Armstrong to bolster the back of his lineup. An undrafted player, Acciari has 307 NHL games on his resume.
Acciari has struggled to stay healthy as of late, but in his most recent healthy season he scored 20 goals. The five-foot-ten, 209-pound winger is a bundle of energy, physicality, and grit and will give coach Craig Berube a trustworthy bottom-six option. Given his recent inability to stay in the lineup and overall lack of scoring since his impressive 2019-20 campaign, expecting another 20-goal season from Acciari would be a mistake. But with reasonable expectations, Blues fans should be satisfied with this move as a sensible, low-risk option.
San Jose Sharks Sign Oskar Lindblom
After being bought out by the Philadelphia Flyers, Oskar Lindblom is getting a fresh start. He has signed a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks and Pierre LeBrun adds that it will carry a $2.5MM average annual value.
General manager Mike Grier released a statement:
Oskar is a proven forward who can provide offensive upside in the middle of our lineup. He has overcome significant obstacles in his young career and his strength and desire to play hockey is immeasurable. We are happy to have him join our organization.
Lindblom was once one of the more promising young forwards in the Flyers organization, outperforming his fifth-round pick status and scoring 17 goals and 33 points in 2018-19. Lindblom showed an ability to effectively use his size and strength to create chances and looked like a potential middle-six scoring option with room to grow.
Then, Lindblom was hit with an immense challenge. In December 2019, Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma and had to focus his energy, not on his battles on the ice but on his new fight off of it. Lindblom’s story rallied the entire hockey world behind him, and he eventually made his return to Philadelphia’s lineup, even featuring in the team’s three-round run in the 2020 playoffs. Lindblom won the 2021 Bill Masterton Trophy, but unfortunately, the end of his tenure in Philadelphia serves as a sobering reminder that hockey is a business above all else.
Since returning from his absence, Lindblom has been unable to rediscover the form that made him such a promising young player in 2018-19. Lindblom had 12 goals and 26 points in 2021-22, not bad production by any means but certainly not worth the $3MM they were paying him. Working against Lindblom as well was the fact that the Flyers would not only get out from under the full weight of his $3MM cap hit, but they would also get a small cap credit as well from buying him out.
So the math became simple for GM Chuck Fletcher, paving the way for Lindblom to land in San Jose. For the Sharks, if Lindblom can rediscover the form he showed earlier in his career he can be an important player in their lineup. But even if he doesn’t, $2.5MM isn’t an unreasonable price to pay for what he will provide.
Washington Capitals Sign Lindgren, Irwin, Gustafsson
The Washington Capitals have found their entire NHL goaltending tandem on the free agent market, adding Charlie Lindgren to the previously signed Darcy Kuemper. Lindgren has inked a three-year deal that will carry an average annual value of just $1.1MM.
They’ve also added some defensive depth, inking Matt Irwin to a one-year, two-way deal worth $750K at the NHL level according to PuckPedia, and Erik Gustafsson to a one-year contract worth $800K.
Their first signing, Lindgren, is one that might confuse more casual fans but will make a ton of sense to fans who closely followed either the St. Louis Blues or the 2021-22 AHL season. Lindgren was incredible with both the Blues and their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. In St. Louis, Lindgren played five games and went 5-0-0 with a .958 save percentage and 1.22 goals against average. While he wasn’t as absurdly dominant in the AHL, he was still great, going 24-7-1 with a .925 save percentage and 2.21 goals-against-average. It’s on the back of this breakout year that Lindgren gets this (relatively) sizeable deal, and along with the money attached Lindgren gets the chance to be a backup on what looks to be a contending NHL team.
The second signing is of Matt Irwin, who has been a depth defenseman for most of his NHL career. The defense-first blueliner skated in 17 games for the Capitals this season and provides steady injury fill-in play. He’s the sort of defenseman the Capitals likely hope doesn’t play too often but also won’t really have to worry about for the games he does play, as he’s best when he’s not noticed.
The same cannot be said about Erik Gustafsson. Gustafsson’s profile is, well, different, to say the least. Gustafsson is an offense-first, puck-moving defenseman who has a 60-point season on his resume. The Capitals aren’t likely signing him thinking he’ll be a 60-point player for them but after the loss of Justin Schultz in Seattle he might be able to help them as a secondary offensive defenseman. He had 18 points in 59 games on a bad Blackhawks team and played bottom-pairing minutes on a Montreal Canadiens team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
Dallas Stars Sign Mason Marchment
1:07 pm: The Dallas Stars have swooped in under the wire, inking Marchment to a four-year contract worth roughly $4.5MM per season, per a team announcement. Marchment is fresh off of a breakout season for the Florida Panthers, where he scored 47 points in 54 games on the Panthers’ high-powered attack.
Marchment, 27, is a risky investment for the Stars but one with significant upside potential. Marchment was brilliant in 2021-22, scoring at nearly a point-per-game rate and making his impact felt on both ends of the ice. Marchment got his 47 points with very little power play time, making his offensive numbers even more impressive. The biggest risk with Marchment is simply the fact that before this season, it was unthinkable that Marchment could make $4.5MM on a multi-year deal. The production is the production, and the Stars are absolutely not simply basing this deal off of Marchment’s numbers alone, but one has to wonder if he’ll be able to replicate the performance away from the Panthers’ offensive machine.
If he can, this deal will age very, very well. If he can’t, well, it won’t. There is obviously a middle ground here where Marchment settles into a middle-six role, and that is definitely a realistic possibility. But it’s also a possibility that Marchment can’t replicate the success he found in Florida. For a team that wants to continue competing in a difficult Central Division, it’s not a bad risk to take.
12:17 pm: The Carolina Hurricanes have lost a handful of forwards to free agency and trade but they are working to add someone new. The team is closing in on a four-year deal with Mason Marchment according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
Seattle Kraken Sign Andrew Poturalski
The Seattle Kraken are signing one of the AHL’s best, getting forward Andrew Poturalski on a two-year, one-way deal, per his agency Bartlett Hockey. Poturalski is coming off of a Calder Cup championship with the Chicago Wolves.
The 28-year-old undrafted forward may have only four NHL games to his name, but make no mistake: this is one of the deadliest scorers the AHL has to offer. Forming a lethal partnership with Stefan Noesen, Poturalski scored 28 goals and 101 points in just 71 games and topped that regular-season brilliance off with 23 points in 19 playoff games. This year wasn’t a fluke, either, as Poturalski has been a highly productive player for the majority of his AHL career.
By signing in Seattle, Poturalski has secured a starring role on the AHL’s newest team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In signing Poturalski, the Firebirds have made a major splash and signed the player who is likely to lead them in scoring. Coach Dan Bylsma now has a top-of-the-lineup scoring threat and this signing is indicative of the Kraken organization’s desire to give their AHL affiliate all the tools they need to have a strong first season.