Dallas Stars Extend Joe Pavelski
Why break up a good thing? The Dallas Stars and Joe Pavelski have decided to continue their relationship, signing a one-year extension worth $5.5MM. The contract will include an additional $500K in performance bonuses based on games played thresholds. He’ll earn $100K for every ten games played up to 50. The contract also includes a full no-movement clause. Stars GM Jim Nill released a statement:
In his three seasons here, Joe has proven to be one of the strongest, most respected voices in the dressing room, as well as being one of the most consistent performers on the ice. He has played at an All-Star level this season, and by signing this deal now, it is a testament to what he sees in this organization and how this organization values what he brings day-in and day-out. He is a true professional, an incredible leader, and an example to everyone in our organization of what the standard is.
Pavelski, 37, hasn’t lost a step yet as he continues to be a top performer for the Stars alongside Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz. That line has been outstanding this season, dominating the opposition to the tune of 160 combined points so far. Pavelski accounts for 59 of those through 56 games, a number that leads the Stars just as he did last season.
It’s been an incredible career for Pavelski, who will reach 1,200 games if he stays healthy next season (and has a shot at 1,000 points, depending on how the rest of this year goes). His obvious chemistry with the younger players, along with the fact that he’s still capable of playing both center and wing, make him a very valuable option for the Stars even at his age. One of the most well-respected leaders in the league, it’s not just his locker room presence that they’re bringing back. Pavelski will likely reach the 30 goal mark for the sixth time this season and has a chance to even set a career-high in points (his previous high is 79).
Because he’s still so good, some wondered whether the Stars would make him available at this year’s trade deadline. The veteran forward would have drawn interest from basically every contender in the league, but it never did make much sense for Dallas to part ways with him. Not only does he have a trade clause that lets him list just three teams he’s willing to go to, but the Stars have done enough to remain in the Central Division playoff race. While they lost an important game to the Nashville Predators this week, they are still just four points out of a divisional spot and occupy the second wild card spot.
Trading Pavelski would have been like throwing in the towel given his importance to the group, and a one-year deal comes with very little risk. They can revisit the team’s situation a year from now when his value will still be high unless there is a huge drop-off in performance. With John Klingberg likely headed to market (if not traded by the deadline) and Alexander Radulov on an expiring deal, the team had a little bit of salary coming off the books anyway. While Robertson will likely be looking at a huge RFA raise, there was always going to be room to bring Pavelski back on a short-term deal.
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was first to report the extension. Darren Dreger of TSN added that it will be a one-year contract, while Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported the salary.
AHL Shuffle: 03/11/22
Just four games on the Friday night schedule in the NHL, though that does include the red-hot Vancouver Canucks with another chance to keep chasing down the Pacific Division playoff spots. Vancouver will take on the rollercoaster ride that is the Washington Capitals, who oscillate between crushing playoff teams and losing to those outside the postseason. Given the Edmonton Oilers beat them earlier this week, the Canucks will need to do the same to keep pace. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Boston Bruins have returned Jesper Froden to the AHL after just a couple of days and no game action. The 27-year-old forward has played in five contests, his last coming on March 3, but has failed to record a single point.
- The Florida Panthers have recalled Spencer Knight while loaning Jonas Johansson to Charlotte of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. Johansson is certainly in need of some playing time as the goaltender has made just one appearance since December 8th. Meanwhile, Knight has been doing well with the Checkers and picked up a 29-save victory in a spot start back on Monday.
Metropolitan Division
- With Zdeno Chara being activated from injured reserve, the New York Islanders have returned Otto Koivula to the AHL. The 23-year-old Koivula has played in five games this season (and 12 in 2019-20) but is still looking for his first NHL goal. That’s not the case in Bridgeport, where he has 36 points in 43 games.
- Morgan Frost has been recalled to the Philadelphia Flyers, after Scott Laughton suffered an injury last night. To make room, Max Willman has been loaned back to the AHL. Frost, 22, continues to be bounced back and forth between the AHL and NHL, splitting his season almost directly in half this year. In 30 games with the Flyers, he has two goals and seven points.
Central Division
Pacific Division
- Rasmus Kupari has been recalled by the Los Angeles Kings, his first recall since going down at the beginning of February. Kupari has played in 37 games for the Kings this season, but registered just three goals and nine points in that span. Set to turn 22 next week, the young forward is still trying to establish himself as a regular at the NHL level.
- The San Jose Sharks have returned Ryan Merkley to the AHL, now that they’re getting back some healthy bodies on defense. Erik Karlsson was back yesterday and played nearly 26 minutes in the win, recording two assists. Merkley, the team’s 2018 first-round pick, has just three points in 23 appearances with the Sharks this season.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Robby Fabbri Out Indefinitely; Could Miss Rest Of Season
The Detroit Red Wings could be without Robby Fabbri for the rest of the year, as head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters today that the team suspects he suffered a torn ACL. While he is still undergoing further evaluation, the expectation at this point is that Fabbri will not play again this season.
In a likely related move, the Red Wings have recalled Taro Hirose from the AHL. Hirose, 25, is one of the players that will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer given how little opportunity he’s had at the NHL level to this point. In the minor leagues, the undrafted Michigan State star has been outstanding, with 45 points in 52 games this season. In the NHL, just one game for the Red Wings this season and 43 over parts of four years.
For Fabbri specifically, an ACL injury is the last thing anyone wants to hear. The 26-year-old forward has already undergone multiple knee surgeries in his career, which at one point threatened to derail it completely. He missed the entire 2017-18 season and played just 32 games in 2018-19, only finding his way back to top-six relevance after a trade to Detroit. Those surgeries were on his left knee, and this injury is to his right.
This season, he’d been one of the team’s most consistent players, with 17 goals and 30 points in 56 games. The fact that he’ll be sidelined with another knee injury is obviously going to once again cloud his future in the NHL. Luckily for him, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Wings in December–one that pays him an average salary of $4MM through 2024-25. While he’ll hopefully be able to recover in time to start next season, ACL surgery would certainly not guarantee that outcome.
Penguins Notes: Forward Depth, Big Three, Drozg
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall spoke with the media today and touched on several subjects, including his trade deadline plans. While he feels “pretty good” about the team overall, he did mention that he would like to add to his forward group if possible. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic chimes in to specify that the Penguins are looking for a top-six scoring winger, one that comes with some term and is not an expiring contract.
There will be countless players linked to the Penguins in the coming days and it is important to note that the team has their first-round pick still, something the franchise has been notorious for dangling whenever they want to add talent. In fact, the Penguins have selected a player in the first round just twice since 2013, and one of those–Kasperi Kapanen–was traded before he ever played a game for the team, then bought back in another deal that included a first.
- Hextall also touched on the big three pending free agents in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust. “Geno” and “Tanger” are two of the team’s top priorities according to the front office executive, who hopes that they can work out a deal that works for both sides in all three cases. Just yesterday a report emerged on Letang’s negotiations, but things are much less clear with a player like Rust, who is in line for a huge raise over the $3.5MM cap hit he has carried the last four seasons. For quite some time now he’s been much more than the quality middle-six depth that signed that contract but there are still concerns over his durability that has limited him to just 36 games this year, and how the team will fit in all three with a salary cap that isn’t set to substantially increase for a little while longer.
- Jan Drozg, in the final season of his three-year entry-level contract, has been loaned from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. The 22-year-old has ten points in 23 games for the AHL Penguins this season but has played just once in the past month. At this point in his career, Drozg seems like a prime candidate to go unqualified in the offseason or head back to Europe to continue his development elsewhere. For now, his career takes him to Grand Rapids where he will hopefully get a bigger opportunity.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Arshdeep Bains
The Vancouver Canucks have dipped their toes into the undrafted free agent waters, signing local product Arshdeep Bains to a three-year, entry-level contract. Bains currently plays for the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. Though not specifically mentioned, the contract likely starts in 2022-23.
Bains, 21, is tied for the lead in WHL scoring this season with 82 points in 55 games and leads all players with 52 assists. The undrafted winger is in his fifth season in the CHL, but has come a long way from the player who registered just seven points in 2017-18. With Red Deer heading to the WHL playoffs after a strong season, he likely won’t be joining the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks for some time.
Vancouver GM Patrik Alvin promised that the team would be looking everywhere for talent, not just through the draft, and this is the first step toward following through in the few months he’s been at the helm. A lesson he likely learned during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Allvin knows that to truly fill out the organizational depth chart they need to take chances on players that might have otherwise been overlooked. Bains has a chance to be just that if he can carry over his offensive production to the professional level.
Trade Deadline Primer: Arizona Coyotes
As we enter the middle of March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Arizona Coyotes.
Bill Armstrong has been general manager of the Coyotes for one year, five months, and 22 days. In that time, he has already made 15 trades, changing the look of his roster dramatically. Derek Stepan, Adin Hill, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Conor Garland, Darcy Kuemper, Christian Dvorak, Ryan Dzingel, Ilya Lyubushkin–all out. Andrew Ladd, Shayne Gostisbehere, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Anton Stralman, Nick Ritchie–all in. It’s easy to spot the way that Armstrong is approaching his full-scale rebuild, by sending out anyone that carries value, and bringing back contracts that teams don’t want. It’ll be the exact same strategy at this deadline, which opens up a whole number of possibilities for the suddenly-hot Coyotes.
Record
18-35-4, 8th in the Central
Deadline Status
Seller/Broker
Deadline Cap Space
$26.02MM today, $32.53MM in full-season space by the deadline, 2/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: ARI 1st, MON/CAR 1st*, COL 1st^, ARI 2nd, NYI 2nd, PHI 2nd, SJS 2nd, VAN 2nd, ARI 3rd, ARI 4th, ARI 5th, ARI 6th
2023: ARI 1st, ARI 2nd, ARI 3rd, NYI 3rd**, ARI 4th, ARI 5th, ARI 6th, VAN 7th
*As per the terms of the offseason Dvorak trade, Montreal will give Arizona the better of Montreal/Carolina’s first-round picks, unless either or both are inside the top-10, in which case Montreal will receive the better of the two picks.
^If Colorado’s pick is in the top-10, the Avalanche will send their 2023 pick instead.
**Pick not transferred if Ladd plays in any professional games in 2022-23 while under his current contract, or retires prior to the conclusion of the 2022-23 regular season.
Trade Chips
If the Coyotes wanted to, they have the draft capital to acquire just about any player on the market. Their three first-round picks and five second-round picks will make them a frequent flyer to the podium in Montreal this summer, adding a huge amount of talent to the prospect pool. Giving up those draft picks at this point isn’t the strategy though, as Arizona is still in tear-down mode wherever possible.
No one represents that strategy more than Jakob Chychrun, who has been on the market all season despite being just 23 and under a relatively inexpensive contract for another three years. If the Coyotes are willing to trade Chychrun, they’re not even considering a quick rebuild with the assets they’ve already acquired. Among those things they could move at the deadline, the young defenseman is obviously the most attractive and could bring back a package that includes multiple high-end assets. Still, they likely will be targeting prospects that still have years left on their entry-level contracts (or perhaps those who haven’t even signed yet) instead of struggling first-round picks that are already around Chychrun’s age, meaning this is a hard trade for many teams in the league to actually accomplish. If he is moved before the deadline, it will be a blockbuster deal.
Beyond Chychrun there is still lots left on the Coyotes’ roster that could be of interest. Phil Kessel, finally in the last season of that eight-year, $64MM contract signed with Toronto in 2013, is a potential target for teams looking to upgrade their second or third line. Whatever you think of Kessel, he’s still an incredibly dangerous forward off the rush and has 78 points in 113 games since the beginning of last season, while playing on a bad Coyotes team. Kessel’s contract already has some salary retention from when the Maple Leafs traded it, meaning it couldn’t go through the double-retention that some other big names will this spring. A single contract can only be retained on twice, meaning the lowest his cap hit can go from this point is $3.4MM.
Speaking of salary retention, that would normally be a perfect option for the Coyotes, but they’ve already used two of their three slots. They’ll have to be quite picky about where that last one is used at the deadline in order to maximize the return. Gostisbehere, for instance, could be an option after he has rediscovered his game in the desert. The 28-year-old defenseman cost Philadelphia two draft picks to get rid of in the summer, but after 36 points in 57 games perhaps there will be another team interested–especially if he comes at just a $2.25MM cap hit through next season, should Arizona retain 50 percent.
Karel Vejmelka is another one of the interesting names to watch, should the goaltending market continue to improve in the next ten days. The 25-year-old netminder has been a revelation this season but is also just a year away from unrestricted free agency. Just yesterday his name was brought up by Chris Johnston of TSN, who opined that if the two sides couldn’t work out an extension, the Coyotes could potentially move on from the goaltender before the deadline.
Others To Watch For: F Johan Larsson (IR), G Scott Wedgewood
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks: It’s simple, the Coyotes are trying to build through the draft. A 22-year-old player that’s headed for restricted free agency soon might be attractive to most teams, but for one that’s about to slash revenues by moving into a tiny building and isn’t expected to really compete for the playoffs in the next few years, a prospect that will head back to junior, college, or overseas is actually the better route. The Coyotes have a ton for this season and for 2024 but note that they have only two selections in the first two rounds of 2023–a draft that has some exceptional talent. Don’t be surprised to see them add to their 2023 collection so that the wave of prospects doesn’t have a gap.
2) Flippable Contracts: It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Coyotes flip players like Gostisbehere and Ritchie after building them back up with prime deployment. It’s a great strategy for a team that doesn’t really care about wins and losses, and one that has worked well for other franchises in the past. Just yesterday, the idea of acquiring Andreas Johnsson was brought up by Darren Dreger of TSN because of how front-loaded his contract is. The Coyotes could nab a player like that, pay him for 12 months (while giving him powerplay and top-six time) and then flip him for even more next deadline when every team in the league can afford the decreased cap hit. While some might say that the New Jersey Devils aren’t the team to target with that kind of a strategy, there are plenty of other opportunities just like it out there.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Roman Ahcan Signs AHL Contract
On a Wisconsin Badgers team filled with NHL draft picks, there were a few surnames that stood out among those undrafted. One was Brock Caufield, older brother of the Montreal Canadiens young sniper, and one of the others was Roman Ahcan. The latter has made the jump to professional hockey, signing an AHL contract with the Cleveland Monsters for the 2022-23 season and joining them on a professional tryout for the rest of this year.
Ahcan, 22, is the younger brother of Boston Bruins defenseman Jack Ahcan, who just so happened to have a big night of his own yesterday. Jack Ahcan recorded his first NHL goal in a win against the Chicago Blackhawks, just his eighth NHL game since signing in Boston in 2020. He too was an undrafted talent that spent four years at college–St. Cloud State, not Wisconsin–and earned a two-year entry-level deal.
It won’t be a family reunion in the Bruins organization though, as Roman Ahcan joins the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets and tries to show that he too is worthy of an NHL deal down the road. Undersized like his brother, the young forward put up 34 goals and 74 points in 130 college contests.
Interestingly enough, there’s a third brother that could be chasing the same dream in a few years. Nineteen-year-old Grant Ahcan is set to start at St. Cloud State next season, after playing for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL this year.
Trade Deadline Primer: Vancouver Canucks
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Vancouver Canucks.
A lot has changed in Vancouver over the course of this season. The team entered with Jim Benning as the general manager and Travis Green as the head coach. After a dismal run of results to start the season, both were fired from their roles. Veteran head coach Bruce Boudreau was brought in to man the team’s bench, and Jim Rutherford, the architect of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ back-to-back Stanley Cup victories, was brought in to oversee hockey operations. Rutherford then hired Patrik Allvin, the former interim GM of the Penguins after Rutherford’s departure, to be the GM of the Canucks. Since those changes occurred, the Canucks’ play has drastically improved and they now find themselves playing meaningful hockey as they attempt to gain ground in the Western Conference playoff race. But despite that run of success, there have been many whispers of the Canucks’ new brain trust potentially making big changes at the trade deadline. Only time will tell what course Rutherford and Allvin will chart for the franchise, but at the bare minimum, we know at least something is likely to happen in Vancouver.
Record
29-23-6, 5th in the Pacific
Deadline Status
It’s complicated.
Deadline Cap Space
$2.4MM today, $2.4MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 0/3 retention slots used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: VAN 1st, WPG 3rd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th
2023: VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th
Trade Chips
The most talked-about trade chip on the Canucks’ roster has to be forward J.T. Miller. Ever since he arrived from the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2019-20 season, Miller has been an exceptionally productive, extremely valuable player. He had 18 points in the Canucks’ surprising run to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals in 2019-20, and has posted 189 points in 178 games for the Canucks overall. Miller adds a quality defensive game to his dynamic offensive ability, and has been a steal for the Canucks at a cap number of $5.25MM. But Miller only has this season and next remaining on his deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent, which is why many are debating the possibility of the Canucks dealing him in order to maximize the long-term value they can extract over that final season-and-a-half. If they do decide to deal Miller, it will likely take a significant haul to pry him loose. But given his offensive talent, positional versatility, and extra year of team control, Miller is among the NHL’s most talented players to be realistically available at the deadline.
Another talented player who could be traded is Brock Boeser, a 2018 Calder Trophy Finalist. It has been previously reported that Boeser is the “most likely” Canucks player to be traded among the trio of Miller, Boeser, and Conor Garland, and a major part of the reasoning for that is Boeser’s contract situation. Thanks to his $7.5MM base salary, Boeser is due a significant qualifying offer from the Canucks should they wish to retain his rights as a restricted free agent, and his production this season (34 points in 52 games) hasn’t been quite enough to warrant that cost on its own. That production is 53 point pace, and despite posting a very solid 49 points in 56 games last season, it is possible that the new leaders in the Canucks front office don’t view Boeser as the same kind of franchise cornerstone many believe him to be. Given his scoring pedigree and youth (he only just turned 25 years old) it’s possible that Boeser could be part of a significant trade for the Canucks, and could net them the high-end young defenseman they reportedly covet. Trading Boeser would certainly be a polarizing move for a new front office to pursue as it makes its first mark on the team, but if Rutherford and Allvin believe it’s the right thing for the team to pursue then it’s most definitely going to be something they legitimately consider.
Pivoting from the star players, one lower-importance trade chip the Canucks could offer is forward Tyler Motte. Motte is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $1.225MM cap hit, and at 27 years old could be an in-demand bottom-six rental player. Motte has seven goals and 14 points in 43 games this season and has a career-high of 16 points, which he scored in 74 games in 2018-19. But despite that pedestrian production, Motte has been able to find his place as an NHL regular, providing energy, versatility, and sporadic scoring touch to the Canucks’ lineup. It’s unclear if Motte is in the team’s long-term plans, and if the Canucks decide that winning this season isn’t an absolute priority, they could receive offers for Motte strong enough to make him worth trading.
Others to watch for: D Luke Schenn, F Conor Garland, F Nils Hoglander
Team Needs
1) Cap Flexibility
This might seem like an odd need for a team currently in the middle of a playoff race, but take one look at the Canucks’ cap sheet and the issue will be apparent. The Canucks have a lot of talented players. It is incredibly difficult to win in the NHL without a top center, top goalie, and top defenseman, and the Canucks have top players at each of those positions who are 26 years old or younger. But as a whole the Canucks’ team is flawed, and the roster boasts many players who aren’t bad on their own but a touch too expensive for what they provide. Take Jason Dickinson, for example. The Canucks gave up a third-round pick this past offseason to acquire him, and he currently has six points in 49 games. He’s a solid defensive center and natural centers are hard to come by at the NHL level, but for $2.65MM through 2023-2024, the Canucks need a bit more than six points from him. So while subtracting players on marginally overpaid contracts could make the Canucks a bit worse in the short-term, if Rutherford and Allvin want to shape this team into a true contender they need to clean up the cap situation from where it is now. A contender needs to be able to maximize every dollar the cap allows them to spend, and right now the wasted dollars on the Canucks’ books are hurting their ability to build the best team they possibly can.
2) A Blue-Chip Young Defenseman
Much has been reported about the Canucks’ desire to acquire a high-end young defenseman, and it’s easy to see why. Young defensemen are among the most coveted assets in the NHL and quality ones are exceptionally difficult to come by. The Canucks already have a star in Hughes, but the rest of their defense is staffed by older, pricier veterans like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tyler Myers, Travis Hamonic, and (when healthy) Tucker Poolman. The Canucks could use another young defenseman to build their defense around, perhaps one that offers more of a two-way game than the offensively-minded Hughes, and it looks like the Canucks’ trade interests are trending in that direction.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Johnsson, Fleury, Vejmelka
With the salary cap set to stay flat for the near future, the battle for most NHL clubs is being able to fit their payrolls under that cap’s $81.5MM upper limit. For the Arizona Coyotes, though, the upcoming battle seems to be managing to ice a roster above the NHL’s salary floor. Per CapFriendly, the Coyotes’ projected cap hit for the 2022 season currently stands at only $37.9MM, and the team’s only major pending free agents are Lawson Crouse and Phil Kessel, two players who very well could be traded before this season’s trade deadline. Essentially, the Coyotes are going to need to add some significant salaries to their cap sheet to get above the cap floor, which currently sits at just over $60MM.
The Coyotes’ need to add salary to reach the cap floor is made more complicated by the team’s arena situation and the finances involved with it. The team is already not known as a financial powerhouse and has historically struggled with inconsistent ownership. The team recently agreed to a deal to play in Arizona State University’s new multi-purpose arena project, settling there on an “indefinite” basis until the team can secure a new long-term home. With a home arena capacity set to be under 5,000, and the team already receiving the maximum amount of support from the league’s revenue-sharing system, it stands to reason that budgets could be tight for the Coyotes moving forward. This means that their effort to get above the salary cap floor for next season could be more complicated than simply doling out a few big contracts. The team may be looking to get a bit more creative, and to take advantage of how the NHL calculates salary cap hits.
The NHL calculates a player’s cap hit through the average annual value of the contract. So if a player signs a 2-year contract worth a total of $10MM, the yearly cap hit is going to be $5MM, regardless of how the individual years’ salaries to be paid out are structured. This means that there are players on teams’ rosters with higher cap hits than actual dollars due to be paid to them for that season, and it seems as though the Coyotes could target those players to be able to get above the cap floor without needing to pay the full $60MM or so that the cap floor is set at.
One of those players with a cap number exceeding actual cash owed is Devils winger Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson, 27, is set to have a base salary of only $750k next season. His signing bonus is set at $1.75MM, but his cap hit is going to be $3.4MM. This makes Johnsson an ideal candidate for them, and TSN’s Darren Dreger links Johnsson with the Coyotes for this exact purpose. Johnsson could be a fit with the Coyotes for not only all the financial reasons previously mentioned but also for his play on the ice. Johnsson has 11 goals and 28 points this season, and his 28 points would make him the fourth-highest scorer on the Coyotes. He is an accomplished offensive player at lower levels who has flashed talent at the NHL level, and has scored 20 goals before. The Coyotes went all-in on mining value from unconventional sources when building their roster this season, as evidenced by the out-of-nowhere success of Travis Boyd. Acquiring Johnsson, as Dreger reported they could, would represent a continuation of that philosophy for GM Bill Armstrong.
- In more news about the Coyotes coming from TSN’s Insider Trading panel, TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the Coyotes are “going to have to look” at potential trades for goaltender Karel Vejmelka if the team is unable to reach a deal with him on an extension. Vejmelka is one year away from being an unrestricted free agent, and although the Coyotes, per Johnston, really like Vejmelka and are engaged in trying to get him signed to an extension, their organizational mandate to accumulate as much long-term value as possible could mean that Vejmelka gets dealt to a goaltending-needy team. On a Coyotes team that has struggled all season, Vejmelka has been occasionally brilliant and posted decent overall numbers, with a 3.38 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Again, the Coyotes team Vejmelka plays behind has been among the league’s worst this season, so while these numbers aren’t impressive on their own they are more impressive with proper context. From what Johnston is reporting, it seems as though the Coyotes genuinely do want to keep Vejmelka as a first priority, but the realities facing the team mean they could be forced to deal him.
- Pierre LeBrun of TSN has reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs “have spoken” with the Chicago Blackhawks about the 2020-21 Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Toronto’s goaltending has faltered in recent weeks, with starter Jack Campbell struggling to find his game and backup Petr Mrazek enduring season-long issues. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has repeatedly reiterated his faith in the team’s goaltending tandem, but this reported “due diligence” conversation between the two clubs is an indication that perhaps the goaltending situation in Toronto is not as settled as it may seem. LeBrun does note that Toronto is unlikely to be Fleury’s ideal trade destination if he elects to be moved. But regardless of Fleury’s specific situation, this reported contact between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks is an indication that the Maple Leafs are potentially searching for upgrades in net, and if they end up doing so their pursuit could drastically change the trade market, as the pool of available goaltenders is generally believed to be thin.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
2022 NHL Draft Confirmed For Montreal
The city of Montreal was set to host the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, but those plans were scuttled when the world was turned upside-down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Continued pandemic restrictions meant that the city was unable to hold the draft in 2021 as well, but things finally seemed to change when fans returned to the stands at NHL arenas and the city was awarded the 2022 NHL draft. But as the Canadiens were once more forced to play games behind closed doors this season, the possibility of the draft being moved out of Montreal once again became a very realistic thought. In his annual meeting with the media at the NHL All-Star Weekend, Commissioner Gary Bettman stated that the NHL “would consider” moving the draft out of Montreal if the pandemic restrictions were still in place.
This was a disheartening development for many in the city who were eager to see Montreal host its 27th NHL Draft, but it seems that those fears can now be laid to rest. According to Chris Johnston of TSN, speaking on TSN’s Insider Trading program, the threat of the draft being moved out of Montreal again is “totally gone.” Johnston reports that the expectation is for the draft to be held as it was pre-pandemic, meaning with representatives from every NHL club on the draft floor and the hosting arena featuring a full-capacity crowd. NHL officials will “be heading to Montreal” next week to finalize all the details, but the bottom line is that it looks as if the vision of a draft in Montreal will finally be realized after a significant wait.
For Montreal as a market, this announcement can have particular significance because of the state of the Canadiens’ season. Despite their resurgence under coach Martin St. Louis, the team is still last in the NHL with 37 points. Should they stay in that place in the standings, they will have the highest odds of winning the #1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, and be guaranteed to be picking inside the top-3. For a hockey-mad market like Montreal, the Canadiens potentially being able to select a future franchise cornerstone like Shane Wright at a draft hosted inside the Bell Center is an exciting prospect and a nice consolation prize for a fanbase that has been through a largely miserable season.